A method of molding a series of contact lenses having a range of optical powers using a matrix of posterior and anterior molds having varying surface characteristics such that the optical powers vary while maintaining constant fitting characteristics, and using a number of mold types which is less than the total number of contact lenses produced in the series.

Contact lenses are cast molded by depositing a curable liquid (a mixture of polymerizable monomers) into a mold cavity formed by two mold halves, curing the liquid, opening the mold cavity, and removing the lens. Other processing steps, for example, hydration in the case of hydrogel lenses, may also be required to produce a finished lens. One mold half forms the anterior lens surface (anterior mold). The other mold half forms the posterior lens surface (posterior mold). The mold halves are typically used only once and then either serve as packaging means or are discarded.
The molds are themselves formed by injection molding. More specifically, tools for the production of molds are formed in accordance with the specification of the corresponding lens surface. The tools are fitted into mold plates in the injection molding machine, and the molds are produced by injection molding a selected resin. Unlike the molds which are used only once, the injection molding tools are used to make thousands of molds. However, the tools must be manufactured to extremely high specifications so that no roughness or surface defects are transferred to the mold being made from the tool. Any such defects on the mold surface would be transferred to, and appear on, the finished lens. The tools are typically made from brass, stainless steel, nickel or some combination thereof.
It is the ultimate desired lens product which determines the design of the mold; more particularly, that portion of the mold which forms a lens surface. The needed mold parameters, in turn, determine the design of the corresponding injection mold tool. According to conventional design procedures, the desired base curve of the lens (a lens parameter related to fitting characteristics) determines the design of the posterior mold. Given the posterior design of the lens (and the corresponding mold and tool), the desired optical characteristics of the lens determines the anterior design of the lens (and the corresponding mold and tool).
Consider, for example, the application of this design approach to hydrogel contact lenses. Hydrogel contact lenses are usually made available in powers of 0.25 diopter increments. Each time a different power lens is to be produced, a corresponding anterior mold type is used. One posterior mold type is used throughout the power range. A contact lens series having powers of, for example, from -0.25 D to -6.00 D in 0.25 D increments has 24 different lens types. Cast molding of the series according to conventional procedures therefore requires 24 differing anterior mold types and one posterior mold type. The number of tools required to produce the series is therefore 25.
Ways have been sought to reduce the number of types of tools required to produce a contact lens series. U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,121 discloses producing only a limited number of tools, but then further modifying the molds produced by the tools to impart the proper power and base curves on finished lenses. A drawback of this method is the need to modify and handle each mold, which is only used once.


A tubular element has a sealing ring mounted at an end of the tubular element. The sealing ring has a base clamped against the outer surface of the tubular element. Further, the sealing ring has a sealing lip adapted to seal against an inner surface of an outer tube, in which the tubular element is inserted. The base is disposed in a groove that is formed in the wall of the tubular element. The sealing ring has a further lip that is positioned adjacent to the end of the tubular element and that is bent down and clamped against the base by means of the end portion, thereby providing secure fastening of the sealing ring. The sealing ring is fastened by a method involving bending of the end portion of the tubular element together with the further lip.

When connecting fluid-conducting duct elements, especially in ventilation duct systems, it is important that the joints between the tubular elements be sufficiently sealed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,834 disclosed various modes of providing sealing means in the joint between a tube connector inserted in and interconnecting two tubes. FIGS. 3-9 and of this U.S. patent of 1976 show how an external, circumferential, flexible sealing ring having L-shaped cross-section is mounted at the end of a tubular element. The sealing ring is placed with its base abutting the outer surface of the tubular element, whereupon the free end portion of the tubular element is bent rearwardly outwards and turned back towards the wall of the tubular element. The sealing ring has a sealing lip radially extending away from the base and adapted to seal against an inner surface of an outer tube, in which the tubular element is inserted (see FIG. 8).
This basic method of mounting the sealing ring at the end of a tubular element is still used in practice, as is shown in the Swedish-language catalogue "Veloduct.RTM., Cirkulart kanalsystem" issued in 1997 by ABB Ventilation Products AB, Division Veloduct. On page 2 of this catalogue, there is shown how a sealing ring with L-shaped cross-section is fastened by the bonding and clamping operation described above. This known technique, which is schematically shown in FIG. 1 of the appended drawings, has however several disadvantages which will be related below.
The base of the L-shaped sealing ring is placed on an annular, circumferential step which protrudes radially outwards. This step leads to various drawbacks related to the mounting of the sealing ring as well as the structure of the sealing ring and its manufacture. When mounting the sealing ring on the tubular body, it is difficult to put the base on the raised step. Normally, this is a manual operation and the person mounting the ring often has to adjust the sealing ring on the raised step before the bending operation. Due to the raised step, the sealing ring has a tendency to slide inwardly on the tubular body during the bending of the end portion of the tubular body. This sliding movement may jeopardize the bending and clamping operation and thereby prevent safe fastening of the sealing ring. The bulge on the front end of the sealing ring base is normally not enough to prevent this sliding, especially in cases where the sealing ring material is relatively soft.
In practice, it has also been found that this known L-shaped sealing ring has special drawbacks for tubes of a large diameter, say exceeding about 300 mm. For tubular elements of such a large diameter, the radial dimension of the sealing lip is larger than the axial dimension of the base. Such sealing rings have a tendency to "tilt" about 90.degree., which means that the sealing ring is abutting the wall of the tubular body whereas the sealing ring base is directed radially outwards from the tubular wall. This misplacement has to be corrected manually in mounting.
The bulge at the free end of the sealing ring base makes it difficult to produce the sealing ring which consists of rubber. Due to the bulge, special tooling has to be used which involve specific drawbacks. The bulge makes it hard to achieve proper release from the mould. Especially when the sealing ring is injection moulded, the bulge is disadvantageous.
Thus, there is a need for a tubular element having improved sealing means, as well as a new method for manufacturing such a tubular element.

Tubular element with sealing means and a method for manufacturing the tubular element


A microwave oven includes a magnetron, a blower fan system, and a gas sensor for detecting an exhaustion gas concentration developed from an oven cavity. When the exhaustion gas concentration exceeds a preselected value while an actual cooking operation is conducted, the gas sensor develops a first detection output to complete the actual cooking operation. While the actual cooking operation is not conducted, the gas sensor functions as a gas leak alarm sensor. When an ambience gas concentration shows an abnormal value, the gas sensor develops a second detection output to announce a dangerous gas leakage. While the actual cooking operation is not conducted, the blower fan system is intermittently energized to introduce the ambience air toward the gas sensor for monitoring purposes.

The present invention relates to a cooking utensil which includes a gas sensor for automatic cooking control purposes.
A microwave oven is proposed in my copending application Ser. No. 71,179, "COOKING UTENSIL CONTROLLED BY GAS SENSOR OUTPUT", filed on Aug. 31, 1979, wherein a gas sensor is disposed in an exhaustion duct for detecting a gas concentration developed from an oven cavity. When the gas concentration reaches a preselected value, the gas sensor output shows a preselected value, and in response thereto the microwave generation is terminated.
Since the gas sensor is also effective to detect the gas leakage, it is desirable to make such a microwave oven operate as a gas leak alarm when the microwave oven does not perform the cooking operation. However, the system must be constructed so that an ambience gas is properly introduced near the gas sensor while the microwave oven does not perform the cooking operation.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a combination of a gas sensor output controlled cooking utensil and a gas leak alarm.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a control circuit for making a cooking utensil employing a gas sensor to operate as a gas leak alarm when the cooking utensil does not perform an actual cooking operation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a gas leak alarm system incorporated in a microwave oven which includes a gas sensor for automatic cooking control purposes.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
To achieve the above objects, pursuant to an embodiment of the present invention, a gas sensor is disposed in a path of the gas exhausted from an oven cavity. A control circuit is provided for terminating the microwave generation when an output voltage signal of the gas sensor reaches a preselected value.
A blower fan system is provided for introducing fresh air into the oven cavity and for developing the exhaust gas from the oven cavity while the microwave oven performs the actual cooking operation. When the microwave oven does not perform the actual cooking operation, the gas sensor control system is continuously supplied with power for gas leakage detection purposes, and the blower fan system is intermittently activated to intermittently introduce the ambience air toward the gas sensor for gas leakage detection purposes. The intermittent activation of the blower fan system ensures an accurate detection operation of the gas sensor, and minimizes the power consumption.

Combination of gas sensor controlled cooking utensil and gas leak alarm


Software in a computer which accesses one or more software-intensive devices, such as a digital copier or printer, is organized in a set of layers. A device-dependent layer converts data transferred over various means, such as a modem or network, to a uniform data format. A protocol layer converts data from a particular accessed machine to a set of function calls. A system interface associated with the computer restricts a user of the computer to seeing only a subset of function calls, depending permissions granted to a particular user. The modular architecture of the software enables a system administrator to restrict a user to viewing machine status for a specific set of machines on a network, or limits the user to viewing only a certain set of functionalities from a particular machine.

With the increasing sophistication of office equipment, such as digital copiers, printers, facsimiles, as well as devices which combine many of these functions, individual devices become more and more software intensive. Much of the functionality associated with a particular device dwells in the software of the device, and functionalities of a device can be monitored, improved or increased via the machine software. Preferably, such software access could be performed, for example, by a tech rep attending the device and plugging in a personal computer or laptop into the device for direct access to or downloading of software; or, the software could be accessed or installed in a device remotely, over a network.
Whatever the specific physical means used to access the internal software of a particular machine, it is most desirable to provide a common "application" enabling a human user to view and if necessary alter the machine conditions through the user's computer. It is most desirable that the application for interacting with a particular machine be indifferent to the specific physical means (network, modem, direct connection, IR, etc.) by which a particular machine is accessed.
Further, it is likely that a relatively large population of machines, such as digital copiers or printers, may be accessed in various ways by a relatively large population of human users or administrators. Depending on the level of interaction with the internal software of various machines, it may be desirable to give some human users, such as administrators, fairly detailed access to the internal software of a particular machine (e.g., voltage levels within the printer hardware, analysis of the long-term use of the machine), while other users are given only limited access to only the most basic software functions (e.g., simply determining whther a printer is available for use). Of course, there is also a necessity to give some users access to only some machines, with different users access to other machines. There is thus a need to set-up what is in effect "read" and "write" privileges relating various users to specific functions within various machines.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Architecture for software for remote maintenance of a machine such as a copier


Embodiments according to the present invention allow multiple parties equipped with telecommunications devices (endpoint devices) of similar or differing audio capabilities to join in a conference call and enjoy the fidelity associated with their equipment. Rather than operating with the frequency and fidelity limits of traditional telecommunications circuits (for example, about 300-3500 Hz), at least a portion of a conference bridge according to the present invention operates at higher frequencies. Conference participants using high-fidelity endpoint devices hear each other with greater clarity and reproduction accuracy. Conference participants using conventional interfaces send and receive lower-fidelity audio, but it affects only their own participation and not that of the entire conference. Participants can connect via for example, wireline, wireless Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or via networks such as the Internet. Multiple voice encoding schemes are accommodated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to conferencing and more particularly to systems and methods of audio teleconferencing using a conferencing bridge. Even more particularly, embodiments according to the present invention relate to the conferencing of high-fidelity and conventional callers, over traditional and network-based (e.g., Internet) connections.
2. Background
Generally, forms of conference calling have been offered as a telecommunications service for some number of years and such service is relied upon by many businesses. As prices have dropped for conferencing equipment and conference hosting, conferencing has become increasingly popular and is now used by businesses and some consumers on a regular basis for local, national, and global virtual meetings. Participants typically dial into a conference "bridge"—a specialized system connected to the telephone network. The participants enter DTMF digits to identify the conference they wish to join. Once established, the system computes and sends to each participant the merged audio of the other participants. Specialized processing can eliminate echoes and noise and automatically equalize volume. The audio quality of the conference is limited to the capability of conventional telephone instruments and networks, which generally support about 300 to about 3500 Hertz frequency response using coder/decoder (codec) technology standardized by the ITU as G.711. This quality level, generally referred to as "narrowband," is generally adequate for conversational speech, but it can make it harder to recognize voices, discern certain phonetic sounds, separate speech from background noise, distinguish multiple simultaneous speakers, and hear soft or whispered speech.
In some instances, participants in a telephone conference can be physically co-located in a conference room. Telephone instruments called speakerphones or conference phones allow these participants to speak and listen normally without having to hold a handset. These conference phones can be used in a point-to-point configuration, where a group in one conference room calls to a conference phone in another, remote conference room, and the two groups can interact via a telephone connection. Alternatively, the conference phone can be used to dial into a conference bridge, described above. Thus, in some instances the participants on the bridge may include groups using conference phones as well as individuals with handsets.
Manufacturers of conference phones have introduced enhanced endpoint devices having encoding technology configured to capture sound at higher fidelity, offering a frequency response from about 80 to about 7000 Hertz (generally referred to as "wideband"), and producing a noticeably better audio experience. This allows participants to more readily recognize voices and to better understand what is said by a remote speaker. Typically, this enhanced audio capability is only operational when the endpoint device is operating in the point-to-point mode connected to another like device. In these instances, the endpoint device avoids limitations imposed by the telephone network (PSTN) by establishing a digital connection between two enhanced endpoint devices using modem technology, and then digitally sampling, encoding, and compressing the high-fidelity audio signal and exchanging it via the digital connection. If an enhanced endpoint device attempts to connect to a conventional conference bridge (i.e., a narrowband bridge), the narrow-band bridge is incapable of establishing the digital connection and the enhanced endpoint device is forced to revert to lower-fidelity, analog audio. One example of a manufacturer of enhanced endpoint devices is Polycom (Polycom, Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.), providers of a system designated VTX-1000™, which uses special encoding technology to capture sound at higher fidelity.
In addition to connections over the conventional telephone network, an increasing number of "telephone calls" are made over the Internet utilizing technology commonly referred to as Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP. These calls are made with special Internet telephones, with adapters that interface traditional phones to the Internet, or with Internet-connected personal computers augmented with headsets and special software. Most commonly, Internet calls mimic the audio quality of traditional telephony, and in many cases can communicate with conventional bridges or with bridges specially interfaced to the Internet. Some Internet telephone systems have technology for higher-fidelity audio; this capability generally applies only in point-to-point communications with like (or compatible) devices. For a variety of technical reasons, it is easier and cheaper to implement wideband audio in the Internet domain, so this option is becoming increasingly common as Internet telephony grows in popularity. Skype™ (Skype™ is an eBay, Inc. company, San Jose, Calif.) and GoogleTalk™ (Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif.) are examples of commercially-available high-fidelity VoIP-based networks.
Because current conferencing technology sets the frequency response to the lowest common denominator of the endpoint devices accessing a bridge, in many instances enhanced or wideband endpoint devices are not able to utilize their greater fidelity when participating in conferences that also include narrow-band endpoint devices. Embodiments according to this invention provide a way to overcome these challenges, some of which are described above.


This invention relates to a method of utilizing a shrink wrap film to shrink wrap a load or group of articles or packages having a surface portion formed of the same material as the shrink wrap film. The load or group is assembled and wrapped with the outer ply of each article or package formed of the shrink wrap film being coated with a release coating which will withstand the heat shrinking and will not fuse to any part of the load or group when subjected to film-shrinking heat when the group is overwrapped with similar film. The wrapped load is thereby heated to shrink the film or laminate about the load, and may thereafter be easily removed.

There is a growing practice to package many articles in plastic film enclosures rather than in paperboard cartons or the like. For example, many canned and bottled food and beverage products are now being packaged by placing them on simple linerboard or plastic trays and then passing them through conventional heat shrink apparatus in which they are wrapped in a shrinkable film material, usually polyethylene, which is then heat shrunk in place. This package technique is used in cases in which it has been conventional practice in the past to use corrugated cartons. These individual packages, which may consist of twelve or twenty-four cans or bottles of a product, are then loaded on pallets for shipment.
Because they slide relatively easily with respect to one another, they must be anchored to the pallet by suitable means. It is common to use shrink wrap palletizing techniques, wherein the pallet and load are enclosed at least in part by a sheet or preformed sleeve of heat-shrinkable film and then passed through a shrink tunnel where heat is applied and the film tightly shrunk about the load. A most commonly used heat shrink material for this purpose is polyethylene film; however, when such film is shrunk on loads of individual packages where the packages themselves are wrapped in polyethylene film, the shrinking heat applied in the tunnel causes the outer polyethylene sheet or sleeve to fuse to the individual packages on the pallet, thus making it difficult if not impossible to remove the individual packages intact from the pallet when they reach their destination.
The problem is similar in smaller six and eight-pack packages of containers which are wrapped in shrink wrap film or film and foam laminates. It is becoming common practice to wrap an assembled group of bottles in a heat-shrinkable preformed sleeve, and then wrapping a number of such packages into a larger integral package or unit.

Merchandising package for containers and method of making


A skin lotion formulation, which is one of four components used in a cosmetic regime, is disclosed. Applying the regime to the skin increases epidermal cell turnover without skin irritation. The other three components used in the regime are a cleanser, a cream, and a tonic.

This invention relates to one component for use in a novel cell renewal cosmetic regime, which regime increases the rate of cell turnover without skin irritation.
In the natural renewing cycle of skin, cells are constantly being born, rising through the epidermal layers to the surface and falling off. A young skin renews its surface layers every two to three weeks. A mature skin can take twice as long. And the longer this process takes, the more cells develop areas of weakness that cause a faster loss of natural moisture and the dry lifeless appearance that's found in older looking skin.
Acceleration of natural cell renewal or turnover speeds the replacement of dead cells by new ones in the outer epidermal layer or stratum corneum, thereby giving the skin a younger-looking appearance. The newer cells are moist and fresh, replacing the old, dry cells on the surface.
Although irritation of the skin will increase the sloughing off of dead stratum corneum cells, such irritation is undesirable because of the damage to the skin. It is, therefore, desirable to increase cell turnover without irritation.


An improved method is provided for determining when a set of multivariate data (such as a chromatogram or a spectrum) is an outlier. The method involves using a procedure such as Principal Component Analysis to create a model describing a calibration set of spectra or chromatograms which is known to be normal, and to create residuals describing the portion of a particular spectrum or chromatogram which is not described by the model. The improvement comprises using an average residual spectrum calculated for the calibration set, rather than the origin of the model as a reference point for comparing a spectrum or chromatogram obtained from an unknown sample. The present invention also includes separating a complex set of data into various sub-parts such as sub-chromatograms or sub-spectra, so that outliers in any sub-part can be more readily detected. In one particular embodiment, the invention is directed towards a method for dividing a chromatogram into the sub-parts of peak information, baseline shape, baseline offset, and noise.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of analyzing multivariate data generated by an instrument in order to determine whether abnormal features are present. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved method for rapidly identifying instrumentation or process failures in a chemical system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
On-line analytical instrumentation generates data that is used in a wide variety of applications, such as closed-loop control of a process, quality assurance of a product, or environmental and safety functions. Often, this data is in the form of multivariate data such as absorbance readings at various wavelengths, a detector response at various times, or any other set of data that consists of multiple measured values on each individual sample. The reliability of the data depends largely upon the performance of the instrument used to generate the data. If the instrument fails to work properly, the data generated may contain little if any valid information.
Problems with analytical instruments are often first detected when an individual notices that unusual data is being generated. Unexpected peaks, larger than expected noise levels, and baseline offsets are just a few of the features that may lead the individual to question the validity of a chromatogram or spectrum. Monitoring the data as it is generated for the appearance of these unusual features allows for the detection of developing problems before they become severe enough to affect the ongoing analysis. Individuals monitoring the raw chromatogram or spectrum data perform the largely unconscious activity of learning from experience what a "normal" set of data looks like and then deciding whether the present set of data is reasonably similar. Unfortunately, it is not practical to manually monitor all of the data, as many on-line instruments produce more than a thousand sets of data per day.
Repetitive manual tasks, such as monitoring large amounts of produced data, are generally capable of being automated through the use of computers. Furthermore, computers are widely used to collect the data generated by on-line instruments, and so are readily available to perform routine monitoring. Unlike an analyst, however, computers cannot perform any "unconscious" activity. Accordingly, in order to monitor the data for abnormal features, the computer must first be programmed to identify normal features in a spectrum or chromatogram.
The field of study that deals with teaching the computer to emulate the process of learning and recognizing features in data is called pattern recognition. Pattern recognition techniques are typically used to sort sets of data into groups having similar features. In outlier identification, however, only one group is identified which is defined by the features in a set of data containing only sets of multivariate data which are known to be normal.
Outlier identification is accomplished by first teaching the computer to recognize "normal", "acceptable" or "expected" features in multivariate data known to be normal. When a new spectrum or chromatogram is obtained, its features are compared to what is expected. If the data has additional features, or lacks significant features, it is labelled "abnormal", "unacceptable", or an "outlier". Outliers may be the result of many different causes such as instrument failures, mechanical problems or process problems such as impurities in the analyzed materials. Pattern recognition techniques are able to identify any changes in the appearance of the data, regardless of its source, whereas simpler systems which are programmed to signal the operator whenever certain unwanted values are reached, can only be used to detect foreseen problems. Accordingly, when pattern recognition techniques are used, the potential for abnormalities in the data being undetected is reduced.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is one procedure that can be used as a pattern recognition technique. PCA will be used below to illustrate the invention, but it should be understood that the present invention can be used with any technique which can model features in the data (e.g. Partial Least Squares technique--see P. Geladi, and B. R. Kowalski, Analytica Chemica Acta, 185, pg. 1, 1986).
One way of describing how PCA works is to think of PCA reorienting a set of data so that each spectrum or chromatogram becomes a single point in a multidimensional space. The number of measurements which make up the original spectrum or chromatogram defines the number of dimensions in the new coordinate system. A group of calibration chromatograms or spectra which the analyst has determined to be representative of the expected spectra or chromatograms can be placed in this coordinate system forming a cloud of points in the multidimensional space. PCA mathematically describes this cloud of points using as few dimensions (or principal components) as possible. Residual sets of multivariate data (residuals) which identify the portion of each calibration spectrum or chromatogram which was not contained within the model are then calculated. The sum of the squares (SS) of the residuals are then compared with the SS of the residuals obtained for unknown samples to see if the unknown samples are within the proper range.
The current uses of the PCA method for outlier detection are only concerned with the SS of the residual spectra (see Gerd Puchwein and Anton Eibelhuber, "Outlier Detection in Routine Analysis of Agricultural Grain Products by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy", Analytica Chemica Acta, 223, pp. 95-103, 1989). This is analogous to using the square of the Euclidean distance of the residual spectrum from the origin. Theoretically, the PCA model could be constructed to take into account all features of the calibration set. This would result in residual spectra randomly distributed about the origin as the residual spectra would only contain random noise. In this situation the SS of the residual spectra is an appropriate measure of normality. Experience has shown, however, that when more principal components are added to the model in order to describe every feature in the calibration chromatograms or spectra, the model becomes too close a fit of the calibration set data; the model begins to fit the noise in the data (overfitting). When this happens, the unknown samples which should be classified as normal will be classified as outliers because their noise structure will not be identical to the noise structure of the members of the calibration set. Therefore, a better approach would be to use fewer principal components in the modeling, and allow relatively small features to remain in the residual spectra. In this situation the residual spectra are not distributed about the origin, and therefore, the SS of the residual spectra is no longer an appropriate measure of the acceptableness of the spectra. To take into account the location of the residual spectra relative to the origin, the average of the residual spectra is used as a reference point rather than the origin. Consequently, this approach avoids overfitting by reducing the number of principal components and increases the sensitivity for detecting abnormal features or outliers by using the average residual spectrum as a reference point.
Furthermore, the PCA method cited above has been applied only to near infrared spectra. Further difficulties are encountered when expanding the known pattern recognition techniques to chromatographic applications. In chromatographic applications, some features of the data are expected to change over time. For example in gas chromatography, as the column ages, changes in the baseline become more prevalent. If the baseline offset or shape changes, all of the data being produced will be labelled outliers, even though valid peak data is being generated.

Method for interpreting complex data and detecting abnormal instrumentor process behavior


A sheet transporting device including a first and a second transporting rollers having different starting/stopping characteristics and capable of retransporting a sheet after the sheet is temporarily held between the first and the second transporting rollers. The sheet transporting device detects an amount of loop in a sheet which is produced between the first and the second transporting rollers and controls timing by which the second transporting rollers are started so as to delay the start until after the first transporting rollers are started in accordance with the detected amount of the loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet transporting device for use in sheet handling apparatus such as copying machines, laser printers and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet transporting device capable of delivering sheets between a first transporting means and a second transporting means having different stopping characteristics and starting characteristics, and capable of re-transporting a sheet after the sheet is temporarily held in a state bilaterally straddling the first and second transporting means.
2. Description of the Related Art
The aforesaid type of sheet transporting device is used, for example, when a copying machine with a document feeder disposed on a base unit forms images on a sheet transported from the base unit document feeder. More specifically, in the main unit of the copying machine, the transported transfer sheet is temporarily stopped at a timing roller disposed immediately in front of the transfer portion and then re-transported after a predetermined interval so as to prevent skewing and align the leading edges of the sheet and the image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. During the aforementioned temporary stopping time, the sheet often bilaterally straddles the base unit side and the copying machine side depending on the size of the sheet. Thus, the sheet transporting mechanism on the base unit side and the sheet transporting mechanism on the copying machine side, which feeds the transfer sheet received from the base unit side to the timing roller, are temporarily stopped for a predetermined interval after the paper sheet has reached the timing roller and then are re-actuated with a predetermined timing.
If the sheet transporting mechanism within the base unit is connected to and controlled by the various mechanisms within the main unit of the copying machine, these mechanisms and controls become quite complex and expensive, and further make it quite inconvenient to move the copying machine and the like. Therefore, the aforesaid construction and controls may be simplified by operating the sheet transporting mechanism in the base unit by means of a motor independent of the copying machine unit, thereby also allowing convenience in moving the copying machine and the like. In such a case, the timing roller in the copying machine unit and the sheet transporting mechanism disposed anteriorly thereto jointly use the main motor provided in the copying machine unit, and are mutually connected via the main motor and a clutch so as to be respectively actuatable as required. The base unit sheet transporting mechanism, however, is actuated and stopped by switching on and off an independent motor without providing a discoupling structure between said sheet transporting unit and the independent motor of the base unit, thereby simplifying the construction and controls.
The differences between the timing roller and the anterior sheet transporting mechanism on the copying machine side and the sheet transporting mechanism and the drive mechanism on the base unit side produces differences in drive torque and inertia. These differences in torque and inertia likewise provide different stopping and starting characteristics.
Therefore, when the transfer sheet is re-transported after being temporarily stopped as previously described, a loop is produced in the transfer sheet between the sheet transporting mechanism of the copying machine and the sheet transporting mechanism of the base unit. This loop is caused by differences in the stopping characteristics of the temporary stopping interval.
The sheet transporting mechanism in the base unit and the sheet transporting mechanism in the copying machine are both driven simultaneously when the transfer sheet is re-transported. Therefore, when the transfer sheet is re-transported while in the previously described looped condition, wrinkling and jamming of the sheet may occur.
The amount of looping of the sheet will differ depending on the material and thickness and the like of the sheet, and depending on differences in the transporting characteristics at times. Accordingly, this looping condition cannot be corrected via a predetermined correction value.

Sheet transporting device having variable loop sheet alignment


A ship's steering gear mechanism (10) embodying a number of improvements to the well-known Rapson-Slide apparatus provides greatly improved operating efficiencies and cost effectiveness by inclusion of a specially configured transverse travelling channel, trunion-mounted hydraulic cylinders (12* and 14*), and reduced friction sliding/rolling slider elements (48 and 144). The traveling channels formed by a pair of transverse beams (34) prevent harmful forces from being reflected back into the hydraulic cylinders, thus reducing their size and strength requirements, while other improvements decrease operating losses due to friction/stiction, and compensate for both static and dynamic component misalignments.

Methods and apparatus for actuating ships' rudders have a long history of development and have over the years produced a wide range of mechanisms directed to the task of controllably setting ships' rudder angles. One particularly successful approach is found in the family of Rapson-Slide mechanisms that basically convert rectilinear port/starboard motion produced by heavy thruster devices into arcuate movement directly coupled to the ship's rudder post by crosshead pin/slider/fork components. Due to the substantive forces involved in setting and maintaining rudder angles, especially as ship size has increased, and further due to the criticality of this ship's component to life and commerce, the evolution of steering mechanisms has been conservatively paced with primary emphasis placed on safe and reliable approaches. Thus, the Rapson-Slide mechanism has come into widespread usage because of its simple mechanical arrangement that lends itself readily to strong and reliable component fabrication and long service life.
The availability of such a proven mechanism coupled with the advances in hydraulic control systems of all types for powering the driving elements has led to a plateau in the evolution of ships' steering mechanisms. Descriptions of typical prior art approaches may be found in a number of U.S. patents. Illustrative teachings of pressurized liquid-operated ships' steering gear systems, including the use of a wide range of Rapson-Slide type of mechanisms, are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,365,573 to Jamieson, 4,209,986 to Cunningham, and 4,408,555 to Aung. An even earlier teaching of a somewhat related simplified ship's steering gear mechanism is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,613 to Guay. The most recent three of these patents show the use of four hydraulic cylinders arranged as two pairs in parallel, with each pair in opposition to one another to actuate compound crosshead assemblies, which have found widespread acceptability in recent years. The 1980 patent to Cunningham provides a fairly detailed description of the closed loop hydraulic control system used to actuate the apparatus, while all three disclosures stress the reliability and redundancy of their associated mechanical and hydraulic systems. The early (1956) patent to Guay discloses the use of a single pair of double acting fluid cylinders for driving a lever and slide mechanism, the two cylinders interconnected by a stationary guide member on one side of its slider block.
Present day steering gear systems have well addressed the requirements of safety, reliability, and long service life. The question of mechanical efficiency has not, however, received anywhere near as much active attention. The improvements embodied in the present invention admirably address the efficiency issues inherent in the Rapson-Slide mechanisms and provide significant benefits in this regard while retaining all of the desirable attributes of the basic device.


A robot system includes a mobile robot having a controller executing a control system for controlling operation of the robot, a cloud computing service in communication with the controller of the robot, and a remote computing device in communication with the cloud computing service. The remote computing device communicates with the robot through the cloud computing service.

A robot is generally an electro-mechanical machine guided by a computer or electronic programming. Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to one physical location. An example of a mobile robot that is in common use today is an automated guided vehicle or automatic guided vehicle (AGV). An AGV is generally a mobile robot that follows markers or wires in the floor, or uses a vision system or lasers for navigation. Mobile robots can be found in industry, military and security environments. They also appear as consumer products, for entertainment or to perform certain tasks like vacuum cleaning and home assistance.


A slot milling disc has an outer peripheral surface provided with a number of cutting edges, an attachment arrangement allowing rotary preventing attachment of the slot milling disc to a rotatable mounting shaft and at least one flushing fluid channel having a confined cross-section and extending within the milling disc from an inlet opening located in a central part of the disc and configured to be connected to a source of flushing fluid to at least one outlet opening in the peripheral surface of the disc. The flushing fluid channel has an inner channel portion extending from the inlet opening towards the peripheral surface and ending before reaching the peripheral surface and at least one outer channel portion extending from the inner channel portion while changing direction of the flushing fluid channel and extending to the at least one outlet opening.

DE 10145006 discloses a slot milling disc comprising an integrated disc-shaped portion and a hub-formed portion, which is arranged at the centre of the disc-shaped portion and which is adapted to be connected to a rotatable shaft at a bearing surface having a recess or spline at the rear end of the hub portion. The disc has coolant channels having a confined cross section and extending radially within the milling disc to outlet openings in the bottom of chip spaces separating adjacent projections in the peripheral surface of the disc provided with cutting inserts. The coolant channels provide an efficient cooling of the cutting inserts when this is needed during operation of the slot milling disc. The slot milling disc may however be improved in terms of evacuation of cuttings or chips, especially when cutting comparatively narrow and deep slots in a work piece.
The main challenge in slot or groove milling is usually chip evacuation. Chip issues often harm production efficiency, lower component quality or cause tool breakage, especially when milling narrow and deep slots/grooves.
There are slot milling discs being formed as thin discs having a thickness of only about 2-10 mm, which around their outer peripheries are provided with a number of cutting edges and which are primarily used for cutting grooves in various work pieces. On one of their side surfaces these discs have a bearing surface closest to their centre axis which is arranged to be facing and clamped towards a mounting surface in an end of a rotatable mounting shaft. The still unpublished European patent application No.14164374.2 discloses a slot milling disc in which the attachment means is configured to force a bearing surface of the disc towards a mounting surface at an end surface of a mounting shaft and flushing fluid channels having a confined cross-section extend within the milling disc from an inlet opening in the bearing surface to an outlet opening in the peripheral surface of the disc located in a chip space in the form of a concaveness in the peripheral surface between adjacent projections which are each provided with a cutting edge. This means that flushing fluid jets may also for thin such discs, which may be used to mill deep slots/grooves, be directed to reach into such slots/grooves without any risk of hitting the work piece beside the slot/groove machined, so that the efficiency of the flushing will be substantially improved with respect to flushing fluid jets directed towards the milling disc and the work piece from the outside.

Slot milling disc, a slot milling tool comprising a slot milling disc and a disc for a milling disc


There is provided a vehicle having a first microphone positioned to receive sounds originating from outside of the vehicle, a first analog-to-digital converter configured to covert the sounds received by the first microphone to digital audio signals, a first key to be carried by a first driver of the vehicle, a memory having a first plurality of voice commands stored therein, and a hardware processor. The hardware processor is configured to detect proximity of the first key to the vehicle, enable a voice recognition, in response to detecting the proximity of the first key to the vehicle, process the digital audio signals received by the first microphone, after enabling the voice recognition, to detect a first voice command of the first plurality of voice commands from the first driver, and altering a first setting of the vehicle, in response to detecting the first voice command from the first driver.

As automotive luxury has been increasing, the isolation of the driver from the outside world has increased due to features, such as noise cancellation and double insulation windows. These features are great for increasing driver comfort and relaxation, but drastically reduce a driver's awareness of events occurring outside of the vehicle.

Systems and methods for use in a vehicle for detecting external events


A surgical endoscope has a shaft and a main body affixed to the proximal end of the shaft. A duct to permit passage of an operating implement extends through the main body. An optics and a fiber optics extend through the main body from an ocular and/or camera adapter and a fiber optics hookup which are mounted on the main body. A thumb grip having a proximal gripping surface and a first finger-grip having a distal gripping surface are attached to opposite sides of the main body so that the finger gripping surface is distally offset from the thumb gripping surface and is circularly separated from it by substantially 180.degree..

Endoscopes of this type are held and guided by the surgeon in the fingers of one hand when performing surgery. The fingers seize the endoscope by its main body.
The surgeon must manually move the endoscope in order, for example, to insert it into an aperture in a patient's body. This insertion entails rotating, pivoting, pushing and pulling the endoscope which is furthermore required to exactly follow the surgeon's manual guidance to prevent injury to the patient's tissue or vessels.
As a result, absolutely reliable gripping contact between the fingers of the guiding hand and the endoscope must be assured. The surgeon's other hand holds the proximal end of an operative tool inserted into the endoscope's operative duct and, by driving that tool, performs specific functions at the site of surgery.
Endoscopes of this type are used in particular in the form of ureteroscopes. The surgeon must insert the ureteroscope through the patient's urethra, pass it through the bladder space and then guide the ureteroscope through the ostium into the ureter. The described path is traversed while rotating, pivoting and pushing the ureteroscope. Reliable gripping contact between the fingers of the guiding hand and the ureteroscope must be assured to preclude injuring delicate tissue, for instance the bladder or ureter, by unintended ureteroscope displacements.
Conventional endoscopes incur the substantial drawback of lacking dedicated gripping surfaces. Such endoscopes are seized at arbitrary sites, almost anywhere on the main body which, however, does not allow secure and convenient gripping. Truly safe handling cannot be achieved. Because the main body is seized in a more or less unconstrained manner, there may follow undesired actuation of functional elements such as valves, switches or the like.


A solid electrolyte for a lithium battery includes Li3+xGexAs1-xS4 where x=0 to 0.50. The value of x can be a range of any high value and any lower value from 0 to 0.50. For example, x can be 0.25 to 0.50, and x can be 0.3 to 0.4, among many other possible ranges. In one embodiment x=0.33 such that the solid electrolyte is Li3.334Ge0.334As0.666S4. A solid electrolyte for a lithium battery can include LiAsS4 wherein ½ to ⅔ of the As is substituted with Ge. A lithium battery and a method for making a lithium battery are also disclosed.

The efficient harvesting and delivery of renewable energy supplies are the future of sustainable energy production. Energy storage is critical to enable a stable supply of energy from available energy resources. With the current growth in need of portable consumer electronics, it demands much safer, high-density, light-weight, compact batteries. Although lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are widely used in portable electronics, their large scale application is still limited by low energy density, relative high cost of material production, and safety issues. Replacing carbonate based electrolytes by non-volatile and thermally stable solid electrolytes is one of the solutions to solve the crucial problems currently associated with liquid electrolytes. Although solid electrolytes are non-flammable, their low ionic conductivities, relative high activation energy, and interfacial resistance hinder their practical applications.
The ionic conductivity of solid electrolytes usually changes dramatically with temperature because of the relatively high activation energy of solid electrolytes. Stable performance under changing temperature environments in a solid state device is a great challenge. Therefore, low activation energy in a material is crucial to achieve consistent performance of the device in a broad temperature range, especially below room temperature. Similarly, high activation energy in a solid state device could give rise to serious issues in material processing under changing temperature environments. Therefore, low activation energy in a material is necessary to achieve consistent performance of the device in a broad temperature range especially below room temperature.
Interfacial resistance is another important factor that cannot be ignored when it comes to the practical application of solid electrolytes in all-solid-state devices. For example, a fast lithium superionic conductor Li10GeP2S12 has been reported by Kamaya et al., the conductivity of which reached 10−2 S cm−1 at room temperature. Since the lithium ion transference number in this solid electrolyte is unity, the lithium ion conductivity is even higher than carbonate-based liquid electrolytes. However, metallic Li compatibility still remains a challenge to be resolved.

High-conduction GE substituted LiAsS4 solid electrolyte


A method and apparatus are disclosed for correcting erroneous downhole resistivity measurements. In particular, capacitive coupling downhole leads to erroneous resistivity readings. The invention compensates for such coupling by measuring a survey voltage between the resistivity tool voltage and a reference voltage on the wireline cable. A correction voltage is measured between a point on the armor around the wireline cable and the reference voltage. The characteristics of a transmission wireline used at a specific site are measured and are combined with the measured downhole correction voltage and survey voltage to determine more accurately formation resistivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wellbore resistivity measurements. More particularly, the present invention relates to correcting erroneous downhole resistivity measurements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modem petroleum drilling and production operations demand a great quantity of information relating to parameters and conditions down hole. Such information typically includes characteristics of the earth formations traversed by the wellbore, in addition to data relating to the size and configuration of the bore hole itself. The collection of information relating to conditions down hole commonly is referred to as "logging." Logging has been known in the industry for many years as a technique for providing information regarding the particular earth formation being drilled and can be performed by several methods. In conventional oil well wire line logging, a probe or "sonde" is lowered into the borehole after some or all of the well has been drilled, and is used to determine certain characteristics of the formations traversed by the borehole. A wireline sonde may include a source device for transmitting energy into the formation, and one or more receivers for detecting the energy reflected from the formation. The sonde typically is constructed as a hermetically sealed cylinder for housing the sensors, which hangs at the end of a long cable or "wireline." The cable or wireline provides mechanical support to the sonde and also provides an electrical connection between the sensors and associated instrumentation within the sonde, and electrical equipment located at the surface of the well. Normally, the cable supplies operating power to the sonde and is used as an electrical conductor to transmit information signals from the sonde to the surface and to control signals from the surface to the sonde. In accordance with conventional techniques, various parameters of the earth's formations are measured and correlated with the position of the sonde in the borehole, as the sonde is pulled uphole.
One concern for every downhole tool is the accuracy of its measurements. For example, in the prior art, real world constraints have limited the accuracy, and hence the reliability, of downhole resistivity tools. Referring now to FIG. 1, a wellbore 100 in formation 105 surrounds downhole current supply electrodes on resistivity tool 110. Formation 105 may contain high resistivity portion 150 and low resistivity portion 155. Also shown are return B-electrode 120, reference N-electrode 125, and comparator 130. Tool 110 provides electrical current 140 to formation 105. Current 140 flows to return B-electrode 120. Comparator 130, attached to tool 110 and N-electrode 125, measures the potential drop between the tool 110 and the N-electrode 125. The resistivity of the formation 105 may then be calculated based upon this measured voltage differential at comparator 130.
Nonetheless, a calculated resistivity based upon the assembly of FIG. 1 may be inaccurate, particularly when it occupies a formation with low and high resistivity strata. More particularly, measurements between resistivity tool 110 and the N-electrode 125 should ideally approximate the measurements between a resistivity tool 110 and infinity. However, when the N-electrode 125 and B-electrode 120 are spaced relatively near to one another, they interact and affect the voltage measurement at logging device 110. This interaction is particularly pronounced when the formation 150 surrounding the N-electrode 125 and B-electrode 120 has a high resistivity, whereas the formation 155 surrounding logging tool 110 has a low resistivity. The problem under these conditions is that the measured survey voltage from the tool is relatively low. However, there is a very high potential drop to the B-electrode from infinity due to its location in a high resistivity bed. Because the N-electrode is also surrounded by the high resistivity bed, the potential at the N-electrode approaches the potential at the B-electrode and thus a highly erroneous tool reading results. This effect often occurs in the Delaware basin in West Texas and as such is known as the Delaware effect. A similar phenomenon is called the Groningen effect so named after the Groningen formation in Holland.
One attempt to solve this problem in the prior art involved placing the B-electrode 120 at the surface (not shown). By placing the B-electrode 120 at the surface, it was thought that resistivity measurement problems would be solved because the B-electrode 120 would not be proximate to the very high resistive bed surrounding the N-electrode 125. However, this solution was not as effective as had been hoped, with substantial measurement error still present. Schlumberger attempted to correct these errors in their ARI-type laterolog tools. Such corrections are complicated, and are based on mathematical modeling. The correction factors often are dependent upon knowledge that is not known "a priori." For example, the bore hole diameter, and formation and mud resistivity upon the tool (which also must be measured as they are not known beforehand). Further, a system placing the B-electrode at the surface is complicated because placement of the B-electrode 120 on the surface requires control of the current supply at the surface.
An alternate and more successful approach to solving the Delaware effect problem was placement of the N-electrode 125 on the surface in a mud pit or some other location that gives a good electrical connection to the ground. This approach also separates the B-electrode from the N-electrode, and thus was expected to improve the downhole measurements of resistivity. It was also thought that such an approach would not require much of the complexity involved when placing the B-electrode on the surface. While this solution yields improved results over placing the B-electrode 120 on the surface, it still has certain drawbacks. These problems arise from the conductive cable armor that extends downhole and that supports and connects the down hole resistivity tool 110 and B-electrode 120 to the surface. Thus, interaction still occurs between the B-electrode 120 and N-electrode 125.
These and other problems exist in the prior art, and thus there is a need for a device or method to solve these problems.

Method of compensating laterlog measurements for perturbation of survey voltage by cable armor voltage


A machine for bending a first set and a second set of folded deformable links projecting outwardly from a heat exchanger core made is disclosed. The machine comprises a base, a transport mechanism for transporting the core to a workstation, a locking mechanism for locking the core in a predetermined orientation in the workstation, and a bending mechanism attached to the base for bending a set of folded deformable links against the core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to machines for fabricating heat exchangers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a machine for bending links projecting from heat exchangers.
2. Disclosure Information
Plate-fin heat exchangers are well known in the art. In these types of heat exchangers, a plurality of elongated plates are joined together, such as through a lamination process to define a plurality of passageways for the movement of a fluid therethrough. Each of the passageways is formed by the inwardly facing surfaces of a pair of joined plates. The interior surfaces of the joined plates generally define a central fluid conducting section. The passageways are interconnected so that a fluid may flow through the plurality of joined plates forming the heat exchanger. As is also known in the art, conductive fin strips are located between outwardly facing surfaces of the pairs of joined plates. Heat exchangers of this type have particular utility as evaporators for air conditioning systems of motor vehicles.
It is known to manufacture these types of heat exchangers from a plurality of interconnected plate members, stamped from a sheet of deformable material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,338, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, teaches one such method of folding a plurality of plate members in a zig-zag or bellows-like fashion to fabricate a heat exchanger core. A plurality of links interconnect the plate members. Upon folding, these links project from the heat exchanger core, making it difficult to stack cores one upon another without damaging an adjacent core. It would therefore be desirable to minimize the links and the amount the links project from the folded core.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which can bend the tab members extending from the core against the core to minimize the damage to the heat exchanger and to surround components.


A thermal barrier double-wall construction panel made up of at least four layers which includes a foam insulation core with exterior and interior surface sides, an inner and an outer liner (or skin), and at least one engineered thermal barrier support structure located between the foam core and one of the liners.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to commercial and industrial equipment for the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (H.V.A.C.) industry. In particular, the invention relates to an H.V.A.C. housing (also called an H.V.A.C. cabinet or unit) which is insulated with foamed insulation and composed of materials intended to create a thermal barrier to isolate the insulation from the interior of the building, in conformance with the International Building Code (I.B.C.).
2. Description of Related Art
Heat exchangers, compressors, blowers, filters and other H.V.A.C. equipment are often housed within an air handling enclosure. The enclosure helps shelter the equipment, provides a sound barrier, and perhaps most importantly, the enclosure provides a conduit for directing the air through the equipment. Air handling enclosures usually comprise a number of sheet metal panels that are interconnected to create a box-like structure.
The most current state of the art for H.V.A.C. enclosure design is an inner and outer layer of sheet metal enclosing a foam insulation core. Therefore, the current H.V.A.C. panel design can be described as a three-layer sandwich assembly composed of an inner liner (usually sheet metal), insulation (usually foam insulation, but occasionally fiberglass insulation, creating the core of the panel), and an outer liner (usually sheet metal). Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,903 (2005) which provides a description and drawings of the state of the art, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
In most cases, the panels are insulated to minimize heat loss between the interior and exterior of the enclosure. The primary functions of the insulation are to provide a reduction in sound transmission from the enclosed machinery into the surrounding space and to improve operating efficiency by minimizing undesirable heat loss or gain into the surrounding space. Insulation is rated according to its thermal resistance, or R-value, with a higher value being more desirable. In the past, fiberglass batt insulation has been used, and currently many major manufacturers have converted from using fiberglass batt to using some type of expanded foam insulation. Fiberglass batt can have an R-value varying from approximately 3.0 to 4.0 per inch thickness, and expanded foam insulation can have an R-value of anywhere between 4.0 and 7.5 or above, per inch thickness.
FIG. 4 illustrates a current state of the art panel composed of a polyurethane foam core 42 with an interior metal liner 41 and an exterior metal liner 43. The major disadvantages of using this type of barrier with an expanded foam insulation are the flame, smoke and chemical by-products generated by the foam during a fire. In addition, there is a tendency for the polyurethane foam core 42 to delaminate from its metal liners 41, 43.
Due to the fire and smoke characteristics of foam insulation, the I.B.C. requires that any foam insulation used in a building be isolated from the interior of the building by an approved thermal barrier. Sheet metal is not approved as a thermal barrier, and consequently the need exists for a panel design that can provide this barrier.
It is also appreciated that H.V.A.C. air distribution equipment operates with a static pressure differential across the housing walls. This pressure differential causes a deflection in the panels resulting in a slight bowing of the panels. This bowing puts high stress on the bond between the foam insulation and the metal of the panel, often leading to delamination and structural weakness.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an air handling enclosure with self-supporting, insulated thermal panels using a core of foam insulation, and satisfying the current I.B.C. (2012) requirements for thermal barriers over foam insulation. This invention uses an engineered barrier between the inner and/or outer liners and the insulation to create a thermal barrier assembly.
Another object of the invention is to use a foam insulation core with an engineered honeycomb structural layer located between the core and the inner and outer liners.
Another object of the invention is to provide a thermal barrier for any type of insulation core, whether it is foamed in place or made of pre-manufactured sheets, and whether it be polyurethane, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (P.V.C.) or any other type of insulation for which the I.B.C. requires a thermal barrier.
Another object of the invention is to use fiberglass reinforced plastic inner and/or outer liners. Fiberglass reinforced plastic has a higher thermal resistance than steel or aluminum and therefore contributes to the properties of a thermal barrier. The use of fiberglass reinforced plastic liners allows a slight reduction in the thickness of the engineered barrier.
Another object of the invention is to use a chemical bonding agent, such as a resin between the polyurethane insulation, the structural core, and the panel outer walls. This embodiment may include a fiberglass weave, cloth, mat, or other porous material to help absorb resin and bond the polyurethane to the structural core.

High strength thermal barrier panel for an H.V.A.C. unit housing


An image-forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system equipped with an electrophotographic photoreceptor, an electrostatically charger, a light-exposure, a developing device, and a transferring device, wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor is an electrophotographic photoreceptor having at least a charge generating layer, a charge transport layer, and an uppermost surface layer successively laminated on an electrically conductive substrate, the charge transport layer having a layer containing at least 45% by weight a charge transporting material, and the wear rate of the uppermost surface layer being less than the wear rate of said layer, and the time from a light-exposure to a development is not longer than 150 m sec. The image-forming apparatus is excellent in the printing durability and the stability, gives less image flowing, and is small-sized and high-speed.

In an image-forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system, by applying an image-forming process of electrostatically charging, light-exposing, and developing to an electrophotographic photoreceptor of a rotary drum-type, etc., to form an image, and after transferring the image onto a transfer material, the image is fixed to obtained a copy and as such an image-forming apparatus, there are, for example, a plain paper copying machine (PPC), a laser printer, a light emitting diode (LED) printer, a liquid crystal printer, etc. As the electrophotographic photoreceptor used for the apparatus, an inorganic type electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising selenium, arsenic-selenium, cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide, etc., has been used. On the other hand, the investigation and development of organic type electrophotographic photoreceptor which are inexpensive and excellent in the points of the productivity and the waste disposal have been actively made and among them, a so-called function-separation type laminated electrophotographic photoreceptor having the laminate of a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer is excellent in the point of the electrophotographic characteristics such as the sensitivity, the charging property, and repeating stability, etc., and various such electrophotographic photoreceptors have been proposed and practically used.
Recently, with the increase of the performance of electrophotographic photoreceptors, high-speed copying machines and printers have been used. Furthermore, with the propagation of computers, the needs of so-called desk top publishing have been increased and small-sizing of the machine itself and small-sizing of an electrophotographic photoreceptor accompanied thereby have been strongly desired.
To obtain a stable image, it is necessary to remove the surface charge on the electrophotographic photoreceptor during the time of after light-exposing the image on the electrophotographic photoreceptor and before initiating the development. The requirement for the high speed and small-sizing is, in other words, shortening of the time required for removing the surface time, that is, the response time. If the response time is not sufficiently quick, breaking of images and thinning of fine lines occur, which becomes a large problem in a color image-forming machine requiring a particularly severe color reproducibility. The response time is dominated by the charge mobility (.mu.) in the charge transport layer and the mobility is defined by following formula (1) from the thickness L (cm) of the charge transport layer, the voltage V (V) applied to the charge transport layer, and the time t.sub.T (second) required for a carrier reaching another surface of the charge transport layer from one surface of the transport layer: EQU .mu.=L.sup.2 /V.multidot.T.sub.t (1)
Because the charge mobility is dominated by the charge transporting material and the molecular structure of a binder resin in the transport layer, vigorous investigations have been made about these materials for increasing the charge mobility. As the results thereof, as the effective means for increasing the charge mobility, the following matters (a) to (c) have been clarified.
That is, (a) the charge transporting material has many phenyl groups capable of conjugating with a nitrogen atom, has a large extension of a conjugated system, and does no cause the deviation of the charge in the molecule (for example "Densishahsin Gakkai Shi (Journal of Electrophotographic Society)", 25(3), 16(1986); "Journal of Electrophotographic Society", 29(4), 366(1990); Journal of Applied Physics", 69, 821(1991), etc.).
(b) The binder resin does not have a polar group forming a trap of a carrier (for example, "Journal of Electrophotographic Society", 64th Investigation Forum, 75(1989); "Philosophical Magazine, Lett.", 62(1), 61(19990), etc.), etc.
(c) The concentration of the charge transporting material in the charge transport layer is increased (for example, "Journal of Applied Physics", 43(12), 5033(1972), "Journal of Electrophotographic Society", 25(3), 16(1986), etc.).
As the results of these investigations, practical materials as shown below have been investigated. That is, as the charge transporting material, a high-charge-mobility charge transporting material such as triarylamine, tetraarylbenzidine, stylbene, etc., and as the binder resin, styrene, polyphenylene oxide, polycarbonate, etc., have been developed and practically used. Also, as a means of increasing the concentration of the charge transporting material in the charge transport layer, charge transporting polycarbonate, polyester, polysilane, etc., obtained by polymerizing each charge transporting component of a charge transporting material have been vigorously investigated as the effective means. However, these charge transporting materials have been practically used for copying machines and printers but have not yet sufficient for the needs of further increasing the speed and further small-sizing.
At present, an electrophotographic photoreceptor of a so-called lamination type, that is, composed of a laminate of laminating a charge transport layer on a charge generating layer has become the mainstream and thus generally the charge transport layer becomes a surface layer. However, in a low-molecule dispersion type charge transport layer which is the mainstream at present, the charge transport layer having a sufficient performance in regard to the electric characteristics has been obtained but because a low molecular material is dispersed in a binder resin, there is a fault that the mechanical properties essential to the binder resin are lowered and the layer is essential weak in regard to abrasion. Accordingly, the amount of the charge transporting material dispersed in the binder resin is practically at most from 45 to 50% by weight. Also, when polystyrene, polyphenylene oxide, a polyphenylenevinylene derivative, etc., is used as the binder resin, the charge mobility can be increased even when the amount of the charge transporting material is same but these resins are inferior in the mechanical strength to polycarbonate and a polyester resin which have been practically used. Consequently, from various practical problems, there also occurs a limit in the response time and in the case of using for the process wherein the time from light-exposure to development is generally 150 m sec., or shorter, particularly 120 m sec., or shorter, and more particularly 100 m sec., or shorter, a problem becomes obvious. From the special demand of the circumference of an electrophotographic photoreceptor, the condition becomes remarkable when the diameter of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is not larger than 40 mm, particularly not larger than 30 mm, and more particularly not larger than 25 mm. Also, a contact charging system which has been practically used as a charging method of being reluctant to generate ozone for the consideration to an environmental problem, particularly, a contact charging system wherein the charging voltage has an alternating current component caused an abrasion acceleration of at least from 5 to 10 times as compared with a non-contact charging system such as Corotron, etc., and the problem of the durability of the electrophotographic photoreceptor becomes more remarkable. The more increase of the copying speed and more small-sizing of an electrophotographic photoreceptor means that the number of the repeated use of an electrophotographic photoreceptor per unit time is increased and in the performance of an electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present, the exchange of an electrophotographic photoreceptor becomes inevitable in a short time, which becomes a large cost up. Moreover, it is necessary to hasten the response time, as a means for increase the mobility for the purpose, it is most actual to increase the charge transporting material in the charge transport layer, but the increase of the amount of the charge transporting material is accompanied by more lowering the mechanical strength of the charge transport layer, which caused a problem in practical use.
On the other hand, a method of incorporating at least 54% triarylamine or the derivative thereof in a charge transport layer for the purposes of improving the photosensitivity and the response time is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53339/1993. However, the method aims at the prolong of the life of the charge transport layer by increasing the thickness of the layer as much as the improvement of the response time or at the prolong of the life by increasing the thickness of the charge transport layer and further forming thereon a protective layer, and does not aim at positively shortening the response time.
Also, a surface protective layer formed by dispersing an electrically conductive fine powder in an insulating resin is well known. However, this is for controlling the resistance by controlling the dispersed amount of the electrically conductive fine powder and in the above-described case, it is difficult to control the direction of flowing of electrostatic charges and essentially, image flowing is liable to occur. Because the flow of electrostatic charges has a time reliance and diffuses with the passage of time, the image flowing severely occurs when the time of from a light-exposure to a development is long. Accordingly, in the case of using the electrophotographic photoreceptor the life of which is prolonged by forming a surface layer having a high mechanical strength for an electrophotographic apparatus having a long time from a light-exposure to a development, that is, of a low-speed process, there is a problem that the image flowing is liable to occur.
Also, it is known that polysilane is a material having a high charge mobility, but because the material has a low mechanical strength, there is a problem for practical use.


A system and method for validating user address information is disclosed herein. A computing system periodically polls a client device associated with a user to identify a current location of the user. The computing system records the current location of the user after polling and a time associated with the polling. The computing system receives one or more transactions from one or more third party vendors. The computing system identifies, based on the one or more transactions, a location and a time associated with each transaction in the one or more transactions. The computing system defines a geographic area. The computing system determines that a current primary address on file for the user is outside of the geographic area. The computing system prompts, based on the determining, the user to update the current primary address.

Conventionally, when an individual moves or changes locations, that individual may update their banking records accordingly. For example, when a user moves from a first address to a second address, the user may update their banking records such that the appropriate zip code or other primary address information may be used to complete or authenticate an account transaction. As those skilled in the art recognize, such updates may be tedious or forgotten. Accordingly, when trying to complete a transaction, a user may provide incorrect primary address information, resulting in a rejected transaction request.

Method and system for user address validation


A dust shroud is disclosed for a pipe-cutting portable circular saw. The shroud comprises upper and lower blade housings which are nested and guided so that the lower housing can be moved into and out of the upper housing. The lower periphery of the lower housing generally conforms to the shape of the pipe to be cut. A device which cooperates with the saw and which fits into the pipe to collect dust from within the pipe is also described.

In the sawing of pipes and similar hollow generally cylindrical objects made of materials such as asbestos-cement or concrete, considerable amounts of sawdust are generated both outside and inside the pipe. The dust generated outside the pipe surface represents a particularly serious problem, for such airborne dust can be respired by the saw operator and others in the immediate vicinity of the cutting operation. The airborne dust can also settle on nearby equipment, requiring frequent cleaning of the equipment and posing the problem of undue wear and mechanical failure of the equipment if the dust works into equipment components such as bearings, gear trains and the like. The dust generated inside the hollow pipe or similar object is a lesser problem because it is to some extent contained within the walls of the pipe. It is still of concern, however, because when the cut pieces of pipe are separated the dust inside frequently becomes airborne and is thus detrimental for the reasons just described. Similarly, during the cutting operation some of the dust generated inside the pipe can sift out through the saw kerf and become airborne. Containment of dust within the pipe body is also quite limited when the cutting operation takes place near the open end of the length of pipe.
The problems of dust collection are particularly acute when the saw used to cut the pipe or similar object is a portable circular saw. A fixed saw such as a radial arm saw or a table saw can be completely enclosed by dust collection means such as a housing surrounding the entire device. The portable circular saw, however, is normally used on worksites at locations where construction or use of a dust collection housing enclosing the entire operation is not feasible. Consequently, the problems associated with collecting dust generated by use of a portable circular saw to cut pipe are significantly more severe than the problems associated with dust collection from fixed types of saws.
It would therefore be desirable to have dust collection means capable of being used with portable circular saws and adapted to collect substantially all the dust generated during cutting of pipe or similar hollow generally cylindrical objects with such saws. It would be particularly desirable to have collection means which will collect all the dust generated outside the surface of the pipe, and it would be of added benefit to have apparatus capable of collecting not only the dust generated outside the pipe but also that generated within the hollow interior of the pipe.

Dust shroud for pipe-cutting portable circular saw


A monolithic varistor includes a sintered layered body and a pair of external electrodes disposed on opposite ends of the layered body. The layered body is composed of a plurality of varistor sheets and a plurality of valistor electrodes, which are layered on one another and integrally fired. T is defined as the distance between the varistor electrodes, and Ty is defined as the distance between an outermost varistor electrode and the upper surface of the sintered layered body. Further, Tx is defined as the distance between the external electrodes and the corresponding edges of the varistor electrodes. The varistor is designed in order to satisfy one of the following three conditions:. Condition (A) 1.5.ltoreq.(Tx/T).ltoreq.3.0 PA1 Condition (B) (Ty/T).gtoreq.1.0 PA1 Condition (C) 1.5.ltoreq.(Tx/T).ltoreq.3.0 and (Ty/T).gtoreq.1.0

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monolithic varistor, and particularly to a monolithic varistor used for protecting electronic equipment from surge (abnormally high voltage).
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to cope with recent miniaturization of electronic equipment and increased signal-processing speed, electronic parts have been surface-mounted more frequently, and their operation frequencies have been increased. A non-linear resistor serving as a noise absorber is not an exception to this trend; a surface-mount-type varistor formed mainly of zinc oxide (ZnO) or strontium titanate (SrTiO.sub.3) has been put into practical use.
As a measure for reducing the size, especially the height, of a varistor, there has been proposed a method in which a plurality of varistor material layers and a plurality of internal electrodes are layered in order to form a monolithic varistor. However, in the case of a varistor that must have a varistor voltage of 100 V or greater, the distance between adjacent internal electrodes (hereinafter referred to as an "inter-internal electrode distance") in the direction perpendicular to the layered varistor material layers and internal electrodes must be increased, so that employment of a layered structure is difficult.
However, thanks to recent improvements on varistor materials, the varistor voltage per unit inter-internal electrode distance has been increased, making employment of a layered structure possible in terms of varistor voltage. However, there has arisen a new problem that an increased varistor voltage causes a drastic decrease in maximum surge current that can be withstood by the varistor. Thus, the size of layered varistors cannot be decreased, and only varistors having a size similar to that of a single-layer-type varistor can be produced.


An improved, hand-held device for the picking up of animal waste in a clean, hygienic manner using a scooping device (#26) and a fold-lock-top sandwich bag as the receptacle for the waste material is the embodiment of this invention. The large pocket (#14) of the fold-lock-top sandwich bag fits through a central opening in the scoop device while the small pocket (#22) of the same bag completely covers the scooping-type tapered blade (#28) so as to prevent any soiling of the scoop device (#26) by the waste material. This scoop device (#26) is attached to a locking telescopic handle with an adjustable belt clip (#8) so as to allow freedom of the hands while in transport. By using a fast forward motion, with the wrist, the animal waste is lifted slightly by the tapered blade (#28) and deposited in the large pocket (#14) of the very common, inexpensive fold-lock-top sandwich bag used as its receptacle. The bag is easily removed by lifting the flap (#18) of the fold-lock-top bag off the hook (#16) which is used to keep the bag open while in use. The scoop device (#26) itself never gets dirty.

Heretofore, sanitary pet scoops were designed mostly to be used by both hands at the same time. These scoop devices consist of metal or plastic parts which come together forcing the animal droppings into one or both scoop shaped parts. Both parts become badly soiled by the animal droppings.
Many of these scooping devices consist of two long handles fastened approximately half way down the handle shafts. These handles operate with a scissors type movement requiring both hands. On the lower end of these handles are scoop devices which come together as the handles are moved together, gathering the animal waste between the two scoop devices.
Another type on the market has two separate handles, one having a blade or rake device on the lower end and the other a scoop type receptacle. These are moved together in such a way as to gather up the waste material in the receptacle by pushing the waste material with the blade or rake device.
Both of these types of scooping devices have many disadvantages:
1. These devices become heavily soiled upon use. PA0 2. These devices are very cumbersome to carry due to their long handles and require constant use of at least one hand, both before and after their use. PA0 3. Extensive cleaning is required after each use of these types of scooping devices. PA0 4. Having hands occupied by these devices permits little interaction between the owner and pet. PA0 5. Storage is also a problem due to the size of the scoop devices and the cleanliness after their use. PA0 6. Most of these types of scoop devices are very costly. PA0 1. Lack of access to the special bag. PA0 2. The constant use of a hand to carry the device. PA0 3. Soiling of the device. PA0 4. The added cost of the special bag. PA0 1. The use of a very inexpensive fold-lock-top sandwich bag available in most food stores, as the receptacle for the animal waste. PA0 2. The use of a telescopic handle for easier storage and usage. PA0 3. The use of an adjustable belt clip on the handle which allows one to carry this scoop device without using hands. PA0 4. The use of plastic in the handle and scoop sections for strength, looks, and cleanliness. PA0 5. The use of a blade-like scoop which is totally covered by the fold-lock-top sandwich bag allowing for easy waste pickup without soiling the scoop. PA0 6. The use of a telescopic handle allows easy one-handed operation well away from the animal waste. PA0 7. The use of a fastener for the flap portion of the fold-lock-top sandwich bag keeps the bag open while allowing its easy removal by simply pulling the flap off of the fastener and lifting the bag filled with debris from the scoop device. PA0 8. The per-use cost of this scoop is very low due to the availability of low cost fold-top-bags. PA0 9. Still further objectives and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings and also from the use of the invention by the pet owner and others.
Another type of scoop consists of a metal hoop over which fits specially designed plastic bags. The main disadvantages to this type of scoop are:
A few disposable type scoops exist. These require bending over during use, thus getting very close to the animal waste itself. In addition, these types of scoops are very costly and require carrying of the waste material in close proximity to the hand until disposal and permit one-time use only.
Considering the many disadvantages of these scooping devices, it is no surprise that most pet owners fail to adequately use these pet waste hygiene devices.

Hand tool for picking up animal droppings