Provided are a communication device and a communication system which are used for communication such as power line communication or inband communication in which a communication signal is superposed on lines contained in a charging cable, when a vehicle including a power storage device is charged from a power supply device, and which suppress a noise component such as harmonic distortion caused by occurrence of ringing without greatly affecting the communication signal, when transmitting the communication signal by switching from an idle state to an operating state. A transmission circuit included in a communication device of a vehicle includes line drivers, and the line drivers transmit a communication signal via two signal lines. In the two signal lines connected to the transmission circuit, inductance elements, resistance elements, and capacitance elements are interposed in series, respectively.

In recent years, electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles are beginning to prevail, which include devices such as motors and batteries, and travel by driving the motors with power stored in the batteries. The electric vehicles charge their batteries with power supplied from external power supply devices. As for the hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles have been practically used, which allow their batteries to be charged by external power supply devices. The external power supply devices are power supply devices installed in ordinary houses or facilities such as commercial power supply stations. When a power supply device supplies power to a vehicle, a plug at an end of a charging cable connected to the power supply device is connected to a power supply port which is provided in the vehicle as a power receiving connector. Then, power is supplied from the power supply device to the vehicle via a power supply line contained in the charging cable, and thereby the battery is charged.
Not only the power supply line but also other lines such as a grounding line, a control line, and the like are contained in the charging cable. The control line is a line used for transmission of a control signal such as a control pilot signal or the like used for control of power supply to the power storage device. By transmitting and receiving the control signal between the power supply device and the vehicle via the control line, various states are detected such as the connection state of the charging cable, whether charging is possible or not, the state of charging, and the like, and charging control is performed according to the detected states.
Further, for practical use of vehicles that need external power supply, such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, a communication function is required which allows a vehicle and a power supply device to transmit and receive information for charging control, and communication information for management of the amount of charge or accounting, or the like.
Thus, standardization of communication such as power line communication has been progressed in which a communication signal is superposed on a power supply line as a medium to allow communication between a vehicle and a power supply device. As for the method of transmitting/receiving a communication signal, in addition to the power line communication, standardization of communication such as inband communication has also been progressed in which a communication signal is superposed on a control signal using a control line as a medium so as to be transmitted and received between a vehicle and a power supply device (refer to Non-Patent Literature 1, for example).
In the communications such as the power line communication and the inband communication, a superposition/separation unit using a transformer having a first coil and a second coil is connected to lines such as a power supply line, a grounding line, a control line, and the like. The superposition/separation unit is connected to a communication device via a signal line, and superposes and separates, on and from the lines, a communication signal input to and output from the communication device, thereby allowing a vehicle and a power supply device to perform communication.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration regarding a transmission circuit included in a communication device in a conventional communication system. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1000 denotes the transmission circuit included in the communication device. The transmission circuit 1000 includes two line drivers 1001 and 1001 each outputting a communication signal. The line drivers 1001 and 1001 are connected to a superposition/separation unit 1003 by two signal lines 1002 and 1002 that transmit the communication signals. In addition, resistance elements 1004 and 1004 and capacitance elements 1005 and 1005 are interposed in the two signal lines 1002 and 1002, respectively. The resistance elements 1004 and 1004 are current limiting resistors having a peak current suppressing function. The capacitance elements 1005 and 1005 are capacitors having a DC component blocking function. A high-level or low-level driver enable signal (Driver Enable) is input to the line drivers 1001 and 1001 from a not-illustrated control circuit. Each of the line drivers 1001 and 1001 is designed to operate only when transmitting a communication signal, and is switched from an idle state where it cannot transmit the communication signal to an operating state where it can transmit the communication signal when the driver enable signal is switched from a low level to a high level. In addition, when the driver enable signal is switched from the high level to the low level, each of the line drivers 1001 and 1001 is switched from the operating state to the idle state.

Communication device and communication system


An automatic tool exchange coupler and an automatic tool exchange device are provided that achieve further improvement in the user-friendliness of the automatic tool exchange device. The coupler includes a coupler body, a first direction switching valve and a second direction switching valve that are provided to a first side surface of the coupler body. The coupler body has: in a first side surface, an uncoupling input port being connected to a pipe for introducing a gas for uncoupling; and in the second side surface opposite to the first side surface, an uncoupling output port being configured to connected to the uncoupling port. The uncoupling input port is located at a position where a center of the uncoupling input port is radially offset with respect to the uncoupling output port by at least an amount corresponding to a length of a diameter of the uncoupling input port.

A disclosed tool exchange apparatus usable for a variety of apparatuses, such as an industrial robot, includes a first coupling member that is to be attached to a robot side and a second coupling member that is to be attached to a tool side (e.g., Patent Literature 1). The first coupling member includes a first coupling body provided with a protruding portion and a cam that is to radially project from the protruding portion. A second coupling member includes a second coupling body provided with a coupling hole that is to receive the protruding portion therein and the coupling hole has an inner peripheral surface provided with an engagement part engageable with the cam. The first coupling member and the second coupling member of the tool exchange device are coupled by engaging the cam with the engagement part with the protruding portion being received in the coupling hole. Meanwhile, the first coupling member and the second coupling member are uncoupled from each other by disengaging the cam from the engagement part. The tool exchange device thus enables the exchange of a tool being attached to the industrial robot.
For a tool exchange device as described above, a mechanism is disclosed that is intended for preventing the coupled first coupling member and second coupling member from being uncoupled by an erroneous operation (for instance, Patent Literature 2). Patent Literature 2 discloses an automatic tool exchange coupler that includes a first direction switching valve that mechanically switches in accordance with whether the first coupling member is coupled to the second coupling member and a second direction switching valve that mechanically switches in accordance with whether the first coupling member is coupled to the second coupling member placed on a mount. The coupler allows a gas flow path to lead to an uncoupling port via the first and second direction switching valves only when the first coupling member and the second coupling member are uncoupled from each other, or coupled to each other while the second coupling member is placed on the mount.

Automatic tool exchange coupler and automatic tool exchange apparatus


Systems, methods, and computer program products for command line prediction are disclosed. Commands entered on a command line are saved to a command log. The command log is analyzed to generate a plurality of n-gram tables that reflect the entries in the command log. The n-gram tables may be stored in a suitable memory. Subsequent command sequences entered on the command line may be compared to the n-gram tables to assess the likelihood of a command.

1. Field
The present invention relates to electronic computing, and more particularly to a system for predicting a command to be entered into a command line in a computer system.
2. Background
In some operating environments, e.g., Unix, computer users interact with a computer by entering commands into a command line. Some users may exhibit repetitive behavior entering commands into the command line. Therefore, systems and methods for predicting commands may be useful to users of computer systems.

System and method for command line prediction


A method of obtaining effective faying in joining parts includes forming a first and second member into predetermined complementing shapes. The members are then placed together and sealed along a peripheral track to form a chamber between the members. The method further includes applying a pressure differential to the members with the lesser pressure residing in the chamber and heating the members to soften at least one of the members to conform the members to each other under the force of the differential pressure.

Recently a technique has been used for forming curved members with integral channels. Initially, the channels are created in one of two flat plates. The plates are then vacuum brazed together over their confronting surfaces to form a composite plate. The composite plate is then formed, such as by hydroforming, into a curved shape.
Although this technique works fairly well there are some distortions in the channels due to the bending and forming. The thought occurred to the present inventor that the plates could first be formed into complementing curved shapes and then brazed or otherwise joined together. The necessary channels are formed by machining grooves in one of the plates after shaping, but before joining. The common wisdom taught, however, that vacuum brazing of curved parts was not practical because uniform contact across the adjacent surfaces was not achievable. Even spring loading techniques, used in joining flat plates, do not work well with curved plates and are often less than satisfactory in joining flat plates.
Other techniques for joining curved members include dip brazing, but that technique is not practical when these members have long or tortuous flux paths. Further, residual flux salts trapped between the members can cause a severe corrosion problem. Such problems prohibit the use of dip brazing to form composites that are used in high reliability military and space applications.

Method of obtaining effective faying surface contact in vacuum brazing

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.


Temporary wet strength resins having a molecular weight of from about 40,000 to about 400,000, most preferably from about 120,000 to about 210,000, having the formula: ##STR1## wherein: A is ##STR2## and X is --O--, --NH--, OR --NCH.sub.3 --, and R is a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group; Y.sub.1 and Y.sub.2 are independently --H, --CH.sub.3, or a halogen; W is a nonnucleophilic, aliphatic amide; Q is a cationic monomeric unit. The mole percent of "a" ranges from about 1% to about 70%, the mole percent of "b" ranges from about 10% to about 90%; and the mole percent of "c" ranges from about 1% to about 40%.

Wet strength is a desirable attribute of many disposable paper products, such as napkins, paper towels, household tissues, disposable hospital wear, etc. which come into contact with water in use. However, an untreated cellulose fiber assemblage will typically lose 95% to 97% of its strength when saturated with water. To improve the wet strength paper manufacturers in the past have added wet strength resins during the paper making process.
These wet strength additives have typically resulted in paper products with permanent wet strength, i.e., paper which when placed in an aqueous medium retains a substantial portion of its initial wet strength over time. Permanent wet strength in paper products is often an unnecessary and undesirable property. Paper products such as toilet tissues, etc., are generally disposed of after brief periods of use into septic systems and the like. Clogging of these systems can result if the paper product permanently retains its hydrolysis-resistant strength properties.
More recently, manufacturers have added temporary wet strength additives to paper products for which wet strength is sufficient for the intended use, but which then decays upon soaking in water. Decay of the wet strength facilitates flow of the paper product through septic systems.
As recognized in the pertinent literature relating to wet strength of paper products, such as Stannet, "Mechanisms of Wet Strength Development in Paper," Surface Coatings Related Paper Wood symposium, pp. 289-299 (1967) and Westfelt, "Chemistry of Paper Wet Strength. I. A survey of "Mechanisms of Wet Strength Development," Cellulose and Chemistry and Technology, Vol. 13, pp. 813-825 (1979), paper products develop dry strength in part due to interfiber hydrogen bonding. When the paper product is wetted, water disrupts the hydrogen bonds and, as a consequence, lowers the strength of the paper product. Historically, wet strength of paper products has been increased primarily by two approaches. One approach is to prevent water from reaching and disrupting the hydrogen bonds, for example, by coating the paper product. Another approach is to incorporate additives in the paper product which contribute toward the formation of interfiber bonds which are not broken or, for temporary wet strength, which resist being broken, by water. The second approach is the technique of choice, especially for tissue products. In this latter approach, a water soluble wet strength resin is added to the pulp, generally, before the paper product is formed (wet-end addition). The resin generally contains cationic functionalities, so that it can be easily retained by the cellulose fibers, which are naturally anionic.
A number of resins have been used or disclosed as being particularly useful for providing wet strength to paper products. These include urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins. Such resins have limited wet strength decay. Polyamide-epichlorohydrin resins have also been used in paper products. However, they also provide little wet strength decay.
Numerous approaches for providing paper products claimed as having good initial wet strength which decays significantly over time have been reported.
Resins formed by reacting glyoxal (CHOCHO) with water-soluble vinylamide polymers are suggested as possessing temporary wet strength in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,932, Coscia et al., issued Jan. 19, 1971. However, wet strength decay is reported only at alkaline pH levels--conditions not necessarily present in septic systems. Also, papers incorporating such resins lose only about half their wet strength upon exposure to water. Greater degrees of wet strength decay are desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,391, Williams et al., issued June 19, 1973, describes a water-soluble thermosetting wet strength agent for paper which is prepared by reacting an amidated ionic glucopyranosyl compound with glyoxal. Paper products containing this wet strength agent lose about one half their original wet strength after soaking in water for 24 hours. Such wet strength decay is not sufficiently rapid since the paper products in which the resin is used, such as toilet paper, are generally disposed of within a few minutes use.
U.S. Pat. 4,605,702, Guerro et al., issued Aug. 12, 1986, discloses temporary wet strength resin made by reacting a vinylamide polymer with glyoxal, and then subjecting the polymer to an aqueous base treatment. The product is said to provide tissue paper which loses a part of its wet strength when soaked in water at neutral pH.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,176, Bjorkquist and Schmidt, issued July 29, 1986, discloses temporary wet strength resins made by reacting glyoxal with a cationic vinylamide copolymer. The cationic vinylamide copolymer is prepared from a nonnucleophilic, water-soluble monomer, such as dimethylacrylamide, an acrylamide nucleophilic monomer, and monomer containing a quaternary nitrogen. Subsequent to the reaction of glyoxal with the nucleophilic amide, the final product has from about 3% to about 65%, mole percent basis, of monomeric units with nucleophilic amide functionalities and about 1% to about 20%, mole percent basis, of monomeric units with glyoxal-substituted amide functionalities.
Modified starch temporary wet strength agents are marketed by the National Starch and Chemical Corporation (New York, N.Y.). This type of wet strength agent can be made by reacting dimethoxyethyl-N-methyl-.alpha.-chloracetamide with cationic starch polymers. Modified starch wet strength agents are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,394, Solarek, et al., issued June 23, 1987. Unfortunately, such wet strength agents typically deliver relatively high dry strength in conjunction with the level of wet strength provided. This is undesirable for products, such as tissue paper, for which softness is important because increased dry strength generally is accompanied by decreased softness.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,828, Kekish, issued Nov. 12, 1968 and its parent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,370, Kekish, issued May 2, 1967, disclose wet strength resins which comprise water soluble copolymers of an aldehyde monomer, such as acrolein, and a nitrogen heterocyclic monomer containing an ethylenically unsaturated group capable of polymerization with aldehydes. The advantages of these copolymers, as set forth in their respective patent disclosures, is that retention aids (such as aluminum salts), are not needed because the copolymers have no anionic character. Optionally, the copolymers can be made cationic by reacting a water soluble amine or quaternary amine with copolymers. The disclosures of these patents generally link increased molecular weight with increased effectiveness without consideration of the particular properties and characteristics desirable for temporary, as opposed to permanent, wet strength.
In spite of the technology described above, there exists a continuing need to provide temporary wet strength resins having increased wet strength decay rates.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,228, Day et al., issued July 2, 1983, describes paper products wherein a solution of glyoxal is applied to a paper web. Upon exposure to water, this paper described as being is able to resist a rupture for only about a minute and as disintegrating within about 3 minutes. While this approach using glyoxal monomers provides rapid wet strength decay, it does not provide paper products with sufficient initial wet strength or sufficient retention of wet strength over the period of intended use.
It is an object of this invention to provide improved temporary wet strength resins that can provide high levels of initial wet strength and which retain sufficient strength during the period of intended use, but which also facilitate wet strength decay such that very low strength levels are attained subsequent to the period of intended use.

Temporary wet strength resins and paper products containing same


A street light includes a pole, arm and a head attached to the pole, wherein the head comprises a light source having a plurality of solid state light emitting devices and an optical element configured to produce a light distribution pattern from light emitted from the solid state light emitting devices, wherein the light source is configured to be powered directly from an AC source.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to illumination devices. More particularly, the disclosure relates to powering solid state light emitting devices with an alternating current (AC) voltage source.
2. Background
Solid state light emitting devices, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are attractive candidates for replacing conventional light sources such as incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps. LEDs have substantially higher light conversion efficiencies than incandescent and halogen lamps and longer lifetimes than all three of these types of conventional light sources. In addition, some types of LEDs now have higher conversion efficiencies than fluorescent light sources and still higher conversion efficiencies have been demonstrated in the laboratory. Finally, LEDs contain no mercury or other potentially dangerous materials, therefore, providing various safety and environmental benefits.
More recently, solid state devices have been used to replace high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps to provide high levels of light over large areas when energy efficiency and/or light intensity are required. These areas include roadways, parking lots, pathways, large public areas, and other outdoor applications. To increase the intensity of light in these applications, often more than one solid state light emitting device is arranged in a package. An example of a solid state light emitting device is a light emitting semiconductor chip comprising a p-n junction. An example of a package is a collection of light emitting devices arranged on a substrate and encapsulated in a phosphor to produce broad spectrum white light. This package is sometimes referred to as an "LED array." A heat sink is often attached to the LED array to dissipate heat generated by the light emitting devices.
LEDs are being used to replace high intensity discharge (HID) lamps in legacy street lights. The conversion to LED-based street lights generally involves replacing the existing head portion attached to the top of a pole with a new LED-based head. Because LEDs are diodes, when driven by AC power, light is emitted only during the forward bias phase of the voltage. In addition, because the duty cycle operation of the LED is equal or less than 50%, flicker can occur, and can be an unpleasant effect, and may pose an adverse safety situation for street traffic. Consequently, it is desirable to have an LED street light illumination system that overcomes duty cycle and flicker.

AC LED array module for street light applications


A camera is provided with a data table memory which stores control data for controlling not only the position of a taking lens but also the aperture size of a program shutter. The data also determines whether a flash unit is to be actuated depending on the subject distance as well as the subject brightness, so that the depth of field and hence the focusable range can be enlarged by stopping down the aperture and using a flash light. The data table memory further stores flash timing data for controlling the timing of flashing of the flash unit.

In current compact cameras, the position of the taking lens is automatically adjusted according to the subject distance as detected by a distance measuring device, and the exposure is automatically controlled according to the subject brightness as detected by a light measuring device, in order to obtain a good quality picture with a minimum of manual operation. The autofocus and automatic exposure control functions are performed using a microcomputer incorporated in the camera. In addition, a flash unit is known in the art which is automatically actuated to flash when the detected subject brightness is below a predetermined level.
In flash photography in which a flash unit is used as supplementary light for exposure, the diameter of the aperture, for example the diameter of the aperture at the moment when the flash unit flashes in case of a camera having a program shutter, which controls aperture selection as well as shutter speed, is ordinarily smaller than that in cameras without a flash unit under the same conditions. It is known in the art that the depth of field becomes greater when stopping down the aperture; however, the decision as to whether flash light is to be projected or not is conventionally dependent on the subject brightness alone, and does not take advantage of the above-mentioned desirable characteristic of flash photography that the depth of field is enlarged by stopping down the aperture. That is, a greater depth of field makes the focusing function not so strictly dependent on the precision of the autofocus system.


A location-registration control unit transmits, when handover from a first communication network for performing voice communication and packet communication to a second communication network for performing packet communication is determined to be executed, a location registration request to the second communication network and receives a response to the location registration request from the second communication network. A voice-communication-request acquiring unit puts a voice communication request on hold when acquiring the voice communication request requesting the first communication network for performing voice communication. A voice-communication determining unit determines whether the voice communication request is being put on hold. When it has been determined that the voice communication request is being put on hold, the voice-communication control unit cancels the sending of a reply of completion notification notifying of completion of receipt of the acceptance and transfers the voice communication request being put on hold to the first communication network.

In recent years, the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and the 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2), which are standards organizations for third-generation mobile phone standard, have been pursuing the development of specifications of a mobile communication system capable of the co-existence of a plurality of communication networks with different communication methods. As such a mobile communication system, for example, there is known a mobile communication system in which a 1×+HRPD (High Rate Packet Data) network for performing voice communication and packet communication co-exists with an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network for performing packet communication only. In the mobile communication system in which the 1×+HRPD network co-exists with the LTE network, a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone (hereinafter, referred to as "UE (User Equipment)" is assumed to perform handover from the 1×+HRPD network to the LTE network or handover from the LTE network to the 1×+HRPD network.
When performing handover from the 1×+HRPD network to the LTE network, the UE performs location registration to the LTE network beforehand. Namely, the UE transmits an Attach Request which is a signal requesting location registration to the LTE network. Then, the UE, which has transmitted the Attach Request, receives a response signal indicating a response to the Attach Request from the LTE network. When the UE has received an Attach Accept indicating acceptance of the Attach Request as the response signal from the LTE network, the UE sends a reply of an Attach Complete notifying of completion of the receipt of the Attach Accept to the LTE network. With this, the location registration to the LTE network is completed, and after that, a wireless link between the UE and the LTE network is established, so the UE can execute packet communication with the LTE network without performing a location registration procedure.    Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-68233
However, the above-described conventional technology has a problem that when the UE has had a voice communication request during execution of handover to a communication network for performing packet communication only, the execution of voice communication may be obstructed.
Specifically, in the above-described conventional technology, even when the UE has acquired a voice communication request to the 1×+HRPD network before receiving the Attach Accept, upon receipt of the Attach Accept, the UE sends a reply of an Attach Complete to the LTE network. Therefore, in the above-described conventional technology, a wireless link between the UE and the LTE network is established, and voice communication between the UE and the 1×+HRPD network may be obstructed.

Wireless communication device and wireless communication method


The present disclosure provides a process for removing naphthenic acid and/or naphthenic compounds from an aqueous solution. The process comprises one or more of the steps of: (a) feeding an aqueous solution comprising a constituent selected from the group consisting of naphthenic aldehyde, naphthenic alcohol, naphthenic acid, and combinations thereof, into a mix tank; (b) feeding an oxidizing agent into the mix tank forming a reactant mixture; (c) mixing the reactant mixture in the mix tank; (d) coagulating the reactant mixture with a polyvalent metallic electrode forming metallic naphthenate particles; (e) flocculating the metallic naphthenate particles forming floc; (f) sparging to float the floc to the surface of the aqueous solution; and (g) removing the floc from the aqueous solution. A system for removing naphthenic acid and/or naphthenic compounds from an aqueous solution is also disclosed herein.

Aqueous solutions generated in mining, oil, gas, and other industries or operations involving boring a hole in the earth may comprise naphthenic acid which may need be removed. For example, water produced with oil from underground formations may comprise contaminants such as naphthenic acid. A source of an aqueous solution comprising naphthenic acid may be from most any borehole drilled in the earth's crust. Another source may be from contacting any type of water with petroleum, gas, coal (e.g., mining), etc. may lead to the formation of naphthenic acid.
Naphthenic acids are the major contaminant in water used for extraction of oil from tar sands. In the oil industry, after a hole is drilled, on-shore or offshore, oil and water come out of the borehole. The water may contain contaminants such as alcohol, aldehydes, and naphthenic acid. The alcohols and aldehydes may be bound to the naphthenic molecules forming naphthenic alcohols and naphthenic aldehydes. Therefore, an aqueous solution containing naphthenic aldehydes, naphthenic alcohols, and naphthenic acids may come from the borehole. The naphthenic acids contaminating aqueous solution may present environmental concerns with respect to discharging of the aqueous solution. Additionally, naphthenic aldehydes and naphthenic alcohols may be poisonous. Therefore, naphthenic aldehydes, naphthenic alcohols, and naphthenic acids need to be removed from the aqueous solution prior to discharge into the environment.
The naphthenic acids may have a solubility in the aqueous solution preventing removal by traditional oil-water separation methods. In the past, industry has transported the contaminated aqueous solution into manmade lakes or holding ponds. Over long periods of time, oxygen from the air may oxidize the naphthenic aldehyde and naphthenic alcohol into naphthenic acid and then the oxygen may oxidize the naphthenic acids into more environmentally friendly compounds.
However, this traditional approach in removing naphthenic aldehyde, naphthenic alcohol, and/or naphthenic acid may not be practical in many situations. For example, in offshore oil drilling it may not be practical to have a holding tank to provide the residence time for oxidation with oxygen in air as traditionally done. Other inadequacies of traditional methods may include increased stringency of governmental regulations on discharging and increasing water volume in the oil being produced.
Therefore, a need exists for improved processes and systems for removing naphthenic alcohol, naphthenic aldehyde, and naphthenic acid and other naphthenic compounds from an aqueous solution.

Process and system for removal of naphthenic acid from an aqueous solution


A regulator moldboard and grader blade assembly includes a moldboard having at least one transversely extending pin, the pin having a notch with a surface inclined toward the moldboard. At least one grader blade has at least one mounting opening having a flared surface complementary to the notch so that the blade is hangable on the pin so that the notch draws the blade against the moldboard as a fastener tightens the blade to the moldboard.

The present invention relates generally to railroad right of way maintenance equipment, and specifically to machinery for forming and/or shaping rail track ballast in conjunction with railroad track repair, replacement or reconditioning.
Crushed rock rail ballast forms the support bed into which rail ties are inserted for receiving tie plates, spikes or other fasteners, and ultimately the rails. Ballast supports the weight of loaded trains, and also is sufficiently porous to allow the drainage of standing water from the typically wooden ties. Also, the ballast provides the ability to maintain a constant rail/ground displacement or grading over varying terrain and soil conditions.
During railway maintenance operations, including but not limited to tamping, tie replacement, rail replacement or the like, the ballast becomes disrupted and must be reshaped. The optimal shape of rail ballast is a generally level upper surface in which the ties are embedded, and a pair of gradually sloping sides which flare out from ends of the rail ties at a specified angle or angular range which is generally constant across the railroad industry. However, depending on the application and available space, the angle of the ballast may vary.
To achieve the desired angular slope, ballast regulators are employed, which are either self-propelled or towed, and feature at least one articulated, fluid-powered wing arm having at least one blade attached. Similar in function to a highway snowplow, the blade is oriented at a desired angle and is pushed by the ballast regulator through the ballast as the regulator moves along the track. To facilitate the reuse of ballast stones dislodged during the regulation of the ballast, it is typical for a wing to include a main outer door and laterally oriented template doors. The template doors are pivotally connected to side edges of the outer door, and through the use of fluid-powered cylinders, the position of the template doors relative to the outer door can be adjusted to form "C-", "U-" or similarly shaped configurations to retain a supply of disrupted ballast as the regulator moves along the track. In this way, there is sufficient ballast to fill in any depressions encountered to maintain a uniform slope. An exemplary rail ballast regulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,436, which is incorporated by reference.
One drawback of conventional ballast regulators is that when they are transported from one maintenance location to another, they must be towed on a trailer by a semi-tractor. Due to the size and/or weight of the regulator, special oversize use permits are often required for on-road transport by the U.S. Department of Transportation for carrying the machine on a highway. Moreover, once the machine reaches its destination, a heavy-duty lifting machine such as a crane, is needed to move the regulator onto the railway track for operation. Accordingly, the transportation of conventional rail ballast regulators is inconvenient and cumbersome, and incurs high shipping costs due to the above-described difficulties. Also, in some cases, these transportation difficulties make it less convenient for locating regulators sufficiently close to the desired worksite.
Another drawback of conventional ballast regulators is that the wing or plow blades are subject to extreme abrasion as they work through the ballast. Sacrificial wear plates are commonly fastened to the main blades for exposure to the ballast while protecting the blades. These plates are fastened to the blade sandwich style using threaded bolts and nuts. However, through extended exposure to rail ballast, the nuts and/or bolt heads often become worn down so that the facets are obliterated, or in any event are unsuitable for removal using conventional tools. Thus conventional maintenance of regulators includes using torches or other heavy equipment for removing the blade wear plates. Another disadvantage of conventional wing wear plates is that more than one operator is required for placing them on the wing blade. The plates often weigh as much as 50 pounds, and must be held in place by one operator so that the fasteners can be inserted through corresponding holes in the plate and blade by the other operator.
Thus, there is a need for an improved rail regulator that is roadworthy without requiring special use permits. There is also a need for an improved regulator blade where the wear plates are resistant to ballast abrasion so that replacement is facilitated.


Apparatus is provided for treating heart failure, the apparatus including one or more propeller blades and a controller, which is configured to rotate the one or more propeller blades to produce continuous non-pulsatile blood flow not synchronized with a cardiac cycle of a subject. An intra-atrial anchor includes a stent surrounding the one or more propeller blades. The intra-atrial anchor is coupled to the one or more propeller blades and configured to be anchored in a left atrium of the subject so as to position the one or more propeller blades in the left atrium oriented such that the one or more propeller blades, when rotated by the controller, draw blood from the left atrium and expel the blood in the left atrium toward a mitral valve, thereby increasing atrial pressure above the mitral valve. Other embodiments are also described.

In diastolic heart failure, the left ventricle does not fill properly with blood during diastole, reducing the amount of blood pumped to the body. Diastolic heart failure is also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Diastolic heart failure may or may not be accompanied by mitral regurgitation.
In systolic hearth failure, the left ventricle does not contract with sufficient force to push enough blood into circulation. Systolic heart failure is also known as heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
Both diastolic and systolic heart failure may cause pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, which is the accumulation of liquid in the lungs. Cardiogenic pulmonary edema is pulmonary edema that is caused by the failure of the left ventricle to remove blood adequately from the pulmonary circulation.


A cable feed-through is provided in accordance with the present invention. The cable feed-through comprises a housing which can be fixed to an appliance, a fixing device for a cable held on the housing and a shield contact element held on the housing. The shield contact element comprises a bristle element for making contact with a cable shield with elastic and electrically conductive bristles.

The invention relates to a cable feed-through, comprising a housing which can be fixed to an appliance, a fixing device for a cable held on the housing and a shield contact element held on the housing.
Cable feed-throughs of this type are known from the state of the art. The problem with them is that, on the one hand, the quality of the electrical contact between the shield contact element and a cable shield is always problematic, in particular, when the cable moves.
The object underlying the invention is, therefore, to improve a cable feed-through of the type described at the outset in such a manner that it is possible to make contact with the cable shield in as optimum a manner as possible.


An improvement to continuous annealing furnaces allows three stacks of coils to be loaded on two trays, with one of the stacks straddling the trays. The modifications include an upender device adapted to place the stacks of coils appropriately on two side-by-side trays, a tray pusher device which ensures that the trays will remain in side-by-side alignment throughout their traverse of the furnace, and a downender device adapted to receive the three stacks of coils from the furnace after annealing, and rotate them to an axis-horizontal position from which they can be removed by a boom truck.

The annealing and spheroidizing of rod and wire in coil form is accomplished using one of two basic furnace design concepts. The first type of design is called "batch" heat-treatment, and as the name implies, the product is thermally treated as a unit or batch. The second design is termed "continuous type furnaces", and these are usually known for higher productivity and improved uniformity within the heat-treated product.
The invention to be disclosed herein falls into the second category. The continuous annealing furnaces are typically fired by natural gas heating radiant tubes, with a protective atmosphere around the product, and pusher trays which carry the product through the furnace on tracks.
Thermal treatment is a function of time and temperature. Once a treatment has been established for a given product, the treatment time is relatively fixed. The capacity of a furnace is determined by the charge weight and the cycle rate. Usually, both the charge weight and the cycle rate are fixed.
There are two basic types of thermal treatment: annealing and spheroidizing. Annealing is characterized by faster cycle rates and lower product ductility, while spheroidization is a slower process and produces higher product ductility.
Furnace capacity is therefore the result of the mix of annealing a single spheroidizing cycles. As the volume of spheroidization increases, the furnace capacity decreases.
Some capacity improvement has been obtained by the manipulation of the temperatures within the process, allowing for a shorter cycle time. Once optimum time and temperature relationships have been established, rates can be considered as fixed.
The present invention was developed in relation to an existing furnace through which product is transported on wheeled trays travelling on two sets of parallel tracks. Each tray is 56 inches square and consists of articulated sections of heat-resistant stainless steel. The furnace chamber holds 34 trays in a configuration of side-by-side pairs, giving 17 tray positions longitudinally of the furnace.
The rationale behind the development of the present invention can be summarized as follows. Firstly, it must be understood that the trays described in the previous paragraph are sized to accommodate the maximum outside diameter of the material to be processed. However, many continuous annealing furnaces are used to process material having a smaller outside diameter than the maximum size. When the smaller outside diameter material is being processed, the result is the waste of a portion of the space on the trays. Generally speaking, there is not enough room to put two coils on a tray. The inventive leap is that, with small O.D. material, it would be possible to provide three coils on two trays, with one of the coils straddling the trays. For this to be done, the tray movement must be absolutely synchronized, to avoid differential forward motion and the risk that the straddling coil could be "walked" off the trays, or at least out of its ideal position. Thus it became necessary to engineer the synchronized movement of the trays, as well as to engineer modifications to the furnace loading and unloading equipment.
It was expected that, by taking the foregoing steps, the capacity of the furnace could be increased by about 30% to 50% depending on cycle and product mix. Because a typical furnace of the kind under discussion utilizes separately operated hydraulic cylinders to push the trays through the furnace along the side-by-side parallel tracks, it was necessary to provide some means to avoid the tray misalignment that would result.


An illuminated gun sight which includes a housing configured for mounting onto a gun and defining a recess having an opening to the exterior of the housing; one or more radioluminous light sources; and apparatus for mounting the one or more radioluminous light sources in the recess so as to expose to a viewer through the opening a predetermined portion of the one or more radioluminous light sources, wherein the recess also has an inward-facing surface having a light reflective coating generally surrounding the one or more radioluminous light sources, the light reflective coating being operative to reflect incident light outwardly through the opening so as to have the appearance in daylight, when viewed from at least a predetermined distance, of a light colored dot, and so as further to have the appearance of an illuminated dot in low light conditions, and wherein the location and size of the illuminated dot are identical to those of the light colored dot.

Traditionally, under normal daylight conditions, a weapon having both front and rear sights is aimed by aligning the front sight such that its top just exposes the point on the target where impact is desired, and by subsequently "bracketing" the front sight in the sight notch of the rear sight, while ensuring that the tops of both the front and rear sights are aligned in the same horizontal plane.
It is known to paint white dots onto the gun sights. Typically, two white dots are provided symmetrically about the sight notch of the rear sight, and a single white dot is provided on the front sight. Although these white dots are useful primarily in daylight, they have also been found to be of some assistance in aiming the gun in low light conditions.
Radioluminous gaseous tritium light sources are also known to be incorporated into gun sights so as to enhance target acquisition under low light conditions. The tritium light sources are housed in a bore or slit formed in the gun sights and are arranged so as to appear as illuminated dots. Painting of white circles around the light sources on the rearward looking faces of the sights is also known, with the aim of providing an appearance in daylight similar to the appearance of the sights in low light conditions. A disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is that a user has to become used to two different appearances of the sights as, in daylight, only `empty` white circles are visible, while, in low light conditions, only the light sources are seen.
Although tritium light sources are conventionally attached directly to the body of the sights, a radioluminous light source housed in a metal holder may be inserted via the holder into an appropriate bore formed in the body of a sight. The holder is fastened to the sight via a very thin layer of a flexible RTV silicone adhesive. A white circle may also be painted about the light source on the rearward face of the sight.
In this arrangement too, the sights have very specific and distinct daylight and low light appearances. In daylight, there appears a white circle having therein an `empty` metallic circle (defined by an exposed edge of the holder), while, in low light conditions, substantially only the tritium light source is visible. Accordingly, a marksman must become proficient at using both the circles and the illuminated dots.
It would be advantageous to provide illuminated gun sights which have a generally similar appearance regardless of the ambient light level.
A further disadvantage in the conventional use of gaseous tritium light sources is the incompatibility of glass, which forms an outer casing of the light sources, and metal, from which the body of gun sights are made. None of the above-described prior art arrangements employing a radioluminous light source provides mounting thereof inside a metal housing in a manner that cushions a tritium light source therein against impact forces, vibration forces, and thermal expansion forces applied by the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,519 describes a sight for a hand weapon which includes a sight blade, a bore located in the sight blade, and a self luminous capsule located in the bore for providing night sighting. The self luminous capsule has a generally circular light transmitting end which is located concentrically within said bore so as to define therewith an annular cavity surrounding said light transmitting. A substantially white material is provided within the annular cavity so as to define a white ring, thereby to provide improved day sighting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,676, entitled "Radioluminous Gunsight and Method" discloses a gun sight coated with a radioluminous material so as to render the sight visible in low light conditions. The radioluminous material is applied in the form of a coating to selected surfaces of the gun sight. The radioluminous material is applied either directly to a gun sight, or is mounted thereon via a housing containing an amount of the radioluminous material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,914,873 and 3,698,092 relate to electrically powered illuminated gun sights.
The following publications relate generally to gun sights: U.K. Patent No. 125,052 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 795,584 1,363,553 and 1,982,058.
The following publications describe chemical light sources: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,316,109; 3,342,743; 3,366,573; 3,436,242; 3,456,043; 3,701,900; 3,706,543; 3,908,055 and 4,020,203.


An implantable medical device includes a housing, a header mounted to the housing, the header including a header body having a bore with an electrical contact located within the bore, wherein the electrical contact includes a plurality of contact points, wherein at least two of the contact points are longitudinally offset from each other along the bore.

Leads implanted in or about the heart have been used to reverse certain life threatening arrhythmia, or to stimulate contraction of the heart. Electrical energy is applied to the heart via electrodes on the leads to return the heart to normal rhythm.
A header on an implantable device is used to couple a conductor of the lead with circuitry within the implantable device. For instance, a contact in the header is used to electrically couple a cardiac stimulator system with the lead and electrode for making contact with a portion of the heart. U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,042 discusses a header with cylindrical multi-beam contacts.
It is desirable that the connection between the lead and the header is mechanically and electrically reliable.

Header contact for an implantable device


To provide mercury-removal adsorbents, a method of producing mercury-removal adsorbents, and a method of removing mercury by adsorption which are capable of realizing efficient removal of mercury by adsorption from liquid hydrocarbon, thermal power station exhaust combustion gas, natural gas, off gas of various process plants, and so on which contain mercuries in various forms such as elemental mercury, ionic mercury, and organic mercury, and a concomitant hindering mercury adsorption.

Relatively light hydrocarbon liquids (crude oil, natural gas condensate (hereinafter, referred to as condensate), natural gas, and the like) produced from wells and exhaust combustion gas sometimes contain mercury or a mercury compound. However, in plants for natural gas processing, petroleum refining, and petrochemistry, since mercury contained in a hydrocarbon liquid is likely to corrode apparatuses made of aluminum-based materials and to poison precious metal catalysts, it is necessary to lower the mercury concentration in a processed liquid to a very low value.
Hydrocarbon liquids contain various kinds of mercury such as ionic mercury (for example, "RS—Hg—SR" and the like) and organic mercury (for example, "R—Hg—R" and the like") as well as elemental mercury, and actually, ionic mercury is contained in many cases.
The simplest and most realistic method for removing mercury contained in a hydrocarbon liquid is adsorptive removal using mercury-removal adsorbent. However, the use of this method for removing mercury contained in a hydrocarbon liquid has the following problems: (1) ionic mercury and organic mercury have far lower adsorptivity to mercury-removal adsorbent than elemental mercury; (2) A hydrocarbon liquid contains heavy hydrocarbon which lowers adsorptivity of mercury; and (3) A hydrocarbon liquid contains a third component exhibiting very strong adsorptivity to mercury-removal adsorbent, and the strong adsorptivity of the third component often hinders the originally intended mercury adsorption. In such cases, a conventional adsorption method using metal sulfide (molybdenum sulfide, copper sulfide, or the like) as mercury-removal adsorbent has a great difficulty in lowering the mercury concentration to a very low value on the 1 wtppb order. Lowering the concentration, even if possible, is not practical due to a short life of an adsorption tower. An adsorption method capable of removing such adsorption-resistant ionic mercury and the like would have a great commercial value.
As attempts to thus removing mercury by adsorption in liquid hydrocarbon, there have been proposed mercury-removal adsorbents (patent document 1) including activated carbon carrying metal halide such as potassium iodide in an amount of 0.5 to 25 wt % of the total adsorbent weight, and mercury-removal adsorbents (patent document 2) using activated carbon with a 50 to 70% water retention rate, thereby setting an amount of metal halide carried to 25 wt % or more of the total adsorbent weight.
In general, to avoid the aforesaid corrosion of the aluminum-based materials and poisoning of the precious metal catalysts, the adsorptive removal need to lower the concentration of mercury in liquid hydrocarbon to 1 wtppb or lower. However, as a result of tests, neither of the aforesaid mercury-removal adsorbents was able to exhibit results satisfying the specification value, that is, the mercury concentration of 1 wtppb or lower in liquid hydrocarbon. Incidentally, the patent document 1 reports that its mercury-removal adsorbents were able to lower the mercury concentration in hydrocarbon to less than 3 wtppb which is the lowest detection limit of mercury in this test, but this does not guarantee the aforesaid specification value at all.
Patent Document 1
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2602361: Table IV, Table V
Patent Document 2
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-349364; Table 1

Mercury-removal adsorbent, method of producing mercury-removal adsorbent, and method of removing mercury by adsorption

Abstract: Mercury-removal adsorbents carrie potassium iodide in an amount of 27 to 70% of a total adsorbent weight, and a volume of pores with a 1 μm pore diameter or more in the mercury-removal adsorbents is 0.6 mL/g or more. These mercury-removal adsorbents are filled in, for example, an adsorption tower 10, and a hydrocarbon liquid is passed therethrough (mercury removal step). In a case where the hydrocarbon liquid contains saturated water, a dehydration unit 9 or the like is installed on a preceding stage of the adsorption tower 10 to dehydrate the hydrocarbon liquid (dehydration step).


A seamless solution transparently addresses the characteristics of nomadic systems, and enables existing network applications to run reliably in mobile environments. A Mobility Management Server coupled to the mobile network maintains the state of each of any number of Mobile End Systems and handles the complex session management required to maintain persistent connections to the network and to other peer processes. If a Mobile End System becomes unreachable, suspends, or changes network address (e.g., due to roaming from one network interconnect to another), the Mobility Management Server maintains the connection to the associated peer task—allowing the Mobile End System to maintain a continuous connection even though it may temporarily lose contact with its network medium. An interface-based listener uses network point of attachment information supplied by a network interface to determine roaming conditions and to efficiently reestablish connection upon roaming. The Mobility Management Server can distribute lists to Mobile End Systems specifying how to contact it over disjoint networks.

Increasingly, companies are seeing rapid access to key information as the way to maintaining a competitive advantage. To provide immediate access to this information, mobile and other intermittently-connected computing devices are quietly and swiftly becoming an essential part of corporate networks—especially with the proliferation of inexpensive laptops and hand-held computing devices. However, integrating these nomadic devices into existing network infrastructures has created a challenge for the information manager.
Many problems in mobile networking parallel the difficulties in early local area networks (LANs) before the adoption of Ethernet. There are a variety of mobile protocols and interfaces, and because standards are just developing, there is little interoperability between systems. In addition, performance over these network technologies has been typically slow and bandwidth limited. Implementation costs to date have been high due the specialized nature of deployed systems.
Along with these issues, mobile technologies present a category of problems unto their own. Interconnects back into the main network may travel over and through a public network infrastructure, thus allowing sensitive information to possibly be tapped into. Furthermore, if any of the intermediary interconnects are via a wireless interface, the information is actually broadcast, and anyone with a similar interface can eavesdrop without much difficulty.
But, perhaps even more significantly, mobile networking has generally in the past been limited to mostly message-oriented or stateless applications—and thus has not been readily adaptable for existing or new corporate applications that use client/server, host-terminal, web-based or shared file systems models. This is because such commonly used applications need stateful sessions that employ a continuous stream of data—not just a stateless packet exchange—to work effectively and reliably.
To this end, many or most popular off-the-shelf networking applications require TCP/IP sessions, or private virtual circuits. These sessions cannot continue to function if they encounter network interruptions, nor can they tolerate roaming between networks (i.e., a change of network addresses) while established. Yet, mobile networking is, by its nature, dynamic and unreliable. Consider these common scenarios encountered in mobile networks:
Disconnected or Out of Range User
When a mobile device disconnects from a given network or loses contact (e.g., through an outage or "hole" in the coverage of a wireless interconnect), the session-oriented application running on the mobile device loses its stateful connection with its peer and ceases to operate. When the device is reattached or moves back into contact, the user must re-connect, log in again for security purposes, find the place in the application where work was left off, and possibly re-enter lost data. This reconnection process is time consuming, costly, and can be very frustrating.
Moving to a Different Network or Across a Router Boundary (Network Address Change)
Mobile networks are generally segmented for manageability purposes. But the intent of mobile devices is to allow them to roam. Roaming from one network interconnect to another can mean a change of network address. If this happens while the system is operational, the routing information must be changed for communications to continue between the associated peers. Furthermore, acquiring a new network address may require all of the previously established stateful application sessions to be terminated—again presenting the reconnection problems noted above.
Security
As mentioned before, companies need to protect critical corporate data. Off-the-shelf enterprise applications are often written with the assumption that access to the physical network is controlled (i.e., carried within cables installed inside a secure facility), and security is maintained through an additional layer of authentication and possible encryption. These assumptions have not been true in the nomadic computing world—where data is at risk for interception as it travels over public airways or public wire-line infrastructures.

Method and apparatus for providing mobile and other intermittent connectivity in a computing environment


A plant oil extraction device that has a main body member with a hollow interior that receives a plant. A filter member is removably mounted on the main body and has a groove therein that receives glass frit. Thus, when a solvent is placed in the hollow interior with the plant the glass frit filters the plant particulate allowing plant oil and solvent to flow into a receiving vessel. Once the oil is collected the filter member may be removed from the main body such that the glass frit can be cleaned of all plant particulate and be reused.

This invention relates to plant oil extraction. Specifically, this invention relates to a system for extracting oils from a plant and a method for using the same.
Plants naturally produce an oil wherein the oil of some plants have been shown to provide advantages in the medicinal arts. Typically, from the breakdown of a plant the oil is collected or a solvent is added to a plant in order to dissolve the plant to extract the desired medicinal essential oil.
While these methods that are used are able to extract the plant oil problems occur because plant particulates other than the pure plant oil end up within the plant oils thus preventing pure plant oil from being extracted. These particulates thus minimize the effectiveness of the plant oil for medicinal purposes that can lead to undesired additional filtering causing inefficiencies in the processing of the plant oil. In addition, oftentimes devices used to filter the plant oils are of one piece construction and are difficult to clean.
Therefore, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a plant oil extraction device that maximizes the filtering of plant oil.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.

Plant oil extract device and method for using the same


An apparatus for testing of electrical, mechanical, physical and/or chemical properties of material in sheet form includes a cassette for holding of sheets and sensors rigidly mounted relative to the cassette. The sensors may be mounted adjacent a test location exterior to the cassette. The cassette and the sensors may be so configured and positioned that a suitable end effector may move sheets of material between storage locations in the cassette and test locations adjacent the sensors. A method for testing sheet material includes the steps of placing the sheet material in a cassette, and conducting tests employing one or more sensors rigidly mounted with respect to the cassette. The method may include employing an end effector to remove the sheet from the cassette, to position the sheet stepwise in several positions relative to the sensors, and to replace the sheet in the cassette upon completion of testing. Materials to be tested include flat panels for computer screens and other applications and semiconductor wafers.

Glass sheets or panels are conventionally maintained, after fabrication of the glass sheets, and before assembly into products, such as flat panel displays, in cassettes. Similarly, semiconductor wafers are placed in cassettes. Cassettes are essentially boxes sized to accommodate sheets or cassettes of a selected size. In one existing design of cassettes, there are provided projecting inward from the sides of the cassette panel supports. A defined distance separates the panel supports. The defined distance is selected to permit an end effector of a robot to pass between the panel supports, so as to remove or insert the panel in the cassette.
After fabrication, and after various steps during processing, panels, semiconductor wafers, and other materials in sheet form, are tested for a variety of physical, electrical, mechanical and chemical properties. Typically, upon fabrication, the panels or wafers are placed in the cassette by a robot with an end effector that engages the panel or wafer in such a manner as to minimize damage. When it is desired to test the panel or wafer, an end effector of a robot is inserted into the cassette, engages the panel or wafer, and transports the panel or wafer from the cassette to a testing device. The robot then places the panel or wafer on suitable supports on the testing device. A handler in the testing device moves the panel or wafer relative to test heads that carry out various tests on the panel or wafer. Upon completion of testing, the robot again engages the panel or wafer and removes the panel or wafer from the test equipment and returns it to the cassette.
This presents several difficulties. Testing time includes time to remove the panel from the cassette and transport it to the test device, and the time required to remove the panel from the test device and return it to the cassette. Each time the panel or wafer is engaged or disengaged by handling equipment, such as the robot end effector or the handler of the test device, there is a risk of damage. The time required to position the sample or sheet before measurement or testing and replace the sample after measurement or testing is increased by the need to have several devices successively engage and release the wafer or panel.

Method and apparatus for testing of sheet material


A system and method for monitoring objects in the vicinity of a work machine that is in motion includes obtaining, using a camera associated with the work machine, first image data of a field-of-view of the camera at a first position; identifying an object-of-interest within the first image data; associating an alarm with the object-of-interest, the alarm configured to indicate the presence of the object-of-interest; presenting the alarm through an output device; receiving an input to snooze the alarm for the object-of-interest; generating a mask for the object-of-interest using image coordinates of the object-of-interest within the first image data; obtaining, using the camera, second image data of the field-of-view of the camera at a second position during motion of the work machine; identifying an object within the second image data; and selectively aborting the alarm presentation through the output device in response to determining, using the mask, that the object is the object-of-interest.

Work machines, such as excavators, may include alarms that alert an operator of the machine that an object is detected within a vicinity of the machine. One such system for detecting objects is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,929, which describes a system for detecting objects within a field-of-view of detector. This system does not address objects that move in and out of the field-of-view of the detector due to motion of the machine. For example, for machines that are moving, such as rotating, objects that are initially detected may move out of view and back into view, re-triggering an alarm. For a rotating machine, this can cause the alarm to go off each rotation for a stationary object that was previously detected.


A server including a processor to receive an electronic photo having at least one face from a user and compare the electronic photo with a template having a design element, and a computer implemented algorithm. The processor compares the electronic photo to the template and determines if the face is overlapped by the design element or if the face is cropped out of the photo slot. The processor presents the template combined with the electronic photo to the user only if the design element of the template does not overlap the face in the electronic photo. Multiple templates are compared to the electronic photo, and the templates are displayed based on a priority using criteria.

Customers sometimes become frustrated with the time and effort it takes in choosing a greeting card design template that is compatible with their photo. Often times, faces in the customer's photo may be blocked by design elements in a selected photo slot or otherwise cropped off the card. This requires the customer to choose another photo that is compatible with a chosen photo slot, or to choose other available photo slots where design elements don't block the faces. This sometimes leads the customer to give up in their endeavor which leads to lost revenue and an unsatisfied customer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Custom recommendations application for creating cards


In one embodiment, the present invention includes a repeating frame for a time division radio communications system with a sequence of uplink slots each having a predetermined duration, a sequence of downlink slots, each having a predetermined duration that is greater than the duration of the uplink slots, an interburst guard time between each uplink slot, an interburst guard time between each downlink slot, and an interframe guard time after the sequence of downlink slots.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention applies to a structure for a frame used in communications between base stations and user terminals and, in particular, to a frame structure that includes uplink and downlink slots in a time division format.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Time division mobile radio communications systems such as cellular data and voice radio systems typically use a repeating frame that includes slots allocated for specific purposes. In a frequency division TDD (Time Division Multiple Access) system, the repeating frame may include a set of downlink slots. The uplink slots are in a different frame on a different frequency. Broadcast, random access and control channel messages may each be assigned to specific frequencies that use a different frame structure. Each frame type can be optimized for the type of messages that it carries enhancing efficiency. In a TDD (Time Division Duplex) system, uplink and downlink slots are in the same frame. In some instances, specific slots within the frame may carry some control messages. However, the control and access channels are normally in separate frames.
Separate broadcast, control, and access channels allow great flexibility in designing a wireless radio network of base stations and remote user terminals. However, each channel that is set aside for broadcast, control, or access purposes cannot be used for traffic. When the number of channels is limited in comparison to the demand for traffic, it is preferred to maximize the traffic usage of all of the system's radio capacity. Combining different functions into a single frame, on the other hand, makes interference between neighboring slots likely. It also can restrict variations in the comparative data rate between uplink and downlink.

Frame structure for radio communications system


Circuits and techniques are described for detecting a ground fault leak between the PSE and the PD. Prior to PoDL voltage being applied to the PD, a test switch is temporarily closed for sensing a voltage drop in a loop between the positive terminal of the PSE voltage source and any ground leakage path between the PSE and the PD. If the resistance of the ground leakage path is below a certain threshold, a fault is declared. A similar test may be performed without a test switch by supplying a known test current through the loop and sensing the voltage drop. Another test is to connect the positive terminal of the PSE voltage source to the loop and sense the resulting current. After the full PoDL voltage is applied to the PD, a ground fault may be detected by sensing the equivalence between the source and return PSE currents.

It is known to transmit Power over Data Lines to remote power equipment. Power over Ethernet (PoE) is an example of one such system. In PoE, limited power is transmitted to Ethernet-connected equipment (e.g., VoIP telephones, WLAN transmitters, security cameras, etc.) from an Ethernet switch. DC power from the switch is transmitted over two or more twisted wire pairs in the standard CAT-n cabling. One or more of the wire pairs also transmit differential data signals, since the DC common mode voltage does not affect the data. In this way, the need for providing any external power source for the Powered Devices (PDs) can be eliminated.
A newer technology is Power over Data Lines (PoDL) where power is transmitted over a single, twisted wire pair along with the differential data. As of the date of this disclosure, the IEEE is in the process of developing a standard for PoDL as IEEE 802.3bu. PoDL may be more flexible than PoE and, since it requires just one wire pair, is likely to become a popular technique, especially in automobiles.
It is envisioned that PoDL applications will require some manner of isolation between the PD ground and the PSE ground in order to prevent the formation of or minimize the effects of ground loops. The grounds are the respective reference nodes for the PSE and PD and are not necessarily absolute grounds or equal to each other. While failure of the PSE ground to PD ground isolation may not result in outright functional failure of the PoDL link, the resulting current flow (leakage current) may substantially degrade the integrity of the Ethernet data. Hence the ability to detect a failure in the isolation between the PD ground and PSE ground is important in order ensure data integrity in a PoDL Ethernet link.

Detecting ground isolation fault in ethernet PoDL system


A method of calibrating a display hand in an electronic device. The preferred method comprises the steps of initializing a counter; stepping the rotor of the stepping motor a predetermined number of steps in a first direction and incrementing the counter; determining whether the counter is less than a predefined value representing at least the total of (i) the maximum number of steps needed from a zero position on the display to the maximum value on the display; and (ii) the number of steps needed from the zero position on the display to the position such that a channel formed in one of the one or more gears would abut against a tab; and if so, stepping the rotor of the stepping motor the predetermined number of steps in the first direction, incrementing the counter and again determining whether the counter is less than the predefined value; and if not, rotating the rotor of the motor in a direction opposite the first direction the same number of steps needed from the zero position on the display to the position such that the channel would abut against the tab. Several calibration assembly constructions are also provided.

This invention relates generally to wearable electronic devices, such as timepieces, and in particular, to an electronic device, such as for example and not limitation, a watch, that may have multiple display functionality. Specifically, the present invention is directed to methodologies and constructions for automatically calibrating the positioning of the one or more display hands which are used for displaying information in analog watches (i.e. in an "analog manner").
Specifically, the present invention by way of example and not limitation, may be incorporated into the devices disclosed and claimed in copending and coowned application Ser. No. 10/441,417, entitled WEARABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE DISPLAY FUNCTIONALITY, naming inventors M. Plancon, H. Schwartz, G. Stotz and L. Galie and having a filing date of this May 20, 2003), the subject matter of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
By way of background, it is believed that the present state of the art for calibrating the positioning of a display hand, such as chronograph displays (i.e. the displays at the 2:00 and/or 10:00 positions) is to mechanically decouple, such as by the pulling of the crown, the display hands from their associated gear train, and then manually adjust the position of the hand, such as by rotation of a crown or the like. Thereafter, mechanically recoupling the gear train to the display hands will once again allow the display hands to rotate. In the prior art however, it is unnecessary for the controller to "know" the position of the display hands, since the display hands merely rotate with the passage of time. Hence, manual calibration is sufficient.
On the other hand, in electronic devices such as those disclosed herein, it is desirable for the controller to "know" where the display hand(s) are to ensure accurate displaying and conveying of information. Hence, accurate calibration of the display hand is important.
It would be desirable to perform this operation automatically, thus ensuring both accuracy and improved ease with which the operation is performed.
Accordingly, it can be seen that further advancements in the art are desired. It is believed that the constructions and methodology to provide the foregoing advantages and achieve the aforementioned objectives, as well as those set forth below, are provided by the present invention.

Method and construction for autocalibrating an actuation mechanism in an electronic device


Vulcanizates with desirable properties such as reduced hysteresis and improved wear resistance can be obtained from a composition that includes particulate filler(s) and at least two types of terminally functionalized polymers. One type of polymer has a heterocyclic moiety at a terminus, while another type has at one of its termini an aryl group that includes at least two hydroxyl substituents. The functionalized polymers are provided by reacting terminally active polymers with, respectively, a heterocyclic nitrile and a compound that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded OGp substituents, where Gp is a protecting group, and a substituent that can react with the active terminus. The protecting groups can be removed so as to provide a terminal moiety that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded hydroxyl groups.

Rubber goods such as tire treads often are made from elastomeric compositions that contain one or more reinforcing materials such as, for example, particulate carbon black and silica; see, e.g., The Vanderbilt Rubber Handbook, 13th ed. (1990), pp. 603-04.
Good traction and resistance to abrasion are primary considerations for tire treads; however, motor vehicle fuel efficiency concerns argue for a minimization in their rolling resistance, which correlates with a reduction in hysteresis and heat build-up during operation of the tire. These considerations are, to a great extent, competing and somewhat contradictory: treads made from compositions designed to provide good road traction usually exhibit increased rolling resistance and vice versa.
Filler(s), polymer(s), and additives typically are chosen so as to provide an acceptable compromise or balance of these properties. Ensuring that reinforcing filler(s) are well dispersed throughout the elastomeric material(s) both enhances processability and acts to improve physical properties. Dispersion of fillers can be improved by increasing their interaction with the elastomer(s). Examples of efforts of this type include high temperature mixing in the presence of selectively reactive promoters, surface oxidation of compounding materials, surface grafting, and chemically modifying the polymer, typically at a terminus thereof.
Of the various elastomeric materials used in the manufacture of vulcanizates such as, e.g., tire components, some of the most common are natural rubber, high-cis polybutadiene (often made by processes employing catalysts), and substantially random styrene/butadiene interpolymers (often made by processes employing anionic initiators). Functionalities that can be provided at the termini of anionically initiated styrene/butadiene interpolymers (which are carbanionic and, therefore, highly reactive) often cannot be provided to the termini of so-called pseudo-living polymers made via coordination (e.g., Ziegler-Natta) catalysis, e.g., high-cis polybutadiene. (Polymers prepared using coordination catalyst compositions often are considered to display pseudo-living characteristics.) Despite years of experience with both types of polymers, elastomer manufacturers cannot predict whether a compound that will react with the terminus of a carbanionic polymer likewise will react with the terminus of a pseudo-living polymer.
The termini of carbanionic polymers often are functionalized by reaction with more than one type of compound. These functionalization reactions can occur simultaneously (i.e., by addition of both types of compounds to the polymer cement at the same time), sequentially so as to provide multiple functional groups on the same polymer chain, i.e., dual functionalization (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,534,839), or sequentially in a less-than-stoichiometric manner so as to provide a mixture of differently functionalized polymers (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,767,755). The goal of such mixed functionalization typically to enhance interactivity with two different types of particulate filler, for example, both carbon black and silica.
Such mixed functionalization with coordination catalyzed (pseudo-living) polymers is far less common, although not unknown. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,314,189 teaches functionalization of pseudo-living polymers with a heterocyclic nitrile such as 2-cyano-pyridine (2-pyridinecarbonitrile), leaving open the possibility of the use of so-called co-functionalizing agents including silanes, tin compounds (e.g., dioctyltin bis(octylmaleate), and silicon compounds (e.g., SiCl4).

Composition including multiple terminally functionalized polymers


A novel process for the preparation of amorphous cefuroxime axetil particles and the amorphous cefuroxime axetil particles therefrom are disclosed in the invention. Specifically, the invention is implemented by means of antisolvent recrystallization to prepare the cefuroxime axetil in an amorphous form; particularly, the amorphous ultrafine or even nanosized cefuroxime axetil with a controllable particle size and a narrow particle size distribution. The cefuroxime axetil according to the invention can used to enhance bioavailability, since it is in an amorphous form and has a controllable particle size and a narrow particle size distribution.

Cefuroxime axetil, i.e. (6R,7R)-3-carbamoyloxymethyl-7-[(Z)-2-(fur-2-yl)-2-methoxyimino-acetylamido]-ceph-3-em-4-carboxylic acid 1-acetoxyethyl ester, is 1-acetoxyethyl ester of cefuroxime. A broad spectrum, second generation cephalosporin, cefuroxime axetil is taken by mouth and has good antibiotic activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. The structure of the compound is as follows:

Cefuroxime axetil is present in two forms: crystalline and amorphous. GB 1,571,683 A1 discloses the process for the preparation of crystalline cefuroxime axetil. The crystalline cefuroxime axetil does not possess the necessary bioavailability characteristics associated with the amorphous form. It is known that orally administered cephalosporin (and medicaments in general) must be in a form of highly bioavailability. For this reason, commercially available cefuroxime axetil which is registered throughout the world is in a substantially amorphous form, since cefuroxime axetil in a substantially amorphous form has a higher bioavailability for oral administration than that in a crystalline form, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,833 (the '833 patent).
The '833 patent describes a process for the preparation of amorphous cefuroxime axetil, in which amorphous cefuroxime axetil is obtained by spray drying a solution of cefuroxime axetil of a crystalline form in an organic solvent. The current process for industrializing amorphous cefuroxime axetil is usually the spray drying techniques as described in the '833 patent. However, the disadvantages associated with those techniques are that, for example, the cost in equipments may be high, recycling the organic solvents may be difficult, and improper temperature control during the drying process may affect the quality of the cefuroxime axetil.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,833 discloses a process for preparing amorphous cefuroxime axetil by the spray drying techniques or by solvent precipitation. Neither an amorphous cefuroxime axetil particle with controllable particle size, nor an ultrafine or even nanosized amorphous cefuroxime axetil particle can be produced by the methods described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,833. Furthermore, solvent precipitation which is carried out within the conventional stirred vessels does have some disadvantages, e.g. non-uniform mixing and local supersaturation, which may have an influence on the quality of the cefuroxime axetil powder.
Consequently, the present invention is directed to provide a process for the preparation of an ultrafine or nanosized amorphous cefuroxime axetil particle. Specifically, the invention provides a process for the preparation of an cefuroxime axetil particle having both controllable average particle size and narrow particle size distribution.

Amorphous cefuroxime axetil and preparation process therefore

Beijing University of Chemical Technology


The invention is directed to a water-based paint composition comprising sodium silicate, water, water-soluble base, metal oxide pigment, a fused silica and, optionally, a low-melting glass frit, soda-lime-silica glass particles and/or zinc oxide. It may further optionally include surfactants and aluminum hydroxide. The paint composition is particularly useful as a black-out paint on automotive vehicle windshields and has been shown to impart improved stone chip resistance to the glass.

Various paint compositions are known for use on automotive and architectural glass. Such paints are used, for example, to form opaque borders around the peripheral marginal surfaces of glazings used as windshields, sidelites, and backlites of motor vehicles. These borders are used to obstruct from view attachment means for the glazings and protect adhesives which might be used from exposure to light which could degrade them.
Generally these compositions are ceramic compositions formed from a mixture of metal oxides in an organic (oil based) vehicle like mineral oil. The opaque peripheral marginal paint bands fired onto automotive glazings are generally black provided by colorant oxides like chrome oxide, cobalt oxide and nickel oxide. In view of environmental and commercial considerations, more desirable water-based paints have been developed for use in place of such organic vehicle paints. One such paint is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,026, commonly assigned herewith, which is a soda-lime silicate based paint which uses metal oxide pigment to color the glass. That water based paint advantageously is curable at relatively low temperatures compared to the relatively high temperatures generally required for ceramic/organic vehicle paint curing. Subjecting the glass to high temperatures to cure the paint can impart undesirable optical distortions into the glass sheets.
It is known in the automotive industry that the outer edge of a windshield is most sensitive to stone chips because of stresses contained in this region. Adding paint to this region, and later subjecting the glass to heating and shaping, I believe can intensify this stress, particularly weakening the glass in the painted area and making it more susceptible to stone chipping or breakage. Automotive windshields are made of two panes of glass laminated together with a layer of polyvinyl in-between. Even applying the paint to the inside glass surface near the occupant, which is not directly contacted by stones, can have a negative impact on stone chip resistance of the glass surface facing outside the vehicle.
It is an object of the present composition to provide a water-based paint composition which has improved stone chip resistance for the glass on which it is applied. It is an object of the invention to provide a water-based paint with excellent adhesion to glass on which it is applied. I have found that these objects can be accomplished by including fused silica in a water based silicate paint. These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention paint which is curable at relatively low temperatures and which exhibits excellent durability.

Water-based paint useful for windshields


A flexible hose structure includes at least one inner tubular layer of a first polymeric material defining a longitudinal axis, at least one meshed intermediate reinforcement layer arranged on the inner layer and having at least one first series of yarns defining first chained wales and first courses arranged according to a helical progression with a first pitch of predetermined length, and at least one second series of yarns defining second chained wales and second courses arranged according to a helical progression with a second pitch of predetermined length. The first pitch is a multiple of the second pitch, and the first wales (and the second wales are mutually interlaced with respective meshes not in a chain to exert an independent resistance to radial expansion on the inner layer.

As known, irrigation hoses, in particular flexible ones, generally comprise one or more overlapped tubular layers made from polymeric material between which one or more reinforcing layers are usually arranged.
The configuration of the reinforcement layer varies as a function of the mechanical characteristics that it is wished to give the hose, like, for example, resistance to pressure or to bursting, flexibility and ability to avoid the "kinking" phenomena, i.e. the squashing of the hose when it is subjected to twisting that causes the formation of localized choking.
The most common types of reinforcement are net-type reinforcements, in which the yarns are overlapped to form a mesh, and meshed-type reinforcement, in which the yarns are worked together to form mesh in a chain, also known as "fricae"-type mesh.
This second type of reinforcement, although it is relatively expensive and has poorer performance in terms of resistance to pressure, is generally preferred to net-type reinforcement since it makes it possible to have hoses with high malleability, i.e. high resistance to kinking.
Therefore, hoses with meshed reinforcement are particularly suitable for being used as irrigation hoses, particularly for use at home or as a hobby.
In the case in which it is necessary to give the hose both high malleability and high resistance to bursting, many overlapped reinforcement layers are used.
For example, EP 1156252 discloses an irrigation hose having two overlapped meshed reinforcement layers, separated by an intermediate layer of polyurethane foam. This solution, although it allows greater resistance to bursting, has low flexibility and is difficult to produce, in particular due to the need to arrange the two meshed layers in two distinct steps.
EP0794377 also discloses a gardening hose in which the reinforcement is formed from a first meshed layer and from a second coiled layer overlapped to the first.
Such a solution has also not proven to be satisfactory due to an increase in resistance to bursting that is not proportional to the amount of fibers inserted with respect to the single meshed layer and to a reduction in malleability, as well as to obvious difficulties in production.
FR 2849148, on the other hand, discloses a flexible gardening hose comprising a reinforcement consisting of a first meshed layer with tricot type mesh interlaced with a second layer, also meshed with mesh of the same type.
The two layers are formed from distinct and identical series of yarns, formed from the same type of fibers, so as to obtain two layers having the same number of meshes arranged on coils with the same pitch and inclination.
Moreover, every mesh belonging to one of the layers is linked with a pair of meshes of the other layer, so as to define a reinforcement defined by two distinct but mutually bound layers.
Such a solution gives the hose high resistance to pressures, at the same time maintaining high malleability.
However, a solution of this type does not bring appreciable variations to resistance to bursting of the hose, which is only slightly increased with respect to normal double layer reinforcement hoses, thus in a not very efficient manner with respect to the greater overall weight of the reinforcement layer and the higher material costs.
Irrigation hoses are also known in which the yarns of the reinforcement layer are formed from fibers with high toughness or in any case greater toughness with respect to that of polyester fiber, which represents the most commonly used fiber.
For example, US 2001/39972 discloses an irrigation hose comprising a first coiled reinforcement layer and a second meshed layer overlapped to the first. In a possible configuration thereof, one of the 20 layers is made entirely from Kevlar®.
The use of a reinforcement material with high mechanical resistance characteristics considerably increases the manufacturing costs of the hose, making it disadvantageous to use these configurations for commonly-used and relatively low-cost flexible irrigation hoses.

Flexible hose structure with a interlaced reinforcement


A method of motion compensation for geometry representation of 3D data is described herein. The method performs motion compensation by first identifying correspondent 3D surfaces in time domain, then followed by a 3D to 2D projection of motion compensated 3D surface patches, and then finally performing 2D motion compensation on the projected 3D surface patches.

Current coding of time-varying 3D geometry data utilizes a motion modeling stage that requires geometry tracking, which is computationally heavy and may be prone to errors due to topology changes and fast motion.
Others have attempted different methods to perform motion compensation of 3D geometry information. However, these solutions have significant downsides that make them undesirable.
1. The MPEG standard for coding of animated meshes (FAMC) performs motion modeling and motion compensation of registered meshes only, which means that a mesh tracking stage is necessary, and problems such as topology changes and fast motion can prevent the motion module from performing correct mesh tracking.
2. (Academia) The method in [Yamasaki et. al., ICIP 2010] utilizes patch-based motion compensation, but does not utilize 3D to 2D projections, so the individual patch correspondence information needs to be explicitly sent in the bitstream. The method by [Doumanoglou et. al., IEEE CSVT 2014] does not utilize patches but uses skinning models for mesh segmentation. That method also requires a previous bone tracking for motion compensation, which might not be available.
3. (Industry) The point cloud coding standard currently being developed by MPEG uses patches for coding 3D points, and in [m42712, MPEG121 meeting], a method for temporal consistent patch packing was proposed. However, the correspondence between patches utilizes 2D projected surfaces and normal directions, which is not reliable, and does not compensate for the patch 3D motion.

Motion compensation of geometry information


Disclosed is a gravity flow fluid balancing system that includes an infusion line to transport an infusate from an infusate supply to a patient's body and an ultrafiltrate line for transporting ultrafiltrate from the body to an ultrafiltrate reservoir. The infusate and ultrafiltrate reservoirs are each connected to a load cell. The load cells are, in turn, connected to a control unit which compares the readings received from the load cells. A clamp, which is controlled by the control unit, controls the flow out of the infusate reservoir into the patient's body. Control of the clamp and fluid flow through the system can be regulated on a weight change basis (infusate - ultrafiltrate) or on an infusion basis.

The present invention relates to a system for balancing fluids in a human body and more particularly to a gravity flow system for monitoring and controlling fluid removal and fluid infusion to a patient.
Most known systems for monitoring and controlling fluid removal and infusion into a patient's body control only the infusion of fluids at a controlled rate and cannot control a patient's fluid dynamic state in total. Known fluid removal and infusion systems also do not control the flow of fluids to and from the body in a very accurate manner. One common technique used by most of these known monitoring systems involves counting drops, but such systems are sensitive to variations in drop size caused by temperature and viscosity, drop rate and manufacturing accuracy of the drop platform.
Other generally more accurate commercially available systems depend on use of a pump to control either the infusion of fluid or the balancing of fluids in the patient's body. The accuracy required of the pumps, however, greatly increases the cost of such systems.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a gravity flow system for balancing body fluids in a very accurate manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gravity flow system for balancing body fluids that is substantially cheaper to manufacture than systems utilizing pumps.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a gravity flow system for balancing body fluids which allows an operator to select one of several modes of operation.