Author: claimsbot

1. A lubricating oil composition comprising a major amount of an oil of a Group II or higher base oil of lubricating viscosity and a minor amount of a polymer composition comprising at least a first polymer that is an ethylene \u03b1-olefin copolymer comprising no greater than 66 mass % of units derived from ethylene; and a second polymer comprising a linear diblock copolymer comprising at least one block derived primarily from a vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon monomer, and at least one block derived primarily from diene monomer.
2. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first polymer and the second polymer are present in a mass % ratio of from about 80:20 to about 20:80.
3. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ethylene \u03b1-olefin copolymer is an ethylene-propylene copolymer and said linear diblock copolymer is at least one diblock copolymer comprising at least one polystyrene block, and at least one block derived from isoprene, butadiene, or a mixture thereof.
4. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 3, wherein said ethylene \u03b1-olefin copolymer is an ethylene-propylene copolymer and said linear diblock copolymer is at least one diblock copolymer selected from the group consisting of hydrogenated styrenebutadiene block copolymers and hydrogenated styreneisoprene block copolymers.
5. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 3, wherein said ethylene-propylene copolymer comprises from about 20 to about 66 mass % of units derived from ethylene.
6. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 3, wherein said ethylene-propylene copolymer has a Shear Stability Index (SSI) value of from about 20% to about 50% (30 cycles), and the polydiene block of the diblock copolymer comprises from about 40 mass % to 90 mass % derived from isoprene and from about 10 mass % to about 60 mass % derived from butadiene.
7. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base oil of lubricating viscosity has a saturates content of at least about 80.
8. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, containing less than about 30 mass % of Group I base oil.
9. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a nitrogenous dispersant derived from a polyalkene having a number average molecular weight (Mn) of greater than about 1500, wherein said base oil of lubricating viscosity has a saturates content of at least about 80%, and wherein said lubricating oil composition contains less than about 0.4 mass % of sulfur, less than about 0.12 mass % phosphorus and less than about 1.2 mass % of sulfated ash.
10. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a metal-containing detergent.
11. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 10, wherein the metal-containing detergent comprises less than 40 mole % of a metal salt of an aromatic carboxylic acid, based on the moles of the metal salts of organic acids in the detergent composition.
12. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 11, wherein the metal-containing detergent is present in the composition in an amount, based on surfactant content, less than 5 millimoles of surfactant per kilogram of the oil composition (mmolkg).
13. A lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, which contains no metal-containing detergent.
14. A method of operating an internal combustion engine, said method comprising lubricating said engine with a lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 1, and operating the lubricating engine.
15. A method of operating an internal combustion engine, said method comprising lubricating said engine with a lubricating oil composition as claimed in claim 9, and operating the lubricating engine.
16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said engine is a heavy duty diesel (HDD) engine.
17. A method of improving the soot-handling properties of a lubricating oil composition for the lubrication of an internal combustion engine, which method comprises formulating said lubricating oil composition with a polymer composition comprising at least a first polymer that is an ethylene \u03b1-olefin copolymer comprising no greater than 66 mass % of units derived from ethylene; and a second polymer comprising a linear diblock copolymer comprising at least one block derived primarily from a vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon monomer, and at least one block derived primarily from diene monomer.
18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said lubricating oil composition is further formulated with a nitrogenous dispersant derived from a polyalkene having a number average molecular weight (Mn) of greater than about 1500, and a base oil of lubricating viscosity having a saturates content of at least about 80%, and wherein said lubricating oil composition contains less than about 0.4 mass % of sulfur, less than about 0.12 mass % phosphorus and less than about 1.2 mass % of sulfated ash.

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. An optical module comprising:
a light source;
a variable transmissivity member that is disposed in a light path of light emitted from the light source with a spacing of a first distance from the light source, the variable transmissivity member having transmissivity that increases as temperature rises;
a partial reflection member that is disposed on the light path of the light emitted from the light source with a spacing of a second distance from the light source, the second distance being larger than the first distance, the partial reflection member reflecting a first light component and transmitting a second light component of light that has been transmitted through the variable transmissivity member;
a light quantity monitor that is disposed in a light path of the first light component; and
an optical fiber that receives the second light component, the variable transmissivity member being disposed so as that the light path of the light emitted and the light path of the first light component pass through, and the light quantity monitor detecting quantity of the first light component,
wherein a first temperature inclination representing transmissivity variation with respect to temperature variation in the partial reflection member is smaller than a second temperature inclination representing transmissivity variation with respect to temperature variation in the variable transmissivity member.
2. The optical module according to claim 1, wherein a wavelength of the light emitted increases as temperature increases.
3. The optical module according to claim 2, wherein the light source is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
4. The optical module according to claim 1, wherein the transmissivity of the variable transmissivity member varies with variation in a wavelength of incident light.
5. The optical module according to claim 4, wherein the transmissivity of the variable transmissivity member increases as the wavelength of the incident light increases.
6. The optical module according to claim 1, wherein transmissivity of the partial reflection member is larger than transmissivity of the variable transmissivity member.
7. An optical communications device comprising the optical module according to claim 1.

1. An inverter device comprising:
a rectifier circuit that converts an AC power supply into a DC power supply;
a smoothing unit that is connected to a subsequent stage of the rectifier circuit;
a short-circuit unit that short-circuits the AC power supply via a reactor that improves a power factor of the AC power supply;
an inverter unit that converts a direct current from the smoothing unit into an alternating current; and
a control unit that controls the inverter unit, wherein
a gate drive circuit is connected to a gate terminal of each switching element in the inverter unit,
the gate drive circuit includes a first gate voltage line and a second gate voltage line having a voltage value larger than a voltage value of the first gate voltage line, and
the voltage value of the first gate voltage line is variable even during an operation of the inverter device.
2. The inverter device according to claim 1, wherein the first gate voltage line is controlled according to a load current.
3. The inverter device according to claim 1, wherein a voltage of the first gate voltage line is generated from the second gate voltage line.
4. An air conditioner comprising the inverter device according to claim 1, wherein the inverter device drives a motor to rotate.

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 horn coupled to a plurality of acoustic transducers, the horn comprising:
a first throat portion having a first throat opening adjacent to a first transducer;
a second throat portion having a second throat opening adjacent to a second transducer having the same resonant frequency as the first transducer; and
a mixing area integrally formed with the first and second throat portions, the mixing area comprising a common mouth opening shared by the first and second throat portions for at least one of transmitting or receiving acoustic signals,
wherein at least one dimension of the first throat portion is different from a corresponding dimension of the second throat portion, so that a first cutoff frequency corresponding to the first throat portion is different from a second cutoff frequency corresponding to the second throat portion.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first and second cutoff frequencies form a bandpass for the acoustic signals.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the first throat portion has a first growth factor corresponding to a rate of expansion of cross-sectional sidewalls of the first throat portion from the first throat opening to the mixing area, and
wherein the second throat portion has a second growth factor corresponding to a rate of expansion of cross-sectional sidewalls of the second throat portion from the second throat opening to the mixing area, the second growth factor being different from the first growth factor.
4. The device of claim 3, wherein the first cutoff frequency is greater than the second cutoff frequency when the first growth factor is greater than the second growth factor.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the first throat portion has a first length from the first throat opening to the mixing area and the first throat opening has a first open area, and
wherein the second throat portion has a second length from the second throat opening to the mixing area and the second throat opening has a second open area.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein the first length is longer than the second length and the first open area is the same as the second open area.
7. The device of claim 5, wherein the first length is the same as the second length and the first open area is greater than the second open area.
8. The device of claim 5, wherein the mixing area comprises a first mouth portion corresponding to the first throat portion and a second mouth portion corresponding to the second throat portion, the first and second mouth portions having different sizes.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein the first length is the same as the second length and the first open area is the same as the second open area, and
wherein the first mouth portion is greater than the second mouth portion.
10. The device of claim 2, wherein each of the first and second transducers comprises a micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) transducer.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein the mixing area minimizes a phase difference between the acoustic signals transmitted or received by the first and second transducers.
12. A filtering device for ultrasonic signals, the device comprising:
a plurality of transducers configured to convert between electrical energy and the ultrasonic signals, the plurality of transducers having the same resonant frequency; and
a multi-throat acoustic horn coupled to the transducers, the multi-throat acoustic horn comprising a plurality of horn structures having a common mouth opening and a plurality throat openings adjacent to the plurality of transducers for at least one of transmitting or receiving the ultrasonic signals, the plurality of horn structures having a corresponding plurality of throat structures integrally formed between the common mouth opening and the plurality of throat openings, the plurality of throat structures having different growth factors.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of horn structures provide different frequency responses and different cutoff frequencies.
14. The device of claim 13, wherein a difference between the cutoff frequencies provides a band-pass filter for the transmitted or received ultrasonic signals.
15. The device of claim 14, further comprising:
a differential amplifier configured to output a difference signal corresponding to the difference between the cutoff frequencies.
16. The device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of throat structures have the same length and the plurality of throat openings have different open areas, the horn structure having the smallest throat opening having the largest growth factor and cutoff frequency.
17. The device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of throat structures have different lengths and the plurality of throat openings have the same size open areas, the horn structure having the corresponding throat structure with the shortest length having the largest growth factor and cutoff frequency.
18. An acoustic horn coupled to a plurality of acoustic micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) transducers having the same resonant frequency, the acoustic horn comprising:
a first horn structure having a first throat portion and a first throat opening adjacent to a first transducer, the first throat portion having a first growth factor;
a second horn structure having a second throat portion and a second throat opening adjacent to a second transducer having the same resonant frequency as the first transducer, the second throat portion having a second growth factor greater than the first growth factor; and
a common mouth shared by the first and second horn structures for transporting acoustic signals,
wherein a first cutoff frequency corresponding to the first horn structure and a second cutoff frequency corresponding to the second horn structure form a band-pass filter for the acoustic signals, the second cutoff frequency being higher than the first cutoff frequency.