A multi-unit grease filter includes a first filter unit and a second filter unit, each having an upstream series of spaced apart elongated baffles and a downstream series of spaced apart elongated baffles offset from the upstream series of baffles so that the baffles overlap and expose the air to multiple surfaces as it travels through the filter. The baffles have their ends connected to a pair of end frame members, each of which has at least one spacer in the form of a side edge having a first portion co-extensive with the upstream series of baffles and a second portion co-extensive with the downstream series of baffles so as to provide an off-set in each of the end frame members so that when the first and second filter units are disposed in abutment side by side, the off-sets align and overlap so that a bifurcated seam line is formed at the abutment and a downstream baffle overlaps with an upstream baffle at the seam line.

The present invention relates to multi-unit grease filters and more specifically to grease filters of the type in which a plurality of substantially rectangular filter frames are disposed side by side with each of the frames containing a plurality of elongated overlapping arcuate baffles so that air passing through the filter encounters a plurality of curved surfaces. Prior art baffle-type grease filters such as that shown in FIG. 2 utilize a plurality of offset elongated baffles contained within a frame. A number of frames are then placed side by side to form a filter bank in the exhaust hood of a grill.
When the prior art filter units were placed side by side in the filter bank, the framework edges would abut and form a dead area in the filter bank that would collect grease that could not be drained to the collecting pan. Also, the straight seam line formed by the abutment of the two filter unit frames would create a leak path for the air flow which reduces the efficiency of the filter. This straight seam line also rendered the baffles near the frame edges non-functional since it disrupted the uniform air flow through the filter.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-unit grease filter that eliminates the dead spot typically located at the abutment of two filter units and also eliminates the "straight line" leak path which was disruptive of the air flow at the abutment of two filter units.


A medicament for prophylaxis or treatment of bone marrow suppression, for treatment of infectious diseases and for increasing the number of leukocytes, which comprise as an active ingredient a sulphostin-related compound represented by general formula (I):

It is known that the suppression of the functions of bone marrow by various causes seriously worsens systemic conditions to pose peril to life. As morbidities due to such bone marrow suppression symptoms, hypoplastic anemia, thrombo-cytopenia, leukopenia and the like are known.
The mechanisms of the onset of leukopenia among them are classified into those involving a decrease in leukocyte production and those involving the acceleration of leukocyte destruction. Causes for the decrease in leukocyte production include congenital diseases, irradiation with radiation, hypoplastic anemia, administration of an antitumor agent or antibiotic, etc. On the other hand, causes for the acceleration of leukocyte destruction include infectious diseases, immunological abnormalities, etc.
As a therapeutic method for leukopenia, the administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or macrophage-colony stimulating factor is a promising means at present. On the other hand, erythropoietin is used for treating erythropenia. The application of interleukin-6, interleukin-11, thrombopoietin and the like as medicine is in progress for treating thrombocytopenia. In addition, the application of interleukin-3, granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the like as therapeutic agent for bone marrow suppression is in progress.
On the other hand, for example, compounds formed by the substitution of an N-acyl-N-alkylamino group at the 1-position of a sugar are known (JP-B-1-40036) as compounds having defensive effect on infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, etc.
Sulphostin can be obtained by culturing a microorganism belonging to the genus Streptomyces and compounds analogous thereto can be obtained by chemical synthesis. Sulphostin and the analogous compounds thereto are hereinafter referred to as sulphostin-related compounds. These sulphostin-related compounds have an inhibitory effect on dipeptidyl peptidase IV and hence are expected as physiologically active substances such as, for example, an immunomodulator, a hormone modulator, an anti-HIV agent, an antiallergic agent, an anti-inflammatory agent and an antirheumatic agent WO 99/25719 and JP-A-2000-327689).

Medicament for treatment of bone marrow suppression, for treatment of infectious diseases and for increasing the number of leukocytes

Abstract: wherein n is an integer of 0 to 3, or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof.

Zaidan Hojin Biseibutsu Kagaku Kenkyu Kai


In accordance with the present invention an aerating device for attachment to a self-propelled lawnmower is provided. The device comprises a frame having a proximal end, a distal end, and a pair of sides extending between the proximal end and the distal end. An axle is mounted to the frame and extends between the sides of the frame. At least one tine assembly is mounted to the axle for rotation about a tine axis extending longitudinally through the axle. A platform is secured to the frame and extends outwardly from one of the proximal and distal ends of the frame for supporting an operator.

Professional lawn maintenance often includes the application of dry and liquid materials including seed, fertilizer, and pesticides, as well as mechanical processes including mowing and aerating. Various vehicles have been developed and are currently in use to accomplish one or more of these common lawn care tasks.
Aeration is the process of removing thousands of plugs of thatch and soil from the lawn to improve soil aeration. This is frequently accomplished by traversing the soil with rotating tines bearing ends configured to uproot and/or overturn portions of the soil. Depending on the lawn size and soil conditions however, this process can be rather time consuming and cumbersome. It is therefore desirable to maximize both maneuverability of aerating devices as well as the ability of the tines to uproot the soil. Practically speaking, the size, weight, and cost of most commercially available aerating devices are often too much. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved aerating device.


The present invention provide a lubricating oil composition suitable for internal combustion engines, which composition is excellent in thermal/oxidation stability and can inhibit the increases of the viscosity and acid number even in the presence of NOx and can be used for a long period of time or provide a lubricating oil composition particularly suitable for diesel or direct injection engines equipped with an exhaust-gas after-treatment device such as DPF or various catalysts, which composition is excellent in high-temperature detergency and base number retention properties and further can achieve the effect of inhibit wear caused by soot contamination in the oil occurring significantly when the content of phosphorus compounds such as ZnDTP is decreased, at a high level and can inhibit the exhaust-gas after-treatment device from being adversely affected. The lubricating oil composition comprises a lubricating base oil containing, a specific amount of a base oil with specific properties, and two or more types of additives selected from specific additives.

The present invention relates to lubricating oil compositions and more specifically to those with excellent thermal/oxidation stability and an excellent effect of inhibiting the increases of the viscosity and acid number even in the presence of NOx, thus suitable for internal combustion engines. The present invention also relates to lubricating oil compositions with excellent high-temperature detergency and base number retention properties and those having such excellent properties and still highly capable of achieving the effect of inhibiting wear caused by soot contamination in the composition and inhibit an exhaust-gas after-treatment device from being adversely affected, thus suitable for diesel and direct injection engines equipped with such a device.
The lubricating oil used in internal combustion engines such as automobile engines has been required to have thermal/oxidation stability for use under severe conditions for a long period of time. Conventional lubricating oils for internal combustion engines comprises a high performance base oil such as a highly refined mineral oil or synthetic oil, blended with zinc dithiophosphate (ZDTP), molybdenum dithiocarbamate (MoDTC), or a phenolic anti-oxidant (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 4-36391, 63-223094, 8-302378, and 9-3463).
However, for recent more severe service conditions against the lubricating oil for internal combustion engines and reduction in waste oil disposal, the lubricating oil is further required to have a longer service life. However, conventional high performance base oils are not necessarily sufficient in their own thermal/oxidation stability. Alternatively, even though an anti-oxidant is added in a larger amount, there is a certain limit to improve thermal/oxidation stability. Thus, a further improvement must be sought in order to meet such requirements. In particular, since in the presence of NOx, the viscosity and acid number of a lubricating oil are significantly increased due to oxidation degradation, a long-life lubricating oil has been demanded which can sufficiently suppress the oxidation degradation.
In recent years, a lubricating oil composition has been proposed which contains a phosphorus compound with less or no sulfur in place of ZDTP (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-294271). However, it must be further improved in suppression of viscosity or acid number increase in the presence of NOx, and a lubricating oil containing ZDTP must be significantly improved in this regard.
Further, in the background of environment issues, the regulation against exhaust gas emission throughout the world has become tightened year by year. In particular, the exhaust gas from a diesel engine is urgently required to be decreased in NOx or suspended particle matters (SPM). Conventionally, in order to decrease the emission of these materials, it has been studied to introduce means for decreasing exhaust gas, such as a high-pressure injection system, an exhaust-gas recycling (EGR) system, an oxidation catalyst, a diesel particulate filter (DPF), or a NOx adsorber, into an diesel engine. It is known that among these emission control means, an exhaust-gas after-treatment device such as an oxidation catalyst, NOx adsorber, and DPF in particular are shortened in service life depending on the composition of the lubricating oil to be used. For example, in the case of using a lubricating oil containing zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (hereinafter referred to as "ZnDTP") that is effective as an anti-wear agent or anti-oxidant (peroxide decomposer), it is known that the zinc contained in ZnDTP forms an oxide or a phosphoric acid salt during the combustion process and there is the possibility that such an oxide or salt may degrade the purification performance of the exhaust-gas after-treatment device because it accumulates on the catalyst surface or in the filter. Therefore, a lubricating oil for an engine equipped with the exhaust-gas after-treatment device as described above desirously contains no ZnDTP or a small amount thereof even if added. Further, a metallic detergent and sulfur components are preferably decreased as much as possible because a sulfuric acid salt and an oxide accumulate in the form of ash and thus are likely to cause the foregoing problems.
However, in a diesel engine, in particular that equipped with an EGR, a large amount of soot contaminates the lubricating oil. Therefore, when the content of the ZnDTP, metallic detergent or sulfur components in the lubricating oil is simply decreased, there is a concern that the valve train wear would be increased and high-temperature detergency such as piston detergency would be poor. With regard to a direct injection gasoline engine, there also arises a concern that soot contamination in the lubricating oil would cause adverse affects similar to the foregoing and the formation of deposit on the combustion chamber and valves. Therefore, when the contents of the ZnDTP, metallic detergent and sulfur components are decreased, it is necessary to research and develop new measures for compensating the detergency and anti-wear properties degraded in connection with the decreased contents.
As a lubricating oil composition for an engine equipped with an exhaust-gas after-treatment device, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-256690 proposes a diesel engine oil composition, the sulfated ash content of which is held down to 0.7 percent by mass or less. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-279287 proposes an engine oil containing a dispersant type viscosity index improver for significantly improving the detergency when soot contaminates the oil. As an oil which is improved in anti-wear properties when soot contamination occurs therein, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-10799 proposes a lubricating oil composition containing a dispersant type viscosity index improver with a specific molecular weight similar to that disclosed in No. 2001-279287. However, these proposals are not necessarily sufficiently improved in high-temperature detergency or base number retention properties as a metallic detergent is decreased and do not discuss about high-temperature detergency as ZnDTP is decreased or about anti-wear properties as soot contaminates the oils. As the result, further consideration is needed in order to maintain or improve high-temperature detergency and base number retention properties at or to a higher level and inhibit wear caused by soot contamination in the oil, occurring significantly when the content of ZnDTP is decreased.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A line thermal printer comprises a frame, a platen supported by the frame for rotation, and a thermal head supported by the frame for pivotal movement into and out of pressure contact with the platen for recording printing data to a recording medium disposed between the thermal head and the platen. A leaf spring is disposed between the thermal head and the platen for resiliently pressing the thermal head into pressure contact with the platen. A pressing plate has a rotation shaft supported by the frame for pivotal movement for applying pressure to the leaf spring to resiliently press the thermal head into pressure contact with the platen. A head-up lever is integrally connected to an end of the rotation shaft of the pressing plate for pivoting the pressing plate to release the pressure applied to the leaf spring to release the thermal head from pressure contact with the platen.

A prior art example of a general small printer using a line type thermal head will be explained based on a section view shown in FIG. 6.
In the figure, the prior art printer comprises a platen 5 provided for rotation with respect to a frame 1, a thermal head 6 pressed to the platen 5, a platen spring 19 for pressing the thermal head 6 resiliently to the platen 5, a platen spring receiving plate 20 for receiving resilience of the platen spring 19, a head-up lever 10 having a cam 10a for releasing the thermal head 6 from the platen 5 during maintenance for exchanging sheets of paper or a jammed paper, a head-up pin 8 provided on the thermal head 6 for engaging with the cam 10a to release the thermal head 6 from the platen 5, a thermal head pivot 17 which is a center axis of rotation of the thermal head 6, and other components.
In the small printer using the line thermal head, it is necessary to press and contact the thermal head to the platen with homogeneous pressure across the whole printing range from the aspect of printing quality and the like.
Accordingly, the prior art printer constructed as described above has been adapted such that one coil spring is disposed as the platen spring in a manner capable of freely rocking centering on a fulcrum so that its resilience acts homogeneously between the platen and the thermal head, or such that a plurality of coil springs each having homogeneous resilience are disposed at adequate points on the back of the thermal head to eliminate the unevenness of contact of the platen and the thermal head.
As a result, although the unevenness of contact of the platen and the thermal head has been improved, there has been a problem that the coil spring is repeatedly stretched and compressed every time when the head is opened and closed, thus causing a degradation of the spring such as settling as a result, because the thermal head has an opening/closing mechanism for maintenance with respect to the platen and the coil spring is designed so that it exerts an adequate resilience when the thermal head abuts with the platen. In case of the printer using the plurality of coil springs in particular, the resilience may vary per each coil spring, thus changing the pressing stress between the platen and the thermal head partially. Accordingly, there have been such problems with conventional line printers that the printing quality is degraded and failure of the printer itself may occur. There has been also another problem that because the repulsive resilience of the coil spring becomes large when it is compressed during head-up and the mechanical strength of the platen spring receiving plate for receiving such large resilience has to be increased, it has been difficult to design such printer from the aspect of its structure and strength.
Further, because the head-up operation carried out by means of the head-up lever has been carried out by abutting the head-up cam only to one side of the head-up pin and resisting to the resilience of the coil spring in general, there has been a problem that the other end of the thermal head which does not engage directly with the head-up cam has a large inclination and it becomes difficult to provide proper maintenance such as correcting a paper jam in a printer using a line thermal head having a wider width. There have been also other problems that the use of the coil spring which is cumbersome to assemble lowers the assembly efficiency of the printer and complicates the structure around the head of the printer, thus increasing the cost of the printer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to improve the printing quality further of a printer as well as to realize a printer having a more simplified structure and to improve the assembly efficiency thereof.


A method of and a system for scanning a scene for the purpose of classifying a plurality of moving objects located in the scene and having an average distance between them, including the steps of performing a sweep of the scene, during the sweep, producing a multiplicity of detections of at least one portion of the scene at a rate such that a distance traveled by the moving objects between detections is small with respect to the average distance, and calculating, from the multiple detections, two-dimensional motion information for at least some of the moving objects.

Various methods for classifying objects in a field of view are known in the art. Typically, a sensor system of some kind, such as a CCD detector and its related optics or a night-vision system, will sweep through a wide Field Of View (FOV) while continuously scanning it. An individual Field Of Regard (FOR) will be scanned once per rotation, or sweep, where an individual FOR is the scene which is detectable by the sensor system at a given instant. The result of scanning an individual FOR, at a given time, produces positional measurements regarding the objects in the FOR.
Any stationary object in an individual FOR can easily be classified since it will appear in the same location in each scan of that FOR. Moving objects, however, are more difficult to classify since their locations in the FOR change between scans of the FOR. In addition, when there are a number of moving objects in the FOR, it is a non-trivial problem to define which of the measurements belong to one moving object and which belong to another. This ambiguity arises because the time between scans of an FOR, known as the revisit time, is typically long compared to the rate of movement of the objects.
One solution is to increase the sweep rate in order to decrease the revisit time. Unfortunately, a fast sweep rate typically produces low signal to noise ratios (SNR) and can smear the measurements. This produces an unacceptably high level of measurements which do not belong to a true moving object; such measurements are known as false measurements, or false alarms. Additionally, for some of the scans of the individual FOR, there will be no measurement of the moving object, even though the object was present, due to the fast sweep rate. This causes a reduction of the probability of detection of moving objects.
Classification and tracking of multiple targets is known in the art as Multiple Target Tracking (MTT) and it has a number of applications, both military and non-military. The military applications include sophisticated weapon delivery systems and satellite surveilance and the non-military applications include air-traffic control. MTT is described, for example, in the book Multiple-Target Tracking with Radar Applications by Samuel S. Blackman, published by Artech House, Inc. Dedham, Ma., 1986.

Method and system for moving object detection


A method that eliminates or reduces chatter when plunge cutting with boring cutters at different diameters, different tool geometries, different chip loads and different cutting depths, by computing optimal cutting insert locations and relocating such inserts to such optimal cutting locations with different phase angles therebetween; this minimizes the resultant radial force of the combined cutters. The method comprises (a) circumferentially stationing the cutters on the tool at different diameters and depths, but at first phase angle locations; (b) measuring or predicting the maximum radial and tangential cutting forces and chip loads imposed upon each cutter for each revolution of the tool, and repeating such calculation for all revolutions of the tool to acquire force information; (c) computing the different resultant radial forces that result from different phase angle positions for the inserts based on the force information; and (d) selecting the best combination of phase angles that produces a minimal/maximal resultant radial force and relocating the cutters according to such newly selected phase angles for completing plunge cutting.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the technology of eliminating chatter in the boring of metals, and more particularly to avoiding chatter resulting from the inter-action of several cutting elements on a single tool that produce different cutting forces in the metal chip removal process, the cutting elements each being at a different cutting diameter and depth, often referred to as plunge cutting.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Chatter in a boring operation can make it difficult or impossible to meet surface finish requirements, can generate excessive vibration, and can cause premature tool failure through edge chipping. Assuming the boring apparatus itself is properly balanced (there being little or no forced vibration resulting from spindle imbalance, gear drive irregularities, or vibrations from adjacent tools, pumps or motors), the problem to be overcome is that of self-excited vibrations resulting from interaction of structural dynamics of the machine tool and the forces generated in the chip removal process.
The conventional approach is to symmetrically space the cutters for dynamic balance, and reduce chatter by changing the cutting speed, depth of cut, or width of cut per cutting insert. This is often fruitless if it increases the cutting force in a direction in which the machine tool or work piece lacks stiffness. In multi-diameter and multi-depth cutting tools, this conventional approach often leads to productivity decrease.
Chatter is of particular concern to the automotive industry when machining valve seats in an automotive cylinder head. There have been two attempts by the prior art to reduce chatter in "same-diameter" milling of valve seats using a plurality of cutters. In one, the cutting edges of a single insert are equally circumferentially spaced, but given a different cutting angle as a result of defining the edges about an eccentric axis (see U.S. Pat. No. 1,882,690). In the other, a large number of individual flat thin notched cutting blades are held in a head for same-diameter milling; the blades are spaced randomly irregularly about the rotating axis of the head. The randomness and irregular spacing promotes a smoother finish using notched blades so that they traverse randomly different cutting lines (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,036,656). Neither of these references provide a solution for eliminating chatter in plunge cutting using cutters at different diameters and depths.

Method of eliminating chatter in plunge cutting with cutters at different diameters and depths


This invention makes it possible to reduce a power consumption of an electronic circuit (microcomputer, for example) while preventing malfunctioning of an oscillator by appropriately setting a power supply impedance of a low frequency oscillator corresponding to an operation mode. A high frequency oscillator, a medium frequency oscillator and a low frequency oscillator are provided as sources of system clocks. In addition, there is provided a quartz oscillator to generate a clock for a timepiece. When the high frequency oscillator is in operation, a power supply impedance of the quartz oscillator is reduced to improve a noise tolerance. In a waiting period during which the high frequency oscillator, the medium frequency oscillator and the low frequency oscillator are halted, on the other hand, the power supply impedance of the quartz oscillator is increased to suppress the power consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic circuit, specifically to an electronic circuit having a plurality of oscillators different in oscillation frequency from each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional microcomputer is provided with a system clock oscillator that generates a clock (system clock or the like) for operations of internal circuits such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a timepiece oscillator that generates a clock for a timepiece. In general, the timepiece oscillator is formed of a quartz oscillator and generates a clock of a low frequency (32 KHz, for example) compared with a frequency of the clock generated by the system clock oscillator.
The microcomputer generally has a plurality of operation modes that differs in processing speed from each other, and has a plurality of system clock oscillators that generates clocks different in speed (frequency), each corresponding to each of the operation modes, respectively. That is, a high speed (high frequency) system clock oscillator is put into operation to generate a high frequency clock in a high speed operation mode, while a low speed (low frequency) system clock oscillator is put into operation to generate a low frequency clock in a low speed operation mode.
When the microcomputer is in operation, one of the system clock oscillators and the timepiece oscillator are in operation simultaneously. When the microcomputer is in a waiting period such as a standby period, on the other hand, all the system clock oscillators are halted while only the timepiece oscillator is in operation. In this case, a power supply impedance of the timepiece oscillator is set to be high so that a power consumption of the microcomputer during the waiting period is suppressed.
This kind of microcomputers is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002-222024 and H09-034867, for example.
When the power supply impedance of the timepiece oscillator is set to be high, however, there is caused a problem that the timepiece would malfunction since a noise caused from the high frequency system clock oscillator is so large in the high speed operation mode to exert an influence on the clock generated by the timepiece oscillator. When the power supply impedance of the timepiece oscillator is set to be low as a countermeasure against the noise, on the other hand, there is caused another problem that the power consumption of the microcomputer is increased.

Multi-oscillator circuit with variable power supply

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


An ideal layout for the pieces on the patterned fabric is determined and stored. Monitoring is performed on the real fabric (20) by detecting any offset between the real pitch of the pattern (M) on the fabric as spread out and the ideal pitch used to determine the layout. The layout is modified as a function of the detected offset so that the layout matches the real pitch on the spread-out fabric before the fabric is cut. Monitoring the fabric is performed by taking images of portions of the spread-out fabric by means of a camera (60), and by verifying the images as taken to see whether the locations corresponding to the stored information occupy the desired positions relative to the real pattern on the spread-out fabric.

The present invention relates to a method for automatically cutting pieces from a patterned fabric.
Fields of application for the invention are in particular the clothing industry and the furniture industry.
When making articles of clothing or pieces of furniture involving assembling together pieces cut from a fabric, there are special constraints if the fabric is patterned, the term "patterned fabric" designating herein any flexible sheet textile material printed with a pattern that is repeated with a uniform pitch. The pitch of the fabric, or pattern repeat pitch, is the distance between successive repeating patterns.
It is then desirable or even necessary to ensure that the pattern continues uninterrupted between two assembled-together pieces, e.g. two pieces of a garment sewn together, or two pieces intended to be adjacent, e.g. two portions of a garment situated side-by-side while the garment is being worn, or two cushions of a sofa placed side-by-side.
In order to satisfy these constraints, it is known that the pieces can be associated with absolute or relative position references, and a hierarchy can be established between main pieces and secondary pieces.
An absolute position reference is normally associated with a main piece. It characterizes the absolute positioning of the main piece relative to the pattern of the fabric. The position of a piece relative to the pattern is characterized by the fact that a given point on the surface of the piece occupies a determined relative position relative to the patterns surrounding it. Thus, pieces whose locations on the surface of the fabric can be deduced from one another by translations through an integer number of pattern pitch steps occupy the same positions relative to the pattern.
Relative position references are associated with two pieces that are to be assembled together, while taking into account constraints related to the existence of the pattern. They identify the locations of two match points that are to be brought in register with each other on assembling together the pieces.
For example, for a jacket, a front piece may constitute a main piece. An absolute position reference may optionally be associated with the front piece, e.g. when it is desired for a complete pattern to be visible at a particular location of the piece. The sleeve, the collar, and the pocket flap then constitute secondary pieces. For each of these secondary pieces, a match point is determined so as to correspond to the location of the associated match point on the main piece.
Naturally, match points may be defined not only between a main piece and a secondary piece, but also between two secondary pieces, one of them then acting as main piece relative to the other.
It is also known that fabric can be cut automatically. Automatic cutting installations have been sold by the Applicant for many years.
An automatic cutting method includes a layout-definition operation which consists in optimally determining the positions of the pieces to be cut from a strip of fabric. The layout is chosen so as to minimize fabric wastage while satisfying certain constraints: (cutting on or off the grain, minimum spacing between pieces to be cut, etc.). With a patterned fabric, there are also constraints related to complying with the locations of absolute position references and of relative position references. Systems enabling an operator to define layouts by means of computer workstations and of specialized software are known, including systems that can be used for patterned fabrics.
To perform cutting, the fabric is spread out on a cutting table in one or more superposed layers which may be held by suction via the table. Cutting is performed by means of a tool carried by a head which is displaced relative to the cutting table as a function of the predetermined layout. Cutting may be performed by a vibrating blade, a laser, a water jet, etc.
Particular difficulties appear when the fabric is a patterned fabric.
A first problem to be solved, if a plurality of superposed layers of patterned fabric are to be cut simultaneously is that a lay-up of layers must be formed so that the patterns are exactly superposed. A known technique consists in using needles which pass through the lay-up and prevent the layers from slipping relative to one another. Reference may be made to Document FR-A-2 644 484.
A second problem which arises in practice is the problem of the reference fabric used to define the layout not coinciding with the fabric actually spread out on the cutting table. This gives rise in particular to the following: on the cutting table, by going to the co-ordinates of a reference point of a piece in the layout, it can be observed that the corresponding point on the spread-out fabric does not always occupy the desired relative position relative to the pattern on the real fabric. These shifts are of varying size and, in practice, they are inevitable. They are caused by printing errors and/or by deformation of the fabric that can result in the pattern repeat pitch being non-uniform. As a result, the pre-established or ideal layout must be modified so as to correspond to the reality of the fabric as spread out.
One method for performing such layout modification automatically or semi-automatically is described in Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,866. After the patterned fabric has been spread out on the cutting table, a camera is brought to the various locations corresponding to the coordinates of the reference points. The real image of the fabric in the vicinity of the assumed location of an absolute position reference point is compared with the ideal image that the vicinity should have, the comparison being performed by digitizing the real image and correlating it with a recorded ideal image. Furthermore, the real images of the fabric in the vicinities of the match points are taken and stored so as to compare the real images of the vicinities of two corresponding match points. The results of the comparisons are used to offset the positions of the pieces in the layout so as to obtain a modified layout which corresponds to the reality of the spread-out fabric and in compliance with which the spread-out fabric is then cut.
That known method suffers from several drawbacks which affect the productivity of the installation and substantially increase the cost of the installation. Fully exploring all of the locations corresponding to the stored co-ordinates of the reference points requires a non-negligible amount of time during which the cutting installation is not available. In addition, such full exploration involves storing images, which requires large digital storage means, it being necessary to store the image of the vicinity of a match point on a piece so long as the image of the corresponding match point on another piece has not been detected and digitized, and so long as the two images have not been compared. Furthermore, full exploration requires a cutting table that is long enough for the length of fabric corresponding to an entire layout to be spread out thereon, which means that that known method cannot be implemented in installations using short cutting tables for cutting fabric that is plain or that does not require matching.
It has also been proposed, in Document WO-A-91/17029 to insert into the layout reference pieces of repetitive shape at constant intervals equal to an integer number of ideal pattern repeat pitch steps of the pattern of the fabric. By examining the locations of the pieces on the spread-out fabric, it is possible to verify whether an offset exists between the ideal repeat pitch and the real repeat pitch of the pattern of the fabric, and to correct the layout where necessary. This examination may be made by cutting out reference pieces or by visually examining their locations on the spread-out fabric. The method disclosed in Document WO-A-91/17029 therefore makes it necessary to interrupt cutting out each time a new reference piece is encountered, which penalizes efficiency considerably, in particular since the spacing between reference pieces must not be too large so that it is possible for any offset occurring between the ideal repeat pitch and the real repeat pitch of the pattern to be corrected sufficiently rapidly. Furthermore, the presence of reference pieces in the layout complicates the layout and gives rise to inevitable wastage of material.

Method for automatically cutting portions of a patterned fabric


An LED lighting device includes multiple luminescent devices driven by a rectified AC voltage. The multiple luminescent devices are turned on flexibly in a multi-stage driving scheme using multiple current control units. At least one charge storage unit is coupled in parallel with at least one luminescent device. When the rectified AC voltage is still insufficient to turn on the at least one luminescent device, the at least charge storage unit is configured to discharge energy to the at least one luminescent device, thereby keeping the at least one luminescent device turned on.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an LED lighting device having multiple driving stages, and more particularly, to an LED lighting device having multiple driving stages for providing wide effective operational voltage range without causing flicker and uniformity issue.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An LED lighting device directly driven by a rectified alternative-current (AC) voltage usually adopts a plurality of LEDs coupled in series in order to provide required luminance. As the number of the LEDs increases, a higher forward-bias voltage is required for turning on the LED lighting device, thereby reducing the effective operational voltage range of the LED lighting device. As the number of the LEDs decreases, the large driving current when the rectified voltage is at its maximum level may impact the reliability of the LEDs.
An LED lighting device is configured to modulate luminous flux and intensity. This time variation is commonly referred to as flicker. LED flicker, whether perceptible or not, has been a concern of the lighting community because of its potential human impacts, which range from distraction, mild annoyance to neurological problems. Therefore, there is a need for an LED lighting device capable of improving the effective operational voltage range, the reliability and the flicker phenomenon.

Low-flickerlight-emitting diode lighting device having multiple driving stages


A vehicle mounted carrier for lifting and securing in an elevated position waste receptacles and other articles for transport. A housing including a pair of side plates, a rear plate and a bottom plate having apertures for mounting to a conventional trailer tow hitch assembly or to a vehicle bumper. A lever arm terminating at one end in a channel for receiving the article of transport and pivotally connected to the housing at the opposite end. A latch assembly is provided for securing the article of transport in an elevated position and for selectively releasing allowing the user to controllably lower and disengage the article of transport. The latch assembly includes a latch rod operably secured to a pair of springs secured to the lever arm and a pair of springs secured to the latch rod and to a lever handle. Lever arm stop element secured to the housing to limit the rotation of the lever arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to receptacle transport devices, and more particularly to transport devices for transporting waste receptacles on vehicles.
2. Description of Prior Art
Many waste disposal companies are providing their customers with special trash receptacles and recycle bins for weekly curbside pickup. The receptacles provided by the waste disposal companies are typically larger in size and accommodate greater volume and weight than typical thirty-two gallon trash receptacles. Many of these receptacles are equip with a horizontal lift bar for automated dumping into waste disposal vehicles. Typically the receptacles are equipped with wheels, which allow the user to wheel the receptacles to the desired location.
In many rural areas the trash source location, typically a residence, is located a considerable distance to the waste disposal company pick-up point, typically the public right-of-way. The oversized trash receptacles will not fit into most passenger vehicles and the increased weight capacity these receptacles accommodate make it difficult to lift the fully loaded receptacle into the bed of a pick-up truck or into the trunk of a passenger vehicle.
One current method of transporting the trash receptacles is by means of a trailer. Transporting the trash receptacles in a trailer towed behind a passenger or light truck vehicle has several disadvantages.                a) With a trailer in tow, vehicle maneuvering is restricted or requires special attention.        b) Trailers may not accommodate various sizes of trash receptacles.        c) Trash receptacles must be secured to prohibit overturning when transporting on steep terrain.        d) The trailer must be left at the pick up point thereby subject to theft of vandalism or the trailer must be returned to the residence, and then towed back again to recover the emptied trash receptacle.
There is needed, therefore a means for transporting the oversized and over weighted trash receptacles without the limitations described for trailering and in a method which does not require the user to lift the full loaded weight of the trash receptacle in order to transport.
Another current method of transporting the trash receptacles is for the user to manually wheel the trash receptacle to the waste disposal company pick-up point. This method is often impractical due to the distance required for transport, inclement weather, slope or condition of terrain, and automatic gates, which open only upon sensing an approaching vehicle.


In a switching device coupled to a computer network, a method for enqueing data packets for transmission over the computer network according to a priority scheme. Initially, the switching device is configured to define a hierarchy of priority levels. A number of queue buffers are reserved for each of the priority levels. Furthermore, each application program is assigned a particular priority, depending its relative importance and time-criticalness. When the application program generates an outbound packet, that packet is assigned a corresponding priority. The CPU checks the number of buffers in the queue which are currently available and compares it with the sum of the buffers which were reserved for all priority levels which are higher than the priority of the outbound packet. If the number of available buffers exceeds the sum of the buffers reserved for the priority levels higher than that of the packet, then the packet is stored in the queue. Otherwise, the packet is discarded. Thereby, a subsequent higher priority packet can be preferentially stored in place of a lower priority packet which was earlier received.

Businesses and individuals rely upon computer networks for exchanging communications and information. Computer networks have become virtually indispensable because it allows users to readily gain access to and exchange information of all types (e.g., sound, text, numerical data, video, graphics, multi-media, etc.) with other computers, databases, websites, and individuals. However, due to their usefulness and convenience, the traffic or amount of data being transmitted over the various networks is dramatically increasing. As the traffic over a network increases, it tends to decrease the network's overall response time. This is due to the fact that a network has a limited amount of data that it can carry over a given amount of time. When the amount of data to be transmitted exceeds the network's bandwidth, the network becomes overloaded, and the time or "latency" for transmitting a packet of data increases dramatically. This delay due to overcongestion on the network can be critical in some applications. For example, financial and stock market data for brokerages must be processed and kept up-to-date. Other real-time applications which are time-sensitive include on-line banking, on-line game playing, video teleconferencing, etc. Hence, when the computer network becomes too slow, it negatively impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of the personnel operating on that network.
One way to solve the congestion problem is to upgrade the network to give it increased bandwidth to make it faster. A faster, high-bandwidth network can transmit more data packets in shorter periods of time. However, this is an extremely expensive, time-consuming, and disruptive process. It often entails re-installing higher capacity lines and discarding older equipment in place of newer, faster, and more costly models. Furthermore, advanced networks are harder to maintain, service, and administer. As such, upgrades are not undertaken lightly. In the meantime, users must suffer through frustratingly slow response times. Further complicating matters is the fact that computer networks often experience heightened activity and traffic at certain peak operating times. This may result when multiple computers attempt to log onto and transmit over the network simultaneously or when an application is transmitting a very large file in a burst. It is very difficult to predict and prevent the occurrence of these traffic peaks.
In an effort to minimize the impact of the surge in traffic and to generally manage the overall traffic on the network, designers have used storage buffers to temporarily store the data packets each computer wishes to transmit. If the network is currently too busy to handle a data packet, that packet is queued into the buffers. Enqueued data packets must wait in turn until the opportunity arises for them to be sent over the network. In the meantime, the computer can perform other processing functions and does not have to wait for the packets to be successfully transmitted.
Although these queue buffers are beneficial, they still do not solve all the problems. One problem is that including these queue buffers increases the cost of manufacturing network devices. Hence, designers have calculated the optimum amount of queue buffers to implement from a cost-benefit standpoint. Given this buffer size constraint, there may be instances when the buffers are full. If the queue buffers are full, a data packet may be dropped, or the computer may have to periodically monitor the queue buffers to determine whether a slot has opened up. In either case, that data packet as well as successive data packets cannot be queued for eventual transmission over the network. As discussed above, there may be instances when it is critical to transmit certain data packets. For example, a data packet containing key network administration data should be transmitted as soon as possible. Yet, the queue buffers might be filled with data packets relating to non-critical e-mail messages. The network admininstration data must then wait until the enqueued e-mail packets are transmitted.
Thus, there is a need for some apparatus or method for creating prioritized queue buffers, whereby time-critical data packets are given preference in the enqueing process.

Method and apparatus for prioritizing the enqueueing of outbound data packets in a network device


The present invention provides: a novel water-absorbing agent, which exhibits an excellent absorption capacity under a load (AAP), gel layer liquid permeation rate under a load (FRUP), saline flow conductivity (SFC), and shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS) of a swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate, and excellent persistency of these effects for a long time. The water-absorbing agent, which comprises a polymer obtained by a process including the steps of polymerizing and then crosslinking a monomer including acrylic acid and/or a salt thereof, with the water-absorbing agent being characterized by: (1) exhibiting a free swelling capacity of not less than 23 g/g (GV), a gel deformation of not more than 12.5 cm under a short-time load (0.5 hrPT), and a gel deformation deterioration of not more than 3.5 cm under a load with the passage of time (ΔPT); (2) exhibiting a free swelling capacity of not less than 23 g/g (GV), a ball burst strength of not less than 80 gf (BBS), and a deterioration of ball burst strength of not more than 40% (DBBS); or (3) exhibiting a free swelling capacity of not less than 23 g/g (GV), an absorption capacity of not less than 20 g/g under a load of 4.9 kPa (AAP), and a gel deformation of not more than 12.5 cm under a load (16 hrPT).

A. Technical Field
This invention relates to a novel water-absorbing agent, a production process therefor, and a water-absorbent structure.
B. Background Art
In recent years, water-absorbent resins are widely used as constituent materials of water-absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, and so-called incontinent pads, for the purpose of causing the water-absorbent resins to absorb body fluids. Known examples of the above water-absorbent resins are disclosed in Japan Industrial Standard (JIS) K7223-1996. Examples of the known water-absorbent resins include: crosslinked products of partially neutralized polyacrylic acids; hydrolyzed products of starch-acrylic acid graft polymers, saponified products of vinyl acetate-acrylic acid ester copolymers, hydrolyzed products of acrylonitrile- or acrylamide copolymers, and crosslinked products thereof; and crosslinked polymers of cationic monomers.
The water-absorbent resins are hardly used alone because they are generally powders. They are mixed with hydrophilic cellulose fibers, such as pulverized pulps and paper, and used as water-absorbent structures such as disposable diapers (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,257). When the water-absorbent resins alone are used for absorbing much water in a short time, they cannot absorb in a short time. Therefore, the above mixing is particularly required in order to prevent the water from spreading. The cellulose fibers have functions of: retaining powdery absorbent-reins, or sufficiently spreading water to the water-absorbent resins that are distributed according to capillary action, or retaining swollen water-absorbent resins after water is absorbed.
However, when water-absorbent structures as obtained by the above art are used as disposable diapers, and when the ratio of the absorbent resin particles to the cellulose fibers is higher, the cohesive strength is weak among the cellulose fibers. Therefore, the water-absorbent structures have the following problems: the absorption properties are not as sufficient as expected because the absorbent resins as swollen are moved and dropped after they absorb urine in practical use; and the absorption structures do not display the aimed properties because the decomposition of the absorbent resin particles is caused by a certain kind of component in the urine.
Heretofore, many proposals have been made to solve the above problems. Hereinafter, their artificial contents and problems are described.
JP-A-31362/1993 discloses a method which involves: treating a surface of a water-absorbent resin particle having a carboxyl group with a crosslinking agent having two or more functional groups which can form a covalent bond by reacting with the carboxyl group in order to crosslink with a portion of the carboxyl groups; and thereafter blending the particle with a cationic polymer compound which can form an ionic bond by reacting with the carboxyl group and has a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 2,000.
Japanese Patent No. 3017584 discloses a method for producing a water-absorbent structure, wherein the water-absorbent structure includes a water-absorbent resin particle of which the surface has an acidic group, a cellulose fiber, and a cationic polymer compound having a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 2,000.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,610 discloses a method which involves: treating a surface of a water-absorbent resin particle having a carboxyl group with a crosslinking agent having two or more functional groups which can form a covalent bond by reacting with the carboxyl group in order to crosslink with a portion of the carboxyl groups; and thereafter blending the particle with a cationic polymer compound which can form an ionic bond by reacting with the carboxyl group and has a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 2,000, and a method which involves producing a water-absorbent structure which comprises a water-absorbent resin particle of which the surface has an acidic group, a cellulose fiber, and a cationic polymer compound having a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 2,000.
Japanese Patent No. 3107909 discloses a particulate water-absorbing agent having the following properties: the ratio of the particles having particle diameters of not larger than 149 μm is less than 10 weight %; and the water-absorbing agent exhibits an absorption rate of 20 to 90 seconds when 28 g of physiological saline is absorbed in the water-absorbing agent (g), with the water-absorbing agent being characterized in that: when an iron ball (a ball as described in JIS B-1501) having a diameter of 15/32 inch (about 11.9 cm) freely falls from a point having a height of 20 cm to the swollen hydrogel as obtained in the above way, the iron ball bounds on the swollen hydrogel, or the swollen hydrogel is not invaded by the iron ball (about 11.9 cm) after the iron ball stands still.
JP-A-227435/1990 discloses a liquid-absorbent polymer composition, which comprises a base polymer particle having a absorption rate of not more than 20 seconds, substantially water-absorbency, and an absorption capacity of at least 30 ml/g under an ordinary pressure, and is surface-crosslinked with a multivalent ionic crosslinking agent, and is granulated so that the particle size of the polymer composition will be larger than that of the base polymer particle, with the liquid-absorbent polymer composition being characterized by having the particle distribution such that: the liquid-absorbent polymer particle does not substantially include a particle larger than 300 μm before the liquid-absorbent polymer particle is surface-crosslinked and granulated, and 40% or more of the particles have particle diameters of not larger than 150 μm.
JP-A-53550/1996 discloses a method for producing a high-water-absorbent resin, which involves: adding (a) a hydrophilic polymer and (b) a crosslinking agent into a high-water-absorbent resin hydrogel, wherein the high-water-absorbent resin hydrogel is obtained by adding 10 to 100 parts by weight of water to 100 parts by weight of a high-water-absorbent resin, wherein the hydrophilic polymer has a reactive group and the amount of the hydrophilic polymer is 0.005 to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the high-water-absorbent resin, and wherein the crosslinking agent has two or more functional groups reactable with the hydrophilic polymer having the reactive group and the weight ratio of the hydrophilic polymer/crosslinking agent is in the range of 0.1 to 30; blending them together; and carrying out a heating reaction of them.
Water-absorbent resins as modified by these known arts are certainly difficult to move or drop when they are combined with cellulose fibers. In addition, the swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate may also have an excellent shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS). In the present invention, the "swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate" means a state such that water-absorbing agents as swollen come into contact with one another after absorbing water, and can be regarded as one lump, for example, a state such that the cohesive strength of such as ionic bond, hydrogen bond, covalent bond, and coordinate bond is applied among swollen water-absorbing agents, and the swollen water-absorbing agents come into contact with one another. However, the water-absorbent resin particles and/or water-absorbing agents do not have a sufficient absorption amount of water under a load (absorption capacity under a load (AAP)), gel layer liquid permeation rate under a load (FRUP), saline flow conductivity (SFC). Therefore, when they were combined with cellulose fibers or other materials, the absorption properties could not be said to be sufficient. For example, when the water-absorbing agents were used as a portion of a water-absorbent structure in disposable diapers, they had a low absorption capacity under a load (AAP). Therefore, they had the following serious problems: a demerit such that the urine as absorbed in the water-absorbent structure is returned to the surface of the diaper when the pressure is exerted by body weight; and a demerit such that the water-absorbent structure has a low liquid permeability therein because the gel layer liquid permeation rate under a load (FRUP) and the saline flow conductivity (SFC) are not sufficient, and therefore, the liquid does not spread enough in the water-absorbent structure, and the decrease of the absorption amount of water and the leak of the liquid are caused.
In addition, the above water-absorbent resins as modified by these known arts are certainly difficult to move or drop when they are combined with cellulose fibers. In addition, the swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate may also have an excellent shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS). However, its absorption properties are gradually lost with the passage of time after it absorbs water, and particularly there was a demerit such that the shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS) of the swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate were considerably lowered. Because these are lowered, when disposal diapers comprising a water-absorbent resin in a high ratio are especially used for a long time, it results in moving the resultant swollen gel and lowing absorption properties.
WO 97/03114 discloses a method for producing a water-absorbing agent powder, which is characterized by decreasing a residual crosslinking agent by adding a nucleophilic agent to a carboxyl-group-containing water-absorbent resin powder of which the surface neighborhood is surface-crosslinked with a crosslinking agent including an epoxy group and in which the crosslinking agent remains, wherein the water-absorbent resin powder is in a state of heated powder. In Example 1 as described in this document, an example of adding polyethylenimine as a nucleophilic agent to a water-absorbent resin powder is described.
JP-A-509591/1997 and WO 95/22356 disclose an absorbing material having an improved absorbency, which includes a mixture of: (1) two or more absorbent gel-formable particles which are water-insoluble and include a water-swellable polymer; and (2) an absorbency-improved polymer reactable with at least one component included in urine, with the water-absorbing material being characterized in that the mixture is produced by: (i) applying a solution onto the two or more absorbent gel-formable particles, wherein the solution includes an organic solvent (favorably, polar organic solvent), water, and the absorbency-improved polymer, and the weight ratio between the organic solvent and the water is at least 50:50, favorably in the range of 70:30 to 98:2; and (ii) removing a portion of the organic solvent and water from these applied absorbent gel-formable particles. In Examples as described in this document, an example of adding polyallylamine to a water-absorbent resin powder is described.
JP-A-342963/2000 discloses a method for producing an absorbing agent composition, which is characterized by adding a polyamine compound having a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 5,000 to a water-absorbent resin having an diffusive absorption capacity of not less than 25 g/g in an aqueous sodium chloride solution of 0.9 weight % after 60 minutes from the start of swelling under a load of 20 g/cm2 (1.96 kPa).
WO 96/17884 discloses a water-absorbent resin composition having a water-holding ability of not less than 20 g/g, an absorption rate of not more than 120 seconds, a liquid permeation rate of not more than 200 seconds under a load. In Example 19 as described in this document, an example of adding polyethylenimine to a water-absorbent resin particle is described.
JP-A-290000/1997 discloses an absorbing material that comprises (a) an absorbent gel particle including a water-insoluble absorbent hydrogel-formable polymer, (b) a polycationic polymer, (c) a glue fine fiber, and (d) a carrier layer, with the absorbing material being characterized in that the polycationic polymer is bonded to the absorbent gel particle and the glue fine fiber acts as an adhesive agent between the absorbent gel particle and the carrier layer.
Even in these technical arts, the cationic polymer compound as blended with the water-absorbent resin particle is not sufficiently crosslinked, or the gel layer permeation rate under a load (FRUP) or the saline flow conductivity (SFC) of the water-absorbent resin particle is not sufficient. Therefore, the absorption properties could not be said to be sufficient in the same reason as of the above. In addition, as to the swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate, its absorption properties are gradually lost with the passage of time after it absorbs water, and there was particularly a demerit such that the shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS) of the swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate were considerably lowered.
JP-A-3123/1997 discloses a water-absorbent polymer characterized by displaying a delay bonding character in contact with a water-containing liquid. Even in this technical art, the gel layer permeation rate under a load (FRUP) or the saline flow conductivity (SFC) of a water-absorbent resin particle is not sufficient. Therefore, the absorption properties could not be said to be sufficient in the same reason as of the above. In addition, there was a demerit such that: the absorption capacity of a water-absorbing agent under a load (AAP) was not sufficient wherein the water-absorbing agent was obtained by blending the water-absorbent resin particle and a polyamine together; and the urine as absorbed in a water-absorbent structure was returned to the surface of a diaper when the pressure was exerted by body weight.
WO 97/12575 discloses a technical art to improve a gel layer permeability under a load by carrying out a reaction between a water-insoluble water-absorbing hydrogel-formable polymer and a polycationic polymer, and forming a covalent bond between both of them. However, there was a demerit such that the shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS) of a swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate were considerably lowered because the covalent bond was formed between both of them by heating. In addition, the gel layer permeation rate under a load (FRUP) or the saline flow conductivity (SFC) of a water-absorbent resin particle is not sufficient. Therefore, the absorption properties could not be said to be sufficient in the same reason as of the above.
In WO 99/34841, WO 99/34842, WO 99/34843, and WO 99/25393, an acidic-group-containing water-insoluble swellable polymer and a basic-group-containing water-insoluble swellable polymer are mixed together and used. Accordingly, when the resultant polymer comes into contact with saline, the salt in the saline is absorbed into the polymer and the respective acid group and base group are neutralized with the salt. Therefore, the following properties are sufficiently generalized: an absorption capacity under a load (AAP), a saline flow conductivity (SFC), and a shape-maintaining property and a ball burst strength (BBS) of a swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate. However, the ratio of the acidic group and the basic group is important in this technical art, and it is very uneconomical because the valuable basic water-insoluble swellable polymer must be used in a large amount (usually, the amount is nearly equal to that of the acidic-group-containing water-insoluble swellable polymer, at least not less than 10 weight %). In addition, there was a demerit such that the absorption amount of water was extremely lowered in a liquid not including salt or in the presence of more salt than the amount possible to neutralize. Furthermore, there was usually a demerit such that the free swelling capacity (GV) of the water-absorbing agent as obtained in the above technical art was not sufficient.
JP-A-95955/2000 discloses a water-absorbing agent composition comprising at least a water-absorbent resin particle having an anionic dissociative group and a water-swellable resin particle having a cationic group, with the water-absorbing agent composition being characterized in that: 45 to 90 mol % of the anionic dissociative groups of the water-absorbent resin particle are neutralized; the weight ratio (α) of the water-absorbent resin particle having the anionic dissociative group relative to the total weight of the water-absorbent resin particle having the anionic dissociative group and the water-swellable resin particle having the cationic group is at least 0.8; and the absorption capacity of the water-absorbing agent composition under a load (P) is at least 20 g/g. The water-absorbing agent as obtained by this technical art has a sufficient absorption capacity under a load (AAP) and saline flow conductivity (SFC). However, the water solubility of the water-swellable resin particle having the cationic group as used in this technical art is low. Therefore, there was a demerit such that the shape-maintaining property and ball burst strength (BBS) of a swollen water-absorbing agent aggregate were considerably lowered.

Water-absorbing agent and production process therefor, and water-absorbent structure


A specimen transporter for transporting a specimen plate to a specimen imaging apparatus, where one side of the smearing pate is a smearing surface. The specimen transporter including a specimen transport section that transports the specimen plate to the specimen imaging apparatus. A posture changing section receives the specimen plate from the specimen imaging apparatus with the smearing surface facing upward, and changes the posture of the specimen plate so that one end side in a longitudinal direction of the received specimen plate is positioned above the other end side. A specimen inserting section inserts the specimen plate, having the changed posture, into a plate storage rack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a specimen transporter, a specimen testing system, and a specimen transporting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A specimen creating apparatus for creating a specimen plate (hereinafter simply referred to as "specimen") obtained by smearing a sample such as blood, or the like on a slide glass, and a specimen imaging apparatus for observing the specimen created with the specimen creating apparatus with a microscope, and imaging the specimen with a camera are conventionally known. A specimen transporter for transporting the specimen received from the specimen creating apparatus to the specimen imaging apparatus is also known.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0148046 A discloses a specimen image imaging system including a blood smear creating apparatus for storing a slide glass, smeared with blood in a cassette, and supplying a stain fluid into the cassette to create a specimen plate; a specimen image imaging apparatus for imaging the specimen plate; and a cassette transporter for transporting the cassette received from the blood smear creating apparatus to the specimen image imaging apparatus.
The cassette transporter is configured to receive the cassette in a standing state from the blood smear creating apparatus, and turn the received cassette so that a smearing surface of the specimen plate is facing upward. The specimen image imaging apparatus includes a chuck member for taking out the specimen plate arranged such that the smearing surface is facing upward from the cassette, and a transportation path for transporting the specimen plate taken out to an imaging section. The imaged specimen plate is transported by the transportation path and accommodated in a rack for accommodating plates.
In the specimen image imaging system described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0148046 A, the imaged specimen plate is transported to the plate accommodation rack in a state (horizontal posture) arranged so that the smearing surface is facing upward, and the specimen plates are accommodated so as to be lined in an up-down direction in the horizontal posture in the rack. An opening is formed at a side surface of the rack, and the specimen is placed in and taken out through the opening.
However, if an emulsion oil is used in imaging the specimen, for example, the emulsion oil that attached to the specimen may leak out to the outside of the rack when taking out the specimen plate from the rack, thus getting the periphery of the rack dirty. In this case, a step for washing the periphery of the rack may become necessary, or an emulsion oil may attach to a mechanism at the periphery of the rack, thus adversely affecting of the operation of such mechanism.

Specimen transporter, specimen testing system and specimen transporting method


An optical irradiating apparatus for use in a display unit and an optical irradiating method thereof is disclosed. The apparatus includes an optical source lamp, a polarizer secured within a polarized light transducer and for separating light rays incoming from the optical source lamp, and an optical/video converting device for converting the reflected light rays (reflected by the polarizer) to video signals. The light rays which have undergone the above procedure pass through an optical irradiating lens, and then, are sent to a screen. The optical irradiating apparatus further includes first and second reflecting mirrors installed respectively above and below the polarizer within the optical polarizing device and for reflecting the light rays passed through the polarizer, and a .lambda./4 plate installed on the surface of the second reflecting mirror and for polarizing the light rays (reflected from the first reflecting mirror) to the same component as that of the initial reflected light rays. In response to present invention, the light rays passed through the polarizer can be utilized, and therefore, the optical efficiency can be improved by about 80-90% over that of the conventional technique.

Generally, a display unit using a polarized light transducer polarizes light rays after receipt of them from an optical source, and converts the light rays into video signals before sending them to a screen. This device is classified as a reflecting type optical irradiating device, and a transmission type optical irradiating device.
First, the reflecting type optical irradiating device which is constructed, as shown in FIG. 1 operates in such a manner that light rays 11 incoming at a certain angle from an optical source 10 pass through a focussing lens 12 before passing through a transmission window 13a which is installed below a polarized light transducer 13.
Thereafter, the incident rays 11 are broken down into transmission light rays 11a passing through a polarizer 14 of the polarized light transducer 13, and reflected light rays 11b reflected from the polarizer 14. The reflected light rays 11b which are separated by the polarizer 14 pass through the transmission window 13b of the polarized light transducer 13, and are input into an optical/video converting device 15. Meanwhile, in accordance with the video signals which are supplied from a video signal generator 16, the optical/video converting device 15 changes the polarizing direction of the reflected light rays based on the brightness of the images. Then, the reflected light rays sequentially pass through a transmission window 13b, a polarizer 14 and a transmission window 13c of the polarized light transducer 13, and then, pass through an irradiating lens 18, before being sent to a screen 19.
Here, the light rays which are reflected from the optical/video converting device 15 are the ones which are subjected to a change of polarizing directions after the modification of the reflected light rays. Therefore, if they enter into the polarizer 14 again, the transmission component passes through it in accordance with the polarized direction, and the reflected component is reflected, thereby making it possible to distinguish the brightnesses. Meanwhile, the transmission type optical irradiating device which is constituted as shown in FIG. 2 operates in such a manner that incident light rays 11 which enter at a certain angle pass through a focussing lens 12, and then, pass through a transmission window 13a which is installed above a polarized light transducer 13. Thereafter, the incident light rays 11 are broken down into transmission light rays 11a passing through a polarizer 14 of the polarized light transducer 13, and reflected light rays 11b reflected from the polarizer 14. The reflected light rays 11b which are separated by the polarizer 14 pass through a transmission window 13b of the optical polarizing device 13, and then, are sent to a first color separating filter 20. Then of the three colors of R (red), G (green) and B (blue), the R color is reflected, and the remaining G and B colors are permitted to pass through a second color separating filter 21. Meanwhile, the R color which is reflected from the first color separating filter 20 is reflected again from a first reflecting mirror 22 which is disposed above the first color separating filter 20. Then, the R color reflected of the first color separating filter 20 passes through a liquid crystal panel 24 which is disposed at the front of the first reflecting mirror 22, and then sends to a first color synthesizing filter 23 which is disposed down stream thereof.
Of the G and B colors which have passed through the first color separating filter 20, the G color is reflected from the second color separating filter 21. Then the G color passes through a liquid crystal panel 25 which is disposed above the second color separating filter 20, and then, the G color is reflected from the first color synthesizing filter 23, before being synthesized with the R color. The B color which has passed through the second color separating filter 21 passes through a liquid crystal panel 26 which is disposed at the front of the second color separating filter 21. Then the B color is reflected from a second reflecting mirror 27 which is disposed at the front of the liquid crystal panel 27, and then, the B color is synthesized by a second color synthesizing filter 28. Then the R, G and B colors pass through a transmission lens 18, before forming an image on the screen 19. Under this condition, the liquid crystal panels 24, 25 and 26 are respectively provided with different transmissivities for the R, G and B colors, so that the colors on the screen should be decided in accordance with the supply of electrical signals. That is, if the R, G and B colors are applied to the liquid crystal panels 24, 25 and 26, a color image is regenerated on the screen.
However, in the above described optical irradiating apparatus for a display unit, much loss occurs in the light rays after they have passed through the polarizer after the emission of them from the optical source.
Because only the reflected light rays are used, the actual usable amount is about 50% of the total incident rays, thereby severely reducing the optical efficiency.

Optical illumination apparatus for a display unit with efficient light source polarization


A dental floss dispenser and applicator to be used with fixed orthodontic appliances, provided for a wearer to clean food, debris, and dental plaque so as to prevent proximal caries and periodontal disease. The dental flosser includes a handle section, a dental floss mounting section, and a single floss support portion wherein the dental floss mounting section and handle section contain a metered floss dispenser and locking means for floss being dispensed, and wherein the floss support contains a through hole to continuously supply floss. The floss support is slender so that it can be inserted into the narrow clearance between the adjacent surfaces of the teeth. The locking means holds the floss taught and allows for easy access to clean floss during operation.

The present invention relates to a dental floss dispenser and applicator used by patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. The dental flosser includes a floss support and a holder portion containing a metered floss dispenser. The floss support is specially designed for use with fixed orthodontic appliances.
A dental flosser is used in such a manner that the dental floss is intruded between the adjacent surfaces of two teeth and into the gingival sulcus and then the floss is urged to scrape the surfaces to dislodge and remove food debris and dental plaque. The dental flosser appears to be a most effective tool for cleaning the adjacent surfaces of the teeth in cooperation with the toothbrush. However, during the orthodontic treatment period, a fixed orthodontic appliance is applied to the patient and a metal orthodontic wire is fixed between the teeth so that the conventional flosser is unable to go between the teeth to perform the up and down, left and right scraping movement. In addition, the conventional dental flosser is not designed to accommodate the requirements of a patient under orthodontic treatment. The excessively thick floss supports cannot fit through the quite narrow clearance between the metal orthodontic wire and the adjacent surface of the teeth. (The clearance between the metal orthodontic wire and the adjacent surface of the teeth is referred hereinafter as "clearance".)
Attempts to provide dental flossers that are suitable for orthodontic patients have generally produced dental flossers that include two floss supports and a strand of floss suspended between them. This frees the user from the necessity of grasping the floss with his fingers, but has the decided disadvantage of restricting maneuverability within the clearance. All of the prior art had to be moved as one inflexible unit. The one post and a flexible floss design provide increased maneuverability and access within the clearance.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,843 to Peng, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,631 to Ikeda and the FLOSSPOPPER brand dental flosser which is distributed by GAC, all disclose dental flossers of the two post design. This design suffers from a number of disadvantages:
(a) Since the prior art is maneuvered as one inflexible unit, it does not allow vertiginous maneuvering within the clearance. This limitation increases difficulty and decreases cleaning efficiency of flossing. PA1 (b) An inflexible unit doesn't permit varying the degree of tautness of the floss. Tautly pulled floss injures gums more readily than gently suspended floss that can respond to the variable surface of the gum line. Indirectly applying pressure to the floss, through the floss supports decreases control over the force and extent of insertion of the floss further increasing the risk of injury to the gums. PA1 (c) When the floss is suspended between two posts, one cannot exert maximum pressure to the floss because pressure is indirectly applied via the supports. This decreases the efficiency of its cleaning power. PA1 (d) Since the prior-art flosser is maneuvered as one inflexible unit, it requires increased dexterity to properly insert the flosser into the tiny clearance, and at the same time concentrate on properly intruding the floss between the adjacent surfaces of two teeth. The increased time and effort can discourage the user from flossing as often and as thoroughly as desired. PA1 (e) Since the prior art is maneuvered as one inflexible unit, it requires inordinate perseverance to clean the back teeth at the necessary 90 degree angle as the mouth does not open wide enough for proper access. PA1 (f) The dexterity required to properly floss with prior art devices is beyond the capability of many juveniles who comprise the majority of orthodontic patients. PA1 (g) The prior art makes no provision for replacing floss, so the entire apparatus must be disposed of after use, which measurably increases cost.
While the FLOSSPOPPER has the other disadvantages of the two-post flosser, it is not disposable. However, the floss must be threaded into several cavities prior to each use. Furthermore, plaque can accumulate within the cavity, thereby obstructing future re-threading. Furthermore, there is no locking mechanism for the floss, which must be grasped manually during the entire flossing process. It is extremely difficult to maintain one's grip on the floss when teeth are tightly wedged, therefore floss often requires repeated rethreading.

Dental floss dispenser and applicator used in fixed orthodontic appliances


Track mis-registration (TMR) correction is conditionally made in a hard disk drive using servo data in a closed loop servo control scheme, along with one or more alternative sensing schemes when an external shock or vibration occurs. The alternative sensing schemes include measurement of spindle motor speed using a frequency of servo markers read from a rotating disk, voice control motor (VCM) back emf, spindle motor speed back emf, and accelerometer readings. The predicted TMR resulting from the signal generated by the alternative sensing scheme(s) is simulated based upon a model of the disk drive system, and corrections are applied only if the expected TMR due to the disturbances is large enough that application of the corrections using the alternative sensing scheme would be likely to reduce the overall TMR. In one case, actual operation is occasionally performed with and without corrective TMR feedback from the selected sensing scheme(s), and the actual values are compared with predictions from the system model and the results are used to update the system model.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to servo control to reduce track mis-registration (TMR). More specifically, the present invention applies to enhanced disturbance rejection when a shock or vibration occurs to correct for effects of that disturbance.
2. Related Art
A hard disk drive typically includes one or more rotatable storage media, or disks upon which data is encoded. The disks are mounted on the shaft of a spindle motor for rotation. Data is encoded on the rotating disks as bits of information using magnetic field reversals grouped in tracks. A transducer head supported by an actuator arm is used to read data from or write data to the disks.
A voice control motor (VCM) attached to the actuator arm controls positioning of the actuator, and thus the transducer head position over a disk. Current is applied to the coil of the VCM to control the position of the actuator. Movement of the actuator caused by current applied to the VCM, or by an external shock, generates a back emf voltage in the coil of the VCM motor. Measurements of back emf from the VCM coil are typically made to determine the velocity of the actuator during start-up, or until track positioning information can be read from the disk through the transducer head to determine actuator position.
The transducer head includes a slider having an air bearing surface that causes the transducer to fly above the data tracks of the disk surface due to fluid currents caused by the spindle motor rotating the disk. Thus, the transducer does not physically contact the disk surface during normal operation of the disk drive to minimize wear on both the head and disk surface.
Typically during shut down, the actuator is positioned on a ramp situated off to the side of a disk. For some disk drives, the ramp may be at or near the inner diameter of the disk. Before power is actually shut off, the actuator assembly is moved up the ramp to a park position at the top of the ramp to prevent the slider from contacting the disk.
Startup includes moving the actuator down the ramp so that the slider of the transducer flies when it gets to the bottom of the ramp. To assure the slider does not come into contact with the disk, the velocity of the actuator coming down the ramp is carefully monitored and controlled. Since servo data cannot be read using the transducer head, back emf voltage across the VCM coil is measured to monitor actuator velocity since back emf varies as a function of the velocity of the actuator sliding down the ramp.
Once the slider forms an air-bearing over the disk, the head can typically read from the disk. Servo position data read from the disk is processed by the processor, enabling the processor to provide servo control signals to control the VCM for proper positioning of a transducer head relative to a disk. With servo position data available for determining actuator position, back emf voltage readings in previous systems in most disk drive systems are no longer used to determine the position and/or velocity of the actuator.
Control of the position of the head over tracks on the disk is typically achieved with the closed loop servo system where head position servo information is provided from the disk to detect and control the position of the heads. As will be recognized, a dedicated servo system entails the dedication of one entire surface of one of multiple disks to servo information, with the remaining disc surfaces being used for the storage of user data. Alternatively, an embedded servo system involves interleaving the servo information with the user data on each of the surfaces of the discs so that both servo information and user data is read by each of the heads. Hybrid systems also exist, in which one entire disk surface is dedicated to servo information and a small portion of each remaining disk surface also contains servo information.
Servo data read enables measurement or estimation of various parameters including head position, velocity and acceleration and to use these parameters in the closed-loop control of the position of the head. For example, during track following where a head is controlled to follow a selected track on the disk, track mis-registration (TMR) is determined using a position error signal (PES) generated from servo information on the disk to indicate relative distance between the head and the center of the selected track. The PES is used to generate correction signals which adjust the position of the head by adjusting the amount of current applied to the VCM coil. Additionally, during a seek, which involves the acceleration and subsequent deceleration of the head from an initial track to a destination track on a disk, the measured or estimated radial velocity of the head can be compared to a model or profile velocity, with correction signals being generated from the differences between the actual velocity and the profile velocity of the head.
Besides servo data read from a disk and back emf of the VCM coil, the amount of movement of the actuator due to a shock or vibration can be predicted using other components in the disk drive. As one example, the back emf of the spindle motor may be used. Back emf from winding coils of the spindle motor is typically monitored during operation of the disk drive to assure the spindle motor is operating at a desired speed. An external shock applied to the disk drive will cause a sudden measurable change in the spindle motor speed. Spindle rotational speed can also be monitored by observation of the time between servo samples read from the disk. As another example, one or more rotational and/or linear accelerometers can be included in the disk drive for the purpose of measuring external shocks or vibrations applied. Accelerometers are more typically used in notebook or more mobile computers where shocks or vibrations may be expected during operation to enable corrections to be made should the actuator be knocked out of position, or at least to allow a write operation to be halted before any damage is done to tracks adjacent to the target track.
With increased track densities and rotational speeds of disk drives, closed-loop control of head position has become increasingly critical to minimize TMR. In one case to improve control of actuator head position, combining measurement techniques to determine actuator movement has been contemplated. The combined measurement techniques included measurement of back emf from the VCM which was continued after servo data could be read from the disk. This combination of measuring back emf and using servo data to correct for TMR is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,743, entitled "Velocity Sensing Using Actuator Coil Back-EMF Voltage," which is incorporated herein by reference.
Combining measurement techniques to measure and correct for actuator movement caused by vibrations or shocks, however, may not improve the performance of a system controlling TMR. The additional sensors used may provide noisy or low-resolution signals, and servo corrections made on the basis of those signals may actually add more TMR than they eliminate. To improve disk drive system performance, there is a continuing need for improved approaches to control TMR.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Methods of operating a memory device include comparing input data to data stored in memory cells coupled to a data line, comparing a representation of a level of current in the data line to a reference, and determining that the input data potentially matches the data stored in the memory cells when the representation of the level of current in the data line is less than the reference. Methods of operating a memory device further include comparing input data to first data and to second data stored in memory cells coupled to a first data line or to a second data line, respectively, comparing representations of the levels of current in the first data line and in the second data line to a first reference and to a different second reference, and deeming one to be a closer match to the input data in response to results of the comparisons.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory.
Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Changes in threshold voltage of the cells, through programming of charge storage structures, such as floating gates or trapping layers or other physical phenomena, determine the data state of each cell. Common uses for flash memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, digital media players, digital recorders, games, appliances, vehicles, wireless devices, cellular telephones, and removable memory modules, and the uses for flash memory continue to expand.
Flash memory may utilize architectures known as NOR flash and NAND flash. The designation is derived from the logic used to read the devices. In a NOR flash architecture, a column of memory cells are coupled in parallel with each memory cell coupled to a data line, such as a bit line. A "column" refers to a group of memory cells that are commonly coupled to a data line, such as a bit line. It does not require any particular orientation or linear relationship, but instead refers to the logical relationship between memory cell and data line.
Typically, the array of memory cells for NAND flash memory devices is arranged such that the control gate of each memory cell of a row of the array is connected together to form an access line, such as a word line. Columns of the array include strings (often termed NAND strings) of memory cells connected together in series, source to drain, between a pair of select lines, a source select line and a drain select line. The source select line includes a source select gate at each intersection between a NAND string and the source select line, and the drain select line includes a drain select gate at each intersection between a NAND string and the drain select line. Each source select gate is connected to a source line, while each drain select gate is connected to a data line, such as column bit line.
Content addressable memories (CAM) are memories that implement a lookup table function in a single clock cycle. They use dedicated comparison circuitry to perform the lookups. CAM applications are often used in network routers for packet forwarding and the like. Each individual memory cell in a CAM usually requires its own comparison circuit in order to allow the CAM to detect a match between a bit of input data, such as an input feature vector (e.g., sometimes referred to as a key or key data) with a bit of data, such as a data feature vector, stored in the CAM. However, not all bits are the same. For example, binary expressions may include a most significant bit (MSB), a least significant bit (LSB), and bits between the MSB and LSB.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for identifying and differentiating between MSBs, LSBs and bits between the MSB and LSB in comparisons between input data and data stored in memory.

Methods of operating a memory device comparing input data to data stored in memory cells coupled to a data line


An optical disk drive including: a housing; a tray installed in the housing; an optical pickup unit mounted in the tray; and a guide shaft mounted in the tray such that the optical pickup unit and the guide shaft are configured such that the optical pickup unit is reciprocally movable along the guide shaft.

1. Field
The following description relates to an optical disc drive, and additionally, to an optical disc drive that includes a tray and an optical pickup unit having improved structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a slim type optical disc drive used in laptop computers includes a housing (e.g., a body) that is configured to receive a tray which is configured to receive a disc. A slim type optical disc drive includes a tray installed in the housing. In addition, a slim type optical disc drive includes an optical pickup unit installed in a tray, and a main printed circuit board (PCB) that is configured to control the optical pickup unit. The optical pickup unit and the main printed circuit board are installed in the housing. Because the optical disc drive must comply with predetermined standards in order to maintain the compatibility with general laptop computers, the freedom of designing optical disc drives is limited. According to the conventional art, an optical pickup unit is separately mounted in a tray. This optical pickup unit includes a base on which a guide shaft is installed and a main body that is mounted on the guide shaft and that reciprocally moves with respect to the metal base. Structurally, the optical pickup unit is a single, integrated element having a complicated structure, and the base thereof is mostly formed of a metal plate.

Optical disc drive having a tray with guide supports and main circuit board

TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY KOREA CORPORATION