Abstract: In a heat pump system according to the present invention, a plurality of heat exchangers are arranged in sequence in the vertical direction in a tank for storing a heat medium therein, and these heat exchangers are connected in series to a heat exchanger arranged outside the tank to construct a cooling medium circulating passage. A by-passing passage by-passing the heat exchanger arranged outside the tank and expanding means arranged in series to this heat exchanger is formed in the cooling medium circulating passage, and an expansion passage is arranged in parallel to the cooling medium circulating passage connected to the heat exchangers within the tank.

Abstract: A shredder comprises a cutter unit including a pair of rotary cutters for shredding a material therebetween while the rotary cutters are rotating in a normal direction, a reversible motor for rotating the rotary cutters through a speed reducer, and a switch unit for selectively causing the motor to rotate the rotary cutter in the normal direction or reversing the motor to rotate the rotary cutters in a reverse direction to remove the material from the rotary cutters when the material is jammed in the rotary cutters. An electrical control circuit is responsive to actuation of the switch unit for enabling the motor to produce a larger torque while rotating in the reverse direction than the torque produced while rotating in the normal direction, thereby reliably releasing the rotary cutters from biting engagement with the material when jammed.

Abstract: The improved polymeric hydrogel suitable for use in forming soft contact lenses is described. The hydrogel is improved by means of its resistance to the formation of calcium, lipid and protein deposits thereon. This resistance is achieved by means of covalent modification of the hydrogel with a surfactant.

Abstract: An intake air flow rate control method and system for an internal combustion engine includes an open loop control strategy carried out during unstable engine driving conditions. During open loop control, a pulse signal applied to an air flow rate control valve means is determined both as a function of open loop ratio and feedback ratio. The duty cycle of the pulse signal for open loop control is varied corresponding to engine coolant temperature as well as engine load condition. Thus, upon switching control operation from open loop control to feedback control, varying of pulse duty cycle to be applied to the valve means occurs smoothly. Further, in open loop control, the control system smoothly follows variations in engine load conditions.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for processing binary data prior to magnetic recording. The binary data is divided into 4-bit data segments which are converted to 8-bit codes according to a predetermined encoding transfer function describing the relationships between the 4-bit data segments and corresponding 8-bit codes, wherein the bit pattern of each 8-bit code has an intra-code run-length of at least two "0" bits and forms an inter-code run-length of from at least two "0" bits to at most nine "0"bits with an adjacent 8-bit code. The method further includes the step of generating a frame synchronization code and interleaving it with 8-bit codes to form a frame of binary digits. The frame sync code has a bit pattern which is unduplicatable by any combination of 8-bit codes that follow.

Abstract: Dynamic unbalance of a rigid rotor is corrected by machining the rotor in a direction parallel to the rotor axis of said rotor by subtracting or adding weights corresponding to a corrective weight in two planes for compensating initial unbalanced vectors corresponding to correction angle directions and corrective weights in the planes. Prior to effecting the machining, center of gravity position of a corrective machining weight is calculated for effecting corrective machining in the axial direction; the corrective machining corresponds to the corrective weight. The initial unbalanced vectors in the two planes are corrected into unbalanced vectors in new planes respectively including the centers of gravities of the corrective machining weights determined during the calculating step. Correction angular positions and corrective machining weights around the respective planes are obtained by repeating the calculating and correcting steps.

Abstract: Cuprous chloride, which is contained in a reduced leach solution or pregnant liquor, can be recovered as a complex salt of alkali metal chloride, such as potassium chloride, or alkaline earth metal chloride or ammonium chloride. The salts are produced by oxidation of a copper ore, such as chalcopyrite, with ferric chloride and cupric chloride, and after removal of insolubles, by adding sufficient metallic copper to the solution to reduce cupric ions to cuprous ions so as to provide a solution containing 1.5 to 2.5 molal potassium chloride, or other metal or ammonium chloride, and cooling the resultant saturated solution to precipitate the potassium chloride-cuprous chloride complex salts and recovering the complex salts. Also provided as a method for recovery of pure copper metal by electrolysis of solutions derived from the complex salts wherein the impurities are diverted to an anode loop which is separated from the cathode loop by a diaphragm.

Abstract: In an optical disc having a file region and a directory region for carrying various pieces of information or data, one or more designated information can be erased by irradiating a laser light beam on a corresponding region in the file region where the light beam is modulated by a superposing writing signal which may be a d.c. or a predetermined a.c. signal. When it is intended to renew the information, designated information is first read out and stored in an external memory prior to performing superposing writing. Meanwhile, the data is renewed and is then written on an unused region in the file region. The directory of the renewed data region is also written so that the renewed information will be read out by searching the new directory. In another embodiment of the invention, the information in the file region is not erased to renew the same, but its directory is erased by superposing writing.

Abstract: Funnel cakes are cooked in a pan assembly inserted in a deep fat fryer. A substantially solid bottom of the pan assembly is located 1/2-2 inches, preferably 11/2 inches, below the surface of a hot liquid cooking oil bath in a vat of the fryer so that the batter, when continuously poured into the pan hits the solid bottom portion of the pan and rises in the oil to form a unitary mass that floats in the oil without sticking to the bottom. The unitary mass is confined by side walls of the pan assembly as the batter cooks and expands.

Abstract: A moving obstacle detection system for an automotive vehicle utilizing a doppler effect of the transmitted wave against an obstacle which runs in front of the vehicle such as another vehicle.

Abstract: A dye transfer sheet for heat-sensitive recording is described which comprises a substrate, and a thin layer of at least one sublimable dye formed on one side of the substrate. The dye layer comprises non-sublimable particles uniformly distributed throughout the layer to form irregularities on the layer surface.

Abstract: An electromagnetic transducer head assembly for use in magnetic recording comprises a ferromagnetic core structure (1'; 30) having a magnetic gap and a winding (1"; 31) mounted on the core structure. A capacitor (3; 34) is mounted in proximity to and connected to the winding to form a resonance circuit. An amplifier circuit (4; 38) is also mounted in proximity to and connected to the resonant circuit for generating an alternating current in the winding.

Abstract: A vacuum responsive switch for detecting a failure in creation of a control vacuum within the control diaphragm chamber. A solenoid valve is provided which functions to equalize pressure within one of a power diaphragm chamber and a leak chamber with the other when vacuum represented by a signal from the vacuum responsive switch is lower than a predetermined value.

Abstract: A redundancy reduction coding method of a multi-tone picture element comprises the steps of selecting reference picture elements from picture elements already scanned and transmitted, selecting a single reference picture element as a base reference element and then evaluating a plurality of first tone level differences between the base reference picture element and the reference picture elements other than the base reference picture element and a second tone level difference between the base reference picture element and an objective picture element to be transmitted. Then, if and when all of the tone level differences are within a predetermined region, the second tone level difference is converted into a predictive order in which a second tone level difference appears for a particular combination of the plurality of first tone level differences, the predictive order being produced in advance based on statistics of a standard picture.

Abstract: An exhaust purification apparatus includes a regenerative burner for repetitively regenerating a trap element located in the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine. The regenerative burner has a combustion chamber adapted to permit flow of exhaust gases from the engine exhaust conduit to the trap element. A cup-shaped member is disposed within the combustion chamber to define therein an evaporation chamber which has an adequate supply of air-fuel mixture. The cup-shaped member has a peripheral wall formed with cutouts to permit air-fuel mixture from said evaporation chamber into said combustion chamber and also with a hole to permit fuel droplets to fall onto a glow plug located below the cup-shaped member within the combustion chamber. A protective cover is provided to cover the path of dropping of fuel droplets onto the glow plug to prevent air from flowing to cool down the glow plug and deviate the fuel droplets away from the glow plug.

Abstract: A high bit-rate coupler is connected between a PCM channel bidirectional multiplex and a packet switching unit. Each channel carries packet words, such as octets, grouped in frames separated by flags 01111110. The coupler processes the first level related to the bits of the frame level of a packet exchange procedure. For each received frame, the coupler extracts the filling zeros from the received words between the flags, controls a frame checking sequence included at the end of each frame, counts the realigned words without filling zeros to be transmitted to the switching unit, and detects the flags and the start and end of the frame. At the transmitting end, the coupler inserts filling zeros in each transmitted frame when it detects six contiguous bits "1" in the words delivered from the switching unit, derives the frame checking sequence, transmits the dealigned words with the filling words, and produces flags.

Abstract: An apparatus for routering sprouts of a tuber such as a potato has: a drill-like blade having a distal end with a tapered portion; a blade motor for rotating the drill-like blade; a drilling unit having a feeding unit for reciprocally feeding the drill-like blade; a rotating member mounted with a hydropneumatic cylinder having clamping members for clamping the tuber therebetween; and a tuber motor for rotating the rotating member.

Abstract: An auxiliary transfer passage is offset from the trajectory along which fuel is injected so as to be located downstream of the trajectory with respect to the direction of swirl within the swirl chamber and which is sized to have a cross-sectional area with respect to the main transfer passage and the cylinder bore in which the main combustion chamber is defined so as to simultaneously minimize smoke and NO.sub.x formation.

Abstract: In an automotive manual transmission comprising a common fork shaft on and along which a plurality of shift forks are slidable, a control rod rotatable about and slidable along the axis thereof which is normal to the axis of the common fork shaft, a pivotting pin extending normal to both the axes of the common fork shaft and the control rod, a plurality of pivotting levers pivotally mounted on the pivotting pin and jointly engaged at their one ends with the corresponding shift forks, a selecting head member secured to the control rod and engageable with the other end of selected one of the pivotting levers when the control rod is rotated about the axis thereof into an angular position, an interlock plate rotatably mounted on the control rod to ensure that only the selected pivotting lever is rotatable at any given time, and a supporting member removably connected to the transmission housing and mounting thereon the pivotting pin, there is proposed a positioning arrangement in which the supporting member is pr

Abstract: A methane fermentation process wherein a strain of the genus Methanobacterium is cultivated in a fermenter containing at least a carbon source, a nitrogen source, inorganic salts and micro-flora for methane fermentation. The strain has a methanogenic activity above 8.7.times.10.sup.-8 ml/cell.day in the stationary phase of growth, exhibits the methanogenic activity even at an oxygen partial pressure of 1/30 atm. and is allowed to live under an oxygen partial pressure up to 1/5 atm. The seed of the strain is obtained by anaerobically cultivating the strain in a culture medium containing at least nitrogen sources, inorganic salts and reducing agents in a mesophilic range of 25.degree. to 45.degree. C. using a substrate such as a mixed gas of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, a formate or an acetate. The growth of the strain is facilitated when cocultured with a strain belonging to the genus Clostridium.