A snow skate is disclosed which provides improved control and skate-like performance, particularly on hard-pack or icy surfaces. The snow skate has edges which increasingly project from the central flat region of the ski to the forward area. Preferably this is achieved by making the base increasingly concave forward and rearward from a central generally flat region.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of equipment for descending snow-covered slopes, and more particularly to the design and construction of snow skates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional snow skis have a length typically greater than 1 meter. Short skis from 60 to 100 cm. referred to as "skiboards", SNOW-BLADES™ or Big Foot™ skis are popular as a novelty for skiers who wish to retain the skiing experience but with a more easily maneuverable ski. They tend to be difficult to control in hard or icy conditions. As well, skiboards are unstable at speed when ridden flat due to their sidecut. Further, they do not attempt to emulate the performance of ice skates which allow a user to both track a straight line or arcs of varying radii, turn and stop sharply or accelerate on a hard surface.
Many attempts have been made at designing snow skates which are not much longer than the user's foot. U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,116 to Kinsley discloses a snow skate having a length comparable to a roller skate for use on snow or ice and having a runner with beaded edges and a central guide. On snow the skate runs on the full lower surface of the runner while on ice it rides on the beaded edges. French patent no. 1,071,142 issued Mar. 3, 1954 to Henrich discloses a ski from 50 to 65 cm. in length for use on ice-fields, glaciers and the like and having downwardly projecting metal edges extending along either edge thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,859 to Perry discloses a metal ski of about 91.5 cm. in length having grooves along the bottom of either lateral edge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,046 to Fleckenstein discloses a plastic ski of about 51 cm. in length with a flat base and no metal edges for use in trick skiing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,291 to Gauer discloses a short ski of about 80 cm. in length in which the base is substantially convex from front to rear and from side to side for ease of pivoting and spinning.
One problem with prior snow skates is that they do not provide adequate control for the skier on hard or icy surfaces as well as soft surfaces. There is therefore a need for a pair of snow skates which has good handling characteristics on such surfaces and can combine the performance characteristics of ice skates on hard surfaces with the performance of skis on soft snowy surfaces of varying inclination.


A lamp synchronization signal may be used in an LCOS imaging environment, such as a projection system.

Optical projection systems, such as televisions and computer monitors, use cathode ray tubes (CRTs) as displays. A liquid crystal on silicon, or LCOS, light modulator, is an alternative display component that has some advantages over CRTs. In particular, LCOS light modulators are flat, thus occupying less space, and use less power than CRTs.
LCOS displays or panels consist of layered components that form an array of individual pixels, typically numbering a million or more. A transparent surface layer of glass or plastic substrate is disposed over a middle layer of liquid crystal material, which is further supported by an underlying layer of silicon substrate, also known as a backplane. The transparent layer supports transparent electrodes on its inward surface, which are typically formed from indium tin oxide (ITO). Across the liquid crystal, metal electrodes are disposed on the silicon backplane. The metallic backplane serves both electrical and optical functions. These electrodes are patterned, with a reflecting mirror, or micro-mirror, allocated for each pixel.
When a voltage is applied across the electrodes of an individual pixel, the liquid crystal material therein may change, producing a refractive index response. When the panel is illuminated with polarized light, the refractive index can be used to form a pixel's display intensity. The intensity of the light that is ultimately displayed is thus modulated by the voltage supplied to the panel, and this modulation takes place independently at each pixel. The voltage supplied to the LCOS pixels may be analog or digital.
Particularly for LCOS projection systems, a high-intensity, stable light source is typically used to illuminate the LCOS panel. Some LCOS projection systems include ultra-high pressure (UHP) arc lamps to provide the high-intensity light. UHP arc lamps also consist of two electrodes, in this case, embedded in a gas medium. When the lamp receives power, an electrical arc is generated between the two electrodes, producing the high-intensity light.
The arc, an ionized gas or plasma formation within the arc lamp, is not always stable. Sometimes, the plasma medium will form into a ball that is near one of the electrodes. In other cases, the ball randomly jumps between the electrodes, causing the resulting light to flicker. The gap width (electrode separation) of the arc may widen over time. Since the gap width affects overall display brightness, keeping the arc stable is highly desirable for bright display products.
One way to improve the stability of a UHP arc lamp is to supply the lamp with a short, periodic change in current, or pulsed over-drive current, instead of a continuous current. The pulsed over-drive current, or overdrive pulse, stabilizes the arc in the lamp, known herein as a pulse stabilized arc lamp. However, a temporary and periodic increase in the lamp intensity also occurs.
Some LCOS panels are supplied with pulse width modulated (PWM) signals. For a PWM LCOS projection system that uses a pulse stabilized arc lamp, the periodic increase in lamp intensity produces a noticeable and objectionable variation, or flicker, in the displayed image, due to the beat frequency between the image update or refresh rate and the stabilization pulse rate in the LCOS display. The lamp phenomenon may also produce tone scale corruption in the display. Overdrive pulses generally do not occur in all PWM cycles. As a result, with no correction, there is a perceptual brightness difference between tones formed in PWM cycles that receive an overdrive pulse and tones formed in non-overdrive pulse PWM cycles. A recalculation of the PWM duty cycle may re-adjust the tone. Other display technologies, such as micromirror-based projectors, which also use PWM, may experience similar problems with pulse stabilized arc lamps.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a way to use a pulse stabilized arc lamp in a PWM-based display with reduced image flicker.

Synchronization of lamp stabilizing pulses with frame rates of PWM LCOS devices


Noise may be filtered or attenuated from seismic data by building a four-dimensional volume using the acquired seismic data and then applying a random noise attenuation filter to the four-dimensional volume. The dimensions of the four-dimensional volume may include a trace number dimension, a time dimension, a shot number dimension, and a cable number dimension. The random noise attenuation filter may filter portions of the acquired seismic data if the seismic data is not correlated with respect to other seismic data in the four dimensional volume.

1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to methods and systems for attenuating noise in seismic data.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to methods and systems of processing seismic data. Seismic data may be acquired in a seismic survey. In a seismic survey, a source may be activated to generate energy, which may be reflected back by the earth's sub-surface layers. The resultant seismic wavefields may be sampled by an array of seismic receivers disposed at a distance from the seismic source. Each receiver may be configured to acquire seismic data, which is normally in the form of a record representing the value of some characteristic of the seismic wave field against time. The data received by a receiver and then recorded are collectively called a seismogram. Information about the earth's sub-surface can be obtained from the acquired seismic data.
In addition to information about the earth's sub-surface, the acquired seismograms or records may contain noise. The noise may reduce the accuracy of the information about the earth's sub-surface obtained or derived from the seismic data. The noise may come from various sources. For example, noise may be acquired in marine seismic data acquisition due to waves propagating along streamers used during marine seismic data acquisition. Noise may also be acquired during land seismic data acquisition from sources such as ground-roll or air-waves.
In some circumstances, a portion of the noise may be filtered from a record and the resulting filtered record may be used to obtain information about the earth's sub-surface. Using a filtered record, rather than an unfiltered record, may increase the accuracy of the information about the earth's sub-surface derived from the records.
Although noise filtering may attenuate some of the noise from a record, the level of attenuation, or the amount of noise filtered from the record may not be sufficient. That is, the filtered record may still contain some noise, and thus the filtered record may not increase the accuracy of the information regarding the earth's sub-surface to an acceptable level. Therefore, there exists a need for methods or systems designed to reduce more noise or do a better job of attenuating noise from seismic data.


A method of supplying water using a natural water pipeline includes withdrawing impaired water from an impaired water body connected to a waterway and treating the impaired water from the impaired water body to produce treated water. The method also includes discharging the treated water into the waterway and conveying the treated water via the waterway to one or more locations proximate to one or more remote operational facilities that withdraws water from the waterway at the one or more locations. The method further includes receiving a monetary value from one or more operational entities operating the one or more remote operational facilities and providing at least a portion of one or more water access rights to the one or more operational entities in exchange for the monetary value.

Many end users, such as utility companies, pipeline companies, and municipalities withdraw water from natural water bodies of fresh water for daily use. Some end users, such as natural gas companies, municipalities, and pipeline companies, use large amounts of water during their daily operations. For example, natural gas companies may use water in a technique known as hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracing. Fracing includes creating fissures in rocks (e.g. shale) under the surface by a pressurized fluid made up of water, sand and additives to release petroleum, gas (e.g. natural gas) or other substances into a wellbore to be collected at the surface. A typical natural gas well requires a continuous flow of fresh water to operate and may use 3.5 million gallons of water per fracing event. Fracing events may occur multiple times per year, resulting in a large ratio (typically 25-30%) of the cost of operation for the gas company.
The end users typically operate proximate to a fresh water supply, such as a river or stream, to retrieve the continuous flow of fresh water needed for operation. Conditions of the fresh water supply may change during the year, however, which limits or prevents use of the fresh water supply for distribution to the end users. For example, government restrictions (e.g. pass-by restriction) prevent the end users from using the fresh water supply (e.g. a river) if the water supply moves below a certain wa Harleysvilleter level, such as from drought conditions.
To avoid shut down during times when the end users are prevented, or otherwise limited, from using the fresh water (e.g. from pass-by restriction), water from other sources, such as treated water may be transported by truck or pipeline to the end user. The treated water often originates from impaired water bodies, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) water bodies and mine pool water bodies. Conventional systems and methods of supplying water from impaired water bodies include trucking the impaired water and piping the impaired water from the impaired water supplies to treatment and/or storage facilities either at the operation sites or at a remote location from which the treated water is shipped. In either case, costly trucking or piping is used in at least one phase of moving impaired water to the treatment facility and/or the operation sites.
These conventional systems and methods for supplying the water from impaired water bodies are typically inefficient and expensive alternatives. A more efficient and environmental friendly system and method of supplying water to the end users is needed.

Natural pipeline water conveyance system and method


Door arrangement, more particularly a sliding door arrangement of an automatic door of an elevator or of a building, which comprises a door panel, and a guide arrangement for controlling the path of movement of the door panel, which guide arrangement comprises at least one guide connected to the aforementioned door panel, and a guide rail, closely along which the aforementioned guide is arranged to move, and from which guide rail the guide takes lateral support force with respect to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail. The guide comprises a first guide roll for taking the support force from the guide surface of the guide rail on the side of a first side of the guide, and a second guide roll for taking support force from the guide surface of the guide rail on the side of a second side of the guide.

Roller guide shoes or sliding guides connected to a door panel are used in the prior-art sliding doors of an elevator or of automatic doors for guiding the door panel, which guide shoes or sliding guides guide closely following a guide rail by taking support force that is lateral with respect to the direction of movement of the guide from the guide rail. The guides are generally disposed on the top edge and/or on the bottom edge of the door panel. The guide rails are generally disposed in the floor of the building or corresponding or in the door header of the door opening.
The type of sliding doors with sliding guides, in which support force is taken from a guide rail with only a sliding guide that moves in a guiding groove, are known in the art. Sliding parts, however, wear quickly and a problem therefore is rapid impairment of the quality, e.g. the evenness, of the slide.
Also known in the art are the type of sliding doors with roller guide shoes, in which the roll of the guide is between two guide rail surfaces, guided by both of which the roll in question is arranged to guide the sliding door supported on the guide rail surface of that side, to which the roll is closest at the time. This type of solution is presented in, among others, publication JP2002308556A. One problem with these types of solutions is the continuously repeated change of rotation direction of the roll, which change always occurs when the roll swings in the lateral direction from the guidance of a first guide rail surface to a second. This increases the wearing of the surface and bearing of the roll and at its worst might cause noise. It is advantageous to dimension the roll to travel close to both guide rail surfaces. A problem in this case is also that, e.g. as a result of becoming dirty, the roll is not necessarily able to rotate freely and starts to slide against the surfaces of the guide rail, thus being in contact with the surface of two guides at the same time, which might increase the wearing.
A problem in all these solutions is that as the primary guide element (roll or sliding shoe) of a guide wears, its dimensions change so that the clearances of the guide increase to be such that the sliding door no longer travels evenly and might produce noise. After the occurrence of this wearing problem, the sliding guide part must be replaced very quickly, because the sliding guide quickly loses its usability completely.


In general, an Internet gateway assigns an address to a node of an ad-hoc network on receipt of request for an address assignment. However, a load exerted to the Internet gateway increases. Accordingly, one (proxy node) of the nodes of an ad-hoc network can serve as a proxy node to perform an address assignment function of the Internet gateway. That is, if a node of the ad-hoc node does not receive an advertisement message, it requests the Internet gateway for address assignment to perform the proxy node function. The node is assigned with at least two addresses from the Internet gateway, and then assigns the address to the requesting node. Accordingly, a load exerted to the Internet gateway can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ad-hoc network, and more particularly, to a method for assigning an address to a node of the ad-hoc network upon being requested by the node.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general mobile communication system, a mobile element transmits and receives data to and from a base station. The mobile element and the base station directly transmits and receive data to and from each other without relaying the data to another node. In an ad-hoc network, however, when a source node transmits data to a destination node, it uses another node to transmit the data to the destination node.
The ad-hoc network is a self-configuring network of mobile nodes. The nodes are free to move randomly, and thus, the ad-hoc network changes rapidly and unpredictably. In the ad-hoc network, the nodes are communicable with each other without being supported by an existing mobile communication system, and have no limitation in a communication range if supported by multiple hops.
For various applications of the ad-hoc network, methods for connecting with a server (Internet) have been discussed. Among them, a method of connecting the ad-hoc network to the server using an Internet gateway (IG) has been currently discussed.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a conventional ad-hoc network 100, a router 120, a server 130 and an IG 110 connecting the ad-hoc network 100 and the router 120.
The ad-hoc network 100 consists of a plurality of nodes. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the ad-hoc network 100 consists of nodes 1 to 7. The nodes 1 to 7 are connected with the IG 110 through a wireless network, and the IG 110 is connected to the server 130 via the router 120. The IG 110 transmits data received from the nodes 1 to 7 to the server 130 and also transmits data received from the server 130 to the nodes 1 to 7.
In order to communicate with the IG 110, the nodes 1 to 7 of the ad-hoc network 100 each has to be assigned with an address from the IG 110. The IG 110 selects one of assignable addresses when being requested for the address assignment from the nodes 1 to 7, and transmits the selected addresses to the requesting node. The address assigned from the IG 110 is usable only in the ad-hoc network. This means that the address is a local address. Suppose that the same local address is used at least two ad-hoc networks. When two nodes are assigned with the same local address and communicate with the server 130, the server 130 cannot distinguish the two nodes.
As described above, the ad-hoc network 100 consists of the plurality of nodes 1 to 7, and the IG 110 assigns an address to a node requesting for address assignment. Since the nodes are free to move in the ad-hoc network 100, the nodes may request the IG 110 for the address assignment at the same time. In this case, the IG 110 has to respond to the all requests for the address assignment from the nodes. Simultaneously, the IG 110 has to relay data between the nodes of the ad-hoc network 100 and the server 130. However, since the IG 110 performs the address assignment function and the data relaying function simultaneously, it is very likely subjected to an excessive load. Accordingly, a method for reducing the load exerted to the IG 110 has been demanded.

Method for address assignment in ad-hoc network


High-pressure static seals and pressure vessels with static seals for containing fluid at high pressures are shown and described. Embodiments of the invention allow a plug to be easily, manually inserted into and removed from the pressure vessel. A metallic ring in the seal is configured to expand under pressure to prevent an O-ring in the seal from being extruded into a gap between the plug and the vessel wall, but not to expand so much as to cause galling or similar damage when the seal moves with respect to the wall under elevated pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluid seals, and in particular, to devices and systems for sealing fluids at very high pressures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sealing fluids at extremely high pressures, i.e., pressures in excess of 15,000 psi, can be extremely difficult and complicated. FIG. 5 illustrates a high pressure seal according to the prior art. In the illustrated example, a plug 10 is engaged with a cylinder wall 12 having a circular mouth. An exterior surface 14 of the plug 10 is closely conformed to an interior surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12. A circular gap 18 is formed between the plug 10 and the cylinder wall 12. An annular recess 20 is formed in the external surface 14 of the plug 10 at a distal end 22 of the plug.
A metallic ring 24 with a triangular cross-section is positioned within the recess 20 with its right-most edge 26 abutting a complementary angled wall 28 of the recess. The metallic ring 24 is sized to slide with the plug 10 with respect to the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12 when the system is not pressurized. This allows the plug 10 to be inserted and removed from the cylinder wall 12 to provide access to a cavity 30.
A polymeric backup ring 32 (sometimes referred to as a seal) is positioned to the left of the metallic ring 24, as viewed in FIG. 5. An angled, left-most edge 34 of the metallic ring 24 abuts a complementary tapered edge 36 on the polymeric backup ring 32.
An O-ring 38 is positioned on the side of the polymeric backup ring 32 opposite the metallic ring 24. The O-ring 38 is large enough to extend from the recess 20 to the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12. The O-ring 38 seals the cavity 30.
When a fluid in the cavity 30 is pressurized, the O-ring 38 is urged against the polymeric backup ring 32 which, in turn, is urged against the metallic ring 24. The tapered edge 36 of the polymeric backup ring 32 presses against the angled, left-most edge 34 of the metallic ring 24, creating an upward force that urges the metallic ring against the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12. In addition, as the metallic ring 24 is urged toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 5, the wall 28 of the recess 20 also urges the right-most edge 26 of the metallic ring upward against the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12. In addition, the pressurized fluid operates on the left-most edge 34 of the metallic ring 24, adding to the force urging the metallic ring against the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12.
As a result of the combined forces described above, the metallic ring 24 is urged against the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12 with a very high force. As a result, the force the metallic ring 24 exerts on the internal surface 16 is so great that relative movement between the two galls and scratches one or both of the contacting surfaces.
When the fluid in the cavity 30 is pressurized to extremely high pressures (i.e., over 15,000 psi), or more so when the fluid is pressurized to even greater pressures (e.g., over 75,000 psi or over 100,000 psi), the cylinder wall 12 expands outward and the plug 10 compresses toward the right as viewed in FIG. 5. The expansion and movement of these parts results in relative movement between the metallic ring 24 and the internal surface 16 of the cylinder wall 12. Every time the pressure in the cavity 30 is cycled, the metallic ring 24 expands and contracts, further galling and scratching either the metallic ring and/or the cylinder wall 12. Eventually, scratches or other damage allows fluid to escape from the cavity 30, ultimately resulting in seal failure. In addition, it has been recorded that after a number of cycles, the metallic ring 24 can become lodged against the cylinder wall 12, requiring further repair and replacement of parts of the system.
Attempts have been made to coat the metallic ring 24 with materials that prevent or delay damage. It has been found, however, that such coatings are only temporary and, ultimately, the metallic ring 24 again fails, as described above.
The present invention is directed toward seals and seal systems for use with high pressure fluid containment systems. Embodiments of the invention allow a plug or other closure to be easily, manually engaged with and disengaged from a pressure vessel, while affecting a fluid seal at extreme elevated pressures. Embodiments of the invention will not scratch or gall the seal or the internal surface of the pressure vessel, and will not become lodged within the pressure vessel, as were commonly experienced with prior art seals.
One embodiment of the present invention incorporates a metallic ring having inner and outer surfaces. The inner surface is adapted to be received within a recess in a plug or other closure, and the outer surface is adapted to closely conform with an internal surface of a mouth on a pressure vessel. The maximum unstressed diameter of the metallic ring is equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the mouth to allow the closure to be manually inserted into and removed from the mouth when fluid in the pressure vessel is not pressurized. An edge on the metallic ring is adapted to sealingly conform to a complementary edge on the recess when the seal is subject to an elevated pressure. The metallic ring is made from a material having a modulus of elasticity that is sufficiently low such that, when the fluid is pressurized, the fluid pressure expands the metallic ring against the wall of the pressure vessel with a force sufficient to prevent extrusion of an O-ring. At the same time, however, the modulus of elasticity of the material of the metallic ring is small enough such that the force between the metallic ring and the wall is insufficient to generate a shear load great enough to gall the metallic ring when the metal ring moves with respect to the wall.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the seal incorporates a metallic ring having an inner surface, an outer surface, and an edge similar to those described above. In this embodiment, however, the metallic ring has a specific width that is selected to provide a desired pressure area. The width corresponds to the portion of the outer surface that contacts the wall of the pressure vessel. In the present invention, the width is large enough such that, when the fluid is pressurized, the metallic ring expands against the wall of the mouth with a force sufficient to prevent O-ring extrusion. At the same time, however, the width is small enough such that the force is insufficient to generate a shear load great enough to gall the metallic ring when the metallic ring moves with respect to the internal surface.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the metallic ring incorporates a first ring and a second ring. The first ring can be configured according to either of the above embodiments. The second ring is spaced apart from the first ring and is configured to retain at least one O-ring in the space between the first and second rings. In some alternate embodiments of this invention, the first and second rings are connected by an elongated neck of metallic material. The length and thickness of the neck are selected such that the mass of the second ring does not adversely affect the performance of the first ring.
The present invention is also directed toward pressure vessels incorporating the above-described seals.

Static fluid seals and seal assemblies for ultrahigh pressure fluid containment


Disclosed are various embodiments for interpretation of flow cytometry data. Flow cytometry data sets are combined to form a multidimensional image cube. The machine learning functions and genetic algorithm interpret the multidimensional image cube to produce a confidence value that is assigned to a function for the targeted condition. The confidence value determines the relative degree to which a targeted condition is present or absent in a flow cytometry data set. Such confidence value can be used to diagnose and interpret results from flow cytometry data.

Flow cytometry is a technology that is used to analyze the physical and chemical properties of particles in a sheath fluid as it passes through one or more lasers. Most commonly cell particles are fluorescently labelled and then excited by the laser to emit light at varying wavelengths.
A flow cytometer has five main components. First, a fluid sheath is formed that carries and aligns cells so that they may pass single file through a light beam for sensing. Second, a measurement system, usually a laser beam in which the beam is aligned with the fluid sheath. Third, a detector and an analog to digital conversion system, which converts the analog measurements of forward-scattered light and side-scattered light from the laser beam into digital signals that can be processed by a computing system. Fourth, an amplification system, linear or logarithmic. Lastly, a computer system for analysis of the signals.
Flow cytometry is used in the diagnosis of health disorders, in particular blood cancers, but also has other applications in chemical research and analysis of properties of particles. Flow cytometers are capable of analyzing thousands of particles every second, and can actively separate and isolate particles having specific physical or chemical properties. The process of collecting data from samples using flow cytometry is called acquisition. Acquisition is mediated by a computer physically connected to the flow cytometer and receiving digital or analog signals from the flow cytometer. Modern flow cytometers typically have multiple lasers and detectors incorporated to detect multiple antibodies or markers on the surface of the particles.
Multi-parameter flow cytometry immunophenotyping, a technique used to study the protein expressed by cells, has become a method of choice for the differential diagnosis of reactive and neoplastic blood disorders. As known in the art, samples are tagged with monoclonal antibodies coupled to fluorescent labels in order to characterize the different cellular populations in a wide range biological specimens, including blood, bone marrow tissue, bodily fluids, and lymph nodes. Additionally, other flow cytometry phenotyping systems are known and disclosed, examples of such are quantum dot or isotope labeling, others are available and will occur to those of skill in the art.
Typically, several tens of thousands of cells are measured within a few seconds and stored as digital data. This data set represents an empirical look at the contents of the specimen based upon the biological markers encoded for.
Genetic Algorithms, examples of which are generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,877, 5,255,345, 5,390,283, among others, which are incorporated herein by reference, are utilized to analyze flow cytometry data provided by conventional flow cytometry data collection methods.
GENIE™ is a Genetic Algorithm software system that accounts for rapidly evolving feature extraction algorithms for image analysis. Historically GENIE™ is utilized for feature extraction on aerial topographical and satellite imagery. GENIE™ is an evolutionary computation software system that uses a genetic algorithm to assemble image-processing tools from a collection of low-level image operators, such as edge detectors, texture measures, spectral operations, and other morphological features. Each image processing tool generates a number of feature planes, which are then combined using a supervised classifier (Fisher linear discriminant) to generate a final boolean feature mask. A population of image processing tools is generated, ranked according to a fitness metric measuring their performance on some user-provided training data, and fit members of the population permitted to reproduce.
GENIE™ uses several standard fitness metrics including Euclidean distance and Hamming distance. The process cycles until the population converges to a solution, or the user decides to accept the current best solution. GENIE may choose to ignore the spatial information in the image and rely wholly on spectral operations and the supervised classifier module, but in practice GENIE will construct integrated spatio-spectral algorithms.
GENIE's™ system architecture is designed to provide flexible and powerful computing paradigm. GENIE™ can search a rich and complex feature space using its gene pool of standard primitive image processing operators and the results of additional analyst-selected algorithms.
Machine learning teaches computers to learn from experiences. Machine learning algorithms use computational methods to learn information directly from data without relying on a predetermined equation as a model. The algorithms associated with machine learning improve their performance as the number of samples available for learning increases.
Typically, machine learning algorithms find natural patterns in data that generate insight and help make better decisions and predictions. Machine learning is used to make critical decisions in medical diagnosis, stock trading, energy load forecasting, and many more applications in which prediction from samples is possible.
Machine learning uses two types of techniques. Supervised learning is one type that trains a model on known input and output data so that it can predict future outputs. Unsupervised learning, the second type, finds hidden patterns or intrinsic structure within input data.
The goal of supervised machine learning is to build a model that makes predictions based on evidence in the presence of uncertainty. A supervised learning algorithm that a known set of input data and known responses to the data and trains a model to generate reasonable predictions for the response to new input data.
The goal of unsupervised learning is to find hidden patterns or intrinsic structure in data. It is used to find inferences from datasets consisting of input data without labeled responses. Clustering is the most common unsupervised learning technique. It is used for exploratory data analysis to find hidden patterns or groupings in data.
A genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural selection. Genetic algorithms use methods such as mutation and crossover to generate new genotype in the hope of finding good solutions to a given problem. Most recently machine learning techniques are used to improve the accuracy and performance of genetic algorithms.
Support vector machines (SVMs) are a set of related supervised learning methods used for classification and regression. Given a set of training examples each marked as belonging to one of two categories, an SVM training algorithm builds a model that predicts whether a new example falls into one category or the other.
An advancement of the current invention over traditional SVM analysis of flow cytometry data is the ability to measure multiple features or markers in one step without the need of pre-analytical feature selection operations in order to reduce dimensionality. It is well known that SVM's experience decreasing performance in supervised learning of data sets as the number of vectors or features increase. That problem often requires the addition of feature selection methods such as leave-one-out error and Kernel alignment. Genetic algorithms provide the ability to readily analyze multiple features or markers in a single training session, also allowing for a better understanding and prediction of multiple parameter data set prediction.

Method for analysis and interpretation of flow cytometry data


An improved tanker ship construction design includes a plurality of liquid cargo tanks distributed in two longitudinal sets along each side of a tanker ship. A plurality of fully protected ballast tanks are distributed longitudinally between the sets of cargo tanks. A passive, gravity-responsive, fluid transfer system provides very rapid fluid communication between selected cargo tanks and a adjoining ballast tanks. A gravity responsive fluid transfer system is provided between the respective ballast tanks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with a novel hull construction for a liquid-cargo tanker ship. The hull construction provides means for self-rescue of cargo while maintaining floatation, proper load distribution, stability and trim in case of grounding or collision.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Tanker ships in general usually are built with the main cargo tanks arranged along each side of the centerline of the ship. Ballast tanks interspersed with additional cargo tanks form wing tanks outboard of the main cargo tanks. When the ship is fully loaded with cargo, the ballast tanks are normally empty because, if for no other reason, it is now illegal to carry cargo in a ballast tank. Thus, in the event of collision or grounding of a fully-loaded ship, one or more of the empty ballast tanks and/or the outboard cargo wing tanks take the brunt of the impact. Presumably with that arrangement, the centrally-located cargo tanks remain relatively undamaged and rapid cargo leakage is minimized.
What actually happens however is that a punctured external ballast tank(s), or for that matter the void in a double-hulled ship, is flooded with sea water, the unbalanced weight of which causes the ship to list and/or to capsize due to the loading imbalance.
Since today's tankers have no emergency transfer system, they must wait hours or even days for delivery of pumps and containment devices to regain trim, balance, load redistribution and floatation. That wait may prove to be catastrophic.
An Exxon Background Series paper entitled Reducing Tanker Accidents (1973), in a discussion of double-bottom ship grounding, stated at page 16 that ". . . This loss of buoyancy complicates freeing a stranded ship and increases the probability of suffering total loss . . . "
In the matter of conventionally-located segregated ballast tanks (SBT), at page 43 of TANKER SPILLS, PREVENTION BY DESIGN, published by the National Research Council, it is stated that ". . . For a given cargo volume, the ballast volume increases a great deal in SBT space--in the range of 234 to 334 percent--which is indicative of the additional area that must be protected from corrosion. The expected oil outflow in grounding increases by up to 90 percent in many SBT designs . . . "
Further at page 89 of the same volume, we read ". . . Chevron Shipping Company has demonstrated . . . that the damage stability of an `industry standard` 130,000 DWT tanker greatly exceeds present [safety] criteria . . . A comparable double hull tanker, with interhull spacing of 2 meters and fully loaded, also easily exceeds criteria but can withstand less damage than the single hull design. When 96 percent loaded with heavy crude, the 2-meter double hull ship will capsize with only three tanks flooded . . . "
An NTIS report to Congress PB93-128874, page 17, illustrates the hull design of a conventional single-hull ship with outboard wing ballast tanks. When sailing filled with cargo, the ballast tanks of the tanker are empty. If a ballast tank on one side of the ship is damaged and becomes water-flooded, the effect on the ship's lateral stability of the loading imbalance is evident from the drawing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,347 issued Oct. 2, 1990 to Booth B. Strange and assigned to the assignee of this invention, provides a normally empty, emergency holding tank and a cargo transfer system for moving liquid cargo from a damaged cargo tank to the holding tank. The placement of the holding tank is such that the ship's stability is not seriously affected. The liquid cargo that is removed from the damaged tank is replaced to some extent by seawater; a water seal is quickly established in the damaged region so that the damaged tank need be only partially emptied. Therefore, the total ship's displacement is not significantly altered. The teachings of the '347 patent are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,959 issued Jun. 28, 1983 to C. S. Conway teaches a system for removing liquid cargo from a damaged tank to create a water seal over the leak although he does not provide positive means for disposal of whatever liquid cargo is removed.
The patents cited assume a single-hulled tanker but one that has no outboard ballast tanks such as exist in the real world. Those references failed to consider the effects on ship's trim, in the presence of one or more flooded outboard ballast tanks.
The Federal Register for Friday, Oct. 22, 1993 mentions an as-yet untried Emergency Rapid Transfer System (ERTS). According to the text at page 54879, the ERTS consists of pipes and blank flanges that connect cargo tanks to ballast tanks. When damage occurs and the cargo tank level drops, sensors automatically cause the flange bolts to be ruptured. Cargo flows rapidly from the damaged cargo tanks into the empty ballast tank by force of gravity.
There are distinct disadvantages to the ERTS system in that the oil flow is uncontrolled and apparently can not be shut off when and if necessary. The presence of explosive bolts creates a fire hazard
In the presence of an accident, it is important to know the location of a damaged tank(s). U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,113 issued May 21, 1991 to Booth B. Strange et al. and assigned to the assignee of this invention teaches a method for locating a damaged tank using acoustic means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,960, issued Jul. 17, 1973 to W. B. Devine teaches the concept of locating the ballast tanks along the centerline of a tanker. The ballast tanks are interspersed with cargo tanks and may be used for both cargo and ballast at the user's option.
In the above-cited NTIS report, page 19, there is shown the "POLMIS" tanker. External void spaces are provided outboard of the cargo tanks. A bladder-type ballast bag occupies a portion of a centrally-located cargo tank. Damage to, and subsequent water flooding of the void spaces could be disastrous.
For purposes of brevity but not by way of limitation, the terms "liquid cargo", "fluid cargo" or other similar phrases may be replaced by the word "oil".
There is a need for an improved hull design for an oil tanker ship that, if damaged, retains the following capabilities:
1. No significant loss of floatation;
2. No substantial disruption of the optimal load distribution;
3. No loss of trim due to unbalanced loading; and
4. No flow of oil into confined areas such as a ruptured ballast tank or the inter-hull voids in a double-hulled ship,
It is an object of this invention to provide a tanker-ship construction design that consists of a row of interconnected protected, inerted ballast tanks along the centerline of a tanker ship, flanked on each side by sets of cargo tanks.


A seat back in a vehicle rear seat provided before a trunk includes a seat back frame structure in which a peripheral frame member is arranged along the periphery of a substantially rectangular panel frame member, and a reinforcing pipe frame member having opposite ends thereof coupled to an upper part and a lower part of the peripheral frame member and having an intermediate part formed to pass an external-force receiving portion of the panel frame member where an external force resulting from a possible movement of a luggage placed in the trunk is received. There can be provided a frame structure for the vehicle seat back having an improved strength against an external force exerted resulting from the movement of the luggage placed in the trunk.

This invention relates to a frame structure for use in a vehicle seat back.
A rear seat before a trunk or luggage of a vehicle is generally comprised of a seat cushion having a lower part fixed to the floor of a passenger compartment and a seat back having a lower part supported on a rear part of the seat cushion. There are two types of seat backs, one being inclinable forward and the other being fixed to a vehicle body.
Such a seat back has, as shown in FIG. 7, a seat back frame structure 100 in which a peripheral frame member 102 is arranged along the periphery of a substantially rectangular panel frame member 101, and a pad and an outer trim are so provided as to cover the seat back frame structure 100.
In recent year, various measures have been studied to improve the safety of automotive vehicles. One essential point is to set a withstand load, which is exerted on the rear seat upon the movement of a luggage in the trunk at the back, at a specified value or higher. Motor-Vehicle Rule ECE No. 17 is known as a standard according to which a standard luggage having a weight of 18 kg and a colliding surface of 300 mm (vertical dimension)xc3x97300 mm (horizontal dimension) is brought into contact with the rear surface of the seat back by an inertial force.
The seat back frame structure of the conventional rear seat is constructed such that the peripheral frame member is arranged along the periphery of the panel frame member. Accordingly, when a large load acts on a substantially middle part of the seat back in a test conducted in accordance with the aforementioned motor-vehicle rule, there is the likelihood that the panel frame member is dented to project forward, and the rear seat is judged to lack the strength against the large load.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seat back frame structure which is free from the problems residing in the prior art,
It is another object of the present invention to provide a seat back frame structure which has the strength against an external force exerted upon a possible movement of a luggage placed in a trunk of the vehicle.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a frame structure is used in a vehicle seat back, and comprises: a panel frame member having a substantially rectangular shape; a peripheral frame member arranged along the periphery of the panel frame member; and a reinforcing frame member having opposite ends coupled to an upper part and a lower part of the peripheral frame member; and an intermediate part corresponding to an external-force receiving portion of the panel frame member for receiving an external force resulting from a possible movement of a luggage placed in a trunk of the vehicle.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description along with the accompanying drawings.

Frame structure for use in a vehicle seat back


A universal gateway device includes a first network interface circuit and a second network interface circuit. The first network interface circuit is utilized to communicate over a first network associated with an Internet of Things (IoT) management system utilizing a first communications protocol. The second network interface circuit is utilized to communicate over a second network associated with an IoT device utilizing a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol. The first network interface circuit generates a virtual device representation of the IoT device on the first network. The virtual device representation is utilized to communicate data from the IoT device over the first network utilizing the first communications protocol.

The present disclosure relates generally to IoT management platforms and systems. The present disclosure relates more particularly to universal gateway devices, systems, and methods for integrating disparate protocols.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected objects (or Things), hereinafter referred to as IoT devices, that produce data through interaction with the environment and/or are controlled over a network. An IoT management platform is used by application developers to produce IoT applications for the IoT devices. Generally, IoT management platforms or systems are utilized to register and manage the IoT devices, gather and analyze data produced by the IoT devices, and provide recommendations or results based on the collected data. However, in many cases, IoT devices or subsystems may not easily interface with the IoT management platform or system. For example, where some of the IoT devices or subsystems are provided by third-parties, the third party IoT devices or subsystems may communicate via disparate or proprietary communication protocols, which may be incompatible with the IoT management platform or system. This inability to communicate with the IoT management platform or system using a communication protocol used or otherwise recognized by the IoT management platform or system can increase time to setup, commission, maintain, and/or monitor the third party IoT devices or subsystems. Further, these disparate or proprietary protocols are generally not published or disclosed by the third parties, which can limit the supply of control solutions to only those offered by the third parties. In this case, others are prevented from competing in this space to offer solutions with better design, functionality, and pricing.
As the number of IoT devices used in various sectors increases, the number of disparate or proprietary protocols used by the IoT devices have been increasing. Accordingly, devices, systems, and methods for integrating disparate or proprietary protocols may be desired.

Universal gateway devices, systems and methods for integrating proprietary protocols with BMS system


A method for patterning passivation layers including providing a semiconductor wafer comprising metal interconnects; forming a dielectric passivation layer on the metal interconnects; forming a photosensitive polymeric passivation layer on the dielectric passivation layer; patterning the photosensitive polymeric passivation layer in a first patterning process to form a first opening revealing a portion of the dielectric passivation layer; and, patterning the portion of the dielectric passivation layer in a second patterning process to form at least a second opening in the dielectric passivation layer.

In typical multilayer semiconductor integrated circuits including several layers of interconnect wiring, the uppermost layers typically include metal bonding pads for forming electrical connection with the semiconductor device (chip) surface to a package which contains the chip. The bonding pads are typically formed in an array on the chip surface which in turn forms an array on a process wafer surface.
Prior to cutting the process wafer into the various constituent chips, the semiconductor wafer surface including the bonding pads are covered with one or more passivation layers to provide electrical insulation between the conducting areas and to physically protect the chip surface to prevent absorption of moisture or other contaminants.
The passivation layers must first be patterned and etched to form openings over the bonding pads in order to make the bonding pads accessible to subsequent bonding operations.
Recently, it has been the practice to use a polyimide as an uppermost passivation layer on the process wafer surface after patterning and etching an opening through an underlying passivation layer over the bonding pads. A polyimide resin is excellent in electrical and mechanical characteristics, including high heat resistance and is advantageously used as a surface-protecting and insulation layer for a semiconductor device.
One problem with prior art processes using polyimide has been the tendency of the polyimide to shrink in volume up to about 50 percent following a curing process to remove solvent, making a one mask patterning process unreliable to achieve the same pattern in the polyimide and the underlying passivation layer.
Various approaches in the prior art have been proposed for the process flow of patterning and etching to overcome the problems of polyimide shrinking. However, another problem that has presented itself is the tendency for the polyimide to leave a polyimide residue on the underlying passivation layer following a curing process, thereby degrading subsequent bonding operations, reducing a chip yield. For example, subsequently formed bonds to the bonding pad surface exhibit a high rate of failure due to poor adhesion.
There is therefore is a need in the integrated circuit manufacturing process art to develop a passivation layer patterning and etching process to improve a patterning process and reduce bonding pad contamination to improve chip yield and performance while improving a process flow.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved passivation layer patterning and etching process to improve a patterning process and reduce bonding pad contamination to improve chip yield and performance while improving a process flow, in addition to overcoming other shortcomings of the prior art.

Method for patterning and etching a passivation layer

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A switch-mode power supply (SMPS) includes a transformer having a primary winding coupled to a power switch, a secondary winding for providing an output of the power supply, and a controller. The controller includes a first input terminal for receiving a current sensing signal related to a current in the primary winding, a second input terminal for receiving a feedback signal related to a current in the secondary winding, and an output terminal for providing a control signal to turn on and off the power switch. When the feedback signal is higher than a first reference voltage, the controller is configured to cause the SMPS to maintain a constant output current at a first current magnitude. When the feedback signal is lower than the first reference voltage, the controller is configured to cause the SMPS to provide a second output current at a second current magnitude higher than the first current magnitude.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to power supply control circuits and power supply systems. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide methods and circuits for controlling an output current in a switched mode power supply (SMPS).
Regulated power supplies are indispensable in modern electronics. For example, the power supply in a personal computer often needs to receive power input from various outlets. Desktop and laptop computers often have regulated power supplies on the motherboard to supply power to the CPU, memories, and periphery circuitry. Regulated power supplies are also used in a wide variety of applications, such as home appliances, automobiles, and portable chargers for mobile electronic devices, etc.
In general, a power supply can be regulated using a linear regulator or a switching mode controller. A linear regulator maintains the desired output voltage by dissipating excess power. In contrast, a switching mode controller rapidly switches a power transistor on and off with a variable duty cycle or variable frequency and provides an average output that is the desired output voltage.
Compared with linear regulators, switching mode power supplies have the advantages of smaller size, higher efficiency and larger output power capability. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) are two control architectures of switching mode power supplies. In recent years, green power supplies are emphasized, which require higher conversion efficiency and lower standby power consumption. In a PWM controlled switching mode power supply, the system can be forced to enter into burst mode in standby conditions to reduce power consumption. In a PFM controlled switching mode power supply, the switching frequency can be reduced in light load conditions. PFM-controlled switching mode power supply exhibits simple control topology and small quiescent current. Therefore, it is suitable for low cost small output power applications such as battery chargers and adapters.
In a switched mode power supply system, a switch is connected to the primary winding of the transformer. Magnetic energy is stored in the inductance of the primary winding when the switch is turned on, and the energy is transferred to the secondary winding when the switch is turned off. The energy transfer results in a current flowing through the secondary winding and the rectifying diode. The SMPS often operates in a constant-voltage mode or a constant-current mode. However, during start up, the constant-current mode can limit the output current and lead to long start up time.
Therefore, there is a need for techniques that can provide more precise control of output current-voltage characteristics in a power supply.

Control circuit and system for switch mode power supply

BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A tri-energy power generating device uses the light energy, the thermal energy and wind energy from the nature and transfers these energies into electric power so as to obtain environmentally friendly power. The tri-energy power generating device includes a thermal energy transfer unit, a light-thermo energy collecting unit disposed above the thermal energy transfer unit and a wind turbine unit. When the wind is sufficient, the cold air enters the thermal energy transfer unit from a lower end thereof to drive the wind turbine unit. When there is sufficient sunshine, the light-thermo energy collecting unit transfers the light into electric power to initiate the wind turbine unit and transfer the light into the thermal energy. The thermal energy is conducted to the thermal energy transfer unit and the air is heated to drive the wind turbine unit to generate electric power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power generating device, and in particular to a tri-energy power generating device using the solar energy, thermal energy and wind energy to generate environment-friendly electric power.
2. The Prior Arts
The conventional ways to generate electrical power use water, coal, wind, solar energy and nuclear energy. However, the hydroelectric power plants cost too much and the drought and flood may affect the running of the power plants. Although the fossil fuel power plants are reliable, they generate significant pollution and burning fossil fuel is major cause of global warming. Moreover, the sources of the oil, natural gas and coal for combustion are limited and the prices of them are fluctuated quite often. The wind power is renewable energy and environmentally friendly, but the amount of electricity generation is much smaller and the intermittence of wind creates problem. The solar energy is also renewable energy and environmental friendly. However, the amount of electricity generation is also small and easily affected by the weather conditions. The nuclear energy generates power effectively but the nuclear wastes contaminate the environment and the nuclear power plant has high cost.
In summary, the area with a lot of sunshine usually has less wind power, and the areas with significant wind power usually do not have sufficient sunny days. Therefore, most of the areas cannot have both the wind power and the solar power. Besides, the wind power and the solar power provide only limited electric power due to the low efficiency and high manufacturing cost.


Elastomer members for a torsional vibration damper, methods of making the same, and torsional vibration dampers having the elastomer members are disclosed. The elastomer members have a first major surface and an opposing second major surface with opposing side joining the first major surface to the second major surface, have a median sagittal plane extending parallel to the first major surface and the second major surface, and a transverse plane perpendicular to the median sagittal plane. In a cross-sectional geometry in a plane bisecting the median sagittal plane and the transverse plane, a thickness of the elastomer member changes along the median sagittal plane in a direction parallel to the transverse plane with a first thickness at both opposing sides and a second thickness at the transverse plane, where the second thickness is greater than the first thicknesses.

Torsional Vibration Dampers (TVDs) are useful in attenuating torsional vibrations inherent to rotating shafts, including but not limited to crank-shafts, drive-shafts, prop-shafts, and half-shafts utilized in automotive and non-automotive applications.
Commonly, a TVD consists of three components: (1) a rigid metallic bracket (hub) attaching the TVD to the rotating shaft with the vibratory problem; (2) an active inertial member (ring) oscillating opposite in phase to the vibrating shaft at a particular frequency, thereby reducing the resulting magnitude of the shaft vibration; and (3) an elastomeric member with two functions: (a) providing a spring damper thereby tuning the TVD to a particular frequency, and (b) locating the hub and the ring with respect to each other in the TVD.
Commonly, the hub and ring are metallic in construction due to the structural strength requirement for the hub and the inertial mass requirement for the ring (also known as an inertia member). The elastomeric member is first compression molded as a strip followed by assembly under compression between the hub and ring where it assumes an axis-symmetric ring like shape. At times the surfaces of the hub and ring that mate with the strip (profile) are coated with a primer-adhesive combination that causes the strip to be bonded to the aforementioned surfaces. The disclosed invention pertains to both bonded and non-bonded dampers as long as they employ a compression molded elastomer strip.
The elastomer used in the elastomer member could be one of several thermoset material alternatives, including but not limited to styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), poly butadiene (PBD); ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM); nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), or any possible combination thereof. Furthermore, the elastomer could be one of several thermoplastic material alternatives, including but not limited to styrenic block copolymers (TPE-s), polyolefin blends (TPE-o), elastomeric alloys (TPE-v or TPV), thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), thermoplastic copolyester, and thermoplastic polyamides, or any possible combination thereof.
The main purpose for utilizing a TVD is to extend the fatigue life of the vibrating shaft by reducing the resulting amplitude at a particular frequency where the inertia ring counteracts the shaft vibration by oscillating with an enhanced magnitude but opposite in phase with the shaft vibration (vibratory influence). However, in many crankshaft applications, the ring has poly-vee grooves for driving the serpentine belt of a front end accessory drive (FEAD) system, which may include, but is not limited to, an alternator, water-pump, fan, tensioners, and idler pulleys (load-bearing influence).
Due to the aforementioned loading scenarios, the elastomer members used in TVDs undergo two separate modes of loading: (1) normal loading caused by assembling the elastomer member under compression between the hub and ring; and (2) shear loading caused by the operation of the TVD both from vibratory and load-bearing influences.
To regulate the normal stress-strain bearing capacity of the elastomer member, the compression of the elastomer member and the profile geometry is designed to minimize the maximum principal stress and maximum principal strain buildup in the elastomer member post assembly.
To regulate the shear stress bearing capacity of the elastomer member, a threshold parameter called the slip-torque of the damper is established. The slip-torque is defined as the minimum value of quasi-static torque that causes the permanent angular slip across any elastomer metallic interface (either between the elastomer member and ring or between the elastomer member and hub).
It can be appreciated that the proper engineering of an elastomer member is a balance between maximizing the slip-torque capacity of the TVD (directly proportional to the compression of the elastomer member) while minimizing the principal stress-strain buildup (inversely proportional to the compression of the elastomer member). In the industry, a compression ratio of 30% to 40% is currently accepted as the norm where such a balance is obtained.
Furthermore, there is a constant effort by elastomer member manufacturers to increase production yield by simultaneously increasing the number of elastomer members produced per molding heat, while decreasing the time required for each molding heat.
This objective retains its value post-molding where secondary operations are avoided when possible. One such secondary operation relates to the removal of the flimsy residual elastomeric membrane (flash) present on the surface of the elastomer member visible post-assembly. Flash removal may be accomplished by grinding, cutting, cryogenically tumbling the elastomer members (de-flashing), or other methods known to one of skill in the art. This aforementioned flash is a byproduct of the compression molding operation, and is unsightly and undesirable as it could contaminate the hub nose region that interfaces with the front engine seal, causing leaks and failures therein.

Elastomer strip design for torsional vibration dampers and torsional vibration dampers having same


A cyan toner is provided which is brighter and more greenish in hue than conventional cyan toners and highly translucency. A cyan toner characterized by comprising toner particles at least having a coloring compound represented by the Formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cyan toner used in full-color copiers and printers to develop electrostatic images in electrophotography, electrostatic recording, electrostatic printing and the like, and a method of producing the cyan toner.
2. Related Background Art
Electrostatic printing, electrophotography and the like have been used as techniques to develop electrostatic latent images with a developer to form visible images. In these techniques, electrostatic latent images are formed on a photosensitive member, and developed with a toner to form toner images, which are then transferred to a transfer member such as paper, and heated, pressed, heated/pressed or exposed to solvent vapor, if it is necessary, to fix the images and thus produce duplicates. In the process, some of the toner is not transferred to the photosensitive member and cleaned off by any one of various cleaning methods to repeat the above process. In order to produce multicolor images, original color images are separated by color using color filters of B (blue), G (green) and R (red). Subsequently, the latent images composed of dots from 20 to 70 μm in size, which corresponds to the original images, are developed by color toners of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan) and B (black) which make subtractive color effects.
Recently, these image-forming devices have been used as office copiers as well as in the fields of printers as output devices for computers and personal copiers for individuals. In addition to such fields represented by printers, plain-paper fax machines with a basic image-forming engine incorporated therein have been developed to a great extent. Such trend has required strictly image-forming machines to be more compact, lighter, faster, more reliable and higher in image quality, and at the same time those machines have been simplified with respect to components in their various aspects. As a result, toners have been also required strongly to have a higher performance.
Especially, in full-color printers for personal computers and full-color copiers, such image-forming systems and toners have been sought as are well compatible with sRGB, which is the standard color space in this application field, and reproducible for a wider range of color, since a larger number of images from the Internet or personal computer displays have been outputted.
As a consequence, a colorant has been sought which is more transparent and more chromatic than C. I. Pigment Blue 15:3, a conventional colorant used for a cyan toner. Furthermore, a colorant used for a cyan toner has been required to be more reproducible in the blue color range as well as in the color ranges of cyan and green.
In order to accomplish these subjects, it has been proposed to use, as colorant, anthraquinone dyes/pigments (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-043948), and zinc phthalocyanines (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-302792), triphenylmethane dyes/pigments (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-073260) and indophenol dyes (see Japanese Patent Publication No. H06-027949). However, anthraquinone dyes, for instance, absorb light in a wavelength range from 400 to 500 nm, and thus they are so low in brightness as to be poorly reproducible in the color ranges of cyan and blue, though they are highly transparency. In contrast, zinc phthalocyanines behave well in the color ranges of cyan and blue, but their transparency is not adequate.

Cyan toner and method of producing cyan toner


A motor includes a stator with a stator core, an insulator, coils, and a terminal pin. The stator core includes an annular core back and teeth. The teeth extend radially outward from the core back and are arranged in the circumferential direction. The coil is defined by a conductive wire wound around a tooth via the insulator. The conductor is connected to the conductive wire and is connected to the circuit board. The insulator includes a cylindrical terminal holder located between adjacent ones of the teeth, extends in the axial direction, and accommodates the conductor. The core back includes a stator recess located between adjacent ones of the teeth and is recessed radially inward from the radially outer surface. The stator recess accommodates at least a portion of the terminal holder.

A conventional motor includes, for example, a stator core, an insulator, coils, a conductive member (conductive pin), and a circuit board. The stator core has an annular core back and a plurality of teeth extending radially outward from the core back and disposed in the circumferential direction. The insulator covers the stator core, and the coil is formed by winding a conductive wire around a tooth via the insulator.
The conductive pin is disposed between adjacent teeth and is accommodated in a through-hole formed in the insulator. The conductive pin is connected to the conductive wire, and the lower end of the conductive pin is connected to the circuit board.
However, in the conventional motor, the space between the adjacent teeth is narrowed by the conductive pin, and there is a possibility that the number of turns of the conductive wire wound around the tooth cannot be increased.


A representative configuration of an image forming apparatus has a plurality of developing devices, each of which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive drum into a toner image using developer of plural colors. The image forming apparatus includes a density sensor which detects the amount of toner of the toner image for each color. In a case where it is determined that the amount of toner of any color departs from a predetermined range based on the detection result of the density sensor, development conditions of the rest of the developing devices, other than the developing device departing from the predetermined range, are changed such that the image densities developed by the respective developing devices are equal to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which forms an image using an electrophotographic system.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus according to the related art forms a color image using toner of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. As a developer, a two-component developer is used which contains nonmagnetic toner particles (toner) and magnetic carrier particles (carrier). Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-177928 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-34243 disclose a color image forming apparatus in which the colors of an output material are stabilized by stabilizing the density of each color.
An image density gradually changes as the number of printed sheets increases. However, the level of the change is influenced by the contents of the formed image as well as by the number of printed sheets of the formed image. For example, an image with a relatively high density in which a lot of solid portions occur or which contains a large number of characters, and an image with a relatively low density which contains fine lines or a small number of characters are greatly different in toner consumption even when the number of formed images is the same.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-177928, a small image (patch image) for a test is formed on the image bearing member at a timing based on toner consumption information and then density control factors influencing the density of the image are optimized based on the density of the patch image.
Further, in a case where images consuming little amount of toner are continuously output, the replacement of the toner is performed occasionally, so that the developer is repeatedly rubbed and stirred for a long term. The toner contained in the developer which has been repeatedly rubbed and stirred for a long term may have an irregular shape, or the distribution of the particle diameter is biased. In addition, an external additive such as titanium oxide particles which is added for the purpose of improving fluidity of the developer is implanted in the surface of toner. As a result, there may be degradation such as a decrease in the fluidity of the developer, and thus it is difficult to obtain an image having a desired image quality.
In addition, even though the electric charges of the toner are stabilized through several times of slidable rubbing, as several times of slidable rubbing are repeated, the electric charges are gradually increased, so that the electric charge amount becomes greater than a predetermined value. In this way, if the electric charges of the toner are increased, the amount of toner adhered on a latent image having the same potential difference with respect to a developing sleeve which is formed on the photosensitive drum is reduced compared with an initial state. When an image is output, the density is deteriorated and granularity of the low density portion is worsened, so that the image quality is degraded.
In addition, in a case where the density of the output image is reduced due to degradation in the developer with time, the densities of colors are separately adjusted while securing a maximum density by changing conditions such as a charging potential or a developing bias, power of laser beams, or time for emitting laser beams. In order to secure the maximum density, it is necessary to increase a difference potential (hereinafter, referred to as a contrast potential) between a potential VL of an image area and an average potential of potentials Vdc applied to the developing sleeve.
Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-34243, a decrease in the density which occurs when the toner consumption is reduced is suppressed by forcibly replacing the toner in a development device.
However, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-177928 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-34243, the density of each color is stabilized with an individual countermeasure about the development device for each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, or black, thereby making the color of the output material stabilized. For example, in a case where the density is increased only in a development device of a given color, when the density is corrected such that the increased density of the development device becomes equal to those of the other normal development devices, it is necessary to lower the contrast potential of the development device which has been changed in the density. However, if the contrast potential of only the development device which has been changed in the density is lowered to depart from a predetermined range, the development γ (the development performance with respect to the development potential) of the development device becomes too strong. In other words, a large amount of the toner is consumed at a small contrast potential. For this reason, in a case where the potential of the photosensitive drum is changed in the surface thereof, the variation ratios of the densities of high-order colors such as a second-order color of red, blue, or green are different in each color, so that a color tone of an image having high-order colors varies.
In addition, in a case where the density is reduced only in a development device of a given color, when the density is corrected such that the reduced density of the development device becomes equal to those of the other normal development devices, it is necessary to increase the contrast potential. However, in a case where the contrast potential is greatly increased, an adverse effect such as carrier attachment occurs on an image.
In this manner, in a case where the density variation occurs in one development device, if a process is performed to correct the density of the development device in which the density variation occurs, the density correction process may lead to a problem.

Electrophotographic image forming apparatus with image density control


A rear housing for a compressor reduces NVH without increasing the overall size of the compressor or inducing flow loss. Generally, the compressor includes a cylinder block receiving lower pressure fluid from the rear housing and providing higher pressure fluid back to the rear housing. The rear housing includes an annular outer wall and an annular inner wall defining a suction chamber and a discharge chamber. An inlet is in fluid communication with the suction chamber. An outlet is in fluid communication with the discharge chamber. The outlet includes a discharge passageway having a tubular member projecting into the discharge chamber. The tubular member is defined by a side wall and a closed end wall. The side wall includes a plurality of holes fluidically connecting the discharge chamber and the discharge passageway.

Existing compressors, such as air conditioning compressors found in vehicles, are relatively noisy. In normal use, a fluid such as a refrigerant gas enters the compressor via a suction chamber in the rear housing of the compressor. The fluid then proceeds through the cylinder block and its chambers where it is drawn into and exited by reciprocating piston movement, which compresses the fluid and discharges it out of the pump. The discharge fluid exits the compressor via a discharge chamber also located in the rear housing and positioned adjacent the suction chamber. Compression of the fluid via the series of reciprocating pistons results in large pressure pulsations and fluctuations, which in turn result in the generation of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
Many compressors include built-in flow noise control devices, such as a muffler. Unfortunately, these devices are usually a bulky addition to the compressor casting or housing, increasing the overall size and mass of the compressor significantly. Other drawbacks include a large flow loss due to the structure of the channels linking the muffler and compressor.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a compressor and rear housing which reduces NVH without increasing the overall size of the compressor or inducing flow loss.

NVH and gas pulsation reduction in AC compressor


A process is disclosed for producing hydrogen of high purity from hydrocarbons. A selected hydrocarbon feed is contacted with a nickel-containing sorbent of a specified composition at below 50 kg/cm.sup.2 G and at from 150.degree. to 500.degree. C. The hydrocarbon feed thus treated is further reformed with a catalyst of a specified composition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to the production of hydrogen from hydrocarbons and more particularly to a process for deriving hydrogen from a hydrocarbon feed in which the starting material is subjected to stripping of its sulfur contents on a nickel sorbent and subsequently to reforming reaction on a steam reforming catalyst.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hydrogen finds extensive application for instance as a starting material, a refining agent, a fuel and the like and has its source of supply from a variety of methods including electrolysis of water and steam reforming, partial oxidation, decomposition or dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons and alcohols. Hydrogen obtainable by electrolyzing water is highly pure, though costly, and hence applicable to special usage as in physical and chemical experiments. Hydrogen for industrial use as starting materials or product refiners is in most cases produced by steam-reforming or partially oxidizing relatively cheap, readily available materials and in such instance steam reforming of light hydrocarbons and alcohols is more often effected than partial oxidation of coals and heavy residual oils. Such light hydrocarbons and alcohols include for example methane, ethane, propane, butane and mixtures thereof and gases containing these hydrocarbons, light naphtha, heavy naphtha and methanol.
In general, hydrocarbons contain sulfur compounds which tend to adversely affect steam reforming catalysts. It is necessary therefore to remove sulfur contents from the hydrocarbon prior to reforming reaction as the catalyst is highly sensitive to those sulfur compounds.
A hydrogenative desulfurization process is known for removing sulfur compounds from hydrocarbons in the presence cf a hydrogen-containing gas with the use of a catalyst such as cobalt-molybdenum, nickel-molybdenum, nickel-cobalt-molybdenum, nickel-tungsten and the like and under elevated temperature and pressure conditions. Hydrogen sulfide thus formed is subsequently removed by adsorption on to a metal oxide such as zinc oxide, copper oxide, manganese oxide or iron oxide. Hydrogenative desulfurization differs in reaction conditions from steam reforming, entailing the disposition of reaction vessels, control devices, heat exchangers and other necessary facilities for use in desulfurization at a position upstream of and independently of the steam reformer. This leaves the problem that the whole apparatus gets bulky with tedious control.
With the prior method of adsorbing hydrogen sulfide with metal oxides, it has been difficult to remove sulfur compounds other than hydrogen sulfide to a level of concentration tolerable to reforming catalysts. These metal oxides are liable to invite a sharp decline in adsorptivity on contact with steam in reforming reaciton.
It has also been proposed that a nickel sorbent be used to remove traces of sulfur compounds from naphtha fractions in a naphtha reforming process for gasoline production, thereby maintaining a platinum catalyst fully activable in a subsequent reaction. In the chemical industry such sorbent has been utilized to adsorb a limited amount of sulfur contained in organic compounds as starting materials so that side reaction is alleviated during preparation of the compounds intended. The present inventors disclose certain adsorption methods in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 63-35403, 1-188404, 1-188405 and 1-188406, which methods serve to remove sulfur contents from a kerosine fraction under specific conditions. However, the methods of Publication Nos. 63-35403, 1-188404 and 1-188405 have been found not still satisfactory because increased quantity of a nickel sorbent is required to achieve a 0.2 ppm level over prolonged length of time. With the method of Publication No. 1-188406, hydrogen-containing gas often outgoes together with carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) from a desulfurization reactor with the results that CO and CO.sub.2 will react with H.sub.2 in the presence of a nickel sorbent and thus generate gaseous methane, leading to hazardous heat buildup.
As hydrogen-containing gas necessary for reforming reaction, part of reformed gas derivable from that reaction is usually recycled in which CO and CO.sub.2 are contained. This recycle gas is obtained substantially free from CO and CO.sub.2 only when passed through carbon monoxide modifiers and carbonate removers arranged downwardly of the steam reformer. Contact of a nickel solvent with a hydrocarbon at a temperature above 40.degree. C. at an inlet of the reformer has been experimentally proved susceptible to too much carbonaceous deposit for practical purposes.


An LED fixing device of a pixel module for a sign board is provided. The LED fixing device is installed on a front side of an LED panel of a road sign board, facilitates the downward flow of rainwater, and prevents the rainwater from being introduced into a pixel module. A method for manufacturing the LED fixing device is also provided. The method for manufacturing the LED fixing plate comprises the steps of extruding the fixing plate and the intercepting plate through a cavity of a mold integrally and continuously, cutting the integrally and continuously extruded fixing plate and intercepting plate at intervals of a predetermined distance, and punching the LED through-holes for fixing the LEDs in the fixing plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED fixing device of a pixel module and a method for manufacturing the LED fixing device, and more particularly to an LED fixing device of a pixel module for a sign board which is installed on the front side of an LED panel of a road sign board and which facilitates the downward flow of the rainwater and prevents the rainwater from being introduced into a pixel module, and a method for manufacturing the LED fixing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an outdoor sign board device is widely used as a means for transferring letters and images by using one medium. The use of such an outdoor sign board device can be expanded in size and used, for example, as a large size guide board of a traffic information guide board of a road, an outdoor advertisement board, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,632 discloses a display system having maintenance accessibility and incorporating light emitting diodes (LED) pixels, lenses, and louvers incorporated into one or more modular display panels to present an electronic display.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for showing a pixel module of a sign board which uses a conventional LED fixing device.
In FIG. 1, an LED fixing device 20 which fixes a plurality of LEDs 32 which embodies letters and images on the front side of first and second pixel modules 10a and 10b by connecting the first and second pixel modules 10a and 10b in a row. And, an intercepting plate 22 which intercepts the sunlight is installed on the front surface of the LED fixing device 20 lest the light emitted form the LEDs 32 should be interfered by the sunlight.
An LED driving circuit board 30 on which LEDs 32 are arranged at intervals of a predetermined distance is provided on the rear side of the LED fixing device 20, and an LED driving circuit 50 for driving the LEDs 32 is installed on the rear surface of the LED driving circuit board 30. The LED driving circuit board 30 which comprises the LED fixing device 20 and the LED driving circuit 50 is fixed by screw engaging portions 40 installed on the rear surface of the LED driving circuit board 30 and screws 42 installed from the front side of the LED fixing device 20.
According to the pixel module of a sign board which uses the conventional LED fixing device 20, the sign board of a desired size is formed by connecting the pixel modules according to the size of the sign board to be installed. Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, the first and second pixel modules are connected to each other longitudinally and horizontally.
However, the conventional LED fixing device is manufactured by injection-molding of a plastic material. The injection molding using a plastic material has an advantage in that the LED fixing device 20 is easily manufactured, but has a problem that the heat generated due to the driving of the LEDs cannot emit effectively in the air because of the low heat-emitting effect of the plastic of low heat conductivity. Such a problem causes the deterioration of the LEDs generated by the superheat, and thus causes the problem that the intensities of light of the LEDs are lowered and the lives of the LEDs are shortened.
Further, the LED fixing device 20 using a plastic material, since the plastic material is a flammable material, has a problem that it is vulnerable to a fire which can be generated in case of short circuit of the sign board which can be caused by leakage of the rainwater. And, the LED fixing device has a problem that it can cause the environmental contamination when exchanged with new one.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,710 discloses a conventional LED fixing device.
In the pixel module for a sign board which uses the conventional LED fixing member, an aperture 12 can be made at an interfacing portion of two LED fixing devices 20 at which the lower end portion of an LED fixing device of a first pixel module 10a meets the upper end portion of another LED fixing device of a second pixel module 10b, and so the rainwater A which drops on the front side of the LED fixing device 20 can be introduced into the aperture 12 and thus the pixel module is damaged due to the short circuit.
Further, in the conventional LED fixing device, since the intercepting plate 22 is formed on the front surface of the LED fixing device 20 such that it is perpendicular to the fixing plate, the rainwater A is not flowed downward and is remained on the upper surface of the intercepting plate 22. Especially, in case of acid rain due to the recent environmental contamination, the acid rain on the upper surface of the intercepting plate 22 erodes the surfaces of the fixing plate and the intercepting plate 22. And, in case the intercepting plate 22 is not firmly fixed to the LED fixing device 20, the rainwater can be introduced into the interior of the LED fixing device 20 through an aperture.
Further, in the conventional LED fixing device, since the LED fixing member and the fixing plate 22 is perpendicular to each other and thus the rainwater is not flowed downward and is remained on the upper surface of the intercepting plate 22 in case of rain, the light emitted from the LEDs 32 is irregularly reflected by the rainwater on the upper surface of the intercepting plate 22 and thus the brightness of the sign board is lowered.
Further, in the conventional art, since a black hardening agent such as silicon or epoxy is used to fix the LEDs 12, the fixing device is not in harmony with the environment, destroying the scenic beauty. And, the monotonous color of the fixing device restricts the design and installing place of the LED fixing device.

LED fixing device of a pixel module and method for manufacturing the same

Korea Institute of Construction Technology


A spreader sprayer system includes a frame member defining a frame body that has a first side, a second side, a front portion, and a rear portion, a first walking member pivotably coupled to the first side of the frame body, a second walking member pivotably coupled to the second side, a first and second plurality of drive wheels, and at least one spray container. The first plurality of drive wheels are disposed on the first side of the frame body and are operatively coupled to the first walking member. The second plurality of drive wheels are disposed on the second side of the frame body and are operatively coupled to the second walking member. Each spray container is coupled to at least one of the first walking member or the second walking member.

Proper fertilization equipment can assist in improving and maintaining the quality of outdoor landscaping and turf, and can increase agricultural yields. While fertilizer can be dispensed by hand, such a process may have a number of shortcomings such as an increased time required to apply the fertilizer, a lack of uniformity in the quantity of fertilizer dispensed to a given area, and the like. Accordingly, spreader sprayer machines can be used to assist in dispensing the fertilizer. However, even when using spreader sprayer machines, rough and/or uneven landscaping environments can result in uneven dispersion of fertilizer. Additionally, uneven terrain can cause these machines to become unbalanced and unstable, and thus can result in an unpleasant user experience.

Walking axle for a spreader sprayer machine


There is provided a check valve for a fuel tank, including a cover to be welded to the fuel tank, a case welded to the cover and having a discharge port configured to discharge fuel into the fuel tank, and a valve body configured to open and close the discharge port. The cover includes a positioning portion on an outer circumferential surface. The case includes a vent hole which is arranged upward in a circumferential direction of the case when the check valve is mounted on the fuel tank, and a valve body supporting portion which supports the valve body inside the case. The valve body supporting portion includes a selecting portion for positioning the vent hole, which is provided on a discharge port side at a position away from the positioning portion by a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction of the case.

A check value for a fuel tank of an automobile includes a case having a discharge opening and a cover to be welded to the fuel tank (for example, refer to JP-A-2005-153693). In an operation of assembling the case and the cover, the case and the cover are welded while performing positioning using a rib or the like protruding from an outer periphery of the case. Accordingly, a communication hole which is formed in the case and functions as an air vent at the time of oil supplying can be arranged upward in a case circumferential direction when the check valve is mounted on the fuel tank, so that a constant oil supply performance can be ensured. FIG. 8 shows a welding method of the related-art check valve described above, and details thereof will be described later.
In recent years, an overall length of the case may be reduced in accordance with vehicle requirements and tank shapes. In this case, when the case and the cover are laser-welded, a laser beam intersects with a positioning rib, which may causes a decrease in welding strength. Further, under the influence of tank internalization where components for a fuel tank are mounted in a fuel tank, a mountable area of components and a surplus area in the periphery are limited. Accordingly, it may be difficult to arrange the positioning rib on the outer periphery of the case as described above.

Check valve for fuel tank and manufacturing method therefor


A hand puller with a rope reel contains a body and a reel. The body includes a fixing holder, a first rotary shaft, a rotating handle, two ratchet wheels, and at least one stopping piece. The rotating handle having a pushing plate, and the first rotary shaft has two driving gears. The reel includes a seat, a second rotary shaft, two driven gears, and a chain roller. The body includes a first connecting portion with plural holes, and the seat has a second connecting portion and a plurality of apertures. The reel and the body are movably coupled together, and the second connecting portion of the reel is aligned and overlapped with the first connecting portion of the body. At least one pin is inserted into at least one of the plural holes of the first connecting portion and the plurality of apertures of the second connecting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand puller and, more particularly, to a reel for a hand puller to roll a chain or a steel cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional hand puller contains a fixing holder 10, a rotating handle 20, and a shaft 30 pivoted between the fixing holder 10 and the rotating handle 20. Two ends of the shaft 30 are fitted through two ratchet wheels 40. The fixing holder 10 has two stopping pieces 101 retained with the two ratchet wheels 40 to generate a single direction stopping function and has a positioning post 102 for inserting a short rope 50. The rotating handle 20 has a pushing plate 201 mounted thereon and retained with the two ratchet wheels 40 to drive the two ratchet wheels 40 and the shaft 30 to rotate. The shaft 30 has a through hole 301 defined thereon to insert a long rope 60. In use, the rotating handle 20 is rotated relative to the fixing holder 10, and the shaft 30 is driven by the rotating handle 20 to roll the long rope 60. The two stopping pieces 101 of the fixing holder 10 retain with the two ratchet wheels 40, thereby pulling the long rope 60 tightly to bundle goods.
Intending to pull the long rope 60 to surround the goods, the rotating handle 20 is rotated to roll and pull the long rope 60 tightly, thus tying the goods securely. However, the long rope 60 is knitted to obtain flexibility and tensile strength, so it is only applicable for common goods. When desiring to pull the goods more strongly, another hand puller is applied to pull a chain or a steel cable, thus limiting usage.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.