An apparatus and method for organizing and hanging a plurality of I.V. bags on an I.V. pole includes a solid back and a plurality of spaced apart resilient loops, which apparatus fits over a horizontal support bar on the I.V. pole. The resilient loops are movable between an open position and a closed position. The loops are biased to be in the closed position normally, with a free end of the loop overlapping the top edge of the back. The loop is moved to the open position to place I.V. bags onto the loops, and suspend the I.V. bags at spaced apart intervals in organized fashion. The apparatus includes an unobstructed span having a restraining member to secure the apparatus to the I.V. pole. Some or all loops may include locking members to lock the loops in the closed position.

Intravenous infusion of fluidized medicaments to a patient typically involves connecting a fluid source to an I.V. fluid infusion device, such as an I.V. pump, which is in turn connected in fluid communication with the patient. The I.V. fluid source is generally an I.V. bag or container which holds the fluidized medicament that is fed through a tube to the infusion device. The I.V. bag is typically suspended above the patient on a support member, such as an I.V. pole. A conventional I.V. pole is typically an X-shaped or T-shaped apparatus having a horizontal support bar connected to a vertical support member. The I.V. pole is typically made of stainless steel, and may have a base with wheels so it may be moved about the hospital environment as needed to accommodate movement of the patient. Further, the conventional I.V. pole normally has a spiral hook formed on each end of the horizontal support bar. Typically, I.V. bags have a premeasured amount of fluid sealed in the I.V. bag. An opening is formed in the top of the sealed I.V. bag, so the opening may be placed over the spiral hook to suspend the bag on the I.V. pole. The suspended bag may then be connected to an infusion device which device is typically mounted below the I.V. bag, either on a lower portion of the vertical support member of the same I.V. pole, or on a separate infusion device support stand. In any event, such conventional I.V. poles typically have only two hooks for suspending I.V. bags, one at each end of the horizontal bar.
In certain instances in the treatment of patients, it becomes necessary to connect a plurality of I.V. bags in fluid communication to the same infusion device. This requires suspending a plurality of such bags above the device. Unfortunately, such conventional I.V. poles having only two hooks can conveniently accommodate only two I.V. bags at a time. It is possible to hang more than one bag on each hook to suspend more than two bags, but this arrangement has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that when multiple I.V. bags are suspended from one hook, the bags hang against one another and the tubes leading from the bottom of the bags to the infusion device can become entangled with each other. Aside from causing inconvenience and inefficiencies in the handling of the I.V. bags by hospital staff, the tubes can get intertwined and become obstructed. In addition, the tangled plurality of tubes can make it difficult to properly identify which tube is connected to which I.V. bag. This may result in incorrect connection to the infusion device, having potentially catastrophic effects on the patient. The potential for entanglement of tubes from multiple I.V. bags hanging on the same hook also reduces the speed with which various bags can be changed by hospital staff. This also translates into additional time and costs, and can, in some instances, be life threatening.
A further disadvantage of suspending multiple I.V. bags on one hook with conventional I.V. poles is the potential for uneven weight distribution on the horizontal bar. Having a requirement for an odd number of bags, or of multiple bags of different sizes containing differing amounts of fluid, can result in different amounts of weight on the spiral hook at each end of the horizontal bar. The effect of the difference in weight at each end is magnified by the length of the horizontal bar which creates an unwanted moment arm. This in conjunction with the height at which the bags are suspended on the I.V. pole contributes to an unstable condition in which the I.V. pole could be more inclined to topple over, especially during transport.
The present invention thus recognizes the need for an apparatus for organizing and hanging a plurality of I.V. bags. The present invention further recognizes that there currently exist many conventional I.V. poles, and that there is a need to supply a bag organizer apparatus which can readily be adapted to such conventional I.V. poles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for organizing and hanging a plurality of fluid source bags on a conventional I.V. pole. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a fluid bag organizer apparatus which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and simple and convenient to use in a hospital environment. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluid bag organizer apparatus which permits a plurality of I.V. bags to be suspended at spaced apart intervals.


The present invention relates to a process for producing an aliphatic amine, including the step of contacting a linear or branched, or cyclic aliphatic alcohol with ammonia and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst containing (A) nickel, copper and zirconium components, and (B) at least one metal component selected from the group consisting of elements belonging to Group 1 of the Periodic Table. According to the process of the present invention, an aliphatic primary amine can be produced from the aliphatic alcohol with a good yield and a high productivity.

Aliphatic primary amines are important compounds in domestic and industrial application fields and have been used as raw materials for production of surfactants, fiber-treating agents, etc.
The aliphatic primary amines have been produced by various processes. As one of the production processes, there is known the method of contacting an aliphatic alcohol with ammonia and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. In the catalytic reaction, there has been used a nickel/copper-based catalyst or a noble metal-based catalyst.
As the process for producing amines from aliphatic alcohols using the nickel/copper-based catalyst, there is disclosed, for example, the process for producing amines from a primary or secondary alcohol and ammonia or a primary or secondary amine using hydrogen in the presence of a zirconium/copper/nickel catalyst in which a composition containing an oxygen-containing zirconium compound in an amount of 20 to 85% by weight in terms of ZrO2, an oxygen-containing copper compound in an amount of 1 to 30% by weight in terms of CuO, an oxygen-containing nickel compound in an amount of 30 to 70% by weight in terms of NiO, an oxygen-containing molybdenum compound in an amount of 0.1 to 5% by weight in terms of MoO3, and an oxygen-containing aluminum and/or manganese compound in an amount of 0 to 10% by weight in terms of Al2O3 or MnO2 is used as a catalytically active material (refer to JP 8-176074A). Also, there is disclosed the process for producing amines from a primary or secondary alcohol and a nitrogen compound selected from the group consisting of ammonia and a primary or secondary amine at a temperature of 80 to 250° C. under a pressure of 0.1 to 40 MPa using hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst containing zirconium, copper and nickel but no oxygen-containing cobalt or molybdenum compound (refer to JP 11-180967A).
However, in these conventional techniques, the reactivity tends to be insufficient and the selectivity tends to be low.

Process for producing nitrogen-containing compounds


A technique for forming a contoured axially extending engineered moulding that has at least one axially extending exposed surface. The technique includes providing an elongated outer wood section. A substrate having at least one axially extending side is provided. The wood section is adhered to the axially extending side. The wood section is contoured uniformly in an axial direction to form the exposed surface. A preferred embodiment uses a reengineered rip saw to contour the piece of wood. It is also assumed that multiple moldings can be machined by the reengineered rip saw simultaneously. The simultaneous machining by the reengineered rip saw also permits simultaneous measurements and simultaneous cross cutting and dado cutting of the moldings.

The present invention relates to wooden blanks and mouldings, and more particularly to mouldings that have substrates covered by a machinable wooden veneer. A reengineered rip saw as described herein preferably is used to form a plurality of lineal mouldings in parallel simultaneously.
The use of mouldings such as base (floorboard skirting), flat and split door jambs, crown (ceiling surrounds), rabbeted jambs (frames), brick mould, and casing (door and window surrounds), are well known. Mouldings generally are decorative, and provide architectural detail. Some mouldings, however, support light loads such as door jambs that support the hinges and doors. It is important that the wood used in the mouldings be of at least a quality corresponding to the type of finish use desired, and the type of load supported. For example, if the mouldings are to be left natural or varnished, then the wood is usually desired to be clear and bright, free of knots, fungus stains, pitch, wood discolerations, glued joints, or other visible blemishes. Such mouldings are known in the construction business as "clear solid grade lineal mouldings," or simply "solid clear mouldings."
Mouldings intended to be covered by paint (or something else that hides the glue joint, color, grain or defect of the wood) are known as paint grade mouldings. The construction industry uses paint grade mouldings in most applications. Using a lower grade knotty or defective or discolored woods, or otherwise imperfect wood, in the fabrication of paint grade mouldings is especially desirable considering that higher quality clear and bright grade woods are generally less plentiful and more expensive. Lower grade woods are less expensive than solid clear mouldings, and the finger joint manufacturing process involved in the fabrication of paint grade mouldings, removes defects that are unpaintable in finished mouldings. The use of paint grade moulding results in a lower cost of the finished moulding applications because long clear bright lengths of natural finished wood are not required. In recent years, the use of clear solid grade mouldings has declined while the use of paint grade mouldings has become more common.
Finger joint moulding is produced using a fifty year old process created to provide paint grade moulding in desired dimensions. Each finger joint moulding is formed by a lengthy multi-step process that includes: 1) ripping strips from a thick plank of wood, 2) cross cutting blocks of paintable and finger-jointable defect-free segments out of each strip by removing those segments having knots, splits, blemishes, or other defects, 3) occasionally reripping the cut blocks strips to a narrower width to remove any broken or wane edges, 4) finger jointing by machining and glueing the resulting accumulated clear blocks to form finger joint blanks of the desired length and dimension, 5) resawing if necessary, with a band saw or rip saw the finger joint blanks in a desired dimension or beveled shape, 6) passing the resulting blank through a multi-headed profiled knife moulder in lineal fashion to form mouldings in their final cross sectional contoured shape, and 7) precision trimming and dado processing the mouldings into the final desired lengths of the moulding. The typical remaining steps for finger joint moulding processing, before shipping, are occasional sanding or patching, priming or painting, and packaging.
Though finger joint moulding is a widely accepted and used paint grade moulding, there are several undesirable characteristics associated with the prior art techniques used to manufacture finger joint mouldings. First, the production of finger joint mouldings is slow, labor intensive, and generates much wood waste. Even with skilled craftsmen and modem machines, approximately 45 to 50 percent cumulatively of the original wood volume used is lost (as sawdust, shavings, and defect blocks) during the many processing stages. The entire board footage volume of finished finger joint moulding profiles fabricated is constituted by an equivilent volume of high quality clear solid wood. The lumber materials used in the fabrication of finger joint moulding are expensive and of limited availability. The finished product being formed from solid bright clear wood is likewise expensive and in limited supply.
Second, each discrete section of wood or blank used in finger joint moulding is composed from multiple smaller blocks or discrete wood sections. Therefore, each discrete wood section is susceptible to its own natural characteristic tendencies of warping, splitting, bowing, cupping, twisting, and other problems common to other discrete lengths of wood. Wood moulding that warps, cracks, or otherwise distorts is difficult and frustrating to work with, and increases scrap. Additional unpredictable waste is generated during the manufacturing process. If the process exposes a defect previously hidden inside the wood and it becomes apparent that a section or block is defective in that manner after it is fabricated into a blank, it can usually result in the entire blank being deemed defective and subject to complete remanufacture to remove such newly apparent defects.
A third undesirable characteristic of prior art finger joint mouldings, shared with other paint grade mouldings and varnish grade mouldings, is that each moulding piece usually has to be moulded separately. Rarely are more than two pieces machined simultaneously in one moulding machine, and two pieces may be machined simultaneously only when the profile has a very small cross sectional dimension as most moulders are not wider than eight inches, and all moulders are not wider than twelve inches. Machining one or two work-pieces at a time (especially when using modern and expensive moulders) is costly in both machine time and labor costs. Such slow, individual, work processing adds to the expense of the moulding significantly and usually results in smaller mouldings being only slightly less costly than mouldings having larger cross sections, or solid clear grade lineal mouldings formed from higher quality wood. Since each moulding piece is moulded separately and since cross cutting is a separate operation, each piece also has to be handled, measured, and cross cut by itself.
Other mouldings are formed as substrates that have veneers covering some or all of their surfaces. Veneers are much more common in furniture component construction than in moulding fabrication. In prior art veneer mouldings, an inexpensive substrate of wood, or other material such as medium density fiberboard, is machined or formed in a quality fashion to the desired shape of the final moulding. A thin strip of veneer (usually cut or sliced from a high quality wood) is then bent or contoured in a shape that conforms directly to the surface of the substrate. The veneer is then adhered to the exposed surfaces of the substrate. If done correctly, veneer mouldings can have an attractive appearance resembling, but being less costly than, solid clear wood mouldings. Veneer moulding is more expensive than finger joint paint grade mouldings. The use of veneer moldings is usually commercially reserved to low volumes of high quality expensive veneer hardwood species where solid wood of that species is difficult or too costly to obtain.
Present veneer mouldings have several shortcomings, however. To form a thin veneer into certain generally commercial standard industry household moulding profiles or desired angles or shapes, the veneer has to be bent sharply to conform to sharply angled contours of the profile. Most veneers are formed from a wood that cannot adapt to very sharp bending, and attempting to bend them sharply causes cracking. Such cracking may occur after the moulding leaves the factory, and perhaps during installation of the moulding. However, most cracking occurs in manufacturing. Sharp angles are therefore not usually found on veneered mouldings. In addition, the adhesive used to attach the veneer to the substrate may fail, allowing the veneer to peel away. The use of veneer mouldings is not very desirable, for most of the large volume of mouldings consumed, because of these cracking and peeling problems. Furthermore, veneer mouldings are still expensive and require a careful machining of the substrate in a linear fashion before the application of the veneer that is also accomplished in a linear fashion. To the trade, veneer mouldings often do not have the appearance of a solid or finger joint wood, and are often equated with either lower valued casegood products or furniture, cabinets, and picture frames. In addition, the costs associated with acquiring veneers and veneering is relatively high.
Another consideration is the machinery that is necessary and used to produce mouldings. Moulding machines are commonly used to shape contoured lineal surfaces of the mouldings. Moulding machines are rarely able to produce a moulding or process a blank that is a foot wide or wider. The moulding machines are relied upon largely because they can provide cuts having extremely close tolerances and/or complex curves. If mouldings are milled by machines that do not operate within these tolerances, then certain ones of the edges of the work piece may be misshaped, the exposed wood of the mouldings may have raised or torn grains, or the lineal surfaces may have washboard surface effects. Further machining, or occasionally sanding, is necessary to smooth the surfaces of work pieces having such washboard surfaces. Many times it is simply impossible to repair the surface and the entire product must be scrapped. Other prior art machines usually do not produce mouldings that are as attractive as mouldings produced by moulding machines. Moulding machines require complex engineering and tooling. The moulding machines are individually built by hand and require precise tolerances in the machine and tool steel used. Therefore, they are relatively expensive to purchase. Operating moulding machines requires a high degree of skill and the maintenance is expensive and technically burdensome.
Another type of machine used in the process of fabrication of mouldings are planer or matchers. These are primarily used to plane or smooth the outer surface of lumber or a blank in a lineal manner. It is impossible to cut through a piece of wood to form multiple separate lineal mouldings from a single piece of wood using a planar. Planers are less expensive to buy and operate than moulders that have similar board footage throughput capabilities, but can only perform a limited function.
Rip saws are also used in moulding fabrication to provide cuts that extend lineally through pieces of wood. Rip saw cuts do not have to generate much wood waste. However, forming curved or contoured lineal surfaces using rip saws is not possible. From these foregoing paragraphs, it should be evident that each of the moulders, planers, and rip saws have their own purpose in moulding fabrication. Not only does each prior art piece of machinery work on very few pieces at any one time (in a lineal fashion). Additionally, to form many mouldings, there are multiple necessary processing steps that often require different machines.
In a certain prior art system, where work pieces that have edge-glued panels or lamenated substrate panels machined into a panel or moulding having finished contoured edges or surfaces, the product is produced by machining, using routers as cutting tools which move about the work piece while maintaining the work piece in that fixed location. An example of a machine that cuts in this manner is a computerized numerical control routing machine. Such routers are usually limited to a maximum of four or five routing heads working simultaneously on one work piece. Such computerized numerical control systems are complex to program, expensive to purchase, and typically machine large surface areas relatively slowly. They are not a practical alternative to moulding machines.
The greatest volumes of mouldings sold are standardized profile shapes and sizes that have a simple but well defined contoured cross section. These rectangular cross sectional rounded edges and simple "S" edges and radius curved cross sectional mouldings represent approximately 85 percent of the mouldings sold. Intricately curved and angled cross sectional mouldings and very complex profiles traditionally represent approximately 15 percent of moulding volume. Many prior art machines used to produce mouldings therefore are more complex, and can provide profiles of much greater intricate architectural detail and variations in design, than is necessary for the predominant volume of mouldings made and consumed by the housing and commercial construction industry.
Reducing the costs of machinery, labor, and the bulk of the raw material consumed in moulding production, and yet providing a technique for producing mouldings formed from multiple wood sections with a high quality appearance, is highly desirable. Limiting the percentage of high quality wood contained within such mouldings, and the waste associated with producing such mouldings, is also desirable. Replacing such high quality woods with lower quality woods, wood substitutes, or other materials is desirable where such replacement does not detract from the appearance sought or the properties necessary for use of the mouldings. Production of a veneered moulding that appears as if it were solid wood and permits the machining of sharp cross sectional curves and angles on the contoured profile is also desirable. It is desirable to make it difficult to distinguish a veneered mouldings from other conventional solid wood mouldings based upon surface appearance alone. It is desirable to provide a machine that is not extremely complex to operate and maintain and of lower cost to buy than a conventional moulder which can inexpensively mill the wood into high quality mouldings with close cross sectional tolerances and do so in volume. It is also desirable to provide a machine that can profile multiple lineal mouldings simultaneously at regular moulder feed speeds. The present invention satisfies these desired features using relatively uncomplicated technology.


Described are polymer compositions that include a blend of copolyester polymers based on monomers that include on terephthalic acid (TPA), isophthalic acid (IPA) and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), wherein the blend includes a first copolyester that is semi-crystalline and a second copolyester that is amorphous; and films made from the polymer compositions useful for transparent high temperature conductive film applications.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films are widely used for a variety of wrapping, packaging, and lamination applications. In other applications such as flexible electronic circuits, touch screen displays, and flexible photovoltaic devices, biaxially-oriented and heat-set PET films having good dimensional stability and shrink resistance at elevated temperatures are used. However, biaxially-oriented PET films are not believed to be useful at temperatures exceeding 200° C. because of their low Tg (˜80° C.) and relatively low inherent melting temperature (Tm) (approximately 250° C.).
It is generally known in the art that biaxially-oriented PET has been used as substrate films for indium tin oxide (ITO) coated transparent conductive substrates. Although adequate for many applications, PET films are believed to lack temperature dimensional stability needed for the high temperature deposition of ITO often necessary to prepare a conductively coated substrate for use in applications where high transparency and high conductivity are desirable, such as in flat panel displays and photovoltaic devices. Higher temperatures are believed to be necessary to reduce the thickness of the ITO coating for a given conductivity. Reduced thickness coatings can resist fracture when bent, and there is a need in many existing and emerging applications for increased durability and flexible form factors while maintaining high transparency and adequate conductivity. These applications include flat panel displays, photovoltaic devices, and flexible displays among others. In addition, it has been reported that for high transparency/high conductivity films requiring a post-deposition annealing process, ITO coated films, where the deposition and annealing were done at greater than 200° C., resulted in conductive substrates with superior conductivity relative to films where the ITO was sputtered and annealed at temperatures less than 200° C.
Biaxially oriented PET has also been used as a substrate for ITO projected capacitive (PCAP) touch sensors for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Personal computers (PC) with touch screens are also gaining popularity. However, ITO transparent conductive film requires heat annealing in order to achieve low enough sheet resistance for acceptable touch sensitivity. The annealing time is normally longer than an hour and the annealing temperature is below 150° C. to prevent deformation of the PET substrate and damage to sputtered ITO conductive layer. Longer and hotter annealing of PET will increase oligomer migration to the film surface and deteriorate the light transmittance of the transparent conductive film. A higher temperature substrate with less oligomer migration than PET is therefore desired. PEN has been suggested as a high temperature substrate. However, oligomer migration to the film surface is also a problem during film heat setting and ITO annealing processes. PCT has higher heat resistance, but crystallizes too fast on the chill drum in extrusion, which results in a brittle film that presents problems for subsequent machine direction and transverse direction stretching, and/or for end use requirements.
Desirable properties of a transparent conductively coated substrate include: transparency, conductivity, flexibility, charge carrier density, charge carrier mobility, tensile and flexural properties, hydrolytic stability, and dimensional stability. The current materials (PET, PEN, polyimide, glass, etc. . . . ) known in the art for use in transparent conductively coated substrates are believed to be deficient in one or more of the aforementioned properties. To achieve superior conductivity while maintaining transparency, flexibility, and substrate durability; a material with greater temperature dimensional stability than PET is needed; a material with improved thickness reduction and flexibility to glass is needed; and a material with improved transparency to polyimide is needed.
Certain applications, such as transparent conductively coated substrates, would benefit from or even require films that are heat stable (i.e., possessing good dimensional stability) at temperatures greater than or equal to 150° C. Specifically, the films should not blister or wrinkle when coated with ITO and/or other inorganic oxide at temperatures greater than 150° C.
Superior hydrolytic stability is another desirable property for films used as conductively coated substrates across a variety of applications. Therefore, base films with superior hydrolytic stability for producing conductively coated substrates, which tend to maintain their structural integrity under high temperature and high humidity conditions, are also needed.

Polymer compositions and substrates for high temperature transparent conductive film applications


A vehicle cooling apparatus having a simple construction that enables the size of a cooling fan electric motor to be reduced without the need to increase the number of batteries provided for driving the motor. The cooling fan provides necessary cooling for an engine radiator and an air-conditioning system condenser by driving the motor at an input power lower than its rated power by a predetermined amount until the temperature of the engine cooling water reaches a predetermined temperature. If the water temperature rises above the predetermined temperature, the electric motor input power is increased to a level greater than its rated input power for a predetermined time period. As a result, cooling capacity can be increased and the water temperature can be lowered with a smaller motor when the water temperature has become abnormally high. Because the electric motor is normally driven at an input power lower than its rated input power, the life of the electric motor is increased.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a vehicle cooling system, and particularly to a control apparatus for controlling cooling of a vehicle radiator and air-conditioning condenser.
2. Discussion
A vehicle cooling apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei. 4-365923. In this related art apparatus, an electric cooling fan for drawing cooling air through a radiator is controlled by pulse width modulation (PWM) in correspondence with the temperature of cooling water passing through the radiator.
In such an apparatus, a main battery and a sub battery are mounted in the vehicle, and the sub battery is used when the cooling water temperature reaches a predetermined high temperature. More particularly, the main battery and the sub battery are connected in series, and, when the cooling water temperature reaches the predetermined high temperature, the input power of a cooling fan electric motor is increased above the motor's rated input power (motor rated input power is defined as the input power of a motor in a control circuit in which an air conditioner start-up fan control voltage, or a fan voltage reached when refrigerant pressure exceeds a predetermined value, approximately equals a vehicle battery voltage under a vehicle standard voltage).
However, because the above apparatus requires two batteries, space required for the apparatus and overall vehicle cost are both increased. Also, because a switching circuit for the main battery/sub battery series connection is required, the number of parts and overall system complexity are increased.

Vehicle cooling system with system motor control apparatus


A gripper apparatus for removing and replacing objects such as containers or vials in an array of containers has a gripper head which extends downward from a support arm, a planetary gear assembly mounted in the gripper head including at least three planet gears, and at least one gripping grip extending downward from each planet gear and projecting beyond a lower end of the gripper head. A drive motor drives the planetary gear assembly to rotate the planet gears in opposite directions, moving the grips inward and outward along predetermined paths to grip and carry an object and release the object when in a desired location.

The present invention relates generally to robotic gripping devices. More particularly, the invention concerns a method and apparatus to grasp containers of varied sizes using a plurality of movable fingers
Many industries rely upon automated handling of bottles, vials and tubes of different sizes. In many applications, the ability to handle different size containers is provided by a rotating turret assembly with a number of different size openings arranged on a circular assembly. The turret is rotated to select the opening with a size that matches a selected container size. In other applications, rather than requiring the selection from multiple handlers to accommodate each different size container, attempts have been made to provide adjustable grippers which operate by moving two to more fingers inward and outward relative to a center point at which the container is located. Typically, the fingers are pneumatically actuated. The fingers may either move on fulcrums, like "pincers", so that the angles of the gripping surfaces change, or they can slide along a single plane so that the fingers remain parallel with the distance between the fingers being adjusted to fit the container diameter. In one example, the gripper mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,324 of Downs et al uses a combination of sliding and rotation of two arms to pin microplates. While such systems may work well with containers of a consistent size, the force applied to the container can vary depending on the size of the container. These failings are particularly pronounced in applications involving the storage of compounds, biological specimens or other samples. Such storage systems hold many thousands of samples which may be in different size glass or plastic vials or tubes and may have different closure means, such as stoppers inserted into the opening and caps or adhesive films covering the edges of the openings. The gripper robotics are often contained within an environmentally-controlled enclosure, making frequent changing of the gripping mechanism to fit a particular container impractical. Since the containers usually hold very small volume samples, these vials and tubes can be small and relatively fragile. One of the problems that can occur with variable force control on current the commercially-available grippers is that sometimes the caps or tubes are broken or are not gripped sufficiently well. These grippers are also incapable of self-adjusting for different cap sizes. Another problem is that pneumatic grippers do not produce sufficient feedback to let the system know if a tube of the expected dimensions was, in fact, picked up.
In view of the shortcomings of existing grippers, the need remains for a container gripper that has the ability to adjust to a range of container sizes and surfaces, and which provides feedback to allow control of the force applied to the container. The present invention is directed to such an invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Gripper apparatus and method for containers of different sizes


A refrigerated air dryer includes a three-path heat exchanger 18 having an air path 18a, a refrigerant path 18b, and a fluid path 18c. The three flow paths exchange heat within a single unit to provide a compact heat exchanger with improved thermal performance at a lower production cost.

The present invention relates to air compressor systems and arrangements for removing moisture and other contaminates from compressed air. Conventional air compressors generate what is referred to as wet compressed air, wherein the term "wet" refers to the fact that there is typically undesirable amounts of water vapor and other contaminants in the compressed air. Accordingly, air dryers are generally provided upstream from a point of use in compressed air systems and serve to remove moisture and other contaminates from the compressed air. A refrigerated air dryer operates to remove moisture from the air by cooling the air to cause moisture to condense, extracting the condensed moisture, and then reheating the air. Because the process of cooling the air requires energy input, there are significant energy costs to operating a refrigerated air dryer in addition to the costs of installing and maintaining the equipment, and for at least this reason there are needs for improved designs.

Heat exchanger for a refrigerated air dryer


A tension leg platform for use in offshore hydrocarbon production and drilling operations, wherein the tension leg platform can include a plurality of column pairs. Each column pair can include a primary column connected with a secondary column and a secondary pontoon between the primary column and secondary column. The primary columns can be configured to support a deck, and the secondary columns can be connected with the primary column below the draft of the tension leg platform. The tension leg platform can also include a plurality of primary pontoons for connecting the primary columns to one another.

A need exists for a tension leg platform that can de-couple the need for setting optimized column to column spacing for deck support from the need to reduce deck steel weight and meet the stability requirements for pre-service conditions without temporary stability devices.
A further need exists for a tension leg platform that has tendon configurations in more efficient configurations to reduce the number of tendons and/or significantly save tendon weights.
Another need exists for a tension leg platform that has no temporary stability devices, or slanted columns for quayside integration and other pre-service conditions, and that uses conventional structural components with a conventional well bay.
A further need exists for a tension leg platform that has a specified column shape above the still water due to the latest revised metocean criteria, in more efficient configurations to reduce wave interactions and wave loads and thus reduce hull structure and tendon weights.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.

Secondary column enhanced tension leg platform


Aspects of the disclosure relate to utilizing a high generation cellular network for identifying devices associated with unauthorized activities and notifying enterprise facilities. A computing platform may collect device information for a plurality of user devices at a first location. Then, the computing platform may receive, from a first device at the first location, a message related to a first activity in a vicinity of the first location. Then, the computing platform may identify a sub-plurality of the plurality of user devices, wherein the sub-plurality of user devices are located at the first location at a time of occurrence of the first activity. Then, the computing platform may generate an alert notification comprising information related to the first activity and device information for the sub-plurality of user devices. Subsequently, the computing platform may send the alert notification to a collection of devices at a plurality of locations.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to deploying digital data processing systems and providing real-time processing of location data to identify and prevent unauthorized activities in an enterprise system. In particular, one or more aspects of the disclosure relate to utilizing a high generation cellular network for identifying devices associated with unauthorized activities and notifying enterprise facilities of such unauthorized activities.
Enterprise organizations may utilize various computing infrastructure to identify users associated with potentially unauthorized activities at their enterprise facilities, and alert other enterprise facilities that may be potentially affected by, or be targets of, potentially unauthorized activities. Such identifying and alerting may be time-sensitive and might need to be performed in real-time. In some instances, the identifying and alerting may include confidential information and/or other sensitive data that is created, transmitted, and/or used for various purposes. Ensuring that timely notifications to other potential targets of such unauthorized activities are sent in real time with speed and accuracy, may be particularly advantageous to prevention of further unauthorized activities. In many instances, however, it may be difficult to identify users associated with potentially unauthorized activities and alert other enterprise facilities with speed and accuracy while also attempting to optimize network resources, bandwidth utilization, and efficient operations of the computing infrastructure involved in providing such notifications in real time.

Utilizing a high generation cellular network for identifying devices associated with unauthorized activities and notifying enterprise facilities


A high temperature superconducting material with the general formula GaSr.sub.2 Ln.sub.1-x MxCu.sub.2 O.sub.7.+-.w wherein Ln is selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pt, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Y and M is selected from the group consisting of Ca and Sr, 0.2.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.4 and w is a small fraction of one. A method of preparing this high temperature superconducting material is provided which includes heating and cooling a mixture to produce a crystalline material which is subsequently fired, ground and annealed at high pressure and temperature in oxygen to establish superconductivity.

The present invention is directed to new compositions of matter and methods of preparation of high temperature superconducting copper oxides. More particularly, the invention is directed to high temperature superconducting materials with the general formulae of (1) GaSr.sub.2 Ln.sub.1-x M.sub.x Cu.sub.2 O.sub.7.+-.w (M=Ca and Sr, Ln=La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Y; 0.2.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.4 and w is a small fraction of one) and of (2) Ga.sub.1-y Sr.sub.2 YCu.sub.2+y O.sub.7.+-.w (where y is about 0.65 and less).
All known high temperature superconducting copper oxides have an anisotropic structure containing two-dimensional CuO.sub.2 layers with square planar, square pyramidal and octahedral coordination of the copper to oxygen. These CuO.sub.2 layers are bounded in the third dimension by metal-oxygen layers ("AO" hereinafter) containing large and strongly ionic metal ions (A-Ba, Sr and La-Gd), which form AO-CuO.sub.2 -AO structural blocks. For most superconducting compounds there is frequently more than one CuO.sub.2 layer, separated by metal layers, A' (A'=Ca, lanthanides and Y), which are within the block, and an additional layer of mixed oxidation state cations, covalently bonded to oxygen, between these blocks (e.g., structures based on Cu, Tl, Pb and Bi). In previous attempts, the synthesis of layered copper oxides with more ionic, fixed oxidation state, cations in this additional layer has led to nonsuperconducting materials.
The importance of copper-oxygen layers in the high-temperature (T.sub.c >35K) superconductors was realized in 1986 after the report by Bednorz and Muller on their work in the La-Ba-Cu-O system. The conducting planes (CuO.sub.4/2) of these materials result from the hybridization of the Cu(3d) and O(2p) orbitals which form closely and symmetrically coordinated copper and oxygen atoms in square nets. Other families of superconductors are La.sub.2-x M.sub.x CuO.sub.4 (M=Ca.sup.2+, Sr.sup.2+, Ba2+), Nd.sub.2-x Ce.sub.x CuO.sub.4, YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7-x (Tl, Bi).sub.m (Ba,Sr).sub.2 Ca.sub.n-1 Cu.sub.n O.sub.m+2n+2 (m,n=integers) , Pb.sub.2 Sr.sub.2 LnCu.sub.3 O.sub.8+x (Ln=lanthanides), and La.sub.2-x Sr.sub.x CaCu.sub.2 O.sub.6. All of these compounds can be described as an intergrowth of AO rocksalt layers with ABO.sub.3-x perovskite units and have the general formula (AO).sub.m (ABO.sub.3-x).sub.n where m and n are integers and B is copper. Although no theory on the mechanism of high temperature superconductivity has gained acceptance, the observation of high-temperature superconductivity in this class of layered materials has led to a phenomenological understanding that superconductivity depends on the two-dimensional conducting planes with weak interplane coupling.
The influence of substitutions on superconductivity has been studied in great detail in YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7-x. All lanthanides have been substituted into the eight-coordinate yttrium position. With the exception of praseodymium, superconductivity is preserved. In contrast, the addition of small amounts of a transition or post-transition metal onto either the square-planar or square-pyramidal copper site generally resulted in the loss of superconductivity. Incorporation of the trivalent cations aluminium, iron, and cobalt is believed to occur on the square-planar copper site, whereas chromium or zinc is thought to go into the planes. When large amounts of gallium or aluminium are incorporated, the new single-layer copper compounds LaSrCuAlo.sub.5 and LaSrCuGaO.sub.5 with the brownmillerite (Ca.sub.2 FeA10.sub.5) structure are formed. These structures reflect the preference for tetrahedral coordination by the group thirteen elements. While enormous efforts have been expended in the industry, there have been only several new systems discovered for these types of structures.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a novel composition and method of manufacture of high temperature superconducting ceramic.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved composition of high temperature ceramic superconductor based on GaSr.sub.2 Ln.sub.1-x M.sub.x Cu.sub.2 O.sub.7.+-.w wherein M=Ca and Sr and Ln=La, Ce, Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Y.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a novel composition of high temperature ceramic superconductor comprised of Ga.sub.1-y Sr.sub.2 YCu.sub.2+y O.sub.7.+-.w wherein y is less than or equal to about 0.65.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method of making a high temperature ceramic superconductor under highly oxidizing atmospheres.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved composition and method of making a gallium containing high temperature ceramic superconductor.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a novel method of oxidizing a ceramic superconductor to activate the superconducting state of matter.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved method of modifying the crystallographic structure of a copper oxide based superconductor to introduce adequate electronic charge into the Cu.sub.2 O layers to establish superconductivity.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a novel method of hole doping of Cu.sub.2 O layers of a high temperature ceramic superconductor.
Other objects and advantages of the invention together with the method of manufacture and product composition will become apparent from the following Detailed Description and Brief Description of the Drawings hereinbelow.

Preparation and composition of superconducting copper oxides based on Ga-O layers


Method of thin film deposition especially in reactive conditions. Optical coatings with negligible optical absorption, of high quality and low cost even on unheated substrates are deposited using an RF/pulsed DC plasma RF/pulsed DC bias generates a plasma in front of the substrate. This plasma allows obtaining the right stoichiometry of the deposited film by increasing the reactivity of the reactive gas present in the plasma and, in addition, introduces an energetic ion bombardment of the substrate before and during the growth of the film which improves the adherence and the deposit compactness.

Our present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for thin film deposition on a substrate and especially for applying an optical coating to a substrate with low absorption. More particularly, the invention relates to the application of thin film coatings by reactive deposition.
A thin film coating method and apparatus are known from Swiss patent CH 928/85 and utilize an ion plating technique whereby material vaporization at least in part by an electron beam gun is ionized in a reactive environment formed by at least one gas admitted to the evacuatable reaction chamber and a resulting reaction production is thereby deposited on the substrate. The system utilizes low energy electron bombardment of the component in a crucible. The substrates tend to be electrically floating and are polarized under the conditions described in that patent at a bias voltage between xe2x88x9205 and xe2x88x9260 volts.
Experience with that system has shown that when efforts are made to deposit optical coatings, i.e. coatings with a relatively high refractive index, the coatings are at least partially absorbing. This drawback has limited the applicability of the coating method described in the Swiss patent and the optical losses which are associated with the absorption resulting from the coating has greatly limited the applicability of the method. This is especially the case for multilayer coatings. Indeed, it is impossible to use such coatings when a high laser damaged threshold is required for the product.
The absorption appears to be a result of the energetic ion bombardment of the material in the crucible and other ions present in the process atmosphere.
The method did permit highly compact films to be obtained even on substrates at low temperatures and with refractive indices of the coating which is close to the refractive index of the bulk material. The method also gave rise to coating layers which had excellent mechanical and environmental characteristics.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved method of coating a substrate with a thin film, especially an optical film, whereby drawbacks of the earlier systems are avoided.
It is another object of this invention to provide a thin film coating method whereby optical coatings of low absorption can be formed economically and reliably and with excellent mechanical and environmental properties.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for applying thin film coatings to substrates.
These objects can be attained, in accordance with the invention, in a method which comprises the steps of:
(a) mounting a substrate to be coated on a substrate holder in an evacuatable chamber and so that the substrate is spacedly juxtaposed with a crucible containing a component of a coating to be applied to the substrate;
(b) evacuating the chamber;
(c) positioning a shutter between the crucible and the substrate and heating the component in the crucible with a high energy beam;
(d) admitting a gas mixture to the chamber;
(e) connecting the substrate holder to a radio frequency or pulsed direct current source so that the substrate holder is poled cathodic and a plasma is formed at least around the substrate to create a self bias of several hundreds of volts on the substrate holder and a surface of the substrate is bombarded with particles from the plasma;
(f) withdrawing the shutter from its position between the crucible and the substrate, bombarding the component with low energy electrons to ionize the component at least in part and depositing the component and the at least one gas on the substrate; and
(g) controlling the ionization of the component so that the self bias is reduced by at least 50%.
Advantageously, the coating is carried out in a reactive mode, i.e. with the ionized components reacting with at least one gas in the gas mixture. The coatings which can be deposited can be oxides, nitrides, oxynitrides and carbides of substantially any component, usually a metal which can be melted and ionized in the crucible, including aluminum, tin, silver and chromium. Elemental metals may be deposited without reaction, for example, gold.
The apparatus which is used can comprise:
a vacuum chamber connectable to a pump adapted to evacuate the chamber;
at least one crucible in the chamber;
a substrate holder in the chamber receiving a substrate to be coated and juxtaposed with the crucible;
a mechanical shutter in the chamber interposable between the crucible and the substrate;
a high-energy source for heating a component of a coating to be deposited upon the substrate in the crucible;
a radio frequency or pulsed direct current source connectable to the substrate holder for producing a plasma around the substrate and imparting a self-bias to the substrate holder poling the substrate holder cathodic;
means for feeding a gas mixture to the chamber including at least one gas reactive with the component to form a coating on the substrate; and
a low energy electron source for ionizing the component to reduce the self-bias and deposit a reaction product of the component and the at least one gas on the substrate, the shutter being movable from between the crucible and the substrate to permit ionization of the component.
The invention utilizes the plasma generated around the substrate and at the substrate holder by the radio frequency or pulsed direct current source connected to the cathodically poled substrate holder to produce a self-bias around and in front of the substrate or substrates which can vary from several tens of volts to many hundreds of volts and usually is at least several hundred volts. The gas which is used can include an inert gas like argon and reactive gases like oxygen and nitrogen or mixtures thereof and the plasma may be maintained at a pressure in the chamber of 10xe2x88x923 to 10xe2x88x922 Torr. The chamber is initially evacuated to about say 10xe2x88x926 Torr before the gas mixture is admitted to the chamber.
The effects of the plasma are manifold and include:
ion bombardment from the plasma of the substrate surface usually by reactive gas molecules which appears to activate the surface and promote bonding of the thin film coating and mechanical integrity of the latter. The plasma also contributes to ionization and excitation of the reactive gas which tends to drive the reaction in the direction of formation of the reaction products and compensates for possible disassociation caused by energetic ion bombardment.
In addition, the plasma appears to bring about an ion bombardment of the growing film and hence a higher film compactness during its growth with a consequent improvement in adherence of the film to the substrate.
The plasma also contributes to an increase in the duration of the xe2x80x9cadatomxe2x80x9d phase which also results in an increase in compactness and mechanical stability of the film and a refractive index value which is close to that of the bulk material.
Finally it has been found, most surprisingly, that the presence of the plasma, coupled with the dramatic decrease in the self-bias brought about by ionization of the coating components, results in an increase in the maximum deposition rate without significant absorption so that the duration of the process can be reduced along with the processing cost.
The apparatus of the invention permits optical coatings to be applied to substrates without noticeable absorption of the film and a significant increase in the refractive index by comparison with the reactive indices of coatings applied with other apparatus even at higher deposition rates.

Method of thin film deposition under reactive conditions with RF or pulsed DC plasma at the substrate holder


A system for reducing harmful substances in engine exhaust gases includes a fuel cell, which is adapted to generate electrical energy and a steam-containing fuel cell exhaust gas during operation. A fuel tank serves to store fuel which is to be supplied to an engine during operation. A condensing device is connected to an exhaust gas outlet of the fuel cell so that steam-containing fuel cell exhaust gas is supplyable to the condensing device. The condensing device is adapted to convert the steam contained in the fuel cell exhaust gas into the liquid state of aggregation by means of condensation and to introduce the water obtained as a result of the condensing process into the fuel in order to form a water/fuel mixture. A water/fuel mixture line is connected to the engine so that a water/fuel mixture is supplyable to the engine.

In engines which are currently used in aircraft, particularly aeroplanes, and function according to the operating principle of a gas turbine, outside air is compressed by means of a compressor and then supplied to a combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber, the outside air is mixed with fuel and ignited. The exhaust gas generated as a result of the combustion process is conducted over a turbine which drives a compressor, which is arranged with the turbine on a common shaft or is separated from the turbine by a gear, and also the actual propulsion unit, for example a turbofan or propeller. As the fuel, for example kerosene, which comprises a hydrocarbon mixture combusts with air in the combustion chamber of an aeroplane engine, in addition to nitrogen oxides (NOx) further combustion products, such as CO2, CO and non-burned hydrocarbons, are produced. In particular, the quantity of the nitrogen oxides formed during the combustion process depends greatly on the combustion temperature in the combustion chamber. High combustion temperatures promote the formation of nitrogen oxide. Moreover, high combustion temperatures in the combustion chamber result in a significant material load and high stresses in the engine. Particularly high combustion temperatures are achieved in the start phase of the aeroplane, during which the engine runs under full load to meet the thrust requirement. Aeroplane engines which are operated with high combustion temperatures in the combustion chamber therefore call for particularly high maintenance costs.
To reduce the nitrogen oxide emissions and to lower the thermal load, aeroplane engines should therefore be operated with the lowest possible combustion temperatures in the combustion chamber. A reduction in the combustion temperature in the combustion chamber of an aeroplane engine can be realised for example by injecting water during the combustion process. The water can either be supplied to the compressor or injected into the combustion chamber of the engine, for which the water normally has to be carried on board the aeroplane in separate tanks.
The object on which the present invention is based is to provide a system and a process which particularly efficiently enable a reduction in the combustion temperature in the combustion chamber of a engine and therefore a significant reduction in the harmful emissions during operation of the engine.

System and process for the reduction of harmful substances in engine exhaust gases


The present invention generally relates to a medical device for delivering a therapeutic agent to an internal portion of a patient's body. The medical device includes a shaft and a self-expanding delivery member in operative communication with the shaft. The delivery member is shaped from a porous material that is capable of releasing a therapeutic agent to an internal portion of a patient's body. The medical device further includes a therapeutic agent delivery lumen in fluid communication with the delivery member to fluidly connect the delivery member with a therapeutic agent source. A retention member may also be provided to selectively collapse the delivery member.

Various diseases may be treated by localized delivery of a therapeutic agent to an internal portion of a patient's body. For example, atherosclerotic disease, which is characterized by the build-up of plaque on the interior wall of an arterial vessel, may be treated by applying a therapeutic agent, such as heparin, to the diseased portion of a vessel wall. However, delivery and application of the therapeutic agent directly to the vessel wall may be complicated by the constant flow of blood through the vessel, which tends to carry the therapeutic agent downstream, away from the diseased tissue. Thus, a need exists for a device capable of effective localized delivery and application of a therapeutic agent to an internal portion of a patient's body, especially to the internal surface of a vessel or lumen.
Information relevant to attempts at addressing this or related needs can be found in such references as U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,719 to Tsukernik and U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,930 to Teirstein, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. However, prior attempts at providing effective agent delivery devices suffer from certain disadvantages.
For example, prior devices may be limited in agent delivery capacity because they employ pre-loaded agent delivery members, such as partially or fully impregnated sponge bodies, to deliver a finite amount of agent to a body lumen. Such agent delivery members are impregnated with a therapeutic agent prior to a vessel treatment procedure and carry only a pre-determined amount of agent to a target region. Thus, a need exists for a device capable of delivering and applying a replenishable, active source of therapeutic agent to a body lumen.
In addition, prior devices may require the exertion of significant pressure upon a lumen wall, as with an inflatable member, to force a therapeutic agent from an agent delivery member impregnated with the therapeutic agent to the surface of a lumen wall. Thus, a need exists for a device capable of delivering and applying a therapeutic agent to the wall of a body lumen without the exertion of significant pressure upon the lumen wall.
A need further exists for a device capable of delivering and applying a therapeutic agent to a lumen wall in a controlled and uniform fashion. Moreover, a need exists for an agent delivery device designed to maximize the amount of agent actually applied to and absorbed by a lumen wall, while minimizing the amount of agent released from the device without being applied to or absorbed by the lumen wall. These and other objectives are accomplished by the present invention.

Medical device with drug delivery member


A handheld power tool has a tool socket (2) to hold a tool (4) along a working axis (11), a motor (5) and a slip clutch (21) having a number of blocking elements. A sensor (27) serves to record a measured signal (28) as the measure of vibrations inside the handheld power tool (1). A band-pass filter (29) has a pass range in which a frequency lies that is equal to the product of the rotational speed of the wheel (22) on the drive side and the number N of blocking elements (24). The measured signal (28) filtered by the band-pass filter (29) is fed to an evaluation unit (30). When the filtered measured signal (28) exceeds a limit value, the evaluation unit (30) reduces the rotational speed of the motor (5).

U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2009/0008115, for instance, discloses a hammer drill having a mechanical slip clutch. The slip clutch is triggered when a torque present on the drill bit exceeds a triggering torque. In this process, the slip clutch is subjected to high mechanical loads when the user continuously attempts to proceed with the work.


A novel method for processing a silver halide color photographic material which comprises color developing an imagewise exposed silver halide color photographic material and then processing the material with a having a bleaching ability containing at least one bleaching agent a ferric complex of a compound represented by at least one of formula (I) and formula (II): ##STR1## wherein W.sup.1 represents an alkylene group containing 3 or less carbon atoms in total; L.sup.1, L.sup.2, L.sup.3 and L.sup.4 each represents an alkylene or arylene group; and M.sub.1 to M.sub.6 each represents a hydrogen atom or a cation; ##STR2## wherein W.sup.2 represents an alkylene group having 2 to 8 carbon atoms, an arylene group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms, cyclohexane group, ##STR3## (in which W.sup.21 and W.sup.22 each represents an alkylene group, and m represents an integer of 1 to 3, and A represents a hydrogen atom, hydrocarbon group, --L.sub.A --COOM, --L.sub.A --PO.sub.3 M.sub.2, --L.sub.A --OH or --L.sub.A --SO.sub.3 M (L.sub.A represents an alkylene group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms or an arylene group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms, and M represents a hydrogen atom or a cation such as an alkali metal or ammonium)), or a combination of theseof; L.sup.5, L.sup.6, L.sup.7 and L.sup.8 each represents an alkylene group; and M.sub.7, M.sub.8, M.sub.9, M.sub.10 and M.sub.11 each represents a hydrogen atom or a cation.

In general, the method for processing a silver halide color photographic material (hereinafter referred to as "color light-sensitive material") basically comprises a color development step and a desilvering step. In the color development step, silver halide which has been exposed to light is reduced by an aromatic primary amine color developing agent to produce silver while an oxidation product of the color developing agent reacts with a coupler to form dye images. In the subsequent desilvering step, silver which has been produced at the color development step is oxidized and then becomes soluble by a silver ion complexing agent commonly called fixing agent. After this desilvering step, only dye images remain on the color light-sensitive material.
The above mentioned desilvering step can be effected in a two-bath system comprising a bleaching bath containing a bleaching agent and a fixing bath containing a fixing agent, in a blixing bath containing both a bleaching agent and a fixing agent or in a system comprising a combination thereof. These baths each may consist of a plurality of processing tanks.
The actual development process comprises auxiliary processing steps other than the above mentioned basic steps in order to preserve the photographic and physical qualities of images or improve the preservability of images. Examples of such auxiliary baths include film hardening bath, stopping bath, image stabilizing bath, and washing bath.
In recent years, it has been keenly desired to reduce the time required for the above mentioned processing in order to rapidly meet customers' demand for processing as small-sized over-the-counter process service system commonly called mini-laboratory has spreaded. It has been most keenly desired to reduce the time required for desilvering step, which has accounted for the majority of the processing time. In particular, it has been required to expedite bleaching step.
It has been well known that an oxidizing agent (bleaching agent) having a strong oxidative effect can be used to reduce the bleaching time. Examples of such a bleaching agent include inorganic compounds such as red prussiate, ferric chloride, persulfate, and dichromate, and metallic chelelating compounds such as ferric complex of aminopolycarboxylic acid. In recent years, in the light of atmospheric preservation and safety in handling, ferric chelates of aminopolycarboxylic acid having a strong oxidative effect have been developed. Examples of such ferric chelates of aminopolycarboxylic acid which have been developed include ferric complexes of 1,3-propanediaminetetraacetate (e.g., 1,3-PDTA-Fe(III)), and ferric complexes of glycoletherdiaminetetraacetate (e.g., GEDTA-Fe(III)).
However, it has been known that when the color development step using an aromatic primary amine color developing agent is followed by a processing step in a bleaching bath or blixing bath containing such a strong oxidizing agent, a great disadvantage takes place that the color developing agent which has been carried over with the film is oxidized and then reacts with a coupler to cause a remarkable color stain called bleaching fog (see James, The Theory of Photographic Process) which prevents the expedition of bleaching.
In order to avoid disadvantage, the color development step can be followed by a stopping or rinsing step where the developing agent is removed from the film which is then subjected to bleaching or blixing. However, this approach is disadvantageous in that the increase in the number of processing baths makes it impossible to accomplish the original object, i.e., reduction in the processing time.
Furthermore, it has been made clear that the short time processing in such a bleaching or blixing bath causes another trouble, i.e., drastic increase in stain during the storage of processed color light-sensitive materials.
As an approach for solving such bleaching fog or increase in stain, a processing method is disclosed in JP-A-1-213657 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") which comprises the reduction of the pH value of the bleaching solution to 2.5 to 4.2. A similar embodiment is C-41RA, which is a commonly used color negative film processing agent (bleaching solution with a pH value of 4.3 containing acetic acid) published by Eastman Codak in 1988. These approaches leave to be desired in the solution of the above mentioned disadvantages. It has also been made clear that these approaches are disadvantageous in that the evaporation of acetic acid used for the reduction in pH deteriorates the atmosphere or causes corrosion or deterioration of peripheral equipment and apparatus.

Method for processing silver halide color photographic material using composition having a bleaching ability


A measurement device for measuring activity of the spinal cord of a vertebrate. The device includes at least one main probe (1) shaped to be fastened to a spinous process (2) of a vertebra (3) and to hold in position on opposite sides of the vertebra at least one emitter (6) for emitting a wave capable of interacting with the spinal cord (7) and at least one associated receiver (8) for receiving the wave that has interacted with the spinal cord and for generating a signal representative of the activity of the spinal cord.

A motor action results from a set of energetic processes leading a nerve signal via the spinal cord to effector organs. A partial or total lesion of the spinal cord leads to a degeneration of the nerve pathways that can no longer transmit signals to the spinal neurons beyond the lesion, which can lead to paralysis and also to an interruption of the upward pathways towards the brain, thereby leading to an abolition of sensation.
Understanding the mechanisms for conveying nerve signals along the spinal column is necessary in order to develop the most effective possible therapeutic treatments.
It is known that variability in the distribution of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb) can be observed from the blood vessels and capillaries irrigating the neural regions of the cortex and of the spinal column during cognitive or motor activity.
By relying on an optical imaging device that enables these variations in blood volume and oxygenation to be detected, it has been possible to study the neural tissues of the brain. Nevertheless, the technology used is of too great a size to be placed on some other portion of the body or to be implanted continuously in a vertebrate. Whereas trepanation suffices to gain access to brain tissue, gaining access to medullary tissue is more difficult and requires a laminectomy. Finally, the known optical imaging device mainly comprises optical fibers, and such fibers are difficult to use in the spinal cord since their shape makes it difficult for them to be integrated in simple manner in order to measure the hemodynamic response.
At present, the main means for studying the spinal cord as a whole thus remains magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which enables the cord to be viewed and medullary tissues to be analyzed. Nevertheless, such study remains external, and neural activity perceived in the medullary tissues is scrambled and difficult to interpret from one patient to another.

Device for measuring the activity of the spinal cord of a vertebra

UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE (PARIS 6)


A method for processing an application is applied to a terminal including a main space occupied by a main system and a clone space occupied by a clone system. The method includes: acquiring a cross-space processing instruction sent by a first system in a first space is acquired; and performing corresponding processing on a target application in a second space based on the cross-space processing instruction, wherein the first space is the main space and the second space is the clone space, or the first space is the clone space and the second space is the main space.

Some intelligent terminals, for example, a mobile phone, have a clone function. After the clone function is turned on, an intelligent terminal includes a main system and a clone system. The clone system is a virtual system environment divided from the intelligent terminal and with an independent user space. A space occupied by the main system is referred to as a main space, and a space occupied by the clone system is referred to as a clone space. The main space and the clone space are mutually independent. Different desktop passwords may be required to enter a main space desktop and a clone space desktop.
In related art, when a user intends to install an application (App) into a space that is not used at present, a desktop password corresponding to the space needs to be entered to trigger a terminal to enter the space desktop and use the space. Then the user may execute a program installation operation to install the App into the space. However, such App installation operations may be complicated and have low installation efficiency.

Method and device for processing an application

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


Methods for writing include applying a current pulse to a racetrack memory medium to position a domain in proximity to a thermally triggered magnon source in contact with the racetrack memory medium; activating a heat source/sink in contact with the magnon source to create a thermal gradient in the magnon source, generating a magnon flow in the magnon source; and changing a magnetization in the racetrack memory medium by spin torque transfer from the magnon flow.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to memory devices and, more particularly, to writing magnetic domains to racetrack memory using heating or cooling to generate magnons.
2. Description of the Related Art
Racetrack memory offers high storage densities and high read/write performance by encoding data in walls between magnetic domains along a nanowire. Stored domains are pushed through the memory using a spin-coherent electric current, which moves all domain walls in a consistent direction, regardless of the direction of its particular magnetization.
The injection of domain walls into a magnetic nanowire at specific locations conventionally is accomplished using magnetic fields applied by adjacent current-carrying wires. Such wires are usually disposed perpendicular to the magnetic nanowire. This method of injection uses large currents to generate the necessary magnetic field, which necessitates the use of large amounts of power and large on-chip transistors.
Another injection method uses spin-torque transfer from a spin-polarized current passing from a second ferromagnetic conductor into the magnetic nanowire through a non-magnetic, insulating tunnel barrier. This method injects domains by flipping the magnetization of the nanowire locally. This method also uses relatively large currents and is furthermore susceptible to breakdown of the insulating tunnel barrier between the magnetic nanowire and the ferromagnetic conductor.

International Business Machines Corporation


A fluidic stablilizer with remote control having every portion of the circuit which connects the housing and the remote control valve within a range that will permit fluid placed in the circuit to flow freely at high speed but that will also create the fluid pressure necessary for effective damping. Furthermore, the cross-sectional area for every portion of the circuit is maintained within such range, preferably by constructing all portions of the circuit between the housing and the remote control valve with stainless steel braided line. And an attachment structure combined with a depression in the bottom of the rotatable wiper contained within the housing except with an aperture exposing the bottom of the rotatable wiper to the outside facilitates mounted the housing below the handlebars of a vehicle since the depression is constructed with such dimensions as to accommodate a stem nut at the top of a steering shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device that uses a fluid to dampen a force which tends to move the plane of rotation of a steerable wheel or wheels of a vehicle having a shaft used to steer such wheel or wheels away from being generally parallel to the frame of such vehicle. It also relates to such a device for any steering mechanism, such as a ski of a snowmobile or the exhaust jet of a personal watercraft, that uses a shaft or the like and a handlebar or the like in the steering process. For convenience, the term "motorcycle" will be used herein; this term includes, though, not only a traditional motorcycle but also any vehicle using a steering mechanism as discussed in the preceding sentence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dampening devices of the type subject to the present invention are those which contain a rotatable wiper in a housing having a channel (or circuit) running from a portion of the housing on or near a first side of the wiper to a portion of the housing on or near a second side of the wiper so that when the housing is filled with fluid, as the wiper is moved, it forces fluid through the channel (or circuit). Such devices are herein termed either dampeners or stabilizers with the two terms being considered synonymous with one another.
Examples of such devices are those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,773,514; 6,401,884; U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/166,498; and 10/801,626.
Generally, some form of valve is placed within the channel (or circuit) in order to control the degree of dampening. This is usually accomplished by varying the effective cross-sectional area of the channel (or circuit).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519, the application for which was filed on Sep. 9, 2002, utilizes at least two channels (or circuits) to control the degree of dampening. The first such channel (or circuit) employs the type of valve first described and claimed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/166,498. In lines 39 through 41 of column 3, U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519 explains, "The adjustment is 'progressive' in that no flow stoppage occurs between different positions of the valve." This valve 27 is shown in FIG. 5 to have a shaft with a continuous indentation cut around the shaft in such a manner that for a first area there is no cut in the shaft and then the indentation commences and becomes increasingly deeper as it progresses around the shaft until the continuous indentation stops upon reaching the first area.
The second channel and the second valve 28 are never disclosed or claimed to exist without the first channel and its valve 27. Lines 21 through 24 in column 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519 explain, "Manual adjustment of resistance to fluid flow through a second circuit is effected by a manually manipulated progressive valve 28 positioned near a hand grip 16 on the handlebar 15."
Lines 25 through 29 of column 3 further provide, "Communication with the two sides of chamber 19 is provided by a pair of ports 29 and 31 drilled in the lower face of cover member 22 . . . These ports allow for flow of hydraulic fluid in and out of chamber 19 through each of the hydraulic circuits provided in the damper."
And lines 42 through 51 of column 3 complete the description of the second channel (or circuit) and valve 28: "A second hydraulic circuit communicating with ports 29 and 31 is provided by hoses 34 communicating with cover member 22 and progressive valve 28. The construction of valve 28 is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 and comprises a thumb or finger handle 35 for turning a stem 36 having a bore 37 therethrough for selectively adjusting the resistance to fluid flow through a passage 38 in the body of valve 28 which connects the hoses 34. The stem 36 of valve 28 can be turned from closed to full open of passage 38 to reduce resistance to fluid flow and reduce dampening."
Three factors appear to the present inventor to dictate that the second circuit and the second valve 28 in the Steering Damper of U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519 are neither disclosed nor claimed to exist apart from the first circuit and the first valve 27.
The first, and one of the two more significant factors, is that when a valve remote from the housing of the dampener is utilized to control degree of dampening, it is crucial to select a range for the internal diameter for every portion of the circuit (As utilized herein, the term "circuit" designates each and every aperture, port, channel, passage, tube, line, hose, or the like that is used in order to connect a valve to the interior chamber of the housing for a dampener and, thus, to permit fluid communication between such interior chamber and such valve.) in which the fluid flows (other than the control valve, itself) that will permit the fluid to flow freely at high speed but that will also create the fluid pressure necessary for effective dampening; but within U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519 there is no discussion of such internal diameters.
The second factor, which is closely related to the first, is that the circuit between the housing of the dampener and the remote valve must be constructed so that it maintains its internal diameter within the crucial range discussed in the preceding paragraph, but U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,519 does not deal with this matter.
Third, the quoted description of the remote valve 28 above is a construction creating great difficulty in selecting and maintaining a desired setting other than on or off.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/166,498, filed on Jun. 10, 2002, discloses a valve to be inserted into a channel (or circuit) of a dampener for controlling the degree of dampening wherein a continuous indentation is cut around a shaft in such a manner that for a first area there is no cut in the shaft and then the indentation commences and becomes increasingly deeper as it progresses around the shaft until the continuous indentation stops upon reaching the first area.
And U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/801,626 includes a dampener which is designed for installation below the handlebars of a motorcycle, although it does not have a wiper in the housing with such wiper having a depression in its bottom to accommodate the stem nut which holds the top of the steering shaft that permits the motorcycle wheel to move left and right.


A gradient index optical element for use in optical lens such as a camera or microscope is disclosed. The optical element comprises at least one of first metal dopants selected from La, Zr, Sn, In, Y, Ge, Zn, Ba, Ca, As, Sr, Ga and Gd distributed in solvent with a slope, and at least one of second metal dopants selected from Nb, Ta, Ti, Bi, Pb, Sb, Zr, Sn, In, Y and Tl, which is distributed equally in the solvent so as to satisfy following equation as absolute amount; EQU .vertline..DELTA.C.sub.f /.DELTA.C.sub.g .vertline..multidot.100.ltoreq.5. wherein .DELTA.C.sub.g is a difference between maximum value and minimum value of equivalent value of metal oxides of the first metal doping and .DELTA.C.sub.f is a difference between maximum value and minimum value of equivalent value of metal oxides of the second metal doping.

The present invention relates to a gradient index optical element applicable to an optical lens such as a camera, a microscope or the like.
Such a gradient index optical element has a power (refractive power) in its medium by imparting a distribution of a refractive index to the medium. This power is determined by the refractive index distribution, so that in order to make the power large, the absolute value .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline. of a difference .DELTA.n in the refractive index n must be made large. Heretofore, many attempts of making the absolute value .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline. large have been done by many searchers. For example, an optical element which is commercially available under the name of SELFOC lens (Trade name) has a large absolute value .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline. by imparting a concentration gradient of Tl to the medium by ion exchange. Also, a lens of .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline..apprxeq.0.059 was obtained by imparting a concentration gradient of Ag to the medium by a double ion exchange method (Applied Optics, vol. 27, no. 3 (1988) p.496). Moreover, a lens of .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline..apprxeq.0.04 was obtained by imparting a concentration gradient of Pb and K to the medium by the sol-gel method (J.Non-cry.sol.100, 506, 1988). Finally, a lens of .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline..apprxeq.0.03 was obtained by imparting a concentration gradient of Ti or Ge to the medium by the sol-gel method (Elect.Lett.22, 99 (1986), Elect.Lett.22, 1108 (1986)).
However, the developments in the gradient index optical element up to the present have mainly involved an approach resulting in increasing the absolute value .vertline..DELTA.n.vertline., but measures to decrease the chromatic aberration possessed by the optical elements themselves have lagged behind. In designing optical elements, it is possible to drastically decrease the number of lenses constructing the optical system for a lens system of a camera by using the excellent aberration correction ability of the gradient index optical element, but there is an inconsistency that the chromatic aberration correction of the lens system becomes more difficult as the number of the lenses decreases. In order make a lens system in which the number of lenses is small and the chromatic aberration is corrected, it is important to decrease the chromatic aberration itself generated in each lens. Therefore, the following properties are desired for the medium of a gradient refractive index optical element.
In a radial gradient refractive index optical element, the refractive index of the medium differs depending on the position through which a light beam is passing (the distance from the axis), and also the refractive index of the light beam differs. The Abbe number .upsilon..sub.d of the medium may be designated by .upsilon..sub.d =(n.sub.d -1)/(n.sub.F -n.sub.C). If this Abbe number .upsilon..sub.d is constant from the above equation, the dispersion (n.sub.F -n.sub.C) increases as the refractive index n.sub.d increases. Therefore, in order to prevent the chromatic aberration from increasing for an increase of refractive index, it is necessary to increase the Abbe number .upsilon..sub.d as the refractive index n.sub.d is increased (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 141,302/91). That is, it is desirable to obtain an optical element having a gradient of concentration distribution in the direction A on the n.sub.d -.upsilon..sub.d graph shown in FIG. 5.
The gradient index optical element is then obtained by imparting a gradient of refractive index to the medium on the basis of a gradient of concentration of metal oxide in a glass. The optical property of the glass is determined by its oxide composition. For glass having as its principal component SiO.sub.2, metal oxides except for Si have a high refractive index as compared with SiO.sub.2 glass, and dispersion becomes large (that is, the Abbe number becomes small), so that if a gradient index optical element is obtained by imparting a concentration gradient to these metal dopants, only the gradient index optical element having a gradient of concentration distribution in the direction B on the n.sub.d -.upsilon..sub.d graph shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 141,302/91 discloses a gradient index optical element obtained by imparting concentration distributions in opposite directions to each other to the medium with the use of two or more metals, in which the concentration distribution property may be variously changed. However, it is difficult to obtain the gradient index optical element, since the above method of imparting concentration distributions of two metals in opposite directions to each other is limited. That is, heretofore, it is difficult to obtain the optical element having optical properties in the direction A on the n.sub.d -.upsilon..sub.d graph shown in FIG. 5 and desired in the designing of optical devices at the point of material production.


A routing protocol unit (11) of each node (1) in a delay tolerant network calculates the probability of distribution to the destination node based on the log of end-to-end paths to the destination node from the past to the present registered in a routing table (12). A DTN forward unit (13) of a source node determines a next hop node to be used to forward forwarding data, based on the calculated distribution probability of each node with respect to the destination node.

A delay tolerant network (DTN) having a function of temporarily storing forwarding data instead of immediately forwarding it to a next hop is a network system capable of highly reliable end-to-end distribution of data contents even when the node-to-node connection is unstable and unreliable such as in a wireless ad-hoc network or satellite network.
This DTN divides forwarding data into unit sizes called bundles, and forwards each bundle to the destination. The most significant feature of the DTN is that even when the path of a bundle to be forwarded to the destination is unknown, the DTN does not discard the bundle but stores it and waits until the next hop to be forwarded is found. Even when end-to-end paths from the source to the destination do not simultaneously exist, therefore, the above operation makes it possible to forward a bundle to an intermediate node, and resume the forward of the bundle when the paths to the destination are found after that. This effectively increases the transport factor with respect to the destinations.
Accordingly, the routing method of the DTN differs from the general IP routing that finds end-to-end paths from the source to the destination.
An example of the routing method of the DTN is described in, e.g., "Anders Lindgren, Avri Doria, Olv Schelen, 'Probabilistic Routing in Intermittently Connected Networks', In Proceedings of The First International Workshop on Service Assurance with Partial and Intermittent Resources (SAPIR 2004); August 2004, Fortaleza, Brazil". This reference explains a method called PROPHET. PROPHET performs routing based on the probability of distribution to the destination. More specifically, when node B is adjacent to node A, node A updates a distribution probability P_i with respect to node B byP—i=P_(i−1)+(1−P_(i−1))×P_init (0<P_init<1)  (1)where P_(i−1) is the distribution probability of node A with respect to node B before update, and P_init is an initialization constant.
If a state in which nodes A and B are not adjacent to each other continues, the distribution probability is gradually decreased as it is periodically updated by a method called aging in accordance withP—i=P_(i−1)×γ^k(0<γ<1)  (2)where γ is the number of times of the elapse of a unit time since nodes A and B are adjacent to each other lastly.
When a node has a bundle addressed to a certain node, the node exchanges the distribution probability P_i with respect to the destination node with adjacent nodes, and forwards the bundle to an adjacent node having the highest distribution probability. If the distribution probability of an adjacent node with respect to the destination node is lower than its own distribution probability with respect to the destination node, the node keeps holding the bundle without forwarding it to the adjacent node.
As described above, PROPHET performs routing by comparing the distribution probabilities with respect to the destination node calculated based on an adjacency log.


This application provides a data transmission method and system, an apparatus, and belongs to the field of communications technologies. The method is applied to a terminal, a wireless link is established between the terminal and an access control point device, a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection is established between the terminal and a server, and the wireless link is used to bear the TCP connection. The method includes: determining, by the terminal, link state information of the wireless link by using a link layer, and sending the link state information from the link layer to a transport layer. The method also includes: sending, by the terminal to the server by using the transport layer, a link notification corresponding to the link state information. In this application, data transmission efficiency can be improved.

With development of computer technologies and network technologies, more and more intelligent terminals use a wireless technology to access a network. A manner in which the intelligent terminal uses the wireless technology to access the network is as follows. A wireless connection is established between the intelligent terminal and an access control point device (such as a router). Because the access control point device has accessed the network, after the wireless connection is established between the intelligent device and the access control point device, the intelligent device accesses the network, to transmit data to a server on a network side.
After the intelligent terminal accesses the network by using the wireless technology, when a data packet is transmitted between the server (hereinafter referred to as a transmit end) and the intelligent terminal (hereinafter referred to as a receive end), a transmission control protocol (TCP) is generally used to transmit data between the transmit end and the receive end, to ensure that the receive end can reliably receive a data packet sent by the transmit end. The TCP is a reliable, connection-oriented, and byte-stream transport layer communications protocol. Before transmitting data by using the TCP, the transmit end and the receive end need to establish a TCP connection by using a three-way handshake. In addition, when data is transmitted by using the TCP, after receiving a data packet, the receive end feeds back an acknowledgement (ACK) packet to the transmit end. If the transmit end determines that the receive end does not feedback an ACK packet corresponding to a data packet, the transmit end retransmits the data packet. In this way, the receive end can reliably receive the data packet.
The transmit end only transmits the data packet to the receive end, and receives the ACK packet fed back from the receive end. The transmit end does not know a link state between the receive end and the access control point device. In this way, when the transmit end transmits a data packet to the receive end, the data packet might not be transmitted based on the link state between the receive end and the access control point device, thereby causing relatively low data packet transmission efficiency.

Data transmission method and system, and apparatus


An activated carbon composition is disclosed, which includes an activated carbon and a carboxylic acid containing compound. The activated carbon composition is prepared by immersing an activated carbon in an aqueous solution of a carboxylic acid containing compound. The activated carbon composition is used for purifying aqueous solutions by providing a bed of the activated carbon composition and passing the aqueous solution through the bed of the activated carbon composition. The aqueous solution is passed through the bed such that the flow of the aqueous solution to be purified into the bed and the flow of purified aqueous solution from the bed has a pH differential less than ±1 pH.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to activated carbon used to treat aqueous systems. More specifically, this invention relates to activated carbon that has been modified to control pH and alkalinity excursions during the start-up phase of activated carbon aqueous adsorption systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Activated carbon has been a technically and economically successful material for treating aqueous systems. However, when starting up activated carbon aqueous treatment systems, it is typical to experience unacceptable increases in the pH and/or alkalinity of the effluent. These unacceptable levels of pH or alkalinity can last from several hours to several days. When these excursions occur, the treated water does not meet the standards for distribution to the customer or discharge to the environment. This problem can lead to a significant loss in production, environmental problems, or expensive remedial actions.
The pH/alkalinity excursion phenomenon has been found to occur for various types of water treatment applications such as municipal water, industrial process water, ground water, and home water filter applications. It has been found to exist using various types of activated carbons such as those produced from bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, wood, coconut or peat feedstocks.
The presence of these pH/alkalinity excursions has been a recurring problem throughout the industry for many years. Notwithstanding the productivity losses associated with these excursions, little has been done to overcome or alleviate the problem. pH/alkalinity excursions have been largely tolerated because no solution was known to exist outside of processes detailed in a select group of patents. Because of the growing concern for the environmental problems associated with these excursions as well as the economic losses, it would be desirable to provide another method for preventing or eliminating them.
An example of activated carbon used to treat aqueous systems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,164 to Gay. Gay discloses oxidized activated carbon, which is used to remove aromatic compounds from aqueous solutions. The oxidized activated carbon is produced by contacting activated carbon with an acidic oxidizing agent such as permanganate, nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide.
Activated carbon, when first put "on-line" in water service, acts as an ion exchange medium on its surface and causes the pH of the outlet water to rise for up to several hundred or thousands of bed volumes. The problem is currently being addressed by methods such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,433 to Farmer et al. Farmer discloses a wet activated carbon that has been treated with carbon dioxide, which is optionally followed by treatment by air. The treated wet activated carbon modifies the initial contact pH of the aqueous system such that it is less than about 9.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,738 and 5,466,378 to Dussert et al. disclose an oxidized activated carbon having a contact pH between 7.1 and 8.2 for use in aqueous treatment systems. The oxidized activated carbon minimizes pH and alkalinity excursions during start-up of the system.