Despite the fact that tap water having been filtered, settled, sterilized etc. and meeting the government standards for drinking water, the tap water in daily use is inevitably going through second contamination when it is carried in the pipeline due to the rust on the pipeline or external infiltration, which may bring excessive bacteria, viruses, residual chlorine, organic materials, heavy metal, radioactive substances and other various hazardous substances to the tap water. A water purification device is therefore a device that could filter out all these undesirable substances.
Since access to hygienic drinking water has drawn public attention in recent years, water purification device is widely used in daily life. Various water purification devices purify water depending on filter cartridges; therefore a filter cartridge is the core of water purification devices. There is a need for replacement of the filter cartridge on a regular basis to keep better purifying effect. A high demand for water purification devices keeps increasing in the current market, however a large amount of counterfeiting filter cartridges arise. If the material quality of filter cartridges cannot be guaranteed, the purifying effect will be in adverse as opposed to using an original filter cartridge. The use of such counterfeiting filter cartridge cannot bring desirable purifying effect or meet standards for drinking water; instead, the operational life span of such counterfeiting filter cartridge is short, use of which is adverse to the health of consumers and the reputation of manufacturers.


The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for measuring haze and transmissivity in transparencies, and more particularly to a device and method for measuring haze and transmissivity of aircraft transparencies as viewed through night vision goggles.
Night vision goggles (NVGs) are being used by aircrew members with increasing frequency during nighttime flight and ground operations. Concurrently, aircraft transparencies are constantly undergoing improvements in materials such as acrylic to polycarbonate and their surfaces are being treated with gold, indium-tin-oxide or other coatings. Ground vehicles are being equipped with bullet-resistant glass which may be fabricated using a combination of specially treated plastic and glass materials. These material changes may attenuate the infrared (IR) energy utilized by NVGs thereby degrading the visual acuity of the aircrew member. Aircrew members have informally reported lowered visual performance while using NVGs in some aircraft equipped with coated canopy systems. Traditional transmissivity and haze measurements made in the visible spectral region (400-700 nm) cannot characterize the entire problem. Preliminary laboratory measurements of sample coated canopies found that IR transmissivities of windscreen coatings varied considerably among manufacturers thereby affecting observer performance (see, Pinkus et al, "The Effects of Aircraft Transparencies on Night Vision Goggle-Mediated Visual Acuity," SAFE Symposium Proceedings (1997) pp 93-104). However, NVG-mediated visual performance through canopies is not solely affected by IR attenuation, but also by haze resulting from scatter of incident light.
The invention solves or substantially reduces in critical importance problems in the prior art by providing a portable device and method for measuring transmissivity and haze of aircraft transparencies as viewed through NVGs. The invention includes a pair of light sources for projecting a transmitted beam and a haze producing beam onto a transparency and sensor portion including a light intensifier tube of an NVG and photometer for measuring the luminance output thereof in order to quantify the NVG weighted attenuation (transmissivity) and haze (light scatter) characteristics of the transparency.
The invention finds utility for measuring the IR transmissivity and IR haze characteristics of transparencies important in selection of coating materials (gold, indium-tin-oxide) for use with NVGs, quality control of the coatings within and among transparency manufacturers, quick-response field evaluations of transparency and NVG integration issues, life-cycle costs of coatings, monitoring deleterious environmental effects (acid rain, sand abrasion, bio-chemical) on coating integrity, maintenance procedures, and visual performance of an NVG-equipped aircrew member.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide system and method for measuring transmissivity and haze in a transparency.
It is a further object of the invention to provide system and method for measuring infrared transmissivity and haze in a transparency as viewed using night vision goggles.
It is another object of the invention to provide system and method for measuring the effect of using night vision goggles on the observed infrared transmissivity and haze in a transparency.
It is another object of the invention to provide a device and method for field evaluation of transparencies.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for measuring transmissivity and haze in aircraft transparencies.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a reliable portable transmissivity and haze measurement device.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as a detailed description of representative embodiments proceeds.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to medical patient weighing, and, more particularly, to a portable device, system and method for weighing ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients.
2. Description of the Background
It is known that persons confined to a wheelchair often need to be weighed as part of a medical check up or follow-up. For many of these individuals, stepping off a wheelchair and onto a weight scale is difficult, or impossible, to accomplish. Consequently, weighing both the wheelchair and the patient, and subtracting the weight of the wheel chair, is a practical method of weighing. This practice has become commonplace. Such a simple procedure may, in fact, be quite involved, because the weighing device must accommodate the wheelchair, which generally requires ramps and a platform scale, for example. As such, wheelchair users ordinarily are weighed at a physician's office, hospital, nursing home, clinic, or the like, using a platform scale, which weighing, due to the inconvenience of the need to travel, may occur once a month or less. Such infrequent weighing renders weight control programs quite difficult to maintain. In addition to those using wheelchairs, often those requiring crutches or walkers must be seated in wheelchairs for weighing due to the difficulty in maintaining balance on an ordinary scale while utilizing crutches or a walker.
Due to the size of platform scales, platform scales are generally found principally in clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, or rehabilitation centers with a significant number of mobility-disabled patients. Consequently, physicians rarely have office platform scales, not only because such scales occupy a disproportionate amount of floor space in relation to usage, but also because, even with foldable ramps, such scales occupy valuable storage space. Although physician's weighing chairs may be available with built-in scales, those confined to wheelchairs may find it inconvenient or dangerous to be transferred between chairs for a procedure as routine as weighing.
In response to the deficiencies inherent in available weighing systems for the mobility disabled, portable weighing devices including two laterally displaced, electrically connected and rigidly aligned weighing modules have been developed. An example of one such system is documented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,225. The weighing device taught therein is designed for the conventional manually-operated wheelchair supported by two front caster wheels and two rear main wheels. A notable feature of the above-referenced device is the rigidly adjustable scissors-like adjustment between the two weighing pads. The rigidly adjustable pads must be pre-extended to the correct width of the wheelchair before use. A continuously variable width adjustment would be attractive because it permits easy last-minute adjustment of the weighing pads by an operator.
Additionally, it would be advantageous if a weighing scale could be utilized by both non-ambulatory and ambulatory patients, wherein ambulatory patients could step on the scales and be weighed without the use of the wheelchair, and wherein non-ambulatory patients may be pushed onto the same scale in a wheelchair. Thus, dual purpose weighing pads could be used for both purposes, and a smaller platform scale in a doctor's office setting would not be needed.
Therefore, a need exists for a portable, fully adjustable wheelchair scale that can additionally serve as a substitute for a platform scale.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to intravascular implants for maintaining vascular patency in human blood vessels. More particularly, this invention relates to a radially expandable stent made from a fine wire formed into a serpentine ribbon wound into a cylindrical shape for introduction into a body vessel for balloon expansion therein in a radial fashion to support the wall of the vessel when in the expanded configuration. The stent includes an impermeable membrane that lies in the plane of the cylinder. This invention is particularly useful in transluminal implantation of a stent for use in the coronary angioplasty to prevent restenosis, and for the treatment of aneurysms or subintimal dissections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The basic concept of stents has been known for a number of years. Various types of stents have been proposed and patented, including self-expanding spring types, compressed spring types, mechanically actuated expandable devices, heat actuated expandable devices, and the like. More recently, expandable sleeves have been proposed such as shown in Palmaz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,665. In this disclosure there is shown a sleeve having slots therethrough to form a permeable mesh. The sleeve is placed transluminally, and then expanded by a balloon catheter through the elastic limit of the metal so as to permanently deform the sleeve into supporting contact with the interior surface of a blood vessel. Other examples of expandable wire stents are shown in Hillstead, U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,516, and Wiktor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,483 (referred to hereinafter as the '483 Patent) I disclose the use of a fine platinum wire bent into a serpentine flat ribbon which is wound around a mandrel into a radially expandable cylindrical sleeve for mounting on a balloon catheter for transluminal intravascular placement. The expanded sleeve as disposed in a vessel possesses gaps or interstices which are believed to protect the vascular endothelium from contact therewith, and to promote endothelial proliferation and remodeling of the vascular intima about the sleeve. However in many cases the trauma of implantation causes microscopic or even macroscopic intimal tears, and exposes the subintimal space to the bloodstream. This is undesirable as further dissection of the vessel is possible. Furthermore tissue reactions, including thrombus formation, intimal fibroplasia, and cicatrization could result in restenosis of the vessel.
Permeable transluminally placed intravascular stents are suboptimum for the treatment of aneurysms. While the structure of the expanded mesh may reduce the pulsatile forces acting against a weakened arterial wall, this effect is doubtless incomplete. The art has long utilized grossly impermeable continuous structures such as Teflon grafts and implants for aneurysm repair in larger vessels by conventional open surgical techniques.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system, especially to a method for transmitting SRS in an LTE communication system and an apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partner Project) standardization organization is working out a next generation of wireless communication standard which is named LTE (Long Term Evolution). In a physical layer interface, the new standard adopts OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology, which is different from conventional CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology. OFDMA is used in downlink and SCFDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) is used in uplink. The technology used in the new standard is effective to resist multi-path propagation, with the adoption of frequency domain equalization reducing complexity of the conventional time domain equalization, and is more suitable to bandwidth high-speed data transmission.
From a point of view of air-interface, the LTE standard techniques can be divided into two categories: a TDD (Time Division Duplex) system and an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) system. The LTE system supports variable bandwidths. And typical bandwidths include 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz, which can meet demands of different scenarios.
FIG. 1 illustrates a physical layer frame structure for a LTE FDD system in which a length of radio frame (101) is 10 ms, consisting of ten equally sized radio sub-frames (102) of 1 ms length. Each radio sub-frame consists of two equally sized timeslots (103) of 0.5 ms length.
FIG. 2 illustrates a PHY layer frame structure for LTE TDD system. As shown in FIG. 2, a length of radio frame (201) is 10 ms, consisting of ten equally sized radio sub-frames (204) of length 1 ms. Each five continuous radio sub-frames consists a half-frame (202) of length 5 ms. Different from the LTE-FDD system, a second (211) and seventh (212) radio sub-frame in LTE-TDD radio frame are two special sub-frames. A length of the special sub-frame is 1 ms, consisting of three special slots, indicating DwPTS (205 or 208), GP (206 or 209) and UpPTS (207 or 210) respectively. The lengths of the three special slots are variable and are defined by system, and the total length is 1 ms. The length of UpPTS can be 0, 1 or 2 SCFDMA symbols. If the length of UpPTS is 2, UpPTS is used to transmit the uplink Short RACH or Uplink SRS signal or both the Short RACH and SRS signal. If the length of UpPTS is 1, UpPTS is used to transmit the uplink SRS signal. The other eight sub-frames except the special two are respectively consist of two slots (203) of length 0.5 ms.
In the LTE system, according to network scheduling, UE (User Equipment) sends an SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) to eNodeB (evolved NodeB). The SRS signal is used to: according to an analysis result of the SRS signal, eNodeB estimates a quality of channel which is used for transmitting SRS from UE to eNodeB and scheduling data according to frequency selective characteristics; eNodeB performs timing tracking for UE by analyzing the SRS signal and performs a close-loop power control. According to a current standardizing process, main conclusions for SRS transmission in LTE FDD system include: eNodeB broadcasts the SRS in a designated cell as needed and SRS is transmitted in some sub-frame in a designated cell periodically. A period is selected from {2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320} ms. After the UE receives the SRS in the designated cell, the ODFM symbol resource occupied by the SRS is not used when transmitting uplink data. In order to perform the transmission of SRS, UE should receive a user-designated SRS signal transmitted from the network. The signal informs the user of the OFDM symbol resource used to transmit SRS. Currently, there is no description for transmitting the SRS of designated UE in a PHY layer specification which is accomplished in LTE.
Nowadays, a basic idea in the standard for the user-designated SRS signaling is that the signaling includes three parts: Duration, Period and Offset in which, the duration can use 1 bit to indicate that just one snapshot or infinite. The period value is selected from {2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320} ms. In LTE FDD, the offset is a time between twice transmission time of each OFDM symbol of SRS from the beginning of the SRS period, and the basic unit is 1 ms. In LTE TDD, definition of offset is different from that in LTE FDD. Since in LTE TDD, SRS can be transmitted in UpPTS or the other uplink sub-frame, the uplink sub-frame may be discontinuous and UpPTS occupy two OFDM symbols at most, the offset is defined as an interval between an OFDM symbol position used to transmit SRS and an OFDM symbol position used to transmit SRS until the period of SRS transmission starts. For example, if the SRS symbol position at the period beginning is defined as 0, a symbol position used to transmit SRS is 3 means that the interval between the two symbols is 3, there is at most 2 OFDM symbol positions can be used to transmit SRS.
The manner of transmitting SRS in LTE TDD is mainly the same as that in LTE FDD. However the system structure of LTE TDD is different from of that in LTE FDD. Difference is that in LTE TDD, a half-frame of length 5 ms has both uplink sub-frame and downlink sub-frame, a number of uplink sub-frames and downlink sub-frames is configured by the network. In some configuration, a half-frame of length 5 ms at least has one uplink sub-frame (exclude UpPTS). According to a principle that only one SRS is transmitted in one uplink sub-frame, there is only one SRS transmission in every 5 ms, and the system can't achieve the SRS transmission with a 2 ms period. Therefore, the performance of SRS transmission by UE is deteriorated in a fast Time-varying channel.
Based on the difference between the LTE TDD and LTE FDD, the current configuration of the 2 ms transmission period for SRS in the LTE FDD cannot be used in the LTE TDD system.


The wavelength of light for lithography has been reduced into the deep ultraviolet (DUV) range to produce the feature size necessary for current and future electronics devices. The electronics industry is developing new resists that are tailored to the DUV range. One such resist class is chemically amplified resists.
The main components of chemically amplified resist formulations are a photoacid generator compound, a polymer resin and a solvent capable of dissolving the photogenerator and the resin. For many positive chemically amplified resists, the polymer resin contains acid labile groups which makes the polymer resin insoluble in an aqueous developer. Upon irradiation, the photoacid generator compound produces an acid which cleaves the acid labile groups resulting in a polymer resin that is aqueous soluble. Chemically amplified resists have generated a great deal of interest and there are numerous patents available discussing these compositions such as, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,069,997; 5,035,979; 5,670,299; 5,558,978; 5,468,589; and 5,389,494.
One group of polymers which can be used as resins in chemically amplified resists are acetal derivatized polymers. The alkali solubility of phenolic resins are greatly inhibited by converting the hydroxyl groups to acetal groups. Typically, acetal phenolic resins are produced by reacting a phenolic resin with a vinyl ether in the presence of an acid catalyst.
The acetal resins are then formulated with a photoacid generator compound and solvent to form a chemically amplified resist product. Upon irradiation, the generated acid cleaves the acetal groups, and a phenolic resin is created which is soluble in an aqueous developer.
One problem with producing acetal derivatized polymers is that currently there are only a very limited number of bulk vinyl ethers that can be used to produce the acetals. It is possible to generate other acetal functionalities by synthesizing intermediates, but this would require a series of reactions which makes the overall process for producing acetal polymers relatively complicated, expensive, and unlikely to be reproducible. Thus, the limited number of bulk vinyl ethers severely constrains the use of acetal polymers because only a small number of acetal groups can be readily and inexpensively generated.
It would be advantageous to be able to generate reproducibly and economically a large variety of acetal groups on polymers. Various resist properties such as alkaline solubility, etch resistance, film shrinkage, temperature stability, adhesion, sensitivity can be altered by choosing appropriate acetal functionalities. Furthermore, if more than one acetal group can be readily generated on the polymer, this would provide further ability to tailor the polymer resin to a specific application. For example, one acetal group may be used to increase the sensitivity, while another acetal group may be used to increase the etch resistance. The host of applications for acetal polymers can be greatly expanded if a large variety of acetal groups on the polymers can be produced readily.
The present inventors have developed a reproducible process for readily producing a wide variety of acetal derivatized polymers.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new, inexpensive, reproducible process for generating a large variety of acetal derivatized polymers that have applications as resins for photoresists.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a process for generating a large variety of acetal derivatized polymers based on mixed acetals. A still further object of this invention is to provide a variety of mixed acetals derivatized polymers that have applications as resins for photoresist. Yet another object of this invention is to provide new photoresist compositions containing mixed acetal derivatized polymers and the use of such new photoresist compositions in photolithography imaging processes to produce microelectronic devices. The present invention has many important advantages over the prior art. First, the present invention provides a new class of polymers based on mixed acetals. Desired properties of the polymer resin can be tailored by choosing among appropriate acetal functionalities. Also, the relative proportions of the different acetals in the polymer can be readily varied by changing the relative proportions of reagents in the feedstock. Changing the proportion of the mixed acetals can further tailor the properties of the polymer resin. In addition, the reproducibility of the mixed acetal polymers compositions are excellent. Reproducible polymer compositions are very important in order to produce commercially viable resist formulations because the properties of the resist must not change from batch to batch. Furthermore, the mixed acetal process is relatively inexpensive because intermediates needed for the reaction are commercially available and only one synthesis reaction is required to produce the final acetal polymer. Previously, a number of synthesis reactions would generally be required to produce the final single acetal polymer if the acetal group was not from one of the readily available vinyl ethers.
The present invention also provides many additional advantages which shall become apparent as described below.


This invention relates to engine and vehicle control through feedback of driving performance.
Automotive vehicles are ultimately controlled by a human operator that makes decisions about the vehicle including speed, direction, and operating parameters such as transmission gear, accessory operation, refueling, maintenance, and the like. While many operators develop a general feel for how a vehicle is performing, the vehicle generally provides little if any quantitative information to the driver indicating how efficiently the vehicle is operating.
An example of the need for vehicle efficiency feedback occurs with on-highway heavy trucks. Vehicle operators have direct or indirect control over a wide range of vehicle parameters including engine fuel, service (wheel) brakes, engine retarders such as engine brakes and Jake brakes, transmission retarders, transmission gear, idling time, use of engine driven accessories such as air conditioning, and the like. Each of these parameters affects the efficiency of operation and, hence, the cost of operation. Truck owner/operators and fleet owners are highly concerned with operational costs and are therefore in need of quantitative measures of vehicle operating efficiency.
One problem with previous measures of vehicle operating efficiency is a failure to provide meaningful cost-related information relevant to vehicle control. Measures, such as instantaneous miles per gallon of fuel consumed (MPG), tend to relay inaccurate cost indicators to a vehicle driver or automatic controller. For example, MPG decreases during vehicle acceleration and increases during vehicle braking. This often does not reflect optimum driving requirements. Acceleration adds energy to the vehicle and braking removes energy from the vehicle. Braking, in particular, should be avoided if possible to prevent loss of vehicle energy through heat.
It is an object of the present invention to provide quantitative measures of vehicle operating efficiency. These measures may be used for a variety of purposes including display to the vehicle operator, storage in memory for future analysis, and input to engine controllers.
In carrying out the objects and features of the present invention, a method is provided for controlling an automotive vehicle. At least one vehicle parameter is sampled. At least one measure of driving efficiency is determined based on the sampled vehicle parameter. An estimate of operating cost is found based on the at least one measure of driving efficiency.
In an embodiment of the present invention, at least one driving efficiency limit is set. An increase in the maximum allowed vehicle velocity is permitted if the measure of driving efficiency exceeds the driving efficiency limit.
In embodiments of the present invention, measures of driving efficiency may include measures of normalized cost, measures of shifting and idling cost, and measures of change in vehicle kinetic energy such as, for example, may be caused by vehicle braking.
A method for gauging vehicle efficiency is also provided by the present invention. Vehicle velocity is repetitively sampled. If the sampled vehicle velocity is less than a previously sampled vehicle velocity and if braking is applied, the sampled braking velocity cost is determined based on the difference between the square of the sampled vehicle velocity and the square of the previously sampled vehicle velocity. A measure of driving efficiency is then determined based on the sampled braking velocity cost. These measures may include instantaneous braking velocity cost per mile and average braking velocity cost per mile.
In another method for gauging driving efficiency provided by the present invention, an engine revolution idle cost is determined. The engine speed is repetitively sampled. At least one sampled shifting and idling cost is determined as the product of a sampled engine speed and the engine revolution idle cost. A measure of driving efficiency is found based on the sampled shifting and idling cost. These measures may include instantaneous shifting and idling cost per mile and average shifting and idling cost per mile.
A driving efficiency gauge is also provided. A display presents at least one measure of driving efficiency to the vehicle operator. A memory holds a sequence of at least one measure of driving efficiency. Control logic in communication with the electronic control module controlling an internal combustion engine receives samples of at least one vehicle operating parameter from the electronic control module. The sequence of driving efficiency measures is determined based on the vehicle operating parameter samples. At least one of the efficiency measures is displayed and the sequence of efficiency measures is stored in the memory.
The above objects and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.


None
1. Background-Field of Invention
The novel invention is a sliding stabilizer that operates in tandem with a mining roof support machine and is particularly useful in longwall mining operations.
2. Background-Description of the Prior Art
As mineral mining becomes deeper, the threat of rock bursts becomes greater. This is a problem that has been common in deep hard rock and mineral mines for years. It will be an ever-increasing problem as mining at greater depths is required. Despite gains, this threat is not controlled. In deeper seams, consideration must be given to support, safety anti stability. Additional design is required. Currently three types of mining roof support machines are popular: frame, chock, and shield. All three have to a greater or lesser degree safety, stability and ventilation problems. Problems of particular consideration are: (1) the rock burst problem that exists from the unsupported roof created when a shearer passes a support machine; (2) the rock burst problem that exists as a roof covering of a support machine is lowered to advance; (3) lack of stability caused by oversize roof coverings in an attempt to create more ventilation; (4) mineral bursts from a mineral face; (5) instability in support machines caused by inclined seams; and (6) lack of work space in thin seams.
Rigid canopies have been designed in order to help with the above listed problems. They have not worked. (1) When the roof covering of the support machine is lowered, the rigid canopy also lowers., This creates a large unsupported roof and the potential for rock bursts. (2) The rigid canopy extends from the support machine and becomes unstable. Rock bursts can cause canopy rotation.
In three prior designs rigid canopies also have attached legs. These have not worked. (1) The legs interfere with the working space and ventilation. (2) The connections of the canopies break if the leg is not lowered with the roof covering of the support machine.
3. Objects and Advantages
Miners throughout the world are demanding safe working conditions. World energy demand continues to increase. Therefore, it is a general object and advantage of a sliding stabilizer to provide support, stability, safety, and efficiency in longwall mining operations.
In addition to the object and advantage above, it its the object and advantage of a sliding stabilizer:
(1) to provide ventilation and working space; PA1 (2) to provide support, stability and safety to enable mining of inclined seams; PA1 (3) to provide ventilation and working space to enable mining of thin seams; PA1 (4) to provide support, stability and safety to enable mining of deeper seams; and PA1 (5) to provide support, stability, safety, ventilation and working space in the working zone of the shearer in longwall mining operations. PA1 (1) to prevent rock bursts from the unsupported roof created as a shearer passes a support machine; PA1 (2) to prevent rock bursts from the unsupported roof created when the roof covering of a support machine is lowered to allow the support machine to advance; PA1 (3) to prevent mineral bursts from the mineral face; PA1 (4) to prevent canopy rotation from rock bursts; and PA1 (5) to prevent canopy breakage when the roof covering of the support machine is lowered.
In addition it is the object and advantage of a sliding stabilizer:


Atmospheric pollution is a societal problem which is receiving much attention. The major source of such pollution is the extensive use of fossil fuels, although industrial and chemical processes, such as the manufacture of nitric acid, also contribute. The principal pollutants are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and perhaps to a lesser extent hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides and other objectionable gases and vapors.
Although several nitrogen oxides are known which are relatively stable at ambient conditions, it is generally recognized that two of these, viz. nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2), are the principle contributors to smog and other undesirable environmental effects when they are discharged into the atmosphere. These effects will not be discussed further herein since they are well recognized and have led various government authorities to restrict industrial and automotive emissions in an attempt to limit the level of the oxides in the atmosphere. Nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, under appropriate conditions, are interconvertible according to the equation: EQU 2NO+O.sub.2 =2NO.sub.2.
For purposes of the present invention, NO.sub.x will be used herein to represent nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and mixtures thereof
Formation of nitrogen oxides from the elements occurs in the high temperature zones of combustion processes. The internal combustion engine, and coal or gas-fired furnaces, boilers and incinerators, all contribute to NO.sub.x emissions. In general, fuel-rich combustion mixtures produce exhaust gases with lower contents of NO.sub.x than do lean mixtures. Although the concentrations of NO.sub.x in the exhaust gases produced by combustion usually are low, the aggregate amounts discharged in industrial and/or highly populated areas is adequate to cause problems. Other industrial sources of pollution also exist. These are associated with the manufacture of nitric acid, with nitration of organic chemicals, and with other chemical operations, such as the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods by dissolution in nitric acid to recover uranyl nitrate followed by calcination to convert the nitrate to uranium oxide. In these instances the exhaust gas may contain relatively high levels of NO.sub.x, such as from 0.1% up to 2% to 3%.
The so-called "stable" nitrogen oxides have in common the somewhat peculiar property that although they are thermodynamically extremely unstable at room temperature with respect to decomposition into elemental oxygen and nitrogen, no simple, economical method has been described for inducing this decomposition. It has been discovered, however, that adding a reductant such as ammonia to the exhaust gas can, under appropriate reaction conditions, convert NO.sub.x to elemental nitrogen and steam at moderate temperatures in the range of 200.degree. 600.degree.600.degree. C.
Unlike the objectionable nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide is a combustible gas which is convertible to CO.sub.2 by burning. Also unlike the nitrogen oxides, for which relatively few effective conversion catalysts are known, the combustion of carbon monoxide is catalyzed by a fairly large number of catalysts among which are the platinum group metals and their alloys, gold, base metal oxides such as chromia and copper oxide, and certain rare earth oxides.
The technology for abatement of pollution by noxious gases began to be developed some years ago. The earliest methods for control of gaseous emissions included absorption, adsorption, condensation, chemical reaction and incineration. Some of these methods, such as absorption, require the disposal of recovered pollutants, which in itself may be a problem.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to developing catalytic technology for control of exhaust gas pollution. Such technology potentially offer the advantages of low cost and the possibility for converting the noxious gas to one or more innocuous substances such as carbon dioxide and water, which are free of disposal problems. In instances in which two or more substances such as NO.sub.x and CO are present in the exhaust, as is often the case with fossil fuel combustion, a single catalyst that is effective for converting more than one of the pollutants is highly desirable.
Certain zeolitic catalysts have been described as effective for control of pollution by one or more of NO.sub.x, CO, and hydrocarbons. The term "zeolite" or "zeolitic" as used herein refers to porous crystalline minerals or synthetic oxides, usually aluminosilicates, that have a rigid three dimensional framework structure, such as are described in "Zeolite Molecular Sieves" by Donald W. Breck, John Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y. (1974), relevant portions of which are incorporated herein by reference for background.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,554 to Lyon describes a non-catalyzed homogeneous gas phase reaction to remove NO.sub.x from combustion effluent by adding 0.4 to 10 moles (preferably 0.5 to 1.5 moles) of ammonia followed by heating to 1600.degree. C. to 2000.degree. C. The NO.sub.x content is lowered as a result of its being reduced to nitrogen by reaction with ammonia. The method is reported to work best if hydrocarbon is also added to the mixture. The extremely high temperature required for NO.sub.x abatement is a disadvantage of the method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,632 to Pence et al. discloses a process for reducing noxious nitrogen oxides from a fossil-fuel-fired power generation plant, or from other industrial plant off-gas stream, to elemental nitrogen and/or innocuous nitrogen oxides employing ammonia as reductant and, as catalyst, the hydrogen or sodium form of a zeolite having pore openings of about 3 to 10 Angstroms. The Pence et al. patent illustrates the so-called Selective Catalytic Reduction Process (hereinafter referred to as the "SCR Process") for removal of NO.sub.x from exhaust gas. While the SCR process usually operates at 200.degree.-600.degree. C., which is an advantage over the uncatalyzed conversion, an external reductant (ammonia) must be furnished which adds to the cost of the process, and control of the NH.sub.3 feed is required to avoid ammonia emissions.
During early commercial development of molecular sieves, it was found that copper, for example, could be introduced into the inner absorption regions of the crystalline zeolites by several different means, including simple ion-exchange with divalent copper ion, and impregnation with complexes such as copper acetylacetonate in which the metal is in the zero valence state. It was further found that copper, in the inner absorption regions of the zeolite, whether present as metal or cation, reacted readily with molecules that could enter the pores of the molecular sieve. U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,985 to Breck et al. is incorporated herein by reference for background purposes, and also for the description contained therein on methods for loading the molecular sieve with copper either by ion-exchange or by the use of complex decomposable compounds in which the metal is in the zero valence state.
The use of copper exchanged zeolites in the SCR reduction of NO.sub.x is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,088.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,328 to Sergeys et al. proposes to use as the catalyst for treating internal combustion engine exhaust gases a Cu.sup.++ exchanged zeolite such as Zeolite Y which has CuO loaded or held interstitially in its pore system. Since the copper ion is reported to play an important part in hydrocarbon conversion and copper oxide is reported to be an influential factor in carbon monoxide conversion, the activity of the catalyst is optimized for a particular exhaust gas by varying the proportion of zeolitic Cu.sup.++ cations and impregnated CuO.
In catalytic pollution control technology, the monetary cost is significant, and particularly so when the exhaust contains little or no economically recoverable values in terms of materials or heat. For this reason, it becomes very important to find catalysts that are relatively inexpensive, and that are not only effective for the desired conversion, but that also are adequately long lived in the process environment. As a general rule, a catalyst will deteriorate with time on stream for one or more reasons, such as loss of activity for conversion, for selectivity, or for both, until it becomes necessary to discard it. The term "aging", as used herein, will refer to such deterioration. One of the factors often responsible for excessive aging is exposure of the catalyst to steam at high temperature. Unfortunately, the burning of fossil fuels inherently forms a flue gas or exhaust gas that contains a significant content of steam as well as NO.sub.x and/or other pollutants such as CO and hydrocarbons. Catalytic removal of such pollutants necessarily include contact with steam.
It is an object of this invention to provide a steam-resistant zeolite copper catalyst for the catalytic decomposition of NO.sub.x. It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for preparing a steam-resistant zeolitic copper catalyst. These and other objects will become evident on reading this entire specification including the appended claims.
We now have found a surprising, simple way to make zeolitic copper catalysts that are highly resistant to aging in the presence of steam.


In recent years, various network-type image display systems have been developed with popularization of network technologies. For example, in a network-type projector system, images can be projected by transmitting image data to an arbitrary projector from another arbitrary device connected to a network, for example, from a terminal.
In the network-type image display system, the setup of network information and connecting operations of devices are complicated, which were difficult operations particularly for entry-level users. Accordingly, as a method of reducing difficulty of these operations, for example, a technique is disclosed (refer to JP-A-2005-184314), in which a wireless LAN card for the terminal is inserted into a slot of a wireless access point to thereby register a MAC address of the wireless LAN card in the access point information such as an SSID is written in the wireless LAN card, and the wireless LAN card is inserted into a slot of a terminal to thereby perform network setup between the access point and the terminal easily. As another example, a configuration is disclosed (refer to JP-2006-227791), in which a communication device having communication functions is attached to a data projector to thereby read setup of communication of the data projector, and the communication device is re-connected to a computer to enable transmission of images from the computer to the data projector.
However, in the above techniques, devices having communication functions such as the wireless LAN card and the communication device are used, therefore, general versatility is low. Additionally, a problem that functions overlap when the computer itself has communication functions has been pointed out.


The present invention relates to composite plastic moldings having a solid, thin skin and a foamed backing layer and a process for their production. Such moldings are widely used in the manufacture of interior parts for motor vehicles, such as instrument panels, center consoles, arm rests or door inner panels.
In the production of such composite plastic moldings, the solid skin is generally produced in a known manner from a thermoplast in a first step. This step is carried out in a suitable mold, for example by deep drawing of an ABS film or by slush molding from a PVC plasticizer plastisol or a PVC powder containing polymeric plasticizers. A PVC skin is often preferred to an ABS skin by virtue of its more pleasant feel.
In a second step, the solid skin produced in the first step is back-foamed with a suitable plastic either in the same mold (deep drawing) or after transfer to a second mold (slush molding). By virtue of their excellent foamability and the range of variation of the physical properties of the foam, polyurethane(urea) systems are generally used for this back-foaming step.
Under certain loads, however, composite plastic moldings of this type are affected by serious problems, particularly where the skin is based on PVC. The PVC contains stabilizers and plasticizers which have a certain vapor pressure and, hence, can lead to the emission of unpleasant odors and to a permanent coating on the windows of the automobile from inside.
In addition, the effect of heat on the composite material (dashboards can become heated to surface temperatures of >100.degree. C., depending upon color and insulation) produces considerable interaction between the outer skin and the foam backing, which can lead to delamination, embrittlement of the outer skin and degradation of the backing foam.
Several attempts have been made to overcome this drawback. For example, special stabilizers for the PVC skin have been used. An intermediate layer between the skin and the backing foam to prevent the migration of plasticizers and additives (See EP No. 0,161,477) has also been employed.
However, these measures which seriously restrict the choice of additives and/or lead to additional cost generating process steps do not result in a significant improvement.
Consideration has been given to producing the solid skin and backing foam in a single step from a polyurethane system in the form of a so-called integral foam having a compact skin using the reaction injection molding process. In this case, however, reaction injection molding produces certain disadvantages, despite the saving of time. In such moldings, the skin and foam backing would have to be made of the same material. It would not be possible to make the skin, for example, from a light-stable, pigmented system and the foam backing from a simple, inexpensive system or to use systems having different mechanical properties for the skin and backing. In addition, it would be difficult to adjust the thickness of the skin as required within wide limits. The occasionally large and complicated undercuts of the moldings to be produced would also represent a certain problem in terms of mold design.
Another alternative for the production of a polyurethane skin is the in-mold coating process, in which the inside of the mold is first sprayed using a one-component or two-component spray or mixing head with enough material to form a layer a few tenths of a millimeter thick. However, considerable problems are created by the necessarily thin coating applied by a spray or mixing head. For example,the coating materials tend to run down vertical walls and mold undercuts are virtually impossible to achieve by this process.
The deep drawing of a polyurethane film is another method of forming a polyurethane skin. However, this process is subject to the same problems as the deep drawing of films of other materials. The deep-drawn skin has an irregular thickness (uneven stretching) and complicated mold geometries, such as undercuts are virtually impossible to achieve.
A polyurethane skin could also be formed by the slush molding of a polyurethane thermoplast powder. This process is known in the case of PVC powders. However, mold temperatures above 180.degree. C. would be necessary and the energy costs would be very high.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to removing slamming protection from a customer's account when the customer wants to change their preferred long distance provider.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
2. Acronyms
Ameritech Service Order Negotiation (ASON)
Billing Telephone Number (BTN)
Carrier Identification Code (CIC)
Carrier Request (CR)
Customer Account Record Exchange (CARE)
Electronic 3-Way Call (E3WC)
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
File Transport Protocol (FTP)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)
Local Preferred Interexchange Carrier (LPIC)
Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS)
Preferred Interexchange Carrier (PIC)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Service Order Server Applications (SOSA)
Telephone Number (TN)
Third Party Verification (TPV)
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
Working Telephone Number (WTN)
3. Background and Material Information
In the past, if a potential customer consented to a change in their long distance carrier, then the long distance carrier would contact the customer's local telephone company to provision the change. Eventually, however, certain long distance companies began contacting local telephone companies and indicating that a potential customer had authorized a change in their long distance carrier, when in fact no such consent was granted by the customer. Ignorant of the falsehood, the customer's local telephone company would change the service as instructed by the carrier and the customer would receive service and incur charges from the newly provisioned long distance provider. This illegal practice eventually became known as slamming. In response to the advent of slamming, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a requirement that the new service provider must first obtain third party verification (TPV) before a customer is switched to a new long distance carrier. The TPV is recorded and performed by an entity distinct from the long distance carrier and serves to verify that the customer consents to the change.
Thus, when a long distance carrier makes a sale to a customer, a TPV is performed and a recording is made of the telephone conversation. Then, the long distance provider submits a request to change the customer's long distance provider. If the customer has slamming protection on their account, then the local telephone company may not provision the change in long distance providers and notifies the long distance provider accordingly.
As a result, the long distance carrier will typically contact the customer and request that the customer contact their local telephone company and indicate that slamming protection be removed from their account. Alternatively, a three-way call may be attempted between the customer, the long distance provider, and the local telephone company. Often, a customer cannot be reached or does not have time to contact their local phone company. This is especially true when attempting to schedule a three-way call. In any event, the resulting frustration may result in lost sales for the carrier.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to automate and streamline the process of removing slamming protection from a customer's account when the customer wants to change their preferred long distance provider.


Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its data and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, read only memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and resistance variable memory such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistive random access memory (RRAM), and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), among others.
Memory devices can be combined together to form a storage volume of a memory system such as a solid state drive (SSD). A solid state drive can include non-volatile memory (e.g., NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory), and/or can include volatile memory (e.g., DRAM and SRAM), among various other types of non-volatile and volatile memory.
An SSD can be used to replace hard disk drives as the main storage volume for a computer, as the solid state drive can have advantages over hard drives in terms of performance, size, weight, ruggedness, operating temperature range, and power consumption. For example, SSDs can have superior performance when compared to magnetic disk drives due to their lack of moving parts, which may avoid seek time, latency, and other electro-mechanical delays associated with magnetic disk drives.
Memory is also utilized as volatile and non-volatile data storage for a wide range of electronic applications. Non-volatile memory may be used in, for example, personal computers, portable memory sticks, digital cameras, cellular telephones, portable music players such as MP3 players, movie players, and other electronic devices. Memory cells can be arranged into arrays, with the arrays being used in memory devices.


This invention relates to exercise equipment and, in particular, a treadmill having functionalities in addition to an adjustable running surface.
Walking and running are two popular forms of exercise. They use substantially all muscles of the body and require very little mental concentration. Individuals who enjoy walking and running as forms of exercise also find that they are a therapeutic form of exercise as well. Therefore, treadmills have become popular because they may provide a programmable running surface with adjustable inclines and speeds in a very compact space indoors so that individuals may walk and/or run inside in a controlled environment during inclement weather. In addition, many runners prefer running on treadmills to running on pavement, which can be hard on their knees and other joints.
However, as the world becomes more hectic, it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to maintain an exercise schedule, indoors or outdoors. Demands in the workplace include not only high stress, but also prolonged office hours. Office workers spend more time sitting at their desks, often with poor posture, and developing long-term back issues and undesired weight-gain, while, at the same time finding less and less time to exercise. With all the other demands of life such as family, friends, chores and hobbies, exercise often falls lower on the priority list of office workers. When this occurs, office workers may skip exercise as a part of their daily routine and, as a result, their health is compromised.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,947 to Densmore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,839 to Corkum, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,516 to Disch, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,896 to Grunfeld et al. are some other attempts that have been made to incorporate exercise equipment with computers, work stations, or other activity stations. However, with such distractions as computers, work stations or other activity stations, safety is compromised and a user of such inventions may be prone to falling down and sustaining injuries.
Therefore, it would be desirable if the user could find a way to safely incorporate exercise into the workday, without sacrificing time that is already dedicated to the other demands of their lives.


There exists remote desktop software that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run on one system while being displayed on a separate client device. Often, this is done so that a human user may view and interact with the desktop of a remote computer. In this arrangement, the client device displays a remotely-presented, virtual, graphical window. It may access a single software application, such as a text editor, or computer game; or an entire computer “graphical desktop”, such as one sees when a common desktop computer has completely finished booting. Anything that the user accesses through the window displayed by the client device actually runs on the remote computer desktop or window manager. In contrast to both desktop applications as conventionally used and to conventional “Web applications”, in this “remote/virtual application window” (“remote window”) scenario the remote computer supplies almost all the “horsepower” for powering the software. The client uses rather generic logic to merely render the graphical user interface (along with any multi-media such as audio), take user input, take device input (such as geographical positioning coordinates, device orientation, or ambient lighting level), and relay all of it to the remote computer. The user may browse web content as usual, using hyperlinks, or any other standard navigational elements (generically termed “links”) inside these remote windows.
The same holds true for an automated user such as a search engine web crawler “bot” (also known as a “search engine web crawler”, or as a “web spider”, or as a “search bot”), in terms of browsing and interacting with this remote content. While rare, it is possible that a search bot would visit a computer desktop. More likely, however, software applications may be delivered in the same manner as a remote desktop, as described above, and those software applications may offer data, information, and content of interest to a search bot.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rolls to be used in copying machines or printers, and particularly to conductive rolls to be provided around a photoconductor drum.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a copying machine or a printer, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor drum is developed by toner (developer) fed from a developing roll. The toner image on the photoconductor drum is transferred to a transfer roll. The toner image is then transferred to a recording paper. Then, the recording paper is heated and pressed so that a picture image is formed on the recording paper. Such a roll as used in a copying machine or printer is generally has a structure in which an outer circumference of pipe-like core made of metal such as aluminum or iron is coated with rubber or resin material.
With reduction in hardness of such rolls, particularly, such conductive rolls including a charge roll, a developing roll, and a transfer roll which are used around a photoconductor drum, the roll is required to have high releasability to prevent the toner (developer) from adhering, for the purpose of ensuring nipping property between the roll and the photoconductor drum. Generally, each of the rolls such as conductive rolls adopts a structure to have a base material layer made of low hardness rubber material and provided on an outer circumference of a metal core, and a front surface layer made of resin material and provided on the base material layer.
As the rubber material constituting the base material layer of such a roll, low hardness rubber in which a softening agent such as oil is added to general-purpose rubber such as NBR or silicon rubber, or foamed rubber of polyurethane has been used. Especially silicon rubber has been used in view of stability in resistance value. As the resin material constituting the front surface layer, resin material have been used which is high in releasability, such as fluororesin, acrylate resin, urethane resin, or silicon resin.
The conductive rolls to be provided around a photoconductor drum are generally used with a difference in peripheral velocity between each conductive roller and the photoconductor drum due to the function of the conductive rollers. Especially, in the developing roller, taking the carrying quantity and developing property of toner into consideration, it is general to provide a peripheral velocity difference so that the peripheral velocity of the developing roll is about 1.1 times-1.5 times as large as the peripheral velocity of the photoconductor drum. Further, although it is general to particularly provide no peripheral velocity difference between the charge roll or the transfer roll and the photoconductor drum, there occurs actually a peripheral velocity difference in some degree due to variations in outer diameter of each roll per se.
Further, in the rolls other than the conductive rolls used around the photoconductor drum, for example, in the carrying rolls for carrying recording paper or in the fixing rolls, each roll is rotating in such a condition that a pair of rolls opposed to each other, that is, a roll in question and another roll which is a matter to be opposed to each other, are disposed to be in contact with each other. Accordingly, even if any peripheral velocity difference is not particularly provided between the rolls opposed to each other, it can be said that there exists, in fact, a certain amount of peripheral velocity difference between the thus opposed rolls.
If any peripheral velocity difference exists between a roll and a matter opposed to the roll, for example, in a case where a photoconductor drum is disposed as the matter opposed to the roll in question, it is apt to generate ripple-like deformation called wrinkles in the surface of the roll in question in the rotation driving. It is considered that such wrinkles are generated as follows. That is, as stated above, the roll is constituted by a base material layer of low hardness rubber material provided on the outer circumference of a metal core and a front surface layer of resin material provided on the base material layer. Accordingly, the soft base material layer is deformed by a peripheral velocity difference between the roll and a matter opposed to the roll in question, so that the deformation causes plastic deformation on the upper front surface layer.
As a method of preventing such ripple-like wrinkles from generating, it is considered that the front surface layer is made of a soft material, or the base material layer is made hard. However, when the front surface layer is made of a soft material, the lowering of the releasability is caused so that the function to be required originally cannot be satisfied. Further, the lowering of the releasability causes a disadvantage called filming due to adhesion of toner in the case where the roll in question is a developing roll. If the base material layer is made hard, on the contrary, it becomes difficult to ensure a sufficient nip width between the roll and an opposed matter such as a photoconductor drum. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a countermeasure to heighten the accuracy of size of the roll in question per se so that a predetermined nip width can be obtained stably.
Further, in a case of a transfer roll which requires a certain nip width, generally, the roll in question could not help taking a soft roll structure at the sacrifice of the releasability. In addition to the problem of generation of ripple-like wrinkles, it is the existing condition that the mechanism has to be complex because a cleaning member is required to be provided to remove surplus toner adhering onto the roll surface.
An object of the present invention is to provide a roll which can secure necessary nip properties and releasability, and at the same time, the roll in question does not generate ripple-like wrinkles in the front surface layer even if there exists a peripheral velocity difference between the roll in question and any other opposed matter such as a photoconductor drum.
In order to achieve the object, according to the invention, there is provided a roll including: a base material layer made of low hardness rubber material and provided on an outer circumference of a metal core; and a front surface layer made of resin material and provided on the base material layer; wherein a stress relaxation layer is provided between the base material layer and the front surface layer, the stress relaxation layer being made of material which is at least higher in hardness than the base material layer and larger in stretch than the front surface layer.
In the roll of the invention, specifically, the base material layer is made of rubber material with low hardness not higher than 25 degrees in JIS-A hardness, the front surface layer is made of resin material not larger than 30% in stretch, and the stress relaxation layer is made of material having stress not lower than 5 MPa at 10% stretch.
In the roll of the invention, the stress relaxation layer is made of rubber material added with at least one kind of self-crosslinking resin such as blocked type self-crosslinking isocyanate resin, blocked type self-crosslinking epoxy resin, and blocked type self-crosslinking phenolic resin. The loading of the self-crosslinking resin to the rubber material is 20-150 parts by weight relative to 100 parts by weight of the rubber material.
In the roll according to the invention, the stress relaxation layer has a thickness in a range of from 5 to 50 xcexcm. In the roll according to the invention, preferably, the base material layer has a thickness not smaller than 3 mm, and the roll according to the invention is suitable as a conductive roll having roll hardness not higher than 60 degrees in Asker-C hardness at a load of 1 kg.


The present subject matter relates generally to systems and methods for defrosting eutectic plates of a refrigeration system.
Refrigeration plates for maintaining a low temperature in a storage area are well known. For example, trucks with refrigerated storage areas are commonly used for transporting frozen or perishable foods. In a typical storage area, a refrigeration unit comprises a plurality of metal plates. Each metal plate has a cavity filled with an amount of freezable fluid or eutectic solution and a conduit immersed in the eutectic solution. The conduit winds back and forth through the interior of the plate, with the two ends of the conduit communicating with the outside of the plate. An exemplary refrigeration plate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,037, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The ends of the conduit are connected in line with a refrigeration circuit including, among other things, a condenser, a compressor, and a volatile refrigerant that flows through the circuit. An exemplary refrigeration circuit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,144, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. A “freezing cycle” is implemented to freeze the eutectic solution during a period of non-use of the refrigerated storage area. Once the eutectic solution has frozen and the plates have reached a sufficiently low temperature, the freezing cycle is terminated and the storage area may be returned to use during an operating period. During the operating period, air is blown across the plates to cool the storage area while the truck is used to deliver the cargo to its destination.
Over the course of the operating period, frost may accumulate on the surface of the plates due to moisture in the air. Since frost acts as a thermal insulator, the presence of frost on the plates and between adjacent plates reduces their cooling efficiency, so the plates must be periodically defrosted.
There are several known methods for defrosting the plates. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,422 describes a method of applying water to the surfaces of the plates to remove frost. In another system, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,144, a defrost coil is positioned against the outer surfaces of the plates and hot gas is run therethrough to defrost the plates. U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,019 describes yet another system, which employs vertical scrapers that are moved across the outer surfaces of the plates to remove frost. All of these patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
All of these methods have certain disadvantages. For example, using water to defrost the plates requires an operator to connect a water hose to a water dispersal or spray system to begin the defrosting process by running relatively warm water over the frost. Then the water falling off of the plates has to be collected and disposed of. And finally the operator has to disconnect the hose when the defrosting process is completed.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a defrost system and method which are not only effective, but which also eliminate the need for human intervention for defrosting control.


Reactive Ion Etch (RIE) is used to form shapes on work pieces such as semiconductor wafers. In a typical RIE process, radio frequency (RF) or microwave power is used to excite a gas to form a plasma. The plasma facilitates etching the shapes into the work piece. A typical use of the RIE process is in etching very fine holes, typically minimum dimension sized holes, through a layer, e.g., an insulating layer, to an underlying layer, commonly referred to as "opening contacts" or "opening vias" through the layer. RIE is also used to open minimum width trenches through one or more work piece layers. Typically, these minimum dimension shapes are deeper than at least one of their surface dimensions and, therefore, have a high aspect ratio.
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a conventional diode RIE system 100, such as an MXP chamber of the AME 5X00 series, manufactured by Applied Materials Corp. The RIE system includes an etching chamber 2. A window 4 is formed in one portion of etching chamber 2 for viewing the RIE process from outside etching chamber 2. A slot 6 is formed in another portion of etching chamber 2 through which a work piece such as a semiconductor wafer may be inserted for etching. A pump 8 is connected to etching chamber 2 for creating a vacuum in etching chamber 2. Magnetic coils 10a, 10b, 12a, and 12b are disposed about the perimeter of etching chamber 2. Each magnetic coil is offset by about 90 degrees from the magnetic coils on either side. For example, magnetic coil 10a is offset by about 90 degrees from magnetic coils 12a and 12b, respectively. Magnetic coil 10a faces magnetic coil 10b across etching chamber 2 and, similarly, magnetic coil 12a faces magnetic coil 12b across etching chamber 2.
Magnetic coils 10a, 10b, 12a, and 12b are typically driven by an AC power source (not shown) providing sinusoidal functions. In particular, magnetic coils 10a and 10b are driven by a first sinusoidal function provided by the AC power source, and magnetic coils 12a and 12b are driven by a second sinusoidal function offset by approximately 90 degrees with respect to the first sinusoidal function. As such, at a first phase corresponding to a maximum of the first sinusoidal function, a magnetic field passes between magnetic coils 10a and 10b across etching chamber 2. Similarly, at a second phase corresponding to a maximum of the second sinusoidal function, a magnetic field passes between magnetic coils 12a and 12b. In this way, magnetic coils 10a, 10b, 12a, and 12b produce a magnetic field which rotates over time with respect to etching chamber 2. The magnetic field produced by magnetic coils 10a, 10b, 12a, and 12b typically rotates at a rate of about 0.2 Hertz (Hz).
FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the conventional diode RIE system 100 of FIG. 1A. Gas is injected into etching chamber 2 through shower head 24 and is pumped out of etching chamber 2 by pump 8. A semiconductor wafer 14 has been inserted through slot 6 (shown in FIG. 1A), dropped onto a work piece chuck 16, and clamped to a work piece chuck electrode 18 formed as a portion of work piece chuck 16. Work piece chuck electrode 18 is driven by a power supply 20. Power supply 20 creates a radio frequency (RF) field through work piece chuck electrode 18 which, in turn, produces a plasma 22. Plasma 22 may diffuse slightly along the sides of work piece chuck 18. A rotating electromagnetic field 26 is produced by magnetic coils 10a, 10b, 12a, and 12b, as described with reference to FIG. 1A. Specifically, FIG. 1B illustrates electromagnetic field 26 at a time corresponding to the first phase described above, such that rotating electromagnetic field 26 passes between magnetic coils 10a and 10b across etching chamber 2.
Because electron plasma 22 is generated by AC power source 20 through work piece chuck electrode 18, electron plasma 22 is capacitively driven. As such, the plasma efficiency of conventional diode RIE system 100 decreases as the density of plasma 22 increases. Therefore, for the conventional diode RIE system to operate efficiently, the density of plasma 22 is low. Such an RIE system 100 often results, however, in less-than-desirable etch rates, plasma non-uniformities, and ionic charging.
Effects from ionic charging, known to those skilled in the art as "aspect ratio charging effects," typically occur at the bottom of high aspect ratio structures, especially if some part of the structure is an insulator. These aspect ratio charging effects include oxide damage, device damage, threshold voltage shifts, polysilicon notching, and reduction of ion current at the bottom of trenches and at the bottom of vias that impede or even stop etching (known as RIE lag).
As line widths have decreased and aspect ratios of etch structures have increased, aspect ratio charging effects have become more problematic. These charging effects are due, at least in part, to the fact that, in the conventional RIE system, electrons diffuse out of the plasma due to high thermal energy and densities while positive ions are extracted. Thus, positive ions are accelerated to various locations on the structure and electrons spread and are collected near mask surfaces until a potential develops which equalizes these two particle fluxes. There remains a need, therefore, to eliminate aspect ratio charging effects.


The present invention relates to a bottom structure of a paper box for storage of liquid, and more particularly, relates to a paper box for storage of liquids such as milk, juice, sake, soy sauce and the like.
Recently, various paper boxes made of thermoplastic synthetic resin laminate plate-like paper have been used instead of conventional metal cans or glass bottles as containers for storing liquid such as milk, juice or sake. The reason for this is that the paper boxes have the following advantages;
(a) Since the paper boxes have generally a regular parallelepiped shape, any dead space can be removed and they may be laid one on another in carriage or storage; PA1 (b) The paper boxes are light in weight and thin in thickness in comparison with glass bottles; PA1 (c) The value of goods may be enhanced by applying decorative printing on their outside surface; PA1 (d) The paper boxes may readily be collapsed flat after consuming contents therein; PA1 (e) The paper boxes may be disposed of by burning after use; and PA1 (f) The content contained therein may be protected securely.
Conventionally, as such a paper box, there has been a container developed, manufactured for sale by Ex-Cello-O Corporation (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4661/71) for milk containers. As shown in FIG. 1, its bottom structure has a plate-like paper structure as indicated by folding lines, i.e., dot-and-dash lines and folding-back lines, i.e., by two-dot-one-dash lines. After a connecting portion G formed along one edge of the plate-like paper is connected with corresponding portion opposite thereto to form a rectangular tube as shown in FIG. 2A, the paper is folded along the folding lines and the folding-back lines as shown in FIGS. 2B to 2D to thereby form the bottom structure. In the container disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4661/71, one bottom plate A among the two bottom plates A and B forming outermost bottom surface is inserted between the confronting bottom plate B and the folded inside portions as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D. Since the edges of the folded portions C and D, E and F are intimately contacted with each other by a precise arrangement for folding, the container has the above-described advantages that the liquid contained therein will not leak, however there has been a fear that, when the end of the bottom plate is inserted into an extremely narrow gap between bottom plate B and folded portions D, E as shown in FIG. 2C, the end of the bottom plate A may be folded back midway in the process.
In order to overcome these defects, a paper box having the end portion of the bottom plate A removed as shown in FIG. 3 has been manufactured and available in the market. However, the bottom structure of the paper box is made up of a half-size bottom plate which is overlapped in part only by the other half-size bottom plate when folded, and, in association with the folding-back portions C, D, E and F, each edge thereof does not always abut precisely with the others unlike the preferred paper box illustrated by FIG. 4A, but poor overlapping is likely to be caused as in the case of sub-standard boxes illustrated by FIG. 4C in which case liquid contained therein is threatened to leak through gaps therebetween and the boxes of such structure have eventually led to a deteriorated quality of box.


Immediate processing of data is very important when a device within a computing system runs a real time application. Such real time applications may involve the processing of video or audio. The device may require adequate bandwidth from one or more sources in order to effectively display images or reproduce audio. The device may require access to data stored in a memory of the computing system.
Such computing systems may utilize a memory controller to access data stored in memory. The memory controller may employ a device called a memory arbiter that handles requests from one or more devices requiring access to data stored in memory. These devices may communicate to the memory using one or more data buses resident in the computing system.
Often, a device running a real time application may not be able to receive data from main memory at a required rate. One or more other devices performing non-real time applications may consume bandwidth required by the device running the real time application. For example, a digital camcorder may require transmission of data from main memory at a sufficient rate in order to properly display video on a monitor. When other devices compete for memory resources, access to memory may not be provided to the most critical applications such as those which involve real time processing of data.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.


The thin film solar cell which used CuInSe2 (CIS based thin film) which is a semiconductor thin film of chalcopyrite structure composed of a group Ib element, a group IIIb element, and a group VIb element, or Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS based thin film) which dissolved Ga to the CuInSe2 for an optical absorption layer shows high energy conversion efficiency, and has advantage that there is little degradation of the efficiency by light irradiation etc.
However, film formation by 550 degrees C. from a viewpoint of degradation of film quality and increase of leakage current is general, in formation of the CIS based thin film which is the semiconductor thin film of chalcopyrite structure, or the CIGS based thin film which dissolves Ga to CIS based thin film. When it forms at low temperature rather than 550 degrees C., it has been considered that particle diameter is small composed and dark current characteristics degrade, conventionally. In addition, the heat-resistant limitation of an integrated circuit is about 400 degrees C.
It is already disclosed about a photoelectric conversion device which used a compound semiconductor thin film of chalcopyrite structure to reduce dark current substantially, and a fabrication method for the such photoelectric conversion device (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2).
Also, it is already disclosed about a formation method by a selenium process of a high quality CIGS based thin film (for example, refer to Patent Literature 3 and Patent Literature 4).
On the other hand, it is already disclosed about: a solid state imaging element characterized by forming a switching device by a thin film transistor on a substrate and composing to laminate a sensor area by an amorphous semiconductor layer via the picture element electrode connected to the above-mentioned switching device; or a solid state imaging element composed to form by an insulating substrate as the above-mentioned substrate (for example, refer to Patent Literature 5).
In the solid state imaging element disclosed in Patent Literature 4, since the amorphous semiconductor layer is applied into the photosensing area, a photoelectric conversion wavelength is mainly a visible light wavelength region.
In such a conventional solid state imaging element, since a low electric field is applied to a photoelectric conversion film and an electric charge is detected, the photoelectric conversion film itself has no multiplication function.
Citation List
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open Publication No. 2007-123720
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open Publication No. 2007-123721
Patent Literature 3: U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,204
Patent Literature 4: U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,897
Patent Literature 5: Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open Publication No. 2001-144279


The polyphenylene ether resins are a family of engineering thermoplastics that are well known to the polymer art. These polymers may be made by a variety of catalytic and non-catalytic processes from the corresponding phenols or reactive derivatives thereof. By way of illustration, certain of the polyphenylene ethers are disclosed in Hay, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,306,874 and 3,306,875, and in Stamatoff, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,257,357 and 3,257,358. In the Hay patents, the polyphenylene ethers are prepared by an oxidative coupling reaction comprising passing an oxygen-containing gas through a reaction solution of a phenol and a metal-amine complex catalyst. Other disclosures relating to processes for preparing polyphenylene ether resins, including graft copolymers of polyphenylene ethers with styrene type compounds, are found in Fox, U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,761; Sumitomo, U.K. Pat. No. 1,291,609; Bussink et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,499; Blanchard et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,626; Laakso et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,892; Borman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,166; Hori et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,619; Faurote et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,217; and disclosures relating to metal based catalysts which do not include amines, are known from patents such as Wieden et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,885 (copper-amidines); Nakashio et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,257 (metal-alcoholate or -phenolate); Kobayashi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,880 (cobalt chelates); and the like. In the Stamatoff patents, the polyphenylene ethers are produced by reacting the corresponding phenolate ion with an initiator, such as peroxy acid salt, an acid peroxide, a hypohalite, and the like, in the presence of a complexing agent. Disclosures relating to non-catalytic processes, such as oxidation with lead dioxide, silver oxide, etc. are described in Price et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,212. Cizek, U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,435 discloses polyphenylene ether-styrene resin compositions. All of the above-mentioned disclosures are incorporated by reference.
The term "polystyrene resin" includes polymers and copolymers of styrene, alpha methyl styrene, chlorostyrene, and the like.
The term "EPDM" includes rubbery interpolymers of a mixture of mono-olefins and a polyene. Preferred types are those rubbery interpolymers of ethylene, an alpha-olefin, and a polyene. Rubbery interpolymers of ethylene, propylene, and a polyene are especially preferred.
The term "EPDM-silicone rubber" includes graft copolymers of EPDM with silicone rubber. An example of an EPDM-silicone rubber employed in the present invention is that commercially manufactured and sold by Shinetsu Chemical Industry, under the name SEP-172U.
In the prior art, rubber-modified styrene resins have been admixed with polyphenylene ether resins to form compositions that have modified properties. The Cizek patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,435, discloses rubber-modified styrene resin-polyphenylene ether resin compositions wherein the rubber component is of the unsaturated type such as polymers and copolymers of butadiene. The physical properties of these compositions are such that it appears that many of the properties of the styrene resins have been upgraded, while the moldability of the polyphenylene ethers are improved.
Nakashio et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,945 discloses that from 0.5 to 15% by weight of an EPDM-modified styrene resin may be used to upgrade the impact strength of polyethylene ether resins. In Cooper et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,191 it is disclosed that when the highly unsaturated rubber used in compositions of the type disclosed by Cizek, is replaced with EPDM rubber that has a low degree of residual unsaturation, the thermal oxidative stability and color stability are improved. The EPDM rubber in the Cooper et al. compositions is comprised substantially of particles in the range of 3-8 microns.
The impact strength of the Cooper et al. compositions is superior to that of a polypropylene ether resin alone or that of similar compositions comprised of unmodified polystyrene; however, the impact strength of the Cooper et al. compositions is inferior to that of similar compositions comprised of polystyrene modified with polybutadiene rubber, such as a composition known as FG-834 available from Foster-Grant Co. As is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,841, the impact strength of the Cooper et al. compositions can be improved by incorporating therein impact modifiers such as an emulsion-grafted EPDM polystyrene copolymer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,316 incorporated herein by reference, discloses that a composition of a polyphenylene ether resin and an alkenyl aromatic resin modified with an EPDM rubber comprised of particles having a median diameter less than about two microns, preferably about 0.5 to 1.5 microns, is a very useful thermoplastic molding material having good thermal oxidative stability and good room temperature impact strength but inferior low temperature impact strength.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,850 it is disclosed that the addition of small amounts of mineral oil to the polymerizing mixture of styrene and EPDM rubber produces EPDM-modified polystyrene which yields blends with polyphenylene oxide having significantly better low-temperature impact strength than blends made from EPDM-polystyrene made without the mineral oil.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,479 it is disclosed that the addition of a silicone such as a polyorganosiloxane, which is fluid, to polyphenylene oxide or to polyphenylene oxide-polystyrene blends improves Gardner impact strength but not Izod impact strength (see Col. 1, lines 54-57 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,479).
It has now been found when small amounts of a graft copolymer of EPDM with silicone rubber is blended with a polyphenylene oxide resin, and optionally with a polystyrene resin, blends can be obtained which are substantially improved in ductility and Izod impact strength both at room temperature and at low temperatures.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell system.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-177592, filed Jun. 17, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known fuel cell system having a plurality of sensors for detecting operation states of a fuel cell, when a specific sensor (e.g., an air flow rate sensor, a hydrogen inlet pressure sensor, or a cooling water inlet pressure sensor) has an abnormal state, a substitutional value with respect to a signal value output from the sensor in the abnormal state is computed based on a signal value output from another sensor (e.g., an air temperature sensor, a hydrogen outlet pressure sensor, or a cooling water outlet pressure sensor) in a normal state, and the operation of the fuel cell is continued in accordance with the computed substitutional value (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-179127).
In the fuel cell system relating to the above conventional technique, the fuel cell is operated in accordance with signal values output from the plurality of sensors, and only a substitutional value for the signal value output from a sensor in the abnormal state is computed based on a signal value output from another sensor in the normal state. Therefore, if the sensor necessary for computing the substitutional value enters an abnormal state, it is difficult to continue the operation of the fuel cell. For example, when the fuel cell system is provided for supplying electric power to a driving source of a vehicle, it may be difficult to run the vehicle.
In addition, if redundant or excessive sensors are provided for computing a substitutional value for a target sensor, the structure of the fuel cell system is complicated, thereby increasing the cost necessary for implementing the structure.


This invention relates in general to the inspection of surfaces to detect anomalies, and in particular, to an improved system that illuminates the surface inspected at the plurality of spots simultaneously for anomaly detection.
Conventional optical inspection methods employing scanning techniques typically causes a single spot on the surface inspected to be illuminated where the spot is scanned over the entire surface for anomaly detection. For improved signal-to-noise ratio caused by background scattering, the size of the illuminated spot has been continually reduced. This means that the amount of time required for the spot to scan over the entire surface is increased which is undesirable.
One solution to the above dilemma is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,411, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This patent proposes a massively parallel inspection and imaging system which illuminates the surface at a plurality of spots where scattered light from the spots are imaged onto corresponding detectors in a detector array.
While the system in U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,411 provides a major enhancement in the total inspection throughput, it may be further improved for enhanced performance in certain applications. It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved multi-spot inspection and imaging system with enhanced characteristics.


With the development of smart electronic devices, there has been an explosive growth in various applications.
Currently, most applications have a function of automatically pushing messages. For a user, some of the pushed messages are useful, while some message pushed from some applications are simply interferences. In order to satisfy the user's requirements, the user needs to configure the applications individually to enable the message pushing function of some applications and disable the message pushing function of the other applications. As the number of the applications increases, such configuration process becomes too troublesome.
In addition, most electronic devices have many applications installed thereon. When a user is using an electronic device, an application may synchronize data via a network in background even if it has been deactivated. For example, application clients such as weather or news in a mobile phone may send or receive relevant data anytime for synchronization, such that a large amount of data traffic will be consumed without the user's awareness. In this case, the electronic device may be demanding on network traffic. In order to prevent an application from consuming traffic in background, the user typically needs to disable the synchronization setting for the application manually. Alternatively, the user may manage applications by installing application management software (e.g., safeguard) to configure an application to be disconnected from the network based on a timer or prompt a traffic limit. However, these configuration or management schemes require troublesome operations.


This invention relates to a position detecting device employed in an automatic positioning system.
FIG. 1 shows a position detecting system using limit switches which is the most typical of the conventional position detecting systems. For simplification in description, the drive system is not shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, a moving table 30 has a protrusion 30a which is used to detect the positions of limit switches 31a, 31b and 31c. As the moving table 30 is moved, the protrusion 30a operates the actuators 310 of the limit switches 31a, 31b and 31c, so that switch signals q, r and s are applied to a controller 32.
The position detecting limit switches 31c, 31b and 31a are set at distances L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 from the original point O, respectively.
The conventional device thus constructed operates as follows. When the moving table 30 is moved in the direction of the arrow to the limit switch 31c at the distance L.sub.1 from the original point O, the actuator 310 of the limit switch 31c is operated, and the switch signal s is applied to the controller 32. Similarly when the table 30 reaches the limit switch 31b at the distance L.sub.2, the limit switch 31b is operated and the switch signal q is applied to the controller 32. When the table 30 reaches the limit switch 31a at the distance L.sub.3, the limit switch 31a is operated and the switch signal r is applied to the controller 32. In response to the switch signals q, r and s, the controller 32 operates to control the driving, stopping or moving speed of the moving table 30.
Even when the controller 32 provides an instruction signal to stop the table 30, the table 30 will overrun a relatively long distance before it is actually stopped, because of the moving table's inertia and the delayed braking operation of the brake member. Accordingly, in this system, the limit switches 31a, 31b and 31c are located somewhat before the desired stopping points.
The overrun distance L can be approximately represented by the following expression: ##EQU1## where M is the mass of the moving part of the system, K is the rigidity of the mass in the feed direction, and V is the feed speed. Thus, it is difficult to eliminate the overrun distance L. Therefore, in the conventional system, in order to minimize the overrun distance it is necessary not only to set the limit switches 31a, 31b and 31c before the stop points but also to decrease the feed speed of the moving table 30 at the detection points.
However, the overrun distance varies with the speed of the moving table and it is therefore difficult to determine the proper lead time. In addition, when the table 30 is moved in the opposite direction (or returned), the positions of the limit switches 31a, 31b and 31c will now be somewhat behind the desired stopping points and must be adjusted again.
Position detecting sensors employed in the conventional positioning system can be classified into mechanical types such as a jib, a cam, a link or a gear device; electrical types such as a microswitch or a contactless switch; pneumatic types such as a pneumatic microswitch; or optical types such as a photoelectric switch, a photoelectric linear scale or an optical wave interferometer.
In the case of the mechanical type position detecting sensor, the drive sources (such as a hydraulic drive source and/or an electric motor) are, in general, stopped each time a position is detected. Therefore, the mechanical type position detecting sensor is not suitable for automatic positioning. Even if it were designed so as to be suitable for automatic positioning, it would need considerably intricate mechanical elements. In addition, because of the inertial forces and drive forces of the mechanical elements, other mechanical elements may be deformed or worn. Therefore, with the mechanical type sensor, it is difficult to improve the positioning accuracy, and it is considerably difficult to change the design or to move the detection points as discussed above in the case of reverse direction movement.
A microswitch or a contactless switch has been extensively employed as the electrical type position detecting sensor. The electrical type position detecting sensor is usually a simple on-off type digital detector. With such a position detecting sensor, however, a detection accuracy higher than that defined by the switch configuration cannot be obtained; that is, the detection accuracy is limited by the number and location of switches and cannot be improved. Furthermore, the number of sensors which can be installed over the range of movement of the moving table is limited, and it takes a great deal of time and labor to change the design and to adjust the detection points as discussed above.
In the case of the pneumatic type position detecting sensor, once a positioning point is determined it is considerably difficult to change the positioning point. Also, since an external force is repeatedly imparted to the position detecting element, it is rather difficult to maintain the accuracy unchanged.
In general, the optical type position detecting sensor is low in accuracy. Some high accuracy optical type position detecting sensors are available, but they are considerably expensive. Since the detection accuracy of the sensor is greatly dependent on the selected light source, the adjustment takes time and labor, and it is also difficult to change the positioning point.
Thus, the following characteristics are common in conventional devices:
(1) It takes a great deal of time and labor to set the detection positions;
(2) The number of detection positions is limited by the physical dimensions of the position detecting sensor used, and cannot be increased. The detection accuracy is also limited; and
(3) After the detection positions are set, it takes a lot of time and labor to change the detection positions.
A conventional positioning device comprises: a position detecting sensor; and a control unit for driving and controlling the device in response to the output signal of the sensor. The position detecting sensor suffers from the various drawbacks as described above.