An air purifier including a housing supporting an air inlet, an air outlet and an air flow passage interconnecting the air inlet and the air outlet. The airflow passage is defined by a filtration chamber positioned upstream from a blower chamber and an ultraviolet light chamber. A blower assembly is supported within the blower chamber and includes a fan driven by a motor for forcing air through the air flow passage from the air inlet to the air outlet. A pre-filter and a main filter are removably supported within the air filtration chamber for entrapping particulates having a size of 0.3 microns and greater. An ultraviolet light source is positioned within the light chamber and is positioned proximate the air outlet. An outlet grille is supported proximate the air outlet and provides for the passage of air while substantially preventing the passage of ultraviolet light. The outlet grille includes a louver assembly including a plurality of blades defining a plurality of convoluted passages. An outlet safety switch is selectively engagable with the outlet grille for preventing operation of the ultraviolet light and the blower assembly if the outlet grille is not properly positioned relative to the housing. An air quality sensor is supported by the housing and provides an indication of ambient air quality to a controller which, in turn, varies operation of the blower assembly based upon the indicated ambient air quality. A filter check gauge is removably positioned proximate the air outlet for providing an indication of air flow volume and thereby, the need to replace either the pre-filter or the main filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an air purifier and, more particularly, to an air purifier for removing particulates and for sterilizing or killing micro-organisms from ambient air during a plurality of stages.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air contamination by pollen, mold, smoke, dust, pet dander, micro-organisms or any other of a number of known irritants, is a common and long-standing problem. Contact with these contaminants is almost inevitable and often makes breathing uncomfortable for individuals. Moreover, such contaminants may present long-term health risks, particularly for those individuals suffering from allergies, asthma, emphysema and other respiratory related illnesses.
A wide variety of air purifiers are presently available on the market for removing contaminants from ambient air. These systems typically include a fan for circulating air and a mechanical filter disposed in an air path so as to filter or otherwise purify air flowing therethrough. One type of mechanical filter which has gained wide spread acceptance within the industry is a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter which typically entraps particles larger than 0.3 microns in size.
Since many living micro-organisms are smaller than 0.3 microns, they readily pass through such conventional mechanical filters. It is therefore further known to utilize ultraviolet (UV) light produced by ultraviolet lamps to kill micro-organisms, or to sterilize micro-organisms so they will not reproduce.
Ozone may be generated by subjecting air to ultraviolet light. The amount and type of ozone created depends upon the wavelength and intensity of the energy source. While ozone itself has been utilized for the effective sterilization or destruction of micro-organisms, its use is often discouraged due to ozone""s inherent health risks to humans. Therefore, it is important that any radiation source utilized to reduce micro-organisms effectively minimizes the human exposure to ozone.
While ultraviolet light sources have been found effective in reducing the number of micro-organisms in ambient air, humans must be properly shielded to avoid prolonged direct exposure to ultraviolet light rays which may cause skin and eye damage, including blindness. Therefore, in traditional air purifiers, the ultraviolet light source is usually positioned in a location within the housing remote from the air inlet and air outlet, or requires the use of reflecting shields to restrict the transmission of ultraviolet light. As such, many traditional air purifiers employing an ultraviolet light source include structures which render the replacement of the ultraviolet lamp a difficult and time consuming task.
Accordingly, there is a need for an air purifier including multiple stages for effectively cleaning ambient air. Moreover, there is a need for such an air purifier including a filter assembly for effectively removing particulates from the air and an ultraviolet light source for sterilizing or killing micro-organisms. Further, there is a need for such an air purifier which provides a structure for facilitating the efficient and convenient replacement of both the filter assembly and the ultraviolet light source, while also preventing potentially harmful human exposure to ultraviolet light rays.
The air purifier of the present invention includes a housing supporting an air inlet, an air outlet and an air flow passage interconnecting the air inlet and the air outlet. A blower assembly is supported by a dividing wall positioned within the housing and includes a fan driven in rotation by a motor. The blower assembly draws air through the air inlet and then forces the air through the air flow passage from the air inlet to the air outlet. The housing further includes a rear wall and a spacer extending outwardly from the rear wall for maintaining the housing in spaced relation to external objects, such as walls, in order to ensure proper air flow around the air purifier.
A downstream first air filter, or main filter, is disposed within the air flow passage intermediate the air inlet and the blower assembly. A resilient sealing gasket is supported by the main filter for sealingly engaging the dividing wall and thereby preventing air flow from bypassing the main filter. An upstream second air filter, or pre-filter, is removably secured to the main filter and is positioned intermediate the air inlet and the main filter. The main filter preferably comprises a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter adapted for removing particulates of a size 0.3 microns and greater. The pre-filter preferably comprises a carbon mesh filter adapted to remove odors and larger particulates prior to such particulates contacting the main filter.
An ultraviolet light source is disposed downstream from the main filter and the pre-filter, and is positioned within the air flow passage proximate the air outlet. The ultraviolet light source comprises an ultraviolet lamp oriented in a plane substantially perpendicular to the air flow passage to provide maximum ultraviolet light exposure to air passing in proximity thereto.
An outlet grille is supported by the housing proximate the air outlet and is permeable to air and substantially impermeable to ultraviolet light. The outlet grille preferably comprises a louver assembly including a plurality of mutually horizontally spaced and vertically extending blades defining a plurality of convoluted paths or channels for permitting the passage of air from the air flow passage through the air outlet, while substantially preventing the passage of ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source through the air outlet. Each blade preferably includes a body having opposing concave and convex surfaces, longitudinally extending side edges and laterally extending end edges. The concave surface of each blade is positioned adjacent the convex surface of an adjacent blade, wherein the side edges of each blade overlap a portion of the body of an adjacent blade.
An outlet safety switch is selectively engagable with the outlet grille. The outlet safety switch is operably connected to the ultraviolet light source and the blower assembly for deactivating both when the outlet grille is not properly positioned relative to the housing. An inlet grille is supported proximate the air inlet and is selectively engagable with an inlet safety switch. The inlet safety switch is likewise operably connected to the ultraviolet light source and the blower assembly for deactivating both when the inlet grille is not properly positioned relative to the housing.
A controller is operably connected to the motor of the blower assembly for controlling the volume of air moving through the air flow passage. An air quality sensor is supported within the housing and includes a sampling chamber, an optical emitter for providing light to the sampling chamber, and an optical receptor communicating with the sampling chamber for detecting light emitted from the optical emitter. The air quality sensor provides an air quality signal to the controller indicative of the air quality within the sampling chamber. The controller adjusts operation of the blower assembly by varying the motor speed in response to the air quality signal.
A cleaning member is removably receivable within the sampling chamber for manually cleaning the optical emitter and the optical receptor. A storage compartment is provided behind the inlet grille for removably storing the cleaning member when it is not in use.
The controller includes a counter, or timer, for determining the cumulative operating time of the air purifier at each of a plurality of motor operating speeds. When each of first predetermined time intervals has elapsed, then the controller provides for a xe2x80x9ccheck pre-filterxe2x80x9d indicator signal. Likewise, when each of second predetermined time intervals, greater than each of the first predetermined time intervals, has elapsed then the controller provides for a xe2x80x9ccheck HEPA filterxe2x80x9d indicator signal.
A filter check gauge is removably positioned proximate the air outlet for providing an indication of air flow volume. The filter check gauge is removably supported proximate the air outlet for providing an indication of air flow volume therethrough, and more particularly, is supported within a recess formed within the outlet grille. The filter check gauge comprises an open-ended transparent cylindrical tube and an indicator slidably received within the cylindrical tube for moving in response to air flow through the check gauge. A storage compartment is formed behind the inlet grille for removably storing the filter check gauge when it is not in use.
A window is provided within the housing and is in visual communication with the ultraviolet light source for providing the user with an indication of the proper functioning of the ultraviolet light source. The window includes a translucent ultraviolet light filtering cover to protect the user from potentially harmful ultraviolet light rays.
Therefor, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained, portable air purifier.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an air purifier including filters for removing particulates and an ultraviolet lamp for sterilizing or killing micro-organisms from ambient air during a plurality of stages.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an air purifier including easily replaceable filters and an ultraviolet lamp.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an air purifier comprising a plurality of filters including a main filter for entrapping relatively small particulates and a pre-filter for filtering relatively large particulates from ambient air and thereby increasing the effective life span of the main filter.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an air purifier including an ultraviolet light source for the sterilization or killing of micro-organisms which pass through upstream filters.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an air purifier including an outlet grille permitting the passage of air but substantially preventing the passage of an ultraviolet light.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an air purifier including a plurality of interlocking safety switches for preventing inadvertent and potentially harmful exposure to ultraviolet light should the inlet grille or the outlet grille not be properly installed within the air purifier.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a window in visual communication with the ultraviolet light source to permit viewing thereof by a user for verifying proper operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an air quality sensor for sensing ambient air quality and for controlling operation of the air purifier in response thereto.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic filter check indicator signal when a predetermined period of time has elapsed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a filter check gauge for simply and efficiently determining air flow volume and the need to replace the air filters.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.


A metallic contaminant detecting method and apparatus according to the present invention detect metallic contaminants mixed in objects under inspection, such as food products, pharmaceuticals, and materials for industrial use, which are wrapped in electrically conductive packaging materials, e.g. aluminum. A small magnetic field is generated by applying a voltage to coils (10, 11) or supplying an electric current to the coils. A detection magnetic field generated from a metallic contaminant in response to the small magnetic field is detected as a detection voltage or a detection current of the coils (10, 11), and a detection signal is output. The detection signal is analyzed to detect the metallic contaminant. The small magnetic field is created by applying a small voltage or supplying a small electric current to the coils (10, 11) and using a non-linear portion of the magnetic field characteristics of cores constituting the coils (10, 11).

Food products, pharmaceuticals, etc. need inspection for contaminants. In the process of manufacturing these products, for example, contaminants such as metal fragments may get mixed in the products. In order to ensure the safety of the products, it is necessary to eliminate metallic contaminants from them and hence essential to detect the metallic contaminants.
Stainless steel is excellent in corrosion resistance and widely used in various products, mainly in the fields of kitchen utensils, building materials, domestic electrical equipment, automotive parts, dairy and fermentation tanks, chemical equipment, thermal insulating apparatus, etc. There are many stainless-steel products particularly in the field of food products, such as food product containers, and structural components, containers and so forth of all machines in food product manufacturing lines and food product manufacturing machines. It is impossible to avoid wear particles or fragments of such stainless steel products getting mixed in food products. Stainless steels are alloy steels exhibiting excellent corrosion resistance.
Stainless steels are roughly divided into austenite stainless steels, martensite stainless steels, and ferrite stainless steels. It is known that these stainless steels exhibit magnetic properties. Therefore, various kinds of stainless steel can be detected as metallic contaminants by using their characteristic properties.

Metallic contaminant detecting method and apparatus therefor


A carrier for food, beverages and other items and methods for carrying food, beverages and other items. The carrier is especially suitable for use at food and beverage concessions at sporting and entertainment venues and in fast-casual restaurants. The carrier is preferably made of paper and includes a carry tab which permits a customer to carry multiple carriers in one hand. The carry tab may include an aperture sized to accommodate the customer's thumb and fingers, providing for a sure and comfortable grip of the carrier. The carrier fits into a standard cup holder in the seating area at sporting and entertainment venues, or may hang from a hook provided in the seating area.

A need exists for a method and apparatus for customers of concessions at sporting and entertainment venues to transport several items with ease. It would be advantageous for such a method and apparatus to be suitable for use with both foods and beverages.
A need also exists for a method and device that will integrate easily into an existing concessions or fast-casual restaurant environment. It would be advantageous for such a method and apparatus to enable servers to carry multiple items per trip from a food preparation station to a sales counter.
In addition, a need exists for a method and apparatus that will boost sales of food and beverages by making it more convenient for a customer to purchase more items and transport them back to the seating area without concern about spilling or dropping the items.
Further, a need exists for a carrier that will fit into existing cup holders which are provided in the seating areas of many sporting and entertainment venues.


A developing agent bearing member is manufactured such that a base is prepared, and a photosensitive layer is formed on the base. Then, the photosensitive resist layer is exposed with a pattern, and an uneven portion is formed on a surface of the developing agent bearing member by etching the pattern-exposed photosensitive resist layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing agent bearing member used in a developing unit of an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording scheme, and a method of manufacturing the developing agent bearing member.
2. Related Background Art
A developing unit for developing and visualizing an electrostatic latent image carried on an electrostatic latent image bearing member is known as a developing unit used for an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine. In a developing unit of this type, a developing agent bearing member (developing sleeve) made of a metal is generally used to carry a developing agent accommodated in a developing vessel onto the developing sleeve and convey it to a developing region opposing the electrostatic latent image bearing member. The electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image bearing member is developed with the developing agent to visualize the electrostatic latent image as a developing agent image. As a developing agent, a one-component developing agent containing a magnetic toner, a one-component developing agent containing a nonmagnetic toner, a two-component developing agent containing a nonmagnetic toner and a magnetic carrier are available. The material of the developing sleeve is selected depending on the type of developing agent. When a magnetic developing agent is used, a nonmagnetic metal is used as the material of the developing sleeve. In this case, a magnetic field generating means such as a magnet is arranged inside the developing sleeve. To perform good development, a developing bias is applied to the developing sleeve during development. As the bias, an AC voltage, a DC voltage, or a voltage obtained by superposing AC and DC voltages is used. As a metal for the developing sleeve applied with this voltage, a conductor is often used.
In conveying the developing agent on the developing sleeve to the developing region using the developing unit having the above arrangement, conveyance of the developing agent can be improved by roughening the surface of the developing sleeve, and the surface of the developing sleeve can be coated with a developing agent layer.
As a method of roughening the surface of the developing sleeve, a sandpaper method for abrading the surface of the developing sleeve with sandpaper, a bead-blast method using spherical particles, a sandblast method using particles having indefinite shapes, a combination thereof, a chemical etching method using chemical treatment, or the like is proposed and used in practice.
The entire surface of the developing sleeve may be coated by spraying, dipping, or the like with a resin mixed with a conductive powder.
As disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 4-212183, a structure in which an insulating region surface is formed on the surface of a developing sleeve, and a conductive region surface is formed thereon is proposed.
The conventional developing sleeves pose the following problems.
The size of the uneven portion on the surface and its distribution state become nonuniform in a metal developing sleeve whose surface is roughened. For this reason, the convey amount of the toner becomes nonuniform, and image defects such as density irregularity and a decrease in density occur, or the resistance value on the surface of the developing sleeve cannot be controlled. It is not only difficult to control the image characteristics such as density irregularity and a decrease in density, but also difficult to optimize the resistance of the surface of the developing sleeve depending on different types of toners, thereby often degrading ghosts.
Roughness control performed by only coating conditions for a developing sleeve whose entire surface is coated with a resin is limited. The surface of the developing sleeve serving as a base must be roughened. This results in an increase in the number of steps and complicated determination of operational conditions. Since the size of the uneven portion of the surface and its distribution state are nonuniform like the developing sleeve whose surface is roughened. Therefore, the convey amount of toner and the charge amount become nonuniform, thereby causing image defects such as density irregularity, a decrease in density, and a ghost.
When the surface of a developing sleeve is simply constituted by a large number of insulating and conductive regions for forming an electric field distribution, the electric field distributions between the individual insulating regions are apparently different from each other depending on the shapes of the insulating regions on the sleeve surface even if the sleeve surface is smooth. It is apparent that when an uneven portion is formed in either or both of the insulating and conductive regions of the sleeve surface, the electric field distributions become different from each other. In particular, when the uneven portion is formed in the conductive region, the electric field concentrates on the projecting portion of the uneven portion, thereby apparently localizing the electric field distribution. Therefore, the charge amounts of the respective toner particles are different from each other to result in large density variations, which may also cause the ghost.

Method of manufacturing a developing agent bearing member


A system for performing sputter disposition on a substrate. A divergent ion current source generates a divergent ion beam. The ion current source has a central axis about which ions are directed toward a surface of a negatively biased target. A rotating substrate is positioned proximate to the target. The central axis of the ion current source is normal to the surface of the target and parallel to a deposition surface of the rotating substrate.

The present invention is directed generally to novel systems and methods for performing ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD), and to optical devices manufactured using such systems and methods.
The present invention relates to ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD). More particularly, the present invention concerns a system and method for performing sputter deposition using a divergent ion beam source. It is believed that IBSD is a common technique in the manufacturing of optical filters.
The method is normally carried out in a vacuum environment by bombarding a target with ion current. The bombardment results in the dislodging of atoms from the target which are then deposited as a film on a substrate. IBSD is an improvement over other types of sputter deposition techniques because it produces films of high quality with improved adhesive properties. IBSD procedures sputtered films that have a density very similar to the bulk density of the materials used and a surface roughness which is equal to that of a super-polished substrate. These results are advantageous for optical coatings.
Performance of optical filters is further improved with deposition thickness that is uniform across the substrate. The disclosed system and method provide such an improvement.
The present invention is directed to a system for performing sputter deposition on a substrate. A divergent ion current source generates a divergent ion beam. The ion current source has a central axis about which ions are directed toward a surface of a negatively biased target. A rotating substrate is positioned proximate to the target. The central axis of the ion current source is normal to the surface of the target and parallel to a deposition surface of the rotating substrate. In one embodiment, the magnitude of ion current produced by the ion current source varies throughout the ion beam in accordance with the equation ion current =Jo cos (xcex8); where xcex8 is an angle between the central axis of the ion source and a direction of the ion current, and Jo is the ion current density along the central axis.
In one embodiment, the central axis of the ion current sources intersects the center of the target. The target has a length and the substrate rotates about a rotational axis. In this embodiment, the surface of the substrate may be spaced from the central axis by half of the target length, and the surface of the target may be spaced from the rotational axis by half the target length.
Still another aspect of the invention is an optical filter, which is created by the disclosed method and process. The optical filter comprises a substrate, and material deposited on the substrate by the disclosed process and method.

System and method for performing sputter deposition using a divergent ion beam source and a rotating substrate


The present invention is concerned with an apparatus for making a coated frozen confectionery product by co-extrusion of a frozen confection and a coating substance, and in particular a nozzle body forming part of the apparatus. The nozzle body according to the invention has a nozzle exit, through which the coated confectionery product is discharged as stream; the stream of coated confectionery product being the frozen confectionery product at least partially coated with the coating substance. The nozzle body preferably comprises: —a frozen confection product channel communicating with at least one frozen confectionery inlet port and leading to the nozzle exit, —at least one coating supply channel communication with at least one coating inlet port and leading to at least one coating application chamber opening into the frozen confection product channel at a position upstream of the nozzle exit, and—a spreading tongue arranged downstream of the at least one coating application chamber and upstream of or forms part of the nozzle exit, said spreading tongue being adapted to distribute the coating substance onto the surface of the frozen confection and define the cross sectional shape of the stream of coated confectionery product. The invention also relates to a method for making a coated frozen confectionery product by co-extrusion.

Some confectionery products containing inclusions or crispy layers of exist. In particular, confectionery product containing chocolate and ice-cream exist. While a desire to obtain such products is present, the production techniques available are in many instances limited to enrobing techniques where for instance ice-cream is enrobed by chocolate.
During an operation of filling ice cream into a receptacle, the process of ice cream dosing is typically a discontinuous process, in which the ice cream product is dosed from a nozzle into a receptacle such as a cup or wafer cone. Dosing is stopped when the receptacle is full and restarts again when the next empty receptacle is placed beneath the dosing nozzle.
During ice cream dosing, the application of a coating material onto the ice cream surface is typically achieved by spraying the coating substance from a spray nozzle or by projecting the coating out of a tube against the ice cream surface after the ice cream has left the nozzle. Both ways are characterized by a small gap between the chocolate supply device and the ice cream surface. The advantage of this arrangement becomes clear when studying in detail the application of a fat-based coating onto the surface of an ice cream:
Such fat based coating materials are typically applied in a temperature range of 30° C. to 40° C., where the coating material is in a liquid form. When getting in touch with the ice cream, which is typically at a temperature in the range of −4° C., the coating material will quickly cool down and solidify. If the exit of a pipe or channel, supplying a fat based coating material onto the ice cream surface, is in close contact or touching the ice cream surface, the chocolate at the outlet will be cooled down by the ice cream. This will lead to a solidification of the coating substance in the pipe or channel and subsequent blockage or accumulation of solidified coating at this point. The required unblocking and cleaning are typically done by melting the solidified chocolate, using e.g. hot water or steam. This unblocking and cleaning cause an interruption of the production flow and reduces the overall performance of the production process.
It is therefore advantageous to leave a gap between the ice cream surface and the exit of a pipe or channel to avoid direct contact and cooling down of the pipe or channel. When using a spray gun to apply the chocolate, the gap between spray nozzle and ice cream can be easily bridged, however, as mentioned earlier, spraying does not allow a precise and homogeneous deposition of chocolate.
One may speculate that projecting chocolate through a slit-shaped nozzle onto the ice cream surface would allow to apply a band-shaped chocolate layer. However, there are limitations to this approach due to the interfacial tension of the liquid coating. Once the liquid chocolate leaves a slit-shaped nozzle or channel and is being projected towards the surface of the ice cream stream, the interfacial tension pulls the chocolate stream into a shape which is round in cross section. As a result of this, the initially band-shaped stream of chocolate will end on the ice cream surface as as a line of chocolate, rather than a thin layer.
It is therefore difficult to find an acceptable compromise: a nozzle for applying coating substance very close or touching the ice cream tends to block, but a larger distance between nozzle and ice cream makes application of a homogeneous layer more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,767 discloses to make a cup or cone having a flaky texture, where superposed ribbons of ice-cream and chocolate are extruded into a mold in the form of spirals by means of an extrusion assembly comprising a flat extrusion tube and a spray tube. The extrusion assembly performs a spinning movement resulting from an eccentric rotational movement and an ascending movement relatively to the mold.
However, as the chocolate is sprayed onto the ice-cream it is very difficult to control the thickness of the chocolate layers and virtually impossible to obtain regular crunchy layers of a desired thickness. It is also difficult to precisely control the location of the applied chocolate when using a spray technique. Furthermore, the spraying mechanism is relatively expensive.
Spraying of chocolate is also applied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,070 wherein a layered cone with alternating layers of chocolate and ice-cream is made by extruding ice-cream into a vertically descending helix rotating about a vertical axis and having spaced flights which define passages there between. Also in this case, it is very difficult to control the thickness of the chocolate layers, and the apparatus is rather expensive due to the spraying process.
WO 2011/086058 discloses a frozen confectionery product and a method of manufacturing the same. The disclosure pertains to a production by rotary vertical extrusion by use of a nozzle. Outlet ports are provided in the nozzle coating the ice-cream while it flows out of the nozzle and form annular or helical chocolate layers upon rotation of the nozzle and the container with respect to each other. A characteristic of the product disclosed is that chocolate is buried inside the product. There is no coverage on the outside of the product provided by this procedure.
Thus, the structures of confectionery product produced by the known method can still be improved to provide uniform and controlled distribution of fat based coatings material onto and throughout the product. in a controlled manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Equipment and method for frozen confectionery product with layered structure having external coating


A film winding apparatus of a camera for winding and/or rewinding a perforated film. The film winding apparatus includes a photoelectric member that is opposed to perforations of the film to detect presence or absence of the perforations in the film. A predetermined reference value, along with an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value, is set in accordance with an initial signal output by the photoelectric member. A second mechanism detects a feed position of the film by comparing a rising output curve and a descending output curve produced by the photoelectric member with the upper and lower threshold values of the predetermined reference value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film winding apparatus of a camera. More precisely, it relates to a film winding apparatus in which a film feed can be precisely and reliably detected by a photoelectric element.
2. Description of Related Art
To detect the feed position of a film, upon loading the film, the winding film, or rewinding the film, in a film winding apparatus of a conventional camera, an electric switch is mechanically actuated by a sprocket, which is engaged with perforations of the film. It is difficult, however, to ensure reliability of such a mechanically actuated electric switch. To this end, particularly in recent electronic cameras, it is known to provide a photoelectric element, such as a photoreflector, for counting the number of perforations of the film to detect the feed position thereof.
The photoelectric element can provide for a more reliable operation of the apparatus, but has a drawback in that the output value of the photoreflector fluctuates depending on the particular film that is used. The output of the photoreflector may also fluctuate due to irregular characteristics of the photoreflector. In such a case, for example, it is necessary to compare the output signal of the photoelectric element with a predetermined threshold value (corresponding to the presence or absence of a perforation) and count the times that the output signal intersects the threshold value in order to count the number of perforations. However, if there is a large variation in the output level of the photoelectric element, the output level might not reach the threshold value, resulting in an incorrect number of counted perforations.


According to an aspect, communication system includes a server and a first mobile communication device. The server is configured to transmit, when acquiring a search request of a mobile communication device, search information related to the search request to the first mobile communication device. The first mobile communication device includes: a first communication unit for communicating with the server, a second communication unit for communicating with a mobile communication device by short-range wireless communication to acquire device information related to the mobile communication device including at least identification information thereof, and a storage unit for storing the device information, and configured to transmit, when receiving the search information, the device information related to a target of the search request to the server.

There is a technology for, when a child becomes lost, supporting a search for the lost child by use of a mobile phone. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for supporting a lost child by causing a lost-child candidate and his/her guardian, who are visitors, to carry a lost-child emblem in which information is recorded in advance, reading the information of the lost-child emblem with a mobile terminal carried by on-site staff and/or the guardian when the child becomes lost, transmitting lost-child protection information and/or a lost-child notice to a management server via email, sending and receiving an email between the management server and the mobile terminal, and searching for and protecting the lost child.

Communication system and mobile communication device, and server for communication system


A method for controlling a defrosting operation of a refrigerator by providing a defrosting operation control method wherein a refrigerator use pattern by the user is learned. The defrosting operation control method based on the learning of the refrigerator use pattern comprises the steps of dividing a day, namely, 24 hours into a plurality of time intervals each corresponding to a predetermined period, for example, one hour, calculating the number of refrigerator door openings by time intervals, repeating the calculating step for predetermined days, storing information about arithmetic average values of the number of door openings calculated by time intervals, and performing a defrosting operation during the period that the refrigerator is not used by the user, based on the arithmetic average value information. The overall steps are also periodically repeated after the lapse of predetermined days so that a variation in refrigerator using pattern by the user can be learned, so as to control the defrosting operation based on the variation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controlling a defrosting operation of a refrigerator, and more particularly to a method of learning a refrigerator use pattern so that the defrosting operation is carried out at a point of time when is not in use the refrigerator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, refrigerators perform freezing and refrigerating operations by driving compressors for a predetermined period and then defrosting operations for defrosting freezing chambers by actuating defrosting heaters. The defrosting period for such defrosting operations is controlled, depending on the freezing period and the refrigerating chamber temperature.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operation control apparatus for a general refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 1, the operation control apparatus comprises an electric power supply unit 1 for supplying electric power to required units of the operation control apparatus, a compressor driving unit 3 for driving a compressor (not shown) for generating cold air, a cooling fan driving unit 4 for driving a cooling fan (not shown) for blowing the cold air into a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator, a damper driving unit 6 for driving a damper (not shown) for opening and closing a passage of the cold air introduced in the freezing and refrigerating chambers, a heater driving unit 6 for driving a defrosting heater (not shown) for generating heat and thus defrosting the freezing chamber, a temperature sensing unit 7 for sensing temperatures of the freezing and refrigerating chambers by means of temperature sensors disposed in the freezing and refrigerating chambers, and a door opening/closing sensing unit 8 for sensing the opening and closing of the freezing and refrigerating chambers. The operation control apparatus also comprises a central processing unit 2 for controlling the compressor driving unit 3, the cooling fan driving unit 4, the damper driving unit 5 and the heater driving unit 6, in response to sensing signals from the temperature sensing unit 7 and door opening/closing sensing unit 8, and thus controlling the operation of the refrigerator.
Now, a conventional method for controlling a defrosting operation of the refrigerator with the above-mentioned operation control apparatus will be described, in conjunction with FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a procedure for controlling the operation of refrigerant in accordance with the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 2, electric power is applied to the refrigerator, the central processing unit 2 drives the compressor driving unit 3 and the cooling fan driving unit 4, so as to drive the compressor and the cooling fan. The central processing unit open damper by driving the damper driving unit 5 so that a cooling operation step for introducing cold air in the chambers of the refrigerator is carried out.
Thereafter, the central processing unit 2 counts the driving period of the compressor, that is, the cooling operation period and performs a step of determining whether the counted period corresponds to a predetermined period. Generally, a defrosting operation is carried out to defrost the freezing chamber, after a predetermined cooling operation period during which the compressor of refrigerator is driven lapses. The predetermined cooling operation period corresponds to a predetermined period for determining whether the sum of the periods during which the compressor is driven corresponds to a period after which a defrosting operation should be initiated.
If the counted period does not reach the predetermined period after which the defrosting operation is initiated, the central processing unit 2 then determines whether the chamber temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit 7 reaches a predetermined minimum temperature. When the chamber temperature does not reach the predetermined minimum temperature, the central processing unit 2 performs a step of returning the procedure to the step of counting the compressor driving period.
When the chamber temperature has reached the predetermined minimum temperature as it is continuously lowered by the continued driving of the compressor, the counting of the compressor driving period is stopped, while keeping the counted value indicative of the period during which the compressor is driven. Simultaneously, the central processing unit 2 carrier out a step of turning off the compressor and the cooling fan and closing the damper.
After the compressor and the cooling fan are turned off, the central processing unit 2 determines whether the chamber temperature of the refrigerator has reached a predetermined maximum temperature. If the chamber temperature has reached the predetermined maximum temperature, the compressor and the cooling fan are turned on again and the procedure is returned to the step of carrying out the cooling operation. When the the compressor and the cooling fan are not driven, the chamber temperature increases, since the door of the refrigerator is often opened or the chambers of refrigerator is maintained at an imperfect thermal insulation state, even though the door is closed. Accordingly, the cooling operation is automatically initiated again in a manner as mentioned above, when the chamber temperature of refrigerator increases to the predetermined maximum temperature.
If the counted period indicative of the compressor driving period reaches the predetermined period, the counting of the compressor driving period is then initialized. At the same time, the central processing unit 2 turns off the compressor and the cooling fan and closes the damper. The central processing unit also turns on the defrosting heater by driving the heater driving unit 6, so as to perform the defrosting operation.
If a determination is made that the defrosting has been completed after the defrosting operation for a predetermined period, the central processing unit 2 then turns off the defrosting heater and returns to the cooling operation step.
Generally, the control of the chamber temperature of refrigerator is carried out in such a manner that when a predetermined chamber temperature is set to a desired temperature by the user, a predetermined maximum temperature and a predetermined minimum temperature which are obtained by adding positive and negative temperature tolerances to the predetermined chamber temperature, respectively, are stored in the central processing unit, as shown in FIG. 3. When the chamber temperature of the refrigerator is sensed as having been increased up to the predetermined maximum temperature, the central processing unit turns on the compressor, so as to achieve the cooling operation. As the chamber temperature is decreased to the predetermined minimum temperature, by the cooling operation, the central processing unit turns off the compressor, so as to stop the cooling operation. That is, the central processing unit controls the operation of refrigerator by repeating the operations of turning on/off the compressor.
As apparent from the above description, the temperature control is achieved by turning on/off the compressor and the cooling fan so that the chamber temperature of refrigerator and maintained between the predetermined maximum temperature and the predetermined minimum temperature. On the other hand, the defrosting operation is achieved by counting the periods during which the compressor is maintained at its ON state, summing the periods and driving the defrosting heater for a predetermined driving period when the summed time corresponds to a predetermined time.
However, such a control for the defrosting operation has a disadvantage that the defrosting operation is carried out irrespective of whether the refrigerator is being used by the user, since the point of time when the defrosting operation should be initiated is simply determined by the time obtained only by summing the periods during which the compressor is maintained at its ON state.
Assuming that the periods that the user frequently uses the refrigerator, that is, frequently opens the door of refrigerator are the period T1 from 6:00 to 9:00, the period T2 from 11:00 to 13:00 and the period T3 from 17:00 to 20:00 and that the defrosting operation initiating time point based on the sum of the compressor driving periods is the time point t1, the compressor is controlled to be forcibly turned off at the time point t1, as shown in FIG. 3. The defrosting heater is turned on at the time point t1, to initiate the defrosting operation.
Since the chamber temperature increases as the defrosting operation is carried out, the chamber temperature exceeds the predetermined maximum temperature beginning at timepoint t2. Furthermore, when the door of refrigerator is opened by the user during the defrosting operation, the chamber temperature increases sharply to a level at which a desired refrigerating temperature can not be obtained, since the period that the defrosting operation is carried out is included in the period T2 which is one of the periods that the user frequently uses the refrigerator. The chamber temperature can be decreased to the predetermined maximum temperature satisfying the desired refrigerating temperature only at the time point t3 corresponding to a certain time after the period T4 passe, that is, after the defrosting operation was completed and the compressor was driven.
Actually, the increase in chamber temperature during the defrosting operation is higher than the natural increase in chamber temperature, due to the operation of defrosting heater. That is, when the defrosting operation is carried out during the period that the user frequently uses the refrigerator, the chamber temperature is increased to a greatly higher temperature, as compared with the case that the door of the refrigerator is frequently opened under the condition that no defrosting operation is carried out. This is because the temperature increase caused by the defrosting operation is added to the temperature increase caused by the refrigerator door opening. As a result, the chamber temperature is excessively increased and can not be decreased to the predetermined maximum temperature or below while the defrosting operation is continued. Consequently, there is a problem that the chamber temperature can not be maintained at the predetermined temperature desired by the user.

Method of learning a refrigerator use pattern for controlling a defrosting operation of the refrigerator


In a method of manufacturing a thermal-type infrared sensor including a thermosensitive part, a bolometer material is formed as the thermosensitive part and is subjected to post-processing to control a temperature coefficient of resistance in the bolometer material. The bolometer material may be formed by titanium or vanadium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a thermal-type infrared sensor, by using a metal film or a metal oxide film. Herein, it is to be noted throughout the instant specification that such a thermal-type sensor may be called a metal-film bolometer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a bolometer material for thermal-type infrared sensors, it has been known to use a film of metals such as platinum and a film of metal oxides such as vanadium oxide.
For example, a bolometer-type infrared array sensor is proposed by Shie and Weng in Sensors and Actuators, A33 (1992) pp. 183, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and is produced by forming a space 13 within a Si substrate 10 operable as a heat sink, mounting beams 8 over the space 13, and arranging thermosensitive area 9 (in a suspending manner) around the beams 8. In the structure, the thermosensitive area 9 is arranged at a part thermally separated from the Si substrate. Herein, the thermosensitive area 9 is formed from a bolometer material, and additionally comprises a platinum electrode 11 operable also as a bias electrode and a NiCr infrared absorption film 12.
When vanadium oxide is used as the bolometer material in such a bolometer-type infrared sensor, the resistivity of vanadium oxide should inevitably be controlled. More specifically, because a great number of crystalline phases of the oxides of vanadium are present in the region of 4 to 5 atomic valences of vanadium, the resistivity of the bolometer material varies, depending on each crystalline phase. In order to control the resistivity thereof, proposal has been made by Jorgenson and Lee, Solar Energy Materials, 14(1986), p.205, about doping elements of metal impurities such as Nb, Ta, W, and Mo.
Among bolometer materials, platinum is advantageous in that platinum is hardly oxidized. However, platinum is poor in workability and, as a result, it rarely used in a silicon integrated circuit process. Therefore, recent interest has been directed to a metal material in place of platinum.
Instead of platinum, A. Tanaka et al have tried to use, as a bolometer material, Ti which has a small thermal conductivity and which is very often used in the Si--IC production process. However, it has been found out that Ti is chemically active and is easily oxidized within a process carried out after deposition of Ti and within a process of forming a protection film. This brings about a reduction of the temperature coefficient of resistance which serves as a significant factor of the bolometer material. As a result, a reduction of sensitivity is inevitable when Ti is used.
Herein, an amount of doped impurities in metal oxide films can not be controlled when the metal oxide films are formed by a film formation process, such as sol-gel process, a sputtering process, a chemical deposition process and the like. Therefore, the resistivity cannot be controlled satisfactorily by the above-mentioned processes. Additionally, a temperature coefficient of resistance becomes small with the increase of the doped amount.

Method for manufacturing thermal-type infrared sensor

Director General, Technical Research and Development Institute, Japan Defense Agency


Method for converting a composition into thermoplastic polyurethane, said composition comprising polyurethane resin, said method comprising the steps of combining the composition with a chemical compound, and converting said mixture into thermoplastic polyurethane, characterized in that said chemical compound is 1,4-Di(2,6-dibromo-4-methylphenylamino)anthracene-9,10-dione. Article obtained according to this method.

The present invention pertains to a method for converting a composition into thermoplastic polyurethane, said composition comprising polyurethane resin. The invention particularly concerns articles obtained by shaping the thermoplastic polyurethane obtained by this method. These articles are used as eyewear lenses such as sunwear, ophthalmic lenses, safety glasses, shields and goggles.
The material used to produce eyewear lenses must be optically clear. In addition, the finished product must meet specifications with regards to the color of the product. In particular, the color must remain stable during the life of the product. Certain materials, among them thermoplastic polyurethanes, are not suitable for use in eyewear applications due to a high initial Yellowness Index (YI) and/or due to an increasing YI because of its instability when exposed to UV radiation (e.g. from sunlight).
The rigid thermoplastic polyurethane resin ISOPLAST was first introduced and manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. In the ISOPLAST resin family, the commercially available thermoplastic polyurethane ISOPLAST® 301 produced by Lubrizol Advanced Materials is an injection molded transparent polyurethane derived from 4,4′-methylene diphenyldiisocyanate (MDI) and a mixture of 3 diols which are 1,6-hexanediol, 1,4-bis(hydroxymethyl)cyclohexane and polytetramethylene glycol. As the raw material MDI is pale yellow, the ISOPLAST® 301 resin is tinted with yellow with a measured Yellowness Index of 6 for a 3.2 mm thick injection molded sample based on ASTM D 1925. Thus ISOPLAST® 301 has both a high initial YI and an increasing YI as a function of time.
Nevertheless, in view of its high toughness and its chemical resistance, this material ISOPLAST® 301 material would be of interest for use in eyewear applications, if it were transparent.
There is therefore a need for a method for producing thermoplastic polyurethane such as ISOPLAST® 301, which can be used in eyewear applications, overcoming the limitations of the known thermoplastic polyurethanes, without compromising its other optical and mechanical properties. Advantageously the present invention discloses a method that addresses the issues discussed above. These and other advantages are achieved in accordance with the present invention as described below.

Method for preparing a thermoplastic polyurethane of improved yellowness index, and optical articles made therefrom

Essilor International (Compagnie générale d'Optique)


A magnetic head having a free layer and an antiparallel (AP) pinned layer structure spaced apart from the free layer. The AP pinned layer structure includes at least two pinned layers having magnetic moments that are self-pinned antiparallel to each other, the pinned layers being separated by an AP coupling layer constructed of a Ru alloy. The use of a Ru alloy coupling layer significantly increases the pinning field of the AP pinned layer structure over a pure Ru spacer.

The heart of a computer is a magnetic disk drive which includes a rotating magnetic disk, a slider that has read and write heads (also called writers and sensors), a suspension arm above the rotating disk and an actuator arm that swings the suspension arm to place the read and write heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk. The suspension arm biases the slider into contact with the surface of the disk when the disk is not rotating but, when the disk rotates, air is swirled by the rotating disk adjacent an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider causing the slider to ride on an air bearing a slight distance from the surface of the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing the write and read heads are employed for writing magnetic impressions to and reading magnetic signal fields from the rotating disk. The read and write heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
In high capacity disk drives, magnetoresistive (MR) read sensors, commonly referred to as MR heads, are the prevailing read sensors because of their capability to read data from a surface of a disk at greater track and linear densities than thin film inductive heads. An MR sensor detects a magnetic field through the change in the resistance of its MR sensing layer (also referred to as an "MR element") as a function of the strength and direction of the magnetic flux being sensed by the MR layer.
The conventional MR sensor operates on the basis of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect in which an MR element resistance varies as the square of the cosine of the angle between the magnetization in the MR element and the direction of sense current flow through the MR element. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field) causes a change in the direction of magnetization of the MR element, which in turn causes a change in resistance of the MR element and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage.
Another type of MR sensor is the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor manifesting the GMR effect. In GMR sensors, the resistance of the GMR sensor varies as a function of the spin-dependent transmission of the conduction electrons between ferromagnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic layer (spacer) and the accompanying spin-dependent scattering which takes place at the interface of the ferromagnetic and non-magnetic layers and within the ferromagnetic layers.
GMR sensors using only two layers of ferromagnetic material (e.g., Ni—Fe) separated by a layer of non-magnetic material (e.g., copper) are generally referred to as spin valve (SV) sensors. In an SV sensor, one of the ferromagnetic layers, referred to as the pinned layer (reference layer), has its magnetization typically pinned by exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic (e.g., NiO or Fe—Mn) layer. The pinning field generated by the antiferromagnetic layer should be greater than demagnetizing fields (about 200 Oe) at the operating temperature of the SV sensor (about 120° C.) to ensure that the magnetization direction of the pinned layer remains fixed during the application of external fields (e.g., fields from bits recorded on the disk). The magnetization of the other ferromagnetic layer, referred to as the free layer, however, is not fixed and is free to rotate in response to the field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field). U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,590 granted to Dieny et al., incorporated herein by reference, discloses a SV sensor operating on the basis of the GMR effect.
An exemplary high performance read head employs a spin valve sensor for sensing the magnetic signal fields from the rotating magnetic disk. FIG. 1A shows a prior art SV sensor 100 comprising a free layer (free ferromagnetic layer) 110 separated from a pinned layer (pinned ferromagnetic layer) 120 by a-non-magnetic, electrically-conducting spacer layer 115. The magnetization of the pinned layer 120 is fixed by an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer 130.
FIG. 1B shows another prior art SV sensor 150 with a flux keepered configuration. The SV sensor 150 is substantially identical to the SV sensor 100 shown in FIG. 1A except for the addition of a keeper layer 152 formed of ferromagnetic material separated from the free layer 110 by a non-magnetic spacer layer 154. The keeper layer 152 provides a flux closure path for the magnetic field from the pinned layer 120 resulting in reduced magnetostatic interaction of the pinned layer 120 with the free layer 110. U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,867 granted to Cain et al. discloses a SV sensor having a flux keepered configuration.
Another type of SV sensor is an antiparallel (AP)-pinned SV sensor. In AP-Pinned SV sensors, the pinned layer is a laminated structure of two ferromagnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic coupling layer such that the magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic layers are strongly coupled together antiferromagnetically in an antiparallel orientation. The AP-Pinned SV sensor provides improved exchange coupling of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer to the laminated pinned layer structure than is achieved with the pinned layer structure of the SV sensor of FIG. 1A. This improved exchange coupling increases the stability of the AP-Pinned SV sensor at high temperatures which allows the use of corrosion resistant antiferromagnetic materials such as NiO for the AFM layer.
Referring to FIG. 2A, an AP-Pinned SV sensor 200 comprises a free layer 210 separated from a laminated AP-pinned layer structure 220 by a nonmagnetic, electrically-conducting spacer layer 215. The magnetization of the laminated AP-pinned layer structure 220 is fixed by an AFM layer 230. The laminated AP-pinned layer structure 220 comprises a first ferromagnetic layer 226 and a second ferromagnetic layer 222 separated by an antiparallel coupling layer (APC) 224 of nonmagnetic material. The two ferromagnetic layers 226, 222 (FM1, and FM2) in the laminated AP-pinned layer structure 220 have their magnetization directions oriented antiparallel, as indicated by the arrows 227, 223 (arrows pointing out of and into the plane of the paper respectively).
A key requirement for optimal operation of an SV sensor is that the pinned layer should be magnetically saturated perpendicular to the air bearing surface. Lack of magnetic saturation in the pinned layer leads to reduced signal or dynamic range. Factors leading to a loss of saturation include demagnetizing fields at the edge of the pinned layer, magnetic fields from recorded data and from longitudinal biasing regions, current induced fields and the coupling field to the free layer.
Analysis of the magnetic state of pinned layers in small sensors (a few microns or less in width), reveals that due primarily to the presence of large demagnetizing fields at the sensor edges the magnetization is not uniform over the area of the pinned layer. FIG. 2B shows a perspective view of an SV sensor 250. The SV sensor 250 is formed of a sensor stripe 260 having a front edge 270 at the ABS and extending away from the ABS to a rear edge 272. Due to the large demagnetizing fields at the front edge 270 and the rear edge 272 of the sensor stripe 260, the desired perpendicular magnetization direction is achieved only at the center portion 280 of the pinned layer stripe, while the magnetization tends to be curled into a direction parallel to the ABS at the edges of the stripe. The extent of these curled regions is controlled by the magnetic stiffness of the pinned layer.
As mentioned above, prior art AP-Pinned SV sensors use an AFM in order to pin the pinned layer magnetization so that the pinned layers do not move around when the head is reading data from the disk, upon application of external magnetic fields, etc. The AFM layers are typically very thick, on the order of 150-200 Å. Due to the large overall thickness, such sensors are typically not practical for use in applications where a thin head is desirable.
What is therefore needed is an AP-Pinned SV sensor having improved AP pinning, allowing use of a thinner AFM. What is further needed is a way to increase the pinning of AP-Pinned layers.
Another technology which uses AP-Pinned layers is fabrication of magnetic media. Conventional thin-film type magnetic media, wherein a fine-grained polycrystalline magnetic alloy layer serves as the active recording layer, are generally classified as "longitudinal" or "perpendicular", depending upon the orientation of the magnetic domains of the grains of magnetic material.
A portion of a conventional longitudinal recording, thin-film, hard disk-type magnetic recording medium 300 commonly employed in computer-related applications is schematically illustrated in FIG. 3 in simplified cross-sectional view, and comprises a substantially rigid, non-magnetic metal substrate 302, typically of aluminum (Al) or an aluminum-based alloy, such as an aluminum-magnesium (Al—Mg) alloy, having sequentially deposited or otherwise formed on a surface 302 A thereof a plating layer 304, such as of amorphous nickel-phosphorus (Ni—P); one or more polycrystalline underlayers 306, typically of Cr or a Cr-based alloy, a magnetic recording layer 308, comprised of one or more layers of cobalt (Co)-based alloys with one or more of platinum (Pt), Cr, boron (B), etc.; a protective overcoat layer 310, typically containing carbon (C), e.g., diamond-like carbon ("DLC"); and a lubricant topcoat layer 312, e.g., of a perfluoropolyether. Each of layers 304-310 may be deposited by suitable physical vapor deposition ("PVD") techniques, such as sputtering, and layer 312 is typically deposited by dipping or spraying. Glass substrates are also typically used for longitudinal media. For media on glass substrates, the plated NiP layer 304 is omitted and additional seed layers are added between the substrate surface 302 A and the underlayers 306.
In operation of medium 300, the magnetic layer 308 is locally magnetized by a write transducer, or write head, to record and thereby store data/information therein. The write transducer or head creates a highly concentrated magnetic field which alternates direction based on the bits of information to be stored. When the local magnetic field produced by the write transducer is greater than the coercivity of the material of the recording medium layer 308, the grains of the polycrystalline material at that location are magnetized in the direction of the applied magnetic field. The grains retain their magnetization after the magnetic field applied thereto by the write transducer is removed. The magnetization of the recording medium layer 308 can subsequently produce an electrical response in a read transducer, or sensor, allowing the stored information to be read.
Efforts are continually being made with the aim of increasing the areal recording density, i.e., the bit density, or bits/unit area, and signal-to-medium noise ratio ("SMNR") of the magnetic media. However, when the bit density of longitudinal media is increased above about 50 Gb/in2, thermal instability of the magnetization is encountered when the necessary reduction in grain size approaches the superparamagnetic limit. Such thermal instability can, inter alia, cause undesirable decay of the output signal of hard disk drives, and in extreme instances, result in total data loss and collapse of the magnetic bits.
One proposed solution to the problem of thermal instability arising from the very small grain sizes associated with ultra-high recording density magnetic recording media, is to increase the crystalline anisotropy in order to compensate for the smaller grain sizes. However, this approach is limited by the field provided by the writing head.
Another proposed solution to the problem of thermal instability of very fine-grained magnetic recording media is to provide stabilization via coupling of the ferromagnetic recording layer with another ferromagnetic layer or an anti-ferromagnetic layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,813 describes a magnetic recording medium wherein the magnetic recording layer is at least two ferromagnetic films antiferromagnetically coupled together across a nonferromagnetic spacer film. In this type of magnetic media, referred to as AFC media, the magnetic moments of the two antiferromagnetically-coupled films are oriented antiparallel, with the result that the net remnant magnetization-thickness product (Mrt) of the recording layer is the difference in the Mrt values of the two ferromagnetic films. This allows Mrt to be lowered as required for high bit density while maintaining the necessary grain volume (V) needed for thermal stability. The ferromagnetic film closer to the head (the master layer) is typically made thicker than the film farther from the head (the slave layer) such that the net Mrt is greater than zero. The interface exchange energy density, J, between the ferromagnetic layers is a key parameter in determining the potential increase in stability. Higher J values allow a thicker slave layer to be used such that the higher V can be obtained for the same Mrt.
In order to achieve optimal performance of AFC media, it is important to have good epitaxial growth of the magnetic layers through the spacer layer with in-plane alignment of the Co-alloy c-axis. Since the lattice constant of Ru is larger than the typical Co-alloys, improved epitaxy across the spacer layer can be achieved using Ru-alloys that reduce the lattice parameter.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved methodology for providing thermally stable, high areal density magnetic recording media, e.g., longitudinal media, with large interface exchange energy density, J, optimal microstructure and crystallographic orientation (i.e., in-plane alignment of the c-axis), and reduced or optimized lattice mismatch between vertically separated ferromagnetic layers and a non-magnetic spacer layer (such as of a Ru-based material) providing anti-ferromagnetic coupling (AFC) of the ferromagnetic layers, wherein each of the ferromagnetic layers is formed of a ferromagnetic alloy composition similar to compositions conventionally employed in fabricating longitudinal magnetic recording media, which methodology can be implemented at a manufacturing cost compatible with that of conventional manufacturing technologies for forming high areal density magnetic recording media. There also exists a need for improved, high areal density magnetic recording media, e.g., in disk form, which media include at least one pair of anti-ferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic alloy layers separated by a non-magnetic spacer layer, wherein each of the ferromagnetic layers is formed of a ferromagnetic alloy composition similar to compositions conventionally utilized in longitudinal magnetic recording media (such as Co-based alloys) and the lattice mismatch between each of the ferromagnetic layers and the non-magnetic spacer layer is reduced or optimized, leading to improved thermal stability.
The present invention, therefore, addresses and solves problems attendant upon forming high areal recording density magnetic recording media, e.g., in the form of hard disks, which media utilize anti-ferromagnetic coupling between pairs of ferromagnetic layers for enhancing thermal stability, while providing full compatibility with all aspects of conventional automated manufacturing technology. Moreover, manufacture and implementation of the present invention can be obtained at a cost comparable to that of existing technology.

MR sensor and thin film media having alloyed Ru antiparallel spacer layer for enhanced antiparallel exchange coupling

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


In a hydrogen concentration detecting method of detecting whether the hydrogen concentration is equal to or higher than a reference concentration; using a hydrogen detecting apparatus 1 comprising a detecting element 4 made of a hydrogen absorbing alloy, a microheater 2, a substrate 3, and a strain gauge 6, where the operation of the microheater 2 is halted during a normal state; however, once the strain gauge 6 detects a volume change of the detecting element 4, the microheater 2 starts heating the detecting element 4.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a whether a hydrogen concentration in a gas is equal to or higher than a reference concentration, and also to an apparatus for detecting hydrogen.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus for detecting hydrogen using a hydrogen absorbing alloy is disclosed in JP-A-10-73530. In the hydrogen detecting apparatus, a hydrogen absorbing alloy is fixed to one of the sides of a substrate, while a strain gauge is attached to another side thereof. In this structure, the stain gauge detects strain of the substrate caused by volume expansion of the hydrogen absorbing alloy in case of absorbing hydrogen. Concerning the hydrogen detecting apparatus using a hydrogen absorbing alloy, its selectivity with respect to hydrogen may be rather high, whereby the hydrogen detecting apparatus has an advantage in its high detection accuracy.
It is known that such a hydrogen absorbing alloy has P-T characteristics, where the hydrogen absorbing pressure might be uniquely determined in accordance with the operation temperature. Therefore, in a related art, a hydrogen detecting apparatus having the following manner has been developed. That is, an output of the strain gauge is monitored in a state where the operation temperature is always kept constant using a heater and the like. When a change occurs in the output of the stain gauge under said condition, the concentration of hydrogen is determined in that the detected gas reaches the concentration which corresponds to the hydrogen absorbing pressure according to the operation temperature as disclosed in JP-A-10-73530.
However, there is a drawback in such a hydrogen detecting apparatus, because keeping the condition of the constant temperature for the operation requires the continuous temperature control, and hence the heater must be energized for a long time period. In this regard, in case of the hydrogen concentration being monitored for a long term, the power consumption of the heater becomes very large, which ends up being costly. Moreover, the power supply source might be configured in relatively large size, which ends up increasing the manufacturing cost.
Especially, in the case of a hydrogen detecting apparatus which is disposed in a mobile unit, such as a fuel cell vehicle, which must be operated by the power supplied by a battery of which capacity is inevitably limited, and therefore, there is always the request to reduce power consumption. In this regard, it is disadvantageous for a fuel cell vehicle to increase the size of the battery.

Method of detecting a hydrogen concentration and apparatus for detecting hydrogen


There is disclosed a stent for implanting in the body. The stent is formed of a tube having a patterned shape which has first and second meander patterns having axes extending in first and second directions. The first meander patterns can be formed into even and odd first meander patterns. The even and odd first meander patterns are 180.degree. out of phase with each other and the odd patterns occur between every two even patterns. The second meander patterns are intertwined with the first meander patterns. The first and second directions can be orthogonal to each other. The second meander patterns can also be formed of even and odd patterns.

Various stents are known in the art wherein, for the present application, the term "stent" indicates a device, made of body-compatible material, which is utilized to widen a blood vessel, or other orifice in the body, and to maintain the resultant size of the lumen. Typically, the stent is delivered to the desired location in the body with an inflatable balloon and, when the balloon is inflated, the stent expands, thereby widening the orifice. Other mechanical devices which cause expansion of the stent are also utilized.
Exemplary patents in the field of stents formed of wire are: U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,090 to Pinchuk, U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,547 to Tower, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,227 to Savin, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,472 to Fontaine, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,458 to Wiktor and U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,516 to Hillstead. Stents formed of cut stock metal are described in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,665 to Palmaz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,128 to Rosenbluth, U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,417 to Palmaz and Schatz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,984 to Schatz and WO 91FR013820 to Meadox.
The stents described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,417 to Palmaz and Schatz have expandable tubular grafts connected together with a flexible connector. The grafts are formed of a plurality of slots disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube. The flexible connectors are helical connectors. Since the tubular grafts are relatively rigid, the flexible connectors are needed so that the stents can bend when being fed through a curved blood vessel. When the stents of U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,417 expand, the grafts expand radially and, consequently, shrink longitudinally. However, at the same time, the helical connectors twist. The twisting motion is most probably harmful to the blood vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,984 to Schatz describes a similar stent but with one straight connector, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubular grafts, between tubular grafts. The straight member removes the twisting motion; however, it is not a very strong connector.


A sealing system for a flow tube keeps cement from getting around it to the flapper when the safety valve is in the open position. Seals are provided at opposed ends of the flow tube so that the power spring and the flapper will not get fouled with cement pumped through the flow tube in wells that are completed through a production string with the safety valve in place. The seals may be mounted to the flow tube or the surrounding body. A unique seal construction separates cement from the flapper behind the flow tube. The force acting on the flow tube to hold the valve open also helps to apply a force against the lower seal adjacent the flapper.

A subsurface safety valve ("safety valve") is typically installed in well tubing. Normally, the well is drilled and cased. The casing is cemented and the formation is perforated through the casing. A production string, having a packer is run in and the well is put into production through the tubing. The safety valve is in the production string and is normally operated from the surface through one or more control lines that are run in the annular space between the tubing and the casing and above the packer. The pressure applied to the control line drives a piston against an operating spring. The piston is linked to a flow tube such that applied pressure drives the piston and the flow tube against a flapper to rotate it 90° to open the safety valves. When control line pressure is removed the power or closure spring drives the flow tube in the reverse direction and a spring on the flapper rotates it in the reverse direction against a seat such that flow from below the valve in an uphole direction stops. It should be noted that in these types of completions, the cement does not pass through the valve when the casing is cemented because the production string is run in after the casing is cemented.
Of late, a new type of well system has been used where the casing is not used. Instead, a smaller hole is drilled and production tubing is inserted with a safety valve and the production tubing is cemented into the borehole. In such application the safety valve has to pass cement through the flow tube. The new issue confronting safety valve manufacturers in dealing with this type of application is how to maintain the integrity of the flapper mechanism during the cementing process.
FIG. 1 illustrates a previous unsuccessful attempt to insure the integrity of the safety valve flapper mechanism for operation after cementing through the safety valve. Safety valve 10 has a flapper 12 pinned at 14 for rotation between the open and closed positions, as shown by arrow 16. FIG. 1 is a split view illustrating the open position on top and the closed position at the bottom. The flow tube 18 is actuated by piston 20 that happens to be a rod piston. A control line (not shown) is connected at connection 22 to urge piston 20 down against the opposing force from power spring 24. Thus, a pressure buildup in cavity 26 opens the safety valve 10 by pushing the flapper 12 back behind the translated flow tube. Located in a groove 28 is a resilient o-ring 30 for sealing between the flow tube 18 and the body 32. The thinking behind the addition of the o-ring 30 was to prevent cement pumped through the flow tube 18 from getting in behind it and into the spring cavity 34 and fouling future operation of the safety valve 10. FIG. 1 shows that at the lower end 36 of the flow tube 18 there was a gap 38 to the body 32. This gap was put there for a specific reason. Since the diameter of the flow tube was greater near its upper end 40 than the lower end 36, allowing the gap 36 to be sealed closed could have put a net unbalanced force on the flow tube 18 from internal pressure in passage 42. The problem was, that gap 38 also allowed cement into cavity 44 and that fouled the working of the flapper 12.
Accordingly what was needed was a design that could effectively isolate the flapper during cementing so that the safety valve could function reliably thereafter. At the same time the design needed to be configured so that the flow tube would not become trapped in the valve open position due to sealing off the flow tube in the valve body at its upper and lower ends during the cementing operation. Additionally, the present invention improves on the use of a resilient o-ring seal and substitutes improved sealing around the flow tube for greater reliability. These and other aspects of the present invention can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art from a review of the description of the preferred embodiment and the claims, which appear below.


An image processing apparatus includes a first acquisition unit that acquires a first pixel signal output from a first pixel, a second acquisition unit that acquires a second pixel signal output from a second pixel having a size smaller than that of the first pixel, a temperature detection unit that detects temperature; a composition gain determination unit that determines a composition gain corresponding to the detected temperature, and a composition unit that composes the first pixel signal and the second pixel signal multiplied by the composition gain.

As a method of generating a WD image, a method of providing a first pixel and a second pixel having different sensitivities on a pixel array such as a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor and composing outputs of the pixels, i.e., a first image and a second image has been known.
Here, examples of providing pixels having different sensitivities include a method of providing a pixel having a long exposure time (hereinafter, referred to as long accumulation pixel) and a pixel having a short exposure time (hereinafter, referred to as short accumulation pixel) and a method of providing a pixel that includes a photoelectric conversion unit such as a PD (photodiode) having a large size (hereinafter, referred to as large pixel) and a pixel that includes a photoelectric conversion unit such as a PD having a small size (hereinafter, referred to as small pixel) (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and electronic apparatus

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


A protective pad for the human elbow is formed from a layer of flexible, resilient padding material having a width and a length. The length of the padded material is divided into generally forward and rearward sections by a line which extends across the padding material's width. The forward section overlays the forearm and the rearward section overlays the user's upper arm. A hole located along the line is formed in the padded material and receives the user's elbow when the padded material is secured to the arm. The padding material bends along the line in response to bending of the user's arm. A securement strap is coupled to the layered padding material and is used to secure the padding material to the user's arm. Because the protective padding surrounds the user's elbow, the elbow is protected from impact while the protective pad is maintained in position on the user's arm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective pad that may be worn on the arm to protect the elbow.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many contact sports it is beneficial for the participant to wear pads or guards to protect certain areas of the body from injury. In certain sports, such as soccer, particularly for the goalie, it is oftentimes necessary for the players to fall or dive to the ground to achieve a particular play, such as when blocking the ball to prevent the opposing team from scoring. In such cases, the goalie typically lands on his or her elbows and forearms. Thus, it is important that the elbows and arms be adequately protected in order to avoid injury.
Some knee braces or supports are provided with a cut-out or hole for the kneecap or patella. These supports are usually made of a relatively thin, elastic material, such as neoprene rubber, that wraps tightly around the entire leg in the area of the knee to thus apply pressure and provide support to the knee and kneecap. Similar supports for the elbow are not provided with a hole or cut-out, but are formed of the same thin, elastic material that wraps tightly around the arm to supply pressure. While these devices may provide some protection, the material is too thin to provide sufficient protection from significant impact. In the case of knee supports, the kneecap typically projects a slight distance through the petallar opening so that it is exposed and subject to impact or abrasion.
Most of the prior art pads used to protect the elbow and forearms from impact are formed from a solid, continuous block or layer of padding material that is secured to the arm so that the elbow and forearm are covered. One of the problems with these prior art elbow pads is that they easily become dislocated and slide out of place. For purposes of comfort and ease of movement, the pads are not secured as tightly around the arm as are the elastic supports, such as the knee supports discussed above. These pads also tend to rub and chafe against the skin covering the elbow as the arm is flexed or bent. With continued usage, the prior art pads can eventually form blisters and abrasions on the skin.
What is therefore needed is an improved protective pad that can be worn on a person's arm to protect the elbow which absorbs shock and abrasion while remaining securely fixed in place.


An abrasive coating for a substrate including a metallic based bond coat layer; a top layer; and an intermediate layer between the metallic based bond coat layer and the top layer. A method of applying an abrasive coating including applying a metallic based bond coat layer onto a substrate; grading an intermediate layer into the metallic based bond coat layer to form a graded transition between the metallic based bond coat layer and the intermediate layer; and grading a top layer into the intermediate layer to form a graded transition between the intermediate layer and the top layer.

The present disclosure relates to a seal coating and, more particularly, to an alumina abrasive seal coating with an interlayer and a graded transition.
A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section. The compressor and turbine sections typically include stages that include rotating airfoils interspersed between fixed vanes of a stator assembly.
In gas turbine engines, it is generally desirable for efficient operation to maintain minimum rotor tip clearances, with a substantially constant clearance. This is typical for cantilevered stators in an axial compressor. This may be difficult to achieve due to various asymmetric effects either from build or during operation.
Typically, an abrasive coating is used to coat a rotor adjacent to cantilevered stators to wear away the vane tips to accommodate the various asymmetric effects and thereby provide a close, constant clearance. Although effective, the abrasive coatings may show increased levels of premature spallation over prolonged operations.


A headband, cap, hat, or the like worn by a child, particularly an infant, includes an embedded sound-attenuation system to protect hearing against loud sounds that might startle, awaken, or injure a wearer. Shells formed of a comparatively soft and flexible elastomeric material are secured against the head of a user, each enclosing an ear in an air tight chamber, to close down the transmission paths available to sound waves. The shells are impervious to air, and flexible to conform to the head when secured by the headgear in which the shells are embedded. Each shell is provided with a rim, sufficiently flexible to deform and deflect into complete, sealed contact with the head.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to head gear and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for earmuffs.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Adults who are exposed to dangerous levels of noise may wear hearing protection. Shooters, factory workers who operate noisy machinery, industrial workers who work in noisy environments, and so forth may wear hearing protection. The two most common types of protection are the moldable, memory-foam, plugs that can be molded to a comparatively small diameter for insertion into the outer ear canal, and which then over a matter of seconds or minutes will expand to a larger diameter in order to occlude sound waves entering the outer ear canal of a wearer.
Shooters earmuffs' resemble private stereo headphones, being manufactured with a large, hard, plastic or other composite material cavity that surrounds the ear. The two, hemispherical, hard shells corresponding to the two ears of a user are often made of a plastic such a styrene or a styrene mixture, other structural materials, fiber-reinforced plastic, or the like. Each hemispherical shell is sufficiently large to fit around the respective ear of a user, receive the ear therein. Typically, a resilient liner is secured along the circumference of each shell in order to deform and deflect at the surface of the head of a user, in order to fit against the head of a user surrounding the ear.
Necessarily, such systems require substantial force to be applied to the shells by a spring formed in an arc passing from one shell up over the crown of the head and down to the other shell. The force is sufficient that some alignment is often required, giving rise to a pivot system by which each shell may pivot in at least one dimension, about at least one axis with respect to the powerful spring.
Infants are less likely to be in environments requiring hearing protection. Nevertheless, to avoid startling an infant, waking an infant, protect infant ears, or otherwise to provide attenuations of sound, conventional sound-attenuating earmuffs simply do not serve. Notwithstanding the inappropriate size, such a technique of using a spring force, typically applied by a steel spring, to apply a pressure force against the head of a wearer would be not only uncomfortable but dangerous to an infant. An infant can neither complain, identify the source of discomfort, nor participate in adjusting or finding another solution to the problem.
Nevertheless, parents often desire to reduce noise to which children are exposed, particularly during sleep, when walking in a stroller along streets bearing substantial traffic, and so forth. What is needed is a sound-attenuation system more in keeping with the physical realities of infant physiology, sound deadening technology, ease of use, comfort, and so forth.


A method of repairing an existing pipe includes steps of introducing at least one leading pig into the existing pipe through one open end thereof, introducing behind the leading pig a necessary amount of adhesive agent into the existing pipe through the same open end thereof, fixing one end of a liner tube at the above open end of the existing pipe, in a manner such that the liner tube may be reversed into the existing pipe, and providing a negative pressure into the existing pipe through an opposite open end thereof to cause the leading pig and the adhesive agent to move forwardly and thus cause the unfixed portions of the liner tube to be reversed into the existing pipe. The adhesive agent is caused to move through the existing pipe in the form of a plug flow, thereby coating the whole internal surface of the existing pipe with the adhesive agent, ensuring that the liner tube reversed into the pipe may adhere to the internal surface of the existing pipe.

The present invention relates to a method of repairing an existing pipe, particularly to a method of repairing an existing underground pipe such as a gas pipe by reversing a flexible liner tube into the pipe.
There has been known a method of repairing an existing underground gas pipe by reversing a flexible liner tube into the pipe without trenching on road surface along the pipe. According to this method, at first a belt is introduced into an existing pipe so that one part of the belt is extending through the pipe over the entire length thereof, then another part of the belt is introduced into a flexible liner tube so that this part of the belt is extending through the liner tube along the entire length thereof. Afterwards, a necessary amount of adhesive agent is sealed into the liner tube, and one end of the liner tube is reversed so as to be fixed at one open end of the existing pipe. Subsequently, a pressurized fluid is applied from behind to continuously cause the reversal of the liner tube so that the liner tube may be introduced into the existing pipe. Such a reversal and introduction of the liner tube into the existing pipe can be effectively directed by pulling the above belt which has been in advance introduced into the existing pipe. In this way, the liner tube reversed in the existing pipe can adhere to the pipe internal surface by means of the adhesive agent and pressurized fluid.
The liner tube adhered to the internal surface of the existing pipe is usually made of a flexible gas-impermeable material, therefore it is effective in repairing any corrosion holes and is also effective in preventing any possible damages to the pipe due to an earthquake or the like. However, since the above method involves too many preparation steps before the operation of reversing and introducing a liner tube into an existing pipe, a time period required in the whole operation is relatively long and hence the cost for repairing an existing pipe is comparatively high.
In order to overcome the above problem, Japanese Patent Publication 61-20411 has suggested an improved method as shown in FIG. 7. In the method of FIG. 7, at first a leading block c is introduced into an existing pipe a through an open end b thereof, then an adhesive agent d is introduced into the existing pipe a. Subsequently, one end of a liner tube e is reversed so as to be fixed at the open end b of the existing pipe a. Afterwards, a pressurized fluid is applied from behind to continuously cause the reversal of the liner tube e so that the liner tube e may be introduced into the existing pipe a. In this way, the liner tube e can adhere to the internal surface of the existing pipe a by means of the adhesive agent d and pressurized fluid applied from behind.
In the method shown in FIG. 7, the leading block c is used to prevent the adhesive agent d from moving too fast so as to ensure that the internal surface of the existing pipe a may be coated with the adhesive agent d.
Although a method of FIG. 7 is allowed to dispense with some preparation steps before the operation of reversing and introducing a liner tube into an existing pipe, it is found to have some other problems as concluded in the following.
Firstly, the leading block c and the liner tube e have been proved difficult to pass through bent portions such as elbows along the existing pipe a. Particularly, a reversing/moving liner tube e is prone to stop in the pipe a, or the reversed liner tube e becomes deflected, as a result the liner tube e fails to properly adhere to the internal surface of the existing pipe a.
Secondly, if the leading block c encounters a pipe joint including a socket which usually has a larger diameter than pipe inner diameter, the leading block c is easy to get stuck in a such larger diameter portion. Consequently, the adhesive agent undesirably flows forward through gaps formed between the pipe internal wall and the leading block c.
Thirdly, since the adhesive agent is pushed forward by the reversing/moving liner tube e into which a pressurized pressure is applied from behind, the adhesive agent is apt to be excessively drawn into the space between the reversed liner tube e and pipe internal wall, or the air is easy to be introduced into the adhesive agent, resulting in improper adhesion between the reversed liner tube e and pipe internal wall.
Further, if the leading block c is pulled forward by a towing wire f, it is required that the wire f be in advance introduced into the existing pipe over the entire length thereof, and a towing apparatus is needed to pull the wire f so as to cause the leading block c to move forward. As a result, more equipment is needed and the repairing operation becomes complicated.
Moreover, since the adhesive agent d is pushed forward by the reversing/moving liner tube e, it is quite possible that an adhesive layer between the liner tube e and the pipe internal wall is uneven, resulting in uneven internal surface of the liner tube e adhered to the internal surface of the existing pipe a, as illustrated in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B.


An assembly for clamping a tube includes a fitting including a land, a bolt housing, legs, and a tooth on each leg, a band surrounding an axis, contacting the land and formed with holes spaced along the band, and a bolt located in the bolt housing, including helical teeth engaged with said holes for changing a diameter of the band and forcing the tooth toward the band as the band is tightened by rotating the bolt.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tightening a band clamp around a hose end, more particularly to preventing rotation of the band clamp as a clamp bolt is rotated and the clamp band is tightened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cylindrical tubes are connected to a spigot on a component in a fluid system by a band clamp, which is tightened around the tube and the component to form a leak-proof connection. A clamp bolt engaged with the clamp band to form a worm gear clamp is rotated about an axis of the bolt to tighten the clamp.
It is possible that the worm gear clamp rotates around the hose, away from the operator, in the direction that the bolt is being rotated during the assembly process, thereby causing the insufficient torque to be applied to the clamp bolt.
This inadvertent rotation of the clamp band can also produce incorrect alignment to the spigot.