All The Claims

1. A method of forming a liner on a rotor for a positive displacement motor, the method comprising:
forming a liner on the rotor by layering at least two resilient layers and at least one fiber layer on an outer surface of the rotor, the at least two resilient layers positioned so as to enclose the at least one fiber layer, the rotor comprising at least one radially outwardly projecting lobe extending helically along a selected length of the rotor; and
curing the liner on the rotor so that the liner conforms to the at least one radially outwardly projecting lobe formed on the rotor and to the helical shape of the rotor, the curing adapted to form a bond between the liner and the outer surface and between the at least two resilient layers and the at least one fiber layer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises a plurality of fibers wound at a selected angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the rotor.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises a plurality of fibers wound at a selected angle with respect to the at least one radially outwardly projecting lobe.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises aramid fibers.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises a plurality of fibers selected from the group consisting of glass fibers and carbon fibers.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises a woven fiber mesh.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fiber layer comprises a plurality of fibers wound directly onto at least one of the at least two resilient layers.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein fibers forming the at least one fiber layer are braided.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein fibers forming the at least one fiber layer are woven.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the curing comprises applying a selected heat and a selected temperature to the rotor for a selected time period.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising coating an inner surface of the liner with an adhesive adapted to bond the liner to the outer surface of the rotor.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming comprises positioning the at least one fiber layer so as to form a substantially uniform fiber density throughout the liner after the curing.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming comprises positioning at least two external fiber layers so as to enclose the at least two resilient layers.

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 automatic phase adjusting device for adjusting a phase of a pulse used in an imaging process based on a digital imaged signal obtained by converting an analog imaged signal generated in the imaging process by an imaging element to a digital value for each pixel; the automatic phase adjusting device comprising:
a luminance level detecting unit for calculating a luminance of the digital imaged signal in a plurality of pixels within a first pixel region in the imaging element;
a variation calculating unit for calculating a variation value indicating signal variation of the digital imaged signal in a plurality of pixels within a second pixel region in the imaging element; and
a timing adjusting unit for adjusting the phase of the pulse based on the result of calculation of the luminance level detecting unit and the result of calculation of the variation calculating unit.
2. The phase adjusting device according to claim 1, further comprising an effective area control device for setting an effective area used in a luminance calculating process by the luminance level detecting unit and a variation value calculating process by the variation calculating unit in a unit data area constituting the digital imaged signal, wherein
the variation calculating unit and the timing adjusting unit perform respective process using data of the effective area set by the effective area control device.
3. The phase adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the effective area control device adjusts a size of the effective area based on at least one of resolution, SN ratio of the analog imaged signal, and SN ratio of the digital imaged signal.
4. The phase adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the effective area control device sets a transfer processing speed of a pixel transfer pulse in a period of outputting data area of the digital imaged signal other than the effective area as a speed different from a transfer processing speed of a pixel transfer pulse generated by the timing adjusting unit in a period of outputting the effective area.
5. The phase adjusting device according to claim 4, wherein the effective area control device sets the transfer processing speed of the pixel transfer pulse in the period of outputting the data area of the digital imaged signal other than the effective area faster than the transfer processing speed of the pixel transfer pulse generated by the timing adjusting unit in the period of outputting the effective area.
6. The phase adjusting device according to claim 4, wherein the effective area control device adjusts a period length of the effective area based on at least one of resolution, SN ratio of the analog imaged signal, and SN ratio of the digital imaged signal.
7. The phase adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the timing adjusting unit controls the phase of the pulse independently for each line.
8. The phase adjusting device according to claim 7, wherein the timing adjusting unit controls a first pulse used in detecting a signal level of the analog imaged signal, a second pulse for detecting a signal level that acts as a reference in a correlated double sampling process performed in generating the digital imaged signal, and a pulse of an AD clock signal used in generating the digital imaged signal independently for each line.
9. The phase adjusting device according to claim 7, wherein the timing adjusting unit controls the phase of the pulse independently for each line based on at least one of resolution, SN ratio of the analog imaged signal, and SN ratio of the digital imaged signal.
10. The phase adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the effective area control device is adapted to perform control such that a digital image signal of the effective area is outputted after being subject to a storage process, and to selectively output a clock used in the storage process only during the storage process of the effective area.
11. The phase adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the effective area control device arranges the effective area in a unit data area such that the effective area is arranged at a center of a screen formed based on the digital imaged signal.
12. The phase adjusting device according to claim 1, further comprising a shading correction processing unit for performing shading correction on the digital imaged signal, wherein the luminance level detecting unit and the variance calculating unit perform respective processes based on the digital imaged signal subject to the shading correction by the shading correction processing unit.
13. A phase adjusting method of adjusting a phase of at least one of a first pulse used in detecting a level of an analog imaged signal outputted from an imaging element, a second pulse for detecting a signal level that acts as a reference in a correlated double sampling process performed when converting the analog imaged signal to a digital value for each pixel, and an AD clock signal used in converting the analog imaged signal to the digital value for each pixel, the method comprising the steps of:
detecting a first phase at which a luminance of the analog imaged signal becomes maximum with the second pulse and the AD clock signal fixed at respective initial values and the phase of the first pulse changed; and
setting the detected first phase as the phase of the first pulse.

1. A dimensional reference system for image reconstruction in tomography, comprising:
a dimensional reference apparatus having:
a plurality of spheres, each sphere having an X-ray absorption property configured to permit reconstruction of the sphere in tomography, each sphere further having a centroid and a diameter;
a spacer unit configured to substantially fixedly space apart each of said plurality of spheres from each other at a known distance;

wherein, when reconstructed in tomography, the dimensional reference apparatus is configured to provide subvoxel length scales for three dimensions, wherein said length scales are provided based on either the known distances between the centroids of the plurality of spheres, or the diameters of the spheres; and
a diameter calculation element configured to calculate the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres, wherein the diameter calculation element includes a second moment tensor element configured to determine the second moment tensor of the at least one of the plurality of spheres.
2. The dimensional reference system of claim 1 wherein the X-ray absorption properties of the spheres are different from an X-ray absorption property of the spacer unit.
3. The dimensional reference system of claim 2 wherein:
the spheres are composed of a sphere material having an X-ray absorption property between approximately +500 Hounsfield units and +1200 Hounsfield units, and wherein,
the spacer unit is composed of a spacer unit material having an X-ray absorption between approximately \u2212100 Hounsfield units and +400 Hounsfield units.
4. The dimensional reference system of claim 1, wherein:
the sphere material is PTFE, or BK7 optical glass.
5. The dimensional reference system of claim 1, wherein at least one sphere has a coating material that permits reconstruction of the at least one sphere in MRI tomography.
6. The dimensional reference system of claim 1, wherein the known distance between the centroids of any two of the plurality of spheres is greater than the size of either of said two of said plurality of spheres.
7. The dimensional reference system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spheres are substantially identical to each other.
8. The dimensional reference of claim 1, wherein the spacer unit includes:
at least two fixtures configured to substantially fixedly sandwich the plurality of spheres therebetween;
at least one securing element configured to secure the at least two fixtures to each other.
9. A dimensional reference system for image reconstruction in X-ray computerized tomography, comprising:
a dimensional reference apparatus having:
three substantially identical spheres, each sphere being composed of a sphere material having an X-ray absorption property between approximately +500 Hounsfield units and +1200 Hounsfield units, each sphere further having a centroid and a diameter;
a spacer unit configured to substantially fixedly space apart each of said plurality of spheres from each other at a known distance, the spacer unit being composed of a spacer unit material having an X-ray absorption between approximately \u2212100 Hounsfield units and +400 Hounsfield units, wherein the spacer unit comprises two fixtures, each fixture having three circular holes into which the three substantially identical spheres are configured to be disposed;

wherein, when reconstructed in tomography, the dimensional reference apparatus is configured to provide subvoxel length scales for three dimensions, wherein said length scales are provided based on either the known distances between the centroids of the plurality of spheres, or the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres; and
a diameter calculation element configured to calculate the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres, wherein the diameter calculation element includes a second moment tensor element configured to determine the second moment tensor of the at least one of the plurality of spheres.
10. The system of claim 9, further comprising an image reconstruction apparatus configured to provide a reconstructed tomogram of the dimensional reference apparatus and a measurement subject.
11. The dimensional reference system of claim 9, wherein:
the sphere material is PTFE.
12. A negative space dimensional reference system for use in MRI tomography, comprising:
a fluid-tight enclosure;
a dimensional reference apparatus having:
a plurality of substantially identical spheres, each sphere having an X-ray absorption property configured to permit reconstruction of the sphere in tomography, each sphere further having a centroid and a diameter;
a spacer unit configured to substantially fixedly space apart each of said plurality of spheres from each other at a known distance;

wherein, when reconstructed in tomography, the dimensional reference apparatus is configured to provide subvoxel length scales for three dimensions, wherein said length scales are provided based on either the known distances between the centroids of the plurality of spheres, or the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres;
a mixture configured to provide contrast between the mixture and the dimensional reference apparatus; and
wherein, the mixture and dimensional reference apparatus are configured to substantially fill the interior of the enclosure; and
a diameter calculation element configured to calculate the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres, wherein the diameter calculation element includes a second moment tensor element configured to determine the second moment tensor of the at least one of the plurality of spheres.
13. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 12, wherein the mixture contains water.
14. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 13, wherein the mixture contains a contrast-enhancing agent.
15. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 14, wherein the contrast-enhancing agent includes gadolinium chelate DTPA.
16. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 15, wherein the mixture contains a sterile agent configured to enhance sterility.
17. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 16, wherein the sterile agent includes ethanol.
18. A negative space dimensional reference array system for use in MRI tomography, comprising:
a fluid-tight enclosure;
a plurality of substantially identical spheres, each sphere being arranged in substantially a hexagonal close packed array, each sphere further having a centroid and a diameter, and wherein, when reconstructed in tomography, the plurality of spheres are configured to provide subvoxel length scales for three dimensions, wherein said length scales are provided based on either the known distances between the centroids of the plurality of spheres, or the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres;
a mixture configured to provide contrast between the mixture and the plurality of spheres; and
wherein, the mixture and the plurality of spheres are configured to substantially fill the interior of the enclosure.
19. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 18, wherein the spheres are composed of acetyl or PTFE.
20. The negative space dimensional reference system of claim 18, further comprising:
a diameter calculation element configured to calculate the diameter of at least one of the plurality of spheres, wherein the diameter calculation element includes a second moment tensor element configured to determine the second moment tensor of the at least one of the plurality of spheres.

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 process for controlling grapevine ripening, comprising
a step, between the birth of a rachis (R) on a grapevine and harvesting of a bunch (G) of grapes, in which a rachis (R) supporting means (1), provided in a way to at least counterbalance the weight of flowers and fruit developing on the rachis (R), are applied to the rachis (R) so that the bunch (G) of grapes grows in an upward direction.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein, as a preliminary step, the rachis (R) supporting means is fixed on a support and is inclined in an upward direction from horizontal.
3. A process for controlling grape vine ripening by causing sap circulation to flow in an upward direction during grape ripening, comprising
providing a structure (2) fixed to ground, and rachis (R) supporting means (1) connected to the fixed structure (2), the supporting means being adapted to support a grape vine at a rachis (R) to at least counterbalance the weight of flowers and grapes developing on the rachis (R),
applying the supporting means (1) to the grape vine to support the rachis (R) so as to direct the rachis (R) in an upward direction, and
maintaining the supporting means (1) in position to at least counterbalance the weight of grape clusters developing on the rachis (R) so that a bunch (G) of grapes grows in an upward direction,
whereby inhibition of circulation of sap is minimized during bunch ripening, and grape ripening is made even and promoted.