A conduit of relatively tough biocompatible material encloses a longitudinally extending fluid flow lumen and has a distal end configured as a catheter coupling hub. The conduit is encircled at the distal end of the catheter coupling hub and a portion of the conduit distal of and adjacent to the catheter coupling hub by a stabilization sleeve made of a contrastingly resilient, soft material suitable for skin contact applications. A pair of stabilization wings extends laterally on opposite sides from the stabilization sleeve at an attachment location separated from the portion of the stabilization sleeve in which the catheter coupling hub is received. As a result, a strain relief region is created. The stabilization sleeve is permanently attached to the conduit at the coupling hub only. The portion of the conduit distal of and adjacent to the catheter coupling hub extends slideably through the remainder of the length of the stabilization sleeve affording axial and bending strain relief to that portion of the conduit.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to implantable catheters, and, more particularly, to systems for effecting the stabilization on the skin of a patient of the extracorporeal portion of an implanted vascular access catheter.
2. Background Art
It is now common to use an implanted catheter to repeatedly access the vascular system of a patient and with the catheter perform repeated therapeutic medical activity. Such therapeutic activity could include the intermittent or continuous infusion of medication and fluids, the periodic sampling of blood, or the continuous withdrawal and return of blood for processing outside of the body of the patient. The catheters used in these activities are referred to as vascular access catheters.
Before any therapeutic activity can actually commence, however, the vascular access catheter must be implanted in the body of the patient with the distal tip of the catheter residing at the location in the vascular system at which an intended therapeutic activity is appropriate. Typically, most of the length of an implanted vascular access catheter resides within blood vessels of the vascular system, extending from the distal tip of the catheter to a location in the vascular system at which the catheter, by traversing a puncture or incision formed through a wall of the blood vessel in which the catheter is disposed, enters into the surrounding subcutaneous tissue of the patient. The location at which this occurs is referred to as a venipuncture site. Venipuncture sites are classified on the basis of the position of a venipuncture site in relation to the center of the body of the patient. Central venipuncture sites are those at the superior or inferior vena cava. Midlavicular venipuncture sites are located medial of the shoulder of the patient, but lateral of the subclavian vein. Midline venipuncture sites enter the upper basilic or cephalic veins. The freedom to select among venipuncture sites is most curtailed relative to patients of slight stature, particularly small children and infants.
Proximal of the venipuncture site, the implanted catheter extends through the subcutaneous tissue of the patient to emerge through the skin at a location that is referred to as the skin exit site. Most skin exit sites are chosen as being locations at which the proximal end of the implanted catheter can be easily manipulated by medical personnel. Favored among such locations are the neck, the region about the collar bone, the upper leg, the upper arm, and the forearm.
Occasionally, the skin exit site is somewhat removed from the venipuncture site. Then a significant portion of the length of the implanted catheter must be embedded in the subcutaneous tissue of the patient in a surgically created tunnel that extends from the venipuncture site to the skin exit site. The disposition of a significant portion of the length of an implanted catheter in such a subcutaneous tunnel assists in stabilizing the implanted catheter by resisting sliding movement of the catheter back and forth, internally at the venipuncture site or externally at the skin exit site.
On the other hand, with patients of slight stature and particularly with small children and infants, the skin exit site is frequently located immediately adjacent to the venipuncture site. Under such conditions, the portion of the implanted catheter disposed in subcutaneous tissue is so short as to permit the body of the catheter to slide back and forth across the venipuncture site, as well as in and out of the skin exit site.
The portion of an implanted catheter that resides in a blood vessel of the vascular access system or within subcutaneous tissue is referred to as the implanted portion of that catheter. In all instances, a portion of the proximal end of an implanted catheter must remain outside of the body of the patient. It is this portion of an implanted catheter, from the proximal end thereof to the skin access site, that is referred to as the extracorporeal portion of the implanted catheter.
The extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter must be capable of being selectively coupled to and uncoupled from the tubing and medical equipment outside the body of the patient that are required for therapeutic activity. Accordingly, the proximal end of virtually all vascular access catheters terminates in a catheter coupling hub that can be secured in fluid communication with such tubing and medical equipment, or can be capped, valved, or clamped closed between periods of actual use.
The repeated manipulation of the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter causes wear in the material of the catheter and reduces the reliability of the attachment between the proximal end of the catheter and the catheter coupling hub. In the absence of countermeasures, forces imposed on the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter result in motions of the extracorporeal portion of the catheter that cause damage to the catheter. Motion of the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter is also communicated to the skin access site, causing various complications depending upon the length of any subcutaneous tunnel in which a portion of the catheter is imbedded. Where such a subcutaneous tunnel is lengthy, motions of the extracorporeal portion of a catheter are relayed directly to the tissue along the subcutaneous tunnel, causing pain and irritation, precluding healing, and leading to infection. These results in turn can necessitate the explanation of the catheter. Where the portion of an implanted catheter extending subcutaneously between the venipuncture site and the skin exit site is short, motions of the extracorporeal portion of the catheter tend to slide the catheter in and out of the vascular system, causing bleeding and likewise leading to infection.
To counteract these undesirable consequences, a variety of measures are undertaken to stabilize the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter on the skin of the patient. Tie-down materials, such as bandaging, patches with upstanding anchoring posts, medical adhesive tape, belts, elastic bands, and sutures, are used for this purpose.
To enhance the effectiveness of such tie-down materials, otherwise unnecessary structures are formed on or attached to the catheter coupling hub or the portion of the proximal end of the catheter attached thereto. For example, it is common in the art of catheter implantation to provide one or more flap-like structures that extend laterally from the catheter coupling hub, from the portion of the proximal end of the catheter attached thereto, or from a tubular sleeve that is disposed about either or both of the catheter and the catheter coupling hub. These structures are referred to as stabilization wings.
Even without the assistance of any tie-down materials, a stabilization wing prevents a catheter coupling hub from rolling along the skin of the patient, pivoting about the skin exit site, and twisting the extracorporeal portion of the catheter between the skin exit site and the coupling hub. Sliding motions of a coupling hub on the skin of the patient in directions normal to the length of the catheter are curtailed by the use of tie-down materials applied over or about the coupling hub and against the skin. Tie-down materials also prevent movement of the coupling hub and associated catheter in directions aligned with the length of the catheter, motions that could dislodge the catheter from the skin exit site entirely. Stabilization wings enhance the purchase afforded on the catheter coupling hub by tie-down materials.
A system for coupling an implanted catheter to extracorporeal medical equipment and simultaneously stabilizing the extracorporeal portion of that catheter is complex to design. It is a process that must accommodate a variety of functional needs in an environment involving materials as different as human tissue, bodily fluids, flexible fluid conduits, rigid coupling structures, and various tie-down materials. The extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter functions as an interface between the environment within the body of the patient at the distal tip of the catheter and extracorporeal medical equipment. At this interface, the patency of tubing, the minimizing of wear, the suppression of exit site infection, the freedom of access by medical personnel, and the inconspicuousness of the extracorporeal portion of the implanted catheter are each desired to be maintained to optimum degrees.
As new classes of materials are developed that are suitable for medical use, the potential of each in relation to existing catheter coupling and stabilization systems is investigated, and the design of such systems evolves accordingly.
Nonetheless, a significant problem in the design of coupling and stabilization systems arises from the contradictory material properties considered desirable among the various components of such systems.
The criteria of suitability for the implanted portion of a catheter that is disposed in the vascular system or the subcutaneous tissue of a patient are dramatically different from the criteria of suitability for the environment outside the body in which the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter is disposed and utilized. The implanted portion of a vascular access catheter must be so flexible and soft as to avoid damaging internal tissues and to minimize injury to the cells of the blood. The extracorporeal portion of that same implanted catheter must, by contrast, sustain repeated manipulation and predictable accidental or intentional abuse.
Among the extracorporeal portion of an implantable catheter assembly are components that are hard and entirely inflexible, such as clamps and coupling fixtures that must interact with extracorporeal tubing and medical equipment. In view of the possibility of extended contact by the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter with the skin of the patient, contrasting material properties of softness and flexibility suitable for skin contacting applications are also desirable in the extracorporeal interface.
Thus, many desirable material properties are inconsistent with others. As a result, efforts to optimize coupling and stabilization system designs have on occasion used differing classes of materials in various distinct components of the catheter coupling and stabilization system. The tension between the mechanical properties required in the extracorporeal interface for an implanted catheter and the patient comfort properties desirable therein has been resolved only to varying degrees in different systems.
One approach to achieving a marriage of the inconsistent material properties desired in a coupling and stabilization system has been to resort to nonunitary coupling and stabilization systems. Such systems involve some components that embody one set of desired material properties that are assembled in the field by medical personnel with other components that embody a contrasting set of desired material properties. For example, brackets optimizing patient comfort properties are secured to the skin of a patient and used as retainers to stabilize catheter coupling hubs made of tough materials possessed of optimized mechanical properties.
Coupling and stabilization systems configured from components assembled in the field are disadvantaged, however. Individual components can become lost, mismatched components can inadvertently be used together, or important components may never be employed as a result of slipshod practices. Individual components are small and difficult to manipulate, while the maintenance of inventories of a variety of individual interconnecting coupling and stabilization system elements increases institutional overhead.
The selection of structural elements for the extracorporeal interface and the relative positioning of the selected structural elements in a given coupling and stabilization system similarly require design trade-offs that are unlikely to be optimized in any single system.
For example, coupling and stabilization systems that utilize stabilization wings positioned at or adjacent to the catheter coupling hub of the system are effective in precluding movement of the catheter coupling hub. This high level of stability in the catheter coupling hub is obtained, however, at the cost of restricting the ease with which the catheter coupling hub can be manipulated by medical personnel. When stabilization wings in an extracorporeal interface are positioned longitudinally at or close to a catheter coupling hub, the stabilization wings and the catheter coupling hub share relatively similar degrees of freedom. As a consequence, the coupling and uncoupling of extracorporeal tubing and medical devices at the catheter coupling hub are undesirably difficult. Forces imposed on the catheter coupling hub or on the portion of the proximal end of the catheter attached thereto, and motions imparted to either as a result, are communicated directly to the stabilization wings, tending to dislodge the stabilization wings from the skin of the patient. This can be uncomfortable and may lead to tissue irritation at that location. Dislodgment of stabilization wings or a coupling hub from associated tie-down materials or from the skin is likely to lead to catheter damage or catheter explanation.
The positioning of stabilization wings along the proximal end of a catheter distally from the catheter coupling hub produces a different mix of consequences.
Stabilization wings have been longitudinally fixed on the exterior of the extracorporeal portion of a catheter tube at a distance from the catheter coupling hub. When secured to the skin of a patient, the stabilization wings of such systems permit easy access to and use of the catheter coupling hub, because of the flexibility embodied in the material of the catheter between the stabilization wings and the catheter coupling hub. Nonetheless, tortional and axial forces imposed on the catheter coupling hub are still communicated directly to the stabilization wings, as surely as if those stabilization wings were positioned immediately at the catheter coupling hub.
In some coupling and stabilization systems, stabilization wings are attached to the distal end of an elongated sleeve that is in turn secured at the proximal end thereof to the exterior of the catheter coupling hub. The full length of the interior of the sleeve is bonded to the exterior of the catheter tube distal of and adjacent to the coupling hub, producing a composite structure distal of the coupling hub. Such sleeves thicken, and therefore strengthen, the portion of the catheter tube enclosed therein, increasing the durability of the composite structure. Nonetheless, the composite structure tends to exhibit reduced flexibility, impairing intended movements of the catheter coupling hub relative to the stabilization wings. Also, axial forces imposed on the catheter coupling hub are communicated directly to the stabilization wings.
Some of these difficulties may be overcome, but not without foregoing other advantages.
Stabilization wings are, on occasion carried on a sleeve that can be slid along the extracorporeal portion of an implanted catheter and positioned on the skin of the patient at any desired distance from the catheter coupling hub. The securement of such stabilization wings to the skin prevents lateral movement of the portion of the catheter that is between the stabilization wings and the skin exit site. As the sleeve carrying the stabilization wings is not secured in any fixed relation to the catheter or the coupling hub, undesirable longitudinal and rotational movement of the catheter coupling hub relative to the stabilization wings is nonetheless common. Stabilization wings carried on slidable sleeves are susceptible to disposition at improper locations and are thus sensitive to, and in some cases limited in utility by, the skill and talent of specific medical personnel. Slidable sleeves may be overlooked and never used. Some are simply severed from the catheter assembly out of a misplaced desire to simplify the extracorporeal portion of the implanted structure. Longitudinally positionable sleeves carrying stabilization wings are known that completely succumb to this impulse by being manufactured with an axial slit through the sleeve. The sleeve may then be detached at will from the system of which it is supposed to be a component.
It may be realistic in addressing the diverse demands placed on the extracorporeal interface of an implanted catheter to acknowledge that any distinct coupling and stabilization system is advantageous in selected respects and disadvantaged in others.

Coupling and stabilization system for proximal end of catheter


A cooking surface of box-like structure for installation in the work surface of a kitchen console provided with a lower component having an outwardly facing surface providing for a degree of radiant heat emission in excess of 5, preferably from 0.9 to 0.95, and an inwardly facing surface providing for a degree of radiant heat reflection in excess of 0.5, preferably between 0.9 and 0.95.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, relates to a cooking surface for installation into the working surface of a kitchen console or the like and, more particularly, to a cooking surface of a substantially box-like structure provided with an upper surface for receiving a cooking utensil, a lower surface for sealing the cooking surface in its installed state in a downward direction, a frame structure for circumferentially sealing the cooking surface, a heating device associated with the cooking surface and means for controlling the heating device.
2. The Prior Art
Such cooking surfaces are well known and are readily available from various sources. The known cooking surfaces are usually of box-like construction and include an upper component upon which a cooking utensil may be placed and lower and lateral components which in the installed state of the cooking surface shield it in downward and lateral directions. Such cooking surfaces are also provided with a source of heat, usually and electric coil and sometimes gas jets as well as with controls for varying the temperature of the cooking surface. In order to reduce the thermal load on the components mounted in the interior of the cooking field, such as, for instance, electrical controls, some of the known cooking fields are provided with a cooling fan. In other cooking surfaces the space between their upper and lower components is kept as large as possible. Moreover, when installed in a console the known cooking surfaces require means, usually made of wood, positioned below their lower components for preventing direct contact with the cooking surface and for protection of the console from the emitted heat.

Cooking surface for installation into the working surface of a kitchen console


A printing apparatus, which is capable of making effective use of the extended setting set up once without performing the extended setting each time, and is capable of improving user's convenience. A printing apparatus is connected to an information processing apparatus that instructs printing execution, is connected to a server via a network, and executes printing according to a print job generated by the information processing apparatus. A request unit requests an extended print setting from the server when receiving a request of the extended print setting that extends a predetermined basic print setting from the information processing apparatus. A holding unit holds extended print setting information showing the extended print setting corresponding to the printing apparatus received from the server in response to the request. A sending unit sends the extended print setting information held by the holding unit to the information processing apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a server, a printing system, a control method for the printing apparatus, and a storage medium storing a control program therefore, which are used to execute printing. Particularly, the present invention relates to the printing system that executes printing using the server on a network when the printing apparatus executes printing according to a print job generated by an information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when an information processing apparatus like a host computer sends a print job to a printing apparatus like a printer device to execute printing, it is necessary to install software such as a printer driver to the host computer. At the side of the host computer, various items related to printing, for example, a sheet size, the number of copies, a layout, etc. are set up using the printer driver (print setting).
Incidentally, when printing with application software that operates on the host computer, the execution of the print setting generates a print job having the print setting concerned on the host computer. The host computer sends the print job to the printing apparatus, and then, the printing apparatus generates an image (printing data) according to the print setting that the print job concerned has and prints the image.
It should be noted that some printers print images (printing data) that are generated in the host computer and have been transmitted as print jobs.
A typical and well used print setting is beforehand set as an initial state in the printer driver installed in the host computer. Generally, this is called a default setting.
However, some users always want to use a specific print setting rather than the default setting. In this case, since the users need to change the default setting whenever they instruct printing, the printing will be very troublesome.
Accordingly, an operating system (OS) has a function (a print setting holding function) to hold the print setting used for the printing as a general print setting in preparation for the case where a user would like to apply a different print setting from the default setting by the printer driver. It should be noted that the OS used here is the Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corp., for example.
The above-mentioned print setting holding function enables the user to always print with the general print setting without changing the print setting whenever an application program issues the print instruction.
Some application programs, which are provided with print buttons, execute printing when the user pushes the print buttons even if the user does not instruct printing using the print setting screens that are provided by the printer drivers.
There is a technique that enables to change the print setting information that the print driver holds without opening the print setting screen in order to improve user's convenience (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-49950 (JP 2005-49950A)).
Incidentally, a server on a network like the Internet may perform at least a part of an image forming process rather than only a printing device performs the image generation process (printing process) in recent years. Particularly, what is called cloud computing is known as service by which the server on the network performs a part of the image generation process.
When using a cloud computing environment for a printing environment, a device such as a printing apparatus supports only a basic function about printing. And the server on the network (the server is also referred to as a cloud, hereinafter) supports an additional function (an extended function). The use of the cloud computing environment enables to constitute the device like the printing apparatus at low cost and to construct the printing environment that adds the extended functions to the device.
Even if the cloud computing environment is used, the host computer generates the basic setting UI (user interface) screen about the above-mentioned basic function and displays it on a display.
In this case, an extended setting UI screen about the extended function is generated as an HTML file by the cloud. Then, the host computer displays this extended setting UI screen as one screen of the printer driver by a Web browser function.
It should be noted that the basic setting UI screen and the extended setting UI screen may be collectively called print setting UI screens.
As mentioned above, the printer driver that operates on the host computer holds the print setting set up once on the host computer. Therefore, when the print setting UI screen is displayed, the print setting that has set up at the last time is displayed.
When the printing is executed without opening the print setting UI screen (without displaying), the printing is executed with the print setting concerned.
However, the host computer holds only a basic setting (a basic print setting) that uses the basic function. Concerning an extended setting (an extended print setting) that uses the extended function, the host computer merely displays the extended setting UI screen generated by the cloud as the Web browser. The host computer does not hold the extended setting. Therefore, there is a problem that the print setting returns to the default setting after the printing even if the extended setting is performed with the extended setting UI screen.
Therefore, after printing with a certain extended print setting, even if the user wants to print with the same print setting, the user must perform the extended print setting at every printing. When the application program, which can instruct printing without displaying the print setting UI screen containing the print button, is used, the printing is always executed with the default setting.

Printing apparatus, server, printing system, control method for printing apparatus, and storage medium storing control program therefor


A system for guidance of a robot through a passenger cabin of an aircraft on at least a part of a defined system of paths including a robot, having at least one secondary coil, a field of coils including N primary coils being integrated in the floor of the passenger cabin of an aircraft, the arrangement of the primary coils defining a system of paths of the robot, and a control system for positioning of and energy provision to the robot including a command unit for sending instructions to the robot, so that the robot can reach a specific position of the defined system of paths.

US 2010/0285747 A1 discloses a cabin system, according to which energy and data can be contactlessly transmitted by coils from the cabin floor to objects arranged above the latter, for example cargo containers, galleys, on-board toilets, entertainment systems or other electrical loads above the floor.
CN 205166945 U and CN 105415377 A also disclose the practice of using a human-like robot as a replacement for a flight attendant for the purpose of serving food in an aircraft cabin. CN 205290978 U also discloses a robot for serving meals.
US 2015/0014481 A1 and WO 2011/132202 A1 describe supply trolleys guided on rails. WO 2015049058 A1 discloses a method for serving passengers with the aid of a transport apparatus arranged inside or below the cabin floor.
A disadvantage of the prior art is that the robots must be provided with a battery in order to perform the tasks intended for them. This is time-consuming and is disadvantageous from an ecological point of view. A guidance system in the form of a rail is in turn visually disruptive or is even a tripping hazard.

System for guidance of a robot through a passenger cabin of an aircraft


A vehicle wheel bearing apparatus has an outer member, an inner member and double row rolling elements freely rollably contained between the outer raceway surfaces and inner raceway surfaces, respectively, of the outer member and the inner member. Either one of the outer member or inner member, on its outer side end, is integrally formed with a wheel mounting flange to mount a wheel. A plurality of bolt apertures is formed in the wheel mounting flange. The wheel is secured on the wheel mounting flange by a plurality of bolts. Cut-out portions are formed between the bolt apertures. The cut-out portions avoid the vicinity of each bolt aperture. Each cut-out portion is formed with a circular arc configuration so that its deepest portion is positioned closely to a pitch circle diameter of the bolt apertures.

In recent years, braking force has been increased due to the spread of the disc brake. Due to this, sometimes uncomfortable low noise is caused, especially during traveling, due to vibration of the brake rotor sandwiched by the brake pads. Such a phenomenon, called "brake judder", has been noticed in accompanying with tendency of development of vehicles having high performance and lesser noise. Thus, it is a new technical object to analyze and improve the brake judder problem.
Although the mechanism of brake judder has not been clearly solved, it is believed that the accuracy of the surface run-out of the brake rotor contacting with the brake pads is one cause of brake judder. The accuracy of the surface run-out of the brake rotor is influenced not only by the run-out accuracy of the brake rotor itself, but by the accuracy of the surface run-out of the wheel mounting flange, the axial run-out of the rolling bearings, the accuracy of the raceway surfaces, and the assembling accuracy of the rolling bearings, etc.
It is desirable for the vehicle wheel bearing apparatus, on one hand, to reduce its size and weight to reduce its manufacturing cost and fuel consumption in view of the material savings. On the other hand, it is desirable to increase the wheel bearing apparatus rigidity to improve steering stability. The desire to reduce the vehicle weight has increased especially in the field of light weight vehicles, such as light weight 4-wheel vehicles, or small size vehicles. The desire to reduce the vehicle weight has increased.
FIG. 13 shows one example of a vehicle wheel bearing apparatus of the prior art intended the weight reduction. This wheel bearing apparatus 50 is a representative structure used for a driving wheel side. The apparatus is formed as a unit including a wheel hub 51 and a double row rolling bearing outer member 52.
The wheel hub 51 is made by forging and has a hollow structure. The wheel hub 51 is integrally formed with a wheel mounting flange 53 on which a wheel (not shown) is mounted. One inner raceway surface 51a is arranged opposite to one 57a of the double row outer raceway surfaces 57a, 57a of the outer member body 57. A cylindrical portion 51b axially extends from the inner raceway surface 51a. The inner circumference of the cylindrical portion 51b is formed with a spline 54 for torque transmission purposes.
An inner ring 55 is press fit onto the cylindrical portion 51b of the wheel hub 51. The inner ring 55 is formed, on its outer circumference, with the other inner raceway surface 55a of the inner raceway surfaces 51a, 55a. An end of the cylindrical portion 51b is plastically deformed radially outward to form a caulking portion 56 to axially secure the inner ring 55 relative to the wheel hub 51.
A double row rolling bearing outer member 52 is integrally formed with a body mounting flange 57b. The flange 57b forms part of a suspension apparatus 58. The inner circumference of the outer member 52 is formed with double row outer raceway surfaces 57a, 57a. The outer raceway surfaces 57a, 57a are arranged opposite to the double row inner raceway surfaces 51a, 55a. As can be appreciated, the double row rolling bearing 52 includes the wheel hub 51, the inner ring 55, and double row balls 59, 59, rollably contained between the inner and outer raceway surfaces 51a, 55a and 57a, 57a.
Hub bolts 53a are secured at four positions equidistantly arranged along the circumference on the wheel mounting flange 53 of the wheel hub 51. A brake rotor 60 and a wheel are secured on the wheel mounting flange by fastening nuts onto the hub bolts 53a. As shown in FIG. 14, the wheel mounting flange 53 of the wheel hub 51 is formed with bolt apertures 61 through which the hub bolts 53a are secured. Cut-out portions 62, each having a circular arc configuration, are formed on the outer circumference of the wheel mounting flange 53 between the bolt apertures 61 by avoiding the vicinity of each bolt aperture 61.
The cut-out portions 62 are formed so that a deepest portion 62a of each cut-out portion 62 is positioned radially inward of a pitch circle diameter A of the bolt apertures 61 and close to a line B connecting the centers of adjacent bolt apertures 61. In addition, the wheel mounting flange 53 is formed so that it has a thin thickness in a radially outward region 63 including the bolt apertures 61. The wheel mounting flange 53 has a normal thickness in a radially inward region 64, including the bolt apertures 61, so as to have sufficient bending rigidity. This prevents reduction of the bending rigidity of the wheel mounting flange 53 while attempting to reduce its weight (see e.g. Patent Document 1 mentioned below).
According to the prior art wheel bearing apparatus 50, both the prevention in the reduction of the bending rigidity of the wheel mounting flange 53 and achievement of a reduction of weight can be obtained by cutting out portions between of the hub bolts 53a. Thus, the wheel mounting flange 53 has a flower petal-like configuration and keeps the thickness of the radially inward region of the wheel mounting flange 53 normal. In addition, a wheel bearing apparatus 70 shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 is known to further reduce its weight. This wheel bearing apparatus 70 is used for various light weight vehicles such as light weight 4-wheel vehicle or small sized cars. The apparatus 70 includes an inner member 73 with a wheel hub 71 and an inner ring 72, an outer member 74, and double row balls 75, 75 rollably contained between the inner and outer members 73, 74.
The wheel hub 71 has an integrally formed wheel mounting flange 76 on one end. The wheel hub 71 is formed on its outer circumference with an inner raceway surface 71a. A cylindrical portion 71b axially extends from the inner raceway surface 71a. An inner ring 72 is press fit onto the cylindrical portion 71b. The inner ring outer circumference includes another inner raceway surface 72a. The inner ring 72 is axially secured by a caulked portion 71c. The caulked portion 71c is formed by plastically deforming the end of the cylindrical portion 71b radially outward.
Bolt apertures 76a are equidistantly formed along the outer circumference of the wheel mounting flange 76. Hub bolts 76b are press fit therein to fasten a brake rotor R and a wheel W.
The outer member 74 is formed with double row outer raceway surfaces 74a, 74a on its inner circumference. The outer raceway surfaces 74a, 74a are arranged oppositely to the double row inner raceway surfaces 71a, 72a. Double row balls 75, 75 are rollably contained between the outer and inner raceway surfaces 74a, 74a and 71a, 72a, via cages 77. Seals 78, 79 are mounted on both ends of the outer member 74. The seals 78, 79 seal annular openings formed between the outer and inner members 74 and 73.
As shown in FIG. 16, the wheel mounting flange 76 of the wheel hub 71 includes a plurality of radially extending partial flanges 80. Each flange 80 has a bolt aperture 76a at its tip end. A plurality of ridge-shaped reinforcing ribs 80a are formed on the inner surface of the wheel mounting flange 76, which is the opposite side of where a wheel is mounted.
The wheel mounting flange 76 is formed by a plurality of radially extending partial flanges 80. Each flange 80 has a bolt aperture 76 at its tip end. A plurality of ridge-shaped reinforcing ribs 80a are formed on the partial flanges 80. Thus, it is possible to reduce the weight of the wheel hub 71 and to improve the durability of the wheel hub 71 due to a reduction of stress caused in the wheel mounting flange as compared with a wheel hub provided with a circumferentially continuous wheel mounting flange (see e.g. Patent Document 2 mentioned below). Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 94905/2003. Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 119505/2005
As described above, the wheel bearing apparatus 50, 70 are intended to be used in small passenger car including light weight 4-wheel vehicle or small cars. The run-out of the wheel mounting flange 53, 76 is at most 100 μm or less when used in small cars even thought the wheel mounting flanges 53, 76 of the wheel hub 51, 71 are formed with a flower petal-like configuration or partial flanges 80. Accordingly, particular problems are not caused when the wheel hubs 51, 71 are used in small cars. However, requirement for reduction of NHV (noise vibration harshness) of a vehicle has been increased when they are used in middle or larger class passenger cars. Especially when they are used for wheel bearing apparatus for a front wheel, a highly accurate run-out of the wheel mounting flanges 53, 76 of 30 μm or less would sometimes be required.
Accordingly it has been required to have a flange configuration that can suppress the run-out of the wheel mounting flanges 53, 76 and reduce their weight without the influence of heat treatment applied to the wheel hubs 51, 71. In addition, the wheel mounting flanges 53, 76 are liable to bend when a bending moment is applied. Thus, the brake rotors 60, R will also bend. Although it is necessary to suppress the bending of the wheel mounting flange, the amount of bending of the wheel mounting flanges 53, 76 and accordingly the brake rotors 60, R would be larger than that of wheel mounting flanges having normal disc shaped configuration. This is due to the fact that regions between the hub bolts 53a, 76b are cut out and thus there is no material forming the continuous wheel mounting flange.


An apparatus for expanding metal and forming tubing combines two metal-forming operations into a single process. Tubing, such as that used for filters, is desirably expanded so that air or liquid may pass thru “diamonds” formed in the tubing. Expanding metal and forming tubing is accomplished in a single, continuous process by first slitting and expanding the metal, and then locking its seams to form a spiral pipe. This avoids depending on vendors for delivery of expanded metal at fluctuating prices, eliminates intermediate steps of handling the coils, and eliminates rusting while the expanded steel coils await formation into tubing. Tubing made from expanded metal may be used for air filters, oil filters, water filters, separators and other types of filters. Double-wall HVAC ducting systems or silencers can also use expanded material for reducing heat transfer and noise.

A large potential for small diameter spiral pipes exists in the filtration market, such as automotive oil and air filters, as well the HVAC market, such as insulated duct systems and silencers. These products typically have a perforated inner metal cylinder that is at least one inch diameter, and an outer cylinder mainly to support the filter medium, which is usually paper. Because pipes such as these need to be accurately and cleanly cut in large quantities, a forming and cutting apparatus is necessary. There are several known ways to form and cut a pipe. A pipe may be formed by spirally or helically by winding a continuous strip of metal, and joining adjacent edges of the wound strip to form a spiral lockseam in the pipe, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,742. In some pipe forming and cutting machines, the spirally formed pipe is cut by moving a knife outside the pipe into an overlapping position with a knife inside the pipe. Other types of spiral pipe forming and cutting machines use multiple knives or rotate the knives around the pipe to cut the pipe into sections, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,481.
The performance of the filter depends on the performance of the spiral pipe, typically an outlet at the center of the filter, where a strong flow of air or liquid is applied. A reliable and strong filter must be maintained to resist pressure and to insure functioning of the filter. An air filter consists of perforated inside and outside tubes with medium in-between. An end-cap closes one end of the filter, while the other end-cap closes the only medium surface, leaving a central area for inflow/outflow. The filter cleans by applying suction to the open-ended end-cap, drawing air through the filter medium, which retains debris.
Oil or liquid filters and separators typically have a solid outer tube and a perforated inner tube. The liquid to be filtered or separated is brought through one end between the outer tube and the medium. Under pressure, the liquid flows through the medium, which retains debris, and the liquid then flows through the perforated inner tube and leaves the filter. The filter element, or medium, is typically paper, but need not be, and may be made from any of a number of other materials.
In a double-wall HVAC system, the outer tube is solid and the inner tube is typically perforated. Insulation medium is inserted between the outer and inner tubes. The purpose of the medium is to reduce noise as well as heat transfer between the transported air and the outside environment. Silencers, made in a similar double-wall manner, are strategically placed into HAC ductwork systems to reduce noise. The perforations in the center pipe necessary for the filter to function may be achieved in several ways.
The strip or coil used for the central pipe may be perforated off-line, that is, in a separate operation. Of course, this requires separate operations for perforating the metal. Perforating off-line has some advantages, in that a stock of perforated sheet metal may be accumulated and stored for later use. This technique, however, also has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that expanded coil is usually purchased from a vendor with expensive expanding machinery, and the price of expanded metal is thus expensive compared to coilstock. Another disadvantage is that inventories of perforated coilstock may tend to accumulate, driving up inventory and thus adding additional manufacturing cost. Another disadvantage is that perforated steel tends to rust. The longer the inventory is kept, the more severe the problem may become. What is needed is a way of perforating the coilstock in a "just-in-time" manner. Such a technique would avoid the accumulation of inventories of coilstock, would prevent inventories from deteriorating, would help to keep manufacturing costs low, and would eliminate dependence on expanded metal suppliers, with delivery and price variations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Machine to produce expanded metal spirally lock-seamed tubing from solid coil stock


A fuel quill passageway assembly for an engine is disclosed. The engine includes a head pot; a cylinder head having an outer wall situated adjacent to the head pot, an inner wall, and a water jacket situated between the outer wall and the inner wall; and a fuel injector situated adjacent to the inner wall. The assembly may include a first sleeve extending through an aperture in the head pot toward an aperture in the outer wall of the cylinder head. The assembly may also include a second sleeve extending from the aperture in the outer wall of the cylinder head, through the water jacket, to an aperture in the inner wall of the cylinder head. Additionally, the assembly may include a seal joining the second sleeve to the first sleeve.

Engines such as, for example, two-stroke diesel engines are used in variety of applications. In some applications, it is desirable to equip the engines with common rail fuel injection systems, which may help reduce emissions. In such systems, a pump provides pressurized fuel to all fuel injectors of an engine using a common rail, which can be connected to each of the fuel injectors via respective fuel quills.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,907 to Dietrich et al. ("the '907 patent") discloses a cylinder head for an internal combustion engine. The cylinder head includes a cylindrical recess, which accommodates a pressure tube. The '907 patent discloses that the pressure tube carries fuel from an injection pipe, connected to an injection pump, to a nozzle holder with a fuel injection nozzle (i.e., a fuel injector).
Although the '907 patent discloses that a cylindrical recess of a cylinder head can be used to facilitate the carriage of fuel from a pump through the cylinder head to an injector, certain disadvantages may persist. For example, in some applications, including the cylindrical recess in a cylinder head may undesirably restrict coolant flow through a water jacket of the cylinder head. Additionally, in some applications (e.g., retrofit applications), it may not be possible to cost effectively produce a cylinder head with the cylindrical recess.
The assemblies and engines of the present disclosure may help address the foregoing problems.

Fuel quill passageway assembly for engine


The present invention relates generally to the field of organic chemistry and particularly to the nematic lyotropic liquid crystal solution and negative dispersion retardation plate for application in 3D liquid crystal displays. The negative dispersion retardation plate comprises a substrate, and at least one optically anisotropic retardation layer comprising a multi-component guest-host composition coated onto the substrate.

Optically anisotropic materials are of crucial significance in modern optical applications. The well-known achievements in information display technologies are based on development of anisotropic optical retardation layers made of materials such as liquid crystals (LC) and different types of functional polymers (Broer, D. J.; van Haaren, J. A. M. M.; van de Witte, P.; Bastiaansen, C. Macromol. Symp. 2000, 154, 1). The functional properties of these materials depend on their phase state. Symmetry of a particular bulk phase and its supramolecular structure define the macroscopic performance of a material—its optical, mechanical and other properties. One example is thermotropic liquid crystals. Depending on temperature, thermotropic liquid crystals can be in different thermodynamically stable phase states. However, it is only for the nematic phase that a set of bulk properties (allowed by symmetry) supports their ubiquitous application in optics and information displays. Thermotropic liquid crystal materials of a single type of molecule typically show a very narrow temperature range for the nematic phase (just a few ° C.). The problem was solved by developing liquid crystal mixtures, which in many instances can also be named as 'guest-host systems' (Bahadur, B. in Handbook of Liquid Crystals; Demus, D.; Goodby, J., Gray, G. W.; Spiess, H.-W., Vill, V. Eds.; Vol. 2A; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 1998, 257). Due to the 'guest-host' approach, the thermotropic liquid crystal materials provide the nematic phase in a temperature range larger than 100.C. Guest-host systems are well-known in supramolecular chemistry (Anslyn, E. V.; Dougherty, D. A. Modern Physical Organic Chemistry; John Wiley New York, 2006) and biology (Lodish, H.; Berk, A.; Kaiser, C.; Molecular Cell Biology, 6th ed.; Freeman, 2008). They are composed of two or more molecules or ions held together in unique structural relationships by forces other than those of full covalent bonds (Lodish, H.; Berk, A.; Kaiser, C.; Molecular Cell Biology, 6th ed.; Freeman, 2008). In liquid crystals, the phenomenon of dissolving and aligning of any molecule or a group of molecules such as dyes, impurities or even mesogenic molecules by a liquid crystal can be called a guest-host phenomenon (Bahadur, B. in Handbook of Liquid Crystals; Demus, D.; Goodby, J., Gray, G. W.; Spiess, H.-W., Vill, V. Eds.; Vol. 2A; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 1998, 257). The guest molecules couple to the anisotropic intermolecular interaction field of the liquid crystal, but can diffuse rather freely within the host. The essential feature is that a guest-host system is composed of a single material without phase separation. The ability of a material to form the nematic phase is very important for many reasons. For instance, the anisotropy of the viscous-elastic properties of the nematic phase allows fine alignment of the molecules on solid substrates by shear flow (Bobrov, Y.; Kuchenkova, O.; Kouznetsov, M.; Lazarev, P.; Manko, A.; Nazarov, V.; Ovchinnikova, N.; Paukshto, M.; Protsenko, P.; Remizov, S.; J. SID 2004, 12/2, 125). This way the optically anisotropic thin solid retardation layers can be deposited onto different substrates. Unfortunately, thermotropic liquid crystals demonstrate the nematic phase in a specific narrow temperature range. Thermotropic liquid crystals do not allow creating thin solid films with a controlled optical anisotropy.
In a typical LCD, the liquid crystal layer is placed between two polarizers. Off-axis contrast drop is one of the inherent drawbacks arising from the optical anisotropy of LC materials and a feature of the propagation of light through crossed polarizers. For instance, at oblique viewing directions, the light leakage can appear through the crossed polarizers, which increases with increasing off-axis angle. Thus the light leakage caused by both LC optical anisotropy and polarizers should be suppressed. This problem of cumulative off-axis contrast ratio decrease is solved using phase retardation plates comprising retardation layers which are produced from optically anisotropic materials. The appropriate retardation plates provide a small color shift and high off-axis contrast (contrast ratio at wide viewing angles) to the LCD. In the latter case coating is followed by solvent evaporation. Additional alignment procedures are involved such as application of an electric field or using alignment layers produced by rubbing or photo-alignment. This process can be used to manufacture uniaxial optical retardation layers with positive and negative optical anisotropy (Harding, R.; Parri, O.; Marden, S.; Skjonnemand, K.; Verrall, M.; Fiebranz, B. In Proceedings of IDW'06, Otsu, Japan, 2006; Society for Information Display: Q13 Campbell, Calif., 2006; p. 307), biaxial retarders for the successively coated layers (Tilsch, M. K.; Hendrix, K.; Tan, K.; Shemo, D.; Bradley, R.; Erz, R.; Buth, J. Thin Solid Films 2007, 516, 107, Seiberle, H.; Benecke, C.; Bachels, T. SID Symposium Digest 2003, 34, 1162), and optical retardation layers with complex space distribution of the local optical axes (tilted and splayed) for optical compensation of twisted nematic (TN) LCD mode (Oikawa, T.; Yasuda, S.; Takeuchi, K.; Sakai, E.; Mori H. J. SID 2007, 15/2, 133). Photo-aligning and a phase retardation function could be combined into a single material (Seiberle, H.; Bachels; T. Benecke, C.; Ibn-Elhaj, M. In Proceedings of IDW'06, Otsu, Japan, 2006; Society for Information Display: Campbell, Calif., 2006; p. 33). Ultraviolet (UV) curable materials can be used for high-resolution patterned retarders for transflective LCDs (Hasebe, H.; Kuwana, Y.; Nakata, H.; Yamazaki, O.; Takeuchi, K.; Tsai, J.-C. SID Symposium Digest 2008, 39, 1904).
Most of the phase retardation layers used in modern LCD technology is produced by means of mechanical stretching of the extruded or casted polymers. These materials possess the limited opportunity to control an optical anisotropy. Thus control of optical anisotropy is achieved by adjusting stretching parameters as well as by using special additives capable of increasing or suppressing the material anisotropy. A polymer phase retardation layer, for instance, can be attached to a PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) polarizer sandwiched between protective layers. On the other hand, retardation layers can combine both optical compensation and protective functions. For example, polycyclo-olefins are used for manufacturing of phase retardation layers for optical compensation of vertical alignment (VA) and in-plane switching (IPS) LCD modes, while at the same time supplying protective function. However, polycyclo-olefin based phase retardation layers as well as other hydrophobic polymeric materials have a problem of adhesion to the hydrophilic PVA layer. Besides, even in case of hydrophilic stretched phase retardation layers such as triacetylcellulose improving their performance is difficult due to limitations of the mechanical stretching process, especially for the manufacture of large screen displays.
Other drawback of the stretched retardation layers is their small optical anisotropy. Typically, the stretched retardation layers possess small optical anisotropy (Δn=0.001−0.005). The reason is that combined functions of retardation layer and PVA polarizer protection layer are usually reached if the plastic layer possesses mechanical strength achieved at certain thickness of about 50 μm. Such layer should also have high optical quality (e.g. low haze value) and be easily used in a technological process. An alternative to such 'thick' retardation layers is a thin coating realized on a plastic or glass substrate and embedded into a conventional polarizer or inside a LC cell, respectively. There is a large group of coatable retarders based on cross-linkable thermotropic liquid crystals. Production of such retardation layers comprises coating of a melt or solution onto a substrate. In the latter case, coating is followed by solvent evaporation. Additional alignment procedures are involved such as application of an electric field or using alignment layers produced by rubbing or photo-alignment. This process can be used to manufacture uniaxial optical layers with positive and negative optical anisotropy, biaxial retarders for the successively coated layers, and retardation layers with complex space distribution of the local optical axes (tilted and splayed) for optical compensation of twisted nematic (TN) LCD mode. Photo-aligning and phase retardation function could be combined into a single material. Ultraviolet (UV) curable materials can be used for high-resolution patterned retarders for transflective LCDs. An alternative, simple and cost-effective method of producing optical films is coating of LLC solutions, where small molecules are capable of self-assembling in columnar supramolecules. These compounds are also known as chromonics and consist of amphiphilic molecules with flat conjugated core and polar solubilising groups at the periphery. The self-assembly in aqueous solution is based on p-p interaction between aromatic cores and on the hydrophobic effect. The rod-like supramolecules in aqueous solution form the nematic type of liquid crystalline state, where the axes of the supramolecules within one domain are aligned along some preferable direction. In the course of deposition of a liquid crystalline solution onto a substrate (coating), an external shear force is applied and all supramolecules become aligned along the shear force direction. Such shear flow alignment is well known in thermotropic LCs and can be explained by anisotropy of the viscous-elastic properties of the nematic phase. Other approaches can be used in order to align LLC, for instance coating of lyotropic liquid crystalline solution onto the photo-aligned layer. Evaporation of solvent fixes the ordered structure, leading to formation of a solid birefringent film with macroscopic optical anisotropy. Molecules in these retardation layers are usually packed with their minimal polarizability axes along the coating direction corresponding to the minimal principal refractive index.
In order to solve the foregoing drawbacks, according to the present invention, there is provided lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) guest-host systems which allow creating thin solid retardation layers with a controlled optical anisotropy. While thermotropic liquid crystals show the nematic phase in a certain temperature range, the nematic phase of the disclosed lyotropic liquid crystals exists in a certain range of concentrations of materials in solution.

Negative dispersion retardation plate and achromatic circular polarizer


A godet for guiding at least one advancing yarn in a yarn processing operation. The godet comprises a tubular casing which is mounted for free rotation on a support by means of a plurality of bearings. At least one of the bearings is a radially operative magnetic bearing, which comprises a rotating part and a stationary part attached to the support, with a bearing gap formed between the parts. The stationary part includes at least one pole element with an excitation winding, and the rotating part is made of at least one laminated component of a magnetizable material which is fixed on the inner side of the tubular casing. The pole element and the laminated component cooperate for guiding a magnetic flux.

The invention relates to a godet for guiding at least one advancing yarn as part of a yarn processing operation, and which utilizes one or more radially operative magnetic bearings.
A godet of the described type is disclosed in DE 197 33 239 A1. In this prior godet, a hollow-cylindrical godet casing is magnetically mounted on a projecting support. To this end, a plurality of radially operative magnetic bearings are provided, which are basically formed by a rotating part and a stationary part. In this connection, one needs to distinguish between a passive magnetic bearing and an active magnetic bearing. The invention relates to the active, radially operative magnetic bearing, wherein the stationary part of the magnetic bearing is formed by at least one pole element, which mounts one or more windings. The pole elements include pole ends, which face the rotating part of the magnetic bearing in a bearing gap.
In the known godet, the rotating part of the magnetic bearing is formed by a shaft connected to the godet casing, or directly by the godet casing. In this case, the materials of the shaft or the godet casing must be of such a quality that a closed magnetic flux develops between the pole ends. This makes it necessary to select the materials for the shaft or godet casing, while taking into account a magnetization, and to consider the requirements for meeting the component functions. A further disadvantage of the known godet lies in that hysteresis losses or eddy current losses as well as possible leakage losses occur during the transition of the magnetic flux into the shaft or the godet casing. Such losses must be covered, if need be, by the driving power of the godet drive.
Likewise, the godet as disclosed in EP 0 770 719 A1 has similar disadvantages. In this case, the pole ends directly face the rotating components of the godet with a bearing gap.
It is an object of the invention to improve a godet of the initially described type by means of radially operative magnetic bearings such that the lowest possible losses occur in the magnetic bearings.
A further object of the invention is to minimize a mutual influence of the rotating components of the godet with the parts of the magnetic bearing.

Yarn guiding godet with magnetic bearings


Provided are a failure determination device and method for a rotating machine control device, which are capable of detecting failure of a sensor configured to detect a rotational position of a rotating machine while the rotating machine is in operation. A rotation angle estimator calculates a rotation angle estimation value. A relationship between the rotation angle estimation value (θest), and a first angle detection value (θ1) and a second angle detection value (θ2), which are obtained from output signals of angle sensors configured to detect a rotational position of a rotating machine, is monitored while the rotating machine is in operation. In this manner, failure of the angle sensors, which are configured to detect the rotational position of the rotating machine, can be always detected even while the rotating machine is in operation.

In Patent Literature 1, there are described an electric motor control method and an electric motor control device including: magnetic pole position estimation means for estimating a rotor magnetic pole position of an electric motor by supplying, to the electric motor including a rotor having an electrical saliency, a high frequency voltage or current for detecting the rotor magnetic pole position to measure a response current or voltage of the electric motor; a magnetic pole position sensor configured to detect a magnetic pole position of the electric motor; magnetic pole position detection means for obtaining the magnetic pole position from an output signal of the magnetic pole position sensor; initial position correction means for obtaining a difference between a magnetic pole position estimation value from the magnetic pole position estimation means and the magnetic pole position obtained by the magnetic pole position detection means to provide the difference as a correction value; and an inverter configured to correct a magnetic pole position signal obtained from the magnetic pole position detection means with use of the correction value provided from the correction means, to thereby control drive of the electric motor based on the corrected magnetic pole position.

Failure determination device for rotating machine control device and failure determination method


A rotating blade for a gas turbine engine is provided which is configured to uniformly diffuse cooling air from an internal cavity about the tip of the rotating blade. The rotating blade includes a secondary cavity interposed between an internal cavity and the peripheral edge of the blade tip, wherein the secondary cavity steps down the cooling air pressure, decreasing the momentum of the cooling air exiting the rotating blade tip. The cooling air is diffused about the tip of the rotating blade into cooling slots aligned along the peripheral edge, such that a sub-boundary layer of cooling air is built-up adjacent to surface of the airfoil.

This invention relates to turbomachinery, and the challenges involved in the production of power or propulsive thrust. In a piece of turbomachinery, like a gas turbine engine, air is pressurized in a compressor then mixed with fuel and burned in a combustor to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are expanded within the turbine section where energy is extracted to power the compressor and to produce useful work, such as powering a propeller for an aircraft in flight or turning a generator to produce electricity. The hot core gas travels through a series of turbine stages. A turbine stage may include a row of stationary vanes followed by a row of rotating blades. Each row within the turbine may include a number of airfoils. Each airfoil may be solid, or may contain one or more internal cavities surrounded by an external wall to reduce weight and/or to facilitate a means for internal cooling. The pressure and suction sides of the external wall extend between the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil. Stationary vane airfoils extend span-wise between inner and outer end walls, and the rotating blade airfoils extend span-wise between a platform (typically attached to a rotor disk or other rotary base) and the blade tip.
The stationary vanes and rotating blades of the gas turbine are exposed to high temperature gases, consisting of a mixture of combustion products and cooling and leakage air. In actual practice, the temperature of the gases exiting the combustor will typically exceed the capabilities of the materials used to fabricate the turbine components, necessitating the need for cooling methods to maintain metal temperatures within material specification limits. Generally, the hot gas flows around the pressure and suction side surfaces of the airfoil, from the leading edge to the trailing edge.
However, in the case of a rotating blade, some of the hot gas flows from the pressure side of the airfoil to the suction side through the gap necessarily formed by the rotating blade tip and the adjoining stationary blade outer air seal. Thus, the tip surfaces are exposed to the high temperature environment of the hot gas. During operation of the gas turbine engine, heating of the blade tips by the hot gas may lead to premature thermal distress or failure of the component. It is known in the art that the edges formed by the intersection of the airfoil and tip surfaces are subject to very high heat loads and are therefore predisposed to thermal distress. Because of the complexity and relative high cost of replacing or repairing the blades, it is desirable to prolong the life of the blade tips and respective blades as long as possible.
Air, typically bled off of a compressor stage at a lower temperature and higher pressure than the hot gas passing through the turbine section, may be used to cool the airfoils. The supplied air is generally at higher pressure and lower temperature than that of the hot gases surrounding the blade. Thus, the air extracted from the compressor provides the low temperature sink required for convection heat transfer and film cooling, while the difference in pressure provides the energy required to pass the cooling air through the stationary vane or rotating blade airfoil out to the surrounding gas flow. This use of cooling air permits increased turbine power output by allowing operation of the engine at higher gas temperatures. However, injection of cooling air into the turbine can also reduce gas turbine efficiency.
The gas turbine engine efficiency is, at least in part, dependant upon the extent to which the high temperature gases leak across the gap between the turbine blade tips and the seals or shrouds which surround them. The leakage quantity is typically minimized by positioning the radially-outward blade tip in close proximity to the outer air seal. However, differential thermal elongation and dynamic forces between the blade tip and outer air seal can cause rubbing therebetween. To accommodate this rubbing, abrasive tip treatments and/or squealer ribs, consisting of raised rails extending from the tip cap, may be employed. The squealer ribs are typically exposed to the hot combustion gases on multiple sides and are therefore difficult to cool.
It is therefore desirable to establish better cooling mechanisms along the surfaces of turbine blades, especially near the tip of rotating airfoils. Film cooling is one means to achieve this. A film of cooling air traveling along the surface of the airfoil transfers thermal energy away from the airfoil, increases the uniformity of cooling, and insulates the airfoil from the passing hot gas. However, film cooling is difficult to establish and maintain in the turbulent environment of the gas turbine engine. The presence of non-uniform pressure around the periphery of the airfoil further complicates the film cooling system. The film cooling system must function while discharging coolant to both the high and low pressure sides of the airfoil. In most cases, film cooling air is bled out of apertures extending through the external wall of the airfoil. The term "bled" reflects the small difference in pressure motivating the cooling air out of the internal cavity of the airfoil. However, many known film cooling systems are not efficient, and do not properly address the issues surrounding the cooling of the blade tip, at the edge or interface between the airfoil surfaces and the blade tip cap.
It is desirable therefore, to provide a system and method for cooling a turbomachine blade, and, in particular, to cool the tip region of a rotating airfoil.


A vehicle exhaust system includes a mixer assembly for a vehicle exhaust system. The mixer assembly includes a mixer housing that defines an internal cavity and which includes at least one injection opening. A manifold is positioned within the internal cavity at the injection opening. A primary injector is configured to inject fluid through the injection opening and into the internal cavity, and at least one secondary injector, which is separate from the primary injector, is configured to inject fluid into the internal cavity when operating temperatures fall below a predetermined level.

An exhaust system conducts hot exhaust gases generated by an engine through various exhaust components to reduce emissions and control noise. The exhaust system includes an injection system that injects a diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), or reducing agent such as a solution of urea and water for example, upstream of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst. A mixer is positioned upstream of the SCR catalyst and mixes engine exhaust gases and products of urea transformation such as ammonia. The injection system includes a doser that sprays the urea into the exhaust stream. The urea should be transformed as much as possible into ammonia (NH3) before reaching the SCR catalyst. As such, the droplet spray size plays an important role in reaching this goal. Larger droplets may not be able to sufficiently transform within more compact mixer configurations.
Additional areas of concern are raised under low temperature operating conditions. When exhaust gas temperatures fall below certain levels, the effectiveness of injected urea spray may be reduced and deposit formation may increase. As the industry moves toward providing more compact exhaust systems, solutions are needed to provide adequate transformation of urea into ammonia under high and low temperature operating conditions for mixers having reduced volumes.

Mixer and doser cone assembly with injector for low temperature conditions

Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies, USA, LLC


Methods of preparation of dry transfer graphics article. The article is self-weeding to transfer fine graphic images without the use of detackifying radiation, solvents, etc. One of the elements of the article is a carrier having a surface which is compatible with an adhesive having a low work to fracture. The article further comprises a graphic pattern formed on the adhesive.

Two of the most common methods of applying images to a substrate are by direct painting or screening, or by the use of die-cut, weeded, and premasked film. The former approach is time consuming and expensive, requiring relatively skilled labor, long application times, and can potentially contaminate adjacent areas. As for the latter, die-cutting and weeding represent substantial expenditures of time and money, and do not lend themselves to the manufacture and transfer of small images such as fine lines, halftones, etc. Such a system typically involves a polymeric film bearing a graphic design with a layer of adhesive under the graphic design protected by a liner. To provide the desired design, such films are die and/or "kiss cut". The resultant design is then bonded to a desired substrate via the adhesive layer after liner removal.
To overcome these noted deficiencies, much attention has been directed in the literature to the development of self-weeding, dry transfer assemblies.
Included in these approaches are those wherein adhesive is printed onto and only onto the graphic design, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,474 (Martin), 4,028,165 (Rosenfeld), and 4,421,816 (Arnold). This approach is difficult in that registration must be exact and as such is especially critical for the transfer of fine lines, halftone dots, etc.
Another approach includes that wherein the adhesive is applied over the entire surface of the support sheet and graphic design, relying on various mechanisms for adhesive cleavage at the edges of the image areas.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,225 (Reed et al.) and British Patent No. 959,670 (Mackenzie) disclose articles wherein adhesive shear is induced at the edges of the indicia to assist in differential transfer, by incorporation of a solvent or dispersing powder in the adhesive.
Others have used the concept of migrating components to advantage. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,309 (Shadbolt) a polar wax serves to lower the tack of adhesive not in contact with image areas while simultaneously unaffecting or minimally affecting adhesive in contact with image areas. U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,787 (Tordjman) discloses solvent migration as a means of disrupting the bond between the graphic indicia and the carrier, thereby allowing for the transfer of the indicia from the carrier to the substrate. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,544 (Piron) discloses the utility of material displacement from the ink into the adhesive to cause differential tackification of the image-contacting adhesive relative to the exposed adhesive.
Photosensitive peel-apart or wet-development articles have been reported that are especially useful for the development and preparation of small graphics. These articles require either irradiative or thermal imaging procedures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,179 (Bennett et al.) discloses the preparation of a dry transfer article wherein differential tack and transfer characteristics are achieved by photochemical means. Specifically, graphics are printed onto the surface of a low energy carrier such as polypropylene, and subsequent to drying and corona treatment, both graphics and carrier are overcoated with an actinic radiation-responsive adhesive. To facilitate differential tackification, the adhesive is exposed using the graphics as the exposure mask. The end result is a diminution or elimination of tackification of the exposed adhesive. The article upon use is burnished onto a substrate; subsequent removal of the carrier leaves the graphic design on the substrate while removing the adhesive not underlying the design due to this differential tackification.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,013,917 (Karlan et al.) and 4,111,734 (Rosenfeld) disclose dry transfer articles employing non-differentially tackified adhesives. The articles disclosed therein are made by printing ink on a low energy carrier to form a desired graphic pattern and overcoating the bottom side of the graphic pattern and the exposed portions of the carrier with an adhesive. Application to a substrate is provided by contacting the article to the substrate, applying pressure, and removing the carrier which desirably also removes the weed, i.e., non-image adhesive. When used with high dry tack adhesives, transfer articles comprising low energy carriers such as disclosed by Karlan and Rosenfeld typically do not reliably provide good weeding characteristics, i.e., the adhesive is not completely removed from the substrate. Therefore, such articles and typically require the use of low dry tack adhesives which in turn require high pressure or point pressure, i.e., 50 pounds/inch.sup.2 or more, to achieve graphic transfer to the substrate. Also, these references teach that the graphic pattern is formed by applying ink to the carrier such that the ink wets out the carrier. Thus, the ink is printed in indirect fashion. Furthermore, such graphic patterns may tend to be difficult to separate from the carrier, thereby resulting in incomplete transfer to the substrate and/or spoiling of the finish of the transferred graphic pattern.

Dry transfer graphics article method of preparation

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


There is disclosed a technique for accessing a register file which comprises defining a first register address as a plurality of bits and using said first register address to access said register file generating a second register address by using a sequence of said plurality of bits with at least one of said plurality of bits supplied via a unitary operator, the unitary operator being effective to selectively alter the logical value of said bit depending on its logical value in the first register address, and using said second register address to access said register file. A computer system for carrying out such a technique is also enclosed.

In computer systems it is conventional to define in each instruction to be executed a set of register addresses which are used to access a register file in the computer system. The register addresses normally include first and second source register addresses defining registers from which operands are extracted and at least one destination register address defining a register into which the results of an operation are loaded. Data processing instructions generally use the contents of the first and second source registers in some defined mathematical or logical manipulation and load the results of that manipulation into the defined destination register. Memory access instructions use the register addresses to define memory locations for loading and storing data to and from a data memory. In a load instruction, the source registers define a memory location from which data is to be loaded into the destination register. In a store instruction, the source registers define a memory location into which data is to be stored from the destination register.
Some computer systems have more than one execution channel. In such computer systems, each execution channel has a number of functional units which can operate independently. Both execution channels can be in use simultaneously. Sometimes, the execution channels share a common register file. It is useful in such architectures to provide instructions which simultaneously instruct both execution channels to implement a function so as to speed up operation of the processor. In such a scenario, a so-called long instruction may have two instruction portions each intended for a particular execution channel. Each instruction portion needs to define the register addresses for use in the function to be performed by the execution channel for which it is intended. In some cases both instruction portions may wish to define associated or the same register addresses. In these situations a long instruction needs to define two sets of register addresses, one for each execution channel.
It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the number of bits required in an instruction for accessing a register file, in particular in the context of multiple execution channels in a computer system.


An emergency backup power generation system includes a housing comprising a main body portion, a top cap, and a bottom cap. Inner and outer surfaces and the main body portion, the top cap, and the bottom cap define a generally hollow interior volume within the inner surface. A shaft within the housing is substantially perpendicular to the top cap and the bottom cap about a rotational axis. A plurality of air guides affixed to the outer surface of the housing are adjacent openings in the main body portion to admit and direct moving air. One or more vanes are coupled to the shaft and rotatable within the housing. An electrical generator is coupled to the shaft such that the electrical generator is operable to generate electrical power when moving air impinges on the vanes to thereby cause the shaft to rotate within the interior volume of the housing.

This invention relates to improvements in the field of power generation. In particular, this invention relates to an improved system and apparatus for generating emergency back-up power from wind.
Many power back-up generation systems are available to home and commercial markets. Indeed, the complex systems available to commercial entities are well developed, complex, and often very expensive. In particular, prior back-up systems have usually comprised some form of internal-combustion powered electrical generator combined with various power interruption detection systems. A significant disadvantage of such systems is the requirement for a fuel source, which requires periodic monitoring to determine viability. That is, fuels can easily become contaminated by water intrusion. Fuels such as propane and natural gas can escape and might therefore leave the system without fuel. Furthermore, internal-combustion back-up generators require frequent testing and maintenance to guarantee operability in the case of an emergency.
There are several conditions that limit the usability of internal combustion back-up power generation systems. Such systems cannot be operated in remote locations where fuel is not readily available, or in locations that have unsuitable environmental conditions such as extreme heat or cold. Other back-up systems such as photo-voltaic solar cells have similar limitations with regard to environmental conditions, and many such cells are rather fragile making them unsuitable for field operation. It would be desirable therefore, to provide advancements to the art that overcome these and other disadvantages.

System and apparatus for emergency backup power generation


An elevator includes an elevator car that has a horizontally movable car door leaf, a horizontally movable shaft door leaf, a car door locking mechanism encompassing a car door bolt and a bolt stop, and a coupling device that is connected to the car door leaf in order to transmit an opening movement or a closing movement from the car door leaf to the shaft door leaf. The coupling device has at least one movable entraining element which is brought in contact with an opposite element located on the shaft door leaf. A locking action of the car door locking mechanism depends on the cooperation of the coupling device with the opposite element. In each situation, the position of the car door bolt relative to the bolt stop exclusively depends on the position of the entraining element.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,977 discloses a door drive device for opening and closing car door leaves of an elevator car door, wherein the door drive device comprises a car door locking mechanism. The door drive device is activated by means of a crank drive and comprises two coupling devices for transmitting the opening and closing movement from the car door leaves to corresponding shaft door leaves. The coupling devices each comprise two entraining rails which are guided on the car door leaf on pivotable connector levers and which can interact with, in each case, two opposite elements on the corresponding shaft door leaves when the elevator car is located at the level of a floor. The horizontal distance between two associated entraining rails can be changed by pivoting the connector levers, wherein the pivoting movements of the connector levers are generated by the crank drive in such a way that, when doors are closed, a minimum horizontal distance is present and therefore no interaction takes place between the entraining rails of the car door leaves and the opposite elements of the shaft door leaves, and therefore an increased horizontal distance is produced between the entraining rails when the doors are not closed. When the elevator car is located at the level of a floor, the increased horizontal distance between the entraining rails brings about a play-free coupling between the entraining rails and the opposite elements of corresponding car door leaves or shaft door leaves, wherein the horizontal distance between the entraining rails, and therefore the pivoting position of the connector levers, is limited by the opposite elements. If no such limitation takes place because the elevator car is not located at the level of a floor, there is a resulting increase in the specified horizontal distance and therefore in the pivoting travel of the connector levers. One of the pivoting levers has an extension which interacts with a stop (secured to the door frame) in such a way that the opening of the assigned car door leaf is blocked, when the specified horizontal distance between the entraining rails and therefore the pivoting position of the connector levers is not limited by the opposite elements on the corresponding shaft door leaf.
The door drive device which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,977, and which has a simple and cost-effective car door locking mechanism, has the disadvantage that the car door locking mechanism acts only when a triggered coupling process has not brought about coupling between the entraining rails and the opposite elements, because the elevator car is located above or below the level of a floor. The regulation which is contained in elevator standards, and which requires a car door locking mechanism to prevent any opening process outside the level of a floor in certain embodiments of the elevator system, is not satisfied by this car door locking mechanism.
Patent EP 0 332 841 B1 discloses a door drive device with a coupling mechanism for coupling a car door leaf to an assigned shaft door leaf. The coupling mechanism comprises two entraining runners which are oriented parallel to the direction of travel of the elevator car, and the distance between which can be adjusted by means of a parallelogram guide with two adjustment elements which can each pivot about a pivoting axis. When the elevator car is located at the level of a floor within permissible misalignments, the two entraining runners are located between two opposite elements arranged one next to the other on the shaft door leaf, and said entraining runners can be made to approach the latter laterally (can be spread) in order, on the one hand, to unlock the shaft door leaf and, on the other hand, to transmit the opening movement and closing movement of the car door without play and synchronously to the shaft door leaf. The distance adjustment between the two entraining runners is carried out here by means of a door drive unit which is attached to the car door frame, via a linearly acting drive means (for example by means of a belt drive) which also brings about the closing movements and opening movements of the car door leaf. In the process, the drive means engages, via a pivoting lever connected to the adjustment elements of the parallelogram guide, on the car door leaf in such a way that, before the start of a door leaf opening movement, the adjustment elements are pivoted, by the opening movement of the linearly acting drive means, into a position in which the entraining runners are made to approach the opposite elements, and as a result unlock the shaft door leaf and form the specified coupling between the car door leaf and the corresponding shaft door leaf.
At the end of a door leaf closing movement, the adjustment elements are pivoted, by the closing movement of the linearly acting drive means, back into a position in which the entraining runners are spaced apart from the opposite elements, so that the locking mechanism of the shaft door leaf returns to its locking position.
EP 0 332 841 B1 also discloses a device for unlocking the bolt of a car door locking mechanism which is intended to ensure that the car door is unlocked automatically only if the car door is located opposite a shaft door of the elevator.
For this purpose, one of the entraining runners has a sensing runner in the region of its outer runner face, i.e. the runner face which interacts with the corresponding opposite element on the shaft door leaf (coupling roller). Said sensing runner extends parallel to the entraining runner, and is connected thereto by means of connector springs in such a way that in the unloaded state said sensing runner is spaced apart from the entraining runner by several millimeters. The contact force which is applied to the sensing runner during a coupling process (entraining spreading) by the opposite element causes said sensing runner to move counter to the spring force of the connector springs in the direction of the entraining runner. The sensing runner has a cam which transmits its movement, brought about by the opposite element, with respect to the entraining runner and therefore with respect to the car door leaf to a car door bolt which is mounted on this car door leaf, and said cam unlocks the car door leaf. If a door opening command is issued and resulting spreading of the entraining runners of the coupling mechanism occurs when the door of the elevator car is not located opposite a shaft door, the entraining runners, like the sensing runner, do not enter into contact with one of the opposite elements on the shaft door leaves. The sensing runner is therefore not moved against the entraining runner, and the car door bolt remains in its locking position. A sensor which monitors the position of the car door bolt additionally prevents the door drive motor from switching on.
The illustrated coupling mechanism with a car door unlocking mechanism requires on one of the entraining runners a sensing runner which can move relative to the latter and is guided in parallel, which is associated with a high degree of expenditure in terms of material and fabrication. The relatively small sensing travel of the sensing runner requires a lever system with a large transmission ratio, in order to generate sufficient unlocking travel at the car door bolt. This requires the coupling device and the car door unlocking device to be fabricated with high precision. Furthermore, jolt-like accelerations of the car door bolt result from the large transmission ratio when the sensing runner strikes against the opposite element, and this can result in undesired noises.
A further device for coupling a car door leaf of an elevator car to a corresponding shaft door leaf, which device interacts with a car door locking mechanism, is known from EP 1 541 517 A1. The method of functioning of said device corresponds largely to that of the device according to EP 0 332 841 B1 which is described above. In contrast to the device according to EP 0 332 841 B1, a sensing runner is not arranged on an entraining runner in the device according to EP 1 541 517 A1, but instead the function of the sensing runner is integrated into one of the entraining runners. This is implemented by virtue of the fact that this entraining runner is connected via joint elements to the pivotable adjustment elements, which through their pivoting movement change the distance between the entraining runners.
The device known from EP 1 541 517 A1 has essentially the same disadvantages as those mentioned above in conjunction with the device according to EP 1 541 517 A1.

Elevator door system comprising a car door locking mechanism


A method includes detecting an error by matching an error case definition to a message, determining whether an object associated with the message corresponds to the detected error, and based on a result of the determination, selectively generating a detected error report that includes information related to the message and the associated object.

The following description relates to detecting and handling errors in a database.
Large volumes of customer data may be logged by a business, e.g., collected and stored in a database coupled to a computer system. For example, the data logged may relate to a consumer's use or purchase of a product (e.g., an electrical utility may collect and store energy consumption information from customers of the utility). During or after collection of the data, the data may be processed to determine customer billings, customer usage of a service, purchasing information, etc.
The customer data collected in the database may be processed by executing object-oriented programs ("objects"). Each object includes a definition of the data from the database that is described by the object. Each object may also include instructions ("logical sequences") to manipulate the data included in the object. As an example, a "payment method A" billing object for an electric utility business typically defines data from the database that is to be included in a billing document. In this example, the utility company's billing object includes instructions that determine the peak power demand for each customer and generates a bill, for example, at $10/power unit if the demand is above a certain value, and otherwise generates a bill at $7/power unit. Following the execution of the billing object, an invoicing object may be executed to determine what each customer is required to pay by determining additions and/or subtractions for taxes, credits, rebates, etc. During execution of either the billing object or the invoicing object errors may be detected due to missing information in the database and/or improper object definitions (e.g., incorrect data information or instructions in an object). For example, the invoicing object may include instructions for a company, "company B" that has not been defined as having a "payment method A" billing object. Therefore, when executed, the invoicing object will generate an error message such as "Payment method A not available for company code B".
In some cases, objects are associated with a particular business and referred to as "business objects".


A fold down device for the windscreen of a vehicle and in particular for an armored windscreen, wherein said device incorporates two uprights hinged by a first end to the structure of the cab of said vehicle, each of said uprights being placed in the vicinity of the lateral edge of said windscreen, said windscreen being linked to each of said uprights by a connecting rod that is hinged on one side to the second end of each of said uprights and on the other to said windscreen.

1. Field of the Invention
The technical scope of the invention is that of folding devices for vehicle windscreens.
2. Description of the Related Art
For reasons of transport convenience, certain vehicles need to be able to lower all or part of their windscreen. This enables a lesser volume to be obtained, or for example, enables auxiliary equipment to be passed through without interfering with the windscreen.
This is the case in particular for artillery mounted on carrier trucks and for which during air transport phases the gun barrel needs to be lowered into a substantially horizontal position causing the gun barrel to pass through the cab which is only possible if the windscreen is folded down.
This type of lowering device is also well known on vehicles such as the well-known Jeep or others described by patent GB592272. On this type of device, the glass part of the windscreen is integral with a frame or with uprights that are hinged with respect to the vehicle's structure thanks to a horizontal pivot link that is located below the lower edge of the glass part. This pivot link enables the windscreen to be lowered onto the hood of the vehicle by simple rotation of the glass part.
However, on certain vehicles, and namely on military armored vehicles, the windscreen incorporates very thick armored glass. This thickness does not enable the positioning of a hinge on its lower edge to enable the windscreen to fold down since the over-thickness of the windscreen would interfere with the vehicle hood.
Furthermore, it is sometimes impossible for reasons of its integration into the vehicle to position a rotational axis for the windscreen below the latter.
By way of example, FIG. 1 shows a configuration to mount a windscreen 4 onto a vehicle 1 whose structure incorporates a cab 2 with a front hood 3. This windscreen 4 incorporates an armored glass part 4a that is relatively thick and integral with a frame 5.
Note that, in this configuration, the lower edge 5a of the frame is very close to the front hood 3. It is not possible to place a hinge below this lower edge 5a.
If, on the contrary, a rotational pivot 6 is positioned integral with the cab structure and above the lower edge 5a, it is clear that the windscreen 4 cannot be folded down around this pivot 6 since the lower edge 5a will mechanically interfere with the cab.