A user closable collar for a vacuum cleaner bag, the collar body being formed from a single blank of relatively rigid material which is folded to define three generally overlapping and planar panels, a middle panel having fixed raceway element which is adhesively secured to a first outer panel and a second outer panel, each of the outer panels having openings or apertures. A slider element is securely attached to the raceway element during the assembly process by retention bands of collar blank material and has containing an aperture thereon which is aligned with the apertures of the outer panels when in a closed position. The retention bands of collar material are cut through one of the outer panels, releasing the slider element such the slider element can be moved by a user from an open position to a closed position causing the apertures of said first and second outer panels to be occluded.

1. Field of Invention
This invention finds use in the field of collection bags, such as those used in vacuum cleaners and other debris collection devices and more particularly, this invention relates to a rigid collar which is attached to a vacuum cleaner collection bag which can be sealed by the user upon removal from the output nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of Prior Art Disposable vacuum bags for use in a vacuum cleaner are characteristically provided with collars for attachment to the vacuum outlet nozzle. Recently, some collar designs have included closures such that, when the vacuum bag is removed from the vacuum cleaner after use, the bag may be closed or sealed at the collar to retain therein the dirt and other particulate matter trapped in the bag. While great creativity, time and effort have been directed to the provision of a dependable automatically closable collarxe2x80x94that is, a collar which is reliably self-sealing immediately upon removal from the outlet nozzle pipe of a vacuum cleanerxe2x80x94many disposable vacuum bag users still prefer the certainty of a manually closable collarxe2x80x94that is, a collar which the user himself or herself seals after removal of the vacuum bag from the outlet nozzle.
Over time, a variety of manually closable collars have been designed and placed available on the market. Many designs require the presence of a portion enabling movement of a closure member from one location to another. It has been found that the provision of an easily flexible collar portion results in a complex and hence costly collar. This is particularly true with collars comprised of two or more separate pieces that are bonded to form a complete collar. While most basic vacuum bags may have only a one-ply die cut or a two-ply sandwiched collar, some of the manually closable constructions require additional ply layers, thus increasing the material cost and manufacturing expense of producing such bags. Finally, in the known three-ply collars of manually closable bags not requiring a flexible collar portion, higher production costs are involved. Once the collar has been appropriately folded, the fold between the closure member and another ply of the collar must be cut in order to free the closure member for movement relative to the remainder of the collar. This extra processing step entails additional manufacturing expense as well as the waste of a certain amount of the raw material since a fold between the closure member and another ply must be cut away and discarded.
One-piece, three-ply designs are well known in the art, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,725,620 and 5,772,712 to Perea et al. However, such collars, while improvements over the previous art, still require numerous production punches and cuts to produce the finished piece.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a manually closable collar for a vacuum cleaner bag, which collar is economical to and easy to manufacture, in that a minimal number of post assembly cuts and punches are made and material wasted.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a collar that is simple for the end user to operate.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a collar that adequately seals the filled vacuum cleaner bag such that a minimal amount of collected material is spilt or otherwise lost.
To attain the objects described above according to this invention, there is provided a collar for a vacuum cleaner bag having a user operated closure. The collar is formed from a blank of relatively rigid material and is folded to define first and second full outer panels, and a middle panel having a fixed raceway element which is adhesively secured to a first outer panel and a second outer panel, each of the outer panels having openings or apertures. A slider element is securely attached to the raceway element during the assembly process by retention bands of collar blank material and has containing an aperture thereon which is aligned with the apertures of the outer panels when in a closed position. The retention bands of collar material are cut through one or both of the outer panels, releasing the slider element such the slider element can be moved by a user from an open position to a closed position causing the apertures of said first and second outer panels to be occluded.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention wherein reference is specifically made to the drawings.


The present invention provides a method comprising recursively partitioning an intensity modulated beam into plateaus; and partitioning the plateaus into segments. The present invention also provides a method for controlling administration of radiation therapy to a patient based on static leaf prescriptions. In addition, the present invention provides a method for partitioning an IMB.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and more particularly, to a segmentation algorithmic approach to IMRT.
2. Related Art
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a new technique for cancer treatments and aims to deliver a highly conformal dose to the target volume while keeping the dose to other surrounding organs at risk (OAR) below tolerance levels, see T. R. Bortfeld, A. L. Boyer, W. Schlegel, D. L. Kahler, and T. L. Waldron, Experimental verification of multileaf conformal radiotherapy, In A. R. Hounsell, J. M. Wilkinson, and P. C. Williams, editors, Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy, pages 180-181, 1994; T. R. Bortfeld, A. L. Boyer, W. Schlegel, D. L. Kahler, and T. L. Waldron, Realization and verification of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy with modulated fields, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys., 30:899-908, 1994; C. S. Chui, T. LoSasso, and S. Spirou, Dose calculation for photon beam with intensity modulation generated by dynamic jaw or multileaf collimation, Med. Phys., 21:1237-1244, 1994; P. Geis, A. L. Boyer, and N. H. Wells, Use of a multi-leaf collimator as a dynamic missing-tissue compensator, Med. Phys., 23:1199, 1996; C. C. Ling, C. Burman, S. Chui, G. J. Kutcher, S. A. Leibel, T. LoSasso, R. Mohan, T. Bortfeld, L. Reistein, S. Spirou, X. H. Wang, Q. Wu, M. Zelefsky, and Z. Fuks, Conformal radiation treatment of prostate cancer using inverse-planned intensity modulated photon beams produced with dynamic leaf collimation, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys., 35:721-730, 1996; X. Wang, S. Spirou, T. LoSasso, J. Stein, C. S. Chui, and R. Mohan, Dosimetric verification of intensity-modulated field, Med. Phys., 23:317-327, 1996; S. Webb, The Physics of Three-Dimensional Radiation Therapy, Bristol, IoP Publishing, 1993; K. R. Winston and W. Lutz, Linear accelerator as a neurosurgical tool for stereotactic radiosurgery, Neurosurgery, 22(3):454-464, 1988; and Cmax. Yu, M. J. Symons, M. N. Du, A. A. Martinez, and J. W. Wong, A method for implementing dynamic intensity modulation using independent jaws and a multileaf collimator, Phys. Med. Biol., 40:769-787, 1995, the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Implementation of IMRT requires an ability to deliver 2-dimensional non-uniform fluence distributions, called intensity maps or intensity modulated beams (IMBs) (see FIG. 1A).
Currently, IMRT may be delivered by multiple overlapping fields shaped by a multileaf collimator (MLC), (see FIG. 1B for a schematic representation of an MLC), see also T. J. Jordan and P. C. Williams, The design and performance characteristics of a multileaf collimator, Phys. Med. Biol., 39:231-251, 1994, the entire contents and disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Using a MLC, IMRT may be implemented either statically or dynamically. In dynamic approaches, the MLC leaves keep moving across a treatment field while the radiation remains on. In static approaches, also referred to as "step-and-shoot" IMRT, the MLC leaves stay stationary during irradiation, and move to reshape the beam while the radiation is turned off. A number of dynamic and static MLC techniques have been described previously, see S. Webb, The Physics of Three-Dimensional Radiation Therapy, Bristol, IoP Publishing, 1993; and S. Webb, The Physics of Conformal Radiotherapy, Advances in Technology, Bristol, IoP Publishing, 1997, the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Due to the complexity of dynamic intensity modulated beams, the verification of all aspects of the planning and delivery procedures becomes difficult. Thus, "step-and-shoot" is the currently preferred method for delivering IMRT in clinical practices. Advantages of the "step-and-shoot" technique include precise delivery, easy verification, and general availability. A key disadvantage, however, is that it may require a prolonged treatment time, since radiation has to be constantly switched on and off to allow MLC leaves to reshape. In some machines, such as those commercially available from ELEKTA INC., and SIEMENS Corporation, the inter-segment delay dominates the total treatment time in a step-and-shoot delivery. Thus, in such cases, it is highly desirable to use a leaf sequence with the fewest segments possible to deliver the desired intensity map, P. Xia and L. J. Verhey, MLC leaf sequencing algorithm for intensity modulated beams with multiple static segments, Medical Physics, 25:1424-1434, 1998, the entire contents and disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Segmentation algorithmic approach to step-and-shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy


A pipe-tapered-thread machining tap has a thread, four spiral flutes and four cutting edges that include a plurality of thread intersection portions at each of which a corresponding one of the four cutting edges intersects with the thread. The thread intersection portions of the cutting edges have four groups, such that each of the four groups has ones of the thread intersection portions that are portions of a corresponding one of the four cutting edges. Every two of the thread intersection portions of each of the four groups is removed, such that, in each of the four groups, at least one of the thread intersection portions that is removed and at least another one of the thread intersection portions that is not removed are alternately arranged in a direction in which a corresponding one of the four cutting edges extends.

There is known a pipe-tapered-thread machining tap for machining a pipe tapered internal thread in a pipe, a pipe adaptor, a fluid equipment or the like. In the pipe-tapered-thread machining tap, its complete thread portion as well as its chamfered portion is tapered for making the pipe tapered internal thread tapered, so that thread cutting is performed not only by the chamfered portion but also by the complete thread portion.
In the pipe-tapered-thread machining tap, the thread cutting performed by the complete thread portion is carried out not only by its crest but also by its root whereby larger cutting resistance is generated as compared with thread cutting performed by a chamfered portion in a pipe-straight-thread machining tap. Thus, in the pipe-tapered-thread machining tap, tap breakage, chipping, wear and other problems could easily occur, resulting in problems such as insufficiencies of machining efficiency and tool durability.
On the other hand, there is proposed a pipe-tapered-thread machining tap in which a total of edge thickness angles is 125°-150° for preventing breakage and chipping of the tap and also preventing cutting chip clogging so as to provide a high efficiency and a long tool life even where the tap is used for machining a high-hardness material. An example of such a pipe-tapered-thread machining tap is disclosed in Patent Document 1.


A computer-implemented method for facilitating the management of a financial instrument includes determining an account balance for a financial account. The financial account includes an investment portfolio and a springing guarantee of an income base for a retirement income. The retirement income includes periodic monetary transfers to be commenced at a target retirement date. Each periodic monetary transfer has a respective value based on the income base. The springing guarantee of the income base may be activated on an activation date. The account balance is stored in memory of the data processing system. The stored account balance is periodically updated based at least in part on market performance of the investment portfolio. Using a computing system, the activation date is determined based at least in part on the target retirement date and the income base is determined. A respective value is outputted for each one of the periodic monetary transfers. The respective value of each one of the periodic monetary transfers is based on the value of the stored income base at a time proximate the one of the periodic monetary transfers.

Many retirement funds are characterized by an anticipated retirement target date for the participant. Target-date funds are often characterized by four features: each fund is "targeted" to meet the needs of individuals planning to retire in a specific year; investments are diversified across a mix of asset classes, usually equities and fixed income; the fund automatically rebalances periodically to maintain its target asset allocation; and the asset allocation of the fund evolves along a "glide path" as the target retirement date approaches, generally becoming more conservative through an increased weighting of fixed income securities. The glide path varies significantly across target-date funds. Target-date funds may expose participants to a variety of risks that could disrupt enjoyment of a secure retirement. For example, many participants have experienced significant loss of future retirement income because of sharp declines in asset values in the years immediately preceding retirement. Another risk is that the balance of a retirement account may become zero or nominal due to a string of poor market returns or because of outliving one's assets. A purchasing power risk may arise if retirement income does not grow rapidly enough to keep pace with inflation during retirement.

System and method for facilitating management of a financial instrument

The Prudential Insurance Company of America


Disclosed is a chemical mechanical polishing pad formed at a polishing surface thereof with a plurality of concentric wave-shaped grooves having different radiuses while having the same shape. Each groove has a desired depth, width, and shape. The chemical mechanical polishing pad provides effects of effectively controlling a flow of slurry during a polishing process, thereby achieving a stability in the polishing process in terms of a polishing rate, and achieving an enhancement in the planarization of a wafer.

The present invention relates to a polishing pad used in a chemical mechanical polishing process, and more particularly to a chemical mechanical polishing pad formed at a polishing surface thereof with a plurality of wave-shaped concentric grooves of different diameters each having a desired depth, width and shape.
Generally, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a high precision/mirrored surface polishing method used to obtain global planarization in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. In accordance with such CMP, a slurry is supplied between a polishing pad and a wafer to be polished, so as to chemically etch the surface of the wafer. Using the polishing pad, the etched surface of the wafer is mechanically polished.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical CMP machine, which is denoted by the reference numeral 1, is schematically illustrated. Also, a CMP method using the CMP machine 1 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. The CMP method includes a chemical etching reaction process and a mechanical polishing process, which are conducted using a polishing pad 10 included in the CMP machine 1. The chemical etching reaction is carried out by a slurry 42. That is, the slurry 42 serves to chemically react with the surface of a wafer 30 to be polished, thereby making it possible for the mechanical polishing process, following the chemical etching reaction, to be easily carried out. In the mechanical polishing process, the polishing pad 10, which is fixedly mounted on a platen 20, rotates. The wafer 30, which is firmly held by a retainer ring 32, rotates while oscillating. A slurry containing abrasive particles is supplied to the polishing pad 10 by a slurry supply means 40. The supplied slurry is introduced between the polishing pad 10 and the wafer 30. The introduced abrasive particles come into frictional contact with the wafer 30 by virtue of a relative rotating speed difference between the polishing pad 10 and the wafer 30, so that they conduct mechanical polishing. The slurry 42 is a colloidal liquid containing abrasive particles having a grain size of nanometers. This slurry 42 is spread on the polishing pad 10 during the polishing process. As the polishing pad 10 rotates during the polishing process, the slurry 42 supplied to the polishing pad 10 is outwardly discharged from the periphery of the polishing pad 10 due to a centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the polishing pad 10. In order to achieve an enhanced polishing efficiency, many abrasive particles should remain for a desirable lengthy period of time on the upper surface of the polishing pad 10 so that they participate in the polishing of the wafer. That is, the polishing pad 10 should make the slurry 42 be held on the surface thereof for as long a period of time as possible.
Centrifugal force generated during the rotation of the CMP pad is higher at a position nearer to the periphery of the polishing pad. Due to such a centrifugal force difference between different radial positions on the polishing pad, the slurry on the polishing pad exhibits an increased flow rate as it approaches the periphery of the polishing pad. Thus, the slurry is non-uniformly distributed in the radial direction of the polishing pad. Due to such a non-uniform distribution of the slurry, the wafer is non-uniformly polished because its polishing rate is varied depending on, a radial position of the polishing pad in contact with the wafer""s surface. Such a variation in polishing rate affects the planarization of the wafer. As a result, the polishing pad exhibits a considerable difference in polishing rate between its central portion and its peripheral portion. For this reason, it is necessary to uniformly distribute the slurry over the polishing pad by controlling the flow of slurry on the polishing pad.
During the polishing process, the wafer is pressed against the polishing pad so that it comes into frictional contact with abrasive particles. Due to this pressure, however, it may be difficult for the slurry to reach the central portion of the wafer. For this reason, the slurry may be distributed at the central portion of the wafer in, a relatively reduced amount, as compared to the amount at the peripheral portion of the wafer. As a result, the wafer is non-uniformly polished.
In order to solve such a problem, a method has been proposed, in which holes or grooves having a desired width, depth and shape are formed on a CMP pad. Such holes or grooves act to control the flow and distribution of the slurry continuously supplied during the polishing process.
Now, holes or grooves conventionally formed on a polishing pad will be described in conjunction with the annexed drawings.
FIG. 3a is a schematic view illustrating a polishing pad formed with grooves respectively having the form of concentric circles. FIG. 3b is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Axe2x80x94A of FIG. 3a. As shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the grooves formed on the polishing pad have the form of concentric circles uniformly spaced apart from one another in a radial direction while having different diameters, respectively. The slurry, which is continuously supplied onto the polishing pad, is forced to move outwardly by a centrifugal force generated as the polishing pad rotates. As a result, during the polishing process, the slurry is temporarily collected in the concentric circular grooves, and then outwardly discharged from those grooves. An example of such concentric circular grooves is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,769.
FIG. 4a is a schematic view illustrating a polishing pad formed with grooves having the form of a lattice. FIG. 4b is a cross-sectional view illustrating the lattice-shaped grooves of FIG. 4a. The polishing pad shown in FIG. 4a has a plurality of grooves extending an X axis and a plurality of grooves extending a Y axis while crossing the X-axis grooves to form a lattice. Such lattice-shaped grooves serve to collect a slurry continuously supplied onto the polishing pad, thereby retarding the discharge of the slurry caused by centrifugal force.
In the case of the conventional polishing pad having grooves uniformly spaced apart from one another, the slurry supplied onto the polishing pad is hindered from flowing toward the central portion of a wafer being polished at regions where the polishing pad is in contact with the wafer. As a result, a degradation in polishing rate occurs at the central portion of the wafer.
Since lattice-shaped grooves extend in an opened state to the periphery of the polishing pad without having any closed portion, the slurry supplied onto the polishing pad is easily discharged from the polishing pad. As a result, the lattice-shaped grooves cause an increased consumption of slurry, as compared to concentric circular grooves. It was also reported that holes cause increased consumption of slurry, as compared to lattice-shaped grooves, because those holes involve a reduction of the cross-sectional area capable of storing slurry. In the case of concentric circular grooves, a superior slurry storage capacity is obtained because each groove has a partially closed structure having vertical groove walls capable of retaining the slurry in the groove against centrifugal force, as compared to other structures. However, this structure has a drawback in that each groove has an insufficient depth corresponding to xc2xc of the thickness of the polishing pad.
Since the conventional method, which is used to form grooves at a polishing pad, utilize a cutting process conducted by a lathe or milling, the grooves have a fixed pattern such as concentric circles or a lattice. For this reason, it is difficult to form a groove pattern capable of effectively controlling the flow of a slurry.
In order to solve such a problem, it is necessary to design the shape, density and distribution of grooves, taking into consideration given polishing process conditions such as centrifugal force and wafer position.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a CMP pad for a CMP process which is formed with wave-shaped grooves capable of retarding the discharge rate of a slurry supplied onto a polishing surface while uniformly distributing the slurry over the polishing surface.
Another object of the invention is to provide a CMP pad formed with wave-shaped grooves capable of effectively controlling the flow of a slurry supplied onto the polishing pad during a CMP process.
In accordance with the present invention, these objects are accomplished by providing a CMP pad used for a CMP process, wherein a plurality of wave-shaped concentric grooves of different diameters each having a desired depth, a desired width and a desired shape are formed at a polishing surface of the pad.

Chemical mechanical polishing pad having wave shaped grooves


There is disclosed a RAID control apparatus which copies data to a copying-target disk drive from the first or second disk drive by use of a rebuilding function in a disk array system including the first and second disk drives. The RAID control apparatus replaces a disk drive to be copied with the second disk drive, when the first disk drive fails during execution of a copying operation using the first disk drive as the disk drive to be copied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a disk array system, particularly to a copying technique of preparing a duplicate of a disk drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as a disk array (RAID: redundant arrays of inexpensive disks) system, a RAID (RAID-0) system including a striping constitution in which data is scattered by a block unit and having level 0, a RAID (RAID-1) system including a mirroring constitution in which the same data is stored in a plurality of disk drives and having level 1 and the like are well known.
A disk array controller (hereinafter referred to as a RAID controller) which realizes a RAID-1 function has a data restoring function called a rebuilding or reconstruction function. By the rebuilding function, data stored in a failed disk drive (HDD) can be restored in a disk drive for replacement.
All the data stored in the existing disk drive is copied into a new disk drive using the rebuilding function, and accordingly a copying function of preparing a duplicate disk drive can be realized. A prior technique has been proposed in which mirroring pairs constituted by a plurality of disk drives are rebuilt using the copying function (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-269871).
In the prior technique, when one of the disk drives constituting the mirroring pair having a high priority order fails, a mirroring pair having a low priority order is eliminated, and the disk drive constitutes a new mirroring pair with the disk drive having a high priority order.
In general, when a duplicate disk drive is prepared using the rebuilding function of the RAID controller, one disk drive is forced to fail from a state in which redundancy (optimal) is maintained (constitution of the RAID-1 system), and replaced with a disk drive for copying after a state of non-redundancy (degrade) to execute a duplicating operation (copying operation of all data).
However, in the usual method, the redundancy state is forcibly brought into a non-redundancy state in the constitution of the RAID-1 system. Therefore, when trouble occurs in the existing disk drive as an original of a duplicate, there is a possibility that the disk falls into a situation in which not only duplicate data but also original data cannot be restored.

Method and apparatus for copying data of disk drive in disk array system


A filtering material employable for a variety of application fields in the form of a sanitary mask, a deodoring filter or the like comprises calcium phosphate particles, .beta.-1,3-glucan and a band-shaped raw material, and the calcium phosphate particles each serving as a filtering medium are caused to adhere to the sheet-shaped raw material with the aid of the .beta.-1,3-glucan serving as a binder. A method of producing a filtering material is practiced by way of a first step of stirring a predetermined quantity of calcium phosphate particles and a predetermined .beta.-1,3-glucan in hot water at a high speed to prepare an aqueous treatment solution, a second step of dipping a sheet-shaped raw material in the aqueous treatment solution and taking up the sheet-shaped raw material, and a third step of drying the sheet-shaped raw material after completion of the taking-up operation. A second step of spraying the aqueous treatment solution over the sheet-shaped raw material may be substituted for the aforementioned second step. In addition, a step of allowing the aqueous treatment solution to adhere to the sheet-shaped raw material with the aid of a rolling roller may be substituted for the aforementioned second step. An aqueous preliminary treatment solution having a predetermined quantity of .beta.-1,3-glucan uniformly dispersed in hot water may be substituted for the aforementioned aqueous treatment solution. In this case, calcium phosphate particles are caused to adhere to the sheet-shaped raw material before the aqueous preliminary treatment solution is completely dried.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a filtering material employable for various kinds of application fields, e.g., a sanitary filter, a deodoring filter incorporated in a various kind of deodoring unit, and a foodstuff packing material having a capability of sterilizing and deodoring. More particularly, the present invention relates to a filtering material having a function for effectively and reliably adsorbing very fine infectious or antigenous particles such as virus, bacterial or the like. Further, the present invention relates to a method of producing a filtering material of the foregoing type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The applicant common to the present invention has already made proposals with respect to a method of producing a novel filtering material for capturing very fine foreign material such as virus or the like under Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 278487/1990, 29301/1991 and 163903/1991.
Each of the proposed methods is practiced by way of the steps of preparing an aqueous treatment solution by dispersively dissolving a predetermined quantity of porous apatite particles and a predetermined quantity of water soluble glucan in water, dipping a sheet-shaped raw material in the aqueous treatment solution or spraying the latter over a sheet-shaped raw material or bringing a roller wetted with the aqueous treatment solution in contact with a sheet-shaped raw material, and drying the sheet-shaped raw material coated with the aqueous treatment solution while the porous apatite particles are included in the sheet-shaped raw material with the aid of the water soluble glucan serving as a binder.
Another method of the foregoing type proposed by the applicant is practiced by way of the steps of preparing an aqueous preliminary treatment solution by dissolving only water soluble glucan in water, allowing the preliminary treatment solution to adhere to a sheet-shaped raw material, thereafter, allowing porous apatite particles to adhere to the sheet-shaped raw material before the preliminary treatment solution is completely dried, and finally, drying the sheet-shaped raw material including the porous apatite particles with the aid of the water soluble glucan serving as a binder.
A characterizing feature of any one of the methods of the foregoing type each proposed by the applicant consists in that porous apatite particles composed of a kind of calcium phosphate particles are bonded to a sheet-shaped raw material with the aid of water soluble glucan serving as a binder.
In contrast with a conventional filtering material, a filtering material produced by employing each of the methods proposed by the applicant exhibits amazingly excellent properties of adsorbing and filtering very fine infectious or antigeneous foreign material such as virus, pollen or the like unattainable with the conventional filtering material. In the circumstances as mentioned above, the filtering material produced by employing each of the aforementioned proposed methods does not exhibit anything basically inconvenient for filter's users.
However, due to the fact that porous apatite particles are bonded to a sheet-shaped raw material via water soluble glucan, when a filtering material is practically used while it is dipped in water or it is wetted with water during practical use, the water soluble glucan is dissolved in water, resulting in the apatite particles being disconnected from the sheet-shaped raw material. For this reason, the filtering material can not be used under the aforementioned circumstances.
In addition, when the filtering material is used in an environment having a high content of moisture, the water soluble glucan absorbs the moisture, causing the surface of each porous apatite particle to be covered with the water soluble glucan. Otherwise, the surface of the filtering material becomes sticky.
When filtering materials are stored in an environment having some storage moisture, some mold appears and grows on the surface of each filtering material. Otherwise, the filtering material may transform undesirably.

Filtering material and method of producing the same


Heart valves are shown which utilize pivot arrangements that create prompt response to flow reversal and minimize resistance to blood flow in the open position. Illustrated are valves having a pair of identical leaflets that can assume an orientation in the fully open position near maximum blood flow rate that is precisely parallel to the centerline of the passageway. The ability of the leaflets to assume a precisely parallel or low energy position in the bloodstream reduces pressure drop across the valve and results in improved flow characteristics. A camming action adjacent the upstream edges of the leaflets in combination with interengagement at downstream locations on the valve body, spaced from the locations where the camming action with said upstream edges occurs, positively guide the leaflets to assure effective closing movement regardless of momentary deviations in the dynamics of the reverse flow of blood through the valve. More particularly, slight closing movement pivoting, following assumption of such a parallel orientation, is effected by designing the interengagement so that the leaflets shift slightly downstream from the precisely parallel orientation when the blood flow slows prior to reversing and simultaneously rotate slightly toward their closed position orientation.

A wide variety of heart valve prostheses have been developed to operate hemodynamically, in conjunction with the pumping action of the heart, to take the place of defective natural valves. These valves are designed to function with valve members both in the form of a single occluder and a pair of occluders or leaflets, which valve members pivot along an eccentric axis (or both pivot and translate) to open and close a central blood flow passageway through the valve body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,854 (Jun. 16, 1981) shows an early version of a bi-leaflet heart valve having an ear extending from each lateral side of the leaflet which pivots in a recess, guided in part by a knob which travels in a longitudinal slot that is cut more deeply into the sidewall of the valve body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,216 (Feb. 15, 1983) discloses both single occluder and bi-leaflet heart valves wherein protrusions, extending radially inward from the flat sidewall sections of the valve body, guide valve members which have slots in their lateral edges to receive such protrusions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,624 (Jan. 5, 1982) discloses heart valves of the single occluder and bi-leaflet type which have curved valve members which both rotate and translate in moving between the open and closed positions. Although the leaflets are intended to be able to assume a parallel orientation in the open position, as shown in FIG. 3, study of the arrangement shows that, upon reversal of blood flow through the passageway, the leaflets could translate upstream without beginning to rotate toward the closed position. Although pivoting could occur in the intended manner, once the leaflets have moved upstream guided by the path the spherical ears trace in the slots 21, one or both of the leaflets might possibly counterrotate, depending upon the instantaneous attitude of blood flow, and thereby not close on that stroke. U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,894 (Apr. 24, 1984) discloses a later version of this general type valve and illustrates an embodiment wherein the leaflets in their open position are angled relative to the centerline plane (see Column 4, lines 39-43) so that, when flow reversal occurs (as depicted in FIG. 4), the alignment of angled surfaces 44 of the stops 41 and their placement is such that there can be no inward pivoting or counterrotation of the leaflets (see Column 5, lines 34-41).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,937 (Jun. 5, 1984) shows additional single occluder and bi-leaflet valves wherein valve members, arranged at an angle to the centerline plane in the open position, pivot and translate to a closed position guided, in part, by laterally extending ears 21 which move in generally arcuate slots or depressions 23.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,592 shows other alternative embodiments of heart valves of this general type including some which have elongated slots in the valve sidewall with grooves to permit controlled leakage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,165 (Sep. 8, 1987) discloses single occluder and bi-leaflet valves wherein valve members are guided in pivotal and translational movement in part by notches in their lateral edges which receive arcuate posts protruding from flat sidewall sections of the valve body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,458 (Sep. 5, 1989) discloses bi-leaflet heart valves having leaflets of varying thickness which are guided in translational and pivotal movement by laterally extending ears that are received in recesses formed in the flat sidewall sections of the valve bodies.
Commercially developed heart valves using valve members of this type, as generally exemplified by the last 3 U.S. patents mentioned above, have employed valve members which are oriented at an angle to the centerline plane in the open position, so that the backflow of blood will preferentially impinge upon the outflow surfaces of each valve member and thus tend to initially impart a pivotal component to its movement toward closing. It is now felt to be particularly important that mechanical heart valve prostheses should provide passageways through which blood will flow freely with a minimum of drag in the open position and, to accomplish such end, that valve members should be able to assume an orientation which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the passageway when the blood flow through the valve is at a high level; but, of course, these valves should also close quickly upon the occurrence of backflow to minimize regurgitation of blood. Improvements in construction to create mechanical valves having such characteristics have continued to be sought.


An image forming apparatus for easily detecting occurrence of positional deviation and magnification deviation among images, even when the deviations are small. Reference patches, which are rectangular areas, in which a longitudinal direction is a sub-scanning direction, painted in magenta, are formed on paper using a first image forming device. A target patch constituted by rectangular unit patches arranged in the sub-scanning direction is formed on the left side of the reference patch. Another target patch constituted by rectangular unit patches arranged in the sub-scanning direction is formed on the right side of the reference patch. The more downward each of the unit patches are positioned at, the more to the right the unit patches are shifted.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which detects occurrence of positional deviation and magnification deviation among images.
(ii) Background Art
There has been conventionally known an image forming apparatus which forms a color image using a plurality of image forming devices for forming images of each color. For example, a color laser printer is provided with four photoconductors. Toner images of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (Bk) are respectively formed on the four photoconductors. The four color toner images are superimposed and transferred onto an inter-transfer unit to form a toner image of four colors. The toner image of four colors is transferred onto a recording medium, so that a color image corresponding to the toner image of four colors is formed on the recording medium.
In such an image forming apparatus, due to errors in laser optics, used for exposure of the photoconductors, and errors in assembling the photoconductors, positional deviation and magnification deviation among the four color toner images may occur on the inter-transfer unit. Then, the positional deviation and magnification deviation among the four color toner images may also occur on the recording medium.
In order to correct the positional deviation and magnification deviation, there has been known an image forming apparatus which prints a reference line on the recording medium using one image forming device, prints a target line using another image forming device, and detects the positional deviation and magnification deviation between the images based on the deviations between the reference line and the target line (for example, see Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 9-109453). If the positional deviation and magnification deviation between the images are detected, the positional deviation and magnification deviation can be solved by correcting a laser scanning starting position and a scanning range used for exposure of the photoconductors.

Image forming apparatus and positional deviation correction system


The present invention provides a method of finishing a wood surface for exterior exposure of the wood using a finishing film material in the form of a sheet. The finishing film comprises a flexible polymeric sheet material having a first major surface and a second major surface and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer covering at least a portion of the first major surface of the sheet material. The finishing film is adhered to the surface to the wood surface by the adhesive layer. The method of the present invention is particularly suitable for the finishing of brightwork on boats, for example, teak or mahogany brightwork. The method of the present invention is particularly suitable for finishing curved and/or compound curved surfaces due to the flexibility and elongation of the finishing film.

Many boats are appointed with brightwork, that is, interior or exterior wood that has been finished with a non-opaque varnish, oil or sealer that leaves the natural grain of the wood exposed. Typically, brightwork comprises weather-resistant woods such as teak or mahogany. Although beautiful when first finished, the appearance of exterior brightwork often deteriorates rapidly due to the harsh combination of sunlight and moisture. As the surface deteriorates, teak brightwork turns from reddish-brown in color with a glossy surface to gray in color with a dull surface. When subjected to extreme outdoor exposure, for example, in tropical regions, teak brightwork may require refinishing as often as several times per year.
The process of refinishing brightwork that was first finished with conventional liquid applied coatings is labor intensive and expensive, requiring the use of chemical strippers and/or abrasives to remove the weathered coating. In addition, many liquid-applied coatings must be applied to brightwork in the form of an organic solvent-borne coating (i.e., a prepolymer or polymer dissolved in an organic solvent), resulting in the release of volatile organic compounds (i.e., VOC's) as the coating dries. The art has recognized generally the need to improve the process of finishing and refinishing brightwork. The solution generally followed is to improve the performance of the liquid-applied coatings in order to provide coatings that last for a longer period of time when exposed to the environment.
In view of the foregoing, a method of finishing wood surfaces, for example, brightwork that lasts longer and is easier to refinish than conventional liquid applied coatings is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electrical connector for connecting a multi-contact medical electrode device with a plural-contact tail. Having a tail-receiving first elongate member with a tail-receiving void and a second elongate member. The second elongate member has a nesting surface and an array of electrical conductors which are spring-loaded pin plunger devices. The spring-loaded pin plunger devices having movable pins that project into the tail-receiving void. The second elongate member also having at least one canopy extending from the nesting surface and over a respective electrical conductor, the canopy being configured for snap-engagement with the notch whereby the canopy holds in place the respective linear-array plural-contact tail through locking frictional engagement.

Multi-contact medical electrode devices are placed in the human body for various purposes, such as brain-mapping in epilepsy treatment. In such treatments wires generally extend from the multi-contact medical electrode to a plural-contact tail. The plural-contact tail is linear in shape and contains an array of sleeve-like contacts spaced therealong. The plural contacts of the plural-contact tail are to facilitate quick electrical connection of the contacts of the multi-contact medical electrode device such as for monitoring, recording and analysis purposes. Connectors have been configured to simultaneously engage the contacts of the plural-contact tail for their individual electrical connection to separate wire strands which emerge from the connector.
Various connectors have been developed to facilitate plural-contact connection. Examples of such prior art plural-contact medical connectors are those disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,359 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,255 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,168 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,371 (Harris), U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,358 (Arnold et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,236 (Iversen), U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,820 (Kuzma), U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,557 (Harris), U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,304 (Kuperstein), U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,462(Borkan et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,889 (Talalla et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,258 (Inokuchi et al.).
Some medical connectors of the prior art have a number of shortcomings. Medical connectors for use in patients who have a seizure tendency must be secure. If a patient has a seizure there is the chance that the electrical connections could be destroyed or disrupted. Specifically, the plural-contact tails of multi-contact electrodes can become dislodged or broken by the involuntary movements that occur during a seizure. Therefore, it is important that the connector be secure so that it can withstand the jerking motions that are characteristic of seizures.
In certain prior art devices the electrical connector is a connector of the type that does not provide a secure connection and, therefore, the connector can become dislodged or broken. If a connector does become dislodged or broken it can result in a significant loss of information and time.
In summary, there are problems and shortcomings in prior connectors for use with multi-contact medical electrode devices.

Electrical connector with canopy for an in-body multi-contact medical electrode device


A direct-current network has an infeed unit, a plurality of network sections which are each separably inter connected by respective switching elements, and a controllable current-limiting unit, which limits charge-transfer currents that flow between the network sections because of different voltages of the network sections following disconnection of the network sections from the infeed unit and before reconnection of the network sections to the infeed unit.

The invention relates to a method for operating a direct-current network. The invention furthermore relates to a direct-current network.
Distributing energy, for example within an industrial plant, by means of direct current (DC) is advantageous not only due to the simplicity of exchanging energy between items of equipment and/or the simplicity of making a connection to (renewable) energy sources. The simple and highly modular nature of a DC network has also proved to be advantageous precisely in the constant flux of today's industry.
Direct-current networks, hereinafter also denoted DC networks, typically have a plurality of network sections, for example energy sources, energy stores and electrical consumers. The network sections are frequently electrically disconnectably connected together via switching and protective elements. The switching and protective device conventionally has electronic and/or galvanic switches for disconnecting the network sections.
A DC network conventionally also has a connection to a three-phase network which provides the supply for the DC network. The three-phase current is here frequently rectified with the assistance of a rectifier and supplied to the DC network via an infeed unit.
In the event of an intentional and/or unintentional shutdown of the DC network and for example disconnection of the DC network from the three-phase network, the energy stores of the DC network conventionally have differing voltages due to their differing levels of electrical charge. Interconnecting the network sections to one another and/or to the three-phase network is undesirable in the charged state of the energy stores due to the uncontrolled flow of charge-reversal currents caused by the interconnection and is as far as possible to be avoided since the charge-reversal currents frequently result in irreversible damage within the DC network.
A charge-reversal current may be limited in controlled manner by draining the charge-reversal currents in controlled manner by means of a bypass circuit. As its name would suggest, the bypass circuit is to this end arranged within the switching and protective element of each network section in such a manner that it bypasses the switch. The switching and protective device thus has a further current path, namely the bypass circuit, which extends in parallel to the switches. The bypass circuit typically has a current-limiting component, for example an ohmic resistor, and a bypass switch, for example a galvanic switch. Due to the preferred provision of current limitation by means of an ohmic resistor, this variant is also known as resistive current limitation.
Closing the bypass circuit when the switching and protective device is open results in charge-reversal currents flowing through the bypass circuit. Thanks to the current-limiting component, the value of the charge-reversal currents is limited.
Current limitation by means of the bypass circuit is, however, on the one hand lossy due to the ohmic resistor and on the other hand costly in terms of labor and materials since each network section must have its own bypass circuit which is appropriately dimensioned for the respective network section.
Against this background, the object of the invention is to provide a method for operating a direct-current network with the assistance of which any charge reversal currents which arise can be limited inexpensively and in a manner involving low losses.

Method for operating a direct-current grid and direct-current grid


A current user lifecycle phase and a desired outcome for a user for a current user lifecycle phase are identified. Messages eligible to be shown to the user are identified based upon the current user lifecycle phase for the user. From the eligible messages, particular messages can be selected for delivery to the user based upon one or more governance rules, user attributes, user activity, seasonality, and/or the desired outcome for the current user lifecycle phase for the user. The selected messages can then be shown to the user. In this manner, relevant messages can be presented to the relevant users at a relevant time.

Many types of software are provided via a subscription license model, which is sometimes referred to as a "term license." For example, desktop and mobile application programs, web sites, and other types of software products can be provided to a user as long as the user maintains a subscription to the product. The user will be prohibited from using the software product if the user does not renew (i.e. cancels) their subscription to the product at the end of their subscription term (e.g. a month or a year).
Customer retention poses a significant challenge to providers of software via a subscription license model. Software providers commonly utilize many different mechanism in order to maximize the likelihood that customers will renew their subscriptions at the end of their subscription terms. One such mechanism involves regularly presenting messages to subscribers that convey information regarding aspects of the software. For instance, messages might be presented to subscribers that identify various features of the software
Messages such as those described above are commonly provided to subscribers of subscription software using many different communication channels. For instance, applications and operating systems can present messages to subscribers via various and sometimes numerous in-application user interfaces. Messages can also be provided to subscribers via traditional communications channels, such as electronic mail messages. Communication channels such as those described above are, however, most suitable for presenting one-off messages to subscribers, and are not generally suited for having a coherent and efficient ongoing conversation with subscribers.
Other factors can also contribute to an excessive number of messages being provided to subscribers. For instance, one product group within a subscription provider's organization might transmit an email message to subscribers describing a particular feature of an application. Another product group within the same organization might cause a message regarding a different feature of the application to be presented to subscribers via an in-application messaging surface. As a result, subscribers can be bombarded with a large volume of messages, some or many of which might be irrelevant to the subscribers or might even be duplicative. For instance, subscribers might receive messages describing product features that they are not interested in or messages that duplicate content presented in previous messages.
Presenting too many or irrelevant messages to subscribers in the manner described above can result in customers having a negative experience with a subscription software product. As a result, these customers might be unlikely to renew their subscriptions to the software product at the end of their subscription terms.
Presenting too many or irrelevant messages to subscribers in the manner described above can also result in the utilization of computing resources unnecessarily. For example, the creation, storage, transmission, and presentation of irrelevant or excessive messages to subscribers can unnecessarily utilize processor cycles, memory, energy, mass storage, and network bandwidth. Unnecessary utilization of computing resources such as these can be significant, particularly where messages are provided to a large number of subscribers to a subscription software product.
It is with respect to these and other technical challenges that the disclosure made herein is presented.


Various embodiments relate to a method for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) coded data by an access point, including: receiving by the access point buffered frame information from a plurality of stations; determining the HARQ coding information and resources for each of the plurality of stations; transmitting a first trigger frame including the HARQ coding information and resource information for each of the plurality of stations; receiving a first HARQ transmission from the plurality of stations; and decoding the received HARQ transmission from the plurality of stations.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a combination of high-rate forward error-correcting coding and automatic repeat request (ARQ) error-control. In standard ARQ, redundant bits are added to data to be transmitted using an error-detecting (ED) code such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Receivers detecting a corrupted message will request a new message from the sender. In Hybrid ARQ, the original data is encoded with a forward error correction (FEC) code, and the parity bits are either immediately sent along with the message or only transmitted upon request when a receiver detects an erroneous message. The ED code may be omitted when a code is used that can perform both forward error correction (FEC) in addition to error detection. The FEC code is chosen to correct an expected subset of all errors that may occur, while the ARQ method is used as a fallback to correct errors that are uncorrectable using only the redundancy sent in the initial transmission. As a result, hybrid ARQ performs better than ordinary ARQ in poor signal conditions, but in its simplest form this comes at the expense of significantly lower throughput in good signal conditions. There is typically a signal quality cross-over point below which simple hybrid ARQ is better, and above which basic ARQ is better.

Hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement and upload multiuser operation


Low slough, high basis weight tissue webs and products are provided. The tissue webs generally have basis weights greater than about 16 grams per square meter (gsm), while maintaining less than about 4 mg of slough. All while yielding tissue products that are both thick and soft.

In the manufacture of paper products, such as facial tissues, bath tissues, napkins, wipes, paper towels, etc., it is often desired to optimize various properties of the products. For example, the products should have good bulk, a soft feel, and should have good strength. Unfortunately, however, when steps are taken to increase one property of the product, other characteristics of the product are often adversely affected.
For instance, it is very difficult to produce a high strength paper product that is also soft. In particular, strength is typically increased by the addition of certain strength or bonding agents to the product. Although the strength of the paper product is increased, various methods are often used to soften the product that can result in decreased fiber bonding. For example, chemical debonders can be utilized to reduce fiber bonding and thereby increase softness. Moreover, mechanical forces, such as creping or calendering, can also be utilized to increase softness.
However, reducing fiber bonding with a chemical debonder or through mechanical forces can adversely affect the strength of the paper product. For example, hydrogen bonds between adjacent fibers can be broken by such chemical debonders, as well as by mechanical forces of a papermaking process. Consequently, such debonding results in loosely bound fibers that extend from the surface of the tissue product. During processing and/or use, these loosely bound fibers can be freed from the tissue product, thereby creating lint, which is defined as individual airborne fibers and fiber fragments. Moreover, papermaking processes may also create zones of fibers that are poorly bound to each other but not to adjacent zones of fibers. As a result, during use, certain shear forces can liberate the weakly bound zones from the remaining fibers, thereby resulting in slough, i.e., bundles or pills on surfaces, such as skin or fabric. As such, the use of such debonders can often result in a much weaker paper product during use that exhibits substantial amounts of lint and slough.
As such, a need currently exists for a paper product that is strong, soft, and that has low lint and slough.

High basis weight tissue with low slough


The present disclosure provides: a magnetoresistive element having a large magnetoresistance change ratio (MR ratio); and a magnetic sensor, a reproducing head and a magnetic recording and reproducing device. The magnetoresistive element comprises a magnetoresistive film including a pair of body centered cubic (bcc) crystal structure CoFe ferromagnetic layers with a (001) crystal orientation, the pair of layers separated by a non-magnetic layer of Cu with bcc crystal structure.

A magnetoresistive device, having a multilayer film of a pair of ferromagnetic layers and a non-magnetic layer sandwiched between them, is known. Such a magnetoresistive device is used as a CIP (i.e., current in plane) type in which a current flows in the in-plane direction of the multilayer film or as a CPP (i.e., current perpendicular to plane) type in which a current flows in the lamination direction of the multilayer film.
The CIP type magnetoresistive device has the advantage of less noise than a tunnel magnetoresistive device, but the magnetoresistance change ratio (MR ratio) is small, and it is required to increase the MR ratio for high sensitivity as a magnetic sensor.
As for such a CIP type magnetoresistive device, a magnetoresistive device using Co90Fe10 as the ferromagnetic layer and Cu as the non-magnetic layer is known (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). According to Example 1 of Patent Literature 1, it is described that in a magnetoresistive device having a spin valve structure of Co90Fe10/Cu/Co90Fe10/FeMn/Ti in which a Co90Fe10 film, a Cu film, a Co90Fe10 film, an FeMn film, and a Ti film were sequentially formed on the C-plane sapphire substrate, the Co90Fe10 layer had a (111) orientated fcc phase, and further that the magnetoresistive device exhibited a magnetoresistance change ratio (MR ratio) of 10%. However, in order to improve the sensitivity as a magnetic sensor, the MR ratio is required to be further improved.
In recent years, a CIP type magnetoresistive device having an MR ratio of 25% has been developed (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 1). According to Non-Patent Literature 1, the CIP type magnetoresistive device having the structure of SiOx/NiFeCr/CoFeOx/Co90Fe10/Cu/Co90Fe10/AlO, using a silicon thermal oxide film as a substrate exhibits an MR ratio of more than 25%. However, since providing layers such as NiFeCr and CoFeOx in addition to the ferromagnetic layer is required, its process comes to be complicated. Additionally, since the MR ratio is improved by utilizing specular reflection in the CoFeOx layer, there is a problem that an improvement in MR ratio due to multilayering cannot be obtained.
Also, in such a magnetoresistive device, it has been reported that the transmittance of spin electrons at the interface between layers affects the MR ratio (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 2). "Chapter 2, 2. 3. 3 CIP transport properties" of Non-Patent Literature 2 reports that because of good matching between the band structure of electrons with majority spin in the ferromagnetic layer and the band structure of electrons in the non-magnetic layer, the transmittance of the majority-spin electrons increases and the MR ratio improves. However, neither Patent Literature 1 above nor Non-Patent Literature 1 above report any matching of the band structures of electrons between the ferromagnetic layer of the binary alloy composed of Co and Fe and the non-magnetic layer composed of Cu.
In view of such circumstances, the development of a magnetoresistive device has been desired, in which a large MR ratio can be obtained, especially when a current flows in the plane direction, by using a ferromagnetic layer of a binary alloy composed of Co and Fe and a non-magnetic layer composed of Cu.

Magnetoresistive element, magnetic sensor, reproducing head, and magnetic recording and reproducing device

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE


A syringe tray, for depositing and transporting medical syringes having a hypodermic needle and a cap therefor, including a tray base. In one embodiment a raised portion in the form of a ridge extends upwardly from the plane of the tray base and includes a wall that is provided with holes in which the caps can be disposed in a predetermined manner. Cylinders for receiving the caps can also be provided on the tray base. Alternatively, the tray base itself can be provided with holes for receiving the caps.

The present invention relates to a syringe tray, for depositing and transporting medical syringes having a hollow or hypodermic needle and a cap therefor, and including a tray base.
DE-GM 88 15 519 discloses a device for facilitating the preparation of medical injections and is in the form of a tray, the tray surface of which has formed therein receiving sections for syringes, ampoules, hypodermic needles, ampoule saws, etc. A container for used hypodermic needles can be exchangeably connected to this container. DE-GM 88 01 602 discloses a tray for medical inserts with a possibly subdivided base and longitudinal and transverse edge members, with the tray forming a generally rectangular enclosure that extends all the way around. The tray surface is subdivided by partitions that are in the form of raised portions and in which are provided recessed portions for the deposition of syringes.
Such trays, as well as the subject matter of the present invention, serve for the transport of medical accessories as well as injection and blood-removal syringes. For an injection or to take blood, the cap that is held on the hypodermic needle is removed, thereby releasing the needle for puncture. After an injection has been given or blood has been taken, the exposed hypodermic needle, which is contaminated after puncture, represents a risk of infection for the doctor, especially with regard to hepatitis or AIDS infection if the introduction of the hypodermic needle into the cap is effected in such a way that the syringe is guided with one hand while the cap is held with the other hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,562 discloses a hand tool that is supposed to reduce this risk and that is provided with holes having different diameters into which the hypodermic needle caps can be inserted. In this connection, during introduction of the hypodermic needle into the cap, the tool must be held with one hand while the syringe is held with the other hand and the hypodermic needle thereof is introduced into the cap. The advantage over tightly holding the hypodermic needle cap is that the tool is held at a distance from the hypodermic needle by one hand; nonetheless, this holding hand of the user is still in the vicinity of the hypodermic needle. Aside from this, both hands of the doctor are always needed to introduce the hypodermic needle into the cap provided therefor. Holes are provided in this tool in such a way that the hypodermic needle caps are tightly held in the tool, so that to release the cap, which is placed on the hypodermic needle, it is necessary to press the cap out of the hole by stressing the base of the hypodermic needle. EP-OS 0 192 453 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,918 show a similar tool. Here the hypodermic needle cap is held in a wedged manner by a hole or a sleeve-like portion of the cup or funnel tool, whereby the side flanges of the tool are intended to protect the thumbs and index finger of the holding hand of the user. If the tool, along with the introduced cap, is placed upon a support surface, for example a table top, the cap must be held tightly in the tool, which is effected by the wedging in the hole or in the sleeve-like portion of the tool, in order to enable an introduction of the used needle into the cap.
The thing to watch with these last-mentioned tools is the basic concept of wedging the hypodermic needle cap in the tool. In so doing, care must be taken that upon release of the cap from the hand tool, the connection between the head of the hypodermic needle and the corresponding end of the cap, which are held tightly together, is not loosened, since otherwise the objective of the cap as a protection against the needle is lost. Therefore, with the described known tools, the cap must be pressed out.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a syringe tray where all contact and hence injury of the user from contaminated hypodermic needles is precluded, where insertion of the hypodermic needle into the cap can be effected without having to use a second hand, and where furthermore the removal of the hypodermic needle cap from the tray does not require a grasping or other action upon the base of the hypodermic needle cap. This means that the tray can be left on its support surface for providing a wedging connection between the hypodermic needle cap and the needle. This should be possible with a straightforward configuration of the tray.


An axle arrangement includes an axle member and an axle member bracket arranged on the axle member. A wheel suspension having a wheel carrier bracket is constructed in the form of a fork-shaped metal sheet and swingably supported on the axle member bracket for wheel alignment, with a wheel carrier being arranged on the wheel carrier bracket.

The present invention relates to an axle arrangement for a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Conventional wheel suspensions for motor vehicles include, i.a., attachment points to the vehicle body, bearings, at least one guide rod, suspension system, and wheel carrier secured to the guide rod. The guide rod can be designed as transverse control arm or semi-trailing arm. When a rigid axle is involved, springs in the form of leaf springs are oftentimes used. Rigid axles typically include rigid axle tubes which are linked to the wheel guiding longitudinal leaf springs via a fastening system, so called leaf spring attachments. The longitudinal leaf springs can be made of steel or composites such as GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) or CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic). The leaf springs are coupled to the body.
The rigid axle member is positioned in relation to the leaf springs normally via a center bolt which snaps into a bore of the lower leaf spring attachment. The rigid axle includes an axle tube and the outer wheel carriers which are securely fixed to the axle tube, e.g. welded or bolted.
When installing the rigid axle in the motor vehicle or during operation of the motor vehicle, the wheels do not always assume the desired position. Manufacturer's based tolerances lead to situations in which the rigid axles are not positioned at an orthogonal angle relative to the vehicle longitudinal axis and thus are skewed in relation to the typically adjustable axles with independent wheel suspension, mostly front axles. As a result, the front axle has to be readjusted possibly in opposition to the skewed disposition of the rear axle to ensure a straight travel of the vehicle. The tires which are also positioned at a slant are exposed to greater wear. This may be encountered in all four tires of the vehicle. Incorrect wheel position, especially incorrect toe, also increases fuel consumption. In addition, incorrectly aligned wheels can only transmit slight lateral guide forces and compromise safety in an extreme case. In particular the rear axle demands greater safety considerations because in the event the rear of the vehicle swerves and causes oversteering, uncontrollable driving conditions may arise.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved axle arrangement which obviates prior art shortcomings and which is easy to manufacture while still being reliable in operation.


Horizontal swivelling angle positioning device for a chair is disclosed. The structure consists of an axle bush with a positioning ring having a plurality of positioning slots formed radially thereof being attached to a main frame of the chair. An axle is inserted in the axle bush and sustained thereon so as to integrally engage the main frame and the chair seat. A control lever is provided to interconnect two flanks formed on the axle and sandwiches a filler block therebetween. The filler block is further locked to the control lever by a set screw so that the two components are integrally combined to turn together. A spring disposed between a stationary substrate of the chair seat and a protruded tooth of the filler block. The protruded tooth is used to be inserted into one of the positioning slots and clogged thereof by the spring so as to keep the chair in a predetermined horizontal swivelling angle. According to particular requirement of the user, the control lever may be removed to and set at a desired direction. The operation can be performed by the user who sits in a wheelchair by slightly bending down his/her head to turn the control lever without getting off the wheelchair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to horizontal swiveling angle positioning means for a chair, and more particularly, the horizontal swivelling angle positioning means for a motor driven wheelchair for disabled people.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A motor driven wheelchair for disabled people or a common round chair or an armchair for the office or the family use often needs to be able to adjust its horizontal swivelling angle. However, a conventional swivel chair usually has no means to be positioned in the direction after it has been turned thereat. As for a conventional motor driven wheelchair, the horizontal swiveling positioning is simply carried out by a set screw tightened between an axle seat (or axle bush) and an axle. Positioning procedure is performed by at first slackening the set screw; swivelling the horizontal angle of the wheelchair to a predetermined direction; and then tightening the set screw. However, there are disadvantages that a tool, for example, at least a driver is required for the work that is particularly embarrassing to an aged person or a disabled one (perhaps he/she is unable to do). Besides, the rider must stand up from the wheelchair during a third person is working for him/her. In the case the swivelling angle is to be recovered to the original position, the above mentioned tedious work has to be repeated.
Besides, the work has to be done in a quite narrow working space, and the set screw is not so reliable because it is easy for it to become loose gradually caused by continuous vibration of the moving wheelchair.
In order to solve the above described problems, the applicant has carried out theoretical studies and practical experients for a long time for the present invention.

Horizontal swivelling angle positioning means for a chair


The protective cover is for a telescopic device in which the cover can be stretched to fit over the device and then released to fit snugly around the device. The protective cover acts as an insulator to protect against temperature extremes, a barrier to protect against moisture, and a shock absorber to protect against external vibrations and impacts. Tabs facilitate the installation and removal of the protective cover.

The present invention is directed to a protective cover for a telescopic device. The protective cover shields the device from dust, moisture and extreme temperatures and also insulates the device against external vibrations and impact.
A telescopic device, such as a sight or scope, is commonly used with a firearm such as a rifle or pistol to facilitate accurate sighting of a target. The device is generally mounted directly on the firearm and functions best when kept clean, dry and in proper adjustment.
In order to achieve accuracy when sighting a target, the telescopic device generally requires precise adjustment. Proper adjustment of the device can be adversely affected by external vibrations and/or impacts imparted to the device. When transporting a firearm, an attached telescopic device can be subjected to external vibrations and impact which can alter adjustments and/or damage the device.
The protective cover of the present invention is shock resistant and attenuates unwanted external vibrations and/or impacts. Therefore the cover insulates a covered device and shields it from damaging effects. By shielding the device, the cover assists in keeping the device in proper working order which can extend the life of the telescopic device.
Furthermore, dust, dirt and other particulate matter can easily get into parts of the telescopic device, resulting in abrasion and/or corrosion that can damage the device. The accumulation of dust on the lens can also reduce the effectiveness of sighting a target with the device. Consequently, it is often necessary to clean the lenses before using the device.
An exposed lens is also subject to getting scratched or cracked. A scratched or cracked lens diminishes the user's clarity of vision during use, thereby reducing the overall effectiveness of the telescopic device.
Therefore, there is a need for a protective cover for a telescopic device that can effectively inhibit entry and accumulation of particulate matter onto the device and can further protect the lenses against scratches.
When used outdoors, a telescopic device is frequently subjected to the vagaries of weather, including extreme temperature fluctuations, humidity and precipitation. Rapid temperature changes can alter the adjustment of sensitive instruments such as a scope or sight. This can result in a misalignment of the device. When misaligned, the device can fail to provide an accurate sighting of the target resulting in a poor aim and possibly a missed shot.
Therefore, there is a need for a protective cover for a telescopic device having insular capabilities to protect the device from significant temperature changes. In addition, a protective cover is needed that can inhibit precipitation and humidity from penetrating to the telescopic device.
A gun case for carrying a firearm and an attached telescopic device can generally accommodate and protect the device during transport and storage. However, a gun case is too cumbersome to carry in the field when hunting. Having to remove the firearm from the case in order to get off a shot would impede the hunter's ability to fire quickly if the opportunity arose. Consequently, firearms are typically carried in the field without a gun case, thereby leaving the telescopic device exposed to the weather and other potential damage.
With a protective cover such as the present invention that is lightweight, readily removable from a telescopic device and readily installed on the device, a user can have protection for his or her telescopic device without impeding the ease and quickness with which the firearm can be used.
In the prior art, lens caps are used to protect a telescopic device from damage. A lens cap typically attaches directly over the lens of a device and shields the lens against scratches and dust accumulation. However, the body of the telescopic device remains exposed and unprotected from extreme temperature changes, precipitation, humidity and impact. Consequently, a lens cap fails to protect the entire telescopic device by covering only the lenses.
Furthermore, each of the lenses on a telescopic device requires a separate lens cap for protection. Conventional telescopic devices require two lens caps, one to cover each of the lenses. Keeping track of the lens caps once they are removed from the device can be frustrating. Adding to the user's frustration, the lenses on a telescopic device are usually different sizes. This necessitates different sized caps for each lens, thereby making the task of replacing the caps on the proper lens both frustrating and time consuming. The user also must meet the daunting task of keeping track of the many lens caps after the caps have been removed.
Typically, a lens cap snaps on and off of the device's lenses. While this might simplify installation and removal of the lens caps, the caps can inadvertently detach from the device when removal is not desired. Such inadvertent removal can result in lost caps and subsequent damage to the exposed lens.
Therefore, the need exists for a protective cover that can be easily installed on a telescopic device and readily removed from the device. There is an additional need for a protective cover that can protect both of the device's lenses and the device's body from temperature changes, precipitation, humidity, dust, other particulate matter and physical damage.
The protective cover of the present invention is elastic and can stretch to fit various sizes and shapes of telescopic devices. Therefore, the protective cover can be used interchangeably on many of the various telescopic devices in an owner's collection.
When installed, the protective cover of the present invention surrounds most of the telescopic device, thereby providing protection for both of the lenses and the body of the device. During use, the cover protects the device from the damaging effects of the weather and environment and also provides insulation from external vibrations and impacts.

Protective cover for a telescopic device


Disclosed is a syringe plunger adapted for use with a glass syringe barrel to provide a low friction syringe useful in medical procedures such as administering epidural anesthesia, the plunger having a first or leading member and a second or trailing member, the first member comprising a hollow glass tubular body defining a chamber having a closed leading end and an open trailing end, the first member being characterized as adapted to provide a very close tolerance fit within the glass syringe barrel and as exhibiting substantially no frictional interference as the leading end of the first member is advanced axially within the syringe barrel; the second member having leading and trailing ends; and means for flexibly securing the leading end of the second member within the chamber of the first member so that the second member is free to flex at the point of attachment in response to lateral forces applied to the second member as the plunger is advanced within the glass barrel, the plunger thereby being characterized as being self-aligning, thereby preventing the lateral forces applied to the plunger from moving the first member out of axial alignment with the axis of the barrel to cause binding or dragging of the plunger within the barrel, this being the stated task of the invention.

Glass syringes are considered by medical practitioners to be the most sensitive of all the types of syringes currently produced. This extreme sensitivity is a result of the precise tolerances utilized in the manufacturing process. Typically, in these manufacturing procedures, both the exterior surface of the syringe plunger (piston) and the interior surface of the barrel in which it is to be seated for administering fluid are treated to a grinding and/or bead-blasting step which imparts a very fine texture to these mating surfaces. This process when combined with a very close tolerance fit results in a closely matched assembly which does not exhibit the typical drag or frictional interference associated with syringes manufactured from plastic or other non-glass materials as the plunger moves axially towards the distal (leading end) of the barrel.
The matched ground glass syringes provide a smooth, friction-free movement of the syringe plunger within the syringe barrel effective in the movement of either air or liquid through the syringe. Although the plunger and barrel surfaces do not actually touch, assuming the plunger moves forward axially in the barrel, their close proximity entraps air or liquid molecules between their surfaces sufficient to create an air- or liquid-tight interface. This close fit results in an effortless seal between the plunger and barrel. Total expulsion of air or liquid from the syringe is accomplished without any leakage from between the mating surfaces and is further accomplished with a minimal and, in some cases, immeasurable amount of force on the plunger.
Although the attributes of the matched component ground glass syringes are uncontested, they are not without certain limitations or inherent problems.
As was mentioned above, the plunger and barrel surfaces do not actually touch provided that the plunger moves forward axially within the barrel.
However, as will be discussed in detail hereinafter, there is a tendency in the manipulation of the plunger for it to move distally in the barrel in a non-axial manner which, in turn, will cause "sticking" and "freezing up" such that the plunger becomes inoperable for its intended use. This problem is repeatedly described in the medical literature, including, but not limited to training texts for epidural anesthesia, and the patent literature, such as Col. 1, lines 10-29 of Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,313 for a LOW FRICTION SYRINGE issued Mar. 14, 1995.
If this problem occurs during the precise procedure described as the "loss of resistance technique" for locating the epidural space, the anesthesiologist will be thwarted in the attempt to locate the epidural space and the patient is put into certain risk in the administration of epidural anesthesia.
The technique for locating the epidural space is well described in the literature (citations not needed) describing the loss of resistance technique. As described and well known by those skilled in the art, a glass syringe is filled with air, liquid or a combination of both and attached to an epidural needle. Once so attached, the needle is advanced through the delicate tissues of the spineous ligaments of the patient. Constant or pulsating pressure is applied to the syringe plunger while the tip of the epidural needle moves forward through the interspineous tissues. A tactile sensation of resistance to the forward movement of the plunger and the spring-like rebound of the plunger when pressure is released indicate to the anesthesiologist that the needle is still within the interspineous ligaments and that the precise location of the epidural space has not been reached.
If the plunger should suddenly stick or freeze up, then the entire procedure is put at risk because the needle cannot, with certainty, be advanced toward the epidural space. Furthermore, location of the epidural space will not be indicated by the free movement of the syringe plunger. When the plunger sticks or freezes up, then the procedure must be abandoned until the syringe is replaced.
It is apparent from the aforementioned description that limitations of a significant nature exist with the current, state of the art, glass syringes. It is further apparent that there exists a need for an improved glass syringe.
Stated simply, the task of the present invention is to provide a glass syringe which does not exhibit the foregoing limitations which may be described as sticking or freezing up.
These limitations occur most frequently when pressure applied to the plunger moves the plunger out of axial alignment with the axis of the syringe barrel. This misalignment of plunger and barrel results in the leading edge and the surface of a trailing portion of the plunger binding or dragging against the ground glass surface of the bore of the syringe barrel. The cushion of air or liquid which imparts the friction-free movement of the plunger through the barrel is eliminated and the ground glass surfaces drag on one another or bind together, resulting in the limitations or deficiencies inherent in the system known in the art as sticking or freezing up.
Due to the low frictional resistance between the glass plunger and glass barrel, a high degree of sensitivity to pressure changes is imparted to the fingers of the anesthesiologist. This sensitivity is of paramount importance to the success of the procedure and, ultimately, to the correct placement of the epidural needle within the epidural space. The sensitivity so described is dependent upon the anesthesiologist's manipulation of the syringe plunger and herein lies the basis and cause of the aforementioned limitations to which the task of this invention is directed to obviating.
It is pointed out that the human hand is not completely capable of holding a syringe barrel between the index and middle fingers and simultaneously to pulsate the syringe plunger without imparting a lateral or non-axial force to the plunger. This mis-aligning motion was readily apparent to Applicant after he studied and analyzed the motion of the thumb in relation to the adjoining index and middle fingers; and Applicant believes it will be equally obvious to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing description.
Specifically, the thumb describes an arc as it pivots from the thumb joint in relation to the stationary first and second fingers. This unaligned motion imparts a lateral force to the plunger as it is moved within the barrel.
The following patents have been found as the result of a novelty search of the subject matter of this application. No other prior art relevant to the present invention is known to Applicant or his attorney.
U.S. Pat. No. 782,723 issued to Campbell relates to a hypodermic syringe for antitoxin serum having for its object the provision of an improved piston and operating handle therefor by the use of which it is possible to impart a rotary motion to eject serum from the barrel of the syringe, even though the piston adheres firmly to the walls of the barrel, due to the use of cement or by the gumming action of the serum itself. The patent discloses a glass barrel and a rubber piston which can be actuated with a screwdriver-like projection E (FIG. 4). It appears that the screwdriver-like projection is moveable within a slot .function. disclosed in FIG. 4. Although it is conceivable that the screwdriver-like projection could be rotated within the slot, such rotation is not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,102,591 to Hagemeier relates to a dental syringe of the kind wherein the plunger or piston is operated by a pair of hand grips, the object of the invention being to obtain a syringe of this kind which allows of a gradual, stepwise discharge of its contents in predetermined quantities and in which the plunger is in the form of a screw spindle on which the operating elements act through the medium of an adjustable nut by which the position of the syringe can be regulated. In Col. 2, page 1, in the discussion of using the syringe for filling teeth with cement, it is disclosed that a piston 26 may be employed to which the plunger 17 may be connected by means of a ball joint, the ball 27 being attached or formed with a socket 28 applied to the plunger.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,354,649 to Bruckner also relates to a dental syringe which has a novel form of plunger designed to prevent the disruptive wedging forces occurring with axial misalignment of the plunger and barrel of a syringe. The syringe accommodates insertable glass vials having a rubber plug closure at each end. The discharge end of the syringe is provided with a hollow needle which punctures one of the plugs, while the other end of the syringe is provided with a finger grip and plunger, the plunger being axially slidable and engageable with the other of the plugs, the other plug then acting as a piston to eject fluid from the vial. An object of the invention (col. 1) is stated to be to permit self-adjustment of the plunger head with respect to the vial and piston and thus to eliminate "those side thrusts or strains on the vial walls, due to this wedging action" . Another object is to provide a plunger made in two parts and having a swivel connection between the parts. This is accomplished with a ball and joint linkage. "Since the plunger head is free to swivel slightly relative to the piston, there results a three link kinematic chain, comprising the piston and two parts of the plunger, in contrast with the self jamming of the two link trains of the prior art."
U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,340 issued to Dann et al. relates to a "syringe push rod" attached to a plunger and being especially adapted for use in disposable syringes. When the syringe is filled with fluid, the push rod has a relatively short bearing on the interior surface of the syringe and it is said that the push rod may inadvertently be thrown out of axial alignment by the user. With prior push rods rigidly attached to the plunger, it is said that cocking of the plunger will occur and the cocked plunger will allow a small amount of drug seepage proximally. This problem is said to be obviated by providing a flexible connection between the push rod and the plunger. As disclosed, means are provided at the distal end of the push rod for positive engagement with the syringe plunger providing positive control of aspiration and injection, the means being attached to the push rod by a flexible web or elastic diaphragm, thus permitting a limited degree of axial misalignment of the push rod without a corresponding cocking of the plunger in the syringe barrel. The means for connecting the push rod to the plunger may, for example, be a socket mating with a threaded stud on the plunger, or a stud mating with a threaded metal socket in the plunger, or a threaded stud mating with a threaded recess molded in the plunger material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,646 granted to Wilcox relates to a structure for connecting a piston and a piston rod adapted to permit a degree of universal movement therebetween to provide a valve action controlling the passage of fluid through the piston, e.g. for a damping dashpot for a sensitive electromagnetic assembly. The stated task is stated to be either or both of the following: (1) permit the piston rod a limited degree of universal movement without placing any strain on the piston itself; and (2) provide a structurally simple connection between the piston rod and piston which will provide for the transmission of movement from one to the other and which at the same time function as a directional valve. With reference to claim 1, the invention is a piston assembly comprising "a member oppressively connected to said piston [at a given end] . . . for angular movement relative thereto", the improvement of the assembly being "said piston assembly including an element having a chamber opening onto said given end of said piston, said member extending into said chamber and having a ball-like part ratably received therein with air-flow clearance between itself and said chamber." The intent of the patent is to allow the transfer of fluid between the fore and aft areas of the cylinder as separated by the piston which permits air-flow therebetween. The universal or angular movement of the member and piston is incidental to the accomplishment of air-flow through the piston, the described "improvement" . (As will be more apparent hereinafter in the discussion of the instant invention, the intent to allow the transfer of fluid is different from the present invention whose objective is to accomplish total fluid separation between piston and barrel areas of the syringe.
Finally, for the sake of full candor, Italian Patent No. 708,474 to Nogier et al. was also found. Applicant can review the patent drawings but is unable to read the text. Although it appears from FIG. 3 that the plunger 1 may be flexibly attached at neck 8 to the piston 7, it appears that the piston is made of flexible rubber rather than glass.


An unmanned vehicle capable of tunneling into soft materials, such as sand, comprises a hollow, bullet-shaped forward outer body with a first drive screw thread integrated into its exterior, a hollow cylindrical rear outer body with a second drive screw thread integrated into its exterior but threaded in the opposed direction of the first drive screw thread, and an inner body that is rotatably coupled to the inside of the forward and rear outer bodies via mechanical gears, and including directional control fins mounted on a housing at the rear end of the inner body.

Various unmanned, robotic, or autonomous vehicle systems exist and are employed in a wide variety of applications for industrial, scientific, or military purposes. Among the many uses possible, these systems permit remote observation and surveillance of their surroundings without the need for constant human monitoring or control. Unmanned vehicle systems that fly or hover using wings or rotors are well known in the art, and are usually called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) or drones, but unmanned vehicle systems are also in use on the surface and subsurface of bodies of water. These vehicles are usually called unmanned surface vehicles (USV's) or unmanned undersea vehicles (UUV's). Unmanned vehicles (UMV's) are also well known in the art for land, ground, or space-based applications. For example, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has successfully used wheeled rovers for remote exploration of planetary bodies for decades.
Land or ground-based UMV's use a variety of means of locomotion, including tracks, wheels, legs, and rollers for example. Other less conventional means of locomotion for UMV's are possible.
While many forms of unmanned vehicle are known, one unexplored area is the use of UMV's capable of tunneling or burrowing. A UMV with such a capability may be able to navigate in sand, mud, loose soils, condensed liquids, water, and other soft materials. Such a capability would be useful for scientific purposes as the UMV may be able to take environmental data of the surrounding material. Military applications are also possible, as the UMV could burrow to avoid detection or conduct stealthy long-term surveillance of an area.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy