A polyester composition produced without using an antimony compound as a polycondensation catalyst and including    (I) composition containing, on a weight basis, 30 ppm or less of antimony, 0.5 to 50 ppm of titanium, and 0.1 to 100 ppm of phosphorus, in which the number density of titanium-containing particles, the equivalent circular diameter of which is 1μm or more, is less than 100/0.02 mg; and    (II) a composition containing, on a weight basis, antimony, titanium and phosphorous as defined above, in which organic polymer particles are contained in amount of 0.1 to 5 wt%, the organic polymer particles having an average particle diameter determined by dynamic light scattering of 0.05 to 3μm and containing 0.01% or less of coarse particles relative to the total number of the particles, the coarse particles having a diameter at least twice the average particle diameter.

Polyesters, in particular, polyethylene terephthalate, have excellent mechanical properties, such as crystallinity and strength, chemical resistance, thermal properties, electrical properties, and transparency, and are thus used in various industrial applications, such as films, fibers, bottles, and extrusion-molded products. The demand therefor is growing. In particular, polyesters are used in the field of film applications, for example, magnetic recording applications, agricultural applications, packaging applications, capacitor applications, and construction materials applications where there are massive demands, due to their superior mechanical properties and economic efficiency.
For example, polyethylene terephthalate is produced from ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid or its ester-forming derivative. In general, commercial processes for producing polymers with high molecular weight commonly use antimony-based compounds as polycondensation catalysts.
However, antimony-based compounds have the following problems.
For example, antimony-based compounds partly evaporate and dissipate during polymer melting processes and their residues deposit around the dies and induce surface defects in films.
Antimony-based compounds tend to form relatively large particles in polymers and thus cause an increased filtration pressure at filters, surface defects in films during film-making, and breaking of films under severe conditions.
Use of antimony-based compounds impairs the stability of particles added to polymers, thereby causing agglomeration of particles. This results in decreased quality, such as generation of coarse projections in surfaces, and decreased operation efficiency due to increased filtration pressures at filters, as described above.
Accordingly polyesters containing small amounts of antimony or free of antimony are desired.
Known examples of compounds other than antimony-based compounds that can function as polycondensation catalysts are germanium-based compounds. However, germanium-based compounds are quite expensive and thus not suitable for common usage.
Other than antimony-based compounds and germanium-based compounds, titanium-based compounds are known.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-187942 discloses a method of processing a titanium compound with water containing an alkaline compound, an organic solvent, or a mixture thereof before adding the titanium compound to the reaction system in the polyester polymerization step.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-119383 discloses a polyester polymerization catalyst composed of titanium dioxide having an average primary particle diameter of 100 nm or less.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-17065 discloses a polyester composition composed of a high-purity dicarboxylic acid component and a titanium compound.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-316749 discloses a method for producing a polyester resin in which a product prepared by heating a mixture of an organotitanium compound and an organotin compound is used as a catalyst.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-278927 discloses a method for producing polyester using a particular amount of a manganese compound, and an alkali metal compound, a phosphorus compound, or an organotitanium compound.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 54-43294 discloses a method for producing a polyester from a zinc compound, a cobalt compound, an aromatic multivalent carboxylic acid, and tetraalkyl titanate.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 54-37196 discloses a method for producing polyester, including performing transesterification between a particular amount of a manganese compound and a cobalt compound and then performing polymerization in the presence of a catalyst, which is a reaction product between an aromatic multivalent carboxylic acid and tetraalkyl titanate.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 51-81896 discloses a method of combining a tellurium compound, a cobalt compound, and a cobalt salt of a phosphorus compound in the presence of a titanium oxide acting as a catalyst.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 51-81895 discloses a method of combining a bismuth compound, a cobalt compound, and a cobalt salt of a phosphorus compound in the presence of a titanium oxide acting as a catalyst.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 51-66395 discloses a method of adding a nickel compound in the presence of a titanium oxide acting as a catalyst.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-292087 discloses a polyester in which the content of the metal precipitated particles derived from a titanium catalyst is controlled to a particular value or lower.
However, these techniques cannot prevent titanium compounds (polyester polymerization catalyst) from forming debris by deterioration or agglomeration during polyester polymerization reaction. Although it is possible to reduce debris, these techniques cannot prevent formation of coarse particles. For example, these techniques do not achieve sufficient effects as films for magnetic recording media applications that require particularly smooth and flat surfaces.
Films for magnetic recording media or the like commonly contain particles for enhancing the film slidability and film surface properties. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-217755 discloses that the use of organic polymer particles highly compatible with polyesters is preferable. However, this technique is not sufficient for reducing coarse projections in film surfaces.
When titanium-based compounds are used as polycondensation catalysts, yellow polyesters are obtained as a result. Moreover, thermal stability of the polymer melted by heating is decreased, and film ruptures and the like occur, thereby decreasing productivity.
In order to overcome the problem of yellow coloration, cobalt compounds are commonly added to polyesters to reduce yellowness; however, cobalt compounds decrease thermal stability of the polyesters. Accordingly, the thermal stability of the melted polymer is further decreased, and the productivity is also decreased.
In order to overcome the problem of heat resistance and color tone associated with titanium-based catalysts, International Publication No. 95/18839 pamphlet discloses a method that uses a complex oxide of titanium and silicon as a catalyst.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-89557 discloses a titanium-compound catalyst synthesized by hydrolyzing a titanium halide.
However, these techniques do not improve hue as much as to be sufficient for films for optical applications, for example, where even minute differences in hue should be avoided. Moreover, the dispersibility of the hue-adjusting agent is low, thereby leading to problems such as scattering and generation of debris.
The present invention aims to provide a practical polyester that can be prepared substantially without using an antimony-based compound as a polycondensation catalyst.

Polyester resin compositions, catalyst for polyester production, polyester film, and magnetic recording medium


There is a PSI receipt waiting time of two seconds or so from a start of decoding of an MPEG transport stream to actual display of AV data. There are provided first means of recording 3 for recording a predetermined signal discretely including additional information of a program; means of controlling records 2 for having said predetermined signal recorded by first means of recording 3; means of controlling reproduction 4 for having said predetermined signal reproduced from said first means of recording 3; means of detecting PSI 1 for detecting program specific information (PSI) from said predetermined signal; and means of adding PSI 5 for adding said PSI to said predetermined signal.

Conventionally, a signal compression technology in compliance with the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) standard has been used in various fields and is applied to AV data recording and reproducing apparatus for instance.
FIG. 10 (a) is a diagram showing an example of general configuration of a decoder of audio/visual data (hereafter referred to as AV data) compressed in a form of an MPEG transport stream (hereafter referred to as MPEG-TS).
As shown in the diagram, in a stream decoder 100, a transport decoder 110 is means of receiving input of an MPEG-TS. Also, an AV data decoder 120 is means of receiving output from a transport decoder 110, and a frame buffer 130 is means of accessing an AV data decoder 120 and reproducing the AV data in a form capable of displaying on a display unit.
Next, FIG. 10 (b) is a diagram showing a procedure for decoding and reproducing an MPEG-TS with time as its horizontal axis, and FIG. 11 (a) is a diagram showing a configuration of an MPEG-TS, and FIG. 11 (b) is a diagram showing a configuration of an image stream in an AV bit stream. Hereafter, MPEG-TS decoding and reproducing operation by a stream decoder 100 will be described referring to the drawings.
First, if an MPEG-TS is inputted to the transport decoder 110, the transport decoder 110 detects any PAT from the inputted MPEG-TS as a step shown in (i) of FIG. 10 (b). Here, a PAT (Program Association Table) is a packet comprising, in an MPEG-TS, a program number assigned to a program recorded in the MPEG-TS and a PMT (Program Mat Table) showing an ID of a packet for transmitting a stream such as AV data composing the program, and PATs are scattered in an MPEG-TS as shown in FIG. 11 (a). Moreover, PMTs also exist as packets in an MPEG-TS.
The transport decoder 110 detects any PAT and then detects any PMT as a step shown in (ii) of FIG. 10 (b), and as the case may be, further detects any ID called CAT (Conditional Access Table) concurrently with detection of any PAT and PMT as a step shown in (iii) of FIG. 10 (b). While AV data used for pay broadcasting is scrambled so that a general viewer without a special purpose decoder cannot view it, a CAT shows an ID of a packet for transmitting decoding information for descrambling it, existing as a packet in an MPEG-TS.
The program specification information such as PAT, PMT and CAT is collectively called PSI (Program Specific Information), and so it can be said that operation of transport decoder 110 as shown in (i), (ii) and (iii) of FIG. 10 (b) is performing detection of PSI.
An MPEG-TS in which PSI is detected by the transport decoder 110 is inputted as an AV bit stream to the AV data decoder 120. The AV data decoder 120 decodes an image stream from the inputted MPEG-TS. As shown in FIG. 11 (b), in an MPEG bit stream, an image stream comprises the image frames of frame I, frame B and frame P, and of these image frames, the frame that must be decoded first is frame I. Thus, as in the steps shown in (iv) of FIG. 10 (b) and FIG. 11 (b), the AV data decoder 120 first detects a frame I. If the frame I is detected, with the frame I as a starting point, an image stream is decoded from the MPEG-TS (step (v) of the same Figure). The decoded AV data is outputted to a frame buffer.
The frame buffer receives input of AV data from an AV data decoder, and accumulates a certain amount of it (step (vi) of FIG. 10 (b)) and then outputs it to a display apparatus such as a display unit.
Incidentally, according to the above operation, it requires two seconds or so from a start of decoding an MPEG transport stream to actual display of AV data. This is caused by operation for decoding an MPEG-TS into ordinary AV data, and the time can be divided into two as follows. One is the time required for detecting PSI in a transport decoder (PSI waiting time), and the other is the time required for detecting the frame I in an AV decoder (frame I waiting time).
The time required for detecting PSI and the time required for detecting the frame I are felt by a user of an MPEG transport stream reproducing apparatus as waiting time from performing reproducing operation to actually becoming capable of viewing AV data, which has been problematic in terms of convenience.

Recording and reproducing apparatus, MPEG image stream recording and reproducing

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A fluid vectoring nozzle comprises flow vectoring means suitable for selectively producing a fluid dynamic throat in the nozzle in a plane oblique to the axis of the nozzle, such that in operation fluid flow passing through the throat is rotated about an axis parallel to and coincident with the plane of the throat. That is to say, the present invention comprises flow vectoring means suitable for selectively producing a fluid dynamic throat in the nozzle in a plane oblique to the axis of the nozzle, such that, in operation, fluid passing through the fluid dynamic throat is turned towards an angle perpendicular to the plane of the throat. Fluid injection means are provided to inject a control fluid into the nozzle through a perforate region provided in at least one nozzle wall, thereby generating a fluid dynamic restriction which initiates the formation of the fluid dynamic throat.

The invention relates to a fluid vectoring nozzle.
In particular it relates to a fluid vectoring nozzle in which, in operation, vectoring of fluid flow in the nozzle is achieved by selectively producing a fluid dynamic throat in the nozzle.
Control of the flow direction of fluid exiting a pipe, duct or nozzle is known as a means of controlling the direction of travel of air, land and water based vehicles. For example by vectoring thrust from the exhaust nozzle of an aircraft the direction of the aircraft can be affected, thereby making the aircraft more maneuverable. In a land based vehicle (for example, in a hovercraft) vectored thrust can be used to the same effect to replace rudders or where the vehicle is slow moving and hence a conventional rudder is of limited use. Water based vehicles may also control their direction by controlling the direction of fluid exiting a water propulsion device, thereby steering the craft.
Such devices work by controlling a portion of the nozzle at nozzle exit. Hence whatever direction the nozzle exit points in is the direction the fluid will travel in, thereby causing a reaction force that steers the vehicle.
Alternatively a moveable grille, vent or vane assembly arrangement may be provided at nozzle exit, which, by setting the vanes at an angle to the axis of the nozzle, alters the direction of fluid flow exiting the nozzle.
Such devices require the use of moveable mechanical parts to be placed in the nozzle fluid flow. The reliability of the moveable parts is clearly critical since directional control of the associated vehicle depends on their operation. Any device in the fluid flow path of an exhaust nozzle of a gas turbine or water propulsion device will have to cope with foreign object damage, dirt and debris affecting pivotable bearing joints, as well as withstanding the physical force induced by the thrust of the fluid. Hence such devices must either be made robust enough to last long hours or be capable of being easily maintained or replaced. In both cases the maintenance cost of such a device will be high, and the design and construction will be complex in order to deliver a reliable product. Additionally, the provision of a moveable grille, vent or vane assembly will also introduce turbulence into the exhausted fluid, thereby contributing the amount of noise produced by the exhausted fluid.
Flow vectoring devices employing fluid injection are also known. These operate by injecting fluid at an angle to the direction of the bulk fluid flow through a nozzle. The injected fluid creates a fluidic obstruction or ramp which deflects the bulk fluid flow towards the opposing duct wall thereby altering its direction of travel. Such devices are disadvantaged in high aspect ratio nozzles (i.e. a wide but shallow duct) where it is required to vector the fluid flow from left to right. In such an embodiment the fluid injection would need to be through the side of the duct, and the obstruction/ramp effect is diminished by the width of the nozzle, requiring a large mass flow of fluid to be injected to obtain a minor vectoring effect.
Hence a device which can control the directional flow of fluid at exit from a nozzle and yet not require moveable parts to be placed in the fluid flow passing through the nozzle, which can reduce operational noise levels of the engine, and which enables effective flow vectoring in nozzles in which other flow vectoring devices have reduced effectiveness, is highly desirable.


A new and distinctive variety of the kiwi plant, Actinidia deliciosa, named ‘Tsechelidis’ is described. The new variety is characterized by very large oblong fruit covered with downy hairs, and very broad ovate leaves having acuminate apexes, among other features. The size and uniformity of the fruit provide significantly higher yield than other known varieties of kiwi.

Kiwi plants have been cultivated outside their native China for over one hundred years. Known varieties or cultivars include Hayward, Meteor, Hort16A, Abbott, Tomua, Jade Moon, Bruno, Monty, Matua and Kuimi. Hayward is the most popular variety worldwide. Kiwi plants are now commercially grown in New Zealand, Italy, Chile, France, Greece, Japan, China and the United States.
Kiwi plants are commercially grown for their oblong or oval fruit, having brown skin covered in short hairs. The flesh, firm until fully ripe, is glistening, bright green or sometimes yellow, brownish or off-white, except for the white, succulent center from which radiate many fine, pale lines. Between these lines are scattered minute dark-purple or nearly black seeds, unnoticeable in eating.
Kiwi plants may be propagated by seed, grafting or cutting.


A control knob (1) includes a companion part (2) as a base of the control knob and a control-knob top part (3) having a grip handle (4). The control-knob top part (3) includes a plate (9) having a flexible elastic material coated thereon to form sidewalls (5.1) of the grip handle (4) which can be flexibly deformed when the grip handle (4) is manipulated. This provides improved manipulation and quiet operation of the control knob (1). Additional push-button and switch functions can be included via a flexible facing wall (5.2) on the grip handle (4).

This invention relates to a control-knob top part for a control knob for activating a control element, specifically a ventilation, an air-conditioning, or a heating control element, in an automobile, that, on the one hand, is coupled to an adjusted member on an inwardly-facing side and, on the other hand, has a hollow grip handle on an outwardly facing side.
German patent document (G 87 02 558.2) discloses a generally-round control knob for a switch which has an open space for containing an incandescent bulb in a generally known manner. Several fiber-optic cables, or light guides, in this round control knob indicate positions of the control knob, and, thus, of the switch.
Many other known control knobs, particularly those for switches and potentiometers of automobile dashboards for controlling ventilation, heating, or air conditioning equipment, have wedge-shaped grip portions adjacent round control-knob bases.
Demands are increasing in automotive technology to provide smaller operating devices on instrument panels and to offer more controls in reach of drivers. These demands also place additional limitations on sizes of control knobs; with smaller control knobs creating problems relating to insufficient force transmission and poor serviceability of adjustable units.
It is an object of this invention to provide a control knob for resolving these problems.


An image reading apparatus that reads out an original document image synchronously with a frequency dispersion clock gained by modulating the frequency of a reference clock so as to be changed cyclically at a predetermined modulation period, comprising:                a first signal generating section that generates a first signal which turns into assert state at a predetermined period;        a second signal generating section that generates a second signal which turns into assert state at a period synchronous with the modulation period of the frequency dispersion clock; and        a line scanning section that moves a scanning position on the original document image in an auxiliary scanning direction and scans the original document image in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the auxiliary scanning direction each time when both the first signal and the second signal turn to assert state and thereby reads the original document image and outputs an analog image signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for reading an image on an original document to acquire image data representing the image of the original document, an image forming apparatus for forming the image of the original document as a duplicate and an image reading method for reading the image on the original document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Intensification of resolution and accompanying improvement of productivity have been demanded in an image reading apparatus such as a scanner and a copier. Increasing of processing speed by loading with a high-frequency drive clock has been widely conducted.
An influence upon surrounding apparatuses of the high frequency radiated noise originating from a high-frequency clock has been discussed recently and there is a possibility that a fatal accident may occur. Thus, legal restrictions demanding suppression of radiated noise have been becoming strict. As a countermeasure for the radiated noise, there has been well known a frequency dispersion technology which reduces the peak level of the radiated noise by modulating the oscillation frequency of the drive clock continuously at a predetermined period.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the frequency dispersion technology.
FIG. 1(A) shows an example of a modulation pattern for dispersing the frequency of a reference clock. A modulation pattern A changes the frequency of clock in DOWN direction (direction that increases the period) and UP direction (direction that decreases the period) continuously. A reference clock A_1 having a predetermined frequency is modulated to a frequency dispersion clock A_2 in which the frequency is changed continuously at a modulation period T by this modulation pattern A and this frequency dispersion clock A_2 is used as a drive clock instead of the reference clock A_1. The modulation period signal A_3 is a signal outputted at a timing synchronous with the modulation period T of the frequency dispersion clock A_2.
FIG. 1(B) shows radiated noise levels when the reference clock A_1 and the frequency dispersion clock A_2 shown in FIG. 1(A) are used as each drive clock. A radiated noise level B_1 corresponding to the reference clock A_1 has a peak at a frequency Fp while in the radiated noise level B_2 of the frequency dispersion clock A_2, the frequency in the vicinity of the peak is dispersed and the peak level drops by that amount. In this way, the peak level of the radiated noise can be reduced by using the frequency dispersion clock A_2 as a drive clock.
Here, an ordinary example in which the above-described frequency dispersion technology is applied to a line reading type image reading apparatus which reads an image of an original document by scanning will be described.
The line scanning type image reading apparatus scans a scanning object line in a main scanning direction synchronously with the drive clock with an image pickup device, for example, a charge couple device (CCD) by moving the scanning object line in an auxiliary scanning direction in each predetermined line period. In the meantime, the image pickup device used generally is an analog device which stores electric charges by receiving light according to the phase of the drive clock or pulse width so as to output an analog signal. Therefore, if the frequency dispersion clock A_2 having a varied phase or pulse width is adopted as the drive clock, the signal strength of an outputted analog signal is deflected depending on a change in the frequency dispersion clock A_2, so that noise is added to image data generated based on the analog signal. Further, there occurs such a problem that beat noise which is oblique stripe is generated in an image represented by that image data because the deflected position differs depending on each line.
As a method for eliminating such a default, a method of correcting that beat noise to a vertical stripe which is easy to correct by synchronizing the scanning start timing of the line with the frequency dispersion clock of the drive clock has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-77989, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-281252, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-8845).
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relation between the modulation period and line scanning start timing based on the method described in the above-described patent documents.
As shown in FIG. 2, the output interval I100 of a line signal A_100 which indicates the scanning start for a line is integer times the modulation period T of the modulation period signal A_3 and rise-up timings t1, t3 of the line signal A_100 are synchronous with the rise-up timing of the modulation period signal A_3. In this case, an influence of the frequency dispersion clock is generated in each line and consequently, beat noise occurs at the same position of each line, so that the beat noise is corrected to a vertical stripe.
When an image is read by changing the magnification in an image reading apparatus, the image reading speed is changed corresponding to the magnification. For example, when an image is read at a reduction rate of 50%, the reading speed is twice that at the time of reading at an equal magnification (magnification is 100%) by reducing reading resolution or the like. Therefore, the line signal A_50 at the time of reading at 50% is outputted at an output interval half(I-50) that of the output interval I_100. At this time, the second rise-up timing t2 of the line signal A_50 does not match with the rise-up timing of the modulation period signal A_3 and thus, the deflection position of the frequency dispersion clock differs depending on each line. Consequently, the beat noise is deviated from the vertical stripe. According to the above-described method, the beat noise can be corrected to the vertical stripe at the time of reading at the equal magnification. However, the beat noise may not be corrected to the vertical stripe, depending on the magnification at the time of reading in enlargement or reduction. Consequently, there is such a problem that the beat noise cannot be corrected easily.

Image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus and image reading method


An illuminated panel-mountable receptacle is disclosed. The receptacle body may be a translucent material and may be captivated to a panel by a front nut and a rear nut. A mounting nut is slotted so that the mounting nut may be threaded onto the rear portion of the receptacle body even when a cable has already been connected thereto. The mounting nut is configured to receive a light guide so that a source of illumination can be provided at a back portion of the receptacle and propagate through the receptacle so as to illuminate the receptacle when viewed by a user.

External connections to electrical, electronic and optical equipment may be made using mating connectors. An external cable, which may be an electrical cable of conductive wires, an optical cable having optical fiber transmission paths, or a combination of such techniques, may mate with the equipment using a panel mounted interface part. The terminology used to describe the mating parts varies; however, the terms "jack" and "plug" corresponding to "female" and "male" parts is often used. Alternatively the term "receptacle" is used instead of jack. Examples of hermaphrodite connector types are also known.
Panel-mounted plugs or jacks may be illuminated so as to indicate the status of a connection, or to aid in orienting and mating the plug and the jack. The illumination is often provided by a light emitting diode (LED) that is an integral part of the design of the panel-mounted receptacle. Where the LED is remotely located, light may be guided by a light guide or light pipe; however such components are part of the connecting cable assembly and are not separately provided. Where the plug is illuminated, the light is guided by a light pipe in a substantially opaque jack and transmitted to the plug when the plug and the jack are mated.
Illuminated receptacles may find a use in medical or other applications where connections to equipment need to be made in low-ambient-light operation. Such illuminated receptacles may have illumination controllable to indicate the status of a connection or the function of the connection.
Illuminated connectors such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,992 to Posey et al. have integral light emitting diode (LED) light sources that may be used to indicate a status of operations conducted by or with an associated circuit. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,402 to Lin describes a connector where the electrical signal strength or status is indicated by an external ring portion of the connector and the illumination is provided by LED elements that are a part of the connector assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,183 to Thornton et al. describes a connector receptacle where the light from an LED source is coupled to the receptacle by a light pipe, the light pipe being disposed to radiate the light from the receptacle onto the leading edge of a plug, when the plug is disposed within the receptacle.

Illuminated panel-mount connector receptacle


A touch-and-play input device coupled to an electronic device having a touch unit is provided. The touch-and-play input device comprises an input unit, a attaching unit and at least one conductive unit. The input unit generates an input signal. The attaching unit comprises an attaching surface. The conductive units are configured on the attaching surface of the attaching unit and are electrically connected to the input unit. The attaching unit attaches a portion of the touch unit of the electronic device through the attaching surface so that the conductive units touch a portion of the touch unit. Further, the input signal is input into the electronic device through the conductive units and the touch unit.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates to an input device and an operating method thereof. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a touch-and-play input device and an operating method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the advancement and widespread of information technology, wireless mobile communication, and information appliances, the conventional input devices (such as keyboards and mice) of many information products have been gradually replaced by touch device in order to achieve a more intuitional operation environment. The touch device comprises the display device, the touch panel with the displaying ability and the substrate having the touch pad with the touch function as the input device.
The touch devices are classified as resistive type, capacitor type, sound acoustic wave type, optical type and so on. The capacitor-type touch device utilizes the capacitive sensor. When the finger touches the screen, the continuous electric current passes through the finger and the screen and the sensor can accurately position the coordinates of the current touch point through the electric current to form a capacitive field. When the finger moves to change the electric current, the voltages of the four corners are changed accordingly. Therefore, the sensor calculates the moving path of the finger by utilizing the changes of the voltages and outputs the accurate coordinates to the computer. The current capacitor-type multipoint touch device becomes the main technology in the field and the mobile phone and the tablet personal computer are all equipped with the capacitor-type touch devices.
However, the problem derived from the use of the touch device is the decreasing of the physical button. Currently, in the practical uses of the electronic products, there are many demands for the physical buttons and other various types of input device. The current method for solving the aforementioned problem is to use the physical connector to connect to the physical button or to use the blue-tooth transmission to control the electronic device. Nevertheless, the physical connector must be taken into account at the beginning of the design of the main device. Further, the specification of the physical connector is complex and can not be commonly used by various main devices. Moreover, if the main device needs to compromised with the peripheral devices, the design of the main device becomes difficult. For instance, if the wireless transmission is applied, the power consumption is increased and the peripheral devices can not be used at the same time. Also, the cost is increased.

Touch-and-play input device and operating method thereof


Connector for a fluid transport line of a medical device, comprising: a first body having a first access port for a fluid, a second access port for a fluid, and a first fluid path extending in the first body and directly connecting, for fluid transport, the first access port and second access port, at least a second body, mountable to the first body, having at least a third access port for a fluid, the second body being movable with respect to the first body at least between: a main operating position in which the first fluid path is interrupted and in which a second fluid path is defined and enabled, for fluid transport, from the first access port to the third access port, and an auxiliary operating position in which the first fluid path is enabled and in which the second fluid path is interrupted. The second body has at least a fourth access port for a fluid and in the main operating position a third fluid path is defined and enabled, for fluid transport, from the second access port to the fourth access port, the third fluid path being interrupted in the auxiliary operating position.

As it is known in the art, patients suffering from kidney failure or renal insufficiency, or patients suffering of particular pathologies should be submitted to specific treatments. More in detail, it is known to treat blood in an extracorporeal circuit in order to carry out ultrafiltration, haemodialysis, haemofiltration, haemodiafiltration, plasmapheresis, blood component separation, blood oxygenation, etc. . . .
Extracorporeal blood treatment means taking the blood from a patient, treating the blood outside the patient, and returning the treated blood to the patient. Normally, blood is removed from a blood vessel, sent into a withdrawal line of an extracorporeal circuit, passed through a blood-treating unit and returned to another or to the same blood vessel. Extracorporeal blood treatment is typically used to extract undesirable matter or molecules from the patient's blood, and/or to add beneficial matter or molecules to the blood. Extracorporeal blood treatment is used with patients incapable of effectively eliminating matter from their blood, for example in the case of a patient who is suffering from temporary or permanent kidney failure. These and other patients may undergo extracorporeal blood treatment to add to or to eliminate matter from their blood, to maintain an acid-base balance or to eliminate excess body fluids, for instance. Extracorporeal blood treatment is typically performed by sampling the patient's blood in a continuous flow, by introducing the blood into a primary chamber of a filter in which the blood comes into contact with a semi-permeable membrane. The semi-permeable membrane selectively lets the unwanted matter contained in the blood pass through the membrane, from the primary chamber to the secondary chamber, and also selectively lets the beneficial matter contained in the liquid going into the secondary chamber pass through the membrane to the blood going into the primary chamber, according to the type of treatment. A number of extracorporeal blood treatments can be performed by the same machine, also by selectively activating or excluding certain parts of the circuit. In ultrafiltration (UF) treatment, the unwanted matter is eliminated from the blood by convection through the membrane in the secondary chamber. In haemofiltration (HF) treatment, the blood runs through the semipermeable membrane as in UF, and the beneficial matter is added to the blood, typically by the introduction of a fluid into the blood, either before, or after its passage through the filter and before it is returned to the patient. In haemodialysis (HD) treatment, a secondary fluid containing the beneficial matter is introduced into the filter's secondary chamber. The blood's unwanted matter crosses the semi-permeable membrane and penetrates into the secondary fluid, and the beneficial matter of the secondary fluid can cross the membrane and penetrate into the blood. In haemodiafiltration (HOF) treatment, the blood and the secondary fluid exchange their matter as in HO, and further, matter is added to the blood, typically by introducing a fluid into the treated blood before it is returned to the patient as in HF, and the unwanted matter is also eliminated from the blood by convection. In each treatment, the secondary fluid goes through the filter's secondary chamber and receives the blood's unwanted matter by means of the membrane. This liquid is then extracted from the filter: it is commonly called waste, and is sent to a drain or to a receptacle then intended to be discharged into a drain. In fluid transport lines of medical devices, pumps are usually used in order to pump different fluids, such as blood, treatment liquids, waste liquids, along the transport lines.
In known fluid transport lines of medical devices, different parts of the circuit are usually connected by conventional connectors, for example luer lock type connectors. Known connectors are provided to firmly lock together different fluid transport lines to allow fluid passage between them. As already stated, in known medical devices it is sometimes needed to selectively exclude from the circuit a certain part of the circuit or specific element that is not necessary for a particular treatment. It is also sometimes needed to remove or substitute an element of the circuit, for example to replace an exhausted device. In order to carry out the above indicated operations, a first known solution consists in stopping the functioning of the whole medical device in order to carry out the needed operation, i.e. changing the connections of the circuit in order to exclude the elements not needed or removing or replacing some elements from the circuit. An alternative solution consists in using specific by-pass valves that can be selectively activated in order to deviate the liquid flow from a certain part of the circuit, thus allowing to exclude such part of the circuit and consequently to continue the treatment without the excluded element or to remove or substitute the excluded element from the circuit. When a certain part of the circuit is excluded by the bypass valve, the element to be substituted is disconnected from the remaining part of the circuit by disconnecting the luer type connectors or other connectors used.
The known devices have the following problems. It is to be noted that the first known solution consisting in stopping the medical device in order to remove or substitute an element located in a certain part of the circuit is quite disadvantageous, since it causes a relevant waste of time, in particular when the required operations have to be carried out during a treatment and between two different treatments. Furthermore such first solution requires always a removal of a certain part of the circuit from the remaining circuit in order to exclude such part from the treatment, thereby causing further waste of time for disconnecting such part when not needed and for subsequently connecting again such part when needed again. These operations have to be carried out manually, further involving the risk of making mistakes in the connections and of damaging some parts of the circuits and in particular the connectors.
The second solution above described, in which a by-pass valve is used to exclude a certain part of the circuit when not needed, overcomes some of the problems of the first solution, since it does not require to stop the circuit and to disconnect and then to connect again certain parts of the circuit when such parts are not needed for a certain treatment and then needed again. Also such second solution anyway has some drawbacks, since the known by-pass valves usually have a complicated structure and are not easy to actuate. Furthermore such by-pass valves do not allow to automatically disconnect the by-passed part of the circuit in order to remove or substitute a part of the circuit from the medical device, but allow only to bypass the desired part of the circuit, which has to be subsequently removed from the rest of the circuit with further connectors.


A selective adsorption material made by the process comprising: a) non-cavalently or reversibly-covalently binding a print molecule to at least two styrene, acrylate or silica monomers, each of which monomers brinds to said print molecule by means of a different functional group; b) immobilizing said bound monomers by being polymerized to each other in the presence of an effective amount of cross-linker; and c) removing said print molecule from said polymer by extraction to leave a cavity in said polymer which is stereo-tailored to a biological molecule of interest; and wherein said print molecule is the biological molecule of interest.

It Is known to prepare homogeneous gels while using the so-called molecular imprinting technique by making imprints of dyes (R. Arshady, K. Mosbach; Makromol. Chemie, 182 (1981) 687) and amino acid derivatives (L. Andersson, B. Sellergren, K. Mosbach, Tetrahedron Lett. 25 (1984) 5211). Merely non-covalent bonding between a "print molecule" and monomers is used. After polymerisation of the monomers and removal of the print molecule, a selective polymer is obtained, based on binding groups correctly immobilised in space and present in cavities which have the shape of a mould of the print molecule. A summary of this technique is given by B. Ekberg, K. Mosbach, in Trends Biotechnol., 7 (1989) 92.
It is known to make imprints of carbohydrate derivatives substituted with covalently, but reversibly bonded vinylphenyl boric acid groups, so-called boronate esters, which after polymerisation have permitted hydrolysis and binding of a new print molecule (G. Wulff, ACS Symp. Series, 308 (1986) 186). Decisive of the selectivity of the thus prepared polymers are correctly positioned binding boronate groups and a well-shaped cavity. The drawback of this system is that a complicated chemical synthesis is necessary.
Prearranged boronate groups have also been used for Faking imprints of glycoprotein ((Transferrin, M. Glad, O. Norrlöw, B. Sellergren, N. Siegbahn, K. Mosbach, J. Chromatogr., 347 (1985) 11) and bis-nucleotides O. Norrlöw, M. O. Mánsson K. Mosbach. J. Chromatogr., 396 (1987) 374) on silica. In this context, use has been made of a mixture of non-covalently bonding organic silanes and boronate silane, which has been caused to interact with a print molecule before polymerisation on the surface. The effect of recognition seems mainly to depend on the fact that the boronate groups are correctly spaced from each other to be able to interact effectively with the print molecules. Transferrin has a total of four silica acid groups and bis-NAD has four riboses which form boronate esters.
It is also known to use, in affinity chromatography methods, adsorption material having specific ligands, but these are randomly localised on the sorbent and may therefore yield poor selectivity. Furthermore, there will be a large number of unused ligands, which is uneconomical from the industrial point of view.
Immobilised phenyl boric acid has been used to separate carbohydrate derivatives (H. L. Weith, J. L. Wiebers, P. T. Gilham, Biochemistry, 91 (1970) 4) and also to separate glycosylised hemoglobin and other glycoproteins (P. D. G. Dean, P. J. Brown, V. Bouriotis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,605 (1981).
For purification and analysis, especially of biological macromolecules, selectivity is most important. It is frequently necessary to distinguish a single component in a mixture of, maybe, several thousand components. The known adsorption materials are in most cases not sufficiently selective and cause non-specific binding, which may completely destroy the result of an analysis.
Modern biotechnical production and analysis as well as a large amount of medical diagnostics are based on selective binding. The methods known so far are also for these purposes not sufficiently selective and/or sufficiently simple to be economically useful on an industrial scale. Therefore there is a need of an adsorption material having very high selectivity and low non-specific binding, which may be prepared on a large scale and at low cost.

Selective affinity material, preparation thereof by molecular imprinting, and use of the same


A video signal processor which includes a circuit for converting the number of lines in a digitized video signal, a circuit for generating a display dot clock, a circuit for outputting analog pixel data subjected to a line number conversion and having a frequency different from that of the display dot clock, and a circuit for smoothing the analog pixel data; and in which a frequency fck of the display dot clock, an output frequency frk of the analog pixel data and a frequency fho of the horizontal synchronization signal satisfies an equation; EQU frck/N=fck/M=fho. where M and N are natural numbers satisfying M.noteq.N.

The present invention relates to a processor which receives a display video signal from a computer or the like and performs various sorts of processing operations over the signal according to specifications of a display device to display it on the display device.
A display video signal issued from an engineering workstation, a personal computer or a display terminal of a computer is output as a video signal of dots corresponding to picture elements or pixels on a display screen.
By converting the video signal into a digital signal and using a memory and an arithmetic operating circuit, the digital signal can be subjected to various processing operations including conversion of signal format of field frequency or aspect ratio and such image processing as enlargement/reduction (scaling), screen superposition or geometric transform. For example, when it is desired to form a 4-face multi-screen system in which 4 display devices are arranged adjacent to each other so that 2 of the 4 display devices are vertically in 2 stages and the remainder 2 are horizontally side by side and their 4 display screens are regarded as a single display screen; signals corresponding to 1/4 of an input video signal are subjected to a full-screen enlarging operation to display them at corresponding positions on the entire 4 screens. Thus, there can be arranged a display system which is large in scale and high in luminance and resolution.
Output signals issued from these digital signal processing circuits are supposed to be displayed on a display device of a so-called multi-scanning cathode-ray tube (CRT) type, so that horizontal scanning frequency fh, vertical scanning frequency fv, display line number, etc. will vary depending on the format of the input signals and such signal processing contents as enlargement.
In these years, display devices of the conventional cathode-ray tube (CRT) type have been replaced by display devices of liquid crystal, plasma, LED, etc. These display devices have an advantage over the cathode-ray tube type display device that they can be made dimensionally small in depth and thickness with less occupation space and can have a large display screen. These display devices, however, have a problem that a coordinate system for representing respective pixels is fixed and thus cannot be changed. That is, in the display device of the fixed pixel number type, the numbers of horizontal and vertical display pixels (also sometimes referred to as pixel numbers, hereinafter) are fixed so that it is difficult to directly display a signal not conforming to the pixel numbers on the display device without subjecting to any operation. More in detail, it has been difficult to directly display a signal having 480 effective lines or a signal having 1024 horizontal effective pixels and 768 effective lines on a display device having 1280 horizontal pixels and 1024 vertical pixels.
For this reason, when it is desired to correctly display a signal having a pixel number different from that of a display device of the fixed pixel number type, a signal processing circuit for changing such a pixel number is inevitably required. For example, when it is desired to display a signal having 640 horizontal effective pixels on a display device of 1024 pixels, it is necessary to display 8 pixels with use of the 5 pixels of an input signal (640: 1024=5: 8) and thus to generate display pixels through interpolating operation of the input pixels. As methods for interpolating the pixels of a one-dimensional signal, there are known such algorithms as previous-value hold interpolation based on one nearest point, linear interpolation based on near 2 points, and convolution interpolation based on near 4 points. When these algorithms are applied to horizontal and vertical respectively, it is possible to convert the pixel numbers of a two-dimensional image.
Examples of the arrangement of a signal processing circuit for performing such pixel interpolating operation are disclosed in JP-A-5-284334 and JP-A-5-328184.
When these signal processing operations are carried out together with the conversion of signal format of field frequency and aspect ratio and with image processing operations including enlargement/reduction (scaling), screen superimposition, and geometric transform; the numbers of horizontal and vertical pixels can be converted according to the display device for display thereon.
However, these pixel number converting operations are required to be carried out at a higher speed as the display device is increased in its resolution. For example, when it is desired to display 1280 horizontal effective pixels and 1024 effective lines with a frame frequency of 60 Hz, the dot clock becomes 100 MHz or more. For the purpose of realizing such a high speed signal processing operation that the dot clock exceeds 100 MHz, parallel processing operation is employed. The parallel processing operation is such that input pixels are separated into odd-numbered and even-numbered pixels, subjected to a converting operation to provide a double occupation time, and then are subjected to the parallel processing operation by 2 systems of processing circuits. In such a parallel processing system, it is highly difficult to perform arithmetic operation between adjacent pixel data, since pixels are processed as divided into odd-numbered and even-numbered pixel series.
Further, setting of an enlarging (reducing) factor (or scaling factor) requires data to be intermittently read out from a memory, but the data reading unit from the memory is limited by the number of parallel processing series (2 pixel units for the odd-numbered and even-numbered pixel series), which involves such a problem that it is impossible to freely set the enlarging (reducing) factor, thus making it difficult to perform the parallel processing operation.
For this reason, it becomes necessary to perform it with use of such a high-speed device as emitter coupled logic (ECL). However, this involves a problem that this increases power consumption and the heat generation caused by the increased power consumption makes it difficult to make the circuit small in size, with increased costs.
Further, when simplification of the interpolating algorithm and circuit leads to deterioration in the picture quality, it is difficult to provide a display device which can be made small in size with low costs and less power consumption to provide a high quality of picture.

Processor for converting pixel number of video signal and display apparatus using the same


In an imaging apparatus in which a plurality of sample images are stored, image data acquired by an imaging unit and a sample image used during imaging are displayed simultaneously on a monitor. Thus, a user is allowed to know a directory where image data is to be saved while imaging an object. Furthermore, operation of the imaging unit can be set based on data associated with the sample image. Accordingly, even a user who is not accustomed to operating the imaging apparatus is allowed to image an object with a setting suitable for the status of the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display such as a liquid crystal panel, and to imaging, playback of image data, and saving of image data by an imaging apparatus including a recording unit, such as a digital still camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imaging apparatuses such as digital still cameras that are recently becoming common have a feature that an image captured can be immediately displayed on a display, such as a liquid crystal panel, allowing a user to check the image data and to erase the image data if it is not needed. In this manner, image data captured can be organized while capturing images.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-285445 discloses an imaging apparatus in which it can be determined in advance in which directory of a recording medium image data captured is to be saved. This allows image data to be organized even before imaging.
However, even if a directory for saving is determined in advance, if a user forgets the directory when trying to capture an image, the user is required to specify a directory again.
As another example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-032321 discloses an imaging apparatus that is capable of automatically setting the same imaging condition (e.g., exposure value) used for capturing a sample image stored in advance in a non-volatile memory or a recording medium.
However, even if an imaging condition is set based on the sample image when imaging an object, it sometimes becomes impossible to know which sample image the imaging condition is based on when the image data recorded is played back later.

Imaging apparatus including monitor for displaying object image based on image data, method of controlling the same, and recording medium having recorded thereon computer-readable program code for controlling imaging apparatus


An amusement device has a playfield and a backboard display. The display comprises a display wall having a first image carried thereon, plus a transparent display wall portion. A rotatable arm is positioned behind the transparent display wall portion. The arm is decorated to form an integral part of the first image. For example, the first image may be a cartoon character or other entertainment figure, with the arm depicting an actual arm or leg of the figure and pivotally connected at the shoulder or hip of the first image. Thus, an illusion of image movement can be provided as the arm rotates, typically in response to a predetermined event taking place on the playfield. One or more second images may be carried on one or more panels. The panels are moved between a first position behind the first image and a second position behind the transparent display wall portion. This movement may be coordinated with the motion of the arm.

In amusement devices such as pinball machines, a major factor in the popularity is the variety of play found therein, plus novel actions and features.
By this invention, an image which may be largely painted or printed on a backboard may have one or more moveable portions such as a moveable arm, which may interact with other moveable portions, which are preferably variable and different as the play proceeds. Thus, the moveable arm and the associated parts may provide differing displays depending upon events taking place in the game, to increase the variety and interest in the game.

Moveable arm and inserts for amusement device


The present invention relates to a carmine food coloring composition with high stability towards acidity and heat and its uses for coloring foodstuffs, such as fruit preparations and dairy products. The carmine food coloring composition comprises a dispersion of carmine lake blended with a solution of dissolved carmine lake.

Carmine is one of the most commonly used colors for fruit preparations and dairy applications. It represents 40% of the color market for fruit preparations. Carmine color is commonly used to color e.g. strawberry yoghurt. It is added to the fruit preparation during the pasteurization treatment (heat treatment with a minimum temperature of 85° C.) to 1) strengthen the color of the yoghurt when containing this fruit preparation and 2) to standardize the batch-to-batch color of the yoghurt and to avoid variations in color due to fruit quality or origin of the fruit preparation.
Carminic acid is a colorant which can be extracted from the female insect bodies of Dactylopius coccus costa (alternative name Coccus cacti L.). Carminic acid is harvested by extraction from the dried bodies of said insects with water or alcohol. The insects live on Nopalea coccinellifera, Opuntia fidus indica and other plants of the family Cactaceae cultivated for instance in the desert areas of Mexico and Central and South America. Depending on the pH the colorant may be a color in a spectrum from orange over red to purple and is generally known as cochineal or cochineal color. Carmine colorant is widely used in foods and beverages.
A "carminic acid lake" denotes herein a type of coloring composition consisting essentially of carminic acid combined more or less definitely with aluminum and/or calcium. The lake is prepared by reacting carminic acid with aluminum and/or calcium under aqueous conditions. The conditions are adjusted in a way that favors precipitation of the aluminum/calcium-carminic acid lake complex composition. This complex composition is termed carmine.
A description for preparing a carmine lake can be found in International patent (PCT) application WO2006/056585.
Carmine colors for fruit preparations are made of dissolved carmine lake in alkaline solution. These solutions are well soluble in fruit preparation bases, they give a bright intense pink shade and have the ability to color fruit pieces, which is an important quality factor for the fruit preparation producers.
However, these carmine solutions are heat sensitive when added in acidic media such as fruit preparations. This results in losses of 20% to 40% of the color during the heat process and variations of color from batch to batch of production if the temperature is not controlled well (in particular the cooling down).
Some solutions exist in the market. They consist mainly on dispersions of carmine lake. Dispersions of carmine lake are less sensitive to the media. However, they do not provide as bright and intense a color as carmine solutions and they do not color the fruit pieces.
Other solutions in the market are red acid stable carminic acid (ammonium carminate). This molecule has not been described in the EU regulation for colors or in the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Moreover, color solutions with ammonium carminate do not provide the capability to color fruit pieces.
Thus, there exists a need in the industry for an improved carmine food coloring composition for coloring foodstuff, such as fruit preparations, which is heat and acid stable and which provide a bright intense color.

Carmine food coloring composition with high stability

Abstract: The present invention further relates to a method for preparing the carmine food coloring composition and uses of such carmine food coloring composition.


In general, various aspects of the present invention provide methods, apparatuses, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like for identifying and documenting certain subject matter found in media content, as well as selectively redacting the subject matter found in media content. In accordance with various aspects, a method is provided that comprises: obtaining first metadata for media content, the metadata identifying a context and a portion of content for an individual; identifying, based on the context, a certain subject matter for the media content; determining that a particular item associated with the subject matter is present in the portion of content associated with the individual; generating second metadata to document the particular item present in the portion of content; and using the second metadata to selectively redacting the item from the portion of content associated with the individual upon request to do so with respect to the individual.

The volume of media content created, managed, and/or made available by entities (e.g., organizations) has continued to grow dramatically over recent years. In general, media content involves using different forms of content such as text, audio, still images, animation, video, and/or the like, or any combination thereof (sometimes referred to multimedia content). Reasons for such growth can be contributed to the fact that, although text can be viewed as a form of media content, other forms of media content such as audio and video can be much more user-friendly for many applications. In addition, computing power and network capacity have continued to increase, and costs associated with these technologies have decreased, over time, further contributing to the use of media content other than content that is simply text-based.
However, a technical challenge often encountered by entities (e.g., organizations) in utilizing media content for various applications is that its increased use has led to a higher likelihood of inclusion of certain subject matter (e.g., personal data, sensitive information, etc.) in the content that can pose a significant risk to an individual whose subject matter may be exposed through the media content. For example, a significant risk to including an individual's personal data in media content is that the personal data can be exposed in a manner that can lead to a data-related incident such as the personal data being stolen, or otherwise exposed to unintended parties. Therefore, many entities will go through the process of having the certain subject matter removed (e.g., redacted) from the media content.
However, simply redacting certain subject matter from media content is not always desirable because the subject matter may be needed or wanted for particular applications. Therefore, it can be particularly technically challenging for many entities to utilize media content that may contain certain subject matter for some applications, while redacting the subject matter for other applications and/or associated with particular individuals to minimize the risk of exposure. Therefore, a need exists in the arts for identifying and documenting occurrences of certain subject matter in media content and redacting the subject matter found in the media content for particular applications and/or related to particular individuals. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure provided herein address such a need.


Methods, apparatus, and systems for mitigating pinhole defects in optical devices such as electrochromic windows. One method mitigates a pinhole defect in an electrochromic device by identifying the site of the pinhole defect and obscuring the pinhole to make it less visually discernible. In some cases, the pinhole defect may be the result of mitigating a short-related defect.

While electrochromism was discovered in the 1960s, electrochromic devices still unfortunately suffer various problems and have not begun to realize their full commercial potential. Electrochromic materials may be incorporated into, for example, windows. Electrochromic windows show great promise for revolutionizing the energy sector by affording huge energy savings, e.g., by controlling solar heat gain in buildings.
Advancements in electrochromic device technology have increased dramatically in recent years including ever lower levels of defectivity in the electrochromic device. This is important as defects often manifest themselves as visually discernible, and thus unattractive, phenomenon to the end user. Still, even with improved manufacturing methods, electrochromic windows have some level of defectivity. Moreover, even if an electrochromic window is manufactured with no visible defects, such visible defects may manifest themselves after the window is installed.
One particularly troublesome defect is an electrically short circuiting defect in an electrochromic window. There are existing methods of minimizing the visual size of shorting defects, but still there remains a perceptible defect, though small.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A multiple position push-on electrical connector has a housing and at least two sets of bores extending through the housing. The connector also includes a plurality of electrical conductors that extend beyond a first face of the connector and are electrically insulated from the housing. The electrical conductors are capable of transmitting DC signals through the connector. A multiple position push-on electrical mating connector has housing, a first set of bores extending through the housing and a plurality of electrical conductors for transmitting DC signals through the housing. The two connectors are preferably configured to mate with one another and communicate with a device to which the multiple position push-on electrical connector is connected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to push-on electrical connectors, and more particularly to an electrical connector system having a plurality of push-on style interfaces and connectors that provide both signals and power through the same connector.
2. Technical Background
Typically the connectors used in RF and high speed digital electronic systems are push-on style connectors. However, the connectors are typically single-position connectors and a plurality of the single-position connectors are needed for any single application. Thus, the single position connectors are cumbersome and inconvenient in those applications needing multiple connectors. While there are multi-position connector blocks that provide multiple RF connectors for these applications, the multi-position connector blocks do not provide any means for making the requisite DC power (and the attendant low frequency signals associated therewith) connections with the devices, including electronic modules, boards, housings, and substrates.
In order to make the requisite DC power connections, single connections with the devices are typically made in addition to the RF connectors. Making these DC power connections with the electronic modules can be time consuming, expensive and ineffective.

Multiple position push-on electrical connector and a mating connector therefor


A decolorizable toner allows for easy distinguishing between a sheet which can be reused and a sheet which is hardly able to be reused from each other. The decolorizable toner includes a color developable compound, a color developing agent, a decolorizing agent, a magnetic material, and a binder resin. The color developable compound is a precursor compound of a dye. The color developing agent is an electron accepting compound which donates a proton to the color developable compound. The decolorizing agent is a compound which inhibits a coloring reaction between the color developable compound and the color developing agent.

There is a decolorizable toner which is decolorized by heating. A method of reusing a sheet printed with a decolorizable toner is proposed. In an actual use environment, a sheet printed with a decolorizable toner and a sheet printed with a toner which is not decolorized by heating are often present mixedly. Therefore, it is necessary to separate the sheet printed with a decolorizable toner and the sheet printed with a toner which is not decolorized by heating from each other.
The separation of these sheets is performed by scanning the sheets after heating with a decolorizing machine or the like, and then distinguishing whether the sheets are in a reusable state or by visual observation.

Decolorizable toner, toner cartridge, image forming apparatus, decolorizing system, decolorizing method, and decolorizing device


Lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet, having an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe, a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 9.5 kG, and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) of not less than 13 MGOe. These particles have an average major axial diameter of 60 to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 460 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial diameter) of 1.1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 3 to 100. The magnet alloy particles have a residual magnetic flux density (Br) as high as not less than 10 kG, an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) as large as not less than 3.5 kOe and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) as large as not less than 13 MGOe, are used as a material for high-performance bonded magnets.

The present invention relates to lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles, a process for producing the rare earth-iron-boron-based magnetic alloy particles and a bonded magnet produced from such rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles, and more particularly, to lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles which have a residual magnetic flux density (Br) as high as not less than 10 kG, an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) as large as not less than 3.5 kOe and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) as large as not less than 13 MGOe, and which are excellent in rust preventability and leafing effect, a process for producing the lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles, and a bonded magnet produced from such lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles.
Bonded magnets which are advantageous in that they can be produced in any shape and have a high dimensional accuracy, etc., have conventionally been used in various fields such as electric appliances and automobile parts. With a recent development of miniaturized and light-weight electric appliances and automobile parts, bonded magnets used therefor have been strongly required to be miniaturized.
For this purpose, magnets have been strongly required to show a high magnet performance, i.e., a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), a large intrinsic coercive force (iHc) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max).
As is well known in the arts, a bonded magnet comprising magneto plumbite type ferrite such as barium ferrite or strontium ferrite (referred to as xe2x80x98ferrite bonded magnetxe2x80x99 hereinunder) and a binder resin has an excellent rust preventability because ferrite particles are an oxide. In addition, since the ferrite bonded magnets are produced from a cheap material such as oxides of barium and strontium and iron oxide, the ferrite bonded magnets are economical and are, therefore, widely used.
As to the magnetic characteristics of these ferrite bonded magnets, however, the residual magnetic flux density (Br) is about 2 to 3 kG, the intrinsic coercive force (iHc) is about 2 to 3 kOe, and the maximum energy product ((BH)max) is about 1.6 to 2.3 MGOe. Therefore, these bonded magnets are insufficient to accomplish the miniaturization and weight-reduction of apparatuses or equipments in which the bonded magnets are incorporated.
On the other hand, there is no end to a demand for a higher performance and a lower price of a magnet. Since Nd-iron-boron-based magnet alloys using Nd which is relatively low in price among rare earth elements, have been almost simultaneously developed in 1982 by Sumitomo Tokushu Kinzoku Co., Ltd. (Japan) and General Motors Corp. (USA), the magnet alloys have been used in extensive application fields, and it has also been attempted to apply the magnet alloy to the production of bonded magnets. To further improve the magnetic characteristics, rare earth-iron-boron-based alloys for exchange-spring magnets have been earnestly developed and some of them have already been put to practical use.
An exchange-spring magnet exhibits a magnetic spring phenomenon by the exchange interaction of iron (xcex1Fe) or an iron compound and an Nd2Fe14B1 type tetragonal compound. Those magnets are characterized in a low rare earth element content and a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), and have a high possibility of being excellent on a cost/performance basis.
A rare earth-iron-boron-based alloy for exchange-spring magnets containing less than 10 atm % of a rare earth element such as Nd, has a high potential in magnetic characteristics as compared with a rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy containing about 10 to 15 atm % of a rare earth element such as Nd which is in the vicinity of the stoichiometeric composition, e.g., commercially available xe2x80x9cMQPxe2x80x9d (trade name) developed by General Motors. Since it is possible to reduce the amount of expensive rare earth element used, this alloy is economically advantageous.
The rare earth-iron-boron-based alloy for exchange-spring magnets containing less than 10 atm % of a rare earth element such as Nd has a system containing xcex1Fe or a system containing Fe3B or Fe2B as the soft magnetic phase. The system containing xcex1Fe as the soft magnetic phase generally has a residual magnetic flux density (Br) as high as 10 to 13 kG, but the intrinsic coercive force (iHc) thereof is as low as less than 3.5 kOe at most. The system containing Fe3B or Fe2B as the soft magnetic phase generally has a comparatively high intrinsic coercive force (iHc) such as 3.5 to 7.7 kOe, but the residual magnetic flux density (Br) thereof is as low as less than 10 kG, and as a result, the bonded magnet produced from the system containing Fe3B or Fe2B as the soft magnetic phase has a higher residual magnetic flux density (Br) than that of xe2x80x9cMQPxe2x80x9d, but lower residual magnetic flux density (Br) than that composed of the system containing xcex1Fe as the soft magnetic phase.
In the field of small-sized motors for which bonded magnets produced from a rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy is mainly used, bonded magnets are required to have well-balanced residual magnetic flux density (Br) and, intrinsic coercive force (iHc) from the point of view of miniaturization of motors and magnetic stability of the magnets used therefor. That is, bonded magnets are strongly required to have a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 10 kG and an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe.
On the other hand, a magnet alloy containing rare earth elements such as Nd is defective in that it is easily oxidized in the air and is likely to produce an oxide, so that the rust preventability is poor. Therefore, since bonded magnets produced from a magnet alloy containing a rare earth element such as Nd have a poor corrosion resistance, the bonded magnets are usually subjected to rust preventive coating-treatment such as dipping, spread coating or electro deposition using a resin and metal plating.
If the rust preventability of a magnet alloy containing a rare earth element such as Nd is enhanced, it may be possible to simplify or omit the rust preventive coating-treatment for the surfaces of bonded magnets even for the above-described use. In some uses, there is a possibility of omitting the rust preventive coating-treatment. Therefore, the enhancement of the rust preventability of a rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy is strongly demanded.
The bonded magnets have also been produced usually by kneading magnet particles in a binder resin and forming the kneaded material into an appropriate shape. In this case, it is known that flake-like magnet particles are readily mechanically oriented, so that it is possible to enhance the packing density of these particles in the binder resin. However, in the case where the flake-like particles have curved surfaces, it becomes difficult to sufficiently enhance the packing density. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 2-34706(1990), though the invention thereof relates to different application field from that of the present invention, it is described that xe2x80x9c . . . In general, as particles for paints, flake-like particles are preferred. That is, when such flake-like particles are mixed in a resin and the resultant paint is applied by a brush coating method or a spray coating method, these particles are deposited in parallel with the coating surface due to surface tension caused upon curing of the resin (called xe2x80x9cleafing effect or phenomenonxe2x80x9d), so that a continuous coating film composed of the particles is formed, thereby preventing the base material from coming into contact with outside air, and imparting a good corrosion resistance and weather resistance thereto . . . xe2x80x9d. Similarly, in the production of bonded magnets, when lamellar magnet alloy particles having no curved surfaces are used, the packing density of these particles in bonded magnets can be readily enhanced by the leafing effect thereof, whereby the residual magnetic flux density (Br) of the bonded magnet and as a result, the maximum energy product ((BH)max) thereof can be enhanced.
In consequence, it has been demanded to provide lamellar rare earth magnet alloy particles having no curved surfaces and exhibiting an excellent leafing effect.
More specifically, there has been a strong demand for lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles which have a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), a large intrinsic coercive force (iHc) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max), and are excellent in rust preventability and leafing effect.
In conventional quenched permanent magnet materials which contain Fe as the main ingredient (less than 91 atm %) and further contain at least one rare earth element (R) and boron (B), there is known a permanent magnet material which comprises less than 10 area % of a soft magnetic amorphous phase based on the total alloy structure and a crystalline phase as the balance which contains an Rxe2x80x94Fexe2x80x94B type hard magnetic compound (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 8-162312 (1996)).
Although the production of rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles which have a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), a large intrinsic coercive force (iHc) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max), and are excellent in rust preventability and leafing effect, is now in the strongest demand, no rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles having such properties are provided.
In the rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 8-162312 (1996)), the intrinsic coercive force (iHc) is as low as less than 3 kOe and the residual magnetic flux density (Br) is as low as less than 10 kG, as is clear from Table 5 in the specification in which the residual magnetic flux density (Br) is about 0.62 to 0.97 T (equivaleht to 6.2 to 9.7 kG), the intrinsic coercive force (iHc) is about 0.16 to 0.21 MA/m (equivalent to 1.25 to 2.6 kOe), and the maximum energy product ((BH)max) is about 19.7 to 72.0 kJ/m3 (equivalent to 2.5 to 9.0 MGOe).
The rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloys described in Examples 2 to 4 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 8-162312 (1996) are bulk bodies obtained by pulverizing a quenched ribbon and extruding the pulverized particles under a vacuum. The bulk bodies are, therefore, different in configuration from those of lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles.
Accordingly, at present, it has been strongly demanded to provide lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles which have a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), a comparatively large intrinsic coercive force (iHc) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max), and are excellent in rust preventability and leafing effect for production of a bonded magnet.
As a result of the present inventors"" earnest studies, it has been found that by producing a mixture having a composition represented by the following formula:
RxFe(100xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92yxe2x88x92zxe2x88x92w)CoyMzBw
wherein R is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb and Ce, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Mn, Cu, Ga, Ag and Si, x is 5 to 10, y is 1.0 to 9.0, z is 0.1 to 5, w is 2 to 7, (x+w): is not less than 9 and (y+z) is more than 5;
melting the obtained mixture under heating to,produce a molten alloy;
discharging the molten alloy through a nozzle;
spraying a gas onto the molten alloy discharged to form droplets of the molten alloy;
before solidification of the droplets thereof, causing the droplets to collide against a rotary cooling member disposed along the falling direction of the droplets to subject the droplets to quench solidification, thereby forming quenched and solidified particles; and
heat-treating the quenched and solidified particles in the temperature range of 600 to 850xc2x0 C.,
the obtained lamellar (including flat leaf-shaped and ellipse plate-shaped) rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles have an average major axial diameter of 50 to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 500 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial diameter) of 1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 5 to 100, exhibit a residual magnetic flux density (Br) as high as not less than 10 kG, an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) as large as not less than 3.5 kOe and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) as large as not less than 13 MGOe, are excellent in rust preventability and leafing effect, and are suitable for the production of bonded magnet.
The present invention has been attained on the basis of the finding.
It is an object of the present invention to provide lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet, which have a high residual magnetic flux density (Br), a large intrinsic coercive force (iHc) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max), and show an excellent rust preventability and an excellent leafing effect.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for producing lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles with a high efficiency without a pulverizing step.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bonded magnet which has a high saturation magnetic flux density (Br) and a large maximum energy product ((BH)max), and shows an excellent rust preventability.
To accomplish the aims, in a first aspect of the present invention, there are provided lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet,
having an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe, a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 9.5 kG, and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) of not less than 13 MGOe, and
having an average major axial diameter of 60 to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 460 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial diameter) of 1.1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 3 to 100.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet,
having an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe, a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 9.5 kG, and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) of not less than 13 MGOe,
having an average major axial diameter of 60 to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 460 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial: diameter) of 1.1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 3 to 100, and having a composition represented by the formula:
RxFe(100xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92yxe2x88x92zxe2x88x92w)CoyMzBw
wherein R is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb and Ce, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Mn, Cu, Ga, Ag and Si, x is 5 to 10, y is 1.0 to 9.0, z is 0.1 to 5, w is 2 to 7, (x+w) is not less than 9, and (y+z) is more than 5.
In a third aspect of the present invention, there is a process for producing lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet, comprising the steps of:
preparing a mixture having a composition of the rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles;
heat-melting said obtained mixture to produce a molten alloy;
discharging said molten alloy through a nozzle;
spraying a gas onto said molten alloy discharged to form droplets of said molten alloy;
before solidification of said droplets, causing said droplets to collide against a cone-shaped or disc-shaped rotary cooling member which is disposed along the falling direction of said droplets to subject said droplets to quench solidification and is rotated, thereby forming quenched and solidified particles; and
heat-treating said quenched and solidified particles in the temperature range of 600 to 850xc2x0 C.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bonded magnet comprising:
85 to 99% by weight of the lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet,
having an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe, a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 9.5 kG, and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) of not less than 13 MGOe, and
having an average major axial diameter of 60to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 460 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial diameter) of 1.1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 3 to 100; and
a binder resin in which said lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles are dispersed.
In a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bonded magnet comprising:
85 to 99% by weight of lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles for a bonded magnet,
having an intrinsic coercive force (iHc) of not less than 3.5 kOe, a residual magnetic flux density (Br) of not less than 9.5 kG, and a maximum energy product ((BH)max) of not less than 13 MGOe,
having an average major axial diameter of 60 to 500 xcexcm, an average minor axial diameter of 50 to 460 xcexcm, an average axis ratio (major axial diameter/minor axial diameter) of 1.1 to 10 and an average aspect ratio (major axial diameter/thickness) of 3 to 100, and
having a composition represented by the formula:
RxFe(100xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92yxe2x88x92zxe2x88x92w)CoyMzBw
wherein R is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb and Ce, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Mn, Cu, Ga, Ag and Si, x is 5 to 10, y is 1.0 to 9.0, z is 0.1 to 5, w is 2 to 7, (x+w) is not less than 9, and (y+z) is more than 5; and
a binder resin in which said lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles are dispersed.

Lamellar rare earth-iron-boron-based magnet alloy particles, process for producing the same and bonded magnet produced therefrom


Replication techniques are presented. According to an embodiment of a method, a node of a replicated storage network is assigned to be an owner of a data block to issue write memory block commands. The network includes at least two nodes including the node assigned to be the owner. If a read memory block command is received to read the data block, a read_lock is issued for the data block, the data block is read, and the read_lock for the data block is released. If a write memory block command is received to write new data to the data block, a write_lock is issued for the data block, the data block is written and a version associated with the data block is incremented, and the write_lock for the data block is released.

Data is often collected, organized, and indexed for many transactions and communications that occur in today's global economy. This information has become vital to enterprises and individuals. Consequently, a variety of techniques for securing, backing up, and replicating information exists in the industry.
A data replication concern is ensuring that information is available should a central source fail or become unavailable for a variety of other reasons, such as planned power outages, network upgrades, and software upgrades. If data replication is property done, services and users can still seamlessly access the remote data source with uninterrupted service if a master data source is unavailable. Thus not only is information secured and backed up, information is also intended to be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
Known data replication techniques, such as DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device), offer only a two node active-active configuration, and do not provide a solution beyond two nodes.

Multi-node replication systems, devices and methods


Systems and methods for Documentation Through Gleaning Content [extract content (information) from various sources. collect gradually and bit by bit.] with an enhanced, easy to use and intuitive user interface experience. This is the system to glean the content such as text, image, audio, video in bit by bit from various sources such as web pages, document viewers, word of mouth, SMS, email, internet messenger, social medias etc., and tagged [labeled] to the document/topic in shorter amount of time. At any point of time one or more gleaned content(s) are compiled as a single document without the need of an editor. The team of users can use any type of devices to collaborate, review and publish the document.

When a team of user(s) decide to do a research paper on a particular document/topic, although document/topic editors exist to prepare a document/topic and collaborate with one or more users, the user absolutely needs to open/launch the editor to compile the document/topic. User also needs to switch between multiple windows and applications to get the necessary information required to make the document. In addition to this, the user requires document/topic editor supporting devices based on the document/topic type.
The invention is to identify and glean [extract (information) from various sources. collect gradually and bit by bit.] the content such as text, image, audio, video from various sources such as web pages, document/topic viewers, word of mouth, SMS, email, internet messenger, social medias etc., and tagged [labeled] to the document/topic in shorter amount of time. At any point of time one or more gleaned content(s) are compiled as a single document/topic without the help of any editor. The team of users can use any type of devices to collaborate, review and publish the document/topic.

Systems and methods for documentation through gleaning content with an intuitive user experience