A bytecode interpreter is provided. The interpreter assists in branch prediction by a host processor reducing branch misprediction and achieving high performance. The bytecode branch processor includes an interpreter configured to process a program in a bytecode format in a virtual machine, a branch information generator configured to obtain, while a predefined number of bytecodes are read prior to a current bytecode being processed by the interpreter, a branch address and a target address of a predicted path of a branch corresponding to a preceding bytecode, the branch address being of a branch code included in a preceding handler that processes the preceding bytecode, and the target address being of a current handler that processes the current bytecode to which the preceding handler branches, and a branch target buffer updater configured to update a branch target buffer in the bytecode branch processor with the obtained branch address and target address.

1. Field
The following description relates to a bytecode interpreter in a computing system, and more particularly, to a branch processor and method that are capable of increasing the performance of a bytecode interpreter by reducing a branch misprediction and a pipeline stall penalty which may occur in a bytecode interpreter that drives a virtual machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous studies have been conducted in an effort to increase the performance of a virtual machine that processes JAVA® bytecode. The performance of a virtual machine may be enhanced by a Just-in-time compilation (JITC).
However, an embedded system has a difficulty in actively introducing JITC because of resource limitation and latency which is sensitive to a user of the device. As a result, an embedded system typically utilizes JITC in a limited manner. In addition, because not all of the code of an application program is complied in JITC format, the performance of an interpreter is critically important.
A direct-thread method is an alternative method for improving the performance of the interpreter. In this method, a next virtual instruction is fetched at an end of a bytecode handler. This method has been recently employed for an ANDROID® DALVIK® virtual machine. Another alternative method is an ARM JAZELLE® DBX (Direct Bytecode eXecution) that processes bytecode entirely in hardware.
The direct-thread method has disadvantages in that an indirect branch instruction may confuse a branch predictor of a real processor (e.g., x86 or ARM), resulting in an increased amount of branch misprediction and a deterioration in performance.
For a processor with a general pipeline structure, if branch misprediction occurs, all of the instructions which have been speculatively executed are discarded, and the processor returns to a state at which the branch started. For example, if a high-end superscalar processor such as an ARM CORTEX® A9 is introduced in an embedded device, performance deterioration due to branch misprediction may increase.
An indirect branch instruction used in the direct-thread method jumps to an address of a different handler based on a next virtual instruction in the same program counter (PC), and thus a general branch predictor based on a PC may not work properly. To solve such a drawback, various methods including selective inlining and context threading have been introduced, but disadvantages arise in that a code size increases and overhead of call/return occurs.
In addition, hardware implementation such as JAZELLE® DBX has high performance but requires a large amount of hardware resources, and cannot handle a new type of bytecode such as DALVIK®.

Looking ahead bytecode stream to generate and update prediction information in branch target buffer for branching from the end of preceding bytecode handler to the beginning of current bytecode handler


A primary technical goal of this shaft seal device is to decrease the pressure of a sealant at a communication passage between a fluid chamber and a first seal portion, to further reduce the pressure by a floating ring, to make the first seal portion pressure-proof for sealing a high pressure process fluid, and to reduce the cost of the shaft seal device by simplifying its structure. The device comprises a fluid chamber being located between the first seal portion and the second seal portion, an intake passage being communicated to a communication passage between the fluid chamber and the first seal portion for allowing a sealant S to flow in, a floating ring being disposed within the fluid chamber and defining a pressure reduction gap between its own inner surface and the rotary shaft, and an outlet passage being communicated to the pressure reduction gap for circulating the pressure reduced sealant.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to shaft seal devices. This invention relates especially but not exclusively to shaft seal devices for use with a stirrer or the like providing for a seal of a stirred fluid under a high pressure or extremely high pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A shaft seal device as a relative art of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a half cross-sectional view of a high pressure mechanical seal device.
In FIG. 4, a rotary shaft 175 is supported in a rotary movable manner by a bearing portion which is disposed in a housing 151 of the stirrer 150. The rotary shaft 175 extends throughout the inside and the outside of the housing 151. The inside of the stirrer 150 is filled with a high pressure sealing fluid A.
The housing 151 through which the rotary shaft 175 extends is divided into three chambers 152A, 152B and 152C. The chamber 152 comprises, counted from the sealing fluid A side, a first chamber 152A, a second chamber 152B and a third chamber 152C.
When the pressure of the sealing fluid A is 20 MPa say, a pressure fluid of 15 MPa which is a little lower than that of the fluid A is fed to the first chamber 152A from a first pipe 153A. Similarly, a pressure fluid of 10 MPa which is further lower than the pressure of the first chamber 152A is supplied to the second chamber 152B from a second pipe 153B. Likewise, a pressure fluid of 5 MPa which is yet lower than the pressure of the second chamber 152B is supplied to the third chamber 152C from a third pipe 153C. Therefore, a plurality of chambers are necessarily disposed in such a manner that the high pressure of the sealing fluid A is decreased step by step.
Without such an elaborate means, a high pressure may cause a damage to the first mechanical seal 110.
The first chamber 152A, second chamber 152B and third chamber 152C contain respective mechanical seal devices 110, 120, 130 within, and these mechanical seal devices 110, 120, 130 are, respectively, referred to, from the sealing fluid A side towards the atmospheric region, a first mechanical seal 110, a second mechanical seal 120 and a third mechanical seal 130.
The first mechanical seal 110 is a high pressure mechanical seal due to a high pressure nature of the sealing fluid A. Likewise, high pressure mechanical seals are used for the third mechanical seal 120 as well as the second mechanical seal 130 in accordance with a level of the pressure to which they are subjected.
Sealing fluid A used in a stirrer 150 is a high pressure, and mechanical seal devices 110, 120, 130 are typically employed because elastic rubber seals cannot sustain such a high pressure.
These mechanical seals 110, 120, 130 are specifically provided for a high pressure use, and they are mounted in such a way that a shaft sleeve 111 is fitted over the rotary shaft 175 via an O-ring. A spring support 112 engages the sleeve 111 at the shoulder part of the sleeve 111, and a rotary seal ring 113 is fitted to the other end of the sleeve 111 in a movable manner via an O-ring. A biasing spring 114 supported by the spring support 112 is disposed to exert an urging force to the rotary seal ring 113.
On the other hand, a stationary seal ring 115 is fitted to a retaining portion of the housing 151 via an O-ring which has an opposing seal face 155A making a sealing contact with a slidable seal face 113A of the rotary seal ring 113.
The second mechanical seal 120 and the third mechanical seal 130 are constructed in a similar manner to the way that the first mechanical seal 110 is constructed.
The first mechanical seal 110 effectively seals the high pressure sealing fluid A within the stirrer in cooperation with the fluid pressure within the first chamber 152A which is a little lower than the pressure of the fluid A.
Likewise for the second mechanical seal 120, it seals the pressure fluid within the first chamber 152A in cooperation with the fluid pressure within the second chamber 152B which is two-step lower than the pressure of the fluid A. Similarly, the third mechanical seal 130, it seals the pressure fluid within the first chamber 152B in cooperation with the fluid pressure within the second chamber 152C which is three-step lower than the pressure of the fluid A.
Use of such high performance mechanical seals, which reduce the fluid pressure in a stepwise manner from chamber to chamber, is essential to provide a secure seal for the sealing fluid A under a high pressure. In other words, when sealing a high pressure fluid, without gradually reducing the high pressure in multiple steps, a single mechanical seal device cannot sustain such a high fluid pressure and will be worn out or damaged at its early stage.
A number of expensive mechanical seals are needed in order to realize such a mechanical seal device in multiple steps and this makes a sealing construction larger and longer. In addition, if one of the multiple mechanical seals is in failure, a pressure differential between the two adjacent mechanical seals becomes large and the increased pressure differential causes other individual mechanical seals to fail. Also a mechanical seal arranged in such a multiple step structure imposes difficulties in machining for mounting the mechanical seals as well as an assembly of the mechanical seal device. This increases a fabrication cost.
Furthermore, providing a fluid of distinct pressures to individual chambers so that the pressure is varied in multiple steps requires a cost increase due to pumps and their related controllers. A modulation of the fluid pressure is also difficult.
The present invention is introduced to resolve the above mentioned problems. A primary technical goal which this invention tries to achieve is to reduce the number of mechanical seals for use and to provide for a seal of a high pressure fluid by utilizing inexpensive mechanical seals while avoiding a total cost increase of a shaft seal device which is caused by employing a plurality of expensive mechanical seals.
Sealing a high pressure fluid by means of a plurality of mechanical seal devices will lead to a large construction because of a disposition of many chambers for retaining the seals. Therefore, another goal of the present invention is to reduce the size of the shaft seal device by making the installation space compact.
Yet another goal for the present invention is to provide a shaft seal device with enhanced pressure proof and seal performance against a high pressure fluid as well as failure prevention induced by the fluid pressure.


There is disclosed an overlaminating adhesive film comprising a transparent film, an adhesive layer and a release material successively laminated in this order, wherein said release material has a surface contacting with the adhesive layer, said surface having a centerline average surface roughness of 0.5 μm or lower; an adhesive forming said adhesive layer has a pH of 7.2 to 8.5 in a solution state before applied, and is an acrylic emulsion-type adhesive having an average particle size of 200 nm or smaller; and a monomer component used for production of said adhesive includes an alkoxysilane group-containing unsaturated monomer in which each alkoxy group has 1 to 4 carbon atoms, but includes no hydroxy-containing unsaturated monomer. The overlaminating adhesive film of the present invention exhibits a good water resistance and is free from deterioration in its transparency due to lifting or bubbles when laminated on an adherend.

Overlaminating adhesive films have been used to protect a printed surface produced by thermal transfer printing, ink-jet printing, offset-printing, letterpress printing, gravure printing, etc., from damages by water, sunlight, scratches, etc. The overlaminating adhesive films generally comprise a surface base material in the form of a transparent film, a release material and an adhesive layer sandwiched therebetween. The release material is peeled off from the films upon use.
The adhesives used in the overlaminating adhesive films include various adhesives of an emulsion type, a solvent type, a solvent-free type, etc. which are made of rubber-based, acrylic or vinyl ether-based compounds. Among these adhesives, the acrylic adhesives are more suitably used because the adhesives of this type are excellent in weather resistance, peeling stability with time and transparency. In particular, special attention has been recently paid to emulsified acrylic adhesives since the adhesives contain no organic solvent harmful to human bodies and, therefore, are favorable to environments (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2001-240819 and 2002-80809).
However, in general, the emulsion-type adhesives are considerably deteriorated in water whitening resistance and water adhesion resistance as compared to those of the solvent type adhesives. Also, when the above acrylic emulsion-type adhesive is used to produce an overlaminating adhesive film by a so-called transfer-coating method in which the adhesive is applied on a release material and then a transparent film is laminated over the adhesive, it is required that an additive for improving the wettability such as surfactant is added to the adhesive in order to enhance a wettability of the adhesive to the release material. The addition of the additive, however, causes deterioration in water resistance of the resultant adhesive film. In particular, in the case where the overlaminating adhesive film is laminated over an ink-jet printed surface, there arises such a problem that the printed surface suffers from ink bleeding when preserved under humidified conditions.

Pressure sensitive adhesive film overlamination


Apparatuses for imaging food products are provided. An apparatus includes a first and second conveyor, the first conveyor configured to move a flexible food product at a first speed, the second conveyor configured to move the flexible food product at a second speed greater than the first speed, a receiving portion of the second conveyor positioned in a downward direction relative to the first conveyor to receive the flexible food product, thereby flipping the flexible food product and stretching the flexible food product for imaging. An apparatus may include a guide mechanism to guide the food product to be flipped. An apparatus may move a plurality of food products and spread apart the plurality of food products for imaging. An apparatus may include a receiving structure having a low-friction receiving surface for stretching or spreading apart food products.

Imaging of food products to determine quality, and the like, can be challenging. In some approaches, imaging devices acquire images of food products being conveyed (e.g. in a factory) using a conveyor. However, the food products may be positioned or oriented on a conveyor in such a way that hinders or obstructs imaging devices from capturing image data from portions of the food products.

Conveyor apparatus for imaging food products


A hybrid vehicle includes an engine coupled to a planetary gearset and an electric motor configured to provide motor torque directly to a torque transfer set. An overdrive clutch is configured to, when engaged, bypass at least a portion of engine torque to an overdrive shaft directly connected to the torque transfer set. This allows the engine to also provide torque directly to the torque transfer set along with the motor in an overdrive mode of operation. At least one controller is programmed to control the motor and/or the engine based on an estimated amount of torque transferred through the overdrive clutch.

Hybrid electric vehicles include both an engine and at least one electric motor to provide drive torque to the wheels. There are various types of hybrid electric vehicles. For example, "parallel" hybrid vehicles typically include clutches that selectively enable either or both the engine and the motor to provide drive torque. A "series" hybrid vehicle typically includes an electric motor that is always driveably connected to the road wheels, and an engine that is not mechanically connected to the wheels. In other words, the engine does not provide any of the torque required to propel the vehicle. Rather, in a "series" hybrid vehicle, the engine powers a generator to produce electrical energy that is stored in the battery and/or used by the motor.
Various vehicles can include an overdrive gear selection enabling torque to be transmitted through an overdrive shaft. If an overdrive is provided in a hybrid electric vehicle, particular care must be taken to assure drivability is met while transitioning into and out of an overdrive mode. Due to the torque paths changing directions when entering and exiting overdrive mode, control of the engine and motor in the hybrid vehicle should be swift and accurate to ensure a smooth transition into and out of the overdrive mode.

Controlling a hybrid vehicle having an overdrive coupling member


A drive roll assembly is disclosed for a push-pull MIG welding torch including a handle connected to a power cable assembly at one end, and a gooseneck-contact tip assembly at the other end. The drive roll assembly includes a body block disposed in the handle, a motorized driving gear mounted on the body block, and an idler wheel rotatably mounted on a mounting arm via a mount. The mounting arm is pivotally connected to the body block. The idler wheel is cooperable with the driving gear to pull welding wire from the cable assembly through the handle and towards the gooseneck. One of the idler wheel and the driving gear is made of a highly conductive material that allows for transfer of welding current to the welding wire, providing a secondary current transfer channel in addition to the conductive contact tip. The electric resistance from the body block to the surfaces of the idler wheel and driving gear at which they contact welding wire is below 15 milli-ohms, preferably below 2.0 milli-ohms.

It is known in the art relating to push-pull MIG welding torches that the transferring of welding current from the MIG torch to aluminum welding wire is hindered by the oxide layer on the surface of the welding wire. Insufficient or impeded energy transfer may cause drastic arc fluctuations and corresponding welding defects such as improper penetration, leg contours, high spatter, and burn back of the contact tip.
Two known methods exist for improving the conductivity from the MIG torch to the welding wire. The first method is to enhance the contact between the contact tip and the welding wire by, for example, using a spring loaded mechanism. The second method is to apply a secondary current transfer point, i.e. a second current pickup point, while still maintaining the primary current transfer through the contact tip. For example, a bronze jump liner may be used inside the copper gooseneck, a metallic wire guide may be used next to the pulling drive rolls, or the drive gear may be made live. However, these methods have corresponding drawbacks, such as increasing the feeding forces in the case of a metallic jump liner, causing shavings of the welding wire as the welding wire rubs the metallic wire guide, and arc erosion of the drive gear if the drive gear is made live.
Alternatively, the idler wheel in a push-pull MIG torch can be made live. However, all of the idler wheels in existing push-pull torches are made of high carbon steel or stainless steel and use ball bearings to resist mechanical wear and to obtain low rotating frictions. The electrical resistance from the power cable to the surface of the idler wheel in these torches is typically 2 to 40 ohms. This is hundreds of times the total electrical resistance of a typical push-pull MIG torch, which is 5 to 10 milli-ohms.

High conductive drive roll assembly for push-pull MIG torch


An inductor element has a support layer, a first conductive layer formed on the support layer and having a first inductor pattern and a first pad at one end of the first inductor pattern, a first insulation layer formed on the support layer and first conductive layer and including a magnetic material layer and a resin layer, a second conductive layer formed on the first insulation layer and having a second inductor pattern and a second pad at one end of the second inductor pattern, and a via conductor formed through the first insulation layer and connecting the first and second conductive layers. The magnetic material layer is covering at least part of the first inductor pattern, the resin layer is covering the first pad and has opening exposing at least part of the first pad, and the via conductor is formed in the opening of the first insulation layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inductor element, a method of manufacturing an inductor element, and a wiring board.
2. Description of Background Art
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-158450 describes a printed wiring board having an inductor element incorporated in the core material. The entire contents of this publication are incorporated herein by reference.

Inductor element, method for manufacturing inductor element, and wiring board


A pattern inspection method including: sequentially imaging plural chips formed on a substrate; selecting a pattern which is suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject chip and reference image stored in memory from an image of a firstly imaged chip among said sequentially imaged plural chips formed on the substrate; computing position gap between an inspection image of a chip obtained by the sequential imaging and reference image stored in a memory by using a positional information of a pattern image included in the inspection image and a reference pattern image included in the reference image which are both corresponding to the pattern selected at the selecting; aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and comparing the aligned inspection image with the reference image and extracting a difference as a defect candidate.

The present invention relates to a pattern inspection technique for checking patterns on objects to be inspected by comparing images.
The conventional pattern inspecting technique has been generally used such that, when an image to be inspected and a reference image are compared with each other in order for defects to be detected, the edges of the patterns of both images are aligned so that the minimum displacement between the edges can be computed as a piece of information for matching (alignment). The proposed means used for this purpose are normalized cross-correlation, and summation of residual errors.
Also, examples of the pattern inspection technique by comparing images are disclosed in JP-A-05-264467 and JP-A-2001-22935. The JP-A-05-264467 describes that an object to be inspected on which repeated patterns are regularly arranged is sequentially scanned by a line sensor, and each of the images picked up by the sensor and that image after being delayed by the pitch of the repeated patterns are compared to produce an amount of positional deviation, or displacement, and both successive imaged are aligned on the basis of the displacement to produce a difference, in which case if the difference is greater than a threshold, this object is decided to have a defect, while if it is smaller, the object is decided not to be defective.
The JP-A-2001-22935 describes that, in order that even an object to be inspected on which various patterns are formed mixed can be checked with the error due to mismatching being reduced, a candidate position for matching (alignment) is determined with respect to each of the images successively fed, and alignment is made after determining the optimum matching position of each image from the collection of a plurality of the matching candidate points.
When images of, for example, FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are checked, the conventional alignment-type inspection method described in JP-A-05-264467 cannot uniquely determine the matching position, and thus has the possibility of often causing computation error of displacement. FIG. 2A shows the case of extremely small edge information, or when the ratio of edge portion to the whole region for alignment (hereafter, referred to as pattern density) is small. FIG. 2B is the case when there are an extremely large number of edges in a particular direction, and FIG. 2C is the case when there are an extremely large number of small-pitch patterns.
Moreover, if other normal patterns exist as a small part in addition to many patterns like those shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, has the possibility of causing nuisance defect (erroneously detected information) in that part. In addition, since matching candidate positions for images to be matched are calculated by using all regions, an enormous amount of data is used for the computation, thus taking a long processing time. For high speed, it is necessary to construct the Misalignment detection part as hardware or to increase the number of arithmetic circuits, thus making it difficult to reduce the cost and size of apparatus.
The technique described in JP-A-2001-22935 also uses a huge amount of data for the matching candidate points to be computed by using all regions, thus making it difficult to increase the processing speed, and hence to reduce the cost and size of apparatus as in the JP-A-05-264467.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention when the images are compared for pattern inspection, to make it possible (1) to accurately detect particle and pattern defects, (2) to reduce the amount of computation for misalignment detector of images, thus increasing the processing speed, (3) to precisely detect the amount of displacement between images, and (4) to reduce the cost and size of apparatus.

Pattern inspection method and its apparatus


An exemplary wireless communication network that includes a base that communicates with remote units located in a cell of the network. A base concatenates information symbols with a preamble corresponding to a destination remote unit. One or more remote units communicating with a base each concatenates information symbols with a preamble corresponding to that remote unit. An adaptive receiver system for a base unit rapidly adapts optimal despreading weights for reproducing information symbols transmitted from multiple remote units. A transmitter system for a base unit concatenates information symbols with a preamble associated with a remote unit in the cell. An adaptive receiver system for a remote unit in a communication network rapidly adapts optimal weights for reproducing a signal transmitted to it by a specific base unit in the network. A transmitter system for a remote unit in a cell of a communication network which concatenates information symbols with preamble associated with the remote unit. A base initiates communication with a desired remote unit by transmitting an initiation codeword in a selected entry slot. One or more remote units each initiates communication with a bse by transmitting an initiation codeword associated with the remote unit in a selected entry slot. A remote unit synchronizes in time and frequency to the base using a sequence of synchronization signals transmitted by the base in a number of entry slots.

This invention relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to adaptive methods for multiple user access in a dynamic wireless communications network.
There is growing demand for high speed access to communication networks to support data, voice, and multimedia services. In addition to services based on physical connectivity through wire or fiber, there is increasing interest in the use of wireless communication networks. Wireless communication networks offer certain economies and flexibility not available in wired networks. These include reduced time and cost for installation and maintenance.
In wireless communication networks, multiple users share the same communication medium at the same time. Because the spectrum is limited, it is important to use it efficiently in order to accommodate the needs of all users desiring access within a reasonable time. The spectral and temporal limitations lead to problems with radio interference among users transmitting at the same time.
The use of multiple antennas is known to enhance the performance and the capacity of wireless communications networks. Most systems that exploit the spatial properties of wireless communication links use multiple antennas with fixed beams that enhance a given spatial sector, thereby reducing interference from outside that sector. Additional performance enhancements can be achieved using adaptive antenna arrays. For example, an adaptive array can place nulls in the direction of specific interferers, such as from other users transmitting in the same frequency channel, and can enhance the signal of interest. However, current techniques are generally unsuitable for use in data networks where data are transmitted in discrete packets. Most of the techniques currently suggested adapt slowly and are unsuitable for point-to-multipoint topologies where users and their characteristics are constantly changing.
In a packet-switched network, data transfer between nodes, for example, between a given user and a base station in a wireless network, is typically bursty, requiring high data rates for short periods of time. Preferably, a network should exploit the silent periods associated with one user to service other users in the network. Furthermore, spectrum limitations, spectrum assignment to users in the network should be dynamic to accommodate changing bandwidth requirements and user loads. Existing methods for packet-radio systems typically suffer because of a lack of flexibility in managing resources as users enter and leave the system and as the flow of data changes.

Adaptive communications methods for multiple user packet radio wireless networks


The invention relates to method and apparatus of an eye gaze tracking system. In particular, the present invention relates to method and apparatus of an eye gaze tracking system using a generic camera under normal environment, featuring low cost and simple operation. The present invention also relates to method and apparatus of an accurate eye gaze tracking system that can tolerate large illumination changes.

Eye gaze tracking has many potential attractive applications in human-computer interaction, virtual reality, eye disease diagnosis, and so forth. For example, it can help the disabled people to control the computer effectively. Also, it can make an ordinary user control the mouse pointer with their eyes so that the user can speed up the selection of focus point in a game like Fruit Ninja. Moreover, the integration of user's gaze and face information can improve the security of the existing access control systems. Recently, eye gaze has also been widely used by cognitive scientists to study human beings' cognition, memory, and so on. Along this line, eye gaze tracking is closely related with the detection of visual saliency, which reveals a person's focus of attention.

Method and apparatus for eye gaze tracking


In a fuel supply system for a motor vehicle wherein a solenoid valve is interposed in an air breather pipe by which fuel vaporized in a fuel tank is introduced into a canister, and the solenoid valve is opened by an ON signal of a fuel flap switch which turns ON when a fuel flap is opened, so as to bring the air breather pipe into communication from the fuel tank to the canister, thereby permitting the fuel tank to be fueled; a safety circuit for a fuel supply system of a motor vehicle comprising the fact that a solenoid valve driving circuit which extends from a power source to an earth through the fuel flap switch as well as the solenoid valve is provided with a first relay of normally-closed type to turn OFF in an ON state of a boost switch which turns ON when a stop of an engine is detected in an ON state of an ignition key switch, and that an ignition coil driving circuit which extends from the power source to the earth through the ignition key switch as well as an ignition coil is provided with a second relay of normally-closed type to turn OFF during energization of the solenoid valve driving circuit, whereby the fuel tank can be fueled only when the engine is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety circuit for the fuel supply system of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a fuel tank assembly wherein fuel vaporized in a fuel tank is introduced and collected into a canister or an intake system through an air breather pipe, there has already been developed and laid open in the official gazette of Japanese Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. 98023/1989 a system in which the air breather pipe is furnished with a solenoid valve, and in which, when a liquid level switch provided in the fuel tank detects the arrival of poured fuel at a prescribed level, the solenoid valve is closed, while at the same time, an alarm lamp and a buzzer are actuated, thereby to prevent excessive fueling.
Heretofore, in fueling a fuel tank mounted on a vehicle at a gasoline station, it has been requested as mere guidance to stop the engine of the vehicle in consideration of safety. No problem occurs as long as the expedient is practised that, when the driver of the vehicle asks for the fueling at the gasoline station, he/she pulls a key plate out of an ignition key switch and delivers it to an employee at the gasoline station so as to open the flap of the fuel tank. In contrast, in a case where the driver delivers a spare key plate without extracting the key plate from the ignition key switch or where the flap of the fuel tank is opened by the manipulation of a remote-control opener switch having come into wide use in recent years, there is the problem that the fueling is possible even during the rotation of the engine including the starting mode thereof, so the safety of the fueling operation cannot be secured.


A shadow mask for a cathode ray tube includes through-holes defined by first and second recessed formed at first and second surfaces of the shadow mask, respectively. Each through-hole has a first wall farther away from a center of the shadow mask than a second wall thereof. The second recess has a smaller size than that of the first recess. The first wall is formed of a first wall portion defined by an inner surface of the first recess and a second wall portion defined by an inner surface of the second recess. The second wall portion of through-holes located at a peripheral region of the first region has a configuration such that electron beams reflected therefrom are directed to an inner surface of the first recess to thereby reduce electron beams reflected therefrom in directions different from a direction in which the electron beams are originally directed before the electron beams enter the shadow mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shadow mask to be used for a cathode ray tube, having a plurality of through-holes, such as dot holes and slot holes, each of which is defined by a greater-size recess formed at a first surface thereof and a smaller-size recess formed at a second surface thereof. The invention further relates to a method of fabricating the shadow mask, and still further to a cathode ray tube including the shadow mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of conventional color cathode ray tubes has been suggested in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-65738. FIG. 1 illustrates the suggested color cathode ray tube. The illustrated color cathode ray tube 11 includes a bulb 12 having a face panel 13 constituting a front surface of the bulb 12, and a neck portion 12a, a fluorescent film 14 formed on an inner surface of the face panel 13, a shadow mask 15 disposed in facing relation with the fluorescent film 14 and having a plurality of slots, an electron gun 16 disposed in the neck portion 12a of the bulb 12, and a deflecting yoke 18 disposed around the neck portion 12a of the bulb 12 for deflecting electron beams 7 emitted from the electron gun 16.
In operation, the electron gun 16 emits the electron beam 7, which is deflected by a magnetic field generated by the deflecting yoke 18. The deflected electron beam 7 passes through the shadow mask 15, and scans the fluorescent film 14 therewith. In accordance with the scanning path, a certain image is produced on the fluorescent film 14.
In order to enhance basic characteristics expected in an image display device, such as contrast and brightness, the color cathode ray tube is designed to include, on an inner surface of the pace panel 13, a black matrix film (not illustrated) comprising non-luminous light-absorbing material, such as black carbon, filling spaces formed between red, green and blue fluorescent luminous pixels, and a metal back film (not illustrated) which is made of an aluminum film and which reflects light independently of the fluorescent film 14. The above-mentioned fluorescent film 14 is integrally formed with the black matrix film. The shadow mask 15 is disposed in facing relation with the metal back film.
Hereinbelow is explained the shadow mask 15 having a plurality of rectangular slots through which the electron beam 7 passes.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the shadow mask 15 is formed with a plurality of slots 22 each of which has a longer side in a direction of a vertical axis V and a shorter side in a direction of a horizontal axis H. Bridge portions 23 are formed between the adjacent slots 22 in the vertical axis V direction, and connecting portions 24 are formed between the adjacent slots 22 in the horizontal axis H direction.
Each of the slots 22 is a through-hole comprised of a first recess 25 formed at a first surface of the shadow mask 15, and a second recess 26 formed at a second surface (not seen in FIG. 2) of the shadow mask 15 and having a smaller size than the first recess 25. Herein, the first surface of the shadow mask 15 is defined as a surface facing the fluorescent film 14, and the second surface is defined as a surface facing the electron gun 16. The slots 22 are formed by the steps of forming a first photoresist pattern on a first surface of a thin metal plate for forming the first recess 25, which first photoresist pattern defines a plurality of rectangles each of which has a longer side in the vertical axis V direction and a shorter side in the horizontal axis H direction, forming a second photoresist pattern on a second surface of the thin metal plate for forming the second recess 26, which second photoresist pattern also defines a plurality of rectangles each of which has a longer side in the vertical axis V direction and a shorter side in the horizontal axis H direction where the longer and shorter sides in the second photoresist pattern are shorter than those in the first photoresist pattern, etching the thin metal plate with the first and second photoresist patterns acting as a mask to thereby form the first and second recesses 25 and 26, and removing the first and second photoresist patterns.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIIxe2x80x94III in FIG. 2, illustrating a positional relation between the slot 22 and the incident electron beam 7 passing through the slot 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, if the electron beam 7 partially strikes an inner surface 26a of the second recess 26, a part of the electron beam 7 is randomly reflected in a direction different from a direction in which the electron beam 7 is originally directed. If the randomly reflected electron beam 7a was directed towards the fluorescent film 14, an undesired image would be generated on the fluorescent film 14 by the randomly reflected electron beam 7a, which is a major factor for degrading the contrast of the shadow mask 15.
The electron beam 7 enters, at a greater incident angle, the slot 22 located farther away from a center of the shadow mask 15, and accordingly, is reflected at the inner surface 26a of the second recess 26 to greater degree, resulting in that the contrast of the shadow mask 15 is considerably degraded.
In view of the above-mentioned problem of the conventional shadow mask, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shadow mask capable of reducing electron beams reflected from an inner surface of a through-hole towards a fluorescent film to thereby prevent images from being unnecessarily formed on the fluorescent film. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating the shadow mask, and a cathode ray tube including the shadow mask.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shadow mask to be used for a cathode ray tube, defining a first region where a plurality of through-holes through which electron beams pass are formed, and a second region where no through-holes are formed. Each of the through-holes is defined by a first recess formed at a first surface of the shadow mask and a second recess formed at a second surface of the shadow mask, and has a first wall farther away from a center of the shadow mask than a second wall thereof. The second recess has a smaller size than that of the first recess. The first wall is formed of a first wall portion defined by an inner surface of the first recess and a second wall portion defined by an inner surface of the second recess. Through-holes located at a marginal region of the first region are designed to have the second wall portion designed to reduce electron beams reflected therefrom in directions different from a direction in which the electron beams are originally directed before the electron beams enter the shadow mask.
For instance, the second wall portion of the through-holes located at a marginal region of the first region may be designed to have such a configuration that electron beams reflected therefrom are directed to an inner surface of the first recess. It is preferable that the inner surface of the first recess is designed to have such a configuration that the electron beams directed thereto are reflected therefrom in a direction in which the electron beams are originally directed.
It is preferable that a first boundary between the first and second recesses within the first wall is located lower than a second boundary between the first and second recesses within the second wall on the basis of a bottom of the second recess. It is preferable that the first boundary has a height equal to or lower than 20 xcexcm on the basis of a bottom of the second recess.
The second wall portion may be designed to have a configuration defined as a function of a horizontal distance between (a) a first boundary between the first and second recesses within the first wall and (b) an outer edge of the second recess, the horizontal distance being defined as a function of a thickness of the shadow mask, a height of the first boundary, a width of the through-hole, an incident angle of the electron beams at the first boundary, and an inner width of the first recess. For instance, the above-mentioned horizontal distance is defined by the following equation:
S3xe2x89xa7H2xc3x97tan xcex21
xcex21=(90xe2x88x92xcex1xe2x88x92tanxe2x88x921((Txe2x88x92H2/(A+S4)))/2
wherein: S3 indicates the horizontal distance; H2 indicates a height of the first boundary; xcex1 indicates an incident angle of the electron beams entering the through-holes,; T indicates a thickness of the shadow mask; A indicates a width of the through-holes; and S4 indicates a horizontal distance between (a) a boundary between the first and second recesses within the second wall and (b) an outer edge of the first recess.
As an alternative, the second wall portion of the through-holes located at a marginal region of the first region may be designed to have such a configuration that electron beams reflected therefrom are directed not to enter the through-holes.
It is preferable that the second wall portion has a configuration defined as a function of a horizontal distance between (a) a first boundary between the first and second recesses within the first wall and (b) an outer edge of the second recess, the horizontal distance being defined as a function of a thickness of the shadow mask, a height of the first boundary, a width of the through-hole, an incident angle of the electron beams at the first boundary, and an inner width of the first recess. For instance, the above-mentioned horizontal distance is defined by the following equation:
S3xe2x89xa7H2xc3x97tan xcex22
xcex22=(90xe2x88x92xcex1) /2
xcex1=tan (S2/H2)xe2x88x92
wherein: S3 indicates the horizontal distance; H2 indicates a height of the first boundary; xcex1 indicates an incident angle of the electron beams entering the through-holes; and S2 indicates a horizontal distance between (a) a second boundary between the first and second recesses within the second wall and (b) an outer edge of the second recess.
It is preferable that the second recess has a central axis located closer to a center of the shadow mask than a central axis of the first recess by a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance may be a function of a height of the first boundary, a thickness of the shadow mask, and an incident angle of the electron beam entering the shadow mask. It is preferable that the predetermined distance is set equal to or smaller than 50 xcexcm.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating a shadow mask to be used for a cathode ray tube, including the steps of (a) forming a first photoresist pattern on a first surface of a shadow mask for forming a first recess at the first surface, (b) forming a second photoresist pattern on a second surface of the shadow mask for forming a second recess at the second surface in such a manner that the second recess cooperates with the first recess to thereby from a through-hole throughout a thickness of the shadow mask, that the second recess has a smaller size than that of the first recess, and that the second recess has a central axis located closer to a center of the shadow mask than a central axis of the first recess by a predetermined distance, (c) etching the shadow mask with the first and second photoresist patterns acting as a mask, and (d) removing the first and second photoresist patterns.
For instance, the predetermined distance is preferably set equal to or smaller than 20 xcexcm.
It is preferable in the step (c) that the shadow mask is etched so that a first boundary between the first and second recesses within a first wall is located lower than a second boundary between the first and second recesses within a second wall on the basis of a bottom of the second recess, the first wall being defined as a wall of the through-hole located farther away from a center of the shadow mask than the second wall. It is also preferable that the shadow mask is etched so that the first boundary has a height equal to or lower than 20 xcexcm on the basis of a bottom of the second recess. It is preferable that an etching pressure for forming the first recess is different from an etching pressure for forming the second recess.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cathode ray tube including (a) a bulb having a face panel constituting a front surface of the bulb, and a neck portion, (b) a fluorescent film formed on an inner surface of the face panel, (c) an electron gun disposed in the neck portion of the bulb, (d) a deflecting yoke disposed around the neck portion of the bulb for deflecting electron beams emitted from the electron gun, and (e) the above-mentioned shadow mask disposed between the fluorescent film and the electron gun.
In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to direct electron beams reflected at the second wall portion in a direction different from a direction in which the electron beams are originally directed. For instance, the electron beams having been reflected at the second wall portion of the first wall are reflected towards an inner surface of the first recess or towards an electron gun. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent images from being unnecessarily formed on the fluorescent film, which ensures to avoid degradation in the contrast characteristic of the shadow mask.
The above and other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will be made apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the drawings.

Method of making a shadow mask for a cathode ray tube


The control of a shifting component (1) of a stepped automatic transmission is designed with one frictionally engaged element (2) and one form-locking element (3). When this shifting component (1) is engaged, a transmitting capacity of the frictionally engaged element (2) is first adjusted and when a synchronous state of the form-locking element (3) exists, the form-locking element (3) is closed. When the form-locking element (3) is closed, a transmitting capacity of the frictionally engaged element (3) is reduced. In case of a demand for disengaging the shifting component (1) before opening under load, the form-locking element (3) and the transmitting capacity of the frictionally engaged element (2) is increased so that a power flow, which is conveyed via the closed form-locking element (3) of the shifting component (1), can be conveyed via the frictionally engaged element when the form-locking element (3) is open.

From the practice, stepped transmission are known which are operated either partially automated or fully automated wherein one automatic cycle of a gear change by the stepped transmission particularly results in relief of the driver. Especially in fully automated selector transmissions or stepped automatic transmissions, control operations like "uncoupling/starting" and "gear change" are carried out automatically according to established or adaptive programs. For reasons of comfort, it has been changed to carrying out gear changes without noticeable interruption of traction.
Such stepped automatic transmissions, where the transition from one ratio step to another is executed without interruption of the power flow in a drive line, are also designated as force-locking transmissions or powershift transmissions. Additional brake and clutch components of the powershift transmissions make a coupling of the ratio steps under load possible. In a powershift, the step to be discontinued is uncoupled from the positive engagement while the new step is coupled parallel therewith in the power flow of the stepped automatic transmission. A drop in traveling speed advantageously does not occur materially during power shifts since the gear to be engaged is connected with the transmission shaft positively and without drop of the drive torque.
The added brake and clutch components are designed as frictionally engaged shifting elements, such as belt brakes, multi-disc brakes or multi-disc clutches since, with said elements, it is possible to carry out so-called overlapping gear shifts because of the variable transmitting capacity.
The shifting components of the powershift transmission, designed as multi-disc brakes or multi-disc clutches, are controlled via a hydraulic control system with a pressure medium source. The pressure medium source or hydraulic pump of the stepped automatic transmission is also provided for oil supply of a stepped automatic transmission; the hydraulic energy produced by the hydraulic pump is used for closing and retaining the multi-disc brakes or multi-disc clutches, the same as for supplying the stepped automatic transmission with lubricant. A power intake of the hydraulic pump is essentially determined by the oil amount delivered and the hydraulic pressure needed for control of the powershift transmission.
It is disadvantageous that the hydraulic pump of a stepped automatic transmission constitutes an essential source of loss, the energy losses on the side of the hydraulic pump being particularly very high when power shift elements of a stepped automatic transmission are loaded with its closing pressure or retaining pressure so as to keep them in closed state with a high transmitting capacity.
The task of the instant invention is to make a method and a device available for controlling a shift component of a stepped automatic transmission with which gear shifts can be carried out free of interrupted traction and with which energy losses of a stepped automatic transmission can be reduced.

Method and device for control of a shifting component of a stepped automatic transmission


A floating type electrical connecting device, comprises: first and second electrical connectors. The first electrical connector includes a first insulating housing, and a plurality of first conductive terminals. The first insulating housing has a first mating surface, a plugging surface located on an opposite side of the first mating surface, two side surfaces respectively connected at opposite left and right sides of the first mating surface and the plugging surface, and a plurality of first terminal grooves extending from the mating surface to the plugging surface through the first insulating housing. In addition, a vertical lateral protruding edge is formed at each side surface adjacent to the first mating surface, and protruding from the side surface. The second electrical connector includes a second insulating housing, and a plurality of second conductive terminals. The second insulating housing has two sliding grooves respectively for receiving the two lateral protruding edges.

With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, R.O.C. Utility Model Patent No. 306729 owned by the applicant discloses a floating type electrical connector assembly 90, which comprises a first electrical connector 91 for assembly and electrical connection to an electronic device 901, and a second electrical connector 92 for mounting on an electrical circuit board 902.
Each conductive terminal 93 of the first electrical connector 91 is formed with a flat plate-shaped adapting segment 931, and the adapting segments 931 can be supported by a first insulating housing 94. A vertical guide rail 941 is provided downwardly of each of two sides of the first insulating housing 94. A second insulating housing 95 of the second electrical connector 92 has two sides respectively provided with vertical sliding grooves 951 that cooperate with the two guide rails 941. Thus, the first electrical connector 91 can be coupled to the second electrical connector 92 in a top-down direction, and can be plugged and unplugged multiple times without resulting in bending and damage to the adapting segments 931 of the conductive terminals 93. Enabling horizontal plugging connection or vertical plugging connection of the first electrical connector 91 to the second electrical connector 92 multiple times is to overcome the drawback of prior floating type electrical connector assemblies, such as that disclosed in R.O.C. Utility Model Patent No. 265798, which are not suitable for multiple plugging connections because the adapting segments of the conductive terminals of the electrical connectors therein are suspended and easily damaged if subjected to multiple plugging connections.
However, the design of the shapes of the two vertical guide rails 941 of the first insulating housing 94 and the structure of the sliding grooves 952 that are formed in the second insulating housing 95 to cooperate with and to receive the two vertical guide rails 941 result in that the first insulating housing 94 and the second insulating housing 95 have irregular shapes with more jaggedness and twists.
Since current methods for manufacturing insulating housings mainly involve use of injection molding processes for relative ease and convenience, if the shapes of the insulating housings are more irregular, the difficulty in preparing the molds is greater, and it is relatively not easy to prepare the formed bodies. Therefore, there is still room for improvement as to how to simplify the shapes of the insulating housings.


A thrombin inhibitor is disclosed. The thrombin inhibitor comprises: (1) a segment which inactivates or sequesters thrombin; (2) a segment comprising a portion of the fibrinogen .gamma.' chain that binds to the thrombin exosite, such as amino acid residues (414-427) and amino acid residues (414-425) of the native human fibrinogen .gamma.' sequence.

Thrombin binds to its substrate fibrinogen in the central amino-terminal region and cleaves fibrinopeptides A and B from the A.alpha. and B.beta. chains, respectively, converting fibrinogen to fibrin. The thrombin-fibrinogen binding interaction is mediated through an anion-binding fibrinogen recognition exosite in thrombin (Fenton, J. W., II, et al., Biochemistry 27:7106-7112, 1988; Binnie, C. G. and Lord, S. T., Blood 81:3186-3192, 1993; Stubbs, M. T. and Bode, W., Thromb. Res. 69:1-58, 1993) that is situated in an extended patch of positively charged residues in the region of the thrombin loop segment centered around Lys 70-Glu 80 (Noe, G., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:11729-11735, 1988). The exosite also binds to heparin cofactor II (Church, F. C., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 264:18419-18425, 1989), factor V and factor VII (Esmon, C. T. and Lollar P., J. Biol. Chem. 271:13882-13887, 1996) the platelet or endothelial cell thrombin receptor (Herbert, J.-M., et al., Biochem. J. 303:227-231, 1994), thrombomodulin (Tsiang, M., et al., Biochemistry 29:10602-10612, 1990; Suzuki, K. and Nishioka, J., J. Biol. Chem. 266:18498-18501, 1991), GPIb.alpha. (De Marco, L., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269:6478-6484, 1994), as well as to a strongly anionic sequence in the carboxyl-terminal region of the leech thrombin-inhibitor, hirudin (Dodt, J., et al., FEBS Letters 165:180-184, 1984; Maraganore, J. M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 264:8692-8698, 1989; Bourdon, P., et al., Biochemistry 29:6379-6384, 1990; Rydel, T. J., et al., Science 249:277-280, 1990; Naski, M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 265:13484-13489, 1990; Parry, M. A. A., et al., Biochemistry 33:14807-14814, 1994).
In addition to binding to fibrinogen at its substrate site, thrombin binds to fibrin at a `non-substrate` site(s) (Fenton, J. W., II, et al., supra, 1988; Binnie, C. G. and Lord, S. T., supra, 1993; Berliner, L. J., et al., Biochemistry 24:7005-7009, 1985; Kaczmarek, E. and McDonagh, J., J. Biol. Chem. 263:13896-13900, 1988; Vali, Z. and Scheraga, H. A., et al., Biochemistry 27:1956-1963, 1988). It is commonly believed that non-substrate binding takes place at the same location as fibrinogen substrate binding, namely the central E domain. As determined from binding experiments with .sup.125 I-thrombin by Liu, et al. (Liu, C. Y., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 254:10421-10425, 1979) two classes of non-substrate sites exist in fibrin, one of `high` affinity (K.sub.a, .about.6.times.10.sup.5 M.sup.-1) and the other of `low` affinity (K.sub.a, .about.7.times.10.sup.4 M.sup.-1). Hogg and Jackson also found two classes of sites in fibrin with affinity constants of 3.3.times.10.sup.6 and 3.0.times.10.sup.4, respectively (Hogg, P. J. and Jackson, C. M., J. Biol. Chem. 265:241-247, 1990). It has been inferred from available information that all non-substrate thrombin binding, especially that of high affinity, is in the E domain (Binnie, C. G. and Lord, S. T., supra, 1993), although to our knowledge this subject has not been specifically addressed.
Human fibrinogen is chromatographically separable into two major components (`peak 1` and `peak 2`) which differ with respect to the structure of their .gamma. chains (Mosesson, M. W., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 247:5223-5227, 1972). Dimeric peak 1 fibrinogen molecules each contain two .gamma..sub.A chains (.gamma.1-411V) whereas peak 2 fibrinogen molecules, which amount to .about.15% of the total fibrinogen population (Mosesson, M. W. and Finlayson, J. S., J. Lab. Clin. Med. 62:663-674, 1963), have one .gamma..sub.A and one .gamma.' chain (.gamma.1-427L) (Wolfenstein-Todel, C. and Mosesson, M. W., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:5069-5073, 1980; Mosesson, M. W., Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 408:97-113, 1983). Similar .gamma. chain variants have been identified in rodent (Crabtree, G. R. and Kant, J. A., Cell 31:159-166, 1982; Legrele, C. D., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 105:521-529, 1982) and bovine (Agnes Henschen, personal communication) fibrinogens and may exist in other animal species as well (Finlayson, J. S. and Mosesson, M. W., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 82:415-417, 1964). In humans, .gamma.' chains arise through alternative processing of the primary mRNA transcript (Chung, D. W. and Davie, E. W., Biochemistry 23:4232-4236, 1984), and differ structurally in their C-terminal sequences in that .gamma..sub.A chain residues 408 to 411 are replaced in .gamma.' chains by an anionic 20 amino acid sequence (Mosesson, M. W., supra, 1983; Wolfenstein-Todel, C. and Mosesson, M. W., Biochemistry 20:6146-6149, 1981). In rats (Crabtree, G. R. and Kant, J. A., supra, 1982; Homandberg, G. A., et al., Thromb. Res. 39:263-269, 1985) and cows (Agnes Henschen, personal communication) .gamma..sub.A 408 to 411 is replaced by a shorter but homologous sequence (see Table 1 below). The rat and human .gamma.' chains are tyrosine-sulfated at .gamma.' 418 (Hortin, G. L., Biochemistry International 19:1355-1362, 1989; Hirose, S., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:7426-7430, 1988) and also at .gamma.' 422 in humans (Agnes Henschen, personal communication).
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Carboxyl-terminal sequences of .gamma. chains and hirudin. Homologous position are outfitted Chain (position) Amino Acid Sequence ______________________________________ 1 #STR1## ______________________________________
.gamma..sub.A and .gamma.' chains are functionally equivalent with respect to factor XIIIa-catalyzed crosslinking (Wolfenstein-Todel, C. and Mosesson, M. W., supra, 1980), but unlike the .gamma..sub.A chain, .gamma.' chains lack the complete platelet binding sequence, .gamma.' .sub.A 400-411, and therefore do not support ADP-induced fibrinogen binding or platelet aggregation (Harfenist, E. J., et al., Blood 64:1163-1168, 1984; Kirschbaum, N. E., et al., Blood 79:2643-2648, 1992; Farrell, D. H. and Thiagarajan, P., J. Biol. Chem. 269:226-231, 1994). Siebenlist, et al. has recently presented evidence that plasma factor XIII binds specifically to .gamma.' chains (Siebenlist, K. R., et al., Biochemistry, 35:10448-10453, 1996), but little else is known about its functions.
In other studies, workers have investigated the relationship between hirudin and thrombin inhibition. Hirudin is a naturally occurring polypeptide produced in the salivary glands of the blood sucking leech Hirudo medicinalis. Hirudin is a potent anticoagulant which binds tightly to thrombin in a two-step process. Initially hirudin binds, via its carboxyl-terminal 53-65 amino acid residues (hirugen), to the anion-binding exosite of thrombin. Subsequently, the amino-terminal region of hirudin binds to the catalytic site of thrombin. Numerous artificial constructs have been devised to mimic the inhibitory action of hirudin, such as hirulog and hirutonin. These hirudin-analogues are comprised of an amino-terminal segment, which binds the catalytic site of thrombin, linked to the hirugen sequence. The various analogues (hirulog 1, hirutonin 2, etc.) result from substitutions in each of these segments in different combinations.
In the Examples below we present compelling evidence that the anionic carboxy-terminal .gamma.' chain sequence situated in the fibrin D domain constitutes the high-affinity thrombin binding site, which is itself separate and distinct from the low affinity thrombin binding sites that reside in the central E domain. This finding has relevance in terms of designing an improved thrombin inhibitor.


Systems and methods for providing smooth level of detail (“LOD”) transition for textures in a graphics applications are disclosed. The texture LOD of a first frame of imagery can be compared to a second texture LOD for a current frame. For areas where the second LOD is higher than the first LOD, an LOD fade from the first LOD to the second LOD can be performed to provide a smooth LOD transition. The LOD fade can be implemented by generating a blend between textures at the first LOD and the second LOD. In one aspect, the blend is generated based on an interpolant value calculated based on the difference between the first LOD and the second LOD. The interpolant value can be incremented in subsequent frames to achieve a desired fade rate for the transition. The fade rate can be variable such that the LOD transition time remains constant.

Improvements in computer processing power and broadband technology have led to the development of interactive systems for navigating imagery, such as geographic imagery. Some interactive map navigation systems provide a user interface with navigation controls for navigating cities, neighborhoods, and other terrain in two or three dimensions. The navigation controls enable users to tilt, pan, rotate, zoom, and activate terrain and buildings for different perspectives at an area of interest. Exemplary map imaging systems include the Google Earth and Google Maps systems by Google Inc.
The imagery used by these interactive systems can be derived by rending geometric objects and texture objects to generate a two-dimensional or three-dimensional graphical representation of an area of interest. The geometric objects can define three-dimensional surfaces of objects and terrain depicted in the imagery. The texture objects can be mapped to the three-dimensional surfaces to add detail, surface texture, color and other features to the depicted objects and terrain.
Interactive systems for displaying imagery, such as geographic imagery, often render geometric and texture objects with low level of detail ("LOD") (e.g. low resolution) at camera views far from an area of interest to improve performance. As the user zooms in closer to the area of interest, geometric and texture objects with higher LOD (e.g. higher resolution) are rendered to depict objects in greater detail. Switching between two levels of detail can cause a distracting pop if the levels of detail are sufficiently different and/or the transition happens too close to the camera view. The pop can be a visual anomaly which disrupts the user's sense of immersion in the imagery. Moreover, if the geometric data and the texture data are fetched from a server over a network, the latency between the request for higher resolution objects and the receipt of the data by the client can be long. In this case, a user can zoom in past the natural resolution of a rendered scene, resulting in a blurry image. When the higher resolution imagery finally arrives from the server and is rendered, the higher resolution imagery will "pop" into view because its resolution is markedly different from the imagery in the previously displayed blurry image.

Texture fading for smooth level of detail transitions in a graphics application


An exhaust gas purifying catalyst characterized by having zeolite subjected to ion exchange with cerium and deposited on cerium oxide as well and containing platinum and/or palladium, and a process for purifying the exhaust gas using the catalyst. The catalyst, by using zeolite and a noble metal, is enabled to acquire improved durability.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catalyst for purifying an exhaust gas discharged mainly from a diesel engine and a process for purifying the exhaust gas using the catalyst. More specifically, this invention relates to a catalyst capable of efficiently purifying nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are generally difficult of purification in an excess oxygen atmosphere, and manifesting durability, and a process for purifying NOx using the catalyst.
2. Description of Related Art
In the global trend toward rising consciousness of environmental conservation and strengthening emission control, cars equipped with a diesel engine of high fuel efficiency have been reevaluated throughout the world particularly in Europe. The reduction of NOx emission which is one of the harmful components in the exhaust gas of diesel engines has turned into a subject.
In an oxygen rich environment like the exhaust gas of diesel engines, the decrease of NOx is difficult because an oxidation reaction proceeds on the catalyst. Thus, a technique which promotes reduction of NOx utilizing the unburnt hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases or the fuel as a reductant has been examined.
Since the temperature of exhaust gases from the diesel engine is low as compared with that from the gasoline engine, a noble metal, predominantly platinum, which begins to manifest reactivity at a low temperature in an oxidizing atmosphere (excess oxygen atmosphere), is adopted for decreasing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Meanwhile, NOx reduction catalyst which uses hydrocarbon as the reductant, platinum has been cited as a catalytically active component. In such circumstances, many catalysts composed of zeolite and platinum have been proposed as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,732, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,892, JP-A-10-156144, and JP-A-11-90235.

Exhaust gas purifying catalyst and process for purifying exhaust gas by use of the catalyst


A thermal energy conversion and storage system incorporating a motorless compressor that converts intermittent thermal energy to a low temperature thermal energy heat sink, and stores the thermal energy heat sink for use later. The low temperature heat sink can drive an ambient powered heat engine, is a low temperature source of refrigeration for cooling an enclosed space, and is an efficient energy storage device.

Solar energy is a prime source of thermal energy. One example of the use of thermal energy conversion into mechanical power is the steam engine. Another example of the use of thermal energy conversion into mechanical power is the steam turbine. However, on a scale comparable to the use of fossil fuels for the provision of thermal energy, the use of solar energy to produce mechanical power is almost nonexistent. Therefore, there is a need for improvement in the method and apparatus to attain mechanical power from thermal energy, and there is a need for improvement in the method and apparatus to store thermal energy.

Apparatus and method for converting thermal energy to mechanical energy


A tele-communication device includes a memory for storing a plurality of pieces of messages transmitted over a communication channel and a display device for displaying the message information read from the memory in response to an operation of a display switch. The pieces of message information are automatically read from the memory in sequence at regular intervals and displayed on the display device while the display switch is depressed continuously. When the display time of a message exceeds a given time, the message is automatically erased from the display. When the display switch is depressed within a given time from when the message is erased automatically, the erased message is displayed again.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio telecommunication devices with a feature for displaying received messages, such as a pager receiver, a mobile telephone or a cordless telephone.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a new type of a paging system, a system has recently been developed in which a base station transmits message information, and one of the pager receivers subscribed to this system displays the message information. A paging signal used in this system is formed as follows. That is, one frame is time-divided into a plurality of groups each of which is time-divided into a synchronization word and a plurality of calling words. In each calling word are inserted an identification (ID) code and a message code.
When calling a pager receiver, a caller dials a telephone numbers assigned to the pager receiver, thus reaching the base station and transmits message information to the base station. Then the base station generates the ID code assigned to the selected pager receiver and the message code corresponding to the message information. The ID code and the massage code are inserted into one of an empty calling words in a group to which that pager receiver belongs among a plurality of groups in one frame and transmitted to the pager receiver.
On the other hand, the pager receiver is arranged as follows. That is, the paging signal transmitted from the base station is received by a radio circuit through an antenna and demodulated by a demodulation circuit for subsequent application to a control circuit. The control circuit checks the I code contained in the demodulated paging signal with the self-ID code previously stored an ID-ROM. When a coincidence occurs between the codes, the control circuit recognizes the generation of a call to the self-receiver to produce a ringing signal which is applied to a loudspeaker via a driving circuit. A ringing tone is emanated from the loudspeaker, whereby the user is informed that a call has been made to him.
Upon the occurrence of a coincidence between the ID codes, the control circuit enters the message code received following the ID code. After being subjected to an error correcting process, the message code is decoded and the decoded message data is applied to a display driving circuit. Consequently the message is displayed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) by the display driving circuit. Therefore, the user can understand the message from the caller through the liquid crystal display at the time of generation of the call. The display message is erased from the liquid crystal display when the user depresses a stop switch.
The message code is displayed on the liquid crystal display and transferred from the control circuit to a message memory to be stored therein. The message memory consists of a random access memory (RAM) which has areas required to store a plurality of message codes. When the user depresses a display switch with message codes stored in the message memory, a message code is read from the message memory by the control circuit. The read message code is decoded by the control circuit and then applied to the display driving circuit so that it is displayed on the liquid crystal display. Even after the display of a message on the liquid crystal display has been erased, therefore, the user can read the message from the message memory to watch it on the display by depressing the display switch.
However, such a conventional receiver only has a received message displaying feature in which only one message code is read from the message memory and displayed on the display each time the display switch is depressed once. Where many message codes are stored in the message memory, therefore, the display switch might have to be operated many times so as to display a desired message code, causing trouble to display operations.

Radio tele-communication device with received message displaying feature


An improvement to forwardly skewed axial fans whereby blade camber and rake are coordinated with skew. The blades are characterized in that a line defined by the points of maximum chordwise camber (f.sub.max) as a function of changing radial position (r) is on the leading edge side of the mid-chord line (M.sub.CL) at values of r toward the root of the blade, and is less forwardly skewed than the leading edge (LE), the mid-chord line (M.sub.CL), and the trailing edge (TE) of said blade; the blade is raked forwardly so that the trailing edge of the blade tip is axially forward of the trailing edge at the blade root; rake (k) increases monotonically as radial position r increases from 0.75R to 1.0R, R being the fan radius; the blade has a relatively large pitch ratio (P/D); and rake is corrected to reflect the chordwise position of maximum camber. As a result, the fan produces a flow that is generally in radial equilibrium having a reduced component of flow normal to the2 desired axial flow and normal to the tangential flow. The coordinated fan can be (but need not be) combined with a housing/band configuration for controlling airflow that recirculates (i.e., counter to the desired axial airflow) in a channel formed between the band and housing.

This application relates to axial flow fans having forwardly skewed blades, particularly banded plastic fans such as those designed for automotive applications and for other air handling applications including computer cooling and heating/cooling of buildings.
In various applications, axial fans are designed to move airflow through adjacent heat exchangers or through air channels. Noise, strength, packaging (size) and efficiency (energy consumption) are important considerations in many axial fan applications.
In particular, it has been found that a fan whose blades are forwardly skewed (e.g., the mid-chord line and/or the leading edge of the fan's blades are curved in the direction of fan rotation) will exhibit significantly less noise, all other things being equal. See, Gray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,245. Gray '245 also teaches that it is useful in forwardly skewed blade designs to increase the blade angle with increasing radius.
Gray U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,631 discloses a fan having a forward skew at the blade tip and a rearward skew at the blade root so that the overall angular dislocation in the plane of rotation between the blade root and the blade tip is reduced, providing greater strength. The blade angle remains relatively constant at the blade tip.
Brackett et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,229 discloses an axial flow fan having a blade with a sinusoidally shaped leading edge.
E.P. 0 168 594 discloses an axial fan with blades that have a forwardly curved leading edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,660 discloses an axial fan having multiple blades with different degrees of skew, either forward or back.
U.S. Pat. 4,791,520 discloses a forwardly skewed fan blade having a controlled trailing edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,461 discloses a fan having blades with an abrupt change in skew and a high forward skew at the blade tip.
McDonald, U.S. Pat. No. 3,285,501, discloses a centrifugal fan having vanes 30 positioned to produce an annular ring of spinning air around the inlet of the fan wheel.
White, U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,776, discloses a centrifugal fluid flow apparatus having guide vanes 16 to guide and stabilize leakage flow around the fan.
Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,461, discloses a centrifugal fan which uses the flow of air off of the open outer edges of the blades as a volume control--i.e., outlet vortical flow rotating in the direction of fan rotation can be recirculated as secondary air into the rotor inlet to reduce net volume.
Kuroda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,699, discloses a centrifugal blower having hair-like elements 69 (FIG. 6) mounted in a wall of passage between the fan and an inlet shroud. The hair-like elements increase resistance to reduce recirculation.
Hauser, U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,914, discloses a cooling fan for use with a radiator having a baffle ring 11 to reduce recirculation.
Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,440, discloses a seal plate 30 for an inlet for a centrifugal fan to assist the boundary layer to distribute the inlet air uniformly.
Schwaebel, DEOS 24 62 465 discloses a compressor turbine having ribs in the gap between the rotor blade tips and the housing.
Bruno, DEOS 1 905 269 discloses an impeller having a seal between the neck ring of the impeller and the ventilator suction opening.
SU 918,559 discloses a centrifugal pump having flanges which engage ring-shaped projections of a seal ring.

Forward skew fan with rake and chordwise camber corrections

Airflow Research and Manufacturing Corporation


A constant velocity universal joint for transmitting driving torque between rotative members, such universal joint including a hub fixed to one of the rotative members and an outer joint member attached to the hub, an inner joint member attached to another one of the rotative members and a ball containing cage positioned between the outer joint member and the inner joint member. The balls are engaged in ball races positioned in the outer joint member and in the inner joint member. The ball races are sloped so as to provide maximum material at the location of highest stress, the major ball races being of the undercut free design.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a constant velocity universal joint for use in any application requiring torque transmission through a varying angle. More particularly, the invention involves a universal joint that utilizes a plurality of balls to transmit a torque from an inner joint member to an outer joint member. The interior of the outer joint member contains a series of grooves that are in radial alignment with a complementary series of grooves that are positioned on the exterior of the inner joint member. A cage is positioned between the outer joint member and the inner joint member to guide the balls as they traverse the grooves during articulation of the universal joint.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art reveals a wide variety of devices that permit the transmission of a rotational torque from one shaft that is angularly displaced with respect to another shaft coupled thereto. In general, most of the prior art devices require extensive machining of the individual parts to assure satisfactory assembly and operation of the device. Then, too, the overall strength of the prior art devices was compromised by the required machining of the individual parts.
The present invention differs from the undercut-free constant velocity joint that is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,960, entitled "Constant Velocity Joint" issued Apr. 29, 1975, to Hans-Heinrich Welschof et al. The constant velocity joint described in the above-referenced patent shows an outer joint member in which the individual ball grooves are divergent with respect to the central axis of the universal joint, when viewed from the open end of the outer joint member. The ball grooves that are positioned in the inner joint member are convergent with respect to the central axis of the universal joint. The balls are maintained in a spaced apart planar relationship with one another by means of a cage that is positioned between the outer joint member and the inner joint member. The outer joint member does not lend itself to press forging techniques since the opening therein is of smaller diameter than the diameter of the interior cavity therein. Also, the lip of the outer joint member is thin because of the divergent nature of the ball grooves. The thin areas of the outer joint member occur at one of the areas of maximum stress in the universal joint, particularly when large angles of articulation are employed.
Thus, the present invention differs from the above-described universal joint in that the divergence and convergence of the ball grooves in the outer joint member and the inner joint member are in reverse order. Then, too, the free end of the outer joint member is of increased thickness in the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,803, entitled "Constant Velocity Universal Joint" issued Feb. 19, 1980, to Nobuyuki Otsuka et al, there is shown a universal joint that employs an input and an output shaft. The output shaft has a cavity containing hub into which is fitted the end of the input shaft. The input shaft contains an inner member attached thereto. The inside of the hub and the outside of the inner member contain ball grooves. A ball cage is positioned between the hub and the inner member. The ball cage is unique in that its inside and outside surfaces contain spherical surfaces that are eccentric instead of the usual concentric spherical surfaces. The ball cage is supported on spherical surfaces that are also eccentric.
The present invention utilizes substantially concentric spherical surfaces. Further, the present invention does not have any undercuts that must be made in the hub area as does the above reference. The ball cage of the present invention is quite simple with concentric spherical surfaces being employed. Also, the hub and inner torque members utilize concentric spherical surfaces.
Another example of the prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,643, entitled "Rotary Constant Velocity Universal Joint" issued Sep. 9, 1986, to Werner Krude. The universal joint shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,643 has an outer joint member in which the ball grooves are convergent as viewed from the open end of the outer joint member and the grooves in the inner joint member are divergent. This arrangement or slope of the grooves is just the opposite to that seen in the previously discussed U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,960. The outer joint member is separate from the axle-hub combination with which it coacts. A cylindrical sleeve unites the outer joint member to the hub by welding and crimping techniques. A ball cage supporting element is used to retain the balls in the grooves to engage the balls on one side. The ball cage supporting element does not contact the spherical surfaces of the outer joint member or the inner joint member, but instead, the ball cage contacts a spherical surface 30 in the interior of the joint near the central hub as shown in FIG. 1. In the above-described patent, the ball cage contains a series of fingers that are intercalated with respect to the balls. This universal joint requires extensive machingin to fabricate the joint as well as complicated tools for fabricating the various details.
The present invention is an improvement over the universal joint shown and described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,643, in that fewer parts are utilized and there is less frictional contact with the ball cage. Additionally, the present invention provides a ball cage with apertures therein that completely circumscribes each ball. Further, by providing a universal joint with an outer joint member having a thick structural section near its open end, the area of highest load concentration upon articulation, the joint is more reliable and durable. The outer joint member fabrication is simplified and the cost of fabrication is significantly reduced.

Constant velocity universal joint having high stress resistance


An injection molding machine having a simple structure and adapted to quickly produce molded products without significant flaws on the surface is provided. It comprises a plunger being adapted to introduce the molten metal into the cylinder section, a nozzle for injecting the molten metal fed from the plunger into a metal mold and a piston arranged within a cylinder section of the plunger to slidingly reciprocate. It includes a piston drive unit for driving the piston to slidingly reciprocate, a stopper member for controlling the retracted position of the piston drive unit and a position selecting unit for defining a projected position and a retracted position for the stopper member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an injection molding machine for molding a product having a desired profile by injecting molten metal into a metal mold by means of a plunger, and an injection molding method for molding such a product.
2. Prior Art
FIGS. 8A and 8B of the accompanying drawings illustrate a typical known metal molding machine comprising a melting pot (not shown) for storing molten metal 10' and a plunger 12' having a lower portion dipped into the molten metal 10' in the melting pot, wherein the molten metal 10' is fed from the plunger 12' to an injection nozzle 14' and then injected into a metal mold 16'. The plunger 12' has a cylinder section 18' dipped into the molten metal 10' and a piston 20' that slidingly reciprocates within the cylinder section 18', which cylinder section 18' has a through hole 22' bored through an upper portion of its lateral wall, through which the molten metal 10' is drawn into the cylinder section 18'. A rod 24' is linked to the piston 20' at an end thereof and to a corresponding rod 28' of another piston 30' housed in a hydraulic cylinder 26' at the other end.
The illustrated known injection molding machine operates in a manner as described below. Firstly as shown in FIG. 8A, the piston 30' of the hydraulic cylinder 26' is raised to pull up the piston 20' of the plunger 12' above the through hole 22' by way of the rods 24' and 28'. Since the through hole 22' is located below the surface L' of the molten metal 10', the molten metal 10' flows into the cylinder section 18'. Subsequently, the piston 30' of the hydraulic cylinder 26' is moved downward to lower the piston 20' of the plunger 12', and after the piston 20' passes the through hole 22', the molten metal 10' is forced in the cylinder section 18' to move out toward the nozzle 14' until it is injected into a cavity of the metal mold 16' through the outlet of the nozzle 14'. When the metal in the metal mold 16' is solidified, the metal mold 16' is opened to take out the molded product. Thereafter the piston 30' of the hydraulic cylinder 26' is raised to pull up the piston 20' of the plunger 12' as shown in FIG. 8B. Then, the molten metal 10' in the cylinder section 18' moves back from the nozzle 14' as the piston 20' is pulled up, and once the piston 20' passes by the through hole 22', falls until its surface is flush with the level L' of the surface of the molten metal 10' in the melting pot because the inside of the plunger 12' is subjected to the atmospheric pressure.
With the above described prior art metal mold machine, the molten metal 10' in the nozzle 14' is forced to move back and forth in each injection molding cycle between the nozzle tip and the level L' of the molten metal in the melting pot to cover a relatively long traveling distance so that the molten metal 10' can take in bubbles to a large extent at the time of injection. Additionally, a long traveling distance means a long injection molding cycle time and a low efficiency.
There has been proposed an injection molding machine, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, that provides an improvement to the above described known machine by arranging, in addition to the features of the machine of FIGS. 8A and 8B, a non-return valve 34' at the bottom of the cylinder section 18' so that molten metal 10' can flow from the melting pot into the cylinder section 18' but cannot flow back from the cylinder section 18' and hence the molten metal 10' is inevitably moved through the injection path 15' and injected through the nozzle 14'.
However, with this arrangement, the molten metal 10' can remain in the injection path 15' all the way to the tip of the nozzle 14' to deter the initial rate of injecting the molten metal in the next injection molding cycle so that the molded products may show flaws on the surface.
In view of the above identified technological problems, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an injection molding machine having a simple structure and adapted to operate for injection molding with a short cycle time so that the molded products show an improved surface. Another object of the invention is to provide an injection molding process using such a machine.

Injection molding machine and injection molding method


A guard is provided that protects sonar transducers attached to trolling motors from damage due to impact with underwater debris. The protective guard is mounted on the trolling motor in front of the sonar transducer.

Electronic devices, such as sonar transducers, have long been used in the fishing arts for determining water depth and locating fish. For example, sonar transducers are often mounted to a bottom portion of a trolling motor on a boat so that a fisherman may gather sonar information at a particular location to be fished. Unfortunately, such underwater electronics devices are notoriously fragile in both their construction and methods of attachment to a trolling motor. Very often, it is the sonar transducer that first contacts submerged vegetation, rocks, stumps, or other debris, and the like. Weeds and grasses also often ensnare on the sonar transducer, causing it to malfunction. Impact upon rocks, stumps, underwater debris, heavy grass/weed beds, or with stream, river, or lake beds usually results in damage to the sonar transducer. Replacing several transducers over the course of a busy fishing season can make fishing an unnecessarily costly pastime.
Various devices have been suggested in the art for guarding trolling motors and sonar transducers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,255 discloses a weed guard for attachment to electric trolling motors having a motor housing and a motor support shaft. The weed guard includes a lower frame member portion and an upper arm portion. The triangular frame portion has a flange for attachment to the motor housing so that the frame portion has one apex toward the front of the motor housing and extends downwardly and rearwardly from the apex with respect to the motor housing at a constant angle. The upper arm portion is secured to the frame portion at the apex, and extends upwardly and forwardly. A rearward extension member extends from the upper arm portion toward the motor shaft for attachment to the motor shaft. This weed guard is not compatible with the use of a sonar transducer, since the triangular frame portion extends the entire length of the bottom of the motor, and would therefore block the sonar transducer from either sending or receiving signals, rendering the transducer useless.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,301, provides a protective slip-on cover for a motor mounted sonar. The cover slips over and surrounds the transducer on at least three sides, leaving the bottom surface open for the transmission and reception of sonar signals. Thus, after installation of the shield, the transducer is free to operate in its usual manner with no effect upon its acquisition of sonar data. Although this design offers some level of protection, it may not completely deflect impact forces, particularly shearing forces from impact of the transducer upon a rock or stump. It also does not appear to provide against hang-up on weeds and grasses.
None of the foregoing devices have proved to be wholly effective in protecting sonar transducers during normal use. As a consequence, there has been a long felt need for a sonar transducer guard with improved protection from damage resulting from underwater impacts with hard objects, such as stream and lake beds, debris, and the like, as well as protection from hang-up upon weeds and grasses.