Methods and materials are disclosed for the inhibition and control of gibberellic acid levels. In particular, nucleic acid sequences of copalyl diphosphate synthase, 3-xcex2 hydroxylase, and 2-oxidase and additional nucleic acid sequences are disclosed. Gibberellic acid levels may be inhibited or controlled by preparation of a chimeric expression construct capable of expressing antisense RNA which suppresses the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway sequence. The antisense sequence is the complement of a copalyl diphosphate synthase sequence, a 3xcex2-hydroxylase sequence, or a C20-oxidase sequence. Administration of a complementing agent, preferably a gibberellin or gibberellin precursor or intermediate restores bioactivity.

The invention relates to materials and methods for the control of seed germination and seedling growth and, more specifically, to the regulation of the gene products of the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway and restoration of normal seed germination and seedling growth by treatment with exogenously applied gibberellins or gibberellin precursors.
Most agriculturally important crop plants are propagated by seed. The seed is planted and under favorable environmental conditions, the seed germinates and grows into crop plants. However, frequently conditions can occur in which after planting of the seed, the seed fails to germinate or germinates poorly producing a thin stand of plants with reduced yield or necessitating the replanting of the crop with new seed at considerable expense to the grower. This has been shown to occur with soybean, corn, and canola in wet and cool field conditions (Wang et al., Enviro. Exp. Bot. 36: 377-383, 1996; Zheng et al., Crop Sci. 34: 1589-1593, 1994). It is often necessary to plant more seeds than predicted to be necessary to achieve a good crop. The percent of seeds that germinate is considered good at 80%. A measurable savings in resources can be achieved if the seed germination can be controlled to achieve 90% or greater seed germination and vigorous seedling growth. Also, seeds may germinate precociously if the environmental conditions at crop maturity are such that the seed prematurely sprout. This is a problem in some wheat varieties and causes a loss of yield and quality of the harvested grain. Dormancy of seeds during storage is an important criteria for a quality product. Adequate storage and shipping characteristics of seeds is an important prerequisite for distributing food products around the world. In many developing countries storage facilities are inadequate and seed and food quality may be affected when seed dormancy is broken and the process of seed germination begins in storage. However, seeds that are chemically treated to inhibit seed germination often show characteristic traits such as reduced plant height and seedling vigor for some period of time after germination. Seed, genetically engineered for a high level of seed dormancy, can be stored more efficiently and suffer fewer side effects than chemically treated germination inhibition.
The failure of seeds to germinate uniformly and at high frequency is an important factor affecting crop yield. Soybean (Glycine max) is a crop species that suffers from loss of seed germination during storage and fails to germinate when soil temperatures are cool. It has been shown that the exogenous treatment of gibberellic acid will stimulate soybean seed germination under conditions that the seed will not normally germinate (Zhang et al., Plant Soil 188: 329-335, 1997). Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) seed is often chemically treated to improve germination and plant stand which has a direct affect on the yield of the crop. Canola seed germination and seedling growth can be improved at low temperatures by treatment with gibberellic acid (Zheng et al., Crop Sci. 34: 1589-1593, 1994). Improved seedling vigor is observed by these treatments with the plants emerging more quickly from the soil and are more likely to establish themselves under adverse environmental conditions.
There is a need for an effective system which would couple genetically improved seed dormancy with a chemical seed treatment to induce seed germination when germination is desired. The genetic control of gibberellin activity in developing seeds, germinating seeds and during early seedling growth coupled with exogenous replacement of the activity would be an effective means to control seed germination and seedling growth.
Inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis suggest that de novo synthesis of GA is a prerequisite for the release from dormancy (Thomas, Plant Growth Reg. 11: 239-248, 1992). A key enzyme of gibberellin biosynthesis is copalyl diphosphate synthase (CPS) (formerly ent-kaurene synthetase (EKS-A)). Two enzymes, CPS and KS-B (ent-kaurene synthetase-B), catalyze the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to ent-kaurene. CPS is the first committed step in GA biosynthesis. Plant mutants blocked at CPS show strong adverse germination/seedling vigor phenotypes that can be reversed by the application of an exogenous supply of GA. Although these mutants demonstrate the role of GA in seed germination, they do not establish the developmental timing required for expression of GA for normal seed germination and seedling growth. It has not been previously established that soybean plants require de novo biosynthesis of GA for normal seed germination and early seedling growth. It has also not been previously demonstrated that endogenous levels of GA can be affected by the expression of an antisense RNA to a gene important in the biosynthesis of GA in soybean. There are no known soybean mutants blocked in GA biosynthesis; therefore, the requirement for de novo GA biosynthesis in soybean is unknown. Inhibitors of GA biosynthesis offer a method to investigate the effect of decreased GA biosynthesis on soybean germination and seedling growth. GA biosynthesis inhibitors can block ent-kaurene biosynthesis or can block at ent-kaurene oxidation or can inhibit the late dioxygenase-catalyzed steps (Jung et al., J. Plant Growth Regul. 4: 181-188, 1986).
Dioxygenase enzymes modify various gibberellin substrates. The dioxygenases, 20-oxidase and 3xcex2-hydroxylase, are involved in the biosynthesis of GA precursors and active forms. The overexpression or suppression of the GA 20-oxidase genes affect seedling growth differentially (Hedden, et al., In Genetic and environmental manipulation of horticultural crops. Cockshull, Gray, Seymour and Thomas eds. CAB International 1998). Degradation of bioactive GA in specific tissues of the developing seed, germinating seed and early seeding growth can also regulate GA tissue responses. Genes from Arabidopsis and Phaseolus coccineus have been identified that encode for enzymes that have gibberellin 2-oxidase activity (Thomas, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96: 4698-4703, 1999).
Pathways which use substrates in common with the gibberellin pathway are known. The carotenoid pathway (Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology. Secondary Plant Products Vol 8: 259, Bell and Charlwood eds.), the phytol pathway (Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology. Secondary Plant Products Vol 8: 207, Bell and Charlwood eds. ) and the gibberellin pathway each use geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate as a key precursor to the synthesis of their respective end products.
The methods of plant biotechnology provide means to express gene products in plants at particular developmental plant growth stages. Gene promoters that express during seed germination and early seedling development are a preferred embodiment of this invention. The present invention provides a method to genetically suppress seed germination and early seedling development, then by necessity restore normal germination with exogenous application of GA compounds to the seed or seedling. The present invention provides genetically-engineered gibberellin-deficient plants. In agriculture, there exists a need for improved materials and methods for the control of seed germination and seedling growth.
The present invention provides materials and methods for the control of seed germination and seedling growth through the use of plants that have altered levels of a hormone such as a gibberellin (GA) that affects seed germination and seedling growth. Such plants can be germinated and grown to maturity by treating the plants, or seeds or seedlings of such plants, a compound that restores substantially normal levels of the hormone or that has hormone activity.
According to one aspect of the invention, methods are provided for growing a transgenic plant that has a transgene that includes a promoter and, operably linked to the promoter, a sequence that, when expressed, alters the level of a hormone, for example GA. The transgene thus causes one or more abnormal phenotypes in the transgenic plant or seeds or seedlings thereof, such as a shortened hypocotyl, shortened epicotyl, or both (compared with a control, i.e., an otherwise identical except for lacking the transgene). A phenotypically normal plant can be grown from the transgenic plant after applying to the plant or to the seed or seedling thereof (for example, applying indirectly to soil or directly to the plant, seed or seedling) a composition that includes a first compound that is metabolized to produce a second compound that substantially eliminates the abnormal phenotype. In the case of GA-deficient plants, for example, use of GA precursors or biosynthetic intermediates (e.g., ent-kaurene, ent-kaurenoic acid, ent-7xcex1-hydroxykaurenoic acid, steviol, GA12-aldehyde, GA12, GA15, GA24, GA9, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20, GA5, and GA3-3-acetate) helps to properly regulate the amount of bioactive GA that is available within the plants, seeds, or seedlings. Preferred compounds for administration to GA-deficient plants include GA9, GA15, GA19, GA24, GA44, GA53, GA5, and steviol. Several approaches are described herein for producing GA-deficient plants for which the preferred promoter is preferentially expressed in developing seeds, during seed germination, or in young seedlings.
According to one approach, such methods involve the use of transgenic plants having altered hormone levels resulting from a transgene that comprises a sequence that, when expressed, reduces expression of an enzyme in the pathway for biosynthesis of the hormone. For example, the sequence may be in an antisense orientation (i.e., an antisense construct), or suppress hormone biosynthesis as a ribozyme, triplex DNA, by cosuppression, or by any other well-known methods for reducing the expression of endogenous plant genes. For example, in order to alter GA levels, the sequence may suppress expression of an enzyme such as a copalyl diphosphate synthase, a 3xcex2-hydroxylase, or a C-20 oxidase, such as by antisense expression of a sequence that comprises at least 12 contiguous nucleotides (and preferably at least 15, 18, 20, 24, 30, 40, or longer, up to and including the entire length of) SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 or complements thereof, or, alternatively, a sequence that hybridizes under high stringency conditions to SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 or complements thereof.
According to another approach, such methods involve the use of transgenic plants having altered hormone levels resulting from a transgene that comprises a sequence that inactivates the hormone. For example, plants having altered levels of a GA can be produced by expression in the plants of a sequence that encodes a GA 2-oxidase, including, but not limited to: (1) sequences having at least 85% (preferably at least 90, 95, or as much as 100%) nucleotide sequence similarity with SEQ ID NO:57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, or 71; (2) sequences that encode a GA 2-oxidase having at least 70% (preferably at least 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or as much as 100%) amino acid identity with an Arabidopsis GA 2-oxidase 4, an Arabidopsis 2-oxidase 5, a soybean GA 2-oxidase 1, a soybean GA 2-oxidase 2, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-1, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-2, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-3, a maize GA 2-oxidase 1, or a maize 2-oxidase 2.
According to another approach, such methods involve the use of transgenic plants having altered hormone levels resulting from a transgene that comprises a sequence that encodes an enzyme that metabolizes a precursor of the hormone to produce a metabolite that is not a precursor of the hormone in the transgenic plant. In the case of GA, such enzymes include phytoene synthases, C-20 oxidases, and 2xcex2,3xcex2-hydroxylases.
According to another aspect of the invention, related methods are provided that involve the use of transgenic plants (or seeds or seedlings thereof) that have a transgene that comprises a promoter (preferably a promoter that is preferentially expressed in developing seeds, during seed germination, or in early seedlings) and, operably linked to the promoter, a sequence that, when expressed, alters the level of an enzyme in the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway and causes an abnormal phenotype in the transgenic plant or the seed or seedling thereof (compared with a control). A phenotypically normal plant can be grown after applying to the plant or to a seed or seedling thereof a composition that comprises at least one GA compound, as defined herein. For example, GA levels can be affected by altering levels of a copalyl diphosphate synthase, a 3xcex2-hydroxylase, or a C-20 oxidase using a sequence that comprises: (1) at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8; (2) a sequence having at least 85% (preferably at least 90, 95, or as much as 100%) nucleotide sequence identity with of a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8; or (3) a sequence that encodes a polypeptide having at least 70% (preferably at least 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or as much as 100%) amino acid sequence identity with a polypeptide encoded by member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. Preferred GA compounds for rescuing normal plants in this case include ent-kaurene, ent-kaurenoic acid, ent-7xcex1-hydroxykaurenoic acid, steviol, GA12-aldehyde, GA12, GA15, GA24, GA9, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20, GA5, GA4, GA7, GA3, and GA3-3-acetate, most preferably GA9, GA15, GA19, GA24, GA44, GA53, GA5, and steviol.
According to another aspect of the invention, additional related methods are provided that involve the use of transgenic plants (or seeds or seedlings thereof) that have a transgene that comprises a promoter (preferably a promoter that is preferentially expressed in developing seeds, during seed germination, or in early seedlings) and, operably linked to the promoter, a sequence that encodes an enzyme such as GA 2-oxidase that inactivates an endogenous GA, that is a GA that is normally present in the plant, causing at least one abnormal phenotype in the transgenic plant or the seed or seedling thereof (compared with a control). A phenotypically normal plant can be grown after applying to the plant or to a seed or seedling thereof a composition that comprises at least one GA compound that is metabolized by the seed or seedling to produce a product having gibberellin activity that is not degraded by the enzyme. In order to produce a GA 2-oxidase, such sequences include, for example: (1) sequences having at least 85% (preferably at least 90, 95, or as much as 100%) nucleotide sequence similarity with a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, and 71; and (2) sequences that encode a GA 2-oxidase having at least 70% (preferably at least 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or as much as 100%) amino acid identity with an Arabidopsis GA 2-oxidase 4, an Arabidopsis 2-oxidase 5, a soybean GA 2-oxidase 1, a soybean GA 2-oxidase 2, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-1, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-2, a cotton GA 2 oxidase-3, a maize GA 2-oxidase 1, and a maize 2-oxidase 2. Preferred GA compounds include GA4, GA7, GA3, and GA3-3-acetate, most preferably GA3, and GA3-3-acetate.
According to another aspect of the invention, additional related methods are provided that involve the use of transgenic plants (or seeds or seedlings thereof) that have a transgene that comprises a promoter (preferably a promoter that is preferentially expressed in developing seeds, during seed germination, or in early seedlings) and, operably linked to the promoter, a sequence that encodes an enzyme that metabolizes a gibberellin precursor to produce a metabolite that is not a gibberellin precursor, for example a phytoene synthase, a C-20 oxidase, or a 2xcex2,3xcex2-hydroxylase, thereby reducing the level of a gibberellin and causing at least one abnormal phenotype in the transgenic plant or the seed or seedling thereof (compared to a control). A phenotypically normal plant can be grown after applying to the plant or to a seed or seedling thereof a composition that comprises at least one GA compound that substantially eliminates the abnormal phenotype. In the case of phytoene synthase, the preferred GA compounds are ent-kaurene, ent-kaurenoic acid, ent-7xcex1-hydroxykaurenoic acid, steviol, GA12-aldehyde, GA12, GA15, GA24, GA9, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20, GA5, GA4, GA7, GA3, and GA3-3-acetate, most preferably GA9, GA15, GA19, GA24, GA44, GA53, GA5 and steviol. In the case of C-20 oxidase, the preferred GA compounds are GA9, GA4, GA20, GA1, GA7, GA3, and GA3-3-acetate, most preferably GA3 and GA3-3-acetate. In the case of 2xcex2,3xcex2-hydroxylase, the preferred GA compounds are GA9, GA41, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20, GA15, GA7, GA3, and GA3-3-acetate, most preferably GA3 and GA3-3-acetate.
Compositions are provided that are useful in practicing the methods discussed above.
For example, nucleic acid segments are provided that comprise at least 12 contiguous nucleotides (and preferably at least 15, 18, 20, 24, 30, 40, or longer, up to and including the entire length) of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 75, 77, 79, and complements thereof, wherein the nucleic acid segment hybridizes specifically to the selected sequence under stringent hybridization conditions. Included are nucleic acid segments comprising sequences from SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8, that, when expressed in a plant cell (e.g., in an antisense orientation with respect to an operably linked promoter), reduce a level of an endogenous gibberellin compared with an otherwise identical plant cell in which the nucleic acid segment is not expressed.
In addition, nucleic acid segments are provided that comprise a sequence of at least 100 basepairs (and preferably at least 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000, or more) having at least 85% (and preferably at least 90, 95, or 100%) nucleotide sequence similarity with a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 75, 77, 79, and complements thereof. Included among these nucleic acid segments are nucleic acid segments that encode a polypeptide with copalyl diphosphate synthase activity (SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, and complements thereof), 3xcex2-hydroxylase activity (SEQ ID NO:5, 6, and complements thereof), C-20 oxidase activity (SEQ ID NO:8, 77, and complements thereof), GA 2-oxidase activity (SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and complements thereof), phytoene synthase activity (SEQ ID NO: 75 and complements thereof), and 2xcex2,3xcex2-hydroxylase activity (SEQ ID NO: 79 and complements thereof).
According to another aspect of the invention, nucleic acid constructs are provided that comprise a promoter that causes expression of an operably linked nucleic acid segment in a plant cell and, operably linked to the promoter, the nucleic acid segment comprising a sequence that encodes a polypeptide having a GA 2-oxidase activity. Expression of the nucleic acid segment in the plant cell results in inactivation of an endogenous gibberellin in the plant cell, thereby reducing levels of the endogenous gibberellin in the plant cell compared with an otherwise identical plant cell in which the nucleic acid segment is not expressed. For example, the sequence may encode a polypeptide having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity, preferably having only silently or conservative amino acid substitutions, and most preferably having 100% amino acid sequence identity with a polypeptide encoded by a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and complements thereof.
According to another aspect of the invention, nucleic acid constructs are provided that comprise a promoter that causes expression of an operably linked nucleic acid segment in a plant cell and, operably linked to the promoter, the nucleic acid segment comprising a sequence that encodes a polypeptide having a phytoene synthase, C-20 oxidase, or 2xcex2,3xcex2-hydroxylase activity. Expression of the nucleic acid segment in the plant cell results in metabolism of a gibberellin precursor in the plant cell to produce a metabolite that is not a gibberellin precursor in the plant cell, thereby reducing levels of the endogenous gibberellin in the plant cell compared with an otherwise identical plant cell in which the nucleic acid segment is not expressed. For example, the sequence may encode a polypeptide having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity, preferably having only silently or conservative amino acid substitutions, and most preferably having 100% amino acid sequence identity with a polypeptide encoded by a member of the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 75, 77, 79, and complements thereof.
According to another aspect of the invention, a promoter that is operable in plant cells is provided that comprises at least 15, preferably 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 500, or 1000 contiguous nucleotides or more of SEQ ID NO:7. Such a promoter is preferably preferentially expressed in seedlings.
According to another aspect of the invention, transgenic plants are provided that comprise the nucleic acid segments, constructs, and promoters mentioned above. Preferably such transgenic plants are characterized by at least one phenotype selected from the group consisting of a shortened hypocotyl, shortened epicotyl, and both a shortened hypocotyl and shortened epicotyl compared with an otherwise identical plant that lacks the nucleic acid segment.
According to another aspect of the invention, compositions are provided that comprise a seed of a plant that has a gibberellin-deficiency that results in at least one abnormal phenotype in the seed or in a seedling of the plant compared with a seed or seedling of an otherwise identical plant having wild-type levels of gibberellin; and a composition applied to a surface of the seed that comprises an amount of at least one GA compound that is effective to substantially eliminate the abnormal phenotype. The seed may be of a non-transgenic plant (e.g., a GA-deficient point or deletion mutant) or a transgenic plant comprising a transgene comprising a promoter and, operably linked to the promoter, a sequence that, when expressed, reduces gibberellin levels in the seed or seedling. The GA compound is preferably selected from the group consisting of ent-kaurene, ent-kaurenoic acid, ent-7xcex1-hydroxykaurenoic acid, steviol, GA12-aldehyde, GA12, GA15, GA24, GA9, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20, and GA5, most preferably GA9, GA15, GA19, GA24, GA44, GA53, GA5 and steviol.
According to another aspect of the invention, methods are provided for reversibly controlling morphology in a seedling of a transgenic plant in which the capacity to biosynthesize at least one plant hormone that affects normal morphology in said seedling is inhibited, resulting in a deficiency in the level of said plant hormone and modification of at least one morphological trait of the seedling compared to a control seedling. A substantially normal morphology is restored by contacting seed or seedling with an amount of at least one GA compound effective to restore substantially normal morphology, permitting the plants to be grown to maturity. For example, such methods are useful for controlling elongation of a seedling tissue or tissues such as hypocotyl, epicotyl, coleoptile, and/or plumule tissue in a seedling of the transgenic plant. In GA-deficient plants, for example, normal morphology can be restored to plants that display one or more of the following morphological traits: reduced emergence, inhibited shoot growth, reduced height or stature, reduced stem growth, etc.
According to another aspect of the invention, lodging is reduced or prevented in a plant that is susceptible to lodging under conditions that are conducive to lodging by methods that employing a transgenic plant wherein the capacity to biosynthesize one or more plant hormones that affects the height of the seedling or plant is inhibited, resulting in a deficiency in the level of the hormone(s) and reduced height, compared to a control. After the conducive conditions are no longer present, the plant or a seed or seedling thereof can be grown to a normal height by contacting seed of the plant with an amount of at least one GA compound that is effective to increase the height of the seedling or plant.

Methods for controlling gibberellin levels


A method of training a natural language neural network comprises obtaining at least one constituency span; obtaining a training video input; applying a multi-modal transform to the video input, thereby generating a transformed video input; comparing the at least one constituency span and the transformed video input using a compound Probabilistic Context-Free Grammar (PCFG) model to match the at least one constituency span with corresponding portions of the transformed video input; and using results from the comparison to learn a constituency parser.

Constituency parsing is an important task in natural language processing. Constituency parsing aims to capture syntactic information in sentences in the form of constituency parsing trees. Conventional approaches to constituency parsing involve human-annotated datasets. However, annotating syntactic trees by human language experts is expensive and time-consuming. Further, these "supervised" approaches are generally limited to several major languages. In addition, generally, the treebanks for training these supervised parsers are small in size and restricted to the newswire domain, thus their performances tend to be worsened when applying to other domains.
To address these issues, the recent approach has been to design "unsupervised" constituency parsers and grammar inducers, since they can be trained on large-scale unlabeled data. In particular, there has been growing interests in exploiting visual information for unsupervised grammar induction because visual information captures many sources of information required for language learning that textual information lacks. Thus, a recent goal has been to learn a constituency parser from raw unlabeled text aided by its visual context.
Previously, methods used to train sentencing parsing involved exploiting object information from images. Examples of these previous methods are described in Non-Patent Literature [1], Yanpeng Zhao and Ivan Titov. Visually grounded compound PCFGs. EMNLP. 2020; Non-Patent Literature [2], Haoyue Shi, Jiayuan Mao, Kevin Gimpel, and Karen Livescu. Visually grounded neural syntax acquisition. ACL. 2019; and other Probabilistic Context-Free Grammar Visually-Grounded Compound (VC-PCFGs) models.
However, since images are static they cannot present the dynamic interactions among visual objects, which usually correspond to verb phrases that carry important information. Therefore, images and their descriptions may not be fully-representative of all linguistic phenomena encountered in learning, especially when action verbs are involved.

Video-aided unsupervised grammar induction


A computer-implemented method for managing a dialog between a contact center system and a user thereof, comprising the steps of: hosting a dialog over a communication channel between an automated dialog engine of said contact center and said user thereof, said dialog comprising messages sent between said automated dialog engine and said user in both directions; said automated dialog engine receiving input messages from said user, and determining response messages in response to said inputs; detecting from said messages of said dialog a trigger event matching a rule; in response to detection of said trigger event: providing said agent station with a summary of said dialog; and providing control of said automated dialog engine to said agent station.

The present invention generally relates to telecommunications systems and methods. More particularly, the present invention pertains to the operation of contact centers and the management of dialogs therein.
In the operation of many contact centers, interactions with users and between users (which term includes agents of the contact center, customers or external parties communicating with the contact center, and automated systems of the contact center which participate in communications with other users) are managed according to dialogs. Such dialogs are sequences of inputs and outputs within the context of a communications session.
In its simplest form, and is well known, a dialog may take the form of a script employed by a contact center agent to manage a conversation with an external party. The script is written with certain objectives in mind, such as to ensure a satisfactory interaction, to make a sale or offer a service, or to efficiently handle an interaction with the external party. Such scripts suffer from the disadvantage that they are relatively rigid and inflexible.
A further drawback with this approach arises when attempting to automate the execution of the script, e.g. in order to create a series of prompts to an agent workstation where the presentation of prompts is dependent on the progress of the interaction to date. It can be difficult or even impossible to anticipate how a particular interaction might develop, either due to responses or questions that are not anticipated or simply because the vagaries of human interaction can lead a party to jump between topics that are individually catered for within the script but where there is no functional link from one topic to another.
The conventional approach to automation of dialogs in a contact center is to employ a finite state machine (FSM) to manage the dialog. Such a model envisages a series of states (namely the current point in the dialog or script determining the prompt(s) to be presented to the agent) and associated transitions defining one or more actions to be executed when a condition is fulfilled or when an event is detected, such as to move execution to another state, or to trigger an automated contact center system, or terminate the dialog for example. Satisfactory operation of a dialog using the FSM paradigm presupposes that all transitions are properly modeled, i.e. at a given point in the dialog the inputs and events received will map to an appropriate next step. For the reasons already mentioned, real-world interactions and conversations often depart from their expected course, and FSM models can break if there is no defined transition for a given event or input. This can lead to the agent being deprived of any useful prompt, with the script either falling back to a generic fallback point or incorrectly moving forward to a prompt which is not appropriate to the input for lack of a better transition.

System and method for managing a dialog between a contact center system and a user thereof


A timepiece having a bezel that is adapted to be removeably secured to a wristwatch body is provided. A first locking mechanism and a second locking mechanism are associated with a wristwatch body and bezel, respectively. The second locking mechanism associated with the bezel is secured to the first locking mechanism associated with the wristwatch body by inserting the bezel over the wristwatch body and rotating the bezel into a locked position. The bezel is removable from the wristwatch body by rotating the bezel in the opposite direction so that the bezel can be removed from the wristwatch body.

This invention is directed to a child's watch and, in particular, to a child's watch that has a changeable watch bezel which is securely attached to a timepiece by a unique locking mechanism.
Over the years, children's watches have been used for a variety of purposes. One such purpose is an amusement device for capturing the imagination of a child. However, the novelty of a standard watch as a toy will wear off quickly due to the short attention span of a child.
Manufacturers have developed several modifications of a child's watch that provide amusement value to a child. One such watch provides a bezel which can be changed depending on the outfit or the mood of the child. However, a disadvantage of such watches is that the bezel easily falls off and is subsequently lost. Accordingly, an improved child's watch wherein bezels of different colors and designs can be easily changed and yet securely affixed to the watch is desired.

Changeable watch bezel locking mechanism


Various embodiments herein each include at least one of systems, devices, methods, and software for on-demand routing upon location detection. One such embodiment is in the form of a method. This embodiment includes detecting a mobile device is present at a facility and retrieving available order data associated with an account registered with the mobile device. When order data is available and retrieved, the method may then output the order data to facilitate fulfillment of one or more orders included in the retrieved data.

In modern retail environments, such as stores and restaurants, it has become common that customers order items for delivery when they arrive at a preselected location. For example, a customer may order food or one or more items via a phone call or on a website or mobile device app, select a specific retail outlet where the food or one or more items will be picked up, and then arrive at the specific retail outlet to pick up the food or one or more items. While this provides certain benefits to consumers and retail outlets, retailers continue to strive to provide customers greater flexibility and better experiences.

On-demand routing upon location detection


A wireless receiver receives a wireless signal by inverting the polarity of an incoming waveform on every one half clock cycle of a conversion clock to produce a commutated waveform and converting said commutated waveform to a series of representative digital values using a delta-sigma modulator clocked by said conversion clock. In this way, the receiver operates over a large dynamic range and the use of automatic gain control in the front end may be eliminated.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the invention relates to signal reception in a wireless communication system.
II. Description of the Related Art
Wireless systems are becoming a fundamental mode of telecommunication in modern society. In order for wireless systems to continue to penetrate into the telecommunications market, the cost of providing the service must continue to decrease and the convenience of using the service should continue to increase. In response to increasing market demand, several industry standard communication techniques have been developed based upon digital modulation schemes. For example, code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency hopping techniques have been used to develop modern communication systems. As these systems are implemented in parallel with one another, it is often advantageous to have a receiver that is capable of communication using more than one of these standardized techniques. In order to do so, it is necessary to have a receiver that is capable of receiving signals which have been modulated according to several different modulation techniques.
Existing receivers are implemented using double conversion receiver architectures. A double conversion receiver architecture is characterized in that the received RF signal is converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal and the IF signal is subsequently converted to baseband. In addition, typically gain control is also applied at the IF. However, double conversion receivers have the disadvantage of utilizing a great number of circuit components, thus, increasing the cost, size and power consumption of the receiver.
A direct conversion receiver provides an alternative to the traditional double down conversion architecture. Direct conversion is characterized in that the received signal is converted directly from the radio frequency at which it is received to baseband. One such technique was disclosed by Williams in U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,642 entitled xe2x80x9cDIRECT CONVERSION RECEIVER FOR MULTIPLE PROTOCOLS.xe2x80x9d FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a direct conversion receiver in accordance with the teachings of Williams. An antenna 20 receives RF signals that have been digitally modulated according to a predetermined standard. The output of the antenna 20 is passed to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 22. The LNA 22 amplifies the incoming signal. The output of the LNA 22 is coupled to an automatic gain control (AGC) and filtering block 24. The automatic gain control and filtering block 24 controls the magnitude and spectral content of the received signal. For example, the automatic gain control and filtering block 24 may comprise an anti-aliasing filter in order to prevent out-of-band noise and signals from corrupting the in-band signals of interest during subsequent signal processing. In addition, the automatic gain control and filtering block 24 controls the amplitude of the signal so that it remains within predetermined signal limits of subsequent processing stages. The output of the automatic gain control and filtering block 24 is coupled to an amplifier 26 which further amplifies the signal.
The output from the amplifier 26 is input into a sample and hold circuit 28. The sample and hold circuit 28 is clocked by a first clock having a frequency f1. The output of the sample and hold circuit 28 comprises a series of copies of the modulated signal centered about multiples of the clock frequency f1. The output of the sample and hold circuit 28 is coupled to an oversampling delta-sigma converter 30. The delta-sigma converter 30 receives a second clock having a frequency, f2, which is an integer multiple of the frequency f1. In this way, the delta-sigma converter loop 30 oversamples the output signal provided by the sample and hold circuit 28; thus, after decimation filtering providing a quantized representation of the modulated signal.
The construction of the sample and hold circuit 28 requires the use of high frequency circuit elements and design techniques even when the subsampling frequency is relatively low. For example, if a 2 GHz carrier signal is subsampled with a modest 200 MHz clock, a Gaussian sampler model predicts that a root mean-squared (RMS) aperture timexe2x80x94during which the sample and hold circuit samples the signalxe2x80x94of only 6.5 picoseconds would result in introducing a conversion loss of nearly 3 dB. Increasing this aperture time to 16 picoseconds would result in dramatically increasing this conversion loss to 17.6 dB. Timing uncertainties (or jitter) tend to degrade the performance of a subsampler. Using the aforementioned example, an ideal sampler model predicts that a mere 5 picoseconds of RMS jitter limits resolution to 3.7 bits while achieving a resolution of 16 bits requires that RMS jitter be limited to 1 femtosecond.
The sample and hold circuit 28 is typically implemented using some combination of diodes, FET switches or operational amplifiers that typically only operate sufficiently linearly over a small portion of their overall functional voltage range. In addition, the use of subsampling reduces the oversampling ratio that would be achieved by sampling at the carrier frequency or higher thereby significantly reducing the dynamic range of the delta-sigma converter loop 30. For example, the resolution of a delta-sigma converter is dependent upon the oversampling ratio. First, second, third, and fourth order delta-sigma converters optimally achieve 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 bits of resolution per octave of oversampling ratio, respectively. For example, using 200 MHz sampling clock, the Williams"" architecture sacrifices 4.98 bits of resolution (30 decibels (dB)), 8.30 bits of resolution (50 dB), and 11.63 bits of resolution (70 dB), for first, second, and third order delta-sigma converters, respectively, as compared to sampling at the carrier frequency. Recognizing that in a typical system application with a dynamic range requirement of 90 dB or greater, the dynamic range over which the input signal varies is larger than the dynamic range over which subsequent elements, such as the sample and hold circuit 28 and delta-sigma loop 30, can operate, Williams inserted the AGC and filter circuit 24 before the sample and hold circuit 28.
The inclusion of the AGC and filter circuit 24 to extend the dynamic range of a receiver is undesirable for spectrally crowded applications such as cellular communications because it makes the receiver sensitivity dependent upon signals and interference that are outside the signal channel. For example, it is possible for a strong signal in an adjacent channel to capture the receiver front end and desensitize the receiver so that a weak signal in the channel of interest is undetectable. In order to avoid this type of operation, the AGC and filter circuit 24 must be capable of rejecting the out-of-band signals before they desensitize the receiver. The resultant filter included in the AGC and filter circuit 24 is typically a tunable narrowband, bandpass filter. Because it is currently not practical to realize such a filter on a semiconductor substrate, inclusion of such a filter significantly increases the cost and complexity of the receiver. Thus, although the AGC portion and LNA portions can be implemented on a high frequency semiconductor substrate, the design requires the signal path to exit the semiconductor for filtering. In order to exit the semiconductor, the signal levels must be increased thereby increasing the size, cost and power consumption of the receiver. In addition, the filter itself is typically implemented using discrete analog components, further increasing the size and cost of the receiver. Finally, the inclusion of automatic gain control creates a DC offset error which is a function of the automatic gain control setting, making offset correction difficult to implement.
Therefore, there has been a need in the industry to develop a more efficient receiver such as one which can be implemented on a single substrate.
The invention comprises a method of receiving a wireless transmission by inverting the polarity of an incoming waveform on every one half clock cycle of a conversion clock to produce a commutated waveform and by converting the commutated waveform to a series of representative digital values using a delta-sigma modulator clocked by the conversion clock. In one embodiment, the incoming waveform is centered about a radio frequency and carries a modulated signal, the conversion clock has a frequency approximately equal to the radio frequency, and the series of representative digital values are representative of the modulated signal. In another embodiment, the series of representative digital values are digitally filtered according to programmable filter characteristics wherein the programmable filter characteristics are selected based upon a type of modulation of the modulated signal.
In one embodiment, inversion is performed by producing an inverted signal representation of the incoming waveform, producing a non-inverted signal representation of the incoming waveform, coupling the inverted signal representation to a first input port of a switch, coupling the non-inverted signal representation to a second input port of the switch, and coupling the conversion clock to a control port of the switch, wherein the incoming waveform is received over an antenna and wherein an amplitude of the incoming waveform is in fixed proportion to an amplitude of a signal strength received by the antenna.
In one embodiment, the invention comprises filtering an antenna signal to prevent aliasing out-of-band signal and noise power into a desired signal band, the step of filtering producing the incoming waveform, and a frequency of the conversion clock is selected from a range of frequencies passed in the step of filtering.
In another embodiment, the invention comprises a continuous time commutator configured to be coupled to a digital conversion clock and configured to invert a polarity of an incoming signal applied to an input port on every half clock cycle of the digital conversion clock and to produce a commutated signal at an output port. And the invention comprises a delta-sigma modulator having a clock input port coupled to the digital conversion clock, having a signal input port coupled to the output port of the continuous time commutator and having an output port configured to produce a series of digital values representative of a modulation waveform carried by the incoming signal.
The continuous time commutator may comprise a complementary amplifier configured to receive the incoming signal and to produce an inverted version of the incoming signal at an inverted output port and to produce a non-inverted version of the incoming signal at a non-inverted output port, and a switch having a first input port coupled to the inverted output port, having a second input port coupled to the non-inverted output port and having a control port coupled to the digital conversion clock. The delta-sigma modulator may comprise a loop amplifier having a first input port coupled to the output port of the continuous time modulator, having a second input, and having an output port, a continuous time loop filter coupled to the output port of the loop amplifier and having an output port, an edge-triggered comparator coupled to the output port of continuous time loop filter, having a clock input coupled to the digital conversion clock and having an output port, and a one-bit digital to analog converter having an input port coupled to the output port of the edge-triggered comparator and having an output port coupled to the second input of the loop amplifier.
The invention may further comprise a programmable digital filter having an input port coupled to the output of the delta-sigma modulator, the programmable digital filter configured to filter the series of digital values according a filter characteristics selected based upon a type of modulation of the modulation waveform. In yet another embodiment, the invention comprises an antenna coupled to the continuous time commutator so as to receive the incoming signal, wherein an amplitude of the incoming signal is in fixed proportion to an amplitude of a signal strength received by the antenna. In yet still another embodiment, the invention comprises a filter configured to receive an antenna signal and configured to prevent aliasing of out-of-band signal and noise power into a desired signal band, the filter coupled to the input port of the continuous time commutator, wherein a frequency of the conversion clock is selected from a range of frequencies passed by the filter.
In a third embodiment, the invention comprises a linearizing operational amplifier in a non-inverting unity follower configuration, configured to receive an incoming waveform, a transistor network having a first input coupled to an output of the linearizing operational amplifier and having a second input coupled to the incoming waveform, the linearizing operational amplifier and the first complementary transistor network configured to produce a pair of complementary currents that are linearly related to an input voltage level of the incoming waveform a first current source coupled to the transistor network and configured to provide a fixed current through the first transistor network, a commutator network coupled to a clock signal and coupled to the pair of complementary currents that are linearly related to the input voltage level of the incoming waveform, a second current source configured to produce a fixed current, and a switching network coupled to the second current source, having complementary input ports configured to be coupled to logic values and configured to produce complementary switched currents, wherein the complementary switched currents are coupled to the commutator network in order to control together complementary voltage outputs produced by the circuit.


A 2D/3D switchable display, including a display unit adapted to display an image, and a lens unit on the display unit, wherein the lens unit includes a first lens substrate on the display unit and including a first electrode array including a plurality of first electrodes that are spaced apart from each other, a second lens substrate on the first lens substrate and including a second electrode array including a plurality of second electrodes that are spaced apart from each other, and a liquid crystal layer between the first lens substrate and the second lens substrate.

1. Field
Embodiments generally relate to a display, and more particularly, to a 2D/3D switchable display capable of selectively displaying 2D and 3D images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, 3D displays are being applied to various fields such as medicine, games, advertisement, education, military, etc., and a holography or stereoscopy scheme has been prevalently studied as a scheme to display 3D images.


Good cycle performance is obtained with a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte. The positive electrode contains as positive electrode active material a mixture of a lithium-manganese composite oxide and a lithium-transition metal composite oxide containing at least Ni and Mn as transition metals. The negative electrode contains as a negative electrode active material a material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium. Charging of the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is controlled so that the end-of-charge voltage becomes higher than 4.3 V.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of charging and discharging a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery has drawn attention as a high energy density battery. In the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the negative electrode active material is composed of metallic lithium, a carbon material, or an alloy capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, and the positive electrode active material is composed of a lithium-transition metal composite oxide represented by the chemical formula LiMO2 (where M is a transition metal).
A representative example of the lithium-transition metal composite oxide is lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), which has already been in commercial use as a positive electrode active material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries.
Materials containing Mn or Ni have also been researched. As an example of the materials containing Mn, manganese oxide having a spinel structure has been researched as an active material.
A problem with the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that uses the manganese oxide having a spinel structure as an active material has been that the structure of the manganese oxide degrades due to the phase change associated with battery charging, causing the battery performance to deteriorate.
Japanese Patent No. 3024636 discloses that high-temperature storage performance of a battery can be prevented from degrading by adding a Li—Ni—Co composite oxide to such a manganese oxide having a spinel structure. However, the present inventors have conducted a study and as a result have found that the method disclosed in the patent publication cannot achieve sufficient cycle performance.

Method of charging and discharging a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery


A system includes a number of processors with each processor including a cache memory. The system also includes a number of directory controllers coupled to the processors. Each directory controller may be configured to administer a corresponding cache coherency directory. Each cache coherency directory may be configured to track a corresponding set of memory addresses. Each processor may be configured with information indicating the corresponding set of memory addresses tracked by each cache coherency directory. Directory redundancy operations in such a system may include identifying a failure of one of the cache coherency directories; reassigning the memory address set previously tracked by the failed cache coherency directory among the non-failed cache coherency directories; and reconfiguring each processor with information describing the reassignment of the memory address set among the non-failed cache coherency directories.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to cache coherency directories and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and products for use in cache coherent systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a multi-processor system in which each processor shares memory, a cache coherency scheme may be implemented. In such a scheme, a directory may be employed to track accesses to the coherent cache lines. Such a directory may be implemented in a distributed manner, with multiple portions of the directory being implemented as separate components of the multi-processor system. In such example systems of the prior art, however, the failure of such a component renders the entire cache coherent system unusable.

Distributed cache coherency directory with failure redundancy


An automatic control system for an electrosurgical generator is herein disclosed. The automatic control system includes voltage and current sensing circuits, a processing circuit, an output determining circuit, and a control circuit. Samples of the voltage and current outputs are supplied to the processing circuit and the output determining circuit to generate an output signal. The output signal is compared to a reference signal to generate a feedback signal for controlling a drive circuit.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electrosurgery. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an automatic control system for an electrosurgical generator.
2. Background of Related Art
Surgeons have tried to deal with energy application by adjusting the basic power level of the electrosurgical generator and using a hand or foot switch to control the power applied over time. Unfortunately, that technique often leads to unintended power delivery or undesired duration of power delivery to the surgical site. Surgeons also experience difficulty in repeatably and/or consistently desiccating tissue to the desired levels due to the user's reaction time and/or machine response time when manual or foot activated switches are used for manual control. In addition, during endoscopic procedures, visual and tactile feedback is diminished.
A circuit for automatically controlling the output of an electrosurgical generator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,403 to Klicek, currently owned, and assigned to Sherwood Services AG, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,403 relates to an electrosurgical generator control, which is responsive to the tissue impedance between the active and return electrodes during desiccation.
A method for tone detection using the Goertzel algorithm is disclosed in an article entitled The Goertzel Algorithm by Kevin Banks (The Goertzel Algorithm by Kevin Banks, <http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=9900772>, last visited on Jul. 24, 2003). The Banks' article relates to using a modified Goertzel algorithm for determining whether a tone of a specific frequency is present. The Goertzel algorithm calculates both the magnitude and the phase of signal at a specific frequency and is functionally equivalent to performing a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) at a single frequency, but is much less computationally demanding. The DFT is a method for calculating the magnitude and phase of a band of frequencies of interest. An N-point DFT is computationally demanding, but will calculate the real and imaginary frequency terms for all the frequencies up to half the sampling rate of the signal.
According to Banks, using a modified Goertzel algorithm is preferable in applications requiring tone detection such as DTMF, call progress decoding, and frequency response measurements. However, the modified Goertzel algorithm proposed by Banks does not provide the real and imaginary frequency components of the sampled waveform. As a result, the modified Goertzel algorithm is unsuited for determining the phase of the waveform.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an automatic control system that uses fewer computational steps.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an automatic control system that measures the power delivered to a patient.
Yet a further object of the present disclosure is to provide an automatic control system that is adaptable to both monopolar and bipolar electrosurgical generator configurations.
It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide an automatic control system that adjusts the power delivered to a patient by an electrosurgical generator.

Automatic control system for an electrosurgical generator


A lever-type connector has a female housing (30) that can be connected with and separated from a male housing (10) as a lever (50) is rotated. The lever-type connector has first and second cam pins (32, 33). A first gear (51) is rotated as the lever (50) is rotated and has a first cam groove (54) engageable with the first cam pin (32). A second gear (61) is rotated as the first gear (51) is rotated and has a second cam groove (64) engageable with the second cam pin (33). A width of the first cam groove (54) in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the first cam pin (32) exceeds the outer diameter of the first cam pin (32) in conformity with a backlash (S) between the two gears (51, 61). A width of the second cam groove (64) in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the second cam pin (33) is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the second cam pin (33).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lever-type connector including two shaft gears.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,745 and FIGS. 12 to 16 herein show a lever-type connector with a female housing 1F that can be connected with and separated from a male housing 1M as a lever is rotated. FIGS. 12 and 13 show the housings 1F, 1M during a connecting operation, and FIGS. 14 to 16 show the housings 1F, 1M during a separating operation. The connector of FIGS. 12 to 16 also has a lever 4. A first gear 2L is formed integrally on the lever 4 and a second gear 2R is engaged with the first gear 2L. The first gear 2L rotates with the lever 4 and causes the second gear 2R to rotate.
A first cam groove 3L is formed in the first gear 2L and a second cam groove 3R is formed in the second gear 2R. The first and second cam grooves 3L and 3R are arranged symmetrically with respect to a plane of symmetry orthogonal to a plane passing rotation shafts of the gears 2L, 2R and parallel with a connecting direction of the two housings 1F, 1M. A first cam pin 5L is engageable in the first cam groove 3L, and a second cam pin 5R is engageable in the second cam groove 3R. The cam grooves 3L, 3R have substantially the same width as the outer diameters of the cam pins 5L, 5R.
The cam pins 5L, 5R are introduced into the entrances of the cam grooves 3L, 3R, as shown in FIG. 12, at the time of connecting the housings 1F, 1M. The lever 4 then is rotated and causes the gears 2L, 2R to rotate. Surfaces of the cam grooves 3L, 3R distant from the rotation shafts engage the corresponding cam pins 5L, 5R and create a cam action that pulls the two housings 1F, 1M toward each other and into the properly connected state shown in FIG. 13.
A play or backlash 6 is set between the teeth of the gears 2L, 2R so that the gears 2L, 2R can operate smoothly operate. Rotation of the lever 4 at the start of separating the two housings 1F, 1M causes the first gear 2L to rotate clockwise by as much as the backlash 6 without causing a corresponding rotation of the second gear 2R, as shown in FIG. 14. Thus, a surface of the first cam groove 3L close to the rotation shaft engages the first cam pin 5L and only the first cam pin 5L is separated slightly. On the other hand, the second cam pin 5R has not started separating yet. Thus, the separation of the first cam pin 5L constantly precedes between the two housings 1F, 1M and the two housings 1F, 1M interfere with each other, thereby deteriorating lever operability.
Specifically, the second cam pin 5R interferes with an inner wall of the second cam groove 3R, as shown in FIG. 15, if the first cam pin 5L is arranged properly in the first cam groove 3L, and the first cam pin 5L interferes with an inner wall of the first cam groove 3L, as shown in FIG. 16, if the second cam pin 5R is arranged properly in the second cam groove 3R. In short, one of the two cam pins 5L, 5R inevitably interferes with the cam groove, and lever operability is deteriorated in either case.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to obtain good lever operability at the time of connecting and separating two housings.


A proppant dust catcher for a proppant storage device used at a hydraulic fracturing worksite.

1. Field of the Invention
In the most general sense, the present invention relates to a proppant dust catcher for a proppant storage device. The current invention is particularly useful at a hydraulic fracturing worksite. Applicants' invention can reduce the amount of proppant dust escaping from the proppant storage device.
2. Description of the Previous Art
Any discussion of references cited in this Description of the Previous Art merely summarizes the disclosures of the cited references and Applicants make no admission that any cited reference or portion thereof is relevant prior art. Applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy, relevancy and veracity of the cited references.
1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,543-Medemblik, et al. enables a material transfer apparatus. Columns 3 and 4 of Medemblik, in part, read, "The operation of the conveyor 10 will initially be described generally with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, FIG. 2 showing a schematic illustrating of the operation of the conveyor 10. A pneumatic device, in the form of a Rootes or positive displacement type blower 16, acts as a vacuum source to draw air into the conveyor 10 through an inlet conduit 18. An operator locates the open end or nozzle (not shown) of the inlet conduit 18 in, for example, a supply of grain and adjusts an air valve (not shown) such that the grain is entrained in a first fluid stream and drawn into the conduit 18. In FIG. 2, the flow of grain is illustrated by the solid arrows 20, while the air flow is represented as the broken arrows 22, the suffixes a and b being used to indicate whether the air and grain is in an area of negative or positive pressure, respectively. The air 22a and entrained grain 20a pass through the conduit 18 into a separation chamber, in the form of a cyclone separator 24. The grain 20a falls to the bottom of the separator 24 where it gathers and is then transported from the separator 24 through a valve means, in the form of an air sealed, rotary valve 26, into an outlet conduit 28. The air 22a leaves the separator 24 through an upper outlet 30 and passes through a conduit 32 leading to the downstream side of the blower 16. The air 22a is drawn through the blower and pushed, through a muffler 34, to a lower portion of the rotary valve 26. The pressurized air stream 22b then pushes the grain 20b from the lower part of the valve 26, the grain 20b becoming entrained in the air stream 22b and carried through the outlet conduit 28, including a retractable boom section, to an elevated material outlet 36 (FIG. 1), normally positioned above an open transport trailor or the like. In this example, the outlet is provided with a cyclone separator, such that the grain leaves the outlet 36 through a downwardly directed opening 37 while the air and particulate matter entrained in the air leaves the outlet through an upwardly directed opening 39.
Among other things, Medemblik does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,374-Harms, et al. enables a method and apparatus for continuously mixing well treatment fluids. Column 6 of Harms, in part, reads, "The polymer is introduced into the system by pouring it in bulk form into a hopper portion 14 of a feeder 16. Feeder 16 is preferably of a type which discharges an accurately metered quantity of polymer over time. The feeder illustrated is a metering feeder, such as an Acrison feeder. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to this particular Acrison feeder. The important feature is that a device be used which provides an accurately metered quantity of polymer discharged therefrom. The Acrison feeder has a large conditioning auger or agitator 18 adjacent to the bottom of hopper 14. Conditioning auger 18 of this prior art feeder "conditions" or stirs the polymer and breaks up any clumps of polymer that might be stuck together. After being stirred by conditioning auger 18, the polymer falls through an opening 20 into a feed chamber 22. A smaller metering auger 23 rotates within chamber 22, and the polymer is discharged from feeder 16 through an outlet 24. In the Acrison feeder, conditioning auger 18 and metering auger 23 rotate at dissimilar speeds. A control box 26 drives conditioning auger 18 and metering auger 23. A speed transducer 28 may be engaged with control box 26."
Among other things, Harms does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
3) U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,243-Bertellotti, et al. enables a fluidized bed powder handling and coating apparatus and methods. The Bertellotti Summary of the Invention, in part, reads, "The present invention provides powder handling and coating apparatus and methods achieving advantages to address the problems mentioned above as well as other powder coating and handling problems. For example, the invention can provide an automated powder coating system which is relatively compact as compared to prior systems. Powder may be conveniently added to supply a closed loop powder handling system of the invention. The system can also automatically mix reclaimed powder and new or so-called virgin powder prior to conveying the mixture into coating structure associated with the system. Also the system eliminates the need for the primary powder filters typically contained in the powder collection loop and therefore eliminates the change in collection vacuum associated with such filters. Also, powder color and/or powder type may be more easily changed due to the elimination of filters in the powder collection loop and the more compact system configuration."
Among other things, Bertellotti does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
4) U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,535-Stegemoeller enables an apparatus and method for accurately metering and conveying dry powder or granular materials to a blender in a substantially closed system. Column 2 of Stegemoeller, in part, reads, "The details of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Turning to FIG. 1, an apparatus for accurately metering and conveying a dry powder or granular material 1 in accordance with the present invention is shown generally by reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 comprises a bulk material tank 12, which is generally cylindrical or rectangular in shape in its upper portion and generally funnel shaped in its lower portion. The bulk material tank 12 is generally a closed container. It has a sealable opening (not shown) for injecting dry powder or granular material into the tank and an outlet for discharging the dry powder or granular material, which is described in more detail below. The bulk material tank 12 is designed to be mobile, i.e., to be transportable to a work site, such as an oil and gas well, for example."
Among other things, Stegemoeller does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
5) U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,328-Phillippi, et al. enables a method and apparatus for hydrating a gel for use in a subterranean well. Column 7 of Phillippi, in part, reads, "FIGS. 3A and B are detail views of a typical centrifugal pump used as mixer 250 with a base fluid inlet 230, leading to inner chamber 220. The impeller 215 has a hub 260 about which a plurality of impeller blades 218 rotate thereby directing fluid flow. Gel powder 245 is introduced into the inner chamber 220 through powder inlet 242. The gel may be a dry powder or a powder which has been prewetted. Although rotation of the impeller creates a mild suction at the powder inlet 242, the powder is fed into the mixer 250 primarily by gravity. The impeller 215 mixes the gel powder 245 and base fluid 235 to form a gel fluid mix 265 or hydrated gel without the formation of unwanted gel balls or clamps. In use, the centrifugal pump 250 establishes a fluid flow through base fluid inlet 230 into the impeller 215 and then out through gel fluid mix outlet 270.
In FIG. 3B, another mixer embodiment is presented. In FIG. 3A, the base fluid inlet 230 housed at least partially by and extends through the hydrated gel outlet 270. In FIG. 3B, the base fluid inlet 230 attaches to the mixer 250 at a location separate from the point of attachment of the hydrated gel outlet 270 to the mixer 250, allowing a larger through-put of base fluid and mixture. FIGS. 3A and B illustrate two possible arrangements for the inlet 230 and outlet 270, but other configurations may be used. The mixer, inlet and outlet size may be chosen to suit the needs of a particular job."
Among other things, Phillippi does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
6) U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,518-Phillippi, et al. enables a dust control system for transferring dry material used in subterranean wells. Columns 4 and 5 of Phillippi, in part, read, "FIGS. 2 and 3 provide two perspective views of an embodiment wherein the cyclone separator 28 and collection container 34 are physically positioned within the supply tank 12. In these figures, parts corresponding to parts shown in FIG. 1 are identified by the same reference numbers. A plate 12′ forms a part of the top of the tank 12. The plate 12′ also forms the top of the separator 28. The clean air vent 30 extends through the plate 12′. The plate 12′ and other portions of cyclone separator 28 may be made of steel. The upper portion of the separator 28 may have a diameter at inlet 26 of about twelve inches and a diameter at solids outlet 32 of about four inches. The collection container 34 may be connected directly to the outlet 32. The lower end of collection container 34 is closed by a butterfly valve 44, which remains closed during transfer of materials into the supply tank 12. A manual crank system 46 is provided for opening the valve 44 from the outside of the tank 12.
In this embodiment, the flow path 38 between collection container 34 and the inlet of pump 36 includes a conduit extending from an outlet 35 in the lower portion of collection container 34 to a fitting 39 on the top of plate 12′ and therefore outside tank 12. A second fitting 41 on the top of plate 12′ is connected to a short pipe nipple 50 passing through the plate 12′ to flow the materials from pump 36 back into the tank 12. The fitting 39 is adapted for connection to the suction inlet of pump 36 and the fitting 41 is adapted for connection to the outlet of pump 36. The pump 36 may therefore be located outside tank 12.
In this embodiment, an inlet 52 is provided in the lower end of collection container 34 about opposite the outlet 35. The inlet 52 is connected by a conduit 54 to a fitting 56 on the upper surface of plate 12′. The fitting 56 is adapted for connection to a source of pressurized air. This air inlet system provides a means for fluidizing any powder which might plug the outlet 35 and interfere with operation of the pump 36.
In operation, the elements shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are assembled and inserted into an appropriately shaped opening in the top of supply tank 12. The plate 12′ is attached to tank 12 by appropriate fasteners and gasket material to prevent any powder from being vented around the plate 12′. Before the mixer 16 of FIG. 1 can be operated, an appropriate amount of dry treating material must be transferred into the supply tank 12 to provide accurate metering of the material into the mixer 16. As the dry treating material is transferred into the supply tank 12, the air used for the pneumatic conveyance flows into the inlet 26 of the cyclone separator 28. As the air spins in the separator 28, the solids are separated and fall through outlet 32 into the collection container 34. Clean air is vented from outlet 30."
Among other things, Phillippi does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
7) U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,564-Phillippi, et al. enables a portable well treating fluid mixing system and method. U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,564-Phillippi, et al. includes disclosure similar to U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,518-Phillippi, et al. Thus, among other things, U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,564 does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
8) US Pub. Patent Application 20110217129-Fisher, et al. discloses pneumatic particulate material fill systems and methods. Paragraphs 31-34 of Fisher read, "Accordingly, the particulate material may be in a powder or granular state when it is fed into the metering feeder 150, and the hopper 145 may be consistently kept full so that a constant volume of material may be drawn by the metering feeder 150. Because the interior environment of the tank 135 is not pressurized, the metering rates of the metering feeder 150 are not affected by an internal pressure of the tank 135. Consequently, the system 100 may be capable of delivering the particulate material out of the tank 135 at a substantially uniform density and rate.
The conveyor 125 may be designed and operated to convey the particulate material to the hopper 145 at a bulk rate that exceeds the maximum rate at which the metering feeder 150 may be capable of transporting the material out of the tank 135. Because the hopper 150 is located above the fill line 155 of the particulate material in the tank, the overflow of the material being delivered to the hopper 150 by the conveyor 125 may spill back into the tank 135. Therefore, the hopper 150 may continuously overfill and spill over during operation of the system. The excess particulate material may then be recycled back to the conveying system while the hopper 150 remains at a consistent material level and density.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional diagram of a particulate material fill and feeder system 200 with a multi-stage cyclone separator feature, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Similar to the system 100, the system 200 may include a cyclone separator 205 having an inlet 210, a first outlet 215 and a second outlet 220, and may be coupled to a conveyor 225. The cyclone separator 205 may receive a pneumatically conveyed stream of particulate material via inlet 210 and may separate solids from the air. Separated solids may drop toward the bottom of separator 205, through the second outlet 220 and toward an inlet 230A of a conveyor 225. An air stream may be vented through the top of the separator 205 via the first outlet 215. The air stream may or may not be clean at the point of discharge through the first outlet 215. For example, the air stream may yet be dust-laden to an undesirable extent, even though a significant amount of solids may have been separated from the air. To further separate solids from the air stream, the air stream may be routed from the first outlet 215 to a secondary cyclone separator 235, which may be coupled to the cyclone separator 205 via connection 240.
The secondary cyclone separator 235 may receive the air stream via an inlet 245 and further separate solids from the air stream. The solids may be directed toward a second outlet 250 near the bottom of the separator 235. The separator 235 may be coupled to the conveyor 225 so that the separated solids may be transferred to the conveyor inlet 230B. The remaining air stream may be vented from the secondary separator 235 via a first outlet 255. Accordingly, a two-stage separator configuration may provide for an additional level of solid separation, thereby capturing more solids and venting cleaner air."
Among other things, Fisher does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.
9) US Pub. Patent Application 20130186510-Stutzman, et al. discloses a method of reducing silicosis caused by inhalation of silica-containing proppant, such as silica sand and resin-coated sand, and apparatus therefor. Paragraph 56 of Stutzman reads, "FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional end view of a portion of the body of a proppant storage device 1 according to at least one embodiment of the application. While the storage device 1 is being filled with proppant, the doors 3, which are shown in FIG. 6 as being closed, may be opened to allow air to vent through outlets 4 and to allow workers to monitor the fill level of proppant in the storage device 1. The exiting air and the feeding of the proppant disturb the proppant, causing the formation of dust clouds which exit via the outlets 4, regardless of whether the doors 3 are closed or opened. To minimize or prevent the spread or exit of these dust clouds, a vacuum suction system may be employed. In operation, a vacuum dust collection machine is connected via an air duct system to collect the dust. In FIG. 6, intake openings 5 are formed in the sides of the outlets 4. A junction duct 15 is located around the intake opening 5 and connects to a side air duct 7. The flow of air through the side air duct 7 can be controlled by a valve 13. The side air ducts 7 lead to a central air duct 9. The central air duct 9 ultimately leads to an exhaust duct 11, which is operatively connected to a dust collector (not shown). The flow of air therefore proceeds as follows: air is drawn in through the outlets 4, then through the intake openings 5, then through the side air ducts 7, then through the central air duct 9, and finally through the exhaust duct 11. The side air ducts 7, the central air duct 9, and the exhaust duct 11 may be located within the frame or body of the storage device 1."
Among other things, Stuzman does not disclose, teach or suggest a proppant storage device with one or more conduits positioned within the internal storage volume of the proppant storage device, where the conduits are connected to one or more vents to an environment external to the proppant storage device and have holes allowing air flow between the internal storage volume and the vents such that when pneumatic energy is supplied to the internal storage volume, the pressure forces air through the holes and one or more filters in proximity with the holes for catching proppant dust prior to entry into the holes.


Novel cyclodepsipeptide intermediates have been prepared from the A21978 complex and used to synthesize new lipodepsipeptide antibiotics. The three intermediates can be readily derivatized to give new families of antibiotics that have potent antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria.

This invention relates to new lipodepsipeptide antibiotics and methods for preparation of these compounds; and more particularly, a method for preparing novel depsipeptide intermediates from the A21978 antibiotic complex for the purpose of preparing new types of biologically potent lipsipeptides.
Daptomycin, which is derived from the A21978 complex, is a lipodepsipeptide antibiotic that is currently undergoing clinical trials (Drugs Future, 2001, 26(7)); F. P. Tally et al., Exp Opin. Invest. Drugs (1999)8(8): 1223-1238) and has shown excellent activity against gram positive bacteria including strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Due to resistance of the bacteria, human infections with the MRSA and VRE organisms are very difficult to treat with antibiotics now commercially available. Although daptomycin represents a new structure type for clinically used antibiotics and is active against these infections, its use appears limited by toxicity and a new generation antibiotic in this family with reduced toxicity is needed. A number of derivatives of daptomycin have recently been reported in an effort to accomplish this goal (J. Hill et al., International PCT publication numbers WO 01/44271 A2, WO 01/44272 and WO 01/44274). These and previously reported derivatives are based on building new molecules by adding onto the existing core depsipeptide unit of daptomycin in order to obtain biologically active compounds.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide potent and effective antibiotics for treating gram positive bacteria, without limiting use because of toxicity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide lipodepsipeptide antibiotics, derived from the A21978 complex by selective removal of one to three amino acids of the exocyclic tripeptide side chain of the depsipeptide unit, and then derivatizing the result.
A further and more particular object is to provide non-toxic antibiotics particularly active against gram positive bacterial infections by preparing derivatives of the exocyclic peptide side chain of the depsipeptide unit, after removing one to three amino acids from the side chain.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished in an antibiotic which is prepared from three depsipeptide intermediates of the A21978 antibiotic complex. The A21978 complex is obtained by fermentation of Streptomyces roseosporus, according to procedures described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,594. The ornithine amino group of the A21978 antibiotic complex is then protected by a group, such as 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC), or a group from a solid phase support. The product from this reaction is treated with a deacylase enzyme to provide a single protected peptide by removal of the acyl side chain from the components of the complex by procedures described by Debono, et al, in the Journal of Antibiotics, Volume XLI, No. 8, pages 1093-1105. By a sequence of modified Edman degradations or enzymatic reactions, the protected forms of new intermediates are obtained in the form of cyclodepsipeptides. Semi-synthetic antimicrobial lipodepsipeptides are prepared from the cdpeptides. Thus, three different core cdpeptides are elaborated to produce anti-microbial derivatives. The exocyclic tripeptide side chain of the depsipeptide unit is reduced in size by one to three amino acids and then derivatized to produce potent antibiotics.

Lipodepsipeptide antibiotics and methods of preparation


A high-speed transmission line includes a first shielded layer, a first insulating layer, a conductor layer, a second insulating layer and a second shielded layer sequentially attached to each other. The conductor layer includes plural first conductors and plural first conductors interspersed with each other, and the first conductor has a round cross section and is made of a round copper wire.

A transmission line of a flexible cable, also known as cable, is a novel signal cable made of an insulating material and a very thin flat copper wire and produced by a lamination process conducted in a high-tech automated equipment production line, and such cable is soft, freely bendable or foldable, thin, small in size, and quick to cool, so that the transmission line is used extensively in electronic products such as computers, printers, etc.
For servers, high-speed data transmissions are greatly required, and data lines such as coaxial cables are generally used for the data transmissions of the servers. However, such cables have the disadvantages of large volume, slow cooling, and inconvenient to use. Therefore, the subject of how to increase the data transmission speed of the transmission line and applying the advantages of the transmission line to the servers demands immediate attention and feasible solutions.


An apparatus for securing a vehicle to a vehicle repair system with the vehicle repair system having a work surface. The apparatus comprises a frame removably mounted on the work surface with the support base slidingly attached to the frame with the support base having a release handle and an upright column. A lock plate having a lock plate bore sized to receive the upright column is placed over the upright column of the support base and secured to the frame by a drive nut threadingly mounted to the upright column to secure the lock plate against the frame and draw the support base against the frame. A clamp support removably coupled to the upright column of the support base is coupled to a vehicle retainer. The vehicle retainer engages a vehicle securing area on a vehicle being repaired on the vehicle repair system. The frame is secured to the vehicle repair system work surface by a single bolt. Also, the vehicle retainer is secured to the vehicle by a single bolt, with the frame bolt, vehicle retainer bolt and the drive nut being tightened by a single tool utilized by an operator of the vehicle repair system. The support base is also provided with a release handle and is provided with a position slot having the first position in which the support base remains attached to the frame in a second position in which the support base can be removed from the frame. A second, third or fourth apparatus for securing a vehicle to a vehicle repair system with each apparatus mounted on the work surface in a spaced relationship from each other. There is also provided a method for securing a vehicle to the vehicle repair system having a work surface using an apparatus for securing the vehicle.

With new vehicle body styles and variations in manufacturing techniques being introduced in the manufacture of vehicles it is necessary to provide a specific set of vehicle retainers for each of the various body styles of vehicles in order to properly secure a damaged vehicle to a vehicle repair system. In order to repair a damaged vehicle, it is important for the vehicle to be securely mounted on the vehicle repair system so that the exact location of the data points on the vehicle can be measured and repaired. Various types of vehicle repair systems are utilized such as a vehicle repair rack, a repair bench, or a floor system utilized rails or anchor pots. A conventional attachment system for securing a vehicle to a vehicle repair system such as a rack, requires four double clamp type attachment devices each of which is attached to the pinch weld of a vehicle that runs along the bottom of the rocker panel of vehicle. As the body styles have changed, the pinch weld has become shorter, relocated, and in some instances eliminated, making it necessary to use a different attachment system for each type or body of a vehicle in order to hold the vehicle in the fixed position necessary during a repair operation.
Although a vertical pinch weld remains a standard point for clamping many vehicles, horizontal pinch welds and in some instances pinch welds set in an angle from the vertical are being used. In addition, some car manufacturers have introduced jack mounts such as a pin engaging a hole or a suspension pocket formed in the frame of the vehicle which requires another type of vehicle retainer. During a repair operation, each vehicle must be anchored at least two separate points and more typically at four separate points thereby requiring a vehicle repair shop to inventory at least one attachment system for each type of vehicle. This can be costly and requires considerable storage place for each attachment system. In addition, in conventional vehicle retainer systems a multitude of bolts are used for attaching the system to the vehicle repair system, typically in a plurality of holes in the work surface of the vehicle repair system and also requires a multitude of bolts to secure the vehicle retainer to the vehicle.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus for securing a vehicle to a vehicle repair system that minimizes the number of bolts needed to secure the vehicle to the apparatus. There is a further need for an apparatus for securing a vehicle on a vehicle repair system that is infinitely adjustable on the work surface of the repair system and does not require a multitude of bolts for securing the apparatus to the work surface. There is also a need for an interchangeability of vehicle retainers to accommodate different ways of securing different types of vehicles to the apparatus for the repair process. There is a further need to reduce the amount of time necessary to fix the apparatus for securing a vehicle to the vehicle repair system and securing the vehicle to the apparatus itself, preferable by reducing the number of bolting operations to secure the vehicle.