1. An earplug comprising:
an elongated stem including opposite first and second ends;
a flange element disposed circumferentially on the stem and extending from the first end toward the second end delimiting a space between the flange element and the stem;
a rib support element formed on an inner surface of the flange element in the space between the flange element and the stem; and
a stem component disposed in a cavity formed in the stem,
wherein the elongated stem, the flange element, and the rib support element are integrally formed of a resilient polymeric material and wherein the stem component is formed of a semi-rigid material and is bonded with the resilient polymeric material at the cavity.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A control apparatus of a hybrid vehicle that has as drive sources an internal combustion engine, to which fuel stored in a fuel tank is supplied, and an electric motor, to which electricity stored in an electric storage device is supplied, the apparatus comprising:
an electronic control unit including a degradation degree calculation section that calculates a degree of degradation of each of a plurality of refuelings, each degree of degradation being increased relative to an elapsed time since the respective refueling, the degradation degree calculation section also calculates a total degree of degradation of the fuel in the fuel tank based on the degree of degradation of each of the plurality of refueling and on a ratio of a remaining amount of each refueling to an amount of total fuel in the fuel tank.
2. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the degradation degree calculation section calculates the degree of degradation for each of the plurality of refuelings such that the longer an elapsed time from a time of refueling and the greater the remaining amount, the higher the degree of degradation becomes, and
wherein the degradation degree calculation section accumulates values of the degree of degradation of each of the plurality of refuelings, thereby calculating the total degree of degradation of the fuel in the fuel tank.
3. The control apparatus according claim 1, further comprising:
a load demand computing section of the electronic control unit that calculates a first load demand on the engine based on a driving state of the vehicle and a state of charge of the electric storage device; and
a load demand changing section of the electronic control unit that changes the load demand on the engine to a second load demand, which is higher than the first load demand, on a condition that the total degree of degradation calculated by the degradation degree calculation section is higher than or equal to a predetermined value.
4. The control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a charging state maintaining section of the electronic control unit that sets a load demand on the engine to a high value when a state of charge of the electric storage device is lower than a predetermined level; and
a charging condition changing section of the electronic control unit that raises the predetermined level on a condition that the total degree of degradation calculated by the degradation degree calculation section is higher than or equal to a predetermined value.
5. The control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a connection portion that charges the electric storage device from outside of the vehicle.
6. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit calculates the total degree of degradation of the fuel in the fuel tank as a sum of products of the degree of degradation of each of the plurality of refueling and the ratio of the remaining amount of each refueling to an amount of total fuel in the fuel tank.