Technology for choosing a design for a computer data storage system having a prescribed reliability. The selection of a “matching storage system,” matching the prescribed reliability is based on computation of first and second reliability indicators.

The invention relates in general to methods and computer program products for designing computerized storage systems. In particular, it is directed to methods of designing computerized storage systems having a prescribed reliability, based on indicators computed for storage units of the storage system, where such indicators include a mean time to data loss, an expected annual fraction of data loss, and an expected amount of data lost conditioned on a fact that a data loss occurred.
Several redundancy and recovery schemes have been developed to enhance the reliability of computerized storage systems. The effectiveness of these schemes has predominately been evaluated based on the mean time to data loss (MTTDL), which has been proven useful for assessing tradeoffs, for comparing schemes, and for estimating the effect of the various parameters on system reliability. In the context of distributed and cloud storage systems, it is of importance to further consider the magnitude along with the frequency of data loss. Therefore, one may further consider using the expected annual fraction of data loss (EAFDL), that is, the fraction of stored data that is expected to be lost by the system annually. A general methodology has been proposed to obtain the EAFDL metric analytically, in conjunction with the MTTDL metric, for various redundancy schemes and for a large class of failure time distributions that also includes real-world distributions, such as Weibull and gamma [6]. Such a methodology can be applied to derive these metrics analytically and assess the reliability of a replication-based storage system under clustered, declustered, and symmetric data placement schemes.
Another potentially relevant metric is the expected amount of data lost given that a data loss already occurred, which is noted E(H). The MTTDL, the EAFDL, and E(H), can be used to assess the reliability of a storage system having well-defined parameters. Such parameters may notably include the number of storage devices in the system, the memory storage capacity of each storage device, their mean time to failure, parameters relating to a data placement scheme of data throughout the storage devices, and characteristics of the protection schemes.
Thus, given certain system specifications, it is possible to very precisely determine the reliability of a system in terms of the metrics mentioned above. However, it turns out that the converse is typically not possible. That is, it is not possible to straightforwardly determine the characteristics of a system that has a prescribed reliability. This, in practice, is an issue because one may well want to be able to design a storage system having a prescribed reliability, where this reliability is precisely estimated.
The following references form part of the background art:    [1] I. Iliadis, "Reliability Evaluation of Erasure Coded Systems under Rebuild Bandwidth Constraints," International Journal on Advances in Networks and Services 11(3&4), 2018;    [2] Q. Xin, E. L. Miller, T. J. E. Schwarz, D. D. E. Long, S. A. Brandt, and W. Litwin, "Reliability Mechanisms for Very Large Storage Systems," in Proceedings of the 20th IEEE/11th NASA Goddard Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies (MSST) (San Diego, Calif.), April 2003, pp. 146-156;    [3] J.-F. Paris, T. J. E. Schwarz, A. Amer, and D. D. E. Long, "Highly Reliable Two-Dimensional RAID Arrays for Archival Storage," in Proceedings of the 31st IEEE International Performance Computing and Communications Conference (IPCCC) (Austin, Tex.), December 2012, pp. 324-331;    [4] I. Iliadis and V. Venkatesan, "Most Probable Paths to Data Loss: An Efficient Method for Reliability Evaluation of Data Storage Systems," International Journal on Advances in Systems and Measurements vol. 8, no. 3&4, December 2015, pp. 178-200;    [5] I. Iliadis, "Data Loss in RAID-5 and RAID-6 Storage Systems with Latent Errors," International Journal on Advances in Software, vol. 12, no. 3&4, pp. 259-287, December 2019;    [6] I. Iliadis and V. Venkatesan, "Expected Annual Fraction of Data Loss as a Metric for Data Storage Reliability," 2014 IEEE 22nd International Symposium on Modelling, Analysis & Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, Paris, 2014, pp. 375-384; and    [7] Ilias Iliadis, "Reliability Evaluation of Erasure Coded Systems," International Journal On Advances in Telecommunications 10(3&4), pp. 118-144, 2017.

Designing a computerized storage system having a prescribed reliability

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention provides for a wrist support system (10) which is generally positioned adjacent a keyboard (12) of a computer system (14) or typewriter which is directed to alleviating the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. The wrist support system includes a support member (22) which is mounted on a base surface (28) adjacent the keyboard (12). A liquid containing pack (30) is mounted on an upper surface (32) of the support member (22) for resiliently interfacing with a user's palm area (20) and wrist area (18) when the user is operating the keyboard (12). The liquid containing pack (30) is deformable to the contours of the palm area (20) and wrist area (18) and provides a flexible support for the user's interfacing areas.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wrist support systems for alleviating the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome of typists or computer operators spending extensive periods of time operating keyboards. In particular, this invention pertains to a wrist support system which allows the user to rest his or her palm and wrist on a deformable and flexible liquid containing or gel pack. Still further, this invention pertains to a wrist support system which includes flexible and deformable members which deform to the contour of a particular user's palm and wrist and further disperses the load applied over a wider area to minimize the stress associated with the force loading of person's appendage. More in particular, this invention directs itself to a wrist support system which includes a support member which is mounted adjacent a keyboard having a liquid containing pack located on an upper surface of the support member for resiliently interfacing with the user's palm and wrist areas when the user is operating the keyboard. Still further, this invention directs itself to a wrist support system where the deformable and resilient portion of the system is adjustable in either the longitudinal or transverse direction when taken with respect to a support member. Further, this invention directs itself to an adjustably displaceable liquid or gel pack which may be displaceably adjusted on a support member in a predetermined direction dependent upon the particular physiology of a user.
2. Prior Art
Deformable liquid or gel containing packs are known in the art. The best prior art known to the Applicant includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 134,116; 4,378,009; 4,481,556; 4,482,063; 4,482,064; 4,545,554; 4,621,781; 4,753,241; 4,938,207; 4,964,402; 4,972,832; 4,973,176; 5,034,998; 5,050,596; 5,065,758; 5,088,478; 5,129,391; 5,131,614; 5,150,707; 5,159,717; and, 5,173,963.
Prior art systems such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,391 are directed to thermal packs which include an elongated member having a pocket which contains a gel. Such packs may be secured to the human body through tabs and fasteners to allow securement of the thermal pack around a body portion. However, such prior art systems do not provide for interface with the wrist of a user mounting such on a support member as is necessary to the subject invention concept.
Other prior art systems such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,241, are directed to the of methods of forming and using therapeutic devices which include chambers adapted to be filled with some type of thermally responsive medium. Such therapeutic devices are provided for covering various parts of the human body however, such are not directed to a deformable system for interfacing with a user's palm and wrist area to alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome as is necessary to the subject invention concept.
In other prior art systems such as that shown in U S. Pat. No. 4,964,402, there are provided orthopedic devices which include wrist/forearm braces or pad members having gel pads secured internal to the pad member for increasing the support and cushioning effect for the wrist and forearm of the user. However, such do not provide for the combined structure of the subject invention concept wrist support system which includes an adjustably positioned gel or liquid containing pack mounted on a support system for positional location adjacent a keyboard in the environment of the subject invention concept.


The planer antenna includes: a linear radiating antenna element to which electric power is to be supplied; and multiple linear parasitic antenna elements to which electric power is not to be supplied. The parasitic antenna elements are disposed at a position at which the radiating antenna element and the parasitic antenna elements cross each other without contact. The parasitic antenna elements lying in a direction in which the radiating antenna element and the parasitic antenna elements cross each other, and each of the crossing portions of said plural parasitic antenna elements, which portions cross said radiating antenna element, are bent in such a manner that the crossing portions of the parasitic antenna elements are in parallel with the radiating antenna element. Thus, it is possible to provide a planer antenna which can obtain a good circularly polarized wave with a simple construction. In addition, the planar antenna can be downsized.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planar antenna. The invention relates particularly to an art suitable for use as an antenna which is formed on a dielectric substrate to generate circularly polarized waves.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, vehicles (movable objects) such as automobiles are often equipped with antennas for high-frequency band GPS (Global Positioning System) and antennas for receiving satellite radio waves of satellite digital broadcasting. In addition, there is a need for antennas for transceiving radio waves in ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) system, which automatically collects tolls for express ways and toll roads, and radio beacons in VICS (Vehicle Information Communications System), which provides traffic information.
Of such radio waves to be transceived by movable objects, circularly polarized waves are used in GPS radio waves, satellite radio waves for satellite broadcasting, and ETC radio waves. Most of the previous antennas for circularly polarized waves are patch antennas (planar antenna).
FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a construction of an example of a previous planar antenna, and it is disclosed in the following patent document 1. The planar antenna of FIG. 10, which is for receiving right-hand circularly polarized waves, includes a square-like loop antenna [radiating (power supplied) element] 120 and a linear electric conductor [parasitic (non-power-supplied) element] 140 mounted on a dielectric (transparent film) not illustrated. The linear electric conductor 140, which is an independent conductor not coupled to the loop antenna 120, is bent to be divided into two parts, a first part 140A and a second part 140B. Reference characters 160 and 170 designate power-feeding terminals for supplying the loop antenna 120 with electric power; reference character 270 designates connecting conductors which connect power-feeding terminals 160 and 170 to the loop antenna 120; reference character CP designates the center point of the loop antenna 120.
As shown in FIG. 10, the parasitic element 140 is placed outside the loop antenna 120 and is arranged close to the loop antenna 120. In more detail, the first part 140A is placed in parallel with one side of the loop antenna 120; the second part 140B is placed in parallel with a straight line which connects an intermediate point between the power-feeding terminals 160 and 170 and an apex of the loop antenna 120 which is opposite the intermediate point.
Referring to paragraph [0069] of the following patent document 1, a description will be made hereinbelow of the parasitic element 140. A loop antenna 120 without a parasitic element 140, in particular, a loop antenna 120 whose circumference (the total length of the antenna conductor) is equal to one wavelength, can receive only an electric field component (lateral component) in the vertical direction (that is, it is impossible to completely receive circularly polarized waves in which the direction of the electric field changes over time). The parasitic element 140 arranged close to the loop antenna 120 makes it possible for the loop antenna 120 to receive a vertical component of the circularly polarized waves.
That is, the second part 140B of the parasitic element 140 takes in the vertical component of the circularly polarized waves, and this received vertical component is coupled to the antenna conductor of the loop antenna 120 by the first part 140A which is close to the antenna conductor of the loop antenna 120. As a result, the vertical and lateral components of the circularly polarized waves are received by the loop antenna 120 in phase. In other words, with only the second part 140B, it is difficult to transfer the received circularly polarized waves to the loop antenna 120. Thus, in order to efficiently transfer the received circularly polarized waves to the loop antenna 120, the parasitic element 140 is provided with the first part 140A.
Further, other previous antenna construction are disclosed in the following patent documents 2 and 3.
Patent document 2 relates to a thin and flat antenna construction including more than one stacked loop antenna element. The antenna of patent document 2 is capable of generating left-hand circularly polarized waves and right-hand circularly polarized waves at the same time from two directions.
Patent document 3 relates to an antenna construction in which a large square row antenna is provided in the plane of an antenna. Inside the large antenna, a small dipole antenna, a loop antenna, and a planar antenna are arranged so that the directivities of the antennas formed by interference of the antennas are optimum.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-102183
[Patent document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-72716
[Patent document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. HEI 9-260925
However, the art disclosed in patent document 1 is disadvantageous in that electric field distribution to the parasitic element 140 is weak due to the antenna construction, so that it is difficult to obtain a sufficiently good circular polarization characteristic. This is probably because a linear antenna (e.g., a dipole antenna) simply mounted on a dielectric substrate generates a beam in the direction along the surface of the dielectric substrate, so that the intensity of radiation in the direction (that is, the direction along the thickness) crossing the surface of the dielectric substrate is weak.
Here, the purpose of the art of patent document 2 is generating left-hand and right-hand circularly polarized waves at the same time. In patent document 3, it is possible to place multiple antennas closely or concentratedly in a narrow area, and thus down-sizing is available, and the purpose of the invention is to prevent noise from inside automobiles. Therefore, neither of the applications aims at obtaining a good circular polarization characteristic.


The present technology, in general, relates to antimicrobial and biocidal compositions, for example bucket dilutable biocidal compositions, and the various applications and/or processes of utilizing them as hard surface disinfectants and/or cleaners. The biocidal composition of the present technology comprises hydrogen peroxide, a quaternary ammonium compound, an appropriate acid and an amine oxide in specific concentrations to provide a 5 minute or less microbial contact kill time for at least one biocidal target.

Biocidal compositions, which may be, for example, germicides, antimicrobial or antibacterial blends, are widely used in different industries, hospitals and institutions as well as in consumers' daily lives to inhibit or kill various microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungus, protozoa or other susceptible pathogenic agents (collectively "biocidal targets").
In the United States (US), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests biocidal compositions using an AOAC (Association of Analytical Chemists) Use Dilution Test (UDT) to determine if a biocidal composition has the disinfectant efficacy claimed. The UDT is a probability based test that determines if a specific contact time, e.g., 5 or 10 minutes, of a test biocidal composition shows no growth for a particular biocidal target, where a pass is at least 59 out of 60 UDT test samples showing no growth. 59 or 60 out of 60 test samples showing no growth ensures a statistical significance of greater than 95% that the test composition will eradicate the bacteria of the inoculum. The criteria for acceptable performance are currently under review at the EPA. A proposed passing criteria being contemplated for the UDT would allow for growth in 3 or less test samples out of 60 to pass. If the proposed changes are accepted, biocidal compositions resulting in no growth in at least 57 or 58 or 59 or 60 out of 60 test samples will successfully demonstrate disinfectant efficacy. Yet another method that is being evaluated at present to possibly replace the UDT in the US at a future date is the OECD Quantitative Test Method for Evaluating Microbiocides on Surfaces which is a quantitative method for evaluating bactericidal activity of microbicides used on hard non-porous surfaces. The proposed criteria for compositions to be able to claim biocidal efficacy is that they need to demonstrate a 4 log10 to a 5 log10 reduction in number of specific target organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pseudomonas), Staphylococcus aureus (Staphylococcus), Salmonella enterica (Salmonella), etc. Alternately efficacy of biocidal compositions is measured by tests such as EN 13697, Quantitative Non-Porous Surface Test for the Evaluation of Bactericidal Activity of Chemical Disinfectants Used in Food, Industrial, Domestic and Institutional Areas in Europe. The European standard is a quantitative method in which an efficacious biocidal composition has to demonstrate a minimum of 4 log10 reduction in number of the target organism.
The industrial standard microbial contact kill time as determined by the EPA-approved Use Dilution test (UDT) for a bucket dilutable composition for major biocidal targets, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc., is 10 minutes. In other words, for a bucket dilutable disinfectant composition to claim disinfectancy of hard surfaces, the composition must pass the 10 minute contact kill time. There is still a strong need and unforeseeable solution in the art for biocidal compositions that provide shorter contact times (i.e., faster rates of kill, e.g. 5 minutes or less), a broader spectrum of activity, and/or a wider range of applications (e.g., hard surface disinfectants). There is especially a need for more efficacious biocidal products in the disinfectant field to reduce the kill time for problematic biocidal targets in hospital settings, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to provide shorter contact times and thus reduce the likelihood of creating superbugs or bacteria resistant to disinfectants.

Dilutable biocidal compositions and methods of use


A telemetry wake-up circuit is electrically disposed between a telemetry transceiver associated with an AIMD, and an RF tag. The RF tag may be remotely interrogated to generate a signal to which the telemetry wake-up circuit is responsive to switch the telemetry transceiver from a sleep mode to an active telemetry mode. In the sleep mode, the telemetry transceiver draws less than 25,000 nanoamperes from the AIMD, and preferably less than 500 nanoamperes.

The present invention relates generally to telemetry transceivers associated with active implantable medical devices (AIMDs) and related components. More particularly, the present invention relates to AIMD RF telemetry circuits having radio frequency identification (RFID) controllable wake-up features.
FIGS. 1 and 2 provide a background for better understanding of the present invention. FIG. I is a wire formed diagram of a generic human body showing a number of implanted medical devices. 100A represents a family of hearing devices which can include the group of cochlear implants, piezoelectric sound bridge transducers and the like. 100B represents a variety of neurostimulators and brain stimulators. Neurostimulators are used to stimulate the Vagus nerve, for example, to treat epilepsy, obesity and depression. Brain stimulators are pacemaker-like devices and include electrodes implanted deep into the brain for sensing the onset of the seizure and also providing electrical stimulation to brain tissue to prevent the seizure from actually occurring. The lead wires associated with a deep brain stimulator are often placed using real time MRI imaging. 100C shows a cardiac pacemaker which is well-known in the art. 100D includes the family of left ventricular assist devices (LVAD's) and artificial hearts. 100E includes an entire family of drug pumps which can be used for dispensing of insulin, chemotherapy drugs, pain medications and the like. Insulin pumps are evolving from passive devices to ones that have sensors and closed loop systems. That is, real time monitoring of blood sugar levels will occur. These devices tend to be more sensitive to EMI than passive pumps that have no sense circuitry or externally implanted lead wires. 100F includes a variety of bone growth stimulators for rapid healing of fractures. 100G includes urinary incontinence devices. 100H includes the family of pain relief spinal cord stimulators and anti-tremor stimulators. 100H also includes an entire family of other types of neurostimulators used to block pain. 100I includes a family of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) devices and also includes the family of congestive heart failure devices (CHF). This is also known in the art as cardio resynchronization therapy devices, otherwise known as CRT devices. 100J illustrates an externally worn pack. This pack could be an external insulin pump, an external drug pump, an external neurostimulator or even a ventricular assist device.
FIG. 2 is a prior art cardiac pacemaker 100C. A cardiac pacemaker typically has an electromagnetically shielded and hermetically sealed housing 102 which is generally constructed from titanium, stainless steel or the like. It also has a plastic or Techothane header block 104 which houses ISO standard IS-1 type connectors 106, 108. In the past, AIMDs, in particular pacemakers, ICDs and neurostimulators, embodied close-coupled telemetry circuits. The purpose of telemetry is so that the AIMD could be interrogated or even reprogrammed after implantation. For example, it is common to monitor battery status, patient biologic conditions and the like, through telemetry. In addition, an external telemetry programmer can be used to re-program the AIMD, for example, and put it into different modes of operation. In the past, for pacemakers and ICDs the telemetry was inductive (low frequency magnetic) and close coupled. In this older art it was typical that the AIMD would have a multiple turn wire antenna within its titanium housing. There were even AIMDs that used an external loop antenna of this type. To interrogate or re-program the AIMD, the physician or other medical practitioners would bring a wand, with a similar antenna embedded in it, very close to the AIMD. For example, for a typical pacemaker application the telemetry wand would be placed directly over the implant. The wand is/was connected with wiring to the external programmer. The medical practitioner would move the wand around until the "sweet-spot" was located. Once the wand is located in the "sweet-spot," a communication link is established between the multiple turn wire antenna implanted in the AIMD and a similar multiple turn wire antenna located inside the telemetry wand. The external programmer would then become active and electrograms and other important information would be displayed. Typically the telemetry wand would be placed either against or very close to the patient's skin surface or at most a few centimeters away.
In the last few years, distance RF telemetry has become increasingly common. For distance telemetry, for example for a cardiac pacemaker 100C, there would be a high frequency antenna that would be located outside of the AIMD shielded titanium housing 102. This could, for example, be placed in or adjacent to the AIMD plastic header block 104. The external antenna would communicate with an external programmer that would have its own RF transceiver. A typical band for such communication is in the 402 to 405 MHz frequency range (known as the MICS band). There are other bands that may be used for RF telemetry including gigahertz frequencies. A problem with such prior art RF distance telemetry circuits is that energy consumption is high because the receiver circuitry must be on all the time.
The Zarlink chip has provided one solution to this problem. The Zarlink chip uses higher frequencies (in the gigahertz range) to wake-up the lower frequency RF telemetry circuit which is generally in the MICS band. The higher frequency GHz receiver of the Zarlink chip is very energy efficient, however the device or chip still consumes an amount of idling energy from the AIMD battery to always be alert for its wake-up call. In general, this current draw link is in the order of 250 picoamperes (250,000 nanoamperes). This is still a significant amount of idling current over the life of the pacemaker and generally shortens the pacemaker life by at least one month.
Accordingly, there is a need for an RF activated AIMD telemetry transceiver that includes means responsive to a signal from an RF transmitter to place an AIMD telemetry transceiver into its active telemetry mode. During a sleep mode for the AIMD telemetry transceiver, the system should draw a minimal amount of power from the AIMD, on the order of 25,000 nanoamperes or less, and preferably 500 nanoamperes or less. A circuit connection is provided which would be responsive to a signal from the RF tag to place the telemetry transceiver into its active telemetry mode. Preferably, the entire wake-up feature would be externally powered by, for example, the energy coupled from an external/remote RF reader. Once the AIMD telemetry transceiver is placed into its active mode, a feature is needed wherein the AIMD telemetry circuit can go back into its quiescent sleep mode. Accordingly, there is need for circuits and/or programmer commands to place the AIMD telemetry receiver back into a sleep mode after a set amount of time or after a receipt of a signal from the external programmer. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.


A process is provided for forming vertical contacts in the manufacture of integrated circuits and devices so manufactured. The process eliminates the need for precise mask alignment and allows the etch of the contact hole to be controlled independent of the etch of the interconnect trough. The process includes forming an insulating layer on the surface of a substrate; forming an etch stop layer on the surface of the insulating layer; forming an opening in the etch stop layer; etching to a first depth through the opening in the etch stop layer and into the insulating layer to form an interconnect trough; forming a photoresist mask on the surface of the etch stop layer and in the trough; and continuing to etch through the insulating layer until reaching the surface of the substrate to form a contact hole. The above process may be repeated during the formation of multilevel metal integrated circuits.

In the manufacture of ultra large scale integrated circuits, such as 4-megabit and up dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), it has been one prior art approach to use an inlaid, fully integrated wiring technology known in the integrated circuit manufacturing arts as "Dual Damascene" technology. This approach to ULSIC electrical contact development is described in some detail in Cronin, et al., U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 5,126,006 and in an article by Carter W. Kaanta, et al. entitled "Dual Damascene: A ULSIC Wiring Technology," IBM General Technology Division, Essex Junction, Vt., VMIC Conference, Jun. 11–12, 1991, at pp. 144–152.
This Dual Damascene processing for etching troughs through insulating layers formed on silicon substrates utilizes, among other things, first and second successive etching steps in order to arrive at an ultimate trough and contact hole geometry within surrounding insulating layers formed on the surface of a silicon wafer. The first etch step forms the trough down to a controlled depth within the surface insulating layers. The second etch step extends the depth of the trough down to the active devices within the silicon substrate to form the contact hole. One disadvantage of using the above described Dual Damascene approach is that the photoresist etch mask required for the second etch step must be precisely aligned with respect to the trough opening formed by the first etch step. The requirement for precise alignment of the second etch mask imposes an upper threshold on the maximum achievable packing density, reliability and yields that can be reached using the above Dual Damascene process. In addition, present techniques do not allow the etch of the interconnect trough to be controlled independent of the etch of the stud or contact hole.
It is the solution to these problems to which the present invention is directed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An airfoil vane assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, among other possible things includes a vane piece having a first vane platform, a second vane platform, and a hollow airfoil section joining the first vane platform and the second vane platform, a spar piece having a spar platform and a spar extending from the spar platform into the hollow airfoil section, and at least one seal arranged at a sealing surface of the spar platform and sealing between the spar platform and the first vane platform. The airfoil vane assembly also includes a thermal barrier coating disposed on the spar piece. The sealing surface is free from the thermal barrier coating. A gas turbine engine and a method of making a spar piece for an airfoil vane assembly are also disclosed.

A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section. The compressor section typically includes low and high pressure compressors, and the turbine section includes low and high pressure turbines.
Ceramics such as matrix composite ("CMC") materials are also being considered for use in various components of gas turbine engines. Among other attractive properties, CMCs have high temperature resistance and oxidation resistance. Despite these attributes, however, there are unique challenges to implementing CMCs in airfoils.

Ceramic component with support structure


A planetary transmission includes a plurality of planetary gearsets. The planetary gearsets have a lubrication system comprised of pinion pins secured in side plates and central passages located within the pinion pins. The central passages or cavities have radially outwardly disposed fluid passages, which supply fluid lubrication to support bearings for the pinion pins of the respective planetary gearsets. Lubrication fluid is communicated into the cavities when thrust loads are imposed on the planetary gearsets and the thrust bearings disposed between adjacent planetary gearsets reduces the flow area for the lubrication fluid.

Planetary power transmissions incorporate a plurality of planetary gearsets that are disposed within a housing and subject to various thrust and torque loads. These planetary gearsets must be lubricated and sometimes cooled in order to function efficiently and properly.
The lubrication of the planetary gearsets, which are often deep within the mechanism that is covered by other components, need to have the lubrication fluid directed to their innermost surfaces so it can be fed outwardly to lubricate the gearing components.
Generally, the lubrication system in planetary transmissions is by way of an oil gallery or passage within the transmission input shaft. The oil within this passage is then fed outwardly through radially extending passages, which communicate with the central portion of the planetary gearsets. From this point, the fluid is allowed to flow radially outward as the transmission components are rotating. The lubrication does not account for the thrust loading on the planetary gearsets. During thrust loading or torque loading, the lubrication is more important and care must be taken to ensure that the parts are properly lubricated during these high level instances.


A vehicle body structure, in which seats are placed side by side above an engine mounted across a floor of a vehicle compartment, has a hole for an access to the engine. A seat mount platform, disposed above the access hole, is interconnected by a hinge mechanism foldable along a fold line so as to be turned up and down about the fold line, thereby opening and closing the access hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for the lower portion of an automotive vehicle body, and, more particularly, to a lower body structure for an automotive vehicle in which a seat is installed above an engine disposed above and below a floor of a vehicle compartment.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles which have engines located under passenger's compartments are classified as a "cab-over type." For a vehicle body for such a cab-over type of automotive vehicle, an access opening or hole is provided for an access to an engine for maintenance and servicing. This access opening or hole is covered and concealed by a seat mount platform, elevated from a floor, on which a seat is mounted. This seat mount platform is connected to the floor panel by means of a hinge means so as to turn up and down about a pivot axis of the hinge means , thereby opening and closing the access opening or hole. Such lower body structures are known from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publications Nos. 56-48961 and 61-97078.
With the lower body structure described in the above mentioned publication, because the seat mount platform is elevated upward from the floor, the structural rigidity is not always sufficient. The seat mount platform with an insufficient structural rigidity is often subjected to vibrations. In addition, a hinge means, only by means of which the seat mount platform is supported when it is turned upward so as to open the access hole, is insufficient to carry a large load including the weight of a seat and the floor is subjected to a large load through the hinge means. Further, when a great deal of energy is applied backward to the seat during, for instance, applying abrupt braking, there is a fear that the seat mount platform is forced to turn upward or be broken.
If a center tunnel is formed with an opening or hole for access to an engine from the back for engine servicing, structural rigidity is decreased, and, hence, the structural rigidity of a vehicle body is adversely affected, in particular, in close proximity of each center pillar. This is because, the center tunnel is essentially provided in order to provide an increased rigidity of vehicle body.


A method, system, and computer-readable medium is described for facilitating interactions between software programs by providing a reliable data queuing service that enables the programs to store and retrieve elements of data queues. In some situations, the data queuing service is provided to users who purchase usage of the data queuing service for application programs executed by or otherwise affiliated with the users. In addition, accessibility of the data queuing service to remote executing programs may be enhanced via a defined API of the data queuing service, such as a Web services-based API. Availability of the data queuing service may also be enhanced in some situations by using multiple alternative distributed systems for a data queue such that each of the alternative systems stores a subset of the elements of the data queue.

Multiple computer systems often interact in order to achieve a goal, such as when an application program on a computer system interacts with other remote systems and applications in order to obtain various types of information and functionality that are not part of the application program. By performing such interactions, an application program may be able to leverage information and functionality from vast numbers of other computer systems over the Internet or other networks.
In order to enable such interactions between remote computer systems and application programs, various programmatic interaction mechanisms have been developed. For example, remote procedure call ("RPC") protocols have long existed that allow a program on one computer to cause a program on another computer to be executed, and various object-oriented architectures such as CORBA ("Common Object Request Broker Architecture") and DCOM ("Distributed Component Object Model") provide similar capabilities. In addition, a variety of middleware programs have been implemented to connect separate applications (often of distinct types and from unrelated sources) to allow communication. For example, various EDI ("Electronic Data Interchange") networks exist that provide standard mechanisms to allow a computer system of one user of the network to send data to a computer system of another user of the network.
The widespread popularity of the World Wide Web ("Web") has provided additional opportunities for computers to inter-communicate. For example, much current Web use involves users interactively requesting Web pages from Web servers (e.g., via executing Web browser applications of the users) and receiving the requested information in response. In addition to such interactive user specification of requested information, there is also growing use of the Web to support the programmatic interaction of remote applications to exchange information via defined APIs ("application program interfaces"), such as APIs based on Web services interaction mechanisms. Such Web services allow heterogeneous applications and computers to interact, and can be defined and implemented using a variety of underlying protocols and techniques. For example, some Web service implementations return data in XML ("eXtensible Markup Language") format using HTTP ("HyperText Transport Protocol") in response to a Web service invocation request specified as a URI ("Uniform Resource Identifier"), such as a URL ("Uniform Resource Locator") that includes a specified operation and one or more query parameters. In other implementations, additional underlying protocols are used for various purposes, such as SOAP ("Simple Object Access Protocol") for standard message exchange, WSDL ("Web Services Description Language") for description of service invocations, and UDDI ("Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration service") for discovery of available services.
Unfortunately, while Web services and other programmatic interaction mechanisms allow various application programs and computers to interact, such interactions are typically limited in various ways. For example, the types of information and functionality that are available to be requested using such programmatic interactions are typically restricted to very limited types of requests that the remote computer systems and applications can automatically fulfill (e.g., to provide a specified predefined group of information, such as a Web page or file, or to perform a specified database query on a specified database), but there are often additional needed capabilities that are not available as part of the existing programmatic interaction mechanisms.
As one example of additional programmatic interaction capabilities that are often needed, one or more "source" (or "producer") software programs may often need to provide multiple groups of data (e.g., messages) over time to one or more other "destination" (or "consumer") software programs in a sufficiently reliable manner that the provided groups of data are rarely or never lost. However, such reliable data exchange creates various difficulties. As a threshold issue, the source and destination programs will typically need to be known to each other at design time so that they can be created in such a manner as to enable the data exchange interaction, such as by creating and including specialized functionality in the source and/or destination programs to enable the data exchange. Moreover, to actually perform the data exchange, the source and destination programs will both typically need to be simultaneously executing and accessible to each other, and the data exchange is susceptible to the loss of data in various situations, such as due to an occurrence of an error in or unexpected termination of one of the programs or based on a network error that interrupts communication between the programs. In addition, a common problem in such situations occurs when the source and destination programs have different abilities to process data, such as the source programs being able to send data more quickly than the destination programs can receive and process data—if so, complicated predefined techniques may be needed to regulate the flow of data, or instead groups of data being exchanged may be lost. Another common problem occurs in situations in which multiple programs wish to exchange data with multiple other programs, as such interactions are often difficult to organize and coordinate.
Thus, given the existing limitations regarding exchange of data between programs, it would be beneficial to provide a solution that enables software programs to reliably exchange data in such a way as to minimize or eliminate existing problems, as well as to provide a variety of additional capabilities.

Providing a reliable distributed queuing service


Systems and methods are provided in which contract terms from a first electronic representation of a contract are used to form at least a part of a second electronic representation of the contract. For instance, the first electronic representation of a contract may be formed for use with a first software application, such as an adjudication application, and such first electronic representation of the contract is used by a system to form at least part of a second electronic representation of the contract, wherein such second electronic representation is used by a second software application, such as a contract management application. Disparate applications often utilize different representations of contract terms, and certain embodiments enable a second electronic representation to be formed by the system at least in part from a first electronic representation so that the different electronic representations are consistent as to the overlapping contract terms included therein.

Contracts govern many activities of individuals, companies, and other entities. The terms of contracts between the contracting parties are important for defining roles, responsibilities, rights, and obligations of each party. As one example, contracts govern the relationships between many service providers and insurers. For instance, in the third-party payer health care industry, a "third party" (referred to herein generally as an "insurer") pays for health care services received by a member (or "insured") from a service provider (any person, such as a doctor, nurse, dentist, pharmacist, etc., or institution, such as a hospital or clinic, that provides medical care). Examples of such third-party payers (or "insurers") include an insurance company (e.g., BlueCross® BlueShield®, Aetna® Inc., etc.), Health Maintenance Organization ("HMO"), Preferred Provider Organization ("PPO"), or the Federal Government (e.g., Medicare). The insurers negotiate with the service providers (e.g., hospitals, doctors, etc.) various terms, including the amounts (and corresponding conditions) that the insurers will pay the service providers for services rendered to the members of the insurers. For instance, a negotiated contract may specify that an insurer will pay a service provider X amount for performance of a given procedure (e.g., caesarean-section procedure, open heart surgery, blood test, routine physical exam, LASIK eye surgery, dental root canal, prescribed pharmaceuticals, etc.) for one of its members. The contract may specify those procedures for which the insurer will reimburse the service provider, as well as the corresponding reimbursement rates for each procedure. Of course, any arrangement imaginable that is agreeable to both parties may be provided for in the contracts, and such terms are becoming increasingly complex. The negotiated terms generally differ from service provider to service provider as the types of services and specialties of each service provider may differ. At any given time, an insurer may have many contracts in force for governing its relationship with its service providers.
Contract management systems are known for monitoring the contracts (e.g., to remind parties of their respective rights and obligations under the contract). More particularly, contract management systems may monitor which contracts are in place at any given time and remind parties as to their performance obligations as such obligations arise and contract renewals. As examples, such contract management systems are available from diCarta, Inc. (e.g., the diCarta Contracts Version 5 software solution) and Contract Management Solutions, Inc. (CMSI) (e.g., the CMSI 6.1 Software Suite). Particularly considering the large number of contracts that are in force at any given time for an insurer, the contract management systems are important tools for aiding the insurer in managing the life cycle of its various contracts from reminding the insurer of upcoming renewals to aiding the insurer during the negotiation process with a service provider to aiding the insurer in monitoring its obligations under an executed contract.
Typically, once contract terms are agreed upon and a contract is executed by the parties, the insurer provides the contract terms to an operator who interprets the terms and attempts to manually configure their contract management system in accordance with such terms. Particularly considering the increasing complexity of many terms in such contracts, the actual negotiated terms may differ materially from the configuration of the contract management system as a result of errors in the manual configuration process. In addition to the human errors that may arise in manually configuring an insurer's contract management system in accordance with an executed contract with a given service provider, such manual configuration also incurs undesirable delays in having the newly executed contract incorporated into the contract management system.
Additionally, claims processing systems are often implemented by an insurer, which are intended to at least partially automate the processing of claims received from service providers by insurers in accordance with the terms of the governing executed contracts. Thus, typically once contract terms are agreed upon and a contract is executed by the parties, the insurer's claims processing system is configured in accordance with such terms for processing claims received from the service provider (e.g., for determining the proper price to be paid by the insurer for a given claim in accordance with the terms of the governing contract).
Traditionally, the claims processing systems and the contract management systems are disparate systems, and the configurations of those systems to reflect the terms of a given contract are performed separately and thus do not ensure that the contract terms are reflected consistently across the various systems.

System and method for using a first electronic representation of contract terms for generating a second electronic representation of the contract terms


The present invention relates to a process for upgrading multi-branched C.sub.9 + olefinic and/or paraffinic by-products of heavy hydrocarbon upgrading processes including alkylation, polymerization, and MOGD, to high octane gasoline. Feeds rich in multi-branched C.sub.9 + olefins and/or paraffins are contacted with hydrogen at a pressure in the range of about 200 psig to about 2000 psig in the presence of an unsulfided catalyst composition comprising a low acidity molecular sieve having an Alpha Value of 5 or less. Because of the capability of the catalyst to crack at unsubstituted carbon-carbon bonds, the paraffinic products are more highly branched, and thus higher in octane number than those obtained from conventional dual function hydrocracking catalysts having Alpha Values greater than 5.

Because of environmental concerns there is a need to include non-aromatic, non-olefinic high octane components such as isoparaffins in the reformulated gasoline pool.
Although some multi-branched C.sub.9 + olefins may be high octane components, there are restrictions in including olefins in reformulated gasolines. Gasolines having higher olefin contents have been shown to produce increased levels of air toxics and ozone-forming species. Olefins also contribute to fuel system deposits which may increase exhaust emissions. There are also relatively large differences between RON and MON values for olefins, i.e. octane sensitivity. For example, 4-methyl-1-pentene has an RON of 95.7 and an MON of 80.9.
Multi-branched C.sub.9 + paraffins produced, for example, as a by-product of isobutane alkylation, are also problematic as they fail to meet gasoline boiling point specification.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for upgrading lower value, undesirable by-product multi-branched C.sub.9 + olefinic and paraffinic streams to give highly valuable, high octane isoparaffins. It is a further object to improve the economics of olefin upgrading processes by upgrading the less valuable multi-branched C.sub.9 + olefins produced as by-products to high octane gasoline. A further object of the present invention is to improve the economics of alkylation by upgrading less valuable multi-branched C.sub.9 + paraffins produced as by-products to high octane gasoline.

Process for converting multi-branched heavy hydrocarbons to high octane gasoline


A multiple tube structure provides enhanced utilization of limited cross-sectional area in a wellbore. In a described embodiment, a tube system includes multiple tubular members rigidly attached to each other along axial lengths thereof. The tubular members are configured so that they conform to an interior of a generally D-shaped portion of a circle.

The present invention relates generally to operations performed and equipment utilized in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a multiple tube structure and methods of using same.
Cross-sectional area in a wellbore is a limited commodity. The wellbore must accommodate equipment and tubing strings passing therethrough, and must provide sufficient flow area for efficient production or injection of fluids therethrough.
In general, where multiple tubing strings are used in a single wellbore, conventional circular cross-section tubing strings have merely been positioned side-by-side in the wellbore. Although this may be the easiest solution, it is also very inefficient in utilizing the available cross-sectional area in the wellbore.
Another solution is to manufacture the tubing strings so that each has a generally D-shaped cross-section. When positioned side-by-side in the wellbore, the two tubing strings together have a generally circular cross-section and occupy a substantial portion of the cross-sectional area of the wellbore, and are therefore able to utilize more of this area for fluid flow, access, etc. Such a tube system is found in the Isolated Tie-Back System marketed by Sperry-Sun Drilling Services.
Although the D-shaped tubes used in the Isolated Tie-Back System represent a significant advance in the art, they do have a few disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the D-shaped tubes are somewhat expensive to manufacture. Another disadvantage is that they have not been designed to accommodate additional lines, such as electrical, hydraulic, fiber optic, etc., other than by placing these lines in the interiors of the tubes. Yet another, perhaps most important, disadvantage is that the D-shaped tubes have a relatively low burst and collapse strength as compared to a circular tube having equivalent cross-sectional area and wall thickness.
Therefore, it may be seen that it would be desirable to provide a multiple tube structure which both efficiently utilizes the available cross-sectional area in a wellbore, which accommodates additional lines therein and which has increased burst and collapse strength.
In carrying out the principles of the present invention, in accordance with an embodiment thereof, a tube system is provided which eliminates disadvantages in the art and permits multiple tubular members to be efficiently utilized in a well. Methods of positioning multiple tubular members in a well are also provided.
In one aspect of the invention, a tube system for use in a subterranean well is provided. The tube system includes multiple tubular members rigidly attached to each other along axial lengths thereof. The tubular members may be configured so that they conform to an interior of a generally D-shaped portion of a circle.
In another aspect of the invention, a method of positioning multiple tubular members in a well is provided. The method includes the steps of attaching the tubular members to each other along axial lengths thereof, and then positioning the attached tubular members in the well. The tubular members may be attached to each other so that the attached tubular members have a generally D-shaped cross-section.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the attached tubular members may be secured to a fluid conduit at ends thereof, so that the attached tubular members and the fluid conduit extend in the same axial direction. The fluid conduit may also be made up of a plurality of attached tubes. The attached tubular members may be positioned in one wellbore of the well, and the fluid conduit may be positioned in another wellbore of the well. The attached tubular members may be sealingly engaged with a sealing receptacle in one wellbore, while the fluid conduit is sealingly engaged with another sealing receptacle in the other wellbore.
These and other features, advantages, benefits and objects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the detailed description of a representative embodiment of the invention hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings.


An omega flex sway pod vehicular apparatus, comprising a cockpit and a cantilever beam comprising a first and second ends. A cantilever beam stabilizer centrally coupled to the cantilever beam proximate to the first end. A beam stiffener coupled to a beam stiffener mount and the cantilever beam and positioned proximate to the cantilever beam stabilizer. A spring coupled to a spring mount and the cantilever beam and positioned proximate to the second end. The cockpit is a hollowed, ovoid-like shaped structure. The first end is coupled to a cantilever beam mount. The body is demountably coupled to the second end. The beam stiffener mount is coupled to a snowmobile tunnel that includes a left and right side. The cantilever beam mount and spring mount is coupled to the snowmobile tunnel. The cantilever beam mount is positioned proximate to the front side.

Snowmobiles typically incorporate an open seat design which allows occupants to maneuver their weight to perform sundry maneuvers and control. During typical snowmobile operation, occupants shift or sway their weight directionally to create leverage and/or yaw and thereby steer the snowmobile to achieve counterbalance and maximum maneuverability. This is currently why the existing market and snowmobile manufacturers prefer the open seat design.
However, the open seat design is void of seat belts and various safety mechanisms (e.g., protection against high speed crashes, impact, etc.). Such vehicle offers no protection from environmental elements, such as extreme cold, blizzards, avalanches, water submersion, bright sun, etc. Furthermore, snowmobiles can come equipped with powerful engines and drive trains that enable occupants to reach speeds that can exceed 100 miles per hour. In an open seat design, such speeds can and do expose occupants to extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal conditions and situations. Snowmobiles may also operate in environments that can be hostile, dangerous, and/or fatal to occupants such as crevasses, avalanche areas, as well as similar environments.
Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.


A grocery-store shopping cart having a main container and an insulated inner container detachably secured within the main container and positioned substantially entirely below the plane of the main-container top edge and adjacent to one endwall thereof to leave substantial storage volume in the main container but outside the inner container, to facilitate diverse-condition grocery cartage. Preferred features include: the inner container being flush with or recessed below the plane to avoid interference during nesting; a hinged cover; and equal acute angles between (1) a main-container endwall and the plane and (2) an inner-container wall and the inner-container top.

The present invention relates to carts and, more particularly, to grocery-store shopping carts.
Since fairly early in the twentieth century, grocery shopping has predominantly been carried out by shoppers pushing grocery-store shopping carts up and down the aisles of ordinary food stores or supermarkets.
Shoppers make selections at various places along aisle after aisle of shelves, glass-doored freezer units, open-topped or upright coolers, produce racks and the like, all laden with many food items from which to choose. Shoppers select food items, whether displayed at room temperature, cooled or frozen, and place them in their carts, often during extended shopping periods, and then wheel them to check-out counters for ultimate bagging and removal from the store for transport, usually via automobile, to the shoppers"" destinations.
Such grocery-store shopping carts each typically have a large open-top container in which to store a large quantity of diverse food items, usually in jumbled fashion, with no particular organization whatsoever as to type of item or even as to appropriate storage temperature. Such open-top container typically has a substantially planar base bounded by front and rear endwalls and two sidewalls all terminating in a quadrilateral top edge which defines a plane. The planar base and the walls in most cases are formed of a lattice-work of thin metal rods or bars, giving the container a general openness.
The front endwall of the typical grocery-store shopping cart is often tilted forward (in a bottom-to-top direction); that is, the front endwall is at an acute angle with the plane formed by the quadrilateral top edge of the container. Likewise, in some cases the container sidewalls of the grocery-store shopping cart are also tilted slightly outwardly (in a bottom-to-top direction) so that they are wider apart at the top of the container than at the bottom. Either or both of these features help make the open top wider than the base, thereby allowing storage of larger collections of groceries than would otherwise be the case.
Because of the large size of the cart and the large number of such carts which must be stored at the grocery store or supermarket when not in use, such carts typically are built to be horizontally nestable with one another. This is typically accomplished by having the rear endwall of the container of each cart hinged (at the top of the rear endwall) so that it can swing upwardly to receive the front end of the container of an identical cart. The sidewalls of each container are tapered slightly toward one another (in a rear-to-front direction) such that the front of the container of one cart can readily be received into the rear of the container of another cart. When this occurs upon nesting, the rear endwall of one cart engages and slides along the quadrilateral top edge of the container walls of another cart.
Cooled and/or frozen foods all jumbled together with room-temperature foods, packaged or otherwise, and even perhaps with some hot prepared foods will not be maintained at their desirable or appropriate storage temperatures, particularly during extended grocery shopping. As can readily be seen, this can be problematic, because maintaining acceptable storage temperatures is important for reasons related to health and/or food-storage longevity. While foods typically may not spoil immediately, of course, even temporary storage at temperatures which are too high will tend to shorten the time before eventually spoilage, even if stored at home at appropriate cool or cold temperatures. Maintaining freshness of food is of great importance.
Using typical grocery-store shopping carts of the prior art can tend to cause food spoilage problems not only because of improper storage during shopping, but can tend to increase the likelihood of such problems in other ways. More specifically, such shopping carts of the prior art, with their jumbled presentation of cool, frozen and room-temperature foods at the check-out counter, can tend to discourage conscious efforts by check-out personnel to at least group cool-temperature foods together upon bagging for the purpose of enhancing their protection during the trip home.
Sub-containers used within the main containers of shopping carts can interfere too much with storage in the space which is outside the sub-container but within the main container. The use of sub-containers also can tend to interfere too much with a grocer""s established patterns for providing carts for shoppers. For example, without appropriate configuring, there could be excessive interference with nesting of grocery-store shopping carts and cleaning shopping-cart equipment from time to time as needed could become too problematic.
From a grocer""s perspective, shopping-cart improvements of a type which could increase the duration of a shopper""s total shopping time, such as would tend to occur with apparent protection for the condition of cool and frozen foods, would be desirablexe2x80x94as allowing greater time for influencing positive purchasing decisions by shoppers.
While certain improvements have been made in grocery-store shopping carts, there has remained a need for improved grocery-store shopping carts which accommodate the need of shoppers for temporary storage of varying groceries under diverse conditions and the needs of the grocer for easy storage and maintenance.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart overcoming problems and shortcomings of the prior art, including those mentioned above.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which facilitates the thermal protection of cool and frozen foods.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which minimizes the likelihood of food spoilage because of insufficient thermal protection of cold and frozen foods.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which facilitates temporary storage of diverse groceries under different conditions.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which can be used easily by shoppers and grocers and serves to extend the usable life foods after they have been transported to a shopper""s refrigerator.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which facilitates segregated temporary thermal protection of cold foods during shopping.
Yet another object is to provide a grocery-store shopping cart which has improved capability for carrying diverse groceries under varying conditions and is also readily and conveniently stored by grocers between uses by shoppers.
Another object is to provide a grocery-store shopping cart with diverse-thermal-condition food storage which can be readily cleaned and maintained from time to time by grocers.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which can tend to increase the duration of a shoppers"" presence at the grocery store or supermarket.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved grocery-store shopping cart which increases the likelihood of proper thermal packaging of groceries upon check-out.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following descriptions and from the drawings.
The grocery-store shopping cart of this invention overcomes the problems and shortcomings noted above and achieves the objects of this invention. The inventive shopping cart is an improvement in the type of grocery-store shopping cart which has a main container with a substantially planar base bounded by front and rear endwalls and two sidewalls all terminating in a quadrilateral top edge which defines a plane.
The improved shopping cart has an insulated inner container which is within the main container and detachably secured to the main container, and which is positioned substantially entirely below the plane and adjacent to only one endwall of the main container to leave substantial remaining storage volume in the main container but outside the inner container. This invention facilitates diverse-condition cartage of groceries for the user, and facilitates the provision of such shopping-cart advantages for grocers.
In certain highly preferred embodiments, the inner container of the shopping cart has a hinged cover. Preferably, the inner container has a top which is substantially flush with the plane formed by the top edge of the main-container walls, and such top is preferably a hinged cover.
In certain highly preferred embodiments, one of the main-container endwalls is at an acute angle to the plane and the inner container has (a) one inner-container wall substantially parallel to and against such one main-container endwall and (b) a top at an acute angle to such one inner-container wall and substantially parallel to the plane.
In the most highly preferred embodiments of this type, the main-container front endwall is at an acute angle to the plane formed by the top edge of the main-container walls, and the inner container has (a) an inner-container front wall substantially parallel to and against the main-container front endwall and (b) a top at an acute angle to the inner-container front wall and substantially parallel to the plane.
The inner container preferably has, or also has, a pair of spaced inner-container sidewalls each substantially parallel to and against one of the main-container sidewalls. In certain highly preferred embodiments of this invention, the inner container has a lower wall with a bottom against the main-container base, and the inner-container top is flush or substantially flush with the plane.
Certain additional features of highly preferred embodiments of this invention are further helpful in making the diverse-thermal-condition cartage advantage of this invention readily and conveniently usable by grocersxe2x80x94in fact, usable with minimal changes in their shopping-cart storage and maintenance routines. In particular, typical cart nesting may be facilitated by certain features and cleaning and maintenance are facilitated by other features.
More specifically, the main-container rear endwall is hinged, as is typical, in order to swing upwardly and rest on the top edge of a second similar shopping cart when the carts are horizontally nested, and the inner container is recessed below the plane in order to avoid any interference during such nesting. Also, the inner-container lower wall preferably has an opening therethrough which is closed by a removable stopper, thereby to facilitate washing from time to time as may be needed. Washing can be carried out easily, whether by hosing the inner containers in place, or by removing them, hosing them, and then reattaching them in their main containers.
The size of the smaller insulated inner container relative to the main container can vary significantly. An appropriate choice depends on what the typical volume of refrigerated groceries purchased might be to the typical volume of non-refrigerated groceries purchasedxe2x80x94by the typical shopper.

Grocery-store shopping cart facilitating diverse-condition cartage


Provided herein are a locking mechanism including a male extension including a straight portion and a graduated step portion; and a female extension configured to receive the male extension, and including a pair of protruding tabs, which are spaced apart to allow the straight portion of the male extension to pass through a space between the protruding tabs, and which contact the graduated step portion if the male extension is inserted a first predetermined distance into the female extension.

Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a locking mechanism for a surgical instrument.
Related art precision surgical instruments, such as surgical scissors, forceps, hemostats, etc., may include a locking mechanism on the handle so as to secure the instrument in a fixed position. For example, hemostats and forceps typically have a locking mechanism including a series of interlocking teeth, with several teeth on each handle. When pushed together, the teeth interlock, allowing a user to adjust the instrument to a desired degree of clamping force.
However, there are drawbacks with the related art locking mechanisms. For example, precision locking mechanisms are difficult and costly to manufacture. Additionally, many related art locking mechanisms have been found to bend or fail frequently.
Other instruments may lack a suitable locking mechanism altogether. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,603 ("the '603 patent" hereinafter), which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a pair of surgical forceps that include spring arms connected to handle portions of the forceps. However, the forceps of the '603 patent do not include any locking mechanism at all. Consequently it is difficult to secure the instrument in a fixed position.
In view of such shortcomings, it is clear that better solutions are needed.


A predetermined number of sectional planes are successively scanned, starting with a sectional plane in an initial position, by shifting a direction of X-ray emission from an X-ray emitting device. A reset operation is effected, after scanning the predetermined number of sectional planes, to switch the direction of X-ray emission to scan a sectional plane in the initial position. An examinee is moved synchronously with the reset operation to set a new sectional plane adjacent the predetermined number of sectional planes to the initial position. A predetermined number of sectional planes are successively scanned, starting with the new sectional plane in the initial position, by shifting the direction of X-ray emission from the X-ray emitting device. After scanning the predetermined number of sectional planes, a reset operation is effected and the examinee is moved to set a new sectional plane adjacent the predetermined number of sectional planes to the initial position. These operations are repeated until all sectional planes are scanned.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computerized tomography (CT) for obtaining sectional images of an examinee by emitting X-rays from radial directions to the examinee, and particularly to a method and apparatus for obtaining a plurality of sectional images of an examinee lying still.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of CT apparatus includes an X-ray emitter and an X-ray detector opposed to each other across an examinee lying still on a top board. X-rays are emitted from radial directions to scan the examinee and collect projection data relating to X-ray absorption in the examinee's body. The data is reversely projected to reconstruct a distribution image of X-ray absorption coefficients in a sectional plane across the examinee's body, thereby to obtain a sectional image of the body. After one slice is scanned, the top board is slid to adjust a next slice of concern of the examinee to a direction of X-ray emission from the X-ray emitter, and a sectional image of this slice is obtained as above.
If a sectional plane has an excessive slice thickness, a virtual image called a partial volume artifact tends to appear in a reconstructed image of, for example, the osseous basal region of brains. In practice, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. 61-109551, data of numerous thin slice planes are collected and put to data processing such as addition to obtain a clear image of a thick sectional plane.
However, such a method of obtaining a sectional image has the following disadvantage.
The top board on which an examinee lies is slid at a relatively low speed (about 2 seconds) in order to avoid a displacement between a sectional plane of a site of concern and the X-ray emitter or the like. 0n the other hand, scanning by the X-ray emitter or the like is carried out at high speed (about 1 second). To collect data of numerous sectional planes under such conditions, sliding of the top board supporting the examinee and scanning by the X-ray emitter or the like must alternately be repeated numerous times. A long time is required to collect data of all of desired sectional planes particularly because of the slow sliding movement of the top board.

Method and apparatus for computerized tomography


A payment card with a display and/or dynamic magnetic stripe that operates using power received from an electro-magnetic/RF signal, without the need for incorporating a battery within the payment card. In one example, a payment card includes a receiver for receiving an external electro-magnetic signal and converting it to an electrical signal for powering the payment card; a CPU coupled with the electrical signal of the receiver; a display (i.e., a persistent display) for displaying data, wherein the display receives power based on the electrical signal from the receiver; and a dynamic magnetic stripe storing magnetically readable data, wherein the dynamic magnetic stripe receives power based on the electrical signal from the receiver. Responsive to the electro-magnetic signal received by the payment card, the data displayed on the display and stored in the dynamic magnetic stripe is changed. Methods relating to a payment card are also disclosed.

Payment cards, such as credit cards and debit cards, have been created that include a small battery on each card to provide enhanced functionality for users and card holders. A trend in the payment card field has included the addition or integration of a long-life battery into a payment card.
For instance, payment cards have been developed which include displays that display information to a user or cardholder, wherein the display draws its power from the battery included in the payment card. Similarly, payment cards have been developed which utilize batteries to supply power to a dynamic magnetic stripe, wherein dynamic data can be magnetically written to the magnetic stripe on a card so as to provide enhanced levels of fraud protection. Such dynamic magnetic stripe mechanisms on a conventional payment card are generally powered by a battery located within the payment card.
However, as recognized by the present inventors, the inclusion of a battery into a payment card can create design complexities and also generally increases the cost of manufacturing the payment card. Moreover, a payment card having a battery should be disposed of properly as with any product that contains a battery.

Payment card dynamically receiving power from external source


A package substrate includes a core board having a through hole; a circuit layer formed on the core board; a metallic ring disposed on the core board surrounding a contour of the through hole, the metallic ring having opening portions positioned opposite to each other, making the metallic ring having a disconnected manner; and an embedded component installed in the through hole. When the embedded component is deviated in the through hole to allow the electrodes to be in contact with the metallic ring, the electrodes are prevented from coming into contact with the same section of the metallic ring to thereby avoid short circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to package substrates, and, more particularly, to a package substrate having a through hole, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of semiconductor packaging technology, modern semiconductor devices come in a variety of forms. In order to enhance electrical functionality, passive components are installed on a surface of a package substrate. The passive components are electrically connected via a circuit layer to a semiconductor chip. However, the passive components occupy too much a layout area on the surface of the package substrate. Thus, such a package does not have good enough electrical functionality. To address the problem, manufacturers develop a modern package that has passive components embedded in the package substrate. Accordingly, the package substrate may have a greater layout area on its surface.
FIGS. 1 and 1′ show a package substrate 1 according to the prior art. The package substrate 1 includes a core board 10 having a through hole 100, a circuit layer 11 formed on the core board 10, and a metallic layer 12 formed on the core board 10 that surrounds a contour of the through hole 100.
In order to improve alignment precision, the metallic ring 100 is used as a predetermined region for a laser drilling process. After the through hole 100 is formed within the metallic ring 12, a passive component 4 having positive electrodes 40 and negative electrodes 41 formed on two opposite sides thereof, is installed in the through hole 100.
However, in the package substrate 1, since the metallic ring 12 has an inner contour equal to the contour of the through hole 100, when the passive component 4 is installed in the through hole 100, both the positive electrodes 40 and the negative electrodes 41 of the passive component 4 are likely to prop against side walls of the through hole 100, if the passive component 4 is deviated from a desired position. As a result, the positive electrodes 40 and the negative electrodes 41 of the passive component 4 are in contact with the metallic ring 12, as shown in FIG. 1′, thereby resulting in a short circuit for the passive component 4.
Therefore, how to avoid the short circuit from occurrence is becoming one of the most popular issues in the art.

Package substrate having a through hole and method of fabricating the same


The disclosure relates to an operating method for a coating system, in particular for a painting system, for coating components (2), in particular motor vehicle body components (2), having the following steps:                conveying, by means of a conveying device (3), the components (2) to be coated in a conveying direction through a coating booth (1),        coating the components (2) in the coating booth (1) with a coating product by means of an application device (17-19) which applies a spray jet of the coating product, a portion of the applied coating product being deposited on the components (2) to be coated while another portion of the applied coating product floats into the interior of the coating booth (1) as an excess coating product mist (21), and        reducing the excess coating product mist (21) from the interior of the booth by means in addition to or other than the downwardly directed air flow generated by a filter ceiling. In addition, the disclosure includes a correspondingly designed coating system.

In modern painting systems for painting motor vehicle body components, the motor vehicle body components to be painted are conventionally conveyed by a conveyor along a painting line through a plurality of successive painting booths in which the various paint layers (e.g. base coat, clear coat) are applied.
Application of the paint to be applied is generally carried out by rotary atomisers, which are guided in a highly movable manner by multi-axis painting robots. During application of the paint by the rotary atomisers, a large part of the applied paint is deposited on the motor vehicle body component to be painted, where it forms the desired paint layer. However, a portion of the applied paint initially remains in the booth interior of the painting booth as overspray, this overspray being troublesome.
In order to reduce the overspray from the painting booth, the ceiling of the painting booth is conventionally in the form of a so-called filter ceiling, which generates in the booth interior as a whole a downwardly directed flow which is as laminar as possible. This downwardly directed air flow in the booth interior pushes the overspray downwards through the booth floor, which is in the form of a grid, into a washing system, which can be in the form of a dry-scrubbing system or a wet-washing system and washes out the coating agent contained in the overspray.
A particular problem, however, is the reduction of the overspray that forms in the interior of the motor vehicle body components that are to be painted as a result of the internal painting of internal surfaces of the motor vehicle body components. The downwardly directed air flow generated by the filter ceiling is hereby shielded by the roof of the motor vehicle body components and can therefore remain in the interior of the motor vehicle body components that are to be painted for a relatively long time despite the downwardly directed air flow. When the painted motor vehicle body components are subsequently discharged from the painting booth, the overspray can then escape from the interior of the motor vehicle body components and interfere with the next painting operation if the overspray cannot be reduced quickly enough.
This problem exists in particular when the motor vehicle body components are conveyed along the painting line not continuously but in stop-and-go operation, because relatively high accelerations of the motor vehicle body components then occur as they are discharged from the painting booth. These relatively high accelerations of the motor vehicle body components as they are discharged from the painting booth result in air turbulence, so that the overspray can remain in the booth interior of the painting booth for a relatively long time after escaping from the interior of the motor vehicle body components which have been discharged.
A further disadvantage of filter ceilings results from the fact that the downwardly directed air flow must pass through a filter in the filter ceiling, which offers a flow resistance to the downwardly directed air flow and thereby limits the flow speeds. The filter ceiling thus permits only relatively low flow speeds of the downwardly directed air flow, so that the reduction of the overspray is unsatisfactory.
In relation to the prior art discussed above concerning painting booths having a filter ceiling for reducing the overspray, reference is also to be made to DE 102 09 489 A1, DE 10 2008 053 178 A1 and DE 10 2011 122 056 A1. However, these publications merely disclose painting booths in which the overspray is reduced only by the downwardly directed air flow which emerges from the filter ceiling or is extracted by suction via the filter ceiling. This is associated with the disadvantages described above.
A need has arisen to improve overspray reduction.

Coating system and associated operating method


Impingement cooling devices for a laser disk include a carrier plate on the front side of which the laser disk can be secured, and a supporting structure, on the front side of which the rear side of the carrier plate is secured. The supporting structure has a plurality of cooling liquid feed lines from which the cooling liquid emerges in the direction of the rear side of the carrier plate and a plurality of cooling liquid return lines. The feed and return lines run parallel to one another in the longitudinal direction of the supporting structure, and the supporting structure includes a plurality of cutouts or the rear side of the carrier plate that are open toward the supporting structure, and the cooling liquid feed lines lead into and the cooling liquid return lines lead away from the plurality of cutouts.

Usually, laser disks are glued onto disk-shaped heat sinks (disk carriers) that are cooled on the rear side by impingement flow. The thermomechanical properties of the disk carrier substantially determine the thermal lens effect of the laser disk. This leads to demanding requirements for the thermal conductivity and stiffness of the disk carrier, which is therefore made of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond. For higher laser power outputs, this leads to thicker diamond disks and high production costs. In other words, greater stiffness with almost the same heat resistance is achieved by ever thicker diamond disks.
An impingement cooling device disclosed in US 2014/0190665 A1 has a single cutout adjoining the rear side of the carrier plate, and radially running return lines.
In the impingement cooling device disclosed in WO 2011/130897 A1, a laser disk is mounted on a carrier plate, which at the same time forms a resonator mirror of a laser resonator. A cooling liquid emerging from a nozzle opening impinges on the self-supporting rear side of the carrier plate, which is thereby cooled.
EP 1 213 801 A2 discloses a cooling device in which the laser-active solid body is cooled directly with cooling water on its rear side, which is provided with a covering layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,605 B1 discloses a cooling arrangement for a laser disk mounted on a copper substrate. A cooling liquid flows through the copper substrate and is conducted into micro-channels of the copper substrate that are open toward the laser disk. The rear side of the laser disk is consequently cooled by the cooling liquid flowing through the micro-channels.
Furthermore, US 2007/0297469 A1 discloses a cooling arrangement for a laser disk mounted on a carrier plate of diamond or sapphire. Within the carrier plate, micro-channels for a cooling liquid run near the surface.

Impingement cooling device for a laser disk and associated laser disk module


Preliminary material for the production of composite material parts, consisting of a tubular outer part (1) and at least one core or inner part (2) and two sealing parts (3) positioned at the ends of the tubular outer part, as well as a process for the production of the preliminary material. The sealing parts (3) project at least partially into the outer part, and a surface pressure exists at the sealing surfaces (4). The materials of the outer part and the sealing parts have at least an equal thermal expansion coefficient and a fundamentally equal deformation resistance, and the material of the sealing parts have a higher distortion temperature. The process provides for thermal shrinkage of the sealing parts prior to insertion into the tubular part, and, when necessary, followed by evacuation of a residual cavity (6) between the inner and outer parts or filling of the residual cavity with inert gas.

The invention relates to a preliminary material for the production of composite material parts by means of hot-forming or hot isostatic pressing, which preliminary material consists of a tubular outer part which, when so desired, will form a component of the composite part after forming and of at least one core or inner part, consisting of solid and/or powdered material and comprising the other component(s) in the finished product, and of two sealing parts positioned on the front of the tubular outer part, which sealing parts may display a gas feed; and to a process for the production of the preliminary material.
Composite materials are employed to advantage in machine parts and tools which are simultaneously subjected to various demands, e.g. chemical resistance and hardness, or strength, or toughness and resistance to wear. Composite materials can be created by means of fusion-welded plating and the like, or by means of a metallic connection created by hot-forming between two or more parts.
In the creation of a metallic connection by means of hot forming, individual parts are generally enclosed in a casing (compare Swiss Patent No. 227 631), which is welded so as to be gastight (compare U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,815), and a residual cavity in the casing is filled with inert gas by means of a gas feed so as to provide an adequate metal bond or to prevent oxidation of the surface of the parts during heating to the deformation temperature, or is evacuated, whereupon the cavity is sealed (compare European Patent Document No. EP-A-0114593).
Composite materials with an inner component and with an outer component enclosing this inner component, particularly in concentric fashion, are advantageously and cost-effectively produced from preliminary material; here the outer part simultaneously serves as the casing jacket, and merely the casing base or, as the case may be, the sealing parts need be welded to the front of the outer part. A disadvantage arises when the outer part consists of a poorly weldable material or of one that can only be welded after preliminary heating, as is the case e.g. in cold-work steel (e.g. material DIN 1.2378 and the like) and when additional measures become necessary - for example, the application of so-called buffer welding with intermediate annealings of the entire outer part and with cleaning or descaling, particularly of the zone affected by the heat - before the sealing parts can be welded in gastight fashion and before the welding seam remains crack-free even during heating of the preliminary material to the treatment temperature and also free of cracks in the base material. Additional measures of this type are very expensive and do not usually possess adequate production safety. For this reason and because under certain circumstances several special materials cannot be joined by fusion welding to the sealing parts while meeting the given requirements, it is frequently necessary to produce the preliminary material by welding the parts to be joined in a lost casing of weldable material.

Preliminary material for the production of composite material parts and method of making


A tube joint for a fuel tank includes a joint body having a tubular shape, and a barrier layer covering the inner surface of the joint body. The joint body is formed of a material which is weldable to a tank body, and the barrier layer is formed of a material which has fuel impermeability and a predetermined hardness. The barrier layer has an extension portion extending from a distal end of the joint body along an axial direction of the joint body. The extension portion includes a projecting portion which protrudes radially and outwardly of the extension portion at or adjacent to a proximal end of the extension portion such that a seal groove is formed between the projecting portion and the joint body, and a nail portion which protrudes radially and outwardly of the extension portion at or adjacent to a distal end of the extension portion.

The present invention generally relates to a tube joint for fuel tanks made of resin materials.
In recent years, plastic containers produced by blow molding have been used as a fuel tank of vehicles as they excel in rust preventative characteristics and weight reduction as well as their high productivity.
Various parts are attached to the tank body of the fuel tank through a tube joint. These parts include, for example, a vent valve, a check valve, and a fuel pump. The vent valve retains the internal pressure of the tank body at a certain level by discharging fuel evaporation gas that is held in a space above the oil level from the tank.
In the case where the tank body and the tube joint are both produced by the same kind of synthetic resin, such as high density polyethylene (hereinafter referred to as "HDPE"), they can be jointed by heat welding. This can simplify the manufacturing process of the fuel tank.
Since effusion of the fuel evaporation gas from the fuel tank causes air pollution, the tank body and its joint portion require low hydrocarbon permeability (hereinafter referred to as "fuel impermeability"). However, synthetic resin such as HDPE is relatively poor in fuel impermeability. For this reason, to restrict the permeation of hydrocarbon, it is considered to use so-called gasoline barrier materials having excellent fuel impermeability, such as ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer (hereinafter referred to as "EVOH"). However, these gasoline barrier materials are poor in adhesion properties upon heat welding and difficult to satisfy the joint strength between the tank body and the tube joint.
To be more specific, the tube joint fixed to the tank body of the plastic fuel tank is preferably made of a material which has sufficient strength and rigidity, excellent gasoline swelling resistance and high fuel impermeability, and further which can be heat welded to the tank body. However, it is very difficult to produce this tube joint by a single material. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2002-254938 (claim 1, paragraphs [0006] to [0010], and FIG. 1), the tube joint (weld joint for the fuel tank) is integrally formed by coinjection molding two kinds of resins.
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view partly and schematically showing a conventional tube joint of a fuel tank. As shown in FIG. 3, the tube joint 110 fixed to the tank body 100 of the fuel tank consists of a tubular joint body 120 and a barrier layer 130 for covering the inner surface of the joint body 120. The joint body 120 is made of a first resin material weldable to the tank body 100, and the barrier layer 130 is made of a second resin material that is adhesively and chemically reactive with the first resin material and that has better fuel impermeability than the first resin material. The barrier layer 130 is provided with an end portion 131 that protrudes from the distal portion 121 of the joint body 120. Upon injection molding the barrier layer 130 on the inner surface of the joint body 120, the end portion 131 is formed by the flow of the second resin material flowing from the proximal portion 122 of the joint body 120 that is fixed to the tank body 100 and through the distal portion 121. The end face 140 where the end portion 131 and the distal portion 121 are joined together does not dispose in the end for the flow of the second resin material, and the second resin material is welded at a high temperature to the joint body 120. This can provide a high degree of adhesive strength between the end portion 131 and the distal portion 121. The tube joint 110 formed as above allows the joint body 120 to be heat welded to the tank body 100 as well as decreases the fuel permeability of the barrier layer 130 that covers the inner surface of the joint body 120.
However, the above tube joint 110 has a drawback such that when a tube 150 is connected to the tube joint 110, the fuel within the tank body 100 permeates outside from a gap between the tube joint 110 and the tube 150 or water droplets enter into the tank body 100 from the gap. Further, if a sufficient adhesion is not obtained between the different kinds of resin materials, the adhered surfaces may be peeled, leading to the entry of water droplets into the tank body 100.
The tube 150 is inserted onto the end portion 131 of the tube joint 110 and thereafter engaged by a clamp by firmly clamping the outer periphery of the tube 150, so that the tube 150 is not pulled out from the tube joint 110. However, since the tube 150 is only supported between the two tubular surfaces, the tube 150 is pulled out relatively easily when it is pulled hard.
In view of the above, the present invention seeks to provide a tube joint of a fuel tank, which can firmly clamp the tube and which can provide a sufficient seal.