Author: claimsbot

1. An ion mobility spectrometer with an ion source and a mobility analyzer, the ion source comprising:
a first ionization region which is fluidly coupled to a sample source,
a second ionization region which is spatially separated from the first ionization region and fluidly coupled to a calibrant reservoir, and
an ion transfer system that controls the transfer of ions from one ionization region to the other andor from at least one ionization region to a third region of the ion source, wherein the third region is fluidly coupled to the first and second ionization regions and located closer to the mobility analyzer than the first and second ionization regions.
2. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the first ionization region, the second ionization region and the mobility analyzer are arranged in series.
3. The ion mobility analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the mobility analyzer comprises a drift tube which is separated from the second ionization region by a shutter gate and further comprises a gas flow system that directs a gas flow from the drift tube through the second ionization region towards the first ionization region.
4. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 3, wherein an X-ray tube is located on the front side of the ion source such that radiation is emitted and passes through the first and the second ionization region along the axis of the drift tube.
5. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 3, wherein a radioactive source is located in the first and second ionization region.
6. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the ion transfer control system controls the transfer of calibrant ions from the second ionization region to the third region.
7. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the ion transfer system comprises at least one of a Bradbury-Nielson gate, a single aperture electrode, and a grid electrode.
8. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the ion transfer system comprises an ion gating element located at the exit of at least one of the first and second ionization regions.
9. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the ion transfer system comprises multiple aperture electrodes located along at least one of the first and second ionization regions for generating an electrical drift field therein.
10. The ion mobility spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the calibrant reservoir is filled with at least one of a dicarboxylic acid and chlorovanilin.
11. A method for calibrating the mobility axis of an ion mobility spectrum acquired in an ion mobility spectrometer with an ion source and a mobility analyzer, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a gas-phase substance from a sample source to a first ionization region of the ion source and a gas-phase calibrant to a second ionization region of the ion source, wherein the first and the second ionization regions are spatially separated;
(b) switching an electric potential applied to at least one electrode of the first ionization region to inhibit the transfer of sample ions from the first ionization region to one of the second ionization region and a third region of the ion source located closer to the mobility analyzer than the first and second ionization regions;
(c) acquiring a mobility spectrum of calibrant ions generated in the second ionization region wherein the mobility spectrum comprises substantially no signals of sample ions generated in the first ionization region; and
(d) determining a calibration function for the mobility axis from at least one signal of a calibrant ion species and the known mobility of the calibrant ion species.
12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
switching said electric potential to release ions from the first ionization region into the third region;
acquiring a mobility spectrum comprising signals of calibrant and sample ions; and
determining the mobility characteristic for at least one measured sample ion using the calibration function.
13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
switching the electric potential applied to the at least one electrode of the first ionization region to release ions from the first ionization region into the third region;
switching an electric potential applied to at least one electrode of the second ionization region such that the transfer of ions from the second ionization region into the third region of the ion source is inhibited;
acquiring a mobility spectrum comprising signals of sample ions only; and
determining the mobility characteristic for at least one measured sample ion using the calibration function.
14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the signal position of at least one reactant ion species generated in the second ionization region is utilized to adjust the calibration function with regard to the humidity of the gas in the mobility analyzer.
15. A method for calibrating the mobility axis of an ion mobility spectrum acquired in an ion mobility spectrometer having an ion source and a mobility analyzer, comprising the steps:
(a) providing a gas-phase substance from a sample source to a first ionization region of the ion source and a gas-phase calibrant to a second ionization region of the ion source, wherein the first and the second ionization region are spatially separated;
(b) switching an electric potential applied to at least one electrode of the second ionization region such that the transfer of calibrant ions from the second ionization region into the first ionization region is inhibited and acquiring a first mobility spectrum comprising substantially no signals of calibrant ions;
(c) switching said electric potential such that calibrant ions are released into the first ionization region and acquiring a second mobility spectrum comprising sample and calibrant ions; and
(d) determining a calibration function for the mobility axis from at least one signal of a calibrant ion species and a known mobility of the calibrant ion species.

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 differential pressure sensor for measuring the pressure difference between a pressure acting on a high-pressure side and a pressure acting on a low-pressure side, comprising:
A measuring mechanism having:
a chamber on the high-pressure side that is sealed by a first dividing membrane and filled with a transfer medium, said first dividing membrane is loaded with a pressure acting on the high-pressure side;
a chamber on the low-pressure side that is sealed by a second dividing membrane and filled with a transfer medium, said second dividing membrane is loaded with a pressure acting on the low-pressure side;
a pressure-sensitive element which separates said chamber on the high-pressure side from said chamber on the low-pressure side; and
a single throttle for damping overload pulses; wherein:
said throttle is arranged on the low pressure side between said pressure-sensitive element and said second dividing membrane; and
no throttle is arranged on the high pressure side.
2. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said transfer medium is a hydraulic liquid, especially a silicone oil.
3. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said pressure-sensitive element has a measuring membrane, especially a piezoresistive silicon chip with a measuring membrane.
4. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said throttle has a sintered body.
5. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 4, wherein;
said sintered body is a metallic or a ceramic sintered body.
6. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
said throttle has a porous structure.
7. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein;
said porous structure has an effective flow pore diameter of not less than 4 \u03bcm and not more than 28 \u03bcm, preferably between 8 \u03bcm and 16 \u03bcm.
8. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein:
said the porous structure has a porosity between 15 vol. % and 50 vol. %, preferably between 25 vol % and 35 vol %.
9. The differential pressure sensor as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
said sintered body has an essentially cylindrical form and the length of said sintered body in the axial direction is at least twice as large as the diameter.

1. A production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell, the electrode catalyst on which ternary system catalytic particles are loaded, the production process comprising:
a dispersing step of dispersing a conductive support in a solution, thereby preparing a dispersion liquid;
a loading step of dropping a platinum-salt solution, a base-metal-salt solution and an iridium-salt solution to the dispersion liquid, thereby loading respective metallic salts on the conductive support as metallic hydroxides under an alkaline condition; and
an alloying step of heating the conductive support with metallic hydroxides loaded in a reducing atmosphere to reduce the metallic hydroxides, thereby alloying the metallic hydroxides.
2. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1 further comprising, between said loading step and said alloying step, a washing step of filtering, washing and drying said conductive support with metallic hydroxides loaded.
3. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, wherein said conductive support comprises carbon;
and a base metal of said base-metal-salt solution comprises one or more members of base metals being selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc.
4. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 3, wherein a base metal of said base-metal-salt solution comprises cobalt.
5. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, wherein a compositional ratio between the platinum element in said platinum-salt solution, the base-metal element in said base-metal-salt solution and the iridium element in said iridium-salt solution is platinum:base-metal element:iridium=1:0.01-2:0.01-2 by molar ratio.
6. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 5, wherein the compositional ratio between the platinum element in said platinum-salt solution, the base-metal element in said base-metal-salt solution and the iridium element in said iridium-salt solution is platinum:base-metal element:iridium=1:0.07-1:0.01-0.3 by molar ratio.
7. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, wherein said conductive support comprises carbon; and a proportion of a loading amount of platinum in said ternary system catalytic particles being loaded on the carbon with respect to an amount of the carbon is 0.6-1.7 by molar ratio.
8. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, wherein said ternary system catalytic particles being obtained at said alloying step have particle diameters falling in a range of 3.6 nm.
9. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, wherein said alloying step includes a step of treating said conductive support with metallic hydroxides loaded at a temperature of 700-900\xb0 C. in an inert atmosphere.
10. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 9, wherein said inert atmosphere comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of a nitrogen atmosphere, an argon atmosphere and a helium atmosphere.
11. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 10, wherein said inert atmosphere comprises an argon atmosphere.
12. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 1, further including, after said alloying step, a surface treatment step of treating the conductive support with metallic catalysts loaded that has been obtained at the alloying step with a reducing acid, and thereafter treating it with an oxidizing acid.
13. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 12, wherein said reducing acid comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of formic acid and oxalic acid; and said oxidizing acid comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid.
14. The production process of an electrode catalyst for fuel cell set forth in claim 13, wherein said reducing acid comprises formic acid; and said oxidizing acid comprises nitric acid.

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 online game method comprising the steps of:
connecting a plurality of game machines capable of performing a single betting-type racing game played by a plurality of players assembled in one place and a control unit for controlling game execution states of each of the game machines via a communication line;
providing, by the control unit, part or the entirety of game-related data required for executing the racing game to the game machines for performing the race;
after the providing step, simultaneously executing, by each of the game machines, the racing game based on the game-related data;
collecting, by the control unit, execution states of the race at the game machines and betting odds generated at all the game machines; and
presenting, in real time, the collected race execution states and integrated betting odds to the players surrounding all the game machines using at least one of visual information and auditory information.
2. The online game method of claim 1, wherein the game machines for performing the race cause the players to compete with one another in running abilities of running models whose running abilities are improved by the respective players, and wherein when the race is terminated, a game value in accordance with the betting odds is paid off.
3. The online game method of claim 1, wherein the racing game is a game simulating an actual race, and wherein whenever up-to-date information on the actual race is generated, the control unit provides the game machines for performing the race with the information as part of the game-related data.
4. The online game method of claim 1, wherein the control unit periodically provides the game machines for performing the race with up-to-date information generated by an actual race as part of the game-related data.
5. The online game method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the game machines comprises an accepting device which accepts speech registration data desired by the players, and wherein when the game machine presents the race execution states using synthesized speech, the game machine forms and presents synthesized speech which at least includes the speech registration data as part of the synthesized speech.
6. An online game method comprising the steps of:
connecting a plurality of game machines capable of performing a single betting-type racing game played by a plurality of players assembled in one place and a control unit for controlling game execution states of each of the game machines via a communication line;
providing, by the control unit, part or the entirety of game-related data required for executing the racing game to the game machines for performing the race;
after the providing step, enabling the game machines to execute the racing game based on the game-related data;
collecting, by the control unit, betting odds generated at all the game machines and execution states of the race at the game machines for performing the race; and
presenting, in real time, the race execution states and integrated betting odds to the players surrounding all the game machines using at least one of visual information and auditory information.
7. The online game method of claim 6, wherein the game machines for performing the race cause the players to compete with one another in running abilities of running models whose running abilities are improved by the respective players, and wherein when the race is terminated, a game value in accordance with the betting odds is paid off.
8. The online game method of claim 6, wherein the racing game is a game simulating an actual race, and wherein whenever up-to-date information on the actual race is generated, the control unit provides the game machines for performing the race with the information as part of the game-related data.
9. The online game method of claim 6, wherein the control unit periodically provides the game machines for performing the race with up-to-date information generated by an actual race as part of the game-related data.
10. The online game method of claim 6, wherein at least one of the game machines comprises an accepting device which accepts speech registration data desired by the players, and wherein when the game machine presents the race execution states using synthesized speech, the game machine forms and presents synthesized speech which at least includes the speech registration data as part of the synthesized speech.
11. A game system, comprising:
a plurality of game machines capable of performing a single betting-type racing game played by a plurality of players assembled in one place, the plurality of game machines being connected via a communication line; and
a control unit which performs game execution control of the game machines connected to the communication line,
wherein each of the game machines comprises:
an execution device which obtains part or the entirety of game-related data required for executing the racing game from the control unit, and which executes the racing game based on the obtained game-related data;
a totaling device which totals betting odds for the race;
a sender which sends the totaled betting odds and race execution states of the game machine to the control unit; and
a receiver receiving, from the control unit, integrated race execution states, which are obtained by integrating the race execution states from the game machine and another game machine, and integrated betting odds, the receiver presenting the race execution states in real time to the player surrounding the game machine using at least one of visual information and auditory information, and the receiver displaying the integrated betting odds and betting odds at the game machine.
12. The game system of claim 11, wherein the control unit comprises:
a syllabic phoneme data storing device which stores syllabic phoneme data including accent and intonation; and
a retrieval device which retrieves, from the syllabic phoneme data storing device, a combination of syllabic phoneme data corresponding to the integrated race information, and which outputs the retrieved combination of the syllabic phoneme data to all the game machines, and
wherein each of the game machines further comprises:
a speech synthesis device which produces synthesized speech based on the combination of syllabic phoneme data obtained from the control unit; and
a commentator which gives a running commentary of the racing game using the synthesized speech produced by the speech synthesis device.
13. The game system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the game machines further comprises:
an accepting device which accepts speech registration data registered by the player playing the game machine;
a syllabic phoneme data storing device which stores syllabic phoneme data including accent or intonation;
a speech synthesis device which retrieves the accepted speech registration data and a combination of syllabic phoneme data, which correspond to the integrated race information obtained from the control unit, from the syllabic phoneme data storing device, and the speech synthesis device producing synthesized speech which at least includes the registration data as part of the synthesized speech; and
a commentator which gives a running commentary of the racing game using the synthesized speech produced by the speech synthesis device.
14. The game system of claim 11, wherein the game machines cause the players to compete with one another in running abilities of running models whose running abilities are improved by the respective players, and wherein when the race is terminated, a game value in accordance with the betting odds is paid off.
15. The game system of claim 14, further comprising a ranking device which ranks race results of all the running models appearing in the racing game, and which periodically posts the ranking results on an electronic medium which can be read by the public.
16. The game system of claim 11, wherein the game machines are arcade-type horse racing game machines which partially include information generated by an actual horse race.