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A starting device of a spark-ignition multi-cylinder engine is provided. The device includes a multi-cylinder engine body having cylinders, fuel injection valves, ignition plugs, an intake valve drive mechanism for opening and closing intake valves, a hydraulic variable valve phase mechanism for changing a close timing of each intake valve, an engine-driven hydraulic pressure supply source for supplying a hydraulic pressure, and a start controller for controlling the fuel injection valves, the ignition plugs, and the variable valve phase mechanism. When the supplied hydraulic pressure is below a predetermined pressure, the variable valve phase mechanism locks the close timing. When an engine temperature in an engine-start is high, the start controller retards a fuel injection timing of the cylinder on intake stroke at an engine stopped timing and retards an ignition timing thereof. The start controller does not retard the close timing of the intake valve until the engine-start completes.

The present disclosure is related to illustrative embodiments of an apparatus and method for maintaining carbonation of sparkling beverages, such as sparkling wines, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages such as sodas and coffee. A transparent, shatter-resistant, height-adjustable carbonation enclosure is used to contain an opened bottle of a sparkling beverage. An air-tight carbonation cap with a built-in one-way valve is used to re-carbonate the beverage inside the bottle using a pressurized gas source. The base of the carbonation enclosure includes a platform that may be used to adjust the effective height of the enclosure to fit the height of the bottle and provide an air-tight interface between an opening of the bottle and the carbonation cap. The carbonation enclosure further includes a number of openings to open air to prevent pressurization of the carbonation enclosure. Another illustrative embodiment includes a safety enclosure for multiple bottles pressurized directly by conical nozzles.

A technique of reducing occurrence of multiple discharge in a spark plug. The spark plug has a main ground electrode and three auxiliary ground electrodes. The position at which first auxiliary ground electrode is joined to a metallic shell is located opposite the position at which main ground electrode is joined to the metallic shell, with respect to a center electrode. The positions at which second and third auxiliary ground electrodes are joined to the metallic shell are located opposite to each other with respect to the center electrode. When the width of first auxiliary ground electrode is represented by W, the shortest distance between second auxiliary ground electrode and third auxiliary ground electrode is represented by T, and a distance which is a component of the shortest distance T in a direction orthogonal to first auxiliary ground electrode is represented by Tp, a relation W≧Tp is satisfied.

The spark plug has a configuration satisfying the relationships of B≧0.7A and 0.3 mm≦A≦0.6 mm, where B is an axial thickness along the central axis line Q of the weld portion formed between the base material electrode and the noble-metal chip, and A is an axial distance along the central axis line Q between the intersection points P3 and X. The intersection point P3 is a point at which a phantom axis line radially distant from the central axis line Q by D/2 (D being a diameter of the noble-metal chip) intersects with the boundary line between the weld portion and the noble-metal chip. The intersection point X is a point at which an extension of the contour line of the base material electrode in the vicinity of the weld portion intersects with a boundary line between the weld portion and the base material electrode.

A method of making a spark plug electrode includes several steps. One step includes providing an inner core of a ruthenium (Ru) based alloy or an iridium (Ir) based alloy. Another step includes providing an outer skin over a portion or more of the inner core in order to produce a core and skin assembly. The outer skin can be made of platinum (Pt), gold (Au), silver (Ag), nickel (Ni), or an alloy of one of these. Yet another step includes increasing the temperature of the core and skin assembly. And another step includes hot forming the core and skin assembly at the increased temperature.

An industrial spark plug (20) includes a central electrode (24) with a central base (30) formed of a nickel-based material and a central firing tip (32) formed of an iridium-based material. The central firing tip (32) has a tip thickness (tct) of 0.02 to 0.03 inches, a tip diameter (dct) of 0.1184 to 0.1776 inches, and an aspect ratio of 4.736 to 7.104. The central firing tip (32) is electron beam welded to the central base (30) to provide a robust joint therebetween. The central electron beam weld (36) includes a mixture of re-crystallized iridium-based material and re-crystallized nickel-based material extending continuously along and over the entire welding interface. The spark plug (20) also includes a ground electrode (26) with a ground firing tip (38) electron beam welded to a ground base (42).

A battery powered, hand-held, lightweight electrical shocking device provides a visible and audible display of sparks continuously upon the operation of a switch. The device is capable of delivering a jolting shock. The display of sparks makes clear the nature of the device and serves as a deterrent to unruly persons. The device is comprised of a non-conductive housing in a generally annular shape, permitting it to be gripped in one hand. On one surface away from the hand are first and second conductive plates separated from each other by an insulator. The electrical circuit comprises a free-running multi-vibrator, a small transformer, a rectifier, a voltage doubler and an internal spark gap. The circuit can deliver a series of short duration, high voltage, low current electrical shocks from two penlight batteries.

The present invention provides a piston for a spark-ignition engine, comprising: a land part 18, an upper surface part of which has a crown part 26 forming a combustion chamber; a pair of skirt parts 20 extending downward from a peripheral part of the land part 18 and facing each other in a radial direction thereof; a pair of sidewall parts 19 coupling side end parts of the pair of skirt parts 20 to each other; and a pin boss part 21 that is formed in each of the sidewall parts 19. The present invention can inhibit the generation of HC produced at the time of combustion, while thermally protecting a top ring 30 fitted into a top ring groove 24a on an outer circumferential surface of the land part 18. The crown part 26 is configured by a flat base surface 27 and a bulging part 15 bulging upward above the base surface 27, and a thinned part 40 provided in the land part 18 is formed deep such that the deepest part thereof is positioned inside the bulging part 15.

A spark plug has a shell, an insulator, a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a firing pad. The firing pad is made of a precious metal material and is attached to the ground electrode. The firing pad has a side surface at a peripheral edge that can be flush or nearly flush with a free end surface of the ground electrode. This construction can help improve ignitability and flame kernel growth of the spark plug during a sparking event, and can provide better thermal management at the attached ground electrode and firing pad.

In a spark plug, a center electrode includes a base member and a discharge chip that has a higher melting point than the base member. The base member and the discharge chip are joined to each other by both a weld and a diffusion layer. The weld is formed, by fusion welding, along an outer periphery of an interface between the base member and the discharge chip into an annular shape. The weld is made up of those parts of the base member and the discharge chip which are molten and mixed together during the fusion welding and solidified after the fusion welding. The diffusion layer is formed radially inside the annular weld. The diffusion layer is made up of those parts of the base member and the discharge chip which are diffused into each other across the interface between the base member and the discharge chip.

A spark plug includes a center electrode, a ceramic insulator provided with an axial hole, a metal shell, and a ground electrode having a facing surface that faces a leading end surface of the center electrode. An annular space is formed between an outer peripheral surface of the center electrode and an inner peripheral surface of the axial hole and is opened toward a leading end side, and when C (mm) is a distance between the outer peripheral surface of the center electrode and the inner peripheral surface of the axial hole in the opening of the annular space, C≧0.2 mm is satisfied. In a cross-section which includes the axial line and is orthogonal to the center axis of the ground electrode, a contour line of lateral surfaces of the ground electrode has a curved shape convexed outward.

Implementations disclosed herein provide a compact downdraft table comprising a spark arrestor oriented below a work surface, a vertically oriented cylindrical filter cartridge located below the work surface, a fan assembly that draws air through the work surface, the spark arrestor, and the filter cartridge and exhausts filtered air out of the downdraft table, a purge assembly that discharges purged air to an interior of the filter cartridge to purge particulates collected on an exterior of the filter cartridge, wherein the spark arrestor, filter cartridge, fan assembly, and purge assembly are all contained within a main housing for the downdraft table.

A ?SOUTHAMPTON man has ?received? ?one? ?of? ?the? ?most? ?prestigious? ?awards? ?in ?sailing in recognition of a life spent inspiring thousands of people to take up the past time.

The 'Smile' hitmaker is rumored to take her relationship with 'stranger Things' actor David Harbour to the next level as she shows off a new rock on her finger in a new Instagram selfie.

Tone2 has announced the release of a new soundset for the Icarus2 synthesizer workstation instrument titled Sparkle. Suitable for Drum & Bass, Trap, Dubstep, Electronic, Dance, Cinematic, Synthwave, HipHop and many other genres, the soundset includes bass, wobbles, arps, keys, leads, pads, atmos, chords, sequeneces, synth sounds and more. Sparkle features 166 patches. Created by […]

The post Tone2 Audio releases the Sparkle soundset for Icarus2 appeared first on rekkerd.org.

UVI has launched a sale on the Sparkverb algorithmic reverb effect plugin, offering 60% off for a few days only. Sparkverb features an advanced design with stunning sound and CPU efficiency, and intuitive controls and ergonomics for phenomenal ease-of-use. Easily traverse everything from natural sounding spaces to infinite, shimmering ambiences with stunning depth and fidelity […]

The post Sparkverb algorithmic reverb by UVI on sale for $49 USD appeared first on rekkerd.org.

French retailer Decathlon’s refusal to do business with customers who refuse to share their contact details has sparked a wave of protests on social media.

A FEW months ago, while sitting with some mum friends, one of them talked about how her nine-year-old daughter was obsessed with Tik Tok.

Recorded with a Roland Jupiter X as a live take

The company's chief technology officer says early detection of underlying health conditions could not only help treat patients and prevent the spread of future pandemics, but also reduce care costs for Americans

Learn how to get data from your Informix database and dump it in Spark so you can leverage it against other data sources and compile advanced analytics all that in Java. The targeted audience is Informix and non-Informix users seeking to bring RDBMS data into Spark.

The third part of this tutorial series goes deeper into joins and more complex queries. Learn how to get data from your Informix database and dump it in Spark so you can leverage it against other data sources and compile advanced analytics all that in Java. The targeted audience is Informix and non-Informix users seeking to bring RDBMS data into Spark.

In Part 4 of this tutorial series, you'll learn how to link external and public data to your existing data to gain insights for your sales team. In this scenario for retail sales, you'll learn how to forecast the hot sales areas for new wins.

Part 5 of this tutorial series teaches you how to add machine learning to your data to help you extrapolate future orders.

How smart home security could have real impacts on privacy, racial profiling. Empowering trans people with technical and digital skills. The evolution of the syntheszier. The cognitive cost of communications bloat.

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The impact of Uber, airport design, and matching idle cars with people who need a ride.

Decluttering our tech, understanding your workplace 'personality', the idea of a boss as a service, and reducing our focus on 'productivity' as a means to an end.

How data-driven personalization is changing how people manage their own health.

Tech at the Food Retail Lab, the impact of self checkout, grocery delivery services, and reducing food waste.

Surveilling strangers, ethics courses for computer science students, and what we should and shouldn't be doing with AI.

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How examining opposing views may entrench your own, IBM's AI debater, showing emotion on IG, and the importance of reclaiming boredom.

A special on Smart Cities. It's a big buzzword these days, especially as cities are bigger and denser than ever before. But there are competing visions for what it should be, who should run it, and how to protect your privacy.