Author: claimsbot

1. A method of adjusting a rotational speed of a shaft of a gear change transmission (10) of a motor vehicle including an automated clutch (12) arranged between the gear change transmission (10) and a drive motor (35), wherein the rotational speed is controlled by means of a torque derived from the drive motor (35) and transmitted by the automated clutch (12), said method comprising the steps of:
defining a desired value for a position of the clutch (12) as a function of a rotational speed difference between a measured rotational speed of the shaft (16) and a target rotational speed, adjusting the speed of the shaft (16) to a range around the target speed and executing the gear change.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in a control device (34) which activates the clutch (12) and the gear change transmission (10), a clutch position providing for a contact point of the clutch (12) is stored and the desired value of the clutch position is defined relative to the contact point.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the desired value of the clutch position is defined such that, in the event of a large rotational speed difference, the rotational speed of the shaft (16) changes more quickly than in the event of a small rotational speed difference.
4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein
a relationship between a characteristic variable which represents an expected change in the rotational speed of the shaft (16) and the clutch position is stored in the control device (34),
on the basis of said rotational speed difference, a desired value for the characteristic variable is determined, and based on
the desired value for the characteristic variable and the stored relationship, the desired value for the clutch position is determined.
5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein on the basis of a comparison of the characteristic variable actually given at a set clutch position with the stored characteristic variable, the relationship between the characteristic variable and the clutch position is corrected.
6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein
on the basis of a momentary measured rotational speed of the shaft (16) and the resulting rotational speed difference with respect to the target rotational speed, a desired profile of the rotational speed of the shaft is determined,
on the basis of the desired profile, a profile for the desired value of the characteristic variable is determined, and
based on the stored relationship between the characteristic variable and the clutch position, the desired value for the clutch position is determined.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein in the determination of the desired profile of the rotational speed of the shaft (16), a possible change in the target rotational speed is taken into consideration.
8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the desired profile of the rotational speed is composed of at least two sections with a constant rotational speed gradient.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein
the clutch position, proceeding from a start position, is varied in the direction of the closed position of the clutch (12),
the rotational speed of the shaft (16) is observed and
in the event of a significant change in the rotational speed, the desired profile of the rotational speed is determined.
10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the start position is defined such that no positive gradient of the rotational speed of the shaft (16) is to be expected.
11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein
the profile of the rotational speed of the shaft (16) is monitored,
it is checked as to whether the profile meets a defined condition, and
in the event of the condition being met, an offset value is determined, by which the nominal values of the clutch positions determined during the method are moved in the direction of the closed position.
12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
on the basis of a momentary rotational speed of the shaft (16) and a momentary rotational speed gradient, a future profile of the rotational speed is estimated,
it is checked as to whether the profile meets a defined condition, and
when a positive result of the check, the desired value of the clutch position is defined such that a gradient of the rotational speed of zero is to be expected.
13. A control device of a gear change transmission of a motor vehicle, with an automated clutch (12) being arranged between the gear change transmission (10) and a drive motor (35), and the control device (34) being provided to adjust a rotational speed of a shaft (16) of the gear change transmission (10) by means of a torque of the drive motor (35) transmitted by the clutch (12), the control device (34) being provided to define a desired value for a clutch position of the clutch (12) as a function of a rotational speed difference between a measured rotational speed of the shaft (16) and a target rotational speed.

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 composition of matter comprising: a nanostructured oxide or hydroxide doped with Mn4+; wherein the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide comprises nanofibers having diameters of less than about 250 nanometers; and wherein the nanofibers have an aspect ratio greater than about 10.
2. The composition of matter of claim 1, wherein the nanofibers are spaced about 0.5 to about 200 nanometers apart from each other.
3. The composition of matter of claim 1, wherein the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide comprises particles having diameters of about 1 to about 100 nanometers.
4. The composition of matter of claim 3, wherein the particles are arranged in agglomerates having diameters of about 0.1 to about 200 microns.
5. The composition of matter of claim 1, wherein the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide has a porosity greater than about 60 volume %.
6. The composition of matter of any one of claims 1 or 2-5, wherein the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide comprises nickel, yttrium, zirconium, aluminum, silicon, magnesium, vanadium, molybdenum, zinc, silver, titanium, iron, cobalt, copper, tungsten, or a rare earth metal.
7. The composition of matter of claim 1, wherein the composition of matter is a water treatment composition or a nuclear waste treatment composition.
8. A method of making the composition of matter of claim 1, comprising:
forming a nanostructured oxide or hydroxide material doped with Mn3+; and
oxidizing the Mn3+ to Mn4+ to reduce dissolution of the Mn3+ in the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide material.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said forming the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide material doped with Mn3+ comprises:
combining a manganese salt and a metal salt with an aqueous starter solution;
combining an oxidant with an aqueous reactant solution; and
combining the aqueous reactant solution with the aqueous starter solution to precipitate the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide material; wherein Mn2+ in the aqueous starter solution is oxidized to Mn3+.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising heat treating the nanostructured oxide or hydroxide.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein a mole ratio of the manganese salt to the metal salt in the aqueous starter solution is about 0.1 to about 0.5.

1. A lens barrel comprising:
a barrel main body;
a lens frame supported by the barrel main body so as to be movable in a direction of an optical axis of the lens barrel;
an operation ring rotatably supported by the barrel main body and moves the lens frame in the direction of the optical axis; and
a diaphragm device attached to the barrel main body,
wherein the operation ring comes into contact with a portion of the diaphragm device so that rotation of the operation ring is regulated.
2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm device is inserted into and attached to an opening in a peripheral surface of the barrel main body.
3. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the operation ring has a step section at an end face thereof, and the step section comes into contact with a portion of the diaphragm device.
4. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the operation ring has a protrusion section projecting from an outer peripheral surface of the operation ring, and the protrusion section comes into contact with a portion of the diaphragm device so that rotation of the operation ring is regulated.
5. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the operation ring is one of a focus ring and a zoom ring.
6. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the operation ring comes into surface contact with a portion of the diaphragm device.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. An optical channel monitor, comprising:
a tunable optical bandpass filter in optical communication with the optical input;
a photodetector in optical communication with the optical input;
a reference light source in optical communication with the tunable optical bandpass filter, said reference light source configured and arranged to produce a reference light beam having a bandwidth greater than a passband width of the tunable optical bandpass filter; and
a reference gas cell containing a reference gas having a plurality of known absorption wavelength bands, the reference gas cell being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of the reference light beam after the reference light beam passes through the filter.
2. An optical channel monitor as in claim 1, further comprising a reference photodetector, disposed in an optical path of the reference light beam after it has passed through both the filter and the reference gas cell.
3. An optical channel monitor as in claim 1, wherein the photodetector is disposed in an optical path of the reference signal after it has passed through both the filter and the reference cell.
4. An optical channel monitor as in claim 1, wherein the tunable optical bandpass filter comprises a scanning Fabry-Perot filter.
5. An optical channel monitor as in claim 1, wherein the tunable optical bandpass filter is tunable in response to an electrical signal from an electrical signal generator.
6. An optical channel monitor as in claim 5, wherein the electrical signal generator is a triangle wave oscillator.
7. An optical channel monitor as in claim 6, wherein the tunable optical filter comprises a scanning Fabry-Perot filter.
8. An optical channel monitor as in claim 6, wherein the scanning Fabry-Perot filter is constructed and arranged to pass a plurality of wavelength bands, in order, in response to the electrical signal such that a predetermined wavelength range is continuously scanned.
9. An optical channel monitor as in claim 1, further comprising a signal processor in electrical communication with the photodetector.
10. An optical channel monitor as in claim 9, further comprising an amplifier in electrical communication with the photodetector and the signal processor.
11. An optical channel monitor as in claim 10, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter, in series electrical communication with the amplifier and the signal processor.
12. An optical channel monitor as in claim 2, further comprising a signal processor in electrical communication with the photodetector and the reference photodetector.
13. An optical channel monitor as in claim 12, further comprising an amplifier in electrical communication with the photodetectors and the signal processor.
14. An optical channel monitor as in claim 13, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter in series electrical communication with the amplifier and the signal processor.
15. A method of measuring characteristics of an optical signal, comprising:
directing at least a portion of the optical signal to a tunable bandpass optical filter having a wavelength passband;
filtering the optical signal with the tunable bandpass optical filter, the filtering producing a filtered optical signal;
providing a reference optical beam having components within a bandwidth wider than the wavelength passband of the tunable bandpass optical filter;
passing the reference optical beam through a reference gas cell having a reference gas and the tunable filter to produce a reference optical signal modulated by absorption by the reference gas; and
detecting the filtered optical signal and the reference optical signal.
16. A method as in claim 15, further comprising, comparing the filtered optical signal with the reference optical signal.
17. A method as in claim 15, wherein the filtered optical signal and the reference optical signal are detected with respective photodetectors.
18. A method as in claim 15, wherein the filtered optical signal and the reference optical signal are detected with a common photodetector.
19. A method as in claim 15, further comprising processing the optical signals.
20. A method as in claim 19, wherein the processing further comprises:
amplifying the filtered optical signal and the reference optical signal;
converting the filtered optical signal and the reference optical signal to respective digital signals; and
processing the digital signals.
21. A wavelength division multiplexed optical communication system, comprising:
a transmitter;
an optical transmission line in communication with the transmitter to receive an optical signal including at least one channel, the channel comprising a selected wavelength bandwidth;
an optical channel monitor comprising:
an optical input in optical communication with the optical transmission line;
a tunable optical bandpass filter in optical communication with the optical input;
a photodetector in optical communication with the optical input;
a reference light source in optical communication with the tunable optical bandpass filter, said reference light source configured and arranged to produce a reference light beam having a bandwidth greater than a passband width of the tunable optical bandpass filter; and
a reference gas cell containing a reference gas having a plurality of known absorption wavelength bands, the reference gas cell being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of the reference light beam after the reference signal passes through the filter; and
a receiver in communication with the optical transmission line.