Well drilling and servicing fluids for use in producing formations and methods of removing filter cake therefrom are provided. The methods basically comprise using a drilling or servicing fluid basically comprised of water, a water soluble salt and a particulate solid bridging agent selected from magnesium oxychloride cement, magnesium oxysulfate cement, magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate, magnesium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate and magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate. Thereafter, the filter cake deposited by the drilling or servicing fluid is contacted with an aqueous clean-up solution for a period of time such that the bridging agent is dissolved thereby.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to well drilling and servicing fluids utilized in producing formations and the removal of filter cake deposited by the fluids in the formations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of special fluids for drilling or servicing hydrocarbon producing formations penetrated by well bores is well known. The drilling fluids are utilized when well bores are drilled into producing formations to minimize damage to the permeability of the formations and their ability to produce hydrocarbons. Servicing fluids are utilized when completion operations are conducted in producing formations and when conducting work-over operations in the formations. The drilling and servicing fluids deposit filter cake on the walls of the well bores within the producing formations which prevents the drilling and servicing fluids from being lost into the formations and prevents solids from entering the porosities of the producing formations. After the drilling or servicing of a producing formation has been completed, the filter cake is removed prior to placing the formation on production.
The removal of the filter cake from a producing formation has been accomplished in the past by including an acid soluble particulate solid bridging agent in the drilling or servicing fluid for bridging over the formation pores. The filter cake formed by the drilling or servicing fluid including the acid soluble bridging agent and a polymeric suspending agent has heretofore been contacted with a strongly acidic solution, and the acidic solution has been allowed to remain in contact with the filter cake for a period of time sufficient to dissolve the bridging particles and polymer. In spite of efforts to avoid it, the strongly acidic solution has often corroded metallic surfaces and completion equipment such as sand screens and caused their early failure. The acidic solution may have also been incompatible with the producing formation and caused damage thereto.
Water soluble particulate solid bridging agent has also been utilized in drilling or servicing fluids, and the filter cake containing the water soluble bridging agent has been contacted with an aqueous salt solution which is undersaturated with respect to the water soluble bridging particles. However, such undersaturated aqueous solutions require a relatively long period of time to dissolve the particles primarily due to the polymeric suspending agents included in the drilling or servicing fluids. That is, the polymer or polymers present in the filter cake shield the water soluble bridging particles from the aqueous solution.
In order to remove the polymeric materials in the filter cake and thereby allow the bridging agent in the filter cake to be dissolved by aqueous solutions, a metal peroxide such as an alkaline earth metal peroxide, zinc peroxide or the like has been included in the drilling and servicing fluid. The metal peroxide is deposited in the filter cake along with the bridging agent. During the filter cake removal process, a mineral acid solution is placed in contact with the filter cake which activates the metal peroxide whereby it causes polymeric materials in the filter cake to be decomposed. Thereafter, the filter cake is contacted with an under saturated aqueous solution to dissolve the filter cake. Generally, the time required for the metal peroxide and mineral acid solution to break up polymers and for the under saturated aqueous solution to dissolve the bridging agent has been relatively long making the process expensive and subjecting metal tools and parts in contact with the mineral acid solution to acid corrosion.
Thus, there are continuing needs for improved drilling and servicing fluids and methods of removing filter cake deposited by the fluids from producing formations.
The present invention provides improved well drilling and servicing fluids for use in producing formations which meet the needs described above and overcome the deficiencies of the prior art. More specifically, the present invention provides drilling and servicing fluids which include improved bridging agents having desired properties and which can be readily removed without the use of clean-up solutions containing strong mineral acids.
The drilling and servicing fluids of this invention are basically comprised of water, a water soluble salt and a particulate solid bridging agent. The particulate solid bridging agent is a synthesized inorganic compound which is dissolvable by an aqueous clean-up solution containing a mild organic acid, a hydrolyzable ester, an ammonium salt, a chelating agent, or a mixture of an ammonium salt and a chelating agent. The inorganic bridging agent is synthesized from a class of materials generally referred to as chemically bonded ceramic compounds. The synthesized inorganic bridging agent can include weighting materials to increase or decrease the density of the bridging agent as required by the well conditions and/or certain filler materials to decrease the amount of clean-up solution required. The well drilling and servicing fluid or the bridging agent therein or the clean-up solution can also include a metal peroxide or other oxidizer or breaker which functions to oxidize and break-up polymer in the filter cake deposited by the fluid.
The present invention also provides methods of removing filter cake from the walls of well bores penetrating producing formations deposited therein by drilling or servicing fluids. The methods include utilizing, as the particulate solid bridging agent in the drilling or servicing fluid, a synthesized inorganic compound which is dissolvable in an aqueous clean-up solution containing a mild organic acid, a hydrolyzable ester, an ammonium salt, a chelating agent, or a mixture of an ammonium salt and a chelating agent. The filter cake formed by the drilling or servicing fluid is contacted with the clean-up solution for a period of time such that the bridging agent is dissolved thereby. In a preferred method, the bridging agent is a chemically bonded ceramic selected from magnesium oxychloride cement, magnesium oxysulfate cement, magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate, magnesium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate or magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate. As mentioned, the bridging agent can include weighting materials and/or certain filler materials. The drilling and servicing fluid, the bridging agent therein or the aqueous clean-up solution can also include an oxidizer or other breaker which breaks up polymer in the filter cake.
It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide improved well drilling and servicing fluids for use in producing formations and methods of removing filter cake therefrom.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the description of preferred embodiments which follows.
The present invention provides improved well drilling and servicing fluids for use in producing formations which deposit filter cake that can be readily removed without the use of strong mineral acids or other hazardous chemicals. The well drilling and servicing fluids of this invention are basically comprised of water, a water soluble salt and a particulate solid bridging agent. The particulate solid bridging agent is a synthesized inorganic compound of the type generally referred to as a chemically bonded ceramic. The particulate solid bridging agent is soluble in an aqueous clean-up solution containing a mild organic acid, a hydrolyzable ester, an ammonium salt, a chelating agent or a mixture of an ammonium salt and a chelating agent. When required, a fluid loss control agent and/or a hydratable polymer solids suspending agent can optionally be included in the well drilling and servicing fluids.
The water soluble salt in the drilling and servicing fluids of this invention can be one or more of sodium chloride, sodium bromide, sodium acetate, sodium formate, sodium citrate, potassium chloride, potassium formate, cesium formate, calcium chloride, calcium bromide and mixtures thereof. Common oilfield brines can be utilized in the drilling and servicing fluids in place of water and a water soluble salt. Oilfield brines are often preferred due to their ready availability in the oilfield.
A variety of fluid loss control agents can be utilized in the well drilling or servicing fluids, including, but not limited to, starch, starch ether derivatives, hydroxyethylcellulose, cross-linked hydroxyethylcellulose and mixtures thereof. Of these, starch is the most preferred. When used, the fluid loss control agent is generally included in the salt solution or brine in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 2% by weight of the salt solution or brine, more preferably in the range of from about 1% to about 1.3% and most preferably about 1.3%.
A variety of hydratable polymer solid suspending agents can also be utilized, including, but not limited to, biopolymers such as xanthan and succinoglycon, cellulose derivatives such as hydroxyethylcellulose and guar and its derivatives such as hydroxypropyl guar. Of these, xanthan is preferred. When used, the hydratable polymer is generally included in the drilling or servicing fluid in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 0.6% by weight of the salt solution or brine, more preferably in the range of from about 0.13% to about 0.16% and most preferably about 0.13%.
In accordance with this invention, the particulate solid bridging agents are synthesized inorganic compounds of the type generally referred to as chemically bounded ceramics that are substantially insoluble in water, but are substantially soluble in the aqueous clean-up solution used. Examples of such chemically bounded ceramics include, but are not limited to, magnesium oxychloride cement, magnesium oxysulfate cement, magnesium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate, magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate and magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate.
Magnesium oxychloride cement is prepared by mixing magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride and water. Magnesium oxysulfate is prepared by mixing magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate and water. Magnesium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate is prepared by mixing magnesium oxide, phosphoric acid and water. Magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate is prepared by mixing magnesium oxide, monopotassium phosphate and water. Magnesium ammonium phosphate is prepared by mixing magnesium oxide, monoammonium phosphate and water.
Other materials can be added to the ceramic compounds described above to achieve desired results or properties. For example, particulate weighting materials such as barite, iron oxide and manganese oxide can be included therein. As mentioned above, oxidizers and other polymer breakers can also be included. Many other useful additives will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.
The bridging agent utilized in the drilling or servicing fluid is generally included therein in the amount of from about 5% to about 60% by weight of the aqueous salt solution or brine, more preferably in the range of from about 10% to about 27% and most preferably about 14%.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the particulate solid bridging agent is deposited by the drilling or servicing fluid on the walls of the well bore in the producing zone being drilled or serviced along with other solid particles and gelled fluid loss control polymers, suspending agent polymers and the like. Upon completion of the drilling or servicing operation, an aqueous clean-up solution containing a mild organic acid, a hydrolyzable ester, an ammonium salt, a chelating agent or a mixture of an ammonium salt and a chelating agent is introduced into the well bore whereby the particulate solid bridging agent in the filter cake is dissolved.
The well drilling and servicing fluid or the bridging agent therein or the clean-up solution can contain an oxidizer or other breaker which functions to oxidize and break up gelled polymeric fluid loss control additives, suspending agents and the like in the filter cake. The breaking up of the polymeric materials allows the particulate solid bridging agent to be dissolved by the clean-up solution in a shorter period of time. Generally, any oxidizer or other breaker that can be deposited with the filter cake and is substantially inactive until contacted with an aqueous clean-up solution can be utilized in the well drilling and servicing fluid or in the bridging agent. For example, oxidizers that are substantially insoluble in water but are soluble in the clean-up solution can be utilized. Oxidizers or other breakers that can be encapsulated with a material that is insoluble in water but soluble in the clean-up solution or that can be encapsulated in the bridging agent can also be used.
Various oxidizers and breakers that can be incorporated into the particulate solid bridging agent when it is prepared include, but are not limited to, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium persulfate, sodium persulfate, potassium permanganate, sodium bromate, sodium perforate, potassium iodate, potassium periodate, sodium chlorite, sodium hypochlorite, lithium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, xanthanse enzymes and amylase enzymes.
Various substantially insoluble oxidizers and breakers that can be utilized in the drilling or servicing fluid, include, but are not limited to, magnesium peroxide, magnesium peroxydiphosphate, strontium peroxide, barium peroxide, calcium peroxide, magnesium perborate, barium bromate and mixtures thereof.
The oxidizer or breaker utilized is generally included in the drilling or servicing fluid in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 6% by weight of the aqueous salt solution or brine, more preferably in the range of from about 0.3% to about 3% and most preferably about 0.3%.
As mentioned above, the aqueous clean-up solution can contain a mild organic acid. Examples of suitable such acids include, but are not limited to, acetic acid, citric acid, adipic acid, succinic acid and glutaric acid. When used, the mild organic acid is generally included in the aqueous clean-up solution in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the solution, more preferably from about 0.5% to about 2% and most preferably from about 1% to about 1.5%.
Examples of hydrolyzable esters that can be used include, but are not limited to, triethyl citrate, dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl succinate and dimethyl adipate. When used, the hydrolyzable ester is generally included in the aqueous clean-up solution in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 20% by weight of the solution, more preferably from about 0.5% to about 5% and most preferably from about 1% to about 3%.
The ammonium salt utilized in the aqueous clean-up solution can be one or more ammonium salts having the following formula:
RnNH4-nX
wherein R is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, n is an integer from 0 to 3 and X is an anionic radical selected from halogens, nitrate, citrate, acetate, sulfate, phosphate and hydrogen sulfate.
Examples of suitable such ammonium salts include, but are not limited to, ammonium chloride, ammonium bromide, ammonium nitrate, dibasic ammonium citrate, ammonium acetate and mixtures thereof. The ammonium salt utilized is generally included in the clean-up solution in an amount in the range of from about 3% to about 25% by weight of water therein, more preferably in the range of from about 5% to about 14% and most preferably about 5%.
A variety of chelating agents can be utilized in the aqueous clean-up solution to dissolve the bridging agents described above. The term xe2x80x9cchelating agentxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean a chemical that will form a water-soluble complex with the cationic portion of the bridging agent to be dissolved. Various chelating agents can be utilized including, but not limited to, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and salts thereof, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and salts thereof, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and salts thereof, trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x2-tetraacetic acid (DCTA) and salts thereof, citric acid and salts thereof, diglycolic acid and salts thereof, phosphonic acid and salts thereof, aspartic acid and its polymers and mixtures thereof. The chelating agent utilized is generally included in the aqueous clean-up solution in an amount in the range of from about 0.1% to about 40% by weight of the solution, more preferably in the range of from about 5% to about 20% and most preferably about 20%. The clean-up solution can also optionally include one or more of the oxidizers or other breakers described above for oxidizing and breaking up polymeric materials in the filter cake.
As mentioned above, the ammonium salts and chelating agents can be utilized alone or together depending on the particular bridging agent used. As also mentioned above, after the drilling or servicing of a producing formation has been completed, the clean-up solution is introduced into the producing formation into contact with the filter cake deposited therein. The clean-up solution is allowed to remain in contact with the filter cake for a period of time sufficient for gelled polymer in the filter cake to be broken up and the bridging agent to be dissolved. Thereafter, the formation can be produced to remove the remaining filter cake.
If necessary, a suitable wash solution can be circulated through the well bore in the producing formation to wash remaining filter cake from the walls of the well bore. Generally, the wash solution utilized should be an aqueous solution which does not adversely affect the permeability of the hydrocarbon containing producing formation. Thus, the wash solution can be an aqueous solution containing one or more salts which inhibit the swelling and/or dispersion of particles within the formation such as potassium chloride, sodium chloride, ammonium chloride and tetramethyl ammonium chloride. Of the above salts, ammonium chloride is preferred.
The ammonium salt, chelating agent or mixture of ammonium salt and chelating agent utilized in the clean-up solution can be delivered in solution as described above or they can be encapsulated to delay the dissolution of the bridging solids until the clean-up of the filter cake is desired. Another similar technique is to generate the salt and/or agent in-situ.
A delayed break of the filter cake can also be achieved by utilizing a chelating agent that does not dissolve the bridging agent particles out of the presence of an ammonium salt or salts. The chelating agent can be included in the drilling or servicing fluid and the ammonium salt utilized can be delivered in encapsulated form or generated in-situ. Various other techniques known to those skilled in the art for providing delays can also be utilized such as delivering the chelating agent as an ester that slowly hydrolyzes to the acid chelating form, utilizing a chelating agent that is not effective at a particular pH and introducing a second agent to change the pH to a level where the chelating solution dissolves bridging particles, and other similar variations.
In accordance with the methods of this invention, filter cake is removed from the walls of a well bore penetrating a producing formation. The filter cake is deposited in the well bore by a drilling or servicing fluid of this invention basically comprised of water, a water soluble salt and a particulate solid bridging agent. The methods are basically comprised of the following steps. The particulate solid bridging agent utilized in the drilling or servicing fluid is a synthetic inorganic compound which dissolves in an aqueous clean-up solution containing a mild organic acid, a hydrolyzable ester, an ammonium salt, a chelating agent, or a mixture of an ammonium salt and a chelating agent. After the drilling or servicing fluid is removed from the well bore, the filter cake remaining on the walls of the well bore including the bridging agent is contacted with the clean-up solution used for a period of time such that the bridging agent is dissolved thereby. As mentioned above, the drilling or servicing fluid can include a fluid loss control agent and a polymeric solids suspension agent. As also mentioned above, the drilling or servicing fluid, the bridging agent therein or the aqueous clean-up solution can include an oxidizer or other breaker which oxidizes and breaks up gelled polymer in the filter cake. Also, as mentioned above, after the clean-up solution breaks up gelled polymer in the filter cake and dissolves the bridging agent therein, a wash solution can be utilized to remove the remaining filter cake from the walls of the well bore or the remaining filter cake can be removed by producing the formation.
A particularly suitable method of this invention for removing filter cake from the walls of a well bore penetrating a producing formation deposited therein by a drilling or servicing fluid is comprised of the following steps. A drilling or servicing fluid is utilized comprised of water, a water soluble salt selected from the group consisting of sodium chloride, sodium bromide, sodium acetate, sodium formate, sodium citrate, potassium chloride, potassium formate, cesium formate, calcium chloride, calcium bromide and mixtures thereof or one or more brines containing such salts, a fluid loss control agent comprised of starch, a xanthan polymer solids suspending agent and a particulate solid chemically bonded ceramic bridging agent selected from magnesium oxychloride cement, magnesium oxysulfate cement, magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate, magnesium hydrogen phosphate trihydrate or magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate, and a particulate solid magnesium peroxide oxidizing agent which is activated by contact with an ammonium salt to oxidize and break up gelled polymer in the filter cake. Thereafter, the filter cake produced by the drilling or servicing fluid is contacted with an aqueous clean-up solution containing ammonium chloride, a chelating agent or ammonium chloride and a chelating agent for a time period such that gelled polymer in the filter cake is oxidized and broken up by the magnesium peroxide and the bridging agent is dissolved by the clean-up solution. If required, a wash solution can next be utilized to contact the walls of the well bore and wash away any remaining filter cake thereon or the remaining filter cake can be removed by producing the formation. As mentioned above, various components of the drilling or servicing fluid and/or the cleaning solution can be delivered to the producing formation in encapsulated form or generated in-situ.
In order to further illustrate the drilling and servicing fluids and methods of this invention, the following examples are given.

Well drilling and servicing fluids and methods of removing filter cake deposited thereby


The present invention proposes a method, a radio base station and a wireless communication system for optimizing Inter-cell Interference Coordination, wherein a user equipment is communicated within a cell served by the radio base station, comprising: obtaining one or more channel conditions on the communication channel between the user equipment and the radio base station, establishing a utility function as a function of Signal to Interference-and-Noise Ratios SINRs to model the user equipment's satisfaction level in terms of quality of service and power consumption based on the obtained channel conditions, selecting a SINR that enables to maximize the value of the utility function as a target SINR, and determining a transmit power to be used by the user equipment as a function of the target SINR. Thus, a self-optimized inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) without X2 signaling between base stations is achieved and greedy power allocation is avoid.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is responsible for the standardization of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service) and LTE (Long Term Evolution). LTE is a technology for realizing high-speed packet-based communication that can reach high data rates in both downlink and uplink, and is thought of as a next generation mobile communication system relative to UMTS. In order to support high data rates, LTE allows for a system bandwidth of up to 20 MHz. LTE is also able to operate in different frequency bands and can operate in at least FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex). The modulation technique or the transmission method used in LTE is known as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing).
For the next generation mobile communications system e.g. IMT-advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications) and/or LTE-Advanced, which is an evolution of LTE, support for bandwidths of up to 100 MHz is being discussed. In both LTE and LTE-Advanced, radio base stations are known as eNodeBs or eNodeBs, where "e" stands for evolved. Furthermore, multiple antennas with precoding/beamforming technology can be used in order to provide high data rates to user equipments. Thus, LTE and LTE-Advanced both constitute examples of MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) radio systems. Another example of a MIMO and OFDM based system is WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).
In LTE, inter-cell interference mitigation is a key issue to potentially improve system performance for cell-edge UEs (User Equipments). LTE technologies include some mechanisms, such as inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), for mitigating the interference between neighboring cells. The standardized ICIC schemes for Rel-8 of LTE primarily rely on frequency domain sharing between cells and adjustment of transmit powers. Signaling used for ICIC schemes is supported in X2 interface between eNodeBs for downlink and uplink respectively.
Proactive downlink ICIC schemes are facilitated via the standardized Relative Narrowband Transmit Power (RNTP) indicator. The RNTP is an indicator per physical resource block (PRB) signaled from an eNodeB to its neighboring eNodeBs over X2 interface, which indicates the maximum anticipated downlink transmit power level per PRB. Using RNTP, it is possible to dynamically configure different re-use patterns from full frequency re-use to hard frequency re-use 110, fractional frequency re-use 120 and soft frequency re-use 130 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
One proactive uplink ICIC mechanism is standardized based on a High Interference Indicator (HII). The HII is sent from an eNodeB to its neighboring eNodeBs with a single bit per PRB over the X2 interface, indicating whether its serving cell intends to schedule cell-edge UEs causing high inter-cell interference on those PRBs, i.e. select cell-edge UEs to transmit using those PRBs. The neighboring eNodeBs should then aim at scheduling UEs with low interference at those particular PRBs to avoid scheduling of cell-edge users on the same PRBs between two neighboring cells. Use of the HII mainly provides gain for fractional frequency re-use cases. Another reactive uplink ICIC scheme is based on an Overload Indicator (OI). Low, medium and high OI reports can be signaled over the X2 interface to neighboring cells based on the measurement information.
Furthermore, in LTE-Advanced, a new technology e.g. coordinated multiple points (CoMP) transmission/reception is introduced to potentially improve ICIC performance via coordinated scheduling/beamforming (CS/CB). CoMP technology is also regarded as an enhanced ICIC technology, however additional X2 signaling would be required to support CS/CB between eNodeBs. The details thereof are being discussed in 3GPP.
As described above, there are several mechanisms of ICIC in LTE and LTE-Advanced. However some problems exist in those mechanisms, which are listed as follows.                The ICIC schemes utilizing RNTP for downlink and HII/OI for uplink need to work over X2 interface to implicitly exchange inter-cell interference information between eNodeBs. Typically, the messages sent out over X2 interface are not so frequent. That means a dynamic ICIC, such as per-TTI ICIC, is very difficult to be supported to catch up with the changes of real-time interferences.        As described in FIG. 1, hard frequency re-use 110 and fractional frequency re-use 120 can well take care of the interferences, but they are at cost of spectrum efficiency. So, an appropriate soft frequency re-use with good ICIC will be desired. As such, further investigations are needed on how to implement a good ICIC and soft frequency re-use at the same time based on the mechanisms in Rel-8.        Although CoMP targets to enhance ICIC in a dynamic way, X2 signaling is still needed in order to implement CoMP. X2 messages need be frequently exchanged between eNodeBs and accordingly a lot of scheduling/beamforming related information needs to be carried. This will result in a big load and inefficient overhead over X2 interface.
In addition, existing ICIC mechanisms may cause greedy power selection, which greatly degrades system performance and meanwhile increases the power consumption. One example is shown in FIG. 2 that illustrates the inter-cell interferences on the uplink transmission, where two cell-edge UEs 220, 240 are served by their respective eNodeBs 210, 230. In order to maintain the proper communication between UEs 220, 240 and their respective eNodeBs 210, 230, the corresponding uplink SINR (signal to interference-and-noise ratio) at each eNodeB can be expressed as:
                                          For                                                                          UE                                                                          220                                      :                                                                                SINR              1                                =                                                                      H                  11                                ·                                  P                  1                                                                                H                    21                                    ·                                      P                    2                                                  +                                  N                  1                                                      >                          SINR                              target_                                1                                                    ,                                                                For                                                                          UE                                                                          240                                      :                                                                                SINR              2                                =                                                                      H                  22                                ·                                  P                  2                                                                                H                    12                                    ·                                      P                    1                                                  +                                  N                  2                                                      >                          SINR                              target_                                2                                                                        (        1        )
where Pi (i=1 or 2) is uplink transmit power of i-th UE, Nj (j=1 or 2) is received noise at j-th eNodeB, Hi,j denotes channel fading from i-th UE to j-th eNodeB. SINRi is measured and compared with pre-defined UE specific SINR target SINRtarget—i to judge whether to trigger adjustment of uplink power allocation. In existing methods SINRtarget is set to be a fixed value for a UE without taking into considerations UE's specific channel condition and interference situation. Specifically, the solutions of (P1,P2) that can satisfy the SINR requirements (Expression (1)) may not be exclusive, and instead multiple solutions may exist. That means vicious competition of power increase between UEs may result in a higher and higher interference, although solutions may exist to satisfy the SINR requirements for both UEs with lower transmit power and lower interference between each other. In other words, this conventional power control with fixed target SINR constraint could result in an undesirable competition of power increase among multiple UEs due to a high mutual interference. Hence, an enhanced method to tackle the problem in existing ICIC mechanisms with greedy power allocation and fixed target SINR is required to facilitate the cooperation of UE instead of competition in power selection.

Method, apparatus and system for optimizing inter-cell interference coordination


An apparatus for containing and cooling an integrated circuit device includes a container defining a chamber, a first portion of the container includes a first heat sink. The apparatus further includes a second heat sink positioned within the chamber, the integrated circuit device being securable to the second heat sink. Moreover, the apparatus includes a cooling device interposed between the first heat sink and the second heat sink. In addition, the apparatus includes an insulator positioned in the chamber so as to provide thermal isolation between a second portion of the container and the cooling device.

The present invention relates to cooling mechanisms and, more particularly, to a containing and cooling apparatus for an integrated circuit device.
It is well known that the performance of some electronic devices can be improved by cooling them to a low temperature, and even to a temperature below 0.degree. C. As a result, a variety of devices have been designed to cool integrated circuit devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,897 discloses a thermoelectrically cooled integrated circuit package which includes an electrically insulative, thermally conductive chip carrier module which defines a cavity. A thermoelectric cooler is positioned within the cavity, and an integrated circuit chip is connected to the thermoelectric cooler. Another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,665 which discloses an apparatus for cooling a high-density integrated circuit device. This apparatus includes a housing in which the circuit device is sealingly mounted in an internal chamber of the housing. The chamber is at least partially filled with a plurality of thermally conductive spheroids which are biased into thermally conductive contact with each other and with the integrated circuit device to maximize the heat exchange surface. This apparatus further includes an inlet and an outlet for passing a dielectric immersion coolant through the chamber in direct heat exchange relationship with the spheroids and with the high-density integrated circuit device. Still another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,926 which describes a device for enclosing, protecting and cooling semiconductor integrated circuit chips. The device includes a generally planar substrate with the chips positioned thereon. Signal connections are provided between at least some of the chips. A heat sink is positioned in contact with the chips and includes microchannels through which a cooling fluid flows for purposes of transferring heat generated by the chips to such fluid. Manifolds are provided to direct the fluid to and from the microchannels, and microcapillary slots may be formed on the heat sink surface adjacent the chips to receive liquid to generate attractive forces between the heat sink and chips to facilitate heat transfer. Circuitry is provided to distribute power through the device and to the chips.
However, a problem which may be encountered with the aforementioned devices is the formation of frost on the surface thereof during low temperature operation. Such problem may result in water developing on the printed circuit board which may cause structural damage thereto or shorting of the electrical circuitry thereon. Also, the aforementioned devices may be relatively difficult and expensive to manufacture.

Containing and cooling apparatus for an integrated circuit device having a thermal insulator


A valve retainer is connected to an elongate delivery member. The valve retainer is configured to releasably secure a prosthesis (e.g., a heart valve prosthesis) to the delivery member during delivery to a target site in a body (e.g., a native valve annulus). The valve retainer includes a rotational identifier that identifies the rotational orientation of the valve retainer when the valve retainer is positioned proximate to the target site. A heart valve prosthesis can include a commissural post that has a predetermined rotational position relative to the rotational identifier, such that the heart valve prosthesis can be rotationally aligned with the native commissures of the native valve by rotating the delivery member and the valve retainer until the commissural post is aligned with a native valve commissure and the rotational identifier is visible.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to prosthetic heart valves, and specifically to techniques for accurately positioning such valves during implantation procedures.
Background
Aortic valve replacement in patients with severe valve disease is a common surgical procedure. The replacement is conventionally performed by open heart surgery, in which the heart is usually arrested and the patient is placed on a heart bypass machine. In recent years, prosthetic heart valves have been developed which are implanted using minimally invasive procedures such as transapical or percutaneous approaches. These methods involve compressing the prosthesis radially to reduce its diameter, inserting the prosthesis into a delivery tool, such as a catheter, and advancing the delivery tool to the correct anatomical position in the heart. Once properly positioned, the prosthesis is deployed by radial expansion within the native valve annulus.
While these techniques are substantially less invasive than open heart surgery, the lack of line-of-sight visualization of the prosthesis and the native valve presents challenges because the physician cannot see the actual orientation of the prosthesis during the implantation procedure. Correct positioning of the prosthesis is achieved using radiographic imaging, which yields a two-dimensional image of the viewed area. The physician must interpret the image correctly in order to properly place the prostheses in the desired position. Failure to properly position the prosthesis can lead to device migration or to improper functioning. Proper device placement using radiographic imaging is thus important to the success of the implantation.
PCT Publication WO 05/002466 to Schwammenthal et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes prosthetic devices for treating aortic stenosis.
PCT Publication WO 06/070372 to Schwammenthal et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a prosthetic device having a single flow field therethrough, adapted for implantation in a subject, and shaped so as to define a fluid inlet and a diverging section, distal to the fluid inlet.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0149360 to Schwammenthal et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a prosthetic device including a valve-orifice attachment member attachable to a valve in a blood vessel and including a fluid inlet, and a diverging member that extends from the fluid inlet, the diverging member including a proximal end near the fluid inlet and a distal end distanced from the proximal end. A distal portion of the diverging member has a larger cross-sectional area for fluid flow therethrough than a proximal portion thereof.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0197695 to Stacchino et al., describes a cardiac-valve prosthesis adapted for percutaneous implantation. The prosthesis includes an armature adapted for deployment in a radially expanded implantation position, the armature including a support portion and an anchor portion, which are substantially axially coextensive with respect to one another. A set of leaflets is coupled to the support portion. The leaflets can be deployed with the armature in the implantation position. The leaflets define, in the implantation position, a flow duct that is selectably obstructable. The anchor portion can be deployed to enable anchorage of the cardiac-valve prosthesis at an implantation site.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0121436 ("the '436 publication") to Tuval et al., which is incorporated, herein in its entirety by reference, describes a heart valve with three commissural posts and a delivery system therefore. During implantation, the valve prosthesis, including the commissural posts, is initially collapsed within a delivery tube. Before expanding the valve prosthesis, a physician uses radiographic imaging, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, to provide visual feedback that aids the physician in rotationally aligning the commissural posts with respective native commissures of a native semilunar valve. The identifiers strongly contrast with the rest of the commissural posts and the valve prosthesis, which comprise a radiopaque material. Without such identifiers, it is generally difficult to three-dimensionally visually distinguish the commissural posts from one another and from the rest of the valve prosthesis, because the radiographic imaging produces a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional valve prosthesis. When the valve prosthesis is in a collapsed state, the elements thereof overlap in a two-dimensional image and are generally indistinguishable.
The '436 publication describes a procedure during which the physician selects one of the commissural posts having a radiographic identifier, and attempts to rotationally align the selected post with one of the native commissures, such as the commissure between the left and right coronary sinuses. Because the radiographic image is two-dimensional, all of the posts appear in the image as though they are in the same plane. The physician thus cannot distinguish between two possible rotational positions of the posts: (1) the desired rotational position, in which the selected post faces the desired native commissure, and (2) a rotational position 180 degrees from the desired rotational position, in which the selected post faces the side of the native valve opposite the desired native commissure. For example, if the desired native commissure is the commissure between the left and right coronary sinuses, in position (2) the post is rotationally aligned with the non-coronary sinus, although this undesired rotation is not apparent in the radiographic image. To ascertain whether the posts are in rotational position (1) or (2), the physician slightly rotates the valve prosthesis. If the radiographic identifier on the selected post appears to move in the radiographic image in the same direction as the rotation, the selected post is correctly rotationally aligned in the desired position (1). If, on the other hand, the radiographic identifier appears to move in the direction opposite the direction of rotation, the selected post is incorrectly rotationally aligned in position (2). To correct the alignment, the physician may rotate the valve prosthesis approximately 60 degrees in either direction, thereby ensuring that one of the two other posts is now rotationally aligned in position (1).

Systems and methods for positioning a heart valve using visual markers


An age hardenable martensitic steel alloy having a unique combination of very high strength and good toughness consists essentially of, in weight percent, about. ______________________________________ C 0.21-0.34 Mn 0.20 max. Si 0.10 max. P 0.008 max. S 0.003 max. Cr 1.5-2.80 Mo 0.90-1.80 Ni 10-13 Co 14.0-22.0 Al 0.1 max. Ti 0.05 max. Ce 0.030 max. La 0.010 max. ______________________________________. the balance essentially iron. In addition, cerium and sulfur are balanced so that the ratio Ce/S is at least about 2 and not more than about 15. A small but effective amount of calcium can be present in place of some or all of the cerium and lanthanum.

A variety of applications require the use of an alloy having a combination of high strength and high toughness. For example, ballistic tolerant applications require an alloy which maintains a balance of strength and toughness such that spalling and shattering are suppressed when the alloy is impacted by a projectile, such as a .50 caliber armor piercing bullet. Other possible uses for such alloys include structural components for aircraft, such as landing gear or main shafts of jet engines, and tooling components.
Heretofore, a ballistic tolerant alloy steel has been described having the following composition in weight percent:
______________________________________ C 0.38-0.43 Mn 0.60-0.80 Si 0.20-0.35 Cr 0.70-0.90 Mo 0.20-0.30 Ni 1.65-2.00 Fe Balance ______________________________________
The alloy is treated by oil quenching from 843.degree. C. (1550.degree. F.) followed by tempering. Tempering to a hardness of HRC 57 provides the best ballistic performance as measured by the V.sub.50 velocity. The V.sub.50 velocity is the velocity of a projectile at which there is a 50% probability that the projectile will penetrate the armor. However, when tempered to a hardness of HRC 57, the alloy is prone to cracking, shattering, and petal formation and the multiple hit performance of the alloy is severely degraded. To obtain the best combination of V.sub.50 performance and freedom from cracking, shattering, and petal formation, the alloy is tempered to a hardness of HRC 53. However, in order to provide effective anti-projectile performance at the lower hardness, thicker sections of the alloy must be used. The use of thicker sections is not practical for many applications, such as aircraft, because of the increased weight in the manufactured component.
Another alloy, with better resistance to shattering, cracking, and petal formation, has also been described. The alloy has the following composition in weight percent:
______________________________________ C 0.12-0.17 Cr 1.8-3.2 Mo 0.9-1.35 Ni 9.5-10.5 Co 11.5-14.5 Fe Balance ______________________________________
Although that alloy is resistant to cracking and shattering when penetrated by a high velocity projectile because of its good impact toughness, the alloy leaves much to be desired as an armor material since it has a peak aged hardness of HRC 52. Therefore, in order to provide effective anti-projectile performance, undesirably thick sections of the alloy must be used. As described above, the use of thick sections is impractical for aircraft.
In addition, an alloy has been described having the following composition, in weight percent:
______________________________________ C 0.40-0.46 Mn 0.65-0.90 Si 1.45-1.80 Cr 0.70-0.95 Mo 0.30-0.45 Ni 1.65-2.00 V 0.05 min. Fe Balance ______________________________________
The alloy is capable of providing a tensile strength in the range of 1931-2068 MPa (280-300 ksi) and a fracture toughness, as represented by a stress intensity factor, K.sub.Ic, of about 60.4-65.9 MPa.sqroot.m (55-60 ksi.sqroot.in.).
High strength, high fracture toughness, age hardenable martensitic alloys have been described having the following compositions in weight percent:
______________________________________ Alloy I Alloy II ______________________________________ C 0.2-0.33 0.2-0.33 Mn 0.2 max. 0.20 max. Si 0.1 max. 0.1 max. P 0.008 max. 0.008 max. S 0.004 max. 0.0040 max. Cr 2-4 2-4 Mo 0.75-1.75 0.75-1.75 Ni 10.5-15 10.5-15 Co 8-17 8-17 Al 0.01 max. 0.01 max. Ti 0.01 max. 0.02 max. Ce Trace-0.001 Small but effective amount up to 0.030 La Trace-0.001 Small but effective amount up to 0.01 Fe Balance Balance ______________________________________
Those alloys are capable of providing a fracture toughness as represented by a stress intensity factor, K.sub.Ic, of .gtoreq.109.9 MPa.sqroot.m (.gtoreq.100 ksi.sqroot.in.) and a strength as represented by an ultimate tensile strength, UTS, of about 1931-2068 MPa (280-300 ksi).
However, a need has arisen for an alloy having an even higher strength than the known alloys to provide improved ballistic performance and stronger structural components. It is known that fracture toughness is inversely related to yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. Therefore, the alloy should also provide a sufficient level of fracture toughness for adequate reliability in components and to permit non-destructive inspection of structural components for flaws which can result in catastrophic failure.

Age hardenable alloy with a unique combination of very high strength and good toughness


A remote controller generates control signals according to the speed of movement sensed by a three-axis accelerometer and the direction of movement sensed by a gyroscope and transmits the control signals to a remotely controlled device communicating with the remote controller when the remote controller is in a first work mode, generates control signals according to touch sensing signals from a touch pad and transmits the control signals to the remotely controlled device when the remote controller is in a second work mode, and further generates control signals according to variations in the capacitance of the capacitive type pressure transducer unit and transmits the control signals to the remotely controlled device when the remote controller is in a third work mode.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to remote controllers and, particularly, to a remote controller with a variety of input interfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Although the conventional remote controllers can satisfy basic needs, it is desired to provide a remote controller with a variety of input interfaces to control remotely controlled devices.

Multimode remote controller comprising an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a capacitive pressure transducer, and a touch pad


The invention is directed to a polymer thick film positive temperature coefficient carbon resistor composition consisting essentially of:    (a) organic medium consisting of:            (i) a fluoropolymer resin consisting of a copolymer of vinylidene difluoride and hexafluoropropylene; and        (ii) an organic solvent consisting of triethyl phosphate; and            (b) conductive carbon powder. The composition may be processed at a time and temperature necessary to remove all solvent.

It is well known in the art that the electrical properties of conductive polymers frequently depend upon their temperature. A very small proportion of conductive polymers exhibit a positive temperature coefficient (PTC), i.e., rapid increase in resistivity at a particular temperature or over a particular temperature range. Materials exhibiting PTC behavior are useful in a number of applications in which the size of the current passing through a circuit is controlled by the temperature of a PTC element forming part of the circuit.
PTC circuits are typically used as self-thermostating circuits such as in mirror heaters and seat heaters found in automobiles and the like. They are used in place of an external thermostat. Although they have been used for years in these types of applications, the PTC circuits typically have problems such as resistance shift stability, powered on/off cycling inconsistency, and sensitivity to the adhesive used in the fabrication. All these issues can and do have a negative impact on a functional PTC circuit. It is the purpose of this invention to help alleviate these issues and thus help produce a more efficient and reliable PTC circuit.

Polymer thick film positive temperature coefficient carbon composition

Abstract: The invention is further directed to positive temperature coefficient (PTC) circuits comprising the composition of the invention which has been dried to remove the solvent and to articles, e.g., mirror heaters and seat heaters, containing such PTC circuits as well as a method for making such PTC circuits.


The purpose of this invention is to provide an easel assembly reversibly transformable between a deployed position suitable for supporting at least one planar item thereon and a collapsed position suitable for transport and storage. The easel assembly includes a pair of support members. Each support member is pivotally interconnected for selective movement between a folded position where said support members are generally parallel and a deployed position where said support members divaricate. In addition, each support member is integrally connected to a base member which is constructed and arranged for removable, pivotal interconnection at the end opposite the support member. The connected base members are constructed and arranged for positioning on a planar surface when the easel assembly is in the deployed position, thereby distributing any downward load of the easel assembly along the planar surface to resist tipping and maintain the stability of the deployed easel. The support members also include an upper and lower portion which are connected together in a manner that allows the easel assembly to attain a collapsed state suitable for transport and storage.

Easels have been used since ancient times for the purpose of supporting planar items, such as, posters, artwork, and the like. They may be used to hold up a painter's canvas or sketchbook while the artist is working on it or to display a completed painting for exhibition. The simplest form of an artist's easel consists of three vertical support members joined at one end. A pivoting mechanism allows the centermost support member to pivot away from the other two, forming a tripod. The two non-pivoting support members have a horizontal cross-member on which the planar item is placed.
Easels can be divided into two general categories; large, full-size easels designed for permanent studio use, and folding, lightweight easels for travel. Permanent easels have been primarily designed as stationary display furniture and are capable of exhibiting large and/or smaller pieces of finished art. Whereas, portable easels often include telescopic or folding legs that collapse for ease of transport and storage. While portable, folding easels work well for holding lighter items (smaller canvasses), they are not always stable enough for larger and/or heavier items.
For example, the three supports of the tripod-type portable easel must be interconnected by a plurality of horizontal bracing members (crossbars) at an intermediate point to prevent the support members from spreading apart and collapsing when a large/heavy item is placed thereon. The addition of these horizontal members often results in an easel assembly that is complex (composed of multiple parts) and therefore, expensive to manufacture, and difficult to assemble. Moreover, most lightweight, portable easels can easily become top-heavy and tip over when larger items are placed thereon.
As a consequence of these aforementioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable easel assembly of a simple and elegant design comprising few individual parts while providing superior stability with no cross-bracing required. In addition, the easel of the present invention is capable of being easily transported and stored when in its collapsed state.


Methods and devices related to channel estimation for a communication system comprising a plurality of communication connections are provided. For channel estimation, test sequences are used having three different elements, for example −1, 0 and +1.

In MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) transmission systems like wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or vectored DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), training sequences are required to estimate the transmission channels, e.g. properties of connections used for data transmission, and crosstalk channels (e.g. strength of crosstalk) between all transmitters and receivers, and calculate channel equalizer and crosstalk precompensator/canceller coefficients according to the channel estimation.
For high frequency wired transmission, such as used in modern DSL lines that serve the last distance of the fiber to the distribution point (FTTdp) networks, channel estimation is required to be fast due to fast system reconfigurations, but also requires high precision to achieve high data rates.
In wireless systems, short training pulses are used for channel estimation. This is required for such systems, because the channel quickly changes over time and the channel estimation must be repeated very often, practically for each transmission. The dimension of the MIMO channel is defined by the number of antennas at transmitter and receiver side, which is a small number, usually from two to four. By sending one pulse on each transmit antenna while all receivers are listening, a complete channel estimation is performed in a short time or a single pulse, creating only little overhead. The disadvantage of the method is low accuracy and only very small number of systems to address.
In vectored DSL, the channel is much more stable that the wireless channel, but channel estimation requires very high precision to cancel crosstalk and the number of disturbers is very high comparing to wireless (up to hundreds). Since a DSL wireline channel is rather static over time, in modern DSL (ITU-T G.993.5) Walsh-Hadamard (WH) sequences are used for FEXT channel estimation. To reduce transmission overhead, the WH sequences used for channel estimation are spread over time, but this increases the FEXT estimation time accordingly. A complete channel estimation sequence of a 512-pair cable binder may take as much as 30 s and even more, which is obviously inconvenient and even impractical if the system requires more frequent updates.
In FTTdp deployment, there are often network topologies where multiple distribution points (DPs) share the same cable binder. Therefore, the channel estimation method must be able to measure crosstalk between different, non co-located, distribution points.


A snowman making device includes hollow spheres each having a hollow outer sphere and a hollow inner sphere. The outer sphere is penetrated by a plurality of first openings. The inner sphere is located within the outer sphere and spaced from the outer sphere by a first distance. The spheres collect snow between the outer sphere and the inner sphere and upon an outer surface of the outer sphere as the hollow spheres are rolled in snow, thereby forming light weight snow spheres useful as body parts of a snowman. The inner sphere is penetrated by a plurality of second openings that permit the entry of snow into an interior of the inner sphere, thereby preventing movement of snow located between the outer sphere and the inner sphere. The inner and outer spheres are each formed as first and second joinable hemispheres. Accessory decorations can be attached to the spheres.

Typical construction techniques for the making of snowman involve the forming of large, spherical masses of snow. These snow spheres are used to form the lower and middle parts of the snowman body with a smaller sphere formed for the head. To build a snowman of roughly human size takes considerable time and requires the lifting of at least one fairly heavy sphere on to the upper surface of a base sphere. Such an effort may be to strenuous for the small children usually interested in snowmen, thus requiring adult assistance. The present invention addresses this problem and also provides additional benefits.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,264,531, issued to Asperas, discloses a building component for facilitating the construction of snow boulders that can be used for making snow men or women. The construction component is snow spheres with an adhesive surface that can be provided as a single piece or constructed from components like hemispheres that can be assembled to form a sphere. The adhesive surface can have holes, nodules, bumpers, impressions or dimples that grip and hold snow as the sphere is being rolled on a snow surface. The resulting boulder that is formed by rolling the sphere in the snow is lighter than a solid snow boulder and it lasts longer as the weather warms. The spheres may be made out of plastic, graphite or other composite, fiberglass, aluminum or any other metal. An alternate embodiment is a blow-up beach ball or balloon that provides for easier stocking, shipping and storing when not in use. The boulder applies snow clumps to the adhesive surface and then rolls the snow sphere to create a large snow boulder that is lighter in weight than the normal snow boulder. A snow sphere with adhesion surface can be made of lightweight material but can have support and strength supplied by Styrofoam, graphite or other lightweight materials. The lightweight materials may either fill the interior or be arranged to leave spaces such as in a baffled, corrugated, or matrix arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,887, issued to Mulhern is directed to a snow sphere for making various objects out of snow and particularly for forming into the appearance of a typical snowman. The snow sphere is comprised of an elongate flat sheet of flexible material having slots cut out along its length and tabs cut out or affixed at one end. The flat sheet is preferably easily rolled up and stored when not in use. It can be made of plastics such as vinyl, polyethylene, and natural rubber as well as synthetic elastomers. In use the tabs are engaged into a selected group of slots forming the desired diameter. Snow is shoveled or otherwise placed into the snow sphere. Once filled, the sphere can be released by simply pulling out the tabs from the slots. For the typical snowman, three diameters are constructed with the largest at the base and the smallest at the top for the head.
U.S. Pat. No. D384,960, issued to Kistler illustrates an ornamental design for a snow sphere. The design is shown as three circular spheres with the largest used for the base, the smallest for the head and the middle for the upper body. The spheres are barrel shaped and split in two with the two halves possibly hinged together and held closed by a pair of latches. The center sphere is shown with three short cylindrical members fastened to the inside wall of the sphere apparently providing a place for buttons to be installed after the sphere is removed.
U.S. Pat. No. D375,964, issued to Poubouridis discloses an ornamental design for a snowman sphere. The design is shown as three separate spheres that can be set one on top of the other. Each sphere is split into two halves and hinged together with a means to keep the halves together and aligned when closed. The first sphere base is the largest and the smallest is for the head.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,279, issued to Rossi is directed to a multi-sectional interlocked snow sphere. The sphere includes a bottom section, intermediate section and a top section. The three spheres are in the form of a truncated spheroid with the two smaller ones having sections provided with a downwardly depending annular stud flange adapted to engage the top opening of the section below it. Each sphere is subdivided along vertical joints into halves that are hemispheroidal. The halves are provided with a suitable vertical edge-to-edge inter-engaging means which are rapidly attached or detached from each other. Opposite the edge-to-edge inter-engaging means are snap fasteners. The sphere sections can be made with sheet metal but preferably they are made from a synthetic plastic material as by sphering or forming from sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,838, issued to Chen discloses decorative lighting for outdoors that can include a cover shown as a snowman's head that is illuminated by placing it over the top of a pole that has one or more LEDs.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,391, issued to Cheng is directed to an outdoor decorative light system that includes a plurality of bulb assemblies and attendant wiring and a support member. Typically the decorative light system can provide decoration for gifts, candy canes, Santa Claus, snowman, reindeer, Christmas trees, north pole, elf, manger, cross, ornament, sled, holly, bells, stockings, star, candles, sack of gifts, wreath, mistletoe, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,106 to Bonet Sirera describes an apparatus for sphering tubular members of fibrous cement, which comprises a two part sphere including a foraminous casing and an expansible core structure; means rotatably supporting at least one of said sphere parts, and means for expanding and contracting said core to compress and express moisture from the cement and then release the compressed cement, said core structure including a flexible sleeve surrounding a foraminous core having longitudinal external ribs.
United States Patent Application Publication 20110277310 to Washburn describes a simple and easy to make snowman with a limited amount of snow. The system does not require the lifting of heavy snow balls, typically used in the making of a snowman, and provides for small children to be able to handle the snow without adult help. Further, this invention provides a quick and affective decorating system which can be reused and positioned securely anywhere on the figure.
United States Patent Application Publication 20100068967 to Hume describes an apparatus including at least three 3-dimensional shapes, a first one of the 3-dimensional shapes being rotatably supported within a second one of the 3-dimensional shapes, the second one of the 3-dimensional shapes being rotatably supported within a third one of the 3-dimensional shapes, at least one of the 3-dimensional shapes including an opening capable of connecting at least one of the shapes to another one of the shapes.
United States Patent Application Publication 20080094839 to Pan describes a patterned ornament having lighting figures, which includes a transparent shell and inner lighting means. The inner surface of the ornament is provided with specific inclined or curved planes to reflect light ray to form specific virtual image shown on the ornament. The patterned ornament thus obtains beautiful outlook and increases decorative effect.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a snowman making device and method that will allow large snowmen to be constructed quickly and easily. It is a further objective to provide such a device that will provide a snowman of traditional appearance that is light in weight and easily movable. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a snowman making device and method of construction that can be safely and easily used by young children. It is yet a further objective to provide such a device that can be easily cleaned, maintained and stored. Finally, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a snowman making device that is durable, inexpensive and simple to use.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified. Development of a snow man making device which can be assembled quickly and easily without requiring great height or strength represents a great improvement in the field of recreation and satisfies a long felt need of parents and children.


An organic EL display unit applying a bottom-emission structure which takes light emitted from organic EL devices from the reverse side of a substrate on which pixel circuits are formed, includes: a color filter formed on the pixel circuit; and a metal wiring formed so as to surround the periphery of the color filter, wherein the metal wiring is set to an anode potential of the organic EL device.

As one of flat-panel type display units, there is a display unit using a so-called current-driven electro-optic device in which light emission luminance varies in accordance with a current value flowing in the device as a light emitting portion (light emitting device) of a pixel. An organic EL device is known as the current-driven electro-optic device, which uses electroluminescence (EL) of an organic material and utilizes a phenomenon that an organic thin film emits light when an electric field is impressed.
An organic EL display unit using the organic EL device as the light emitting portion of the pixel has the following characteristics. That is, the organic EL device consumes low power as it can be driven by an application voltage of 10V or less. As the organic EL device is a self-luminous device, visibility of images is higher than a liquid crystal display unit, and further, the organic EL device can be light in weight as well as can be thin in thickness as an illumination member such as a backlight is not necessary. Moreover, response speed is extremely high in the organic EL device, which is several μsec, no residual image is generated at the time of displaying moving pictures.
In the organic EL display unit, a bottom-emission method is known as a method of taking light emitted by the organic EL devices, in which light is taken from the backside of a substrate on which pixel circuits each including a thin-film transistor (TFT), a capacitor device and so on are formed (for example, see JP-A-2008-218427 (Patent Document 1)). When color filters are mounted on the bottom-emission type organic EL display unit, for example, a structure of forming color filters on the pixel circuits formed on the substrate is applied.

Organic EL display unit and electronic apparatus


A deblocking filter performs filtering of decoded image data obtained by decoding image data encoded for each block, so as to remove block distortion. If at least one of block sizes on adjacent sides of two adjacent blocks is extended larger than a predetermined block size, a filter setting unit sets the tap length to an extended length to increase the strength of distortion removal, or sets a filtering object pixel range to an extended range. When a macroblock having an extended size is used, the degree of smoothing is increased, and pixels including those distant from the block boundary are subjected to filtering. Consequently, even when various block sizes are employed or when blocks of extended sizes are used, images of high image quality can be achieved.

In recent years, devices that treat image information as digital and transmit or store the information with high efficiency, or for example devices complying with systems of MPEG and the like in which compression is performed by an orthogonal transform such as a discrete cosine transform and motion compensation, have been spreading in broadcasting stations and ordinary households.
MPEG2 (ISO/IEC 13818-2), in particular, is defined as a general-purpose image coding system, and is now used widely in a wide range of applications for professional use and consumer use. The use of this MPEG2 compression system can achieve excellent image quality by assigning an amount of code (bit rate) of four to eight Mbps in a case of an interlaced image of a standard resolution with 720×480 pixels, for example. Excellent image quality can also be achieved by assigning an amount of code (bit rate) of 18 to 22 Mbps in a case of an interlaced image of a high resolution with 1920×1088 pixels.
MPEG2 was intended for high-image-quality coding to be adapted mainly for broadcasting, and did not make provisions for a coding system with a lower amount of code (bit rate), that is, a higher compression ratio than MPEG1. With the spread of portable terminals, a need for such a coding system is expected to increase in the future. Accordingly, an MPEG4 coding system was standardized. A standard for an image coding system was approved as an international standard of ISO/IEC 14496-2 in December 1998.
Further, standardization of a standard referred to as H.26L (ITU-T Q6/16 VCEG) has recently been under way with an original objective of image coding for videoconferences. It is known that H.26L requires a larger amount of operation for coding and decoding but achieves a higher coding efficiency compared to conventional coding systems such as MPEG2, MPEG4, and the like. In addition, as part of activities of MPEG4, standardization for achieving higher coding efficiency on the basis of this H.26L is now under way as Joint Model of Enhanced-Compression Video Coding. As for a standardization schedule, an international standard was established under a name of H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10 (Advanced Video Coding, hereinafter written as "H.264/AVC") in March 2003.
Further, as an extension thereof, standardization of FRExt (Fidelity Range Extension) including coding tools necessary for business use such as RGB, 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 as well as an 8×8 DCT and a quantization matrix defined in MPEG2 was completed in February 2005. Thereby, the H.264/AVC system is used as a coding system capable of excellently representing even film noise included in movies, and is used in a wide range of applications such as Blu-Ray (registered trademark).
In such a coding and decoding process, image data is coded in block units. In addition, in decoding coded data, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example, block distortion is suppressed by performing filtering on the basis of a block boundary strength and a quantization parameter.
Further, there have recently been increasing needs for coding with a still higher compression ratio, such as a desire to compress images of about 4000×2000 pixels or a desire to distribute high-definition images in an environment with a limited transmission capacity such as the Internet. Thus, as in Non-Patent Document 1, setting a macroblock size to a size larger than that of MPEG2 or H.264/AVC, for example a size of 32 pixels×32 pixels, is proposed. Specifically, in Non-Patent Document 1, a hierarchical structure is adopted for macroblocks, whereby compatibility with macroblocks in H.264/AVC is maintained for 16×16 pixel blocks and smaller blocks, and larger blocks are defined as a superset thereof.

Image processing device and image processing method


A dual control assembly for a shower fitting comprising a thermostatic valve in the form of a cartridge removably fitted in the mixing chamber of the fitting, and a flow rate valve, the two valves being operatively linked or coupled together, for example by a sleeve. The valves are co-axially aligned and provided with respective control knobs which are disposed at the same end of the shower fitting.

This invention relates to improvements in or relating to fluid flow control and is more particularly concerned with a dual control assembly, for example for a shower fitting or other water outlet, where the temperature of water can be controlled by a thermostatic valve and the water flow by a flow rate valve.
Where dual controls have been provided in, for example, shower fittings, the temperature of the water may be controlled by means of a thermostatic valve governing the mix of hot and cold water flowing into the mixing chamber and the rate at which mixed water flows out of the mixing chamber through the shower head may be independently controlled by means of a flow rate valve. A disadvantage of such controls is that if a fault develops in the thermostatic valve, repair and/or service costs resulting from the need to dismantle or remove the shower body often have to be paid by the end user. In order to overcome this disadvantage with most traditional showers, it is known to provide the thermostatic valve as a cartridge or unit that can be inserted into the mixing chamber and reasonably easily extracted therefrom for instant repair and servicing or replacement, without it being necessary to dismantle or remove the shower body at all. Such cartridges/units are readily available. When such a cartridge is incorporated into a water outlet, it is known for the cartridge to be introduced into a mixing chamber from one end of the water outlet fitting, with an appropriate temperature control knob being provided at that end, and a separate flow rate valve (in the form of a ceramic disc (xe2x80x9cCDxe2x80x9d) valve) being incorporated at the other end of the fitting with an appropriate independently operable control knob at that end for controlling the flow rate. Such a design is employed on the European Continent but is not generally suitable for the United Kingdom or the United States of America owing to the orientation usually accepted or required, where the thermostatic valve control knob projects forwardly and horizontally from the wall (rater than parallel therewith) and is rotatable about an axis extending at right angles thereto. In such a design, a flow control knob positioned in line with the thermostatic valve control knob at an opposite end of the fitting would have the flow control knob facing the wall and thus could not be accessed properly.
It is known, however, to provide dual control assemblies for showers meeting British design requirements where the thermostatic valve is in the form of a cartridge or unit insertable in a mixing chamber which projects forwardly and horizontally from a wall on which the fitting is mounted. However, in order for the flow rate to be controlled a separate independently operable control knob is mounted above the thermostatic control knob and above the mixing chamber in order to control a separate flow rate valve. It is believed that such a design is disadvantageous in certain respects. For example, it is believed that said design is not as aesthetically pleasing as a design in which the thermostatic control knob and flow rate control knob are mounted in line with one another or concentrically and, preferably, operable from the same end of the mixing chamber as may be provided for where the thermostatic valve is not in the form of an insertable/extractable replacement unit or cartridge. Additionally, such a design may be disadvantageous from a cost or manufacturing point of view. In any event, it is believed that a design of dual control assembly has not been optimised more particularly for the British or American Market which includes a thermostatic valve in the form of an insertable/extractable cartridge or unit.
It is an object of the present invention to at least alleviate one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages with dual control assemblies and/or to provide a dual control assembly which is improved in at least some respect.
According to the present invention there is provided a dual control assembly comprising a thermostatic valve in the form of cartridge or unit insertable in a mixing chamber of, for example, a shower fitting or other water outlet, said assembly having an operative link or coupling between the thermostatic valve and a flow rate valve.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the operative link or coupling between the thermostatic valve and the flow rate valve is provided by a sleeve surrounding the thermostatic valve which sleeve is operatively connected to the flow rate valve. The flow rate valve is, preferably, co-axially aligned with the thermostatic valve with said sleeve being arranged to turn the body of the flow rate valve relative to an operating stem of said valve, which stem is held still relative to a mixing chamber of the shower fitting or water outlet. The sleeve (or other operative link or coupling) may or may not be part of the cartridge or unit and may or may not be arranged to rotate with the thermostatic valve to operate the flow rate valve.
Preferably, the dual control assembly is provided with a control knob that actuates the thermostatic valve, co-axially arranged with a second control knob that operates the flow rate valve, said two control knobs being provided at the same end of said shower fitting or other water outlet. The first control knob may be mounted on control stem of the thermostatic valve with said second control knob mounted on a (splined) portion of the cartridge/unit being integral with the body thereof. The cartridge/unit may be of a readily available standard form or may be adapted or modified to suit. Where the cartridge/unit is of a standard form the second control knob may be mounted on the splined portion of the cartridge normally utilised for locating a plastics collar of the thermostat control knob.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the operative link or coupling between the thermostatic valve and the flow rate valve is provided by a sleeve surrounding the flow rate valve which sleeve is operatively connected to the thermostatic valve. The thermostatic valve is, preferably, co-axially aligned with the flow rate valve with said sleeve being arranged to turn the body of the thermostatic valve relative to an operating stem of said valve, which stem is held still relative to a mixing chamber of the shower fitting or water outlet. The sleeve (or other operative link or coupling) may or may not be part of the cartridge/unit, or flow rate valve and may or may not be arranged to rotate with the flow rate valve to operate the thermostatic valve.
Preferably, the dual control assembly is provided with a control knob that actuates the thermostatic valve, co-axially arranged with a second control knob that operates the flow rate valve, said two control knobs being provided at the same end of said shower fitting or other water outlet. The first control knob may be mounted on a control stem of the flow rate valve with said second control knob mounted on a (splined) portion of the flow rate valve being integral with the body thereof. The flow rate valve may be of a readily available standard form or may be adapted or modified to suit.
In either of the two above described embodiments the thermostatic valve may be a shuttle valve and/or the flow rate valve may be a disc valve, preferably a C.D. valve.
Further according to the present invention there is provided a shower fitting or other water outlet including a mixing chamber in which can be mounted a thermostatic valve in the form of a cartridge or unit, said fitting or water outlet having a flow rate valve operatively linked or coupled with the thermostatic valve, the thermostatic valve, preferably, being controlled by a control knob mounted coaxially with a control knob for the flow rate valve and said two control knobs, preferably, being mounted at the same end of the fitting or water outlet. Usually, when the shower fitting or water outlet has been installed the thermostatic cartridge will extend forwardly of a vertical wall on which said fitting or outlet is mounted in a generally horizontal plane.
Further according to the present invention there is provided the combination of a thermostatic valve comprising a cartridge or unit insertable into a mixing chamber of, for example, a shower fitting or other water outlet, and means which, in use, forms an operative link or coupling between the thermostatic valve and a flow rate valve of said fitting or other water outlet.
Further according to the present invention, there is provided a dual control assembly comprising a thermostatic valve and a flow rate valve including an operating stem and a body portion, the arrangement being such that the body of the flow rate valve can be rotated relative to said stem to open and close the flow rate valve.
Further according to the present invention there is provided a method of controlling temperature and flow of a liquid medium in, for example, a shower fitting or other fluid outlet, said method comprising setting the temperature of the medium by means of a control knob located at one end of a thermostatic valve in the form of a cartridge or unit and varying the flow rate by means of a second control knob arranged concentrically with the first at the same end of the fitting/fluid outlet.
Still further according to the present invention there is provided a dual control assembly having one or more of the following features:
(a) a thermostatic valve in the form of a cartridge or unit mounted in line with a flow rate disc valve, preferably a CD valve, the body of which may be rotated relative to an operating stem held fixed, in use, relative to a mixing chamber of a shower fitting or other water outlet in which the dual control assembly is mounted;
(b) a thermostatic valve in the form of a cartridge or unit with two concentrically mounted control knobs, the one control knob being for controlling the thermostatic valve and the other control knob being for controlling the flow rate valve preferably operatively coupled to the thermostatic valve, and
(c) a thermostatic valve (in the form of a cartridge) aligned with a flow rate valve in a fluid mixing chamber of a fitting or water outlet, the thermostatic valve and flow rate valve being controlled from the same end of the fitting or outlet by co-axially arranged control knobs.


A female terminal fitting (20) has an approximately tubular connection portion (22) with an open front end for receiving a tab (14) of a male terminal fitting (10). Concavities (30) extend longitudinally in the connection portion (22) at positions opposed to side surfaces of the tab (14). The concavities (30) enable the outside width (W) of the connection portion (22) to be small while securing a large clearance (C) outward from the side surfaces of the tab (14). The concavities (30) do not significantly decrease the strength of the entire connection portion (22). Additionally, the large clearance (C) avoids the need for highly accurate manufacturing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a female terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,540 discloses a female terminal fitting that is fixed to an end of an electric wire. The female terminal fitting has a box-shaped connection portion with an open front end for receiving the tab of a male terminal fitting. An elastic contact piece is provided inside the female terminal fitting and elastically contacts the tab that has been inserted into the open front of the connection portion. Thus, an electrical connection is made between the tab of the male terminal fitting and the elastic contact piece of the female terminal fitting.
There is a growing demand for miniature terminal fittings. However, the tab of the male terminal fitting must be sufficiently wide to achieve a reliable electrical connection between the male and female terminal fittings. Thus, options for miniaturization appear to reside in the connection portion of the female terminal fitting into which the tab is inserted.
A thinner material could be used for the female terminal fitting. However, there is a fear that the strength of the female terminal fitting will decrease too much.
The clearance between the side surfaces of the connection portion of the female terminal fitting and the side surfaces of the tab ensure a reliable insertion of the tab into the connection portion. Attempts have been made to reduce the clearance to achieve miniaturization. However, a smaller clearance requires the male and female terminal fittings to be manufactured at high accuracy, thus reducing productivity.
The invention has been completed in view of the above-described situation. Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a compact female terminal fitting without deteriorating the strength and productivity thereof.


An improved golf club swing training system is provided for assisting golfers to improve their golf swing. The golf swing training system includes a golf club including a traditional shaft, head and head face. Moreover, the training system includes a light source for producing a plane of light. Preferably, the light source uses a laser for producing the plane of light which forms a light line when striking the ground or other flat surface. In addition, the swing training system includes a practice mat. The practice mat includes a plurality of substantially straight mat lines which are positioned and aligned to identify proper golf swing position at various points through a golfer's swing. The golf swing training system includes the golfer repetitively practicing his golf swing so that the light source produces a light line which aligns with the mat lines so as to reinforce proper golf swing position.

The present invention relates to practice aids and systems for assisting persons to improve their swings. More particularly, the present invention relates to practice aids for teaching persons proper alignment when swinging a sporting club or the like. There are many examples of practice aids which are used to hit an object towards a target including the baseball bat, tennis racquet, squash racquet, ping pong paddle, croquet club, etc. However, the training system of the present invention is believed to have particular application to assisting persons in improving their golf swing. The invention is not intended to be limited to golf swing training. Accordingly, the invention is described with particularity for golfing applications.
Golf clubs include a shaft and club head which are used to hit a stationary ball towards a golf course green. The golf club's shaft has a proximal extremity and a distal extremity, and the club head is mounted to the shaft's distal extremity. In most circumstances, the club head is substantially planar and transverse to the target line which extends towards a target.
A successful strike of a golf ball is dependant upon the alignment or orientation of the club head impact surface at the point of contact with the ball. If the impact surface is not perfectly transverse to the target line, then the ball will not travel in an intended direction. During a golf club back swing, it is necessary to rotate your forearms in a clockwise direction (for a right-handed person), and then rotate your forearms in a counterclockwise direction during the forward swing such that the club head arrives at a square position at the point of impact. Such movement of the club head during the back swing, forward swing and follow through, is extremely difficult to achieve. Furthermore, the fact that the club head is traveling at a great velocity makes it extremely difficult to gauge the position of the club head during the swing.
In the past, a great number of devices have been proposed which attempt to indicate the orientation of the club head during a golf swing. Many such devices include the use of a light source that directs a beam of light for representing golf club orientation and golf club swing path. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,149,537 and 6,149,531 describe golf putters which include a laser contraption. A laser diode or the like transmits a beam downwardly from the handle of the club to project a beam of light near the golfer's feet. Swinging the club causes the beam to define and illustrate the golfer's swing path. Optionally, the contraption includes an additional glass rod positioned in front of the laser to project a path of light.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,034 describes an apparatus which includes a laser device and a mirror which projects a fan shaped beam along the ground ahead of a club face.
The device is intended to enable a user to see the line of light on the ground as the ball is hit so that the golfer can determine whether the ball is being hit straight, with a hook, or with a slice. U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,991 discloses a device for attachment to an actual golf club. The device transmits a light beam which traces a straight line behind the ball during the back swing and an oppositely directed light beam picks up the same line when the golf club is properly swung as the club approaches the top of the back swing. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,080 describes a golf club which has been modified to include strobing lights which are emitted from the club head's top surface. These strobing lights provide a path of light illustrating the club's angle and path during the golfer's swing. Still an additional golf aid is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,429. This reference describes a laser apparatus which attaches and detaches to a traditional golf putter. A prism is provided so as to project the laser into a path of light as opposed to a mere beam of light. Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/383,481 also describes a golf club including a laser. Using a rotating mirror, the laser produces a plane of light indicating both golf club position and rotation. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/383,481 is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
In addition, specially constructed mats have been developed for use in developing and correcting a person's golf swing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,592 describes a mat including a plurality of arcuate lines for assisting a person to train their golf swing. A golf club is provided which includes a laser device on the club's proximal extremity for producing a laser beam of light that traverses the mat. By swinging the club so that the laser beam follows the arcuate lines, golfers are taught how to swing the club along a preferred swing path. Somewhat similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,988 describes a shoulder mounted device including two lasers. The lasers are positioned so as to shine beams of light upon the arcuate path shown on a floor mat. By rotating the shoulders so as to repetitively follow the arcuate path on the mat, golfers are taught how to swing the club along a preferred swing path. Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,167 describes a golf training system including a mat and golf club with mounted laser. The mat includes two dots supposedly indicating proper club position when the golf club laser strikes the dots.
Unfortunately, though some of the prior swing training systems help identify proper club position or rotation, none of the golf training systems provide for training and correcting a person's swing by identifying proper swing path and proper club position and club rotation through the golf swing.
It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the above-described disadvantages by providing a swing training system which is inexpensive to manufacture and which can be used in cooperation with a standard sporting club.
It is still an additional object of the invention to provide a golf swing training system which provides an indication of club head orientation and path throughout a golfer's entire back swing, forward swing and follow-through.


A system that uses a flushometer for residential toilets in which adjustments and additions are made in order to allow the flushometer to operate correctly. There is an immediate flush water assembly that provides enough water, under pressure to pas through the flushometer. Also, a check valve can be used to isolate the pressurized water stored for the flush so as to reduce effect on the residential plumbing system and to provide control over flush and recharge. Also, a reduced diameter supply piping portion allows for additional control.

In most cases, the main pipeline from the street to a home is either ¾ or 1 inch in diameter, supply branches use ¾-inch-diameter pipe, and pipes for individual components are ½ inch or in some homes ⅜ inch. Homes and other noncommercial properties usually have gravity toilets connected to the ½ inch or ⅜ inch component pipes. These gravity toilets use a water closet or tank that fills with, for example, 12 inches of water before each flushing. The pressure resulting from the force of gravity acting on this column of water moves water into the toilet bowl when flushed. Standard water pressure to a residence is, for example in Los Angeles, Calif., 55 psi. A high safety level is at 80 psi.
Many commercial buildings have water supply pipes of at least 1 inch diameter. The water from such pipes flows through a flushometer valve, or high flow flush valve, directly into a toilet bowl and generated a better flushing than does a gravity toilet. When the flushometer is activated, it releases a metered amount of water into the toilet, then closes. The single flush from the flushometer theoretically wastes less water per flush than a typical tank system because it cleanses the bowl with a metered lower-volume, higher-pressure stream. An exemplary single flush will last for 3-5 seconds. There is also no need for a tank, and therefore no refilling time between flushes. The drawback to installing a flushometer is that it is not compatible with all plumbing systems. The water piping itself for a flushometer has to allow a water pressure of at least 20 to 25 psi for the flushometer to function properly, which is not usually possible with the ¾-inch piping found in most homes. This is due to the fact that the available water pressure decreases rapidly as the diameter of the water supply pipe decreases. A toilet with a flushometer receiving water directly from a ½ inch or ⅜ inch diameter water supply pipe flushes poorly often resulting in stoppages that must be cleaned out. A system has been developed to allow water to flow vigorously enough through a flushometer valve connected to a small diameter home water supply pipe to provide a good flushing. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,416,523 in which a water storage apparatus is provided by enlarged diameter pipes lying close to the flushometer valve; the pipes having an exemplary diameter of 1.5 inches. While this system provides a larger amount of water upon flushing than is normally available in a residential flush system, there are operational shortcomings. One such shortcoming is that upon activating the flush there is immediate flow of the large volume of water in the enlarged diameter pipes as a result of which there is caused a severe drop in water pressure upstream from the toilet. This causes an immediate, but temporary decrease in water flow to nearby plumbing fixtures (the terms "fixture" and "component" are used synonymously in this description). This interruption effects cold water only—which is presumed to be the supply used for flushing. Interruptions in showers, baths, dish or clothes washing are not pleasant experiences, not only due to drop in flow, but also in sudden temporary increase in water temperature if there is also hot water flowing. Providing the good flushing such as of a commercial toilet equipped with a flushometer valve without upstream water pressure loss or intermittent or cyclical pressure variations to the upstream plumbing would be of value in residential plumbing systems that have smaller pipe sizes than do the commercial plumbing systems that normally use a flushometer.

Toilet flushing apparatus and system and method