A constant velocity fixed joint having an outer joint part, an inner joint part, a cage and torque transmitting balls has the cumulative clearance errors of the joint minimized via the fixing method of supporting inserts. This is achieved in that a ring is provided with at least two fingers pointing axially and radially inward into the cavity of the outer joint part and arranged between two outer running grooves so as to abut the spherical contact face of the cage. While the clearances between the internal joint components are positioned at a predetermined relationship, the ring is positioned at an axial distance from a reference face located at the open end of the outer joint part and that the ring, while observing a predetermined axial play, is connected to the outer joint part. The inner faces of the outer joint part arranged between the outer running grooves thus being held at a predetermined position relative to the spherical outer face of the cage. A method is provided which substantially facilitates handling while individual supporting inserts are attached and which allows the joint play to be set in the specified way. This is achieved in that the outer joint part is provided with recesses arranged between the outer running grooves. Wedge-shaped inserts serving to axially secure the cage and being connected to one another by an annular strip are inserted into the recesses. The wedge-shaped inserts are welded to the recesses and after the welding operation the annular strip between the wedge-shaped supporting inserts is removed.

From DE-PS 25 22 670 it is known to axially secure the cage of a constant velocity fixed joint via a supporting disc secured at the open end of the outer joint part. It is the object of the above publication to facilitate assembly by using an undercut-free outer joint part.
The disadvantage of the design described is that the balls in the running tracks run with play and that only the axial play of the cage can be set. This necessarily means that there exists play between the inner joint part, the ball and the outer joint part on the one hand and between the inner joint part, the cage and the outer joint part on the other hand.
This means that there are two sequences of play of which, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the said publication, only one sequence, i.e. the axial play between the cage and outer joint part can be set.
Furthermore, it has been proposed (DE-OS 3721775) to guide the cage by a so-called supporting disc so as to be pivotable around the joint center, with the supporting disc being received in a holding ring and being able to move therein in a radially floating way.
The disadvantage of this design is that by arranging the holding ring and supporting disc in front of the open axial end of the outer joint part the possible angle of articulation may be adversely affected.
A constant velocity universal joint with wedge-shaped supporting elements for axially securing the cage is known (German Patent Application 42032195.8). The disadvantage of the design described is that the supporting inserts have to be secured individually.
As the supporting inserts are very small, handling during the fixing and welding operation is extremely complicated.
There is a further prior art design as described in DE-PS 3233753 where the inner face of the outer joint part is partially stepped relative to the spherical outer face of the cage.
However, this publication does not propose any measures for setting the play.
The play values resulting from production tolerances may add up in a disadvantageous way, thereby resulting in increased joint wear.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a constant velocity fixed joint in the case of which the two sequences of play are defined and are capable of being set to a specified value. At the same time, assembly is to be simplified by axially introducing the inner joint part together with the cage and the inserted balls.
In accordance with the invention, the objective is achieved in that the balls are held in a clearance-free way in the outer running grooves and in the inner running grooves, that a ring is provided with at least two fingers pointing axially and radially inwardly into the cavity of the outer joint part and held between two outer running grooves so as to abut the spherical outer face of the cage. The ring is arranged at an axial distance (s) from a reference face located at the open end of the outer joint part, and that the ring, while observing a predetermined axial play relative to the cage, is connected to the outer joint part, with the inner faces of the outer joint part arranged between the outer running grooves being held at a distance from the spherical outer face of the cage.
The advantage of the design in accordance with the invention is that the ring, with the fingers supporting the cage, is connected to the outer joint part in a position where it is aligned relative to the cage. In this way it is ensured that all cumulative errors occurring in the joint are eliminated.
By providing a play (s) while the ball contact the outer and inner running grooves in a clearance-free way, it is ensured that a predetermined axial play can be determined very accurately.
By designing the joint in accordance with the invention, very clear conditions are obtained for the play values existing in the joint. The first sequence of play between the outer joint part, the balls and the inner joint part is set to zero and the second sequence of play between the outer joint part, cage and inner joint part is suitable for being set.
In this way, both sequences of play are clearly defined.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fingers starting from the ring are arranged radially inwardly, with the fingers of the ring secured to the outer joint part being crimped in the direction of the cavity.
The advantage of this design is that the ring together with the fingers may be punched out of a plate metal material and the fingers are then bent, which means that the ring can be produced very cost-effectively.
According to a further essential feature of the invention, the fingers are designed as wedge-shaped supporting projections pointing away approximately axially from the ring.
This design allows the supporting inserts to contact the spherical outer face of the cage over a relatively large area.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the outer joint part, at a radial end face associated with its open end, is provided with a radially inner recess serving to receive the ring, the inner diameter of the recess being greater than the outer diameter of the ring.
With this design, the ring may easily be fixed to the outer joint part by welding, for instance by laser welding in the axial direction of the joint, which means that it is possible to automate the welding operation.
According to a further embodiment, the ring is provided with a projection coaxially embracing the outer circumference of the outer joint part.
With this design, too, the ring may easily be welded to the outer joint part.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the coaxial projection of the ring is used as a seat for a convoluted boot secured to the outer joint part.
As a result of this measure, it is easy to fix the convoluted boot to the coaxial projection of the ring.
According to a further embodiment of the invention it is proposed that the diameter of the ring should be greater than the outer circumference of the outer joint part and that the part of the ring projecting beyond the outer circumference of the outer joint part should be used as a stop for a convoluted boot secured to the outer circumference of the outer joint part.
This design permits an inexpensive and easy possibility of fixing the convoluted boot to the outer joint part.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention it is proposed that the outer joint part, at its open axial end, is provided with at least two radially extending grooves, that a closed ring is secured in the radially outer region and that the ring is provided with fingers which correspond to the grooves, which pass radially through the grooves and which are held so as to abut the spherical face of the cage.
With this design, the ring, including the fingers, is integrated into the axial length of the outer joint part so that the maximum articulation angle is not limited in any way.
According to a further advantageous feature, the outer joint part, at its open axial end, is provided with a continuous step and the radially outer free space produced by the step is intended to receive the ring.
As a result, it is easy to weld the ring to the outer joint part.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the ring is produced from a radially extending flat material and welded via a V-weld to the outer circumference of the outer joint part.
Again, it is easy to secure the ring to the outer joint part.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the ring is designed as a ring which extends coaxially relative to the joint axis, which embraces the outer circumference of the outer joint part and is welded thereto via a fillet weld, with the fingers being angled relative to the joint axis.
According to a further feature of the invention, the fingers, starting from the inwardly directed radial direction, are additionally angled approximately axially towards the center of the joint, and the angled web is adapted to the spherical outer face of the cage. This design permits the fingers to contact the spherical outer face of the cage over a large area.
According to a further feature of the invention, the fingers are designed approximately box-like as hollow profiles, and the contact face is adapted to the spherical outer face of the cage.
With this design, the fingers are able to support high axial forces acting on the cage.
In a further embodiment, the fingers are designed as solid profiles with a rectangular cross-section, with the radially inner faces of the fingers being adapted to the spherical outer face of the cage.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the objective is achieved in that the outer joint part is provided with recesses arranged between the outer running grooves, that wedge-shaped inserts serving to axially secure the cage and being connected to one another by an annular strip are inserted into the recesses and that the wedge-shaped inserts are welded to the outer joint part in the recesses and that after the welding operation the annular strip is removed from between the wedge-shaped supporting inserts.
The advantage of the method proposed in accordance with the invention consists in that while the wedge-shaped supporting inserts are in the process of being secured they are, without fail, easy to handle and that by separating the parts of the annular strip positioned between the wedge-shaped supporting inserts it is ensured that the maximum angle of articulation is not adversely affected.
According to an essential feature of the invention, the regions of separation of the annular strip are predetermined by nominal fracture regions provided at both ends of the supporting inserts.
The nominal fracture regions ensure a clean line of separation at both ends of the supporting inserts thereby eliminating any need for remachining.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the annular strip, for the purpose of being positioned in a true-to-angle way, is provided with recesses corresponding to the balls in the aligned position.
These recesses permit the annular strip provided for fixing purposes to be positioned and aligned in a simple and accurate way.

Method of assembling constant velocity fixed joint


A planar filter is proposed in which a plurality of striplines arranged next to one another on a substrate are supplemented by an overcoupling stripline which couples to one another two striplines which are not immediately neighboring. The length of the overcoupling stripline is an integral multiple of a half wavelength of the center frequency of the filter.

The invention proceeds from a planar filter The article entitled "Parallel-Coupled Transmission-Line-Resonator Filters" in the IRE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 1958, pages 223 ff. by S. B. Cohn discloses a microstripline filter in which a plurality of striplines are arranged next to one another. In this case, the striplines overlap one another on a portion of their length and are thereby coupled to their respective neighbor. In addition, the article entitled "Filters with Single Transmission Zeros at Real or Imaginary Frequencies" in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. MTT-24, No. 4, April 1976, pages 172-181 discloses waveguide filters in which pole points are generated in the damping by overcoupling of modes between nonadjacent resonators by means of slotted diaphragms.

Planar filter having an overcoupling stripline an integral multiple of a half wavelength in length


The system and method for automated personalized and community-specific eating and activity planning are provided that are linked to tracking with automated multimodal item identification and size estimation and enable and integrate health and other user datastreams and enables rewards and links to healthy eating and activity partners based on that data. The system and method also provide personalized wellness recommendations. The system and method also enables action, such as single click ordering of the healthy meals or shopping list on one's plan from local restaurants and grocery stores, and receipt of mobile vouchers and coupons with a unique validation system for use at retailers.

Tracking what a person eats in a more automated way, through the combination of visual recognition, voice recognition, GPS information, mechanical turk, data feed integration, and a simplified user interface, could revolutionize the awareness of people, improving the consistency with which more of us understand how and what we eat. The significance and magnitude of health issues related to nutrition and other health behaviors are now, relatively well known. Caloric over-consumption, poor nutritional balance and lack of physical activity are primary drivers of negative health outcomes in modernized nations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says these behaviors together were the #2 'actual cause of death' in 2000 (365,000 deaths, 15.2% of total), narrowly behind smoking; these behaviors far outpace alcohol, infection, toxins, accidents, firearms, unsafe sexual behavior and illicit drug use as causes of death. Poor diet and physical inactivity are major contributors to obesity, which may have cost the United States as much as $78.5 B in direct medical expenses in 1998 (1998 dollars), nearly 10% of healthcare spending, not including indirect expenses. Obesity is expected to halt American's rise in life expectancy in the first half of this century. Even today, US life expectancy is ranked only 45th (30th among UN member nations) in the world (78.06 years at birth), despite spending the most on healthcare in total ($1.5 T or 14.9% GDP in 2003; $3.7 T expected by 2013) 10 and per capita ($4887). Poor diet, physical activity, and obesity itself, are all risk factors for the development of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, among other chronic conditions. In 2005, cancer and chronic disease accounted for approximately 70% of the giant US healthcare price tag, with cardiovascular disease accounting for 17%, cancers for 7% and diabetes for 4% (obesity not listed separately). In a separate US study on 2005 data, 44% of people surveyed had at least one chronic disease, and individual out-of-pocket spending went up 39% to an average of $741/year.
We see accurate, consistent and widely adopted health behavior tracking and planning as critical to individual and cultural awareness building for adoption healthy behaviors; understanding what one eats or how they engage in consistent physical activity, will be fundamental to overcome obesity and chronic disease. It is desirable to provide tracking tools to help overcome these health challenges.
Existing tracking systems/products do not allow a user to capture food images and provide automated and non-human annotation services to help codify the data. Further, few of the currently available tools have dramatically altered behavior or clinical outcomes on a population level, though a recent study showed 58% of patients across age groups look up health information on the web currently. A number of web-based tools and some simple mobile applications exist in the marketplace to help people to plan a diet, or an exercise routine, typically from the perspective of helping people to lose weight. The commercial argument for the obesity emphasis is that a fraction of the large population of overweight patients are contemplating change or already motivated (in Preparation stage) to lose weight for health reasons or aesthetics. Most use subscription models for which motivated consumers are willing to pay, and a few rely on advertising revenue.
But, no effective tools have been developed to accurately help people quantitatively, accurately and consistently track their dietary intake, which people are also pleased to use on an ongoing basis. Self-report food frequency questionnaires are notoriously inaccurate, and food journals are accurate if items are tracked at the time of consumption, but very few people will continue to take the time or even want to focus on this level of detail about what they eat, for more than a period of a couple of weeks. It is desirable to provide a product/system that addresses these issues.
Caloric overconsumption, lack of physical activity and inadequate sleep are three of the primary drivers of negative health outcomes in modernized nations. All three contribute to obesity, which cost the United States between 70 and 100 billion dollars in direct medical costs alone, and is expected to halt American's rise in life expectancy in the first half of this century. Obesity and each of these three health habits are risk factors for the development of heart disease, cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis, among other conditions. Unfortunately, recommendations to be active, eat smart and sleep well are typically impersonal, generic, non-actionable, incompatible with daily commitments, unnecessarily expensive, easily forgotten and are far less frequent than competing messages promoting unhealthy nutrition and sedentary activities. Further, the availability of affordable and comprehensive services that promote long-lasting changes in behavior and body weight is low, creating a need for innovative solutions.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for automated personalized and community-specific eating and activity planning, linked to tracking with automated multimodal item identification and size estimation that overcomes the limitations of the above existing systems and method and it is to this end that the disclosure is directed.

System and method for automated personalized and community-specific eating and activity planning, linked to tracking system with automated multimodal item identification and size estimation system


A valve has a housing and a component movable within the housing. The housing has first, second and third ports formed in it. The movable component has a first passageway formed in it. Movement of the movable component within the housing selectively connects the first port through the first passageway to the second port, or the second port through the first passageway to the third port. At least one of the first and second ports includes a first member for contacting the movable valve component and a second member for retaining the first member. The second member may be constructed from a semiconductive material. At least a region of the movable component around a first end of the first passageway may be semiconductive.

Many voltage blocks are illustrated and described in the prior art. There are, for example, the voltage blocks illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,622; 4,982,903; 5,033,942; 5,154,357; and 5,193,750, and the references cited in those patents, particularly including U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,655,262; 2,547,440; 2,673,232; 3,098,890; 3,122,320; 3,291,889; 3,893,620; 3,933,285; 3,934,055; 4,017,029; 4,020,866; 4,085,892; 4,275,834; 4,313,475; 4,383,644; and, 4,413,788, and U.K. Patent Specifications 1,393,333 and 1,478,853. Also of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,814,551; 2,921,604; 3,419,827; 3,450,092; 3,838,946; 4,030,860; 4,232,055; 4,304,252; 4,381,180; 4,386,888; 4,515,516; 4,552,334; 4,741,673; 4,792,092; 4,879,137; 4,881,688; 4,884,745; 4,932,589; 4,962,724; 5,078,168; 5,094,389; 5,096,126; 5,102,045; 5,102,046; 5,105,851; 5,197,676; 5,244,012; 5,249,748; 5,255,856; 5,273,072; 5,288,029; 5,288,525; 5,326,031; 5,340,289; 5,341,990; and, 5,364,035. The disclosures of these references also are hereby incorporated herein by reference. No representation is intended by this listing that this is a complete listing of all pertinent prior art, or that a thorough search of all pertinent prior art has been conducted, or that no better prior art exists. Nor should any such representation be inferred.
It has been found from experience gained from use of voltage blocks constructed as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,632,816; 5,746,831; 5,787,928; and 5,944,045, that repeated arcing along the seats and ball surfaces of the four-way valves constructed as described in these patents can, in certain circumstances, result in erosion of the seat and ball surfaces. This erosion can lead to increased contamination of the solvent/voltage blocking medium with coating material. This, in turn, can lead to increased use not only of coating material but also of solvent/voltage blocking medium. Increased use of coating material equates with increased coating cost. Increased use of solvent/voltage blocking medium not only increases solvent/voltage blocking medium use and cost, but may also increase use of the molecular sieves used to extract the coating material vehicle from the solvent/voltage blocking medium, with its attendant cost. The impact of these increased usages also includes increased downtime to service systems of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,632,816; 5,746,831; 5,787,928; and 5,944,045, in order to replenish their solvent/voltage blocking medium supplies and molecular sieves.


A 2,2′-bipyridine derivative having a reactive silyl group represented by the following general formula (1):

A 2,2′-bipyridine derivative works as a chelating ligand for various type of metals, and it readily forms various metal complexes. The thus formed metal complex is useful in industry since oxidation-reduction potential, molecular orbital, and the like can be readily adjusted by introducing an adequate substituent on the bipyridine ring. Among such metal complexes, a transition metal complex having 2,2′-bipyridine derivative ligand can be used for various applications. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-304091 discloses a gene detection method using electrochemical activity of a ruthenium complex and an osmium complex. Japanese Patent No. 3731752 discloses that a ruthenium complex can be used for a dye sensitized solar battery, and that carboxyl group at the terminal will be immobilized on a porous membrane by forming a chemical bond with the titanium oxide particle, and absorb visible light in substantially all visible range at high conversion rate. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-64641 discloses use of a ruthenium complex for a luminescent material. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-234374 discloses that ruthenium complex and manganese complex can be used as an oxidation catalyst, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-247880 discloses that use of complexes of iron, cobalt, ruthenium, and the like as a catalyst for cyclization and dimerization of a conjugated diolefin.
More specifically, in the Examples of the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-247880, the reaction is allowed to proceed in a homogeneous system by using 0.5% by mole of the transition metal complex catalyst with respect to 1 mole of the reaction substrate. Since the transition metal complex is generally expensive, it would be preferable from the industrial point of view to collect the catalyst after the reaction for reuse. When the transition metal complex is used by preliminarily immobilizing the transition metal complex to an inorganic solid such as silica gel or alumina or an organic polymer, the transition metal complex can be readily separated after the reaction for its reuse. The transition metal complex can be loaded on such solid support by using a ligand having a reactive group capable of firmly bonding to the support. An example of such reactive group is silyl group, and silyl group can react with various types of substituents such as hydroxy group on the support. For example, Tetrahedon Letters, 1998, vol. 39, pp. 4359-4362 describes immobilization of ruthenium bipyridine complex on montmorillonite by using silyl group for use as an oxidation catalyst.
However, the ligand used in Tetrahedon Letters, 1998, vol. 39, pp. 4359-4362 is bipyridine substituted at position 6 with silyl group, and formation of bis(bipyridine) complex and tris(bipyridine) complex as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-304091, Japanese Patent No. 3731752, or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-64641 by using such ligand has been difficult due to steric hindrance by the substituent at the position 6. In view of such situation, development of a new ligand which enables immobilization of various transition metal complexes on the solid support has been highly awaited. In the case of the Japanese Patent No. 3731752, electronic interaction between the transition metal complex and the solid support used for immobilization is utilized. Therefore, a ligand which enables immobilization of the transition metal complex at a distance closer to the support has been desired.

2,2′ -bipyridine derivative having a reactive silyl group, its production method, and transition metal complex

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 represent a substituent selected from a monovalent hydrocarbon group, an organoxy group, an acyloxy group, hydroxy group, a halogen atom, hydrogen atom, mercapto group, an amino group, cyano group, cyanate group, isocyanate group, thiocyanate group, and isothiocyanate group; R3 represents a monovalent aliphatic unsaturated hydrocarbon group, an organoxy group, an alkoxy group, an acyloxy group, hydroxy group, a halogen atom, hydrogen atom, mercapto group, an amino group, cyano group, cyanate group, isocyanate group, thiocyanate group, and isothiocyanate group; R4 represents a reactive silyl group represented by the formula: R1R2R3Si, a monovalent hydrocarbon group, or hydrogen atom; R5, R6, R7, and R8 are a monovalent hydrocarbon group or hydrogen atom.


An improved process for isolating A83543 factors from fermentation broth in which they are produced which comprises:. a) adding an approximately equal volume of a water miscible, polar organic solvent to the fermentation broth, including the biomass thereof; PA0 b) separating the liquid phase of the resulting mixture from the biomass; PA0 c) adjusting the pH of the separated liquid phase to between about 7 and 13; PA0 d) applying the separated liquid phase directly to a column of nonfunctional, macroreticular polymer; PA0 e) eluting the A83543 components from the column with an aqueous solution of water miscible, polar organic solvent; and PA0 f) collecting the fractions containing A83543 components.

Fermentation product A83543, a family of related factors produced by Saccharopolyspora spinosa, was recently discovered and was shown to exhibit excellent insecticidal activity. In European Patent Publication No. 0 375 316 fermentation product A83543 was shown to comprise individual components A83543A, A83543B, A83543C, A83543D, A83543E, A83543F, A83543G, A83543H, and A83543J. The general structure of the A83543 factors consists of a 5,6,5-tricyclic ring system fused to a 12-membered macrocyclic lactone, a neutral sugar, and an amino sugar. Kirst et al., Tetrahedron Letters, 32, 4839 (1991).
The U.S. patent application of Jon S. Mynderse et al. on "New A83543 Compounds and Processes for Production Thereof" (U.S. application Ser. No. 07/790,287) the same date as this application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. That application discloses factors A83543L, A83543M, and A83543N.
The following table identifies by structure these known A83543 components.
__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR1## Factor R.sup.3 R.sup.1 R R.sup.4 R.sup.5 R.sup.6 __________________________________________________________________________ A83543A H CH.sub.3 ##STR2## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543B H CH.sub.3 ##STR3## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543C H CH.sub.3 ##STR4## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543D CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 ##STR5## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543E H CH.sub.3 ##STR6## CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543F H H ##STR7## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543G H CH.sub.3 ##STR8## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 A83543H H CH.sub.3 ##STR9## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 H CH.sub.3 A83543J H CH.sub.3 ##STR10## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 H A83543L CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 ##STR11## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 H A83543M H CH.sub.3 ##STR12## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 H A83543N CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 ##STR13## C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 H __________________________________________________________________________
A83543 and each of the components are useful for the control of mites and insects, particularly Lepidoptera and Diptera species.
The term "A83543 component" means a compound selected from the group consisting of A83543A, A83543B, A83543C, A83543D, A83543E, A83543F, A83543G, A83543H, A83543J, A83543L, A83543M, and A83543N. If additional factors of the similar structure are subsequently discovered, it is contemplated that the isolation process provided by this invention will be applicable to them as well.
A83543 is produced by culturing an A83543-producing strain of Saccharopolyspora spinosa under submerged aerobic conditions by methods disclosed in the copending U.S. patent application of LaVerne D. Boeck et al., on "A83543A Compounds", U.S. application Ser. No. 07/773,754, filed Oct. 10, 1991 "A83543 Compounds," Ser. No; 07/429,441, filed Oct. 30, 1989, now abandoned and the above identified application of Jon S. Mynderse et al. on "New A83543 Compounds and Processes for Production Thereof" (U.S. application Ser. No. 07/790,287).
The term "A83543-producing strain of Saccharopolyspora spinosa" means a strain of Saccharopolyspora spinosa capable of producing recoverable amounts of at least one A83543 component. The following six A83543-producing Saccharopolyspora spinosa cultures, A83543.1, A83543.3, A83543.4, A83543.5, A83543.6, and A83543.7,have been deposited and made a part of the stock culture collection of the Midwest Area Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from which they are available to the public under the following accession numbers:
______________________________________ NRRL No. Strain No. ______________________________________ 18395 A83543.1 18537 A83543.3 18538 A83543.4 18539 A83543.5 18719 A83543.6 18720 A83543.7 ______________________________________
The characteristics of these cultures are described in detail in the above identified U.S. patent applications of LaVerne D. Boeck et al. and Jon W. Mynderse et al. Each of the strains A83543.3, A83543.4, A83543.5, A83543.6, and A83543.7 was derived from A83543.1 by means described in those patent applications.
As is the case with other organisms, the characteristics of the A83543-producing strains are subject to variation. Thus, mutants of these strains may be obtained by physical and chemical methods known in the art. For example, other strains may be obtained by treatment with chemicals such as N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Natural and induced mutants derived directly or indirectly from A83543.1 which retain the characteristic of producing recoverable amounts of at least one A83543 component are applicable in the present invention.
The culture medium used to grow these Saccharopolypora spinosa cultures can be any one of a number of media. For economy in production, optimal yield, and ease of product isolation, certain culture media are preferred. For example, preferred carbon sources in large-scale fermentation are glucose and methyl oleate, although ribose, xylose, fructose, galactose, mannose, mannitol, maltose, soluble starch, potato dextrin, oils such as soybean oil and the like can also be used. Preferred nitrogen sources are cottonseed flour, peptonized milk and corn steep liquor, although fish meal, digested soybean meal, yeast extract, enzyme-hydrolyzed casein, beef extract, and the like can also be used. Among the nutrient inorganic salts which can be incorporated in the culture media are the customary soluble salts capable of yielding zinc, sodium, magnesium, calcium, ammonium, chloride, carbonate, sulfate, nitrate and like ions. Essential trace elements necessary for the growth and development of the organism should also be included in the culture medium. Such trace elements commonly occur as impurities in other substituents of the medium in amounts sufficient to meet the growth requirements of the organism.
Usually, if forming is a problem, small amounts (i.e., 0.2 ml/L) of an antifoam agent such as polypropylene glycol may be added to large-scale fermentation media. In the case of the A83543-producing cultures, however, conventional defoamers inhibit A83543 production. Foaming is controlled by including soybean oil or PLURONIC L-101 (BASF, Parsippany, N.J.) in the medium (1-3%). Additional oil is added if foaming develops.
The A83543 components are produced by the A83543-producing organisms when grown at temperatures between about 24.degree. and about 33.degree. C. Optimum temperatures for production appear to be about 28.degree.-30.degree. C.
As is customary in submerged aerobic culture processes, sterile air is blown into the vessel from the bottom while the medium is stirred with conventional turbine impellors. In general, the aeration rate and agitation rate should be sufficient to maintain the level of dissolved oxygen at or above 60% of air saturation, preferably above 65%, with an internal vessel pressure of about 0.34 atmospheres.
Production of the A83543 components can be followed during the fermentation by testing extracts of the broth. A preferred method for following the production is analysis of the broth extracts by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A suitable system for analysis is described in Example 1.
The A83543 components produced during fermentation of the A83543-producing organism occurs in both the mycelial mass (the biomass) and the broth. A83543 components are lipophilic. Separation of the lipophilic A83543 components from the broth has proved to be a significant problem, because it requires a simultaneous separation of the components from the substantial quantity of oil used to control foaming during the fermentation.
Prior to this invention, A83532 components were isolated by the method described in U.S. patent application of Patrick J. Baker on "A83543 Recovery Process," Ser. No. 07/451,394, filed Dec. 15, 1989. Although the process described in that patent application is a significant improvement over prior processes, there remained a need to improve the efficiency of the recovery operation.

Process for isolating A83543 and its components


A cable connector assembly includes an insulating body, a first terminal group and a second terminal group received in the insulating body and arranged into an upper row and a lower row, a shielding sheet fixed in the insulating body and located between the first terminal group and the second terminal group, and a cable having a ground core wire. The first terminal group includes a first ground terminal, and the first ground terminal has a first soldering portion. The second terminal group includes a second ground terminal, and the second ground terminal has a second soldering portion. The ground core wire is located between the first soldering portion and the second soldering portion and is in electrical contact with the first soldering portion, the second soldering portion and the shielding sheet.

An existing cable connector assembly includes an insulating body, multiple signal terminals and multiple ground terminals arranged in the insulating body, a middle shielding sheet arranged in the insulating body, and a cable having multiple core wires and multiple ground core wires. The signal terminals are soldered correspondingly to the signal core wires, the ground terminals are soldered correspondingly to the ground core wires, and the middle shielding sheet is in contact with the ground terminals with a ground connection. However, since the number of the signal terminals and ground terminals is large, a large number of signal core wires and ground core wires are needed to be soldered correspondingly. As a result, not only is the manufacturing cost increased, but also the manufacturing process is complex. In addition, since the middle shielding sheet is only in contact with the ground terminals for grounding, the phenomenon of poor contact can easily take place, and then a poor grounding effect is caused.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.


A distance measuring equipment which is useful in, for example, a collision prevention system wherein a laser beam is forward emitted from a vehicle to measure a distance between the vehicle and a forward vehicle, and an alarm is produced when the present vehicle abnormally approaches the forward vehicle. In the distance measuring equipment, when a correction instruction signal is supplied, a distance calculating circuit first drives an optically shielded light emitting element for correction to emit light, and produces a correction signal on the basis of a signal input into an adder connected to a light receiving element. Thereafter, the distance calculating circuit drives a light emitting element for measurement to emit light, and produces a distance measurement signal with referring the correction signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a distance measuring equipment (so-called laser radar) which is useful in, for example, a collision prevention system wherein a laser beam is forward emitted from a vehicle to measure a distance between the vehicle and a forward vehicle, and an alarm is produced when the present vehicle abnormally approaches the forward vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A distance measuring equipment of this kind will be described with reference to FIG. 7.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 designates a clock signal generator which supplies a timing clock signal to various circuits, and 2 designates a light emission trigger signal generator which converts the clock signal supplied from the clock signal generator 1 into a light emission signal functioning as a trigger signal, on the basis of a control signal supplied from a distance calculating circuit 15 which will be described later. Reference numeral 3 designates a driving circuit which is powered by a power source circuit 4, and which, in response to the supply of the light emission signal from the light emission trigger signal generator 2, drives at each supply a light emitting element 5 to generate a laser beam. The power source circuit 4 supplies the power not only to the driving circuit 3 but also to the other circuits.
Reference numeral 6 designates a light transmitting lens through which the laser beam from the light emitting element 5 is output so as to diffuse away from the element 5 at a predetermined angle, and 8 designates a light emitting unit which comprises the driving circuit 3, the power source circuit 4, the light emitting element 5, the light transmitting lens 6, and the like.
Reference numeral 9 designates a honeycomb filter which is disposed so as to cover the front surface of the incidence plane of a light receiving lens 10. Among light beams reflected by an object (not shown) which is in front of the equipment such as a forward vehicle (hereinafter, such an object is referred to as "forward object"), only light beams which are parallel to the optical axis of the light receiving lens 10 are allowed to pass through the lens, and light beams which are not parallel to the optical axis are disabled to pass the lens. Reference numeral 11 designates a light receiving element which receives light beams converged by the light receiving lens 10 and converts them into an electric signal, 12 designates an amplifier which amplifies the light reception signal from the light receiving element 11 and outputs the amplified signal, and 13 designates a light receiving unit which comprises the honeycomb filter 9, the light receiving lens 10, the light receiving element 11, the amplifier 12, and the like.
Reference numeral 14 designates an adder. In the case where a period is defined between the supply of a control signal from the distance calculating circuit 15 and the next supply of the control signal, each time when the control signal is supplied, the adder 14 adds the waveform output from the amplifier 12 in the current period to that in the previous period so as to convert the light reception signal into a signal having an improved S/N ratio, and then outputs the signal. Specifically, when the control signal is supplied N times from the distance calculating circuit 15 to the light emission trigger signal generator 2 and the adder 14, the light emitting element 5 emits a laser beam the corresponding number of times, i.e., N times, and waveforms respectively produced by the emitting operations and including the light reception signals output from the amplifier 12 are added to each other. When the adding operations are completed, the calculation result in the current period is binarized and then output.
The distance calculating circuit 15 supplies to the light emission trigger signal generator 2 the control signal for causing the light emitting element 5 to emit light. Further, the distance calculating circuit 15 instructs the adder 14 to conduct the adding operations, by means of the control signal.
When receiving the waveform showing the binarized addition result from the adder 14, the distance calculating circuit 15 calculates the distance between the equipment and the forward object on the basis of the resulting waveform. Specifically, in the pulse string showing the addition result which has been binarized at predetermined temporal intervals, a first pulse having a width which is greater than a predetermined level is detected, and the distance is calculated on the basis of the period between the time when the control signal is output and that of the first pulse.
Next, the operation of the equipment described above will be described.
When the power source for the whole of the equipment is turned on, the distance calculating circuit 15 repeatedly outputs the control signal (see FIG. 8(A)) at intervals of a predetermined period T. Each time when the control signal is output, the light emitting element 5 generates a laser beam, and the laser beam is forward emitted through the light transmitting lens 6.
The laser beam is reflected by the forward object to return to the equipment, and then detected by the light receiving element 11 through the light receiving lens 10. The output of the light receiving element 11 is supplied to the adder 14 via the amplifier 12. In the adder 14, the output from the amplifier 12 is divided for the predetermined period T, and, each time when a signal is newly obtained, the new signal is added to the signal of the previous period. In other words, the waveforms of N periods are added to each other (see FIG. 8(B)).
This allows the weakened reflection beams, i.e., the laser beams to be extracted as the light reception signal from the output of the amplifier 12, so that the laser beam is subjected to the signal processing.
Then the adder 14 binarizes the addition result to convert it into a logic signal (see FIG. 8(C)). The logic signal is checked to see whether or not the probability of the period of the high level with respect to that of the low level is equal to or greater than 50% in a unit period which is obtained by further dividing the period T. If the probability is equal to or greater than 50%, periods t1 and t2 of the maximum pulse widths in the high-level periods wherein the probability is equal to or greater than 50% are detected (waveforms P1 and P2 in FIG. 8(D)). The detected data (see FIG. 8(D)) are supplied to the distance calculating circuit 15.
As a result, the distance calculating circuit 15 calculates the distance between the forward object and the equipment on the basis of the temporal difference TO between the first timing P1, among the supplied data (see FIG. 8(D)), when the probability that the questioned pulse can be presumed a reflection signal is raised to 100%, and the timing when the distance calculating circuit 15 outputs the control signal. The calculated distance is supplied to an alarm judging circuit (not shown). When the distance enters a dangerous range, an alarm signal is produced. The second timing P2 when the probability is 100% is neglected.
In such a distance measuring equipment, however, a large current must be supplied when the light emitting element 5 such as a laser diode emits a light beam, and the light receiving element is required to have a high sensitivity. Each time when the light emitting element 5 emits a light beam, therefore, electric noise (see the portion Q1 of FIG. 8(B)) is superposed as a DC component on the output signal which is supplied from the amplifier 12 to the adder 14.
In the case where a signal (see the symbol Q2 of FIG. 8(B)) indicative of the reflection beam from the forward object and generated with being superposed on noise components close to white noise should originally be subjected to the signal processing so that the distance signal Td is detected as shown in FIG. 8(E), however, the adder 14 actually processes the noise portion Q1 as if it is a signal indicative of the reflection beam from the forward object. This results in that the distance is erroneously measured, thereby producing a problem in that the reliability of the measurement accuracy is lowered.
This problem may be solved by shielding the whole of the circuits or by disposing a noise filter in the power source circuit. When such a countermeasure is taken, however, the number of electronic parts is increased and the area for mounting these parts is enlarged and hence there arise further problems in that the production cost is increased, and that the equipment is too large to be used in a practical use.


A simplified method and system for determining a loading condition on a powertrain of a machine resulting from a loading condition on an implement thereof. The method includes the steps of inputting a predetermined plurality of parameter signals representative of the loading condition on the implement into an implement loading model to determine a plurality of implement loading modeled values as a function of the inputted loading parameter signals and inputting the implement loading modeled values into a kinematic linkage model to determine a plurality of modeled linkage loading values as a function of the inputted implement loading modeled values and a plurality of known linkage parameter values and inputting the modeled linkage loading values into a machine powertrain loading model to determine a plurality of powertrain loading modeled values indicative of the loading condition on the powertrain.

Currently, methods for simulating/predicting powertrain loading conditions such as component torques and speeds, involve creating a model of the machine powertrain system, the machine operator or control inputs, and the operating environment or duty cycle. Commonly referred to as "forward-solved" techniques, the machine response is governed primarily by the operator commands and the load imposed on the machine. When using such models, estimates are required regarding the machine operator's control inputs to "drive" the machine powertrain system in a manner representative of the desired operating work cycle. A limitation of this aspect of the forward-solved techniques is that it involves an iterative process wherein initial input commands are selected and subsequently modified until the desired response is achieved. Furthermore, to get accurate force determinations for the implement, a significant amount of model detail is typically required, which in turn often makes the model very sophisticated and complicated so as to require simulation experts for operation. Naturally, as a byproduct of the sophistication and complexity of these models, the alteration of these models is a very involved process. As a consequence, load prediction modeling using the known forward-solved methods is typically very time consuming, making them impractical for many applications.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Simplified powertrain load prediction method and system using computer based models


The present disclosure relates to polymer composites that include a thermoplastic polymer, network structure and a soft, ferromagnetic particulate material. The polymer composites may be used, for example, as magnetic flux field directional materials. The present invention also relates to methods of making the polymer composites, e.g. polymer composite sheets, of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a polymer composite including a thermoplastic polymer, network structure; and a soft, ferromagnetic particulate material distributed within the thermoplastic polymer, network structure. The weight fraction of soft, ferromagnetic particulate material may be between 0.80 and 0.98, based on the total weight of the polymer composite and/or the thermoplastic polymer may have a number average molecular weight between 5×104 g/mol to 5×107 g/mol.

Various composites useful for altering magnetic fields have been disclosed in the art. Such composites are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,827,445; 5,828,940 and 9,105,382 B2, and U.S. Pat. Publ. Nos. 2005/0012652 A1 and 2006/0099454 A1. Additionally, various methods for forming porous polymer materials have been disclosed in the art. Such composites are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,262 and 6,524,742 B1.

Thermoplastic polymer composite containing soft, ferromagnetic particulate material and methods of making thereof


Suspension hardware for interior doors, such as closet or wardrobe doors and the like, incorporating overhead and floor mounted hardware assemblies, each incorporating a pair of angularly intersecting track means; the track means of cooperating assemblies being aligned in superposed registry in operation. One track means of each assembly parallels the wall in which the door opening is formed while the other track means is in intersecting relation thereto. Door brackets are affixed to the inner face of the door, adjacent its upper and lower edges, and guide members are mounted thereon for sliding movement along associated track means. Each guide member is pivotally joined to the door (via the associated door bracket) for pivotal movement about a vertical axis so that the door is movable simultaneously along the intersecting paths of the track means to produce arcuate swinging door action.

Closets or wardrobes are usually closed by a door, such as the time honored hinged door, mounted to swing outwardly from one side of the door opening. In other instances by-passing sliding doors are employed, in which one or more panels hang from overhead parallel tracks and move laterally across the door opening. In still other instances, bi-fold doors, having a plurality of hingedly interjoined narrow door panels, mounted to fold about vertical hinge axes while moving laterally along an overhead guide track are used.
By-passing doors have the advantage of being simple and relatively trouble free. However, they have the distinct disadvantage of permitting only a portion or part of the door opening to be exposed at one time. For example, with a two-panel, by-passing door installation, only one-half of the wardrobe opening is available at any one time.
Recently bi-fold doors have become popular replacements for by-passing doors, principally because they permit a greater portion of the closet or wardrobe opening to be available when in open position. However, because a by-folding door installation requires generally twice as many panels as a comparable by-passing door installation, they are more expensive. Also due to the combined sliding support and hinged interconnection of the door panels, their suspension hardware is susceptible to greater wear and maladjustment, making it more difficult to maintain a trouble free installation.
In an effort to overcome the shortcomings of the bi-folding and by-passing door installations as currently used for closet or wardrobe closures, the present invention provides a unique suspension hardware system which permits substantially full opening access to the closet interior, while using a minimum number of door panels and simplified hardware. Thus this invention incorporates advantages of a by-fold door installation while avoiding certain disadvantages of by-passing door installations.
The current invention is directed primarily toward improvements in suspension systems for use with interior doors and more particulary to improved hardware for accomplishing a combination of pivotal and sliding movements for such doors.
In brief, this invention is directed to an improved suspension system and hardware for wardrobe, closet or other interior doors, embodying intersectingly related linear guide tracks mountable adjacent the upper and lower edges of the doors and means for suspending the door from the over disposed tracks while guiding the same in the lower disposed tracks. Doors equipped according to this invention are movable simultaneously along two linear intersecting axes to effectuate a combination of pivotal and sliding door action along a resultant generally arcuate movement path. As a consequence such doors are movable between positions generally parallel to the plane of the closet opening to positions substantially at right angles to such plane. Because of the unique arrangement and construction of the hardware and suspension system of this invention, mounting the hardware directly to the underlying floor and the overdisposed header of the door frame, eliminates the need for trim jamb members. When the door is in open position, it has a foreshortened extension or projection into the room, and intrudes only a short distance into the closet space, without interfering with shelving or wall surfaces of the closet. When the door is closed across the opening, little or no gap appears between the edges of the door and the door opening. Further, since each door is independently mounted, a plurality of individual panels may be installed across a closet or wardrobe opening to accommodate extra wide closets. The hardware also is readily adapted for both left and right hand door opening movements and since the inside faces of the door panels are fully exposed to the operator in the open position of the doors, such surfaces are readily available to support accessory items, such as mirrors, shoe racks and the like without interfering with the door's operation. In addition, the suspension system is fully stable so that a door, so equipped, remains stable at a desired position along its movement path.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved suspension system for interior doors, such as wardrobe or closet doors.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved door suspension system, as aforesaid, which provides a combination of pivotal and sliding movements for a door whereby the same is movable from a "closed" position paralleling the plane of the door opening to an "open" position transverse thereto.
A still further object of this invention is to provide improved suspension hardware for interior door panels which is of simplified construction and exhibits improved economies of production, ease of installation and dependability in operation.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved suspension system for multiple wardrobe doors and the like which affords substantially full access to the wardrobe or closet interior.
Still an additional object of this invention is to provide suspension hardware for use with wardrobe doors and the like which provides substantially full access to the wardrobe opening and permits closure of such opening with one or more doors or panels.
Having thus described this invention, the above and further objects features and advantages thereof will appear to those familiar with the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and representing the best mode presently contemplated to enable those of skill in the art to practice the same.


A mechanical coupling group of two devices, includes coupling body having a hollow cylindrical central portion and a first flange destined to couple with a first device, and a second flange destined to couple with a second device, threaded means being provided with a broadened head for fixing each of the two flanges to the respective device, in which the second flange comprises at least three first equidistant recesses located on a circumference thereof, and having a larger diameter than a diameter of the broadened head, a cylindrical tract branching from each recess having a diameter that is identical to a diameter of the circumference on which the threaded means lie, less one half of the diameter thereof, and a second recess facing towards the first recess and having a smaller diameter than the broadened head of the threaded means.

The kinematic coupling of two devices of the above type is generally realised by using an intermediate coupling body between the two devices, in which the ends of the drive shaft and the driven shaft are positioned.
The end of the drive shaft is generally provided with grooved means, able to insert in complementary grooved means in the hollow end of the driven shaft.
In the present description the grooved means comprise both the usual axial grooves and the complementary grooves destined to accommodate a key.
The coupling body is first fixed to one of the two devices, generally the one provided with the driven shaft.
In the case of the motor-pump coupling, it is the pump that is provided with the driven shaft.
The coupling of this type of device, in particular the pump with the respective actuating motor, is done in the prior art with the aid of a coupling body which enables stably coupling the actuating drive shaft of the pump with the shaft of the motor.
The coupling body, which also functions as a spacer, is a hollow body provided at ends thereof with two flanges, of which one is destined to fix the hollow body to the pump body, and the other is destined to fix the hollow body to the motor body.
The coupling body is first fixed to the pump body, and then the pump body together with the coupling body is fixed to the motor body.
The flange destined to couple with the surface of the motor body, from which the drive shaft exits, has at least three holes for receiving fixing bolts, destined to be place in correspondence with a same number of threaded holes present in the motor body.
Suitable bolts are inserted in the holes of the flange and screwed into the corresponding holes of the motor body.
The bolt must be locked with an appropriate torque so as to guarantee the stability of the coupling.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,606 discloses a mechanical coupling group respectively provided with a drive shaft and a driven shaft, constituted by a coupling body having a hollow cylindrical central portion able to contain coupled ends of the two shafts, and two end flanges of which a first flange destined to couple with the body of the device provided with the driven shaft (13), and a second flange destined to couple with the body of the device provided with the drive shaft, threaded means being provided with a broadened head for fixing each of the two flanges to the body of the respective device.
The known constructions are not without drawbacks.
It is necessary to realise the precise positioning of the coupling body, already fixed to the pump, on the surface of the motor; substantially it is necessary to place the holes of the flange of the coupling body exactly corresponding to the threaded holes present in the motor body.
This is generally obtained by the use of assembly templates.
Once the positioning has been done, the bolts have to be introduced into the holes of the flange of the coupling body and then the bolts are completely screwed and locked in the holes of the motor body.
The operation is laborious as once the bolts are inserted in the holes of the motor body, the complete screwing and blocking thereof is not possible using normal screwing means, due to dimension-related questions.
This implies a considerable amount of time and labour for the operator.
The aim of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the known constructions.


A terminal, including a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the processor. The program includes instructions to generate encrypted capability information of the terminal, receive pre-association index information that is related to the terminal and that is sent by an access point, where the pre-association index information is used by the access point to identify the terminal when no association has been established between the terminal and the access point, send the encrypted capability information of the terminal and an association request message to the access point, where the association request message comprises the pre-association index information, and receive an association response message that is sent by the access point according to capability information of the terminal and the pre-association index information, so that the terminal establishes an association with the access point.

As a short-range wireless local area network communications technology, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) technology is widely used because of its advantages such as a free spectrum and a high transmission rate. At present, WiFi access points (AP) are disposed in many public places such as airports, restaurants, and conference rooms. A user can connect a terminal with a WiFi network interface to an AP for low-cost or free network access.
Before sending an association request message to the AP, the terminal sends a probe request message to the AP. The probe request message carries device information of the terminal, for example, device capability information, supported rate information (Support rates), extended supported rate information (Extended Supported Rates), and vendor-specific information (Vendor Specific). These pieces of device information do not change in a normal case, that is, these pieces of device information that are carried in the probe request message that is sent before the terminal associates with the AP remain unchanged for a long time. Among these pieces of information, a single piece of information is not globally unique among different devices. However, a combination of one or more pieces of information in the information may become "fingerprint" information of a device. It is likely that the "fingerprint" information can uniquely identify the device to a great extent in a local area or even in an entire network. Therefore, an eavesdropper that receives the probe request message over an air interface and analyzes the "fingerprint" information message carried in the message is able to track the device and obtain privacy information of the user. For example, the eavesdropper obtains a frequently visited place and visiting time of the user, so as to obtain the privacy information, such as a life habit and a social relationship, of the user by analyzing a great amount of data.

Association establishment method in wireless local area network, terminal, and access point


A position sensor (25) includes both a position potentiometer (90) and a turns count potentiometer (92). The position potentiometer (90) includes a pair of wipers (12 and 14) positioned on a rotor (10) which each contact both a resistive track (46) and one of two different commutator tracks (48 and 50) on element (26). The sensed percentage of total voltage output, which is a function of the position the wiper (12 or 14) contacts the resistive track (46), corresponds to the angular position between 0.degree. and 360.degree. of the shaft on which the position sensor (25) is mounted. The turns count potentiometer (92) comprises a turns count rotor (66) which is incrementally advanced via a cog (18) on rotor (10) using a gear or geneva type mechanism. The turns count rotor (66) includes a wiper (64) which either contacts both a resistive track (150) and commutator track (152) or contacts one of a plurality of switch pads (154). By determining the sensed voltage output from the turns count potentiometer (92) or identifying which switch pad (154) the wiper (64) has contacted, the number and direction of full revolutions of rotor (10) can be determined. The precise angle of the shaft on which the position sensor (25) is mounted is determined by adding the resulting angles obtained from the position potentiometer (90) and turns count potentiometer (92).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to position sensors used for sensing the absolute position of a steering wheel or other like device which normally undergoes more than a single revolution during normal use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many applications which require monitoring the angular rotation of a shaft. For example, in the automotive environment the position or rate of change of the steering wheel is used to activate safety devices such as lighting directed into a turning lane, cancel turn signals upon completion of a turn, and provide an input for rear wheel steering in some of today's modern cars. A single turn potentiometer alone is, of course, unsuitable for monitoring the angular position of a steering wheel since a single turn potentiometer can only be used to sense the relative position of a shaft for only one revolution, and the steering wheel of most automobiles must be rotated more than one and typically more than two complete revolutions to execute a hard left or right turn. Common mechanisms used today to monitor the relative position of a shaft that rotates more than one revolution include various pulse counting circuitry arrangements and using multi-turn or gear driven potentiometer devices.
In the pulse counting circuitry schemes, incremental pulses generated by optical or magnetic pulse sensing circuitry are counted and are used to calculate relative position. These systems assume an initial starting or home position upon energizing. After activating the sensors, any movement of the rotary shaft under test is then translated as a position relative to the assumed starting point. A disadvantage of the pulse counting circuitry schemes is that the index or home position is redefined each time the sensor is re-activated after power has been removed from the system. If the sensors do not have a memory feature which stores the last known position or the position is changed during the power off mode, the home location established on re-activation will be in error. In more advanced pulse counting systems, error correction is often provided via a mathematical time based algorithm that averages the implied position readings from the sensor to statistically impute the normal index position. However, this type of correction method may not be satisfactory due to the time period required for the system to gain enough readings in order to redefine the index position. In addition, circumstances could prevail that the algorithm cannot address correctly.
Multi-turn or gear driven potentiometers have not proven to be satisfactory since, in order to mechanically perform their function, the devices tend to become bulky or unreliable due to their added complexity. Accuracy and resolution in the gear driven device is sacrificed because it must mechanically resolve multiple turns in less than one full potentiometer revolution.


Leased lines are provisioned over an internet protocol communications network by providing bandwidth tallies at each node and link in the network. Traffic to be sent over the leased line is labelled as high priority at the entry point to the leased line. Differentiated services mechanisms are set up at each node in the route to allow high priority traffic on the leased line to be processed before other traffic. A customer requests a leased line between two points and with a specified bandwidth and quality of service. Bandwidth tallies are checked along the chosen path to ensure that the requested bandwidth is available. As well as this checks are made to ensure that no more than a threshold level of high priority traffic will be present at any one node or link. Once the network is configured such that sufficient bandwidth is available and high priority traffic levels will not exceed the threshold level, the leased line is available for use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of provisioning a route in a connectionless communications network such that a guaranteed quality of service is provided. The invention is particularly related to, but in no way limited to, a method of provisioning a leased line in an internet protocol communications network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A leased line is a route in a communications network between two points which are usually access points to the communications network or alternatively terminals or any other network nodes. The line is provided for use by a customer under a contract such as a service level agreement (SLA) under which the network operator agrees to provide use of the line with a guaranteed quality of service and bandwidth. A customer such as a company or enterprise may have two sites and wish to communicate between these two sites quickly and with a guaranteed quality of service. In this case, the customer can arrange with a network provider to have a leased line between those two sites. Such leased lines have been provided using switched or provisioned connections across connection oriented networks such as TDM (time division multiplex), ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) and Frame Relay networks. These types of communications networks are suitable for providing leased lines because it is relatively easy to set up a specific route across the network which has a guaranteed bandwidth and quality of service. In contrast, internet protocol communications networks are inherently connectionless and it is not straight forward to provide guaranteed quality of service and bandwidth over a specific route as is required for a leased line. For example, a packet routed over an internet protocol communications network is not routed over a pre-specified path but rather its actual path over the network will vary depending on particular network conditions at the time. However, with the advent of internet protocol communications networks such as the internet it is required to provide leased lines over internet protocol communications networks.
The IETF has defined mechanisms such as Differentiated Services (DiffServ) in order to address the challenge of connectionless internet protocol networks. However, Differentiated Services alone do not allow a specified quality of service to be guaranteed.
Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) is currently being developed by the IETF in order to allow traffic routes in internet protocol communications networks to be pre-specified such that traffic may be routed over or "pinned to" specified paths. However, MPLS does not fully address the problem of providing guaranteed quality of service using an internet protocol communications network. In the same way, tag switching, which has been implemented to "pin" traffic routes, does not fully allow guaranteed levels of quality of service to be provided.
Service providers such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other communications service providers are faced with increasing management problems as use of their services becomes more popular. Service level agreements (SLAs) are typically drawn up between a customer such as an enterprise, and a service provider and these SLAs set out the definitions of the service that the provider agrees to give. SLAs are traditionally paper contracts which list conditions such as quality of service levels and time periods over which services are to be provided, as well as detailing penalties which apply in the event that the agreed service levels are not met. These conditions are typically complex and detailed. Such SLAs arise in many situations, for example, between an access network provider and a service provider, between a service provider and a network provider and between two service providers. Also, a given service provider will have many SLAs for different customers and indeed may have many SLAs for each customer. The SLAs contain valuable information which is essential to the service provider or network operator for good network management and service management. However, obtaining this information quickly in a useable form is a difficult task.
Service providers also seek to provide differentiated services such as premium rate services and best effort services. In order to do this the service provider typically defines specifications for particular classes of service. By providing different classes of service a provider is able to promote greater use of its services whilst at the same time providing more choice for customers. However, once different classes of service are created, the management task for the service provider is increased in complexity.
Many service providers currently capture their SLAs and class of service specifications in documents created using standard word processing tools. However, this approach does not facilitate quick retrieval of information from the SLA and class of service documents in useable forms.
Two products, CrossKeys Resolve Si (trade mark) network performance and monitoring software and Hewlett-Packard's Firehunter (trade mark) network service performance monitoring software have sought to capture SLA related information but are limited in several respects as described below.
CrossKeys Resolve Si (trade mark) software seeks to help service providers to manage service performance. Network information is correlated with customer information and quality of service objectives. The software aims to help service providers to ensure that they are delivering high value services that match the needs of customers. Data is retrieved from each end point and link that together make up a delivered service, allowing reports to be generated that illustrate performance issues. In this way the Resolve software helps service providers to compare the service they are providing against those specified in service level agreements. A server is provided which maintains a service level management object model and client workstations run programs termed "Resolve reporter" and "Resolve Configuration" (trade marks). The Reporter software generates pre-configured reports for customers or for the service provider which present information about how the service performance compares with the conditions set out in service level agreements. The reports are distributed by email, by file, on screen or in print. The Resolve Configurator software is a tool for system administrators to control customer, service and contract data. Using this software system administrators are able to create SLAs.
CrossKeys Resolve Si software focuses specifically on fault and performance monitoring. For example, service providers can set up early warnings of SLA violations by using multiple thresholds for Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. If a service is deteriorating, Resolve warns the service provider of impending problems before they impact. Hewlett-Packard's Firehunter (trade mark) software product also provides some capability to capture SLA related information. Firehunter is designed to monitor and report on the delivered quality of Internet services and provides alarms to warn of potential service level agreement violations before they occur. Firehunter software also generates reports that illustrate performance issues for customers.
Both the CrossKeys Resolve software and Hewlett-Packard Firehunter software products are limited in that they do not have the capability to reason over the information presented to them, not meaningfully relate the service requirements from SLAs to the underlying service configuration.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a method of provisioning a route in a connectionless communications network such that a guaranteed quality of service is provided which overcomes or at least mitigates one or more of the problems noted above.
Another object of the present invention to provide a method of managing service information which overcomes or at least mitigates one or more of the problems noted above.

Method of provisioning a route in a connectionless communications network such that a guaranteed quality of service is provided


An exercising device for developing primarily the muscles of the neck. The device comprises a pivoted weight support having a cushioned lower surface which is raised and lowered by motions of the user's head. The device may be supported in mounting brackets affixed to the legs of an exercising bench. The exercising device has a generally J-shaped frame having a generally upstanding lower portion and a generally arched upper portion which has a free end. A stop device is carried by the frame at the free end of the upper portion for engaging and supporting a laterally extending portion of the weight support when the latter is in its lowest rest position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercising devices for developing and conditioning various parts of the body and, more particularly, for developing neck muscles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many exercising devices have been developed for improving muscular strength and endurance of various parts of the body. Those that have been developed for exercising the muscles of the neck typically incorporate cumbersome and uncomfortable head-engaging harnesses to which a force resister, such as a weight, is applied. Many of these are portions of complex and costly "universal" exercising machines which are not suitable for home use.

Laterally pivoted weight training device


A target is irradiated in a time-shared manner with a visible-light-range illumination light source and an infrared laser beam for Raman scattering, and a target image is formed with an image-capturing lens on a CIGS image sensor provided with a visible-light-range filter, a narrow-band infrared filter for Raman-scattered light measurement, and a near-band reference narrow-band infrared filter that does not let Raman-scattered light pass through. In a preliminary measurement, a plurality of normal sections are measured and averaged, and by using the same as a reference, an actual measurement of Raman scattering is performed. In displaying a visible-light image with the CIGS image sensor, superimposed display is performed to specify sections where Raman scattering is detected, and superimposed display positions are corrected in association with focusing and zooming. The displaying of the visible-light image is continued even during the detection of Raman scattering.

Various proposals have been made as to diagnostic systems and diagnostic devices. For instance, Japanese translation Publication of PCT International application No. 2003-507088 (Patent Document 1) proposes an evaluation method in cancer diagnosis, in which an tissue to be measured is irradiated with a laser beam from a light source, Raman-scattered light is separated from Rayleigh scattered light by spectrum separation, and a substantial difference between intensity of Raman-scattered light from a biological tissue that may be a malignant tumor and intensity of Raman-scattered light from a neighboring normal biological tissue is evaluated as presence or risk of illness. In addition, JP-A-2002-5835 (Patent Document 2) proposes a method of discernment between a normal tissue and a cancer tissue using Raman spectrum, in which pulse-like near infrared light having a wavelength of 1064 nm from a Nd:YAG laser light source 10 is used as excitation light for irradiating a specimen, and Raman-scattered light split by a spectrometer and detected by a photodetector 31 is counted by a coincidence counting circuit, based on an excitation light detection signal from a photo diode 16 for detecting the excitation light, in synchronization with the excitation light, and hence intensity of background light in the Raman spectrum is reduced.

Cancer diagnostic device, diagnostic system, and diagnostic device


A method for printing media includes accumulating post processing instructions for printed media during printing operations, recording the post processing instructions on an information device, and playing back the post processing instructions for controlling offline post processing of the printed media.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to image production and, more particularly, to a system and method for processing printed media.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
In high speed continuous feed printing, one or more printing engines may be coupled directly to a number of post processors to perform operations after printing. These types of systems may be referred to as online post processing systems. In some cases, the actual post processing throughput may be limited by the printing operations throughput. In others, the post processing operations themselves may limit throughput because they may not be capable of processing printed media as fast as produced by the printing engines.
For high volume printing production, it may be cost efficient to de-couple printing operations from post processing operations. For example, printed media comprising individual pages or groups of pages referred to as jobs may be formed into a roll and transported to a separate station or area for post processing operations. At the post processing station each job is identified in order to perform operations such as cutting, slitting, stacking, folding, inserting into envelopes, weighing and stamping. This type of operation may be referred to as offline post processing. Offline post processing may allow for load balancing among a number of printing operations and among a number of post processing operations.
The actual post processing operations to be performed may be printed directly onto the printed media, for example, in the margin as a bar code, or other small marks on the media, that are read by the various off line post processing equipment as the media passes through the equipment. The operations may be in the form of information, commands, or messages, generally referred to as instructions. Some exemplary instructions may include:                The page has been printed and must be processed; or the page has been ejected and should be discarded        The page is part of a set and a given post processor action is to be performed when the set is complete. For example, "This is a mail message of three pages for John Doe, the next set is a mail message of two pages for Bill Smith; each is to be stapled, folded and inserted into different envelopes".        The page was subject to a jam and the post-processor should stop when reaching it, and call for operator attention.        The page length changes hereafter and the post-processor should (for example) adjust a cutting distance.        The pages are provided solely for post-processor alignment and adjustment. They require: stop; call for operator attention and action, and they should be discarded afterwards.        Where the post-processor is a folding machine used to fold booklets that are trimmed and sewn, commands may include the description of the folding pattern (the imposition pattern) and the direction of the page.
Other instructions may include a paper advance clock or a page break signal.
It would be advantageous to provide post processing instructions without marking the media.

Offline markless post processing of printed media


A miniature thermoelectric module for generating electric power from low power heat sources in the range of a fraction of a Watt to a few Watts. The module comprises an array of thermoelectric elements, each element having a cross section of less than 0.001 square inch and a length of at least 0.25 inch. The elements are separated from each other with a polyimide insulator sheet in a checkerboard array. In a preferred embodiment, the modules are fabricated by hot pressing a stack of alternating plates of p and n doped thin plates all separated by thin sheets of a polyimide insulator material to produce a pressed stack of p and n doped layers. The stack is then sliced to produce layered plates which are then stacked with insulating polyimide layers positioned between the layered plates to produce the checkerboard array of p and n thermoelectric elements. Contacts are applied to electrically connect all of the elements. In a preferred embodiment, the contacts are applied by first sputtering a thin layer of gold, then welding gold tabs, and then blasting away the excess sputtered gold. In one preferred embodiment, the contacts connect all of the elements in series. In another preferred embodiment, the elements are connected in a series-parallel circuit. In a preferred embodiment, the module is utilized in a generation unit with a 1-Watt radioactive heat source to produce about 40 mW of electric power at 5.5 Volts which is converted to 12 Volts with a DC to DC converter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to thermoelectric devices and in particular to very small thermoelectric generator devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The generation of electricity by the application of heat at the junction of two dissimilar materials has been known for 178 years. Thermoelectric modules fabricated from simiconductor materials can convert heat into electricity with efficiencies of up to six percent. Despite efficiencies much lower than some other electric generators, these devices can have many practical applications. Waste heat is generally free; so low efficiencies may not be important. In many remote locations thermoelectric devices may be the most economical means of generating electricity even if a source of heat must be provided. Thermoelectric devices can be made very reliable and very small. Many space vehicles have their instruments powered by thermoelectric devices, which typically use heat produced by radioactive sources such as Pu-238 sources. Small prototype thermoelectric devices using radioactive sources have been produced for the purpose of being implanted in people for providing power for pacemakers. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,780,425 and 3,781,176. This device was proposed as a thermoelectric battery for a cardiac pacemaker. These patents proposed a method of manufacture that proposed the use of epoxy impregnated paper insulators between thermoelectric elements and the use of a photo-resist method of applying contacts.
The United States acting through NASA and JPL are seeking to develop a small power source for a Mars vehicle. The plan is to utilize an existing off-the-shelf radioactive heat unit (called the 1-Watt RHU) which was developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N. Mex. The 1-Watt RHU produces 1 Watt of thermal power and is used in space to heat instruments so that they will not freeze. The radioactive element in the 1-Watt RHU is Pu-238, which is a very dangerous material, but many tests have proven that the containment vessel, which contains and protects the Pu-238, is so reliable that it would survive an explosion on lift-off and the maximum possible heating on reentry.
Studies have been conducted to combine existing thermoelectric modules with this heat source to produce about 40 mW of electric power at 5.5 Volts for space uses. No such module exists. In fact, one study concluded that the "prospects . . . [of satisfying these requirements] based on a 1-Watt heat source are not encouraging". (Schock and Or, Parametric Design Study of "Power Stick" and Its Derivatives, CONF 95011, American Institute of Physics, 1995)
What is needed is a miniature thermoelectric module capable of reliably producing for many years 10's of milliwatt power from a very low power heat source such as a heat source generating heat at a fraction of a Watt to a few Watts.

Miniature milliwatt electric power generator