In a process for the purification of a crude acrylic acid melt, the crude acrylic acid melt is converted, under the action of low temperatures, into a crude acrylic acid suspension consisting of acrylic acid crystals and residual melt, and the acrylic acid crystals of the crude acrylic acid suspension are freed from remaining residual melt in a wash column, the production of the acrylic acid crystals of the crude acrylic acid suspension being carried out in the presence of water, the wash column being a wash column with forced transport of the acrylic acid crystals and the wash liquid used being the melt of acrylic acid crystals purified in the wash column.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for purifying a crude acrylic acid melt which contains, based on its weight, which does not include water present in the crude acrylic acid melt,                ≧80% by weight of acrylic acid and, as impurities different from acrylic acid, at least        ≧100 ppm by weight of acetic acid and        ≧10 ppm by weight of propionic acid,in which the crude acrylic acid melt is converted, under the action of low temperatures, into a crude acrylic acid suspension consisting of acrylic acid crystals and residual melt, the amount by weight of impurities different from acrylic acid in the acrylic acid crystals being less than, and the amount by weight of impurities different from acrylic acid in the residual melt being greater than, the amount by weight of impurities different from acrylic acid in the crude acrylic acid melt, if necessary a part of the residual melt is separated off mechanically from the crude acrylic acid suspension and the acrylic acid crystals of the remaining crude acrylic acid suspension are freed from remaining residual melt in a wash column.
2. Description of the Background
Acrylic acid, either as such or in the form of its salts or its esters, is especially important for the preparation of polymers for a very wide range of applications (e.g. adhesives, superabsorbers, binders).
Acrylic acid is obtainable, inter alia, by catalytic gas-phase oxidation of propane, propene and/or acrolein. These starting gases, as a rule diluted with inert gases, such as nitrogen, CO2 and/or steam, are passed, in the form of a mixture with oxygen at elevated temperatures and, if required, superatmospheric pressure, over transition metal mixed oxide catalysts and are converted by oxidation into a product mixture containing acrylic acid. By condensing the product mixture or by taking up in a suitable absorbent (e.g. water or a mixture of from 70 to 75% by weight of diphenyl ether and from 25 to 30% by weight of biphenyl), basic separation of the acrylic acid from the product gas stream can be achieved (cf. for example EP-A 297 445 and German Patent 2 136 396).
By removal of the absorbent (and, if required, prior desorption of impurities having poor solubility in the absorbent, by stripping, for example, with air) by extractive and/or distillative separation processes (e.g. removal of the absorbent water by distillation, azeotropic distillation or extractive separation of the acid from the aqueous solution and subsequent removal of the extraction medium by distillation) and/or after the use of other separation steps, an acrylic acid is frequently obtained which is referred to here as crude acrylic acid.
This crude acrylic acid is not a pure product. Rather, it contains a range of different impurities typical for the gas-phase catalytic oxidative preparation route. These are in particular propionic acid, acetic acid and low molecular weight aldehydes (typically, the total content of low molecular weight aldehydes in crude acrylic acid to be treated according to the invention is ≧100 ppm by weight, based on the weight of crude acrylic acid calculated as anhydrous; as a rule, the abovementioned aldehyde content is ≦1% by weight), such as acrolein, methacrolein, propionaldehyde, n-butyraldehyde, benzaldehyde, furfurals and crotonaldehyde. Depending on the method of preparation of crude acrylic acid, it may also contain water as a further impurity. Another typical component of crude acrylic acids are polymerization inhibitors. These are added in the course of the separation processes used for the preparation of crude acrylic acid, where they are intended to suppress a possible free radical polymerization of the α,β-monoethylenically unsaturated acrylic acid, which is why they are also referred to as process stabilizers. Dibenzo-1,4-thiazine (PTZ), 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl(4-OH-TEMPO) and p-methoxyphenol (MEHQ) occupy an outstanding position among the acrylic acid process stabilizers and may be a component of crude acrylic acid either in each case by themselves or in pairs or as a mixture of three substances. Usually, the total amount of polymerization inhibitors contained in crude acrylic acid is from 0.1 to 2% by weight, based on the weight of the crude acrylic acid (the water present in the crude acrylic acid is not included).
Further undesired impurities of acrylic acid present in the condensed phase are the acrylic acid oligomers (Michael adducts) formed by Michael addition of acrylic acid with itself and with the acrylic acid dimers formed therein. While these compounds are usually virtually completely absent from freshly produced crude acrylic acid (usually, their amount by weight is <0.01% by weight, based on the weight of crude acrylic acid calculated as anhydrous), they form therein when said crude acrylic acid is left to stand for a long time. For statistical reasons, the formation of diacrylic acid is of particular importance, whereas the formation of higher acrylic acid oligomers (trimers, tetramers, etc.) takes place only in a minor amount.
The total amount of other byproducts possibly contained in crude acrylic acid is as a rule not more than 10% by weight, based on the weight of the crude acrylic acid calculated as anhydrous.
In this publication, crude acrylic acid is therefore to be understood as meaning in particular that crude acrylic acid which contains, based on its weight calculated as anhydrous,                ≧80% by weight of acrylic acid,        from ≧100 ppm by weight to ≦15% by weight of acetic acid,        from ≧10 ppm by weight to ≦5% by weight of propionic acid,        up to 5% by weight of low molecular weight aldehydes,        up to 3% by weight of polymerization inhibitors and from 0 to 5% by weight of acrylic acid oligomers (Michael adducts).
The term crude acrylic acid used here thus also comprises in particular that crude acrylic acid which contains, based on its weight calculated as anhydrous,                ≧90% by weight of acrylic acid,        from ≧100 ppm by weight to ≦5% by weight of acetic acid,        from ≧10 ppm by weight to ≦2% by weight of propionic acid,        up to 2% by weight of low molecular weight aldehydes,        up to 2% by weight of polymerization inhibitors and        from 0 to 3% by weight of acrylic acid oligomers (Michael adducts).
Not least, the term crude acrylic acid used here therefore comprises that crude acrylic acid which contains, based on its weight calculated as anhydrous,                ≧95% by weight of acrylic acid,        from ≧100 ppm by weight to ≦3% by weight of acetic acid,        from ≧10 ppm by weight to ≦2% by weight of propionic acid,        up to 2% by weight of low molecular weight aldehydes,        up to 2% by weight of polymerization inhibitors and        from 0 to 2% by weight of acrylic acid oligomers (Michael adducts).
Based on the amount of acrylic acid contained in the crude acrylic acid, the crude acrylic acids frequently contain no water, but in some cases also up to 5% by weight or up to 4% by weight or up to 3% by weight of water.
Of the components, apart from acrylic acid, contained in the abovementioned crude acrylic acids, most prove to be disadvantageous during the use of crude acrylic acid.
If such a crude acrylic acid were used, for example, for the preparation of esters of C1-C8-alkanols and acrylic acid, the corresponding acetic esters and propionic esters would also be formed in secondary reactions, which reduces the yield of desired acrylic esters, based on the amount of alkanol used. If the acrylic esters formed in the presence of low molecular weight aldehydes are used for free radical polymerizations, their content of the low molecular weight aldehydes generally has a disadvantageous effect, for example, in that they influence, for example, the induction time of polymerization reactions, i.e. the period between reaching the polymerization temperature and the actual beginning of the polymerization. Furthermore, they generally influence the degree of polymerization and may also cause discolorations of the polymers.
The abovementioned disadvantages are usually also applicable when the crude acrylic acid is used directly as an acrylic acid source in polymerizations.
Acrylic acid sources to be used for the production of superabsorbers (=materials for absorbing water and based on polyacrylic acid and its salts) are subject in particular to the requirement that they may contain very little diacrylic acid and very little dibenzo-1,4-thiazine, since both components are undesirable either in the production of superabsorbers (in particular dibenzo-1,4-thiazin presents problems owing to its extremely inhibiting effect on free radical polymerizations in the production of superabsorbers) or in the use of the superabsorbers (superabsorbers are used in particular in the hygiene sector (e.g. baby's diapers); the final stage of superabsorber production consists as a rule of a high-temperature surface crosslinking; at the crosslinking temperatures used, copolymerized diacrylic acid will be at least partially cleaved (inverse Michael addition) with formation of monomeric acrylic acid; an increased content of monomeric acrylic acid is however not tolerable in this area of use).
In practice, separation operations involving rectification are used in particular for further purifying crude acrylic acid (cf. for example EP-A 722 926).
The disadvantage of these separation processes is that they require a large amount of energy, in particular for separating off the components having a similar boiling point to acrylic acid (e.g. propionic acid), since the procedure has to be carried out with high reflux ratios and/or with rectification columns having a large number of theoretical plates. Therefore attempts have also already been made, for example, to synthesize acrylic acid free from propionic and/or acetic acid by appropriate adaptation of the gas phase oxidation process (cf. e.g. JP-A 11 35519 and EP-A 253409). Moreover, the thermal stress generally causes undesirable free radical polymerization of the acrylic acid in the case of purification processes involving rectification.
As an alternative, the melt crystallization procedure has been increasingly used in the very recent past for the preparation of pure acrylic acid (cf. for example EP-A 616 998). Very generally, the contaminated crude acrylic acid (melt) is partially solidifed by cooling. Depending on the phase equilibrium, the corresponding acrylic acid crystals have a lower content of impurities than the remaining liquid residual melt. The separation effect described above and determined purely by thermodynamic factors is weakened by the inclusion of liquid during the crystallization process and by the residual melt still adhering to the solid after the solid/liquid separation. For achieving higher purities, a plurality of successive crystallization stages are often therefore necessary, even in the case of eutectic systems, i.e. the crystals obtained in a first crystallization stage are melted again and subjected to a further crystallization step, etc. The disadvantage of such a successive procedure is that, in each stage, the heat of crystallization has to be removed on freezing and supplied again on subsequent melting. This adversely affects the cost-efficiency of separation processes involving crystallization. For economical use of the melt crystallization process, it is therefore of very decisive importance to achieve very high purity of the isolated crystals with very few crystallization stages.
For the purification of crude acrylic acid melts by crystallization, the prior art predominantly recommends layer crystallization processes (cf. for example German Laid Open Application 2,606,364, EP-A 616 998, EP-A 648 520 and EP-A 776875).
In the layer crystallization processes the crystals are frozen in the form of cohesive, thermally adhering layers. The solid/liquid separation is effected by simply allowing the residual melt to flow away. The purified crystals are then melted. In principle, distinction is made between static and dynamic layer crystallization processes.
In the static processes, the crude acrylic acid melt to be purified is introduced, for example, into tube-bundle or modified plate-type heat exchangers and then partially solidifed by slowly lowering the temperature on the secondary side. After the freezing, the residual melt is discharged and then, by slowly increasing the temperature, first more highly contaminated and subsequently less contaminated fractions from the crystal layer are melted until finally the product having high purity is melted. This process is referred to in the literature as sweating. It is true that static crystallization processes achieve a significant purification effect in one crystallization stage in the case of crude acrylic acids. However, the usually low space-time yield in static crystallization processes is disadvantageous since, in static melt crystallization, the heat transport and mass transfer to the deposition surfaces takes place only by free convection.
Typical of the dynamic layer crystallization of crude acrylic acid melts is forced convection of the crude acrylic acid melt. This can be effected by circulating the crude acrylic acid melt by pumping through tubes with full cross-sectional flow (e.g. German Laid Open Application 2,606,364), by adding the crude acrylic acid melt as a trickle film (e.g. EP-A 616 998) or by passing inert gas into a tube filled with melt or by pulsation.
The disadvantage of a purification of crude acrylic acid melts by dynamic layer crystallization is that the purification effect within one crystallization stage with high impurity contents of the crude acrylic melt is unsatisfactory, and it is for this reason that EP-A 616 998 recommends the use of a combination of static and dynamic layer crystallization for purifying crude acrylic acid melts. However, the disadvantage of this procedure is that it necessarily requires a plurality of crystallization stages. A certain improvement can be achieved by using the washing, recommended in DE-A 3 708 709, of the deposited crystal layers with purer melt fractions. Owing to the small specific surface area of the deposited layers however, the wash effect is not completely satisfactory.
EP-A 616 998 includes the possibility of a suspension crystallization for the purification of crude acrylic acid melt by crystallization, but washing of the isolated suspension crystals to remove adhering residual melt is not considered. Instead, a combination with static crystallization stages is recommended, which is unsatisfactory owing to the inevitable multistage nature of the procedure.
In the suspension crystallization process, as a rule a crystal suspension which consists of crystals having a lower impurity content and a residual melt having a higher impurity content is produced by cooling the starting melt containing the impurities. The solid crystals may grow while present directly in suspension or may be deposited as a layer on a cooled wall, from which they are then scratched off and resuspended in the residual melt, i.e. the solids formation can be carried out in cooled stirred kettles, in scraped-surface heat exchangers or in disk crystallizers, as described, for example, in Chem.-Ing.-Techn. 57 (1985) No. 2, 91-102.
Subsequently required separation of the residual melt from the crystal can initially be carried out purely mechanically by pressing off, filtration and/or centrifuging (cf. for example Chem.-Ing.-Techn. 57 (1985) No. 2, 91-102).
The disadvantage of such a procedure with purely mechanical separation of crystals and residual melt is that, owing to the remaining residual melt adhering to the crystals, the purification effect achievable in one separation step is unsatisfactory in the case of crude acrylic acid melts.
The prior application DE-A 19926082 therefore recommends subsequently washing the mechanically removed acrylic acid suspension crystals additionally with a wash liquid containing acrylic acid, the wash liquid used preferably being an acrylic acid melt whose amount by weight of impurities different from acrylic acid is less than the corresponding impurity content of the mechanically isolated suspension crystals to be washed.
The disadvantage of the washing method used in DE-A 19926082 is that its purification effect is not completely satisfactory. This is presumably due in particular to the fact that the contact achieved between crystals to be washed and wash liquid is not completely satisfactory.
It is now generally known that, in the case of a slurry of suspension crystals, separation of suspension crystals and residual melt may also be carried out either exclusively, or after partial mechanical separation (in particular before use of a mechanical wash column) of residual melt, by means of a suitable washing liquid in a wash column in which the wash liquid is passed countercurrently, to the suspension crystals.
In principle, the wash column types are divided (cf. FIGS. 1 to 4) into those with forced transport of the suspension crystal bed and those with gravity transport of the suspension crystals (a detailed description of the different wash column types is to be found, inter alia, in Chem.-Ing.-Techn. 57(1985) No. 2, 91-102, in Chemical Engineering Science 50, 1995, No. 17, 2712 to 2729, Elsevier Science Ltd., in Applied Thermal Engineering 17, (1997) No. 8-10, 879-888, Published by Elsevier Science Ltd., and the citations stated in the abovementioned references). In wash columns with forced transport of the suspension crystal bed, at least one force other than gravitation in the transport direction is used for transporting the suspension crystal bed.
Inside the wash column, the suspension crystals are transported either from top to bottom or from bottom to top. The wash liquid is passed countercurrently to the suspension crystals in the wash column. In the prior publications DE-A 19626839, DE-A 19740252, DE-A 19829477, DE-A 19832962, DE-A 19833049 and DE-A 19838845 inter alia water or aqueous acrylic acid is recommended as wash liquid to be used for crude acrylic acid suspensions. However, the disadvantage of these wash liquids is that, on the one hand, the purification effect is not completed satisfactorily and, on the other hand, they result in considerable acrylic acid losses.
As an alternative to the abovementioned procedure, it is also possible to melt the suspension crystals reaching the wash column in purified form at the end of their transport distance (the mother liquor is removed as a rule in the opposite part of the wash column), to remove only a portion of the resulting purified melt and to recycle the remaining amount of the purified melt as wash melt to the wash column and to do so countercurrently to the suspension crystals fed to the wash column (in this publication, wash columns operated in this manner are to be referred to in the narrower sense as wash-melt wash columns). Depending on the physical characteristics of the crystal suspension to be treated in the wash column, a purification effect may be achieved either on the basis of all or only on the basis of some of the various mechanisms listed below:                Displacement of the residual melt (mother liquor) by the wash melt,        Washing away of the layer of residual melt adhering to the suspension crystals by the wash melt,        Diffusion washing of the few/no regions with throughflow between suspension crystals (for example those in contact over large areas) with wash melt,        Crystallization of the wash melt, recycled into the wash column, on the suspension crystals fed countercurrently,        Sweating of the suspension crystals in contact with the wash melt,        Adiabatic recrystallization of the suspension crystals in contact with the wash melt.
The last three of the abovementioned purification mechanisms are to be referred to here as additional purification mechanisms.
According to Chemical Engineering Science 50, (1995) No. 17, 2717-2729, Elsevier Science Ltd., the contribution of the individual purification mechanisms depends, inter alia, on the time of contact between the suspension crystals and the wash melt and on the morphology and composition of the suspension crystals. In principle, none of the abovementioned purification mechanisms can be excluded because, owing to the smaller melting point depression by impurities, the melting point of the purified crystals is higher than the temperature of the still unwashed crystals, which essentially corresponds to the equilibrium temperature of the crude acrylic acid suspension.
In the case of gravity wash-melt wash columns, the suspension crystals are transported along the wash column by gravity countercurrently to the wash melt which has a lower density and hence a lower specific gravity (and therefore ascends in the wash column). A slowly rotating stirrer (usually <0.035 revolutions per second) frequently extends over the entire gravity wash-melt wash column and serves for preventing agglomeration and/or channel formation in the descending crystal bed. The residence time of the suspension crystals in a gravity wash-melt wash column is ≧1 hour (the difference between the density of the liquid phase and that of the solid phase is as a rule ≦15%). Furthermore, the lowest porosity within the crystal bed in a gravity wash-melt wash column is usually >0.45, often ≦0.65. The mother liquor leaves the gravity wash-melt wash column usually via an overflow. The advantage of a gravity wash-melt wash column is that its long residence times of the crystals utilize the additional purification mechanisms to a particular extent. According to Applied Thermal Engineering 17, No. 8-10, (1997), 879-888, Elsevier Science Ltd., a weak point of the gravity wash-melt wash column is a requirement for relatively large crystals.
In the case of wash-melt wash columns with forced transport of the suspension crystal bed, a distinction is made for example between pressure columns (also referred to as hydraulic columns), in which the crystals and the wash melt are transported, for example, externally by pumps and/or hydrostatic level and the mother liquor is generally forced out of the wash column via a filter (on the other side of the filters, atmospheric pressure, reduced pressure or superatmospheric pressure may prevail), and mechanical columns having mechanical force transport means for the crystal bed, such as special rams, stirrers, screws, helices or spirals. Mechanical wash-melt wash columns are particularly suitable for purifying crystal suspensions containing little residual melt. The mother liquor is removed in mechanical wash-melt wash columns, as a rule likewise via filters which are present either behind or in the mechanical forced transport means.
Wash-melt wash columns with forced transport of the crystal bed are distinguished by very much shorter residence times of the crystals in the wash column compared with the gravity wash-melt wash column. Said residence time is ≦30 minutes and is as a rule from 10 to 15 minutes, frequently from 2 to 8 minutes. Furthermore, the lowest porosity (=pore volume/total volume) within the crystal bed of a wash-melt wash column with forced transport is usually ≦0.45. According to Chemical Engineering Science 50, No. 17, (1995) 2717-2729, Elsevier Science Ltd., the residence times of the crystals in wash-melt wash columns with forced transport are too short for there to be a significant probability that the additional purification mechanisms will occur.
JP-A 7-82210 discloses a process for the purification of crude acrylic acid by crystallization, in which first a crude acrylic acid suspension is produced from the crude acrylic acid melt in the presence of water by the action of low temperatures, the purpose of the presence of water being to produce the required low temperatures by evaporative cooling. JP-A 7-82210 mentions only in passing that the presence of the water influences the formation of the acrylic acid crystals such that particularly large crystals grow.
In JP-A 7-82210, the crude acrylic acid suspension produced is finally subjected to purification treatment by means of a gravity wash-melt wash column. Although the purification effect achieved in JP-A 7-82210 with one purification stage is satisfactory, the space-time yield achieved is not. JP-A 7-82210 also notes that the presence of the water during the production of the crude acrylic acid suspension has an advantageous effect on the purity of the acrylic acid crystals washed in the gravity wash-melt wash column. The use of a gravity wash-melt wash column is also recommended in EP-A 730893.
For a satisfactory purification of crude acrylic acid by crystallization in one purification stage (in particular for the satisfactory removal of the impurities propionic acid and/or acetic acid) WO 99/06348 recommends first adding a polar organic substance to the crude acrylic acid, then producing an acrylic acid suspension with the action of low temperatures and washing said suspension in a mechanical wash-melt wash column.
The disadvantage of this procedure is that it requires the addition of a polar organic solvent to the crude acrylic acid.
From a paper by M. Nienoord, G. J. Arkenbout and D. Verdoes on Experiences with the TNO-Hydraulic Wash Column" at the 4th BIWIC 94/Bremen International Workshop for Industrial Crystallization, Bremen, Sep. 8th -9th, 1994, at the University of Bremen, Ed.: J. Ulrich, it is known that hydraulic wash-melt wash columns are suitable in principle for purifying acrylic acid suspensions. However, the abovementioned citation contains no information on the composition of the acrylic acid suspension or on its preparation.
In view of the abovementioned prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for the purification of crude acrylic acid melts which, on the one hand, is capable of providing acrylic acids of high purity and with a high space-time yield in only one purification stage and, on the other hand, requires no prior addition of a polar organic solvent to the crude acrylic acid, in particular for satisfactory removal of propionic and/or acetic acid.

Method for the purification of a crude acrylic acid melt


An oil management system and oil filter utilized in association with an internal combustion engine. The oil filter comprises high-efficiency filtration media for filtering engine oil associated with the internal combustion engine. At least one type of time release additive can be impregnated into the filtration media, wherein the time release additives are automatically released into the engine oil filter from filtration media in order to replenish additives already present in the engine oil. Additionally, a sensor module can be provided that monitors oil quality and oil filter efficiency through detecting one or more attributes of the engine oil filtered through the filtration media of oil filter in order to efficiently conserve and manage the oil and reduce the interval of oil changes thereof by extending the life of the engine oil through the replenishment of the additives present in the engine oil and higher filtration effectiveness of the filter.

A typical oil change for modern cars or light trucks includes both draining the oil and replacing the filter every 3,000 to 7,000 miles. It is estimated in the U.S., alone, that over 1 billion gallons of engine oil annually are changed in the passenger car/light truck segment every year. An additional 250 Million gallons of oil are consumed in the commercial truck market segment.
There is a growing need to minimize the flow of unregulated waste oil in the environment. Extending the useful life of engine lubricating oil can significantly reduce contamination of the air and ground water (through evaporation and landfill seepage, respectively). Also, a reduction in engine oil consumption can help to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
Modern cars, trucks and other transportation vehicles are designed for unprecedented life and reduced maintenance. Fewer components associated with the car/truck require regular replacement. For example, spark plugs and engine coolant now last 100,000 miles or more. Exhaust systems last the life of the vehicle. The chassis no longer requires lubrication. As a result, the ongoing cost of vehicle ownership is going down. This trend will continue. The reduced cost of vehicle ownership is especially important in the heavy-duty truck and off-highway market segments. Initial vehicle investment, reliability, and vehicle up time all contribute to company profitability. Therefore, reduced maintenance costs and more vehicle time on the road are very attractive to a fleet management company. In summary, extended oil change intervals are good for both profitability and the environment.


It is possible, in a rolling method of a strip shifting one-side-tapered work rolls in the axial direction and causing the upper and the lower work rolls to cross each other, to appropriately set a quantity of shift and a crossing angle and to improve an edge drop satisfactorily, by utilizing the relationship of the three factors including the quantity of shift and the crossing angle for determining quantities of operation necessary to correcting an edge drop of the strip and the quantity of correction of edge drop corresponding to these quantities of operation in the form of the relationship between the roll gap between the upper and the lower work rolls and the quantity of correction of edge drop, by providing an effective roll gap reference position apart from the strip edge by a prescribed distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rolling method of a strip and a rolling mill of a sheet material which permits, upon rolling a strip, particularly upon cold-rolling a steel sheet or the like, improvement of the edge drop, and achievement of a uniform thickness distribution in the width direction throughout the entire width.
2. Description of the Related Art
From among thickness deviations in the width direction produced in a strip (material to be rolled) during rolling, a sharp thickness reduction at the both ends in the width direction is known as an edge drop. In order to obtain a satisfactory rolled product with a uniform thickness distribution (thickness profile) in the width direction by rolling, it is necessary to reduce the edge drop.
It is one of the conventional control practices for reducing the edge drop to cause work rolls (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "WR") having a tapered end on one side to shift in the axial direction.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-34,241 discloses a method comprising the steps of estimating a thickness profile on the exit side of a rolling mill from the thickness distribution in the width direction of the starting strip on the entry side of the rolling mill, distribution of roll gap between upper and lower work rolls, and the printing ratio of the roll gap distribution onto the rolled product, collating this estimated value with a target thickness profile, and causing the work rolls to shift to a position where the difference between the two values is minimum.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-4,364 discloses a technique for alleviating the edge drop, comprising the steps of using a pair of work rolls at least each of which has a converging tapered end on one side, locating the tapered portions at ends on the both sides during rolling, and improving the geometry of the roll gap at the ends on the both sides. This patent publication discloses also a case of application of this technique to a cold-rolling tandem mill, where at least a first stand is provided with the work rolls having the tapered portion.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-12,213 discloses a method of performing a shift control of work rolls to adjust the shift position of the work rolls, comprising the steps of comparing and calculating an observed value and a target value of the quantity of edge drop by means of an edge drop meter installed on the exit side of a final stand and controlling shifting of the work rolls on the basis of the results of comparison and calculation.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-71,611 discloses a method of adjusting the quantity of shift of work rolls on the basis of a difference between an edge drop of a starting strip material for rolling before rolling as measured with an edge drop meter installed on the entry side of a rolling mill and a target value thereof, and a difference between an edge drop of a product after rolling as measured with an edge drop meter installed on the exit side of the rolling mill and a target value thereof.
Japanese patent Publication No. 2-34,241 discloses a method, proposed by the present applicant, of incorporating a thickness distribution in the width direction of a strip material to be rolled on the entry side of a rolling mill as a control factor. This method includes estimating a thickness distribution on the exit side of the rolling mill (final stand) or in a product, by means of a thickness distribution in the width direction of the strip material to be rolled before rolling, a distribution of the roll gap between upper and lower work rolls, and a printing ratio of this roll gap distribution onto the rolled product, and setting a shift position of the work rolls so as to achieve a minimum difference between this estimated value and a target thickness distribution.
References "Sheet Crown Edge Drop Control Characteristics" (the 45th Plastic Working Federation Lecture Meeting Preprint, pp. 403-406, 1994) and "Edge Profile Control Using Pair Cross Mill in Cold Rolling" (Iron and Steel engineer, pp. 20-26, June 1996) disclose findings that, by causing upper and lower work rolls to cross each other, together with backup rolls on respective sides, there is available an effect of achieving a uniform thickness profile (thickness distribution in the width direction) under the action of a parabolic roll gap produced from the width center toward the strip end between the upper and the lower work rolls.
As a technique of combining a roll crossing and a roll shifting for upper and lower work rolls, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-200,503 discloses a technique comprising the steps, in a roll crossing rolling mill comprising groups of upper rolls and lower rolls crossing at a prescribed angle, of achieving a uniform wear of the work rolls, reducing the frequency of roll polishing, and thus improving the consumption of rolls by displacing the relative position of the work rolls from among the roll groups relative to the strip material to be rolled in an axial direction of rolls.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-185,125 discloses a method of operating the roll shift and the work roll bending force in response to the changing timing of the roll crossing angle with a view to reducing the rejectable range of strip flatness produced in the course of changing the roll crossing angle, while changing set values of operating conditions during running along with passage by a coil welding point (strip joint).
In the methods disclosed in the foregoing Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-4,364 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-34,241, the taper is imparted to the work rolls by polishing prior to rolling. It is therefore impossible to change the quantity of taper or the shape during rolling. Work rolls are not usually replaced for each coil, but are in service for rolling of several tens of coils. Upon continuous rolling of several tens of coils, increasing the quantity of taper imparted to the work rolls is effective for a coil having a large edge drop in the material strip. For a coil having a small edge drop in the material strip, however, an increased taper is not effective and an excessive thickness are produced near the inside of the strip ends in the width direction. A decreased taper is, in contrast, effective for a coil having a small edge drop in the material strip, whereas a decreased taper cannot sometimes ensure sufficient improvement for a coil having a large edge drop in the material strip. These methods have therefore a problem in that a uniform thickness profile is not available for the entire width through improvement of edge drop for all coils.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-34,241 does not take account of the edge drop occurring behavior at stands in the downstream of a stand (control stand) having a roll shifting mechanism capable of changing the thickness distribution in the width direction, thus leading to a decrease in the estimation accuracy of thickness deviation in the width direction on the exit side of the final stand. When conducting rolling at a shift position of work rolls set by this method, there is posed a problem in that the thickness distribution in the width direction on the exit side of the final stand does not agree with a target thickness distribution.
In order to take the edge drop occurring behavior in the individual stands into account, it is necessary to measure the thickness deviation in the width direction on the exit side of each stand. In a cold tandem mill, however, the distance between stands is small, and further, there occurs splash of cooling water or lubricant oil. It is therefore difficult to install a sensor for measuring a thickness distribution in the width direction, which causes another difficulty of a high installation cost. In a tandem rolling mill, therefore, it is practically impossible to measure the thickness distribution in the width direction between stands during rolling.
In the method disclosed in the aforesaid reference "Sheet Crown edge Drop Control Characteristics," the roll gap slowly expands in a parabolic shape from the width center toward the strip end. While this brings about an effect of improving the so-called body crown (sheet crown), no effect can be expected in the reduction of an edge drop which is a thickness deviation at the end of width.
In the aforesaid Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-206,503 which has an object to prevent local wear of work rolls, it is impossible to control an edge drop.
The technique disclosed in the aforesaid Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-185,125 has an object to prevent deterioration of a strip shape during the transition period for changing the crossing angle. A problem here is that an improvement effect of edge drop over that of the technique disclosed in the foregoing Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-4,364 cannot be expected from this technique.

Rolling method and rolling mill of strip for reducing edge drop


A method for manufacturing a vehicle seat component includes a first step of integrating a cushion member and an upholstery member together during molding of the cushion member, and a second step of forming a flow passage through which air passes from a back surface of the cushion member toward the upholstery member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing vehicle seat component provided with a blower.
2. Description of Related Art
As this type of vehicle seat, there is a vehicle seat that includes a seat cushion, a seatback, and a blower (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-8334 (JP 2004-8334 A)). The blower includes a centrifugal blower mechanism (mechanism that blows air in the centrifugal direction while sucking in external air from the axial direction of the blower). The seat cushion and the seatback each have a cushion member and an upholstery member. Each upholstery member is a saclike member that covers the cushion member, and is made of air-permeable fabric.
The cushion member is an elastic member, and has flow passages (vent grooves and outlet holes). The vent grooves are (linear) recesses formed in the back surface of the cushion member. The outlet holes open, at one end side, on the seating side (upholstery member side) of the cushion member, and communicate, at the other end side, with the vent grooves. The cushion member described above is generally formed by injecting a molding material (molten resin) into a molding die. By forming projections (portions that correspond to the outer shapes of, for example, the outlet holes) inside the molding die, the flow passages are formed simultaneously with the formation of the cushion member.
In the related art, after the flow passages are formed in advance in the cushion member, the surface of the cushion member is covered with the upholstery member. Next, communication is provided between the vent grooves and the blower provided on the back surface side of the cushion member while the vent grooves are sealed by, for example, fitting a lid member onto the back surface of the cushion member. As a result, the air blown out of the blower is supplied to an occupant via the flow passages of the cushion member.
In this type of vehicle seat, an upholstery member may be integrated with a cushion member while the cushion member is molded. For example, if a molding material is injected into a molding die after the upholstery member is disposed in the molding die, the upholstery member and the cushion member are integrated together while the cushion member is molded. However, the configuration described above (integrated configuration) is not very suitable for forming flow passages during the molding of the cushion member, because the upholstery member arranged in a cavity and projections (portions that correspond to the outer shapes of for example, outlet holes) may contact each other. The invention is made in light of the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the invention to make it possible to apply a cushion member and an upholstery member that are integrated together to a vehicle seat provided with a blower.

Method for manufacturing vehicle seat component


A ground anchor for use in securing above ground objects in place consists of a molded plastic body member having a cylindrical central portion with a cone-shaped projection terminating in a point at one end thereof and a concentrically disposed cylindrical stem projecting from the other end. The stem is of a smaller O.D. than that of the central portion and, thus, an annular shoulder surface is created at the junction. A tie plate is fitted into a slot formed in the molded plastic body. A cable or other tie member connects to that plate and to the object to be anchored. The anchor is driven into the ground by positioning a drive rod over the stem portion of the anchor body so that the end of that rod abuts the annular shoulder. Then, by hammering on the upper end of the drive rod, the anchor is driven into the ground to the desired depth. The anchor is configured so that tension on the tie cable tends to rotate the anchor within the earth to increase the resistance against pull-out.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to ground anchors adapted for use in securing an above ground load to the ground, and more particularly to a low-cost highly effective ground anchor especially adapted for securing concrete erosion control mats in place in drainage ditches, creek bottoms and the like.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the Crow et al. Patent there is described a mat comprising a plurality of concrete blocks which are arranged in a matrix and strung together by means of rods, chains or cables extending through the blocks. The mats are used for reducing erosion caused by running water streams, such as may be present in drainage ditches, culverts, irrigation channels, stream beds and the like. Because of the manner in which the concrete blocks are linked together, the mats are sufficiently flexible so as to generally conform to the ground on which they are laid. The mats are laid in manageable sized sections and must be held together and maintained in position when exposed to the substantial forces of rushing water.
In the past, it has been the practice to insert ground anchors at strategic points relative to the concrete mats and use cable or chain to join the ground anchors to the mats to prevent their migration. A particular ground anchor sold by International Erosion Control, Inc. is quite effective but has the drawback of being unduly expensive. That device is referred to as "duckbill anchor" and comprises a cast metal tubular body having one open end and one closed end. The open end has a beveled arcuate flair formed thereon. This anchor has an eyelet formed on a side wall thereof through which the cable or chain may loop. It is driven into the ground by inserting a pipe or solid rod into the open tubular end of the anchor and then, using a maul or other type of manual or automatic hammer, is driven deep into the ground. When the pipe or rod is removed from the insertion hole made and tension is applied to the cable linked to the anchor, the anchor tends to rotate because of the engagement of the flared duck-bill end with the ground, thus placing the anchor cross-wise relative to the hole through which it had been inserted into the ground. The more tension that is applied to the cable or chain, the more the anchor member rotates, thereby substantially increasing the force that would be required to pull it free of the earth.


A transportable article support rack is disclosed. The transportable article support rack includes a hitch connector for releasable connecting the rack to a vehicle. The rack also includes a main column assembly pivotally mounted to the hitch connector, a support assembly for supporting an article, and a locking assembly adapted to lock the main column assembly in a transport position. The locking assembly includes at least first and second articulated locking arms, the articulated locking arms pivotally connected to one another. The second locking arm, when locked, forms a truss between the main column assembly and the support assembly for increased article support strength when in the transport position.

Articulated support racks are known, however, when subjected to high wind and other varying loads, this style of rack tends to lack strength, as a result of its jointed structure, dictated by the need to be raised and lowered into transport and loading positions respectively. Locking the support rack in the transport position has also not been addressed adequately, in a way that also complements the strength requirements.
The present invention seeks to alleviate one or more of the abovementioned disadvantages.


A shaving razor has a housing joined to a handle, one or more blades mounted in the housing and a light source. The light source projects a defined image indicating the exact location of a blade edge on the skin of a user enabling the user to properly align the blade edge on the skin during shaving.

In recent years shaving razors with numerous blades have been proposed in the literature and commercialized, e.g., in United States 2005/0039337 A1 published on Feb. 24, 2005, which generally describes a type of design that has been commercialized as the five bladed Fusion™ razor by The Gillette Company.
Increasing the number of blades on a shaving razor generally tends to increase the shaving efficiency of the razor and provide better distribution of compressive forces on the skin but can reduce the ability to trim, e.g., sideburns or near the nose. In order to improve the ability to trim an extra blade mounted on the rear of the razor cartridge has been provided. Such a design with an extra blade is described in United States 2005/0039337 A1 and commercialized in the Fusion™ razor by The Gillette Company.
While a trimming blade is very useful for trimming hair of the sideburn or near the nose, it is difficult to locate the exact location of the trimming blade as the trimming blade is hidden from view by the razor cartridge. When hidden it is difficult for the user to accurately position the trimming blade on the skin for precise trimming. The inability to accurately position the trimming blade can result in a less than accurate shave producing a less than satisfactory shaving experience.
It is therefore desirable to provide the shaving razor with a light source that projects an image onto the skin that indicates the location of the trimming blade on the skin of the user enabling the user to properly align the trimming blade on the skin during shaving.


A clock generator is described for generating an output clock frequency from an input clock frequency where the frequencies of the clocks are not integrally related. The division process is designed using the quotients of the Euclidean theorem for determining the greatest common divisor of two integers in such a way as to alleviate the adverse effects of jitter. Applications to oversampled sigma-delta codecs are described.

This invention relates to fractional frequency division for use in clock generators and, more particularly, to such clock generators for use in sampled data communication systems such as those employing oversampled analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters.
A modern communication system, such as a synchronous digital receiver or an oversampled A/D or D/A converter, typically requires the generation of different clock frequencies, the least common multiple (LCM) of which may be too high a frequency to generate practically. As a result, a high frequency reference, less than the LCM, is chosen such that fractional division may be used in order to generate some of the desired frequencies for the system. However, fractional division results in objectionable timing jitter in many instances.
An alternative to fractional division is to use multiple independent reference frequencies. This requires a phase locked loop (PLL) to synchronize the various frequencies in the system together. Clock jitter generally is present in a PLL, but at a much lower level than in a fractional divider. The penalty of such a scheme is additional cost and complexity. Various attempts have been made to generate fractionally divided clocks in a manner which reduces the jitter for a given set of divisors. One example is given in N. J. Malloy in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,031 issued on Sep. 24, 1991. The output clock FOUT of the PLL is not an integral multiple of the reference clock FTB and typically has jitter, a fundamental by-product of the clock division process. More specifically, FOUT is generated in the Malloy patent by dividing FTB in each time interval by one of two integral divisors which are alternated in a predetermined sequence. The alternating of the divisors is done "as often as possible and in as uniform a manner as possible" so as to alleviate the adverse effects of jitter. Beyond these general guidelines, however, no specific criteria are provided for determining the optimum sequence of divisors for reducing the effects of jitter. Rather, the sole example for generating a 1.544 MHz output clock FOUT from a 51.84 MHz reference clock FTB entails an empirically determined sequence of dividing FTB by two divisors (33 and 34) over 193 time intervals.
Thus, there remains a need in the prior art for a deterministic technique for generating a sequence of divisors which alleviates the adverse effects of jitter for a given pair of divisors and for a given output clock frequency which is a non-integral multiple of an input clock frequency.

Clock generators having programmable fractional frequency division


The invention provides compositions and methods for the detection of biological targets, (e.g. nucleic acids and proteins) by nucleic acid-templated chemistry, for example, by generating fluorescent polymethine dyes.

Fluorescent and colored compounds have been used in the fields of biological research and medicine to detect the presence, absence, state, quantity, and composition of biomolecules. Assays using fluorescent and colored compounds may be performed in vitro, in situ, or in vivo. Examples of commonly used in vitro assays for detection of DNA and RNA are real-time and end-point polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, and DNA microarray technologies.
Recently, there has been an increased amount of literature published on detection methods for multiple analytes, most of which involves genetic analysis and some relates to protein detection. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,741.
In a typical nucleic acid detection method used for diagnostic and molecular biology research, multiple gene probes complementary with a gene of interest are labeled with small molecules that can be detected by spectroscopic, electrochemical, biochemical or immunochemical means. PCR is generally incorporated for the amplification of targeted gene sequences. To achieve detection of multiple analytes, fluorescence-based technologies have been used often due to fluorescence dyes readily available. For example, primers have been labeled with different fluorescence dyes and the changes in fluorescence were monitored upon hybridization to their complements (e.g., WO 2002/057479). In other cases, the multiplex detection was achieved by using intercalating dyes as labels in DNA restriction fragment analysis and capillary electrophoresis with frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime detection method (McIntosh, et al., Electrophoresis, 2002, 23, 1473-1479). Since these methods use pre-labeled fluorescence dyes, the detection sensitivity relies largely on the separation of target bound and unbound fluorescence labeled probes. Though solid phase immobilization of the target gene (fluorescence in situ hybridization, for example) can improve the separation efficiency by simply washing away the unbound fluorescence labeled probes, this introduces an extra process. However, the potential background still can be high, and the procedure can be laborious. To address this problem, a non-fluorescence label moiety can be attached to the probes so that the fluorescence signal only occurs after the hybridization event. Recently, the development of DNA-programmed chemistry has provided a novel approach for generation of fluorescence dye in situ. See, e.g., Li, X.; Liu, D. R. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 4848-4870; U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,928.
Polymethine dye has been widely used as laser dyes, photographic sensitizers and fluorescence probes due to its superior fluorescence and photochemical properties. However, polymethine dyes are generally synthesized by acid/base catalyzed condensation under anhydrous conditions which is not comparable to the nucleic acid-templated chemistry (Jedrzejewska, et al. Dyes and Pigments 2003, 58, 47-58). Recently, the literature has reported an improved aldol condensation in water using Lewis-acid (Kobayashi, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 8287-8288) and enamine-based organocatalyst (Mase, et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 734-735). The quaternary salt of polymethine precursor (active hydrogen component) used for condensing with aldehyde, however, is different substantially from the precursor (alpha carbon of aldehyde) in a conventional aldol condensation.
Thus, there exists a need for new fluorescent and colorimetric technologies that address many of the shortcomings inherent in the above-mentioned biodetection methods. For example, there is a need for methods of polymethine dye synthesis from non-detectable precursors by nucleic acid-templated chemistry and adaptation of such chemistry to biodetection.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions and methods for biodetection by nucleic acid-templated chemistry


A self-retaining, self-sealing manifold pressure sensor includes a sensor body with depending stem and an enlarged lower foot on the stem. The stem is tightly surrounded by a sealing and retention boot, which has a lower flange located just above the stem foot, which is larger than the stem foot. The stem foot is smaller than the installation hole in the manifold wall, while the boot flange is larger, but flexible. The sensor is installed by inserting the probe and surrounding boot together through the hole, with the flange flexing as it passes through. After installation, the flange is trapped between the stem foot and the wall, which prevents expulsion due to positive pressure spikes.

As part of a continuing effort to fine tune vehicle engine performance, more and more engine conditions are continually monitored. One of these is manifold pressure, which is generally negative, or below ambient, but which is subject to rapid positive fluctuations, as in the case of an engine back fire. Any pressure sensor must pass through an opening in the manifold wall, which must be sealed. In addition, it must be securely mounted to the manifold wall. Typically, the sealing and installation functions are separate and independent. The sensor probe that is inserted into the manifold wall is surrounded by a sealing sleeve, while the body of the sensor is retained to the manifold wall by separate fasteners, such as screws. While this arrangement works well, there would be a cost advantage in eliminating installation steps and parts.

Self-retaining, self-sealing pressure sensor


Methods and devices for determining movement associated with an antenna of a receiver are disclosed herein. An example method includes generating a first acceleration signal associated with the antenna, wherein the first acceleration signal includes one or more substantially non-zero axial components. The method may further include establishing an acceleration signature corresponding to the antenna based on the first acceleration signal, and generating a second acceleration signal associated with the antenna, wherein the second acceleration signal includes one or more substantially non-zero axial components. The method may further include determining a signal difference between the acceleration signature and the second acceleration signal, wherein the signal difference is attributable to a movement of the antenna. The method may further include generating an alert signal indicating the movement.

Warehouses, retail spaces, hospitals, daycares, laboratories or other venues often employ Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track various objects located therein. For example, products, packages, vehicles, people, scanners, and robots may all be tagged with an RFID tag. An RFID positioning system located in the venue may then track the location of tagged objects as the objects traverse the venue. RFID sensing stations are positioned throughout a venue, such as in overhead locations, on walls, or other surfaces, and operated to identify RFID tags on targets moving throughout the venue. The RFID sensing stations are connected to a network host computer or server. The specific location of any particular RFID-tagged product in the venue is typically determined by having the host computer process the payloads and capture data from a plurality of the RFID sensing stations and using triangulation/trilateration techniques.
Conventionally, RFID sensing stations are oriented in a fashion suitable to receive signals from the RFID tags. The orientation of each RFID sensing station is critical to ensure an accurate position determination and data capture for each tagged object. While adequate orientation of the RFID sensing station is typically accomplished at installation, various actions or environmental conditions within a venue may result in the RFID antenna being repositioned. For example, vibrations within a venue due to heavy machinery or environmental conditions (e.g., thunderstorms, hail, earthquakes, etc.), HVAC systems, or any direct physical contact with the RFID sensing station may be sufficient to reposition the antenna. Consequently, there is a need for techniques to determine when an RFID sensing station antenna has been repositioned.


The awning topper assembly is designed to be mounted on the interior side of a window. The assembly includes two curtain support rods of conventional design, each having a front and spaced, parallel sides. A valance is provided having upper and lower channels, each adapted to receive one of the support rods. Plastic extenders are provided for each side of the rod in the lower channel. Each extender engages a different side of the lower support rod, so as to retain the front of lower portion of the valance a greater distance from the plane of the window than the front of upper portion of the valance and thus provide an awning like appearance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a window treatments in the form of curtain valances known as "toppers" and more particularly to extenders designed to convert a standard curtain rod for use with a topper in the form of an awning.
2. Description of Prior Art
Awnings designed for exterior use are well known in the art. They generally take the form of a flexible or rigid roof-like cover mounted at an incline and extending over or in front of a deck, door or window to provide shade from the sun and shelter from the elements.
Curtains designed for indoor use as a window drapery are also well known. One type of curtain that is commonly used is known as a valance or "topper" because it is designed to fit over the top of a window using a standard curtain support rod. The topper is usually made of fabric and hangs vertically from the support rod in a plane generally parallel to the inside of the window.
The standard curtain support rod used to mount toppers consists of two generally "L" shaped parts. The parts are fabricated such that the long portion of one part is slideably received into the long portion of the other part to form the main section of the rod. That structure permits the effective length of the rod to be easily adjusted. The short portions of the rod parts form generally parallel side sections. The side sections of the rod are hollow and have open ends designed to receive and engage mounting brackets fixed to the surface (wall or window frame) surrounding the window, so as to support the rod and hence the curtain.
The present invention relates to a decorative curtain topper designed for indoor use that has the appearance of an awning in that it is mounted at an incline relative to the window, instead of parallel to the window as is the case with standard toppers. In order to mount the awning topper at an incline relative to the window, two support rods are required. One rod is required to support the upper portion of the topper at a position relatively close to the window. A second rod is required to support the lower portion of the topper at a position spaced from the window. Supporting the lower portion at a position spaced further away from the window than the upper portion provides the inclined appearance of an awning.
The awning topper is provided with a channel proximate the top edge adapted to receive the upper support rod. A second channel is provided proximate the bottom of the topper and is adapted to receive the lower support rod.
A standard curtain rod functions acceptably as the upper support rod for the awning topper. However, a standard curtain rod cannot be used as the lower support rod for the awning topper because the sides are too short to provide the inclined appearance characteristic of an awning.
It is of course possible to manufacture a curtain rod with longer sides especially for use as the lower support rod for the awning topper. However, fabricating, inventorying and selling specially constructed curtain rods for this purpose is costly.
Accordingly, it is a prime object of the present invention to provide extenders for increasing the effective length of mounting to the sides of standard curtain rod to convert same for use as a lower support rod for an awning topper.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an awning topper rod extender that is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to use with a standard curtain rod.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an awning topper rod extender with a tapered end to facilitate insertion to the side section of a standard curtain rod.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an awning topper rod extender with means for releaseably engaging the side section of a standard curtain rod.


A split tube for use in a fluid friction assembly, such as a clutch or brake, includes a tube body with end caps disposed at each end. The end caps seal the ends of the tube, and further provide a device to connect the two end caps. This arrangement allows the tube to be placed about the shaft of a friction assembly, and then formed into a continuous ring. The ends of the tube are connected, and will not be flung radially outwardly at high rotational speeds.

This invention relates generally to an improved structure for a flexible tube adapted for use in a fluid clutch, brake or other friction assembly.
One known type of fluid friction assembly utilizes a torus-shaped flexible tube. The tube is expanded by fluid under pressure resulting in the selective engagement of friction discs, which in turn transmit or absorb rotational torque. The tube rotates in a clutch assembly about the shaft of the clutch. Over time the tube may deteriorate, and require replacement.
Replacing the original tube with another torus-shaped tube often requires significant disassembly of the clutch, since the tube is positioned about the shaft. Time to disassemble the clutch, however, is not always available. Therefore, replacement tubes, having a generally toroidal shape, are split and have two ends. This allows a tube to be placed over the shaft. Known split tubes operate satisfactorily only when the clutch is operated at less than full speed. At full speed, the loose ends of the split tube may be flung radially outwardly, preventing proper operation of the clutch.
The prior art has attempted to overcome these difficulties by taping, or applying other adhesives to secure the ends of the split tube together. These methods have not, however, provided a consistently effective replacement tube capable of operation at high rotational speeds. Thus, prior art split tubes have typically only been used as temporary replacements in most industrial clutches.


In one embodiment, when a mobile telephone accessible to the Internet accesses a homepage provider server, character codes of the homepage accessed is identified. Thereafter, a homepage is displayed using character codes in the mobile telephone on the basis of the identification. The homepage provider server provides information for identifying character codes. A character code provider always updates and registers the latest character codes. The mobile telephone accesses the homepage provider server and the character code provider through wireless telephone network and the Internet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic character code recognition/display system, method, and program and, in particular, an automatic character code recognition/display system, method, and program which can recognize a character code of a homepage when a holder of a mobile telephone which can access the Internet through a public wireless communication network accesses an arbitrary homepage supplier server and correctly display the contents of the homepage such that an appropriate character code in the mobile telephone is selected.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional character code recognition/display system, only a homepage of a specific character code can be correctly displayed. However, when a homepage of another character code is displayed, a new mobile telephone having a character code of a homepage to be displayed must be bought.
Conventional technique documents related to the present invention are as follows.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-250899
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-259281
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-114844
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-240647
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-208383
However, the convention character code recognition/display system as the following problems.
More specifically, when a user displays a homepage using a character code other than a specific character code, a character code of the homepage to be displayed is not included in a mobile telephone. For this reason, a new mobile telephone having the character code must be bought.

Automatic character code recognition/display system, method, and program using mobile telephone


A radio base station 1 used in a radio communication system in which an SC-FDMA scheme is adopted for an uplink and an OFDMA scheme is adopted for a downlink, comprises: a receiver 140 configured to perform reception processing on a radio signal in the SC-FDMA scheme or the OFDMA scheme; an OFDM demodulator 150 configured to convert a received signal obtained by the receiver 140 from a time domain to a frequency domain and perform a primary demodulation of the resultant signal; a frame processor 170 configured to convert a data symbol obtained by the OFDM demodulator from a frequency domain to a time domain and perform a secondary demodulation of the resultant symbol; and a measurement unit 210 configured to measure a signal which is a signal after conversion to the frequency domain by the OFDM demodulator 150 and is the signal before conversion to the time domain by the frame processor 170.

As a radio access scheme, LTE (Long Term Evolution) which is standardized by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), a standardization body for radio communication systems, adopts OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) for a downlink and adopts SC-FDMA (Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access) for an uplink.
Also, the LTE mainly adopts FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) as a duplex scheme for separating the downlink from the uplink. When the FDD is adopted, a frequency band of the uplink is different from that of the downlink.
The 3GPP proposes a method for a situation where a radio base station (which is referred to as "eNB" in the 3GPP) is newly installed, the method enabling automatic setting of the newly-installed base station to be made by connecting the newly-installed base station to a network via a cable, and by powering on the newly-installed base station.
A technology of automatically optimizing performances such as transmission capacity, transmission delay, and frequency-and-power usage efficiency of a radio communication system as described above is called as SON (Self Organized Network). With the SON, measurement or setting in situ can be automated without requiring manual operations when a radio base station is installed or maintained.
As one function of the SON, there is proposed a method in which a radio terminal (which is referred to as "UE" in the 3GPP) performing a radio communication with a radio base station reports a result of measuring a radio signal received from a base station neighboring the radio base station, and the radio base station knows an operational status of the neighboring base station (see, non-patent literature 1).

Radio base station and communication control method


The present invention provides a backing device for backing up weld joints formed by friction stir welding workpieces having curvilinear geometries. The backing device includes a backing ring defining a contact zone. At least a portion of the contact zone defined by the backing ring engages the weld joint opposite the friction stir welding tool to thereby support the weld joint and to constrain the plasticized material within the weld joint. The backing device includes a restraining member in operable communication with the backing ring to urge the contact zone of the backing ring toward the weld joint. The backing device includes a sensor for measuring the magnitude of force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint.

The present invention relates to friction stir welding and, more particularly, relates to backing up a weld joint during friction stir welding.
Friction stir welding is a relatively new process using a rotating tool to join in a solid state two workpieces or to repair cracks in a single workpiece. At present, the process is applied almost exclusively in straight-line welds. For example, such a process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,317 to Thomas et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. During friction stir welding a rotating tool is plunged into a workpiece or between two workpieces by a friction stir welding machine to produce the required resistance force to generate sufficient frictional heating to form a region of plasticized material. Upon solidification of the plasticized material, the workpieces are joined along the weld joint. The magnitude of force exerted by the friction stir welding tool on a workpiece is applied over a small, but well defined area of the workpiece, and must be maintained above a prescribed minimum in order to generate the required frictional heating.
To prevent deformation of a workpiece by the force exerted by the friction stir welding tool and maintain dimensional tolerances, the workpiece must have support behind the weld joint over an area at least as large as the imprint of the welding tool. Additionally, because the frictional heat generated by the welding tool plasticizes the material within the weld joint, the plasticized material must be constrained to prevent the material from flowing out of the weld joint and to provide a weld joint having the desired surface finish. When friction stir welding relatively flat workpieces, the weld joint can be supported by a continuous planar surface, such as a steel plate, positioned underneath the workpieces to be joined.
When friction stir welding workpieces having curvilinear geometries, providing adequate support to the weld joint becomes problematic because the curvilinear geometry makes it more difficult to provide a continuous support surface. Such welds are often necessary when fabricating military and commercial aircraft and rocket fuel tanks. In certain instances, a built-up structure can be secured to the interior surfaces of the curvilinear workpieces prior to friction stir welding. However, weight restrictions and/or design parameters often require a finished assembly having a smooth interior surface. As such, the built-up structure must be removed, for example, by machining, which is time consuming and labor intensive and increases the manufacturing cost of the finished assembly.
In seeking better methods for welding curvilinear geometries, a solid backing wheel has been proposed. For example, referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is illustrated one design of a welding apparatus 11 having a solid wheel 13 for backing a friction stir weld joint between two curvilinear structural members 15, as is known in the art. In order to produce a curvilinear weld joint between a pair of curvilinear structural members 15, the friction stir weld tool 17 is positioned in the joint opposite the solid wheel 13. Assuming ideal structural members 15 without deflection or deformation, the joint between the structural members will meet the solid wheel 13 at a tangent point 19, leaving slender gaps 21 on either side of the wheel directly under the shoulder 17a of the friction stir welding tool 17. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the friction stir welding tool 17 is typically positioned at an angle a with the plane extending from the center of the solid wheel 13 through the tangent point 19. During friction stir welding, the welding force crushes the gaps between the structural members 15 and the solid wheel 13. As the joint cools from welding temperatures, the joint can retain an instantaneous and permanent set in the shape the structural members 15 were welded, i.e., the curvature of the solid wheel 13, which can result in a distorted joint that adversely affects the tolerances of the resulting structural assembly.
In addition, referring to FIG. 1B, the curvature of the solid wheel 13 typically results in some amount of material 23 being extruded through the joint away from the shoulder 17a of the friction stir welding tool 17. As the material 23 is extruded, the shoulder 17a of the friction stir welding tool 17 forms a trough 25 on the side of the joint facing the shoulder, which can weaken the joint. When the centerline of the friction stir welding tool 17 is in line with the center of the solid wheel 13, the tool is aligned at the top dead center (xe2x80x9cTDCxe2x80x9d) of the wheel. Referring to FIGS. 1C and 1D, if the tool 17 is ahead or behind of TDC of the wheel, the tool receives less support on the slope of the wheel. Both cases cause extrusion of material 23 away from the shoulder 17a of the tool 17. As illustrated in FIG. 1C, in the worst case the tool is ahead of TDC and the extrusion 23 builds a xe2x80x9crampxe2x80x9d that wedges under the tangent point of the wheel 13 and lifts the structural members 15 away from the wheel. If the tool 17 is ahead of TDC, the shoulder 17 will also dig a relatively deep trough 25 in the surface of the structural members 15 facing the shoulder. Where the tool is behind TDC, the shoulder 17a extrudes metal 23 away from the shoulder, but the extent of distortion of the structural members 15 is typically not as severe. Reducing the diameter of the solid wheel 13 typically increases the distortion of the structural members 15, as well as the extrusion 23 of material from the backside of the joint, since the slope of the wheel becomes steeper. Increasing the diameter of the solid wheel 13 results in heavier, more complex tooling and can, in certain instances, result in difficulty extracting the wheel from the resulting structural assembly.
Referring to FIGS. 1E and 1F, where there is illustrated a comparison of a friction stir weld joint 27a formed by welding flat plates 15a with a flat backing and a weld joint 27b formed by welding curvilinear plates 15b using a solid backing wheel. As illustrated in FIG. 1E, the backside of the weld joint 27a of the flat plates 15a is flush with the original profile of the structural members 15. In contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 1F, the weld joint formed between the curvilinear members 15 exhibits extrusion 23 on the backside of the joint away from the shoulder and a severe depression or trough 25 on the side of the joint facing the shoulder.
Thus, there is a need for an improved backing device for weld joints formed by friction stir welding workpieces having curvilinear geometries. The backing device should be capable of effectively supporting a weld joint and constraining the plasticized material within the weld joint during friction stir welding. Additionally, the backing device should be easily adaptable to varying workpiece geometries.
The present invention provides an apparatus and an associated method for backing up weld joints formed by friction stir welding workpieces having curvilinear geometries. The backing device includes a backing ring defining a contact zone. Advantageously, the backing ring has sufficient flexibility such that at least a portion of the contact zone defined by the backing ring engages the weld joint opposite the friction stir welding tool to thereby support the weld joint and to constrain the plasticized material within the weld joint.
The backing device also includes a restraining member in operable communication with the backing ring to urge the central axis of the backing ring and, thus, the contact zone of the backing ring, toward the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the restraining member is in operable communication with the backing ring through a spring member and a plurality of bogies. The plurality of bogies rotatively engage at least a portion of the backing ring and urge the contact zone of the backing ring toward the weld joint. The spring member at least partially receives the plurality of bogies and is in operable communication with the retaining member. The spring member urges the bogies toward the backing ring.
According to one embodiment, the backing ring defines an opening therethrough. Advantageously, the backing device can include at least one jet for injecting coolant fluid into the opening in the backing ring to convectively transfer heat from the weld joint. The backing device can also include a retaining roller extending at least partially through the opening defined in the backing ring opposite the bogies. The retaining roller rotatively engages at least a portion of the backing ring such that the backing ring is slidably retained between the bogies and the retaining roller. The retaining roller may comprise one or more bogies.
The backing device includes a sensor, such as a strain-gage load cell, a piezoelectric load cell, a dynamometer, a pneumatic load cell, or a hydraulic load cell, for measuring the magnitude of force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the apparatus also includes a computing means in electrical communication with the sensor.
Advantageously, the backing device also includes means, responsive to the sensor and in operable communication with the restraining member, for moving the restraining member relative to the weld joint in order to modify the force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the moving means responsive to the sensor includes a drive assembly and a motor in operable communication with the drive assembly. The drive assembly can include a belt drive or a gear drive. According to another embodiment, the moving means comprises an actuator assembly, such as a pneumatic actuator arm or a hydraulic actuator arm. In still another embodiment, the moving means includes a power screw.
The backing device can also include means for rotating the backing ring to thereby maintain the contact zone of the backing ring opposite the friction stir welding tool during formation of the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the rotating means includes a drive assembly and a motor in operable communication with the drive assembly. As before, the drive assembly can include a belt drive or a gear drive.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for friction stir welding weld joints in workpieces having curvilinear geometries. According to one embodiment, the friction stir welding device includes a milling machine having a spindle in rotatable communication with a friction stir welding tool, which frictionally engages a workpiece to thereby form a weld joint. The friction stir welding device also includes a backing ring having a central axis and defining a contact zone. Advantageously, at least a portion of the contact zone defined by the backing ring engages the weld joint opposite the friction stir welding tool to thereby provide support behind the weld joint and to constrain the plasticized material within the weld joint.
The friction stir welding device includes at least one sensor for measuring the magnitude of force exerted upon the workpiece. The friction stir welding device can include a computing means in electrical communication with the at least one sensor, such as a strain-gage load cell, a piezoelectric load cell, a dynamometer, a pneumatic load cell, or a hydraulic load cell. According to one embodiment, the at least one sensor includes a first sensor for measuring the magnitude of force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint and a second sensor for measuring the magnitude of force exerted by the friction stir welding tool upon the workpiece.
Advantageously, the friction stir welding device also includes means, responsive to the at least one sensor and in operable communication with the backing ring, for moving the central axis of the backing ring relative to the weld joint in order to modify the force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the moving means responsive to the at least one sensor includes a drive assembly and a motor in operable communication with the drive assembly. The drive assembly can include a belt drive or a gear drive. According to another embodiment, the moving means comprises an actuator assembly, such as a pneumatic actuator arm or a hydraulic actuator arm. In still another embodiment, the moving means includes a power screw.
The friction stir welding device can also include means for rotating the backing ring to thereby maintain the contact zone of the backing ring opposite the friction stir welding tool during formation of the weld joint. According to one embodiment, the rotating means includes a drive assembly, such as a belt drive or a gear drive, and a motor in operable communication with the drive assembly.
The present invention also provides a method of friction stir welding a workpiece, comprising the steps of mounting a friction stir welding tool to a rotatable spindle such that the friction stir welding tool rotates with the spindle. The friction stir welding probe is then positioned adjacent to a first side of a workpiece. A backing ring defining a central axis is positioned adjacent to a second side of the workpiece opposite the friction stir welding tool. The friction stir welding tool is then inserted into the first side of the workpiece to form a weld joint. Concurrently with the inserting step, the central axis of the backing ring is moved toward the weld joint such that the backing ring defines a contact zone at least partially engaging the weld joint opposite the friction stir welding tool. The magnitude of the force exerted upon the workpiece is measured. According to one embodiment, the measuring step includes measuring the force exerted by the friction stir welding tool upon the workpiece and measuring the force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint. The distance between the central axis of the backing ring and the weld joint is then adjusted to modify the force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring on the weld joint. The friction stir welding tool is moved through the workpiece. Concurrently with the moving step, the backing ring is rotated along the second side of the workpiece such that the contact zone of the backing ring remains opposite the friction stir welding tool. According to one embodiment, coolant fluid is injected into an opening defined by the backing ring to convectively transfer heat from the weld joint. In another embodiment, at least one bogie is moved relative to the backing ring to thereby modify the force exerted by the contact zone of the backing ring upon the weld joint.
Accordingly, there has been provided an apparatus and associated method allowing for the formation of uniform weld joints in workpieces having curvilinear geometries. In particular, the backing device is capable of effectively supporting a weld joint to thereby maintain the manufacturing tolerances of the workpiece, as well as to constrain the plasticized material within the weld joint. Additionally, the backing ring of the backing device is sufficiently flexible so that it can easily adapt to varying workpiece geometries.

Method and apparatus for backing up a friction stir weld joint


The present invention provides a display module having: a display board on which a display element displaying an image is mounted; and a chassis on which the display board is mounted and which is placed on a circuit board. The chassis has a support board and a frame plate. The support board includes: a support section which supports a portion of the display board except for a corner section of the display board; and a depressed section which continuously expands from the support section and is formed such that a surface on a side supporting the display board is lower than the support section. The frame plate is placed on the circuit board while supporting the support board at a predetermined height with respect to the circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus such as a mobile phone handset and a display module which is mounted on the portable terminal apparatus or the like to display an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable terminal apparatus in recent years is additionally provided with an image display function, and liquid crystals, organic EL (Electro Luminescence), or the like is used in its display device. Glass is generally used for such a display device. Since a portable terminal apparatus is a device to be carried around by a person, an external force such as a strong compressive force or an impactive force is frequently applied to the portable terminal apparatus during use. However, a glass which is used for a display device is sensitive to an external force, and a glass breakage may occur, causing a display problem.
Typically, in a portable terminal apparatus, a display device is reinforced and fixed by a chassis structure. From a structural viewpoint, a glass breakage in the display device is often caused by an external force in a direction of the display surface. An external force causes a chassis to bend, and a glass edge interferes with the chassis, thereby causing a glass breakage. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-307258 discloses a housing structure which is aimed at solving the problem and is hard to break even if an external force is applied.
In a portable terminal apparatus, an integrated circuit component which operates at a high frequency is packaged on an electrical component. It is necessary for the portable terminal apparatus to avoid the influence of radiation noise generated from the integrated circuit component and the like. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-19850 discloses an electromagnetic interference shielding structure for avoiding the influence of radiation noise and the like.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a conventional display module intended to prevent a glass breakage upon application of an external force and avoid the influence of radiation noise and the like.
A display module 100 shown in FIG. 6 is composed of a display board 110 on which an EL display element displaying an image is mounted and which is made of a glass material, a chassis 120 which is made of a resin material such as ABS, and a sheet metal component 130 which is made of a metal material.
The chassis 120 is formed of a support board 121 which supports the display board 110 and a frame plate 122 which surrounds the support board 121 to support it. In the chassis 120, openings 123 vertically extending between the support board 121 and the frame plate 122 are formed at portions which correspond to the four corner sections of the display board 110 when the display board 110 is placed on the support board 121.
The chassis 120 is configured such that the support board 121 bends to absorb an external force when the external force is applied to the display board 110, and the display board 110 is pressed. If the support board 121 expands so as to fill the openings 123 in the four corners, the support board 121 may interfere with the display board 110 at the four corners to cause a glass breakage in the display board 110. In this arrangement, the openings 123 are formed in the four corners to avoid such a breakage. The provision of these openings 123 prevents a glass breakage even if an external force is applied.
A notch section 124 is formed in a part of the frame plate 122 of the chassis 120. A flexible board (not shown) extending from the display board 110 passes through the notch section 124.
The sheet metal component 130 has the shape of a box facing downward. The shape will be described with reference to parts (A) and (B) of FIG. 7.
Parts (A) and (B) of FIG. 7 are sectional views, respectively, taken along arrows X1-X1 and X2-X2 shown in FIG. 6. For illustrative convenience, in FIG. 6, the arrows X1-X1 and X2-X2 indicate the positions of sections of the chassis 120. Parts (A) and (B) of FIG. 7 show the structures of the sections, including the display board 110 and sheet metal component 130, at the positions corresponding to the arrows X1-X1 and X2-X2.
Part (A) of FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the arrow X1-X1 shown in FIG. 6; and part (B) of FIG. 7, a sectional view taken along the arrow X2-X2 shown in FIG. 6.
The frame plate 122 of the chassis 120 is placed on a circuit board 300 while supporting the support board 121 at a predetermined height with respect to the circuit board 300. The sheet metal component 130 has the shape of a box facing downward, as shown in parts (A) and (B) of FIG. 7. The sheet metal component 130 is fit in a portion delimited by the frame plate 122 and the back surface of the support board 121 of the chassis 120 and is placed on the circuit board 300 together with the frame plate 122. The sheet metal component 130 is connected to electrical ground on the circuit board 300 through a structure (not shown). A circuit component 310 such as an IC chip is mounted at a portion, opposing the center of the support board 121, of the circuit board 300. The sheet metal component 130 connected to ground surrounds the circuit component 310 to give the shielding effect to the circuit component 310. This arrangement prevents radiation noise and the like from the circuit component 310 from leaking outside.
Part (B) of FIG. 7 also shows the openings 123 described with reference to FIG. 6. As described above, with the presence of these openings 123, no interference occurs between the corner sections of the display board 110 and the support board 121 even if an external force is applied to the display board 110, and the support board 121 bends. This prevents the occurrence of a glass breakage in the display board 110.
Conventionally, the display module 100 with the structure shown in FIG. 6 and parts (A) and (B) of FIG. 7 is adopted as an example. However, it is desired to further promote a reduction in weight and the number of components, and the like demanded of a portable terminal apparatus.

Display module and portable terminal apparatus