An apparatus for producing dimethyl ether comprising: a slurry-bed reactor filled with a dimethyl ether synthesis catalyst and a medium oil therefor; a condenser for condensing a gasified medium oil discharged from the reactor; an adsorber for removing a catalyst-deactivation ingredient from the medium oil condensed in the condenser; and recycle means for recycling the medium oil to the slurry-bed reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst for dimethyl ether, a method for producing the catalyst, and a method for producing dimethyl ether by using the catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Arts
There are several known methods for manufacturing dimethyl ether starting from a mixed gas of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen under the presence of a catalyst suspended in a solvent.
For example, JP-A-2-9833 (the term xe2x80x9cJP-A-xe2x80x9d referred to herein signifies xe2x80x9cUnexamined Japanese patent publicationxe2x80x9d), JP-A -3-181435, JP-A-3-52835, JP-A-4-264046, WO 93/10069 disclose methods for manufacturing dimethyl ether or a mixture of dimethyl ether and methanol through the contact of a synthesis gas with a mixture of a methanol synthesis catalyst and a methanol dehydration catalyst suspended in an inert liquid.
The method disclosed in JP-A-2-9833 is a method of direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from a synthesis gas, which method comprises the step of contacting a synthesis gas consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with a solid catalyst, or reacting the synthesis gas react under the presence of the solid catalyst to conduct catalytic synthesis of dimethyl ether from the synthesis gas, wherein the synthesis gas undergoes catalytic action under the presence of the solid catalyst system, and wherein the solid catalyst is a single catalyst or a mixture of plurality of catalysts which are suspended in a liquid medium in a three-phase (slurry phase) reactor system, and wherein the three-phase reactor system comprises at least a single three-phase reactor.
The method disclosed in JP-A-3-181435 is a method for manufacturing dimethyl ether from a mixed gas of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, or a mixed gas of carbon monoxide and hydrogen and further containing carbon dioxide and/or water vapor, wherein a catalyst is used in a slurry form by suspension thereof in a solvent.
The method disclosed in JP-A-3-52835 is a method of dimethyl ether synthesis characterized in that a synthesis gas is reacted under the presence of a solid methanol synthesis catalyst to produce methanol, and that the produced methanol is reacted under the presence of a solid dehydration catalyst to produce dimethyl ether. According to the method, dimethyl ether is synthesized from a synthesis gas consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. That is, the synthesis gas is contacted with a solid catalyst system comprising a methanol-synthesizing ingredient and a dehydrating (ether-forming) ingredient, wherein the solid catalyst system is a single catalyst or a mixture of plurality of catalysts in a three-phase (liquid phase) reactor system, and wherein the reactor system is controlled to keep the minimum effective methanol rate to at least a level of 1.0 g-mole of methanol per 1 kg of catalyst per hour.
The method disclosed in WO 93/10069 is a method for manufacturing dimethyl ether from a mixed gas containing carbon monoxide and either or both of water and water vapor, or from a mixed gas containing carbon monoxide and either or both of water and water vapor and further containing carbon dioxide, wherein a catalyst is used in a form of solvent slurry, which catalyst is prepared by pulverizing a mixed catalyst containing at least zinc oxide and, copper oxide or chromium oxide, and aluminum oxide, by adhering these ingredients together under pressure, and by pulverizing them again to suspend in the solvent.
On the other hand, dimethyl ether is synthesized generally in a fixed bed system. There is a known catalyst for a fixed bed system, which catalyst is prepared by depositing a methanol synthesis catalyst onto a support of metallic oxide such as alumina, then by calcining them together. (JP-A-2-280386)
The methods for manufacturing dimethyl ether disclosed in JP-A-2-9833, JP-A-3-52835, JP-A-4-264046, and JP-A-3-181435, however, raise problems such that the two kinds of or three kinds of catalysts suspended in a solvent separate from each other in the reactor owing to the difference in specific gravity among the methanol synthesis catalyst, the methanol dehydration catalyst, and the water gas shift catalyst, which induces a distribution in catalyst concentration or deposition of one of these catalysts, thus significantly degrading the use efficiency of the catalysts.
The catalyst disclosed in WO 93/10069 is prepared by integrating the above-described three kinds of catalysts by means of a mechanical method. These types of catalysts also raise a problem, that during a period of use in a slurry state, the catalyst particles separate from each other to induce a distribution in catalyst concentration and catalyst deposition.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether at a high yield and a method for producing the catalyst, and to provide a method for producing dimethyl ether at a high space time yield.
To attain the object, the present invention provides a first catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether, the catalyst comprising:
alumina particles having an average size of 200 xcexcm or less;
a layer comprising a methanol synthesis catalyst, the layer being formed around each of the alumina particles; and
the methanol synthesis catalyst having a weight ratio of 0.05 to 5 to a weight of the alumina particles.
In the first catalyst, the average size of the alumina particles is preferably 1 to 100 xcexcm. The average size of 1 to 50 xcexcm is more preferable.
The methanol synthesis catalyst may comprise copper oxide, zinc oxide and alumina. It is desirable that a weight ratio of the copper oxide:the zinc oxide:the alumina is 1:0.05 to 20:0 to 2. The methanol synthesis catalyst may comprise zinc oxide, chromium oxide and alumina. It is desirable that a weight ratio of the zinc oxide:the chromium oxide:the alumina being 1:0.1 to 10:0 to 2.
The first catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether is produced by the following method comprising the steps of:
forming a layer comprising a methanol synthesis catalyst around each of alumina particles; and
washing the alumina particles, around which the layer was formed, with an acid aqueous solution.
The forming of the layer may comprise:
forming a slurry by introducing the alumina particles into an aqueous solution containing a metallic salt of active element of the methanol synthesis catalyst;
heating the slurry; and
neutralizing the heated slurry with a base solution, thereby the active element of the methanol synthesis catalyst being deposited around each of the alumina particles.
The deposition of the active element of the methanol synthesis catalyst is preferably carried out at a temperature of 50 to 90xc2x0 C.
Dimethyl ether is produced by using the first catalyst. A method for producing dimethyl ether comprising the steps of:
providing the first catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether, the catalyst;
forming a slurry by introducing the catalyst into a solvent; and
introducing a mixed gas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen into the slurry.
The present invention provides a second catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether, the catalyst comprising:
alumina particles having pores;
deposits which exist inside the pores; and
the deposits comprising copper oxide, zinc oxide, and alumina.
It is preferable that the alumina particles have an average size of 200 xcexcm or less. A weight ratio of the copper oxide:the zinc oxide:the alumina is preferably 1:0.05 to 20:0 to 2.
The second catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether is produced by the method comprising the steps of:
(a) introducing an alumina having pores into an aqueous solution containing a copper salt, a zinc salt and an aluminum salt for impregnating the pores with the aqueous solution;
(b) vaporizing the aqueous solution on a surface of the alumina;
(c) contacting the alumina subjected to the step (b) with a solution containing a deposition agent for hydrolyzing the copper salt, the zinc salt and the aluminum salt to copper hydroxide, zinc hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide and for depositing the copper hydroxide, the zinc hydroxide and the aluminum hydroxide within the pores of the alumina;
(d) washing the alumina subjected to the step (c); and
(e) calcining the washed alumina.
Dimethyl ether is produced by using the second catalyst. A method for producing dimethyl ether comprising the steps of:
providing the second catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether;
forming a slurry by introducing the catalyst into a solvent; and
introducing a mixed gas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen into the slurry.
The present invention provides a third catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether, the catalyst comprising:
a methanol synthesis catalyst;
a methanol dehydration catalyst; and
a binder for integrating the methanol synthesis catalyst and the methanol dehydration catalyst.
The methanol synthesis catalyst may comprise copper oxide, zinc oxide and alumina. A weight ratio of the copper oxide:the zinc oxide:the alumina is preferably 1:0.05 to 20:0 to 2. Also, the methanol synthesis catalyst may comprise zinc oxide, chromium oxide and alumina. A weight ratio of the zinc oxide:the chromium oxide the alumina is preferably 1:0.1 to 10:0 to 2. The methanol dehydration catalyst may be at least one selected from the group consisting of xcex3-alumina, silica-alumina and zeolite. The third catalyst may further comprise a water gas shift catalyst. The water gas shift catalyst may comprise iron oxide and chromium oxide. The binder may be alumina sol or clay.
Dimethyl ether is produced by using the third catalyst. A method for producing dimethyl ether comprising the steps of:
providing the third catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether;
forming a slurry by introducing the catalyst into a solvent; and
introducing a mixed gas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen into the slurry.
Further, the present invention provides a method for producing a catalyst suitable for producing dimethyl ether, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) preparing a methanol synthesis catalyst, a methanol dehydration catalyst, a water gas shift catalyst and a solvent;
(b) calculating an A value regarding to the methanol synthesis catalyst, the methanol dehydration catalyst and the water gas shift catalyst using an average particle size of the catalyst, a particle density of the catalyst and a density of the solvent, the A value being defined by the following equation:
A=D2(Pxe2x88x92S),
xe2x80x83where
D denotes the average particle size of the catalyst, (cm),
P denotes the particle density of the catalyst, (g/cm3), and
S denotes the density of the solvent, (g/cm3),
(c) controlling at least one of the group consisting of the average particle size of the catalyst, the particle density of the catalyst and the density of the solvent to maintain differences in the A values within xc2x11xc3x9710xe2x88x926 g/cm among the methanol synthesis catalyst, the methanol dehydration catalyst, and the water gas shift catalyst;
(d) after the step (c), suspending the methanol synthesis catalyst, the methanol dehydration catalyst, and the water gas shift catalyst in the solvent.
Furthermore, dimethyl ether can be produced by the method comprising the steps of:
providing a mixed gas containing carbon monoxide and at least one selected from the group of hydrogen and water vapor;
contacting the mixed gas with a first catalyst consisting essentially of a methanol synthesis catalyst, a dehydration catalyst and a water gas shift catalyst; and
contacting the mixed gas, which contacted with the first catalyst, with a second catalyst consisting essentially of at least one selected from the group of a dehydration catalyst and a water gas shift catalyst.
Moreover, dimethyl ether can be produced by the method comprising the steps of:
(a) reacting a raw material gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to produce a reaction gas including dimethyl ether, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen;
(b) separating the reaction gas into the carbon monoxide and the hydrogen, and the dimethyl ether and the carbon dioxide;
(c) recycling the carbon monoxide and the hydrogen which were separated from the reaction gas in the step (b);
(d) removing the carbon dioxide from the dimethyl ether and the carbon dioxide of the step (b) to gain the dimethyl ether; and
(e) recycling the dimethyl ether which was gained in the step (d) to the step (b).
Further, dimethyl ether can be produced by the method comprising the steps of:
preparing a slurry which is produced by dispersing a dimethyl ether synthesis catalyst into a medium oil;
contacting a raw material gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen with the slurry to produce a product gas containing a vaporized medium oil;
cooling the product gas to condense the vaporized medium oil;
obtaining dimethyl ether from the product gas from which the vaporized medium oil was condensed;
removing a catalyst-deactivation ingredient from the condensed medium oil; and
recycling the medium oil, from which the catalyst-deactivation ingredient was-removed, to the step of preparing the slurry.
Further, the present invention provides an apparatus for producing dimethyl ether comprising:
a slurry-bed reactor filled with a dimethyl ether synthesis catalyst and a medium oil therefor;
a condenser for condensing a vaporized medium oil discharged from the reactor;
an adsorber for removing a catalyst-deactivation ingredient from the medium oil condensed in the condenser; and
recycle means for recycling the medium oil to the slurry-bed reactor.


A machine translation system can improve results of machine translations by employing preferred translations, such as human translated phrases. In some implementations, the machine translation system can use the preferred translations as heavily weighted training data when building a machine translation engine. In some implementations, the machine translation system can use the preferred translations as an alternate to a result that would have otherwise been produced by a machine translation engine. While it is infeasible to obtain human translations for all translation phrases, preferred translations can be used for problem phrases for which machine translation engines often produce poor translations. The machine translation system can identify problem phrases by assigning a quality score to each translation in a set of translations. The machine translation system can identify, as the problem phrases, n-grams that appear with a frequency above a frequency threshold in translations with quality scores below a threshold.

The Internet has made it possible for people to connect and share information globally in ways previously undreamt of. Social media platforms, for example, enable people on opposite sides of the world to collaborate on ideas, discuss current events, or share what they had for lunch. In the past, this spectacular resource has been somewhat limited to communications between users having a common natural language ("language"). In addition, users have only been able to consume content that is in their language, or for which a content provider is able to determine an appropriate translation.
While communication across the many different languages used around the world is a particular challenge, several machine translation engines have attempted to address this concern. Machine translation engines enable a user to select or provide a content item (e.g., a message from an acquaintance) and quickly receive a translation of the content item. Machine translation engines can be created using training data that includes identical or similar content in two or more languages. Multilingual training data is generally obtained from news reports, parliament domains, "wiki" sources, etc. However, the machine translation engines created using this traditional multilingual training data have proven to be less than perfect. This is in part due to imperfections in the training data and in part because of the inability of the machine translation engine creation process to correctly create mappings between language phrases. As a result, the translations created by machine translation engines are often distrusted.
The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

User feedback for low-confidence translations


Systems and methods that receive as input microscopy images, extract features, and apply layers of processing units to compute one or more set of cellular phenotype features, corresponding to cellular densities and/or fluorescence measured under different conditions. The system is a neural network architecture having a convolutional neural network followed by a multiple instance learning (MIL) pooling layer. The system does not necessarily require any segmentation steps or per cell labels as the convolutional neural network can be trained and tested directly on raw microscopy images in real-time. The system computes class specific feature maps for every phenotype variable using a fully convolutional neural network and uses multiple instance learning to aggregate across these class specific feature maps. The system produces predictions for one or more reference cellular phenotype variables based on microscopy images with populations of cells.

High-content screening (HCS) technologies that combine automated fluorescence microscopy with high-throughput biotechnology have become powerful systems for studying cell biology and for drug screening. However, these systems can produce more than 105 images per day, making their success dependent on automated image analysis. Traditional analysis pipelines heavily rely on hand-tuning the segmentation, feature extraction and classification steps for each assay. Although comprehensive tools have become available, they are typically optimized for mammalian cells and not directly applicable to model organisms such as yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans. Researchers studying these organisms often manually classify cellular patterns by eye.
Recent advances in deep learning indicate that deep neural networks trained end-to-end can learn powerful feature representations and outperform classifiers built on top of extracted features. Although object recognition models, particularly convolutional networks, have been successfully trained using images with one or a few objects of interest at the center of the image, microscopy images often contain hundreds of cells with a phenotype of interest, as well as outliers.
Fully convolutional neural networks (FCNNs) have been applied to natural images for segmentation tasks using ground truth pixel-level labels. These networks perform segmentation for each output category instead of producing a single prediction vector. For microscopy data, convolutional sparse coding blocks have also been used to extract regions of interest from spiking neurons and slices of cortical tissue without supervision. Other approaches utilize FCNNs to perform segmentation using weak labels. However, while these techniques aim to segment or localize regions of interest within full resolution images, they do not classify populations of objects in images of arbitrary size based on only training with weak labels. These techniques suffer because dense pixel level ground truth labels are expensive to generate and arbitrary, especially for niche datasets such as microscopy images.
Thus, there is a lack of automated cellular classification systems using full resolution images. Applying deep neural networks to microscopy screens has been challenging due to the lack of training data specific to cells; i.e., a lack of large datasets labeled at the single cell level.

System and method for classifying and segmenting microscopy images with deep multiple instance learning


This invention relates to apparatus for trimming and shape cutting a hearing aid having a three-dimensional body of irregular shape and a flat plate-like member surface mounted against the body for forming an enclosure in which electronic circuitry is mounted. The flat plate-like member has a rim of excess material extending from the body of the hearing aid. The apparatus includes a framework extending from a base with a surface plate mounted on the framework. A rotary drive is connected to the framework with a tool bit extending through an opening in the surface plate. A guide member having a finger is attached to the surface plate with the finger extending over the opening above the rotary tools bit, leaving a space in which the rim of the flat plate-like member is placed for automatic removal.

Hearing aids are electronic devices which are inserted into the middle ear compartment of the ear anatomy to amplify certain sound frequencies for improving the transmission of sound energy into the inner ear. The hearing aid is used to overcome a hearing deficiency in certain persons relating to their inability to distinguish certain audible tones, particularly at higher frequencies, within the normal audible perception range. The hearing aid is designed to be located in the middle ear cavity adjacent the ear drum. The middle ear cavity is an irregularly shaped air-filled space in the temporal bone which varies in size and shape from person to person. For proper fit and function, the body of each hearing aid is tailored to correspond in shape and size to the middle ear cavity of the patient. This is accomplished by taking an impression of the cavity of the middle ear using a silicone material or the like, and making a hollow mold from the impression to form an open shell having a shape replicating the shape of the inner ear of the patient. The amplifying electronic circuitry and battery power cell are fitted into the open shell, which is then closed with a flat plate. Alternatively, the electronics is surface mounted upon the flat plate, which is then flush mounted against the open shell to form an enclosed body with the electronics in the interior of the body. The flat plate is bonded to the shell at the mating edges of the parts. The plate is then hand trimmed by cutting off excess material extending beyond the mated edges between the plate and body. The hearing aid is then finished by polishing. The trimming, shaping and finishing operations are performed by hand to avoid damaging the body of the hearing aid. These hand operations are labor intensive, time consuming and require substantial expertise, which contributes to the high cost in the fabrication of a hearing aid.


An improved feed waveguide 15 for an antenna 10 is disclosed which reduces coupling junction phase errors. The improved feed waveguide 15 of the present invention includes first and second slotted parallel walls 35a and 37a along the length thereof. The first wall 35a includes a first elongate slot 27 therethrough having a first longitudinal axis 42. The second wall 37a includes a second elongate slot 32 which is located on the second wall 37a opposite the first slot 27 on the first wall 35a. The second slot 32 has a longitudinal axis 44 which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis 42 of the first slot 27.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to slot array antennas. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved feed for a slot array antenna.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to an illustrative embodiment for a particular application, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof.
2. Description of the Related
Planar array antennas are used for a wide variety of radar applications. One such planar array antenna is a flat plate antenna. A flat plate antenna is typically a family of coplanar linear arrays each containing a series of resonant slot radiating apertures. Microwave energy is provided to the radiating waveguides by a feed waveguide which is in turn fed by an input waveguide.
Slot coupling is a desirable technique for coupling energy from the feed waveguide to the radiating waveguides for most applications. Slot coupling, for a single feed, involves communication of energy through a slot in a broadwall of a rectangular feed waveguide and slots in a broadwall of a rectangular radiating waveguide. Energy is typically provided to the feed waveguide by an input waveguide located at either end of the feed waveguide or somewhere along the length thereof. The location of the input waveguide at the ends of the feed waveguide may limit the bandwidth of the system or be otherwise problematic because of the relative inaccessibility of the ends of the feed waveguides.
The center feeding of the feed waveguide is problematic with respect to the location of the input slot of the input waveguide relative to the feed slot of the feed waveguide. That is, if, as is common, the input slot and the feed slots are placed on opposite broad walls of the feed waveguide and at one-quarter wavelength spacing down the waveguide, an impedance inversion results on each half of the feed waveguide which must be corrected in the design. A common technique for correcting the impedance inversion involves a design in which coupling slots are at greater angles. Unfortunately, this approach typically results in larger coupling junction phase errors.
Location of the input slots on the opposite broadwall at the same position along the length of the feed waveguide as the feed slots has heretofore been avoided because of difficulty in achieving independent coupling of the input slot and the opposite feed slot.
There is therefore a need in the art for a planar array antenna feed waveguide which has an input slot located between the ends of the waveguide but does not have any associated impedance inversion.


A semiconductor device includes a substrate; an inter layer dielectric disposed on the substrate; a TSV penetrating the substrate and the ILD. In addition, a plurality of shallow trench isolations (STI) is disposed in the substrate, and a shield ring is disposed in the ILD surrounding the TSV on the STI. During the process of forming the TSV, the contact ring can protect adjacent components from metal contamination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, a semiconductor device comprising a through silicon via (TSV) and a contact ring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays micro-processor systems including integrated circuits (IC) are polyvalent devices, and are used in diverse fields such as automatic control electronics, mobile communication devices and personal computers. With the development of technology and the increasingly imaginative applications of electrical products, the IC devices are increasingly smaller, more precise and more diversified.
As known in the art, IC devices are produced from dies that are fabricated through conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes. A process to manufacture a die starts with a wafer: first, different regions are marked on the wafer; then conventional semiconductor manufacture processes, such as deposition, photolithography, etching or planarization are used to form required circuit traces; then each region of the wafer is separated to form a die and packaged to form a chip; finally, the chips are attached onto boards, for example a printed circuit board (PCB), and the chips are electrically coupled to the pins on the PCB. Thus, each of the programs on the chip can be performed.
In order to evaluate the functions and the efficiency of a chip and increase the capacitance density in order to accommodate more IC components in a limited space, many semiconductor packaging are built up by stacking each die and/or chip, for example, Flip-Chip technology, Multi-chip Package (MCP) technology, Package on Package (PoP) technology and Package in Package (PiP) technology. Besides these technologies, a "Through Silicon Via (TSV)" technique has been well developed in recent years. The TSV can improve the interconnections between the dies in the package so as to increase the package efficiency.
The first step to fabricate a TSV is to form a via on a wafer by an etching or a laser process, then fill the via with copper, polycrystalline silicon, tungsten, or other conductive materials; then, the chips are thinned and packaged or bonded to forma 3D package structure. When using the TSV technique, the interconnection route between the chips is shorter. Thus, in comparison to other technologies, the TSV has the advantages of faster speed, less noise and better efficiency, and therefore looks set to become one of the most popular technologies in the future.
However, there are some issues in the integration process of the TSV with others components. For example, during the step of forming the TSV, vias formed through etching or laser processes may directly expose the metal pad, causing metal contamination and influence others components surrounding the TSV.

Method for forming semiconductor device with through silicon via


The invention relates to a process for the simultaneous treatment of solid or semi-solid organic waste and liquid organic waste with a view to the simultaneous production of compost and biogas.. According to this process, said liquid organic waste is subjected to a liquid-solid separation, the liquid phase from this separation is subjected to anaerobic fermentation in at least one closed digester, the solid phase from said liquid-solid separation is mixed with said solid or semi-solid organic waste, the resulting mixture is subjected to aerobic fermentation at the periphery of said digester and in contact therewith and mud, clarified liquid and gas are respectively discharged from said digester whereas compost from the aerobic fermentation of said solid or semisolid waste is recovered at the periphery of said digester.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the valuable use made of liquid and/or solid waste of different kinds coming from different sources. It relates more especially to the treatment both in an external atmosphere (aerobic phase) and in a closed medium (anaerobic phase) of organic waste and polluted materials, respectively solid or semi-solid and liquid, for directly and simultaneously producing compost, biogas and purified liquid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The increasing volume of waste and residues of all types constitutes an increasing problem for industrialists and municipalities, considering more especially the fact that this waste generally presents great dangers for the environment and for living beings.
Very often, for liquid residues, the solution is adopted of solidifying this waste by a physico-chemical treatment giving rise to petrifaction, the hard masses obtained remaining on the treatment site or being possibly used for constructing foundation structures or different ground coverings.
According to another objective, attempts are made to make valuable use of a part at least of this waste, for example by producing heat energy or, better still, when it is a question of organic residues more or less rich in carbon and other non mineral substances, by using the known techniques of fermentation in an aerobic and/or anaerobic medium so as to obtain either composts, fertilizers and different improvements to soils or production of a gas called "biogas" rich in methane and usable as a fuel for obtaining heat or electric energy or else for manufacturing chemical products.
The invention relates to this field of making valuable use of organic waste and has essentially as aim, at one and the same time, of transforming solid organic waste into useful materials, particularly for agriculture and ensuring the treatment of liquid organic waste so as to depollute it and obtain, on the one hand, biogas and on the other purified fluids directly usable for industry or consumption.
Among the solid waste or sub-products usable as raw material in the invention, the following in particular may be mentioned: screened fractions of household waste, straw, sawdust and wood bark and ligneous materials, grape pulp, draff, bagasse, peat, herbaceous plants . . . etc.
As for liquid residues, they may in particular comprise all the concentrated refuse coming from agricultural and agricultural food production industries such for example as: sugar refineries, wine distilleries, breweries and fermentation industries, slaughter houses, and meat canning works, the dairying industries, potatostarch works, pig breeding installations . . . etc. as well of course as all the excess primary sludge and biological sludge recovered in stations for purifying urban waste water.
In what follows, the term semi-solid waste or residues will be used for designating normally solid materials but which have a water content generally between 30% and 90%, for example of the order of 45 to 80% approximately.
Fermentation in a heap, so in an aerobic medium, of different solid agricultural residues is already known for producing compost. However, these are long operations which do not in general lend themselves very well to industrialization. Moreover, producing biogas by anaerobic fermentation of semi-solid residues or sludges in digesters is known. However, this apparatus must be usually heated so as to obtain correct efficiency and the mass to be treated must be agitated and stirred; furthermore, the concentration of sludge must be made in decanters, for example lamellar decanters separate from the digester.
The essential aim of the invention is to propose a process associating the two types of aerobic and anaerobic fermentation so as to be able to simultaneously treat solid or semi-solid waste and liquid waste in order to obtain, at the outlet of a single installation, the production: of solid materials rich in fertilizing substances, biogas usable as a fuel or similar, and finally purified liquids which are immediately reusable and admissible by the environment.
Another aim is to use the heat from the aerobic fermentation so as to provide, without the need for an external supply, the ideal heat balance for the anaerobic digestion of the liquid waste or residues.
A further aim is to provide a type of digester requiring no mechanical stirring member and in which the stirring of sludge material is provided by the pressure alone of the gas generated by the fermentation in a closed medium.
Finally, yet other aims will appear from the following description, particularly the use of micro-organisms and/or enzymes, preferably fixed on certain supports, with the aim of accelerating the biological transformation process and increasing the production yields in industrial units.

Process and installation for simultaneously producing compost and biogas from organic waste


A camera viewfinder illuminates a field of vision framing plate with light from at least one internal light source. The light from the at least one internal light source reflects off semi-transparent surfaces of a light transmissive component onto the field of vision framing plate. Additionally, a light collection window directs external light to the semi-transparent surfaces. The semitransparent surfaces pass the external light to the field of the vision framing plate. The intensity of light from the at least one internal light source can be varied based on a measured intensity of the external light to maintain a desired intensity of light on the field of vision framing plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera viewfinder that superimposes an image of an object being photographed with a field of vision frame so as to display boundaries used during photography relative to the image.
2. Description of Related Art
Bright frame viewfinders are known that bring in external light from a light collection window located on an outer surface of the camera and brightly illuminate a field of vision frame, indicating the photographic boundaries of the object being photographed. Since the external light taken in through the light collection window by these bright frame viewfinders at night or in dark places is reduced, the field of vision frame becomes difficult to see.
Therefore, in convention camera viewfinders, an external light source is attached near the light collection window. Such camera viewfinders use these external light sources to illuminate the field of vision frame.
However, with the conventional type of viewfinder, when the object being photographed is in bright conditions, such as in bright daylight conditions, the field of vision frame of the viewfinder can become too bright and disappear completely. Accordingly, sometimes while it is difficult to view the field of vision frame, the composition of the object being photographed cannot be set properly due to the intense light.
In addition, since the indicated field of vision frame (frame) is difficult to distinguish when it is complex, only a comparatively simple field of vision frame may be displayed.
It is conceivable that liquid crystal elements (i.e., a liquid crystal display (LCD)) could be used to display a complex field of vision frame in order to resolve the latter problem. However, since the permeability of liquid crystal elements is low, the field of vision frame can become hard to see.
For additional background information, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,204, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,204 discloses a camera in which a first LCD, through which the photographic image passes, is used to superimpose one or more frames on the photographic image, while a second LCD is used in combination with a light source to project a display of photographic data to a border portion of the photographic image in the viewfinder.

Camera viewfinder with framing plate illumination


A carburetor for internal combustion engines includes an inner vent passage through which the space on the free surface of liquid fuel in a float chamber is communicated with the intake passage of the carburetor and an outer vent passage through which the space in the float chamber is communicated with a charcoal canister adapted to store the fuel vapor coming from the space of the float chamber. A valve is movable between a first position in which the inner vent passage is closed and the outer vent passage is opened and a second position in which the inner vent passage is opened and the outer vent passage is closed. A pressure responsive valve actuator normally holds the valve in the first position and moves the valve to the second position as a vacuum is generated in the intake passage. A further valve actuator holds the valve in the second position regardless of the action of the pressure-responsive valve actuator on the valve when the throttle valve has been opened to and beyond a predetermined opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carburetor for internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to a carburetor in which the flow of the vapor evaporated from a liquid fuel in the float chamber is suitably controlled to prevent loss of fuel and environmental contamination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical conventional carburetor for internal combustion engines, which is designed to control the flow of fuel vapor filling the space on the free surface of liquid fuel in a float chamber, includes an inner vent passage through which the space in the float chamber is communicated with the intake passage of the carburetor, an outer vent passage through which the space in the float chamber is communicated with a vessel for storing the fuel vapor such as a charcoal canister, and a solenoid valve adapted to open and close the outer vent passage as its coil is energized and de-energized in accordance with the operation of engine ignition key. In this conventional carburetor, since the inner vent passage is always opened, a part of the fuel vapor is inconveniently relieved or discharged to the intake passage during the engine-off period, resulting in a contamination of the air cleaner and starting failure of the engine. In addition, it is impossible to absorb all of the fuel vapor in the charcoal canister during the engine-off period, because a considerable part of the evaporated fuel is relieved to the intake passage.
To avoid such drawbacks, there has been proposed a carburetor having a valve adapted to operate in response to the vacuum in the intake passage, in such a manner that it normally closes and opens the inner and outer vent passages, respectively, and opens and closes the inner and outer vent passages, respectively, when a vacuum is generated in the intake passage. In this carburetor, however, the inner and outer vent passages are inconveniently closed and opened, respectively, when the vacuum in the intake passage has become low during running operation of engine so that the function of the inner vent passage is failed.

Carburetor for internal combustion engines


A flexible drive shaft for a turn portion of a transfer device, such as a conveyor. The flexible drive shaft can be made from wound steel, wound plastic, wound cable or other wound material. In one embodiment, multiple rollers are rotatably mounted to a support structure of the conveyor and traverse the turn portion of a conveyor. The flexible drive shaft can be mounted to the support structure, and can follow the turn portion. A connector can join the rollers and flexible drive shaft, so that force can be transferred from the flexible drive shaft to the rollers, causing them to rotate.

The present invention relates to line shaft roller conveyor systems, and more specifically to drive shafts for such systems.
Roller conveyor systems are often used in production, transport and/or distribution settings to load, unload or otherwise move objects to a desired location. Roller conveyor systems are often used to move cardboard boxes, however, roller conveyor systems may be used to transport, load, unload or otherwise move virtually any type of object.
Many traditional roller conveyor systems utilize a belt to drive various rollers on the roller conveyor system. In belt-driven roller conveyor systems, a belt is typically attached to a power source at one end and connected to either a roller itself, or to a coupling device, which is attached to a roller. When under power, the end of the belt is turned by the power source, which ultimately turns multiple rollers, thus providing power to various rollers propels boxes and like objects along a designated pathway.
While many traditional roller conveyor systems utilize belts to drive various rollers, belt-driver roller conveyor systems (as opposed to shaft-driven systems) offer several disadvantages. The belt utilized in these belt-driven roller conveyor systems are typically made of high-density rubber, or other relatively flexible material, such that over time the belts crack, wear thin and/or break. In order to replace a cracked, worn thin and/or broken belt, the belt-driven roller conveyor system generally must be shut down for extended periods of time, while skilled laborers replace the belt. This may result in an interruption in business, which can cause delayed distribution and/or reduced sales.
Additionally, broken belts are problematic. To replace a broken belt, the belt-driven roller conveyor system usually must be shut down. Furthermore, when a belt breaks, it presents a potentially serious injury to any worker near the breaking belt. Also, over the course of time belts may stretch, causing them to slip. When a belt slips in a traditional roller conveyor system, it does not provide a steady, consistent and reliable connection to the power source. This can cause transportation inconsistencies on traditional belt-driven roller conveyor systems and ultimately may require shutting down the conveyor system and replacement of the belt that is slipping.
Roller conveyor systems may also be shaft-driven. Typical shaft-driven roller conveyor systems may have straight sections and/or corners, or corner sections, which allow the movement of objects not only in straight lines but around corners and bends. Conventional shaft-driven roller conveyor systems have multiple shafts connected by couplings and universal joints, hereinafter U-joints. In traditional shaft-driven roller conveyor systems, the multiple shafts are all straight, non-flexible shafts, which when connected to a U-joint may create an angle. When many straight non-flexible shafts are connected via U-joints, a corner or bend may essentially be formed by angling the shafts around a corner, thereby allowing the corner sections of roller conveyor systems to be shaft-driven.
However, there are many disadvantages associated with these types of shaft-driven roller conveyor systems. The U-joints which connect the straight, non-flexible shafts must be maintained. These joints require a proper fit, proper alignment, and proper lubrication. To align these straight, non-flexible shafts with U-joints, skilled laborers typically utilize large amounts of time to ensure proper alignment. Only then will these straight, non-flexible shaft-driven roller conveyor systems be functional. If a straight, non-flexible shaft becomes misaligned with a U-joint, the roller conveyor system must be shut down, a skilled laborer with the knowledge and know-how of aligning these types of systems must realign and/or replace either a straight, non-flexible shaft and possibly a U-joint. This shutdown of a straight, non-flexible roller conveyor system results in decreased and untimely distribution or transportation of objects.
Therefore, there is a need for a drive shaft for use in line shaft roller conveyor systems that has an increased reliability, decreased maintenance and decreased labor time due to the ease of installation of the drive shaft into a roller conveyor system.

Flexible drive shaft for line shaft conveyor


Oligopeptides of formula (I): ##STR1## where R.sup.1 -R.sup.5 are various organic groups, and A represents a group of formula --NH-- or --(CH.sub.2).sub.n --, in which n represents an integer of from 1 to 3, have renin-inhibitory activity and are particularly suitable for oral administration. They may be prepared by condensing their component amino acids or lower oligopeptides using conventional peptide synthesis reactions.

The present invention relates to a series of new oligopeptides, which have renin-inhibitory and, hence, hypotensive activities, and which are thus of particular value in the treatment of hypertension induced by failures in the renin-angiotensin system of the mammalian, especially human body. The invention also relates to the preparation of such compounds and to their use in such treatment. The oligopeptides of the present invention include in their peptide chain a unit derived from the amino acid commonly known as cyclostatine, whose formal name is (3S, 4S)-4-amino-5-cyclohexyl-3-hydroxypentanoic acid and which is also sometimes referred to as "ACHPA".
There is considerable evidence that reduction of elevated blood pressure reduces the risks of morbidity and mortality. Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) can be caused by a variety of factors and a large number of drugs is available for the treatment of hypertension, the drug of choice being dictated in large measure by the cause of the hypertension.
Some of the factors known to play a role in the onset of hypertension in the mammalian body is an oligopeptide known as angiotensin II. Angiotensin I is a polypeptide formed by the action of renin upon a plasma protein, and this is converted to angiotensin II by the action of ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme). Angiotensin II causes constriction of the arterioles and can produce hypertension. Hypertension of this type can be reduced by reducing the plasma concentration of angiotensin I or II, which, in turn, can be achieved by inhibiting the activity of renin. The number of available drugs having this type of inhibitory activity is very limited, and, to date, no such drug is commercially available.
A variety of peptide derivatives having this type of activity is known. Those prior art compounds believed to be closest to the compounds of the present invention, in that they are based upon the rather uncommon amino acid statine and analogs thereof, are disclosed in European Patent Publications No. 155 809 and No. 184 855 and in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 802 038, filed Nov. 26, 1985, now abandoned. Various other prior art discloses other polypeptides having renin-inhibitory activities, but which have some other amino acid unit in place of the cyclostatine unit, which is one of the critical features of the compounds of the present invention, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4 698 329 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 936 087, filed Nov. 28, 1986, now abandoned.
We have now discovered a series of peptide derivatives having a very marked ability to inhibit the activity of renin, which ability is believed to be significantly better than that of the prior art compounds.
Certain of the compounds of the invention resemble certain of those disclosed in European Patent Publication No. 155 809, although this European Patent Publication also discloses many other compounds which are not relevant to the present invention. However, the compounds of the present invention differ from those of European Patent Publication No. 155 809 primarily in the nature of the groups at the nitrogen terminal end and at the carboxy terminal end of the oligopeptide chain. The compounds of the present invention differ from those of European Patent Publication No. 184 855 primarily in the nature of the groups at the nitrogen terminal end of the oligopeptide chain. The compounds of the present invention differ from those of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 802 038 primarily in the nature of the group at the nitrogen terminal end and also to some extent in the nature of the group at the carboxy terminal end of the oligopeptide chain. The compounds of the present invention differ from those of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 936 087 in the nature of other units in the polypeptide chain.
The compounds of the present invention have, in general, a higher inhibitory activity against renin, much improved absorption when administered by the oral route, lower toxicity, better and stronger enzyme specificity and better water solubility than the compounds of the prior art. These advantages suggest that the compounds of the present invention will be of outstanding value in the treatment of disorders in the mammalian body arising from an imbalances in the level of renin in the blood. In particular, it is well known that the oral route is the preferred route of administration, particularly where (as with the drugs with which the present invention is concerned) drugs are intended for self-administration by the patient, generally over a long period of time. However, a serious disadvantage common to almost all of the known renin-inhibitory oligopeptides, including most of those mentioned in the previous paragraph, is that, in practice, it is necessary to administer them by parenteral routes, e.g. by injection, as suppositories or even by inhalation. This applies even in those cases where the compounds have been suggested for oral use, except for those of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 936 087, since it has subsequently been found that they either are insufficiently stable to enzymes, e.g. esterases, present in the digestive system or are inadequately absorbed from the stomach and/or intestines or both. Of course, the poor stability is expected with oligopeptides, as the mammalian digestive system is specifically designed to break down compounds of that type. Consequently, even if the compounds can be administered orally, such high doses are necessary in order to make up for poor absorption and/or losses caused by digestion as to make oral administration impractical.

New renin-inhibitory oligopeptides, their preparation and their use


A bridge apparatus which judges whether a destination address of a frame relayed to a trunk line LAN is registered in other bridge apparatus or not using a control apparatus provided therein, relays the frame with a proper destination address in accordance with the result of the judgment, and allows the relaying to be carried out securely even if an address of a destination terminal has not been registered in the bridge apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bridge apparatus in which, in a local area network (LAN), a plurality of branch lines LANs are connected by a trunk line LAN.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in the case where similar branch line LANs for performing packet switching are connected to a trunk line LAN for performing packet switching, thereby carrying out communication, it is necessary to select frames on the trunk line LAN and input the frames into the branch lines, and select frames on the branch lines and transmit the frames on the trunk line. For this, a mechanism such as an address filter for determining the necessity of relaying dependent on a destination address of the frame is attached to a bridge apparatus. This address filter has a data base called an address table, and judges the necessity of relaying the frame depending on whether the destination address of the frame is found on the address table.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional bridge apparatus. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 3 is a communication control apparatus of a trunk line LAN, 4 a communication control apparatus of a branch line LAN, 5 an address table which stores addresses of terminals existing on the branch line as a branch address table 5A, 6 a control apparatus for the communication apparatus, which includes a microcomputer 6A and a memory 6B.
Also, FIG. 8 is a constitutional concept diagram of a network which is constituted using the bridge apparatus. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 1 is a trunk line LAN, reference numerals 21 to 23 are branch line LANs, a to f are terminals connected to the respective branch line LANs 21 to 23, 31 to 33 are communication control apparatus in the trunk line LAN 1, 41 to 43 are communication control apparatus of the branch line LANs 21 to 23, 5A1 to 5A3 are address tables for the respective branch line LANs 21 to 23, and 61 to 63 are control apparatus for these apparatus.
FIG. 9 shows an example of a frame of data used in the LAN. Reference numeral 7C is an address of a destination terminal, and the destination address (DESTINATION ADDRESS) is usually abbreviated and called DA. Reference numeral 7D is an address of a source terminal, and the source address (SOURCE ADDRESS) is usually abbreviated and called SA. Reference numeral 7E are data which a frame carries.
Next, the operation of the bridge apparatus will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11.
At first, in FIG. 10, the frame receiving operation from the trunk line LAN 1 to the control apparatus (61 to 63 in FIG. 8) will be described.
At first, it is judged whether the destination address of the frame belongs to the terminals a to f which exist in the branch line network. (Step ST1). When the destination address agrees with the branch line address 5A (In FIG. 8, any one of the branch address tables 5A1 to 5A3), the frame is relayed to the branch line side by a relay operation (Step ST2), and the frame is received by a predetermined one of the terminals a to f on the branch lines LAN 21 to 23, respectively.
FIG. 11 represents the receiving operation of frames from the branch line LANs 21 to 23 to the control apparatus. According to the receiving operation, when the operation is begun by reception of the frames, it is checked whether the source address SA7D of the frame,agrees with the address table 5A (Step ST3). If the addresses do not agree with each other, the source address is added to the address table 5A anew. (Step ST4). On the other hand, when both agree with each other, it is checked whether the destination address DA7C of the frame exists in the address table 5A (Step ST5). If the destination address exists, it indicates that the frame is one between terminals in the same branch line, and the frame is "scrapped" or discarded from the memory of the control apparatus (Step ST6). If the destination address does not exist, it is judged that the frame is for a terminal on an external branch line, and the frame is relayed to the trunk line LAN 1 (Step ST7).
Since the conventional bridge apparatus is constituted as described above, the database of address table 5A is formed by source addresses of frames received from the branch line LANs 21 to 23. Accordingly, since the address of a terminal which has not originated transmission of a frame is not registered in the address table 5A, a frame from the trunk line intended for such terminal LAN 1 can not be received. In other words, in FIG. 8, though addresses of the terminals a, c, and e are registered, even if, for instance, the terminal e sends a frame to the terminal b, the frame is not relayed to the branch line LAN 21 because the address of the terminal b is not registered in the address table 5A. Accordingly, the terminal b can not receive the frame.
In this way, the conventional bridge apparatus does originate some calls and has the problem that the terminals a to f of which addresses have not been registered can not receive frames from other branch lines LAN 21 to 23.


An off-stop mechanism for a circuit breaker. Off-stop mechanism includes a handle moveable to an OFF configuration, the handle including a blocking engagement portion, a blocking member pivotally coupled at a pivot location, a linkage coupled between a cross bar housing and a linkage attachment location of the blocking member, the linkage being configured to: position the blocking member in an unblocked orientation when the main contacts are not fused together, and in a blocked orientation when the main contacts are fused together, wherein blocking member in the blocked orientation engages the blocking engagement portion as the operating handle is moved to the OFF configuration wherein the engagement places the blocking member in compression between the pivot location and the blocking contact portion. Circuit breakers including the off-stop mechanism and methods of operating a circuit breaker are also provided, as are other aspects.

Circuit breakers may be used to protect an electrical circuit coupled to an electrical power supply. Circuit breakers may automatically interrupt power to the electrical circuit when, e.g., an overcurrent situation (i.e., excessive current) is detected. An overcurrent may result from, e.g., a short circuit, an overload, a ground fault, or the like. Automatic interruption of power is desired because it may prevent electrical shock hazards and/or damage to electrical equipment and surrounding infrastructure. Circuit breakers may also be manually operated to connect and disconnect power to and from an electrical circuit by throwing an operating handle pivotally mounted relative to the molded case of the circuit breaker. The operating handle typically has three configurations: ON, OFF, and TRIPPED. The ON position indicates that the main contacts of the circuit breaker are closed (i.e., in contact with each other), which connects power to the protected electrical circuit. The OFF configuration indicates that the main contacts have been opened manually via the operating handle to disconnect power from the electrical circuit. The TRIPPED configuration typically indicates that the main contacts have been opened automatically via a tripping mechanism in response to detection of an overcurrent, which disconnects power from the electrical circuit.
Under some abnormal operating conditions, the main contacts may become welded, fused, or otherwise stuck together. For example, a high in-rush current and/or a partial failure and/or a delay of the tripping mechanism may cause the main contacts to overheat to a point where they may melt and fuse together. This fused condition may go undetected. Consequently, a subsequent movement of the operating handle into the OFF configuration may not result in opening of the fused main contacts. This may erroneously indicate that power is disconnected from the protected electrical circuit when, in fact, power remains connected.
Accordingly, improved apparatus and methods that accommodate for such situations where the main contacts of the circuit breaker have become fused together are desired.

Linkage-based off-stop apparatus and methods for circuit breakers


A method of manufacturing a printing blanket without wrinkles in a sheet is provided, the printing blanket including an elastic body and a sheet bonded to a surface thereof, the method being configured to press a surface of the sheet against a surface to be printed, to perform printing, and including: fixing the sheet at a periphery of a region of the sheet to be bonded to the elastic body; mounting the elastic body to oppose a bonding surface of the elastic body to a bonding surface of the fixed sheet; applying an adhesive to at least one of the bonding surface of the sheet or the bonding surface of the elastic body; and pressing the bonding surface of the sheet and the bonding surface of the elastic body against each other to bring the sheet into close contact with the elastic body through intermediation of the adhesive while stretching the sheet along the surface of the elastic body.

Hitherto, in blanket printing, a printing surface of a printing blanket (corresponding to a transferring blanket) is pressed against a printing master plate (corresponding to a printing plate) so that ink, which is applied onto the printing master plate in a pattern corresponding to a printing pattern, is transferred onto the printing blanket. Subsequently, the printing surface of the printing blanket, onto which the ink is transferred, is pressed against a surface to be printed so that the transferred ink is transferred onto the surface to be printed. In this manner, the printing pattern is printed on the surface to be printed.
For example, in the related art, the printing blanket is an elastic body, such as elastic (flexible) silicon rubber, in which a silicon oil is mixed, and is formed into a substantially hemispherical shape (bullet shape) or a substantially semi-cylindrical shape (bullet shape in cross section). The printing blanket is pressed against the printing master plate having a flat surface shape and the surface to be printed having a curved surface shape, to thereby transfer the ink onto the surface to be printed. Therefore, in particular, a distal end of the printing blanket (lowermost point or lowermost line) and a periphery of the distal end are deteriorated or damaged due to damage caused by the operation of pressing the printing blanket against the printing master plate, a protrusion of the surface to be printed when the printing blanket is pressed against the printing surface, or other adverse effects. Due to the deterioration of or the damage to the limited region of the printing blanket, the printing blanket cannot be used.
Further, in order to fit the printing blanket in conformity with the surface to be printed, it is necessary to form the printing blanket softly (corresponding to formation of the printing blanket so as to have a small elastic modulus and to be easily elastically deformed). With this, when the printing surface of the printing blanket is pressed against the printing master plate so that the printing blanket is deformed, the silicon oil mixed in the printing blanket seeps out to a surface of the printing blanket. At this time, the ink applied to the printing master plate is not easily transferred from the printing master plate onto the printing blanket so that the printing pattern printed on the surface to be printed may be faded or blurred.
Further, through repetition of the printing, the ink or the silicon oil is excessively deposited on the printing master plate, thereby staining the printing master plate. The printing blanket is pressed against the stained printing master plate, thereby transferring the stains onto the printing blanket. The printing is performed using the stained printing blanket, thereby staining the printing pattern printed on the surface to be printed.
Further, when the printing is performed using the printing blanket, the silicon oil component seeping out from the elastic body of the printing blanket adheres to the surface to be printed. When the surface to be printed with the silicon oil component adhering thereto is to be coated, the coating is repelled by the silicon oil component. With this, a desired coating layer is not formed on the surface to be printed.
Meanwhile, when the content of the silicon oil in the silicon rubber forming the printing blanket is reduced to obtain a harder silicon rubber, it is difficult to perform the printing on a curved surface in a wide region. Therefore, the printing is limited in a small region so that the designability may be degraded. Further, when the printing is to be performed in the wide region, it is necessary to repeat the printing in the small region a plurality of times, thereby increasing the printing cost.
In view of the problems described above, in the related art, there is used a printing blanket having a printing surface obtained by bonding a replaceable elastic sheet to a surface of an elastic body formed of soft silicon rubber. In the printing blanket having such a configuration, the sheet is replaceable when the printing surface is deteriorated, damaged, or affected with other external factors, and the seeping of the silicon oil from the soft silicon rubber can be suppressed.
Further, in the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1, "a side surface of an elastic body is pressed against a sheet placed on a flat surface, to thereby manufacture a printing blanket being the elastic body having the sheet bonded to the side surface." With this, an inexpensive and replaceable sheet can be bonded to a surface of the printing blanket, onto which the printing pattern is transferred from the printing master plate. Further, when the sheet bonded to the printing blanket is deteriorated or damaged, the sheet can be released from the elastic body, and a new sheet can be bonded by the same step. Thus, the elastic body of the printing blanket can be repeatedly used.
Further, in the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the sheet is bonded to the elastic body while gradually increasing the contact surface between the elastic body and the sheet from a ridge line of the elastic body to a periphery of the ridge line. Therefore, entry of air bubbles between the elastic body and the sheet is suppressed when the sheet is bonded to the surface of the elastic body.

Method of manufacturing printing blanket


An integrated circuit includes memory segments, each having at least one memory cell configurable in first and second states to store data, and a controller that controls programming and erasing of the memory segments. The controller maps external memory addresses of write data to internal memory addresses of erased memory segments with no memory cells in the first state such that erased memory segments are programmed with write data. When a write access occurs for an external memory address previously mapped to an internal memory address of a programmed memory segment with at least one memory cell in the first state, the controller remaps the external memory address to another internal memory address of an erased memory segment. The controller identifies programmed memory segments to be erased and controls selective erasure of the identified programmed memory segments, such as programmed memory segments no longer mapped to an external memory address.

Many electronic devices and systems have the capability to store and retrieve information in a memory. Internally, a memory controller typically coordinates access to one or more memory devices which store the information. Several different memory families (e.g., DRAMs, pseudo-SRAM, NOR-flash, NAND-flash, etc.) are currently used for memory devices in such systems. Memory devices based on emerging technologies may be suitable as replacements for such current types of memory devices. In order to substitute newer types of memory devices for these current types of memory devices, the read and write performance of the substituted memories has to be met by the replacement memories. For example, to use a non-volatile memory device as a drop-in replacement for a DRAM in an electronic device without modifying others aspects of the electronic device, the substitute memory device must roughly match the read/write access speed of the DRAM (e.g., on the order of about 5 ns).
Resistive memory technologies, for instance, offer the significant advantages of non-volatility and fast read access but in some cases require longer time periods to write information into the memory material. Resistive memory utilizes the resistance value of a memory element to store one or more bits of data. For example, a memory element programmed to have a high resistance value may represent a logic "1" data bit value, and a memory element programmed to have a low resistance value may represent a logic "0" data bit value. Typically, the resistance value of the memory element is switched electrically by applying a voltage pulse or a current pulse to the memory element.
Phase change memory is one type of resistive memory which uses a phase change material in the resistive memory element. The phase change material exhibits at least two different states. The states of the phase change material may be referred to as the amorphous state and the crystalline state, where the amorphous state involves a more disordered atomic structure and the crystalline state involves a more ordered lattice. The amorphous state usually exhibits higher resistivity than the crystalline state. In a phase change random access memory (PCRAM), a phase change memory cell can be "reset" to a high-resistance amorphous state by heating the phase change material and then quenching the material. To "set" the phase change memory cell to a lower-resistance crystalline state, the material is heated and then slowly cooled down. The reset operation may require about 10 ns to complete, which is roughly in the range of the DRAM write speed. However, the set operation may require about 50 ns to 200 ns, depending on the phase change material, which is much longer than a typical DRAM write operation.
It would be desirable to take advantage of the benefits of emerging memory technologies while still approaching the write speeds expected of current memory technologies. Such capabilities would allow memory devices based on emerging memory technologies to be readily substituted for memory devices that employ current memory technologies such as DRAM and flash memories.

Systems and methods for writing to a memory


In addition to ash and coke, the gasification residue contains alkaline earth metal sulfide and alkaline earth metal oxide because desulfuring agents have been supplied to the gasifier. At temperatures from 5.degree. to 80.degree. C. the gasification residue is mixed with an acid-containing aqueous solution so that a gas which is rich in H.sub.2 S is produced. Ash, coke, and alkaline earth metal salt are supplied to a flotation zone, in which coke is separated. A solid residue which contains ash and alkaline earth metal salt is withdrawn from the flotation zone. Carbonic acid or dilute sulfuric acid is preferably used as an acid.

This invention relates to a process of treating a gasification residue that is formed by the gasification of sulfur-containing granular fuels at temperatures from 700.degree. to 1100.degree. C. in a fluidized bed reactor, which in addition to the fuels and an oxygen-containing fluidizing gas is supplied with at least one alkaline earth metal carbonate or alkaline earth metal oxide for effecting an at least partial desulfurization of the product gas formed by the gasification, wherein the gasification residue withdrawn from the gasifier contains 8 to 80% by weight coke, 2 to 45% by weight alkaline earth metal sulfide, and 1 to 25% by weight alkaline earth metal oxide. The alkaline earth metals usually consist of Ca and/or Mg.

Process of treating the gasification residue formed by the gasification of solid fuels in a fluidized bed


A lubricating oil composition having improved fuel economy, wear resistance and antioxidancy properties which comprise a lubricating oil basestock, an oil-soluble copper salt, an oil-soluble molybdenum salt, a Group II metal salicylate and a borated polyalkenyl succinimide.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lubricating oil composition for internal combustion engines having improved fuel economy, wear resistance and antioxidancy properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
While the majority of moving parts in an internal combustion engine are in a state of hydrodynamic lubrication, some sliding parts such as pistons and valve trains are in a boundary lubrication state. In order to provide wear resistance caused by friction in the boundary lubrication state, it is necessary to provide the engine oil with additives to reduce wear. For many years, zinc dialkyldithiophosphates ("ZDDP") have been a standard antiwear additive. While ZDDP is a good antiwear agent, it has negative impacts on fuel economy. Thus it is usually necessary to include a friction modifier for fuel economy purposes. Both antiwear and friction modifiers function through adsorption on the sliding metal surface and may interfere with each other's respective functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,641 describes an engine oil having improved antiwear and antioxidancy properties. The engine oil contains from 0.002 to 0.3 wt % of a copper salt and from 0.004 to 0.3 wt % of a molybdenum salt. This combination is also stated to reduce the treat rate of ZDDP necessary for wear protection. There is no mention of the frictional properties of the engine oil.
European patent application EP 562,172 describes an engine oil having improved frictional properties. The engine oil contains a boron compound derivative of alkenylsuccinimide, an alkaline earth metal salt of salicylic acid and either or both of a molybdenum dithiophosphate and a molybdenum dithiocarbamate. There is no mention of the wear or antioxident properties of the claimed additive combination.
It is well known in the art that in formulating engine oils, there is a delicate balance between friction and wear performance. It would be desirable to have an engine oil with improved fuel economy, wear resistance and antioxidancy to meet the increasing performance demands placed on modern oils due to environmental considerations.


Disclosed herein is an image photographing device capable of being auto-focused while moving a lens barrel in an optical axis direction. The image photographing device includes: a lens barrel having at least one lens; a housing receiving the lens barrel therein so that the lens barrel moves in an optical axis direction; and an impact reducing unit elastically supporting the lens barrel in the case in which the lens barrel deviates from a set movement range, thereby primarily damping the lens barrel before the lens barrel deviates from the movement range to collide with other components positioned at an outer side of the lens barrel.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image photographing device, and more particularly, to an image photographing device capable of being miniaturized to have a simple structure by improving a damping structure, reducing a impact amount of a lens barrel, reducing generation of noise due to impact, and preventing generation of pre-pressure at the time of driving the lens barrel to reduce power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, use of a subminiature camera for a mobile has been gradually increased in a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a notebook, a tablet PC, or the like. The demand of customers for the subminiature camera used in the mobile device and having a high pixel of five million pixels or more and a multi-function such as a zoom function, an auto focus (AF) function, and the like has been increased.
Generally, a camera module used in the mobile device may be configured to include an optical system having a lens, a lens driver moving the optical system in an optical axis direction to adjust a focus, and an image sensor photographing light input through the optical system to convert the photographed light into an image signal.
The camera module configured as described above moves an optical system, that is, a lens barrel including at least one lens along with the optical axis direction through the lens driver such as an actuator in order to auto-focus the optical system on the image sensor
In the case of the image photographing device such as the camera module according to the related art, in order to prevent noise of the lens barrel due to external impact, a protruding portion is formed on a housing of the actuator surrounding the lens barrel to limit a movement of the lens barrel in the optical axis direction as shown in FIG. 1, and an elastic member is interposed on an upper side of the lens barrel to provide pre-pressure to the lens barrel as shown in FIG. 2.
However, in the case of an image photographing device 10 shown in FIG. 1, since a lens barrel 11 is supported in a housing, that is, a member fixed at the time of driving the lens barrel 11, by an elastic member 13, elastic force of the elastic member 13 acts as pre-pressure in a direction opposite to a movement direction of the lens barrel 11 along with an optical axis. Therefore, since driving force for driving the lens barrel 11 cannot but increase, power consumption increases. In addition, when the elastic member 13 is deformed, the elastic force of the elastic member 13 is changed at the time of driving the lens barrel 11, such that it is difficult to linearly drive the lens barrel 11, thereby deteriorating capacity and reliability.
In addition, in the case of an image photographing device 20 shown in FIG. 2, as elastic force of an elastic member 23, that is, a compression coil spring, interposed on an upper side of a lens barrel 21 acts as pre-pressure force, such that power consumption increases at the time of driving the lens barrel 21 in an optical axis direction. In addition, when excessive external impact occurs, the elastic member 23 is permanently deformed, such that it is difficult to linearly drive the lens barrel 11, thereby deteriorating capacity and reliability.
In addition, in accordance with the recent trend toward an increase in pixel and miniaturization of an image photographing device such as a camera module, it is important to move a lens barrel in an optical axis direction without a tilt, such that a rolling support scheme by a ball, a driving support scheme by a shaft, or the like, instead of a scheme of supporting the lens barrel by an elastic member has been applied. In this case, only generation of a tilt with respect to movement of the lens barrel in the optical axis direction may be prevented, and a damage and noise are generated due to impact between the lens barrel and other structures at the time of applying external impact or external power to the lens barrel.


A method of producing an indicia transferring surface including affixing an inert material in the shape of indicia to a base sheet containing a curing inhibitor coating. A curable compound is placed on the surface of the base sheet in contact with the indicia shaped inert material and is allowed to cure. After a curing period, the curable compound is separated from the base sheet. The curable compound includes a cured portion and an uncured portion. The uncured portion is removed, leaving raised areas of the cured compound that were in contact with the indicia shaped inert material. The raised areas may then be used to transfer the impression of the indicia to another surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of transferring indicia from one surface to another, and in particular, the present invention relates to an economical method of producing an indicia transferring surface. Also disclosed is a method of producing surfaces having raised areas in the form of said indicia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, there are many methods of transferring indicia from one surface to another. Three basic methods are lithographic printing, gravure printing, and letter press printing.
In lithographic printing, the transferring surface or the printing gate has a light-sensitive coating on its surface. Portions of the coating which have been subjected to light are washed away by a selective solvent. The coating that is left on the lithographic plate is in the form of indicia and attracts ink, the ink having been transferred to the plate from another surface. The ink is then transferred from the lithographic plate to the desired surface. As is readily seen from the above description, the lithographic process involves a substantial amount of equipment and considerable cost.
In the gravure printing process, the indicia transferring surface or the printing plate uses recessed areas to transfer the desired indicia to another surface. The recessed areas are formed by various engraving processes most of which require substantial cost and equipment.
The letter press process relies on raised areas to transfer ink from the transferring surface or plate to printing surface. The raised areas or type face are usually molded and then placed next to each other on the transferring surface or plate to form the desired indicia for transferring. This method, like the first two printing methods, also involves considerable cost and requires a substantial amount of equipment for transferring indicia from one surface to another.
Other methods of transferring indicia from one surface to another include engraving, etching and embossing. Engraving, generally involves the formation of grooves in a flat surface with a tool, the grooves being the shape of the indicia desired for transferring.
Etching involves coating a metal surface with an acid-resistant coating and scratching the coating in the form of indicia, then contacting the surface with an acid, the acid eating into the metal surface and leaving the impression of the indicia to be transferred to another surface.
Embossing is a process that merely stamps the desired impression or indicia into a thin flat plate made of plastic or metal, raising the surface on the other side, the raised surfaces being used to transfer the desired indicia to another surface.
Engraving and etching involve a considerable amount of craftsmanship and embossing generally involves an embossing machine or a chisel-type tool. Engraving, etching and embossing are slow processes and embossing is limited to transferring surfaces having fairly thin thicknesses.
There are many applications wherein the above-mentioned methods are not suitable for transferring indicia either because of economic costs or physical limitations of the method itself. One such example is the marking of electrical components for identification purposes. Using any of the three above-mentioned printing processes for identification marking of electric components would be very costly because of the equipment needed to transfer indicia to the surface of the electrical component. Engraving, etching or embossing an identification marking into an electrical component are too slow to be economically efficient. What is needed is a method of producing an indicia transferring surface that does not require a substantial amount of equipment or craftsmanship, and yet is economically efficient.


An optical inspection system for distinguishing between a laminate formed of a first component having a second component disposed on a first surface thereof, comprising a collection optics including a cylindrical concave elliptical reflecting surface and having a first focal line coplanar with a first surface of the laminate. A light source in fixed spatial relationship with the collection optics directs a first beam of light through an aperture in the elliptical reflecting surface towards the laminate so as to strike the surface along the first focal line and to produce a substantially conical fluorescent emission and so as to be reflected as a substantially conical reflection beam from respective first and second components of the laminate. A filter is disposed near a second focal line of the elliptical reflecting surface for separating the fluorescent emission from the reflection beam. First and second collectors collect the separated fluorescent emission and the separated reflection beam both emanating from limited areas of the laminate, while an analyzing means is coupled to the first and second collectors and responsive to respective collector signals for analyzing the first and second components of the laminate.

Optical inspection systems for distinguishing between the epoxy substrate and copper tracks of a PCB are well known. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,723 (McMahon et al.) describes a method and apparatus for generating a digital image representation of a printed circuit board having a substrate of insulated material and a pattern of metallic conductors disposed on a surface thereof. A beam of light energy scans the surface in a predetermined pattern so as to induce a detectable fluorescence in the surface of the insulating material. The fluorescence is detected and a binary signal is generated to indicate the presence or absence of fluorescence as the beam scans the surface.
Typically, a Helium-Cadmium laser is used which emits a blue beam resulting in a relatively strong yellow fluorescence when the laser beam is incident on the PCB substrate. A filter allows the yellow fluorescence to pass therethrough but blocks the blue laser beam reflected from the copper tracks. The collected fluorescence is detected and analyzed in order to provide an accurate representation of the PCB's surface despite the fact that etched conductive foils often have irregular surfaces.
In fact, since the fluorescent signal is emitted only when the substrate is struck by the laser beam, such a system provides a good indication of the presence or absence of copper track on the insulating substrate but gives no indication relating to the surface quality of the copper track itself. It is therefore known to collect the laser beam reflected from the copper track in addition to the fluorescent emission produced by the insulating substrate, thereby not only to distinguish between the substrate and copper track but, moreover, to analyze surface irregularities within the copper track itself.
Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,903 (Blitchington et al.) discloses such a system wherein respective fluorescence and reflected beams are produced when a laser beam strikes the substrate and the copper track of a printed circuit board. In the system described by Blitchington et al., both signals are collected, after suitable filtering, so that analysis of the copper track itself may also be undertaken. In particular, such a system permits the uniformity of the copper conductors to be established.
However, in practice, there are many other possible deformities associated with the copper tracks which a practical inspection system must address. PCBs commonly include several layers of conductive track within an insulating substrate, electrical conduction between one or more of the so-called "multilayers" being effected via plated through-holes or "vias" drilled through the PCB. In such a PCB, the major types of defects include:
(a) shorts and surface shorts between conductors; PA1 (b) cuts in conductors; PA1 (c) pin-holes in conductors; PA1 (d) conductor width violation: (comprising local violation, i.e. nick-down or "mouse bites" as well as global width violations); PA1 (e) insulator width violation; and PA1 (f) defects in the conductive tracks which do not penetrate through the complete height of the conductive track down to the laminate, but merely reduce the depth of the conductor (known as "dish-down"). PA1 (a) hole incompletely drilled; PA1 (b) breakage in hole sleeve; and PA1 (c) hole incorrectly centered relative to a surrounding solder pad.
Additionally, there exist three major types of defect related to the plated through-holes, or vias, these being:
It is known that systems which rely on the reflection method alone produce many false alarms since it is difficult to detect all of the defects in a PCB owing to the oxidation of the conductive tracks and the poor reflection from very narrow shorts. This problem led to the development of the systems described above which distinguish between the conductive track and the laminate by means of the fluorescence produced by the laminate consequent to its illumination by a specified laser light source.
On the other hand, there are features such as dish-down, wherein the conductive track is not completely eroded but is of reduced thickness, which can only be detected based on the reflection of light therefrom.
Additionally, as was explained above, there currently exists no satisfactory method for inspecting imperfections in the plated through-holes, particularly in combination with the fluorescence and reflection based systems of the type described.

Optical inspection system for distinguishing between first and second components in a laminate


A complete unit for simultaneous production of warm air and microwave energy is ready for delivery. The device contains three transmitters with wave-guides (8) for microwave energy, power components (9) and a fan (10). The fan blows cooling air past the power components and transmitters. The heated air can be used for removal of the water, that the microwave transmitters vaporize. The device can easily be moved from one cavity to another. With three transmitters connected one on each phase a balanced load of the mains is achieved. An induction motor drives the fan.

Airhandling has been well known a long time. Heating of air is also well known. Recently different kinds of treatment with microwave energy have come in use. Firstly those equipments were designed for a certain technical function or room.
The present invention start from some of those known technical solutions and presents a low cost device for the generation of energy, where microwave energy as well as warm air is used. Those two kinds of energy are combined in an electrically ideal way.

Device for applying heated air to a cavity using microwave generators


A real-time analysis system for operation of working ship based on ship attitude measurement includes: a central processing unit (10); a position monitoring unit (20) for detecting and providing position-attitude information and heading information of the working ship at a predetermined time, and the position-attitude information and heading information of the working ship at a predetermined time is provided to the central processing unit (10); a manual data input unit (30) connected to the central processing unit (10) and capable of providing the pipeline model data to the central processing unit (10) in a manual input method; and a display unit (40) connected to the central processing unit (10) which displays the dynamic response data of the pipeline according to the processed data provided by the central processing unit (10).

During the laying procedure of submarine pipelines, the installation vessel would move under the action of environmental loads, thereby exerting dynamic loads to the pipelines. In order to better complete the laying of submarine pipelines, it is necessary to evaluate these loads so as to guide the laying operation.
In the related art, in order to improve the efficiency of submarine pipeline laying, the solution adopted uses the commercial finite element software to calculate the dynamic loads of the pipelines under various environmental conditions in the design stage of installation, and then provides the allowable weather window according to the allowable dynamic loads of the pipelines, so as to guide the submarine pipeline laying operation. However, in such a method, the motions of the installation vessel are calculated by using the maximum wave height of the regular wave and a response amplitude operator (RAO) of the installation vessel, such that the results are conservative, and the operation of submarine pipeline laying depend on the judgment of the sea conditions more, which is adverse in increasing the weather window of the pipe-laying operation and causes a higher installation cost. In addition, such method is inconvenient for the real-time evaluation of the stress status of the pipelines under various movements of the installation vessel during the laying procedure.

Real-time analysis system for operation of working ship based on ship attitude measurement


Wood grain angle information is detected electronically by use of a sensor having a common electrode and a plurality of electrodes spaced from the common electrode and arranged angularly about a sensor axis. The common electrode can serve as a sense electrode or as a drive electrode for the remaining angularly spaced electrodes. By modulating applied drive signals and demodulating the sensed signals that result from capacitive coupling of an adjacent wood specimen, values that are a function of wood grain angle are identified.

Importance of Grain Angle
Grain angle measurements are important in the estimation of tensile strength of lumber. Accurate nondestructive estimates of tensile strength are presently needed in the machine-stress-rating process for dimension lumber. Improved strength estimation will allow the industry to more fully utilize the structural value of lumber and hence the forest resource. Also, better knowledge of lumber strength will allow lumber to compete more effectively with other structural materials, such as steel and concrete. The research that led to the present invention was intended to prove the feasibility of increased grain angle measurement speed capability so that measurements and subsequent strength estimation could be performed at production speeds.

Apparatus and method for measuring wood grain angle


A gear transmission including a casing containing lubrication oil therein, a counter shaft rotatably mounted in the casing and constantly transmitting rotational movement from a power input shaft by gear trains, a counter shift gear rotatably mounted on the counter shaft through a bearing, a shift gear rigidly mounted on a power output shaft and being in constant meshing engagement with the counter shift gear, and a clutch for interrupting the relative rotational movement between the counter shaft and the counter shift gear. The counter shaft is provided therein with an oil port, one end of which is opened at one edge surface of the counter shaft and the other end of which is opened at the abutting surface between the counter shaft and the bearings. Lubrication oil is supplied to the bearings through the oil port.

This invention relates to bearing lubrication of a gear transmission for motor vehicles, and more particularly relates to a mechanism for lubricating bearings which rotatably support a counter shift gear with respect to a counter shaft which is constantly rotated by an input shaft.
In a constant mesh type gear transmission, each of the counter shift gears is rigidly mounted on a counter shaft, and each of the shift gears, which are in constant meshing engagement with each of said counter shift gears, is rotatably supported with respect to a power output shaft.
A gear transmission having a five stages forward shift mechanism is known in the prior art, in which a fifth shift mechanism (over top mechanism) comprises a counter fifth gear rotatably mounted on the rear end of a counter shaft, a fifth shift gear rigidly mounted on a power output shaft and being in constant meshing engagement with said counter fifth gear, and means for interrupting the relative rotational movement between the counter shaft and the counter fifth gear, thereby putting the gear transmission into a fifth shift condition (over top condition).

Mechanism for lubricating bearings of a counter shift gear for a gear transmission