A dynamic dater mounted on a rod-shaped oscillating member is disclosed, which includes: a cylindrical mass member disposed radially outwardly of the oscillating member and formed of a metallic material by forging, while being subjected to a scale-removal treatment; an elastic support member for elastically supporting the metallic mass member for connection thereof with the oscillating member; and an elastic covering layer adapted to cover a substantially entire area of the surface of the metallic mass member and integrally formed with the elastic support member. The elastic covering layer is fixed in close contact with the substantially entire area of the outer surface of the mass member, so that the metallic mass member is firmly secured to the elastic support member without using an adhesive. A method of producing the dynamic damper is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dynamic damper having a generally cylindrical shape, and installed on a hollow or a solid rod member which is subject to oscillation and which is a member of a vibration transmitting system such as shafts, arms, or conduits used in various devices, for reducing or absorbing vibrations of the oscillating rod member, and further relates to a method of producing the dynamic damper.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of rod members such as shafts or arms functioning as a power transmitting members and such as conduit or pipes serving as a fluid passage generally tend to oscillate or vibrate and consequently resonate due to an external oscillating force. Further, the rod member undesirably transmits a vibration excited therein to other components of a device in which the rod member is used. As a method to cope with these problems, a dynamic damper is attached to the rod member for preventing the resonance of the rod member and the transmission of the excited vibration of the rod member to the other components.
Examples of such a dynamic damper are disclosed in JP-A-2-190641, JP-B-6-037915, and JP-A-10-132027, wherein the dynamic damper has a mass member having a generally cylindrical configuration and an elastic support member secured to the mass member. The disclosed dynamic damper is installed onto an oscillating rod member and secured thereto at the elastic support member so that the mass member is elastically supported on the oscillating rod member via the elastic support member. The dynamic damper installed on the oscillating rod member as described above constitutes a secondary vibration system in which the mass member serves as a mass and the elastic support member serves as a spring, with respect to the oscillating rod member as a primary vibration system. The thus constructed dynamic damper is properly tuned so that the dynamic damper is capable of exhibiting effective damping characteristics with respect to a torsional or circumferential vibration as well as an axial and a radial vibration of the rod member. Since the mass member has the cylindrical shape, the mass member of the dynamic damper is not released from the rod member, even if the elastic support member is undesirably broken. In other words, the dynamic damper having the cylindrical mass member has a so-called xe2x80x9cfail-safexe2x80x9d structure. For the above, the dynamic damper is considered to be installed on a drive shaft of an automotive vehicle for absorbing or reducing vibrations thereof, for example.
The conventional dynamic damper preferably comprises the mass member consisting of a cylindrical mass formed of a metallic material such as carbon steel, which is available at a relatively low cost and which has a relatively large mass and the elastic support member which is bonded to the cylindrical metallic mass member in the process of vulcanization of a rubber material for forming the elastic support member, with the mass coated by an adhesive material. The cylindrical metallic mass may be formed by casting a metallic material, by cutting a metallic piping member in a suitable length or by roll molding a metallic plate to form a cylindrical member.
However, the metallic mass prepared by casting has a low dimensional accuracy, resulting in difficulty in providing a desired mass of the metallic mass with high accuracy. Further, the metallic mass formed by casting suffers from a problem of difficulty in providing a desired high-specific gravity thereof and a problem of cumbersome manufacturing processes and post-treatments. On the other hand, the metallic mass formed of the metallic piping member by cutting in the suitable axial length, or the metallic mass formed of the metallic plate by pressing, e.g., by roll molding, may be produced with ease and with high-dimensional accuracy. However, such a metallic mass undesirably requires a significantly high-manufacturing cost due to the expensive piping member or undesirably required huge and expensive dies for the press.
In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the dynamic damper, there is proposed to omit an adhesion treatment e.g., applying the adhesive between the elastic support member and the metallic mass. To this end, the dynamic damper may be modified to further comprise a rubber layer which is adapted to cover a substantially entire area of the outer surface of the metallic mass and integrally formed with the elastic support member, so that the elastic support member is fastened to the metallic mass without the above-indicated adhesion treatment. The thus constructed dynamic damper however, cannot provide resilient bonding strength between the elastic support member and the metallic mass, and it does not meet the requirements of the dynamic damper.
More specifically described, in the dynamic damper whose metallic mass and the elastic support member are not bonded together by means of the adhesive, the metallic mass and the elastic support members are likely to be displaced relative to each other at an interface therebetween, upon application of a relatively large vibrational load to the dynamic damper, leading to an undesirably introduction of the air into the interface between the metallic mass member and the elastic support member, resulting in deterioration of a vibration damping effect. The similar problem, that is the undesirable introduction of the air into the interface between the metallic mass and the elastic support member, may possibly occur, when the dynamic damper is installed on the oscillating rod member and a primary load in its axial direction is applied thereto, and when the dynamic damper is installed on a propeller shaft of the automobile vehicle and small pieces of rocks or curb stones collide with the dynamic damper, for example.
It is therefor a first object of this invention to provide a dynamic damper which has novel structure wherein a metallic mass member has a relatively high-specific gravity and is constructed with a high-dimensional accuracy, and wherein the metallic mass member and an elastic support member are fastened to each other with high strength. The dynamic damper also permits a desired damping effect with high stability and a reduced manufacturing cost.
It is therefore a second object of this invention to provide a method suitable for producing the dynamic damper having such a novel structure indicated above.
The first object may be achieved according to a first aspect of this invention which provides a dynamic damper mounted on a rod-shaped oscillating member, comprising: (a) a generally cylindrical mass member disposed radially outwardly of the oscillating member and comprising a cylindrical metallic mass which is formed b forging and which is subjected to a scale-removal treatment; (b) an elastic support member for elastically supporting the cylindrical metallic mass for connection thereof with the oscillating member; and (c) an elastic covering layer adapted to cover a substantially entire area of a surface of the cylindrical metallic mass and integrally formed with the elastic support member, the elastic covering layer being fixed in close contact with the substantially entire area of the surface of the cylindrical metallic mass so that the elastic support member is firmly secured to the cylindrical metallic mass without using an adhesive.
In the dynamic damper constructed according to the first aspect of the invention, the use of the cylindrical mass member in the form of the forged cylindrical metallic mass permits a higher dimensional accuracy and a higher specific gravity of the mass member, in comparison with the case where the mass member is formed of a metallic material by casting. In particular, the cylindrical metallic mass formed by forging has the surface rugged by the scale removal treatment. Therefore, the elastic covering layer covering the rugged surface of the cylindrical metallic mass is firmly secured to the metallic mass owing to a mechanical bonding strength caused by an engagement of the rugged surface of the metallic mass and the inner surface of the elastic covering layer which is rugged corresponding to the rugged surface of the forged metallic mass upon vulcanization of a rubber material to form the elastic covering layer, resulting in eliminating the adhesive treatment. It is appreciated that the scale removal treatment is generally performed on forgings so as to remove scales formed on the surface of the forgings, so that no specific operation or facility for the removal of the scale is required, effectively avoiding a rise in the manufacturing cost.
In the dynamic damper constructed according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cylindrical metallic mass can be formed with a desired size and a desired mass, by effectively utilizing characteristics of the forgings. The dynamic damper also makes it possible to assure sufficient bonding strength between the cylindrical metallic mass and the elastic support member, without requiring the conventionally performed adhesive treatment with respect to the metallic mass and the elastic support member, lowering the manufacturing cost.
The cylindrical metallic mass may be formed of various kinds of metallic materials, and may preferably be formed of ferrous metals, such as carbon steel, and the like, in view of their characteristics such as a relatively low cost, formability and sufficiently high specific gravity. The cylindrical metallic mass may possibly have a polygonal shape other than the cylindrical shape in its transverse cross section. In order to obtain a further improved mechanical bonding strength between the metallic mass member and the elastic covering layer, the cylindrical metallic mass may further be formed with recesses and protrusions, cutouts and/or through holes, which are covered or filled with the elastic covering layer. Moreover, the metallic mass member may be tapered at its inner and outer circumferential surface, for improving an efficiency of the forging operation.
Further, the cylindrical metallic mass may be formed by a suitable forging method such as a cold forging and a warm forming. Preferably, the cylindrical metallic mass may be formed by a hot forging, in the light of the required working cost and an excellent productivity of the hot forging. After the cylindrical metallic mass is formed by the above indicated forging methods, the scale removal treatment is performed in order to remove the scale, i.e., a thin layer of oxide generated on the surface of the metallic mass during a period of cooling or annealing of the metallic mass. This scale removal treatment may suitably be performed by a shot blasting method using steel shots or cut wires, for example. The surface of the cylindrical metallic mass member is made roughed or rugged by the scale removal treatment so that the surface of the metallic mass preferably has a ten-point means roughness Rz in a range from 30 xcexcm to 200 xcexcm, more preferably from 50 xcexcm to 100 xcexcm. Namely an excessively small Rz value of the surface roughness of the metallic mass member leads to difficulty in obtaining a sufficient bonding stability between the metallic mass member and the elastic covering layer, while an excessively large Rz value of the surface roughness of the metallic mass requires the relatively long-time shot-blasting operation, leading to an increase in a manufacturing cost of the dynamic damper.
In addition, the elastic support member and the elastic covering layer which are integrally formed with each other, may be made of any one of various kinds of rubber materials or a mixture thereof. For instance, a rubber material such as NR, SBR or BR, or a mixture thereof may suitably be used. The elastic covering layer may require to cover only the substantially entire area of the surface of the cylindrical metallic mass, and does not necessarily require to cover local portions of the metallic mass to which supporting members of the mold are fixed for supporting and positioning the metallic mass in the mold. The thickness of the elastic covering layer is determined to be held preferably within a range of 0.5-5 mm, more preferably within a range of 1-3 mm, in view of the fact that the elastic covering layer having an excessively small thickness may deteriorate its durability or its bonding strength to the cylindrical metallic mass, while the excessively large thickness of the elastic covering layer may lead to an undesirably increase in the size of the dynamic damper.
In the dynamic damper constructed according to the present invention, the configuration and structure of the elastic support member are not particularly limited, but may suitably be determined taking into account the required vibration damping characteristics, so as to elastically support the cylindrical metallic mass with respect to the oscillating rod member. For instance, the elastic support member may comprise a pair of cylindrical connecting portions each extending axially outwards and radially inward from axially opposite sides of the metallic mass. These cylindrical connecting portions are adapted to elastically connect the metallic mass for connection thereof with the oscillating rod-member. The dynamic damper whose elastic support member constructed as described above makes it possible to reduce the ratio of its spring value as measured in the axial direction to its spring value as measured in the tortional or radial direction perpendicular to the axial direction, resulting in a reduction in the outside diameter of the dynamic damper.
Alternatively, the elastic support member comprises a central connecting portion extending radially inward from an axially intermediate portion of the metallic mass over an radial spacing between said cylindrical metallic mass and said oscillating member. This central connecting portion is adapted to elastically connect the cylindrical metallic mass for connection thereof with the oscillating rod member. The dynamic damper whose elastic support member including the central connecting portion makes it possible to increase the ratio of its spring value as measured in the torsional or axial direction to the spring value as measured in the radial direction perpendicular to the axial direction, resulting in a reduction in the axial length of the dynamic damper. It may be possible that the elastic support member comprises both of the pair of the cylindrical connecting portion and the central connecting portion.
The above-described second object of the invention may be attained according to a second aspect of the present invention which provides a method of producing a dynamic damper according to a first aspect of the invention, comprising the steps of: disposing the cylindrical metallic mass in a mold cavity of a mold for molding the elastic support member and the elastic covering layer; positioning the cylindrical metallic mass within the mold cavity such that the cylindrical metallic mass is supported at an outer circumferential surface thereof and at axially opposite end faces thereof with a plurality of supporting pins formed in respective portions of a molding surface defining the mold cavity so as to protrude into the mold cavity; pouring a rubber material into the mold cavity of the mold; and vulcanizing the rubber material filling the cavity for integrally forming the elastic support member and the elastic covering layer.
According to the above indicated method of the present invention, the cylindrical metallic mass can be positioned at a predetermined position within the mold cavity of the mold by means of the plurality of supporting pins such that the supporting pins are in contact with the respective portions of the circumferential surface and the axially opposite end faces of the cylindrical metallic mass with a reduced contact area, effectively reducing the area of the metallic mass member which is not covered by the elastic covering layer, ensuring an improved bonding strength of the metallic mass with respect to the elastic support member.
In the present method, the mold is required, for effectively supporting the: cylindrical metallic mass within the mold, to have at least three supporting pins which are in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the metallic mass and which are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction thereof, and at least two supporting pins which are in contact with the opposite end faces of the metallic mass, respectively. More specifically described, the mold may be constructed such that a plurality of supporting pins each preferably having a tapered shape, are independently disposed at respective portions so as to protrude into toward the circumferential surface of the metallic mass and axially opposite end faces of the metallic mass. Alternatively, the mold may be formed with at least three xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shape supporting pins disposed in the peripheral portion of each of the respective axially opposite end portions of the mold cavity, such that the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shape supporting pins are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction and protrude radially and axially inward directions from the peripheral portion of the corresponding axially opposite end portion of the mold cavity. Thus, the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shape supporting pins are held in contact at their radially inwardly extending portions with the corresponding end face of the metallic mass, and at their axially inwardly extending portions with the circumferential surface of the metallic mass, thereby supporting and positioning the metallic mass within the mold cavity. In this case, each of the radially inwardly and axially inwardly extending portions of each xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shape supporting pin preferably extends with a semi-circular shape in transverse cross section, in other words, has a ridged shape in its entirety.
With the metallic mass installed within the mold constructed as described above, a suitable rubber material is poured into the mold cavity and vulcanized so as to integrally form the elastic covering layer and the elastic support member. In this respect, the metallic mass does not need to be subjected to the adhesive treatment, but may be subjected to washing or degreasing treatments, as needed.

Dynamic damper having generally cylindrical shape and method of producing the same


A battery unit having at least two pouch type secondary battery cells and a single safety device serving each cell in the battery unit. Each individual battery or cell body fits into a space within a casing. The battery unit may use one or more casings. The battery cells are arranged such that the terminals of different battery cells are located near the terminals of other battery cells within the unit. These terminals are connected to the safety device. The safety device may be a safety circuit board that is positioned in a space within the battery unit so that the battery unit does not consume any more space than when no safety circuit board is used.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a secondary battery unit, and more particularly, to a secondary battery unit having two or more interconnected individual pouch type secondary battery cells, the battery unit having a single safety circuit board for all of the individual battery cells in the battery unit, the single safety circuit board not adding size, volume or bulk of the battery unit.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, secondary batteries have a small size and a high storage capacity, in addition to being rechargeable. Representative examples of such secondary batteries include nickel-hydrogen (Ni-MH) batteries and lithium (Li) secondary batteries.
According to the shapes of a case for accommodating a battery body, secondary batteries are classified as cylindrical batteries using cylindrical aluminum cans, prismatic batteries using prismatic aluminum cans, and pouch-type batteries using thin pouch-type cases.
Among them, the pouch-type secondary batteries has a battery body for generating a predetermined electric current and a pouch-type case for enclosing the battery body. The battery body further has a lead, which is connected to an electrode tab extended from a side of the battery body, to provide an electrical passage to the outside. Some parts of the lead are installed to be exposed from the pouch-type case.
The pouch-type case has a case body having a space for accommodating the battery body, and a case cover extending from an end of the case body and forming an integral structure with the case body. The edges of the case body are formed with flanges to seal the case body by coupling the case body with the case cover.
The pouch-type case of a pouch-type secondary battery with the above-described structure is made up of a mixed sheet of a metal foil and resin layers. By way of example, a pouch-type case is with aluminum foil may be formed by pressing together aluminum foil, a thermal adhesive layer and a resin layer. The thermal adhesive layer is formed at an inner surface of the aluminum foil. The thermal adhesive layer and the resin layer are sequentially formed at an outer surface of the aluminum foil. The thermal adhesive layer is made up of a polymer resin including modified polypropylene such as casted polypropylene (CPP). The resin layer is made up of nylon and polyethylene terephthalate. There exist pouch-type cases with various shapes including those as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,042,966 and 6,106,973.
Generally, the pouch-type secondary batteries with the above-described structure have a small storage capacity, and thus, are interconnected in parallel or series when used in electronic devices with a relatively high consumption of electric power such as notebook computers.
Meanwhile, the pouch-type secondary batteries further have a safety device for preventing explosion of the batteries due to a gas generated by an overcharge or an interelectrode short when charged or discharged. The safety device may be a safety circuit board with a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device, and a safety vent, which is installed at a side of the case to change its structure according to the internal pressure of the case. The safety circuit board may be installed in each battery. Alternatively, in a case where multiple battery cells are interconnected in parallel or series, a single safety circuit board may be employed, the single circuit board being electrically connected to the terminals of each individual battery cell in a battery unit, which connects with electrode terminals of individual battery cells.
In this case, however, lead wires are required for connecting the safety circuit board with the electrode terminals of individual battery cells, and the installation of the safety circuit board produces many limitations. In particular, in the case where secondary battery cells are used in portable electric devices, the volume of the battery unit increases as a result of the area occupied by the safety circuit board. Therefore, it is difficult to limit the size of a secondary battery unit having multiple secondary battery cells interconnected in series or parallel via the safety circuit board.
One example of a battery unit comprising multiple secondary battery cells interconnected in parallel or series is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1999-54989. The battery unit comprises multiple individual battery cells are interconnected in parallel or series, each individual battery cell having alternately laminated multiple positive electrodes and multiple negative electrodes, which are separated by separators. The battery unit has a positive electrode connecting means for connecting the multiple positive electrodes to each other and negative electrode connecting means for connecting the multiple negative electrodes to each other.
Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1999-5862 discloses a secondary battery with an improved energy density by interconnecting in parallel electrodes with an integral structure of a current collector and an electrode terminal.
In the above-described secondary battery units, a separate safety circuit board must be installed at the side or front part of each battery cell, and thus, it is difficult to decrease the size of the battery unit.

Compact safety device for a pouch-type secondary battery unit having many individual batteries

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


A light influencing element and the process of fabricating the same is disclosed, wherein the light influencing element is fabricated by disposing a layer of a substantially opaque material upon a transparent substrate. One or more openings or wells may then be cut or formed in the surface of the layer of opaque material. Into such openings a light influencing material is then disposed, preferable said materials are injected thereinto as by ink-jet type injection heads. Liquid crystal displays and subassemblies formed upon the light influencing elements of the instant invention are also provided.

Efficient production of full color systems for use in cameras, television, etc. have been contemplated since at least as early as the late 1950's and are generally discussed in an article which appeared in the May 1959 edition of Scientific American. Reference may also be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,382,317, 3,443,023 and 3,443,025. As optical system technology evolved, so too did the technology employed in providing full color thereto.
High resolution electronic optical systems, such as for example, either active or passive liquid crystal displays, and contact image scanning systems are today well known in the commercial fields. While systems of the type described above have been generally successful in fulfilling their intended purposes and have found commercial acceptance, these systems exhibit several deficiencies. The deficiency specifically addressed herein relates to the fact that heretofore, the light influencing elements used in high resolution optical systems, to, for example, polarize or color filter light passing therethrough, have been very difficult to fabricate, often requiring up to ten or more fabrication steps. The result of having so many fabrication steps is that the manufacturing process is very costly, and further that the process is susceptible to producing high amounts of unacceptable or scrap light influencing elements. This of course further increases the cost of the light influencing elements.
As noted above, color liquid crystal display devices are well known in the art, and one exemplary such device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,514 to Ogawa, et al, entitled "COLOR LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY APPARTATUS. The '514 patent describes a color, twisted nematic type display wherein the layer of liquid crystal material is varied depending upon the color imparted to each picture element of the display. Ogawa, et al describe the need to terrace the layers of filter materials, which, as will be noted in greater detail hereinbelow, require additional fabrication steps in the manufacture of a display.
The commonly accepted method of fabricating light influencing elements for high resolution optical systems, particularly liquid crystal displays, is set forth in an article entitled Multicolored Liquid Crystal Displays, published in Optical Engineering, Vol. 23 No. 3, May/June 1984. More particularly, FIG. 11 thereof illustrates in a step-by-step manner, the conventional photolithographic method of fabricating color filter elements for liquid crystal display. As a perusal of said article teaches, a color filter element is fabricated by depositing a layer of transparent gelatine glue, known in the art as "fish glue" atop the display electrodes, which have already been formed upon a transparent substrate. A photomask is then applied so that the transparent gelatine glue is removed from all ares other than atop a display electrode. Thereafter, a layer of photoresist material is disposed atop the entire device substrate and a photomask is applied so that, assuming a red-green-blue color filter arrangement, all electrodes and gelatine layers to be colored red are exposed, while the electrodes to be colored blue or green remain covered by photoresist. The exposed gelatine glue is then dyed red and the dye is cured. Thereafter, the photoresist is removed from the electrodes to be dyed green and blue, and a new layer of photoresist is applied over the entire device substrate, and a photomask is applied to expose the electrodes to be colored blue. The exposed gelatine glue is then dyed blue and the dye is cured. The same process is then repeated to provide the green dyed electrodes.
An alternative, dry-etching technique is set forth in an article entitled Fabrication of mosaic color filters by dry-etching dielectric stacks, Journal of Vacuum Science Technology, A4(1), January/February 1986. The approach is illustrated fully in FIG. 3 thereof, which clearly illustrates the need to etch, mask and re-etch the deposited materials in order to achieve the desired color configuration. Moreover, this approach is limited to certain color combinations and arrangements as two or more filter layers may be needed to produce a single color.
A third commonly accepted method of providing color filter materials is set forth in an article entitled Multicolor Graphic LCD with tricolor layers formed by electrodeposition, and published in the 1984 Society for Information Display Digest. In this article, the authors set forth an electrodeposition method for depositing and patterning color filter layers. In this method, certain electrode layers were activated so as to cause dyed pigments to be electrochemically deposited thereupon. Thereafter, a second set of electrodes is activated so that a second color can be deposited, and so on for all subsequent colors to be deposited. While this method does not require the deposition and patterning of filter material layers, it does require the deposition and patterning of electrode layers, and the subsequent electrodeposition steps for each color.
In addition to the deficiencies inherent in the multistep deposition/etch processes discussed hereinabove, none of such methods of fabricating a light influencing element provide a light barrier around each color filter so as to eliminate the presence of stray, non-filtered light. Such stray, non-filtered light has the effect of washing out the color of the light that is being transmitted through the color filter. The result is that the color image looses sharpness and intensity. A light blocking layer around color filters or display picture elements is commonly called a black matrix in the field. The provision of a black matrix has heretofore involved the subsequent deposition of a light blocking layer of material around the filters or the picture elements after such elements have been formed. The result is the need to provide additional photoresist deposition, mask and etch steps in order to provide the black matrix, with the most often result being greater expense attributable to more costly processing and greater losses cause by the manufacturing process itself.
These and other limitations of the prior art are obviated by the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

Method of making light influencing element for high resolution optical systems


A shelf for bus wherein shelf brackets are fitted into first and second rails to enable the shelf brackets to be uniformly intervened therebetween, thereby allowing shelf plates to be identical in length thereof thus, reducing production cost. A lens is rotably and slidably opened and closed relative to a shelf plate, enabling easy replacement of the lens and lamp. The shelf includes a first rail extensively secured lengthwise to a roof frame of the bus, a second rail securely installed at a side panel of a bus interior in the same length as that of the first rail, a shelf bracket formed at both ends thereof with a first and a second fitting part and secured at the first and second rails for sliding while fitted into the first and the second rails, and a shelf plate fixed at an upper surface of the shelf bracket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shelf, and more particularly to a shelf for a bus installed inside the bus for placing cargoes and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a bus carrying many passengers is equipped therein with shelves for accommodating passengers"" belongings such as baggage and the like.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, the shelves are composed of two shelf assemblies 50, each lengthwise arranged at an upper side of inner area of the bus and a plurality of brackets 52 each secured to a roof frame 51 for supporting the shelf assembly 50.
The shelf assembly 50 includes, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a shelf plate 53 manufactured lengthwise, a frame 54 secured to an inner lateral end of the shelf plate 53 and coupled to a bottom surface of the shelf bracket 52 and a reinforcement 55 crosswise coupled to the shelf plate 53 for reinforcing a vertical load strength of the shelf.
Particularly, the frame 54 mounted with a mood lamp for illuminating the interior of the bus includes a void 57 formed at the frame 54 with an opening therein for illumination, a lamp 58 secured at the void 57 and a lens 59 for blocking the opening and for adjusting color, intensity and the like of the illuminated light.
Of course, the lens 59 is inserted at one end thereof into a first fitting part 60 formed at an inner end of the opening of the frame 54 while the other end thereof includes a second fitting part 61 formed at an opposite side of the first fitting part 60 and formed widely for fitting the lens 59 and a key mold 62 for securing the lens 59 after fitted into the second fitting part 61.
However, there is a problem in the shelf plate formed lengthwise thus described according to the prior art in that quite a few workers are involved for assembly thereof because the shelf plate is heavy and lengthy, complicating the shelf assembly work and consuming lots of man power.
There is another problem in that, during breakage of lamp or lens thereof, it is very difficult to remove the broken lamp of lens because the lens is tightly inserted into the first and second fitting parts, complicating replacement work of lamp or lens.
There is a further problem in that the shelf assembly includes many components including the shelf plate, shelf bracket, reinforcement, frame, lens and the like, increasing production cost, but decreasing assembly efficiency.
There is still a further problem in that the shelf brackets follow the arrangement of the roof frame when the shelf brackets are installed on the roof, making it difficult to arrange same at a predetermined uniform space therebetween. Consequently, each shelf plate has to be made in a different length, increasing the manufacturing costs.
The present invention is disclosed to solve the aforementioned problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a shelf for bus adapted to simplify the construction of shelf assembly and to reduce weight, to uniformly maintain pitches of shelf brackets installed on the roof for cost reduction and to make it easy for the lens and lamp to be replaced.
In accordance with the object of the present invention, there is provided a shelf for bus, the shelf comprising:
a first rail extensively secured lengthwise to a roof frame of the bus;
a second rail securely installed at a side panel of a bus interior in the same length as that of the first rail;
a shelf bracket formed at both ends thereof with a first and a second fitting part and secured at the first and second rails for sliding while fitted into the first and the second rail; and
a shelf plate fixed at an upper surface of the shelf bracket.


An electrical drive unit has a housing having a metal pole housing, which accommodates a stator and a rotor, and a separately produced electronic housing which axially adjoins the pole housing and accommodates an electronic unit. At least one contact element is integrated inside the electronic housing and forms, via at least one ground pin, an electrically conductive connection between the electronic housing and the pole housing to establish a ground connection. An open flange and a cylindrical circumferential wall are formed on the pole housing, against which circumferential wall the at least one ground pin radially bears in a resilient manner, and the at least one ground pin has a side surface facing the circumferential wall, wherein a bearing contour is formed on the side surface and bears against the circumferential wall only in an approximately punctiform manner with respect to an axial direction and/or a circumferential direction.

The invention relates to an electrical drive unit having a pole housing and an electronic housing and to a method for producing such a drive unit.
DE 10 2012 222 683 A1 has disclosed an electrical machine having a metal pole pot. A plastic plug component, on which a cover made of electrically conductive material is in turn arranged, is axially arranged on the pole pot. In this case, the cover is braced with the pole pot by means of a plurality of steel spring clamps, with the result that the three components are fixed with respect to one another. In this case, the steel spring clamps, with the pole housing and the metal cover, act as an EMC shield which shields inward and outward radiation of interfering electromagnetic waves. The assembly of such outer metal springs is relatively complicated and intensive in terms of installation space. In addition, there is the risk of these metal springs corroding and their contact resistance being adversely affected as a result. In addition, a shielding plate may be arranged around the plug component and is electrically connected to the cover and/or the pole pot. However, the production and assembly of such a shielding plate is likewise a considerable additional expense.
DE 10 2017 207 165 A1 has disclosed a drive unit in which contact elements are integrated inside an electronic housing in order to connect the electronic housing to the electrical ground of the pole housing. In this case, in the event of strong vibrations and a high thermal load, there is the risk of the spring contacts on the pole housing becoming detached or their contact resistance increasing over the service life and the electronic housing no longer being reliably electrically shielded as a result. The invention described below is intended to rectify this problem.

Electrical drive unit having a pole housing and an electronic housing having a ground connection


A rotary head type magnetic recording and playback apparatus for performing an after recording only to a desired signal area by using a head (1,3) 2,4) having a core width broader than the track width (Tp) of a recorded tape (7), wherein recording heads (1,3) and playback heads (2,4) are provided at every channel (A,B), respectively, the respective heads are arranged at angular intervals of 90 degrees so that the playback heads precede the recording heads in the rotational direction (FC) of a rotary drum (8,9) in a plane of rotation thereof, and the respective heads are offset in the axial direction of the rotational axis of the rotary drum so that the lower edge (R) of each recording head traces the boundary portion between the tracks and the centers of the playback heads trace the central portion of the tracks.

The present invention relates to a rotary head type magnetic recording and playback apparatus such as a digital audio tape-recorder (DAT), and more particularly relates to an improvement in a rotary head type magnetic recording and playback apparatus adapted to implement an after recording (hereinafter referred to as a "postrecording") to a recorded magnetic tape.
There is generally known a helical scan type magnetic recording and playback apparatus called a DAT constituted to sequentially record pulse code modulated audio signals on a magnetic tape by means of a plurality of rotary magnetic heads.
With DAT, PCM signals obtained by applying pulse code modulation to information to be recorded are recorded on a tape conforming to an Industry Standard. After such PCM signals are subjected to recording signal processing such as time compression, they are recorded while obliquely forming signal tracks on a magnetic tape by means of rotating two magnetic heads without a guard band being formed between tracks.
In the utilized two heads type DAT, the two heads in the recording are such that a head for A channel of plus (+) azimuth (A head) and a head for B channel of minus (-) azimuth (B head) are mounted or affixed and arranged on the rotary drum so as to form an angular interval of 180 degrees to each other. These heads are used in common for recording and playback. Each head gap width (hw) is 1.5 times the track pitch (Tp).
As shown in FIG. 1, the head for common use in recording and playback rotates in a direction indicated by an arrow FA with respect to the magnetic tape 7 transported in a direction indicated by an arrow T. Thus, recording of desired data is obliquely made on the magnetic tape 7. The signal format on the recorded track 32 is constituted as well known. This signal format includes a PCM area 32A where principally audio data is recorded, ATF (Auto Track Finding) areas 32B where signals for conducting a tracking servo are recorded, and sub code (SUB) areas 32C where time codes, etc. are recorded.
In such a DAT, postrecording is conducted as follows. lnitially, ATF signals in the ATF areas 32B recorded on the tape 7 are reproduced or played back by the recording and playback common head. Thus, tracking is carried out on the basis of the reproduced signals.
In the case of tracking at the time of ordinary playback, as indicated by the position PA in FIG. 2, the center of the head 35 traces the central portion of the track 32. At the time of postrecording, however, as indicated by the position PB in the figure so that the lower edge Q of the head 35 becomes close to the boundary line of the track 32.
In the case of subcode postrecording, only when the head 35 scans the subcode areas 32C of the track 32, the head 35 is placed in a recording mode. Thus, a desired postrecording is conducted.
As stated above, since there is used a set of recording and playback common head for respective A and B channels each having a core width larger than the track width in the conventional DAT, it is necessary for performing a postrecording to conduct an offset tracking.
However, since tracking of the DAT is carried out by using pilot signals of ATF on tracks adjacent to both sides of a track subjected to tracking, it is necessary to allow the head to be positioned slightly on both adjacent tracks. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, it is difficult to provide an offset such that the lower edge Q of the head 35 is positioned on the boundary line of the track.
For this reason, a track pattern after postrecording would be a pattern deviating somewhat from an original or normal pattern. For example, in the case of PCM postrecording, a deviation would occur within the PCM areas in the track, and in the case of SUB postrecording, a deviation would occur within the SUB areas in the track. Such a deviation in the pattern might cause disturbance of tracking at the time of playback, resulting in fluctuations in the playback signal level.

Magnetic recording and playback apparatus


A compress working method and a compress working apparatus are provided for readily performing drawing in an arbitrary shape at a low cost and in a short time without using an expensive mold in the manufacturing of small batch products. A metal plate, which is a workpiece, is placed on a laminate die formed with a recess in a desired shape, and a holder is set on the metal plate. An elastic punch accommodated in the holder is urged to press the holder onto the metal plate with a portion of the urging force. In this state, a portion of the elastic punch is intruded into the recess of the laminate die together with the metal plate. The elastic punch is then unloaded after the metal plate is formed with a draw conformal to the recess of the laminate die. Since the elastic punch serves as an upper die in the press working, it is possible to readily perform the drawing in an arbitrary shape at a low cost and in a short time without using an expensive mold in the manufacturing of small batch products.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a compress working method, and more particularly to a compress working method which can perform drawing on a metal plate in an arbitrary shape, utilizing an elastically deformable elastic punch. The present invention is also directed to a compress working apparatus for implementing the above-mentioned method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the sheet metal industry, a CNC (numerical control) punch press, a CNC press brake and a CNC laser profilling are currently utilized mainly for shearing, punching and bending as basic techniques. When drawing is added to the above-mentioned working, such working falls within the press working, so that the current sheet metal cannot address to it. As an alternative, there is only a method of assembling sheet metal parts into a product by welding.
In recent years, in the press working and sheet metal industries, a wide variety of products are required in a small amount with a relatively short period to an appointed time limit of delivery, for example, such as proto-type or the like. However, with the press machining which involves the fabrication of a mold in a severe environment in terms of cost, it takes an excessive time before starting the manufacturing of a product. In addition, a cost for a mold is high relative to a total number of lots of products, so that such press machining strategy is not feasible in terms of cost.
Also, techniques using weld or the like would cause a degraded quality of products, while a technique involving surface treatment such as plating, coating or the like would introduce a further increase in cost.

Compression working method and compression working apparatus


The present teachings relate to a heart valve prosthesis. The heart valve prosthesis includes a docking station (77) having a wire frame defining a lumen and a valve frame (91) for positioning within its lumen. The docking station includes a diaphragm (78) adapted to have an open position and a closed position, which provides a temporary control mechanism for preventing free regurgitation during the time period between the deployment of the docking station and the deployment of the valve frame, and a sealing mechanism for preventing paravalvar leakage.

There are four valves within the human heart that serve to direct the flow of blood through the two sides of the heart in a forward direction. On the left (systemic) side of the heart are the mitral valve, located between the left atrium and the left ventricle, and the aortic valve, located between the left ventricle and the aorta. These two valves direct oxygenated blood coming from the lungs, through the left side of the heart, into the aorta for distribution to the body. On the right (pulmonary) side of the heart are the tricuspid valve, located between the right atrium and the right ventricle, and the pulmonary valve, located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. These two valves direct de-oxygenated blood coming from the body, through the right side of the heart, into the pulmonary artery for distribution to the lungs, where it again becomes re-oxygenated to begin the circuit anew.
All four of these heart valves are passive structures that do not expend any energy themselves and do not perform any active contractile function. They consist of moveable leaflets that are designed simply to open and close in response to differential pressures on either side of the valve. The mitral and tricuspid valves are referred to as atrioventricular valves because of their location between an atrium and a ventricle on each side of the heart. The mitral valve has two leaflets and the tricuspid valve has three. The aortic and pulmonary valves are referred to as semilunar valves because of the unique appearance of their leaflets, which are more aptly termed cusps and are shaped somewhat like a half-moon. The aortic and pulmonary valves each have three cusps.
The three cusps are soft tissue structures attached to a wall of the valve in an area designated as the annulus. In the case of the aortic valve, the three cusps are pushed open against the wall of the aorta during systole (when the left ventricle contracts), thereby allowing blood to flow through. During diastole (when the left ventricle relaxes), the left ventricular pressure falls and the aortic valve cusps reapproximate (the three cusps fall away from the wall and close), thereby preventing the blood which has entered the aorta from regurgitating (leaking) back into the left ventricle.
Heart valves may exhibit abnormal anatomy and function as a result of congenital or acquired valve disease. Problems with heart valve functions can be classified into two categories: 1) stenosis, in which a valve does not open properly, or 2) insufficiency (also called regurgitation), in which a valve does not close properly. Due to the higher-pressure gradient, the mitral and aortic valves are subject to greater fatigue and/or risk of disease. Also, while mitral valves often can be surgically repaired, most abnormalities of the aortic valve require replacement.
Prosthetic heart valves used to replace diseased or abnormal natural heart valves include mechanical devices with, for example, a rigid orifice ring and rigid hinged leaflets or ball-and-cage assemblies, and bioprosthetic devices that combine a mechanical assembly with biological material (e.g., human, porcine, bovine, or biopolymer leaflets).
In the past, heart valve replacement typically required median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. More recently, various prosthetic heart valves that can be implanted by less invasive procedures have been developed. For example, various replacement heart valve apparatus that can be delivered via an endovascular transcatheter approach are described in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/052,466 and 60/757,813, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. The replacement heart valve apparatus described in these patent applications generally include a compressible valve frame and a compressible docking station that is deployed prior to the introduction of the valve frame into a patient's heart. The valve frame is subsequently positioned within the docking station, which helps to support and anchor the valve frame in the desired location.
Like other transcatheter heart valves that are currently known or available, implantation of the aforementioned replacement heart valve apparatus in the aortic position (as opposed to the pulmonic position) presents unique challenges due to its close proximity to both the mitral valve and the coronary ostia, as well as high systemic pressures and the inability of the body to tolerate free leakage through the aortic valve for any period of time. For example, the implantation of the docking station in the aortic position can require coverage and complete immobilization of the native aortic valve, which will cause free regurgitation. Similar difficulties and challenges, albeit to a slighter extent, can be expected with implanting the replacement heart valve apparatus in other positions, for example, the mitral position, in which case, free regurgitation into the lungs via the left atrium can occur. Acute free regurgitation, even for the short period of time necessary to deliver the valve component within the docking station, is unlikely to be tolerated by the patient, particularly in the target population of patients with pre-existing heart conditions due to stenosis and/or regurgitation. While theoretically, a patient can be put on cardiopulmonary bypass to prevent or reduce such regurgitation, the various health risks associated with a bypass procedure make this an impractical option for many patients in the target population.
The present teachings, therefore, relate to an improved transcatheter heart valve prosthesis adapted to be implanted in the aortic position. However, the present teachings can be adapted for the replacement of other anatomical valves.


A method of protecting an air vehicle against lightning strikes includes inserting a fastener through a hole in conjoined structures, the fastener defining an axis along its length and having a threaded end and a sleeve, and installing a washer assembly over the threaded end and the sleeve, the washer assembly having a metallic washer and a polymer seal radially inward of the metallic washer. The seal includes a lower seal portion defining a counter-bore, and an upper seal portion extending axially from the lower seal portion. The method includes installing a counter-bored nut on the threaded end, and applying torque to the nut to compress the lower seal portion against a surface of the conjoined structures and around the sleeve at the counter-bore of the seal, and to compress the upper seal portion of the seal into a counter-bore of the nut and around the threaded end.

Structural fabrication generally utilizes metallic fasteners to join one structure to another. Such metallic fasteners, particularly in composite structures found, for example, in aircraft, can create sparking and arcing during a lightning strike, sometimes referred to as electromagnetic effects (EME) or hot particle ejection (HPE). During such events, current generated by the lightning strike is conducted through the metallic fasteners into the conjoined structures and, notably, between the conjoined structures. The current flows result in contact resistance heating that can break down the materials of the conjoined structures and the metallic fastener to generate hot gases, or plasma, in the fastener hole, i.e., in the void between the fastener and the walls of the conjoined structures, and in the void between the fastener and the nut. Left un-mitigated, when pressures are great enough, the hot gas may escape these voids through "a path of least resistance," sometimes found between the fastener head and the conjoined structures or around the washer and nut installed on the opposite end of the fastener. Escaping gas may further erode the conjoined structures or elements of the fasteners themselves, creating heated, or "energized," particles or droplets referred to as HPE.
The current flows resulting from a lightning strike, left un-mitigated, may also cause arcing between edges of elements of the metallic fasteners and the conjoined structures. For example, arcing may occur between a bolt and the conjoined structures, between a nut and washer, between either of the nut and washer and the bolt, or between either of the nut and washer and the conjoined structures.
Heated gas, plasma, or heated particles, or "droplets," may, under certain circumstances, be ejected into spaces containing oxygen and fuel vapor, or other flammable gas or vapor, that could ignite. To mitigate these effects, at least some known lightning-protection fasteners utilize pre-molded caps that guard fastener heads, nuts, and washers. Such pre-molded caps are generally costly and require substantial labor and time to install. Other known lightning-protection fasteners utilize conductive coatings and interferences fits to reduce contact resistances among elements of the metallic fasteners and between the metallic fastener and the conjoined structures themselves. It is desirable to have more effective and efficient means of mitigating sparking, arcing, and other potential EME resulting from lightning strikes due to metallic fasteners.
This Background section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Washer assembly with seal for lightning-protection fasteners and method of use


A method and system for determining the presence of one or more components in a liquid substance including illumination of the substance utilizing a light with at least one definite wave length preferably within the almost infrared area and detecting transmitted and/or reflected light and analyzing the detected light wherein the detection is performed extremely fast so as to detect a step response corresponding to an approaching or fading light pulse transmitted or reflected through the substance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method to determine the presence of one or several components in a e.g. liquid substance by means of spectroscopy including an illumination of the substance with light of at least one wave length and detecting transmitted and/or reflected light as well as analyzing the reflected light characteristics.
The invention also relates to a system for performing the method and an ambulatory registration system.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Methods and systems essentially for measuring e.g. the blood sugar content are already known in the art. The known systems use in many cases optical measurements, in which a blood carrying body portion, such as a finger tip, are illuminated with light of several different wave lengths, the transmitted or reflected light then being analyzed by means of differential spectroscopy to distinguish between various components and to define the amount of interesting such ones. In measurements of this known type the measuring accuracy will in many cases be not fully satisfactory and not comparable with analytic measurements.

Method and a system for determination of components of a substance


Disclosed is a key sheet having a base sheet equipped with a hard resin plate and a key sheet manufacturing method, wherein a reduction is achieved in the thickness of the base sheet and in the effort and cost for the molding. Further, accurate depressing operation is realized without impairing the outward appearance of the key sheet. The key sheet has a hard base plate having a communicating groove connecting through-holes with each other. The communicating groove has a connecting portion formed so as to be continuous and integral with operating portions formed respectively at the through-holes. Thus, there is no need to form inlets for a rubber-like elastic material respectively corresponding to the through-holes in the mold. As a result, the mold structure can be simplified to thereby achieve a reduction in cost. Further, since the entire front or back surface of the hard base plate is not covered with the rubber-like elastic material, it is possible to achieve an overall reduction in the thickness of the base sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pushbutton switch key sheet for use in an operating portion of various apparatuses, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a car navigation apparatus, or a car audio apparatus, and more particularly to a key sheet having keytops on a rigid base sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a pushbutton switch key sheet for use in an operating portion of various apparatuses, there is widely used one in which keytops are attached by adhesive to a base sheet formed of a rubber-like elastic material (See JP 11-144549 A). Recently, however, from a viewpoint of outward appearance and diversity in design, there has been increasing a demand for a key sheet using a base sheet using as the base a hard resin plate instead of a base sheet formed of a rubber-like elastic material (See JP 2003-178639 A).
In such a key sheet, a base sheet is formed such that a plurality of through-holes are formed in a thin hard resin plate, and each of the through-holes is covered with a thin-walled operating portion consisting of a rubber-like elastic material. A keytop is fixed to each operating portion by an adhesive or the like, thus a key sheet is formed (See JP 2003-178639 A, the first embodiment (paragraph 0014, FIG. 1)).
This conventional key sheet, however, has a problem in that its molding takes effort, resulting in a rather high cost. That is, to manufacture the base sheet, it is necessary to form in the mold an inlet for the rubber-like elastic material corresponding to each through-hole of the hard resin plate. After molding, it is also necessary to perform gate cutting for each through-hole. This leads to a rather complicated mold structure, resulting in high cost and an increase in operational burden after molding.
Further, when the operating portions are formed by injection molding using a rubber-like elastic material such as a thermoplastic elastomer, there are formed relatively large protrusion-like molding marks on the front or the back surfaces of the operating portions. That is, when the molding marks protrude on the front surfaces of the operating portions, the keytops, which are attached by adhesive or the like, are attached obliquely, thereby impairing the outward appearance of the key sheet. When the molding marks protrude on the back surfaces of the operating portions, the contact switch of the printed circuit board is turned on/off by the molding marks at the time of depression of the keytops, so there is a fear of accurate depressing operation being hindered. Further, in the case of an illumination type key sheet, the existence of the molding marks in the operating portions leads to unevenness in illumination of the keytops, so there is also a fear of the outward appearance of the key sheet when the illumination as been impaired.
As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, there has been proposed a key sheet in which a rubber-like elastic material film is formed so as to cover the entire front or back surface of a hard resin plate while filling each through-hole (See JP 2003-178639 A, second embodiment (paragraphs 0016, 0017, FIG. 2), and third embodiment (paragraphs 0018, 0019, FIG. 3)).
In this conventional key sheet, however, the rubber-like elastic material film covers one surface of the hard resin plate, which means that the thickness of the rubber-like elastic material film is added to the thickness of the hard resin plate, with the result that the thickness of the base sheet as a whole increases. In particular, this conventional key sheet is not applicable to an apparatus of which a reduction in thickness on the order of millimeters or less is required, as in the case of an electronic device.

Key sheet and key sheet manufacturing method


An easily removed sleeve is provided for use within bulk containers of viscous product such as fruit fillings and fruit chunks. The sleeve has an open bottom and an inside surface which, when used, is positioned between the product and the sidewall of the container. The sleeve is readily removable from between the container and the viscous product by simple grasping and pulling by hand.

This invention generally relates to bulk packaging of viscous products. More particularly, a sleeve is designed and positioned so as to be easily removed from a bulk container of viscous product. The liner, when inserted into the bulk container of viscous pumpable product, advantageously seals the product without presenting obstacles to removal of the product from the container.
In the past, it has been known to incorporate flexible bags as liners for large containers of bulk-packaged viscous products, including those which are pumpable. These liners are interposed between the viscous product and the inside walls of the container. Such liners completely surround the product being containerized to thereby completely line the container and seal the pumpable product within the liner or bag. While this approach effectively seals the viscous product within the bag and thus within the large container, difficulties have been encountered in removing the pumpable viscous product from the large container.
In many applications, the user of the pumpable product needs to remove the product from the large container without having to lift the container or ladle the product out of the container and into the equipment or location at which the pumpable product is to be put into use. One example in this regard is in whosesale baking applications where a pumpable product such as a fruit filling needs to be added into a product being baked. Whether the pumpable product is transported directly from a large container to the application site or whether it is moved into a hopper or storage tank, efficiencies are realized when such transporting is accomplished by pumping.
When the pumping approach is used, it is typical to insert a pumping tube into the large container of pumpable product. Pumping activity by known means then transports a flow of the pumpable product out of the large container and to the desired location on the processing line, for example. It has been observed that the full liners currently used to effectively seal the pumpable product within the large container can interfere with this needed pumping action. The full liner has a tendency to be drawn into the inlet of the pumping tube, thereby interfering with product flow and potentially damaging or reducing the quality of the pumpable product. If the liner is drawn into the pumping feed tube positioned within the large container, it can continue downstream and potentially damage or interface with proper operation of the equipment on the processing line. At the very least, this type of liner interference will result in a temporary interruption of product flow.
Other approaches for lining large containers shave incorporated lining structures which are secured to the walls of the large container. Such an overall approach has the important disadvantage of making it difficult, if not impossible, to easily remove the liner so that same will not provide even a potential for interference with efforts to remove the product from the large container.
Liners are provided in these types of situations primarily in order to maintain the integrity and freshness of the product packaged within the container. In approaches such as those generally discussed above, the liner has the potential to become a detriment to removal of the product from the container by the end user. Accordingly, an approach is needed which will directly address concerns regarding potential detrimental aspects of liners while still incorporating the use of a liner which is efficient; effective and inexpensive. Any such approach must not compromise the product safety and wholesomeness associated with full bag liners in industries which sell and use pumpable products in large containers.

Easily removed sleeve and bulk containers and method incorporating same


The present disclosure generally relates to polymer-drug systems, and more particularly to nanoscopic particles comprising amphiphilic block copolymers conjugated, physically encapsulated, or otherwise combined with chemotherapeutic agents along a selective region or regions of the backbone of the copolymer, so as to package the chemotherapeutic agent in selective domains within each nanoscopic particle, as well as to methods for making such particles, and applications and methods for using such particles, including in the formation of polymer micelles.

Polymer micelles are one type of nanovector formed by the aqueous assembly of block copolymers that are polymer chains containing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions. These structures often exist as spherical particles with a core-shell morphology and sub-micron diameter. The design of nanovectors, such as block copolymer micelles, that effectively mimic the selectivity and evasiveness of viral particles remains a major goal of drug delivery research.
The chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel (PTX), a microtubule-interfering agent, has demonstrated a broad spectrum of antitumor activity against various cancers including breast, lung and advanced ovarian cancers. The low solubility of PTX and the difficulty of achieving sufficiently high concentration in solution that is suitable for in vivo administration and clinical applications have led to the development of various strategies to increase its bioavailability, which utilize low molecular weight surfactants (e.g., Taxol®), coat the drug with albumin (e.g., Abraxane®), or conjugate it to water-soluble polymers (e.g., PTX poliglumex, OPAXIO™, CT-2103, Xyotax®). Other delivery mechanisms for PTX that have been developed include a number of degradable and non-degradable drug conjugates, such as PTX-conjugated polyvalent DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles, polylactide (PLA)-PTX conjugated nanoparticles and PTX cross-linked PLA-based nanocomposites.
However, there are several challenges with the formulation of PTX that remain unmet. For example, present formulations fail to achieve the desired high PTX loading (e.g., due to reaction non-selectivity in many present formulations) while also maintaining high water solubility so as to be suitable for in vivo administration and clinical applications. Also, the toxicity and hypersensitivity reactions associated with vehicles for the delivery of many present formulations of PTX (e.g., Cremophor-EL, polyethoxylated castor oil) remain problematic.
The present disclosure addresses these needs, among others, by providing compounds, methods for synthesizing compounds, and formulations and applications of compounds, that, in some embodiments, achieve high loading of PTX, increase PTX solubility, and other chemotherapeutic agents, and that exhibit low toxicity, allow controlled PTX release kinetics, and are capable of extended circulation in vivo, and have a possibility of versatile chemical modifications—for instance, the conjugation of imaging agents and/or targeting ligands.


The present invention provides film forming equipment that can reduce the space necessary for coating. The film forming equipment has an object conveyor for moving an object (50); a spray gun conveyor (41) for moving a spray gun (30) that sprays a coating material; and a controller for controlling operations of the object conveyor (41), the spray gun (30), and the spray gun conveyor, wherein the controller moves the object (50) in a specific direction while spraying a coating material from the spray gun (30) and reciprocates the object (50) so that partial layer coating can be sequentially conducted, and while coating the object (50), the controller shifts the object (50) and the spray gun (30) while keeping the relative positions of the object and the spray gun to each other constant.

In order to apply a coating of a uniform thickness to an object, a coating method has been conventionally employed using a spray pattern formed by a coating material sprayed from a spray gun. Layer coating is conducted using film forming equipment comprising an air conditioner, a spray gun, etc., in a manner as shown in, for example, FIG. 7. In other words, a spray pattern 153 is formed by spraying a coating material from a spray gun that is fixed in the center of a coating booth 151, and moving an object 152, which is placed beneath the spray gun, by using an object conveyor (not shown) up and down at a predetermined speed, while shifting the object in the direction shown by the arrow S (i.e., from left to right in the figure) at a predetermined distance.
It is also possible to conduct layer coating by forming the spray pattern 153 by spraying a coating material from the spray gun to an object 152 fixed in the center of the coating booth 151, as shown in FIG. 8, using a spray gun that is disposed above the object 152, and moving the spray gun up and down at a predetermined speed while shifting it in the direction shown by the arrow S (i.e., from left to right in the figure) at a predetermined distance.


A strengthening rail is provided for use on the side dump body of a side dump trailer or truck. A strengthening rail is positioned at the exterior surface of the side walls of the body at the upper ends thereof. Preferably, each of the rails includes a lip portion at the upper end thereof which is positioned adjacent the exterior surface of the respective side wall. An upper end portion extends downwardly and outwardly from the upper end of the lip portion and terminates in a first wall portion which extends downwardly therefrom at an acute angle with respective side wall. A second wall portion extends downwardly and inwardly from the lower end of the first wall portion and terminates in a third wall portion which extends inwardly to the respective side wall. The inner end of the third wall portion is welded full length to the respective side wall. The inner end of the upper end portion of the side rail is also welded full length to the respective side wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a side dump body and more particularly to a side stiffening rail for a side dump body. Further, this invention relates to a side stiffening rail for a side dump body which utilizes less material than conventional side stiffening rails and which results in a stronger side dump body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dump bodies which are employed on trailers or trucks normally are of the end dump type or the side dump type. Since the introduction of the side dump body disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,214, side dump bodies and trailers have experienced wide acceptance. The side dump body such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,214 normally comprises front and rear bulkheads joined together with sheets of metal to form a bottom wall and upwardly and outwardly extending side walls. In most cases, a pair of spaced-apart stiffening rails is utilized on each of the side walls for strengthening and stiffening purposes. The side stiffening rails employed on most prior art side dump bodies utilize considerable material.
A side stiffening rail is described for use with a side dump body which is mounted on a wheeled frame having a forward end, a rearward end, and first and second sides. A side dump body is movably mounted on the wheeled frame and has a rearward end, a forward end, and an open upper end. The side dump body includes a bottom wall having first and second side walls extending upwardly and outwardly from the outer ends thereof. The stiffening rail is secured to the exterior surface of each of the side rails at the upper end thereof for strengthening and stiffening the side dump body. Each of the stiffening rails comprises an elongated plate which has been bent to define an upper end portion, a first wall portion having upper and lower ends which extends downwardly from the upper end portion at an acute angle with respect to the plane of the respective side wall, a second wall portion having upper and lower ends which extends downwardly from the lower end of the first wall portion at an obtuse angle with respect thereto, and a third wall portion having first and second ends extending inwardly from the lower end of the second wall portion towards the respective side wall at an obtuse angle with respect to the second wall portion. The upper end portion is welded full length to the respective side wall. The second end of the third wall portion is welded full length to the respective side wall.
It is a principal object of the invention to provide a side stiffening rail for a side dump body.
A further object of the invention is to provide a side stiffening rail for a side dump body which requires less material than the prior art side stiffening rails, but which provides a stronger unit.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Side stiffening rail for a side dump body


The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the four variable domains of the major outer membrane proteins of the 15 serovars of Chlamydia trachomatis are disclosed together with sequence and immunogenic analysis of these domains.

In the United States, urogenital infections with Chlamydia trachomatis are the leading sexually transmitted disease with an estimated 10 million new cases reported each year. The urogenital infections result in involuntary infertility in 100-200,000 women each year. It is estimated that equal or greater numbers of these infections occur in European countries. In addition, ocular infection with C. trachomatis results in blinding trachoma which afflicts approximately 500 million individuals from developing countries. Improved diagnostic methodologies and vaccines or immunoprophylactic preventative measures are needed to manage and control the disease.
Chlamydia trachomatis isolates occur as 15 distinct serovars. Based on serological relatedness, these 15 serovars have been divided into three serogroups; B serogroup (serovars B, Ba, D, E, L1 and L2), intermediate serogroup (serovars F, G, K and L3), and C serogroup (serovars A, C, H, I and J). The antigen that confers serovar and serogroup-specificities to chlamydia is the major outer membrane protein (MOMP), and protective immunity developed during chlamydial ocular infection is thought to be directed at serovar and serogroup MOMP determinants.
The genes encoding the MOMP of the C. trachomatis serovars A, B, C, L1 and L2 have been cloned and sequenced (Pickett et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 42:185-190 (1987); Stephen et al., J. Bacteriol. 168:1277-1282 (1986); and Stephens et al., J. Bacteriol 169:3879-3885 (1987); Baehr et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85:4000-4004 (1988)). Comparative analysis of their amino acid sequences show the MOMP genes to be highly conserved structures that contain four evenly spaced domains whose sequences vary among the different serovars. The locations of these nucleotide and amino acid sequence variable domains (VDs) are:
VDI--nucleotides 256-315 and residues 64-83; PA1 VDII--nucleotides 481-546 and residues 139-160; PA1 VDIII--nucleotides 736-777 and residues 224-237; PA1 VDIV-nucleotides 928-1017 and residues 288-317. PA1 Group 1--serovars B, Ba, D, E, L1 and L2; PA1 Group 2--serovars G and F; PA1 Group 3--serovars A, C, H, I, J, K and L3.
Epitope mapping has shown that three of the four VD domains (I, II and IV) contain contiguous antigenic determinants which elicit the formation of serovar, subspecies (determinants common to three or more serovars within a serogroup), serogroup or species-specific antibodies.
Variable domains I and II, which demonstrate the greatest amount of inter serogroup sequence variation, are the locations of the serovar-specific determinants. Variable domain IV is the largest of the MOMP VDs and is located near the C-terminus of the protein. VDIV is the location of subspecies and serogroup antigenic determinants, as well as a highly conserved species-specific antigenic determinant. Antigenic determinants have not been mapped to VDIII, the smallest and least variable domain of the MOMP genes.
Variable domains I, II and IV of the MOMP of C. trachomatis protrude from the cell surface towards the external environment as demonstrated by their susceptibility to cleavage by trypsin, and their accessibility to antibody binding. Trypsin cleavage in both VDII and VDIV, but not within VDIV alone, decreases chlamydial attachment to HeLa cells suggesting that these domains, or conformational MOMP structures that are dependent on the integrity of these domains, may function as a chlamydial ligand.
Based on the immunological and biological relationships among MOMP VD structure and function, and the fact that the MOMP VDs appear to be the major variable sequences between serovars, the present inventors sought to identify the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the MOMP VDs I-IV of C. trachomatis serovars Ba, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K and L3, and to confirm those of serovars B, A, C, L1 and L2.

Nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the four variable domains of the major outer membrane proteins of Chlamydia trachomatis

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A portable information device, a power saving mode switching method, and a recording medium in which a power saving mode switching program is stored, for efficiently suppressing power generation peaks. In an information device having a component (1) such as a processor and a component (2) such as a magnetic disk device, it is detected whether it is the peak power generation condition or the peak power completion condition on the basis of access information to the component (2), and a power mode change request is given to a power mode changing means (4); and the power mode changing means (4) changes over the component (1) such as the processor from a normal power mode to a power saving mode where the operating voltage is reduced, the clock frequency is reduced, or the like when the peak power generation condition is detected, and changes over it from the power saving mode to the normal power mode when the peak power completion condition is detected.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to power-consumption-reducing portable or stationary information devices; to a power-saving-mode switching method for reducing information device power consumption; and to a recording medium, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk or semiconductor memory, in which a power-saving-mode switching program is stored.
2. Description of Related Art
In various electronic devices, there have been proposed various power control means for reducing the power consumption. Also, there has been known various power control means which supply the operating power to the electronic device without increasing the current capacity of a power supply by the suppression of a peak current. In particular, in the portable information device in which the power supply that supplies the operating power is comprised of a battery, in order to downsize and lighten the battery, or in order to elongate a continuous applicable duration of the battery, there have been proposed various structures including the power saving control function.
For example, FIG. 6 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a conventional example. A power mode control means 61 controls a power mode changing means 62 in accordance with a device use request, an interruption from a timer portion 65 at each set time, a temperature detection signal from the temperature detecting means 64, or the like, and changes over a voltage, a clock frequency or the like which is supplied to a component 63a such as a processor between a normal power mode and a low power consumption mode.
For example, in response to a request for using a device or the like, the power mode control means 61 controls the power mode changing means 62 and supplies a normal operating voltage and a clock signal of a normal clock frequency to the component 63a such as a processor so as to operate the component 63a as the normal power mode. Then, if there is no use request for a predetermined period of time or longer, any one or both of the supply voltage and the clock frequency are lowered, or the clock signal is stopped to set the mode to the low power consumption mode.
Further, the temperature of a component 63b such as a magnetic disk is detected by the temperature detecting means 64, and if the operating temperature rises over a set temperature, the power mode control means 61 controls the power mode changing means 62 and sets the component 63a such as a processor to the low power consumption mode, to thereby reduce the access frequency to the component 63b, thus suppressing the rise of the temperature.
Moreover, the timer portion 65 notifies the power mode control means 61 every set time and controls the power mode changing means 62 so as to change over between the low power consumption mode and the normal power mode. For example, as applied to portable telephones and the like, in a standby state where talking or data transmission/reception is not conducted, the mode can be changed over to the low power consumption mode, and can be changed over to the normal power mode which enables the reception detection, the position registration request and the like every set time by the timer portion 65.
In general, the power consumption in the low power consumption mode such as a standby state is under half the power consumption in the normal power mode where the device is in an active state. Accordingly, as the duration of the low power consumption mode is longer, the power consumption as a whole can be reduced. Further, as the storage device of the information device, a large-capacity storage device such as a magnetic disk device, a magneto-optical disk device or an optical disk device is applied. In addition, in order to improve the data transmission speed, a tendency is made to increase the rpm of a disk. Therefore, the capacity of a motor is also increased, and a start current is also increased for conducting a high-speed start.
Further, there has been known a control means which operates in such a manner that if there is no access to the above storage device for a given period of time or longer, the device is shifted from the active state to an idle state, if there is yet no access to the above storage device for a given period of time or longer, the device is shifted to the standby state, and if there is still yet no access to the above storage device for a given period of time or longer, the device is shifted to a sleep state, to thus gradually reduce the power consumption, and if there is an access, the device is shifted to the active state. In this case, for example, if the device is shifted from the sleep state to the active state, a motor that rotates the disk is started so that a large start current flows. In the case where the start current is supplied from a battery which is a power supply, in order to start the motor stably and at a high speed, it is necessary to select the battery of a current capacity which enables the supply of the start current.
Therefore, there has been proposed an information device having a power saving mode changing means shown in FIG. 7. In this case, the information device includes a processor (CPU) 71, a read only memory (ROM) 72, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 73 and a floppy disk device (FDD) 74 as a large-capacity storage device. The information device further includes an operation mode control circuit 76 for controlling those operation modes and a motor current detecting circuit 75 for detecting the current of a spindle motor of the floppy disk device 74. FIG. 7 shows the outline of a control path of the operation mode control circuit 76.
Upon reception of a spindle motor start command to the floppy disk device 74 from the processor 71, the operation mode control circuit 76 stops the clock signal of the processor 71 and sets the dynamic random access memory 73 to a self-refresh mode, and thereafter sends a spindle motor start signal to the floppy disk device 74.
In this case, most of the power consumption results from the spindle motor of the floppy disk device 74. Then, the spindle motor starts, and a current that flows in the spindle motor is detected by the motor current detecting circuit 75 and notified to the operation mode control circuit 76. The operation mode control circuit 76 starts to supply a clock signal to the processor 71 when the current that flows in the spindle motor is lowered to a set value or less, or after a set time elapses from the start of the spindle motor, and also returns the operation of the dynamic random access memory 73 to an original operation and sets the operation to the normal power mode. As a result, the peak of the current as a whole can be reduced (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1996-221147).
In the case where the information device is of the portable type, the operation power supply is made up of a battery. In this case, as described above, the peak current supplied from the battery is suppressed so that a battery small in current capacity is applicable, as a result of which the battery can be downsized and lightened in weight. Alternatively, the applicable duration of the battery can be elongated. In order to conduct the power saving control, in the case where there is provided means for detecting the current of the spindle motor as in the above-mentioned conventional example, it is necessary to add a hardware such as a resistor as the current detecting means or a voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage between both ends of the resistor, resulting in such problems in that the mounting area increases and the costs increase. In addition, since the capacity or the like of the spindle motor is different for each of the kinds of information devices, it is necessary to change the current set value in accordance with the kind of the spindle motor. Thus, the means for suppressing the peak power leads to an increase in additional circuits, to thereby increase the costs.
In a magnetic disk device, a magneto-optical disk device or the like as the large-capacity storage device, in general, the start command of the spindle motor is generated not from a processor but from a firmware such as a magnetic disk device. In other words, a command for starting or stopping the spindle motor is generated by the firmware in accordance with an access request of the data read/write from the processor. The above-described conventional power saving control means of the information device with the floppy disk device cannot be applied to the above general structure.

Method and apparatus for changing power modes based on monitored I/O packets