A bitumen emulsion comprising (a) bitumen, (b) water, (c) optionally at least one emulsifier, and (d) a conjugated diene block copolymer containing functional groups which have a strong affinity for water. A bituminous composition comprising (a) bitumen, and (b) a polymer emulsion comprising (i) water, (ii) optionally at least one emulsifier, and (iii) a conjugated diene block copolymer containing functional groups which have a strong affinity for water.

This invention relates to emulsions and dispersions of bitumen modified with functionalized block copolymers. More particularly, it relates to such emulsions and dispersions containing acrylic monomer-containing block copolymers or maleic anhydride functionalized block copolymers.
Asphalt is a common material utilized for the preparation of paving and roofing materials and also for coatings such as pipe coatings and tank liners. While the material is suitable in many respects, it inherently is deficient in some physical properties which it would be highly desirable to improve. Diene polymer rubbers such as styrene-butadiene rubber and styrene-rubber block copolymers such as styrene-butadiene-styrene and styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers have been used to dramatically improve the thermal and mechanical properties of asphalts.
Bitumen emulsions and dispersions have been known for some time. They are heterogeneous 2-phase systems consisting of 2 immiscible materials, bitumen and water. The bitumen is dispersed throughout the continuous water phase in the form of discreet globules which are held in suspension by an emulsifier. Such bitumen emulsions and dispersions have a wide variety of uses such as in road construction, horticultural and agricultural applications, slip coats for concrete, protective coats for concrete, pipelines and ironwork and also for sealing cracks and grouting.
Bitumen emulsions and dispersions containing the polymers discussed above are known. Such emulsions and dispersions have the advantage that such polymers ordinarily give to the bitumen alone. However, such emulsions and dispersions have the following disadvantages: they are not sufficiently stable, they may coalesce, irreversibly flocculate or settle or cream, the coalesced bitumen phase has poor properties after water drying and they are difficult to prepare at high polymer loading. These disadvantages are most likely caused by the lack of affinity that the nonpolar polymers have for water.
It is also known to make emulsions and dispersions of the polymers discussed above in water with a surfactant and then add the polymer emulsions and dispersions to bitumen to obtain improved properties. Addition of a polymer emulsion or dispersion to bitumen provides a means of mixing polymer and bitumen which does not require special high shear high temperature mixing equipment. It does not put the polymer and bitumen through an unnecessary heating step. However, when this process is used, it is often difficult to prepare polymer emulsions and dispersions which are stable or ones with very small dispersed polymer particles. This is because of the lack of affinity of these block copolymers for water. A small dispersed polymer particle improves mixing of polymer and bitumen.
Therefore, there is a need for bitumen emulsions and dispersions and bitumen compositions containing polymer emulsions and dispersions which contain polymers which have a strong affinity for water. The present invention provides such emulsions and dispersions and compositions.

Water-based emulsions and dispersions of bitumen modified with a functionalized block copolymer


An optical receiver circuit comprising: a pre-amplifier for amplifying a signal supplied from a photodetector to output positive and negative signals; first and second peak hold circuits for detecting maximum levels of these positive and negative signals respectively; an offset canceler circuit for compensating the positive signal at the maximum level of the negative signal, for compensating the negative signal at the maximum level of the positive signal, and for then performing differential amplification; and a level shift circuit for replacing an output signal level of the first peak hold circuit with a signal level higher than an actual value for a period of time that light input to the photodetector is in a no-input signal state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical receiver circuit used in an optical communication system. More particularly, the invention pertains to an optical receiver circuit suitable for receiving burst digital data, and an optical module using the same in an optical communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, unlike timewise continuous signal output from video and audio equipment, digital data output from computers typical of information processing equipment has a bursty characteristic, i.e., data is output intensively for a certain period of time and no data is output for the remaining period of time. In an optical communication system for transmitting and receiving such burst data, it is required to provide an optical receiver circuit capable of receiving burst data with high stability.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an example of a conventional optical receiver circuit 100 disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication. No. 8 (1996)-84160. FIGS. 2A to 2E show waveforms in respective parts of the optical receiver circuit 100.
Upon receiving an optical signal, a photodetector 1 converts the received optical signal into an electrical signal, which is then supplied to a pre-amplifier 2. The pre-amplifier 2 amplifies the electrical signal supplied from the photodetector 1 to produce positive and negative signals xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d.
Under condition that an offset voltage Voff exists in an output of the pre-amplifier 2, signal levels of the positive and negative signals xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d in a no-input signal state are xe2x80x9cVoffxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92Voffxe2x80x9d respectively, xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels thereof in a burst data receiving state are also xe2x80x9cVoffxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92Voffxe2x80x9d respectively, and xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d levels thereof in the burst data receiving state are xe2x80x9cV+Voffxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92Vxe2x88x92Voffxe2x80x9d respectively (FIG. 2A).
A first peak hold circuit 3 detects a value of a maximum level of the positive signal xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d (hereinafter referred to as a peak value) and generates an output signal xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d, which has a signal level of offset voltage xe2x80x9cVoffxe2x80x9d in the no-input signal state and a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d level voltage xe2x80x9cV+Voffxe2x80x9d in the data receiving state.
A second peak hold circuit 4 detects a peak value of the negative signal xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d, and generates an output signal xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d, which has a signal level of offset voltage xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92Voffxe2x80x9d in the no-input signal state and a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d level voltage xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92Voffxe2x80x9d in the data receiving state (FIG. 2C).
In FIG. 1, resistors 61 to 64 and a differential amplifier 65 constitute an offset canceller 6. When the output signal xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d of the first peak hold circuit 3 and the negative signal xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d are supplied to a negative input terminal of the differential amplifier 65 through the resistors 61 and 63 having the same resistance value, the levels of the signals xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d are averaged to provide a signal xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d as a negative input to the differential amplifier 65. In the signal xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d thus provided, a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d level voltage in the data receiving state is xe2x80x9cV/2xe2x80x9d, and a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d level voltage in the data receiving state and an output voltage in the no-input signal state are zero (FIG. 2B).
In the same manner as mentioned above, when the positive signal xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and the output signal xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d of the second peak hold circuit 4 are supplied to a positive input terminal of the differential amplifier 65 through the resistors 62 and 64 having the same resistance value, the levels of the signals xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d are averaged to provide a signal xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d as a positive input to the differential amplifier 65. In the signal xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d thus provided, a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d level voltage in the data receiving state and an output voltage in the no-input signal state are zero, and a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d level voltage in the data receiving state is xe2x80x9cV/2xe2x80x9d.
Through the above signal processing, offset voltages xe2x80x9cVoffxe2x80x9d contained in the signals xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d output from the pre-amplifier 2 can be canceled mutually. That is, the signals xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d input to the differential amplifier 65 are subjected to differential amplification on a basis of gain G, thereby outputting a positive signal xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and a negative signal xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d (FIG. 2D). These output signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are not affected by output offset xe2x80x9cVoffxe2x80x9d of the pre-amplifier 2, and both the xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d level pulse duty ratio (half value width of pulse per cycle) and the xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d level pulse duty ratio in the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are 0.5, i.e. , the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are equivalent to each other.
The signal xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d output from the differential amplifier 65 is distinguished as a binary signal in the comparator 7 by comparing with the signal xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d, thereby providing a positive output signal xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d. In the comparator 7, a binary judgment is carried out to check whether a difference voltage between the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d is in a positive state or a negative state. In this case, since both the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d vary symmetrically, the comparator 7 performs the binary judgment with a judgment reference voltage (threshold) which is equivalent to an average value of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels of the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d. If the judgment reference voltage in the comparator 7 can be substantially set to an average value of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels of the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d, a binary signal xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d having an equal duty ratio may be attained as an output of the comparator 7 regardless of a value of output voltage xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d from the pre-amplifier 2 in the data receiving state.
However, in the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 1, the levels of the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d are equal to each other in the no-input signal state. Consequently, an operation of comparing the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d in the no-input signal state becomes unstable, making it difficult to attain a correct result in distinction by the comparator 7. When the pre-amplifier 2 is in the no-input signal state and when the pre-amplifier 2 outputs a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d level signal of data input, it is required for the comparator 7 to distinguish the input signal xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d as a low level. Hence, for attaining a correct result of binary judgment in the no-input signal state, it is inevitable to use a substantial judgment reference voltage having a value larger than the average value of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels of the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d.
If the judgment reference voltage is larger than the average value of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels of the signals xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d, however, there arises a problem of deterioration in duty ratio of the output signal xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d. FIG. 2E shows a waveform of the output signal xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d having a deteriorated duty ratio. The duty ratio of the output signal xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d varies depending on an amplitude voltage xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d of the positive signal xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, i.e., a magnitude of the signal output from the photodetector 1.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate the above-mentioned disadvantage of the related art by providing an optical receiver circuit having a duty ratio which does not deteriorate in a burst data receiving state and an optical module containing the optical receiver circuit.
In accomplishing this object of the present invention and according one aspect thereof, there is provided an optical receiver circuit in which a level shift circuit is disposed between a first peak hold circuit for detecting a maximum level of a positive signal and an offset canceller circuit so that an output signal level of the first peak hold circuit is made higher than an actual level for a period of time that an amplitude of a positive signal output from a pre-amplifier is smaller than a predetermined amplitude value.
More specifically, according to the present invention, there is provided a optical receiver circuit comprising: a pre-amplifier for amplifying a signal supplied from a photodetector to output positive and negative signals; a first peak hold circuit for detecting a maximum level of the positive signal output from the pre-amplifier; a second peak hold circuit for detecting a maximum level of the negative signal output from the pre-amplifier; an offset canceller circuit for compensating the positive signal at an output signal level of the second peak hold circuit, for compensating the negative signal at an output signal level of the first peak hold circuit, and for then performing differential amplification; and a level shift circuit for replacing the output signal level of the first peak hold circuit with a predetermined signal level higher than an actually detected maximum signal level for a period of time that light input to the photodetector is in a no-input signal state; whereby the negative signal is compensated at the predetermined signal level.
In the circuit arrangement mentioned above, a level of a positive signal input to a comparator in the no-input signal state can be lowered to allow the use of an average value of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d levels as a judgment reference voltage. Therefore, according to the present invention, a signal level in the no-input signal state can be reliably distinguished as a low level, making it possible to implement an optical receiver circuit capable of preventing deterioration in duty ratio.
The level shift circuit noted above, for example, comprises a bottom hold circuit for holding a minimum level value of the positive signal output from the pre-amplifier, a bottom level shift circuit for increasing an output signal level of the bottom hold circuit by a predetermined value, and a maximum level selector circuit for selectively delivering an output signal of the first peak hold circuit or an output signal of the bottom level shift circuit, whichever is higher in terms of signal level.

Optical receiver circuit and optical module using same in optical communication system


Voltage breakdown resistant monocrystalline silicon carbide semiconductor devices are obtained by forming an amorphous silicon carbide termination region in a monocrystalline silicon carbide substrate, at a face thereof, adjacent and surrounding a silicon carbide device. The amorphous termination region is preferably formed by implanting electrically inactive ions, such as argon, into the substrate face at sufficient energy and dose to amorphize the substrate face. The device contact or contacts act as an implantation mask to provide a self-aligned termination region for the device. The terminated devices may exhibit voltage breakdown resistance which approaches the ideal value for silicon carbide.

Power devices are widely used to carry large currents and support high voltages. Since the early 1950's, developers of electronic power systems began to base their power systems on semiconductor devices. Presently, many types of power semiconductor devices are available, including but not limited to power rectifiers, power bipolar transistors, power field effect transistors, power bipolar/field effect devices, power thyristors and other two, three or more terminal semiconductor devices.
Most power semiconductor devices being marketed today are fabricated in monocrystalline silicon. However, as is known to those skilled in the art, monocrystalline silicon carbide is particularly well suited for use in semiconductor devices, and in particular for power semiconductor devices. Silicon carbide has a wide bandgap, a high melting point, a low dielectric constant, a high breakdown field strength, a high thermal conductivity and a high saturation electron drift velocity compared to silicon. These characteristics would allow silicon carbide power devices to operate at higher temperatures, higher power levels, with lower specific on-resistance than conventional silicon based power devices. A theoretical analysis of the superiority of silicon carbide devices over silicon devices is found in a publication by Bhatnagar and coinventor Baliga entitled Comparison of 6H--SiC, 3C--SiC and Si for Power Devices, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices Transactions, Vol. 40, pp. 645-655, 1993.
In order to take advantage of silicon carbide's higher breakdown field strength, it is important to create device edge terminations having breakdown voltages which approach the ideal parallel plane breakdown voltage. In particular, as is well known to those having skill in the art, for practical power devices, it is necessary to consider edge effects to obtain a realistic design. Edge termination limits the breakdown voltage of practical devices to below the theoretical limits set by semi-infinite device analysis. If a device is poorly terminated, its breakdown voltage can be as low as 10-20% of the theoretical case. This severe degradation in breakdown voltage can seriously compromise device design and lead to reduced current ratings as well. Accordingly, effort has been focused on the proper termination of the device region of power semiconductor devices.
Termination schemes for devices fabricated in a particular semiconductor material often cannot be used to terminate devices formed in another . semiconductor material. For example, in silicon, many power device edge terminations have been proposed. These power device edge terminations are described in detail in a textbook entitled Modern Power Devices by coinventor Baliga, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1987, at pp. 79-129. As described, terminations based upon planar diffusion are most commonly used for lower and medium power devices due to their process convenience. Unfortunately, these terminations are difficult to fabricate in silicon carbide due to the difficulty of forming P-N junctions in silicon carbide by conventional ion implantation and diffusion methods. Another well known silicon device termination technique physically changes the device edge by forming a beveled edge or a mesa edge. Again, however, it may be difficult to form these geometric features in silicon carbide due to the difficulty in etching silicon carbide and of removing the damage caused by the etching process.
A technique for improving breakdown voltage of gallium arsenide junctions is described in a publication by Shimamoto et al. entitled Improvement of Breakdown Voltage Characteristics of GaAs Junction by Damage-Creation of Ion-Implantation, published in the Institute of Physics Conference Series, No. 120, Chapter 4, pp. 199-202, 1992. There, ion implantation is performed around a junction edge to create implantation damage. An appropriate annealing step is then performed.
Several techniques for terminating silicon carbide devices have also been proposed. For example, floating metal field plate termination was found to improve the breakdown voltage from 210 volts to 400 volts and resistive field plate termination was found to improve the breakdown voltage to 500 volts in an article by Bhatnagar et al. entitled Edge Terminations for High Voltage SiC Schottky Barrier Rectifiers, published in the International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices, 1993 Proceedings, Abstract 4.2, pp. 89-94, 1993. Since the ideal parallel plate breakdown voltage for silicon carbide is about 900 volts, these edge termination techniques produce a breakdown voltage of about 60% of the ideal value. Floating field ring and floating field plate terminations for silicon carbide power MOSFETs are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,215 to coinventor Baliga.
In view of the above, there is a continuing need for device terminations and fabrication methods which are uniquely suitable for silicon carbide and which allow device breakdown voltage to approach the ideal value.

Methods of fabricating voltage breakdown resistant monocrystalline silicon carbide semiconductor devices


An electronic device for a vehicle includes a metal tubular casing extending longitudinally and opening at its two ends, and a wall having a curved profile with cooling fins on its outer surface. The electronic device includes an assembly of printed circuit boards comprising a first plurality of printed circuit boards that include heat-generating electronic components. The printed circuit boards of the assembly are connected together by flexible conductive elements. The device further comprises a first heat sink arranged inside the tubular casing comprising a curved wall generally extending parallel to the curved wall of the tubular casing. The first plurality of printed circuit boards is interposed between the curved inner surface of the wall of the casing and the curved wall of the first heat sink so heat is dissipated through the first heat sink and through the curved wall equipped with cooling fins of the tubular casing.

Current and forthcoming motor vehicle electronic control units have heightened power density and increasingly compact casing dimensions due to the limited space available in the motor vehicles.
Certain electronic components are components that produce heat. These can be microcontrollers, the data processing speed of which is such that the microcontroller heats up during its operations, or can even be, for example, electronic components distributing high electric currents to the equipment of the vehicle or even simply conductive tracks carrying high currents through the printed circuit board.
In order to cool these components to prevent them from failing, it is known for their heat to be dissipated by directly thermally coupling these components to a thermally conductive casing of the device. In general, in order to ensure continuous thermal coupling, particularly when running the vehicle in which the device is mounted and subject to vibrations, the components are mounted on a printed circuit board arranged at the bottom of the casing, with projecting zones of the casing cover coming into abutment on the components so as to act as a radiator for cooling the components.
It has been established that such devices are bulky. Furthermore, the rigidity of such devices results in failures in the cooled components, particularly broken welds on the components or even damage to the component causing failure thereof.

Heat dissipation device for an electronic device


A spacing member is positioned between a pair of antenna members. The two antenna members may be horizontally polarized or vertically polarized and positioned next to each other to provide an increased gain. The spacing element may be placed between the antenna members and have a thickness corresponding to the characteristic impedance of the antenna transmission line. The characteristic impedance may be determined based on the width of the transmission line. The spacing member may be radio-frequency (RF) transparent and may adhere to either or both of the antenna elements. The spacing member may be implemented as a plastic double sided tape or a uniform piece of plastic having one or more adhesive layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly to changing radio frequency (RF) emission patterns with respect to one or more antenna arrays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In wireless communications systems, there is an ever-increasing demand for higher data throughput and a corresponding drive to reduce interference that can disrupt data communications. For example, a wireless link in an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 network may be susceptible to interference from other wireless access points and stations, radio transmitting devices in the vicinity of the network, and changes or disturbances in the wireless link environment between an access point and remote receiving node. In some instances, the interference may degrade the wireless link thereby forcing communication at a lower data rate. The interference may, in some instances, be sufficiently strong as to disrupt the wireless link altogether.
One solution is to utilize a diversity antenna scheme. In such a solution, a data source is coupled to two or more physically separated omnidirectional antennas. An access point may select one of the omnidirectional antennas by which to maintain a wireless link. Because of the separation between the omnidirectional antennas, each antenna experiences a different signal environment and corresponding interference level with respect to the wireless link. A switching network couples the data source to whichever of the omnidirectional antennas experiences the least interference in the wireless link.
Notwithstanding, many high-gain antenna environments still encounter—or cause—electromagnetic interference (EMI). This interference may be encountered (or created) with respect to another nearby wireless environments (e.g., between the floors of an office building or hot spots scattered amongst a single room). In some instances, the mere operation of a power supply or electronic equipment can create electromagnetic interference.
One solution to combat electromagnetic interference is to utilize shielding in or proximate an antenna enclosure. Shielding a metallic enclosure is imperfect, however, because the conductivity of all metals is finite. Because metallic shields have less than infinite conductivity, part of the field is transmitted across the boundary and supports a current in the metal. The amount of current flow at any depth in the shield and the rate of decay are governed by the conductivity of the metal, its permeability, and the frequency and amplitude of the field source.
With interference present in most environments, it is desirable to have a low-cost and effective solution to providing an antenna apparatus with reduced interference.

Radio frequency antenna array with spacing element


A method of making a battery having a cathode includes contacting carbon particles with an oxidizing agent, such as, for example, an inorganic acid, an organic acid, or an oxidizing gas, and incorporating the carbon particles into the cathode. The cathode can be used, for example, in a metal-air battery that includes a monolayer or dual-layer cathode, or in a fuel cell.

This invention relates to batteries.
Batteries are commonly used electrical energy sources. A battery contains a negative electrode, typically called the anode, and a positive electrode, typically called the cathode. The anode contains an active material that can be oxidized; the cathode contains or consumes an active material that can be reduced. The anode active material is capable of reducing the cathode active material. In order to prevent direct reaction of the anode material and the cathode material, the anode and the cathode are electrically isolated from each other by a separator.
When a battery is used as an electrical energy source in a device, such as a cellular telephone, electrical contact is made to the anode and the cathode, allowing electrons to flow through the device and permitting the respective oxidation and reduction reactions to occur to provide electrical power. An electrolyte in contact with the anode and the cathode contains ions that flow through the separator between the electrodes to maintain charge balance throughout the battery during discharge.
In a metal-air electrochemical cell, oxygen is supplied to the cathode from the atmospheric air external to the cell through one or more air access opening(s) in the cell container. The oxygen is an active material that is reduced to hydroxide ions at the cathode, which can include a catalyst supported on carbon particles. A metal, e.g., zinc, is another active material that is oxidized at the anode.
When used in devices, such as high power devices, it is desirable for the electrochemical cell to be able to support good current density.
The invention relates to batteries, such as metal-air batteries, that can sustain relatively high current density with relatively minimal voltage drop, for example, when used in high rate applications.
In one aspect, the invention features a cathode including carbon particles, for example, carbon blacks, that have been exposed to an oxidizing condition, for example, by contacting the carbon particles with an oxidizing agent such as an inorganic acid or an organic acid. Because the carbon particles have been oxidized, they have acidic surface functional groups, oxidized carbon functionalities, and/or a low pH, e.g., less than about 7, or between about 2 and about 4.
Without wishing to be bound to theory, it is believed that oxidized carbon particles have a chemically modified surface that is more polar than non-oxidized carbon particles. The oxidized carbon particles can draw more electrolyte into the cathode than non-oxidized carbon particles because the electrolyte can wet oxidized particles with polar surfaces more easily than the electrolyte can wet non-oxidized particles with relatively less polar surfaces. As a result, more of the cathode can be effectively used for the reduction-oxidation reactions that occur in the battery.
When incorporated in the cathode of a battery, for example, a metal-air battery, the oxidized carbon particles generally provide the battery with relatively high rate, which is useful for high power devices. The cathode has good physical integrity, with minimized cracks and/or holes. In embodiments in which the cathode has a dual-layer construction, the cathode has relatively low impedance, good adhesion, and good cohesion. While providing good current performance, the dual-layer cathode can also provide good protection against electrolyte permeation and leakage, e.g., when the cathode has a layer with oxidized carbon particles and a layer with non-oxidized carbon particles. Generally, cathodes with oxidized carbon particles are relatively simple and convenient to manufacture.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of making a battery having a cathode. The method includes contacting carbon particles with an inorganic acid or an organic acid, and incorporating the carbon particles into the cathode. The cathode can further include manganese dioxide and polytetrafluoroethylene. The cathode can be a monolayer cathode or a dual-layer cathode. The battery can be a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-air battery.
In another aspect, the invention features a cathode for a metal-air battery. The cathode may include a first layer having carbon particles that have not been treated with an acid, and a second layer having carbon particles that have been treated with an acid. The layers may include a catalyst and/or a polymer, such as polytetrafluoroethylene.
As used herein, xe2x80x9coxidized carbon particlesxe2x80x9d refer to carbon particles that have been exposed to an oxidizing condition, e.g., contact with an oxidizing agent. For example, oxidized carbon particles may have enhanced acidic surface oxides or functional groups, oxidized carbon functionalities, and/or a low pH. xe2x80x9cNon-oxidized carbon particlesxe2x80x9d refer to carbon particles that have not been exposed to an oxidizing condition.
Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.


A control system includes a hydraulic pressure control valve and an electronic control unit. The hydraulic pressure control valve includes a spool configured to be moved inside a sleeve. The hydraulic pressure control valve is configured to control a hydraulic pressure by moving the spool between a first end and a second end of the sleeve. The hydraulic pressure control valve includes a stopper configured to transmit vibration to the sleeve. The electronic control unit is configured to control the spool to vibrate in the first end or the second end when foreign matter is stuck in the hydraulic pressure control valve, such that the spool or a member that moves the spool repeatedly hits the stopper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system of a hydraulic pressure control valve.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been conventionally known a hydraulic pressure control valve including a spool that moves in a sleeve (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-31741 (JP 2012-31741 A)). The hydraulic pressure control valve is provided with a return spring for biasing the spool to one side, and an electromagnetic solenoid for driving the spool to the other side. The hydraulic pressure control valve is configured such that its hydraulic pressure is controlled by the spool being moved in the sleeve according to a current supplied to the electromagnetic solenoid.
Here, in such a hydraulic pressure control valve, foreign matter mixed in oil may be stuck on the spool. When the foreign matter is stuck on the spool as such, the spool malfunctions, which makes it difficult to control the hydraulic pressure appropriately. In view of this, in the hydraulic pressure control valve of JP 2012-31741 A, when foreign matter is stuck, the spool is forcibly reciprocated, so as to remove the foreign matter thus stuck. Note that the reciprocation of the spool is performed so that the spool comes and goes repeatedly between one end and the other end of the sleeve so as to crush the foreign matter.
However, in such a conventional hydraulic pressure control valve, it is possible to remove foreign matter that can be crushed, but it is difficult to remove foreign matter that cannot be crushed.

Control system of hydraulic pressure control valve


A system for processing particle size and position data for a surface under inspection, the system including an air spindle for rotating and a translation stage for translating the surface with respect to a beam of radiation used to detect particles on the surface; a rotational encoder for dividing the surface into a number N of angular vectors; a counter of counting the number of revolutions of the surface; a processor for collecting particle size and position data at each angular vector during each revolution; first and second FIFO memories having at least N address spaces, each address space allocated for a specific angular vector; and a routine for writing the collected particle size and position data to the first memory and for reading particle size and position data from the second memory and switching memories every M revolutions. The FIFO memories are programmed to store only the greater of stored size data and incoming size data.

Glass photolithographic masks or plates comprising a chrome pattern on a glass or quartz substrate are used in the manufacture of thousands of semi-conductor wafers during a production run using a "stepper" printing machine. Therefore, it is critical that the surface of the mask be free of contaminating particles lest the image of the particles be reproduced on each wafer. Accordingly, the masks are typically inspected before a production run using very precise equipment shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,734; 4,794,264; 4,794,265; and 5,389,794 incorporated herein by reference.
As a mechanical mask holder/spindle assembly spins the mask, the surface of the mask is scanned by a laser beam directed to the surface and the scattering of the laser beam off the surface is analyzed: the scattering off the surface will be different if a flaw or particle is present than if no flaw or particle is present. The scattering can be analyzed to the point where particles or flaw are classified by size. In order to scan for and detect very small particles (e.g. 0.3 microns in diameter), it is very important that the laser beam be focused to form a very small spot size.
Prior surface inspection apparatus utilized various signal processing routines and computer programs to process and analyze the particle data (e.g., size and position) thereby providing the user with a computer generated map which shows the relative size and position of all particles on the mask. The user then uses a microscope to visually inspect any particles of interest. These prior systems, however, were fairly slow. If the photolithographic mask is scanned slowly (e.g. much less than 1800 rpm) and the spot size of a laser beam is quite large (e.g. much larger than 1.7.times.5.3 micrometers) then the particle size and position data could be processed and analyzed during each scan. These low rates of scanning, however, mean that the inspection of each mask is slow and hence expensive. And, such a large laser beam spot size may fail to accurately detect very small particles.
A faster speed of rotation and a small laser beam spot size, however, makes it impractical to process and analyze the particle data during each scan.

Data processing system and method for a surface inspection apparatus


The present invention relates to an effector comprising power contacts for power supply of a receiver. The effector comprises an operating mechanism for the power contacts, this mechanism being actuated by an electromagnet. Between a power circuit for supplying power to the receiver and the return power circuit, there is connected a measuring and processing unit arranged to measure the impedance at the terminals of the power supply circuit of the receiver. This unit is coupled to a contact of the control circuit. The contact is arranged to cut the power supply of the control circuit in the event of a short-circuit of the power supply circuit of the receiver.

The present invention relates to an effector comprising an electromagnet associated with an operating mechanism of power contacts of an electrical circuit for power supply of at least one receiver.
Effectors whose power contacts are associated with a spring whose purpose is to maintain these contacts in the closed position whatever the state of the circuit of the corresponding receivers are known in the art.
These springs are relatively weak and in any case insufficient to compensate the repulsion forces by striction which are generated when a short-circuit occurs in the power supply circuit of the receivers. Due to these forces, the contacts bounce and may be welded. This happens either when a short-circuit occurs whereas the contacts are closed or when an operator wishes to close the contacts on a short-circuit of the receiver circuit.

Effector with self-compensated contacts for power supply of a receiver circuit


A twisted shovel, for a chisel plow or similar implement, having a concave twisted surface. The concave surface maintains soil flow in the desired path as the shovel is moved forwardly through the soil. The soil displaced by the shovel is directed more effectively by the concave surface to one side of the shank to improve crop residue flow and incorporation, and the concave shape significantly improves the bending strength of the shovel over that of flat-twisted shovels of comparable width and thickness.

This invention relates generally to a tillage implement and more specifically to a shovel for such an implement.
Chisel plows and similar ground tillage implements have utilized a twisted shovel with a substantially flat forwardly facing surface and with forwardly facing upper and lower end portions transversely offset with respect to each other. The soil is raised by the lower portion and ideally follows the forwardly facing surface so that it is turned and falls on top of trash. Generally the upper and lower portions are offset laterally with respect to each other so that as the soil follows the forward surface around the shovel it will be displaced to one side of the groove or furrow being formed by the lower portion of the shovel. Twisted shovels are designed to lift and turn the ground to allow aeration and moisture entry and reduce soil erosion. Turning the soil results in better trash coverage and better mixing which, for example, is advantageous when fertilizer is to be incorporated into the soil.
Typical of previous twisted shovels, the soil often does not follow the forwad surface of the shovel, but instead spills over the sides of the shovel and falls back into the trench or furrow being cut. The inability of the shovels to properly direct the flow of soil is especially evident when moisture conditions are not optimum, for example when the soil is extremely dry. Often the shovel will bulldoze the soil rather than cause it to ribbon about its contour, which results in ineffective mixing and covering. In addition, the generally flat-surfaced twisted shovels often cannot direct trash flow effectively. As trash slides over the edges of the shovel rather than lifting and turning with the contour, it tends to ball up in front of the shank. Because the trash and soil do not lift and turn, coverage and mixing is reduced. Many of the advantages of utilizing the twisted shovel design, including increased trash coverage and mixing as well as better aeration and increased erosion reistance, are lost when the soil and trash do not follow the contour of the shovel.
Another disadvantage of the twisted shovels typical of previous designs is lack of resistance to bending near the portion of the shovekl which engages the soil. To increase the bending strength, shovels have typically been made thicker or wider.


A coffee brewing machine utilizes a microprocessor controller and, preferably, preformed coffee filter packs in which the filter packs form a rectangular array. The microprocessor controller regulates the temperature of the prepared coffee in the reservoir at the base of the machine, the operation of the water distributor in the swingable lid or cover of the machine and of other operating conditions thereof.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,781, I have described an infusion apparatus, namely, an automatic coffee brewer in which a fresh water reservoir was connectable with a plurality of coffee-brewing compartments through a distributor utilizing a pump arrangement and has a brewed-coffee reservoir into which the brewing compartments discharged to enable the brewed coffee to be dispensed.
It is known, moreover, to provide such apparatus with a timer for initiating a brewing cycle at a given point in time so that, for example, a pot of brewed coffee will be available to the user in the morning without any preparatory steps by such user before the beverage is prepared on that day. Indeed, with the development of more sophisticated user-friendly apparatus for the brewing of coffee, systems have been proposed which incorporate coffee grinders as well as systems for the production of a variety of infusion beverages in a single machine.
The various apparatuses which provide for sequence control of a number of steps and procedures which can be selected by the user have not generally been made available for use in coffee shops, diners and restaurants, i.e. for commercial or institutional beverage production. Moreover, there is a need for an apparatus which can substantially automatically produce large amounts of infusion beverages in succession for locations of high demand and without the need for an operator determination as to when the brewing of a fresh batch may be required.
It is important, moreover, for restaurant use, for use in convenience stores where infusion beverages like coffee may be continuously produced and in like applications to be able to supply a variety of infusion beverages, especially decaffeinated coffee and regular or nondecaffeinated coffee as well as hot water for tea as demand arises and, in particular, to freshly brew infusion beverages when such need arises.


A structural component for a ship hull has a metal element, an electro-conductive element, and a non-conductive element which disconnects the metal element from the electro-conductive element so as to prevent an electrical contact of the electro-conductive element with the metal element.

The present invention relates to a structural component for producing hulls for ships, to a ship hull containing the same, as well as to a method of manufacturing of the material and the ship hull.
It is known to use for construction of ship hulls fiber-reinforced plastics which are generally corrosion resistant. It has been however recognized that plastics reinforced with carbon fibers for enhancing structural efficiency of ship hulls can induce galvanic corrosion in attached metal structures or metal fasteners.
It is therefore believed to be desirable to provide materials and/or structural components used for making ship hulls, which eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages.

Structural component for producing ship hulls, ship hulls containing the same, and method of manufacturing the same


A presentation supporting system is constructed to be space-saving and to allow compact packing under a non-service condition. In the presentation supporting system, the presentation conditions are adjusted adequately without much labor and time. The presentation supporting system of the invention has a table on which a subject matter is placed, a camera head unit for taking a visual image of the subject matter, a camera supporting base member projecting upright from a rear side of the table, and a folding camera supporting arm member to which the camera head unit is fixed. The folding camera supporting arm member is stretched upward under a service condition and is folded under a non-service condition. The presentation supporting system includes a control circuit having an EEPROM which stores settings of control buttons on a front operation panel and a control panel when a key set button is activated. These settings include selection of auxiliary lighting units for reflecting light or a base light unit for transmitting light, a sound output volume, an iris opening, a focal position, a zoom range, settings of a white balance mode and a display mode. The control circuit reads an operating condition of the key set button immediately after power is supplied, and reproduces the settings stored in the EEPROM under an ON condition of the key set button. Under an OFF condition of the key set button the control circuit sets default values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a presentation supporting system which takes a visual image of a material placed on a table with a video camera and outputs a reproduction image representing the material to an external display unit, and also to a control device used in the presentation supporting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over-head projectors (OHP) are most popular visual presenters used in a variety of fields. With significant improvement of CCD (charge coupled device) cameras, novel presentation supporting systems using a CCD camera have been developed and proposed. In such a presentation supporting system, a visual image of a material, a sample, or another subject matter placed on a table is taken with a CCD camera disposed above the table, and is output as video signals to an external television set or video tape recorder. Stationary presentation supporting systems generally include a video camera such as a 3-plate CCD camera which requires a relatively large space.
In the presentation supporting system with a large-sized CCD camera for expanding a shooting range, the CCD camera with a certain lens system should be held with an arm member a predetermined distance apart from the material on the table to ensure a required shooting distance. This makes the whole presentation supporting system undesirably large and bulky. Such large-sized presentation supporting systems do not cause significant problems in the process of presentation, but cause bulky packaging and difficulty in shipment and require a large space for storage.
The above problem may be solved by an improved structure where the arm member for holding the CCD camera is folded from its base as a support arm of a condenser of the OHP. This improved system still has a problem that a long arm member for holding the CCD camera at a certain position sufficiently apart from the table is partly located out of the table under the folded condition. This requires a packaging box to have a relatively complicated shape.
A novel presentation supporting system which can be compactly stored and packed in a simple shape of a packaging box has accordingly been required.
With rapid development of image processing technology, advanced functions have been added to the presentation supporting system.
In a typical presentation supporting system with advanced functions, the operator can arbitrarily set presentation conditions including selection of lighting, selection of data input, the iris conditions, selection of either B&W display or color display, and the color balance. The presentation conditions further include the amplification or sound volume when a microphone can be connected to the presentation supporting system. The operator can also select an external display system for showing a reproduction image out of plural options or an input system of video signals out of plural options. In the multi-functional presentation supporting system, effective presentation including clear reproduction is attained through adequate adjustment of these presentation conditions.
With significant increase in the presentation conditions, a relatively long time is required for adjustment of these conditions. For example, when the material placed on the table is a type-written sheet or sample, an auxiliary lighting unit disposed above the table is generally used as a reflected light source. When the material is a X-ray film or slide, on the other hand, a base light unit built in the table is generally used as a transmitted light source. The iris control and the color balance should also be varied according to the type of the material. These conditions are generally adjusted by operating a variety of switches mounted on the presentation supporting system. These is, however, a problem that the presentation conditions once set by an operator, for example, for X-ray films are returned to the initial settings every time when the power is turned off, or are changed to other conditions when another operator uses the system to show another type of material.
In actual presentation, a plurality of materials should be shown within a short time period. The materials used in presentation are prepared to meet an identical set of presentation conditions since manual adjustment of the presentation conditions requires a relatively long time. In other cases, a plurality of presentation supporting systems are used to show different types of materials.


A lateral bracing system having high initial stiffness and including yield links capable of effectively dissipating stresses generated within the lateral bracing system under lateral loads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hysteretic damping for structures used in light-framed constructions, and in particular to a lateral bracing system constructed to provide a high degree of energy dissipation through hysteretic damping along with high initial stiffness so that energy is dissipated at low force thresholds within a light-framed construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shear stresses due to natural phenomena such as seismic activity and high winds can have devastating effects on the structural integrity of light-framed constructions. Lateral forces generated during such natural phenomena may cause the top portion of a wall to move laterally with respect to the bottom portion of the wall, which movement can result in damage or structural failure of the wall and, in some instances, collapse of the building.
In constructions such as residences and small buildings, lateral bracing systems were developed to counteract the potentially devastating effects of shear stress on the structural integrity of light-framed constructions. Although various designs are known, typical lateral bracing systems include vertical studs spaced from each other and affixed to horizontal top and bottom plates. The bottom plate is typically anchored to the floor diaphragm or foundation. The bracing system typically further includes sheathing affixed to the studs, upper plate and/or lower plate to increase structural performance under lateral forces. The sheathing used may be oriented strand board (OSB) or plywood, but fiberboard, particleboard and drywall (gypsum board) are also used.
Alternatively or additionally, light-framed construction wall sections may include lateral bracing systems in the form of prefabricated shearwalls. Shearwalls within wall sections of light-framed constructions provide lateral stability and allow the lateral forces in the wall sections to be transmitted from the upper portions of the wall through the shearwalls to the floor diaphragm or foundation of the building where they are dissipated without structural effect on the wall or building.
Many conventional lateral bracing systems perform well initially under lateral loads, but yield and fail upon the repetitive lateral loads which often occur during significant seismic activity and high winds. Upon appreciable yield or failure of the lateral bracing system, the entire system must be replaced.
It is known to provide conventional high strength walls that are capable of withstanding significant lateral loads that occur during seismic and other events. However, such walls place high demands on foundation anchorage and the foundation itself. Namely, the holdown bolts and foundation must also be made strong enough to withstand the large forces transmitted from the wall as they are dissipated through the holdown bolts and into the foundation. Therefore, while stronger walls conventionally perform better under the seismic activity and other loads, conventional design requirements attendant stronger walls cascade throughout the entire structure, requiring stronger foundation anchorage and stronger foundations.
A further difficulty with conventional lateral bracing walls is that the corners of such walls tend to bind against their support surfaces under lateral loads. FIG. 1 shows a conventional shearwall 20 mounted at its bottom on a support surface 22 and at its top to a pair of top plates 24. A lateral force F as shown will result in a downward force F1 at point A and an upward force F2 at point B. Under high lateral loads, these upward and downward loads can damage the wall 20 and/or the support structures above and below the wall.


A non-linear processing device (1) is presented, in which fractional-delay filtering (20)—fractional as compared with a sample rate used in the processing steps—is used between successive processing steps (10). A corresponding method is also presented. The fractional delay (20) exposes the signal in-between the original samples to the non-linear processing (30, 40). A lower sample rate or a higher signal quality can thus be achieved. The so-called fractional sample delays are preferably chosen differently for different systems depending on bandwidths, number of channels, number of non-linear processing steps (10) and other varying factors. The multi-step non-linear processing (10) concept of the invention is preferably used within a cascade of non-linear modifications and/or filtering steps (10).

In many systems, there is a need to process a signal non-linearly, so that the signal stays within certain (constant or signal-dependent) boundaries. It is often desirable that the signal also is kept within a certain bandwidth. In particular in radio signal applications, this ensures that it does not spill over into adjacent channels or exceeds spectral emission limits.
When non-linear processing and filtering force a time-discrete signal to stay within certain boundaries, this can generally only be guaranteed at the sample instants. As the time-discrete signal is converted into time-continuous form, or upsampled to a higher sampling rate, it will typically exhibit overshoots that go outside the set boundaries, sometimes far outside. Generally, lower oversampling ratio (OSR) and sharper non-linear processing give rise to larger overshoots that are seen after upsampling or conversion to time-continuous form.
The traditional solution to this problem is to perform the non-linear/filter processing at a sufficiently high rate from the start. The problem with such solution is that processing at a higher sample rate (higher OSR) costs more in terms of operations per second, amount of hardware, or power consumption.

Multi-step non-linear time-discrete processing


A fluorescent lamp of the type comprising a U-shaped glass tube whose inside surface is coated with fluorescent materials and which is filled with mercury vapor and rare gas, two electrodes at the ends of the glass tube, and a cap or base which bridges between the ends of the glass tube. As compared with the incandescent lamps with the same wattages the luminous efficiency and lamp life are remarkably improved, and the fluorescent lamps may be made considerably compact in size.

The present invention relates to generally fluorescent lamps whose inside surface is coated with fluorescent materials and which are filled with mercury vapor and rare gas and more particularly U-shaped fluorescent lamps which are extremely compact in size.
Of all the light sources the incandescent lamps have the highest degrees of freedom in design. In other words they are superior in compactness to other light sources. As a result they have been widely used in various fields. However their luminous efficiency and lamp life are about 1/5 of those of the fluorescent lamps so that from the standpoint of efficient use of energy they are disadvantageous.
The fluorescent lamps may be divided in general into the straight and circular types, but both the types are not so compact as to be used instead of the incandescent lamps.


The Application describes a method and devices for manufacturing a broadband cholesteric polarizer having a well-defined bandwidth and edge position. To this end, a liquid-crystalline cholesterically ordered layer comprising reactive chiral monomers and reactive nematogenic monomers having a different reactivity is polymerized by exposure to radiation. The invention is characterized in that the intensity of the radiation is increased substantially, preferably by a factor of 10 or more, when a desired edge position of the band is reached. As a result, the bandwidth and edge position of the reflection band reached at that moment are frozen as it were. A monochromatic sensor can be used to determine whether said edge position has been reached, the wavelength used by the sensor corresponding to the wavelength of the desired edge position of the band. Broadband, cholesteric polarizers having a well-defined bandwidth and edge position can very advantageously be used in a display.

The invention relates to apparatus for manufacturing a broadband cholesteric polarizer, in which a liquid-crystalline, cholesterically ordered layer comprising reactive chiral monomers and reactive nematogenic monomers of different reactivity is polymerized by exposure to radiation.
Broadband cholesteric polarizers and methods of manufacturing same are known per se, for example, from EP-A 0606939 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,603), EP-A 0606940 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,704) and WO 96/02016 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,044). By means of cholesteric polarizers it is possible to convert unpolarized light to circularly polarized light in a substantially loss-free manner. Polarizers of this type comprise a thin layer of a cholesterically (i.e. chirally nematically) ordered material. This material contains chiral, liquid-crystalline molecules having such a structure that they order themselves more or less spontaneously into a spiral-shaped or helical structure. The pitch of this helix can be increased by adding a quantity of a non-chiral, liquid-crystalline (i.e. nematogenic) material to the chiral, liquid-crystalline material. The exact pitch is governed by the ratio between the quantities of chiral and non-chiral liquid-crystalline molecules as well as by their chemical structure.
If this material is provided in the form of a thin layer on a substrate or between two substrates, the helical structure assumes such an orientation that the axis of the helix extends transversely to the layer. Such a layer is capable of reflecting a narrow band of light whose wavelength corresponds to the product of the pitch and the refractive index of the material and whose direction of polarization corresponds to the handedness of the helical structure. By virtue of this property, a cholesteric layer can very suitably be used in an optical polarizer. It is noted that the expression "the refractive index" of a material is to be understood to mean in this context the geometric mean (n.sub.e +n.sub.o)/2 of the ordinary refractive index n.sub.o and the extraordinary refractive index n.sub.e of this material.
Broadband cholesteric polarizers are distinguished from the customary cholesteric polarizers by the presence of a relatively broad reflection band. The bandwidth of the customary cholesteric polarizers is only approximately 40-50 nm. In the case of broadband polarizers, bandwidths of 100 nm, 150 nm, 200 nm and even more than 400 nm have been achieved. It is noted that the band position of a cholesteric filter is defined as the center of the wavelength range in which the reflection takes place. A width of a band is defined as the difference in wavelength between the long-wave and the short-wave edge positions of the band. The wavelength of an edge position is defined as the wavelength at which the intensity amounts to 50% of the maximum intensity.
EP 606940 describes an elegant method of manufacturing a broadband cholesteric polarizer. Use is made of a mixture comprising reactive chiral monomers and reactive nematogenic monomers, which exhibit a different reactivity. For the reactive monomers use can be made of compounds containing a reactive group on the basis of acrylates, epoxy compounds, vinylethers and thiolene systems, as described, inter alia, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,760. Monomers containing different reactive groups generally exhibit a different reactivity. A difference in reactivity also occurs if one type of monomers contains one reactive group and the other type of monomers contains two (identical) reactive groups.
A layer of this mixture is polymerized by means of (actinic) radiation, in particular UV radiation. In this process, the conditions are selected in such a manner that during the polymerization operation a radiation profile of varied intensity is formed in the layer. As a result, diffusion processes take place in the cholesteric layer during polymerization. This leads to a variation in the composition of the helical structure, so that the pitch, viewed across the thickness of the layer, varies within certain limits. As a result, this cholesteric polarizer exhibits a relatively broad reflection band.
It has been found that the method described in EP-A 696940 can be improved. The Applicant has experimentally established that small fluctuations, for example in the radiation gradient or in the UV intensity, can strongly influence the diffusion processes of the reactive monomers. This may lead to relatively large differences in the bandwidth of the cholesteric polarizers manufactured by means of said known method. Therefore said known method should be improved, in particular, with respect to the reproducible manufacture of polarizers having a correct position of one of the two edges of the reflection band. This applies, for example, to polarizers as described in EP-A 95203209.2 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,444).

Apparatus for manufacturing a broadband cholesteric polarizer


A transparent film is provided, enabling a printed matter that is less likely to exhibit apparently white-tinged images and has less degraded image quality. The transparent film of an embodiment of the present application includes a support; an anti-reflection layer disposed on one side of the support; and an ink-absorbing layer disposed on the other side of the support. The anti-reflection layer preferably has, on the surface thereof on the side opposite to the support, an anti-reflection structure with multiple protrusions disposed at a pitch not greater than the visible light wavelength.

Black colors of film photos among printed matters look deeper so that the image quality thereof is high, but the incident light reflects on the surfaces thereof in bright places so that the visibility thereof may decrease. Thus, Patent Literatures 1 to 3, for example, each propose a laminated printed matter including such a printed matter and an anti-reflection layer disposed on the viewing side surface of the printed matter. Examples of known anti-reflection layers include resin films and inorganic films with a monolayer or multilayer structure of materials having different refractive indexes, as well as a moth-eye structure which is one of nanometer-scale rough structures (nanostructures) (for example, see Patent Literatures 4 to 6). The moth-eye structure may have a large number of nanometer-scale, substantially conical protrusions on the surface of a support. Such a moth-eye structure provides a continuously varying refractive index from the air layer to the support, significantly reducing reflected light. For good productivity, the anti-reflection layer is usually formed on a transparent support (hereinafter, the resulting workpiece is also referred to as an anti-reflection film), and then is closely attached to the viewing side surface of a printed matter in many cases.

Transparent film, printed matter, printing device, and printing unit


A fiber bundle for image transmission includes pluralities of first optical fibers and a plurality of second optical fibers. Both pluralities of optical fibers being tied at their distal ends to form a composite bundle portion. The first optical fibers being tied at their proximal ends to form a first branched bundle portion and the second optical fibers being tied at their proximal ends to form a second branched bundle portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fiber bundle consisting of a plurality of optical fibers tied in a bundle, and an endoscope apparatus capable of photographing tomographic images of a object inside a living body or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An endoscope system used for observing the interior of a patient""s body cavity has an endoscope to be inserted into the patient""s body cavity and an external unit connected to this endoscope. The external unit includes a light source section and a processor.
The endoscope has an elongate insertion cube to be inserted to the patient""s body cavity. The endoscope also has an illumination optical system, an objective optical system and a CCD. The illumination optical system, connected with the light source section in the external unit, illuminates an object (which is an inner wall of the body cavity) through an illuminating window provided at the distal end of the insertion tube. The objective optical system forms an image of the object through an observing window provided at the distal end of the insertion tube. The CCD is placed near an image-forming plane of the objective optical system, and connected to the processor in the external unit. Through the insertion tube is laid a forceps charnel which is opened at the distal end of the insertion tube. Through the forceps channel, a forceps or various operative instruments are guided to the distal end of the insertion tube from the proximal end thereof.
By using such an endoscope system, the operator can observe the interior of a patient""s body cavity. More specifically, the operator inserts the endoscope into the patient""s body cavity, and illuminates a inner wall of body cavity through the illumination optical system. Then, the objective optical system forms the image of the inner wall of the body cavity onto a pick-up plane of the CCD surface. The CCD converts this image into image signals, and transmits the same to the processor in the external unit. The processor in the external unit then processes the received image signals of the inner wall of the body cavity to display the picture of the inner wall onto a monitor. In this state, the operator observes the interior of the patient""s body cavity, displayed on the monitor.
If finding a location having the possibility of cancer or a tumor through this observation, the operator inserts a forceps or a biopsy needle into the body cavity through the forceps channel of the endoscope so as to excise tissue from the location. Thus excised tissue is objected to pathologic tests, and a diagnosis is given on the basis of the pathologic test results.
According to the conventional endoscope system of the above-described configuration, what is displayed as images is nothing but the surface of the inner wall of the patient""s body cavity. Therefore, biopsy is needed in order to know the condition of tissue under the surface of inner wall of the body cavity. In particular, biopsy is absolutely necessary for early detection of cancer, small tumors, and the like. Nevertheless, the pathologic tests on the tissue excised through the biopsy inevitably consume some time, resulting in a problem that the final diagnosis gets behind.
Moreover, with consideration given to the burden on the patient, the biopsy must be limited in area and in the number of times. Accordingly, simply administering pathologic tests not always promises an accurate diagnosis if lesions might also exist outside the operator-designated biopsy location.
An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope apparatus which makes it possible to give an accurate diagnosis in a short time, and a fiber bundle which can be used in such endoscope apparatus.
A fiber bundle according to the present invention, having been devised to achieve the foregoing object has a plurality of first optical fibers and a plurality of second optical fibers. These two types of optical fibers are tied at their distal ends to form a composite bundle portion. The first optical fibers are tied at their proximal ends to form a first branched bundle portion. The second optical fibers are tied at their proximal ends to form a second branched bundle portion.
In the composite bundle portion, both the optical fibers may be tied so that respective distal ends of the first optical fibers and respective distal ends of the second optical fibers are alternately arranged into a checkered pattern to form a square close-packed array as a whole. Moreover, in the composite bundle portion, both the optical fibers may be tied so that each of the first optical fibers is surrounded with six of the second optical fibers to form a hexagonal close-packed array as a whole. Furthermore, in the composite bundle portion, both the optical fibers may be tied so that the first optical fibers are juxtaposed to each other and that the second optical fibers are arranged around the first optical fibers in a square close-packed array or hexagonal close-packed array.
In the first branched bundle portion, the first optical fibers may be arranged in either of a hexagonal close-packed array and a square close-packed array. Similarly, in the second branch bundle, the second optical fibers may be arranged in either of a hexagonal close-packed array and a square close-packed array.
An endoscope apparatus according to the present invention, having been devised to achieve the foregoing object has the fiber bundle described above, third optical fibers as many as the first optical fibers in the fiber bundle, an optical coupler, a low-coherent light source, an objective optical system, a reflecting member, an optical path length adjusting mechanism, a photodetector and a control section. The optical coupler optically couples each of the first optical fibers to corresponding one of third optical fibers. The low-coherent light source is arranged on the proximal ends of either the first optical fibers or the third optical fibers, so as to emit low-coherent light to be incident on the optical fibers. The objective optical system is opposed to the distal end of the composite bundle and individually converges low-coherent light beams emitted from the respective distal ends of the first optical fibers in the composite bundle portion and converges the respective low-coherent light beams reflected by an object to be incident on optical fibers as measurement light beams. The reflecting member is opposed to the respective distal ends of the third optical fibers and reflects low-coherent light beams emitted from those respective distal ends to be incident on the third optical fibers as reference light beams. The optical path length adjusting mechanism makes a relative change between the optical path length from the optical coupler to the object through the respective first optical fibers and the optical path length from the optical coupler to the reflecting member through the respective third optical fibers. The photodetector is arranged on the proximal ends of the other of the first optical fibers and the third optical fibers and detects interfered light beams caused by interferences between the measurement light beams and the reference light beams. The control section forms a tomographic image of the object on the basis of a signal detected by the photodetector while the optical path length adjusting mechanism makes the a relative change.
Here, the low-coherent light source may be a super-luminescent diode. This low-coherent light source may be arranged on the proximal end of the first optical fibers with the photodetector on the proximal end of the third optical fibers. Alternatively, the low-coherent light source may be arranged on the proximal end of the third optical fibers, with the photodetector on the proximal end of the first optical fibers.
The first optical fibers in the fiber bundle and the third optical fibers maybe a single-mode optical fiber, respectively. The individual first optical fibers in the fiber bundle, the individual third optical fibers, and the optical coupler may have the property of polarization.
The optical path length adjusting mechanism mentioned above may have the structure of moving the reflecting member so as to approach or recede from the distal ends of the third optical fibers to change the optical path length from the optical coupler to the reflecting member through the respective third optical fibers with respect to the optical path length from the optical coupler to the object through the respective first optical fibers. A piezo element may be used as the mechanism for driving the reflecting member. A voice coil motor, a servomotor, or the like may be used instead thereof.
The optical path length adjusting mechanism may change the optical path length from the optical coupler to the object through the first optical fibers with the reflecting member held stationary. The reflecting member may be a reference mirror, a corner cube, or the like.
Furthermore, the endoscope apparatus may be capable of ordinary observations and fluorescence observations through the second optical fibers in the fiber bundle.
The displaying section may include a CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like.


A pedestal closure assembly having a housing that defines an enclosed interior space and includes two side walls, a front wall, a rear wall, an upper portion and a lower portion. A mounting plate is supported by the housing in the interior space and serves to support electronic interconnection blocks. A grounding element to enable grounding of electrical equipment connected to any electronic interconnection block is also attached to the mounting plate. The lower portion of the housing has a scoop-shaped structure and a step structure to allow substantially vertically aligned installation and enhanced anchoring in a support medium such as earth, concrete and the like. The step portion may be formed on either the front wall or rear wall of the lower portion of the housing. The housing, mounting plate scoop-shaped structure and step structure is constructed of non-metallic material, such as high density polyethylene, or HDPE.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pedestal closure assemblies for storing power and telecommunications equipment, and more particularly to pedestal closure assemblies configured to promote ease of installation and enhanced anchoring in a support medium in a substantially vertical alignment.
2. Description of Related Art
Telecommunications, cable television, power distribution equipment and the like, including primary cable loops, terminal blocks, and connections between the primary cable loop and the terminal blocks are commonly located out-of-plant or outdoors. Since the necessary equipment is located outside, a protective covering is required to protect the equipment from human interference as well as from the environment. Therefore, such protective coveting must provide structural as well as environmental protection.
Typically, the protective covering is produced in the form of a pedestal. The pedestal structure includes a housing with a sufficient volume in a minimum area and in a convenient working orientation for containing the aforementioned equipment. Inside the housing, cable pairs may be interconnected to each other. Such interconnections are made at a connector block which is mounted to a universal mounting plate inside the closure. The connector block includes a number of terminals and the pairs of wires in the cable are stripped of their insulation and connected to the terminals.
A base portion, or lower end, of the closure housing is recessed and secured in the ground, and has a passageway to permit a cable to extend therethrough. The cable is covered by a top portion, or upper end, of the housing which attaches to the base portion. The pedestal, when assembled and installed, should have sufficient structural strength to resist minor impacts as well as other environmental conditions such as wind, snow accumulation or precipitation impact.
Heretofore, these pedestal closure assemblies typically have been installed in the ground by digging a hole large enough to fit the entire square-shaped base portion, or lower end. The large lower end is then placed into the hole, the ground is back-filled into the hole, and a stake is inserted into the ground and attached to the lower end thereby further securing the lower end in the ground. However, square-shaped base portion prior art pedestals that use ground stakes to maintain vertical alignment are not secure in the ground. They tip over in inclement weather and when jostled, for example, by heavy machinery that is used around the pedestals.
Once the ground stake has been added and the pedestal is stabilized in the ground, the universal mounting plate is then installed in the housing, and the top portion, or upper end, is finally locked onto the lower end.
A commercially available non-metallic sealed plant telephone enclosure sold by Channel Commercial Corporation and apparently disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,374 has a generally scoop-shaped lower end, but does not have a step portion formed on the housing for stabilization. As described above, a ground stake needs to be used to further stabilize the telephone enclosure in the ground, and even then, the pedestal tends to tip and be misaligned because of the inherent problems associated with separate ground stakes. Other commercially available pedestals which require a stake for further ground stabilization include Reltec Corp.'s PEDSEAL.RTM. Sealed Pedestals.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,124 discloses a pedestal with a plastic, generally scoop-shaped "stake," or lower end. The patent teaches that a separate ground stake still needs to be used to further stabilize the pedestal in the ground. Again, one can anticipate similar problems with tipping and misaliginent as are described above with the square-shaped base section prior art pedestals that require separate ground stakes for further stabilization in the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,279 discloses a cable television housing with a "tubular base member," or lower end. Again, a separate ground stake is apparently required to further stabilize the housing in the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,234 discloses a pedestal enclosure without a traditional square-shaped housing lower end. Instead, it discloses a ground stake means for stabilizing the housing in the ground that can be attached to the housing by using screws or bolts. However, the attached ground stake means does not eliminate the tipping and misalignment problems described above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,067 discloses an environmentally sealed pedestal with a square-shaped lower end. As with the other prior art assemblies disclosed above, a ground stake is needed to keep this pedestal from tipping or becoming dislodged while in the ground. As described above, however, the ground stake does not usually prevent this from happening.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,427 discloses a flood protection pedestal with a square-shaped lower end in need of a separate ground stake for stabilization when installed in the ground.
Presently, other commercially available pedestal closure assemblies are constructed of metal and most have generally square-shaped lower ends which need a ground stake to ensure stable installation into the ground. This construction presents various problems. For example, the pedestals are difficult to install and have a tendency to be misaligned when installed as well as lean or tilt in the ground after they have absorbed physical impact and environmental attack over a period of time. Furthermore, a large hole needs to be dug in order to fit the entire lower end of these prior art pedestals into the ground. Also, complete installation of such pedestals requires a stabilizing ground stake to be inserted into the ground to prevent the pedestal closure assembly from tipping after installation in the support medium. As with all of the prior art pedestal closures that need separate ground stakes for increased stabilization in the ground, in practice, these stakes are often installed incorrectly (at the wrong angle) or in the wrong place causing many of the presently installed pedestal closure assemblies to tip or tilt anyway shortly after installation in a support medium such as earth, cement and the like.
Additionally, the costs involved with fabricating metal pedestal closure assemblies are generally higher than for non-metallic ones. Furthermore, since metal pedestal closure assemblies are relatively heavy, it takes costly and time-consuming labor to install them correctly and to ensure that they do not begin to lean after installation and extended physical and environmental impact in a support medium.


A support assembly for a digital photo frame is provided. The support assembly comprises a base member, a pivot member, a support arm, a positioning structure, and a an elastic member. The base member comprises two side walls spaced from each other. The support arm comprises a connection end disposed between the two side walls and is rotatably attached to the base member via the pivot member. The connection end comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other. The pivot member is attached across the two side walls. The positioning structure is disposed on the first surface and the side wall opposite the first surface and comprises a projection portion and at least two concave portions. The projection portion is capable of being received in the at least two concave portions, the two concave portions intersect to form an edge.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to component support assemblies and, more particularly, to a support assembly used for a digital photo frame.
2. Description of Related Art
Digital photo frames are devices for displaying electronic image files and usually include a stand to support the digital photo frame. One common type of stand usually includes a leg which is pivotally hinged about a horizontal axis. When in use, the leg can be angularly displaced between a first position in which it lies generally flush with the rear face of the back cover of the digital photo frame and a second or extended limiting position in which it lies at an angle to the rear face. With the leg in its extended position, the digital photo frame can stand stably on a horizontal surface in an upright or slightly leaning back attitude, being supported in this state by the leg.
This type of stand usually also includes a fixing structure to keep the leg in the first position and/or the second position. One fixing structure is simply achieved via the frictional force between the leg and the hinge to which the leg is attached. Other fixing structures are also used.
Although this type of stand with these fixing structure works up to the expectations, a stand with a new and better fixing structure is still needed.

Support assembly and digital photo frame using the same

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a coating composition comprising a reaction product UA of at least one multifunctional aldehyde A with at least one cyclic urea U, and a crosslinkable resin having at least one kind of functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl functional groups, acid functional groups, amide functional groups, amino functional groups, imino functional groups, mercaptan functional groups, phosphine functional groups, and carbamate functional groups, characterised in that the degree of etherification, measured as the ratio «(13 O—R)/«(U) of the amount of substance n(—O—R) of alkoxy groups as substituents of the aldehyde carbon atoms of the multifunctional aldehyde chemically bound in the reaction product UA to the amount of substance «(U) of cyclic urea U chemically bound in the reaction products, is less than 0.01 mol/mol, and to a process for the preparation of the reaction product UA.

Industrial coatings are used to protect the surface of a substrate against deterioration brought about by the action of light, humidity, wear, atmospheric oxygen, and other chemicals, and to impart the desired appearance such as colour, gloss, and surface structure. In many cases, such coatings are based on organic polymers which show good adhesion to the substrate and form a film free from defects such as pores or blisters. Film formation, also referred to as drying, is the transition of the coating composition applied to the solid state. The solid film can be formed from a solution by removal of solvent or from a dispersion by removal of the dispersing agent, or from a melt by cooling. In this case, and if no chemical reaction occurs, this is referred to as "physical drying". In the so-called chemical drying, chemical reactions occur during film formation which lead to crosslinked macromolecules. Such crosslinking may be caused by chemical reaction of low molar mass molecules, oligomers or macromolecules between themselves, such as addition or condensation reactions, or radiation induced or thermally induced polymerisation, or by the action of added polyfunctional molecules, the so-called crosslinkers, which react with functional groups of polymers usually referred to as binder resins.
A well-known class of crosslinkers used in conjunction with binder resins having active hydrogen-containing reactive groups, such as hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, are the so-called amino resins, which are hydroxy functional adducts of aldehydes, generally formaldehyde, and organic amino compounds such as triazines, particularly preferably melamine, and urea or derivatives of these, the hydroxyl groups of which are usually at least partially etherified with lower alcohols such as methanol, and n- or iso-butanol. These crosslinkers suffer from the drawback that formaldehyde, inter alia, is liberated during the curing or crosslinking reaction. Emission of formaldehyde is environmentally undesirable. Additionally, many of these amino resins need temperatures typically of at least 80° C. to act as crosslinkers. Heating to such elevated temperatures is both time-consuming and energy-consuming.
In the PCT application WO2009/073836 A1, a process is disclosed for the preparation of crosslinkers based on reaction products of cyclic ureas and multifunctional aldehydes having at least two aldehyde groups which can be used in coating compositions comprising active hydrogen containing resins, such as hydroxy functional alkyd, acrylic, urethane or epoxy resins, and which coating compositions can be cured with such crosslinkers even at ambient temperature. The coatings prepared therewith showed good stability against solvents, and were not prone to yellowing. This process makes use of a multi-step reaction sequence where in the first step, the aldehyde component is mixed with an alcohol, and reacted under acidic conditions leading to formation of hemiacetals and acetals, and then in the second step, this mixture is reacted with a cyclic urea which may be preformed, or formed in situ. Depending on the reaction time, reaction conditions, and storage time in the first step, the hemiacetals and acetals may undergo oligomerisation, disproportionation and condensation reactions, leading to formation of a mixture of individual compounds such as mono- and diacetals of monomeric, dimeric or trimeric glyoxal, esters of glyoxylic acid, and glycolates. See S. Mahajani and M. M. Sharma in Organic Process Research and Development, 1997, No. 1, pages 97 to 105; and J. M. Kliegman and R. K. Barnes, J. Org. Chem., Vol. 38 (1973), No. 3, pages 556 et seq. The composition of this mixture has been found to be difficult to control. Owing to the fact that the aldehyde is converted to its acetal or hemiacetal, there is no possibility to form non-etherified adducts.
In the Japanese Patent Publication 53-044567, reaction of glyoxal with cyclic urea (2:1 mole ratio) in presence of a strong acid is disclosed. Our attempts at reacting glyoxal with ethylene urea (at a ratio of the amounts of substance of 1.2:1 mol/mol) in presence of a strong acid led to the formation of a rubbery gel-like solid product unusable for surface coating applications.

Non-etherified reaction product of a cyclic urea and a multifunctional aldehyde


A flow meter comprises a housing with a tube, a floater inside the tube, and a permanent magnet embracing the housing. The volume of a fluid being passed through the tube defines the height of the floater position in the tube. The floater is equipped with a rotation coil and bulb connected thereto. Rotating the floater in the magnetic field of the permanent magnet under the influence of a fluid induces a voltage in the coil, and the bulb is turned on making reading volume values easier and more convenient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flow meters, and more specifically to flow meters with self-illuminating floaters.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is frequently necessary in an industrial setting to measure the flow of fluids through pipes. For example, in bulk processing of compounds in chemical plants the amount of various fluids being introduced into a reaction vessel must be determined and controlled. In plant operations requiring pressurized air or steam it is often desirable or necessary to monitor consumption of these fluids. In other instances, the supplier of a working fluid or fuel desires to know the quantity of fluid delivered in order that an appropriate fee may be charged. A number of fluid flow measuring devices are currently known.
The most commonly used fluid flow metering devices can be generally categorized as belonging to one of the following groups.
Positive displacement meters function by receiving and discharging discrete volumes of fluid through, for example, a reciprocating piston in a cylinder. The number of cycles of such a device occurring in a unit period of time is proportional to the flow rate of fluid passing through the meter. Although accurate, positive displacement meters are mechanically complex and are highly sensitive to foreign matter contamination.
Obstruction type meters employ an orifice or other restriction in the fluid path and the flow rate is calculated from the measured pressure drop across the restriction. Those meters generally have limited measurement ranges and are highly sensitive to the flow patterns of the fluid passing therethrough. Moreover, obstruction meters provide instantaneous flow measurement, which must be integrated to evaluate total flow.
Rotating vane type meters are frequently used in measuring fluid flow. These meters function by causing the flowing fluid to impart a tangential force on an impeller causing rotation thereof. The rotational velocity of the impeller is related to volumetric flow rate.
Variable area flow meter provides a weighted member movably disposed across an orifice such that the position of the weighted member determines the orifice area. The weighted member provides an essentially constant fluid head against the fluid entering the system so that the displacement of the weighted member is essentially a linear relation with the rate of volumetric flow of the fluid.
The principal advantage of a variable area flow meter is that, at low cost, it provides a wide range of capacity with low system resistances and is essentially linear. One well-known and popular form of variable area flow meter, often called a rotameter and considered the closest analog to the present invention, is shown in FIG. 1. A flow meter 10 utilizes a floater 12 moving vertically within a tapered tube 14, usually transparent, whose area increases upwardly. A diameter 16 of the metering floater 12 in the rotameter 10 is slightly less than the minimum inside diameter 18 of the tube 14, so when the floater 12 is placed within the tube 14, any clearance between the floater 12 and tube 14 forms an annular orifice 20, a cross sectional area thereof varying in accordance with the position of the floater 12. In this type of rotameter, a weighted floater 12 contained in an upright tapered tube 14 is raised to a position of equilibrium between the downward gravitational force of the floater 12 (symbolically shown by an arrow 22) and the upward force of the fluid flowing past the floater 12 through the annular orifice 20 surrounding the floater 12, which force is symbolically shown by arrows 24. This position of equilibrium is therefore a function of flow ratexe2x80x94the greater the flow rate, the higher the vertical position of the floater.
When the stream of fluid to be measured is made to enter the lower end 26 of the tube 14, it causes the floater 12 to rise to a height where its weight is just balanced by the pressure drop across the orifice 20. At the same time, the floater 12 rotates, and the very term xe2x80x9crotameterxe2x80x9d was derived from the fact that floaters have slits (like those with reference numeral 28 in FIG. 1) to impart a rotational force thereto for the purpose of centering and stabilizing the floater. The tube 14 is typically made of glass or other suitable materials imprinted with a graduated scale 30 such that the position of the floater 12 may be correlated with flow rate of the particular fluid under test. High sensor 32 and low sensor 34 may be installed outside the tube to catch the highest and lowest permissible readings, 36 and 38, respectively.
A disadvantage of the rotameter described in the above is that visual reading the results of the tests is infrequently difficult since the graduated scale 30 may not be clearly visible because of absence of outer lightxe2x80x94in dark periods of a day or when the flow meter is placed, say, under a machine. Another reason for the visual reading to be impaired is particles in the flow that may cause fouling and/or scaling of the tube 14. These reasons may cause either misreading the results or make reading impossible at all.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a flow meter that, while possessing the advantages of the flow meters known in the art, would be free of their disadvantages.
One more object of the invention is to provide a flow meter with easily readable metering results.
Still one more object of the present invention is to provide a flow meter with a self-illuminating floater.
According to the present invention, providing a variable area flow meter that comprises a housing and a floater therein attains the above objects. The housing is placed inside a U-shaped permanent magnet, and the floater includes a rotor coil. Connected to the rotor coil is a DC bulb. An ascending fluid flow rotates the floater. The rotation of the floater with the rotor coil in the magnetic field of the permanent magnet causes a direct current to flow through the bulb. Light from the bulb makes it easier to read the results of metering.

Flow meter with a self-illuminating floater

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.