A laser alignment device includes a laser generating device, an upper attachment portion, and a lower attachment portion. The laser generating device includes a housing and a laser generator. The upper attachment portion is disposed near a bottom of the housing, and the lower attachment portion is pivotally and/or rotationally connected to the upper attachment portion.

Alignment of surfaces is a perennial problem in a variety of fields, ranging from construction to interior decorating. Alignment is necessary for walls that should be perpendicular to a floor, or otherwise plumb. Masonry and brick-laying practitioners are well aware of the importance of plumbed and aligned surfaces and chalk lines. A home interior decorated with pictures and other wall ornamentation makes a much better appearance when the ornamentation is aligned, especially with respect to vertical or horizontal alignment. Many mechanical and electrical alignment devices are available, and some laser devices are available. However, some of these products are cumbersome, and others are not suitable for certain uses. Chalk lines, for instance, are sometimes undesirable for use in finished, interior areas.
One aspect of alignment-product performance, and in particular of laser-alignment products, that could be improved is the width, brightness and straightness of the laser light. A visible, straight laser line is acceptable, but may be limited in its brightness over a distance, and may also tend to defocus and become dimmer as a user works further away from the source of the laser. Rotating lasers are used to project lines on walls perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the laser. As a result, such devices may have limited utility or may not work in confined spaces requiring a longer alignment tool.
Moreover, a conventional laser is not well-equipped for projecting a flat or planar beam of light. The essence of laser light is that it is coherent or substantially monochromatic, that is, of a single wavelength or of a narrow band of wavelengths. Thus, when a beam of laser light is refracted through a prism, the prism output does not result in a spreading of the beam as with ordinary "white" light, but rather results in a coherent, focused beam, very similar to the input. The laser beam is thin and is visible in a useful manner only when projected onto a surface.
Another aspect of laser alignment products that could be improved is the inability of laser devices to work around obstructions. That is, if a wall-hanging, such as a picture frame, interrupts the laser beam, it may be blocked from further projection. In this case, it is necessary to mark locations or heights, one by one, rather than working with the actual objects, in order to align them. Obstructions may include moldings placed in a doorway, picture frames in the way of those being aligned on one horizontal line, the operator of the device, other obstacles, or even textured or stuccoed surfaces on interior walls.
While there are devices that direct a laser beam parallel to but away from a surface requiring alignment, these devices require the use of a marker device or detector component to sight the beam and mark corresponding locations on the wall adjacent the beam. Use of such a device requires multiple components and at least two people, one to align the laser and another to mark the wall. Moreover, the wall itself requires marking with this method.
Another aspect of laser alignment products that could be improved is the inability of laser alignment devices to rotate or pivot relative the wall or object on which the laser light is intended to operate. With such limitations, a user must mark a first laser line, move the laser alignment devices angularly relative to the first mark, and then project and mark a second laser line. As a result of having to move laser alignment device and mark the laser line several times, inaccuracies in the measurements may occur, the wall may more easily become damaged, and unnecessary time is wasted.
A conventional laser beam projector is thus not able to project a laser line on the wall on which it is mounted, nor can it go around obstructions. A laser alignment beam mounted on the wall where alignment is needed would allow a person seeking alignment, whether a carpenter, a painter, or an interior decorator, to accomplish his or her task in a quicker and easier fashion. The ability to work around obstacles would save much time and effort. Such laser alignment devices must be aligned themselves, and are typically equipped with a tripod and a sophisticated leveling device so that they read true for horizontal and vertical plumbs. While leveling is necessary, such sophistication as a tripod adds to the expense and bulkiness of the leveling device. What is desired is a convenient, easy-to-level laser device useful for aligning objects. It would be even more desirable if the alignment device could be easily mounted on a vertical or horizontal surface, and oriented in the desired direction. Better alignment devices are thus required to overcome these deficiencies in the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Laser line generating device with swivel base


A conjugate exhibiting interferon gamma activity and comprising at least one first non-polypeptide moiety covalently linked to an IFG polypeptide, the polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that differs from that of a parent IFNG polypeptide in at least one introduced and/or at least one removed amino acid residue comprising an attachment group for the non-polypeptide moiety. The conjugate may be used for treatment of various diseases.

Interferon-gamma (IFNG) is a cytokine produced by T-lymphocytes and natural killer cells and exists as a homodimer of two noncovalently bound polypeptide subunits. The mature form of each dimer comprises 143 amino acid residues (shown in SEQ ID NO 2), the precursor form thereof including signal sequence of 166 amino acid residues (shown in SEQ ID NO 1).
Each subunit has two potential N-glycosylation sites (Aggarwal et al., Human Cytokines, Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1992) at positions 25 and 97. Depending on the degree of glycosylation the molecular weight of IFNG in dimer form is 34-50 kDa (Farrar et al., Ann. Rev. Immunol, 1993, 11:571-611).
The primary sequence of wildtype human IFNG (huIFNG) was reported by Gray et al. (Nature 298:859-863, 1982), Taya et al. (EMBO J. 1:953-958, 1982), Devos et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 10:2487-2501, 1982) and Rinderknecht et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 259:6790-6797, 1984), and in EP 77670, EP 89676 and EP 110044. The 3D structure of huIFNG was reported by Ealick et al. (Science 252:698-702, 1991).
Various naturally-occurring or mutated forms of the IFNG subunit polypeptides have been reported, including one comprising a Cys-Tyr-Cys N-terminal amino acid sequence (positions (−3)-(−1) relative to SEQ ID NO 2), one comprising an N-terminal methionine (position −1 relative to SEQ ID NO 2), and various C-terminally truncated forms comprising 127-134 amino acid residues. It is known that 1-15 amino acid residues may be deleted from the C-terminus without abolishing IFNG activity of the molecule. Furthermore, heterogeneity of the huIFNG C-terminus was described by Pan et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 166:145-149, 1987).
HuIFNG muteins were reported by Slodowski et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 202:1133-1140, 1991), Luk et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 265:13314-13319, 1990), Seelig et al., (Biochemistry 27:1981-1987, 1988), Trousdale et al. (Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 26:1244-1251, 1985), and in EP 146354. A natural huIFNG variant was reported by Nishi et al. (J. Biochem. 97:153-159, 1985).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,034 discloses thermostable recombinant huIFNG (rhuIFNG) variants having incorporated up to 4 pairs of cysteine residues to enable disulphide bridge formation and thus stabilization of the IFNG variant in homodimer form.
WO 92/08737 discloses IFNG variants comprising an added methionine in the N-terminal end of the full (residues 1-143) or partial (residues 1-132) amino acid sequence of wildtype human IFNG. EP 219 781 discloses partial huIFNG sequences comprising amino acid residues 3-124 (of SEQ ID NO 2). U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,959 discloses partial huIFNG sequences comprising residues 1-127, 5-146 and 5-127 of an amino acid sequence that compared to SEQ ID NO 2 has three additional N-terminal amino acid residues (CYC). U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,689 discloses a DNA sequence encoding huIFNG without the 3 N-terminal amino acid residues CYC and its expression in E. coli. EP 446582 discloses E. coli produced rhuIFNG free of an N-terminal methionine. U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,762 discloses a peptide fragment of huIFNG comprising residues 95-134 thereof (relative to SEQ ID NO 2).
High level expression of rhuIFNG was reported by Wang et al. (Sci. Sin. B 24:1076-1084, 1994).
Glycosylation variation in rhuIFNG has been reported by Curling et al. (Biochem. J. 272:333-337, 1990) and Hooker et al., (J. of Interferon and Cytokine Research, 1998, 18:287-295).
Polymer-modification of rhuIFNG was reported by Kita et al. (Drug Des. Deliv. 6:157-167, 1990), and in EP 236987 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,120.
WO 92/22310 discloses asialoglycoprotein conjugate derivatives of interferons, inter alia huIFNG.
IFNG fusion proteins have been described. For instance, EP 237019 discloses a single chain polypeptide having region exhibiting interferon β activity and one region exhibiting IFNG activity.
EP 158 198 discloses a single chain polypeptide having a region exhibiting IFNG activity and a region exhibiting IL-2 activity. Several references described single chain dimeric IFNG proteins, e.g. Landar et al. (J. Mol. Biol., 2000, 299:169-179).
WO 99/02710 discloses single chain polypeptides, one example among many being IFNG.
WO 99/03887 discloses PEGylated variants of polypeptides belonging to the growth hormone superfamily, wherein a non-essential amino acid residue located in a specified region of the polypeptide has been replaced by a cysteine residue. IFNG is mentioned as one example of a member of the growth hormone super family, but modification thereof is not discussed in any detail.
IFNG has been suggested for treatment of interstitial lung diseases (also known as Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) (Ziesche et al. (N. Engl. J. Med. 341:1264-1269, 1999 and Chest 110:Suppl:25S, 1996) and EP 795332) for which purpose IFNG can be used in combination with prednisolone. In addition to IPF, granulomatous diseases (Bolinger et al, Clinical Pharmacy, 1992, 11:834-850), certain mycobacterial infections (N. Engl. J. Med. 330:1348-1355, 1994), kidney cancer (J. Urol. 152:841-845, 1994), osteopetrosis (N. Engl. J. Med. 332:1594-1599, 1995), scleroderma (J. Rheumatol. 23:654-658, 1996), hepatitis B (Hepatogastroenterology 45:2282-2294, 1998), hepatitis C (Int. Hepatol. Communic. 6:264-273, 1997), septic shock (Nature Medicine 3:678-681, 1997), and rheumatoid arthritis may be treated with IFNG.
As a pharmaceutical compound rhuIFNG is used with a certain success, above all, against some viral infections and tumors. rhuIFNG is usually applicable via parenteral, preferably via subcutaneous, injection. Maximum serum concentrations have been found after seven hours, half life in plasma is 30 minutes after iv administration. For this reason efficient treatment with rhuIFNG involves frequent injections. The main adverse effects consist of fever, chills, sweating, headache, myalgia and drowsiness. These effects are associated with injecting rhuIFNG and are observed within the first hours after injection. Rare side effects are local pain and erythema, elevation of liver enzymes, reversible granulo- and thrombopenia and cardiotoxicity.
It is desirable to provide novel molecules with IFNG-activity which have improved properties in terms of pharmacokinetics, homogeneity, immunogenicity and other adverse side-effects as compared with huIFNG or rhuIFNG.

Polynucleotides encoding interferon gamma polypeptides


Provided is a vehicle-mounted relay device that can suppress failures in reading/writing of data due to electric power shortage. The vehicle-mounted relay device determines whether or not reading/writing of data is possible based on the required amount of stored power in the electric power storage device and the remaining amount of stored power in the electric power storage device needed to read/write the data. If the remaining amount of stored power is equal to or greater than the required amount of stored power, there is no risk that the remaining amount of stored power in the electric power storage device may run short before the reading/writing of the data ends. Accordingly, if it is determined that reading/writing of the data is possible, the vehicle-mounted relay device causes an ECU, which is a vehicle-mounted control device, to start reading/writing the data.

In recent years, a plurality of ECUs (electronic control units) are installed in vehicles. The ECUs are supplied with electric power from an electric power storage device to control operation of vehicle-mounted devices (such as an engine, a light source device, or an air-conditioning device).
The ECUs each include a storage unit in which a computer program (hereinafter, referred to as "program") is stored.
Conventionally, a program updating method has been proposed in which a program (i.e., old program) that is stored in a first storage unit of a first ECU is, before being updated, copied to a second storage unit of a second ECU (see JP 2014-029619A).
In the program updating method according to JP 2014-029619A, after copying the old program to the second storage unit, the first ECU receives a new program from a vehicle exterior device, and writes the received new program into the first storage unit. If the writing of the new program is unsuccessful, the first ECU writes back the old program stored in the second storage unit to the first storage unit.
Furthermore, the ECUs each include an accumulation unit in which failure information is accumulated.
Conventionally, a vehicle-mounted relay device has been proposed that requests an ECU to transmit failure information, and transmits the failure information that is read from the accumulation unit by the EUC to a vehicle exterior device (see JP 2014-113860A).
If a program is updated when the remaining amount of stored power in the electric power storage device is insufficient, writing of a new program may fail due to electric power shortage during the writing.
If failure information is requested when the remaining amount of stored power in the electric power storage device is insufficient, reading of the failure information may fail due to electric power shortage during the reading.
Such failures waste electric power, and should thus be avoided.
The present invention was made in view of the above-described circumstances, and it is a main object thereof to provide a vehicle-mounted relay device that can suppress failures in reading/writing of data due to electric power shortage.


The recoiler (1) for recoiling strip-shaped materials for slitting and recoiling machines for the slitting of thin metal strip into individual strips (2) and the recoiling of the individual strips (2) into coils (3) is equipped with a hydraulic device for transmitting a constant torque from the core shaft (4) to the coiling sleeves (16) of the individual coils (3) during the recoiling of the individual strips (2) at a constant strip tension (B).

The invention concerns a recoiler for recoiling strip-shaped materials, especially for slitting and recoiling machines for the longitudinal slitting of chiefly thin rolled strip made of metal and steel into individual strips and the recoiling of the individual strips into strip coils, with a core shaft that can be driven by a motor, clamping devices for securing the strip-coil coiling sleeves, which can be slid onto and pulled off of the recoiler, and structural components for transmitting the torque of the core shaft to the individual coiling sleeves during recoiling of the individual strips with equal or approximately equal strip tension.
The recoiling of the individual strips produced by longitudinal slitting of a rolled strip onto coiling sleeves, which are arranged on a common recoiler, involves problems arising from the nature of rolled strip. Rolled strip has different thicknesses in the center and at the edges. The center thickness is usually somewhat greater than the thickness at the two edges. Therefore, internal mechanical stresses are present in the strip between the edges and the center of the strip. When the rolled strip is slit into individual strips by a slitting machine, the internal stresses are relieved. This results in different lengths of the individual strips, i.e., the individual strips derived from the thicker central region of the rolled strip are shorter, and the individual strips derived from the thinner marginal regions of the rolled strip are longer. The different lengths and different strip thicknesses must be compensated to coil all of the individual strips with the same strip tension, if the individual strips are to be recoiled on coiling sleeves that are arranged on a common recoiler, and if all of the individual strips are to be recoiled equally tightly.
To recoil several coils of strip-shaped materials on a recoiler of the generic type described in EP 0 863 101 A1, a core shaft equipped with frictional elements is used to kinematically uncouple the individual strip coils and to apply well-defined torques. The goal of this is to load all of the strip coils, regardless of their particular strip widths, with specifically equal strip tension to avoid wrinkling and deformation within the slitting machine and destruction of individual strips of material.
The previously known recoiler for recoiling strip-shaped materials on coiling sleeves consists of a core shaft annularly surrounded by frictional elements and radially acting clamping devices, which, in the operating position, produce frictional engagement between friction elements driven by the core shaft and the frictional elements, by which a torque can be transmitted from the core shaft to the frictional elements, accompanied by slip. The frictional elements can move towards the outside to produce a torsionally rigid connection between the frictional elements and the coiling sleeve during operation.
The clamping devices move the frictional elements radially outward via the friction elements by means of the radial forces they apply and bring the frictional elements against the coiling sleeve to reliably ensure slip-free driving of the coiling sleeve with a certain torque. In this regard, under the influence of the radial forces of the clamping devices that act in the operating position, the torque transmitted by the friction pairing friction element/frictional element is less than the torque that can be transmitted by the friction pairing frictional element/coiling sleeve, so that a torsionally rigid drive is produced between the frictional element and the coiling sleeve.
DE 195 15 723 A1 describes a generic recoiler, which consists of a core shaft with peripherally distributed longitudinal grooves, in each of which there is an outwardly directed antifriction strip and an inflatable pressure-medium hose for moving the antifriction strip radially outward. An annular backing material is placed on the core shaft, and the antifriction strips rest against the inner surface of the backing material. The antifriction strips, which extend the whole length of the core shaft, consist either of oil-impregnated strips of felt or of an antifriction material that can release lubricant. On the outer surface of the backing material, several obliquely running, peripherally distributed bearing surfaces interact with clamping devices in the form of balls. The balls are arranged in recesses of a clamping ring in such a way that, even in the untensioned state of the recoiler, they extend slightly beyond the outer surface of the clamping ring.
At the beginning of a recoiling operation, the coiling sleeves are slipped onto the friction recoiler. Since the balls extend slightly beyond the outside of the clamping ring, the coiling sleeves are very easily slid in the axial direction onto the friction recoiler until the desired or required position is reached. The individual pressure-medium hoses have been inflated in advance, so that frictional engagement with the backing material occurs through the antifriction strips, and the backing material turns clockwise together with the rotational movement of the core shaft. This causes the balls to be pushed farther to the outside due to the oblique position of the bearing surfaces, so that, finally, the coiling sleeves are held tightly in the position they have assumed. When the friction is released, the balls return to their original position, in which they extend slightly beyond the outer surface of the clamping ring, so that the completely coiled strip can then be easily pulled off of the recoiler.
With the previously known frictional recoilers, it is difficult, especially in the case of small strip coil diameters, to transmit a large torque from the core shaft to the coiling sleeves of the individual strip coils and to achieve uniform recoiling of the individual strips of material with a constant strip tension.
The goal of the invention is to develop a recoiler of the generic type, which allows uniform recoiling of strip coils with different diameters and coil widths.
In accordance with the invention, this goal is achieved by a recoiler for recoiling strip-shaped materials, which has the features specified in claim 1.
The subclaims contain effective and advantageous modifications of the invention.
The new recoiler represents an optimum solution of the problem on which the invention is based.

Winding shaft for winding strip-type materials


A wind turbine generator capable of enhancing starting performance of the wind turbine generator when the outside air temperature is low and capable of securing temperature adjusting ability of a generator set in a wide outside air temperature range is provided. A wind turbine generator includes a nacelle (3) for accommodating a generator set (11, 12, 14) that generates electricity by rotation of a rotor having a plurality of blades, a ventilation opening (51) provided in a wall surface on a wind upstream side when the nacelle is normally operated, and a heat exchanging unit (13) disposed in the ventilation opening (51) to exchange heat between an outside air and a lubricant of the generator set (11, 12) such as an lubricant oil or cooling water.

Although an outside air temperature range to which a conventional wind turbine generator is applied is generally −10° to +40°, in recent years an installation region of the wind turbine generator is spread to upland and a cold region. In such a case, the outside air temperature is spread to a range of −30° to +40°. Therefore, it becomes more important to control the temperature of devices in a nacelle such as a gear box, a main bearing, a generator, a transformer, and an inverter.
As a temperature control system, an oil piping system provided in a blade pitch system, the gear box, the main bearing, or the like has a heater, while a cooling water piping system such as an inverter has a cooler, respectively, and their temperatures are controlled within predetermined temperature ranges (see Patent Citation 1 for example).
A hull of the nacelle is formed with an air supply and exhaust opening from which outside air flowing through a cooler is introduced.


An immobilization apparatus incorporating a water permeable padding design that channels water away from the wearer and a method of preparing an immobilizing apparatus is described. In human or veterinary applications, the apparatus can be flushed with various solutions for cleansing of the limb beneath while avoiding the accumulation of excess moisture. The apparatus can be immersed in water then dried quickly in the open air. Subject invention allows for effective transfer of moisture away from the skin thereby avoiding skin maceration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fast drying, water permeable padding, which is utilized in any immobilization apparatus, in particular, an apparatus and method is disclosed for casting or immobilizing any part of a human or animal anatomy.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many types of padding materials currently used under rigid casts or other immobilization apparatuses. These traditional padding materials include cotton, rayon, polyester, polypropylene and other types of synthetic materials. In one method of applying a rigid cast, a tube of stockinet is first applied to the limb followed by a layer of padding. An immobilizing material is next applied on top of the padding and consists of either a Plaster of Paris impregnated substrate, a polyurethane-coated substrate or any other type of bracing or splinting material. Traditional cast underpad is supplied in rolls in widths from 2 to 6 inches. The purpose of underpad is to provide cushioning of the limb and to maintain conformity against the limb so as not to form folds or creases against the skin which could result in sores or infection. The immobolizing material or cast applied on top of this padding is usually made of plaster of paris or polyurethane-coated fiberglass. The open structure of the immobilizing material outer layers, however, will allow some water to pass through and be absorbed into the traditional padding materials underneath. If the padding becomes wet, it would take many hours to dry, if not days. In addition, skin maceration could occur which can lead to infection by bacteria or fungi. The probability for these types of complications is much greater in pediatric, geriatric, and circulatory impaired patients where the patient is unable to convey their symptoms which results in delayed and prolonged treatment. Furthermore, it is important for the padding to stay dry and have enough "fluffiness" or loft to allow the moisture vapors that are created from perspiration or other sources to be transmitted outwards through the padding.
Some cast padding manufacturers advise the wearer to dry the padding with a hair dryer, should it become wet, to try and avoid these skin related problems. Drying can take several hours and patient compliance is difficult to achieve. Since casts are usually worn for periods ranging from a few weeks up to several months, the wearer is constantly faced with the challenge of maintaining their personal shower or bath routine without getting their cast wet. Some wearers resort to wrapping their limb in a plastic bag so they can take a shower. This approach is cumbersome and doesn't always work that well due to leakage of the seal area. All padding used in conventional casting procedures is "breathable" to a certain extent. "Breathable" can be defined as padding's ability to allow air and/or moisture vapor from body perspiration to pass through it. When water is added to conventional padding on the market today, it tends to compress or "wad up". Moreover, water saturated padding will not allow for effective transfer of moisture away from the skin and will lead to skin maceration if the wet padding is worn for extended periods of time.
Prior art approaches to "breathable", self-drying padding for casting applications include U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,954 which discloses "an adhesive-backed layered composite of padding between two layers of water impermeable, moisture-vapor-permeable film, preferably porous, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene". This product does not allow water to pass through it, but is designed to allow for moisture vapor transmission only. U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,622 discloses an "inner liquid water impermeable, water vapor permeable protective sleeve next to the skin" over which regular types of cast padding can be placed". This two step approach is intended to perform the same basic function as U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,954, except that the product does not have a unitized construction. U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,260 discloses "a moisture vapor permeable, water impervious padding including sheets or strips of lofted non-woven fabric having wax, silicone resin or fluorinated polymer at a surface layer thereof". Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,714 discloses "a first moisture vapor permeable film layer and a second moisture vapor permeable film layer with air bubbles spaced in between".
The use of cast paddings having a "water impermeable, moisture-vapor-permeable film", as indicated in the four preceding patents, can result in a squishy or water logged feeling against the skin, immediately after the cast is immersed in water. The inherent properties of the moisture vapor permeable films utilized in these designs tend to "trap" any water against the skin until it can be vaporized by normal body temperature. The "water logged" sensation associated with these water impermeable barriers can continue for 45 minutes and beyond, until body heat begins to vaporize the trapped water between the barrier and the skin. The padding systems of the prior art rely on water impermeable and moisture permeable films to achieve their end effect, and do not maximize water runoff underneath the cast or brace.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a water permeable padding design that channels water away from a cast or other immobolizing device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a padding for a cast that can be flushed with various solutions for cleansing of the limb beneath while avoiding the accumulation of excess moisture.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a padding in combination with an orthopedic cast material that can be immersed in water then dried quickly in the open air.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a padding in combination with an orthopedic cast material with quick drying features as well as improved skin comfort immediately after getting the cast wet.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cast that allows for effective transfer of moisture away from the skin thereby avoiding skin maceration.

Fast drying, water permeable padding and immobilization apparatus and method thereof


There is disclosed a process to produce fertilizer granules containing urea and ammonium sulfate with a high ammonium sulfate concentration of .ltoreq.60 wt. % in a fluidized bed granulator, which process comprises the steps of: a) a molten urea suspension consisting of ammonium sulfate having an average particle size of 30 to 300 .mu.m and urea having a temperature range of 120 to 155.degree. C. is produced, b) the molten urea suspension produced at the stage a) is then injected from below on the fine particles of urea/ammonium sulfate in a fluidized bed granulator by means of at least a nozzle, while the fluidized bed is loosened by a spouting air flow in the injection area, and subsequently, c) the fertilizer granules generated in the fluidized bed are separated and, if necessary, treated. Homogeneous urea/ammonium sulfate granules of an ammonium sulfate content between 30 and 60 wt. % can be produced this way without any problems, while the particle size of granules can be adjusted selectively and dust emissions by granulation can be reduced to a minimum.

In addition to nitrogen, phosphor and potassium as main fertilizer components, the use of sulfur is increasing in importance in agriculture. Based on the environmental law, sulfur emissions from burning fossil materials have been drastically reduced in the last decade, which in the past represented an essential part of soil supply with sulfur. Moreover, besides ammonium sulfate, in the meantime almost no cheaper fertilizers have been available at the market. However, the use of it alone causes also a considerably bad nitrogen/sulfur relation which is compensated only because of its low price. Furthermore, a large part of ammonium sulfate is used in the form of fine crystals as wastes from the caprolactam industry, and it leads to bad storing and delivery properties of the related fertilizers.
Based on the fact that the production rate of ammonium sulfate from caprolactam processes continuously becomes less by process development and environmental loads due to sulfur emissions are to be kept absolutely small, an obvious demand for the cost-efficiently producible fertilizer granules having the optimal nitrogen/sulfur relation as well as good storing and delivery properties is recognizable on the market. The combination of urea with ammonium sulfate offers quite good prerequisites so that work has been done since several years to develop such a fertilizer.
The production of granules containing urea and ammonium sulfate is not a problem because of the properties of ammonium sulfate or urea/ammonium sulfate mixture. Ammonium sulfate melts at over 500.degree. C. so that the granulation of a mixed molten urea solution having a high ammonium sulfate content is excluded. Ammonium sulfate is soluble in a molten urea solution at usual molten urea temperature only up to about 20 wt. % and it can be therefore granulated homogeneously. If a higher ammonium sulfate content is required, so only compaction, granulation from solutions or granulation of ammonium sulfate/urea slurries are taken into consideration. Since the compaction process is excluded from the bulk market and the granulation process from solutions is unacceptably expensive and at the same time the ammonium sulfate content of more than 20 wt. % is desirable because of good application properties, the former proposals for solution have been based on the granulation of proper slurries. In this connection, an essential problem is that in case of an ammonium sulfate content of more than 60 wt. %, the granulation temperature of those slurries rises very quickly, and this shall be avoided because of the extremely strong formation of vegetable poison, biuret, from urea.
From the U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,796 a process to produce ammonium sulfate urea granules is known with which it is generally possible to produce granules having an ammonium sulfate content of 30 to 70 wt. %. In this case, commercial ammonium sulfate not milled is mixed with a molten urea solution and granulated in an "oil" or "dish" granulator, while the related slurry is dropped down. Both granulator types have the merit that they work in a quasi-dustfree manner so that a dust return can be deleted.
Disadvantageous to this process is the fact that granules have low quality due to their inhomogeneous structure caused by the granulation process. Furthermore, the "dish" and "oil" granulators have not been used in fertilizer granulation processes because their operating costs are relatively large, and it is difficult to achieve large production units by these processes. Finally it is also disadvantageous that the range of "granulation capability" of urea ammonium sulfate slurries mentioned in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,796 is adequate only for coarse-crystalline ammonium sulfate and cannot be technically realized with ammonium sulfate of smaller particle size.
According to EP-A 0 289 074, a process to produce urea ammonium sulfate granules of an ammonium sulfate concentration of 15 to 50 wt. % is described by which the ammonium sulfate granules introduced into the fluidized bed are sprayed by a liquid which contains 70 to 99.9 wt. % urea.
Demerits of this process are the inhomogeneity of ammonium sulfate and urea, necessity of using expensive ammonium sulfate coarse-crystals hardly available on the market and the impossibility to produce a granule diameter larger than 3 mm, as it is preferred by modern agriculture. The presented alternatives to the use of compacted ammonium sulfate of a larger basic diameter require a second forming stage which leads to extremely high operating costs.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,308, a process to produce ammonium sulfate urea granules of an ammonium sulfate content of 15 to 30 wt. % in the fluidized bed is disclosed. In this case, ammonium sulfate is dissolved in a 75 to 85 wt. % urea solution, concentrated to 92 to 97 wt. % and atomized by means of air after addition of granulation additives. In this process the maximum ammonium sulfate content of granules is limited by the maximum solubility of ammonium sulfate in the urea solution. Claimed is therefore only a maximum ammonium sulfate concentration of 30 wt. %.
Furthermore, as for this process it is also disadvantageous that in spite of the addition of crystallization aids which should reduce dust formation, considerable emission arises. Also according to the comparison experiment mentioned in this patent in which ammonium sulfate is mixed with a 95 wt. % urea solution by adding granulation aids and the ammonium sulfate is milled before granulation, the 30 wt. % ammonium sulfate content is not exceeded. Finally in this process two-material nozzles are used, while the atomization of slurries is done by means of highly compacted air. Since the mists generated so have a preferable bulk-specific diameter of 30 to 60 .mu.m, ammonium sulfate granules must be milled quite finely so that they are wetted sufficiently with liquid and solid ammonium sulfate granules are not separated from mists because of density difference to the urea solution.
Moreover, the described process functions only because a large part of ammonium sulfate is dissolved in the 95 wt. % urea solution because of a low ammonium sulfate concentration. In spite of the relatively high portion of dissolved ammonium sulfate in the slurry, a large quantity of ammonium sulfate (about 17 wt. %) is lost as emissions. If these emissions are recycled to the slurry surge tank, the viscosity of the suspension increases to such an extent that in case of an ammonium sulfate content >30 wt. %, the process is interrupted due to plugging.

Process for generation of fertilizer granules containing urea and ammonium sulfate


A power amplifier is configured to generate impedances at harmonic frequencies such that the power amplifier operates in a class C mode in a low output amplitude range and in a class F or inverse F mode in a high output amplitude range. Related methods of operation are also discussed.

The rapid growth of mobile telecommunications services has created increasing demand for low-cost, low-power and reduced size and weight equipment. One such equipment is found in the transmitters in base stations and terminals for mobile telephony, as well as transmitters for broadcast and other wireless systems. The transmitters employ power amplifiers to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal to the antenna. Often, the power amplifier needs to be highly efficient, to not overheat, require excessive cooling or draw less power to increase battery time and decrease the cost of power.
One aspect of amplifier efficiency is related to the current and voltage waveforms used by the power amplifier. More specifically, the amplifier efficiency is related to an amount of simultaneous voltage drop over, and current through, a transistor that is part of the power amplifier. A reduction in the voltage drop and current through the transistor results in a reduction in the used power. The reduction in voltage drop and the current through the transistor are indicated by the waveforms of the current and voltage at the transistor. The optimal waveforms for high (maximum) output power are different from the waveforms at low output powers (relative maximum output), and the traditional circuits used for obtaining those waveforms are mutually exclusive. For a better understanding of the exemplary embodiments, the state of the art of power amplifiers is discussed next.
Traditionally, power amplifiers are categorized into different classes according to their linearity and the waveforms for current and voltage. The two major classes of power amplifiers are linear and non-linear power amplifiers. Classes A, AB, B and C correspond to linear power amplifiers while classes D and F correspond to non-linear power amplifiers. In this regard, FIG. 1A shows the output of a linear power amplifier and FIG. 1B shows the output of a non-linear power amplifier. The axes of FIGS. 1A and B use arbitrary units. Classes A, AB, B, C, D and F are discussed next in more detail. Each class is characterized by circuit properties (which are the same for some classes) and a bias applied to the transistor (which may be different between some classes).
A class A power amplifier is defined as an amplifier that is biased so that the output current flows all the time, as shown in FIG. 2, and the input signal drive level is kept small enough to avoid driving the transistor in the cut-off region. In other words, a conduction angle of the transistor is 360°, meaning that the transistor conducts for the full cycle of the input signal. This property makes the class A power amplifier the most linear of all the amplifier types.
A class B power amplifier is an amplifier in which the conduction angle for the transistor is approximately 180°, as shown in FIG. 3. In this class, the current waveform is a half-wave rectified sinewave and the voltage is confined by a parallel resonant tank circuit to be a sine offset by the supply voltage. Ideal transistors for class B operation have constant transconductance above cut-off and the gate or base biased right at the cut-off. The direct current (DC) supply current is then directly proportional to the RF output current (i.e., to the fundamental harmonic component of the half-wave rectified sine). The sinusoidal RF output voltage is also proportional to the RF output current (for the common linear load resistance). This in turn makes the efficiency of the power amplifier proportional to the output signal's amplitude.
The efficiency of the constant supply voltage class B amplifier is proportional to the output voltage, up to a maximum of 78.5% for ideal devices in a lossless circuit. The average efficiency for a class B amplifier, outputting a signal whose average signal level is low compared to the maximum (peak) level, i.e., that has a high peak-to-average ratio, is therefore low compared to the efficiency at a maximum output.
Some transistors (hereinafter called "quasi-linear") do not have constant transconductance above cut-off, but can be seen as having a first substantially linear part followed by a substantially constant part (above which it usually drops off again). In this case, the best linearity is obtained by so called class AB bias, shown in FIG. 4. A constant (DC) bias voltage applied to the gate or base is chosen as the point on the transconductance slope around which the transconductance is maximally (odd) symmetric. In the simplified model shown in FIG. 4, this point is exactly in the middle of the linear slope part of the transconductance curve.
Since the gate bias for class AB is in the middle of the transconductance slope, the transistor draws current even if no RF signal is present. Thus, the efficiency of the power amplifier is therefore lower (especially for low signal amplitudes) for a class AB amplifier than for a class B amplifier described in FIG. 3. The current pulses of the class AB power amplifier are similar to the half-wave rectified sinewave pulses of class B but complemented with "tails" on each side.
When biasing a quasilinear transistor so that the transistor draws no DC current when no RF signal is present, the output response is nonlinear with respect to the input. The efficiency is thus better than for the ideal class B amplifier, but the maximum output is lower (for otherwise equal conditions). The current waveform consists of narrower pulses than for ideal class B or AB power amplifiers, which indicates a greater content of higher harmonics.
For most transistors, for example those with constant transconductance or quasi-linear transconductance, decreasing the bias below the cut-off voltage gives even narrower current pulses, lower gain, better efficiency, and further reduced maximum output power. This mode of operation defines the class C power amplifier. The class C power amplifier is an amplifier in which the conduction angle for the transistor may be less than 180° and the characteristic output of this amplifier is shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the class C power amplifier is characterized by having narrow output current pulses at a transistor of the power amplifier.
By increasing the gate bias above class AB, to the point that the current is continuously drawn even at high amplitudes, a class A power amplifier is obtained. This class, as discussed above, has low efficiency for small signals, since the DC supply current drawn is high and largely independent of the signal level. The class A power amplifiers are used, inspite of the low efficiency, because they have a higher gain than other classes, which makes it possible to reach a maximum output with a small drive amplifier. For quasilinear transistors, the maximum RF output current of class A amplifiers may be larger than for class B or AB power amplifiers, for the same limitation in instantaneous drain (collector or, more generally, the active device's output node) current. By correspondingly decreasing the load resistance (as seen by the transistor) the maximum output power can be increased.
The abovementioned classes of operation may be obtained by a same circuit, which is characterized by a RF tank (parallel resonator at the fundamental frequency in parallel with the load). The RF tank is necessary because in coupling a tuned RF power amplifier to its load (the antenna or antenna feed line), the correct load resistance, which will enable the amplifier to deliver its rated power, has to be present to the output of the power amplifier. The RF tank ensures that this condition is fulfilled by shorting the harmonics of the current waveform, thereby forcing the output voltage to be sinusoidal. Other functions of the output circuit are to provide the DC current to the transistor through the RF choke and to block the DC from the supply voltage from reaching the load. Since the circuits for the above classes are identical, the difference between these classes of operation lies in the difference in current waveforms, which is caused by different (DC) gate biases to the transistor.
Using a dynamic grid (gate, base) biasing technique to achieve a varying class C through class A operation in a power amplifier, to obtain modulation as well as high average efficiency and high output power, is described in F. E. Terman and F. A. Everest, "Dynamic-shift grid-bias modulation", Radio, no. 211, pp. 22-29,80-, July, 1936. Improvements to this scheme, to further increase the efficiency and linearity for multicarrier signals, are described in Swedish Patent, SE 200201908 by R. Hellberg.
Non-linear amplifiers include class D and class F amplifiers and these amplifiers will be discussed later in more detail. An increase in the maximum power and efficiency relative to the linear amplifiers may be achieved by the class F and inverse F type amplifiers. The class F and inverse F amplifiers are characterized by a square-shaped output voltage waveform at a transistor of the power amplifier. The effect of class F/inverse F is to obtain a more square-shaped voltage or current waveform as described in V. J. Tyler, "A new high efficiency high power amplifier", Marconi Review, vol. 21, no. 130, pp 96-109, Third Quarter 1958 and F. H. Raab, "Maximum efficiency and output of class-F power amplifiers", IEEE trans. MTT, vol. 49, no. 6, June 2001. Using a push-pull arrangement together with switching transistors to obtain the same results as in the class F amplifier is a class D amplifier, i.e., the waveforms are similar but not necessarily the amplifiers. A voltage-switching class D power amplifier corresponds to a class F power amplifier and a current-switching class D power amplifier corresponds to an inverse class F power amplifier.
If the transistor output of the power amplifier "sees" a high impedance (ideally an open circuit) at odd harmonic frequencies instead of short circuits at all harmonics, then a class F power amplifier is present. The high impedance for the odd harmonic frequencies may be obtained by inserting parallel resonators ("harmonic block") in series with the previously described harmonically shorted load (tank and load). Thus, the class F power amplifier may have a high impedance at odd harmonics (often only the third). Instead, if some even harmonics (often only the second) "see" a high impedance, then an inverse class F power amplifier is present. If more harmonics are to have the high impedance, more parallel resonators are inserted in series, while keeping the remaining harmonics shorted.
The thus flattened waveform has a higher fundamental (RF) amplitude than the peak voltage or current would otherwise allow. This is due to the odd (voltage or current) harmonics that are in antiphase with the fundamental (voltage or current) at its peak, thus suppressing the peak without reducing the fundamental (i.e., flattening the wave towards a more square-shaped form). The high harmonic impedance caused by the parallel resonators imply that even a small harmonic current due to the current pulse shape causes a large voltage. This process is self-regulating in the maximum amplitude region due to the instantaneous current reduction due to voltage saturation ("I-V curve behaviour").
The class BD amplifier uses linear class B operation at low and medium amplitudes, but increases the maximum output power by using current-switching class D. The class BD amplifier is described in F. H. Raab, "The class BD high-efficiency RF power amplifier", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. SC-12, no. 3, June 1977. The class BD power amplifier does not use class C or dynamic gate biasing.
The above discussed classes of power amplifiers have their problems, i.e., either low efficiency or low output power. In other words, no traditional method or power amplifier combines the high efficiency of class C amplifier (through dynamic gate bias) at medium output amplitudes and the high maximum output power of class F or inverse F amplifier. What prevents a combination of the class C amplifier with a class F amplifier is the negative interaction between the narrow current pulses of class C (and with quasi-linear transistors even class B) operation with the high harmonic impedances required for class F or inverse F operation. This problem manifests itself as a large harmonic voltage (by one or several harmonics) in phase with the fundamental voltage, saturating the transistor already at very low output amplitudes. Thus, the efficiency of the power amplifier is, on average, not higher than linear class B efficiency, and the advantage of class C operation cannot be obtained.
Another problem associated with existing power amplifiers that try to operate a class F or inverse F amplifier in class C is that the high harmonic voltages combine to give high and low peak voltages, which are not self-regulated by the saturation (I-V) behaviour of the transistor. Depending on the transistor type, these high and low peaks may cause severe efficiency degradation, failure to reach the desired output power, or catastrophic breakdown. The current and voltage (arbitrary scale) of an RF cycle for a medium output amplitude is shown in FIG. 6.
FIG. 7 shows the maximum and minimum drain voltages versus amplitude for the power amplifier. This figure shows an amplitude sweep of a class F amplifier with dynamic class C excitation. There are large voltage overshoots (r) and undershoots (b) at all amplitudes except the extreme low and high.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide devices and methods for communication equipment that avoids the afore-described problems and drawbacks.


A three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus having a high performance and a reduced drive energy is disclosed. At least a portion of an in-focus state detection optical system having an internal light source is movable while maintaining a light path near an object lens of the optical system. A distance of movement of the movable portion which is moved with auto-focusing operation for an object is measured and the three-dimensional shape is measured precisely with a high stroke. An inclination angle measuring optical system which shares the light path near the object lens with the in-focus state detection optical system and has an internal light source is provided in a common casing. Thus, the distance of movement of the movable part of the in-focus state detection optical system and an inclination angle are simultaneously measured so that the three-dimensional shape can be more precisely measured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus, and more particularly to a non-contact and fast three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus.
2. Description of the prior Art
In the past, various methods have been used to non-contact measure a three-dimensional shape. They include an interference measuring method which uses a coherent light, and a method of reading a light sectional image with slit light. The interference measuring method has an advantage in that all surfaces of an object can be simultaneously measured with a high precision but a disadvantage in that the measurement of the shape is difficult to attain when an irregularity on the surface of the object is much larger than a light wavelength. In the light sectional image reading method, it is difficult to measure an irregular shape of an order of the light wavelength and hence a high precision measurement is not attained. In order to resolve the above disadvantages, a three dimensional shape measuring method has been proposed in which an in-focus state detection optical system having an internal light source is mounted on a carriage which is moved such that the optical system is focused to an surface of an object. (Japanese Patent Publication No. 40231/1971). In this method, the shape is measured with a high precision irrespective of the irregularity on the surface of the object. However, in the prior art method, a large quantity of energy is required to move the carriage which carries the in-focus state detection optical system because of the large weight of the movable portion.
When a fine irregularity is included on the surface of the object, more exact information is obtained by expressing the irregular shape by height or distance as well as an inclination angle than by expressing it only by the distance. In the prior art methods, exact information cannot be obtained by this method.

Three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus


A urological implant, in particular a vascular wall support for the urinary tract, is provided with. a substantially tubular, inherently stable carrier, PA1 a spacer film bonded to the carrier surface, and PA1 an inhibitor film of a glycosamino glycan bonded to the spacer film.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a urological implant, in particular a vascular wall support for the urinary tract, such as a urethral, prostate or ureter stent, comprising a substantially tubular, inherently stable carrier. Vascular wall supports of the generic type, which are usually designated as "stents" in technical terminology, are as a rule used for dilating and keeping open pathologically closed or stenotic body vessels. Further examples of application for the urological implants specified are urinary catheters, artificial ureters, artificial urinary diversion systems correspondingly completed by a bladder and so forth.
2. Background Art
To simplify matters, the stents mentioned above will be dealt with below by way of example in the discussion of the prior art and the invention:
Urethral, prostate and ureter stents are indispensable implants for patients with disorders of the urinary tract, if these patients are not in the shape and condition for corresponding surgery. A great variety of stent designs and materials are available today. As a rule, design and material depend on the place where the stent is used and on the implantation technique used. For instance, tubular carriers made from an expansible lattice material are customary. The stent is inserted in its contracted condition via a catheter into the corresponding vessel, where it is expanded for instance by the action of a bubble, its lattice structure extending and the vessel thus being dilated. The stent remains at the place of implantation, serving to support the vascular wall against renewed stenosis.
A serious problem resides in that with all the materials used and tested so far for urinary tract stents, crystallization processes and bacterial colonization will occur on the surface of the stent after several weeks of contact with urine. This leads to serious malfunction of the implants, which strongly jeopardizes the medical success of stent implantation. Numerous studies have dealt with various materials of medicinal technology such as titanium, stainless steel and polymers. However, really durable resistance to crystallize has not been found in any material.
An example of corresponding prior art measures can be seen from U.S. Pat. No. 5 328 954. This document discloses an encrustation and bacterial resistant coating for use on medical devices. The coating includes a reaction product formed by covalent linkage of a hydrophilic polyurethane pre-polymer and aminopolycarboxylic acid. A urease inhibitor and/or antibacterial agent may also be added to the coating.
The aim of this coating--namely to render surfaces resistant to encrustations--is pursued, using antibacterial substances which are bonded on the surface, there preventing a pH increase as produced by bacterial colonization. In this case, encrustations are to be blocked by precipitation of the urine components no longer taking place due to an increased pH.
The substances specified for immobilization are among others ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetate complexes, antibiotics and silver ions, which are ionically or covalently bonded to polyurethanes. As has however been found, the blocking of encrustations achievable by this prior art is still in need of improvement. It is an object of the invention to solve these problems.

Urological implant, in particular vascular wall support for the urinary tract


A toilet seat assembly for drawing in noxious toilet air, filtering and freshening the air, and returning the treated air to the toilet area. The toilet seat includes internally formed intake and exhaust ports which are each provided with respective intake and exhaust apertures. The intake apertures are arranged around the inner periphery of the seat to point towards the center of the toilet and the exhaust apertures are arranged around the outer periphery of the seat. An air treatment assembly is connected to the ports and is operable to draw air in through the intake apertures, pass the air through both a charcoal filter and a deodorant filter, and exhaust the air through the exhaust apertures in the toilet seat. An alternate embodiment of the present invention includes a heater assembly to warm the air prior to its exhaust.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air fresheners and more particularly pertains to a toilet seat air freshener for drawing in noxious air, filtering and freshening the air, and returning the treated air to the toilet area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of air fresheners is known in the prior art. More specifically, air fresheners heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of removing noxious toilet air are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
In the past, toilet venting systems have been devised to remove noxious air through the toilet bowl through various means. However, these devices typically remove the air to a location exterior of the bathroom and therefore, installation of these devices requires considerable effort. Because of such effort, the prior art toilet venting systems are typically permanently installed. Several examples of such systems are illustrated in the prior art.
For example, a toilet bowl vent system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,346 which may be utilized with a toilet having a bowl and a plurality of openings disposed about its rim, and a tank to store water with a bowl filled tube interconnected with the openings. A vent is positioned above the level of maximum water storage in the tank and a low pressure region within the vent is established to bias air flow through the bowl rim openings in the toilet and also through the bowl fill tube in the toilet fill tube in the toilet tank and into the vent. Finally, an exhaust outlet is located at a remote point from the toilet in order to output the air flow from the toilet.
An R.V. toilet venting system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,]79,738 in which a remotely operable exhaust blower is operatively associated with the upper discharge end of the vent pipe of a recreational vehicle holding tank. The system utilizes a float-type liquid flow preventing valve which allows a downstream flow of odors and gases therethrough and prevents downstream flow of liquid under pressure therethrough.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,018 which discloses a toilet and device for removing unpleasant odors. The ventilation system includes a suction apparatus whose intake is connected to the upper region of the bowl above the water seal, and outlet passage whose opening communicates with the waste discharge passage of the toilet at a point below the water seal, and a valve means mounted in the outlet passage which is normally closed when the suction apparatus is inoperative. The suction apparatus and the valve means are electrically operated.
While these devices fill the respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a toilet seat assembly for drawing in noxious toilet air, filtering and freshening the air, and returning the treated air to the toilet area in which a toilet seat includes internal intake and exhaust ports, each provided with respective intake and exhaust apertures which communicate with an air treatment assembly operable to draw air in through the intake apertures, pass the air through both a charcoal filter and a deodorant filter, and exhaust the air through the exhaust apertures. Furthermore, none of the known prior art air fresheners teach or suggest an air treatment assembly which includes a heater assembly for warming the air prior to its exhaust.
In these respects, the toilet seat air freshener according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of drawing in noxious toilet air from a toilet bowl, filtering and freshening the air, and returning the treated air to the toilet area.


A system and method is provided for characterizing earth formations. In one embodiment, the method includes passing a logging tool through a borehole and repeatedly: (a) triggering an acoustic wave generator; (b) recording acoustic waveforms received by receivers in the logging tool; (c) determining a time semblance of the recorded acoustic waveforms; and (d) smoothing the time semblance. In a different embodiment, a phase semblance of the recorded acoustic waveforms is determined and smoothed. The smoothing may be performed using an adaptive wavelet denoising technique or an adaptive moving average filter technique. In each case the average time or frequency spacing between semblance peaks is preferably determined and used to adapt the smoothing operation in a manner that varies with the slowness value s.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to the processing of information obtained by an acoustic borehole tool. More particularly, the invention relates to the real-time or post-processing of acoustic wave data to determine the formation velocity and dispersion properties of an acoustic wave propagating along the borehole using a coherence method of acoustic wave data analysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Acoustic well logging is a well developed art, and details of acoustic logging tools and techniques are set forth in A. Kurkjian, et al., xe2x80x9cSlowness Estimation from Sonic Logging Waveformsxe2x80x9d, Geoexploration, Vol. 277, pp. 215-256 (1991); C. F. Morris et al., xe2x80x9cA New Sonic Array Tool for Full Waveform Logging,xe2x80x9d SPE-13285, Society of Petroleum Engineers (1984); A. R. Harrison et al., xe2x80x9cAcquisition and Analysis of Sonic Waveforms From a Borehole Monopole and Dipole Source . . . xe2x80x9d SPE 20557, pp. 267-282 (September 1990); and C. V. Kimball and T. L. Marzetta, xe2x80x9cSemblance Processing of Borehole Acoustic Array Dataxe2x80x9d, Geophysics, Vol. 49, pp. 274-281 (March 1984), all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. An acoustic logging tool typically includes an acoustic source (transmitter), and a set of receivers that are spaced several inches or feet apart. An acoustic signal is transmitted by the acoustic source and received at the receivers of the borehole tool which are spaced apart from the acoustic source. Measurements are repeated every few inches as the tool is drawn up (or down) the borehole. The acoustic signal from source travels through the formation adjacent the borehole to the receiver array, and the arrival times and perhaps other characteristics of the receiver responses are recorded. Typically, compressional wave (P-wave), shear wave (S-wave), and Stoneley wave arrivals and waveforms are detected by the receivers and are processed. The processing of the data is often accomplished uphole or may be processed real time in the tool itself. Regardless, the information that is recorded is typically used to find formation characteristics such as formation slowness (the inverse of acoustic speed), from which pore pressure, porosity, and other formation property determinations can be made. In some tools, the acoustic signals may even be used to image the formation.
Many different techniques are known in the art for processing the acoustic wave signals in order to obtain information regarding the borehole and/or formation. Typically, the processing involves digitizing the received signal at a desired sampling rate and then processing the digitized samples according to desired techniques. Examples may be found in the references cited above, as well as in articles such as A. R. Harrison et al., xe2x80x9cAcquisition and Analysis of Sonic Waveforms From a Borehole Monopole and Dipole Source . . . xe2x80x9d SPE 20557, pp. 267-282 (September 1990).
Compressional slowness has been computed using Slowness-Time Coherence (STC) processing. C. V. Kimball and T. L. Marzetta, xe2x80x9cSemblance Processing of Borehole Acoustic Array Dataxe2x80x9d, Geophysics, Vol. 49, pp. 274-281 (March 1984). In STC processing, the measured signal is time window xe2x80x9cfilteredxe2x80x9d and stacked, and a semblance function is computed. The semblance function relates the presence or absence of an arrival with a particular assumed slowness and particular assumed arrival time. If the assumed slowness and arrival time do not coincide with that of the measured arrival, the semblance takes on a smaller value. Consequently, arrivals in the received waveforms manifest themselves as local peaks in a plot of semblance versus slowness and arrival time. These peaks are typically found in a peak-finding routine discussed in the aforementioned article by Kimball and Marzetta, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Acoustic LWD has many potential applications in oil field services including seismic correlation while drilling, pore pressure and porosity determinations, and mechanical property determinations. Because telemetry cables may not be available in these situations, the transfer of data may be accomplished via the use of pulses in the flow of the drilling mud (i.e., mud pulse telemetry). While the drilling penetration rate is very slow relative to normal logging rates, data acquisition still can far exceed the highest data transmission rates in the mud. Thus, in any proposed acoustic LWD art, processing of data downhole may be highly desirable, although the downhole computing power may be limited. Alternatively, data may be stored in the memory of the downhole tool, but this could require frequent xe2x80x9ctrippingxe2x80x9d of the drill string.
One technique that permits the downhole processing of data with limited computing power is to calculate the semblance function using time windowing and stacking of the measured acoustic signal. However, windowing the signal may result in inaccuracies and nonlinearities based on the window width for the resulting semblance. Extrapolating from the windowed semblance often results in adding new errors and amplifying existing errors.
It would be advantageous if a non-windowed technique could be used to calculate semblance and determine acoustic speed including the formation velocity. It would also be advantageous if these parameters could be calculated using each data point collected, require a minimal amount of processing, and reduce the errors typically occurring in windowed calculations of formation velocity and semblance.
A system and method is provided for characterizing earth formations. In one embodiment, the method includes passing a logging tool through a borehole and repeatedly: (a) triggering an acoustic wave generator; (b) recording acoustic waveforms received by receivers in the logging tool; (c) determining a time semblance (as a function of slowness and time) of the recorded acoustic waveforms; and (d) smoothing the time semblance. In a different embodiment, a phase semblance (as a function of slowness and frequency) of the recorded acoustic waveforms is determined and smoothed. The smoothing may be performed using an adaptive wavelet transform technique or an adaptive moving average filter technique. In each case the average time or frequency spacing between semblance peaks is preferably determined and used to adapt the smoothing operation in a manner that varies with the slowness value s.

Acoustic signal processing method using array coherency


A method comprises: receiving colliding signals by a receiver from a plurality of signal sources, such that the receiver has a respective non-zero probability of detecting and identifying the colliding signals from each respective one of the signal sources at a given time. The colliding signals are configured with at least one common transmission parameter value so as to interfere with each other, so that the receiver only detects and identifies one of the received colliding signals at any given time. The receiving and identifying are performed during each of a plurality of cycles. A probabilistic model is used to calculate the location of the receiver. The model correlates a respective number of times the receiver detects and identifies one of the colliding signals and the probability of that signal being identified by the receiver, given the location of the receiver.

Typical methods and technologies widely used for locating objects in three dimensional space are based on triangulation utilizing various received signal parameters. For example, typical radio frequency identification (RFID)/Real-Time Location System (RTLS) tags periodically transmit RF signals that are then received by geographically distributed RF readers. The final tag location is calculated using one of the following parameters or their combinations: received signal strength, phase delay, angle of a signal arrival and etc.
GPS receivers calculate their location using the above mentioned parameters of the received signal transmitted by the GPS satellites, surrounding the Earth.
These methods usually require a complicated digital signal processing to be involved in the calculation, increasing the cost of the devices and the system.
An improved location method and system are desired.

Location method and system using colliding signals


A stacking arrangement for combining a plurality of discrete interconnected electronic modules in aligned stacked relation includes a plurality of modules having discrete three-dimensional housing enclosures. Integral cooperating pin and socket electrical connector units are mounted in the top and bottom panels for interconnecting respective facing panels of juxtaposed modules electrically to interconnect all stacked modules in a manner not externally visible. An integral intermodular ventilation system is provided that has matching openings in corresponding facing top and bottom surfaces of the modules in aligned relation to accommodate continuous vertical intermodular air flow and includes one or more fans for pressurizing the stack and impelling air to flow through the stacked modular arrangement. A cover mounts on top of the ultimate functional module covering the pin and socket connecting unit of the top module and contains a plurality of side openings to accommodate outward ventilation flow.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to the field of housing assemblies for electronic equipment and, more particularly, to a compact ventilated arrangement for combining a plurality of housings aligned in stacked parallel relation in which the housings contain discrete functional units such as disk drives and in which the housings are connected electrically in parallel to a common pass-through electrical bus.
II. Description of the Related Art
Personal computer systems and peripherals are commonly provided with a power supply that supplies a plurality of discrete functional units or auxiliary devices in parallel with respect to a common bus. In this manner, a number of circuit boards may be provided which are mounted in spaced parallel relation, each carrying a functional unit and each having edge connectors or contact areas which connect to a different connector in a main or mother board. If the system is expanded beyond the number of units or boards that can be directly accommodated by the mother board, an additional enclosure with additional connecting capacity must be provided and interconnected to the mother board as by an external pigtail joiner arrangement.
Modular side-by-side or stacked arrangements are known in which each separate functional unit is provided with a housing. Commonly one module is a power supply module which serves as a base module on which the others are stacked. Other modules may have floppy disk drives, detailed data storage, or the like. Each housing, in turn, is provided with pin and socket connector arrangements adapted to align with and engage those of other units in a manner such that all the units can be connected together in modular fashion in parallel with a common power supply and data bus. One stacking arrangement with a plurality of enclosures in which each enclosure is provided with a male connector on one side and a female connector on the other is disclosed by Buron et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,070 and Sisler in U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,460.
Each individual unit in such a system typically also generates an amount of heat which must be dissipated by conductive heat transfer or a ventilation means. In this regard, it is also known to provide a common ventilation system in which a blower or exhaust fan is associated with the power module such that cooling air is aspirated through vents in several units and exhausted from the power module. Such an arrangement is also shown by Buron et al in the above-mentioned reference.
Such arrangements have alleviated some of the problems associated with integrating a plurality of individual functional units with a common power supply and data bus. However, there remains a need for providing a stacked modular system of such units that allows free module interchangeability and add-ons, which, at the same time, not only affords proper continuity of ventilation and electrical interconnecting, but also protects both the power connection and ventilation access of all modular units including the exposed ultimate unit.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved modular stacking arrangement for distributively interfacing a plurality of separately housed functional units to be used with a personal computer which provides protected hidden electrical interconnects and positive flow through ventilation.
Another object of the invention is to allow free interchangeability of modular units of different sizes in such a system.
Still another object is to provide such a system in which the outer electrical connector and vent openings of the ultimate functional modular unit are protected.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent in connection with the detailed description provided below take together with the several drawing Figures.


An insect capturing device comprising a pair of elongate longitudinal members pivotally connected together at a point along their length to pivot relative to one another in a scissors fashion about the point of connection with handles at one end and a pair of foraminous cup-shaped members secured in opposed relation at the ends opposite the handles. The cup-shaped members are moved by the longitudinal members between an open position spaced a distance apart and a closed position where they are brought face to face to form an enclosure for capturing an insect therein. The open ends of the cup-shaped members are configured to facilitate secure engagement in the closed position and prevent accidental opening to allow the user to release the handle and still maintain the cup-shaped members in the closed position. In one embodiment, a magnetic ring or flange surrounds the open ends of the cup-shaped members causing the cup-shaped members to be attracted toward one another when in close proximity and to snap together to assume the closed position. In another embodiment, a fabric type fastener surrounds the open ends of the cup-shaped members. The device may also be used as a toy or novelty item to transform the capturing of flies and other insects into a sport of skill and amusement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to insect capturing devices, and more particularly to an insect capturing device which does not kill the insect while it is being captured and has a locking feature to secure the device in the closed position.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Many insects, such as flies and mosquitoes are unhealthy, distracting, and troublesome pests. These types of insects are difficult to exterminate with conventional devices such as fly swatters and the like. Most insecticides and other atomized and aerosol sprays have an unpleasant odor, and spraying a room to exterminate the insect will often make the room occupants ill. Some persons do not wish to kill insects but to just remove them from the premises.
In some instances it is desirable to capture certain types of insects without killing them or damaging them in order to study or transport them, and later release them to their natural surroundings.
It is also desirable to provide a novel toy item which may be used indoors or outdoors to transform the capturing of flies and other insects into a sport of skill and amusement.
There are several patents which disclose various insect capturing and exterminating devices.
Weiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,460 discloses a forceps with a pair of closeable arms having cup-shaped gripping members at the ends which grip the protruding portion of a tick or other parasite attached to the skin. At least one of the cups may be provided with an electrical thermal element or a chemical applicator which causes the parasite to release its bite allowing it to be removed by the forceps.
Van der Merwe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,340 discloses a hand operated device for capturing and exterminating houseflies. The device has two jaws each with a plastic dome at the end which may also contain a poison. The actuating mechanism comprises two elongate arms connected to the jaws at one end and to a base plate at the other end. The arms are biased together by a spring. A retracting pin has a disc which passes through an opening in the pivoted end of the arms and is connected to a trigger. In use, the pin is retracted to open the jaws and the insect is carefully approached. When the jaws are positioned on either side of the fly, the trigger is pulled to capture the fly between the dome.
Burzdak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,586 discloses a bug catcher which captures an insect without killing it. The device comprises a pair of elongate arms spring hinged together at one end. One of the arms has a flat platform at its other end which allows the insect to be scooped up and the other arm has a clear plastic cup-shaped member at its end which is closed by the platform.
Disney, U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,163 discloses an insect trap comprising a transparent receptacle at the end of a handle which has a spring loaded flexible closure at the open bottom end. The open end is placed over the insect and the spring mechanism is released to pull the closure over the open end capturing the insect inside the receptacle.
Marsh, U.S. Pat. No. 160,606 discloses a chinch-bug gatherer in the form of a pair of shears which operate in a scissors-like manner.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by an insect capturing device comprising a pair of elongate longitudinal members pivotally connected together at a point along their length to pivot relative to one another in a scissors fashion about the point of connection with handles at one end and a pair of foraminous cup-shaped members secured in opposed relation at the ends opposite the handles. The cup-shaped members are moved by the longitudinal members between an open position spaced a distance apart and a closed position where they are brought face to face to form an enclosure for capturing an insect therein. The open ends of the cup-shaped members are configured to facilitate secure engagement in the closed position and prevent accidental opening to allow the user to release the handles and still maintain the cup-shaped members in the closed position In one embodiment, a magnetic ring or flange surrounds the open ends of the cup-shaped members causing the cup-shaped members to be attracted toward one another when in close proximity and to snap together to assume the closed position. In another embodiment, a fabric type fastener surrounds the open ends of the cup-shaped members. The device may also be used as a toy or novelty item to transform the capturing of flies and other insects into a sport of skill and amusement.


Provided is a battery state monitoring circuit including: a charge/discharge control circuit for detecting and controlling a state of a secondary battery; a temperature sensor circuit connected to an overcurrent detection terminal; an amplifier for comparing a reference voltage and a divided voltage of the overcurrent detection terminal; and a transistor that receives an output signal of the amplifier, for controlling a charge control output terminal. When a charger is connected in a state in which the secondary battery has an ultra-low voltage, a charge control FET is controlled so that a constant voltage may appear between output terminals, to thereby ensure an operating voltage of the temperature sensor circuit to enable an overheat protection function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery state monitoring circuit for detecting a voltage and an abnormality of a secondary battery and a battery device including the battery state monitoring circuit, and more particularly, to a battery state monitoring circuit incorporating a temperature sensor in a charge/discharge control circuit and a battery device including the battery state monitoring circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 illustrates a circuit diagram of a conventional battery device incorporating a temperature sensor. The conventional battery device incorporating the temperature sensor includes a secondary battery 101, an overcharge detection circuit 301, an overdischarge detection circuit 305, a control circuit 302, an overheat detection circuit 304, a temperature sensor 307, an overcurrent detection circuit 303, a discharge field-effect transistor (FET) 306, a charge FET 308, an external terminal 106, and an external terminal 107.
Connection is made as follows. The positive terminal side of the secondary battery 101 is connected to the overcharge detection circuit 301, the overdischarge detection circuit 305, and the external terminal 106, and the negative terminal side thereof is connected to a source of the discharge FET 306. The control circuit 302 is connected to an output of the overcharge detection circuit 301, an output of the overdischarge detection circuit 305, an output of the overcurrent detection circuit 303, and an output of the overheat detection circuit 304. The discharge FET 306 has a gate connected to an output of the control circuit 302 and a drain connected to a drain of the charge FET 308. The charge FET 308 has a gate connected to another output of the control circuit 302 and a source connected to an input of the overcurrent detection circuit 303 and the external terminal 107.
When the charge FET 308 enters an abnormal overheated state due to overcurrent during charge, the overheat detection circuit 304 notifies the control circuit 302 of the abnormal state so that the control circuit 302 operates to change the gate of the charge FET 308 to L to disconnect a charge current. Therefore, the charge FET 308 for charge control can be protected from abnormal overheat (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-124775).
However, the conventional technology has a problem that the overheat detection circuit cannot operate when the secondary battery is charged from an ultra-low voltage (around 0 V) after long-term standing.

Battery state monitoring circuit and battery device


The present invention provides a modulation controller for use with a three phase converter. In one embodiment, the modulation controller includes a three phase modulator configured to provide vector control signals for the three phase converter that generate a common mode voltage. Additionally, the modulation controller also includes a transition modifier coupled to the three phase modulator and configured to provide a shaping function for the vector control signals that extends a transition period of the common mode voltage.

Vector control is a widely used technique in three phase converter topologies where power flow may be bidirectional (i.e., used as a rectifier or an inverter) due to its high performance characteristics. In vector control, two pulse width modulation (PWM) schemes are often used. One is a traditional sine/Δmodulation (sine/ΔPWM), and the other is space vector PWM (SVPWM). With the progress of digital control technology, SVPWM has drawn more interests since as it has an advantage of accommodating wider AC voltage ranges for a fixed DC bus voltage. Additionally, SVPWM may provide a reduced switching frequency for comparable ripple performance, thereby resulting in critical thermal benefits. Additionally, SVPWM can be implemented by employing either a hardware or software approach.
While generally, good current waveforms are not difficult to obtain, the application of SVPWM in products has been very limited due to its large common mode noise. In rectifier applications, this common mode noise causes serious electromagnetic interference (EMI) and stability problems for the converter. In motor drive applications, it could cause bearing damage due to common mode current. In the case of parallel operation of multiple converters, a circulation current, caused by the common mode voltage, could disturb the power train and sometimes even damage the converter devices. Although larger common mode filters will help reduce the noise, they are often limited by their size and cost penalties. Additionally, common mode filters merely attenuate the noise rather than resolve the source of the noise.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a more effective way to reduce common mode noise associated with three phase converters.

Modulation controller, method of controlling and three phase converter system employing the same


A high voltage active device such as a power FET is employed in a circuit configuration which maximizes the terminal impedance. This high impedance is placed in series with the gaseous discharge device to be driven. The gaseous discharge device is able to sustain conduction, between pulsed operations, at very low currents due to the very high impedance presented by the FET. A further refinement of the invention provides the supply voltage for the combination of the FET and the gaseous discharge device from a capacitor which can be charged during normal pulse-forming network charging.

In pulsed operation of gaseous discharge devices such as flashlamps which are used as laser pump sources, there is often a need for circuitry to maintain the gaseous discharge device in continuous conduction between pulse operations in order to stabilize the operation of the gaseous discharge device. One of the most common types of gaseous discharge devices is a flashlamp which typically contains xenon or krypton gas. These types of flashlamps are typically used as laser pump sources and, for purposes of discussion of the instant invention, the flashlamp will be used as a representative gaseous discharge device. Flashlamp impedance, and the impedance of similar gaseous discharge devices, is highly non-linear and, for low currents, is negative. In order for a flashlamp to remain in continuous conduction, it must be supplied with power from a source having a larger internal impedance than the negative dynamic impedance of the flashlamp itself. In the past, the simplest type of simmering power supply was simply a high voltage DC source with a large series resistor placed between the source and the flashlamp to control current into the lamp. This type of design is simple but requires considerable power dissipation to achieve stable operation. For example, using a 10,000 ohm resistor, simmering of a typical flashlamp may be achieved at 100 mA. The lamp voltage may be approximately 200 volts, thus a 1,200 volt source at 100 mA might be required to achieve reliable simmering with a total dissipation of 120 watts.
Another approach which offers a significant reduction in the power dissipation entailed in the previously described series resistor circuit, utilizes a switching pre-regulator which passes a constant current to the input of a DC to DC converter. This type of simmering power supply produces large amounts of ripple current in the flashlamp and requires 60 to 80 mA for reliable simmering. The overall efficiency is roughly 65% resulting in approximately 22 watts of total power dissipation and approximately 50 circuit components. Other types of simmering circuits are available which offer improvements in power dissipation compared to the series resistor circuit, but achieve this improvement at the expense of simplicity since these circuits are typically complex and require high component counts.
Simmering power supplies typically find use in laser rangefinders and other tactical systems which employ pumped lasers. In portable systems, power dissipation is a very important parameter since operating power is supplied typically by batteries. Additionally, all power dissipation results in heat which must be removed in order to prevent excessive temperature build up. Reliability is also extremely important and, as is well known, reliability usually decreases as complexity increases. Accordingly, what is needed is a simple, reliable simmering power supply which utilizes few components and minimizes power dissipation. The instant invention offers an optimal solution to all these needs by presenting a very simple circuit with a lower component count which can maintain a flashlamp or other similar gaseous discharge device in a simmering condition between pulsed operations with greatly reduced power dissipation.

Simplified gaseous discharge device simmering circuit


A control system for mobile heavy equipment machinery includes an electronic control module for receiving and processing pulse width modulated control signals. There is a programmable logic controller (PLC) that receives position sensor generated input signals selectively from manual and remote sources. The PLC processes the input signals and transmits such signals in pulse width modulated format to the electronic control module, which processes the signals and directs corresponding output signals to control operation of the equipment.

Tractors and other types of mobile heavy equipment (e.g. earth moving, construction, forestry and agricultural machines) are conventionally controlled by an electronic control module (ECM). This device typically comprises a microprocessor that responds to sensed input signals and generates corresponding output signals that control operation of the machinery and its components (e.g. throttle, steering, boom, bucket, mulcher, shredder, or other working head, etc.) in accordance with the sensed input signal. The ECM has also been used in some machines, such as those manufactured by Caterpillar Corporation, as a diagnostic tool to monitor various component systems (e.g. engine, cooling, brakes) of the heavy equipment.
Most types of mobile heavy equipment have traditionally been manned by a human operator who sits on the equipment and sends selected control signals to the ECM via manual controls such as a joystick, lever, etc. In other applications, for example on steep, precipitous or unstable terrain or for the removal of explosives from a battle zone or mined area, it may be extremely dangerous and unacceptable for an operator to personally ride on the equipment. This is particularly so when the machine involved is small and/or compact and does not provide the operator with sufficient protection from an equipment rollover, explosion or other potentially catastrophic event.
Remote control systems have been developed for operating heavy equipment in potentially dangerous applications of the type described above. However, such systems tend to be unduly expensive, complicated and inefficient. This is particularly so when the equipment is already provided with an existing ECM that enables an operator to manually control the machine. In some cases, a separate and/or retrofit receiver/control unit must be programmed independently of the ECM to send output signals to its own dedicated control components (e.g. valves, switches, solenoids). Such remote control systems are expensive and complicated to program, install and maintain. Alternatively, control of the machine can be transferred, as needed, between manual and remote control units through the use of gang relays and other switching systems which are again fairly complex and costly.
The foregoing difficulties can be especially problematic in machines employing an ECM that utilizes pulse width modulated (PWM) control signals. The previously described electronic control module conventionally employed by the machines produced by Caterpillar Corp. is a representative example of a controller that features pulse width modulation. Such ECMs are incompatible with the 1939 CAN communications signal protocol utilized by many standard remote control systems as well as in most conventional heavy equipment control systems. The PWM compatible ECM cannot process CAN Input signals and this cannot be controlled remotely. In the case of the Caterpillar ECM, the extremely useful diagnostic function performed by that controller would be disabled and unavailable during remote control operation. To date, no known control system has been provided for modifying and adapting a pulse width modulation compatible ECM of the type described above so that it is operably responsive to both manually and remotely generated PMW input signals, as well as switched digital inputs. The present invention provides a control system that accomplishes this purpose and overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.

Electronic control system for mobile heavy equipment machinery