A thermostat assembly for a marine engine having a closed loop cooling system provides an additional bypass for engine coolant flow. The assembly includes a housing having an inlet that receives engine coolant, a thermostat outlet that is connected to a heat exchanger, and a bypass outlet that is connected directly to a circulating pump that circulates engine coolant to the engine and bypasses the heat exchanger. A thermostat having a restricting plate is mounted in the thermostat outlet in the housing. The housing includes an internal structural standoff around the bypass outlet. When engine coolant enters the thermostat housing and the thermostat is closed, engine coolant passes between the thermostat restricting plate and the bypass standoff and flows through the bypass outlet directly to the circulating pump. This increases the flow of engine coolant to the engine when the engine is cold. When the engine begins to heat up the thermostat opens, coolant flows through the thermostat opening to a heat exchanger, and the restricting plate moves towards the standoff around the bypass outlet to divert the flow of engine coolant from the bypass outlet to the thermostat outlet. The thermostat restricting plate thereby acts as a shuttle valve directing engine coolant between the bypass outlet and the thermostat outlet.

In a conventional cooling system for an internal combustion engine, the coolant is circulated by a circulating pump through the engine block, through the cylinder heads, eventually through the intake manifold. In an automobile, or other land vehicle, the coolant flows from the manifold through a radiator. Most marine engines do not have a radiator. In a marine engine having an open loop cooling system, sea water supplied by a sea water pump is used to directly cool the engine and is then discharged overboard.
Other marine engines, particularly those designed for use in salt water, have closed loop cooling systems. In a closed loop cooling system, an engine coolant circulates through the engine and then through the shell side of a shell and tube heat exchanger. Raw seawater from an ocean or lake is pumped through the tube side of the heat exchanger, so that excess heat from the engine coolant is transferred to the raw sea water stream. The sea water is then discharged in the ocean or lake. Thus, raw sea water never passes through the coolant passages of the engine, thus reducing corrosion within the system, which is especially important when operating in salt water.
In closed loop cooling systems, the flow of engine coolant through the heat exchanger is controlled by a thermostat, such as a thermostatically activated valve. The thermostat in a marine engine with a closed loop cooling system is usually located on the intake manifold. When the engine and engine coolant are cold, the thermostat is closed so that coolant does not pass through the heat exchanger. With the thermostat closed, a small portion of engine coolant flows through a bypass and returns a limited amount of coolant to the circulating pump, so that there is a sufficient engine coolant flow through the engine block while the system is warming up. While a limited amount of engine coolant is adequate when the engine warms up slowly, problems can occasionally exist if the operator runs the engine wide open before the engine and coolant have warmed up. Under these conditions, coolant flow through the engine bypass before the thermostat opens might not provide sufficient cooling. This can be critical because wide open operation can quickly lead to hot spots in an engine.
It can be appreciated that an improved thermostat that allows increased flow of coolant before the thermostat opens is desirable in a marine engine having a closed loop cooling system.

Thermostat assembly for a marine engine with bypass


Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, computer program product, and system for an upgrade of an array specific module in a multipath application comprising suspending all input/output operations associated with the array specific module; and upgrading the array specific module without disrupting any input/output operations associated with the array specific module.

Conventionally, a SAN environment may include a plurality of hosts, a fabric and an array (data storage subsystems), and there may be multiple physical paths, or buses, to each data storage subsystem. These paths may be typically managed by a multipath software or multipath application, (such as PowerPath), which may form a part of the SAN environment.
Typically, multipath software may be a host-based software for data path management, recovery and optimized load balancing. Multipath software may typically automate, standardize and optimize data paths in virtual, physical and cloud settings to deliver peak availability and performance. Multipath software may allow users meet lofty service levels with efficient application performance, and may be available for a host of operating systems.


An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprises a cine-memory for temporarily storing a frame line obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound. In a stress echo test, the storage region of the cine-memory is divided into the same number of segments as the number of capturing processes (i.e. the number of scenes). Each segment is used as a ring-buffer, and one or a plurality of frame blocks (one or a plurality of moving images) are stored in the corresponding segment in each capturing process. Prior to execution of a plurality of capturing processes, the number of heart beats indicative of the data amount which can be stored in each segment is obtained and the information is then provided to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for storing data in a memory section.
2. Description of Related Art
Most ultrasound (ultrasonic) diagnostic apparatuses used in the medical field include a cine-memory which is formed as a ring buffer or a temporary storage. A cine-memory stores data obtained through the transmission and reception of ultrasound. An ultrasound image is formed based on the data read from the cine-memory and the ultrasonic image is then displayed on a display device. Normally, the cine-memory stores data in units of one frame or one line. Here, one line corresponds to one ultrasound beam and one frame corresponds to one scan plane or one ultrasound image. A cine-memory generally has a storage capacity allowing storage of multiple numbers of frames obtained in time sequence. In a cine-memory, the newest input data overwrites the oldest data which is already stored in the memory, and this process is repeated.
When a freeze operation is performed by a user during real-time diagnosis, transmission and reception of ultrasound are stopped. In such a frozen state, it is possible to read data stored in the cine-memory and reproduce the data as a still image or a moving image. Because a cine-memory is generally stored on a volatile storage medium, the data content of the cine-memory is lost when the power of an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is turned off. Further, due to the data overwriting as described above, data on the cine-memory is also lost sequentially. It is therefore necessary to save important data stored in the cine-memory. Accordingly, the data stored in a cine-memory is transferred to a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk or the like.
In a stress echo test, a patient is subjected to increasing stress in a series of steps by a physical or pharmaceutical method. Specifically, a test which is performed for one patient at one time includes a plurality of "stages", and ultrasound diagnosis is performed from a plurality of "views" in each stage. More specifically, a "scene" is determined by a combination of a stage and a view, and a moving image obtained in ultrasound diagnosis (namely, in a capturing process) which is performed for each scene is stored. In this case, the image is stored in units of one heart beat, for example. After moving images for all the necessary scenes are captured and stored, the user selects a plurality of scenes for which images are to be reproduced. Then, a plurality of moving images corresponding to a plurality of scenes which are selected by the user are simultaneously reproduced in parallel to each other. The user can then compare and observe these moving images, whereby diagnosis of a disease concerning an organ such as the heart can be performed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-269455 describes an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus in which data obtained over a plurality of successive heart beats is transferred from a memory section to an external storage device. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-63447 describes an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus including a memory section which functions as a cine-memory. The storage region of the memory section is divided into two regions, each of which is used as a ring-buffer. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-63447, however, does not describe that the number into which the storage region is divided is variable in accordance with different ultrasound tests or a diagnostic states.
In each capturing process in a stress echo test, when a plurality of frames which are obtained are sequentially stored in a cine-memory, the stored data which was obtained in the past is to be erased by overwriting by new data, unless overwriting is prohibited with respect to the stored data. However, if prohibition of overwrite is set with regard to a great amount of data stored on the cine-memory in the preceding capturing processes, sufficient storage region cannot be secured in the subsequent capturing processes, thereby impairing completion of all processes of the stress echo test. Stated simply, the cine-memory runs out of a free space. On the other hand, when the amount of data stored in the preceding capturing process is reduced so as to secure a sufficient free space for the subsequent capturing processes, it is not possible to make effective use of the overall storage capacity over the entire stress echo test. In each capturing process, it is desirable to store, in addition to a moving image for a specific heart beat which is to be actually used for evaluation, a moving image for other heart beats as backup. However, conventionally, it is not possible for a user to appropriately determine the number of heart beats as the units of moving images to be stored in each capturing process. In a stress echo test, it is difficult to strictly predict the data amount to be obtained at the start of the test, because the heart rate changes with the change of stages.


A digital medium environment is described to dynamically modify or extend an existing path in a user interface. An un-parameterized input is received that is originated by user interaction with a user interface to specify a path to be drawn. A parameterized path is fit as a mathematical ordering representation of the path to be drawn as specified by the un-parametrized input. A determination is made as to whether the parameterized path is to extend or modify the existing path in the user interface. The existing path is modified or extended in the user interface using the parameterized path in response to the determining that the parameterized path is to modify or extend the existing path.

Path beautification techniques have been developed to increase a smoothness in paths drawn through user interaction with a user interface. Paths may be used for a variety of purposes, such as to create a drawing, specify an animation path, and so forth. Conventional path beautification techniques, however, do not conform with how users typically create paths and drawings in real world instances, such as through use of pen and paper. Consequently, these conventional path beautification techniques may not conform with a user's expectations in creating the paths.
Conventional path beautification techniques, for instance, focus on processing an entire set of raw input paths after all inputs are collected. These raw input paths are then addressed as a complex single path in order to beautify the path, such as to smooth jitters caused by manual user interaction in drawing the path. However, this departs from how a user operates in real world scenarios in which a series of typically short and sometimes repetitive paths are drawn to define a larger and more complex path. Consequently, these conventional techniques are not capable of providing real time feedback to a user as the path is drawn and are thus incapable of guiding a user in creation of subsequent paths to create a drawing. As such, conventional techniques may force the user to start over from the beginning to achieve a desired result, which may be frustrating and inefficient.


A saddle rack assembly has a slide mechanism mounted to a support structure and capable of horizontal movement between an extended position and a retracted position. The slide mechanism has a cantilevered rail mounted to the support structure and a sleeve that rides on the support structure. A saddle rack is mounted to the sleeve to provide a contoured support for the saddle. A latch mechanism is attached to the sleeve to selectively secure the sleeve in either the extended position and the retracted position.

The present invention relates to a saddle support for holding and supporting saddles for horses when the saddles are not being used. More specifically, the present invention relates to a free-standing or mounted saddle rack with an adjustable slide mechanism to facilitate loading and unloading of the saddle.
Generally, saddles provide support and padding for a rider. In addition to supporting a rider, the saddle protects the back of a horse and assists the rider in maintaining his or her balance and shifting his or her weight as required.
The saddle tree forms the foundation of every saddle. Early trees were typically made from beech wood and reinforced with steel. Today, saddle trees are typically formed from wood, metal or molded plastic or fiberglass. The saddle tree forms the foundation for the seat and helps to distribute a rider's weight over the back of the horse. Typically, the construction of the saddle tree includes two shaped bars positioned on either side of the backbone of the horse and connected laterally by arches. The forward-most arch forms the pommel or front of the seat, and most rearward arch forms the cantle or back of the seat.
Generally, the saddle tree is covered by leather on the upper side and by sheepskin or a synthetic equivalent in areas that contact the horse. Saddles typically include well padded panels positioned under the saddle tree to act as cushions for the back of the horse. Normally, the panels are divided by a channel or gullet above the backbone of the horse to insure that the weight of the saddle and the rider is distributed over the horse's muscles on either side of the horse's spine. Sometimes, these panels are customized to fit a particular horse.
These panels require periodic care and maintenance to keep them smooth and to maintain their shape. While the saddle trees, particularly those formed of metal, fiberglass and plastic are very durable, the leather and padding can be damaged by improper storage. In addition to damage from the elements, improper storage can shift and distort the panels and scar or crease the leather. Such damage can cause pain for the horse. Depending on the severity of the pain, the horse's behavior may be affected.
Thus, it is important to keep the covering over the padding smooth and free from bumps, creases, scars or hollows so that the covering does not rub or scratch the horse. Additionally, it is important to maintain the shape and position of the padding because the saddle fit can be adversely affected by displacement or shifting of the padding.
It is known in the art that storing a saddle on the ground could damage the saddle. For this reason, saddles were often placed over the railing of the corral for temporary storage, and stored for longer periods on saddle racks when not in use. Saddle racks can be used in a wide variety of locations, such as a tack room in a trailer, a barn, a house, or any other locations. Saddle racks have been added to hand carts to facilitate carrying and portable storage of the saddles, and light weight sawhorse-like structures have been used to store saddles. However, prior art structures that are easily loaded with the saddle typically take up too much space, and devices designed to be out of the way are typically not easy to load.
It is desirable to have a saddle rack that can be loaded and unloaded easily. It is desirable to have a saddle rack assembly that can be either mounted permanently or temporarily above the ground on either a wall mount or free-standing system. It is desirable to have a saddle rack assembly that can be adapted to hold one or more saddles. Further, it is desirable to have a saddle rack that is affordable, durable, and easy to install either permanently or temporarily. Finally, it is desirable to have a saddle rack that is easy to adapt to fit in different locations while still being easy to load and easy to adjust.


The invention permits extraction of a magnetic tape from a conventional audio cassette for processing the tape externally of the cassette to reduce prior art tape-to-head alignment problems. A tape holder is first retracted and inserted in to a cassette well and is then extended adjacent an inside face of the tape. Prior to extracting the tape, tape guides are inserted into the well to prevent undesirable contact between extracted tape portions and the cassette body. The tape holder draws a length of extracted tape from the cassette so that the tape passes a fixed magnetic head as the tape holder attains a final position, or alternatively, as the tape holder approaches a final position, the head is moved to contact the extracted length of tape. In some embodiments, the tape is extracted from one of the two outer wells of the cassette, in which case the remaining outer well provides access for one capstan and pressure roller only. In other embodiments, a pad lifter displaces the pressure pad in the center well of the cassette, to permit extraction of the tape from the center well, thus permitting a capstan and pressure roller to access both outer wells.

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing a magnetic tape housed within a cassette, in particular for performing all normal functions such as record, playback, fast forward, rewind, search and cue etc. on a conventional audio cassette.
To overcome problems associated with prior art so-called "open reel" or "reel-to-reel" tape recorders, Philips Export BV of The Netherlands introduced the so-called "Compact Cassette". The term "Philips", "Compact Cassette", "Digital Compact Cassette" and "DCC" as used herein are trademarks or terms associated with Philips Export BV of The Netherlands. This cassette has been in use for nearly 30 years and was originally developed for low fidelity dictation purposes, where recording fidelity was not a priority. Since then, use of the cassette expanded considerably to include high fidelity music recordings and many problems and shortcomings associated with these new uses were recognized and overcome, but some still remain.
In particular, problems associated with accurate azimuth alignment of the tape as it passes across a magnetic head have not yet been solved satisfactorily at a reasonable cost. Tape alignment is controlled primarily by at least one fixed tape guide located "upstream" of the magnetic head, and by location of the cassette body or shell within the cassette compartment. This is because tape guidance is partially dependent upon guide structures which are integral to the cassette shell itself, and thus errors in the location of the cassette shell and manufacturing errors in the shell itself can contribute to azimuth errors as the tape passes across the magnetic head. Because the tape has a relatively slow tape speed and narrow audio track width, these alignment errors can aggravate azimuth errors in the tape which can contribute to a loss in recording fidelity, particularly for relatively high frequencies. This problem was recognized and many attempts have been made to reduce the problems of azimuth misalignment in tape transports. One approach was to improve accuracy of manufacturing of the cassette shell by using physically stable materials manufactured to close tolerances. While this improved azimuth alignment accuracy to some extent, accumulation of mechanical positioning tolerances between the cassette shell and the cassette compartment, and in other areas tended to detract from recording/playback fidelity. In some expensive recording and playback apparatus, the manufacturer provides a user adjustable head alignment system which, while permitting adjustment for a particular cassette, would require re-adjustment for another cassette or an opposite side of the same cassette due to small dimensional variations among individual cassette shells which can affect effective tape-to-head alignment, particularly when a tape is played back on a machine different from the one it was recorded on. More complex automatic self-aligning head mechanisms require complex electronic and servo-devices which increase the costs considerably.
The above description relates primarily to analog audio cassette tapes, and while digitally recorded tapes overcome many of the problems inherent with analog tapes, initial accurate alignment of a digital tape with the heads would considerably reduce read/write errors of digital data and thus augment error correction systems in the digital audio processor to provide a robust high fidelity recording and playback system.
One approach to avoid cassette shell problems is to extract the tape from the cassette for recording and playback. In the video cassette field, it is well known to provide a cassette which is specifically adapted to permit the tape to be automatically extracted or withdrawn from the cassette and loaded onto a drive mechanism for processing. Such cassettes are specially adapted to permit easy withdrawal of the tape by providing a hinged or sliding gate mechanism along a front edge of the cassette, which is opened to facilitate access for extraction of the tape when appropriate. The tape is extracted from the cassette because the video head is too large to be accepted in the cassette and requires an extensive tape wrap and precise head to tape alignment for proper recording and playback of video and audio signals. There are many patents on video cassette mechanisms, all of which show moveable gates to permit easy access to the tape for extraction. Some advanced audio cassette also show movable gates to permit easy access to the tape.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,797,036 (Eibensteiner) and 4,323,936 (Beitler et al) both issued to U.S. Philips Corporation, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,825,944 (Terao et al) and 4,413,293 (Hathaway) issued to Victor Company of Japan and Ampex Corporation respectively, disclose video cassette transport mechanisms. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,087 (Kishi et al) and 4,130,848 (Amans et al) both issued to Sony Corporation disclose an audio transport and cassette termed Elcaset (Trademark). U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,910 (Kaku et al) issued to Hitachi Corporation discloses a Betamax (Trademark) video transport, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,788 (Patel et al) issued to Seagate Corporation, discloses an audio/data transport, the so-called DAT (Digital Audio Tape) cassette.
The Compact Cassette was not designed for easy, automatic tape extraction and has a fixed processing edge portion with access openings or "wells" to permit access to the tape for engagement by one or more magnetic heads, and at least one set of a pinch roller and capstan for driving the tape. The wells at the processing edge portion of the cassette are defined by webs which extend transversely between edges of the generally flat, broad parallel faces of the cassette. These webs are intended to enclose part of the exposed portion of tape running across the processing edge of the cassette body to minimize tape spillage and are not normally in contact with the tape surface. Thus, such webs generally have relatively rough surface features, often including a seam defining the shell halves, which in applicant's opinion, present a potential hazard of tape damage to a length or loop of tape as it is extracted from the cassette because they are not intended to guide the tape.
The present applicant is aware of two patents showing structure for extracting the magnetic tape generally perpendicularly from a conventional Compact Cassette, and for loading the tape into a transport mechanism for processing the tape externally of the cassette. Neither of the patents disclose that the tape is extracted for improvement of tape-to-head alignment accuracy or recording/playback fidelity. The first of these patents, namely U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,539 is issued to Blaupunkt Werke GmbH, and the inventor is Peter Bragas. This patent provides a long, variable length of extracted tape loop for educational use, in which a time-delayed effect between different sound tracks on the tape can be achieved by scanning the extracted tape. The tape is drawn from the cassette through an end well of the cassette and along a path generally at right angles to the cassette. It would appear that the tape is drawn across inwardly facing edges of a web which could result in damage to the tape surface. Few details are given on the means of locating the magnetic heads adjacent the tape, or of driving the tape.
The second patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,680 issued to the Bell and Howell Company, in which the inventor is Joseph J. Neff. This patent discloses a relatively complex mechanical "escalator" mechanism for drawing a tape through the center well of the cassette for the purpose of improving versatility and performance and overcoming problems with the size of the magnetic heads and speed stability inherent in the early cassette mechanisms. When the tape is extracted from the cassette, the escalator mechanism skews the tape vertically from an original plane, i.e. moves the tape laterally out of a plane containing edges of tape wound on the supply and take-up reels. Since tape or back tension is almost always necessary during a loading process to keep the tape taut while being threaded, chances of tape damage are increased if the tape is skewed vertically while back tension is applied. While this reference shows the extracted tape loop passing around rollers as the tape leaves and enters the cassette well, the rollers do not pass into the well, and thus it appears that the tape contacts inwardly facing front edges of a web adjacent the well, which contact could damage the tape due to the relatively rough surfaces of these edges which originally were not intended to contact the tape surface.
In both patented structures described above, the tape drawn from the cassette passes in a generally U-shaped tape loop and the only areas available for magnetic head contact with the tape are the "straight" sides of the loop. In this arrangement, relatively high tape back tension on the supply reel is necessary to provide sufficient tension for proper head contact which can aggravate wear of the tape. To provide clearance for the escalator mechanism to withdraw the tape, the magnetic head assembly is positioned initially remotely from the tape, and then is moved to contact the tape when recording/playback operations are required. Furthermore, in both structures, the tape extraction mechanism extends some considerable distance from the cassette which would result in a bulky mechanism which would clearly be unacceptable for many applications of portable devices commonly used nowadays.
Magnetic tape transports which use a conventional capstan and pinch roller drive for transportation of the tape can use one of two common methods to generate contact pressure between the tape and a magnetic head to ensure proper tape-to-head contact for scanning of the tape. The first method is employed on high performance tape transports, and involves maintaining a specific tape tension across the heads so that the tape is wrapped sufficiently tightly across all magnetic heads. This tape tension may be generated by a suitable amount of reverse torque or frictional drag on the supply reel hub on single capstan drive transports, thus creating back tension. 0n more sophisticated transports, dual capstan drive is used to generate tape tension between a supply side capstan and a take-up side capstan. The dual capstan drive introduces a drag on the tape by feeding the tape through the supply capstan and corresponding pinch roller assembly slightly slower than through the take-up capstan and corresponding pinch roller assembly.
However, on many tape transports such as those designed for the Compact Cassette and Digital Compact Cassette, the use of a back tension control mechanism or dual capstan drive method increases the cost of the transport itself somewhat and is therefore omitted on lower performance transports. To compensate for such mechanical deficiencies, the second method attains acceptable tape-to-head contact in such cassette apparatus by using a pressure pad assembly provided in the center head well of the cassette body. The pad assembly usually consists of a piece of low-shedding felt cut to specific dimensions, mounted on a resilient metallic spring plate which can engage the tape while the tape is passed across the magnetic head when inserted into the head well of the cassette. While the presence of the pressure pad assembly ensures that the cassette will function properly in a range of tape transports having vastly different qualities, on transports which have proper tape tension control as described above, the pressure pad assembly is unnecessary and in fact becomes a source of mechanical problems for accurate tape transport. Because the pressure pad assembly must be a loosely anchored structure, it can be a potential cause of tape skewing and misalignment. In addition, physical contact between the pad material and the moving tape surface introduces what is known as "scrape flutter" into the tape itself, i.e. as the tape scrapes by the pad, frictional vibration causes the tape portion in the vicinity of the pad to resonate or flutter, thus muddling the sound quality in an analog cassette apparatus. In a digital cassette apparatus, severe scrape flutter can cause read/write errors of digital data.
To eliminate adverse effects of the pressure pad on high performance equipment, an additional device known as a pressure pad lifter is used to lift the pad away from the tape when inserted magnetic head(s) engage the center head well of the cassette. Pad lifters are used only on apparatus which have some form of tape tension control to maintain tape-to-head contact in the absence of the pressure pad in the tape path. Although a number of variations of pad lifters have been used in the prior art, all forms of the pad lifter known to the applicant cooperate with the inserted magnetic head(s) and are usually mounted on the head(s) or closely adjacent the head. The pressure pad is lifted away from the tape, without interference with the tape, by engaging margin portions of the pressure pad on opposite sides of the pad material which extend beyond the width of the tape. Pad lifters have appeared in the forms of a shield, nodules and a forked guide. The pad lifter in prior art defeats the pressure pad when the inserted magnetic head(s) engage the tape.

Tape extractor and pad lifter for extracting tape from a cassette center well, and related method


A drive device for controlling a power switching element to turn on and off includes: an on-side circuit performing an on operation of the power switching element; an off-side circuit performing an off operation of the power switching element; and a temperature detector detecting a temperature. At least one of the on-side and off-side circuits includes a current path for supplying or drawing a gate current of the power switching element and a switch circuit for switching the gate current. The switch circuit transitionally changes the gate current based on the temperature of the power switching element when the switching circuit switches the gate current.

There is known active gate control (AGC) which actively controls a gate voltage or a gate current as a technique for eliminating a trade-off between a surge voltage and a switching loss during a switching operation in a power switching element that constitutes a semiconductor power conversion device such as an Inverter or a converter.
For example, when an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is used as a power switching element, a change with time dV/dt of a collector-emitter voltage (hereinbelow, referred to as a collector voltage Vce) during turning-off is fed back to control a discharging speed of a gate charge of the IGBT. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 proposes a technique for switching the discharging speed of the gate charge of the IGBT in the middle of discharge.
As the switching timing, for example, when the switching is performed at the timing when the collector voltage Vce reaches a power supply voltage VB, it is possible to reduce the switching loss while reducing surges.
However, dV/dt in a power switching element such as an IGBT typically has a temperature dependence. Thus, the switching timing of the discharging speed of the gate charge in the power switching element changes by the temperature of the power switching element.
For example, Patent Literature 2 proposes a technique for adjusting a feedback amount of dV/dt according to the temperature of the power switching element as a drive circuit that takes into consideration the temperature characteristics of the power switching element. Specifically, a feedback resistance (base-GND resistance) of a transistor for turning-off is made variable according to the temperature. Accordingly, it is possible to control the discharging speed of the gate charge according to the temperature.
However, the technique of Patent Literature 2 defines the discharging speed of the gate charge, that is, defines the drive capacity according to the temperature of the power switching element, and cannot eliminate the trade-off between the surge voltage and the switching loss. Further, even when the technique described in Patent Literature 2 and the technique described in Patent Literature 1 are combined, it is difficult to optimize the switching timing of the discharging speed. Thus, an effect of reducing the switching loss is not sufficient.


A device for protecting against lightning and overvoltages includes two electrodes closing off, in a gas tight manner, both end faces of a cylinder made of insulating material, and defining a discharge chamber in the interior of the chamber thus formed. At least one step is provided in the chamber in the contact area of at least one of the electrodes and the cylinder such that the chamber extends outwards past the internal wall of the cylinder.

Protection devices are provided as, among others, lightning and/or overvoltage protection in the primary power system of physical structures, wherein the external conductors are each connected to the neutral conductor by means of a lightning surge arrestor. Such a device is also known as a discharge arrangement or surge arrestor arrangement.
An arrestor serves to prevent hazards to life, system and device damage, and fire. The task of the lightning and overvoltage protection is the reduction of overvoltages to a protection level of 1.5 kV, and arresting strong current surges up to 50 kA. Explosive flames and shock waves must be avoided in order to enable installation in typical equipment without observing special safety clearances and passive fire prevention measures. The extinguishing capabilities and the limiting of the power frequency follow current must be designed so that service line main fuses are not triggered. Finally, compatibility with standardized assembly systems and ruggedness with respect to climate influences and pollution are required.
Typical characteristic data of such lightning and overvoltage protection devices are: a D.C. spark-over voltage of Vsdc>600 V, a surge spark-over voltage vas≦1.5 kV for a voltage increase rate of 5 kV/μs, a nominal surge current iSN of 50 kA for standardized surge current curves of 8/20 μs and 10/350 μs and, in each case, 15 times load factor, and a power frequency follow current of ≦50 kA.
When a surge arrestor is triggered, an arc is generated that creates combustion products, which can precipitate as a conductive vaporization on the interior cylinder of the ceramic or insulating material and cause a fault in the insulation.
For fulfilling the protection function, a low dynamic spark-over voltage is required. For the entire component the required value is 1500 V, if a ramp-shaped voltage increasing at a rate of 5 kV/μs is applied. For a single arrestor, this level of protection and the remaining characteristic data imply that an ignition aid must be used. One way to improve the ignition behavior is the introduction of an ignition strip made of graphite, for example, which makes primary charge carriers available, biases the electrical field, and improves the dynamic ignition behavior by means of a creeping discharge along the ceramic surface of the inner wall of the cylinder.

Device and module for protecting against lightning and overvoltages


A roller assembly for supporting sliding doors on a track or rail comprises a plurality of short rollers (10) which are confined to run around an oval track (9a) formed in a two part housing (7). Some of the rollers (10) are engageable with the track through an elongate slot (13) in the base of the housing (7) so that load is distributed over several rollers. The housing (7) is mounted for adjustment in a carrier (5) which can be mounted on a door. The adjustment permits variations in height or levels to be accommodated.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention concerns improvements in or relating to load supporting roller assemblies of the kind that are used for engagement with a track or rail to permit movement of a heavy element carrying the roller relative to the track. In particular, but not exclusively, this invention has application for supporting a door or window for sliding movement along a rail.
2. Description of Prior Art:
It is already known to provide roller assemblies that are like wheels having some form of axle for mounting the wheel for rotation. It is also known to provide wheels having specially shaped rims, or even tyres for location on a rail or track. It is also known to provide roller assemblies made of various materials to resist wear and to reduce friction. However, the known type of roller assembly usually suffers from one distinct disadvantage when used for supporting a heavy element, and this is that there is only a very small area of contact with the rail or track through which the load and pressure is exerted. This load and pressure means that wear and distortion occurs both in the roller and the track, and even the provision of a tyre or special track or rail cannot obviate this in many cases without making the eventual assembly too cumbersome, or too expensive, or even so complex that repair or replacement is impractical.


Provided are novel lipoglycopeptides exhibiting bacterial signal peptidase inhibitory activity. Also provided are actinomycete strains that produce these lipoglycopeptides, methods of producing such lipoglycopeptides by culturing these strains, pharmaceutical compositions comprising these lipoglycopeptides, and methods of treating bacterial infections comprising contacting bacteria susceptible to treatment with the present bacterial signal peptidase inhibitor lipoglycopeptides. These lipoglycopeptides are useful in human and veterinary medicine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of pharmaceutical chemistry. More particularly, the present invention relates to the discovery of a group of cyclic lipoglycopeptide inhibitors of bacterial signal peptidase useful as antibiotics. The present invention also relates to the production, isolation, and determination of the structure of a family of new lipoglycopeptides from a member of the family Actinomycetes, i.e., Streptomyces sp., and their biological properties related to bacterial signal peptidase inhibition. In addition, the present invention relates to the novel peptide core of these lipoglycopeptides, and a novel process for deacylating the lipoglycopeptides to generate the peptide core, which can be used in the production of further derivatives. These lipoglycopeptide compounds and derivatives of these compounds can be formulated as pharmaceutical compositions that can be used in the treatment of bacterial infections in mammals. Additionally, these compounds can be formulated as compositions that can be used for controlling the growth of disease-causing bacteria on surfaces requiring disinfection.
2. Description of Related Art
Bacterial Infections and Antibiotic Resistance
Bacterial infections remain the leading cause of death worldwide. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, Enterococcus sp.,
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter cloacae are among the major pathogens causing severe infections, which include otitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, septicemia, and skin and urinary tract infections. These infections are especially problematic among the immune-compromised populations, e.g., AIDS patients.
Signal Peptidases
Most proteins that are translocated across lipid bilayers are synthesized as precursors (preproteins) with an amino-terminal extension known as a signal (or leader) peptide. This signal sequence is involved in guiding the protein into the targeting and translocating pathway by interacting with the membrane and other components of the cellular secretory machinery (Wickner, et al. (1991) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 60, 101-124). The final step in protein translocation and secretion is the release of the mature part of the protein from the membrane, which requires the proteolytic removal of the signal peptide. The proteolytic processing occurs during or shortly after the translocation event and is catalyzed in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes by enzymes known as signal peptidases (SPases). Two major bacterial SPases, SPase I and SPase II, having different cleavage specificities, have been identified. SPase I, also called leader peptidase, is responsible for the processing of the majority of secreted proteins (Dalbey, et al. (1997) Protein Sci. 6, 1129-1138; Tschantz, et al. (1994) Methods Enzymol. 224, 285-301) whereas SPase II, also called prolipoprotein signal peptidase, exclusively processes glyceride-modified lipoproteins (Innis, et al. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A. 81, 3708-3712).
Bacterial SPase I possesses unique biochemical and physiological properties. It is one of the essential enzymes in the protein secretion pathway. It is widely distributed in both gram positive and gram negative bacteria, as well as Chlamydia (Cregg, et al. (1996) J. Bacteriol. 178, 5712-5718; Peng, et al. (2001) J. Bacterol. 183, 621-627; Zhang, et al. (1997) Gene 194, 249-255).
Signal peptidase is also present in eukaryotic cells; however, the structure of the enzyme from eukaryotic cells is different from that of the bacterial enzyme. Eukaryotic signal peptidase consists of multiple polypeptides. Bacterial SPase I, unlike eukaryotic signal peptidase, consists of a single polypeptide chain.
Additionally, bacterial SPase I and eukaryotic signal peptidase may have distinctive catalytic mechanisms. Evidence suggests that eukaryotic signal peptidase lacks an apparent catalytic lysine, while bacterial SPase I appears to function as a unique serine protease with a serine-lysine catalytic dyad (Sung, et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 13154-13159; Black, M. T. (1993) J. Bacteriol. 175, 4957-4961; Tschantz, et al. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 27349-27354). Therefore, bacterial SPase I is a good target for the development of antibacterial agents.
Although there are several classes of antibiotics available on the market, the existing and emerging bacterial resistance and cross-resistance to many of the current antibiotics is a growing problem. Thus, there is a continuing need to identify new and quality targets, and to develop novel antibiotics having novel mechanisms of action to overcome such drug resistance.


A compressor has a fixed scroll and a movable scroll which has a first surface and a second surface. The first surface is opposed to the fixed scroll to define a displaceable fluid pocket. The movable scroll is supported on a rotary shaft via an eccentric pin to move along a predetermined orbit around an axis of the rotary shaft. Gas is introduced into and compressed in the fluid pocket. A boss is formed with the second surface of the movable scroll. A bushing is supported on the eccentric pin and rotatably received by the boss. The rotary shaft has an inner end surface for securely supporting the eccentric pin. A holding member engages the eccentric pin to hold the bushing in a predetermined position on the eccentric pin in corporation with the inner surface of the rotary shaft. A balance weight is secured around the bushing to cancel a dynamic imbalance of the movable scroll due to the orbital movement of the movable scroll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scroll type compressor for use in, for example, an air conditioning system for a vehicle. More specifically, this invention relates to a structure for reducing noise during running of a compressor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical scroll type compressor comprises a fixed scroll and a movable scroll each having an end plate and a spiral element. The spiral element of the movable scroll engages with the spiral element of the fixed scroll, forming pockets between both spiral elements. As the rotary shaft rotates, the movable scroll revolves about the axial center of the fixed scroll. In accordance with the revolution of the movable scroll, the pockets shift toward the center portions of both spiral elements from the peripheral portions thereof, reducing their volumes. Consequently, refrigerant gas is compressed in the pockets.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-94483 discloses this type of compressor. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this compressor has an eccentric pin 73 attached to the internal end face 76a of the rotary shaft 76. A bushing 74 is attached to the eccentric pin 73. A movable scroll 71 has a boss 72 provided at the front end of the end plate. This boss 72 is fitted via a bearing 75 on the bushing 74 in a relatively rotatable fashion. A balance weight 77 is attached to the eccentric pin 73 between the opposing end faces of the rotary shaft 76 and bushing 74. This balance weight 77 cancels the centrifugal force, which acts on the movable scroll 71 to maintain good dynamic balance of the movable scroll 71 while the compressor is running. A groove 78 is formed in the outer surface of the distal end of the eccentric pin 73, with a ring-like fastening plate 79 engaged in this groove 78. The fastening plate 79 inhibits the movements of the bushing 74 and balance weight 77 in the axial direction of the eccentric pin 73 to prevent those components 74 and 77 from coming off the eccentric pin 73.
However, this compressor may generate noise from around the eccentric pin 73. This noise originates from the rattling of the bushing 74 and balance weight 77 in the axial direction of the eccentric pin 73 between the internal end face 76a of the rotary shaft 76 and the fastening plate 79.
The axial-direction dimensions of the bushing 74, balance weight 77 and fastening plate 79 are respectively denoted by .alpha., .beta. and .gamma.. If the distance .delta. from the internal end face 76a of the rotary shaft 76 to the groove 78 is the maximum allowable distance and the widths .alpha., .beta. and .gamma. of the components 74, 77 and 79 are the minimum allowable widths, the rattling of the bushing 74 and balance weight 77 will be maximized The greater the rattling becomes, the higher the noise level gets while the compressor is in operation.
To suppress the rattling, the dimensional tolerance of the mentioned individual components should be minimized. This requires that the individual components be machined with high precision, making the machining of the individual components difficult. This results in an inevitable increase in manufacturing cost.

Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho


The invention provides methods of treating or effecting prophylaxis of a patient having or at risk of developing symptoms of anxiety in which an effective regime of an agent that inhibits specific binding of PSD95 to an NMDA receptor is administered to a patient.

Anxiety and depression are major psychiatric disorders of significant clinical and socioeconomic significance. Clinical Depression generally presents alongside Anxiety Disorders, and vise-versa. Rarely does a patient present symptoms of only one or the other.
In the general population, these disorders affect daily performance and correlate with impulse control, financial behaviors, substance abuse and organization. Anxiety is an unpleasant state that involves a complex combination of emotions that include fear, apprehension, and worry. It is often accompanied by physical sensations such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, or tension headache. Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears, phobias and nervous conditions that may come on suddenly (acute anxiety) and/or gradually over a period of several years (chronic), and may impair or prevent the pursuing of normal daily routines. Anxiety disorders are often debilitating chronic conditions, which can be present from an early age or begin suddenly after a triggering event. They are prone to flare up at times of high stress.
Anxiety is often described as having cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components (Seligman, Walker & Rosenhan, 2001). The cognitive component entails expectation of a diffuse and uncertain danger. Somatically the body prepares the organism to deal with threat (known as an emergency reaction): blood pressure and heart rate are increased, sweating is increased, bloodflow to the major muscle groups is increased, and immune and digestive system functions are inhibited. Externally, somatic signs of anxiety may include pale skin, sweating, trembling, and pupillary dilation. Emotionally, anxiety causes a sense of dread or panic and physically causes nausea, and chills. Behaviorally, both voluntary and involuntary behaviors may arise directed at escaping or avoiding the source of anxiety. These behaviors are frequent and often maladaptive, being most extreme in anxiety disorders. However, anxiety is not always pathological or maladaptive: it is a common emotion along with fear, anger, sadness, and happiness, and it has a very important function in relation to survival.
Neural circuitry involving the amygdala and hippocampus is thought to underlie anxiety (Rosen & Schulkin, Psychol. Rev., 105(2):325-350, 1998). When confronted with unpleasant and potentially harmful stimuli such as foul odors or tastes, PET-scans show increased bloodflow in the amygdala (Zald & Pardo, PNAS, 94(8):4119-4124, 1997; Zald, Hagen & Pardo, J. Neurophysiol., 87(2):1068-1075, 2002). In these studies, the participants also reported moderate anxiety. This might indicate that anxiety is a protective mechanism designed to prevent the organism from engaging in potentially harmful behaviors.
Conventional treatments for anxiety include behavioral therapy, lifestyle changes and/or pharmaceutical therapy (medications). Most drugs used to treat these disorders are known to have negative side effects that may limit their use, or cause habituation and dependence.
Postsynaptic density-95 protein (PSD-95) couples NMDARs to pathways mediating excitotoxicity and ischemic brain damage (Aarts et al., Science 298, 846-850 (2002)). This coupling was disrupted by transducing neurons with peptides that bind to modular domains on either side of the PSD-95/NMDAR interaction complex. This treatment attenuated downstream NMDAR signaling without blocking NMDAR activity, protected cultured cortical neurons from excitotoxic insults and reduced cerebral infarction volume in rats subjected to transient focal cerebral ischemia. This result has led to the proposal to use peptide antagonists of PSD-95/NMDAR for treating stroke and other diseases mediated by excitotoxicity. No significant side effects have been observed in phase I trials of one such antagonist.


An apparatus includes a calculation processing unit configured to perform a calculation in the electronic device, a device manager configured to controls a speed of the calculation processing unit and output load factor information, one or more user-level application programs with a respective load factor limit, configured to request for load factor limit information of the calculation processing unit and calculation of a load with a load factor limit, and a service quality manager configured to receive the load factor limit information and the load with the load factor limit from the user-level application programs with the load factor limit, receive load factor information of the calculation processing unit from the device manager, generate a calculation parameter so that a load factor of the calculation processing unit is within the load factor limit information, and output the load with the load factor limit and the generated calculation parameter.

Most electronic devices which are currently used have OSs (Operating Systems) provided by developers or a general-purpose OS, and have been developed in the form for providing the maximum efficiency. These OSs provide only a system-level device control method. For example, the general-purpose OS or the OS provided by the developer may control the execution of the software of all users, and provide the related information to a device controller, so that device control in consideration of the overall situation of the system is possible. Such a device control method has been developed to enable all the user-level software to take full advantage of an execution device. In other words, the device control method may control all CPU cores to be raised up to the maximum operating frequency and executed.
When the operating frequency becomes higher in order to drive specific software in the electronic device in this manner, the power consumption is increased, whereby heat generation and energy leakage may occur. This may cause an increase in a leakage current, and the heat generation consequently acts as a factor to consume a larger amount of energy in the electronic device. In particular, in a case of mobile electronic devices which have been recently and widely used, the energy efficiency may be a greater problem and acts as an important performance indicator.
Meanwhile, in the case of the specific software of the electronic device, a case in which the specific software may not need to be driven at the maximum value of the ability of the electronic device may often occur. However, even in this case, the OS of the electronic device has been designed to be driven with the maximum performance or the performance in close proximity thereto regardless of the characteristics of the software, as described above. When the software is driven with the maximum performance or the performance in close proximity thereto in this manner, the current consumption may be increased due to the heat generation or the like.

Method and apparatus for executing software in electronic device


An internal combustion engine has an engine part for providing a movement, the engine part having an outlet for discharging exhaust gasses from the engine part, and an exhaust gas system including an exhaust gas conduit having an inlet which is connected with the outlet of the internal combustion engine so as to receive discharged exhaust gasses from the internal combustion engine and an outlet which is open, and an additional internal combustion chamber which is directly connected with the outlet of the internal combustion engine and receives exhaust gasses from the internal combustion engine and also receives an air-oxygen mixture from outside without fuel for combustion of the exhaust gasses and introduces the air-oxygen mixture without fuel into the exhaust system so as to provide combustion of the exhaust gasses.

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine and a vehicle provided with such an internal combustion engine, with means for cleaning exhaust gasses.
All vehicles with internal combustion engines have a discharge through which exhaust gasses are discharged in the atmosphere. Numerous attempts have been made to clean discharge gasses so as to emit as little as possible of polluting substances. It is believed that additional improvement of this process is desirable.
Accordingly, it is an object of present invention to provide an internal combustion engine and a vehicle which is equipped with such an internal combustion engine which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of present invention resides, briefly stated, in an internal combustion engine which has an engine part for providing a movement, said engine part having an outlet for discharging exhaust gasses from said engine part; and an exhaust gas system including an exhaust gas conduit having an inlet which is connected with said outlet of said internal combustion engine so as to receive discharged exhaust gasses from said internal combustion engine and an outlet which is open, and an additional internal combustion chamber which is directly connected with said outlet of said internal combustion engine and receives exhaust gasses from said internal combustion engine and also receives an air-oxygen mixture from outside without fuel for combustion of the exhaust gasses and introduces the air-oxygen mixture without fuel into said exhaust system so as to provide combustion of the exhaust gasses.
In accordance with another feature of present invention, a vehicle is provided, which has a vehicle part to be movable on a road; and an internal combustion engine mounted on said vehicle for driving said vehicle for movement on the road, said internal combustion engine including an engine part for providing a movement, said engine part having an outlet for discharging exhaust gasses from said engine part, and an exhaust gas system including an exhaust gas conduit having an inlet which is connected with said outlet of said internal combustion engine so as to receive discharged exhaust gasses from said internal combustion engine and an outlet which is open, and an additional internal combustion chamber which is directly connected with said outlet of said internal combustion engine and receives exhaust gasses from said internal combustion engine and also receives an air-oxygen mixture from outside without fuel for combustion of the exhaust gasses and introduces the air-oxygen mixture without fuel into said exhaust system so as to provide combustion of the exhaust gasses.
When the internal combustion engine and the vehicle is designed in accordance with the present invention, it substantially increases cleaning of exhaust gasses, so that the exhaust gasses emitted into atmosphere have minimal or substantially no impurities at all.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Internal combustion engine, and vehicle provided therewith


A laser sensor protector is provided comprising a nonlinear dynamic device which has a flat broad band reflectance covering the entire visible range in the on-state and allows for good optical quality and high transmittance (80-90) in the off-state. The device can be constructed using electro-optic materials or nonlinear optical materials. If electro-optical materials, i.e., those for which the refractive index can be controlled by an external field, or nonlinear optical materials, i.e, those for which the refractive index can be controlled by the light intensity, are used to construct the present invention, it is possible to achieve dynamic switching, that is, the device is clear in the off-state and it is highly reflective over a broad band in the on-state.

This invention relates generally to the field of sensor protection including protective eyewear. More particularly, this invention relates to a new and improved protective filter which prevents lasers from damaging the eyes and other sensors.
The increased use of tunable and chirped lasers as range finders, target designators and directed energy weapons (DEW) in the battlefield creates a serious threat to equipment sensors and soldier's eyes. To provide effective protection to such sensors (eyes), a device must have a broad rejection band (or a tunable, narrow band) in addition to fast response, good optical quality and high transmittance in the off-state.
Harmful laser radiation can be prevented from reaching sensors including the human eyes by a number of approaches. If the wavelengths of lasers are known in advance, it is usually possible to use absorptive dyes or fixed wavelength narrow notch reflectors to protect the sensors. Both absorptive glasses and Plastics with synthetic dyes may be used to selectively absorb harmful laser radiation. This approach is particularly attractive if the wavelengths of the lasers are outside the spectral range at which the sensor is designed to operate. However, if the wavelengths of the lasers are inside the spectral range of the sensor, the preferred approach is to use narrow notch reflectors at the required wavelength(s) in the form of dielectric thin films, or rugate filters or volume holographic notch reflectors because these filters provide greater transmittance over the spectral sensitive region of the sensor than absorptive dyes.
However, if the wavelengths of the lasers are not known in advance or the wavelengths of the lasers can be varied with time such as in the case of tunable lasers and chirped lasers, the above approaches will not provide effective protection to the sensor. New approaches that can block frequency agile lasers are required for effective sensor protection. Within the spectral sensitivity range of the sensor, the ideal device will only block harmful laser light at any wavelength from any angle with a high efficiency, and transmit background light completely. The device must have good optical quality and minimum coloration. For practical purposes, the device must also be compact and light weight. Furthermore, if the device actively switches between the blocking and the non-blocking states, the response should be sufficiently fast such that pulsed lasers can also be blocked.
A number of approaches has been suggested in the past. These include: nonlinear scattering, self-focusing, PLZT window, nonlinear absorption, coherence filter, sacrificial filter and a tunable narrow notch reflector. The last approach may be constructed using the approach suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,128. None of them appears to be ideal for the required application.


The present invention provides a steel wire rod with stable workability. The steel wire rod has steel components containing, by mass %, C: 0.20 to 0.60%, Si: 0.15 to 0.30%, Mn: 0.25 to 0.60%, P: ≤0.020%, S: ≤0.010%, and a balance of Fe and unavoidable impurities, and an internal microstructure including cementite, in which by number ratio, 80% or more of the cementite in a cross-section vertical to a longitudinal direction of the wire rod has a short axis of 0.1 μm or less and a ratio of a long axis to the short axis, defined as an aspect ratio, of 2.0 or less.

The most generally used technology in the prior art for improving the workability of steel wire rod is the method of performing spheroidizing annealing. The prior art utilizing spheroidizing annealing, as shown in PLT 1, includes making the grain size of the austenite crystal 100 μm or more and making the volume fraction of ferrite 20% or less. In particular, as a method for promoting spheroidizing of cementite after annealing, Cr is added.
In this prior art, to secure forgeability, the grain size of the austenite crystal has to be made 100 μm or more, so when performing a forging operation in which a free surface is exposed and worked instead of performing an upset operation, the skin of the free surface part is caused to be uneven in shape. If the extent of this is severe, the result may become to be relatively noticeable unevenness like an orange peel. Depending on use for products, the unevenness may become a problem. Further, since a lot of Cr is added for improving the formation of cementite, the cost of the alloy steel also becomes somewhat higher and other problems are incurred.
PLT 2 controls the structure of a steel material so as to give degenerate pearlite: 10 area % or more, bainite: 75 area % or less, and ferrite: 60 area % or less, and achieves both shortening of the spheroidizing annealing time of the steel material and improvement of the workability and reduction of the deformation resistance after spheroidizing.
Further, PLT 2 restricts the area % of degenerate pearlite, bainite, and ferrite to desirable ranges to thereby achieve a balance of workability and deformation resistance and obtain a steel wire rod exhibiting excellent cold formability.
Further, PLT 3 describes a method for producing a rolled steel wire made of steel such as eutectoid steel. The method is characterized by producing a high tensile strength steel wire having excellent wire drawability by performing heat treatment for isothermal transformation immediately after completing the rolling without allowing the steel material to be transformed from the austenite phase in the integrated process from casting to wire rod rolling.
However, in PLTs 1 to 4, causes by which steel wire tends to be easily broken at the time of severely working steel wire rod to produce steel wire have not been researched. Further, the effects of the behavior of microvoids formed at the time of shaping steel wire rod into steel wire on the breakage of steel wire have not been researched.

Excellent workability steel wire rod and method for production of same

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


A high performance rolling element bearing (5) which is particularly suitable for use in a cryogenically cooled environment, comprises a composite cage (45) formed from glass fibers disposed in a solid lubricant matrix of a fluorocarbon polymer. The cage includes inserts (50) formed from a mixture of a soft metal and a solid lubricant such as a fluorocarbon polymer.

Supporting the rotational shafts of such apparatus as motors, turbines and pumps, by ball bearings is well known. The impeller shafts of turbopumps employed in rocket engines are typically cooled by a flow of liquified (cryogenic) rocket propellant such as liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen. Because such liquified fuels provide little, if any, lubricity, in such applications, it has been the practice to lubricate the ball bearings by sacrificially removing dry lubricant from the cage: the component which holds the balls, and depositing this lubricant by means of the balls onto the races in which the balls roll. The cage comprises hollow elements containing the lubricant, which accommodate the balls, attached to a metal shroud as by riveting. To minimize wear on the cage due to rubbing of the cage on the races as a result of high speed operation (tens of thousands of revolutions per minute) the cages are, for the most part, piloted on the inner race. That is, the inner race is provided with lands thereon, the cage being maintained in overall alignment with the bearing components by an extremely close fit with those lands. When a cage is piloted on an inner race in this manner, normal removal of cage material occurs, due to rubbing of the cage on the inner race lands. Factors such as cage weight, balance, orbital speed and land clearance as well as ball-to-cage loads, friction factors, coolant flow rates and coolant physical properties can contribute to such rub wear of the cage on the inner race lands which creates a very unstable condition. Such an instability occurs because cage wear removes material from the cage which further contributes to cage imbalances, thereby resulting in still further cage wear and still further imbalances and rubbing.
In an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of high cage wear rates in prior art cryogenic ball bearings, lighter weight shrouds have been employed in the cages to reduce centrifugal loading and rub wear, clearances between guide lands on the inner races and cage have been reduced to reduce rub forces, cages have been balanced with greater precision to enhance balance, and flow rates of coolant have been adjusted in an attempt to optimize the fluid dynamic forces associated therewith. However, while such modifications to prior art bearings have met with some success in increasing the life span of the bearing cages, they have not enabled prior art bearings to enjoy life spans long enough to render the bearings useful in multiple launch rocket engines anticipated in future commercial and military space vehicle and satellite launches.

High performance rolling element bearing


The present device generally relates to a seat for a motor vehicle. The seat includes a back rest, seat cushion, and an arrangement for hingedly connecting the back rest with the seat cushion. The connecting arrangement includes an arrangement for producing a rotary movement which takes place optionally starting from a neutral position of a lever into either of two directions of rotation. Essentially, a shaft is only turned by way of the lever so long as the drive lever is moving away from the neutral position whereas, when the drive lever is swivelled towards its neutral position, the shaft is essentially not entrained. Cooperating elements exert different forces on the shaft.

1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to a seat for a motor vehicle, wherein the seat includes a back rest arrangement, a seat cushion arrangement and an arrangement for hingedly connecting the back rest arrangement with the seat cushion arrangement. The connecting arrangement includes a double-acting drive for producing a rotary movement which takes place optionally starting from a neutral position of a drive lever into one or other direction of rotation wherein the shaft is only turned by the drive so long as the drive lever is swivelled away from its neutral position whereas, when the drive lever is swivelled towards its neutral position the shaft is not entrained. Thus, the double-acting drive is included as part of a seat adjustment device.
2. Background Information:
An adjustment drive of the type just described, having an angle adjustable component in which the gearbox axis is mounted, is known from German Patent No. 36 08 858. An adjusting wheel with entrainment flanks is connected to this gearbox axis by an adjustment device which has two oppositely acting coil springs arranged concentrically with the gearbox axis. An operating arm is mounted concentric with the gearbox axis on this angle adjustable component. The two entrainment members of the operating arm which are designed as a double-armed levers engage with a handle which is mounted on an angle adjustable component and which engages these entrainment members and swivels the operating arm.
With a rotary joint fitment along the lines of that just described, the distance between the entrainment flanks is so large that during engagement a comparatively large angular stretch has to be covered in order to make up for an idle stretch. A fine-stepped engagement is thus not possible. A switch mechanism which is free of fixed operating steps and thus operates with infinite adjustment is described in German Patent No. 41 23 103. According to this a rocker lever is rotatably mounted on the separating arm on the angle bisector of two rays passing through the gearbox axis and rotary axes of the entrainment members. On one side the rocker lever has cams which engage with rocker levers of the entrainment members in order to lift the latter out of engagement with the gearing of the ratchet wheel, and on the other side the rocker lever has a control face.
This control face contains a central concave area and convex areas adjoining the concave area on each side to include an obtuse angle between same.
The outer surface of a slide pin connected to one of the two angle adjustable parts adjoins the control face wherein the neutral position of the operating arm the outer face of the slide pin adjoins the concave area of the control face. When operating the operating arm in one or other adjustment direction the rocker lever tilts so that through this design a response is obtained even with a very slight angular movement of the operating arm.
The disadvantage of this design lies in the relatively large structural space caused by the separately mounted levers. Owing to the principle of keyed engagement using detents, or pawls, whose division cannot be kept as small as required an idle path of the drive lever cannot be completely avoided.


A temporary walkway used in construction areas to allow access to a building before the concrete sidewalk is installed. The temporary walkway has plank sections made up of a panel and a leading and a trailing edge. The leading edge is configured to lock into the trailing edge of an adjacent plank to create a large walk way. The Planks remain locked throughout an upward and downward angle of rotation to account for variance in the terrain.

Construction sites require foot and wheeled traffic for months before the exterior landscaping has been completed. The foot traffic can track mud and detritus into the construction site.
Wheeled vehicles can get stuck in mud or against discarded construction material. Some construction sites put down plywood which can be a tripping hazard at the overlaps.
Some nations or regions require handicap access to buildings while the landscape is under construction or otherwise do not have sidewalks.
Others may be in need of a walkway immediately and can't wait for setting up forms and drying of concrete.


A squeeze roller assembly is made up of a plurality of pairs of squeeze rollers are that arranged in a row over a plurality of rows of photographic developing tanks for delivering photosensitive materials between the adjacent developing tanks. One roller of each pair of squeeze rollers has formed in its outer peripheral surface an annular groove for preventing correction values printed on a base surface of a photosensitive material from being transferred to the rollers. Each annular groove has a width different from the widths of the other annular grooves.

This invention relates to squeeze rollers for use in a photosensitive material developing apparatus and more particularly to squeeze rollers for removing treating solutions from photographic paper while it is fed through a printing/developing apparatus.
A printed photosensitive material is dipped in each of the treating tanks in a printing/developing apparatus which are arranged in a row, raised out of the treating tank and sent to the next treating tank.
During its travel from one treating tank to the next, it passes between a plurality of pairs of squeeze rollers arranged over the adjacent treating tanks. The squeeze rollers serve to squeeze the paper and remove any treating solution stuck on the paper. Thus, before the paper is fed into the next tank, treating solutions are completely removed from the paper so that the solution in one tank will never mix with the solution in the next tank.
The squeeze rollers, which are essential components for a printing/developing apparatus for photosensitive materials, have one problem in that correction values printed on the base surface (back) of a photosensitive material, which indicate important data for the subsequent treating, such as finish printing and re-printing, may be transferred to the squeeze rollers.
Thus, it is .an ordinary practice to provide one of each pair of squeeze rollers which is opposite to the base surface of a photosensitive material with an annular groove to prevent the rollers from coming into contact with the correction values printed on the base surface.
Any treating solution stuck on such rollers tend to crystallize along the edges of the annular grooves. While no photosensitive material is fed between each pair of squeeze rollers, the treating solution that has crystallized on one roller with the annular groove will be transferred to the other roller, which has no annular groove and is adapted to be brought into contact with the emulsion surface of a photosensitive material, thereby leaving two annular lines of crystallized treating solution on the other roller. Such crystallized solution stuck on the other roller may cause increased irregularity in sensitization of the emulsion surface of a photosensitive material or produce scratches thereon.
Such phenomena occur because the annular grooves formed in those of the plurality of squeeze rollers that are brought into contact with the base surface of a photosensitive material are not only located at the same position with respect to the photosensitive material being fed, but they also have the same width. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, scratches or irregularly sensitized portions are formed on an emulsion surface 21 of a photosensitive material 20 along two lines or strips 23 by the respective squeeze rollers. Since such lines or strips 23 are formed by a plurality of the rollers, they tend to stick out like a sore thumb.


A leaf stripper for tobacco stalks and the like including cooperating leaf stripping means, means for moving the stripping means to form a nip, and stalk supporting an infeeding means including a rotating support table mounted adjacent the stripping means in the area of the nip with the infeed axes parallel to the axes of the nip, and the method for stripping the leaves from the stalk.

Surprisingly little has been done to aid farmers in the mechanized stripping of tobacco from stalk. Even today stripping is done by hand without mechanization. A single laborer can strip about 450 stalks per day. Although there are a number of patented tobacco strippers, for the most part these used cutting knives which wiped the leaves from the stalks of the plant. Any guide rollers that were provided were transverse to the axes of the stalks.
Whitley U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,061 discloses an apparatus for stripping tobacco leaves from the stalks comprising flexible fingers that are loose footed and spring-like to engage the plant stalk and strip the leaves therefrom. This apparatus operates on the stalks standing in the field as a part of a self-propelled or towed harvester. The prior art does not disclose a stripping apparatus in which the stripping rolls and feed path are oriented to provide parallel axes so that the stalk of tobacco is passed parallel to the stripping rolls.

Leaf stripper for tobacco stalks and the like


Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can receive user social network information, including user location information, for a plurality of users. The plurality of users is filtered based on user social network information. A business action is determined based on the user social network information.

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a wide variety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices, for example, to interact with one another, create content, share content, and view content. In some cases, a user can utilize his or her computing device to access a social networking system (or service). The user can provide, post, share, and access various content items, such as status updates, images, videos, articles, and links, via the social networking system.
As users utilize and interact on a social networking system, the social networking system can collect information that can be utilized by the social networking systems or third parties to improve products and services offered to users. For example, the social networking system can collect demographic information, social network interaction information, user location information, etc. Information collected by the social networking system can be used by the social networking system to improve services and products offered to users by learning more about user tendencies and preferences. In certain instances, collected information can be provided to third parties seeking to utilize such information to improve products and services based on insights that can be drawn from the collected information.

Systems and methods for providing location-based data analytics applications


Turbine nozzle phasing device for controlling a flow of gasses to a plurality of nozzles in response to a control signal. The turbine nozzle phasing device includes a housing having a lower portion which includes a first plenum for receiving the flow of hot gasses and an upper portion which includes a second plenum integral with the first plenum, a detachable partition for separating the first plenum from the second plenum and a first nozzle which communicates with the first plenum. Hot gasses flowing into the first plenum flows through the first nozzle. A set of second nozzles is provided which communicates with the second plenum. Partition detaching apparatus is also included for detaching the detachable partition in response to the control signal to permit a portion of the hot gasses flowing into the first plenum to flow into the second plenum and through the set of second nozzles.

A turbine type combustion engine generates hot gasses which are directed by nozzles to turn turbine wheel(s) in the turbine engine. The wheel(s) of the turbine engine are coupled to mechanical apparatus to cause movement thereof.
Such a turbine engine may also be used, for example, in torpedoes wherein a propellant is provided to generate hot gasses for driving the wheel(s) of the turbine engine. The wheel(s) of the turbine engine are coupled to the shaft of the propeller of the torpedo, thereby rotating the propeller through the shaft so as to propel the torpedo.
The turbine engine of a torpedo operates with a fixed amount of propellant which is ignited to generate the hot gasses for turning the wheel(s) of the turbine engine. Most torpedoes, whether launched from a submarine or air, run at a medium speed range which is called the search mode for the majority of a run and upon acquisition of the target goes to a high speed range for the duration of the run. In order to maximize the range of the torpedo and/or increase the search mode time, it is necessary that the efficiency of the turbine engine be maintained at a high level at both the medium speed and the high speed ranges.
Turbine engines for torpedoes are generally designed for maximum efficiency corresponding to the high speed because the largest amount of fuel is consumed at the high speed. Maintaining high efficiency in the turbine engine at both the medium speed and the high speed ranges requires maintaining the pressure ratio across the nozzle(s) of the turbine engine at approximately the same level at both the medium speed and high speed ranges. Switching from the medium speed range to the high speed range requires an increase in the flow of hot gases through the nozzle(s) to cause the wheel(s) of the turbine engine to rotate at a faster rate. This increase in the flow of hot gases through the nozzle(s) causes an increase in the pressure ratio across the nozzle(s). A lower efficiency results when operating at the lower pressure ratios of the medium speed range. This decrease in the pressure ratio occurs because when the turbine engine is operated at the medium speed range the decrease in the flow of hot gasses causes a decrease in pressure at the inlet.
Various torpedo control systems and control systems for controlling turbines are known in the art. However, none of the systems address the problem of maintaining high efficiency in the turbine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles of the turbine at all speed ranges.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,619 discloses a fluid control system for controlling the operation of combustion apparatus in the firing cycle of a torpedo. Particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,619 discloses a fluid control system for controlling the introduction of combustion materials to prevent pre-ignition and to ensure ignition at the proper time.
The apparatus disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,619 does not address the problems associated with maintaining high efficiency in a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S Pat. No. 3,045,624 discloses a speed change system for use in torpedoes of the type propelled by an electric battery source of energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,624 is not directed to torpedoes powered by a turbine engine. Further U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,624 does not address the problems associated with maintaining high efficiency in a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S Pat. No. 3,417,719 discloses adaptor apparatus for an underwater projectile for precisely propelling the projectile along a predetermined path by permitting a stream of gasses to flow from the casing of the projectile.
U.S Pat. No. 3,417,719 is not directed to turbine engines. Therefore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,719 does not address the problems associated with maintaining high efficiency in a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S Pat. No. 3,990,230 discloses a method for controlling a steam turbine in a composite plant equipped with steam and gas turbines wherein steam produced by utilizing exhaust gas from the gas turbine is controlled according to the speed of the steam turbine and the condition of the steam fed to the steam turbine.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,230 although directed to improvements in the operation of turbine engines does not address the problems associated with maintaining high efficiency in a gas turbine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,875 discloses apparatus for improving the rate of gas flow in gas turbine engines, turbo chargers or superchargers by providing individual gate elements reciprocally mounted to open and close separate divergent diffuser passages for centrifugal compressors or radial inflow turbine nozzle assemblies.
U.S Pat. No. 4,145,875 although directed to improving the fuel economy of a gas turbine engine does not adequately address all the issues related to improving the efficiency of a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,242 discloses apparatus used for controlling the function of a fuel powered turbine engine by providing a constant fuel consumption rate.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,242 is directed to improving the efficiency of a turbine engine, U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,242 does not adequately address all the issues related to improving the efficiency of a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,322 discloses a propulsion and directional control mechanism for an underwater device such as torpedo. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,322 makes use of a gas turbine engine for the propulsion system.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,322 is directed to improvements in the turbine engine and the directional control mechanism U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,322 does not adequately address all the issues related to improving the efficiency of a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,806 discloses turbine engine fuel control apparatus for regulating the amount of fuel supplied to the turbine engine in response to parameters which include engine acceleration U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,806 regulates the amount of fuel supplied to the turbine engine by electrical apparatus which outputs an electrical signal which controls the appropriate value in the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,806 does not address the problems associated with improving the efficiency of a turbine engine by maintaining the same pressure ratio across the nozzles at all speed ranges.


A cabinet having top, bottom, side, and back walls, and a door for closing the cabinet. A support rod is positioned in the cabinet, and a hair tress is mounted on the support rod. The cabinet interior is illuminated by lamps, and a control panel with a switch governs the supply of electric power delivered to the lamps, for adjusting the intensity of light emitted from the lamps.

This invention is directed to an article of manufacture in the form of an illuminated cabinet, which may be used in conjunction with a sensory evaluation program, or for in-house laboratory scale testing, of new and promising hair care materials on virgin human hair tresses.
Often, new personal care products for application to the hair, such as shampoos, conditioners, fixatives, and permanent waves, are subjected to rigid screening "in-house" on a laboratory scale, or by the use of trained panelists in a program of sensory evaluation. Typically, virgin human hair tresses are treated with the new and promising products, and evaluated and screened based on observed benefits such as shine, feel, resistance to wet and dry combing, tangling, "fly-away", and curl retention.
Differences in various new and promising hair treating products can be easily detected and evaluated much more expeditiously, if the tresses are observed under the proper lighting conditions.
Thus, in U.S. Pat No. 5,176,906 which issued Jan. 5, 1993, for example, there is disclosed a certain fluorescent organosilicon compound, which when applied to the hair, can be examined under a source of ultraviolet light for fluorescence, for the purpose of determining the extensiveness of deposition of the fluorescent organosilicon compound on the hair.
The article of manufacture of the present invention provides a convenient examination tool for use in conjunction with such examination procedures.

Illuminated cabinet for sensory evaluations


A pair of clip-on spectacles for fastening on another pair of spectacles, where the clip-on spectacles includes a pair of glasses which are interconnected by an resiliently bendable bridge with a hook at the middle of the bridge for fastening behind the bridge of the other spectacles, where the bridge of the clip-on spectacles is resiliently prestressed towards the hook so that by fastening on the other spectacles, the glasses of the clip-on spectacles are pressed against the glasses of the other spectacles.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention concerns a pair of clip-on spectacles for fastening on another pair of spectacles, where the clip-on spectacles include a pair of glasses which are interconnected by a bridge.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical clip-on sunglasses are designed with a bridge between two spectacle glasses, where the bridge keeps the glasses of the spectacles at a predetermined distance which is adapted to the spectacles for which the clip-on spectacles are intended. Alternatively, the optician adapts the clip-on spectacles to the individual spectacles in the shop when the customer buys them. In order to keep the glasses of the clip-on spectacles at their correct mutual distance, the bridge also has the task of stabilising the glasses, why the bridge is made of a rigid material. The clip-on spectacles are secured on the spectacles by means of hooks which often scratch the glasses.
However, in order not to be visible in a dominant way, it is sometimes preferred to design the bridge of a thin rigid metal wire. During storage is it a risk that this metal wire is bent or breaks at the point of soldering, which is a great drawback. Also, there is the problem that they are very dominating with regard to appearance when they are put on spectacles, i.e. they are very visible, contrary to the wish that they be largely invisible. Besides, the clip-on glasses are flat, though having the same area as the spectacles, also during storage.
From French Patent FR 2 875 914, a pair of clip-on spectacles is known, with a U-shaped bridge consisting of a mechanical complicated construction. This solution can be compared to the mechanisms known from the connection of a frame and an arm of a pair of spectacles. Such a solution has the one very large drawback that it is a complicated and expensive solution, with a high degree of vulnerability.

Clip-on spectacles having elastic u-shaped bridge