A method for forming microcellular foams that causes the material to expand uniaxially during the foaming process, and a method for forming objects from the foam. Liquid crystal polymers or polymers having a planar crystalline structure are saturated with a fluid, normally a gas such as carbon dioxide. The ambient conditions are changed such that the fluid is in a supersaturated state, and the material is brought to near its glass transition temperature to induce the formation of nonspherical elongated gas-filled cells. A process for making objects, such as transducer diaphragms, from microcellular foams includes the step of forming the objects prior to the foaming process.

The present invention relates to microcellular foams, and more particularly to the use of microcellular foams for uses such as transducer diaphragms.
Microcellular foams are made by supersaturating a polymeric material with a gas, heating the polymeric material to near its glass transition temperature, then cooling the material. This process causes the nucleation of small gas-filled voids, called cells, in the polymeric material, thereby causing the material to expand. Cooling the material causes expansion in the nucleation to stop. A method for manufacturing microcellular foam is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,665 issued Sep. 25, 1984, to Martini-Vvedensky et al. Microcellular foams made by conventional processes have cell sized in the range of 2 to 25 microns.
Another class of microcellular foam is called supermicrocellular foam, which is made by supersaturating a polymeric material with a fluid in a supercritical state. Conventional supermicrocellular foam has cell sizes in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 microns. A method for manufacturing supermicrocellular foams is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,986, issued Oct. 27, 1992 to Cha et al
It is an important object of the invention to provide improved microcellular foams, transducer diaphragms and methods of making them.
According to the invention, a method for producing a foamed polymeric material includes saturating a portion of unfoamed material with a fluid; and causing the material to expand in thickness while remaining substantially unexpanded in its other dimensions.
An aspect of the invention, a method for forming a foamed polymeric object, includes the steps of preforming or shaping the object from an unfoamed polymeric material having a planar crystalline structure; saturating the object with a fluid; and reducing the ambient pressure to a pressure at which the material is supersaturated with the fluid.
In another aspect of the invention, a foamed polymeric material has gas filled cells each having one dimension that is larger than a second dimension.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a foamed polymeric material with gas filled voids having a first dimension of less than 30 microns measured in the direction of the thickness of the material forms a transducer diaphragm.


An integrated ringing access switch circuit for telecommunications switching applications that provides improved dV/dt sensitivity at low operating power by using a pilot controlled rectifier, such as an SCR, that conducts at low ringing signal currents and operates to steer a bias current for causing a relatively larger controlled rectifier in parallel therewith to become conductive during higher load current operation. Also included is circuitry for preventing inadvertent turn-on of the SCRs in response to transient signals.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to telecommunications switching apparatus, and more particularly to a high voltage, high current, low operating power ringing access relay for telecommunications switching applications in remote environments.
2. Description of Related Art
A solid state switch connected between a ringing signal generator and a ring device in telecommunications systems has a known minimum breakdown voltage requirement determined by the maximum clamp voltage of the external protection device connected from the ring device to ground plus the maximum ring voltage having an opposite polarity. In certain applications, the minimum breakdown voltage of the ringing access switch is approximately 500 volts. However, when utilizing components having a 320 volt breakdown capability, the high voltage junctions must necessarily be placed in series to meet this requirement.
In addition to the breakdown requirement in the OFF state, the ringing access switch must survive fault conditions in the ON state without degradation of performance. Surge currents through this switch resulting from, for example a lightening strike, can reach over 2 amps depending upon the amplitude of the lightening pulse and the impedance in the ringing circuit path.
To minimize current flow through a ringing access switch, the switch design can include current limiting circuitry to permit a maximum level of conduction that does not interfere with peak ringing signal currents, approximately 150 mA. However, because of the breakdown voltage requirement, current limiting of two series bidirectional switches is required. This presents a very complicated and costly design problem, for each series switch must share the same voltage and power.
Previous designs consisting of ringing access switches implemented in integrated circuits have exhibited inherent limitation of inadvertent turn-on in the presence of fast voltage transients at the switch terminals. This dV/dt sensitivity can cause the switch to become latched in the wrong state, requiring a reset of the device. Designs that improve dV/dt sensitivity to eliminate the inadvertent turn-on of the switch requires relatively higher bias current and operating power. However, these designs cannot be used in applications where low operating power is of primary importance.

Low operating power, high voltage ringing switch circuit


Systems, methods and apparatus for closing a planting trench. Embodiments include a disc assembly for loosening soil adjacent to the planting trench. In some embodiments a closing wheel assembly pivots relative to a subframe of a row unit of a planter.

Closing systems incorporated in commercially available planters and drills may close the planting trench with an agronomically sub-optimal effectiveness. The effectiveness of such closing systems may depend on environmental factors (e.g., soil moisture, particle composition, density, and residue) and operational factors (e.g., planting speed, furrow depth, and row unit down force).
Thus there is a need in the art for improved systems, methods and apparatus for closing a planting trench.

Planting trench closing systems, methods, and apparatus


A manually-powered drive device includes a drive train substantially disposed in a hollow housing. A laterally sliding transmission shaft extending laterally in an intermediate frame portion of the housing includes first and second circumferential recesses. A transmission selector spring flexes and removably slidably couples within the first circumferential recess or the second circumferential recess as the transmission shaft laterally slides between alternate positions, thereby selecting the desired rotational direction for manipulating fasteners. Another manually-powered drive device includes a first drive assembly extending coaxially in the barrel portion of the housing and a second drive assembly extending in the intermediate frame portion of the housing between any acute angle and any obtuse angle to the first drive assembly. A manually-powered drive device assembly includes a manually-powered drive device removably coupled with a removable attachment tool configured to transmit motion and driving force to a fastener for manipulation.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of hand tools. More specifically, the invention relates to a manually-powered drive device and assembly.
2. Background Art
Hand tools, such as wrenches, socket wrenches, screw drivers, and the like, are available, but often are not able to be used in places having a minimum amount of excess space and where speed or torque is desirable. Manually driven tools are also available and they vary in type. One type of manually driven tool is the plier-like ratchet wrenches. Like pliers, they require a sideways squeeze when engaged with a fastener, and to reverse direction, they must be flipped over and re-engaged with the fastener. Most of the other manually driven hand tools have been heavy, bulky and complex in construction and, hence, have been expensive to produce and have required considerable maintenance. Furthermore, these other types of manually driven tools have only a single drive and are therefore, not versatile and adjustable to a variety of places, orientations, and applications.
Electrically and pneumatically driven tools are common and may offer speed and other advantages over manually driven tools. However, where electrical or pneumatic power is unavailable, such power drivers cannot be used and such advantages cannot be realized. Furthermore, these power drivers suffer from the same problems that afflict manually driven hand tools. That is, these power drivers have been heavy, bulky and complex in construction and, hence, have been expensive to produce and have required considerable maintenance. Additionally, these power drivers often are not able to be used in places having a minimum amount of excess space. Furthermore, these power drivers have only a single drive and are therefore, not versatile and adjustable to a variety of places, orientations, and applications.
Accordingly, what is needed is a drive device that is manually-powered and overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of previous hand, manually driven, and electrically and pneumatically driven tools, such as the inability to be used in places having a minimum amount of excess space and where speed or torque is desirable, and the inability to adjust to a variety of places, orientations, and applications due to only a single drive. The invention solves these problems through a manually-powered drive device and assembly.
In association with an embodiment of the present invention, a manually-powered drive device may include a pistol-shaped, hollow housing including a barrel portion and a hand grip portion separated by an intermediate frame portion, the barrel portion and the hand grip portion extending substantially perpendicularly from one another. A drive train may be substantially disposed within the pistol-shaped housing to transmit motion and driving force, and may include a transmission assembly including a transmission shaft extending laterally in the intermediate frame portion and including first and second circumferential recesses, the transmission shaft configured to laterally slide between alternate positions. Also included, a transmission selector spring may include a protrusion for one end portion thereof, the protrusion configured to flex and removably slidably couple within the first circumferential recess or the second circumferential recess as the transmission shaft laterally slides between alternate positions, thereby selecting the desired rotational direction for manipulating fasteners.
In association with an embodiment of the present invention, a manually-powered drive device may include a pistol-shaped, hollow housing including a barrel portion and a hand grip portion separated by an intermediate frame portion, the barrel portion and the hand grip portion extending substantially perpendicularly from one another. A drive train may be substantially disposed within the pistol-shaped housing to transmit motion and driving force, and may include a first drive assembly extending coaxially in the barrel portion of the housing along a substantial portion of its length and a second drive assembly extending in the intermediate frame portion between any acute angle and any obtuse angle to the first drive assembly.
In association with an embodiment of the present invention, a manually-powered drive device assembly may include a manually-powered drive device removably coupled with a removable attachment tool configured to transmit motion and driving force to a fastener for manipulation.
One advantage of embodiments of the invention may be that they allow for the installing and removing of fasteners in places having a minimum amount of excess space not accessible with conventional wrenches, socket wrenches, screw drivers, manually driven tools, electrically and pneumatically driven tools, and the like, and where speed or torque is desirable. Another advantage of other embodiments of the invention may be the inclusion of twin drive puck assemblies that may allow, for example, an attached wand assembly of the invention to be placed in at least four different orientations to facilitate the installing and removing of fasteners in a variety of places, orientations, and applications. Other advantages of the invention are its simple and compact design, rugged construction, ease of use, and efficiency in operation.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following more particular description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

Manually-powered drive device and assembly


In various embodiments, evaporation sources for deposition systems are heated and/or cooled via a fluid-based thermal management system.

Thermal evaporation is a well-known approach to forming a number of materials such as III-V solid-state semiconductors via molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth. Another commercial application of this technique is the evaporation of aluminum (Al) onto polymer foils for the packaging industry or other metals onto polymer foils for capacitor manufacturing. In these applications, the sources are typically point sources either of the Knudsen cell design or the open boat design. Point sources are also used in manufacturing of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices, in particular copper indium gallium selenide (CuInxGa1-xSe2 or CIGS) devices. In addition, large area organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices are often fabricated using thermal evaporation sources. Due to their large-area substrates and required uniformity of the deposited layers, thermal evaporation sources utilized for OLEDs are typically of the linear type.
Some materials commonly deposited via thermal evaporation are difficult to heat up or cool down due to their poor heat capacity and poor thermal conductivity. Prime examples of such materials are phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), and selenium (Se). All of these elements have low heat capacities common for most solid elements coupled with rather poor thermal conductivities. Other group V elements, in particular arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb), also common in thermal evaporation, exhibit two orders of magnitude higher thermal conductivities. Tellurium (Te) is also of importance in various applications and has a moderate thermal conductivity one order of magnitude lower than As and P and one order of magnitude higher than P, S, and Se. Table 1 below provides exemplary values of heat capacities and thermal conductivities for these materials. In comparison, copper (Cu) has a molar heat capacity of 24.44 J mol−1 K−1 (0.385 J g−1 K−1) and a thermal conductivity of 401 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature.
TABLE 1Molar HeatSpecific HeatThermalcapacityCapacityConductivityElement[J · mol−1 · K−1][J · g−1 · K−1][W · m−1 · K−1]P23.820.7690.236S22.750.7050.205As24.570.32850Se25.350.3210.519Sb25.200.20724Te25.650.2013
Furthermore, the temperature/vapor pressure relationship for P, S, As, Se, and Te is significant when compared to metals such as Sb, Cu, or refractory metals such as molybdenum (Mo). As FIG. 1 shows, the vapor pressures of P, S, As, Se, and Te increase very rapidly with increasing temperature. In summary, thermal energy couples poorly into P, S, and Se (and Te), but when it does the vapor pressure of the material increases rapidly. These thermal properties for P, S, and Se complicate control of the evaporation rate in a thermal-evaporation process for these elements. In addition, the heat-up and cool-down times for large amounts of feedstock of these materials are long.
Given the cost sensitivity of commercial products—in particular for PV—manufacturing requires long system run times and short system turnaround ("green-to-green") times. Thus, evaporation sources typically hold significant volumes of feedstock to enable long-run campaigns. Coupled with the desire to increase throughput, high deposition rates and large-area substrates are essential to enabling lower manufacturing costs. Therefore, conventional high-throughput thermal evaporation sources have significant thermal mass and/or utilize continuous feed of the source material. For some materials continuous feed is a possibility (e.g., Al wire feed), while for many others it is not.
Conventional systems with high thermal mass have the added advantage that control of the thermal evaporation process is simplified as temperature fluctuations based on power fluctuations to the heaters are typically negligible. Highly effective thermal insulation further reduces sensitivity to incoming power fluctuations. Such thermal insulation also reduces heat losses to the surroundings, i.e., it increases thermal coupling efficiency of the electrical heater power to the material to be evaporated, leading to lower operating costs. In summary, high thermal mass and highly effective thermal insulation are important aspects of conventional industrial thermal evaporation processes.
In addition, turnaround times typically need to be short for industrial deposition processes. However, if the thermal evaporation source has a high thermal mass and highly effective insulation, the cool-down of the source between deposition runs will necessarily be slow. The impact is most severe if an unscheduled maintenance event necessitates shutdown of the equipment with the large-volume sources still holding significant amounts of feedstock. But even if the feedstock has been depleted, the bodies of the evaporation sources themselves still have significant thermal mass.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved thermal-management systems and techniques for thermal evaporation that maintain high-quality insulation (and concomitant insensitivity to power fluctuations) during deposition cycles and that provide faster cooling and higher turnaround times between deposition cycles.

Fluid-assisted thermal management of evaporation sources


A computational network system that permits service a group of technicians access to the manufacturer network to provide their work capacity and availability for a specific area. A customer contacts the manufacturer via the computational network system, requesting a service call. Service call request processing results in assigning a service request/demand to a technician based on their qualifications, availability, and proximity. When a service technician is assigned, their availability is decremented. Cancellation of a service call yields an increment in the affected service provider's availability. This information is stored in a in an on-line database residing in the network system. Updates are dynamically reflected as they occur resulting in automated schedule administration of a customer's service requests/demands.

A typical process to obtain product service begins when a customer contacts a manufacturer requesting a service call. The manufacturer obtains pertinent data for the service call requested. The manufacturer assigns the service call request to a qualified technician from their independent server network (i.e., service provider), which consists of a pool of qualified/certified technicians that service products (i.e., goods) for designated areas. The manufacturer contacts the assigned service technician and relays pertinent information regarding the service call. Upon receiving a service call assignment, the technician must contact the customer promptly and schedule an appointment. This disjointed approach does not permit the manufacturer to schedule service calls directly with the customer due to the lack of service provider workload capacity and availability information.
It is desirable to have the capability of scheduling a service request during initial contact with the customer since a manufacturer's reputation for fast, efficient, quality service can be a deciding factor when purchasing a product, such as an appliance. There also exists a need in the art to automate the administration of service calls in order to streamline the process, enhance customer satisfaction, and eradicate technician-scheduling activities. Automation of this process would increase technician productivity yielding a reduction in service costs realized by the manufacturer.
In view of the foregoing issues, it is desirable to enhance customer satisfaction by automating the administration of service calls. It is further desirable to establish the capability for the manufacturer to schedule a service call request based on known service technician availability during initial contact with the customer. It is also desirable to increase the productivity of service provider by eliminating their task of scheduling a service call with a customer.


The present invention relates to a set of fixing clamps for fixing a cylindrical element, each clamp being constituted by a block provided on one of its faces with a channel for receiving the cylindrical element, and also provided with clamping means. The set comprises a plurality of clamps having respective channels of different dimensions and connected to one another via at least one breakable element.

The present invention relates to a universal clamp for a cylindrical element, in particular for a cable.
More precisely, the invention relates to a set of fixing clamps for cylindrical elements, each clamp comprising a block provided with a channel in one of its faces for receiving a cylindrical element, and with clamping means.
Such known clamps are constituted by a block of machined metal and they are generally used in pairs. The cylindrical element, in particular a power cable or an optical fiber cable is held between two clamps and is received in the corresponding cylindrical channels. At present, these clamps are made individually with determined channel diameters.
Such clamps are made by machining since they would be too expensive to make by molding. Each cable diameter corresponds to a particular size of clamp, and thus to a particular part to be managed, specifically in terms of storage and assembly.
The invention solves this problem by proposing a single set of clamps suitable for fixing a very wide range of cable diameters. More precisely, and as explained below, the set is suitable for replacing up to 20 individual clamp references, while also being lower in cost than any one prior art clamp.
To do this, according to the invention, the set comprises a plurality of clamps having respective channels of different dimensions and connected to one another via at least one breakable element.
The breakable element can be broken manually or using a tool such as a saw or a screwdriver. In the conventional manner, it is advantageously constituted by narrow connection tongues.
In a preferred embodiment, the clamps are disposed in side-by-side alignment so as to form a strip of clamps, the sizes of the channels increasing from a first clamp to a last clamp.
Preferably, each channel has a bottom-of-channel portion of circular cross-section extended on either side by two end portions of sloping right cross-section.
This channel shape further enlarges the range of cable diameters that can be handled. For example, this shape can enable a single clamp to be used for fixing over a range of diameters, the width of each range being 2 millimeters (mm) to 5.5 mm, as explained below.
Advantageously, each channel is provided with parallel grooves extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the channel.
These grooves provide excellent contact pressure against the cable and enable a force of at least 100 kilograms (kg) to be retained, without damaging the cable.
In the conventional manner, such clamping means are constituted by bores each designed to receive a bolt.
The assembly is advantageously made of cast metal, and preferably of zamak.
In a preferred application of the invention, the cylindrical element is an optical fiber cable, and more precisely it may be a guard cable with incorporated optical fibers for fitting to electrical equipment.

Universal clamp for a cylindrical element, in particular for a cable


The disclosure is related to cable management devices and associated systems and methods. The cradle has an elongate body having at least a first end and a second end. The first end of the cradle defining an elongate securement lumen constructed and arranged to grasp a support structure. The cradle may also have a first curved portion and second curved portion defining a first major sector lumen and a second major sector lumen each securement lumen constructed and arranged to support various cables and wires.

The present disclosure relates to devices for supporting and managing wires, cables, and other items that are suspended from various support structures.
Theaters require the use of various lighting, audio, and other systems for performances. These systems and their peripheral components often require numerous wires, cables, and other items to function properly. The various components of these systems frequently must be suspended above the stage along a batten, truss, or other support structure. Any excess wire and/or cable along the support structure must be secured such that the excess wire and/or cable does not simply hang from the support structure.
Previously, 'tie line' and/or tape has been used to secure excess cables and wires to the support structures. The use of 'tie line' can be cumbersome, requiring that a user individually tie each cable or wire to the support structure, often at multiple points, and ensure that the tie is secure. The use of tape is also cumbersome, requiring lots of tape to be used. Additionally, tape leaves behind adhesive residue which must be cleaned from the support structure after removal.
A theatrical batten or truss may extend horizontally above a stage, generally from stage left to stage right. Cables and wires along such a batten or truss must be properly secured such that the stage is not obscured by loose wires. Additionally, properly securing cables and wires is necessary for the safety of performers and stage workers as well as the proper maintenance of connected systems.
There is a need in the art for improved devices, systems and methods for supporting cables, wires, and other items on various support structures.

Cable management device and associated system and methods


A pressure pulsation dampening system for a pump that pressurizes a working fluid. In some embodiments, the dampening system includes a hydraulic cylinder, a valve, and a controller. The hydraulic cylinder has a piston that is movably disposed within a housing and divides the housing into a working fluid chamber and a hydraulic fluid chamber. An outlet of the pump is in fluid communication with the working fluid chamber, and the valve is in fluid communication with the hydraulic fluid chamber. The controller is operable to actuate the valve to a first configuration, wherein pressurized hydraulic fluid is supplied to the hydraulic fluid chamber, and to a second configuration, wherein hydraulic fluid is exhausted from the hydraulic fluid chamber. The piston is movable under fluid pressure, whereby working fluid is relieved from the outlet to the working fluid chamber or supplied to the outlet from the working fluid chamber.

The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for reducing pressure pulsations in a reciprocating pump. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a dampening system for reducing pressure pulsations in a fluid discharged by the reciprocating pump.
To form an oil or gas well, a bottom hole assembly (BHA), including a drill bit, is coupled to a length of drill pipe to form a drill string. The drill string is then inserted downhole, where drilling commences. During drilling, drilling fluid, or "drilling mud," is circulated down through the drill string to lubricate and cool the drill bit as well as to provide a vehicle for removal of drill cuttings from the borehole. After exiting the bit, the drilling fluid returns to the surface through the annulus formed between the drill string and the surrounding borehole wall. Instrumentation for taking various downhole measurements and communication devices are commonly mounted within the drill string. Many such instrumentation and communication devices operate by sending and receiving pressure pulses through the annular column of drilling fluid maintained in the borehole.
Mud pumps are commonly used to deliver the drilling fluid to the drill string during drilling operations. Many conventional mud pumps are reciprocating pumps, having a piston-cylinder assembly driven by a crankshaft and hydraulically coupled between a suction manifold and a discharge manifold. Each piston-cylinder assembly has a piston housed within a cylinder. During operation of the mud pump, the piston is driven to reciprocate within the cylinder. As the piston moves to expand the volume within the cylinder, drilling fluid is drawn from the suction manifold into the cylinder. After the piston reverses direction, the volume within the cylinder decreases and the pressure of drilling fluid contained with the cylinder increases. When the piston reaches the end of its stroke, the now-pressurized drilling fluid is exhausted from the cylinder into the discharge manifold. While the mud pump is operational, this cycle repeats, often at a high cyclic rate, and pressurized drilling fluid is continuously fed to the drill string at a substantially constant rate.
Because the piston directly contacts drilling fluid within the cylinder, loads are transmitted from the piston to the drilling fluid. Due to the reciprocating motion of the piston, the transmitted loads are cyclic, resulting in the creation of pressure pulsations in the drilling fluid. There are other sources known to produce and/or affect pulsations in the drilling fluid. These sources include the valves and ports of the mud pump, a discharge strainer positioned in the vicinity of the mud pump, the piston rod itself, depending upon its design, and variations in the drilling fluid, such as variations in its temperature, viscosity, and/or consistency. Regardless of their source, the pressure pulsations disturb the downhole communication devices and instrumentation by degrading the accuracy of measurements taken by the instrumentation and hampering communications between downhole devices and control systems at the surface. Over time, the pressure pulsations may also cause fatigue damage to the drill string pipe and other downhole components.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus or system that reduces pressure pulsations created within fluid pressurized by a reciprocating pump.

Pulsation dampening system for a reciprocating pump


There is a process for producing 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives which comprises reacting aromatic pyruvic acid derivatives with electrophilic compounds in the presence of bases in a protic solvent. According to this process, 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives which can be easily converted to aromatic amino acid derivatives or 2-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives as important synthetic intermediates of medicines and agricultural chemicals can be produced in good yields with high selectivity.

Double carbonylation reaction of benzyl halides using a cobalt carbonyl catalyst has previously been known as a method of producing 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives. This reaction, however, gives a low yield and selectivity and requires limited starting materials. Accordingly, it cannot always give 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives having the desired substituents [see, for example, M. Foa and F. Francalanci, J. Mol. Cat., 41, 89 (1987)].
It is known on the other hand that 2-oxo-3-aromatic butanoic acid esters are obtained by ring-opening isomerization reaction of .beta.-aryl-.beta.-methylglycidic acid esters with acid catalysts. This method cannot give other carboxylic acid derivatives. Moreover, depending upon an acid catalyst used, the yield and selectivity are both low (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 35068/1978 and 35069/1978 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 149970/1978 and 99445/1981).
Rearrangement reaction of .alpha.,.beta.-dialkyl-.beta.-aromatic glycidic acid esters with acids is known as a method of producing 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives having two substituents at the 3-position [for example, see J. Am. Chem. Soc., 9-,8 4581 (1976) and J. Org. Chem., 40, 1741 (1975)]. However, this method is only known for the synthesis of compounds having limited substituents. Moreover, depending upon the acid catalyst used, the yield and selectivity are very low, and the method cannot be said to be a commercially efficient method.
A method of producing 3-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-methyl-2-butanone by oxidation with selenium and a method of producing 2-cyano-3,3-disubstituted carboxylic acid derivatives by autoxidation are also known [see Acta Pharm. Suec., 13, 65 (1976) and J. Org. Chem., 35, 3240 (1970)]. These methods, however are limited in respect of substituents, and the yields are low. Hence, they cannot be said to be general commercial manufacturing methods.
Thus, by the conventional processes, 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives having the desired substituent at the 3-position cannot be produced conveniently with simplicity in good yields. It is an object of this invention to provide a commercially effective process for producing 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives which are important synthetic intermediates for the production of medicines and agricultural chemicals.

Process for producing 2-oxo-3-aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives


A plasma processing apparatus includes a process container configured to have a vacuum atmosphere therein. An upper electrode is disposed to face a target substrate placed within the process container. An electric feeder includes a first cylindrical conductive member continuously connected to the upper electrode in an annular direction. The electric feeder is configured to supply a first RF output from a first RF power supply to the upper electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for subjecting a target substrate to a plasma process, and specifically to a plasma processing technique of the type that applies an RF (radio frequency) to an electrode to generate plasma. Particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma processing technique utilized in a semiconductor process for manufacturing semiconductor devices. The term "semiconductor process" used herein includes various kinds of processes which are performed to manufacture a semiconductor device or a structure having wiring layers, electrodes, and the like to be connected to a semiconductor device, on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate used for an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or FPD (Flat Panel Display), by forming semiconductor layers, insulating layers, and conductive layers in predetermined patterns on the target substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing semiconductor devices and FPDs, plasma is often used for processes, such as etching, deposition, oxidation, and sputtering, so that process gases can react well at a relatively low temperature. Parallel-plate plasma processing apparatuses of the capacitive coupling type are in the mainstream of plasma processing apparatuses of the single substrate type.
In general, a parallel-plate plasma processing apparatus of the capacitive coupling type includes a process container or reaction chamber configured to reduce the pressure therein, and an upper electrode and a lower electrode disposed therein in parallel with each other. The lower electrode is grounded and configured to support a target substrate (semiconductor wafer, glass substrate, or the like) thereon. The upper electrode and/or lower electrode are supplied with RF voltage through a matching unit. At the same time, a process gas is delivered from a showerhead provided on the upper electrode side. Electrons are accelerated by an electric field formed between the upper electrode and lower electrode and collide with the process gas, thereby ionizing the gas and generating plasma. Neutral radicals and ions derived from the plasma are used to perform a predetermined micro-fabrication on the surface of the substrate. In the process described above, the two electrodes function to form a capacitor.
In recent years, miniaturization proceeds in the design rules used for manufacturing processes, and thus plasma processes are required to generate higher density plasma at a lower pressure. Under the circumstances, there is a trend in parallel-plate plasma processing apparatuses of the capacitive coupling type described above, such that the RF applied to the upper electrode is selected from a range covering higher frequencies (for example, 50 MHz or more) than conventional values (typically, 27 MHz or less). However, if the frequency of the RF applied to the upper electrode is set higher, when the RF is supplied from an RF power supply through a feed rod to the electrode backside, it is transmitted through the electrode surface by means of the skin effect and is concentrated at the central portion of the electrode bottom surface (plasma contact surface). As a consequence, the electric field intensity at the central portion of the electrode bottom surface becomes higher than the electric field intensity at the peripheral portion, so the density of generated plasma becomes higher at the electrode central portion than at the electrode peripheral portion. Further, since plasma radially diffuses from a high density area to a low density area, the distribution of the plasma changes such that the density of the plasma becomes increasingly higher at the electrode central portion than at the electrode peripheral portion.
In order to solve this problem, a design is known in which the bottom surface central portion of an upper electrode is formed of a high resistivity member (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-323456). According to this technique, the high resistivity member is employed for the bottom surface central portion of an upper electrode to consume more RF power as Joule heat there. As a consequence, the electric field intensity on the bottom surface (plasma contact surface) of the upper electrode is more reduced at the electrode central portion than at the electrode peripheral portion, so that the low uniformity described above in plasma density is remedied.
However, the high resistivity member employed for the bottom surface central portion of an upper electrode may consume too much RF power as Joule heat (energy loss). Further, the influence of inductive reactance components, such as a feed rod used for a feed line to the upper electrode, become more pronounced, if the frequency of RF power is increased. As a consequence, a resonance point may be formed at an inconstant position on the feed line or upper electrode, and an abnormally large electric current thereby flows near the resonance point.
Incidentally, recent plasma processing apparatuses typically include an upper electrode provided with a number of gas through-holes, from which a process gas is delivered toward a lower electrode, i.e., the upper electrode is used as a so-called showerhead as well. In the case of such an upper electrode of the showerhead type, the upper electrode is attacked and sputtered by ions from the plasma, and thus is considered as a consumable part. Particularly, the delivery port (corner) of each gas through-hole tends to be sputtered because of the electric field concentration thereat. If the gas delivery port is scraped, gas supplied therefrom spreads divergently, thereby making it difficult to stably generate plasma. For this reason, the sputtered level (flared level) of gas delivery ports is used as an index for the electrode service life. Accordingly, the service life of an upper electrode of the showerhead type is shortened with increase in plasma density.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A fiber optic communications cable for providing a short range, high speed data communications link between information system units, including an optical fiber with an integral housing at each end having an electrical connector extending from the housing and adapted to mate with a corresponding electrical connector on an external information system unit for transferring an information signal between the cable and the unit. A signal converter in the integral housing's converts the information signal between an electrical signal and a corresponding optical signal.

High speed data communications networks utilize optical fiber cables for data transmission between information system units such as computers, mass data storage devices, and routers. Such units typically employ electrical connectors which couple to electrical connectors associated with electrical cables. To couple such units to an optical fiber cable, an electro-optical converter or transceiver is employed which interfaces between the electrical connector and the optical fiber cable.
Examples of electrical connectors know in the prior art communications applications are illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. More particularly, FIG. 1A shows an electrical connector 10 designed for use in a 4-channel InfiniBand™ electrical interconnect. FIG. 1B shows an electrical connector plug 12 designed for use in a 12-channel InfiniBand™ electrical interconnect. Electrical connectors 10 and 12 are inserted in associated electrical receptacles mounted on an information systems unit to establish electrical contact with the input/output terminals of such unit.
FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively show an optical cable connector 14 and an optical cable connector receptacle 16 used in InfiniBand™ 4-channel and 12-channel optical interconnects. The optical connector 14 is adapted to mate with optical connector receptacle 16 to enable the four independent optical signals traveling through four fibers in the attached optical cable 18 to communicate with corresponding receivers disposed in the optical connector receptacle 16. The committee setting standards for both 10 Giga-bit Fiber Channel (10 GFC) and 10 Giga-bit Ethernet (10 GbE) is considering to use the above described electrical and optical connector plugs/receptacles in systems complying with these standards.
FIG. 3 shows a conventional InfiniBand™ interface card 20 that is adapted to be inserted in system 22. Depending on the function it is adapted to perform, the InfiniBand™ interface card 20 is commonly referred to as a Host-Channel Adapter (HCA) or a Target Channel Adapter (TCA). Each InfiniBand™ interface card 20 includes one or more printed circuit boards (PCB) that are alternatively referred to hereinbelow as host broads. Each such PCB typically includes hardware adapted to establish communication with other PCBs, with other interface cards or modules via a multitude of electrical wires or optical cables.
FIG. 4A shows an electrical connector receptacle 24 mounted on a host board 26 of a TCA/HCA card. Electrical connector receptacle 24 is adapted so as to mate with electrical connector plug 10 (also see FIG. 1A). FIG. 4B shows an optical connector receptacle 28 mounted on a host board 30 of a TCA/HCA card. Optical connector receptacle 28 is adapted so as to mate with optical connector plug 14 (also see FIG. 2A).
In conventional systems, the host board is often adapted to mate with either an electrical connector plug or an optical connector plug. If the host board is adapted to mate with an electrical connector plug and a subsequent need arises to carry the signals over distances longer than those for which electrical wires, i.e., copper may be used (InfiniBand™ specification calls for copper wire to be used for distances up to 17 meters), the user may need to replace the TCA/HCA card with a card adapted to receive an optical cable so as to be able to handle optical signals, thereby increasing cost. Similarly, if the host board card is adapted to mate with an optical connector plug, and a subsequent need arises to carry the signals over a relatively shorter distances, it may be more cost effective to replace the TCA/HCA card with a card adapted to receive a copper wire so as to be able to handle electrical signals.
Accordingly, media adapters have been developed to enable optical signals carried via an optical cable to be coupled to electrical receptacles. Such media adapters include a fiber optic cable with an electrical plug coupled to on one end and an optical plug coupled to another end. The electrical plug is adapted to mate with an electrical connector receptacle on a host board and the optical plug is adapted to mate with an optical connector receptacle. The electrical signals present on the electrical receptacle are converted to optical signals by a transceiver disposed in the media adapter and carried over fiber optic cable. Conventional media adapters are connectorized and are thus relatively expensive. Furthermore, safety issues remain a concern if a user detaches the optical cable from the coupling plugs and looks at the light beams emanating from the lasers disposed therein.

Integrated optical fiber and electro-optical converter


A method of (and an associated device for) applying or measuring the force applied to a sample tube is disclosed. The method includes the steps of driving a plurality of gripping fingers from an open position to a gripping position against a tube, while measuring the movement of first and second coaxial gears driving the fingers before the fingers grip the tube, stopping the movement of the first coaxial gear when the fingers grip the tube, and allowing and measuring a further limited movement of the second coaxial gear after the fingers grip the tube.

The invention is in the field of equipment that handles medical or other laboratory sample tubes. Many types of laboratories in several broad fields process large quantities of samples in tubes for research and development, manufacturing and clinical research (e.g. the medical and pharmaceutical industries) chemical synthesis and analysis, water treatment, food safety, and environmental monitoring and testing. In almost every case, sample tubes move from person to person or place to place or both, making accurate, detailed records mandatory. In many cases the relevant laboratory will use a laboratory information management system (LIMS) to codify and help automate such laboratory tasks.
In the medical laboratory environment, sample tubes (e.g., containing blood or other fluids) are frequently moved, opened, labeled, closed, and moved again by automated equipment. Other steps (e.g., adding reagent) can take place between these steps.
As one, but not the only context of tube use and movement, biomonitoring represents an important tool for evaluating the health status of human beings. Measuring substances or their biomarkers in human specimens (e.g., urine, blood, and serum) provides identification of disease, increased disease risk, certain nutrition deficiencies, and in some cases exposure to harmful compounds.
Using specific sensitive analytical methods, including handling of samples, is critical to accurate biomonitoring. Such handling accuracy includes steps and goals such as collection, management, preservation, avoiding external contamination, quality control, and integrity of samples and the target analytes they contain. Proper processing, storage, and transport is required to maintain such sample integrity because in most cases biomonitoring requires the highest possible quality standards. See, e.g., Improving the Collection and Management of Human Samples Used for Measuring Environmental Chemicals and Nutrition Indicators; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Version 1.3 Mar. 2018.
Automated tube labeling does not always solve all sampling identification issues, but can be of assistance given that some studies indicate that the majority (about 52%) of labeling errors are corrected in the laboratory (i.e., after if a specimen has been collected) or not until the test results are associated with a patient (about another 25%). A COMPLEX PROCESS WITH A HIGH ERROR RATE. Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes. 2018 September; 135-136:10-17. doi: 10.1016/j.zefq.2018.07.007. Epub 2018 August 14.
In some steps the relevant tubes are lifted using a plurality of reciprocating gripping fingers carried by a robotic arm, or some equivalent. Tubes come in a variety of sizes, however, with a range of 0.5 mL-50 mL being typical. In many cases, the tubes are taken to and from racks that resemble microtiter plates. Thus, the spacing between tubes in the robotic environment differs based on the size the tube and the microtiter racks. A gripping mechanism that is appropriate for one size tube establishes at least two problems for a different size tube: the gripper can't match the tube size and the fingers will strike other tubes during their reciprocal movement (on the backswing, so to speak).
Based on these factors, using a robotic instrument between and among the various tube sizes typically requires that an appropriate set of reciprocating fingers be switched in and out to match either a single tube size or a small range of tube sizes. The delay introduced by this step increases the overall time required to perform the relevant movements of the tubes, thus reducing efficiency and increasing costs. A hospital may carry out dozens or hundreds of tube handling steps every day, while a research laboratory may carry out thousands.
In addition to lacking range of movement, different tube handling steps require applying different amounts of force to a tube. For example, the step of grasping and lifting a tube requires much less force than does gripping a capped tube in an uncapping device. Grippers without such force range must apply the maximum force at all times, wasting energy and increasing the wear and tear on the physical elements of the device, or wear and tear (including potential breakage) of the tubes themselves.
As another disadvantage, some conventional tube grippers attempt to measure the state of the driving motor or the fingers (or both) using the current to the motor. The assumption that this provides the desired information is not always accurate.


A device (1) is described for positioning electrodes on a user's scalp. It comprises a housing (3), for example a headpiece of a headphones device, which can be put around a user's head. An elastic element (11) and a plurality of electrodes are positioned, so that once the housing (3) is put around the user's head, the elastic element (11) at least partly follows the curvature of the user's head. The stress in the elastic element (11) due to stretching thereof caused by putting the housing around the user's head causes the elastic element (11) to exert pressure on at least some of the plurality of electrodes towards the scalp. Hereby, effective contact of the plurality of electrodes to the scalp is facilitated.

The present invention relates to the field of measuring electric brain activity and more specifically to the positioning of electrodes on a user's scalp for this purpose.
In order to measure electric brain activity a device is required with electrodes that are in contact with the user's head. Such devices are well known for providing medical diagnostics, for example for electroencephalography (EEG). The main challenge in applying EEG electrodes is to get a low impedance contact to the scalp. In clinical measurements this is normally done with an elastic cap with integrated Ag/AgCl coated metal cups. The skin underneath these cups is usually prepared by degreasing and often additional abrasion, i.e. removal of the dry top layer of the scalp. The cups are filled afterwards with gel. This assures a low ohmic contact to the deeper skin layer and a 'conversion' from ionic current in the body to electron current in the measuring system. Using conductive gel also partly solves the problem of the varying distance between the metal contact and the skin due to the variation from person to person of the hair layer thickness.
For non-medical applications like sports and life style consumer products it is not practical to use these kind of 'wet' electrodes and perform the skin preparation essential for their function. There are a number of solutions and investigations aiming at realizing 'dry' electrodes.
WO 00/45701 discloses such a 'dry' electrode solution. It discloses a headgear, which includes a front forehead pad, a base strap assembly connected to the front forehead pad, a plurality of EEG electrode locators for receiving EEG electrodes, and a plurality of locator straps connected to the front pad of material, the base trap assembly, and to the plurality of EEG electrode locators for accurately positioning the plurality of EEG electrode locators positioned relative to the scalp of a user. A visor can be attached to the front pad of material, and the base strap assembly may include an occipital locator device. A plunger assembly with spreadable fingers for optionally parting the hair of the user's scalp is also provided that is inserted in the electrode locators to optionally prepare the user's scalp and to seat the electrodes. However, the headgear according to this publication requires that a user pushes each plunger assembly into contact with the scalp. So, the user needs to re-set the plunger assemblies to the initial positions every time the headgear is taken on and off.

Device for positioning electrodes on a user's scalp


A method implemented in a computer system for determining an advertisement in response to an advertising opportunity, wherein the advertising opportunity is an opportunity to place the advertisement on a web page subsequent to a request for the web page by a browser. The computer system receives an indication of the advertising opportunity, and in response to receiving the indication, the computer system determines bids, wherein each bid is associated with an advertisement, selects one of the bids and places the advertisement associated with the selected bid on the web page.

Many web sites on the Internet World Wide Web regularly display advertisements. The particular advertisement that is displayed when a viewer accesses a web site can either be stored locally on the web site or it can be stored on a central server. As used herein the term viewer refers to an individual who views or looks at a web page using a program such as one of the commercially available web browsers.
The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Hyper Text Mark Up Language (HTML) provide a mechanism whereby one website can easily link to a remote server. The HTTP mechanisms for referencing and obtaining material from a remote server is useful in providing advertising material for display to viewers. There are commercially available systems that provide advertising material for web sites from a central server. Various web pages have links to this central server. With such an arrangement, when a viewer accesses a particular web page, a central server provides an advertisement that the viewer seeks on the web page.
Using standard HTTP facilities it is possible to track when a particular viewer accesses a web site and thus it is possible to compile a data base which in essence provides a profile of the sites a particular viewer has accessed using the same browser. Furthermore it is known that types of viewers generally access particular categories of web sites. The capabilities inherent in the World Wide Web for tracking the sites that a viewer has seen provides a mechanism for targeting particular advertisements to particular types of viewers.
There are prior art systems that provide advertisements from a central server that has a database of information on viewers. A database of viewer information can be compiled from a variety of sources including information about a viewer that is available when a viewer accesses a server. In such prior art systems, the characteristics of the viewer as provided by the data base of viewer information determines the particular advertisement which is displayed when a particular viewer who accesses a web site. Other information such as the characteristics of the web site can also be used to determine which advertisement a viewer will see when a web site is accessed. Using such systems advertisers can target advertisements by criteria such as web site category, geographic location of the viewer, the operating system of the viewer's computer, the type of browser which the viewer is using, the internet domain type of the viewer, etc.
Advertisers who use such prior art systems must specify in advance, the targeting criteria they want to use for their advertisements. The central server the provides advertisements to viewers based upon: (a) the targeting criteria established by the advertisers, (b) the information which the central server has in its data base concerning the particular viewer; (c) information about the web site that has been accessed by the viewer, and (d) other information available to the central server such as the time of the day.

System and method for real-time bidding for internet advertising space


A cold plate assembly for cooling a battery of a vehicle includes a first exterior portion disposed adjacent the battery, a separator portion disposed adjacent the first exterior portion, a first flow path formed between the first exterior portion and the separator portion with the first flow path configured to receive a first fluid flow therein, a second exterior portion disposed adjacent the separator portion opposite the first exterior portion, and a second flow path formed between the separator portion and the second exterior portion with the second flow path configured to receive a second fluid flow therein. The first fluid flow flows relative to the second fluid flow in a counter-flow flow configuration.

Electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles typically include battery assemblies for generating the power necessary to drive the associated vehicle when the associated electric drive mechanism is engaged. The batteries forming such assemblies tend to generate significant heat during operation or charging thereof, and especially during a fast charging operation associated with such batteries. It is therefore important to continuously remove heat from each of the batteries in order to maintain each of the batteries within a desired temperature range. It is accordingly desirable to cool such battery assemblies during operation or charging thereof to avoid the generation of excessive heat within the battery assemblies or adjacent components of the vehicle.
One method of cooling the batteries forming the associated battery assembly includes placing what is commonly referred to as a "cold plate" in heat exchange relationship with one or more of the batteries, wherein the cold plate forms a heat sink having suitable properties of thermal conduction for removing heat from the batteries. Such cold plates may also typically include a fluid flow path formed therein, wherein the fluid flow path conveys a fluid therethrough for further removing heat from the cold plate and hence the associated batteries in contact with the cold plate. However, such cold plates tend to dissipate the heat from the batteries in a non-uniform manner due to the manner in which the fluid flow continuously warms as it draws heat from the batteries, thereby causing portions of the batteries and the associated cold plate to have variable temperatures. This non-uniform heat dissipation may cause portions of the batteries to overheat or may cause localized deformations within the batteries or the cold plate as a result of non-uniform thermal expansion.
There accordingly exists a need in the art for a cold plate assembly having a greater heat exchange efficiency and more homogeneous heat transfer therethrough for more effectively and efficiently cooling the batteries of the associated battery assembly.

High performance uniform temperature cold plate


The invention relates to an optical device for measuring the position of an object along a first axis, the object being subjected to light radiations emitted by a light source. The optical device comprises: an imaging system comprising an objective for collecting light radiations diffused by the object, the imaging system having an optical axis extending parallel to the first axis; a transmission mask having at least a first aperture and a second aperture, the first aperture and second aperture being spaced from each other along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis, the transmission mask being arranged so as to let a first part of the radiations and a second part of the radiations which are diffused by the object pass through the first aperture and the second aperture respectively, while blocking a part of the radiations emitted by the light source which is not diffused by the object; and a detector adapted for generating an image including a first spot and a second spot representative of the first part and second part of the radiations impacting the detector plane, wherein variation of the position of the object relative to the object plane of the imaging system along the first axis causes variation of a position of the first spot and of the second spot relative to each other along the second axis.

In order to study interactions between DNA molecules and other components, such as proteins, it is known to submit the DNA molecules to stretching forces and to measure the elastic properties (i.e. relative extension versus force characteristics) of the molecules.
Document US 2003/0027187 discloses for instance an apparatus for testing a DNA molecule wherein the molecule is anchored at one end to an anchoring surface and at the other end to a paramagnetic bead. The apparatus comprises magnets for applying a force to the bead so as to control the stretching and torsion of the molecule. The apparatus also comprises a light source, a microscope and a camera for generating an image of the bead, as well as a computer for analyzing the image generated.
Analysis of the image of the bead allows determining in real time the position of the bead in three dimensions (x, y, z), and thus the extension of the molecule and the applied stretching force.
The x, y coordinates of the bead may be determined by using the symmetry of the bead and determining its center by auto-convolution. Indeed, this function presents a maximum positive value which position is shifted by (2δx, 2δy) where δx(δy) is the shift of the bead image along x(y) from the original image center. Auto-convolution may be computed rapidly using a FFT algorithm and the maximum position may be obtained by locally fitting a second order polynomial.
The z coordinate of the bead (i.e. coordinate of the bead along the magnification axis of the microscope) may be determined by comparing the diffraction pattern of the bead to a set of reference diffraction patterns previously acquired during a calibration phase.
Indeed, interferences between light radiations emitted by the light source and light radiations diffused by the bead generate diffraction rings in the image recorded by the camera. The size of the diffraction rings varies with the distance of the bead relative to the focal plane of the microscope.
Calibration of the apparatus consists in recording several images of the bead by varying focusing of the microscope while keeping the bead in a fixed position relative to the anchoring surface. This calibration phase allows generation of different reference images of the bead corresponding to different distances between the bead and the focus plane.
Once the calibration phase has been completed, comparison of the current image of the bead with the reference images, allows measurement of the position of the bead with a precision of few nanometers. For instance, the method allows following positions of a few dozen of beads, with a precision of about 3 nanometers between two video images. In applications wherein the apparatus is used for measuring the length of the DNA molecule, this allows localizing a sequence component of the DNA molecule to within few nucleobases.
However, the calibration phase is time consuming, requires large computing resources and must be carried out for each bead separately.
Moreover, the proposed method requires the use of a large number of pixels on the camera used to image one bead, especially if one wishes to test long DNA molecules because of the increasing of the size of the image of the object. This may limit the number of beads one is able to analyze (for instance 1000 beads for a 4 megapixels camera).
Therefore, the proposed method may not be extended for simultaneously measuring positions of a large number of beads, such as thousands of beads for instance.
In addition, in order to vary focusing of the microscope, the calibration phase requires the use of a high precision nano-positioning stage, including piezoelectric actuators, for moving the anchoring surface relative to the microscope in a precise and repeatable way.

Optical device for measuring the position of an object

Paris Sciences Et Lettres—Quartier Latin

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Universite Pierre Et Marie Curie (Paris 6)


A melon cutter includes a cutting basket which has a plurality of arched wire cutters which extend to a central member. The cutter includes a melon holder which can be forced down towards the cutting head. A melon half placed on the cutting head is then forced by the holder down against the cutting elements. The cutting basket is then rotated about 30xc2x0-45xc2x0 to effectively separate melon meat from the melon rind. The melon pieces then fall into a bowl below the cutting basket.

Melons such as cantaloupes and honey dew melons and the like can be served in portions with the rind still attached or can be separated from the rind. In separating the melon meat from the rind one generally cuts the melon in half removing the seed and pulp. The melon is then cut into wedges. The meat is then cut from the wedges and can be further cut into small cubes. This is relatively time-consuming particularly for restaurants grocery delis and the like which require a large amount of fresh melon.
Accordingly it is the object of the present invention to provide a device adapted to quickly and simply separate the melon meat from its rind. More particularly it is the object of the present invention to do this with minimal effort and preferably at the same time separate the meat into smaller pieces.
The present invention is premised on the realization that a melon cutter which utilizes a cutting basket having a melon holder wherein the basket penetrates the meat of the melon and rotates relative to the melon, separates the melon meat from the rind quickly and efficiently. In a preferred embodiment, the cutter basket has an opening at the bottom to allow the melon meat to fall directly into a bowl supported beneath the basket. This requires minimal labor and allows the meat to be separated from the melon without being touched further improving sanitation.
The present invention will be further appreciated in light of the following detailed description and drawings in which:


The aesthetic quality of a picture is automatically inferred using visual content as a machine learning problem using, for example, a peer-rated, on-line photo sharing Website as data source. Certain visual features of images are extracted based on the intuition that they can discriminate between aesthetically pleasing and displeasing images. A one-dimensional support vector machine is used to identify features that have noticeable correlation with the community-based aesthetics ratings. Automated classifiers are constructed using the support vector machines and classification trees, with a simple feature selection heuristic being applied to eliminate irrelevant features. Linear regression on polynomial terms of the features is also applied to infer numerical aesthetics ratings.

Photography is defined as the art or practice of taking and processing photographs. Aesthetics in photography is how people usually characterize beauty in this form of art. There are various ways in which aesthetics is defined by different people. There exists no single consensus on what it exactly pertains to. The broad idea is that photographic images that are pleasing to the eyes are considered to be higher in terms of their aesthetic beauty. What pleases or displeases one person may be different from what pleases or displeases another person. While the average individual may simply be interested in how soothing a picture is to the eyes, a photographic artist may be looking at the composition of the picture, the use of colors and light, and any additional meanings conveyed by the picture. A professional photographer, on the other hand, may be wondering how difficult it may have been to take or to process a particular shot, the sharpness and the color contrast of the picture, or whether the "rules of thumb" in photography have been maintained. All these issues make the measurement of aesthetics in pictures or photographs extremely subjective.
Content analysis in photographic images has been studied by the multimedia and vision research community in the past decade. Today, several efficient region-based image retrieval engines are in use [13, 6, 21, 18]. Statistical modeling approaches have been proposed for automatic image annotation [4, 12]. Culturally significant pictures are being archived in digital libraries [7]. Online photo sharing communities are becoming more and more common [1, 3, 11, 15]. In this age of digital picture explosion, it is critical to continuously develop intelligent systems for automatic image content analysis. The advantages of such systems can be reaped by the scientific community as well as common people.
Community-Based Photo Ratings as Data Source
One good data source is a large on-line photo sharing community, Photo.net, possibly the first of its kind, started in 1997 by Philip Greenspun, then a researcher on online communities at MIT [15]. Primarily intended for photography enthusiasts, the Website attracts more than 400,000 registered members. Many amateur and professional photographers visit the site frequently, share photos, and rate and comment on photos taken by peers. There are more than one million photographs uploaded by these users for perusal by the community. Of interest to us is the fact that many of these photographs are peer-rated in terms of two qualities, namely aesthetics and originality. The scores are given in the range of one to seven, with a higher number indicating better rating. This site acts as the main source of data for our computational aesthetics work. The reason we chose such an online community is that it provides photos which are rated by a relatively diverse group. This ensures generality in the ratings, averaged out over the entire spectrum of amateurs to serious professionals.
While amateurs represent the general population, the professionals tend to spend more time on the technical details before rating the photographs. This is evident from the comments that are posted by peers on photographs, often in an attempt to justify their ratings. Because this is a photo sharing community, there can be some bias towards the opinions of professional photographers over the general population, but this is not critical since opinions of professionals often reflect on what satisfies their customers on an average. Hence, such ratings may be used as indicators of aesthetics in photography, but with a caveat: the nature of any peer-rated community is such that it leads to unfair judgments under certain circumstances, and Photo.net is no exception, making acquired data fairly noisy. Ideally, the data should have been collected from a random sample of human subjects under controlled setup, if resource constraints so allow.
By definition, Aesthetics means (1) "concerned with beauty and art and the understanding of beautiful things", and (2) "made in an artistic way and beautiful to look at". A more specific discussion on the definition of aesthetics can be found in [16]. As can be observed, no consensus was reached on the topic among the users, many of whom are professional photographers. Originality has a more specific definition of being something that is unique and rarely observed. The originality score given to some photographs can also be hard to interpret, because what seems original to some viewers may not be so for others. Depending on the experiences of the viewers, the originality scores for the same photo can vary considerably. Thus the originality score is subjective to a large extent as well. Even then, the reasons that hold for aesthetics ratings also hold for originality, making this data a fairly general representation of the concept of originality and hence safe to use for statistical learning purposes.

Studying aesthetics in photographic images using a computational approach


A VTMS queue scheduler integrates traffic shaping and link sharing functions within a single mechanism and that scales to an arbitrary number of queues of an intermediate station in a computer network. The scheduler assigns committed information bit rate and excess information bit rate values per queue, along with a shaped maximum bit rate per media link of the station. The integration of shaping and sharing functions decreases latency-induced inaccuracies by eliminating a queue and feedback mechanism between the sharing and shaping functions of conventional systems.

A computer network is a geographically distributed collection of interconnected network links and segments for transporting data between nodes, such as computers. Many types of network segments are available, with the types ranging from local area networks (LANs) to wide area networks (WANs). End nodes, such as personal computers or workstations, typically communicate over the network by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to predefined protocols. In this context, a protocol consists of a set of rules defining how the nodes interact with each other.
Computer networks may be further interconnected by an intermediate node, such as a switch or router, having a plurality of ports which may be coupled to the networks. For example, a switch may be utilized to provide a "switching" function for transferring information between a plurality of LANs at high speed. The switching function includes receiving a data packet at a source port that originated from a source node and transferring that packet to at least one destination port for forwarding to a destination node.
On the other hand, a router may be used to interconnect LANs executing different LAN standards and/or to provide higher level functionality than a switch. If the LAN standards associated with the source and destination nodes are dissimilar (e.g., Ethernet and token ring), the router may also alter the format of the packet so that it may be received by the destination node. Routers typically operate at the network layer of a communications protocol stack used by the network, such as the internetwork layer of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) communications architecture.
To interconnect dispersed computer networks and/or provide Internet connectivity, many organizations rely on the infrastructure and facilities of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs typically own one or more backbone networks that are configured to provide high-speed connection to the Internet. To interconnect private networks that are geographically diverse, an organization may subscribe to one or more ISPs and couple each of its private networks to the ISPs equipment. Here, a router may be utilized to interconnect a plurality of private networks to an IP backbone network.
Typically, high-speed input links of the private networks couple to input ports of the router that feed to a single output buffer connected to an output link of the IP backbone network. Depending upon the bandwidths of the input and output links, the incoming data packets may "burst-up" at the output buffer as the packets wait to be transmitted over the shared output link. Moreover, the router may function to aggregate different kinds of packet traffic (e.g., large data packets v. small voice or video packets) over the shared link; in this case, different qualities of service (QoS) may also be required for those packets.
For example, if a small voice packet is loaded into the output buffer behind a large data packet, the voice packet will incur a latency of at least the time needed for the data packet to exit the buffer over the output link. A common objective is to reduce the total end-to-end round trip time for voice packets traversing a network between two end nodes in situations where, e.g., users are conducting a telephone conversation. Some unavoidable delay is incurred when packets traverse the actual network links between the nodes; however, it is possible to reduce packet delay that arises within the routers of the network. One source of delay within a router is the delay incurred at the output buffer (e.g., a queue); an objective of the present invention is to reduce the delay encountered by a packet within a queue structure of an intermediate station, such as a switch or router.
A solution to the QoS issue is to provide a plurality of output queues at the router, where each queue is dedicated to a particular data type. For example, a relatively large queue may be provided for data traffic so that the "data" queue can accommodate bursts of data as provided by, e.g., file transfer protocol transfers. In contrast, relatively small output queues may be allocated for voice and video traffic forwarded through the router. Yet, each of these output queues require access to a single resource, e.g., the output link. Accordingly, a scheduler function may be employed within the router to service the queues in an ordered manner according to the types of traffic and the QoS policies governing the relationships between these types of traffic.
One type of scheduler utilized in packet-based switches and/or routers is a link sharing queue scheduler that multiplexes the packets stored in a number of output queues onto a shared media link in a configurable manner that provides fairness and weighted relative priority. Examples of link sharing algorithms executed by the scheduler include weighted fair queuing (WFQ), weighted round robin (WRR), deficit round robin (DRR) and modified deficit round robin (MDRR). The WFQ algorithm is characterized by the assignment of relative weights to the each of the output queues that share the bandwidth of a single output link. When these output queues are not empty, they are serviced such that the total bandwidth of the output link is apportioned among the relative weighted ratios of the queues. WRR is an algorithm that implements weighted queuing in a fair, round robin manner.
The DRR algorithm assigns each queue a quantum of work and enforces bandwidth rates such that each output queue delivers its proportion of a maximum transfer unit with respect to the total bandwidth of the output link. The DRR algorithm further ensures that each of the output queues is serviced fairly with respect to each other. A problem with this algorithm is that if one of the queues is configured to store voice packets whose actual bandwidth is small relative to the total bandwidth of the output link, substantial delays may be incurred by those packets when fairly servicing the voice queue with respect to the other output queues.
The MDRR algorithm operates to provide priority service to such a "delay-sensitive" queue while maintaining typical DRR service for the remaining queues. One implementation of the MDRR algorithm is a strict priority implementation that always services a low latency queue before servicing the remaining queues. Disadvantages of this implementation include (i) the potential to "starve out" the remaining queues and (ii) a limitation of one low latency output queue, i.e., the MDRR algorithm does not allow the flexibility to define more than one low latency queue for a strict priority implementation.
A further implementation of weighted link sharing involves utilization of the entire bandwidth of the output link in the presence of any non-empty output queues. Specifically, if one queue in a weighted link-sharing environment is not being used, the bandwidths of the remaining queues increase but at a rate that is proportional to their relative weights. This implementation of weighted link sharing is referred to as a work conserving implementation. Another class of schedulers, known as non-work conserving schedulers, may not transmit a packet even if one is waiting to be serviced. Although work conserving schedulers produce lower delays and lower packet loss ratios, non-work conserving schedulers have the capability to perform traffic shaping. Traffic shaping schedulers smooth the transmission of packets from an output queue at a configured bit rate in a generally non-work conserving manner.
Some conventional packet-based switches and routers include traffic shaping and link sharing functions, wherein the traffic shaping function enforces a configurable maximum bit rate on a link or queue to complement the weighted minimal share guaranteed by the link sharing function. These routers generally implement traffic shaping as a function independent of link sharing, either in software, e.g., as separate functional blocks downstream from one another, or in hardware, e.g., as separate functional mechanisms associated with levels of a queuing subsystem cascaded as a hierarchy of queues, typically within an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The queuing subsystem may comprise a multi-level structure that includes a top level of queues associated with a link sharing mechanism coupled to an intermediate level of queues associated with a traffic shaping mechanism. However, the hardware implementation of separate functional mechanisms associated with the queuing subsystem consumes substantial "real estate" on the ASIC and typically employs a feedback mechanism from the intermediate level to the top level of queues to, e.g., enforce bandwith consumption requirements. The software implementation of separate functional blocks, on the other hand, is generally complicated and consumes substantial processor resources on the routers.
Multi-level queuing structures are also often present in switches and routers that implement class-based queuing (CBQ). CBQ techniques require a plurality of queuing functions (e.g., enqueue and dequeue operations) at each level of the cascading hierarchy of queues, resulting in higher implementation costs for a given performance level. Because of the latency associated with these functions, forwarding performance of the router degrades rapidly as the number of queues is increased. This tends to limit the router to a small number of queues per interface, which, in turn, limits the services available through each interface.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a technique that supports common queuing and queue service disciplines within a framework that is sufficiently simple and compact for implementation in a hardware (ASIC) forwarding engine.

Flexible, high performance support for QoS on an arbitrary number of queues