Techniques are disclosed for automatically calibrating content shown on an electronic display. According to certain embodiments, a picture of the display is taken while a calibration image is shown on the display. The picture is then analyzed to determine whether any adjustments need to be made. The analysis can, for example, include a comparison between the picture of the calibration image and a stored calibration image. If it is determined an adjustment needs to be made to correct how content is shown on the display, an adjustment is made accordingly.

Televisions, computer monitors, tablet computers, notebooks, and other devices having electronic displays can display content from a variety of sources, including other connected devices. Televisions, for example, can be connected with a set-top box that can provide television tuning, video recording, and other functionality to the television. These connected devices may allow for menus, icons, or other content to be shown on the displays. But because different electronic displays have different properties, it is not always certain that the content is properly shown on each of the electronic displays. Consequently, some items may not be shown on the electronic display at all. The connected devices or the displays themselves may have the functionality for adjusting the content, but users are typically unaware of this functionality.


A process for producing diaryl carbonate which comprises (A) a step for producing dialkyl carbonate represented by the general formula RO--CO--OR by reacting urea with alkyl alcohol represented by the general formula ROH, (B) a step for producing both alkyl aryl carbonate represented by the general formula RO--CO--OAr and diaryl carbonate represented by the general formula ArO--CO--OAr by reacting dialkyl carbonate produced in the above step (A) with an aromatic hydroxy compound represented by the general formula ArOH, and (C) a step for producing diaryl carbonate represented by the general formula ArO--CO--OAr by allowing to conduct disproportionation reaction of unreacted alkyl aryl carbonate produced in the above step (B), wherein R shows an alkyl group and Ar shows a non-substituted phenyl group or a phenyl group substituted by alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl group, aryloxy group or halogen.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing diaryl carbonate, and specifically, to a process for producing diaryl carbonate using urea as raw material via dialkyl carbonate as intermediate product. Diaryl carbonate is a compound useful as a raw material for the production of polycarbonate according to a molten transesterification method.
2) Prior Art
Hitherto, diaryl carbonate has been produced by the reaction of an aromatic hydroxy compound with phosgene. However, a process for producing diaryl carbonate without using phosgene has been required since phosgene has high toxicity and high corrosion behavior for apparatus and furthermore a large amount of alkali is necessary to neutralize by-produced hydrogen chloride. Therefore, some processes for producing diaryl carbonate without using phosgene have been attempted.
For example, a process which comprises conducting carbonylation of an aromatic hydroxy compound with oxidation by using both carbon monoxide and oxygen has been suggested (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No.53-68744). However, the process includes a very complicated reaction system since very expensive palladium is used as main catalyst and furthermore cocatalyst, drying agent, oxidizing agent, etc., also are required. Further, under the present situation, it is difficult to recover catalyst and the process does not reach to an industrial level also in respect of yield and reaction rate.
On the other hand, it has been attempted to produce diphenyl carbonate by direct reaction of urea with phenol, but its yield is low (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 8-92167). Further, it is known to convert urea to diphenyl urea and further convert it into phenyl urethane and then allow to conduct disproportionation of phenyl urethane, but the operation is intricate (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 8-198815).
As processes for producing diaryl carbonate other than the above-mentioned processes, Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 51-105032 discloses a process for producing diphenyl carbonate by the reaction of phenol with dimethyl carbonate under an atmospheric pressure or an applied pressure in the presence of a catalyst selected from the group consisting of Lewis acid and transition metal compounds capable of forming Lewis acid, but the selectivity to dephenyl carbonate is low.
Japanese Patent Kokai (laid-open) No. 51-75044 discloses a process for producing diphenyl carbonate by contacting phenyl methyl carbonate or phenyl ethyl carbonate with a catalyst composition selected from the group consisting of Lewis acid and transition metal compounds capable of forming Lewis acid, but the conversion rate of pheny methyl carbonate or pheny ethyl carbonate is low.
Further, in the production of diphenyl carbonate from dimethyl carbonate, separation between dimethyl carbonate and methanol has been become very problematic since dimethyl carbonate forms an azeotrope with methanol. In order to avoid such azeotropy, every endeavor has been made (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid open) Nos. 54-48732, 61-291545 and 7-330687, etc.). However, the fundamental problem that reaction efficiency is inferior, has not yet been solved since dialkyl carbonate as the raw material is slipped out during the reaction.
As processes for synthesis of dialkyl carbonate, (1) an oxidative carbonylation process which comprises reacting alcohol with both carbon monoxide and oxygen (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 51-138620), (2) a nitrite ester process which comprises reacting a nitrite ester with carbon monoxide (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 3-141243), (3) an ethylene carbonate process which comprises allowing to conduct transesterification between ethylene carbonate and alkyl alcohol (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 8-176071 and (4) a urea process which comprises reacting directly urea with alkyl alcohol (Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) Nos. 55-102542 and 8-119907).
In above-mentioned (1) the oxidative carbonylation process and (2) the nitrite ester process, the reaction apparatus becomes complicated since toxic CO is used. (3) The ethylene carbonate process includes both a process using ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide and a process using urea and ethylene glycol, as the raw material of ethylene carbonate. The process using ethylene oxide as the raw material is not preferable since ethylene glycols are produced together. The process using urea as the raw material is more complicated than (4) the process for producing directly dialkyl carbonate from urea.
In a process described in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 55-102542 corresponding to (4) the process which comprises reacting directly urea with alkyl alcohol, dialkyl carbonate is obtained by using a higher alcohol having 8 or above carbon atoms. Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 8-119907 discloses a process for producing dialkyl carbonate from methanol or ethanol, but its yield is very low.
Thus, under the present situation, no process in which diaryl carbonate can be produced in a high yield by simple operation without using toxic phosgene, has yet been established.


Embodiments of System and Method for compensating for time-of-arrival differences between uplink packets in a Wireless Network are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

In a multicarrier communication system, such as a system that uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal subcarriers are used to convey data. In some wireless networks, several wireless communication stations may communicate with one receiving station, such as an access point. One difficulty with receiving communications concurrently from more than one communication station is that there are slight differences in the arrival time of the packets from the different stations. These slight time-of-arrival (TOA) differences may degrade a receiver's performance including its ability to separate the data from each transmitting station. Thus there are general needs for compensating for the effects of time-of-arrival differences when receiving from multiple transmitting stations.

Multicarrier receiver and method for time-delay compensation in a multi-user uplink


A composition for a protective film for electroconductive patterns, including: (A) a polyurethane containing a carboxyl group; (B) an epoxy compound; (C) a curing accelerator; and (D) a solvent, wherein the percentage of the solvent (D) contained is from 95.0% to 99.9% by mass, and the solvent (D) contains (D1) a solvent containing a hydroxyl group and having a boiling point in excess of 100° C., and (D2) a solvent having a boiling point that does not exceed 100° C., wherein the content of the solvent (D2) having a boiling point that does not exceed 100° C. is 30% to less than 70% by mass of total solvent in total. The composition can be cured by heating at a temperature not exceeding 100° C. for a heating time not exceeding 10 minutes.

A transparent conductive film is used in various fields such as a transparent electrode for a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic electroluminescence type display, photovoltaic cell (PV), and a touch panel (TP), an electro-static discharge (ESD) film, and an electromagnetic interference (EMI) film, etc. For these transparent conductive films, conventionally, a film using ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) has been used. However, there are drawbacks that the supply stability of indium is low, the production cost is high, the flexibility is inferior, and a high temperature is required when the film is formed. Therefore, transparent conductive films which can replace the ITO film has been actively searched. Among such films, a transparent conductive film containing metal nanowires is preferable as a transparent conductive film substituting the ITO film, in view of its superior conductivity, optical property, and flexibility, and its advantages that a film can be formed by a wet process, a production cost is low, and a high temperature is not required at the time of forming a film, and the like. For example, a transparent conductive film containing silver nanowires, and having a superior conductivity, optical property, and flexibility is known (refer to Patent Document 1).
However, there are drawbacks that the transparent conductive film containing silver nanowires has a large surface area per mass of silver, and thus, can easily react with various compounds, leading to low environmental tolerance. Due to influences from various medical agents or cleaning solutions used in the processes, or influences from oxygen or moisture in the air to which the film is exposed during the long-term storage, the nano structure is corroded, resulting in the decrease in conductivity. Further, in particular, when the film is used for electronic materials, in order to prevent adhesion or mixture of fine particle-like impurities, dust and dirt, etc., onto a substrate surface, a physical cleaning process using a brush, etc., is often performed. However, the damage on to the surface due to this physical cleaning may also be a problem.
In order to solve the drawbacks, there have been many attempts of providing a protective film on the surface of the transparent conductive film having silver nanowires to apply hardness and environmental tolerance to the transparent conductive film. Also, because electrical connection between the wirings of an electronic circuit and the transparent conductive film is required, there is a desire for a protective film capable of maintaining electrical contact from the protective film surface to the transparent conductive film.
In order to solve these drawbacks, various considerations have been made for the protective layer of the transparent conductive film. For example, Patent Document 2 proposes a method for protecting a transparent conductive film using a specific thermosetting composition, wherein a thin protective layer is provided to maintain the electrical contact. However, according to the examples in Patent Document 2 (Step 2), preliminary drying is performed at 80° C. for 3 minutes and the step of thermal setting of the thermosetting composition is performed at 100° C. for 15 or more minutes. Thus, the productivity is not good.
Further, Patent Document 3 discloses the film forming using a protective film composition containing a corrosion inhibitor, at a high temperature of 150° C., to thereby increase the environmental tolerance. During the film forming, the protective film is exposed to the high temperature of 150° C., thus, there is a concern that several problems such as generation of distortion, decrease of optical properties, etc., may occur, depending on the material used.

Composition for forming protective film for electroconductive pattern, protective film for electroconductive pattern, method for producing protective film, and method for producing transparent electroconductive film


The present invention is directed to plant fiber-reinforced thermoplastic compositions and a method for reinforcing thermoplastic resins. The present invention provides a use for the cellulose portion of a plant material, which is the portion left over after processing the selected plant materials to separate the hemi-cellulose and lignin from the cellulose.

The plastics industry is one of the largest consumers of organic and inorganic fillers. Inorganic fillers such as calcium carbonate, talc, mica and the like are well known, as well as organic fillers such as wood flour, chaff and the like, fibrous materials such as asbestos and glass fiber, as well as graphite, cokes, blown asphalt, activated carbon, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide and the like. All of these additives have high specific gravities and their ability to improve physical properties of the composition is limited.
As an alternative to particulate fillers, thermoplastic materials can also be formed with fibrous materials to overcome those deficiencies. Fiber-reinforced composite materials based on thermoplastic materials are being increasingly used in many areas of technology in place of metallic materials as they promise a substantial reduction in weight, with mechanical characteristics which are otherwise comparable in many respects. For that purpose, besides the thermoplastic matrix, these composite materials include a fibrous component which has a considerable influence on mechanical characteristics, in particular tensile and flexural strength as well as impact toughness of the composite material. Fibrous components used are (i) fibers of inorganic materials such as glass, carbon and boron, (ii) metallic fibers, for example of steel, aluminium and tungsten, (iii) synthetic organic fibers, for example of aromatic polyamides, polyvinyl alcohols, polyesters, polyacrylates and polyvinyl chloride, or (iv) fibers of natural origin, for example hemp and flax.
The use of glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials has of particular significance. In FIG. 1, a prior art process for the incorporation of glass fibers into a plastic resin, such as polypropylene, is illustrated. The polypropylene 10 is initially combined at a suitable temperature and pressure with the glass fibers 12 and other additives 14, as desired. The polypropylene 10, glass fibers 12 and additives 14 are mixed to form the composite material 16. This composite material 16 can be subsequently extruded at 18 for use in an injection molding process 20 to form a final molded product 22 having properties provided by the combination of the polypropylene 10 and glass fibers 12, along with any additional desired properties provided by the additives 14.
However, the production of glass fibers requires the use of considerable amounts of energy and the basic materials are not biological in origin so that the sustainability of the production process is open to criticism from ecological points of view. Furthermore, the disposal of glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials is made difficult as even upon thermal decomposition of the material, considerable amounts of residues are left, which generally can only be taken to a disposal site. Finally glass fibers involve a high level of abrasiveness so that processing the materials in the context of usual processing methods for thermoplastic materials encounters difficulties.
Because of the above-mentioned disadvantages but also generally to improve the material properties therefore at the present time there is an intensive search for possible ways of replacing the glass fibers which dominate in many technical uses, as a reinforcing component. Organic fibrous materials of natural origin, such as plant materials appear to be particularly attractive in this connection because of their lower density and the reduction in weight that this entails in the composite material as well as sustainability and easier disposal.
The potential of using natural or plant fibers in plastic applications as a substitute for synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon, nylon, polyester, etc. has been recognized. For example, Kolla et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,348, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein, describes flax shives reinforced thermoplastic compositions and a method for reinforcing thermoplastic resins. The invention disclosed in Kolla provides a use for flax shives or particles in the thermoplastic compositions, which is the portion left over after processing plant materials to separate plant fibers (bast fibers) from the shives. The shives are the core tissue fibers which remain after the bast fibers are removed from the flax stem via the mechanical separation process disclosed in Leduc et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,030, or other mechanical separation processes involving the hammering or bending of the natural plant fibers. These core tissue fibers include the cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin components of the flax fiber, along with a smaller portion of the woody bast fibers that remain on the shives, giving the shives a fiber purity of approximately eighty percent, at maximum.
It will be noted however that the use of natural fibrous materials as a fiber-reinforcing component can be confronted with worse mechanical characteristics in the resulting composite materials, in comparison with fiber-reinforced composite materials with glass fiber constituents. Furthermore natural fibers such as flax, hemp or also wood particles are of a fluctuating composition: individual batches of the material differ depending on the respective cultivation area, cultivation period, storage and possibly preliminary treatment. That means however that the mechanical characteristics of the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials to be produced also vary, which makes technical use thereof more difficult. The material can further change in form and appearance by virtue of progressing degradation processes. Finally, the constituent components of the various natural fibers can themselves create issues when the fibers are utilized in this manner. In particular, the hemi-cellulose fraction of natural fibers absorbs moisture, causing a detrimental effect on the dimensional stability and water resistance properties of any thermoplastic material to which the natural fibers are added.
As a result it is desirable to make use of the advantages linked to the use of organic materials of natural origin in creating composite materials, but by treating the natural fibers in a manner that improves the processing-relevant and use-relevant properties of the composite materials.

Plant fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition


An electrical connector assembly includes a plug connector and a receptacle connector. The plug connector includes a first insulating body, a sleeve barrel and a spring. The first insulating body defines a first sliding slot penetrating a front surface thereof. The sleeve barrel is worn outside the first insulating body. The spring is disposed between the sleeve barrel and the first insulating body. A slider block is protruded from a front portion of an inner surface of the sleeve barrel, the slider block is capable of sliding in the first sliding slot. The receptacle connector includes a second insulating body. The second insulating body defines a second sliding slot corresponding to the first sliding slot which includes a longitudinal part penetrating a rear surface of the second insulating body and an inclined part extending sideward and inclining frontward from a front end of the longitudinal part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plug connector, a receptacle connector and an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly which can improve the convenience for the users greatly.
2. The Related Art
A conventional electrical connector assembly includes a plug connector and a receptacle connector. The plug connector includes a first insulating body, a first mating port and a first shielding shell. The first mating port is fixed in the first insulating body. The first shielding shell is looped from a metal plate to enclose the first insulating body. The receptacle connector includes a second insulating body and a second mating port. The second mating port is fixed in the second insulating body. The first mating port and the second mating port are coupled to each other so as to electrically connect the plug connector and the receptacle connector.
However, in using process, the plug connector is easy to slide relative to the receptacle connector. In addition, the conventional electrical connector assembly usually has not a good waterproof function. In order to solve the problem, an improved plug connector, an improved receptacle connector and an improved electrical connector assembly are required.


A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method for manufacturing the same are discussed. According to an embodiment, the liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate facing each other, wherein each of the first and second substrates includes pixel regions to form a matrix, a black matrix layer arranged in a region other than the pixel regions gate lines and data lines arranged in a portion corresponding to the black matrix layer spacers arranged in predetermined portions provided on the black matrix layer wherein each spacer includes one or more balls, and a solid to adhere the balls to the first or second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer filled between the first substrate and the second substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method for manufacturing the same, wherein, after balls are formed in an ink-jetting manner, a solid is left behind on the surface where the balls are formed, thus causing improvement of the adhesion force between the balls and substrates.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the progress of information-dependent society, the demand for various display devices has increased. To meet such a demand, efforts have recently been made to research flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electro-luminescent displays (ELDs) and vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs). Some types of such flat panel displays are being practically applied to various appliances for display purposes.
Of these, LCDs are currently most widely used as substitutes for cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in association with mobile image display devices because LCDs have advantages of superior picture quality, lightness, slimness, and low power consumption. Various applications of LCDs are being developed in association with not only mobile image display devices such as monitors of notebook computers, but also monitors of TVs to receive and display broadcast signals, and monitors of laptop computers.
Successful application of such LCDs to diverse image display devices depends on whether or not the LCDs can realize desired high picture quality including high resolution, high brightness, large display area, and the like, while maintaining desired characteristics of lightness, slimness and low power consumption.
Hereinafter, the structure of a conventional LCD device will be described with reference to the annexed drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a conventional LCD provided with a column spacer. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line I-I′ of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional LCD array region comprises gate lines 4 and data lines 5 that intersect each other to define pixel regions, thin film transistors (TFT) each formed at an intersection between the gate line 4 and the data line, and pixel electrodes 6 formed in each of the pixel regions. The array region further comprises column spacers 20 uniformly spaced apart from one another, to maintain a cell gap. In FIG. 1, column spacers 20 are arranged at respective pixels, each of which includes three sub-pixels, i.e., R, G and B sub-pixels.
As shown in FIG. 2, each column spacer 20 is arranged in a region provided above the gate line 4. That is, the gate line 4 is arranged on a first substrate 1, a gate insulating film 15 is arranged over the entire surface of the first substrate 1 including the gate line 4, and a passivation film 16 is arranged on the gate insulating film 15.
Meanwhile, a second substrate 2 comprises a black matrix layer 7 to shield non-pixel regions (portions where gate lines, data lines and thin film transistors are formed) other than the pixel regions. In addition, R, G and B color filter layers are formed at respective pixel regions on the second substrate 2 including the black matrix layer 7, and a common electrode 14 is arranged over the entire surface of the second substrate 2 including the color filter layers 8.
The column spacers 20 are formed on portions of the common electrode 14 corresponding to the gate lines 4. Accordingly, the first and second substrates 1 and 2 are joined together such that the column spacers 20 are arranged on the gate lines 4.
The column spacers 20 are formed in an array process of the first substrate 1 or the second substrate 2. The column spacers 20 are fixedly formed in the form of columns with a certain height on the predetermined substrate.
The column spacers 20 are fixed in specific positions and thus do not move, when liquid crystals are dropped to form a liquid crystal layer. Advantageously, the column spacers do not inhibit the liquid crystals from flowing. However, the column spacers have a large area in contact with the corresponding substrate, thus disadvantageously causing display defects, e.g., touch defects.
LCDs including the aforementioned column spacers suffer from the following problems.
A region, where the liquid crystal panel of the conventional column spacers-comprising LCDs is touched in a certain direction by hand or other objects, is stained. This stain is formed upon touch and is thus referred to as a "touch stain". As such, the stain is observed on the screen and thus is also called a "touch defect". Such a touch defect is considered to be attributed to the high frictional force which is caused by the large contact area between the column spacer and the corresponding substrate, as compared to conventional ball spacer structures. That is, because column spacers have a large area in contact with the corresponding substrate, as compared to ball spacers, after upper and lower substrates shift towards each other upon touching, they take a long time to return to an original state and stains thus remain until they completely return to the original state.
Accordingly, efforts have made to use ball spacers in liquid crystal panels. In these cases, the ball spacers move and deviate from their original positions in fabrication and use due to their mobility, thus causing other problems. Research is being conducted on solving these problems.

Liquid crystal display and method for manufacturing the same


A pair of laminated panels are simultaneously manufactured in a single panel press. A thermal band is stacked between two panel sets and then the two panel sets are simultaneously heated and compressed together in a common stack with the band, with the band being separately heated.

The present invention relates generally to manufacturing processes, and, more specifically, to laminated panel fabrication.
The typical aircraft has a tubular fuselage and includes internal floors, ceilings, and partition walls. These components are manufactured from corresponding structural panels joined to a supporting structural frame.
A primary objective in manufacturing aircraft is minimizing the weight thereof while maintaining suitable strength for the expected loads experienced during flight operation. The various structural components of the aircraft therefore are specifically designed for the specific application in the aircraft for minimizing weight.
Accordingly, the construction panels used in the fabrication of aircraft have various configurations, dimensions, and material compositions as required for their use in the different parts of the aircraft. A common structural panel is a laminated assembly of outer plies or skins rigidly bonded to a middle or central structural core.
The core typically has a honeycomb configuration laminated to the thin solid skins typically using a thermally cured structural adhesive to form a unitary panel having high strength at correspondingly low weight.
The honeycomb core, the skins, and the adhesive bonding may have various material compositions as desired for the specific application in the aircraft. Common thereto, however, is the typical method of manufacturing or fabricating the structural panels irrespective of material composition.
More specifically, the structural panels are typically manufactured in larger rectangular flat sheets using a hydraulic panel press. The panel press typically includes multiple rectangular platens stacked vertically in the press, with adjacent platens defining corresponding openings or slots vertically therebetween.
The constituent parts of the panel are initially stacked together during assembly with the outer plies sandwiching therebetween the middle core, with corresponding preimpregnated (prepregs) adhesive layers being disposed therebetween. A single panel set is then positioned in each of the multiple slots in the press between corresponding platens.
The press is operated to compress together the stack of platens and panel sets therebetween under suitable pressure. The platens are suitably heated for in turn heating the panels sets and thermally curing the adhesive prepregs therebetween in a time-controlled cycle.
The platens are then cooled to correspondingly cool the thermally cured panels, which are then removed from the press in individual flat rectangular sheets.
The individual panel sheets are relatively large and flat and are manufactured with suitable dimensional tolerances which limit the amount of undesirable warping thereof. Little or no warping is required to ensure that each panel remains flat across its entire rectangular configuration.
Such panel warping is minimized by ensuring during operation in a panel press that uniform heat is provided in each of the platens. The evenly heated platens compress the individual panels therebetween to correspondingly ensure that the individual panels themselves are also uniformly heated across their entire rectangular surface to ensure uniform adhesive bonding thereover in the time-limited cycle.
The fabricated laminated panels may then be used for subsequent manufacture of various components in the typical aircraft. From a single panel, for example, multiple parts having various configurations, profiles, and surface area may be suitably fabricated by precision outline cutting of the panel.
Accordingly, the flat laminated panels provide basic construction materials for subsequent manufacture in a typical aircraft, and are therefore manufactured in larger bulk quantities. To reduce the cost of manufacture of the panels themselves, various types of panel presses are utilized, commonly having multiple platens therein with corresponding slots therebetween. In this way, a single panel press may be used for simultaneously manufacturing multiple panels in a single operation over a specified curing cycle.
Typical panel presses may include five platens defining four corresponding slots for simultaneous manufacturing four individual laminated panels. Another conventional press includes seven platens defining six corresponding slots for simultaneous manufacture of six laminated panels. And, of course, single-slot presses are also available, with the number of platens and slots being as desired for differently sized presses.
Multiple panel presses are typically used in a factory for manufacturing many laminated panels in large bulk quantities, and increasing the number of manufactured panels requires more panel presses, with correspondingly higher factory and manufacturing costs therefor.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved method of manufacturing laminated panels for increasing production rate thereof in otherwise conventional panel presses.


An inflatable ice mud water rescue craft has an inflatable closed-loop tube that encircles a floor member and two rescue openings, one inboard at the bow and one inboard at the stern of the craft. Preferably the floor member is inflatable. The tube and floor member form the boundaries for the two rescue openings. The tube turns upward fore and aft of the floor member at an angle in the range of 30 to 65 degrees relative to the plane of the floor member and encircles the rescue openings. The tube and rescue openings at the bow and stern arch more than half as high as the overall beam of the craft above the surface of the rescue scene. Drowning victims or imperiled persons may be brought into the craft through the rescue openings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflatable vessel by which an imperiled person may be rescued from thin ice, mud, tidal mud flats, open water, fast water, and riverine environments.
2. Description of Related Art
A number of devices exist that can aid in the rescue of drowning victims in open water or where the victim has fallen through thin ice. The prior devices are generally more cumbersome, bulky, and complex and not as versatile and maneuverable as the present invention. The present invention provides for a more stable rescue device during the rescue process. The present invention also solves maneuverability and stability problems that exist with prior art if use is attempted of the same in fast water and turbulent riverine environments. Particularly, the rescue craft provides more stability during water borne approach by an embarked rescuer or rescuers to low head dams for rescue of imperiled persons in the vicinity of such structures.


An exercise sleeve that fits on a hand comprising a weighted layer that removably conforms with the hand in a continuous manner across the palm and the back of the hand and which fits about the thumb. The exercise sleeve is also comprised of a skin in which the weighted layer is disposed and which adjustably and removably conforms with the hand. The skin has a hole through which the thumb extends when the skin is on the hand. In a preferred embodiment, the skin has device for adjustably and removably fastening the skin to the hand. The exercise sleeve is fitted on the hand of a user and, with the fastening device, fittingly secured on the hand so that it is comfortable. When the user moves his hand during exercise, the additional weight provided by the weighted layer of the sleeve enables the user to accomplish various desired exercises for the benefit of his physiology.

Handweights have been accepted exercise equipment for centuries. Recent research has given more explicit documentation for the multiple benefits of exercise that makes use of handweights.
A major advance in the understanding of handweight exercise and in the prescription thereof came concurrently with the invention of the strapped handweight (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,351,526 and 4,627,618). This technique and hardware enhanced the benefits that could be derived from handweight exercise. Specifically, this invention implemented forms of activity which utilized large percentages of skeletal muscle simultaneously. A more complete discussion of these factors is presented in three books: Heavyhands: the Ultimate Exercise; Heavyhands Walking; and the Heavyhands Walking Book!, by Leonard Schwartz, M.D., published in 1982, 1987 and 1989, respectively.
Users of conventional handweights have all suffered certain disadvantages during their use. (1) The unstrapped versions (see above) require the host to grip the weight with excessive force with consequent discomfort, early fatigue, and often undue elevations of the arterial blood pressure. (2) The extension outward of the weighted ends from the shaft of the weight may make for excessive discomfort and even precipitate injuries of muscles and joints of the upper extremities. In addition, the lateral extensions of handweights may function as dangerous projectiles that endanger the host during highly vigorous movements.
It is clear that a handweight constructed in the configuration of a glove or sleeve would negate these objections by virtually eliminating the need for gripping and by eliminating lateral extensions of the weight which are biomechanical disadvantages to the user and which may reduce the overall safety of such exercise.
Handweighted gloves have been tried before. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,097 of Dr. Leonard Schwartz. Prior inventions suffer either from severe limitation in the amount of weight that can be included in the weight itself, or from the inherent structure of the weight which results in unfortunate movements within the glove itself during exercise. Most current weighted glove inventions suffer both these disadvantages.
The present invention corrects these problems by increasing the weight (resistance) that can be placed within a glovelike embodiment that is inherently stable during use and virtually negates the likelihood of trauma. Thus, this invention creates a handweight with the greatest potential for freedom of movement by combining maximal resistance (weight) with the greatest possible range of motion while eliminating user concern over trauma. Stated otherwise, the ultimate effect of this invention is to maximize the energy cost of exercise per pound of handweight with the least amount of discomfort.
Finally, the present embodiment makes for more effective and comfortable exercise by promoting the feeling in the user that the weight is an extension of the hand itself, rather than a heavy foreign body. This quality is inherent in the design, which in turn is contingent upon the novel construction of both the internal and surface aspects of the sleeve itself.


Examples are disclosed for a mobile device to wirelessly dock to a device. In some examples, a mobile device may receive an indication to identify a device for wirelessly docking. The mobile device may gather identification for possible devices to wirelessly dock. A ranging technique may be implemented using a given frequency band to identify a device within a shortest distance from the mobile device from among the possible devices. The device having the shortest distance may be selected and a wireless dock may then be established. Other examples are described and claimed.

Computing devices having wireless capabilities may communicatively couple to other devices having wireless capabilities via a wireless local area network (WLAN) using wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi™. Also, wireless technologies designed to operate in a 60 GHz communication band such as WiGig™ may allow wireless capable devices to replace wired interconnects with high speed and relatively short range wireless interconnects via a process typically referred to as wireless docking. The high speed and relatively short range wireless interconnects using wireless technologies such as WiGig may allow wireless devices to wirelessly dock with devices having one or more input/output devices such as a display, a keyboard, a network interface card, a mouse or a storage device. In some examples, once wirelessly docked, the wireless device may utilize the one or more input/output devices in a same manner as when connected to a wired or physical docking station.

Techniques for wirelessly docking to a device


A magnetic roller cleaning apparatus for removing residual toner particles from an image-bearing surface in a copier or printer includes a housing and a rotatable magnetic roller for moving a nap of a magnetic cleaning mix in the housing. The cleaning apparatus also includes a detoning roller for removing residual toner particles from the nap being moved by the magnetic roller. The cleaning apparatus further includes a magnetic member mounted externally on the housing and upstream of the detoning roller for mixing a top portion and a bottom portion of the nap on the magnetic roller prior to detoning.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cleaning apparatus for removing residual toner particles from a surface in, for example an electrostatographic reproduction machine such as a copier or printer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic roller-type cleaning apparatus for use in such machines.
Electrostatographic process reproduction machines such as copiers and printers for producing copies of an original document are well known. Such copies typically are produced on suitable receivers through a repeatable process that normally includes the steps of (1) using electrostatic charges in some manner to form a latent image on the surface of an image-bearing member; (2) developing the latent image with developer material that includes toner particles; (3) transferring the developed image to a suitable receiver for fusing; and (4) cleaning the image-bearing surface thereafter by removing residual toner and other particles therefrom in preparation for repeating the process steps.
The quality of the copies obtained by repeating these steps depends significantly on the effectiveness of cleaning devices or apparatus employed for removing the residual particles left on the image-bearing surface after the image transfer step. Such cleaning apparatus include, for example, magnetic roller cleaners as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,723,144 and 4,601,569.
Conventional magnetic roller cleaning apparatus as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,569 are well known for removing charged residual toner particles from the image-bearing surface. Typically, in such apparatus, a charged magnetic cleaning mix which includes magnetic carrier particles is moved within a housing by a magnetic roller into contact with oppositely charged residual toner particles on the surface being cleaned. The cleaning mix, as is well known, forms a nap on the magnetic roller. The bottom portion of such a nap is on and near the surface of the magnetic roller, and the top portion of such nap is extended radially away from such surface. After the nap makes contact with the surface being cleaned and picks up residual toner therefrom, the magnetic roller then rotates such nap into a detoning relationship with a detoning roller which is mounted spaced radially from the magnetic roller for removing the picked up residual toner particles from the nap.
It has been found that the detoning roller of such conventional apparatus removes residual toner particles mainly from the top portion of the nap on the magnetic roller, and removes very little of the residual toner particles from the bottom portion of such nap. The consequence is undesirable aging of residual toner particles in the bottom portion resulting in an undesirable stratification of cleaning mix properties forming the cleaning nap. Such properties include toner concentration, charge-to-mass ratio of particles, and particle polarity. The net result is ineffective cleaning of the surface and less than desired image quality.


A transmission method for transmitting a lower-speed signal transmission frame using a node device in a network by accommodating the lower-speed signal transmission frame into time slots of a higher-speed signal transmission frame includes supplying, when a number of the time slots accommodating the lower-speed signal transmission frame is to be increased, the time slots to input numbers of a cross-connection part of the node device in accordance with an order of time slot numbers of the time slots; and re-establishing cross-connections where the input numbers are cross-connected to corresponding output numbers of the cross-connection part so that the cross-connections are prevented from crossing each other, wherein the input numbers input the time slots and the output numbers output the time slots.

In a network field, the ITU-T recommends the Optical Transport Network (OTN) where packet-based data may be integrally handled as a technique of a next-generation transportation having applications expected to be expanded.
In the OTN, it is possible to integrally handle TDM-based data and packet-based data, the TDM-based data being used in, for example, Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH), and the packet-based data being used in, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark, hereinafter simply referred to as a "LAN").
In a specification of the OTN, an Optical Channel Data Unit flex (ODUflex) is described which provides a variable bandwidth in accordance with a demand to increase the efficiency of the transmission of the packet-based data which are the current main traffic.
In the ODUflex, it is possible to flexibly increase the bandwidth. However, in an OTN where multi-stage cross-connections are arranged, a byte array may change during demapping.
To overcome such a problem, there is a proposed technique where when two ODU0s are used in a transmission path and one of the two ODU0s is then removed, the ODU path is replaced (reconfigured) while control is performed that outputs a signal to a remaining ODU path, the signal being the same as that to be output to the removed ODU path.
For related art, reference may be made to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-176619.


A fixing apparatus including: a fixing roller, pressed against a printing paper at a fixing nip area, for fixing toner on the printing paper, and transporting the printing paper by undergoing rotation; an external heating section for heating a surface of the fixing roller by being brought into contact therewith; a release/contact operating section for causing the external heating section to be brought into contact with or separated from the fixing roller; and a cleaning section for cleaning the surface of the fixing roller. The release/contact operating section brings the external heating section into contact with the fixing roller at such a timing that a portion of fixing roller initially in contact with the external heating section does not make contact with the printing paper at the fixing nip area in one rotation of the fixing roller.

Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses (for example, printers) include a fixing apparatus by which a toner image formed on printing paper is fused with heat and fixed thereon. As an example of such a fixing apparatus, there has been known a fixing apparatus of a roller pair system, in which a fixing roller and a pressure roller are provided, as described in Publications 1 to 4 below.
The fixing roller is a roller member with a hollow core of metal such as aluminum, whose surface is coated with an elastic layer and inside which is installed a halogen lamp as a heat source. The temperature of the fixing roller is controlled by a temperature control section, which controls ON/OFF of the halogen lamp based on a signal outputted from a temperature sensor provided on the surface of the fixing roller.
The halogen lamp is just one example of a means for heating the fixing roller. There has also been known an external heating member which is pressed against the surface of the fixing roller to heat the fixing roller. Specific examples of such an external heating member include an external heating roller disclosed in Publication 1, and external heating belts disclosed in Publications 2 through 4. Since the external heating member is directly in contact with the surface of the fixing roller, the external heating member can heat the surface of the fixing roller more quickly than the halogen lamp.
The pressure roller is a roller member with a metal core covered with a heat-resistant elastic layer, which is made of silicone rubber for example. The pressure roller is pressed against the surface of the fixing roller, which causes the pressure roller to undergo elastic deformation. As a result, a nip region is formed between the fixing roller and the pressure roller.
In the fixing apparatus having the foregoing arrangement, a printing paper with an unfixed toner image thereon is sent to the nip region between the fixing roller and the pressure roller, and the printing paper is transported by rotating the fixing roller and the pressure roller. The toner image on the printing paper is then fused with the transferred heat from the surface of the fixing roller. This fixes the toner image on the printing paper.
In such a fixing apparatus, offset phenomena such as cold offset and hot offset are known to occur when the surface temperature of the fixing roller falls outside of a suitable temperature range. The cold offset is a phenomenon in which some of the toner that did not melt property due to shortage of transferred heat to the printing paper adheres to the fixing roller. The hot offset is a phenomenon in which some of the toner on the printing paper adheres to the fixing roller due to weakened toner cohesive force caused by overheating of the toner on the printing paper.
In order to prevent cold offset and hot offset, it is very important in the fixing apparatus to control surface temperature of the fixing roller within a suitable temperature range during feeding of printing paper.
A suitable temperature range for the surface temperature of the fixing roller varies depending upon a printing paper transport speed of an image forming apparatus in which the fixing apparatus is installed. More specifically, a suitable temperature range tends to shift to higher temperatures with increase in transport speed (process speed) of printing paper, and to lower temperatures with decrease in transport speed of printing paper. The reason for this is that a fast transport speed affords only a short contact time for the printing paper and the surface of the fixing roller, and as such a relatively high surface temperature is required for the fixing roller in order to transfer a sufficient amount of heat to the printing paper. When the transport speed is slow, there is a long contact time for the printing paper and the surface of the fixing roller. In this case, the transfer of heat from the surface of the fixing roller to the printing paper will be in excess unless the surface temperature of the fixing roller is restrained.
A so-called four-cycle electrophotographic image forming apparatus is generally designed to have substantially the same printing paper transport speed for color and monochromatic images formed on printing paper. (It is noted however that the distance between transported sheets of printing paper is different between color mode and monochromatic mode, and as such the number of sheets processed per unit time is greater in the monochromatic mode.) A four-cycle electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms color images from overlaid toner images of four colors C, M, Y, K, which are formed by a set of visualized image forming units.
In a fixing apparatus for the four-cycle electrophotographic image forming apparatus, there is a sufficiently wide common non-offset range in the suitable temperature ranges (non-offset ranges) for fixing color images and monochromatic images, as shown in FIG. 9 (common non-offset range being an overlapping range of these non-offset ranges). It is therefore easy to set a control value (target value) for the surface temperature of the fixing roller within the common non-offset range, and control the surface temperature of the fixing roller within suitable temperature ranges in fixing both color and monochromatic images. In this manner, the offset phenomenon can easily be avoided in the four-cycle image forming apparatus.
Meanwhile, there is a new type of image forming apparatus employing a four-drum tandem engine, provided with four sets of visualized image forming units respectively corresponding to colors of C, M, Y, and K. In this type of image forming apparatus, there is an increasing demand for providing a faster printing paper transport speed for monochromatic images than for color images. In this design, there is a large difference in printing paper transport speed between a monochromatic mode forming monochromatic images and a color mode forming color images. The number of sheets processed per unit time in the monochromatic mode can also be increased in this manner, without causing deterioration of image quality in resulting monochromatic images.
However, in the image forming apparatus that employs such design to increase the number of processed sheets for monochromatic images, there is a significantly narrow common non-offset range in the non-offset ranges for fixing color and monochromatic images, as shown in FIG. 10. With such a narrow common non-offset range, it is difficult to control the surface temperature of the fixing roller within the common non-offset range even when a control value (target value) for the surface temperature of the fixing roller is set within the common non-offset range. This easily causes the problem of cold offset and hot offset.
Further, for feeding from standby, the surface temperature of the fixing roller needs to be set to enable feeding both in the monochromatic mode and the color mode. Thus, during standby, the surface temperature of the fixing roller needs to be controlled between a lower limit of fixing temperature for the monochromatic mode and an upper limit of fixing temperature for the color mode, and be ready for quick switching between the monochromatic mode and the color mode in subsequent feeding operations.
For accurate control of the surface temperature of the fixing roller in a fixing apparatus adapted for color images, an external heating member such as an external heating roller or an external heating belt that is brought into contact with the surface of the fixing roller is more suitable compared with an internal heating member such as a halogen lamp provided inside the fixing roller. In this respect, temperature control by the external heating member is important for controlling the surface temperature of the fixing roller within a narrow temperature range.
In one method of temperature control by the external heating member, the release/contact of the external heating member is controlled based on information indicative of surface temperature of the fixing roller, so as to instantly raise or lower the surface temperature of the fixing roller. The surface of the fixing roller can be controlled at a predetermined temperature by bringing the external heating member into contact with the fixing roller or separating it therefrom according to the print mode. Specifically, according to the print mode, the external heating member is brought into contact with the fixing roller to increase the surface temperature of the fixing roller, or separated therefrom to prevent overheating of the fixing member.
[Publication 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 038802/1999 (Tokukaihei 11-038802; published on Feb. 12, 1999)
[Publication 2]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 189427/2005 (Tokukai 2005-189427; published on Jul. 14, 2005)
[Publication 3]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 292714/2005 (Tokukai 2005-292714; published on Oct. 20, 2005)
[Publication 4]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 017031/1977 (Tokukaisho 52-017031; published on Feb. 8, 1977)

Fixing apparatus and image forming apparatus provided therewith, computer-readable medium storing a control program for the fixing apparatus, and a contact method for an external heating member in the fixing apparatus


Method and system for planning and/or evaluation of cell capacity in (CDMA) radio networks comprising at least one base station that defines at least one cell. Both uplink cell capacity estimations and downlink cell capacity estimations can be made by adding amounts of traffic to the cell until a limiting capacity representative value has been reached.

In recent years the concept of (wideband) code division multiple access (CDMA) has gained widespread international acceptance by operators active in the field of wireless communications. CDMA can significantly increase the capacity and the service quality and options of the networks when exploited by these operators.
One of the consequences of this development is the increase in interest in the planning and/or evaluation of radio networks in general and CDMA radio networks in particular. Radio planning and/or evaluation typically involves stages such as dimensioning, detailed capacity and coverage planning and/or network optimization. Radio planning is important for e.g. quick and accurate response to changes in e.g. traffic conditions or to cope with future traffic demands and as a consequence provides an operator with competitive advantages. Moreover accurate planning can contribute to higher cost efficiency in operating radio networks. The dimensioning stage in radio planning involves the estimation of the number and configuration of network elements, based, among others, on the operator's requirements and the radio propagation in the area. In the capacity and coverage planning stage base station locations, configurations and parameters are determined in more detail on the basis of e.g. real propagation data and estimated user density and traffic. In the network optimization stage the overall experienced network quality is assessed and improved if necessary. The method and system according to the invention can be used in all stages of the radio planning and/or evaluation, and is particularly useful in the capacity and coverage planning stage.
Problem Definition
The prior art fails to disclose a solution for planning and/or evaluation of radio networks based on adding traffic over all cells but in small steps, which is better to estimate the capacity of a whole cell.
The prior art is limited to uplink planning and/or evaluation. A solution for both uplink and downlink planning and/or evaluation is desirable for complete cell capacity estimations.
Aim of the Invention
The aim of the invention is to provide a solution for capacity planning and/or evaluation of whole cells of radio networks, where both uplink cell capacity estimations and downlink cell capacity estimations can be made.


A perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes a magnetic recording layer stacked on a substrate and having a first perpendicular magnetic recording layer containing cobalt, and a second perpendicular magnetic recording layer mainly containing a crystalline alloy which contains a rare earth element and a transition metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus used as a hard disk apparatus and, more particularly, to a magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus using perpendicular magnetization and a perpendicular magnetic recording medium for use in the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An amorphous rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic layer having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is generally used as a recording layer of a magnetooptical recording medium.
Recently, the use of this amorphous rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic film as a perpendicular magnetic recording layer of a perpendicular magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk is proposed in, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 5-54358 and 2001-76332. However, the amorphous rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic layer is a continuous layer having no segregated structure, i.e., having neither magnetic crystal grains nor grain boundaries. Therefore, if this layer is used as a magnetic recording medium, there is no core for keeping a written signal in a written place. As a consequence, a recorded signal shifts or disappears. This phenomenon often occurs especially in high-frequency recording, so the amorphous rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic layer is unsuited to increasing the recording density of perpendicular magnetic recording.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-25031 discloses a perpendicular magnetic recording medium having a multilayered arrangement obtained by combining a material such as CoCr used in the conventional magnetic recording medium and the amorphous rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic layer. Unfortunately, even this medium has the problem that the medium noise is larger than in the conventional recording medium using a CoCr recording layer.
As described above, a perpendicular magnetic recording layer using the conventional rare earth element-transition metal alloy magnetic layer is unsuitable to increasing the recording density and is unpractical because the medium noise is large.

Perpendicular magnetic recording medium and magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus


A control circuit of a power converter is provided. It comprises a signal generation circuit generating an oscillation signal in accordance with an output load. A PWM circuit generates a switching signal according to a voltage-loop signal, a current-loop signal and the oscillation signal for regulating an output of the power converter. A regulation circuit receives a compensation signal for an output cable compensation and a wake-up. The compensation signal is coupled to increase a switching frequency of the switching signal once the output of the power converter is lower than a low-voltage threshold. The control circuit reduces the voltage drop of the output when the output load is changed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a power converter, and more specifically relates to a control circuit of the power converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
The primary side regulation technologies had been disclosed in many prior arts such as, "PWM controller regulating output voltage and output current in primary side", U.S. Pat. No. 6,721 ,192; "Primary-side controlled flyback power converter", U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,563; "Close-loop PWM controller for primary-side controlled power converters", U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,204; and "Switching control circuit having off-time modulation to improve efficiency of primary-side controlled power supply", U.S. Pat. No. 7,362,593 etc. The drawback of these prior arts is the slow response to the change of the output load, particular when the power converter is operated in light load and no load.
FIG. 1 is a circuit schematic of a prior art of a primary side regulation power converter. A transformer 10 has a primary winding NP, a secondary winding NS, and an auxiliary winding NA. A terminal of the primary winding NP is coupled to an input voltage VIN. The secondary winding NS generates an output voltage VO via a diode 40 and a capacitor 45. A transistor 20 is coupled to the other terminal of the primary winding NP to switch the transformer 10 for transferring the energy from the input voltage VIN to the output voltage VO of the power converter. When the transistor 20 is turned on, the transformer 10 is magnetized. The transformer 10 is demagnetized and the energy of the transformer 10 is delivered to the capacitor 45 via the diode 40 for generating the output voltage VO once the transistor 20 is turned off. Meanwhile, a reflected voltage VAUX is generated at the auxiliary winding NA of the transformer 10. The reflected voltage VAUX is correlated to the output voltage VO.
A voltage divider developed by resistors 51 and 52 is coupled to the auxiliary winding NA for generating a reflected signal VS in response to the reflected voltage VAUX of the auxiliary winding NA. The reflected signal VS is thus correlated to the reflected voltage VAUX. The reflected voltage VAUX is correlated to the output voltage VO during the period that the transformer 10 is demagnetized. In other words, the reflected signal VS is also correlated to the output voltage VO.
A controller 50 is coupled to sample the reflected voltage VAUX of the transformer 10 through the auxiliary winding NA of the transformer 10, the resistors 51 and 52 to generate a switching signal SW for switching the transformer 10 and regulating the output voltage VO. As mentioned above, the reflected signal VS is correlated to the reflected voltage VAUX and the transistor 20 is controlled by the switching signal SW. The controller 50 is further coupled to receive a current-sense signal VCS for adjusting the witching signal SW. A current-sense device 30, such as a resistor, is coupled between the transistor 20 and the ground. The current-sense device 30 senses a switching current IP of the transformer 10 and generates the current-sense signal VCS in response to the switching current IP.
The reflected signal VS is correlated to the output voltage VO during the period that the transformer 10 is demagnetized. Therefore, the information of the output voltage VO can only be sampled when the transformer 10 is switched on/off. A resistor 53 is connected to the controller 50 (an input terminal COMR) for the output cable compensation. The detail operation of the cable compensation can be found in the prior art of "Primary-side controlled switching regulator", U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,595.
Because the switching frequency of the switching signal SW is decreased during the light load condition or no load condition for reducing the power loss of the power converter, the information of the output voltage VO can not be detected in between the switching of the transformer 10. Thus, a significant voltage drop of the output voltage VO would be happened when the output load of the power converter is increased rapidly from the light load to heavy load.
FIG. 2 shows the waveforms of the switching signal SW, the output load LOAD, and the output voltage VO of the primary side regulation power converter shown in FIG. 1. The voltage level of the output voltage VO is decreased significantly when the output load is increased suddenly during the light load condition. In the light load condition, the long switching period of the switching signal SW is generated for reducing the switching loss of the power converter. Accordingly, because the low response of the power converter to the change of the output load is generated, the significant voltage drop ΔVOI of the output voltage VO would be happened when the output load of the power converter is increased rapidly from the light load to the heavy load.

Control circuit and terminal for cable compensation and wake-up of primary-side regulated power converter


A detachable cross wrench includes a primary bar and a secondary bar. The primary bar has a thickening middle portion being formed at the center thereof. A turning handle is mounted on the other end of the primary bar. A lateral through hole is formed in the thickening middle portion for insertion of a secondary bar to create a cross type wrench. A longitudinal hole communicates the lateral through hole for receiving compression knob in cooperation with a resilient element and a positioning element. The compression knob has a slim portion in the middle thereof and an engaging portion at the lower portion thereof. Based on the above-mentioned configuration, the primary bar and the secondary bar can be easily and optionally engaged in place into one of the engaging grooves in the secondary bar for fulfilling the practical and safety requirements.

1. Fields of the Invention
The invention relates to a detachable cross wrench, and more particularly to a detachable cross wrench that allows an easy assembly and a practical disassembly. Meanwhile, a sufficient engaging force is existing to avoid an unexpected slipping in application of force. Accordingly, the safety in use can be ensured.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known, the cross wrench is primarily applied to loosen larger screw elements on the car wheels. Therefore, the cross wrench has a longer arm of force for both hands of the operator to exert force, thereby achieving a greater torque. Most of these conventional products (not shown) have a fixed type structure. Thus, they occupy a large space when packed, transported, and carried. This results in packing, transporting and carrying inconvenience as well.
In order to improve the fixed type structure, a foldable cross wrench (not shown) has been developed. Although this improvement can remove the drawback of occupying large space, the structural strength is considerably affected. In other words, the joints of the conventional product can be easily broken or bent due to application of a too great force. Even, an undesired slipping can arise during the application of force and leads to an undesired folding action. This may cause inconvenience in operation. In a serious case, the operator may be injured. Thus, the conventional cross wrench requires further improvement.


A process for preparing a catalyst composition comprising (a) preparing a carrier comprising (i) mordenite in an amount in the range of from 20 to 80 wt %, based on total weight of carrier, (ii) ZSM-5 type zeolite in an amount in the range of from 10 to 70 wt %, based on total weight of carrier; and (iii) an inorganic binder in an amount in the range of from 10 to 50 wt %, based on total weight of carrier; (b) incorporating in the carrier molybdenum in an amount in the range of from 1 to 10 wt %, as metal based on total weight of catalyst composition, and subjecting the thus treated carrier to a temperature of from 100 to at most 300° C. and (c) incorporating in the molybdenum containing carrier obtained in step (b) platinum in an amount of from 0.005 to 1 wt %, as metal based on total weight of catalyst composition, and subjecting the thus treated carrier to a temperature of from 200 to at most 600° C.; and a process for conversion of alkylaromatic hydrocarbons containing feedstock using a catalyst prepared by said process. Process using the prepared catalyst composition for alkylaromatic hydrocarbon conversion.

Reformate is an aromatic product obtained by the catalyzed conversion of straight-run hydrocarbons boiling in the 70 to 190° C. range, such as straight-run naphtha. The catalysts used for the production of reformate are often platinum-on-alumina catalysts. The reformate feedstock itself is obtained by fractionation or distillation of crude petroleum oil, its composition varying depending on the source of the crude oil, but generally having a low aromatics content. On conversion to reformate, the aromatics content is considerably increased and the resulting hydrocarbon mixture becomes highly desirable as a source of valuable chemical intermediates and as a component for gasoline. The principle components are a group of aromatics often referred to as BTX: benzene, toluene and the xylenes, including ethylbenzene. Other components may be present such as their hydrogenated homologues, e.g. cyclohexane.
Of the BTX group the most valuable components are benzene and the xylenes, and therefore BTX is often subjected to processing to increase the proportion of those two aromatics: hydrodealkylation of toluene to benzene and toluene disproportionation to benzene and xylenes. Within the xylenes, para-xylene is the most useful commodity and xylene isomerisation or btransalkylation processes have been developed to increase the proportion of para-xylene.
A further process that the gasoline producer can utilize is the hydrodealkylation of ethylbenzene to benzene.
Generally, the gasoline producer will isolate BTX from the reformate stream, and then subject the BTX stream to xylene isomerisation with the aim of maximising the para-xylene component. Xylene isomerisation is a catalytic process. Some catalysts used in this process have the ability not just to isomerise xylenes but also simultaneously to dealkylate the ethylbenzene component. Normally the para-xylene is then separated out to leave benzene, toluene (unless toluene conversion processes have already been applied), remaining mixed xylenes including ethylbenzene and aromatic compounds containing at least 9 carbon atoms. This BTX stream can be can be converted by dealkylation to selectively eliminate ethylbenzene and to increase the yield of benzene, while allowing the xylenes to reach equilibrium concentrations or can be converted by transalkylation to increase the yield of benzene and xylenes. The latter process is the subject of the present invention. In transalkylation at this latter stage of BTX treatment, it is a primary concern to ensure not just a high activity of the catalyst but also to obtain benzene of high purity.
It would be advantageous if a process for conversion of hydrocarbons, more specifically transalkylation of alkylaromatics, would produce benzene of high purity.

Process for preparing a molybdenum-platinum-based catalyst for the synthesis of benzene by transalkylation


An advertising compliance monitoring system is provided that includes a backscatter tag affixed to a sign or marketing material or shopper ID card, the tag communicating with a backscatter reader. The tag includes a memory for storing tag data and a transmitter. The tag transmits tag data to a reader automatically on a periodic basis or when interrogated. The tag data includes an identification number used to identify the tag associated with a particular sign, price, marketing material or shopper. This data is processed by a computer to determine compliance with and/or exposure to a particular advertising program.

It is desirable to monitor retailer compliance with advertising programs. Advertising that is not displayed has no value to a company. However, non-compliance with an advertising program is difficult to detect in a timely manner.
In the past, the primary way to collect information about whether retail outlets were complying with an advertising program was to rely on site surveys. These surveys were typically performed by manufacturer sales representatives, store delivery personnel, or independent survey companies. However, site surveys are generally expensive, incomplete, and untimely.
The direct costs associated with site surveys are substantial. Independent survey companies charge significant fees for travel time, as well as for data collection/tabulation. Consequently, information is typically available for only a subset or sample of the thousands or tens-of-thousands of stores targeted for a particular advertising program.
To save money, some companies request that delivery personnel and/or sales representatives compile compliance information while they are at a retail store for other purposes. The diversion of these personnel from doing their ordinary tasks (such as restocking or selling) can be substantial. Moreover, these personnel have little compliance training or Quality Assurance skills to ensure reporting consistency or accuracy. In addition, such visits are not of sufficient frequency to ascertain exactly when compliance with a particular advertising program began or ended.
Furthermore, compliance survey reports (whether by professionals or company personnel) usually lag the survey date. This delay prevents a timely rectification for non-complying stores. In particular, if an advertising program is designed to run for two weeks, it is important to know within a day of when the program was supposed to start which retail sites are out of compliance so the sites can be made compliant in a timely manner. The size of the staff and expense required to visit all advertising sites within 48 hours is prohibitive. Therefore, surveys or visits to a subset of sites are the only practical way to monitor compliance. However, for the reasons stated above, surveys are only sufficient for general or strategic conclusions, and are incapable of improving tactical POP compliance in a timely manner. Visits to a subset of sites do not yield sufficient information for full-compliance advertising goals.
Companies, such as petroleum companies and consumer packaged goods companies, spend millions of dollars to run a given POP program. Retail performance varies greatly. However, it is common for more than 50% of retail sites, presumed to be participating, to be out of compliance. The system described herein provides an efficient system for quickly identifying every non-complying site by using tags (e.g., wireless RFID tags) on each advertising sign or marketing material. The system also provides companies with information about when a POP program is running, what advertising is and is not being displayed, and when new signs will be produced and shipped to retail outlets. The system can monitor other merchandising conditions besides signage, such as the presence or absence of display racks or containers, the presence of promotional hardware, or the presence of certain items to be sold under certain conditions. The system can be expanded to report when the amount of product on a display is getting low. Where desired, it can report not only the presence of certain marketing materials, but also whether or not they have been displayed in the proper location within a store. The system can also report the cumulative number of days a store is out of compliance. It can also monitor and report the displayed price associated with particular signs or marketing materials. The system can also monitor and report exposure of particular shoppers to signs and marketing materials that are being monitored by the system.
The system will therefore allow companies to monitor and remedy compliance problems during an advertising program, which will improve overall compliance and increase the effectiveness of the advertising program. It will also allow fee-based marketing programs that are conditional upon certain retail conditions being present at a particular time to be executed with more precision, reliability, and verifiability. Furthermore, it will allow the flow of specific shopper traffic within a store to be monitored and analyzed. In addition, the system will allow subsequent marketing programs, such as coupons or direct mail, to be tailored to or made conditional on shopper interests, shopping patterns, or prior exposure to marketing materials.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an advertising or marketing material compliance monitoring system that provides compliance monitoring in a timely and cost effective manner.
It is also desirable to provide an advertising compliance monitoring system that makes determining compliance easy.
It is desirable to provide a wireless compliance monitoring system that uses active tags that conserve battery power.
It is also desirable to provide a wireless compliance monitoring system that uses active, passive and/or backscatter tags to determine the specific location (within a defined range) of selected marketing materials and/or version of selected marketing materials.
It is desirable to provide a wireless compliance monitoring system that uses contact technology (such as EEPROM, optical, notch, and conductive or magnetic ink) to determine the specific location (within a defined range), featured price, low-product conditions on a display, and/or presence/version of selected marketing materials. It is also desirable to provide a wireless compliance monitoring system that includes a Backscatter Reader System that uses Backscatter Tags and Backscatter Reader Transponders.
It is desirable to provide a compliance monitoring system that uses passive tags that are small and light, making it easier to secure to advertising signs.
It is also desirable to transmit data from sign locations to a central collection point at individual retail sites using wireless technology for ease of installation at retail sites.
It is desirable to provide a switch on the reader for switching a tag between different power conservation modes, such as OFF, sleep mode, or continuous monitoring mode.
It is also desirable to transmit data from each retail site to a central storage/processing location to report individual and aggregate retailer execution of and consumer exposure to specific and aggregated marketing programs.
Thus, a need exists for an advertising compliance monitoring system that provides versatility and flexibility by providing a tag, associated with a specific sign that communicates tag data to an external reader. The system described herein provides a way to quickly and positively identify each tag, determine the status of each sign (e.g., delivered, displayed), monitor compliance with a marketing program, monitor customer exposure to a marketing program, and analyze tag data relating to the display of and exposure to advertising signs, marketing materials, pricing information, marketing program merchandise, and supporting hardware.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Advertising compliance monitoring system


Contact nozzle 1 for electric arc welding with continuous welding wire 30 flowed through by welding current, which nozzle 1 can be connected to a welding torch and comprises an electrically conductive contact tube 10 with a longitudinal through-hole 4,5,6 intended for passage of the welding wire 30 during welding from an inlet end 2 to an outlet end 3 in said longitudinal hole 4,5,6, and also comprises a spring element 20 intended to apply a force to the welding wire in a direction essentially transverse to the feed direction of the wire so as to press the welding wire against the inside of the contact tube. It is characteristic that the spring element has been mounted from the inlet end in the first portion of length of the longitudinal hole, which portion of length 4 has a greater cross-sectional area than a second portion of length 5. There are also claims for an associated spring element 20 and a welding torch with a contact nozzle as above mounted.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a contact nozzle for electric arc welding and also a spring element for mounting in such a contact nozzle and also a welding torch with such a contact nozzle.
2. Background
In arc welding with mechanized feed of continuous welding wire, where the welding current flows through the welding wire, use is made of a contact nozzle, which can be mounted in a welding torch, with two main functions. Firstly, the contact nozzle is to guide mechanically the delivery of the welding wire from the welding torch so that the arc which is established during welding between the welding wire end and the welding workpiece has a repeatable and constant point of impact on the workpiece under otherwise unchanged conditions of the workpiece relative to the welding torch. Secondly, the contact nozzle is to bring about reliable and repetitive welding current transfer from the contact nozzle to the welding wire.
A contact nozzle of the kind mentioned above is normally made of pure copper or a copper alloy, or alternatively by powder metallurgy where copper constitutes an essential part. It is in the main designed as a tube with a through-hole for passage of the welding wire. One end is designed for connection to the welding torch, in most cases by means of a thread 8. The other end is designed so as to minimize the amount of welding spatter which becomes attached to the contact nozzle, for example by means of a slightly conical shape with a rounded end surface. The contact nozzle is often provided with a wrench grip so it is easier to take hold of and to detach from the welding torch.
Contact nozzles of the above kind are a consumable part in welding. In the case of automated welding, it often happens that the nozzle is exchanged, as a preventive measure, a number of times a day in order to avoid welding defects occurring during production. This involves a considerable cost in terms of both nozzles themselves and lost production time. The wear of the nozzles manifests itself in, for example, the output hole being enlarged and thus impairing the ability of the nozzle to guide the wire. This wear is caused partly by pure and simple mechanical wear as the wire passes through the nozzle but also by electric erosion in connection with spark formation when current transfer from contact nozzle to welding wire takes place. Another sign of a worn nozzle may be that the contact transfer of the welding current begins to a greater extent to migrate between different points in the nozzle, which results in varying welding characteristics by virtue of the current flowing through a shorter or longer part of the wire and thus the voltage available for the arc varying. In order to obtain a good and repeatable position of the contact transfer in the nozzle, it is of great importance that the radius of curvature of the welding wire, brought about by, for example, winding on a reel, is kept within predefined limits.
Various methods of increasing the life of the contact nozzles have been tried with varying success and at varying cost. One known method is to provide the contact nozzle with a lining made of harder material than the rest of the nozzle, preferably at the outlet end for the wire. This prevents enlargement of the outlet hole as a consequence of mechanical wear. If the lining is insulating as well, no electric erosion arises either, as a result of which the nozzle retains its ability to guide the welding wire for a considerably longer time. A disadvantage is that the contact transfer has a distinct tendency towards becoming more migratory along the length of the nozzle with the consequence that the welding process becomes more unstable.
Another method has been to stabilize the contact transfer with the aid of a spring element applied through a hole drilled radially from the side in the contact nozzle. This can provide a good and positionally stable current transfer. However, a disadvantage is the cost for both extra machining of the contact tube and mounting of the spring element.


A device for protection against voltage surges in an electric power supply line includes at least two elements (1′, 3), namely a Zener diode lightning arrester (1′) fast-blow in short circuit, and a varistor (3), arranged in parallel. One of the terminals common to the two elements (1′, 3) is connected to the line to be protected, and the other common terminal is connected to earth or to a common conductor element.

The present invention relates to a device intended to ensure protection of electrical apparatus against voltage surges which sometimes occur on the conductors used in electric energy distribution networks, particularly in the event of lightning striking.
The prior state of the art has proposed a very diverse quantity of lightning arrester devices which are connected between a wire of the network and earth or a common conductor element, and which comprise components which, in normal functioning, act like neutral elements but which, in the event of violent voltage surge, become conducting so that they divert the current due to the voltage surge and in particular to the lightning, thus protecting the installation disposed downstream against the destructive effects of such voltage surge.
The technical characteristics which are required of such apparatus are very varied, with the result that, up to the present time, no lightning arrester device on the market totally satisfies all the necessary characteristics:
The latter are the following:
very short response time,
very great power of flow of the current,
very low residual voltage,
continuity of the service, and of the protection,
cost price having to be able to be determined as a function of the cost of the apparatus and of the devices to be protected.
In order to perform such a function, it has been proposed to use gas discharge arresters. However, these latter possess noteworthy drawbacks and in particular that of presenting a considerable delay at ignition so that, in certain cases, and especially in the case of particularly violent and rapid voltage surges provoked by lightning, the electronic apparatus deteriorate before the lightning current is diverted by the discharge arrester.
Varistors have also been employed which present the advantage of absorbing considerable thermic and electric energies without being destroyed, when they are subjected to current impulsions, so that they thus make it possible to peak-clip a voltage surge, particularly provoked by lightning, without the supply of current of the apparatus that the device intends to protect being interrupted. An example of a characteristic of varistor is represented in FIG. 1 (curve b).
However, it is generally known that a lightning arrester is a device which is connected between a line to be protected and earth or a common conductor element, and which becomes conducting when a transitory voltage surge occurs and which, by flowing off the energy therefrom, protects the sensitive electronic equipment disposed downstream, against the destructive effects of this voltage surge. It is thus understood that a lightning arrester of ideal type must not conduct the electric current when the voltage at its terminals is normal and must rapidly conduct a large quantity of current when the voltage becomes abnormal, while maintaining the voltage surge at an acceptable level.
Now, the principal drawback of varistors is that, under the effect of repeated electric shocks, and by reason of the high operational temperatures, they are subjected to wear which is translated by a resistive fast-blow by lowering of the peak-clipping threshold. One is thus obliged to introduce disconnectors (standard NFC 61-740 July 1995 and standard CEI 61653-1 of Mar. 1, 1998) in the energy lines, whose purpose is to open the circuit in the case of fast-blow in order to avoid a fire being started. One of the disconnectors used is obligatorily disposed inside the body of the lightning arrester, which brings about elimination of the protection as soon as it is actuated.
Such a mode of operation is extremely risky at the level of protection of an installation insofar as, during a storm, the voltage surges follow one another at a certain rhythm depending on the different thunder claps. Various means intended to overcome this drawback have therefore been proposed, particularly by disposing a plurality of varistors in parallel, which is possible thanks to the importance of the slope (U/I ratio) of their characteristic. Such a placing in parallel may be effected with the aid of varistors of different values, which makes it possible to monitor, to a certain extent, the order of their destruction.
It is also known that another drawback of the varistors is that they present too high a residual voltage in the case of a very rapid voltage front and in the case of very strong currents.
Lightning arrester devices have also been proposed, employing Zener diodes which present the advantage of not being influenced by wear due to repeated electric shocks and of operating at high temperatures. These lightning arresters are such that, once the Zener diode is destroyed due to a voltage surge, they immediately become conducting, with the result that they conduct the voltage surge to earth. In that case they present a considerable capacity of flow of the currents and very weak residual voltages, and this in all cases.
Unfortunately, lightning arresters of this type present the drawback of being of a high cost, insofar as the Zener diodes used are constructed from monocrystalline silicon which is much more expensive than the products used for producing the varistors and which must be disposed between heat-dissipating discs made of copper or silver. Such lightning arresters must therefore be constructed with a large number of discs which is a function of the magnitude of the energy that it is desired to absorb before destruction of the element in short-circuit.
Nonetheless, despite their cost, such lightning arresters are, however, interesting, since, after they are destroyed, they ensure a continuity of the protection of the apparatus that they are intended to protect.
Patent DE-U-298 08 365 also discloses a high voltage protection circuit intended to protect low input impedance measuring devices making it possible to avoid different problems which are encountered on the conventional circuits and in particular current loss effects during high-precision measurements.
This circuit, whose purpose is different from the one forming the subject matter of the present application, comprises a varistor and a Zener diode which are associated. However, the terminals of these two elements are not common and the circuit can therefore not perform the function of the circuit according to the invention.

Device for protecting against voltage surges

Adee Electronic (Societe a Responsabilite Limitee)


A gaming system including a game which utilizes one or more designated symbols. In these embodiments, if at least one single individual designated symbol is generated and displayed at at least one single symbol display position, the gaming system modifies the single individual designated symbol into one or more individual designated symbols at the same single symbol display position. This modification of an individual designated symbol into a plurality of individual designated symbols is associated with one or more benefits, such as the availability of one or more awards not previously available prior to the modification.

Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming machines, the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award).
In one known slot gaming machine, the gaming machine includes a plurality of reels and one or more paylines. Such gaming machines include any suitable number of reels, such as three to five reels, which each display any suitable number of symbols per reel, such as three symbols per reel, wherein each reel includes one symbol displayed in each of a plurality of symbol positions on that reel. Such gaming machines may have one, three, five, nine, fifteen, twenty-five or any other suitable number of paylines which are horizontal, vertical, diagonal or any combination thereof.
In certain known slot gaming machines, upon placing one or more wagers, the reels spin to generate a plurality of symbols and the gaming machine analyzes the generated symbols to determine if the gaming machine has randomly generated a winning symbol or winning symbol combination on or along one or more of the wagered on paylines. Any awards associated with any generated winning symbols or winning symbol combinations generated along any wagered on paylines are provided to the player. Alternatively, any awards associated with any winning symbols or winning symbol combinations that are generated anywhere on a wagered on payline (i.e., a line scatter pay) or anywhere on the reels (i.e., a reel scatter pay) are provided to the player. Modifying the number of generated symbols by either modifying the number of reels or modifying the number of symbols generated in symbol display positions by one or more of the reels, modifies the number of symbols available to form a winning symbol combination.
In another type of gaming machine with reels, the player wagers on a number of ways to win, wherein any award provided to the player is based on the number of associated symbols which are generated in active symbol display positions on a requisite number of adjacent reels (i.e., not on paylines passing through any displayed winning symbol combinations). In such known ways to win gaming machines, the total number of ways to win is determined by multiplying the number of symbols generated in active symbol display positions on a first reel by the number of symbols generated in active symbol display positions on a second reel by the number of symbols generated in active symbol positions on a third reel and so on for each reel of the gaming machine with at least one symbol generated in an active symbol display position. For example, a three reel gaming machine with three symbols generated in active symbol display positions on each reel includes 27 ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×3 symbols on the second reel×3 symbols on the third reel). Modifying the number of generated symbols by either modifying the number of reels or modifying the number of symbols generated in active symbol display positions by one or more of the reels, modifies the number of ways to win.
Secondary or bonus games are also known in gaming machines. The secondary or bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. Secondary or bonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player to be activated. Secondary or bonus games are generally activated or triggered upon an occurrence of a designated triggering symbol or triggering symbol combination in the primary or base game. Part of the enjoyment and excitement of playing certain gaming machines is the occurrence or triggering of the secondary or bonus game (even before the player knows how much the bonus award will be). In other words, obtaining a bonus event and a bonus award in the bonus event is part of the enjoyment and excitement for players.
There is a continuing need to provide new and different primary games as well as new and different ways to provide awards to players including bonus awards.

Gaming system and method for displaying a plurality of individual symbols at a single symbol display position