A coupling element assembly for slide fasteners includes a row of laterally spaced coupling elements made of synthetic resin. A pair of warp-knit elongate webs extend transversely of the coupling elements and are embedded respectively in a pair of leg portions of each coupling element to interconnect the coupling elements. Each of the warp-knit webs comprises at least one first thread forming a wale of chain stitches and a second thread interlaced or interknitted with the first thread. The warp-knit webs have roughened surfaces having interstices into which material of the coupling elements enters for secure anchorage of the coupling elements. At least one third thread may be interlaced or interknitted with the first threads and has portions spaced longitudinally of the first threads and embedded longitudinally in the coupling elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to zippers or fasteners and more particularly to a coupling element assembly therefor.
2. Prior Art
Various coupling element assemblies have been proposed which have a row of discrete coupling elements interconnected by embedded connecting threads. Examples of such coupling element assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,414,948 and 4,033,014. Since the prior proposals employ connecting threads having a smooth surface that fails to provide a required degree of bonding strength, they make use of additional reinforcements such as widened leg portions of the coupling elements and curved portions of the connecting threads that are embedded in the coupling element leg portions, thereby strengthening the union between the coupling elements and the connecting threads.
Such reinforcing structures are disadvantageous in that their inclusion renders the overall manufacturing process complicated, and involves increased consumption of material and intricate adjustment of the tension to which the connecting threads are subjected. Another problem with the known coupling element assemblies is that the connecting threads, which are rigid enough for secure attachment of the coupling elements to a slide fastener stringer tape are not stretchable sufficiently to allow for smooth engagement and disengagement between opposed rows of coupling elements.


A thermometer-to-binary encoder includes a set of J input stage encoders E(1) through E(J) and an output encoder D, where J= 2.sup.K is an integer greater than 1. A set of digital input signals each representing a separate bit of a thermometer code T is grouped into J signal subsets representing further thermometer codes T(1) through T(J) providing inputs to a set of input stage encoders E(1) through E(J) respectively. Encoder E(J) produces an N-K+1 bit output binary code B(J) representing thermometer code T(J). Encoders E(1) through E(J-1) produce M-bit output binary codes G(1) through G(J-1), respectively, comprising the lower M bits of a binary code representing thermometer codes T(1) through T(J-1), respectively, where M is an integer greater than 1. Output encoder D processes codes G(1) through G(J-1) and B(J) to produce a set of digital output signals representing a binary code Y representing input thermometer code T.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention,relates in general to thermometer-to-binary encoding systems and in particular to an encoding system which reduces errors in an output binary code resulting from out-of-sequence errors in an input thermometer code.
1. Description of Related Art
A number may be represented by a thermometer code wherein successive bits of a data word are assigned progressively larger values. All thermometer code bits having assigned values below or the same as the number are set to a logical true state (e.g. logical "1") and all of the bits having values higher than the number are set to a logical false state (e.g. logical "0"). In a typical analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, a reference voltage is divided into a set of progressively smaller reference voltage quantum levels. A comparator associated with each quantum level compares an analog input voltage with the voltage quantum and generates an output true state if the input voltage is higher than the voltage quantum reference. The outputs of all comparators form the bits of a thermometer code representing the magnitude of the input voltage when arranged in order of the associated reference voltage quantum level magnitudes.
In comparison to most other commonly used codes, thermometer codes do not represent numbers efficiently in terms of the number of bits required. For example, an eight-bit thermometer code can represent any one of 9 different numbers (0-8) whereas a typical eight-bit binary code can represent 256 different numbers. Therefore the thermometer code output of an A/D converter is usually itself converted by an encoding circuit into another more compact and useful binary code before being transmitted as data to external data processing circuits.
A problem arises when the bits of the thermometer code are out of sequence, i.e., when logical-true bits in the code are separated by one or more intervening logical-false bits. For example thermometer code "00011101" contains an out-of-sequence error. The "span" of the out-of-sequence error is equal to the number of intervening bits between the highest order "1" in the code and the highest order in-sequence "1" In the example the out-of-sequence error span is 3. An out-of-sequence error can happen when the thermometer code is produced by an A/D converter sampling a high frequency input signal where the individual comparators of the converter do not all switch at the same speed. For example, when the input signal voltage is falling at the time the A/D converter samples it, a fast lower order comparator may switch to a low output state before a relatively slower higher order comparator. When the out-of-sequence thermometer code is applied as an input to a typical thermometer-to-binary encoder, the output of the encoder may bear little relation to the actual magnitude of the sampled voltage. For many A/D converters a good approximation of the most likely magnitude of a sampled voltage which produces an out-of-sequence thermometer code is obtained by simply counting (summing) the logical-true bits in the out-of-sequence thermometer code. Thus engineers typically define the "value" of a thermometer code as the sum of its logical-true bits.
However, for typical systems, the cost in logic stages and processing times of a mechanism to directly add the individual bits of a thermometer code is prohibitive. Practical thermometer-to-binary encoders produce an output binary code whose value is equal to the value of the input thermometer code when the input code contains no out-of-sequence errors, but whose value may differ quite significantly from the value of the input thermometer code in the presence of out-of-sequence errors. Any difference between the value of the binary output code and the value of the thermometer input code is referred to as "encoding error." In the remainder of this specification, phrases such as "thermometer-to-binary encoder," "binary representation of thermometer code," "convert thermometer code to binary," etc., refer to an apparatus for or method of converting a thermometer code to a binary code that may contain encoding errors in the presence of out-of-sequence inputs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,025 issued Apr. 29, 1986 to Daniel G. Knierim describes an error tolerant thermometer-to-binary encoder which reduces the encoding error in, for example, a 7-bit output binary code resulting from an out-of-sequence error in a 64-bit input thermometer code. The 64 1-bit signals of the thermometer code are grouped into four 16-bit subsets to form four smaller thermometer codes. Each thermometer code subset is then encoded into 5-bit binary form by a separate, conventional thermometer-to-binary encoder. The binary code outputs of the four encoders are then summed to produce the resulting binary code representing the 64-bit thermometer code. The 16-bit thermometer code subsets are grouped in such a way that each remains a legal 16-bit thermometer code as long as the out-of-sequence error in the 64-bit thermometer code has a span of less than 4. Thus, when the span of an error for the 64-bit thermometer code is less than 4, the described system produces no encoding errors. When the span is 4 or larger, encoding errors may occur, but in general they will be smaller in magnitude than the encoding errors in conventional thermometer-to-binary converters. However the described system still requires a substantial amount of hardware and processing time, but less hardware and processing time than a bit counting system.
Another problem associated with thermometer-to-binary conversion arises when a bit of the thermometer code is "metastable", at an invalid logic level intermediate in voltage between high and low logic levels. The output of a comparator is ideally one of two levels depending on the level of the input signal being sampled. But in practice a comparator may produce an output somewhere between high and low logic levels when the input signal voltage is sufficiently close to the reference voltage applied to the comparator. Also if the input voltage is changing rapidly when sampled, several comparators may produce metastable output signals simultaneously. To prevent invalid bits from being propagated through an encoder, the thermometer code output of an A/D converter is typically applied to a pipeline of clocked latches having positive feedback circuits to drive their outputs to stable high or low logic levels even when their inputs are at invalid ("metastable") levels. The stabilized output of each latch is then applied to the code conversion circuit. However this solution is hardware intensive since it requires many latches for each bit of the thermometer code.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,220 issued Mar. 22, 1988 to Daniel G. Knierim, a thermometer-to-binary code converter uses a single stage latch array to stabilize all but the least significant bit of the thermometer code. The converter then converts the thermometer code to a Gray type (adjacent) binary code wherein only the least significant bit of the Gray code is metastable. The Gray code is then stabilized by a latch pipeline. The Gray code is subsequently converted to a standard binary form. Since the Gray code has fewer bits than the thermometer code, the number of latch stages required to produce the same degree of stability for a given clock rate is greatly reduced. However the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,220 can produce non-monotonic output in response to some out-of-sequence errors.
What is needed is a system for rapidly converting thermometer codes to binary codes which limits errors due to both out-of-sequence and metastable thermometer code bits and yet requires minimal hardware and processing time.

Error tolerant thermometer-to-binary encoder


A method is provided for inputting a signal that is modulated at a predetermined frequency to a receiver signal path of a radio subsystem and demodulating the signal at the predetermined frequency as it passes through the receiver signal path, measuring signal quality of the demodulated signal, and quantitatively assessing shielding of the radio subsystem with the measured signal.

Certain abbreviations that may be found in the description and/or in the Figures are herewith defined as follows:    ADC analog to digital converter    BB base band    BER bit error rate    BLER block error rate    CDMA code division multiple access    DAC digital to analog converter    DVB-H digital video broadcasting-handheld    EMC electromagnetic compatibility    EVM error vector magnitude    FDD frequency domain division    FEM front end module    FM frequency modulation    GPS global positioning system    GSM global system for mobile communication    HB high band    IF intermediate frequency    IQ in phase/quadrature phase    ISM industrial scientific and medical    LB low band    LNA low noise amplifier    LPF low pass filter    LTE long term evolution of UTRAN (E-UTRAN)    PA power amplifier    PWB printed wired board    RF radio frequency    RFIC radio frequency integrated circuit    RFID radio frequency identification    RMS root mean square    RX receiver or received    SIR signal to interference ratio    SMD surface mounting device    SNR signal to noise ratio    TDD time domain division    TX transmitter or transmitted    UWB ultrawide band    UE user equipment    VCO voltage control oscillator    VSWR voltage standing wave ratio    WCDMA wideband code division multiple access    WiMax worldwide interoperability for microwave access    WLAN wireless local area network    WWAN wireless wide area network
Typical communication devices such as mobile phones currently can have several radio systems integrated into a single device. The typical device may support multiple bands including multiple standards for different cellular systems such as for example GSM, CDMA, and WCDMA as well as several complementary wireless systems. Further, a complementary wireless system can be for example WLAN, UWB, Bluetooth, GPS, DVB-H, FM reception/transmission, RF-ID, Flarion, WiMax and/or Galileo.
Since an increasing number of radio systems are being integrated into devices it can be seen that the number of interference sources are also increasing. For example, when a first communication device is operating at a first frequency and a second communication device is operating at a second frequency, then it is still possible that both communication devices will be interfering with each other. Alternatively in the case where the first communication device can operate at two frequency bands such as with one dedicated band for reception and a second dedicated band for transmission, the devices own transmission may interfere with its own reception.
The interference discussed previously may travel from a first radio to second radio over the air for example from a first antenna to a second antenna. Radiated power from antenna can couple to other block(s) on a PWB In addition, interference coupling can occur in a reverse direction from a radiating block to an antenna and/or from an antenna to any other block in the device. Alternatively the interference can be introduced within the transceiver implementation if any interference power at any frequency is leaked to unwanted block within the transceiver. In order to prevent this unwanted signal leak a dedicated shielding has been used in radio implementations. A shield acts like a Faraday gage, which prevents an unwanted signal radiation out or coming inside the shield.
Embodiments of this invention improve interference and signal quality testing over at least the above regimen, particularly in shielding aspects.

Qualify method for shielding of transceiver RF block


An active filter includes two differential amplifiers. The first amplifier has its inverting input connected to an input terminal of the active filter, its non-inverting input connected to ground through a resistor. A resistor and a capacitor are connected in parallel between the inverting input and output of the first amplifier. The second amplifier has its non-inverting input connected through a resistor to the output of the first differential amplifier and also through a capacitor to ground, its inverting input connected through a resistor to ground and also through a capacitor to its output. A resistor is connected between output of the second amplifier and the inverting input of the first amplifier.

The present invention relates to a filter and, more particularly, to an active filter including passive filter elements.
Generally, active filters are known for their simple adjustment. Their central frequency f.sub.0 can be adjusted independently of selectivity Q, while their selectivity Q can be adjusted independently of central frequency f.sub.0. Furthermore, the active filters are known for their long life and can be arranged in an integrated circuit.
The most commonly used and popular active filter is a biquad active filter which is shown in FIG. 1. The biquad active filter includes a differential amplifier P1 formed by an operational amplifier. The amplifier P1 has inverting and non-inverting inputs and an output. The inverting input of the amplifier P1 is connected through a resistor R1 to an input terminal of the active filter and the non-inverting input of the same is connected to the ground. The output of the amplifier P1 is connected to an output terminal of the active filters. A resistor R2 and a capacitor C1 are connected in parallel between the inverting input and the output of the amplifier P1. The biquad active filter also includes a second differential amplifier P2 formed by an operational amplifier in which the inverting input thereof is connected through a resistor R3 to the output of the amplifier P1 and the non-inverting thereof is grounded. A resistor R4 is connected between the output and inverting input of the second operational amplifier P2. The biquad active filter further includes a third differential amplifier P3 also formed by an operational amplifier in which the inverting input thereof is connected through a resistor R5 to the output of the second operational amplifier P2 and the non-inverting input thereof is connected to the ground. A capacitor C2 is connected between the output and inverting input of the amplifier P3. The output of the amplifier P3 is fed back to the inverting input of the first amplifier P1 through a resistor R6.
The reference characters for the resistors and capacitors described above and below represents the respective capacitance and resistance.
The transfer function T'(s) of the biquad active filter can be expressed as follows: ##EQU1## in which V1' and V2' are signal levels at the input and output terminals of the biquad active filter, respectively, K is R4/R3 and s is a product of conjugate j multiplied by 2.pi.f.sub.0.
The central frequency f.sub.0 ' and 3dB bandwidth .DELTA.f' can be expressed as follows: ##EQU2## From equations (2) and (3), it is understood that the central frequency f.sub.0 ' can be adjusted by changing the values of C2, R5 and R6 without interrupting the 3dB bandwidth .DELTA.f' and that the 3dB bandwidth .DELTA.f' can be adjusted by changing the value of R2 without interrupting the central frequency f.sub.0 '. Since the selectivity Q' can be expressed as Q'=f.sub.0 '/.DELTA.f', the selectivity Q' can be adjusted by the change of 3dB bandwidth .DELTA.f'. The equations (1), (2) and (3) are well known, so a further description is omitted.
The above described biquad active filter requires at least three differential amplifiers.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an active filter which requires only two differential amplifiers and yet functions exactly the same as the conventional biquad active filter.


An telescoping antenna includes a lower antenna portion and an upper antenna portion to be telescoped into the lower antenna portion. The lower antenna portion includes a cylindrical conductor having an inner cavity for accommodating the upper antenna portion and a coaxial feeder cable. A cylindrical member, which is electrically connected to the cylindrical conductor and the coaxial feeder cable, is provided in the cavity so that a first leakage current is prevented from flowing into the coaxial feeder cable from the cylindrical conductor and that a second leakage current is prevented from flowing into the lower antenna portion from the upper antenna portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an integrated telescoping antenna apparatus wherein a plurality of antenna portions individually acting as different antennas are disposed coaxially and which is used as a shared antenna for transmitting or receiving radio waves of different frequency bands simultaneously or as a diversity antenna for obtaining a diversity effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
A diversity antenna is conventionally known wherein two sleeve antenna portions are disposed at upper and lower stages in a vertical column as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 97207/1984. The conventional diversity antenna is constituted such that, in order to prevent a coaxial feeder cable connected to the upper antenna portion and leakage current from having an influence on an impedance characteristic of the lower antenna portion, the coaxial feeder cable for the upper antenna portion extends through the inside of the lower antenna portion and a radio wave absorbing member or a current limiting metal member is mounted between the upper and lower antenna portions. Where such radio wave absorbing member or current limiting metal member is mounted between the upper and lower antenna portions, the two sleeve antenna portions individually function as independent antennas without any deterioration in sensitivity thereof.
With the conventional diversity antenna, however, while leakage current flowing from the upper antenna portion to an outer conductor of the coaxial feeder cable can be cut off, current may possibly leak from an upper end of the lower antenna portion to the outer conductor of the coaxial feeder cable extending through the inside of the lower antenna portion because the radio wave absorbing member or current limiting metal member is mounted in a slightly spaced relationship from both of the upper and lower antenna portions between the upper and lower antenna portions. Here, if current leaks from the lower antenna portion to the outer conductor of the coaxial feeder cable, the impedance characteristic of the lower antenna portion is varied so that the sensitivity thereof is deteriorated. It is to be noted that to prevent leakage current in the present invention signifies to block leakage current which may have a bad influence on the antenna sensitivity.

Telescoping antenna apparatus with leakage prevention between its upper and lower sections


A tool for molding damp sand or other capillarily held insoluble granular material is disclosed. The tool is capable of forming a channel in a mound of material or removing a block of material from the mound. The disclosed mold of the preferred embodiment has flexible walls which can be moved back and forth to prevent adhesion of the granular materials to the walls of the mold and to facilitate easy removal of the mold.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming castle battlements and villages in damp sand or orther similr type material.
Small man-made mounds of sand often seen on the beach are commonly referred to as sand castles. They are usually made with utensils meant for other purposes, such as butter knives, spatulas, popsicle sticks, and empty cans. Forming castles with a modest amount of detail requires a skilled practitioner and an ample amount of time. Even then the castles are formed without battlements on the walls and towers of the castle which are perhaps its most outstanding features.
The battlements of such a castle comprise a parapet which is a breast-high wall of earth or stone which shields the castle troops from enemy fire. Notches or slots are formed in the parapet, often spaced apart evenly, called embrasures or crenelles. The portion of the parapet left between the crenelles are called merlons. The walkway behind the parapet is known as a banquette. When building battlements by hand, each merlon must be formed individually requiring great care to insure even spacings. Often, cracks in the sand and crumbling occurs when one attempts to form the banquettes, etc. by hand. Even when container-like molds are used, sand sticks in the corners of the mold and in small hollows meant to form the merlons. Consistently good battlements can not be constructed in this manner.
Constructing the walls and towers of sand is no problem for skilled and unskilled practitioners alike, but the addition of parapet walkways and battlements on those walls and towers is difficult because of the problems discussed above.
An example of the type of sand castle formed on beaches without the use of my invention is illustrated in a photograph appearing in the Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1977 Philadelphia Inquirer at page 2-B . The caption discloses that an 8 foot, 1 inch high castle was built in the sand. It included thirty-three floors, 1,637 windows, 84 doors and 752 stair steps. It took 17 hours to build.
Examples of molds for making battlement-like structures along with castle walls and towers is illustrated in French Pat. No. 1,402,024. FIG. 3 shows a container-like casting made from molds like those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,351,885 (Summerfeld) describes a casting frame, cores for window openings, a detailed member of a building, a drawing or picture of the drawing, and the material for casting. Here, the structure to be cast is made up within a casting frame by placing casting parts or cores over appropriate parts of the drawing. Then the casting material is added.
Besides castles and battlements, other buildings and structures could be modeled in miniature in damp sand. However, villages such as feudal European farming villages were built in clusters with buildings made close together having common walls. The buildings or structures were rarely uniform in shape or design. Creating such fine detail to give a village effect in damp sand would require practiced skill and a great deal of time.


More particularly for the catalytic treatment of the exhaust gas of an IC engine, such as the IC engine of a motor vehicle, in the case of which the gases of combustion flow through a converter, the latter is provided with an emission buffer designed for the cold start state. It is capable of storing noxious emissions, more particularly those produced during a cold start, such as unburned hydrocarbons and to release them into the exhaust gas again.

The invention relates to a method for the treatment, and more particularly the catalytic treatment, of the exhaust gas of IC engines and more especially of motor vehicle engines, in the case of which the gases resulting from combustion are caused to flow through a converter, and also to an apparatus for performing the method.
When an IC engine is started from cold large quantities of pollutants are emitted in the exhaust gas. It is known to employ a converter, which is placed downstream from the exhaust gas outlet of the engine, in order to reduce the emission of pollutants, the most well known types of converter being those utilized in the case of gasoline engines and referred to as catalytic converters. In the case of diesel engines as well converters are employed in order for instance to reduce the level of CO, unburnt hydrocarbons, and/or soot or solid particles in the exhaust gas. The present invention is more particularly described in relation to converters for gasoline engines, but however the same sort of problems occurs in the case of other converters for the treatment of exhaust gas of IC engines generally.
Such converters demand a certain minimum temperature of the reaction partners in order to develop their effect. Until the reactants have reached this minimum temperature the pollutants are left off into the environment unconverted.
Conventional three-way catalytic converters comprise catalytic material for the oxidation of CO and unburned hydrocarbons, and furthermore for instance for the reduction of NO.sub.x. Owing to the time taken for the catalytic converter to reach its operational temperature certain pollutants, and more particularly CO and unburned hydrocarbons will be emitted, while substantial emission of NO.sub.x only occurs when the conventional operational temperatures are attained.
In order to diminish this delay or lag in the coming into operation of the catalytic converter a large number of at least theoretical possibilities have been evolved, as for instance the electrical heating of the exhaust gas before the same reaches the catalytic converter, the additional heating of the catalytic converter or the keeping of the catalytic converter in the heated condition by thermal insulation.
Although some of these measures have led to substantial improvements in the situation, there is still the basic defect that when starting up from cold and in the first three minutes of warming up the engine produces very high emission peak values as regards unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, while during this time the catalytic converter is still not able to act. The two conditions are connected with the fact that both in the engine and also in the converter the optimum operational temperatures have not yet been reached.

Method and an apparatus for the treatment of exhaust gas from an IC engine


A vehicle includes a controller programmed to identify a seating position in the vehicle corresponding to each of a plurality of nomadic devices in communication with the vehicle. The controller is configured to receive at least one seating profile from each of the nomadic devices and adjust seating parameters for each of the seating positions according to the seating profile received from the corresponding nomadic device.

Upon entering a vehicle, drivers and passengers may adjust the seat to a desired position. The driver may further adjust mirrors to achieve a safe driving position. Seats may be manually activated by the driver or passenger. Some adjustment mechanisms may be purely mechanical, while others may be electrically assisted. In addition, some vehicles may have the capability to store previous settings in a memory for later retrieval. Users may be able to reprogram a button to memorize and retrieve the current settings. A disadvantage of such systems is that the settings may be overwritten by other drivers or passengers. Further, the settings are only available in the vehicle in which the settings are saved.


The present invention provides a signal determining method and an apparatus, so as to resolve a problem, in a conventional positioning method, that a signal receiving device cannot accurately determine whether a received signal is an aggregated reference signal, and consequently, positioning fails due to a relatively large error of location information obtained by means of positioning. The method is as follows: A signal receiving device may estimate, according to a TAE between at least two subcarriers used by a signal sending device to transmit a reference signal and a reference signal sent by the signal sending device on each subcarrier, an aggregated reference signal that is sent by the signal sending device and that is obtained after carrier aggregation. After receiving a signal, the signal receiving device determines whether the signal is an aggregated reference signal sent by the signal sending device.

With development of communications services, a positioning service is important in reality as an indispensable part of mobile communications and personal communications services. The positioning service is a value-added service for obtaining location information (such as longitude and latitude coordinate information) of a mobile terminal through a network of a mobile telecommunications operator, and providing a corresponding service for a user with support of an electronic map platform.
A time difference of arrival (TDOA) technology is a currently common positioning technology. According to a principle of the technology, when one mobile terminal is positioned, three or more network nodes (such as base stations) may be used as reference nodes. Location information of each reference node is known. When the mobile terminal sends an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) to each reference node, a location of the mobile terminal is determined according to TDOAs of the SRS on different reference nodes. Alternatively, when each reference node sends a downlink positioning reference signal (PSR) to the mobile terminal to probe a signal, a location of the mobile terminal is determined according to a TDOA of the PSR on the mobile terminal. A method for implementing positioning according to a TDOA of an uplink signal is also referred to as an uplink-time difference of arrival (UTDOA) positioning method. A method for implementing positioning according to a TDOA of a downlink signal is also referred to as an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) positioning method.
However, precision of location information obtained according to a TDOA of a signal is inversely proportional to bandwidth of the signal. For example, a pulse width of an ultra-wideband system signal is at a nanosecond level, and bandwidth of the signal can reach thousands of megahertz (GHz). Therefore, an error between the obtained location information and actual location information is at a centimeter level. However, bandwidth of a PSR and an SRS that are used for positioning in a current communications system is 20 megahertz (MHz), and the bandwidth is limited. Consequently, an error of location information obtained by means of positioning is relatively large, and precision is relatively low.
Conventionally, a signal may be sent by using a carrier aggregation technology, to increase bandwidth of the signal. However, an aggregated reference signal generated after carrier aggregation is performed on multiple signals has a great change in waveform when compared with the signals before the aggregation. Therefore, a signal receiving device cannot accurately determine whether a received signal is the aggregated reference signal. An error is relatively large when a transmission time of the aggregated reference signal is determined. Consequently, positioning fails due to a relatively large error of location information obtained by means of positioning.


The present invention relates to a process for preparing an oxide superconductor having a high critical current density, a uniform structure and an excellent mechanical property and thermal stability, which comprises heating raw material powders of a REBaCuO system at 1050.degree. C. or higher, cooling the material for solidification, pulverizing and mixing the solidified material to homogeneously disperse the structure of the solidified material, molding the material, optionally mixed with silver oxide or silver, into a predetermined shape, and reheating the molding to 1050.degree. C. or higher to grow a superconducting phase.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing an oxide superconductor having a high critical current density. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for preparing an oxide superconductor wherein fine RE.sub.2 BaCuO.sub.5 is homogeneously dispersed in a superconducting phase.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The discovery of an oxide superconductor of a YBaCuO system having a critical temperature (T.sub.c) exceeding 90K has enabled liquid nitrogen to be used as a cooling agent, and this has led to research into ways in which such a superconductor can be put to practical use. Currently, however, the oxide superconductor of the type described above has a low critical current density (J.sub.c), which is of the utmost importance from the viewpoint of practical use, and thus a practical use for the oxide superconductor in a liquid nitrogen atmosphere has not yet been found.
Recently, it has become possible to obtain a critical current density exceeding 10000 A/cm.sup.2, i.e., a critical current density close to a level necessary for practical use in a magnetic field as high as 1 tesla (T), through the formation of a superconducting phase from a molten state (see M. Murakami et al., Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 28, 1989, p. 1189).
This method focuses on the phenomenon that a superconducting phase (YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.x) is formed by a peritectic reaction of Y.sub.2 BaCuO.sub.5 O.sub.x (hereinafter referred to as "211 phase") with a liquid phase, the growth of the superconducting phase is accelerated by means of finely and homogeneously dispersing a 211 phase in a liquid phase, and at the same time, a 211 phase capable of serving as a pinning center can be successfully dispersed in the superconducting phase. The 211 phase is homogeneously and finely dispersed by a treatment which comprises rapidly heating the system to a temperature as high as at least 1200.degree. C. and then quenching the system, to thereby finely disperse the Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 serving as a nucleus of the formation of the 211 phase.
When the above-described conventional means is used, however, there is a tendency for Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 to agglomerate and form a large mass when the system is heated to 1200.degree. C. or higher. Further, since Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 is heavier than the liquid phase, it sinks below the liquid phase, and thus it becomes difficult to homogeneously disperse the Y.sub.2 O.sub.3. Further, limitations on the shape of the quenched material have made it difficult to prepare a molding having a desired shape.
The present invention has been created with a view to solving the above-described problems.

Process for preparing oxide superconductor

International Superconductivity Technology Center


An example image processing apparatus has a captured image acquisition unit for acquiring a captured image captured by an imaging device, a feature detection unit for detecting the markers from the captured image, a reference acquisition unit for acquiring, based on each of the detected markers, a coordinate system serving as a reference indicating a position and attitude in a space, and a relative relation information acquisition unit for acquiring, based on the captured image in which a plurality of the markers are detected, relative relation information indicating a relative relation in position and attitude of a plurality of coordinate systems acquired for the respective markers.

According to a conventional augmented reality technology, a virtual object is additively displayed in correspondence with a marker in a real space imaged with a camera.
However, when processing on position and attitude is performed on the basis of the marker in the real space according to the conventional augmented realty technology, the processing relies on a single marker used as the reference, and thus the flexibility of the processing is low.
An example of an information processing program according to this disclosure is an image processing system including a component marked with a feature whose position and attitude relative to an imaging device can be specified by being imaged by the imaging device, and an image processing apparatus connected to the imaging device. The image processing apparatus includes: captured image acquisition means for acquiring a captured image captured by the imaging device; feature detection means for detecting the feature from the captured image; reference acquisition means for acquiring a position/attitude reference based on the detected feature, the reference being used as a reference for indicating a position and attitude in a space imaged by the imaging device; and relative relation information acquisition means for acquiring, based on the captured image from which the feature is detected in plurality, relative relation information indicating a relative relation in position and attitude among the plurality of position/attitude references acquired for the respective features.
In this disclosure, the feature whose position and attitude relative to the imaging device can be specified is, specifically, a so-called AR marker or a code such as a two-dimensional bar code. Such a feature may be applied to a component such as a card.
The position/attitude reference is a reference indicating a position and attitude in an imaged space. The position/attitude reference may be a coordinate system in which the origin and three axes are defined according to the position and attitude of the marker, or position/attitude information of the marker relative to the imaging device.
The relative relation information is information indicating a relative relation in position and attitude among the plurality of position/attitude references. The relative relation information may be a conversion matrix used for performing coordinate conversion between the coordinate systems as the position/attitude references.
By having the means describes above, the image processing system according to this disclosure is able to acquire relative relation information indicating a relative relation in position and attitude among the plurality of the position/attitude references.
This makes it possible to improve the flexibility of processing when the processing is performed for position and attitude while using a feature such as a so-called AR marker as the reference.
The image processing apparatus may further include estimation means for estimating, based on the relative relation information and one of the plurality of position/attitude references related to the relative relation information, another one of the position/attitude references.
The provision of this estimation means makes it possible to obtain a position/attitude reference by estimation from another position/attitude reference, whereby the processing flexibility can be improved.
For example, in order to perform processing based on a plurality of markers according to a conventional technique, these markers are imaged such that all of them are within the imaging range of an imaging device. Therefore, these markers need be simultaneously positioned within the imaging range of the imaging device, which narrows the moveable range of the imaging device and causes inconvenience to a user. However, the image processing apparatus according to this disclosure is provided with estimation means, which eliminates the need of positioning all the markers within the imaging range, and hence the flexibility in movement of the imaging device can be improved.
The image processing apparatus may further include storage means for storing the relative relation information.
The image processing apparatus may further includes: determination means for determining whether or not the relative relation information acquired by the relative relation information acquisition means is relative relation information corresponding to the relative relation information stored in the storage means; and update means for updating the stored relative relation information using the acquired relative relation information, when it is determined by the determination means that the acquired relative relation information is relative relation information corresponding to the stored relative relation information.
The provision of such update means makes it possible, if the position where a feature is arranged is changed or an error occurs in calculation of position and attitude of the feature, to keep the stored relative relation information updated and to enable it to follow the movement of the feature.
The image processing apparatus may further include addition means for storing the acquired relative relation information in the storage means when it is not determined by the determination means that the acquired relative relation information is relative relation information corresponding to the stored relative relation information.
The provision of such addition means makes it possible, even if a feature added, to keep the stored relative relation information updated and to enable it to follow the addition of the feature.
The image processing apparatus may further include deletion means for deleting the relative relation information satisfying a predetermined condition from the storage means.
The provision of such deletion means makes it possible to keep the stored relative relation information updated, even if the feature is removed, or the use of a feature as a position/attitude reference is halted during the course of processing.
The image processing apparatus may further include rendering means for rendering a virtual space image by arranging a virtual camera in a virtual space, arranging, in the virtual space, a virtual object whose position and attitude are determined according to the position/attitude reference, and generating an image of the virtual space as viewed from the virtual camera.
The image processing apparatus may further include display control means for generating a composite image by overlapping the image of the virtual space with the captured image and causing a display device to display the composite image.
The image processing apparatus may further include processing means for performing predetermined processing so that time in the virtual space advances with passage of real time.
This disclosure can be considered as a method implemented by a computer, or a program executed by a computer.
This disclosure may be a recording medium on which such a program is recorded and which is readable by a computer or the like. The recording medium readable by a computer or the like herein means a recording medium which stores information such as data or a program by means of an electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanic, or chemical effect such that the stored information can be read by a computer or the like.

Image processing system, method and apparatus, and computer-readable medium recording image processing program


A method of obtaining a hydrocarbon material from a subterranean formation comprises forming a flooding suspension comprising degradable particles and a carrier fluid. The flooding suspension is introduced into a subterranean formation containing a hydrocarbon material to form an emulsion stabilized by the degradable particles and remove the emulsion from the subterranean formation. At least a portion of the degradable particles are degraded to destabilize the emulsion. An additional method of obtaining a hydrocarbon material from a subterranean formation, and a stabilized emulsion are also described.

Water flooding is a conventional process of enhancing the extraction of hydrocarbon materials (e.g., crude oil, natural gas, etc.) from subterranean formations. In this process, an aqueous fluid (e.g., water, brine, etc.) is injected into the subterranean formation through injection wells to sweep a hydrocarbon material contained within interstitial spaces (e.g., pores, cracks, fractures, channels, etc.) of the subterranean formation toward production wells. One or more additives may be added to the aqueous fluid to assist in the extraction and subsequent processing of the hydrocarbon material.
For example, in some approaches, a surfactant and/or solid particles are added to the aqueous fluid. The surfactant and/or the solid particles can adhere to or gather at interfaces between a hydrocarbon material and an aqueous material to form a stabilized emulsion of one of the hydrocarbon material and the aqueous material dispersed in the other of the hydrocarbon material and the aqueous material. Stabilization by the surfactant and/or the solid particles lowers the energy of the system, preventing the dispersed material (e.g., the hydrocarbon material, or the aqueous material) from coalescing, and maintaining the one material dispersed as units (e.g., droplets) throughout the other material. In turn, the hydrocarbon material may be more easily transported through and extracted from the subterranean formation as compared to water flooding processes that do not employ the addition of a surfactant and/or solid particles.
Disadvantageously, however, the affectivity of various surfactants can be detrimentally reduced by the presence of dissolved salts (e.g., such as various salts typically present within a subterranean formation). In addition, surfactants can have a tendency to adhere to surfaces of the subterranean formation, requiring the economically undesirable addition of more surfactant to the injected aqueous fluid to account for such losses. Furthermore, solid particles can be difficult to remove from the stabilized emulsion during subsequent processing, preventing the hydrocarbon material and the aqueous material thereof from coalescing into distinct, immiscible components, and greatly inhibiting the separate collection of the hydrocarbon material.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have an improved method of extracting a hydrocarbon material from a subterranean formation to overcome one or more of the above problems.

Methods of obtaining a hydrocarbon material contained within a subterranean formation


An apparatus and method for controlling an air/fuel mixture ratio for an internal combustion engine which can start the air/fuel mixture ratio at a earlier timing than the conventional air/fuel mixture ratio controlling apparatus. For example, a control unit determines whether the engine is revolved and, thereafter, accumulates an intake air quantity. When the accumulated value exceeds the predetermined value SQ.sub.ST and the control unit determines that the activation of an oxygen sensor sufficiently occurs, the start of the air/fuel mixture ratio feedback control is determined. At this time, a fuel supply quantity T.sub.I is corrected so that the air/fuel mixture ratio which tends to be inclined to a lean side is shifted to the rich side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling air/fuel mixture ratio for an internal combustion engine in a feedback mode.
2. Description of the Background Art
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Showa 60-240840 exemplifies a previously proposed air/fuel mixture ratio feedback controlling apparatus.
In the above-identified Japanese Patent Application First Publication, an intake air flow quantity Q and engine revolution speed N are detected so as to calculate a basic fuel supply quantity Tp (=K.multidot.Q/N; K denotes a proportional constant). The feedback correction for the basic fuel supply quantity Tp according to the correction by means of an engine temperature is carried out in response to an oxygen sensor detecting an air/fuel mixture ratio of the air/fuel mixture according to a detection result of oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas. Then, a final fuel supply quantity T.sub.I is determined according to the Tp which is corrected with a variation in a battery voltage.
Specifically, since the output signal of the oxygen sensor is inverted as a stoichiometric air/fuel mixture ratio as a boundary, the inversion of the output signal therefrom causes an increase or decrease of the fuel supply quantity so that a feedback correction coefficient by which the basic fuel supply quantity Tp is to be multiplied is set by means of a proportional-integral control (PI control). Thereafter, a drive pulse signal whose pulsewidth corresponds to the finally set fuel supply quantity T.sub.I is output from a control unit at a predetermined timing of fuel supply so that a previously determined quantity of fuel is injected into the engine.
The air/fuel mixture ration feedback correction based on the air/fuel mixture ratio detector (oxygen sensor) is carried out such that the air/fuel mixture ratio is controlled to approach to the target (stoichiometric) air/fuel mixture ratio. This is because in order to secure a high exhaust gas purification performance, a conversion efficiency (purification efficiency) of a three-catalytic converter installed in the exhaust gas passage so as to oxidize CO and HC (hydrocarbon) and so as to reduce N0.sub.x can effectively function in an exhaust gas state during a combustion of the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture.
Then, proportional component and integral component are set respectively, for example, according to a deviation between the air/fuel mixture ration detected by the oxygen sensor and the target air/fuel mixture ratio and the added value of the proportional and integral components is multiplied by the basic fuel supply quantity Tp as a value of .alpha. so that the air/fuel mixture ratio is controlled to a position placed in a proximity to the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture ratio.
In the air/fuel mixture feedback control system or apparatus described above, the feedback control of the air/fuel mixture ratio based on the output signal of the oxygen sensor is started after a predetermined time from a confirmation of state in which an activation of the oxygen sensor is determined and a preferable output characteristic is obtained upon the lapse of the predetermined time.
However, an industrial demand has been issued to promote the exhaust purification performance during an interval from a cold state to a warmed up state with the air/fuel mixture feedback control carried out as early as possible.
To make the start of the air/fuel mixture ratio earlier than usual, it is necessary to start the air/fuel mixture ratio immediately after an activation determination of the oxygen sensor such that an activation of the oxygen sensor is determined in the vicinity to a limit of the output signal of the oxygen sensor. However, when the activation of the oxygen sensor is insufficient, a point at which the output signal of the oxygen sensor is inverted is shifted away from the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture ratio so that it is impossible to carry out the feedback control in the vicinity to the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture ratio. A direction of the shifted point is generally toward a lean side although the shifted point is different according to the characteristics of the oxygen sensor.

Apparatus and method for controlling air/fuel mixture ratio in feedback control mode for internal combustion engine


An ortho-mode transducer may include a cylindrical common waveguide terminating in a common port, a rectangular vertical branch waveguide in-line with the cylindrical common waveguide and terminating in a vertical port, and a rectangular horizontal branch waveguide normal to the common waveguide and terminating in a horizontal port. The vertical branch waveguide may be configured to couple a first linearly polarized mode from the vertical port to the common waveguide. The horizontal branch waveguide may be configured to couple a second linearly polarized mode, orthogonal to the first linearly polarized mode, from the horizontal port to the common waveguide. A portion of the vertical branch waveguide may overlap a portion of the cylindrical common waveguide. A septum may span the vertical branch waveguide proximate to the overlapping portions of the vertical branch waveguide and the common waveguide. A rectangular symmetry cavity may be opposed to the horizontal branch waveguide.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to waveguide devices used to combine or separate two orthogonal modes, also known as ortho-mode transducers (OMTs).
2. Description of the Related Art
Satellite broadcasting and communications systems may use a first signal having a first polarization state for an uplink to a satellite and a second signal having a second polarization state, orthogonal to the first polarization state, for a downlink from the satellite. Note that two circularly polarized signals are orthogonal if the e-field vectors rotate in the opposite directions. The polarization directions for the uplink and downlink signals may be determined by the antenna and feed network on the satellite.
A common form of antenna for transmitting and receiving signals from satellites consists of a parabolic dish reflector and a feed network where orthogonally polarized modes travel in a common waveguide. The common waveguide may typically be cylindrical or square, but may be elliptical or rectangular.
An ortho-mode transducer (OMT) is a three-port waveguide device having a common waveguide coupled to two branching waveguides. An ortho-mode transducer may be used to launch or extract the orthogonal linearly polarized modes into or from the common waveguide of an antenna feed network.
In this patent, the term "cylindrical waveguide" means a waveguide segment shaped as a right circular cylinder, which is to say the cross-sectional shape of the waveguide segment is circular. Similarly, the terms "elliptical waveguide", "rectangular waveguide", and "square waveguide" mean a waveguide segment having an elliptical, rectangular, or square cross-sectional shape, respectively. In this patent, the term "generally rectangular waveguide" means a waveguide having an asymmetrical cross-section with two long sides and two short sides where at least a portion of each side is flat (not curved). A generally rectangular waveguide may have, for example, rounded internal corners, a septum extending between the two long sides or the two short sides, and/or ridges extending into the waveguide from one or more sides. In this patent, the term "ridged waveguide" means a generally rectangular waveguide with ridges, or conductive protrusions extending from two opposed sides of the waveguide. Within this patent, the term "port" refers generally to an interface between devices or between a device and free space. A port of a waveguide device may be formed by an aperture in an interfacial surface to allow microwave radiation to enter or exit a waveguide within the device.
The common waveguide of an OMT typically supports two orthogonal linearly polarized modes. Within this patent, the terms "support" and "supporting" mean that a waveguide will allow propagation of a mode with little or no loss. In a feed system for a satellite antenna, the common waveguide may be a cylindrical waveguide. The two orthogonal linearly polarized modes may be TE11 modes which have an electric field component orthogonal to the axis of the common waveguide. When the cylindrical waveguide is partially filled with a dielectric material, the two orthogonal linearly polarized modes may be hybrid HE11 modes which have at least some electric field component along the propagation axis. Two precisely orthogonal TE11 or HE11 modes do not interact or cross-couple, and can therefore be used to communicate different information.
The common waveguide terminates at a common port, which is to say that a common port aperture is defined by the intersection of the common waveguide and an exterior surface of the OMT.
Each of the two branching waveguides of an OMT typically supports only a single linearly polarized mode, which may be a TE10 mode. The mode supported by the first branching waveguide is orthogonal to the mode supported by the second branching waveguide. Within this patent, the term "orthogonal" will be used to describe the polarization direction of modes, and "normal" will be used to describe geometrically perpendicular structures.
A traditional OMT, for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,908, has one branch waveguide axially aligned with the common waveguide, and one branch waveguide normal to the common waveguide. The branch waveguide that is axially aligned with the common waveguide terminates at what is commonly called the vertical port. The linearly polarized mode supported by the vertical port is commonly called the vertical mode. The branch waveguide which is normal to the common waveguide is terminated at what is commonly called the horizontal port. The branch waveguide that terminates at the horizontal port also supports only a single polarized mode commonly called the horizontal mode.
The terms "horizontal" and "vertical" will be used in this patent to denote the two orthogonal modes and the waveguides and ports supporting those modes. Note, however, that these terms do not connote any particular orientation of the modes or waveguides with respect to the physical horizontal and vertical directions.
Elements in the drawings are assigned reference numbers which remain constant among the figures. An element not described in conjunction with a figure may be presumed to be the same as a previously-described element having the same reference number.

Ortho-mode transducer with wide bandwidth branch port


A reversible thermosensitive recording medium having a support, a reversible thermosensitive recording layer formed thereon which contains a matrix resin and an organic low-molecular-weight material dispersed in the matrix resin, capable of reversibly assuming a transparent state and a white opaque state depending on the temperature thereof, and a magnetic recording layer formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording layer, and optionally, an anchor layer, which is provided on the reversible thermosensitive recording layer. The magnetic recording layer is integrally provided in a part of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer or the anchor layer by a step of fusion-bonding, applying, or transferring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reversible thermosensitive recording medium and, more particularly, to a reversible thermosensitive recording medium comprising a support, a reversible thermosensitive recording layer formed thereon capable of reversibly changing its transparency from a transparent state to a white opaque state, and vice versa, depending upon the temperature thereof, and a magnetic recording layer which is integrally formed in a part of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer. In addition, the present invention relates to a method of producing the above-mentioned reversible thermosensitive recording medium.
2. Discussion of Background
Recently attention has been paid to a reversible thermosensitive recording medium capable of temporarily recording images thereon and erasing the same therefrom when such images become unnecessary. For example, there is conventionally known a reversible thermosensitive recording medium comprising a reversible thermosensitive recording layer in which an organic low-molecular-weight material such as a higher fatty acid is dispersed in a matrix resin with a low glass transition temperature, such as a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 54-119377 and 55-154198.
Furthermore, between a support and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer of the above-mentioned reversible thermosensitive recording medium, the provision of a colored layer is proposed as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application 2-3876; the provision of a light reflection layer, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 64-14079; and the provision of a thin layer with a refractive index different from that of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer in a transparent state, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2-175280. In addition, a variety of protective layers are proposed for this kind of reversible thermosensitive recording medium. For example, there are proposed a protective layer comprising a silicone rubber or a silicone resin as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 63-221087; a protective layer comprising a polysiloxane graft polymer as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 63-317385; and a protective layer comprising an ultraviolet-curing resin or electron radiation curing resin an disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2-566.
A recording medium comprising a magnetic recording layer and a thermosensitive recording layer is actively developed, and this kind of recording medium has been put to practical use as a passenger ticket and a commutation ticket. In addition, a magnetic recording card provided with a thermosensitive recording layer capable of indicating the used condition of the card is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 59-199284 and 60-18388, and such a recording card has also been put to practical use as a prepaid card for paying the charge for the public telephone and the fare for the railway. Further, the holders of the prepaid card or cash card wants to know the balance each time the prepaid card or cash card is used. In compliance with such a request, there is proposed a magnetic recording card with a reversible thermosensitive recording layer capable of indicating the information such as a balance of the card, and rewriting the information, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 1-181766.
As previously mentioned, a recording medium capable of carrying out both magnetic recording and thermal recording has achieved a rapid development. In the development of this kind of recording medium, a magnetic recording layer and a thermosensitive recording layer are generally provided on the opposite sides of a support of the recording medium. When the magnetic recording layer and the thermosensitive recording layer are provided on the same side of the support, the thermosensitive recording layer is commonly overlaid on the magnetic recording layer in order to facilitate the recognition of information displayed on the thermosensitive recording layer. In this case, however, the output from the magnetic recording layer is weakened and reading errors frequently occur when the thermosensitive recording layer is thick. On the contrary, when the thickness of the thermosensitive recording layer is decreased, the image density of images formed on the thermosensitive recording layer is decreased, so that it is difficult to recognize the images.
When the reversible thermosensitive recording layer and the magnetic recording layer are provided on the same side of the support of a recording medium, the following advantages can be obtained:
(1) An apparatus for recording and reading information can be disposed on one side of the recording medium. PA1 (2) Another magnetic recording layer can be provided on the other side, so that the magnetic recording capacity can be increased. PA1 (3) The side of the recording medium on which no recording layer is provided can be freely designed.
In light of the above-mentioned advantages, various improvements have been introduced in such a recording medium comprising a magnetic recording layer and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer which are provided on the same side of the support. For instance, there is proposed an information recording and display medium which comprises a support, and a magnetic recording layer, a light reflection layer with a thickness of 0.02 to 0.1 .mu.m and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer with a thickness of 2 to 8 .mu.m which are successively overlaid on the support in this order, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 3-130188. According to this application, the image formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording layer can be easily recognized owing to the light reflection layer formed thereunder, and at the same time, the decrease of output from the magnetic recording layer can be prevented by limiting the total thickness of the layers provided over the magnetic recording layer to 10 .mu.m or less.
Further, a magnetic recording medium with a thermosensitive display portion is proposed as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 5-177975, which comprises a support, a deposited magnetic recording layer with a thickness of 2 to 10 .mu.m provided on the support, and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer with a thickness of about 7 .mu.m directly provided on the magnetic recording layer. The layer structure of this magnetic recording medium is simplified to decrease the thickness of the layers provided over the magnetic recording layer to 10 .mu.m or less. Thus, the magnetic recording performance can be improved without impairing the thermal recording performance.
In any of the above-mentioned recording media, the reversible thermosensitive recording layer is provided on the magnetic recording layer, and the total thickness of the layers provided over the magnetic recording layer is decreased to improve the magnetic recording performance. However, these recording media have the shortcomings that the image forming performance of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer cannot be enhanced, and the recording output performance from the magnetic recording layer cannot be improved.
To eliminate the above-mentioned shortcomings, there is a demand for a recording medium in which no layer is provided on the recording layers except a thin-layered protective layer. As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-220400, it is proposed to provide a magnetic recording layer in a part of a reversible thermosensitive recording layer. However, the structure of the layers and the method of producing such a recording medium are not specifically described in the application, and the durability of the obtained magnetic recording layer is not clarified.
The recording medium comprising the magnetic recording layer and the reversible thermosensitive recording layer is regarded as useful when applied to the cash card or the like. It is therefore supposed that this kind of recording medium be often allowed to manually pass through a magnetic reader while in use. In light of the usage of this kind of recording medium, the durability of the magnetic recording layer becomes one of the most important factors in the recording medium in which the magnetic recording layer is provided in a part of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer.
Representative examples of the conventional recording medium which comprises a magnetic recording layer and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer which are provided on the same side of a support will now be explained by referring to FIG. 9.
A recording medium Q as shown in FIG. 9, which is disclosed in the previously mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-220400, comprises a support 1, and a light reflection layer 2, a reversible thermosensitive recording layer 3 and a protective layer 4 which are successively provided on the front side of the support 1, and in addition, a magnetic recording layer 5 is partially provided on the protective layer 4.
The structure of layers provided on the front side of a support 1 in a recording medium S of FIG. 9 is the same as that of the recording medium Q. In the recording medium S, there are provided another magnetic recording layer 9 and another protective layer 10 on the back side of the support 1, opposite to the light reflection layer 2 with respect to the support 1. The recording medium S is a typical example which comprises a thermosensitive recording layer 3 and a magnetic recording layer 9 provided on the opposite sides of the support.
The recording media Q and S as shown in FIG. 9 have the shortcoming that the adhesion between the protective layer 4 and the magnetic recording layer 5 is so weak that the durability of the magnetic recording layer 5 is low.
Further, when the magnetic recording layer is provided on the reversible thermosensitive recording layer, improvements of an adhesive for use in the magnetic recording layer are proposed. However, improvements of the adhesive are limited because the adhesive may seriously affect the reversible thermosensitive recording layer. In addition, there is proposed the improvement of the protective layer 4 in order to increase the adhesion between the magnetic recording layer 5 and the protective layer 4 in the recording medium Q or S as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, however, the repetition durability of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer deteriorates. Such a conventional recording medium Q or S, in which the magnetic recording layer 5 is provided on the protective layer 4 lacks reliability in terms of the repetition durability because the magnetic recording layer 5 is easily peeled from the protective layer 4 or readily takes scratches to impair the functions of the magnetic recording layer 5 when the recording medium is only used several times.
A recording medium R as shown in FIG. 9, which is the same as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 3-130188, comprises a support 1, and a magnetic recording layer 9, a smoothening layer 11, a light reflection layer 2, a reversible thermosensitive recording layer 3 and a protective layer 4 which are successively overlaid on the support 1. In this case, the protective layer 4, the reversible thermosensitive recording layer 3, the light reflection layer 2 and the smoothening layer 11 hinder the operation for writing information in the magnetic recording layer 9 and reading the information therefrom by use of a magnetic head. To prevent the errors due to the decrease of magnetic output from occurring, it is necessary to decrease the total thickness of the above-mentioned layers 4, 3, 2, and 11 to 5 .mu.m or less.

Reversible thermosensitive recording medium and method of producing the same


Various exemplary embodiments are provided of wheeled shovels. In one exemplary embodiment, a wheeled shovel generally includes a frame, a wheel, a handle, and a pivotable or steerable shovel blade. A pivot couples the shovel blade to the lower portion of the frame, such that the shovel blade is pivotable or steerable relative to the frame about a pivot axis.

The statements in this background section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Generally, there are two common types of snow shovels. One type of snow shovel involves lifting and throwing of the snow. The other type of snow shovel involves pushing of the snow like plowing.

Manually-operated wheeled snow shovels with steerable shovel blades or plows


Sunny Bright Solar Lighting is an easily mounted roof solar sunpipe that magnifies and concentrates the incoming sun light with an internally mounted and focused nonimaging Fresnel lens paired with a Kohler concentrator lens in order to magnify and concentrate the focused intense sun light onto a fiber optic illumination systems glass plate, used for solid core fiber optic lighting cables, and a bundle of seven 14 mm solid core endglow plastic fiber optic cables that carries only light waves in a visible light spectrum to seven different rooms that are up to thirty three feet away from the roof mounted sunny bright solar tube. Each fiber optic cable has an easily installed adjustable light aperture with diffuser on the end in order to dim or turn off each light independently this would allow sunny bright solar lighting to bring the suns light into any desired room during the day and at night the 110 v LED lighting array that is internally mounted in the sunny bright solar tube would replace the sunlight to continue lighting the seven different rooms.

The present invention relates to fiber optics illumination systems having a primary solar light source.
Transmitting solar light from a building skylight in the roof by fiber optical cable is shown in published patent application No. 2011/0103088.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,447 to Raasakka for Solar Skylight Apparatus discloses a pivotal collector that follows the movement of the sun and which contains a plurality of Fresnel lenses each of which transmits solar light to a fiber optic bundle that terminates in a light dispersion unit to light a room in the building.
While the Fresnel lenses of Raasakka focus the light into bundles of fiber optic cables the light is not magnified or concentrated. Published patent application No. 2010/0123954 by Benitez et al. discloses a Fresnel lens in combination with a Kohler integrator to concentrate sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell.
The object of the present invention is to utilize the magnification and concentration properties of a Kohler integrator to enhance the degree of sunlight that passes through the prior art bundle of fiber optic cables that carry light from a Fresnel lens.


A straddle vehicle comprises a cover member covering a vehicle body; a head lamp unit which is disposed at a front portion of the straddle vehicle and emits a light beam with which a forward region of the vehicle body is irradiated; and a sub-light-unit which is provided separately from the head lamp unit and emits the light beam with which the forward region is irradiated, wherein the sub-light-unit includes: a housing disposed along an edge of the cover member; a light source member which emits the light beam inside the housing; a reflector which is accommodated in the housing and reflects the light beam emitted from the light source member; and an optical axis adjustment mechanism which supports the reflector on the housing in such a manner that the reflector is tiltable with respect to the housing, and changes a posture of the reflector with respect to the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle vehicle including a light unit which emits a light beam with which a forward region of a vehicle body can be irradiated, in addition to a head lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a certain straddle vehicle includes a light (lamp) unit which emits a light beam with which a forward region of a vehicle body can be irradiated, in addition to a head lamp. As an example of the light unit, "JP 2013-248988 A" discloses a sub-head-lamp light source which is lighted (turned on) when a vehicle body is banked. This sub-head-lamp light source is provided on a front cover of the vehicle. An optical axis and a reflector of the sub-head-lamp light source are fixed. "JP Sho 63 (1988)-009497 Y2" discloses an optical axis adjustment mechanism of a head lamp (head lamp device).
In the above-described sub-head-lamp light source, there is a possibility that the direction of the optical axis cannot be adjusted after the sub-head-lamp light source is mounted on the front cover. In this case, to obtain a desired irradiation range during turning of the vehicle, it is necessary to mount the sub-head-lamp light source on the front cover with a high accuracy.


An approach for establishing a priority ranking for endpoints in a network. This can be useful when triaging endpoints after an endpoint becomes compromised. Ensuring that the most critical and vulnerable endpoints are triaged first can help maintain network stability and mitigate damage to endpoints in the network after an endpoint is compromised. The present technology involves determining a criticality ranking and a secondary value for a first endpoint in a datacenter. The criticality ranking and secondary value can be combined to form priority ranking for the first endpoint which can then be compared to a priority ranking for a second endpoint to determine if the first endpoint or the second endpoint should be triaged first.

When an endpoint is compromised in a network, other endpoints may become compromised as well. It can be important to triage the other nodes and determine if they are also compromised or if they are at risk of being compromised in the future. In a datacenter, there can be a large number of endpoints and triaging each one can take a large amount of time. An endpoint at the tail end of the triage queue might become compromised while awaiting triage.


A luminescent storage screen having a stimulable phosphor for the latent storage of x-ray images, of the type wherein the latent image is read-out by excitation of the stimulable phosphor with a read-out beam having a first wavelength, causing radiation of a second wavelength to be emitted, which is acquired by a detector, the storage screen having lateral faces of disposed at an angle with respect to one of the end faces of the storage screen which is less than 90.degree.. The end faces are transparent so that radiation of the second wavelength can exit the screen from the end faces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention a luminescent storage screen having a stimulable phosphor for the latent storage of x-ray images, of the type wherein the x-ray image is read-out by exciting the phosphor with a read-out radiation beam.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Applications
Luminescent storage screens for the latent storage of x-ray images are known in the art which contain a stimulable phosphor, the stored x-ray image being read-out by exciting the phosphor with a read-out radiation beam of a first wavelength, causing radiation of a second wavelength to be emitted by the phosphor, which is acquired by a detector unit, as described, for example, in European Application 0 369 049.
Such luminescent storage screens are used in image pick-up devices as disclosed, for example, in German OS 23 63 995. These types of storage screens function as a radiation-sensitive transducer in x-ray diagnostics installations. When the screen is irradiated with x-rays, electronic holes are generated in the stimulable phosphor in accordance with the intensity of the incident radiation. These holes are stored in energy traps having a higher energy level, so that a latent x-ray image is contained in the luminescent storage screen.
For read-out of the latent image, the entire surface of the luminescent storage screen is caused to luminesce pixel-by-pixel by a separate radiation source which may be, for example, a laser. This source generates stimulating radiation at a first wavelength, which raises the energy level of the holes stored in the traps, so that they can degenerate to lower energy levels, the energy difference being emitted in the form of light quanta. As a result, the stimulable phosphor emits light at a second wavelength dependent on the energy stored in the stimulable phosphor. The light emitted due to the stimulation is detected and made visible, so that the latently stored x-ray image can be visually displayed.
A problem in the read-out of such known storage screens is that the stimulable phosphor is not sufficiently transparent for the laser light. A minimum thickness of the stimulable phosphor is required in order to achieve adequate absorptions of x-ray quanta. In the case of a non-transparent, densely compressed or sintered phosphor, the laser beam is so highly attenuated by the phosphor during read-out that the penetration depth of the laser beam is too small. After a certain depth within the phosphor, the energy of the laser beam is no longer sufficient to boost the holes to the energy level required for the recombination, so that the information stored in the deeper layers of the phosphor cannot be read out.
A luminescent storage screen is disclosed in European Application 0 369 049, corresponding to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 653,950 (Brandner et al., filed Feb. 12, 1991) which is a continuation of Ser. No. 419,784 (filed Oct. 11, 1989, now abandoned), wherein a stimulable phosphor is vapor-deposited onto a carrier in a high vacuum and is tempered in a protective gas atmosphere or in the vacuum, or is pressed in a vacuum while being heated. The production of a transparent phosphor is disclosed in European Application 90102431.5, corresponding to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 643,506 (Brandner et al., filed Jan. 22, 1991), by re-shaping transparent stimulable phosphor single crystals to the large area required for medical diagnostics by pressing. This results in the production of a transparent panel of stimulable phosphor. The advantage of transparency is that the laser beam used for read-out is not dispersed in the storage medium due to scattering at the grains of the phosphor material. The broadening of dispersal of the read-out beam due to scatter considerably deteriorates the modulation transfer function of the overall system. The broadening or dispersal of the laser beam upon transirradiation of the storage medium is substantially diminished by the use of a transparent stimulable phosphor which is manufactured, for example, by pressing the phosphor powder.
The problem of direct reflection at the boundary surfaces of the stimulable phosphor is present to a far greater degree in the case of transparent phosphors than in the case of non-transparent phosphor layers which have diffuse reflections. This problem is explained in greater detail with reference to FIG. 1. For pixel-by-pixel read-out of the x-ray image, the exciting beam, having a first wavelength, penetrates the luminescent storage screen 1 which, for example, may consist of a carrier and a binding agent applied thereon with the stimulable phosphor, or may consist of a single-crystal stimulable phosphor. In any event, the beam 2 is incident on the stimulable phosphor 3 which, as a result of such excitation, emits rays 4 at a second wavelength with a spherically symmetrical distribution. Radiation is thus emitted at all angles relative to the boundary surface.
Because, however, the refractive index n of the stimulable phosphor is higher in all cases than that of air or a vacuum (n'-1), a total reflection occurs starting with a defined incident angle of the luminescent light relative to the boundary surface, as set forth in detail in FIG. 2. As a result, only a portion of the light can emerge from the desired exit face.
Given total reflection, the boundary angle e is generally calculated based on the relationship e=arcsin n'/n. The solid angle at which exit of the beam occurs is R=2.pi.(1-cos e). For the transparent stimulable phosphor RbBr having a refractive index n=1.55, a boundary angle of 40.18.degree. is obtained for the total reflection, with the solid angle than being 1.48225 sr, which constitutes only 11.8% of the full volume 4.pi.. Only 11.8% of the luminescent light thus emerges from the desired exit face. If the face lying opposite to the desired exit face is provided with a coating which functions as a mirror in the wavelength range of the luminescent light, then this portion of the light which would emerge through this face can be reflected to the desired exit face. The portion of the light which is sought can thus be doubled in the ideal case. Nonetheless, even in this ideal case only 23.6% of the total light can be obtained.
When the lateral faces of the luminescent storage screen are disposed perpendicularly relative to the end faces (the end faces being the face through which radiation enters the storage screen, and the face parallel thereto), the same light portion emerges through the lateral faces, because all light rays which were totally reflected at the end face will be incident on the lateral faces at an angle of 90.degree.-e. This is illustrated by the geometrical conditions illustrated in FIG. 3. A first ray a of the entering rays 4 is incident on a first end face 5 at an angle of .alpha..sub.1 =45.degree. and is totally reflected because the angle is larger than the boundary angle e=40.18.degree.. The reflected ray a' is incident on one of the lateral faces 6 at an angle .alpha..sub.2 =.alpha..sub.1 =45.degree., so that it is also reflected at that face.
If, as in the case of the ray b, the angle is greater than approximately 50.degree., the ray b is incident on the end face 5 at an angle .beta..sub.1 and is totally reflected at that face. The reflected ray is incident on the lateral face at an angle of incidence .beta..sub.2, which is less than 40.degree., so that the ray b' can emerge refracted from the storage luminescent screen 1.
Only for completeness, a ray c is also shown which is incident on the end face 5 at an angle of incidence .gamma..sub.1 =30.degree.<e=40.12.degree., which emerges from this end face 5 at a refracting angle .gamma..sub.2 =50.8.degree..
As is apparent from these explanations, a portion of the light emitted in the luminescent storage screen 1 cannot emerge from the screen due to total reflections.

Luminescent storage screen having a stimulable phosphor


A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a fiber layer, which contains fiber composed of a synthetic resin, between a separator and a positive electrode and/or between the separator and a negative electrode. The fiber layer contains at least PVDF and PTFE as components of the synthetic resin configuring the fiber. The PVDF and the PTFE both have an average molecular weight of equal to or greater than 200,000 and equal to or less than 2,000,000. In the components of the synthetic resin configuring the fiber, the content of PVDF is greater than the content of PTFE, and the content of PTFE is equal to or less than 45% by mass with respect to the total amount of the components of the synthetic resin.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery.
2. Description of Related Art
Compared to existing batteries, nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries such as lithium ion secondary batteries (lithium secondary batteries) are lighter in weight and have higher energy density. Therefore, in recent years, the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries have been used as so-called portable power supplies in personal computers, mobile terminals, and the like or as power supplies for driving vehicles. Particularly, the lithium ion secondary batteries which are light-weight and bring about high energy density are preferably used as high-output power supplies for driving vehicles such as an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid vehicle (HV), and a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV).
Typically, a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material layer, a negative electrode having a negative electrode active material layer, and a nonaqueous electrolyte. It is a battery which is charged and discharged by the travel of charge carriers (for example, lithium ions) in the electrolyte between the electrodes. At the time of charging the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, charge carriers (typically, lithium ions) are released (dissociated) from the positive electrode active material configuring the positive electrode active material layer and are absorbed (inserted) into the negative electrode active material configuring the negative electrode active material layer. Inversely, at the time of discharging the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, charge carriers (typically, lithium ions) are released (dissociated) from the negative electrode active material and are absorbed (inserted) into the positive electrode active material. As the charge carriers (typically, lithium ions) are absorbed into and released from the active materials along with the charge and discharge of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery as described above, the positive and negative electrode active materials (that is, positive and negative electrode active material layers having the active materials) expand and contract.
Typically, such a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery is established by accommodating an electrode unit, which consists of a positive electrode and a negative electrode laminated to each other together with a separator interposed therebetween, and an electrolyte in some cases. As the structure of the electrode unit, a laminate-type electrode unit in the form of a laminate of a plurality of planar electrode units, a roll-type electrode unit obtained by winding up a long sheet-like electrode unit in the form of a scroll, or the like is known. If the electrode unit is configured as above, a reaction area between the positive and negative electrodes can be enlarged, and thus the energy density and the output can be improved. Herein, as the separator, a porous film made of a resin is typically used. Such a separator functions to electrically insulate the positive electrode from the negative electrode and to hold the nonaqueous electrolyte. Examples of technical documents relating to such a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery include Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-078008 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-074403.
In a case where the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery configured as above is used in the application in which high-rate charge and discharge are repeated (for example, in a case where the battery is mounted on a vehicle), due to the expansion and contraction of the positive and negative electrode active materials (positive and negative electrode active material layers) accompanied by the charge and discharge, the separator may be pressed, thus pores of the separator may be crushed, and hence the nonaqueous electrolyte held in the pores may be extruded from the electrode unit. As a result, variation occurs in the amount of the nonaqueous electrolyte held in the electrode unit, and accordingly, in the electrode unit, a portion holds a large amount of nonaqueous electrolyte while the other portion holds a small amount of (lack of) nonaqueous electrolyte in some cases. In a case where the roll-type electrode unit is used as an electrode unit, the amount of the held nonaqueous electrolyte varies between the end portion and the central portion in the direction of the winding axis in some cases (that is, variation occurs in the amount of the nonaqueous electrolyte in some cases). Within the electrode unit, in the portion having a small amount of (lack of) nonaqueous electrolyte, so-called liquid shortage easily occurs. In the portion having a small amount of nonaqueous electrolyte (typically, the portion where the liquid shortage occurs), the amount of the nonaqueous electrolyte present is less than the necessary quantity, and the overall charge and discharge performance of the battery tends to deteriorate. Furthermore, within the electrode unit, a battery reaction mainly occurs in the portion having a relatively large amount of nonaqueous electrolyte, and thus the deterioration of such a portion tends to be accelerated. None of the aforementioned phenomena are preferable because they become a factor of performance deterioration (increase of battery resistance, capacity deterioration, and the like). Especially, for the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery used in the application in which a high level of high-rate charge and discharge characteristics is required, it is important to suppress the performance deterioration resulting from the variation in the amount of the nonaqueous electrolyte in the electrode unit.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery


The present invention relates generally to a coffee cup and in particular to a cup set having three different layers, where the first layer is a cup-like container having a filter formed therein, and the second layer is a coffee cup being used to receive the filtered coffee, the third layer is a base formed beneath the second layer which is supported by the same.

In our daily life, influenced by the wonderful smell and by the encouragement of environment, the number of coffee drinkers have gradually increased. Owing to the increasing coffee drinking population, and also because of the their special criticism to the coffee, a variety of coffee makers are being produced to meet the different requirements of the coffee drinkers.
Among the most popular coffee makers, two of them are the most common types known to the art, one is electric-type coffee maker using electricity as the source of boiling the water, the other is using alcohol as the source of the heating procedure; the electric-type coffee maker uses electricity to heat up the metal pipes formed therein, and the heat from the metal pipes will boil the water and then gradually using the boiling water to achieve the desired filtering effect; the alcohol type coffee maker uses the characteristic feature of alcohol to boil the water inside the coffee maker, and then step by step the boiled water inside the coffee maker will drip into the coffee powder which will then be dissolved by the boiled water and become liquid coffee dripping into a container. These two kinds of coffee makers both can achieve the desired purpose of dissolving the coffee powder into liquid type coffee, yet, because the facilities of achieving the desired purpose require electricity, alcohol, different kinds of cups and even tender caring during the filtering procedure, they are generally considered to be indoor use. Once we are out of the house, and still want to have fresh coffee ready to be served, these two kinds of coffee makers are almost impossible to serve this kind of requirement, even the alcohol type coffee maker can not meet this purpose, unless a lot of precautions are being taken into consideration before making a pot of fresh coffee.
It is therefore desirable to provide a coffee maker for making fresh coffee in any difficult situation, which is simple in structure and thus cheap in cost to be used for personal requirement.