The present invention is directed to a manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system that utilizes a single-handle manual operation for direction of flow and speed, along with providing a neutral position for standby. The system can be operated at a rate of 0 to 250 gallons per minute and be reversed with a single motion of the operating handle. The pump operates in one direction at a fixed RPM, resulting in longer pump life and safer operation. For added safety, the system utilizes the pump's relief valve for both discharge and suction operation. It has the ability of sucking the liquid out of the lines and hoses after each transfer operation. This system has an aluminum flow-reversing valve or two-way valve at the center of the design. This valve allows the flow of the product to be precisely controlled in either direction, along with the flow rate and pressure. This gives the operator the ability to control the product regardless of viscosity or volume. The system has been designed with pressure-tested manifolds and custom design brackets along with a sampling valve and an easily accessible angled strainer basket. The design allows for safe and convenient pump operation as well as for the proper handling of liquids during environmentally sensitive times.

The new manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system was designed primarily for the over the road petroleum transportation industry delivering to above the ground tanks, but it has been found to be useful in the handling of a wide variety of other bulk liquids. This patent is not intended be limited in its scope to the petroleum industry only, but has the capability to be effective in the handling of a variety of other bulk liquids. The new manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system has been designed to revolutionize not only the way bulk liquids are handled by truck tankers but also the way bulk liquids are transferred between containment vessels. Bulk liquids in the petroleum industry consist of gasoline, oil, diesel, aviation-gas, and transmission fluid to anti-freeze, used oil, and more.
In environmentally sensitive areas such as coast lines, rivers, lakes, ski slopes, parks, wetlands, high water tables or any area where underground tanks cannot be used, there is zero tolerance of a contamination spill. Further, underground tanks must be specially designed, manufactured, installed and monitored to detect and prevent leaks. Accordingly, it is extremely expensive to put a tank underground. In these applications, they are filled by a gravity drop, and no pump is required to deliver fuel to these tanks.
Most corporate farms, businesses, municipalities, airports, rental car yards, trucking companies, construction companies, bus companies and railroads use above ground storage tanks. This style of tank requires a pump to fill them. The application of federal law requires like vehicles to respond to their own accidents and rollovers. In the case of the petroleum industry, if a vehicle is rolled over and lying on its side, the fuel must be removed before the vehicle is up-righted. The fuel is salvageable and requires a pump to remove it. The railroad locomotives are filled, and tank cars are loaded and unloaded with the use of pumps mounted on trucks. All package oil facilities that purchase bulk oils and package them for retail sale, use above ground tanks and require vehicles with pumps to fill them. All shipyards and container yards use above ground tanks, and they require pumps mounted on trucks to load and unload fuel on the tugs and tankers.
Presently, not all states are equal in their environmental requirements. California was the first state to have them, and consequently has the highest restrictions with respect to the handling and transportation of hazardous liquids. Many other states have followed suit with similar requirements and the EPA is now beginning to enforce these laws more diligently in all states. The possibility of a trucking company spilling fuel upon disconnecting of the hoses is being greatly scrutinized. There is no longer any tolerance for these types of frequent spills. The manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system eliminates substantially all spillage in these zero spill environments.
As regulation of the industry continues to increase, more above ground fuel tanks will be installed to replace underground tanks, resulting in a dramatic increase in above ground pumping applications. Today in California, if you are a jobber that contracts to Chevron, you are required to have a pump installed on your truck to service their customers. That number is growing, and most all new tankers put into service in California will have pumps installed on them. As the agencies tighten the regulations and enforce the environmental laws, more pumps are required to meet the laws governing the above ground fuel storage and handling systems.
The fuel oil transportation industry and chemical transportation industry have problems that are similar to the petroleum industry. Tankers are no longer used as a single delivery of product to an underground tank and back to the refinery for another partial load. These vehicles and operators must be able to multi-task to survive. These include multiple deliveries per load, both gravity and pump loads, numerous drivers per vehicle, variable products, multitudes of tanks and vessels to deliver to, emergency responses, station pump outs, and railroad deliveries, all of which are just some of the different daily conditions. These are all done under the ever-growing scrutiny of the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, and insurance industry.
The same environmental laws are now being enforced in international markets as well. Islands such as the Dominican Republic are converting to all above ground tanks and are changing their entire transport fleets. They are using a variety of pumps that are put on trucks with no forethought about problems that might be caused. Every single pump is unique and operates differently. This results in daily spills on each and every delivery, which is no longer an accepted practice.
The manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system primarily designed for the petroleum transportation industry was built by the present inventor with safety and the environment at the forefront. The single flow reversing two-way valve handle controls the flow rate and volume of product and eases the stress of operation of this type of equipment. This design makes the unloading and loading of hazardous liquids as safe and efficient as possible along with the ability of removing all the liquid from the lines and hoses. The unique design meets the demands and the stringent requirements set by the Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board, Department of Transportation, A.S.M.E, and various insurance companies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manual bulk liquid pump control and distribution system


The invention concerns a dry alarm valve station of a fire extinguishing installation. According to the invention it is proposed that the dry alarm valve station includes an alarm valve, an alarm line connected to the alarm valve, an alarm alert device, preferably with an alarm pressure switch, which is connected to the alarm line and is configured to trigger an alarm signal when there is a predetermined fluid pressure in the alarm line, and a pressure-operated valve which is interposed between the alarm alert device and the alarm valve, is controlled by a control chamber, and is configured to block the alarm line as long as there is the predetermined control pressure in the control chamber and to open it when the pressure falls below the predetermined control pressure in the control chamber.

Dry alarm valve stations, also referred to as DAV stations, are generally known. They are required in fire extinguishing installations having dry pipe networks in order in a standby mode to reliably separate from the dry pipe network, the extinguishing fluid which is available on the part of the supply line, as long as there is no fire situation, but must then be capable of conveying extinguishing fluid reliably and in a short time scale through the dry pipe network and the sprinklers provided therein so that it is possible to efficiently fight a fire which occurs.
In the above-indicated standby mode there is usually provided downstream of the dry alarm valve station a sprinkler line arrangement which is typically distributed in network-like fashion in a building in order to be able to supply extinguishing fluid to sprinklers distributed in one or more rooms over small or large areas. The sprinklers in their standby mode are usually gas-tightly closed and are opened in a fire situation, for example after triggering of a thermally active element. Air which is usually under pressure is introduced into the dry pipe networks in the state of the art. After opening of at least one sprinkler the pressurized gas issues from the sprinkler whereby there is a pressure drop in the sprinkler line arrangement. That event in known fashion leads to opening of the dry alarm valve station and consequently also an alarm alert. To implement the alarm alert function known dry alarm valve stations usually have an alarm line which extends from an alarm valve in the direction of an alarm device which for example can have a pressure switch and/or an alarm bell. The alarm means is usually configured in dependence on pressure, that is to say when a predetermined threshold value is reached or exceeded in the alarm line, to trigger an alarm, wherein the alarm line is connected to the alarm valve in such a way that it is deluged upon a transition on the part of the alarm valve from a blocking state into the release state. So that an alarm can be triggered the gas which is in the alarm line and which is under ambient pressure or possibly under an increased pressure firstly has to escape.
The dry alarm valve stations and fire extinguishing installations known in the state of the art generally operate satisfactorily in regard to their reliability.
As both an alarm alert and also extinguishing agent discharge from the sprinklers can only occur, by virtue of the principle involved, when the respective line which is dry in the standby mode, being therefore the sprinkler line or the alarm line, is freed of the air which is to be found therein in the standby mode and is completely deluged the known systems involve a time delay in regard to the extinguishing agent discharge and in regard to the alarm alert. The time delay becomes correspondingly greater, the more air that there is to be found in the systems, that is to say the delay becomes greater, the larger the systems become, and that limits the use of a dry alarm valve station to a given size of building or area.
The object of the invention was to overcome the above-indicated disadvantages as extensively as possible. In particular the object of the invention was to provide a dry alarm valve station which permits a reduction in the amount of air in the system, in particular the amount of pressurized air, without compromising the reliability of the installation. At any event the object of the invention was to provide an alternative dry alarm valve station and an alternative fire extinguishing installation having such a dry alarm valve station.
The object of the invention is attained by proposing a dry alarm valve station. The dry alarm valve station has an alarm valve which can be connected at the inlet side to an extinguishing fluid-filled supply line and at the outlet side to a sprinkler line which is air-filled in a standby state of the fire extinguishing installation and a pressure-operated valve body which is controlled by means of a control chamber and which is configured in a blocking state to separate the supply line from the sprinkler line as long as there is a predetermined control pressure in the control chamber and to connect the supply line to the sprinkler line in a an open release state. The dry alarm valve station further comprises an alarm line connected to the alarm valve in such a way that the alarm line is deluged with extinguishing fluid when the alarm valve assumes the release state, and an alarm device, preferably with an alarm pressure switch which is connected to the alarm line and is configured to trigger an alarm signal when there is a predetermined fluid pressure in the alarm line. The dry alarm valve station further comprises a first pressure-operated valve which is interposed between the alarm device and the alarm valve and is controlled by means of the control chamber and is configured to block the alarm line as long as the predetermined control pressure obtains in the control chamber and to open it when the pressure in the control chamber is below the predetermined control pressure. The invention makes use of the realization that, by the interposition of a pressure-operated valve and control of that pressure-operated valve by means of the same control chamber with which the alarm valve is also controlled, the alarm line is divided into a pressurized portion and a potentially relieved portion towards the alarm device. By virtue thereof it is possible for the alarm device to be kept pressure-less in the standby state, which facilitates maintenance and is advantageous in regard to the components of the alarm device. The necessary pressure threshold values can also be reduced, which permits a more rapid response characteristic. In addition this gives the advantage that the pressurized region which first has to be vented for an alarm alert to occur and which to some extent forms an "alarm chamber" involves a markedly smaller volume than in the state of the art as it is only defined by the portion of the alarm line between the alarm valve and the first pressure-operated valve. That also improves the response characteristic of the dry alarm valve station in terms of the alarm alert. In addition, by virtue of control by means of the pressure from the control chamber only a minimum apparatus involvement and complication is necessary, and no additional programming or control complexity for the first pressure-operated valve, and that contributes to simple installation and a compact structure.
An advantageous development provides that the dry alarm valve station has a fluid outlet and a second pressure-operated valve which is interposed between the control chamber and the fluid outlet, is controlled by means of the alarm line downstream of the first pressure-operated valve and is configured to relieve the control chamber when the first pressure-operated valve opens the alarm line. In accordance with this development the extinguishing fluid discharge is steadier and more reliable: after opening of the alarm valve extinguishing fluid passes into the outlet-side sprinkler line. As usually the control chamber of the dry alarm valve station is deluged by the fluid inlet side by way of a bypass there is the risk after opening of the alarm valve that the control chamber at least partially closes the alarm valve again by virtue of the incoming extinguishing fluid. In the state of the art ingenious dimensioning of the pressurized surfaces, control pistons, etc. of alarm valve and control chamber was required to prevent that from occurring. By implementation of the second pressurized valve the control chamber is connected to the outlet and thus relieved of pressure as soon as the second pressurized valve is actuated. That occurs by virtue of actuation on the downstream side of the alarm line from the first pressure-operated valve, immediately after the first pressure-operated valve has opened the alarm line. In other words, the control chamber is reliably kept open by the second pressure-operated valve as soon as the extinguishing operation is initiated. In this respect also the additional apparatus expenditure and control involvement is minimal.
In a preferred embodiment the first pressure-operated valve is in the form of a normally open valve (NO valve), preferably an NO diaphragm valve. Alternatively or additionally preferably the second pressure-operated valve is in the form of a normally closed valve (NC valve), preferably an NC diaphragm valve. Particularly preferably the second pressure-operated valve is in the form of an NC relief valve (PORV). In that case the fluid outlet is preferably provided directly at the second pressure-operated valve, which further optimizes structural design and installation involvement.
In a further preferred embodiment the dry alarm valve station is pilot-controlled. For that purpose the dry alarm valve station has a pilot control valve connected to a control chamber and configured to block or relieve the control chamber. In a first preferred alternative the pilot control valve is a pressure-operated valve which is controlled by means of the pressure occurring at the outlet side at the alarm valve and is configured to block the control chamber as long as there is a predetermined standby pressure at the outlet side at the alarm valve and to relieve the control chamber as soon as the pressure falls below the predetermined standby pressure. The expression pressure at the outlet side at the alarm valve is used to denote the pressure in the sprinkler line. The pilot control valve can be arranged directly at the dry alarm valve station, but also spaced from the dry alarm valve station, preferably in a near region of up to 2 m from the dry alarm valve station, spaced from the alarm valve. The standby pressure is that pressure on the outlet side of the alarm valve, therefore in the dry part of the fire extinguishing installation in the mounted state, which occurs in the standby state. The standby pressure is preferably in a region of less than 2 bars. Particularly preferably the pressure is in a region of 1 to 1.5 bars and is thus markedly lower than in the state of the art. The sprinkler network can be markedly greater developed because overall there is a smaller amount of air in the sprinkler line in the system, which has to escape at the beginning of an extinguishing situation.
The pilot control valve in this embodiment is preferably in the form of a diaphragm valve or a constant pressure valve. In particular the pilot control valve is in the form of a normally closed valve (NC valve).
In an alternative preferred embodiment the pilot control valve is a solenoid valve which can be in signal-conducting relationship to a fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center and is configured to relieve the control chamber in dependence on a trigger command from the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center. In this embodiment actuation of the pilot control valve is no longer dependent on the pressure drop in the sprinkler line. With suitable actuation by the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center that permits preliminary deluging of the sprinkler lines, even before they have triggered. A fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center is here connected as usual in signal-conducting relationship to one or more fire alarms which are configured to detect one or more respective fire characteristics and can therefore respond before a sprinkler is triggered.
In addition the use of a pilot control valve which is actuated by signaling technology is advantageous insofar as the sprinkler line downstream of the dry alarm valve station can be substantially pressure-less and this means that pressurized air does not have to be kept in the sprinkler line in the standby state because the pressure drop in the sprinkler line does not represent a control condition for the pilot control valve. That once more improves the response characteristic in respect of the dry alarm valve station.
The pilot control valve which is in the form of a solenoid valve is preferably also in the form of a normally closed valve (NC valve).
In a further preferred embodiment the pilot control valve which is a pressure-operated valve is a first pilot control valve and the dry alarm valve station additionally has a second pilot control valve which is a solenoid valve which can be connected in signal-conducting relationship to a fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center and is configured to relieve the control chamber in dependence on a trigger command from the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center. Preferably the two pilot control valves are connected in series, wherein the second pilot control valve is preferably interposed upstream of the first pressure-operated pilot control valve. The pilot control redundancy implemented in that way means that triggering of the dry alarm valve station as a consequence of mere pressure fluctuations in the supply line is reduced as, besides the pressure drop in the sprinkler line, actuation by the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center (for example after detection of a fire by a fire alarm) has to be effected in order to relieve the control chamber.
The second pilot control valve is preferably in the form of a normally closed valve (NC valve).
Alternatively preferably the second pilot control valve is in the form of a normally open valve (NO valve). In that case the second pilot control valve is kept closed for example by a continuously applied current or voltage signal. If a power failure or an unintentional interruption in the signal-conducting connection, for example due to a cable rupture, occurs, then with that configuration operation of the dry alarm valve station can still be effected by way of the pressure-operated pilot control valve.
In a further preferred embodiment the dry alarm valve station has a pressure measuring transducer which is operatively connected to the outlet side of the alarm valve and can be connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center. The pressure in the sprinkler line can be monitored by means of that pressure measuring transducer. Alternatively or additionally to the pressure measuring transducer it is also possible in advantageous embodiments to provide a pressure switch. Actuation of the pilot control valve or valves can be effected in such an embodiment in dependence on a pressure drop signaled by the pressure measuring transducer or pressure switch, in the sprinkler line, if the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center is suitably configured.
In a further preferred embodiment the dry alarm valve station additionally has a third pilot control valve which is a solenoid valve which can be connected in signal-conducting relationship to a fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center and is configured to relieve the control chamber in dependence on a trigger command from the fire alarm center, wherein preferably the second pilot control valve is in the form of an NO valve and preferably the third pilot control valve is in the form of an NC valve. Preferably in this embodiment a pressure measuring transducer or pressure switch is operatively connected to the outlet side of the alarm valve and is configured, when the pressure falls below a predetermined pressure value, to output a signal to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center which thereupon actuates the third pilot control valve. This embodiment represents a synthesis of the above-indicated embodiments and affords the highest level of functional security of the embodiments discussed here.
The invention has been described hereinbefore with reference to a dry alarm valve station. In a further aspect the invention further concerns a fire extinguishing installation comprising a sprinkler line, one or more sprinklers arranged distributed on the sprinkler line, a supply line and a dry alarm valve station connecting the supply line to the sprinkler line. The object of the invention is attained in such a fire extinguishing installation in that the dry alarm valve station is in accordance with one of the above-described preferred embodiments.
A development of the invention in respect of the fire extinguishing installation provides that the dry alarm valve station has a pressure-operated pilot control valve which is controlled by means of the pressure at the outlet side at the alarm valve and is configured to block the control chamber as long as there is a predetermined operating pressure at the outlet side at the alarm valve and to relieve the control chamber as soon as the pressure falls below the predetermined standby pressure, wherein the fire extinguishing installation has at least one pilot control line and at least one pilot control sprinkler arranged at the pilot control line, wherein the pilot control valve is controlled by means of the pilot control line and is configured to block the control chamber as long as a predetermined standby pressure occurs in the pilot control line and to relieve the control chamber as soon as the pressure falls below the predetermined standby pressure. In this embodiment the fire extinguishing installation has a separate sprinkler system which is filled with pressurized air in the standby state and which is exclusively there to relieve the control chamber when a pressure drop is registered. This means that the sprinkler line which is connected to the supply line by way of the alarm valve can be kept pressure-less in the standby state.
In another development of the fire extinguishing installation according to the invention in which the dry alarm valve station is in accordance with one of those embodiments which have recourse to a pilot control valve in the form of a solenoid valve that fire extinguishing installation has a fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center.
Preferably moreover the fire extinguishing installation has at least one fire alarm connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center, wherein the pilot control valve in the form of a solenoid valve or at least one of the pilot control valves in the form of a solenoid valve, when using a plurality of pilot control valves, is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center and the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center is configured to control the pilot control valve or at least one of the pilot control valves in dependence on the alarm from at least one fire detector.
Preferably alternatively or additionally the dry alarm valve station has a pressure measuring transducer which is operatively connected to the outlet side of the alarm valve and is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center, and the pressure measuring transducer is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center, wherein the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center is configured to control the pilot control valve or at least one of the pilot control valves in dependence on the pressure measurement values signaled from the pressure measuring transducer to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center.
In the fire extinguishing installations geared to the use of solenoid valves the alarm alert device, in particular the alarm pressure switch thereof, is preferably connected in signal-conducting relationship to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center. In that way a feedback signal can be generated in respect of triggering of the alarm device to the fire alarm and/or extinguishing control center as soon as the alarm line is deluged and the alarm alert device is actuated.

Dry alarm valve station and fire-extinguishing facility comprising same


A method for encoding dot-matrix product information method includes identifying, via a processor, a dot-matrix grid size. The method further includes evaluating, via the processor, one or more dot pattern variation levels. In some aspects, the method includes retrieving, via the processor, an encoding structure indicative of a plurality of product information attributes. The method also includes determining, via the processor, whether an alpha-numeric digit at a dot pattern variation level can include a plurality of product information. The method further includes outputting, via the processor, a dot pattern code map. In some aspects, the dot pattern code map is indicative of a relationship between each of the product information attributes and the plurality of values for each of the product information attributes.

The present disclosure relates to product information encoding, and more specifically, to dot-matrix product information encoding.
Food traceability is important to food safety. A key to tracking & tracing food in the distribution chain is recordation of product information adequately throughout the distribution chain. Tracking & tracing codes for food products are commonly printed on food packaging using dot-matrix printing, which may become partially or completely unreadable during the manufacturing and/or distribution process.

Dot-matrix product information encoding for food traceability

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A rotary throttle valve carburetor has a start assist device with an operating member that interacts with a throttle lever of the throttle valve to axially displace the throttle valve, preferably without rotating it. The operating member may be rotated and moved linearly for selective engagement with the throttle lever by any one of a plurality of starting features generally spaced circumferentially about the operating member. Preferably, each starting feature has a face that faces axially outward with respect to the rotary axis and when in contact with the throttle lever. Each face is spaced at a different distance from the operating member axis thus selection of each will cause the operating member to contact and move the throttle lever a different distance. The different distances correspond to varying fuel enrichments that may be associated with different temperatures of an engine to be started.

Rotary carburetors may include a rotary throttle valve adapted to control a quantity of air flowing through a mixing passage by rotating about an axis and to adjust a quantity of fuel flowing into the mixing passage by shifting in an axial direction and in dependence on the angular position of the rotary throttle valve. Generally, as air flow increases so does fuel flow thus maintaining a substantially constant fuel-and-air ratio of the mixture flowing from the mixing passage and to a warm and running combustion engine. For starting a cold engine, rotary carburetors are known to have starting systems that interact with the rotary throttle valve to generally move the throttle valve axially without rotation, thus increasing the quantity of fuel flowing into the mixing passage without increasing the quantity of air. The result is a richer mixture of fuel-and-air to facilitate cold engine starts.
Typical starting systems for rotary carburetors have a generally planar or plate-like operating member supported slidably by a main body of the rotary carburetor for reciprocal movement to engage a rotating throttle lever of the rotary throttle valve when a richer mixture of fuel-and-air is desired for cold engine starts. A free end or peripheral edge of the operating member typically has a wedge-shaped cam for contacting the throttle lever and moving it in an axial outward direction thus increasing the quantity of fuel flowing into the mixing passage. The operating member of the starting system has only two positions, the rest or disengaged position and the active or engaged position. Therefore, known starting systems are not responsive to varying cold temperatures that ideally require varying degrees of fuel enrichment when starting an engine at different temperatures.

Start assist device for a rotary carburetor


In particular embodiments, a gaming kiosk may be granted federated access to social networking information of a user, initiated upon activation of a physical access token. A user may initiate a workflow, by activating a physical token, that establishes a federated access session between a gaming kiosk and a social networking system to allow the gaming kiosk to augment the user's experience with social networking information and to publish gaming information to the social networking system.

Social networks, or social utilities that maintain and enable connections between users (including people, businesses, and other entities), have become prevalent in recent years. In particular, social networking websites allow users to communicate information more efficiently. For example, a user may post contact information, background information, job information, hobbies, and/or other user-specific data to a location associated with the user on a social networking website. Other users can then review the posted data by browsing user profiles or searching for profiles including specific data. The social networking websites also allow users to associate themselves with other users, thus creating a web of connections among the users of the social networking website. These connections among the users can be leveraged by the website to offer more relevant information to each user in view of the users' own stated interests in their connections. These connections may also be leveraged by an external client which interfaces with the website's graph directly, to provide social context to the client application.
A system, such as a website, that allows users to interact with the system typically stores a record for each users of the system. These records may comprise information provided by the user as well as information gathered by the system related to activities or actions of the user on the system. For example, a system may require a user to enter information such as contact information, gender, preferences, interests, and the like in an initial interaction with the system, which is stored in the user's record. A user's activities on the system, such as frequency of access of particular information on the system, also provide information that can be stored in the user's record. The system may then use information provided by the user and information gathered about the user, to customize interactions of the system with the user. For example, a website selling books may keep a record of a users previous purchases and provide the user with information on related books during subsequent interactions with the system. Information in a user's profile may also be used by the system to target advertisements that are of interest to the user. Using information collected from and about users results in a system that is more efficient and beneficial for both the user and the system.
Users typically interact with social networking systems by accessing a web site over a network using a client device, such as a desktop computer or a mobile device. Interactions between users and the social network system can be direct in that the web site that the user accesses hosts a social network application.
The figures depict particular embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

Social networking data augmented gaming kiosk


A method for wireless LAN communication using multiple channels is provided. An ATIM containing channel information is generated when there is data to be sent, and the ATIM is transmitted via a main channel after a predetermined period of time. When a station loses a channel reservation competition, the station generates and transmits via the main channel another ATIM containing channel information regarding another channel to be used from data transmission. The station then performs channel switching to the other channel corresponding to the channel information, transmits the data via the other channel, and switches the channel back to the main channel at the time of a subsequent beacon.

This application is based on and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2003-0034808 filed on May 30, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method for wireless local area network (LAN) communication in an ad hoc network, and more particularly, to a method for wireless LAN communication by which a station that has lost a channel reservation competition for a main channel can transmit data via another channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a wireless LAN refers to a wireless LAN based on IEEE 802.11 standards. IEEE 802.11 defines standards for a wireless LAN operating in the 2.4˜2.5 GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band. The ISM band is a frequency band prescribed for the utilization of equipment in industrial, scientific and medical applications. The ISM band can be freely used without permission if the transmitting power is less than a predetermined level.
An IEEE 802.11 network is basically configured with a Basic Service Set (BSS) composed of several stations communicating with one another. The BSS includes an independent BSS in which stations perform direct communication therebetween without using, an access point (AP), and an infrastructure BSS in which an AP is used in all communication processes.
The independent BSS mainly consists of several stations constructed with a specific purpose and for a specific period of time. For example, the independent BSS includes a network established upon holding a meeting in a conference room. When the meeting begins, respective attendants will establish an independent BSS to share their data. Then, when the meeting ends, the attendants will break up the independent BSS. Because of the short life, small scale and specific purpose of such an independent BSS, it is often called an ad hoc BSS or ad hoc network.
FIG. 1 shows a wireless LAN in an ad hoc environment, which is configured with five stations.
First and third stations intend to transmit their data to second and fourth stations, respectively. The first and third stations that intend to send data transmit the data competitively via a channel reservation competition. As a result of the competition, only the station that wins in the competition is allowed to transmit the data.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional data transmission process of a wireless LAN in the ad hoc network of FIG. 1.
In FIG. 2, a beacon is a frame responsible for the notification of a presence of a network and maintenance of the network. The beacon is periodically transmitted so that a mobile station causes parameters to correspond thereto for participation in the network and finds and recognizes the network. In an infrastructure network, an AP performs the beacon transmission. In an ad hoc network, each station performs the beacon transmission and only a beacon of a station that has won the competition is transmitted. If a station that has received a beacon has data to be sent (i.e., MAC Protocol Data Unit: MPDU), the station generates an announcement traffic indication message (ATIM), and transmits the generated ATIM to notify the presence of the buffered data.
Referring to FIG. 2, it shows a case where the first station has won a competition with the third station. In particular, FIG. 2 shows that the first and third stations have their data to be sent to the second and fourth stations, respectively, and intend to generate and transmit their ATIMs, but the first station has sent an ATIM first. The ATIM of the first station has been transmitted to the second to fifth stations, but the third station cannot transmit its ATIM to the fourth station. When an ATIM window, i.e. time period during which an ATIM can be transmitted, terminates, the third station that lost in competition and the fourth and fifth stations with no data to be sent enter a doze mode in order to save power. When it is time for the third to fifth stations in the doze mode send subsequent beacons, they return to an active mode in order to send or receive beacons in competition with the first and second stations. In active mode, the aforementioned process is repeated again.
The data transmission of the first and second stations is performed after the ATIM window terminates. To avoid a collision that may be caused by any hidden stations, the first station intending to send data transmits a request-to-send (RTS) while the second station receiving the data transmits a clear-to-send (CTS) so as to reserve a transmission medium or to assure continuous data transmission. When the RTS and CTS are thus exchanged, the first station transmits the data and the second station acknowledges the received data. The data transmission may be performed on the basis of several fragments, and a station that has received each fragment sends an acknowledgement (ACK) in response thereto. A short interframe space (SIFS) is provided between associated frames such as RTSs and CTSs, data, and ACKs for reception of data.
FIG. 3 shows a conventional data transmission process of a wireless LAN in the ad hoc network of FIG. 1.
In FIG. 3, a case is shown where the third station has successfully sent an ATIM to the fourth station and the first station also has successfully sent an ATIM to the second station. In this case, the first to fourth stations are all in active mode. If the ATIM window terminates, the first and third stations competitively send their data. At this time, if the first station first transmits the RTS, the first station takes priority of transmission of data to the second station. Due to the presence of a network allocation vector (NAV) in the RTS packet, the third station cannot transmit data for a period of time during which the first station is sending and receiving the data. After the first station completes data transmission to the second station, the third station can transmit the data only if time to receive a beacon still remains. Meanwhile, although the RTS and CTS are packets used in overcoming problems with any hidden nodes, they may be omitted. FIG. 3 shows that upon transmission of data to the fourth station, the third station transmits data while omitting transmission of the RTS and CTS.
As described above, there is a need for a method and apparatus for allowing a station to transmit data even though the station loses a competition in an ad hoc network. That is, in the case of FIG. 2, the third station cannot transmit data to the fourth station. In the case of FIG. 3, the third station cannot transmit data during a predetermined period of time in the network allocation vector. Further, even though it is possible to implement a method and apparatus for allowing a station to transmit data even when the station loses a competition, there is a problem in that if the implementation method greatly deviates from existing IEEE 802.11 standards, a station meeting the standards cannot perform wireless communication with such a newly implemented apparatus. Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for allowing a station to perform wireless communication with standard stations while meeting IEEE 802.11 standards.

Method for wireless local area network communication using multiple channels


A communication and/or amplifier system according to various aspects of the present invention includes an excursion signal generator and a filter system. The excursion signal generator identifies a peak portion of a signal that exceeds a threshold, such as a magnitude threshold. The filter system filters a corresponding excursion signal having a magnitude and waveform corresponding to the portion exceeding the threshold to remove unwanted frequency components from a delayed version of the excursion signal. The filtered excursion signal may then be subtracted from the original signal to reduce the peak. In one embodiment, the communication and/or amplifier system operates in conjunction with signals having multiple channels and subchannels. The system may include a magnitude adjustment system configured to adjust magnitudes of the excursion signal subchannels according to magnitudes of the first signal subchannels. The system may also adjust the excursion signal magnitude in a time division environment according to the magnitude of the original signal in the same time slot.

Wireless communication base stations, networks, and other systems use power amplifiers, such as to transmit signals to cellular phones, computers, personal electronic assistants, and other devices. A power amplifier increases the average power of the transmitted wireless signal sufficiently to maintain a reliable communication link at any required distance. The transmitted signal's power varies, depending on both the modulation type and the data sequence being transmitted, resulting in the signal exhibiting random peaks and troughs over time in its instantaneous power. The complexity and cost of an amplifier is highly dependent on the maximum instantaneous power that it must accommodate. Consequently, base station providers and other electronics users seek ways to lower the instantaneous or "peak"-power requirements of the relevant system.
To reduce system peak-power requirements, a provider may simply limit the maximum amplifier output power by constraining or "clipping" the maximum magnitude of its output signal. Clipping the amplifier output effectively reduces the peak-power output requirement while still providing ordinary amplification for non-peak signals. Since the cost of a power amplifier rapidly increases as it is required to accommodate higher peak-power levels, clipping can significantly reduce system cost.
Clipping may be particularly attractive in applications in which occasional large peaks occur. For example, in wireless communications, a single amplifier often simultaneously amplifies signals for multiple channels. Occasionally, the multiple signals constructively combine to generate a relatively high peak. The amplifier must either fully amplify the peak, requiring an expensive high peak-power amplifier, or the output magnitude may be clipped to facilitate the use of a lower peak-power, less expensive amplifier.
In wireless communications and networking, however, clipping is unacceptable. Clipping induces spectral regrowth, creating spectral energy in potentially restricted spectral regions. The electromagnetic spectrum is a finite resource, and it is strictly apportioned by restrictions from various regulation agencies to minimize interference from competing users. The various spectrum users receive permission to transmit within certain bandwidths and are ordinarily prohibited from transmitting outside of the designated bandwidth. Even within the so-called "unlicensed bands", strict FCC standards regulate spectral emissions to minimize interferences. Because spectral regrowth adds unacceptable frequency components to the signal, spectrum regulations do not permit clipping as a solution for high power amplifier requirements.

Methods and apparatus for controlling signals


An apparatus comprising a chassis, a mast movably coupled with the chassis, a first actuator operable to pivot the mast with respect to the chassis along a substantially vertical plane, and a second actuator operable to move the mast in a lateral direction with respect to the chassis along a substantially horizontal plane. The mast may support an oilfield material container. By pivoting the mast, the first actuator may be operable to pivot the oilfield material container with respect to the chassis along a substantially vertical plane. By moving the mast, the second actuator may be operable move the oilfield material container in a lateral direction with respect to the chassis along a substantially horizontal plane.

To facilitate the recovery of hydrocarbons from oil and gas wells, subterranean formations surrounding such wells may be hydraulically fractured. Hydraulic fracturing may be utilized to create cracks in subsurface formations to permit oil and/or gas to move toward the well. The formation is fractured by introducing a specially engineered fluid, sometimes referred to as a fracturing fluid or slurry, at a high pressure and high flow rate into the formation through one or more wellbores. The fracturing fluid may be loaded with proppant, which are sized particles that may be mixed with liquid of the fracturing fluid to help form an efficient conduit for producing hydrocarbons from the formation to the wellbore. The proppant collects inside the fractures to prop open the fractures formed in the formation. The proppant may comprise naturally occurring sand grains or gravel, man-made proppants (e.g., fibers or resin-coated sand), high-strength ceramic materials (e.g., sintered bauxite), and/or other suitable materials.
At the wellsite, proppant and other fracturing fluid components are blended at a low-pressure side of the pumping system. The oilfield materials often are delivered from storage facilities to a blender by pneumatic systems, which employ air to convey the oilfield materials. Water and/or other liquids are then added, and the resulting fracturing fluid is delivered downhole under high pressure. Handling the proppant prior to blending may include transporting the proppant to the wellsite via trucks, then to holding silos or bins, and subsequently to the blending equipment. Prior to blending, the proppant handling and dispensing assemblies are assembled at the wellsite.

Adjustment apparatus for container installation


A drawing processing device includes a rendering section, first and second figure drawing sections, a registration section, and a control section. The rendering section performs rendering based on a drawing command. The first figure drawing section draws a figure based on a figure pattern obtained by performing the rendering. When the rendering section performs the rendering for a figure, the registration section registers the figure pattern for the figure. If a figure drawing command is received and if a figure pattern corresponding to the received figure drawing command is stored, the second figure drawing section selects the corresponding registered figure pattern and draws a figure in place of the first figure drawing section. Based on an appearance state of figures in a page to be processed, the control section controls whether or not figure drawing performed by the second figure drawing section is caused to function in the page.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a drawing processing device, an image output apparatus, and a computer-readable medium.
2. Related Art
A mechanism of drawing processing is used to print out with an image forming apparatus such as a printer or to display on an image display apparatus having a display device such as a CRT or an LCD (liquid crystal display) based on electronic data that is created using a document creation tool such as word-processing software, drawing creation software, etc., for example.
In output processing, usually, drawing processing (also called rendering or rasterizing) is performed for image data in accordance with output units (for example, one page or one screen) before the output processing. For example, a printer processes various drawing commands output from a document creation apparatus such as a personal computer and develops the drawing commands into image data being represented by arrangement of pixels that can be printed on the printer.
In the drawing processing, various types of processing responsive to the various drawing commands are performed from time when the drawing commands output from a host apparatus such as a document creation apparatus is received to time when the drawing commands are developed into image data being represented by arrangement of pixels that can be output on an image output apparatus.

Drawing processing device, image output apparatus, and computer-readable medium


A radiation source includes an uncapped Mo/Si multilayer mirror, and a cleaning apparatus configured to remove a deposition comprising Sn on the uncapped Mo/Si multilayer mirror. The cleaning apparatus is configured to provide a gas comprising one or more of H2, D2 and HD and one or more additional compounds selected from hydrocarbon compounds and/or silane compounds in at least part of the radiation source, to produce hydrogen and/or deuterium radicals and radicals of the one or more additional compounds, from the gas, and to supply the hydrogen and/or deuterium radicals and radicals of the one or more additional compounds to the uncapped Mo/Si multilayer mirror to remove at least part of the deposition.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that example, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
A theoretical estimate of the limits of pattern printing can be given by the Rayleigh criterion for resolution as shown in equation (1):
                    CD        =                              k            1                    *                      λ                          NA              PS                                                          (        1        )            where λ is the wavelength of the radiation used, NAPS is the numerical aperture of the projection system used to print the pattern, k1 is a process dependent adjustment factor, also called the Rayleigh constant, and CD is the feature size (or critical dimension) of the printed feature. It follows from equation (1) that reduction of the minimum printable size of features can be obtained in three ways: by shortening the exposure wavelength λ, by increasing the numerical aperture NAPS or by decreasing the value of k1.
In order to shorten the exposure wavelength and, thus, reduce the minimum printable size, it has been proposed to use an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source. EUV radiation sources are configured to output a radiation wavelength of about 13 nm. Thus, EUV radiation sources may constitute a significant step toward achieving small features printing. Such radiation is termed extreme ultraviolet or soft x-ray, and possible sources include, for example, laser-produced plasma sources, discharge plasma sources, or synchrotron radiation from electron storage rings. Along with useful EUV in-band radiation, EUV radiation sources may produce almost equal (and sometimes more) undesirable out-of-band infrared ("IR") and deep ultraviolet ("DUV") radiation.
The source of EUV radiation is typically a plasma source, for example a laser-produced plasma or a discharge source. A common feature of any plasma source is the inherent production of fast ions and atoms, which are expelled from the plasma in all directions. These particles can be damaging to the collector and condenser mirrors which are generally multilayer mirrors, with fragile surfaces. These surfaces are gradually degraded due to the impact, or sputtering, of the particles expelled from the plasma and the lifetime of the mirrors is thus decreased. The sputtering effect may be particularly problematic for the collector mirror. The purpose of this mirror is to collect radiation which is emitted in all directions by the plasma source and direct it towards other mirrors in the illumination system. The collector mirror is positioned very close to, and in line-of-sight with, the plasma source and therefore receives a large flux of fast particles from the plasma. Other mirrors in the system are generally damaged to a lesser degree by sputtering of particles expelled from the plasma since they may be shielded to some extent.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources may use tin (Sn) or another metal vapor to produce EUV radiation. With such EUV sources, Sn may be discharged or deposited on the EUV collector. In order to achieve sufficient lifetime for the EUV lithographic apparatus, it is desirable to remove tin from the EUV collector.
Hydrogen radicals may be used to remove Sn and other contamination from optical elements, as described in United States patent application publication no. 2006/0115771. A cleaning rate greater than about 1 nm/sec with H2 radicals may be obtained when Sn contamination is deposited on a Si substrate. However, experiments on Ru substrates have shown that the cleaning rate with H2 radicals is a lot lower than on Si substrates and full cleaning of Ru substrates (i.e. all Sn removed from the Ru substrate) may not be possible.
One option that may be pursued fully to remove Sn deposition on a Ru substrate is to add a capping layer to the multi-layer mirror surface. In United States patent application publication no. 2006/0115771 describes the use of such a capping layer to protect various optical elements. With such a process, it may be possible fully to clean a multi-layer optical element with Ru-top, Mo-top or Si-top, using hydrogen plasma.

Radiation source with cleaning apparatus


An energy management system. The system includes a coax controller apparatus comprising an exterior housing and plurality of coax modules numbered from 2 through N, where N is an integer greater than 3. In a specific embodiment, each of the coax modules comprises a powerline chip (PLC) module coupled to an analog front end, which is coupled to a coaxial connector. The system also has an electromagnetic shield configured to each of the coax modules. In a specific embodiment, the electromagnetic shield is configured to substantially maintain the coax module substantially free from interference noise or other disturbances. The system has a power meter coupled to one or more ports of the coax controller apparatus.

The present invention relates generally to energy management techniques. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for isolating local area networks over at least a co-axial wiring for energy management, but it can be applied to many other applications.
As larger universities and research labs obtained more computers during the late 1960s, increasing pressure mounted to provide high-speed interconnections to share information across a common network, often referred to as a Local Area Network (LAN). The development and proliferation of DOS-based personal computers from the early 1980's and the introduction of the World-Wide Web (WWW), which enabled the spread of information over the Internet through an easy-to-use and flexible format, popularized the adoption of home networking. A home network is a residential LAN, and is used to connect multiple devices within the home. More recently Internet Service Providers (ISP) such as AT&T and British Telecom have been using home networking to provide triple play services (voice, video and data) to customers.
Early LAN cabling used for LAN had always been based on various grades of co-axial cable, but IBM's Token Ring used shielded twisted pair cabling of their own design, and in about 1984 StarLAN showed the potential of simple CAT3 unshielded twisted pair—the same simple cable used for telephone systems. This led to the development of 10Base-T (and its successors) and structured cabling which is still the basis of most LANs today. Structural cabling is most cost efficient in new facilities but it becomes technically challenging and cost prohibitive in existing facilities. Given that the majority of buildings are existing and new buildings are just a small percentage of the overall market, other technologies were developed that transmit data either over the air or through the use of existing wiring.
As new applications such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)—a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection, and Video of Demand (VoD)—a system that either stream content through a set-top box, allowing viewing in real time, or download it to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder, personal video recorder or portable media player for viewing at any time, matures, the bandwidth requirement for a LAN will need to be increased to be able to support these applications.
Wireless 802.11 technologies are limited in bandwidth, coverage, interferences and security. Other network technologies that use the existing wiring of a facility such as HomePNA Phoneline and HomePlug™ Powerline uses bare copper wires which are easily susceptible to interferences and they are also limited by its shared medium; thus, making it extremely challenging to deploy bundled applications and services. A co-axial wire is a cable consisting of an inner conductor, surrounded by a tubular insulating layer typically made from a flexible material with a high dielectric constant, all of which is then surrounded by another conductive layer (typically of fine woven wire for flexibility, or of a thin metallic foil), and then finally covered again with a thin insulating layer on the outside—making it the most ideal network infrastructure for high-bandwidth applications that is part of the existing wiring of a facility.
Although highly successful, networking techniques have not been used successfully in energy management applications. That is, energy management applications have been crude and often difficult to use in an easy and convenient manner. Energy management applications are also non-existent in some areas. These and other limitations of conventional energy management techniques have been described throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that improved techniques are desired to improve use of existing co-axial wiring for LAN and in particularly energy management applications.

Method and system for isolating local area networks over a co-axial wiring for energy management


A light source for a surgical system includes a broadband light source operable to produce broadband light. The light source further includes a wavelength splitter adapted to split the broadband light into illumination light having a spectral range covering at least a majority of the visible spectrum and surgical light having a spectral range outside of the spectral range of the illumination light. The light source then includes at least one surgical module adapted to control application of the surgical light. The light source also includes first and second coupling optics. The first coupling optics are configured to optically couple the illumination light to an illumination light guide for delivery to a first surgical probe. The second coupling optics are configured to optically couple the surgical light to a surgical light guide for delivery to a second surgical probe.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments described herein relate to the field of microsurgical probes. More particularly, embodiments described herein are related to the field of surgical illumination using broadband light sources, and more particularly, to the use of supercontinuum lasers in illumination and surgical applications.
2. Description of Related Art
The field of microsurgical procedures is evolving rapidly. Typically, these procedures involve the use of probes that are capable of reaching the tissue that is being treated or diagnosed. Such procedures make use of endoscopic surgical instruments having a probe coupled to a controller device in a remote console. Current state of the art probes are quite complex in operation, often times requiring moving parts that are operated using complex mechanical systems. In many cases, an electrical motor is included in the design of the probe. Most of the prior art devices have a cost that makes them difficult to discard after one or only a few surgical procedures. Furthermore, the complexity of prior art devices leads generally to probes having cross sections of several millimeters. These probes are of little practical use for ophthalmic microsurgical techniques. In ophthalmic surgery, dimensions of one (1) mm or less are preferred, to access areas typically involved without damaging unrelated tissue.
Scanning mechanisms that allow time-dependent direction of light for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes have been used in endoscopic surgical instruments. These instruments typically use probes that provide imaging, treatment, or both, over an extended area of tissue without requiring motion of the endoscope relative to its surroundings. However, there are typically multiple probes for each function, and different light sources are used for different applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a common light source useful for multiple functions that provides effective illumination in small-scale probes.

Optical coherence tomography and illumination using common light source


The present invention provides purified and isolated polynucleotides encoding IRP (Integrin Regulatory Protein) polypeptides which regulate .beta..sub.2 and .beta..sub.7 integrins and which are contemplated to participate in integrin signaling and/or recycling pathways. Also provided are methods for identifying modulators of IRP activities and methods for identifying other proteins which interact with IRP polypeptides in signaling pathways. Modulators of IRP interactions are contemplated to be useful, for example, in monitoring and treating inflammatory processes involving leukocytes.

The integrins are heterodimeric surface molecules comprised of an .alpha. and a .beta. subunit in non-covalent association. All integrins are transmembrane proteins with counter-receptor binding activity localized in the extracellular domain. Integrins also possess relatively short cytoplasmic regions which participate in transmembrane signaling events. Integrins are capable of interacting with other cell-bound counter-receptors and components of the extracellular matrix, as well as soluble factors. Binding of extracellular ligands leads to crosslinking and localized clustering of integrins [Miyamoto, et al., Science, 267:833(1995)] and formation of focal adhesions wherein the clustered integrin cytoplasmic domains associate with cytoskeletal components including, for example, actin filaments [Pavalko and Otey, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 205: 32767 (1994) and Gumbiner, Neuron., 11: 551 (1993)]. While most investigations into integrin physiological activity have focused on identifying specific excellular counter-receptors, less is known about the specific interactions of integrins with cytoplasmic components. Mutation studies, however, have indicated that the cytoplasmic sequences are required for integrin association with focal contacts [LaFlamme, et al., J. Cell. Biol., 117: 437 (1992)].
While numerous integrins have been identified, certain subsets are unique to leukocytes, with each member of the subset having characteristic cell-specific expression and counter-receptor binding properties. Of leukocyte-specific integrins, at least three .beta..sub.2 integrins are known, each comprised of a unique .alpha. subunit in association with a .beta..sub.2 subunit (designated CD18) [Kishimoto, et al., Cell, 48:681-690 (1987)]. For a review of the state of the art with regard to .beta..sub.2 integrins, see Springer, Cell, 76: 301-314 (1994). CD11a/CD18, also known as .alpha..sub.1.beta..sub.2 or LGA-1, is expressed on all leukocytes and has been shown to bind to ICAM-1, ICAM-2and ICAM-3. CD11b/CD18, also know as .alpha..sub.M.beta..sub.2 or Mac-1, is expressed on polymorphonu-clear neutrophils, monocytes and eosinophils and have been shown to bind to ICAM-1, complement factor iC3b, factor X, and fibrinogen. CD11c/CD18, also known as .alpha..sub.X.beta..sub.2 or p150/95, is expressed on monocytes, polymorphonu-clear neutrophils and eosinophils and has been shown to bind to complement factor iC3c and fibrinogen. In addition, a fourth human .beta..sub.2 integrin, designated .alpha..sub.d.beta..sub.2, has recently been identified [Van der Vieren, et al., Immunity, 3: 683:690 (1995)].
The .beta..sub.7 integrin subunit, in association with an .alpha..sub.4 subunit is expressed predominately on leukocytes. The cell surface heterodimer recognizes a gut homing counterreceptor designated the mucosa addressin cell adhesion molecule (MadCAM) and appears to play a pivotal role in lymphocyte binding to intestinal tissue [Berlin, et al., Cell 74:185-195 (1993)]. .alpha..sub.4.beta..sub.7 has also been shown to bind to VCAM [Chan et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267:8366-8370 (1992)]. In a manner similar to action previously associated only with selectin surface molecules, .alpha..sub.4 .beta..sub.7 has been shown to participate in selectin-independent lymphocytes attachment to inflamed venules under flow conditions [Berlin, et al., Cell 80:413-422 (1995). Animal models using antibodies immunospecific for the .alpha..sub.4 subunit have suggested that .alpha..sub.4.beta..sub.7, or .alpha..sub.4 in associated with the .beta..sub.1 integrin subunit, may play a role in numerous disease states, including, for example, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis [Yednock, et al., Nature 356:63-66 (1992); Baron, et al., J. Exp. Med. 177:57-68 (1993)]; contact hypersensitivity [Ferguson and Kupper, J. Immunol. 150:1172-1182 (1993); Chisholm, et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 23:682-688 (1993)]; and non-obese diabetes [Yang, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 90:10494-10498 (1993); Burkly, et al., Diabetes 43:529-534 (1994); Baron, et al., J. Clin. Invest. 93:1700-1708 (1994)].
The integrins have been shown to be one of the major types of proteins involved in trafficking of leukocytes throughout the body. Leukocytes constantly recirculate between lymphoid organs and other tissues by passing from lymph and blood through the endothelial cell layer of the vasculature and penetrating the underlying tissue. One component of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases is the influx of leukocytes to inflammatory sites. Resolution of inflammation at such sites can be accomplished with monoclonal antibodies immunospecific for integrins which block or inhibit leukocyte function. For review, see Lobb and Hemler, J. Clin. Invest. 94:1722-1728 (1994). Modulation of integrin function is one way in which resolution of inflammation may be effected, but little is known about the specific cytoplasmic components of integrin regulation and signaling.
Liu and Pohajdak, Biochimica et Biosphysica Acta, 1132: 75-58 (1992) describes a human cDNA clone named B2-1 which encodes a protein having domains homologous to the yeast SEC7 protein, squid kinesin, pleckstrin, and dynamin. The article states that since B2-1 is homologous to only a small portion of the yeast SEC7 protein it has not been unequivocally proven that B2-1 is the human homologue of the yeast protein, which is unlikely given dissimilarities outside the SEC7 motif. The article postulates that B2-1 may be involved in the re-orientation of the golgi/secretory granules of NK cells toward target cells during cytolysis. Schiller and Kolanus ["A dominant negative effect of the human Sec7 PH domain on .beta..sub.2 integrin mediated binding to ICAM-1," 3rd Adhesion Meeting of the German Immunology Association, Regensburg, Germany, Mar. 14-15, 1995] describe a human protein having similar motifs which interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of .beta..sub.2 integrins and report that overexpression of the PH domain of the protein results in a strong dominant negative effect on the activation dependent activity of .beta..sub.2 integrins in Jurkat cells. However, Schiller and Kolanus do not show: (i) the existence of integrin regulatory proteins (IRPs) which preferentially interact with and/or modulate integrins activity. (ii) IRPs which, when co-transfected with integrin-encoding DNA in COS cells, regulate de novo expression of the co-transfected integrin, or (iii) IRPs which modulate attachment and rolling of JY cells under flow conditions.
Thus there exists a need in the art to identify molecules which bind to and/or modulate the binding and/or signaling activities of the integrins and to develop methods by which these molecules can be identified. The methods, and the molecules thereby identified, will provide practical means for therapeutic intervention in integrin-mediated immune and inflammatory responses.

Method to identify proteins which bind to integrin regulatory proteins


A power combining and outphasing system and related techniques for simultaneously providing both wide-bandwidth linear amplification and high average efficiency is described. Providing linear amplification encompasses the ability to dynamically control an RF output power level over a wide range while still operating over a wide frequency bandwidth. The system and techniques described herein also operate to maintain high efficiency across a wide range of output power levels, such that a high average efficiency can be achieved for highly modulated output waveforms.

As is known in the art, radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) are important in numerous applications, including RF communications, medical imaging, industrial heating and processing, and dc-dc power conversion among many others. PAs are often required to provide linear amplification, which encompasses the ability to dynamically control an RF output power over a wide range. This becomes particularly challenging when wide-bandwidth control of an output signal is required. It is also often desired to maintain high efficiency across a wide range of output power levels, such that high average efficiency can be achieved for highly modulated output waveforms. Simultaneously achieving both of these requirements—wide-bandwidth linear amplification and high average efficiency—has been a longstanding challenge.
As is also known, one concept that has been explored for achieving both linear operation and high efficiency is referred to as outphasing. This technique is also sometimes referred to as "Linear Amplification with Nonlinear Components" or LINC. As shown in FIG. 1, in conventional outphasing, a time-varying input signal Sin(t) is decomposed into two constant-amplitude signals S1(t), S2(t) which can be summed to provide a desired output signal Sout(t). A variable envelope output signal is created as the sum of two constant-envelope signals S1(t), S2(t) by outphasing of the two constant envelope signals. Because the two signals S1(t), S2(t) are of constant amplitude, they can be synthesized with highly-efficient PAs including partially- and fully-switched-mode designs such as classes D, E, F, E/F and current-mode D, Inverse F, φ, etc. These amplifiers can be made highly efficient in part because they needn't have the capability to provide linear output control. Combining the two constant-amplitude outputs S1(t), S2(t) in a power combining network enables the net output amplitude to be controlled via the relative phase of the two constituent components S1(t), S2(t).
One important consideration with outphasing is how the power combining is done, particularly because many high-efficiency power amplifiers are highly sensitive to load impedance, and their performance and efficiency can heavily degrade due to interactions between the power amplifiers. As shown in FIG. 2, one conventional approach is to combine the constant-amplitude signals S1(t), S2(t) using an isolating combiner. An isolating combiner provides a constant (resistive) loading impedance to each PA independent of the outphasing angle, eliminating any interactions. A consequence of this, however, is that each PA operates at a constant output power level. Power that is not delivered to the output must instead be delivered elsewhere, usually to an "isolation" resistor R which dissipates power in the form of heat. Thus, a portion of the total constant output power from the PAs is delivered to the output (at the sum port of the combiner); the remainder is delivered to the difference port and is lost as heat in the isolation resistor. This leads to a rapid degradation of efficiency as output power is decreased, diminishing the attractiveness of this approach. This problem can be partially offset by recovering power not delivered to the output through a rectifier. Thus, in some implementations, power not delivered to the output is instead recovered back to the dc supply via a rectifier.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a different conventional approach is to use a lossless combiner, such as a Chireix combiner or related methods. (By "lossless" we mean a combiner including only reactive components or energy storage components such that ideally there would be no loss, while recognizing that all real components have some degree of loss. We also refer to a "lossless" combiner as a reactive combiner.) Benefits of the Chireix combining technique, which is non-isolating, include the fact that the combiner is ideally lossless, and that the real components of the effective load admittances seen by the individual power amplifiers vary with outphasing (and power delivery) such that power amplifier conduction losses can be reduced as output power reduces. However, the reactive portions of the effective load admittances (Yin,1, Yin,2) are only zero at two outphasing angles, and become large outside of a limited power range (see the example plots in FIG. 3). This limits efficiency, due both to loss associated with added reactive currents and to degradation of power amplifier performance with (variable) reactive loading. Stated differently, the reactive impedances +jXc, −jXc of the combiner compensate for the effective reactive loading on the PAs due to interactions between them. However, because the effective reactive loading due to PA interactions depends upon operating point (outphasing angle), compensation is imperfect over most of the operating range. This can thus lead to loss of efficiency and PA degradation when operating over wide ranges.
Accordingly, the above-described challenges with power combining are among the principal reasons that outphasing is not a more dominant architecture in RF applications.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a power combining and outphasing modulation system for use in RF applications that overcomes the loss and reactive loading problems of previous outphasing approaches by providing ideally lossless power combining, along with substantially resistive loading of the individual power amplifiers over a very wide output power range, enabling high average efficiency to be achieved even for large peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR).
Some outphasing amplification systems generate phase-modulated branch drive signals using an outphasing modulator having a baseband signal as an input. Such systems can be classified as baseband-input/RF-output systems. For example, existing four-way outphasing systems may include an upconverting modulator coupled to each branch signal path that generates RF drive signals for branch amplifiers (e.g., power amplifiers) based on the desired output power (i.e. a baseband command) according to the control law. Using upconverting modulators may incur excessive cost and complexity as compared to a system with a single input, and can complicate digital correction schemes.
In many applications, a preferred solution would be an RF-input/RF-output amplification system that could function as a drop-in replacement for other RF-input/RF-output amplifiers, such as conventional single-transistor amplifier designs (e.g., class A, NB, B, F, inverse F), RF-input Doherty amplifiers, etc. An efficient RF-input/RF-output design can be used in applications requiring direct amplification of modulated RF inputs. Further, in systems that convert a baseband input to a modulated RF output, computation and baseband-to-RF conversion can be simplified down to a single path (i.e., to generate a single modulated RF output for amplification by the RF amplifier system). Advantages in this case include reduced baseband signal processing, data conversion and upconversion expense and loss, simplicity, and the ability to work with many calibration and digital pre-distortion schemes, which are set up for a single RF path.
One manner in which an RF-input/RF-output outphasing power amplifier can be realized is by having a system element that takes in a modulated RF input, recovers the RF carrier from this input and extracts the baseband input from the modulated RF input (e.g., as a receiver). This carrier and baseband information could then be used (via a conventional outphasing modulator) to synthesize the plurality of phase modulated RF waveforms to drive the branch amplifiers. Although such a scheme does enable the use of an outphasing system from RF inputs, it may have relatively high latency, complexity, and/or cost. A simpler, lower loss and lower cost approach is desirable.

RF-input / RF-output outphasing amplifier


A high capacity battery including terminals on a terminal-bearing face thereof, and a plate member coupled in spaced-apart relationship to the terminal-bearing face to define a coolant gas flow space therebetween including a peripheral gap for coolant gas communication with an exterior environment of the battery. One or more motive coolant gas drivers is mounted on the plate member and arranged for effecting flow of coolant gas through the coolant gas flow space and the peripheral gap, and the motive coolant gas drivers are electrically coupled with the terminal-bearing face for powering of such drivers. Such high capacity battery can be substituted for a conventional battery in a battery-powered apparatus such as a forklift vehicle, to provide extended use operation as a result of the on-board thermal management capability of the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to high capacity batteries suitable for fast charging, and more specifically to a high capacity battery including an integrally-powered cooling assembly, for maintaining optimal efficiency in normal power supply operation, as well as in a fast charging mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the use of batteries as power supplies for vehicles, monitoring and surveillance installations, portable signage, temporary lighting units, and other applications, rechargeable high capacity batteries capable of being reenergized by fast charging have assumed increasing importance, due to their efficiency and their minimal down-time for recharging.
"High capacity batteries" as used herein refers to batteries of greater than about 100 Amp-hours capacity.
"Fast charging" as used herein refers to charging a battery at a rate of greater than 30 amperes per 100 ampere-hours of battery capacity. A goal of fast charging is to bring the state of charge ("SOC") of a battery from 30% to 80% of full charge in less than about 1.5 hours.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746 issued Oct. 12, 2004 in the names of the present inventors for "FAST CHARGER FOR HIGH CAPACITY BATTERIES," describes high-efficiency fast chargers for fast charging of high-capacity batteries. The disclosure of such patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference, for all purposes.
As disclosed in the background section of such patent, conventional battery chargers typically operate at charging rates that are about or below 20 amperes per 100 ampere-hours of battery capacity. In consequence, the charging rate of such conventional battery chargers decreases early in the charge cycle, and 8-12 hours are required to restore the battery to full charge status.
The fast charger apparatus and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746 overcomes the deficiencies of conventional charging approaches, and permits high capacity lead-acid batteries to be safely charged at higher currents, in a highly effective manner, bringing batteries from 30% to 80% state of charge in about an hour. The charging enabled by the fast charging system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746 is on the order of 400% faster than conventional charging technologies.
By such high-rate, high-efficiency charging afforded by the fast charging system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746, it is possible to operate fleets of battery-powered vehicles without changing out batteries, thereby obviating the time, effort and lost productivity costs of such change-outs. The fast charging system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746 thereby permits a substantial increase in fleet productivity for such electric battery-powered vehicles. As a result, a typical operation requires at least 50% fewer batteries, in addition to the power savings realized by such systems.
In operation, high capacity batteries entail unique thermal management issues. During heavy duty operation of the power-consuming vehicle or installation, involving a substantial flow of electrochemically generated current, the high capacity battery "runs hot" and the temperature of the battery may rise as much as 20-30° F. or even more.
Additionally, the high-rate intensive charging enabled by the apparatus and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,746, together with the accompanying continuous use of the high capacity battery that is enabled by such fast charging capability, e.g., with high capacity batteries used to power forklift vehicles in a heavy two or three shift operation without traditional "cool down" periods (which take place when batteries are changed out in prior conventional practice, and the out-changed batteries are put on conventional "slow charger" units overnight for recharging), produces substantial increases in battery temperature during the fast charging operation. This in turn requires charging current to be reduced during late-stage fast charging, in order to maintain battery temperature at a safe level to achieve desired battery life.
This occurrence of substantial increases in battery temperature during fast charging and heavy use applications has a number of adverse effects. Higher battery temperatures result in reduced battery life potentially causing warranty issues with the battery, as well as increasing operating expenses and cost-of-ownership (COO) of the battery-powered vehicle or installation. Further, where the battery (e.g., in a battery box or other mounted arrangement) is located in close proximity to an operator of a battery-powered vehicle or installation, the waste heat generated may adversely impact the operator, with consequent reduction of safety and desirability of the battery-powered operation. In addition, substantial increases in battery temperature undesirably impacts the fast charging operation by increasing the time required for a battery to achieve a targeted state of charge. As a result, the potential benefits inherent in fast charging are not fully realized.

High capacity battery with integrally-powered cooling assembly


A vehicle system includes a plurality of capacitors each forming a portion of a vehicle structure, and a parallel electrical link between a pair of the plurality of capacitors, such that the pair of capacitors act as an aggregate capacitor.

The present invention relates generally to capacitors, and more specifically to capacitors capable of use as part of a fuselage or body, such as for an air-, land- or marine-based vehicle.
The fuselage of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), interchangeably referred to as an Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (UAV) or Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV), primarily serves as the structural and lift-producing airframe component that enables controlled flight of the UAS within specified operational envelopes and flight conditions appropriate for the category of UAS. UAS airframes can provide the necessary enclosure(s) for remote sensing payloads and otherwise critical UAS avionics systems that enable capabilities such as precision navigation, radio communication, environmental systems and UAS sensor functionality (transmitted via RF communications to various ground control stations). Typically, the ground control stations and controlling pilot are located either within Line of Site (LOS) or Beyond Line of Site (BLOS) of the air vehicle, often at great distances from each other. The various fuselage compartments of the UAS may house equipment such as power sources, engines or electric power plants, electronics and antennas that communicate with ground control systems or other airborne aeronautical assets. Generally, the range of a given UAS is a function of its aerodynamic design, mass, and the energy efficiency of its propellant system; sometimes constrained by the maximum effective distance of the UAS command links, communications links and onboard fuel/power limitations. Often, lack of redundancy of onboard UAS systems restricts expanded use of UAS within the U.S. National Air Space (NAS), governed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—available redundant, on-board electrical power sources are necessary to power avionics systems that provide precision navigation and air vehicle flight control. The mass of the aircraft is a direct function of the body volume, construction material properties, mass of the engine sub-system, and mass of other payload items such as on-board sensors—all of which directly affect the flight performance characteristics of UAS, regardless of size.
Battery-powered aircraft generally utilize high charge capacity batteries that are significant contributors to the weight and bulk of the engine subsystem. It is desired to provide an alternative to reliance solely on batteries for aircraft power. A solution to such a problem associated with aircraft (whether manned, unmanned, or man-in-the-loop) will have applicability in other settings as well, such as for land- or marine-based vehicles and other powered devices.

Conformal body capacitors suitable for vehicles


A lens optical system including first, second, third, fourth, and fifth lenses that are sequentially arranged between an object and an image sensor on which an image of the object is formed. The first lens may have a positive refractive power and may be biconvex. The second lens may have a negative refractive power and may have a meniscus shape that is convex toward the object. The third lens may have a positive refractive power. The fourth lens may have a positive refractive power and may have a meniscus shape that is convex toward the image sensor. The fifth lens may have a negative refractive power, and at least one of an incident surface and an exit surface of the fifth lens may be an aspherical surface.

Cameras using a solid state image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor are being rapidly distributed.
To increase resolution of a camera, a degree of pixel integration of a solid state image sensor is increased. Also, the size and weight of a camera is being reduced through improvement of performance of a lens optical system included in a camera.
In a general lens optical system of a compact camera, a large number of lenses (for example, 6 to 7 lenses) including at least one glass lens are used in order to secure performance of the lens optical system. However, when a lens optical system includes many lenses, it may be difficult to make the lens optical system compact and light, and the manufacturing costs thereof may also increase. In particular, in case of a glass lens, a manufacturing cost is relatively high and conditions for forming/processing are restricted, so that it may be difficult to make a compact lens optical system.