Compositions comprising extracts from marine organisms show beneficial effects on skin ailments. Fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging in skin are improved with the application of compositions with marine extracts. Production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid are increased after application of the compositions.

Skin is affected by many factors, including ultraviolet light, air & topical pollution, wind, heat, humidity, soaps, and other environmental elements. Additionally, biological changes, including chronological age, health and life style can effect the quality of the skin.
Typical skin problems are fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging. Aging and sun damage to the skin causes alteration, destruction and diminished biosynthesis of the major components of the dermis (the second layer of the skin). When we consider aging skin we are generally thinking about the visible effects: sagging, wrinkled skin with a coarse texture, large pores and increasing numbers of lentigines (small pigmented spots) and actinic keratoses (a growth of precancers on the skin). The principal cause of skin aging is two-fold; a slowdown in the production of extra cellular matrix (ECM) component which is accompanied by a diminished capacity to handle the production workload efficiently. The causes of visible aging skin are related to diminished biosynthesis of the three major components of the ECM: collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. Where we observe sun damage and aging of the skin, we observe the loss of these building blocks of our skin. In addition, fibrocytes, the cells which make collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid and microcirculation, which nourish the skin also decreases in number and function by about 3% per year after the age of 30.
Collagen gives strength and toughness to the skin. It acts as scaffolding for elastin and hyaluronic acid. Loss of collagen results in weak and easily torn skin.
Elastin gives the elastic rebound. Skin loses its bounce with the loss of elastin. This results in skin having a crêpey appearance with a wrinkled surface and thin skin with a tendency to sag.
Hyaluronic acid gives the skin volume and provides a great deal of protective insulation. Loss of hyaluronic acid leads to thin, translucent skin, where blood vessels appear more prominent and the microvasculature becomes visible. The skin appears pink and displays the epidermal aspects of sun damage, which include "liver" (age) spots, which in reality are sunspots (called lentigines). The skin also becomes easily bruised and torn.
These are the supporting structures of the skin; collagen fibers provide the scaffolding that supports the epidermis, while elastin fibers give the skin its resiliency and firmness. Hyaluronic acid is made up of long chain sugar molecules that form a gel that holds up to 6,000 times its weight in water. Hyaluronic acid is essential to healthy skin because it increases the water content of the epidermis and gives the skin its pleasing plumpness and pliability.
People start losing these essential components of skin at a young age and sun damage contributes dramatically more loss. After age 30, the amounts of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid decreases about 1-2% per year, and aging and sun damage combined can cause a loss of these essential components upwards of 3% per year.
In addition the ratio of healthy new cells to defective cells (that look like unsightly age spots, etc.) shrinks. Replacement of new tissue takes longer (cell turnover rate slows), so in addition to wrinkles and sagging the skin becomes dull, coarse, blotchy and hyperpigmented.
The reason behind this litany of negative effects is simple and familiar; as a person ages, hormone production slows down. Hormone insufficiency dictates a slowdown of a number of processes, including those affecting the appearance of the skin.
Aging and sun damage also dramatically reduce the number and activity of oil glands (called sebaceous glands) in the dermis. These glands also secrete the body's natural sunscreen (called squalene). The epidermis (the outer layer of the skin) then becomes dry and cracked and less protective.
The deterioration of the dermis directly affects the epidermis. Epidermal cell division decreases, the replacement of old tissue with new, healthy cells takes longer. The skin becomes thin and vulnerable. In this condition, the skin is more sensitive to outside contactants. Contactants are allergens that can cause dermatitis.
Injections of collagen or hyaluronic acid add no more than temporary improvement. They do not organize those materials in a functional pattern. The materials are placed in globs that fill in the deterioration of the skin's natural composition. The effect of injections doesn't last because the collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid are torn down by the fibroclasts. There is no improvement in the number or function of fibrocytes and blood vessels.
There are many products available over the counter or from a physician that are directed toward improving the health and physical appearance of the skin. The products try to delay or minimize the production of wrinkles or even try to eliminate wrinkles once they have formed.
Consumers prefer topically applied products due to their ease of use. The strongest topical treatment on the market is currently Retin-A cream. Others include alpha hydroxy acid and vitamin C creams. These have been shown to minimally increase collagen production. They do nothing to increase elastin and hyaluronic acid, or number and function of fibrocytes or blood vessels. Although the skin may appear better after treatment, there is still the same number of cells after treatment as there were before treatment. Once treatment is stopped, the skin returns to the pre-treatment status in about 1 to 2 weeks. This may be due to the cells overworking during the Retin-A treatment, which may shorten the cells life span.
Scientists around the world are increasingly recognizing the rejuvenating powers of the ocean. They realize that the same forces that created life play a huge role in regenerating life. People are interested in using natural or organic products for skin care in the belief that these products are safer and more effective. Of interest to these people are products from the ocean. Organisms from the ocean are believed to have beneficial compounds and salts.
A focus has been placed on marine algae and organisms that eat algae since they will concentrate the compounds form the algae. The abalone (Haliotis spp.), in particular, has been investigated for its beneficial effects. There have been reports that abalone has antiviral and antibacterial activity when injected into mice. Also, there is antidotal evidence that the guts from abalone contain a photoactive chemical that causes cats to have skin damage after exposure to light. Additionally, the severity of the skin damage varies during the year.
While there are many products that take advantage of the flora from the sea by adding macroalgae extracts there are very few that are using marine fauna. Adding biopeptides from gastropods is a cutting-edge idea. This idea, which is about to transform anti-aging skin care as we know it, is complemented by the unique extraction technology that compromises neither product efficacy nor customer safety.
The desire of the public for products from the ocean and suggestions that some marine organisms contain unknown chemicals led to the investigation of extracts from several marine organisms—algae, cyanobacteria and animals.

Marine extract compositions and methods of use

Marine Biology % Environmental Technologies, LLC


A light-emitting diode (LED)-based solid-state lamp using an LED driving circuit with an electric current control operates normally for a regulated power from either a compact fluorescent (CFL) electronic ballast or AC mains. The LED driving circuit together with a matching circuit is configured to optimize resonant characteristics of the CFL electronic ballast used and enhance lamp compatibility without flickering, which in turn reduces possibility of overheating and fires due to incompatibility. With a cycle-by-cycle current control and power switching at a constant on-time and varied off-time, an over-rated surge current is limited, preventing occasional fire hazards occurred in both the CFL electronic ballast and the LED lamp.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light-emitting diode (LED) lamps that work with conventional compact fluorescent (CFL) lamp fixtures configured to electrically connect either CFL electronic ballasts or AC mains.
Description of the Related Art
Solid-state lighting from semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has received much attention in general lighting applications today. Because of its potential for more energy savings, better environmental protection (with no hazardous materials used), higher efficiency, smaller size, and longer lifetime than conventional incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes, the LED-based solid-state lighting will be a mainstream for general lighting in the near future. Meanwhile, as LED technologies develop with the drive for energy efficiency and clean technologies worldwide, more families and organizations will adopt LED lighting for their illumination applications. In this trend, universal uses of such LED lighting under environments of both AC mains and electronic ballasts with uncertainty become especially important and need to be well addressed.
In today's retrofit application of an LED lamp to replace an existing fluorescent lamp, consumers may choose either to adopt a ballast-compatible LED lamp with an existing ballast used to operate the fluorescent lamp or to employ an AC mains-operable LED lamp by removing/bypassing the ballast. Either application has its advantages and disadvantages. In the former case, although the ballast consumes extra power, it is straightforward to replace the fluorescent lamp without rewiring, which consumers have a first impression that it is the best alternative. But the fact is that total cost of ownership for this approach is high regardless of very low initial cost. For example, the ballast-compatible LED lamps work only with particular types of ballasts. If the existing ballast is not compatible with the ballast-compatible LED lamp, the consumer will have to replace the ballast. Some facilities built long time ago incorporate different types of fixtures, which requires extensive labor for both identifying ballasts and replacing incompatible ones. Moreover, a ballast-compatible LED lamp can operate longer than the ballast. When an old ballast fails, a new ballast will be needed to replace in order to keep the ballast-compatible LED lamps working. Maintenance will be complicated, sometimes for the lamps and sometimes for the ballasts. The incurred cost will preponderate over the initial cost savings by changeover to the ballast-compatible LED lamps for hundreds of fixtures throughout a facility. In addition, replacing a failed ballast requires a certified electrician. The labor costs and long-term maintenance costs will be unacceptable to end users. From energy saving point of view, a ballast constantly draws power, even when the ballast-compatible LED lamps are dead or not installed. In this sense, any energy saved while using the ballast-compatible LED lamps becomes meaningless with the constant energy use by the ballast. In the long run, the ballast-compatible LED lamps are more expensive and less efficient than self-sustaining AC mains-operable LED lamps.
On the contrary, an AC mains-operable LED lamp does not require a ballast to operate. Before use of the AC mains-operable LED lamp, the ballast in a fixture must be removed or bypassed. Removing or bypassing the ballast does not require an electrician and can be replaced by end users. Each AC mains-operable LED lamp is self-sustaining. Once installed, the AC mains-operable LED lamps will only need to be replaced after 50,000 hours. In view of above advantages and disadvantages of both the ballast-compatible LED lamps and the AC mains-operable LED lamps, it seems that market needs a most cost-effectively solution by using an LED lamp that can be used with the AC mains and is compatible with a ballast so that LED lamp users can save an initial cost by changeover to such an LED lamp followed by retrofitting the lamp fixture to be used with the AC mains when the ballast dies.
Ballasts have several different types. However in the US, electronic ballasts are most popular in lamp fixtures because they are more efficient and less expensive than other types of ballasts. Nevertheless, it is better for the ballast-compatible LED lamp to be compatible with either electronic ballasts or other types of ballasts.
As mentioned above, a cost-effective solution may be to use a ballast as part of an LED driver to operate an LED lamp. In some prior art schemes, a switching mode power supply (SMPS) type LED driver is proposed to use with a ballast, but has not been completely accepted due to occasional fires that arise inside the ballast. The cause of these fires has been identified to be a large dc input capacitor in the SMPS type LED driver, which may destroy a capacitor in the ballast due to excessive initial resonant voltage. A conventional SMPS type LED driver for AC mains comprises a Buck converter, which can efficiently convert input voltages of 110˜277 VAC into a DC voltage required to power LEDs in an LED lamp. However, the ballast has an output voltage much higher than 277 VAC with a frequency well above 60 Hz. Such a Buck converter is controlled by a control logic, which has several drawbacks that limit its use in ballast applications. First, the control logic has a low operating voltage range which inherently limits the wide range of input voltages that can be used. Second, an over-voltage protection (OVP) function in the control logic starts at a low voltage limited by the low operating voltage. When an input voltage from a ballast exceeds a certain value, OVP functions to stop operation, shutting down the lamp. Third, the Buck converter operates in a continuous conduction mode, in which an input current fails to follow the input voltage, leading to a low power factor with the AC mains and turn-on or other operational failures with the ballast. Fourth, the control logic is solely powered by a voltage built up by an input capacitor with a small capacitance to meet a short start-up requirement. When the input voltage drops to the minimum operating voltage level, the control logic fails to operate and sends no signals to turn on a switch used in the Buck converter, and the Buck converter stops to function until the input voltage level recovers, resulting in flickering. In general, conventional LED drivers fail to work with a ballast and to properly operate an LED lamp at a regulated power, resulting in unstable lighting output. It goes without saying that the same LED drivers can flawlessly operate an LED lamp with the AC mains.

Solid-state lighting operable with compact fluorescent ballasts and AC mains


A method for tamping media during transportation is disclosed. Multiple parallel beltsets lie between an inlet station(s) and a delivery station(s). The multiple parallel beltsets have one or more parallel belts, a motor connected to drive the beltsets, and multiple pushers attached to the belts of the beltset with the pushers of one beltset placed between the pushers of the adjacent beltset. A control module coupled to the motors accepts a set of instructions and controls tamping of the media stack during transportation. The control module varies the velocity of one of the beltsets relative to the adjacent beltset and adjusts the distance between successive pushers on the beltsets to accept media or to tamp media during transportation.

Material-handling systems transport media (envelopes, boxes, cards, sheet material including paper, corrugated cardboard, mail or the like or stacks of sheet material) from input station(s) to output station(s). A conveyor system, for example, may transport any number of media items between an inlet station(s) and a delivery station(s). Belts of the conveyor system carry stacks of media between two successive pushers (elongated members, attached to a belt at predetermined locations, separating two sections of the belt and being capable of pushing media on the conveyor system) on the conveyor system.
Pusher transport systems encounter the problem of misregistration or misalignment of media in a stack. The misregistration of a media stack can occur due to addition of media in an unregistered state to a media stack, addition of media leading to an unregistered stack, and transportation of the media stack, where movement can lead to an unregistered media stack. For example, in a mailing system where differently sized media is added to a media stack during transport, misregistration can occur. Further, the mailing system may involve inserting the media stack into an envelope, necessitating proper registration of the media stack. Presently, hold down straps and brushes placed at fixed locations above the conveyer system are employed for tamping an unregistered media stack. A change in the size or type of media causes significant delay in media transport, as an adjustment to the hold down straps or brushes becomes necessary.
It would be highly desirable to have a relatively simple and cost-effective system for combining high production on a material-handling system with the ability to vary the distance between successive pushers automatically for tamping media stacks during transport.

Method and system for tamping media during transportation


A support device for use with at least one of a stepladder, an extension ladder, and scaffolding, includes a base member manufactured from a first predetermined material and having a first predetermined shape and a first predetermined size. A height adjustable rod member is operably connected at a first end thereof to such base member. A brace member has a first end and a second end, such first end of such brace member being perpendicularly engaged with such elongated rod member. A securing mechanism is operably disposed on such second end of such brace member for securing such brace member to such at least one of such stepladder, such extension ladder, and such scaffolding,. At least one support member is releasably engageable with such second end of such rod member for supporting a predetermined object thereon.

Prior to the conception and development of the present invention, support devices, such as stepladders, ladders, and scaffolding, as is generally well known in the prior art, have been used to support people.
Specifically of interest to the present invention are the following: Fahey, U.S. Design Pat. No. D 518,348 discloses the ornamental design for an adjustable clamping device.
Weinfeld, U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,974, discloses a multiple portable support means for holding circuitry parts which are to be soldered or otherwise bound together.
Glesser, U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,011, discloses a tool or jig for holding a workpiece which includes a base having at least four arms joined at a common center and radiating outwardly at 90 degree angles to each other. The free end of each arm includes a clip for releasably holding the workpiece.
Mendola, U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,495, discloses an apparatus for clamping an object which includes a clamp having a resilient element to maintain the clamp in closed position in the absence of applied pressure, and a release mechanism. An arm with a cable encased by a plurality of tubular, cone shaped segments is attached to the release mechanism, which is in turn attached to the clamp and includes either coil springs or bow springs for maintaining tension in the cable when the clamp is in a closed position, and for releasing tension in the cable when the clamp is opened.
Murvine, U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,577, discloses a hobbyist's tool comprised of a grid-like base member containing a plurality of uniformly shaped and uniformly spaced apart peg openings into which adjustable, flexible arms may be attached.


A reagent chemical is directed along a first pipe portion (20) that extends along one side of the array of wafers (14) and which contains a plurality of jets (33) for projecting the chemical toward the wafers. A plurality of second pipe portions (21) transmits an inert gas, with each pipe portion having a plurality of jets (34) for projecting the gas toward the floor of the tank.

The increased circuit densities defined in semiconductor chips has increased the need for more effective cleaning of the semiconductor wafers from which the clips are made. A widely-used method for cleaning silicon semiconductor wafers is the use of a hot acid bath, such as sulfuric acid, into which a reagent chemical such as hydrogen peroxide, has been added. Because the sulfuric acid is highly reactive, conventional plumbing and agitation apparatus cannot be used within the cleaning bath. Thus, it is common to use a magnetic stirrer for agitating the bath and a chemical dispense head for introducing the hydrogen peroxide into the bath. The magnetic stirrer comprises an elongated ferromagnetic element coated with TEFLON (a trademark for a synthetic resin polymer) that is introduced into the bath; another ferromagnetic element outside the bath is rotated by a conventional motor which causes rotation of the magnetic stirrer in the bath to promote agitation, as is required for removal of reacted contaminants from the wafer surfaces. The chemical dispense head, which is not immersed in the bath, and can therefore be made of conventional materials, typically comprises a pipe with several nozzles for projecting the hydrogen peroxide onto the upper surface of the sulfuric acid bath. Magnetic stirrers and chemical dispense heads as described are commercially available from the Modutek Company, 960 Remillard Court, San Jose, Calif. This system must be operated with care because the highly reactive cleaning chemicals can injure the operators.
There has been for some time a recognized need for a more effective cleaning method than that provided by the conventional system. The U.S. patent of McConnell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,532, issued Oct. 18, 1988, is an example of relatively expensive and cumbersome apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers more effectively. There is therefore still a need for relatively safe, inexpensive and convenient methods and apparatus for more dependably and more thoroughly cleaning semiconductor wafers.

Semiconductor wafer cleaning method and apparatus


A rotation angle measurement system for detecting a rotation of a shaft. The rotation angle measurement system includes the shaft which extends in an axial direction, a rotor unit having a sensor magnet, a stationary stator unit having a multi-turn sensor unit which is arranged radially spaced apart from the shaft and which has a Wiegand sensor, and a magnetic shielding arrangement for the Wiegand sensor. The rotor unit is connected to the shaft to rotate therewith and radially surrounds the shaft. The multi-turn sensor unit functionally interacts with the sensor magnet to detect revolutions thereof. The magnetic shielding arrangement is made from a material having a high magnetic permeability. The magnetic shielding arrangement includes shielding elements which are arranged to surround the Wiegand sensor on a radial inside, on a radial outside, on a first axial side, and on a second axial side thereof.

Such rotation angle measurement systems serve to measure rotations of a shaft and are frequently referred to as an angle measurement apparatus, a rotation angle sensor, or a rotary position transducer. Such systems are in particular used to control and to monitor electric motors, in particular servomotors, in machines, plants or vehicles. Contactless rotation angle measurement systems, for example, optical or magnetically excited systems, are of particular importance since they have a long service life because they are free of wear.
DE 10 2009 019 719 A1 describes, for example, a magnet-based rotation angle measurement system for detecting the rotation of a shaft. With the aid of magnet-based rotation angle measurement systems, the revolution of the shaft is purely magnetically or magneto-optically detected by the measurement system. The measurement system comprises a rotating rotor unit on which a plurality of sensor magnets are arranged, and a stationary stator unit having a multi-turn sensor unit radially spaced apart from the shaft which includes a Wiegand sensor. The rotor unit is connected to the shaft for rotating therewith so that, during a rotation of the shaft, the sensor magnets are moved past the stationary multi-turn sensor unit, wherein the magnetic field of the sensor magnets is detected by the sensor unit.
Magnetic field sensors, and in particular Wiegand sensors, are very susceptible to magnetic interference fields impressed from outside. When a magnet-based rotation angle measurement system is arranged directly at the drive shaft of an electric motor/generator or a magnetic brake, measurement errors frequently occur since the magnetic field generated by the electric motor/generator or the magnetic brake is transmitted into the rotation angle measurement systems by the shaft which is generally made of metal.
The rotation angle measurement system described in DE 10 2009 019 719 A1 therefore comprises a magnetic shielding arrangement for the Wiegand sensor, which shielding assembly is made from a material having a high magnetic permeability. The magnetic shielding arrangement radially surrounds the shaft and is axially arranged between the Wiegand sensor and a permanent-magnetic ring magnet which forms part of a magnet-based single-turn sensor unit. However, the described magnetic shielding arrangement primarily serves to shield the Wiegand sensor against the magnetic field generated by the ring magnet and does not enable any reliable shielding against magnetic interference fields transmitted along the shaft.


According to one embodiment, a docking device has a main body, which includes a surface facing an electronic apparatus. A hook, which is removably engaged with the electronic apparatus, and a to-be-broken portion are provided on the surface of the main body. The to-be-broken portion interferes with and is broken by the hook, when the hook is moved away from the surface as the electronic apparatus is moved.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a docking device for use in connecting an electronic apparatus, such as a portable computer, to a peripheral device. More specifically, the embodiment of the invention relates to a structure to indicate whether the electronic apparatus has been willfully disconnected from the docking device by unauthorized means.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic apparatus, such as a portable computer, is designed to have a thin and compact housing, so that the apparatus can be carried easily. In the compact housing, it is difficult to ensure sufficient space which houses, for example, a multi-drive or a plurality of extension cards.
For the above reason, placing prime importance on the portability, the electronic apparatus may be used in combination with a docking device for feature expansion, when necessary. A conventional docking device comprises a mount surface on which an electronic apparatus is mounted, a docking connector to which the electronic apparatus is removably connected, and a plurality of relay connectors to be connected to various peripheral devices. The relay connector is electrically connected to the docking connector. When the electronic apparatus is mounted on the mount surface and connected to the docking connector, the electronic apparatus is electrically connected to the relay connectors via the docking connector.
A docking device disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-10658 comprises a hook and a lever. When the electronic apparatus is mounted on the mount surface, the hook is engaged with the housing of the electronic apparatus and locks the electronic apparatus in its position of the mount surface. The lever functions to pull the electronic apparatus on the mount surface in a direction approaching to the docking connector or push it in a direction away from the docking connector. The electronic apparatus can be connected to or removed from the docking device by operating the lever.
Further, the conventional docking device comprises a lock device which restricts a free operation of the lever. The lock device prevents the electronic apparatus from being pushed in a direction away from the docking connector. As a result, the electronic apparatus is inhibited from being undesirably removed or stolen.
However, if a third person tries to forcibly remove the electronic apparatus locked on the mount surface, the part of the housing of the electronic apparatus which engages with the hook may be deformed or damaged. In that case, the electronic apparatus may be unlocked.
Under those circumstances, the docking device generally shows no signs of the electronic apparatus having been removed by force. Therefore, the user cannot see whether the electronic apparatus is intentionally removed or not.
Moreover, if the electronic apparatus is forcibly removed from the docking device, the top end portion of the hook, a terminal of the docking connector or other portions may be slightly deformed, while nothing appears unusual in the hook or the docking connector.
As a result, for example, when another electronic apparatus is connected to the docking device, the hook may not be properly engaged with the electronic apparatus or the electrical connection between the docking connector and the electronic apparatus may not be maintained. If such a problem arises, time and effort will be required to diagnose the cause of the problem.

Docking device having a hook to be engaged with an electronic apparatus


An improved horseshoe made of resilient material, and a horeshoeing system and method, with the system including resilient material and underlying metal shoe portions. The resilient material shoe portion has a plurality of openings therethrough between a ground engaging face and an opposite face for passage therethrough of connecting bolts utilized to connect the shoe portions. The openings are positioned so that there is no interference between connecting bolts and nails arranged in a common nailing pattern used to attach the metal shoe portion to the horse's hoof, while still providing durable securement of the portions of the system. The horseshoeing method provides for selective positioning of the portions relative to one another and for connection of the resilient material portion to a metal shoe portion having an overall configuration selected to accommodate the particular characteristics of the horse being shod.

Horses that are required to be active on paved, paneled, or otherwise compacted or hard surfaces (for example, police, carriage, parade, circus and stage performing horses, or horses typically ridden and/or otherwise utilized in urban environments and on streets and roads) frequently have been shod utilizing rubber or other resilient material at the ground engaging face of the shoe in order to improve traction and absorb shock.
Such shoes have included simple rubber pads nailed to the hoof, rubber coated metal horseshoes (again simply nailed to the hoof), and more elaborate systems for attaching a resilient material to a metallic horseshoe structure (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,881,600, 5,048,614 and 5,168,934).
Such systems have often required significant alteration of the structure of the underlying metal shoe, and/or use of a single sourced manufactured metal shoe for use in the chosen system, and/or use of an underlying shoe of less than optimal dimensions (e.g., thickness, width and weight) for the particular horse being shod. Frequently, unduly close fitting due to alteration of well known horseshoe nailing patterns required by the position of the various attachment mechanisms utilized to attach the resilient material shoe to the metal shoe and/or more frequent shoe replacement (since the resilient materials wear more rapidly than a metal shoe), thereby increasing the potential for hoof damage, are necessitated. Lack of durability of the resilient material shoe has also been of concern when utilizing some such systems, tearing and uneven wear due to attachment techniques having been known to occur.
Moreover, such shoes and shoeing systems have limited the farrier's ability to compensate for impediments of stance, gait and/or health of a horse being shod by various corrective and therapeutic shoeing techniques known to those skilled in the farrier's art. This may be due to inflexible design of the underlying metal shoe wherein addition or alteration of various shoe structure (such as addition of heart bars, toe clips or the like, or specialized shaping, for example extended toe, rocker, or weighted shoes and the like) is difficult or impossible. This may also be due to inflexibility in overall system design wherein the farrier has no control over the relative positions of the resilient material portion and underlying metallic shoe portion of the system when applying the system to a horse being shod.
It would thus be desirable to provide such a resilient material horseshoe and shoeing system wherein the underlying metal shoe may be applied using well known nail placement techniques and nailing patterns, wherein the resilient material shoe portion may be applied to a metal shoe fashioned by the farrier or provided by any of the numerous shoe manufacturers (i.e., keg shoes) and is durable when applied, wherein flexibility remains to allow the farrier to achieve proper fit on the horse and to practice various necessary and desirable corrective and/or therapeutic shoeing techniques including structural additions and/or shaping of the underlying metal shoe as well as selectivity of relative positioning of the resilient material and metal shoe portions, and wherein replacement of the resilient material shoe portion may be accomplished without removal of the underlying metal shoe.

Horseshoe made of resilient material, horseshoeing system and method


A ceramic isothermal forging die comprises a pair of disk-shaped die halves that are formed of ceramic and have die cavities cut in their mating surfaces and a pair of die half holders each having a recess for accommodating one of the die halves. Each die half is divided into a plurality of radial segments whose bottom surfaces are tapered away from their mating surface with increasing proximity to the center of the die. The floor of each die half holder is tapered to become deeper toward the center of the die and to be complementary to the tapered bottom surfaces of the die segments. The ceramic material of the die makes it usable in the atmosphere. Because of the segmentation of the die halves and the tapering of the segment bottoms and the floor of the die holder recesses, a large force which would otherwise be produced in the circumferential direction of the die by thermal stress during heating and cooling is suppressed. Further, a force urging the segments toward the center of the die is produced during forging. As a result, that die is protected from breakage and from disintegration by separation of the segments.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an isothermal forging die formed of ceramic and more particularly to a ceramic isothermal die suitable for being heated to and maintained at the forging temperature of a heat resistant metal such as a titanium alloy or a nickel-based alloy during the period that the metal is being forged.
2. Prior Art Statement
Most metallic materials having great high-temperature strength such as titanium and nickel-based alloys are characteristically difficult to process. One effective way of processing such materials is by the isothermal forging method in which the forging die is heated to the forging temperature of the metal concerned (to 900.degree. C. in the case of a titanium alloy and to 1050.degree. C. in the case of a nickel-based alloy).
Conventionally such isothermal forging has been carried out using a die made of a molybdenum alloy exhibiting a high coefficient of thermal conductivity. In the atmosphere, the molybdenum alloy oxidizes at temperatures over 300.degree. C. and at temperatures exceeding 600.degree. C. the oxides vaporize, much in the manner of sublimation. Because of this, the forging has been carried out in a protective atmosphere or a vacuum, making it necessary to use a huge chamber capable of accommodating the forging equipment and the like.
The inventors therefore considered ceramic material as a possible replacement for the molybdenum alloy of the die. Use of a ceramic die would enable the forging operation to be conducted in the atmosphere and, as a result, would make isothermal forging more generally usable. To this end, the inventors conducted experiments and pursued various avenues of research in connection with ceramic materials. However, they found that practical application was beset with numerous problems relating to thermal stress and the like.
Most isothermal dies are disk-shaped and are generally constituted of two disk-shaped die halves whose mating surfaces have been formed with die cavities At the time of isothermal forging, the two die halves are mated with the workpiece to be forged sandwiched between them and the result is loaded into a forging press and heated. The heating thus proceeds from the periphery not formed with a die cavity. Where the die is formed of ceramic, the generally low coefficient of thermal conductivity of this material tends to cause a steep temperature gradient at the time of heating and cooling. As a result, when the die is heated or cooled from its periphery, a large temperature gradient occurs in the radial direction and this produces a large thermal stress in the ceramic material. When this stress becomes greater than what the ceramic can stand, the ceramic breaks, making the die unserviceable. This phenomenon is dominated by the temperature difference in the die, particularly that in the radial direction, and tends to occur mainly at the start of heating and cooling.
For using ceramic as a material for a forging die, therefore, it is necessary to provide the die with a structure which enables it to avoid excessively large stress and, simultaneously, to bear up under the forging load.
In view of the foregoing, the object of the present invention is to provide a ceramic isothermal forging die which suppresses the occurrence of excessive stress due to large temperature gradient and can be used for isothermal forging not only in a vacuum or protective atmosphere but also in the atmosphere.

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry


The ullage space gases of a ship""s ballast tanks (i) are depressurized to a pressure less than atmospherexe2x80x94called an xe2x80x9cunderpressurizedxe2x80x9d conditionxe2x80x94of most preferably about 14.7 PSIA or lower, simultaneously that (ii) they are inerted, preferably to  less than 4% O2 and more preferably to  less than 2% O2. Oxygen within the ballast water is rapidly, preferably within hours, substantially depleted, preferably to  less than 1% PPM and more preferably to  less than 0.6 PPM, by circulating these inerted ullage space gases through the ballast water as bubbles, removing oxygen from the ballast water more by outgassing than by diffusion. The rapidly de-oxygenated ballast water is preferably so maintained for the substantial portion of the ship""s voyage, which is effective in killing most aerobic aquatic life within the ballast water. The ballast tanks may then be re-pressurized to atmosphere or above while oxygen-containing mixed gases, normally air, are bubbled through the ballast water, shocking and killing anaerobic aquatic life.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns the simultaneous control of both (i) the pressure and (ii) the content of ship""s ballast tank gases to at different times kill both aerobic and anaerobic organisms within ballast water
The present invention particularly concerns establishing (i) a pressure less than atmosphere, called an xe2x80x9cunderpressurexe2x80x9d, in the ullage spaces of ship""s ballast tanks, and (ii) rendering inert the (underpressurized) ullage space gases of the ballast tank.
The present invention further particularly concerns accomplishing the (ii) inerting in a manner where dissolved gases in the ballast tanks"" water will, in accordance with Henry""s gas, (1) rapidly come into equilibrium with the inerted atmosphere of the ullage spaces, and (2) become sufficiently depleted in oxygen so as to broadly induce hypoxia in marine organisms within the ballast water. This condition can be indefinitely maintained.
The present invention still further particularly concerns optionally reversing this anoxic condition, and equally rapidly manipulating the ballast tank ullage space gases, and restoring such oxygen, to the ballast water as is commonly fatal to anaerobic marine organisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
2.1 The Problem of the Importation of Exotic Species in Ship""s Ballast Water
Many survey articles exist regarding the present, and potential, damage to the marine environment arising from the invasions of exotic, non-native, marine species within discharged ship""s ballast water. One such article appears in the Gulf of Maine Times, Vol. 2, No. 2 as xe2x80x9cBallast water a vehicle for exotic species invasionsxe2x80x9d, and is excerpted below.
In that article it is explained that ballast water pumped onto a ship while it is in port contains marine species native to that area. When the water is later discharged into another port, those organisms can colonize there, affecting the ecosystem.
xe2x80x9cOnce every hour, about two million gallons [7.6 million liters] of ballast water which equals two million gallons of plankton from foreign ports is released in U.S. coastal waters. We refer to this as marine ecological roulette,xe2x80x9d said James T. Carlton, professor of marine sciences at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. He noted that the National Research Council in 1995 ranked exotic species invasion as one of five major issues in marine ecosystems management.
Ballast water is a necessary component of shipping. xe2x80x9cWhen cargo is unloaded, the ship floats high like a cork. You put 15 to 35 thousand tons [13 to 32 thousand metric tons] of ballast water into it, depending on the size of the ship, to weight the ship to counteract the buoyancy, which gives the ship better stability and maneuverability,xe2x80x9d explained Kevin Collard, Director of Operations, Environment and Safety for Marbulk Shipping, an international shipping company based in Salem, Mass.
But in an effort to prevent invasions of coastal ecosystems by non-native species, shippers are being urged to exchange their ballast water in the open ocean, so that the water they discharge into their next port does not contain organisms from their last one.
xe2x80x9cThe actual process which makes exchanging ballast water at sea effective is, you replace coastal water organisms with [less adaptable] mid-ocean organisms, which are less likely to survive in coastal waters,xe2x80x9d said Lt. Larry Greene, Aquatic Nuisance Species Control Program manager for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).
Invaders can be devastating. xe2x80x9cA typical ballast tank could be the size of an auditorium that seats 700 people,xe2x80x9d said Carlton. When ballast water transfer takes place in port, the discharged water can introduce what he described as a xe2x80x9cstaggering diversity of living organisms,xe2x80x9d to coastal waters, including non-native aquatic organisms and pathogens, such as cholera.
Not all of these organisms will survive in their new surroundings, but some are extremely hardy, have no natural predators in their new environment, and multiply profusely. Some invasive organisms can become toxic, posing threats to other species, aquaculture stocks, and humans. Non-native aquatic organisms can also crowd out native species by reducing the food supply or changing characteristics of the habitat.
The infamous European zebra mussel""s introduction into the North American Great Lakes, and its subsequent spread to central U.S. rivers, has jeopardized commercial and recreational fisheries, and caused expensive infrastructure problems. The mussels consume huge amounts of microscopic plants and animals, reducing available food for other species, and they have become so prolific that power plants and water delivery systems have been forced to spend millions of dollars on removing them from underwater structures and water pipes.
In the Gulf of Maine, the European green crab, European periwinkle, Japanese sputnik weed, and grey and orange sea squirts, are all non-native species. Fortunately, none have caused problems on the scale of the troubles brought by the zebra mussel. Nevertheless, cautioned Carlton, without precautions, xe2x80x9cIt""s only a matter of time until we register a front-page, major invasion in the Gulf of Maine. We are not able to predict what it will mean, so we""d rather it not happen.xe2x80x9d
Mandatory compliance is coming. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1991 adopted voluntary guidelines for preventing marine species invasions via ballast water, and is developing mandatory guidelines that may be approved as soon as 2000, although ratification may take several years.
Meanwhile, shippers entering U.S. ports were given three years to voluntarily comply with open ocean ballast water exchange guidelines under the U.S. National Invasive Species Act of 1996, which is enforced by the USCG. The Act states that shippers should exchange ballast water at sea unless xe2x80x9cthat exchange threatens the safety or stability of the vessel, its crew, or its passengers.xe2x80x9d Reporting of ballast water exchange is now mandatory.
Researchers are exploring remedies for ballast water issues. Allegra Cangelosi, Senior Policy Analyst and co-principal investigator with the Great Lakes Ballast Technology Demonstration Project, is testing the effectiveness of filtering organisms from ballast water.
Open-ocean ballast water exchange is simply not feasible in all cases due to weather conditions, routing, or a ship""s structure, Cangelosi said. xe2x80x9cWe are in desperate need of more broadly applicable approaches,xe2x80x9d she said, adding that her organization is xe2x80x9clooking for technologies that can be used anywhere on the globe,xe2x80x9d including the Gulf of Maine.
Battelle Memorial Institute, a not-for-profit international organization, is also researching ways of treating ballast water as it is pumped onto a vessel to kill the organisms in the water, including ultrasonic treatment, irradiation, and heating the water, said Deborah Tanis, a research scientist based in Battelle""s Duxbury, Mass. office.
Treating ballast water chemically may also be an option, but Carlton said, xe2x80x9cWe want to be conservative with biocides and cautious about diverting more chemicals into the system unless they have a very short half-life and are biodegradable.xe2x80x9d
Though open-ocean exchanges are currently the accepted method for handling potentially contaminated ballast water, both Tanis and Cangelosi agree that other options are needed. Said Tanis, xe2x80x9cWe need methods that are more effective than ballast water exchange and more feasible for shippers. We""re studying the actual biological effectiveness of exchanges. It certainly will help, but I don""t know that it""s 100 percent foolproof. There""s a need to bridge the gap between science and industry, and that means we need to come to some determination that benefits both.xe2x80x9d
2.2 Ballast Water Treatment Options
Ships use ballast water to provide stability and maneuverability during a voyage. Water is taken on at one port when cargo is unloaded and usually discharged at another port when the ship receives cargo. Because organisms ranging in size from viruses to twelve inch fish living in the surrounding water or sediments are taken on board with ballast water, there is a potential for the introduction of non-native organismsxe2x80x94called bioinvaders, alien species, non-indigenous species or exotic speciesxe2x80x94into the port of discharge.
A number of methods to prevent these unwanted introductions are under various stages of test and development worldwide. Unfortunately no single ballast water management technique has been as of yet been able to remove all organisms or all types of organisms from ballast tanks in a practical manner. A combination of different methods may prove to be more effective than one method alone, however little research has been conducted into this possibility.
It is difficult to implement treatments because ship owners are understandably reluctant to install technology that is expensive, unreliable, or time consuming.
The criteria for selecting a ballast water treatment method include (i) safety of the crew and passengers, (ii) effectiveness of the method at removing target organisms, (iii) Ease of performing the treatment method, and any equipment(s) involved, (iv) the amount of interference with normal ship operations and travel times, (v) any influence(s) on the structural integrity of the ship, (vi) the size, expense, reliability and maintainability of any treatment equipment (s), (vii) the amount of potential damage to the environment, (viii) the ease for port authorities to monitor for compliance with regulations, and (ix) cost effectiveness. When evaluating ballast water treatment options the foremost among these general factors appear to be cost, enforcement, the effectiveness of the method, and the risks the treatment may pose to human health and the environment.
The monetary cost of a treatment method includes the expense of the equipment, the crew needed to operate the treatment equipment, and the time needed for the treatment operation. Many treatment methods require that ships be retrofitted with the necessary equipment or that new ships have the equipment included in their design, both of which may be quite expensive. Because crew members have many tasks to perform on a ship, any crew that is needed to operate the treatment may decrease the number of crew members that are available for other ship operations. If a treatment method slows down the journey of a vessel or causes excess fuel consumption the journey will be more expensive. Any treatment method should provide means for port authorities to easily monitor whether or not the treatment has been performed and if it was effective. This allows for enforcement of any laws regarding ballast water treatment. Because many treatment methods work by killing the organisms in ballast water, the method itself may pose a risk to human health or to the environment if the treatment is not properly contained in the ballast tanks. All these risks and costs need to be evaluated and compared to the risk of introducing species to a port.
2.2.1 Ballast Water Exchange
Current ballast water regulations usually recommend minimizing the risk of introducing non-native species by exchanging ballast water in the open ocean. This method is effective because organisms from coastal waters are unlikely to survive in the open ocean and vice versa. Drawbacks to this method are: (1) it is difficult to completely remove sediments and residual water from the bottom of ballast tanks; (2) organisms stuck to the sides of the tank or structural supports within the tank will not be readily removed; and (3) during stormy or rough seas it is unsafe for a ship to exchange ballast water. Thus, organisms remaining inside the ballast tanks may be discharged at a later time into ports and harbors if the exchange fails to remove all organisms.
In actual operation, an exemplary ballast water exchange might transpire as follows. A ship leaves a port in the Indian Ocean, travels through the Suez Canal, discharges cargo in the Mediterranean and takes up ballast water prior to crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Ballast water exchange would occur in the Atlantic prior to the ship entering the Great Lakes to pick up cargo, e.g. wheat for transport to the receiving port.
There are also advantages to ballast tank exchange. Because it is done while the ship is en route, relatively little time is lost during the voyage. No additional equipment or operator training is needed for ballast exchange so the capital costs are low and it is a simple process to implement. Enforcement of ballast exchange laws can occur to some degree because open ocean waters have higher salinity levels than coastal waters and this difference can be detected by port authorities. In addition, Battelle, a research institution, is developing a quick and easy test for determining if ballast water exchange has occurred.
The effectiveness of ballast water exchange could be improved by redesigning ballast tanks and pumping systems. Currently, most ballast tanks have one pipe that pumps water in both directions, but not at the same time. With the addition of another pipe, ballast exchange could be achieved by continual flushing of the tank with one pipe bringing water into the tank and another pipe allowing water to exit the tank. This could also be a safer means of exchanging ballast because the tanks would contain water at all times. Another means of improving current ballast tank flushing would be to remove the residual water and sediments from the bottom of ballast tanks. Pumps, which are relatively inexpensive, could be installed in the bottom of ballast tanks to remove these residual materials, thereby reducing the risk of introducing a non-native species. Ballast tanks could also be redesigned with a sloping bottom or other structure that allows sediment and water to drain into a pump. Current ship designs often include structural supports and odd corners in the ballast tanks that trap organisms and ballast water. The possibility of trapping organisms in ballast tank structures could be reduced by designing ships that do not have these structures, redesigning these structures so they do not trap ballast water and organisms, or by installing small pumps in these areas to remove water during ballast exchange.
The present invention will be seen to substantially obviate these problems, being that no ballast water exchange transpires.
2.2.2 Oxygen Deprivation/Deoxygenation of Ballast Water in General
There has been some limited research and discussion on using oxygen removal to kill organisms in ballast water tanks. The test of this method known to the inventor was as a trial with shore-based facilities. A system that used a vacuum in an auxiliary chamber to a simulated ballast tankxe2x80x94the Aquahabistat systemxe2x80x94was tested in a shore-based scale facility for its potential to remove oxygen from ballast water. See Gordon and Horeth, 2001.
Tamburri, et al. (2001)xe2x80x94discussed further in section 2.2 belowxe2x80x94describes how purging of oxygen from ballast water tanks using nitrogen has been effective at reducing corrosion. He proposes this method would also be effective in killing organisms in ballast tanks that can""t survive at low oxygen concentrations.
Oxygen removal as a treatment method for ballast water can mainly be achieved through four ways; 1) addition of nutrients to stimulate growth of bacteria and thus oxygen consumption; 2) adding sodium metabisulfite; 3) bubbling nitrogen gas through the water to replace the oxygen; or 4) using a vacuum.
Oxygen removal through the addition of nutrients will result in ballast water that is rich in nutrients being discharged to the environment. This could contribute to increased eutrophication.
Oxygen removal through addition of sodium metabisulfite could have adverse effects such as production of hydrogen sulphide in the absence of oxygen, and of sulphur release at discharge.
Addition of nitrogen gas seems to have no adverse effects on the environment, but is as of present (circa 2002) still on experimental level (Tamburri et al , 2001).
220.127.116.11 Ballast Water Deoxygenation
Work on ballast water deoxygenation is reported in the Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions, New Orleans, La., Apr. 9-11, 2001, pp. 134-135 by Messrs. Tamburri, M. N., K. Wasson, and M. Matsuda, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in their paper xe2x80x9cBallast Water Deoxygenation Can Prevent Species Introductions while Reducing Ship Corrosionxe2x80x9d (2001).
They report that one of the most important mechanisms for the introduction of aquatic nuisance species is transport in ship ballast waters (National Research Council 1996), and, that although several ballast tank treatments to prevent transport of aquatic organisms appear promising, all existing approaches will result in significant costs to the shipping industry.
Tamburri, et al. find that successful ballast water treatment technologies should meet the following important criteria: 1) effectiveness at killing potentially damaging invaders, 2) safety for shipboard crew, 3) environmentally benigness, and 4) affordability for ship owners. Deoxygenation is judged to partially meet the first criterion by being highly effective at killing animal invaders (larval, juvenile and adult forms) but may be less effective for other taxa, particularly those adapted to low oxygen environments or with resistant stages such as cysts. Second, with proper equipment and training, nitrogen poses no major threats to crew safety. Third, nitrogen is relatively benign when discharged. Hypoxic ballast water would likely mix rapidly with shallow oxygenated water in harbors, and therefore create little danger for native estuarine organisms, which can withstand brief reductions in oxygen levels. Finally, ballast water admirably meets the fourth criterion. Rather than an added expense for ship owners, it actually represents a net saving, due to the significant decrease in corrosion.
The National Research Council evaluated 10 candidate technologies for shipboard treatment of ballast water and concluded that intensive filtration, use of biocides, and thermal treatments held the most promise. See National Research Council. 1996. Stemming the tide: controlling introductions of non-indigenous species by ship""s ballast water. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 141 pp.
Deoxygenation did not receive high priority because of its failure to kill organisms resistant to hypoxia. However, Tamburri, et al. find that while other ballast water treatment options may be more comprehensively effective, they come at greater environmental and financial cost. For instance, biocides may be hazardous for the crew as well as for native organisms in the vicinity of the ballast discharge. Moreover, these techniques are found come at a significant price for ship owners, and it is projected that, until mandated to do so, the shipping industry is unlikely to voluntarily install expensive ballast water treatment technologies.
In contrast to this situation, Tamburri, et al. propose the widespread voluntary adoption of nitrogen treatment of ballast water based on its alleged auxiliary economic benefit of controlling corrosion ballast water tank corrosion. Tamburri, et al. describe a treatment alleged to dramatically reduce the survivorship of most organisms found in ballast waters while providing economic benefits to ship owners. This technique is based on the purging of oxygen from ballast tanks with nitrogenxe2x80x94as will seen to be part of the present invention. As well as killing aerobic marine life in ballast water, the deoxygenation was found to be a cost-effective technique for reducing corrosion in the ballast tanks, decreasing the rate of rusting up to 10% of untreated ballast tanks.
Testing the survivorship of many organisms found in ballast waters to the deoxygenation technique, the tolerance of larvae from known invasive invertebrate species (Ficopomatus enigmaticus, Dreissena polymorpha, Carcinus meanas) to oxygen levels found in nitrogen-treated ballast tanks was investigated, and significant levels of mortality were detected. This is consistent with two separate literature reviews investigating oxygen tolerance for various aquatic species and concluding that few organisms will be able to withstand extended periods of exposure to deoxygenated ballast water.
The present invention will be seed to induce rather more hypoxic conditions in ballast water than does the method of Tamurri, et al., and introduces these conditions much faster. Although tests on the induced fatalities of marine organisms are not yet available for the system and method of the present invention, it is axiomatic that aerobic organisms needing oxygen to live will be more severely killed by the more profound deprivations for the more extended periods realized by the present invention.
188.8.131.52 Effectiveness of Oxygen Deprivation
The Cawthron Institute at 98 Halifax Street East, Private Bag 2 Nelson, New Zealand, reports in 1999 the potential for the use of oxygen deprivation as a treatment option for infected ballast water.
Adult samples of the starfish Coscinasterias calamaria, the zoospores of the seaweed Undaria pinnatifida, and the larvae of Crassostrea gigas were used for laboratory study of effects of nitrogen, sulphide and glucose in killing the sample organisms through oxygen depletion.
The study concluded that lowering the level of oxygen to less than 3 mg l (xe2x88x921) leads to effective kills of Undaria zoospores and Coscinasterias calamaria larvae. However, more research was deemed to be required both into the species range affected by deoxygenation and into the practicality of the various methods before shipboard investigations of this technology can be conducted.
2.2.3 Gas Supersaturation
Gas supersaturation is also relevant to the present invention. Gas supersaturation is based on exposing organisms to gas supersaturated water, which can cause them to suffer embolism and hemorrhages. This condition can be lethal if there are high levels of supersaturation. See Jelmert and Jelmert, 2001. Gas supersaturation has been studied in laboratory tests.
Gas supersaturation is known to affect various aquatic biota. When aquatic multicellular organisms are exposed to gas supersaturated water, and especially when subsequently subjected to lowered hydrostatic pressures, they suffer from embolism and hemorrhages. If the level of supersaturation is high enough, the condition may be lethal. Also sublethal exposures represent a considerable stress to the organisms. While lethal effects occasionally have been observed in natural or semi natural conditions, it is hypothesized by Jelmert and Jelmert that supersaturation might be optimized and used to treat ballast water. This method is still in a preliminary stage of development in laboratory scale circa 2002, not permitting assessment of its indirect environmental impacts. However, the corrosive effects of this treatment method have to be further studied and properly evaluated, as noted by Bureau Veritas, 2001. Also the discharge of dead organisms can have an effect on the marine ecosystem, and increase eutrophication.
2.3 Summary
Ballast water is one of the major pathways of marine biological invasion throughout the world. Removing aquatic organisms from ballast water is a promising way to prevent the introduction of bioinvaders that cause ecological and economic harm. Until recently, preventing ballast water release of non-native species was a low priority. As a result, many of the treatment options are still in the experimental stage. Because installing new technologies or retrofitting ships is expensive, ship owners are reluctant to use a new technology unless it is proven effective. This, in turn, has created further delays in adopting regulations and implementing changes in how ships manage ballast water releases. See, for example, Carlton, James T. and Bridget A. Holohan, eds. March 1998. U.S.A. Ballast Book 1998-1999. See also Ballast Research in the U.S.A.; National Research Council, 1996. See also Stemming the Tide: Controlling Introductions of Non-indigenous Species by Ships"" Ballast Water, 141 pages, Oemcke, Darren J. and J.
The present invention contemplates a synergistic approach to the treatment of ship""s ballast water in order to kill harmful marine organisms. Synergism is derived by (i) maintaining the ullage spaces of the ballast tanks at a pressure less than atmospherexe2x80x94called an xe2x80x9cunderpressurizedxe2x80x9d conditionxe2x80x94simultaneously that (ii) the ullage space gases are inerted, meaning that at least at one time and preferably for the substantial duration of a ship""s voyage, the percentage oxygen in the ullage space gases is reduced below normal atmospheric percentage, and below a level that will, ultimately, sustain aerobic life, including (by gaseous exchange occurring with the inerted ullage gases) aerobic marine life within the ballast water.
It does not matter for purposes of the present invention whether the (ii) inerted, oxygen-depleted, condition of the ullage space gases is realized by (1) extraction of oxygen, or by (2) addition of gases, primarily nitrogen, other than oxygen. Preferably flue gases, which are substantially devoid of oxygen and which are primarily nitrogen, are simply added to the ballast tank ullage space to cost effectively dilute the oxygen content of the ballast tank ullage space gases.
The (i) underpressurized condition of the ballast tank ullage space is realized by simply pumping its gases to atmosphere. Clearly as much gas, and more, than is added in order to inert the ballast tank ullage space must be pumped out in order to reduce the pressure of the remaining ballast tank ullage space gases below atmosphere.
The (i) underpressurized (ii) de-oxygenated condition thus induced in the ballast tank ullage space gases willxe2x80x94by a gas exchange mechanism of outgassing that is of superior effectiveness to gas diffusion, and later to be explainedxe2x80x94will in turn induce such a de-oxygenated condition in the ballast water as will effectively kill a wide range of aerobic aquatic life contained within this ballast water.
Conversely, it is possible at a later time to (i) momentarily pressurize the same ullage space of the same ballast tank to greater than atmosphere pressure while simultaneously (ii) maintaining the oxygen content of the gases of this ullage space to be at least as high as within the atmosphere. The re-oxygenated condition thus induced in the ballast water kills anaerobic aquatic life.
1. Synergistic Depletion of Oxygen in Ballast Water
Why the present invention works with superior effectiveness to quickly and economically remove oxygen from ballast water demands an understanding of the gas laws.
Gases dissolved in any fluid will, by operation of Henry""s gas law, ultimately assume both (i) concentration and (ii) proportions respective of (i) the pressure and (ii) the proportions of the gases over the fluid. When the gases of a ballast water tank""s ullage space is inerted in accordance with the present invention than the ballast water will ultimately, by operation of Henry""s gas law, become depleted in oxygen, and anoxic.
Alas, this process is normally very slow. In particular, the diffusion of dissolved gases in water (and other fluids) is approximately ten thousand times (xc3x9710,000) slower than in air. If the dissolved gases within ballast water are to be depleted of oxygen merely by such interchange with inerted ullage space gases will primarily transpire in a shallow layer at the top of the tank, while dissolved oxygen at lower depths must diffuse through tens of feet of water, then the delay in reaching equilibrium is of the order of weeks, and untenably long.
In accordance with the present invention gaseous interchange between (i) gasesxe2x80x94including oxygenxe2x80x94originally within the ballast water and (ii) inerted gases within the ullage space of the ballast water tank is very greatly accelerated. This interchange is so accelerated by maintaining (1) an underpressure in the ullage spaces. By this operation alone the normal slow diffusion of gases from the ballast water is replaced by a rapid outgassing, being the process by which, upon reduction of pressure, gases (including oxygen) trapped within the ballast water spontaneously form into bubbles, and rise to the surface.
Moreover, in accordance with the present invention there preferably also simultaneously transpires (2) bubbling inert gas(es) (primarily nitrogen) upwards through the ballast water. This bubbling is necessarily at a pressure greater than the (under)pressure of the ullage space plus the head of ballast water, but is still most preferably done at a pressure that is less than atmosphere. (Some small thought by any reader skilled in the transfer of pressurized fluids and gases will reveal that the only way that (inert) gas(es) pressurized at less than atmosphere could possibly travel upwards through fluid would be if the gas pressure on top of the fluid was to be less than atmospherexe2x80x94which, in accordance with the present invention, it is.)
Scavenging of gases that are within the ballast water transpires at the surfaces of these bubbles, which, if sufficiently numerous and small as is most desirable, have a combined surface area that is not only many multiples of the top surface area of the ballast water, but may be huge, and on the order of the size of an American football field.
By these operations the normal slow diffusion of ullage space gases into the ballast water by an interchange transpiring only at the top layer of ballast water, and gas diffusion, is replaced with (i) rapid outgassingxe2x80x94alone sufficient to deplete all gases including oxygen in the ballast waterxe2x80x94plus (ii) gas transference over the large cumulative surface area of the (inert gas) bubbles.
The net result is that the ballast water becomes severely depleted of oxygen quite quickly, and on the order of hours; greatly stressing if not immediately (within the order of further minutes and hours) killing aerobic aquatic marine life (of all kinds) within the ballast water. Normally, and preferably, this oxygen-depleted condition of the ballast water is maintained for the substantial duration of the voyage of the ship.
2. Reversing the Process to Re-introduce Oxygen into the Ballast Water
The entire preferred process of de-oxygenation of ballast water in accordance with the present invention may be reversed so as to rapidly re-oxygenate the ballast water.
In accordance with operation of the gas laws that an ullage space pressure less than atmosphere xe2x80x9cpullsxe2x80x9d gases out of ballast water previously at equilibrium in atmosphere, introduction of an ullage space pressure greater than atmosphere will tend to xe2x80x9cpushxe2x80x9d gases back into the ballast water (especially as may now be a equilibrium to a gas pressure less than atmosphere).
Unfortunately, there is no phenomena of xe2x80x9cingassingxe2x80x9d as would be the opposite of xe2x80x9coutgassingxe2x80x9d, and the gases desired to be re-infused within the ballast waterxe2x80x94primarily oxygenxe2x80x94must (in accordance with the slow diffusion of gases through water) be placed in close proximity to the ballast water that is to be infused. This is simply accomplished, of course, merely by bubbling air through the ballast water (enhanced concentrations of oxygen gas being generally too expensive). In accordance that the ullage space (now atmospheric) gases are preferably (but not necessarily) now pressurized, the bubbles are forced into the bottom of the ballast water tank at such even greater pressure as also accounts for the head of ballast water.
Any anaerobic aquatic life within the ballast water that has previously profited from the prolonged period of oxygen deprivation is normally greatly shocked by the rapid (re-)infusion of oxygen, and is frequently successfully killed.
The system and method of the present invention for the closed loop control of both (i) the pressure and (ii) the content of ballast tank gases thus serves to at different times kill both aerobic and anaerobic organisms within the ballast water.
3. A Method of Managing the Ullage Space Gases of a Ship""s Ballast Water Tank
Accordingly, in one of its aspects the present invention is embodied in a method of managing the ullage space gases of a ship""s ballast water tank.
The method consists of (i) inerting the ullage space gases of a ship""s ballast water tank, while (ii) de-pressurizing the same ullage space gases to a pressure less than atmosphere.
The (inerted) gases of the ballast water tank ullage space are preferably forcibly circulated in a loop through the ballast water, being forced under pressure into the ballast water at a bottom of the ballast water tank and, after bubbling upwards through the ballast water an into the ullage space, are forcibly extracted from the ullage space for re-circulation.
This closed loop circulating is preferably (i) substantially continuous for the substantial duration of a voyage of the ship, and (ii) in a flow path substantially sealed against entrance of oxygen. Indeed, the flow path is preferably so substantially sealed against entrance of oxygen that insufficient oxygen, or outside gases in general, will enter into the path during the ship""s voyage so as to either (i) destroy the inerted character of the circulating gases, or (ii) cause the pressure of the circulating gases to rise to atmosphere, or both.
This substantially continuous closed loop preferably entails (1) flow communicating ballast tank ullage space gases from the ullage spaces of each of a multiplicity of ballast water tanks of the ship to a central point upon the ship, (2) balancing at this central location both the (i) inerted, and (ii) pressurized, conditions of the ullage space gases flow communicated from the multiplicity of ballast water tanks, creating a gaseous mixture which is a blended hybrid of both the (i) inerted, and (ii) pressurization, conditions of the ullage spaces of the multiplicity of ballast water tanks, and (3) supplying from the central location gases from the blended hybrid gaseous mixture back to the multiplicity of ballast water tanks. By this distribution and averaging any such ingress of (i) oxygen, and/or (ii) other gases into the circulating gases of some one ballast water tank ullage space as might respectively cause (i) the oxygen content of the gases of this one ballast water tank ullage space to exceed the oxygen threshold, and/or (ii) the pressure of the gases of this one ballast water tank ullage space to exceed the atmospheric pressure, will instead be averaged over multiplicity of ballast water tank ullage spaces, diminishing the likelihood of exceeding any inert and/or pressure limits in any one ballast water tank ullage space.
The inerted ullage space gases are preferably so inerted by addition of flue gases to the ullage space gases. The inerted ullage space gases are preferably so inerted to less than 4% oxygen by molar volume, and are more preferably inerted to less than 2% oxygen by molar volume.
The ullage space gases depressurized to a pressure less than atmosphere are preferably so depressurized by subtraction of a portion of the ballast tank ullage space gases at a time before, or concurrent with, beginning a voyage of the ship.
The ullage space gases are (then) so depressurized to a pressure that is preferably less than a xe2x88x922 p.s.i. threshold pressure level below nominal atmospheric pressure of 14.7 p.s.i., or to a pressure less than 12.7 p.s.i.
This entire ship""s ballast water tank ullage space gas management method may optionally be supplemented, at a time after inerting and the de-pressurizing, by further steps of (i) reversing the inerting and entering oxygen into the ullage space gases of the ship""s ballast water tank so as to assume atmospheric oxygen levels or better, while (ii) also reversing the de-pressurizing, and instead pressurizing the same ullage space gases to a pressure greater than atmosphere.
4. A Method of Managing the Ullage Space of a Ballast Water Tank of a Ship
In other of its aspects the present invention is embodied in a method of managing the ullage space of a ballast water tank of a ship.
In the method the ullage space of a ballast water tank of a ship is sealed gas tight. The ullage space gases of this ballast water tank are then inerted so as to be incapable of supporting aerobic life within the ullage space of the ballast water tank. These ullage space gases are further depressurized to an initial pressure less than atmosphere, at which time the ullage space is then called an xe2x80x9cunderpressurized ullage spacexe2x80x9d and the ullage space gases ar called xe2x80x9cunderpressurizedxe2x80x9d.
The method proceeds with continuing closed the ship""s ballast water tank with its inerted underpressurized ullage space during a substantial portion of an entire voyage of the ship. Underpressure is maintained regardless that the ullage space gas pressure should become or temporarily become more positive because of any of (i) leakage of atmospheric gases into the tank, (ii) outgassing of gases within the ballast water contents of the tank, (iii) evaporation of the ballast water or portions thereof, and/or (iv) expansion of the ullage space gases upon thermal heating.
Likewise, the inerted condition of the (underpressurized) ullage space gases is maintained regardless that percentage oxygen within the inerted ullage space gases should increase because of any of (i) leakage of atmospheric gases into the tank, and/or (ii) outgassing of oxygen from within the ballast water contents of the tank.
The method optimally, but preferably, further entails circulating and recirculating the ullage space gases in a closed loop through the ballast tank water so that the ballast water becomes substantially incapable of supporting aquatic aerobic life.
In the method the de-pressurizing preferably transpires only once, and at the beginning of (or before) the voyage of the ship. In such case the ballast tank ullage space gas pressure preferably thereafter remains, nonetheless to potentially becoming more positive due to both leakage of outside atmospheric gases into the underpressurized ullage space and outgassing of gases initially dissolved within the ballast water, negative relative to atmosphere throughout the substantial portion of the entire voyage of the ship.
The inerting of the ballast water tank ullage space gases is preferably realized by adding flue gases to the ullage space, and to the ullage space gases.
The method is optionally continued, at a time after the inerting and the de-pressurizing, by the added steps of (i) reversing the inerting and entering oxygen into the ullage space gases of the ship""s ballast water tank so as to assume atmospheric oxygen levels or better, and also (ii) reversing the depressurizing, and instead pressurizing the same ullage space gases to a pressure greater than atmosphere.
5. A Ship""s Ballast Tank
In yet another of its aspects the present invention is embodiment in the ballast tank of a ship.
The ballast tank is characterized in that (i) gases of the tank""s ullage space are inerted, and contain less than 4% oxygen, while (ii) these same ullage spaces gases are at a pressure less than atmosphere.
These and other aspects and attributes of the present invention will become increasingly clear upon reference to the following drawings and accompanying specification.

Closed loop control of both pressure and content of ballast tank gases to at different times kill both aerobic and anaerobic organisms within ballast water


A presence aggregation system provides a presence aggregation server that allows for the publication of presence state of a publisher from the publisher's multiple endpoints. A presence state includes an availability value and an activity. An activity may include an activity token and/or a custom string. When any one of the publisher's endpoints makes a presence state publication on the presence aggregation server, the presence aggregation server generates an aggregated state of the publisher (i.e., the availability of the publisher aggregated across all of the publisher's endpoints) and publishes the generated aggregated state to each of the publisher's endpoints. The presence aggregation server may also provide the publisher's aggregated state to the subscribers of the publisher's aggregated state information.

Users of computing devices (e.g., laptops, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants) often need to communicate in real time. A common form of real-time communications is provided by instant messaging services. An instant messaging service allows participants at endpoints to send messages and have them received within a second or two by the other participants in a conversation. The receiving participants can then send responsive messages to the other participants in a similar manner. To be effective, a real-time conversation relies on the participants' becoming aware of, reviewing, and responding to received messages very quickly. This quick response is in contrast to conventional electronic mail systems in which the recipients of electronic mail messages respond to messages at their convenience.
When an initiating participant wants to start a real-time conversation, that participant needs to know whether the intended participants are available to respond in real time to a message. If not, then communications via conventional electronic mail, voice mail, or some other mechanism may be more appropriate. For example, if the computers of the intended participants are currently powered off, then a real-time conversation may not be possible. Moreover, if their computers are currently powered on, but the intended participants are away from their computers, a real-time conversation is also not possible. The initiating participant would like to know the availability of the intended participants so that an appropriate decision on the form of communication can be made.
Presence services provide this availability information. The availability status of an entity such as a computer system or a user associated with that computer system is referred to as "presence information." Presence information identifies the current "presence state" of the user. Users make their presence information available to a presence service so that other users can decide how best to communicate with them. For example, the presence information may indicate whether a user is logged on ("online") with an instant messaging server or is logged off ("offline"). Presence information may also provide more detailed information about the availability of the user. For example, even though a user is online, that user may be away from their computer in a meeting. In such a case, the presence state may indicate "online" and "in a meeting."
In an instant messaging context, a publishing user ("publisher") may provide their presence information to a presence server that then provides the presence information to subscribing users ("subscribers"). Thus, a presence server may use a subscriber/publisher model to provide the presence information for the users of the presence service. Whenever the presence information of a user changes, the presence server is notified of the change by that user's computer system and in turn notifies the subscribing users of the change. A subscribing user can then decide whether to initiate an instant messaging conversation based on the presence information of the intended participants. For example, if the presence information indicates that a publishing user is currently in a conference telephone call, then the subscribing user may decide to send an instant message, rather than place a telephone call, to the publishing user. If the subscribing user, however, needs to call and speak with the publishing user, the subscribing user needs to monitor the presence information of the publishing user to know when the call can be placed. When the subscribing user notices that the publishing user's presence information indicates that the telephone conference has been concluded, the subscribing user can then place the telephone call. RFC 2778 is a specification relating to presence information in instant messaging systems. RFC 3856 is a specification relating to presence information using the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP").
It is not uncommon for a user to be signed into a collaboration server using many devices at the same time, thus creating multiple endpoints. For example, a user may simultaneously be signed into an instant messaging server using a personal digital assistant, a wireless telephone, and a laptop computer. In this instance, each of these endpoints contains pieces of information regarding the user, such as whether the user is typing on a device, using the device to make a phone call, etc., and the user's availability for communication or other forms of interaction with others at any instant in time. While current presence services may be suitable for providing a user's availability to communicate at a specific user endpoint, these presence services are unable to provide an accurate depiction of a user's availability to communicate when the user is signed into multiple endpoints.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides a high performance polymer-base material capable of dissipating transient thermal energy generated by an electronic module, such as a heat-generating power device. The methods of the present invention involve adding a suitable thinner to reduce the viscosity and increase the volume of a polymer-base matrix material so that a large amount of thermal absorbing particles may be added. The final cured product may have a filler content of more than 80 weight %. Further, the present invention provides a new and reduced cost formulation of a polymer-base thermal transient suppression material containing organic wax particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for managing/dissipating heat generated by electronic devices. More particularly, this invention relates to materials that absorb heat generated by transient thermal events.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat generated by electronic devices during normal operation can cause overheating and device failure if not conducted away. While steady-state heat must be removed from the device and dissipated to the surrounding environment to prevent overheating, transient energy can be absorbed by the device and any surrounding packaging material and then dissipated to the environment more slowly. An example of a packaging material is a potting compound used to seal and protect a circuit device mounted on a circuit board within an open or closed case. Transient thermal energy can be absorbed with the use of packaging materials by two mechanisms. The first and most commonly used is the energy absorbed by the packaging material due to its inherent specific heat. The second and less commonly used mechanism is to absorb thermal energy by using the latent heat of the packaging material as the material undergoes a phase change. The most common phase change materials are of three types: solid-to-liquid, liquid-to-gas, and solid-to-solid phase change. Each of these types of phase change materials has disadvantages for electronic applications. Though solid-to-liquid phase change materials are capable of absorbing relatively large amounts of thermal energy, costly sealed containment is required to prevent loss of the material when in the liquid state. Liquid-to-gas phase change materials are capable of absorbing even greater amounts of thermal energy, but the cost of containing the gas phase is typically higher than that for solid-to-liquid materials. Alternatively, the heat dissipation system must allow for replenishing the phase change material. In contrast to the preceding materials, solid-to-solid phase change materials do not require special or complicated containment structures. However, the energy absorption of these materials is considerably less than solid-to-liquid or liquid-to-gas phase change materials. Another shortcoming is that solid-to-solid phase change materials are unable to provide an effective barrier to liquid and ionic contamination when used to encapsulate or pot electronic modules.
It can be appreciated that for a phase change material to be suitable for a wide range of applications in electronic products, the material should not only have relatively high thermal capacitance during the phase change, but should also be relatively low cost and self-containing, i.e., not require any sealing or special containment over the operating temperature range of the device being packaged. Additional desirable properties for electronic applications include a high thermal conductivity to quickly transport heat away from a heat-generating component, and the capability of customizing the temperature at which the phase change occurs. The capability to be used as a potting compound is also desirable for many applications, requiring that the phase change material have a high electrical resistance for direct contact with an electrical circuit and the ability to stop liquid and ionic intrusion. As a potting material, the material should also preferably have low ionic content for corrosion resistance, a low elastic modulus over the intended temperature range in order to minimize stress on the electrical components during thermal cycling, and good adhesion and minimal material property changes after long term exposure to the operating environment. While phase change materials exist that have several or more of these preferred characteristics, it would be desirable if a phase change material existed that exhibited each of the characteristics to the degree necessary to be useful in a wide variety of applications, and particularly as an encapsulation or potting material for an electronic module.

Thermal transient suppression material and method of production