The present invention provides, in particular embodiments, for modified recombinant T cell receptor (TCR) ligands (RTLs) comprising a MHC class I or MHC class II component. The modified RTLs have redesigned surface features that preclude or reduce aggregation, wherein the modified molecules retain the ability to bind Ag-peptides, target antigen-specific T cells, inhibit T cell proliferation in an Ag-specific manner and have utility to treat, inter alia, autoimmune disease and other conditions mediated by antigen-specific T cells in vivo.

The immune system ordinarily functions to direct protective immune responses against microorganisms and other harmful foreign materials. In the context of autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection, however, these normally beneficial immune responses can mediate deleterious and often fatal effects. In the case of autoimmunity, antigens present in the body's own tissues become targets for autoreactive immune responses that cause tissue destruction and other disease symptoms.
Immune responses in mammals are mediated by a diverse array of peripheral blood cells called leukocytes. Leukocytes arise from hematopoietic stem cells which undergo self-renewal and differentiation into two precursor lineages—the myeloid and lymphoid lines. Further differentiation occurs among these lineages to produce monocyte, eosinophil, neutrophil, basophil, megakaryocyte, and erythroid cells from the myeloid line, and T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and NK cells from the lymphoid line.
T lymphocytes include CD8+ T cells (cytotoxic/suppressor T cells), and CD4+ T cells distinguished in part by their expression of cell surface molecules, CD8, and CD4, respectively, which function to enhance the avidity with which T cells bind antigen-bearing or target cells, and may also promote the interaction of the TCR with cognate antigen. Bierer et al., Ann. Rev. Immunol. 7: 579-99, 1989.
CD4+ T cells play a key regulatory role with respect to other immune system cell types, acting as "T helper" or "T inducer" cells when activated. By virtue of this central regulatory role, CD4+ T cells are key players in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), diabetes, sarcoidosis, autoimmune uveitis, chronic beryllium disease, and are also considered to play a causal role in transplant rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (Swanborg, J. Immunol 130: 1503-05, 1983; Cush, Arthritis Rheum. 31: 1230-38, 1988; Caspi, J. Immunol 140: 1490-95, 1988; Cobbold et al., Nature 312: 54851, 1988; Steinman, Sci. Am. 269: 106-14, 1993).
CD4+ T cells mediate their role in autoimmune disease by responding in an antigen-specific manner to "autoantigens" associated with target cells or tissues. Pathogenic CD4+ T cells migrate or "home" to target tissues bearing autoantigen and selectively produce T-helper type 1 (Th1) cytokines, which trigger recruitment and activation of other lymphocytes and monocytes that may destroy target tissues and cause other adverse disease sequelae (Weinberg, et al., J. Immunol 148: 2109-17, 1992; Weinberg et al., J. Immunol 152: 4712-5721, 1994).
Normal activation of T lymphocytes occurs when the T cells interact with antigen-presenting cells (APCs) bearing cognate antigen (Ag) in the context of a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) protein. The specificity of T cell responses is conferred by a polymorphic, antigen-specific T cell receptor (TCR). T cell activation is mediated by TCR recognition of the Ag presented on the surface of the APC as a processed peptide bound to the MHC molecule.
Two distinct classes of MHC molecules occur in humans and other mammals, termed MHC class I and MHC class II. Both classes of MHC molecules comprise complexes formed by association of multiple polypeptide chains, and each includes a trans-membrane portion that anchor the complex into the APC membrane. MHC class I molecules are comprised of an α-polypeptide chain non-covalently associated with a β2-microglobulin chain. The α-chain of MHC class I includes three distinct domains, termed the α1, α2 and α3 domains. The three-dimensional structure of the α1 and α2 domains of MHC I molecules forms a peptide binding groove (alternatively referred to herein as the peptide binding cleft or pocket) which binds cognate Ag for presentation to T-cells. The α3 domain is an Ig-fold like domain that includes a trans-membrane sequence to anchor the α-chain into the cell membrane of the APC. MHC class I complexes, when associated with antigen in the presence of appropriate co-stimulatory signals, stimulate CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells to kill target cells in an Ag-specific manner.
The genes that encode the various polypeptide chains that associate to form MHC complexes in mammals have been studied and described in extensive detail. In humans, MHC molecules (with the exception of class I β2-microglobulin) are encoded in the HLA region of the genome, located on chromosome 6. There are three class I MHC α-chain-encoding loci, termed HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C. In the case of MHC class II proteins, there are three pairs of α and β chain loci, termed HLA-DR(A and B), HLA-DP(A and B), and HLA-DQ(A and B). In rats, the class I α gene is designated RT1.A, while the class II genes are termed RT1.B α and RT1.B β. More detailed description regarding the structure, function and genetics of MHC complexes can be found, for example, in Immunobiology: The Immune System in Health and Disease by Janeway and Travers, Current Biology Ltd./Garland Publishing, Inc. (1997), and in Bodmer et al. (1994) "Nomenclature for factors of the HLA system" Tissue Antigens vol. 44, pages 1-18.
The specificity of T cell responses is conferred by a polymorphic, antigen-specific T cell receptor (TCR). TCRs comprise multi-chain, α/β heterodimeric receptors, which are activated in an Ag-specific manner by Ag processed and presented on the surface of APCs as a peptide bound to the MHC complex. X-ray crystallographic data demonstrate that peptides from processed antigen bind to MHC II proteins in a membrane distal pocket formed by the β1 and α1 domains (Matsui et al., Science 254: 1788-91, 1991; Nag et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267: 22624-29, 1992).
CD4+ T cell activation generally follows a multi-step course that includes co-ligation of the TCR and CD4 by the MHC class II/peptide complex presented by APCs. A separate activation event referred to as "co-stimulation" is mediated by other T cell surface molecules, such as CD28. In the absence of the second, co-stimulatory signal, stimulation of T cells through the TCR by MHC class II/peptide complex reportedly induces a state of unresponsiveness to subsequent optimal antigen presentation, commonly referred to as "anergy". (Quill, J. Immunol 138: 3704-12, 1987; Schwartz, J. Exp. Med. 184: 1-8, 1996). In other studies, ligation of the TCR in the absence of a costimulatory signal has been reported to disrupt normal T cell activation, inducing a range of responses from anergy to apoptosis (Schwartz, J. Exp. Med. 184: 1-8, 1996; Janeway, Cell 76: 275-85, 1994; Burrows et al., J. Immunol 167: 4386-95, 2001; Wang et al., The Journal of Immunology, 2003).
MHC-restricted T lymphocyte interactions have been widely and extensively investigated. Cells of the T helper/inducer subset generally recognize antigen on the surface of APCs only in association with class II MHC gene products, which results in genetic restriction of antigen recognition. While the rules governing the activation of MHC-restricted T cells, and particularly of class II MHC-restricted T cells, have been well described, the underlying mechanisms are still being defined.
Despite the very large number of possible TCR specificities of T cells, a number of studies have shown that the major portion of the T cell response to protein antigens may be directed to a few "immunodominant" epitopes within the antigenic protein. In the context of autoimmune diseases, class II MHC-restricted T cell responses, and in some cases clinical signs of autoimmune disease, have been demonstrated to be associated with specific proteins and/or immunodominant epitopes from these proteins, including, e.g., type II collagen (Rosloneic et al., J. Immunol. 160: 2573-78, 1998; Andersson et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 7574-79, 1998; and Fugger et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 26: 928-33, 1996), and human cartilage Ag gp39 (Cope et al., Arthritis Rheum. 42: 1497, 1999) associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (Patel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 8082-87, 1997; Wicker et al., J. Clin. Invest. 98: 2597, 1996) and insulin (Congia et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 3833-38, 1998) associated with Type I diabetes (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or IDDM), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) (Forsthuber et al., J. Immunol. 167: 7119, 2001) associated with MS and an animal disease model for MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Similar findings have been reported for class II MHC-restricted T cell responses associated with myelin basic protein (MBP) (Madsen et al., Nat. Genet. 23: 343, 1999), proteolipid protein (PLP) (Kawamura et al., J. Clin. Invest. 105: 977, 2000), and MOG (Vandenbark et al., J. Immunol. 171: 127-33, 2003).
One approach for managing and treating autoimmune diseases and other T cell-mediated immune disorders is to regulate T cell activity using natural or synthetic TCR ligands, or T cell modulatory drugs or other compounds, that are TCR agonists or antagonists. Various analogs of natural TCR ligands have been produced which comprise extracellular domains of class II MHC molecules bound to a specific peptide Ag. Several such constructs have been purified as detergent extracts of lymphocyte membranes or produced as recombinant proteins (Sharma et al., PNAS. 88: 11465-69, 1991), Kozono et al., Nature 369: 151-54, 1994; Arimilli et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270: 971-77, 1995; Nag, PNAS 90: 1604-08, 1993; Nag et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271: 10413-18, 1996; Rhode et al., J. Immunol. 157: 4885-91, 1996; Fremont et al., Science 272: 1001, 1996; Sharma et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88: 11405, 1991; Nicolle et al., J. Clin. Invest. 93: 1361, 1994; Spack et al., CNS Drug Rev. 4: 225, 1998).
These two-chain, four-domain molecular complexes loaded with, or covalently bound to, peptide Ag have been reported to interact with T cells and modulate T cell activity in an Ag-specific manner (Matsui et al., Science 254: 1788-91, 1991; Nag et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267: 22624-29, 1992; Nag, J. Biol. Chem. 268: 14360-14366, 1993; Nag, PNAS 90: 1604-08, 1993; Nicolle et al., J. Clin. Invest. 93: 1361-1369, 1994; Spack et al., J. Autoimmun. 8: 787-807, 1995). Various models have been presented for how these complexes may be useful to modulate immune responses in the context of autoimmune disease. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,425 (Sharma et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,935 (Clark et al.) report the use of isolated MHC class I/peptide complexes conjugated to a toxin to eliminate autoreactive T-cells. Others have reported the use of MHC II/antigen complexes, in the absence of co-stimulatory factors, to induce a state of non-responsiveness in Ag-specific T cells known as "anergy" (Quill et al., J. Immunol., 138: 3704-3712 (1987). Following this observation, Sharma et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,481 and 5,130,297) and Clarke et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,422) suggested that soluble MHC II/antigen complexes can be administered therapeutically to anergize T-cell lines that specifically respond to autoantigenic peptides. Additional studies report that soluble MHC II/antigen complexes can inhibit T cell activation, induce T cell anergy, and/or alleviate T cell-mediated symptoms of autoimmune disease (Sharma et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88: 11405, 1991; Spack et al., CNS Drub Rev. 4: 225, 1998; Steward et al., J. Allerg. Clin. Immun. 2: S117, 1997). In some cases, in the absence of co-stimulation, intact MHC class II/peptide complexes have been reported to modulate T cell activity by inducing antigen-specific apoptosis rather than anergy (Nag et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271: 10413-18, 1996).
Although the concept of using isolated MHC/antigen complexes in therapeutic and diagnostic applications holds great promise, a major drawback to the various methods reported to date is that the complexes are large and consequently difficult to produce and work with. While these four domain complexes can be isolated from lymphocytes by detergent extraction, such procedures are inefficient and yield only small amounts of protein. Although cloning of genes encoding MHC complex subunits has facilitated production of large quantities of individual subunits through expression in prokaryotic cells, the assembly of individual subunits into MHC complexes having appropriate conformational structure has proven difficult. Another important feature of these previously described, MHC II/antigen complexes is that they bind not only to the TCR, but also to the CD4 molecule on the T cell surface through the β2 MHC domain (Brogdon et al., J. Immunol. 161: 5472, 1998). This additional interaction during peptide presentation and TCR engagement complicates the usefulness of prior MHC II/antigen complexes for certain diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In addition, because of their size and complex structure, prior class II MHC complexes present an inherently difficult in vitro folding challenge.
To overcome these obstacles and provide additional advantages, inventors in the current application previously developed novel, recombinant TCR ligands or "RTLs" for use in modulating T cell activity. These RTLs incorporate selected structural components of a native MHC class II protein, typically comprising MHC class II α1 and β1 domains (or portions of the α1 and β1 domains necessary to form a minimal, Ag-binding pocket/TCR interface). These RTLs may exclude all or part of the β2 domain of the MHC class II protein, typically at least the CD4-binding portion of the β2 domain. Likewise, RTLs for use within the invention may exclude the α2 domain of the MHC class II protein (see, e.g., Burrows et al., Prot Eng. 12: 771, 1999). Various RTLs having these general structural characteristics been produced in E. coli, with and without amino-terminal extensions comprising covalently bound, peptide Ag.
These kinds of RTL constructs have been demonstrated to be effective agents for alleviating symptoms of CD4+ T cell-mediated autoimmune disease in an MHC-specific, Ag-specific manner (Burrows et al., J. Immunol 167: 4386-95, 2001; Vandenbark et al., Journal of Immunology, 2003). For example, RTL constructs have been tested and shown to prevent and/or treat MBP-induced EAE in Lewis rats (Burrows et al., J. Immunol. 161: 5987, 1998; Burrows et al., J. Immunol. 164: 6366, 2000) and to inhibit activation and induce IL-10 secretion in human DR2-restricted T cell clones specific for MBP-85-95 or BCR-ABL b3a2 peptide (CABL) (Burrows et al., J. Immunol. 167: 4386, 2001; Chang et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276: 24170, 2001). Another RTL construct designed by inventors in the current application is a MOG-35-55/DR2 construct (VG312) that potently inhibits autoimmune responses and elicits immunological tolerance to encephalitogenic MOG-35-55 peptide, and alleviates or reverses clinical and histological signs of EAE (Vandenbark et al., J. Immunol. 171: 127-33, 2003). Numerous additional RTL constructs useful for modulating T cell immune responses have been developed by the current inventors, which can be effectively employed within the compositions and methods of the instant invention (see, e.g., Huan et al., J. Immunol. 172: 4556-4566, 2004).
In recently described protein engineering studies of RTLs, applicants discovered that MHC class II-derived RTL molecules can form undesirable aggregates in solution. In the case of one RTL construct derived from HLA-DR2 (DRB1*1501/DRA*0101)), the purified RTL yielded approximately 10% of the molecules in the form of stable dimers, with a remaining percentage of the molecules found in the form of higher-order structures above 300,000 Daltons (Chang et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276: 24170-76, 2001).
Although RTL aggregates retain biological activity (Burrows et al., J. Immunol 167: 4386-95, 2001; Vandenbark et al., Journal of Immunology 171: 127-133, 2003), conversion of multimeric RTLs into a monodisperse reagents in solution remains an important, unfulfilled objective to facilitate use of RTLs as human therapeutics, for example to treat multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions.
Accordingly, there remains an unmet need in the art to provide recombinant TCR ligands (RTLs) that retain the ability to bind Ag peptides and interface functionally with a TCR to modulate T cell activity in an Ag-specific manner, which have diagnostic and/or therapeutic utility, and which exhibit a reduced potential for aggregation in solution or following administration to a mammalian subject.

Monomeric recombinant MHC molecules useful for manipulation of antigen-specific T cells

The United States of America as Represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs


A musical video is made at a first time of a dancer whose head is stationary but whose feet and body are moving in synchronism with a dance song. The dancer's head is then removed from the video. At a festive occasion (e.g., a birthday party) at a subsequent time, the dance song is replayed and a video is made of the response of the head, in a stationary position, of one or more of the celebrants at the festive occasion to the dance song. The celebrant's head is combined with the dancer's body to produce two (2) videos are then combined into a single video in which the celebrant's head appears on the dancer's body.

At festive occasions such as at birthday parties, baptisms and bar mitzvahs, there is always a need, or at least a desire, to have the celebrants participate in activities which will impart a joyous atmosphere to the occasion. For example, a master of ceremonies and a dance band are often provided to enliven the celebration. However, attempts are constantly being made to enliven the activities in new ways that have not previously been tried.

Method of providing specialized dance videos


A method analyzes the hydrocarbon composition of geological strata. The method includes an analysis of gaseous hydrocarbon concentrations contained in drilling muds. According to the method, for a given depth range, gaseous hydrocarbon concentration ratios are established in pairs at essentially-identical depths. Subsequently, a sub-set of the ratios is selected in order to form a signature that is representative of the gaseous hydrocarbon composition of the depth range. The aforementioned signature is defined by the at least one straight line representing the concentration of a first gaseous hydrocarbon in relation to the concentration of a second hydrocarbon. The signature is then compared to reference signatures in order to determine the hydrocarbon concentration of the geological stratum corresponding to the depth range.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods for detecting hydrocarbons in geological strata and, more particularly, to detection methods which use the analysis of drilling muds.
2. Description of the Related Arts
A number of methods are currently used for detecting the composition of geological strata. In this manner, oil exploration uses analyses of rocks extracted by means of exploratory drilling operations, seismological analyses, et cetera.
For a number of years, studies have been carried out in order to demonstrate the advantage of analyzing the contents of hydrocarbon gases in drilling muds.
The oldest method was described by Pixler, B. O. in 1969 in "Formation Evaluation by Analysis of Hydrocarbon Ratios", (Journ. Pet. Tech., vol. 21, no 6) then supplemented by Ferrie in 1981 (Ferrie, G. H., Pixler, B. O., and Allen, S., "Wellsite Formation Evaluation by Analysis of Hydrocarbon Ratios", 83rd Ann. Meeting Ca. Soc. Min. & Met., 1981). It involves establishing the ratios between methane (C1) and different gaseous hydrocarbons, such as ethane (C2), propane (C3) and butanes (C4+). The potential features of the analyzed zone are established from these ratios. The applicant thus considers, in the earth analyses carried out up to the present time, that a C1/C2 ratio of between 15 and 65 indicates a zone which is rich in gas.
However, the method described by Pixler, and the variants thereof, do not allow a meaningful representation of a large volume of data.
Therefore, whilst still using the contents of light alkane in the drilling muds, other more complex ratios have been sought because they are more representative of the hydrocarbon contents of geological strata (Whittaker, M., Sellens, M., Analysis uses alkane ratios from chromatography, Oil & Gas Journal, May 18, 1987).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,117 belonging to K. H. Schmidt thus describes a method for analyzing the hydrocarbon contents of various wells by means of analysis of the composition of the gases of the wells.
This patent indicates that, by establishing a log-log graph of the ratio representing the ratio of two types of gaseous hydrocarbons in accordance with the gas/liquid ratio of the corresponding well, it is possible to represent the developments of this ratio between gases on a straight line. Provided with this chart, the detection of a value of a ratio between two gases extracted from a well thus allows the gas/liquid ratio of the well to be determined.
However, the unreliability of the measurements linked to the analysis system and the differences in the quality of the drilling mud leads to a level of unreliability or bias which makes the interpretation of these ratios difficult and subject to a number of errors.

Method for detecting hydrocarbons in geological strata


An image processing apparatus includes an operating unit configured to calculate a tangent-line direction of an edge and a normal-line direction of the edge by using a vertical-direction derivative value and a horizontal-direction derivative value of a pixel value of a pixel in an input image; a converting unit configured to convert local coordinates positioned within a predetermined area with respect to a target pixel in the input image into rotated coordinates, by rotating the local coordinates according to an angle formed by the horizontal direction and the tangent-line direction of the edge; and a fitting unit configured to perform, at the rotated coordinates, a fitting process that employs a least-squares method by using a curved surface model expressed with the pixel value of the target pixel in the input image.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for obtaining an ideal noise-free image surface by performing a least-squares fitting process while using a parametric curved surface. According to this technique, a method called "kernel regression" is used. With this method, it is possible to extract shapes and edges in an input image with a higher level of precision than when an ordinary linear filtering method is used.

Techniques to suppress noises in an image to precisely extract shapes and edges


The present invention provides a joining, brazing or soldering material wherein solderability is effectively improved without using a flux, and a production method thereof. In production of a joining material, a halogen compound is mixed, a film is formed on the surface of a solder molding or the surface of a solder molding is halogenated. In production of a joining material, a halogen compound is added to a solder melt, a film of a halogen compound is formed on the surface of a processed joining material, or the surface layer of the processed joining material is converted to a halogen compound layer by halogenation. Film formation or surface treatment may be carried out either a dry or wet method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brazing or soldering material and a production method thereof More particularly the present invention relates to a brazing or soldering material suitable for use in bonding a lead frame or the like, and a production method thereof
2. Description of the Related Art
A brazing material is used for bonding base materials by heat-melting a metal or an alloy having a melting point lower than that of the base materials to fill the gap between the base materials with the brazing material. Particularly, the brazing material permits bonding of complicated fine parts and bonding of different metals, has little influence on base materials, and is thus widely used for electronic apparatus. Of such brazing or soldering materials, solder frequently contains tin and lead as main components, and is frequently used for bonding a lead frame of an electronic apparatus which is required to have electrical conductivity. For solder, generally, consideration is mainly given to electrical conductivity rather than strength, and particularly solder is required to have high solderability for base materials.
In soldering, solderability is significantly affected by an oxide film on the surface of a base material. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 5-304235 discloses that solderability deteriorates due to an NiO.sub.2 film on the surface of a nickel-plated lead frame, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-164136 discloses deterioration in solderability due to an oxide film during brazing of aluminum, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2527278 discloses that solderability deteriorates due to tin oxide on the surface of a material to be soldered. In these publications, as improving means, the bonded surfaces of base materials, i.e., materials to be bonded, are modified.
However, surface treatment of the base materials is performed for a lead frame or the like which has already been incorporated into a circuit board, and thus circuits and a package thereof must be subjected to modification treatment. There is thus the drawback that in treatment under the condition of high temperature, for example, in plasma processing or the like, various equipment loads such as a measure for preventing damage to a circuit element, etc. are significantly increased.
In addition, although a flux is used for removing an oxide film from a base material, even when a non-corrosion type flux is used for bonding a lead of an electronic apparatus, a problem occurs in which peripheral device materials area are contaminated by coating the flux.
Further, since a flux must be coated before the soldering step, the process is limited.
Although, in some examples, a hydrogen-containing flux is used for soldering, it is necessary to wash out the residual flux after soldering. In some cases, the residual flux is not washed out after soldering. However, in such cases, a flux containing a small amount of halogen is used to sacrifice the solderability, or a flux containing a large amount of halogen is used for maintaining solderability, thereby causing the probability of generating migration due to the halogen component in the residual flux.

Brazing or soldering material and production method thereof


A firearm holster device may be positioned between adjacent surfaces within a bed. The firearm holster device may include a first arm having a first major surface, and a second major surface opposing the first major surface. The first major surface may include protrusions extending transversely outward. The firearm holster device may include a second arm defining an opening pattern, a hinge coupled between the first arm and the second arm, and a holster received by the opening pattern and to receive a firearm. The first arm may be positioned between adjacent surfaces of the bed.

Firearms have been relevant to American culture since the American Revolution. Indeed, the right to bear firearms was included within the Bill of Rights during the formation of our current Constitution. Over the last two centuries, the firearms industry has developed into several silos or specialties: law enforcement and military, sportsman and recreational, and self-defense. Each of these specialties has also developed a large and robust associated firearm accessory industry. Firearm accessories include a large number of accessory types, including holsters, optics, cleaning tools, magazines, and firearms safes, for example.
The firearm holster is typically designed to offer protection to the handgun, secure its retention, and provide ready access to it. Indeed, the firearm holster is one of the more traditional accessories and dates back several centuries. The modern firearm holster industry is quite large and robust. In fact, there are many varying types of holster types, and each holster type has hundreds of available commercial options. For example, firearm holster types may include open-carry holsters, concealed-carry holsters, motor vehicle holsters, and under desk holsters, etc.

Firearm holster device positioned between adjacent surfaces and related methods


An annular core plate for a multiplate clutch assembly includes a main annular portion and an engagement annular portion extending from the main annular portion. The engagement annular portion has teeth extending therefrom. The teeth are thicker than the main annular portion. A multiplate clutch assembly is provided that includes at least one annular core plate or friction plate and at least one annular separator plate. A method of constructing at least one plate for a multiplate clutch assembly is also provided. The method includes forming an annular separator plate from sheet metal by removing a circular section from a separator plate main body portion of the sheet metal, removing a portion of the circular section to form teeth in the circular section, and attaching the circular section to an annular plate.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A typical motor vehicle automatic transmission includes gear elements and multiplate clutches that are selectably engageable to establish one of several forward speed ratios between the transmission input and output shafts. The input shaft is coupled to the vehicle engine through a fluid coupling such as a torque converter, and the output shaft is coupled to the vehicle drive wheels through a differential gear set.
A multiplate clutch generally includes a set of friction plates, a set of separator (or reaction) plates, and a hub, all of which are housed in a clutch case. Spline grooves in the clutch case engage with splines along the outer periphery of either the separator plates or the friction plates. Another set of spline grooves in the hub engage with splines around the inner surfaces of either the friction plates or the separator plates, i.e., whichever of the plates are not splined to the case are splined to the hub. The separator plates and the friction plates are arranged alternately so that they can be engaged or disengaged with each other.
In general the contact area between each spline and respective spline groove results in high contact stresses. It may be desirable, however, to utilize relatively thin core plates bearing friction material to contact the separator plates, which increases the contact stresses between the splines and spline grooves. Larger core plates may increase the overall size of the transmission. In additions, costs are a constant concern.


An apparatus configured to detect a substance, and method of operating and forming the same. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a tunable resonator including an upper Bragg reflector and a lower Bragg reflector separated by a porous matrix. The tunable resonator is configured to be illuminated by a light source and produce a first spectral optical response from a substance absorbed within the porous matrix. The apparatus also includes a detector positioned proximate the tunable resonator configured to provide a first absorption signal representing the first spectral optical response.

When large numbers of people congregate at entertainment events or public transportation facilities, detecting exposure to possibly hazardous or otherwise unknown substances presents important real-time security and safety challenges. Infected patients in healthcare facilities present similar challenges of identifying possibly hazardous or contagious substances. A monitor that can detect and identify an unknown, possibly hazardous or contagious, substance would be beneficial, especially in the aforementioned environments.
Conventional monitors require labeling a reagent for each chemical of interest, for instance, via fluorescence. The conventional monitors are generally based on gas chromatography, ion mobility spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, which are bulky and power hungry instruments. An alternative, label-free approach includes analyzing a unique absorption spectrum of each substance of interest in a mid-infrared region. The mid-infrared spectroscopy enables simultaneous identification and quantification of a plurality of substances, even in the presence of interferences. At present, however, the mid-infrared spectroscopy requires bench-top optical instruments (e.g., Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), which are substantial in size and unsuitable for wearable monitors.
Current designs generally lead to monitors with high power demand that are not wearable and/or mobile for in-situ substance (e.g., chemical and gas) detection. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an improved monitor that can detect hazardous substances in real time that overcomes deficiencies of the prior art.

Apparatus for detecting a substance and method of operating the same


Device for the treatment of arthritis and arthrosis of the extremities generally shaped as a case, in the form of a glove or a sock, which comprises: an inner layer made of a porous material (14); a second layer in the form of a paraffin-filled bladder (1) that covers the entire inner space; surrounding said inner paraffin layer (1), the following are placed: a Polytetrafluoroethylene splint (2) equipped with means designed to straighten the fingers or toes (wires made of nitinol or a similar material); a very thin layer made of latex or an insulating material (4); and, finally, an outer cover (6); it may further be equipped with wires or coils (5) around each finger or parallel to the palm or the back of the hand. Moreover, it is equipped with a control unit (12) for turning on and for controlling the temperatures and currents to be applied.

Arthrosis is a degenerative disease caused by the deterioration of the articular cartilages, which are those parts that cover the ends of the bones and, bound to one another, form the joints, the components of the skeleton that make movement possible.
Articular cartilages are essential for a good functioning of the joints, since they are the cushioning and sliding surfaces between the ends of the bones that compose all joints.
During the development of the disease, the erosion of an articular cartilage may alter the articular cartilage of the bone opposite the joint, resulting in the beginning of the wearing process.
As a consequence, at some point the cartilages may disappear and pain will appear. As the cartilage progressively disappears, the bone reacts and grows on the sides (osteophytes), thereby causing deformation of the joint.
On the other hand, arthritis is inflammation of the joints and causes pain and stiffness; it affects a large number of people, particularly as they get older.
There is a variety of treatments for arthrosis and arthritis, including customised, adapted exercise plans and pharmacological treatments.
There are other treatments, such as paraffin baths, a superficial thermotherapy method for the treatment of arthrosis and arthritis, amongst other conditions.
The therapeutic agent in paraffin baths is heat; for this reason, in order to prepare them, it is necessary for the substance to reach a temperature ranging between 50 and 54 degrees Celsius. The calorific value of paraffin baths is six times greater than that of water and the analgesia obtained is greater and longer-lasting.
The first step is to introduce the hand into a paraffin container at the aforementioned temperature for a few seconds, between 6 and 12 times, and then remove the hand from the bath and wait between 15 and 20 minutes, until the paraffin cools down and forms a solid layer. A mitt may be used at this stage.
Paraffin wax has a low melting point, low enough such that it may be applied to the skin without the risk of burning. The heat sensation of the melted wax relieves the pain caused by arthritis, by loosening the muscles, increasing the blood flow and relaxing the hands. Moreover, essential oils may be added, which help to relieve the pain and promote relaxation.
Other techniques used in the treatment of arthrosis and arthritis include cold and heat therapy and electrotherapy.
Cold therapy is only indicated when there is a phase of acute inflammation of the joint, whereas the application of heat is intended to relieve the pain, the joint stiffness and the muscle contractions caused by arthrosis.
Electrotherapy involves the application of electric, magnetic or combined fields with a given frequency and intensity, such that they activate the damaged area. One electrotherapy technique is shortwave therapy, which is designed to achieve an increase in temperature, in order to cause an increase in circulation and fluidification, which, in turn, results in increased tissue regenerative capacity; moreover, the tissues can move more easily due to the increased elasticity and fluidity.
Another technique used for articular health improvement in the case of arthrosis and arthritis involves using stack splints, the purpose whereof is to immobilise the distal interphalangeal joint by keeping it extended or hyperextended, whilst allowing for movement of the proximal interphalangeal joint, thereby preventing potential adverse effects on the rest of the joints.
It is also known in the state of the art the patent CN 201210876Y which discloses an electrothermal olefin chilblain preventing and treating glove, which comprises a glove body and a heating control device. The electrothermal olefin chilblain preventing glove is characterized in that the inside of the glove body is provided with a sealed interlayer; the inside of the sealed interlayer is provided with an olefin layer; the inside of the olefin layer is provided with one or more than one heating block.
All of the aforementioned techniques must be applied separately and in multiple sessions; moreover, they are applied by professionals using costly, complex machinery; for these reasons, the treatment of said conditions is costly in terms of time, money and dedication on the part of the patients.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to develop a device that makes it possible to simultaneously apply the aforementioned techniques, in any combination, in a simple, effective manner, without the need to visit a specialised centre to receive said treatment, by developing a device such as the one described below, which is essentially explained in the first claim.

Device for treating arthritis and osteoarthritis in extremities and chronic inflammations and for reducing muscular pain and tension


An internal combustion engine in a motor vehicle, for example, is equipped with a combustion chamber, into which fuel may be injected in a rich mode of operation and in a lean mode of operation, and is also equipped with a catalyst, in which nitrogen oxides may be stored. A control unit is provided for switching between rich and lean modes of operation, for determining a quality function for storage of nitrogen oxides in the catalyst, and for switching between these modes of operation as a function of the quality function.

The present invention relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, for example, in which fuel is injected into a combustion chamber in a rich mode of operation and a lean mode of operation, switching between the rich and lean modes of operation, and nitrogen oxides are stored in a catalyst. The present invention also relates to a corresponding internal combustion engine and a control unit for an internal combustion engine.
An internal combustion engine and a control unit may be used to direct gasoline injection, for example, fuel may be injected into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine during the intake phase in a rich mode of operation, e.g., in homogeneous operation or during the compression phase in a lean mode, e.g., in stratified charge operation. Homogeneous operation may be provided for full-load operation of the internal combustion engine, while stratified charge operation may be suitable for idling and partial load operation. With an internal combustion engine having direct injection, the two modes of operation described above may be switched between, e.g., as a function of a desired setpoint mode of operation.
NOx components, i.e., nitrogen oxides, may be present in the exhaust gas in lean stratified charge operation, for example, and may not be aftertreated by a three-way catalyst. For this purpose, a storage catalyst may be provided that stores the nitrogen oxides, converts the oxides in a subsequent rich operating mode of the internal combustion engine, and then releases them again. Since the storage capacity of the storage catalyst is limited, it should be loaded and unloaded constantly. This may be controlled and/or regulated using a lambda sensor upstream from the catalyst, for example, by modeling the storage capacity of the storage catalyst.
Due to aging of the internal combustion engine, changes may occur in the modeling, and thus there may be errors. These errors may cause a permanently defective control and/or regulation of the loading and unloading of the storage catalyst.
An object of an exemplary embodiment and/or exemplary method according to the present invention is to provide a method for operating an internal combustion engine, with which the loading and unloading of the storage catalyst is controlled and/or regulated correctly, even over a long period of time.
An exemplary method according to the present invention may achieve this object by determining a quality function for the storage of nitrogen oxides in the catalyst, the switching between the operating modes being influenced as a function of the quality function. This object may be achieved using an internal combustion engine and a control unit.
The quality function may have a declining characteristic, due to aging or poisoning of the catalyst. If this declining characteristic changes, whether a change has occurred in the internal combustion engine may be deduced, e.g., due to aging. If this occurs, the model for switching between the operating modes of the internal combustion engine may be adapted, so that the quality function develops into a declining characteristic again.
Aging phenomena of an internal combustion engine may be detected on the basis of the quality function and may be considered by the control unit accordingly.
In an exemplary embodiment and/or exemplary method according to the present invention, the quality function is determined as a function of the period of time, after which a rich mode of operation breaks through the catalyst. Breakthrough of the rich mode of operation may be detected using a lambda sensor situated downstream from the catalyst, for example. The breakthrough indicates that the catalyst has released all the NOx stored components and that reducing agents, in the form of xe2x80x9crichxe2x80x9d exhaust gas, have reached the downstream lambda sensor. The period of time described above is a measure of the storage capacity of the catalyst. Over time, the duration of the period of time becomes progressively shorter, representing the aging and/or poisoning of the catalyst.
In another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, the quality function is determined as a function of a plurality of successive periods of time. The change in the quality function over time is thus considered.
In another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, a change in a slope of the quality function curve is determined. A change in the internal combustion engine, due to aging, may be deduced, for example, on the basis of the change in slope of the quality function curve.
It is believed to be advantageous if the-switching between modes of operation is adapted. The loading and/or unloading times for the storage of nitrogen oxides in the catalyst may be adapted.
In an exemplary method according to the present invention, which may be performed by a control element of a control unit of an internal combustion engine, for example, in a motor vehicle, and a program, which runs on a computer, for example, on a microprocessor, and which is suitable for executing an exemplary method according to the present invention, is stored on the control element. Thus, the exemplary method according to the present invention is implemented by a program stored on the control element, so that the control element, provided with the program, performs, in the same way, as an exemplary method according to the present invention. An electric storage medium, such as, for example, a read-only memory or a flash memory, may be provided as the control element.

Method for operating an internal combustion engine


In an oscillation circuit consisting of an amplification circuit portion composed of transistors of input/output circuit basic cells of a gate array disposed on a semiconductor pellet and an oscillator disposed outside the semiconductor pellet, the amplification circuit portion consists of transistors for an output circuit of the input/output buffer circuit basic cells. The dielectric breakdown characteristics of the amplification circuit portion of the oscillation circuit can be improved because the structure of the transistor for the output circuit is more highly resistant to dielectric breakdown than the structure of the transistor for the input circuit.

This invention relates generally to a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and more particularly to a technique which will be useful when applied to a semiconductor integrated circuit device formed by a master slide approach such as a gate array.
The gate array is described, for example, in "Nikkei Microdevices", published by Nikkei McGraw-Hill Co., September issue, 1986, pp. 65-80. This reference explains CMOS (Complementary MOS) gate arrays having higher functions.
The gate array approach can form various many logic functions and memory functions by changing a wiring pattern to be applied to a master wafer. This change of the wiring pattern or the change of a circuit specification is decided in accordance with user's requirements.
An oscillation circuit used as a reference clock generation circuit of a microcomputer interface portion, for example, consists of basic cells for two adjacent input/output buffer circuits (I/O cells) and a crystal oscillator connected to each of bonding pads (hereinafter referred to as the "pad or pads") corresponding to the I/O cells.
A typical structure of this oscillation circuit is shown in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings. In this case, an inverter circuit 25 for oscillation as an amplification circuit portion of the oscillation circuit is composed of transistors having the same structure as those of an internal cell array region, that is, the transistors of an input circuit device region 26 for which any measures for electrostatic discharge damage are not made on the ground that a sufficient amplification effect can be obtained even though the transistors are small in size.
Recently, the amplification circuit described above is composed of a CMOS circuit because its power consumption is small.


Matching of an input document to documents in a document collection is described herein. In an example, a similarity correspondence between an input document and one or more documents in a base document collection is established. A set of base document segments and a set of message types associated to document segments in the set of base document segments is provided. The set of base document segments is derived from documents in the base document collection. The input document is segmented into input document segments corresponding to message types. Segment similarity between input document segments and base document segments corresponding to the same message types is computed. The similarity correspondence between the input document and at least one document in the base document collection is based on the computed segment similarity.

Documents are generated at a far greater rate today than ever before. The proliferation of documents is due primarily to increased access to information technology and is unlikely to cease.
This proliferation of documents may become a large burden on the average consumer of information. One of the main challenges is access to needed information. Therefore, significant efforts are being made in the field of information retrieval and information extraction.
The goal of information retrieval is to permit document databases to be searched. Information extraction focuses on identifying predetermined types of information as new documents are entered into a document collection. An application of information retrieval and extraction is matching of documents. For example, a new entry by a forum user can be matched to existing entries that may contain relevant information for the forum user.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A drive train (1) of a hybrid vehicle having one internal combustion engine and one transmission (3), between the internal combustion engine and the transmission (3), at least one electric machine (7) with one stator (8) and one rotor (9) is situated wherein the rotor (9) can be connected by at least one friction clutch with a crankshaft (4) of the internal combustion engine and/or with an input shaft (16) of the transmission (3) and/or with a third shaft in which the rotor (9) is firmly connected with a rotor carrier (24) which supports component parts of the clutch on its radial inner side. The drive train is to be developed so that at least one wet-running clutch, actuatable by pressure medium, is situated so that it is very compactly designed and allows an active cooling of both the clutch discs and of the rotor carrier. The rotor carrier (24) is connected on its radial inner side with at least one part or designed integral therewith by way of the rotor carrier (24) directly and rotatably is supported upon at least one component of the drive train (1).

Drive trains for so-called hybrid vehicles have been known for a long time. Those vehicles have an internal combustion engine and at least one electric machine which, depending on the situation, can be used alternatively to each other or jointly for producing propulsion power for the vehicle to start the internal combustion engine and/or to generate electric energy for the main power system. As known already, the electric energy can be produced both in the operation of the internal combustion engine and also in the recuperation, that is, while driving the electric machine, by the wheels of a power-off rolling vehicle.
DE 102 46 839 A1 thus discloses a power train of a hybrid vehicle that forms the preamble having one internal combustion engine and one transmission which are situated between one torsional vibration damper, two electric machines and one clutch. The electric machine closest to the transmission especially has one stator fixed to the housing and one rotor, the latter being connected with a rotor carrier. The rotor carrier has one hub section non-rotatably connected with a two-part transmission input shaft. Radially within the rotor carrier is situated one dry clutch actuatable via a release linkage by way of a release device. The rotor carrier has a radially inwardly pointing support for two discs of the dry clutch. Besides, an inner toothing is formed on the radial inner side of the rotor carrier in which engages an outer toothing of an intermediate pressure plate axially situated between the clutch discs.
This in itself is an advantageous construction principle of a clutch located radially within a rotor carrier of an electric machine in which component parts of the clutch are placed on the radial inner side of the rotor carrier is to be developed, according to the problem basis of the invention, for lodging two wet-running clutches actuatable by pressure medium in a manner such that it is altogether very compact allowing an active cooling of both the clutch discs and the rotor carrier.


An implantable active substance depot material which contains a glass ionomer cement and one or more chemotherapeutic agents. The active substance depot materials ensure an initially high release rate of the active substance therein and subsequently a discharge of the active substance in small doses until complete depletion of the deposited active substance has occurred.

With increasing frequency, systemic therapies are being replaced by local ones, since in this way high levels of active substances can be attained in regions of the body which are difficult to reach, without the necessity of applying or administering high, often toxic, chemotherapeutic doses over the whole body.
DE-C-20 22 117, 25 11 122 and 27 27 535 describe bone cements based on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) which contain an antibiotic such as gentamycin. Additionally, other antibiotic-containing bone cements based on PMMA are known. Thus, for example, EP-A-O 301 759 describes PMMA bone cements which contain erythromycin and DE-A-35 42 972 and 35 43 164 describe PMMA bone cements which contain so-called gyrase inhibitors. It is also known to use implants based on the aforementioned PMMA bone cements in a pre-finished form for local antibiotic therapy, reference being drawn, for example, to DE-C-26 51 441 and 27 27 535.
The release of gyrase inhibitors from ceramic carrier materials such as tricalcium phosphate is also described, for example, in DE-A-35 42 972.
Furthermore, it is known to add cytostatics, for example methotrexate, to "bone cements" based on PMMA (see e.g., H. Wahlig, E. Dingeldein in "Primar- und Revisionsalloarthroplastik", published by Endo-Klinik, Hamburg, Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1987, page 357).
Since the early 70's glass ionomer cements have been used in dental medicine as filling materials and also for securing crowns and bridges (e.g., DE-A-20 61 513). In such processes the materials harden by reaction of the basic glass powder with a polymeric polyacids which is accompanied by the formation of a highly polar calcium-aluminum polysalt matrix. The use of glass ionomer cements in bone cement is likewise knowns (see e.g., L. M. Jonck, C. J. Grobbelaar, H. Strating, Clin. Mat. 4. 85 (1989)). Finally, it is known to use glass ionomer cements in a porous form as bone replacement materials (see e.g., DE-A-38 06 448).
The use of PMMA bone cements as active substance depots produces various disadvantages. For example, the materials still contain even in their hardened forms, perceptible amounts of health-damaging monomers, particularly methyl methacrylate, as well as unreacted peroxides and other radical formers. Moreover, when unhardened material is inserted for cementing purposes, a setting temperature of up to 80.degree. C. is reached during setting, which can destroy adjacent body tissue. Furthermore, the release of active substance from such bone cements (and the implants produced therefrom) is satisfactory in only a very few selected cases. For example, it is desirable to have depots provide an initially high release, followed by a subsequent continuous release of smaller doses within 2 to 30 days; in ideal situations, after this period, no more active substance should be discharged. With active substance depots based on PMMA, this could hitherto not be satisfactorily achieved.

Implantable active substance depot material


An apparatus for servicing the axles of heavy vehicles, providing aligned removal and reassembly of the wheel assembly for access to the brakes, wheel bearings and oils seals, to facilitate inspection and to ensure proper repair, characterized by a spindle coupling and a coaxially extending rail and carriage transport with wheel mounting adapters for alignment of the wheel assembly with the vehicle axle.

This invention relates especially to commercial vehicles, and particularly to dual wheel brake maintenance on heavy trucks and traitors or the like. Brakes are a major maintenance problem in the operation of trucks and traitors. Unfortunately, due to weight, awkwardness and size of a set of dual truck wheels, brake maintenance is a strenuous and most difficult safety task one must perform. That is, the truck owner and/or operator must maintain safe brakes. To work upon the brake mechanism for example, one must remove the brake drum in order to gain access to the brake mechanism, there being two basic types of brake-to-hub arrangements; inboard and outboard. Also, the brake drum can be replaced by a brake disc. However, state of the art is for the most part of the drum brake type. And, the brake mechanism and wheels whether single or dual are applied to either drive or non-drive axles. For example, brake and wheel assemblies are applied to tractors as well as to trailers, and to steering axles as well. It is to be understood that it is the brake mechanism and the wheel assembly of whatever type to which this invention is directed, and attachment thereof by means of an axle or spindle or the equivalent.
The most common and older brake-wheel assembly is the inboard hub type wherein the brake drum mounts onto the inside of the hub, in which case the hub must be removed in order to gain access to the brake mechanism. The other most common and newer brake-wheel assembly is the outboard hub type wherein the brake drum mounts onto the outside of the hub, in which case the wheel with the brake drum must be removed in order to gain access to the brake mechansim, leaving the wheel hub in place on the axle or spindle. It is a general object of this invention to provide apparatus for access to brake mechanisms of each and all of the aforementioned types of brake-wheel assemblies.
Many if not most independent truck owners do their own brake maintenance. Optimum conditions for brake access and repair is thought to require a flat hard and smooth surface such as a concrete slab or horizontal floor upon which to park the truck axle to be inspected and/or repaired. However, inspection and/or repair must often be done on-site or on the road and away from the convenience of a suitable facility. Therefore, is is an object of this imnvention to provide an apparatus that is self sufficient and not reliant upon a specialized facility.
When doing repair work on inboard type wheel hubs, a prior art tool, if done on a concrete slab or steel plate, is a Wheel Dolly. The Wheel Dolly has a frame with a set of arms adjustable to cradle and support a wheel or set of duals. The Dolly has a set of three or four caster type wheels to roll upon a flat preferably horizontal surface for parallel placement of the dual wheel axis in alignment with the truck axle, for replaceable removal of the duals and exposure of the brake drum and internal brake mechanism. The caster type wheels require a smooth hard surface to roll upon , so as to retain parallelism and alignment of the duals and wheel hub with the axle. A problem arises when the concrete slab and/or steel plate is not parallel with the axle, wheel bearing and oil seal. Inclination of the truck axle is inherent when lifted at one side by a jack, and the angular displacement when lifted is difficult to compensate for and adversely affects reassembly due to inherent misalignment. Furthermore, lateral alignment cannot be assured, and this is the primary cause of bearing, oil seal and thread damage during re-assembly. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to attach a brake mechanism access apparatus directly to the truck or trailer axle to coaxially cantilever therefrom.
An alternate method of removal of a set of duals, without the use of the aforesaid Wheel Dolly, is to park the duals upon a smooth hard surface such as a concrete slab or sheet of steel. A jack is placed under the truck axle in order to raise the duals high enough to smear a layer of heavy oil or grease beneath the tires. The jack is then lowered so as to permit the tires to carry the weight of the duals, and with the brake adjustment backed off and the outer wheel bearing removed, the dual wheel assembly is slid on said oil or grease and off the axle or spindle. This method is resorted to at a place of breakdown and is often performed by road-side service. However, this alternate method is messy and inadvisable, since oil or grease and brake lining do not mix. Furthermore, alignment of the oil seal and wheel bearing with the axle or spindle is not ensured and in fact unlikely to be attained. In practice, horizontal and vertical alignment is visual through the center of the hub while pushing the duals back onto the axle or spindle. Also, the axis of the hub assembly is often eccentric with respect to the axle or spindle due to likely rotation of the dual wheel assembly of either or both tires, and because one tire is often smaller than the other. Tire wear, cupped treads and tire air pressure also affects alignment. And, missalignment is the primary cause of damage to the seal, wheel bearings and axle or spindle threads during re-assembly.
On newer trucks fitted with outboard hubs, the hub does not have to be removed in order to gain access to the brake drum and internal brake mechanism. However, this improvement over inboard hubs is still awkward and the wheel bearings and oil seal are not exposed to be inspected and/or repaired, unless the wheel hub is removed. The proceedure for gaining access to the wheel bearings and oil seal is solved with the present invention by raising the dual wheels off the ground, removing the wheel or dual wheels, and then by removing the inner lug nuts. With the truck brake slack adjuster backed off the brake drum can then be removed to expose the hub and removal of the wheel bearing lock-nut assembly, followed by removal of the outer wheel bearing then the hub and inner wheel bearing, thereby exposing the oil seal for inspection and/or repair (replacment),it being an object of this invention to provide access to both the outer and inner wheel bearings and particularly to the innermost oil seal. With the present invention, access to all parts of the hub, wheel bearings and brake assembly is attained, regardless of the type of commonly employed truck axles.
It is an object of this invention to temporarily remove a wheel or dual wheels laterally from an axle or spindle and to support the same in coaxial alignment therewith, preparatory to re-assembly. In carrying out this invention, the truck axle or spindle is extended by a rail member coaxially affixed thereto and upon which a carriage is releasably adapted to the wheel or dual wheels of the truck. In practice, there is an adapter affixed to the carriage and releasably secured to the wheel studs, for removal of the wheel and brake drum, so as to expose the internal brake mechanism and its shoes. Thimble lug nuts are used for extension of the studs to attain this attachment, whereby the carriage is enabled to transport the wheel and drum assembly out of and again into aligned position, and at all times in coaxial relationship with the axle or spindle.
It is another object of this invention to prevent rotation of the wheel or dual wheels when affixed to the carriage, and to this end the carriage is prevented from rotating upon the aforementioned extension rail upon which it travels laterally to and from the terminal end of the truck axle or spindle. In practice, the extension rail is polygonal, preferably rectangular in cross section, and over which the carriage travels upon supporting rollers and/or guides or the like.
The cantilevered rail is coaxially centered with respect to the axis of the truck axle or spindle and in practice is temporarily secured by threaded engagement to the existant end portion of said axle or spindle, replacing the normal lock nut assembly that retains the outer bearing. When lateral extension of the rail is brief, the rail can be totally cantilevered without additional support, for example when the wheel and drum assembly is removed at close range, and the carriage used for short travel and alignment only . However, when lateral transport is extreme (as shown in the drawings) for working access to the brakes and bearings and seal, then it is an object of this invention to stabilize the extension rail by providing a remote support which is vertically adjustable.
It is also an object of this invention to enable unobstructed access to the seals and bearings of the axle assembly, and to this end the aforesaid extension rail is removable from and replaceable upon the adapter that is left temporarily threaded onto the axle spindle. Accordingly, when the wheel or duals are removed onto the outer extending portion of the supporting rail, the inner end of the rail can be lifted out of its supported engagement on the adapter so as to be shifted away from the axle assembly, thereby to clear the area for inspection and/or work upon the seals and bearings.

Wheel removal and reassembly apparatus for brake access on heavy vehicles


A method of specifying clock domains in electronic circuit designs in a system level design tool is disclosed. The method generally comprises steps of providing a design having a plurality of functional blocks; incorporating a clock tag block within the design; and setting a clock domain provided by the clock tag block for a functional block of the plurality of functional blocks. A design tool enabling the association of clock domains with functional blocks in a system is also disclosed. The design tool generally comprises a plurality of functional blocks; a clock tag block having a predetermined clock rate; and a user interface enabling the selection of the functional blocks and the clock tag block in a design. The clock tag block provides a clock rate for at least one functional block of the plurality of functional blocks.

Many tools allow electronic designs to be assembled, simulated, debugged, and translated into hardware. In particular this can be done in the environments known as high level modeling systems (HLMS). In a HLMS the high level design (i.e., the design as the user sees it) can be quite different from what is implemented in hardware. In particular, clocks often are only implicit in a high level design, but must be explicit in hardware. Users need to control how implicit high level clocks are translated into explicit hardware clocks.
A high level design can be thought of as a collection of blocks that communicate with one another through signals. Signals are discrete time varying sequences of values. Some signals change rapidly, while others change less often.
In hardware, blocks become processing elements such as counters, registers, logic gates, etc., and signals become electrical impulses that travel between processing elements. In a synchronous electronic design, rates and offsets of signals are governed by clocks. The obvious way to implement a design having, for example, three signal rates is to use three separate hardware clocks. Another approach is to use a single clock together with three clock enables varying at appropriate rates.
These approaches can be mixed. For example, two of the three rates might be realized with a single clock but different enables, while the third might be realized with a second clock. A clock domain is the portion of a hardware design that is controlled by a single clock (but possibly different enables). Thus, a three rate design that has one clock but three enables has a single domain. If, instead, the design is implemented with the mixed approach described above, there are two domains.
The choice of domains is a detail of implementation. It is irrelevant in the high level view but essential when trying to minimize cost and maximize speed of hardware. For example, suppose a three rate design is to be realized in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that is able to support at most two clock domains. The design can be implemented in the device, but only by using one or two domains. If using two domains is faster and requires no extra hardware, the user is likely to request two. Further cost and speed improvements may be possible by dictating which of the rates should be realized in the same domain. The problem, therefore, is to enable a user to have a high level and abstract view of a design, but nevertheless be able to specify how clock domains should be used in hardware.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of and apparatus for specifying clock domains in a system level design tool.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of and apparatus for verifying the correctness of a clock domain specification.

Method of and apparatus for specifying clock domains in electronic circuit designs


The invention concerns a method for continuously casting an austenitic stainless steel strip with a thickness not more than 10 mm, directly from liquid metal, between two cooled horizontal rolls, characterised in that: said steel composition in weight proportions comprises: %Cxe2x89xa60.08%; %Sixe2x89xa61; %Pxe2x89xa60.04; %Mnxe2x89xa62; %Cr between 17 and 20; %Ni between 8 and 10.5; %S between 0.007 and 0.040; the rest being iron and the impurities resulting from preparation; the ratio Creq/Nieq ranges between 1.55 and 1.90 with: Creq(%)=%Cr+1.37 %Mo+1.5 %Si+2%Nb+3 %Ti; Nieq(%)=%Ni+0.31 %Mn+22 %C+14.2 %N+Cu; the surface of the rolls comprises contiguous dimples with more or less circular or elliptical cross-section, of diameter between 100 and 1500 xcexcm and depth between 20 and 150 xcexcm; the inerting gas surrounding the meniscus is a gas soluble in steel or a mixture of such gases, or consists of at least 50% by volume of such a gas or mixture of gases.

The invention relates to the continuous casting of metals, and more specifically to the continuous casting, directly from liquid metal, of austenitic-type stainless steel strip whose thickness is of the order of a few mm, using the process called xe2x80x9ctwin-roll castingxe2x80x9d.
In recent years considerable progress has been made in the development of processes for casting thin carbon steel or stainless steel strip directly from liquid metal. The process mainly used at the present time is that of casting said liquid metal between two internally cooled rolls, rotating about their horizontal axes in opposite directions and placed opposite one another, the minimum distance between their surfaces being approximately equal to the thickness that it is desired to give the cast strip (for example, a few mm). The casting space containing the liquid steel is defined by the lateral surfaces of the rolls, on which the strip starts to solidify, and by lateral closure plates made of refractory which are applied against the ends of the rolls. The liquid metal starts to solidify on contact with the external surfaces of the rolls, on which it forms solidified xe2x80x9cshellsxe2x80x9d, arrangements being made for the shells to join together in the xe2x80x9cnipxe2x80x9d, that is to say the region where the distance between the rolls is a minimum.
One of the main problems encountered when manufacturing thin stainless steel strip by twin-roll casting is that there is a high risk of surface defects called microcracks appearing on the strip. These cracks are small, but they are nevertheless sufficient to make the resulting cold-converted products unsuitable for use. The microcracks form during solidification of the steel and have a depth of about 40 xcexcm and an opening of approximately 20 xcexcm. Their appearance depends on the contractions of the metal, during solidification of the shells on contact with the rolls over the length of their contact arc. This solidification may be described as having two successive steps. The first step takes place during the initial contact between the liquid steel and the surface of the roll, which results in the formation of a solid steel shell at the surface of the rolls. The second step relates to the growth of this shell as far as the nip, where, as mentioned, it joins the shell formed on the other roll in order to constitute the fully solidified strip. The contact between the steel and the surface of the roll is determined by the topography of the surface of the casting rolls, together with the nature of the inert gas surrounding the casting space and the chemical composition of the steel. All these parameters are involved in establishing the heat transfer between the steel and the roll and govern the conditions under which the shells solidify. As the shells solidify and cool, they undergo contractions. These depend especially on the extent of the xcex4xe2x86x92xcex3 phase transformation, which takes place with a substantial change in the density of the metal, at the microscopic level. It is determined by the composition of the cast metal. These contractions will also modify the shell solidification and cooling conditions.
The Creq/Nieq ratio is conventionally considered as being representative of the solidification path of austenitic stainless steels. It is calculated, using the Hammar and Swensson relationship, by means of the formulae (the percentages are weight percentages):
Creq(%)=Cr%+1.37Mo%+1.5Si%+2Nb%+3Ti%
Nieq(%)=Ni%+0.31Mn%+22C%+14.2N%+Cu%.
Various attempts have been made to develop twin-roll casting processes for obtaining, reliably, strip free of unacceptable surface defects such as microcracks.
With regard to austenitic stainless steels, mention may be made of the document EP-A-0 409 645. This combines a defined geometry of xe2x80x9cdimplesxe2x80x9d (etched valleys of roughly circular or elliptical shape) present on the surface of the rolls with the use as inert gas of a gas mixture containing 30 to 90% of a gas soluble in the steel, which coats the dimples at the moment of the first roll/liquid steel contact. The document EP-A-0 481 481 combines a chemical composition, in which the xcex4-Feca1 index defined by xcex4-Feca1=3 (Cr %+1.5Si %+Mo %)xe2x88x922.8 (Ni %+0.5Mn %+0.5Cu %)xe2x88x9284 (C %+N %)xe2x88x9219.8 is between 5 and 9%, with a dimple geometry on the rolls, so as to encourage solidification as primary ferrite xcex4xe2x86x92xcex4+xcex3. The dimples may conventionally be produced by shot blasting or laser machining. In both the above documents, there is a requirement for these dimples to be separated from one another.
The document EP-A-0 679 114 proposes the use of circumferential grooves made on the surface of the rolls, which give said surface a roughness Ra of 2.5 to 15 xcexcm. It is combined with a chemical composition of the steel allowing solidification as primary austenite, characterized by a Creq/Nieq ratio of less than 1.60. However, solidification as primary austenite increases the hot cracking sensitivity of stainless steels and the risks of forming longitudinal cracks in the strip.
The document EP-A-0 796 685 teaches the casting of a steel whose Creq/Nieq ratio is greater than 1.55 so as to minimize the phase changes at high temperature and to carry out this casting by using rolls whose surface includes touching dimples 100-1500 xcexcm in diameter and 20-150 xcexcm in depth and by inerting the region around the meniscus (the intersection between the surface of the liquid steel and the surface of the rolls) with a gas soluble in the steel, or a gas mixture composed predominantly of such a soluble gas. The roughness peaks serve as sites for initiating the solidification, whereas the valleys of the roughness constitute metal contraction joints during solidification, and allow better distribution of the stresses. However, when the CReq/Nieq ratio is greater than 1.70, it is not always possible to avoid the presence of a few microcracks.
It is an object of the invention to provide a process for the casting of thin austenitic stainless steel strip whose surface is free of microcracks and of other major defects, not requiring particularly demanding casting conditions for implementing it and making it possible to cast steels having a more extended CReq/Nieq ratio than in the existing processes.
For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a process for the continuous casting of an austenitic stainless steel strip having a thickness of less than or equal to 10 mm, directly from liquid metal, between two cooled horizontal rolls, characterized in that:
the composition of said steel, in percentages by weight, comprises: C %xe2x89xa60.08; Si %xe2x89xa61; P %xe2x89xa60.04; Mn %xe2x89xa62; Cr % between 17 and 20; Ni % between 8 and 10.5; S % between 0.007 and 0.040; the balance being iron and impurities resulting from the smelting;
the Creq/Nieq ratio is between 1.55 and 1.90 with:
Creq(%)=Cr%+1.37Mo%+1.5Si%+2Nb%+3Ti%
and
Nieq(%)=Ni%+0.31Mn%+22C%+14.2N%+Cu%;
the surface of the rolls has touching dimples of approximately circular or elliptical cross section, having a diameter of 100 to 1500 xcexcm and a depth of 20 to 150 xcexcm;
the inert gas surrounding the meniscus is a gas soluble in the steel or a mixture of such gases, or consists of at least 50% by volume of such a gas or gas mixture.
The subject of the invention is also strip that can be produced by this process.
As will have been understood, the invention consists in combining conditions relating to the composition of the cast metal, the surface finish of the rolls and the composition of the gas for inerting the meniscus, so as to obtain a strip surface free of microcracks. The main novelty of the composition required is that the metal must contain an amount of sulfur greater than the amounts more usually encountered (without, however, being high to the point of compromising the corrosion resistance of the products) and that this content must be combined with a precise range of Creq/Nieq ratios.

Method for continuously casting between two rolls austenitic stainless steel strips with excellent surface quality and resulting strips


A user profile based navigation system. The navigation system stores location centric information in a database associated with a user profile. Information from the database is provided to users based on a selected user profile, which modifies the types of data provided to a user at a geographic location. Data in the database is loaded into the database based on user supplied information and an indication of user geographic location.

This invention relates generally to navigation assistance devices, and more particularly to personalized computer-based electronic navigation devices.
Individual computers and computerized devices are able to store large amounts of information. With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, a single computer may access information stored in a number physically separated computers using the Internet. With the proliferation of use of the Internet, numerous people, organizations, and entities have made information available to computer users. Many individuals have their own Web pages, and use their Web pages to present information of interest to them. Many organizations and entities similarly have Web pages describing their organization, purpose, and other information. Thus, individuals are able to access information about a variety of topics, presented by a variety of individuals and entities.
In addition, businesses are often supplementing this physical presence by placing information about their goods, services and products on the Web. Indeed many such businesses are solely Web-based. That is, some businesses may not provide a physical location which a customer or shopper may visit, but instead merely provide a presence on the Web for consumers to access via the Internet. Many businesses, however, combine a physical presence, such as a store site, with information about the store on the Web. Thus, computer users can determine the products, pricing, and other information relating to a store on the Web, and determine whether the consumer is interested in visiting the store and thereafter visiting the store.
Often the consumer is assisted in visiting the physical location of a store by receiving instructions over the Web as to how to, for example, drive to the location. Mapping services available from the Web, upon input of a desired destination and a current location, provide driving instructions as to how to get from a current destination to a desired location. Thus, it would appear that the Web provides a convenient way to learn about physical locations, such as stores, and how to get to those locations.
As discussed above, the amount of information available over the Web, is tremendous. The shear quantity of data available, however, also increases the difficulty in finding data desired by a consumer. Determining which data meets the needs of the consumer, as well as convenient presentation of such data, provides difficulties. Moreover, even for categories of information which appear to fit a consumer's need, some otherwise relevant data may not be desired by the consumer. For example, for certain types of goods a consumer may not wish to frequent a particular establishment, or desire to only frequent a few of a large number of establishments. Thus, a consumer may be presented with data from establishments the consumer has no desire to visit, and such information merely clutters the user's ability to rapidly locate information of interest.
Further, any one consumer may have a variety of interests. Such a consumer may not wish the information relevant to one aspect of the consumer's activities cluttering up requests for information regarding other aspects of the user's activities.
In addition, businesses desiring to place information regarding their business before certain types of consumers have no convenient way to do so. Businesses do not desire to place information before consumers who have no interest in their business, and that do wish to place information regarding their business before consumers who do or are likely to have an interest in the goods the business provides.
In addition, although consumers may be provided information on how to get to a business, while enroute the consumers receive no additional information about points of interest which they may be passing. In addition, consumers may realize, while in route, that they have a need to obtain other goods or services along the route. Such consumers may not have detailed information concerning their present location, and no convenient means to determine the availability of businesses stocking goods which they desire or need enroute, or how to reach such businesses.


Systems and methods that employ receiver circuitry to provide frequency display signals to a digital display without the presence or use of any external timing reference. One or more properties of a controllable local oscillator of a receiver circuit may be heavily or extensively characterized by measuring the local oscillator frequency under a variety of temperature and process conditions, and minimum to maximum frequencies. Measured local oscillator characterization information may be stored in memory, and may be accessed and used during normal operation to control the controllable local oscillator to produce a desired oscillator frequency for tuning the receiver circuitry to a desired radio frequency and for producing digital frequency display signals that are representative of the tuned radio frequency.

In broadcast radio systems using a digital display, the system uses some type of timing reference, usually in the form of an external crystal oscillator or reference clock attached to the radio or somewhere else in the system. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art radio receiver system 100 including a fully integrated complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) single die integrated receiver circuit 102 that is coupled to receive analog radio frequency (RF) signals from an external antenna 104, and to provide analog audio signals to a speaker device.
As shown in FIG. 1, incoming analog RF signals are provided to low noise amplifier (LNA) 106, which in turn provides amplified RF signals to mixer circuitry 108 where a selected frequency of the incoming RF signals is downconverted to a lower frequency (e.g. a low intermediate frequency) by mixing with a signal output from local oscillator in the form of voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) circuitry 122. The frequency of VCO circuitry 122, is controlled by an automatic frequency control circuit (AFC) 127 which receives an incoming clock signal from an external (i.e., off-chip) crystal oscillator 128 and on-chip crystal oscillator core 126 as shown. The downconverted signal is then provided to analog-to-digital conversion circuitry (ADC) 112 through low-pass filter circuitry 110 to remove upconverted high frequency energy produced in mixer circuitry 108. ADC 112 in turn provides a digitized signal to digital signal processor (DSP) circuitry 114, which performs signal processing and/or demodulation operations to obtain the message content in the incoming signal. The digitized message information is then provided to digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) circuitry 116, which provides analog output audio signals to external speakers.
As further shown in FIG. 1, an on-chip microcontroller (MCU) 120 is coupled to control fine tuning of VCO 122 based on digital RF tuning control signals that may be received directly from an external MCU 118 that responds to manual tuning input from a user. On-chip MCU 120 controls the fine tuning of VCO 122 based on the digital tuning control signals to enable the receiver circuit 102 to tune to the desired RF channel. As shown in FIG. 1, frequency counter 124 uses the incoming clock signal from external crystal oscillator 128 and on-chip crystal oscillator core 126 to measure the tuned frequency of VCO 122, and outputs this measured frequency information to an on-chip display controller 130. On-chip display controller 130 in turn provides frequency display signals to off-chip digital display 132, which displays the identity of the tuned frequency to the user.
One variation of generating a local oscillator signal is to wrap a phase-locked loop (PLL) around a VCO for frequency control. PLL synthesizers require crystal oscillators to keep the timing in the system.

Systems and methods for tuning a broadcast radio receiver with digital display


A system for assuring quality-of service for Data Network Telephone (DNT) calls, such as Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) calls has software for monitoring established DNT calls for adequate bandwidth. A threshold bandwidth, or parameter value related to bandwidth is stored, and tests are periodically made on the DNT call path and compared to the threshold. If the available bandwidth falls below the threshold, an alternative conventional call, such as a PSTN or ISDN call is made to replace the DNT call. Once the alternative call is established, the original call is ended. After the original call is ended, tests of the DNT path continue, and, in some cases, if adequate DNT bandwidth becomes available, the call is switched back to DNT. In some cases, alerts are posted for call participants, and provision is made for approval by one or both participants in a call for a switch in service type to be made.

Telephone call processing and switching systems are, at the time of the present patent application, relatively sophisticated, computerized systems, and development and introduction of new systems continues. Much information on the nature of such hardware and software is available in a number of publications accessible to the present inventor and to those with skill in the art in general. For this reason, much minute detail of known systems is not reproduced here, as to do so would obscure the facts of the invention.
One document which provides considerable information on intelligent networks is "ITU-T Recommendation Q.1219, Intelligent Network User's Guide for Capability Set 1", dated April, 1994.
At the time of filing the present patent application there continues to be remarkable growth in telephone-based information systems (intelligent networks) including Internet based systems. Recently emerging examples are telemarketing operations and technical support operations, among many others, which have grown apace with development and marketing of, for example, sophisticated computer equipment. More traditional are systems for serving customers of such as large insurance organizations. In some cases, organizations develop and maintain their own telephony operations with purchased or leased equipment, and in many other cases, companies are outsourcing such operations to firms that specialize in such services.
A large technical support operation may serves as an example of some of the kinds of applications of telephone equipment and functions to which the present invention pertains and applies. Consider such a system having a country-wide matrix of call-in centers, which is more and more a relatively common practice to provide redundancy and decentralization, which are often considered desirable in such operations. Also in such large organizations, business firms have a national, and in many cases a world-wide customer base. Such a system handles a large volume of calls from people seeking technical information on, for example, installation of certain computer-oriented equipment. These calls are handled by a finite number of trained operators distributed over the decentralized matrix of call centers.
In an intelligent network such as described above, incoming calls placed from anywhere in the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) arrive at central telephony switches called Service Control Points (SCP). An SCP is generally provided to be relatively close to a defined local area of callers. If the intelligent network is very large comprising many call centers then more than one SCP may be provided. Routing of incoming calls begins at the SCP.
A central router at the SCP routes incoming calls to other routers or telephony switches that are deployed throughout the network to provide further routing to call centers or customer information systems (CIS). Additional processors may be provided at the SCP for further computer enhancement. For example, when a call arrives at the SCP, information about the caller is collected and processed to help determine the final destination of the call. Then according to programmed routing rules, the call may be routed to an automatic call distributor (ACD) for further routing to a call center and then on to an available agent. In some networks (known to the inventor) digital information pertaining to the caller may arrive at an agent station before the analog call. Routing in an intelligent network may be accomplished on several levels according to many different protocols. It is the processor connected to the telephony switch that provides computer enhancement in an intelligent network.
More recently, there has been an integration between intelligent call processing systems and the public wide area network known as the Internet. A call center that is connected to both a public or private telephony network and the Internet can receive calls from either source. In an environment such as this, multimedia forms of communication may also be received such as E-mail, Internet phone calls, video calls and so on. An agent operating at a station equipped with an Internet connected PC as well as a public switch connected telephone can communicate using a wide variety of tools.
Internet-based telephony systems may utilize both a regular telephony network and the Internet backbone, as briefly described above, or be based exclusively on the Internet. The present invention pertains most particularly to those systems which rely on both intelligent telephony networks and the Internet, and may handle calls over either network. Therefore, in addition to CTI equipment normally applied to, for example, a publicly switched Telephony network, there are Internet connected processors adapted for the routing and processing of calls according to Internet Protocol (IP), as is known in the art.
The added capability of routing telephone calls over digital networks such as the Internet, and the additional communication options available to an Internet-connected call center can enhance a company's ability to reach a large market as well as to service customers efficiently. Because of the shared nature inherent to portions of Internet infrastructure and Telephony infrastructure, the line separating the two mediums is often somewhat ill-defined. For example, traffic from Internet activity may share certain sections of infrastructure that are used for public telephony traffic, and so on.
One of the challenges faced with adapting real-time communication to being carried over a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, concerns available bandwidth. For example, a conventional (non-Internet) call to a call center arrives on dedicated lines that guarantee the bandwidth needed for the call. Any congestion issues regarding traffic in the network are typically handled with intelligent routing solutions. Connected digital networks such as local area network (LAN) or (WAN) share available bandwidth and are mostly utilized, in current art, for transferring information associated with a call, requesting routing of a call, controlling telephony switches, and so on. This state, as previously described, is not due to a lack of capability of transferring a real-time transaction over a digital network, but rather, to the uncertainty of available bandwidth during periods of high congestion in the network. For example, if a real-time transaction such as a telephone call is experiencing a drop in available bandwidth below a certain level, the call can break up or be delayed beyond a reasonable time rendering the transaction obsolete. Furthermore, real-time transactions being transported across a WAN such as the Internet require more bandwidth than other types of transactions that share the network. Because bandwidth is shared over a WAN, various uses must compete for available bandwidth. Portions of the Internet experience heavy congestion during certain times of the day, for example, raising the risk of the loss of real-time transactions to an Internet-connected call center.
Adaptive encoding techniques have been proposed to enable better real-time service during periods of high congestion on the Internet. These encoding techniques attempt to adapt transactions to lower Bandwidth thresholds that may occur along the path or route used during the transaction. Other techniques such as resource reservation protocol (RSVP) and real-time transport protocol (RTP) are used to secure bandwidth for a transaction and to insure that proper flow and identification of information is received. Both techniques use existing IP protocol. These techniques can be used in conjunction with, or independently from each other. However, these adaptations are not complete solutions to the problem of transporting real-time communication over a WAN.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus including software that enables a system to switch a real-time transaction between different protocols and paths, such as between Internet and ISDN, for example, based on detection and monitoring of available bandwidth as a call progresses. A method such as this could enable real-time transactions to be salvaged and delivered in alternate media form in the event that substantive bandwidth is not available along a certain portion of a WAN or delays are too long with a conventional telephony connection.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Managing bandwidth on demand for internet protocol messaging with capability for transforming telephony calls from one media type to another media type

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc