An interior unit includes a discharge water passage communicating with a drainage port and having a first space portion in which water inside an air conditioning casing flows down from a guide opening portion, and an upward wall portion and a downward wall portion which constitute a partition wall separating between the discharge water passage and a second space portion adjacent to the discharge water passage and preventing the water falling in the discharge water passage from flowing into the second space portion. A prevention wall extending upward from a bottom wall portion in the second space portion is provided, and an upper end of the prevention wall is higher than a position of a fixation portion in which the first casing member and the second casing member are fixed with each other.

In Patent Document 1, a vehicle air conditioner is described, in which condensed water is prevented from leaking from between separation surfaces of a right-left separated-type air conditioning casing is prevented, and a condensed-water discharging performance is improved. The vehicle air conditioner includes an evaporator disposed in an interior part, and an air conditioning casing in which a first casing and a second casing are connected. The first casing includes a main drainage flow passage, and a first condensed-water discharge passage leading to the main drainage flow passage. The second casing includes an auxiliary drainage flow passage, and a second condensed-water discharge passage leading to the auxiliary drainage flow passage. A bottom surface of the first casing and/or a bottom surface of the second casing have a condensed-water discharge port through which condensed water generated in the evaporator flows to the main drainage flow passage and/or the auxiliary drainage flow passage.
In a vehicle air conditioner of the above-described Patent Document 1, both the first casing and the second casing have the condensed-water discharge passage. Hence, water on the bottom surface the air conditioning casing is discharged from the first condensed-water discharge passage to an exterior part of the air conditioning casing through the condensed-water discharge port and the main drainage flow passage, or is discharged from the second condensed-water discharge passage to the exterior part of the air conditioning casing through the condensed-water discharge port, the main drainage flow passage and the auxiliary drainage flow passage. In other words, a structure capable of discharging the water from both of the condensed-water discharge passages is provided.

Vehicle air conditioner having a drainage port


A system for defrosting an air-to-air heat pump system is disclosed. A bypass loop transfers refrigerant at a higher temperature and pressure than is normally cycled through the outdoor unit to an outdoor coil to defrost ice on the outdoor coil. The bypass loop includes a valve movable between closed and open positions. A sensor monitors a preselected condition indicative of outdoor coil performance. A controller communicates with the valve and the sensor. Once the controller determines that a preselected set point of a preselected condition indicative of deteriorating performance has been reached, the controller sends a signal to open the valve, allowing warm refrigerant to bypass expansion valves and flow to the outdoor unit to defrost the outdoor unit. Once defrosting is accomplished, the valve can be moved to a closed position to resume normal operation of the heat pump unit.

Air-to-air heat pump systems are heat moving devices used in residential and commercial applications. Heat is absorbed in an evaporator in a first location and released in a condenser in a second location. The systems are designed so that operations can be reversed so that an area can be either cooled or heated. Thus, on reversal of the heat flow direction, the evaporator at the first location becomes a condenser; and the condenser at the second location becomes an evaporator.
During the heating cycle, the outdoor unit acts as an evaporator and the indoor unit acts as a condenser. Moisture from the outdoor air will condense on the outdoor coil. As the ambient temperature decreases below about 45° F., the outdoor coil temperature will rapidly approach 32° F. or lower, causing the condensed moisture to turn to ice. The ice restricts the airflow across the coil, which in turn affects the ability of the evaporator to efficiently perform its function of absorbing heat from the ambient air as the refrigerant fluid undergoes a phase change when at least a portion of the refrigerant fluid is converted from a liquid state into a gaseous state. The formation of the ice thus reduces the performance or efficiency of the heat pump system. In order to restore performance, the system will enter an evaporator defrosting cycle. The defrosting cycle on some heat pumps begins with a timed period of supplemental electric heat applied to the frosted or iced coil by de-icing electric heating elements. Also in common use today are defrost controls. These are based upon temperature differentials, pressure differentials or a combined time/temperature differential. These units reverse the operation of the heat pump so that the flow of hot refrigerant is reversed, flowing in the opposite direction than required for heating, that is, flowing directly from the compressor to the outdoor unit in order to heat the outdoor unit. There are many variations of how this is accomplished. One such device is described in Trask, U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,838 issued Jul. 4, 1989. However, while the unit is in such a defrost cycle, it is not providing heat as the refrigerant flow is in the direction for cooling. If there is still a heat demand required in the space being heated, the heat demand typically is satisfied with supplemental electric resistance heat, which is expensive in comparison to the cost of running a heat pump.
Different bypass methods and apparatus for defrosting or de-icing have been taught. McCarty, U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,950 issued Jun. 26, 1979, discloses a bypass arrangement in which defrosting is accomplished by refrigerant after the compressor has stopped operation and any pressure differential within the system is equalized. Thus, operation of the heat pump system cannot be accomplished during the de-ice cycle and auxiliary heat solely must be relied upon to heat any designated areas during the de-icing operation.
In Chrostowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,851 issued Jun. 28, 1983, a combination of reverse and nonreverse defrost is utilized to de-ice the heat exchanger. During de-icing, a three way valve directs gas from the compressor to an outdoor coil. The only heat exchange path during the defrost mode is from the compressor to the outdoor unit. A valve closes to prevent the flow of refrigerant between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. This valve and a reversing valve isolate the indoor unit from the outdoor unit as refrigerant from the compressor defrosts the outdoor coil.
Bonne, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,335, issued Apr. 10, 1984, is similar to Chrostowski et al. in that the bypass arrangement moves discharge refrigerant from the compressor directly to the outdoor coil. In addition to utilizing a plurality of three way valves to direct the flow of the refrigerant, Bonne provides no circuit between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit in which the refrigerant is not first required to pass through an expansion valve, thereby lowering its pressure.
Sato et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,214 issued May 28, 1985, utilizes a branch circuit for the defrost cycle that passes hot compressor refrigerant through the outdoor unit to de-ice the outdoor coil. However, to accomplish this task, the cycle is first reversed, thereby causing the air-to air heat pump to be placed into the cooling mode and converting the outdoor unit into a condenser. The refrigerant fluid passes through the outdoor coil/condenser and back to the compressor until defrost is accomplished.
Aoki et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,709 issued Aug. 2, 1988, utilizes a five-way valve to direct a portion of hot refrigerant gas from the compressor to the outdoor unit to accomplish defrost of the outdoor unit, while continuing a flow of the remaining refrigerant from the compressor to the indoor unit so that the heat pump can continue to provide heat during the defrost cycle. After the refrigerant leaves the indoor unit, it passes to the outdoor unit/evaporator through an expansion valve in the usual manner. There is no other connection or branch between the indoor and outdoor unit.
An arrangement of utilizing refrigerant leaving the indoor unit and indoor coil for a defrost/de-ice cycle would be effective in making use of relatively high pressure refrigerant having a temperature significantly higher than that of the outdoor ambient temperature or the outdoor coil. Such an arrangement would not seriously impact the heating functions of the air-to-air heat pump and would eliminate the need to reverse the operation of the heat pump. It would also eliminate or reduce the need to rely on supplemental auxiliary heat during the defrost cycle. A simple arrangement that utilizes minimal and readily available equipment is desirable to keep manufacturing costs low. Furthermore, a unit having predetermined set points that can be changed simply by a user is also desirable to increase the flexibility of the system as a result of the environment in which it is installed.

Air-to-air heat pump defrost bypass loop


A new variety of Chrysanthemum plant named xe2x80x98Mega Time Rose,xe2x80x99 having a good uniform canopy of pink single flowers and a light green disc. The new variety has a medium tall vigor, free branching, uniform spreading habit and good foliage presentation.

Latin name of the genus and species: Botanical classification: Chrysanthemum morifolium.
Variety denomination: The new Chrysanthemum variety denomination is xe2x80x98Mega Time Rose.xe2x80x99
The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum botanically known as Chrysanthemum morifolium, and referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Mega Time Rose.xe2x80x99
xe2x80x98Mega Time Rose,xe2x80x99 identified as 20929-12, originated from a whole plant mutation grown in a controlled planting of the unpatented variety in xe2x80x98Mega Timexe2x80x99 in Vinnetrow Road, Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom. The new variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 has been asexually reproduced by vegetative cuttings in Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom, and the distinguishing characteristics are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 is a pot type of Chrysanthemum plant variety having pink single flowers and a light green disc.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 are similar to the parent cultivar xe2x80x98Mega Timexe2x80x99 in plant habitat and growth rate. In side-by-side comparisons in Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom, under commercial practice, plants of the new Chrysanthemum variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 compared to the plants of the parent cultivar xe2x80x98Mega Timexe2x80x99 in the following characteristics.
1. The new variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 produces pink flowers whereas the parent cultivar xe2x80x98Mega Timexe2x80x99 produces light pink flowers.
2. Plants of the new variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 have similar inflorescence to the plants of the parent cultivar xe2x80x98Mega Time.xe2x80x99
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 are similar to the unpatented cultivar xe2x80x98Irvinexe2x80x99 in plant habit and growth rate. However in side-by-side comparisons in Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom, under commercial practice, plants of the new Chrysanthemum variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 differed from plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Irvinexe2x80x99 in the following characteristics.
1. The new variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 produces pink single flowers whereas the cultivar xe2x80x98Irvinexe2x80x99 produces dark pink flowers.
2. Plants of the new variety xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99 have larger and taller inflorescence than plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98Irvinexe2x80x99.

Chrysanthemum plant named xe2x80x98Mega Time Rosexe2x80x99


An acoustic damper for a rotary machine includes at least one wall, at least one inlet, at least one outlet, at least one separating wall, and at least one neck. The wall extends from the back side of a combustor front panel and defines a damping chamber. The inlet is defined within the wall and is oriented to channel a flow of air into the damping chamber. The outlet is defined within the back side of the front panel. The separating wall is oriented to separate the damping chamber into a first volume and a second volume. The first volume of the damping chamber is configured to damp an acoustic pressure oscillation at a first frequency. The second volume of the damping chamber is configured to damp the acoustic pressure oscillation at a second frequency. The neck extends through the separating wall and is axially offset from the outlet.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to Helmholtz dampers used to damp combustion instabilities within gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines typically include at least one compressor, at least one combustor, and at least one turbine arranged in a serial flow configuration. Typically, the compressor channels compressed air to the combustor where it is mixed with a flow of fuel and combusted, creating a high temperature flow of combustion gas that is channeled to the turbine. However, combustion within at least some combustors may be unstable. Specifically, the heat released during combustion, when combined with the increased pressure caused by combustion, flow disturbances and the acoustics of the system, may cause acoustic pressure oscillations to develop within the combustor.
Within known combustors, the acoustic pressure oscillations typically occur during normal operating conditions and may depend on a fuel-to-air stoichiometry within the combustor, a total mass flow within the combustor, and/or other operating conditions. Over time, the acoustic pressure oscillations may cause equipment damage or other operational problems. To facilitate removing the effect of the pressure oscillation, at least some combustors include at least one acoustic damper, which can take the form of a quarter wave tube, a Helmholtz damper or a perforated screen, that absorbs the acoustic pressure oscillations reducing their amplitude. The acoustic pressure oscillations may have a plurality of frequencies. However, the volume and neck dimensions of Helmholtz dampers are designed to damp acoustic pressure oscillations at one target frequency, and, as such, two different acoustic dampers are required to damp acoustic pressure oscillations featuring two frequencies.

System and method for acoustic dampers with multiple volumes in a combustion chamber front panel


A prefabricated joint is employed for the prosthetic joint. The joint includes prefabricated socket, ball, and capsule. The capsule is attached from the ball to the socket. The capsule seals the area between the ball and socket and prevents wear debris from entering the body cavity. In the case of the hip joint, the doctor need only attach the prefabricated unit to the femoral unit to connect the prosthetic joint after the prefabricated unit and femoral unit have been placed into the acetabular and femur, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a prosthetic joint and, more particularly, to a prosthetic hip joint which prevents particulate debris generated from the joint from entering the body cavity and prevents debris from the body cavity entering the joint.
2. Art Relating to the Invention
Prosthetic joints are well-known devices and, in the case of a hip joint, comprise an acetabular component which is affixed to the acetabulum, i.e. hip bone, and a femoral component, affixed to the femur bone. The acetabular component comprises a socket which is affixed to the acetabulum and a ball that rotates within the socket. The femoral component comprises a stem which is affixed to the femur and a neck which is affixed to the ball. Typically, the socket is divided between an outer cup that faces the acetabulum and an inner cup that faces the ball. The inner cup of such joints is typically made of polyethylene while the outer cup is made of a metal alloy or a ceramic material. The ball is made of a metal, metal alloy or ceramic material.
One of the problems associated with prosthetic joints is wear debris, namely polyethylene wear debris generated from the interface between the ball and the socket and the interface between the inner cup and the outer cup. This wear debris finds its way into the human cavity and causes inflammation. Inflammation can cause bone destruction as well as weakening of the bond between the prosthesis and the bone.
Another problem is body debris generated from the body cavity finding its way into the joint and interfering with the joint. Body debris such as bone pieces can find their way into the joint and cause excessive wear or damage to the joint.
To prevent debris from leaving the junction between the outer cup and the acetabulum and the junction between the stem and the femur, it has been suggested that a barrier or capsule be placed over each of these junctions, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,900. It has also been suggested that a barrier or capsule extend over only the junction between the stem and the femur bone, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,899,942 and 6,132,470.
For preventing debris from leaving the interface of the ball and the socket, it has been suggested to employ a flexible capsule which extends from the ball where it affixes to the stem to the outside of the socket where it is affixed to the hip bone, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,739,403; 4,731,088; 4,822,368; 5,514,182; 5,702,483; and 5,755,807.
Typically, a prosthetic hip joint comes in different size sockets, balls and stems, all of which are separate and all of which are selected and assembled by the doctor during the replacement operation. The selection is based on the size of the patient.
Typically, the doctor, during the operation performs the following steps in sequential order: selects an inner cup, an outer cup, a ball and a stem; affixes the outer cup to the hip bone; affixes the inner cup to the outer cup; affixes the stem to the femur; affixes the ball to the stem; and finally, places the ball in the socket. If a capsule is used, the capsule is set in place at the very end.
As will be appreciated, so many different sized parts which must be assembled during the operation increase the duration and complexity of the operation. Also, because the capsule is affixed at the end of the assembly, it may not be strongly adhered.
It has now been discovered that debris contamination problems can be solved by employing a preformed ball and socket with a capsule already attached thereto. Such a preformed unit is assembled at the factory rather than by the doctor in the operating room.
Additionally, by employing an already preformed encapsulated ball and socket, the time and complexity of the operation is also reduced.
Such a preformed acetabular component comprising a ball-socket-capsule unit means that the manufacturer makes the preformed unit with different sized sockets and different sized balls. Thus, the doctor need only size the socket and the stem to the patient""s bone structure. The step of assembling the socket, matching the ball and the socket and affixing the capsule between the ball and the socket has already been performed by the factory. This increases the strength of the bond between the capsule and the ball and socket as well as simplifies the overall operation.
Broadly, the present invention is an improvement in a prosthetic hip joint, wherein the improvement comprises:
a preformed acetabular component comprising:
(1) a socket adapted for attachment to an acetabulum;
(2) a ball with a first attachment member, said ball rotatably positioned within said socket, said first attachment member facing outward away from said socket; and
(3) a flexible joint capsule attached to said ball adjacent said first attachment member and to said socket, said capsule preventing wear debris from escaping from a joint between said ball and socket and preventing body debris from entering said joint and said capsule attached to said socket so as to avoid interference between the attachment of said socket to said acetabulum.
In the case of total hip replacement, the present invention further comprises:
a femoral component having a stem for attachment to a femur, and a second attachment member that mates with said first attachment member wherein said preformed acetabular component is attached to said femoral component by mating said first and second attachment members. Preferably, the mating of the first and second attachment members occurs after said preformed acetabular component has been affixed to an acetabulum and said femoral component has been affixed to a femur.
The capsule isolates the joint cavity and prevents debris from the ball and socket from entering the body cavity. Also, the capsule prevents body debris from entering the joint and causing damage to the joint.
Also, because the capsule is formed on the ball and socket in the factory rather than in the operating room, a very strong seal is made between the capsule and the ball and socket. As such, it provides strength to the ball and socket joint itself, thereby helping to prevent dislocation of the joint itself.
Also, the capsule can prevent body debris such as body fragments (like the ones which are produced during surgery), or cement debris, or metal debris from entering the ball and socket interface. It is known that if polyethylene is used to make the inner cup and the inner cup is scratched by such body debris, wear of polyethylene will progress faster than normal.
Furthermore, the space defined by the capsule and the ball and socket can be filled with different types of fluids to promote ease of movement between the ball and the socket, to prevent entrapment of the capsule in the joint between the ball and the socket, and to provide a self-healing or repair mechanism to the joint.
In surface replacement type hip prosthetics, the ball has a peg which is affixed directly into the femur bone. The top of the femur bone is cut to mate with the ball and drilled to accommodate the peg. In surface replacement type hip prosthetics, the peg is part of the ball. For surface replacement type hip prosthetics made in accordance with the present invention, the peg forms the first attachment member. Alternatively, if the ball has a cup section which surrounds the femur bone, then this cup forms the first attachment member.
Preferably, the socket has an inner and an outer cup and the capsule is affixed to either the inner or the outer cup. Where the socket has both an inner and an outer cup, the capsule also prevents debris from entering or leaving the joint between the inner and outer cup when the capsule is affixed to the outer cup.


It is to provide a wide-angle optical system for a solid image pickup device that favorably corrects distortion. The imaging lens is a biconvex lens, the object side face is formed into an aspheric shape in which the negative refracting power becomes stronger the farther the imaging lens is from an optical axis in the radial direction, and a condition expressed by the following expression (1) is to be satisfied;0.8>|r1/r2|≧0.5  (1)where,                r1: center radius curvature of the object side face of the imaging lens        r2: center radius curvature of the image surface side face of the imaging lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wide-angle optical system for a solid image pickup device. In particular, the present invention relates to a wide-angle optical system for a solid image pickup device suitable for use in an image-taking device that uses a solid image pickup device mounted on a portable phone, a PC camera, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the development of mass-media, there has been an increasing demand for cameras that utilize a solid image pickup device, such as a CCD, CMOS, or the like, which are mounted on a portable computer, a television phone, or a portable phone, for example.
It is demanded that a camera such as this is small and light because the camera is required to be mounted on a limited installation space.
Therefore, it is also necessary for the optical system used for such cameras to be small and light, as is the camera.
When only aiming for higher performance, an optical system using two lenses or three lenses is may be used as the optical system used in such cameras. However, in order to actualize size reduction and cost reduction, a single lens optical system is often used. An optical system including imaging lenses such as a biconvex lens, a meniscus lens, or the like is used as the single lens optical system (for example, refer to Patent Literatures 1-6).    [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 6-88939    [Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 10-282410    [Patent Literature 3] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 11-264930    [Patent Literature 4] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Showa 61-116314    [Patent Literature 5] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 6-118300    [Patent Literature 6] Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Showa 64-49014;
As an aberration that conventionally occurs in an imaging optical system, an aberration that warps an image (particularly an image that is off-axis), referred to as distortion, is known.
The distortion is an aberration that is proportional to the third power of the view angle. Therefore, the distortion is not a significant problem in an optical system with a narrow view angle. However, the distortion is an extremely significant problem in a wide-angle optical system.
For example, the single lens optical systems described in Patent Literatures 1 to 3 have a view angle (view angle of corresponding angles) of about 60°, which is a sufficiently wide view angle for a wide-angle optical system used in a solid image pickup device. The single lens optical systems also have superior resolutions. However, a large distortion occurs because of the wideness of the view angle.
The single lens optical systems described in Patent Literature 4 and 5 are optical systems proposed for use in various sensors or photometry. Therefore, the intended use of these single lens optical systems greatly differs from the optical system for the solid image pickup device.
The single lens optical system described in Patent Literature 6 is for narrow view angles (for example, the maximum view angle is about 35°) and is not suitable for wide-angle optical systems at all.
In this way, conventionally, the distortion could not be sufficiently corrected in the wide-angle optical system for solid image pickup devices.
Therefore, the present invention has been designed in view of the aforementioned problems. The object of the present invention is to provide a wide-angle optical system for a solid image pickup device that can effectively correct distortion.

Wide-angle optical system for solid-state image pickup device


In tread-width-direction cross section under a standard internal pressure and no load condition, a point B is an outermost point of overlapping area in tread-width-direction, a line CC is a line passing through an outermost point CT of carcass layer in tread-width-direction and extending along tread-width-direction, a point C is a point of tire surface through the line CC, a line segment BW is a line segment extending in tread-width-direction from an equator center line to point B, a line segment CW is a line segment extending along tread-width-direction from equator center line to point C, and a line segment BC is a line segment connecting between point B and C. A ratio BW/CW between a length of BW and CW is not less than 0.6 and not more than 0.8. An angle θ formed by BC and CW is not less than 50° and not more than 70°.

A pneumatic tire has conventionally been known of which a rolling resistance is reduced by reducing a ratio between a tread contact width and a tire section width (tread contact width/tire section width) (Patent Document 1, for example).
Such a pneumatic tire has a small tread contact width relative to the tire section width, and thus has a shape in which a gentle curve is drawn from a tread portion to a sidewall portion. Thus, an angle formed by a sidewall portion near a tread portion and a road surface is small and accordingly, the distance between the sidewall portion and the road surface is short. Thus, the sidewall portion is likely to come in contact with the road surface when the tire contact width increases outwardly in the tread width direction during cornering, when the pneumatic tire steps on a curbstone, or when an internal pressure of the pneumatic tire is low, for example.
Thus, in the pneumatic tire of Patent Document 1 described above, the sidewall portion is formed of a rubber material having excellent durability to prevent the sidewall portion from being damaged.
However, forming the sidewall portion of the rubber material having the excellent durability leads to an increase in amount of heat in the sidewall portion. This causes an energy loss which in turn increases the rolling resistance.


A shaver stand which has a stepped configuration, with each step having a shallow recess for receiving the end of the handle of a razor. An elongated wire mesh structure is disposed above and parallel to the steps, for holding an intermediate part of each razor handle in place. From the top plan view the stand is V-shaped, having a wire front cross member joining the two sets of steps, the cross member having a portion for holding the shaver currently being used.

This invention relates to a stand for holding disposable shavers (razors) and other items of personal hygiene such as toothbrushes.
Various stands for holding disposable razors and other personal hygiene articles having elongated handles, such as toothbrushes, are known in the art. See, for example:
Dufault U.S. Pat. No. D22,831, entitled Razor Holder; PA1 Fishback U.S. Pat. No. D48,061, entitled Barber's Cabinet; PA1 Chianco U.S. Pat. No. D50,237, entitled Barber's Cabinet; PA1 Seidel U.S. Pat. No. D150,469, entitled Razor Rack; PA1 Spencer U.S. Pat. No. D304,868, entitled Safety Razor and Stand; PA1 Novak U.S. Pat. No. D335,599, entitled Razor Holder; PA1 Pratt U.S. Pat. No. 2,523,921, entitled Protective Holder For Razors; and PA1 Brownson U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,499, entitled Storage Hook For Razor And Blades.
None of the prior art stands, racks or holders for razors, however, holds disposable razors in an upright position in a stable manner while facilitating rapid removal of the razors.
The Fishback and Chianco patents show stepped or sloped structures for holding razors, with each level having a recess for receiving the end of a razor. Neither of these references, however, has any structure for supporting the handles of the razors, so that the handles tend to wobble about and into each other to an unacceptable extent.
The Spencer and Novak patents show structures for supporting the handle of a single razor near its upper end. Neither of these structures, however, is suitable for holding multiple razors, and neither structure facilitates rapid removal of the razor.
The other references cited above likewise fail to meet the need for stable retention of multiple razors while facilitating rapid removal thereof.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a stand which supports multiple razors (and/or other articles of personal hygiene having elongated handles) so that they do not fall or tilt close to or against each other, and can be rapidly removed for use.


To provide a copper alloy sheet excellent in the balance of strength and electroconductivity and excellent in the balance of strength and bending workability also.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copper alloy with high strength and high electroconductivity and excellent in bending workability also, and relates more specifically to a copper alloy suitable to materials for various electric and electronic parts used for a connector, lead frame, relay, switch, wiring, terminal and the like constituting electric and electronic parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, associated with requirements of miniaturization and weight reduction of electronic apparatuses, electric systems of electric and electronic parts have been more complicated and highly integrated, and characteristics capable of standing thinning and working of a complicated shape are required for materials for various electric and electronic parts.
For example, with respect to the materials for various electric and electronic parts used for current-carrying parts such as a connector, lead frame, relay, switch and the like constituting electric and electronic parts, the cross-sectional area of the material receiving a same load reduces and the cross-sectional area of the material relative to the current-carrying amount also reduces by miniaturization and thinning, therefore excellent electroconductivity is required in order to suppress generation of Joule heat by current-carrying, and high strength capable of standing the stress imparted in assembling and operating electric and electronic apparatuses and bending workability that does not cause breakage and the like even when the electric and electronic parts are bent have been required.
Although a Cu—Fe—P alloy has been used commonly as a material for electric and electronic parts, when an alloy composition such as Sn and the like was added in order to increase the strength, electroconductivity deteriorated and it was difficult to balance the strength and electroconductivity (strength-conductivity balance).
Also, though an alloy of a precipitation hardening type (Cu—Ni—Si alloy) has been proposed as a high strength material, when the content of Ni and Si was reduced in order to improve electroconductivity, the tensile strength dropped, and therefore it was difficult to secure the strength-electroconductivity balance.
As a material superior in the strength-electroconductivity balance compared with conventional Cu—Fe—P alloy and Cu—Ni—Si alloy, a Cu—Cr-based alloy has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-29857). However, coarse precipitates were formed in hot rolling, and there was a limit both in increasing the strength and in increasing the electroconductivity.
Also, as a copper alloy excellent in the strength-electroconductivity balance and the workability, a Cu—Cr—Sn-based alloy has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H6-081090). However, in the Cu—Cr—Sn-based alloy, a solution heat treatment at high temperature was required, and there were such problems in production that the production process became complicated and the like.
Further, as a copper alloy excellent in strength, electroconductivity and high temperature strength, a Cu—Cr—Ti—Zr alloy has been proposed (Japanese Patent No. 3731600). However, in this copper alloy, the strength and electroconductivity could be improved, but bending workability could not be improved sufficiently.
Also, as a copper alloy excellent in the strength-electroconductivity balance, a Cu—Cr—Ti—Si alloy has been proposed (Japanese Patent No. 2515127). According to this Japanese Patent No. 2515127, consideration was paid for bending workability also, however the copper alloy was not sufficient with respect to bending workability that was severe as described below.
Accompanying weight reduction, miniaturization and the like of electric and electronic apparatuses in recent years, working more complicated than before is executed for materials for electric and electronic parts such as subjecting a material thinned to bending work, executing bending work after subjecting wiring to notching (notching work) into fine width, and the like, therefore requirements not only for improvement of the strength but also for bending workability have become further higher, and a material excellent not only in the strength-electroconductivity balance but also in the strength-bending workability balance has been required.

Abstract: A copper alloy contains predetermined amount of Cr, Ti, and Si so as to satisfy a mass ratio of the Cr to the Ti: 1.0≦(Cr/Ti)≦30, and a mass ratio of the Cr to the Si: 3.0≦(Cr/Si)≦30, the remainder including copper and unavoidable impurities, in which 70% or more out of total amount of Cr, Ti and Si contained in the copper alloy is precipitated, a number of piece of precipitates with 300 nm or more circle equivalent diameter observed by a SEM in a region of 25 μm in the thickness direction from the surface of the copper alloy×40 μm in the cross-sectional direction in a cross section in the width direction of the copper alloy is 50 pieces or less, and an average circle equivalent diameter of precipitates with less than 300 nm circle equivalent diameter observed by a TEM on the surface of the copper alloy is 15 nm or less.


Signaling device designed to be arranged on the reflective element forming a mirror of a rear-view device comprising at least an illumination unit and at least an optical device, characterized by the fact that the optical device includes a symbol generation unit which is provided with at least a diffraction grating designed to form an illuminated image corresponding to a first illuminated symbol, the symbol generation unit being generally transparent and the diffraction grating being formed on the surface of the symbol generation unit without affecting its transparency.

The present invention relates more particularly to a rear-view device for a land motor vehicle including: a reflective element forming a mirror which allows a main user to observe a zone situated to the rear of the rear-view device, and an illuminated display system comprising at least a first light source and at least an optical device allowing orientation of the light beam produced by the source in a determined direction orientated towards the rear and situated outside the field of view of the main user (the driver) in order to display at least a first illuminated signal in the rear-view zone, the said first illuminated signal being intended to be seen by other observers than the main user (drivers of other vehicles).
Such a type of device is described for example in the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,741. In this document, the mirror is mounted by its front face on a support which is provided with a housing containing a filament lamp. The mirror is partially transmissive and includes on its front face, opposite the housing, a transparent plate provided with a holographic element solely intended to orientate and control the angle of divergence of the light rays emitted by the lamp with a defined divergence.
This device has certain disadvantages. In fact, the illuminated display system is relatively bulky and it only produces a relatively blurred illuminated signal. Moreover, it requires the use of a partially transmissive mirror which on the one hand increases the cost of the mirror and degrades the "rear-view" function, and on the other increases the energy consumption due to the loss due to the partial transmissivity of the mirror. Also, the fact that the mirror must be semi-reflective in the display zone means that, in case of accumulation of dust on the surface of the mirror, the brightness will be reduced and in certain cases the signal will be invisible.
It should also be noted that in the prior art two types of signal were envisaged: absence of signal form (in this case the function is reduced to the lighting of a zone in the rear-view mirror without any form: arrow or other) with a limitation linked to the need to position the light source in a precise location of the rear-view mirror, and a light guide drawing the form of the signal (arrow, triangle or other) with an assembly of a plurality of light sources. This constitutes a major limitation as a guide must correspond to each symbol and therefore for a plurality of symbols there must be a sufficient capacity to incorporate the guides at distinct locations which is very difficult and requires a capacity much greater than the capacity available in a rear-view mirror, in addition to the need to have a plurality of light sources involving a high level of electrical consumption and a problem of heat dissipation.

Diffractive signaling device for rear-view mirror with 2D/3D display


Methods and systems for acquiring a pre-approval from a responsible party and receiving funds from a financial account related to the pre-approval in the healthcare field are described herein. A method for collecting payment from an individual for services rendered by a provider is disclosed. The method includes verifying an individual's eligibility for benefits, estimating an individual responsibility amount, acquiring authority from the individual for up to the individual responsibility amount on at least one financial account held by the individual, submitting one or more claims to one or more payer entities requesting compensation for the services rendered by the provider, deducting an amount from the at least one financial account held by the individual, and transferring the deducted amount to the provider.

The disclosed embodiments generally relate to the field of healthcare payments.
Healthcare service provider entities, such as physician practices, hospitals, and including third party medical billers may collect funds for healthcare services rendered to a patient from at least two entities: one or more healthcare payer entities, such as a commercial health plan provider, for example, an insurance company, a governmental carrier, such as, Medicare, and/or Medicaid, an employer, or any other entity providing coverage for healthcare services, and one or more responsible parties, such as a patient or a patient's parent or legal guardian. In order to accurately collect funds from all entities, the healthcare service provider must submit a healthcare claim to the healthcare payer entity or entities, and then bill the responsible party for the remaining balance. This can be a time consuming and inefficient process.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process for collecting funds from a healthcare payer entity and a responsible party that is more efficient and less time consuming.

Process for linked healthcare and financial transaction initiation


A pile for use in a ground pile system has a tubular body and one or more sensor modules attached to the tubular body. Each of the one of more sensor modules includes a sensor guard that has a perimeter and a sensor nested within the sensor guard. The sensor is recessed within the perimeter of the sensor guard to protect the sensor during installation of the pile. A data acquisition unit can be used to receive data from the one or more sensor modules. The data acquisition unit includes a solar panel array, a battery charged by the solar panel array, a modem powered by the battery, and a computer powered by the battery. The computer is configured to receive signals from the sensors and transmit the signals to a remote operation center through the modem.

Piles, piers and caissons are commonly used to support wind generators, telecommunications towers and other elevated structures. These structures are often stabilized against lateral loading by guy wires, but can also be configured as self-supporting towers. Often, piles are driven into the ground and used as anchor points for these towers. To ensure the stability of the towers, the piles must be installed to the proper depth and geologic strata. In many cases, piles are fitted with helical flights that facilitate the installation of the pile, providing simultaneous axial tension and compression resistance underneath the tower and additional resistance against an unintentional pullout on a guyed anchor due to the application of vertical tension on the pile.
Once installed, piles, piers and other earth anchors are subjected to several artificial and natural forces. Artificial loading may result from the attached guy wires. Earthquakes, wind, groundwater and shifting geologic strata may produce natural loading. These forces may apply torsional, lateral, axial (both tensional and compressive), and compound loading on the pile or pier. In certain situations, these forces may compromise the ability of the pile or pier to perform the intended supportive function. For example, if a helical pile is loosened from its anchor within the earth, the application of a strong axial load may cause the pile to be partially removed from the anchored position, which may in turn produce slack and unwanted movement on the connected guy wires and guyed structure.
There is, therefore, a need for a system that is capable of detecting and reporting the application of forces to the pile. The present disclosure is directed to addressing these and other deficiencies in the prior art.

Helical piles with sensors and data acquisition unit

The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma


A support for an external rearview mirror for motor vehicles that comprises a support rod having an intermediate vetical portion for supporting the mirror and upper and lower transverse portions extending substantially horizontally from opposite ends of the vertical portion. Upper and lower base arrangements connected with respective free ends of the upper and lower transverse portions for attaching the support to a vehicle body. The upper transverse portion is pivotally attached to the upper base arrangement and the lower transverse portion of the support rod is fixedly attached to the lower base arrangement. The lower base arrangement includes a stabilizing mechanism for the mirror support.

The invention relates to a support for an external reaview mirror for heavy vehicles such as buses, trucks and the like.
Generally, supports for external rearview mirrors for motor vehicles are widely known and used. However, the known conventional support does not have a sufficient stability against wind and vibrations. Also, they do not have appropriate means that would permit their easy adjustment by a vehicle driver.

Support for an external rearview mirror for motor vehicles


A misfire detection apparatus and method is provided for detecting misfire in cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a motor vehicle. The method includes sensing rotation of a crankshaft and calculating a crankshaft velocity based on the sensed rotation of the crankshaft. The method also includes compensating the calculated crankshaft velocity based on a predetermined cylinder. The method further includes comparing either the calculated or compensated crankshaft velocity to a predetermined crankshaft velocity range to determine if therein, and counting a misfire if either the calculated or compensated crankshaft velocity is within the predetermined crankshaft range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to internal combustion engines, and more particularly, to a misfire detection apparatus and method for an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Clean Air Act (1955) required motor vehicle manufacturers to reduce exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen from light duty motor vehicles. To comply with the Act, most motor vehicle manufacturers have used catalytic convertors on production vehicles to control such exhaust emissions.
Recently, regulatory agencies have proposed that passenger, light-duty and medium-duty motor vehicles with feedback fuel control systems be equipped with a malfunction indicator light that will inform the motor vehicle operator of any malfunction of an emission-related component that interfaces with an on-board computer of the motor vehicle. It is also proposed or required that an on-board diagnostic system identify the likely area of malfunction. Proposals or requirements have set forth catalyst, misfire, evaporative purge system, secondary air system, air conditioning system refrigerant, fuel system, oxygen sensor, exhaust gas recirculation, and comprehensive component monitoring requirements.
Misfire of internal combustion engines can damage the catalyst of a catalytic convertor. With respect to misfire, the identification of the specific cylinder experiencing misfire may be required. Some regulations provide that the motor vehicle manufacturer specify a percentage of misfires out of the total number of firing events necessary for determining malfunction for: (1) the percent misfire evaluated in a fixed number of revolution increments for each engine speed and load condition which would result in catalyst damage; (2) the percent misfire evaluated in a certain number of revolution increments which would cause a durability demonstration motor vehicle to fail a Federal Test Procedure (FTP) by more than 150% of the applicable standard if the degree of misfire were present from the beginning of the test; and (3) the degree of misfire evaluated in a certain number of revolution increments which would cause a durability demonstration motor vehicle to fail an Inspection and Maintenance (IM) program tailpipe exhaust emission test.

Single sensor misfire detection apparatus and method for an internal combustion engine


In one embodiment, a method comprises recursively selecting a child node of a previously selected node of a port tree and having a highest priority among nodes of a same level within the port tree, until the selected node has associated egress queues of an egress port. The method also includes outputting a number of packets from the associated egress queues of the selected node in a current processing cycle. The number of packets outputted is based on an allocated bandwidth for the associated egress queues, in which the allocated bandwidth accounts for a deficit from a previous processing cycle.

Maintaining efficient flow of information over data communication networks is becoming increasingly important in today's economy. Communications networks are evolving toward a connectionless model from a model whereby the networks provide end-to-end connections between specific points. In a network which establishes specific end-to-end connections to service the needs of individual applications, the individual connections can be tailored to provide a desired bandwidth for communications between the end points of the connections. This is not possible in a connectionless network. The connectionless model is desirable because such a model saves the overhead implicit in setting up connections between pairs of endpoints and also provides opportunities for making more efficient use of the network infrastructure through statistical gains. Many networks today provide connectionless routing of data packets, such as Internet Protocol ("IP") data packets, over a network which includes end-to-end connections for carrying data packets between certain parts of the network. The end-to-end connections may be provided by technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode ("ATM"), Time Division Multiplexing ("TDM") and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH).
A Wide Area Network ("WAN") is an example of a network used to provide interconnections capable of carrying many different types of data between geographically separated nodes. For example, the same WAN may be used to transmit video images, voice conversations, e-mail messages, data to and from database servers, and so on. Some of these services place different requirements on the WAN.
A typical WAN comprises a shared network which is connected by access links to two or more geographically separated customer premises. Each of the customer premises may include one or more devices connected to the network. More typically, each customer premise has a number of computers connected to a local area network ("LAN"). The LAN is connected to the WAN access link at a service point. The service point is generally at a "demarcation" unit or "interface device" which collects data packets from the LAN which are destined for transmission over the WAN and sends those packets across the access link. The demarcation unit also receives data packets coming from the WAN across the access link and forwards those data packets to destinations on the LAN. One type of demarcation unit may be termed an ESP (Enterprise Service Point).
A network service is dependent on the amount of data it can send and receive from a source device to one or more destination devices. Therefore, the quality of a network service is dependent on the amount of network resources (such as uptime, outages, bandwidth, delay, loss, and jitter) the network can utilize to transfer its data. However, in a conventional IP network, all network services share all the network resources on a first come, first serve ("best effort") basis. This may be detrimental to some network services since some services require more network resources than other services.
For example, a typical video conferencing service requires much more data to be sent than a typical e-mail service. Transmitting a video signal for a video-conference requires fairly large bandwidth, short delay (or "latency"), small jitter, and reasonably small data loss ratio. An e-mail service requires far less network resources than a video conferencing service because the e-mail service often has relatively little data to send to its destinations and it is generally acceptable if an e-mail transmission is slightly delayed in transiting a network. Transmitting e-mail messages or application data can generally be done with lower bandwidth but can tolerate no data loss. Furthermore, it is not usually critical that e-mail be delivered instantly, so e-mail services can usually tolerate longer latencies and lower bandwidth than other services. In addition, the e-mail service requires only enough network resources to send data in a single direction. Conversely, the typical video conferencing service requires enough network resources to send data constantly and seamlessly in two directions. This may be required if all participants in the video conference want to see each other, and thus requires an individual's image to be sent to the other participants and the other participant's images to be received.
If the network resources are shared in a best effort fashion between these and other types of network services, the e-mail service will deliver e-mail extremely fast, but the video conferencing service would not be able to display a very clear picture. What is desired is to have a policy where the network resources utilization is weighted such that the video conferencing service receives more network resources than e-mail services.
Typically, an enterprise which wishes to link its operations by a WAN obtains an unallocated pool of bandwidth for use in carrying data over the WAN. While it is possible to vary the amount of bandwidth available in the pool (by purchasing more bandwidth on an as-needed basis), there is no control over how much of the available bandwidth is taken by each application.
Again, guaranteeing the Quality of Service ("QoS") needed by applications which require low latency is typically done by dedicating end-to-end connection-oriented links to each application. This tends to result in an inefficient allocation of bandwidth. Network resources which are committed to a specific link are not readily shared, even if there are times when the link is not using all of the resources which have been allocated to it. Thus committing resources to specific end-to-end links reduces or eliminates the ability to achieve statistical gains. Statistical gains arise from the fact that it is very unlikely that every application on a network will be generating a maximum amount of network traffic at the same time.
If applications are not provided with dedicated end-to-end connections but share bandwidth, then each application can, in theory, share equally in the available bandwidth. In practice, however, the amount of bandwidth available to each application depends on things such as router configuration, the location(s) where data for each application enters the network, the speeds at which the application can generate the data that it wishes to transmit on the network and so on. The result is that bandwidth may be allocated in a manner that bears no relationship to the requirements of individual applications or to the relative importance of the applications. There are similar inequities in the latencies in the delivery of data packets over the network.
The term "Quality of Service" is used in various different ways. In general, QoS refers to a set of parameters which describe the required traffic characteristics of a data connection. The term "QoS" generally refers to a set of one or more of the following interrelated parameters which describe the way that a data connection treats data packets generated by an application: a minimum bandwidth, a maximum delay, a maximum loss and jitter. A minimum bandwidth is a minimum rate at which a data connection should be capable of forwarding data originating from the application. The data connection might be incapable of forwarding data at a rate faster than the minimum bandwidth but should be capable of forwarding data at a rate equal to the rate specified by the minimum bandwidth. The maximum delay is a maximum time taken for data from an application to completely traverse the data connection. QoS requirements are met only if data packets traverse the data connection in a time equal to or shorter than the maximum delay. The maximum loss is a maximum fraction of data packets from the application which may not be successfully transmitted across the data connection. Jitter is a measure of how much variation there is in the delay experienced by different packets from the application being transmitted across the data connection. In an ideal case, where all packets take exactly the same amount of time to traverse the data connection, the jitter is zero. Jitter may be defined, for example, as any one of various statistical measures of the width of a distribution function which expresses the probability that a packet will experience a particular delay in traversing the data connection. Different applications require different levels of QoS.
Recent developments in core switches for WANs have made it possible to construct WANs capable of quickly and efficiently transmitting vast amounts of data. There is a need for a way to provide network users with control over the QoS provided to different data services which may be provided over the same network.
Service providers who provide access to WANs wish to provide their customers with "Service Level Agreements" rather than raw bandwidth. A Service Level Agreement is an agreement between a service provider and a customer that defines the level of service that will be provided for each particular type of application. This will permit the service providers to take advantage of statistical gain to more efficiently use the network infrastructure while maintaining levels of QoS that customers require. To do this, the service providers need a way to manage and track usage of these different services.
Applications connected to a network generate packets of data for transmission on the network. In providing different levels of service it is necessary to be able to sort or "classify" data packets from one or more applications into different classes which will be accorded different levels of service. The data packets can then be transmitted in a way which maintains the required QoS for each application. Data packets generated by one or more applications may belong to the same class.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Priority-based efficient fair queuing for quality of service classification for packet processing


Travel assistance devices and programs identify a connecting road present in a driver's field of vision and having driver's visibility lower than a threshold among connecting roads. The connecting roads are roads connecting to a traveling road of a vehicle at a divergence point present around the vehicle. The devices and programs provide guidance informing of presence of an invisible road that is the identified connecting road.

In recent years, for example, as one type of travel assistance for a vehicle, travel assistance has been performed in which risk factors present around a mobile unit are determined and guidance on a result of the determination is provided. The risk factors are factors to which attention is to be paid when the mobile unit travels. Particularly, one of the risk factors is a road (hereinafter, referred to as connecting road) that connects to a traveling road of a vehicle at a divergence point present around the vehicle.
The connecting road is a road having another vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, etc., moving thereon and possibly entering the traveling road of the vehicle in the future. Thus, it is very important for a driver to grasp the presence of the connecting road to pay attention beforehand to such an entry of another vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, etc. For example, JP 2000-266559 A discloses that when it is determined, based on a current location of a vehicle detected by a GPS and map information, that there is a divergence point ahead on a traveling road of the vehicle, guidance on the presence of connecting roads connecting to the divergence point is provided to a driver using a display or a speaker.

Travel assistance device and computer program


The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for producing Class A biosolids. In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method comprising digesting waster material by anaerobic digestion, and yielding Class A biosolids. In still yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a system for anaerobic digestion of waste material to produce Class A biosolids. In still yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a system for anaerobic digestion of waste material comprising a mixing chamber, a digester, a heating pit, and an effluent pit.

More than $2 billion is spent annually treating and managing approximately 5.3 million dry metric tons of biosolids from publicly owned wastewater treatment plants in the United States (WEF/U.S. EPA Biosolids Fact Sheet Project, Biosolids: A Short Explanation and Discussion, 2000). Land application of biosolids, often to food crops, has gained popularity and widespread approval from the scientific and environmental communities and has increased over the years. National biosolids generation rates are estimated to reach 47 dry pounds per American yearly. In 1972, 20 percent of all U.S. biosolids were land applied, while 40 percent went to landfills. By 1995, 36 percent of all yearly biosolids were land applied, while 38 percent went to landfills. The remainder of the material was incinerated or surface disposed. Disposing of biosolids by shipment to landfills is considered a beneficial use only when such disposal includes methane gas recovery for fuel. Methane operations are relatively rare, however, which establishes land application for soil conditioning and fertilizer as the primary beneficial use of biosolids.
The basic aim of waste material treatment processes is to economically and efficiently reduce and stabilize waste sludge solids. In addition, the sludge treatment system should also produce an end product that is fully suitable for final disposal without further physical or chemical treatment. In conventional practice, final sludge disposal is commonly carried out by incineration, land filling or land spreading. In many instances, land disposal is employed and is particularly attractive due to minimal long-term environmental effects and is highly advantageous in reconditioning of the soil. However, the use of land spreading as a final sludge disposal method may require a well stabilized and pasteurized end product; the concentration of pathogenic organisms in the sludge must be sufficiently low to avoid becoming a health hazard. Also, the sludge should be adequately stabilized to prevent further degradation in the environment and the attraction of vectors.
Traditionally, three distinct processes have been widely utilized for treating wastewater sludges: oxidation ponds, anaerobic digestion and aerobic digestion. Oxidation ponds are generally employed in the form of comparatively shallow excavated earthen basins that extend over a large area of land and retain wastewater prior to its final disposal. Such ponds permit the biological oxidation of organic material by natural or artificially accelerated transfer of oxygen to the pond water from the ambient air. The use of oxidation ponds, however, has limited utility, since their operation requires sizable land areas. Moreover, no significant reduction of the level of pathogens in the sludge and only limited reduction in the quantity of the waste sludge is accomplished by this elementary treatment and disposal method.
The process of anaerobic digestion has generally been the most extensively used wastewater sludge digestion process for stabilizing concentrated organic solids. In common practice, the combined excess waste sludge is accumulated in large covered digesters where the sludge is mixed and naturally fermented anaerobically for about 30 days. The major reasons for the widespread commercial use of anaerobic sludge digestion are that this method can be used to: (1) stabilize large volumes of dilute organic slurries; (2) produce significant biological solids (biomasss) reduction and stabilization; (3) produces a final sludge, wherein water is easily removed, for ultimate disposal; (4) produce methane gas; and (5) produce a pasteurized sludge under the right conditions. Anaerobic digestion is characteristically carried out in large scale tanks that are more or less thoroughly mixed, either by mechanical means or by recirculation of compressed digester gas. Mixing rapidly increases the rate of the sludge stabilization reactions by creating a large zone of active decomposition. In the past, the use of anaerobic digesters has been limited due to high energy demands, which translates into high cost for the end user.
Biosolids also are known to contain pathogens that include viruses, bacteria, and various parasitic organisms. There are generally two classes of biosolids recognized in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulations: Class B pathogen reduction standards, as set forth in 40 C.F.R. § 503, which require a fecal coliform level of less than two million most-probable-number (MPN) per gram of total solids, and Class A pathogen standards set forth in 40 C.F.R. § 503. EPS's Class A biosolids requirements are satisfied when fecal coliform densities are less than 1,000 MPN per gram total solids; or when Salmonella densities are less than 3 MPN per four grams total solids. Additionally, enteric virus must be less than 1 plaque-forming unit per four grams of total solids, and helminth ova is less than one viable helminth ova per four grams of total solids.
The majority of applications of anaerobic digestion to wastewater sludges have been in the mesophilic temperature range, from 35° C. to 40° C. (95° F. to 104° F.). Anaerobic sludge digestion in the thermophilic temperature range from 45° C. to 65° C. (113° F. to 149° F.) has been practiced to only a limited extent. The limited use of anaerobic digestion at temperatures above the mesophilic range may due to higher energy requirements to obtain the higher thermophilic temperature.
Meeting Class A standards will significantly increase the opportunity for biosolids recycling, however, known processes that achieve Class A pathogen densities in biosolids are generally costly, and in most instances, cost prohibitive. Therefore, a need still exists for methods and processes that can produce Class A biosolids in an efficient and effective manner.

Biosolids digester and process for biosolids production


A dental tool providing a sure grip handle connected at one end or both ends to a head for inserting tool parts such as brushes, the head and brushes disposed at an angle from the longitudinal axis of the handle, the head accepting tool parts into an aperture formed through the head. The centerline axis of the aperture being disposed at an angle from the longitudinal axis of the handle causes the axis of the tool part to be disposed at either an acute or obtuse angle from the longitudinal axis of the handle depending on which side of the aperture is used for tool part insertion. The aperture is formed in a manner to securely hold the tool part while allowing removability, either by opposing tapered ports through the head, or by a restricted orifice interior of the aperture.

This invention relates to a dental tool and more particularly to a dental tool having two operable ends with replaceable brushes mounted thereon.
Dental tools having brushes mounted on their ends are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 1,209,789 to W. E. Wilson discloses a dental instrument which can accept a brush at both ends. U.S. Pat. No. 971,382 and its reissue No. RE 13,621 to J. L. Kelly illustrate a dental handpiece with two ends angled relative to the handpiece and having an aperture at each end therethrough which is tapered to snugly receive a polishing insert. The provision of angled ends on dental handpieces appeared to be known and apertured ends for receiving inserts is also known. U.S. Pat. No. 1,209,789 to W. E. Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,356,372 to J. L. Kelly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,003,213 to F. H. Skinner, U.S. Pat. No. 971,382 to J. L. Kelly and reissue Pat. No. 13,621 to J. L. Kelly all disclose a dental hand tool with angled ends and apertured ends for receiving inserts.
It would however be an improvement in the art to provide a dental tool which increased the possible orientations of inserts such as brushes at each end of the tool while still permitting the inserts to be removable and held in place firmly.


A refrigerator of the present invention comprises: an inner case forming a storage compartment; a cold air duct guiding the flow of air within the storage compartment and forming a heat exchange space with the inner case; an evaporator disposed in the heat exchange space between the inner case and the cold air duct; a bypass passage disposed in the cold air duct so as to allow the flow of air to bypass the evaporator; a sensor disposed in the bypass flow channel and comprising a sensor housing, a sensor PCB received in the sensor housing, a heating element installed on the sensor PCB so as to generate heat when an electric current is applied thereto, a temperature element for sensing the temperature of the heating element, and a molding material with which the sensor housing is filled; a drfrosting means for removing frost formed on the surface of the evaporator; and a control unit for controlling the defrosting means on the basis of the value output from the sensor.

Refrigerators are household appliances that are capable of store objects such as foods at a low temperature in a storage chamber provided in a cabinet. Since the storage space is surrounded by heat insulation wall, the inside of the storage space may be maintained at a temperature less than an external temperature.
The storage space may be classified into a refrigerating storage space or a freezing storage space according to a temperature range of the storage space.
The refrigerator may further include an evaporator for supplying cool air to the storage space. Air in the storage space is cooled while flowing to a space, in which the evaporator is disposed, so as to be heat-exchanged with the evaporator, and the cooled air is supplied again to the storage space.
Here, if the air heat-exchanged with the evaporator is contained in moisture, when the air is heat-exchanged with the evaporator, the moisture is frozen on a surface of the evaporator to generate frost on the surface of the evaporator.
Since flow resistance of the air acts on the frost, the more an amount of frost frozen on the surface of the evaporator increases, the more the flow resistance increases. As a result, heat-exchange efficiency of the evaporator may be deteriorated, and thus, power consumption may increase.
Thus, the refrigerator further includes a defroster for removing the frost on the evaporator.
A defrosting cycle variable method is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 2000-0004806 that is a prior art document.
In the prior art document, the defrosting cycle is adjusted using a cumulative operation time of the compressor and an external temperature.
However, like the prior art document, when defrosting cycle is determined only using the cumulative operation time of the compressor and the external temperature, an amount of frost (hereinafter, referred to as a frost generation amount) on the evaporator is not reflected. Thus, it is difficult accurately determine the time point at which the defrosting is required.
That is, the frost generation amount may increase or decrease according to various environments such as the user's refrigerator usage pattern and the degree to which air retains moisture. In the case of the prior art document, there is a disadvantage in that the defrosting cycle is determined without reflecting the various environments.
Accordingly, there is a disadvantage in that the defrosting does not start despite a large amount of generated frost to deteriorate cooling performance, or the defrosting starts despite a low frost generation amount to increase in power consumption due to the unnecessary defrosting.


The administration of a compound advantageously efficacious as ROS1 inhibitor and its effect on subjects with cancer includes administering a compound having certain structural components such as a quinoline moiety in the backbone and at least one tertiary amine containing moiety in a side chain as well as heteroatoms, in particular oxygen atoms, present in the backbone and the side chain for treating a subject suffering from a disease such as cancer. The presence of such structural components allows for an advantageous interaction with the ROS1 kinase domain, in particular with the hinge region. The administered compounds represent a highly promising opportunity in particular for patients bearing ROS1-dependent cancer. A method for targeting tumor cells harboring an abnormality in ROS1 gene includes contacting a cell with compounds of the present invention as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds.

Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Recently, chromosomal rearrangements involving the c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes have been described in a variety of multiple human cancers, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Cancer Genome Atlas Research, Nature, 2014, 511(7511):543-550). Such rearrangements are accompanied by the fusion of a portion of ROS1 that includes its entire tyrosine kinase domain with several partner proteins with resulting ROS1 fusion kinases being constitutively activated and driving cellular transformation (Shaw A. T. et al., N Engl J Med, 2014, 371(21):1963-1971). The kinase domain of ROS1 is known to become constitutively active while driving cellular proliferation along with such rearrangements (Davies K. D. and Doebele R. C., Clin Cancer Res, 2013, 19(15):4040-4045). ROS1 fusion kinases activate growth and survival pathways necessary for the growth and survival of cancer cells, which pathways are reported to include auto-phosphorylation of ROS1 and phosphorylation of AKT, ERK and STAT3 (Davies K. D. and Doebele R. C., Clin Cancer Res, 2013, 19(15):4040-4045). In this context, ROS1 rearrangement defines a distinct molecular subgroup of NSCLC. Rearrangement of genes encoding ROS1 is reported to occur in approximately 1%-2% of NSCLC cancers (Davies K. D. et al., Clin Cancer Res, 2012, 18(17):4570-4579; Davies K. D. and Doebele R. C., Clin Cancer Res, 2013, 19(15):4040-4045). Accordingly, of the estimated 1.5 million new cases of NSCLC worldwide each year, approximately 15,000 may be associated with and driven by oncogenic ROS1 fusions, especially to be found in NSCLC patients who are non-smoker or with light smoking history, of younger age and have histologic features of adenocarcinoma (Shaw A. T. et al., N Engl J Med, 2014, 371(21):1963-1971). The clinical success of targeting oncogenic tyrosine kinases has launched a new area of cancer therapy.
Crizotinib, which is a potent, ATP-competitive small molecule ALK inhibitor has also been used as a ROS1 inhibitor and is currently in clinical evaluation for lung cancer patients harboring ROS1 rearrangements. Although crizotinib shows promising early favorable response in patients with ROS1-rearranged NSCLC, its efficacy is more and more limited due to the development of drug resistance. Hence, ensuring durable response to crizotinib therapy represents an universal challenge as drug resistance proved to be common due to several resistance mechanism observed in patients treated with crizotinib including acquired point mutations, gene amplification and activation of alternative signaling pathways (Davare M. A. et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1515281112; Lee H. J. et al., Cancer Cell, 2014, 26(2):207-221; Lovly C. M. and Shaw A. T., Clin Cancer Res, 2014, 20(9):2249-2256; Rikova K. et al., Cell, 2007, 131(6):1190-1203). Accordingly, patients who responded to crizotinib will eventually experience disease progression despite continued treatment.
Thus, identification of potent ROS1 inhibitors for cancer therapy is necessary (Zou H. Y. et al., Cancer Cell, 2015, 28(1): 70-81). Accordingly, there is a strong need for new compounds which are able to target ROS1 and sufficiently inhibit ROS1 kinase activity, which compounds can, thus, be used for cancer therapy, in particular for treatment of NSCLC.

Macau University of Science and Technology


The disclosure relates to a modular arrangement of a converter for the electrical supply of a multi-phase electric motor. The modular arrangement includes multiple output stage modules, each module having a separate first housing. An output stage module is provided for each phase of the electric motor, wherein the output stage module has a phase intermediate circuit and an inverter circuit, together forming a commutation cell. The phase intermediate circuit supplies DC voltage and is electrically connected to the inverter circuit. The disclosure also relates to a motor arrangement and an aircraft having a motor arrangement of this type.

A power converter which uses an AC voltage or DC voltage to produce an AC voltage, the frequency and amplitude of which are changed, is referred to as a converter, (also called an inverter). Converters may be in the form of AC/DC-DC/AC converters or DC/AC converters, wherein an output AC voltage is produced from an input AC voltage or an input DC voltage via a DC voltage intermediate circuit and clocked semiconductors.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary AC/DC-DC/AC converter 1, in which a three-phase input voltage U1 is formed into a three-phase output voltage U2 in order to drive an electric motor 2. The converter 1 has a rectifier circuit 3, an intermediate circuit 4, and an inverter circuit 5. The rectifier circuit 3, the intermediate circuit 4, and the inverter circuit 5 are controlled by a control circuit unit 6. The published German patent application DE 10 2015 206 627 A1 discloses such a converter 1.
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a conventional DC/AC converter 1 having a casing 7 or a structural frame in which the components are accommodated. The important structural power-electronic components include the power semiconductor switches 8, the intermediate circuit 4, and the control logic circuit 9. The power semiconductor switches 8 have a low inductance and are therefore connected spatially very close to the intermediate circuit 4. There is one intermediate circuit 4 for each converter 1, which intermediate circuit may in turn include a plurality of connected capacitors in order to meet all voltage and current-carrying requirements which cannot be met by the individual capacitors per se.
The individual components of converters 1 may be inside a casing 7 which hermetically delimits the environment. Applications in electrically driven aircraft demand a high degree of failure safety of the converters 1.
In a parallel, post-published patent application with the same filing date, it is proposed to separate a converter output stage into phase-selective commutation cells with phase intermediate circuits. The phase intermediate circuits may be optionally combined by a collective intermediate circuit. The separated individual components may be advantageously constructed as structural individual elements and may be connected to one another.
The intermediate circuit is segmented into a plurality of individual intermediate circuits which are separated from one another (and are therefore electrically decoupled with respect to the functionality of an individual large intermediate circuit capacitor). Each phase of the electric motor receives its "own" intermediate circuit. A collective intermediate circuit may parallelize the individual phase intermediate circuits, with the result that there is only "one" intermediate circuit with a high-voltage connection coming from the high-voltage battery, as previously. Depending on the requirement, it is also possible to dispense with the collective intermediate circuit.

Modular arrangement of a converter and aircraft having a modular arrangement


A frequency divider circuit includes: a first latch circuit that including: a pair of input transistors each having a gate thereof configured to connect to a signal line to which a first voltage is supplied; and a pair of output nodes, and configured to receive a single-phase clock signal; and a second latch circuit of SR-type, the second latch circuit having a set input thereof and a reset input thereof configured to connect to the pair of output nodes of the first latch circuit, and configured to output differential clock signals of which frequency is half a frequency of the single-phase clock signal. The first latch circuit is configured to perform amplification and reset operations alternately repeatedly in response to the single-phase clock signal.

A frequency divider circuit that divides the frequency of a clock signal is generally configured using flip-flops. Further, in high speed interfaces with high operating frequencies, such as a serializer/de-serializer (SerDes), differential clock signals are used. The frequency divider circuit can output frequency-divided differential clock signals by dividing the frequency of a single-phase clock signal using flip-flops and further generating an inverted signal using an inverter, or the like in the case of low frequencies.
In the meantime, in the case of high frequencies, the delay caused by the inverter, or the like relative to a period becomes large relatively, so that the frequency divider circuit is often configured to receive differential clock signals, divide the frequency of them, and output the frequency-divided differential clock signals. However, when differential flip-flops are used to divide the frequency of a pair of signals in the differential clock signals, the power consumption is almost doubled and it is not easy to meet timing constraints such as aligning the timing of the differential signals. When the frequency divider circuit using the flip-flops is used to receive differential clock signals and output the frequency-divided differential clock signals, such a problem arises.
A strong arm (Strong ARM) type latch circuit that alternately performs amplification and reset (precharge) operations repeatedly in response to an input clock signal has been known (see Patent Documents 1, 2, for example).
[Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0085403
[Patent Document 2] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0040983

Frequency divider circuit, communication circuit, and integrated circuit


An apparatus for carrying out chemical reactions simultaneously on a number of samples under identical pressure conditions comprises a plurality of upwardly open pressure vessels 1 mounted on a lower plate 2 and a plurality of vessel closure means 10 mounted on an upper plate 15 such that the plurality of vessel closure means 10 can be applied to the plurality of pressure vessels 1 simultaneously in order to hermetically seal said vessels 1, each vessel closure means 10 having a passage 19 communicating the interior of an associated pressure vessel 1 with a common manifold 22. A plurality of retaining posts 6 extend upwardly from the lower plate 2 and pass through apertures 27 in the upper plate 15. A locking ring 34 has a plurality of keyhole apertures therein having a wider portion allowing each retaining post 6 to pass through the locking ring 34 when the locking ring 34 is in an unlocked position and a narrower portion that engages a peripheral groove 7 adjacent the upper end of each retaining post 6 when the locking ring 34 is in a locked position.

Many researchers and chemists require to carry out parallel chemical reactions on a new material or product under identical conditions of temperature and pressure. Frequently such reactions are carried out on small (5 to 50 ml) samples with a variety of gases in a pressurised reaction vessel.
In the past, such work has been carried out in high pressure reaction vessels, containing a single sample, the reaction vessel being sealed prior to being placed in an autoclave. Frequently repeat tests are required on a number of samples under identical conditions of pressure and temperature, leading to problems due to the difficulty in accurately reproducing the same test conditions for each sample.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus enabling the carrying out of chemical reactions simultaneously on a number of samples under identical pressure conditions in order. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus permitting the simultaneous secure fitment of closure plugs to a plurality of upwardly open reaction vessels without requiring the use of special tools.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus for carrying out chemical reactions simultaneously on a number of samples under identical pressure conditions, said apparatus comprising a plurality of upwardly open pressure vessels mounted on a lower plate and a plurality of vessel closure means mounted on an upper plate such that the plurality of vessel closure means can be applied to the plurality of pressure vessels simultaneously in order to hermetically seal said vessels, securing means being provided for securing the plurality of closure means to the plurality of vessels, and wherein each vessel closure means has a passage communicating the interior of an associated pressure vessel with a common manifold.
Preferably said securing means comprises at least one retaining post extending upwardly from said vessel support, said at least one post passing through at least one aperture in said common closure support, locking means being provided for locking said closure support onto said at least one retaining post. Preferably a plurality of retaining posts are provided on said vessel support and said locking means is mounted on said closure support and has a plurality of keyhole apertures therethrough corresponding to said retaining post receiving apertures in said closure support, each retaining post having a shoulder or narrowed neck adjacent the upper end thereof, said locking means being moveable between an unlocked position wherein larger portion of each keyhole slot is aligned with the corresponding aperture in said closure support such that said locating posts can freely pass through said apertures in said closure support and said larger portion of said keyhole slot and a locked position wherein said narrower portion of each keyhole slot engages said shoulder or narrowed neck portion of respective retaining post to lock said closure support onto said retaining posts.
Preferably said plurality of retaining posts are arranged on a circle centred on a central axis of said vessel support and said locking means comprises a locking ring mounted on said closure support for rotation between said locked and unlocked positions.
A safety valve may be provided communicating with said common manifold, said safety valve being movable between an open vent position wherein said manifold, and said plurality of vessels communicating therewith, are vented to the atmosphere and a closed position wherein said manifold and pressure vessels may be pressurised. Preferably said safety valve is associated with said locking ring such that said safety valve can only be moved from its open to its closed position when said locking ring is in its locked position and said locking ring can only be moved from its locked to its unlocked position when said safety valve is in its open position.
Preferably said common manifold communicates with a source of pressurised gas.
Preferably said plurality of pressure vessels are arranged on a circle centred on the central axis of said vessel support, said vessel support comprising a circular plate, said vessel support comprising a substantially circular plate having apertures therein for receiving a lower portion of each pressure vessel, said lower portion having a smaller diameter that the remainder of said vessel, a stepped portion of said vessel abutting the upper surface of said aperture, each vessel being secured into each respective aperture by means of locking means such as a circlip received in an annular slot in said lower portion of each vessel at a position below said vessel support when said vessel is placed therein.
At least one locating post may be provided, extending upwardly from said vessel support, said closure support having at least one aperture therein for receiving said at least one locating post, at least a portion of said at least one retaining post being threaded, at least one correspondingly threaded fastener being associated with said closure support such that said closure support can be guided and drawn down over at least one retaining post by means of said at least one threaded fastener. Preferably two retaining posts are provided at spaced locations on said vessel support.
Preferably each closure means comprises a closure plug adapted to fit into the open end of a respective pressure vessel in order to close said pressure vessel. Preferably an annular groove may be provided around the periphery of said plug to receive an elastomeric sealing xe2x80x98Oxe2x80x99 ring. Preferably each closure plug has a gas inlet bore therethrough having a threaded portion allowing a gas line to be secured thereto, said gas line communicating with said common manifold allowing pressurised gas to be supplied to each pressure vessel and said common manifold is connected to a source of high pressure gas, for example a pressurised gas cylinder.
Heating means may be provided for heating each pressure vessel, for example an oil or water bath in which said vessels are immersed or individual heating jackets or band heaters provided around each vessel, or, alternatively, the entire apparatus may be placed on a hot plate.
Where it is required to stir the samples in the vessels, a PTFE coated magnetic follower may be provided in each vessel and the entire apparatus placed on a magnetic stirrer.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for carrying out chemical reactions simultaneously on a number of samples under identical pressure conditions, said apparatus comprising a plurality of upwardly open cylindrical pressure vessels mounted on a lower plate, and a plurality of vessel closure plugs mounted on an upper plate, a plurality of retaining posts extending upwardly from said lower plate to pass through a plurality of corresponding retaining post receiving apertures in said upper plate when said plurality of closure plugs are inserted into said plurality of vessels, locking means being mounted on said upper plate, said locking means having a plurality of keyhole apertures therein corresponding to said retaining post receiving apertures in said upper plate each retaining post having a shoulder or narrowed neck adjacent the upper end thereof, said locking means being moveable between an unlocked position, wherein larger portion of each keyhole slot is aligned with the corresponding aperture in said closure support such that said locating posts can freely pass through said apertures in said closure support and said larger portion of said keyhole slot, and a locked position, wherein said narrower portion of each keyhole slot engages said shoulder or narrowed neck portion of respective retaining post to lock said closure support onto said retaining posts.
Preferably said plurality of pressure vessels and said retaining posts are arranged on respective circles centred on a central axis of said lower plate, said locking means comprising a locking ring mounted on said upper plate support for rotation about the central axis of said upper plate between said locked and unlocked positions.

Baskerville Reactors and Autoclaves Limited