A system and method is provided for controlling bell movement and/or sound in a model train or other model vehicle. In one embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a user control, a sound subsystem, a bell controller and a bell device. The user control may include a lever, a track, and a plurality of predetermined positions on the track, wherein the lever can be moved by a user to any one of the plurality of predetermined positions. The user control may be configured to transmit at least one bell signal in response to the lever being released from (or moved to) one of the plurality of predetermined positions. The bell controller is configured to receive the bell signal, and to use the bell signal to control at least the bell device. The bell device may include a bell and an electromagnetic device, wherein the bell comprises a permanent magnet and is configured to swing from a bracket. By applying at least one voltage to the electromagnetic device, and placing the bell near the electromagnetic device, a magnetic field can be created and used to swing the bell from the bracket, thereby simulating bell movement. The bell controller may further be adapted to synchronize bell movement with bell sound by transmitting a bell sound signal to the sound subsystem at a particular time, so as to substantially synchronize at least one bell movement with at least one bell sound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controlling features in a model vehicle or, more particularly, to a system and method for controlling bell movement and/or bell sound in a model train or other model vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
User controls for initiating bell sounds in model trains are well known in the art. For example, a user may interact with a user control to produce a bell signal. The bell signal may then be provided to a sound subsystem, where it is used to produce a bell sound. One drawback of such a system, however, is that the bell sound is not synchronized with bell movement. In other words, there is no coordination between producing a bell sound (e.g., "ding"), and swinging a model bell from the model train. Further, to the extent the model bell is moved, it is not moved (or swung) in a realistic fashion. For example, on an actual locomotive, a rope is usually attached to a bell. An engineer pulls the rope to move the bell to an initial starting position. Once the rope is released, the bell will swing from side-to-side, making a bell sound each time the bell strikes a striker.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a model vehicle system and method that overcomes at least some of the foregoing drawbacks. For example, such a system may include a bell controller adapted to move a bell, so as to simulate bell movement on an actual locomotive (e.g., by moving a bell to an initial starting position, by allowing the bell to swing from side-to-side in a realistic and decaying fashion, etc.). Such a bell controller may also (or alternately) be adapted to synchronize bell movement to bell sound, so as to simulate bell movement and sound in an actual locomotive.

System and method for controlling a bell in a model vehicle


The RIN (random intensity noise) component of the random walk error of a fiber optic gyroscope can be reduced by utilizing an unpolarized light signal during processing. By depolarizing the light wave modulated by the fiber optic sensing coil or combining it with the unmodulated light wave of orthogonal polarization, a 3 db reduction in RIN can be achieved.

This invention relates generally to fiber optic gyroscopes of the kind discussed at length in U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,631, issued Jan. 11, 1994, to Hollinger et al., for a Closed Loop Fiber Optic Gyroscope with Signal Processing Arrangement for Improved Performance; U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,339 issued Jan. 18, 1994, to Hollinger et al., for a Closed Loop Fiber Optic Gyroscope with Fine Angle Resolution; U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,220, issued May 3, 1994, to Hollinger et al., for a Closed Loop Fiber Optic Gyroscope with Reduced Sensitivity to Electronic Drift; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,580 issued Apr. 2, 1996, to Hollinger et al., for a Tuned Integrated Optic Modulator on a Fiber Optic Gyroscope; all of which are incorporated herein by reference. More particularly, it relates to a scheme for increasing the sensitivity of an interferometric fiber optic gyroscope.
The sensitivity of an interferometric fiber optic gyroscope can be expressed as a function of the random walk coefficient of noise. A significant component of the random walk coefficient is the relative intensity noise (RIN). Noise in general can be described as the mean square fluctuations <.DELTA.n.sup.2 > in the number of photoelectrons n emitted from a photodetector illuminated over an area A during an observation time .tau.. In the case of emission caused by polarized broadband light incident upon the photodetector, EQU <.DELTA.n.sup.2 >=<n>+<n>.sup.2 ( 1)
This equation holds true where the illumination area A is less than the coherence area A.sub.c of the source and the observation time .tau. is less than the coherence time .tau..sub.c of the source. For A=A.sub.c and .tau.=.tau..sub.c, Equation 1 yields the fluctuations within one phase space cell whose volume in configuration space is A.sub.c c.tau..sub.c, where c is the speed of light.
The first term, <n>, in the righthand side of Eq. 1, is the shot-noise and the second term, <n>.sup.2, is the excess photon noise due to the beating of various Fourier components within the broadband spectrum of the light source. Since the light source power at the photodetector is normally greater than 1.0 .mu.w, the largest contributor to RIN will be the excess noise term, <n>.sup.2.
If the broadband radiation is unpolarized and is observed over a detector area A during the time .tau., it will occupy a volume of Ac.tau.. It follows then that there will be m phase space cells contained in this volume, such that EQU m=pA.tau./(A.sub.c .tau..sub.c) (2)
where p is the number of polarization states PA1 where A.sub.c /A.apprxeq.1 for a Gaussian beam.
(p=2 for unpolarized light; p=1 for polarized light).
Variable p in Equation 2 takes into account the lack of correlation between photons with different polarization states. Typically, m is much greater than one, since .tau. is much greater than .tau..sub.c and A is greater than A.sub.c. Since the fluctuations in noise among the m phase space cells are uncorrelated and <n>/m electrons are emitted from each cell, the total mean square fluctuations are defined by EQU <.DELTA.n.sup.2 >=m<n>/m+(<n>/m).sup.2 ! (3)
and, therefore, EQU <.DELTA.n.sup.2 >=<n>+<n>.sup.2 /m (4)
Substituting for m using Equation 2, EQU <.DELTA.n.sup.2 >=<n >+A.sub.c .tau..sub.c <n>.sup.2 /(pA.tau.)(5)
Since the coherence time of the light source .tau..sub.c is inversely proportional to the optical bandwidth B.sub.1 and the observation time .tau. is inversely proportional to the detector bandwidth B.sub.2, the ratio of B.sub.1 to B.sub.2 can be substituted for the ratio of .tau. to .tau..sub.c in Equation 2: EQU m=pA.tau./(A.sub.c .tau..sub.c)=pAB.sub.1 /(A.sub.c B.sub.2)(6)
and EQU <.DELTA.n.sup.2 >=<n>+A.sub.c B.sub.2 <n>.sup.2 /(pAB.sub.1)(7)
Substituting the photocurrent I of the photodetector for the number n of electrons emitted, the photocurrent fluctuation is defined by EQU <.DELTA.I.sup.2 >=2eB.sub.2 <I>+2B.sub.2 <I>.sup.2 /(p.DELTA..upsilon.)(8)
where <I> is the mean detected photocurrent, e is the electron charge, .DELTA..upsilon. is the optical linewidth defined by EQU .DELTA..upsilon.=.intg.P(.upsilon.)d.upsilon.!.sup.2 /.intg.P.sup.2 (.upsilon.)d.upsilon.! (9)
and P(.upsilon.) is the power-spectral-density of the light source.
The relative intensity noise (RIN) can be expressed as the ratio of the photocurrent fluctuation to the product of the mean square of the D.C. current, <I>.sup.2, and the detector bandwidth B.sub.2. Thus EQU RIN=<.DELTA.I.sup.2 >/(<I>.sup.2 B.sub.2)=2/(p.DELTA..upsilon.)(10)
From Eq. 10, it can be seen that the RIN of polarized light, where p=1, is twice that of unpolarized light (p=2). Similarly, the contribution of RIN to the random walk coefficient is dependent on whether the detected light is polarized. Therefore, the random walk coefficient will be significantly reduced when the light is not polarized.
The gyroscopes previously noted above utilize linearly polarized light for sensing rotational rate and therefore exhibit the RIN characteristics attendant with a system using a single polarization. It would be desirable to reduce the random walk coefficient of noise in fiber optic gyroscopes without sacrificing their accuracy.

Optical signal noise reduction for fiber optic gyroscopses


A gas safety valve includes a main body having a longitudinal through hole that defines a gas passage. The longitudinal hole has an inlet end communicated with a gas source, an outlet end through which gas from the gas source exits, a first mediate section adjacent to the outlet end, and a second mediate section between the first mediate section and the inlet end. A spring is mounted in the first mediate section, and a ball is movably mounted in the second mediate section. The first mediate section has a diameter greater than that of the outlet end, while the second mediate section has a diameter greater than that of the first mediate section such that the ball is capable of partially protruded into the first mediate section to block the gas passage defined by the longitudinal through hole. When no gas leakage occurs, a pressure difference between two ends of the ball is relatively small and thus forces the ball to a position not blocking the gas passage. To the contrary, when gas leakage occurs, the pressure difference between the two ends of the ball is relatively high and thus forces the ball to move toward the outlet end of the main body and thus blocks the gas passage by partially protruding into the first mediate section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved gas safety valve that can be applied to gas sources of different pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of gas safety valves have been disclosed. For example, FIG. 4 of the drawings discloses a conventional safety valve that includes a body 1' having a conic section 11' for receiving a ball 3'. When gas leakage occurs, the ball 3' is moved from a position shown by the phantom lines to another position shown by the solid lines and thus blocks the gas passage. Nevertheless, if the pressure of the gas source changes, the dimension of the ball, the diameter of the gas passage, and the slope of the conic section have to be modified. As a result, the manufacturers have to produce safety valves of different specifications by numerous molds, which is extremely expensive and inconvenient. The present invention is intended to provide an improved gas safety valve to solve this problem.


A low voltage differential swing interconnect I/O buffer within an output buffer part comprising a voltage controlled current source, voltage controlled current sink, and a current switch and an input buffer part comprising a voltage controlled resistance. The output current and input resistance of the I/O buffer is determined by biasing voltages which are generated by on-chip reference circuits and applied to the voltage controlled components of the I/O buffer. Using two input reference voltages and a single reference resistor, the reference circuits dynamically adjust the biasing voltages so that the I/O buffer maintains the required output current and input resistance for all manufacturing process, supply voltage, and chip temperature variations.

In today's computing environment, there is a growing demand for increased processing speed in order for the computer to operate efficiently. For instance, the resources of a modern computer can be saturated when the user specifies a finer mesh or higher resolution for the solution to a physical problem in areas such as hydrodynamics or 3-D graphics.
One way to increase processing speed is to utilize a large number of processors cooperatively. Processor cooperation is provided by the Scalable Coherent Interface ("SCI"), which is a high-speed packet transmission protocol that efficiently provides the functionality of bus-like transactions (read, write, lock, etc.) between processors. However, the initial physical implementations are based on Emitter-Coupled Logic ("ECL") signal levels, which consume more power than is practical in a low cost workstation environment. Additionally, ECL specifications require a 1 Gbyte per second bandwidth (for 16-bit data path), which is too expensive in a workstation environment.
In order to overcome the drawback of costly ECL signal levels, it has been proven to be cost effective to utilize a data path which is of sufficient bandwidth, but is narrower than the wider bandwidth of ECL signal levels. The combination of a high speed transmission environment and efficient protocols provides the link for multiple processors to cooperate in a low-cost workstation. Therefore, the IEEE Computer Society established the Low Voltage Differential Swing ("LVDS") standard, which is a signaling alternative to the ECL signal level protocol. The LVDS interface was standardized by the IEEE in the draft standard for Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) LVDS, IEEE STANDARD, p. 1596.3, dated Sep. 9, 1993.
Essentially, an LVDS interface is a balanced I/O buffer driver that sends data by current signaling in a balanced interconnect environment. I/O buffer circuits are important in computers for maintaining high speed data transfer between packaged devices on a circuit board or between different backplanes. Typically, LVDS circuits operate in excess of 700 Mb/s in the 0.35.mu. CMOS technology, wherein a balanced pair of 50 .OMEGA. transmission lines are terminated across an on-chip resistance of 100 .OMEGA.. The output buffer must provide a signal current of 4 mA and be biased to cause a voltage drop across the on-chip input resistance from 1.4 to 1.0 volts. One drawback with conventional LVDS circuits is that the operating characteristics of the I/O circuits shift with variations in temperature and supply voltage. Further, even if different chips have identical supply voltages and are at the same temperature, the operating characteristics of buffers connected across different chips may vary due to variations introduced in fabrication.

Low voltage differential swing interconnect buffer circuit


A circuit for blending video signals and subpicture signals is provided. The circuit includes a palette to output at least one subpicture value based on a palette index. The circuit also includes an alpha-blend unit coupled to the subpicture palette to blend a set of luminance values of a video signal with a set of luminance values of a subpicture signal in one pass and to blend a set of chrominance values of a video signal with a set of chrominance values of the subpicture signal in a separate pass, the luminance and chrominance values are provided to the alpha-blend unit in a planar format. The video signals may be provided and blended in a YUV 4:2:0 format. In addition, a single dual-purpose palette can be used for both texturing and alpha-blending.

The process of blending (also known as compositing or image compositing) a subpicture with a destination image typically requires up-sampling the destination image to either the 4:2:2 format or the 4:4:4 format and alpha-blending the subpicture. Video decoders have usually performed this operation in the display or overlay hardware in interleaved 4:2:2 format at video refresh rates (such as 75-85 Hz). While providing excellent results and quality, this approach is costly in terms of gates and also requires significantly more memory bandwidth. This is due to the up-sampling to 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 and performing the operation at the higher display rate. This is especially problematic in the highly price-competitive personal computer (PC) market.
Therefore, there is a need for a less expensive technique for performing subpicture blending.


A first PTC heater and a second PTC heater are provided at the downstream side of a heater core that uses engine cooling water for its heat source, and the second PTC heater is positioned at a foot outlet. Under conditions that require the use of the PTC heaters, power is supplied to all the PTC heaters if the discharge mode is set to a FOOT mode or a DEF/FOOT mode, whereas power is supplied only to the first PTC heater if the discharge mode is set to a DEFROST mode. In an air conditioning control apparatus for vehicles provided with a heater core and PTC heaters, warm air at appropriate temperatures can be supplied through both the foot outlet and the defrost outlet during an initial stage of heating in which the temperature of the engine cooling water is low. In addition, since no power is supplied to the second PTC heater unless the foot outlet is open, energy resources are saved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning control apparatus for vehicles which is provided with PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heaters for boost heating as well as a heater core that uses engine cooling water for its heat source.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art for this type of air conditioning control apparatus for vehicles includes, for instance, the type disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H 5-169967. In this apparatus, an evaporator and a heater core for controlling air temperature are provided inside an air conditioning duct system. Outlets (defrost outlet, ventilation outlet, foot outlet) that are opened/closed by mode doors are formed at the downstream-most side of the air conditioning duct system. A PTC heater further provided at the foot outlet so that power is supplied to the PTC heater until the temperature of the engine cooling water having rises to a high level so that the heating by the heater core becomes sufficient to assure warm air through the foot outlet.
The structure in the prior art described above is effective for obtaining a comfortable feeling of warmth for passengers since discharge of warm air at the foot level is given priority even during the initial stage of heating, in which the temperature of the engine cooling water is low. However, the structure cannot assure effective defrost during the initial stage of heating, since the PTC heater is provided at the foot outlet only.
In other words, unless the FOOT mode is not selected as the discharge mode during the initial stage of heating (i.e., if the DEFROST mode, which gives priority to removing frost and fog, or the DEF/FOOT mode for simultaneously achieving removal of frost and fog on the windshield and a comfortable feeling of warmth for the passengers is selected) an insufficient quantity of warm air is supplied through the defrost outlet in the structure described above, since priority is still given to discharging warm air at the foot outlet. Consequently, there is no choice but to wait for the temperature of the engine cooling water to increase.
On the other hand, if the quantity of heat supplied through the defrost outlet is set equal to the quantity of heat supplied through the foot outlet, it will become difficult to achieve the feeling of comfort and warmth afforded when the feet are warmed and the head is not subjected to a direct flow of hot air. Thus, if one must choose, it is preferable to put more emphasis on the discharge of warm air at the foot outlet.
In addition, a PTC heater, which utilizes a battery or the like for power, does not contribute to the heating of discharge air if the DEFROST mode is selected during the initial stage of heating. This is because the foot outlet is closed, so no air will then flow around the PTC heater provided at the foot outlet, resulting in a wasteful consumption of power.

Air conditioning control apparatus for vehicles


A bearing engagement structure for a hermetic compressor includes a unitary cylinder-frame member having an opening in a central portion thereof, the opening having an internal screw thread formed along an inner periphery thereof, and a journal bearing including an external screw thread formed along an upper outer periphery thereof and a body formed with a polygonal shape in a lower portion thereof. The body of the journal bearing is formed with a circular, square or hexagonal shape. The bearing engagement structure allows the compressor to employ a unitary type connecting rod which is to be engaged to a crank shaft, for thereby obtaining an advantageous strength of the connecting rod with regard to a compressing force and a tension thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hermetic compressor, and more particularly to an improved bearing engagement structure for a hermetic compressor, which facilitates an assembly/disassembly between a unitary cylinder-frame structure and a journal bearing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a general hermetic compressor includes: a hermetically sealed container 1 having upper and lower shells 1a, 1b; and a motor unit 3 provided in the container 1 and having a stator 3a and a rotor 3b.
A lower end of each of a plurality of support springs 4 is connected at an inner periphery of the lower shell 1b, and an upper end of each of the support springs 4 supports a frame 2.
A crank shaft 5 having an eccentric portion 6 formed at an upper end thereof is heat-fitted into the rotor 3b. A cylinder 7 is connected to an upper portion of the frame 2.
A piston 8 that horizontally shuttles in the cylinder 7 is engaged to the eccentric portion 6 of the crank shaft 5.
A valve plate 9 is attached onto an end portion of the cylinder 7, and a head cover 10 is attached onto the valve plate 9. A suction muffler (not shown) is mounted on a portion of the head cover 10.
With reference to FIG. 2, a conventional cylinder-bearing structure for a hermetic compressor includes the frame 2 having a plurality of holes receiving respective bolts 16 therethrough, and a journal bearing 15 with a plurality of bolt holes (not shown) formed at an upper portion thereof for being engaged through corresponding ones of the frame bolt holes receiving the bolts 16. That is, the frame 2 and the journal bearing 15 are engaged to each other by the plurality of bolts 16.
The composition of a crank shaft and a connecting rod employed with the cylinder-bearing structure will now be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, a sleeve 12 is fixedly inserted within the inner periphery of a big end of a connecting rod 11. A crank shaft pin 3 is inserted into the sleeve 12.
FIG. 4A illustrates a connecting rod formed of two detachable parts 11a, 11b. FIG. 4B shows another type of connecting rod wherein two parts 12a, 12b are engaged to each other by use of engagement members, such as bolts and clips 14.
However, such a conventional cylinder-bearing structure for a hermetic compressor requires a tapping process for forming the engagement holes and a plurality of bolts for fastening the journal bearing 15, thereby disadvantageously increasing the number of parts and the processing steps required.
Also, when the crank shaft and the connecting rod are engaged to the conventional cylinder-bearing structure, there are witnessed several disadvantages as described hereinbelow.
Initially, in the sleeve type cylinder-bearing structure as shown in FIG. 2, because of the use of the sleeve 12, the crank shaft pin 13 should be formed smaller in diameter, thereby weakening the shaft pin 13.
Further, in the case of the detachable connecting rods as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, there is required a higher level of precision in the processing steps thereof while demanding otherwise unnecessary additional parts, such as bolts and clips.
Still further, the separable construction of the connecting rod may weaken its strength for transmitting the compression force.

Bearing engagement structure for hermetic compressor


A highly reliable molar cell module comprising a back face reinforcing metallic member, a photovoltaic element, a filler for encapsulating said photovoltaic element, and a surface protective film having a weatherability, wherein the end faces of said back face reinforcing metallic member and a partial area of the rear face of said back face reinforcing metallic member are covered by a resin. A process for the production of said solar module by way of thermocompression bonding process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a highly reliable solar cell module having an improved back face reinforcing member. More particularly, the present invention relates to a highly reliable solar cell module having a back face reinforcing member covered by a resin which is hardly deteriorated, which is free of layer separation at the interface between the back face reinforcing member and the filler. The present invention further relates to a process for producing said solar cell module.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, public attention has been focused on solar cells capable of serving as a clean and non-exhaustable power generation source of supplying electric power without causing air pollution.
In order to use such a solar cell as a power generation source, it is usually designed into a solar cell module in a desired configuration which can be used as the power generation source. And such a solar cell module has been widely using in practice as the power generation source by installing it, for instance, on the ground or on a roof of a building. And it is expected to be usable as a large scale power generation source in the future.
In the case of a solar cell module configured such that it can be used by integrating with a building roof member (this solar cell module will be hereinafter referred to as building roof-unifying type solar cell module), it has advantages such that it is not necessary to use a particular supporting table therefor, and its installation can be conducted as a part of the building construction works and it is therefore possible to markedly reduce the installation costs.
In any case, for a solar cell, it is required to have sufficient durability against external environments such as temperature, humidity, external shocks and the like. Therefore, a conventional solar cell module is structured such that a solar cell (or a photovoltaic element) is sealed by a filler and a weatherable film or a glass plate as a protective member is disposed on the light incident side.
A particularly advantageous structure for a building roof-unifying type solar cell module is that a weatherable film as a surface protective member is disposed on the light incident side, a back face reinforcing member is disposed on the rear face side without using a frame at the periphery, and the non-power generation region containing the back face reinforcing member is bent by way of plasticity processing.
In the case of such a solar cell module having an improved physical strength attained by way of the bending treatment without using a frame, there are such advantages as will be described in the following. Because the solar cell module is free of a frame-related junction, no waterproof treatment is required to be conducted, and when it is used as a roof member of a building, it desirably functions to shelter from the rain. In addition, since no frame is used, it can be produced with a reasonable production cost. Further, the weight of the solar cell module is lighter than that of a solar cell module provided with a frame, and it can be readily handled. Besides these advantages, there is also an advantage in that when upon the installation, while taking advantage of the rigidity of the solar cell module, it can be readily connected with or laminated to other member by virtue of its flexibility, and therefore, it can be installed in a persistent and reliable state.
In the case where as the back face reinforcing member, a metallic member which is usually used as a metallic roof member of a building is used, the solar cell module can be processed and installed in a similar manner in the case of a ordinary roof member. This situation attains not only the formation of a reliable roof but also an improvement in the compatibility of the solar cell module with a metallic roof member.
However, for such a solar cell module provided with a back face reinforcing metallic member and having a plasticity-processed non-power generation region containing the back face reinforcing metallic member, when it is installed on a metallic roof of a building, there is a drawback due to corrosion of the metallic roof. Particularly, in the case of an ordinary metallic roof of a building, when it is corroded, the coating film thereof is raised and swelled to entail layer separation and other problems such as the occurrence of rusts including white and red rusts, and the like, where not only the exterior appearance of the roof is marred but also the roof is often bored into a useless state. These problems are significant when the metallic roof is exposed to salt-containing wind near the seashore or to acid rain containing corrosive materials caused due to changes in the environments such as air pollution.
In the case where a conventional solar cell module having a solar cell (a photovoltaic element) positioned on the surface side while being sealed by a covering material comprising a filler and a weatherable film is installed on the metallic roof, due to the foregoing rusts caused at the metallic roof, the solar cell module sometimes suffers from such problems as will be described in the following. The rusts sometimes invade into the inside of the solar cell module through its end portion to color or swell the covering material, where layer separation is liable to occur at the end portion of the solar cell module. These problems result in not only hindering the exterior appearance of the solar cell module but also deteriorating the performance of the solar cell.
Further, there is a tendency for the conventional solar cell module to have such problem as will be described in the following. That is, as above described, the solar cell is positioned on the surface side in the conventional solar cell module and because of this, it is extremely difficult to conduct maintenance works such as repacking even at the initial stage when a rust first occurs. Further, the solar cell module is usually installed on the roof on condition that it is used over a long period of time and therefore, it is not desirable to conduct reroofing as in the case of an ordinary metallic roof. In view of these situations, it is important for the solar cell module to be protected from being rusted. And there is a demand for improving the solar cell module so that no rust is occurred at the edge portions of the back face reinforcing metallic member.
Further in addition, for the conventional solar cell module, its edge portions are externally exposed and because of this, a problem is liable to entail in that because the edge portions of the back face reinforcing metallic member are externally exposed, when the solar cell module is continuously used in outdoors over a long period of time, the adhesion between the filler and the back face reinforcing metallic member is deteriorated to cause layer separation at the interface between the filler and the back face reinforcing metallic member. This problem is liable to readily occur at portions of the back face reinforcing metallic member which have been applied with plasticity-processing treatment such as bend treatment. Particularly, when the back face reinforcing metallic member is bent toward the direction where no filler is bonded, said problem is more liable to occur due to a bending distortion subjected to the filler.
Besides these problems, there is a tendency for the conventional solar cell module to have a further problem such that in the transportation, bending treatment or installation works therefor, when the solar cell module is contacted with other solar cell module, they are damaged with each other because of the exposed edge portions of their back face reinforcing metallic members. Particularly, in the case where the solar cell module is installed on a roof of a building, there is an occasion that an worker having little knowledge about how to handle the solar cell module is engaged in the installation work and he erroneously make the solar cell module contact with other solar cell module. In this case, the back face reinforcing metallic member of one of the solar cell modules has exposed sharp edge portions (or cut faces), the weatherable film as the surface protective film of the other solar cell module is damaged by said exposed sharp edge portions, where the damaged solar cell module becomes useless.
Further, in the case of subjecting a conventional solar cell module to bending treatment using a roller forming equipment having a pair of soft pressure rollers made of urethane resin or the like, a problem is liable to entail in that the exposed edge portion of the back face reinforcing metallic member damage the pressure rollers to shorten their lifetime.

Solar cell module having a back face reinforcing member covered by a resin and a process for the production of said solar cell module


When the application I/O performance problem is solved, the I/O amount from the application is increased. In the conventional technique, no consideration has been taken on the affect of the increase of the application I/O performance to other applications. A resource whose I/O load is reduced by setting modification of a storage subsystem is specified and the application using this resource is specified as an application whose I/O processing amount may be increased. Furthermore, the resource used by the specified application and another application using this resource are specified as a resource and an application whose I/O processing performance may be lowered by the setting modification.

The present invention relates to a performance analysis method in an environment having at least one server and at least one storage subsystem.
As the storage capacity of each enterprise increases, more attention is paid on the techniques to reduce the storage management cost. One of such techniques is SAN (Storage Area Network). By using the SAN, a single storage device is shared by a plurality of task servers so as to localize the storage operation task, thereby reducing the storage operation management cost.
In a SAN environment, a single storage device is shared by a plurality of task servers and accordingly, I/O from the servers are concentrated in the single storage. For this, a storage administrator should periodically monitor the performance of the storage device so as to prevent an occurrence of a performance problem.
As a conventional technique for preventing the performance problem, for example, there is a method for realizing I/O load control between disk devices (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,161). In this method, according to the I/O load information in each disk device, data is moved from a disk device having a high I/O load to a disk device having a low I/O load, thereby realizing the I/O load distribution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A process for preparing trichloromonosilane, in which silicon particles are reacted with hydrogen chloride in a fluidized bed reactor, wherein the silicon particles used are a silicon dust which is obtained as a waste product in the preparation of defined silicon particle size fractions from lump-form silicon and the silicon dust is introduced directly into the reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for preparing trichloromonosilane from particulate silicon and gaseous hydrogen chloride.
2. Background Art
The demand for ultrapure silicon for the semiconductor industry and the photovoltaic industry has risen sharply in the last few years. From the various production routes, deposition from trichlorosilane with hydrogen has been found to be a commercially attractive variant. Thus, 90% of the silicon used in the semiconductor field is prepared with the aid of purified trichlorosilane. The preparation of trichlorosilane from metallurgical silicon is carried out in fluidized bed reactors. This is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,446, in which hydrogen chloride flows through a silicon bed consisting of silicon particles. The hydrogen chloride reacts with the silicon particles to give tetrachlorosilane and trichloromonosilane and hydrogen. However, the patent is silent with respect to either the particle size distribution needed in the reactor or the optimal particle size distribution necessary to achieve a very high trichloromonosilane content in the product gas. Both unconverted hydrogen chloride and high by-production of tetrachlorosilane increase the process costs considerably.
ULLMANNS ENCYKLOPÄDIE DER TECHNISCHEN CHEMIE [ULLMANN'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TECHNICAL CHEMISTRY], published in 2002, describes the preparation process in such fluidized bed reactors at a reactor temperature of 650° C. Hydrogen chloride reacts with the silicon particles at this temperature preferentially to give trichloromonosilane and hydrogen.
DE A1 3938897 shows that the tetrachlorosilane:trichloromonosilane ratio is dependent upon the temperature maintained in the reactor. It is also demonstrates that, with an increase in the homogeneity of the silicon particles used, the proportion of hydrogen chloride gas in the product gas is only 3% and a product lower in SiCl4 is obtained. According to DE A1 3938897, it is advantageous to use a silicon powder which has been obtained by gas atomization of molten Si and has a particle size distribution between 1 and 1000 μm, or preferably between 50 and 800 μm, to prepare trichloromonosilane in a fluidized bed reactor.
In contrast to a fluidized bed process, DE C2 3239590 describes a moving bed process for preparing trichlorosilane and tetrachlorosilane. In this case, the silicon is present in lump form.
UK patent 945,618 discloses the use of silicon particle size fractions of from 30 to 500 μm, preferably from 50 to 200 μm, for preparing trichloromonosilane in a fluidized bed reactor. This commercially available material may be purified further before use.
US 2002/0151737 A1, corresponding to EP A1 1 249 453 discloses the initial introduction of Si dust into a liquid and only then into a reactor (Muiller-Rochow or trichloromonosilane synthesis). This process is costly and inconvenient, and the silicon powder to be used is brought to the necessary fineness by a grinding step.

Process for preparing trichloromonosilane


A cleansing product containing: (a) a water insoluble substrate; and (b) a surfactant composition impregnated onto the substrate, the composition containing: (i) at least one lathering surfactant; and (ii) at least about 40% by weight, based on the weight of the composition, of water.

Personal cleansing and conditioning products have traditionally been marketed in a variety of forms such as bar soaps, creams, lotions and gels. These formulations have attempted to satisfy a number of criteria to be acceptable to consumers. These criteria include cleansing effectiveness, skin feel, skin mildness and lather volume. Ideal personal cleansers should gently cleanse the skin or hair, cause little or no irritation, and not leave the skin or hair overly dry after frequent use.


Disclosed are systems and methods for optimization and efficient processing of MERGE statements. MERGE allows performing a mix of inserts, updates, and deletes in a single statement, and introduces new challenges compared to legacy DML statements, where the kind of action to be performed is hard-coded and known at compile time. Such optimizations may include Halloween Protection detection for MERGE statements, optimized prevention of non-deterministic MERGE statements, in-place inserts for MERGE statements scanning the “Read Instance” of the target table, and optimized execution of MERGE statements seeking the “Read Instance” of the target table. Such optimizations may be fundamental in order to ensure proper performance and reliable processing times.

The MERGE statement is a data manipulation language (DML) statement that may be employed to update a target using data from a source. Each of the target and the source may be a table, for example. Rows in the target that match corresponding rows in the source can be deleted or updated as specified in the MERGE statement. Rows that do not exist in the target can be inserted. Thus, MERGE allows performing a mix of inserts, updates, and deletes in a single statement.
Such a statement introduces new challenges compared to legacy DML statements, where the kind of action to be performed is hard-coded and known at compile time. To effect a MERGE, it must first be determined whether or not a corresponding row exists in the target. If not, then the row from the source may be inserted into the target. If the row exists in the target, then it must be determined whether to update the target row, delete it, or leave it unchanged, based on the source. Sometimes, such queries are nondeterministic, such as where multiple rows in the source correspond to only a single row in the target. Also, the actions to be taken may depend on the order in which the rows are processed.
There is an ongoing desire for more efficient query processing of MERGE statements.

Efficient query processing of merge statement


An image forming method, which comprises: forming an electrostatic latent image on a surface of a latent image supporting member; developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image supporting member with a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image or an electrostatic latent image developer containing the toner and a carrier to form a toner image; transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the latent image supporting member onto a surface of a transfer receiving material; and fixing the toner image transferred onto the transfer receiving material under pressure, wherein the toner comprises a block copolymer having a crystalline polyester block and a non-crystalline polyester block, and wherein a maximum pressure applied when the image is fixed is 1 MPa or greater but not greater than 10 MPa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method by electrophotography or electrostatic recording method. In addition, the present invention relates to a production process of a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image suited for use in the image forming method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A visualizing method of image information via an electrostatic latent image in electrophotography or the like is widely utilized now in various fields. In the electrophotography, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photoreceptor (latent image supporting member) through charging and exposure steps, the electrostatic latent charge is developed with a developer containing a toner, and the developed image is then visualized through transfer and fixing steps. There are two types of developers used in the above-described steps, that is, a two-component developer composed of a toner and a carrier, and a one-component developer composed singly of a magnetic toner or non-magnetic toner. For the preparation of the toner, a kneading-pulverizing process which comprises melt kneading a thermoplastic resin with a pigment, a charge controller, and a release agent such as wax, cooling the kneaded mass, pulverizing it into fine particles, and then classifying the particles. If necessary, for the purpose of improving fluidity and cleaning property of the thus prepared toner, inorganic and/or organic particles may be added to the surface to the toner particles.
Although copier and printer making use of color electrophotography, and multifunction machine having a function of facsimile in addition spread widely, it is usually very difficult to use a release agent such as wax when adequate gloss and transparency for obtaining excellent OHP image are desired in the reproduction of a color image. A large amount of oil is fed to a fixing roll in order to attain good release, which however makes a copied image including OHP sticky or disturbs additional recording to an existing image by a pen. Moreover, it sometimes causes uneven gloss. Waxes ordinarily used for black-and-white copy such as polyethylene, polypropylene and paraffin damage the OHP transparency so that they are more unsuited for use.
Even though the transparency is sacrificed, it is difficult to suppress exposure of a wax on the surface when a toner prepared using the conventional kneading and pulverizing process is employed. Use of such a toner as a developer causes problems such as considerable deterioration in fluidity and filming on a developing machine and a photoreceptor.
As a fundamental method for overcoming the above-described problems, proposed is a production process of a toner by dispersing an oil phase composed of a raw material for a resin and a colorant in an aqueous phase, followed by direct polymerization, whereby the wax is included in the toner to suppress exposure thereof on the surface.
Furthermore, as a method for intentionally controlling the shape and the surface structure of a toner, production processes of a toner by the emulsion polymerization and aggregation method are proposed in JP-A-63-282752 and JP-A-6-250439. In these production processes, a toner is produced by preparing a resin particle dispersion usually by emulsion polymerization, preparing separately a colorant dispersion by dispersing a colorant in a solvent, mixing these dispersions to form aggregates having a diameter corresponding to the particle size of the toner, and then heating the aggregates to cause fusion and coalescence thereof.
These production processes not only realize inclusion of wax, but also facilitate decrease in the diameter of a toner and enable reproduction of an image with high resolution and high sharpness.
As described above, in order to provide a high quality image through the electrophotographic process and to maintain the stable performance of a toner under various kinds of mechanical stress, it is very important to select proper pigment and release agent, optimize their amounts and suppress exposure of the release agent on the surface. It is also very important to improve the gloss and releasing property in the absence of a fixing oil, and suppress a hot offset phenomenon by optimization of the characteristics of the resin.
A technology capable of fixing a toner at lower temperature is desired in order to reduce the energy consumption amount. Particularly in recent years, it is desired for thorough energy saving to stop the current passage through a fixing device when it is not used. Accordingly, the temperature of the fixing device is required to be elevated to a use temperature immediately after the current application. To this end, a heat capacity of the fixing device is preferably as small as possible. In this case, however, a difference in the temperature of the fixing device tends to increase more than as usual. This means that the overshoot of the temperature after current application increases, while the temperature drastically decreases owing to the passage of paper. Further, when a sheet of paper having a width smaller than that of the fixing device is continuously fed a difference in temperature between a paper passage portion and a non-paper-passage portion also increases. Especially, in a high-speed copier or printer, owing to shortage in a power capacity, there tends to occur such a tendency. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for the development of a toner having so-called wide fixing latitude, that is, a toner which can be fixed at low temperature and does not generate offset even in a high temperature region.
In order to decrease the fixing temperature of a toner, the use of a polycondensation type crystalline resin which exhibits a sharp melting behavior, depending on the temperature, as a binder resin constituting the toner is known. The toner using a crystalline resin tends to cause yield deformation. When the crystalline resin is used for the formation of a toner in practice, troubles such as filming on a photoreceptor due to crushing of the toner or lowering in the transfer efficiency with the passage of time cannot be avoided.
Use of a crystalline resin and a non-crystalline resin in combination is inevitable for attaining low temperature fixing property, prevention of filming on a photoreceptor and good transferring property simultaneously. Especially, a non-crystalline resin is requested to have a high performance.
When a toner is prepared by the emulsion polymerization and aggregation method as described above, it is possible to polymerize a polycondensation type resin, emulsify the polymer in a water based medium, aggregate the resulting latex together with a pigment and wax and then cause fusion and coalescence of the aggregate.
Emulsification of a polycondensation resin however requires a non-efficient and large energy consuming step such as emulsification by high shearing under heat exceeding even 150° C. or removal of a solvent after a solution having a viscosity reduced by dissolving in a solvent is dispersed in a water based medium.
In addition, it is difficult to avoid problems such as hydrolysis during the emulsification in a water based medium and occurrence of uncertain factors in material design is inevitable.
Polycondensation of a polyester resin proceeds by dehydration reaction, but an increase in molecular weight sometimes stops as the progress of the polymerization. This is presumed to occur because a viscosity of the system increases and when it reaches a predetermined value, dehydration does not occur easily. Compared with a crystalline resin which has a melting temperature and shows a drastic decrease in the resin viscosity at its melting temperature or greater, an amorphous condensation resin is highly viscous even at a temperature of Tg or greater. Reaction under severe conditions, for example, reaction for 10 hours or greater at high temperature exceeding 200° C., under stirring with a large power under high vacuum are necessary for polyester polymerization and it leads to large energy consumption. An enormous equipment investment is often required to attain durability of the reaction equipment.
Moreover, aromatic-ring-containing monomers mainly used for an amorphous polyester have low reactivity at low temperatures so that preparation of a polyester resin having a large number of rigid aromatic rings introduced in the unit thereof needs temperature conditions exceeding 150° C. An enormous equipment investment is often required to attain durability of the reaction equipment.
For example, in JP-A-2002-351140, proposed is a production process of a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image, characterized in that a raw material for toner containing at least a polyester resin is melted by heating, the melted raw material is emulsified in a water based medium to form resin fine particles, and the resin fine particles are aggregated and then fused to prepare an aggregate of the resin fine particles.
In the above-described document, a conventional polycondensation catalyst such as tetrabutyl titanate is employed as a catalyst. The monomer employed is a polycarboxylic acid such as trimellitic anhydride (TMA), a dicarboxylic acid such as terephthalic acid (TPA) and isophthalic acid (IPA), an aromatic diol such as polyoxypropylene (2,4)-2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (BPA-PO) or polyoxyethylene (2.4)-2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (BPA-EO) or an aliphatic diol such as ethylene glycol (EG). Reaction is effected at 220° C. for 15 hours under a normal pressure in a nitrogen gas stream, followed by gradual reduction in pressure. The reaction is then effected at 10 mmHg, whereby a polyester resin having a weight average molecular weight of from about 5,000 to 90,000 is prepared. The resulting polyester resin is melted and kneaded with a colorant and a wax. The kneaded mass MB1 is heated to 190° C. and poured in "Cavitron CD1010" (trade name; product of Eurotec) which is a dispersing and emulsifying machine. The kneaded mass is sent to Cavitron at a rate of 1 L/min while adding 0.5 wt. % dilute aqueous ammonia and heating to 160° C. by a heat exchanger. The dispersion slurry thus obtained is taken out after cooling it to 60° C. For preparing a toner from the resulting dispersion, aggregation, fusion, washing and drying steps are carried out subsequently. Such a process evidently needs an enormous energy for the preparation of the resin and emulsification of the resin and is therefore not suited for practical use.
In addition, emulsification and dispersion under such high energy conditions tend to cause decomposition of the resin. The resin therefore lacks uniformity in the composition and it is difficult to realize the uniform particle size distribution of the resin particles in the dispersion. Moreover, during storage of the dispersion, undesired aggregation of particles sometimes occurs, which also becomes a trouble for the practical use. The toner using such materials tends to cause problems not also in the initial image quality but also in the stability of the image quality during continuous printing.
There is also a report on the synthesis of a polycondensation resin in an organic solvent. For example, a production process of an unsaturated polyester resin by subjecting an aliphatic alcohol and an aliphatic polybasic acid to thermal dehydration reaction at from 100° C. to 200° C. in an organic solvent is described in JP-A-10-1536. In JP-A-8-325362, a production process of an aliphatic polyester resin which comprises reacting at least two aliphatic polyester homopolymers in an organic solvent in the presence of a catalyst is described. In JP-A-9-143253, an example of using lactic acid as a hydroxycarboxylic acid and polylactic acid as a polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is disclosed. In this document, ether solvents, halogenated hydrocarbon solvents and hydrocarbon solvents are exemplified as an organic solvent.
The technologies disclosed in the above-described documents are all related to an aliphatic polyester resin. It has been found that such resins using an aliphatic monomer are not suited for practical use at all as a resin for toner because their glass transition point is not greater than room temperature. In addition, the main object of the production process as disclosed in JP-A-9-143253 is to give biodegradability to the resin, which has no relation with the fixing property of a toner which is a technical object of the invention. In short, no suggestion useful for solving the problems of the resin for a toner is given by these disclosed technologies.
When thick paper is used as a transfer receiving material, thermal energy spent for the paper becomes large, which leads to such problems as easy change in the temperature of a fixing roll, irregular temperature distribution in the same sheet of paper or between sheets of paper and a difference in the gloss of image. Such problems become eminent at high-speed fixing and deterioration in image quality becomes a problem.
There is accordingly a demand for the development of an image forming method which can fix an image at normal temperature or by heating at low temperature, can attain uniform gloss even when thick paper specialized in a graphic art region is used, and requires reduced energy consumption.

Image forming method using toner having block copolymer


The present invention concerns a wall mounted storing construction or system that could hold a number of storing means. The storing means used may be shelves, hangers for different clothes, such as trousers or coats, shoe holders, rods etc. or for different combinations of these storing means. The storing system comprises uprights (1) and brackets (3), wherein the brackets (3) are mounted in the uprights (1). The brackets (3) are to receive the storing means, such as shelves (15). Each bracket (3) has a general u-from with an upper part and two walls, having ears (10) to be received in openings (22) of the uprights (1). The walls of brackets (3) are pressed together in the area of the ears (10) to allow the ears (10) of the brackets (3) to be pushed into the uprights (1). The uprights (1) are fixed to the wall. The upper end of each upright (1) is mounted on a horizontal assembly rail (2), being fixed to the wall. Each upright (1) is attached to the assembly rail (2) in a way making it possible to slide the uprights (1) along the assembly rail.

Storing systems are known in many different forms and for the storing of many different products. Normally the storing systems have at least some kind of shelves, but they have often also other types of storing means. Some storing systems are free-standing, while others are to be mounted directly on a wall or the like. The storing system of the present invention is directed to systems to be mounted on a wall.
For storing systems to be mounted on walls it is beneficial if a straight mounting is facilitated.


A coupling member is coupled to a support column of a rack. A plate-shaped member is rotatably engaged with a coupling member with one longitudinal end as an axis. An L-shaped member includes a first flat plate and a second flat plate orthogonal to the first flat plate and includes, with a transverse end of the first flat plate rotatably engaged with one plate face of the plate-shaped member with the longitudinal direction of the plate-shaped member as an axis and with a plate face of the first flat plate in intimate contact with the one plate face, a mounting member in which the second flat plate protrudes from one transverse end of the plate-shaped member and a fixing mechanism that fixes the mounting member with the plate face of the first flat plate in intimate contact with the one plate face of the plate-shaped member.

In a computer system, as the scale of the system increases, the number of electronic devices in the system such as servers, storages, and network devices increases. For the increased number of electronic devices, a storage frame called a rack is used to store the electronic devices efficiently and achieve space saving. To mount the electronic devices in the rack, casing mounting rails for mounting the casing of the electronic devices are laid from the front side to the rear side of the rack. The electronic devices are mounted in the rack in a stacked manner with their casing mounted on the casing mounting rails.
This casing mounting rail is fixed to a support on the front side of the rack and another support on the rear side of the rack. Processes for fixing the casing mounting rail to the rack thus include a fixation process on the front side of the rack and a fixation process on the rear side of the rack.
When mounted to a rack, the electronic devices do not necessarily fill the rack. When the electronic devices thus mounted do not fill the rack, a part with no electronic device mounted results in space within the rack. In this case, when such space is given on the front face of the rack, the exhaust air of the electronic devices is returned and sucked back into the electronic devices. This state interferes with appropriate cooling of the electronic devices and accumulates heat in the electronic devices, which causes a failure. In view of these circumstances, a blank plate is attached to fill the space on the front face in racks.
As such a filling blank plate in related art, a blank plate serves as a shelf to house a printed circuit board on which electronic circuits are mounted. When the printed circuit board is inserted, the blank plate opens and serves as a guide rail supporting the insertion of the printed circuit board (Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-340655).
A conventional general blank plate is a monolithic plate formed of iron or the like, and is selectively attached according to the size of open space as occasion demands. Because of this, to mount a new electronic device to the open space, space used to mount the electronic device is checked in advance, a mounting place is determined, and a blank plate attached to the place is removed. Subsequently, casing mounting rails for mounting the electronic device are laid, and the electronic device is mounted on the casing mounting rails. The process for mounting the electronic device to the open space of the rack is thus complicated and time consuming.
The conventional technology that functions as both the guide rail and the blank plate reduces the trouble with removing a blank plate and the trouble with laying rails. However, in an electronic device such as a server, its casing has a thickness. Given this situation, in this conventional technology, when a plurality of blank plates are arranged, an electronic device comes into contact with a protrusion for mounting the electronic device, making it hard to mount the electronic device.

Casing mounting rail, blank plate, and rack mount system


A wireless communication device reduces undesired audio underflow in a digital to analog receive path that employs time domain isolation. One or more buffers in the receive path receive processed audio samples from a signal processor. A control circuit senses when the buffers in the receive path are substantially empty. In response to a substantially empty determination by the control circuit, the control circuit instructs one of the buffers to repeat the last processed audio sample which that buffer received to reduce or avoid audio underflow.

Modern wireless communication devices typically include a baseband section, an RF transmitter section and an RF receiver section. In broad terms, when the wireless device operates in transmit mode, the baseband section processes signals before they are modulated and up-converted for transmission by the RF transmitter section at a higher frequency than employed in the baseband section. When the wireless device operates in receive mode, the baseband section processes signals after they have been down-converted by the RF receiver section. The transmitter section and receiver section together form an RF transceiver section. The baseband section and the RF transceiver section may be fabricated on the same integrated circuit (IC) or alternatively on separate integrated circuits that are interfaced with one another. The RF transceiver section includes a frequency synthesizer that controls the transmit and receive frequencies of the communication device.
Both the RF transmitter section and the RF receiver section may employ a digital signal processor (DSP) to facilitate a number of signal processing tasks. For example, the transmitter section may employ the DSP to perform voice encoding, channel encoding and frequency burst generation tasks. The receiver section may employ the DSP to perform equalization, channel decoding and voice decoding tasks. As miniaturization continues forward, the components of a wireless communication device come closer and closer together. Unfortunately, with such advances in miniaturization, it is possible that noise generated by the digital activities of the DSP may couple to the receiver section of the device and hinder RF signal reception.
Time domain isolation provides a way to effectively silence noisy digital circuits such as the DSP during time periods when the receiver section is active. In broad terms, time domain isolation provides that noisy components such as the DSP are disabled at times when the RF receiver section is conducting noise sensitive signal receiving activities. In this approach, time is divided into alternating RF time slots and signal processing time slots. The RF receiver section is enabled during RF time slots and disabled during signal processing time slots when the DSP is active. The DSP is enabled or active during the signal processing time slots and disabled or inactive during the RF time slots when the RF receiver section is active.
In one time domain isolation implementation, an audio codec in a digital to analog conversion (DAC) path receives signal samples from the DSP and coverts them into an analog audio output signal. The DAC path includes one or more buffers that store received samples that were received when the RF receiver section was enabled. These buffers are used to help prevent audio underflow when the RF receiver section is disabled and the DSP is enabled. Audio underflow occurs when insufficient data is received from the DSP by the audio codec that converts the received samples or data to an analog audio output signal. If audio underflow occurs, it may be heard as an annoying gap or pop in the audio output signal of the audio codec. While buffers are helpful in reducing audio underflow in wireless communication devices using time domain isolation, audio underflow may still occur under some circumstances.
What is needed is a wireless communication device that further reduces the likelihood of audio underflow in the wireless communication device.

Wireless communication system including an audio underflow protection mechanism operative with time domain isolation


An LED illuminating device includes a light-emitting module, a heat sink and an electrical module. The light-emitting module includes an elongated hollow light penetrable tube and a light source. The heat sink is received in and mounted to the light penetrable tube, and includes an elongated base and a plurality of fins. The light source is thermally attached to a bottom surface of the base. The base and an upper portion of the light penetrable tube cooperatively define a heat dissipation chamber. The fins are accommodated in the heat dissipation chamber. The light penetrable tube defines a plurality of air exchanging holes through the upper portion thereof communicating with the heat dissipation chamber. The electrical module includes at least one circuit board received in the heat dissipation chamber, and two end covers arranged at two ends of the light penetrable tube.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light emitting diode (LED) illuminating devices, and particularly to an LED illuminating device with high heat dissipating efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, LEDs are preferred for use in illuminating devices rather than CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) and other traditional lamps due to LEDs excellent properties, including high brightness, long lifespan, wide color range, and etc.
For an LED, about eighty percents of the power consumed thereby is converted into heat. Generally, an LED illuminating device includes a plurality of LEDs arranged on a substrate to obtain a desired brightness and illumination area. However, the plurality of LEDs generate a large amount of heat during operation which endangers the normal operation of the LEDs of the LED illuminating device. A highly efficient heat dissipation device is necessary in order to timely and adequately remove the heat generated by the LED illuminating device. Otherwise, the brightness, lifespan, and reliability of the LED illuminating device will be seriously affected.
For the foregoing reasons, therefore, there is a need in the art for an LED illuminating device which overcomes the limitations described.


There are provided a power conversion mode control apparatus of a bi-directional DC-DC converter including: a controlling unit determining an overall reference current so as to perform a power conversion from a side in which an actual voltage is relatively larger than a reference voltage to a side in which the actual voltage is relatively smaller than the reference voltage by comparing a voltage error of low voltage side and a voltage error of high voltage side with each other; and a duty command generating unit generating duty command based on a difference between the overall reference current and a current of low voltage side and providing the duty command to the bi-directional DC-DC converter.

The present disclosure relates to a power conversion mode control apparatus and method of a bi-directional DC-DC converter, and a bi-directional DC-DC converting apparatus including the power conversion mode control apparatus.
A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) that uses an electric motor together with an existing internal combustion engine as a power unit has a bi-directional DC-DC converter which is operated in a boost mode or a buck mode between a battery of 48V, which is a high voltage battery and a battery of 12V, which is a low voltage battery.
An entire power system of the HEV includes a motor taking charge of an engine starting and regenerative braking, an inverter taking charge of a motor driving and regenerative power control, a high voltage battery used as an apparatus for an inverter driving and spare energy storage, a low voltage battery for driving an electric load, or the like, and a bi-directional DC-DC converter, which is a bi-directional power transfer medium between the high voltage battery and the low voltage battery.
The bi-directional DC-DC converter must be able to freely convert and transfer power in a bi-direction between a high voltage and a low voltage and needs to quickly and seamlessly implement a mode switching under various situations. Particularly, the bi-directional DC-DC converter needs to operate in a boost mode in order to implement a pre-charge at the time of an initial starting and quickly perform a switching of a power conversion mode into a buck mode after the pre-charge ends. In addition, the bi-directional DC-DC converter is operated in the boost mode even at the time of assisting in torque and transfers energy of a high voltage side to a low voltage side in other situations.
In the existing bi-directional DC-DC converter, if an external electric control unit (ECU) or a higher instructor determines a current power conversion mode and then instructs the DC-DC converter through CAN communication, the converter is passively operated in the boost mode or the buck mode by external instructions.
The bi-directional DC-DC converter which is operated by the instructions through the external CAN communication generates duty command for the low voltage side and the high voltage side, respectively, and is operated in the buck mode or the boost mode by selecting final duty command matched to the instruction when the external instruction is input to the DC-DC converter through the CAN communication.
Since the power conversion mode switching method determines a direction of the power conversion depending on the external instruction, in the case in which an external higher controller is broken down, the power conversion in a desired direction is not performed. In addition, a predetermined calculation time is required while the higher controller determines the buck mode or the boost mode from a voltage or current sensed value of the low voltage side or the high voltage side at the time of the mode switching, and a time lag occurs when the instruction is transferred to the converter by the CAN communication. Therefore, it is difficult to seamlessly and naturally switch the mode due to a sharp variation in the load at the time of the mode switching.
The following Related Art Document (Patent Document 1) relates to a bi-directional non-insulating DC-DC converter capable of reducing a current ripple of an inductor because a current of the inductor is operated in a continuous conduction mode (CCM), reducing switching loss and increasing a switching frequency by achieving a soft switching, removing a voltage surge due to reverse recovery characteristics of a diode by a soft switching operation, and making a rated voltage of the switch and the diode smaller than an output voltage.

Bi-directional DC-DC converter with current reference by comparing the voltage errors of the low and high voltage sides


An InP substrate that is a group III-V compound semiconductor substrate includes particles of greater than or equal to 0.19 μm in particle size at less than or equal to 0.22 particles/cm2 or particles of greater than or equal to 0.079 μm in particle size at less than or equal to 20 particles/cm2 on the main surface. An epilayer-attached InP substrate that is an epilayer-attached group III-V compound semiconductor substrate includes the InP substrate mentioned above and an epitaxial layer disposed on the main surface of the InP substrate, and includes LPDs of greater than or equal to 0.24 μm in circle-equivalent diameter at less than or equal to 10 defects/cm2 or LPDs of greater than or equal to 0.136 μm in circle-equivalent diameter at less than or equal to 30 defects/cm2 on the main surface in a case where the epitaxial layer has a thickness of 0.3 μm.

Group III-V compound semiconductor substrates such as an indium phosphide substrate or a gallium arsenide substrate are suitably used as substrates of semiconductor devices, and in order to obtain high-performance semiconductor devices by causing high-quality epitaxial layers to grow on the main surfaces of the substrates, cleanness of the main surfaces is required.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-248050 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a method for manufacturing an indium phosphide substrate (InP substrate), including: a step of preparing an indium phosphide substrate; a step of cleaning the indium phosphide substrate with a sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixture; and a step of cleaning the indium phosphide substrate with a sulfuric acid after the step of cleaning with the sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixture. Furthermore, an indium phosphide substrate with a surface is disclosed, where on the surface, the sulfate ion concentration is less than or equal to 0.6 ng/cm2, and the concentration of oxygen bonded to other than sulfur and the concentration of carbon are less than or equal to 40 atomic %.
International Publication No. 2012/157476 (Patent Literature 2) discloses a compound semiconductor substrate such as GaAs, InP, or GaP with at least one main surface subjected to mirror polishing, where the surface subjected to the mirror polishing is coated with an organic substance containing hydrogen (H), carbon (C), and oxygen (O).

Group III-V compound semiconductor substrate and group III-V compound semiconductor substrate with epitaxial layer


A live, attenuated chimeric virus vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis virus comprising the preM and E structural genes of the tick-borne encephalitis Langat virus and the non-structural genes of the mosquito-borne dengue virus. The live chimeric vaccine was administered intraperitoneally and exhibited complete attenuation in mice while at the same time providing protection against subsequent challenge with the virulent parental Langat virus.

The present invention relates to a chimeric virus vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and its other virulent relatives. More specifically, the invention relates to a chimeric virus comprising the Langat (LGT) virus preM and E structural protein genes linked to the non-structural protein genes of a mosquito-borne flavivirus.
The Flaviviridae family encompasses more than sixty antigenically related, positive strand RNA viruses within the arthropod-borne flavivirus genus, many of which are important human pathogens (Monath et al., Flaviviruses, in Virology, B. N. Fields et al., Eds., Raven Press, New York, pp. 961-1035, 1996). These include the mosquito-borne yellow fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, dengue viruses (DEN) and the tick-borne encephalitis viruses (TBEV), the latter being endemic in most European countries, Russia, India and North China. TBEV is transmitted exclusively by ticks and can be divided into two serologically distinguishable subtypes: the Eastern subtype (prototype strain Sofin), prevalent in Siberian and Far Eastern regions of Russia, and the Western subtype (prototype strain Neudorfl), common in eastern and central Europe. TBEV causes a serious encephalitic illness with a mortality rate ranging from 1 to 30%.
Flaviviruses share the same genome organization: 5xe2x80x2-C-preM-E-NS1-NS2A-NS2B-NS3-NS4A-NS4B-NS5-3xe2x80x2 in which the first three genes code the capsid (C), premembrane (preM) and envelope (E) proteins, while the remainder of the genes encode nonstructural proteins. Homology between mosquito-borne and tick-borne flaviviruses is relatively low (Chambers et al., Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 44:649-688, 1990; Pletnev et al., Virology 174:250-263, 1990). However, homology among mosquito-borne flaviviruses or among tick-borne flaviviruses is relatively high (Iacoco-Connors et al., Virology 188:875-880, 1992).
Four serotypes of dengue virus are known (type 1 to type 4) which are distinguishable by plaque reduction neutralization using serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies and by less specific tests using polyclonal sera (Bancroft et al., Pan Am. Hlth. Org. Sci. Publ. 375:175-178, 1979; Henchal et al., Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 31:548-555, 1982). The four dengue serotypes share a common genome organization. The complete nucleotide sequences have been determined for dengue virus types 3 and 4 and several strains of type 2 virus including the mouse-neurovirulent New Guinea C mutant (Mackow et al., Virology 159:217-228, 1987; Zhao et al., Virology 155:77-88, 1986; Osatomi et al., Virology 176:643-647, 1990; Irie et al., Gene 75:197-211, 1989; Mason et al., Virology 161:262-267, 1987; Hahn et al., Virology 162:167-180, 1988).
Despite the considerable evolutionary distance between DEN and TBEV, a viable chimeric flavivirus was constructed which contained the C-preM-E or preM-E structural protein genes of a virulent Far Eastern Russian TBEV with the remaining nonstructural protein genes and 5xe2x80x2- and 3xe2x80x2-noncoding sequences derived from DEN4 [TBEV(CME)/DEN4 and TBEV(ME)/DEN4, respectively] (Pletnev et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89:10532-10536, 1992).
TBEV(ME)/DEN4 retained the neurovirulence in mice of its TBEV parent from which its preM and E genes were derived, but it lacked the peripheral neurovirulence of TBEV, i.e. the ability to spread from a peripheral site to the central nervous system (CNS) and cause fatal encephalitis. However, mice previously inoculated with the chimeric virus by a peripheral route were completely resistant to subsequent intraperitoneal challenge with a lethal dose of the highly virulent TBEV. Neurovirulence of this chimera was significantly reduced by a single mutation introduced into its preM, E or nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) viral protein (Pletnev et al., J. Virol. 67:4956-4963, 1993). These amino acid substitutions also caused a restriction in viral replication in tissue cultures of both simian and mosquito cells. Nonetheless, parenteral inoculation of these further attenuated chimeric mutants induced complete resistance in mice to fatal encephalitis caused by intracerebral inoculation of the neurovirulent TBEV(ME)/DEN4 chimera.
Langat (LGT) virus is the least virulent of all TBEV-complex flaviviruses, but is closely related antigenically to the highly virulent Far Eastern TBEV (Calisher et al., J. Gen. Virol. 70:37-43, 1989; DeMadrid et al., J. Gen. Virol. 23:91-96, 1974; Iacoco-Connors et al., Virus Res. 43:125-136, 1996) and has a high level of sequence homology thereto (Iacoco-Connors et al., Virology 188:875-880, 1992; Mandl et al., Virology 185:891-895, 1991; Shamanin et al., J. Gen. Virol. 71:1505-1515, 1990). LGT virus was tested as an experimental live vaccine against TBEV during the early 1970s (Ilenko et al., Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org. 39:425-431, 1968; Mayer et al., Acta. Virol. 19:229-236, 1975; Price et al., Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org. 42:89-94, 1970). Several LGT strains which were attenuated for mice and monkeys were isolated and tested in 800,000 adults; however, clinical trials were discontinued when vaccination with one of the most attenuated vaccine candidates, Yelantsev virus, was associated with a very low frequency of encephalitis, i.e. one case per 20,000 vaccinations (Mandl et al., supra.)
Currently, an experimental TBEV vaccine produced by formalin inactivation of TBEV is available; however, this vaccine has several limitations. For example, the vaccine is not strongly immunogenic, therefore repeated vaccinations are required to generate a protective immune response. Even when antibody responses to the vaccine are present, the vaccine fails to provide protective responses to the virus in 20% of the population. Therefore, there remains the need for a safe, more effective vaccine against TBEV. The present invention provides such a vaccine.
One embodiment of the present invention is a viable chimeric recombinant flavivirus, comprising a first region of nucleic acid operably encoding preM and E structural proteins of Langat virus operably linked to a second region of nucleic acid operably encoding non-structural proteins of a mosquito-borne flavivirus. Preferably, the Langat virus is the Langat wild type virus strain TP21 or its further attenuated mutant, Langat strain E5. Advantageously, the mosquito-borne flavivirus is a dengue virus. In one aspect of this preferred embodiment, the dengue virus is type 4. Alternatively, the mosquito-borne flavivirus is yellow fever virus. According to another aspect of this preferred embodiment, the first region of nucleic acid also operably encodes capsid protein from the mosquito-borne flavivirus or from Langat virus. In yet another aspect of this preferred embodiment, the recombinant flavivirus further comprising at least one mutation. Preferably, the recombinant flavivirus is incorporated within an expression vector. Advantageously, the expression vector is a plasmid.
The present invention also provides a host cell stably transformed with the recombinant flavivirus described above in a manner allowing expression of said DNA construct. Preferably, the host cell is prokaryotic. In another aspect of this preferred embodiment, the tick-borne encephalitis virus is selected from the group consisting of the Eastern, Western, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, louping ill, Kyasanur forest disease, Negishi, or Powassan viruses.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis virus, comprising the chimeric recombinant flavivirus described above in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Another embodiment is the vaccination of milk producing mammals against tick-borne encephalitis virus infection. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses an immunogenic composition comprising the chimeric recombinant flavivirus described above in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
The present invention also provides a method of preventing TBEV infection in a mammal, comprising the step of administering to the mammal an effective TBEV-preventing amount of a chimeric recombinant flavivirus, the chimeric flavivirus comprising a first region of nucleic acid operably encoding C, preM and E structural proteins of Langat virus, or C protein of the mosquito-borne flavivirus plus preM and E structural proteins of Langat virus, operably linked to a second region of nucleic acid operably encoding non-structural proteins of a mosquito-borne flavivirus, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Preferably, the mammal is a human. Advantageously, the administering step is intranasal, intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous. In one aspect of this preferred embodiment, the effective TBEV-preventing amount is between about 1 xcexcg and 1,000 xcexcg. The method may further comprise administering one or more booster injections of the chimeric flavivirus.
The present invention also contemplates a method of stimulating an immune response directed against the chimeric recombinant flaviviruses discussed above, in a mammal, comprising the step of administering to the mammal an effective TBEV-preventing amount of a chimeric recombinant flavivirus, the chimeric flavivirus comprising a first region of nucleic acid operably encoding C, preM and E structural proteins of Langat virus, or C protein of the mosquito-borne flavivirus plus preM and E structural proteins of Langat virus, operably linked to a second region of nucleic acid operably encoding non-structural proteins of a mosquito-borne flavivirus, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Chimeric vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis virus

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


Methods for control of NOx emission in the incineration of tail gas are provided wherein tail gas that comprises NOx, NOx precursors, or both is introduced into a combustor and diluent is introduced into the combustor for controlling the combustor temperature to a temperature of from about 950° C. to about 1100° C. Methods also are provided for reducing NOx emissions by controlling air-to-fuel ratio in a tail gas combustor while controlling the combustor flame temperature through diluent injections. A boiler unit for carrying out these methods also is provided. A system for carbon black production using the boiler unit also is provided.

The present invention relates to methods for reducing NOx emissions in the incineration of tail gas. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for reducing NOx emissions in the incineration of tail gas.
Carbonaceous fuels and other organic material are combusted in a wide variety of industrial processes. Furnace reactors, combustion engines, combustion chambers, boilers, furnaces, heaters, hot gas generators, burners, waste incinerators, and the like, are used to combust carbonaceous fuels. This combustion equipment may be used to make energy, incinerate waste and byproduct materials, or both. During a typical combustion process within a furnace or boiler, for example, a hydrocarbon feedstock or fuel is combusted in the presence of oxygen, and a flow of a combustion exhaust gas is produced. Carbonaceous fuels can be made to burn more completely, and with reduced emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons, when excess air is used. Excess air usage can permit higher flame temperatures. Unfortunately, combustion at high temperatures can generate nitrogen oxides (often referred to as NOx). Free radicals of nitrogen and oxygen in air can react at such high combustion temperatures to form thermal NOx. NOx may also be formed as the result of oxidation of nitrogen containing species in the fuel, such as those that may be found in heavy fuel oil, municipal solid waste, and coal. Emissions of NOx are controlled by laws, directives, regulations and the like at many locations of operation of combustion equipment throughout the world. An exhaust aftertreatment may be required for combustion equipment at a given location to attain lower, compliant NOx emission levels.
Previous exhaust aftertreatment techniques tend to reduce NOx using various chemical or catalytic methods. Such methods include, for example, nonselective catalytic reduction (NSCR), selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR). Such aftertreatment methods typically require some type of reactant for removal of NOx emissions. The NSCR method can involve using unburned hydrocarbons and CO to reduce NOx emissions in the absence of O2. Fuel/air ratios must be controlled to ensure low excess O2. Both reduction and oxidation catalysts are needed to remove emissions of CO and hydrocarbons while also reducing NOx. Combustion exhaust containing excess O2 generally requires chemical reductant(s) for NOx removal. Among the selective processes, SCR processes can involve passing a nitrogen oxides-laden effluent across a catalyst bed in the presence of ammonia, to achieve NOx reductions. With respect to SCR, the installation and operational costs of the catalyst system may not be economical. SNCR processes can involve the introduction of NOx-reducing treatment agents into the effluent in the absence of catalyst and elevated temperature to achieve NOx reductions. With respect to previous SNCR, concerns have been raised about problems of NH3 breakthrough and byproduct CO emissions.
In some industries, such as in carbon black production, refinery operations, or petrochemical operations, for example, exhaust gases generated in primary process units are conveyed to burners or boilers for energy production, heat recovery, or incineration. These operations can generate emissions, which can be subject to any applicable air quality controls or requirements. A furnace carbon black producing process, for example, typically employs a furnace reactor having a burner or combustion chamber followed by a reactor. A combustion gas feed stream, typically a hydrocarbon gas stream such as natural gas, or the like, is combusted in the burner portion along with an oxidant feed gas stream such as air or oxygen, to produce hot combustion gases which pass then to the reactor portion of the furnace. In the reactor, hydrocarbon feedstock is exposed to the hot combustion gases. Part of the feedstock is burned, while the rest is decomposed to form carbon black, hydrogen, and other gaseous products. The reaction products typically are quenched, and the resulting carbon black and off-gas mixture is conveyed to a bag collector or other filter system, whereupon the carbon black content is separated from the tail gas. The recovered carbon black typically is finished to a marketable product, such as, for example, by pulverizing and wet pelletizing. Water from the pelletizing typically is driven off with a dryer, which may be gas-fired, oil-fired, process-gas fired such as with tail gas, or combinations of these. The dried pellets can then be conveyed from the dryer to bulk storage or other handling. The dryer also can generate gaseous emissions. The principal source of emissions in the carbon black furnace process typically is from the tail gas. Other than direct venting, tail gas emissions have been discharged using flares. The tail gas can contain combustible gas components. The composition of the tail gas after separation of the carbon black and prior to any aftertreatment may vary according to a grade of carbon black being produced and other process parameters. The untreated tail gas from carbon manufacture typically may include combinations of particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), thermal nitrogen oxides, sulfur compounds, polycyclic organic matter, trace elements, and other components.
The present inventors have recognized that gases containing nitrogenous byproducts of combustion in some applications may include NOx precursors which also can pose a concern for NOx emission control. The present inventors have recognized that a tail gas stream from a furnace carbon black production process, for example, can contain fuel-derived NOx precursors which have not been previously fully appreciated or resolved. Further, the present inventors believe that methods and systems for comprehensively controlling nitrogen oxides as well as nitrogen oxide precursors in combustion effluents have not been previously developed, nor have the possible benefits of such methods and systems previously been fully realized or attainable, until the development of the present methods and arrangements.


A lock for securing an article on display includes a casing having a front opening and a hook contiguous to the front opening, with a locking body received in the casing. The locking body is formed with a bolt having a front lip that is movable out of the casing through the front opening. In addition, the locking body is designed so that the front lip of the bolt may be extended out of the casing and securely kept alongside the hook until the lock is opened.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock for securing an article on display and, more particularly, to such a lock which is easy to be operated and convenient to be well kept.
2. Description of Related Art
There is often a need to secure an article on display, especially on public display. This is usually accomplished by a lock that has a wire cable looped through something immovable.
As shown in FIG. 5, a lock for this purpose generally includes a main body (50) having a plurality of dials (51) and a socket (52) for detachably receiving a separate hitching part (60). After or before a front hook of the hitching part (60) passes through a port in an article, the dials (51) are required to be turned into the preset combination to allow the rear disk-like end of the part (60) to be placed into the socket (52) and fixedly attached to the main body (50).
The lock is opened by turning the dials (51) into the present combination again before moving a slider (53) of the main body (50). It is at this time that the hitching part (60) can be detached from the main body (50).
In this conventional lock, it is clear that the dials (51) must be turned either for the attachment of the hitching part (60) to or the detachment of the hitching part (60) from the main body (50), which is a difficult operation for a user.
Additionally, the conventional lock is not convenient to be well kept because the separate hitching part (60) is often lost and the remaining main body (50) becomes useless.
Therefore, it is an objective of the invention to provide a lock for securing an article on display to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.


It is made possible to update installed software appropriately. A CE device stores an update management table in which are set, with respect to software bundled with the CE device, the names, IDs, version numbers, update cycles, and contact information (URLs of update data supplying servers) for making inquiries on the presence of updates. For example, assuming that everyday, when it is recognized that the time is past 10:00, there is a need to check for the presence of updates for software A, the CE device accesses a URL corresponding to software A, and makes an inquiry on the presence of updates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a software updating system, an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium as well as a program, and, more specifically, to a software updating system, an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium as well as a program that make it possible to appropriately supply data that is necessary for updating software.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists a service in which when software installed in a client device is updated (for example, when a newer version is developed), the developer of the software sends a notification via a network, and provides, via a network, the client device with update data for updating the software in response to a request that is made based on that notification (see, for example, patent document 1).
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Application Publication 2002-269272.

Software updating system, information processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program


A composition containing (a) at least one biodegradable/biorenewable thermoplastic material that includes poly(lactic acid) (PLA); and (b) at least one plasticizer that includes an epoxidized fatty acid alkyl ester is provided. In some embodiments, the epoxidized fatty acid alkyl ester is methyl epoxy soyate. It was found that epoxidized fatty acid alkyl esters impart a reduction in tensile modulus in compositions containing PLA. The compositions may be formed into films, such as those used in food packaging. A method that includes extruding a composition comprising PLA and at least one epoxidized fatty acid alkyl ester is provided.

Growing global concern over persistent plastic waste has generated much interest in biodegradable polymers for everyday use. Biodegradable polymers based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) are an attractive alternative as they can be readily produced from renewable agriculture sources. Recent developments in manufacturing polymers from agricultural sources have accelerated the emergence of these polymers in the biodegradable plastic commodity market.
PLA is generally perceived as having a high tensile modulus, which leads to undesirable properties, such as stiffness and lack of flexibility, when PLA is used in food packaging or other types of films. Plasticizers are often used to reduce the tensile modulus of thermoplastics. Epoxidized oils, such as epoxidized soy bean oil, have been known to plasticize PLA. There is a need for compositions comprising PLA that have a reduced tensile modulus and increased flexibility compared to current compositions.

Epoxidized fatty acid alkyl esters as flexibilizers for poly(lactic acid)


A 2-oxazoline group-containing water-soluble polymer in which the residual amount of an oxazoline monomer has been reduced is produced. An acrylic ester is copolymerized during the polymerization reaction of an addition-polymerizable oxazoline.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a water-soluble polymer. In further detail, the invention relates to a process for producing a 2-oxazoline group-containing water-soluble polymer useful as a crosslinking agent for an aqueous resin so that the residual amount of an addition-polymerizable oxazoline (which may be referred to as an oxazoline group-containing monomer or an oxazoline monomer) reduces. This invention also relates to a water-soluble polymer having both of the oxazoline group and a polyethylene glycol chain on the side chain.
In the radical polymerization, there have been known various kinds of processes to reduce the amount of residual monomers. In general, a process to remove residual monomers by vacuum distillation, steam distillation and so forth and a process comprising further addition of a polymerization initiator at the second half of a polymerization reaction have been known.
Also, as another process, a process to convert residual monomers into other chemical substances by a chemical reaction has been known. For example, there has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,464 a process to reduce an amount of residual 2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline by a reaction of the polymer solution with an acidic and nucleophilic compound such as sulfur dioxide gas, hydrogen sulfide gas, or sodium hydrogen sulfite and the like.
The removing process by distillation is limited to a monomer having a relatively low boiling point or being capable of azeotropically boiling with a solvent and it is hard to apply to a monomer having a high boiling point such as an addition-polymerizable oxazoline.
The process comprising further addition of a polymerization initiator as well as the process comprising reduction by a chemical reaction are not preferred because the processes leave impurities in the polymer solution, which affect badly on preservation stability and water resistance when the polymer is used as a part of coatings, adhesives and so forth.

Process for producing water-soluble polymer and water-soluble polymer