A motor driving apparatus includes a rotor, a first yoke including a first magnetic portion, a first coil configured to, if energized, excite the first magnetic portion, a second yoke including a second magnetic portion, a second coil configured to, if energized, excite the second magnetic portion, a detecting portion including a first detection element, a second detection element, a third detection element, and a fourth detection element, each detection element being configured to detect a rotation position of the rotor, and a controller configured to switch a pole excited by the first magnetic portion and the second magnetic portion by switching an energization direction of the first coil and the second coil based on an output of the detecting portion.

Because of their various advantages such as small size, high torque, and long life, stepping motors can easily perform digital positioning operations with open-loop control. This fact has led to a wide range of applications to, for example, information devices such as cameras and optical disk devices, and office automation equipments such as printers and projectors.
However, stepping motors have distinct disadvantages such as loss of synchronization during high speed rotation or under heavy load, and lower efficiency than that of brushless motors or DC motors.
One known technology to solve these disadvantages is to prevent loss of synchronization by causing an encoder equipped with a stepping motor to perform operations of a so-called brushless motor in which an energization is switched in response to the position of a rotor (See Japanese Patent No. 06-067259 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-359997). This technology allows high speed operation by switching a current passed through each coil by a signal which is generated by a noncontact sensor built in the motor and is phase-advanced in response to the speed of the motor to make up for a delay in current rise time.
FIG. 8 illustrates torques acting on the motor disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 06-067259 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-359997 when a constant current is passed through each coil of the motor. A current in the positive direction and a current in the reverse direction can be passed through each of two coils, resulting in four different torque curves. Each such torque has an almost sinusoidal waveform and a phase difference expressed as an electrical angle of 90 degree. Electrical angle as used herein means an angle expressed by using one period of the sinusoidal waveform which is 360 degree. When the pole number of a rotor is n, the mechanical angle is expressed as electrical angle×2/n.
An ideal sequential switching of the energization of a motor during its rotation can, on all occasions, achieve a high torque such as T1 indicated with a bold line of FIG. 8A. In such switching, a switching timing of the energization of the coil is determined by a signal generated from each magnetic sensor. The arrangement of two magnetic sensors at an interval of electrical angle of 90 degree permits the switching of energization at the best efficiency.


An air passage opening and closing device for controlling an air flow for air-conditioning a vehicle compartment which is adapted to reduce an uncomfortable noise generated when the opening degree of a door such as an air-mixing door is small is provided, wherein a plurality of extending portions (7g) are provided on tips of the lip seal (7c). The extending dimension (H) of the extending portion (7g) is more than or equal to substantially 1 mm and less than or equal to substantially 3 mm, the dimension (B) in the width direction orthogonal to the extending direction in the extending portion (7g) is more than or equal to substantially 2 mm and less than or equal to substantially 14 mm, and the gap distance (G) between the adjacent extending portions (7g) is more than or equal to substantially 1 mm and less than or equal to substantially 4 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air passage opening and closing device for opening and closing an air passage and is effective as an air-mixing door for adjusting the ratio of an air flow of a hot air with respect to that of a cold air (air mixing ratio), a discharging mode switching door for switching the discharging mode, or the like, in an air conditioner for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a structure of an indoor unit (the indoor unit is named so because it is arranged inside a vehicle compartment or near the compartment) of an air conditioner for a vehicle which has already been produced as a product and has been distributed on a market at the time of filing of the present application. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of A portion in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3A—3A in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 1, an air-conditioner casing 1 is a duct means which forms an air passage which is furnished in a vehicle compartment and from which air is discharged to an inside of the compartment. A blower (not shown) for supplying the air into the compartment is provided on a lower front side of the air-conditioner casing 1 in the drawing.
At the upstream side of an air flow in the air-conditioner casing 1, an evaporator 2 for cooling air discharged into the compartment is accommodated and all the air discharged from the blower passes through the evaporator 2.
At the downstream side of the air flow of the evaporator 2, a heater core 3 for heating air discharged into the compartment is accommodated and, at the same time, a bypass passage 4 to allow air, which has passed through the evaporator 2, to bypass the heater core 3 and to flow into the compartment side, is provided.
An air-mixing door 7 is an air flow ratio adjusting means for adjusting the air flow ratio of a cold air passing through the bypass passage 4 with respect to a hot air passing through the heater core 3. An air-mixing chamber 8 is an air-mixing chamber for mixing the cold air passing through the bypass passage 4 and the hot air passing through the heater core 3.
At the upper side of the air-mixing chamber 8, a face opening portion 9 communicating to a face discharge port (not shown) for discharging air to the upper side of the vehicle compartment through a duct (not shown) and a defroster opening portion 10 communicating to a defroster discharge port (not shown) for discharging air to vehicle windows (mainly to a front window glass) through a duct (not shown) are provided. On the other hand, at the lower side of the air-mixing chamber 8, a foot opening portion for discharging air to the lower side of the vehicle compartment.
A face door 11 is an opening and closing means for opening and closing the face opening portion 9, a defroster door 12 is an opening and closing means for opening and closing the defroster opening portion 10, and a foot door 13 is an opening and closing means for opening and closing the foot opening portion.
The air-mixing door 7, the face door 11, the defroster door 12 and the foot door 13 open and close the respective opening portions thereof by swinging (rotating) rectangular plate-like door bodies thereof, around the rotation axes of the opening portions as a center, by actuators such as a servo motor, etc. Because of the above configuration, the structure of opening and closing means will be explained below using an air-mixing door 7 as an example.
In FIG. 2, an opening portion 1a is an inlet port continuing to the evaporator 2 in air passages constituted by the air-conditioner casing 1 and the air-mixing door 7 is arranged at the upstream side of the air flow in the opening portion 1a so that it is possible to swing.
The air-mixing door 7 comprises: a substantially rectangular door body 7a for opening and closing the opening portion 1a; a shaft portion 7b acting as a swinging shaft of the air-mixing door 7, i.e. the door body 7a; an elastically deformable lip seal 7c which is arranged on a portion corresponding to the edge portions 1b of the opening portion 1a and in the edge side of the door body 7a and closes a gap created between the air-mixing door 7 and the edge portions 1b of the opening portion 1a when the opening portion 1a is closed by the air-mixing door 7; an elastically deformable second lip seal 7d which closes a gap at the shaft portion 7b side in the edge portions 1b of the opening portion 1a; and the like.
Particularly, the door body 7a and the shaft portion 7b are made of hard resin such as polypropylene and the lip seals 7c, 7d are made of flexible resin, such as elastomer, or rubber. Both of them are integrated by integral forming.
The sectional shape of the lip seal 7c is formed in a V shape, as shown in FIG. 3, so that a portion at which a side 7e shown at the upper side of the drawing (FIG. 3) and another side 7e shown at the lower side of the drawing are joined is positioned near to the door body 7a. The side 7e of the lip seal 7c at the lower side of the drawing is a seal means for closing gaps created between the air-mixing door 7 and the edge portions 1b of the opening portion 1a and the side 7e of the lip seal 7c at the upper side of the drawing is a seal means for closing gaps created between the air-mixing door 7 and edge portions 4a of the bypass passage 4 (refer to FIG. 1).
At the tips of the lip seal 7c, i.e. the tip sides of the sides 7e, protruding portions 7f protruding toward the edge portions 1b and toward the edge portions 4a are integrally formed with the lip seal 7c and, thereby, the sealing ability of the lip seal 7c is improved by contacting the tips of the protruding portions 7f to the edge portions 1b and 4a.
Concretely, the protruding portion 7f totally forms a substantially C-shaped protruding line continuously provided on the totally substantially C-shaped lip seal 7c in a similar state to the lip seal 7c which is formed in a substantially C-shape on the end of the door body 7a.
The second lip seal 7d is formed so that two sides 7e of the lip seal 7c forming a V shape are combined into one side and the other structure thereof is the same as that of the lip seal 7c.
When the opening degree of the air-mixing door 7 is small, an uncomfortable noise such as "hyu", "pyu" or "pyy" is likely to occur. The cause of the noise is generally as described below.
That is, when the opening degree of the air-mixing door 7 is small, as shown in FIG. 4, there may be a case in which air flows through a relatively small gap (a short distance) formed between the edge portion 1b of the opening portion 1a and the air-mixing door 7 in a laminar flow without being transformed into a turbulent flow. Part of an air flow after flowing through the air-mixing door 7 creates an exfoliating layer (an exfoliating flow) exfoliating from a main air flow, at the back side of the air-mixing door 7, and in a case in which the exfoliating layer grows into a row of vortexes, an uncomfortable noise such as "hyu" is created.
A means for reducing a noise caused by a row of vortexes created when air flows through a relatively small gap formed between an edge portion of an opening portion and an opening and closing door was conventionally realized by forming recesses and protrusions on the tip side of a lip seal to disturb an air flow passing through a gap between the lip seal and the edge portion of the opening portion and to prevent the air flow from being formed into a laminar flow, with a result preventing a row of vortexes from being created (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2,570,855
As the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, however, relates to an opening and closing door for opening and closing a discharge port such as a face discharging port directly facing an inside of a vehicle compartment, it can not be applied to the air-mixing door 7 arranged in the air-conditioner casing 1, and the like, without modification and can not prevent efficiently the occurrence of a row of vortexes.

Air passage opening and closing device capable of preventing uncomfortable noise


A system for transferring data from a disk drive to an external source. The disk drive includes a circuit with embedded firmware that associates internal and output definitions with the data. The definitions and data are provided to the external source which parses the definitions and the data. The parsing engine can output the data in pre-defined format. The embedded firmware associates the same definitions for all data. Thus an external programmer does not have to know, or monitor, the file format and output format of the disk drive to write an external software application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storing and retrieving data to and from a hard disk drive.
2. Background Information
Various electronic systems store data in non-volatile mass storage devices such as a hard disk drive. For example, personal computers contain one or more disk drives that store data and other information. Data is typically stored in files of the disk drive by the host computer in conjunction with a direct memory access ("DMA") controller. When retrieving data, the DMA controller typically specifies a system memory location. The disk drive contains internal firmware that converts the system memory location to areas of the internal disk that contain the requested information. The data is typically stored in the disk drive within a specified file format.
When writing an external software application that retrieves data from the drive the developer must know the file data format and the output format of the drive. Such an approach can be burdensome, requiring the programmer to constantly monitor revisions of the disk drive language. It would be desirable to provide a disk drive that provides an embedded format that remains the same.


Sealing and breathing valve assembly for accumulators comprising: at least one substantially tubular collar associated to the cover of said accumulator and suitable for connecting the external environment with one or more breathing ducts made in said cover; an elastic cap of a substantially tubular shape closed by a bottom amovably coupled to the external surface of said tubular collar. Said cap has at least one first part of a substantially cylindrical surface next to said bottom with a thickness reduced with respect to the remaining part next to the bottom of said cap, said first cap having a radial elastic deformation with respect to the remaining part working as a sealing function.

The present invention relates to a sealing and breathing valve assembly for electric accumulators.
It is known that, inside the accumulators and during their working and/or their recharge, gases due to the electrolysis and the water evaporation contained in the electrolytic solution. This, as we know, is composed by sulfuric acid and distilled water.
A particular type of accumulators are the so-called recombined accumulators, in which the gases produced during the operation are condensed internally to the accumulator by eliminating the distilled water consumption and therefore the need to top up.
For safety reasons, the accumulator of the recombined type are provided with a set of channels made in the cover closing the case containing the elements. The elements connect the various accumulator electrolytic cells with a safety valve assembly allowing the gas breathing towards the outside when they exceed a determined pressure.
The valve assembly itself must also prevent the air from entering in the accumulator when, during the cooling, the temperature, and therefore also the pressure, decreases internally.
A sealing and breathing valve assembly for electric accumulators belonging to the known technique is represented as an example title in FIG. 1, where is indicated as a whole by A.
We can see that it comprises a substantially tubular collar B protruding from the cap C of the accumulator and communicating with the internal volume of the accumulator itself. An elastic cap is applied on the accumulator, indicated as a whole by D, composed by a tubular body E closed by a bottom F.
The cap D is also represented in the FIGS. 2 and 3, where we can see it is internally provided with three grooves G placed at 120° one among another, each one is realized by groove part of the tubular body E and also part of the bottom F.
The end of the tubular body E, in correspondence with each groove G, has a lip H adhering to the tubular collar B, in order to realize the sealing.
In case of overpressure internally to the accumulator, the gas produced is discharged from inside towards the outside through the duct I represented in FIG. 1. The duct is determined between the tubular collar B and the groove G, causing the rising of the lip H and therefore the coming out of the overpressure towards the external environment.
Vice-versa, in case of depression internally to the accumulator, the external pressure forces the lips H against the tubular collar B preventing the accumulator inlet from air entrance.
A disadvantage of the valve assembly just described is that the smallness of the grooves G, and therefore of the ducts I between the cap and the tubular collar B, make the overpressure discharge and the subsequent closing difficult, therefore rising the valve assembly inertia. The valve assembly reacts very slowly, both when the pressure internal to the accumulator increases and when decreases.
This can imply that the pressure could increase over the top values allowed.
A further disadvantage is that the sealing surface is limited only to the contact surface between the cap tubular body and the tubular collar. This is not always sufficient to guarantee the sealing against the entering in the air accumulator from the external environment, when it goes to depression.
Generally, the cited disadvantages, i.e. the great opening and closing inertia to the outside and the limited sealing towards the inside, are present, in a more or less accentuated way, in all the valve assemblies belonging to the known art, even if they are built differently from the valve assembly illustrated and described.
In order to prevent some of the disadvantages cited in the prior art, the document WO 01/82395, having the name of the applicant itself, proposes a tubular body ending with a groove neck in respect with the external surface of the breathing tube collar. The latter cooperates with the internal surface of an elastic tubular cap unmovably coupled to the outside of said tubular collar.
In such a way an annular chamber is formed between the neck and the cap, allowing the pressurized gases internal to the accumulator to push the cap tubular body radially and, at the same time, on all the circumference. This makes the gas discharge towards the external easier, and therefore reduces in some way the operation inertia of the valve assembly on the whole. This prevents dangerous pressure increases internal to the accumulator, during its use.
If, on one hand, the invention proposed by the cited document overcomes some of the cited prior art disadvantages, it is also true that some disadvantages, as the operation confidence of the valve assembly on the whole, remain.
More in particular, it is not prevented that sometimes the answer time between the cap opening and closing is longer, meaning that the cap itself is not able to breathe the gas accumulated at the same pressure level. This is because the rubber, synthetic or natural, which the cap is made of adheres to the tubular collar, where it houses creating a resistance higher than the predetermined. The adhesion comes from the chemical erosion due to the gas passage during the breathing.
In substance, the breathing valves of the known art do not guarantee an operation reliability which is substantially constant along the time.
To comply with Rule 5.1 ii of PCT, the following documents are cited as closest prior art:    SHAMBAN B: 'BUSAK SHAMBAN: SOUPAPES A LA CARTE' INGENIEURS DE L'AUTOMOBILE, RAIP. BOULOGNE, FR, no. 690, 1 Jun. 1994 (1994-06-01), page 15 XP000510579 ISSN: 0020-1200    EP-A-0 756 338 (HAGEN BATTERIE AG) 29 Jan. 1997 (1997-01-29)    U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,124 (SCHOLLENBERGER GERD) 3 Oct. 1995 (1995-10-03)    PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 009, no. 049 (E-300), 2 Mar. 1985 (1985-03-02) & JP 59 191260 A (NIHON DENCHI KK), 30 Oct. 1984 (1984Oct. 30).

Seal and bleed valve unit for electric batteries


A generator rotor core (54) carrying superconducting windings (60) and having a shield (426) over the superconducting windings (60) to prevent external magnetic fields from impinging the windings. Axial shield edges (430/434) mate with corresponding features of the rotor core (54) or with structures affixed to or supported by the core (54) to support the shield (426).

An electric generator transforms rotational energy into electrical energy according to generator action principles of a dynamoelectric machine. The turning torque supplied to a rotating rotor by a combustion or steam-driven turbine is converted to alternating current (AC) electricity, typically three-phase AC, in a stationary stator that surrounds the rotor. The generator is a mechanically massive and electrically complex structure, supplying output power up to 2,222 MVA at voltages up to 27 kilovolts. Electrical generators are the primary power producers in an electrical power system.
As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, a conventional electric generator 10 comprises a substantially cylindrical rotor 12 supporting axial field windings or rotor windings 13. A direct current (DC) supplied to the rotor windings 13 produces a constant magnetic flux field that rotates with the rotating rotor within a stationary armature or stator 14. One end 15 of the rotor 12 is drivingly coupled to a steam or gas driven turbine (not shown in FIG. 1) for providing rotational energy to turn the rotor 12. The opposing end 16 is coupled to an exciter (not shown) for supplying the direct current to the rotor windings 13. An alternating current is generated in the stationary stator windings as the rotor's magnetic flux field crosses the stator windings. Rotor rotation subjects the rotor 12 and the rotor windings 13 to radial centrifugal forces that may result in radial distortion of these components.
The stator 14, a shell-like structure, encloses the rotor and comprises a core 17 further comprising a plurality of thin, high-permeability circumferential slotted laminations 17A placed in a side-by-side orientation and insulated from each other to reduce eddy current losses. Stator coils are wound within the inwardly directed slots. The AC electricity induced in the stator windings by action of the rotor's rotating magnetic field flows to terminals 19 mounted on the generator frame for connection to an external electrical load. Three-phase alternating current is produced by a generator comprising three independent stator windings spaced at 120° around the stator shell. Single-phase alternating current is supplied by a stator having a single stator winding.
The rotor 12 and the stator 14 are enclosed within a frame 20. Each rotor end comprises a bearing journal (not shown) for cooperating with bearings 30 attached to the frame 20.
A generator cooling system removes heat produced by current flow through the generator conductors, including the direct current flow through the rotor windings 13 and the alternating current induced in the stator coils. Additional heat sources include mechanical losses, such as windage caused by the spinning rotor, and friction at the bearings 30. The rotor 12 carries a blower 32 for forcing cooling fluid through the generator elements. Coolers 36 receive and cool the cooling fluid to release the heat absorbed from the generator components. The cooling fluid is then recirculated back through the generator components.
To increase generator output and efficiency and reduce generator size and weight, conventional copper rotor windings are replaced by superconducting windings (filaments) that exhibit effectively no resistance to current flow when maintained below the material's critical temperature (TC). Superconductivity is a phenomenon observed in several metals and ceramic materials when the material is cooled to temperatures ranging from near absolute zero (0° K or −273° C.) to a liquid nitrogen temperature of about 77° K or −196° C. The critical temperature for aluminum is about 1.19° K and for YBa2Cu3O7 (yttrium-barium-copper-oxide) is about 90° K. Yttrium-barium-copper-oxide (one example of a high temperature superconducting (HTS) material) is commonly used for the rotor windings of a superconducting generator.
Since the superconducting materials exhibit substantially no electrical resistance when maintained at or below their critical temperature, these materials can carry a substantial electric current for a long duration with insignificant energy losses. To maintain the superconducting conductors at or below their critical temperature, coolant flow paths carrying coolant supplied from a cryogenic cooler are disposed adjacent or proximate the windings. Typical coolants comprise liquid helium, liquid nitrogen and liquid neon.
Disadvantageously, the HTS rotor windings are sensitive to mechanical bending and tensile stresses that can cause premature degradation and winding failure (e.g., an open circuit). For example, bends formed in the HTS rotor windings to circumscribe the cylindrical rotor core induce winding stresses. Normal rotor torque, transient fault condition torques and over-speed forces induce additional stress forces in the rotor windings. These over-speed and fault conditions substantially increase the centrifugal force loads on the rotor coil windings beyond the loads experienced during normal operating conditions.
The co-pending commonly-owned application entitled Superconducting Coil Support Structures Ser. No. 11/529,373 describes and claims HTS winding support structures that support the windings against these loads. This application is incorporated by reference herein. The support structures also limit heat transfer from the "warm" (i.e., approximately room temperature) rotor core to the "cold" (i.e., cryogenically cooled) HTS windings. In addition to conductive thermal paths in the support elements, it is desired to maintain the HTS rotor windings in a vacuum condition to limit radiative heat transfer from the rotor core to the superconducting windings.
AC electricity available at the stator terminals is supplied to an electrical power grid through a transmission and distribution system. Grid fault currents, e.g. caused by a lightning-induced current spike on the grid, are coupled to the stator through the intervening transmission and distribution lines. The grid fault currents generate a stator fault current and an attendant strong transient magnetic flux that is magnetically coupled to the HTS rotor windings. This flux can generate a significant torque on the rotor core and the HTS winding, potentially damaging the HTS winding and its support structures. The transient magnetic fields can also be caused by system or internal short circuits, transmission switching operations, synchronizing operations, transient voltages on the transmission system and loss of synchronism between the generator and the grid. In addition to the undesired mechanical forces produced by these transient torques, any magnetic field coupled into the rotor windings causes undesired alternating current (AC) losses in the HTS conductors.
Although rotor winding support structures can be designed to allow the HTS conductors to withstand the additional torque introduced by these transient magnetic fields, such support structures increase the support mass and may introduce additional undesired thermal paths between the warm rotor core and the cold HTS windings.
Typically however, the rotor windings are shielded to prevent transient magnetic fields from reaching the rotor HTS windings. An electromagnetic shield, comprising copper or aluminum for example, encloses the HTS rotor windings to prevent magnetic flux from coupling to the rotor, thereby avoiding the consequent torques induced on the HTS windings. The shield is also referred to as a non-magnetic shield since it is constructed from non-magnetic material.
For relatively small electric generators the shield comprises a thin tubular or cylindrical structure surrounding the rotor core and the HTS windings and attached to the rotor core end faces. However, it is a substantial challenge to manufacture, assemble and balance a large and continuous cylindrical shield structure with the precision and tolerances required for a large electrical generator. According to one embodiment, a tubular shield having a relatively thin wall surface is supported by the rotor shaft with a tight clearance between the rotor and the shield. Gravity loading deforms the thin tube into an elliptical shape and interface contact is made at the top and bottom surfaces of the rotor shaft. Further, the considerable rotor weight tends to cause rotor sag. These effects lead to fretting damage due to relative motion (albeit a small displacement) at the interface of the rotor core and the non-magnetic shield. Alternatively, the tube shield has relatively thick wall surface with a larger gap between the shield and the rotor. Little or no fretting damage occurs in this configuration, but the shield must be sufficiently thick to support its own weight.
The rotor core and the surrounding non-magnetic shield independently vibrate at a different resonant frequency with a different vibration pattern. These effects create additional dynamic loads on the rotor core and the HTS windings. The cumulative effect of the interface contact forces and the vibration forces create extremely high stresses on the rotating non-magnetic shield.
If the rotor core and the HTS rotor windings are enclosed in a vacuum vessel (comprising stainless steel for example) additional design difficulties arise. If the shield and the vacuum vessel are both cylindrical with the vacuum vessel nested within the shield they are preferably joined to maintain the vacuum condition. Joining the dissimilar metals of the vacuum vessel and the shield is problematic. Further, the disadvantages associated with the large generator shield discussed above are exacerbated by the addition of the vacuum vessel.
It is known by those skilled in the art that the rotor must be balanced to minimize undesired rotor torques. During the balancing process balancing weights are added to the rotor body at various locations along its axial length to balance the rotor at its operating speed. Effective balancing requires access to the entire rotor body surface to permit placement of the balancing weights as desired to effect a balanced condition. A shield that covers the entire rotor requires performing the balancing operation prior to placement of the shield over the rotor. But such a process increases production cycle time and process costs. Also, this pre-shield installation balancing operation is conducted with the rotor at ambient temperature, but the rotor operates at cryogenic temperatures. Undoubtedly, the lower temperature affects the rotor's balance. Thus it is preferable to balance the rotor under cryogenic operating conditions with access to the entire rotor surface to place balance weights as required.

Rotor winding shield for a superconducting electric generator


Device for the characterization of a laser beam according to a "Knife edge" method as defined by Standard ISO 11146. The device has a lens for the focalization of an incident laser beam, and a detector. Interception elements are located between said lens and said detector in order to intercept sequentially the focalized laser beam in a plurality of different positions along its axis of propagation. The interception elements are suitable to allow, in each one of said positions, the passage of a progressively increasing (or decreasing) portion of the vocalized laser beam starting from a condition of substantially total (or null) interception up to a condition of substantially null (or total) interception.

1. Field of the Invention
The present industrial invention refers to a device for the characterisation of a laser beam; more specifically the invention refers to a device for real-time measuring of the caustic curve of propagation of a laser beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
The laser beams propagation law allows to establish with precision the evolution of a laser beam in space whenever its minimum diameter and its divergence are known.
According to the Standard ISO 11146, the measurement of the diameter of a laser beam must be taken in at least ten planes orthogonal to the axis of propagation of the beam, to be chosen in such a way so that five planes fall within a so called "Rayleigh distance" and at least five additional planes fall outside by two "Rayleigh distances" as measured starting from the focal plane.
The evaluation of the diameter of the beam in each one of the selected points must be performed according to one of the following methods, in conformity with the aforementioned standard:
"second moment": the diameter is given by the relation: d(z)=4o(z), where o(z) is the second moment of the distribution of intensity of the laser beam at the position z along the axis of propagation of the beam; PA1 "variable aperture": the diameter corresponds to the one of an aperture centred on the beam that transmits 86.4% of the incident energy; PA1 "moving slit": the diameter is given by twice the distance between the points in which the energy is 13.6% of the peak energy. PA1 "knife edge": the diameter is given by twice the distance between the points in which the energy reaches 13.6% and 86.4%.
The devices currently available, for example the ones for power lasers, do not allow to take a real-time measurement of the propagation caustic curve since they are very slow in acquiring a single profile of the beam, and in addition they involve the movement of some optical component in order to be positioned on the different spots along the propagation axis.
The most widely used methods of evaluation are the "second moment" and the "knife edge" ones. To determine the curve of propagation of the laser beam in a short time is therefore extremely difficult with the current devices; therefore they are not used in line during the system operation, but they are employed only to conduct periodic checks of the beam parameters.
A continuous and quick monitoring of the characteristics of the beams requires a much more flexible device than the ones currently available, in order to be able to carry out, in real-time, the correction of the spot position that would compensate the modifications introduced by the different optical paths travelled by the beam in a flying optics system, as for example for cutting or welding.
At present, there are devices based on two methods that allow to correct the characteristics of the focal spot at the working point. These act upon the optical characteristics of the optical components that transmit the beam, for example by modifying the radius of curvature of the reflecting mirrors (adaptive optics) or by controlling the position of the lens with respect to the working plane.
Both of these methods carry out the correction of the characteristics of the focal spot by utilising calculation algorithms that are based on the theoretic curve of propagation of the laser beam or by self-learning of the same, that is interpolating the values of the measured and subsequently recorded diameters along the beam path within the flying optics system. These methods are certainly effective, but they result to be not bound to the actual characteristics of the real beam that for example can change through time due to the effect of deterioration of the optical components of the laser source resonator and/or of the optical line, external to the source, conveying the beam to the working point.

Device for the characterization of laser beams


A user information registration program 68 of PC3 obtains current time from a built-in timer. Sequentially, the user information registration program 68 extracts one registration destination information from a registration destination table. The user information registration program 68 calculates lease end time from the sum of lease period and registration response reception time in extracted registration destination information and compares the calculation result with current time. If current time exceeds lease end time, the user information registration program 68 adds the IP address of network scanner 2 relating to the current registration destination to a response table 120. Sequentially, user information of PC3 is registered to the network scanner 2 (registration destination). The user information registration program 68 registers new user information to all registration destinations (network scanners 2) registered in the registration destination table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image information transmitting system, scanner apparatus and user terminal apparatus, and an image information transmitting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a scanner is positioned on a network and image information scanned by the scanner is transmitted to a desired personal computer (PC) connected to the network. Such a scanner is referred to as a network scanner.
The network scanner converts image information to a predetermined file format (for example, TIFF), establishes a communication channel between PC and the network scanner on the network using a TCP protocol, and transfers an image file to PC through this communication channel. PC stores this image file to a hard disk and the like, and performs display, edition, and the like as required.
In order to establish the communication channel between the network scanner and PC using the protocol, it is necessary to transmit a packet, which requests for connecting to the communication channel, to an IP address of PC from the network scanner. Conventionally, regarding the IP address of PC, a user inputs it to the network scanner every time when a document is scanned. Or, the IP address is registered to memory of the network scanner in advance and the registered IP address is called up as required.
In view of the effective use of IP address, there has been recently used a DHCP server that assigns an IP address to a network terminal automatically. Under management of the DHCP server, the IP address to be assigned to PC is different every time startup occurs. Accordingly, the need arises for the user to examine the user's own IP address every time the network scanner is used. Further, the need arises for the user to frequently change the registration content of the network scanner, so that the IP address registered in memory actually becomes useless in many cases.

Image information transmitting system, scanner apparatus and user terminal apparatus, and image information transmitting system


A pallet apparatus for transporting stacked cars has upper and lower pallets connected by four columns. The upper pallet is attached at an adjustable height and angle relative to the lower pallet. A diagonal brace is connected between each column and the lower pallet at a height greater than the highest point of attachment for the upper pallet on the column. A method of using the device is also claimed.

Automobile assembly plants are generally located long distances from the markets where the cars will be sold. Although many cars are transported from the plant on highway car carriers to nearby dealers, say dealers up to about 250 miles from the plant, the majority of cars manufactured in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are moved by bi-level or tri-level autorack rail cars from the plant to a central distribution point, where they are then driven off the rail cars, stored temporarily, and driven onto highway car carriers for transport to dealers. The term "cars" is used herein to refer not only to passenger automobiles but to station wagons, pick-up trucks, sport vehicles, and vans, and, more generally, to all motor vehicles generally comparable in size to passenger automobiles.
The traditional modes of transport for the car industry have a number of disadvantages. Moving cars from the assembly line to temporary storage lots, then to the rail and truck loading facilities, and subsequent movements at distribution centers is highly labor intensive - people have to drive the cars to a destination and return for more cars. Damage due to human contact is a major problem. Because the cars have to be driven onto and off of the rail cars and car carriers, driven in storage lots and parked in tight places, damage to doors and damage from occasional collisions with parked cars are common. The doors of cars in transit from assembly plants to dealers are ordinarily left unlocked and the keys are left in the cars for easy accessibility to the drivers who drive them when they are transferred to and from storage sites and transport vehicles. From time to time, persons enter the unlocked cars that are being transported and damage them. Also, the cars are exposed to the weather, hail being the most serious hazard, and to vandalism. There is, therefore, a need for a faster, safer and more economical means of transporting cars from assembly plants to dealers.
Another problem with the usual way in which cars are transported is that the autorack rail cars and highway car carriers are costly to manufacture and are unsuitable for transporting other cargo. The empty return trips from their destinations are wasteful of the equipment, the fuel consumed, the personnel, and the railways and roadways. There is, therefore, a need for providing for transport of cars by equipment that has cargo space suitable for transporting other cargo, not only when the rail cars and trailers are returned to their point of origin but for general use as well.
A number of attempts have been made to solve the problems discussed above. For example, Gearin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,935 describes and shows a system for loading and transporting cars inside shipping containers. The cars are loaded onto carrier racks outside the shipping container and then placed into the container, where they are protected from external hazards. While the transporter system disclosed in the Gearin patent has attained some limited acceptance commercially, the system has a number of problems.
The Gearin system includes a highly complex, costly frame structure, which requires the use of equally complex loading and unloading facilities. The complex nature of the loading and unloading procedures also requires a significant amount of time. The system utilizes a large and bulky loading/unloading frame, which is difficult to work with. The large size of the Gearin loading frame does not lend itself to mass production.
Another Gearin patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,916, discloses a collapsible frame system for loading cars into a shipping container. The Gearin frames are designed to collapse so that a number of the frames can be stored in the same shipping container on a return trip to the point of origin. A problem with this design, however, is that collapsing the frame involves a complex, multi-step procedure. Additionally, numerous components must be removed from the frame before it can be collapsed, and these components may be damaged or lost during a return trip to the point of origin.
Another system for transporting vehicles inside shipping containers has been proposed by J. B. Hunt. In the Hunt system, the frame which holds the cars is assembled inside the container, and the cars are then driven into the container and secured to the frame. The major disadvantage of this system is that after the cars are driven into the container, it is difficult for the drivers to exit the cars, and there is a danger that the car doors will be damaged from banging into the container walls.
Other systems for containerizing cars for shipment have been proposed. In general, such systems have been intended for overseas shipments on container ships. Containerization is not particularly useful in its previously known configurations for over-land transport of cars, inasmuch as it is usually not feasible to make up containers at an assembly plant having the mixes of cars that the dealers have ordered. Unloading and reloading containers at distribution centers to get the mixes of cars for the dealers using previously proposed systems is, as discussed above, labor-intensive, time-consuming, complicated and costly.

Method and apparatus for transporting cars


A triazole compound of the formula (I): ##STR1## and an insecticide comprising the same as the active ingredient.

3-t-butyl-1-(N-N-dimethylcarbamoyl)-1,2,4-triazole type compounds exhibiting an insecticidal activity are known in the art, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. 52-122624, 52-122626, 55-38387, and 62-70365.
Nevertheless, these compounds do not have a satisfactory insecticidal spectrum and insecticidal performance. In particular, it should be noted that these compounds have not been practically applied due to an insufficient effect in practical application or an occurrence of phytotoxicity when highly effective. Further, the 5-position substituted with triazole is an alkylthio, alkylthioalkylthio, or alkoxycarbonylalkylthio group which is completely different from the OR.sub.3 (where R.sub.3 is as defined above) of the 5-position substituent of the present compound.


The invention relates to a horological device, in particular a horological movement or timepiece, comprising a winding mechanism and at least one mechanism for correcting at least one indicator member. According to the invention, the aforementioned mechanisms can be actuated by a control stem that can occupy at least two axial positions, each corresponding to the actuation of one of the mechanisms, said control stem (T) comprising: a winder pinion (5) that can engage with the winding mechanism; and a sliding pinion (6) that can be moved axially, both with respect to the control stem (T) and with respect to the frame of the horological device, and can engage with the correcting mechanism.

Timepieces comprising a winding mechanism and a mechanism for correcting indicator members are already familiar.
By way of example, the object of the European Patent Application published under reference number EP 1 152 303 is such a timepiece, in which the control stem may occupy three axial positions and includes a sliding pinion provided with rear teeth and front teeth.
In the first of the axial positions, the control stem actuates the winding mechanism by means of the rear teeth of the sliding pinion.
In its second axial position, the control stem drives the mechanism for correcting the calendar and the day, likewise by means of the rear teeth of the sliding pinion.
In its third axial position, the control stem actuates the mechanism for correcting the hour by means of the front teeth of the sliding pinion.
In this device, the winding pinion is mounted in a freely rotatable manner on the control stem. Each mechanism is actuated by at least one horizontal coupling-clutch. The timepiece utilizes the same number of levers, arranged in a plane parallel to that of the frame of the timepiece, as there are mechanisms to actuate.
This device makes it possible to eliminate any risks of unintentional correction of the calendar or the day of the week during the transition from the first to the second axial position of the stem.
However, it suffers from the major disadvantage that it does not address the associated risk of blockage during the transition from the first to the second axial position of the stem when the winding train is under tension. In addition, it needs a large number of levers and requires a sizeable surface area in order to arrange them in the plane of the timepiece.
Document CH 432389 has as its object a winding mechanism and a hand-setting mechanism that is equipped with two separate horizontal coupling-clutch devices.
The first coupling-clutch is dedicated to the winding function, and the second is provided in order to control the translation of the sliding pinion in such a way as to activate or deactivate the kinematic hand-setting train. Unlike the mechanism disclosed in document EP 1 152 303, the sliding pinion is not provided for the purpose of coming into engagement with the winding train by means of the winding pinion. Each coupling-clutch is equipped with a lever with bistable functionality, which is arranged in a plane parallel to that of the frame of the timepiece, and which is controlled directly by the setting lever. A first position of one or other of the two levers corresponds to an activation position for the function that is associated with it, while a second position corresponds to a deactivation position. Thus, it is not possible to add a third correction function such as setting a derivative indication of the time without incorporating an additional coupling-clutch device. In addition, this mechanism requires a sufficiently sizeable surface area in the plane of the timepiece to permit more than one lever to be arranged there.
Document EP2012199 relates to a mechanism with two positions. This mechanism is intended to equip a watch provided with a large number of time indications requiring correction. The first position is that for winding, whereas the second position corresponds to setting the selected indication by means of a selector member. This device utilizes a single pinion, which is in a fixed rotational connection with the stem. Its front teeth are in engagement with the different correction trains, whereas its contrate teeth are linked kinematically to the winding train. This pinion does not move axially, and the risks of over-center interference and blocking attributable to the translation of the sliding pinion are therefore overcome. The activation of the winding train is effected by means of a vertical coupling-clutch that is controlled directly by the geometry of the stem, whereas the device for selecting the indication to be corrected makes use of a selection cam intended to control the same number of coupling-clutch levers, moving parallel to the plane of the frame of the movement, as there are indications requiring correction. Such a device thus makes it possible to counter the aforementioned functional defects. However, this calls for a considerable number of levers and a sizeable surface in the plane of the timepiece sufficient to permit the arrangement of these levers, and necessarily requires the provision of a member adjacent to the stem for selecting the indication for correction.

Timepiece comprising a winding mechanism and at least one mechanism for correcting at least one indicator member


An electronic component includes a capacitor array including a plurality of multilayer capacitors which are sequentially arranged in a first direction; and a pair of metal frames disposed on opposing side surfaces of the capacitor array, respectively, and connected to first and second external electrodes of the plurality of multilayer capacitors, respectively, wherein the metal frames include: support portions bonded to head portions of the external electrodes; and a mounting portion extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction from lower ends of the support portions, and one or more cutting portions are formed in portions of lower sides of the support portions and the mounting portion.

Multilayer capacitors are commonly used in a variety of electronic devices due to being able to be implemented with a small size and high capacity.
In recent years, due to the rapid rise in popularity of environmentally-friendly automobiles and electric vehicles, power driving systems in automobiles have increased, and accordingly, demand for the multilayer capacitors required for automobiles has also increased.
Since a high level of thermal reliability, electrical reliability, and mechanical reliability are required in use as an automotive part, the level of performance required for the multilayer capacitor is also being advanced.
In particular, there is an increasing demand for a modular electronic device having high resistance to vibrations and deformation, while allowing high capacity to be implemented by stacking a plurality of multilayer capacitors in a limited space.


A new and distinct cultivar of Deutzia plant named ‘Kolmaspri’, characterized by its upright plant habit; strong and erect flowering stems; freely flowering habit; white-colored flowers; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Deutzia plant, botanically known as Deutzia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Kolmaspri'.
The new Deutzia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Boskoop, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Deutzia cultivars with strong and upright flowering stems and freely flowering habit.
The new Deutzia plant originated from a open-pollination in Boskoop, The Netherlands in 1999 of Deutzia×hybrida 'Mont Rose', not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Deutzia×hybrida as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Deutzia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Boskoop, The Netherlands in 2004.
Asexual reproduction of the new Deutzia plant by cuttings in a controlled environment in Boskoop, The Netherlands since 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Deutzia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A power circuit includes at least a high side and low side MOS gated transistor operable to form a bridge circuit across high and low power terminals of a power source; a high side driver circuit having an output operable to change conduction characteristics of the high side MOS gated transistor; and a series coupled diode and capacitor configured in a bootstrap arrangement with the high side and low side transistors to provide an operating voltage to the high side driver circuit. A low side driver circuit has an output operable to change conduction characteristics of the low side MOS gated transistor; a low side voltage source is coupled to the low side driver circuit to provide an operating voltage thereto, the series coupled diode and capacitor being in series with the low side voltage source; and a stray inductance is located in series with the high side and low side MOS gated transistors and inducing a current through the low side MOS gated transistor in response to conduction changes in the high side and low side MOS gated transistors. A first current limiting element is coupled in series between the low side voltage source and the diode to reduce a component of the induced current from the stray inductance from flowing through the diode into the capacitor; and a second current limiting element is operable to be coupled in series between the low power terminal and the low side voltage source to reduce a component of the induced current from the stray inductance from flowing through the diode into the capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gate driver for a transistor bridge circuit and, more particularly, relates to a high voltage gate driver employing current limiting elements for reducing the deleterious effects of voltage spikes resulting from transistor switch commutation into inductive loads.
2. Related Art
Reference is made to FIG. 1 which shows a typical half bridge power conversion circuit employing two series coupled transistors Q1, Q2 connected across a source of high voltage +Hv, -Hv. In this case, the transistors Q1, Q2 are insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) each including an anti-parallel diode D1, D2, respectively, coupled thereacross. The IGBT Q1 is typically referred to as the "high side" transistor (or switch) and the IGBT Q2 is typically referred to as the "low side" transistor (or switch).
As is the case in practical circuits, an amount of stray inductance, Ls, exists between the series coupled IGBTs Q1, Q2, where Ls may be undesirably introduced due to interconnections within the IGBT Q1, Q2 packages and/or due to printed circuit board runs.
The node U (between the IGBTs Q1, Q2) is coupled to a load (not shown) such that current may be delivered to and received from the load as is known in the art.
As shown, a high voltage driver circuit (or "driver") is used to alternately bias the IGBT Q1 and the IGBT Q2 on and off in response to a control signal (for example, a pulse width modulation signal, not shown). The high voltage driver circuit includes first and second gate driver circuits, Drv1 and Drv2, respectively, for providing bias current to the gates of Q1 and Q2. Gate resistors, Rg1 and Rg2 may be included to insure proper turn on and turn off characteristics of the IGBTs Q1, Q2.
The high voltage gate driver circuit obtains operating voltage from a DC supply, Vcc, where the low side driver, Drv2, obtains operating voltage directly from Vcc and the high side driver, Drv1, obtains operating voltage through a bootstrap circuit. The bootstrap circuit includes a bootstrap diode, Dbs, coupled at its anode to Vcc and at its cathode to one end of a bootstrap capacitor, Cbs as is known. The other end of Cbs is connected to node U. Thus, Drv1 obtains its operating voltage across Cbs.
A shunt resistor Rs may be included between the -Hv node and the Vss terminal of the high voltage gate driver circuit.
The high voltage gate driver circuit may be a "junction isolated" device, which devices include a substrate diode, Dsub, as shown. Junction isolated high voltage gate driver circuits may be obtained from the International Rectifier Corporation (El Segundo, Calif.) under the IR21XX series, IR22XX series and other part numbers. Alternatively, the high voltage gate driver circuit may be a "dielectric isolated" device, which devices do not include a substrate diode. Dielectric isolated high voltage gate driver circuits may also be obtained from the International Rectifier Corporation.
When the half bridge circuit of FIG. 1 drives an inductive load several problems are likely to result. Specifically, when the IGBT Q1 changes state (from biased on to biased off), the current through Q1 (collector to emitter) falls at a rate of -di/dt. Since the load is inductive, the current flowing through the load will freewheel through diode D2. The current in D2 (from anode to cathode) will thus ramp up at a rate of di/dt.
The ramping current (di/dt) in D2 must flow through Ls, which ramping current causes a voltage spike, Vls, to develop across Ls having a polarity shown. Vls may be expressed in terms of the ramping current through D2 as follows: Vls=Ls.multidot.di/dt.
It is noted that Vls may also be induced when a short circuit shut down occurs at a time when Q2 is sinking current from the load. As will be discussed in detail below, the voltage spike, Vls, is undesirable.
Since diode D2 has a substantially constant forward voltage drop, Vd2 (approximately 0.5 to 0.7 volts), the voltage Vs is driven below -Hv in response to the voltage spike Vls. Indeed, Vs may be described by the following equation: Vs=Vd2-Vls (where the magnitude of Vls is typically much greater than Vd2).
When the high voltage gate driver circuit is of the junction isolated type (i.e., includes a substrate diode, Dsub), a voltage spike Vls will tend to induce a current, Isub, to flow through the substrate diode Dsub. Specifically Isub would tend to flow from Ls, through D2, through Dsub, and through Cbs back to Ls. If Isub is sufficiently high, the driver may malfunction (e.g., latch up) which could result in catastrophic circuit failure (i.e., failure of Q1, Q2, and/or the load, etc.). In addition, Isub current flow causes the Cbs voltage (Vbs) to charge higher which could damage the high side driver Drv1 (possibly also causing catastrophic circuit failure).
When the high voltage gate driver circuit is of the junction isolated type or the dielectric isolation type, a voltage spike Vls across Ls will tend to induce extra current flow through the bootstrap diode, Dbs. Specifically, current would tend to flow from Ls, through D2, through Rs, through Vcc, through Dbs, and through Cbs back to Ls. Typically, the current induced by Vls through Dbs is higher than Isub because Vcc and Vls are in and additive configuration. Consequently, Vbs increases which could damage the high side driver Drv1 (possibly also causing catastrophic circuit failure).
Although the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is a half bridge circuit, similar voltage spikes occur in single phase full bridge power circuits, three phase full bridge circuits, high side chopper circuits, and the like.
While the prior art circuit of FIG. 1 is suitable for use with smaller power semiconductor die sizes, such as up to International Rectifier die size 3, it is not satisfactory at higher dies sizes, such as International Rectifier die size 4 and above.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a high voltage gate driver circuit configuration which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by mitigating against the deleterious effects of a stray inductance voltage spike occurring in a switching power circuit.

Resistor in series with bootstrap diode for monolithic gate driver device


An improved resolution electron gun for a cathode ray tube(CRT) is provided having a cathode, a control grid and an anode. A positive voltage is applied to the anode for the purpose of drawing the electron beam from the cathod, which emits the electron beam along its principal axis. The control grid between the cathode and the anode has a modulating drive voltage to modulate the emitted beam. The anode and the grid are aligned along the principal axis of the cathode and are adjacent to one another. A limiting aperture is mounted along the principal axis to clip the beam and reduce its diameter. A screen is provided along the principal axis within the CRT to receive the projected beam. To obtain increased resolution, the modulating drive voltage is increased while the aperture size is decreased. More specifically, the modulating drive voltage is increased beyond 25% of a predetermined maximum cutoff value, and the limiting aperture permits less than 50% of beam current to transmit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electron guns for use in cathode ray tubes and, more particularly, to an improved electron gun configuration enabling enhanced image resolution on the screen of a cathode ray tube.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) have been used since the early 1900's to project images onto screens and are commonly used today in computer terminals and television sets. A CRT utilizes a vacuum tube in which cathode rays, usually in the form of narrow beams, are projected onto a fluorescent screen to produce a luminous spot on the screen. Cathode rays are produced by an electron gun which propels a stream of electrons toward the screen via a strong electric field created inside the vacuum tube.
The typical electron gun includes a cathode, a control grid and an anode. A thermionic heater raises the temperature of the emitting surface of the cathode to a point at which thermionic electron emission can occur. By applying a large voltage differential between the cathode and the anode, the electrons can be drawn from the cathode emitting surface into the projected beam. Application of a negative voltage to the control grid between the cathode and the anode causes the beam to shut off. By modulating the voltage on the control grid, the beam intensity can be varied.
It has long been desired within the art to improve the resolution of an image visible on the CRT screen. The image is formed by numerous spots projected onto the screen. If each individual spot size could be decreased, a greater number of spots per unit area of screen can make up a particular image, thus increasing its sharpness or resolution. Accordingly, most efforts to improve CRT screen resolution center on reducing the spot size.
A problem which consistently hinders spot size reduction is beam spreading. When the electron gun emits the beam, the path of the electrons tends to diverge. This divergence, or beam spreading, causes a wider spot than desired to be projected onto the screen.
Various techniques are employed to reduce the beam spreading phenomenon. One such technique involves the use of apertures to filter or clip the outer diameter of the beam. The aperture would comprise a small hole placed in a charged plate positioned between the electron gun and the screen. As the beam passes through the aperture, the diverging electrons strike the edges of the aperture, and are shunted off. Apertures are effective in reducing the diameter of the beam, resulting in a smaller spot size being projected onto the screen.
Although aperture usage has a beneficial effect on resolution, it has an associated drawback with regard to brightness. By shunting off electrons from the beam, the overall intensity of the beam is reduced since fewer electrons remain in the beam which ultimately reaches the screen to form the spot. As a result, the brightness of the spot is reduced. To remedy the degraded brightness, the voltage on the control grid can be increased, or driven more positive relative to the cathode. However, the conventional wisdom in the art of electron guns is that an increase in the drive voltage would further degrade the resolution on the screen, since greater beam spreading would result. Thus, CRT electron gun designers were required to strike a balance between resolution and brightness, in that both parameters could not be maximized simultaneously.


The present invention provides an ink-jet recording method for forming an image by applying an ink to a recording medium. The ink contains at least water, a colorant and a surfactant. The content of the surfactant is higher than or equal to the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant, and the ink used has a surface tension lower than or equal to the critical surface tension of the recording medium. The ink is applied on the recording medium, and the surface tension of the ink is increased to a surface tension higher than the critical surface tension of the recording medium after the ink contacts the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ink-jet recording, particularly to an ink-jet recording method capable of obtaining a high quality image on a recording medium mainly comprising plain paper, and to an ink-jet ink (abbreviated as "ink" hereinafter) used thereto. The invention further relates to an ink-jet recording unit, ink cartridge for ink-jet recording and ink-jet recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ink-jet recording method is the method of ejecting small droplets of ink by applying energy, and recording by landing droplets on a recording medium such as paper. Particularly, in the method using an electricity-heat conversion member as an ejection energy supply device for ejecting the droplets by allowing bubbles to be generated by applying heat energy to the ink, a recording head is readily made to have high density nozzles to enable high resolution quality images to be recorded in a high speed (see Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 61-59911, 61-59912 and 61-59914).
However, since the conventional ink used for ink-jet recording usually comprises water as a principal component with supplemented water-soluble high boiling point solvents, such as glycols for preventing drying and clogging, the ink permeates deep into the recording paper when images are recorded on plain paper using such ink. Consequently, sufficient image densities cannot be obtained, and the image densities become uneven probably due to uneven distribution of fillers and sizing agents on the surface of recording paper. Since a plurality of color inks are printed one after another before the precedent inks are fixed when a color image is printed, a satisfactory image cannot be obtained due to blur of colors and uneven mixing (referred to as "bleeding" hereinafter) at the boundaries of different colors.
For solving the above problems, an ink having a surface tension less than or equal to the critical surface tension of the recording medium is used, for example, by adding compounds capable of enhancing permeability of the ink, such as glycol ethers and surfactants (Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 60-34992 and 62-28828). However, although permeability of the ink into recording paper (recording medium) is improved suppress bleeding to a certain extent, the image density is decreased and clearness of the image is deteriorated because the ink permeates deep into recording paper together with colorants. This method is not preferable because the ink tends to be spread due to improved wettability of the surface of recording paper causing a decrease of resolution and blur. This problem is evident when black letters are printed.
On the other hand, when the surface tension of the ink is adjusted to be higher than the critical surface tension of the recording medium, fixing speed is impaired and bleeding performance becomes quite poor, although the problems of decreased image density and clearness and deteriorated quality of the black letters do not occur.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ink-jet recording method, ink-jet ink, ink-jet recording unit, ink cartridge for ink-jet recording and ink-jet recording apparatus


A vehicular collision avoidance radar system using digital signal processing techniques including a transmit section that generates a two channel transmit frequency. An antenna both transmits the transmit signal and receives a reflected receive signal. A Schottky diode mixer generates a difference signal having a frequency equal to the transmit frequency minus the receive frequency. A signal switch in a front end electronics section time demultiplexes and samples the channel 1 and channel 2 signals. The samples are coupled to a two-channel analog to digital (A/D) converter. A digital electronics section receives the digital information and performs a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on each channel of digital data to determine relative speed and range of a target based upon the frequency and the difference in phase of the two channels. The digital electronics section also receives information regarding the status of vehicle operation and/or controls to determine the degree of danger presented by an identified target.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicular radar systems, and more particularly to a vehicular collision avoidance radar system using digital signal processing techniques.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a continuing need to increase the density of vehicles traveling the world's roadways, and simultaneously to improve the safety of highway vehicle operations by preventing highway vehicles from colliding with stationary and moving objects (such as roadside obstacles and other vehicles). One means for accomplishing these seemingly contradictory goals is to monitor the relative speed, direction of travel, and distance between vehicles sharing the roadway, and to use such information to provide direct indications to the vehicle's operator of potential danger. It is becoming increasingly more common for automotive engineers to consider the use of microwave radar systems as a means to monitor such environmental conditions.
Vehicle borne radar systems which transmit and receive at three different frequencies on a time division basis, with two of the frequencies being used to determine range, and the third being combined with one of the first two to determine closing speed and likelihood of collision, are presently known. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,303 to Watanabe et al., which teaches an analog radar signal processing front end.
However, analog systems such as the one disclosed in Watanabe are sensitive to temperature changes, and are difficult to calibrate. Furthermore, such systems are dedicated to particular tasks, such as determining the range and relative rate of motion of other objects, and therefore are difficult to upgrade and customize to meet varying requirements. Still further, the transmit and receive frames in such three frequency systems can be wasteful, in that only small portions thereof are needed to determine the range and relative rate of motion of a target, with the remaining portions of the frame being unused.
Another recent example of an automotive radar system that uses analog signal processing techniques to analyze reflected radar signals is described in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/020,680, entitled Multi-Frequency Automotive Radar System, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In that system, a transmit signal and the reflected received signal are coupled to an RF mixer. The relevant output from the RF mixer is a signal that has a frequency equal to the difference between the transmit and receive frequencies. The frequency of the reflected received signal may be shifted from the frequency of the transmit signal upon its return due to the "Doppler" effect. Doppler effect occurs whenever a transmitted signal reflects off a target that has a motion relative to a transceiver. The resulting frequency shift is referred to as a "Doppler shift".
The transmit signal changes at regular intervals between three frequencies spaced 250 kHz apart. Two of the frequencies are used to generate range information as described therein, while a third frequency is used to determine Doppler closing rate and target selection. After substantial analog waveform detection, amplification, shaping, and gating, the information regarding range, closing rate, and target selection can be input to a microcontroller for digital processing.
The use of analog processing techniques is fast and allows real time processing. However, the cost of analog circuitry is typically much greater than the cost of digital circuitry. Thus, the sooner the analog signal can be converted to a digital signal and handled by digital circuitry, the lower the cost of the system. Additionally, digit signal processing circuits are much less sensitive to temperature and manufacturing variations and interference from noise than are analog signal processing circuits. Furthermore, the use of analog signal processing techniques limits the number of features that can be added to a system since each new feature typically requires all new processing hardware. In contrast, many additional features can be added to a system in which digital signal processing is used to determine range and relative motion simply by adding software. Still further, in analog systems the level of sophistication that can be achieved is limited by the available hardware and the cost of such hardware.
Because only a small part of the reflected signal is returned to the antenna, target detection runs from very good to non-existent, even when a strongly reflecting target is present. Improving the ability to detect targets requires sophisticated signal processing. Under many circumstances, such sophisticated signal processing is the only means by which meaningful information can be attained. Without sophisticated information processing it may be difficult to identify and interpret the reflected signal. This level of processing essentially mandates digital signal manipulation.
Therefore, there is a need for an automotive radar system that converts signals received into digital form before processing of those signals. Furthermore, there is a need for a simplified system in which only two frequencies are broadcast and in which a larger portion of the transmit signal is useful.

Multi-frequency, multi-target vehicular radar system using digital signal processing


A urethane reaction product, derived from an alkoxylated diorgano phosphorodithioate and an isocyanate, specifically, toluenediisocyanate and hexamethylene diisocyanate, is a multifunctional antiwear and antioxidant additive for lubricants. The isocyanate groups of the reaction product are substantially converted to urethane and/or urea groups through post reaction with active hydrogen compounds such as dibutylamine, bis(2-hydroxethyl) cocoamine and alcohols such as 2-propanol.

Direct frictional contact between relatively moving surfaces even in the presence of a lubricant can cause wear of the surfaces. The elimination of wear is an ideal goal which is approached by blending the lubricating media with additives which can reduce the wear. The most suitable antiwear additives are those that help to create and maintain a persistent film of lubricant even under severe conditions which would tend to dissipate the lubricant film such as high temperatures which thin the lubricant film and extreme pressures which squeeze the lubricant film away from the contacting surfaces. Wear is most serious in internal combustion engines, diesel engines and gasoline engines in which metal parts are exposed to sliding, rolling and other types of forceful, frictional mechanical contact. Specific areas of wear occur in the gears, particularly hypoid gears which are under high loads, piston rings and cylinders and bearings such as ball, sleeve and roller bearings. Since antiwear lubricants are made by incorporating antiwear additives into the lubricating fluid, compatibility of the additive is important. Compatibility is a problem encountered in the art because the antiwear functionality is usually polar which makes that portion insoluble in the lubricant. It is desirable to make antiwear additives which maintain the antiwear functionality while at the same time are soluble in the lubricant fluid.
Rust prevention is important in machines which are made from ferrous alloys, other than stainless steel, which are subject to rusting upon exposure to humid air. Mineral oils notoriously do not have good rust preventative properties and have; therefore, been mixed with appropriate antirust additives. While synthetic oils have better antirust properties they too can benefit from compatible antirust additives. Antirust additives are usually hydrophobic polar compounds which are adsorbed at the metal surface to shield the surface from exposure to corrosive compounds present in the environment. Known antirust additives of this kind include esters of phosphorus acids. Other antirust additives have the ability to neutralize the acidity of the lubricant as oxidation occurs. Antirust additives of this kind which are particularly useful under relatively high temperature conditions are nitrogenous compounds; e.g. alkyl amines and amides.
Oxidation of a lubricating oil occurs during ordinary, as well as severe, conditions and use. The properties of the oil change due to contamination of the oil and chemical changes in the oil molecules. Oxidation can lead to bearing corrosion, ring sticking, lacquer and sludge formation and excessive viscosity. Acid and peroxide oxidation products can promote corrosion of metal parts, particularly in bearings. The presence of an antioxidant can have a profound effect upon the rate of oxidation of the lubricating oil. Known antioxidants include hydroxy compounds, such as phenols, nitrogen compounds such as amines and phosphorothioates, particularly zinc dithiophosphates.
The use of phosphorodithioate compositions, specifically the zinc dithiophosphates have been known as multifunctional antiwear, peroxide decomposing and bearing corrosion inhibiting additives.
Urea and urethane derivatives have also been described as having good antioxidant characteristics and antiwear properties in lubricants. For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,574 describes lubricants containing diorganophosphorus derivatives of urethane as antiwear agents. The additive described in this patent does not contain a phosphorodithioate functional group.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,730 describes a polyurethane derived from a diisocyanate and a diol having dispersant properties for lubricants and fuels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,087 describes a reaction product of a polyether and a polyamine which are linked together by a diisocyanate having ashless dispersant and detergent properties for fuels.


Abrasive discs for use with orbital sanders having dust extractor systems are provided in which the discs have an annular perforated zone intermediate between the center and the circumference of the disc in a location corresponding to the location of dust extractor ports in the cooperating backup pad.

This invention relates to abrasive discs for use with orbital sanders which are designed for use with integral vacuum exhaust systems. Orbital sanders generate a great deal of dust, particularly when used on wood, polymer composites or unmodified plastics or painted surfaces. This dust is not only inconvenient and possibly injurious to health, but it also obscures the view of the surface being sanded and can "blind" the abrasive disc being used. Many manufacturers therefore sell orbital sanders with integral or readily attachable vacuum exhaust systems design to suck away the dust as it is formed. This is done by applying a vacuum to the back of the support pad to which the abrasive disc is attached and providing holes through the support pad and the disc through which the dust can be evacuated as it is generated.
However there is a problem in that the pattern of exhaust holes in the backup pads is not standardized such that abrasive discs intended for use with, for example a Black & Decker Corporation orbital sander, will not fit a sander sold by Porter-Cable Corporation. One type has five exhaust holes whereas the other has eight exhaust holes. Yet another sander, the Dynabrad, has six holes. This means that the retailer selling to the "Do It Yourself" (or DIY) market must keep at least three different stocks of abrasive discs, in all grit sizes, if he is to be able to service the needs of all his customers. This consumes valuable shelf space which becomes very inconvenient as the number of DIY products for which replacement abrasive materials must be stocked increases.
One solution to this problem is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,650 which describes an abrasive disc with a multitude of spaced perforations all across the disc surface. The disc is backed by a porous material and swarf generated during grinding is sucked through the porous backing and ejected at the sides or, if a grinder with a vacuum extractor system is fitted, through the exhaust ports. This does however sacrifice a good deal of effective grinding surface and requires a backing with sufficient porosity to allow passage of the swarf without becoming prematurely clogged.
Another option is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,112 which describes a disc for use with vacuum sanders with the five hole or eight hole pattern of exhaust ports in the backing pad. In this disc there are eight holes, as appropriate for the eight hole vacuum sander but selected holes are enlarged to coincide also with the location of the holes in a five hole orbital sander device. This works very well but the disc needs to be located on the backup pad with care to make sure the holes are in register with the holes in the backup pad. It is found however, that many workers value more highly the ability to make a disc change without even looking at the disc orientation on the backup pad. There is therefore the need for an abrasive disc for attachment to a backup pad fitted with exhaust ports that can be fitted quickly and that will not be sensitive to orientation with respect to the backup pad and will still be effective to remove swarf from the grinding surface.

Saint-Gobain Abrasives Technology Company


A CPU determines an optical-axis direction moving interval of a focal point of a microscope based on a wavelength of light used for sample observation by the microscope and a numerical aperture of an object lens mounted on the microscope, and controls the microscope so as to sequentially move a position of the focal point of the microscope with respect to a sample position in the optical-axis direction at determined moving intervals. Every time the control moves the position, with respect to the sample position, of the focal point at the moving interval, the microscope is so controlled as to sequentially obtain a microscopic image produced when the position of the focal point is at a position after the moving.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technology preferably applied to a system for observing a microscope image in the medical and biological fields, and more specifically to the technology applied to a telepathological system. The present invention can also be applied to, in addition to the telepathological system, an educational system using a microscope image observed by a computer for executing image browsing software by accumulating an image obtained by moving the microscope image in the optical axis direction, and distributing a virtual focus image through a communications network such as the Internet, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in the medical field, the pathological diagnostics using a microscope is an indispensable diagnostic item. In this connection, a system for remote diagnostics by a pathologist resident at a university using a microscope image transmitted from a remote hospital to the university has been suggested.
Pathological diagnostics normally refers to a check of internal organs and organizations. The check targets are, for example, a stomach, a large intestine, a lymph node, etc. taken by a surgical method. Furthermore, a piece of organization taken in an endoscopic examination or using a thin pipe is also a check target which is referred to as a biological test specimen. Furthermore, liquid materials such as ascites, urine, phlegm, blood, etc. are also check targets. These liquid materials are targets of cell diagnostics because a check is made by collecting cells existing in the liquids.
In the cell diagnostics in the pathological diagnostics, since cells are applied to a slide for observation, the sample is thick. Therefore, the position of the focal point is not limited to only one. In this case, the microscope is used by shifting the focal point when a sample is observed. Relating to the above-mentioned technology, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-250097 discloses the microscope remote observation system in which a plurality of microscope images, which have the same coordinates and the same magnification as the macro image fetched by a video camera provided for the microscope at a specified position, obtained by changing the position of the focal point in the optical axis direction on the microscope are fetched into the computer, processed as a group of images obtained by shifting the focal point of a target, and regenerating the images. In this system, static images are transmitted to reduce the communications cost. Practically, it is easy to design a variation of the system such that moving pictures can be processed by using a communications line of a large capacity such as optical fiber, etc. and transferring the moving pictures obtained by moving an image in the optical axis direction of the microscope.
However, in the above-mentioned system, the moving pitch of a focal point (the amount of sequential moving in the optical axis direction of the microscope) for fetch of a microscope image in a plurality of positions of the focal points are not clearly defined and are optional. Therefore, wasteful images can be obtained depending on the moving pitch, or the image in a desired observation position cannot be obtained due to too long a moving pitch.

System and method for controlling microscope


One advantageous embodiment of the claimed invention is an air cylinder (12) for a pneumatic fan drive system (10). The air cylinder (12) is comprised of a single-piece stamping, which is utilized for covering a piston (22) of the pneumatic fan drive system (10). This single-piece stamping has an e-coating (40) applied thereon for improving a surface finish of the single-piece stamping and inhibiting corrosion of said single-piece stamping.

Existing fluid couplings typically include a two-piece air cylinder with a generally thin-walled stainless steel construction. These two-piece air cylinders usually include a substantially long cylinder member and a separate washer member spot-welded to the cylinder member. As is known in the art, the stainless steel material typically is resistant to corrosion. However, drawing stainless steel to a sufficient depth can produce cracks, scars, scratches, or various other imperfections in the stainless steel. These imperfections can cause substantial wear on components, e.g. seal rings, which contact and slide across the surface of the air cylinder. Also, it is understood that the thin-walled construction of typical air cylinders can be easily damaged if dropped or otherwise mishandled during shipping.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a fluid coupling having a single-piece air cylinder for increasing the life of fluid coupling, minimizing manufacturing cycle time of the fluid coupling, and decreasing costs associated therewith.

Single-piece electro-polished air cylinder for a fluid coupling device


An emulsion, and a method of preparing an emulsion are provided. The emulsion includes styrene/acrylic latex particles and a metal stearate-based material.

As a method for protecting a surface of a substrate such as paper, film, wood, iron, etc., there is a method of coating the substrate surface. By forming a coating film including a base coat and a top coat on a substrate surface, the substrate surface may be prevented from being directly damaged due to scratches, and penetration of various liquid substances, such as water and alcohols, into the inside of the substrate may be prevented. Further, a beautiful appearance and a smooth touch may be imparted to the substrate.
A composition for the base coat and/or the top coat is required to have coating properties, such as superior adhesion to a substrate and superior film properties, and durability such as high hardness and chemical resistance. In addition, to increase the quality of a coating film, the composition for a base coat and/or a top coat is required to have superior sandability.


A dynamic mobile service control architecture for policy-based control and charging of a mobile data network is described. Reference point links logically connecting a subscription profile repository and a service gateway allows the service gateway to receive information about a subscription to a service by a subscriber and forward this subscription information to an external application function that is providing the service to the subscriber through the mobile data network. Reference point links logically connecting a policy server with the service gateway allows the service gateway to receive and enforce policy rules on service data flows passing through the service gateway.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to the control of data networks serving mobile wireless users. In particular, the present invention is directed to a system for policy management in a data network that uses policy rules to control and charge services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operators of mobile wireless networks have in recent years added data networks to their core networks to allow them to offer data services to their mobile subscribers. However, network operators did not develop unified systems for controlling subscriber access and did not develop a unified way to charge for data services. For example, a network operator may have deployed one control and charging system at a network gateway for general access to data network services and then deployed control and charging systems for each individual service offered. However, this approach has become increasingly burdensome as network operators want to deploy ever more services.
New services could be deployed faster and with less expense if each new service did not require a new controlling and charging system. To meet this need, standards bodies have proposed unified policy and charging control architectures. One example of this effort is the 3GPP R7 Policy Control and Charging Architecture. (See Technical Specification 23.203 V8.0.0 (2007-12), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety). This architecture allows customized control and charging policies to be made and enforced for unique combinations of subscribers and services. Each subscriber may have a unique assortment services that they are allowed to use, at rates unique to the subscriber. Each service may have unique requirements for network resources in order to properly provide the service.
In the 3GPP architecture, control and charging enforcement is performed in an access gateway between a carrier's data access network and service providing networks. The gateway has a policy enforcement engine called a Policy Control and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) in 3GPP. The PCEF examines packets passing through the gateway and enforces control and charging policy decisions on the packets. These policy decisions are generated by a policy decision engine called a Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) in 3GPP. A Gx reference point carries subscriber information and access session information from the PCEF to the PCRF and policy decisions from the PCRF to the PCEF. To generate policy decisions, the PCRF needs subscription information from a subscription profile repository and service information from an internal application function. An Sp reference point carries subscription information from the subscription profile repository to the PCRF. An Rx reference point carries service information from the internal application function to the PCRF.
The 3GPP architecture described above is designed for enforcement of policy decisions by the PCEF in the access gateway. However, it does not provide the flexibility to enforce policy decisions at gateways in a carrier's service providing network. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need for a system to provide policy enforcement capabilities at access gateways. The present invention provides this and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

Dynamic mobile service control deployment architecture


A stitchless seam comprises a first portion of material folded upon itself proximate an edge to define an overfolded end portion having overlapping edge and nonedge portions and a second portion of material positioned adjacent the overfolded end portion. A first portion of adhesive is interposed between the overlapping edge and nonedge portions and a second portion of adhesive is interposed between the second portion of material and the edge portion of the overfolded end portion. Energy may be applied, via an ultrasonic seam bonding machine or other means, to activate the adhesive portions. The seams may be used for items made of waterproof breathable laminate fabric material, such as garments and sports articles.

For many years sewing machines have been used to join sheets of fabric together by basically tying the sheets together with thread. Recently, garment manufacturers have started joining sheets of fabric together by welding overlapping edges using heat and pressure. When heat is applied, the overlapping edge portions of the sheets melt and fuse together to form a seam. This method works reasonably well with certain thermoplastic materials, but less well with many other materials, such as certain woven fabrics that can become brittle after heating and thereafter easily rip.
An alternative to creating seams using welding techniques involves joining fabric together using an adhesive. One such known technique utilizes a strip of adhesive positioned between overlapping edges of sheets of fabric. Pressure and heat are applied to the overlapping fabric and the adhesive to melt the adhesive and form an adhesive bond that joins the overlapping fabric sheets. Known adhesively bonded seams exhibit several limitations, depending upon the manner of joining the fabric and the type of fabric used.
One example of a known adhesively bonded seam is illustrated in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 1, the fabric sheets are joined "face-to-face" similarly to a standard sewn seam, resulting in a glued seam that is subject to separation and failure when opposing tensile forces F are applied to the fabric sheets. In this example, the forces F are shown at an angle of approximately 90° to the plane of the seam. Such seams are subject to failure due to the fact that the forces F are applied to the seam at a substantial angle relative to the plane of the seam. When the angle is significant, as in the example of FIG. 1, the tensile forces F are primarily acting on the outer edge of the seam, where the two sheets of fabric meet at the edge of the adhesive (and from where the sheets diverge). The concentration of stress along the edge of this seam may cause the seam to peel apart and fail.
Another known type of adhesively bonded seam, illustrated in FIG. 2, is typically formed by overlapping the outside or facing surface of a first sheet of fabric to the inside or backing surface of a second sheet of fabric and joining the overlapping surfaces with adhesive. In this instance, the resulting adhesively bonded lap seam is typically stronger than the seam of FIG. 1 because the tensile forces F are applied approximately parallel to the seam of FIG. 2. However, the seam of FIG. 2 results in a raw edge of material being exposed on the outside of the garment, and the raw edge may easily fray or unravel in normal use. The seam structure of FIG. 2 may also not work well with many modern fabrics of the kind having a laminate structure comprising an outer facing fabric, having a high tensile strength, and an inner backing fabric, having a relatively low tensile strength. When tensile forces F are applied to sheets of laminate fabric of this kind that are adhesively joined as depicted in FIG. 2, the inner backing fabric may be prone to de-laminate or otherwise separate from the outer facing fabric, ruining the garment.
Thus, the present inventors have recognized a need for improved adhesively bonded seams and methods of forming such seams.

Adhesively bonded seams and seams forming methods