All The Claims

1. A fuse assembly that reduces corona shield discharge comprising:
a fuse having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a current conducting fusible element disposed therebetween and electrically connecting the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the fusible element is configured to fail upon conducting current that exceeds a predetermined current rating and upon such failure electrically disconnect the first terminal from the second terminal;
a single electrically conductive member configured to be coupled with and disposed about the fuse, wherein the single electrically conductive member is electrically connected with the first terminal, and electrically isolated from the second terminal when the current conducting fusible element has failed and the first terminal is electrically disconnected from the second terminal as a result thereof;
wherein the single electrically conductive member includes a first end having a first diameter, a second end having a second diameter larger than the first diameter, and a conical transition portion positioned between the first end and the second end;
an electrically insulating housing encapsulating the conductive member and the fuse; and
an electrically conductive or semi-conductive material disposed about the electrically conductive housing and configured to provide a ground plane for the fuse assembly.
2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the single electrically conductive member is generally cylindrical.
3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein the electrically conductive member comprises a first diameter greater than a diameter of the fuse and a second diameter greater than the first diameter.
4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the single electrically conductive member comprises a metallic sheet.
5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the metallic sheet is perforated.
6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the single electrically conductive member comprises a metallic mesh.
7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the single electrically conductive member comprises a metallic screen.
8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the electrically conductive member axially overlaps the first or the second terminal.
9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing comprises a one-piece material.
10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the single electrically conductive member comprises aluminum.
11. The fuse assembly comprising:
a fuse having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a current conducting fusible element disposed therebetween and electrically connecting the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the fusible element is configured to fail upon conducting current that exceeds a predetermined current rating and upon such failure electrically disconnect the first terminal from the second terminal;
a single electrically conductive member substantially surrounding and coupled with the fuse;
a one-piece electrically isolating enclosure substantially encapsulating the fuse and the single electrically conductive member such that the single electrically conductive member is electrically connected with the first terminal of the fuse, and electrically isolated from the second terminal when the current conducting fusible element has failed and the first terminal is electrically disconnected from the second terminal of the fuse as a result thereof; and
wherein the single electrically conductive member includes a first end having a first diameter, a second end having a second diameter larger than the first diameter, and a conical transition portion positioned between the first end and the second end;
an electrically conductive or semiconductor material disposed about the electrically isolating enclosure member.
12. The assembly of claim 11 wherein the single electrically conductive member is generally cylindrical and coaxial with the fuse.
13. The fuse assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the single electrically conductive member has a length and a cross-sectional area that is substantially the same along a majority of the length.
14. The fuse assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein a second end of the single electrically conductive member at least partially overlaps the second terminal.
15. The fuse assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the single electrically conductive member includes a transition portion between a first end and the second end, the transition portion having a cross-sectional area that increases gradually from the first end to the second end.

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 ski-snowboard combination device comprising:
a first gliding board having an first edge having a substantially concave shape;
a second gliding board having a first edge having a substantially concave shape;
a binding mounting system mounted on the first gliding board and the second gliding board, the binding mounting system having:
a top plate; and
a bottom plate with a torque-sensitive release mechanism and a release-setting gauge, wherein the binding mounting system is releasable upon in the event of a threshold level of torque applied to the torque-sensitive release mechanism; and

a fastening device comprising a first part and a second part, the first part mounted on the first gliding board and the second part mounted on the second gliding board, the fastening device being configured to reversibly affix the inside edge of the first gliding board to the inside edge of the second gliding board, wherein when the inside edge of the first gliding board and the inside edge of the second gliding board form an opening with two convex sides,
wherein the binding mounting system is reconfigurable between a ski binding mounting system and a snowboard binding mounting system.
2. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1, wherein the binding mounting system further comprising:
a first ski binding system coupled with the first gliding board;
a second ski binding system coupled with the second gliding board; and
a snowboard binding system coupled with the first gliding board and the second gliding board.
3. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1, the first gliding board further having a second edge having a substantially concave shape, and the second gliding board further having a second edge having a substantially concave shape.
4. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1, wherein both the first gliding board central zone and the second gliding board central zone have a substantially flat bottom surface and comprise a substantially axial member having a first terminal end and a second terminal end separated by a binding mounting area on their top surface.
5. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1, wherein the binding mounting system further comprising:
a first ski binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board and configured to affix a ski binding thereto in a position facing the first terminal end of the first gliding board;
a second ski binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board and configured to affix a ski binding thereto in a position facing the first terminal end of the second gliding board;
a first one-half of a front foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board;
a second one-half of a front foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board;
a first one-half of a back foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board; and
a second one-half of a back foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board,
wherein the first one-half of the front foot snowboard binding mounting system and the second one-half of the front foot snowboard mounting system are configured to affix a first snowboard binding to the first gliding board and the second gliding board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial length of the first gliding board and second gliding board, and
wherein the first one-half of the back foot snowboard binding mounting system and the second one-half of the back foot snowboard mounting system are configured to affix a second snowboard binding to the first gliding board and the second gliding board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial length of the first gliding board and second gliding board.
6. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 5, each of the first ski binding mounting system and the second ski binding mounting system further comprises:
a bottom plate having a disk-accepting aperture disposed therein, the bottom plate being configured to be non-releasably coupled with a gliding board; and
a top plate having a disk disposed on the bottom-side surface of the top plate and a top-side surface configured to be non-releasably coupled with a boot,
wherein the disk is configured to be releasably aligned with the disk-accepting aperture of the bottom plate in the event of the threshold level of torque applied to the disk.
7. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1 wherein the bottom plate further comprises:
a set screw accessible from the outside of the bottom plate in mechanical communication with the torque-sensitive release mechanism and configured for adjusting the threshold torque,
wherein the torque-sensitive release mechanism housed within the bottom plate and aligned with the disk-accepting aperture to interact with the torque-sensitive release mechanism.
8. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 4, further comprising:
a tip clip coupled to the first terminal end of the first gliding board;
a tip peg coupled with the first terminal end of the second gliding board;
a tail clip coupled to the second terminal end of the first gliding board; and
a tail peg coupled with the second terminal end of the second gliding board,
wherein the tip clip is configured to latch onto the tip peg and the tail clip is configured to latch onto the tail peg, thereby further reversibly affixing the inside edge of the first gliding board to the inside edge of the second gliding board.
9. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 4, further comprising:
a jacket configured to fit over a portion of the first terminal end of the first gliding board and the first terminal end of the second gliding board when the fastening device reversibly affixes the inside edge of the first gliding board to the inside edge of the second gliding board.
10. A ski-snowboard combination device comprising:
a first gliding board having an outer edge configured for use as a snowboard and having an inner edge configured for use as a downhill ski;
a second gliding board being a reciprocal mirror image shape from the first gliding board such that the second gliding board also has an outer edge configured for use as a snowboard and having an inner edge configured for use as a downhill ski;
a binding mounting system mounted on the first gliding board and the second gliding board, the binding mounting system having:
a top plate; and
a bottom plate with a torque-sensitive release mechanism and a release-setting gauge, wherein the binding mounting system is releasable upon in the event of a threshold level of torque applied to the torque-sensitive release mechanism; and

a fastening device configured to affix the first gliding board to the second gliding board, whereby the inner edge of the first gliding board is pressed against the inner edge of the second gliding board,
wherein the binding mounting system is reconfigurable between a ski binding mounting system and a snowboard binding mounting system.
11. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 10, wherein when the inner edge of the first gliding board and the inner edge of the second gliding board forms an opening with two convex sides when the fastening device affixes the first gliding board to the second gliding board.
12. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 10, wherein both the first gliding board and the second gliding board have a substantially flat bottom surface and comprise a substantially axial member having a first terminal end and a second terminal end separated by a binding mounting area on their top surface.
13. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 10, wherein the binding mounting system further comprising:
a first ski binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board and configured to affix a ski binding thereto in a position facing the first terminal end of the first gliding board;
a second ski binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board and configured to affix a ski binding thereto in a position facing the first terminal end of the second gliding board;
a first one-half of a front foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board;
a second one-half of a front foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board;
a first one-half of a back foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the first gliding board; and
a second one-half of a back foot snowboard binding mounting system coupled to the mounting area of the second gliding board,
wherein the first one-half of the front foot snowboard binding mounting system and the second one-half of the front foot snowboard mounting system are configured to affix a first snowboard binding to the first gliding board and the second gliding board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial length of the first gliding board and second gliding board, and
wherein the first one-half of the back foot snowboard binding mounting system and the second one-half of the back foot snowboard mounting system are configured to affix a second snowboard binding to the first gliding board and the second gliding board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial length of the first gliding board and second gliding board.
14. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 13, each of the first ski binding mounting system and the second ski binding mounting system further comprises:
a bottom plate having a disk-accepting aperture disposed therein, the bottom plate being configured to be non-releasably coupled with a gliding board; and
a top plate having a disk disposed on the bottom-side surface of the top plate and a top-side surface configured to be non-releasably coupled with a boot,
wherein the disk is configured to be releasably aligned with the disk-accepting aperture of the bottom plate in the event of the threshold level of torque applied to the disk.
15. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 10, wherein the bottom plate further comprises:
a set screw accessible from the outside of the bottom plate in mechanical communication with the torque-sensitive release mechanism and configured for adjusting the threshold torque,
wherein the torque-sensitive release mechanism housed within the bottom plate and aligned with the disk-accepting aperture to interact with the torque-sensitive release mechanism.
16. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 12, further comprising:
a tip clip coupled to the first terminal end of the first gliding board;
a tip peg coupled with the first terminal end of the second gliding board;
a tail clip coupled to the second terminal end of the first gliding board; and
a tail peg coupled with the second terminal end of the second gliding board,
wherein the tip clip is configured to latch onto the tip peg and the tail clip is configured to latch onto the tail peg, thereby further reversibly affixing the inner edge of the first gliding board to the inner edge of the second gliding board.
17. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 12, further comprising:
a first jacket configured to fit over a portion of the first terminal end of the first gliding board and the first terminal end of the second gliding board when the fastening device reversibly affixes the inner edge of the first gliding board to the inner edge of the second gliding board; and
a second jacket configured to fit over a portion of the second terminal end of the first gliding board and the second terminal end of the second gliding board when the fastening device further reversibly affixes the inner edge of the first gliding board to the inner edge of the second gliding board.
18. A ski-snowboard combination device comprising:
a first gliding board having a first ski binding mounting system mounted on the first gliding board;
a second gliding board having a second ski binding mounting system mounted on the second gliding board;
a fastening device comprising a first part and a second part, the first part mounted on the first gliding board and the second part mounted on the second gliding board, the fastening device being configured to reversibly affix the inside edge of the first gliding board to the inside edge of the second gliding board, wherein when the inside edge of the first gliding board and the inside edge of the second gliding board form an opening with two convex sides;
a bottom plate being configured to be non-releasably coupled with each of the gliding board, the bottom plate having:
a torque-sensitive release mechanism; and
a release-setting gauge,

wherein the bottom plate is aligned with a disk-accepting aperture disposed therein; and
a top plate having a disk disposed on a bottom-side surface of the top plate and a top-side surface configured to be non-releasably coupled with a boot,
wherein the disk is configured to be releasably aligned with the disk-accepting aperture of the bottom plate in the event of a threshold level applied to the disk.
19. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 1, wherein the release setting gauge is configured for displaying a quantified representation of the threshold torque and visible from the outside of the bottom plate.
20. The ski-snowboard combination device of claim 10, wherein the release setting gauge is configured for displaying a quantified representation of the threshold torque and visible from the outside of the bottom plate.

1. An absorber for a tampon, which is generated by compressing and molding a laminate member including a liquid permeable surface member and an absorptive member: wherein
the absorptive member before the compression and molding is comprised of: a first region which is a region at a side to be first inserted into a vaginal opening in a case where the absorber for the tampon is divided into two sections in a longitudinal direction; and a second region which is a region at a side to be first removed from the vaginal opening in a case where the absorber for the tampon is divided into two sections in a longitudinal direction; and
an area of the first region is smaller than an area of the second region.
2. The absorber for the tampon according to claim 1,
a width at a side of an insert end part in the first region is 10% to 80% of a width at a side of a removal end part in the second region.
3. The absorber for tampon according to claim 1,
a fiber density of a region which corresponds to the first region in the absorber for the tampon is 0.17 gm3 to 0.32 gcm3, and
a fiber density of a region which corresponds to the second region in the absorber for the tampon is 0.37 gm3 to 0.52 gcm3.
4. The absorber for the tampon according to claim 1,
a dimension in a widthwise direction in the absorptive member before the compression and molding is continuously or intermittently long, as the dimension goes from a side of the first region to a side of the second region.
5. The absorber for the tampon according to claim 1,
a dimension in a widthwise direction in the absorptive member before the compression and molding is constant at a predetermined distance from an end part at the side of the second region.
6. The absorber for the tampon according to claim 1,
a surface shape of the absorptive member before the compression and molding and a planar shape of the surface member are not analogously similar to each other, and
a difference between an area of the surface member in the first region and an area of the absorptive member is greater than a difference between an area of the surface member in the second region and an area of the absorptive member.
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 inter-enterprise collaborative process management system, the system comprising:
a collaborative process editor for defining, modifying and deleting a collaborative process through a user interface;
a collaboration policy editor for defining, modifying and deleting a collaboration policy through a user interface;
a collaborative partner selector for searching for a candidate partner of performing each activity of the collaborative process and helping selecting a most proper partner of the found candidate partners;
a collaborative process agent for, when the collaborative partner is selected, performing an actual collaborative activity by using a service supplied by the selected partner;
a collaborative process engine for transferring a result of the activity completed by the collaborative process agent as an input of a next activity and calling a corresponding collaborative process agent; and
a collaboration agency for controlling and managing inter-enterprise collaborative activity on the basis of the collaboration policy.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system supports the steps of:
(a) editing a business process for a market for which a chance is seized;
(b) searching for a candidate partner company to perform each activity constituting a defined collaborative process;
(c) selecting a most proper partner of the found candidate partners, the most proper partner being going to perform each activity actually;
(d) integrating resources of the selected companies so as to automatically perform the collaborative process, the resources being necessary to perform the collaborative process; and
(e) making the selected companies interwork with each other through the collaborative process, the selected companies participating in a virtual enterprise.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to exclusively access to:
a collaborative process definition storage for storing definition of the collaborative process edited by the collaborative process editor; and
a partner storage for storing information of the partner selected through the collaborative partner selector.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to access to:
a service registration storage to which a company that would like to participate in a virtual enterprise registers a service that the company can provide;
a collaboration policy storage for storing the collaboration policy edited by the collaboration policy editor; and
an outsource web-board for disclosing a suggestion request when the plurality of candidate partner is found, so that suggestion is received and the most proper partner is-selected.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein, when the activity is started, the collaborative process engine calls the collaborative process agent, reads partner information from a partner storage, and requests the corresponding partner to perform the collaborative activity.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the collaboration agency comprises:
a collaboration agent for being representative of a company participating in collaboration and performing collaborative activity;
a collaboration manager for controlling collaboration between the collaboration agents; and
a message transferring module for transferring information between the collaboration agents.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the collaboration agency supports:
an inquiry interface for providing the company that would like to participate in collaboration with information used to constitute a service agent necessary for collaboration;
a registration interface through which the company that would like to participate in collaboration participates in the collaboration as a predetermined role by using the constituted service agent;
an interworking interface for interworking between the collaboration agent and the service agent so as to request the participating company to perform a corresponding collaborative activity in collaboration; and
a report interface for transferring progress status to an external company or another system in collaboration.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the collaboration agency supports:
an inquiry interface for providing the company that would like to participate in collaboration with information used to constitute a service agent necessary for collaboration;
a registration interface through which the company that would like to participate in collaboration participates in the collaboration as a predetermined role by using the constituted service agent;
an interworking interface for interworking between the collaboration agent and the service agent so as to request the participating company to perform a corresponding collaborative activity in collaboration; and
a report interface for transferring progress status to an external company or another system in collaboration.