An element for conveying cells which are received on input lines (7a to d) and are destined for an output line 10. The interconnection element includes comparators (9a to d), each coupled to an input line and checking whether path identifications contained in the cells are assigned to the output line. In addition, a multiplexer arrangement (18) is present which by coupling the input lines to buffers (20a to d), uniformly distributes cells arriving during a time frame and destined for the output lines over the buffers in accordance with a predetermined sequence. The system further includes a multiplexer (21) for cyclic reading of the cells from the buffer.

The invention relates to an interconnection element for an asynchronous time-division multiplex transmission system transmitting cells which are conveyed from input lines and are destined for an output line.
In the asynchronous time-division multiplex transmission system useful information components, for example, telephone, picture or sound signals, are transmitted in blocks of a fixed length. A cell having a predetermined number of bits in a serial sequence is called a block of a fixed length. Each cell consists of a header field and an information field. The header field contains inter alia the path identification for the cell. Path identification should here be understood to mean a connection identification or a path routing identification. The connection identification comprises the data on the target or subtarget for the useful information. The path routing information is added together within the system in certain transmission systems and contains data on a subtarget within the transmission arrangement. The useful information is accommodated in the information field.
Certain time intervals (time frames) are assigned to consecutive cells. The duration of such a time interval depends on the clock frequency employed for the tansmission components. If no useful information is available, idle cells, i.e. cells without useful information, are transmitted in such idle cells. Cells containing a useful information are designated useful cells.
During the transmission of the cells between subscribers, the cells pass through switching networks in which paths for the evaluation of the path identification are made. Such a switching network may be composed of a plurality of switching network blocks. Such a switching network block having a plurality of input lines and output lines is comprised of a plurality of interconnection elements. An interconnection element includes a plurality of input lines and an output line. In an interconnection element cells are then passed from an input line to an output line. On arrival of cells from a plurality of input lines during a time frame that wish to access an output line, an added bit (activity bit) is set to zero. In the opposite case this bit is set to one. In a subsequent concentrator the number of lines is reduced from N to L lines, so that when cells containing a useful information arrive at M input lines, wherein L<M<=N, some cells are lost. In a network (shifter) connected to the concentrator, cells which during a time frame are coming in from the concentrator and to which a bit having the value one are added, are entered into the shifter. In the shifter the cells are shifted such, that each output of the shifter supplies cells in a uniform manner. The outputs of the shifter are always connected to a buffer. The reading procedure in a shifter having, for example, eight inputs and outputs proceeds, it being assumed that five usuful cells arrive at a first time frame and four useful cells at a second time frame, in the following manner: First, the five useful cells are applied to five outputs. At the second time frame three cells are passed to the remaining three outputs which at the preceding time frame did not supply cells, the further useful cells being applied to one of the other five outputs. The reading operation is consequently controlled such, that a uniform filling of the buffers is achieved. This is expensive for this interconnection element in that a bit (activity bit) is added to control the cells and that all the cells having a message are conveyed via the concentrator. The selection of the cells destined for the output lines is only effected by the shifter. In addition, this shifter, which is an Omega network, may be blocked. To ensure that then no cells are lost, the shifter must be provided with stores, which increases the transit time of the cells through the shifter.

Interconnection element for an asynschronous time-division multiplex transmission system


A system includes presentation of a view of portions of structures that would be intercepted by a path of radiation during radiation treatment from a perspective of a location. The radiation enters an entry surface of a radiation-focusing lens, exits an exit surface of the radiation-focusing lens, and is substantially focused on a focal area. The location is located such that a plane perpendicular to an axis of the path, intercepting the exit surface, and positioned between the entry surface and the focal area would be located between the location and the lens.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to medical treatment using focused radiation, and more particularly to planning and/or verification systems used in conjunction with such treatment.
2. Description
Conventional radiation treatment typically involves directing a radiation beam at a tumor located within a patient. The radiation beam is intended to deliver a predetermined dose of treatment radiation to the tumor according to an established treatment plan. The goal of such treatment is to kill tumor cells through ionizations caused by the radiation.
Healthy tissue and organs are often in the treatment path of the radiation beam during radiation treatment. The healthy tissue and organs must be taken into account when delivering a dose of radiation to the tumor, thereby complicating determination of the treatment plan. Specifically, the plan must strike a balance between the need to minimize damage to healthy tissue and organs and the need to ensure that the tumor receives an adequately high dose of radiation. In this regard, cure rates for many tumors are a sensitive function of the radiation dose they receive.
It is therefore necessary to design treatment plans to maximize radiation delivered to a target while minimizing radiation delivered to healthy tissue. Even if such a plan is designed, the goals of maximizing target radiation and minimizing healthy tissue radiation may not be achieved if the radiation is not delivered exactly as required by the treatment plan. More specifically, poor treatment planning and errors in radiation delivery can each result in low irradiation of tumors and high irradiation of sensitive healthy tissue.
In conventional radiation treatment systems, a linear accelerator generates a divergent beam of photons having energies in excess of 1 MeV and the beam is directed toward a treatment area of a patient. The beam may be shaped by beam shaping devices before reaching the treatment area in an attempt to ensure that beam shape closely matches the shape of the treatment area and does not harm healthy tissue. Accordingly, conventional megavoltage treatment is planned by considering the divergence of the beam, the distance over which the beam travels to the treatment area, and known data representing organs and other structures internal to the patient.
A kilovoltage radiation treatment system such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,801 to Cash et al produces a divergent beam of traditional medical x-rays having energies in the 50 to 150 keV range and focuses the beam on a target using a lens designed for this purpose. Since the beam follows a path that is quite different from the path followed by megavoltage treatment beams, the above-described conventional systems are not suitable for planning and verification of kilovoltage radiation treatment. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a system for planning and verification of radiation treatment that efficiently accounts for the path of a focused treatment beam.

System to present focused radiation treatment area


A material for decorative wrap including a sheet of non-corrugated material having a first side, a second side, a first edge, and a second edge; a plurality of scores formed into the first side extending from the first edge to the second edge; and a plurality of scores formed into the second side extending from the first edge to the second edge. The plurality of scores formed into the first side and the plurality of scores formed into the second side may alternate such that every other score is formed into the first side and the remaining scores are formed into the second side. Each score formed into the first and second sides may extend substantially perpendicular to at least one of the first and second edges.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Conventional materials for decorative wraps for, for example, displaying graphics, such as around a pallet, skid, table, or other non-decorative support of products or goods utilize corrugated paper-based materials or corrugated plastic sheets or pads. In general, a corrugated design consists of at least two separate pieces of paper or plastic (i.e., the face sheets) that are fixedly attached to each other with fluting therebetween. The corrugation, defined by the fluting, imparts a certain level of stiffness or rigidity With regard to decorative wrapping specifically, a corrugated design often includes only a single face sheet. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a corrugated paper-based material 100 for decorative wrapping traditionally includes a first face sheet of substantially flat paper 102 having a printable side 104 and a second face sheet of paper 106 that is fluted. The absence of a second face sheet permits the corrugated paper-based decorative wrap to be rolled for, for example, easier transportation and storage.
One known drawback of such material is that only one side, side 104, of the substantially flat face sheet is printable because the side opposite the printable side is fixedly attached to the fluted face sheet 106. Additionally, the two or more piece construction of such corrugated materials causes an increase in weight, adds bulk, and is relatively expensive to manufacture (as compared to embodiments described in the present disclosure). For example, manufacturing such a corrugated paper-based decorative wrap would traditionally include a step for printing the face sheet, a separate step for attaching the fluted face sheet, and a separate step for rolling. A relatively lower print quality, longer lead time for manufacturing, and the smaller volume that can be manufactured in a specified period of time (as compared to embodiments described in the present disclosure) are additional drawbacks of such conventional single-faced corrugated materials. Still another drawback of decorative wraps utilizing conventional corrugated materials, as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D, is that the material does not form an aesthetically pleasing bend or fold 108 for wrapping around corners, such as the corners of a pallet, skid, table, or other non-decorative support of products or goods.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved decorative wrapping. More particularly, there is a need for single-ply, non-corrugated materials suitable as a decorative wrap for, for example, displaying graphics, such as around a pallet, skid, table, or other non-decorative support of products or goods, for aesthetic or advertising purposes that overcomes one or more of the drawbacks of conventional decorative wraps utilizing conventional corrugated materials identified above.

Single-ply, non-corrugated materials suitable for decorative wrapping


A current regulator providing a highly accurate bidirectional output current, proportional to a control voltage (V.sub.i) and suited to monolithic integration is disclosed. The regulator uses a clocked integrator which integrates an error charge, arrived at by taking a precisely ratioed sample charge proportional to a voltage drop (V.sub.F), free of its common mode voltage, which is in turn proportional to the load current, and one proportional to the control voltage (V.sub.i), and combining them subtractively to form the error charge. The arrangement uses two small charge ratioing capacitors charged respectively to V.sub.F and V.sub.i, and a slightly larger integrating capacitor. The clocking is at a 10 KHZ rate. High impedance circuitry is utilized so that highly accurate, integrated capacitors of modest size and high relative accuracy may be used. These establish a regulator transfer function of high accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to transconductance current regulators providing an output current accurately proportional to a control voltage, i.e. voltage to current converters, and more particularly to a monolithically integrated circuit suitable for driving a motor for exerting a variable torque responsive to a voltage control.
2. Prior Art
Aircraft engine and flight controls have continued to grow in sophistication as engine requirements and flight requirements have become more complex. The solutions to these control problems have for many years been electronic, even though the ultimate response of the control system is a mechanical movement frequently controlling fluidic flow rates to an engine or using hydraulic actuation in relation to aircraft flight control surfaces. The problem of reliability has been a major concern, and that issue has been dealt with by redundancy.
The demands in an aircraft environment have been reliability, accuracy, performance, compactness, and manufactureability.
The electronic response to these demands are being met by growing use of application specific integrated circuits. The integrated circuits as a class have tended to fall into the digital category for computation, or the analog category for input/output signal processing. A less widely developed class of integrated circuits are those which may be required to possess signal processing functions and yet control significant amounts of power to an electrical motor, or as in the present application to a torque motor for an engine control. Because of the particular needs, the answer has been the creation of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) capable of handling both kinds of requirements.
The integrated circuit process providing the answer for the present application has been the bipolar bimos (BiMOS) process in which very high impedance metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor circuitry is combined with low impedance bipolar transistors. The MOS transistors may be used for signal processing where the current and power may be infinitesimal and the bipolar transistors may be used to supply significant amounts of power. The process is readily adapted to processing bidirectional control signals and producing bidirectional output currents to suit the needs of the engine or flight control. In such cases, the control signals may be processed by bidirectional transmission gates using complementary MOSFETs, and the power may be supplied using positive and negative voltage supplies and complementary bipolar transistors.
Granted that the latter approach is being taken, the need is present to perform the control functions with higher reliability, higher accuracy, greater performance, and greater compactness continues. Thus, the integrated circuit that achieved .+-.2% accuracy and not .+-.1%, or performed one function and not four; or required many outboarded components rather than a few, or required trimming or tuning rather than none at all becomes the target for further refinement.

Transconductance current regulator using precisely sampled charges for current control


In a glass chopped strand mat, a short chopped strand layer having first glass chopped strands with an average length of 25.4 to 76.2 mm and a long chopped strand layer having second glass chopped strands with an average length of 76.2 to 203.2 mm are laminated, a difference between the average length of the first glass chopped strands and that of the second glass chopped strands is 25.4 mm or greater, the short chopped strand layer occupies 50 to 70 parts by mass, and the long chopped strand layer occupies 30 to 50 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the glass chopped strand mat, a mass per unit area of the glass chopped strand mat is 180 g/m2 or lower, and a loss on ignition of the glass chopped strand mat measured on the basis of JIS R 3420 is lower than 10%.

As technical literature in this field, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H6-93546 is known. In this literature, a glass chopped strand mat is described which is manufactured by spraying a binder onto glass chopped strands deposited in a sheet shape, heating and melting the binder, and then allowing the binder to cool and solidify, thereby binding the glass chopped strands. In a method for manufacturing the glass chopped strand mat, short glass chopped strands having a length of 3 cm or greater and smaller than 8 cm and long glass chopped strands having a length of 8 cm or greater and smaller than 15 cm are uniformly dispersed and are thereafter fixed by the binder.

Glass chopped strand mat, glass chopped strand mat roll, method for manufacturing glass chopped strand mat and automotive molded ceiling material


A track assembly for securing to a wall and receiving shelves. The track assembly includes an elongated strip which is U-shaped in lateral cross section to provide two spaced parallel legs in a connecting portion. Supports are attached to the strip for receiving shelves thereon. There is also provided a shim having a base with a top and bottom surface, the bottom surface contacts the wall and each of two parallel sides of the shim has a step, said steps being spaced apart a distance equal to the distance of the spaced parallel legs of the strip and the other two parallel sides of the shim being unstepped and spaced apart from each other a distance greater than the distance of the spaced parallel legs of the strip.

The present invention relates to a track assembly and more particularly to a cantilever track assembly for use in refrigerators.
The fresh food storage compartment of a refrigerator normally includes a number of vertically shaped shelves which are supported on elongated strips by means of support arms that are adjustably secured to those strips. Normally, these strips are secured by screws to the rear refrigerator cabinet liner. One of the difficulties in such an assembly is that the rear liners are or may be bowed or deformed. Because of this, the strips are out of vertical alignment and the support arms attached to them for supporting the shelves are out of alignment with respect to each other. This mis-alignment can cause problems of fit and appearance of the shelves.
In many cases, it is desirable to have two shelves positioned on the support arms in the same plane and these shelves have side edge portions that are parallel. This is where the track assembly includes three strips and the middle strip is secured to a section of the liner that is bowed. When placing the shelves on the support arms, it is important that the strips holding the support arms be in vertical alignment as otherwise the shelves cannot be placed at the same level as they interfere with each other.
By the present invention, there is provided a track assembly that compensates for the above-mentioned difficulties and provides a low cost means of adjusting strips that support shelves that are to be secured to walls that are bowed or deformed, such as refrigerator liners.


The present invention provides a mobile terminal includes a first information recording unit configured to record first motion information of the mobile terminal, and a first pairing processing unit configured to generate a first pairing request. The first pairing request includes the first motion information which will be used as a pairing key, or a second pairing request is parsed. The second pairing request is received from a wearable device by a first data interaction unit, and the second pairing request includes second motion information from the wearable device which will be used as a pairing key. When the second motion information matches the first motion information, the first pairing processing unit generates a response message for the second pairing request, to realize pairing and connection between the mobile terminal and the wearable device. The present invention further provides a wearable device and a pairing method.

More and more companies begin to design and produce smart wearable devices, such as smart watches, smart glasses, smart running shoes, and so on. These wearable devices are a combination of conventional watches, glasses, shoes, and other items which can be worn on the body and intelligent technical solution of information transmission and receipt, information look-up, and information search, and so on, thus people can enjoy the pleasure and convenience brought by technology without affording greater burden when carrying and without affording greater learning cost. For example, a user can perform an operation to look up a received short message or send an e-mail by a smart watch or other wearable device without taking out his/her mobile phone.
However, as it needs to make wearable devices be portable and simple, the volume is always limited. Thus, high power management requirement is needed. Thus, generally, wearable devices do not have communication function when used alone, and when connected to other mobile terminals, e.g., mobile phones, these mobile terminals can transmit messages to the wearable devices after receiving communications events.
In the existing technology, take a smart watch for an example, if it needs to pair the smart watch with a mobile terminal, it needs to open wireless connection modules (such as Bluetooth, wife, and so on) of both. The mobile terminal searches wireless devices surrounding the mobile terminal. After the smart watch is found, the mobile terminal transmits a pairing request. The smart watch responds to the pairing request after receiving the pairing request. A pairing password (such as a PIN code of Bluetooth, a wifi password) is input through the mobile terminal after the mobile terminal receives the response generated by the smart watch. After the smart watch determines that the password is right, the pairing request is confirmed to realize pairing.
It can be seen that in the above-described process wearable devices are processed as common mobile terminals, the pairing process is complicated, the usage characters of the wearable devices are not fully utilized, and it is not beneficial for users to use wearable devices.

Mobile terminal, wearable device, and equipment pairing method

YULONG COMPUTER TELECOMMUNICATION SCIENTIFIC (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.

DONGGUAN YULONG TELECOMMUNICATION TECH CO., LTD.


A fingerboard latch assembly includes a latch body, a finger member pivotably connected to the latch body at a first pin, and an actuator assembly coupled to the finger member, wherein the actuator assembly is configured to actuate the finger member from a closed position to an open position in response to the application of fluid pressure to the actuator assembly.

Drilling systems are sometimes utilized for the extraction of hydrocarbons from a subterranean earthen formation via a drilling wellbore into the formation. In some applications, drilling systems comprise a drilling rig having a mast or derrick extending therefrom. In some applications, the mast includes a rack assembly or fingerboard for storing drill pipes in a setback position spaced from a longitudinal axis of a borehole extending beneath the drilling rig. The fingerboard assembly may include multiple racking fingers for racking or storing multiple drill pipes in a substantially vertical disposition in the setback position. Each racking finger of the fingerboard assembly may include one or more actuatable fingerboard latches for allowing or denying movement of drill pipes into or out of the racking finger of the fingerboard assembly. Particularly, in some applications each fingerboard latch includes a latch or finger member having a closed position restricting the movement drill pipes through the racking finger and an open position allowing movement of drill pipes through the racking finger. In certain applications, the finger member of the fingerboard latch is actuatable between the closed and open positions via an actuator of the fingerboard latch.


An apparatus for holding a plurality of barber electric hair clippers in a ready-to-use position when they are not being used comprises a plate having a plurality of hooks for enabling the hanging of the hair clippers, and a like number of electrical cords extending outwardly through corresponding apertures formed through the plate, each of the apertures being relatively adjacent to a corresponding one of the hooks, the outwardly extending end of each of the electrical cords being configured for electrical connection to a conventional electric hair clipper for the operation thereof. Automatic cord retractors are connected to each of the electric cords rearwardly of the plate for enabling the extending of the cords from the plate when a hair clipper to which the cord is connected is unhooked from its hook on the plate for use and for automatically retracting the cord when the hair clipper is rehung on its hook. Each cord has a cord stop attached to it forwardly of the plate so as to limit the amount of electric cord that is automatically retracted through the plate when an electric hair clipper connected to the cord is hung up. The cord retractors are mounted in a box having the plate as a front cover. The electric cords are connected by a common cord which can be plugged into a preexisting power outlet. A shelf may be fixed to the plate beneath the hooks for holding barber implements such as comb and scissors. The apparatus may include one or more hair clippers already connected to the electrical cords.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of barbering implements, and more particularly to apparatus for holding and organizing electric hair clippers and other implements used in the barbering profession.
2. Background Discussion
Barbers customarily use two or more different types and/or sizes of electric hair clippers (including hair trimmers) each time they cut hair. Between uses, the hair clippers are usually laid down in a location where they are readily accessible or are hung up from a convenient hook, the hair clippers being typically constructed having a metal hanging loop at the handle end.
The comb-like cutting end or cutters of hair clippers of the types used by most barbers are made from a very hard metal. This hard metal results in a long cutting life for the cutters, but at the same time results in the tips of the cutters being quite brittle. Consequently, the cutters can be damaged and ruined relatively easily. For example, the cutting end of hair clippers may be accidentally struck against a porcelain sink used for hair washing when the hair clippers are laid down or, if the hair clipper is hung up, the exposed cord to the clippers may be accidentally pulled, thereby causing the clippers to be dislodged from its hook and fall on the floor. Although damaged or broken cutters can be replaced, they are relatively expensive and the use of damaged hair clipper cutters can result in uneven hair clipping and possible scalp injury to an individual on which the damaged hair clippers are used for giving a haircut.
For these and other reasons, the present inventor has invented an apparatus onto which barbers' electric hair clippers can be easily and securely hung and without exposed electrical cords.


The present invention discloses a high-resistivity single crystal zinc oxide (ZnO) wafer and a high-resistivity single crystal ZnO-based radiation detector, and preparation method and use thereof. The preparation method of the high-resistivity single crystal zinc oxide wafer is to place a single crystal ZnO wafer in a metal lithium electrochemical device for a constant-current discharge treatment, and then to place the single crystal ZnO wafer in a high-pressure oxygen atmosphere at 800 to 1000° C. and 10 to 30 atm for an annealing treatment for 20 to 28 hours. The preparation method of the radiation detector is to evaporate a metal electrode layer at both sides of the high-resistivity single crystal ZnO wafer, then to bond the wafer onto a circuit board, and to connect the wafer with the circuit board by a gold thread.

In many fields of military, national defense, aerospace, etc., detectors need to have characteristics such as high sensitivity, miniaturization, and strong anti-irradiation capability. Compared to an average radiant energy (˜30 eV) required by a conventional gas radiation detector to generate a detection signal by gas ionization, a semiconductor material requires an average radiant energy of <10 eV for generating a pair of electron-hole pairs, and thus at the same radiant energy, especially for a weak signal, a sensitivity of the semiconductor materials is higher than that of the gas. In the meantime, since the semiconductor material has a density greater than the gas, a very thin layer of the semiconductor material (a few microns) can effectively convert the absorbed radiant energy, which has a natural advantage in device miniaturization. Moreover, a mechanical strength of the semiconductor material itself can be well self-supporting, and it is convenient to integrate and construct a detector array, thereby realizing an acquisition of target position information. The research of semiconductor nuclear radiation detector has been going on for more than half a century. It has been widely used in many fields such as nuclear science, astronomy, cosmo physics, nuclear energy utilization, industrial automation, nuclear power plant, nuclear medicine imaging, anti-terrorism and environmental monitoring.
At present, due to the maturity of the device technology, the advantages of materials, and the well-developed microelectronic processing technology, the elemental semiconductor-based X-ray detector represented by Group IV silicon and germanium are developed at the earliest, and the first generation of semiconductor materials, represented by silicon and germanium, have developed a more mature fabrication technology for the detector. Compared with silicon, germanium has the advantage of its relatively large atomic number and low energy for electron-hole pair generation, which makes a germanium-based detector have higher efficiency and energy resolution.
However, both silicon and germanium are sensitive to ambient temperature and weak in radiation resistance due to their narrow band gap, so it is greatly restricted to equip them into a system working in space environment. On the other hand, for compound semiconductors, such as Group III-V compound GaAs, InGaAs and GaN, Group II-VI compound CdTe (energy resolution 0.3% @ 662 keV gamma ray, requires Peltire refrigeration) and CdZnTe, Group VII-μ dibasic halogen compounds HgI2, PbI2, TlBr and their ternary compound HgCdTe, etc., most of these materials have the disadvantages of low melting point, easy decomposition, and weak anti-irradiation capability, and stability and reliability of performance of the device constructed based on these materials is difficult to guarantee. These problems greatly limit the application of related detectors in harsh environments such as nuclear power plant and space.
In contrast, ZnO wide bandgap semiconductor materials with superior anti-irradiation capability, wider band gap, and higher breakdown electric field strength have attracted attention gradually. However, how to obtain high resistivity and thereby strongly suppress dark current noise in order to obtain high-resistivity single crystal ZnO with high signal-to-noise ratio has been an important obstacle hindering its application in the field of radiation detection.

High-resistivity single crystal zinc oxide wafer based radiation detector and preparation method and use thereof


A radio transceiver comprises an RF amplifier and a first frequency mixer which converts an amplified RF signal into a first IF signal and whose output may include intermodulation distortion. A second frequency mixer converts the output of first frequency mixer into a second IF signal. An interference detector detects the intermodulation distortion by seeing if a beat is included in the second IF signal. Upon detection of intermodulation distortion, a controller minimizes a gain of RF amplifier to decrease or eliminate the intermodulation distortion. Responsive to the end of conversation, the controller maximizes the gain of RF amplifier to increase the reception sensitivity. The controller may periodically maximize the RF amplifier gain after the detection of the intermodulation distortion. If no intermodulation distortion is detected during this gain-maximized period, the controller keeps the gain to be a maximized value. If the intermodulation distortion is not decreased or eliminated even though the RF amplifier gain is minimized, the controller may change a used frequency to another frequency.

The present invention relates to a radio transceiver and, more particularly, to a radio transceiver for use in a mobile radio communications system.
In a mobile radio communications system, such as a cellular telephone system, the number of frequencies assigned to a base station has been increasing to ease a strong demand. In addition, a single frequency is reused in a certain small area for effective use of the frequencies. Thus, a receiver used in, for example, a mobile station may receive more than one frequency.
The received signal is first applied to a radio frequency (RF) amplifier followed by a frequency converter, or mixer. The RF amplifier is set to have a high gain in order to increase the reception sensitivity. As a result, the mixer produces undesired sums and differences of the received two or more frequencies due to its non-linearity and overloading. The undesired sum and difference frequencies are commonly referred to as intermodulation distortion which deteriorates the speech quality of telephone communication.

Radio transceiver capable of avoiding intermodulation distortion


A method of manufacturing an aluminum-base composite disc rotor comprising the steps of preparing a rough-shaped disc rotor made of a mixture of aluminum powder or aluminum alloy powder with reinforcing particles or aluminum alloy, placing a mixture of aluminum powder or aluminum alloy powder with reinforcing particles or a preform made thereof on each of fixed positions of the rough-shaped disc rotor, and heating the mixture or the preform to at least a region of mashy state temperature to mold under pressure. Thereby the heat resistance and the wear resistance of the aluminum-base composite disc rotor for light-duty cars and industrial machinery are improved.

The present invention relates to a light-duty disc rotor usable for brakes, etc. for cars and industrial machinery, which is particularly excellent in the heat resistance and the wear resistance and light in weight.
So far, for improving the wear resistance, etc. of the light-duty disc rotor, there have been a method of manufacturing a disc rotor by compositing reinforcing particles such as ceramic particles into aluminum alloy by casting method such as squeeze casting, a method of manufacturing a disc rotor by molding with hot press after alternately piling up aluminum foil and prepreg of carbon fibers, and the like.
However, by the former method aforementioned, the reinforcing particles can only be contained in amount of about 20 vol. % at maximum leading to insufficient effect and, by the latter method, the complicated manufacturing process becomes expensive.
As a result of extensive investigations in view of this situation, an aluminum-base composite disc rotor with excellent heat resistance and wear resistance are obtainable and inexpensive.

Method of manufacturing an aluminum-base composite disc rotor

Akebono Research and Development Centre Ltd.


The present invention provides systems and methods for making efficient trust management decisions. A trust management engine is provided that processes requests for system resources, authorizations or certificates, and the identity of one or more root authorities that are ultimately responsible for granting or denying the requests. To determine whether a request should be granted, the trust management engine identifies a set principals from whom authorization may flow, and interprets each of the certificates as a function of the state of one or more of the principals. The processing logic iteratively evaluates the functions represented by the certificates, updates the states of the principals, and repeats this process until a reliable determination can be made as to whether the request should be granted or denied. The certificates may be evaluated until the state of the root authority indicates that the request should be granted, or until further evaluation of the certificates is ineffective in changing the state of the principals.

In modern computing systems, it is often desirable to limit access to electronic content or processing resources, or to allow only certain parties to perform certain actions. A number of techniques have been used or proposed for enabling such control. One set of techniques makes use of digital certificates. A digital certificate can be viewed as an authorization to perform an action or to access a resource. An entity may possess numerous certificates. In order to determine whether an entity is authorized to perform an action, one looks at the certificates in the entity's possession, and determines whether authorization has been granted. Because authorization may be implicit or delegated (e.g., one entity may authorize another entity to issue authorizations on its behalf), it is often necessary to evaluate multiple certificates to determine whether a request for system resources should be granted.
Trust management systems define languages for expressing authorizations and access control policies, and provide trust management engines for determining when a particular request is authorized. The task of the trust management engine will typically involve evaluating both the request and a set of certificates associated with the request and/or the requestor. In some conventional trust management systems, the trust management engine makes decisions using a process similar to that shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, trust management engine 102 accepts a request 104 to perform an action or to access a resource. The trust management engine also accepts a set of certificates 106 associated with the requestor or the request, and some indication 108 of the identity of the owner or "root" associated with the requested resource (i.e., the authorizing principal from whom permission to access the resource must ultimately flow). Next, the trust management engine performs a certificate path discovery process 110 on the group of certificates 106 to determine the way in which the certificates should be arranged in order to facilitate the remainder of the trust management decision process. The result of certificate path discovery is an ordered list of certificates 112. The ordered list of certificates 112 is then reduced by successively combining adjacent certificates in the list 114. The end result of the reduction process is a certificate 116 representing the combination of each of the assertions expressed by the certificates in the original group. This certificate is then evaluated 118 to determine whether the original request should be granted or denied 120.
A problem with approaches such as the one shown in FIG. 1 is that the computation involved can be relatively costly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A quantitative test device is manufactured using a feedback loop which allows one to modify continuously the dimensions of a reading scale printed on the device. The quantitative test device is manufactured by attaching the critical component of a two-component dye system to minute particles such as microcrystalline cellulose, silica, or latex, which particles are suspended in a solution of a polymeric binder. Additional non-immobilized components of the reaction system of the test device are optionally added to the polymer solution. The suspension of dyed particles in polymer solution is applied to a fabric as a coating, using conventional coating machines, to obtain a homogeneous distribution of immobilized dye throughout the fabric.. The device includes a measurement zone which is made from a film support made of a material having a lower melting point than the filter cloth fabric used in the measurement zone was used. By using a lower melting point material for the support film, impulse heat sealing is controlled to a degree such that the lower melting point support is made to melt and extrude through the mesh of the fabric on either side of a channel, forming a seal along the sides of the channel.

Medical science has an increasing need for quick, accurate determination of analytes in blood or other body fluids. Traditionally, assays for analytes have been performed by laboratories and required skilled technicians, complex apparatus and reagents, and considerable time in order to obtain accurate results. A great number of qualitative and some quantitative devices and methods have been developed which eliminate or decrease the need for laboratory diagnostic services. Many of these devices and methods include test strips or dip sticks which can be exposed to blood or another body fluid in order to obtain a diagnostic result. A common example of this technology includes the various test products for determining glucose concentration for diabetics to monitor their glucose levels.
Flow devices for quantitative analytical measurements are currently available. However, their utility has been significantly hampered by materials and processes for producing the devices which are unsuitable for use with fully automated and internally controlled manufacturing. The need for such automation and process control is particularly important for the reliability of devices which do not rely on comparative measurements involving the use of single or multiple calibration standards prior to running the test sample in the final analysis.
Among the problems encountered in manufacturing these flow devices are the problems of trapping the indicator in such a manner that a reliable, accurate determination can be made. A number of prior art workers have described such assay devices, but heretofore there has not been a method that can be automated for making a reliable quantitative device.
Previous methods for preparing flow devices for quantitative measurements involve immobilizing an indicator dye on an absorbant support, typically a special paper in roll or sheet form, where the immobilization process involves chemical reactions which are difficult to control, and washing steps. It is very difficult to achieve uniform distribution of immobilized dye molecules throughout the sheets or from beginning to end of a roll of this paper. Additionally, the mechanical effects of processing can degrade the physical integrity of a paper and result in variable wicking and volume of fluid uptake. The variations in the chemical and physical behavior of sheets prepared in this manner are significant, and adversely affect the precision of assays conducted with these devices.
Przybylowicz, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,158, discloses an integral element for analyses of liquids which comprises an isotropically porous spreading layer which contains microparticles trapped in a thin film of hydrophilic polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol or gelatin. The only purpose of this layer is to spread liquid quickly so that even flow of liquid occurs into and through the layer to the bottom thereof, where another layer takes up the liquid to subject its components to a specific analytical test. The particles in the spreading layer do not contain any covalently linked chromatic indicators.
Pearce et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,001, disclose another type of spreading layer containing polymeric, nonporous particles linked with small amounts of adhesive, which provide large open spaces between the beads because the adhesive only connects individual beads without filling the interstitial spaces. This makes for a very effective spreading layer. Any chemical reactants in the layer are adsorbed to the beads and are not covalently bound. Such a layer would not be suitable for use in a flow-through device because reagents such as the dye chromogen would leach out of the spreading layer if subjected to lateral flow of the sample.
Vogel, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,834, uses particles in films to make the film porous to larger molecules. Immunoglobulins and albumin are important components of human blood which do not easily diffuse into polymer films containing chemical reactants. When these films are "opened" by the addition of particles such as fumed silica or microcrystalline cellulose, these large molecules are given access to chemical integrated into the film. The particles trapped in the films described by Vogel, however, are not covalently bound to the chemical reactants, and are therefore not suitable for flow devices in which lateral flow may elute reagents and reaction products. This elution precludes the formation of a distinct, sharp front of a color bar needed to derive quantitative visual results.
Pierce et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,001, disclose an element for the analysis or transport of liquids comprising a plurality of heat-stable, organo-polymeric particles non-swellable in and impermeable to the liquid, and an adhesive concentrated at the particle surface areas contiguous to adjacent particles bonding the particles into a coherent, three-dimensional lattice that is non-swellable in the liquid.
Siegel et al., in European patent No. 345 460 disclose a test device using covalently immobilized colored dyes wherein a second component of a two component dye system is covalently bonded to a matrix. Color is formed when a first component, which may be the analyte or another dye component, covalently couples to the second component. The color formed is covalently immobilized to the matrix.

Manufacturing process for sample initiated assay device


A fresh water flushing system for a marine engine system in a boat for use whether the boat is in or out of the water is disclosed. The system comprises a control panel mounted in the proximity of the marine engine and a fresh water flush valve, Hoses are connected to the fresh water flush valve and to various components of the marine engine system to provide for fresh water fluid flow within the engine. Alternates embodiments are included for marines vessels with more than one engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fresh water flushing system for marine engines, and in particular to a fresh water flushing system that expels entrained sea water from a raw sea water cooling conduit of the marine engine, whether the boat is in or out of the water, and irrespective of whether the engine is running or is shut off.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts are constantly being taken to improve fresh water flushing systems for marine engines. Fresh water flushing is recommended universally by every marine engine manufacturer. Flushing fresh water through a marine engine substantially prolongs the life of the equipment, lowers the maintenance costs, and protects the significant investment in the engine itself.
Current systems treat the cooling system as a single cavity, as opposed to a group of cavities, water pathways, and equipment. Traditional flushing systems currently available are time consuming to use, error prone, and in many cases just not feasible to use for commercial crafts or pleasure crafts.
For example, most flushing devices cannot be used if the boat is lifted from the water by a davit or is stored in a boathouse. Current flushing equipment usually requires the engine to be running while the boat out of the water. Under certain condition, flushing the engine can be hazardous. The current flushing system have limitations on convenience and reliability that make them user unfriendly. Most current systems merely relocate salt and mineral residues to another location within the cooling system.


An obstacle game machine wherein a movable sheet having a running area and obstacle area is moved in a given direction, and a simulated objects to be driven is moved relative to said sheet through manipulation by the player so that said object passes the running area while staying away from the obstacle area. Said game machine comprising an obstruction detecting means having an electrically conductive mask which moves in operative association with said movable sheet and includes an obstacle conductive area for detecting entrance of said running object area and a running non-conductive area for detecting the running of said object along said running area, a first electrode in contact with the obstacle conductive area of said conductive mask and a second electrode which is movable across the conductive mask in operative association with the movement of said running object.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an obstacle game machine comprising a movable sheet having a running area and an obstacle area, and simulated object whose movement is to be controlled by the player. More particularly, this invention relates to an obstacle game machine wherein the player manipulates a control (such as lever or knob) to move the simulated object in a direction across a sheet, which has a running area and an obstacle area and is movable in a given direction, in such a manner that the object passes through the running area or bumps against an obstacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional obstacle game machine is a driving game machine found in a game arcade. The player manipulates a control (lever or steering wheel) to control the position of a simulated autmobile on a continuously moving endless rubber belt which has a running area as a runway and an obstacle area consisting of rivers, buildings and race pads on both sides of the runway as well as cars running ahead or in the opposite direction, cars immobilized in the runway due to trouble, and rocks that obstruct the running of the car. To determine if the player is properly steering his automobile, a microswitch is provided at the front as well as on both sides of the body of the automobile. If he makes a mistake in the manipulation of the steering wheel and lets the car hit either the bank formed on the border between the running area and obstacle area of the movable sheet or any obstacle on the runway (such as a rock or other vehicles), one of the microswitches senses the occurrence of trouble by being turned on upon contact with such obstacle.
As described above, the movable sheet of the conventional driving game machine is equipped with a bank and other obstructive elements which cause the microswitch to be turned on, and therefore, it cannot be wound around rollers into a compact roll. On the other hand, there is a limitation to the total length of the sheet if it is designed to run in the form of an endless loop, and therefore, the same scene appears at given intervals of driving to thus reduce the pleasure of the game. Furthermore, since the driving game machine requires a large space for housing the endless sheet, it has been difficult to reduce the size of the machine to make it suitable for home use rather than for use in a game arcade.


Controlling and optimizing industrial processes by integrating MPC-based approaches and expert system approaches. At least two different control variables with identical models are used. An expert system adjusts at least one of the control variables to change a setpoint or range or the like while standard MPC techniques change another control variable to address appropriate classes of control problems.

Industrial processes are commonly controlled by computer-based systems such as Distributed Control Systems (DCS) or Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). These systems receive input from instruments that measure process variables, such as temperatures, pressures, flow rates, and the like. Some systems use a layer of control known as Basic Regulatory Control (BRC), in which algorithms use the received inputs to calculate how to manipulate a single process actuator for the purpose of controlling a process variable. The industry standard Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) algorithm is commonly applied at this level. A typical PID controller generally has a desired setpoint for a process variable and one output to an actuator or to another PID controller.
Advanced Process Control (APC) technology provides greater capability compared to the basic functionality of PID controllers. Two broad classes of APC technology are independently applied in industrial processes: Model Predictive Control (MPC) and rule-based control. Although MPC can handle large systems through scalable algorithms, it does not perform well when its models cannot accurately predict variable trajectories in all operating regions. A major weakness of rule-based approaches is that a human expert often cannot describe a process as precisely as a mathematical model, which leads to non-optimal process operation by giving the process too much cushion. Furthermore, a large rule-based system that must consider many inputs and move many outputs can become unwieldy with thousands of rules that must be written to address process interactions. In other words, the two classes of APC technology are utilized independently of each other, requiring process operators to choose only one technology and its respective weaknesses.
In addition, human operators cannot monitor and adjust control parameters as frequently and accurately as APC technologies, which results in great difficulty operating processes at their optimum operation points. While operators can decide to push processes and process equipment to their limits, such an approach is inefficient and leads to equipment or process breakdowns. Such downtime leads to further costs and lost profits. On the other hand, operators can keep processes well within their limits and operate with a cushion but this can also lead to lost profits. Therefore, operators are left to choose between two non-optimal approaches.

Integrated model predictive control and advanced process control


A blow-molded container of thermoplastic resin has a hollow body with a generally cylindrical side wall portion rotationally symmetric about a longitudinal axis of the container. A shoulder portion integrally joins the side wall portion to a finish. An integral base merging with the side wall portion is defined by an outer surface comprising a plurality of downward projections separated from each other by generally arcuate segments extending essentially from the cylindrical side wall to the longitudinal axis of the container. The bottom of the container includes a web extending between a central portion adjacent the longitudinal axis of the container and a generally perpendicular ring segment in each of the downward projections for providing enhanced stability against deflection during entry of the filling liquid into the container which aids in the prevention of bottom failure from stress cracking associated with the rigors of the filling procedure.

The present invention relates generally to the design, manufacture and use of blow molded bottles made of polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate, and similar containers including footed bottoms having improved dimensional stability suitable for the filling and storage of carbonated beverages.
Various attempts have been made to construct a one-piece, self-supporting plastic container made of polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate, which will be able to be filled with and retain carbonated beverages at the pressures typically involved. Such a one-piece container requires the design of a base structure which will support the bottle in an upright position and will not bulge outwardly at the bottom. A variety of designs have been attempted following one of two principal lines of thought. One line of designs involves a so-called champagne base having a complete annular peripheral seating ring. Examples of such bottles are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,726; 3,881,621; 4,108,324; 4,247,012; and, 4,249,666. Another variety of designs is that which includes a plurality of feet protruding downward from a curved bottom. Examples of this variety are to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,270; 4,294,366; 4,368,825; 4,865,206; and, 4,867,323.
Bottles using each of these general designs have, in the past, shown significant drawbacks. In order to prevent involution of the bottom of bottles using a champagne style, it was generally found necessary to incorporate a significant amount of resin in the base of the bottle thereby ensuring its stability at room temperature. This incorporation of significant amounts of resin in the base of the bottle had the effect of not only increasing the cost of the bottle, but also making it increasingly subject to drop impact failure.
Reasonably stable footed bottles could be made employing less resin, but the uneven orientation of the polymer in the footed area of the bottom often contributed to uneven post filling expansion of either one or more feet or the central portion of the bottom creating what is generally referred to as a "rocker." Further, it was recognized that the stability of the bottle was directly related to the size of the footprint of the bottle. Whereas some of the earlier designs were in the form of a plurality of nearly point-like feet spaced apart by about half the diameter of the bottle, more recent designs have tended toward a wider spacing of the feet with each foot designed to contact an increased area of the underlying surface. Examples of such containers are to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,865,206; 4,978,015; and 5,024,340, as well as PCT publication WO 86/05462.
Throughout the development of various improvements on the two basic designs has been the constant goal to develop a container of stable configuration using as little resin as possible thereby reducing the cost of the container while maximizing the utility of natural resources. Accordingly, it is proposed to construct a container suitable for cold filling and storage of carbonated beverages which utilizes some of the design criteria previously employed in connection with such one piece containers having large standing ring diameters, but which will overcome the observed problems associated with such containers.
One problem with containers of this type is that they are subject to occasional bottom failure believed to be caused by stress cracking associated with the high inlet pressure of the liquid with which the container is filled. The dissipation of the energy on the container bottom leads to the occurence of stress fractures permitting the migration of foreign matter which, after a period of time, can contribute to or result in subsequent bottom failure. Accordingly, a container bottom feature is needed to prevent the aforementioned phenomena from occurring which is strong and flexible enough to withstand and absorb the kinetic energy of the entering liquid when the container is filled.


A device for continuously impregnating a cloth material with a dye solution or a resin liquid or the like. The device includes a tubular cloth material passage measuring at least 400 mm in length and has an opening which is slightly wider than the breadth of the cloth material in transverse width and measures about 3 mm in longitudinal width. A liquid supply mechanism adjoins the cloth material inlet of the cloth material passage; and wringer rolls are provided in the vicinity of the outlet of the cloth material passage. Within the liquid supply mechanism, a pair of weir plates is provided each of which is disposed on an opposite side of the cloth material passing through the liquid supply mechanism. The weir plates are arranged to permit the adjustment of the gap between them for allowing the cloth material to pass therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for continuously impregnating a cloth material homogeneously with a dye solution or a resin liquid or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To continuously impregnate a cloth material with a dye solution or the like while it is on the move, the conventional liquid impregnating device for cloth materials is arranged, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. In the conventional device of this type, a guide roll b is disposed within a container a which has a U-shaped sectional form; a dye solution c is put in the container to have a cloth material d immersed in the dye solution c while the cloth material d is guided by the guide roll b; and there are arranged wringer rolls e to wring the cloth material to adjust the liquid contained therein to a predetermined degree. The conventional device, however, has a gap between the inner surface of the container a and the guide roll b. It is, therefore, impossible to apply the dye solution c to the cloth material without leaving any residual quantity of the solution. Thus, there remains a residual quantity of the solution within the container after completion of a dye solution applying process.
In the case of the above stated conventional dye solution impregnating device, 20 to 30 liters of residual solution is left in each dye solution container. However, the dye solution is very expensive and costs about 500 per liter. The residual quantity of the dye solution is equivalent to a loss of 10,000-15,000 because such residual solution is not usable again. Thus, a large amount of the expensive dye solution has been wasted and also has been presenting a problem as to disposal of such a large amount of the liquid waste.
In an attempt to solve the problem of the conventional device, the present inventors previously proposed a liquid applying device comprising a liquid container which has the sectional form of the bottom thereof in a U-shape; a cloth material guide roll having its outer circumference disposed close to the U-shape curved face of the liquid container leaving a gap of only several millimeters between the outer circumferential face of the roll and the U-shape curved face of the container. This liquid applying device, however, comes to allow immersion of the cloth material in the dye solution for a shorter period of time according as the quantity of dye solution within the container decreases and thus tends to become incapable of uniformly impregnating the cloth material with the dye solution. This problem becomes more serious in the case of a thick cloth material.
The present invention is directed to the solution of the problems hitherto experienced with the conventional and prior art devices.

Device for continuously impregnating cloth material with liquid


A holder for detachable, apertured blades has two body sections connected intermediate the ends thereof for pivotal movement between open and closed positions. A blade received within a recess at one end of one of the body sections, when the holder is in open position, is retained on a projection which extends through and beyond the recess at the one end. A latching member mounted in fixed position on the other of the sections cooperates with the projection to interlock the blade in the holder when the body sections are pivoted to closed position. A detent at the free end of the handle portion of the holder releasably retains the two body sections in closed position.

This invention relates in general to cutting tools and deals more particularly with an improved holder for detachable blades suitable for use as a general purpose cutting tool and particularly adapted for use as a carpet installation tool. Holders for detachable blades are well known in the art and such a blade holder is illustrated and described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,113, issued Sept. 4, 1971. The blade holder of my aforementioned U.S. patent has two elongated body portions which cooperate in mating engagement to define a longitudinally extending handle portion and a blade retaining portion which extends forwardly from the handle portion. The two body sections are connected at the rear end of the handle portion to pivot relative to each other and to an open position wherein a blade may be attached to or removed from the holder. A latching member pivotally connected to the forward end of one of the sections carries a latch element which is radially spaced from the pivot axis of the latching member. The pivoted latching member cooperates in latching engagement with a blade receiving projection on the other section spaced rearwardly of its forward end. When the handle is in its closed position the latching member retains a blade in interlocked relation with the holder so that a portion of the blade extends forwardly of the holder. Because of the pivotal arrangement of the latching member, at the forward or working end of the holder, the blade receiving projection, which extends through an aperture in the blade, must be spaced a substantial distance rearwardly of the latching member pivot axis. This arrangement restricts blade projection. Although the blade may be reversible, only about one-third of its cutting edge can be exposed beyond the holder. Thus, a central portion of each blade edge remains unused even when the blade is sufficiently worn to require replacement. Situations are encountered where a longer cutting edge is desired, or, in fact, required. Further, the latch member being pivotally connected to only one of the body sections by a relatively short pivot pin tends to loosen from repeated use and generally lacks desired blade retention capability. In my earlier construction, exemplified by the aforesaid patent, a rivet retains the two body sections in assembly and also serves as a pivot pin. This riveted construction is prone to binding and may make it difficult to open and close the holder.
The present invention is concerned with the aforesaid problems.


A compact oldham-type floating reamer holder with holder and reamer portions which transfer torque therebetween via a floating member. The floating reamer holder includes an elastic element which axially biases the holder and reamer portions. In an operative position, the floating reamer holder is configured to automatically enable angular misalignment, parallel misalignment and axial translation between the holder and reamer portion axes. In a non-operative position, the reamer portion axis is co-aligned with the holder portion axis. And the elastic element at least partially overlaps the reamer portion.

Reamers are precision tools for machining existing, or pre-drilled, holes to improve surface quality while, consequently, slightly enlarging the hole. Due to the nature of the precision machining which reamers are designed to carry out, even slight misalignment between the hole and reamer during insertion of the reamer can result in damage to the reamer cutting edges and/or the hole.
Consequently holders called 'floating reamer holders' are utilized for holding the reamer. A floating reamer holder is configured to allow, during hole entry, and during reaming, axial misalignment of a reamer axis with respect to the hole axis which, consequently, means that the floating holder reamer enables slight misalignment between the reamer itself (replaceable tool), and the machine that holds and it.
One major disadvantage in tools of the field is that this floating holder reamer adds to the overall overhang, or projection, of the tool from the machine. This can lead to larger bending moment in turning applications due to the tool+holder larger weight.
Some floating reamer holders of the field disclose rather complicated designs with many parts and specifically pins or multiple peripheral protrusions. This has a negative effect on the floating reamer holder's axial length, and obviously on production costs, which usually are directly affected by the number of parts and accurate surfaces that need to be ground.
Floating reamer holders of the field are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 1,359,103, which discloses a compact, oldham-style floating reamer holder, with holder and reamer portions which transfer torque therebetween via a flat floating member. The floating member is divided into two halves by a virtual plane (in the axial direction). Each half is located in respective female recesses in each of the holder and reamer portions. This "in-line" engagement arrangement between the floating member and the holder and reamer portions exposes the floating member to great shear forces (most transferred torque becomes shear forces applied at said virtual plane), which can lead to wear and early breakage on one hand, and on the other hand, limits machining speeds/productivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,566,553 discloses an adjustable floating reamer holder, which enables three types of freedom of movement. However, this arrangement does not provide automatic (i.e., without interference from an operator), accurate centering in a non-operative state. Specifically for enabling angular misalignment, this arrangement includes a ball and coiled spring which are also supposed to center the driven member 20 in a non-operative position (the ball enters centering depressions in the driven and driving members 20, 13). However, the coiled spring alone (abutting the rear end 17 of the driven member 20) only centers the rear end of the driven member 20, leaving the forward end 21 loose and non-centered if the nut 42 is not manually tightened. Therefore, this floating reamer holder would require a recalibration of the driving member with each reamer replacement. Furthermore, the cooperating radial driving lugs/tongues 14 and diametrical slot 9, are exposed to shear forces, resulting from the transferred torque.

Self-centering compact floating reamer holder


To provide a gas compressor that is suitable for reducing cost for the overall compressor without degrading the oil separation performance needed for the compressor and that may keep the oil separation performance constant for a long period of time. An oil separator having a pipe structure composed only of a discharge pipe formed integrally with a side block as a means for separating a lubricant oil component contained in high pressure cooling medium gas is adapted. In this case, the discharge pipe is adapted to form a discharge route for the high pressure cooling medium gas without any bypass immediately before an inner wall of a compressor case from a first discharge chamber. The separation of the lubricant oil component is performed by collision of the high pressure cooling medium gas, immediately after discharged from a cylinder discharge port to the first discharge chamber, against the inner wall of the compressor case through the discharge pipe without reducing a high flow rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas compressor assembled into an air-conditioning system for a vehicle or the like, and more particularly to a gas compressor in which it is possible to reduce a cost for the overall compressor without deteriorating its oil component separating function that is needed for the compressor, and to keep the oil component separating function constant for a long period of time.
In order to attain he above-described problems, a first object of the present invention is to provide a gas compressor that is suitable for reducing the overall manufacturing cost while attaining a reduction in the number of assembling steps and the parts relating to the oil separator. A second object of the present invention is to provide a gas compressor provided with an oil separator that is high in reliability to make it possible to keep a constant oil separation function that is needed for the compressor for a long period of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
In this kind of a conventional gas compressor, as shown in, for example, FIG. 11, a cylinder 2 having a substantially oval-shaped inner circumference is provided within a compressor case 1 and side blocks 3 and 4 are mounted at both end faces of the cylinder 2.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects according to the present invention, a gas compressor comprises a cylinder disposed in a compressor case, side blocks mounted on both end faces of the cylinder, a cylinder discharge port for discharging high pressure cooling medium gas which contains lubricant oil compressed in a compression chamber within the cylinder to a first discharge chamber that is an outside space of the cylinder, a second discharge chamber provided between an inner sealed end of the compressor and one of the side blocks, and an oil separator for separating lubricant oil component contained in the high pressure cooling medium gas to be introduced from the first discharge chamber to the second discharge chamber side. The oil separator is formed of a discharge pipe integral with one of the blocks and has an opening at one end to the first discharge chamber side with the other end opened toward an inner wall of the compressor case.
A rotor 7 is laterally provided inside the cylinder 2. The rotor 7 is supported rotatably through bearings 9 of the side blocks 3 and 4 and a rotor shaft 8 extending along the axis thereof. Also, as shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of slit-like vane grooves 11 are formed radially on the outer circumferential surface side of the rotor 7. Vanes 12 are mounted on these vane grooves 11 one by one. The vanes 12 are provided to be retractable and projectable from the outer circumferential surface of the rotor 7 toward the inner wall of the cylinder 2.
The interior of the cylinder 2 is partitioned into a plurality of small chambers by both surfaces at a tip end of each vane 12, outer circumferential surface of the rotor 7, inner surfaces of the side blocks 3 and 4 and the inner wall of the cylinder 2. The small chamber thus partitioned is a compression chamber 13. Such a compression chamber 13 within the cylinder 2 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow a in FIG. 12 to repeats the change in volume.
When the volume of the compression chamber 13 is changed, upon the increase of the volumes a low pressure cooling medium gas within the suction chamber 6 is sucked into the compression chamber 13 through suction inlets 15 of the side blocks 3 and 4 and suction passages 14 such as the cylinder 2. Then, when the volume of the compression chamber 13 is started to be reduced, the cooling medium gas of the compression chamber 13 is started to be compressed by the reduction in volume. Thereafter when the volume of the compression chamber 13 is close to the minimum level, a reed valve 17 of a cylinder discharge hole 16 provided at the oval short diameter portion of the cylinder is opened. Thus, the high pressure cooling medium gas within a compression chamber 10 is discharged to a first discharge chamber 18 of the outer space of the cylinder 1 from the cylinder discharge port 16 and further introduced through a gas passage 19 and an oil separator 20 to the side of the second discharge in chamber 5. In this case, lubricant is contained in the form of mist in the high pressure cooling medium gas discharged to the first discharge chamber 18. The lubricant oil component is separated by the collision with the oil separating filter 21 composed of metal mesh or the like for the oil separator 20.
Note that also as shown in FIG. 13, the lubricant oil component thus separated is dropped and reserved in an oil sump 22 of the bottom portion of the second discharge chamber 5. Also, the pressure of the high pressure cooling medium gas discharged into the second discharge chamber 5 is applied to the oil sump 22. The oil in the oil sump 22 to which such discharge pressure Pd is applied is fed to a back pressure chamber 25 of the bottom portion of the vane 12 passing through the side blocks 3 and 4, an oil hole 23 of the cylinder 1, the gap of the bearing 9 and a supply groove 24 formed in the surfaces, facing each other, of the side blocks 3 and 4 in this order.
However, in the above-described conventional gas compressor, as shown in FIG. 11, the side block 3 and the oil separator 20 are formed as discrete parts in view of the relationship of the structure in which the gas passage 19 for introducing to the oil separator 20 side the high pressure cooling medium gas containing the lubricant is formed between the mounting alignment surfaces of the side block 3 and the oil separator 20. For this reason, not only may a large number of parts such as an oil separator fastening bolt 26 (see FIG. 13) for mounting the oil separator 20 to the side block 3, a seal member for the mounting portion or the like be required, but also the assembling step for assembling the oil separator 20 to the side block 3 in the compressor manufacturing line. Thus, there are many factors for increasing cost, resulting in increase in cost for the overall compressor.
Also, in the above-described conventional gas compressor, as shown in FIG. 13, the oil separator 20 is fixed to the side block 3 by oil separator fastening bolts 26. Accordingly, if there is a defect due to the loosening of the oil separator fastening bolts 26, for example, when the loosening of the oil separator bolts 26, the mounting alignment surfaces of the side block 3 and the oil separator 20 are opened to split the gas passage 19, the high pressure cooling medium gas before the oil separation leaks to the outside of the gas passage 19 from the crack to cause the reduction of the oil separation property or the like. That is, there is a problem in that it is difficult to keep the constant oil separation function for a long period time.
In order to attain the above-described problems, a first object of the present invention is to provide a gas compressor that is suitable for reducing cost for overall equipment while attaining the reduction of the numbers of assembling steps and the parts relating to the oil separator, and a second object thereof is to provide a gas compressor provided with an oil separator that is high in reliability to make it possible to keep a constant oil separation function that is needed for the compressor for a long period of time.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects according to the present invention, a gas compressor comprising a cylinder disposed in a compressor case, side blocks mounted on both end faces of the cylinder, a cylinder discharge port for discharging high pressure cooling medium gas which contains lubricant oil compressed in a compression chamber within the cylinder to a first discharge chamber that is an outside space of the cylinder, a second discharge chamber provided between an inner sealed end of the compressor and one of the side blocks, and an oil separator for separating lubricant oil component contained in the high pressure cooling medium gas to be introduced from the first discharge chamber to the second discharge chamber side. The oil separator is formed of a discharge pipe integral with the one of the blocks and having an opening at one end to the first discharge chamber side and the other end opened toward an inner wall of the compressor case.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that the discharge pipe forms a discharge route of high pressure cooling medium gas without any bypass immediately before the inner wall of the compressor case from the first discharge chamber.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that the discharge pipe is composed of a straight tube extending linearly toward the inner wall of the compressor case from the first discharge chamber.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that the discharge pipe is opened at one end to the first discharge chamber side and at the same time opened toward the inner wall of the compressor case at the closest position immediately after the first discharge chamber.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that the one of the side blocks and the discharge pipe are cast integrally with each other.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that a means for forming the one of the side blocks integrally with the discharge pipe is adapted to take a structure in which a pipe press-fit hole in communication with the first discharge chamber is provided on the one of the side blocks, and one end of the discharge pipe is press-fitted in the pipe press-fit hole.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that a means for forming the one of the side blocks integrally with the discharge pipe is adapted to take a structure in which a screw hole in communication with the first discharge chamber is provided in the one of the side blocks, a screw portion is formed in an outer circumferential surface at one end of the discharge pipe, and the screw portion and the screw hole are engaged with each other and fastened and fixed to each other.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that a distance from an opening end on the side of inner wall side of a compressor of the discharge pipe to an inner wall of the compressor satisfies the following equation (1):
(xcfx80D2/4)xe2x89xa6xcfx80DLxe2x80x83xe2x80x83equation (1)
where L is the distance, and D is the inner diameter of the opening end of the inner wall of the compressor case of the discharge pipe.
According to the present invention, the gas compressor is characterized in that the ratio of opening areas satisfies the following equation (2):
xe2x80x83S1/S2xe2x89xa70.7xe2x80x83xe2x80x83equation (2)
Where S1 is the opening area of the opening end on the side of the inner wall of the compressor case of the discharge pipe and S2 is the opening area of the opening end on the side of the first discharge chamber of the discharge pipe.
According to the present invention, the high pressure cooling medium gas compressed in the compression chamber within the cylinder is discharged to the first discharge chamber in the outer space of the cylinder through the cylinder discharge port. The high pressure medium gas immediately after the discharge is collided against the inner wall of the compressor case through the discharge pipe while keeping a high flow rate. The lubricant oil component contained in the high pressure cooling medium gas is separated by this collision.


Container includes a top portion, a body portion and a bottom portion. The body portion includes a front wall, a rear wall and first and second side walls, the first side wall disposed opposite the second side wall, opposing grip areas formed in the first and second side walls, a first circumferential rib disposed above the opposing grip areas and extending horizontally about an entire outer circumferential perimeter of the body portion, a second circumferential rib disposed below the opposing grip areas and extending horizontally about the entire outer circumferential perimeter of the body portion, at least one horizontal body rib disposed between and spaced circumferentially from the opposing grip areas, a first vertical strut formed in the first side wall and a second vertical strut formed in the second side wall, each strut disposed between the first and second circumferential ribs and spaced a distance from each grip area.

Field of the Disclosed Subject Matter
The present disclosed subject matter relates generally to plastic containers, for example a lightweight polymer container for packaging and storing liquids.
Description of Related Art
Many liquids, including beverages, cooking oils, detergents, motor oils, and the like, are often packaged, shipped, and stored in polymer containers. Furthermore, it is often desirable to dispense or otherwise pour the liquid contents from such polymer containers. Thus, it can be desirable for such containers to be lightweight to ease lifting and manipulation of the container by a user. Additionally, a grip can be formed in the container to further facilitate lifting and manipulation of the container to pour the liquid therefrom.
However, such lightweight containers can be highly flexible, and can distort or deflect when gripped. Such distortion or deflection can cause liquid to be urged from the container prior before being poured by the user. This "volcanoing" effect can thus cause undesirable spillage of the liquid when handled by the user.
As such, there is a continued need for a lightweight polymer container with improved body strength to resist unwanted distortion or deflection, for example during gripping and lifting, yet being easy to manipulate to facilitate pouring fluid contents from the container.


A mold for making dry cast concrete blocks includes a pair of vertical shoulder forming sections, one along each of the opposite sides of the mold to form vertical front shoulders of a block. Each shoulder forming section has a shoulder roughening arrangement to result in molded, roughened shoulders of the block. Methods of making such blocks and the resulting block are included.

Concrete units are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes, and are used for a variety of applications ranging from concrete blocks and bricks for building construction to landscaping units, including segmental retaining wall blocks (the latter are sometimes called "SRW" blocks).
Depending on the intended end-use application of the concrete units being produced, the surface appearance of the units may be important, and the marketplace has come to expect various decorative or cosmetic surface finishes for many units. Such surface finishes include those commonly described as broken or split, striped, striated, simulated broken, and smooth (alone or in combination with one of the other surface finishes). One such surface finish is a texture that resembles the appearance of a "split" rock. A "split" surface finish on a concrete unit may be achieved by mechanically splitting away a portion of a face of the masonry unit. This is typically achieved with a mechanical splitting blade similar to a guillotine, and the splitting is performed on the units after they have been cured or hardened. To avoid waste, this is often done by first forming the units as "Siamese" twins and then splitting them apart. The resulting fracture surface on the front face of both blocks is generally thought to be aesthetically pleasing and decorative.
The mechanical splitting of units is an added cost of processing. This cost provides an incentive to develop new methods of roughening the surface of concrete units to create a desirable surface finish without the need to mechanically split the masonry units. Although some approaches have involved processing steps to be performed on the green or uncured masonry units immediately after they are discharged from the mold, one common approach has been to modify the mold in some fashion so that a roughened surface is produced on the concrete units as they are ejected from the mold (i.e. the units are roughened in the mold cavity).
At times, it is desired to produce a more modest or fine roughening of a masonry unit than is typically produced when mechanically splitting a block. Unfortunately, the molds used to produce pronounced roughening are often unsuited for the more modest roughening. If they are scaled down to produce more moderate roughening, they often have more delicate features that lack the desired strength and wearability.
Modest roughening of one or more surfaces of a concrete unit such as a brick or block is useful not only as the only surface finish, but it is useful in combination with mechanical splitting where the modest roughening can be performed on surfaces of the block which are not to be mechanically split, but which may be visible to the observer when the products are used, for example, to create a retaining wall. By roughening the surfaces immediately adjacent to the mechanically split surface(s), light striking the adjacent surfaces is scattered and the reflections associated with smooth reflective surfaces are avoided.

Molds for producing concrete blocks with roughened surfaces; blocks made therefrom; and methods of use


The movement direction-and-speed determiner of an autonomous movement device determines the direction and speed for an autonomous movement based on information on the plurality of picked-up images by an image picker. A feature point obtainer obtains a feature point from the picked-up image by the image picker. A map memory stores the position of the obtained feature point by the feature point obtainer. A corresponding feature-point number obtainer obtains the number of correspondences between the obtained feature point by the feature point obtainer and the feature point having the position stored in the map memory. When the obtained number of corresponding feature points by the corresponding feature-point number obtainer is equal to or smaller than a threshold, in order to increase the number of corresponding feature points, a moving direction-and-speed changer changes the moving direction and speed to those determined by the movement direction-and-speed determiner.

Autonomous movement devices that autonomously move in accordance with an application are becoming popular. For example, autonomous movement devices that autonomously move for the purpose of indoor space cleaning are known. In general, as for such autonomous movement devices, creation of a map in an actual space and estimation of the local device position in the real space are necessary.
As for the scheme of creating a map in the actual space, for example, a Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) scheme has been known. The basic principle of the SLAM technology using a monocular camera is disclosed in Non Patent Literature 1 and Non Patent Literature 2, and by tracking the same feature point from the multiple frames of a motion image picked up by the camera, a process of alternately estimating the three-dimensional position of the local device (camera position) and the three-dimensional position of the feature point (this is collected up to form map information) is executed.
According to this scheme, since the local device position and the three-dimensional position of the feature point are alternately estimated, an error accumulation occurs. Hence, even if a looped movement, or the like is performed to return to the original position, devices are sometimes unable to recognize the return to the original position. As for a scheme of correcting such an error accumulation, there is known a technology called a loop closing process (a loop resolution process) that is disclosed in Non Patent Literature 3. According to this loop closing process, when the local device detects a loop (when the local device detects that the picked-up frame is similar to the frame picked up in past), the local device estimates the position at that past time as a proper position, and corrects the positions on the route reaching the present position from the estimated proper position, thereby reducing the error.
Non Patent Literature 1 Andrew J. Davison, "Real-Time Simultaneous Localization and Mapping with a Single Camera", Proceedings of the 9th IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision Volume 2, 2003, pp. 1403-1410
Non Patent Literature 2 Richard Hartley, Andrew Zisserman, "Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision", Second Edition, Cambridge. University Press, March 2004, chapter 9
Non Patent Literature 3 NARA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Information Science, Associate Professor SATO Tomokazu, "SSII2015 Tutorial, Sequential Three-dimensional Reproduction from Motion Image by Feature Point Tracking, and Application Thereof, from Basics of Coordinate System to Application Case Examples and Recent Research Tendency", [online], Jun. 10, 2015, Image Sensing Symposium Tutorial Lecture Meeting, [searched on Feb. 22, 2016], Internet <URL: http://yokoya.naist.jp/paper/datas/1407/SSII%E3%83%81%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA %E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E4%BD%90%E8%97%A4.pdf>

Autonomous movement device, autonomous movement method, and non-transitory recording medium


Technologies related to forming metal lines of a semiconductor device are disclosed. A method of forming metal lines of a semiconductor device may include forming at least one interlayer insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming via holes and trenches in the at least one interlayer insulating layer, forming an anti-diffusion film on the via holes and the trenches, depositing a seed Cu layer on the anti-diffusion film, after the seed Cu layer is deposited, depositing rhodium (Rh), and forming Cu line on the deposited Rh. The Rh improves an adhesive force between Cu layers and prevents oxide materials or a corrosion phenomenon from occurring on the seed Cu layer. Accordingly, occurrence of delamination in subsequent processes (for example, annealing and CMP) can be prevented or reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a technology for forming metal lines in a semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
In accordance with the ongoing reduction in size of semiconductor devices, the cross sectional area of a semiconductor line is continually reduced, causing a rise in current density. As a result, electromigration (EM) in the metal lines severely reduces reliability. Accordingly, active research and development has been done on the use of different materials for the metal lines in semiconductor devices. For example, Cu has excellent reliability while having lower resistivity than aluminum (Al). However, Cu is difficult to form into a compound with a high enough volatility to easily form micro patterns using a dry etch process.
In order to address the difficulty of patterning Cu lines, a damascene process has been introduced. The damascene process, which employs chemical mechanical polishing (hereinafter referred to as 'CMP'), includes depositing an inter metal dielectric (hereinafter referred to as 'IMD'), forming trenches, that is, interconnection areas by patterning the IMD using a photolithography process, gap-filling the trenches with Cu, and polishing the gap-filled Cu layer using CMP, thus forming the Cu lines.
A dual damascene process, which is now generally used in a multi-layered metal line, can accomplish formation of vias and metal lines at the same time with one CMP process.
This dual damascene process is described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1A to 1C are flowcharts illustrating conventional steps of forming the Cu line of a semiconductor device.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a first interlayer insulating film (e.g., nitride film) 102, a first IMD 104, and a second interlayer insulating film 106 are sequentially deposited over an upper IMD 100 of a semiconductor substrate. The first interlayer insulating film 104 and the second interlayer insulating film 106 are patterned using a photolithography process, thus forming via holes and trenches, that is, line areas. The via holes may be formed first and the trenches may be formed second, or vice versa.
An anti-diffusion film 108 made of Ta/TaN is formed on the via holes and the trenches. A seed Cu layer 110 is formed on the anti-diffusion film 108. The trenches are then gap-filled with a main layer of Cu using an electroplating method, as shown in FIG. 1B. The main Cu layer is polished using CMP, thereby forming Cu lines as shown in FIG. 1C.
When the Cu metal lines are formed using a general dual damascene as described above, the anti-diffusion film 108 made of Ta/TaN and formed in the vias and trenches functions to prevent the subsequently deposited Cu from diffusing into an insulating film.
In the conventional method of forming the Cu metal lines as described above, an irregular surface can result between the anti-diffusion film 108 and the seed Cu layer 110 due to failure in adhesive force, oxidization, corrosion, or for some other reason. Consequently, delamination or lifting occurs between layers due to a stress difference caused by a subsequent anneal process or physical force when Cu CMP is performed.

Semiconductor device and method of forming metal interconnection layer thereof