An apparatus for supporting docking of a marine vessel includes a distance measuring unit which measures a distance between the marine vessel and a candidate docking site, a distance measurement controlling unit which controls the distance measuring unit to measure distances between the marine vessel and at least three measurement points defined around the candidate docking site, a configuration evaluating unit which evaluates the configuration of the candidate docking site based on the distances between the marine vessel and the at least three measurement points, and a docking suitability judging unit which judges, based on the result of the evaluation, whether or not the candidate docking site is suitable for docking of the marine vessel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for supporting docking of a marine vessel, and to a marine vessel including the apparatus. The term "docking" as used herein means that the marine vessel is brought into contact with a docking site (e.g., a pier, a wharf, a second marine vessel, or the like) or into close proximity to the docking site.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art technique for supporting a marine vessel maneuvering operation for docking a marine vessel is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-28891. According to the prior art technique, a pair of bitts (an object to be approached for docking) are provided on a wharf, and the marine vessel includes two pairs of automatic object tracking laser distance measuring apparatuses which each include a TV camera having an automatic tracking function and a laser distance sensor. The automatic object tracking laser distance measuring apparatus automatically tracks the bitts on the wharf, and constantly measures distances to the respective bitts. Based on the results of the measurement, the position of the marine vessel with respect to the wharf and the attitude and approaching speed of the marine vessel are computed, and the results of the computation are displayed on a display device. With reference to the display, an operator of the marine vessel controls bow side thrusters and stern pod propellers.
The prior art technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-28891 is based on the assumption that the bitts are preliminarily provided on the wharf, and principally intended to support the docking of a large-scale marine vessel such as a large-scale ferry or a large-scale tanker. In the case of the large-scale marine vessel, a docking site (a site of a pier at which the marine vessel is to be docked) is predetermined according to a navigation schedule. Of course, the docking site is preliminarily selected so as to ensure safe docking of the large-scale marine vessel.
On the other hand, a small-scale marine vessel such as a cruiser, a fishing boat, a water jet, or a watercraft can berth in a narrow space in a harbor, so that it is rare to preliminarily assign a docking site to the small-scale marine vessel. Therefore, an operator of the small-scale marine vessel finds an available docking site in the harbor and, after visually checking the docking site for safety, docks the marine vessel at the site.
For example, the marine vessel may be re-docked at a docking site which is defined as a target docking position when the marine vessel leaves the docking site. However, if another marine vessel berths at that docking site, the target docking position should be changed. Of course, it is impossible to preliminarily determine a docking site in a harbor to be visited for the first time by the marine vessel. Further, a change in water depth due to tides may prevent the re-docking of the marine vessel at the docking site from which the marine vessel sets off.
For these reasons, the prior art technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-28891 is not applicable to the support of the docking of the small-scale marine vessel. Therefore, whether or not the small-scale marine vessel can be safely docked at a docking site depends heavily on a judgment made by the operator of the marine vessel. Particularly, most leisure boat operators have insufficient marine vessel maneuvering skill and, therefore, often fail to make a proper judgment on the safe docking site.

Docking supporting apparatus, and marine vessel including the apparatus


A device for picking up bone-conducted sound in the external auditory meatus includes a fitting portion for accommodation in a navicular cavity formed between a tragus cartilage portion and an entrance portion of an external auditory meatus, and a bone conduction microphone unit for insertion into the external auditory meatus in such a manner as to be brought into contact with a wall of the external auditory meatus. The bone conduction microphone unit is held by the fitting portion via a resilient member in such a manner that at least a portion of the bone conduction microphone unit contacting the external auditory meatus is resiliently brought into contact with the wall of the external auditory meatus substantially orthogonally. Also disclosed is a communication device in which an earphone unit for transmitting sound from the outside is accommodated in the fitting portion of the device for picking up bone-conducted sound in the external auditory meatus, and a sound conductive tube of the earphone unit is open at a portion of the fitting portion facing the external auditory meatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for picking up bone-conducted sound in the external auditory meatus and a communication device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to transmit speech in noisy places such as coal mining sites, quarrying sites, airports, construction sites, and sheet metal factories, a method in which a unidirectional microphone is used for the lips and a method in which an acceleration-type vibration pickup is used by being attached to the throat or the forehead have been adopted extensively. With the former unidirectional microphone, however, there are limitations in the elimination of external noise, and this method is therefore unsuitable for intensely noisy places. Meanwhile, in the latter case, since the vibration pickup needs to be closely secured to the throat or the forehead, there have been drawbacks in that the attachment thereof is complicated or troublesome, that the vibration pickup, when fitted, does not make a good appearance, and that a sensation of a foreign object being attached or discomfort in use felt by the user is so conspicuous that it cannot withstand a long time of use.
Accordingly, the present inventor has proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 39763/1978 a device for picking up bone-conducted sound vibrations from the wall of the external auditory meatus by disposing a vibration pickup in an earpiece forming a tubular casing for insertion into the external auditory meatus of the ear, the operating direction of the vibration pickup being substantially orthogonal to the direction of the external auditory meatus.
With the above-described pickup device, however, the earpiece constituting the tubular casing is difficult to be held stably unless it is inserted sufficiently deeply in the external auditory meatus. Therefore, if the earpiece is inserted sufficiently, the contact area and the contact pressure with respect to the external auditory meatus increase. This is favorable for the improvement of the function of the device, but the earpiece is applied too tightly in the external auditory meatus, so that a sensation of a foreign object being attached or discomfort is imparted to the user. In addition, the contact pressure becomes too high for some people, who come to have a sensation of pressure or a sensation of the external auditory meatus being blocked.
In addition, as another conventional device, a compact two-way communication device is known which incorporates an earphone unit in a portion thereof which is formed integrally with a tubular casing having a built-in microphone unit of the above-described type, so as to permit communication. With such a device, however, since the microphone unit and the earphone unit are formed integrally and are disposed in proximity to each other, there are cases where the sound pressure from the earphone unit is transmitted circuitously to the microphone unit. For the purpose of controlling the same, a method is adopted in which the earphone unit is surrounded by a sound absorbing material or a vibration absorbing material. However, if the external noise becomes large, the sound pressure in the earphone unit is inevitably increased, with the result that there has been the drawback that the circuitous transmission occurs and a howling is produced. Hence, this two-way communication device can be used only when the sound pressure in the earphone unit is set to a low level.
Air vibrations of sound from the earphone unit, external noise, and the like are, in principle, difficult to pick up by the vibration pickup-type external auditory meatus microphone, and the direction of air vibrations of external noise and the like and the direction of vibration of the external auditory meatus microphone unit are in an orthogonal relationship. Hence, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of speech in the noise should naturally be high. This being the case, however, since the aforementioned microphone unit and the casing incorporating the earphone unit are formed integrally, the overall shape becomes large, and the vibration absorbing area increases, so that the external noise is picked up via the casing. Thus, there has been the drawback that although the vibration pickup type should exhibit an excellent anti-noise characteristic, the S/N ratio declines in a very noisy condition.

Device for picking up bone-conducted sound in external auditory meatus and communication device using the same


Producing a modified document object model structure is disclosed. A desired webpage is requested. An alternative webpage is received in response to the request instead of an original version of the desired webpage to be rendered. The alternative webpage is processed. Program code included in the alternative webpage is utilized to request the original version of the desired webpage. The original version of the desired webpage is received. The modified document object model structure different from an original document object model structure corresponding to the received original version of the desired webpage is produced.

Often web content such as a webpage is desired to be served and rendered as fast as possible at end clients that desire to view the web content. In order to speed delivery of the web content, a content delivery network may be utilized to distribute the web content across multiple data centers that are able to provide the web content to the closest end clients. This typically requires modification of Domain Name System (DNS) server entries to allow redirection of requests to the fastest data center. However, modifying DNS servers may be difficult to achieve efficiently given that DNS servers are often controlled by an entity external to a provider of the web content. Additionally, additional optimization may be made to the web content to enable more efficient delivery and rendering by modifying the web content based on characteristics of the end client. However, maintaining multiple different versions of the web content for various different types of end clients would be difficult and inefficient to produce and maintain at a central location. Therefore, there exists a need for a more efficient way to modify and redirect web content.


Controlled cilia are provided to move an object. Each of the cilia, which are made of an elastic material, are fixed over a substrate and moved between a relaxed position away from the substrate and a retracted position near the substrate to move an object relative to the substrate. The cilia are moved between the relaxed and retracted positions by an electrostatic force or heating of the cilia. The cilia are formed from a material that is initially fixed to a substrate and has an inherent stress gradient. A portion of the material is released from the substrate and the inherent stress gradient forces a free portion of the cilia away from the substrate.

1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to controlled cilia, or spring claw fingers, for object manipulation.
2. Description of Related Art
Various systems exist for moving objects, such as pieces of paper, semiconductor wafers, etc. For example, pieces of paper in a copier are moved by rollers, belts, wheels and other moving devices. Similarly, semiconductor wafers are often moved by robots or air-driven transport devices as part of the manufacturing process for creating integrated circuits and the like. In the semiconductor wafer processing context, robotic and other devices are typically complex machines with many moving parts and present a contamination risk. Contamination of a semiconductor wafer processing environment can be caused by escaped lubricants, dust or other particles that are dislodged or transported by moving air from robotic devices or air transport mechanisms, or particles generated or otherwise released by friction or other contact between two moving surfaces.

Controlled cilia for object manipulation


A recording system for recording a color image on a recording medium by utilizing a recording head, on which a plurality of recording elements are arranged, includes a compensation unit to compensate a position to be recorded by a recording element which does not execute a recording operation by color dots different from those of that recording element. The compensation unit is controlled such that the number of the compensation dots is less than the number of dots to be formed originally and that lightness per a determined area of an image obtained by the compensation dots is within a range of ±20% of that to be obtained by dots from the recording element which does not execute the recording operation. The recording system can minimize nonuniformity in the recorded image, can make the nonuniformity be unrecognized by human eyes and can suppress increased costs while increasing recording rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method using a recording head, on which a plurality of recording elements are arranged, when recording. In particular, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus such as an ink-jet recording apparatus and the like using the recording head by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged thereon, when recording.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Recently recording apparatuses employing an ink-jet method for recording on a recording medium by ejecting ink from nozzles arranged on the recording head, have been widely applied to printers, facsimile machines, copying machines and so forth. Particularly, color printers capable of recording color images by using a plurality of colors have been remarkably widely used as images of high quality have been enhanced with progress of the color printers.
In addition to high quality images, a higher recording rate is an important factor for the recording apparatus to spread widely so that liquid droplet ejection driving frequencies of recording heads have been raised higher along with the increasing number of nozzles arranged in the recording heads for higher-rate recording.
However, in ink-jet apparatuses, sometimes statuses, such as so-called "non-eject" status, where ink droplets can not be ejected, are caused by dust entered into nozzles of the recording head during production of the head and deteriorated nozzles due to a long period use, deteriorated elements for ejecting ink and so forth. In the case of the non-eject status caused by deteriorated nozzles or elements, it is likely that the non-eject status happens casually when the recording apparatuses are in use.
In some cases statuses where ejecting directions of ink droplets are deviated largely from a desired direction (hereinafter also referred as "twisted ejection") and statuses where ejecting volumes of ink droplets are different largely from a desired volume (hereinafter also referred as "dispersion in droplet diameter") are observed instead of non-eject statuses. Since such deteriorated nozzles largely deteriorate quality of recorded images, these nozzles cannot be employed for recording. Hereinafter such nozzles are also included in and explained as the non-eject statuses.
Such non-eject statuses and so forth were not so problematic in the past, since non-eject status generating frequencies could be suppressed by modifying manufacturing conditions and the like. However, the non-eject statuses have become problems not to be ignored, as nozzle numbers have been increased for the above-mentioned higher-rate recording.
In order to manufacture recording heads which do not include nozzles at the non-eject statuses and excellent recording heads which hardly cause the non-eject statuses, manufacturing costs will be increased, which leads to higher cost recording heads.
When the non-eject statuses occur, defects such as white streaks and the like are observed in recorded images. In order to compensate such white streaks, techniques such that white streaks are compensated by recording with other normal nozzles by utilizing a divided recording method where the recording head is scanned a plurality of times for recording.
However, in order to attain the above-mentioned higher-rate recording, it is preferable to finish recording by one scanning, so called "one path recording", but it is very difficult to compensate unrecorded portions due to the non-eject statuses or to make such portions unrecognizable in the one path recording. In another recording method for recording by executing a plurality of scanning on a predetermined area in a recording medium, so called "multi scan", sometimes it is difficult to compensate completely depending on positions or the number of non-eject nozzles.

Recording apparatus, method and program utilizing compensation dots


An optical waveguide comprises a silica substrate, a buffer layer formed on the silica substrate, cores formed on the buffer layer, and upper cladding layer formed on the buffer layer, covering the cores. The thermal expansion coefficients of the buffer layer and upper cladding layer are set to be substantially equal. As a result, the stresses in the cores are isotropic, effectively suppressing birefringence.

In recent years optical communication is being widely used for the high-speed transmission of large amount of information. Optical waveguides used in optical communications can be broadly divided into optical fiber and planar type optical waveguides. The prior art includes planar optical waveguides comprising a silicon substrate, lower cladding provided on the silicon substrate, a core provided on the lower cladding, and upper cladding layer provided on the lower cladding, over the core (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 7-318739).
In an optical waveguide having this composition the refractive index of the silicon substrate is considerably higher than the refractive index of the core, so care must be taken to prevent light leaking from the core to the silicon substrate. For this reason, the lower cladding must be sufficiently thick, 20 μm for example. It results in a long fabrication time.
In contrast, there is another type of planar optical waveguide that comprises a silica substrate, a core provided on the silica substrate and upper cladding layer provided on the lower cladding, covering the core (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 9-297237). In the case of an optical waveguide having this composition, the silica substrate has a lower refractive index than the core, so the substrate itself can function as the lower cladding. This has the merit of eliminating the need to separately form lower cladding, therefore enabling the waveguide to be fabricated using fewer fabrication steps.
However, a number of problems have been reported when a core is formed directly on the silica substrate, such as that birefringence is produced, increasing the polarization dependency. Various methods have been proposed for improving the polarization dependency and other characteristics even when using a silica substrate, such as by interposing a buffer layer between the silica substrate and the core (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 10-142436 and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-189139).
Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2003-14959 discloses a method of decreasing the polarization dependency in an optical waveguide that uses a silicon substrate, by prescribing the range of the relationship between the thermal expansion coefficient of the upper cladding layer and the thermal expansion coefficient of the silicon substrate, and the relationship between the thermal expansion coefficient of the upper cladding layer and the thermal expansion coefficient of the lower cladding.
However, even when a buffer layer is interposed between the silica substrate and the core, birefringence has arisen, caused by differences between the thermal expansion coefficients of the core and the buffer layer, or between the thermal expansion coefficients of the core and the upper cladding layer. Such problems have been particularly pronounced when the upper cladding layer is subjected to fluidization annealing to eliminate voids between adjacent cores.

Optical waveguide and method of fabricating the same


An image forming apparatus having a sharp neutralizing member which can perform uniform neutralizing effects for a long period of time. The sharp neutralizing member includes sharp projections in which tip portions having the following relationship between a distance P between the tip portions of neighboring projections and the distance D between the tip portion of the projection and an object of neutralization:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using electrophotographic technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines which form images from image data, a facsimile machine or an image scanner used as a computer output device are being more widely used.
Many types of image forming means, including thermal fusion, thermal sublimation, thermal transfer, ink-jet, and electrophotographic, have been developed in response to user demands. Among others, a full-color electrophotographic image forming apparatus using four colors, including cyan, yellow, magenta and black, by arranging four process stations 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d that serve as image forming sections of different colors, as shown in FIG. 18, is now proposed.
In FIG. 18, the process stations 1a to 1d have photosensitive drums 2a to 2d serving as image carriers. After the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d are uniformly charged by primary chargers 3a to 3d, an electrostatic latent image is formed through exposure based on image information from exposure units 4a to 4d, such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) or lasers. Different kinds of toner for the individual colors are imparted to this electrostatic latent image, which is developed by developing units 5a to 5d into toner images.
The individual process stations 1a to 1d serving as process cartridges are detachable from the image forming apparatus main body. The individual process cartridge integrally combines the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d, the primary chargers 3a to 3d, the developing units 5a to 5d, and cleaning means 6a to 6d.
A transfer medium S serving as a recording medium housed in a paper feed cassette 15 is fed into the image forming apparatus main body by a paper feed roller 16, and conveyed by a resist roller pair 17. Then, the transfer medium S is electrostatically attracted by a transfer conveyor belt 7, serving as a transfer medium carrier, by an attracting roller 12 to which a positive attracting bias voltage is applied by an attracting bias power source 13.
The transfer conveyor belt 7 is attracted and supported by four rollers including a driving roller 8, an attraction opposing roller 9, and tension rollers 10 and 11. The process stations 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d of the individual colors, including cyan, yellow, magenta and black, are arranged substantially perpendicular to the surface of the transfer conveyor belt 7 and sequentially from an upstream side along the moving direction of the transfer conveyor belt 7 (as shown by arrow a).
The transfer medium S, attracted by the transfer conveyor belt 7, passes sequentially through the process stations 1a to 1d of the individual colors. The toner images of the individual colors carried on the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d are electrostatically transferred in sequence. Subsequently, these toner images are heated and pressurized by a fixing unit 18, whereby the toner images are fixed on the transfer medium S to form permanent images.
At this point in time, the transfer medium S, which is a dielectric such as paper or a synthetic resin, carries a large amount of charge since the transfer medium undergoes four runs of the transfer process while passing through the four process stations 1a to 1d.
As a result, a peeling-discharge phenomenon takes place, at a peeling-separation section, from the transfer conveyor belt 7 provided on the circumference of the driving roller 8, and the toner images, transferred onto the transfer medium S, are disturbed along the discharge pattern.
To solve this problem, it is the usual practice to arrange a neutralizer (neutralizing member) between the transfer conveyor belt 7 and the fixing unit 18, as shown in FIG. 18. For example, a defective image is prevented by arranging a wire-type corona charger 51, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, and neutralizing the transfer medium S by means of the corona charger 51 while peeling off the transfer medium S from the transfer conveyor belt 7, thereby preventing peeling discharge. The corona charger 51 includes a conduction shield 53 and a discharge wire 52.
However, use of a neutralizer having the above-mentioned configuration has the following problems.
Use of a wire-type corona charger as a neutralizer is characterized by stabilization of discharge and availability of a neutralizing effect. On the other hand, when cleaning stains off of the discharge wire 52, or when removing transfer medium jam, the discharge wire 52 tends to be easily broken or it is difficult to maintain a sufficient life or ensure safety.
There is available a neutralizing member using a sharp electrode as a neutralizing mechanism posing no risk of breakage of the discharge wire 52, as in a corona charger 51. Use of a sharp electrode can, however, pose other problems.
The neutralizing mechanism using a sharp electrode (needle electrode or the like) has conventionally been arranged near the object of neutralization, since the neutralizing effect becomes more remarkable as the distance between the object of neutralization and the sharp electrode becomes smaller. However, in the neutralizing member using the sharp electrode, the rise in discharge current from the proximity of the discharge threshold value (electric field condition for start of discharge) is steep, making it difficult to stabilize the neutralizing effect because of the unstable discharge.
That is, it has generally been recognized that, if the object of discharge may flap as the transfer medium, a neutralizing member using a sharp electrode did not achieve uniform neutralization. When the distance between the neutralizing member and the object of neutralization is small, an increase in the number of transfers of the object of neutralization in the proximity of the neutralizing member causes adhesion of dust resulting from the object of neutralization itself, to the neutralizing member and an abnormal discharge at this adhesion, thus causing a problem in that the expected neutralizing effect cannot be achieved.

Neutralizing apparatus and image forming apparatus having the neutralizing apparatus

Abstract: D≧4.0 mm, and 0.8*D≦P≦1.5*D. Particularly for neutralization of a carrier of toner images, it is possible to achieve uniform neutralization of the medium and to provide a high-quality image.


A switching circuit includes a microchip which, in response to a signal from a signal switch, controls the operation of a power switch which, when closed, connects a load to a battery. The microchip can monitor the status of the battery and control the power switch to ensure optimum operation of the load and optimum usage of the energy in the battery. The microchip can control the connection of the load to the battery in different ways according to the manner of operation of the signal switch.

The invention relates generally to an intelligent switch which is suitable for controlling the use of a battery driven device such as a flashlight, toy, motor or the like and, more particularly, is concerned with an intelligent electrical device of the kind described in the applicant's international application No. PCT/ZA99/00107.
In the PCT application mechanical switches function as a man-machine-interface ("MMI") between the device and an operator. The MMI functions are controlled by very low current signals using touch pads, carbon coated membrane type switches or similar mechanisms. A microchip is responsive to input signals from the MMI and can, according to application, be used in various ways. For example with a flashlight the MMI may control the on/off operation of the flashlight, cause the flashlight to be turned off after a predetermined time, provide an indication of battery strength, or enable the flashlight to be operated with a desired flashing sequence. Various other features can also be achieved through the judicious use of the microchip and reference is made to the specification of the PCT application for a further description of such features.
The applicant is aware of a number of systems which provide an indication of the charge left in a battery.
Osterhout et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,632) describes a circuit which detects the closed circuit voltage of a battery pack used in a flashlight. Based on predetermined reference voltages the battery life is shown in one of three categories. The circuit is activated by an on/off switch of a flashlight and does not function when the flashlight is off. This is to ensure that there is no power consumption when the flashlight is off. If however the circuit should function when the light is off the open circuit voltage of the battery will be measured and this will give a misleading indication of the available battery life.
Mallory (U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,525) and Weber (U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,697) relate to the provision of constant illumination by flashlights. Much can be gained in terms of quality of light and operating life of light bulbs by maintaining constant power through a light bulb. It is to be noted that in most instances the voltage which is supplied by a battery varies quite extensively over its usable life. Mallory makes use of an RC filter to determine an effective current and time measurement. Based on component selection the duty cycle of a current delivered to a light bulb at a specific voltage can be determined.
Weber uses a different technique wherein power is dissipated in a variable resistor or transistor element. This approach is wasteful of power.

Intelligent switch for connecting power to a load


This invention discloses a polymeric blend which is useful in manufacturing a wide variety of articles, said blend being comprised of (1) a thermoplastic polyurethane and (2) a rubbery polymer which is comprised of repeat units which are comprised of (a) butyl acrylate, (b) at least one member selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, (c) acrylonitrile, (d) styrene, (e) a surfactant selected from the group consisting of sulfonates and sulfate derivatives, (f) a dispersant selected from the group consisting of aromatic formaldehyde condensation products and polycarboxylates or optionally a half ester maleate soap and (g) a crosslinking agent. These blends can be utilized in a wide variety of applications, such as automotive door handles, buttons and knobs. For instance, such blends exhibit excellent characteristics for making buttons and knobs for radios, television sets and other electronic devices. Insulation for electrical cables can also be made by blending such rubbery polymers into thermoplastic polyurethanes.

Automotive instrument panels and door panels are typically composites which are made of a rigid backing which supports a semi-rigid urethane foam with the semi-rigid urethane foam being covered with a skin compound. Such skin compounds are typically blends of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with a nitrile rubber (NBR). The nitrile rubber is included in such blends as a permanent modifier for the PVC which provides it with a higher degree of flexibility.
The automotive industry is currently moving toward more aerodynamic body designs which typically include larger glass areas. Such design changes have significantly increased the heat and ultraviolet light aging requirements of automotive interiors. This has, in turn, significantly increased the demands put upon the polymers which are utilized as skins in automotive interior panels.
Heat and light stabilizers can be employed to improve the heat and ultraviolet light aging characteristics of conventional PVC/NBR blends which are utilized as skins for automotive interior panels. However, the degree to which the aging characteristics of such blends can be improved by the addition of additives is limited. In fact, there is a demand for performance characteristics in such applications which heretofore has not been realized by the utilization of heat and light stabilizers. For instance, it would be highly desirable for the skins used in automotive panels to resist discoloration and cracking under conditions of high heat and intense ultraviolet light throughout the life of the vehicle. Improved fogging behavior is also of great importance to the automotive industry. Fogging is caused by the condensation of volatile compounds which vaporize from the interior panel onto the windscreen or side windows of the vehicle.
NBR/PVC blends offer an array of physical properties which make them useful as a skin composition for automotive panels. The NBR acts as a permanent flexibilizing monomer for the PVC. It also acts as a shrinkage control agent and embossing aid and improves grain retention. The NBR in such blends further provides vacuum forming gauge control and exhibits low fog characteristics. NBR is highly compatible with PVC and has the capability of being recycled. It is essential for any polymer which is substituted for NBR to display these essential characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,785 discloses a rubbery polymer which can be blended with PVC to make leathery compositions. These compositions are particularly useful in manufacturing skins for automotive interior panelling. Skin compositions which are made utilizing this rubbery polymer provide a higher level of resistance to heat and ultraviolet light than those made utilizing conventional NBR/PVC blends. These rubbery polymers are also reported to offer low fog characteristics, low odor, shrinkage control and grain retention. They also act as an embossing aid and as a permanent flexibilizing modifier. These rubbery polymers are also reported to have characteristics which make them useful in building gasket applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,993 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,155 also disclose a rubbery polymer which can be blended with polyvinyl chloride to make leathery compositions having good heat and ultraviolet light resistance, said rubbery polymer being comprised of repeat units which are comprised of (a) butyl acrylate, or optionally a mixture of butyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate containing up to about 40 percent 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, (b) at least one member selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, (c) acrylonitrile, (d) styrene, (e) a half ester maleate soap and (f) a crosslinking agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,651 discloses a process for preparing a rubbery polymer which can be blended with polyvinyl chloride to make leathery compositions having good heat and ultraviolet light resistance, said process comprising the steps of (1) polymerizing (a) butyl acrylate, (b) at least one member selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, (c) acrylonitrile, (d) a crosslinking agent, (e) a surfactant selected from the group consisting of sulfonates and sulfate derivatives and (f) a dispersant selected from the group consisting of aromatic formaldehyde condensation products and polycarboxylates, under emulsion polymerization conditions to produce a seed polymer containing latex; (2) adding (a) styrene, (b) additional acrylonitrile and (c) additional crosslinking agent to the seed polymer containing latex under emulsion polymerization conditions which result in the formation of an emulsion containing the rubbery polymer; (3) adding an aminoalcohol to the emulsion containing the rubbery polymer; and (4) recovering the rubbery polymer from the emulsion containing the rubbery polymer.

Thermoplastic polyurethane/rubbery polymer blend


The described embodiments relate generally to electronic devices and to three dimensional modules for increasing useable space on a circuit board associated therewith. In some embodiments, the modules can have a cuboid geometry, and can include a number of surfaces having embedded circuit traces configured to interconnect electronic components arranged on various surfaces of the module. One of the surfaces of module can include at least one communication interface configured to interconnect the circuit traces on the module to associated circuit paths on a circuit board to which the module is coupled. In some embodiments the module can be operative as a standoff between the circuit board and another component of the electronic device.

As technology advances, the number of components integrated into electronic devices increases steadily. For example, multiple communication interfaces, chipsets, active and passive components, and other electronic components, are integrated into electronic devices to increase overall functionality or for other reasons. Generally, electronic devices are designed using at least one circuit board, sometimes many, which are substantially planar. The circuit boards typically have up to two useable surfaces for mounting electronic components. It follows that as the number of components increases, the useable space on a fixed-size circuit board decreases.
Conventionally, multiple planar circuit boards may be mounted in relatively close proximity in a stacked formation to increase the available surfaces to mount devices and components. However, it then follows that an overall stack height increases, thereby increasing an end product's depth. Considering the trend in mobile electronic devices, e.g., slimmer, more functional devices being desireable, increases in depth may be a drawback to the device's design and useability.
Therefore, what is desired are methods, systems, and/or apparatuses that increase the useable space on circuit boards while maintaining a relatively fixed depth or height to the circuit board.

Modules for increasing useable space on circuit boards


In a xerographic printing apparatus, a small footprint charging device may provide uniformity of charge and/or long life in a small diameter photoconductive drum. A grid to be parallel to the drum surface and including small wing shields may reduce or even prevent leakage of corona current to the photoconductor around the grid region, which may otherwise detract from charge uniformity.

The present disclosure relates to marking engines within electrostatographic printing or xerography systems. Specifically this disclosure relates to a charging device that may be used in a marking engine within a xerographic system.
In electrostatographic systems, a photoreceptor may be supported by a mechanical carrier such as a drum or a belt. The photoreceptor may be charged to a generally uniform charge by subjecting the photoreceptor to a suitable charging device. The charge distribution on the photoreceptor may then be altered by the application of radiation, e.g., a laser, to the surface of the photoreceptor. Toner particles may then be transferred, by the application of electric charge, to a print sheet, thus forming the desired image on the print sheet. The toner particles adhere electrostatically to the suitably charged portions of the photoreceptor. An electric charge may also be used to separate or "detack" the print sheet from the photoreceptor.
For the initial charging, transfer, or detack of an imaging surface, the most typical device for applying a predetermined charge to the imaging surface may be a "corotron," such as a scorotron or dicorotron. Common to most types of corotron may be a bare conductor, in proximity to the imaging surface, which may be electrically biased and thereby supplies ions for charging the imaging surface. The conductor typically comprises one or more wires (often called a "corona wire") and/or a metal bar forming saw-teeth (a "pin array"). The conductor may extend parallel to the imaging surface and along a direction perpendicular to a direction of motion of the imaging surface. Other structures, such as a grid, conductive shield and/or nonconductive housing, are typically present in a charging device, and some of these may be electrically biased as well. A corotron having a grid disposed between the conductor and the photoreceptor is typically known as a "scorotron."
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,179, incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses design rules for a corotron, with the objective of minimizing the production of ozone, which may detract from charge uniformity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,873, incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a xerographic charging device apparatus having two independently controllable scorotrons.
Monochrome printers produce a hard copy in one toner color, typically black, and the copy may be made in a single pass of the charging device and toner source over the photoreceptor.
On the other hand, color printers may use three primary colors, typically cyan, magenta and yellow, and in addition, optionally black. Several techniques have been developed over the years to adapt xerographic techniques to use multiple colors.
An exemplary apparatus for making high quality color prints by xerographic systems is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,983, incorporated by reference in its entirety. A single photoconductive drum may be electrostatically charged, laser-scan exposed, and toner developed during one rotation. In successive rotations, different colored images corresponding to color separation images may be assembled in registration on the drum. This assembled color image may be transferred to a receptor sheet in a final rotation of the drum.
Advancements in xerographic technology include tandem color marking engines, which comprise a plurality of charging devices. Such devices may be suitable for high-speed applications and have been developed for both photoconductive drums and belt systems.

Small footprint charge device for tandem color marking engines


A bearing for bearing a torsion bar spring of a roll stabilization system of a track vehicle comprises a split bearing bush for the torsion bar spring and a split bearing shell which comprises said bearing bush and which can be connected to the body/bogie. A pair of seals is mounted at one end of the bearing and consists of an inner, flexible inner seal sitting on the torsion bar spring and an outer, flexible outer seal sitting in the bearing shell. Every seal of the pair of seals comprises at least one peripheral sealing lip and the seals interact with each other via the sealing lips in a sealing manner.

In modern rail vehicles, the increasing use of air suspension systems, which considerably improve ride quality, requires from a technical viewpoint the use of (anti-)roll stabilization systems in order to minimize roll oscillations, an (anti-)roll stabilization system basically consisting of a torsion bar spring, push/pull bars and two torsion bar bearing arrangements. The torsion bar spring generally runs transversely to the direction of travel, and is mounted on the car body. From both of its ends, the push/pull bars extend to the wheel truck. The roll stabilization system can also be disposed the other way round. In this case the torsion bar spring is mounted on the wheel truck. From both of its ends, the push/pull bars run to the car body. Each wheel truck can be provided with one or two torsion bar springs.
Particularly exacting requirements are placed on the bearing arrangement of the torsion bar spring, particularly in terms of freedom from play and low wear over a long period of use with Cardan deformability and high, well-defined stiffness. On the other hand, contamination of the sliding surfaces and sticking during the long period of service must be avoided with a high degree of reliability.
These requirements are particularly accentuated if one-piece torsion bar springs are used which are curved at the end. The bearing bushes and bearing shells of such torsion bar springs cannot be one-piece, as it would otherwise be impossible to slip them over the curved ends of the torsion bar spring or more precisely over the forged end pieces of the rods used for linkage to the push/pull bars. Rather the bearing bushes are of two-part or split design. The two-part design of the bearing shells (steel parts) exacerbates the problems of sealing the inside of the bearing to the outside and also of the required freedom from play, which means that the requirements in respect of minimal fouling, low wear and play as well as well-defined stiffness over a long period of use have yet to be satisfied.
For the reasons mentioned, when using anti-roll bar bearing arrangements on curved torsion bar springs according to the prior art, short bearing replacement intervals and/or an enhanced design with regreasing capability are required. For this purpose the bearing must be dismantled and the bearing bushes replaced, or grease must be applied to the bearing surface through a bore, e.g. via a grease nipple. With regard to distributing the grease over the entire sliding surface, it is additionally necessary to provide the bearing bush with grooves, which makes it more expensive to produce. Determining lubrication intervals increases maintenance work, noncompliance with the maintenance/lubrication intervals possibly detrimentally affecting the tribological pairing between torsion bar spring and bearing such that appreciable material abrasion may occur on the torsion bar spring—quite apart from an unacceptable level of bearing noise.
The use of split bearings can only be dispensed with if the torsion bar springs are implemented in a particular way whereby the levers in which the push/pull bars engage are connected to the torsion bar spring using a compression or keyed joint. The bearing arrangement is then located further out at the ends of the torsion bar spring. This design is not only expensive but also results in a very wide roll stabilization system.

Bearing arrangement for a torsion bar spring of the roll stabilization system of a rail vehicle


In order that stray fibers do not settle in the rotor during the spinning start process at the spinning box of a rotor spinning machine, an openable air valve is provided for initially cleaned the rotor by delivering an air current into the rotor either by drawing ambient air through the valve as a consequence of the spinning vacuum or by blowing in compressed air through the valve. As an alternative to known spring-loaded ball valves pose the danger that the spring ceases to perform due to deposits of dust and fibers, the present invention provides a magnet arranged in association with the valve seat in the area of its valve opening to attract the ball, which consists of a magnetizable material, and thereby hold the ball in closed position.

The present invention relates generally to open-end rotor spinning machines and more particularly to a spinning box for such machines.
When a yarn is broken at a spinning station of an open-end rotor spinning machine, or when spinning is to be started at a spinning station, a yarn end is inserted through the yarn withdrawal tube at the spinning station into the rotor in order to unite the yarn end with fibers delivered into the rotor from a sliver feed. The spinning process is initiated and progresses with the continuous feeding of fibers into the rotor and with the withdrawal of the yarn. The introduction of the yarn into the rotor as well as the delivery of the fibers must be precisely coordinated with one another in order that the area of the starter end of yarn does not differ in an unacceptable manner from the rest of the yarn in appearance and in quality.
A spinning start procedure requires particular care during the feeding in of the fibers. If a yarn breaks the sliver feed is immediately halted. The yarn is drawn as a rule out of the spinning chamber and therewith out of the rotor due to the high winding speed. It is customary to clean the rotor before every spinning start before the yarn is returned into the spinning chamber. This measure has a preventive nature in order to raise the quality of the yarn. Dirt which has collected in the rotor as well as fibers, which are problematic for the spinning start process, are to be removed by this cleaning. However, since the sliver remains introduced in the opening device, the opening cylinder continues to rotate and the spinning vacuum continues to be applied to the spinning chamber, it can not be excluded that fibers are transported into the rotor after a cleaning has been performed, while the standing rotor is waiting for the spinning start process, and collect at the lowest position in the fiber collection groove of the rotor. These uncontrolled fibers flying around in the spinning chamber can form flocks or stubs in the yarn by being deposited in the rotor during the spinning start and thus cause yarn defects. It is therefore important that no stray fibers settle in the rotor before the spinning start process. In order to be able to carry out the spinning start and the yarn formation without problematic fibers, German Patent Publication DE 44 45 740 A1 teaches generating an air current in the spinning chamber by opening a flap and maintaining this air current until the speed of the rotor has reached a value at which the centrifugal forces of the fibers bring about a settling of the fibers in the rotor groove which can no longer be influenced by the air current.
German Patent Publication DE 196 24 537 A1, which was filed earlier but published subsequently, teaches blowing compressed air centrally into the rotor cup in order to blow out the fibers which may disturb the spinning start process through the yarn withdrawal nozzle which is located opposite the rotor. To this end, a valve which closes the compressed air infeed is provided in the so-called hood of the spinning station, i.e., a cover covering the spinning chamber. The valve consists of a ball which is pressed against a sealing surface by a spring acting against the spinning vacuum. Under the action of the in-flowing compressed, the ball rises off of the sealing surface and the compressed air flows through the withdrawal nozzle into the rotor. If fibers and dust settle in the spring its elasticity is reduced as a consequence and a controlled air supply is no longer possible. Moreover, the spring can be blocked in such a manner that it is no longer capable of pressing the ball against the sealing surface so that false air can flow in through the valve during the spinning process.

Spinning box for an open-end spinning machine


A new variety of carnation plant named ‘CFPC Evermore’ having large white flowers with purple splashes and a well defined purple picotee.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid carnation botanically known as Dianthus caryophyllus, and referred to by the cultivar name 'CFPC Evermore'.
'CFPC Evermore', identified as selection no. 020155, was discovered by Oscar T. Hasegawa as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation in a controlled cultivated planting of the patented variety known as 'CFPC Essence' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,867) in Salinas, Calif. The new variety 'CFPC Evermore' has been asexually reproduced by vegetative side shoot cuttings in Salinas, Calif. and the distinguishing characteristics are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A method for the determination by optical optimization of a personalized progressive ophthalmic lens intended to be inserted into a frame chosen by a given wearer for whom a power addition has been prescribed in near vision, the method comprising the stages of:                determining at least one parameter representing the frame chosen by the wearer;        measuring parameters representing the wearer's head-eye behavior;        weighting the parameters representing the wearer's head-eye behavior with the parameter representing the frame chosen by the wearer;        determining power and resulting astigmatism defect targets for each direction of viewing under wearing conditions, the targets being associated with an individual merit function taking into account the weighted head-eye coordination parameters.

Any ophthalmic lens intended to be held in a frame involves a prescription. The ophthalmic prescription can include a positive or negative power prescription as well as an astigmatism prescription. These prescriptions correspond to corrections enabling the wearer of the lenses to correct defects of his vision. A lens is fitted in the frame in accordance with the prescription and the position of the wearer's eyes relative to the frame.
For presbyopic wearers, the value of the power correction is different for far vision and near vision, due to the difficulties of accommodation in near vision. The prescription thus comprises a far-vision power value and an addition (or power progression) representing the power increment between far vision and near vision; this comes down to a far-vision power prescription and a near-vision power prescription. Lenses suitable for presbyopic wearers are progressive multifocal lenses; these lenses are described for example in FR-A-2 699 294, U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,745 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,495, FR-A-2 683 642, FR-A-2 699 294 or also FR-A-2 704 327.
Progressive multifocal ophthalmic lenses include a far-vision zone, a near-vision zone, an intermediate-vision zone, a principal progression meridian crossing these three zones. They are generally determined by optimization, based on a certain number of constraints imposed on the different characteristics of the lens. Most lenses marketed are all-purpose lenses, in that they are adapted to the different needs of the wearers at the time.
A progressive multifocal lens can be defined by geometric characteristics on at least one of its aspherical surfaces. In order to characterize an aspherical surface, the parameters constituted by the minimum and maximum curvatures at each point are conventionally used, or more commonly their half-sum and their difference. This half-sum and this difference multiplied by a factor n−1, n being the refractive index of the lens material, are called mean sphere and cylinder.
Moreover, a progressive multifocal lens can also be defined by optical characteristics taking into account the situation of the wearer of the lenses. In fact, the laws of the optics of ray tracings provide that optical defects appear when the rays deviate from the central axis of any lens. Conventionally, the aberrations known as power defects and astigmatism defects are considered. These optical aberrations can be generically called obliquity defects of rays.
The obliquity defects of rays have already been clearly identified in the prior art and improvements have been proposed. For example, the document WO-A-98 12590 describes a method for determination by optimization of a set of progressive multifocal ophthalmic lenses. This document proposes defining the set of lenses by considering the optical characteristics of the lenses and in particular the wearer power and oblique astigmatism, under wearing conditions. The lens is optimized by ray tracing, using an ergorama associating a target object point with each direction of viewing under wearing conditions.
EP-A-0 990 939 also proposes to determine a lens by optimization taking into account the optical characteristics instead of the surface characteristics of the lens. For this purpose the characteristics of an average wearer are considered, in particular as regards the position of the lens in front of the wearer's eye in terms of curving contour, pantoscopic angle and lens-eye distance.
It has been found that each wearer has a different head-eye behaviour. Recently, it has therefore been sought to personalize progressive ophthalmic lenses in order to best satisfy the needs of each wearer.
The applicant markets, under the trade mark VARILUX IPSEO® a range of progressive lenses, which are defined as a function of the wearer's head-eye behaviour. This definition is based on the fact that any wearer, in order to look at different points at a given height in the object space, can move either his head, or his eyes and that the viewing strategy of a wearer is based on a combination of head and eye movements. The wearer's viewing strategy influences the perceived width of the fields on the lens. Thus, the more the wearer's lateral vision strategy involves a movement of the head, the narrower is the zone of the lens scanned by the wearer's vision. If the wearer moved only his head in order to look at different points at a given height of the object space, his vision would still pass through the same point of the lens. The product VARILUX IPSEO® therefore proposes different lenses, for the same ametropia-addition pair, as a function of the wearer's lateral vision strategy.
It has also been found that the size and the shape of the frame modifies the wearer's lens-eye behaviour. Therefore it has also been sought to optimize the progressive ophthalmic lens for the type of frame chosen.
For example, the patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,983 proposes to personalize a progressive lens as a function of the "lifestyle" of the wearer, for example taking into account the shape of the frame.
It is also proposed in the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,503 to take into account the shape of the frame in order to distribute the prismatic effects to the left and to the right of the lens in order to obtain an acceptable "thickness-weight" ratio and in order to disperse the aberrations towards the parts of the lens intended to be trimmed during cutting out.
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,802 and US-A-2004/0169297 propose to optimize a progressive lens as a function of the cornea-vertex distance measured for a given frame in order to determine an optimal progression length.
Nikon® markets under the trade mark Seemax® a unifocal lens optimized as a function of the size and the shape of the frame.
None of the known solutions makes it possible to optimize the lens in all of the wearer's vision field as a function of the frame chosen.
A need still exists therefore for a lens which better satisfies the specific needs of each individual wearer.

Method for the determination of a progressive ophthalmic lens

Abstract: The method allows the design of the lens to be adapted to the size and the shape of the frame chosen.

Essilor International (Compagnie d'Optique)


An amorphous soft magnetic alloy powder which is produced by a water atomization method is provided. The powder contains an amorphous phase having a temperature interval ΔTx of a supercooled liquid of 20K or more; having a hardness Hv of 1000 or less; is provided with a layer with a high concentration of Si at a surface portion thereof; and being represented by the following composition formula:Fe100−a−b−x−y−z−w−tCOaNibMxPyCzBwSit

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amorphous soft magnetic alloy powder which can be produced by using a water atomization method, and a dust core and a wave absorber using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a Fe—Al—Ga—P—C—B—Si-based alloy is known as an amorphous soft magnetic alloy in which an amorphous phase can be formed by quenching a molten alloy (for example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,733 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,519). Of the conventional amorphous soft magnetic alloys, some amorphous soft magnetic alloys having a specific composition are known as metal glassy alloys which have a wide temperature region in which they are in a state of a supercooled liquid before crystallization. It should be noticed that these metal glassy alloys have excellent soft magnetic characteristics and form easily bulky alloys having a thickness larger than the conventionally known amorphous alloy ribbon having a different composition, which is prepared by a liquid quenching method.
However, because these metal glassy alloys are produced by a liquid quenching method such as a single roll, it is required to improve their own amorphous phase-forming abilities to some extent. Therefore, the main object in the development of such a metal glassy alloy was to improve its amorphous phase-forming ability, and the development has progressed from investigations of an alloy composition capable of achieving this object. However, the composition which is capable of increasing the amorphous phase-forming ability of the alloy does not always coincide with the composition which is capable of increasing soft magnetic characteristics, and thus there is still room for further improvement in a high saturated magnetization and soft magnetic characteristics.
Further, since the metal glassy alloy having the conventional composition contains a high-priced gallium (Ga), it is not appropriate for the mass production. Therefore, the glassy alloy is desired to have a composition capable of decreasing the manufacturing cost.
On the other hand, the glassy alloy manufactured by the single roll method can be obtained as a ribbon having a thickness of about 200 μm. For applying this ribbon to a magnetic core such as a trans and a choke coil, the ribbon is grinded into a powder, the powder is mixed with a binder such as a resin, and the resultant mixture is solidified and molded to produce a dust core.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, a soft magnetic alloy powder such as a Fe—Al—Si-based alloy and a Mo permalloy (for example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,841) has been proposed. The method of producing this soft magnetic alloy powder has employed a gas atomization method in which a molten alloy is quenched by spraying an inert gas thereto, or a water atomization method in which a molten alloy is quenched by blowing the molten alloy into water.
When the Fe—Al—Si-based alloy powder is used, a relatively low core loss is obtained, but a saturated magnetization is low and a DC superimposing characteristic is deteriorated. Further, Mo permalloy has a high core loss, and thus there is room for improvement in the practical use thereof. Therefore, in order to solve such problems, there is an attempt for obtaining a dust core having characteristics of a high saturated magnetization and a low core loss by pulverizing a Fe-based amorphous soft alloy, but there are problems in that the optimization of the shape of the powder is not sufficiently made and it is difficult to obtain excellent magnetic characteristics in the dust core of the amorphous alloy powder.
According to a gas atomization method, it is possible to obtain an amorphous soft alloy powder which has a spherical shape and a small amount of impurity (the content of oxygen is small). However, since an expensive inert gas is used in a large quantity to grind and cool down a molten alloy, the manufacturing cost increases. Further, it is difficult to make a manufacturing apparatus large to grind the molten alloy by using an inert-gas jet. Furthermore, since the inert gas is supplied from a gas bomb, the grinding pressure is merely increased to about 20 MPa, and it was difficult to increase a manufacturing efficiency. Therefore, the amorphous soft magnetic alloy powder produced by the gas atomization method has a problem in that the manufacturing cost thereof is high and thus it is not suitable for the mass production thereof.
Therefore, it is studied and investigated to employ a water atomization method which is conducted under an atmosphere of air, instead of the gas atomization method. If the water atomization method is employed, it is possible to make the manufacturing apparatus large and the molten alloy can be jetted at a high pressure, and thus the mass production can be enhanced. Further, since the cooling velocity in the water atomization method is generally high as compared to the case in which the inert gas is used, it is easy to make the molten alloy amorphous. However, when the metal glassy alloy is made by using the water atomization method, there are problems in that liquid droplets of a high temperature molten alloy are quenched while coming into contact with water to easily corrode components of the alloy uselessly, and thus a large oxidized portion results in the obtained powder.
In view of such a background, the inventors of the present invention have developed a glassy alloy of the composition into which an element such as Cr and a noble metal is added for enhancing a corrosion-resistant effect, as a composition in which the corrosion hardly occurs even though the water atomization method is used, have tried to improving the characteristic of the glassy alloy powder, and have made progress the research and development in JP-A No. 2002-226956 or No. 2004-156134.

Amorphous soft magnetic alloy powder, and dust core and wave absorber using the same

Abstract: And M is one or two or more elements selected from Cr, Mo, W, V, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr, Hf, Pt, Pd, and Au.


This structure relates to storage devices and in particular to lockers in particular for luggage such as those to be found at airports and railway stations. The lockers of the present device comprise a door, preferably with no moving parts, which, when the locker is not in use, is permanently biased open and thus in an unlocked position. When the locker is in use the door can be secured merely by shutting the door of the locker. A number of lockers of the present invention can be incorporated into columns of lockers under the control of a central control unit which dispenses appropriate receipts and tickets in exchange for money.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage devices and in particular to left luggage lockers for use in, for example, railway stations, airports and shopping centres.
2. Related Art
Traditional luggage lockers have typically comprised a number of individual lockers, perhaps of varying sizes to accommodate different sizes and shapes of luggage, each locker typically having a separate lock, handle and coin operated mechanism.
Insertion of a coin, or coins into the coin operated mechanism allows a customer to open the locker, place their luggage inside, lock the locker and remove the key. These traditional lockers are labour intensive to maintain because, for example, there are a lot of separate coin mechanisms to empty.
Recent developments of this traditional system have focused on the possibilities of having an automatic central control point, where all the money for the operation of the lockers is collected, which controls the operation of a number of lockers and where the traditional keys are replaced with magnetic cards which when inserted in a locker act as keys. These magnetic cards are also dispensed form this central control point.
Examples of such systems are disclosed in the following European Patents and Patent Applications.
European Patent No. 6403 describes a system whereby a central control unit controls the operation of a large number of lockers. The locker to be used by a particular customer is selected by the central control unit, and not by the customer himself, and thus, if the lockers are of different sizes, or stacked up in columns, it takes no account of the size of luggage to be placed in the locker selected by the central control unit nor does it take account of the customer's ability to place the luggage in the locker, particularly if the locker selected by the central control unit is placed at the top of a column of a number of lockers.
European Patent No. 65,605 describes a locker system having one control unit for each column of lockers, each control unit having hexadecimal coding wheels to identify each locker in the column. This system is both expensive, since a large number of control units are required if more than one column of lockers is used, which will be commonly the case particularly in busy airports, for example. In addition the mechanical coding wheels will tend to be less reliable than electronic systems.
A European Patent Application No. 334 726 also describes a locker system having a central control unit. In this case the customer has to enter a personal secret code number, which he composes, into the central control unit when depositing his luggage. This personal secret code number must then be re-entered to gain access to the luggage. This has obvious disadvantages in that the customers, if the fails to remember his personal secret code numbers will be unable to gain access to his luggage.
One further feature of previously known locker systems is that the individual lockers all have handles on them to allow them to be opened and are generally kept shut to even when empty. These can be awkward to use particularly if the customer has luggage in both hands which he wishes to place in the selected locker. The customer is thus forced to place his luggage down to operate the handle and open the locker selected.


A method and system for calculation of rotation dependent parameters in a system that senses shaft rotation of a toothed speed wheel. The method includes determining the passing edges of multiple gear teeth on a rotating speed wheel; calculating rotational speed of the rotating machine based on the passing edges of multiple gear teeth of the speed wheel; calculating a rotation independent tooth spacing correction factor for each gear tooth on the rotating wheel; and correcting the calculated rotational speed of the rotating machine using the tooth corrections.

The invention relates generally to a method and system for improving the accuracy of calculation of rotation dependent parameters in a system that senses multiple pulses associated with shaft rotation and more specifically for improving the accuracy of speed-and acceleration readings from pulse rate sensors on a rotating shaft of rotating equipment, such as turbines. However, the invention is applicable to any rotating device that needs multiple speed, velocity, or acceleration readings per revolution (e.g., engines, generators and drive shafts).
Previous methods for measurement of speed have been addressed, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,470 by Robert C. Thomas et al. Thomas et al. describes a method for calculation of speed in Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) using speed pulses. A digital speed measurement circuit for an engine includes a magnetic pick-up positioned adjacent to an engine-driven gear having a substantial number of teeth so the pick-up produces a number of speed pulses per revolution of the gear. These pulses are shaped into square waves by a signal conditioning circuit and connected through a synchronizing circuit, which responds to the trailing edge of each square wave to produce a triggering pulse, with each triggering pulse supplied to a tooth counter. A high-speed clock is connected to a second counter, which is reset with each triggering pulse. Sampling pulses are produced in an associated control system which is not coordinated with the speed pulse but which are longer in duration than any of the speed pulses and which control the flow of tooth counts to the tooth counter. Memory circuits retain the speed counters measuring the intervals between a triggering pulse and the beginning of a sampling pulse and between the end of the sampling pulse and the triggering pulse immediately preceding. Another counter counts the high-speed counts occurring during the sampling pulse period. These factors are combined as described to provide a high-speed count of a new measuring interval exactly related to the speed pulse and which is combined with the speed pulse count to provide a digital signal which accurately represents a desired function of engine rotational speed.
However, other parameters that are also rotation dependent may be measured using a sensor tied to the rotation. For example, a flow meter may depend upon the rotation of a volumetric-related device, the flowrate being related directly to a measure (speed) of rotation of the device. Where the measure of speed of rotation of the device is based on the passing of teeth of a speed wheel, the flowrate measurement will be similarly dependent on the passing of teeth.
The SPEEDTRONIC* (*SPEEDTRONIC is a trademark of the GENERAL ELECTRIC Company) MK VI-e Turbine Control System utilizes a speed or tooth wheel for sensing speed related parameters for a turbine control system. A stream of pulses, typically from a magnetic pickup sensor positioned over the tooth wheel or from a flow rate sensor, is generated as the sensor passes an edge of the tooth.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 for frequency, speed and acceleration measurements using a speedwheel. The speedwheel 10 rotates in a known relationship to the rotation of the shaft of the equipment being monitored. The illustrative example shows a speedwheel 10 with eight teeth 15. A magnetic pickup sensor 25 senses a passing an edge 20 of each tooth 15 and generates analog pulses (not shown) These analog pulses are converted by hardware (not shown) into digital pulses 30, which feed into the input of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) 40 or other equivalent hardware device.
The FPGA 40 contains a 25.0 MHz clock 60 and a 32 bit free-running counter 60. The value from the free-running counter 60 is latched into a 32 bit latch 70 whenever a rising edge of the pulse input occurs (a falling edge may be used as well).
Elements of the 32 bit latch 70 contain a 32-bit value of the 25.0 MHZ free-running counter 60 that is captured when a tooth edge of a toothed speed wheel 10 is sensed. These elements will be referred to as TICS. The CPU 80 uses the contents of the 32 bit latch to calculate frequency, speed and acceleration. When a read 90 is performed by the CPU 80, the elements are assigned a time stamp and made available in a circular list of time stamps 105. The arrows 110-114 on the circular list of time stamps 105 represent specific events being picked off for determination of individual rotation-related parameters. For example, arrows 110-111 represent the time stamps associated with two successive events (the sensing of tooth edges) upon which a calculation to determine frequency 120 will be performed. Similarly, arrows 110/112, and 113/114 represent the time stamps for the two events providing inputs for speed calculations associated with speed signals 125 and 130, upon which an acceleration signal 145 will be calculated. The above describes a current method of implementation of pulse sensing, storage and recovery, however, such a process may be implemented by various other hardware and software combinations, as known in the art.
Equation 1 describes the frequency (Freq) of the speed wheel rotation in Teeth/Sec, where TICS represents elements of the 32 bit latch 60 storing counter values associated with pulses, tn represents a pointer to the latest TIC entry in the 32 bit latch elements, and tn−1 is the pointer one entry back from tn. The Freq is calculated as the inverse of the difference between TIC readings (in counts) at successive pulse edges (at tn and tn−1) divided by the 2500000 (count value for a full second of the 25 MHz counter).
                              Freq                                (            Hz            )                          =                              1                                                                                (                                                                        TICS                                                                                [                                                          t                              n                                                        ]                                                                          -                                                                                TICS                                                                          [                                                      t                                                          n                              -                              1                                                                                ]                                                                    )                                                                                25000000                                                      (                          Teeth              Sec                        )                                              Equation                                                  1
Equations 2 and 3 describe the speed of the turbine over two successive intervals determined by the TICs at three successive pulses (Speed1 determined by TICs at tn and tn−1 and Speed0 determined by the TICs at tn−1 and tn−2).
                              Speed          1                =                              1                                                                                (                                                                        TICS                                                                                [                                                          t                              n                                                        ]                                                                          -                                                                                TICS                                                                          [                                                      t                                                          n                              -                              1                                                                                ]                                                                    )                                                                                25000000                                                      (                          Teeth              Sec                        )                                              Equation                                                  2                                          Speed          0                =                              1                                                                                (                                                                        TICS                                                                                [                                                          t                                                              n                                -                                1                                                                                ]                                                                          -                                                                                TICS                                                                          [                                                      t                                                          n                              -                              2                                                                                ]                                                                    )                                                                                25000000                                                      (                          Teeth              Sec                        )                                              Equation                                                  3
Equation 4 describes the acceleration of the turbine as the difference between two successive speed calculations (Speed1−Speed0) divided by the period for the associated three successive pulses.
                              Acceleration                                (                          Hz              Sec                        )                          =                                                            Speed                1                            -                              Speed                0                                                                                (                                                            TICS                                                                    [                                                  t                          n                                                ]                                                              -                                                                                TICS                                                              [                                              t                                                  n                          -                          2                                                                    ]                                                        )                                            25000000                                                      (                          Teeth                              Sec                2                                      )                                              Equation                                                  4
The calculated frequency (teeth/sec) and acceleration (teeth/sec2) may then scaled to engineering units (for example Revolution/Minute or Gallons/Hour) by a scaling function 135, and output to a system controller 150. The system controller 150 utilizes the speed input 140 and the acceleration input 145, along with other system inputs (not shown) for turbine control.
The turbine continually controls and maintains its speed, by increasing or decreasing the volume of gas or steam via control valves. These valves are commanded by the control system, which uses the speed calculated from the pulse rate sensor inputs. The inherent assumption in the speed and acceleration equations is that the tooth edges are uniformly distributed around the circumference of the speed wheel. However as shown on a simplified 4 tooth speed wheel in FIG. 2, the distribution of the tooth spacing may not be uniform.
FIG. 3 illustrates the imperfect milling of a typical 60 tooth speed wheel. When the tooth or gear spacing is non-uniform, the time between pulses created by the tooth edges will vary, even though the turbine's shaft speed is constant. If the edges for successive teeth are too close, then the calculated speed will be faster than the actual speed. If the edges for successive teeth are too far apart, then the calculated speed will be slower than the actual speed. An apparent oscillation will occur in the calculated speed when it is assumed that the tooth spacing is uniform, but the tooth spacing is actually non-uniform. This speed variation will cause the control system to continuously correct the turbine's speed, and will cause premature, excessive wear of mechanical control components.
Tooth edge variation of the speed wheel may be corrected by re-machining the teeth in the field to reduce the errors. This corrective action is not cost effective and undesirable.
Other solutions have been proposed for correction of speed calculations. The calculations can be filtered, but this introduces a control lag. The formulas can be changed to use every 2nd, 3rd, 4th TIC, but this results with the same oscillation problem. A more direct solution is to use the same tooth each revolution. That corrects the oscillation problem, but again introduces a lag. At low speeds this lag may be unacceptable.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an algorithm for calculating the speed of the rotating shaft of the rotating equipment such that oscillation, in the calculated speed that results from non-uniform spacing of gear teeth, is eliminated.

Method and system for accuracy of speed and acceleration measurements on rotating machinery with a speed wheel


A method, practiced by a Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software, is adapted for simulating a hydraulic fracture in an Earth formation, the formation including a plurality of layers, a slip zone, which represents a debonding between adjacent layers of the Earth formation, possibly existing between the adjacent layers, the method comprising the step of: setting up an Influence Coefficient Matrix, the matrix having a plurality of numbers, the plurality of numbers of the Influence Coefficient Matrix being calculated and determined such that the method, practiced by the Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software for simulating the hydraulic fracture, will model, or take into account an existence of, the slip zone and/or the debonding between the adjacent layers of the Earth formation.

The subject matter set forth in this specification relates to a Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator Software adapted for designing and monitoring and evaluating petroleum reservoir fracturing, and, in particular, to a Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator Software adapted for simulating a phenomenon known as 'slip' or 'debonding' between adjacent layers of an Earth formation when designing and monitoring and evaluating petroleum reservoir fracturing.
In hydraulic fracturing, thousands of gallons of fluid are forced under high pressure underground to split open the rock in a subterranean formation, a process that is known as 'petroleum reservoir fracturing' associated with 'a fracturing event'. Proppant or propping agent is carried into the fracture by a viscosified fluid, and deposited into the fracture. Proppant provides a permeable flow channel for formation fluids, such as oil and gas, to travel up the wellbore and to the Earth's surface. Fracturing involves many variables, including: viscosity of the fracturing fluid, rate of leak-off of fracturing fluid into the reservoir, proppant carrying capacity of the fluid, viscosity of the fluid as a function of temperature, time history of fluid volumes (i.e., the amount of fluid pumped over a given period of time), time history of proppant volumes, fluid physical constants, proppant properties, and the geological properties of various zones in the reservoir.
A Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software is capable of modeling the 'fracturing event'. In fact, the Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software will design and monitor and evaluate the 'petroleum reservoir fracturing' associated with the 'fracturing event' from a time extending before, during, and after the 'fracturing event'. However, when the Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software designs and monitors and evaluates the 'petroleum reservoir fracturing' associated with the 'fracturing event', the Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software should also function to model a phenomenon known as 'interfacial slip' or 'debonding'. 'Interfacial slip' or 'debonding' between adjacent layers of an Earth formation will often exist during a 'fracturing event', and the 'Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator software' should model the 'interfacial slip' or 'debonding' that takes place during the 'fracturing event'.
Therefore, a Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator Software is needed that is capable of modeling or simulating the 'interfacial slip' or 'debonding' which exists between adjacent layers of an Earth formation when the Hydraulic Fracturing Simulator Software is designing and monitoring and evaluating 'petroleum reservoir fracturing' associated with a 'fracturing event'.

Method system and program storage device for simulating interfacial slip in a hydraulic fracturing simulator software


Provided is a two-component developer with which degradation of development is inhibited even in the case of prolonged use, and thereby a high quality image exhibiting high resolution and sufficient image density can be formed for a long duration. Also disclosed is a two-component developer possessing a carrier and a toner, wherein the carrier in which magnetic material powder is dispersed in a binder resin containing a phenol formaldehyde resin has a shape coefficient SF-1 of 1.0-1.2, a shape coefficient SF-2 of 1.1-2.5 and a volume-based median particle diameter of 10-100 μm, and the toner possesses a colored particle and an external additive particle, wherein the external additive particle comprises a titanic acid compound and iron, and the iron content is 100-1,000 ppm, based on the titanic acid compound.

In recent years, an electrophotographic system image forming method has been utilized as an alternative to preparation of original images or a so-called printing rather than simple copying, with the developments in network such as easy transmission of specifically data in a digital mode, and its application range has been expanded. Consequently, in this technique, formation of a stable image for a long duration is demanded, and longer frequency to change a developer is also demanded. On the other hand, in order to form a stable image in the electrophotographic system image forming method, a two-component developer composed of a carrier and a toner is preferably to be utilized. It would appear that this can reliably provide charge to the toner since the carrier exhibits charge providing performance, and further, quick charge-rising can be obtained since many frictional electrification-providing regions are present, resulting in suitability for high-speed development.
However, when using a two-component developer in the electrophotographic system image forming method, there appear problems such that degradation of the carrier is produced via attachment of toner components to the carrier, and external additive particles embedded in the toner are produced via repeated collision of the carrier with the toner.
In order to solve this problem, it is proposed that stress to the toner is reduced by employing a so-called weight-saved resin dispersion type carrier as a carrier (refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2). This resin dispersion type carrier is one in which low specific gravity is realized by dispersing magnetic particles in a binder resin, and specifically, since a resin dispersion type carrier prepared by a polymerization method is formed in spherical shape, and has reduced protrusions, stress to the toner is effectively reduced. And, among the resin dispersion type carriers obtained via the polymerization method, specifically, a carrier, with which a phenol formaldehyde resin exhibiting advantageous properties such as high hardness and excellent durability is used as a binder resin, tends to be preferably utilized.
However, even though using the resin dispersion type carrier employing such the phenol formaldehyde resin, there is another problem such that degradation of development is still generated when using the carrier for a long duration.
(Patent Document 1) Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2002-214842.
(Patent Document 2) Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2005-352473.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


To provide a radio base station apparatus and mobile terminal for enabling cell selection to be performed in a faster cell switching period in handover, the radio base station apparatus of the invention has a plurality of transmission/reception sections capable of being extended to remote sites, an FCS application determining section that determines whether to apply fast cell selection in handover based on information from the mobile terminal, and a multi-cell scheduling control section that controls transmission/non-transmission of the first and second transmission/reception sections when the FCS application determining section determines that FCS is applied.

Generally, in cellular mobile communications, when a mobile terminal moves from a cell to another cell, the mobile terminal performs handover for switching between radio base station apparatuses as a communicating party. With respect to the handover function in the data link layer and lower layers, required QoS (Quality of Service) in the data link layer and lower layers is guaranteed by macro diversity between cells. In handover between cells, when high-speed packet scheduling and ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) is considered, it is desired that the cell switching period is 100 ms.
Meanwhile, in UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks, for the purpose of improving spectral efficiency and further improving data rates, by adopting HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access), it is performed exploiting maximum features of the system based on W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). For the UMTS network, for the purpose of further increasing high-speed data rates, providing low delay and the like, Long Term Evolution (LTE) has been considered (Non-patent Document 1). Further, in the UMTS network, for the purpose of further increasing the wide-band and high speed, next-generation systems to LTE have been considered (for example, LTE Advancement (LTE-A), IMT Advance (IMT-A)).

Radio base station apparatus and mobile terminal