A method for binding a first and second devices is disclosed. The method is implemented using the architectural principles of REST, which allows a binding initiator to directly contact the first device and instruct the device of actions to be taken. Specifically, the binding initiator may contact the first device by providing a first REST request to the device, the request specifying that the first device is to monitor a state of a particular REST resource identified by the request and is to trigger the second device to perform a specified action when the state of that REST resource satisfies a particular condition. Using REST further allows the first device to directly contact the second device and instruct the second device to perform the specified action. Since the first device is now able to directly contact the second device, these two devices may be considered to be bound.

Sensor and actuator networks are deployed to affect the environment they are placed in based on events. A sensor monitors the physical environment. Information collected by the sensor is injected in the virtual world, processed and acted upon. Typically, acting upon monitoring information coming from sensors involves triggering an actuator, which will again impact the physical environment. For example, in a wireless home automation system pressing a button should trigger the light, where the button is an example of a sensor capturing the action of a user and where the light is an example of an actuator enabling power supply to the actual light source. Another straightforward example is the interaction between a temperature monitoring system and the heating/ventilation system.
In the past, most systems were closed proprietary systems that could only be interacted with through predefined user interfaces, leaving no room for customization or combinations with other systems. More recently, various devices, deployed as a network of nodes, have become useful for collecting and/or processing data in applications such as ambient intelligence, smart environments, and autonomous control. For example, networked sensors may be deployed in a building to measure the temperature and humidity such that an air conditioning system for the building may be adjusted autonomously. These networked devices generally comprise constrained nodes or constrained devices in a (constrained) network, where the term "constrained" is used to express presence of limitations in terms of, e.g., power and/or computing resources.
With the advent of technologies such as 6LoWPAN and Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), these nodes have become easily accessible over the Internet, where each node is uniquely identifiable and where the nodes act as servers to which clients can connect. Such a system of server nodes is sometimes referred to colloquially as "Internet of Things" and the networks that connect these server nodes may be low power and lossy networks (LLNs). A client may be configured to access a server node through a server-client relationship, using the CoAP protocol. Typically, each of the server nodes has at least one resource that provides and/or processes specific information and can be identified by a uniform resource identifier (URI). Usually, the resource that provides specific information comprises a sensor resource while the resource that processes specific information and acts on it comprises an actuator resource. Examples of the kind of specific information provided and/or processed via the resource include temperature, humidity, room location, picture, or light control. When a client accesses a server node, it may e.g. query the server node for the resource at the node. For example, using the (conditional) observe option of the CoAP protocol in a GET request it is possible for a client to observe a resource on a sensor (e.g. sensor values such as e.g. the current temperature, the state of a light switch, the value of a parameter, etc.) and to receive notifications of interest. An actuator resource may process information received via a PUT/POST request on the resource (e.g. payload "1" means turning the light on, payload "0" means turning the light off, the desired temperature is provided to a smart thermostat, the value of a parameter is set, etc.).
While initiatives like 6LoWPAN and CoAP are making sensor networks more and more accessible to the outside world and give end users new opportunities to directly interact with these constrained devices, even with these open standards, the creation of interactions between sensors and actuators, referred to as "binding", is mostly under control of a third party. The third party, typically a gateway or a Cloud service, then both manages the collection of sensor events and the generation of corresponding triggers destined for actuators.
In view of the "real" IoT, where everything is connected to the Internet and everything can interact with everything, such involvement of a third party has a number of drawbacks. One drawback is that many users would like to have the possibility of initiating and controlling sensing and actuation from any device or any network. An example use case could be using a smart phone to change the settings of a home heating system. Another example could be a user at the gateway of an environmental monitoring system associating a sensor to send information to specific actuators to take action. Another drawback is that the third party needs to be available at all times and needs to offer all of the required functionality to establish bindings between the devices. Additionally, since all interactions take place via this third party, all traffic is routed via the third party. In some cases this can result in unnecessary traffic or increased latencies in the network.
Direct bindings, where the sensor directly triggers the actuator, could provide an alternative. However, at this moment, no generic solutions to realize such direct interactions exist. For example, one can (re)program the sensor and/or actuator in order to link them together. However this approach is cumbersome and not flexible. Other solutions to link two devices together can be realized via pairing (e.g. bringing a light switch in the proximity of the light it needs to control and starting a pairing procedure). This works at installation time, but it is much more difficult to update these bindings or create more advanced bindings.
What is needed in the art is a mechanism for binding smart objects that overcomes one or more drawbacks described above. In particular, there is a need in the art for improved methods and systems that enable such binding by a software program.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An optical power control system includes a laser source to provide an optical beam, a variable beam characteristics (VBC) fiber, and a controller operatively coupled to the VBC fiber and configured to control, in response to information indicating change in optical power of the optical beam, different states of perturbation so as to control optical power density.

For a given fiber core diameter and amount of optical power (energy per time specified in Watts, W) of an optical beam propagating through the core, there is a corresponding maximum length of fiber that may be employed before stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) or other non-linear effects appear. Stated another way, the length and core diameter of a delivery fiber limit the amount of optical power the fiber may transmit before non-linear optical effects such as SRS occur. In practice, as a specified amount of optical power increases, the length of delivery fiber is decreased to avoid SRS effects in a particular design.

Optical power density control in fiber-coupled laser


A method is provided for adjustment of a textile machine workstation based on yarn parameters measured by an associated yarn quality sensor at the work station. The method generates a first reference value of a selected yarn parameter by measurement of the yarn parameter or by calculation, wherein the first reference value is generated from the yarn parameter for a deliberately defective yarn intentionally produced at the workstation. The method then compares a current value or second reference value of the yarn parameter for yarn produced at the workstation of production quality or higher-than-production quality to the first reference value.

The basic function of a yarn clearer (yarn quality sensor) on a yarn making textile machine is detecting yarn defects during yarn production. Nowadays, the evaluation of whether a yarn parameter which is detected in real-time during yarn production by the clearer (yarn quality sensor) is to be considered a defect is basically carried out by three different methods.
The first method is the so-called absolute method, in which a current yarn parameter, such as thickness, unevenness, is determined, e.g. by measurement or calculation, and this parameter is compared in an absolute manner to a set defect level. If the determined parameter or absolute deflection of the determined parameter, i.e. the absolute value of the difference between the measured and desired (set) parameter, exceeds the set limit (set fault level), this is assessed as a yarn defect and, if appropriate, subsequent measures are taken to remove the defect.
The disadvantage of the absolute method is the fact that it cannot be used for those defects for which the correct or desired absolute value of the parameter is not known, for which a relative change in the parameter is evaluated, or this value is dependent on the particular workstation at which yarn is produced. Typically, such defects include long defects of yarn (sliver defects, defects related to the yarn count or more).
The second method is the so-called relative group method, in which the yarn parameter measured or calculated is compared to the mean value of the same yarn parameter measured by a group of clearers (yarn quality sensors) or it is compared to the parameter calculated for a group of clearers (yarn quality sensors). The group of clearers (yarn quality sensors) is on the same machine and the workstations which produce the same yarn. If the difference or relative deflection between the measured or calculated parameter of the clearer (yarn quality sensor) being evaluated and the mean value of the same parameter calculated from the data of the above-mentioned group of clearers (yarn quality sensors) exceeds the set limit, this state is assessed as a yarn defect and, if appropriate, subsequent measures are taken to remove the defect.
The drawback of using the relative group method is the fact that this evaluation is not appropriate for defects for which even on yarn without defects too broad a range of the values of the particular parameter is recorded at the individual workstations. In extreme cases, using the relative group method leads to the difference between the correct and defective value of the yarn parameter at one workstation is smaller than the variation range (maximum-minimum) of this parameter for a group of workstations. Such typical defects are yarn unevenness and hairiness.
The third method is the so-called relative individual method, in which the measured or calculated parameter of each clearer (yarn quality sensor) in real-time is compared to the "correct", i.e. reference value of the parameter of the particular workstation. If the difference between the measured and the individual reference value of the particular workstation, or a relative deflection of the determined parameter from the individual reference value of the particular workstation exceeds the set limit, this state is assessed as a yarn defect and, if appropriate, subsequent measures are taken to remove the defect. The above-mentioned "correct", i.e. reference value is obtained either by calculation or by measuring the correct, i.e. reference yarn at the particular workstation, at which yarn is produced and which applies this "correct", i.e. reference value for cleaning production yarn or for monitoring the quality of production yarn. At present, in most cases this type of individual reference parameter is determined when first starting the workstation with new operating values (yarn count, twist, etc.) at which the parameter is evaluated, or the reference parameter is determined each time the workstation is started, after the first spinning-in operation on an empty tube and, in case of need, corrections are made to the reference parameter even during the ongoing production of yarn.
The disadvantage of the relative individual method consists in determining the reference value of the parameter, to which the measured or calculated parameter is to be compared. It is the determination of the reference value of the parameter that is a critical moment. The main reason is that there is a considerable risk that during the determination of the reference value, i.e. during measurement of the parameter for the determination of the reference value, defective yarn is produced, which, however, cannot be classified as defective, since the system of the clearer (yarn quality sensor) actually "does not know" that it is measuring defective yarn, since it does not have the reference value (which is being determined during this measurement process), against which it makes a decision as to whether the yarn being produced is faultless or defective. Such typical defects include, for example, defects caused by a failure of the moistening system of yarn during yarn production on an air-jet spinning machine, when a lack of water manifests itself in increased yarn hairiness, which has no effect on the yarn clearer or the sensor of yarn quality and therefore such a defect cannot be automatically detected. A similar situation may occur when the pressure drops in the spinning nozzle during the production of yarn on an air-jet spinning machine.

Method of adjustment of a workstation and a yarn clearer (yarn quality sensor) on a yarn manufacturing textile machine


It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical deionization apparatus having a novel constitution with excellent deionization efficiency. As means for solving this problem, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electrical deionization apparatus having deionization compartments, concentration compartments and electrode compartments partitioned from one another by a plurality of ion exchange membranes between a cathode and an anode, wherein, in the deionization compartments and/or the concentration compartments and/or the electrode compartments, at least one of anion exchange fibrous material layers and cation exchange fibrous material layers are disposed on one another intersecting a water-passing direction.

An electrical deionization apparatus is an apparatus in which concentration compartments and deionization compartments are formed by arranging cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes between electrodes, i.e. a cathode and an anode, and taking a potential gradient as a driving force, ions in water to be treated (raw water) in the deionization compartments are made to migrate, and hence be separated out, through the ion-exchange membranes into the concentration compartments, thus removing ionic components.
FIG. 1 shows a conceptual drawing of a typical conventional electrical deionization apparatus. In the electrical deionization apparatus shown in FIG. 1, anion-exchange membranes A and cation-exchange membranes C are arranged alternately between a cathode (−) and an anode (+), thus forming deionization compartments and concentration compartments. By further repeating the alternate arrangement of anion-exchange membranes and cation-exchange membranes, a plurality of deionization compartments and concentration compartments are formed alternately. If necessary, ion exchangers are packed into the deionization compartments and the concentration compartments to promote migration of ions in the compartments. Moreover, the compartments contacting the anode and the cathode at either end are generally called an anode compartment and a cathode compartment, and have a function of giving and receiving electrons of an applied direct current.
In operation of such an electrical deionization apparatus, a voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode, and water is passed into the deionization compartments, the concentration compartments and the electrode compartments. Water to be treated having therein the ions to be subjected to treatment is fed into the deionization compartments, and water having a suitable quality is passed into the concentration compartments and the electrode compartments. In FIG. 1, an example is shown in which RO treated water is fed into all of the deionization compartments, the concentration compartments and the electrode compartments. When the water is passed into the deionization compartments and the concentration compartments in this way, in each of the deionization compartments the cations and anions in the water to be treated are attracted to the cathode and the anode respectively; because only anions selectively permeate through the anion-exchange membranes and only cations selectively permeate through the cation-exchange membranes, cations (Ca2+, Na+, Me2+, H+etc.) in the water to be treated pass through a cation-exchange membrane C and migrate into a concentration compartment on the cathode side, and anions (Cl−, SO42−, HSiO32−, HCO3−, OH− etc.) pass through an anion-exchange membrane A and migrate into a concentration compartment on the anode side. On the other hand, migration of anions from the concentration compartment on the cathode side into the deionization compartment and migration of cations from the concentration compartment on the anode side into the deionization compartment are blocked due to each of the ion-exchange membranes having a property of blocking ions of the opposite sign. As a result, deionized water having a reduced ion concentration is obtained from the deionization compartments, and concentrated water having an increased ion concentration is obtained from the concentration compartment.
According to such an electrical deionization apparatus, by using water containing few impurities, for example, RO (reverse osmosis membrane) treated water as the water to be treated, pure water of yet higher purity is obtained as the deionized water. Recently, there has come to be a demand for ultrapure water of yet higher purity, for example, ultrapure water for semiconductor manufacture. In recent electrical deionization apparatuses, a method is thus known in which cation-exchange resin beads and anion-exchange resin beads are mixed together and packed as an ion exchanger into the deionization compartments and/or the concentration compartments and/or the electrode compartments so as to promote migration of ions in these compartments. Furthermore, there has also been proposed a method in which as an ion exchanger, a cation-exchange fibrous material (nonwoven fabric etc.) on the cation-exchange membrane side and an anion-exchange fibrous material on the anion-exchange membrane side are disposed face-to-face in a deionization compartment, and a spacer or an ion-conducting spacer having ion-conductivity is packed between these ion-exchange fibrous materials (see, for example, JP-A-H5-64726, and WO 99/48820).
When water to be treated is passed into a deionization compartment having an ion exchanger packed therein as described above, ion-exchange groups in the ion exchanger and the salt to be removed in the water to be treated undergo an ion-exchange reaction, whereby the salt is removed. For example, in the case of using NaCl as the salt to be removed, sulfonic acid groups as cation exchange groups and a quaternary ammonium salt as anion exchange groups, removal of NaCl can be explained as follows:
When the water to be treated having the salt to be removed (NaCl) dissolved therein contacts the cation exchanger, the cations (Na+) in the water to be treated are subjected to ion exchange by the cation-exchange groups, and are adsorbed onto the solid phase (cation exchanger) and thus removed (equation 1).NaCl+R—SO3−H+⇄HCl+R—SO3−Na+  (1)
After the cations have been removed to some extent by contacting with the cation exchanger, the water to be treated next contacts the anion exchanger. At this time, the acid (HCl) that has been produced by the ion-exchange reaction (equation 1) due to the cation-exchange groups is completely neutralized as shown in equation 2.HCl+R—N+(CH3)3OH−→H2O+R—N+(CH3)3Cl−  (2)
On the other hand, salt to be removed in the water to be treated that has not reacted with the cation exchanger contacts the anion exchanger, and the anions (Cl−) are subjected to ion exchange by the anion-exchange groups as shown in equation 3, and are adsorbed onto the solid phase (anion exchanger) and thus removed.NaCl+R—N+(CH3)3OH−⇄NaOH+R—N+(CH3)3Cl−  (3)
Next, the water to be treated contacts the cation exchanger, and the alkali (NaOH) that has been produced by the ion-exchange reaction due to the anion-exchange groups (equation 3) is neutralized as shown in equation 4.NaOH+R—SO3−H+→H2O+R—SO3−Na+  (4)
Equations 1 and 3 above are equilibrium reactions, and hence the salt to be removed contained in the water to be treated is not completely removed by ion exchange upon contacting the anion exchanger once and the cation exchanger once, but rather remains in the water to be treated to some extent. To remove the ions efficiently, it is necessary to carry out the reactions of equations 1 to 4 repeatedly, and hence it is important to make the water to be treated contact the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger alternately as many times as possible so as to make the salt to be removed migrate into the solid phase through the reactions of equations 1 to 4.
For the ions to be removed in the water to be treated to undergo ion-exchange and neutralization reactions as described above, a two-stage process of the ions to be removed migrating into the vicinity of functional groups and then being subjected to the ion-exchange reaction is necessary. In an electrical deionization apparatus, the water to be treated is fed continuously into each deionization compartment, and must undergo the ion-exchange and neutralization reactions during the short time of passing through the deionization compartment; it is thus desirable for the ions to be removed in the water to be treated to diffuse into the vicinity of functional groups of an ion exchanger in a short time, and for the frequency of contact between the functional groups and ions to be kept high.
Moreover, in an electrical deionization apparatus, it is necessary for the ions to be removed that have been adsorbed onto the solid phase (ion exchangers) by the ion-exchange and neutralization reactions of equations 1 to 4 above to migrate from a deionization compartment into a concentration compartment or electrode compartment when applying current. Moreover, at this time, it is desirable for the ions to be removed that have been adsorbed into the ion exchangers to continuously migrate to an ion-exchange membrane between the deionization compartment and the concentration compartment on the solid phase (ion exchanger) without desorbing into the liquid phase. That is, in the deionization compartment, it is desirable for the cation exchanger contacting the cation-exchange membrane and the anion exchanger contacting the anion-exchange membrane to each be packed in as though they form a continuous phase.
Furthermore, in an electrical deionization apparatus in which ion exchangers are packed into compartments as described above, in each of the deionization compartments and/or concentration compartments having the ion exchangers packed therein, there exist places where the cation-exchange groups and anion-exchange groups contact with each other. At a place where a cation-exchange group and an anion-exchange group contact with each other in a deionization compartment in particular, water dissociation (equation 5) will occur under the steep potential gradientH2O→H++OH−  (5)and the ion exchangers in the deionization compartment will be regenerated by H+ ions and OH− ions produced by this water dissociation (water dissociation), whereby pure water of high purity can be obtained. For efficient deionization, it is thus desirable to make it such that there are many places where the anion exchanger and the cation exchanger contact with each other and water dissociation occurs. Furthermore, H+ ions and OH− ions produced by water dissociation regenerate ion exchange groups of adjacent cation and anion exchangers one after another. When continuing to apply current, there will come to be a local lack of counter-ions to the functional groups at the contacting places between the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger. The water in the vicinity of the functional groups will be dissociated, and H+ ions and OH− ions can be continuously supplied to the cation-exchange groups and the anion-exchange groups. Moreover, not only with water but also with nonelectrolyte such as alcohol, polarization and dissociation will occur under a strong electric field to form anions and cations which will be adsorbed into the functional groups, enabling removal from the water. It is thus desirable for the contact places between the anion exchanger and the cation exchanger (the places where water dissociation occurs) to be numerous and to exist throughout the whole of each deionization compartment in particular, and furthermore it is desirable for the anion exchanger and the cation exchanger to each be disposed as though they form a continuous phase from the contact places.
Furthermore, in recent years there has been a demand for pure water of yet higher purity, it being desired for the concentration of TOC (total organic carbon) components contained in treated water to be low. As to TOC components contained in treated water obtained from electrical deionization treatment, there are endogenous one, i.e. those originating from components eluted out from the ion exchangers packed into the electrical deionization apparatus, and exogenous one, i.e. those originating from TOC contained in the water to be treated. Many of the TOC components eluted out from the ion exchangers are unreacted monomers or uncross-linked polymer electrolytes that became attached to an ion exchanger during synthesis of the ion exchanger. These are gradually eluted out into the liquid phase upon washing by passing water, and it is desirable to make the ion exchangers have a structure such that this washing can be carried out in as short a time as possible. Moreover, it is desirable to eliminate a cross-linking reaction from the ion-exchanger synthesis process so that contamination of the ion exchangers with uncross-linked polymer electrolytes can be prevented. Regarding TOC components contained in the water to be treated, on the other hand, they can be removed by being ionized under the strong potential gradient between cation and anion exchange groups same as with the water dissociation reaction. It is thus desirable for it to be possible to supply water to be treated containing TOC components uniformly to the contact places between the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger.
Moreover, it is further desirable for the treated water (pure water) obtained to have a low concentration of weak electrolytes such as silica and carbonate. Again, ionization of such weak electrolytes under the strong potential gradient is effective same as with the water dissociation reaction between cation and anion exchange groups. Accordingly, it is also desirable for it to supply the contact places between the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger with water to be treated containing weak electrolytes uniformly.
The functions demanded for an electrical deionization apparatus have been described above; however, with a conventional electrical deionization apparatuses, it has not been possible to obtain an apparatus that satisfies all of these demands.
For example, with many conventional electrical deionization apparatuses, mixed anion-exchange resin beads and cation-exchange resin beads have been packed together in a deionization compartment. In this case, the state of packing of the resins is random, and moreover the flow direction of water in the compartment is also random, and from microscopic viewpoint, regarding the contact between the water to be treated and the ion exchangers, it is not necessarily the case that the water to be treated contacts the anion exchanger and the cation exchanger alternately. Moreover, regarding the particle diameter of the ion-exchange resin beads packed in, in general beads having a particle diameter of approximately 500 μm are used so as to decrease pressure loss, but most of the functional groups of such ion-exchange resin beads are present in macropores and micropores inside the resin beads, and hence it is difficult for ions to be removed to diffuse to the vicinity of functional groups, and hence the frequency of contact between the ions to be removed and the functional groups is not very high. Moreover, because the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger are packed in randomly, it is difficult for the cation exchanger and the anion exchanger to form a continuous phase, and hence it is difficult for the ions to be removed to migrate continuously through the solid phase from the deionization compartment into a concentration compartment, and moreover the TOC component removal performance and the weak electrolyte removal performance are poor. Furthermore, there has been a problem that there is much TOC components eluted from the ion-exchange resin beads, and in particular it is difficult to completely remove TOC components eluted from the inside of macropores and micropores even if the resin beads are washed with water for a long time.
Moreover, as to conventional electrical deionization apparatuses, method in which ion-exchange resin beads are packed in layers have also been proposed. As to electrical deionization apparatuses using this method, there are ones in which anion-exchange resin beads and cation-exchange resin beads are packed in layers alternately in a deionization compartment with a plastic mesh screen or the like interposed therebetween as necessary, ones in which a deionization compartment is divided with division plates and anion-exchange resin bead beds and cation-exchange resin bead beds are formed in each partition in the compartments, ones in which blocks are formed by binding ion-exchange resin beads with a binder and anion-exchange resin bead blocks and cation-exchange resin bead blocks are packed in alternately, and so on. However, packing anion-exchange resin beads and cation-exchange resin beads into a deionization compartment alternately in an orderly fashion while forming laminate structure is very difficult. Moreover, in the case that a mesh screen or the like is interposed between layers, or the deionization compartment is divided with division plates alternately, the contact plates between the anion and cation exchange groups (the places where water dissociation occurs) are limited to the planes contacting the ion-exchange membranes and the ion exchangers packed into the compartment, and hence it is not possible to form a large number of places where water dissociation occurs in the deionization compartment. Moreover, in the case that the deionization compartment is divided with division plates, the number of resin layers that can be formed is limited to from a few to a few dozens from the workability of assembling the compartment and the overall size of the apparatus. Moreover, in the case that ion-exchange resin beads are used, as described above, the frequency of contact between the ions to be removed and the ion exchange groups is not very high. Furthermore, in the case of binding ion-exchange resin beads with a binder, the flow of the water is restricted by the binder, and hence the frequency of contact between the ions to be removed and the ion exchange groups is lowered remarkably. Moreover, because ion-exchange resin beads are used, as described above, the much amount of TOC elutes, and in particular in the case of using a binder, the binder itself becomes a component that elutes, and hence the TOC concentration in the treated water becomes yet higher. Furthermore, as described above, the contact places between the anion and cation exchange groups are limited to the planes of contact between the ion-exchange membranes and the ion exchangers packed into the compartment, and most of the water to be treated does not flow through here, and hence ionization of TOC components and weak electrolytes is difficult, and thus the removal performance thereof is poor.
To resolve the various problems for causing use of ion-exchange resin beads described above, using an ion-exchange fibrous material obtained by introducing ion-exchange groups to a fibrous material such as a woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric by radiation-induced graft polymerization or the like as a material packed into a deionization compartment has been proposed (e.g. previously mentioned JP-A-H5-64726). Such an ion-exchange fibrous material has a greater specific surface area than ion-exchange resin beads, and it is not the case that the ion-exchange groups are present in micropores or macropores inside of ion exchange resin beads, but most of ion-exchange groups are disposed on the fiber surfaces. Therefore, the ions to be removed in the water to be treated are readily transported by the water flow (effect by convection) to the vicinity of the ion-exchange groups. When an ion-exchange fibrous material is used, comparing with the case of ion-exchange resin beads, the frequency of contact between the ions to be removed and the ion-exchange groups can thus be increased markedly.
However, a fibrous material such as woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric does not generally have high water permeability, and hence it has been thought that if a fibrous material is packed into a conventional narrow deionization cell, then the pressure loss will be too high to obtain a sufficient water flowrate.
An electrical deionization apparatus has thus been proposed in which a cation-exchange fibrous material such as a nonwoven fabric at the cation-exchange membrane side and an anion-exchange fibrous material at the anion-exchange membrane side are disposed face-to-face in a deionization compartment, and for an example an oblique-net spacer, or an ion-conducting spacer obtained ion-conductivity, is packed between these ion-exchange fibrous materials (e.g. the previously mentioned WO99/48820). In the case of an apparatus having such a constitution, the water to be treated flows with turbulent state inside the oblique-net spacer or ion-conducting spacer, and contacts the cation-exchange fibrous material and anion-exchange fibrous material. Although the water to be treated thus contacts the cation-exchange fibrous material and the anion-exchange fibrous material alternately, alternate contact is not carried out sufficiently efficiently with this constitution. Moreover, although fibrous materials having a large surface area and a lot of available ion-exchange groups are used, due to the difference in the water permeability between the fibrous materials and the spacer, most of the water to be treated flows through the spacer, and significantly little water flows through the nonwoven fabrics. The frequency of contact between the ions to be removed and the ion-exchange groups is thus low.


An exercise device for simulation of the action familiar to “tire flipping” is provided, having a base frame with a rail, a carriage including a pair of supports and a guide arm coupled to the base frame and the carriage. The guide arm allows guided rotational displacement of the carriage relative to the base frame with the carriage also being supported by at least one support received by the rail of the base frame at all time. One or more weight horns may be used to add additional mass to the carriage. A brake may be used to control the downward movement of the carriage after the carriage is actuated over vertical by a user or a lift that is “missed” causing the carriage to be safely lowered to a starting position.

Physical exercise has become a valuable part of everyday life. This is especially true regarding athletics. Athletes are constantly looking for an edge in an increasingly competitive environment. Success on the playing field or court may mean an athletic scholarship resulting in a paid college education or a career in the professional ranks. Training techniques may be inspired by different activities. Once such activity is the "Strong Man" competitions. In these, a variety of functional strength movements are used to test the strength and muscular endurance of athletes. One example is "tire flipping". This involves a large truck or tractor tire and a wide open space such as a parking lot or field. The athlete flips the tire by picking up one end of the tire rotating, it to be positioned on the tread and then flipping it over back to the ground.
As primitive an activity as this may sound, it has many advantages. Tires can weigh as much as 1000 pounds, so with a heavy tire, flipping is no trivial task. The movement starts with a driving dead lift from at or near ground level. As the tire is rotated up, the center of gravity of the tire moves closer to the pivot (ground contact positioned away from the user) thereby reducing the load on the athlete. This corresponds to the biomechanics of the athlete as the end movement is a combination bench press/military press where the athlete is less strong compared to the initial part of the lift. Movement from the ground to a throwing movement with the entire body extended follows the body's strength capacity and therefore may be an extremely effective exercise.
One of the disadvantages with the current technology is that the tire must be used outdoors, so weather may be an issue. Tire flipping is not conducive to use in a weight room setting due to space and safety issues of a heavy tire being thrown around. The tire weight is also a disadvantage. The process of progressive resistance is difficult to achieve with a tire as it is very difficult to add or subtract weight from a tire. If multiple tires are used, this adds to the storage space required. For desirable incremental loading of 10-20 pounds where a range of 500 to 1000 pound tires were used, the strength and conditioning coach would need to store and maintain up to 50 different weight tires. This makes tire flipping as a mode of highly efficient training impractical, if not impossible, for most individuals and institutions.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a need for an exercise device that simulates the action of tire flipping and can be safely used in a confined environment such as a weight room and may alter the resistance of the device. The present invention fulfills this need and others.

Exercise device enabling rotational movement


The present invention relates to a stratified scavenging two-cycle engine, in which control of an air flow rate provides favorable acceleration performance and can prevent deterioration of exhaust gas. The stratified scavenging two-cycle engine includes a scavenging flow passage (3) for connection between a cylinder chamber (4a) and a crank chamber (1a), an air flow passage (2) connected to the scavenging flow passage (3), an air flow rate control means (12) for controlling a flow rate of air fed to the scavenging flow passage (3) from the air flow passage (2), and a fuel mixture flow rate controller (11) for controlling a flow rate of a fuel mixture drawn into the crank chamber (1a) from a fuel mixture flow passage (10). The air flow rate controller (12) throttles an air flow rate at the time of acceleration. Alternatively, the air flow rate controller (12) is opened later than the mixture flow rate controller (11) at the time of acceleration.

As a conventional stratified scavenging two-cycle engine of this kind, a stratified scavenging two-cycle engine that includes a scavenging flow passage for connection between a cylinder chamber and a crank chamber and an air flow passage connected to the scavenging flow passage and that is structured in such a manner that pressure reduction in the crank chamber, with upward movement of a piston, permits a fuel mixture to be drawn into the crank chamber and permits air to be drawn into the crank chamber, through the scavenging flow passage from the air flow passage, is known. In the stratified scavenging two-cycle engine structured as described above, there is an advantage that combustion gas can be pushed out by air from the scavenging flow passage, thus making exhaust gas cleaner by greatly reducing an introduction of a fuel mixture during combustion gas expulsion.
In the aforesaid stratified scavenging two-cycle engine, however, there is a disadvantage that the fuel mixture is rarefied by air, whereby an air-fuel ratio (weight of air/weight of fuel) having a substantial ratio of air to fuel becomes thinner (increases), thus deteriorating acceleration performance. As a measure to improve acceleration performance, it is required that the air-fuel ratio is thickened (decreases) by increasing the supply amount of fuel also at a time of stationary engine speed in accordance with acceleration performance to draw an enriched fuel mixture into the crank chamber. In that case, however, an exhaust gas quality at the time of a stationary engine speed (i.e., other than a time of acceleration) deteriorates.


In the lamination of thermoplastic polymer layers to substrates a thin surface layer of the substrate can be heated to improve adhesion without substantially heating the mass of the substrate by advancing the exposed surface of the thin layer in surface-conforming contact with a heated surface for 0.1 to one second at an interface pressure of 0.1 to 5 kilograms per centimeter of substrate width, the heated surface having an initial temperature of 35.degree.-350.degree. C.

In the art of applying resist material to a printed circuit board, wherein the resist material is in a solid form, it is frequently desirable to preheat either the resist or the circuit board so as to aid the resist material in adhering to the copper surface of the circuit board. For example, in the lamination of dry-film photoresist to printed circuit boards, it is desirable to heat the photosensitive layer to a temperature approaching its softening point in order to obtain better adhesion to the electroconductive surface of the printed circuit board. Heating of circuit boards is particularly important for magnetic printing processes such as that disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 015,799 filed Mar. 2, 1979 (DE-0204A) now abandoned, wherein an image of coalescible magnetic toner particles is brought into contact with a preheated circuit board under pressure to cause the resist image to transfer to the circuit board. The resultant imaged circuit board is then subjected to the usual additive or subtractive processes to form the desired circuit pattern.
Heating of circuit boards has been done in many ways. For example, in ovens, between hot rolls, under heat lamps and by induction heating. While each of these can be useful in certain applications and under particular conditions, each also has substantial disadvantages.
When circuit boards are heated in ovens, of course the entire mass of the board is heated, that is, not only the electroconductive surface, but also the board mass. With such bulk heating of the board, the board expands, often anisotropically, and causes problems of registration of the resist material on the circuit board. In addition, such bulk heating can cause distortion and warping of certain circuit boards.
The process referred to in the above-referred U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 015,799 discloses such an oven which is comprised of spaced in-line hot plates just upstream from the resist application step. The circuit board, copper layer side down, is rested on the lower hot plate, while the upper heat plate heats the dielectric support side of the circuit board. When the entire board is preheated, it is then forwarded to the resist application step.
It has now been found that much board distortion and warping can be avoided by merely "skin heating" the board, that is, heating the metallic surface of the board to a suitably high temperature without substantially heating the board mass. One way of doing this, which has been suggested, is radiant heat using heat lamps or other sources of radiant heat. This approach has proved to be rather inefficient and, because of the increasingly high cost of energy, uneconomical. The inefficiency of radiant heating is in large part due to reflection of the radiant heat off the electroconductive surface. This results in the surfaces being heated up relatively slowly with the result that, by the time the surface obtains the desired temperature, the metal layer is transferring substantial heat to the dielectric support. This disadvantage is particularly acute in the case of copper surfaces which constitute the majority of electroconductive surfaces used for printed circuit boards. Infrared heating cannot achieve suitably low energy consumption for skin preheating unless the surface of the conductive layer is blackened. This has the disadvantage, however, of requiring an extra manufacturing step and of requiring eventual removal of the black coloration as well.
Another way of skin heating, which has been proposed, is the use of heated rubber-coated rolls. The use of heated aluminum rolls was unsatisfactory in that the smaller nip area resulted in even less efficient heating of the board.
A still further skin heating method has been tried, namely induction heating. Induction heating raises the surface temperature of the circuit board by exposing it to a rapidly alternating electro magnetic field. The copper or other metal is heated as the metal molecules vibrate rapidly in response to the alternating magnetic field. Despite the potentially efficient heating and simple preheater design of the inductive heater, the power supply required to heat circuit boards with adequate efficiency requires excessive capital investment.
The use of hot air jets impacting on the board surface has also been explored but this requires the handling of large quantities of air and is therefore uneconomical. It would appear that resistance heating by passing a current through the surface board, at least in the case of electroconductive metal surfaces, would be effective to heat the layer for lamination. However, this was found to be impracticable because of the concentration of heat around reduced cross-sectional areas.
Thus, while skin heating would eliminate substantial board distortion, it has heretofore been extremely difficult to carry out in an energy efficient and economically reasonable manner.


A process of producing a honeycomb-structural body capable of preventing abrupt heat generation of molding aids and a pore-forming agent by increasing or decreasing the oxygen concentration in the firing atmosphere for the temperature region wherein the pore-forming agent and the molding aids hardly thermally decompose or easily thermally decompose, respectively; or promoting the firing by controlling the oxygen content in the firing atmosphere to be increased for the temperature region wherein the pore-forming agent and the molding aids are hardly burning, so as to reduce the temperature difference existing between the interior or exterior of honeycomb-structural body during firing, thereby to perform an optimal firing in a good condition to attain an uniformity of the specific properties in the interior and the exterior of such a honeycomb structural body by reducing the temperature difference of the same. Furthermore, since it is not required to make the rate of firing lower during firing operation, it is possible to shorten the firing schedule and the efficiency of production is promoted. Accordingly, the process according to the invention is useful in particular for the production of a ceramic honeycomb-structural body.

Heretofore, it has been a common practice in the preparation of a honeycomb-structural body that a green body of ceramic mixture prepared by mixing ceramic material and molding aids and/or a pore-forming agent was molded firstly to a desired form in a forming mold and then extruded to obtain a desired honeycomb-structural body. The thus-prepared mold was fired in a continuous-feed furnace or in a periodic kiln under a predetermined temperature to attain an ultimate ceramic honeycomb-structural body.
In the firing of such a honeycomb-structural body, several admixtures are essentially employed to be mixed into the ceramic material, such as an organic binder, a surface-active agent (e.g., methyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, starch paste, wheat flour, glycerol), a molding aids (e.g., wax and the like), and a pore-forming material (e.g., graphite, starch, sawdust and the like, all of which exhibit a differential specificity, as reviewed below. More particularly, the molding auxiliaries and pore-forming material may generally suffer from an inconvenience that they hardly can be burnt off (i.e., thermally decomposed) by heating from the outside of the honeycomb-structural body during the firing operation, while once they are burnt, they may be fired abruptly to generate heat. Additionally, each of such molding aids has a different ignition temperature. For this reason, there may possibly generate a substantial difference in the temperatures between the interior and the exterior of such a honeycomb-structural body. With such a differential temperature, it is possible that cracks may generate in the inside or end surface of the honeycomb-structural body or melting may occur in the interior thereof. Additionally, owing to a substantial difference in the degree of firing of such molding auxiliaries and/or pore-forming agent existing in the interior and the exterior of the honeycomb structure, the properties of such a honeycomb-structural body may possibly be non-uniform between the interior and the exterior of the structure. For instance, if a pore-forming agent in a certain area has burned abruptly, it generates irregularly greater pores in the specific area where there was such an abrupt burning. In this respect, therefore, it is generally the practice in the firing operation of such a ceramic green body to employ a smaller rate of temperature rising for the purpose of suppressing an abrupt firing in the interior of a ceramic green body in an attempt to prevent the generation of cracks and interior melting of such a green body and the resulting non-uniformity in the properties between the interior and the exterior of the fired products. However, with a lower temperature rising in the firing operation, a problem results in that the schedule of operation may naturally be extended, and the efficiency of production may be adversely affected.

Method of manufacturing ceramic honeycomb-structural body


Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media are described for generating a virtual keyboard user interface with at least one multi-state display portion. The user interface may include a plurality of keys of a virtual keyboard generated on a display, with at least one key among the plurality of keys having a first function. The user interface may also include a mnemonic device configured to be displayed on the virtual keyboard, where the mnemonic device may be irrelevant to the first function. The mnemonic device may have a first display state when the at least one key is not selected, and have a second display state when the at least one key is selected. In some aspects, the mnemonic device has a reduced visibility in the first display state and a heightened visibility in the second display state, so as to emphasize the second display state.

Animations associated with the use of a key typically relate to the key itself and the specific function that the key represents within a virtual keyboard. For example, the animation may highlight a key or the character symbols on a key when the key is pressed or the key may move in some way, such as appearing to be pressed down, so a user knows that the key has been selected. Other animations associated with virtual keys include making a key glow for some period of time, resizing the key, etc. It is also known to place a brand associated with a virtual keyboard somewhere on the keyboard, such as an unused area of the keyboard or on the spacebar. When branding is included on a key, the key (or characters on the key) on which the brand is displayed either does not change when the key is pressed or the key/character changes in some manner, such as the color of the key, and the brand changes in exactly the same manner as the key/character. In other words, the brand acts in exactly the same manner that other characters or symbols on other keys act when those keys are utilized in some way.
Virtual keyboards often include associated predictive technology that predicts next characters or words for use by a user, suggests or automatically corrects entries, and/or suggests or automatically completes certain words or phrases. Predictive keyboards present the one or more candidates/corrections/completions in a variety of ways, such as a candidate button at the top of the keyboard. Selecting a candidate button will insert the candidate into the text area of the display or possibly replace text already on the display, e.g., if a correction or completion.

Systems and methods for multiuse of keys for virtual keyboard and generating animation associated with a key


A feed device for birds in which a feed distribution assembly is mounted at the bottom of a feed container. The distribution assembly includes a downwardly outwardly slanted lower wall which forces seed to the inner outside peripheral surfaces of the assembly against an intermediate wall which includes openings therethrough. Such openings are normally partially aligned with similar openings formed in an encircling band about the intermediate wall which band is adjustably rotatable thereon such that the desire rate of feed distribution is dependent on the species to be attracted and the seed size utilized.

This invention is directed to a bird feeder construction and more particularly with a bird feeder which may selectively increase or decrease the flow of seed therethrough to a feed position for birds.
Desirable features of bird feeders include the ability to effectively distribute different sized feed material, that is, the feeder should be able to be utilized on one hand for the distribution of fine seeds such as thistle seed and be similarly capable for efficient distribution of large, i.e., sunflower, seeds with a minimum of adjustment or modification. Another desirable bird feeder feature is that they may additionally present the feed in a position which is readily accessible for the feeding of birds in a natural position and thus enables the effective use of the device for intended bird species. In addition, this position in which the seed is presented should desirably be one in which a mass or body of seed is held together such that the birds can peck at to dislodge individual seeds such that a more natural way of feeding is simulated, that is, the feeder should be capable of preventing the free flow or scattering of the seed.
Many types of bird feeder constructions are available which provide for one or more of the above such indicated desirable features but none provide such an effective or unique operational manner as the present invention.
Accordingly, the above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a feed device for birds including an upper vertically disposed container for the receipt and storage of seed and a seed distribution assembly mounted at said container bottom such that seed from said container may pass therethrough, said assembly including a downwardly outwardly slanted lower wall on which said seed may collect in a pile therein and further including an upstanding circular, peripherally extending combination perch and seed collection tray disposed at the bottom thereof and an intermediate wall extending upright from the outer periphery of said lower wall, said intermediate wall having a plurality of separate circumferentially-spaced feed openings therethrough such that seed from said pile is visible through said intermediate wall, said assembly further including an upright circular band frictionally mounted on the outside of said intermediate wall for limited rotational positioning with respect thereto, said band including a plurality of separate circumferentially-spaced openings such that rotation of said band selectively at least partially blocks some of said feed openings in said intermediate wall and wherein said lower wall openings and said band openings each have laterally-spaced first and second side edges defining the lateral extent of said openings and wherein at least some of said opening side edges are angularly slanted such that superposing a slanted first side edge of said band with a second side edge of said lower wall forms a somewhat triangular limited feed access opening through which birds may pluck seed from said pile.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.


The invention provides for the simplified production of chromogenic devices, including relatively large scale devices in panel form. One or more of the layers of the invention are formed from heated, hydrolyzed gel reaction product of one or more dissolved organo-inorganics, such as alkoxides, which may be metallic. The invention includes an ion-conducting layer which comprises a lithium based ceramic material containing residual organic impurities.

This invention relates to the creation of electrochromic structures through which energy, including light, can be transmitted under controlled conditions, and more particularly, to electrochromic structures for the controlled energy transmission.
A wide variety of chromogenic structures are available for controlling the through-passage of energy. Such devices operate "chromatically" by producing a change in coloration in accordance with an applied stimulus or excitation.
Thus, a thermochromic device produces a color change in response to temperature. The resultant coloration of, for example, a sheet of material, depends upon the temperature to which the sheet is subjected. There is, however, the objection that a user has only limited control over the coloration since it is temperature dependent.
Another chromogenic device is "photochromic" in that its coloration depends upon the intensity of light that falls upon the device. When glass or other transparent materials are doped with silver halide, a light-induced reaction produces increased darkening with increased intensity of light. Here again, the degree of coloration is dependent upon external effects.
Still another chromogenic device depends upon the extent to which an electrical stimulus is applied and thus is termed "electrochromic". In such devices the nature and extent of coloration depends upon an electrical effect.
Unfortunately, it has been difficult to produce economically electrochromic devices with useful properties, particularly large-scale devices. Consequently, it has been difficult to produce panels with surfaces of the kind needed for architectural windows, skylights and other transparent substrate based products. It also has been difficult to produce economically electrochromic sun glasses, goggles and automotive products.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to facilitate the manufacture and use of chromogenic structures. A related object is to facilitate large scale chromogenic applications in which appreciable surface areas are required.
Still another object of the invention is to adapt chromogenic devices to light transmissive structures such as skylights and other arrangements that are intended to provide control over natural illumination over relatively large areas.
A further object of the invention is to facilitate the manufacture and use of electrochromic structures, particularly for relatively large scale applications.


In a touch system, a transmitter (TX) driving unit generates at least one pair of orthogonal drive signals, each pair having a specific frequency. At least one pair of TX electrode lines is simultaneously driven by the at least one pair of orthogonal drive signals, respectively. A sense signal is induced on a receiver (RX) electrode line by capacitances disposed between the TX electrode lines and the RX electrode line. An RX detection unit detects the sense signal to simultaneously result in two sense components that respectively estimate the capacitances associated with the TX electrode lines of the pair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a touch system, and more particularly to a touch system in which at least one pair of electrode lines may be simultaneously driven and detected.
2. Description of Related Art
A touch screen is an input/output device that combines touch technology and display technology to enable users to directly interact with what is displayed. FIG. 1 shows waveforms of driving signals conventionally used to drive a touch screen. Specifically, during period t0 to t3, while a first electrode line associated with a driving signal TX1 is driven, other electrode lines (e.g., a second and a third electrode lines associated with driving signals TX2 and TX3) should be waited. In the same manner, the second electrode line is driven during period t3 to t6, and the third electrode line is driven during period t6 to t9. Therefore, a large amount of time from t0 to t9 is needed to complete driving three electrode lines.
It is worth noting that the conventional driving scheme as demonstrated above cannot be adapted to an advanced touch screen with bigger panel size and/or larger resolution for the reason that a signal processor cannot complete driving and detection in time without detection loss.
For the foregoing reasons, a need has arisen to propose a novel scheme to substantially increase driving speed.


A frame buffer dynamic random access memory (FBRAM) is disclosed that enables accelerated rendering of Z-buffered graphics primitives. The FBRAM converts read-modify-write transactions such as Z-buffer compare and RBG alpha blending into a write only operation. The FBRAM also implements two levels of internal pixel caches, and a four-way interleaved frame buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of computer graphics systems. More particularly, this invention relates to a frame buffer memory device that provides a write-mostly architecture for accelerated rendering operations.
2. Art Background
Prior computer graphics systems typically employ a frame buffer comprised of video random access memory (VRAM) chips. The VRAM chips store a set of pixel data that defines an image for display on display device. Typically, a rendering controller in such a system renders the image and writes the pixel data into the VRAM chips. In such a system, a random access memory digital to analog conversion device (RAMDAC) typically accesses the pixel data from the VRAM chips and performs color lookup table and digital to analog conversion functions on the pixel data. The RAMDAC usually generates a set of video signals for generating the image on the display device.
Prior VRAM chips typically contain a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) array along with a random access port and a serial access port. Typically, the rendering controller accesses the DRAM array of a VRAM chip through the random access port. The RAMDAC typically accesses the DRAM array of a VRAM chip through the serial access port.
Typical prior VRAM chips implement a DRAM page mode access mechanism for the parallel access port. The DRAM page mode access mechanism provides a set of sense amplifiers that enable access to a page of the DRAM array. The page mode sense amplifiers typically map to horizontal rows of the raster scan displayed on the display device. The DRAM page mode access mechanism usually enables relatively high speed access to pixels arranged along the horizontal rows of the raster scan. For example, the DRAM page mode access mechanism enables the rendering controller to perform relatively high speed rendering into a frame buffer comprised of such VRAM chips while drawing horizontal lines or performing block fills.
On the other hand, the DRAM page mode mechanism of such prior VRAM chips delivers severely reduced pixel access speeds if the rendering controller traverses more than two or three rows of the raster scan while drawing a line. Typically, a pixel access that traverses the vertical boundaries of a sense amplifier page causes such a VRAM chip to drop out of page mode and reload the sense amplifies with a new page from the DRAM array. As a result, the rendering of most graphics primitives cause such VRAM chips to drop out of page mode, thereby reducing rendering throughput in such prior systems.
Moreover, the sense amplifiers in such a VRAM chip usually require a precharge time interval before loading from the new rows from the DRAM array. Such a precharge access latency typically occurs each time the VRAM chips drop out of page mode. Such precharge access latencies increase the access time to the DRAM array and severely reduces overall pixel access speeds while the rendering controller draws commonly occurring graphics primitives.
As a consequence, the performance of many prior rendering controllers has surpassed the input bandwidth of typical prior VRAM chips. Some prior computer graphics systems attempt to overcome the bandwidth limitations of prior VRAM chips by increasing the width of input/output busses to the VRAM chips. Other prior computer graphics systems implement interleaved VRAM frame buffers with high interleave factors. Unfortunately, the increased bus widths and high interleave factors for such prior systems greatly increases the costs of such systems.
Typically, the rendering processor in a system that employs prior VRAM chips performs read-modify-write access cycles to the random access port of the VRAM chips while rendering Z buffered images. The typical Z-buffer algorithm for hidden surface rendering requires that the rendering processor read an old Z value from the Z-buffer of the frame buffer, numerically compare the old Z value with a new Z value, and then conditionally replace the old Z and other associated pixel values with the new Z and associated pixel values.
In addition, the rendering controller in such systems typically performs blending functions that require read-modify-write access cycles to the random access port of the VRAM chips. Blending functions are performed during compositing functions and during rendering of transparent objects and anti-aliased lines. A blending operation typically requires that the rendering controller add a fraction of a new pixel value to a fraction of an old pixel value stored in the frame buffer.
Such read-modify-write accesses require that data traverse the random access port input/output pins of the VRAM chips twice during each access. For example, during Z-buffer operations the Z data traverses the data pins of a VRAM chip a first time to read the old Z value, and a second time to write the new Z value. In addition, a read operation to a prior VRAM chip is typically slower than a write operation. Moreover, the data pins of typical VRAM chips impose an electrical turn around time penalty between the read and the write operations. As a consequence, such read-modify-write operations are significantly slower than write operations.
Some prior systems employ complex techniques such as burst batches of read or write operations to reduce electrical turn around delays. Unfortunately, the fragmentation effects of burst batches limit the performance enhancement provided by such techniques. Because of the turnaround time penalty, they are also even slower than the time to perform a read plus the time to perform a write.
Prior computer graphics systems that employ such VRAM chips may implement fast clear operations for a limited number of display windows by providing a fast clear bit plane for each display window having fast clear. The fast clear bit plane indicates the pixels that correspond to cleared display windows. Such systems typically employ the flash write mode of prior VRAMs to clear a set of fast clear bits in one page precharge plus access cycle. Unfortunately, the extra bit planes in such systems increases the size of the frame buffer memory and the number of VRAM chips, hereby increasing system cost. Further, a system that employs such extra bit planes usually provides only a limited number of fast clear windows.

Graphics system with multiported pixel buffers for accelerated pixel processing


The present invention is directed to an adjustable motorcycle backrest assembly that allows adjustment of the height and tilt of a backrest. The assembly includes a mounting bracket configured to conform to and fit between the driver's seat and the front edge of a passenger's seat. The height and tilt adjustable portion of the assembly slides into the mounting bracket and includes the means to slide the adjustable assembly upward and downward. A hinged clamp positioned at the top of the sliding assembly along with a tilting bracket provide the mechanism to adjust the tilt of the backrest. Loosening and tightening of a single bolt allows adjustment of both the height and tilt of the motorcycle backrest.

Motorcycle riding has become a popular means of transportation and recreation. It has been increasing in recent years and has brought on the availability of accompanying accessories including items that can be attached to the motorcycle or worn by the rider. To that extent, motorcycle enthusiasts and manufactures have sought to find ways to increase the comfort of the rider. In particular, it is desirable to have motorcycles equipped with a backrest for the rider to provide comfort and ease the fatigue of riding long distances.
Several approaches have been taken to incorporate a backrest to a motorcycle. Some backrest assemblies allow the height and the backward travel angle of the backrest pad to be adjusted, however, tools are required to perform the adjustments. Another aftermarket backrest available allows height adjustment or removal of the backrest from the motorcycle without the use of tools. However, the height adjustment is by means of a ball-type detent. Such a detent allows manual adjustment of the backrest height from one position to another, but does not provide positive locking of the backrest in a particular position. Another attempt at providing a backrest includes an adjustable supporting bracket for a backrest that may be disposed and slides between a mounting bracket, however it requires a retractable spring plunger to adjust and lock the height into place.
The prior art does not address the need of a motorcycle accessory for a touring motorcycle, in particular, of a custom bracket that features the backrest assembly which satisfies the riders need to adjust the height and tilt of the backrest with ease. The present invention addresses the need.


There is provided a method of making absorbent sheet including the steps of: (a) an aqueous cellulosic furnish on a foraminous support; (b) at least partially dewatering the furnish to form a nascent web; (c) applying the nascent web to a rotating cylinder and drying the web to a consistency of from about 30 to about 90 percent solids; (d) creping the web at the consistency of from about 30 to about 90 percent while maintaining a narrow creping shelf effective width; and (e) drying the creped web to form an absorbent sheet, wherein the absorbent sheet exhibits a Void Volume of at least about 3.5 gms/gm. The process is advantageously applied to absorbent sheet having a thickness of from about 0.003 inches to about 0.010 inches while utilizing a creping blade having a creping surface with a ledge width of from about 0.005 inches to about 0.025 inches.

The present invention relates generally to methods for making absorbent sheet and more particularly to a wet-crepe process utilizing a narrow crepe shelf configuration.
Wet crepe processes for making absorbent sheet are known in the art, for example, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,936 to Cole et al. a wet-crepe, throughair dry process wherein a web is creped off a Yankee cylinder and subsequently throughdried on an impression fabric. While various conditions may be employed, creping is carried out at 40 percent consistency (Example. 1) and drying rates approach 28 pounds of water removed/hour-ft2 (Example 2).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,059 to Hostetler is directed to a system for producing absorbent sheet wherein the web is creped from a first creping surface, passes through a nip formed between a dewatering felt and a printing fabric and is applied to and creped from a second creping surface. According to the ""059 patent, the web has a consistency of from about 40 to 50 percent after creping from the first rotating heated cylinder. See Column 3, lines 5-15.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,353 to Fiscus et al. discloses a method for can drying wet webs for tissue products to preserve wet bulk. In one embodiment, the patent describes restraining a wet-creped web between a pair of sheet molding fabrics. The restrained wet web is processed over a plurality of can dryers to dry the wet web, for example, from a consistency of from about 40 percent to a consistency of at least about 70 percent. The sheet molding in the fabrics protect the web from direct contact with the can dryers and impart an impression in the web. A can drying assembly and tissue machine for accomplishing the method are also disclosed. Prior to being restrained between the pair of molding fabrics, the wet web most typically has a consistency of from about 50 to about 60 percent. See Column 6, lines 1-5.
There is provided in accordance with the present invention a method of making absorbent sheet including the steps of: (a) depositing an aqueous cellulosic furnish on a foraminous support; (b) at least partially dewatering the furnish to form a nascent web; (c) applying the nascent web to a rotating cylinder and drying the web to a consistency of from about 30 to about 90 percent solids; (d) creping the web at the consistency of from about 30 to about 90 percent while maintaining a narrow creping shelf about a creping surface of a creping blade; and (e) drying the creped web to form the absorbent sheet, wherein the absorbent sheet exhibits a Void Volume of at least about 3.5 gms/gm. The process is advantageously applied to absorbent sheet having a thickness of from about 0.003 inches to about 0.010 inches. A preferred blade has creping ledge widths of from about 0.005 to about 0.025 inches.
In one embodiment, water may be pressed out of the sheet in a conventional cold press, either a roll or shoe press and the sheet is creped off one of the press rolls in accordance with the present invention. The sheet may then be molded into a fabric and dried in a single tier can section arrangement to produce a high porosity sheet.
As used herein the term percent or % refers to weight percent and the term consistency refers to weight percent of fiber unless the context indicates otherwise.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cVoid Volumexe2x80x9d is determined by saturating a sheet with a nonpolar liquid and measuring the volume of liquid absorbed. The volume of liquid absorbed is equivalent to the Void Volume within the sheet structure. The Void Volume is expressed as grams of liquid absorbed per gram of fiber in the sheet structure. More specifically, for each single-ply sheet sample to be tested, 8 sheets are selected and cut out a 1 inch by 1 inch square (1 inch in the machine direction and 1 inch in the cross-machine direction). For multi-ply product samples, each ply is measured as a separate entity. Multiply samples should be separated into individual single plies and 8 sheets from each ply position used for testing. Weigh and record the dry weight of each test specimen to the nearest 0.0001 gram. Place the specimen in a dish containing POROFIL(trademark) liquid, having a specific gravity of 1.875 grams per cubic centimeter, available from Coulter Electronics Ltd., Northwell Drive, Luton, Beds, England; Part No. 9902458.) After 10 seconds, grasp the specimen at the very edge (1-2 millimeters in) of one corner with tweezers and remove from the liquid. Hold the specimen with that comer uppermost and allow excess liquid to drip for 30 seconds. Lightly dab (less than xc2xd second contact) the lower comer of the specimen on #4 filter paper (Whatman Ltd., Maidstone, England) in order to remove any excess of the last partial drop. Immediately weight the specimen, within 10 seconds, recording the weight to the nearest 0.0001 gram. The Void Volume for each specimen, expressed as grams of POROFIL per gram of fiber, is calculated as follows:
Void Volume=[W2xe2x88x92W1)/W1],
wherein
xe2x80x9cW1xe2x80x9d is the dry weight of the specimen, in grams; and
xe2x80x9cW2xe2x80x9d is the wet weight of the specimen, in grams.
The Void Volume for all eight individual specimens is determined as described above and the average of the eight specimens is the Void Volume for the sample.

Wet-crepe process utilizing narrow crepe shelf for making absorbent sheet


An in-vehicle electronic system includes: an in-vehicle electronic apparatus mounted in a vehicle; and a portable electronic apparatus detachably provided to the in-vehicle electronic apparatus, and the in-vehicle electronic apparatus causes the portable electronic apparatus to be operable, when the in-vehicle electronic apparatus being operable detects attachment of the portable electronic apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic apparatus in which a portable electronic apparatus is detachably provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
As conventional navigation apparatuses, there are widely known small-sized portable navigation apparatuses with simplified structure and portability, also known as Personal Navigation Device (hereinafter, referred to as PND); and in-vehicle navigation apparatuses accommodated and fixed in a recess portion (DIN opening) formed in a dashboard of a vehicle. The in-vehicle navigation apparatuses are capable of guiding with high accuracy by use of the information supplied from vehicles such as vehicle speed, and some of the in-vehicle navigation apparatuses are equipped with audio devices.
In recent years, there have been proposed an audio navigation system with both portability of the PND type navigation apparatus and high-accuracy guide function of the in-vehicle navigation apparatus. This audio navigation system is provided with an audio portion and a navigation portion, and the main body thereof is accommodated and fixed in the DIN opening of the vehicle. However, the navigation portion is removable from the audio portion. The removed navigation portion is configured such that the power supply is equipped therein and the navigation is enabled with the navigation portion removed.
Accordingly, in the audio navigation system equipped with the detachable navigation portion, how to improve the user friendliness remains to be solved.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-199220 discloses a technique of turning off the power supply of the car audio main body, when the panel of the car audio is removed from the main body thereof.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-103999, the navigation apparatus includes a main navigation apparatus mounted and fixed in a vehicle and a sub navigation apparatus detachably provided in the vehicle. The sub navigation apparatus is powered on by the operation of an operation switch and the navigation is performed.
However, according to a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-199220, when the panel is removed from the car audio main body, the power supply of the car audio main body is just turned off to prevent the forgetting to turn off the power supply of the car audio main body. The technique does not focus on a technical challenge for the improvement of the user-friendliness of at what timing the power on and off of the apparatus removed from the main body should be changed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-103999 also describes the technique for changing on and off of the power of the sub navigation apparatus by means of the operation of the operation switch, and does not address the above-described challenge.

In-vehicle electronic system, in-vehicle electronic apparatus and method of controlling power supply of portable electronic device


An earphone cushion includes a body formed of a partially reticulated polymeric foam and including a front surface configured to engage or surround the ear of a user, and a rear surface, a snap ring at least partially embedded in and integrally formed with the body and including a periphery configured to engage one or more retention elements of an earcup of a headphone, and a non-porous film on the front surface of the body.

Wireless and mobile electronic devices are increasingly popular. In some instances, the sound generated by the wireless and mobile electronic devices is transmitted through wires to one or more speakers that are positioned adjacent to the user's ears. In some instances, the generated sound can be transmitted to speakers via wireless transmission devices. One example of a speaker system positioned adjacent to the user's ears is a set of headphones.
In addition to speakers, headphones can include materials for softening the contact of the headphones against the user's ear (a supra-aural design) or against portions of the user's head adjacent to the user's ears (a circum-aural design). The materials are intended to provide comfort to the user as the headphones are used and may reduce the amount of external noise reaching the user's ear and/or may absorb noise such as audio rendered by an audio driver of the headphones that is reflected from a portion of the user's ear or head, or any reverberant sound wave within the earcushion plenum These materials may be formed into what is referred to herein as earphone cushions or earcushions.


A control device for a vehicle is provided, which vehicle includes a driving source, and an automatic transmission having a torque converter provided downstream of the driving source in a power transmission path and having a lockup clutch, and an engaging element provided downstream of the torque converter in the power transmission path. The device includes a control unit which engages the engaging element in a state where the lockup clutch is engaged if an accelerator opening becomes not smaller than a predetermined opening during neutral running control in which the automatic transmission is brought into a power shut-off state during running of the vehicle.

JP2013-213557 discloses a control device for a vehicle adapted to execute so-called sailing-stop control in which, when a predetermined condition is met, a clutch is disengaged so that an automatic transmission is brought into a neutral state (power shut-off state) and a vehicle is made to run while a driving source is stopped.

Control device for vehicle and control method for vehicle


A method for selecting amino acid residues is disclosed which upon replacement will give rise to an enzyme with an altered pH optimum. The method is specific for metalloenzymes which are inactivated at low pH due to the dissociation of the metal ions. The method is based on altering the pK.sub.a of the metal coordinating ligands or altering the K.sub.ass for the metal binding. New glucose isomerases with an altered pH optimum are provided according to this method. These altered properties enable starch degradation to be performed at lower pH values.

Industrial application of glucose isomerase
In industrial starch degradation enzymes play an important role. The enzyme .alpha.-amylase is used for liquefaction of starch into dextrins with a polymerization degree of about 7-10. Subsequently the enzyme .alpha.-amyloglucosidase is used for saccharification which results in a syrup containing 92-96% glucose. The reversible isomerization of glucose into fructose is catalyzed by the enzyme glucose (or xylose) isomerase. The correct nomenclature of this enzyme is D-xylose-ketolisomerase (EC 22.214.171.124) due to the enzyme's preference for xylose. However, because of the enzyme's major application in the conversion of glucose to fructose it is commonly called glucose isomerase. The equilibrium constant for this isomerization is close to unity so under optimal process conditions about 50% of the glucose is converted. The equilibrium mixture of glucose and fructose is known as high fructose syrup.
Fructose is much sweeter to the human taste than glucose or sucrose which makes it an economically competitive sugar substitute.
Many microorganisms which were found to produce glucose isomerase, have been applied industrially. A detailed review of the industrial use of glucose isomerases has been given by Wen-Pin Chen in Process Biochemistry, 15 June/July (1980) 30-41 and August/September (1980) 36-41.
The Wen-Pin Chen reference describes culture conditions for the microorganisms, as well as recovery and purification methods for the enzyme. In addition it also summarizes the properties of glucose isomerases such as the substrate specificity, temperature optima and pH optima, heat stability and metal ion requirement.
Glucose isomerase requires a bivalent cation such as Mg.sup.2+, CO.sup.2+, Mn.sup.2+ or a combination of these cations for its catalytic activity. Determination of 3D structures of different glucose isomerases has revealed the presence of two metal ions in the monomeric unit (Farber et al., Protein Eng. 1 (1987) 459-466; Rey et al., Proteins 4 (1987) 165-172; Henrick et al., Protein Eng. 1 (1987) 467-475).
Apart from a role in the catalytic mechanism, bivalent cations are also reported to increase the thermostability of some glucose isomerases (M. Callens et al. in Enzyme Microb. Technol. 1988 (10), 695-700). Furthermore, the catalytic activity of glucose isomerase is severely inhibited by Ag.sup.+, Hg.sup.2+, Cu.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+ and Ca.sup.2+.
Glucose isomerases usually have their pH optimum between 7.0 and 9.0. There are several reasons why it would be beneficial to use glucose isomerase at a lower pH value. Three of these reasons;
a) stability of the sugar molecules, PA1 b) adaptation both to previous and/or later process steps and PA1 c) stability of the enzyme, will be further described below to illustrate this.
a) Under alkaline conditions and at elevated temperatures the formation of coloured by-products and the production of a non-metabolizable sugar (D-Psicose) are a problem. The desired working pH should be around 6.0. Around this pH degradation of glucose and fructose would be minimal.
b) A lowered pH optimum is also desirable for glucose isomerase when this enzyme is to be used in combination with other enzymes, or between other enzymatic steps, for example in the manufacturing of high fructose syrups. In this process one of the other enzymatic steps, the saccharification by .alpha.-glucoamylase is performed at pH 4.5.
c) Most of the known glucose isomerases are applied at pH 7.5. This pH value is a compromise between a higher initial activity at higher pH and a better stability of the immobilized enzyme at lower pH, resulting in an optimal productivity at the pH chosen (R. v. Tilburg, Thesis: "Engineering aspects of Biocatalysts in Industrial Starch Conversion Technology", Delftse Universitaire Pers, 1983). Application of glucose isomerase at a pH lower than 7.5 could benefit from the longer half-life and, combined with an improved higher specific activity, would consequently increase the productivity of the immobilized enzyme at that lower pH.
From the above it can be concluded that there is need for glucose isomerases with a higher activity at lower pH values under process conditions.
Many microorganisms were screened for a glucose isomerase with a lower pH optimum. Despite many efforts, this approach did not lead to novel commercial glucose isomerases.
In order to be able to change pH-activity profile of glucose isomerases towards lower pH by protein engineering it is important to recognize the underlying effects which give rise to the rapid decrease in catalytic performance at acidic pH.
The role of metal ions in enzymes
Two different functions for metal ions in enzymes can be envisaged.
First of all metal ions can have a structural role. This means that they are involved in maintaining the proper 3D-structure and, therefore, contribute to the (thermo)stability of the enzyme molecule. An example of such a structural and stabilizing role is Ca.sup.2+ in the subtilisin family of serine proteinases.
Secondly, metal ions can act as a cofactor in the catalytic mechanism. In this case the enzyme activity is strictly dependent upon the presence of the metal ion in the active site. The metal ion may for instance serve as a bridge between the enzyme and the substrate (e.g. Ca.sup.2+ in phospholipase binds the phosphate group of the substrate) or it may activate water to become a powerful nucleophilic hydroxyl ion (Zn.sup.2+ --OH.sup.-).
Examples are the Zn.sup.2+ -proteases such as thermolysin and carboxypeptidase, carbonic anhydrase (Zn.sup.2+), phospholipase-A.sub.2 (Ca.sup.2+) staphylococcal nuclease (Ca.sup.2+) and alkaline phosphatases (Mg.sup.2+, Ca.sup.2+). Examples of alpha/beta barrel enzymes which require cations to polarize a carboxyl or a carbonyl group in order to transfer hydrogen are glucose/xylose isomerase (Mg.sup.2+), ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO) (Mg.sup.2+), enolase (Mg.sup.2+), yeast aldolase (Mg.sup.2+, K.sup.1+), mandolate racemase (Mg.sup.2+), muconate cycloisomerase (Mn.sup.2+). In the presence of metal chelating agents (such as EDTA), these enzymes loose their activity completely.
The binding of metal ions in a protein molecule usually involves coordination by 4 or 6 ligands. Depending on the type of metal ion, different ligands are found. For instance magnesium and calcium are usually liganded by oxygen atoms from either a carbonyl group of the protein main chain, a carbonyl group from a glutamine or asparagine side chain or the carboxylate from an aspartic- or glutamic acid side chain. Zinc and copper ions are usually liganded by nitrogen atoms from a histidine side chain or the sulfur atoms from cystein and methionine.
Factors determining the pH dependence of an enzyme
The activity of an enzyme is dependent on the pH value of the aqueous medium. This dependence is caused by the (de)protonation of ionizable groups in the active site of the enzyme on the one hand, and ionizable groups of the substrate, or product (if present) on the other hand. Ionizable groups in proteins involve the side chains of the basic amino acids lysine, arginine and histidine (carrying a positive charge in the protonated form), and the acidic amino acids aspartic acid, glutamic acid, cystein and tyrosine (all carrying a negative charge upon deprotonation). Furthermore, the amino group of the N-terminus and carboxyl group of the C-terminus carry a positive and negative charge respectively. The pK.sub.a -values of some amino acids are depicted in Table 1.
TABLE 1. ______________________________________ Ionizable groups of amino acids as occurring in proteins [Cantor and Schimmel, 1980, Biophysical chemistry, W. H. Freeman, San Fransisco] pK.sub.a ______________________________________ Positive charge (base) N-terminus 7.5-8.5 Lysine 10.5 Arginine 12.5 Histidine 6.0-7.0 Negative charge (acid) C-terminus 3.0-4.0 Aspartic acid 3.9 Glutamic acid 4.3 Cystein 8.3 Tyrosine 10.1 ______________________________________
It should be realised that these pK.sub.a -values are valid for model compounds and that great variations both within and between different proteins occur, due to the specific environment of the ionizable group. Electrostatic effects are known to play a fundamental role in enzyme function and structures (see J. A. Matthew et al, CRC Critical Reviews in Biochemistry, 18 (1985) 91-197). The presence of a positive charge near an ionizable group will lower its pK.sub.a while a negative charge will cause an increase in pK.sub.a. The magnitude of the effect decreases with the distance between the ionizable group and the charge. Moreover, the magnitude of this decrease is dependent upon the dielectric constant of the medium. Especially catalytic residues may reveal pK.sub.8 -values which deviate from these averages (see for instance Fersht, Enzyme structure and mechanism, 1985, W. H. Freeman, New York).
The pH-dependence of an enzyme catalyzed reaction can be dissected into the pH-dependence of the Michaelis constant K.sub.m and the pH-dependence of the turn-over rate constant k.sub.cat (equivalent to V.sub.max). These parameters represent the binding of the substrate in the ground-state and transition-state respectively. The pH-dependent (de)protonation of amino acid side chains which affect the binding of both substrate forms, or which are otherwise involved in the catalytic event (e.g. proton uptake and release as in general base catalysis), therefore, determine the pH-activity profile of an enzyme.
For instance the protonation of the histidine in the catalytic triad of serine proteases (both the trypsin- and subtilisin family) is responsible for the loss of activity at lower pH-values (<7). In this case, the pK.sub.a of the enzyme activity is directly related to the pK.sub.a of this histidine residue.
As a second example, the two aspartic acid residues in aspartyl proteases, such as pepsin and chymosin, can be mentioned. These groups determine the pH optimum of these proteases. The typical structural arrangement of the aspartic acids causes them to have different pK.sub.a -values leading to the bell-shaped pH-activity profile.
It is known that altering the surface charge by extensive chemical modification can lead to significant changes in the pH dependence of catalysis. However in many cases this approach leads to inactivation and/or unwanted structural changes of the enzyme because these methods are rather unspecific. Selective chemical modification of lysines in cytochrome c was shown to have an effect on the redox-potential (D. C. Rees, J. Mol. Biol. 173, 323-326 (1980)). However, these results have been criticized because the bulky chemical reagent used for modification could perturb the structure of the protein.
Using the 3D-structure of a protein to anticipate the possibility of structural perturbation and site-directed mutagenesis, it is possible to modify the charge distribution in a protein in a very selective way.
Fersht and coworkers have shown that it is possible to manipulate the pH-activity profile of subtilisin by site-directed mutagenesis (Thomas et al, Nature, 318, 375-376 (1985); Russell et al, J. Mol. Biol., 193, 803-813 (1987); Russel and Fersht, Nature 328, 496-500 (1987)). Introduction of negatively charged groups at 10-15.ANG. from the active site at the protein surface raises the pK.sub.a value of the active site histidine. Conversely, making the surface more positively charged lowers the pK.sub.a of the acidic groups. Changing either Asp99 at 13 .ANG.ngstroms or Glu156 at 15 .ANG.ngstroms from the active site to a lysine lowers the pK.sub.a of the active site histidine by 0.6 pH units. Changing both residues simultaneously to give a double mutant with a change of four charge units, lowers the pK.sub.a by 1.0 pH unit. It appears that changes in Coulombic interactions can be cumulative.
Glucose isomerase mutants
WO 89/01520 (Cetus) lists a number of muteins of the xylose isomerase which may be obtained from Streptomyces rubiginosus and that may have an increased stability. The selection of possible sites that may be mutated is based on criteria differing from the ones used in the present invention. More than 300 mutants are listed but no data are presented concerning the characteristics and the alterations therein of the mutant enzyme molecules.
Methodologies for obtaining enzymes with improved properties
Enzymes with improved properties can be developed or found in several ways, for example by classical screening methods, by chemical modification of existing proteins, or by using modern genetic and protein engineering techniques.
Site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) is the most specific way of obtaining modified enzymes, enabling specific substitution of one or more amino acids by any other desired amino acid.

Glucose isomerases with an altered pH optimum