The present invention is directed to a High Frequency (HF) shunt antenna which promotes improved performance over currently available antenna solutions. The HF shunt antenna may include a shunt plate structure which includes multiple shunt plates configured in a parallel orientation relative to each other and provides an expansive surface area which may promote reduced inductance and lower equivalent parallel resistance of the HF shunt antenna, thereby allowing the HF shunt antenna to be spec-compliant and tunable by a HF coupler, without increasing the footprint of the HF shunt antenna and without reducing radiation efficiency of the antenna.

Currently available HF shunt antennas, which have been installed on the leading edge of a vertical stabilizer in most Air Transport Aircraft for the past forty years, have worked very well when used in conjunction with a HF coupler (ex.—an impedance tuner). However, upon installation on composite-bodied aircraft (where minimal conductive material is present in the vertical stabilizer), these currently available HF shunt antennas (which were previously spec-compliant) begin to present impedance curves that are nearly impossible for Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) HF couplers (ex. —RCI CPL-920D) to tune. This is due to a lack of conductive material around the HF shunt antenna and reduced coupling between the HF shunt antenna and the aircraft structure, which reduces radiation resistance and increases the Q (ex. —increases the reactance of the HF shunt antenna) and the equivalent parallel resistance (Rp) of the HF shunt antenna. A traditional approach to improving Rp in an HF shunt antenna has been to increase the length of the HF shunt antenna. However, this is of limited effect and often requires an unacceptable increase in the HF shunt antenna's footprint.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an HF shunt implementation which obviates the problems associated with currently available HF shunt implementations.

Boxed feed for improved high frequency (HF) shunt antenna performance


Means for forming a package is disclosed on which is mounted a semiconductor chip with a high-speed LSI formed thereon, using a wire bonding method. The package comprises a semiconductor chip, a die pad smaller than a main surface of the semiconductor chip, a sealing member, plural leads each comprising an outer terminal portion and an inner lead portion, and plural bonding wires for connection between bonding pads formed on the semiconductor chip and the inner lead portions of the leads, each of the inner lead portions being bent in a direction away from a mounting surface of the sealing member, thereby approximating the height of the chip-side bonding pads and that of a bonding position of the inner lead portions to each other, whereby the wire length can be made shorter and it is possible to suppress an increase in inductance of the wire portions and attain impedance matching at various portion of a high-frequency signal input/output transmission path.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. Particularly, the invention is concerned with a technique applicable effectively to a semiconductor device for which are required signal transmission at a high frequency and high-speed signal transmission in a wide frequency band.
For a package on which is mounted a semiconductor chip with high-speed LSI formed thereon such as IC for optical communication there is required signal transmission of a broad band from DC up to an actually-used high frequency band. Particularly, at a bit rate of 10 Gbits/sec or more, both impedance matching at a high frequency and a low loss are required for such a package as referred to above. To meet such requests it may be effective to adopt means wherein a semiconductor chip is mounted by face-down method onto a main surface of a package substrate with signal transmission lines formed thereon and one ends of the signal transmission lines are extended up to just under electrode pads formed on the main surface of the semiconductor chip, thereby connecting the signal transmission lines and the electrode pads with each other electrically through bump electrodes. According to this means, the signal transmission lines and the semiconductor chip can be connected together at a shortest distance, so that transmission characteristics from the signal transmission lines to the electrode pads on the semiconductor chip can be maintained in a satisfactory condition. By using a ceramic material as a packaging material it is possible to form impedance-matched transmission lines of a low signal loss. Moreover, by making hermetic seal with use of a ceramic material as a packaging material it is possible to protect the semiconductor chip from the external environment and realize a package superior in all of mechanical strength, moisture resistance, heat resistance, and heat dissipating characteristic.
For example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7(1995)-147352 there is disclosed a technique in which the width of a signal transmission line formed on a package substrate is narrowed in an area overlapping a semiconductor chip to compensate a lowering of impedance which is attributable to a capacitance formed between the semiconductor chip and the signal transmission lines, thereby attaining a characteristic impedance matching of the signal transmission lines in the package. Also disclosed therein is a technique which uses a ceramic package substrate to diminish a loss of transmission signal in the package.

Semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same


The present invention is directed to a brace apparatus having a core member configured to absorb energy generated by seismic or other forces by undergoing plastic deformation. A buckling restraining assembly is included for maintaining the structural integrity of the brace after the core member has undergone plastic deformation. The buckling restraining assembly includes one or more bearings is located proximal the core member. The bearings are adapted to minimize friction between the core member and the buckling restraining apparatus. An air gap is positioned between the core member and the one or more bearings of the buckling restraining apparatus are adapted to prevent bonding of the core member and buckling restraining assembly. Projections are included in the core member of the brace apparatus to minimize movement of the middle portion of the core member relative to the buckling restraining assembly.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to structural braces. More particularly, the present invention relates to a brace apparatus having a core member and a buckling restraining assembly, the buckling restraining assembly having one or more bearings located proximal the core member being adapted to minimize friction between the core member and the buckling restraining apparatus. An air gap is positioned between the core member and the one or more bearings of the buckling restraining apparatus to prevent bonding of the core member and buckling restraining assembly.
2. The Relevant Technology
For decades steel frame structures have been a mainstay in the construction of everything from low-rise apartment buildings to enormous skyscrapers dominating modern city sky lines. The strength and versatility of steel is one reason for the lasting popularity of steel as a building material. In recent years, steel frame structures have been the focus of new innovation. Much of this innovation is directed to minimize the effects of earthquakes experienced in the locations where steel frame structures are used. Earthquakes provide a unique challenge to building construction due to the magnitude of the forces that can be exerted on the frame of the building. A variety of building techniques have been utilized to minimize the impact of seismic forces exerted on buildings during an earthquake.
One mechanism that has been developed to minimize the impact of seismic forces is a structural brace that is adapted to absorb seismic energy through plastic deformation. While the brace is adapted to absorb energy by plastic deformation, it is also configured to resist buckling. While several embodiments of these energy absorbing braces exist, one popular design incorporates a steel core and a concrete filled bracing element. The steel core includes a yielding portion adapted to undergo plastic deformation when subjected to seismic magnitude forces. Compressive and/or tensile forces experienced during an earthquake are absorbed by compression or elongation of the steel core. While the strength of the steel core will drop as a result of buckling, the concrete filled bracing element provides the required rigidity to allow the structural brace to function. In short, the steel core is adapted to dissipate seismic energy while the concrete filled bracing element is adapted to maintain the integrity of the structural brace when the steel core is deformed. The use of energy absorbing braces allows a building to absorb the seismic energy experienced during an earthquake. This permits buildings to be designed and manufactured with lighter, less massive, and less expensive structural members while maintaining the ability to withstand forces produced during an earthquake.
One difficulty in the design of the energy absorbing braces is that the steel core must be allowed to move independently of the bracing element. To allow the steel core to move independently of the bracing element, the steel core is prevented from bonding with the bracing element during manufacture of the energy absorbing brace. By preventing the steel core from bonding to the bracing element, the steel core can absorb seismic energy imparted by the ends of the structural brace without conveying the energy to the bracing element. For example, during an earthquake the steel core is displaced relative to the bracing element as the steel core undergoes compression and elongation.
One design that has been developed to prevent bonding of the steel core and the bracing element utilizes an asphaltic rubber layer positioned between the steel core and the bracing element. The asphaltic rubber layer is bonded to both the steel core and the bracing element. However, using an asphaltic rubber layer to prevent bonding of the steel core and the bracing element results in difficulties as well. When seismic forces are exerted on the brace, compression and elongation of the steel core shears the asphaltic rubber layer. Deformation of the steel core and shearing of the substantially non-compressible asphaltic rubber layer results in enormous pressure being exerted on the asphaltic rubber layer. Additionally, the asphaltic rubber layer deteriorates after a limited number of compression and elongation cycles.
Yet another difficulty encountered relates to manufacturing of the brace. Where the bracing element utilized in the energy absorbing brace comprises a concrete filled tube, manufacturing the brace is complex. Concrete filled bracing elements are typically manufactured by positioning the tube vertically, placing a steel core covered with asphaltic rubber inside the tube, and pouring concrete into the tube. This method of manufacturing concrete filled braces results in compression of the asphaltic rubber at one end of the element more than the other end of the element. Because the thickness of the asphaltic rubber layer can play an important role in the performance of the energy absorbing brace, complex manufacturing processes must be employed to maintain adequate consistency in the thickness of the asphaltic rubber layer.

Methods of manufacturing bearing brace apparatus


A durable feral cat shelter adapted to be inviting to feral cats year-round by having two entrances/exits for each compartment or sub-compartment, wherein each entrance/exit has a conduit of a predefined cross-section that protrudes a predefined length from the body of the shelter, thereby inviting feral cats while deterring most would be predators of the feral cats. Two or more feral cat shelters can be connected by a coupler that allows access to the connected plurality of feral cat shelters.

The present invention relates to animal shelters and, more particularly, to a feline shelter that is modular and specifically adapted for feral cats.
A cat can be a house cat, a farm cat, or a feral cat, the latter ranges freely outside and avoids human contact, and so it is not difficult to appreciate that feral cats will not accept any shelter, just because it is available; the shelter needs to be specifically adapted to be inviting to feral cats.
Accordingly, current pet shelters have the following disadvantages for sheltering feral cats for extended stays:                Average pet shelters are not attractive, wear and tear easily, are not easy to clean, and need to be frequently replaced;        Current shelters are not adapted to convert from summer to winter;        Most current shelters do not have two doors;        If a door flap is attached and it is solid and non-removable, most feral cats will not push through such entrance doors—furthermore, such an arrangement makes the inside of the shelter too hot in warmer months;        Current shelters have entrances that are either too small for many cats or too big, thereby allowing predators easy access, and so feral cats will never enter such "shelters" for fear of becoming trapped;        Most current shelters do not have cylindrically shaped doors, which is important as cylindrical is like a cat's body;        Current shelters do not stay dry. The doors are not pitched, allowing water to run off, and the lid allows water to seep under the lid. Raising the shelter off the ground also aids in keeping dry, as well as placing doors high enough that water will not run inside. Seamless and sealed construction further aids in keeping moisture out. Beveled top (container) further helps pitch water away from the structure;        Current shelters are not adapted to stay cool outside in warm weather—i.e., removable flaps;        Many current shelters are built with toxic materials the can harm cats if ingested and degrade/release fumes at temperatures above 100 degrees or otherwise being exposed to outdoor elements, making them not suitable for year-round use;        Current shelters are difficult to clean/restock after extended use by a feral cat; and        Current shelters are difficult to access and check for kittens.
In other words, feral cats either refuse to use current shelters or can take a long time to use them, thus exposing feral cats to the vagaries of living outside, frustrating the purpose of the shelter. And when they do start to use prior art shelter, the shelters tend to become soggy, flooded, and uninhabitable.
As can be seen, there is a need for a feline shelter that is modular and specifically adapted for feral cats. Modularity allows for flexibility and adaptability to each individual colony's needs based on how many cats are in the colony and if they prefer to share space.
The present invention embodies feral cat shelters adapted to be weather-proof and convert easily between winter and summer outdoor environments; for instance, the entrances provides removable flaps to keep out a draft in cold weather yet are removable for warmer weather, preventing buildup of excessive internal temperatures. The feral cat shelters are adapted to be cat-friendly with two entrances/exists, each dimensioned and adapted to accommodate all sized cats yet also designed to keep most dogs/predators out. The entrances/exits are also pitched downward to keep out the elements. The feral cat shelter provides legs to keep it off the ground, for staying dry.
The present invention also embodies double units, with a divider scribed for fitting irregular surfaces by contouring abutting surfaces to fit snuggly without gaps. The divider is scribed to the bottom/lid to prevent small kittens from getting stuck underneath. Double units also allow colony cats to utilize it if there is a dominant cat residing in one half. The entrances/exits provide pipe doors, which the inventor through years of first-hand experience has determined feral cats find inviting. The pipe also protects and completely seals the foam insulation from either becoming wet or a cat coming in contact. Furthermore, the pipe provides a safety deterrent from dogs or other predators that would not be able to reach in. The pipe is dimensioned to be long enough to keep most dogs/predators out and still be inviting to cat. All materials of the cat shelter are selected for temperature stability and being toxicity free at varying temperatures. The present invention is also adapted to be sent as easy to assemble kits when shipping is required.


A gene expressed specifically in the testis has been unexpectedly isolated in the course of studies of the expression of a gene encoding an unknown protein that triggers cell death. The isolated gene was a novel gene sequence that had no significant homologue in the database. This gene was also found to be involved in the regulation of differentiation in the testis and to encode a protein, Tesmin, which may regulate the differentiation of spermatogeneous cells into primary spermatocytes. Tesmin proteins are described herein, as are antibodies that bind to such proteins.

In the developmental process, reproductive cells carry out spermatogenesis via a differentiation process that includes meiosis. This differentiation process is different from that of somatic cells and consists of three main steps. The first step is the proliferation of spermatogenous cells and differentiation into primary spermatocytes. The second is the meiosis of primary spermatocytes, and the third is the transformation into sperms.
Owing to the progress in Molecular Biology, recent years have seen the isolation of several genes specifically expressed in these stages. For example, Hox-1.4 (Propst, F. et al. (1988) Oncogene 2:227-33), ferT (Sarge, K. D. et al. (1994) Biol Reprod 50:1334-1343) of the HSP70 family, and TESK1 (Toshima, J. et al. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270:31331-31337) that is a serine-threonine kinase, have been reported as genes specific to primary spermatocytes. However, still very little is known about the biological and physical roles of their gene products.
Genes expressing specifically in the differentiation process of reproductive cells carry a fundamental and vital role that decides the fate of those cells, and thus, defects in these genes are considered to be a cause of diseases such as infertility. Therefore, genes expressing specifically in the differentiation process of reproductive cells are recently gaining wide attention as targets in the development of pharmaceutical drugs. Such drugs can be used for the prevention and treatment of diseases such as infertility caused by defects in reproductive cell differentiation.

Antibodies to a testis-specific differentiation-regulatory factor

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the corn variety designated I015011. This invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety I015011, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety I015011 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. This invention further relates to corn seeds and plants produced by crossing plants of variety I015011 with plants of another variety, such as another inbred line, and to crosses with related species. This invention further relates to the inbred and hybrid genetic complements of plants of variety I015011, and also to the SSR and isozyme typing profiles of corn variety I015011.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of corn breeding. In particular, the invention relates to inbred corn seed and plants of the variety designated I015011, and derivatives and tissue cultures thereof
2. Description of Related Art
The goal of field crop breeding is to combine various desirable traits in a single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits include greater yield, better stalks, better roots, resistance to insecticides, herbicides, pests, and disease, tolerance to heat and drought, reduced time to crop maturity, better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value, and uniformity in germination times, stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, and fruit size.
Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination. There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates if pollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower of the same plant. A plant cross-pollinates if pollen comes to it from a flower on a different plant.
Corn plants (Zea mays L.) can be bred by both self-pollination and cross-pollination. Both types of pollination involve the corn plant's flowers. Corn has separate male and female flowers on the same plant, located on the tassel and the ear, respectively. Natural pollination occurs in corn when wind blows pollen from the tassels to the silks that protrude from the tops of the ear shoot.
Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over many generations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce a uniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A cross between two such homozygous plants produces a uniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many gene loci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number of loci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically and are not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performance unpredictable.
The development of uniform corn plant hybrids requires the development of homozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and the evaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection are examples of breeding methods used to develop inbred plants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine the genetic backgrounds from two or more inbred plants or various other broad-based sources into breeding pools from which new inbred plants are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new inbreds are crossed with other inbred plants and the hybrids from these crosses are evaluated to determine which of those have commercial potential.
The pedigree breeding method involves crossing two genotypes. Each genotype can have one or more desirable characteristics lacking in the other; or, each genotype can complement the other. If the two original parental genotypes do not provide all of the desired characteristics, other genotypes can be included in the breeding population. Superior plants that are the products of these crosses are selfed and selected in successive generations. Each succeeding generation becomes more homogeneous as a result of self-pollination and selection. Typically, this method of breeding involves five or more generations of selfing and selection: S1→S2; S2→S3; S3→S4; S4→S5, etc. After at least five generations, the inbred plant is considered genetically pure.
Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait, the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristic being transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almost all other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to give pure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.
A single cross hybrid corn variety is the cross of two inbred plants, each of which has a genotype which complements the genotype of the other. The hybrid progeny of the first generation is designated F1. Typically, F1 hybrids are more vigorous than their inbred parents. This hybrid vigor, or heterosis, is manifested in many polygenic traits, including markedly improved yields, better stalks, better roots, better uniformity and better insect and disease resistance. In the development of hybrids only the F1 hybrid plants are typically sought. An F1 single cross hybrid is produced when two inbred plants are crossed. A double cross hybrid is produced from four inbred plants crossed in pairs (A×B and C×D) and then the two F1 hybrids are crossed again (A×B)×(C×D).
The development of a hybrid corn variety involves three steps: (1) the selection of plants from various germplasm pools; (2) the selfing of the selected plants for several generations to produce a series of inbred plants, which, although different from each other, each breed true and are highly uniform; and (3) crossing the selected inbred plants with unrelated inbred plants to produce the hybrid progeny (F1). During the inbreeding process in corn, the vigor of the plants decreases. Vigor is restored when two unrelated inbred plants are crossed to produce the hybrid progeny (F1). An important consequence of the homozygosity and homogeneity of the inbred plants is that the hybrid between any two inbreds is always the same. Once the inbreds that give a superior hybrid have been identified, hybrid seed can be reproduced indefinitely as long as the homogeneity of the inbred parents is maintained. Conversely, much of the hybrid vigor exhibited by F1 hybrids is lost in the next generation (F2) Consequently, seed from hybrid varieties is not used for planting stock. It is not generally beneficial for farmers to save seed of F1 hybrids. Rather, farmers purchase F1 hybrid seed for planting every year.
North American farmers plant tens of millions of acres of corn at the present time and there are extensive national and international commercial corn breeding programs. A continuing goal of these corn breeding programs is to develop corn hybrids that are based on stable inbred plants and have one or more desirable characteristics. To accomplish this goal, the corn breeder must select and develop superior inbred parental plants.

Plants and seeds of corn variety I015011


Provided is a channel access method. The method includes: after a radio frame is received, determining that the radio frame is an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) radio frame; determining that the OBSS radio frame is a radio frame of a specified type or determining whether the OBSS radio frame carries specific spatial multiplexing instruction information; updating a local network allocation vector according to duration information carried in the OBSS radio frame; and performing channel access according to the local network allocation vector. Provided are a channel access device and a storage medium.

At present, the number of various Internet of Things devices in the wireless communication system is increased rapidly, network load is getting heavier, and communication efficiency is also decreased accordingly. For such deployment of dense scenarios, wireless local area networks (WLAN) aim to improve the network throughput, and introduce technologies such as OFDMA (orthogonal-frequency division multiplexing access (FDMA)) and spatial multiplexing. Therefore, in a case where bandwidth is unchanged, more WLAN devices are capable of being accessed and long-distance access is supported.
The spatial multiplexing technology enables stations in different basic service sets (BSS) to multiplex a same channel at same time for transmission, thereby improving the network throughput. The basic principle of the spatial multiplexing is that when an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) is received and a received power is detected to be less than a certain threshold, this frame may be ignored, the channel is considered to be idle, and backoff is performed to content for accessing the channel for data transmission. In a manageable network, multiple BSS networks will be pre-configured as a spatial reuse group (SRG), and a certain BSS station in the group uses a higher overlapping basic service set-power detection (OBSS-PD) threshold to perform the spatial multiplexing transmission, thereby improving the transmission opportunity of the spatial multiplexing, such technology is called as SRG OBSS-PD based spatial reuse (SR).
However, for the sender in the BSS, the transmission duration of some frames is not expected to be multiplexed by third-party stations. If the transmission duration is multiplexed, the transmission effect will be poor, and the subsequent data transmission may even be affected. For example, the stations of the BSS send a channel measurement frame, and a channel measurement result is used as a basis for performing a beamforming when the stations subsequently send the data. In the specific communication process, it is found that if the beamforming is performed on the subsequently sent data according to the channel measurement result, the transmission data may not be successfully received or decoded, or a problem of large transmission interference is caused.

Channel access method and device, and storage medium


Atmospheric convection type steamer apparatus includes at least one oven chamber and a discrete atmospheric steam generator operative to provide steam to the oven chamber. A quiescent low fire power input to the steam generator maintains water in the steam generator at its boiling temperature during a non-cooking mode and provides a continuous steam flow into the oven chamber to maintain the chamber in a ready condition for substantially instantaneous steam heating when a cooking or high fire mode is initiated. In a stacked double oven embodiment, each oven chamber has a discrete atmospheric steam generator maintained at a quiescent low fire power input sufficient to maintain the water at its boiling temperature and effect a continuous ready condition within the corresponding oven chambers. Steam lines directly connect the oven chambers to their corresponding steam generators and enable introduction of cleaning and deliming agents directly into the steam generators from within the oven chambers. Other features contribute to improved steamer operation, reliability and cost savings over prior atmospheric steamers.

The present invention relates generally to steamer apparatus, and more particularly to novel convection type steamer apparatus which, in various embodiments, employ at least one oven chamber and a steam generator operative to provide steam to the oven chamber in a highly efficient, reliable and economical manner.
It is well known in the art of cooking to employ forced convection type steam ovens, generally termed steamers, to heat food items placed within a cooking chamber or compartment. The art of steam cooking was developed as an alternative to cooking food in a free or forced-convection hot air environment. Surface heat transfer coefficients associated with condensing saturated steam are typically greater than those of circulating hot air. Foods cooked in steam cook more quickly, retain their moisture better, maintain their food values, and are generally more pleasing in appearance. Conventional steamers surround food objects with a continuous supply of saturated steam.
Historically, tabletop type single oven chamber steamers have utilized atmospheric steam generators to supply steam to the oven chambers because of the smaller size of atmospheric steam generators over pressure boilers. However, a significant drawback to prior steamers having atmospheric steam generators is that they are slow in responding to a call for steam and in bringing the oven chamber to a desired cooking temperature. The delay in providing steam upon command is due to maintaining the temperature of the water in the steam generator at less than its boiling temperature, such as at a temperature of approximately 185.degree.-190.degree.. Thus, when responding to a demand for steam, as in a cooking cycle, the water in the boiler has to first be brought to its boiling temperature, and the oven chamber temperature then raised to a steam cooking temperature from a relatively cold condition. This can result in a delay of several minutes before actual cooking commences.
Prior double oven chamber steamers employ pressure boilers to supply steam to the oven chambers. A single pressure boiler supplies steam to both of the oven chambers through a valving arrangement. The double oven chambers are housed in an upstanding cabinet which has sufficient space beneath the oven chambers to accommodate a pressure boiler. Since pressure boilers maintain the heated boiler water under pressure, the heated boilers respond almost immediately to a demand for steam and are therefore faster than atmospheric steam generators in bringing the oven chambers to cooking temperatures. A drawback to pressure boilers is their relatively high cost. Also, as with prior single oven chamber steamers, the double oven chambers or cavities are relatively cold between cooking cycles and must be brought up to steam cooking temperatures, thus causing a time delay.
Significant improvements to prior single oven chamber steamers, and particularly tabletop type models having the capability to cook with steam or with dry oven heat, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,851,644 and 4,817,582, both of which are owned by the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated herein by reference.
In both gas-fired and electrically heated steamers of known design, the steam is often introduced into the cooking chambers or cavities through relatively small orifices. These orifices frequently become clogged with lime buildup. Cleaning or deliming to clear the orifices is time consuming and leads to down time with attendant economic loss. Further, the boilers utilized in known steamers are such that cleaning or deliming solution must be introduced at the top of the boiler or by other means which are not easily accessible.


A reclosable dispensing carton having in the top wall a partially detachable, hingedly attached, locking tab that is formed from portions of the overlapped top closure flaps and that has projecting shoulders that are engageable with adjacent portions of the top closure flaps to provide a relatively sift-proof reclosure arrangement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dispensing cartons of the type used in packaging of granular, crystal, and powder products, as well as cereals, pasta products, and other similar dry items, and more particularly to an improved reclosable pour spout type dispensing opening feature for the upper wall of the carton.
2. Description of Background Art
A background art search directed to the subject matter of this application and conducted in the United States Patent and Trademark Office disclosed the following United States Letters Patent:
______________________________________ 2,979,249 3,096,922 3,096,921 3,147,905 3,187,977 3,187,978 3,262,630 3,266,055 3,352,692 3,387,763 3,395,848 3,606,133 3,894,680 4,019,673 4,122,948 4,482,056 4,706,875 4,799,594 ______________________________________
None of the patents uncovered in the search discloses a dispensing carton top wall having a detachable, reclosable, locking tab comprising a pair of sections, formed from material of major closure flaps, located adjacent the outer corners of the respective flaps, and having sides defined by spaced, reverse, partial cut lines that form flanges therebetween for engagement with tab shoulders to provide a sift-proof reclosure.


Process involving repeatedly applying some of the liquid composition to the granular filter media to remove water from the liquid composition by passing through the granular filter media with the particulate solids collecting on top surface of granular filter media. Water is first allowed to fill from below to just above the top layer of the filter media. A non-porous liner is located on the inner, bottom surface of the container. A drain pipe, having small openings, is located on top of the liner in the valley. A porous layer of large filter media, with the drain pipe therein, is located in the bottom of the container. A grid having open passageways, with fine filter media therein, is located on top thereof. A layer of fine filtrate sand is located on top of the grid.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to processes for removal of turbidity and suspended solids from treated water from water treatment plants, and equipment to carry out the processes. The invention also relates to sewage and waste water dewatering processes and equipment to carry out the processes.
2. Background Art
According to the New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Volume X, (1974), page 573, describes water purification as treatment consisting of one or more steps by which water is made safe and acceptable for use. Filtration is still the most widely used method of purification. In slow filtration, the water is allowed to pass through a deep layer of fine sand. Most of the impurities are removed by the top inch or two of sand, which is removed and cleaned from time to time or in modern plants is washed in place by special wash water. In rapid filtration plants, the water is treated with a coagulant, such as aluminum sulfate, ferric chloride, or ferric sulfate. This flocculates particles, carrying most suspended matter to the bottom in sedimentation tanks. After this preparation, the water is passed at a relatively rapid rate through small beds of coarse sand that are washed from time to time. Heavily polluted waters may be chlorinated both before and after filtration. Aeration, mixture of air with the water, is carried out if undesirable amounts of iron and manganese are present; they are held in solution in water only in the absence of oxygen.
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia, Volume 19, (1974), page 651, discusses water treatment plants. Water that has been collected and conveyed to its point of use is treated to make it hygienically safe, attractive, and palatable, and economically suited for its intended uses before it is distributed. The term treatment may refer to a variety of processes, including long-period storage, aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, softening, filtration, disinfection, and other physical and chemical processes in varying combinations, depending primarily on the characteristics of the water source but also on intended use.
Long-period storage of water, which generally means storage in excess of one month, usually takes place in reservoirs or settling basins through which the water passes before it enters the treatment plant proper. Storage reduces suspended sediment and bacteria.
Aeration, the process of mixing air with water, is accomplished by contact bed or spray, cascade, multiple-tray, or air-injection aerators. Spray aerators force water through nozzles into the air. Cascade aerators consist of a series of steps over which the water falls. In multiple-tray aeration, water falls through nozzles in a series of vertically stacked trays. Contact beds are similar to multiple-tray aerators except that the vertically stacked trays are filled with gravel or some other contact media over which the falling water flows. Air-injection units consist of equipment to force small air bubbles through the water. Aeration is used primarily to reduce odors and tastes, to reduce hardness and corrosiveness by removal of carbon dioxide, and to eliminate iron and manganese.
Alum, sodium aluminate, ferrous sulfate with lime, chlorinated copperas, ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, and often other substances are added to the water, to aid coagulation. The addition of coagulants causes the colloidal, color, and mineral particles to agglomerate into a settleable floc. Coagulation is usually accomplished in two stages: rapid mixing of the coagulant with the water and extended slow mixing during which the settleable floc is formed. The floc is then settled out by gravity in settling basins. Coagulation and sedimentation reduce the bacteria content of the water and are particularly effective in reducing color and turbidity, while indirectly reducing odors and tastes. Some coagulants, however, may increase the hardness and corrosiveness of the water.
Softening is the process of removing calcium and magnesium from the water either by chemical precipitation or by ion exchange. The most widely used process is lime-soda softening, in which lime and soda ash are added to the water to cause calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide precipitation. Sedimentation follows the addition of chemicals to permit the precipitates to settle. After the addition of lime or lime and soda ash, the softened waters are unstable and require stabilization by recarbonation or other means.
In the ion-exchange process, water is passed through beds of ion-exchange resins or carbonaceous ion-exchange materials. Cation exchangers, which exchange their sodium ions for calcium or magnesium ions in waters, commonly are used. The action is reversible, and the cation exchangers are regenerated periodically with a salt solution. Both water-softening methods are effective, and the lime-soda process also reduces bacteria, turbidity, odors and tastes, and iron and manganese.
Water filtration includes slow-sand filtration, rapid-sand filtration, and microstraining. In slow-sand filtration, low turbidity raw water or settled water is passed directly into beds of fine sand underlain by gravel and an underdrainage system. The sand beds removed suspended matter from the water. Rapid-sand filters allow the water to flow through larger grain sand at much faster rates but are otherwise similar to slow-sand filters. For rapid filters to be effective, prior treatment of the water by coagulation and sedimentation usually is necessary. Rapid-filter beds may be made of silicas and crushed quartz, or crushed anthracite coal. Both slow and rapid filtration reduce color and remove iron and manganese, bacteria, and turbidity. Odor and taste are reduced as an indirect result of rapid-sand filtration. Modern water-treatment plan designs favor rapid-sand filters over slow-sand filters. Both types of filters require periodic cleaning.
Microstraining removes algae and other microparticles from water, usually prior to rapid-sand filtration. Microstraining can greatly increase the length of the rapid-sand filter runs. The microstrainer is a rotating-filter drum covered with a fine stainless-steel mesh having apertures of less than one micron in size. Water passes from the inner section of the unit outward, and the screen is continuously cleaned by a water spray at the top.
Chlorine is most commonly used for the disinfection of water, but ozone and ultraviolet radiation treatment are also used. Chlorine is applied both before filtration, the prechlorination, and as the final water treatment before distribution, the postchlorination. Most large treatment plants use liquid chlorine; usually it is added to the water in amounts that will ensure a small free chlorine residual throughout the water distribution system. Chlorination is effective in destroying bacteria and inactivating viruses as well as in reducing faint odors and tastes in water; but chlorine causes problems by combining chemically with organic compounds. In the presence of intense odors and tastes, chlorination cannot always be employed because it may produce unpleasant tasting by-products.
There are a number of special water-treatment processes in use. Copper sulfate is used for algae control. Activated carbon removes many organic chemicals and odors. Ammonia with chlorine is used for chloramine disinfection and odor control.
Efficiency and dependability are increased in modern water-treatment plants by automation and centralized control. A typical municipal water-treatment plant is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 29.
Since the 1974 articles there have been further development of water purification and water treatment plants.
Recent concerns over safety and trace contaminants in drinking water have driven the development and acceptance of membrane filter technology ranging from micro-filtration, ultra-filtration, nano-filtration, and reverse osmosis in which clarified water is pumped under pressure through large large bundles of small diameter (less than 1/10 inch) hollow fibers contained within a collection housing. The fiber bundles are manufactured from a variety of polymeric material, such as, polysulfone or PVDF, which are permeable in the sub-micron range. Permeate (the water which passes through the fiber sidewall) is collected and sent to the distribution system. Reject water (the water and suspended solids, typically less than 0.5 percent, which will not pass through the filter membrane) is discharged as sludge for thickening and dewatering.
Continued increases in demand for potable water has led to the development of ballasted clarification (such as, Kruger's Actific™ process) which utilizes microsand as a seed for floc formation. The microsand provides surface area that enhances flocculation and acts as a ballast or weight. The resulting sand ballasted floc allows for clarifier designs with high flow rates and short retention times, resulting in system configurations that are ⅕ to 1/20 the size of conventional clarifiers. The sludge produced by ballasted flocculation is typically less than 0.1 percent concentration.
Sewage is composed of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and storm water which may be present. The terms "wastewater" and "sewage" are sometimes used interchangeably herein.
However, wastewater can be defined as water containing impurities, as suspended solids, resulting from industrial processes.
The composition of sewage depends on its origin and the volume of water in which the wastes are carried. Sewage which originates entirely from residential communities is made up of excreta, bathing and washing water, and kitchen wastes. Other wastes can be present from rural/agricultural sources and/or industrial or commercial establishments.
Modern sewage treatment is generally divided into three phases: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Each of these steps produces sludge, which can be disposed of or used for various purposes.
Primary treatment, or plain sedimentation, removes only the settleable solids from sewage. A modern system for primary treatment entails collecting the sewage, conveying it to a central point for treatment, using both screens to remove large objects and grit chambers to remove grit, and using primary sedimentation tanks to remove the suspended settleable solids. This type of system produces about one third of a gallon of wet sludge per person per day, and facilities for handling and disposing of the sludge are also needed. Primary treatment reduces the concentration of suspended solids by about 60 percent and reduces the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) by about 35 percent.
Secondary treatment involves the addition of a biological treatment phase following plain sedimentation. At best, this treatment removes about 85 to 95 percent of the organic matter in sewage. It has little effect on dissolved materials or on the nutrients that stimulate the growth of algae in the receiving waters. It also discharges all of the nutrients and dissolved solids, as well as any contaminants which may be added to the water by industrial plants.
There are two basic methods often used in modern secondary treatment, that is, the trickling filter and the activated-sludge processes. In small communities, secondary treatment is sometimes accomplished by either the trickling-filter method or the contact bed method, but usually used is the sand filter method. In larger communities, secondary treatment is generally accomplished by the activated-sludge process.
Sand filters are beds of fine sand, usually 3 feet (1 meter) deep, through which the sewage slowly seeps. As it seeps through the sand, the organic matter is decomposed and stabilized by the microorganisms in the sewage. Sand filters require about 4 acres (1.6 hectares) of sand beds for each thousand people. Because of this large space requirement, sand beds have obvious disadvantages. Also, the time required for the sludge to be formed and dried usually takes weeks. This long drying time means that large surface areas of sand beds have to be used to achieve drying with the attendant large cost of constructing, operating and maintaining the sand beds. Rain adds time to the drying function of sand beds, since the sand beds usually are without any roof or other top covering. Covered sand beds require less area than do uncovered beds but still take weeks to achieve drying and have a higher construction cost. Nowadays, about 90 percent of smaller municipalities use sand beds to dewater sewage coming from primary treatment units. The main purpose of sand beds is the reduction of the water content in the primary-treated sewage.
A contact bed, composed of many layers of stone, slate or other inert material, provides a relatively large surface area for the growth of microorganisms. It operates on a fill-and-draw basis, and the organic matter delivered during the fill period is decomposed by the microorganisms on the bed. The oxygen required by the microorganisms is provided during the resting period, when the bed is exposed to the air.
In the trickling filter system, the sewage is applied to the filter through rotary distributors and, then, is allowed to trickle down over large stone or plastic beds that are covered with microorganisms. The beds are not submerged and, thus, air can reach the organisms at all times. The area requirements for trickling filters are about 5 to 50 acres (2 to 20 hectares) per million people.
In the activated-sludge process, heavy concentrations of aerobic microorganisms, called biological floc or activated sludge, are suspended in the liquid either by agitation which is provided by air which is bubbled into the tank or by mechanical aerators. Final sedimentation tanks are needed to separate the floc material from the flowing liquid. Most of the biologically active sludge, then, is returned to the aeration tank with which to treat the incoming water. The high concentration of active microorganisms which can be maintained in the aeration tank permits the size of the treatment plant to be relatively small, about 1 to 5 acres (0.1 to 2 hectares) per million population.
Tertiary treatment is designed for use in areas either where the degree of treatment must be more than 85 to 95 percent or where the sewage, after treatment, is reused. It is mainly intended to further clean or polish secondary treatment plant effluents by removing additional suspended material and by lowering the BOD, generally by filtration. This polishing, however, has little impact on the dissolved solids, including the nutrients, synthetic organic chemicals, and heavy metals. To eliminate these constituents of sewage, other methods of treatment have been devised. These processes include coagulation and sedimentation, precipitation, adsorption on activated carbon or other adsorbents, foam separation, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, ion exchange and distillation.
Sludge is the semiliquid mass removed form the liquid flow of sewage. Sludge will vary in amount and characteristics with the characteristics of sewage and plant operation. Sludge from primary treatment is composed of solids usually having a 95 percent moisture content. The accumulated solid materials, or sludge, from sewage treatment processes amount to 50 to 70 pounds (22 to 31 kg) per person per year in the dry state or about one ton (0.9 metric ton) per year in the wet state. Sludge is highly capable of becoming putrid, and can, itself, be a major pollutant if it is not biologically stabilized and disposed of in a suitable manner. Biological stabilization may be accomplished by either aerobic or anaerobic digestion. After digestion, sludge-drying beds are usually used.
In modern sewage treatment plants, mechanical dewatering of sludge by vacuum filters, centrifuges, or other devices is becoming widespread. The dewatered sludge, then, may be heat dried, if it is to be reclaimed, or it may be incinerated. In large communities where large amounts of sludge are produced, mechanical dewatering and incineration are commonly practiced. But there are many smaller communities, rural areas, etc., which have economic constraints and which use the sand bed method to dewater sewage. There is a great need to make the sand bed method more economical by reducing the time for drying waste material (sludge) from the primary-treated sewage effluent and by reducing the time for drying the sludge. Reduced drying time would allow reduction of the size of the sand beds needed.
Early sludge treatment schemes included plain sedimentation, followed by chemical precipitation or sedimentation aided by flocculation chemicals. Chemical precipitation fell into disuse, but may be making a comeback. Nowadays, chemicals are often added to the sewage to promote the coagulation of the finer suspended solids, so that these solids become heavy enough to settle in sedimentation in the primary treatment stage. Typical chemical coagulants in the flocculation of sewage are alum, polymers, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride and lime.
Chlorine is often used to minimize odors from sedimentation tanks and in the final effluent as a disinfectant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,416 (Howard) discloses a sewage treatment system which presents a main flow line and a recirculating line, the former for floc which has appreciated in size due to the addition of a polymer and to passage through an area of agitation/turbulence, and the latter for the return of small sized floc to the agitator/turbulence area for size increase. The passageways of the system include movable flaps which serve recirculation purposes, and a ledge or flutter for current creation and floc build-up. Raw liquid sewage enters the system, whereas the outlet leads to a belt press and/or a dry bed to cake the resulting sludge. More specifically, the apparatus for flocculating fluids containing suspended solids comprises conduit means for conducting the fluid to an outlet in the conduit means. There is means introducing a flock-producing agent into the fluid in the conduit means, a vertical drop mounted ledge means in the vertical drop in the conduit means downstream from the means introducing the flock-producing agent, and a movable mounted ledge means in the vertical drop which serves to increase turbulence and to increase the size of accumulating floc in the fluid. There is a vertical rise in said conduit means, downstream from the vertical drop leading to the outlet. The conduit means includes means connecting the vertical drop to the vertical rise, and there are circulation passageway means connecting the vertical rise to the vertical drop for recirculating smaller size flock to the vertical drop.
In Howard, it is said that a particular feature is that no mixer equipment is required. Polymers are injected into the raw sewage, causing water to separate from the raw sewage during the procedure, resulting in floc build-up. The latter is caused when the polymers begin dissolving with the result that a film of concentrated polymer solution builds up about the polymer particles, forming aggregates or agglomerations, identified as "flocks". Turbulence is a key factor, where such is said to be accomplished through a ledge (which flutters) located in the vertical drop conduit and a series of movable flaps disposed within the recirculating conduit. The singular stated purpose of the Howard scheme is to create flock, i.e., solids with a minimum of water content, through separation. Restated otherwise, the Howard scheme, through turbulence or tumbler-mixer action, is said to create additional floc (of a larger size) which goes to output, whereas smaller floc is caused to recirculate said increase, thereby, in size for repeated passage to output.
The Sarasota, Fla. Public Utility Company purchased one vacuumed assist drying bed from USEP (Company). The process consisted of walls, concrete floor with grooves, and a sealed down porous block tile consisting of small stones with epoxy to hold together with a smaller granular material on top. The grooves were used to collect the water when the vacuum was applied. This is similar to the surface of a cement building block. As the utility scraped sludge from the surface, the tiles wore down to the stone and some were completely removed. A thin layer of small stone was placed to level out the bed. A GeoWeb stabilization material was placed directly on the original plates and placed stone. Sand filled the stabilization material and several inches above. By installing the stabilization material and sand the utility vehicle was able to drive on the beds. The beds were decommissioned in 1996. (See FIGS. 27 and 28.)
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,051,137, 5,770,056, 5,660,733, 5,683,583, 5,725,766 and 5,611,921 disclose a process of dewatering treated sewage, and equpiment and installation used therein or therewith. Such process is usually referred herein as the previous Deskins process-scheme. The previous Deskins process-scheme includes mixing the sewage with a coagulant or flocculant aid, usually activated polymer. The sewage is then mixed and flocculated at conditions which involved extensive mixing turbulence of the sewage and whereby part of the sewage is recycled so as to be again subjected to such mixing and flocculating. Flocks form the solid particles in the sewage. The pH of the sewage is chemically adjusted into the basic pH range or to a higher basic pH. The sewage is applied to a sand bed whereby the flocculated solids in the sewage are separated from the liquid in the sewage, by collecting on the top of the sand bed. The flocculated solids located on the top of the sand bed are air dried. The dried flocculated solids are removed from the top of the sand bed.
The first step/stage in the previous Deskins process-scheme used an inline polymer mixing-feeding (injection) system to incorporate activated polymer into the sewage flow line (see FIG. 25). The inline polymer preparation system eliminated this need for batching tanks, mixers and polymer transfer pumps. The inline polymer system could be a conventional one or an inline polymer mixing-feeding system of the previous Deskins process-scheme. The inline polymer system (chemical pump) of activated precise amounts of neat polymer and water, then metered the fully activated stock solution to the point of use without the need of transfer pumps.
The polymer is an emulsification of long chain organic polymer in oil. The water and mixing opens up of uncoils the polymer to expose charge sites in the polymer chain.
Coagulants or flocculants, such as, alum. ferric sulfate, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride and lime, could be used in place of the activated polymer in the sewage flow line to coagulate or flocculate the solids in the sewage. These coagulants or flocculants cause formation of an insoluble precipitate which adsorbs colloidal and suspended solids.
The second step/stage in the previous Deskins process-scheme used an inline mixing flocculator (see FIG. 24). An inline mixing-flocculating device was used to enhance the chemically induced liquid-solids separation in the sludge dewatering process utilized at most wastewater treatment plants. The flocculator was used in any type of mechanical dewatering scheme that used a chemical as a coagulant or flocculant aid. The overall output and efficiency of the dewatering process was greatly increased by the thoroughness of the flocculating process. Prior art sludge production normally was 14,000 to 16,000 gallons of dewatered sludge per gallon of polymer; the mixer-flocculator unit provided a reduction of 40 to 60 percent in polymer consumption.
The third step/stage in the previous Deskins process-scheme was a chemical induced pH adjustment of the sewage exiting the mixer-flocculating system. Liquid caustic, lime or other suitable base was injected into the discharge side of the mixer-flocculator unit and the temperature of the water to the inline polymer system was increased, thereby increasing the liquid/solids pH balance.
As the liquid/solids content exited the inline mixer-flocculator unit, an electronic driven diaphragm pump or gear driven pump pumped liquid caustic or lime into the discharge line of the flocculator-mixer unit. The pH of the sludge was increased to 12 by the chemical. The pH of the sludge remained at 12 for 72 hours, and, during this period of time, the temperature reached 52° C. and remained at that temperature for at least 12 hours. At the end of the 72 hours period during which the pH of the sludge was above 12, the sludge could then be air dried to achieve a percent solids of greater than 50 percent. The liquid caustic or lime pump could be present on a transportable dewatering trailer with the mixer-flocculating system and the polymer feed system and, thus, was easily transported.
The fourth step/stage in the previous Deskins process-scheme used a sand grid cell in a sand bed used for dewatering sludge (see FIG. 1). The sand-cell was grid used to stabilize filtration media in any new or existing sand drying bed. It was preferably manufactured of heavy-duty polyethylene. Preferably the sand grid was honeycomb shaped or similar shaped. The fixed media (i.e., grid) was best installed in the filtration sand about six inches below the surface. Under load, the sand-cell generated powerful lateral confinement forces and sand-to-cell or stone-to-cell frictions. This process created a bridging with high flexural strength and stiffness. The sand-cell greatly enhanced the dewatering process. Plant operators could drive an end or front loader or tractor over the entire bed thereby significantly reducing cleaning time and eliminating expensive manual labor. Surface and subsurface bed stabilization was achieved using the invention grid. This allowed for excellent manueverability of equipment, eliminated surface and subsurface, compaction of the sand media and produced an excellent drainage environment, and 100 percent saturation and drainage within about 10 minutes from start to pouring of the sewage resulted from the use of the grid.
This step of the previous Deskins process-scheme involved use of a sand-cell media to stabilize filtration sand/media in any new or existing sand drying bed (best constructed of concrete).
A standard sand-cell section could have nominal dimensions of eight feet wide by twenty feet long by six inches deep. However, a standard sand-cell section could have any length, width and height to fully fit into the dimensions of the sand cell in case. All of the individual sand-cells forming a sand-cell section, generally, were uniform in shape and size. Preferably, the individual sand-cells were about 6 inches wide, 6 inches long, about 6 inches deep, hexagonal in shape and, together, formed a honeycomb. The honeycomb is one of the strongest, yet lightest, shapes found in nature. A standard sand-cell section could be made from high-density polyethylene plastic, any other suitable plastic or resin, stainless steel, fiberglass, concrete, wood, or any other suitable metal or material, or any form of fabricated steel, preferably high-density polyethylene plastic.
The sand-cell media was advantageously installed in the filtration sand or stone with its top surface most preferably about six inches, preferably not more than 12 inches or less than 2 inches, below its surface of the sand. Under load, the sand-cell media generates powerful lateral confinement forces and stone or sand to cell frictions. This process created a bridging with high flexural strength and stiffness.
The benefits of using sand-cell media were stated to be numerous. A subsurface which includes sand-cell media does not compact which allows the free water to pass quickly through the media. The high flexural strength and stiffness of a subsurface which includes sand-cell media allowed equipment such as end loaders to drive directly onto the entire sludge drying bed without destroying the integrity of the filtration sand. This, in turn, significantly reduced the loading and cleaning time, and eliminated expensive manual labor. Other benefits of using the sand-cell media were stated to include: lateral slippage or shear of the filtration media was prevented; filtration media replacement costs were reduced; economical standard washed sand or "P" gravel for rapid dewatering could be used (as opposed to conventional drying bed materials); square foot installation costs were reduced by ninety-four percent over the fixed media system; and total maintenance costs were reduced by more than seventy-five percent.
With regard to the previous Deskins process-scheme of FIG. 1, Enclosure 849 contains a sand bed. Onto layer of non-porous material (850), e.g., concrete, a layer of porous material (853) is positioned. Porous material (853) is used as a filter media and usually stone, crushed rock, ceramic shapes, slag and plastics of 1 to 6 inches, practically 2 to 4 inches, in size are used. Stones or pebbles are preferred. At least one—usually more than one—projection of porous material (854) extends from the porous layer (853) into the layer of non-porous material (850). Embedded in each projection channels (848) in porous material (854) is at least one non-porous pipe (855) having at least one hole into which liquid can drain. A layer of sand (857) is positioned above the layer of porous materials (853). The sand-cell media sections (865) are positioned above this layer of sand (857). Sand is located in the passageways in the sand cell grid. Above each sand-cell media section (865) is placed in a layer of sand (861). This layer of sand (861) is usually, though not necessarily, at least six inches in depth.
Walls (851) surround on all four sides of an area having one or more sand-cell media sections. One wall (851) is shorter to allow a front loader or the like into the enclosure. Each surrounding, dividing wall (851) extends upward from one or more footing supports (852) which are positioned, at least partially, in the layer of non-porous material (850). The top of each dividing wall (851) extends above the layer of sand (861) overlaying the sand-cell media section(s). On the top of each dividing wall (851), which runs between two enclosure areas having the sand-cell media sections, is a portable nozzle which is used to pour sewage into the enclosures.
Each sand-cell media section (865) is made up of one or more sand-cells (858) having the same shape and size. Typically, the sand-cell media section (865) is made up of honeycomb-shaped sand-cells (858) which are joined together in a honeycomb formation (i.e., each sand-cell which is not in an outer layer, where it intersects another sand-cell, it intersects three other sand-cells) channel runs through the interior of each sand-cell.
Sewage is poured through the channel into one or more enclosures (849) for the sand beds. The liquid permeates the outer sand layer, flows through the sand in the channels in the grid (865) in the centers of the sand-cells, permeates the layer of sand beneath the sand-cell media and permeates the pebble layer beneath the layer, leaving the collected sludge solids on top of the outer sand-layer to dry from the sun and air.
The fifth step/stage in the previous Deskins process-scheme used a sludge retriever (see FIG. 13) to separate the dried sludge layer from the sand in the sand bed. The sludge retriever was designed to fit any adequately rated (front-end) loader and was powered by the hydraulic system of the loader. Easily operated by one person, the retriever's rotary drum of the efficiently broke up (chops) solid waste and propelled it into a hopper. The sludge was chopped into very small granular particles, enhancing transportation and handling cost. The unique combing action of the rotating drum (preferably having 3-inch adjustable tines) not only removed sludge without significantly disturbing the filtering sand, it also leveled the bed surface to promote uniform drying. Each bucketload of sludge removed by the sludge retriever usually only yielded an insignificant amount of sand for precision sludge clean-up. The sludge retriever (automated) made sludge removal and drying bed preparation a one-man, one-machine operation. It also leveled and aerated the sand bed for the next pouring of sewage into the sand bed.
The sludge removal attachment was capable of removing dried wastewater sludge from sand drying beds. The implement was also capable of being attached to a front end loader. The mechanism had, for example, a two cubic yard bucket, constructed of ¼ inch steel, and a shaft-type rotary drum having multiple three inch tines. The unit was furnished with an expanded steel cover for the rotor and bucket. Rotor end plates were ½ inch steel minimum. The rotary action of the drum accomplished several functions. First, it removed the sludge layer. Second, it simultaneously leveled the surface of the drying bed. Third, by reversing the direction of the rotary drum, the sand bed could be aerated to a depth of three inches. Basically, the sludge was removed by passing the unit over the drying bed and sweeping up the dried sludge.
Alternatively, the sludge removal attachment (retriever) was capable of removing air-dried wastewater sludge from the sand bed. The unit was a bucket or scoop type device. Sludge was removed by passing the unit over the drying bed and scooping up the dried sludge.
Referring to FIG. 36, a previous waste water treatment installation of Deskins is shown. The installation used a sloped trench. There was a shallow rock in the given area and the engineer was trying to prevent a lot of blasting. We maintained a trench however shallow and 3 layers of stone. The third layer from the bottom housing the panels with 6 inch of sand on top.

Process for combining solids thickening and dewatering in one vessel


A theft deterrent device includes a source of deterrent fluid, a valve for gating release of deterrent fluid from the source, an electronic circuit including a motor for opening and closing the valve, a switch for electrically activating the device and a logic device responsive to a motion detector in the protected area for providing an electronic signal only while motion occurs in the protected area and responsive to the switch for activating the electronic circuit during the simultaneous occurrence of the device being in the electrically activated condition and the electronic signal being provided by the logic device to open the valve and discharge deterrent fluid from the source into the protected area. In an add-on mode of operation, the switch is preferably a component of an existing alarm system for the protected area. In a stand-alone mode of operation, the switch is preferably a radio transmitter remote from the device. In a special mode of operation useful to protect a motor vehicle, the device also includes a switch responsive to the rotation of a drive shaft of the vehicle for preventing activation of the valve motor electronic circuit while the shaft is rotating. The radio transmitter activates the electronic circuit regardless of the detection of motion in the protected vehicle. The receiver further responds to the transmitter to activate a warning device in the protected vehicle advising the intruder that deterrent fluid is going to be discharged into the protected vehicle.

This invention relates generally to theft deterrents and more particularly concerns a theft deterrent usable independently or in conjunction with an existing alarm system to discharge or introduce a deterrent fluid or sound into a protected area.
A device for discharging deterrent fluid or sound into a protected area is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,142 issued to Carol L. Sayers on Sep. 18, 1990. In the ""142 patent, the device is connected to an existing alarm system and discharges deterrent fluid into a protected area at the end of a predetermined time after the existing alarm system is triggered. Deterrent fluid is discharged for a predetermined time period. When discharge terminates, the device automatically resets for subsequent intrusions.
The ""142 patent device is usable exclusively as an addition to an existing alarm system. The device makes no provision for remote control by the owner. If the existing alarm system has been inadvertently triggered, deterrent fluid will be discharged for the full predetermined time of operation of the device unless the alarm is affirmatively interrupted by the user before the predetermined time delay has elapsed. The device is directly responsive to the triggering of the existing alarm and therefore is not independently responsive to motion in the protected area. Since the device discharges continuously for four minutes and then fully resets the system for a future intrusion, if an intruder opens windows and/or doors to exhaust the deterrent fluid from the protected area without subsequently performing an existing alarm triggering act, no further deterrent fluid will be introduced into the protected area by the device. The device is disclosed solely for use in a motor vehicle. No account is taken as to whether the protected vehicle is in operation at the time the deterrent fluid is discharged. No warning is given to an occupant of a moving vehicle that deterrent fluid is going to be imminently discharged into the vehicle. No opportunity to evacuate the vehicle prior to such a discharge is given to the occupant.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a theft deterrent device which may be effectively used in any enclosed area. It is also an object of this invention to provide a theft deterrent device which can be used in stand-alone or add-on applications. A further object of this invention is to provide a theft deterrent device which is triggered by motion in the protected area whenever the device is in an activated condition. Another object of this invention is to provide a theft deterrent device which is operable by remote control by the user. It is also an object of this invention to provide a theft deterrent device which will not place the fluid discharge or sound introduction circuit into an activated condition unless the demand for activation has been continuously made for a predetermined period of time. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a theft deterrent device usable to protect a motor vehicle. It is a further object of this invention to provide a theft deterrent device that will not discharge deterrent fluid into a moving motor vehicle. Still another object of this invention is to provide a theft deterrent device which warns the occupants of a motor vehicle of the impending discharge of the deterrent fluid into the vehicle. And it is an object of this invention to provide a theft deterrent device which intermittently discharges deterrent fluid or introduce deterrent sound into a protected area as long as motion is detected in the protected area.
In accordance with the invention, an anti-theft device is provided which will interrupt a break-in by discharging or introducing a sufficient quantity or volume of a deterrent fluid, such as pepper gas, tear gas or the like, or sound into a protected area to cause an intolerable level of discomfort to the intruder. The embodiment of the device herein described includes an electronic xe2x80x98brainxe2x80x99 automatically operating the system, an optional remote control permitting manual operation of the device, a motion detector input triggering operation of the activated system, a release mechanism such as a motor operated valve, a control circuit gating the deterrent fluid into the protected area, a battery and a deterrent fluid source. When triggered, the gas, liquid or particles (generally referred to as deterrent fluid) are injected or discharged into the protected room, car, safe or other area. The injection or discharge can be intermittently repeated within a certain time interval so that the area cannot be cleared of the deterrent fluid by merely rolling down or opening a window. An optional time delay prevents inadvertent operation of the fluid discharge circuit by remote control. Another optional time delay allows a protected motor vehicle to be evacuated before the deterrent fluid is discharged. The device can be used as an add-on unit with an existing burglar alarm system or as an independent unit.
In one embodiment, the device is secured in a lockable steel box approximately 1xe2x80x3xc3x974xe2x80x3xc3x976xe2x80x3 and is electrically connected to the output of the existing burglar alarm system. If the electrical connection is interrupted while the alarm is deactivated, a line error is reported without releasing deterrent fluid. The device may be mounted in a closet, attic or other area and a deterrent fluid discharge tube extended from the device into the protected area. The device may be mounted in an HVAC system having its fan configured to operate when deterrent fluid is released so as to dispense the fluid into the room or area controlled by the HVAC unit. The device may be hidden in or behind pictures, paintings, vases, lamps or other objects located in the room/area to be protected and connected to the existing burglar system. An abort switch may be secreted in the system to permit interruption of the injection or discharge of deterrent fluid.
In another embodiment, the device also includes a motion detector so that no deterrent fluid will be released into the protected area until motion is detected. In this embodiment, the deterrent fluid can be sprayed directly at an intruder. Motion within five to ten feet of the device, or one to two feet in a motor vehicle application, would trigger the release of deterrent fluid in an activated system.
In a third embodiment, the device operates as an independent unit activated by a motion detector and a remote control. Red and green lights indicate the activated or deactivated status of the device, respectively, preferably intermittently blinking and in an xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d condition for the majority of the time. This embodiment is specially suited for use in motor vehicles. In motor vehicle applications, release of deterrent fluid is prevented while the motor vehicle is in motion. Furthermore, a deterrent fluid pipe line valve concealed in the vehicle proximate the deterrent fluid source permits the user to manually assure that deterrent fluid cannot be released while the user is operating the vehicle.
Preferably, the device includes a source of deterrent fluid, a valve for gating release of deterrent fluid from the source, an electronic circuit including a mechanism such as a motor for opening and closing the valve, a switch for electrically activating the device and a logic device responsive to a motion detector in the protected area for providing an electronic signal only while motion occurs in the protected area and responsive to the switch for activating the electronic circuit during the simultaneous occurrence of the device being in the electrically activated condition and the electronic signal being provided by the logic device to open the valve and discharge deterrent fluid from the source into the protected area. The electronic circuit can cause the motor to open and close the valve intermittently during the simultaneous occurrence above described or can cause the motor to remain open continuously during that simultaneous occurrence. In an add-on mode of operation, the switch is preferably a component of an existing alarm system for the protected area, the switch being normally open when the existing alarm system is activated but not triggered. In a stand-alone mode of operation, the switch is preferably a radio transmitter remote from the device with a receiver responsive to the transmitter switching the device to an electrically activated condition.
In a special mode of operation useful to protect a motor vehicle, the device also includes a switch responsive to the rotation of a drive shaft of the vehicle for preventing activation of the valve motor electronic circuit while the shaft is rotating. In this special mode, a radio transmitter remote from the device signals a receiver responsive to a first operation of the transmitter to activate the electronic circuit when the vehicle drive shaft is not rotating regardless of the detection of motion in the protected vehicle. Preferably, a first time delay circuit delays activation of the electronic circuit until the transmitter has been continuously activated for a first predetermined time period and a second time delay unit delays activation of the electronic circuit for a second predetermined time period after the first predetermined time period has elapsed. It is also preferred that the receiver further responds to the first operation of the transmitter to activate a warning device in the protected vehicle after the first predetermined time period has elapsed to advise the intruder that deterrent fluid will be discharged into the protected vehicle after the second predetermined time period has elapsed. Also, in this special mode, the receiver responds to a second operation of the transmitter to deactivate the electronic circuit.


In a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with an active region, and first and second mirror stacks forming a resonant cavity, the VCSEL having a radial electrode configuration with a first electrode disposed around the base of the first mirror stack near one side of the active region, a second electrode on the other side of the active region with a first contacting region and a second contacting region on each side of the active region in contact with the respective electrodes, each of the contacting regions providing a current path for distributed current through the active region, the improvement wherein there is a nonlinear grading of resistivity in at least one of the contacting regions between at least one of the electrodes and the active region. Specifically, in one embodiment, the first contacting region has a first layered section abutting the first electrode which is highly conductive to radial current flow and at least a second layered section between the first layered section and the active region which is more resistive to axial current flow than to radial current flow in the first layered section. In a further embodiment, one of the two contacting regions includes a layered section which is radially graded in resistivity so as to restrict the current injection to a radius less than that of the resonant cavity, thereby improving device efficiency and preferentially supporting single mode operation.

This invention relates to semiconductor vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), and more particularly to structures and techniques for providing highly-efficient and single mode VCSELs. A VCSEL is a semiconductor laser consisting of a semiconductor layer of optically active material, such as gallium arsenide or indium gallium arsenide or the like, sandwiched between highly-reflective layers of metallic material, dielectric material, epitaxially-grown semiconductor dielectric material or combinations thereof, most frequently in stacks. As is conventional, one of the mirror stacks is partially reflective so as to pass a portion of the coherent light built up in the resonating cavity formed by the mirror stack/active layer sandwich. Laser structures require optical confinement and carrier confinement to achieve efficient conversion of pumping electrons to stimulated photons (A semiconductor may lase if it achieves population inversion in the energy bands of the active material.) The standing wave in the cavity has a characteristic cross-section giving rise to an electromagnetic mode. A desirable electromagnetic mode is the single fundamental mode, for example, the HE.sub.11 mode of a cylindrical waveguide. A single mode signal from a VCSEL is easy to couple into an optical fiber, has low divergence and is inherently single frequency in operation.
VCSELs are known in several forms based on the location of the active layer relative to the mirror stacks and the location of the electrodes. Previously-known categories are index-guiding or gain-guiding of the optical mode, and either vertical injection (vertically along the central axis of the cavity) or lateral (radial) injection of carriers into the active region. As used herein, vertical and axial are used interchangeably and lateral and radial are used interchangeably.
Reference is made to a survey article describing the various categories entitled "High-efficiency Vertical Cavity Lasers and Modulators," by Coldren et al., SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1362 (Physical Concepts of Materials for Novel Optoelectronic Device Applications II: Device Physics and Applications, presented 28 Oct-2 Nov 1990, Aachen, Germany, Copyright 1991).
The previously-known VCSELs suffered from relatively-low power efficiencies, which can be related to geometry limitations or low pumping efficiency. Their small size and power inefficiency caused the devices to become hot as the input power is increased. Since the lasers tended to self-quench at higher temperatures, the light output power has been limited.
At high currents, vertically-injected lasers tend to overheat because of the inherent series resistance of the mirror structures, while laterally-injected lasers tend to develop non-uniform current distribution with "current crowding" at the edges of the active region as the injection current increases. As the optical mode is weak at the edges of the active region, conversion efficiency is reduced substantially. Therefore, laterally-injected structures typically have been limited to significantly lower saturated power output levels than vertically-injected lasers, due to the supposed inherent structural limitations. Moreover, due to mismatch between known injected current patterns and the desirable lateral optical modes of VCSELs, injection current patterns produced by prior art devices result in undesirable multimode behavior at elevated power levels.
A further category of VCSELs has been developed by a research group based at the University of California at Santa Barbara under the direction of one of the co-inventors, Professor Larry A. Coldren. Referring to FIG. 1, a lateral-contact VCSEL 10 was developed which has a first electrode 12 disposed as a ring or toroid around the base of a first mirror stack 14, which serves as an index waveguide, a second electrode 16 being disposed on the back of the semiconductor substrate 18 such that the active region 20, which is formed of a conventional GaAs multiple quantum well, is contacted on opposing sides by the electrodes 12 and 16 and sandwiched between first and second optically transmissive contacting layers 22, 24 abutting respectively the first mirror stack 14 and a second mirror stack 26.
The suggestion has been made in a public forum in the United States (UCSB Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Review, Santa Barbara, Calif., January 1991 and the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, Anaheim, Calif., May 1991), in the course of development of the present invention, that a current confinement aperture 27 be provided around the active region to funnel current into the active region directly under the silhouette of the first mirror stack 14. The proposed current confinement aperture was to be formed by wet etching, and thus the concurrent large optical index discontinuity must be kept outside the cavity to avoid disturbing the electromagnetic mode. It is believed that a similar structure has since been incorporated into devices developed by others, such as a group headed by Jack Jewell and Greg Olbright at Photonics Research in Colorado. Further, at these public forums, it was suggested that a linear vertical grading be provided in the top or first contacting layer 22 as one technique to minimize current crowding. An attempt was made to fabricate such a device. However, deficiencies were discovered, and further research resulted in the present invention.
What is needed is a VCSEL with a structure which overcomes the inherent current crowding inefficiencies of lateral electrode configurations and the inherent power conversion inefficiencies of vertical electrode configurations.

Electrical pumping scheme for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers


A method for operating a motor vehicle which can be driven in at least two drive modes which differ from one another as to whether or not at least one wheel of the motor vehicle is driven is designed to increase the safety in the driving behavior when the drive mode changes, by adjusting a previously defined value which is assigned to the current drive mode for a variable that is related to a chassis device of the motor vehicle.

The invention relates to a method for operating a motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle can be driven in at least two drive modes which are distinguished from one another by whether or not at least one wheel is driven. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle.
For example, the drive modes "front wheel drive", "rear wheel drive" or "all-wheel drive" are known.
A vehicle operator may change the drive mode with, for example, a driver input. Likewise, a change of the drive mode may be caused by a control unit, which is frequently the case with hybrid vehicles, which also have an electric drive in addition to an internal combustion engine, wherein the electric drive is switched on or off as appropriate.
Different settings of a suspension may be required depending on the specific drive mode in order to ensure an optimal, safe driving behavior.
When the drive mode is changed, the settings of the suspension are often no longer favorable for the new drive mode. The driving safety of the motor vehicle is then diminished.

Method for operating a motor vehicle, and motor vehicle


Disclosed are various embodiments of wheels having an increased interior lip depth. In some embodiments, the wheel can include a wheel barrel having a register formed on the inner surface thereof. A wheel center piece can have a junction rim secured to the register. The wheel center piece can include a center portion configured to be secured to a vehicle. The wheel center piece can include spokes which extend radially outwardly from the center portion and axial extenders which connect the radially outward ends of the spokes to the junction rim. The axial extenders can function to increase the size of the cavity formed between the wheel center piece and the inboard end of the wheel. Thus, the cavity can have a volume sufficient to accommodate mechanical components of the vehicle while allowing the register can be formed relatively close to the inboard side of the wheel, thereby increasing the depth of the interior lip extending from the outboard end of the wheel to the junction rim. In some embodiments, a one-piece wheel may be configured to have the appearance of being a multi-piece wheel having an increased interior lip depth. In some embodiments, a wheel component covering insert may be applied to the inner surface of the wheel barrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to wheels for supporting vehicles, and in particular to wheels with an enhanced appearance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Consumers have increasingly sought to add style and distinctiveness to their vehicles by buying specially-designed wheels. Wheels with increased interior lip depth (e.g., the distance between the outboard edge of the wheel and the face of the central portion of the wheel) have been gaining in popularity. Also, larger-diameter wheels mounted within low-profile tires have been in high demand. However, certain wheel performance requirements relating primarily to load-bearing capabilities, comfort of ride, and positioning of the vehicle brakes and other functional components, have been viewed as severely limiting the size of the interior lip depth and the outboard wheel diameter, which in turn have placed rigid constrains on the design area and volume on the outboard side of the wheel. Moreover, the relatively small interior lip depth on traditional wheels has minimized the reflective effect of the central wheel face onto the generally shiny surface of the interior lip.


A new variety of sweetpotato identified as xe2x80x98L96-117xe2x80x99 is disclosed having superior processing qualities and a high total-sugar content. xe2x80x98L96-117xe2x80x99 is characterized by an intense orange flesh and an elongated root.

This invention pertains to a new and distinct variety of sweet potato.
Genus and species name: This new and distinct sweetpotato variety, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., demonstrates both superior processing qualities and high total-sugar content as compared to other available sweetpotato varieties known to the inventors.
Variety denomination: This new and distinct sweetpotato variety is identified as xe2x80x98L96-117xe2x80x99, and is characterized by its dark orange flesh and its elongated roots.
Sweetpotatoes, unlike Irish potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), are not tuber propagated plants. A xe2x80x9ctuberxe2x80x9d is a short, thickened portion of an underground branch. Along a tuber are found xe2x80x9ceyes,xe2x80x9d each of which comprises a ridge bearing a scale-like leaf (analogous to a branch leaf) having minute meristematic buds in the axial of the leaf. By contrast, sweet potato roots are developmentally and anatomically true roots, lacking meristematic buds, and are not derived from an underground branch. Sweet potatoes do not form tubers.

Sweetpotato plant named xe2x80x98L96-117xe2x80x99

Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College


Provided are a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission method, a terminal device and a network device. When a slot configured by a network device through high-layer signaling does not include any time-domain resource available for SRS transmission or time-domain resources therein are not adequate, a terminal device may determine a slot for SRS transmission, thereby finding a proper uplink resource for sending an SRS to further ensure the uplink transmission performance. The method includes that: a terminal device receives downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, the DCI including SRS triggering signaling and the SRS triggering signaling indicating SRS transmission on at least one SRS resource set; and the terminal device transmits an SRS on a target SRS resource in the at least one SRS resource set in a slot meeting a first preset condition and after K slots from reception of the DCI, K being a nonnegative integer.

In 5-Generation New Radio (5G NR), a network device may preconfigure one or more aperiodic SRS resource sets and trigger a terminal device through triggering signaling in downlink control information (DCI) to implement transmission based on one of the aperiodic SRS resource sets. The terminal device, once receiving the triggering signaling, may transmit an SRS based on an SRS resource in a target SRS resource set. However, when the network device does not configure any time-domain resource for SRS transmission or time-domain resources configured for SRS transmission by the network device are not adequate, the terminal device cannot determine a time-domain resource for SRS transmission.

Sounding reference signal transmission method, terminal device and network device

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A bridge crane anti-swing method based on first-order dynamic sliding mode variable structure includes steps of: constructing a two-dimensional bridge crane system model and a crane system control model, respectively; performing differentiation on two sliding mode surfaces containing swing angle dynamic change and rope length dynamic change to obtain a crane position dynamic sliding surface s1 and a rope length dynamic sliding mode surface s2, respectively; combining a displacement x, a length l and a swing angle θ in the two-dimensional bridge crane system model with the crane position dynamic sliding surface s1 and rope length dynamic sliding mod surface s2 in the crane system control model to obtain a relationship among a horizontal traction force f1, an along-rope traction force f2, the displacement x, the length l and the swing angle θ.

A bridge crane system is essentially a complex under-actuated nonlinear control system, which plays an irreplaceable role in modem industrial production. Due to its high theoretical value and practical value, scholars in China and foreign countries have never interrupted researches on the positioning control problem of the bridge crane.
At present, many scholars try to combine adaptive control, fuzzy control and neural network with sliding mode control to complement each other. However, the designed controllers are more complicated and have chattering, and the variable rope length is not taken into consideration in most of the controllers. In the case of variable rope length, some scholars have adopted the hierarchical sliding mode and time-varying sliding mode control method to realize the anti-swing positioning control of the bridge crane under the condition of variable rope length, but the step of designing the control rate is relatively cumbersome and the chattering phenomenon peculiar to the sliding mode control is not taken into consideration.

First-order dynamic sliding mode variable structure-based bridge crane anti-swing method