text:
A tool for separating an acetabular shell of a hip prosthesis from the surrounding pelvic bone includes a fixture which attaches to the acetabular shell and has a chisel guide mounted on it. A chisel associated with the chisel guide is curved to conform to the outer periphery of the acetabular shell, and the chisel guide causes the chisel to circumscribe the acetabular shell as the chisel is inserted between the acetabular shell and the pelvis.
1. A tool for removing the acetabular shell of an artificial hip, having a semi-spheroidal outer surface and a semi-spheroidal inner surface, said tool comprising:
(a) a fixture which attaches to the acetabular shell;
(b) a chisel guide mounted on said fixture;
(c) a chisel associated with said chisel guide, wherein said chisel guide controls the movement of said chisel such that said chisel substantially circumscribes the outer surface of the acetabular shell when moved;
(d) wherein said chisel is slidably carried by said chisel guide; and
(e) wherein the shell has a circumferential groove located on its inner surface and said fixture includes a centering plate which is circular in cross-section and fits into the shell and has one or more detents which engage said groove to attach said centering plate to the shell.
2. The tool of
3. The tool of
4. The tool of
5. The tool of
6. The tool of
7. The tool of
8. The tool of
9. The tool of
10. The tool of
Total hip anthroplasty has become a relatively common procedure. It also is becoming more common to replace the prosthesis after a period of time. A difficulty in doing this is that the acetabular shell of the prosthesis will become completely embedded in the surrounding bone and needs to be cut free. The traditional method of accomplishing this has been to use hand-held, curved chisels and a mallet to cut and pry the acetabular shell away from the bone. A problem with this process is that it is difficult to keep the chisel precisely at the periphery of the acetabular shell and often excess bone is removed with the shell.
The X-PLANT acetabular shell removal tool sold by the Zimmer Company reduces this problem to some degree. The X-PLANT removal tool provides a curved chisel having the same contour as the outer periphery of the acetabular shell. The chisel is attached to a shaft having a ball at its extremity which is sized to be inserted into the socket in the polyethylene liner which is located in the acetabular shell to receive the femural head of the prosthesis. As the tool is manipulated and struck with a mallet to break the acetabular shell free from the surrounding bone, the ball pivots in the socket and keeps the chisel blade close to the periphery of the acetabular shell.
While the X-PLANT tool is an improvement over the traditional hand-held chisels, it does have one significant shortcoming. Often the acetabular shell is attached to the pelvis with screws which extend through the shell and into the surrounding bone. These screws need to be removed before the shell can be removed and doing this requires that the polyethylene liner be removed from the shell, which often damages the mechanism which holds the liner in place. As a result the liner moves when the X-PLANT tool is used which prevents the tool from cutting as close to the periphery of the shell as it otherwise would.
The subject invention overcomes the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art tools for removing the acetabular shell by providing a fixture which attaches to the shell. The fixture has a chisel guide mounted on it. The chisel guide causes a chisel to move along a path such that it substantially circumscribes the outer surface of the shell when the chisel is moved.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The tool of the subject invention facilitates the removal of the shell. Referring to
Referring now also to
Referring now to
Located in the locking plate 50 is a T-shaped slot 62 which receives a chisel guide 64,
Attached to the base of the chisel is a rod 72 having an impact pad 74 located at its extremity. The rod is attached to the chisel through a hinge 76. The impact pad 74 can be struck with a mallet to drive the chisel 66 inwardly between the shell 10 and pelvic bone 14 when the rod is in the position shown in
An alternative apparatus for attaching the anchor to the shell is shown in
Referring now to
Attached to the clamping ring 82 is a locking plate or plate 90 which has a T-shaped slot 92 that is similar to the slot 62 and receives the chisel guide 64. The chisel guide 64 includes an arcuate track 65. The chisel 66 has a rail 68 attached to it which interfits with the track 65. The chisel 66 includes an impact pad, configured similarly as impact pad 74 in
A third embodiment of the invention is shown in
With this embodiment the chisel guide also acts as an impact pad. Striking the chisel guide on the outer side 118 pushes the chisel 116 inwardly between the shell 10 and the pelvic bone 14, and striking the chisel guide on the inner side 120 pulls the chisel back out. In addition, a lever 122 located at the top of the chisel guide allows the mounting plate to be rotated as the chisel is being pushed inwardly so that the chisel does not have to continuously be pulled back, relocated and pushed in again.
The terms and expressions which have been employed in the forgoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalence of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.
Patent Citations
Original Image


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rodolfo Bay Wright was born in Cadiz in 1910. He was the son of a the Danish consul in Cadiz, his mother was English and as is tradition in Spain he added his matronym. He got his pilots licence in 1929 and bought his first aircraft then, EC-QQA. He used this to offer joyrides over Cadiz and other towns in Andalusia.
He became a pilot with CLASSA which was the predecessor of Iberia in 1931. He joined Iberia in 1940 as a captain. Also that year he was one of the pilots of the only DC1 when it crashed in Malaga. While with Iberia he flew DC1, DC2s, DC3, DC4, Constellation and DC8. His final flight with Iberia was on the DC8.
He also did a spell of military service and it is rumoured that he became acquainted with Franco. This, it is alleged, led to Spantax paying little or no airport charges in Spain. It is also alleged that the Spanish government paid for the building of the Spantax maintenance hangar in Palma.
Rodolfo Bay was also a well known racing driver. In the 1968 Formula 3 champioships he raced in Ford Brabham cars.This love of racing led to Spantax sponsoring races in Spain in the 1960s.
In 1959 along with Marta Estades Saez he set up Spanish Air Taxis. Rodolfo Bay held 80% and Marta Estades Saez held the balance. Iberia let Rodolfo Bay run Spantax while still employed by Iberia. They did not permit him to fly any Spantax aircraft.Marta Estades was resposible for the financial and commercial side of the operation. Until 1986 they remained the only two shareholdres of Spantax.
Early in 1967 he resigned from his position in Iberia to concentrate on running Spantax. He had been with Iberia for 26 years, had completed 35000hours and had crossed the Atlantic 1206 times. He was instrumental in Spantax operating the Convair CV990 Coronado. He called the aircraft the Maserati of the air. In May 1967, Spantax had received bad press in Germany. To counteract this Rodolfo Bay decided to fly a flight from Palma to Hamburg with German press on board to get good press for the airline. Unfortunately he landed at the wrong airport in Hamburg.
Rodolfo Bay Wright passed away in Palma in October 2000.


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Child Abuse and Neglect Reports, by Race/Ethnicity
Download & Other Tools
- Definition: Number of child abuse and neglect reports for children under age 18, by race/ethnicity.Rate of child abuse and neglect reports per 1,000 children under age 18, by race/ethnicity.
- Data Source: Needell, B., et al. (May 2014). Child Welfare Services Reports for California, U.C. Berkeley Center for Social Services Research.
- Footnote: A child is counted only once (per year, per county). Reports include substantiated, inconclusive, unfounded, and assessment-only referrals, as well as those "not yet determined." LNE (Low Number Event) refers to data that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 20 cases of child abuse.
Learn More About Child Abuse and Neglect
- Measures of Child Abuse and Neglect on Kidsdata.org
Child abuse and neglect indicators are broken into two broad categories: the rate of child abuse and neglect reports and the rate of substantiated cases. Generally speaking, most reports of child abuse are not in the end substantiated by Child Protective Services after an investigation. Typically, as the public becomes more aware of child maltreatment and how to report it, the rate of reports goes up. The rate of substantiated cases is generally a more accurate measure of the prevalence of abuse and neglect because it reflects verified reports. On kidsdata.org, reports and substantiated cases of child abuse/neglect are provided overall, and by age, race/ethnicity, and type of abuse.
- Child Abuse and Neglect
- Demographics
- Births
- Births to Unmarried Women (California & U.S. Only)
- Child Population
- Children in Rural and Urban Areas (California & U.S. Only)
- Public School Enrollment
- Total Population
- Dating and Domestic Violence
- Disconnected Youth
- Foster Care
- First Entries into Foster Care
- Number of Children in Foster Care
- Length of Time from Foster Care to Adoption, by Length of Time to Adoption
- Median Number of Months in Foster Care
- Placement Distances from Home
- Placement Stability, by Number of Placements
- Re-entries into Foster Care
- Exit Status After One Year in Foster Care
- Exit Status After Four Years in Foster Care
- Injuries
- Why This Topic Is Important
Children who are abused or neglected, including those who witness domestic violence, often exhibit emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, difficulty in school, use of alcohol and other drugs, and early sexual activity (1, 2). Abuse, particularly experienced when children are young, causes stress that can disrupt early brain and physical development, placing mistreated young children at higher risk for health problems as adults (2, 3). Children who are abused or neglected also are more likely to repeat the cycle of violence by entering into violent relationships as teens and adults or abusing their own children (1). An estimated 686,000 U.S. children were victims of maltreatment in 2012, and approximately 1,640 of these children died from abuse or neglect (7).
Child abuse and neglect are underreported and occur in families of all socioeconomic levels and ethnic groups (4, 5). Major risk factors for child abuse/neglect victims include being under 4 years old and having special needs. Family and community risk factors include parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, major stress (e.g. poverty, social isolation), domestic violence, and unsafe neighborhoods (5, 6). Research shows that in 30% to 60% of homes with either domestic violence or child abuse cases, it is likely that both types of abuse are occurring (4).For more information on child abuse see kidsdata.org's Research & Links section.
Sources for this narrative:
1. Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2013). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/long_term_consequences.pdf
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. (2014). Child maltreatment: Consequences. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/childmaltreatment/consequences.html
3. Middlebrooks, J. S., & Audage, N. C. (2008). The effects of childhood stress on health across the lifespan. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/pdf/Childhood_Stress.pdf
4. DePanfilis, D. (2006). Child neglect: A guide for prevention, assessment, and intervention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/neglect/
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. (2014). Understanding child maltreatment: Fact sheet. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/understanding-cm-factsheet.pdf
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. (2014). Child maltreatment: Risk and protective factors. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/childmaltreatment/riskprotectivefactors.html
7. Children's Bureau. (2013). Child maltreatment 2012. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2012
- How Children Are Faring
In 2013, there were 482,265 reports (allegations) of child abuse and neglect in California. Of those cases, 81,381, or 17%, were substantiated (verified) by the state child welfare system. Nearly 65% of these verified cases were due to general neglect, which includes cases where the parent, guardian, or caregiver failed to provide adequate food, shelter, medical care, or supervision for the child, but no physical injury occurred. Neglect consistently has been the most common type of substantiated case statewide and in nearly all counties for which these data are available. California's rate of substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect declined from 12.0 cases per 1,000 children ages 0-17 in 1998 to 8.9 in 2013. Children ages 0-5 make up half of all substantiated cases of child abuse/neglect in California; they comprised 47% of all cases in 2013, up from 40% in 1998.
Statewide, child abuse and neglect cases disproportionately involve children of color, particularly African American/Black and American Indian/Alaska Native children. For more information on racial disproportionality and inequities in child welfare, see the Child Welfare Information Gateway and a recent synthesis of research on the issue.
- Policy Implications
Children at risk of maltreatment, and those already in the child welfare system, interact with a range of public and private systems that can help prevent child abuse, mitigate its effects, and help them obtain permanent, safe homes. Child maltreatment is a societal problem with substantial economic consequences for both individuals and communities (1). Policymakers have a role in helping to prevent child maltreatment, as well as in ensuring early detection and reporting of abuse and neglect.
According to research and subject experts, policies that could aid in the prevention of child abuse and neglect include:
For more research to support policy on child abuse prevention and foster care, see the Child Welfare Information Gateway, the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, and California Fostering Connections. For implementation tools, see Child Welfare League of America.
- Providing a range of prevention services, including accurate risk assessment, parenting education, and home-visiting services, to families with children at risk of abuse or neglect (3, 4, 5)
- Implementing, expanding, and funding "differential response," in which child protective service agencies have different levels of response to child abuse/neglect reports, depending on the severity of the allegations and the families' particular needs; this approach recognizes the variation in the nature of reports, and the value of tailoring services to meet different needs (5)
- Providing an accessible system of mental health services for children in foster care or at imminent risk of entering care (2), and creating incentives for child welfare agencies to ensure that young children in their care receive early assessments and referrals for mental health issues (6)
- Supporting effective strategies to reduce the overrepresentation of children of color entering the child welfare system, especially African American/Black and American Indian/Alaska Native children (7)
Sources for this narrative:
1. Fang, X., et al. (2012). The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(2), 156–165. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213411003140
2. California Department of Social Services. Family Centered Services. (2013). Katie A. v. Bonta. Retrieved from: http://www.childsworld.ca.gov/pg1320.htm
3. McLanahan, S., et al. (2009). Preventing child maltreatment. The Future of Children, Princeton-Brookings, 19(2). Retrieved from: http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/19_02_FullJournal.pdf
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Preventing child maltreatment through the promotion of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and caregivers. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/CM_Strategic_Direction--Long-a.pdf
5. Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2008). Differential response to reports of child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue_briefs/differential_response/differential_response.pdf
6. Cooper, J., et al. (2010). Addressing the mental health needs of young children in the child welfare system: What every policymaker should know. National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved from: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_968.html
7. Miller, O. (2009). Reducing racial disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color in the child welfare system. Casey Family Programs. Retrieved from: http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/pdf/BreakthroughSeries_ReducingDisproportionality_process.pdf
- Research & Links
- Websites with Related Information
- Abuse, Neglect, Adoption & Foster Care, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & Kaiser Permanente
- California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, California Department of Social Services
- Center for Study of Social Policy: Child Welfare
- Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
- Child Maltreatment Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Child Trends: Child Welfare
- Child Welfare and Foster Care Systems, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
- Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families
- Child Welfare League of America
- Children and Family Services Division, California Department of Social Services
- First Focus State Policy & Advocacy Reform Center
- Policyforresults.org, Center for the Study of Social Policy
- VetoViolence: Child Maltreatment, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Key Reports
- A Hidden Crisis: Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences in California, 2014, Center for Youth Wellness
- Building Community Commitment for Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments, 2014, Prevention Institute & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Child Maltreatment, 2015, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Children's Bureau
- Connecting the Dots: An Overview of the Links Among Multiple Forms of Violence, 2014, Prevention Institute & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect Rival Other Major Public Health Problems, 2014, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Cumulative Risk of Child Protective Service Involvement before Age 5: A Population-Based Examination, 2014, Putnam-Hornstein, E., et al.
- Disproportionality, Child Welfare Information Gateway
- Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California, 2013, California Child Welfare Council, Walker, K.
- How the Child Welfare System Works, 2013, Child Welfare Information Gateway
- Human Services for Low-Income and At-Risk LGBT Populations: An Assessment of the Knowledge Base and Research Needs, 2015, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Burwick, A., et al.
- Immigration and Child Welfare, 2015, Child Welfare Information Gateway
- Income Inequality and Child Maltreatment in the United States, 3/2014, Pediatrics, Eckenrode, J., et al.
- Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Welfare Information Gateway
- Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships as a Moderator of Intergenerational Continuity of Child Maltreatment: A Meta-Analysis, 10/2013, Journal of Adolescent Health, Schofield, T. J., et al.
- Strategies to Reduce Racially Disparate Outcomes in Child Welfare, 2015, Center for the Study of Social Policy, Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare, Miller, O., & Esenstad, A.
- The Prevalence of Confirmed Maltreatment Among U.S. Children, 2004 to 2011, 8/2014, JAMA Pediatrics, Wildeman, C., et al.
- The Role of the Family and Family-Centered Programs and Policies, 2015, The Future of Children, Berger, L. M. & Font, S. A.
- Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development, 2015, Child Welfare Information Gateway
- County/Regional Reports
- 2014 Solano Children's Report Card, Children's Network of Solano County
- 2014 Youth Wellbeing Report Card, Santa Monica Cradle to Career
- 2015 Kern County Report Card, 2015, Kern County Network for Children
- Children's Report Card, 2013, Sacramento County Children's Coalition
- Cumulative Risk of Child Protective Service Involvement before Age 5: A Population-Based Examination, 2014, Putnam-Hornstein, E., et al.
- Fresno Community Scorecard, Fresno Business Council & Valley PBS
- Orange County Community Indicators Report, 2014, Orange County Community Indicators Project
- Report on the Conditions of Children in Orange County, 2014, Orange County Children's Partnership
- San Diego County Report Card on Children and Families, 2013, The Children's Initiative
- Santa Clara County Children's Agenda: 2014 Data Book, Planned Parenthood & Kids in Common
- More Data Sources For Child Abuse and Neglect
- California Child Welfare Indicators Project, California Department of Social Services & UC Berkeley, Center for Social Services Research
- Child Trends Databank: Child Welfare
- Knowing the Numbers: Accessing and Using Child Welfare Data, 2014, Child Trends, Vandivere, S. & DeVooght, K.
- National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University
- Statistics & Research, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Children's Bureau


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Results 11 to 14 of 14
Registered Member
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- Here
- Posts
- 622
Posted On:
12/21/2005 8:38pm
Style: Judo--
This is what really happens when you are attacked with a knife on the elevator
Registered Member
- Join Date
- Dec 2005
- Location
- Here
- Posts
- 283
Posted On:
12/22/2005 12:20am
Style: Freestyle--
In real life, it wouldn't even be a fight, and grappling wouldn't be a factor.
Scenario for someone that knows what they are doing: I step into an elevator, I wait til the guy walks out, I then pull my knife and proceed to stab him in the sides (lungs) so he cannot yell for help or breathe, then then proceed to stab him in the heart.
Game over, I go to prison forever, or get stuck with the needle.
P.S. I should try that sometime.
P.P.S. He has to pull it out first.
Style: FMA & judo-ultra noob--
This is appalling.
I don't even know what to say to some of this crap. I mean... they seriously people to use such a horrendous maneuver to try and protect themselves?
The multiple opponents one was the most unrealistic piece of crap I've ever seen. Aside from the fact the 'opponents' never actually attacked and had plenty of open shots that never were taken to vital areas.. my god.. I mean ... I'm at a total loss.
I'm not even that GOOD at arnis/kali knifefighting and I know this guy would be killed in a serious hurry.
Da Komrads... Again you are MadPelvisOwn3d!
- Join Date
- Sep 2004
- Location
- Soviet State Of Kalifornia
- Posts
- 2,201
Posted On:
12/22/2005 12:37am--
Looked pretty effective to me! I think you really could keep someone at bay with those kicks. I'm going to find this place and sign up! You guys are just jealous they thought of it first..
To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without spilling your Guinness.
Sun "Fu Man JhooJits" Tzu, the Art of War & Guinness


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Inside Wolfpack Sports - Jim Valvano
Aug. 14, 2012
In today's episode Inside Wolfpack Sports visits with Nick Valvano, the brother of the late Jim Valvano. Nick recently stepped down after 13 years as CEO of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The V Foundation has raised more than $120 million since 1993 and distributed over $100 million in grants.


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Beer Nut
With Chad Polenz
Monthly Archive for April, 2010
At Your Service / Ice Beer
This post has a double title because it covers two topics. Without further verbiage: Last Sunday I had the chance to visit my neighborhood bar for a couple of beers. Two notable things happened that I will share with you: First, I had a Harpoon Imperial Red and found it quite tasty. Rich caramel tones […] [Read More]
I Hate Beer Festivals
I remember the first time I went to a beer festival as a professional brewer. I had been to many festivals before turning pro and looked forward to the event. Brewers, beer geeks and beer – that adds up to fun, right? After I set up my booth I took a quick stroll around the […] [Read More]
What's a widget?
I'm sitting here typing my blog while drinking one of my own beers and being annoyed by the incessant roar of antisocial motorcyclists – loud pipes don't save lives, they just make people think you're a jerk, especially at 11 on a Wednesday night in a residential neighborhood. Sorry, I digress… The beer I'm imbibing […] [Read More]


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Golf Equipment / Power issue
Is The Driver Dead?
Despite recent rule changes aimed at limiting performance, driver technology is still thriving
Seven times during the past 13 years golf's governing bodies have issued rules designed to limit the driver's performance, including controlling the springlike effect of the face and its resistance to twisting on off-center hits, the length of the shaft, and the volume and dimension of the clubhead. Heck, even the height of the tee is regulated.
But Nathan Morris still eagerly goes to work fitting golfers to the newest drivers. He's not dismayed. In fact, he expects to get 15 more yards for every player who walks into his GolfTEC facility in Denver with a driver that's four or five years old. How often does he get there? "About 90 percent of the time," he says.
Call it a harmonic convergence--fitting technology and attitude--but even statistics indicate that more distance is possible. This year on the PGA Tour, average driving distance is up more than four yards to 287.3 through early June, compared to the same time last year. Given the current pace, average driving distance on tour could break the 290-yard barrier by year's end, a first. The numbers are trending the same way on the Nationwide Tour, European Tour and LPGA Tour, too.
Clearly the driver is back.
You could quibble that the gains are relatively small or that average golfers can't increase their driving distance by trying to be stronger, fitter and younger like Bubba Watson or Camilo Villegas. Still, driver technology might allow us to increase our driving distance just by taking advantage of the same technology--and attitude--of the game's best players. Just like Morris, every fitter in our survey of America's 100 Best Clubfitters believes that yardage is out there for average golfers to find. Their estimated gains for an average golfer using a four- or five-year-old driver he hasn't been fit for? They start as low as 10 yards and go all the way up to 50 yards.
What's getting clubfitters excited (and what should have you knocking down their doors) are the advancements that make it easier for every golfer to swing faster and produce more consistent on-center contact. The resulting confidence could multiply the effects beyond what physics might otherwise suggest. Call it driver swagger.
"One thing we've seen is that if players hit newer drivers on the launch monitor and see results, their clubhead speeds increase as they continue to hit," says Alan Hocknell, Callaway's senior vice president of research and development. "We've seen that on tour, and we've seen that with average players. There's an exuberance factor that allows people to swing harder once they see the results."
Drivers today are only slightly better than a few years ago in terms of making off-center hits fly as fast off the face as on-center hits. However, they're much better at producing more efficient, more consistent and more playable ball flights. Furthermore, providing golfers with the knowledge that they're holding the right driver in their hands has a positive effect even designers don't completely understand, because as one tour insider suggested, "You can't quantify confidence." Tour players are getting dialed in, especially with the new adjustable drivers like TaylorMade's R11, Titleist's 910 and Nike's VR Pro, and it's changing things completely.
"Because you can now adjust the face angle, players will hit it farther just because it looks better to them," says Tom Olsavsky, director of metalwood creation at TaylorMade. "We've done a comparison with a competitor's model where the difference hasn't been statistically significant, but you do the fitting, and the player ends up 12 yards longer. We know there's a psychological and a fitting effect, but it's hard to quantify."
Better technology, better launch conditions and better fitting mean real distance--the shorter-iron-into-the-green-on-your-second-shot kind. For example, shots that launch higher with less spin tend to carry more and land at a shallower angle. That means more distance through the air and a flatter landing angle for more roll once the ball hits the ground. A driver that you can adjust to a setting that addresses your weakness could result in shots that slice or hook less. Straighter shots that land in the short grass bound farther. Not to be overlooked is the performance on off-center hits. In robot testing conducted for Golf Digest by Golf Laboratories Inc. of San Diego, off-center hits on the drivers that made our 2011 Hot List averaged 98 percent of ball speed for on-center hits. Even drivers that were ruled nonconforming for having hot faces aren't as good as conforming drivers today, says Callaway's Hocknell, whose company's nonconforming ERC drivers were among those that led to increased regulation a decade ago.
"Pretty much every innovation in drivers since then has been about improving performance when you don't hit the center of the face," he says. "That's clearly directed at improving the performance of the amateur golfer. A driver like the RAZR Hawk, for example, is ahead of the ERC II in terms of all-around performance, even though the center-hit ball speed might not be quite the same. The ERC II might have better ball speed, but it might not have better trajectory, and that's why its distance won't be superior to current drivers."
Still, these improvements have more to do with improving the physics of impact, and most designers admit that this area has been fairly well developed. "There are still some ways to make the driver better, but we've got all the easy fruit off the bottom of the tree," says Tom Stites, Nike's director of product creation of clubs. "We now have to put the ladder against it to get the stuff that's higher up."
This means pursuing ways for golfers to deliver the clubhead to the ball faster than ever. This might include aerodynamic enhancements, lighter shafts that make the total weight of some drivers 50 grams less than a few years ago, or new visions of biomechanics. "Speed is the most critical factor to create distance for a driver, without a doubt," Stites says. "Accuracy is important, too, of course, but without creating clubhead speed, you cannot maximize the transfer of the mass of the clubhead into the ball."
Driver shafts are 30 to 60 grams lighter than they were a decade ago, and lightweight grips are about half the weight they used to be. That can have a significant effect on clubhead speed for every level of golfer, says Nate Radcliffe, metalwoods development manager at Cleveland Golf. In other words, switch drivers, do everything the same, and you'll swing faster. "Lightweight isn't a matter of if, but when," Radcliffe says, indicating Cleveland's research suggests a one-mile-per-hour gain in swing speed for every 10 grams of weight saved. "Every other sport--hockey, tennis, cycling--has embraced lighter weight. In any sport, speed kills, and in golf speed equals power."
- Keywords:
- mike stachura,
- golf,
- putter,
- golf equipment,
- power issue,
- drivers,
- driving,
- driver technology


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415 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016
I love Bistango more than any other Gfree place in the city. Excellent fresh bread, extremely tasty meals, great service, and after we met the owner once, he remembered us every time. A true gem.
501 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018
Love this Chipotle. Its always absurdly packed during lunch but they are still attentive. Welcome relief in the GF desert that is midtown.


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If you've worked on or are starting to work on a Windows 8 app with relative complexity, you've probably encountered a scenario where you thought: "hey, instead of all this repeated markup, this might be better as a control."
I've run into this myself a couple of times and have settled on a fairly solid skeleton using the WinJS libraries to assist where they make sense. Let's walk through the bones of this gent together.
I won't start off at the beginner level here, I'm going to make some assumptions that you already have a basic understanding of how to go about using the WinJS libraries, and how vanilla JavaScript works at an intermediate level.
Below you can see the basic skeleton of a custom TurtlePower control.
(function () { "use strict"; WinJS.Namespace.define("GotDibbs.Controls", (function createClass() { var TurtlePower, otherGlobals; TurtlePower = WinJS.Class.define( function constructor(element, options) { var control = this; if (!element) { throw "Element must be provided."; } options = options || {}; control.element = element; control.options = options; control.createVisualTree(); }, (function defineInstanceMembers() { function setValue() { } function setDisabled(isDisabled) { } function createVisualTree() { var control = this, elem = control.element; } return { setValue: setValue, setDisabled: setDisabled, buildControl: buildControl }; })()); return { TurtlePower: WinJS.Class.mix(TurtlePower, WinJS.Utilities.eventMixin) }; })()); })();
As you can see, one of the big concepts I use with frequently is that of the revealing module pattern, created using immediately-executing functions. These patterns really help to keep your code clean and readable.
One brief step to the side for a second: you'll notice that I name all of my immediately-executed functions. They would otherwise be anonymous and that can cause issues when you're looking at a stack trace. Who wants to see a listing of "anonymous function > anonymous function > annonymous function"? How helpful is that?
I'm going to skip over the usage of the WinJS.Namespace.define and WinJS.Class.define functions' core functionality, but you can visit the links inline to see a bit more detail on each.
Now let's take a step closer and start to break down the control into some of it's key components.
Writing JavaScript using the WinJS libraries really makes you know your stuff when it comes to emulating OOP in JavaScript. If you notice above in the skeleton, we have a function called constructor which takes in a DOM element and an options object. This is where our control's life begins. When we call WinJS.UI.processAll() in our app and it encounters one of our custom controls created declaratively in the HTML, our constructor function is what gets called to bring our control to life. Note that the function is also called when you instantiate the control programmatically via something a la:
var power = new GotDibbs.Controls.TurtlePower(elem, opts);
So what do we want to do here? Let's break it down starting from the top.
function constructor(element, options) {
As we've already mentioned, the two parameters to this function are a DOM Element (usually a DIV already declared somewhere), and an Options object which allows us to change the behavior of our control from one instance to the next.
var control = this;
Here, if you're not too familiar with JavaScript, you might get a bit lost, and if you're not clear on what this line is doing exactly I'd suggest doing a bit of research on the JavaScript this keyword. Basically in the current context all we're doing is "aliasing" the instance of the control to the variable control. I am a big proponent of "aliasing" the this keyword because it provides more insight as to what exactly you're expecting this to be.
if (!element) { throw "Element must be provided."; } options = options || {}; control.element = element; control.options = options;
In the above section we do a couple of things to make sure our control is being instantiated correctly, and then we cache a reference to both the element and the options that were passed into the function. No big surprises there.
The last line actually calls the control instance's buildControl function which is defined in the instance members that follow the control's constructor. Let's head over there now and take a peek at the torso of our skeleton; where the real meat of our control will live.
Thanks to the revealing-module pattern, we can see from the defineInstanceMembers function that the three core public functions for this control are: setValue, setDisabled, and buildControl.
The purpose of the buildControl function should seem a bit self-explanatory, but it is basically what handles making sure our control contains the appropriate DOM elements, the appropriate styles, and makes sure the appropriate internal events are handled … well, internally. This function is exposed just so that our constructor can see it and call it. If this were C#, it'd probably actually be private, protected, or internal.
var elem = document.querySelector("#turtlePower"); elem.winControl.setDisabled(true); elem.winControl.setValue("NinjaFu");
You can see that basically we just invoke the functions directly off of the winControl object defined on the element. Pretty simple, right? Well now what if we need to know when something changes on our control? Let's hop into that now.
Generally when the value of our control (assuming it's an input control for this instance) is set through the UI or through code, we probably want to know so we can track it's value through it's lifetime. This can usually be done generally in one of two ways with WinJS: Binding or Events.
Sadly, I've run into about a bazillion problems with data binding in WinJS and therefore tend to avoid it now, especially with controls. Some brief examples:
So wait … if we can't effectively use binding how ever will we know when a value changes? Well it's over to the event-based model for now.
Instead of mixing our class with the WinJS.Binding.mixin, we mix it with WinJS.Utilities.eventMixin which automatically adds functions such as addEventListener and dispatchEvent to our class. We achieve this in the return statement at the end of our namespace:
return {
TurtlePower: WinJS.Class.mix(TurtlePower, WinJS.Utilities.eventMixin)
What exactly does this do for us, you ask? This allows us to add a simple call to dispatchEvent to notify any listeners of that event. For example, in our setValue function we would call something like the below to notify listeners that the value has changed.
function setValue(val) { var control = this; // ... set the value on the control ... // Notify listeners control.dispatchEvent("change"); }
…and we listen for a change like this….
var elem = document.querySelector("#turtlePower"); elem.winControl.addEventListener("change", function (e) { // ... handle on change event ... });
You might be thinking well let's just switch to using Knockout.js or some similar library to achieve two-way binding … but it actually can get pretty messy going that route. However, it is an option nonetheless.
What we've achieved here is to create a skeleton of a WinJS control conforming to more common and modern web-based JavaScript standards. The patterns used within really help to promote readability – which is essential when creating any reusable and maintainable control. After all what good is converting frequently used code into a control if no one can read it or understand what it is doing? I'd be curious to here if anyone has any feedback and always welcome different approaches!
[...] an async dialog that allows for custom content and works more like the MessageDialog…"A Skeleton for Custom Controls with WinJS (GotDibbs)"If you've worked on or are starting to work on a Windows 8 app with relative [...]


text: Clinical-Community Relationships Measures (CCRM) Atlas Exhibit 5-8. Measure 8: Plan of care includes at least one public and/or private community service/resource (Wrap-Around Observation Domain:Referral processElement/ relationship:Clinic/clinician-patientInstrument:Wrap-Around Observation Manual—Second VersionPurpose:For families involved in a care team receiving wrap-around services, the question assesses if information about resource interventions in the area is offered to the team.Format/data source:External audit. Question 2 of the 48-item Wrap-Around Observation Form-2, which elicits information from a trained observer of whether a team specifically identifies at least one public (e.g., Health and Human Services, Lincoln Public Schools, Social Security Income) and/or private (e.g., private therapists/counselors, drug rehab centers) community service/resource in the plan of care.Measure type:ProcessDate:2003Preventive service / USPSTF:Other–Mental Health*Clinical practice:OtherDenominator: Number of patients or families eligible for wraparound services and form filled by observer. (Question 1)Numerator:Number of "yes" responses noted by observer during family meeting with care coordinator. "Yes" only if one public and/or private service is included in the plan. These agencies must be accessible from the client's community. (Question 1)Development & testing:Reliability of the WOF-2 was assessed during 30 family planning meetings with 26 different families during a 24-month period. Data were collected by eight graduate students and one research assistant who served as observers at the family planning meetings. To assess reliability at each meeting, two observers went to the meeting to collect data using the WOF-2.Past or validated application:Those in Lancaster County, Nebraska, who participated in an evaluation designed to examine the impact of a system of care for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families.Citation(s):Nordness, P. D. and Epstein, M. H. Reliability of the Wraparound Observation Form—Second Version: An instrument designed to assess the fidelity of the Wraparound Approach. Mental Health Services Research (2003) 5(2):89-96.Epstein, M. H., Nordness, P. D., Kutash, K., et al. Assessing the wraparound process during family planning meetings. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research (2003) 30:352-362.Notes:Please be aware that this measure is using only a selected section of an entire survey instrument. Therefore, this individual measure may need to undergo further reliability and validation testing to ensure that it can be applied in a clinical-community relationship setting.*This is a measure that was originally applied in a mental health setting, but it could be adapted for a primary care setting.Return to Document Page last reviewed March 2013 Internet Citation: Clinical-Community Relationships Measures (CCRM) Atlas: Exhibit 5-8. Measure 8: Plan of care includes at least one public and/or private community service/resource (Wrap-Around Observation. March 2013. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/prevention-chronic-care/resources/clinical-community-relationships-measures-atlas/ccrm-atlas-ex58.html


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Booty Bakery # 20: FullCrate, Kaytradamus, High-Klassified, Smile/Smah
Booty Bakery # 20: FullCrate, Kaytradamus, High-Klassified, Smile/Smah
All respect due to For Your Benefit for the photo.
Avenge The Virgins would like to announce our brand new partnership with local collective BootyBakery. We've been pretty lazy on the local networking tip, but that's about to change.
BootyBakery is a great party/collective based in Montreal. Resident DJs Bongiovanni, Compton Chic and Phil Sparkz bring some of the dopest and most varied party vibes to our shores every Thursday Night at the Blue Dog Motel. They showcase the best local and international acts, playin everything from juke, dancehall, garage, bass, rap and everything in between. Their goal is to make asses shake, and that's a mission statement that I can get down with.
I've been to a few so far, and from what I can recall (cough) the crowd is always mad hype, and the energy is ridiculous. The people are beautiful, the booze flows endlessly, the beats are always tight. Most importantly, folks get fuckin' loooooose. Crisse de beau mélange.
If all goes as planned, we'll be throwing up a weekly feature, showcasing the talent that BootyBakery brings to the beautiful shores of Montreal. We'll also be devoting a section in the Category menu on the left side of the site, so you can keep tabs on the heat.
Without further ado, let's get into it.
Booty Bakery # 20: Artbeat (MTL) x Full Crate (NL)
This week, BootyBakery is collaborating with local hip-hop collective Artbeat, and is bringing Dutch producer Full Crate to Montreal for some smooth grooves. This week's BootyBakery will be unbearably dope, I can bloody guarantee. A line-up this tripped-out is bound to be magical. I'd recommend bringing some party favors, as this one will be pure vibes.
Bakery Menu:
Full Crate
Fullcrate is a fantastic producer out of the Netherlands. I first came across his name when perusing the list of participants in the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy, and have been trying to track of his work ever since. Fullcrate makes amazing funky electronic music that is instantly memorable and will be appreciated by anyone. I'm hoping he'll be treating us to a sweet live performance and I'm thinking there may be babies made on the dancefloor during his set. Supremely sexy and suave beats are in store.
Fullcrate ft Mark Pritchard- Dangle
Fullcrate ft David Simmons- Without my Heart
For those unfamiliar with Kaytradamus, step your game up. I posted up a pretty extensive feature on him yesterday, so get aquainted. Dude goes in.
High-Klassified is another hip-hop producer from the 514 with a love for the funk. Solid basslines and head-boppin' melodies are the name of the game.
A local beatsmith, reppin' for the Artbeat crew. I haven't heard much of his stuff, but what I have heard is pretty blunted-out. Which is always a good thing.
And of course, holdin it down are the resident pastry chef tastemakers of BootyBakery:
100$ /vodka bottle
2 mixed drinks for 8$
10$ b4 11pm
I'll see you fiends at Blue Dog this thursday. Show some love to the BootyBakery crew. And buy me a drink.
One Comment
Crazy post, Kaytradamus and High Klassified got some really dope beats! Love the style


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The library's new 2d floor display space is intended to feature student creativity throughout the academic year. Each exhibit will open with a Fabulous Fine Arts Friday reception where we intend to showcase student musical performances.
We tentatively expect the next two exhibits to open on November 9 (women artists) and December 7 (winter motif).


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KSC pays dividend in cash at 12pct
Vietnam Securities Depository Centre (VSD) – HCM City Branch announced to set April 9, 2012 as the registration deadline to close the shareholders list of Khanh Hoa Salt Joint Stock Co (coded KSC) for paying dividend. The ex-dividend session would be April 5, 2012.
In details, the company would advance 2011 dividend – the first round for existing shareholders in cash at applied rate of 12 percent or 1,200 dong per share. The dividend would be paid on May 7, 2012.
For deposited shares, the owners can receive paid dividend at the securities firms where they opened their stock accounts.
As for undeposited shares, the holders would come to the company's accounting department to get paid.
Category: Stocks


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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Virginia Beach health officials have lifted a swimming advisory that was issued for the southern end of the Sandbridge.
The advisory was issued Wednesday by the Virginia Beach Department of Public Health. It covered the area from Sea Scape Road to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Testing had shown that bacteria levels in the water exceeded state water quality standards. On Thursday, officials said lab results showed bacteria levels in the water met state standards again.
Signs posted on the beach warning that swimming and wading in the area is prohibited are being removed.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Photos and stories by the Associated Press from 70 years ago this week.


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The download currently does not work – it gives an internet connection error. This is to be expected. I would fully expect that the download will work after 12:00am EST Thursday.
We have the Wrath downloader up at our sister site Big Download for the PC and MAC (which runs on AOL networks so it's not going to go offline), or you can get it from Blizzard's site (which we all know goes offline when more than 10 people decide to view it at once). If this is your only way to get Wrath tonight, expect to have to wait a bit for the Blizzard downloader to work – but you'll at least get it.
Update: It should be noted that since this story went live, Blizzard has said this download is currently unsupported. Of course, this could change quickly - and we fully expect it to change around midnight tonight. Be assured: the download is from Blizzard and by Blizzard. Not some third party site.
Thanks to AngryJoe for the Mac information!


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Friction heating and bonding are used to consolidate sequentially applied metals, plastics or composites to previously deposited material so as to form a bulk deposit in a desired shape. Monolithic or composite sheets, tapes and filaments can be consolidated using the approach. A system according to the invention includes a source of friction; a mechanism for applying a forging load between a feedstock power supply and a work surface; a work-head, which may have various configurations depending on the geometry of the feedstock to be used; a material feeding system; and a computer-controlled actuation system which controls the placement of material increments added to an object being built. A computer model of the object to be built is used to generate commands to produce the object additively and automatically. The approach provides a solid, freeform fabrication technique that requires no tooling, operates in the solid state, and creates a bond directly at the faying surfaces (i.e., acts only at the location where bonding/consolidation of the material increments is desired).
1. A method of fabricating an object through sequential material deposition, comprising the steps of:
providing a description of the object to be fabricated;
providing a material feedstock;
sequetially depositing increments of the material and consolidating the increments in accordance with the description of the object using frictional energy to create a localized plastic flow, mushy zone, or melted region at the interface between the previously deposited material and each new increment until the object is formed without melting the material in bulk; and
removing any excess material.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
12. The method of
13. The method of
the material is provided in the form of a tape having a width; and
the description of the object takes the width of the tape into account.
14. The method of
the object includes an overhanging, cantilevered or enclosed feature, and
support material is used to support the feature.
15. The method of
16. The method of
an alloy including solders, copper-based brazes, nickel-based brazes or titanium-based brazes, or
a granular ceramic or other electrically insulating material, including silica, zirconia, alumina, salts, clays, plasters.
17. The method of
18. The method of
19. A system for fabricating an object using sequential material deposition, comprising:
a memory for storing a description of the object;
a material feeder for providing material increments with faying surfaces therebetween;
a source of frictional energy operative to join the material increments without melting the material in bulk; and
a controller operative to coordinate the successive deposition of material increments through the material feeder and control the source of energy to consolidate the material in accordance with the description of the object.
20. The system of
21. The system of
22. The system of
23. The system of
24. The system of
a support-material feeder; and
a support-material removing unit for removing excess support material not required to form the object.
25. The system of
This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/157,572 filed Oct. 4, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to fabrication of objects and prototypes through the sequential deposition of material. More particularly, the invention relates to the consolidation of material increments using friction joining to form objects.
Numerous manufacturing technologies for producing objects by sequentially adding material exist, with the casting of liquid metal being perhaps the oldest such technique. In the past two decades, various processes for fabricating objects to net shape solely through material addition, i.e. without a finishing step such as machining to produce detailed, high-precision features, have -been patented and, in a few cases, commercialized.
Most of these additive manufacturing processes either rely on an adhesive, or a solidification process in order to produce a bond between previously deposited material and each incremental volume of material which is added. Although the use of adhesives is convenient, the properties of the adhesive control the properties of the finished object, and this limits the usefulness of such processes in the production of engineering parts and products.
Processes which use solidification transformations result in objects with relatively uniform physical and mechanical properties, because the liquid which is present as each volume of material is added wets the previously deposited material, effectively acting as an adhesive with properties identical to those of the bulk material.
The most commercially successful of these technologies is stereolithography, in which a focused light source (typically an ultraviolet laser) is used to solidify a liquid photocuring polymer. As the laser focal point travels through a vat of liquid polymer, the polymer locally solidifies, and eventually, through appropriate programming of the motion of the focal point, a solid object is built.
Although several techniques have been developed and commercialized, the technologies available for additively producing metal objects are limited. Since the Bronze Age, humans have used forging as a means of producing objects by adding small volumes of material to shapes and hammering them to final dimensions. More recently, three-dimensional arc welding (shape melting), as described and patented by Edmonds et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,092) has been suggested as an approach to production of net shape metal components.
Prinz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,371, has also developed shape deposition modeling in which two types of molten metal are sequentially deposited to produce net shape. Prinz and others have shown that in addition to arc welding, laser deposition and thermal spraying may be used as the basis for forming net shape objects layer by layer, if masks are used at intervals sufficient to define the cross sections of the desired object (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,529). Kovacevic has refined the methods of Edmonds and included milling to improve object dimensional accuracy.
Laser melting and deposition have been developed extensively in the U.S. and Germany. Based on cladding technologies developed in the 1980s, processes such as laser engineered net shaping and direct metal deposition are being commercialized (See Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,862). Laser direct metal deposition is under development by researchers around the world, including Sandia National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Optomec Inc., and Precision Optical Manufacturing in the United States, and the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. In essence, the process involves the injection of metal powders into a high power laser beam, while the laser is rastered across a part surface. The powders are melted in the beam, and deposited under the influence primarily of gravity.
Other processes for producing net shape metal objects via material deposition involve the use of low melting point materials to join sheets or powders. For example, brazing of laminated objects has been described (patents) in which steel sheets are cut to the geometries of sequential cross sections of a part, and then furnace brazed together. A copper, titanium or nickel based braze alloy is generally used, with copper alloys having the lowest melting points, and ease of use.
A closely related technique uses infiltration of a low surface tension, low melting point alloy to fill voids in object made by compacting or printing metal powders has also been employed. For example, Cima et al. have patented a three-dimensional printing process, in which metal powders are ink jet printed in layers, and a binder is used to hold the shape of the printed object (U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,380). Following firing of this green part to remove the binder, the infiltrant can be added to produce a solid metal object (Dillon Infiltrated Powdered Metal Composite Article (U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,156). This technique is being commercialized by Extrude Hone Corporation. Other powder metallurgy techniques for producing metal objects to net shape involve the use of a pattern against which powders are densified using various combinations of elevated temperatures and pressures to produce a fully dense, net shape part.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,227, Rabinovich describes a method in which a wire or filament feedstock is used and applied to a growing object while maintaining a substantially identical cross section by remotely heating the nit point at which the feedstock is fed onto and is tangent to the existing surface. Rabinovich proposes use of a laser to heat this location to the melting point.
Electroforming, or plating, has also been commercialized for additive manufacturing of metal components. This mature technology has recently been used to produce shells on near net shape patterns to produce objects, usually tooling inserts for the injection molding process. Electroforming is a very slow process. It typically takes up to two weeks to produce a shell 0.25″ thick in a material such as nickel which has sufficient strength and wear resistance to be used as permanent tooling. As a result, this process is used only to create shells which require backfilling by some secondary material. Metal powder filled epoxies are most often used, however, ceramic slurries, other plastics, cements, and low melting points metals have all been used.
Electroforming has other drawbacks besides extremely low deposition rate as a near net shape forming technology. In the electroforming process, metal salts are dissolved in an aqueous solution. When an electrical current passes through this bath, metal is deposited on the negatively charged surface (in net shape electroforming applications such as tooling, this will be a model which is the inverse of the desired final shape). Aqueous solutions of metal salts are generally toxic, and sludges form in these baths as a byproduct of the process. Both the liquid and the sludges are hazardous materials which must be handled and disposed of appropriately. It is noteworthy that Andre has patented a method of fabricating layered structures using masks and electroplating (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,976,339 and 5,614,075).
More recently, nickel vapor deposition has been employed as a means of producing nickel shells for net shape fabrication applications. Nickel vapor deposition (NVD) allows thicker shells to be produced as deposition rates are higher than electroforming (Milinkovic, 1995). However, NVD involves the use of highly toxic gases and a specialized reaction chamber. The cost and risk of this technology are both very high.
The joining and cladding of metals using friction is a well known technology (Welding Handbook, Vol. 2). Friction processes include inertial welding, linear friction welding, friction surfacing, friction acoustic bonding and friction stir welding. Friction joining processes create heat at the faying surfaces of the materials to be joined, by rubbing the surfaces together. In addition to creating heat, this rubbing removes contaminants and oxide layers creating localized, atomically clean joint surfaces. It is known that the nature of metallic atomic bonds is such that if a very clean surface can be generated and maintained, joints between metals can be formed at relatively low temperature and pressure. Such solid-state consolidation could address many of the shortcomings of net-shape fabrication processes relying on liquid-to-solid transformation.
Friction bonding has been applied previously to the cladding and surfacing of objects for corrosion protection or repair of worn areas. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,617, 5,183,390, 5,077,081, 4,959,241 and 4,930,675, which disclose various surfacing methods based upon friction bonding. So far, however, the technique has not been applied to object formation.
This invention resides in the use of friction heating and bonding to consolidate sequentially applied metals, plastics or composites to previously deposited material so as to form a bulk deposit in a desired shape. Monolithic or composite sheets, tapes and filaments may be consolidated using the approach.
In terms of apparatus, a system according to the invention includes a source of friction; a mechanism for applying a forging load between a feedstock power supply and a work surface; a work-head, which may have various configurations depending on the geometry of the feedstock to be used; a material feeding system; and a computer-controlled actuation system which controls the placement of material increments added to an object being built. A computer model of the object to be built is used to generate commands to produce the object additively and automatically.
The technology represents a dramatic improvement over processes now in use. The inventive approach provides a solid, freeform fabrication technique that requires no tooling, operates in the solid state, and creates a bond directly at the faying surfaces (i.e., acts only at the location where bonding/ consolidation of the material increments is desired). It also addresses the problem of hazardous materials and energy sources, and also the engineering problems inherent in the handling of liquid metals.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation that illustrates the frictional object consolidation process.
FIG. 2 depicts a feed head which continuously feeds raw material;
FIG. 3 is a drawing which illustrates the optional use of heating in a friction consolidation system according to the invention;
FIG. 4 is a drawing which illustrates how a feedstock is preferably moved reciprocally in a linear friction welding process;
FIG. 5 is a drawing which illustrates an application of friction acoustic bonding to additive manufacturing;
FIGS. 6A and 6B show machines suitable to friction acoustic bonding;
FIG. 7 shows how a wire feed stock may be supported by a feed tube, to feed small amount of free material;
FIG. 8 illustrates a means of employing friction object consolidation to prepare continuously fiber reinforced metal matrix composite tapes or net shape objects; and
FIG. 9 illustrates the concept of functionally gradient materials.
In broad and general terms, this invention facilitates the additive manufacturing net shape objects in metals, plastics and composites by applying and integrally bonding sequential increments of material using friction joining. The material increments are fed sequentially and additively according to a computer-model description of the object, which is generated by a computer-aided design (CAD) system, preferably on a layer-by-layer basis. The CAD system, which holds the description of the object, interfaces with a numerical controller, which in turn controls one or more actuators. The actuators impart motion in multiple directions. Three orthogonal directions may be used or five axes, including pitch and yaw as well as XYZ, may be appropriate for certain applications, so that each increment (i.e., layer) of material is accurately placed in position and clamped under pressure.
The system and method may also incorporate the use of support materials to provide suitable substrates for any features of the object, which, when viewed sectionally, are overhanging. A description of the support resides in the CAD system, enabling the support to be built sequentially and additively. The support is preferably composed of less valuable material which is removed by stripping, cutting, dissolution, or by melting, when material having a lower melting-point than that of the object is used.
Friction joining is a solid-state process and can be performed at temperatures significantly lower than the melting point of the feedstock and the base material. During friction joining, the material must achieve a state of plasticity; in low hot strength materials, this occurs at a lower fraction of the melting point than in materials which are intended to have significant structural strength at elevated temperatures. In general, joint temperatures reach 0.7 to 0.9 of the melting temperature during friction joining.
Since heat is generated only at the surfaces that are to be joined, the process has enormous advantages over existing approaches based upon liquid-solid transformation. Thermal energy is widely diffused in these alternative processes, allowing residual stresses to build up as new layers are deposited. This can result in curling and cracking, and residual stress relief of the objects must be performed.
Frictional object consolidation creates heat only in the immediate interface region, typically a layer only a few microns thick. Thus, minimal heat is generated to produce residual stresses. Because frictional object consolidation occurs in the solid state in metals and plastics, the process minimizes safety and material handling problems which occur when liquid metals are present. In addition, by eliminating the liquid-solid phase transformation the approach allows dramatic improvements in dimensional accuracy.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation that illustrates the frictional object consolidation process. A feedstock 102 is forced against a material base 104. A ounterforce 106 is preferably applied relative to the feedstock 102 as well. The feedstock 102 is moved in a direction 108, thereby leaving material increments 110 in accordance with a description of an object to be fabricated. The feed is preferably rotated in addition to the lateral translation to intensify the generation of localized frictional heating.
The use of friction for forming metallurgical bonds is used primarily in the ground vehicles and piping industries, and is little known outside of it. In most applications, friction joining is used in relatively low precision operations on parts with large cross sections. In friction surfacing applications large diameter feed stocks (on the order of 10cm in diameter or more) are typically employed. This reduces the chances of buckling as the feedstock is axially loaded.
However, in additive manufacturing, accuracy is a function of the size, thickness, and accuracy of placement of each increment of material added. Typically material is added in layers of 0.001 to 0.005″ in thickness so as to achieve the desired dimensional accuracy. For friction object consolidation, this requires that small diameter feedstocks be used, and that a material feeding technique which provides support to the small diameter wire be used.
Friction surfacing techniques may be scaled down to support additive solid free form fabrication. For the purposes of net shape free form fabrication, it is desirable to minimize the cross section of the deposit material. This has two beneficial aspects. First, it is a requirement for dimensional control. Second, as the cross section of the deposit material decreases, the applied load decreases as the square of the radius. For example, suppose a load of 5,000 pounds is required to use a mild steel rod one-inch in diameter as a friction surfacing material. A wire with a diameter of 0.1″ will require a load of only 50 pounds to achieve the same force at the bonding surface. In order to prevent buckling, a feed head which continuously feeds the material, and limits the unsupported length of material between the material feed and the work surface is required. Such as system is illustrated in FIG. 2.
Friction surfacing requires that the consumable material flow plastically under the applied load. By preheating the consumable material, the force required to induce plastic flow may be reduced. Thus the incorporation of resistance, induction or some other form of heating in the friction surfacing system may be valuable, as illustrated in FIG. 3.
The linear generation of friction energy permits friction bonding techniques to work with materials which do not have axi-symmetric cross sections. As a means of performing additive manufacturing, feedstocks possessing a rectangular cross section have advantages over circular feedstocks, since the location and width of the material applied can be more accurately controlled. In linear friction welding, the feedstock is preferably moved reciprocally, as shown in FIG. 4. Friction joining may also be accomplished through orbital motion of a feedstock on a base plate, or by rotation to and fro of the feedstock through a given angle, preferably less than 360 degrees.
Friction acoustic bonding is a related friction joining technology which is well suited to additive manufacturing. It is performed by exciting a tool to vibrate at high frequencies (in the audible or ultrasonic range). When the tool transmits these high frequency vibrations under load through a material being added to a workpiece, friction occurs at the interface, and ajoint can be formed. This is illustrated in FIG. 5.
Friction acoustic bonding may be practiced using a variety of feedstocks. For example, metal foil may be laminated to build an object. The foil material may be supplied in sheets or fed from a roll, and may be consolidated into layers and cut according to the required geometry following consolidation, or it can be cut, then consolidated. Additional materials may be applied around precut foils to supply a support structure. Using this technology, fully dense articles may be fabricated out of a single material without use of an adhesive or secondary processing.
One particularly advantageous embodiment of object consolidation using the friction acoustic bonding methods is in a tape lay-up machine, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Use of tapes 1-2″ wide instead of sheet material the full width of the desired part eliminates difficulties encountered in maintaining uniform tension across a wide sheet of feedstock, and also problems with ensuring uniform pressure and or energy is applied by a very wide wheel or roller. In addition, narrower tapes are more easily handled by machines and human operators than larger, heavier feedstock supplies.
To a limited extent frictionally consolidated objects can also be produced via a "dot-wise" application. That is, the system can be designed so that individual dots of material smaller than a millimeter in diameter can be applied sequentially. This enables accurate build geometry, and, because friction bonding works with so many engineering metals, allows the fabrication of gradient compositions as described later. For example, using friction joining, molybdenum (Mo) can be joined to both copper (Cu) and aluminum (Al) both of which are impossible to alloy with molybdenum, or easily join with it, using conventional technologies.
Using dot-wise application, an object composed of multiple materials in virtually any desirable composition may be fabricated. As in the tape application, a wire or tape feedstock, which could possess one of a variety of cross sections, could be used to produce the articles. The friction application system would in essence smear tiny dots of material onto the build surface of the object, adding small increments of material with each cycle. Orbital material application lends itself readily to this type of application of friction additive manufacturing.
As shown in FIG. 7, the wire feed stock is preferably supported by a feed tube, and a small amount of free material (approximately 0.002-0.008″) is fed out of the tube. Because only a short unsupported volume of material is fed, buckling risk is minimized as a load is applied, and the wire is rotated to and fro through an angle of 45 to 135 degrees approximately. As plastic flow occurs (in 100 to 500 milliseconds) and abond is produced between the feedstock and the build surface, the wire is retracted from the surface, leaving a dot of material. The feed tube indexes over to the next location and repeats the process.
Friction consolidation also enables the net shape fabrication of objects made from various composite materials. For instance, the fabrication of continuously ceramic reinforced metal matrix composites has proven very difficult and costly using conventional metallurgical techniques. When exposed to molten metal, the ceramic fibers are typically subject to thermal shock, which causes cracking of the fibers, and results in reduced mechanical properties in the composites. Thus a further preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8, which illustrates a means of employing friction object consolidation to prepare continuously fiber reinforced metal matrix composite tapes or net shape objects.
A further application and embodiment of friction consolidation to additive manufacturing lies in the overhaul and repair of existing objects. In aerospace and military applications, power generation, tool and die fabrication, mining and certain food processing applications, components which are large, costly and unique may wear in service. Repair of such articles may be difficult using conventional weld build up techniques (particularly in military and aerospace applications where difficult to join materials are often used). However, total replacement of such components is often cost prohibitive. Because of the relatively low temperatures involved, friction consolidation is well suited to additive manufacturing applied to overhaul and repair. An automated dot-wise application system as described above can be used to add material in worn locations using CAD data to drive dot application locations.
Functionally gradient materials are those in which material composition is varied, whether rapidly or gradually, in order to allow a single component to more efficiently meet engineering service requirements. FIG. 9 illustrates the concept. Examples of relevant applications of functional composition gradients include injection molding tools in which a copper zone is co-fabricated with the tool steel (for example by electroplating, or laser direct metal deposition), in order to improve heat transfer in certain locations. Other examples are found in the hot zones of turbine engines and rocket motors, where it may be desirable to have a gradual gradient between a metal and a ceramic, or a metal and an intermetallic compound so that certain areas of a part feature enhanced heat resistance, while others have excellent ductility. Fabrication of functionally gradient materials often presents difficulties, because the materials may be metallurgically incompatible in the case of rapid variation, or because certain compositions may be very difficult to fabricate in the case of gradual variation.
Friction-based additive manufacturing has certain benefits relative to the preparation of functionally gradient, net shape objects in comparison to previous techniques. The low temperature, solid-state nature of the process means that materials which are very difficult produce metallurgical bonds between using conventional fusion approaches can be joined in a more straightforward manner. For example, copper and steel, which tend to crack when joined using fusion methods, can be consolidated using thermal energy produced via force and friction. In addition, the dot-wise approach described above for friction object consolidation can be used to add material of many gradually varying compositions to themselves and each other to produce a wide range of compositions, or feed stocks of two widely disparate compositions can be applied in gradually varying amounts to produce a functionally gradient zone. Due to limitations on the diameter of feedstocks which can be used without causing buckling, a relatively coarse functionally gradient composite will be produced using the friction consolidation technique.
The methods illustrated in the previous to produce layered or point-wise material application can be used in this application. Specifically, wires, filaments or sheets of varying composition (depending on the application method used as depicted above) can be employed as feedstocks, and selected and applied to result in various gradient compositions in the finished material.
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Exclusive hotels in gorgeous destinations around the world
Spa breaks, Spa breaks in the Algarve, Spa breaks in the Balearic Islands, Spa breaks in Bulgaria, Spa breaks in the Canary Islands, Spa breaks in Croatia, Spa breaks in Cyprus, Spa breaks in the Dominican Republic, Spa breaks in Egypt, Spa breaks in Greece, Spa breaks in Italy, Spa breaks in Jamaica, Spa breaks in Madeira, Spa breaks in the Maldives, Spa breaks in Malta, Spa breaks in Mexico, Spa breaks in Montenegro, Spa breaks in Morocco, Spa breaks in Spain, Spa breaks in Tunisia, Spa breaks in Turkey
Spa breaks in Cyprus
Anthony certainly got it right when he gave Cyprus to Cleopatra as a token of his love. This beautiful island is a fitting destination for spenidng some quality 'you' time. Whether it's whiling away the hours on the beach, taking in the spectacular mountainous scenery or feeling your cares slip away with a relaxing spa treatment or two.
Paphos is a historical town with narrow streets, a pretty harbour and a bustling atmosphere. Once you've explored the sights and sounds of this great little number, head back to your oasis at the Hotel Paphos Amathus Beach for some much deserved rest, relaxation and tranquility.
To find out more about Cyprus, why not take a look at our 'Inspire Me' video? Just click on the following link, sit back, and enjoy our full-screen video experience. Inspire Me - Cyprus
It's hard to know where to begin at the Atlantica Aeneas. Take the huge swimming pool snaking round the complex, for instance. It's one of the largest in the world! Plus it's got five bars, including a swim-up variety. Terraces and gardens dotted with sun-loungers and parasols add the finishing touches to pool perfection.
Then there's the food. Expect everything from piled-high buffets to poolside snacks and gourmet dinners. Lots of special themed nights up the ante even further – Greek, Mexican, Italian and Chinese cuisine is all on the menu. Love seafood? Then don't miss fish night with net-fresh spoils laid out in traditional fishing boats.
The word 'hotel' doesn't really do justice to this place. The reason is simple – it's actually part of the Aphrodite Hills Resort, which is almost a town in itself. You've got a village-style square filled with restaurants and shops and even an 18-hole championship golf course at your beck and call.
The whole resort sprawls over a picturesque slice of coast 15 kilometres from Paphos. It overlooks the Mediterranean and the place that inspired its name – Aphrodite's Rock. There's also a sandy cove within striking distance, with a hotel-run bus to take you there and back.
Entering the vast atrium at the entrance to this hotel makes you feel rather small – in the nicest possible way. It's because it's so cavernous – shining marble floors and tall white columns stretch way above the open staircases. Almost like pillars on a giant wedding cake.
It's an impressive introduction. And closer acquaintance doesn't disappoint. The recent renovations have added a contemporary zip to this beachside hotel. The lobby is a case in point, dotted with wicker-backed chairs and glass-topped coffee tables.The bedrooms, meanwhile, are fairly simple, with bright splashes of colour coming from the funky bedspreads.
Prepare to be swept off your feet by the simply fabulous 5T Paphos Amathus Beach hotel. Stylish, elegant and oh-so indulgent. And that's even before we've got to the Armonia Spa, the hotel's exquisite health and wellness centre. There's plenty of activities on hand with aerobic classes, tennis courts and a gym. But if that's too much like hard work, then you'll love the more laid-back side of the spa. Lose yourself in a tension soothing massage. Treat your skin to a firming body wrap. Feel the stress slide away with a heavenly Indian head massage. Whatever you choose to do, you'll certainly leave feeling thoroughly rejuvenated. After all, isn't that what holidays are for?
If hotels were judged on their gardens, the Annabelle would win a few prizes. Occupying six landscaped acres they feature, towering palms, ornamental ponds and hidden patios, all linked by wooden bridges and secret flagstone trails.
Cocooned in the middle is the main pool, bordered by sunloungers and planted urns. The star pool is nestled among greenery a bit further on. Designed on two levels and framed by a waterfall, this lagoon has a fairytale quality. The beach, meanwhile, is a series of man-made decks. The views are impressive, too. The azure waters of the Med lie before you, while to one side Paphos' old stone fortress stares back at you.
All stone turrets, colonnades and fountains, there's something reminiscent of a fortress about this hotel. It's an idea the architects definitely played on – they added a wooden drawbridge to the front entrance and a miniature amphitheatre to its grounds as well.
Inside, the grandeur moves up a gear. The lobby is a case in point. All gleaming marble, it's crowned by a spiralling stairway. Elsewhere, grand archways and wall friezes seem to accompany your every step. The rooms, too, look like they've come from a castle. Think dark-wood furnishings and an earthy palette of ochres and terracottas. The standard ones also feature balconies and gadgets like satellite TVs with videos on demand.
Practically everything about The Four Seasons comes with an extra slick of gloss. Take the rooms. Decorated in rich terracottas and muted emeralds, they're a clever balance of contemporary and classic. And each bathroom features a hot tub with room for two.
Outside, the gardens come with a twist of tropical styling. Palms stand over the main lagoon pool, which comes with a children's section and a slide. Banana plants hang over man-made rivers and bridges. And tucked away in one corner is an adults-only pool finished with half-submerged sunloungers. Not far from here is the Café Tropical, where the buffet breakfasts and dinners are served. To match the gardens, it's all bamboo chairs and tables set on safari-style decks above a pond. At night the decks are draped in fairylights as a backdrop for the regular themed dinners and shows.


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We are always hearing about unconditional love. It has become popular to assure lovers that we love them "without conditions," but we soon find it difficult to meet the condition of loving unconditionally.
I've discovered that every love has conditions. Even in the Bible every promise of God comes with a condition. In most cases the word "if" is somewhere in the promise or scripture. Therefore, certainly the love we offer each other is laced heavily with conditions regardless of our pillow talk. If it weren't for conditions, we all would still be in our first "unconditional love" relationship instead of on our umpteenth.
In recent years, I've discovered a constant unspoken condition of most lovers to remain lovers into reasonable longevity. This condition to our continuing to love someone is that they continue to allow us to grow separately from them. If we feel, for an instant, that someone is hindering our growth or freedom to explore life and personal interest, we gradually begin to reexamine the relationship and eventually the eye and interest begin to wander.
The same is true the other way around. We must not smother or block the path of an individual's interest outside of what he or she shares with us. There are some people that try to make you choose between them and an activity of your interest. I've heard many women accuse their spouse of loving sports more than her. She would sometimes deviously arrange for them to do something together on the day she knows that he plans to watch or attend a game. If she gets her way everything is fine but if she doesn't he's in the doghouse. This is a sample of conditional love.
We must not only respect the need for our lover's interest outside of us, we must encourage it, even at the risk of losing them. It seems ironic, but it is true, that only in continuing to grow separately is there any hope of individuals growing together. It is a myth that to maintain love two people must merge and blend completely into one. I usually have a silent chuckle when I see an adult couple dressed like identical twins as a celebration of their oneness.
Maybe I'm cynical but I'm also weary of couples that are never seen separately. However, men's night out with the boys or girls night out is a childish and foolish thing for mature couples because continuing to play single is playing with fire.
To have separate healthy and innocent interests and pursue those interests is fuel for a brighter fire when the two are together. But to have career, fame, money, and possessions as a main interest and put the wholesomeness of love on the backburner will burn down a love nest.
Bottom line: recognize that all your love comes with conditions, however subtle they are.
Website: www.richardojoneslive.com
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