Author: claimsbot

1. A light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer comprising:
a light intensity ratio adjustment film of a multi-layered film structure comprising at least one optical reflection-absorption layer and at least one dielectric anti-reflection layer laminated in that order as seen from a reference surface of a Fizeau interferometer and attached to a side of a transparent substrate opposite a sample or to a side of the transparent substrate opposite the reference surface;
wherein the light intensity ratio adjustment filter is placed so as to be freely inserted and removed between a sample and the reference surface of the Fizeau interferometer inducing interference between sample light from the sample and reference light from the reference surface, and obtaining interference wave information for the sample; and
wherein the light intensity ratio adjustment film reflects part of the incident light from the surface of the transparent substrate opposite the reference surface, and after absorbing part of the remaining light, transmits the remainder towards the sample, and absorbs part of the light returned from the sample and incident from the surface side opposite the sample while controlling reflection, and transmits the remainder in the direction of the reference surface as the sample light.
2. The light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer according to claim 1, wherein the optical reflection-absorption layer comprises a metallic layer, and the dielectric anti-reflection layer comprises a metallic oxide layer.
3. The light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer according to claim 2, wherein the metallic layer comprises nickel-chrome or bismuth, and the dielectric anti-reflection layer comprises titanium oxide or bismuth oxide.
4. The light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer according to claim 1, wherein an optical anti-reflection film is attached to the surface of the transparent substrate either opposite the reference surface or opposite the sample to which the light intensity ratio adjustment film is not attached.
5. The light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer according to claim 4, wherein the optical anti-reflection film comprises a layer of alternate films of ZnS and MgF2.
6. An interferometer comprising the light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer according to claim 1.
7. The interferometer according to claim 6, wherein the light intensity ratio of the reference light in relation to the sample light at the reference surface is within a range of 5 and \u2155.
8. The interferometer according to claim 6, wherein the light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer can be freely inserted and removed from a light path.
9. The interferometer according to claim 6, wherein the surface of the light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer is inclined towards a surface perpendicular to an optical axis of the interferometer.
10. The interferometer according to claim 6, wherein the sample forms a spherical shape.
11. A light interference measurement method for obtaining interference wave information for a sample using the interferometer according to claim 6, comprising the steps of:
placing a measurement value adjustment reference plate having a surface reflectance equivalent to the reference surface at sample position, and inserting the light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer in a light path between the reference surface and the measurement value adjustment reference plate, to obtain primary interference wave information;
placing the sample to be measured at the sample position, and inserting the light intensity ratio adjustment filter for an interferometer in the light path between the reference surface and the sample to be measured, to obtain secondary interference wave information; and
computing the difference information between the secondary interference wave information and the primary interference wave information to obtain interference wave information for the sample to be measured.

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 manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet comprising steps of:
milling magnet material into magnet powder;
preparing a mixture of the magnet powder and a binder;
obtaining a green sheet through thermally melting and forming the mixture into a sheet-like shape;
heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field to multiple layers of the heated green sheet, for magnetic field orientation; and
sintering the green sheet subjected to the magnetic field orientation.
2. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 1, wherein, in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, multiple layers of the green sheet are heated.
3. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 1, wherein,
in the step of obtaining a green sheet, a base that is continuously conveyed is coated with the mixture, so as to form the green sheet on the base, and
in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, the green sheet is continuously conveyed together with the base.
4. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 3 further comprising steps of:
after the step of obtaining a green sheet, rolling up the green sheet around each of a plurality of first rolls, and drawing out the green sheet from each of the plurality of first rolls, and stacking up the drawn-out green sheet to form the multiple layers of the green sheet, so that the magnetic field is simultaneously applied to the multiple layers of the green sheet; and
separating the multiple layers of the green sheet subjected to the magnetic field orientation back into each single layer of the green sheet, and rolling up the single layer of the green sheet around each of a plurality of second rolls.
5. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 3, wherein,
in the step of obtaining a green sheet, each of a plurality of bases drawn out from a plurality of third rolls is coated with the mixture, so as to form the green sheet on each of the plurality of bases, and
in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, the green sheet on each of the plurality of bases is stacked to form multiple layers of the green sheet and the magnetic field is simultaneously applied to the multiple layers of the green sheet, and wherein
the manufacturing method further comprises a step of: separating the multiple layers of the green sheet subjected to the magnetic field orientation back into each single layer of the green sheet, and rolling up the single layer of the green sheet around each of a plurality of fourth rolls.
6. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 3, wherein, in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, the green sheet conveyed together with the base is made to pass through a solenoid charged with electric current.
7. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 1, wherein,
the binder is any one of thermoplastic resin, a long-chain hydrocarbon and a fatty acid methyl ester, or any mixture thereof, and
in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, the green sheet is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than a glass-transition point or melting point of the binder.
8. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 1, wherein, before the step of sintering the green sheet, the binder is decomposed and removed from the green sheet by holding the green sheet for a predetermined length of time at binder decomposition temperature in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
9. A rare-earth permanent magnet manufactured through steps of:
milling magnet material into magnet powder;
preparing a mixture of the magnet powder and a binder;
obtaining a green sheet through thermally melting and forming the mixture into a sheet-like shape;
heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field to multiple layers of the heated green sheet, for magnetic field orientation; and
sintering the green sheet subjected to the magnetic field orientation.
10. The manufacturing method of a rare-earth permanent magnet according to claim 2, wherein,
in the step of obtaining a green sheet, a base that is continuously conveyed is coated with the mixture, so as to form the green sheet on the base, and
in the step of heating the green sheet and simultaneouslysubsequently applying a magnetic field, the green sheet is continuously conveyed together with the base.

1. A method for recovering from startup and runtime failures of a software system in a computer environment including a client device, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a persistent memory in the client device including at least first and second system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of the software system are installed on the first and second system partitions and all installed software packages of the software system are saved on the at least one package partition;
(b) designating one of the first and second system partitions as a current system partition and the other of the first and second system partitions as a backup system partition;
(c) using the current system partition by a central processing unit of the client device for controlling the client device;
(d) rebooting the software system of the client device using the backup system partition in response to one of an startup failure, a runtime failure of the software system of the client device, and a user request;
(e) designating the backup system partition as the new current system partition;
(f) creating a new backup system partition from the new current system partition; and
(g) reinstalling the entire software system by installing all of the software packages residing on the at least one package partition after said step (f).
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of allowing selective removal of the software packages from the at least one package partition after said step (f).
3. The method of claim 1, where the client device is one of a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone, a cable television set top box, and a satellite television set top box.
4. A method for recovering from startup and runtime failures of a software system in a computer environment including a client device, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a persistent memory in the client device including at least first and second system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of the software system are installed on the first and second system partitions and at least the software packages of the software system downloaded from remote servers are saved on the at least one package partition;
(b) designating one of the first and second system partitions as a current system partition and the other of the first and second system partitions as a backup system partition;
(c) using the current system partition by a central processing unit of the client device for controlling the client device;
(d) rebooting the software system of the client device using the backup system partition in response to one of an startup failure, a runtime failure of the software system of the client device, and a user request;
(e) designating the backup system partition as the new current system partition;
(f) creating a new backup system partition from the new current system partition; and
(g) allowing selective removal of the software packages from the at least one package partition after said step (f).
5. A method for recovering from startup and runtime failures of a software system in a computer environment including a client device, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a persistent memory in the client device including at least first and second system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of the software system are installed on the first and second system partitions and at least the software packages of the software system downloaded from remote servers are saved on the at least one package partition;
(b) designating one of the first and second system partitions as a current system partition and the other of the first and second system partitions as a backup system partition;
(c) using the current system partition by a central processing unit of the client device for controlling the client device;
(d) rebooting the software system of the client device using the backup system partition in response to one of an startup failure, a runtime failure of the software system of the client device, and a user request;
(e) designating the backup system partition as the new current system partition;
(f) creating a new backup system partition from the new current system partition; and
(g) allowing selective installation of software packages on the first and second system partitions from the software packages saved on the at least one package partition after said step (f).
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said step (g) further comprises using a package management system to determine dependencies between the software packages saved on the at least one package partition.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step (g) further comprises the steps of selecting a user selected software package on the package partition for installation in one of the system partitions, determining whether the user selected software package is compatible with existing installed software packages, and blocking installation of the user selected software package if the user selected software package is not compatible with existing installed software packages.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein said step (g) further comprises the steps of selecting a user selected software package on the package partition for installation in one of the system partitions, determining whether the user selected software package is compatible with existing installed software packages, and outputting a warning if the user selected software package is not compatible with existing installed software packages.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein said step (g) further comprises selecting a user selected software package from the package partition for installation in one of the system partitions, identifying other software packages on the package partitions required for the user selected software package using the package management system, and installing both the selected software package and the other software packages identified by the package management system.
10. A method for recovering from startup and runtime failures of a software system in a computer environment including a client device, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a persistent memory in the client device including at least first and second system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of the software system are installed on the first and second system partitions and at least the software packages of the software system downloaded from remote servers are saved on the at least one package partition;
(b) designating one of the first and second system partitions as a current system partition and the other of the first and second system partitions as a backup system partition;
(c) using the current system partition by a central processing unit of the client device for controlling the client device;
(c1) performing a software package installation procedure for installing a new software package in the client device, wherein the step of installing a new software package includes the substeps of:
(i) receiving the new software package at the client device;
(ii) determining whether the new software package contains a critical component, the critical component being a component that requires a reboot of the client device to run after installation;
(iii) performing an upgrade procedure including installing the new software package in the background system partition if it is determined in said step (ii) that the new software package contains a critical component;
(iv) performing an update procedure including installing the new software package in the current system partition if it is determined in said step (ii) that the new software package does not contain a critical component; and
(v) saving the new software package in the at least one package partition;

(d) rebooting the software system of the client device after said step (c1) using the backup system partition in response to one of an startup failure, a runtime failure of the software system of the client device, and a user request;
(e) designating the backup system partition as the new current system partition;
(f) creating a new backup system partition from the new current system partition.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:
(g) allowing selective installation of software packages on the first and second system partitions from the software packages saved on the at least one package partition after said step (f).
12. The method of claim 11, wherein said step (g) further comprises outputting, by the client device, a list of software packages installed on the system partitions during the most recently performed software package installation procedure.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein said new software package replaces a preexisting software package such that said substep (v) further includes removing the preexisting software package from the at least one package partition after the new software package has been saved.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of indicating in a non-volatile memory of the computer that the installation process has started after said substep (i) and indicating in the non-volatile memory after said substep (v) that the installation process is completed.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein said substep (i) comprises receiving the new software package from a remote server via a communication network.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said substep (i) comprises receiving the new software package from the remote server automatically.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein said substep (i) comprises receiving the new software package in response to a user request.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein said substep (ii) comprises reading a meta-file sent with the new software package to determine whether the package contains a critical component.
19. The method of claim 10, wherein said upgrade procedure of said substep (iii) comprises:
copying the current system partition to the backup system partition;
installing the new software package on the backup system partition;
saving the new software on the at least one package partition;
switching the designations of the current and backup system partitions so that the current system partition includes the new software package; and
rebooting the client device with the current system partition.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of deleting an old version of the software package from the at least one package partition.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of updating a package management system of the client device used to determine dependencies between the software packages of the software system.
22. The method of claim 10, wherein said update procedure of said substep (iv) comprises:
installing the new software package on the current system partition; and
saving the new software package on the at least one package partition.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of deleting an old version of the software package from the at least one package partition.
24. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of updating a package management system of the client device used to determine dependencies between the software packages of the software system.
25. The method of claim 10, where said substep (iii) is performed if the new software package includes one of at least part of an operating system kernel, a device driver, and at least part of a window system.
26. A computer system comprising a client device connectable to a server via a communication network for receiving software packages, said client device comprising:
a persistent memory connected to said central processing unit, said persistent memory having two system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of a software system of said client device are installed on said two system partitions, one of said two system partitions being designated as a current system partition and the other one of said two system partitions is designated as a backup system partition, and wherein all software packages installed in the computer system are saved on said at least one package partition;
a central processing unit connected to said persistent memory and using said current system partition for control;
means for automatically rebooting said computer system using the backup partition in response to one of a startup failure, a runtime failure, and a user request to revert to a previous software version; and
means for allowing user selected ones of the software packages from the at least one package partition to be installed on one of the system partitions in response to one of a startup failure, a runtime failure, and a user request to revert to a previous software version.
27. The computer system of claim 26, wherein said client device comprises one of a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, and a mobile phone.
28. A computer system comprising a client device connectable to a server via a communication network for receiving software packages, said client device comprising:
a persistent memory connected to said central processing unit, said persistent memory having two system partitions and at least one package partition, wherein runtime components of a software system of said client device are installed on said two system partitions, one of said two system partitions being designated as a current system partition and the other one of said two system partitions is designated as a backup system partition, and wherein all software packages installed in the computer system are saved on said at least one package partition;
a central processing unit connected to said persistent memory and using said current system partition for control;
means for automatically rebooting said computer system using the backup partition in response to one of a startup failure, a runtime failure, and a user request to revert to a previous software version; and
a package management system including information regarding the dependencies and version information for each of the software packages on the at least one package partition.

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 method comprising
downstream of a device that imparts turbulence to a flow of air that is being sucked through the device on its way to a location where oxygen in the air is to be consumed, redistributing components of the air so that when the air arrives at the location where the oxygen is to be consumed there is an enriched supply of oxygen available;
in which the redistributing of the components includes imparting centrifugal force to separate components of the air based on their relative masses.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the redistributing of the components includes spinning the air that is sucked through the device.
3. The method of claim 2 in which the spinning comprises deflecting the air on deflection surfaces.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the components of the air are redistributed beginning at no more than a small distance from the device through which the air is being sucked.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the device through which the air is being sucked comprises an air filter.
6. The method of claim 1 in which the location at where the oxygen is to be consumed comprises an atomization point in an internal combustion engine.
7. The method of claim 1 in which the components of the air comprise oxygen and nitrogen.
8. The method of claim 1 in which the redistribution of the components comprises causing at least one of the components to tend to occupy a central cylindrical region and at least another of the components to tend to occupy a cylindrical shell around the central cylindrical region.
9. The method of claim 8 in which the oxygen tends to occupy the central cylindrical region.
10. The method of claim 8 in which the oxygen tends to occupy the cylindrical shell.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising
decreasing turbulence in air flowing along a constrained path by imparting angular velocity to the air.
12. The method of claim 11 in which imparting angular velocity to the air comprises moving the air in a spiral path.
13. The method of claim 11 also comprising reducing a stage of low-amplitude, high-frequency turbulence in the air.
14. The method of claim 11 also comprising reducing effects that are due to bands of turbulence produced in the air by stroking of an internal combustion engine.
15. The method of claim 11 also comprising reducing effects that are due to phase shifts within bands of turbulence produced in the air by stroking of an internal combustion engine.
16. The method of claim 11 in which the angular velocity is imparted by moving the air past a structure to cause the air to move in a spiral path.
17. The method of claim 13 in which the stage of low-amplitude, high-frequency turbulence in the air is reduced by moving the air past a structure.
18. The method of claim 14 in which the effects that are due to bands of turbulence produced in the air by stroking of an internal combustion engine are reduced by moving the air past a structure.
19. The method of claim 15 in which the effects that are due to phase shifts within bands of turbulence produced in the air by stroking of an internal combustion engine are reduced by moving the air past a structure.
20. A method comprising
establishing regions of enhanced oxygen density in air flowing along a confined path by causing components of the air having higher masses to move radially away from the path along which the air is flowing, in which the components are caused to move radially by imparting angular velocity to the air; and
removing at least some components of the air.
21. A method comprising
establishing regions of enhanced oxygen density in air flowing along a confined path by causing components of the air having higher masses to move radially toward the path along which the air is flowing, in which the components are caused to move radially by imparting angular velocity to the air; and
removing at least some components of the air.
22. The method of claim 20 or 21 in which the amount of angular velocity imparted depends on a pressure with which the air is being caused to flow along the path.
23. The method of claim 20 in which components of the air having higher masses are caused to move radially away from the path along which the air is flowing by moving the air past a structure.
24. The method of claim 21 in which components of the air having higher masses are caused to move radially toward the path along which the air is flowing by moving the air past a structure.
25. The method of claim 21 in which the components are caused to move radially by imparting angular velocity to the air.
26. The method of claim 25 in which the amount of angular velocity imparted depends on a pressure with which the air is being caused to flow along the path.