A multi-lumen hose connector nipple and a multi-lumen hose equipped therewith. The multi-lumen hose connector nipple includes a nipple basic section through which a plurality of separate fluid conduits extend in each case between a first and a second nipple connector side, a plurality of hose lumen plug-in sockets integral with the nipple basic section, which sockets extend juxtaposed on the first nipple connector side with an intermediate hose lumen wall accommodation space left therebetween, wherein a socket interior space of each of the hose lumen plug-in sockets is assigned to a respective one of the fluid conduits and opens out axially, and a socket strutting structure within the socket interior space of at least one of the hose lumen plug-in sockets.

The invention relates to a multi-lumen hose connector nipple and to a multi-lumen hose equipped therewith, in particular for use in sanitary engineering as a sanitary multi-lumen hose.
Multi-lumen hoses, that is to say hoses which have in their interior two or more lumina, fluidically separated from one another and extending over the length of the hose, in the form of corresponding hollow channels, are common for certain applications in sanitary engineering and in other areas. With such a hose, it is possible for multiple liquid or gaseous media to be conducted separately from one another, or the respective lumen may be used in another manner, for example for leading through electrical lines, optical fibers or rod/cable elements serving other purposes. The present multi-lumen hose connector nipple serves for providing a connection to the multi-lumen hose for at least two of the hose lumina separately from one another, that is to say, via the nipple, at least two of the lumina of the hose can, separately from one another, be coupled to in each case one separate fluid feed line or fluid discharge line.
The utility model publication DE 297 20 516 U1 discloses a hose fitting which serves for delivery of fuel to tank systems and which has a multi-lumen hose into the lumina of which it is possible to plug individual hose nipples which are held captively in bores of a radial separating wall of a coupling and clamping element in the form of a sleeve. On its clamping side, the sleeve surrounds the hose, which is able to be inserted as far as the separating wall, and securely holds it in a clamping manner, for which purpose, there, the inner diameter of said sleeve is smaller than the hose outer diameter. On its coupling side, a fixing insert for fixing the hose nipples is able to be inserted into the sleeve.
The laid-open publication WO 2007/004050 A1 discloses a sanitary two-lumen hose for separate guidance of treated water and mains water, specifically for corresponding selective supply of water to a shower head which is able to be adjoined thereto, wherein the hose is provided at its ends with in each case one matching two-lumen hose connector nipple. The two-lumen hose is of the hose-in-hose type with an outer hose and an inner hose which is accommodated in the latter, wherein the two individual hoses are each individually fixed to one of two coaxial connecting pieces of the respective nipple. By way of one nipple, the two-lumen hose can be coupled in a rotationally conjoint manner to the shower head, and by way of the other nipple, it can be coupled in a rotationally movable manner onto an associated water supply.
The utility model publication DE 297 08 873 U1 discloses a sanitary two-lumen shower hose, having two cross-sectionally half-moon-shaped lumina, and an associated two-lumen hose connector nipple, having a nipple base portion through which there extend, in each case between a first and a second nipple connector side, two separate fluid conduits and having two hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces which are integral with the nipple base portion and which extend adjacently to one another on the first nipple connector side so as to leave clear an interposed hose lumen wall-receiving space, wherein a connecting piece interior space of each of the two hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces belongs to in each case one of the fluid conduits and opens out axially. The two fluid conduits open out coaxially with respect to one another on the second nipple connector side. By way of the respective connector nipple, the two-lumen hose is able to be connected to both a shower head and an associated water supply.
It is an object of the invention to provide a multi-lumen hose connector nipple, which is improved in comparison with the aforementioned prior art, in particular with regard to its functionality and/or its production outlay, and a multi-lumen hose equipped therewith.
The invention achieves this and other objects by providing a multi-lumen hose connector nipple comprising a nipple base section or portion through which there extends, in each case between a first and a second nipple connector side, a plurality of separate fluid conduits. The nipple further includes a plurality of hose lumen plug-in sockets or connecting pieces which are integral with the nipple base portion, and a socket or connecting piece strutting structure for at least one of the hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces. The hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces extend juxtaposed, i.e. adjacently to one another, on the first nipple connector side so as to leave clear an intermediate or interposed hose lumen wall-receiving, i.e. wall accommodation, space, wherein a socket or connecting piece interior space of each of the hose lumen plug-in sockets or connecting pieces belongs to in each case one of the fluid conduits and opens out axially. The connecting piece or socket strutting structure is situated in the connecting piece or socket interior space of at least one of the hose lumen plug-in sockets or connecting pieces. In this way, it is able to strut, that is to say support, the respective hose lumen plug-in connecting piece with respect to radially inwardly acting pressure. This avoids deformation of or damage to the hose lumen plug-in connecting piece due to radially inwardly acting clamping pressure, as typically arises when the hose end is securely clamped in a fluid-tight manner on the plugged-in plug-in connecting piece of the nipple.
With this measure, it is consequently possible through the use of the multi-lumen hose connector nipple according to the invention to realize secure, fluid-tight coupling-on of a multi-lumen hose. For this purpose, a single hose-clamping means over the outer periphery of the multi-lumen hose may suffice in particular, the nipple according to the invention not requiring separate sealing measures for the individual hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces or the associated lumina of the multi-lumen hose. The nipple may in particular be used for connecting a sanitary multi-lumen hose.
Advantageous refinements of the invention are specified, for example, in the dependent claims.
In one refinement of the invention, the connecting piece strutting structure is formed integrally with the hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces. This can simplify the manufacture of the nipple. In particular, in corresponding embodiments, the nipple may be manufactured entirely as an integral, i.e. one-piece, component.
In one refinement of the invention, the connecting piece strutting structure comprises in at least one of the connecting piece interior spaces a support strut which extends with a radial main direction component between two radially opposite wall portions of the respective hose lumen plug-in connecting piece. This results in an efficient support function for the respective connecting piece interior space with respect to pressure acting radially from the outside, with relatively low production outlay.
In one refinement of the invention, the hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces are arranged within a circular or oval boundary line. This nipple configuration facilitates efficient manufacture of the nipple, and, when a correspondingly configured multi-lumen hose is coupled on, a single hose-clamping along said boundary line can suffice for achieving a secure, fluid-tight connection of all the hose lumen plug-in sockets or connecting pieces to the associated lumina of the multi-lumen hose.
In one development of the invention, the hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces are arranged with a sector-shaped cross section adjacently to one another in a circumferential direction within the circular or oval boundary line. This connecting piece configuration may be advantageous for corresponding applications, in particular with the use of a multi-lumen hose with a correspondingly sector-shaped cross section of its lumina.
In one refinement of the invention, a first one of the fluid conduits opens out axially on the second nipple connector side, while a second one of the fluid conduits opens out radially on the second nipple connector side. This may be advantageously used for corresponding connection configurations.
In one development of the invention, the nipple base portion has on the second nipple connector side a conical region at which the second fluid conduit opens out radially and from which there axially extends a nipple connector connecting piece, through which the first fluid conduit opens out axially. This too may be advantageously used for corresponding connection configurations.
The invention achieves the above-mentioned and other objects also by providing a multi-lumen hose comprising a multi-lumen hose body, which has a plurality of separate hose lumina, and a connector unit at one end of the multi-lumen hose body, wherein the connector unit comprises a multi-lumen hose connector nipple according to the disclosure, which is plugged with its hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces into in each case one of the multiple hose lumina of the multi-lumen hose body. The connector unit furthermore comprises a ferrule which surrounds the multi-lumen hose body in an end region which receives the plugged-in hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces, so as to press thereagainst. This realizes an advantageously simple and functionally reliable coupling of the multi-lumen hose connector nipple to the multi-lumen hose body, for which a single ferrule, which surrounds the multi-lumen hose body as a whole, already suffices. It is not necessary for the hose lumen plug-in connecting pieces of the nipple to be individually connected in a fluid-tight manner to the respective lumina of the multi-lumen hose body. The connecting piece strutting structure of the nipple provides for sufficient dimensional stability of the respective hose lumen plug-in connecting piece with respect to the pressing pressure, able to be exerted by the ferrule, for the fluid-tight coupling of nipple and hose body. Optionally, the multi-lumen hose may be equipped at both ends with such a connector unit.
In one refinement of the invention, the nipple base portion has a radially outwardly projecting stop flange against which the ferrule and/or the end of the multi-lumen hose body bear(s) axially. The connector unit comprises a union connection nut which is supported or rests by way of a stop shoulder against the stop flange. This configuration may be advantageously used for cases in which the multi-lumen hose is to be connected to a further system component by means of the union connection nut, for example to a shower body or a multi-channel water supply in the case of sanitary applications.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments best exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


A stepping motor having a printed circuit rotor including a first printed circuit on one side of the rotor formed in a plurality of spiral coil windings, and a second printed circuit on the other side of the rotor formed in an equal number of like coil windings, the coil windings on one side being 90.degree. out of phase with those on the opposite side. The motor also includes a slip-ring arrangement for delivering pulsed DC power alternately to the first and second printed circuits for driving the rotor in a step-wise manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electric machines and, more particularly, to a DC stepping motor incorporating a printed circuit rotor.
2. Description of the Background
Simplicity and standardization are the basic prerequisites for tooling and machinery designed for mass production of industrial products. This is especially true of automatic processing systems where the operative component parts must have the flexibility to carry out different processing procedures using different work-pieces.
For example, a properly designed automatic processing system can complete a variety of operations such as lathe cutting, drilling, planning, milling, abrading, and boring. Moreover, the system should be capable of multiple sequential operations and/or multiple concurrent or combined operations.
Computer or processor-controlled systems provide the necessary flexibility. However, a precision electro-mechanical interface is required in such systems to convert software commands into mechanical movement. Typically, precision electric motors are used for this purpose.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,305 reissued Dec. 25, 1962, shows a commutating motor with an axial (or disk-type) structure which helps in reducing the size of the motor. The motor has a disk-type rotor with a number of coiled windings located radially about the disk. As shown in FIG. 3, the coiled armature windings 11 are alternately positioned on both sides of the disk 13, and all the windings 11 are connected in series via commutating segments 7 and 12. A stator is provided which includes two pairs of bi-polar magnets 17 and 18. Each pair of bi-polar stator magnets 17 and 18 flanks the disk rotor 13 and conforms to the armature windings thereon, and the two pairs are located 180.degree. apart. As the disk rotor 13 rotates, brushes 19 and 20 contact the commutating segments 7 and 12 thereby directing a DC voltage to the proper armature windings. The resulting continuous drive characteristics resemble those of a conventional DC motor, i.e., the speed is highly dependant on the DC input voltage and the load.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,697 issued to Kitamor et al. shows another example of a disk-type commutating motor. In this case, a printed circuit rotor is disclosed to further reduce the size of the motor.
Although the disk-type commutating motors as described above provide compact and powerful electro-mechanical conversion, they are continuous drive motors and are incapable of instantaneous starting and stopping. Hence, disk-type commutating motors are often incapable of the precise intermittent control needed computer or processor-controlled manufacturing systems.
Stepping motors were developed to overcome the above-described problems. Stepping motors may be controlled to execute and maintain a fixed angular displacement. This is usually accomplished by pulsed control signals from a central processor. However, unlike commutating motors, stepping motors are reluctance machines in which a permanent magnet rotor typically strives to align itself with an electrically-excited stator to minimize reluctance. Stepping motors (like commutating motors) may be constructed in an axial form, but this requires a permanent magnet stator and electrically-excited rotor. This in turn requires some means to convey the pulsed DC control signals to the rotor windings during rotation, and it requires a fixed arrangement of rotor windings and stator magnets to insure precise and continued incremental rotation with each additional control pulse.
It would be greatly advantageous to employ a disk-type rotor as in the Haydon Re. '305 patent in a stepping motor for machine tool applications as shown and described in the parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 258,088 filed Oct. 17, 188 (which is, in turn, a continuation of Ser. No. 426,188 filed Sep. 28, 1982).
The Applicant is aware of European Patent Application 86107389.0 (Publication No. 0208213). This application claimed a priority based on U.S. Ser. No. 426,188 (the parent of the present application). A copy of this reference is provided herewith.


An exemplary system includes 1) a sound detector configured to detect an audio signal, 2) an implantable stimulator configured to be implanted within a user, and 3) a sound processor communicatively coupled to the implantable cochlear stimulator and the sound detector. The sound processor is configured to determine that a level of the audio signal exceeds a predetermined threshold and direct, in response to the determination that the level of the audio signal exceeds the predetermined threshold, the implantable stimulator to elicit a stapedial reflex within the user by applying electrical stimulation to one or more stimulation sites within the user. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

The natural sense of hearing in human beings involves the use of hair cells in the cochlea that convert or transduce acoustic signals into auditory nerve impulses. Hearing loss, which may be due to many different causes, is generally of two types: conductive and sensorineural. Some types of conductive hearing loss occur when the normal mechanical pathways for sound to reach the hair cells in the cochlea are impeded. These sound pathways may be impeded, for example, by damage to the auditory ossicles. Conductive hearing loss may often be overcome through the use of conventional hearing aids that amplify sound so that acoustic signals can reach the hair cells within the cochlea. Some types of conductive hearing loss may also be treated by surgical procedures.
Sensorineural hearing loss, on the other hand, is caused by the absence or destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea, which are needed to transduce acoustic signals into auditory nerve impulses. People who suffer from severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss may be unable to derive significant benefit from conventional hearing aid systems, no matter how loud the acoustic stimulus. This is because the mechanism for transducing sound energy into auditory nerve impulses has been damaged. Thus, in the absence of properly functioning hair cells, auditory nerve impulses cannot be generated directly from sounds.
To overcome sensorineural hearing loss, numerous cochlear implant systems—or cochlear prostheses—have been developed. Cochlear implant systems bypass the hair cells in the cochlea by presenting electrical stimulation directly to the auditory nerve fibers. Direct stimulation of the auditory nerve fibers leads to the perception of sound in the brain and at least partial restoration of hearing function.
In many people with sensorineural hearing loss, the hair cells deep within the cochlea that sense low frequencies are substantially undamaged. Such people may be able to hear low frequencies without assistance or by means of an amplifying hearing aid. However, due to impaired hearing, the remaining low frequency hearing may be vulnerable to accelerated deterioration. In particular, loss of hearing may increase the stapedial reflex threshold ("SRT") of a person. The SRT is the loudness at which the brain will cause the stapedial muscle to contract thereby applying tension to the ossicles of the inner ear and reducing the amplitude of vibrations reaching the cochlea by up to 25 dB. As the SRT rises, the low frequency hair cells of the cochlea are exposed to higher intensity vibrations for longer periods of time, thereby accelerating hearing loss and exposing the person to potentially damaging effects caused by sounds with relatively high intensity levels.

Systems and methods for eliciting a stapedial reflex to protect hearing


The invention is directed to maximizing storage cell surface area in a high density/high volume DRAM (dynamic random access memory) fabrication process. Fabrication methods are disclosed that, when used with existing capacitor fabrication processes, will reduce cell leakage and allow for increased capacitance. The present invention corrects any severed storage node poly that may have resulted from a misalignment of a masking pattern used for defining future buried contacts by placing passivation oxidation over the existing wafer surface which, in effect, seals off the severed storage node poly form the capacitor's top cell plate poly. The passivation oxidation prevents cell plate to plate leakage while protecting the severed storage node poly from subsequent deposition of conductive layers.

In dynamic semiconductor memory storage devices it is essential that storage node capacitor cell plates be large enough to retain an adequate charge or capacitance in spite of parasitic capacitances and noise that may be present during circuit operation. As is the case for most semiconductor integrated circuitry, circuit density is continuing to increase at a fairly constant rate. The issue of maintaining storage node capacitance is particularly important as the density of DRAM arrays continues to increase for future generations of memory devices.
The ability to densely pack storage cells while maintaining required capacitance levels is a crucial requirement of semiconductor manufacturing technologies if future generations of expanded memory array devices are to be successfully manufactured.
One method of maintaining, as well as increasing, storage node size in densely packed memory devices is through the use of "stacked storage cell" design. With this technology, two or more layers of a conductive material such as polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon or poly) are deposited over an access device on a silicon wafer, with dielectric layers sandwiched between each poly layer. A cell constructed in this manner is known as a stacked capacitor cell (STC). Such a cell utilizes the space over the access device for capacitor plates, has a low soft error rate (SER) and may be used in conjunction with inter-plate insulative layers having a high dielectric constant.
However, a problem may occur during the final processing steps when a buried contact is required to make contact to the substrate between fabricated storage capacitors (particularly stacked capacitors that are fabricated by any process steps). If the masking alignment used to define the buried contact isn't precise when the contact opening is etched, a portion of the storage node plate may be severed. Once this happens, there is an exposed interface between the capacitor's cell plates that lends itself to future plate to plate leakage.
The present invention improves existing capacitor fabrication processes, and in particular stacked capacitor processes, by optimizing a capacitor cell with passivation oxidation techniques that improve cell leakage and maintain cell area.

Method of forming passivation oxidation for improving cell leakage and cell area


A steering device basically includes an in-wheel motor drive wheel, a dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit, an upper side fixing seat, a lower side fixing seat and a steering mechanism. The dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit includes an electric motor as a power source. The dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit is integrated with the in-wheel motor drive wheel. The upper side fixing seat is disposed at an upper part of the dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit. The lower side fixing seat is disposed at a lower part of the dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit. The steering mechanism converts a steering force to a steering torque around a king pin axis and applies a torque to the in-wheel motor drive wheel. The steering mechanism is disposed in a location that is on the king pin axis and that is above the in-wheel motor drive wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering device for wheels for steering the wheel around a king pin axis and especially relates to a proposal for an improvement that will facilitate a large turn of the wheel at a large angle like, for example, 90 degrees.
2. Background Information
A conventional example of a generally known steering mechanism that facilitates making a large turn of the wheel in this way includes that which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-062388. The steering device disclosed in this Japanese Patent Publication comprises a dedicated in-wheel drive unit that is built-in and has an electric motor as the power source, and this device is a steering device for in-wheel motor drive wheels that are each driven by this dedicated in-wheel motor drive unit; a tie rod is coupled to a knuckle arm of these wheels, and the steering force from the steering wheel is converted to the steering force around the king pin axis of the wheel via the tie rod and knuckle arm in order to steer the in-wheel motor drive wheels.


The disclosure relates to a package comprising a first portion and a second portion (or a first package member and a second package member) adapted to be connected to each other and thereby keep the package closed, wherein the first and second portions (or package members) are connected to each other by at least one adhesion area, wherein the adhesion area is adapted to comprise an electrically weakable adhesive. The disclosure further relates to a method of closing and opening a package.

The old way of distributing products in large distribution packages, followed by repacking of the products behind the store counter in paper bags, or the like, in the amount as bought by the consumer, has almost completely disappeared. Decades ago the wide spread of the large self service stores, with pre-packed products stored on shelves, from which the consumers themselves pick the products, lead to great developments in the packaging industry.
Today almost all consumer products are packed at the manufacturing or processing site, distributed, sold, and often also stored in the consumers' home, in one and the same package. One popular kind of package used for almost all kind of products is a box made of paperboard. Paperboard boxes are, e.g., widely used for dry food products and for small commodity items such as screws and nails. By providing an inner bag the paperboard box may also be used for liquids or for powder products, such as cocoa or dry milk. This kind of package is also widely used for cereals and similar products.
This kind of package is often adapted to be opened by first tearing off a tearing band or strip from the paperboard box and then cutting (with a pair of scissors) the inner bag open. The tearing band often extends across the complete top surface, from side edge to side edge, and separates a front flap connected with the front side of the container from a rear flap connected to the back side of the package. The front and rear flaps are often spot glued to side flaps folded from the sides of the package underneath the front and rear flaps. When the consumer opens such a package the tear band often breaks and the tearing action need to be restarted again. Moreover, the tear band often does not separate from the flaps as intended, which makes it more difficult to open the package and which often results in that any reclosing means, such as flaps and slits, are damaged.
Another kind of package often used as a consumer package is a bottle or jar formed of plastic or glass provided with a screw cap or snap lid formed of plastic or metal. This kind of package has an intrinsic problem relating to the compromise of providing a sufficiently low initial opening force and a sufficiently good sealing. Most caps or lids on this kind of package are fastened by threads or bayonet mount. In order to provide the necessary sealing pressure, the caps or lids must be fastened with a significant torque. Within the packaging industry there exist numerous variants concerning how to avoid the need for application of a high torque for closing the package. However, as will be discussed below, these variants introduce different drawbacks for the consumers when opening the packages, and especially at initial opening of the packages.
One kind of package often used for jam, pickled gherkin, and the like is a glass jar with a metal lid. Such a package is often filled by hot-filling or the like in order to create a negative pressure inside the jar. This negative pressure will force the lid against the mouth of the jar and will thereby improve the quality of the sealing between the lid and jar. However, this way of creating a good seal has the drawback that it is very hard to open such a jar; when trying to rotate the lid, the negative pressure will give rise to a high friction force counteracting the intended opening action. This kind of package also requires that the jar and lid are formed of relatively rigid components in order to be able to withstand the forces involved.
One kind of package often used for dry products, such as instant coffee, is a glass jar with a simple plastic lid. In order to provide sufficient sealing, the jar is, underneath the lid, provided with a sealing film or membrane. Such a sealing membrane is often also provided on plastic bottles for ketchup, mustard or the like, and boxes for table margarine or the like, where the lid has a snap functionality or some other functionality which is difficult to use to provide a sealing action. The film or membrane is often glued or fused to the mouth of the package. However, this kind of package suffers from the drawback that the necessary tearing off force must be sufficiently low so that the user is able to tear off the membrane and preferably in one piece, but the membrane should also be securely sealed to the mouth and it should from cost and environment aspects be as thin as possible. The result is often that the consumer has difficulties in tearing off the membrane at all or in tearing off the membrane in one piece. If the membrane is only partially torn off, it is often difficult to get rid of the remainders since any grip tab or the like has already been torn off.
Thus, the known packages all suffer from different drawbacks when it comes to opening of the packages.
It is well known in the art that polymer chains can be broken by the application of a voltage. This is for example discussed in a review article by G. S. Shapoval (Cathodic initiation of reactions of macromolecule formation and degradation, Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry, Volume 30, Number 6, November 1994).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,308 B2 discloses a material for use in the airplane industry. As is evident from the published patent, the material has been developed under the supervision of the U.S. Department of the Air Force. The material is developed for use as coatings and adhesives. It is further elaborated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,308 that the adhesive bonds and polymeric coatings are commonly used in the assembly and finishing of manufactured goods. It is stated that adhesive bonds are used in place of mechanical fasteners, such as screw, bolts and rivets, to provide bonds with reduced machining costs and greater adaptability in the manufacturing process. It is further discussed that adhesive bonds distribute stresses evenly, reduce the risk of fatigue, and seal the joints from corrosive species. It further asserts that, similarly, polymer-based coatings are commonly applied to the exterior surface of the manufactured products. These coatings provide protective layers that seal the surface from corrosive reactants, as well as provide a painted surface that can the aesthetically pleasing.
The composition disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,308 B2 has a matrix functionality and an electrolyte functionality, wherein the electrolyte functionality is provided by a block copolymer or a graft copolymer. The matrix functionality provides an adhesive bond to a substrate, and the electrolyte functionality provides sufficient ionic conductivity to the composition to support a faradic reaction at an interface with an electrically conductive surface in contact with the composition, whereby the adhesive bond is weakened at the interface. The composition may be a phase-separated composition having first regions of substantially matrix functionality and second regions of substantially electrolyte functionality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Package and method of closing and opening a package


A projection zoom lens is provided and includes: in order from the magnification side, a positive first lens group performing focusing with being fixed during power-varying and having a focusing function; a negative second lens group, a negative third lens group, and a positive fourth lens group, which are moved with correlation during the power-varying; and a positive fifth lens group G5 fixed during the power-varying. An aperture diaphragm is fixed between the fourth lens group and the fifth lens group during the power-varying. In addition, the expression of 1.7<Bf/f<3.0 is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the whole system, and Bf is a back focal length (air conversion distance) of the whole system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a projection zoom lens of a 5-group configuration and 3-group movement mounted on a projection type display device or the like and a projection type display device having the projection zoom lens, and more particularly, to a projection zoom lens and a projection type display device suitable for projecting on the large screen in a movie theater or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
A projector device (projection type display device) having a relatively long back focal length using a light valve such as a liquid crystal display and a DMD display has come into wide use (see JP-A-8-201690).
Recently, in movie theaters, a projector that is suitable for a large screen and is capable of projecting a higher-precision picture has been used as such a projector device.
A reflection type liquid crystal display element or a DMD 3-sheet type is used for the projector device provided for such a use, and a longer back focal length and telecentricity as satisfactory as the other projectors are necessary.
Generally, a value obtained by dividing a projection distance by a screen width is referred to as a throw ratio. A screen size and a distance from a screen to a projection room, that is, a projection distance are various according to movie theaters. Accordingly, to project a picture with a proper size for each movie theater, a lens corresponding to each proper throw ratio is necessary, but it is not a good method to actually prepare all lenses corresponding to proper throw ratios in consideration of cost. Thus, this can be addressed by providing a width that can correspond to the throw ratio using a zoom lens.
However, in most of the known lenses for a projector, Fno is changed during zooming.
Generally, Fno on a TELE side is slower than that on a WIDE side. Accordingly, in such a zoom lens, a picture of a movie theater with a high throw ratio gets dark even in movie theaters having the same screen size.
As a zoom ratio of a lens gets higher, a wide usability of the lens gets higher. However, in the known lens for a projector, as a zoom ratio gets higher, a variable of Fno gets larger. Accordingly, the lens is not suitable for a movie theater.
To address that the lens is not suitable for a movie theater since Fno is varied according to change of the zoom ratio, there has been proposed a lens described in JP-A-2002-122782.
Since the lens described in JP-A-2002-122782 is a varifocal lens, telecentricity is not kept constantly during power-varying and an operation is complicated when power-varying is necessary after installation.

Projection zoom lens and projection type display device


A two-stage machine tool transmission, in particular a spindle drive transmission, includes a planetary gearset in which a spindle or a spindle insert can be connected to a drive output of a transmission, which has a first drive output shaft and the second drive output shaft, such that the first drive output shaft is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a drive input shaft and can optionally be connected, via a first shift element, to a sun gear of the planetary gearset. The second drive output shaft is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a carrier of the planetary gearset. A ring gear of the planetary gearset is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the transmission housing and a second shift element is provided such that a connection between the spindle or a spindle insert and, optionally, the first or the second drive output shaft, is possible.

Machine tool transmissions, in particular spindle transmissions, are known from the prior art and usually comprise a planetary transmission and a shift device for shifting to the desired gear.
For example, DE 10 2004 003 684 A1 by the present Applicant describes a machine tool transmission, in particular a spindle transmission in which force or torque transmission takes place directly from the drive output shaft of the transmission to the spindle. The spindle is arranged co-axially with respect to the drive output shaft.
Further from DE 10 2004 003 685 A1 by the present Applicant, a machine tool transmission, in particular a spindle transmission is known, in which force or torque transmission takes place directly from the drive output shaft of the transmission to the spindle. The spindle is arranged co-axially with the drive output shaft. In this case, a rotary duct is integrated in the drive input shaft, which serves as a transfer device for coolant liquids, oils or air between the transmission output and the spindle.
DE 102 41 006 A1 by the present Applicant describes an electromagnetic shift device for a two-stage planetary gearset with a drive input shaft and a drive output shaft, a sun gear, a ring, gear, a planetary gear carrier with planetary gears, a transmission housing and a sliding shift sleeve for shifting to a first gear in which the ring gear can be coupled to the housing and a second gear in which the ring gear can be coupled to the sun gear, such that the sliding shift sleeve can be moved by an electromagnet consisting of magnet coils and an armature. The armature can rotate, but is axially fixed onto the sliding sleeve.
From DE 199 17 673 A1 by the present Applicant, a shift device for a two-stage planetary transmission is known. In the known planetary transmission, the drive input shaft is connected to a sun gear and the drive output shaft to a planetary gear carrier, a ring gear of the planetary transmission can be positively coupled such that a sliding shift sleeve to a transmission housing or to the sun gear and the shift sleeve can be moved co-axially with respect to the drive input shaft by way of an electric control element to the various shift positions. The control element is an electromagnet whose armature is connected to propel the shift sleeve.
Owing to their centric structure, machine tool transmissions with a space-saving planetary drive for increasing the torque are generally also suitable for high speeds. However, the designs known from the prior art limit the high speeds because in the straight-through mode (i=1:1, motor output speed=transmission output speed) the complete planetary drive with its sun gear, planetary gears, planetary gear carrier and the ring gear is driven, even though this is only necessary for producing a transmission ratio for the first gear step. In such situations, the high rotation speeds have an adverse influence on the vibration values. In addition, accelerating to maximum speed take a longer time.
For the transmission of high torques in the first gear step (i.e., with a transmission ratio), large diameters are required at the drive output, which additionally increase the rotation masses and also permit only large seal diameters. This affects the transmission temperature adversely, since the friction increases over-proportionally with diameter and speed.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a two-stage machine tool transmission, in particular a spindle transmission for high torques and high speeds, whose vibration values are low. In addition, the temperature of the transmission should remain as low as possible.

Two-stage machine tool gearing, in particular spindle gearing


An imaging device includes: an imaging unit that images a subject image and generates image data; a receiving unit that receives a mode setting to either one of a full AF mode of executing auto focus control by referring to data corresponding to an entire region of an image to be indicated by the image data and a partial AF mode of executing the auto focus control by referring to data corresponding to a partial region of the image to be indicated by the image data; and a controller that, in response to whether the mode is the full AF mode or the partial AF mode, generates first distance image data regarding a depth of the entire region of the image to be indicated by the image data or second distance image data regarding a depth of the partial region of the image to be indicated by the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an imaging device provided with an AF (Auto Focus) function.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a method for generating distance information from imaged image data to a subject, a method called DFD (Depth From Defocus) is known (for example, refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-117593). The DFD is a method for generating the distance information to the subject in such a manner that a quantitative correlation regarding blurs between a plurality of pieces of image data imaged at a plurality of different focal positions is calculated. Moreover, it is also known to perform AF control by using the distance information obtained by the DFD (for example, refer to International Publication No. 2007/86378).

Imaging device that executes auto focus control by referring to distance image data regarding a depth of a region

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A method of bringing hydrocarbons from a well into production by introducing encapsulated bubbles into the fluid in the production string to reduce the hydrostatic pressure holding the hydrocarbons in the reservoir. For reservoirs where the reservoir pressure has been depleted to the point where the reservoir pressure is not sufficient to push a column of hydrocarbons to the surface at an acceptable rate, encapsulated bubbles can be continuously introduced into the production string at a suitable depth to reduce the pressure required to bring hydrocarbons to the surface and allowing the encapsulated bubbles to be recovered and recycled.

Hydrocarbon reservoirs are pressurized due to the weight of rock and/or interstitial fluid in the formations above the reservoir. When drilling for hydrocarbons, such as oil or condensates, a column of fluid of sufficient density is used to balance or exceed the reservoir pressure to prevent the uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere. However, when suitable equipment has been installed in the well and on the surface of a well to test or produce the hydrocarbons, it is desirous to bring the well into production. This is achieved by reducing the density and hence the hydrostatic pressure of fluid holding the hydrocarbons in place such that the reservoir pressure exceeds that of the column of fluid above it and hydrocarbons flow from the reservoir to the surface. Typically, when production is due to take place, a specialized tube and equipment is placed in the well bore through which the hydrocarbons flow and which, for purposes of the present disclosure, is referred to as the "production string."
The operation of bringing production online can be made more difficult by one or more of the following problems:                Reservoir pressures decrease with time when under production;        Formation water can be produced that may increase the density of the fluid in the production string sufficiently to stop a well flowing; and        Brines used in the drilling process may try to flow back up the production string and increase the pressure holding the hydrocarbons in place.
There are several known methods for initiating well production or increasing production.
A gas can be injected into the production string at depth to mix with the oil and thereby reduce the resultant density of the fluid. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon gases have all been used. The disadvantage of this method is that it requires trained people, a supply of the gases, and a significant amount of complicated equipment.
Another method is to introduce electric or mechanical pumps into the wellbore to pump the oil to the surface. The disadvantage of this method is again cost, and the longevity of pumps operating deep in the wellbore is not high.
A further method is to inject water or gas into the reservoir at a different point to increase the pressure in the reservoir. The downside of this method is that separate wellbores have to be drilled and injection equipment must be installed at great cost.


A leg exercise device for use with an office chair including a back, a seat, and a seat support. The leg exercise device includes a leg exercise mechanism for use by a user while seated on the office chair to exercise the user's legs, and a rigid connection mechanism extending from the leg exercise mechanism for detachably and rigidly connecting the leg exercise mechanism to the seat support of the office chair.

Working in an office environment often requires workers to be seated for extended periods of time. It is well accepted that periodic exercise is desirable for good physical and mental health. However, performing exercise during a work day while seated is usually not practical or desirable. The inventor of the present invention has recognized that a worker is more likely to exercise while seated, improving the worker's mental alertness and long-term health, if the worker is presented with an exercise device that uses a type of motion that the worker is familiar with and not too difficult.

Leg exercise device for use with an office chair


To achieve more appropriate interpolation of a missing pixel, an image is input to a processing section for interpolation. The interpolation is applied utilizing image data of pixels located around the pixel to be interpolated. Specifically, correlations between the image data of the pixels to be interpolated, and pixel data in a horizontal direction, vertical direction, and diagonal direction, are compared to one another; pixel data having stronger correlation is used for the interpolation. Correlation between the image data of the pixels to be interpolated and which direction is strong is determined, so that different weighting for interpolation is used accordingly.

Single plate CCD cameras, in which a color filter is provided for each pixel to obtain image data on each of the RGB colors for each pixel, are widely used. In image capturing using such a CCD camera, an image which has passed through an optical antialias filter is detected by light receiving elements having color filters, whereby RGB image signals are obtained. An image capturing process can be modeled as shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, an image of a scene for image capturing passes through an optical antialias filter 1, and then enters a color filter array (CFA) 2, where the image is converted into RGB image signals. Thus, after being blurred to some extent by means of an optical system, the RGB image signals are sampled as RGB mosaic images.
Here, many of the single plate image capturing devices employ a Bayer-pattern CFA, where RGB image capturing pixels are arranged in a matrix, as shown in FIG. 2. An image obtained using an image capturing device (for example, a CCD) which employs a Bayer CFA is a mosaic image, which has green data for a half of the entire pixels, red data for a quarter of the entire pixels, and blue data for a quarter of the entire pixels. Therefore, in order to obtain a normal captured color image based on a mosaic image obtained using an image capturing device, restoration of the data on a missing pixel is required. This process for restoration is referred to as demosaicing.
Demosaicing, however, has problems, including, for example, false color and/or zipper noise in a restored image, which must be suppressed, and reduction of sharpness of a restored image, which must be enhanced. False color refers to a phenomenon in which a color which does not exist in an original image is produced in a restored image. Zipper noise refers to a phenomenon in which high frequency component is decreased, producing artifact in the form of a broken line.
A general demosaicing method includes low pass filtering. In demosaicing by means of filtering, fineness of and occurrence of false color in a restored image retain trade-off relationship.
In connection with the above, U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,734 discloses "Adaptive Color Plane Interpolation (ACPI)"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,322 discloses "Gradient Based Interpolation (GBI)", and U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,678 discloses "Constant Hue-Based Interpolation (CHBI)".
According to ACPI disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,734, green data is interpolated by adding a secondary gradient of red or blue pixel values to the average of the adjacent pixel values, and red or blue data is interpolated by adding a secondary gradient of green pixel values to the average of the adjacent pixel values.
According to GBI disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,322, green data is interpolated using the average of the adjacent pixel values, and red and blue data is interpolated by adding a green pixel value to a differential average of blue and green or red and green pixel values.
According to CHBI disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,678, green data is interpolated using the average of the adjacent pixel values, and red and blue data is interpolated by multiplying the average of R/G or B/G by a green pixel value.
According to "Demosaicing Methods for Bayer Color Arrays," (by R. Ramanath, W. E. Snyder, G. L. Bilbro, Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 306-315, 2002), performances attained using those prevailing methods are compared, with a conclusion obtained that the ACPI exhibits the highest performance.
ACPI, however, is problematic in that, although it can provide a fine image with less false color or zipper noise, isolated points become more common. The present invention advantageously achieve restoration of a more suitable image.

Interpolation method for captured color image data


A pedestrian trailer system including a trailer hitch assembly that has a first concave member and a cross bar that is releasably coupled. A body support member is included for positioning around a persons waist. The body support member has a second concave member and a belt member. A plurality of S-shaped bands form a pair of inner bands and a pair of outer bands. Each pair of bands is used to couple the trailer hitch member and the body support member. The pair of inner bands criss-cross when coupled with the first and second concave members. The pair of outer bands criss-cross when coupled with the first and second concave members. Lastly, a trailer member which has a pair of trailer arms is included. The pair of trailer arms have a lower end and an upper member. Each upper member has an opening for allowing the cross bar to be positioned within. The lower end has a wheel. The trailer member is to be pulled by a person when coupled with the cross bar of the trailer hitch member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pedestrian trailer system and more particularly pertains to providing a system that will allow a person to transport materials without supporting the weight of the material on the body, and further allowing the person to move freely without restriction of movement when the pedestrian trailer system is supported about the waist of the person.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a body trailer is known in the prior art. More specifically, body trailers heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of transporting items are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,355 to Hoffman discloses a monowheel travois. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 338,560 to Lundy discloses a golf cart pulling attachment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,355 to Klumpjan discloses a hands-free dumping wagon. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,318 to Capraro discloses a body trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,844 to Douglas et al. discloses a travois with roller assembly. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,780 to Straub discloses a carriage assembly for a jogger.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe pedestrian trailer system that allows a trailer hitch assembly to be coupled to a body support member by a plurality of S-shaped bands for the purpose of allowing a trailer to be coupled to the trailer hitch assembly for pulling by the person as they walk or run.
In this respect, the pedestrian trailer system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a system that will allow a person to transport materials without supporting the weight of the material on the body, and further allowing the person to move freely without restriction of movement when the pedestrian trailer system is supported about the waist of the person.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved pedestrian trailer system which can be used for providing a system that will allow a person to transport materials without supporting the weight of the material on the body, and further allowing the person to move freely without restriction of movement when the pedestrian trailer system is supported about the waist of the person. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A sole pad with shock-absorbing and massaging effects is provided with, on the underside thereof, a mounting recess including a first and second receiving cavities that are connected to each other by a connection groove. A pressure transmitter has a first massaging ball and a second massaging ball filled with liquid and in communication with each other by way of a tubular portion. The pressure transmitter is securely housed in the mounting recess. The first and second receiving cavities have respectively a through hole so as to permit the massaging balls of the pressure transmitter to outextend the surface of the sole pad for contact with a wearer's foot. Liquid filled in the pressure transmitter can move between the first and second massaging balls by way of the tubular portion when the wearer's foot exerts unbalanced pressure on the sole pad in walking so as to effect shock absorbing and massaging purpose at the same time.

The present invention relates to a sole pad with a shock-absorbing and massaging effects. On the underside of the sole pad is provided with a mounting recess including first and second receiving cavities that are connected to each other by a connect groove. A pressure transmitter has a first massaging ball and a second massaging ball filled with liquid and in communication with each other by way of a tubular portion. The massaging balls of the pressure transmitter are produced in the same shape as the first and second receiving cavities with the tubular portion in the form of the connection groove so that the pressure transmitter can be securely housed in the first and second cavities and the connection groove. The first and second receiving cavities have respectively a through hole so as to permit the massaging balls filled with liquid to outextend the surface of the sole pad and to contact with the bottom of a wearer's foot. Liquid filled in the pressure transmitter can move between the first and second massaging balls by way of the tubular portion when the wearer's foot exerts unbalanced pressure on the sole pad in walking so as to effect shock absorbing and massaging purpose at the same time.
Conventional sole pads are made in various materials and have different thickness, softness and functions mainly for the protection of people's feet from blisters caused by constant friction in walking. But the quality and structure of a sole pad can have direct effect on the protection of a wearer's feet.

Sole pad with shock-absorbing and massaging effect


An optical system includes a front lens group, a stop, and a rear lens group arranged successively in order from the object side toward the image side. The front lens group includes a solid material element having a refractive action. The rear lens group includes a diffractive optical element. The solid material element is formed on at least one transmissive surface of a refractive optical element. An Abbe number of a solid material of the solid material element with respect to the d line, a partial dispersion ratio of the solid material with respect to the g line and the F line, respective thicknesses of the solid material element and the refractive optical element when measured on the optical axis, and respective focal lengths of the diffractive optical portion of the diffractive optical element and the solid material element in air satisfy predetermined conditional expressions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical system suitable for use in an optical apparatus, such as a silver-halide film camera, a digital still camera, a video camera, a telescope, a binocular, a projector, or a copying machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical system used in an optical apparatus, such as a digital camera, a video camera, or a projector, is required to have a short overall lens length (i.e., a length from a first lens surface on the object side to an image plane) corresponding to reduction in size of the optical apparatus. However, as the overall lens length reduces, various aberrations tend to increase. In particular, axial chromatic aberration and transverse chromatic aberration are increased, thus resulting in deterioration of optical performance.
Known techniques for reducing chromatic aberrations of an optical system include a method of using an anomalous partial dispersion material as an optical member and a method of using a diffractive optical element having a diffractive action (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,115,188, 7,136,237, 7,193,789, 6,381,079, 7,426,083, and 7,253,973).
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,188, the chromatic aberrations are satisfactorily corrected by using a material having anomalous partial dispersion at a low level of dispersion, such as fluorite, to form a positive lens, and by using a high dispersion material to form a negative lens.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,136,237 and 7,193,789, the chromatic aberrations are satisfactorily corrected by using, as the anomalous partial dispersion material, a fine-particle dispersed material that is prepared by mixing fine particles, such as ITO or TiO2, in a resin material, or a resin material having an anomalous partial dispersion characteristic.
To considerably correct the chromatic aberrations, which are increased when the overall lens length is reduced, by using the lens made of the low dispersion material, such as fluorite, refractive power of the lens surface has to be changed to a large extent. It is therefore important to appropriately set the refractive power and to arrange the lens surface at an appropriate position in the optical system. If the refractive power and the arranged position of the lens surface are inappropriate, a difficulty arises in correcting various aberrations, such as spherical aberration, coma aberration, and astigmatism, while realizing correction of the chromatic aberrations.
The diffractive optical element has a very small absolute value as a numerical value corresponding to the Abbe number. Accordingly, just by slightly changing diffractive power (inverse number of the focal length), the chromatic aberrations can be largely changed without substantially affecting the spherical aberration, the coma aberration, and the astigmatism.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,381,079, 7,426,083, and 7,253,973, the chromatic aberrations are corrected by utilizing a negative dispersion characteristic and strong anomalous dispersion of the diffractive optical element.
However, if there is diffracted light at unnecessary orders of diffraction other than desired imaging light, the diffracted light becomes flare light that largely deteriorates the image-forming performance. For example, if a light source with high brightness is present in an object, a flare due to the unnecessary diffracted light appears around the light source. Also, if strong light coming from the outside of a frame, e.g., the sunlight, enters the diffractive optical element, a flare is generated and contrast of the entire frame is reduced. For that reason, when the diffractive optical element is used, it has to be arranged at an appropriate position in the optical system with appropriate diffractive power.

Optical system and optical apparatus using the same


An exemplary driving circuit for a light-emitting diode having a positive terminal includes a resistor having first terminal and second terminal, a field-effect transistor, and a width-pulse modulation circuit. The second terminal of the resistor is connected to the positive terminal of the light-emitting diode. The field-effect transistor includes a source electrode and a gate electrode, the source electrode being connected to the first terminal of the resistor. The pulse-width modulation circuit is configured for modulating a voltage across the resistor so as to control the grate electrode of the field-effect transistor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to driving circuits for light-emitting diodes, and more particularly to a driving circuit for light-emitting diodes that can adjust the current through the light-emitting diode.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical driving circuit for a light-emitting diode uses a voltage source and a current-limiting resistor connected in series to drive the light-emitting diode. The current through the light-emitting diode changes, accordingly, the voltage across the light-emitting diode changes. The voltage source is adjusted linearly, however, the current through the light-emitting diode changes nonlinearly. If the voltage across the light-emitting diode changes more, the current may exceed rated current of the light-emitting diode, resulting in the light-emitting diode being damaged.
What is needed, therefore, is a driving circuit for light-emitting diode that can adjust the current through the light-emitting diode.

Driving circuit for light-emitting diode


Disclosed herein is a polyurethane foam-filled container of the type wherein the cavity is filled with polyurethane foam of open-cell structure, characterized in that the foam is filled in compressed state and the compression is effected in the direction of the minor axis of the unit cell constituting the foam. The container is suitable as fuel tanks and ink and paint reservoirs. Also disclosed herein is a method for filling polyurethane foam into a container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container filled with polyurethane foam in a compressed state to store and supply a liquid such as fuel, paint, and ink, said container having a cavity capable of uniformly storing, holding, and discharging a liquid.
The present invention also relates to a method for filling a liquid container with polyurethane foam in uniformly compressed state.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional containers holding fuel or any liquid pose a problem when they are in motion during use. The problem is associated with the movement of the liquid to one end of the cavity, which changes the center of gravity of the liquid and causes sloshing. They also have a disadvantage that the discharging rate of liquid (e.g., fuel) varies depending on the amount of liquid in the cavity. To address this problem, there has been proposed a means to prevent the movement of liquid in the cavity by filling the cavity with polyurethane foam of open-cell structure. (See U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,295.)
According to the disclosed prior art technology, the cavity of a container is filled with polyurethane foam of open-cell structure, so that liquid is stored in the cells of the foam. This arrangement prevents the liquid from greatly moving in the cavity even when the container is in motion, and also permits the liquid to be discharged uniformly irrespective of the amount of liquid in the container.
However, the prior art technology still suffers from a disadvantage resulting from the fact that the cavity of a container is merely filled with as much polyurethane foam as the volume of the cavity. In other words, the foam cells in the cavity do not steadily hold the liquid but permit the liquid to move in the foam when the container is in motion. Moreover, the foam cells do not ensure the uniform discharging of the liquid.

Method for filling a container with compressed polyurethane foam


A tube forming apparatus for forming polymeric tubing includes a housing between rear and discharge ends. The tube forming apparatus includes a core tube assembly with an exterior core tube and an inner core tube positioned partially therein and in an interior area of the housing. The tube forming apparatus includes a die that has an inner die-surface. A diverter tip is mounted in and extends from the inner core tube into the die forming a die opening between the die and the diverter tip. The tube forming apparatus includes a core tube adjustment system mounted proximate the rear end which includes an axial displacement device configured to axially position the core tube assembly for modulating wall thickness of the tube and/or an angular displacement device configured to modulate the inner core tube for modulating concentricity of the tube.

As shown in FIG. 1, a prior art tube forming apparatus is designated by element number 100. The tube forming apparatus 100 includes a housing 112 with a core tube 114 disposed therein. The core tube 114 includes a tip 116 for forming the inside diameter D10 of a tube 120. A die assembly 118 is positioned in a discharge section of the housing 112. An annular die bushing 118B is positioned in the die assembly 118. The tip 116 is positioned in the die bushing 118B and an annular die opening G1 is formed between the tip 116 and an inside surface of the die bushing 118B. The die opening G1 is often referred to as a gum space. Molten material, such as a polymeric material, is fed into the housing 112 via an inlet 124, flows in the housing 112 via flow passage FP around the mandrel 117 and tip 116, and is discharged from the die assembly 118 through the die opening G1 in the form of a hollow tube 120 having an outside diameter D21, an inside diameter D10 and a wall thickness T1. The flow passage FP is configured to create a flow distribution for a predetermined range of extrusion rates and multiple different polymeric materials.
The wall thickness T1 and concentricity of the tube 120 discharged from the die assembly 118 is difficult to control. Typical prior art tube forming apparatuses 100 required manual positioning of the die bushing 118B relative to the tip 116 to adjust the size of the die opening G1 which controls the wall thickness T1 and concentricity of the tube 120. Such adjustments of the die opening G1 are typically accomplished by manually turning adjusting screws 122 that are threaded into the housing 112 and are configured to move the die bushing 118B relative to the tip 116. Using the measurements, the adjustments of the die opening G1 are typically performed while the prior art tube forming apparatus 100 is shut down. The adjustments of the die bushing 118B to establish appropriate the wall thickness and concentricity of the tube 120 using the prior art tube forming apparatus 100 is a time consuming iterative process that results in production of material that does not meet specifications and results in a significant waste of material.
Attempts have been made to automate adjustment of the die opening G1. However, such attempts resulted in an overly complex system that required additional maintenance and components and required additional space to accommodate such additional components.
Thus, there is a need for an automated system to modulate tube wall thickness and concentricity, to address the foregoing problems.

Polymeric tube forming apparatus with a multi-dimensional control system


The present disclosure provides, among other things, methods and systems of managing communications, the methods and systems including: receiving a first group communication from a first group; determining, based on the first group communication, a first group sentiment; receiving a first communication with a request to send the first communication to the first group; determining, based on the first communication, a first communication sentiment; comparing the first group sentiment with the first communication sentiment; and based on the comparing, performing an action on the request to send the first communication.

In today's world, people often spend portions of each day consuming social media. They consume the content by reading, viewing, and listening to it, and then share it with others. People also create their own content to share. People may share content by sending or forwarding it to a group, or often to a social media group. For example, one type of sharing occurs when people like some content, they forward it to one or more groups. In some instances, when people send content to a group, they can post it within the group for other people in the group to read or view, and others in the group also forward the content.

Systems and methods for sentiment analysis of message posting in group conversations


A bladder prosthesis having a silicone bag with radiused lower corners and a band of anchoring fabric at the upper side, the fabric being densely looped to allow body tissue ingrowth to hold the artificial bladder in place. For entry of the urine into the bladder and emptying thereof, the bladder has in its lower part a valve communicating with a funnel-shaped conduit. The valve includes an adapter with fittings for connection to nephrostomic catheters, a valve body contained inside the adapter and having urine inlet and outlet openings and a deformable diaphragm-type elastic valve member to open and close the communication between the inside of the artificial bladder and the inside of the valve body.

A number of procedures are known for the treatment of obstructive nephropathies, that is to say that type of condition that results in obstructed flow of use from the kidney to the outside, due to tumours or other causes.
These can be divided into surgical and interventional procedures. The former consist of forming an external aperture for the ureter, or for the ureters in the case of bilateral obstruction, through a vast range of surgical procedures; either directly (cutaneous ureterostomy) or by means of variously used bowel loops. The latter, on the other hand, make use of catheters which, by different routes, can be inserted percutaneously directly into the kidney (nephrostomic catheters), inducing drainage of the urine to the outside, or into the ureter (ureteral stent) passing through the stenotic area and re-establishing the communication between the portion upstream and downstream of the obstruction, thus allowing urinary outflow. Nephrostomic catheters are connected to urine collection bags worn on the outside of the patient's body that are emptied when they are fill. These bags are made of plastic material, for example PVC, and are substantially rectangular in shape, with a tube for connection to the nephrostomic catheter and in some cases also an emptying tube.
Nephrostomic catheters have the drawback of requiring maintenance and medication at the fixing point. Moreover, the fixing system through suturing to the skin or by self-anchoring means forming part of the catheter, often loosens allowing the catheter to become dislodged. Moreover, the presence of the urine collection bag causes inconvenience to the patient, besides causing a feeling of disability in patients already psychologically tried by a long illness.
Ureteral stents overcome the above problems but require that it be possible to pass the obstruction, something which cannot always be done.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the practical and psychological drawbacks due to the need to wear an external urine collection bag. A further aim is to provide a prosthesis that can be worn by the patient for a long time without problems.
Another aim is to allow the contents of the prosthesis to be emptied easily. Yet another aim is to provide a prosthesis many parts of which can be easily dismantled for cleaning and sterilisation and which allows easy access to the other parts, for example to nephrostomic catheters, for cleaning.
Said drawbacks have been overcome by means of an assembly comprising a bag element, at least one type of band material and a valve element.
The prosthesis herein described has been conceived to replace the natural bladder in its role as a reservoir and in controlling discharge of accumulated fluid.
The bladder prosthesis is made of strong elastic material, is shaped so as to be accommodated in the median hypogastric region, in a subcutaneous, prefascial site or pocket where it is positioned after incising the skin along the subumbilical transiliac line and then freeing the integuments down to the suprapubic region.
The shape is roughly comparable to a rectangle with two corners, those belonging to one of the longer sides, strongly radiused.
This longer side forms the bottom part of the bladder whilst the opposite side is intended to be anchored to the muscle fascia initially by suturing and subsequently by incorporation into the reactive fibrous tissue of a biocompatible material fixed to the bag for this purpose. The bladder is preferably a thin silicone bag obtained by spraying on a model silicone material dispersed in solvent then evaporated, and then curing in a high-temperature oven; or by dipping/brushing a model into/with silicone material dispersed in solvent.
The silicone bag could be obtained by whichever other known way apt for generating an opportune thickness of the biocompatible and elastic material.
A silicone-metal-plastic structure is applied in the central part of the lower side, constituting the inlet and outlet valve of said bladder. Two lengths of silicone tube for connection with the ends of two nephrostomic catheters converge on this structure. Under the pressure of the fluid coming from the catheters, the valve opens so that the urine can flow into the bladder. Emptying of the bladder takes place through said valve.
This arrangement makes it possible to optimise the maximum size of the discharge outlet and at the same time the minimum pressure for opening of the valve for filling.
Lastly a plug provided with a gasket ensures tight closure of the bladder throughout the day.
The valve that is described also serves to stop fluid pressure waves, pulsed or otherwise, from the bladder towards the kidneys. In fact any reflux that might occur from the bladder to the kidneys through the nephrostomic catheters because of a defective valve seal would create a pressure wave that would oppose the hydrostatic filtering pressure of the urine, and would therefore injure the kidneys structures capable to secrete urine.


The present invention relates to a phthalocyanine colorant characterized in that it has, as substituents, at least one unsubstituted sulfamoyl group and at least one substituted sulfamoyl group, the total number of these groups being 2 to 4, the substituent on the substituted sulfamoyl group has a substituted triazinyl group bonded thereto through a crosslinking group, and the unsubstituted sulfamoyl group and the substituted sulfamoyl group are bonded to the phthalocyanine ring at the β-position. Said phthalocyanine colorant is suitable for use in an ink, especially a cyan ink, for an ink-jet printer. A printed matter obtained by printing with said ink is excellent in light fastness, ozone fastness and moisture fastness.

Lately in the field of an image recording material, particularly, a material for forming a color image has been prevalently used, including specifically such as an ink-jet recording material, an image recording material of heat-sensitive transcription type, a recording material using an electronic photography method, a silver halide photosensitive material of transcription type, a printing ink and a recording pen. For LCD and PDP in a display field and for electronic parts of CCD in the field of a movie camera, a color filter is used. In these color image recording materials and color filters, to reproduce or record a full-colored image, a colorant (dye and pigment) of so-called three primary colors in an additive color-mixing method or a subtractive color-mixing method is used. At present, however, a colorant having absorption characteristics to realize a desirable color-reproducing range and fastness to various conditions of use is not actually available and improvement is strongly required.
An ink-jet recording method has rapidly become prevalent and been developing further because of an inexpensive material, high-speed recording capability, low noise in recording and easy color recording. A method for ink-jet recording includes a continuous method to spray liquid droplets continuously and an on-demand method to spray liquid droplets according to an image information signal. A method for jetting the liquid droplets includes such as a method for jetting liquid droplets by pressurization using piezoelectric elements, a method for jetting liquid droplets by generation of bubbles in an ink by heating, a method for using an ultrasonic wave and a method for sucking and jetting liquid droplets by static electricity force. An ink suitable for ink-jet recording includes, for example, a water-based ink, an oil-based ink and a solid (melt type) ink.
A colorant to be used for the ink suitable for such ink-jet recording is required to have high solubility or dispersibility in a solvent, to be capable of high-concentration recording, to have good hue, to have satisfactory fastness against light, heat and an active gas (for example, an oxidizing gas such as NOx and ozone, and SOx) in the environment, to have superior fastness against water and chemicals, to have good fixation on a recording material with little blurring, to be superior in shelf life as an ink, to be free from toxicity and further to be available at a low price. In particular, such a cyan colorant has been strongly desired as has good cyan hue, along with excellent light fastness (durability to light), ozone fastness (durability to ozone gas) and moisture fastness (durability under high humidity) and free from bronze phenomenon (also called bronzing phenomenon). Bronze phenomenon means phenomenon that a colorant glares like metal chips on the surface of a glossy paper, and the like caused by colorant association or insufficient absorption of an ink. This phenomenon impairs gloss, print quality and print concentration.
Typical skeleton of a water-soluble cyan colorant to be used for an ink suitable for ink-jet recording include phthalocyanines and triphenylmethanes. A typical phthalocyanine series colorant reported and used most widely includes the following phthalocyanine derivatives classified into A to H.    A: A known phthalocyanine series colorant such as Direct Blue 86, Direct Blue 87, Direct Blue 199, Acid Blue 249 and Reactive Blue 71.    B: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 190273/1987 (Literature 1), JP Laid-Open No. 138511/1995 (Literature 2), JP Laid-Open No. 105349/2002 (Literature 3) and the like [for example, Cu—Pc—(SO3Na)m(SO2NH2)n: a mixture wherein m+n=1 to 4].    C: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 171085/1993 (Literature 4) and the like [for example, Cu—Pc—(CO2H)m(CONR1R2)n: m+n=0 to 4].    D: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 140063/1998 (Literature 5) and the like [for example, Cu—Pc—(SO3H)m(SO2NR1R2)n: m+n=1 to 4; and m≠0].    E: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 515048/1999 (Literature 6) and the like [for example, Cu—Pc—(SO3H)l(SO2NH2)m(SO2NR1R2)n: l+m+n=0 to 4].    F: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 22967/1984 (Literature 7) and the like [for example, Cu—Pc—(SO2NR1R2)n: n=1 to 5].    G: A phthalocyanine series colorant disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 303009/2000 (Literature 8), JP-A-2002-249677/2002 (Literature 9) and the like [a phthalocyanine compound with substituents at controlled positions, a phthalocyanine series colorant with substituents at the β-position: On the β-position, see description at the later section].    H: A phthalocyanine series colorant having a pyridine ring disclosed in JP Laid-Open No. 34758/2003 (Literature 10) and the like.
A phthalocyanine series colorant used prevalently today and represented by Direct Blue 86 or Direct Blue 199 is characterized by having superior light fastness to a generally known magenta dye or yellow dye. A phthalocyanine series colorant gives a greenish hue under acidic conditions, and thus is not very preferable as a cyan ink. Therefore, when these dyes are used as a cyan ink, it is preferable to use them under neutral to basic conditions. However, even when an ink is used in neutral to basic conditions, a printed hue possibly undergoes a big change on an acid recording paper.
Moreover, an oxidizing gas such as a nitrogen oxide gas and ozone that is often writing up lately as an environmental issue causes the color to change to a greenish hue and to fade, and optical density of printing to deteriorate.
On the other hand, a triphenylmethane series dye is much inferior in light fastness, ozone fastness and moisture fastness although its hue is good.
With increase in application field being used in a display such as an advertisement in the future, leading to more chances of getting exposed to light and active gases in the environment, such an inexpensive colorant and ink will be more and more required as has good hue and superior fastness against light and an active gas (for example, an oxidizing gas such as NOx and ozone, and SOx) in the environment. However, it is difficult to develop such a cyan colorant (for example, phthalocyanine series colorant) and a cyan ink as satisfies these requirements at a high level. Although a phthalocyanine series colorants with active-gas fastness have been disclosed so far in the above Literatures 3 and 8 to 10 and JP Laid-Open No. 80762/2002 (Literature 11), such a cyan colorant and a cyan ink have not yet been obtained as can satisfy all qualities such as hue, light fastness, ozone fastness and moisture fastness and be produced at a low cost. Accordingly, market requirements have not yet been satisfied sufficiently.
A subject of the present invention is to solve the above conventional problems and attain the following object. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel phthalocyanine colorant that has good hue as a cyan ink and is superior in light fastness, ozone fastness and moisture fastness, an ink suitable for an ink-jet using said phthalocyanine colorant and an ink-jet recording method.

Phthalocyanine colorant and use thereof for ink-jet printing


The present invention provides a method of producing a structure, which is capable of easily obtaining a structure of the nanometer scale by using an anodic oxidation method. A method of producing a structure with a hole includes: forming first projected structures regularly arranged on a substrate; forming a first anodic oxidating layer on the substrate having the first projected structures, thereby forming first recessed structures at center portions of cells formed by the projected structures on the anodic oxidating layer; removing the first projected structures to form holes; and subjecting the first anodic oxidating layer to anodic oxidation to form holes at positions of the first recessed structures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a structure having projected and recessed structures having an interval of the nanometer scale.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a technique of producing a fine structure on the surface of an object, methods such as photolithography, electron beam exposure, X-ray exposure, and nanoimprint lithography have been known conventionally.
In addition to the above-mentioned methods, there is a method of forming a structure by a bottom-up method using an aluminum anodic oxidation method or a molecular self-organized structure.
Furthermore, a method of producing a pillar-type replica structure using a hole-type nanostructure formed by an anodic oxidation method as a mold has also been proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-32675, Jpn. J. Appl. 36, 7791, 1997, and J. VAc. Sci. Technol. B. 19(2), 569, 2 propose methods in which a hole-type nanostructure is used as a mold, the hole is filled with a material such as resin or metal, and the mold is removed to obtain a pillar structure. Thus, a structure having a minute size and a high aspect ratio, which cannot be obtained by a production method using a semiconductor process, can be produced.
According to the direct patterning technique such as the above-mentioned electron beam lithography and ion beam lithography, a longer period of time is required for forming a pattern as a structure becomes finer. Therefore, for a product mass-produced at low cost, as a mainstream, a mask for X-ray or UV-ray exposure or for an imprint mold is produced precisely by a direct patterning technique, and patterning is performed in a short period of time at a time by photolithography or nanoimprint lithography.
However, there is a limit to the size of a structure that can be formed by any of the above-mentioned methods.
At present, even in an electron beam exposure capable of producing a finest structure, although a single dot of φ10 nm can be formed, it is difficult to arrange the dots with a pitch of 20 nm or less in a large area.
Furthermore, although the above-mentioned conventional method of forming a structure by the bottom-up method using a self-organization method by anodic oxidation of aluminum or a molecular self-organized structure is suitable for forming a regularly repetitive structure in a large area, it is difficult to form an arbitrary structure.

Method of producing a nanohole on a structure by removal of projections and anodic oxidation


An air inflow lip of a nacelle for a turbojet of an aircraft, including a cavity defined by a leading edge of the nacelle and by an annular wall, includes an inner wall, an acoustic treatment device, and a pneumatic de-icing device including a de-icing fluid supply device. The inner wall of the air inflow lip includes acoustic boreholes and the pneumatic de-icing device includes a honeycombed de-icing plate mounted inside the cavity on the inner wall of the air inflow lip. Also included are conduits for the circulation of a de-icing fluid and acoustic wells communicating with the acoustic boreholes.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Aircraft turbojet engines generate pollution, and the industry is aiming at reducing this pollution, especially as turbojet engines are becoming more and more powerful. The design of the nacelle surrounding a turbojet engine contributes to the reduction of this noise pollution.
In order to further improve the acoustic performance of aircraft, the nacelles are provided with acoustic panels aimed at attenuating noise generated by the turbojet engines.
In general, such acoustic panels are installed on the nacelle surrounding the turbojet engine at the inlet and/or outlet of the fan channel of the turbojet engine.
A nacelle for an aircraft turbojet engine typically has several functions such as channeling the air flow entering and exiting the motor, reversing the thrust of the turbojet engine, or even integrating noise attenuation and de-icing devices.
During a flight phase of an aircraft, it is possible that the altitude and climatic conditions cause frost/ice formation at different locations on the aircraft. Frost may, for example, be formed on the nacelle of the turbojet engine, in particular, on the leading edge of the nacelle. Such frost formation is unacceptable, as it can lead to changes in the aerodynamic profile of the nacelle and can also damage the turbojet engine when the ice blocks which were formed on the air inlet lip of the nacelle break off.
A device inhibiting the formation of frost and ice on the nacelle is often equipped on the nacelle of the turbojet engine, and in particular the air inlet lip.
Such devices are, in a known manner, made by withdrawing the hot gases from the compressor of the turbojet engine and by redirecting them onto the surface of the nacelle which can be affected by the frost formation.
A recurring issue is linked to the coexistence of acoustic absorption and de-icing devices. Indeed, in general, an acoustic absorption panel is a sandwich structure whose back skin is waterproof. Consequently, integrating an acoustic panel to the lip inhibits its de-icing because only the back skin of the panel would be heated.
The document EP 0 913 326 proposes installation of a "Piccolo" tube inside the air inlet lip of the nacelle or a system for rotating circulation of the de-icing fluid, allowing injecting a de-icing fluid through the alveolar core structure forming the intermediate layer of the acoustic absorption device.
The document EP 1 103 462 also describes a system for rotating circulation of a de-icing fluid, a "swirl" tube, which delivers a de-icing fluid then passing through an alveolar core structure of an acoustic treatment device.
A drawback common to these applications is that the acoustic treatment is disturbed by the de-icing fluid, which causes a degradation of the acoustic absorption device.
In addition, a very significant air flow rate would be necessary due to the significant acoustic surface.
A solution of the prior art consists in integrating the de-icing function in the acoustic treatment function. For this purpose, channels for circulating a de-icing fluid are arranged inside the core of the acoustic sandwich.
This is for example disclosed in FR 2 981 049, WO 2015/071609, U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,037, U.S. Patent No. 2012/0317782 and FR 2 953 811.
In all these documents, the acoustic damping volume is defined by the alveolar core structure, which includes a circulation volume of a de-icing fluid.
The circulation volume of the de-icing fluid is obtained by the integration of de-icing fluid circulation conduits, fastened inside the alveolar core structure or directly formed in the alveolar core structure.
The integration of these conduits is difficult to carry out given the materials used to make the alveolar core structures such as the "honeycomb" type structures
Moreover, the seal between the de-icing fluid circulation conduits and the honeycomb alveolar core acoustic treatment structure is difficult to obtain.


The watch with a metallic case including an electronic module for storing data, which is mounted in an external cavity in the back cover of a case. The module can communicate via broadcast signals with a read and/or write apparatus for said data. The module includes a base on which are mounted an integrated circuit chip having at least two bumps and a coil acting as a transmission and/or reception antenna. The coil is formed by an electrically conductive wire having two ends respectively connected to said bumps of said integrated circuit chip. The coil surrounds a space in which said chip is placed. The dome-shaped base of the electronic module is a metallic element that conducts magnetic flux to insulate the module coil magnetically from the metallic case during data communication between a read/write apparatus and said module. The base of the module can be covered by a protective cover.

In the case of a wristwatch, electronic modules, for example for storing data, are generally placed inside the watchcase. These electronic modules include an integrated circuit chip connected to a coil acting as antenna for communicating with a read and/or write apparatus via broadcast signals. The read and/or write apparatus can be provided for at least reading the data contained in a memory of the integrated circuit chip or for removing or modifying at least a part of such data and adding further data.
More specifically, the invention relates to a metallic watchcase including a passive type electronic module. The term "passive" means that the module is not provided with its own energy source, such as a battery or an accumulator, to be able to operate. The electric energy of the module is provided by the signals broadcast by the read and/or write apparatus with which it cooperates.
Such watches are provided for example simply for storing an access code for private or protected buildings or ski slopes. Other watches with electronic modules fitted with more complicated integrated circuit chips can contain personal data, such as their owners' medical files.
In some known watches, the electronic module is placed in a hollow, preferably removable bezel, so that the module can be changed if necessary. This solution is not therefore suitable for watches having any type of case. Moreover, if the case includes a bezel or a middle part-bezel, this complicates the manufacture thereof and consequently increases the cost price of the watch.
In other watches, the module is placed in a space provided between the back of the movement of such watches and the back cover or their case, which necessarily increases the volume thereof. Moreover, if the back cover of the case is made of a material that is not non-magnetic, for example steel, the magnetic flux generated or received by the coil of the electronic module experiences significant losses. Even if measures are taken to limit such losses, they are still far from negligible. This reduces the communication distance between a read and/or write apparatus and the electronic module. Finally, even if the back cover of the case is made of a non-magnetic material, for example, plastic material, gold, silver or aluminium, the broadcast signals transmitted and received by the coil of the module which have to pass through the entire thickness of the back cover undergo significant attenuation
It is thus a main object of the invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a watch with a metallic case including an electronic module arranged for attenuating interference due to the metallic watchcase during communication with a data read and/or write apparatus. Further, the watch module is arranged for increasing the read and/or write distance during communication with said apparatus.

Watch with metallic case including an electronic module for storing data, and electronic module for such a watch