A regenerator core for use in a gas turbine regenerator has integral manifold openings formed in the tube plates used to make up the core and has special reinforcing elements which provide high pressure containment in critical portions of the plate-and-fin heat exchanger construction. The reinforcing elements include a series of hoops of U-shaped cross section which are used to bridge the juncture lines of the heat exchanger manifolds. An outer channel region of the hoops is provided with a reinforcing strip of gusset material. The hoops with their reinforcing strips provide structural reinforcement in the region between the manifolds and the conventional side bar reinforcing members in the central core section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and materials for manufacturing a specialized type of plate and fin type heat exchanger and, in particular, to a method and materials for manufacturing a gas turbine regenerator heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention deals with a particular type of plate and fin heat exchanger known in the relevant arts as the "gas turbine regenerator." This type of heat exchanger has been developed for use with large gas turbines for improving turbine efficiency and performance while reducing operating costs. Heat exchangers of the type under discussion are typically referred to as either "recuperators" or as "regenerators." One typical application of such units is in conjunction with gas turbines employed in gas pipe line compressor drive systems.
In the typical gas turbine power plant application, the regenerator is used to heat compressor discharge air prior to its entry into the combustion chambers, thereby reducing the amount of fuel necessary to bring the combustion gases to the required operating temperatures. Heat is transferred to the compressor discharge air from hot turbine exhaust gases which pass through the regenerator in heat transfer relation with the compressor discharge air. The regenerator includes alternating stacked air and gas channels of the plate-fin type to effect the heat transfer.
Gas turbine regenerators of the type under consideration have included box-like structures having plate-fin tube banks with the entire regenerator banded together by tie straps which interconnected structural end frames. Compressor discharge air, at the relatively high operating pressures encountered, tends to warp or bow the end frame structures of these devices, thereby presenting a point of potential material failure. Also, the design of the prior art units have, to some extent, been limited in their recommended operating temperature ranges by virtue of the materials employed in their fabrication as well as by the fabricating techniques which were employed.
For example, the previously used compression-fin designs at times developed unbalanced internal pressure-area forces in a regenerator of suitable size. Unbalanced forces of this type tended to split the regenerator core structure apart during operation. More recently, technology has advanced so that the internal pressure forces are more evenly balanced. However, even with the advances which have been made in materials and manufacturing techniques, the changes in dimension of the overall unit due to thermal expansion and contraction become significant and must be taken into account in the overall design. These thermal size changes must be accommodated in some fashion to prolong the useful life of the regenerator. The problem is exaggerated by the fact that the regenerator must withstand a lifetime of thousands of heating and cooling cycles due to the operating mode of the associated turbo-compressor which is often started and stopped repeatedly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,674, issued Feb. 18, 1975, assigned to General Electric Company, shows a regenerator design which is typical of the prior art in that the plate and fin tube banks were joined at either of two opposite ends to a cylindrical inlet and outlet plenum, respectively. The air inlet and outlet plenums were formed with semi-circular slotted openings disposed along the longitudinal axis of each plenum. The pressure tubes making up the tube banks also had semi-circular end regions which were received within the openings in the plenums where they were welded in place. The junctions between the tube sheets and cylindrical plenums presented potential failure points in the design when subjected to the extreme temperature and pressure conditions discussed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,868, issued Oct. 28, 1980, assigned to The Garrett Corporation, was an improvement on the above plenum and tube sheet design. This regenerator was constructed of a plurality of formed plates and fins brazed together into a complete unit comprising manifolds and a heat exchanging core in a single counter-flow device. The respective end portions of the heat exchanger plates are formed with a peripheral flange which, when joined with the corresponding flange of an adjacent formed tube plate, provides a boundary seal for containing the air fin passages provided by the thus-joined pair of heat exchanger plates. Each end portion of the formed tube plate had an opening encircled by a collar portion, thus defining a manifold section through the plate. The collar portion was cut back along the side facing the core portion so as to provide communication between the manifold section and the air fin passages. The formed tube plate also had a ring offset from the plane of the plate and extending about the manifold opening. This ring had a flat base portion which served to provide spacing between the joined plates for the gas fin passages and to seal the manifold sections of the joined heat exchanger plates from the gas passages.
Rising fuel costs in recent years have dictated that gas turbine power plants operate with increased thermal efficiency, and new operating methods require a regenerator that will operate more efficiently at higher temperatures while possessing the capability of withstanding thousands of starting and stopping cycles without leakage or excessive maintenance costs. As a result, a need continues to exist for improvements to the regenerator designs which are used with gas turbines employed in gas pipe line compressor drive systems, as well as in other industrial applications.
A need continues to exist for an improved regenerator design in which potential weak points which would be subject to rupture from internal pressure forces are eliminated.
A need also exists for such an improved design which features a brazed, stainless steel core which allows for greater efficiency and ultimately higher cost-savings than other types of regenerators currently in the marketplace.

Gas turbine regenerator apparatus and method of manufacture


A system, method and non-transitory computer-readable medium utilize an equivalent circuit model in which electrostatic capacitance changes in response to an arbitrary DC bias voltage applied to a capacitor from the outside. The equivalent circuit model includes a capacitor equivalent circuit section composed of a base circuit and a multistage circuit, a reference current generator section that calculates a reference current, a multiplying factor generator section that calculates a multiplying factor, and a current source current generator section that generates a current of the current source based on the reference current and the multiplying factor. The multiplying factor generator section generates a voltage of an nth-degree polynomial corresponding to the DC bias voltage when applying the DC bias voltage, and defines a current to be generated when the generated voltage is applied to a resistance as the multiplying factor.

When designing an electronic circuit, it is typical to use a circuit simulator such as SPICE or the like to reduce trial and error in designing. As recent electronic circuits operate at higher frequency and faster digitization rate, more precise processing is in need for the circuit simulator. In particular, for an electronic circuit with a capacitor, a result predicted by the circuit simulator often largely deviates from an expected result of actual circuit. Thus, higher accuracy is required for the circuit simulator to work with such an electronic circuit.
For example, as a technology that allows performing a highly accurate circuit simulation, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-259482 (patent document 1) discloses an equivalent circuit model derivation method.
In this equivalent circuit model derivation method, given frequency characteristics of a capacitor are entered in the first step. In the second step, an equivalent circuit model representing either an RC circuit and an RL circuit or an RCL circuit is formed using a resistance (R), a capacitor (C), and an inductor (L) that are frequency independent. Subsequently, in the third step, an evaluation function is composed to evaluate the equivalent circuit model formed in the second step. In the fourth step, circuit constants are determined by minimizing the evaluation function composed in the third step.
With such a technology, the equivalent circuit model of either an RC circuit and an RL circuit or an RCL circuit is formed. By increasing the number of devices in the equivalent circuit model, the circuit simulator may be able to simulate accurately from a low frequency (a frequency lower than a self-resonant frequency of a modeling target device) to a high frequency (a frequency higher than the self-resonant frequency of a modeling target device).

Equivalent circuit model, program, and recording medium


A load hoisting system for raising and lowering a load. A first line supports a rigid beam with unequal mechanical advantages on either side of the load. A second line supports the same rigid beam with mechanical advantages on either side of the load that are, in total, equal to those on the first line but with a ratio of mechanical advantages unequal to the ratio of mechanical advantages of the first line. One end of each line is fastened to a fixed support and the other ends of the two lines are drawn at the same rate by a power source, which system eliminates all axial rotation of the beam. The system may be applied to both ends of a long load by drawing of all lines in synchronism, advantageously being applied to lift both ends of a boat.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of lifts and more particularly to self-stabilizing hoists and suspension systems such as those for suspending and lowering and lifting watercraft into and from the water.
2. Description of Related Art
Mechanisms for lifting, lowering and suspending large loads have been in use for centuries. In particular, pulley and cable systems are especially useful because they are light, strong, adaptable to many loads and easily powered by a motor or a manually driven winch. In lifting large loads, it is often inconvenient or impossible to provide for cables or structural members that pass overhead across the load. This is particularly true of large loads, such as vessels or machinery, or in mobile applications in which it is difficult or expensive to transport a large overhead structure to a remote location.
In addition, it is desirable in most applications to lift and lower the load without allowing it to tilt, which can affect liquids in the load, and which can move the center of gravity of the load to one side or the other, rendering the system unstable.
In view of the foregoing, it is self-evident that a simple mechanism that lifts and lowers large loads without side-to-side rotation, and without the use of cables or structural members that pass over the load, has significant benefits. Several patents have attempted to address this need.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,171 is directed to a suspension and hoisting system including two cable circuits, each including a cable fixed at one end and attached to as lifting apparatus, such as a winch, at the other, and being reeved around deflection pulleys mounted on two parallel shafts located at either end of the load support, and with the lifting apparatus of each cable being mounted above the load support on the side of the load that is opposite its fixed end. The cable of at least one of the cable circuits is reeved successively around at least two coaxial deflection pulleys mounted on each end shaft in such a way that on at least one of the shafts at least one pulley of one cable circuit rotates in the same direction as at least one pulley of the other cable circuit under identical lifting and lowering action of the two lifting apparatus, while these two pulleys are constrained to rotate in opposite directions by any downwardly oriented force independent of the action of the lifting apparatus. Accordingly, these two pulleys are interlocked to reduce or eliminate any tendency of the load support to incline under the effect of this downward force.
This '171 patent suffers from reliance on friction between cable and pulley to prevent the downward force from lowering one end of the load. In many applications, maintaining a friction-free contact between pulley and cable is difficult because of the presence water, grease, and dirt on the cables. Moreover, the two cable circuits are of unequal length, which results in unequal elongation under temperature variations, which will tend to make one or the other cable prone to slipping.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,471 is directed to a boat lift, including a vertical main post mounted on dock with the lower end mounted in the water but spaced above the floor of the water. A frame includes an outer guidepost having a base mounted on the water floor with an upper end above the water level; the frame connected by a single member to the main post. A platform unit for supporting a small boat is slidably connected at both ends to the main post and the guide post, and a cable and winch unit is interconnected among the foregoing elements for effecting a level lifting and lowering of the platform unit into and out of the water. This patent requires one end of the cable to be secured at the bottom of the main post, at which point it is continually immersed in the water. This requires frequent replacement of the cable, or the use of a non-corrosive cable material, which adds considerably to the cost of installation and maintenance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,736 is directed to a synchronously driven, multiple cable boat lift used in combination with proximal and distal support structures located on respective sides of a boat to selectively lift and lower the boat out of and into a body of water. The boatlift includes a motor mountable on the proximal support structure and being selectively driven in opposing first and second directions. A boat accommodating platform is located between the proximal and distal supporting structures. A plurality of lift cables operably interconnect the motor and the platform for synchronously raising and lowering the platform. This patent does not provide a mechanism to prevent the boat from rotating as it is raised or lowered, and is limited to small craft because of the configuration of the lifting beams.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,841 is directed to a boat lift in which a hydraulic pump and cylinder with a piston are mounted on a manual boat lift such that the piston rod carries a pulley which engages the lifting cable so that, when the piston moves in the cylinder, the boat will move up or down. This patent provides a motion stabilized against rotation for one side of the boat. It does not provide for stabilization against accidental roll of the boat. Further, it requires that part of the cable be immersed in the water while the boat is in the lifted position, which has the same disadvantages as U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,471. Moreover the invention calls for a piston and cylinder in addition to lines and pulleys.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,335 is directed to a boat hoist including a lift suspension system which results in even application of forces to points on the movable platform remote from the point of attachment of the lifting device, thus eliminating twisting of the loaded platform. This patent achieves equal loading of lift points by means of a cable arrangement similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,471, which requires that one end of each of two cables be fixed below the surface of the water.
It is seen that all the above load lifting patents provide raising and lowering of a large load without cables or structural members passing over the load, but either allow de-stabilizing rotation of the load, or have one or more substantive disadvantages such as requiring mechanisms substantially more complex than a pulley and cable system, or restricting the location and type of pulleys and cable fastenings, or depending upon frictional resistance to rotation of the load.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Self-stabilizing suspension and hoisting system


A carbon brush holder includes an insulated housing having a through hole with a first section, a second section and a stepped portion between the first and second sections. A carbon brush-holding member is inserted into the first section of the insulated housing and has a first end face, a second end face opposite to the first end face, and an insertion portion adjoined with the second end face. The insertion portion of the carbon brush-holding member extends into the second section of the insulated housing, thereby enabling the second end face of the carbon brush-holding member to be located in the second section of the insulated housing. Thus, the second end face of the carbon brush-holding member can firmly contact a conductive member that is disposed inside the second section of the insulated housing and electrically connected with a carbon brush inserted into the carbon brush-holding member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to motor parts and more specifically, to a carbon brush holder for use in a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a conventional carbon brush holder mainly comprises an insulated housing 1 and a carbon brush-holding member 2 made of copper. The insulated housing 1 has a through hole with a first section 1a for insertion of the carbon brush-holding member 2 and a second section 1b, which is larger in diameter than the first section 1a such that a stepped portion is formed therebetween the first section 1a and the second section 1b. The second section 1b is provided at an inner periphery thereof with an internal thread 1c. When the conventional carbon brush holder is assembled, a carbon brush 3, which is electrically connected with a conductive member 6 through a lead wire 4 and a spring 5 surrounding the lead wire 4, is inserted into carbon brush-holding member 2, and subsequently a cover 7 is threaded into the internal thread 1e of the insulated housing 1 to press and force the conductive member 6 to be in contact with the top end face of the carbon brush-holding member 2. Thus, the carbon brush-holding member 2 can supply power to the carbon brush 3 through an external power source.
As indicated above, the conductive member 6 and the carbon brush-holding member 2 have to be closely contacted with each other for enabling the electric current to flow through the carbon brush-holding member 2, the conductive member 6, the lead wire 4, and finally the carbon brush 3 by contact conduction. However, the top end face of the carbon brush-holding member 2 is flush with the stepped portion of the insulated housing 1 in the optimum condition due to the restriction of the internal thread 1c of the insulated housing 1, resulting in that the conductive member 6 may be blocked by the stepped portion of the insulated housing 1 to cause discontact of the conductive member 6 from the copper carbon brush-holding member 2. Such imperfect or malfunctioned conduction between the conductive member 6 and the carbon brush-holding member 2 will generally cause arcs and sparkles or incomplete conduction of electricity.


An inter-vehicle distance to a preceding or following vehicle is reliably determined by using a simple processing, to alert the following vehicle to approach a dangerous range. The distance measurement apparatus includes a pair of light-receiving devices disposed on image-forming surfaces of lenses and having sensor lines and measurement windows on each sensor line at a certain interval, a distance detection device, a white line detection device and a vehicle detection device. The distance detection device detects distances at points, the coordinates of which are specified by the sensor line numbers and measurement window addresses. By using the detection results, the white line detection device detects a sensor line in which a white line on a road surface is present. By using the detection results obtained from the distance detection device relating to the sensor lines in which the white line is not present, the vehicle detection device checks a presence of a vehicle and outputs information on the inter-vehicle distance and the direction of the vehicle. The following vehicle may be alerted by flashing the brake lights.

The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus, which carries out simple processing to confirm the presence of a vehicle and to reliably determine the inter-vehicle distance to a preceding or following vehicle, and detects the dangerous approach of the following vehicle based on the inter-vehicle distance to the following vehicle and the speed of its own vehicle to alert the following vehicle by, e.g. flashing the brake light.
In the apparatus, m .times. n distance information is obtained by using a light-receiving device with (m) optical sensor arrays disposed such that the longitudinal direction is approximately aligned with the vertical direction, each of the (m) sensor arrays having (n) measurement windows spaced at a pixel interval. The apparatus detects from the m .times. n distance information, a white line on a road surface to limit the area in which a vehicle may be present, and confirms the presence of the vehicle.
In the drawings filed in the application, the same reference numerals designate the same or equivalent components.
In the known inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatuses, images formed by two lateral optical systems are electrically compared to measure the distance based on the principle of triangulation.
FIG. 24 shows a conventional inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus. In this figure, image forming lenses 1 and 2 are disposed at an optical axis interval B. Optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A are, for example, CCD linear sensor arrays and are each located at a focal length (f) from the image forming lens 1 or 2. The optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A convert an image of a target 13' formed by the image forming lenses 1 and 2 into image signals 30A and 40A and output to a signal processing section 5.
The signal processing section 5 comprises amplifiers 51 and 52; A/D converters 53 and 54; and a storage or memory device 55. The image signals 30A and 40A from the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A are amplified by the amplifiers 51 and 52, converted into digital data by the A/D converters 53 and 54, and then outputted to the storage device 55 as image data 31A and 41A.
A distance measurement circuit 6 disposed on the output side of the signal processing section 5 comprises a microcomputer, which compares the lateral image data 31A and 41A stored in the storage device 55 to calculate the distance to the target 13', and outputs a result as a distance signal 9.
Next, a principle of the calculation of the distances is described with reference to FIG. 25. A horizontal axis X and a vertical axis Y are set by using a midpoint of the image forming lenses 1 and 2 as an origin O, and the coordinates of the image forming positions L.sub.1 and R.sub.1 are referred to as (-a.sub.L1 -B/2, -f) and (a.sub.R1 +B/2, -f), respectively, wherein a.sub.L1 and a.sub.R1 are distances on the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A as illustrated.
The coordinates of the midpoint O.sub.L of the image forming lens 1 are (-B/2, 0), and the coordinates of the midpoint O.sub.R of the image forming lens 2 are (B/2, 0). If the coordinates of a point M in the target 13' are referred to as (x, y), the coordinates of the intersection N of a vertical line extending from the point M to the X-axis are (x, 0), the coordinates of position L.sub.O of a vertical line extending from a point O.sub.L to the optical sensor array 3A are (-B/2, -f), and the coordinates of a position R.sub.O of a vertical line extending from a point O.sub.R to the optical sensor array 4A are (B/2, -f). In this case, since .DELTA.MO.sub.L N is similar to .DELTA.O.sub.L L.sub.1 L.sub.O, and .DELTA.MO.sub.R N is similar to .DELTA.O.sub.R R.sub.1 R.sub.O, the following equations (1) and (2) are satisfied: EQU (x+B/2)f=(a.sub.L1 +B/2-B/2)y Equation 1 EQU (-x+B/2)f=(a.sub.R1 +B/2-B/2)y Equation 2
The following Equation (3) can be obtained from Equations (1) and (2). EQU y=B.multidot.f/(a.sub.L1 +a.sub.R1) Equation 3
By Equation (3), the distance (y) to the target 13' can be obtained if the distances a.sub.L1 and a.sub.R1 for the image forming positions L1 and R1 are known.
Next, the operation of the distance detection circuit 6 is described in detail. The distance detection circuit 6 compares lateral or right and left image data 3AT and 4AR such as that shown by the solid lines in FIG. 26 with respect to separately set measurement window parts, and if they do not match, for example, the image data 3AL on the left is sequentially shifted to the right, while the image data 4AR on the right is sequentially shifted to the left, as shown by the broken lines in the figure. The shift distance is then detected when the image data on the right and left match.
An evaluation function is used to determine the degree of coincidence between the right and left image data 3AL and 4AR. The evaluation function is obtained by adding the absolute values of the differences between pixel data for all pixels (in this example, CCD elements) located at corresponding coordinates (addresses) in measurement windows located Within the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A on the right and left. The value of the evaluation function is examined while the right and left measurement windows are sequentially shifted, that is, the left measurement window is shifted to the left (image data 3AL on the left is equivalently shifted to the right), whereas the right measurement window is shifted to the right (image data 4AR on the right is equivalently shifted to the left). The data on the right and left is determined to match when the function has a minimum value.
The distances a.sub.L1 and a.sub.R1 for the right and left image forming positions L.sub.1 and R.sub.1 described above are equal to these shifted distances, so the distance detection circuit 6 can calculate the distance (y) to the target 13' based on the shifted distances a.sub.L1 and a.sub.R1 through the use of Equation (3) shown above.
The conventional principle of the measurement of a plurality of points in the longitudinal direction of the optical sensor arrays is described with reference to FIG. 27. The distance measurement apparatus in this case has the same structure as in FIG. 24 except that each sensor array is partitioned into a plurality of regions, i.e. measurement windows. FIG. 27 shows a case in which the optical sensor arrays are partitioned into three regions (a), (b) and (c).
Targets O.sub.1, O.sub.2 and O.sub.3 for which the distance is to be measured are located at the distances L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3, respectively, from the distance measurement apparatus, in the three directions shown by the alternating long and short lines, that is, the direction of the center line and the directions with an angle .alpha. on both sides of the center line. The regions (a), (b) and (c) which form pairs between the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A correspond to the targets O.sub.1, O.sub.2 and O.sub.3, respectively.
In other words, an image of the target O.sub.1 located left at the angle .alpha. relative to the center line is simultaneously formed in the pair of regions (a) of the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A, an image of the target O.sub.2 located at the center line is simultaneously formed in the two regions (b), and an image of the target O.sub.3 located right at the angle .alpha. relative to the center line is simultaneously formed in the two regions (c). The distances L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 to the targets O.sub.1, O.sub.2 and O.sub.3 can be expressed by the following Equations (4) to (6): EQU L.sub.1 =B.multidot.f/(U.sub.21 -U.sub.11) Equation 4 EQU L.sub.2 =B.multidot.f/(U.sub.22 +U.sub.12) Equation 5 EQU L.sub.3 =B.multidot.f/(U.sub.13 -U.sub.23) Equation 6
Distances B, (f), U.sub.11, U.sub.12, U.sub.13, U.sub.21, U.sub.22 and U.sub.23 in these equations are as shown in FIG. 27.
Since each shift distance (U.sub.21, U.sub.11, U.sub.22, U.sub.12, U.sub.13, or U.sub.23) can be determined by the distance detection circuit 6 based on the image data from the optical sensor arrays 3A and 4A, the distances L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 can be determined by Equations (4) to (6).
In this manner, the conventional method measures the distance for each of the plurality of the measurement windows set within the optical sensor arrays to extract the location of a vehicle by using the following techniques.
For example, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-210848, which is the applicant's previous application (hereinafter referred to as "first previous application"), (n) measurement points are measured in the lines (hereinafter referred to as "sensor lines") in each of (m) sensor arrays to which (n) measurement windows are allocated, and the frequency distribution of the distances within the m .times. n distance matrix is determined. The average movement of a distance block region corresponding to a size of a vehicle is then determined within the distance matrix, and an object assumed to be a vehicle is identified. Finally, its distance is extracted.
In addition, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-280563, which is another applicant's application (hereinafter referred to as the "second previous application"), a white line is distinguished based on the distance to and the width of an image assumed to be the white line on the surface of a road on which the vehicle is traveling. Then, based on the white line, the distance measurement range is determined to detect the distance to a vehicle within the range.
In addition, the well-known inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus includes a buzzer to alert the driver if the inter-vehicle distance determined in the above manner is smaller than a safe inter-vehicle distance calculated based on tale speed of the vehicle and the relative speed, and laser radar distance measurement apparatuses have been practically used for some large trucks.
FIG. 23 shows how the safe inter-vehicle distance is determined based on the speed of its own vehicle and the relative speed. This figure shows the relationship between the speed of the vehicle and the safe inter-vehicle distance at a particular relative speed. When the speed of its own vehicle is referred to as V.sub.2 ; the speed of the preceding car is referred to as V.sub.1, the deceleration of the preceding car is referred to as .alpha..sub.1 ; the deceleration of its own vehicle is referred to as .alpha..sub.2 ; the delay time (free running time) from the start of the deceleration of the preceding vehicle until the start of the deceleration of the original vehicle is referred to as T.sub.delay ; and the margin of the distance (inter-vehicle distance when both vehicles are completely stopped) is referred to as D.sub.1 ; the relative speed can be expressed as V.sub.2 -V.sub.1 and the safe inter-vehicle distance D.sub.safe can be expressed by the following Equation (7): ##EQU1##
In this equation, V.sub.2 is obtained from a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed sensor installed in the own vehicle, and V.sub.1 is determined based on the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed signal. D.sub.1 is fixed as a certain constant. In addition, T.sub.delay, .alpha..sub.1, and .alpha..sub.2 are constants but vary depending on the driver's driving skills and the conditions of the road surface. Thus, these values must be determined while considering these factors.
The conventional inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus has the following problems:
FIG. 28 shows an example of an inconvenient relationship between an image of a vehicle and measurement windows within the sensor lines in a plurality of optical sensor arrays installed parallel approximately in a vertical direction as the longitudinal direction. According to the distance measurement apparatus according to the first previous application (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-210848), the measurement windows are provided at the circles as a center in each line in FIG. 28 to measure the distances. The size of an image of the vehicle formed on a measurement visual field decreases as the inter-vehicle distance increases. As shown in the figure, the image of the vehicle may be offset from the center of the measurement window and present only in a part of it, depending on the situation, to make measurement of the distance to the vehicle inaccurate or difficult.
To prevent such an inconvenience, for example, the following methods can be used:
A first method is to increase the width of the measurement window so that an image of the vehicle formed in a corner of the window can be used to determine the distance to the vehicle despite the absence of the vehicle in the center of the window. This method, however, causes an image of the vehicle and images of the background and road surfaces to be shown in the same window, resulting in a larger error in the measurement of the distance due to the mixture of far and near objects.
A second method is to increase the number of the measurement windows instead of increasing the width in order to guarantee that a certain number of windows is used to detect the distance to the vehicle. This method, however, increases the amount of distance data to be obtained to thereby require a long time to extract frequency distributions or determine the average movement. Consequently, it requires a CPU with a larger capacity to reduce the processing time, resulting in high costs.
Thus, a method that prevents errors caused by the mixture of far and near objects and that can extract the location of a vehicle by using simple processing is required.
A possible method for reducing the processing time required to extract the location of a vehicle is to use the technique disclosed in the second previous application (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-280563) to detect a white line on a road surface in order to determine the distance measurement range based on that white line, thereby determining the processing range within which the location of a vehicle is to be extracted. This method, however, can reduce the time required to extract the location of a vehicle, but a longer time is required to detect the white line due to the use of the image data, thereby preventing the required reduction of the sampling frequency. Thus, a more simple processing method that eliminates the need for image data in the detection of the white line is required.
Furthermore, according to the conventional method, the following inconvenience occurs when the inter-vehicle distance determined in the above manner is used to output an alarm. In the conventional method in which an alarm is outputted when the inter-vehicle distance apparatus described above has measured the distance to the preceding vehicle, an alarm is frequently outputted when the inter-vehicle distance has become smaller than the safe inter-vehicle distance, which bothers the driver and makes the driver to be accustomed.
To prevent this, the alarm determination threshold in Equation (7) must be determined appropriately to clearly distinguish the dangerous condition from the safe condition in order to make the alarm more reliable.
The constants T.sub.delay, .alpha..sub.1 and .alpha..sub.2 in Equation (7), however, vary depending on the various parameters, such as driver's driving skills, habits and physical condition; conditions and slopes of the road surfaces; and abrasion of tires. These factors can not be measured easily, and the alarm is likely to be outputted even in a safe situation. Thus, an inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus that is acceptable to the driver due to its ability to prevent the driver from being bothered and can consistently alert the driver to potential danger is required.
It is thus an object of the invention to solve these problems of the conventional techniques and to provide an inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus that uses light receiving devices with optical sensor arrays to stably, accurately and simply determine the distance to the preceding or following vehicle and that prevents the driver from being bothered while sufficiently alerting the driver to potential danger.

Inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus


Disclosed in some examples are improved storage, replication, and distribution of data related to network-based meetings (e.g., media) in hierarchical records. Data for one or more components of the meeting (e.g., media) may be stored in a child record (called a component record). The network-based meeting may be described by a parent record with links to, and in some examples descriptions of, the meeting component records (the child records). The meeting object may point to local, and/or replicated copies of the child records. As noted, the child records may be or include media objects and, in some examples, the child records may be replicated to one or more locations based upon a demand for the media object. By replicating the media to a location that is close to demand for the media, this provides for more efficient delivery of media of the meeting.

Data may be replicated across one or more storage devices in one or more data storage locations or regions. Replication may be performed for a variety of reasons. For example, replication may enhance data availability by storing multiple copies of the data in different locations. If one of the locations becomes unavailable or loses the data, the data is still available in another location. In some other examples, privacy laws may require data generated in one location to be replicated to another location. In still other examples, data is migrated in order to create a backup copy of the data in case the primary copy is lost or corrupted.

Media storage for online meetings in edge network storage


A pneumatic tire has a carcass structure having at least one carcass ply and at least one annular reinforcing structure associated with the carcass ply, a pair of axially opposite side walls on the carcass structure, a belt structure arranged at a radially outer position with respect to the carcass structure and a tread band arranged at a radially outer position with respect to the belt structure, and generally having a first elastomeric material incorporating at least one portion substantially of a second elastomeric material. The tread band has at least one groove defined in the at least one portion substantially of the second elastomeric material, wherein the ratio between the modulus of elasticity under compression at 100° C. of the second elastomeric material and the modulus of elasticity under compression at 100° C. of the first elastomeric material is not lower than about 1.30, and wherein the ratio between the IRHD hardness at 100° C. of the second elastomeric material, measured in accordance with standard ISO 48, and the IRHD hardness at 100° C. of the first elastomeric material, measured in accordance with standard ISO 48, is lower than about 1.10.

The present invention refers to a pneumatic tire for two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles and in particular, but not exclusively, to a pneumatic tire for motorvehicles of the so-called UHP (Ultra High Performance) type.
Specifically, the present invention refers to a pneumatic tire comprising a carcass structure having at least one carcass ply, and at least one annular reinforcing structure associated to the carcass ply, a tread band made of an elastomeric material at a radially outer position with respect to the carcass structure, a belt structure interposed between the carcass structure and the tread band and a pair of axially opposite sidewalls on the carcass structure, wherein the tread band is provided with a pattern comprising one or more longitudinal and/or transversal grooves.
Within the framework of the present description, such a type of pneumatic tire shall be indicated with the term: grooved tire.


A current mirror circuit comprises a first current-to-voltage converter for inputting an input current, a second current-to-voltage converter, a first transistor, the collector or drain of which outputs an output current, and the emitter or source of which is connected to the second current-to-voltage converter, and a control unit for controlling a control electrode of the first transistor. The control unit refers a voltage current-to-voltage converted by the first and second current-to-voltage converters to control the first transistor so that currents flow from the control unit to the first and second current-to-voltage converters at a predetermined ratio.

The present invention relates to a current mirror circuit which is able to has a wide range of output voltage.
In a current mirror circuit, the magnitude of output impedance is one of extremely important matters that need to be taken into consideration.
In a conventional simple current mirror circuit as shown in FIG. 81, the output impedance can not be increased so as to be greater than the output impedance of a transistor. In order to improve this, a cascode constitution has been used as shown in FIG. 82. However, there is a problem in that this constitution is not suitably operated when the output voltage is not greater than approximately VT+VDS(sat).
In order to solve this problem, there is a method for selecting a bias of T4 for connection to a cascode as shown in FIG. 83. However, in this constitution, two systems of the same currents are required, and the suitable values of T4 for the channel width/channel length of T3 which forms a gate bias of T4 disperses in the manufacturing process, so that it is difficult to design this constitution. In addition, FIG. 84 illustrates another conventional circuit wherein Vbis is selected to be approximately VDS(sat) to increase an output impedance so as to be suitably operated at an output voltage greater than approximately 2VDS(sat).
However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to accurately replicate a current since the drain-to-source voltage of T1 is different from that of T2. In addition, in order to equalize the drain-to-source voltages of T1 and T2 to enhance the accuracy of the replicated current, there is proposed a method for using two sets of operational amplifier circuits as shown in FIG. 85. However, in this method, there is a new problem in that the scale of circuit is increased.
Thus, in conventional current mirror circuits, there are problems in that in the case of the simple circuit, it is not possible to increase the accuracy of the replicated current, and in the case of the circuit for enhancing the accuracy of the output impedance and the replicated current, the scale thereof is increased.


A method of manufacturing a silicon optoelectronic device, a silicon optoelectronic device manufactured by the method, and an image input and/or output apparatus having the silicon optoelectronic device are provided. The method includes: preparing an n-type or p-type silicon-based substrate; forming a polysilicon in one or more regions of the surface of the substrate; oxidizing the surface of the substrate where the polysilicon is formed, to form a silicon oxidation layer on the substrate, and forming a microdefect flection pattern at the interface between the substrate and the silicon oxidation layer, wherein the microdefect flection pattern is formed by the oxidation accelerated by oxygen traveling through boundaries of the grains in the polysilicon; exposing the microdefect flection pattern by etching the silicon oxidation layer; and forming a doping region by doping the exposed microdefect flection pattern with a dopant of the opposite type to the substrate.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a silicon optoelectronic device, a silicon optoelectronic device manufactured by the method and an image input and/or output apparatus using the silicon optoelectronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An advantage of using a silicon semiconductor substrate is that it provides excellent reliability and allows a highly integrated density of the logic device, an operation device, and a drive device on the substrate. Also, a silicon semiconductor material can be used to fabricate a highly integrated circuit at much lower cost than a compound semiconductor material, due to the use of inexpensive silicon. That is why many integrated circuits use silicon as their basic material.
In this regard, current research into the fabrication of silicon-based light-emitting devices aims to make them compatible with integrated circuits and to obtain inexpensive photoelectronic devices.
The present applicant has disclosed a silicon optoelectronic device in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/122,421, filed on Apr. 16, 2002. The silicon optoelectronic device includes an ultra-shallow doping region to form a quantum structure in a p-n junction of a silicon-based substrate. In this device, a period of surface flections i.e. microdefects enhancing wavelength selectivity, is formed by self-assembly under specific oxidation conditions and a specific diffusion process. For this reason, uniform production and reproduction of the microdefects are very difficult.
As described in the U.S. application Ser. No. 10/122,421, the wavelength of the silicon optoelectronic device having the light emitting characteristics or/and light receiving characteristics due to the quantum structure formed by an ultra-shallow diffusion process is determined by the period of the microdefects, which is a microcavity length. Thus, the microdefects must be repeatedly arranged with a specific period to select the desired wavelength band.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Silicon optoelectronic device, manufacturing method thereof, and image input and/or output apparatus using the same


A porous carbon and a method of manufacturing the same are provided, which can inhibit metal particles from being oxidized and can keep the effect obtained by adding the metal particles for a long period of time by allowing the metal particles to disperse sufficiently.

Porous carbon containing metal particles is a catalyst with high industrial value. For example, it can adsorb a reactant by making use of the high adsorption capability of activated carbon, and cause the reactant to react with the metal particles as a catalyst. Known examples of the metal particles include platinum, silver, and copper. Examples of the applications thereof include highly active electrodes for fuel cells, NOx/Sox decomposition filters, and electrode materials for lithium-ion secondary batteries.
As the porous carbon material containing metal particles, one in which metal particles are dispersed on the surface and inside the pores of the carbon carrier finely in the order of nanometers has been proposed. As a method of manufacturing the porous carbon material, a method has been proposed including mixing metal particles or the like, a surfactant, a thermosetting resin or the like, and a solvent together, heating and curing the mixture, and thereafter sintering it to carbonize it. (See Patent Document 1 below).

Porous carbon and method of manufacturing same

Abstract: The method is characterized by comprising the steps of: mixing a polyamic acid resin varnish 1 as a carbon precursor, magnesium oxide 2 as template particles, and chloroplatinic acid 6 as a metal salt; heat-treating the mixture in a nitrogen atmosphere at 1000° C. for 1 hour to reduce the chloroplatinic acid into platinum and thermally decomposing the polyamic acid resin to prepare a carbon 3 containing the platinum particles 7; and washing the resulting carbon 3 with a sulfuric acid solution added at a concentration of 1 mol/L to completely dissolve MgO away.


The normal course of operating a numerically controlled machine tool includes the automatic collection of significant event data without any special interaction by the machine tool operator. These events are of two types: those embedded in the machine tool part program, which may be ordinary program steps or special event markers; and those which represent operator intervention of the programmed process operating on the machine tool. The theoretical time for the occurrence of the programmed events is embedded in the machine tool part program. The identity, date and time of the actual occurrence of an event is stored in nonvolatile memory. This technique may be used in a single computer controlling one or more machine tools or in a network with a host computer serving as the event depository and as the source of machine tool part programs. The event records are available for analysis to improve the productivity of the operation.

It has heretofore been proposed to integrate the operation of numerically controlled machine tools into a computer network. The typical reason for construction of such machine tool computer networks is the simplified access to and maintenance of the machine tool part programs for the numerically controlled machine tools. At one time it was standard to provide the machine tool part programs for numerically controlled machine tools via a punched paper tape. This punched paper tape was loaded into a reader at the particular machine tool and read one program step at a time during the operation of the machine tool. Such a paper tape system was cumbersome for several reasons. First, such a system required physical relocation of the paper tape within the reader in order to rerun the program for an additional part, or to rerun one block (step) of the program such as, for example, to repeat a particular single operation of the machine tool. These punched paper tapes generally are too easily damaged to have a reasonable lifetime on the shop floor. Lastly, it is difficult to insure that each machine tool is using the latest and best version of the machine tool part program for a particular operation when numerous differing paper tape programs are available on the shop floor. Thus it is difficult to control the machine tool operation using paper tapes.
A computer network for providing machine tool part programs for numerically controlled machine tools solves many of these problems. In such a computer network, the machine tool operator would obtain the machine tool part program for the machine tool from the computer network. This machine tool part program would be stored in a permanent magnetic disk medium at a central location. This ensures availability of the machine tool part program. In addition, each machine tool doing the same operation would be supplied with the same machine tool part program. This means it is very easy to distribute to all the machine tools the latest and best version of a particular machine tool part program for a particular part.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,653 issued to Fair et al on Jun. 6, 1972 entitled "Control System" discloses an example of such a computer network for numerically controlled machine tools. The control system of the Fair et al patent includes an additional feature. The program recalled from the computer network can be operated in a RUN mode or in a CONVERSATION mode. In the RUN mode the individual machine tool operator has only limited capability of modifying the machine operation. This limited capability involves such things as withdrawal of the tool to correct tool breaks and the skipping or repeating of individual blocks of the machine tool part program such as employed when reworking a previously worked part. The CONVERSATION mode permits more extensive modification and editing of the machine tool part program specifically in "source language". This CONVERSATION mode permits a master machine tool operator or programming engineer to create, modify or debug a machine tool part program for a particular part. After modification this machine tool part program can be used by this or other machine tools in the RUN mode to produce parts.
A further example of a computer network employed with machine tools is U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,848 issued Feb. 17, 1981 to Cambigue et al entitled "Paging, Status Monitoring and Report Compiling System for Support, Maintenance and Management of Operator-Supervised Automatic Industrial Machines." The Cambigue patent teaches a distributed microcomputer network for communication of machine tool operator Initiated CALL and encoded STATUS signals. Each machine tool includes an operator console that is connected to the distributed microcomputer network. This system permits the machine tool operator to initiate a CALL that is automatically transmitted to maintenance personnel via either a terminal or a printer connected to the microcomputer network, and is Indicated on a visual display board. Thus the machine tool operator need not leave his work station to report problems to the proper support personnel. This system includes a set of thumb wheel switches for the machine tool operator to enter the proper CALL and STATUS signals. In addition, the system automatically detects the ON and OFF status of the machine tool and the ON and OFF status of the operator feed rate override. The network logs and reports any change in the ON and OFF status of the machine tool or of the operator feed rate override. The Cambigue patent teaches that the use of a distributed network of microcomputers for the communication system is advantageous because the communication system is not dependent on the availability of any particular computer.
The Applicant believes that the prior art does not provide the tools necessary to manage the operation of a plurality of numerically controlled machine tools to the best advantage. Greater feedback of events occurring at the numerically controlled machine tools, beyond that used in the closed loop servo system and beyond knowing that the machine tool is running or not, is needed. It is axiomatic that it is impossible to determine how to do something better if you don't know how you are doing it now. Greater feedback provides additional information to industrial/manufacturing engineers permitting them to make substantiated decisions for improving the processes occurring at the machine tools. As a result, the industrial/manufacturing engineers can further optimize the utilization of the numerically controlled machine tools.

Event feedback for numerically controlled machine tool and network implementation thereof


The present invention provides for a low power receiver protector and stepped attenuator for conditioning a received input signal within a microwave receiver front end. The low power receiver protector includes a detector for generating a surge signal in response to the received input signal exceeding a predetermined threshold, a delay line for delaying the received input signal for fixed duration, and a limiter for reducing the voltage of the received input signal in response to the generation of the surge signal. The stepped attenuator includes a plurality of cells each having an attenuation transmission path which includes an attenuator for providing a predetermined amount of attenuation of the received input signal. Each attenuation transmission path, bypass transmission path and delay line comprise a high temperature superconductor to provide minimal loss and reduced size.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to low power receiver protector/clutter automatic gain control circuitry for microwave receiver front ends and more particularly to a high temperature superconducting low power receiver protector/clutter automatic gain control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Receiver protectors act as fast acting sophisticated circuit breakers to prevent damage to sensitive radar receivers. This damage can result from power reflected from the antenna during the transmit period or from nonsynchronous pulses due to high power EMI or high power jamming. The receiver protector should provide certain common characteristics such as low insertion loss, fast recovery period and low leakage power under a wide spectrum of environmental conditions and over a wide range of power level and ambient temperatures. They should also have an operating life of at least several thousand hours with a high degree of reliability.
The clutter automatic gain control (CAGC) within a radar receiver is a variable attenuator used to adjust the clutter signal level to a prescribed level. This prescribed level is typically 6 dB below the saturation level of the analog to digital converter within the radar receiver.
The clutter automatic gain control is utilized to provide a uniform return signal allowing the receiver to monitor a smaller range of signals. Generally, the clutter automatic gain control provides high attenuation immediately following the transmit pulse and subsequently steps the attenuation down in a prescribed manner (e.g., linear ramp of attenuation over time) to monitor targets at a farther distance.
Clutter automatic gain controls are also designed to have a low power receiver protection function (LPRP) against the transmitter power leakage which can be on the order of 10 watts following the conventional high power receiver protection function (HPRP). The power allowed into the low noise amplifier within the radar receiver must not exceed 15 dBm typically. An additional level of receiver protection is usually achieved by turning the clutter automatic gain control to maximum (snuff) attenuation (60 dB typical) during the transmit cycle.
Conventional radar receivers use PIN diodes as variable attenuators. These attenuators have a dynamic range which is limited by an input third order intercept (ITOI) on the order of 30 dBm. In addition, the conventional devices have a low intercept point which may vary with attenuation. It is preferred to provide a high intercept point which remains constant during fluctuations in attenuation to avoid distortion.
The PIN diodes are usually biased within the conventional devices such that the received high level signal will trigger the PIN diode. Such an arrangement provides instantaneous protection by creating a large loss within the low power receiver protector and clutter automatic gain control.
The attenuation within the conventional devices could be controlled by varying the current to the PIN diodes. However, this configuration is not preferred inasmuch as the PIN diodes cause intermodulation when the PIN diodes are not completely on or completely off.
Conventional Receiver protector/Sensitivity Time Controls (RP/STC) in radar systems are usually either waveguide or microstrip devices. The waveguide versions have low insertion loss, less than 1 dB at X-band (10 GHz). However, they may be quite large (e.g., 2".times.2".times.6" at X-band to 8".times.8".times.24" at L-band (1-2 GHz)). Such devices are designed to protect against high power leakage from the transmitter and utilize glass or quartz vials containing gas which becomes an ionized plasma under high power. The gas stages can handle (i.e., reflect) these high power levels, but provide no protection below about 10-20 watts of RF power. The gas stages are followed by several diode stages containing PIN diodes shunted across the waveguide to attenuate the reduced power following the gas stages.
The limiter diodes may also be utilized as a controlled attenuator stage since variable attenuation STC function is desired. The attenuation is set by feeding a controlled current through the diodes. Utilization of the limiter diodes as a STC attenuator reduces the number of diodes required and the overall insertion loss.
The limiter diodes are made with a thin I-region to protect at low power, and the diodes begin to turn on under strong receive signal conditions. This produces undesirable third-order mixing products and cross-modulation which can produce false targets and/or hide desired targets in noise.
Microstrip versions of the RP/STC have also been used in conventional applications. These versions consist entirely of diode stages but have limited power handling capability (e.g., 20 W max). They are used in T/R modules and other applications where the waveguide versions can not be utilized. The insertion loss of the microstrip versions of the RP/STC is about twice that of the waveguide diode stages. A typical STC attenuator is required to provide 45-60 dB attenuation.
Therefore, there is a need for a low power and very low loss receiver protector/clutter automatic gain control for radar receiver with an increased dynamic range and which can be optimized for third-order intercept (high limiting thresholds) without hurting the noise figure of the system.

High temperature superconducting low power receiver protector/clutter automatic gain control for radar receiver


Color filters can each be fabricated by printing a pixel pattern for the color filter on a flexible plastic film by a central impression cylinder press. The pixel pattern is formed of pixels of three primary colors consisting of red, green and blue or pixels of three primary colors consisting of yellow, magenta and cyan. Also disclosed are inks, color filters, and image displays using the color filters.

Keeping in step with the recent tremendous developments in information equipment, color LCDs have found wide-spread commercial utility as information display units in all equipment relating to the display of information, for example, as display screens in personal computers, mobile information equipment, television sets, projectors, monitors, car navigation systems, cellular telephones, computers and electronic dictionaries, as displays such as information display boards, guidance display boards, function display boards and sign boards, and also as monitor screens in digital cameras and video cameras. As a consequence, CFs for color LCDs are also required to have still better quality in image characteristics such as sharpness. From the diversification of LCD applications, there is also diversification in size, resulting in an increasing demand for both smaller LCDs and larger LCDs. There is, accordingly, an outstanding demand for the supply of CFs at low cost for all such LCDs.
The fabrication of CFs relies upon a fabrication process called "the photolithographic process" in many instances. To form by this process a pixel pattern of the additive mixing system of three primary colors consisting of red (R), green (G) and blue (B), a photosensitive color resist (photosensitive ink) of one of the colors is coated on a CF substrate by a spin coater. Through a photomask prepared in advance and defining therethrough a light-transmitting pattern conforming with a pixel pattern of the corresponding color, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to cure the coated resist film. Unexposed portions of the coated resist film are then washed off to develop a pixel pattern of the specific color. With respect to each of the remaining two colors, the above-described procedure is repeated to fabricate a CF. The formation of a CF having a pixel pattern of three primary colors consisting of yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C) can be conducted likewise.
In the above-described photolithographic process, however, the amount of each resist with which its corresponding actual pixel pattern is formed as a result of the application by the spin coater is, for example, as little as only 10% or so of the actually-used amount of the same resist, and the majority of the resist is simply discarded. This is very uneconomical, and correspondingly, the resist with which the pixel pattern is formed is expensive.
With a view to providing a solution to the above-described problem, it has been attempted to reduce the loss of color resists by coating color films over the entire surfaces of plastic films, respectively, and then successively transferring the color films onto a CF substrate; or by applying the color resists onto a CF substrate by slit coaters, respectively. Both of these attempts, however, form pixels by the photolithographic process, and therefore, the problem that many steps are required still remains unsolved.
With a view to rationalizing the fabrication process to improve its economy, it was also attempted to fabricate CFs by a printing method. As the printing with the three RGB colors was performed color by color, misalignments took place among the printed pixels themselves, leading to reductions in the resolution and positional accuracy of the printed pixels. As a result, the CFs so fabricated were insufficient in the fineness, definition and the like of the pixels of the three primary colors.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to fabricate CFs, which show excellent performance in image characteristics such as pixel fineness and definitions, by a fabrication process which can economically fabricate the CFs at low cost through rationalized steps and can also meet the move toward larger CFs; and also to provide CFs and image displays at low cost.
The present inventors have found that the use of a central impression cylinder press for the formation (printing) of a CF pixel pattern especially via a mask defining therethrough perforations which are in conformity with the pixel pattern makes it possible to form the pixel pattern with extremely high accuracy, to provide a CF of performance excellent in image characteristics such as image fineness and definition, and also to solve the above-described inherent defects of the conventional printing method such as insufficient resolution and positional accuracy.

Fabrication process of color filters, inks, color filters, and image displays using the color filters

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.


A primary game having a plurality of outcomes is provided to a first player of a first gaming device. In response to one of the plurality of outcomes, a first game asset for a secondary game is provided to the first player. The secondary game includes a contest between the first player having the first game asset and a second player having a second game asset, and an outcome of the contest of the secondary game is based at least in part on comparing a first asset value of the first game asset and a second asset value of the second game asset. In some examples, the secondary game may be a fantasy sports game, a deck building card game, or a scavenger hunt game, in which some or all of the assets are obtained via the primary game(s).

Electronic and electro-mechanical gaming machines (EGMs) are systems that allow users to place a wager on the outcome of a random event, such as the spinning of mechanical or virtual reels or wheels, the playing of virtual cards, the rolling of mechanical or virtual dice, the random placement of tiles on a screen, etc. Manufacturers of EGMs have incorporated a number of enhancements to the EGMs to allow players to interact with the EGMs in new and more engaging ways. For example, early slot machines allowed player interaction by pulling a lever or arm on the machine. As mechanical slot machines were replaced by electronic slot machines, a range of new player interface devices became available to EGM designers and were subsequently incorporated into EGMs. Examples of such interface devices include electronic buttons, wheels, and, more recently, touchscreens and three dimensional display screens.


A fluid cooling device has at least one heat exchanger device (10) for cooling at least one fluid and has at least one filter device (12) also for filtering the fluid conducted to a hydraulic device (14). The device has a follow-up suction device (42) that, if required, conducts fluid to the suction side of the hydraulic device fluid cooling (14).

These cooling devices can be used for a plurality of applications and are readily available in a wide variety of different embodiments on the market. Thus, for example, DE 100 09 864 A1 shows a cooling device with a cooling unit as a heat exchanger through which a fluid to be cooled, especially hydraulic fluid, flows, and with a filter unit as a filter for filtering of the fluid. The filter unit together with the cooling unit are located in a common device housing. Compared to the other known fluid cooling devices, this arrangement avoids the multi-piece structure, so that the described solution can be much more compact and light, while delivering the same performance. Moreover, the conventional tubing can be omitted due to the integration of the cooling unit and filter unit in a device housing, and error sources are precluded in this way.
In the known solution the cooling unit is preferably designed as a plate-shaped finned radiator. This plate configuration is advantageous especially for installation spaces that are kept flat. Due to the alternate arrangement of the filter unit in the left or right water box of the cooling unit, the sequence of the cooling unit and filter unit can be interchanged, allowing extensive adaptation of the cooling device to the installation conditions on site. The device housing is either assembled from sheet metal parts, but configuration as a casting, especially as an aluminum diecasting, is preferable. In spite of the compact construction, the known solution is heavy, and the structural design is relatively complicated increasing production costs.
Furthermore, DE 103 28 177 A1 discloses a fluid cooling device as a modular unit with a drive motor that drives a fan impeller that can turn in the fan housing. At least one fluid pump delivers at least one fluid from a storage tank to a hydraulic working circuit with a consumer that in principle heats the fluid in operation, and leads to an assigned heat exchanger from which cooled fluid returns to the storage tank. Parts of the storage tank comprise at least in part the fan impeller and form the fan housing made preferably of a plastic material in a lightweight construction.
In spite of their compact construction, the known solutions have good cooling and filtration results for the fluid. They can reach their limits, however, where the consumer is part of an open fluid circuit, for example, where it is designed in the form of working hydraulics or as a closed, hydrostatic drive, for example, in the form of a traveling mechanism. In these applications, problem-free operation of the consumer can be ensured where a feed pump connected upstream of the consumer also receives the full amount of fluid required by it for the consumer.
In the other known systems, such as are used especially in vehicle engineering (construction machinery) and in which to some extent the components of the fluid cooling device, such as the heat exchanger means, filter means, etc., are spatially separated from one another and can be located at widely spaced-apart locations on the vehicle, especially in replenishment processes of the feed pump, a high replenishment pressure must be made available to ensure supply of the consumer as a result of the associated long supply distances. This arrangement has the disadvantage that the gas (air) bound in the fluid and comprising in part 10% or more of the fluid volume escapes unintentionally as a result of the high replenishment pressure. This situation then leads to a "soft" fluid or oil column, and adversely affects the uniform supply of the feed pump with fluid. In turn, this "soft" fluid can lead to serious problems at the hydraulic consumer. In addition, this effect also leads to cavitation phenomena causing damage to the material, at least in the feed pump.

Fluid cooling device with a replenishment circuit


A method for green color retention and texture improvement in vegetables by blanching raw or IQF green vegetables in an aqueous zinc blanch solution for three minutes or less, wherein the aqueous blanch solution has a zinc ion concentration of at least about 500 ppm. The vegetables may then be containerized and sterilized, frozen or dried. The zinc-blanched and frozen or dried vegetables may be sold as ingredients to the food industry, or they may be containerized and sterilized in brine, or in complex products, such as soups, sauces, or any other thermally processed products.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to improving color and texture of green vegetables that are containerized and sterilized. A high-concentration short-time zinc blanch (HCST) method is introduced through which the bright green color of fresh vegetables is maintained through the thermal sterilization process.
2. The Prior Art
Vegetables and vegetable products, such as soups, are containerized and thermally sterilized in order to attain shelf life stability. This obvious advantage of shelf life stability brings along inherent disadvantages for the product, such as changes in flavor, texture, and color.
Visually most noticeable among the temperature-induced thermal processing changes may be the color change of green vegetables, from bright green to an unappealing olive color. At the biochemical basis of this color change is the chlorophyll molecule, the molecule responsible for the green color of vegetables. Its structure is that of a complex molecule with a magnesium atom in the central position. Accumulative heat input, either through extended cooking or through thermal sterilization in containers, causes the magnesium atom to be displaced from its central position. This change at the molecular level, from chlorophyll to pheophytin, coincides with a color change in the vegetable, from bright green to olive (Gold & Weckel, 1959; MacKinney & West, 1940; Westcott et al., 1955).
While the magnesium loss from the chlorophyll molecule is irreversible, the change in color is not. Spontaneous "regreening" of green vegetables was first reported in canned okra in 1943 (Fischbach and Newburger) and was attributed to zinc-containing pigments (Fischbach, 1943). Zinc and copper complexes of pheophytins formed and regreened pea puree during storage (Schanderl et al., 1965). Copper or zinc ions, as contaminants in process solutions, caused sporadic bright green color in processed green beans (Decleire, 1966) and Brussel sprouts (Swirski et al., 1969). Regreening through formation of zinc or copper complexes has also been shown experimentally (Jones et al., 1977; vonElbe et al., 1986).
The addition of zinc or copper salts for the retention of green color in canned vegetables has been reported in several prior art processes, all of which include one or more serious obstacles to implementation in a modern vegetable processing operation.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,725 describes a lengthy process in which vegetables are first blanched and then containerized with a brine solution containing zinc and/or copper ions. Subsequently, the canned vegetables are held at an elevated temperature for 15 to 90 minutes after which they are sterilized according to commercial guidelines. This sterilization process may be followed by additional thermal treatments to further enhance the green color. It is suggested that vegetables preserved in such a manner may be used as ingredients in secondary products. This process has several drawbacks, the most important ones being the lengthy processing time and the impracticality of having to open cans to obtain ingredients for secondary products such as soups. Neither visual color ratings nor instrumental results are provided to support the claim of regreened vegetable color. In addition, no mention is made of a comparison of the regreened color to that of the fresh vegetable.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,727 is characterized by a lengthy and complex process. Two different methods are presented. In the first one, vegetables are subjected to an extended pre-blanch hold of up to 60 minutes duration, then packed into cans with zinc or copper solution, and sterilized. The second method consists of an elevated temperature hold of the vegetables in water, followed by a blanch in zinc or copper ion solution, and subsequent packing and sterilizing of the vegetables in cans. In order to increase efficiency of the zinc blanch, acidification to pH 5 and the use of deionized water are advised, yet two more hurdles to the simplification that is desirable in a commercial processing operation.
In contrast, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,591 provides a simplified method having reduced processing time for the preservation of green color in vegetables. Examples are directed to treatments of green beans, green peas, and spinach, which are separately blanched in a zinc or copper ion solution for 5 to 6 minutes, after which they are packed into cans and sterilized. Blanch water metal ion concentrations of 50 to 500 ppm are employed in this method. Although the described method appears to be much more practical than any of the others above, even 5 minute blanch times exceed those practiced in today's commercial vegetable blanching operations.
A color preservation blanch method that is to be used economically at a modern vegetable producer must accommodate large production volumes, without introducing unnecessary delay. Preferably, the method is accommodated within the extremely short blanch times in continuous blanching equipment. For instance, broccoli blanch times at a commercial facility typically range from 65 to 105 seconds, while green bean and green pepper blanch times vary between 1.5 and 2.5 minutes.
The second most noticeable effect of temperature is that it changes texture. This change typically softening, is, to a certain extent, desirable, since cooked vegetables are easier consumed and digested than raw vegetables. However, the degree of softening that is achieved through commercial sterilization processes exceeds most consumer's sensory preference.
Fresh vegetables owe their crispness largely to complex pectin molecules in the cell walls. Stanley et al. (1995) describe that the heating of vegetables causes cell separation due to thermal destablilization of pectic materials. The complex pectins are broken into subunits, a process that is concurrent with structure loss. As for the above described color change, this texture change is preventable. The endogenous pectin methyl esterase (PME) has the potential of cross-linking the pectin subunits with calcium ions, which are present in the vegetable tissue and can also be added via the blanch solution. Thus, calcium ion "bridges" between the subunits form complex pectin polymers, yielding a product of increased firmness.
Two prior art processes for texture improvement of vegetables to be frozen use the above described firmness enhancing potential of pectin methyl esterase. U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,439 describes a process of three consecutive blanch steps: First, a 1 to 30 second steam blanch at 90 to 100.degree. C.; second, a 1 to 60 minute water blanch at 45 to 90.degree. C.; and optionally a third step consisting of a 30 second to 5 minute blanch between 80 to 100.degree. C. Vegetables treated in such manner were frozen and later compared to conventionally blanched and frozen control vegetables. After cooking vegetables from both treatments, the vegetables blanched in the three-step process had improved texture over the texture of the conventionally treated vegetables.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,712 describes a two step procedure for the texture improvement of vegetables that are frozen and later canned. Here the steps consist of (1), a 2 to 60 minute low temperature blanch at 125 to 155.degree. F. for pectin methyl esterase activation, and (2), a 2 to 10 minute blanch at 190 to 210.degree. F. for enzyme deactivation. The observed firming effect is said to be accentuated through the addition of calcium salt and/or acid to the blanch water of the first step. This process is limited to the use of fresh vegetables that are to be frozen and later canned.
None of the prior art processes for the purpose of green color retention describe any effects on texture. It is believed that the low zinc ion concentrations used in the prior art processes do not provide texture-enhancing effects.

High-concentration-short-time zinc blanch for color and texture improvement of thermally processed green vegetables


A receiver receives frequency division multiplexing transmission signals of multiple carriers, and includes a difference detection unit, an integration unit, a noise detection unit, a selection unit, and a correction unit. The difference detection unit calculates a difference that is representative of the amount of noise in the frequency division multiplexing transmission signals. The integration unit integrates for each frequency of the multiple carriers the difference output of the difference detection unit. The noise detection unit determines whether or not impulse noise is present in the input signal. When impulse noise is present, the selection unit supplies the integrator output to the correction unit. When impulse noise is not present, the selection unit supplies the calculated difference output to the correction unit.

In digital transmission systems, error correction plays an important role as a countermeasure for variations in time, frequency, and deterioration of the reception environment. Furthermore, error corrections are applied as countermeasures for multipath interference, interference waves, etc.
In multi-carrier transmissions, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), time/frequency transforms of fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) are carried out on a series of data to provide a guard interval, and then transmission is carried out. The series of data that includes the guard interval and the data portion is referred to herein as a frame.
Incidentally, when interference with a high dependency on frequency is present, such as interference for digital television broadcasting signals, e.g., analog television broadcasting signals, it has been found that it is effective to correct it by detecting the frequency carriers of the interference in the frequency domain, and removing the detected interference frequency carriers (this is known as erasure correction).
For example, in order to increase the reliability of the detection methods of interference, detection of the frequency carriers of the interference is performed, by carrying out an integration process or the like, and accumulating the interference components across several frames, and determining whether the interference has exceeded a preset level.
Unfortunately, in situations where the reception state fluctuates by large amounts in time as a result of impulse noise, for example, in the above mentioned integration process, it is difficult to adapt to the large instantaneous changes in the reception level (e.g., to detect the change and to implement proper corrections).


The present invention concerns a polycyanurate foam with a structural element A and either terminal amino groups and/or at least one of the following structural elements B, C, or D:

The invention concerns the preparation of novel structured foams on the basis of polycyanurate resin. The foams are characterized by an especially minimal specific weight, high flame retardation and excellent mechanical properties. They are therefore suitable materials for lightweight construction applications in transportation technology, in particular in aviation. The method is based on coupling of the curing process with chemical generation of the foaming agent required for foaming for which purpose in the present invention carbon dioxide is utilized.
The demand in regard to permanent weight reduction, thermal insulation and sound damping as well as increased safety requirements in the transportation sector can be met by increased utilization of high quality structured foams. In addition to excellent mechanical properties, these structural components must also be highly fire-resistant. The requirements imposed in civil aviation (interior furnishings) with respect to fire behavior include minimal flammability, reduced heat release rate, low smoke density as well as minimal toxicity of the gases generated in a fire.
Analog requirements are imposed in the construction of rail vehicles.
Polyurethanes are reactive resin foam materials having the broadest application spectrum because of their excellent price/performance ratio, variability, and excellent processing properties. However, for advanced structural applications in the transportation sector, the inherent fire-relevant properties of the polyurethane hard foams do not suffice. Foams on the basis of high-temperature thermoplastic materials such as PEEK and PEI are only used in niche applications—also because of their high costs—and can be produced only as blocks or as extruded sheets.
Phenolic resin foams are used in mining for stabilizing cavities in rock because of the possibility of foaming multi-dimensional structures in a simple way and because of the excellent inherent flame retardation. As a result of the small closed cell structure, phenolic resin foams belong to foams with the least thermal conductivity and exhibit therefore also excellent thermal insulation properties. Phenolic resin foams are however brittle hard foams that are prone to sand and to form cracks and therefore are not mechanically loadable to a sufficient degree for use in structural applications.
As has been demonstrated many times, cyanate resins have a set of excellent properties combining high inherent flame retardation with excellent thermal and mechanical properties. Polymers of polyfunctional cyanic acid esters of the general formula R(OCN)n are increasingly used in various applications in particular as laminate resins and adhesives in high-tech areas. They are characterized in particular by a high glass transition temperatures, high decomposition temperatures, low flammability already without addition of flame-retardant additives, high ductility in comparison to other high Tg duromers, low dielectric losses, excellent adhesion to various substrate materials, high chemical resistance, and minimum corrosion potential. Also, they are a material that can be recycled. Therefore, cyanate resins are promising base materials for a variety of applications.
The curing reaction of polycyanates (polycyclotrimerization to polycyanurates) happens relatively slowly for very pure monomers. Contaminants from the monomer synthesis, for example, residual phenols or traces of water, catalyze the curing reaction that is exothermic and therefore easily runs out of control. In order to avoid this, cyanate starting compounds are employed that are as pure as possible and the curing reaction is started in targeted way by addition of suitable catalyst. For this purpose, in particular metal acetyl acetonate, zinc salts, different organometallic compounds as well as phenols and compounds with NH groups such as primary and secondary amines are used. The latter react smoothly with cyanates, as has been known since the 1960s and disclosed, for example, in U.S. 2003/0176616 A1 and the counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,067 B1. They act therefore not only as catalysts but also as reaction partners for the cyanates. With more than 10 mole % of the amine compound, relative to the cyanate groups, resins are obtained that in addition to the triazine group (A) also contain the following structural elements B, C, and/or D.

It is desirable to provide also foamed polycyanurates in the form of structural foams because they can fulfill the highest FST requirements (FST=flame, smoke, toxicity). A further advantage is that the ductility of the resin matrix in wide ranges can be tailored to the requirements of the application, respectively. Furthermore, on the basis of cyanate resins foams with excellent thermal insulation properties should be producible because the adjustable processing viscosities are similar to those of phenolic resins and therefore similar cell structures should thus result. Also, cyanate resins, as a result of the chemical mechanism, can be foamed in an environmentally friendly way and they can be recycled at the end of their service life with already known and patented methods.
In the literature there are a few proposals for producing cyanate foams. For example, in EP 0457692 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,319 methods are disclosed that are based on foaming mixtures of cyanate resin precursors (e.g. 2,2-bis-(4-cyanatophenyl)methane) and a thermoplastic material such as a polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyimide, or polyacrylate or the like. Foaming is achieved primarily by a chemical foaming agent (for example, azodicarbonamide). This method is however extremely difficult to handle: the decomposition of this agent with formation of gas is generally exothermic as is the cyanate polymerization; therefore, the latter is hardly controllable. Moreover, the curing temperatures are very high. Optionally, physical foaming agents (e.g. methyl isobutyl ketone) are recommended. Of course, they are unacceptable with regard to environmental concerns and with regard to possible auto ignition. Films of the starting materials are foamed at high temperatures (>200° C.). The materials are also suitable for filling honeycombs (U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,594). The examples of application indicate that the method is suitable only for high contents of thermoplastic material.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,808 cyanurate prepolymers are loaded at high pressure with CO2. The decompression then leads to foaming. The decompression process is carried out again at high temperatures (170-180° C.). Moreover, only relatively dense foams are obtained (ρ≈1.2 g/cm3).

Cyanate-based, carbon-dioxide-filled structured foams and method for their production

Abstract: wherein the foam has closed pores that contain carbon dioxide. This foam can be produced in that a substance is worked into the starting material for the polycyanurate that releases water or alcohol approximately at the start of polymerization either spontaneously or thermally or catalytically induced. The water/alcohol reacts with free cyanate groups under cleavage of CO2. The resulting amino groups can react further in the polymerization.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


This method groups multiple merchandises (products/services) and multiple traders (buyer/sellers/carriers) that share similar properties with a Merchandise Group ID (MGID) and a User Group ID (UGID), respectively. Each MGID and UGID represents one Merchandise Group and Trader Group, respectively. Different MGIDs and UGIDs represent different merchandise and trader groups. The method also utilize a multi-party matching mechanism to trade Merchandise Groups among Trader Groups by having grouped buyers/sellers/carriers place bid/ask/cAsk offers on both the merchandise and any shipping services required to fulfill the transaction. Based on offers received, the system calculates Gap Values in real-time to determine if deals can be closed. Like stock tickers, MGID enables grouped merchandise to be traded like stocks. UGID enables grouped traders to trade desired merchandise with acceptable counterparties through matching both MGIDs and UGIDs. Based on the grouping, matching and gap value calculating mechanism, this method changes “Instance Trading” into “Group Trading”.

The present invention is in the field of doing e-commerce. It groups users (buyers, sellers, shippers) to trade grouped merchandise (merchandise items or services) in the way of trading stocks. It facilitates a better interface between multiple askers (sellers) and multiple bidders (buyers). More specifically, instead of being a pure "auction" platform or a "reverse auction" platform, the model will create a true merchandise "trading" platform. The system makes merchandise market operating like the stock market. It groups its users as well as merchandise and identify each group with a group ID (GID). In addition, the model will provide the shipping service carriers with a larger stage to level in the final merchandise transactions by competing shipping fees with each other in an auction-like manner. All the above mentioned features are integrated thus it make the new trading platform more versatile and flexible than any other prior arts.
The prior arts (the dominant ways of trading merchandise online) are either an "auction" model such as eBay.com, uBid.com and Amazon.com, or a "reverse auction" model such as Priceline.com. All of the above mentioned models failed to provide means to establish efficient communication channels between multiple askers and multiple bidders. Neither can those prior arts fully integrate shipping into their system. They are confronted with at least one or even several of following problems:                1) Only asker (seller) can list an item, buyer can't list if there is no seller for that item;        2) Each single piece of identical products (or services) is repeatedly listed without grouping, resulting in identical (or essentially identical) items listed repeatedly by different users or even by the same user. Users are overwhelmed with pages of repetitive useless information;        3) Users are lack of the freedom of withdrawing (cancel) their offers even though they have changed their mind before the deal is closed and a contract is bound;        4) Non-payment fraud that bother the sellers a lot;        5) Asymmetric information. It is difficult for individual users, especially those inexperienced occasional users, to find the true value of merchandise. They may end up with mis-evaluating the current market price for the listed items. As a result, unless he spends lots of time doing research, inexperienced user may face the risk of buying something overpriced or sell something undervalued;        6) Users have to jump back and forth among pages to calculate additional expenses such as a shipping and handling (S/H fee), insurance fees, commission fees and tax fees. Furthermore, they may still miss some hidden charges due to the fact that the prior arts do not provide users with the "Total Final" cost (for buyer) or profit (for seller). Users may end up with engaging in a disadvantaged trade based on the above said incomplete information;        7) Carriers (shipping service providers) do not play a strong and active role in the trading system (game) as they should. They exist rather as passive and supportive players. In fact, change in prices of shipping services would have great effect on merchandise trading. In fact, the shippers are not offered the opportunity to bid on shipping arrangements. The prior arts fail to provide the shipping carriers with the platform that the current invention will offer;        8) All prior arts are static. They do not use the full extent of today's computer power and database technology. As a result, they fail to provide an efficient dynamic trading platform that can reflect the market in real time.        9) Users' contact information is not hidden to their counterparties, so they might contact and make deals outside of the server thus make service provider sites lose their income.        10) Sellers can cheat in many ways. He can cheat on price by bidding his own items. He can also cheat on his rating by selling item to himself while without shipping out, after which he can leave himself positive rating and feedback.
To address all of these shortcomings of those prior arts, the present invention disclosed herein has the following objectives and advantages:

Method and system for grouping merchandise, services and users and for trading merchandise and services