Disclosed is a process of separating protein using a polymeric composition. The composition includes a polymer formed from at least one monomer containing a polymerizable moiety chemically bonded to an anionic organic dye. The dye has an affinity for the protein to be separated. The process includes retaining the protein on the dye fraction and recovering the protein from the polymer.

The extraction, concentration and purification of biologically active substances (enzymes, antibodies, hormones, DNA or RNA fragments, and the like) is one of the fundamental problems in biotechnology. The discovery and synthesis of this class of substances, which generally occur with various proportions of other substances present as impurities, has stimulated the search for and development of new techniques and the improvement of known techniques with the object of achieving greater specificity and, where possible, with the greatest economy of time and resources.
These problems of preparative and fractionation techniques, especially as regards the quality (purity) of the products or isolated fractions, take on a special meaning in the case of materials or proteinaceous fractions sic!, commonly composed of various proteins having similar characteristics, often difficult to resolve, as in the case of the fractionation of organ extracts or lysates.
Moreover, this requirement, insofar as it relates to the purity of the biologically active substances and fractions, which is necessary in research work, becomes essential where medicinal products are concerned, as in the case of interferon, insulin, monoclonal antibodies, and the like.
The need to have methods of ever-increasing selectivity has led to the development of other techniques of varying complexity, for example the widely diversified chromatographic techniques such as pawl sic!, high pressure and thin-layer chromatography and, more recently, molecular exclusion chromatography and affinity chromatography, combined in practice with other techniques based on other principles, such as electrophoresis, dialysis, and the like.
Molecular exclusion chromatography is based on the size and/or geometry of the solute or to isolate sic! or purified, while ion exchange chromatography is based on the coulombic interaction between the substrate and the solute and the acid/base properties of the solute.
For the purposes of the present invention, it is appropriate to stop and consider this chromatographic variant known as "affinity chromatography" (Hay and Dean; Chem. and Ind. 1981; p. 726), based on specific non-covalent interactions between the substance of interest and a suitable reactant immobilized on a suitable substrate (also known as matrix), an interaction which obviously does not take place with the other components (or impurities) present in the sample. In distinction to the other components, the substance of interest remains bound or immobilized on the substrate. This occurs, for example, with certain enzymes (in the sample) which bind strongly but reversibly to specific coenzymes, or an antibody binds to and becomes immobilized with the specific antigen (or vice versa). The next steps are obvious: the combination or complex of substance of interest with the substrate may be processed once separated from the unbound components of the sample, the complex is subsequently split and the substance of interest is recovered, naturally with a higher degree of purity.
This property is exploited for isolating one enzyme from others (or from other solutes) by making use of affinity chromatography, binding the specific coenzyme or the cofactors (NAD, AMP) for the enzyme to be separated or purified covalently to a suitable functional group located at the surface of the particles which make up the support of the chromatographic column ("spacer arms"), and then eluting with a solution of the free ligand (coenzyme). The same principle underlies the application of other bonding species such as inhibitors, antigens, antibodies, lectins, and the like.
As a support material, certain polysaccharides such as agarose and dextrans (for example the commercial products known as Sepharose or Sephadex, and the like), or polyacrylates (for example the commercial products known as Bio-Gel, Trisacryl, Ultrogel, and the like), are commonly used. The support material is usually activated, before the operation of binding the chosen ligand, with cyanogen bromide, for example. The largest possible activator/support ratio is generally applied, with the object of achieving a high binding capacity in the chromatographic column.
Recently, the resolving power of affinity chromatography columns has been improved through the application of "spacer arms", designed to compensate for the steric hindrance features resulting from the size and geometry of biologically active molecules of interest. Said spacer arms (aliphatic groups such as, for example, polymethylene chains of 1 to 10 carbon atoms) are pendant groups which project from the surface of the particles of the support, at the free end of which the ligand groups are bound (Low, C. R: Topics in Enzyme and Fermentation Biotechnology, 5a. ed, Wiseman, A: Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1981, chap. 2).
The resolving power of affinity chromatography has undergone an unexpected improvement as a result of the discovery of a clear affinity between dyes and biologically active molecules, especially proteins, which has led to the fractionation of these biologically active molecules by affinity chromatography, supports and/or colored matrices being employed, as disclosed, for example, in:
Eur. Pat. Sol. EP 183198 (Asahi Chemical Ind. Co. Ltd.) PA1 PCT Int. Sol. WO 84/4309 (Pharmacia AB) PA1 Eur. Pat. Sol. EP 27262 (Dupont de Nemours E.I. and Co.) PA1 USSR SU 1168564 (All Union Scientific Research Inst. of applied Microbiology) PA1 a) the disclosures of the prior art in relation to colored polymers formed by copolymerization of colorless monomers or prepolymers and colored monomers (see above), and PA1 b) the affinity of certain chromophors for proteins in general and for bioactive proteins (such as enzymes, antibodies and hormones) in particular, and to design and develop a new composition of matter which is useful for separating substances having affinity for specific dyes which form part of a polymeric structure.
There have been developed, in addition, other methods of this type (affinity chromatography) for the purification of proteins making use of more complicated processes, such as the use of two dyes, one immobilized on the matrix and the other present in the elution fluid (Ger Offen. DE 3244006), an immobilized carrier coupled to a blue dye (Affi-gel Blue) with a residue chelated with a metal (Eur. Pat. Appl. E.P. 94672 A1) or the formation of two phases by addition to the biological fluid of a Cibacron Blue-Sepharose 68 sic!/PEG 4000 complex, with a suitable buffer (PCT INT. WO 84/4309 A1).
Methods for purifying proteins solely of high molecular weight (British Patent 2053926) are also known.
Thus, the affinity of certain dyes, and of certain matrices with dye bound to them, for substances with biological activity, including proteins, peptides, hormones, enzymes, growth and transforming factors, nucleic acids and nucleotides, has been disclosed in the prior art. This affinity has been applied for the fractionation, purification, and the like, of these substances, employing columns or matrices in which the dye molecules are bound to a colorless original matrix (formed from agarose, dextrans, polyacrylates, and the like, and combinations and variants thereof), either directly or with the interposing of "spacer arms" (Lowe op. cit.). These spacer arms permit greater steric freedom in proximity to the ligand.
In addition, the preparation and application of colored polymers, composed of finely divided or micronized pigments dispersed in a polymer matrix, for industry for purely decorative purposes, in the textile industry, packaging, and the like, covering the whole range of colors of the visible spectrum, have also been disclosed in the prior art; this includes the use of fluorescent dyes, according to a recent disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,133 of Ilyoshu et al. An important innovation in the art of preparing colored polymers has been provided by the application of conventional techniques in the polymerization of colorless prepolymers with monomers carrying at least one covalently bound chromophor group. This hence gives rise to permanently colored polymers in which the chromophor group or structure is covalently bound to the hydro-carbon skeleton of the polymer; such is the case with the polymers obtained by Winnik et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,794, which deals with the dispersion polymerization of colorless vinyl monomers and vinyl monomers covalently bound to a dye. As disclosed by Winnik et al., this class of colored polymers are sic! especially useful for the development of images in electrographic printing processes (colored toner particles).
Disclosure of the Invention
It has now been found possible to combine
Chromophor is understood to mean a chemical structure bearing color, and this is the sense in which it will be used in this invention.
The chromophor is supplied by a synthetic organic dye of the anionic type, in particular those belonging to the group of reactive, acid and/or direct dyes. These chromophors are of the azo, anthraquinone, formazan, dioxazine and/or phthalocyanine type, and are generally modified, especially by the introduction of polymerizable groups and/or spacer arms.
As examples of modified chromophors or dyes, the following may be mentioned: ##STR1##
Consequently, a subject of the present invention is the provision of a composition of matter for use in the specific separation of proteins by affinity mechanisms, including affinity chromatography, which comprises a polymer in which a chromophor with affinity for the proteins to be separated forms part of the molecules.
A further subject of the present invention is the fact that the polymer is a synthetic polymer of a monomer carrying a chromophor with affinity for the proteins to be separated, said chromophor being a dye modified by the introduction of polymerizable or copolymerizable groups. Moreover, the content of the modified chromophor is not less than 0.1% by weight.
Yet a further subject consists of the feature that the modification of the chromophor includes the presence of spacer arms, in particular (C.sub.1 -C.sub.6) alkyl chains.
Yet a further subject consists of the feature that the copolymer is formed from a colored monomer and a colorless monomer, the latter being a vinyl monomer chosen from the group comprising vinyl acetate, divinylbenzene, styrene, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methacrylamide and the amides N-2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl!-2-propenamide and N,N'-methylenebis(2-propenamide).
Yet a further subject consists of the feature that the degree of crosslinking of the copolymer has been regulated during its synthesis so as to obtain the pore size and other appropriate properties for the binding of the proteins of interest.
Yet a further subject of the present invention consists of the feature that the chromophor is supplied by a synthetic organic dye of the anionic type, in particular those chosen from the group composed of reactive dyes, acid dyes and direct dyes, these chromophors being chosen from the group comprising azo, anthraquinone, formazan, dioxazine and phthalocyanine dyes modified by the introduction of polymerizable and copolymerizable groups.
Yet a further subject of the present invention consists of a method for preparing the composition of matter for use in the specific separation of proteins, which comprises the polymerization of at least one monomer of which a chromophor with affinity for the proteins to be separated forms part.
In an embodiment of said method, the polymerization of at least two monomers, each of which contains a chromophor with affinity for the proteins to be separated, has been envisaged, said chromophors being different from one another.
Yet a further subject consists of the feature that each chromophor is supplied by a synthetic organic dye of the anionic type, in particular those chosen from the group composed of reactive dyes, acid dyes and direct dyes, these chromophors being chosen from the group comprising azo, anthraquinone, formazan, dioxazine and phthalocyanine dyes modified by the introduction of polymerizable and copolymerizable groups.
Another additional subject of the present invention is a method for separating proteins for sic! the composition of matter referred to above, which comprises bringing the material carrying the protein to be separated in solution into contact with said composition of matter in divided or granular form, eluting the substances selectively retained by said component and recovering the appropriate fractions.
In a special case of said method, the composition of matter is the contents of an affinity chromatography column.
A further subject of the method described above is the mixing of said composition in divided or granular form under conditions which ensure intimate contact between said composition of matter in divided or granular form and the material carrying the proteins to be separated in solution, and then the separation by filtration, decantation or centrifugation of the divided material loaded with the proteins retained by affinity by the dye fraction bound to the polymer.
Yet a further subject of the method for separating proteins with the abovementioned composition of matter is the fact that at least one of the proteins of interest to be separated is present in a small proportion compared to the other components of the mixture.


Disclosed herein are an apparatus for receiving and dispensing bills and a method for receiving and dispensing bills using the apparatus. The apparatus includes: a bill receiving or dispensing port which is provided in an ATM to receive or dispense bills; a carriage unit which clamps the bills received into the port or clamps the bills to be dispensed and transfers the bills to the port; a separation and piling unit which has a separation space in which the received bills wait for being separated individually from each other sheet-by-sheet, and a piling space in which the bills to be dispensed are piled; a carriage transfer unit which moves the carriage unit along a trajectory between the bill receiving or dispensing port and the separation and piling unit; and a controller which controls operation of the carriage unit, the separation and piling unit and the carriage transfer unit.

Generally, ATMs (automated teller machines) can rapidly, conveniently and automatically provide most financial services, except counseling work, regardless of time.
FIG. 1 is a view showing construction of a bill transfer apparatus of an ATM, according to a conventional technique. As shown in FIG. 1, the ATM according to the conventional technique includes a bill receiving and dispensing unit 10 which receives bills or dispenses bills, a discrimination unit 80 which is provided on a transfer path 5, along which bills received into the bill receiving and dispensing unit 10 or bills to be dispensed therethrough are transferred, to determine whether the bills are normal or not, and a temporary storage unit 90 which temporarily stores bills that are determined as being normal as a result of the determination of the discrimination unit 80.
A bill receiving space 50 is provided in the bill receiving and dispensing unit 10 so that when a shutter 11 opens, the user can insert deposit bills into the bill receiving space 50 or receive withdrawal bills therefrom. A front plate 20, a back plate 30 and a push plate 40 are provided in the bill receiving space 50. The front plate 20 forms a front wall of the bill receiving space 50 and is provided so as to be rotatable around a hinge shaft 21. The back plate 30 is disposed behind the front plate 20 so as to be movable forwards and rearwards and forms a rear wall of the bill receiving space 50. The push plate 40 is provided between the front plate 20 and the back plate 30 so as to be movable forwards and rearwards and partitions the bill receiving space 50 into a deposit space 50a and a withdrawal space 50b.
The deposit space 50a is defined as a space formed between the front plate 20 and the push plate 40. A separation unit 60 is provided below the deposit space 50a so that bills inserted into the deposit space 50a are separated from each other by the separation unit 60 and the separated bills are transferred to the transfer path 5. The withdrawal space 50b is defined as a space formed between the back plate 30 and the push plate 40. A piling unit 70 is provided below the withdrawal space 50b. The piling unit 70 piles rejected-bills that are determined as being abnormal by the discrimination unit 80 or bills that are dispensed when a deposit is canceled or withdrawn.
The separation unit 60 includes a pick-up roller 61 which guides separation of bills from each other sheet-by-sheet, a feed roller 62 which transfers bills separated by the pick-up roller 61 to the transfer path 5, and a guide roller 63 which overlaps the feed roller 62 to prevent several bills from being separated as two or more sheets stuck together.
The piling unit 70 includes a sheet roller 71 which uses a blade-shaped elastic sheet 71a to strike the trailing end of bills that are being transferred and guide the bills into the withdrawal space 50b, and a transfer roller 72 which is provided coaxially with the sheet roller 71 such that the outer circumferential surfaces thereof come into contact with each other.
In the ATM having the above-mentioned construction, the user must put his/her hand into the space inside the shutter 11, in other words, into the bill receiving space 50, to deposit or withdraw bills. Such an ATM is typically called a pocket type ATM. However, in some cultural areas, people are reluctant to put their hands into machines such as pocket type ATMs. In these areas, ATMs that have bill transfer devices to enable for users to deposit or withdraw bills without putting their hands into machines are preferred. Such an ATM is generally called a present type ATM.
The pocket type ATM and the present type ATM have very different structures in terms of the position of the shutter 11, the entire design pertaining to the bill receiving and dispensing unit 10 including the structures of the separation unit 60 and the piling unit 70, and arrangement of the transfer path 5.
Manufacturers for ATMs must produce the two types of ATMs to meet various requirements of consumers. However, because the two types of ATMs are very different from each other, the number of design processes and the amount of equipment required for manufacturing ATMs are increased. Therefore, manpower is wasted and cost to the manufacturer is increased.

Apparatus for receiving and dispensing bill and method for receiving and dispensing bill


The invention relates to a method and to a corresponding device for filling at least one seat cushion of a seat with, and emptying same of, a fluid, in which, during a filling or emptying operation, depending on a switching state of an actuating member designed for filling or emptying the at least one seat cushion, a first pressure value determined upstream of a throttle point through which the fluid flows, and a second pressure value determined downstream of the throttle point, are detected, and, depending on the first pressure value and the second pressure value, an estimated value of a mass of fluid supplied to or removed from the at least one seat cushion is determined.

DE 103 33 204 A1, which is incorporated by reference, discloses a method for measuring the pressure of a container which can be filled with a medium. During filling or emptying, a corrected internal pressure is determined on the basis of a pressure value detected by means of a pressure sensor, as a function of a switched state of a valve which is provided for filling or emptying the container.
EP 0 991 342 B1, which is incorporated by reference, discloses a seat, having a seat cushion and a device which comprises at least one actuating element and has the purpose of generating a tilting movement of the pelvis of a sitting person about a longitudinal central axis and/or a transverse axis of the seat cushion.
DE 690 29 585 T2, which is incorporated by reference, discloses an ergonomic anti-fatigue device for moving the hips and the lower central part of a person who is sitting in a seat arrangement.
DE 10 2005 016 974 A1, which is incorporated by reference, discloses a seat, in particular a vehicle seat, having a seat frame, a seat cushion and shape-changing elements between the seat frame and the seat cushion. A rigid support plate is arranged between the shape-changing elements and the seat cushion. In the event of different changes in the shape-changing elements, the seat plate tips in different directions relative to the seat frame.

Method and device for filling and emptying a seat cushion


The heat exchanger for exchanging heat between compressed air ejected from the compressor and exhaust gas ejected from the turbine rotor is connected to the exhaust gas outlet side on the back portion of the gas turbine. The heat exchanger has the core having a plurality of heat transfer plates for partitioning the first paths for compressed air and the second paths for exhaust gas inside the casing. On the side of the back portion of the core, the first inlets for compressed air are formed and on the side of the front portion of the core, the outlets for compressed air are formed. Between the core and the casing, the introduction path for introducing compressed air into the first inlets is formed. Exhaust gas flowing into the second paths from a position in front of the core is ejected from the back of the core. No pipe for connecting the gas turbine and heat exchanger is required and miniaturization of the gas turbine apparatus and a reduction in cost can be realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas turbine apparatus having a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between compressed air ejected from a compressor and exhaust gas ejected from a turbine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some gas turbine, a heat exchanger is installed in order to increase the thermal efficiency and heat is exchanged between exhaust gas ejected from the turbine and compressed air before introduced into a combustor after ejected from a compressor. In this case, in order to introduce and eject compressed air from the compressor of the gas turbine into and from the heat exchanger, pipes are generally used. Accordingly, the energy loss of compressed air due to heat dissipation and frictional resistance in the pipes is increased and the whole size of the gas turbine apparatus is made larger.
On the other hand, a gas turbine apparatus with the heat exchanger that is directly connected to the back of the gas turbine so as to omit the pipes and to realize compactness is known. However, in this gas turbine apparatus, the combustor of the gas turbine is installed on the heat exchanger side. Therefore, when the type of combustor is changed, another heat exchanger corresponding to the combustor of new type must be prepared and the design of the heat exchanger must be changed in accordance with the type of combustor, resulting in increasing in cost.
The present invention was made with the foregoing in view and is intended to provide a gas turbine apparatus having a heat exchanger that no pipe is required, and efficiency improvement and structural compactness are realized, and the common heat exchanger can be used even if the type of combustor is changed, and the cost can be reduced.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, the gas turbine apparatus of the present invention has: a gas turbine having a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine rotor; and a heat exchanger attached to said gas turbine for exchanging heat between a compressed air ejected from said compressor and an exhaust gas ejected from said turbine rotor, said heat exchanger being connected to an exhaust gas outlet side of a back portion of said gas turbine, said heat exchanger having a core including a front, a back and a side, and a casing enclosing said core, said core including a plurality of heat transfer plates that partition an internal space of said core into a first path for flowing said compressed air and a second path for flowing said exhaust gas. An inlet for flowing said compressed air into said first path is formed on said side of a back portion of said core. An outlet of said compressed air passing through said first path is formed on said side of a front portion of said core. An introduction path is formed between said core and said casing so that said compressed air is introduced through said introduction path from a position in front of said core via an outside of said side of said core into said inlet. Said exhaust gas is introduced from said front of said core into said second path and ejected from said back of said core.
According to the gas turbine apparatus aforementioned, the heat exchanger is connected to the exhaust gas outlet side of the back portion of the gas turbine including the combustor, and between the core of the heat exchanger and the casing, the introduction path for introducing compressed air into the inlet of the core from a position in front of the core via the outside of the side of the core is formed, and on the side of the front portion of the core, the outlet of compressed air passing through the first path is formed, so that a pipe for introducing compressed air into or ejecting the same from the heat exchanger is not necessary. As a result, the energy loss of compressed air by such pipe is eliminated and the whole gas turbine apparatus can be made compact. Moreover, the inner peripheral surface of the casing faces on the introduction path for flowing low-temperature compressed air, so that it can be expected that the casing is suppressed from high temperature and also heat of the heat dissipation from the core is recovered by compressed air in the introduction path. Further, on the back portion of the gas turbine including the combustor, the heat exchanger that is separately structured from the gas turbine is attached. Accordingly, regardless of the type of combustor, by use of the common heat exchanger, feed of exhaust gas to the heat exchanger, feed of compressed air ejected from the compressor to the heat exchanger, ejection of compressed air from the heat exchanger to the combustor, and ejection of exhaust gas from the heat exchanger can be carried out, thus designing is made easy and the cost can be reduced.
Preferably, an ejection path for ejecting said compressed air from said outlet into said combustor of said gas turbine in front of said core is formed on a radially inner position with respect to said introduction path. An inlet path for flowing said exhaust gas into said second path of said core is formed on a radially inner position with respect to said ejection path. An exhaust port for ejecting outside said exhaust gas passing through said second path is formed on a back of said heat exchanger.
According to this constitution, in front of the heat exchanger, the introduction path toward the heat exchanger for flowing low-temperature compressed air, the ejection path toward the combustor for flowing slightly high-temperature compressed air, and the exhaust gas inlet path for flowing very-high temperature exhaust gas to the heat exchanger are arranged in a triple structure from the radially outer position to the radially inner position, and exhaust gas passing through the heat exchanger is ejected outside from the back of the heat exchanger, so that the triple structure symmetrical with respect to the rotational axis of the gas turbine can be easily formed, for example, by a sheet metal. Namely, introduction of compressed air from the compressor to the heat exchanger, flowing of exhaust gas from the turbine to the heat exchanger, ejection of compressed air from the heat exchanger to the combustion chamber, and ejection of exhaust gas from the heat exchanger can be realized by a simple and compact structure. Moreover, since the exhaust gas inlet path, ejection path, and introduction path are arranged so that low-temperature gas sequentially flows from the radially inner position to the radially outer position, temperature rising of the outer periphery of the triple structure can be suppressed effectively and it can be expected that by heat exchange through the path wall such as the sheet metal aforementioned, compressed air ejected from the heat exchanger is heated by exhaust gas.
Preferably, said casing has a circular cross section. Said combustor is annular. Said casing and said combustor are arranged concentrically with respect to a rotational axis of said gas turbine.
In such a constitution, the location relationship of the gas turbine including the combustor and the heat exchanger behind the gas turbine can be set easily and precisely.

Gas turbine apparatus with heat exchanger


A method for detecting and controlling output characteristics of a DC motor is provided in the present invention, wherein an input impedance related to the DC motor is measured for analyzing the output characteristics of the DC motor so that the output characteristics of the DC motor is capable being controlled according to the requirement of usage. By means of the foregoing method, the present invention further provides a self-propelled apparatus which functions to detect and control the output of the DC motor for maintaining the moving speed according to the environment status and road condition.

A self-propelled apparatus is a robotic mobile intelligent device that is able to make decisions or take a detour to avoid obstacles according to the conditions of roads automatically and independently. For instance, it can be adapted for powered wheelchairs for enabling the same to recognize an uphill and accelerate accordingly, or to recognize a downhill and decelerate automatically. In addition, as it is designed to make an evaluation to determine whether to take a detour or stride over when it runs into an obstacle, it is suitable for applications, such as robots, autonomous mobile platforms, or robotic vacuum cleaners, etc. An intelligent vacuum cleaner can substantially improve the quality and convenience of our lives since it can maneuver around obstacles, e.g. furniture, in our household while cleaning floors, moreover, it can clean those dead spots that are not accessible using conventional cleaning tools as it can enter areas beneath larger furniture, such as beds, sofas, and so on.
From the above description, it is noted that the focal point of designing a good robotic mobile intelligent device is the ability to detect the conditions of roads automatically and independently. Usually, conventional robotic mobile apparatuses detect obstacle by emitting ultrasonic waves or infrared light. However, such ultrasonic or infrared sensors can only detect and sense obstacles blocking its moving path and plan a detour accordingly, they are not capable of detecting road conditions on its moving path and thus adjusting its moving speed accordingly.
Another detection method commonly being adopted by those conventional robotic mobile apparatuses is exercised by arranging an encoder on a DC motor for measuring that the rotation speed of the DC motor according to the pulse train of the encoder, and further controlling the output of the DC motor basing upon the road conditions analyzed with respect to the rotation speed. The two aforesaid detections all require the use of certain sensors for detecting and measuring certain external signals originating from ambient environment.
Therefore, it is intended in this invention to provide a method capable of detecting and measuring input impedance related to a DC motor while basing upon the detection/measurement to analyze the DC motor's output characteristics, that it can detect actual operating status of the DC motor without relying upon the detection of those torque sensors or rotation sensors currently available on the market, and thereby, not only the manufacturing cost of the DC motor can be reduced, but also the complication of designing a closed-circuit controller is minimized.

Method for detecting and controlling output characteristics of a DC motor and a self-propelled apparatus using the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A communication device for a multiple language translation system is disclosed. The communication device allows users to communicate with others using their own preferred language and the communication device provides a translation for each user in their preferred language. The communication device comprises a wireless transceiver for communicating with other users, networks, and the Internet. Operation switches are provided for controlling operation of the communication device. Signal indicators visually show status or conditions. A user hears the translation via an earphone or sees the translation on a display. A remote control allows the communication device to be controlled remotely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication devices. More specifically, the present invention discloses an electronic device for communicating between users of a multiple language translation system providing translation from a first language into at least one target language.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since people throughout the world use various languages it is difficult for many people to communicate with each other unless they both know a common language. This leads to misunderstandings, conflicts, or isolation due to the language barrier.
In order to obtain better communication a human translator is often required to translate between two languages so that both parties can comprehend. However, employing a human translator can be expensive, ineffective, or inflexible.
Another common option for translation is using a computer for machine translation. Unfortunately, language rules in various languages can differ greatly. As a result the output from the machine translation is often incomprehensible rendering the method unreliable.
Therefore, there is need for an improved communication device that provides an improved means of effectively and conveniently translating between user languages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Communication device for multiple language translation system


A method for cutting flexographic plates (10) while plate imaging process is performed is described. The method includes mounting a flexographic plate (10) on an imaging drum (30); imaging at least one graphical element or piece (11) on the flexographic plate; cutting the graphical piece using the imaging device (31); and removing at least one graphical piece from the imaging device drum.

The flexographic plate, using current technologies is imaged (or engraved) using a specially designed flexographic imaging device. Flexographic plates are relatively expensive, therefore flexographic plates will usually accommodate more than one distinct graphical art piece. For example, if a packaging job of a consumer product is requested, the job will usually include several different graphic art pieces, such as the front, back and sides of the package. The imaging of the flexographic plate, will include in this case the imaging of all those graphic art pieces in one imaging step. At this point the imaged flexographic plate comprises several distinct graphic art pieces. Those graphic art pieces are usually cut before they are positioned on a printing press.
In current printing technologies, the plate cutting is performed as a post imaging step. Often cutting is done manually on a manual cutting table, using a cutting blade. There are also automatic cutting machines, which receive the cutting geometry for a specific plate from a dedicated workstation. The supplied cutting geometry is translated to machine cutting commands for implementing the actual plate cutting. Cutting the flexographic as an extra step, in addition to the flexographic imaging machine process, is time consuming and costly, and manual cutting may result in lack of precision.

Plate cutting and imaging with same device


A processing gas constituted of CH2F2, O2 and Ar is introduced into a processing chamber 102 of a plasma processing apparatus 100. The flow rate ratio of the constituents of the processing gas is set at CH2F2/O2/Ar=20 sccm/10 sccm/100 sccm. The pressure inside the processing chamber 102 is set at 50 mTorr. 500 W high frequency power with its frequency set at 13.56 MHz is applied to a lower electrode. 108 on which a wafer W is placed. The processing gas is raised to plasma and thus, an SiNx layer 206 formed on a Cu layer 204 is etched. The exposed Cu layer 204 is hardly oxidized and C and F are not injected into it.

As ultra high integration in semiconductor devices increasing in recent years, manufacturing superfine metal wirings that conform to rigorous design rules has become a crucial technical requirement. However, when the aluminum wirings normally utilized in the prior art, such as wirings constituted of Al or an Al alloy, are miniaturized, the level of the electrical resistance becomes significant, which readily causes a wiring delay, lowering the operating speed of the semiconductor device. As a solution, adoption of Cu having a lower electrical resistance value than Al as the wiring material has been considered in recent years. However, Cu becomes oxidized more readily than Al. Accordingly, during the semiconductor manufacturing process, a Cu wiring layer is covered with a layer constituted of a material that does not contain O2, e.g., an SiNx layer, to prevent oxidation of the Cu wiring layer by assuring that it is not exposed to O2.
When connecting a Cu wiring to another wiring in a semiconductor device adopting a multilayer wiring structure, it is necessary to to etch the SiNx layer and to form at the SiNx layer a connecting hole such as a via hole through which the Cu wiring layer is exposed. However, a CF (fluorocarbon) processing gas containing O2 is usually utilized in the plasma etching process during which the SiNx layer is etched. As a result, the surface of the exposed Cu wiring layer becomes oxidized by O2 or an oxide compound is formed at the Cu wiring layer during the etching process. Such a reaction product raises the electrical resistance value at the area where the Cu wiring is connected with the other wiring, thereby presenting a problem in that the device characteristics of the semiconductor device are compromised.
An object of the present invention, which has been completed by addressing the problem of the prior art discussed above, is to provide a new and improved etching method and a new and improved plasma processing method that solve the problem above and other problems.

Etching method and plasma processing method


A document is received that has a plurality of lines with text. This document includes text associated with at least one topic of interest and text not associated with the at least one topic of interest. Thereafter, it is determined, for each line in the document, a length of the line and a number of off-topic indicators with the off-topic indicators characterizing portions of the document as likely being not being associated with the at least one topic of interest. Thereafter, a density for each line can be determined based on the determined line length and the determined number of off-topic indicators. The determined densities for each line are used to identify portions of the documents likely associated with the at least one topic of interest so that data characterizing the identified portions of the document can be provided. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.

Electronic documents, and in particular mark-up documents such as web pages, HTML documents, XML documents, etc., often have various text items which are not-directed to a main topic of the document (i.e., they are "off-topic", etc.). Such text items can include navigational text such as menus, advertisements, notices, disclaimers, messaging/status feeds, markups, HTML code and more. When performing a text analysis on such documents relating to the main topic, these text items need to be stripped or otherwise filtered as they contain unnecessary information that negatively impacts the analysis and can require further processing resources if they are analyzed. Additionally, when making such documents available for review by a user the unnecessary information should be suppressed.

Document text processing using edge detection


The present invention relates to a white pulse source that produces spectrally shaped white pulses of a constant optical output power over a wide wavelength range. The white pulse source includes a pump pulse source for generating pump pulses with a center wavelength .lambda.0 and a waveguided nonlinear optical medium with a length L. The waveguided nonlinear optical medium is characterized by two properties: the first property is that chromatic dispersion D(.lambda.0,z) at the center wavelength of pump pulses in ps/nm/km is positive at an input end of said waveguided nonlinear optical medium, where z=0, and decreases towards an output end. The second property is that said chromatic dispersion D(.lambda., z) has a maximum value D(.lambda.p(z), z) at a peak wavelength .lambda.p(z) within a range of propagation distance given by L1.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.L where 0.ltoreq.L1<L, and that said chromatic dispersion D(.lambda., z) has two zero-dispersion wavelengths, .lambda.1(z) and .lambda.2(z), where D(.lambda.1(z), z)=D(.lambda.2(z), z)=0 ps/nm/km, within a range of propagation distance z where D(.lambda.p(z), z) shows a positive value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a white optical pulse source produced by injecting pump pulses into a waveguided nonlinear optical medium to generate white pulses having a flatly broadened spectrum, and applications of the white pulse source to other optical devices.
This application is based on patent application Nos. Hei 9-161603, Hei 9-274593, Hei 10-81176 and Hei 10-81177 filed in Japan, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 23, an optical pulse source is comprise by an optical pump pulse source and a waveguided nonlinear optical medium. A pump pulse propagating in the waveguided nonlinear optical medium induces a third order nonlinear optical effect and generates white pulse of a broad bandwidth. The propagation distance from the input end of the waveguided nonlinear optical medium is designated by z such that at the input end z=0 and at the output end z=L.
A reference 1 (a Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Hei 8-234249, "Coherent white pulse source") disclosed a white pulse source using a single-mode optical fiber as the nonlinear optical medium, and reported a production of white pulses having an excellent spectral flatness over a wide range of wavelengths as illustrated in FIG. 24. Based on a supposition that such white pulses were produced because of the choice of a low dispersion slope of the waveguided nonlinear optical medium, values of the dispersion slope which is defined as the first derivative of chromatic dispersion with respect to wavelength and magnitudes of dispersion are specified. FIG. 24 shows the spectrum of the pump pulse also.
The reference 1 also disclosed that the bandwidth of the white pulse increases by using a waveguided nonlinear optical medium whose chromatic dispersion decreased with propagation distance z.
This effect is also shown in reference 2 (Okuno et. al., "Study about optical fibers for generating supercontinuum pulses with high efficiency", National Convention Record-The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers, SB-13-6, 1997). As is shown in FIG. 25, by altering the chromatic dispersion at the center wavelength of the pump pulses .lambda.0 from positive at the input end (z=0) to negative at the output end (z=L), while suppressing the dispersion slope to be low, broadband white pulses are generated. The spectrum of the white pulse produced by the white pulse source in reference 2 is shown in FIG. 26.
In reference 3 (Tamura et. al., "Generation of 10 GHz pulse trains at 16 wavelengths by spectrally slicing a high power femtosecond source", Electronics Letters, vol. 32, no. 18, pp. 1691-1693, 1996), white pulses are generated by a device to pump a waveguided nonlinear optical medium with optical gain (rare-earth doped optical fiber). This device is able to generate white pulses even when the power of pump pulses is low or the length of the waveguided nonlinear optical medium is short.
Here, it should be reminded that, for communication or instrumentation purpose, it is necessary to be able to reproduce white pulses that are not only broadband but remain flat, i.e., a constant optical power output over a wide range of wavelengths.
The conventional techniques disclosed in references 1 and 2 specify only the first order term (dispersion slope) in the chromatic dispersion to wavelengths in the waveguided nonlinear optical medium. In reference 3, the results are associated mostly with doping effects in the waveguided nonlinear optical medium, and the manner of chromatic dispersion reduction is only minimally specified. Therefore, at the present time, a white pulse such as the one illustrated by the spectral curve in FIG. 24 that satisfy both requirements of wide band-width and spectral flattening have not been reproduced in practice.
Further, conventional white optical pulse sources have not been able to generate white pulses having low noise over a wide spectral range, because of the lack of knowledge regarding the mechanism of noise in white pulse generation process.
Further, because it has not been possible to generate low-noise white pulses, a pulse source that combines a white pulse source with a wavelength filter to produce low-noise optical pulses could not be realized also.

White optical pulse source and applications

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to logical channel management in a communication network. In an embodiment, a mapping between a plurality of logical channels of at least one terminal device and a plurality of resource sets of a network device is determined. The resource sets are assigned for communication between the at least one terminal device and the network device via the logical channels. If at least one resource set is overloaded, at least one of the plurality of logical channels is determined based on the mapping. Status information indicating that the at least one logical channel is in a congestion status is caused to be transmitted to a target terminal device of the at least one terminal device, the target terminal device communicating with the network device via the at least one logical channel.

The present disclosure generally relates to telecommunication and more particularly, to a method, system, and product for logical channel management in a communication system.
Communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so forth. Generally, a multiple-access communication system can concurrently support communication for multiple terminal devices that communicate with one or more network devices. With the development of technologies, communication systems can support more sophisticated mechanisms for traffic differentiation than those of legacy systems, in order to fulfill diverse and more stringent end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.

Logical channel management in a communication system

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for estimating virtual machine energy consumption, and in particular, a method and apparatus for estimating virtual machine energy consumption in a computer system. The method includes: obtaining system energy consumption of the system hardware resources; obtaining event information of a plurality of functional units into which the system hardware resources are divided, and mapping the event information to the respective virtual machines; and calculating energy consumption of the virtual machines according to a plurality of energy consumption coefficients corresponding to the plurality of functional units and according to the event information mapped to the functional units of the respective virtual machines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to estimation of virtual machine energy consumption, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for estimating virtual machine energy consumption with improved accuracy.
2. Description of Related Art
Energy consumption is an important factor in computer system management. However, Virtual Machine (VM) energy consumption cannot be metered directly.
In the prior art there exist a plurality of approaches to estimating virtual machine energy consumption, such as dividing energy consumption of an overall system by the number of virtual machines to estimate energy consumption of a single virtual machine, or a CPU runtime-based technical solution of estimating virtual machine energy consumption, i.e., the time since a VM instance is launched until it is terminated, for example, Amazon EC2 adopts such an approach.
Existing methods of estimating based on a CPU single factor are relatively coarse. Therefore, in the prior art estimation of energy consumption is less accurate, and there is room for improvement.

Estimating virtual machine energy consumption


A widget manager facilitates management of widgets in a dashboard layer. Management functions can include enablement, preview, importation, exportation, organization, installation, deletion, acquisition, etc.

A hallmark of modern graphical user interfaces is that they allow a large number of graphical objects or items to be displayed on a display screen at the same time. Leading personal computer operating systems, such as Apple Mac OS®, provide user interfaces in which a number of windows can be displayed, overlapped, resized, moved, configured, and reformatted according to the needs of the user or application. Taskbars, menus, virtual buttons and other user interface elements provide mechanisms for accessing and activating windows even when they are hidden behind other windows.
Although users appreciate interfaces that can present information on a screen via multiple windows, the result can be overwhelming. For example, users may find it difficult to navigate to a particular user interface element or to locate a desired element among a large number of onscreen elements. The problem is further compounded when user interfaces allow users to position elements in a desired arrangement, including overlapping, minimizing, maximizing, and the like. Although such flexibility may be useful to the user, it can result in a cluttered display screen. Having too many elements displayed on the screen can lead to "information overload," thus inhibiting the user to efficiently use the computer equipment.
Many of the deficiencies of conventional user interfaces can be reduced using "widgets." Generally, widgets are user interface elements that include information and one or more tools (e.g., applications) that let the user perform common tasks and provide fast access to information. Widgets can perform a variety of tasks, including without limitation, communicating with a remote server to provide information to the user (e.g., weather report), providing commonly needed functionality (e.g., a calculator), or acting as an information repository (e.g., a notebook). Widgets can be displayed in a display environment and accessed through a user interface, such as a "dashboard." Widgets and dashboards are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/877,968, entitled "Unified Interest Layer For User Interface."
Due to the large number of widgets available to a user, a virtual desktop or dashboard can become cluttered and disorganized, making it difficult for the user to quickly locate and access a widget. Moreover, many widgets may not perform as expected or advertised when installed. Some widgets may even present a security risk to the host machine and network resources because they include a virus or are designed to carry out malicious activities. Accordingly, tools are required to manage all aspects of widget deployment and display.

Management of user interface elements in a display environment


A process for forming an encapsulated window assembly including a gasket member surrounding a peripheral region of a transparent sheet and a peripheral seal secured to the gasket member. The peripheral region of the transparent sheet, as well as a preformed periphery seal assembly, are positioned within a mold cavity. The periphery seal assembly includes an elastomeric seal secured to a seal support member, with the seal support member being relatively rigid as compared with the elastomeric seal. The mold is closed, bring the mold sections into facing relationship, whereby opposed surfaces of the seal support member of the periphery seal assembly are engaged between a surface of the first mold section and a surface of the second mold section. A molding material is injected into the mold so as to fill the mold cavity, is allowed to solidify, and the mold is opened and the encapsulated window assembly is removed. The invention also relates to the resulting encapsulated glazing unit and mold apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to encapsulated window assemblies comprising a polymeric frame or gasket member surrounding peripheral regions of a glass sheet and, in particular, to encapsulated window assemblies such as vehicle roof panels including a preformed, molded-in-place periphery seal. The invention also relates to the mold and process used in forming such window assemblies.
2. Related Art
Initially, fixed window assemblies for vehicles were comprised of a plurality of elements including adhesive elements applied around the marginal edges of the glass sheet, suitable mechanical fasteners such as metal clips, and exterior decorative trim strips disposed to cover the marginal edges of the glass sheet and the adjacent portions of the vehicle frame. Such window structures were costly, especially from a labor standpoint, since it was necessary to assemble the individual elements along the vehicle assembly line.
Subsequently, in an endeavor to improve the above window structure, unitary window assemblies of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,340 were developed. These assemblies included a sheet of glass, an adjacent frame, and a casing or gasket of molded material, such as poly(vinyl chloride), extending between the frame and peripheral edge of the window to hold the sheet of glass and the frame together. Fasteners were provided at spaced locations along the frame such that the entire assembly could be guided into location over the opening in a vehicle body as a unit. Other types of unitary window assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,759,004 and 4,364,595. While such unitary window structures gradually reduced the time required to mount the window assembly in the associated vehicle, such structures were relatively costly, since the individual components required to produce each window unit generally required manually assembly.
In a further development, single sheets of glass and laminated glass assemblies were formed with integral frame or gasket members molded by a reaction injection molding (RIM) process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,625 is illustrative of such a process and resulting product, and is incorporated herein by reference. Such an assembly can be readily attached to the material defining the periphery of a window opening, for example, during the manufacturing of a vehicle. Typically, the frame or gasket member is formed of a polyurethane material.
In the case of certain moveable window assemblies, such as vehicle roof panels, elastomeric periphery seals have been used to insure a watertight seal between the window assembly and the window opening. Where such periphery seals have been used, they have typically been secured to the gasket member of the window assembly following the molding process, using either double-sided adhesive materials or "snap-fit" type mechanical interlocking means. Both of these methods require relatively expensive post-molding, labor intensive procedures, may result in gaps between the periphery seal and the gasket member and therefore an incomplete seal, and are prone to the eventual separation of the periphery seal from the gasket member.
It has recently been proposed to provide a periphery seal which is molded in place to the gasket member. Such a periphery seal is illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,603. This patent describes a process for producing a window assembly with a peripheral seal for vehicle roofs in which a glass sheet 10, a support member 12 and a profile part 13 are inserted in a mold, the profile part 13 being positioned by upper and lower attaching projections 6 and 7. An elastomeric material 9 is then introduced into the mold. A seal 16 may be molded directly on the profile part 13 prior to the injection molding of the elastomer 9.
Despite the above-described improvements in encapsulated window assemblies, a further improved process and mold for use in forming such window assemblies is desired.

Encapsulated window assembly including an in-molded periphery seal


Methods and apparatus for text input protection are provided. Text content inputted in an input field can be saved, after the text content inputted by a user in the input field of a browser on a mobile terminal is detected. When the browser is abnormally terminated while the user inputting the text content, the browser can be restarted and the saved text content can be imported into the input field. An exemplary apparatus can include a storage unit, an importing unit, and/or a cleanup unit.

When a user uses a browser to browse web pages on a mobile terminal, the browser may be suddenly and abnormally terminated after a large amount of text have been inputted on a webpage input field. All text previously inputted may then be lost. After the browser is restarted, the same text has to be inputted again to continue. Such operation is tedious and low efficient and may lead to poor user experience. Therefore, there is a need to provide methods and apparatus for text input protection on a mobile terminal.

Method and apparatus for text input protection

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A method and system for performing one or more preventative maintenance functions for a data-processing apparatus. One or more notifications regarding daily maintenance functions can be generated in the form of a reminder when the data-processing apparatus begins operation. A history of the maintenance functions performed can be stored in a memory through remote data pushes. An email alert can be generated and transmitted to a user regarding incomplete maintenance functions in order to track the maintenance activities. The data-processing apparatus can be monitored in a consolidated manner and the occurrence of fault information stored and then rapidly retrieved to provide notifications indicative of such maintenance data.

Computer systems such as, for example, desktop computers and rack mounted server systems require periodic maintenance and servicing. Typical maintenance operations with respect to such computer systems include replacing faulty hardware and adding new hardware (e.g., I/O adapter boards, memory cards, CPUs), upgrading and patching operating systems, upgrading and patching software applications, and performing server reconfiguration where necessary. The majority of prior art computer systems utilize some form of preventative maintenance in order to avoid fault conditions. Preventative maintenance can be performed on the computer systems to maintain the system running well with quality output and to protect the system from possible breakdowns and extend the lifetime. Preventative maintenance can also be utilized to perform scheduled maintenance cleaning in order to prevent system problems thereby reducing the risk of data loss or hardware failure.
Typically, preventative maintenance can be initiated by employing a technician off site in order to manage and maintain the computer system. Such an approach, however, requires the operator be well versed in both equipment part location and maintenance procedures. Unfortunately, computer maintenance is ignored by most computer users due to laziness, lack of understanding, lack of training, operator turnover, and lack of feedback from the operator.
Based on the foregoing, a need exists for an improved method and system for performing daily preventative maintenance functions for a data-processing apparatus. A need also exists for an improved method for notifying occurrence of a fault condition.

Method and system for maintenance of a data-processing apparatus


In an electrodeless discharge lamp suitable for use at a place with unfavorable environmental conditions or at a place where lamp replacement is difficult, the replacement of a lamp unit is facilitated and the lamp unit is prevented from falling off from a power coupler unit even if there is component deterioration caused by long-term use. A metallic elastic member is provided near a position on a metallic heat conduction member of the power coupler unit that is farthest from an electromagnetic field generating portion. In addition to an ordinary coupling structure between the power coupler unit and a coupling member, the elastic member is engaged with the coupling member of the lamp unit. When the lamp unit is mounted on or removed from the power coupler unit, a bulb of the lamp unit is turned relative to the power coupler unit about the axis and moved forward/backward in the direction of the axis. This causes the elastic member to be elastically deformed by the coupling member and engaged to or separated from a coupling portion provided at the coupling member.

Typically, an electrodeless discharge lamp is comprised of a lamp unit, a power coupler unit (inductive coil device), and so on, and excites a discharge gas contained in the bulb (discharge container) by applying a high-frequency electromagnetic field to the discharge gas, and thereby emitting light. Since no electrode is provided in a bulb of the electrodeless discharge lamp, it has a long life as compared to a discharge lamp having an electrode in the bulb. Further, by appropriately selecting the type and pressure of the discharge gas to be contained in the bulb, the strength of the high-frequency magnetic field, and so on, a high-efficiency electrodeless discharge lamp can be achieved.
Due to the high efficiency and the long life, an electrodeless discharge lamp is especially advantageous in the case where it is used at a place that requires a high efficiency as well as making it difficult to replace the lamp unit such as for illumination at the ceiling of a theater or an entrance hall or for illumination at a road.
For example, FIG. 14 shows a configuration of a conventional electrodeless discharge lamp disclosed in International Publication No. WO97/40512 or Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-119038. This conventional electrodeless discharge lamp is comprised of a lamp unit 1 and a power coupler unit 2, in which a coil is wound in a substantially cylindrical cavity (hollow portion) 11 formed at the center of the lamp unit 1. The lamp unit 0 comprises a bulb (airtight container) 10 having the above described cavity 11, a coupling member (collar) 30 that is made of a synthetic resin for fixing the bulb 10 to the power coupler unit 2, and so on. For example, an ionized enclosure having a rare gas is contained in the bulb 10. On the other hand, the power coupler unit 2 comprises the coil 20, a soft magnetic core 21, a heat conduction member 22, a mounting member 31 made of a synthetic resin to be coupled with the coupling member 30, and so on.
The coupling member 30 and the mounting member 31 are precisely formed of a synthetic resin and have a number of complex shaped fitting portions 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, 31e . . . . These fitting portions 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, 31e . . . allow the lamp unit 1 to be attached on and detached from the power coupler unit 2 as well as allowing the lamp unit 1 to be securely held so as not to become easily detached from the power coupler unit 2 while the lamp unit 1 is mounted on the power coupler unit 2.
However, since the coupling member 30 and the mounting member 31 are made of the synthetic resin as described above, they may deteriorate gradually during long-term use depending on environmental conditions and thus may have looseness, deformation, wear, defect, and so on at the respective fitting portions. Especially when it is used, for example, in a high-temperature environment, at a place with much ultraviolet radiation from the lamp unit itself or sunlight, or at a place where heavy vibrations may occur such as on a road or an iron bridge, the coupling member 30 and the mounting member 31 may seriously deteriorate. Consequently, in such a case where the electrodeless discharge lamp is used on a ceiling for example, there is a possibility that the lamp unit 1 may be detached from the power coupler unit 2 because the coupling structure between the coupling member 30 and the mounting member 31 cannot maintain the coupling power sufficient for the weight of the lamp unit 1. Therefore, it is needed to prevent the lamp unit 1 from accidental detachment from the power coupler unit 2 in long-term use.
Further, since the electrodeless discharge lamp is often used at a place where replacement of the lamp unit is difficult, the workability in mounting is particularly important. Therefore, the lamp unit is required to be easily replaceable even when a worker performs the replacement by touch. Since the conventional electrodeless discharge lamp has a number of intricately shaped fitting portions 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, 31e . . . on the coupling member 30 and the mounting member 31, it is not always easy to replace the lamp unit 1.


An ignition control device for controlling a multi-spark operation comprises: a secondary electric energy generator generating an electric energy to reignite an air fuel-mixture associated with an internal combustion engine during the multi-spark operation; a switching element capable of controlling the supplying of the electric energy to a primary coil of an ignition coil, the controlling causing a secondary current in a secondary coil of the ignition coil; an ignition timing signal generator generating an ignition timing signal based on a driving state of the engine; a multi-spark period setting element setting a multi-spark period of the multi-spark operation based on the ignition timing signal; and an ignition control element setting an amount of electric power supplied to the secondary electric energy generator based on the multi-spark period before the performing of the multi-spark operation is started, and for controlling the switching element.

An ignition device typically includes a spark plug, for example, in the case of a spark-ignition internal combustion engine. The spark plug ignites an air-fuel mixture by means of an electrical spark. A multi-spark method of igniting the air-fuel mixture has been proposed in recent years, in which the ignition device ignites the air-fuel mixture by means of a multi-spark operation for every combustion stroke in order to improve a combustion state of the air-fuel mixture. During a period of the multi-spark operation, the spark plug repeatedly generates a spark.
In order to perform the multi-spark operation, an ignition control device requires information on a time when the multi-spark operation is started such as a spark timing and a period during which the multi-spark operation is performed such as a multi-spark period. The spark timing and the multi-spark period are, for example, determined by an engine control unit, an electronic control unit, or the like, any of which is referred to herein as the ECU, based on a driving state of the internal combustion engine. In the above-described case, the ignition control device requires receiving both a spark timing signal and a multi-spark period signal from the ECU, where the spark timing signal and the multi-spark period signal include information on the spark timing and the multi-spark period, respectively.
In a conventional case, such as is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0021607, the ECU outputs the spark timing signal to the ignition control device, and then the ECU outputs the multi-spark period signal to the ignition control device. Consequently, after the spark plug starts generating a spark based on the spark timing signal, the spark plug performs the multi-spark operation during a predetermined period based on the multi-spark period signal. However, in advance of a time when the spark plug starts generating a spark, the ignition control device can not recognize an expected energy consumption or an energy density during the multi-spark operation. Therefore, an amount of energy sufficient to cover all relevant conditions is necessarily supplied to an ignition coil from an electrical energy generator whether the conditions are likely or unlikely. By covering all of the relevant conditions, a large energy is supplied regardless of an ignition condition, and a negative influence on fuel-efficiency is caused.

Ignition control device for internal combustion engine


Hands free system providing user control and regulation of water flow and temperature mix using “foot actuated” devices. Hands free system is adaptable to pre-existing water faucets and conventional plumbing, enabling full integration of an adjustable foot operated device with conventional hand operated water faucets. The hand free water system includes a control state module for providing a user with BYPASS, ON, OFF, HOT and COLD modes of operation. Hardware can include a sealed chamber body adapted for containing a mixing ball valve and having chamber ports further serving as internal passages to channels adapted to said sealed chamber body for connection to water line tubing. The mixing ball can include delivery and exit ports through which water can enter and exit and is adapted for rotation in relation to the fixed chamber body for selective alignment with said chamber ports. A foot controllable actuator in operational connection with said mixing ball valve, wherein rotation of said mixing ball valve with said foot controllable actuator offer user over control water flow rate and temperature.

Traditional sinks and basins typically are equipped with "hand operated" faucets to provide a means of controlling flow rate and temperature mix of water used in a vast number of situations and applications. Flow rate and temperature mix adjustments require the use of the user's hands to manipulate faucet valves, or other mechanisms such as levers, or joysticks to control any desired output settings. In the use of conventional hand operated faucets, the single user must free, at minimum, one hand in order to manipulate the faucet control mechanism. This conventional use restricts the single user, in certain situations, full use of both hands to perform secondary operations while simultaneously controlling the faucet output.
In applications that require full use of both hands, the single user is subject to an initial presetting of the faucet output controls to the desired setting. Meanwhile, during the adjustment phase, water is flowing continuously and for a period while the user prepares and engages in the secondary operation. For example, in initial conditions where both hands are contaminated and is undesirable to spread the contamination to the faucet controls, the single user must rely on secondary measures to manipulate conventional faucet valves and mechanisms to initiate the desired output. Similarly, in post conditions where both hands have been thoroughly scrubbed and free of contamination and is undesirable to contract any contamination by direct hand contact with the faucet controls, the single user must rely on secondary measures to shut off the faucet output.
For the examples cited above, along with a vast number of similar applications, there is an increased interest in a "hands free" faucet control system. Currently, a number of "hands free" devices exist that are capable of being configured in-line or in series with existing supply lines to conventional faucets. Typically, "hands free" devices feature remote mechanical or electrical linkage control of activating the supply lines to conventional faucets. Some known methods of activation of "hands free" devices include direct foot pressure; body leaning against a plate or bar; use of proximity electronic sensor; voice activation system; and timer devices.
The common control feature of known activation methods, however, is their dependence on a fixed preset condition of the conventional faucet for the delivery of the desired flow rate and temperature mix. As a result, the user must initially configure a conventional faucet to a predetermined flow rate and temperature mix setting, then assert the "hands free" activation device to deliver the output. Any adjustments to the flow rate and temperature mix, before or during operation, are manual and require use of hands to manipulate the conventional faucet controls, as before.
The inconvenience of setting flow rates and temperature mixes prior, during, and possibly after an operation increase when requirements of an operation demand sequentially setting of different rates and mixes. Further complications arise when two or more users have access to the same delivery system and an individual assumes the status of the systems' presets to be in accordance to their particular setting. An incorrect assumption, on the part of an individual on the present state of that system, may result in personnel or product safety issues. Furthermore, waste of clean water during the normal set-up of the initial conditions, plus the energy expended in the heating and possible conditioning of the water should also be a concern. Furthermore, the waste of clean water and energy resources only increases in a multi-user scenario.
What is needed are effective means or methods to resolve the problem explained above so that a single user of a conventional faucet can readily configure a system to deliver a desired variable water rate and temperature mix via normal conventional "hand operated" controls and/or via a remote "hands free" control device. In conjunction with the selection of either mode of operation, the present state of the system output controls are always visible and accessible by the user throughout system operation. The present inventor has recognized that it would be advantageous to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies in the prior art, and to facilitate the operation and production of a "hands free" control device by introducing and conforming to standard known methods and features used in existing water valves systems.

Systems and methods providing hands free water faucet control


Apparatus and method for use in recording and reading edit data pertaining to reproduction of information signals and/or portions thereof recorded on a record carrier. Edit data includes skip information (identifying information signals and/or portion thereof for which reproduction is undesired) and/or restore information (denoting invalid skip information). The edit data enables determination as to which information signals and/or portions thereof should be inhibited during reproduction.

Recording/read devices of this type are known from, for example, EP-A-0 288 571. In the information recording device described therein a Table of contents is recorded specifying the opening and closing addresses of the passages of the recorded information signals intended for reproduction. If the information signals are recorded on a record carrier of an inscribable type, a problem exists in that it is no longer possible once the Table of contents has been recorded to modify opening and closing addresses that have already been recorded, for example, so as to avoid specific undesired passages at the beginning or end of an information signal, in the form of a piece of music, and as such, they are made audible when the record carrier is played. This implies that the selection of the opening and closing addresses is to be made with extreme caution so as to avoid undesired passages being reproduced when the record carrier is played.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device whereby the reproduction of undesired passages of the recorded information signals, lying within the parts specified by the recorded Table of contents of the recorded information signals is inhibited.

Apparatus and method for recording and reading edit data pertaining to reproduction of information signals and/or portions thereof recorded on a record carrier


There is provided a culture apparatus including: a first pipe having a discharge channel formed at one end thereof; a second pipe having a suction channel formed at one end thereof; and a connection channel connecting the first and second pipes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a culture apparatus and a method of replacing a culture medium, and more particularly, to a culture apparatus and a method of replacing a culture medium capable of continuously culturing cells or biomaterials.
2. Description of the Related Art
The demand for a biomedical apparatus and biotechnology for rapidly diagnosing various human diseases has recently increased. Therefore, the development for an experimentation apparatus and device capable of rapidly providing diagnostic results for a specific disease, tests for which have required a long period of time in a hospital or a research laboratory in the past, has been actively undertaken.
Meanwhile, in order to develop new medicines and to determine the experimental stability thereof, it is necessary to culture a cell. Cell culturing generally refers to injecting a cell and a cell culture medium into a culture vessel or a culture dish having a predetermined volume and culturing the cell and the cell culture for a predetermined time.
Here, in order to efficiently culture the cell, the culture medium should be replaced at a predetermined period. According to the related art, experimenters have automatically replaced the cell culture medium using a pump. However, since the pump and a pump control apparatus occupy a significant space, it may be difficult to simultaneously perform several culture medium replacement operations.
In addition, since an expensive pump and controller are required in the case of a scheme of replacing the culture medium using the pump, it is difficult to use the scheme in a small scale laboratory.
Therefore, the development of an experimentation apparatus or an experimentation device capable of replacing a fixed quantity of culture medium at a low cost has been urgently demanded.

Culture apparatus and method of replacing culture medium


In a damping force variable hydraulic shock absorber 6 including a main valve 18 for opening and closing a main passageway 19 communicating with two main oil chambers 7a, 7b defined by a piston 9 within a cylinder 7, an auxiliary oil chamber 31 for causing a pressure within a high pressure side one of the oil chambers to act on the main valve 18 for movement in a valve closing direction, a pilot valve 35 provided for opening and closing a pilot passage 36 communicating the auxiliary oil chamber 31 to a low pressure side one of the oil chambers such that when the pressure within the auxiliary oil chamber 31 exceeds a preset pressure the pilot valve operates to open the pilot passage 36 to allow a working fluid to escape through the auxiliary oil chamber 31 toward the low pressure side thereby to vary the force biasing the main valve toward the closing direction, and preset pressure variable means 44 for variably controlling the preset pressure, a valve body 42 and a valve opening, both of the pilot valve 35, are so configured that a pressure receiving surface of the valve body 42 and a valve seat extending along a circumferential edge of the valve opening are positioned orthogonal to the direction of opening and closing movement of the pilot valve 35.

With shock absorbers employed in vehicles such as automobiles and motor cycles, it is desirable to variably control damping force freely according to the driving conditions and the like.
Conventionally, therefore, a damping force variable hydraulic shock absorber 60 as shown, for example, in FIG. 10 has been employed. The shock absorber 60 is of the following construction. That is, it includes upper and lower oil chambers 63, 64 defined by a piston 62 within a cylinder 61, an auxiliary oil chamber 62b formed within the piston 62, and a main valve 65 disposed within the auxiliary oil chamber for opening and closing a main passageway 62a which communicates with the two oil chambers 63, 64. The auxiliary oil chamber 62b is adapted to communicate with the upper and lower oil chambers 63, 64 through a check valve 62c. A pilot passage 62d for allowing the pressure within the auxiliary oil chamber 62b to escape is provided which can be opened and closed by a pilot valve 66, the biasing force of the pilot valve 66 in the direction of closing movement being adjustable by means of an electromagnetic coil 67.
With this prior art shock absorber 60, by controlling power supply to the electromagnetic coil 67 according to the driving conditions and the like, it is possible to control the closing force of the pilot valve 66 with respect to the pilot passage 62d and, in turn, the opening and closing of the main valve 65. Thus, the damping force of the working fluid, as it is generated when the fluid flows through an open clearance between the main valve 65 and the valve seat for the main passageway 62a, is variably controlled.
However, such prior art shock absorber 60 involves problems. One problem is low response, and another is that the pilot valve 66 is liable to axial vibration. Such problems are believed to be due to the following fact. That is, in the prior art shock absorber 60, the abutment surface (sealing surface) of the pilot valve 66 for contact with the valve seat 62e is of conical shape so that the area of opening defined by the pilot valve 66 and valve seat 62e is small relative to same strokes of the pilot valve 66.
The present invention has been developed in view of these problems with the prior art and, therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a damping force variable hydraulic shock absorber which can exhibit improved response and inhibit pilot valve vibrations.

Damping force variable hydraulic shock absorber


A data transmission/reception method in Near Field Communications (NFC) for enhancing data throughput between at least an initiator device and a target device. The data transmission/reception method typically includes initiating a communication between an initiator and a target that perform NFC, aggregating a plurality of data packet units to be transmitted in order to form an aggregated frame, and transmitting the aggregated frame to a counterpart NFC device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission/reception method in Near Field Communications (NFC). More particularly, the present invention relates to a communication method for enhancing data throughput between an initiator and a target that perform NFC.
2. Description of the Related Art
Near Field Communications (NFC) is a method for communication between devices that are spaced from each other within about a 10 cm distance. In NFC protocol stacks, the NFCIP-1 standard is used on physical layers of ISO 14443. In NFCIP-1, devices used for the NFC (or NFCIP-1 devices) may operate either in Active mode or Passive mode. An NFCIP-1 device in a transmission mode is referred to as an initiator and an NFCIP-1 device in a reception mode is referred to as a target.
In Passive mode, an NFCIP-1 device does not have its own power source required for modulation of its own Radio Frequency (RF) field and thus cannot generate a request message by itself. Therefore, a communication must be started by an initiator at all times. In other words, once the initiator (in Active mode) sends a request message through the RF field, the target (in Passive mode) drives a receiver circuit with the power source provided through the RF field. If the initiator does not have any transmission data, the initiator will periodically transmit a symmetry (SYMM) frame.
In response to the SYMM frame or an Information (I) frame received from the initiator, the target responds to the initiator by sending back the received frame to the initiator, with the frame sent back having its own data additionally inserted therein. Thus, the throughput, i.e., data transfer rate, of data transmitted from the target depends on the frequency of the I frame or the SYMM frame received from the initiator.
Moreover, with regard to NFC in the current Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP) version, the initiator has to wait for reception of a response frame after transmitting a request frame. This waiting is referred to as response waiting time. Due to such a wait, data transfer may be delayed by the amount of response waiting time (RWT). Furthermore, there are several additional overheads to every request frame transmitted by the initiator. As a result, as the amount of data to be transmitted between NFC devices increases, i.e., as the number of request frames transmitted by the initiator increases, the number of RWTs for each request frame increases, and the same overhead is separately transmitted through a plurality of request frames. The aforementioned results in an increase in the amount of data and in turn causes a degradation in the data transfer rate between the NFC devices.
To solve those problems, there is a need for a fundamental method for improving a data transfer rate between NFC devices.

Method for transmitting and receiving data in NFC

Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


An image-attached mail transiting apparatus has a mail receiving portion for receiving an image-attached mail transmitted from a transmitting terminal that transmits the image-attached mail to which an image picked up by an installed miniature camera is attached, a mail control portion for extracting an attached image from the image-attached mail, then instructing an image processing portion how to process the attached image, and then substituting a processed image for the original attached image of the image-attached mail, an image processing portion for performing the process indicated by the mail control portion to the image, and a mail transmitting portion for transmitting the image-attached mail to the receiving terminal, whereby the mail control portion discriminates a type of the transmitting terminal, and the image processing portion performs image processing according to the type. It become possible to perform predetermined processing to a picked-up image every camera provided to communication devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-attached mail transiting apparatus, an image-attached mail transiting method, and an image-attached mail transiting program, which perform predetermined processing for an attached image of an image-attached mail, which is transmitted from a communication device with a camera, according to the performance of the camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, improvement in performance of the cellular phone itself and improvement in the cellular phone service make it possible not only to transmit/receive the sound as the original function of the phone but also to transmit/receive E-mail and the image. Until now, the image that is transmitted/received by the cellular phone is the image picked up by the digital camera, or the like. In recent years, since the camera such as the mobile camera, the CCD camera, or the like is installed into the cellular phone, the service of transmitting the image picked up by such a camera to another cellular phone, or the like is provided.
However, since reduction in size and weight is required for the cellular phone, the camera that can be installed into the cellular phone is limited to the miniature camera. In this case, since such miniature camera is inferior in picture quality to the normal digital camera, it is desired that the picked-up image should be processed in some way. In particular, these miniature cameras are different in the performance such as sharpness, focusing function, etc. according to the type of the camera. Therefore, it is desirable that the picked-up image is should be processed in every type of the miniature camera.

Image-attached mail transiting apparatus, image-attached mail transiting method, and image-attached mail transiting program


A process for producing a metal foil-covered semiconductor device. The metal foil material is one which is, in molding a resin for encapsulating a semiconductor element using a mold, temporarily fixed on a surface of a cavity of the mold, and is adhered on a surface of a semiconductor device by injecting the encapsulating resin into the mold and molding the resin, wherein a contact angle of the face of the metal foil material which is in contact with the encapsulating resin during molding, to water is 110.degree. or less.

Semiconductor devices such as a transistor, an IC and an LSI are conventionally produced by encapsulating a semiconductor element with a ceramic, but in light of cost and productivity, they are popularly produced by encapsulating with resin. In this resin encapsulation, an epoxy resin has conventionally been used and good results have been obtained.
With the increase in a degree of integration through technical innovation in the semiconductor field, the size of the semiconductor is enlarged, but there is strongly demanded to miniaturize a semiconductor device and to be made it into a thin device. For this reason, the volume capacity which occupies a resin material for encapsulation decreases, and it is required for the encapsulating material to have higher reliability.
Particularly, in recent years, with the large-sizing of the semiconductor element, further improvement on performance for a thermal cycle test (TCT) which is an acceleration test for evaluating a resin for encapsulating a semiconductor material is required. As a process for mounting a semiconductor device on a printed board, a surface mounting has been popularized. For this reason, the encapsulating resin is required to possess a characteristic that when a semiconductor device is soldered in a moisture-absorbed state, no crack or swelling takes place in the semiconductor device.
For these requirements, in order to enhance resistance to thermal stress evaluated in the TCT test, it has conventionally been considered that fine rubber particles are added to an encapsulating resin or an epoxy resin is modified with a silicone compound, to decrease thermal stress.
For the purpose of enhancing the crack resistance when soldering, it has also been considered that an encapsulating resin having a small moisture-absorption is selected and that adhesion to a leadframe is improved, but their effects are yet insufficient.
The present inventors have proposed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/421,253 filed on Apr. 13, 1995 that the surface of plastic package is covered with a metal foil in order to obtain a highly reliable semiconductor device excellent in moisture resistance, resistance to thermal stress, and crack resistance when soldering even when a semiconductor device is made into a thin type. As the process for producing it, the present inventors have proposed that when a resin for encapsulating a semiconductor element is molded, a metal foil material is temporarily fixed on the molding face of a mold, and a resin is then injected, followed by molding to directly fix the metal foil material on the surface of the plastic package. In this case, as a process for the temporary fixation on the molding face of the mold, a process in which an adhesive layer is provided on the face of a metal foil material to be temporarily fixed is proposed. JP-A-63-250846 (the term "JP-A" used herein means a Japanese unexamined patent publication) proposes a process for temporary fixation by physical means, such as vacuum adsorption, magnetic power, and gravity.
The process for producing a semiconductor device comprising temporarily fixing a metal foil material having an adhesive layer for temporary fixation on a mold via the adhesive layer, and injecting an encapsulating resin followed by molding the encapsulating resin has the following disadvantages:
(1) Since the adhesion between the metal foil material and the semiconductor device is insufficient, the metal foil material sometimes peels during molding the encapsulating resin, curing the encapsulating resin after molding, and applying thermal stress such as mounting the semiconductor device on a printed board, and as a result, the effects expected to be obtained by covering the surface of the semiconductor device with the metal foil, e.g., improvement in reliability after the TCT and improvement in crack resistance when soldering and the TCT, are partly impaired. PA1 (2) Unless the tensile characteristics of the metal foil material used are appropriately selected, no effect of reliability nor crack resistance in the TCT can be exhibited. PA1 (3) As for the metal foil material used to temporarily fix on the surface of mold cavity, depending on the type of the adhesive layer formed on the metal foil material, position deviation or mold stain sometimes occurs.

Process for producing encapsulated semiconductor device having metal foil material covering and metal foil


To enable indoor and outdoor physical conditions to be detected for very fine control thereof. Self-contained transmitting sensors 10-1 through 10-8 which monitor physical quantities and convert them into electrical data signals for radio-transmission are disposed in desired positions in housing. The wirelessly transmitted data signals are received by a portable information terminal 20 for controlling the operation of a device 30 to be controlled based upon the received information and its information history. By wearing a self-contained transmitting sensor 10-9 on a user 40 physical quantities such as temperature, humidity and illumination at a place in which the user is located can be controlled to desired values wherever the user moves.

There are various systems which monitor natural and artificial environmental conditions for controlling them. For example, an air-conditioning system monitors the temperature and humidity in each room of building for controlling them at desired presettings. In such an air-conditioning system, the temperature and humidity of each room is monitored by sensors and the monitor results are transmitted to a central control unit at which a control signal for an air-conditioner in each room is generated for controlling the temperature and humidity in each room to desired values.
In this case, the method of transmitting the monitor result of the temperature and the humidity in each room to the central control unit includes a technique using an existing private branch exchange (PBX) (refer to Patent document 1). Specifically, sensors are mounted on a telephone set in each room, so that monitor results of the sensors are transmitted to a computer in the central control unit via the telephone set, PBX and a modem.
There is also a system which detects the damages of a protective net for preventing rocks from falling which is provided on a slope along a road, so that they are alarmed to remote a control room (refer to Patent document 2). In this system, IC tags having displacement sensors incorporated therein are mounted on the falling rock preventive net or rocks, so that displacement data are wirelessly transmitted to the control room. An example in which a cellular phone is used as a wireless transmitter is disclosed.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-A-7-158940, pages 3 and 4, FIG. 1
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2002-228497A, pages 2 and 3, FIG. 1

Physical quantity monitoring and control system and portable information terminal used for the same