A device yoke comprising a mounting plate having at least two openings to accommodate at least two different types of electrical devices and a device box attached to the mounting plate. The device box includes at least a side wall and a bottom wall for separating the wires to be routed into the box from the wires not routed into the box. The multi-device yoke can be combined with a multiple device cover plate to form a multiple device mounting system. The multi-device yoke and multiple device mounting system could optionally include terminal lug means attached to the mounting plate to provide a grounding lug to meet other electrical standards.

The present invention is directed toward the field of raceway or wire duct systems. In particular, a multiple device yoke is described for use in a raceway system having both high voltage power wires and low voltage communication wires. The multiple device yoke provides access to both high voltage and low voltage within a single yoke while maintaining channel separation of the high voltage and low voltage wires within the raceway system.
The need for varying types of electrical wiring in residential and commercial buildings have steadily increased. Electrical wiring is used to supply electricity to power electrical devices within a home or business and is used to carry low voltage signals that are used in providing many services such as telephone, intercom, cable television, video, music, alarm, internet access, and other computer network services. Surface raceway systems provide a convenient way to route electrical wiring both in new construction and in remodeling projects.
Access to multiple types of wiring within the raceway system is often needed at a single location. For example, a computer may require access to both power and telephone or other communication wires at a single location so that the computer can receiver power and can connect to an intranet or internet.
Presently known methods provide access to multiple types of electrical wires by using separate device yokes having a single type of electrical connector for each type of electrical wire accessed. If both low and high voltage wires need to be accessed at the same locations, at least two single device yokes are needed. For example, a single device power yoke with a power receptacle would be employed to provide access to power, a single device telephone yoke with a telephone connector would be provided to provide access to telephone services, and a single device cable television yoke with a cable television connector would be provided to provide access to cable television services. This method may be functional but suffers from many disadvantages. Space is wasted. This method is more expensive. The material cost is higher and it takes longer and is more expensive to install. Also, this method is less appealing aesthetically.
Presently known raceway systems that include both high voltage and low voltage wires in the same raceway system also use wide diameter raceways and typically divide the raceway system into separate channels of equal width. These raceway systems have channel widths that are wider than the device yokes and connectors that provide access to wires within the channel. Because power receptacles are wide, the channels containing power wires are wide. This results in lower utilization efficiency of the raceway system. Most often the high voltage channel does not have to be as wide as the power receptacle to house all of the power wires. The low voltage channel, on the other hand, generally requires more space in the raceway than the high voltage power wires. Therefore, greater utilization efficiency could be achieved if some of the space allocated to the high voltage wires could be utilized for low voltage wires. In addition, to meet Canadian standards, device yokes must also include grounding lugs which are not available in presently known raceway systems.
Therefore, there remains a need in this art for a multiple device yoke that can provide access to both high voltage power and a low voltage communication wire. There remains a more particular need in this art for a multi-device yoke that allows the end user to install low and high voltage connectors side by side using only one yoke. There remains a more particular need for a multiple device yoke that has an attached box to isolate the high voltage lines from the low voltage lines. There remains a more particular need for a multi-device yoke that has an attached box base which can be removed if not needed. There remains a further need for multiple device yoke that includes a grounding lug to provide extra safety. There remains a need for a multiple device yoke that can be used in narrow width raceway systems such as those that are around 4 inches or narrower. There remains a need for a multiple device yoke that can accommodate the apportioning of more than half of the raceway system to the low voltage communication wires while providing space for a high voltage power outlet.

Multi-device yoke for a surface raceway system


An electric circuit is provided on a semiconductor substrate with a superconducting film. The surfaces being in contact with the superconducting film are made of heat-resistant non-oxide insulating materials so that the performance of the superconducting film is not degraded.

This invention relates to an electric circuit having superconducting multilayered structure and manufacturing for same.
Conventionally, a wire rod of a Nb-Ge metallic material (for example, Nb.sub.3 Ge) and the like is used as a superconducing material. Superconducting magnets have been manufactured only with such conventional conventional type wire.
In addition, in recent years ceramic materials wich exhibits superconducting properties are known. However, these are also in ingot form and as yet there has been no development of superconducting materials in thin film form.
Methods by which thin film is produced by patterning, using photolithgrphy, and the use of this thin film as one part of the connecting wiring of a semiconductor device are also completely unknown.
On the other hand, semiconductor devices provided with a plurality of the elements containing semiconductor integrated circuits within the same substrate are known.
The development of more and more refined semiconductor integrated circuits with high speed action has in recent years become a necessity. Also, along with this refinement a drop in reliability from the heat generated in the semiconductor element and also a reduction in activation speed in the heated parts have become a problem. For this reason, it has been earnestly required to obtain improved structure which less influence the characteristics of superconducting ceramics.

Electric circuit having superconducting multilayered structure and manufacturing method for same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A CSI feedback method and device, including: acquiring a code identifier; acquiring a code parameter group corresponding to the code identifier from multiple preset code parameter groups; compressing an initial CSI according to the code parameter group to generate a compressed CSI, wherein the initial CSI is acquired by measuring a current downlink channel of a base station; and feeding back the compressed CSI to the base station, wherein the compressed CSI is used for reestablishment according to the code parameter group by the base station to obtain an initial CSI for next data sending of the base station. In the present invention, the precision of the CSI fed back by the UE may be adaptively modified according to the uplink and downlink communication conditions of the current base station, thus optimizing the data transmission capability of a system.

A multiple-input multiple-output (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, MIMO) system greatly improves a data transmission rate of a wireless communication system through configuring multiple antennas at a transmitting end and a receiving end of a base station respectively, and has been adopted by a series of wireless standards, such as a long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE), a long term evolution-advanced (Long Term Evolution-Advanced, LTE-A) and the like. The performance of the above-mentioned wireless communication system is further improved by adopting some advanced MIMO technologies.
Taking a multi-user MIMO (Multi-User MIMO, MU-MIMO) technology as an example, the base station provides services for multiple UEs by using different beams formed on an antenna array. In the above-mentioned process, the base station needs to acquire a CSI of a downlink channel between the base station and each UE, so as to adjust the beams and schedule transmitting. The above-mentioned CSI is fed back by the UE served by the base station through an uplink channel of the base station. The more precise the fed-back CSI is, and the higher the promotion of the performance of the downlink channel is, which means that more uplink overhead is needed to feed back the CSI with high precision, so the fed-back CSI needs to be compressed and coded to reduce the uplink overhead.
The CSI is transformed from a frequency domain to a time domain for compressing and coding in the prior art. However, related parameters of a coding mode of the CSI are preset. Once the parameters are set, in a relatively long communication process, even if the fed-back CSI is distorted seriously after reestablishment to cause decline of the downlink performance of the base station, the precision of the fed-back CSI is not modified anymore, so that the feedback overhead brought by the CSI is not modified any more in this communication process. Under the above-mentioned condition, when the uplink channel state of the base station is relatively good and more data may be transmitted, the precision of the CSI cannot be improved through improving the feedback overhead to improve the downlink performance of the base station; when the uplink channel state of the base station is relatively poor, maintenance of the original feedback overhead may exceed the uplink channel load of the base station, so that a large amount of error codes appear in the feedback process, and the base station can not accurately reestablish the compressed CSI, thus correspondingly causing decline of the downlink performance of the base station.

Channel state information feedback methods and devices


A method and apparatus for operating a data back end node in a data layered architecture network. A database of subscriber data is maintained at a database such that the data is organized into at least one data group. The data associated with each subscriber is associated with a data group. A virtual Home Location Register identifier is assigned to the data group. At least a part of the subscriber data and the virtual HLR identifier is sent to an HLR front end node. In the event of a reset by a Core Network node, only subscriber data associated with the identified data group will need to be rebuilt.

Current Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN) typically comprise a radio access network and a core network. The radio access network is responsible for providing wireless access to network users, whilst the core network is responsible, inter alia, for subscriber service access control and subscriber roaming. In the case of 2G or GSM network, a typical PLMN comprises circuit switched (CS) core network for handling voice calls and a packet switched (PS) core network for handling data. A 3G or UMTS network similarly comprises PS and CS core networks, whilst a 4G or LTE network comprises only an Enhanced Packet Core (EPC) core network. In addition, service networks may co-exist with the PS and CS core networks. One such service network is the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network. The IMS network may also be considered as a core network. In practical implementations, subscribers may roam between different radio access networks, and services may be switched between core networks, e.g. a voice call may be switched from a 3G radio access network and CS core network to a 4G network, with the same IMS core network remaining in control of the session.
PLMN operators are always keen to reduce network signalling load for a given subscriber volume, to increase network resilience to failure, and to reduce the complexity and number of specialist network nodes. With this in mind, the 3GPP organisation has defined a so-called Data Layered Architecture (DLA) that splits the traditional node and network architecture introduced for networks such as GSM, UMTS and EPC in two halves; an application front end (Application-FE) that provides the logic for a node, and a Data back end (Data-BE) that provides data. This is illustrated in FIG. 1. The Data-BE provides a highly available and geo-redundant solution to the Application-FEs that simplifies the design of applications. DLA also simplifies the routing in the core networks since any node can, if it is built as a stateless FE, serve any subscriber. The principles and advantages of DLA can be summarised as follows:                Simplified routing to Application FEs in Core Networks                    Any Application FE can serve any subscriber                        Data & Repository Consolidation                    Several applications use the same backend (repository consolidation)            Data de-duplication by allowing several applications to access the same data object (data consolidation)                        Scalable and Highly Available system                    Backend provides HA and Geo Redundancy                        Simple scaling of Application Front Ends        Simplified Application Design                    Provisioning into back end database            Dynamic allocation of subscribers to Application FEs            Allows for stateless Application FE design            Data Availability provided by the Backend
Consider the Home Location Register (HLR) that is implemented in 2G and 3G core networks and that acts as a central database for subscriber information. The HLR stores details of subscriptions issued by the network operator. Typically, a network will comprise a number of HLRs, each of which is assigned to a group of network subscribers. An HLR provides subscriber information to other core network nodes, such as the 2G Mobile Switching Centre (MSC). In the traditional architecture, core network applications, such as the MSC, must identify and route signalling to the correct HLR (i.e. the HLR currently serving a given subscriber). According to the DLA architecture, an HLR-FE can serve any subscriber (i.e. all network subscribers) and network routing becomes very simple: the advanced Data-BE performs routing for the applications.
Other advantages of DLA include Data and Repository Consolidation allowing databases and data-object sharing, and simplified provisioning (and removal) of subscribers within the system.
While the Data-BE is designed to provide a highly available, resilient and redundant service to the Application-FEs, extreme failure conditions may occur. A Data-BE is partitioned into groups of subscribers that are divided between the nodes that constitute the entire Data-BE. These groups are referred to herein as Data Groups (DGs). Each DG is replicated between different Data-BE nodes for redundancy. If a first Data-BE node where the master version of a particular DG resides becomes unavailable, another Data-BE nodes takes over from the first Data-BE node using a synchronized, up-to-date copy of the DG.
In some circumstance, the entire DG might become unavailable. In this case, both the master and slave versions of the DG at all Data-BE nodes holding a copy of the DG are unavailable. During recovery from these extreme circumstances, the information for the subscribers belonging to the affected DG must be recreated.
Subscriber data includes substantially static subscriber data and dynamic subscriber data. Static subscriber data includes data that is never or rarely updated, for example, contact details, address details and so on. Dynamic subscriber data includes data that is more frequently updated, such as subscriber location, communication sessions a subscriber is involved in, whether the subscriber has set a call forwarding rule and so on.
In known, monolithic HLR systems, loss of availability of subscriber data requires sending Reset messages to all Core Network nodes in order to recreate the data. This is particularly important for recreating the dynamic subscriber data. Each subscriber is assigned to an HLR, which has an identifier known as an HLR-No. A receiving Core Network node (e.g. an MSC/VLR or Serving GPRS Support Node, SGSN) identifies the affected subscriber by the HLR-No, and remove the associated records. Removal of the associated records forces a location update for each removed subscriber served by the HLR identified by HLR-No, and data that was lost is gradually built up again.
However, the above solution to loss of HLR is not practical in a DLA network. In a DLA network, all subscribers are served by one "virtual" HLR, consisting of stateless HLR-FEs, with one common HLR-No for the entire system. A Reset using HLR-No for all HLR-Fes would remove every subscriber in the entire network, which would lead to a loss of data and a very large increase in signalling to gradually build up the data once more.
The MAP specification (3GPP 29.002) allows a list of HLR-Ids to be sent from the HLR to a CN node together with the HLR-No, where the HLR-Id includes "the leading digits of IMSI" (for example MCC+MNC+MSIN). This allows a number series to be removed in a core network node. This could be modified to reset subscribers in core network nodes if each DG in a Data-BE is assigned subscribers on a per number series basis. However, this is also undesirable as the provision of subscriber data does not naturally lend itself to an ordered sequence of numbers, as this would reduce flexibility in how operators can assign subscribers to different DGs.

Operating a data back end node in a data layered architecture network


Device for the catalytic detoxification of or soot removal from exhaust gases of internal combustion engines, comprising: a housing (4) which has two partial shells (4a, 4b) welded together along longitudinal welded edge pairs (26) and two open end zones (8) connected to an exhaust gas line, as well as a flow passage for the exhaust gas between the end zones. Two exhaust gas treatment bodies (6) are provided through which gas is able to flow. The exhaust gas treatment bodies are arranged one behind the other in the flow direction and are arranged at spaced locations from one another in the housing. A protective ring (14) made of sheet metal is provided which delimits the space between the two exhaust gas treatment bodies (6) on the outside. The protective ring (14) has at least one sheet metal flap (32), which extends between a welded edge pair (26) of the housing partial shells (4a, 4b) and is welded to the housing (4) at the welded edge pair.

Such a device has been known from West German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 36,26,728 for the case of catalytic exhaust gas detoxification. The protective ring is consistently round and is held in the housing by means of a holding mat, which also holds the two exhaust gas treatment bodies in the housing. The problem arises here that the protective ring is not always (under all occurring states of operation) held securely against displacement or tilting. In addition, accurate mounting of the holding ring by placing it into a partial shell of the housing and subsequently putting in place and welding the second partial shell is associated at least with a very substantial amount of work.

Device for treating the exhaust gases of internal combustin engines with two exhaust gas treatment bodies arranged at spaced locations


An apparatus for adjusting a joint of a connecting rod is provided. The joint couples a first segment of the rod to a second segment of the rod. The apparatus includes a body and a first leg having a first distal end for engaging the first rod segment to inhibit rotational movement of the first rod segment while permitting axial movement of the first rod segment relative to the first leg. The apparatus also includes a second leg for engaging the second rod segment. The second leg has a second distal end for inhibiting rotational movement of the second rod segment relative to the second leg. The apparatus further includes a clamp for selectively inhibiting axial movement of the second rod segment relative to the second leg.

The present disclosure relates generally to rods and, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for adjusting a joint of a connecting rod.
At least some known vehicles include a plurality of wheel assemblies coupled to a suspension system. The suspension system includes at least one connecting rod (e.g., a tie rod or a toe link) that helps to maintain a desired alignment of each respective wheel assembly during operation of the vehicle.
At least some of such rods include a pair of segments that are coupled together at a joint that is selectively adjustable. For example, some of such joints are manually adjustable using a wrench. By adjusting the joint, the length of the rod, and/or the orientation of a rod segment relative to the respective wheel assembly, can be selectively changed, which in turn changes the alignment of the wheel assembly. However, manually adjusting known joints may be difficult, and may require more than one person in order to be done properly. For example, during some adjustments, a first person may be necessary to hold at least one of the rod segments, while a second person adjusts the joint to lock the rod at a desired length and to lock the rod segment(s) at a desired orientation. As can be appreciated, such adjustments can be time consuming and laborious.

Apparatus and method for adjusting a joint of a connecting rod


A VOD scheduler maintains a queue of pending performance for each video. Using the notion of queue selection factor, a batching policy is devised that schedules the video with the highest selection factor. Selection factors are obtained by applying discriminatory weighting factors to the adjusted queue lengths associated with each video where the weight decreases as the popularity of the respective video increases and the queue length is adjusted to take defection into account.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates the scheduling of performance requests in Video-On-Demand (VOD) systems.
2. Background of the Invention
In Video-on-Demand systems, popular videos (i.e. movies or other programs) are often requested by many viewers. In order to increase system throughput, some viewers requesting an identical video may be transmitted (and hence share) a single video stream. This is referred to in the art as "batching".
Depending upon the system load, a requested video may not be started immediately. While viewers will usually tolerate a small wait time, a long wait may result in the loss (or "defection") of viewers. This may be accomplished, for example, by the viewer indicating (either actively or passively) that he is no longer interested in viewing the requested video.
A conventional approach to video scheduling is the use of a first-come-first-serve (FCFS) policy. Under this policy, all video requests are placed in a single request queue. The request at the front of the queue is sewed when system capacity is available to service the request. If batching is supported, all subsequent queued requests for the same video as the serviced request are also serviced from the same signal stream.
An alternative to the above approach is to maintain a separate request queue for each video and to select the video with the longest queue for the next showing. This is referred to as the longest queue length first (LQF) policy. Still another approach is to provide periodic showing (say every 5 minutes) for the most popular videos. For requests which would not be serviced by periodic showings, another scheduling scheme such as FCFS can be used.
As mentioned above, a viewer with a waiting request may defect if the waiting time exceeds the viewer's tolerance. Viewer defection is, of course, undesirable. The choice of video scheduling policy can have a significant effect on the amount of batching and defection. The FCFS policy does not take into account the batch size. By contrast, the LQF policy ignores the wait time already incurred by the waiting requests. Periodic showing (when used alone) may not provide the flexibility needed to cope with dynamic load variations.
Recently, a new approach oil batching was proposed in Shachnai, H., and Yu, P., The Role of Wait Tolerance in Effective Batching: A Paradigm for Multimedia Scheduling Schemes, IBM Research Report RC 20038, Apr. 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference. Under this approach, the additional wait time that viewers will tolerate before defecting, in addition to a video's respective queue length, is considered in making scheduling decisions. When system capacities become available, rather than scheduling the video immediately, the scheduler delays transmission of the video until just prior to expiration of the maximum wait tolerance time of the longest waiting one of the pending transmission requests. In the interim, additional requests for transmission of the video may join the queue. In contrast with LQF, a video with the longest queue may not get scheduled if all waiting requests are fairly recent. This prevents the most popular videos from monopolizing the stream capacities. In contrast with FCFS, better batching is achieved. To effectively implement this algorithm, however, knowledge of viewer tolerance is required. This knowledge may not be readily available.

Maximum factor selection policy for batching VOD requests


A cardiac simulator including a patient warning apparatus, having an electrically conductive suture point in electrical communication with the patient warning apparatus. An electrically conductive suture passed through the suture point connects said stimulator mechanically and electrically to excitable tissue such as skeletal tissue. Inside the suture point is a connection for assuring a reliable electrical contact between the suture point and the suture. The cardiac stimulator automatically alters the peak voltage of its output stimulus whenever a condition exists requiring patient notification or warning. A specialized shunt circuit mounted within the stimulator or in the header of the stimulator re-directs electrical current from the standard stimulation electrode to the electrically conductive suture point. A controlled switch may be mounted within a hermetically sealed can of the stimulator to re-direct a stimulation pulse to the suture point. The controlled switch could also be mounted in the header. A dedicated stimulation circuit could also be used. The connection inside the suture point may comprise conductive metal fingers or bristles, a toroidal, multi-filar or woven conductor or an electrically conductive polymer.

It has long been known that the heart muscle provides its pumping function in response to electrical events which occur within the atrium and ventricle of the heart. Conductive tissue connects the atrium and the ventricle and provides a path for electrical signals between the two areas. In a normal heart, a natural atrial event spontaneously occurs in the atrium and a corresponding ventricular event occurs later in the ventricle. Synchronized electrical events occurring naturally in the atrium and ventricle cause the heart muscle to rhythmically expand and contract and thereby pump blood throughout the body.
In a diseased heart, atrial and ventricular events may not naturally occur in the required synchronized manner and the pumping action of the heart is therefore irregular and ineffective to provide the required circulation of blood. The required synchronized activity of such diseased hearts can be maintained by any implanted cardiac pacemaker which applies synchronized stimulating pulses to either the atrium or ventricle or both.
A diseased heart may also beat unusually quickly, a condition known as tachycardia, or may lapse into a rapid, disorganized quivering known as fibrillation. The former condition is undesirable; the latter condition may be fatal. To correct these conditions, implantable cardioverters and defibrillators have been proposed. Like the related cardiac pacemaker, these devices monitor the electrical condition of the heart and provide a corrective electrical therapy to correct the improper heart function. The three functions of pacing, cardioverting and defibrillating, or any of them, may be incorporated into a single device, generically, an implantable cardiac stimulator.
Cardiac stimulators are battery powered and, consequently, have a finite life before battery depletion may be expected. In addition to the battery, other components of the cardiac stimulation system may fail, such as leads, electrodes, or other system components. As an example of another type of change, the sensitivity of a patient's heart to electrical stimulation may change over time, altering the so-called threshold level for electrical stimulation. Such change of condition requires adaptation of the therapy delivered by the implantable cardiac stimulator, either automatically or by intervention by the attending physician. In any of these situations, or others, it may be deemed desirable to alert the patient to a changed condition so that action may be taken. For example, a pacemaker may detect the approaching end of life of its battery, in a known manner. It is desirable to alert the patient to this condition. Moreover, in the case of implantable defibrillators, delivery of therapy can be traumatic. It is sometimes deemed important to alert the patient to the prospect of eminent delivery of therapy.
Cardiac stimulators which alert or warn the patient of such conditions are known in the art. For example, such a device is described by Dutcher, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,131. In the device described by Dutcher, et al., a device-controlled switch is activated to enable a specialized electrode adjacent the pacemaker to stimulate the patient's muscles to twitch. The nature of the electrode is not described in detail, but Ferek-Petrick, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,272, described the electrode of Dutcher, et al., as an auxiliary electrode surrounded by the indifferent electrode and fixed on the pacemaker can. In contrast, Ferek-Petrick, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,272, describes a cardiac stimulator with patient warning with an electrode affixed to the header of the stimulator. Another electrode is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/426,949, filed Apr. 21, 1995, by some of us (Paul and Prutchi), also assigned to Intermedics, Inc.
We have found that a suture point or hole, commonly provided on a header of a stimulator, can be modified to provide an electrical connection. An electrically conductive suture can then be used to secure the stimulator and to provide a connection for stimulus of the skeletal muscles of the patient to produce an effective twitch.
It is an object of our invention, therefore, to provide a cardiac stimulator with a patient warning apparatus. It is also an object of our invention to produce an implantable cardiac stimulator with an electrically conductive suture point, electrically connected to said patient warning means. Another object of our invention is to provide an electrically conductive suture for use with the conductive suture point. It is a further object of our invention to provide an auxiliary electrode for the purpose of providing patient warning signals by stimulating excitable tissue of the patient, for example, nerve ends or skeletal muscles. Another object of our invention is to provide for an effective implantable cardiac stimulation system with a reliable patient warning apparatus.

Implantable cardiac stimulation device with warning system and conductive suture point


A modular office panel comprises a panel that has outer peripheral frame members made of formed tubes. The tubes have outer edge walls, side walls, and inner edge walls that are positioned to the interior of the frame. The inner edge walls are formed of side flanges that overlap in the center and which are welded together to enclose the tube and make it rigid. A fabric retainer channel is welded to the inner edge wall of each frame tube and has wall portions that extend outwardly from outer sides of the tube and side walls spaced from and generally parallel to the side walls of the tube. The fabric retainer channel side walls have edge portions extending inwardly back toward the tube side walls and which inwardly turned edge portions include teeth for retaining fabric in place. The fabric retainer channel has a base wall with tabs that extend inwardly from the inner wall and which are used for holding a central divider wall in place within the periphery of the panel formed by the frame members.

The present invention relates to a modular office divider panel that has a peripheral tubular frame constructed to permit fabric covering for the panel sides to be retained simply and easily. The fabric retainer provided is a separate piece welded to a structural tube of the frame, and which has inwardly directed teeth for holding a fabric stretched across the surface of the frame.
Various panel frame constructions for modular office panel systems have been advanced. The frames surround a space that is blocked with a core and covering to make a divider panel. Core constructions generally include inner dividers of hard board, with layers of insulation on the hard board and a cover of a fabric material to provide the desired aesthetic appearance to the exterior of the modular panel.
The divider panels are normally used for forming office work space, and will also be adaptable to support cabinets, worktops, and accessories. Thus, provisions have to be made for inserting hooks or hangers for such items, as well as for retaining the fabric covering stretched tightly for a good aesthetic appearance.


An intermediate transfer unit of an image forming apparatus is provided between a plurality of developer containers for containing developer and a plurality of developing devices. The intermediate transfer unit includes an intermediate transfer unit for secondarily transferring primarily transferred developed images from the plurality of image carriers onto a paper, an intermediate transfer unit driving mechanism for driving the intermediate transfer unit, and a housing for supporting the intermediate transfer unit driving mechanism. One end of the housing includes a plurality of developer inlet ports positionally corresponding to the developer supply ports of the developer containers respectively, a plurality of developer outlet ports positionally corresponding to the developer receiving ports of the developing devices respectively, and a plurality of developer supply paths connecting between the developer inlet ports and the developer outlet ports respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intermediate transfer unit for the secondary transfer onto sheet of developed images that were primarily transferred onto a plurality of image carriers, and an image forming apparatus comprising the intermediate transfer unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus having an intermediate transfer unit between a toner container for containing developer (toner) and a developing device, a toner supply pipe for supplying toner from the toner container to the developing device is provided such that the pipe detours around a housing of the intermediate transfer unit. Such an arrangement is disclosed in, for example, FIG. 7 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-139031.
FIG. 40 of this specification is a citation of FIG. 7 from the above patent document. As shown in FIG. 40, a setting space S between a toner container 32Y and a developing device 6Y is a space for setting the intermediate transfer unit (not shown). With this arrangement, a toner supply pipe 43Y for supplying toner from the toner container 32Y to the developing device 6Y is provided such that it detours and thus curves around the setting space S for the intermediate transfer unit. Since the toner supply pipe 43Y curves, a conveying member (not shown) such as a screw for conveying toner is provided inside the toner supply pipe 43Y.
However, the arrangement in the above patent document needs to provide a toner supply port of the toner container 32Y outside the developing device 6Y, which necessitates such a design that the toner container 32Y has a width larger than that of the developing device 6Y. This results in preventing size reduction of the image forming apparatus. An arrangement is also considered that the toner container 32Y is designed to have the same width as the developing device 6Y. However, the toner supply pipe 43Y must be provided such that it detours around the setting space S for the intermediate transfer unit even in such a case. Therefore, the image forming apparatus thus must be enlarged in its width direction according to that of the toner supply pipe 43Y, resulting in an image forming apparatus that cannot be made smaller. Further, when the toner supply pipe 43Y curves, there arises a necessity to provide the conveying member inside the toner supply pipe 43Y, which also limits down-sizing of the image forming apparatus since the toner supply pipe 43Y becomes larger.
In a color image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of sets of toner containers and developing devices, the task of connecting these toner containers and developing devices respectively to each other through toner supply pipes becomes necessary when manufacturing and maintaining the apparatus, which results in low productivity and inconvenient maintenance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image forming apparatus and intermediate transfer unit


A tremolo device for an electric guitar has a base mounting plate with an open center section and a spring adjusting threaded screw projecting into the open center section, a bridge plate having a flange projecting into the open center section and having a pair of hinge pin receiving apertures for receiving hinge pins with projecting beveled edges which engage a pair of hinge posts extending from the base mounting plate, and a spring interconnecting the spring adjusting threaded screw and the depending flange.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for producing a tremolo effect in a stringed musical instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tremolo devices have been used for many years with stringed musical instruments for creating a vibrato sound. Various structures have been proposed and utilized for this purpose.
Broadly a tremolo device provides a means for changing the tension on all of the strings of the instrument simultaneously to create a pitch change during vibration of the strings. Typically, such tremolo devices include a moving tail piece on the body of the stringed instrument that is utilized to accomplish this tension change. In such a device, a pivot point is established, and the tail piece pivots about that point to vary the tension in the strings. A counter spring is generally utilized to counteract the pull of the strings on the tail piece. A handle or actuating arm is generally provided for facilitating the pivoting of the tail piece, while simultaneously playing the instrument.
Heretofore tremolo devices have had a variety of troublesome problems. In particular, one of the most troublesome problems has been the establishment and maintenance of a satisfactory pivot point. Various knife edge pivot points have been proposed to minimize friction during pivoting of the tremolo device. An example of this arrangement is U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,661 to Floyd Rose. These prior arrangements usually suffer from the disadvantage that the knife edge becomes worn during use and requires extensive disassembly of the tail piece and replacement of a considerable portion of the tremolo device.
A second troublesome problem with the prior art tremolo devices has been the difficulty in assembling the components, installing the components on the guitar body and establishing the correct action of the device.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to minimize friction in a tremolo device that includes components that are easy to maintain and replace.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a tremolo device which enables a maker or user to easily and rapidly assemble and disassemble the tremolo device and mount the device on the body of a stringed instrument such as a guitar as a self-contained unit to attain the desirable tremolo action.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or will be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


A apparatus and system for filtering wastewater from a basin is disclosed, wherein the apparatus prevents backflow of waste water, provides easy access for cleaning and replacing strainers, and a viewing window. The apparatus also provides additional ports for draining the apparatus.

This invention relates generally to a wastewater plumbing system for a galley, and more particularly relates to a filtration device for wastewater from a galley's food preparation area.
Large commercial passenger-carrying vehicles, such as, aircrafts, trains, and ships, are typically equipped with food and beverage preparation areas sometimes referred to as a galley. Traditionally galleys are equipped with a catch basin to allow convenient disposal of waste fluids. Due to limited spacing, a catch basin is sometimes simply a grated hole on a countertop leading to waste plumbing. Due to the compact design of catch basins, it is important that the galley maintains a versatile plumbing system that remains clog free and prevents waste backflow from spilling up from out of the basin. To prevent clogs, galleys often use removable drain strainers that strains debris and particulates from the waste fluids.
Though prior art drain strainers are sufficient, improvements can still be made. For example, when there are clogs in the wastewater plumbing system, it is difficult to determine whether the drain strainer needs cleaning or whether the problem is somewhere else down the line. Clogs also make removing the strainer messy and unsanitary by spilling fluid that is backed up within the strainer. Additionally, when there is fluid backup or movement of the passenger-carrying vehicles, the waste fluid can sometimes overflow or surge back up the basin. This is particularly a problem when the basin has been miniaturized to essentially a grated hole on a countertop. Overflow and back surges of waste fluid may easily contaminate countertops and create an unsanitary galley. Furthermore, because of the compact nature of passenger-carrying vehicles, decreasing the footprint of galley equipment is highly desirable.
Therefore, there is a need for a strainer which prevents wastewater backflow that is smaller than the traditional strainers and allows for visual inspection and drainage.

Compact plumbing system drain strainer for a galley


A device for heat, mass, and chemical exchange and interaction between gases and liquids. Nozzles feed the gas at angles in different directions to form a gas-liquid mix, swirls, and/or foam above an array of such nozzles.

Russian Patent RU 2132220 describes a device that uses dust collecting apparatus with a cylindrical housing and a blade swirling device creating a vortex along a vertical axis of the housing. A swirling device is arranged in an aerodynamic cavity and is sprinkled with water. The water is delivered directly onto swirler blades from a plate filled with water with slots on edges. A ring deflector is installed in an upper part of the cavity under which a row of flat-spray water feed nozzles is arranged. The device provides 99.5-99.9% cleaning of gases from dust at the resistance to air flow of 1200-1300 Pa and a specific consumption of reflux water of 0.1-0.15 l/nm. The indicated characteristics are provided due to high efficiency of water and gas distribution over the swirler's perimeter; the recirculation of water (pulp) in the swirler providing several-fold increase in active zone watering; washing of cleaned gases before a drop trap by clean feed water; installation of high efficiency drop trap of hood-type with corner members arranged over screw line. The device delivers enhanced efficiency of gas cleaning.
Russian Patent RU 2104752 describes devices for trapping of toxicants from gaseous effluents in emulsified flow of liquid used in power engineering, metallurgy, chemistry, and other branches of industry. The adapter is made in the form of a parallelepiped with an axial vane swirler secured in its bottom part and made of four vanes having the shape of obtuse triangles, whose obtuse angles are inscribed in the dihedral angles of the parallelepiped. The middles of the bases touch each other in one point lying in the parallelepiped axis. Windows are provided just above the vanes in the parallelepiped walls, initiators of emulsification in the form of four plates having the shape of right triangles also inscribed in the dihedral angles of the parallelepiped and decreasing its flow section by 10 to 25% are positioned above the windows.
The known foaming gas washers or plate gas washers used for cleaning gases of dust, of gaseous contaminants, etc. comprise a horizontal plate with holes or slots. When an irrigating liquid is dripped onto the plate from above and a gas is fed from below, turbulent foam is formed where gas bubbles are continuously created, merged, and destroyed. Such plates are usually made with holes 4-8 mm in diameter or with slots 4-5 mm wide. The number of holes or slots is chosen so that the ratio of cumulative cross-section area of holes or slots to the total area of the plate is 0.15-0.25.

Device and method for heat and mass-exchange between gas and liquid


The present invention provides a touch panel and a touch display device, the touch panel includes: a transparent substrate; a conductive layer disposed on the transparent substrate, where the conductive layer includes a plurality of first conductive patterns and a plurality of second conductive patterns intersecting with the plurality of first conductive patterns, and each of the second conductive patterns is separated into multiple segments by the plurality of first conductive patterns; a color resistance insulating layer disposed on the conductive layer, where the color resistance insulating layer includes a plurality of through-holes; and a metal bridging layer disposed on the color resistance insulating layer, where the multiple segments of the second conductive pattern are connected together by the metal bridging layer via the through-holes. With the technical solutions of the present invention, the color resistor is used as the insulating layer to replace the existing organic film layer, thus avoiding the undesirable risk brought about by the manufacturing process for coating the organic film, simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the production costs.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an existing capacitive touch panel, which includes a transparent substrate 10, a black matrix layer 11, a metal layer 12, an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) layer 13, an organic insulating layer 15, a metal bridging layer 14, a color resistance insulating layer 16 and a protective layer 17. The ITO layer 13 is used to form sensing electrodes and driving electrodes, the metal layer 12 is laminated to an edge of the ITO layer 13, the organic insulating layer 15 insulates the sensing electrodes from the driving electrodes, and the organic insulating layer 15 is formed with holes, through which the metal bridging layer 14 can be bridged to the ITO layer 13, in order to connect the disconnected sensing electrodes or the disconnected driving electrodes. The insulating layer of the above capacitive touch panel is formed by an organic film. In the manufacturing process, however, the coating process for the organic film is relatively difficult and apt to reduce the product yield, thus it's needful to simplify the manufacturing process and improve the product yield.

Shanghai Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


An aeration control valve system with a bypass gas release passage may be used with an aerated water treatment system to control aeration and flow of water and gas (e.g., air or ozone) in accordance with various operating cycles. The aeration control valve system causes gas to be pumped or drawn into the water treatment system during a gas charge or draw cycle to provide a gas charge for aerating the water to facilitate water treatment. The aeration control valve system releases the gas during a gas release cycle while allowing the water treatment system to remain “in service” to continue to treat the water. To allow gas release when water is flowing during service, the bypass gas release passage is located external to or within the aeration control valve system and bypasses a flow region of the water that flows during service.

Water treatment systems are commonly used in water supply systems. In a residential water supply system, for example, water softeners, acid neutralizers, iron/manganese removal systems, arsenic removal systems, ozone systems and aeration systems may be used to filter or treat the water being supplied from a water source (e.g., from a well or city water supply). To facilitate the removal of contaminants, such as iron, manganese, and sulfur, some water treatment systems aerate the water to provide oxidation prior to the filtering. In such systems, a head of gas may be maintained at the top of a water treatment tank such that the water provided to the tank passes through the head of gas before passing through filter media.
Some existing water treatment systems include a control valve (e.g., connected to the top of the tank) to control the water passing in to and out of the system according to water treatment operating cycles. To provide the head of gas in an existing water treatment system that uses aeration, the control valve may perform a gas charge cycle by directing water through a venturi coupled to a gas inlet such that the venturi draws gas into the top of the filter tank. During a service cycle, the control valve directs the water to flow through the trapped gas in the tank, through filter media in the tank, and then to a service water system (e.g., a residential water system). The old compressed gas in the tank may be released or discharged when the control cycle opens a drain line during a backwash cycle.
The use of these existing water treatment systems providing aeration presents several drawbacks. One such drawback is the need for a backwash cycle before a gas charge cycle to release gas and provide a new charge of gas. Although water treatment systems have been designed to allow the release of gas without requiring a backwash cycle, some of these systems may only release gas when water is not being used. Such systems may require the service flow to be monitored to be sure the gas release occurs when water is not flowing.

Aeration control valve system with bypass gas release passage for water treatment system and methods for using same


Provided is a method for checking defects such as a liquid leakage, a gas leakage, and pack housing damage in a battery pack in which a plurality of unit modules including a battery cell are arranged in a pack housing. The method includes feeding a first gas into the pack housing of the battery pack, in which the first gas has one or more colors selected from red, green, and blue colors in a diffuse state and is visually identifiable in diffusion and flow, checking whether defects occur by visually identifying a point at which a flow direction and a flow rate of the first gas change, when the first gas diffuses in the pack housing; and exhausting the first gas to the outside of the pack housing. The defects of the battery pack are simultaneously identifiable by the first gas diffusing into the entire pack housing.

The present disclosure relates to a method capable of easily checking a defect of a battery pack.
Recently, secondary batteries that are chargeable and dischargeable are being widely used as energy sources for wireless mobile devices. Also, the secondary batteries have attracted considerable attention as power sources for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (Plug-In HEVs), which have been proposed as solutions to air pollution and the like caused by existing gasoline and diesel vehicles that use fossil fuels.
Small sized mobile devices use one or a couple of battery cells for each device. On the other hand, medium and large sized devices such as vehicles use a battery module in which a plurality of battery modules are modularized, or a battery pack in which a plurality of battery modules are electrically connected to each other, due to requirement for high power and large capacity.
It is preferable to manufacture the medium and large sized battery module or the battery pack as small and lightweight as possible. Therefore, prismatic and pouch type batteries, which are capable of being charged at a high degree of integration and are relatively lightweight compared to their capacities, are being mainly used as a battery cell (a unit battery) of the medium and large sized battery module and battery pack. Particularly, much interest is recently focused on the pouch type batteries, which use an aluminum laminate sheet as an exterior member, due to their advantages such as light weight, low manufacturing costs, and easy modification of the shapes.
The battery cells constituting the medium and large sized battery module or battery pack are constituted by secondary batteries that can be charged and discharged, so that such high power and large capacity secondary batteries may generate a large amount of heat. Particularly, since the laminate sheet of the pouch type battery is coated with a polymer material having low thermal conductivity, it is difficult to effectively cool a temperature of the entire battery cell.
When the heat of the battery module, which is generated during the charge and discharge processes, is not effectively removed, the heat may be accumulated, consequently accelerating degradation of the battery cell and causing ignition or explosion in some cases. Therefore, a cooling system is needed in the high power and large capacity battery module or battery pack so as to cool the battery cells contained in the high power and large capacity battery module or battery pack.
Also, a quality test is performed before the medium and large sized battery packs are delivered.
The quality test includes inspecting defects that may occur within the battery pack manufactured at a high degree of integration. For example, the defects include a leakage defect in which an electrolyte or a gas leaks from the battery cells constituting the battery pack, a leakage trouble in which a refrigerant leaks from the cooling system, and a case in which the pack housing is damaged.
In the related art, an operator visually checks each of the battery cells, the pack housing, and the cooling system to inspect one by one whether defects occur. However, this procedure is not only time-consuming but also less accurate, so a defect, which was not found during the inspecting process, may be present in the battery pack even after the delivery.
Thus, there is great need for technologies that may solve the above-described limitations.

Method capable of easily checking for a defect in a battery pack


A rotary winged aircraft includes an airframe and a drive system located at the airframe. A main rotor system is positioned at the airframe and is operably connected to the drive system to provide lift for the rotary winged aircraft. An auxiliary propulsor is located at the airframe and includes a plurality of propeller blades rotatable about a propulsor axis. Collective and cyclic pitch input applied to the auxiliary propeller blades increases yaw performance of the aircraft. A method of operating a rotary wing aircraft includes powering an auxiliary propulsor secured to an airframe of the aircraft and including a plurality of propeller blades rotatable about a propulsor axis. Individual propeller blades are cyclically rotated about their respective propeller blade axes to cyclically change a propeller blade pitch. Rotation of the aircraft about a yaw axis is induced via the collective and cyclic pitch change of the propeller blades.

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to directional control of aircraft. More specifically, the subject disclosure relates to yaw control of dual coaxial rotor rotary wing aircraft.
A rotary wing aircraft, or helicopter, with a coaxial contra-rotating rotor system is capable of higher speeds as compared to conventional single rotor helicopters due in part to the balance of lift between advancing sides of the main rotor blades on the upper and lower rotor systems. Such aircraft, however, tend to have weak yaw control during hover flight, low speed flight conditions, under low rotor thrust conditions and during autorotational landings. Low speed/low rotor thrust flight conditions are encountered in aircraft return to target and similar "low g" maneuvers. The ability to safely autorotate is an important feature, especially for single engine aircraft. The poor yaw performance is typically due to the inability of the aircraft to create adequate differential rotor torque between the two coaxial rotors under these flight conditions.

Directional control for coaxial rotary wing craft


A solid multi-piece golf ball includes a solid elastic core, an intermediate layer of a thermoplastic material and a cover. The core undergoes a deformation of 3.2-6.5 mm when subjected to a load of 1274 N from an initial load of 98 N. The cover has a Shore D hardness of 45-55 and the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness of 54-65 and higher than that of the cover. The cover and the intermediate layer have a combined thickness of 2.3-3.5 mm and a ratio of cover thickness to intermediate layer thickness between 0.48 and 0.84. This combination of features provides the ball with qualities desired by professional golfers and skilled amateurs, including carry, spin performance, cracking resistance, topping durability, scuffing resistance, and feel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid multi-piece golf ball which provides excellent flight performance, controllability on approach shots, xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d upon impact, and durability.
2. Prior Art
Solid multi-piece golf balls having a solid core and a cover composed of at least two layers have already been proposed as golf balls which meet the requirements of professionals and other skilled golfers. For example, JP-A 7-24085 discloses a golf ball with a hard inner cover/soft outer cover construction in which the inner cover layer has a greater hardness than the outer cover. JP-A 10-151226 discloses a solid multi-piece golf ball of the same type which has an improved spin performance, durability and flight distance.
However, such improvements remain inadequate. A need continues to be felt for golf balls having certain qualities desired in particular by professionals and other skilled golfers, such as better spin performance when hit with an iron or on approach shots, and improved xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d upon impact, durability and rebound energy.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a solid multi-piece golf ball having excellent flight performance, improved spin performance when hit with an iron and on approach shots, and improved feel upon impact, durability and rebound.
We have found that the synergistic effects achieved by optimizing certain essential conditions in a golf ball serve to increase the distance traveled by the ball, provide the ball with excellent spin performance when hit with an iron and on approach shots, and endow the ball with good cracking resistance, good durability to topping, good scuff resistance and a good feel upon impact, resulting in the exceptional performance desired in particular by professionals and other skilled golfers.
Accordingly, the invention provides a solid multi-piece golf ball having a solid elastic core, a cover composed of at least one layer enclosing the core, and an intermediate layer composed of a thermoplastic material between the core and the cover. The core, when subjected to a load of 1274 N (130 kgf) from an initial load of 98 N (10 kgf), undergoes a deformation of 3.2 to 6.5 mm. The cover has a Shore D hardness of 45 to 55 and the intermediate layer has a Shore D hardness in a range of 54 to 65 and higher than the Shore D hardness of the cover. The cover and the intermediate layer have a combined thickness, defined as (cover thickness+intermediate layer thickness), of 2.3 to 3.5 mm. The cover and the intermediate layer have a thickness ratio, defined as (cover thickness)/(intermediate layer thickness), of 0.48 to 0.84.
Preferably, the cover is composed primarily of a material selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic and thermoset polyurethane elastomers, polyester elastomers, ionomer resins, polyolefin elastomers and mixtures thereof.
The intermediate layer is typically made of a resin composition containing at least 30 parts by weight of ionomer resin, which resin composition preferably includes:
(a) 100 parts by weight of an olefin/unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer, an olefin/unsaturated carboxylic acid/unsaturated carboxylic acid ester random copolymer, a metal ion neutralization product of either type of copolymer, or a mixture of any of the copolymers and the neutralization products thereof;
(b) 5 to 80 parts by weight of a fatty acid having a molecular weight of at least 280 or a derivative thereof; and
(c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing the acid groups within components (a) and (b).
In one preferred embodiment, the golf ball of the invention has an adhesive layer between the cover and the intermediate layer.


A hue compass has triplet numerical values assigned to colors so that every possible color is identified with a unique triplet color identification number which represents the percentages of each primary color component present. Triplet values 100/0/0, 0/100/0, and 0/0/100 can be assigned to additive primaries blue-violet, green, and red, respectively. Their complementary colors yellow, magenta, and cyan can be assigned triplets 0/100/100, 100/0/100, and 100/100/0. Likewise, triplet values 100/0/0, 0/100/0 and 0/0/100 can be assigned to subtractive primaries yellow, magenta, and cyan, respectively. Their complementary colors, blueviolet, green, and red can be assigned 0/100/100, 100/0/100, and 100/100/0. A color robot can be employed to assign a triplet value for a given colored test object, whose color can be matched, e.g. by blending appropriate amounts of respective primary color pigments or dyes whose triplet color identification numbers are known.

This invention relates to a color system and, in particular, is directed to a color system wherein color purity is identified numerically as a percentage of admixtures of colors and is independent of human observations or subjective judgments.
The visible light spectrum is a small part of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The visible spectrum has a wavelength range of about 400 to 700 nanometers. When passed through a prism, white light is dispersed into a continuum of colors. Three of these are considered primary colors. The term "primary color" is used to identify hues which cannot be created by mixtures of any other colors. The additive primary colors are blueviolet, green, and red. (Blueviolet is mistakenly termed "blue" in much of the literature, and most often is hyphenated.)
Light is a physical phenomenon. Those things relating to matter involve chemical phenomena. Depending upon its chemical make-up, matter has the ability to absorb, reflect and/or transmit visible light. When all the components of visible light are absorbed by matter, the object is said to be black. That is, none of the primary components of white light theoretically are either reflected or transmitted by a black object. On the other hand, if all the components of visible light are reflected or transmitted by the object, the object is considered white or clear respectively. When the components of light are absorbed or transmitted in different proportions by an object, color occurs. The color of an object is apparent only when light strikes the object. The object in light has the property of color regardless of it being perceived.
Similarly, for color to be perceived, the viewer must have blueviolet, green, and red receptors. The early work of Newton and others involved with color was postulated on this basis and was later proven by tests conducted by Maxwell and others. The study of color, however, evolved first as an art form and then as a science. Artists and others involved in the use of color decided empirically but incorrectly upon the primary colors and their relationships. They devised a workable system, based on yellow, red, and blue being primary, and therefore assumed it to be valid.
In a publication entitled "Color Compass", published by M. Grumbacher, Inc. of New York, N.Y., there is described a color identification system that employs a wheel, wherein the traditional yellow, red and blue are used as primary pigment or dye colors. These presumed primary colors are situated upon a wheel or disk at 120 degree intervals, and secondary and tertiary colors are situated along the wheel or circle between the primary colors. Unfortunately, this system is based on the erroneous assumption that yellow, red and blue are subtractive primary pigments or colors. This erroneous assumption is a widely accepted method of relating and applying colors. However, because the color wheel is based on a misconception of what constitute true primary colors, its use in a practical sense is limited, and oftentimes produces undesirable results.
At about the turn of the last century, Albert H. Munsell arranged colors in a circle, or wheel, and then arranged them in a spherical form. He experimented with various color charts and perfected the Munsell disk as a means for matching and coordinating colors. Later the Munsell Color Company was formed which still carries on his work based on the Munsell system. Although the Munsell system is quite ingenious, it erroneously considers lightness as a component of color, rather than as an independent variable. This, of course, introduces a great deal of subjectivity into the system and again renders it non-usable as an objective means for identifying and/or using color.
In the early decades of this century, the Colorimetry Committee of the Optical Society of America defined color as a sensation produced by the eye, and therefore a purely subjective concept. Later the committee announced that it had adopted a psychophysiological concept that a subjective human response was a necessary part of color per se and its evaluation.
In 1931, the Commission Internationale d'Eclairage (CIE defined the requirements for specific color in terms of magnitudes of three standard stimuli required to match the average visual color response of a young, normal eye. The tri-stimulus values of the three primary colors that are required to match a given color at each wavelength of an equal energy spectrum are used to identify the primary colors. This produces the familiar "color horseshoe." To avoid negative coefficients, the CIE defined a set of non-physical primaries that permitted each color to be specified by a triplet of non-negative numbers. There has been wide use of triplets to identify colors since that time.


A rotor blade system with reduced blade-vortex interaction noise includes a plurality of tube members embedded in proximity to a tip of each rotor blade. The inlets of the tube members are arrayed at the leading edge of the blade slightly above the chord plane, while the outlets are arrayed at the blade tip face. Such a design rapidly diffuses the vorticity contained within the concentrated tip vortex because of enhanced flow mixing in the inner core, which prevents the development of a laminar core region.

Considerable research has been conducted in the field of measuring and understanding the development of blade tip Vortices trailed into the wakes of rotors. The research and resulting studies have been motivated by the fact that the structure of the tip vortices defines the majority of the induced velocity field surrounding the rotorcraft. The strong, concentrated tip vortices generated by a helicopter rotor blade (or by the proprotors on a tilt rotor) can also be a source of adverse aerodynamic problems, such as blade-vortex interactions (BVI) and vortex-airframe interactions. In each case, it is the high induced velocities surrounding the tip vortices that become a source of unsteady aerodynamic forces, which can be a significant source of rotor noise and airframe vibrations.
In particular, it is known that small changes in the structure of the tip vortices and their positions relative to the rotor blades can have substantial effects on BVI noise. The reduction of rotor noise has become an important goal in the design of new rotorcraft for both military and civil uses.
In principle, it is plausible to modify the structure of the tip vortices by diffusing their concentrated vorticity which can significantly reduce or even eliminate the aforementioned adverse aerodynamic problems. However, the goal of producing the rapid and effective diffusion of vorticity inside tip vortices is not a new approach nor is it an easy one to implement. Various approaches have been considered, such as with the use of various types of tip shape modifications including sub-wings or spoilers. Active flow control and passive flow control have also been suggested for this purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,406 relates to the reduction of noise caused by the movement of aircraft rotor blades whereby the rotor blade system includes a number of jets at different locations and orientations at the tip of each blade through which flow is adjusted. In this approach, the tip vortices are spread out and decay rapidly with increasing distance from the blade tip. The decay and spreading out of the vortices reduce the generation of BVI noise when the vortices encounter the following blade. Such an approach recognizes that the jet orientation and flow velocity needed to reduce BVI noise depends on helicopter operating conditions. Consequently, the system provides for adjustment of the jet orientation and flow velocity based on the observed BVI noise reduction.
A computer on board the helicopter monitors the change in BVI noise using one or both of the noise reduction performance monitoring sensors (microphones and/or pressure sensors) and selects jet location and orientation (i.e., turn on a particular jet) and flow rate so as to reduce BVI noise. BVI noise is additionally reduced by providing blade tip air flow injection in which a plurality of air openings are formed in the outboard tip of the rotor blade and in the surface of the rotor blade proximate the tip for expelling pressurized air. In this technique the system of monitored sensors, as well as an additional source of pressurized air for jet flow injection (for example, an air pump) are employed which greatly complicates the electronic and mechanical structures of the system.
The above techniques basically act to modify the tip vortex structure in some way or perhaps change its stability characteristics. However, the reduction of the induced velocity field surrounding the tip vortex has been found difficult to accomplish without incurring some other form of rotor performance penalty which usually appears as an increase in profile power at the rotor. Actively controlled devices also require some power to establish the blowing/suction or unsteady excitation of the boundary layers at the blade tip and further requires additional non-structural mass for the flow control mechanisms.
Therefore, a technique using some form of simple, lightweight, low-cost passive flow control device which incurs little or no adverse effects on overall rotor performance is still needed in the art.

Rotor blade system with reduced blade-vortex interaction noise


An emergency vehicle multiple sound siren disabling circuit is disclosed having a multiple sound siren circuit for emanating signals equivalent to a particular type of sound with an amplifier adapted for connection to a speaker. The siren circuit has a switch for selecting respective siren sounds and a circuit for disabling the multiple sound siren when the emergency vehicle transmission is placed in a park or neutral position. The circuit further disables the multiple sound siren after the emergency vehicle transmission is removed from the park or neutral mode, and enables it again after selective inputs thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to emergency vehicle sirens. It specifically relates to electronic sirens which are operated by actuating a circuit which can provide certain frequencies to an amplifier which then amplifies and broadcasts siren sounds through a speaker. Accompanying the siren is a control circuit and panel generally mounted within the emergency vehicle for selecting certain siren tones and placing the siren in various operational modes.
2. Prior Art
The prior art with regard to electronic circuits for sirens incorporates such sirens as those that were originally only of a wail tone. As sophisticated siren requirements developed, sirens were created that provided not only a wail tone but also a yelp tone and a hi-lo tone. These respective tones are known and appreciated by emergency vehicle operators and have been substantially met with acceptance by the general public as a warning of an approaching emergency vehicle.
The general structure of emergency vehicle sirens comprise a switch panel or circuit mounted within the emergency vehicle. The switch panel and circuit mounted in the emergency vehicle oftentimes was placed under the dashboard of an emergency vehicle. The output of the circuit which provided the tonal nature of the sound was received by a power amplifier which in turn was connected to a speaker for emanating the siren sound.
Oftentimes, it was desirous to have a siren sound of a particular nature such as wail, yelp or hi-lo emanate from the siren by manual control. On the other hand, sometimes an automatic control was implemented of the particular siren sound. All of these controls could be handled by selector switches mounted on the control panel. The selector switches have developed over the years with various circuitry functions to provide various outputs and control functions.
One particular selector function has allowed a tone to emanate from the siren such as a police vehicle until the vehicle is stopped and the transmission is placed in park or neutral. At this point, the siren sound ceases while the officer or driver of the emergency vehicle attends to business with a particular party whom he has apprised by the siren tone.
Upon re-entering the vehicle, the officer or individual driving the emergency vehicle has put the vehicle from neutral or park into a position for driving at which time the siren again emanates its tone. This has caused surprise at the least and extreme annoyance and impromptu responses from the driver of the emergency vehicle or the party being warned such that an accident or other discomfiture could take place.
This particular invention allows for an elimination of the problem of a siren sound emanating when the emergency vehicle is placed in a drive mode from the neutral or park mode. This is due to the switch function which turned off the siren sound not reactivating the siren sound. The overall development of this particular siren elimination or disabling function upon positioning of the shift lever into drive or park enhances emergency vehicle activity as well as the related siren functions as will be seen hereinafter.


The present invention discloses a method of harnessing versatile phosphoramidation reactions to regioselectively link a group of alkynyl-/azido-containing compounds to post-synthetic nucleic acids primed with phosphate at the 5′ termini. The method includes steps of: (a) monophosphoramidating H2N(CH2)nNH2 to the 5′ end of the nucleic acid to form an intermediate 1 where n is an integer from 2 to 6, and the intermediate 1 has a formula of:

Extensive research has been devoted to exploring the therapeutic potential of nucleic acids, including small interfering (siRNA), microRNA (miRNA), catalytic RNA (ribozymes), aptamer oligonucleotides (oligonucleotides with exquisite roles similar to protein receptors), and antisense oligonucleotides. Theoretically, when designed appropriately, nucleic acids delivered into biological systems will participate in cellular activities, such as RNA interference or gene silencing, to abolish specific gene expression in cells and to attain more precise therapeutic targeting than typical small molecule drugs. Nucleic acid-based therapeutics have shown promise for treating a variety of human genetic diseases and microbial infections. Recent progress has resulted in some antisense oligonucleotides and aptamer RNA reaching clinical applications, while a significant number of clinical trials for siRNA are underway.
The direct use of nucleic acids for treating diseases, however, faces serious hurdles. Difficulties include cell specificity, inefficient cellular uptake of nucleic acids, and inaccessibility of nucleic acids to cell nuclei, due primarily to ineffective translocation of nucleic acids across biological barriers after administration. Consequently, successful use of nucleic acids in clinical practice will not be achieved until there are better strategies for targeted and efficient delivery of nucleic acids to cells and tissues. The critical issue of efficient target delivery for nucleic acids has been studied by many laboratories through chemical modification of nucleic acids to improve stability and cellular delivery properties of nucleic acids in vivo.
Developed methods include conjugating cellular surface receptor-specific ligands with various nucleic acid-containing nanocarriers or covalently linking cellular surface receptor-specific ligands with nucleic acids directly.
The use of peptides as ligands to traffic nucleic acids across the plasma membrane has been extensively investigated in the development of effective nucleic acid-based therapeutic agents. Conjugating nucleic acids such as oligonucleotides with cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) or cell-targeting peptides (CTPs) to acquire peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates (POCs) has created appropriate designs to circumvent cellular delivery or cell specificity problems inherited from administrating only oligonucleotides in clinics. CPPs, including the Tat, the Antennapedia, the CyLoP-1 (a cysteine-rich CPP), and the (KFF)3K peptides, are either protein-derived or artificially developed short sequences (10-16 amino acids), and they are able to spontaneously cross cellular barriers when provided in extracellular media. The unique cell permeability properties of CPPs significantly improve the uptake efficiency of oligonucleotides in POCs by cells and facilitate broader uses of POCs in science and medicine.
POCs are primarily prepared by coupling peptides with oligonucleotides after solid-phase synthesis (fragment coupling strategy) or directly synthesized through stepwise solid-phase reactions (online solid-phase synthesis). To achieve peptide-oligonucleotide conjugations, current POC synthesis methods typically require previous incorporations of additional functionalities in peptides, oligonucleotides, or both. The requirement to have additional functional groups renders these methods inefficient, inconvenient, and not cost-effective for academia or industry. The development of a facile approach to exploit readily available functionalities, such as hydroxyl or phosphate groups, in standard oligonucleotides in order to synthesize POCs with high purity and yields is crucial to the advancement of POC applications.
Regioselective modifications of biomolecules with tags, probes or other biological molecules have been a critical tool which significantly advanced biomolecular studies for fundamental research and clinical application. In nucleic acids, site-specific modifications of smaller DNA/RNA such as oligonucleotides can be achieved through phosphoramidite chemistry to link predefined chemical moieties to positions in specific nucleotides during solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis. However, the solid-phase chemistry approach for regioselective modifications of oligonucleotides suffers from inherited drawbacks including limits on the length of synthesized oligonucleotides and on the variety of their incorporated chemical functionality.
To complement the shortcomings of solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis, many site-specific post-synthetic modification methods for nucleic acids have been studied and adapted to any size of nucleic acid and a broad diversity of chemical groups integrated into the nucleic acids. Nevertheless, recently developed post-synthetic modification methods for nucleic acids rely on enzyme catalysis to carry out chemical transformations but are unable to provide a universal strategy for both DNA and RNA modifications. Moreover, the required expensive enzymes and specific substrates in enzymatic reactions further stymie the efforts to modify nucleic acids with various chemical entities within reasonable costs.

Reagents for universal site-specific labeling and modifications of nucleic acids

Abstract: (b) amidating the free —NH2 group of the intermediate 1 with

Abstract: to form an intermediate 2; and (c) reacting the terminal —N3 group of the intermediate 2 with 1-{3-{[4-(2-cyclooctyn-1-ylmethyl)benzoyl]amino}propyl}-4-{2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethenyl}pyridinium hexafluorophosphate (Alkyne MegaStokes dye 608) by the SPAAC reaction to form modified nucleic acids. Without the presence of Cu(I), the modified nucleic acids were subjected to azide-alkyne cycloaddition in an aqueous solution to obtain various nucleic acid conjugates with a high yield.


A color photographic light-sensitive material comprising a support having thereon at least one layer containing light-sensitive silver salt, wherein the color photographic a light-sensitive material contains at least one image forming compound represented by the following general formula (I): EQU (Dye-X).sub.q -Y (I). wherein Dye, X, q and Y are described in detail below.

Color diffusion transfer processes using dye releasing redox compounds which can release a diffusible magenta dye as a result of development under basic conditions are well known.
As dye releasing redox compounds which release a magenta dye, those described, for example, in JP-A-49-114424, JP-A-50-115528, JP-A-55-4028, JP-A-61-273542 (the term "JP-A" as used herein refers to a "published unexamined Japanese patent application"), U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,932,380 and 3,931,144, are known.
However, the compounds as described in these patents contain an azo series dye moiety having a relatively high hydrophobicity and dyes released therefrom have low diffusibility and insufficient spectral characteristic for color reproducibility. From a standpoint of color reproducibility, it has been particularly desired to reduce the subsidiary absorption of dye in a blue light region.

Color photographic light-sensitive material


A diagnostic imaging apparatus such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device includes a gradient coil assembly (34) and an RF coil (36) disposed proximate pole faces (30, 32). An interventional head coil assembly (40) includes a base (90), a head frame housing (96) including at least one first conductor (130) associated therewith, a first mount (94) that connects the head frame housing (96) to the base (90), a bridge housing (98) including at least one second conductor (142) associated therewith, and a second mount (100) that connects the bridge housing (98) to the head frame housing (96) thereby coupling the at least one first conductor (130) to the at least one second conductor (142) to form a surface coil for use in imaging an object attached to the head frame housing (96).

The present invention relates to the magnetic resonance (MR) art. It finds particular application in conjunction with an interventional radio frequency (RF) coil assembly for use in magnetic resonance guided neurosurgery, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it should be appreciated that the present invention may also find application in conjunction with other types of neurosurgical and diagnostic imaging systems.
When performing surgery on a patient's brain, the patient's head is usually held fixed by a head frame. Known head frames typically include a clamp or frame-like structure with several sharp pins that are anchored in the patient's skull in order to immobilize the frame-like structure relative to the patient's head. The head frame is connected to a surgical table by a series of links and joints that permit the head frame to be positioned with respect to the table with several degrees of freedom. By this means, the head frame can be positioned to hold the patient's head in a range of orientations to present the surgeon with an appropriate approach to the surgical field. However, access to the patient's head is still restricted by the head frame.
Conventional head frames include the designs of Ohio Medical (Cincinnati, Ohio.) and many other companies. The most common model is the Mayfield frame made by Ohio Medical and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,169,478 and 5,269,034. The Mayfield frame is made from cast aluminum and is not MR compatible. In MR guided neurosurgery, the head frame must be made from an MR compatible material. Ohio Medical and Elekta Instruments (Atlanta, Ga.) both make radiolucent head frames for intraoperative x-ray or CT imaging. These products are made from a carbon fiber/epoxy composite and have been used for intraoperative MR imaging. An exemplary radiolucent head frame is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,704.
When performing neurosurgery with MR guidance, a receive surface coil is used for local imaging of a patient's brain because a higher signal-to-noise ratio can be obtained than with a whole body RF coil. The surface coil is designed to be placed as close as possible to the patient's head to increase the signal to noise ratio. The surface coil is typically covered by a sterile bag or placed on the patient prior to applying sterile drapes. As with head frames, surface coils typically restrict access to the patient's head.
Research and development is presently being conducted on specific surface coil designs for use in MR guided neurosurgery. For horizontal field interventional MR, flexible surface coils, either of a single-solenoid or Helmholtz configuration are being contemplated. These coils would generally be used with the loops in the coronal plane, with a non-sterile loop below the patient's head and a sterile or sterile-bagged loop above the patient's head. For vertical field interventional MR, flexible single-solenoid surface coils are contemplated. These coils are oriented in the transverse plane, placed around the patient's head. The known surface coil designs are not easily sterilized.
Thus, in MR guided neurosurgery, both the head frame and the surface coil restrict access to the patient's head. Further, it is often difficult to position both the surface coil and the head frame so as to keep the region of interest in the sensitive volume of the surface coil and to allow sufficient access for surgery. If the surface coil has to be moved away from the anatomy of interest to allow space for the head frame or access for the surgeon, the signal to noise ratio will suffer.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved interventional radio frequency coil assembly for use in magnetic resonance guided neurosurgery that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.

Interventional radio frequency coil assembly for magnetic resonance (MR) guided neurosurgery


A multi-bit (M-bit, M>1) Sigma-Delta digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with a variable resolution multi-bit quantizer that has its digital value inputs that are truncated or rounded to a resolution that follows a random or pseudo-random sequence to provide automatic dynamic dithering for removing undesired idle tones in the analog output of the Sigma-Delta DAC. Random numbers N(n) between 1 and M are provided, and M−N(n) least significant bits in each M-bit digital value at the output of the quantizer are forced to zero with a digital truncator or rounder. The random numbers N(n) may be provided by a random or pseudo-random sequence generator, e.g., Galois linear feedback shift register in combination with digital comparators and an adder.

Digital-to-Analog converters (DACs) are in widespread use today in electronic applications for consumer, medical, industrial, etc. Typically, DACs include circuitry for receiving a digital value and outputting an analog signal that is determined by the digital value. The digital output value is typically in the form of either a parallel word or a serial digital bit string. There are many types of digital-to-analog conversion schemes and, each of these conversion schemes has its advantages and disadvantages.
One type of DAC that has seen increasing use is the Sigma-Delta DAC (Sigma-Delta and Delta-Sigma will be used interchangeably herein). The Sigma-Delta DAC utilizes a Sigma-Delta modulator where digital values are input to the Sigma-Delta modulator and the output thereof is filtered to produce the analog signal and remove noise, e.g., an audio class-D power amplifier. A Sigma-Delta modulator in a DAC typically converts input digital values to a digital serial string of "ones" and "zeros" having an average amplitude over time proportional to the analog signal represented by the digital values. This digital serial string is filtered with an analog circuit low pass filter to produce the desired analog signal. Sigma-Delta modulation generally provides for high accuracy and wide dynamic range as compared to earlier delta modulation techniques. Sigma-Delta modulation is often referred to as an oversampled converter architecture and is typically immune from some of the earlier undesirable second order effects of delta modulation.
All Sigma-Delta modulators, working in a continuous mode, produce idle tones at their outputs if a certain periodic or DC input is provided. These idle tones are due to the quantization process and are inherent in the design of the Sigma-Delta modulator architecture.
These idle tones are unwanted and create undesired behavior at the output of the DAC, e.g., undesired high tones in an audio device. These tones limit the spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) and thus the signal-to-noise-and-distortion (SINAD) of the DAC device. These tones have an amplitude and frequency that is largely dependent on the input signal which prevents their removal with a simple filtering of the output signal.

Method and apparatus for dithering in multi-bit sigma-delta digital-to-analog converters


A direct injection diesel engine is provided with a fuel injection nozzle which is capable of performing a multistage injection. In a middle-or-high load region, in order to reduce soot, an after-injection is performed immediately after a main injection. An injection timing of the after-injection is set from a map in accordance with a driving condition. During a transient time, the injection timing of the after-injection is corrected on a basis of a difference ΔP between an actual rail pressure rPrail and a target rail pressure tPrail. In a case where the injection timing after the correcting is more retardation angle side than a threshold value, the after-injection is inhibited.

In order to suppress a generation of soot which provides a problem in a direct injection diesel engine, a technique in which an after-injection in a relatively short period of time is performed immediately after a main injection and soot generated in association with a combustion of the main injection is combusted together with fuel by the after-injection is described in Japanese Patent Application First Publication (tokkai) No. 2005-233163 and Japanese Patent Application First Publication (tokkai) No. 2000-227061 and so forth.
In such a technique of the after-injection as described above, a certain optimum value corresponding to an individual driving condition is present as an interval from a time at which the main injection is ended to a time at which the after-injection is started. As shown in a characteristic a of FIG. 8, as the interval shown in a lateral axis of FIG. 8 becomes gradually larger, a reduction of soot is observed when the after-injection at an appropriate interval is performed. It should be noted that a left end of the lateral axis of FIG. 8 indicates a case where the interval is zero, namely, a case where no after-injection is performed (in other words, a case where the injection is performed without split of the injection into the main injection and the after-injection). Hence, an injection timing of the after-injection in accordance with the driving condition (load, revolution speed, and so forth) is, for example, set in a form of a map. In the example of FIG. 8, such an optimum injection timing of the after-injection as shown in FIG. 8 is given as an injection timing IT1.
However, during a transient time of the engine, the reduction effect of soot according to the after-injection is lowered. For example, a characteristic b of FIG. 8 indicates an example of the characteristic of the after-injection during an acceleration time. As shown in FIG. 8, soot is hardly reduced at injection timing IT1 preset as an optimum point. When the interval is made larger than injection timing IT1, the reduction of soot is observed.
It can be thought that, according to the present inventor's research, since a fuel pressure (so-called, a rail pressure) when the main injection is carried out before the after-injection is lower than a target fuel pressure (a target fuel pressure during a steady state time) due to a response delay, during an acceleration time, it can be thought that this is due to not obtaining an expected gas flow within a cavity. That is, since the fuel pressure supplied to the fuel injection nozzle via the common rail is variably set on a basis of an engine revolution speed and a load, the target value of the fuel pressure is varied during a transient time and the target fuel pressure becomes, in general, higher during the acceleration time. However, since the response delay is present in the variation of the actual fuel pressure, the actual fuel pressure does not reach to an expected fuel pressure during the main injection and a momentum of a spray is reduced. Therefore, the injection timing of the after-injection which is optimum for the reduction of soot is made different.
FIGS. 9(a)-(c) are explanatory views for explaining an influence of gas flow within the cavity according to the main injection on the after-injection and show a local excess air ratio distribution within a combustion chamber in a form of contour lines. It should be noted that FIGS. 9(a)-(c) depict the excess air ratio divided into 14-stage levels. As a representative, a region denoted by a reference sign of E1 is a highest excess air ratio region, a region denoted by a reference sign of E3 is a lowest excess air ratio region, and a region denoted by a reference sign of E2 is a middle excess air ratio region. FIG. 9 (a) shows an excess air ratio distribution within the combustion chamber when the after-injection is carried out (at a time of the end of the after-injection) after the main injection under an appropriate fuel pressure is carried out. At this stage, a reverse squish flow is generated due to a lowering start of a piston and the momentum of the main injection. Riding on this squish flow, a combustion section surrounding of a bottom section of the cavity is tried to be moved toward a center part of the cavity. In FIG. 9 (a), since expected gas flow is obtained, spray F of the after-injection is injected toward a region in which oxygen is present to some degree. Hence, the reduction of soot is achieved.
Whereas, FIG. 9(b) shows a state in which the fuel pressure of the main injection is low. In this case, since the momentum of the main injection is low and the reverse squish flow is weak, the after-injection is carried out before the combustion section surrounding the bottom section of the cavity is moved toward the center section of the cavity. Therefore, spray F of the after-injection is injected toward a region in which oxygen (quantity) is small so that an increase of soot is introduced.
FIG. 9(c) shows a state of a case in which the after-injection is executed at a crank angle slightly retarded than a case of FIG. 9(b). Since the combustion section is moved toward the center section of the cavity, spray F of the after-injection can be given to the region in which oxygen is present to some degree and the reduction of soot can be achieved.
Even during a deceleration, from the similar reason, the appropriate injection timing of the after-injection is made different from a case during the steady state. Since, during the deceleration, in general, the fuel pressure becomes excessively higher than the target value due to a response delay, the appropriate injection timing of the after-injection becomes furthermore earlier.

Diesel engine control device and control method