A rollover prevention device and method detects an impending rollover situation for a vehicle (10) having a high center of gravity (cg). The system alerts the operator to potentially dangerous driving conditions and/or automatically slows the velocity of the vehicle (10) to prevent rollover. An electronic control unit for receives output signals from wheel velocity, engine revolution, and engine load sensors and then calculates lateral acceleration, wheel slip difference, and drive torque from the signals. A lateral acceleration limit is defined by plotting lateral acceleration, wheel slip difference and drive torque as a three dimensional surface.

Approximately fifty-five percent of all tractor semi-trailer combination vehicle operator fatalities occur in rollover accidents. One or more wheels lift off of the ground in the initial stages of vehicle rollover. Wheel lift, however, is almost imperceptible to the operator until the vehicle begins to roll. Unfortunately, once the operator perceives that the vehicle has tilted and is starting to rollover, it may be too late for the operator to prevent rollover.
Vehicles with a high center of gravity such as long haul trucks and truck semi-trailer combinations are particularly susceptible to rolling over during cornering at relatively moderate speeds. FIG. 1 illustrates the physical forces that act on a vehicle 10 to cause it to rollover. The vehicle has a center of gravity (cg), and the height of the center of gravity (hcg) is the distance between this point and the ground. During steady cornering, lateral or sideways acceleration occurs, and the vehicle is influenced by a downwards force (mg) due to gravity and a lateral force (maLAT) due to lateral acceleration. When the vehicle is at rest or traveling in a straight line, the downwards force is equally distributed between the wheels at each axle as wheel load, that equals the normal force on each wheel (FN1) (FN2). During cornering, however, lateral acceleration causes a sidewise imbalance between the inner wheels 12 and the outer wheels 14 due to forces (FN1) and (FN2) that change the wheel load at each axle. Although the sideway imbalance force FN depends on several parameters such as torsional stiffness and curve radius, the these parameters may be value may be approximated a constant C and the sideways imbalance force FN may be calculated with the following equation:FN=C*hcg*aLAT As the lateral acceleration increases, the sideway imbalance force FN reduces the downwards wheel load on the inner wheels, and increases the downwards wheel load on the outer wheels. If the lateral acceleration exceeds a safe level, the inner wheel load is reduced to zero the vehicle rolls over.
FIG. 2 is a graph that illustrates the inverse relationship between the height of the center of gravity and the lateral acceleration value as vehicle rollover is approached. The solid line represents a vehicle with a high center of gravity, and the dashed line represents a vehicle with a low center of gravity. The vehicle overturns when the inner wheel load equals zero. As shown in the graph, almost twice as much lateral acceleration is required for the vehicle with the low center of gravity to overturn as is required for the vehicle with the high center of gravity.
In the past, basic rollover sensors have been employed in vehicles that detect an impending rollover condition by physically measuring the angular position of the vehicle. These basic rollover sensors use a pendulum that normally hangs vertically downward due to the earth's gravitational force. Many basic vehicular sensing devices simply monitor the angular position of the vehicle relative to a level ground horizontal position. Thus, the basic vehicle rollover sensors are susceptible to error when the vehicle travels around a turn or becomes airborne, because the earth's gravitational force, which the sensor relies on, may be overcome by other forces.
More recently, sophisticated rollover sensing systems have been utilized. One such approach requires the use of a plurality of sensors including accelerometers and angular rate sensors, also referred to as gyros, all of which are employed together for use in an inertial navigation system which tracks position and attitude of the vehicle. The accelerometers generally provide lateral, longitudinal, and vertical acceleration measurements of the vehicle, while the gyros measure pitch rate, roll rate, and yaw rate. However, the more sophisticated rollover sensing approaches generally require several costly high-precision sensors. In addition, these systems are susceptible to cumulative drift errors, and therefore they must be re-calibrated when needed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle rollover prediction and prevention system that requires a minimum of sensors and is relatively immune to errors generally found in conventional automotive-grade sensors. It is another object of the present invention to provide for vehicle rollover sensing for a vehicle that may predict a rollover condition and allow time to deploy automatic braking or engine velocity reduction. It is a further object of the present invention to provide for reliable vehicle rollover prediction and prevention with a relatively simple low-cost device.

Method and apparatus for vehicle rollover prediction and prevention


A sole body has an upper midsole made of an elastic material, staked over an upper side of a lower midsole, and having, on an upper surface thereof, a planta support surface. The upper midsole has a first recess recessed from the planta support surface in a downward direction and having a bottom, and a second recess recessed from a lower surface of the upper midsole toward the planta support surface, and having a bottom. The first and second recesses are alternately and continuously formed in the width direction of the foot.

The present disclosure relates to a sole structure and a shoe including such a sole structure.
A shoe sole structure of which a length of the sole body in the foot width direction is adjustable by an adjustment mechanism has been known. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0188655 proposes a sole structure of this type.
This patent document discloses a sole structure for a shoe, the sole structure including a sole body including upper and lower midsoles, and the adjustment mechanism provided between the upper and lower midsole and capable of adjusting the length of the sole body in the foot width direction of the sole body. In the upper midsole, a plurality of slots extend in the longitudinal direction and pass through the upper midsole in the thickness direction. The slots are arranged at intervals in the foot width direction of the sole body.


A manure spreader device and method of distributing any of a variety of manure materials having varying consistencies are provided. The device and method embody a concept in which a plurality of elongated augers that are longitudinally positioned within a translatable bin deliver manure material to an outfeed location for translation of the manure material to a beater assembly which distributes the manure material onto a field or the like. A slippage characteristic is exhibited at the outfeed location whereby, when manure material within the outfeed location exceeds the expelling rate capacity of the beater assembly, slippage occurs between the manure material and rotating blades at the outfeed location so as to avoid overloading of the beater assembly by the particular manure material being spread.

The present invention generally relates to a manure spreading apparatus and method which incorporate the use of dual longitudinal augers that feed most types of manure into a beater assembly having a vertical axis in order to thereby throw the manure onto an agricultural field or the like. The invention more particularly relates to feeding manure along an elongated dual auger assembly and dropping same into an outfeed means for feeding the manure into the beater assembly in accordance with the capacity of the beater assembly to handle and expel the particular manure being spread, which can be of any variety of consistencies. The manure spreader is typically of the type that is pulled by a tractor or the like and that is run from the power takeoff (PTO) thereof.
In the field of manure spreading, two objectives have been sought but have been found to be difficult to attain. One of these objectives is to provide manure spreaders and manure spreading procedures that are as versatile as possible, especially regarding the types of manure that can be spread. More specifically, manures vary in composition and consistency from those that are predominantly liquid to those that are predominantly semi-solid or solids-containing. Furthermore, certain manures have an especially sticky consistency, and they tend to adhere to manure spreader components and surfaces. Manures can also contain fibrous plant and vegetable waste material and debris. Specific debris can include stones, straw and the like. Manures can be characterized as varying in composition from that of a watery slurry to that of a semi-solid mixture. It is desirable that a manure spreader be able to handle any of these types of manures and to have the ability to distribute same evenly across an agricultural field or the like.
Another principal objective of manure spreading is to avoid the difficulty of having the mechanisms become clogged during use and to avoid the somewhat related difficulty of experiencing bridging which is an especially troublesome problem for manures that have a sticky consistency. Such manures tend to clump into a large solid mass that cannot be readily fed by the manure spreader without breaking up the clump or bridge. In the case of manure spreaders having a longitudinal auger near the bottom of the bed of the device, the manure can bridge between the upstanding walls of the device to the extent that the flow of manure into the auger is severely restricted or prevented. Previous attempts to solve this problem have included movement of the auger into the bridged manure in an attempt to break up the bridge.
In other manure spreaders, clogging, bridging, or damage can occur in the vicinity of the expelling mechanism where the manure delivery means is too aggressive for the expeller mechanism when handling thicker or more sticky manures. Under certain conditions, manure can become compacted if the manure begins to back up just before or within the expeller mechanism. In some spreaders, the manure is swept into the expeller mechanism by shovel, scoop or scraper devices that deliver a given volume of manure at a generally constant rate regardless of the ability of the expeller mechanism to handle it.
Problems of these types are brought under control by utilizing the apparatus according to the present invention which is capable of handling wide varieties of manures. The invention addresses itself to these problems by an approach that is directed toward substantially preventing the formation of bridges, rather than one which seeks to break bridges that have already been formed or have been partially formed, and to an approach which automatically adjusts the flow rate of manure delivered to the expeller mechanism depending upon the ability of the expeller mechanism to handle the particular type of manure being spread.

Dual auger manure spreader having controlled beater feed


A pattern forming method includes: (a) forming a first film on a substrate using an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition (I) containing a resin of which solubility in a developer containing an organic solvent decreases due to polarity increased by an action of an acid; (b) exposing the first film; (c) developing the exposed first film using a developer containing an organic solvent to form a first negative pattern; (e) forming a second film on the substrate using an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition (II) containing a resin of which solubility in a developer containing an organic solvent decreases due to polarity increased by an action of an acid; (f) exposing the second film; and (g) developing the exposed second film using a developer containing an organic solvent to form a second negative pattern in this order.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pattern forming method, and, a method of producing an electronic device and the electronic device, each using the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pattern forming process appropriate for a producing process of a semiconductor such as an integrated circuit (IC), a producing process of a circuit board such as a liquid crystal and a thermal head, and further a lithography process of photofabrication in addition to these, and, a method of producing an electronic device and the electronic device, each using the same. Particularly, the present invention relates to a pattern forming method appropriate for an exposure with an argon fluoride (ArF) exposure apparatus of which the light source is a far-ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 300 nm or less and an exposure with an ArF liquid immersion projection exposure apparatus, and, a method of producing an electronic device and the electronic device, each using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, at the forefront of forming a pattern, ArF liquid immersion lithography has been used, however, a limit resolution of line:space=1:1, which is reachable by liquid immersion lithography using an NA 1.2 lens is approximately 43 nm.
In recent years, further improvement of the resolution has been required. As one of the newly proposed lithography technology, a double patterning process forming a resist pattern by carrying out two times or more patterning may be exemplified (for example, see Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 5256, p. 985 to 994 (2003) and Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 6153, p. 615301-1 to 615301-19 (2006)).
According to the double patterning process, for example, after patterning is carried out using a first resist composition to form a first resist pattern on a support, it is considered that a resist pattern with higher resolution than the resist pattern formed by one time patterning can be formed on the support on which the first resist pattern is formed by carrying out patterning using a second resist composition.
In the above-described double patterning process, the first resist pattern can be easily affected at the time of patterning using the second resist composition. For this reason, for example, there is a problem in that decrease in line width of the first resist pattern (thinning of the pattern) or film thickness reduction is occurred such that the shape thereof is damaged, therefore, a fine resist pattern with an excellent shape may not be formed.
In order not to damage the shape of the resist pattern, there is a technique of using, for example, a freezing material after the first resist pattern is formed, however, the technique is not preferable from the viewpoint of throughput improvement.
Accordingly, a resist in which a first resist or a second resist is designed for double patterning has been proposed (for example, see JP2009-282224A).
In a positive developing process combining an alkaline developer and a positive chemically amplified resist composition, which is a chemically amplified resist composition of which solubility in the alkaline developer increases by exposure, the exposed portion of a resist film is dissolved by the alkaline developer to be removed, and then a resist pattern is formed. When the positive developing process is compared to a negative developing process combining a negative chemically amplified resist composition and the alkaline developer, there are following advantages: (1) a structure of a photomask can be simplified, (2) a contrast sufficient enough to form an image can be easily obtained, and (3) properties of a pattern to be formed are excellent. For these reasons, there has been a tendency that the positive developing process is used for forming a fine resist pattern.
However, as devices are made finer, a trench pattern (isolated space pattern) or a hole pattern are hard to be formed than a line pattern.
When the trench pattern (isolated space pattern) or the hole pattern is formed using the positive developing process, the pattern is needed to be formed under the condition of weak intensity of incident light, so that the contrast of the intensity of light incident to the exposed portion and the unexposed portion is small, compared to the case in which the line pattern or a dot pattern is formed.
Therefore, the pattern forming ability such as resolution or the like is easily limited, a resist pattern with high resolution tends to be hardly formed. Here, a negative developing process (negative tone imaging process) combining the positive chemically amplified resist composition which is versatile and has priorities in various properties in order to form a trench pattern or the like with high resolution and a developer containing an organic solvent has been proposed (for example, see JP4554665B).
However, in regard to the negative tone imaging process, an optical image used in image formation is a negative image even though the positive chemically amplified resist composition is used as a resist, so that it is considered that the negative tone imaging process is not suitable for forming a line pattern or a dot pattern in which a positive image is favorable.

Pattern forming method, and, electronic device producing method and electronic device, each using the same


Systems and methods are provided for merging multiple images to produce a single fused image having desirable image characteristics derived from the multiple images. For example, the system may determine image characteristics for first and second images. The image characteristics may be related to contrast, exposure, color saturation, and the like. Based on the image characteristics, the system may generate a combined luma weight map. The system may decompose the first and second images and the combined luma weight map. In an example, the first image, the second image, and the combined luma weight map may be represented as scale-space representations having multiple scales or levels. The system may merge the decomposed representations of the first and second images and the combined luma weight map to form a decomposed representation of the fused image. The system may generate the actual fused image from the decomposed representation of the fused image.

Field of Invention
This disclosure relates to combining two or more images to produce a fused image.
Description of Related Technology
Some image processing devices, such as smartphones or tablet computers, are able to capture images of objects (e.g., a person, place, location, etc.). Such image processing devices may also process the images to feature desirable aspects of the images and to mitigate undesirable aspects of the images. For example, an image processing device may perform post-processing operations on an image to reduce red-eye, to improve color balance, and/or to apply different photographic filters to the image to make the image more visually appealing to the user.
Multi-image fusion is a post-processing technique in which desirable aspects of separate images of the same scene are blended together, thereby increasing the overall visual quality of the resulting or "fused" image. Some multi-image-fusion techniques allow image processing devices to generate a fused image that incorporates exposure information from multiple images (sometimes referred to as multi-exposure fusion or high-dynamic-range imaging). In multi-exposure fusion, multiple images of the same scene are combined to achieve a high dynamic range. For example, multi-exposure fusion may blend images that feature a light source (e.g., the sun) in the background and a non-light source (e.g., a person) in the foreground.
Other multi-image fusion techniques may be used to generate a fused image that incorporates focus characteristics from multiple images (sometimes referred to as "multi-focus fusion"). In multi-focus fusion, multiple images of the same scene are captured, and each image is focused on a different object in the scene. For example, one image may have the background object in focus, and a second image may have the foreground object in focus. These images are fused/blended together in order to generate a consolidate image in which each object is in focus.
Another multi-image fusion technique is used to generate a fused image that incorporates different illumination characteristics from multiple images (sometimes referred to as "multi-illuminant fusion"). In multi-illuminant fusion, multiple images of the same scene are combined to achieve compensation for each illuminated object in the scene. For example multi-illuminant fusion may blend images that feature objects illuminated by a natural day light and objects illuminated by indoor lights such as cool-white fluorescent light or tungsten-based light. However, each of these techniques alone provides a sub-optimal solution, and combinations of such techniques can require enormous processing power which may not be available or desired.


A dental handpiece having a cross head with one end capped and the other end open, a driven gear in the capped end having a thrust bearing against the cap, and a fixed bearing extending from the gear to the open end with a driven shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing; a threaded socket in the driven shaft to receive the complementary attaching means on a dental tool, a cylindrical recess in the open end to receive a flange on the tool and grooves in the driven shaft to restrain travel of abrasive from the open end toward the closed end thereof, the bearing being long enough to give complete bearing support for the rotating mechanism.

A broad object of the invention is a compact dental handpiece or prophylaxis angle that minimizes the passage of material such as abrasives from the open or tool-receiving end to the rotating parts and closed end.
Other dental handpieces are shown in Richmond U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,830 and Bailey U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,099, and the art cited in them. Prior art has suggested the disposition of the driven gear toward the closed end of the cross head, as witness Fernald U.S. Pat. No. 1,170,523 and Heatherington U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,586. Fernald has two shaft bearings that must be aligned, and does not have any thrust bearing arrangement. Heatherington has only a sketchy showing and merely suggests location of the driven gear at the closed end of the head bore. Cooper U.S. Pat. No. 2,469,261 purports to illustrate an arrangement by which a rubber cup can seal by compression, but the disclosure is of an arrangement different from the one here proposed in that, among other things, the driving mechanism between the shaft and the rubber cup is part of the same mechanism that is supposed to give the sealing arrangement.
Objects of the present invention therefore include broadly the arrangement of the cross head for a dental handpiece that minimizes the possibility of having granular or abrasive material reach the moving parts where it could abrade them. The objects also include the provision of a single cylindrical bearing for the driven shaft that has a close fit with the shaft and a long path between its ends, to make a difficult path for the abrasive or liquid materials between the open and closed ends of the head. Also the single long bearing provides a very stable high-speed shaft, and does not require the alignment of multiple bearings to support the shaft. It will prevent irregular rotary motion of the shaft and of the dental instrument attached to it.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cross head for a dental handpiece wherein the end thrust applied to the dental instrument is taken by the bearing of the driven shaft against a fixed cap at the closed end of the cross head and particularly where it is taken by the back face of the driven gear.
Further objects include the construction of a dental handpiece with a minimum number of parts.

Young Dental Manufacturing Company, Inc.


Reduced calorie 1,2-propylene glycol diesters, where one ester group contains a medium chain C.sub.6 -C.sub.12 saturated fatty acid radicals(s), and where the other ester group contains a long chain C.sub.20 -C.sub.24 saturated fatty acid radical(s) are disclosed. These diesters are preferably obtained by the selective esterification of long chain saturated fatty acid monoesters of propylene glycol with the respective medium chain saturated fatty acids or anhydrides. Certain preferred diesters where the medium chain radicals are C.sub.8 and/or C.sub.10 radicals and where the long chain radicals are C.sub.20 and/or C.sub.22 radicals are particularly useful as reduced calorie cocoa butter substitutes and hard butters. Chocolate-flavored products formulated from these preferred diesters, when properly crystallized, are bloom resistant, even when subjected to thermal stress.

A. Propylene Glycol Diesters Containing Long Chain and Medium Chain Fatty Acids
Shenai et al, "Structure Property Relationship of Propylene Glycol Diester," Indian Chem. J. (July, 1980), pp. 27-29, discloses the density and refractive index of a variety of propylene glycol diesters prepared from C.sub.12 -C.sub.18 fatty acids. See Table 1, which includes the density and refractive index of a propylene glycol diester that was prepared from C.sub.12 and C.sub.18 fatty acids. Density and refractive indexes for 31 ether propylene glycol diesters where one of the ester groups contains a C.sub.13 -C.sub.19 fatty acid radical and where the other ester group contains a C.sub.4 -C.sub.19 fatty acid radical, were calculated and then compared to experimental values. See Table 2 which includes the density and refractive indexes of propylene glycol diesters of C.sub.6, C.sub.7, C.sub.8, C.sub.9, C.sub.10, C.sub.11, or C.sub.12 fatty acids, and C.sub.19 fatty acid.

Propylene glycol diesters of medium chain and long chain saturated fatty acids useful as reduced calorie cocoa butter substitutes and hard butters


A reclosable pouring element with a base member and a closure lid which serves at the same time as the opening device. A flange surrounding the opening surface of the pouring element is fixedly connected to a flat gable top composite packaging. The closure lid has lateral bearing pins which are supported in corresponding recesses of the base member, in which a safe connection between the base member and the closure lid and a reliable opening/closing function of the flat gable top composite packaging is provided. The recesses in the base member are arranged on the package side so that the closure lid can be clamped from the package side into the recesses for receiving the bearing pins provided in the base member.

The invention relates to a reclosable pouring element with a base member and a closure lid which at the same time serves as an opening means, wherein a flange surrounding the opening surface of the pouring element is fixedly connected to the flat gable top composite packaging, and wherein the closure lid has lateral bearing pins which are supported in corresponding recesses of the base member, and relates as well to a flat gable top composite packaging provided with such a pouring element.
Parallelepipedal flat gable top composite packagings are known in several embodiments. They are used primarily in the field of liquid packagings in connection with cold, cold-sterile, hot, and aseptic fillings. These packagings, in general, cannot be reclosed once they have been opened.
Accordingly, it has been proposed for flat gable top composite packagings of the aforementioned kind to arrange a pouring element within the packaging gable which is provided with a corresponding closure lid and by which the packaging is also opened before the first use (DE 38 08 303 A1). In this connection, in the area of the carton layer and the outer PE layer a circumferential separation line for weakening the gable material is provided into which a tube, connected as a unitary part with the closure lid and matching the shape of the circumferential separation line, is pressed into the packaging material for opening the packaging. For improving the separation of the weakened separation line, the lower edge of the tube is provided for this purpose with suitable mechanical opening means such as cutting edges etc.
Another reclosable pouring element is known from DE 44 09 947 C2 of the applicant. In order to provide in this design a safe connection between the pouring element and the flat gable top packaging, the pouring element used in this design is formed such that the portion of the flange of the pouring element facing the gable seam extends up to the gable seam and approximately into the area of the bending edge of the packaging ear and is secured between the packaging surface and the folded-over gable seam. This is not only disadvantageous with respect to material use and expenditure during injection molding of the pouring element but, moreover, the pouring element can be arranged only on that side of the packaging surface onto which the gable seam is folded.
A disadvantage of this known reclosable pouring element is the connection between the base member and the closure lid. Since the closure lid is clamped with its lateral bearing pins from above into the base member, it cannot be reliably excluded that during the opening movement the closure lid is levered out of its securing elements by means of the resistance of the composite material. It is easily understood that the recesses for receiving the bearing pins will be deformed by several passes of the bearing pins when pressing the closure lid into and out of the base member so that the functional reliability is impaired during the subsequent opening and closing of the opened packaging.
Moreover, from DE 196 35 087 C1 a reclosable pouring element with a closable lid and an opening element for penetrating the packaging wall at a prepared weakened zone is known, in which the opening element as well as the lid are supported to be pivotable about a respective axis of the base member of the pouring element and are connected functionally with one another such that the actuation of the opening element at the same time results in a folding open of the lid. The bearing pins required for supporting the opening element and the lid are inserted from the packaging side into longitudinal slots in the base member of the pouring element. For realizing a simultaneous folding open of the lid upon actuation of the opening element, a relatively complex connection between the lid and the opening element is required which makes the manufacture of the pouring element more difficult.
Finally, from DE 38 08 303 A1 a reclosable pouring element is known whose lid, in a transport position, is connected to the base element by a securing ring with a pull tab. The securing ring surrounds the circumference of the lid and must be removed before the initial opening of the packaging by means of the pull tab so that already during the first opening step of the packaging a throw-away part results that must be separately disposed of.
The present invention has the object to improve the known and previously described reclosable pouring element in its entirety and to provide especially a safe connection between the base member and the closure lid. Moreover, it is desirable to achieve an improvement of handling and a reliable opening/closing function of the flat gable packaging.
The present invention provides a reclosable pouring element with a base member and a closure lid for flat gable packaging, wherein the recesses in the base member are arranged at the side of the packaging so that the closure lid can be clamped into the recesses of the base member for receiving the bearing pins from the side of the packaging. The present invention also provides for a positive-locking connection between the base member and the closure lid which is destroyed upon first actuation of the closure lid.
While clamping of the closure element into the base member according to DE 44 09 947 C2 is carried out from above, the solution according to the invention has the advantage that a too strong loading of the closure lid does not result in detachment thereof from the base member, as can be sometimes the case with the known pouring element of the prior art. An undesirable xe2x80x9cleveringxe2x80x9d of the closure lid is thus reliably excluded.
The positive-locking connection between the base member and the lid element, which is destroyed upon the first participation of the closure lid, forms a xe2x80x9ctamper-proof closurexe2x80x9d for the pouring element. Such a tamper-proof closure makes it possible that the consumer can immediately detect on a flat gable top packaging provided with such a reclosable pouring element whether it is has already been opened once or not. This is a welcome solution with respect to reasons of hygiene but also with respect to safety considerations since in the past few years poisoned foodstuffs have unfortunately been detected more frequently.
In an advantageous embodiment, the pouring element according to the invention furthermore has a circumferential seal which can be arranged on the base member and/or the closure lid. By means of such a seal it is ensured that the packaging, once opened, can be shaken, with the pouring element being closed, for mixing the contained product without the product leaking from the packaging. The circumferential seal can also be formed by corresponding flanges which are produced as monolithic parts of the base member and/or the closure lid. Preferably, the base member and closure lid are locked by a hook etc. in the closed position in order to prevent an accidental opening. A locking action that can be felt and preferably also heard provided the consumer with an increased feeling of safety during use.
According to a further teaching of the invention, the pouring element is closed before its first use at least in the area of its product-guiding parts so as to be dust-tight.
For this purpose, the base member can be provided with a pull-off lid which is formed as a unitary part on the base member via connecting elements that serve as a rated break point and is connected detachably on the front part of the closure lid positioned in the closed position. As an alternative, the base member can also be provided with a self-adhesive cover foil that is removable before the first use. This prevents reliably a soiling of the parts that are in contact with the product during pouring. This is especially important in context with aseptic packagings because they are subjected over a long period of time to environmental influences as a result of their extended shelf live.
Moreover, this pull-off lid can also be embodied such that it provides at the same time a tamper-proof closure.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the base member comprises at least one stay bridging the area of its pouring opening. Such a stay not only serves to stiffen the pouring element but also as a stop in order to limit the pivot movement of the closure lid to an angle of approximately 90xc2x0 during opening of the packaging. In this manner, it will be apparent, even to a consumer who has never used such a pouring element before, that the opening process is completed because of the resistance resulting from reaching the stop.
The invention also relates to a flat gable top composite packaging wherein the composite has at least one support layer of paper or carton and on both sides a plastic coating of polyethylene (PE), with an opening surface provided within the packaging gable which after separation provides a pouring opening and is especially advantageously provided with a pouring element according to the invention. It is easily understood that in this context not only such packagings with folded-over gable seams are suitable to receive the pouring element according to the invention, but that the pouring element according to the invention can be applied to all liquid packagings.

Reclosable pouring element and a flat gable composite packaging provided therewith


The present invention relates to antifouling paints for marine use comprising a conventional paint base containing as active ingredient a compound of the formula ##STR1## wherein X is selected from chlorine and bromine,. Y is selected from hydrogen and lower alkyl, and PA1 Z is selected from --COOR wherein R is lower alkyl, and --CN, possibly in combination with a conventional antifouling agent, and to the protection of marine structures and marine vessels which comprises applying such an antifouling paint to such structures and vessels.

There are known various antifouling paints which are based on metallic toxicants, mainly copper and tin compounds. Heavy metals of this type are undesired from an environmental point of view. According to the present invention there are provided antifouling paints which afford a very good protection of marine structure, and which are either free of heavy metal salts or which contain these in a substantially decreased quantity. Various phenyl-ethylsulfone compounds are known, but the main use of these is in insecticidal, acaricidal and fungicidal compositions of matter. Such compounds have not been used hitherto as active ingredients in antifouling paints for use with marine structures.

Yeda Research and Development Company, Ltd.


Apparatus 10 for processing photosensitive sheets in a tank 12 having a developer solution comprises a gas distributor 14 having a single gas distribution means 16 with at least two independent gas inlet lines 18,20 for providing a gas to the distributor 14. In another preferred embodiment, the gas distributor has independent first and second gas distribution means 26,28. In this embodiment, gas distributor 14 may be substantially star shaped and comprise a plurality of closed ended gas dispensing ducts 30 emanating from a common hub 32. In still another preferred embodiment, the gas distributor 14 is a substantially square shaped member comprising a plurality of closed ended dispensing ducts 30 alternatingly arranged in the same plane of member 31. The dispensing ducts 30 have a plurality of spaced openings 25 for emitting gas into the processing solution. In an alternative embodiment, an in-line check valve 36 prevents solution from flooding the gas distributor 14. A bursting means 22 independently controls the emittance of gas through dispensing ducts 30 in timed intervals such that the solution during its upward movement passes along the surface of the photosensitive sheets to provide uniform solution agitation. Photosensitive sheets simultaneously processed in accordance with the invention yield uniform sensitometric responses without mottle or streaks in the developed photographic image.

Photographic apparatus for processing sheets of photosensitive material by immersing them in a processing solution are well known in the art. It is also known in the art that the chemical reactions that occur when the photosensitive material is immersed into these processing solutions quickly exhaust or very nearly exhaust the active chemical agents nearest the surface of the film. It has therefore been found that improved processing results if the solution is agitated during the processing operation. Although many ways are known for agitating a processing solution, one well known way utilizes gaseous burst agitation in which bursts of nitrogen gas or the like are released at controlled intervals through openings in a distributor disposed in the solution at the bottom of the processing tank. When first released, the bursts impart a sharp displacement pulse or piston action to the entire volume of solution, and then as the bubbles make their way to the surface they provide a localized agitation around each bubble.
An earlier gaseous burst type device used in photographic processing is disclosed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,025, incorporated herein by reference. The device uses a single distributor for emitting a gas into the processing solution in a simultaneous burst. Other processing apparatus that utilize some sort of solution agitator are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,513 and 3,180,243. In each of these prior art processes, the gaseous burst occurs simultaneously throughout the distributor such that the distributor acts like a single unit. Additionally, the inlet ports are themselves simultaneously charged with a gas and, thus, function as a single delivery system.
A major drawback of the earlier processing apparatus is that they are known to produce nonuniform agitation patterns in the processing solution thereby resulting in sensitometric variations on simultaneously processed film. This has been known to occur in both `rack and tank` and deep tank photographic development processes. Another drawback in both `rack and tank` and in deep tank processing, is that nonuniform agitation results when the film strips are not rotated in the solution during processing. In either case, nonuniform agitation of the solution results in sensitometric variations in simultaneously processed photosensitive material. In aggravated cases, the nonuniformity of the development reaction may manifest itself as streaks or mottle in the developed photographic image.
Consequently, a need exists for an apparatus capable of producing uniform agitation in photosensitive sheet processing devices which will result in significantly reduced sensitometric variation in simultaneously processed photosensitive sheets.


A closure system for a vial comprising: an elastic closure part to engage the mouth opening, a clamp part to hold the closure part in a closing relationship with the mouth opening, the clamp part defining an upper aperture through which a region of the upper surface of the closure part is exposed when the clamp part is engaged with the vial, a cover part to engage the clamp part to cover the exposed region, the cover part engaging with the closure part to provide two or more concentric ring-shaped seals, at least part of the cover part being removable from the vial to allow access to the closure.

Drug substance and vaccine products are frequently provided in vials which are closed with an elastomer closure part through which a hollow needle can be passed, puncturing the closure part, and via which the drug substance or vaccine product may be extracted for use, optionally after reconstitution by an aqueous medium introduced into the vial via the needle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,348, DE-A-1228,028 and FR-A-2598137 among others, disclose typical pharmaceutical vials and closures. WO-A-04/018317 discloses a vial closure comprising an elastomer closure part for the mouth opening capable of being punctured by a needle, a clamp part to hold the closure part in a closing relationship with the mouth opening and having an aperture therein through which the closure part is exposed, and a cover part to cover the aperture when so engaged.
The vial closure disclosed in WO-A-04/018317 is particularly suited to a known process e.g. from US-A-2002/0023409 in which the vial can be filled, under aseptic filling conditions, using a hollow needle passed through the closure part, the needle is then withdrawn, and the small residual puncture hole is then sealed by heat sealing, e.g. using a focused laser beam.
In use, a removable part of the cover part of the vial closure disclosed in WO-A-04/018317 is removed to expose the closure part through the aperture, and a needle may be passed through the closure to extract the contents for use, typically by injection, optionally after reconstitution.

Closure system and method of filling a vial


The blade of a jig saw is mounted in a holder which is moved up and down by a rotary eccentric. A stack of leaf springs is cantilevered on the frame of the machine and is attached rigidly to the holder to cause the blade to move in a substantially elliptical orbit.

The invention relates generally to a power driven saw and more particularly to a jig saw or saber saw. As is well known, a jig saw includes an elongated blade which, in many instances, is simply reciprocated back and forth to produce the cutting action. In other saws, the blade is moved in a substantially elliptical orbit so as to cause the saw teeth to cut into the work during one half of the stroke and to pull free of the work during the return stroke.
The present invention relates to the latter type of saw. Because the blade pulls free of the work during the return stroke, the teeth do not rub reversely against the work and, in addition, sawdust and waste chips are more effectively removed from the cut. By forming teeth around the tip of the orbitally movable blade, the blade can be used for plunge cutting as well as for conventional cutting.
Back and forth movement of the blade preferably is produced by a rotary eccentric which is connected to the holder of the blade and which is adapted to be driven by a motor. Various types of mechanisms have been used in conjunction with eccentrics to cause the blade to move with orbital motion.


A light waveguide cable contains a layer of U-shaped carriers around a central core. Each U-shaped carrier contains a light waveguide fiber, bundle, ribbon, or ribbon stack. Carrier legs have a predetermined hinge line at a distance from the carrier base greater than the thickness of the light waveguide fiber, bundle, ribbon or ribbon stack. The carrier legs may have a smaller thickness or a concavity at the hinge line.

U-shaped carriers have been employed for use in light waveguide cables, particularly cables having light waveguide ribbons for high fiber count applications. The U-shaped carriers comprise two legs, each leg mounted at its proximal end to the same side of a base. The other end of each leg, called the distal end, usually supports an overlying binder tape or other cable layer. Each leg has an inner wall facing the other leg and an outer wall opposite the other leg.
Whereas a cable having U-shaped carriers has processing advantages over a slotted core cable, the demands of crush testing presents problems unique to cables employing U-shape carriers. Under stress, the carriers may tip over or the legs of a U-shaped carrier may deform or break. Carrier failure may lead to transmission failure of the light waveguide ribbons held therein. Depending on the exact mode of failure, the light waveguide ribbons may be twisted or crushed, leading to unacceptable attenuation. By way of example, carrier legs may break or bend at their proximal ends, that is, the ends joined to the carrier base. If this occurs, the ribbons are likely to be pressed upon by the folded leg (if the leg has folded inward toward the other leg of the carder) or by the overlying cable layer (if the leg has folded outward). An object of the invention is to design optical cables such that they will have crush failure modes which predictably will have the smallest effect on the ribbons held therein without sacrificing overall carrier strength.

Optical cables having U-shaped carriers exhibiting enhanced crush performance


An imaging device can be mounted on a vehicle and used to capture images. The imaging device can include a camera assembly rotatable relative to a platform of the vehicle and about two or three camera axes. The camera assembly can include a camera and a mirror attached to the camera. The mirror can be rotatable relative to the camera and about one or two mirror axes, different from the camera axes. Users can provide input to controllers that operate the vehicle, the camera, and the mirror to control both flight and the line-of-sight of the camera. The controllers combine separate inputs as well as measured conditions, such as inertial angles, to coordinate control of vehicle, camera, and mirror parameters, such as yaw adjustments to both the camera and the mirror to achieve a desired line-of-sight.

Aerial cinematography is a common feature of modern films. A camera can be mounted to an airborne vehicle, and images can be captured by the camera during flight. The position and orientation of the vehicle can be controlled, and the orientation of the camera with respect to the vehicle can also be controlled. Aerial cinematography can be a complicated and expensive undertaking using conventional technology. The high quality camera(s) and lenses are heavy and bulky and require at least one skilled operator for focus, pointing, and zoom control. The airborne platform can require at least one pilot, can generate excessive noise, can be difficult to coordinate with action on the ground or other aerial vehicles, and can be very expensive to operate.

Image stabilization and pointing control mechanization for aircraft imaging systems


A film, a backlight module and a display device are provided. The film includes: a first body having a platy structure, a protrusion protruded from an edge of the first body in a plane where the first body is located, and a positioning structure intersected with one surface of the protrusion wherein the positioning structure includes a second body and one or more openings; the second body includes a blocking portion and a connecting portion; the blocking portion is connected with the protrusion through the connecting portion; and the one or more openings are disposed between the blocking portion and the protrusion.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) mainly includes an LCD panel and a backlight. The backlight may be divided into light-emitting diode (LED) backlight and cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlight according to the variety of light sources; and may be divided into mobile, tablet, notebook, monitor; TV and the like according to the size variety. In recent years, LCDs have been developed very rapidly.

Film, backlight module and display device


A method for reconstructing an image of an object that includes a plurality of image elements. The method includes accessing image data associated with a plurality of image elements, and reconstructing an image of the object by optimizing an objective function, where the objective function is optimized by iteratively solving a nested sequence of approximate optimization problems. The algorithm is composed of nested iterative loops, in which an inner loop iteratively optimizes an objective function approximating the outer loop objective function, and an outer loop that utilizes the solution of the inner loop to optimize the original objective function.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reconstructing an image using iterative techniques.
Traditionally, images have been reconstructed from Computed Tomography (CT) data using direct reconstruction algorithms such as filtered back projection (FBP) or convolution back projection (CBP). Recently, iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms have again been assessed for use in the reconstruction of CT images. One advantage of IR algorithms is that IR algorithms can more accurately model the measurements obtained from CT systems. This is particularly true for helical CT systems with multi-slice detectors because helical CT systems produce projection measurements that pass obliquely through the two-dimensional (2D) reconstructed image planes. By more accurately modeling these projections, IR algorithms can produce reconstructions with higher quality, lower noise, and fewer artifacts.
However, a major challenge of IR is the computation time and computational resources required to complete a reconstruction. More specifically, because IR has been studied for other types of reconstruction problems, a variety of methods have been proposed for computing the solution to the cost function. Some of these methods include ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM), preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG), and iterative coordinate descent (ICD). All of these methods perform the minimization required in equation (1) (shown below) by optimizing an objective function. However, each of the described methods may require a relatively high number of iterations to achieve the final answer. As a result, the conventional IR techniques may require a relatively large amount of time to reconstruct an image.

Method and apparatus for iterative reconstruction


A method and apparatus for obtaining fine resolution imaging of extended objects in the presence of unknown time-varying aberrations, wherein the method is accomplished by obtaining data corresponding to multiple, measurement-diverse images of the extended object collected for each of a plurality of aberration realizations. The object and unknown aberrations are then Jointly estimated, preferably using constrained likelihood-based estimation techniques. The apparatus utilizes a conventional optical system, at least two detector arrays for detecting a plurality of phase-diverse images, a shutter system so that a specklegram can be captured at each of the phase-diverse arrays for each of a plurality of aberration realizations, and a computer including a processor, sufficient memory restoring the digital data corresponding to the captured images, and logic for estimating the object and unknown aberrations.

Various methods and apparatus have been developed to perform fine-resolution imaging in the presence of time-varying aberrations encountered, for example, when imaging through a turbulent medium (such as the atmosphere) or when the optical system is mechanically unstable. Known approaches include stellar speckle imaging (shown in FIG. 2), which requires the collection of many short-exposure images (specklegrams) of the same object. Each short-exposure image is formed through a different atmospheric realization. The exposure time for each of these multiple atmospheric realizations must be short enough (about 10 milliseconds) that the evolving atmosphere can be regarded as frozen during exposure. Current stellar speckle imaging approaches perform an averaging of the data as part of the process of individually estimating the Fourier modulus or the Fourier phase of the object. The final estimated object is then constructed by combining the Fourier modulus and phase estimates and performing an inverse Fourier transform. Speckle imaging also requires a cumbersome atmospheric-calibration step utilizing images of an unresolved object seen through atmospheric turbulence having the same statistics.
Reconstruction of the object from a sequence of specklegrams could be substantially improved if estimates for the individual point spread functions (PSFs) for each specklegram were available. This is the rationale behind deconvolution with wavefront sensing (also referred to as self-referenced speckle holography), which employs a Hartmann-Shack wavefront-sensor to estimate the PSFs for each atmospheric realization. However, this wavefront-sensor is a relatively complex optical system that must be carefully aligned. Moreover, the performance of the wavefront-sensor can degrade with object extent.
In compensated imaging, an attempt is made to sense the aberrated wavefront and correct it with a deformable mirror prior to detection. When it can be successfully accomplished, pre-detection correction is preferable to post-detection correction since it typically operates with a better signal-to-noise ratio. There are a variety of reasons, however, that compensated imaging may not be a completely satisfactory solution for imaging through turbulence in every case. Compensated imaging systems are typically very expensive, complicated, and sensitive to systematic errors. Maintenance and calibration are ongoing tasks and the risk of system failure cannot be overlooked. Also, the compensation will never be perfect and there may be a need for post-detection correction of residual errors.
Some researchers have proposed adaptive correction of anisoplanatic (space-variant) effects through the use of multiple guide stars, multiple wavefront sensors, and/or multiple deformable mirrors in a single system. Whereas these proposed schemes are intriguing, adaptive systems utilizing combinations of these techniques would likely be extremely complex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,602, issued to Gonsalves et al., for "Wavefront-Sensing by Phase Retrieval" discloses a method of phase diversity which may be regarded as an indirect wavefront-sensor since phase aberrations are estimated from image data. Phase diversity requires the collection of two or more phase-diverse images, one of which is the conventional focalplane image that has been degraded by the unknown aberrations. Additional images of the same object are formed by perturbing these unknown aberrations in some known fashion. This can be accomplished with very simple optical hardware by, for example, utilizing a simple beam splitter and a second detector array translated along the optical axis, which further degrades the imagery with a known amount of defocus. The goal is to identify a combination of object and aberrations that is consistent with all of the collected images, given the known phase diversities. Phase diversity (shown in FIG. 3) was disclosed as a component in a compensated imaging system. However, phase diversity could also be used to create a post-detection estimate of the object. In the case of faint objects, however, the signal may not be strong enough to get a high fidelity object estimate with only a single aberration realization.
One object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a method and apparatus for recovering a fine-resolution image of an object and identifying aberrations including a data collection and processing approach for imaging in the presence of phase aberrations, such as atmospheric turbulence, in which only simple optical hardware is required.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for acquiring and estimating images which is robust to systematic error.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for acquiring and estimating images which requires little or no calibration.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for estimating images in which there is no averaging of the data nor use of intermediate estimates in which information is lost.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for improving the quality of object estimates over estimates that can be achieved from a single aberration realization.

Environmental Research Institute of Michigan


A seed distribution system is provided for planters and drills wherein the distribution system includes a central hopper for supplying a plurality of seed metering units. A plurality of seed distribution units are mounted on a lower portion of the central hopper and each seed distribution unit includes a central tubular member defining an air column for entraining seeds to be distributed from the central hopper. A plurality of discharge outlets open into the air column for receiving seeds therefrom and for conveying the seeds through distribution tubes to metering unit bins associated with each of the seed metering units. In addition, each of the seed metering unit bins is provided with apparatus for adjusting the level of seed accumulated within the bin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distribution system for use with a seed planter, and more particularly, to a seed distribution system for supplying seed to a plurality of seed metering units associated with the seed planter.
2. Description of Related Art
Distribution of seeds using a planter or seeder is typically accomplished by providing a seed metering unit for dispensing seeds from a hopper at a controlled rate into an underlying drop chute for conveying the seeds to a furrow. Examples of typical metering systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,888,387 and 4,450,979, both to Decklet, which disclose metering units for accurate metering and uniform distribution of seed. One problem associated with such metering units results from each metering unit being fed from a separate hopper or bin located above the metering unit such that each bin must be separately filled and emptied before and after a seeding operation. Thus, the servicing of individual bins for the metering units can be time consuming and inconvenient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,695 to Quanbeck illustrates a seed distribution system which overcomes the problems associated with providing a plurality of seed bins for individual metering units. In this patent, a system is disclosed which provides a central seed hopper which distributes seed to a plurality of distribution tubes or hoses for supplying seed to furrow openers on a seeding apparatus. A disadvantage associated with such a distribution system is that it is not adapted to be used with a planter having individual metering units for each furrow. Thus, the seeds may become grouped together before they are dropped in the furrow, such that the spacing of the seeds within a furrow may be less uniform than if the metering apparatus were located directly adjacent to the furrow opener.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,473 to Landphair et al discloses a seed distribution system for overcoming some of the disadvantages associated with prior art seed distribution systems. The Landphair et al patent discloses a metering apparatus directly adjacent to each furrow opener as well as a main storage hopper to provide seed to a plurality of secondary hoppers associated with each of the metering devices. This device further includes a plurality of seed tubes for supplying seed to each secondary hopper wherein the seed tubes each include an input end located within the main hopper and an air tube which surrounds each seed tube to blow air into the main hopper whereby seeds are propelled through the seed tubes to respective secondary hoppers. Thus, each seed tube requires a separate air supply tube to force air and seed into the seed tube. Further, the amount of seed being fed through any particular seed tube will depend upon the position of the seed tube relative to the seed in the area of the tube such that the quantity of seed flowing through the seed tubes may vary from seed tube to seed tube. In such a distribution system, wherein there may be large variations in the flow of seed through the different seed tubes, it is necessary to provide secondary hoppers with a sufficient size to ensure that a sufficiently large reserve of seed is provided at each seed metering device to compensate for any interruption or unexpected decreases in the flow of seeds to any of the secondary hoppers.
It is desirable to provide a seed delivery system wherein a substantially uniform distribution of seed is provided to a plurality of secondary hoppers and wherein the size of the secondary hoppers is limited such that a minimum amount of seed is stored at each of the metering device sites. Thus, if it is necessary to remove the seed from the system, the labor and loss of seed involved in removing the seed stored in the system will be minimized.

Seed distribution system for planters and drills


A multi-color electrophotographic apparatus is provided which includes a casing having an access cover, an image transfer belt unit for transferring a multi-colored image formed thereon a recording sheet, and an image-forming assembly having a plurality of image-forming units. Each image-forming unit includes a photoconductor and a developer storing therein toner of a single different color for forming a different color toner image on each photoconductor. The image-forming assembly is arranged to be movable between operative and inoperative positions. The operative position is such that each image-forming unit lies at an image-forming station with the photoconductor thereof in engagement with an image transfer belt of the image transfer belt unit to transfer the toner image formed thereon in registration with one another to the image transfer belt for forming the multi-colored image. The inoperative position is such that all the photoconductors of the image-forming assembly are out of engagement with the image transfer belt for allowing an apparatus operator to unload the image transfer belt unit from the casing through the access cover without damaging each photoconductor due to rubbing with the image transfer belt.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a multi-color printer, and more particularly concerns an improved structure of a multi-color electrophotographic printer which is designed to be compact and to provide for easy maintenance while assuring machine reliability and performance as well as copy quality.
2. Background Art
In conventional color electrophotography, a multi-colored image may be formed by superimposing yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner images in registration to a transfer member in two different ways. One is referred to as a transfer drum system wherein different color toner images are sequentially formed on a single photoconductor and then transferred in registration to a transfer member wrapped about a transfer drum. The second is referred to as a successive transfer system wherein different color toner images formed on respective photoconductors are transferred in sequence to a transfer member carried by a belt.
Japanese Patent First Publication No. 1-252982 teaches a conventional transfer drum system which, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a photoconductor 1, a charging unit 2, a developing station 3, a transfer drum 4, and a photoconductor cleaner 5. The developing station 3 includes a Y-developer 6 for forming a yellow toner image, an M-developer 7 for forming a magenta toner image, a C-developer 8 for forming a cyan toner image, and a Bk-developer 9 for forming a black toner image. The developer station 3 rotates to move each developer in sequence into engagement with the photoconductor 1.
In operation, the photoconductor 1 is rotated counterclockwise to have its surface charged uniformly by the charging unit 2. Subsequently, in response to a yellow image-forming signal, a laser beam 10 is radiated to the photoconductor 1 to form an electrostatic latent image which is, in turn, developed by the Y-developer 6 to form a yellow toner image. One copy sheet is fed from a sheet supply station 11 and then wrapped about the periphery of the transfer drum 4 with its leading edge being held by a claw 12 until the yellow toner image formed on the photoconductor 1 is advanced into engagement with the transfer drum. The rotation of the transfer drum 4 is so timed that a specified portion of the copy sheet wrapped about the transfer drum may coincide with the yellow toner image.
The yellow toner image on the photoconductor 1 is transferred to the copy sheet under activities of a transfer charging unit 13. After the image transfer,. the surface of the photoconductor 1 is cleaned by the cleaner 5 for subsequent image transfer operation. Thereafter, magenta, cyan, and black toner images are sequentially formed in the same manner.
The radiation of the laser beam 10 to the photoconductor 1 is so timed that a toner image on the photoconductor may be in registration with a toner image previously transferred to the copy sheet. In this manner, a multi-colored image is printed on the copy sheet wrapped about the transfer drum 4. The image-printed copy sheet is stripped off the transfer drum 4 by a stripper 14 which, in turn, is advanced to a fixing station 16 through a transport path 15.
The above prior art system, however, has suffered from the following drawbacks. The transfer drum 4 needs to have a large enough diameter to wrap the copy sheet therearound and its structure is complex, resulting in a bulky apparatus. In addition, stiff paper such as post cards or thick copy sheets cannot be used because they are difficult to wrap about the transfer drum. Since the transfer drum 4 is separate from the cleaner 35, it is necessary to maintain them individually. Further, the transfer drum has a limited lifetime, and it is difficult to know automatically as to whether the transfer drum has exceeded its lifetime or not. Moreover, the transfer drum 4 constantly contacts the photoconductor, which will cause the photoconductor 1 to be damaged upon replacement of the transfer drum 4 or to be degraded prematurely on exposure to intense light entering from the outside during the replacement.
Japanese Patent First Publication No. 1-250970 discloses a color image forming apparatus using the successive transfer system, as described above, in which four image-forming stations each including a photoconductor, a developer, and a scanner are arranged, and a copy sheet carried on a belt passes through a transfer station provided beneath each photoconductor to form a colored toner image. This prior art apparatus eliminates the need for a transfer drum, however, it requires developers, such as a laser unit, of a number corresponding to the number of colors used, resulting in a complex and expensive arrangement. In addition, the transfer stations are arranged away from one another, yielding positional or angular misalignment thereof. This will cause colors to be shifted, adversely affecting copy quality.
Japanese Patent First Publication No. 2-212867 exemplifies a color printer wherein different color toner images formed in sequence on a photoconductor are temporarily placed in registration on an intermediate transfer member and then transferred together to a copy sheet. In this printer, a plurality of developers need to be arranged around the photoconductor for forming all the different color toner images on the same photoconductor. Therefore, a large-sized photoconductor or a belt-like photoconductor is required which would be difficult to handle by a user. In addition, each developer, when replaced, needs to be matched with properties of the photoconductor. Further, the photoconductor, when replaced, needs to be aligned with each developer.

Multi-color electrophotographic printer having multiple image forming units for creating multiple toner images in registry

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Compositions comprising a high molecular weight polyester resin derived from a cyclohexanedimethanol and a hexacarbocyclic dicarboxylic acid or mixture of such resins and, optionally, a second linear high molecular weight polyester, optionally further combined with an effective, impact strength-improving amount of a thermoplastic elastomer, such as a polyether ester or a polyetherimide ester, with relatively high loadings of fillers selected from zinc oxide, barium sulfate, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate, strontium sulfate or a mixture of any of such fillers, provide highly dense thermoplastic molded articles with improved impact strength and properties suitable to replace ceramics and filled thermosets in many important applications.

Highly filled, dense, thermoplastic based compositions which have ceramic-like properties are desirable because they may be used in applications usually reserved for ceramics or filled thermosets. This is because of the relative ease with which thermoplastics may be fabricated. In the above-mentioned copending application, the applicants in this commonly assigned application have reported that certain polymers may be combined with exceptionally high levels of inorganic fillers to result in molding compositions which are capable of being molded into articles having ceramic-like properties. These polymers are selected from the group consisting of polycarbonates, polyetherimides and copolymers thereof, polycyclohexyldimethylene terephthalates and copolymers thereof, polypropylene and polybutylene terephthalates and copolymers thereof, polyethylene terephthalates and copolymers thereof, polyimides, polyester carbonates, polyphenylene sulfides, polyamides, polyamideimides, polyarylates, polymethylpentenes, polysulfones, polyether sulfones, polystyrenes, rubber modified high impact polystyrenes, acetals, SAN, SMA, ASA, modified polyphenylene ethers, polyether ketones, ABS, PVC, PFA, ECTFE, ETFE, PVDF, liquid crystal polymers and combinations thereof. Such thermoplastics, and mixtures of any of them are combined with 30%-80% by weight of a filler selected from zinc oxide or barium sulfate, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate or mixtures of any of them.
It has now been discovered that many new polymer blends comprising polyesters derived from cyclohexanedimethanol and a hexacarbocyclic dicarboxylic acid having high loadings of the mineral fillers over a broad resin composition range will surprisingly provide highly dense, highly heat-resistant, readily processible compositions. They will also have high impact strength, especially if an effective amount of an impact modifier comprising a thermoplastic elastomer is included in the composition, which also enhances flow properties in a desirable manner. Addition of the thermoplastic elastomers, for example copolyether esters, copolyetherimide esters, styrene/acrylonitrile-modified EPDM terpolymers, ethylene glycidyl methacrylate copolymers, and the like, to the highly filled highly dense linear polyester compositions is also found to provide desirably lower modulus, paintability, extrudability and injection moldability. The new compositions can also contain reinforcing fillers and/or flame retardant agents.
The new compositions may be used to mold useful objects such as tableware, dishes, bowls, mugs, plumbing fixtures and the like which require a smooth surface. In addition, the selection of the proper level of filler will provide a density in the molded article which approaches the density of ceramics, e.g., 2.0 to 2.5 g/cc.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide novel molding compositions which contain a high level of fillers which will provide a smooth surface.
It is also an object of this invention to provide novel molding compositions which have a high level of fillers which will have a ceramic-like feel and density.
It is also an object of this invention to provide novel molding compositions having special utility for making molded articles.
It is also an object of this invention to provide novel molding compositions which may be employed for making highly dense molded articles.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the present specification.

Highly dense thermoplastic molding compositions


An elongate modular decking plank is provided for assembly on a supporting subfloor together with a plurality of like planks to form a decking structure. The decking plank has a top wall spaced-apart from a bottom wall, and opposing laterally spaced downwardly converging side walls interconnecting the top and bottom walls. An integrally-formed flange extends outwardly from the bottom wall on one of said sides of the decoding plank. The flange includes a fastening portion for receiving fasteners therethrough to the supporting subfloor to mount the decking plank on the supporting subfloor, and a connecting portion for connecting the plank to an adjacent like plank in a manner which permits limited lateral and angular adjustment between adjacent planks. The plank is preferably extruded from high-impact polymeric material, such as PVC plastic.

This invention relates to modular construction elements in the nature of planks and to structures formed from an assembly of such planks. The invention is applicable, for example, in the construction of boat docks, piers, decks, patios, walkways, pontoon boat floors, and the like.
According to one prior art plastic decking plank, separate cap and base elements are snapped together to form a single plank. The base element is first mounted directly to the subfloor width fasteners such as screws or nails. Mating components of the cap and base elements are then manually aligned, and a rubber hammer or other tool is used to snap-attach the pieces together. Unlike the invention, such two-piece designs generally require substantial time and effort to assemble. The present one-piece design results in a considerably stronger and more rigid deducing structure than a two-piece design while minimizing manufacturing and installation costs. In addition, due to the absence of engaging parts, the invention also produces less surface noise or squeaking than two-piece designs.


There is provided a communication apparatus capable of effectively removing interference waves from a received signal while reducing the computation load. The communication apparatus includes a weight calculating unit. The weight calculating unit includes a calculating unit and a selecting unit. The calculating unit calculates a first weight and a second weight. The first weight is obtained, for a target known signal being an update target, by updating, using the target known signal, a weight of a first another known signal updated immediately before performing an update using the target known signal. The second weight is obtained, for a target known signal being an update target, by updating, using the target known signal, a weight of a second another known signal. The selecting unit selects one of the first weight and the second weight that has a lower estimation error.

Conventionally, there is a radio communication system including base station apparatuses and mobile terminal apparatuses connected by radio to the base station apparatuses. Each of the base station apparatuses forms a coverage area (cell) where the base station apparatus can communicate with terminal apparatuses. The terminal apparatuses located in the cell can perform radio communication with the base station apparatus forming the cell (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
In the above-described radio communication system, when coverage areas (cells) set by a respective plurality of base station apparatuses overlap with each other, a signal transmitted from a base station apparatus may reach a terminal apparatus in a cell of another base station apparatus near the base station apparatus and thus become an interference signal to the terminal apparatus.
Furthermore, the above-described radio communication system includes, as base station apparatuses, for example, a macro base station apparatus that forms a cell (macrocell) of several kilometers in size; and a femto base station apparatus that is installed in the macrocell and forms a relatively small cell (femtocell) of the order of several tens of meters in the macrocell. In this radio communication system, since substantially the entire area of the femtocell formed by the femto base station apparatus overlaps with the macrocell, it can be said that this environment easily causes interference therebetween.
For the methods of suppressing interference waves under such an environment, measures such as keeping the transmission power on the interference giving side at a low level and removing interference waves by a multi-antenna system are considered.
Of them, for the method of removing interference waves by a multi-antenna system, as shown in the following Patent Literature 2, the application of which is filed by the inventors of the present invention, there is a method in which a weight is calculated on a per minimum unit of radio resource allocation basis, whereby a weight is calculated based only on signals received from the same user. According to this method, since the number of interfering sources in the minimum unit is limited, an appropriate weight can be obtained and thus removal of interference waves can be effectively performed.

Communication apparatus and base station apparatus


A windshield wiper blade cleaning device is disclosed having a channel for receiving the tip of a wiper blade, the channel having a frictional base for removing dirt from the tip of the blade as the blade is drawn longitudinally through the channel. In an alternate embodiment, the channel also has frictional walls for cleaning the sides of the blade. In described embodiment, the base and/or walls are made frictional by means of projections, filaments, or abrasive materials.

This invention relates to devices for cleaning the rubber blade of windshield wipers and other articles having a thin rubber blade such as squeegees.
In normal use, windshield wiper blades accumulate dirt which decreases the effectiveness of the blade in cleaning the windshield. This leads to streaking, and in severe cases, scratching of the windshield. Several methods have been used in the past to correct this problem, but none have met with total success. In one method, the wiper blade is trimmed as necessary, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,577 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,657. This method raipidly diminishes the blade, requiring the entire blade to be replaced at frequent intervals. In another method, the sides of the blade are scraped to dislodge dirt, as disclosed in U.K. patent 2182550 and German patent 3635360. In U.K. patent 1182550, a device is disclosed wherein oppositely directed projections are engaged with opposite faces of the blade. As the blade is drawn longitudinally through the device, the blade is made to take a meandering path through the projections. During the course of this action, both the sides of the blade and the tip of the blade are scraped. However, particularly for blades having a blunt tip where the wiping action occurs at the corners of the tip, it appears that this device would be abusive to the blade, leading to deterioration of the wiping action. In German patent 3635360, a similar device is disclosed having a V-shaped groove whose sides form frictional surfaces embodied as parallel equidistant file teeth projecting from the surfaces. Again, it appears that this device would be abusive to the blade, particularly if the blade employs a blunt tip.


The present invention is directed to a sterilization tray assembly for sterilizing medical instruments. The sterilization tray preferably includes a base tray and a cover. Also, a secondary tray may be mounted within the base tray. These components ideally include ventilation apertures to allow steam or vapor to pass through the sterilization tray assembly to effect sterilization of medical instruments stored therein. The components of the sterilization tray assembly preferably are made of a mineral filled polypropylene and most preferably is a homopolymer which is filled with calcium carbonate, 40% by weight. This material exhibits good heat deflection characteristics at high temperature while being relative inert to absorption of H.sub.2 O.sub.2 vapor.

Four basic methods have been used in the past to sterilize medical instruments which are retained within sterilization trays during sterilization operations. These methods include using (1) ethylene oxide (EO); (2) chemical soaking; (3) steam sterilization; and (4) plasma sterilization employing a hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.2) vapor.
The sterilization method using the ethylene oxide includes using a highly flammable and toxic gas which therefore require special precaution. Further, this sterilization technique requires a long time to complete. Thus, expensive medical instruments cannot be rapidly sterilized and used many times in a day. An advantage this method has over others is that sterilization occurs at a low temperature. However, overall this particular technique is expensive and is in disfavor.
The second method utilizes chemical soaking to sterilize instruments. This sterilization method can occur at low temperatures. However, the soaking generally takes a long time and therefore is undesirable. Further, the chemicals used to do the sterilization are often considered to be hazardous and require special handling and disposal.
The third method is steam sterilization. Instruments are placed within a sterilization tray and loaded into a sterilization device such as an autoclave. Using a combination of steam, time, temperature and pressure, the instruments in the autoclave are sterilized. An advantage to this particular method is that it is fast and cheap. However, the requirement of high temperature requires that sterilization trays be stable when placed in a high temperature environment for an extended period of time. That is, the sterilization tray should have a high heat deflection value, i.e., little deformation and dimensional change due to the extended heating.
Metal sterilization trays are quite good at retaining their shapes during high temperature sterilization. However, as many medical instruments are made of metal and are extremely expensive, the instruments are susceptible to being accidentally banged or scraped against the metal sterilization trays, thus damaging the medical instruments. Therefore, it is preferable that plastic sterilization trays be used. Currently, the plastic of choice for sterilization trays used in steam sterilization is Radel 5000. The Radel 5000 provides the desired heat deflection characteristics during extended high temperature sterilization cycles. Unfortunately, Radel 5000 is a relatively expensive material.
The newest of the above sterilization techniques is using a plasma which employs hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.2) as the sterilization agent. The advantage this particular method offers is that sterilization can occur at a relatively low temperature and with a relatively short time cycle. The short time cycle is important in the event that expensive instruments are to be used several times in a day. Unfortunately, sterilization trays made out of the Radel 5000 readily absorb the hydrogen peroxide. This absorption is undesirable because it often causes the machinery used in the plasma sterilization to shut down. Further, the absorbed hydrogen peroxide may later release from the sterilization trays and into the medical instruments or atmosphere which is undesirable.
Sterilization trays made of plastics other than Radel 5000 have been made for use in hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilization devices. However, these sterilization trays typically do not have sufficient heat deflection values to adequately withstand the temperatures of steam sterilization.
The present invention intends to overcome many of the shortcomings of the above described conventional sterilization trays.

Sterilization tray assembly composed of a mineral filled polypropylene


A fluid jet ejector and ejection method wherein a plurality of high velocity jet streams of a primary fluid are discharged through a vacuum chamber into a convergent-divergent diffuser or nozzle to draw a secondary fluid into the chamber in such manner that the secondary fluid is entrained within flow spaces formed between the jet streams and is carried from the chamber through the diffuser means by the jet streams. A modular fluid jet ejector composed of multiple parts which may be economically manufactured and assembled, and a fluid jet ejector assembly consisting of multiple stacked fluid jet ejectors which may be coupled in parallel to provide a high jet pumping rate. Preferred embodiments of the fluid jet ejector include features for directing primary fluid to a flow space at nozzle exits to fill the space with primary fluid to eliminate or greatly reduce the presence of primary fluid therein, thus greatly increasing the efficiency of the ejector device, these features comprising a fluid passage about an exhaust tube for directing primary fluid flow to the flow space.

1. Filed of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fluid handling devices and methods, and more particularly to an improved fluid jet ejector and fluid jet ejection method.
2. Prior Art
Fluid jet ejectors are well known and used for a variety of purposes. Simply stated, a conventional fluid jet ejector comprises a body containing a fluid passage which forms a primary fluid inlet for receiving a pressurized primary fluid, a fluid outlet, a vacuum chamber between the inlet and outlet, a convergent-divergent diffuser communicating the vacuum chamber to the outlet, a nozzle communicating the inlet to the vacuum chamber, and a secondary fluid inlet opening to the vacuum chamber. In operation of the ejector, pressurized primary fluid enters the primary fluid inlet of the ejector and is then accelerated to a high velocity through the nozzle which discharges a high velocity jet stream of the fluid through the chamber into the convergent inlet end of the diffuser.
Acceleration of the primary fluid through the nozzle into the vacuum chamber creates a reduced pressure in the chamber which induces secondary fluid flow through the secondary fluid inlet into the chamber. The secondary fluid thus entering the vacuum chamber is drawn and entrained by and drawn into the diffuser with the high velocity fluid stream. The combined fluid undergoes acceleration and compression as it passes through the convergent inlet portion of the diffuser and deceleration and expansion as it passes through the divergent outlet portion of the diffuser.
The prior art is replete with a vast assortment of such fluid jet ejectors. Among the patents disclosing such ejectors are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,521,729, dated Jan. 6, 1925 to Suczek disclosing an ejector having convergent tubes N, N1 through which a primary fluid is discharged through vacuum chambers g, r into diffusers D, D1.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,741, dated May 7, 1935, to Buckland disclosing a jet pump having a single nozzle 13 and diffuser 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,480, dated Mar. 23, 1937, to McLean disclosing a thermal compressor having convergent nozzles 7, 10 and a single diffuser 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,631,774, dated Mar. 17, 1953, to Plummet Jr. disclosing a thermocompressor having a single nozzle 22 and diffuser 16.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,073, dated Dec. 29, 1970 to Petrovits disclosing a jet inducer having a single nozzle 24 the diffuser 38.


Topical pharmaceutical compositions are described comprising, based on the total weight of the composition: a) 0.01 to 0.2 wt. % of mometasone furoate, b) 5 to 18 wt. % of hexylene glycol, c) 20 to 40 wt. % of water, and d) 25 to 70 wt. % of an oil phase. Said compositions are stable and can be safely and easily applied over large surface areas of the skin in an acceptable way by the general patient population for the treatment or prevention of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema) and other skin disorders or diseases.

Topical corticosteroids, as a class, demonstrate anti-inflammatory, anti-pruritic and vasoconstrictive actions. They are generally used to relieve the redness, skin edema (swelling), itching, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing and discomfort of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema) and other pathologies of the skin like contact dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, xerotic eczema, discoid eczema, venous eczema, dermatitis herpetiformis, neurodermatitis or autoeczematization.
Commercially, topical corticosteroid products are available as ointments, creams, solutions, foams and lotions. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Data Standards Manual, Dosage Form (version 08) defines ointment as "a semisolid dosage form, usually containing less than 20% water and volatiles and more than 50% hydrocarbons, waxes, or polyols as the vehicle, which is generally for external application to the skin or mucous membranes"; cream as "an emulsion, semisolid dosage form, usually containing more than 20% water and volatiles and/or less than 50% hydrocarbons, waxes, or polyols as the vehicle, which is generally for external application to the skin or mucous membranes"; and lotion as "an emulsion, liquid dosage form, which is generally for external application to the skin".
Due to their physico-chemical properties lotions are more pleasant to be used (cosmetically accepted) to the end-user than ointments or creams, e.g. lotions are easily applied than ointments or creams and are typically used for the treatment of large body areas, to hair-covered skin and on the hairy scalp.
While the mechanisms of the anti-inflammatory effects are unclear, there appears to be a correlation between the therapeutic effects of corticosteroids and their vasoconstrictive potencies. Vasoconstrictor assays have been commonly used to compare and predict the relative therapeutic potencies of topically applied corticosteroids (McKenzie A. W., Stoughton R. B.: Method for comparing percutaneous absorption of steroids. Arch Dermatol 1962; 86: 608-610)
Mometasone furoate is a corticosteroid commonly used in the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders, allergic rhinitis (such as hay fever), and asthma. Mometasone furoate is a fine white to off-white powder that is insoluble in water, slightly soluble in octanol, and moderately soluble in ethyl alcohol. The exceptionally poor solubility of mometasone furoate is a limitation for the development of topical pharmaceutical compositions.
Different solvents have been used in order to develop topical pharmaceutical compositions containing mometasone furoate, either containing said mometasone furoate partially dissolved and partially suspended or containing the drug totally dissolved due to the presence of solubilizing agents.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,529 describes topical pharmaceutical compositions containing corticosteroids (including mometasone furoate) in a hydro-alcoholic base comprising a) 15-50 wt. % of propylene glycol, b) 20-40 wt. % of isopropyl alcohol, c) 20-60 wt. % of water, d) 0.1-3.0 wt. % of a thickening agent and e) a buffer to adjust the pH between 3.0 to 6.0. Other topical mometasone furoate/propylene glycol pharmaceutical compositions are disclosed in WO 9108733, WO2004105686 and WO2008126076.
On the other side, U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,610 discloses topical pharmaceutical compositions comprising a) 0.01-0.25% of mometasone furoate, b) 5-20% of hexylene glycol, c) 1.0-5.0% of water, d) 2.0-10.0% of white wax, e) 40-70% of white petrolatum and other ingredients. U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,610 indicates that when mometasone furoate is partially dissolved and partially suspended in propylene glycol based cream formulations, the resulting formulations do not possess the necessary efficacy; and when mometasone furoate is completely dissolved in oleyl alcohol/propylene glycol based cream formulations, the resulting formulations not only lack the required activity but also are irritant in a rabbit dermal test. Additionally, according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,610, formulations containing drug solubilizing agents may result in poor activity.
Finally, EP 1886686 describes topical pharmaceutical compositions comprising a) 0.01-0.2 wt. % of mometasone furoate, b) 10-90 wt. % of water and c) a combination of at least an aromatic alcohol and at least a solvent selected from two different groups, and e) optionally further additives. According to EP 1886686 the combination of the aromatic alcohol and the solvent increases the solubility of mometasone furoate avoiding its precipitation even in the case of increasing the water content.
Surprisingly, it has been found that topical pharmaceutical compositions comprising mometasone furoate suspended in hexylene glycol based formulations (i.e. topical pharmaceutical compositions comprising solid particles of mometasone furoate dispersed in hexylene glycol based formulations) are stable, exhibit an efficacy comparable to mometasone furoate compositions available in the market and, due to its physico-chemical properties, are easily applied to the skin (easy to spread on the skin), in particular to hair-covered skin, absorb rapidly, not being irritant to the skin and, as a result, being more pleasant to use to the general patient population.


A document information communicating system having: a sending apparatus for sending document information which is divided into a plurality of pages; and a receiving apparatus for receiving the document information and displaying the received document information. The sending apparatus has a sending device for repeatedly sending the plurality of pages of the document information. The receiving apparatus has: a selecting device for selecting at least one page from the plurality of pages of the document information; a receiving device for receiving the selected page of the document information; a display device having a display panel which allows a whole of one page of the document information to be displayed thereon at a time; and a display control device for displaying the document information received by the receiving device on the display panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to system having a sending apparatus for sending document information and a receiving apparatus for receiving the document information and displaying the received document information.
2. Description of the Related Art
By using computer network communication systems, a user of a personal computer can send documents, letters, notes and the like as electronic document information to another user of a personal computer. However, a personal computer generally has a great number of functions, and therefore, it is complex and expensive.
If the computer network communication system is used for a meeting or a conference, documents can be conveniently delivered as the electronic document information to the participants. However, the computer network communication system causes complex operation, troublesome network management and increasing power consumption. Furthermore, building the computer network communication system causes great expense.
Further, if there are various differences in display forms of the document information, such as page size, a scale of characters and the like, it is difficult to fit the variously different display forms to a monitor of the personal computer. For instance, if the page size of the document information is too large compared with the size of the monitor, the only part of the document information is displayed on the monitor. Therefore, the user cannot see the whole of the document information at a time. In order to fit the variously different display forms to the monitor, it is necessary to adjust page size and a scale of characters for each display form. This causes complex operations.
Furthermore, if the computer network communication system is used, there is a problem of security. It is difficult to prevent the leakage of the electronic document information in the computer network communication.

Document information communicating system