A water tube boiler using jet flames is disclosed which is capable of achieving low CO-emission combustion without enlarging a size of a combustion chamber. The water tube boiler comprises a combustion chamber 1 in which jet flames are generated and rows 3a to 3e of water tubes inserted through the combustion chamber. The group of water tubes provides a portion thick with the water tubes and a portion empty of the water tubes in a cross-section perpendicular to the direction of the jet flames, and at least the space Sa as an empty portion continuously extends through said group of water tubes in the direction of the jet flames. In the space Sa as an "empty" portion provided between the rows 3b and 3d of water tubes, recirculating flows (shown by arrows) of a combustion gas are generated. The recirculating flows are entrained by the jet flames existing the portion "thick" with the water tubes. Consequently, rapid temperature decrease of the jet flames is prevented. This enables the jet flames to flow downstream while maintaining a CO oxidation promoting temperature of about 1,000 to 1,500.degree. C., thereby promoting CO oxidation reaction. Accordingly, residual CO of an exhaust gas is greatly reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in particular, relates to a water tube boiler capable of reducing CO emission and a method for controlling combustion in the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A water tube boiler has been known which comprises a combustion chamber, a group of water tubes extending therethrough, and a burner for heating water passing through the group of water tubes by combustion gas to obtain hot water or steam. In such a water tube boiler, a large combustion zone is provided between the burner and the group of water tubes to sufficiently advance oxidation of CO into CO.sub.2, and then heat exchange is effected between the combustion gas and the group of the water tubes disposed on further down stream from the combustion zone. This is because if heat exchange was carried out prior to sufficient oxidation of CO contained in the combustion gas, an exhaust gas would contain residual CO in an undesirable amount. Accordingly, the volume of the combustion chamber is unavoidably large.
To cope therewith, as a combustion method and an apparatus for carrying out the method which are capable of achieving low CO-generating combustion with a combustion chamber having a reduced size, there have been proposed those in which water tubes are placed in the vicinity of the tip of a flame to control the temperature of the flame within a range of about 1,000.degree. C. to 1,500.degree. C., and then the temperature-controlled combustion gas is caused to pass through an adiabatic space and then led into a heat exchanger to effect heat exchange, thereby realizing high intensity combustion while reducing CO emission (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 35884/1990). The method and the apparatus have been made in view of the fact that oxidation reaction of CO into CO.sub.2 is promoted at a temperature within the range of about 1,000.degree. C. to 1,500.degree. C. The temperature of the flame is decreased in the first step by means of water tubes, and then CO is oxidized in the adiabatic space. It is thereby possible to realize a combustion chamber as a whole several times as small as a conventional combustion chamber and also realize low CO-generating combustion.
The method and the apparatus effectively function as means for achieving low NOx/low CO-generating combustion when used in a water tube boiler utilizing a burner capable of producing flat flames which are uniform almost throughout a section of a combustion chamber and develop two-dimensional flows (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 229608/1995). However, it is required for realizing such low NOx/CO-generating combustion and for effectively utilizing the adiabatic space to generate flat flames spreading over the section of the combustion chamber. Further, a premixed combustion system is often used to reduce a size of a combustion chamber. However, the pre-mixer is required to generate a premixture, and a safety device peculiar to premixed combustion is required to prevent back fire, explosion or the like. These result in a very complicated structure of the combustion apparatus. Accordingly, it is desired to use a diffusion flame burner having a relatively simple structure in terms of reduction in a cost of the burner, and ease in manufacture and maintenance of a burner. It is also desired to attain low CO-generating combustion in a water tube boiler using a diffusion flame burner.
The present inventors have conducted various combustion experiments using diffusion flame burners to solve the above problems, and through the experiments, they have experienced that if use is made of, in a water tube boiler, a burner whose burner ports are located only at such positions as to provide jet flames each localized in a cross-section of a combustion chamber of the water tube boiler, the jet flames are rapidly cooled by water tubes to prevent CO oxidation reaction from satisfactorily proceeding, and accordingly, the size of the combustion chamber is unavoidably large so as to surely provide a sufficient combustion zone.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a water tube boiler of such a type that it uses a diffusion flame burner with burner ports located only at particular positions in a burner mounting wall of a combustion chamber to generate jet flames, which has a novel structure capable of realizing a size-reduced combustion chamber and capable of continuously effecting stable low CO-generating combustion.
To solve the above problem, the present inventors have conducted combustion experiments using a water tube boiler as schematically shown in plan in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, reference number 1 represents a combustion chamber having a rectangular section. A burner 2 is mounted in one end la of the combustion chamber 1, and a multiplicity of water tubes 3 are inserted through the combustion chamber 1 in the proximity of the burner 2.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view showing the burner 2 and a portion of the combustion chamber 1 in the vicinity thereof. FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X--X in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the burner 2 taken along the line XI--XI in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 9, the burner 2 comprises a burner casing 21, an air pipe 22 having an inner diameter of D and disposed in the burner casing 21, a fuel pipe 10 inserted through the air pipe 22 coaxially therewith, a shielding plate 23 which contacts with the inside surface of the air pipe 22 and through which the fuel pipe 10 extends into the combustion chamber 1 having a section of 2D square, and a circular plate 24 attached to the front end of the fuel pipe 10.
As shown in FIG. 10, the shielding plate 23 are provided with four slot-like portions 25 at angular intervals of 90 degrees, each of which functions as an air injection portion. The fuel pipe 10 is provided with four fuel injection nozzles 26 adjacent to the shielding plate 23 which extend toward proximal edges of the slot-like portions 25. The tips 27 of the injection nozzles 26 are located in close vicinity of the proximal edges of the respective slot-like portions 25. The circular plate 24 has such a size that it is substantially inscribed in the proximal edges of the slot-like portions 25 when viewed in the axial direction of the fuel pipe 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the burner 2 constructed as described above is mounted on the combustion chamber 1 in such a manner that the slot-like portions 25 formed in the shielding plate 23 are arranged on the diagonal lines of the 2D square cross-section of the combustion chamber 1. Incidentally, the burner 2 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 106878 filed in the name of the applicant who is the same entity as the assignee (applicant) of the present application.
In the water tube boiler constructed as described above and used in the experiments, air from the air pipe 22 and a fuel gas from the fuel injection nozzle 26 are supplied from the four slot-like portions 25 adjacent to the one end 1a of the combustion chamber 1, and the fuel gas initiates combustion forming flame 4 not stabilized at the slot-like portions 25 generating through the group of water tubes 3 to effect heat exchange between the flame 4 and the water tubes 3.
The burner 2 was mounted on the water tube boiler at a distance L from the water tubes 3, i.e., at a standard position. The experiment was conducted using the burner 2 at a combustion rate of 28.times.10.sup.4 kcal/h, and CO content of the resulting exhaust gas was measured. Then, with a combustion chamber which was altered so as to prolong the distance between the burner 2 and the water tubes 3 by about 60%, i.e., from L to 1.6 L, the same experiment was conducted. In this connection, the prolonged amount corresponds to about 20% of the visible flame length. The results are shown in FIG. 12.
As understood from FIG. 12, when combustion was carried out with the burner located at the standard position to expose the group of water tubes to the jet flames running therethrough, oxidation reaction of CO was retarded due to the jet flames being rapidly cooled by the water tubes. In consequence, CO emission was in excess of 200 ppm. On the other hand, when the distance between the burner and the water tubes was prolonged from L to 1.6 L to provide a longer combustion reaction zone on the upper side of the water tubes, CO emission was somewhat moderated but still not reduced sufficiently (to a level of 100 ppm or lower). To further reduce CO emission in this mode, a still larger combustion zone is required. This results in a undesirably large-sized boiler as a whole. Accordingly, it has experimentally been proved that the mode where a larger CO oxidation reaction zone is provided on the upper side of water tubes cannot suitably be employed with a view to obtaining a compact combustion chamber of a water tube boiler using jet flames.
Thereupon, the present inventor has further proceeded with experimental researches and consequently found that not by the mode where a prolonged CO oxidation reaction zone is provided on the upper side of water tubes but by providing a space empty of water tubes in the domain of a group of water tubes, which extends through the domain in the direction of jet flames, CO content of an exhaust gas is greatly reduced without enlarging a combustion chamber. The present invention has been made on the basis of the finding.

Water tube boiler and it's combustion method


One of several methods comprises selecting one or more parameters based, at least in part, on a ranking of a relative desirability of said one or more specified parameters and selecting a subset of a set of electronic content for use in at least a portion of an electroniccompilation, wherein said subset may be selected based, at least in part, on said one or more parameters.

An electronic compilation may be comprised of one or more types of electronic content. Electronic content may comprise a portion of a compilation, and may include digital images, audio, video, graphics or text, for example. The electronic content may have particular properties, such as a particular quality or size. The electronic content may additionally be limited to a particular use, such as non-commercial use, for example. When forming a compilation, electronic content may be selected and arranged such as to produce an electronic compilation having particular properties, such as desired quality or appearance, and may additionally be selected based on suitability for a particular use, such as commercial use. For example, a digital image may be selected for use in an electronic compilation. The digital image may have properties such as a particular size, resolution or configuration, and these properties may be selected to produce an electronic compilation with a particular appearance. The digital image may additionally be selected to produce a compilation suitable for a particular use. However, selection of electronic content such as digital images that may have properties that make the content suitable for incorporation in an electronic compilation may be time consuming, and a need may exist for a method of selecting content for an electronic compilation.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.


A tap dispenser having a main body, said main body having a main body interior portion and an opposing main body exterior portion; a liquid flow pathway passing through the main body; a vent pathway passing through the main body, wherein air transport through the vent pathway is separated from liquid transport through said liquid flow pathway and wherein the vent pathway has a vent pathway inlet and an opposing vent pathway outlet; a vent valve operably engaged with the vent pathway outlet; and a liquid flow valve operably engaged with the liquid flow pathway.

The number of consumers who purchase liquid goods, such as detergent, wine, and other consumables, in bulk has continued to increase over the past decade. A typical detergent container might contain approximately 2 L of liquid detergent. A typical wine bottle might contain approximately 750 mL. To reduce the cost to consumers related to packaging, marketers of liquids such as detergents and wine are increasing their offerings of larger sizes of containers for such fluids. As the containers become larger, they tend to become more and more difficult to pour because the person dispensing the liquid must have adequate wrist strength to controllably pour the liquid. To overcome these difficulties, marketers now offer to consumers containers having a tap dispenser that allow the consumers to dispense fluid without having to lift the container. It is now not uncommon to see detergents, wine, cooking oils, and other bulk liquids packaged in containers having a tap dispenser.
When the container and tap dispenser are placed in operable position the tap dispenser is below the container so that the contents of the container can flow out of the tap dispenser. As fluid flows out of the container the container decreases in volume or the container is vented to allow air to replace the volume of fluid discharged from the container.
Collapsible containers can be used in embodiments in which the container is housed in a rigid carton in what is referred to in the art as a bag in a box type execution. Wine is commonly sold in a bag in a box type execution.
Liquid laundry detergent is presently marketed in a rigid container having a tap dispenser, in particular a press tap dispenser. Since the container is rigid, as laundry detergent is dispensed air is vented into the container to replace the volume of laundry detergent dispensed. Air can be vented into a rigid container through a tap dispenser by flow of air in a direction opposite to the direction of in which liquid is dispensed. When the container is vented in this manner, the flow rate of liquid out of the tap is irregular as bubbles of air enter the liquid stream and move up stream into the container. Irregular dispensing is unattractive to the consumer because dispensing the precise amount of liquid becomes difficult.
To overcome the problem that arises when the pathway for liquid discharge and the venting are the same, the container can be provided with a venting chimney. The venting chimney can be provided in the container at a position that is above the surface of the liquid when the container and tap dispenser are in operable position. The venting chimney can be an additional opening having a threaded closure that opened by the consumer after she places the container and tap dispenser in operable position. Such an approach is used in packaging for TIDE liquid detergent in which the detergent is dispensed via a press tap. Alternatively, the venting chimney can be a one-way check valve in the container that allows air into the container but does not allow liquid to exit the container.
Venting chimneys are undesirable for multiple reasons. Firstly, a venting chimney is an extra part of the container which increases the cost of the packaging. Secondly, venting chimneys occasionally leak during shipping and storage of the container. Thirdly, in some embodiments, the consumer has to open the venting chimney to allow the chimney to function. If the consumer forgets to open the venting chimney or does not know how to open the venting chimney, the consumer may be dissatisfied with the experience of dispensing the product. Consumer dissatisfaction may arise due to unsteady dispensing of the liquid, collapse of the container, cracking of the container, or leakage.
With these limitations of venting chimneys in mind, there is a continuing unaddressed need for technical approaches for venting containers from which the liquid contents are dispensed via tap dispenser.


A device and method that enables the reliable and reproducible testing of the cleaning efficiency of an ultrasonic cleaning device is disclosed.

Ultrasonic cleaning devices are commonly employed in the cleaning of medical instruments, especially those comprising a plurality of undercuts. In the use of an ultrasonic cleaning device, the contaminated instruments are placed in a basin of water which is then exposed to ultrasonic energy, that generates ultrasonic waves in the water. The waves produce cavitation in the water, resulting in the creation of cavitation bubbles, which ultimately collapse. As the bubbles collapse, they become convoluted on one side due to a jet of fluid that shoots through the bubble at high speed as it collapses. The jet of fluid then hits on the opposite side of the bubble, often at speeds of up to 500 m/s. The cleaning effect of the device results from the jets of fluid, which hit the contaminated instruments at these high speeds, and thereby remove impurities from the instrument surfaces.
Due to the non-homogeneous distribution of ultrasonic waves in the basin, regions of both low cavitation density and high cavitation density are created. Naturally, the regions having a high cavitation density will yield a higher cleaning efficiency than the lower cavitation density. Unfortunately, because the movement of the ultrasonic waves is not visible and the cavitation bubbles are very difficult to see, it is not possible to identify the regions having a high cavitation density, and therefore a high cleaning efficiency solely by observing the water in the cleaning basin.
One known method of testing the efficiency of ultrasonic cleaning devices involves the immersion of thin, conventional aluminum foil into the water basin. As cavitation occurs, small holes are created in the foil by the cavitation bubbles, whereby it is possible to identify the density of areas of cavitation. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not provide an objective and reproducible test parameter, for the user to reliably judge the efficiency of the ultrasonic device.
It is therefore desirable to provide a device and method that enables the reliable and reproducible testing of the cleaning efficiency of an ultrasonic cleaning device. As described in detail herein, the present invention provides such a device and method.

Device and method for testing the efficiency of an ultrasonic cleaner


A laser-markable composition which comprises a binder and an oxyanion of a multivalent metal.

Various proposals have been made, in order to achieve effective printing on a substrate, by causing a change of colour in the substrate on which the printing is to appear. Various pigments have been proposed, which can be used to mark a substrate on the application of laser energy. Some of these proposals may be found in, for example, WO-A-00/43456, JP-A-11001065, EP-A-0522370, EP-A-0797511, U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,440, U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,792 (a plastics moulding composition comprising a polyoxymethylene and animal charcoal), U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,780, U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,972 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,831. U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,639 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,079 disclose that copper hydroxy phosphate is a laser-markable material.
Ammonium octamolybdate, having the formula (NH4)4Mo8O26 and abbreviated herein as AOM, is a readily available material that has fire-retardant properties. For this purpose, it has been formulated with polymers such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). For example, PVC-containing cables may contain AOM as a smoke-suppressing agent. AOM is an example of an oxyanion of a multivalent metal; many compounds of this type exist in coloured lower valence or non-stoichiometric states.
Printing on packaging such as cartonboard is of considerable commercial importance. This may be simply to provide visible information to a person handling the packages, but is also required for bar-coding and other marking that is intended to be read by machine. This entails two particular problems.
Firstly, the most economical packaging material tends to be brown or some other indeterminate colour, against which bar-coding in, say, black has low contrast (typically grade C or D). Secondly, because of the need to customise packaging, there is wastage involved in printing information on packaging that has to be adapted for each particular customer.


A portable, hand-held microplasma spray coating apparatus comprises an anode, a cathode and an arc gas emitter disposed in a housing, and a powder feeding system, a cooling system and a power source connected to the apparatus. The powder feeding system, cooling system and power source are detachably mounted on a mobile platform. The microplasma spray apparatus can be transported to on-site locations in the field to facilitate quick repair work.

Generally, conventional plasma spray coating methods and apparatus are utilized in controlled environments. These controlled environments typically consist of a booth, room, or other enclosure in a facility. Such containment is necessary when employing conventional plasma spray coating apparatus due to at least the noise level generated during operation. Presently, United States Government regulations require an operator utilize hearing protection when operating equipment generating a noise level of 85 decibels or more. Conventional plasma spray coatings apparatus operate at noise levels of approximately 120 decibels or more. Conventional plasma spray coating apparatus are also imprecise at applying their plasma spray coatings due to the size and width of the plasma spray itself. Due to the imprecise nature of applying plasma spray coatings, the plasma spray coating apparatus must be utilized and operated in some type of operating enclosure in order to prevent environmental and safety hazards.
There is a need for a plasma spray coating apparatus capable of being transported or being portable in nature to permit spray coating repairs in the field while adhering to United States regulations and providing acceptable spray coating quality.


A broadband signal radio communication device which is capable of transmitting audio signals in a frequency band wider than a normal transmission band from 0 to 4 kHz in a radio system such as Bluetooth which employs a radio communication link through weak radiowaves. A plurality of channels are set between the same master and slave out of three channels maximally available on a synchronous connection oriented (SCO) communication link. The band of a transmitted audio signal is divided into a plurality of sub-bands each having a bandwidth of 4 kHz using a sub-band analysis approach, and the signals in the respective bands are assigned to associated SCO links for transmission. On the reception side, the signals in the respective bands, received through the plurality of SCO links, are synthesized by a sub-band synthesis approach to reproduce an audio signal having the original frequency band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication device which use at least one communication link for one-channel signal transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bluetooth radio system (hereinafter simply called "Bluetooth") is known as a radio communication device which uses at least one radio communication link for one-channel signal transmission.
This system is a radio communication system which interconnects devices placed quite close to each other, for example, a portable telephone and a notebook type personal computer, a stereo system and a headphone, and the like through a radio communication link using very weak radiowaves in a 2.4 GHz band, which does not require a license, to transmit data and audio.
For transmitting an audio signal in Bluetooth, the audio signal is converted to a digital signal by an audio codec (coder/decoder), generally employed in PCM communications for transmission. For quantization and encoding involved in the digital conversion, radio communication systems generally employ a logarithmic quantization scheme which implements 8-bit logarithmic quantization of an audio signal at a sampling frequency of 8 kHz, or a CVSD (Continuous Variable Slope Delta modulation) scheme which implements 1-bit quantization of an audio signal at a sampling frequency of 64 kHz. Therefore, the data transmission rate is 64 kb/s whether an audio signal is transmitted in accordance with any of the two scheme.
In the Bluetooth-based data transmission, devices which make communication to each other form a network called a "piconet" for mutual communications. The piconet includes a device called a master which takes the leadership within the piconet. The remaining devices within the piconet other than the master are called slaves which transmit data with the master under the leadership of the master.
The data transmission between the master and a slave is based on a time slot (625 μS) on the time axis which is mutually used by them in time division. Specifically, the data transmission between the master and slave employs a TDD (Time Division Duplexing) scheme which alternates transmission and reception for a half-duplex communication.
There are two types of communication links which are set between a master and slaves for data transmission: an SCO (Synchronous Connection Oriented) link (communication link for synchronous connection) and an ACL (Asynchronous Connection Less) link (communication link for asynchronous connection). The SOC link refers to a link formation which fixedly uses predetermined time slots for data transmission. The ACL link in turn refers to a link formation which utilizes an unused slot, each time data is transmitted, to specify the address of a slave which should receive the data. Generally, the SCO link is often utilized for audio data transmission because the real time capability is required.
There are three types of packet modes HV1, HV2, HV3, as data packets for use in the SCO link, according to the proportion of transmission data to an error correcting code added to the data. Out of these modes, an HV3-mode packet consists only of 240 bits of data without any error correcting code and therefore provides the highest transmission efficiency. For this reason, the HV3 mode is often used for the SCO links intended for audio transmission.
The two audio encoding schemes in Bluetooth, i.e., logarithmic quantization and CVSD-based quantization both assume that only audio signals are transmitted in a frequency band from 0 to 4 kHz. Specifically, when the logarithmic quantization is used, an audio signal is subjected to 8-bit logarithmic quantization after it is A/D converted at sampling frequency of 8 kHz, so that the signal frequency band is necessarily limited to 4 kHz. On the other hand, when the CVSD scheme is used, an audio signal is sampled at sampling frequency of 64 kHz, however, the band must be limited to 4 kHz before an audio signal is input to a CVSD encoder circuit. Since the CVSD scheme relies on a waveform gradient adaptive delta modulation, the limitation of the band is required for removing unnecessary high frequency components for suppressing the occurrence of so-called gradient distortion.
However, it is believed that an upper limit of human's audible frequencies is generally near 20 kHz, so that an audio band from 0 to 4 kHz cannot provide a sufficient audio quality at all times. Actually, the audio transmission using the SCO link of Bluetooth lacks clearness and natural impression and often loses inherent tonal characteristcs of speakers. Therefore, the transmission of audio signal over a wider frequency band is highly demanded in some communication applications.


The concave streak portion 26, in which the welding inclination surface 27 is formed, is provided on the side wall 12; the projecting portion 40, which is fitted into the concave streak portion 26 when the substrate 10 and the lid body 35 overlap to form the switch case 3, is provided on the lid body 36; when the substrate 10 and the lid body 35 are overlapped, the switch case 3 is sealed by contacting the seal ring 31 with the flange portion 38 and the welding shoulder portion 41 interferes with the welding inclination surface 27; the substrate 10 and the lid body 35 are jointed by melting the interference portion by high-frequency welding; the release region K, which keep the communicating state of the inside of the switch case 3 with the outside is designed by notching the projecting portion 40 from the root thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch in which contact points are arranged in a switch case formed of a substrate and a lid body.
2. Description of Relevant Art
An example of this kind of switch includes a neutral start switch attached to a select lever for a vehicular automatic transmission. The neutral start switch is typically configured such that a switch case is formed of a plastic substrate and a plastic lid body, fixed contact points are arranged in the substrate, and movable contact points are arranged in a movable board movably arranged in the switch case. The substrate is formed in a fan shape and has a shaft hole penetrating therethrough at the rotational center thereof. A plurality of rows of fixed contact points, formed in an arc shape around the shaft hole, is arranged on the substrate. The fixed contact point has a connecting piece portion extending within the substrate by insert molding, and a tip end of the connecting piece portion is exposed as a terminal to a connector portion formed integrally with the substrate.
In this switch, the movable contact point slides along the fixed contact point while keeping the contact with the fixed contact when the movable board turns around the shaft hole, and thereby a switching operation is performed. Seal rings are provided between a shaft of the movable board and the shaft hole such that water, mud or the like does not enter into the switch case in which the fixed contact point and the movable board are arranged. In a joint portion between the substrate and the lid body, a seal ring is provided and a joint structure by welding is adopted. An example of the joint structure by welding includes a share joint method. In a case of the neutral start switch, the share joint method high in the welding degree is used in view of requiring high joint strength between the substrate and the lid body for certainly maintaining the sealed condition in the inside of the switch.
FIGS. 9A to 9D show the jointing process of a joint structure between a substrate 10 and a lid body 35 in a case of welding them by the share joint method. As shown in FIG. 9A, a side wall 12 of the substrate 10 is closed by surrounding an entire circumference of a rotary region of the movable board (not shown). A ring groove 30 which accommodates a seal ring 31 therein and a concave streak portion 26 are formed on a top surface 25 of the side wall 12. The ring groove 30 and the concave streak portion 26 are formed in this order from the inside and are provided along the entire length of side wall 12. A welding inclination surface 27 is formed in the concave streak portion 26 of the side wall 12 at an outer peripheral side in the depth portion thereof. In addition, the lid body 35 is provided with a projecting portion 40 on a lower surface 38a of a flange portion 38. The projecting portion 40 is provided at the position opposing to the top surface 25 of the substrate 10, and extends in the entire circumference along a peripheral edge of the flange portion 38 to close the lid body 35. The projecting portion 40 is fitted in the concave streak portion 26 of the side wall 12 when assembling the switch case.
A welding shoulder portion 41 is formed in the projecting portion 40 at the outer peripheral side in the intermediate position thereof. When the top surface 25 of the side wall 12 makes contact with the lower surface 38a of the lid body 35, the welding shoulder portion 41 of the projecting portion 40 is designed to interfere with the welding inclination surface of the concave streak portion 26. As a result, high-frequency welding causes melting of the interference portion, so that the projecting portion 40 and the side wall 12 are jointed along the entire circumference. For example, Japanese Patent No. 4509370 discloses the configuration as similar to the above.
In the aforementioned joint structure, when the projecting portion 40 of the lid body 35 is in the process of being inserted into the concave streak portion 26 of the substrate 10 while interposing the movable board (not shown) between the substrate 10 and the lid body 35, as shown in FIG. 9B a corner of the welding shoulder portion 41 of the projecting portion 40 first makes contact with the welding inclination surface 27 of the concave streak portion 26. In this state a gap S1 remains between the top surface 25 of the side wall 12 and the lower surface 38a of the lid body 35. The ring groove 30 has a depth smaller than a diameter of the seal ring 31 in a free state, and the seal ring 31 partly projects from the ring groove 30.
As the lid body 35 is further pressed to the substrate 10 from a position of FIG. 9B in the high-frequency applied state, the interference (overlap) portion between the welding shoulder portion 41 and the welding inclination surface 27 is welded while melting the interference portion. Thereby, the lid body 35 moves in the approaching direction relatively to the substrate 10.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 9C after the lower surface 38a of the lid body 35 makes contact with the seal ring 31 in the ring groove 30, it presses the seal ring 31, and finally, as shown in FIG. 9D, the lower surface 38a is seated on the top surface 25. Therefore the projecting portion 40 and the side wall 12 are jointed along the entire circumference by welding, and together with the sealing operation between the seal ring 31 and the lower surface 38a, the inside of the switch case becomes in a sealing condition to an outside.
In this kind of switch, generally a contact-point grease is applied to the contact point of the switch for improving endurance and current-carrying properties at contacting of contact point. But, in the sealed type of switch as descrambled above, there occurs the event that the connector portion around the terminal is wet with oil.
According to the study on the cause of the above event, the following point is found out. In case of the switch discussed above, the conductive-metallic fixed contact point is insert-molded to the plastic substrate. However, since a perfectly adhesive state is not formed between the fixed contact point and the plastic, the grease on the fixed contact point flows along the interface between the fixed contact point and the plastic and leaks into the connector portion.
This event is supposed to occur because a pressure in the switch case is higher than the outside pressure, and therefore the grease is pushed out through the interface between the fixed contact point and the plastic. That is, in the jointing process between the substrate 10 and the lid body 35, an inner space interposed between the substrate 10 and the lid body 35 is blocked out from the outside when the lid body 35 reaches at the position shown in FIG. 9B. Then, the inner space is compressed in a height direction by the height of gap S1 when the lid body 35 is pushed to the substrate 10 from the position in FIG. 9B to the position in FIG. 9D. In this case, since the welding shoulder portion 41 and the welding inclination surface 27 are welded with each other to increase the welding amount, the welding strength is increased. However, the pressure in the inner space becomes greatly higher than the outside pressure. Here, the region between the shaft portion of the movable board and the shaft hole is also sealed by the seal ring. Accordingly, also after the switch is mounted on the automatic transmission or the like as a product, the higher-pressure state is held in the switch case than that of the outside. Therefore the grease applied on the fixed contact point of the substrate before the substrate is jointed to the lid body is exposed to this high pressure.
Therefore, it has been required to provide a switch which prevents water, mud and the like from entering into a switch case and at the same time, reduces a pressure in the switch case for preventing leakage of grease into a connector portion.


A printer in which, while achieving a stabilization of image quality by process control processing, the generation of unnecessary wait time to the user, shortening of lifespan of the apparatus and needless consumption of toner caused by unnecessary execution of the process control processing can be better suppressed than in the prior art. An NVRAM serving as non-volatile information storage device in which stored information is retained even if the supply of power from an engine unit power source circuit is cutoff is provided in an engine unit, and timing signal information output from a timing circuit when the process control processing is executed is stored in the NVRAM, the engine unit being configured so as to judge, when power supply from the engine unit power source circuit starts, whether or not process control processing is to be executed in accordance with the timing signal information stored in the NVRAM and the timing signal output from the timing circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that measures the imaging performance of visible image forming means in accordance with the start of power being supplied from a power source, and that executes an imaging condition setting control for setting imaging conditions in response to the measured result.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image forming apparatuses of this type an imaging condition setting control is executed to measure the imaging performance of visible image forming means immediately following the switching ON of a power source or immediately following reversion from an energy saving mode at a prescribed timing such as, for example, when a predetermined number of printed copies have been produced. The energy save mode constitutes an image forming command standby mode occurring in a state in which, when image forming commands such as a copy start button operation or a print command signal have not been implemented for at least a prescribed period, the power supply to a heating heater of a fixing device or the like is interrupted.
A known image forming apparatus in which this kind of imaging condition setting control is executed is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-345180. In this image forming apparatus the following process controls are executed as imaging condition setting controls. That is to say, first of all a plurality of patch latent images of different optical write intensity and shape established in advance are formed on a photosensitive body, and the electric potential of these patch latent images is detected by an electric potential sensor. These patch latent images are developed by a development apparatus to produce a plurality of patch toner images that serve as reference images, and the quantities of toner affixed per unit surface area to each patch toner image is detected by an optical sensor. Next, the imaging performance of visible image forming means configured from the photosensitive body, optical write device and development apparatus and so on is determined in accordance with the relationship between the electric potential of the patch latent images and the quantities of toner affixed to the patch toner images. Upon measurement of the imaging performance of visible image forming means in this way, imaging conditions such as control target values for the uniform charging potential of the photosensitive body, the development bias, the optical write intensity on the photosensitive body and the toner density of the developer are set. As a result of a suppressing of the fluctuations in imaging density or gradient reproducibility which are attributable to fluctuations in the environment (temperature and humidity) and toner characteristics (fluidity and bulk density and so on) afforded by this imaging condition setting control, high quality images can be stably formed for a long period.
A further process control executing condition considered in this image forming apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-345180 immediately following switching ON of the power source or immediately following reversion from the energy save mode is the temperature of the fixing roller. This condition is considered with a view to avoiding a situation where the user is forced to wait an unnecessarily long time due to a process control being needlessly executed. More specifically, if the fixing roller exceeds a predetermined temperature (for example, not less than 50° C.) immediately following switching ON of the power source or immediately following reversion from the energy save mode, the period of time that the power source is OFF and the energy save mode is executed is very short (for example, several minutes). Marked fluctuations in the environment or the toner characteristics are unlikely to occur in such a short time. Accordingly, the change in imaging performance from the period immediately prior to interruption to the power source or immediately prior to transition to the energy save mode is essentially negligible. If a process control were to be nonetheless executed the user would be forced to wait unnecessarily. Thereupon, when the fixing roller exceeds a predetermined temperature immediately following switching ON of the power source or immediately following reversion from the energy save mode there is no process control executed. According to this configuration, the occurrence of the user being made to wait unnecessarily can be suppressed.
However, the inventor of the present invention discovered through testing that, even with this configuration, the user was sometimes forced to wait unnecessarily. More specifically, over a medium period of power source cutoff time or energy save mode execution such as between several tens of minutes and several hours there were sometimes insignificant fluctuations in the environment and toner characteristics. Accordingly, in this case it is also desirable for the executing of a process control immediately following switching ON of the power source or immediately following reversion from the energy to be omitted. However, over a medium period of power source cutoff time or energy save mode execution time the temperature of the fixing roller drops to about room temperature. Accordingly, the process control is executed and the user is forced to wait unnecessarily.
Notably, accompanying the demand for improved energy saving that has arisen in recent years, many image forming apparatus specifications have been designed so that a transition to the energy save mode occurs simply as a result of an image forming command having not been received for a very short time such as for several minutes. Accordingly, the user is frequently made to wait unnecessarily.
In addition, a user with a strong energy saving consciousness will switch the power source switch to OFF each time they complete a print operation. A user of this type is also frequently made to wait unnecessarily.
Apart from the user being forced to wait unnecessarily when an unnecessary imaging condition setting control is executed, the lifespan of visible image forming means is reduced and the image forming agents such as toner are needlessly consumed. This is because, to form the reference visible images such as the patch toner images for the imaging condition setting control, visible image forming means is actuated and image forming agents are consumed.
Almost all conventional image forming apparatuses in which an energy save mode is executed comprise a timer function for ascertaining whether the time since an image forming command was received exceeds a prescribed time. However, the energy save mode execution time and power source cutoff time cannot be ascertained utilizing this timer function. The timer function cannot be utilized for the energy save mode execution time and power source cutoff time because the power source supply to the timer circuit and control unit is cutoff at these times.
Technologies relating to the present invention are disclosed in, e.g.,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. H11-160921, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-177638 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2004-013101.

Image forming apparatus having an imaging condition setting control


Provided are a liquid crystal display module and a method for manufacturing the same. The liquid crystal display module comprises a liquid crystal panel, a backlight unit, a support main, and a top cover. The backlight unit is disposed in rear of the liquid crystal panel. The support main comprises a rectangular frame for laminating and housing the liquid crystal panel and the backlight unit, and a metal cover disposed around an outer sidewall surface and a bottom surface of the rectangular frame. The top cover covers a front edge of the liquid crystal panel, and is combined with a side part of the support main.

In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) comprises a liquid crystal display module (LCM), a driving circuit unit for driving the liquid crystal display module, and an exterior case.
The liquid crystal display module comprises a liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in matrix between two sheets of glass substrates, and a backlight unit for irradiating light to the liquid crystal panel.
The liquid crystal display module further comprises a cover provided at outer edges of the liquid crystal panel and the backlight unit in order to prevent a light loss caused by the backlight unit and prevent damage caused by an external impact.
The above-constructed liquid crystal display module is mounted at a portable equipment such as a notebook personal computer, and is used as a display device.
A structure of a related-art liquid crystal display module will be described below in detail.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the related-art liquid crystal display module. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another related-art liquid crystal display module.
Referring first to FIG. 1, the related-art liquid crystal display module comprises a liquid crystal panel 10 having polarization sheets 10a and 10b formed in front and rear, respectively, a backlight unit 20 provided in rear of the liquid crystal panel 10, a support main 30 for laminating and housing the liquid crystal panel 10 and the backlight unit 20 therein, a top cover 40 for covering the front surfaces of the support main 30 and the liquid crystal panel 10, and a bottom cover 50 for covering a rear surface of the support main 30 and a side surface of the top cover 40.
The support main 30 is provided as a mold, and has a stepped end jaw formed on an inner sidewall surface to laminate the liquid crystal panel 10 and the backlight unit 20 therein. Thus, a backlight unit 20 comprising a light guide plate 21, a plurality of optical sheets 23, a reflection sheet 25, and a lamp housing (not shown) is housed at an inner lowermost layer of the support main 30. The liquid crystal panel 10 is laminated thereon.
A bottom cover 50 is manufactured by bending a stainless steel (SUS) sheet. The bottom cover 50 is advantageous in enhancing a rigidity of the liquid crystal display module owing to its material characteristic of high hardness.
The above constructed related-art liquid crystal display module has a total thickness (d) summing up a thickness (d1) of the top cover 40, a height (d2) of the support main 30, and a thickness (d3) of the cover bottom 50.
However, according to a recent trend to slim the liquid crystal display module, rather than a structure shown in FIG. 1, a structure shown in FIG. 2 in which the bottom cover 50 is eliminated and a total thickness of the liquid crystal display module is reduced is being suggested.
In other words, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, the total thickness (d′) of the liquid crystal display module is comprised of a thickness (d1′) of a top cover 40′ and a height (d2′) of a support main 30′. Accordingly, the liquid crystal display module has a thin type structure with its thickness reduced as much as the thickness (d3 of FIG. 1) of the bottom cover (50 of FIG. 1)
However, the related-art liquid crystal display module is weak in rigidity due to the reduced thickness since there is no bottom cover 50. Thus, the liquid crystal display module has a drawback that it suffers from damage or destruction even by a weak impact.

Liquid crystal display module and method for manufacturing the same


An industrial robot is provided with robot hands (44, 46) capable of being moved by turning actions between a workpiece handling position to which a workpiece is transported and at which the workpiece is fed to the chucking device (10) of a machine tool and a standby position away from the workpiece handling position. The robot also incorporates a robot hand (42) capable of being turned in a plane at the workpiece handling position to align a workpiece with the chucking device (10) of the machine tool, and a pneumatic cylinder actuator (48) capable of linearly moving the robot hand (42) toward the chucking device (10) and away from the chucking device (10) so as to remove a workpiece from the chucking device (10). The industrial robot can be readily fixed to the bed of the machine tool by bolts, for example.

As is generally known, industrial robots have been used for attaching a workpiece to and removing a workpiece from machine tools. Industrial robots for such purposes include a gantry robot provided with a workpiece feed means spanning over a machine tool, a loading robot designed specially for a machine tool, and a general purpose articulated robot provided with robot arms having a plurality of degrees of freedom of motion, a robot wrist, and a robot hand.
The functional robot mechanism of the gantry robot, in general, has a large construction, and is not necessarily suitable for use in combination with a lathe. The loading robot is designed specially for a specific machine tool, and is unable to be applied generally to a desired machine tool. Teaching the articulated robot a series of robot actions, including feeding a workpiece and transporting the same, requires a complicated teaching procedure because the articulated robot has many axes about which the component parts operate, and it is difficult to install the articulated robot in combination with a machine tool. Thus the articulated robot is not satisfactory in this application.

Industrial robot with workpiece handling means for attaching a workpiece to and removing a workpiece from a machine tool


Electromagnetic coils of laminated, foil construction are suitable for use in guideways of magnetically-levitated-vehicle systems. The coils are each constructed by applying a double-sided adhesive tape of insulating material to both surfaces of a continuous ribbon of conductive foil to form a tri-layer laminate or matrix. Then, the tri-layer matrix is shaped into a coil of a desired configuration. The coil loops or turns are formed by folding the tri-layer matrix along diagonal fold lines in selected bend regions so as to transpose the top and bottom surfaces of the laminate on either side of the folds, and bring the surface interior of the folds into contact. The insulating material in the laminate is omitted from the interior bend regions, so that, after folds have been made, the interior surfaces in those regions are exposed foil which electrically contact one-another. With this construction, each turn of the coil is separated electrically from adjacent turns by two layers of insulation covering a single layer of foil, except in the bend regions, where two layers of foil are present on the interior of the folds, along with two layers of insulation along the exterior the folds. Alternative constructions in the bend regions avoid unsightly bulging in that area.

In known maglev systems, trains run along guideways, which each have thousands of electromagnetic coils per mile. The guideways coils coact with a plurality of electromagnetic and, in some systems, superconducting, coils carried on the undercarriages of the trains. The interaction of the magnetic fields of the two sets of coils provides levitation, propulsion and lateral stability for the maglev trains. The guideway coils in some instances are active (i.e., carrying currents supplied by an external source), and in others are passive (i.e., carrying currents induced by the train coils).
Conventionally, the guideway coils are manufactured by bending electrical wire of, e.g., circular cross-section, (i.e., "round wire") to form stacks of the desired configuration for mounting along the guideway. Typically, the wires are entirely covered with insulation before they are formed into coils.
Often, the coil configurations are complex, with numerous bends and contours conforming to the configuration of the guideway portions on which the coils are mounted. Unfortunately, round wire of sufficient cross-sectional area for carrying the supplied or induced currents can be difficult to shape economically into such configurations.
Another disadvantage of using round wire in the coils pertains to the way stacks of such wire carry mechanical loads. While the maglev trains are levitated, the coils bear a substantial compressive force. Coils made from stacks of round wires carry such loads at points or lines at which the wires within the stacks contact one-another. Under extreme conditions, this arrangement can prove mechanically unstable: Under the load, the wires can and even shift out of position in the stack. Shifting of wires can affect adversely not only the load-carrying ability of the coil, but, if severe, the characteristics of its magnetic field.
It would be desirable to provide guideway coils of improved construction, which overcomes the foregoing drawbacks encountered with the prior art. It would also be desirable for such an improved coil construction to lend itself to automated manufacture. Considering the number of such guideway coils used per guideway mile (e.g., thousands), one can readily appreciate that any expediency that facilitates manufacturing of the guideway coils can significantly reduce the overall costs of maglev systems.
Furthermore, the design of the guideway coils should facilitate their installation in the guideways.
Finally, the design should contribute aesthetically to the sleek, futuristic appearance of proposed maglev systems.

Guideway coil of laminated foil construction for magnetically levitated transportation system


According to one embodiment, a manufacturing process monitoring system for monitoring anomaly in a manufacturing process for products, the system includes an information storage section, a selection information section, a reference space formation section and a monitoring section. The information storage section is configured to store previously collected data. The selection information section is configured to create information used in classifying the data stored in the information storage section. The reference space formation section is configured to form a reference space based on data subjected to anomaly monitoring acquired in the manufacturing process and the data classified by the information from the data stored in the information storage section. The monitoring section is configured to monitor anomaly of the data subjected to anomaly monitoring based on the reference space.

Statistical process control (SPC) based on Just-In-Time modeling is known as a manufacturing process monitoring method in manufacturing lines and the like.
According to Just-In-Time modeling, a plurality of data in the neighborhood of acquired data are used to create a reference space just in time. Hence, the time, effort, and management for updating the reference space can be reduced.
However, simply using a plurality of data in the neighborhood of acquired data may decrease the accuracy of monitoring anomalies.

Manufacturing process monitoring system and manufacturing process monitoring method


The present invention relates generally to the use of terminal-phosphate-labeled nucleotides having three or more phosphates as substrates for nucleic acid polymerases and their use in DNA amplification. The labels employed are chemiluminescent, fluorescent, electrochemical and chromogenic moieties as well as mass tags and include those that are directly detectable, detectable after enzyme activation or feed into other processes to generate a different signal. The signal generated from the attached dyes may also be used to quantify the amount of amplification. Further provided are stabilizers that enhance the stability of terminal-phosphate labeled nucleoside polyphosphates in aqueous solutions and are useful for reducing non-enzymatic hydrolysis of these nucleotides, hence decrease background.

Methods are known for detecting specific nucleic acids or analytes in a sample with high specificity and sensitivity. Such methods generally require first amplifying nucleic acid sequence based on the presence of a specific target sequence or analyte. Following amplification, the amplified sequences are detected and quantified. Conventional detection systems for nucleic acids include detection of fluorescent labels, fluorescent enzyme-linked detection systems, antibody-mediated label detection, and detection of radioactive labels.
One disadvantage of these methods is that the labeled product not only requires some type of separation from the labeled starting materials but also, since the label is attached to the product, it is different than the natural product to be identified. It would, therefore, be of benefit to use methods and substrates that form unmodified product and at the same time generate a signal characteristic of the reaction taking place. It is of further benefit if the signal generated doesn't require separation from the starting materials but even if a separation is required the benefits of generating unmodified product in many cases are overwhelming.
Terminal-phosphate labeled nucleotides provide the above benefits. For example, incorporation of gamma- or delta-labeled nucleotides into DNA or RNA by nucleic acid polymerases results in the production of unmodified DNA or RNA and at the same time the labeled pyrophosphate generated can be used to detect, characterize and/or quantify the target. If these could be used in amplification reactions not only would they provide useful tools for detection and quantification of target sequence, but the amplified product, which is exact copies of the target sequence without modifications can be used in further studies.
DNA amplification by a number of amplification methods is performed at high temperatures. For example, in PCR, repeated cycles of denaturation at 95° C., annealing around 60° C. and extension around 70° C. causes significant breakdown of the dNTP's. This may significantly affect the yield of product in later cycles. Other amplification methods such as RCA and NASBA, although isothermal, also are conducted at higher temperatures. In case of NASBA, which is performed at 41° C., the stability of nucleotides may not be very critical, however in RCA which may be conducted at higher temperature depending upon the polymerase used and the complexity of sequence to be amplified, stability of nucleotides can be an issue under these conditions. If breakdown of the terminal-phosphate labeled nucleotides were to occur, the amount of background generated would overwhelm any signal directly related to the amplification process. It is therefore desirable to have nucleotides that can survive this repeated cycling of temperature or prolonged heating at a constant yet high temperature and hence continue to give high product yields and low background even in later cycles of amplification and possibly cut down the number of cycles/time required to achieve desirable amplification. Additionally, gamma-phosphate labeled nucleotides are extremely poor substrates for polymerase under the conditions normally used for nucleic acid synthesis and amplification. Synthesis of long stretches of nucleic acids (several hundred to several thousand bases long) would require hours if not days per cycle. Harding et. al. (WO 0244425 A2) describe the use of aminonaphthalenesulfonate-gamma-amido-dATP for DNA synthesis at high temperature. However, according to the inventors, in this case the synthesis only proceeds after the aminonaphthalenesulfonate hydrolyzes off the nucleotide and it is dATP that is used by the polymerase to form DNA. This of course is useless for detection or quantification of target sequence as the dye generated is independent of DNA synthesis.
A number of real time assays have been developed for quantification of DNA. Most of these can be classified into two categories. First category which is relatively easy to use involves the use of intercalating dyes, which have enhanced fluorescence upon intercalation. A number of nucleic acid stains such as ethidium bromide, SYBR Green® dyes, PicoGreen®, YOYO®, TOTO® or analogs have been developed as intercalators for real time assays. These, however, generate significant background signal partially due to intercalation between primer dimers and partially because they are fluorescent, albeit weakly, even when they are not intercalated.
The other category of real time assay is based on the use of fluorescence resonance energy transfer between a dye and a quencher. A number of these assays have been developed using FRET probes and or primers, such as Taqman, MGB Eclipse™, Scorpion primers, Molecular Beacons, sunrise primers, to name a few. These probes/primers are quenched by energy transfer until the amplification takes place and the quencher is physically separated from the dye or cleaved. Sensitivity of these assays depends greatly on the probe design and require a lot of optimization. In addition even with the best optimized probe, complete quenching is not achieved. So these assays can only provide a few fold enhancement in signal upon amplification and in the initial cycles background signal is much higher than the true signal.
It would be of benefit, therefore, to develop methods of amplification using terminal-phosphate labeled nucleoside polyphosphates where the amplification can be performed in reasonable time (similar to unmodified dNTP's) and the amount of label generated is proportional to the product formed. It is further desirable to have a real time assay, where the amount of label generated can be independently detected without interference of signal from the terminal-phosphate labeled nucleotide. It would be desirable to have a real time assay where the label is completely dark until the amplification proceeds.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nucleic acid amplification with terminal-phosphate labeled nucleotides


To obtain information having a relation, it is required for an application program to execute retrieval processing in which the program first acquires key information supervising relations between tables to sequentially trace the relations to finally obtain the target information. Since it is required for the program to execute as many access operations as there are hierarchic level of relations, the access efficiency is lowered. By establishing a correspondence between first relating information representing relations between a first table and a second table and second relating information, path information representing hierarchic structure of data between a plurality of tables is stored in a storage. Various processings are executed by use of the path information.

The present invention relates to a method of assigning relations between information items of mutually different tables, and in particular, to a method of, when information items are in a relation in which the information items are related to each other, generating the information items and definitions of the relation therebetween and a retrieval processing method and a retrieval processing apparatus for retrieving the information items thus related. In particular, the present invention relates to information processing in which hierarchic structure to total data to measure business results of an enterprise or a firm or relating information to obtain knowledge information in the knowledge management is not held in a master, but is stored in an external table as information relating masters to each other.
To develop, for example, application programs in an object-oriented scheme, required information items and relations therebetween are analyzed to define an information model using, for example, a diagram representatively associated with a Unified Modeling Language (UML). Using the information model, programs and databases (DB) are designed. Particularly, in the database designing phase, in the case Table A is to be related to Table B, one must determine a key to be defined in common with Table B, and must define the key in Table A. Therefore, the definitions of relations between information items are required to be manually re-designed according to the information model.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a database designing process using UML in which an information model obtained as a result of the information analysis is developed into constituent components of database (DB) structure. According to UML, a term "class" is employed to indicate "factory", "cost division", "product group", "product", "sales" or the like. A system analyzer defines class names for the respective classes and defines information items of various attributes for each class. The analyzer also represents relations between the classes using, for example, relation type lines to thereby define multiplicity of relations between the classes. Thanks to classes, the information items are classified into groups.
For a class, like a product group of FIG. 2, having relations with other classes in the upper and lower positions, when it is desired to retrieve the class through the relations during a retrieval, it is required to dispose the information of the relations between the classes in one and the same table in the database. Therefore, the database tables are required to be designed in consideration of the operation during the retrieval phase. For example, a factory master and a product group master include a shared attribute "factory code" in example of the configuration shown in FIG. 2.
There also exists a disadvantage viewed from application programs as below. For an application program to obtain target information, the relations defined in the respective tables are required to be known in advance. If a change takes place in the relations between the information items, it is required to examine the relations between the tables to again conduct the database designing phase.
To remove the problem, JP-A-2003-150644 describes a technique, i.e., a relating information management system in which various information items are managed by establishing relations therebetween. The system at least includes a relation management table to store relations between a parent and a child using identifier information of various information and a retrieval processing module to execute retrieval processing to retrieve various information in a direction from the parent to the child and in a direction from the child to the parent by use of the relations in the relation management table, according to specified information and a specified range. The identifier information includes an identifier (ID), File Allocation Table (FAT) information, an in-FAT record address, a file type, a directory path, a file name, a selection range, an object, an attribute, or information including an attribute. The various information items are managed using a member management table in which member data including the identifier information and detailed information is stored.

Information management system and method


An intake air amount control system for an internal combustion engine installed in an automotive vehicle has an intake air amount control valve arranged in a bypass passage bypassing a throttle valve arranged in an intake passage of the engine. The intake air amount control valve controls the amount of air supplied to the intake passage at a location downstream of the throttle valve. The intake air amount control valve is controlled in dependence on operatives states of electric devices including an electrically-heated catalyzer which are installed on the vehicle and supplied with electric power by an alternator installed on the vehicle and driven by the engine, when the engine is in a predetermined operating condition. The intake air amount control valve is controlled by the use of a correction amount dependent on an operative state of the electrically-heated catalyzer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an intake air amount control system for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to an intake air amount control system of this kind, which controls the amount of intake air supplied to the engine according to electric loads on a generator driven by the engine.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, there has been used an intake air amount control system for internal combustion engines, as proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 4-51659, which includes a solenoid valve arranged in a bypass passage connected to an intake pipe of the engine in a fashion bypassing a throttle valve arranged therein. The proposed system controls the amount of intake air supplied to the engine during idling thereof through feedback control of the opening of the solenoid valve by the use of a control amount, more specifically, an amount of electric current to be supplied to the solenoid valve, based on the difference between the actual engine rotational speed and a desired engine rotational speed. The control amount is corrected by the use of electric load-dependent correction terms determined based on operative states of electric loads on a generator driven by the engine, such as an air conditioner and a power steering system.
A catalyzer, which is generally employed in internal combustion engines for purifying exhaust gases emitted from the engine, does not become activated until a considerable time period elapses after the start of the engine when the engine is started in a cold state. To accelerate the activation of the catalyzer, there is conventionally employed an electrically-heated catalyzer which is electrically heated to become promptly activated.
In the conventional intake air amount control system, however, electric power supplied to the electrically-heated catalyzer by the generator driven by the engine is not taken into account. As a result, the engine rotational speed can become unstable or it takes a longer time period to attain a desired engine rotational speed when the electric power is supplied to the electrically-heated catalyzer. This hinders the temperature of the catalyzer from rising promptly and makes it impossible to obtain desired exhaust emission characteristics.

Intake air amount control system for internal combustion engines


A crank pulley decoupling device includes: a crank pulley connected to one end of a crankshaft and configured to transmit a rotational force; a first spring configured to be inserted into the crank pulley and to have one end provided in the crank pulley and the other end provided in the crank shaft; and a second spring configured to be inserted into the crank pulley and to be provided on an outer circumferential surface of the crankshaft. Spring design and design change are freely done by utilizing space in the crank pulley while the first and second springs are spaced apart so that impact therebetween is reduced, thereby improving durability and preventing decrease in efficiency due to friction and thus improving the product value.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a crank pulley decoupling device, and more particularly, to a crank pulley decoupling device capable of utilizing space in the crank pulley and reducing impact between springs.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a crank is connected to an engine crank shaft by a crank pulley and is driven by a rotational force from an engine transmitted by a belt. The belt transmits the force by friction between the belt and the belt pulley. The types of belt include a flat belt having a flat contact surface and a V belt having a V-shaped contact surface to increase friction coefficient and improve transmission efficiency.
Incidentally, a crank pulley is located under the center of an engine, a water pump pulley is located above the crank pulley, an alternator pulley and an air pump pulley are located upper left and lower left sides of the water pump pulley, respectively, and an air conditioner pump pulley and a power steering pump pulley are located upper right and lower right sides of the water pump pulley. All of the pulleys are designed to receive a rotational force from the crank pulley by one belt.
The crank pulley is fitted into and fixed to the crankshaft together with a timing belt sprocket.
The devices that receive a driving force from the crank pulley of the engine as it is driven, such as an alternator, an air conditioner compressor, and a water pump are collectively referred to as a serpentine belt system. In this system, the crank pulley has an instantaneous speed change due to the intake, compression, power and exhaust strokes in an internal combustion engine with a piston.
To overcome this problem, a crank pulley decoupling device to reduce a tension of the serpentine belt system by reducing an instantaneous speed change of the crank pulley is being developed.
Since a typical crank pulley decoupling device uses one spring, it is difficult to cope with an instantaneous speed change in all of the area while an engine is operating. Accordingly, a two-stage crank pulley decoupling device has been developed, which uses two springs, as shown in FIG. 1.
The two-stage crank pulley decoupling device shown in FIG. 1, however, has the structure in which a first arc spring 11 having a larger diameter includes a second arc spring 12 having a smaller diameter and being long, so that it is limited to design and change the second arc spring 12 due to the space of the crank pulley when an engine starts. Further, friction occurs between springs and thus efficiency and durability are deteriorated.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


A lamp including a hermetic tube and a filament configured to radiate thermal energy within the tube. Further, the filament extends along a length direction of the tube and is spaced apart from an inner wall of the tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp, and more particularly to a lamp that radiates high-temperature thermal energy.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a lamp radiates light using a heated filament. Further, if the filament is heated at a high temperature, the lamp is capable of heating, drying, melting and hardening a prescribed object using the radiated heat and light from the lamp.
Such a lamp includes of a hermetic tube and a filament provided within the tube. The filament is for radiating light and high-temperature heat. In addition, the tube can be charged with an inert gas or can be set in a vacuum state. The inert gas or the vacuum state minimizes the evaporation of the filament due to the emission of electrons. Further, the tube is made of quartz glass that can withstand a high temperature.
In addition, the quartz glass is thermally treated to withstand a temperature of about 1,270K. The filament is also wound into a spiral shape in a length direction of the tube to provide a wide radiation area for effectively radiating high temperature heat.
However, the above-explained related art lamp has the following problems.
The spirally-wound filament tends to sag due to its own weight and thus contacts an inside of the tube. Therefore, because the spirally-wound filament contacts the hermetic tube, the filament is not allowed to radiate heat exceeding a temperature (about 1,270K) that would melt or transform the quartz glass tube. For this reason, the thermal energy radiation of the lamp is lowered. Specifically, according to the Stefan-Boltzmann Law of E∞T4 (E: radiant energy, T: absolute temperature), if the absolute temperature drops, the thermal energy radiation is considerably lowered. Hence, the related art lamp is not suitable for a high-temperature drying or heating function.
Moreover, as the filament is brought into contact with the tube, a temperature difference between a contact portion and non-contact portion of the filament is considerably large. Therefore, the chance of the filament breaking is increased.
Further, because the filament has a spiral shape, a length of the straightened filament is at least 1.5 times greater than that of the spirally-wound filament. Hence, the larger length of the filament substantially raises the cost of the filament. Also, because the manufacturing and assembling processes of the spirally-wound filament are complicated, productivity is lowered. It is also highly probable that the tube or filament may be broken in the assembling process.


Contents are distributed on the basis of information of a hobby and an address of the user and the like. The distribution of the contents is controlled also on the basis of a result of comparison of a reception intensity regarding contents of 3 or more levels set on the user side and a distribution intensity set as attributes into the contents on a distributing side.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a contents distributing server, a contents distribution control method, a program, and a recording medium in a distributing system for distributing various contents to user terminals.
2. Related Background Art
In association with progress of information technology, it is an important subject in enterprise activities or the like to efficiently obtain latest information.
In newspapers which are sold at present, articles and advertisements have been predetermined in dependence on a district where a reader purchases the newspaper. For example, when the reader wants to read district information of a place near a workplace, if he is subscribing to the newspaper in the district of his home, he cannot read such district information, or the like. Articles which the reader wants to read are not always distributed to him, or the newspapers are not always distributed to the readers by whom an advertiser wants his advertisement to be read.
In recent years, owing to the spread of the Internet, each newspaper company, a portal site, or the like has distributed articles on the Internet with or without charge.
For example, according to the technique disclosed in JP-A-9-50441, a mechanism such that information which includes newspaper articles and enterprise advertisements selected in accordance with attributes or the like of the customers is run onto a picture plane has been proposed.

Contents distributing server, contents distribution control method, program, and recording medium


An ascent/decompression device for use in diving with an inflatable lift bag, includes a pack for securing the ascent/decompression device on a diving harness worn by a diver; a reel mounted for rotation to the pack and having a decompression line wound thereabout, the decompression line being connected to the lift bag; a cable having a first end and a second loop end; a snap shackle connected with the first end and releasably holding the loop end to secure the cable about a ship wreck, the snap shackle including a main section having an open side, a closure lever pivotally connected to the main section for movement between closed and open positions, and a spring-biased pin for releasably locking the closure lever in the closed position; a first release clip for receiving the decompression line to limit a rate of ascent of the lift bag connected to the decompression line, and being connected to the cable; a second release clip secured to the pack for engaging with the spring-biased pin of the snap shackle; an ascender, connected to the pack, for grabbing onto and moving along the rope in only one direction; a spider for riding along a section of the decompression line extending between the lift bag when inflated and the reel, and for grabbing the ascender, the spider being connectable to a pull line for pulling the spider, and thereby the ascender, upwardly along the section of the decompression line.

The present invention relates generally to scuba diving, and more particularly, is directed to a device for providing safe ascent and decompression during dives. When returning to the surface from a deep water dive, it is necessary for the diver to decompress. To do so, the diver makes frequent stops on the way to the surface. Generally, the U.S. Navy Standard Air Decompression Table requires the diver to rise at a controlled rate of sixty feet per minute, while stopping at prescribed depths. This permits the nitrogen in the tissues of the diver to come out of solution and be expelled from the blood before expansion and before bubble formation constricts circulation. Otherwise, a situation known as the "bends" can occur, which can be deadly.
Because of the current in the water, if the diver merely ascends without any guide, the diver can find himself miles away from his boat. Accordingly, the diver will attempt to return to the surface along the anchor of the boat. However, frequently the anchor cannot be found, and the diver must return to the surface without the benefit of the anchor.
For this reason, a diver conventionally carries a decompression line in the form of a rope wrapped about a reel, the latter being held between the pair of oxygen tanks also supported on the diver's body. When the diver is ready to ascend, he ties an inflatable lift bag to the free end of the decompression line, and inflates the lift bag with oxygen from the tanks. The diver then holds onto the reel and permits the lift bag to rise to the surface, thereby paying out the rope from the reel. When the lift bag has reached the surface, the diver feels some slack in the line. Accordingly, the diver cuts the rope from the reel and ties the cut end of the rope to the ship wreck. Thereafter, the diver makes a planned ascent in order to properly decompress.
However, there are various problems that result from such an arrangement.
First, if many decompression lines are left in the water and tied to the ship wreck from many such decompression ascents, the water would be entangled with the lines, making it dangerous for future dives. Accordingly, the rope of the decompression line is made from hemp which decomposes over a period of time in the presence of salt water. In practice, a diver may carry the decompression line, while not using the same for many dives. For example, the diver may be able to use the anchor most of the time. However, after many dives, the diver may find himself in a predicament where he cannot find the anchor, and therefore, must use the decompression line. This, however, results in a problem. Specifically, since the decompression line has been subjected to salt water over many dives, it has at least partly decomposed and has therefore become weakened. As a result, the decompression line may break in use, which can be disastrous to the diver.
Second, because the decompression line is tied to the ship wreck, it cannot be retrieved. This adds to the cost of the dives, since the diver must periodically provide a new decompression line.
Third, before the diver releases the inflated lift bag, the diver must partially deflate his wet suit to eliminate some of his buoyancy, and thereby partially anchor himself to the ship wreck. Specifically, when the diver releases the inflated lift bag, the lift bag has a maximum rating for holding approximately 100 pounds of oxygen therein when inflated. However, if the diver were to inflate the lift bag to the full 100 pounds of pressure, even when partially anchoring himself, the large pressure in the lift bag would be too great for the diver, and the diver would be pulled upwardly. Accordingly, the lift bag is generally pressurized only to about 20 pounds. As a result, ascent of the lift bag is slower.
Fourth, and related to the third problem of inadequate inflation of the lift bag, the underinflated lift bag may not break through to the surface of the water, but rather, will generally remain a distance below the surface of the water. This is because the current will carry the underinflated bag after the opposite end of the decompression line is tied to the ship wreck, causing the lift bag to fall below the surface of the water. In such case, the lift bag will drift with the current somewhat and will therefore not provide a straight ascent for the diver. As a result, the diver, as he nears the position of the lift bag during ascent, must dart up the decompression line, further inflate the lift bag to full capacity and then dart back down the lift line to the previous decompression position. The diver will generally have about 60 seconds to perform this action before the adverse effects of a too quick decompression will affect him. This, of course, presents a dangerous situation to the diver.
Fifth, the decompression line and reel are relatively large and thereby carried on the back of the diver between the oxygen tanks. Because the decompression line is made from hemp, it must be relatively thick to provide sufficient strength, for example, on the order of one-quarter inch. This adds to the already approximately 200 pounds that the diver is carrying.
Sixth, the diver constantly bangs the tanks and the decompression line while swimming through the small openings in a ship wreck. As a result of these constant impacts and rubbing actions, the decompression line tends to become frayed, which can result in damage to the decompression line.


A method for controlling the density of microdots produced by a binary or multilevel electrophotographic device. In one example, the toner concentration in a two-component developing system is modified as to keep the toner charge Q/M approximately constant. The toner charge is indirectly assessed. This allows to achieve consistent output densities, irrespective of the environmental parameters, such as relative humidity and temperature.

One of the main factors to quantify the quality of a printed image is the tone scale representation, expressed by the optical density range and the exactness and stability of the contone rendering. In a digital printing machine, such as an electrophotographic engine, each tone of a contone image is produced by a certain spatial combination of some or all of the available tones per pixel. This process is referred to as screening. The set of tones, available in the machine, is defined by the properties of the exposure device. For instance, in an electrophotographic printer that uses a binary exposure device, only two tones (black and white) are available to the screening algorithm to reproduce a contone image. In some machines however, multiple tone levels are available to the screening process by applying area or intensity modulation on the output spot of the exposure device (see below). As screening is well-defined and, by its nature, perfectly repeatable, the image quality of the engine is largely determined by the ability to reproduce the set of tones. In an electrophotographic engine the contone density of each microdot is determined by the mass of toner per unit area transferred to paper. This toner mass, referred to as M/A and expressed in mg/cm.sup.2, is a function of an almost limitless amount of parameters. Most of these parameters can be regarded as fixed by design and thus invariable during the operation of the engine. Some however are extremely variable. The most important in a two-component developer system are:
toner concentration (TC)=the ratio of the amount of toner and the amount of carrier available in the developing unit in a two-component system. PA1 toner charge per unit of mass (Q/M), expressed in .mu.C/g. PA1 development potential (V.sub.DEV), expressed in Volt=the potential difference V.sub.E -V.sub.B over the development gap between the developer supply roller (bias voltage V.sub.B) and the photosensitive element (voltage after exposure V.sub.E) upon which a latent image is present. The photosensitive element is mostly implemented as an Organic Photoconductor or OPC. PA1 transfer efficiency (TE), expressed in %: the ratio of the amount of toner transferred to the printing medium and the amount of toner developed on the photosensitive element. This dependency can be formally expressed as: EQU M/A=f(TC, Q/M, V.sub.DEV TE) PA1 the triboelectric properties of toner and carrier, PA1 toner concentration TC, PA1 relative humidity RH of the air in the developing unit, PA1 agitation of developer in the developing unit. PA1 the initial charge level V.sub.C of the OPC, PA1 the bias voltage V.sub.B applied to the toner supply roller of the developing unit and PA1 the intensity E.sub.EXP of the image dependent illumination of the photosensitive element. PA1 toner charge Q/M, PA1 amount of toner on the photosensitive element and PA1 the value of the electric field in the transfer zone. PA1 extremely low toner charge Q/M at high relative humidity RH, leading to an increase in dust production, fogging and possibly inconsistent transfer quality over the whole tone scale. PA1 extremely high toner charge at low relative humidity, decreasing the developability of the toner. This requires large electric fields in the developing stage and consequently implies more powerful engine hardware.
and is generally referred to as the developability and transferability f() of the toner.
In an electrophotographic engine, the reproduction of multiple tones is highly sensitive to each of these variables. Toner concentration TC changes during engine operation due to depletion of toner caused by image development and toner addition under control of the engine. Toner charge Q/M is determined by:
When the developer is properly agitated, an unambiguous relationship can be found between Q/M, TC and RH. The development potential V.sub.DEV is determined by:
Transfer efficiency TE on its turn is, amongst other factors, determined by:
Present electrophotographic machines maintain the optical density of their produced tones by keeping toner concentration TC at a constant level. For this purpose they use a toner concentration sensor in the developing unit, or a density sensor that measures the density D.sub.OPC developed on the OPC, or both. Changes of the toner charge Q/M, due to relative humidity RH or variations of RH are compensated for by changing the development potential V.sub.DEV and the value of the transfer electric field. Disadvantages of this technique are:
Furthermore, it can be shown that for a two-component developing system, the development of the latent image is almost purely driven by toner charge Q/M. Therefore toner charge Q/M would be a valuable input to any process control system for steering the electrophotographic process. Generally, online toner charge measurement Q/M can not be implemented easily without the need for high precision measurement hardware, which leads to an increase in system variable cost. As stated before, producing several tones in an electrophotographic engine can be done by area modulation or by intensity modulation of the light beam of the exposure device (or by any combination of both). In this way, a set of microscopic tones at the pixel or microdot level are created. These form a microscopic gradation that has to be kept constant for the contone rendering, handled by the screening process, to be repeatable.

Process control of electrophotographic device