Abstract: A socket spanner having U-shaped elastic body and a fitting end configured to receive a nut. The fitting hole of the fitting end contains a pair of grooves respectively provided on two opposite inner walls thereof for engaging the U-shaped elastic body. The fitting hole further contains a circular slot located in an outer end of an inner wall of the fitting hole. The U-shaped elastic body includes an arcuate head portion and two arms, the two arms are received by the pair of grooves, respectively, of the fitting hole and at least one of the two arms is provided with a protruded portion capable of retaining a nut held in the fitting hole. At least one of the two arms is provided at a free end thereof with a curved or hooked portion engageable with the circular slot, so as to retain the U-shaped elastic body in the fitting hole.

Abstract: A computer-aided embroidery method for preparation and testing of a predetermined pattern is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of (a) comparing the size of said pattern with an embroidery table device to determine if an intended embroidery operation will exceed a defined boundary of said embroidery table device; (b) determining an embroidery frame; and (c) providing a completed simulation and a trial embroidering process within said embroidery frame without actually lowering a needlebar for testing the validity of a pattern layout. A machine implementing this method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A holographic image identification system includes an image reconstruction device having a laser beam source movable along an arc path to selectively project a laser beam onto a hologram located on the center of the arc path at a preselected incidental angle so as to form an image on a screen to be received by a charge coupling device which converts the image into an electrical signal and transmits the electrical signal to a computer to compare with a reference image stored in the storage memory of the computer. The incidental angle of the laser beam is also fed to the computer to compare with a pre-stored value associated with the reference image for double-check of the correctness of the holographic image.

Abstract: An improved organic photoconductor is disclosed which comprises: (a) a conductive substrate; (b) a charge generation layer; (c) a charge transport layer; and (d) a reinforcing overcoating layer. The reinforcing overcoating layer contains a polymer resin prepared from a reaction mixture comprising: (i) about 87 to 94 wt % of a bifunctional 3,9-divinyl spirobi(m-dioxane) and styrene; (ii) about 5 to 8 wt % of maliec acid di-allyl ester; and (iii) about 1 to 5 wt % of a heat-induced polymerization initiator. The organic photoconductor exhibits light and heat stability and abrasion resistance comparable to those of inorganic photoconductors, but it eliminates many of the shortcomings, such as toxicity and enviromental pollution problems, that have been recognized as being associated with the inorganic photoconductors. Furthermore, the provision of this overcoating layer does not cause any loss of performance, as measured by the residual potential under various test conditions.

Abstract: A compound, and salts thereof, represented by either formula I or formula II below:(1) Formula I: ##STR1## wherein substituents R.sub.1 -R.sub.7 can be, independently, hydrogen, hydroxy group, C.sub.1-6 alkyl(oxy) group, acetyl ester, or C.sub.1-12 alkyl propanolamine; at least three but no more than four of the substituents are alkyl(oxy) group, hydroxyl group or acetyl ester; no more than one of the substituents can be C.sub.1-12 alkyl propanolamines; R.sub.1, R.sub.3, R.sub.7 cnnnot all be hydroxy groups at the same time; and R.sub.6 is either an hydroxy group or an oxygen-containing glucose.(2) Formula II: ##STR2## wherein substituents R.sub.1 -R.sub.9 can be, indenpendently, hydrogen, hydroxy group and C.sub.1-6 alkyl(oxy) group; and no more then four of the substituents can be methoxy group, hydroxy group, or acetyl ester. These compounds were tested to be capable of inhibiting platelet aggregation, atrioventricular conduction, and calcium influx in myocardiac cells.

Abstract: A drawer structure adapted to a single rail assembly or a multi-rail assembly in a cabinet; a drawer rail stop furnished beneath the drawer rail can be stopped with a stop lug on the single rail assembly or the multi-rail assembly. A roller on the rear end of a drawer rail may be mounted in place for the single rail assembly, or omitted for the multi-rail assembly; in other words, the drawer is compatible with a single rail assembly and a multi-rail assembly.

Abstract: A method for fabricating planar lightwave circuits with at least one static-alignment fiber-guiding groove comprising the steps of: (a) fabricating a sandwiched Si-substrate by forming an etching stop layer on a first Si layer, followed by forming a second Si layer on the etching stop layer; (b) forming a waveguide layer on the Si-substrate, the waveguide layer containing at least one planar waveguide channel buried between a first cladding layer and a second cladding layer; (c) forming a photomask on the waveguide layer so as to allow the fiber-guiding grooves to be fabricated; (d) using the photomask and a first reactive ion etching procedure to form a first portion of the fiber-guiding groove, the first reactive ion etching procedure is controlled such that it etches through the waveguide layer and stops at the second Si layer; and (e) using the photomask and a second reactive ion etching procedure to form a second portion of the fiber-guiding groove, wherein the second reactive etching ion is selected in

Abstract: An improvement of brightness compensation for a lamp shade in an optical scanner includes a plurality of projections to make a reflector in the lamp shade to form a greater curvature on its lateral sides, thus increase the light-condensing capability of the reflector, and thereby improve brilliance uniformity of a lamp tube.

Abstract: Chiral liquid crystal compounds for use as dopants to be mixed with a liquid crystal host material, which may or may not be composed of chiral molecules, to form ferroelectric liquid crystal compositions. The chiral liquid crystal compounds are represented by the following formula: ##STR1## wherein: R.sub.1 is a C.sub.2 to C.sub.10 alkyl group, R.sub.2 is a C.sub.2 to C.sub.8 alkyl group;A is either ##STR2## m is an integer of 1 or 2; n is an integer of 1 or 2;p and q are integers of 0 or 1, provided that when p=0, q=0, and p=1, q=1; and* and ** indicate, independently of each other, S- or R-stereoisomeric structure.

Abstract: A lamp shade moving mechanism for transparency scanning includes a guiding rack, a sliding block, a driving motor and a belt. Grooves are formed on inside wall of two lateral sides of guiding rack to hold and lead sliding block. Driving motor and belt move sliding block to make a linear to-and-fro movement along guiding rack. A lamp shade is disposed on the sliding block, characterized by having simple components and capable of performing high speed scanning.

Abstract: A depolymerization and purification process, by which a poly(alkyl-.alpha.-cyanoacrylate) feed is depolymerized into high-purity cyanoacrylate monomers without the use of a high-boiling heat transfer medium such as tricresyl phosphate. The poly(alkyl-.alpha.-cyanoacrylate) feed, which contains one or more polymerization inhibitors such as hydroquinone and phosphorus pentoxide, is first introduced into a thin-film evaporator for a depolymerization reaction. The temperature of the film evaporator is maintained at about 200.degree..about.260.degree. C., and operated under a vacuum of 1.about.20 mm Hg. The produced gas stream from the depolymerization reactor is subject to a two-stage heat transfer process for condensation and purification. The first stage involves a very-high temperature condenser (about 150.degree. C.). The residue collected in the first stage condenser contains primarily dimers of .alpha.-cyanoacrylate.

Abstract: A method to provide improved medium access control (MAC) protocol for a wireless local area network (LAN) comprising the steps of: (a) pre-arranging a polling cycle to be broadcast from the base station into a sequence of broadcast groups, (b) assigning each active mobile node to a randomly chosen broadcast group, (c) performing a group randomly addressed polling for each of the broadcast groups, and (d) assigning uncollided mobile nodes to their original randomly chosen broadcast group address. The uncollided mobile nodes will also be given the privilege of keeping their random numbers as fixed random numbers, until they collide with other mobile node(s) in subsequent polling cycle(s). All the collided mobile nodes, all newly active mobiles, and all newly joined mobile nodes are subject to a new polling cycle. The method has shown to provide excellent throughput (better than 0.90), stable convergence, and excellent delay behavior.

Abstract: A compact fixed-bed catalytic reactor containing a plurality of staggered partitioning plates inside a reactor vessel to form a folded reaction path. The reactor is substantially rectangular in shape and each of the partitioning plates is held inside the reactor by a frictional force between the partitioning plate and the inner wall of the reactor vessel while one side thereof, being shorter than the width of a corrsponding inner side the reactor, forms an opening allowing the passage of reactant therethrough. The partitioning plates contain a plurality of fingers to further secure the same in place and prevent horizontal movement thereof. The present invention allows a box-like catalytic reactor to provide the advantages of a fixed-bed tubular reactor, while maintaining a desirable spacial compactness and lowering the construction cost.

Abstract: A tool magazine for use with an automatic machine tool comprising a housing for removably storing tools, a rotatable tool holding disk for rotatingly switching one of the tools between a first position and a second position, the tool holding disk being rotatably supported inside the housing by a shaft about a first axis, and a cam type tool magazine mechanism disposed inside the housing for indexingly rotating the tool holding disk.

Abstract: A resinous material for the manufacture of printed circuit boards is obtained by (a) treating a mixture of bromine- and nonbromine-containing epoxy resins with a secondary diamine such as 5,5-dimethyl hydantion or barbituric acid in the presence of a tertiary amine catalyst to form a modified epoxy resin; (b) heating the modified epoxy resin and a polyisocyanate in the presence of an encyclization catalyst; and (c) dissolving the resulting product in a solvent with a curing agent to form a B-stage prepreg varnish.

Abstract: A pneumatic fan containing a revolving wheel, which has a circumference, first and second stepped fillets at both axial ends thereof, and a rotary main shaft extending from the stepped fillets. The circumference is provided with a plurality of axially extending slots. The pneumatic fan further contains a plurality of impellers which are slidably received by the axially extending slots, each of the axially extending slots having a depth greater than the height of the impellers. Two shaft bearing seats are provided to receive the rotary main shaft at two axial ends thereof. The revolving wheel including the impellers are enclosed in a cylindrical motor seat having an entrance port for receiving air and an exit port for exiting air. The revolving wheel is disposed eccentrically relative to the motor seat, and the motor seat and the rotary main shaft have a point of contact, such that the entrance port and the exit port are disposed equidistantly from, and at opposite sides of, the point of contact.

Abstract: A preprocessing method for smoothing handwritten Chinese characters before subjecting the same to computerized character recognition and/or other applications. The method disclosed in the present invention is a run-based smoothing method which takes advantages of the unique characteristics of the building blocks of Chinese characters, which consist essentially of vertical, horizontal, and tilted strokes. Accordingly, the two-dimensional array of pixels representing a digitized character are first converted into a run information map which will be repeatedly scanned and subject to three main smoothing treatments: (1) empty run filling, (2) small triangular area filling, and (3) filled run deleting. A unique protocol is developed for effectuating each of the smoothing steps. After each treatment, the run information map is updated, and the treatment steps are repeated until no more empty run filling or filled run deleting can be found, or until a specified number of cycles are exceeded.

Abstract: A gas sensor having a large operation current and being operated at a relatively low temperature includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface. A sensing area is provided on the first surface for increasing the conductivity across it when the sensing area detects a certain gas. A controlling area is provided on the first surface and beside the sensing area for permitting a tunneling current to pass therethrough when the sensing area cannot sense a certain gas or when the gas sensor is adapted to be sufficiently supplied with power. This control area prevents the tunneling current from being generated when the sensing area detects certain gas and thus the conductivity is increased, so that when the first and the second surfaces are electrically connected to the power supply. The gas sensor will be in an on state when the gas sensor cannot sense there is the certain gas and be in an off state when the gas sensor detects the presence of certain gas.

Abstract: A current limiting device to limit the maximum allowable electric current to be supplied to a motor in driving an electric vehicle. The current limiting device includes (a) a first thermal switch to prevent the power switching element of the motor from being abnormally overheated, (b) a second thermal switch to prevent the motor from being abnormally overheated, and (c) a brake switch. The three switches altogether and in association with a certain hysteresis band work to switch the limits of the electric current passing through the motor between two or more predetermined electric current values. Under normal operating conditions, the limit of the current is set at a high level which is associated with a hysteresis action, and when one of the thermal switches or the brake switch is actuated, the limit of the electric current is switched to a lower value which is still associated with a hysteresis action.

Abstract: An ultra-thin low noise axial flow fan is provided for office automation machine. The center line along the blade from its root portion to its tip portion is circular arc form and it is perpendicular to the central hub. The leading edge skew angle at the tip portion of the blade is 47 degrees. The blade angle of each blade ranges from 57 to 63 degrees, which is first directly proportional to the radius of the blade and then inversely proportional to the radius of the blade from the root portion to the tip portion of the blade. The pitch-chord ratio of each blade is inversely proportional to the radius of the blade from the root port to the tip portion of the blade. The blade of the fan thereby generates high air flow and high pressure, and has advantages of low noise and ultra-thin outer casing.