A transistor logic tristate output device with plural phase splitter transistor means coupled in parallel configuration jointly to control sinking of current by the pulldown element with only one of the plural phase splitter transistor means coupled to control sourcing of current by the pullup element. In a preferred embodiment dual phase splitter transistors define a relatively low resistance path from high potential for controlling the pulldown element and a relatively high resistance path from high potential through the enable gate restricting power consumption in the high impedance third state.

In conventional transistor-transistor logic (TTL) and diode-transistor logic (DTL), logical values corresponding to binary "1" and "0" are ordinarily represented by a high level voltage V.sub.oH, for example greater than 2.5 volts and a low level voltage V.sub.oL, for example less than 0.8 volts. In positive logic, the high level binary "1" is derived from a voltage source V.sub.cc which sources current to the output when a binary "1" is to be delivered by the logic gate. When a binary "0" is required at the output, the logic gate "sinks" the current from the output load to a low level so that the low level voltage V.sub.oL, appears at the output of the logic gate. Thus, the typical TTL logic gate functions by "sourcing" and "sinking" current at the output according to whether a binary "1" (high level voltage) or a binary "0" (low level voltage) is the desired outcome of previously executed logical operations. In negative logic the representation of binary 1 and 0 by high and low level voltage is reversed.
A conventional TTL tristate output device is illustrated in FIG. 1. Several elements or stages can be identified in such a TTL output gate. The "pullup" 11 for sourcing current from the higher level voltage V.sub.cc corresponding to binary 1 consists of transistors Q3 and Q4 forming a Darlington transistor that can supply current between the high level voltage source V.sub.cc and the output V.sub.out. The "pulldown" element or stage 12 for sinking current and voltage from the output to ground consists of transistor Q2 with conventional squaring network transistor Q5 at its base. The phase splitter element or stage 13 consists of transistor Q1 which receives the data signal input to the gate in the form of a high or low level voltage at V.sub.in and controls the pullup and pulldown elements for either sourcing or sinking current at the output 14 as determined by the data signal input to the gate.
When a low level voltage input appears at the input 15, a low voltage also appears at the base of phase splitter transistor Q1 and this transistor no longer conducts current through its collector to emitter thereby turning off transistor Q2. The output V.sub.out of the gate is therefore isolated from ground. Because Q1 is non-conducting, the high level voltage V.sub.cc appears at the base of sourcing transistor Q3 permitting the transistor Q3 to conduct to the base of Q4 which in turn becomes conducting and "sources" current from V.sub.cc to the output V.sub.out. The TTL logic gate is therefore inherently inverting as a binary 0 at the input V.sub.in represented by voltage level V.sub.oL generates a binary 1 at the output represented by voltage level V.sub.oH.
When a binary 1 appears at the input current from R8 supplies base drive to transistor Q1, Q1 becomes conducting, sinking current from the base of Q3 and therefore turning off the Darlington transistor current source represented by transistors Q3 and Q4. Current from high level voltage V.sub.cc is therefore no longer sourced to the output 14. At the same time, pulldown transistor Q2 becomes conducting through its collector to emitter to ground as a result of the current supplied to its base and begins to discharge whatever load may be coupled to the output 14 of the gate. One factor determining how transistor Q2 discharges the load, drawing the output V.sub.out to the low level voltage V.sub.o, is the base current delivered to Q2. During transition from high to low level voltage at the output 14, the pulldown element 12 must sink current not only from whatever load capacitance may be coupled at the output but also from resistive loads of the other logic devices it is connected to. Since the emitter current of phase splitter transistor Q1 determines the base current of pulldown element transistor Q2, the collector resistor R.sub.c, of the phase splitter Q1 is selected to the relatively small to permit a large current to drive pulldown transistor Q2 to greater conduction.
As shown in FIG. 1, some of the transistor and diode components are typically Schottky diodes and transistors indicated by the opposite square hooks in the schematic symbols. The Schottky clamping effected by an internal modification in these devices produces quicker turn-off during switching. A transistor logic output gate of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 while affording acceptable speed in switching and current sinking capability by selection of a low collector resistance R.sub.c, suffers the disadvantage of high power consumption in the high impedance third state as will become apparent.
The element added to the output gate of FIG. 1 to create the high impedance third state at V.sub.out and generally provide a tristate output device instead of a bistate output device is the enable gate 18 represented in part by transistor Q6 which, when conducting, provides a route to ground from the base of pullup transistor 11 for high level voltage source V.sub.cc through one way diode D3. The base of phase splitter transistor Q1 and therefore any data input signal also finds a path to ground through the collector to emitter of enable gate transistor Q6 and one way diode D4. Ordinarily transistor Q6 is non-conducting so that the aforesaid routes to ground are blocked. In this condition, the output gate functions as a bistate output device in the manner already described, sinking or sourcing current at the output 14 according to whether the pulldown or pullup element is conducting.
In order to establish a high impedance third state at V.sub.out, the enable gate 18 is activated by a signal at the base of transistor Q6 so that it becomes conducting through its collector to emitter to ground. In this state, the enable gate effectively sinks all current to the elements of the output gate including the pullup, and phase splitter stages (and therefore indirectly the pulldown element) by providing a direct route to ground through R.sub.c for the high level voltage V.sub.cc. With all of the elements deprived of base current, the output effectively becomes a high impedance to any exterior circuitry. In this condition, the tristate output device will neither source nor sink current at the output 14 and will behave effectively as if nothing were there. Such a tristate device is therefore particularly applicable and suitable for applications in which a plurality of output gates are tied together or coupled to a common bus structure. In such common bus applications only one output, that is only one of the gates coupled to the bus structure determines the voltage (high or low) of the bus while the other outputs for the remaining gates are in the high impedance third state.
As further illustrated, the conventional enable gate 18 incorporated into the TTL output device of FIG. 1 is itself a bistate TTL gate where transistor Q6 forms the pulldown element 20 coupled with squaring circuit 21 at its base. The other elements include the Darlington transistor pullup element 22, phase splitter 23 and enable control signal input 24.
The power consumption characteristics of the output gate as illustrated in FIG. 1 are, however, sacrificed by adding the enable gate to achieve the tristate TTL output illustrated in FIG. 1. To explain this compromise more fully, reference is made to collector resistance R.sub.c of phase splitter transistor Q1 whose resistance must be low enough to assure that the Q1 emitter current to the base of Q2 is large enough to allow Q2 to sink the required load current. The problem arises in attempting to combine both the enable gate 18 which makes possible the high impedance third state and the low resistance R.sub.c which determines the current through the phase splitter 13 to the base of the pulldown transistor Q2. When the enable gate is activated and transistor Q6 conducting to ground, resistance R.sub.c affords a relatively low impedance route directly from the high level voltage source V.sub.cc through the enable gate to ground. The high impedance third state is therefore the condition for maximum power dissipation in phase splitter collector resistor R.sub.c. In this condition the device is in the high impedance state performing no logical operation and consuming maximum power.
The foregoing account represents the closest prior art and state of the art pertinent to the present invention known to the inventor. In terms of published documentation, a recent representative presentation exemplifying this prior art and state of the art in DTL and TTL bistate and tristate output technology is found in MILITARY SPECIFICATION MICROCIRCUITS, DIGITAL, LOW POWER SCHOTTKY, TTL, DATA SELECTORS/MULTIPLEXERS, MONOLITHIC SILICON MIL-M-38510/309A (USAF), Jan. 4, 1978, superceding MIL-M-38510/309 (USAF), Feb. 28, 1977, Rome Air Development Center, Department of the Air Force, (RADC) (RBRD), Griffiss AFB, N.Y. 13341. Particularly pertinent to tristate output devices in this milspec are examples of commercial type microcircuits under designation numbers 54LS251 through 54LS258 corresponding to device types 05 through 08 and generally 54LS microcircuits illustrated at pages 44 through 71. Additional documentation of the prior art and state of the art known to the inventor and here presented can be found in current catalogs and data books of the commercial semiconductor microcircuit and integrated circuit manufacturers such as the LOW POWER SCHOTTKY DATA BOOK of the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, 464 Ellis Street, Mountain View, Calif. 94942, Copyright 1977. Pertinent portions for tristate output devices include the chapter "Circuit Characteristics" pp. 2-3 through 2-7 and applications to buffers, bus drivers and tristate outputs in the 54LS and 74LS series of 200 and greater beginning at page 5-187.

Transistor logic tristate output with reduced power dissipation


A robot programming device capable of easily checking interference between a robot and peripheral equipment, by which the interference can be easily avoided automatically or manually. The programming device has: a simulation executing part which executes a simulation of motions of peripheral equipment and a robot hand based on a control signal; a signal setting part which sets the control signal for executing the simulation, with respect to a teaching point or a trajectory between the teaching points included in a predetermined robot operation program or a program template, the control signal being set as attribute data of each teaching point or each trajectory; a moving part which moves the robot to the teaching point or the trajectory; and a display setting part which determines as to whether the workpiece is displayed or hidden, with respect to the teaching point or the trajectory to which the robot is moved.

1. Field of the Invention
The preset invention relates to a robot programming device for carrying out a simulation of a robot, and for generating or correcting an operation program of the robot offline.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a system including a robot and peripheral equipment such as a machine tool, a cooperative operation is often carried out, in which a workpiece held by the robot is moved and positioned in the machine tool, and the workpiece is processed by the machine tool. Such a system can be controlled by a given motion program, whereas it is necessary to appropriately modify the motion program when the type of the robot, the machine tool or the workpiece is changed.
As a related art document, JP 3905075 B discloses an operation program generating device, in which an operation program is divided into a first program required to be modified depending on a workpiece and a second program which does not depend on the type of the workpiece, and the operation program corresponding to a new workpiece can be generated by modifying the first program only.
Further, JP 5058063 B discloses a development support device for a control system, configured to combine program units (or program blocks) for executing respective operations so as to generate a control program for the control system which carries out a plurality of operations.
On the other hand, it is a well-known technique that offline simulation is executed based on a generated motion program, in order to evaluate effectiveness, etc., of the motion program. For example, JP 2013-099815 A discloses a robot programming device configured to display three-dimensional models of a robot, a workpiece and peripheral equipment. When interference may occur between each teaching point of a motion program, the robot programming device can automatically correct the position of the teaching point so as to prevent the interference.
Further, JP 2014-144523 A discloses a motion program generating device, in which an execution switch is positioned and displayed with respect to each of a plurality of blocks or operation units of a motion program, and each block can be executed by operating the execution switch so as to check the motion.
When the peripheral equipment is shifted or the robot hand or the workpiece is moved when the robot is operated, an interference area between the robot and the peripheral equipment is changed. When it is necessary to correct or generate a teaching point in the offline robot program, it is also necessary to correct the teaching point by moving the robot after the peripheral equipment is shifted, and such correction is burdensome.
Also, when a system layout (such as the size and/or the position of the peripheral equipment) is changed, the interference area is changed. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out interference check with respect to each teaching point, and manually operate the robot so as to correct the teaching point or add another teaching point. Further, when the interference may occur on a path between the teaching points, it is necessary to manually operate the robot so as to correct the teaching point or add another teaching point.


An assembly for sealing clearance space around a shaft between the shaft and a surrounding member comprising a housing mounted adjacent the clearance space in fixed position relative to the shaft, the latter extending through the housing. A relatively rigid sealing ring is mounted in the housing around the shaft and is secured in fixed position relative to the housing. An annular recess opens radially inwardly around the shaft at the side of the ring toward the clearance space. Passaging in the ring communicates with this recess. The housing has an inlet for delivery of gas under pressure via the passaging in the ring to the recess, the gas flowing along the shaft and into the clearance space for inhibiting escape through the clearance space of material tending to move therethrough in a direction opposite to the gas flow.

This invention relates generally to means for sealing clearance space between a rotary shaft and a member surrounding the shaft, and more particularly to a sealing assembly of the "air-purge" type, that is, the type utilizing the flow of a gas under pressure to effect the sealing action.
This invention is especially directed to a sealing assembly for sealing the clearance space between the drive shaft of a mixer, for example, and the surrounding wall through which the shaft extends so as to prevent escape through the clearance space of material being mixed by the mixer. Sealing of this clearance space presents a particularly difficult problem when the material being mixed is relatively fine-grain and fluent, such as a powdered sugar mix or a cake frosting mix. Seals heretofore used to prevent escape of this material from the mixer have been largely ineffective, primarily because the powdery material has tended to work its way into the sealing area where it quickly abrades the sealing elements with consequent loss of effective sealing action. As a result, it has been necessary either to replace the sealing elements at frequent intervals at high cost, or suffer escape of material from the mixer.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,199, 4,021,050 and 4,153,259 for sealing devices of the air-purge type.


A transceiver for a phased array antenna comprises a laser light source arranged to provide an optical spectrum comprising a plurality of spaced wavelengths. The transceiver further comprises a dispersion unit arranged to introduce a delay to a plurality of spectral components of the optical spectrum associated with the spaced wavelengths. The delay is dependent on the wavelength of the spectral components of the optical spectrum. The transceiver further comprises a first optical filter configured to select a plurality of spectral components received from the dispersion unit. The transceiver further comprises a first heterodyning device configured to generate a signal for transmission by the phased array antenna by heterodyning the selected spectral components associated with different ones of the spaced wavelengths of the laser light source. The transceiver is configured to receive signals from the phased array antenna. The transceiver further comprises a modulator configured to modulate spaced wavelengths from the said laser light source with the received signals. The spaced wavelengths are associated with the spectral components used to generate the signal for transmission. The transceiver further comprises a second heterodyning device configured to heterodyne spectral components associated with different ones of the spaced wavelengths of the laser light source.

Currently, the spectrum allocated for mobile communications corresponds to the Ultra-High Frequencies (UHF) band, laying in the 300 MHz-3 GHz frequency range. This spectrum may in the future not be able to host all the traffic generated inside the mobile networks. Spectrum in the millimeter-wave band (MMB), a portion of the radiofrequency (RF) spectrum ranging from 3 GHz to 300 GHz, is at present underutilized.
The generation of ultra-stable RF signals from UHF to MMB is made possible by resorting to photonic technologies, as described in Seeds, A. J. et al., "Microwave Photonics", JLT, vol. 24, Issue 12, p. 4628-4641, December 2006. The use of MMB may involve implementing a beamforming by means of arrayed antennas, so that the range covered by the system is maximized in the desired direction.
Phased array antennas (PAAs) allow steering of transmitted Radio Frequency (RF) beam without physically moving the antenna. Phased array antennas are used in an increasing number of applications such as multifunctional radars and communications.
It is known for PAAs to use electronic phase shifters at each antenna element to control the viewing angle of the array. For broadband signals, this approach suffers from the squint phenomenon, which causes different frequencies of the RF signal spectrum to aim at a different angle. As is also known, squint can be avoided if the phase shifters are substituted by true-time delays (TTDs).
A photonics approach has been proposed for realizing the TTD functionality in PAAs, utilizing the photonics capability of controllable delays with wide bandwidth, avoiding beam squint. Photonics also have with the advantages of low weight and Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) insensitivity. An optical tunable TTD has been demonstrated through optical path switching, as described in A. P. Goutzoulis, et al., Opt. Eng., v. 31, pp. 2312-2322, 1992. An optical tunable TTD with dispersive elements is described in K. Prince, et al., IEEE J. Lightwave Technol., v. 27, n. 22 (2009). Such photonics-based solutions require a generation of an RF signal, to which the TTD delay is subsequently added.


A fill note generator for use in electronic musical instruments such as electronic organs which include a keyboard having a solo portion customarily played by the right hand and an accompaniment portion customarily played by the left hand, and wherein the respective solo and accompaniment portions may be on separate manuals or on a single manual. A multiplexer scans the keys of the solo portion of the keyboard and generates a time division multiplexed solo data stream having keydown signals in discrete time slots for each actuated key of the solo portion of the keyboard. The keys of the accompaniment portion of the keyboard are interconnected so as to form twelve sets corresponding to the twelve pitches of the chromatic scale wherein the keys in each set are connected to a common output. A multistage shift register, which is synchronized with the multiplexer for the solo manual, has its load inputs connected to the outputs of the interconnected sets of accompaniment keys and produces on its output a fill note time division multiplexed data stream comprising keydown signals in time slots corresponding to the keydown signals loaded into its inputs from the outputs of the sets of accompaniment keys. The inputs, which are loaded once each scan of the solo portion of the keyboard, are recirculated in the shift register so that the pattern repeats itself once each octave of the scan of the solo portion of the keyboard.

The present invention relates to electronic organs wherein the solo manual is multiplexed, and in particular to a system for generating fill notes wherein scanning or multiplexing of the accompaniment manual is not necessary.
Present-day electronic organs include keyboards which are either of the single manual variety, as in the case of spinet organs, or plural manual variety, as in the case of larger console or theater organs. In the case of a single manual organ, the keys on the right portion of the keyboard corresponding to the higher frequency notes are customarily played by the right hand of the performer, and the keys on the left portion of the keyboard corresponding to the lower frequency notes are customarily played by the left hand. In two manual organs, wherein each manual may be a full sixty-one note manual or, alternatively, two forty-four note manuals which are offset relative to each other, the upper manual is generally played by the right hand and the lower manual by the left hand. The upper manual and the right hand portion of the spinet keyboard are generally referred to as the solo manual, and the lower manual and left hand portion of the spinet keyboard are generally referred to as the accompaniment manual.
In playing such an instrument, chords are generally formed by depressing the appropriate keys on the accompaniment manual, and the melody is generally played on the solo manual. The melody may be played monophonically or polyphonically, depending on the skill of the performer. The fullness of the sound produced by playing the organ can be greatly enhanced if chords harmonically compatible with the chords played on the accompaniment manual are also played on the solo manual together with the melody note or notes. Although the full chord may not be played, it is customary to play one or two notes of the chord, known as fill notes. This technique requires a high degree of skill, however, particularly in view of the fact that the fill notes must be held as other melody notes are played.
In order to enable beginning and intermediate players to achieve the same fullness of sound achieved by more advanced players who are capable of playing the fill notes, systems have been developed for generating fill notes of this nature automatically by mechanically or electronically coupling signals resulting from playing keys on the accompaniment manual to the tone producing circuitry such that the notes will sound as if they were played on the solo manual, preferably within an octave or two of the highest note which is played on the solo manual. The following patents are exemplary of prior art systems for automatically generating fill notes in electronic organs: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,283,056; 3,745,225; 3,823,246; 3,247,310; 3,990,339; 3,929,051; and 4,112,802.
The disadvantage to the earlier fill note generation systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,283,056 and 3,823,246 is that they require cumbersome mechanical or electronic interconnection of the key switches. Although this problem was alleviated by systems such as those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,990,339 and 4,112,802, they are more suited to automatic chord systems wherein the chord information is developed by the depression of a single key in the accompaniment manual. U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,051 discloses a system which is usable in the alternative configuration, wherein the chords must be manually played on the accompaniment manual to generate the fill note information. In this system, however, the accompaniment keys, or at least interconnected groups thereof, are scanned by the drivers which also scan the keys of the solo manual. This results in a restrictive system and the interconnection circuitry is quite unwieldy.

Fill note generator for electronic organ


A disk brake includes a caliper body having a cylinder portion (25) with a cylindrical shape. The cylinder portion (25) has a bore (30) with a bottom (34) formed by integrally joining together an opening peripheral edge (98) at the bottom side of the cylinder portion (25) and a bottom cover member (92) to be fitted to the opening peripheral edge (98) through friction stir welding. The bottom cover member (92) has a disk shape and is friction-stir-welded along the outer periphery thereof. The terminating point of the friction stir welding is within the boundaries of the bottom cover member (92).

The present invention relates to disk brakes.
There has been disclosed a technique for disk brakes by which the bottom of a caliper body is formed by joining a discrete bottom cover member to the caliper body through friction stir welding (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-225057).
If the bottom of the caliper body is formed by friction stir welding as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-225057 and the terminating point of the friction stir welding is outside the boundaries of the bottom cover member, the material of the caliper body that is melted by the friction stir welding may remain as burrs on the inside of the bore of the caliper body. Such burrs are likely to have an adverse effect on the slidability of the piston.


A filling station for filling containers includes a number of container holders defining respective container positions; a number of filling assemblies, each filling assembly being associated with a container holder, where each filling assembly includes a reciprocating nozzle assembly which makes a first reciprocating movement from a retracted nozzle position in which a nozzle is retracted from the container to an inserted nozzle position in which the nozzle is inserted into the container, where the nozzle moves through an opening in a lid member of a reciprocating lid assembly to be inserted into the container for filling the container with liquid; where the reciprocating lid assembly makes a second reciprocating movement towards a filling opening of the container in the container holder and back in a direction away from the filling opening, where the reciprocating lid assembly is under pretension in the direction of the container holder.

When containers need to be filled with a liquid in an assembly line, the process needs to be effective and reliable.
Further, a nozzle with which the container is filled sometimes needs to be inserted into the container during the filling. If the container is filled with non-wovens or a similar material, the non-wovens may stick to the nozzle and be pulled out from the container once the nozzle is retracted.

Filling station for filling containers with a liquid


A dual-use side-lighting netting lamp box with a box body. The box body has a top frame structure and a bottom frame structure. The top frame structure is formed by assembling short cross rod profiles and long cross rod profiles through top netting fixing blocks; and the bottom frame structure is formed by assembling short cross rod profiles and long cross rod profiles through bottom netting fixing blocks. A table surface at the top of the lamp box adopts a detachable structure, so that the lamp box can be used as not only a lamp box table when the table surface is placed normally, but also a single lamp box when the table surface is removed. Thus, the dual-use function is realized, the functionality of the lamp box is obviously improved, and the resource utilization rate is high.

Generally, lamp boxes are formed by light sheets, and preferably by PC boards which are resistant to the highest temperature of 145° C., and the lowest temperature of −55° C. The lamp boxes are classified into ultra-thin lamp boxes, plastic-absorbing lamp boxes, rolling lamp boxes, crystal lamp boxes, fabric lamp boxes, electronic lamp boxes, EL lamp boxes, LED lamp boxes, acrylic lamp boxes, aluminum profile lamp boxes, FRP (glass fiber reinforced plastics) lamp boxes, stainless steel lamp boxes and the like according to the materials thereof.
However, the existing lamp boxes are inconvenient to use. Integrated structures of these lamp boxes directly increase the transportation cost; and the existing lamp boxes further have the problems of monotonous functions and low resource utilization rates, which need to be solved.


The present invention relates to nucleic acid sequences encoding brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as BDNF protein produced in quantity using these nucleic acid sequences, as well as fragments and derivatives thereof. In addition, the invention relates to pharmacologic compositions and therapeutic uses of BDNF, having provided, for the first time, the ability to generate sufficient quantities of substantially pure BDNF for clinical use. The invention also relates to antibodies directed toward BDNF or fragments thereof, having provided a method for generating sufficient immunogen. Further, by permitting a comparison of the nucleic acid sequences of BDNF and NGF, the present invention provides for the identification of homologous regions of nucleic acid sequence between BDNF and NGF, thereby defining a BDNF/NGF gene family; the invention provides a method for identifying an disolating additional members of this gene family.

2.1. Neuronal Cell Death and the Role of Neurotrophic Factors in the Development of the Nervous System
Throughout many parts of the vertebrate nervous system many more neurons are present during early development than are found in the adult animal. Periods of early development are characterized by waves of naturally occurring neuronal cell death (Carr and Simpson, 1978, J. Comp. Neurol., 182:727-740; Cowan et al., 1984, Science 225:1258-1265). The survival, differentiation and maturation of developing neurons may be regulated by environmental or `epigenetic` factors rather than by a strict intrinsic genetic program. For example, experimental manipulations of the chick embryo have shown that transplantation or extirpation of peripheral "target fields", such as a limb bud or the eye, at early stages in chick development can result in a corresponding increase or decrease, respectively, in the number of sensory, sympathetic, parasympathetic or motorneurons adjacent to the enlarged or depleted target field (Hamburger, 1934, J. Exp. Zool. 68:449; Hollyday and Hamburger, 1976, J. Comp. Neurol., 170:311-321; Landmesser and Pilar, 1976, J. Cell. Biol., 68:357-374). A target field may only support a limited number of neurons, and a normal part of the developmental process may be the pruning of an excess number of neurons to match the "neurotrophic" capacity of the target tissue. The discovery and isolation of the protein now called nerve growth factor (NGF) has led to a molecular hypothesis of how a target may be able to regulate the number of neurons which survive and innervate that tissue (Levi-Montalcini et al., 1968, Physiol Rev., 48:524-569; Thoenen and Barde, 1980, Physiol Rev. 60:1284-1335).
It is now well established, at least in the peripheral nervous system, that neuronal target tissues synthesize and release limited quantities of various neurotrophic molecules which are critical to the survival of specific types of neurons (Korsching and Thoenen, 1983, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80:3513-3516; Heumann et al., 1984, EMBO J. 3:3183-3189; Shelton and Reichardt, 1984, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci U.S.A. 81:7051-7955; Korsching and Thoenen, 1985, Neurosci. Lett. 54:201-205).


For fulling, the mineral fiber sheets (11) are moved in the direction of the arrow by means of two endless studded belts, only the lower one (15) of which is visible in the drawing. By means of the first fulling tool (29), pre-fulling to a depth of about 8 cm is effected. With the second fulling tool (30), fulling to a depth of about 11 cm is effected. During the fulling process, the region of the mineral fiber sheet (11) not belonging to the fulling zone is supported on the bottom and top, so that a change in the fibrous structure of the material takes place only in the peripheral region that subsequently forms a compressible zone (23). The fulling is done from the side, or in other words in the same direction as the later compression upon installation of the mineral fiber sheet between two rafters. To prevent sagging of the mineral fiber sheet (11) during the fulling process, guides, only the lower guide (27) of which is visible, are disposed in the region of the fulling zone above and below the mineral fiber sheet. Each fulling tool (29, 30) comprises a plunger (32) with a cylindrically curved surface (31), over which an endless belt (37) is guided. The belt travels at practically twice the speed of the mineral fiber sheet (11). During the passage of the mineral fiber sheet (11), the plunger (32), driven by the crank drive mechanism (43), executes a number of pivoting motions about the pivot shaft (41).

It is conventional in the art to produce mineral fiber sheets and batts by gluing together a stack of mineral fibers into a sheet by using binders, such as phenolic resin. A mineral fiber sheet produced by such a technique is relatively stiff. If it is to be fitted in between rafters spaced apart by variable distances, this cannot be done by simply compressing the sheets, at least not if the differences in spacing, as is usually the case, amount to more than 1 to 2 cm. In that case, the mineral fiber sheets must be cut to size, accordingly, which requires a considerable expenditure of time and labor and wastes material. Another disadvantage that a relatively large amount of mineral dust is produced when the mineral fiber sheets are cut to size. It has therefore already been proposed, in German Patent Document A 32 03 622, Conrad et al, to work the peripheral regions of the mineral fiber sheet or batt in such a way that the fibrous composite structure is at least partly disintegrated. This is intended to create a compressible zone that makes it possible to fit the mineral fiber sheet between rafters even when the rafters are spaced apart from one another by up to about 5 cm less than the width of the mineral fiber sheet. For working the peripheral region, the use of pressure rollers located in pairs at an acute angle to the center plane of the mineral fiber sheet or batt, so that they enclose the peripheral region between them, is proposed. However, the method has not proved successful and therefore never gained commercial acceptance. One disadvantage of the method is that it does not enable uniform separation of the fibrous composite structure. In the manufacture of a mineral fiber sheet or batt, certain nonuniformities must always be expected, which then become problematic during fulling. In the resultant product, the fulled zone is variably compressible. Such variations in compressibility can be a considerable hindrance to installing the sheet or batt, or can even make it impossible. Insulating sheets prepared in the manner described have a tendency to buckle laterally outward in the deformed region and then to fall out between the rafters again during or after installation.
The Conrad et al German Patent Document A 32 03 622 also proposes, in passing, replacing the pressure rollers with one or more press plates, which are connected to a drive mechanism to generate a reciprocating motion or a pivoting motion. If the fulling is done with a press plate acting laterally upon the mineral fiber batt, then the mineral fiber batt is compressed over its entire width. This has the disadvantage that the fibrous composite structure is loosened over the entire width. This loosening is relatively slight, so that a strong force is necessary to install the plate between the rafters. On the other hand, the loosening of the fibrous composite structure over its entire width also has the effect that upon being installed, the mineral fiber sheet has a tendency to sag. It is accordingly unsurprising that the known method has not found any practical application.

Method and apparatus for producing a compressible zone in at least one peripheral region of a mineral fiber sheet or batt for insulation against heat, sound and/or fire, and mineral fiber sheets produced by the method


A method for delivering a drug into tissue includes the steps of: providing a drug delivery device having at least one nozzle and a drug contained in a portion of the device; identifying a site for delivery of the drug in or on tissue; placing a portion of the device on or near the site; and delivering the drug into the tissue at the site through at least one nozzle of the device under microjet propulsion.

The present invention relates, in general, to drug delivery and, in particular, to a new and useful device and method for the needle-free delivery of drugs with minimal trauma to tissue and that are suitable for delivering drugs in sensitive areas of the body such as the eye, nasal passageways, mouth and other areas of the body.
Despite the continual advances in medical technology, particularly in the treatment of various diseases such as heart disease, vascular disease, ophthalmic disease, cancer, pain, allergies, orthopedic repair and many other diseases and conditions, there are a significant number of patients for whom conventional surgical and interventional therapies are not feasible or are insufficient to treat the disease or condition. For many patients, medical treatment with drugs and the like is the only feasible treatment available.
There have been many recent advances in drug therapies, particularly with regard to cell or site-specific therapeutics also known as "local" drug delivery. Unlike the systemic administration of therapeutics, typically taken orally or given intravenously, much of the effectiveness of local drug delivery or cell or site-specific therapeutics is based on the ability to accurately and precisely deliver the therapeutics to the targeted site within the body.
Needle injection devices are the most commonly used means for the local delivery or site-specific administration of agents or solutions. Although there have been advances in needle-based drug delivery/injection systems, these systems have significant shortcomings and disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that the use of a needle or other penetrating means to inject the targeted tissue area unavoidably involves making a hole into the target site thereby causing trauma and tissue injury at the local tissue site.
Another disadvantage with this needle penetrating and injection approach is that it is very common for a substantial amount of the injectate to leak back out or exude from the hole created by the needle or penetrating member. Often, this leaked injectate is released systemically throughout the body or is wasted depriving the patient of the prescribed therapy or dosing amounts of the drug. This also results in increased treatment costs and requires more injections, time and agent in order to achieve the desired affect.
Furthermore, it is known that needle injections or penetration into the tissue can traumatize or destroy tissue cells and, as a result, increase a patient's risk of post-operative trauma, pain and discomfort at the local site and surrounding area. This is particularly due to the difficulty in precisely controlling the penetration of the needle during injection. The more injections or penetrations, the greater the cell destruction and tissue trauma that is likely experienced. Still another disadvantage of needle-based injections, especially where multiple injections are required, is the inability to carefully track the location of each injection site so as to prevent the accidental delivery of drug to non-diseased tissue or repeat delivery of the drug to the same injection hole.
Other known drug delivery devices and methods do not involve needle-based drug delivery. Instead, devices such as indwelling catheters are used for releasing the therapeutic agent in a steady, controlled-release fashion. These types of devices could present a greater risk of releasing the agent systemically. Additionally, with these types of devices, it is more difficult to assess the actual dosing of the target area that takes place. Thus, these types of devices have the disadvantages of being less effective, possibly not as safe, and definitely more costly than the commonly known needle injection approaches and technology.
Another condition in which site-specific or local drug delivery is commonly employed is in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease (such as deep vein thrombosis and embolisms). One such treatment is venous lytic therapy, the dissolving of blood clots (thrombus) in the peripheral vasculature (e.g., femoral and iliac arteries and veins). Lytic therapy involves systemically infusing thrombolytics, such as urokinase, streptokinase, reteplase and tPA. Other more recently developed procedures involve directly delivering the thrombolytics into the thrombus site through the use of indwelling infusion catheters. In order to effectively lyse the thrombus, the thrombolytics are typically infused for many hours, even as much as a day or more, increasing the necessary length of hospital stay and the overall cost of the procedure.
One common approach for eliminating a needle in local drug delivery is to use conventional needle-free jet injectors. Needle-free jet injection technology was introduced nearly 40 years ago for use in mass immunization campaigns. Today, more than fifteen companies develop and manufacture jet injectors for the intradermal and transdermal (subcutaneous and intramuscular) delivery of drugs. And while these modern designs offer tremendous improvements in size, cost and convenience over their predecessors, the fundamental functionality has remained unchanged. Principally, compressed gas is used to drive a medicament (either liquid or dry powder) through a single orifice at moderately high speed, allowing the medicament to be deposited in or beneath the skin by piercing through it. One example of a known needle-free jet injector is disclosed in WO 00/35520 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,455 B1 (Willis et al.—assigned to BioValve Technologies, Inc.).
Further, needle-free jet injection has long been touted as a painless procedure, but clinical studies comparing jet injecting devices to a conventional needle and syringe have shown pain scores to be equivalent to that of a 25 ga. needle. In great part, this is due to the size of the injection stream and, thus, the size of the nozzle orifice. Existing devices all use a nozzle orifice of about 0.006″ to 0.008″ in diameter. These conventional needle-free jet injectors are known to incorporate only a single injection chamber and inject the entire drug content through a single plastic nozzle having a typical orifice diameter of 0.006″-0.008″ or 150-200 microns (0.15 mm-0.2 mm). These jet injectors typically deliver volumes ranging from 0.100 cc (100 micro liters) to 0.500 cc (500 micro liters), and even as much as 1 cc (1,000 micro liters). There are several significant limitations with current jet injection technology. First, injection times associated with these conventional needle-free jet injectors are typically several seconds in length, which puts the patient at risk of laceration if they should move (e.g., flinch) or if the injector should be jarred from the injection site during an injection. Second, the perceived pain is equivalent to a conventional needle and syringe. This has perhaps been the greatest single reason why jet injection has not been more widely accepted. Third, jet injectors are prone to deliver so-called "wet injections" where medicine leaks back out through the site of injection, a result that has given rise to concerns about accuracy of the delivered dose.
The first two items, pain and wet injections, are the result of the nozzle orifice size (approximately 0.006″ in current jet injectors). This size resulted more from the practical limitations of plastic injection molding for high volume commercial manufacturing than from any effort at optimizing the size for user comfort and minimization or elimination of any "leaking" of the injected medicament. This trade-off of sub-optimal performance for manufacturability has resulted in a marginalized product that has not enjoyed the market acceptance it otherwise might have.
One particular type of conventional needle free jet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,716,190 B1 (Glines et al.) which teaches a device and methods for the delivery and injection of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to a target site within a body. This device and method uses a complex system comprising a nozzle assembly having an ampule body and channels milled or machined within the distal surface of the ampule body. These channels operate as a manifold and are arranged orthogonal to a reservoir orifice. The reservoir orifice ejects or expels the contents contained within the ampule body to the orthogonally arranged channels which channel the contents to a plurality of dispersion orifices orthogonally arranged to the channels. The dispersion orifices are orthogonal to the channels and located within the generally planar distal target-facing surface. Not only is this particular arrangement complex, but it requires high delivery pressures for the contents in the ampule in a range from about 1800 to 5000 psi, with some applications in a range from about 1800 to 2300 psi. Additionally, the dispersion orifices have a diameter of from about 0.1 mm to about 0.3 mm (100 to 300 microns). Even though such a device does not use a needle, the negative outcome involved with using such a device and arrangement is that it is likely to cause excessive trauma to the tissue at the delivery site as well as cause unwanted and unnecessary pain and/or discomfort to the end user or patient due to the required high delivery pressures as well as the relatively large size of the dispersion orifices. Accordingly, the Glines et al. device and method are not suitable for microjet delivery of drugs especially in sensitive areas of the body such as the eye, nasal passageways and mouth or other sensitive areas of the body especially those areas that are easily prone to trauma, pain and discomfort.
Accordingly, there are a number of sensitive areas in the body and disease states that are extremely difficult to treat using local drug delivery. For example, there are a myriad of ophthalmic diseases that are difficult to treat and delivery of the drug to the site of disease, i.e. the eye, is often painful or psychologically uncomfortable for the patient. Relevant examples of these diseases that are extremely difficult to treat include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, choroidal neovascularization (CNV), macular edema, uveitis, and the like.
For these types of disease, systemic administration of drug commonly yields subtherapeutic drug concentrations in the eye and may have significant adverse effects. Consequently, current treatment for diseases of the eye often involves direct injection of the medicament into the eye via a conventional needle and syringe—a painful and undesirable means of delivery for the patient. Further, chronic treatment requires repeated injections that can result in plaque formations and scarring in the eye, retinal detachment, and endophthalmitis.
As a result of these complications, alternative means of drug delivery to the eye are being developed. Research areas for delivery include iontophoresis, drug-eluding ocular implants, photodynamic therapy, "sticky" eye drops, and the like. And, it is well established that each of these approaches has its own limitations.
For instance, iontophoresis has a practical limit to the size of the drug molecule being delivered. It could not, for instance, be expected to deliver molecules with a molecular weight above 20,000 Daltons. Yet, many new compounds, especially some promising proteins, are well above this size, ranging to as large as 150,000 Daltons.
Additionally, ocular implants require a surgical procedure for implantation and explantation—procedures that are costly, painful, and can result in scarring to the eye. Implants have the further limitation of physical size and the amount of drug that can be loaded or put on board the implant.
It is also known that photodynamic therapy is an unproven technology whose long-term effects are not understood and may well be harmful to the retina. Alternatively, eye drops have long been considered the most convenient (and therefore perceived to be more acceptable) means of delivery of drugs to the eye. Eye drops, however, are very quickly washed out of the eye and afford only minimal delivery of the contained drug.
As a result, "sticky" eye drops, that is eye drops which provide mucosal adhesion, have been developed to prevent the "wash-out" effect. But, the rapidity of the cellular turnover at the surface of the eye is believed to be limiting in the effectiveness of this means of delivery. Further, the mechanism of delivery from eye drops is passive diffusion across the sclera. And, passive diffusion cannot deliver drugs with a molecular weight greater than about 500 Daltons. Still further, the delivery is systemic rather than targeted to the eye itself.
Consequently, there are currently no truly acceptable means of delivering active therapeutic agents to the eye and other sensitive areas of the body, especially the emerging macromolecules that are showing promise in the treatment of a variety of ophthalmic diseases and diseases associated with these other sensitive areas of the body.
To date, there have been no known devices or methods that provide for true needle-free delivery of drugs regardless of size of the drug molecules involved as well as provide for true needle-free delivery of drugs with minimal trauma to tissue and that are suitable for delivering drugs in sensitive areas of the body such as the eye, nasal passageways or mouth.
To date, there have also been no known devices that provide for the true needle-free delivery of drugs wherein the devices are microjet delivery devices that are simple and efficient in design and construction, low cost and easy to manufacture.

Method for delivering drugs to tissue under microjet propulsion


A spark gap device is disclosed that is particularly suited for a rapid restrike or starting circuit which is employed in sport stadium lighting applications to start or restrike metal halide lamps that have been subjected to a momentary loss of power. The spark gap device comprises two electrodes that are arranged in a parallel side-by-side relationship and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined amount. The spark gap device operates that when a high voltage potential is applied across the electrodes, the generated and reoccuring spark is distributed along the parallel arranged electrodes. The parallel arrangement of electrodes provides for improved life and cooler electrode temperatures as compared to prior art spark gap devices in which the generated and reoccuring spark jumps between the end regions of separated electrodes.

This invention relates to rapid restrike circuits for metal halide lamps, and more particularly, to a spark gap device for rapid restrike circuits having an improved electrode arrangement that increases its reliability and operational life.
Standard metal halide lamps having an arc tube disposed therein and containing constituents, typically require a relatively long duration such as 10 to 15 minutes, in which the power may be reapplied to the arc tube to initiate or restrike its arc condition following any power interruption to the lamp which cause the extinction of the arc condition of such a previously operated lamp. Such metal halide lamps suffer a disadvantage in certain lighting systems such as those employed in sports stadiums. For example, if the lighting system of the sports stadium experiences a power outage, it is desired that the initiation or restrike of the arc tube be attempted within a few seconds, rather than 10 to 15 minutes, so that the sporting activity being performed can be resumed within a relatively short time and observed by those people at the stadium and also by those people that may be viewing the event on television.
Metal halide lamps that allow for this restrike condition require a starting or ignition signal of a relatively high voltage and at a relatively high current level from external circuitry in order to initiate a desired ionization condition for the constituents within the arc tube. A related metal halide lamp and associated external circuit are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,097 which is herein incorporated by reference. To accommodate the starting or restrike conditions needed for the related metal halide lamps, the external circuitry commonly employs a spark gap device such as a commonly known spark plug having relatively high voltage and current carrying capabilities. The spark plug has electrodes in which the ends are separated from each other by a predetermined gap to allow a spark to be conducted therebetween during its conductive state. Over a period of operational time of the spark plug, the ends of the electrodes erode, the separation gap becomes larger and the voltage potential necessary to be applied across the electrodes to render the spark plug conductive all increase at a significant rate until the spark plug is rendered inoperative which, in turn, renders the rapid restrike circuit inoperative.
In order to avoid this inoperative state of the rapid restrike circuit, a planned preventive maintenance plan is commonly implemented in which the spark plug is replaced on a periodic basis. It is desired that a more reliable spark gap device having an increased operational life be provided so as to correspondingly increase the reliability of the rapid restrike circuit.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable spark gap device so that the reliability of the rapid restrike circuit used for metal halide lamps may be correspondingly improved.

Spark gap device particularly suited for a rapid restrike circuit for metal halide lamps


A water-repellent emulsion composition containing, as essential components, colloidal silica particles which are surface-treated with a silylating agent; a nonpolar organic solvent; a cationic surfactant; one or both of a fluorine-containing surfactant and a silicone-containing surfactant; and water, and being excellent in dispersion stability, water repellency and barrier properties against water absorption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water-repellent emulsion composition and a process for the production thereof. In particular, it relates to a water-repellent emulsion composition suitable as an aqueous-dispersion water repellent and a process for the production thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art
The deterioration of concrete structures has been one of the social issues of concern in recent years, and due to this, there have been developed a variety of water repellents to prevent the infiltration of external water, which is a main cause of the deterioration of concrete. These presently developed water repellents include solvent-base water repellents and aqueous-dispersion water repellents. The solvent-base water repellents involve problems in that they are liable to ignite and that they have high toxicity and really have a detrimental influence on a working environment and natural environment There is therefore an increasing demand for aqueous-dispersion water repellents having low flammability and low toxicity.
The aqueous-dispersion water repellent having the above advantages refers to a water-repellent emulsion prepared by dispersing a water-repellent substance in an aqueous dispersant For example there is known a water-repellent emulsion obtained by emulsifying alkylalkoxysilane as a water-repellent substance in water in the presence of a nonionic emulsifier as a dispersant (JP-A-62-197369).
Further, there are also disclosed an aqueous emulsion of an organic polysiloxane oil (U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,282) and a water-base dispersion of a silicon resin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,758).
Since, however, alkylalkoxysilane is highly hydrolyzable and requires a large amount of an emulsifier to be stable in water, there is a problem in that the water repellency decreases due to a large amount of the emulsifier which are incorporated to obtain an aqueous-dispersion water repellent having high dispersion stability.
Further, there is another problem in that the above aqueous emulsion of an organic polysiloxane oil and the above water-base dispersion of a silicon resin are still poor in water repellency and barrier properties against water absorption.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an aqueous-dispersion water-repellent emulsion composition having high dispersion stability and having improved water repellency and improved barrier properties against water absorption, and a process for the production thereof.

Water-repellent emulsion composition and process for the production thereof


A method and caching server for enabling caching of a portion of a media file in a User Equipment (UE) in a mobile telecommunications network. The caching server selects the media file and determines a size of the portion to be cached in the UE. The size may be determined depending on radio network conditions for the UE and/or characteristics of the media file. The caching server sends an instruction to the UE to cache the determined size of the portion of the media file in the UE.

The evolution of terminals such as tablets, computers, smart phones, game consoles, personal digital assistants, and the like resulted in the possibility to consume video or audio content.
Progressive download is a way to download desired content from a server to a client. The client may be implemented in a mobile terminal, hereinafter referred to as a User Equipment (UE). Using progressive download, a client application running on the UE can start playback of the desired content before the entire content is downloaded. When the download starts, the client application stores the beginning of the desired content, such as a media file, in a playout buffer. This phase is called initial buffering. A media file refers to any audio or video file.
When the playout buffer contains a certain amount of the desired content, e.g. the first few seconds, the client application can start playback, while at the same time it continues to download the remaining of the desired content into the playout buffer. If the download speed is high enough, the download is "ahead" of the playback, and hence the user experiences a continuous media experience.
However, the need for initial buffering results in a waiting time when the user starts to view the desired content. The waiting time impacts the user's perceived service quality.
Caching media is a well-known technique for improving access times and optimizing bandwidth usage in telecommunication or enterprise networks. A cache uses a block of memory, or disk space, or other storage device to temporarily store a copy of some content that is likely to be needed in the future. A way to improve caching efficiency is to use prefetching. Prefetching is a technique that downloads content to a cache in e.g. a UE in advance of it being accessed. See, as an example, the published patent application WO 2011/075019 A1, which concerns prefetching of content and discusses a way to predict what content a user will be interested in, and then prefetch it to his/her UE. The prediction is based on user preferences, history etc.
The article "Workload generation for YouTube", by Abdolreza Abhari and Mojgan Soraya, discusses partial caching of YouTube video files as a way to improve cache performance and video playback time. A five second beginning part, required for buffering purposes, for each video is cached in a proxy cache. The work presented by the article is related to a simulation scenario where the authors have developed a YouTube synthetic workload generator for evaluating the performance of caching or peer-to-peer (P2P) content delivery architectures for YouTube. The article also refers to related work wherein peers in a P2P system, based on social network, are re-distributing the videos that they have cached. A prefetching strategy is used to prefetch a five second beginning part of the next video in the related social network in each peer in order to decrease the start up delay of P2P overlay.
A drawback with prefetching of content is that it consumes a large amount of resources, since the caching is performed before the content is actually accessed. Additionally, if the caching is based on a prediction of which content will need to be accessed, significant capacity is wasted, unless the prediction is very accurate, and the hit rate is very high. This is especially the case when prefetching content to a UE connected to a wireless access network, such as a radio access network in a mobile telecommunications network. To prefetch a beginning part of content, as described in the above cited article, is a step in the direction of improving the technique of prefetching. There is however still a need for solutions that further improves the techniques of caching content to a UE, especially when the UE is connected to a wireless access network, and the caching is performed in advance of the content being accessed.


A method and apparatus is provided for removing electrostatically bonded powder coating material from a non-recessed region of a surface of a workpiece without removing powder coating material from a recessed region of the surface of the workpiece. The present invention employs a powder coating removal apparatus for removing the powder coating material from the non-recessed region. The powder coating removal apparatus comprises a rotatable drum including a hollow cylindrical portion having a plurality of openings therein. A plurality of elastic bands are connected to opposite end portions of the drum and serve to frictionally engage and agitate the powder coating material on the non-recessed region of the surface, thereby overcoming the electrostatic bond between the non-recessed region and the powder coating material thereon. A vacuum hose is placed adjacent to one, open end portion of the drum and serves to create a vacuum in the hollow cylindrical portion of the drum to remove the agitate powder coating material from the non-recessed region of the surface of the workpiece.

The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for removing electrostatically bonded powder coating material from a non-recessed region of a surface of a workpiece without removing powder coating material from a recessed region of the surface of the workpiece.
It has heretofore not been possible to take a workpiece having powder coating material electrostatically bonded to both recessed and non-recessed regions thereof and to remove in an efficient and practical manner the powder coating material on the non-recessed region without also removing the powder coating material from the recessed region. Consequently, it has not been possible to employ in an efficient and practical manner a powder coating process to coat both a non-recessed region of a workpiece with coating material of a first color and to subsequently coat a recessed region of the workpiece with coating material of a second color.
An example of a process employed in the prior art to coat a workpiece having non-recessed and recessed regions comprises applying a first layer of powder coating material of a first color over the entire outer surface of the workpiece and thereafter curing the coating material in an oven. A section of the outer surface of the workpiece, including the recessed region, is then masked off from the remainder of the outer surface, and liquid paint of a second color is sprayed thereon. Next, the recessed region of the workpiece is masked off from the non-recess region, and liquid paint of a third color is sprayed onto the recessed region. Clear powder coating material is thereafter applied over the entire outer surface of the workpiece and cured in an oven. The clear coating serves to give the outer surface durability. This is important since liquid paint coatings lack durability and are easily chipped and scratched.
This prior art process has been found to be disadvantageous because it employs liquid paints which include volatile solvents that evaporate into the atmosphere and, thus, risk harm to the environment. The process is furthermore disadvantageous since it requires the additional step of adding a clear coating onto the outer surface of the workpiece, thereby increasing the cost of the process.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for efficiently removing electrostatically bonded powder coating material from a non-recessed region of a surface of a workpiece without also removing powder coating material from a recessed region of the workpiece.


A new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus plant named `Whirl Wind`, characterized by its very glossy, undulate, very dark green leaves; upright, outwardly spreading, uniform, dense and symmetrical plant habit that is appropriate for container production; very freely flowering; numerous dark pink and pale pink bi-colored-flowers with dark red "eyes"; good resistance to flower bud abscission; and excellent postproduction longevity.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus rose-sinensis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Whirl Wind.
The new Hibiscus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely-branching Hibiscus cultivars with uniform and compact plant habit appropriate for container production, early and uniform flowering, numerous flowers per lateral branch, desirable flower color, resistance to flower bud abscission, and good postproduction longevity.
The new Hibiscus origninated from a cross made by the Inventor in Alva, Fla., of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar Waikiki, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,834, as the female, or seed, parent with the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar Florida Sunset, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Whirl Wind was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla., on Oct. 13, 1995.
Compared to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Waikiki, plants of the new Hibiscus have smaller flowers and flower several days earlier. In addition, plants of the new Hibiscus have bi-colored flowers, that is, dark pink petals with a pale pink picotee margin, whereas plants of the cultivar Waikiki are solid pink. Plants of new Hibiscus are much more uniform in plant habit; have darker green, thicker and more attractive leaves; produces more flowers per plant per day; and differ in flower color compared to plants of the male parent, the cultivar Florida Sunset.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hibiscus by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla., has shown that the unique features of this new Hibiscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A mounting arrangement for a transversely mounted engine-drive unit in which the engine-drive unit is connected to a vehicle sub-frame by structure preventing longitudinal movement between the unit and the sub-frame while permitting limited vertical movement therebetween with the engine-drive unit carrying the driven axle while the non-driven axle is mounted on the sub-frame and a self-supporting body is resiliently connected to the sub-frame and to the engine-drive unit. The connecting structure also permits slight pivoting movements around a transverse axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to automobile vehicles of the type which comprise a self-supporting body to which front and rear axles are elastically connected, as well as an engine-drive unit arranged transversally.
It is a particular object of the invention to render these automobile vehicles such that they respond to the various exigencies of practice better than hitherto and such that their body receives a minimum of vibration coming from mechanical parts (engine--transmission on the one hand and connection with the ground on the other hand) while ensuring good road stability with simple and uncumbersome means.
In accordance with that object, the invention relates to a mounting arrangement for a transversely mounted engine-drive unit in which the engine-drive unit is connected to a vehicle sub-frame by structure preventing longitudinal movement between the unit and the sub-frame while permitting limited vertical movement therebetween with the engine-drive unit carrying the driven axle while the non-driven axle is mounted on the sub-frame and a self-supporting body is resiliently connected to the sub-frame and to the engine-drive unit. The connecting structure also permits slight pivoting movements around a transverse axis.

Automobile vehicle with transverse engine-drive unit


A sheet-conveying drum for use between units in a printing machine is provided with a plurality of gripper bridges arranged substantially circumferentially symmetrically on the drum surface. The gripper bridges include gripper impact strips that are adjustable substantially radially relative to the drum in order to accommodate printing materials of different thickness. Each gripper impact strip is adjusted by means of a positioning device that is arranged on the drum radially inward of the gripper impact strip and mounted so that it can move axially relative to the drum and cam the gripper impact strip radially. The axial movement of each positioning device is brought about by an adjusting means which is selectively operated by a drive that is disposed in one of the drum journals. The adjusting means includes a gear coupling and a shaft associated with each positioning device which is rotatably mounted on the drum and coupled to the corresponding positioning device so that rotation of the shaft moves the positioning rod in the axial direction. Each shaft is rotated by the engagement of external toothing on the shaft with a corresponding toothed rack which is included in the gear coupling. The toothed racks are adapted so that only one engages its corresponding shaft at any given time thereby resulting in individual adjustment of the gripper impact strips.

Typically, sheet-conveying drums are located between the printing units and between the further-processing units, such as varnishing works, of a rotary printing machine. A sheet-conveying drum generally has one or more gripper bridges that are distributed evenly about the circumferential surface of the drum. These gripper bridges hold the sheets of paper to the drum enabling the drum to convey the sheets from the previous unit to the next unit downstream in the printing machine. In order to accommodate sheets of different thickness, the gripper bridges have adjustable gripper impact strips.
A sheet-conveying drum of this type is known from DE 3,428,668 C2, in which the drum has a central adjustment mechanism for adjusting the gripper pads in each of the gripper bridges to accommodate sheets of different thickness. The central adjustment mechanism is arranged on the drum body and acts on a positioning mechanism which acts on means that simultaneously adjusts all of the gripper pads. Further, the central adjustment mechanism can be driven by a motor and controlled from a control panel. However, the central adjustment mechanism is not capable of separately adjusting each individual gripper pad. An individual adjustment of each gripper impact strip can only be accomplished by releasing the retained central adjustment mechanism and manually adjusting the individual gripper impact strips. Since it is not easy to individually adjust each gripper pad, inaccuracies in sheet receiving or sheet transferring between sheet transfer cylinders cannot be effectively remedied. This could lead to slipping or tearing of the sheets which would disrupt the registry of the sheets resulting in lower quality printing. In addition, adjustment of the gripper pads is quite complicated and time consuming, requiring both a basic adjustment step and a fine adjustment step. This leads to increased production down time, since the printing press must be shut down in order to adjust the gripper pads for a new sheet thickness.
GB 2,098,966 A discloses a sheet-conveying cylinder having a mechanism for adjusting the gripper pads in a gripper bridge for sheets of different thickness. The gripper pads for the gripper bridge are mounted on a gripper pad bar which extends axially to the cylinder. The mechanism comprises an adjusting rod which is arranged radially inward of the gripper pad bar and in contacting relation therewith and a plurality of adjustment screws that threadedly extend through the adjustment bar. The contact surfaces of the adjustment bar and the gripper pad bar are complimentarily slanted in the transverse direction of the bars. Angular movement of the adjustment screws causes the adjustment bar to move thereby displacing the gripper pad bar radially inward or outward to accommodate a different sheet thickness. This type of adjustment mechanism is undesirable because a significant amount of time is required to adjust the gripper bridge for a different sheet thickness since a plurality of screws must manually adjusted.

Sheet-conveying drum for printing machines


Systems and methods are provided for managing medical adherence. An exemplary method may include managing medical adherence utilizing data aggregating and processing to determine impact on a user's health based on their behavior related to prescribed medication. The method may entail utilizing data related to a medication regimen and patient behavior to determine a patient's compliance to the regimen in terms of dosage and time. These values may be utilized to calculate a medical adherence value representing a patient's adherence to a prescribed regimen. Responsive to determining low medical adherence, a notification may be generated which may result in an intervention with the patient.

An important aspect of medical care is medication management. In fact, medication adherence, that is, a patient's utilization of the prescribed regimen of medication on time and in the correct dosage, is directly related to the success of the treatment or management of a medical condition. For example, organ transplant patients may be prescribed pills in the order of 30-50 per day that have to be consumed at specific times through the day. Inconsistency in adherence to the prescribed regimen may have serious short-term and long-term consequences, such as organ rejection or even death. Mismanagement of regimens associated with other medical conditions, such as HIV, allergies, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, may also lead to similar consequences that range from causing discomfort to being lethal.
Typically, various health service provides, provide "pill-box" type resources to monitor medication adherence. These resources are limited to providing users with reminders of the medicine they have taken or simply keeping a record of actions related to compliance with a medication regimen.
However, it can be difficult for a healthcare provider to efficiently manage a patient's medical adherence utilizing such an approach to improve a patient's health or clinical outcomes.

Systems and methods for managing regimen adherence


A hypervisor operating system instantiates a virtual video driver to a main operating system that supports only one type of graphics adapter. The virtual driver handles graphics remapping among plural different display drivers associated with plural different display monitors to enable a computer to output data on multiple different monitors even though the main O.S. supports only one type of display driver.

Often users wish to electronically link their personal computer to multiple display monitors instead of a single monitor. This allows images to be presented on either a larger display or multiple displays, and can also create the appearance of having more "desktop" room. However, representing data on multiple displays that respectively use graphics adapters made by different respective vendors may not be possible on some operating systems, such as Windows Vista (a trademark of Microsoft Corp.), that do not possess the ability to accommodate multiple different graphics adapters. Different graphics adapters vary and may use different specifications, such as different "refresh rates," which determine the number of times per second that a displayed image is regenerated.
As understood herein, when an operating system does not possess the capability to send data through multiple graphics adapters made by different vendors, either (1) an additional operating system designed to accommodate multiple displays is required or (2) a supplemental remedy installed by the personal computers vendor which allows a single vendor-modified driver to control multiple graphics adapted outputs is required.
Thus, when an operating system does not possess the capability to accommodate multiple displays, it may result in unexpected hardship for the user. Also, it may be unforeseen at the time of purchasing a personal computer that the user may later wish to employ the use of multiple displays. If not foreseen, the vendor of the personal computer may not include a supplemental remedy as stated above. Should such a circumstance occur, the user would be left without a solution for displaying data on multiple displays. The present invention provides software to be implemented in addition to a main operating system that will allow a user to display data on multiple displays using graphics adapters made by different vendors.

System and method for graphics remapping in hypervisor


A stack of polymer electrolyte fuel cells is formed from a plurality of unit cells where each unit cell includes fuel cell components defining a periphery and distributed along a common axis, where the fuel cell components include a polymer electrolyte membrane, an anode and a cathode contacting opposite sides of the membrane, and fuel and oxygen flow fields contacting the anode and the cathode, respectively, wherein the components define an annular region therethrough along the axis. A fuel distribution manifold within the annular region is connected to deliver fuel to the fuel flow field in each of the unit cells. The fuel distribution manifold is formed from a hydrophilic-like material to redistribute water produced by fuel and oxygen reacting at the cathode. In a particular embodiment, a single bolt through the annular region clamps the unit cells together. In another embodiment, separator plates between individual unit cells have an extended radial dimension to function as cooling fins for maintaining the operating temperature of the fuel cell stack.

This invention relates to polymer electrolyte fuel cells, and, more, particularly to air-breathing polymer electrolyte fuel cells. This invention was made with government support under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.
Fuel cell systems developed to date have generally been relatively high power, sophisticated and costly systems intended for space and transportation applications. These systems require a number of subsystems to serve such needs as cooling, humidification/water management, and reactant pressurization, all of which must be integrated with one another to attain optimal performance from the assembled fuel cell stack.
An emerging class of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is designed for low power applications, such as now served by conventional batteries. The PEFC has attractive features of energy density and ease of refueling that make the PEFC attractive for a number of such applications. But a relatively low-cost, unsophisticated fuel cell is needed that is not humidified, cooled, or pressurized. In a simple embodiment, air (oxygen) is supplied to a cathode by diffusion from the fuel cell periphery so that there is no requirement for forced convection through the flow-field to replenish the depleted oxygen. That is, the fuel cell stack is "air-breathing."
It will be appreciated that such simple fuel cell stacks are useful in a number of military, commercial, and consumer applications. The specific energy of the system can be tailored for a particular device with the appropriate choice and size of hydrogen storage medium. For example, some applications might desire the simplicity and relatively high energy density of pressurized hydrogen storage. On the other hand, concerns for consumer safety can be met with the use of a metal hydride container for the storage of the hydrogen fuel.
An appropriate fuel cell for these types of applications is the PEFC. When compared to other types of fuel cells such as phosphoric acid, molten carbonate, or solid oxide, the PEFC possesses substantial advantages because of its combination of low temperature operation, ability to start-up quickly, simplicity, and benign electrolyte.
Air-breathing fuel cell stacks designed to-date are smaller versions of the higher powered pressurized stacks. In most cases, the air cathodes are not manifolded, but consist of plates with large, vertically oriented grooves that allow the ambient air to flow upward through the warm stack by a chimney effect. While such cells are capable of good performance, the performance may be erratic. While the considerable amount of free convection that is incurred by the chimney effect delivers substantial amounts of oxygen, it can also remove substantial amounts of water. Hence, the cells tend to dry out unless special additional precautions are taken, e.g., a water reservoir that must be periodically replenished. The cells may also tend to overheat when run at high power and the chimney effect is disrupted if the cells are tilted, resulting in a loss of power.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is a PEFC air-breathing stack configuration is provided that is relatively independent of stack orientation.
It is another object of the present invention to minimize water loss and drying of the cell.
Yet another object of the present invention is to minimize over-heating of the cell.
One other object of the present invention is to provide a PEFC stack with a simple geometry and of minimum size and weight.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Annular feed air breathing fuel cell stack


Provided are techniques for matching names. For a first bitmap distribution, it is determined whether a first bitmap signature of a query name and a second bitmap signature of a target name have a number of character n-grams overlapping that meet or exceed a threshold to generate a first preliminary value. For a second bitmap distribution that is different from the first bitmap distribution, it is determined whether a third bitmap signature of the query name and a fourth bitmap signature of the target name have a number of character n-grams overlapping that meet or exceed a threshold to generate a second preliminary value. The first preliminary value and the second preliminary value are combined, and, if the combination results in a value of true, it is determined that the query name and the target name are to be further processed.

In an analytical name search engine, to determine whether a query name matches another name, the query name is compared to each other name from one or more data lists being searched to calculate a similarity score between each pair of names. Data list names whose similarity score is greater than a user-defined threshold are then returned to the user. Given the size of the data lists being searched, this process of comparing every name may be very slow.
A bitmap may be designed so that each bit in the bitmap represents a character n-gram. A character n-gram may be described as a group of n adjacent characters (e.g., in YOGI, GI may be a character n-gram where n=2). One way to improve speed is to use a bitmap filter in which character n-grams of n-letters turn on individual bits in the bitmap to form a bitmap signature. Names whose bitmap signatures do not overlap to the degree of the user-defined threshold are not subjected to more in-depth comparison, thereby, speeding up search.
However, the large number of potential character n-grams (e.g., using only alphabetic characters and a space results in 729 bigram combinations for n=2 and 18,954 trigram combinations for n=3) causes a one-to-one mapping of character n-grams-to-bits to be beyond the scope of current processing capabilities, which typically involve a bitmap of 64 bits. This limitation on the size of the bitmap filter forces overloading of the bits such that multiple character n-grams are assigned to the same bit.
For example, using n=2, if bigrams were assigned to 64 bits in a round-robin fashion, a bitmap may have a single bit representing the following bigrams: AA, CK, EU, HD, JN, LX, OG, QQ, VJ, XT. Any two names that share any of these bigrams would have the same bit turned on in their bitmap signatures. The unrelated names JACK and YOGI would, therefore, appear to be at least partially related, since the CK in JACK and the OG in YOGI would turn on the same bit. Sending unrelated name records through for more in-depth comparison when a similarity arises from this kind of overloading can reduce system performance. In addition, this situation may result in reduced search precision, since sending more unrelated matches through for further comparison will likely result in incorrect search returns.
In addition to allowing more unrelated names to be sent through for further analysis, the random distribution of bigrams into bitmap positions may prohibit legitimately related names from undergoing further comparison due to bitmap overloading. A bitmap distribution may be described as a table in which each column represents one or more character n-grams, and each row represents a name to be compared. The bitmap distribution is used to create bitmap signatures. Each row in the table for a name has a bitmap signature made up of bits that are set or not set according to the n-grams of that name and the shown distribution. Suppose, for example, that the bigrams NS, ON, and JO were all assigned to the same bitmap position. Also, the bigrams _J and N_ were assigned to the same bitmap position. Then, the two names JOHNSON and JONSEN have two common bits set in their bitmap signatures. These two possibly related names JOHNSON and JONSEN would not be subject to further comparison, since there are not enough bitmap positions in common.
In this example, only two bitmap positions are in common across the combined number of ten distinct bigrams contained in the two names. The fact that there are two clashes of bigrams, one of two bigrams and one of three bigrams, (i.e., multiple bigrams that are assigned to the same bitmap position) prevents there being enough bitmap positions in common to send the names through for the full similarity calculation. This situation will result in lower recall scores, since some legitimate matches will be excluded from further comparison.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Name search using multiple bitmap distributions

International Business Machines Corporation