The present invention offers an optical disk determination circuit that can improve the stability of the operation to detect the peak (pulse signal) of the received light signal, and that can improve the stability of the optical disk determination operation. When determining the type of optical disk corresponding to the depth from the surface of the plane on which a light beam is irradiated to the data recording layer, light is irradiated while varying the focal position of the light beam at a constant velocity in one direction of the depth direction from the surface of the optical disk. The bottom level of the received light signal corresponding to the intensity of this reflected light is clamped at a specified level by the bottom clamp circuit 43. The received light signal with the bottom level clamped is compared with a specified reference voltage Vref by the comparator 45, and the received light signal peak (pulse signal) is detected corresponding to the results of this comparison. The type of optical disk is determined by measuring the difference in this peak (pulse signal) detection time.

Optical disk playback devices, for example, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) players, have been spreading rapidly in recent years, and are being equipped with generalized functions that can play back other types of optical disks, specifically, functions that can play back CDs (Compact Disks), which have already become widespread. This kind of optical disk playback device is normally equipped with a function to determine the type of optical disk that is loaded in the equipment, and suitable playback processing or recording processing is conducted corresponding to the type determined.
In general optical disks, a long narrow convex part called a pit, which has a length corresponding to the recorded data, is arranged in a spiral by making a circumferential row from the center in the recording layer of a disk that is irradiated by laser light. When reading the recorded data from the optical disk, laser light is irradiated on this pit row.
A transparent substrate such as a resin is formed on the upper layer of this recording layer, the incident laser light is reflected by the previously described recording layer through this transparent substrate, and the recorded data is played back by using an optical detector to convert the reflected light to electrical signals.
The general method to determine whether an optical disk is a CD or DVD is to detect the thickness of this transparent substrate. Specifically, while the thickness of the transparent substrate in a CD is 1.2 mm, that in a DVD is half that thickness or 0.6 mm. Therefore, whether an optical disk is a CD or DVD can be determined by detecting the difference in this thickness.
FIG. 6 is a diagram to explain the general method to determine the type of optical disk. Indicated in the diagram are a disk motor 2 that clamps and rotates an optical disk 1, and an optical pickup 31 that focuses and irradiates laser light on a specific position on the optical disk 1, and that receives and converts that reflected light into electrical signals.
In the optical disk determination method indicated in FIG. 6, first, the optical pickup 31 is moved by an activator (not indicated in the diagram) at a constant velocity perpendicular to the surface of the disk while laser light is irradiated on the optical disk 1. By doing this, the focal position (focus) of the laser light is moved at a constant velocity perpendicular to the surface of the optical disk.
In conjunction with moving this focal position, several peaks are generated in the electrical signals (called the received light signals hereinafter) corresponding to the intensity of the reflected light converted by the optical pickup 31. For example, when the focal position is moved in the direction from the surface of the disk to the recording layer, the intensity of the reflected light first increases when the focal position reaches the disk surface and a first peak is generated in the received light signal based on the transparent substrate. Next, a second peak is generated in the received light signal when the focal position arrives at the recording layer. The distance between the disk surface and the recording layer is derived by using, for example, a time counter to measure the time interval generated between these first and second peaks. Whether an optical disk is a CD or DVD is determined by this measured time or distance.
In this regard, the peak value in the received light signal generated from reflection by the disk surface is extremely small compared to the peak value generated from reflection by the recording layer. Therefore, sometimes the effects of noise, etc. cause errors to be generated when detecting this extremely small peak value, and the disk determination operation becomes unstable.
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram indicating one example of a conventional received light signal detection circuit to detect light reflected from the surface of the optical disk and light reflected from the recording layer. In FIG. 7, the code 11 is a low-pass filter, the codes 12 and 13 are amplifiers, the codes 14 and 15 are peak retention circuits, the code 16 is a voltage division circuit, and the code 17 is a comparator.
The low-pass filter 11 is a filter to attenuate the high frequency noise component, which is outside a specified signal pass band, from the received light signal Srf.
The signals with the noise component attenuated by the low-pass filter 11 are input into the amplifier 12, and are amplified by a specified gain.
The amplifier 13 amplifies by a specified gain the signals from the amplifier 12 that are input via the capacitor C2.
The peak hold circuit 14 retains at a specified droop rate the maximum level peak of the amplified signal S13 that is input from the amplifier 13.
The peak hold circuit 15 retains at a specified droop rate the minimum level peak of the amplified signal S13 that is input from the amplifier 13.
The voltage division circuit 16 divides at a specified voltage division ratio the voltage of the maximum level of the amplified signal S13, which is retained by the peak holder circuit 14, and the voltage of the minimum level of the amplified signal S13, which is retained by the peak holder circuit 15. Normally, the voltage is divided to an intermediate level between the maximum and minimum levels.
The comparator 17 compares the level of the amplified signal S13 input from the amplifier 13 with that of the threshold signal S16 input from the voltage division circuit 16. If the level of the amplified signal S13 is greater than the level of the threshold signal S16, then the comparator 17 outputs a detection signal Sp of the logical value "1" that indicates detection of a peak.
The high frequency noise component of the received light signal Srf input into the low-pass filter is removed; and this signal is amplified by a specified gain by the amplifier 12, and is input into the capacitor C2. The amplified signal of the received light signal Srf, which has had the direct current component removed by this capacitor C2, is amplified by a specified gain by the amplifier 13, and is input respectively into the positive terminal of the comparator 17, the peak holder circuit 14, and the peak holder circuit 15.
The maximum level of the amplified signal S13 that is retained in the peak holder circuit 14 and the minimum level of the amplified signal S13 retained in the peak holder circuit 15 are divided by the voltage division circuit 16. The threshold signal S16, which has a level between these maximum and minimum levels, is input into the negative terminal of the comparator 17. The comparator 17 compares the levels of the amplified signal S13 with the threshold signal S16, and if the level of the amplified signal S13 exceeds that of the threshold S16, then a detection signal Sp of a logical value "1" is produced.
FIG. 8 is a diagram indicating examples of the waveforms of various parts in the optical disk determination circuit of FIG. 7.
In the received light signal Srf indicated in FIG. 8a, the peak A corresponds to the peak of the intensity of the light reflected by the disk surface, and the peak B corresponds to the peak of the intensity of the light reflected by the recording layer. As indicated in this diagram, the peak A caused by the surface of the disk is extremely small compared to the peak B caused by the recording surface.
Indicated in FIG. 8b is the waveform of the signal S13, wherein the peaks have been amplified by the amplifiers 12 and 13. The peaks are amplified by two amplifiers; the amplifiers output the saturated maximum level; and the maximum peak portions are flattened.
The maximum peak and minimum peak levels of the signal S13, obtained by amplifying the peaks of the received light signal Srf into a square wave shape, are retained respectively in the peak holder circuit 14 and the peak holder circuit 15. The voltage division circuit 16 generates the threshold signal S16, which has a nearly intermediate level between the two retained peaks. As indicated in FIG. 8c, the detection signal Sp is the high level when the level of this threshold signal S16 is less than the amplified signal S13, and is the low level when the level of this threshold signal S16 is greater than the amplified signal S13.
FIG. 9 is a diagram indicating the relationship between the signal waveforms input into the comparator of FIG. 7 and the logical threshold level of the comparator 17. In FIG. 9, the dotted line waveform of the threshold level indicates the logical threshold level that the input offset of the comparator 17 adds to the threshold signal S16. The logic of the detection signal Sp output from the comparator 17 is inverted if the amplified signal S13 exceeds this logical threshold level. Moreover, if no peak is generated in the amplified signal S13, the level of the threshold signal S16 is equivalent to that of the amplified signal S13 because the retention levels of the peak holder circuit 14 and the peak holder circuit 15 are equivalent to the level of the amplified signal S13. Consequently, in this case, the logical threshold level of the comparator 17 is only the input offset, and if a noise component that exceeds this input offset is added to the input of the comparator 17, there is the possibility that this will cause the detected signal Sp to be inverted to the logical value "1". Specifically, in a system that sets up a threshold level for detecting peaks using a maximum peak level and minimum peak level retained by peak holder circuits, there is the problem that it is highly possible that an optical disk determination error will be made because noise is prone to cause operational errors during periods in which no peak is input.
In the optical disk determination circuit indicated in FIG. 7, differential action by the capacitor C2 causes the input signal level of the amplifier 13 to fluctuate after generating the peak. If a level fluctuation is generated during the non-peak period, the threshold signal S16 will also change because the maintenance levels of the peak holder circuit 14 and the peak holder circuit 15 will change. The timing whereby the detection signal Sp turns from the logical value "0" to the logical value "1", as well as the period of the logical value "1" will change. Moreover, the timing whereby the detection signal Sp becomes the logical value "1" will become unstable, and the stability of the optical disk determination operation will be lost because the capacitance value of the capacitor C2 and the input impedance of the amplifier 13 will vary the size of this level fluctuation.
The present invention takes the related circumstances into consideration, and has the purpose of offering an optical disk determination circuit that, when determining the type of optical disk corresponding to the depth from the surface of the plane irradiated by the optical beam up to the data recording layer, can stably determine the type of optical disk by stably detecting the weak peak (pulse signal) of the received light signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light of the light reflected from the optical disk.


A medicine syringe has a syringe barrel, piston and plunger rod. The syringe barrel is provided with a cylindrical main body defining therein a chamber to be filled with a medical solution, and an injection nozzle portion formed at an end portion of the main body and defining therein a hollow bore in communication with the chamber. The chamber and hollow bore have a total capacity of not greater than 0.5 mL. The chamber and hollow bore are formed such that the piston is slidable in a range of from 20 to 100 mm and is allowed to slide liquid-tight into the hollow bore beyond the chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a syringe useful with a medicine, and specifically to a medicine syringe having a piston stroke long enough to facilitate its use even when the internal capacity of a syringe barrel is small and allowing only a small amount of a medical solution to remain in the syringe barrel upon completion of an injection of the medical solution by sliding a piston via a plunger rod.
2. Description of the Related Art
A syringe for use with a medicine varies in capacity and shape depending on its application. In particular, prefilled syringes which are finding increasing utility in recent years have been proposed in diverse designs and sizes, because they have been filled with medical solutions upon distribution from pharmaceutical makers and can hence be designed in shapes and capacities suited for the administration of the medical solutions. On the other hand, there has been a move in recent years toward smaller dose sizes. Keeping in step with this move, syringes to be used are also desired to meet this move toward smaller dose sizes. From the production technology, however, there is generally a restriction to a move toward smaller syringes, because the production of such smaller syringes is difficult. It is, therefore, a current practice to meet the move toward smaller dose sizes, for example, by filling a syringe of 3 mL capacity with a medical solution as little as only one third of its full capacity when desired to store 1 mL of the medical solution.
For the purpose of making more accurate a dose to be administered in addition to the economical viewpoint, there is also a long-standing desire to decrease a medical solution that remains in a syringe after the use of the medical solution, and numerous proposals have been made in this respect. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,337 to Jean Pierre Grimard discloses a piston-like stopper for use in a syringe barrel. In order to minimize a dead space in which a medical solution enters and is held unusable, the piston-like stopper is provided on a distal end of a stopper main body with a distally-directed, conically-shaped projection and is also provided with at least one elongate discontinuity (e.g., a raised rib, recessed grove, or the like) running along the conically-shaped projection. When a piston-like stopper is formed in such an intricate shape, however, the projection may not always be surely inserted at a distal end thereof into a passageway arranged at a distal end of the syringe barrel, and therefore, the occurrence of malfunction is concerned. For use in a syringe of such an extremely small capacity as a total capacity of not greater than 0.5 mL to which the present invention is directed as will be described subsequently herein, a piston itself is of an extremely small size. Such an extremely small piston is accompanied by a problem in that it can be hardly molded or otherwise formed or worked into such an intricate shape as proposed above and, even if good results are obtained with a usual size, the piston of the usual size cannot be applied as it is.


A method of controlling exposed glass charging in a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) device is disclosed. The method includes providing a MEMS device comprising a proof mass positioned apart from at least one sense plate and at least one outboard metallization layer, wherein at least one conductive glass layer is coupled to the sense plate and the outboard metallization layer, the conductive glass layer including at least one exposed glass portion near the proof mass; and applying a first voltage to the sense plate and a second voltage to the outboard metallization layer. The first voltage is separated from the second voltage by a predetermined voltage level such that the exposed glass portion has an average voltage corresponding to a voltage midway between the first voltage and the second voltage.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices can include various sensors, such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, which can be implemented in various inertial navigation and control system applications. A MEMS gyroscope or accelerometer may include microstructure sense elements such as a proof pass interposed between a pair of sense plates, forming a capacitive sensor.
Glass layers are often utilized as structures in MEMS devices. These glass layers are typically doped, which results in the glass having some conductivity, allowing electrical charges to flow and accumulate on the glass during operation of the MEMS devices. Sometimes it is convenient or necessary to allow uncovered glass to be exposed to the proof mass of a MEMS device such as in a capacitive MEMS sensor. As a result, the effective sensitivity of the device changes as charge is accumulated on the glass during operation. This makes the scale factor, bias, or other performance metrics of the MEMS sensor unreliable.

Reducing the effect of glass charging in MEMS devices


The invention relates to a manometer with a housing, a connecting piece rigidly connected to the housing, a bourdon tube arranged in the housing, a viewing glass fixed on the housing, and a pointer, which can rotate on the inside of the viewing glass and which is engaged with a free end of the bourdon tube, wherein the housing has on its top side a connecting piece that is bent inwardly for connecting to the viewing glass. To simplify the assembly, several cutouts distributed over the periphery are arranged in the connecting piece of the housing for engagement of an assembly tool, wherein the housing is connected to the connecting piece with a positive fit.

Such a manometer is known from DE 101 23 103 A1. This has a housing with a bourdon tube arranged therein, a connecting piece rigidly connected to the housing, a viewing glass arranged on the housing, and a pointer that can rotate at the bottom side of the viewing glass. The pointer is in engagement with the free end of the bourdon tube. The connecting piece of this known manometer has threads on its outer side. The manometer is fixed, e.g., in a fire extinguisher valve, by means of these threads. The screwing on and tightening of the manometer is typically realized by means of a hexagonal head, which is provided on the outer side of the connecting piece. By means of a commercially available wrench, the manometer can then be fixed by hand. However, this type of mounting has the disadvantage that automatic assembly is not possible without additional means.


Included are a rotor, and a stator having a yoke section and a teeth section including multiple teeth. The teeth section and the yoke section are made of mutually independent configuration members, and connected to each other. At least one of the teeth section and the yoke section is formed by connecting each neighboring two of its multiple segments arranged one after another in a direction in which the rotor rotates. At least some neighboring teeth out of the multiple teeth are unified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor including a stator which has a yoke section and a teeth section.
2. Description of the Related Art
Motors of a type including a stator having a yoke section and a teeth section which are unified of a single part have been heretofore familiar. In general, a motor of this type includes the teeth section with multiple teeth provided at regular distance in a direction in which the motor rotates, and the teeth are inserted respectively into coils each made of a metal wire such as a copper wire. In this respect, the coils of the motor are produced by winding a metal wire around the respective teeth of the teeth section by use of an automated machine such as a wire winding machine.
In addition, motors of a type including a stator configured of a yoke section and a teeth section with multiple teeth, which are independent configuration members, have been familiar. In the process of manufacturing a motor of this type, each of the yoke section and the teeth section is formed into an annular-shaped single part. Thereafter, the teeth of the teeth section are inserted into the respective coils which have been already made by wire winding. Afterward, the yoke section and the teeth of the teeth section are fitted to each other. Thereby, a stator is produced.
Because the teeth of the teeth section are inserted into the coils which have been already made by wire winding in this manner, there is no more need for a space, which is used for a wire-winding nozzle for winding a coil, between each two neighboring teeth. This makes it possible to increase the area of each space in which a coil is provided. This increase results in enhancement of a space factor of each coil.
Furthermore, in the case of the motors of the foregoing type, the teeth section is produced by laminating multiple teeth plates of the same shape in a way that the teeth are connected to each other in one teeth plate.
In addition, examples described as motors of the foregoing type include teeth which are separated by cutting out of each of the teeth and the teeth section after the two sections are connected to each other.
In the case of motors of the foregoing type, insertion grooves are formed and extended in the entire area of the yoke section in a direction in which the rotational axis of the rotor runs. That is because the insertion-groove-forming parts are formed in all of the yoke plates laminated into the yoke section.

Motor including a teeth section and a yoke section which are formed of mutually independent configuration members


One aspect of the present invention is a clock switching circuit for switching between asynchronous first clock and second clock when connecting or disconnecting an interface cable having a hot-plug function. The clock switching circuit includes a first group of flip-flops for receiving an interface disconnection signal that corresponds to disconnection and connection of the interface cable in response to the first clock, and a second group of flip-flops for receiving the interface disconnection signal in response to the second clock.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clock switching circuit for switching the internal clock for an interface having a hot-plug function such as IEEE1394 or USB, and more particularly to a clock switching circuit that prevents the occurrence of hazards during switching, makes it possible to generate a stable clock, and prevents malfunction of the internal circuits.
2. Related Art
Recent personal computers perform the connection with peripheral devices by an interface having a hot-plug function. A hot-plug function is a function that activates the connection even when an interface cable is connected after the power to the computer and peripheral device have been turned ON. For example, when an interface cable having a hot-plug function is connected to the device to be connected after the personal computer has started up, the connection with that connected device is activated, and when the interface cable is disconnected, the connection with the connected device is deactivated.
When the connection is activated, the internal circuits of the connected device are also activated, and specified high-speed processes, that are controlled by the synchronization clock, are executed. Moreover, after the cable has been disconnected, the connection is deactivated and the internal circuits of the connected device are also deactivated. However, internal circuits continue a minimum of operations for a preparation of the cable connection later.
The aforementioned IEEE1394 interface having a hot-plug function has a high-speed transmission rate of 400 Mbps, and is a suitable interface for transmitting image data. In order to correspond with this interface, the connected device has a PLL circuit which speeds up the oscillating clock of the internal oscillator. Moreover, it is desired that while the connected device is activated, the internal circuits perform a predetermined operation in synchronization with the high-speed clock of the PLL circuit, and while the connected device is not activated, the internal circuits maintain a minimum operation in synchronization with the oscillation clock of the low-speed oscillator.
Therefore, it is necessary for the internal circuits of the connected device to switch between the high-speed clock and the low-speed clock in response to the connection or disconnection of the interface cable. In this case, it is necessary to switch between two clocks that are asynchronous and out of phase with each other. In prior clock switching circuits, it is not possible to adequately prevent the occurrence of hazards when switching.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a prior clock switching circuit. This clock switching circuit is as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. H01-6209309, and is used for switching asynchronous clocks in communication devices. With the switching circuit in FIG. 1, switching is performed by a selection signal 'Select' that selects between the output clock X'tal of a quartz oscillator or the output clock PLL of a PLL circuit. In order to prevent hazards, which are the cause of malfunction when switching between the asynchronous clocks X'tal and PLL, the quartz oscillator clock side comprises flip-flops F/F(1), F/F(2) and an AND gate AND1, and switching is performed in synchronization with the clock X'tal, while the PLL side also comprises flip-flops F/F(3), F/F(4) and an AND gate AND2, and switching is performed in synchronization with the clock PLL.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the operation of the clock switching circuit shown in FIG. 1. The selection signal 'Select' is HI-level when the interface cable is disconnected, and is LO-level when the interface cable is connected. FIG. 2 shows the operation when the interface cable changes from being connected to being disconnected, as well as the operation when returning to the connected state.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the selection signal 'Select' is in the LO-level connection state, the clock output COUT of the switching circuit outputs the high-speed clock PLL of the PLL circuit. At that point, when the cable is disconnected and the selection signal 'Select' becomes HI-level, then in response to the fall of the clock X'tal at time t1, the flip-flop F/F(1) receives the HI-level of the selection signal 'Select'. Then, at time t2, in response to the fall of the clock PLL, the flip-flops F/F(3), (4) receive the inverted signal (LO level) of the selection signal 'Select'. In this way, the AND gate AND2 prohibits the output of the clock PLL, and the clock output COUT stops. Furthermore, in response to the fall of the clock X'tal at time t3, the flip-flop F/F(2) transfers the selection signal 'Select', and the AND gate AND1 lets the clock X'tal pass. As a result, the clock output COUT is switched to the quartz oscillator clock X'tal.
In response to the selection signal 'Select' being switched as described above, the deactivated clock is disconnected by one clock operation, and the activated clock is activated by 2 clock operations, and therefore the occurrence of hazards during switching is prevented. Furthermore, the activated clock is activated in synchronization with that clock phase, so there is no occurrence of a hazard that causes malfunction.
FIG. 3 is a different operation timing chart of the clock switching circuit in FIG. 1. In this case, the clock PLL may operate at very high-speed when compared with the clock X'tal. In this example, the frequency of the clock PLL is two times the frequency of the quartz clock X'tal. The HI level of the selection signal 'Select' is received by the flip-flops F/F(3), (4) at time t11, which prohibits output of the high-speed clock PLL, and at time t12, the HI level of the selection signal 'Select' is received by the flip-flop F/F(1), and at the trailing edge of the quartz clock X'tal at time t13, the output of the flip-flop F/F(1) is received by the next stage flip-flop F/F(2), and the AND gate AND1 is opened and the low-speed quartz clock X'tal is output to the output clock COUT.
When the interface cable is connected, the selection signal 'Select' becomes LO-level. This state is received by the flip-flop F/F(3) at time t14, and then received by the next stage flip-flop F/F(4) at the next trailing edge at time t15. However, as described above, since the quartz clock X'tal is half or less the frequency of the high-speed flip-flop PLL, at time t16 after time t15, the flip-flops F/F(1), (2) receive the LO-level selection signal 'Select' when the clock X'tal first falls, and the output of the low-speed quartz clock X'tal is prohibited. However, at the switching inside the circle in the figure, a hazard may occur in the output clock COUT.
The IEEE1394 interface operates at 400 Mbps and is a very high-speed interface, so there is a possibility that the relationship between the PLL circuit clock and the quartz clock may become as shown in FIG. 3. In that case, with the prior clock switching circuit in FIG. 1, there is a possibility that malfunction will occur in the logical circuits in the later stages to which the output clock COUT is supplied.
Furthermore, when the interface cable is connected, the clock is switched from the low-speed quartz clock to the high-speed PLL clock, however, when the PLL circuit that starts operating after switched is unstable after switching, then an unstable clock will be supplied to the later stage circuits and malfunction will occur.


A tool clamping fixture includes at least one clamping unit, at least one operating unit, and at least one return damping unit. The at least one clamping unit is configured to fixedly clamp a machining tool in an axial direction. The at least one operating unit is configured to actuate the at least one clamping unit. The at least one return damping unit is at least configured to damp a return motion of the at least one operating unit. The at least one return damping unit is also configured to generate friction torques of different magnitudes in opposite directions of motion of the at least one operating unit.

Tool clamping fixtures, in particular oscillation tool clamping fixtures, which have a clamping unit for clamping a machining tool in an axial direction, a control unit for actuating the clamping unit, and a return damping unit, which is provided to damp a return motion of the control unit, are already known.


Disclosed herein are a process for the preparation of a carboxylated arylene thioether oligomer, in which an alkali metal sulfide is caused to act on a poly(arylene thioether) so as to depolymerize the poly(arylene thioether), thereby preparing an alkali thiolate-containing oligomer, and a carboxylating agent is then caused to act on the alkali thiolate-containing oligomer, thereby forming the carboxylated arylene thioether oligomer, and a process for the production of an arylene thioether copolymer, wherein the carboxylated arylene thioether oligomer alone, which has been obtained in accordance with this preparation process, or a mixture of the carboxylated oligomer in an amount of at least 50 wt. % and another carboxylic compound in an amount less than 50 wt. % is reacted with an alkylenediol or an alkylenediol and a polyester or an alkylene diol and a lactone.

Poly(arylene thioether) (hereinafter abbreviated as "PATE") represented by poly(p-phenylene sulfide) is known as a polymer having a high crystalline melting point and excellent heat resistance, solvent resistance and mechanical properties.
However, PATE is restricted in its application to uses for which flexibility is required due to its high crystalline melting point and glass transition temperature, or has a drawback to its development into fields used as a solution due to its high solvent resistance. It has therefore been desired to improve the above-described problems while retaining the good heat resistance of PATE.
The present inventors carried out an investigation with a view toward providing improved arylene thioether copolymers by copolymerizing with an arylene thioether component, which is a constituent for PATE, another component.
The present inventors previously found that when an alkali metal sulfide is caused to act on PATE in a polar solvent, the principal chain of PATE is cut to depolymerize PATE, whereby a compound having at least one alkali thiolate group can be obtained (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7334/1992 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/686,972). The average polymerization degree of the compound obtained by this depolymerization process can be adjusted to any level ranging from oligomers to polymers relatively high in molecular weight, and the compound can be expected to use as a raw material for various syntheses because it has at least one alkali thiolate group as an active group. In addition, it is expectable to provide a copolymer having a uniform composition when using an oligomer (average polymerization degree: about 50 or lower) obtained by this depolymerization process as a copolymerizable component with other components because the molecular weight distribution of the oligomer is relatively even.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 140233/1990, there is disclosed a process in which a poly(phenylene sulfide) is reacted with an alkali metal sulfide at 150.degree.-230.degree. C. in a polar aprotic solvent, thereby producing a poly(phenylene sulfide) having a thiolate or thiol group on at least one terminal thereof. However, this polymer is not a polymer obtained by depolymerization, and is used for forming a block or a graft copolymer which serves as a compatibilizer by melting and mixing it with various kinds of polymers.
In Makromol. Chem., Macromol. Symp., 26, 1-8 (1989) and Makromol. Chem., 191, 815-828 (1990), there is disclosed a process in which p-dichlorobenzene is reacted with an excess amount of sodium sulfide to obtain a polymer having an alkali thiolate group on at least one terminal thereof and the thus-obtained polymer is further reacted with p-chlorobenzoic acid, thereby producing a carboxylic acid containing polymer. Further, in Polymer Bulletin, 4, 459-466 (1981) and Die Angewandte Makromolekulare Chemie, 145/146, 37-68 (1986), there is disclosed carboxylic acid containing p-phenylene thioether oligomers. Furthermore, France Patent No. 2,470,780 and Polymer Bulletin, 6, 477-484 (1982) disclose a process for the production of copolymers by reacting a carboxylic acid containing p-phenylene thioether oligomer with a diol. None of these references disclose a production process of copolymers by using an oligomer having at least one alkali thiolate, which is obtained by causing an alkali metal sulfide to act on PATE to depolymerize PATE.

Production processes of arylene thioether oligomer and copolymer


In an integrated lube oil process, a lube oil stock is hydrotreated over a non-noble metal containing hydrotreating catalyst in an HDN/HDS unit to remove sulfur and nitrogen from the lube oil stock and produce an HDN/HDS unit effluent. The effluent comprises hydrodesulfurized, hydrodenitrogenated lube oil stock, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. The hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are stripped from the hydrodesulfurized, hydrodenitrogenated lube oil stock to form a liquid stream comprising stripped lube oil stock and a first gas stream comprising hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and molecular hydrogen. The stripped lube oil stock is hydrotreated over a noble-metal containing hydrotreating catalyst in an HDW unit to produce an HDW unit effluent comprising a dewaxed lube oil stock. A second gas stream comprising molecular hydrogen is separated from the dewaxed lube oil stock. The first gas stream is combined with the second gas stream to form a third gas stream. The third gas stream is treated to remove ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and form a fourth gas stream comprising primarily molecular hydrogen. The fourth gas stream is compressed to form a fifth gas stream. At least a portion of the fifth gas stream is mixed with the lube oil stock.

The invention relates to hydrotreating and aromatics saturation of lube oil stocks.
Lube base oils are normally manufactured by making narrow cuts of vacuum gas oils from a crude vacuum tower. The cut points are set to control the final viscosity and flash point of the lube base oil. The vacuum gas oils (or waxy distillates) are refined by either the traditional solvent refining process or a high pressure hydrocracker to remove aromatics and improve the viscosity index (V.I.). The refined waxy distillates are either hydrotreated to improve color and solvent dewaxed to reduce the pour point or catalytically dewaxed in a hydroprocessor containing both dewaxing and hydrotreating catalysts.
Lube base oils are traditionally catalytically dewaxed by a zeolyst catalyst that selectively cracks straight chain paraffins (which tend to have high pour points) to light hydrocarbons such as propane. More recently, catalysts have been developed that, in addition to their selective cracking function, isomerize (or selectively dewax) the straight chain paraffins to branched paraffins which, due to their low pour point and high V.I., are ideal lube base oils. Isomerizing instead of cracking the waxy molecules not only produces a greater yield of lube base oils but also produces base oils with a higher V.I.
These newer catalysts contain noble metals such as platinum. They were developed for use on hydrocracked feed stocks which contain very low levels of nitrogen and sulfur. Even small quantities of H.sub.2 S, NH.sub.3, organic sulfur or organic nitrogen can poison these catalysts. It is possible to use these catalysts to dewax solvent refined waxy distillates, but the distillates need to be hydrotreated first to remove sulfur and nitrogen.
In all commercial refinery processes which combine this initial hydrotreating cleanup step with a subsequent hydroprocessing step utilizing a sensitive noble metal catalyst, the process is designed, constructed and operated as essentially two separate units. As a result these processes, an example of which is catalytic reforming of naphtha for production of high octane gasoline, are expensive to construct. Typically, the initial hydrotreating section has a recycle compressor with auxiliaries and charge heater separate from the subsequent noble metal based process. In addition, the hydrotreated material from the initial step is lowered to near atmospheric pressure for stripping to remove H.sub.2 S and NH.sub.3 prior to being pumped back up to the second stage hydroprocessing pressure. This requires duplicate high pressure pumps and a low pressure stripper tower and auxiliaries.
An integrated process which avoids duplication of equipment would be very desirable.

Integrated lube oil hydrorefining process


An apparatus for holding wires for measuring screw threads by the three wire method includes a body portion and a plurality of wire holder ears in a vertical position, the wire holding ears being responsive to rotational movement and the wire holder ears being limited in the rotational movement by weighted lower base portions provided on the bottom of the wire holder ears. A ledge is provided for holding the screw in position perpendicular to the orientation of the three wires in a position for the pitch diameter of the screw threads to be measured.

In order to provide for accurate tightening of screws, screw threads must be meticulously measured for uniformity. The "pitch" of a screw thread is the distance between a point on a screw thread and the corresponding point on the adjacent thread in a line parallel with the axis of the screw. Moreover, the "pitch diameter" of a screw is the diameter of a screw measured from a midpoint on the flank surface of a screw thread through the screw to an opposite midpoint on a flank of the screw thread of the screw, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw. In other words, on a straight thread, the pitch diameter is the diameter of the cylinder whose surface passes through the thread profiles at such points as to make the widths of thread groove and thread ridge equal.
In addition to pitch diameter, the major diameter of a screw thread, which is the distance from the outside of one side of the screw thread to the opposite side, is conventionally measured by a standard micrometer.
The minor diameter, however, which is the diameter from the interior base of the screw thread to an opposite interior base of the screw thread, is conventionally measured by a ring gauge, which follows the surface of the thread.
Various methods have been provided for measuring screw threads by using these aforementioned three wires for measuring the pitch diameter of the screw threads. Screw threads are measured in accordance with United States Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards HANDBOOK H28, entitled "Screw-Thread Standards For Federal Services-Appendix For Methods of Wire Measurement of Pitch Diameter of 60 degree Threads". According to the federal standards, the measurement of the pitch diameter, that is the distance between the centers of two adjacent screw threads, the measurement must be accurate with no room for movement of the wires, which are placed upon the flank surfaces within the screw threads for the purpose of measuring the pitch and the pitch diameter.
It is further noted that while the aforementioned appendix applies to 60 degree threads, other angled threads are similarly measured.
In a typical orientation one elongated center wire is placed upon the flank surfaces within the tapered walls of the screw thread. Opposite to this center wire are two offset wires upon the flank surfaces in the corresponding tapered walls between the threads of the screw.
Typically small hardened steel longitudinally extending cylinder wires are placed in the thread groove, the two offset wires on one side of the screw and the one single center wire on the opposite side. In the prior art, various holders are described for holding the wires within a micrometer anvil so that one holder, such as that having the two offset wires, is advanced towards the opposite holder with the center wire.
As noted above, the wires should be placed such that the outside circumference of the cylindrical wire touches exactly the mid slope of the flank of the thread of a given pitch. In the prior art, in order to hold the wires exactly in the proper measuring position, two movable holding members, such as rubber bands or springs, are typically used to hold the wires still in place during the measurement of the screw threads. However, use of the "movable" holders, such as rubber bands or springs, is frowned upon in government standards as well as in standard engineering texts, such as the Machinery Handbook, which notes that the three measuring wires should be firmly held in place during measurement.
When standard micrometers are used, however, often the use of the three-wire method for measuring screw threads is an unwieldy manual process, in which the user must hold the anvil of the micrometer in one hand, as well as the holders for the three wires, while the other hand moves the handle to rotate the spindle of the micrometer and thereby move the double offset wires towards the single center wire.
Various devices have been patented to attempt to use the three-wire method for measuring screw threads. Among these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,431,021 of Bourdelais, 2,939,220 of Croshier, 2,822,624 of Klink, 2,692,438 of Schneider, 2,906,029 also of Croshier, 2,962,817 of Barney, 4,480,388 of O'Brien, 4,821,422 of Porter and 4,939,845 also of Porter.
These patents generally disclose wire holding attachments for the three-wire method of measuring pitch diameters of screw threads. However, some of the known devices have significant disadvantages, such as the fact that the devices cannot hold the three wires firmly in place, within the screw threads, because of the use of springs which, as the springs are compressed smaller, results in the likelihood that there is increasing pressure upon the three wires, which may result in the possibility of the dislodging of the wires.
Such use of springs is disclosed in the Croshier '220 and '029 patents. In Croshier '220, two off-set wires, which are held in place against the screw threads, are movable, which can cause inaccuracies of the measurements. Likewise, in Croshier '029, the wires are held apart by a hub, so that the wire pins float, and are not locked in a solid position against the flank surfaces within the screw threads.
Furthermore, in Croshier '220, the holes holding the wires are larger than the diameter of the cylindrical wires, which may cause the wires to shift while conforming to the flank surfaces of the screw threads. The shifting may result in inaccurate measurements and is therefore contraindicated according to the aforementioned Federal standards and engineering handbooks.
Moreover, O'Brien '388 requires a flexible holder, such as a rubber band, which is not permitted under the federal Handbook H28.
The remaining patents have complicated moving parts and springs, which do not provide for accurate measurement of screw threads. Another problem with the prior art devices, such as O'Brien '388, is that they do not have a positive means for the wires to adjust to the lead angle of the threads being measured.
In an unpatented prior art publication, there is shown a three wire measuring system in the catalog of the Mahr Gage Co., Inc. of 274 Lafayette St., New York, N.Y., which defines a calibration device which includes a pair of holder ear pieces for holding the respective center wire and two off-set wires against the screw threads at opposite sides of the screw threads being measured. In the Mahr system, the two sets of wires move in place as the spindle of a micrometer is advanced towards the other wire holder with the single center wire.
The disadvantage of the Mahr device is that the wires are advanced towards each other in a horizontal orientation, thereby resulting in the possibility of inaccuracies, because of the effect of gravity upon the horizontally oriented holder ear pieces for the wires. In the Mahr the wires are solely held in place against gravity in a horizontal position by the wire holder ears. Moreover, in the Mahr device the wires are held in place in one location within the holder ear pieces, so that if the wire tends to wear out where it is being used to measure on a frequent basis, the wires cannot be moved in an axial direction so as to expose a further portion of the wire, which is not worn, out to the screw threads.
Moreover, a further disadvantage of the prior art is the use of a complicated ring gauge, which must travel the length of the screw threads, to measure the minor diameter of the screw threads.

Apparatus for measuring screw threads by 3-wire method


A heat exchanger unit includes a heat exchanger main body in which a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger are arranged in series relative to a refrigerant flowing direction and an air flowing direction. The heat exchanger main body includes on one side thereof an external connection portion configured to supply at least refrigerant and on the other side thereof a communicating portion configured to connect (allowing fluid communication between) the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger. A bypass flow path extends from the one side to the other side of the heat exchanger main body, and is configured to bypass the first heat exchanger. At least one of the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger includes a pair of tank sections disposed at an interval, and a plurality of first heat transfer tubes configured to connect the pair of tank sections.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger unit.
Description of the Related Art
A vehicle, for example, an automobile is provided with an air-conditioning device (hereinafter, referred to as an air conditioner) which adjusts the temperature in a vehicle.
Such an air conditioner includes a looped refrigerant flow path which circulates a refrigerant. A compressor, condenser, decompression mechanism (expansion valve or decompression valve), and heat exchanger are sequentially arranged in the refrigerant flow path to constitute a refrigerant cycle.
Of these, the heat exchanger is disposed inside an air conditioning unit provided in a vehicle (refer to Patent Document 1, JP 2009-85569A, for example).
The heat exchanger of Patent Document 1 includes a main body in which a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger are arranged side by side. The first heat exchanger includes on one side thereof a refrigerant entrance and on the other side thereof a refrigerant exit. The heat exchanger of Patent Document 1 is configured to supply the refrigerant from the refrigerant exit provided in the other side of the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant flowing in a bypass flow path to a refrigerant entrance provided in one side of the second heat exchanger.
However, the heat exchanger of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the path of the refrigerant becomes complex because the refrigerant exit of the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant entrance of the second heat exchanger are located on sides opposite to each other in the main body.
On the other hand, there is a heat exchanger in which a refrigerant exit of a first heat exchanger and a refrigerant entrance of a second heat exchanger are disposed on the same side in a main body (refer to Patent Document 2, JP 2000-105093A, for example).
In the heat exchanger of Patent Document 2, a communicating path that provides communication between the refrigerant exit of the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant entrance of the second heat exchanger is provided in the outer surface of a side plate disposed outside the main body.
However, in the heat exchanger described in Patent Document 2, the communicating path that provides communication between the refrigerant exit of the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant entrance of the second heat exchanger is provided in the outer surface of the side plate disposed in the outermost side of the main body. For this reason, cold air from the refrigerant flowing in the communicating path flows to the outside, resulting in heat loss.
More specifically, the refrigerant flowing in the communicating path is wasted because it is used for cooling the main body (casing) of the air-conditioning unit, a seal member attached in the circumference of the heat exchanger, or the like without cooling air-conditioning air passing through the heat exchanger.


The present invention provides a method for notifying at least one invitee of an initial event of changes to the initial event. The method comprises receiving the initial event comprising a plurality of initial event elements and receiving an updated event comprising a plurality of updated event elements, each updated event element corresponding to a respective initial event element. The updated event elements are compared to the initial event elements to determine which of the updated event elements are changed event elements that differ from their respective initial event elements and the at least one invitee is notified of any specific changed event elements.

Personal computers, portable computers and mobile electronic devices (such as personal data assistants "PDAs") are commonplace and numerous software has been developed to be executed on these devices that allow users to store schedules of events into an electronic calendar. Typically, such programs also generate visual displays that illustrate the events that will occur during a specified time. Users enter information about an event, such as, for example, time, place, topic and invitees. This information is then stored in the electronic calendar at the appropriate date and time and containing the relevant event information. Common features of electronic calendars include alarms to signal that an event is scheduled to begin or reminders which signal in advance that there is an event scheduled for the near future.
With the development of electronic communication and computer and wireless networks, it is common for a user to schedule meetings and events with invitees electronically. The user notifies invitees of an event by sending an electronic invitation. Invitees receive the electronic invitation, typically via an electronic mail (e-mail) containing the relevant event information to store the event information is stored in the invitee's electronic calendar. Electronic invitations often provide the invitees with an option to accept or decline the event. The event is then stored in an invitee's calendar only on accepting the invitation to the event.
After the initial invitation is sent, it is often the case that the details of the event will change, such as, for example, the time or location. In this instance, the user can update the event and an updated event will be sent to the invitees. In some cases, as with the initial event, invitees may be provided with the option to accept or decline the update event before the updated event is stored in an invitee's calendar. The invitees receive the updated event with the updated event information and the invitees must review the entire updated event to ascertain what has changed from the initial event.
A solution to one or more of these shortcoming is desired.

Method of notifying an invitee to an event of changes to the event in an electronic calendar system


Text, images, and/or graphics of electronic documents should be organized and laid out in a two-dimensional format for presentation to the viewer. The best such layout depends upon the content present, the creator's intent, the output device, and the viewer's interests. To analyze the qualitative nature of the layout in quantifiable terms, the electronic document is measure using various quantifiable factors; such as, balance, uniformity, white space management, alignment, consistency, legibility, etc.; that impact a qualitative nature of a document. Such quantifiable factors are then used to quantize the aesthetics, ease of use, eye-catching ability, interest, communicability, comfort, and convenience of the document.

The present invention generally relates to the field of document layout, design, and analysis and, more particularly, to methods which quantitatively measure a document's quality based on characteristics inherent in the document itself.
When documents are created, many decisions must be made as to style, content, layout, and the like. The text, images, and graphics must be organized and laid out in a two-dimensional format with the intention of providing a presentation to the viewer which will capture and preferably maintain their attention for the time sufficient to get the intended message across. Different style options are available for the various content elements and choices must be made. The best choices for style and layout depend upon content, intent, viewer interests, etc. In order to tell if a set of choices made as to the look and feel of the final version of the document were good or bad, one might request feedback from a set of viewers after viewing the document and compile the feedback into something meaningful from which the document's creators or developers can make alterations, changes, or other improvements. This cycle repeats until the document's owners are satisfied that the final version achieves the intended result.
Factors that contribute to the quality and effectiveness of layout and style decisions for a document are the handling of groups of content elements as style and layout choices affect groups of content. A group is a collection of content elements. Group membership is a property of the logical structure of the document. The neighborhood of groups can be considered a layout property. While layout structure often matches the logical structure, there is no requirement that it do so.
Preferably, one would like to have a quantitative measure of various value properties of the document (measures of the document "goodness") based on properties inherent in the document itself. In this manner the document itself provides a level of quantitative feedback. For instance, one property that developer's would like to be able to measure would be how easy it is to use a document. A measure for the ease of use of a document can be used in evaluating or making document design decisions.
One aspect of the ease of use of a document is one's ability to tell which elements belong to a group and which do not. The style and layout decisions that are made in the presentation of a document can affect the degree of group identity that it conveys. In evaluating a document's design for its ease of use, it is useful to have a measure of the degree of group identity. Considerations for ease-of-use with respect to groups include spatial coherence, spatial separation, alignment separation, heading separation, background separation, and/or style separation. Measures for various characteristics of content, feature, and the like could be weighted by intent, relevance, and other parameters and these could then be combined to obtain one or more overall measures for the document itself. If one had a method for evaluating properties inherent in the document itself then such a measure could be used during the document development process to help determine optimal presentation.
An aspect of the ease of use of a document is its searchability. Searchability can be defined as the degree to which the document structurally supports the finding of a desired content element. A document with high searchability provides aids that help in finding desired content. In general, a document with high searchability measure is easier to use because it is easy to locate the portion of the document containing the information of interest.
Another aspect of a document's ease of use is the document's degree of distinguishability. The distinguishability of content can be defined as the ability to identify one particular content element from another content element within the document. Distinguishability is important in establishing the context for the information disclosed by the element. It can reduce confusion about what that element is and to what group or setting it belongs. It can also aid in locating a desired element. The distinguishability of the document elements is therefore a contributing factor to the ease of use of the document.
Another property that would be desirable to be able to quantitatively measure is the ability of the document to hold the viewer's attention and interest. While much of the document's ease of use depends upon the actual content and its relevance to the viewer, there can also be a contribution from the style with which that content is presented. If a measure of the effect of style decisions on ease of use could be defined it could be used in determining a measure of optimal presentation.
Documents can present content in ways that make it easier to locate individual items. This can be referred to as 'locatability'. A way to distinguish one content object from another object is to evaluate the target object's locatability, i.e., how easy it is to find an object within the document. This is a little different from distinguishability, which tells how well an item can be differentiated from its neighbors. Structural aids such as layout of tables or bullet lists help the document viewer to locate objects. Presenting content in a table allows its location to be identified by row or column. The presence of headings for the rows and columns can further increase the ease of locating items. Presenting content items in a list introduces an ordering that aids in locating them, and the use of list bullets or item numbers aids further. Separability and distinguishability contribute to the locatability of an object.
Measures for various aspects of content, features, and the like could be weighted by intent, relevance, and other parameters and these could then be combined to obtain one or more overall measures for the document itself. If one had a method for evaluating such properties inherent in the document itself then such a measure could be used during the document development process to help determine optimal presentation.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a methodology to measure the quality of a document in a quantifiable way. Moreover, it is desirable to provide a quantifiable measurement of quality which is useable in evaluating the document and improving its quality so as to add value to the information being conveyed through the document.

System and method for measuring and quantizing document quality


A broach tool and a broach insert for chip removing machining of metals are provided. The broach tool includes an elongate holder and at least one cutting unit. The holder comprises at least one recess for the receipt of the cutting unit. The broach tool has a feeding direction. The broach tool includes clamping members for each cutting unit. Each clamping member is arranged in front of the cutting unit in the feeding direction. The cutting unit is a replaceable broach insert including a base part and a cutting part. A notch is formed centrally in a rear side surface of the broach insert. The recess includes a rear wall formed with a projection, the cross section of which is U-shaped and includes arms. The arms are arranged to be elastically deformed by the notch.

The present invention relates to a broach tool and a broach insert according to the preambles of the independent claims.
Broach tools have been used for many years for the machining metallic materials. A conventional broach tool has a number of broach inserts threaded on a threaded rod and fixed by means of a nut. Conventional broach tools have the disadvantage that the replaceability of worn broach inserts has been problematic. Furthermore, in other cases, damage to a cutting edge or some part of the tool has frequently resulted in the entire broach tool having been discarded or in a need of dismantling the entire broach tool. The material from which a unitary broach tool is manufactured has usually been restricted to high-speed steels because of the relatively high cost associated with materials such as cemented carbide.
Although many of the previously known broach tools, which have comprised broach inserts clamped into a tool body, have been a step in the right direction, additional improvements are needed.
It is desirable to provide a broach tool in which the broach inserts are easily replaceable.
It is desirable to provide a stable broach tool.
It is desirable to provide a broach tool where the broach inserts have a good precision.
It is desirable to provide a broach tool that brings savings to the user.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a broach tool for chip removing machining of metals comprises an elongate holder and at least one cutting unit, the holder comprising at least one recess for receipt of the cutting unit, the broach tool having a feeding direction, the broach tool comprising at least one clamping member for each cutting unit, each clamping member being arranged in front of the cutting unit in the feeding direction, wherein the cutting unit is a replaceable broach insert comprising a base part and a cutting part, a notch being formed centrally in a rear side surface of the broach insert and the recess comprises a rear wall formed with a projection being arranged to be elastically deformed by the notch.
According to another aspect of the invention, a broach insert for chip removing machining of metals comprises a base part and a cutting part, the cutting part comprising waved cutting edges, the broach insert being insertable in a recess of an elongate holder, wherein the broach insert comprises a notch formed centrally in a rear side surface of the broach insert, the notch being arranged to elastically deform a projection formed in the recess.


An optical transmission circuit includes a light emitting device (10) having different temperature characteristics at low temperature and high temperature (e.g., a VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser), differential switch transistors (M1, M2) for driving the light emitting device (10), the differential switch transistors having sources connected to each other and drains connected to the light emitting device (10) and a power supply, respectively, a bias current source (11) for causing a bias current to flow, a modulated current source (12) for causing a modulated current to flow, and a temperature compensation current source (20) for controlling currents of the bias current source (11) and the modulated current source (12) so as to compensate for both temperature characteristics at low temperature and temperature characteristics at high temperature of the light emitting device (10).

In recent years, as the Internet is becoming more widespread, there is an increasing demand for high-speed and high-capacity data communication. In this situation, light transfer systems having excellent high-speed performance have attracted attention and have been vigorously developed. In an optical transmission circuit used in the light transfer system, a drive circuit including a light emitting device, such as a laser diode (LD) or a light emitting diode (LED), is generally employed. However, laser diodes and light emitting diodes have a high level of temperature dependency, i.e., the threshold current increases with an increase in temperature, disadvantageously resulting in a reduction in current-light conversion efficiency. Therefore, when a constant current is invariably output from the drive circuit, optical output power after conversion varies depending on temperature. In particular, the optical output power is disadvantageously low at high temperature. Further, since light is not emitted when a current is lower than or equal to the threshold current, if a bias current (L level of an output current) is lower than the threshold current of a laser diode, the duty factor is also deteriorated.
Therefore, conventionally, in order to invariably output a constant optical output power to obtain stable communication characteristics, the following two methods are used: temperature is measured using a thermistor or the like, and a feedforward control is performed so as to attain a previously set temperature-dependent current value; and the output of a laser diode is monitored using an MPD (monitoring photodiode), and a feedback control is performed so that a current flowing through the MPD is invariably constant. When cost reduction is aimed, the feedforward control method is generally employed in which the cost of the MPD can be eliminated, a feedback-system circuit can be removed, and the chip area can be largely decreased.
According to a conventional technique, a laser diode drive circuit with a temperature compensation circuit comprises a current drive circuit including a differential pair of transistors, a bias circuit for causing a DC bias current to flow through a laser diode, a bias current temperature compensation circuit for controlling a bias current flowing through the bias circuit, depending on ambient temperature, a drive current temperature compensation circuit for controlling a drive current of the laser diode, depending on ambient temperature, and a subtraction circuit, thereby providing a feedforward configuration in which the bias current and the drive current increase with an increase in temperature due to the temperature characteristics of a thermistor and a diode provided therein, so that optical output power can be invariably held constant during transmission (see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H10-284791


A driving force transmission control apparatus includes a multiple disc clutch including a plurality of outer clutch plates, and a plurality of inner clutch plates; a pressing mechanism that presses the multiple disc clutch; and a control portion that controls the pressing mechanism. The outer clutch plates and inner clutch plates are engaged with an intermediate shaft and an inner shaft respectively. The control portion makes a determination as to whether the multiple disc clutch is in a first operating condition in which the multiple disc clutch is pressed with a relative rotation speed between the intermediate and the inner shafts being equal to or higher than a predetermined value, or in a second operating condition in which the multiple disc clutch is pressed with the relative rotation speed being lower than the predetermined value, and the control portion controls the pressing mechanism based on a result of the determination.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driving force transmission control apparatus that transmits a driving force in, for example, a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been provided a driving force transmission system in a four wheel drive vehicle, in which a dog clutch is arranged between a propeller shaft and a drive source (engine), and a driving force transmission device capable of continuously adjusting a transmitted driving force is arranged between the propeller shaft and auxiliary drive wheels (rear wheels). Refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-61923 (JP 2012-61923 A).
In the four wheel drive vehicle described in JP 2012-61923 A, if it is determined that the frictional coefficient of a road surface is lower than a predetermined value, the dog clutch is engaged before the four wheel drive vehicle is started, in view of the problem that if slipping occurs at main drive wheels (front wheels) at the time of starting the four wheel drive vehicle, differential rotation between an input member and an output member for the dog clutch increases, and accordingly the dog clutch cannot be engaged. Thus, even if slipping occurs at the main drive wheels at the time of starting the four wheel drive vehicle, the driving force of a drive source can be promptly distributed to the auxiliary drive wheels so as to suppress the slipping.
Further, the driving force transmission device described in JP 2012-61923 A is arranged between an outer housing on the propeller shaft-side and an inner shaft on the auxiliary drive wheels-side. This driving force transmission device includes a multiple disc clutch and a pressing mechanism. The multiple disc clutch includes a plurality of outer clutch plates and a plurality of inner clutch plates, the outer clutch plates and the inner clutch plates being alternately arranged. The pressing mechanism presses the multiple disc clutch so that the outer clutch plates and the inner clutch plates frictionally slide. The pressing mechanism includes a cam mechanism and an electromagnetic coil. In the cam mechanism, a pressing force is generated by relative rotation between a first cam member and a second cam member. The pressing mechanism is configured such that when the outer housing and the inner shaft are rotated relative to each other while the electromagnetic coil is energized, the first cam member and the second cam member are rotated relative to each other to operate the cam mechanism, thereby pressing the multiple disc clutch.
However, in this driving force transmission device, the cam mechanism is operated due to relative rotation between the outer housing and the inner shall, and accordingly, the multiple disc clutch cannot be pressed before the four wheel drive vehicle is started. Thus, even if the electromagnetic coil is in the energized state and the dog clutch is in the engaged state, the four wheel drive vehicle is brought to a two wheel drive mode in which the driving force is transmitted only to the main drive wheels from the driving force source, at the moment at which the four wheel drive vehicle is started.
Thus, it is conceivable to use a pressing mechanism having a configuration in which a cam mechanism is operated by a torque of an electric motor, as in a driving force transmission device described in Japanese Patent application Publication No. 2009-108972. With the use of this pressing mechanism, a multiple disc clutch can be pressed even before a vehicle is started, and accordingly, the vehicle is brought to a four wheel drive mode at the moment at which the vehicle is started. Thus, it is possible to suppress slippage more reliably.
However, the inventors of the present application confirmed that the driving force actually transmitted through the multiple disc clutch varies even when an equal pressing force is generated by the pressing mechanism, in the case of using a pressing mechanism capable of pressing the multiple disc clutch even when there is not differential rotation between the input and output members for the multiple disc clutch. Thus, the inventors earnestly studied the reasons why the above-described phenomenon is caused, and found that there is a correlation between a differential rotation speed between the input and output members for the multiple disc clutch, and the driving force actually transmitted, when the multiple disc clutch is pressed.

Driving force transmission control apparatus


Provided is a polycarbonate polyol used as a raw material of a polyurethane that yields a polyurethane solution having good storage stability and exhibits excellent flexibility and solvent resistance. This polycarbonate polyol is a polycarbonate diol that includes structural units represented by the following Formulae (A) and (B), wherein, R1 and R2 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and, in this range of the number of carbon atoms, optionally have an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, a nitrogen atom, a halogen atom, or a substituent containing these atoms; and R3 represents a linear aliphatic hydrocarbon having 3 or 4 carbon atoms. This polycarbonate diol has a molecular weight of 500 to 5,000, and the value of the following Formula (I) is 0.3 to 20.0: (Content ratio of branched-chain moiety in polymer)/(Content ratio of carbonate group in polymer)×100(%) (I).

Polycarbonate diols are used as raw materials for soft segments of polyurethanes and thermoplastic elastomers that are used in artificial leathers, synthetic leathers, paints, coating agents, adhesives and the like, and such polycarbonate diols are widely used as high durability-imparting raw materials that are excellent in, for example, heat resistance, weather resistance and hydrolysis resistance that are otherwise regarded as drawbacks of polyether polyols and polyester polyols.
Widely-used polycarbonate diols synthesized from 1,6-hexane diol are crystalline polycarbonate diols and, particularly, when used in the fields of paints or coating, such polycarbonate diols are likely to cause crystallization of a polyurethane resin solution and thus present a problem in storage stability. Moreover, in recent years, highly durable polyurethane products are demanded to exert durability in various situations. For examples, in terms of solvent resistance and contamination resistance, polycarbonate diols synthesized from 1,6-hexanediol cannot satisfy the demands for high solvent resistance and high contamination resistance.
With regard to the storage stability of polyurethane solutions, a number of amorphous polycarbonate diols have been proposed. Examples thereof include polycarbonate diols obtained by combining two aliphatic linear diols, such as one obtained by copolymerizing 1,6-hexanediol and 1,5-pentanediol, and one obtained by copolymerizing 1,6-hexanediol and 1,4-butanediol (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Further, since an amorphous polycarbonate diol is obtained by reducing the crystallinity of a polycarbonate diol through copolymerization of a branched aliphatic diol with the polycarbonate diol, there have been proposed, for example, a polycarbonate diol obtained by copolymerizing 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol and an aliphatic linear diol, a polycarbonate diol obtained by copolymerizing neopentyl glycol and other diol, and a polycarbonate diol obtained by copolymerizing 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol and an aliphatic linear diol (Patent Documents 3 to 5).
Meanwhile, with regard to solvent resistance and contamination resistance, a polycarbonate diol having superior solvent resistance and contamination resistance is obtained as the molecular weight of a diol component constituting the polycarbonate diol is reduced and the ratio of the diol component having a small molecular weight is increased (Patent Document 6). However, since such a polycarbonate diol itself is strongly cohesive, the polycarbonate diol has a high crystallinity, and a polyurethane solution produced therefrom tends to have poor storage stability.

Polycarbonate diol, polycarbonate diol-containing composition, polycarbonate diol production method, and polyurethane


A device for supplying a liquid cooling lubricant to a cutting edge of a lathe tool is operatively connected with a fast-tool servo by way of a tool holder in order to be able to execute oscillating movements in an advance direction in common with the tool holder. A first connection is stationary with respect to a housing of the fast-tool servo, for a cooling lubricant source and an outlet, which is in fluid connection with the first connection, for delivery of a cooling lubricant jet to the lathe tool. The outlet is provided at the tool holder and is in fluid connection with the first connection by way of a hose portion so that the cooling lubricant jet delivered via the outlet always impinges at a predetermined point on the cutting edge of the lathe tool even when stroke movements of the tool holder take place.

Usually, in the processing of plastics material spectacle lenses a spectacle lens blank, commonly referred to only as a "blank", is provided which has a standardized, finished convex outer surface with, for example, a spherical or progressive shape and which is molded from plastics material (for example polycarbonate, CR 39, HI-Index, etc.). The inner or prescription surfaces, which are usually concave, are machined to provide a spherical, aspherical, toroidal, atoroidal, progressive or freely shaped geometry (varifocal surface) depending on the respectively desired optical effect. The typical conventional sequence for inner surface processing provides, after blocking of the spectacle lens blank by its outer surface on a block member, optionally a processing by milling and, particularly, turning for production of the optically active shape, usually followed by a fine grinding or polishing process for attainment of the necessary surface quality.
In the prior art, use is also made for the above-mentioned turning process of so-called fast-tool lathes in which a lathe chisel can be moved highly dynamically either in linear reciprocation (See, for example, specification WO-A-02/06005) or in rotation (See for example, specification WO-A-99/33611) so that lens surfaces which are not rotationally symmetrical or are 'non-round' can be produced in the turning process. The actual turning, i.e. the cutting process, in that case is carried out with supply of a liquid cooling lubricant to the cutting edge of the lathe tool. On the one hand the cooling lubricant has to cool and lubricate at the cutting location so as to prolong the service life of the lathe tool and to assist the advance and on the other hand the cooling lubricant has to ensure optimum removal of chips and in that case also bind fine material particles, which have arisen during the cutting and which in the case of dry processing would, due to their size, pass as dust and possibly place the health of the user at risk.
In the prior art, a liquid cooling lubricant is commonly supplied to the cutting edge of the lathe tool at a fast-tool lathe through segmented hose systems for example the Loc-Line® Flexi System of Lockwood Products, Inc., Lake Oswego, Oreg., USA (cf. specification EP-A-0 167 063); see, for example, the brochure, "VFT-compact-pro" of Satisloh AG, Baar, Switzerland on page 1 (small illustration: orange-colored segmented hose above the lathe chisel). These segmented hoses have individual specially shaped, stiff plastics material segments, of which several are plugged together to form a segmented hose of predetermined length. Because of the stiffness, 'segment pipe' would be a better term for these systems. The individual plastics material segments are then pivotably interconnected, yet with positional stability, so that the segmented hose can be oriented with respect to the lathe chisel. At the inlet end the segmented hose is coupled to a connection, which is stationary with respect to a housing of the fast-tool servo and which can be supplied with the cooling lubricant from a cooling lubricant source. At the outlet end the segment hose is usually provided with a nozzle segment forming an outlet, which is in fluid connection by way of the segmented hose with the connection at the housing side, for delivery of a cooling lubricant jet to the lathe chisel.
These segmented hoses are indeed simple to align, by a grip, to any desired position, in which they also remain with a high degree of vibration insensitivity and positional stability. However, the cutting edge of the lathe chisel driven by way of the fast-tool servo moves highly dynamically, in the case of turning of non-round lens surfaces over a total stroke of at most approximately 30 millimeters, for example oscillating at up to 200 Hz or more, over a processing stroke of at most approximately 10 to 12 millimeters below the cooling lubricant jet delivered by the stationary segmented hose, so that the cooling lubricant jet is not always directed in the best possible manner onto the location of the cutting. Different thicknesses and curvatures of the spectacle lens to be processed additionally require a re-arrangement of the segmented hose system or a widely fanned cooling lubricant jet, which for the most part does not impinge on the point of action of the lathe chisel.
What is needed is a device of simplest possible construction for the feed of liquid cooling lubricant to a cutting edge of a lathe tool drivable in oscillation by a fast-tool servo, which device reliably ensures that the cooling lubricant always reaches, in the best possible way, the location of the cutting.

Device for supplying a liquid cooling lubricant to a cutting edge of a lathe tool


An address input buffer circuit for a semi-conductor storage device, comprising an input circuit 62 being controlled by an external input address signal An, an internal reference voltage signal Vref and a setup enable signal .phi.AXE; a setup circuit 63 connected to both stages of said input circuit 62; a sense amplifying circuit 61 connected to both stages of said setup circuit 63; a pair of charging circuits 67 and 68 connected to said both stages of said setup circuit 63 respectively and to a power source; a pair of hold circuits 64 and 65 connected to said both stages of said setup circuit 63 respectively; a drive circuit 66 connected to said sense amplifying circuit 61; and an output circuit 71 connected to said pair of hold circuits 64 and 65. Therefore, the address input buffer circuit for the semi-conductor storage device according to the present invention is capable of realizing a high speed operation by directly performing an address setup operation in order to remove the setup time period and therefore to shorten the access time period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an address input buffer circuit for a semi-conductor storage device, for inputting an address for selection of a specific location of the storage device, and more particularly to the address input buffer circuit having high speed and latching operation characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In all semi-conductor storage devices employing complementary MOS (CMOS) techniques, conventionally, there has necessarily been used an address input buffer circuit having an active region in which the voltage input high (VIH) of TTL potential is above 2.4 V and the voltage input low (VIL) thereof is below 0.8 V. More particularly, in a dynamic RAM (DRAM), there have been employed address input buffer circuits for X and Y-addresses. Herein, the address input buffer circuit for the X-address is believed to require a high speed, dynamic latching operation characteristic. Also, the address input buffer circuit for the Y-address is believed to require a static operation characteristic even in a low speed for realization of a successive column cycle, i.e., a fast page mode or a static column mode.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a circuit diagram of a conventional address input buffer circuit employing logic gates. In this drawing, the conventional address input buffer circuit is shown to comprise an input circuit 11, a switching and latching circuit 12 and an output circuit 13.
The input circuit 11 is provided with an OR gate G1 including one input terminal for inputting an external input address signal An and the other input terminal for inputting an input enable signal .phi.E.
The switching and latching circuit 12 is provided with a switching circuit including p-channel MOSFETs MP1 and MP2 and n-channel MOSFETs MN1 and MN2, an inverter G6 for inputting an address interrupt signal .phi.AH, and inverters G2 and G3 for latch-functioning.
On the other hand, the output circuit 13 is provided with inverters G7 and G8, an AND gate G4 including one input terminal for inputting an output signal from the inverter G8 and the other input terminal for inputting an address output enable signal .phi.AE and an AND gate G5 including one input terminal for inputting the address output enable signal .phi.AE and the other input terminal for inputting an output signal from the inverter G7.
The operation of the conventional address input buffer circuit with the above-mentioned construction will now be mentioned with reference to FIG. 2 which is a waveform diagram of signals from respective components in FIG. 1.
Because the input enable signal .phi.E is high and the address output enable signal .phi.AE is low during the time period of t<t1, the OR gate G1 outputs a high signal regardless of the other input state and the AND gates G4 and G5 each outputs a low signal regardless of the other input state.
If a drive input signal RAS to the dynamic RAM device is transited from a high state to a low state at instant t=t1, an active operation of the device is initiated and the input enable signal .phi.E is transited from the high state to a low state. As a result, the OR gate G1 outputs the transited state of the external input address signal An previously inputted at the other input terminal. The transited state of the external input address signal An is then transferred to a node 2, or an output stage of the switching circuit defined by the MOSFETs MP1 and MN1 each including its gate for inputting the inverted signal of the address interrupt signal .phi.AH, to a node 3 in a logic gate transfer manner and to nodes 6 and 7 in the output circuit 13. For example, supposing that the external input address signal An is high, signals at nodes 1, 2, 4 and 7 are maintained at a high state and signals at nodes 3 and 6 are maintained at a low state, while supposing that the external input address signal An is low, signals at nodes 1, 2, 4 and 7 are maintained at a low state and signals at nodes 3 and 6 are maintained at a high state.
If the address interrupt signal .phi.AH is transited from a low state to a high state at instant t=t2, a switch comprised of the MOSFETs MP2 and MN2 each including its gate for inputting the address interrupt signal .phi.AH is turned on, while a switch comprised of the MOSFETs MP1 and MN1 each including its gate for inputting the inverted signal of the address interrupt signal .phi.AH is turned off, thereby allowing an external input to the device and therefore an external noise thereto to be broken, and the node 2, or an input stage of the output circuit 13 to be latched by the inverters G2 and G3.
If the address output enable signal .phi.AE is transited from the low state to a high state at instant t=t3, the AND gates G4 and G5 are enabled and hence states of two internal address signals, or complement signals AXn and AXn are determined in accordance with a state of the external input address signal An.
However, although the above-mentioned conventional address input buffer circuit employing logic gates may embody a static operation by means of logic elements contained therein, there is a limit to its high speed realization due to delay time of the logic gates.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a circuit diagram of another conventional address input buffer circuit utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops. This address input buffer circuit employs a sample and hold latching manner utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops for the purpose of the improvement in the above-mentioned problems with above conventional circuit. This address input buffer circuit has been adopted for 1M DRAM and 4M DRAM, each available from TOSHIBA Co., Ltd.
In FIG. 3, the conventional address input buffer circuit utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops is shown to comprise a pair of input circuits 36 and 37, a pair of setup circuits 31 and 33, a sense amplifying circuit 32 and an output circuit 38.
The input circuit 37 is provided with a n-channel MOSFET MNI1 including its gate for inputting an address input signal .phi.AI and its drain for inputting an external input address signal An. Also, the input circuit 36 is provided with a n-channel MOSFET MNI2 including its gate for inputting the address input signal .phi.AI and its drain for inputting an internal reference voltage signal Vref.
The setup circuit 31 is provided with series connected n-channel MOSFETs MNSU1 and MNSU2 for performing an address setup operation. Also, the setup circuit 33 is provided with series connected n-channel MOSFETs MNSU3 and MNSU4 for performing the address setup operation.
The sense amplifying circuit 32 includes cross-coupled p-channel MOSFETs MPS1 and MPS2 and cross-coupled n-channel MOSFETs MNS3 and MNS4.
The output circuit 38 is provided with a latching circuit 34 including a plurality of inverters G11 to G14, and an address reset circuit 35 including a pair of n-channel MOSFETs MNR1 and MNR2, each including its gate for inputting an address reset signal .phi.AR.
The internal reference voltage signal Vref represents a voltage generated for discrimination of an input level of a TTL potential in the device. For the purpose of the provision of the same margin for both of high and low voltages inputted to the device, the internal reference voltage signal Vref is usually maintained at the level of 1.6 V as defined by equation as follows: ##EQU1##
Now, the operation of the conventional address input buffer circuit utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops of the construction as mentioned above will be mentioned with reference to FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a waveform diagram of signals from respective components in FIG. 3.
Because the address input signal .phi.AI and the address reset signal .phi.AR are high during the time period of t<t11, the external input address signal An and the internal reference voltage signal Vref are transferred respectively to the setup circuits 31 and 33 respectively through the n-channel MOSFETs MNI1 and MNI2 and hence two internal address signals, or complement signals AXn and AXn are low in accordance with the high state of the address reset signal .phi.AR.
If an address setup signal .phi.AS is transited from a low state to a high state at instant t=t11, the setup circuit 31 including series connected n-channel MOSFETs MNSU1 and MNSU2 and the setup circuit 33 including series connected n-channel MOSFETs MNSU3 and MNSU4 operate such that potentials at both nodes 15 and 16 of the sense amplifying circuit 32 having been charged with source voltage Vcc are discharged respectively by the external input address signal An and the internal reference voltage signal Vref. As a result, there is generated a potential difference between the both nodes 15 and 16. Therefore, upon the enabling of the address setup signal .phi.AS, the external input address signal An is set up at the both nodes 15 and 16 of the sense amplifying circuit 32 by the setup circuits 31 and 33. If the address input signal .phi.AI is transited from the high state to a low state at instant t=t12, the n-channel MOSFETs MNI1 and MNI2 in the input circuits 37 and 36 are turned off, thereby allowing an external input to the device to be broken, and the sense amplifying circuit 32 to amplify the set up potential difference between the both nodes 15 and 16.
At this time, if the address reset signal .phi.AR is transited from the high state to a low state, address signals an and an outputted from the sense amplifying circuit 32 are transferred directly to the latching circuit 34 respectively through n-channel MOSFETs MN3 and MN4, with being placed respectively on the internal address signals AXn and AXn.
If a control signal .phi.AISO is transited from a high state to a low state at instant t=t13, the input address signals an and an are latched by the latching circuit 34 and the latched state of the address signals is maintained until the subsequent address reset.
FIG. 5 is a signal waveform diagram according to a result simulated with the conventional address input buffer circuit utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops.
However, the conventional address input buffer circuit utilizing cross-coupled flip-flops is difficult to realize a high speed operation in that it sets up the previously arrived address signals at the both nodes 15 and 16 of the sense amplifying circuit 32 by means of the setup circuits 31 and 33 during the time period of t11<t<t12 as shown in FIG. 5.
In addition, the discharging of potentials at the both nodes 15 and 16 having been charged with the source voltage Vcc induces indirectly the potential difference between the both nodes 15 and 16, thereby causing the potential difference to be lower than an actual potential difference between the external input address signal An and the internal reference voltage signal Vref.

Address input buffer circuit for a semi-conductor storage device

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.