Carbon nanotubes and metal particle-containing carbon nanotubes are provided. The carbon nanotubes have increased surface area. A method of cutting carbon nanotubes is also provided. According to the method, the dispersion properties of the carbon nanotubes are improved by simplifying the structural changes and/or surface modifications of the carbon nanotubes, thereby enabling insertion of an active substance into the inner walls of the carbon nanotubes and increasing the insertion efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of cutting carbon nanotubes. More particularly, the invention is directed to a method of cutting carbon nanotubes which improves the dispersion properties of the carbon nanotubes by simplifying the structural change or surface modification of the carbon nanotubes, thereby enabling an active substance to be inserted into the inner walls of the carbon nanotubes and increasing catalyst support efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carbon nanotubes were first observed as a side product of a fullerene synthesis reaction. In general, carbon nanotubes consist of multiple layers (typically 2 to 50 layers) of smaller concentric carbon nanotubes capped at both ends. Such carbon nanotubes are formed from sheets of hexagonally or pentagonally arranged carbon atoms, and have hollow cores with diameters of up to 50 nm and lengths of 100 to 200 μm.
Carbon nanotubes can be produced in large scale by, for example, arc discharge, catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons or laser ablation. Carbon nanotubes are known to have prominent mechanical and electrical properties such as electroconductivity, which is attributable to the unique crystalline structure and electron arrangement of the carbon nanotubes. These properties are a reason why carbon nanotubes are currently being heavily researched .
Carbon nanotubes can potentially be used in a variety of applications such as, for example, field emission, electrical and thermal conduction, catalyst support, hydrogen storage and molecular sieves. However, when used in applications such as catalyst support, hydrogen storage or molecular sieves, carbon nanotubes face dispersion difficulties due to van der Waals bonding attributable to characteristics of the one-dimensional structure of the carbon nanotubes. As a result, it has been difficult to efficiently utilize the large surface areas of carbon nanotubes. In order to overcome these problems, short carbon nanotubes having open ends have been used (i.e. production of short carbon nanotubes from long carbon nanotubes).
However, conventional methods of producing short carbon nanotubes, such as acid treatment, ball milling, etc., cause structural damage and surface damage to the carbon nanotubes, and result in a lesser yield of short carbon nanotubes. Since the production of short carbon nanotubes with good physical qualities is difficult and expensive, there is a need for a new, economical method of producing carbon nanotubes having higher conductivity.


A folding device can be used for various kinds of electronic apparatuses and is capable of easy processing of parts and lowering of cost. Inner cases 16 and 17 are mounted in outer case 15, which houses fixed member 1 and movable member 13. Groove portions 16A and 17A for holding movable member 13 for movement in the axial direction are provided in inner cases 16 and 17 to construct the folding device.

Recently, there have been made great advancements in production of miniature and light-weight electronic apparatuses such as mobile telephones and personal computers. In accordance therewith, such apparatuses having a movable housing arranged to be opened and closed with respect to a fixed housing, i.e., folding type apparatuses, are increasing in number. A folding device used for those apparatuses is required to be low in cost and easy to use. A folding device having such structure mentioned just above is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-89542.
A conventional folding device will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6.
In a sectional view of the drawings, the dimension is shown elongated in the radial direction to facilitate the understanding of the relationship between a fixed cam and a movable cam.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a sectional view and an exploded view in perspective of a conventional folding device.
Metal fixed member 1 in a substantially cylindrical shape is formed with fixed portion 1A on its left-hand side face and provided with fixed cam 2 on a periphery of its right-hand side face. Fixed cam 2 comprises protruded portion 2A and two sloped portions 2B and 2C extended from protruded portion 2A toward the left and right.
Further, metal movable member 3, which is also in a substantially cylindrical shape, is arranged for rotation in an opening and closing direction with respect to fixed member 1. Movable member 3 is provided with movable cam 4 on a periphery of its left-hand side face in confronting relation with fixed cam 2.
Movable case 5, which is in a substantially cylindrical shape and made of sintered alloy, is provided with wall portion 5A sticking outward on its outer periphery and groove portion 5B on its inner periphery.
Protrusion 3A provided on the outer periphery of movable member 3 is inserted into groove portion 5B so that movable member 3 is movable in an axial direction.
Further, coil spring 6 is mounted so as to be weakly pre-compressed in a space between a right-hand side face of movable member 3 and a right-hand bottom face of movable case 5. Spring 6 urges movable member 3 leftward, and thereby, a tip end of movable cam 4 is held in resilient contact with sloped portion 2B of fixed cam 2.
Fixed member 1 is fixed to a left end portion of fixed shaft 7 in a substantially circular pillar shape.
Moreover, a right end portion of fixed shaft 7 passes through a hollowed portion of movable member 3 and spring 6 to be rotatably mounted to a right-hand face of movable case 5 by means of locking ring 8. Fixed portion 1A of fixed member 1 rotatably sticks out of the left-hand side face of movable case 5. Folding device 10 is thus constructed with fixed member 1, movable member 3, spring 6 and the like housed in movable case 5.
Fixed portion 1A of fixed member 1 of folding device 10 is fixed to fixed housing 22 while wall portion 5A of movable case 5 is fixed to movable housing 23, respectively, as shown in the perspective view of a mobile telephone of FIG. 4, for example. On the upper side of fixed housing 22, there are formed operating portion 22A made up of a plurality of keys and voice input portion 22B made up of members such as a microphone. Display portion 23A formed of an LCD and the like and voice output portion 23B formed of a speaker and the like are formed on a surface of movable member 5.
An arrow in FIG. 4 shows an opening and closing operation of movable housing 23.
Thus, the electronic apparatus is constructed by having movable housing 23 hingedly supported by folding device 10 for opening and closing with respect to fixed housing 22.
In the above structure, spring 6 urges movable member 3 downward, that is, in a closing direction when the tip end of movable cam 4 is in resilient contact with sloped portion 2B provided on the lower part of fixed cam 2, as shown in FIG. 5. Accordingly, movable housing 23 to which movable case 5 is fixed is held to be closed with respect to fixed housing 22.
In such a closing state, when movable housing 23 is opened by means of a hand, movable member 3 having protrusion 3A inserted in groove portion 5B moves toward the right in movable case 5 and rotates upward through movable case 5 fixed to movable housing 23. The tip end of movable cam 4 is then in resilient contact with upper sloped portion 2C over protruded portion 2A of fixed cam 2, so that movable member 3 is urged upward, that is, in an opening direction. Movable housing 23 is thus opened.
That is to say, rotation of movable case 5 fixed to movable housing 23 allows movable member 3 to move in the axial direction, so that the tip end of movable cam 4 would be in resilient contact with any one of sloped portions 2B and 2C of fixed cam 2.
An opening and closing operation of movable housing 23 with respect to fixed housing 22 is arranged as described above.
The opening and closing operation is carried out by holding movable cam 4 in resilient sliding contact with fixed cam 2. Therefore, fixed member 1 and movable member 3 require predetermined hardness and strength in order to prevent the cams from being worn and broken due to the opening and closing operation. Accordingly, metal such as steel or copper alloy is generally used for the above.
Movable case 5 should be formed with wall portion 5A for fixing movable case 5 to movable housing 23 and groove portion 5B for holding movable member 3 for movement in an axial direction. The shape of the above is limited so much that production of parts is difficult in pressing. Metal powder of such as iron or copper alloy is thus mixed with resin powder for sintering or the sintered material is cut so as to form movable case 5.
In the conventional folding device, however, forming movable case 5 from sintered metal powder or the like causes a problem that the number of processes for processing parts is increased, so that the folding device would be expensive.
Moreover, the conventional folding device has the problem that high precision production of thin-walled part is needed.
The invention aims to solve such conventional problems and to provide a folding device capable of easy processing of parts and lowering of cost.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An MCF having a structure excellent in mass productivity and suppressing increases in splicing cost and loss are provided. The MCF includes 12 or 16 cores, a cladding, and a coating. The cores are arranged at positions of line symmetry while no adjacent relationship is established between the cores having an adjacent relationship with any core. A coating diameter is 235-265 μm, a cladding diameter CD is from CDnominal−1 μm to CDnominal+1 μm with a nominal value CDnominal of 195 μm or less, an MFD at 1310 nm is from MFD-reference-value−0.4 μm to the MCF-reference-value+0.4 μm with the MFD-reference-value of 8.2-9.2 μm, and a 22 m-cable-cutoff wavelength λcc is 1260-1360 nm. A core's zero-dispersion wavelength is a wavelength-reference-value−12 nm to the wavelength-reference-value+12 nm with the wavelength-reference-value of 1312-1340 nm, and a dispersion slope at the wavelength is 0.092 ps/(nm2·km) or less. A shortest distance from a cover-cladding interface to each core center, a structure, and optical characteristics satisfy predetermined conditions.

At present, MCFs are actively studied as large-capacity optical transmission lines.
For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a trench-assisted four-core fiber having a cladding outer diameter of 125 μm. The depth of the trench is about −0.7% or less, a mode field diameter (hereinafter, referred to as an "MFD") is 8.4 μm or more and 8.6 μm or less at a wavelength of 1310 nm. The cable cutoff wavelength is 1171 nm or more and 1195 nm or less. The zero-dispersion wavelength is 1317 nm or more and 1319 nm or less, and the chromatic dispersion slope at the zero-dispersion wavelength is 0.090 ps/(nm2·km) or more and 0.091 ps/(nm2·km) or less. In addition, the transmission loss is 0.33 dB/km or more and 0.35 dB/km or less at a wavelength of 1310 nm, and 0.19 dB/km or more and 0.21 dB/km or less at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The inter-core crosstalk (hereinafter, a crosstalk is referred to as an "XT") is −43 dB/km at a wavelength of 1625 nm.
Non-Patent Document 2 discloses a trenchless two-core fiber having a cladding outer diameter of 125 μm. The MFD is 8.1 μm at a wavelength of 1310 nm, and is 9.14 μm at the wavelength of 1550 nm. The inter-core XT at the time of propagation for 5.8 km is −79.3 dB at a wavelength of 1310 nm, is −48.3 dB at a wavelength of 1490 nm, and is −42.5 dB at the wavelength of 1550 nm. The cutoff wavelength is 1160 nm.
Non-Patent Document 3 also discloses a trenchless four-core fiber having a cladding outer diameter of 125 μm. The MFD is 8.6 μm or more and 8.8 μm or less at the wavelength of 1310 nm, and is 9.6 μm or more and 9.8 μm or less at the wavelength of 1550 nm. The cable cutoff wavelength is 1234 nm or more and 1244 nm or less. The zero-dispersion wavelength is 1318 nm or more and 1322 nm or less, and the chromatic dispersion slope at the zero-dispersion wavelength is 0.088 ps/(nm2·km) or more and 0.089 ps/(nm2·km) or less. The transmission loss is 0.328 dB/km or more and 0.330 dB/km or less at the wavelength of 1310 nm, is 0.188 dB/km or more and 0.193 dB/km or less at the wavelength of 1550 nm, and is 0.233 dB/km or more and 0.245 dB/km or less at a wavelength of 1625 nm. The inter-core XT is −56 dB/km or less on a 1360-nm wavelength band (O-band), and is −30 dB/km or less on a 1565-nm wavelength band (C-band).
Non-Patent Document 4 discloses a 12-core fiber having a cladding outer diameter of 147 μm and including cores arranged in a square lattice, and a 12-core fiber having a cladding outer diameter of 145 μm and cores arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The fibers each have a trenchless structure. The MFD is 5.4 μm at the wavelength of 1310 nm, and is 6.1 μm at the wavelength of 1550 nm. The cutoff wavelength is 1.26 μm, the zero-dispersion wavelength is 1.41 μm, the leakage loss to the coating at the wavelength of 1565 nm is 0.01 dB/2 kin, and the inter-core XT at the wavelength of 1565 nm is −30 dB/2 km.
Furthermore, Non-Patent Document 5 discloses an example of a 12-fiber ribbon as an ultra-high density optical fiber cable of an intermittent-bonding ribbon type.    (Non-Patent Document 1) Takashi Matsui, et al., "Design of 125 μm cladding multi-core fiber with full-band compatibility to conventional single-mode fiber," Eur. Conf. Opt. Commun. (ECOC) 2015, the Internet <URL:https://doi.org/10.1109/ECOC.2015.7341966>.    (Non-Patent Document 2) Ying Geng, et al., "High-speed, bidirectional, dual-core fiber transmission system for high-density, short-reach optical interconnects," Proc. SPIE, Vol. 9390 939009-1 (Mar. 9, 2015).    (Non-Patent Document 3) T. Matsui et al., "Step-index profile multi-core fibre with standard 125-μm cladding to full-band application," in Eur. Conf. Opt. Commun. (ECOC) (2019), the Internet <URL:https://doi.org/10.1049/cp.2019.0751>.    (Non-Patent Document 4) Yusuke Sasaki, et al., "High Density Multicore Fibers Employing Small MFD Cores for Datacenters," OECC2018 P2-07, Technical Digest Jul. 2-6, 2018.    (Non-Patent Document 5) Fumiaki Sato, et al., "Characteristics of Ultra-High-Fiber-Count and High-Density Optical Cables with Pliable Ribbons," Proceedings of the 66th IWCS Conference (2017), p. 304-311.    (Non-Patent Document 6) R. J. Black and C. Pask, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, JOSAA 1(11), p. 1129-1131, 1984.    (Non-Patent Document 7) T. Matsui et al., in Eur. Conf. Opt. Commun. (ECOC 2017), p. W.1.B.2.    (Non-Patent Document 8) T. Hayashi et al., in Int. Wire Cable Symp. (IWCS) (2018), p. P-6.

Multi-core optical fiber and multi-core optical fiber cable


A distal protection and delivery system is used to collect and remove embolic debris in the blood vessel. The system includes a guidewire, a filter assembly, and a distal introducer. The distal introducer can be positioned on a distal end of an introducer catheter or an angioplasty catheter or other interventional catheter. The guidewire has a small ferrule or locking mechanism fixed to it that does not affect the flexibility, torqueability, or trackability in comparison to standard guidewires. The introducer containing the filter assembly is advanced over the guidewire to a site distal to the lesion. Upon retraction of the guidewire proximally, the ferrule latches with an ejector latch of the filter assembly. Either advancement of the guidewire distally or retraction of the distal introducer proximally allows the filter assembly to be ejected from the distal introducer and into the blood vessel.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a distal protection and delivery system that is placed using a guidewire in a tubular member of the human body that has a lesion or injury that requires diagnosis or therapy without allowing emboli to be released downstream. More specifically the invention relates to an intravascular system that is placed percutaneously into a blood vessel of the body that has a lesion to be treated by angioplasty, stent placement, a therectomy, thrombectomy, or other therapy, or diagnosis. The blood vessel to be treated can include the coronary, carotid, femoral, popliteal, or other vessel having a vascular lesion that requires interventional treatment. During treatment of such blood vessels, embolic debris can be embolized downstream causing blockage to distal capillary beds and arterioles. This vascular blockage results in reduced tissue perfusion and compromised tissue function. Placement of a distal protection device downstream of the treatment site can allow emboli to be collected and removed from the body rather than causing embolic injury. The distal protection and delivery system of the present invention includes a guidewire that can navigate tortuous blood vessel to reach the vessel lesion as easily as other standard prior art guidewires. The system also includes a filter assembly that is not attached to the guidewire and therefore can be delivered with an introducer to a site distal to the vessel lesion separately from the guidewire.
2. Description of Prior Art
Distal protection devices have been used in tubular vessels of the body including arteries and veins in order to prevent emboli such as thrombi, plaque, and other embolic debris from drifting downstream and causing distal tissue injury. Most distal protection devices have filters that are attached directly to the distal portion of a guidewire or to a portion of a catheter. Filter devices can sometimes be used during surgery, during percutaneous interventional procedures, and also filters can be implanted permanently into the body. The device of the present invention is intended for use during angioplasty or other interventional use.    Distal protection devices having a filter attached to a guidewire include the device of Tsugita (U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,154), Kerr (U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,896), Ruiz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,261), Reger (U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,342), and Ginsburg (U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,978). Tsugita describes a filter apparatus for treating stenosed blood vessels. The guidewire has a filter attached to it for capturing loose embolic material. The filter has an expansion frame having a filter mesh attached to it. One major difficulty with this type of device is that the guidewire cannot traverse a tortuous pathway in a blood vessel with a filter attached and with a holding tube surrounding the filter to hold it in the smaller diameter configuration. The filter along with the holding tube are very stiff and will restrict the ability of the guidewire from making tight turns into small vessels. Kerr describes a conically shaped filter with a porous fabric or a fine fiber mesh. Emboli from an angioplasty procedure are trapped by the filter and connecting loops can be drawn together to hold the emboli. This device shares similar disadvantages to the device of Tsugita. Ruiz describes a removable vascular filter and apparatus that is expanded within the vessel and held in place by a coiled-sheet stent portion with a magnetic band. When the coiled-sheet stent portion is released within the blood vessel, it uncoils to engage a wall of the vessel and deploys the filter element across the flow path. This device would be very stiff due to its configuration and would have much difficulty traversing a tortuous vascular pathway. Reger describes a filter device for use during angioplasty or a therectomy having a filter assembly mounted on a flexible catheter or guidewire. The device contains a filter element such as a polyester cloth that can be closed using a drawstring. A rotating motion can be used to twist the stocking filter to aid in containing the embolic material. This device has a filter permanently attached to the guidewire and will therefore have much greater stiffness than a standard guidewire, thereby limiting its access to smaller vessels and vessels with difficult conformation. Ginsburg describes a catheter device with a filter at the end of a wire that is entered percutaneously from the downstream side of the lesion. This device is extremely limited by virtue of reduced or nonexistent access to the blood vessel in most cases downstream of the lesion. This device also shares the difficulties associated with having a permanently attached filter that will result in a stiff device.    Lefebvre describes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,874 a filter catheter that is intended for long periods of use. It has strips that form a filter that can be detached from the connecting means into a blood vessel. This device is not intended to capture and remove emboli, however. This device depends upon the natural thrombolytic mechanisms of the body to break down thrombus or emboli that have been collected by the filter.    In U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,260 by Maahs a modular blood filter device is described that can be introduced into a blood vessel. The device consists of an arterial cannula with a modular filter device. The frame may be expanded to an enlarged condition to capture embolic material in a mesh filter and collapsed to a contracted condition and removed from the vessel. The device appears to be very mechanical, stiff, and cumbersome, and would not have efficient application to interventional procedures in vessels that require a soft and flexible catheter.    Barbut describes a device and method for filtering emboli generated from a blood oxygenator in U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,816. The device has an insertion tube, an umbrella frame for positioning and maintaining a mesh filter in position, and a means for opening the umbrella frame. An inflatable balloon is attached to the mesh filter. This device is much too stiff and awkward to be used in a percutaneous interventional application that requires a flexible catheter and guidewire.    Gewertz (U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,891) describes a filter member attached to a wire member that is intended to enter the jugular vein and be advanced to the vena cava. The device is easily replaceable and removable at the end of the procedure. This device does not retrieve the thromboemboli but rather depends upon the body to break down the emboli. This is a temporary filter to remove large clots in the venous system. It could not work to retrieve emboli in an interventional procedure.    Molgaard-Nielson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,246) and Rasmussen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,733) describe filters that are placed into a blood vessel such as a vein to block emboli. The device of Molgaard-Nielson is a wire filter mesh attached to a wire and could be implanted and then moved within one week. Emboli that have been trapped are not intended to be removed from the vasculature. Rasmussen describes a filter that is normally deployed in the vena cava via a catheter in a collapsed form and expands outward to capture emboli. This device is intended for implant and does not provide for means to remove any collected emboli.

Distal protection and delivery system and method


A compounded rubber, which is made up of an NBR polymer, an organic peroxide and a blowing agent, to which 1 to 100 parts by weight of a synthetic silicic acid serving as a reinforcing filler and 10 to 200 parts by weight of precipitated calcium carbonate having a prismatic particle shape and serving as a filler are added to 100 parts by weight of the NBR polymer, is extrusion molded by a continuous extruder, and heated by HA heating and UHF heating in combination throughout the rubber to cause vulcanization and expansion, thereby providing a thick sponge having a homogenous cell structure. The sponge is passed through press rolls, and the resulting sheet stock is cut or punched with a cutting or punching machine into pieces of a desired form to obtain an applicator for cosmetics.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an applicator for cosmetics which is adapted for use in the application of cosmetics or skin lotions to human skin surfaces.
The term "an applicator for cosmetics" used herein is intended to mean those instruments which are used for applying cosmetics or skin lotions to human skin surfaces, and include sponge puffs for cosmetics, eye shadow chips, putting sponges, applicators for rouge, applicators or brushes for cheek rouge and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, foamed rubber materials that are ordinarily used for this type of applicator, particularly, a sponge puff for cosmetic purposes, include acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymers (EPDM), urethane rubbers, silicone rubbers and the like.
For the method of obtaining a foamed rubber material of a high degree of foaming or expansion used for sponge puffs for cosmetics, there are known a number of methods including a method wherein a blend of a rubber, a blowing agent, a crosslinking agent and the like is packed in a mold, heated under pressure, followed by depressurization to obtain a foamed material, a method wherein a crosslinking agent is added to a rubber latex, followed by mechanically agitating the mixture for foaming, pouring the mixture into a mold and heating, and the like. However, all of these methods are disadvantageous in that because they are a batch process, their productivity is poor.
For a sponge puff, there is known a latex foam puff, which is obtained by mechanically foaming and vulcanizing a rubber latex composition. This puff has the problem that a limitation is placed on an open-cell foam and a great number of cylindrical molds similar to a product shape are required.
Some closed-cell sponge puffs are also known, which are made of expanded materials obtained by adding a blowing agent and the like additives to a solid rubber, packing the mixture in a mold, and heating under pressure to obtain a sponge material. The rubber sheet removed from the mold should be punched out in a form similar to an intended shape of the product, with the attendant problems of a great loss of the material and poor productivity resulting from its batch process.
Further, urethane sponge puffs are known in the art, wherein a solvent-containing urethane resin composition is extruded, and the solvent is evaporated off under a reduced pressure to form cells therein. This process also has the problems that the material loss is great and a load on recovery of the solvent is serious.
Composite puff articles of latex foam puffs, closed-cell sponge puffs, urethane sponge puffs and puffs made of other types of materials are also known, with the problems that molding of a multi-layered structure is difficult, coupled with an increasing number of additional steps including post-treatment.
A foundation, which is a kind of cosmetic, is classified into a powder-type and a liquid-type. The powder foundation is one wherein pigments and the like are solidified with a paraffin oil or the like, and the liquid foundation is a liquid one wherein solid matters such as pigments are dispersed in water or a silicone oil.
In general, the sponge puff used for the powder foundation is made of an open-cell foam of NBR (nitrile rubber) or a urethane rubber. Especially, an NBR open-cell foam is one which is obtained by mechanically mixing air into a latex and foaming the mixture and whose foamed conditions are uniform throughout the resulting foam with a water absorption being at 500% or over. When this open-cell sponge puff is applied for a liquid-type foundation, the foundation infiltrates into the puff, which makes it difficult to permit the liquid foundation to be deposited on the skin. Thus, such an open-cell sponge puff is unsuitable for a liquid foundation.
Sponge puffs adapted for use in liquid foundations include those sponge puffs made of closed cells such as of silicone rubbers and EPDM (ethylene/propylene rubbers), sponge puffs wherein a skin film is applied onto open-cell sponges, and the like. The closed-cell sponge puffs are those which are expanded under heat and pressurizing conditions with the use of a press and are made of fine foams having a size of 100 μm or below and which cannot be manufactured in a sheet thickness of 30 mm or over because of the application of heat from a hot press. Although the water absorption is less than 5%, this type of puff is not good, with respect to a feel to the touch, owing to the elastic feeling inherent to the closed cells. When this type of puff is applied for powder foundation, it is unlikely to cause a powder foundation to be appropriately deposited thereon due to the fineness of the cells and such a puff runs as sliding on the skin surface, thus being not suited for application to powder foundations in practice.
Those sponge puffs used for liquid-type foundation, in which a skin film is attached to open-cell sponges, are made by attaching a skin film to a latex foam, so that the cells partly collapse. The liquid infiltrates in use from the skin film-free side surface. This presents the problems that hands are soiled, the liquid remains inside, thus lacking in sanitation, and the skin film portion becomes stiff and slippery.


A multi-chassis coordinated display system a first chassis having a first display device located on the first chassis and a master screen agent. The master screen agent is configured to receive device information from a screen sub-agent that is located in a second chassis that includes a second display device. The master screen agent uses the device information to determine a first user interface screen for a user interface and a second user interface screen for the user interface, and sends the second user interface screen to the screen sub-agent. The master screen agent may then display the first user interface screen on the first display device while the screen sub-agent displays the second user interface screen on the second display device to provide a coordinated display of the user interface on the first display device and the second display device.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems (IHSs), and more particularly to a multi-IHS coordinated display system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an IHS. An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs such as, for example, data center IHSs such as switch IHSs, server IHSs, storage IHSs, and/or a variety of other data center IHSs known in the art, may include a display screen that provides for local user interaction with the IHS. For example, modular network switch IHSs exist that include a chassis that is configured to couple to an IHS chassis enclosure and that includes a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device on a front surface of the chassis that is accessible, when the chassis is coupled to the IHS enclosure, to a user to interact with the modular network switch IHS. However, when a plurality of the modular network switch IHSs are coupled to the same IHS enclosure, the LCD device on each modular network switch IHS operates independently from the other LCD devices on the other modular network switch IHSs, and can only provide interaction with its modular network switch IHS.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a multi-IHS coordinated display system.

Multi-chassis coordinated display system including a chassis enclosure that includes a backplane and information handling system (IHS) connectors


A new Poinsettia plant named ‘Fismired’ particularly distinguished by the brilliant red flower color, distinctly lobed bracts, relatively large inflorescences well above the foliage, dark green, distinctly lobed foliage, well branching, compact plant habit and early flowering.

The present invention comprises a new Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'Fismired.'
'Fismired' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar 'Fismired' has brilliant red flower color, distinctly lobed bracts and leaves, dark green foliage, early flowering, and compact to medium plant habit.
'Fismired' originated from hybridizations made from late June to early August 2002 in a controlled breeding program in Hillscheid, Germany. The female parent was the commercial variety 'Fiselfi,' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,736, with red, distinctly lobed bracts, dark green foliage, and compact habit.
The male parent of 'Fismired' was the proprietary variety 'Fispoin 7776,' unpatented, characterized by deep red bracts, dark green foliage, and about medium sized plant habit.
The resulting seeds were sown in February to March 2003. 'Fismired' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in December 2003 in a controlled environment in Hillscheid, Germany.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'Fismired' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in the spring of 2004 and grafted on rootstocks of the variety 'Maren,' in order to improve the branching ability. Cuttings from the successfully grafted stems were rooted in the summer of 2005, and cultivated for the first, small trial through the fall and winter of 2005.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in the summer of 2005 in Hillscheid, Germany, and continuing thereafter on a larger scale, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for 'Fismired' are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
'Fismired' has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length
Plant Breeders' Rights for this cultivar were applied for in the European Union on Apr. 10, 2008 and in Canada on Jul. 4, 2008. 'Fismired' has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.


A simulation test bench environment for testing a circuit is described. The test bench environment uses high-level task routines executed by one or more bus functional device models to generate input test vectors. A timing and protocol checker verifies both signal timing and functional operation bus specifications. Data and parity miscompares and corruptions are reported in real-time during simulation. An error and interrupt handler services errors and interrupts by communicating with the buses coupled to the circuit to execute specific recovery routines. A memory model is used to generate known expected data for data transactions, to store data from the circuit on data transactions, and to generate operation codes for the circuit.

The need to perform both functional and timing design verification of an integrated circuit (IC) requires the use of a simulation test bench environment. The simulation test bench environment is a collection of components designed to emulate the specified operation of an integrated circuit. The collection of components may consist of, but is not limited to, behavioral bus functional models, behavioral device functional models, primitive cell models, hardware description language (HDL) functional code, memory models, and gate-level circuitry, in order to emulate an actual system environment.
Previously, old design verification methodologies used low-level programming techniques to create functional test vectors (input stimulus), required manual graphical visual verification of correct protocol and timing verification, and had limited real-time data integrity checking capability.
The simulation test bench environment of the present invention utilizes high-level task routines executed by bus functional devices models to generate input test vectors. The present invention further utilizes built-in protocol and timing verification of the device under test (DUT) by a dedicated bus device model, and performs real-time data integrity checking of actual to expected data for all input/output (I/O) data transaction cycles in order to perform functional and timing design verification of an integrated circuit.

Method and apparatus for design verification of an integrated circuit using a simulation test bench environment


A system and method for providing digital video scan using 3-D geometry. The digital video scan system includes a 3-D scan scene maker for generating a plurality of video display units for displaying digital video data; a plurality of video producing devices producing a plurality of video feeds; a video scan sequencer receiving and organizing the plurality of video feeds into a predetermined order; a video rendering device rendering the digital video data from the plurality of video feeds for display within a separate one of the video display units; and video display apparatus displaying the digital video data from each video feed in the video display units. The plurality of video display units are positioned in a 3-D scene so that a plurality of video display units are at least partially viewable at the same time. Moreover, at intervals, the digital video data is incremented from one video display unit to another thus allowing an observer to view each digital video data in a foreground position. Furthermore, the observer is provided with a video data selector allowing the operator to select digital video data in one video display unit and move the selected digital video data to another video display unit.

Surveillance and security monitoring systems often employ multiple video cameras disposed at different locations to monitor activity in those locations. Conventionally, the video feeds from these cameras are fed to a central monitoring station and displayed on one or more display screens. The multiple display screens allow the central monitoring station personnel to view multiple cameras at the same time, and ideally the number of display screens would equal the number of video feeds so that all the cameras can be viewed simultaneously. However, such a large number of display screens can be prohibitively expensive, both in cost and required space.
Alternatively, the multiple video feeds can be displayed on a single display screen, thus reducing cost. In such a single display screen configuration, the video feeds may be displayed sequentially, one after the other according to the particular scan sequence. Alternatively, multiple video feeds may be displayed simultaneously on the one display screen, in sub-divisions of the screen, as shown in FIG. 1
Referring to FIG. 1, a display screen 100 is shown that is sub-divided into four quadrants 102a-d. Each quadrant of the four quadrants 102a-d displays a video feed originating from a separate camera. In this way, a security guard can monitor four video cameras simultaneously. While this method of displaying multiple video feeds works well for a small number of cameras, as the number of cameras increases, the viewing area of each displayed video feed decreases. Consequently, in situations where a large number of video feeds are displayed simultaneously, the details within each displayed video feed can be lost due to the reduced size. When in scan sequence operation, user can conventionally watch video feeds one by one only. While the user is watching one feed he is completely unaware of the next feed.

System and method for digital video scan using 3-D geometry


A protruding table which was conventionally provided in a center portion of a socket body is eliminated, so that a dimension of a socket in widthwise direction is reduced. When the socket is mounted on a circuit board, an adsorption cover is attached to the socket, and the socket is adsorbed by and held on an adsorption nozzle via the adsorption cover. On the other hand, with respect to a header, gaps between header posts arranged in longitudinal direction are separated by cross walls, so that concave portions are formed between the cross walls. Under a state that an adsorption face of the adsorption nozzle is contacted with the header so that a suction opening of the adsorption nozzle face the concave portion, an enclosed space is formed by at least two cross walls, a bottom face of the concave portion and the adsorption face of the adsorption nozzle. When air in the enclosed space is sucked from the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle, negative pressure occurs, so that the header is adsorbed by and held on the adsorption nozzle. Consequently, it enables the adsorption and holding by the adsorption nozzle, and enables to reduce a dimension of the socket in widthwise direction.

Conventionally, a connector which is comprised of a socket and a header is provided for electrically connecting between circuit boards, for example, an FPC and a hard board. A conventional connector mentioned in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-8753 is described with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12C, FIG. 13, FIGS. 14A to 14C and FIG. 15.
As shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C and FIG. 13, a socket 50 has a socket body 51 which is formed into a substantially flat rectangular parallelepiped shape by resin molding and a plurality of socket contacts 60 which is arranged on two lines along longitudinal direction of the socket body 51. Seen from front, a protruding table 53 of substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is formed in a center portion of the socket body 51, and a plug groove 52 of substantially rectangular shape is formed between the protruding table 53 and each side wall 54 in longitudinal direction and each side wall 56 in widthwise direction.
The socked contact 60 is formed by bending a band metal into a predetermined shape by press working. A first contact portion 61 which is to be contacted with a header post 80 (referring to FIGS. 14A to 14C and FIG. 15) is formed at a first end portion of each socket contact 60 facing the plug groove 52. A first terminal portion 62 which is to be soldered on a conductive pattern of a circuit board is formed at a second end portion of the socket contact 60 positioned outward of the side wall 54. Each socket contact 60 is press-fitted after resin molding of the socket body 51.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C and FIG. 15, a header 70 has a header body 71 which is formed in a shape of substantially flat rectangular parallelepiped by resin molding and a plurality of header post 80 which is arranged on two lines along longitudinal direction of the header body 71. An engaging groove 72 of substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with which the protruding table 53 is engaged is formed at a position facing the protruding table 53 of the socket body 51. Flange portions 74 are formed on side walls 73 of the header body 71 so as to protrude substantially perpendicular to the side walls 73 from edges on rear face side (circuit board side) of the header body 71. Furthermore, engaging protrusions 75 which are to be engaged with key grooves 55 provided on the protruding table 53 of the socket 50 are formed at four positions on wall faces of the side walls 73 in side of the engaging groove 72 so that impact applied while the socket 50 and the header 70 are connected is dispersed.
The header post 80 is formed by bending a band metal into a predetermined shape by press working. A second contact portion 81 which is to be contacted with the first contact portion 61 of the socket contact 60 is formed at a position of each header post 80 along an outer surface of the side wall 73. Furthermore, a second terminal portion 82 which is to be soldered on a conductive pattern of a circuit board is formed at an end portion protruding outward from the flange portion 74. Each header post 80 is integrally fixed on the header body 71 by insert molding while the header body 71 is molded by resin.
The socket 50 and the header 70 are mounted so that the first terminal portion 62 of each socket contact 60 and the second terminal portion 82 of each header post 80 are respectively soldered on conductive patterns of circuit boards. When the header 70 is engaged with the plug groove 52 of the socket 50, the protruding table 53 of the socket 50 is relatively engaged with the engaging groove 72 of the header 70, and the first contact portion 61 of the socket contact 60 contacts the second contact portion 81 of the header post 80 with elastic deformation. As a result, a circuit board on which the socket is mounted is elastically connected with a circuit board on which the header 70 is mounted.
By the way, in the connector used for a compact electronic equipment such as a mobile phone, the pitch of the socket contacts 60 and the header posts 80 is very narrow as, for example, 0.4 mm extent. In addition, a connector further downsized is demanded for further downsizing the electronic equipment. On the other hand, a dimension of the connector in longitudinal direction (arranging direction of the socket contacts 60 and the header posts 80) depends on the pitch and the number of the socket contact 60 and the header post 80. In addition, there is a limit to make the pitch of the socket contacts 60 and the header posts 80 narrower because of securing the distance for insulation. Accordingly, the downsizing of the connector can be achieved by reducing the dimension in widthwise direction thereof.
Generally, when the plug groove 52, with which the header body 71 is engaged, is formed on the socket body 51, mechanical strength of the socket body 51 becomes weak so that it is easily deformed. In the above-mentioned conventional connector, in order to increase the mechanical strength of the socket body 51, the protruding table 53 is provided in the inside of the plug groove 52, and the engaging groove 72 which is to be engaged with the protruding table 53 is formed on the header body 71. Therefore, the conventional connector has a problem that dimensions in widthwise directions of the socket body 51 and the header body 71 becomes larger by the dimension of the protruding table 53.
Furthermore, a curved surface portion 83 is provided in the vicinity of the front end of the header post 80 so as to contact the socket contact 60 with the header post 80 smoothly, but it is necessary to provide the engaging groove 72 on the header body 71, so that it is difficult to take a configuration that a front end of the curved surface portion 83 is hooked on the header body 71. Therefore, for example, when the header 70 is taking out and putting in for the socket 50 obliquely, the header body 71 may be deformed, and the front end of the curved surface portion 83 of the header post 80 may be raised and come off from the header body 71.
Still furthermore, when the header 70 is mounted on a circuit board, a suction opening of an adsorption nozzle which is not illustrated is contacted to a bottom face 72a of the engaging groove 72 of the header body 71 so as to suck air, so that the header 70 is held by adsorption. Then, the adsorption nozzle is moved to transfer the header 70 to a mounting position. Therefore, the bottom face 72a of the engaging groove 72 must be formed larger than a front end portion of the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle so as to form no gap between the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle and the bottom face 72a of the engaging groove 72 when the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle is contacted to a adsorption face, that is, the bottom face 72a of the engaging groove 72 of the header body 71. Thus, since a width W2 of the bottom face 72a of the engaging groove 72 cannot be made smaller than a diameter of the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle in widthwise direction of the header body 71, there is a limit to downsize the dimension of the header 70 in the widthwise direction thereof.
Similarly, when the socket 50 is mounted on a circuit board, a suction opening of an adsorption nozzle is contacted to a front end face 53a of the protruding table 53 of the socket body 51 so as to suck air, so that the socket 50 is held by adsorption. Then, the adsorption nozzle is moved to transfer the socket 50 to a mounting position. Therefore, the front end face 53a of the protruding table 53 of the socket body 51 must be formed larger than a front end portion of the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle, so that a width W1 of the front end face 53a of the protruding table 53 cannot be made smaller than a diameter of the suction opening of the adsorption nozzle in widthwise direction of the header body 71, and there is a limit to downsize the dimension of the socket 50 in the widthwise direction thereof.

Connector for electrically connecting electronic components


The power output of an RF plasma supply device is controlled by producing at least a first and second RF power signal by means of a respective RF generator, coupling at least two RF power signals into a coupled RF power, and distributing the coupled RF power between a plasma power that is to be supplied to a plasma load and an equalizing power that is to be supplied to an equalizing load. The power output is controlled by adjusting the levels and/or the phase position of the RF power signals in such a manner that, for plasma power in the range between a predefined lower power limit and a predefined nominal power, an insignificant portion of the coupled RF power constitutes the equalizing power and, for plasma power below the predefined lower power limit, a significant portion of the coupled RF power constitutes the equalizing power.

For RF plasma supply devices and/or the RF generators that are arranged within a plasma supply device, nominal power levels are stipulated by the manufacturer, where the sum of the nominal power levels of the individual RF generators constitutes the nominal power of the plasma supply device.
RF generators and consequently RF plasma supply devices can be operated with a greater level of difficulty at a fraction of their nominal power. RF generators and RF plasma supply device can tend towards uncontrolled fluctuations and can be controlled at a precise power output with greater difficulty. In most cases, a lower power limit is also stipulated by manufacturers of RF generators, below which the RF generator cannot be operated in a reliable manner or with the required level of precision. For example, some manufacturers stipulate that the lower power limit is 10% of the nominal power, while some manufacturers stipulate an even lower value such as 1% of the nominal power. Moreover, the sum of the lower power limits of the RF generators constitutes approximately the lower power limit of the plasma supply device.
In order to operate the plasma supply device below the lower power limit, a first portion of the power from the RF generator is supplied to an additional resistor and the remainder of the power from the RF generator is supplied to the load to enable operation of the RF generator above the lower power limit. To this end, the resistor can be connected in series or in parallel with the load. For power levels below the lower power limit, this solution in most cases provides a usable result.


A two-part electric motor shaft assembly. The assembly includes an elongated shank member which has a cavity hollowed out at one end. A cam pin has one end configured to be received in the shank cavity and secured thereto. The other end of the cam pin forms a cam surface which is eccentric with respect to a longitudinal axis defined by the elongated shank member. By utilizing a two-piece design, the shank member may be formed of a softer and less expensive material than the alloy steel used to form the cam pin since the shank member is subjected to less loading and wear. The two-part motor shaft assembly of the present invention eliminates the stress riser that occurs with application of loading to the transition joint of a single piece design.

Conventionally, electric motor shafts with an eccentric cam, such as those used in antilock braking systems, are cast, forged or machined in a single piece. A typical electric motor shaft of this type is either forged, cast or machined out of a solid bar stock of alloy steel. Such a manufacture must be used because the shaft must subsequently be hardened and ground so that the finished shaft includes a larger diameter shank portion and a smaller diameter cam pin.
These one-piece shafts of the type used for anti-lock braking systems require a stress curve ground into the transition zone between the larger diameter shank portion and the smaller diameter cam pin. The purpose of this stress curve is to minimize the stress riser that occurs when the transition zone is subject to loading during application of the vehicle brakes. Since these electric motor shafts are a critical component in the anti-lock braking system, failure thereof could be the direct cause of loss of life and other disastrous consequences. Thus, it is particularly important that electric motor shafts used for this application, as well as for many others, be completely reliable.
The stress riser is inherent in the one-piece shaft because of the transition between the larger diameter shank portion and smaller diameter cam pin. Thus, the transition zone becomes a natural weak point in prior art one-piece shafts, and preventing failure in this transition zone has become an important design consideration driving the size, configuration, and material used to fabricate the shafts. Since the stress riser is inherent to the design and can only be minimized, the vehicle industry has developed specific reliability tests to assure shaft integrity and eliminate bending or breaking of the cam pin. For example, in order to pass the Static Flexure Test (Bend Test), the cam pin is inserted into a mating hole in a metal plate of the testing apparatus. A static load of 90 nm is then applied to the shank portion. The cam pin must not bend or break at this minimum load. In order to pass this test, one-piece motor shafts must be of sufficient diameter and incorporates an appropriate stress curve.
Similarly, the Impact Test (energy absorption) subjects a rigidly locked motor shaft to a 70 pound weight dropped from a height of 32 inches so that the weight impacts the cam pin. The testing apparatus records the energy required to break the cam pin off the shank portion of the shaft. Again, the stress curve at the transition zone is the area of vulnerability in this test, and any failure will inevitably occur in this area.
However, while the cam pin requires alloy steel and heat treating to provide a hard, nonwearing inner race surface for the needle bearings, the shank portion of the shaft can remain relatively soft. Hence, using relatively expensive alloy material to form the shank portion of the shaft represents a significant and unnecessary cost to the manufacturer.
Thus, the current one-piece motor shaft has at least two distinct disadvantages; first, it wastes relatively expensive material in the shank portion which is not subject to the same high bearing stresses as the outer surface of the cam pin; secondly, it inherently has a zone of transition from greater to lesser diameter that is particularly vulnerable to breakage.
It would be advantageous for an electric motor shaft such as is used in the anti-lock braking systems of motor vehicles to be designed to eliminate one or both of these undesirable qualities.


Methods for video data conversion, performed by a converter, are provided. An embodiment of the video data conversion method comprises the following steps. Chroma data of a target line is acquired from a first portion of a video stream in a transmission format. Chroma data of a certain number of neighboring lines near the target line is acquired from a second portion of the video stream. New chroma data is calculated from the acquired chroma data of the target line and the neighboring lines. The acquired chroma data of the target line is replaced with the new chroma data of the target line encapsulated into the first portion of the video stream. The modified video stream is transmitted to multiple receiving devices thereby the multiple receiving devices may obtain the video stream in a format used for subsequent process without additional computation.

The invention relates to video data processing, and more particularly, to systems and methods for video data conversion.
The chrominance (chroma) formats for the digital video supported by the MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) international standard include 4:4:4, 4:2:2, and 4:2:0 formats. CCIR 656 is a common data format used in data transmission among different devices, which carries the data in 4:2:2 format. A conventional receiving device such as a display device, video encoding device or similar, adopting 4:2:0 format, is typically equipped with a converter to convert received video data encoded in 4:2:2 format into video data encoded in 4:2:0 format. In each converter, one of various chrominance down-sampling algorithms is employed, for example, at least one line buffer is required to average the chrominance data of at least two neighboring lines within a frame (picture). As more receiving devices are used, more converters are required, resulting in increased hardware costs.

Video data conversion method and system for multiple receivers


In a superconducting magnets for MRI configured to generate a homogeneous magnetic field and a gradient magnetic field in a space between a top superconducting magnet and a bottom superconducting magnet, the bottom superconducting magnet is provided with a supporting member that supports a helium vessel, and the supporting member is fixed to a vacuum vessel of the bottom superconducting magnet at one end, and is fixed to the floor surface in the vicinity of the end fixed to the vacuum vessel. A high-quality MR image can be thus obtained by preventing direct transmission of oscillation of the gradient coils to the superconducting magnet and reducing oscillation of the gradient coils while achieving a reduction of the overall superconducting magnet in size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus used to obtain a satisfactory tomographic image by preventing fluctuation of a main magnetic field caused by oscillation of gradient coils in an open-type superconducting magnet for MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image Diagnostic Apparatus).
2. Description of Related Art
In an open-type superconducting magnet for MRI in the related art as is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2002-52004 (paragraph [0045] and FIG. 6), a frame is provided to surround an overall superconducting magnet comprising a top superconducting magnet and a bottom superconducting magnet placed one on the other, and supporting members are provided to penetrate through holes made at the centers of the top superconducting magnet and the bottom superconducting magnet. One end of the supporting member is fixed to the frame and the other end is attached to the central portion of the gradient coil for fixing the gradient coil.
The open-type superconducting magnet for MRI comprises a pair of annular superconducting magnets provided one on the other, and generates a spherical magnetic field space measuring about 40 to 50 cm across having homogeneity of several ppm and a magnetic field strength of about 0.5 to 1 tesla almost at the center of a space between the superconducting magnets. Also, a pair of gradient coils that generates a pulsed gradient magnetic field in the highly homogeneous magnetic field space is attached to the end faces on the center side of the respective superconducting magnets. However, because the gradient coils are present between a pair of the annular superconducting magnets as described above and generate a pulsed magnetic field in a strong static magnetic field, they are susceptible to a large electromagnetic force and induce mechanical oscillation. The oscillation is transmitted to the superconducting magnets, which causes a distance between a pair of the superconducting magnets to vary and thereby gives rise to minute magnetic field oscillation. This results in a phenomenon that an MR image (Magnetic Resonance Image) is deteriorated.
The open-type superconducting magnet apparatus for MRI in the related art disclosed in the cited reference is configured as described above, so that mechanical oscillation induced in the gradient coils will not come into direct contact with a pair of the superconducting magnets. Oscillation transmitted to the superconducting magnets can be therefore reduced. However, because the need to provide a large frame to surround the superconducting magnets and the incapability of effectively fixing the outer peripheral portion of the gradient coils where the largest electromagnetic force is generated due to the structure for supporting the gradient coils only at the center, the open-type superconducting magnet apparatus for MRI in the related has a problem that oscillation and noise of the gradient coils are increased.

Superconducting magnet apparatus for MRI


A process is disclosed for separating components of an azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture containing only organic compounds at least one of which compound is a halocarbon comprising contacting said azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture with a semipermeable membrane to form at least one exit stream having an increased concentration of at least one component and at least one other exit stream having an increased concentration of at least one other component of the azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture and, thereafter, recovering at least one exit stream.

The present invention relates to an improved process for separating the components of an azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture containing only organic compounds of which at least one compound is a halocarbon wherein it is difficult and/or impractical to separate the azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture by conventional means. More specifically, the present invention relates to separating the components of such azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture by contacting the mixture with a semipermeable membrane to form at least one exit stream having an increased concentration of at least one component and at least one other exit stream having an increased concentration of at least one other component. The exit streams from the contacting step may, thereafter, be recycled for contact with the semipermeable membrane or further processed by conventional means to achieve additional separation and/or recovery of a desired component.
It is well known that halocarbons of commercial interest including chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's), hydrogen-containing chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC's), hydrogen-containing fluorocarbons (HFC's) and perfluorocarbons (FC's) can be manufactured by processes involving halogen exchange reactions wherein a halocarbon which contains a halogen substituent (most often a chlorine substituent) other than or in addition to a fluorine substituent is reacted with a fluorine-donor compound. The fluorine-donor compound is capable of donating a fluorine atom in halogen exchange reactions such as a metal fluoride or hydrogen fluoride used in the presence of various catalytic compounds. The desired product is obtained together with by-products such as under- or over-fluorinated products, decomposition products, unreacted reactants and the like. The desired product usually must then be separated from these by-products and/or contaminants.
While most separations of this type are carried out readily by well known processes such as distillation, phase separation and the like, some separations present problems which preclude using these processes especially when halocarbons form azeotropic or azeotrope-like compositions with other compounds.
One example of this problem is in the manufacture of a fluoroolefin, tetrafluoroethylene (CF.sub.2 .dbd.CF.sub.2 ; TFE). TFE is an important component in the manufacture of TFE fluorocarbon resins. TFE is usually manufactured by the pyrolysis reaction of monochlorodifluoromethane (CHClF.sub.2 ; HCFC-22), which reaction can be represented by the equation: ##STR1##
It is believed that in the above pyrolysis reaction, an intermediate, difluorocarbene, is formed which then dimerizes to form the desired TFE. However, difluorocarbene can also undergo an insertion reaction with TFE to form hexafluoropropylene (CF.sub.3 --CF.dbd.CF.sub.2) and, thus, in this reaction, TFE is usually accompanied by some hexafluoropropylene. Hexafluoropropylene is a useful chemical and is important as a polymerizable fluoromonomer, as an intermediate for the preparation of fluorosurfactants and stable lubricants, and the like. The above pyrolysis reaction of HCFC-22 can also be written as: ##STR2##
TFE and hydrogen chloride can be separated from the reaction mixture by distillation but the separation of hexafluoropropylene from HCFC-22 presents a problem since hexafluoropropylene and HCFC-22 form an azeotropic mixture which contains about 15 mol percent hexafluoropropylene and about 85 mol percent HCFC-22. As is well known, the separation of the components of an azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixture is difficult and often requires the addition of extraneous materials if a method such as extractive distillation is used. This usually creates additional problems of contamination and/or waste disposal.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process for the separation of the components of azeotropic or azeotrope-like mixtures containing only organic compounds at least one of which compounds is a halocarbon. Another object is to provide an economical and efficient process to accomplish the above objective.
Important advantages of the instant invention is that the separation is achieved without the addition of extraneous materials, without altering any of the components of the mixture and without creating additional waste disposal problems.

Process for separating and recovering halocarbons from mixtures thereof


In a blister pack for packaging an article and composed of a perforated lower plastic backing part and an upper, cut plastic cover part which at least partly surrounds and conforms closely to the article and is connected with the backing part so that the backing part and the cover part completely enclose the article, the backing part and the cover part each including at least a layer made of a single type of plastic and being heat sealed together in a defined area, the backing part and the cover part each constitute a transparent hard foil, and the backing part is provided with perforations of such a size that portions of the cover part engage in the perforations in a manner to plug the perforations in the area where the backing part and the cover part are heat sealed together.

The present invention relates to a blister pack, consisting of a perforated lower plastic backing part, or bottom foil, and an upper, cut plastic foil part, or cover foil, the cover foil conforming closely the packaged article placed between the parts and being connected with the backing part all around the article by heat sealing, where the bottom foil and the cover foil are both made of the same type of plastic.
Such a pack is disclosed in German Published, Non-Examined Patent Application DE-OS 26 22 625, and is composed of a foam foil provided as the bottom foil and a single foil or compound foil provided as the cover foil. When using a compound foil as the cover foil, the cover foil layer which faces the foam foil and which is heat sealable as well as the foam foil itself consist of or contain the same basic material, such as polyethylene (PE) or polyvinyl chloride (PCV), in order to achieve good adhesion.
A similar pack is disclosed in German Published, Non-Examined Patent Application DE-OS 29 51 226. Here, too, the cover foil and the bottom foil are made of the same plastic material, e.g. SURLYN.TM. marketed by E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. An information carrier, for example a printed slip of paper, is inserted in an edge area of the pack and has a cover on one side which makes a solid connection with one of the foils, so that this information carrier can be used as a tear strip if it extends past the edges of the two foils.
Disposal of the materials used in blister packs of the type described is an increasing problem.


A theft checking system that improves precision in detecting a tagged article. A transmission antenna (1) transmits a signal of a constant amplitude in which sine-wave sweep is made within a range of 7.4 MHz to 8.9 MHz at 140 Hz. A reception side is provided with a signal analyzing portion (9) that predicts from the occurrence timing of a signal received within the first half period of a period of the sweep, the occurrence timing of a signal to be received within the second half period, and that compares a received signal with the predicted timing and, if it is confirmed that the signals are in an opposite phase relationship, recognizes passage of the article.

The theft checking system uses a short wave band centered at, for example, 8.2 MHz, and the electromagnetic waves radiated from the transmitter is weak so that it is susceptible to communication signals, electromagnetic waves from fluorescent lamps or office automation appliances, and the like, which intrude as noises.
The influence of noises can be reduced relatively easily by increasing the electromagnetic wave transmission power, increasing the resonance circuit in size, or reducing the detection area. However, an increase in the electromagnetic wave transmission power is only permitted within a limit, and a size increase of the resonance circuit results in a correspondingly increased size of the tag, which is unfavorable.
A reduction in the detection area will by no means be acceptable to consumers when the demand for enlarged detection areas is presently increasing.
Accordingly, a conventional technology is proposed, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-126094, wherein two types of resonance circuits having different resonance frequencies are incorporated in a tag, and the electromagnetic waves to be transmitted are subjected to sweeping, and if the re-radiated electromagnetic waves are received four times every period of sweep, validity is established and a detection signal is outputted.
The aforementioned technology achieves a high detection precision since it detects only re-radiated electromagnetic waves while ignoring eruptive noises. However, the tag doubles in size and thus offends the eye.
Moreover, if a signal indistinct from the resonance signal is detected four times within a period of sweep, the signal is detected as the resonance signal.


Intelligent assistant systems, methods and computing devices are disclosed for training a machine learning-based parser to derive user intents. A method comprises analyzing with a feeder parser a surface form of a user input. A user intent underlying the surface form is derived by the feeder parser. The surface form and the user intent are provided to a machine learning-based parser and used to enhance a training set of the machine learning-based parser.

Interacting with computing systems via natural interactions, such as one or more of voice recognition, text, gesture recognition, motion detection, gaze detection, etc., enables natural user interface experiences. As the volume of digital information and the numbers of computing devices increase, managing such natural user interaction interfaces to provide positive user experiences can prove challenging.


Dynamic Computing Environments (DCEs) are used throughout phases of a software lifecycle. The DCE is configured through a remote user for a phase in the lifecycle. The DCE is then configured according to the command. The user then uses the DCE to fulfill the requirements of the phase. When the phase is completed, a command from the remote user is sent to configure the DCE for another phase. Once the DCE is re-configured, the user uses the DCE to fulfill the requirements of the phase.

The present invention relates in general to digital processing and more specifically to an application model for the use of dynamic computing environments in various phases of software lifecycle.
In the past, software providers shrink-wrapped software in digital media, such as floppy disks or CD-ROMs, for distribution to customers. Thus, distribution involved one copy of the software per customer.
With the arrival of the Internet, distribution by downloading was made possible, but software was still packaged as an entity that has to reach each individual customer. Thus, a new mode of software—the 'Web site'— was made available. The Web site is a limited abstraction of a client-server software model where the clients were now universal web clients, i.e., browsers, and the servers had limited and focused functionality, i.e., searching, messaging, transacting, etc. In this model, browsers did not depend on the specific software running on any web site or the specific service provided by any web site. Thus, the new distribution model for software was the exact reverse of the older model—all customers (virtually) travel to the web site to use the software instead of the software going to the customer(s). Therefore, a single copy of the server software was used for many customers (without distribution) and client software was available/applicable universally. This reversal entailed a fundamental shift in the underlying model of computation in that most data (search catalogs, emails, product catalogs) were generated and/or stored at the provider end and almost all of the computation happened at the provider end. This was different from the traditional model where all the data were generated and stored on the customer end and all the computation happened on the customer end. Even in the traditional client-server setting, both the client and the server were typically located in the customer end.
The maturity of Internet/Web software and the increased availability of cheaper communication bandwidth have resulted in another model of software distribution: the Application Service Provider (ASP) model, also known as the 'Software as Service' model. The model fills a continuum between the two models described above: software can be located completely at the provider end or can be modularized so that some parts are located at the provider end and the rest at the customer end. In this model, data may be generated at the customer end, the provider end, or both. Additionally, computation may happen at either end or can be distributed in parts. Thus, either a single copy of the software may be used for many customers or each customer may receive a copy of some parts of the software. Also, computation may even be mobile, i.e., computation may be switched dynamically—back and forth—between the provider and customer ends. This implies on-the-fly distribution of copies of parts of the software to individual customers.
The typical lifecycle of software includes the following phases: development, integration, testing, beta testing, beta deployment, staging, and deployment. Additionally, this list does not include phases like Requirements Analysis or Design that typically do not involve computing resources. Also, all these phases may not apply to all three of the software models discussed above and even when they do apply, they may be highly dissimilar in nature. For instance, staging is not a typical phase for shrink-wrapped software. As another example, deployment of shrink-wrapped software involves deployment in various customer environments while deployment of web-site software involves hosting in the provider environment, and further deployment of ASP software may involve a combination of both of these and infrastructure for enabling distributed/mobile computation.
A given software model will entail a spectrum of computing needs and constraints to cover the various phases of the lifecycle. For instance, the development phase of the lifecycle may need many copies of one type of configuration; while the testing phase may need one copy of many types of configurations. In order to meet the different needs of each phase of the lifecycle, a provider must manually set up the computing requirements for each phase. For example, in the development phase, many copies of the one type of configuration must be loaded onto a number of computers for development to be done. Once the development stage has been completed, the testing phase may require many types of configurations. The different configurations either need to be manually loaded onto the same computers used in the development stage or other computers with the desired configurations must be found and set up.
The different requirements of each phase of the software lifecycle presents problems in relation to manpower, computing power, and flexibility. For example, administrators are needed to address the changing computing needs of each phase. Additionally, administrators physically set up the computers required for each phase. With regard to computing power, certain phases may require more powerful machines than other phases, which may cause cost and space restrictions on a provider. For example, the testing phase may require the use of many workstations and the development phase may require the use of a personal computer. Because of the high cost of workstations, a provider may not be able to purchase an adequate number of workstations or may not be able to justify purchasing a large number of workstations for only one phase of the software lifecycle. Further, a provider is limited to using the actual machines that are present at the site of the stage of the lifecycle. Thus, new machines cannot be used during a stage without physically importing them into the site.
The computing requirements of each phase may be different from other phases. Thus, moving from one phase to another results in reconfiguration of computing environments. The physical reconfiguration results in waste of manpower (i.e., systems administrators) and delays in the lifecycle itself.

Cross-spectrum application model for dynamic computing environments in software lifecycle


A headphone (1) comprising a first earphone (2) and a headband (3) to be arranged around the head of a user The headband (3) comprises a first headband part (4) and a second headband part (5), which are slidably connected to each other, so that the length of the headband (3) can be adjusted in a longitudinal direction (Y). There is provided a controlled friction mechanism, that controls the friction between the first headband part (4) and the second headband part (5). The friction mechanism comprises a first cantilever (8) comprised by the second headband part (5) and a first friction element (11) of elastomeric abutment material, which is attached to the first cantilever (8) and which due to elastic deformation of the first cantilever (8) abuts and exerts a force against a first contact area of the first headband part (4).

Headphones with headbands are normally adjustable in way, where the length of the headband can be adjusted in order to adapt the headphone to the size of the user's head. Duo headphones comprise two earphones, which are interconnected by the headband. Monaural headphones comprise just one earphone at one end of the headband and an abutment device at the other end of the headband. The length adjustability of the headband can be carried out in many ways. US 2017/0257695 discloses a headphone according to the preliminary part of claim 1, where a constant friction is obtained by a compressible brake pad. The object of the invention is to provide a new and simple way of providing a new friction mechanism, which can be used with a length adjustability mechanism.

Headphone with a headband friction mechanism


Techniques are disclosed for performing free-time searches that exploit information of the type used with electronic calendars. By leveraging advanced calendaring system information and using location, other context information such as corporate policy, legal constraints, and technology constraints, and user-specific preferences to provide a complete picture of a person's availability, the functionality (and therefore the value) of scheduling systems in increased, resulting in an ability to schedule meetings with more accuracy and less rework. Various allowable participation types for meeting invitees may be specified, and each invitee's availability is determined accordingly. Location-sensitive travel times (including optional user-specific travel time adjustments) are used in preferred embodiments when in-person participation is required.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and deals more particularly with methods, systems, and computer program products for performing intelligent free-time searches (for example, to improve scheduling of meetings) of information such as that used with electronic calendars.
2. Description of the Related Art
Calendars, and electronic calendars in particular, often contain a wealth of information about their owner. For example, an individual may use an electronic calendar to maintain information about his work schedule, his meetings and other appointments, his vacation and business travel plans (including when he will be away, which flights or other transportation he will use, where he can be reached while away, who he may visit while away, etc.), phone calls that need to be made at particular times, and so forth. Examples of electronic calendaring systems include Microsoft Outlook® 2000 and Lotus Notes®. ("Outlook" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, and "Lotus Notes" is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation.)
Use of electronic calendaring systems for purposes such as scheduling meetings of multiple persons is known in the art. For example, an invitation list may be created for a particular meeting, and a calendaring software application may then use this list to check each invitee's calendar for available time periods. A meeting may then be scheduled during a time period in which all (or some majority) of the invitees have sufficient time available on their calendar. However, prior art scheduling capabilities in calendaring systems have limitations which can render them ineffective in many scenarios. In particular, scheduling meetings between multiple people using prior art techniques is typically a time-consuming task that often involves many iterations. It may either fail to accommodate considerations beyond rudimentary duration requirements or may require significant manual input to handle such considerations, or it may find only unacceptably late dates.
Scheduling capability in prior art electronic calendaring systems, when present, is typically limited to a rudimentary "free-time search" which only looks for blocks of free time on the users' calendars. However, using just free time may generate results that are too constrained in some scenarios or results that are not constrained enough in other scenarios. As an example of results that are too constrained when based solely on free time, it may be acceptable for a particular meeting to have one or more of the invitees participate by phone (rather than requiring them to be present in person); these invitees might be willing to call in to the meeting from their cell phones while they are commuting, or they might be willing to call in after normal business hours, or from an alternate work location or travel destination. For these cases, the person's calendar would ordinarily indicate that they are in an "unavailable" status of one type or another (that is, the commuting, after hours, at alternate work location, or traveling status would not be recognized as "free time" in which meetings could be scheduled). As an example of results that are not sufficiently constrained when based solely on free time, it may happen that some invitees need to be present at the meeting in person, in which case the location of the person is important (in terms of their ability to get to the meeting location), not just whether there is free time on the person's calendar.
The following scenarios illustrate various factors that are not addressed by prior art calendaring systems or their scheduling capabilities. (These calendaring systems and search capabilities are referred to herein generally as "prior art systems".)
Scenario 1: Prior art systems do not understand nuances related to the physical location of the invitees. Suppose, for purposes of illustration, that Joe works at the Research Triangle Park ("RTP") site of International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM"), where this RTP site comprises many buildings, some of which are in close physical proximity to each other but others of which are located several miles away. Further suppose that Joe wants to schedule a one-hour, in-person meeting with ten other people who are also located at the RTP site. Joe may use a prior art free-time search capability to search the electronic calendars for the invitees to find one hour where all ten meeting invitees are available. Assuming that all ten people have a common one-hour period available, this time period is selected, and programmatically generated meeting invitations are sent electronically to each invitee. Upon receiving their invitation, several of the invitees decline the invitation because they are located in buildings from which travel time will be required to get to and from the meeting, and they have events already scheduled on either side of the new meeting which prevent their being able to arrive at the next meeting on time. Joe did not manually factor this consideration into the schedule for this meeting, and the prior art free-time search does not have this capability. So, Joe must now find a different hour when everyone can meet, and must also factor in the various travel times for those people who he determines will have to travel. This is a time-consuming effort that requires Joe to not only know the locations of every invitee before and after the proposed meeting and the time it takes to move between these locations and the meeting location, but to also use a combination of free-time search, manual calendar search, and contacting people directly before he can find an appropriate time for the meeting.
There might be other criteria to consider as well, further complicating the scheduling process. For example, some individuals may have travel constraints (such as "Betty participates in a car pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays and therefore has no car") which prevent them from being able to travel to a meeting at another location.
Scenario 2: Prior art systems do not understand availability beyond simple free time. Suppose now that Joe needs to schedule a one-hour "e-meeting" with Elaine. (An e-meeting may use technology such as Lotus Sametime® or Microsoft's NetMeeting®, which allow people to hold "face-to-face" conversations over the Internet from their computing device. "Sametime" is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation, and "NetMeeting" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.) Elaine has many events on her calendar, including an out-of-town business trip scheduled for the current week (with meetings scheduled every afternoon), all-day workshops the next week, and vacation the following week. Therefore, when Joe uses a prior art free-time search to search her calender for one hour of free time, he finds that Elaine won't be available for three weeks. Joe gives up using the automated scheduling system, and calls Elaine's secretary who informs him that Elaine is actually available any morning during her business trip for a one-hour e-meeting. Joe could not determine this by simply looking at Elaine's calendar, and the prior art free-time search is not programmed with this capability.
Scenario 3: Prior art systems do not understand constraints of particular locations and/or policies that impact a person's availability. Suppose that Joe needs to talk to Fred, who travels from one customer site to another in a five-state region. Joe looks at Fred's calendar, and decides to schedule a call during a time in which Fred is scheduled to drive from one customer location to another. What Joe doesn't understand from merely inspecting the entries on Fred's calendar is that Fred will be driving in a state that prohibits cell phone calls while driving. Thus, Joe schedules the meeting, only to learn that it has to be rescheduled. Using the prior art free-time search to find time on Fred's calendar would have not helped in this situation: the automated search would be impaired by the same missing information that Joe needed when manually inspecting Fred's calendar.
In another aspect of this scenario, if the meeting is to discuss confidential topics and corporate policy prohibits discussing confidential information over cell phones, then Joe would need to understand this and not schedule the call while Fred is driving (or during other times when Fred is reachable only by cell phone).
Scenario 4: Prior art systems do not understand capabilities/limitations of various technologies. In yet another aspect of the scenario described above, where Joe wants to reach Fred by cell phone, it might happen that Fred is traveling through a location that allows cell phone calls while driving, provided the cell phone is operated in a "hands-free" mode. Before he could successfully schedule a call with Fred, Joe would have to understand not only where Fred would be at the selected time and any applicable constraints of that location, but also the capabilities of Fred's phone.
Scenario 5: As another example of technology-related constraints, suppose that Joe needs to set up an e-meeting with Barney. Further suppose that Barney is working from home today, according to his calendar. Joe has a high-speed connection in his office, and assumes that everyone else has similar capabilities, so he decides to set up the meeting for today. Barney, however, has a low-speed connection at home. The e-meeting is a disaster, due to the slow line speed.
Scenario 6: Prior art systems do not understand nuances of blocked time, such as time periods marked as having a "local travel" status. Suppose that Joe is trying to schedule a meeting with Wilma at noon in Building number 500. Wilma is in this building from 11 a.m. to noon, according to her calendar, and then has "local travel" scheduled on her calendar from noon until 12:15, giving her time to drive back to her office which is located several miles away in another building. The prior art free-time search would not show that Wilma is actually available at noon in Building number 500.
Accordingly, what is needed are improved scheduling/searching techniques, where these improved techniques consider factors beyond availability of free-time segments on a user's calendar.


A controller for a boat propulsion system has an adjusting device arranged to adjust an inclination angle in the vertical direction of the boat propulsion system by a drive unit, the controller arranged to perform drive control of the adjusting device, a storage section provided in the controller and arranged to store a limit value of the inclination angle, and a connector arranged to communicate with a service tool, wherein the controller is arranged to set the limit value from the service tool and stop the drive unit when the inclination angle reaches the limit value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for a boat propulsion system capable of estimating a cause of trouble by connecting to a service tool, and to a boat propulsion system including the controller.
2. Description of the Related Art
An operation of a shift drive unit, a throttle drive unit, a tilt operation, and a trim operation can be performed by a controller in a boat propulsion system such as an outboard motor. The tilt operation raises the outboard motor above the water by tilting it upward, for example, when the boat is stopped or when the hull is lifted onto land. The trim operation adjusts an inclination angle (a trim angle) of the hull and the outboard motor to change a running position of the hull.
A boat propulsion system is designed so that the boat propulsion system can be mounted on boats of various sizes. Therefore, when an outboard motor is raised to a maximum upward tilted position, a portion of the boat propulsion system such as a front upper section and a handle of the boat propulsion system may interfere with the hull depending on a shape of the hull of the boat. That is why a boat propulsion system with which the inclination angle can be set and a lift that is equal to or greater than the set position cannot be made (see, for example, JP-A-2003-285796). Further, there is a boat propulsion system with which previous operating data is stored, the stored operating data is read out and displayed by a service tool, and a diagnosis is performed on the basis of the displayed operating data to estimate a cause of trouble of the engine or to perform an inspection for maintenance work (see, for example, JP-A-2004-36420).
In the conventional boat propulsion system described above, previous operating data can be stored and displayed. However, there may be a case in which the boat propulsion system is removed from the boat and the engine is replaced with an engine of a fuel injection type or a new function is added. Therefore, the importance of maintenance work and a setting of the engine is increased. Accordingly, service staff may perform a trim operation and a tilt operation by connecting to a service tool. In a case like this, when a tilt limit value corresponding to an environment in which the maintenance work or the setting is performed is not predetermined, a portion of the outboard motor may interfere with the hull when it is in an upward tilted position.

Controller for boat propulsion system and boat propulsion system