A location-related entity ranking technique is described that allows a user see the ranking of location-related entities near a desired location in response to a query. The technique can leverage the searches performed by a community of mobile device users at a given location and at a given time to infer the location-related entities that are popular at this specific location and time window. The technique can also filter out or re-rank these location-related entities based on the personal preferences of the person that submits the query and group preferences of a group to which the user belongs. The personal preferences can also be context specific (i.e. different restaurant preferences for lunch and dinner times).

Currently, when users perform searches for local businesses using a search engine, the ranking of the search results is static. That is, the search results only depend on location, and remain the same independent of the time when a query is submitted, the user who submitted the query, and other contextual information surrounding the search. Such contextual information can include, for example, weather, traffic, the popularity of a business and so forth. For instance, local search results for the query "restaurants" at a given location remain the same independent of when the query is submitted. However, users, especially those who submit queries from mobile devices, usually look for different types of restaurants in the morning, at noon or at night. In addition, depending on the personal preferences of the user different types of restaurants might be preferable at different times of day.
Searches for local businesses and other points of interest, especially those that come from mobile computing devices, such as smart phones, reflect users' interests "right here right now." But, the current techniques for ranking local search results fail to capture these temporal, and contextual dynamics.

Real-time personalized recommendation of location-related entities


In the low cost APS camera, an exposure counter is originally at count 1 and is covered by a flag which is removed from count 1 when the shutter release button is depressed. When the film is returned to the cartridge and the exposure indicator is parked, the flag covers count max. The counter returns to the initial count position in response to opening the film door. The counter is incremented off the HEL (high energy lever) instead of the film perforations.

There are numerous prior art devices for exposure counter controls within cameras. Among these prior art devices are exposure counter controls that are integrated with the film loading mechanisms of cameras. A typical, and desirable, feature of a exposure counter within a camera design is that the mechanism can differentiate between the condition film being present within the camera and the condition where film is not present within the camera. A further refinement of the film presence feature is that of detecting when a film cartridge has been loaded in the camera but the film still remains within the film cartridge and that condition where the camera has been initialized with the film advanced out of the film cartridge to its first metered position.
In the condition where the film is still within the cartridge, the exposure counter control must not allow the user to attempt to take a picture. This feature is conventionally provided within prior art devices by a mechanism employing a sprocket to sense perforations in the film. There is a shortcoming within the prior art in attempting to provide the features of sensing whether the film has been advanced to its first metered position without the use of a sprocket in the camera exposure counter control. The inclusion of a sprocket within the design of a camera increases size and part count and alternative methods that do not require a sprocket are, therefore, desirable.
From the foregoing discussion it should be apparent that there remains a need within the art of exposure counter controls for camera design that integrates the features of detecting when the film has been loaded and advanced to its first metered position without requiring a sprocket in the design.


In a vehicle equipped with both an engine and a motor as the driving power source, in the event of incompletion of learning a control demand for regulation of an idling rotation speed of the engine, intermittent operation prohibition control of the invention permits intermittent operation of the engine under the setting of a gearshift lever to a parking position. The intermittent operation prohibition control of the invention prohibits the intermittent operation of the engine, on the other hand, under the setting of the gearshift lever to a drive position. This arrangement avoids the continuous operation of the engine against the driver's expectation, while prohibiting the intermittent operation of the engine to ensure the opportunity of learning the control demand for regulation of the idling rotation speed of the engine.

One proposed technique applied to a vehicle equipped with an engine is, in the event of incompletion of learning a control demand for feedback control of at a throttle opening for regulation of an idling rotation speed of the engine to a target idling rotation speed, to prohibit stopping the engine until completion of the learning (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. H11-107834). This technique does not stop the engine of the vehicle until completion of learning the control demand for regulation of the idling rotation speed. This proposed technique may be applied to a hybrid vehicle with less opportunities of learning the control demand for regulation of the idling rotation speed. In such application, setting an appropriate learning value and adequate reflection of the learning value on the feedback control of the throttle opening attain favorable idling operation of the engine.


An apparatus displaying a patient worklist includes at least one processor, a pointing device, a display screen having a viewing area, and memory, and is configured to store patient information, including cautionary information and scheduled medical procedures, in the memory. The apparatus is further configured to display the patient information on the display screen in a worklist of patient listings for individual patients. The displayed patient information includes scheduled medical procedures for each patient and a visual cautionary indication in a consistent position relative to each patient in the worklist for whom cautionary information is stored. The apparatus is also configured to open a preview pane on the display screen entirely within the viewing area of the display screen when the visual cautionary indication is selected by the pointing device. The preview pane contains cautionary details associated with the corresponding patient for the selected visual cautionary indication.

This invention relates generally to medical patient worklist applications and more particularly to methods and apparatus for displaying cautionary information on such worklists.
Existing worklist applications are geared toward showing a list of patient names and a number of additional details. Occasionally they do contain cautionary information related to medical conditions e.g. allergies and/or pregnancies. The cautionary information could appear anywhere in the table, including outside of the primary viewing area, and may be divided into several columns (e.g. an allergy column, a pregnancy column, a pre-medication column, etc.). Inconsistencies in the display of cautionary information may require increased attention on the part of a user of this information and, in some cases, may require the user to scroll the display screen or open a sub-window in order to locate and read all of the cautionary information.

Method and apparatus for displaying a patient worklist


The invention relates to a zoom lens and an imaging apparatus incorporating the same. The zoom lenses comprises, in order from its object side, a positive first lens group G1, a negative second lens group G2, a positive third lens group G3, and a positive fourth lens group G4. Zooming is implemented by changing the spacing between the respective lens groups. Upon received in a lens mount, the third lens group is shifted and positioned while its optical axis is tilted at an angle of ±45° with those of other lens groups or placed substantially horizontal. At least one of lenses in the second lens group G2 or the fourth lens group G4 is configured such that a portion of that lens proximate to the third lens group being received in the lens mount is cut away. The following condition (1) is satisfied:0.3<d×(Fnt/ft)<3.0  (1)where d is a distance between the center point of axial thickness of the third lens group being received in the lens mount and the optical axis, Fnt is an F-number at a telephoto end, and ft is a focal length at the telephoto end.

The present invention relates generally to a zoom lens and an imaging apparatus incorporating the same, and more particularly to a zoom lens of small format that lends itself to imaging apparatus inclusive of video cameras and digital cameras.
In recent years, imaging apparatus such as digital cameras designed to take images of subjects using solid-state imaging devices such as CCDs or CMOSs have gone mainstream in place of silver-halide film cameras. Further, they have now a wide spectrum of categories from the commercial high-end type to the compact low-end type. The present invention gives weight to the compact low-end type category in particular.
Users of such low-end type digital cameras would enjoy snapping shots over a wide range of scenes at any time in any place. For this reason, preference is given to small-format digital cameras, especially of the type that can be well put away in the pockets of clothing or baggage, are convenient to carry around, and are slimmed down in their thickness direction, and there is a mounting demand for size reductions of taking lens systems, too.
On the other hand, as the pixels of imaging devices are now on the increase, there is a mounting demand for higher optical performance keeping pace with a lot more pixels. Further, to make sure mass productivity, it is required to minimize the sensitivity of optical performance deterioration to production errors in the process of processing and assembling lenses. From the point of view of making taking ranges wide, high zooming lenses having zoom ratios exceeding 5 or 7, too, are generally available; much higher zoom ratios are expected, and so are wider-angle arrangements. To meet such demands, there are now various types of zoom lenses proposed in the art.
Among prior zoom lenses having relatively high zoom ratios and compact format adapted to shift some lens groups to receive or put away them in a lens mount, there is a type comprising, in order from its object side, a first lens group of positive refracting power, a second lens group of negative refracting power, a third lens group of positive refracting power and a fourth lens group of positive refracting power, as set forth in the following patent publication 1.
[Patent Publication 1]
JP(A)2006-330657
Problems with the zoom lens put forward in Patent Publication 1 are, however, that the volume of the whole unit grows too large for size reductions, because of an increased amount of shift of the third lens group at the time when a lens barrel is receive in the lens mount.
The invention has been made to meet the users demands for making taking ranges wider than ever before without detrimental to the ability of cameras to be carried around: the invention has for its object the provision of a less costly zoom lens that satisfies the requirements of making cameras smaller and having high zoom ratios and wide-angle arrangements at the same time, enables the image quality of taken images to be well kept, and lends itself to imaging devices such as CCDs or CMOSs as well as electronic imaging apparatus incorporating the same.

Zoom lens and imaging apparatus incorporating the same


A multicontroller apparatus has a plurality of control units each including a controller and a diagnostic device for making a diagnosis of the controller. Each diagnostic device includes an apparatus for judging states of other control units by using output signals of diagnostic devices included in the other control units and an apparatus for executing a diagnosis of the associated controller which is a diagnosis object of the diagnostic device when the judging apparatus has judged that one or more other control units are not in the diagnosis state. Owing to the present invention, a necessary number of controllers which are in the controllable state can always be ensured in a multicontroller apparatus. Therefore, control by the multicontroller apparatus is always possible, and it becomes possible to make a diagnosis upon the multicontroller apparatus.

The present invention relates to a multicontroller apparatus, a multicontroller system, a nuclear reactor protection system, an inverter control system and a diagnostic device, and in particular to a multicontroller apparatus, a multicontroller system, a nuclear reactor protection system, an inverter control system and a diagnostic device suitable for asynchronous use.
The present invention is related to U.S. Pat. application Ser. Nos. 069,170 filed on Jul. 2, 1987 and 242,170 filed on Sep. 9, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,129, both assigned to the assignee of the present application.
In general, in important control systems, it is attempted to raise the reliability of the whole system by providing controllers o safety-protection apparatuses with redundancy. Further, in order to raise the rate of operation of the whole control system, diagnosis of controllers provided with redundancy is made. A controller having an abnormality found by means of diagnosis is rapidly repaired.
For example, an example of a multicontroller apparatus having a diagnostic device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,154. This known multicontroller apparatus has been applied to a nuclear reactor protection system and has an online diagnostic system. That is to say, one diagnostic device is provided for four redundant controllers. This diagnostic device outputs a test signal successively to the four redundant controllers and receives answer signals from the four redundant controllers. On the basis of the answer signal fed from each controller, it is judged whether an abnormality is present in that controller or not.
If a single diagnostic device makes diagnoses of four redundant controllers, diagnosis of all of the controllers is not performed suitably when the diagnostic device itself becomes abnormal. Even if a controller is normal, it then might be judged abnormal. Even if a controller is abnormal, it might be judged normal.
A multicontroller apparatus having one diagnostic device provided for each of four redundant controllers so that one diagnostic device may make a diagnosis of one controller is described in JP-A-62-280697. Such a multicontroller apparatus eliminates the problems of the multicontroller apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,154.
By providing a plurality of redundant diagnostic devices as described in JP-A-62-280697, each diagnostic device can arbitrarily make a diagnosis of its corresponding controller. However, there is a possibility that diagnoses are simultaneously made of all controllers. In this case, control of a control object by controller becomes impossible. Such a state must be avoided in a nuclear reactor plant which especially requires safety.

Multicontroller apparatus, multicontroller system, nuclear reactor protection system, inverter control system and diagnostic device


The present invention relates to a method for producing a 3- to 3.5-valent vanadium solution from a 4-valent vanadium solution by a catalytic reaction in the presence of a reducing agent, which generates a gas product during oxidation; a method for producing an electrolyte for a vanadium redox flow battery; and an apparatus for producing a liquid electrolyte for a vanadium redox flow battery. The present invention is characterized in that when a 3- to 3.5-valent vanadium electrolyte is produced from a 4-valent vanadium electrolyte by a catalytic reaction in the presence of a reducing agent, which generates a gas product during oxidation, the gas product produced in the catalytic reaction is captured with inert gas bubbles, which are carrier gases, and is removed from the reaction solution of the catalytic reaction by gas-liquid phase separation, thereby accelerating the catalytic reaction towards the forward reaction.

Recently, as a way to combat global warming, the introduction of new energy, such as solar photovoltaic power generation and wind power generation, has been promoted throughout the world. Since the output of such power generation is affected by the weather, it is predicted that when the power generation is introduced on a large scale, there will be problems with the operation of power systems, such as difficulty in maintaining frequencies and voltages. The most important issue in the current power system is to precisely predict the demand and to run the generator at the right time. However, it is not easy to regulate the amount of power generated. Accordingly, introduction of power storage devices that will act as a buffer between power generation capacity, consumption, and demand will be needed.
As a way to solve such problems, redox flow batteries (RFB) have gained much attention. A redox flow battery is a very efficient technology for power storage because it can increase the amount of power stored by a simple method of increasing the amount of electrolytes.
In a redox flow battery, a positive electrode electrolyte and a negative electrode electrolyte are supplied to a battery cell having a membrane interposed between a positive electrode and a negative electrode to charge and discharge the battery. An aqueous solution containing a water-soluble metal ion, whose valence is varied by oxidation/reduction, is typically used as the electrolyte, and such a metal ion is used as an active material.
Such redox flow batteries include Cr/Cr, V/Sn, V/Fe, and V/V according to redox couples.
The redox flow batteries have the same ability to store intermittent energy supply and demand as other batteries, and also have advantages in that they have a small change in capacity to store energy over time and can produce electricity by immediately causing the reaction when needed. Until now, the redox flow batteries have had disadvantages in that they are large in size, expensive, and difficult to control at suitable temperatures. However, through the use of an all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB), the issues of lifetime, reaction time, and charge/discharge efficiency have been resolved.
In a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), an electrolyte accounts for the highest proportion of the battery components (1 MW/8 MWh system electrolyte price ratio: 52%). Therefore, low-cost electrolytes are essential for securing the price competitiveness of VRFB.
In a currently-used VRFB system, a 3.5-valent (VO2+/V3+=1/1) electrolyte is injected into the positive electrode and the negative electrode of a VRFB cell to drive the system, and thus it is necessary to develop a low-cost and high-purity 3.5-valent electrolyte to be used commercially.
The electrolyte for VRFB is produced using V2O5, which has the lowest price among various vanadium oxide precursors (V2O5, V2O3, VOSO4). V2O5 is dissolved in a sulfuric acid solution to prepare a 5-valent electrolyte (VO2+), which is then reduced to a 4-valent electrolyte (VO2+) using oxalic acid. However, when oxalic acid is additionally added, the reduction to a 3-valent electrolyte (V3+) does not occur, whereas when an excessive amount of oxalic acid is added, there is a problem in that the electrolyte may precipitate.
There are two techniques that are being employed to prepare a 3.5-valent electrolyte by reducing a 4-valent electrolyte. In a first technique, 3-valent and 5-valent electrolytes are produced by charging a 4-valent electrolyte via electrolysis using a stack. However, there is a problem in that ⅓ of the electrolyte is wasted because excess 5-valent electrolyte is produced. In addition, stack installation, power consumption, operation, and repair costs are incurred, which causes an increase in the production cost of the electrolytes. In a second technique, a 4-valent electrolyte is reduced to a 3-valent electrolyte by adding a metal having a strong reducing power such as Zn via a chemical reduction using a reducing agent. However, there is a problem in that large amounts of Zn2+ impurities are contained in the electrolyte, resulting in an increase in the process cost for removing the impurities, or causing a problem of deteriorating VRFB efficiency due to Zn deposition.
Therefore, in order to reduce the cost of the vanadium redox flow battery, there is a need for a technique for producing a 3.5-valent vanadium electrolyte that can avoid the use of electrolysis without forming impurities using a V2O5 precursor.

Method for producing high-purity electrolyte for vanadium redox flow battery using catalytic reactor


A medical device and associated method discriminate near-field and far-field events by sensing a bipolar signal and a unipolar signal at a tissue site, detecting an event in response to one of the bipolar and unipolar signals, and comparing an event feature determined from the bipolar signal to an event feature determined from the unipolar signal.

The depolarization of the atrium is used as a marker of atrial activation in the determination of atrial rate and rhythm in implantable medical devices (IMDs) such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and implantable cardiac monitors. Typically, a cardiac electrogram (EGM) signal sensed using an electrode positioned along an atrial chamber that exceeds a programmable sensing threshold is sensed as an atrial depolarization or P-wave. Sensed P-waves are used in determining an atrial rate and detecting and discriminating abnormal heart rhythms.
Errors in determining an actual atrial rate result when atrial oversensing or atrial undersensing occurs. One cause of atrial oversensing is the presence of far-field signals exceeding the atrial sensing threshold. Far-field signals can include R-waves corresponding to the depolarization of the ventricles and other physiologic or non-physiologic noise. Far-field R-waves (FFRWs) can have an amplitude similar to P-wave amplitudes in an atrial sensed signal. The programmable atrial sensing threshold may be increased to avoid FFRW sensing however this may result in atrial P-wave undersensing. The detection of FFRWs as intrinsic atrial events can result in inappropriate atrial rate detection and confuse pattern recognition algorithms used for discriminating arrhythmias, leading to unnecessary pacing mode switching and even unnecessary arrhythmia therapy delivered by the IMD. Discrimination of near-field atrial P-waves from FFRWs during atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation can be even more challenging because the atrial P-wave amplitudes are often lower during atrial arrhythmias than during normal sinus rhythm. Reliable discrimination of near-field and far-field signals is needed in the field of cardiac sensing to enable rejection of far-field signals during monitoring of near-field signals. Discrimination of near-field and far-field signals may be useful in a variety of cardiac rhythm monitoring and therapy delivery applications and may be important in other, non-cardiac electrophysiological sensing applications as well.

Event discrimination using unipolar and bipolar signal differences


An office chair is provided having a contoured back assembly comprising a back frame and a suspension fabric. The fabric is attached to the back frame about its periphery wherein the back frame has a three-dimensional contoured shape formed by overlapped frame rings with the fabric being joined thereto. The fabric is secured to the frame by a machine wherein the fabric is first stretched from the outer edge of the fabric and then is clamped by a front frame section in the pre-tensioned or pre-streched condition. The fabric edges are allowed to hang loose and then fixed in the front frame section. Once secured, the fabric is unclamped from the front frame section, and then this sub-assembly is affixed to the rear frame ring to complete the assembly of the back frame.

Preferably, conventional office chairs are designed to provide significant levels of comfort and adjustability. Such chairs typically include a base which supports a tilt control assembly to which a seat assembly and back assembly are movably interconnected. The tilt control mechanism includes a back upright which extends rearwardly and upwardly and supports the back assembly rearwardly adjacent to the seat assembly. The tilt control mechanism serves to interconnect the seat and back assembly so that they may tilt rearwardly together in response to movements by the chair occupant and possibly to permit limited forward tilting of the seat and back. Further, such chairs typically permit the back to also move relative to the seat during such rearward tilting.
The back assembly of such office chairs may have a variety of constructions wherein one type of construction includes an annular back frame which defines an open interior in which the chair occupant's back is,supported. This central open area is enclosed by a suspension fabric which spans the opening and has the outer peripheral edge thereof affixed to the annular frame.
The back frame further has a section thereof rigidly connected to an upright of the chair. The upright is connected to a tilt control mechanism, which mechanism supports the seat assembly and governs rearward tilting of the upright. As such, the back assembly moves in combination with the upright when the occupant reclines within the chair.
It is an object of the invention to provide an office chair having a chair back arrangement which is improved relative to prior chair back constructions and specifically is improved relative to the attachment of a suspension fabric to the rigid back frame.
Therefore, the invention relates to an office chair and more particularly, to the construction of a chair back assembly and the process for stretching and attaching the suspension fabric to the back frame in a stretched condition.
The back assembly comprises an annular frame having a suspension fabric which spans the central opening of the back and has the periphery of the suspension fabric connected to the frame. The fabric is stretched over and wraps sidewardly and rearwardly about the frame edge so that the frame is wrapped in fabric.
To achieve this finished appearance, the frame is formed of two ring-like frame sections that are mated together in facing relation. The suspension fabric comprises a single layer of suspension material which has its peripheral edge first connected to one of the frame sections when the fabric is stretched to form a sub-assembly and then this sub-assembly is affixed to the other frame sections with the fabric periphery sandwiched therebetween.
To form a peripheral channel for receipt of the fabric edge, the back frame is constructed of molded front and back rings which define the two frame sections. A thin groove is defined about their common peripheries in which groove the peripheral edge of the fabric is secured.
The front and rear ring sections overlie each other in opposing relation and are rigidly secured together by suitable fastening means such as ultrasonic welding, adhesives or even threaded fasteners. In this manner, complex contours may be formed in a molded back frame while still permitting the formation of a securement channel about the periphery thereof.
Before the frame is assembled, the suspension fabric is first fastened to one of the ring sections and preferably the front ring section by securement means such as ultrasonic welding. This fabric is pre-stretched during assembly and then secured to the front ring section before the front ring section is affixed to the rear ring section.
The process involves securing the fabric to the frame in a stretched condition, wherein an edge portion is released and secured to the frame while the major interior portion of the fabric is held in the stretched condition against the ring section. This is accomplished by stretching the fabric through a group of peripheral clamp assemblies which are all displaceable for such stretching of the fabric.
Once stretched, the ring section is positioned against a clamping body above the stretched fabric. The clamping body then moves the ring section downwardly against the fabric while the fabric is then pressed downwardly against a bottom nest which clamps the fabric between the bottom nest and the exterior face of the ring section. This clamps the fabric in a stretched condition, and the clamps are removed thereby leaving the peripheral edge of the fabric loose and projecting outwardly of the frame. The fabric is then wrapped over the edge of the ring section and secured to the interior ring face by suitable attachment means such as ultrasonic welding or even mechanical fasteners.
Thereafter, the clamping body is lifted, and the ring/fabric sub-assembly is ultrasonically welded to the rear ring section to define a composite chair frame with a suspension fabric.
The foregoing features provide an improved back frame arrangement, wherein other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words "inwardly" and "outwardly" will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Method for assembling a frame assembly for a chair


A wireless tire pressure monitoring apparatus is adapted to install on a conventional tire valve stem. The apparatus includes capability of refilling air through the sensor built-in valve stem, without needing to remove the apparatus. The pressure monitoring apparatus further includes a locking device to secure the mounting of the apparatus on the tire valve stem, with the additional benefit of discouraging apparatus thieves.

Numerous innovations for tire pressure sensors have been provided in prior arts.
Pressure sensors have long been used to monitor tires for determining whether the tire was properly pressurized. Known methods for monitoring tire pressure included:    (a) A pressure sensor module installed inside the tire on the rim and secured by a steel mounting bend, and transmitted the pressure data by wireless RF signals to a monitor located in the driver cab of a vehicle. With this method, system installation and replacement are very inconvenient and labor intensive. The tire must be removed prior to and then remounted after sensor installation. The sensor might break if the band was fastened too tightly or be damaged by the tire bead during tire remounting. RF signal transmission would be blocked and weakened by the steel belts embedded inside the tire. The mounting bend might become loose and break.    (b) A pressure sensing and transmission device mounted on the inner end of a specially designed tire valve, and transmitted the pressure data wirelessly to a monitor. With this method, sensor installation or replacement also involved the inconvenient and labored manipulation of the tire. RF signal transmission would be blocked and weakened by the tire wall. Additionally, the inability of using conventional valves limits the application of this method to only a narrow range of wheel types that can fit with the specially designed sensor valves.    (c) A pressure sensing and transmission device mounted on the valve stem outside of the tire. The device measured tire pressure through the valve and transmitted pressure data wirelessly to a monitor. This method has the advantages of easy installation and good signal transmission. With this method, however, the user must remove the sensor to refill tire air and then reinstall the sensor back on the valve stem. In addition to the inconvenience, frequent sensor removal and reinstallation would damage the air seal and cause air leak, thereby creating a safety hazard for the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,808 issued to Dal Cero on Feb. 14, 1989 discloses a pressure-sensing device that senses low tire pressure and signals low pressure using a transmitter and a receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,161 issued to Huang on Feb. 22, 1994 discloses a pressure gauge having a diaphragm that pushes a spring-loaded rod between two switch devices which, when the tire is not properly pressurized, will trigger the sending of an encoded RF signal to a receiver for generating alarms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,111 issued to Huang on Dec. 2, 1997 discloses an encoder unit and a transmitter circuit for a tire pressure sensor device for generating encoded RF signals received by a receiver with a display unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,220 issued to Pappas on Mar. 9, 1982 discloses a system for monitoring tire pressure of the tires having respective transmitters communicating alarm signals to a receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,457 issued to Wang on Mar. 19, 1991 teaches a cab mounted monitor having a graphic display for visually indicating under-pressurized tire, which is identified by encoded signals transmitted from respective tire pressure sensing transmitters to the cab mounted central receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,116 issued to Joe Zhou on Mar. 18, 2003 discloses a pressure-sensing valve stem mount miniature sensor for a vehicle monitoring system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,455 issued to Neefeldt, et al on Oct. 5, 2004 discloses a pressure-sensing valve mount device that includes an antenna extending through the valve passageway into the tire for transmitting RF signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,962 issued to Ko on Feb. 7, 2006 discloses a pressure-sensing valve mount device using a electrically conducting pinch pin for power supply when the device is screwed on the tire valve.
Typically, these systems teach tire valve mounted pressure sensors responsive to individual tire pressures for generating encoded signals transmitted to a receiver with graphic displays. However, these teachings do not address or not able to resolve many practical issues, as described below:
(i) Valve Stem Mounted Sensor with Air-flow-through Function
A tire valve-stem mounted pressure sensor must be easy and safe to use. Properly pressurized tires are utmost important for safe driving and for prolonging the life of tires. However prior systems generally must be removed for refilling tire air and, therefore, are very inconvenient for tire maintenance. In addition, frequent removal and reinstalling a sensor would damage its air seal and consequently cause air leak, thereby creating a safety hazard. It is technically very challenging to make a small external sensor that can support tire air refill without removing the sensor. Prior teachings generally do not present practical methods to make small external sensors with air-flow-through function.
(ii) Valve-stem Mounted Sensor with Security Lock
A valve-stem mounted pressure sensor is generally secured by screwing on the tire valve stem thread. Constant vibration of a moving vehicle might gradually loosen the grip of the sensor on the valve stem. The sensor also might be loosened and detached from the valve stem of a fast moving vehicle due to forces exerted by tire rotation and airflow. External sensor is easy to install and remove so sensor thief is a problem for the user. Prior teachings generally do not address methods for protecting the installed sensors.
(iii) External Sensor with Manual Signal Triggering Function
Tire monitoring system programming and services require learning the sensor measurement data from a stationary vehicle. A common practice of inducing an external sensor signal is by removing and then reinstalling the sensor. This method would potentially damage the air seal and cause air leaks. Prior teachings generally describe methods of using a magnet or low frequency (LF) signals to energize the sensor for producing a signal. These methods require additional electronic components and circuitry in the sensor and therefore would increase its size and weight; the methods also require extra hardware such as a magnet or a LF initiator for triggering the signals. External sensors must be small sized with a small battery so a manual signal triggering method without extra electronic components is very important and useful.
(iv) External Sensor Detects Motion without Motion Detecting Circuitry
Most tire monitoring sensors use battery to drive the electronics and must conserve power consumption for prolonging sensor life. Prior systems generally use motion detecting circuitry to detect vehicle motion for activating or increasing tire monitoring activities, and to decrease or cease monitoring when the vehicle is at rest. These methods require additional electronic components and therefore would increase size and weight to the sensor. Mechanical motion detectors require proper orientation to be effective, whereas solid state motion detectors have large power draw and easy to break. External sensors must have a small size with a small battery so a motion detection method without motion detecting circuitry taking up space and power draw is very important and useful.

External air-flow-through valve stem mounted tire pressure monitoring apparatus


A system and methods for transferring information between two or more incompatible security domains or levels of classification by embedding policy-centric content management components into an information-centric network. Specifically, overlay architectures enable cloud computing for multi-level security environments.

Current enterprise computing systems are too expensive, unreliable, and information dissemination procedures are slow. Current approaches to partitioning information in cross-domain scenarios are simply unable to migrate to cloud environments because of reliance on control of physical hardware to enforce information separation. The current approach of controlling information by controlling the underlying physical network—the traditional approach to securing information—does not scale into shared datacenters thereby risking exposure of sensitive data. The term "cross-domain" refers to the transfer of information between two or more incompatible security domains or levels of classification.
Typically, systems handling sensitive information use costly data partitioning schemes. Most of these kinds of systems are managed in-house rather than exploiting lower cost cloud-enabled services. Furthermore, many of these systems have large maintenance loads imposed on them as a result of internal infrastructural requirements like data and database management or systems administration. In many cases networks containing sensitive data are separated from other internal networks to enhance data security at the expense of productivity, leading to decreased working efficiencies and increased costs.
These kinds of large distributed systems suffer from a lack of stability and reliability as a direct result of their inflated provisioning and support costs. Simply put, the large cost and effort burden of these systems precludes the ability to implement the appropriate redundancy and fault tolerance in each and every system. Justifying the costs associated with standard reliability practices like diverse entry or geographically separated hot spares is more and more difficult to do unless forced by draconian legal policy or similarly dire business conditions.
Finally, the length of time between when a sensitive document or other type of data artifact is requested and when it can be delivered to a requester to view that artifact is prohibitively long. These kinds of sensitive artifacts, usually maintained on partitioned networks or systems, require large amounts of review by specially trained reviewers prior to release to data requesters. In cases where acquisition of this data is under hard time constraints, like sudden market shifts or other unexpected conditional changes, this long review time can result in consequences ranging from financial losses to loss of life.
Federal, military, and healthcare computer systems are just a few prime examples of these kinds of problematic distributed systems, and demonstrate the difficulty inherent in implementing new technical solutions. New approaches to networking and information management present possible solutions to these kinds of problems by providing distributed information-centric approaches to data management and transfer.
Current policy-centric systems are being forced to move to cloud environments and incorporate much more open systems. Some of these environments are private or hybrid cloud systems. Private clouds include infrastructure that is completely run and operated by a single organization for use and provisioning. Hybrid clouds include a combination of private and public cloud systems.
Many organizations are poised to benefit from the migration of policy-centric systems to cloud environments including, for example, the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD), both of whom have large installed bases of compartmentalized and classified data.
Cloud systems provide a variety of economic incentives for use, for example cost savings and flexibility. However, cloud computing systems have distinct disadvantages such as issues relating to trust and security as well as information sensitivity problems.
Current cross-domain models all use some kind of filter chaining mechanism to evaluate whether a given data item can be moved from a classified network to an unclassified network. Certain cross-domain models use filters explicitly as well as use a single point of security and enforcement, providing perimeter data security, but nothing else. In current system architectures, users are only allowed to exchange one type of information per domain. The physical instantiations of these models are locked by operational policy to a single classification level. Users cannot, for example, have "top secret" material on a network accredited for "secret" material. Finally, these models violate end-to-end principles in large service network design, centralizing intelligence rather than pushing that intelligence down to the ends of the system.
End-to-end principles are generally considered core to the development of extreme scale, distributed systems. Essentially, one of the key design decisions with respect to the early Internet was to move any significant processing to system end nodes, keeping the core of the network fast and simple. Known as the end-to-end principles, this design has served the Internet well, allowing it to scale to sizes unconceived when originally built.
Current cross-domain systems are placed at key routing points between sensitive networks. These locations are core to information transfer between systems and as a result violate the initial design principles upon which the Internet was founded. End-to-end principles need to be modified to support future networks, but nevertheless, current cross-domain systems still violate the basic ideas behind large, scalable networks by placing complex application-specific logic directly and only in the core of a given sensitive network.
There is a need for decentralized policy management capabilities, infrastructural reuse, the ability to integrate with cloud systems, and security in depth. Policy management needs to be decentralized and integrated within the fabric of the system such that the system is both more secure and resilient as a result, better able to control information and operate under stressful conditions. Multi-tenancy can lower costs and increase reliability and is furthermore a common attribute of cloud systems. An appropriately secured system facilitates integration of computing resources into multi-tenant environments. The ability to handle multi-tenant environments and to reliably secure both data at rest and data in motion leads to computational environments deployable in cloud systems. Finally, systems must operate under all conditions, including when they are under attack or compromise and provide protection to sensitive data in depth. The invention is a system and methods that supports the timely delivery of secure, robust, and cost-effective cross-domain capabilities and enterprise services that enables the sharing of information across security domains.

System and methods for usage management in multi-level security networks


A production method for a cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound, having a step of obtaining a cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound or an aqueous ammonia solution of a cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound by bringing a phthalic acid compound in an aqueous ammonia solution into contact with hydrogen in the presence of a fixed bed catalyst in a reactor.

A bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane compound is an industrially important compound, which is used as a raw material for an epoxy curing agent, polyamide, polyurethane, etc.
There are several production methods for a bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane compound. As a specific production method, a method has been known in which a hydrogenation reaction is performed on a phthalic acid compound to create a cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound, amidation and dehydration are performed on the cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound to create a dicyanocyclohexane compound, and a hydrogenation reaction is performed on the dicyanocyclohexane compound to create a bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane compound. Here, in order to produce a cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound, methods as described in Patent Literatures 1 to 3 have been used.

Production method for cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid compound, dicyanocyclohexane compound and bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane compound


The invention relates to an exchange for connecting telecommunications terminals of subscribers to a telecommunications network, comprising subscriber lines via which the respective telecommunications terminals are linked with the exchange. Said exchange is operated by a first network operator and is used by further network operators. The subscriber lines and subscribers are associated with one of said network operators each and the subscribers select the exchange via the telecommunications terminals to establish a telecommunications link via the respective network operator. The invention further relates to a method for operating an exchange that is used in the inventive exchange.

After deregulation of the telecommunications market in many countries, new network operators are constantly appearing on the market, who for the time being are acting as carriers for long-distance connections and are attempting to take traffic away from the former monopoly and from their competitors with inexpensive long-distance rates. Usually, these carriers are dialed individually (call by call) for each call, by means of a so-called carrier access code, by consumers. A prerequisite for accepting long-distance traffic is switch-through contracts between the new network operators and the network operator with whom the subscribers are physically connected, in most cases the former monopoly.
However, the new network operators are also increasingly penetrating the local sector, and are attempting to bind consumers to them with fixed contracts and lucrative conditions. These customers (subscribers) are then permanently attached to the new network operator through "preselection" in the local switching centers with which they are physically connected. For these subscribers, the new network operator generally enters into switch-through contracts with the operators of the local switching centers but leaves the actual control of functions (features) to the operators of the local switching centers.
If the new network operator wants to get to the subscriber lines directly, it must make additional arrangements with the operator of the local switching center, in some manner, in that the network operator taps the subscriber lines directly at the main distribution frame and manages a separate local switching center.
This has the disadvantage, for a new network operator, that a separate switching center in the local network sector has to be provided for the network operator's customers, and this involves a high level of investment.

Utilization of a local exchange network by a plurality of local network operators


The present invention relates to an upright type vacuum cleaner including a body having a changeable angle of disposition with respect to an objective surface to be cleaned, a suction nozzle coupled to the body to be movable along the objective surface to be cleaned, a supporting assembly provided under the body to seat the body thereon for supporting a load of the body and guiding movement of the body with respect to the objective surface to be cleaned, and a holding unit rotatably provided to the supporting assembly so as to be brought into contact with the body selectively for limiting rotation of the body to hold the body.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to upright type vacuum cleaners, and more particularly to an upright type vacuum cleaner which enables to maintain an angle of disposition of a body of the upright type vacuum cleaner with respect to an objective surface to be cleaned if the angle is changed.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, the vacuum cleaner is a domestic appliance for sucking up dust and foreign matter from the objective surface to be cleaned together with air by suction force of a suction motor in the body and filtering the dust and the foreign matter within the body.
In the vacuum cleaners having above function, there are an upright type vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle and the body integrated as one body, and a canister type vacuum cleaner having the suction nozzle and the body connected with a connection pipe.
Of the two kinds of vacuum cleaners, the upright type vacuum cleaner is provided with a vacuum cleaner body having the suction motor built therein for generating the suction force, a suction nozzle for sucking up the dust and foreign matter from the objective surface to be cleaned by the suction force generated by the suction motor, a handle above the body of the vacuum cleaner for a user to hold and move the upright type vacuum cleaner along the objective surface to be cleaned.
The upright type vacuum cleaner has the body mounted above the suction nozzle to be rotatable with respect to the objective surface to be cleaned, such that the user performs cleaning while changing the angle of disposition of the body with respect to the objective surface to be cleaned, and stores the upright type vacuum cleaner after finishing the cleaning, leaving the angle of disposition of the body with respect to the objective surface to be cleaned to set at a fixed angle.
However, since the body is rotatably mounted above the suction nozzle, there has been a problem in that the body rotates and falls down onto the objective surface to be cleaned during storage of the body.
Consequently, a requirement for a supporting structure which maintains a fixed angle of disposition with respect to the objective surface to be cleaned by limiting rotation of the body is brought up.


An improved catheter for insertion into the right coronary artery of a cardiovascular system including an elongated, preshaped tubular member comprising a first straight portion extending from the proximal end of the catheter and a distal end portion extending from the straight portion and bent in a unique manner to rest along the inner wall of said artery and to enable the distal end to be precisely located relative to the artery.

This invention relates generally to catheters adapted to be inserted into the cardiovascular system of a living body and, more particularly, to an improved, preshaped catheter having an improved distal end portion for more precise location in the right coronary artery of the cardiovascular system.
Catheters are often used in the performance of medical procedures such as coronary angiography for injecting dye, or the like, into the cardiovascular system for diagnosis; and angioplasty to widen the lumen of a coronary artery which has become at least partially blocked by a stenotic lesion causing an abnormal narrowing of the artery due to injury or disease. In these techniques the distal end of the catheter is introduced into the aorta by way of the femoral artery. The proximal end of the catheter is then manipulated so its distal end is inserted into the lumen of a selected coronary artery branching off from the aorta. A typical angioplasty procedure would involve initially inserting a guiding catheter into the cardiovascular system in the above manner, followed by a dilating catheter, a laser catheter, an atherectomy catheter, or the like, which is guided through the guiding catheter until its distal end portion is positioned within the stenotic lesion in the coronary artery to reduce the blockage in the artery. In all such medical procedures, it is absolutely essential that the distal end of the catheter have the appropriate shape for proper engagement into the right coronary artery.
The most common catheter used in treatment of the right coronary artery is what is often referred to as a "Judkins" catheter which has a specially shaped distal end portion for facilitating insertion and engagement into the right coronary artery. However, as will be specifically discussed, there are some disadvantages to the "Judkins" catheter, such as its frequent inability to align perfectly coaxially with the selected artery and thus permit optimal treatment, and its inability to adequately support other devices such as balloon catheters. Also, the Judkins catheter requires a 180 degree rotation and adroit manipulation to selectively engage the right coronary artery.


A method comprising: identifying, by a cloud server, a set of local area networks (LAN) associated with the cloud server, based on a similarity parameter with respect to an end device connected within each of the LANs; forming a communications network comprising all of the LANs in the set; detecting, by at least a subset of the LANs, a download file received by the respective end devices in each of the LANs in the subset; calculating an update event likelihood score with respect to the download file, based, at least in part, on a plurality of parameters associated with the download file; and issuing, by at least one of the LANs in the subset, a notification that the download file is associated with an update event affecting all of the end devices in each of the LANs, when the update event likelihood score exceeds a specified threshold.

Most connected devices undergo a continual revision process to repair or update features of installed software. Each software revision requires adding new files, replacing existing files with newer revisions, deleting obsolete files, or various combinations of these actions. The process of replacing older files, adding new files, and deleting obsolete files of a software product is usually referred to as "updating the product" or "software update."
Connected devices often implement functionality that may be disrupted due to a software update. For example, following a software update, a smart speaker may no longer be compatible with a connected smart TV, because of a change in an API of the smart speaker.
Therefore it may be advantageous, for technical support and diagnostic purposes, to be able to identify the occurrence of a software update of connected devices.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures.


A collapsible keyboard with supporting structures for an electronic device. The collapsible keyboard comprises a body, a first supporting structure and a second supporting structure. The body comprises a first section and a second section rotatably connected thereto. The first supporting structure rotatably connects to the first section. One end of the second supporting structure rotatably connects to the second section, with the other end connecting to the first supporting structure. When the first and second sections rotate to expand the body, the first and second supporting structures extend therewith to support the electronic device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relates to a portable keyboard and in particular to a collapsible keyboard in which a supporting structure rotates therewith to support an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, collapsible keyboards connected to electronic devices usually utilize a supporting frame retractably disposed on the keyboard. The supporting frame is installed on one side of the keyboard for convenient placement in the keyboard. Thus, the keyboard and the supporting frame have to be expanded individually and inconvenient. Further, during use, the electronic device is regularly aligned with the center of the keyboard for convenient operating. Nevertheless, the supporting frame, not disposed at the center of the keyboard, does not enable such placement.

Collapsible keyboard with supporting structure


A method for generating packet-based transmission control parameters includes (a) receiving class information of an audio-video (AV) application and characteristic information of an AV packet, from the AV application, (b) receiving status information of a wireless channel and buffer storage time information of the AV packet, from a medium access control (MAC) layer, and (c) generating and outputting the packet-based transmission control parameters on the basis of the received information. In addition, a selective retransmission method includes (a) transmitting packets of an MPEG-2 frame in real-time, (b) checking for any transmission error after the transmission, and (c) if any transmission error is generated, retransmitting only packets of an I-frame. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently support AV service in wireless communication by dynamically controlling transmission control parameters according to a buffer status and by reflecting the characteristics of the AV frames.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quality of service (QoS) control layer structure and packet-based transmission control parameters for supporting QoS in a communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of generating packet-based transmission control parameters and a QoS control layer structure for providing high quality audio-video (AV) service by reflecting characteristics of AV data in the scheduling process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Parameters used for supporting quality of service (QoS) in a communication system specify application characteristics, delay time, a difference between transmission delay times, a priority level, and the like. Application characteristics represent information related to whether the application data is transmitted in real-time or using a fixed bandwidth. The delay time and the difference between the transmission delay times represent information related to the time period of data transmission. The priority level represents information related to transmission sequencing of data.
In conventional methods of supporting QoS in media access control (MAC) layers, transmission control parameters are designated individually for respective sessions that are managed by each application. Therefore, scheduling or a retransmission mechanism, or the like, is managed by the individual transmission control parameters of the respective session.
Meanwhile, data frames used for providing an audio-video (AV) service have different characteristics between each frame, contrary to general data frames, all of which have generally similar characteristics. Therefore, it is inefficient to use conventional general QoS management for AV service in which the respective sessions are managed separately. In addition, conventional systems statically determine transmission control parameters according to the characteristics of the sessions. Therefore, such conventional systems cannot accurately reflect the characteristics of the AV frames described above.
In particular, certain frames (for example, an I-frame (Intra-coded frame) and a B-frame (Bidirectional-coded frame)) within an MPEG-2 stream have different characteristics from each other, contrary to the general data frames, all of which have the same characteristic as described above. For providing AV service, data should be transmitted in real-time. For real-time transmission and to achieve QoS, the transmission delay time of the data and the difference between the transmission delay times of the data must be maintained. For this reason, the MPEG-2 data (frames) should be transmitted according to their characteristics.
However, in a conventional wireless communication system, MPEG-frames are transmitted according to scheduling in the MAC layer using QoS parameters defined for the respective sessions, in the same manner as a general data transmission. In such conventional wireless communication systems, because the characteristics of the MPEG-2 frames are not reflected in the scheduling of the MAC layer, it is very difficult to provide real-time AV service.

Method of generating transmission control parameters and method of selective retransmission according to packet characteristics


A dispenser includes a depressible thermal tip and a housing having a reservoir for containing a product, such as a cosmetic product or a medicinal product. The depressible thermal tip comprises a thermal applicator displaceable between open and closed positions. The thermal applicator may be depressibly coupled in a collar fixed to the housing, or the thermal applicator may be depressibly coupled in a button depressibly coupled in a collar fixed to the housing.

Devices exist for dispensing cosmetic or medicinal products. Such devices usually consist of an outer tubular shell or housing, a delivery mechanism for displacement of the cosmetic or medicinal products, and an applicator tip. For example, in the medical industry, applicators are employed for applying medicinal products, such as ointments, to portions of the body. In the cosmetics and personal care industries, applicators are used to apply lipstick, lip balm, skin creams, lotions, and other cosmetic products to portions of the body.
However, conventional applicators are subject to contamination during storage or nonuse. Moreover, conventional applicators may also be prone to leakage, particularly if a cap is not used.
New and different dispensers are needed to address these and other concerns.


The method and apparatus of the present invention provide constant force suspension and near constant force Suspension and associated control algorithms, all of which may be utilized in vehicle suspension systems. By using the apparatus of the present invention, a vehicle may be isolated from the motion of a wheel as it follows rough terrain, thereby improving ride quality.

Active and semi-active vehicular suspension systems have received considerable attention in the past several years as an improvement and replacement to traditional passive systems (Miller and Nobles, 1988; Ivers and Miller, 1989; Jolly and Miller, 1989; Aoyama et al., 1990; Kiriczi and Kashani, 1990; Miller and Nobles, 1990; Kojima et al., 1991; Dunwoody, 1991; Crolla and Abdel-Hady, 1991; Inagaki et al., 1992; Nagiri et al., 1992; Esmailzadeh and Bateni, 1992; Queslati and Sankar, 1992; Pinkos et al., 1993; Hoogterp et al., 1993; Temple and Hoogterp, 1992). Traditional passive systems generally are composed of springs, dampers (shock absorbers), and various structural linkages, such as wishbones or A-arms. A single wheel station, typically representing 1 quarter of a 4-wheel vehicle, has a simplified mechanical representation as shown in FIG. 1, in which the compliance of the tire has been ignored.
In such a traditional passive system, the spring 5 imparts an oscillatory force to the sprung mass 10 (with smooth changes in acceleration and velocity) in response to any motion of wheel 15 (gradual or impulsive). The amplitude of the motion of the mass 10 depends upon the frequency and magnitude of the wheel motion. The effect of the damper 20 is to absorb and dissipate the energy imparted to the system from wheel motions relative to the sprung mass 10.
There are several drawbacks to a traditional passive system. First, the spring-damper system cannot eliminate the transmission of ground irregularities to the sprung mass 10. Second, for much of the frequency range of interest, ground disturbances are magnified by the suspension system, resulting in large spring mass disturbances. Further, choosing spring and damper constants for optimum low frequency ride quality results in poorer high frequency ride quality. Additionally, choosing the best compromise set of constants for vehicle ride quality results in reduced vehicle maneuverability (i.e., poor vehicle handling).
The contradictory choices for passive suspension components lead to the concept of adaptive passive suspension components, usually referred to as semi-active suspension systems. The improvements offered by various semi-active systems have ranged from fair to good. The degree of ride improvement, without simultaneous handling degradation, has been dependent on the responsiveness of the component's adaptability, as well as the control scheme in use. In particular, adaptable dampers, often switching between only 2 states (a high and low damping rate), have achieved some success. In all cases, however, passive components, even if they are adaptive, will still transmit road displacements to the sprung mass. For rough cross-country terrain or road, or for very high performance vehicles, the results are less than satisfactory (Miller and Nobles, 1988; Ivers and Miller, 1989; Miller and Nobles, 1990; Kojima et al., 1991; Pinkos et al., 1993; Hoogterp et al., 1993; Temple and Hoogterp, 1992).
Fully active systems that involve active (bi-directional) force generating components (contrasted with springs, for example, that passively generate restoring forces in response to mechanical displacement), which may be used in conjunction with passive elements, have received far less attention and met with more limited success. This is especially true with respect to suspensions for off-road, rough terrain. The major consideration for on-road, wheeled vehicles is vehicle control over improved surfaces with limited terrain variations. For improved vehicle control over smooth improved surfaces, primary considerations are maintaining constant ground pressure and reducing vehicle roll during turns; passenger acceleration loading is important, but secondary. Consequently, most active suspension control approaches involve measuring forces (such as with a load cell) between the vehicle body and the vehicle suspension attachment points and frequently implicitly assume limited road fluctuations. The major limitation in cross country mobility over rough unimproved, off-road terrain is sprung mass and passenger acceleration loading. Consequently, improving cross-country mobility benefits most from dynamic control of force on the sprung mass, necessitating a somewhat different set of priorities, and assumptions of limited terrain fluctuations are not valid.
Specifically, active suspension success has been limited primarily by the control scheme for the force-generating components, often requiring input of information that is difficult, inconvenient, or costly to obtain. All active and semi-active systems involve a sensing and feedback loop, with various control schemes. Harmonic content of the wheel motion, natural frequencies of the suspension components, speed of calculations, responsiveness of the suspension components, the timeliness of information, and the duration of collecting terrain information before responding, have proven to be critical issues in the quality of results. Typically, for example, assumptions concerning limited road fluctuations are made or information about the terrain in front of the vehicle is needed. Development of such "look-ahead" systems has proven difficult and associated component costs and sizes are prohibitive. Fully active systems without look-ahead capabilities have proven little better (or even worse) than semi-active systems. (Aoyama, 1990; Kiriczi and Kashani, 1990; Dunwoody, 1991; Crolla and Abdel-Hady, 1991; Inagaki et al., 1992; Nagiri et al., 1992; Esmailzadeh and Bateni, 1992).

Constant force suspension, near constant force suspension, and associated control algorithms

Board of Regents The University of Texas System


A sinter-reactive lanthanum chromite powder is prepared from the lanthanum chromite precursor LaCr.sub.1-x M.sub.x O.sub.3 (Adsorbate). The powder is crystalline, has the formula LaCr.sub.1-x M.sub.x O.sub.3, where M is selected from the group consisting of zinc, copper and mixtures thereof and x ranges from about 0.02 to 0.2, and sinters to densities higher than about 95% of theoretical density at temperature as low as 1400.degree. C. in oxidizing atmospheres. Sintering to such high density at temperatures in the vicinity of 1400.degree. C. makes the powder particularly suited for use as interconnect material for solid oxide fuel cells.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electroceramics, and more particularly to a sinter-reactive lanthanum chromide ceramic especially suited for use in a solid oxide fuel cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) have high potential in producing electrical energy from cheap fuels or byproduct waste gas streams of the petrochemical and metallurgical industries. The potential of these fuel cells lies in the high efficiency of converting chemical to electrical energy and could find extensive applications in the domestic, commercial, defense, and aerospace sectors of the economy. The realization of this potential is contingent on the development of reliable and cost efficient methods of cell fabrication.
One of the solid oxide fuel cell designs resembles a heat exchanger with a honeycomb structure in which the electroactive ceramic components also serve as the structural members and eliminate the need for inert supports. This design is referred to as the monolithic solid oxide fuel cell (MSOFC). The honeycomb structure of the MSOFC is made up of thin layers of four components: (1) anode, usually made of a nickel-zirconia cermet; (2) electrolyte, made of a fully stabilized (cubic) zirconia; (3) cathode, made of strontium-doped lanthanum manganite (LaMnO.sub.3); and, (4) interconnect, made of doped lanthanum chromite (LaCrO.sub.3). The adjacent anode, electrolyte, and cathode layers make up one cell while the interconnect serves as an internal electrical connection between individual cells.
The monolithic solid oxide fuel cell offers lower material costs, the potential for reduced manufacturing costs, and a higher efficiency over other geometries and designs. However, fabrication of these cells is expected to be more complicated because the individual components in thin sheet form must be formed into multilayer sheets which are then converted into a honeycomb structure and must be cosintered at the same relatively low temperature. Of particular importance is the sintering behavior of the interconnect material, that is, lanthanum chromite which must be sintered to close porosity or about 94% of its theoretical density.
Lanthanum chromite is a refractory material with a melting point of 2510.degree. C. which requires very high temperatures and controlled atmospheres, i.e. extremely low partial pressures of oxygen for sintering to near theoretical density. Groupp and Anderson (L. Groupp and H. U. Anderson, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 59, 449 (1976)) have shown that LaCrO.sub.3 does not sinter in air even at temperatures as high as 1720.degree. C. According to the data reported by these investigators, LaCrO.sub.3 could be sintered to 95.3% TD only at 1740.degree. C. and in an atmosphere of nitrogen having an oxygen partial pressure of 10.sup.-11 atm. The main inhibition to densification appears to be the volatilization of chromium oxides in oxidizing atmospheres. The oxidation and volatilization of lanthanum chromite in oxidizing atmospheres at temperatures higher than 1400.degree. C. has indeed been reported by Meadowcroft and Wimmer (75th Annual Meeting of the Am. Ceram. Soc., Cincinnati, (1973) and D. B. Meadowcroft and J. M. Wimmer, Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., vol. 58, 610 (1979)) and involves the oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) and formation of fugitive CrO.sub.3 which is a gas at the high temperatures of sintering. Therefore, the preparation of lanthanum chromite powders which sinter to close porosity at temperatures below 1650.degree. C. so that Cr volatilization is minimized is critical for the development of monolithic solid oxide fuel cell fabrication technology. One method of fabricating lanthanum chromite (LaCrO.sub.3) electrodes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,108. This patent teaches the preparation of strontium-doped lanthanum chromite, i.e., lanthanum chromite in which lanthanum is partly substituted by strontium having, from lanthanum oxide, strontium carbonate and chromic acid by slurry mixing these materials, drying the slurry and then firing the dried powder mixture in air at temperatures in the preferred range of 1200.degree. to 1500.degree. C. The resultant fired powder is strontium-doped lanthanum chromite which sinters only at temperatures in excess of 1700.degree. C.
An alternative approach is to use sol-gel technology to prepare high surface area, i.e., very fine grain, and sinter reactive LaCrO.sub.3 powders compacts of which sinter to full density at temperatures lower than 1700.degree. C. Reduction in sintering temperature is achieved by controlling the composition, homogeneity, grain size, and morphology of the powder. This control is brought about by solution chemistry and improved powder separation and processing technology. One such method for preparing lanthanum chromite has been disclosed by C. N. Rao et al. "Synthesis of Complex Metal Oxides Using Hydroxide, Cyanide and Nitrate Solid Solution Precursors", J. Solid State Chem., vol. 58, 29-37 (1985). This method consists of coprecipitation of lanthanum and chromium hydroxides which are intimately mixed and essentially constitute a solid solution of LaCr(OH).sub.6. This hydroxide solid solution is converted to LaCrO.sub.3 by calcination at 850.degree. C. for 12 hours.
Specifically, Rao et al. teach the coprecipitation of LaCr(OH).sub.6 by adding an aqueous nitrate solution of metal ions to a sodium hydroxide solution with subsequent extensive washing of the resultant hydroxide gel to remove sodium ions. Removal of sodium ions from the gel is required because even a very low concentration of sodium ion markedly changes the properties of the gel and degrades the properties of the resultant lanthanum chromite powder. Moreover, Rao et al. state that ammonium hydroxide base could not be used to coprecipitate a hydroxide containing a divalent metal such as magnesium or strontium which are frequently used as dopants of lanthanum chromite.
In contrast to the teachings of Rao et al., an improved sol-gel method has been disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,780, to Olson et al., for the preparation of lanthanum chromite doped with the divalent ions of magnesium, strontium, calcium or barium by coprecipitation from salt solutions of lanthanum, chromium and dopant ions with ammonium hydroxide. According to Olson et al., extensive washing of the precipitated gel is not needed because residual ammonium ion is removed via the gas phase during powder calcination. Upon calcination at temperatures of about 600.degree. C., the gel converts to a single compound with the huttonite structure, LaCrO.sub.4, which upon further calcination at 900.degree. C. converts to pure lanthanum chromite, LaCrO.sub.3, with average particle size of about 0.5 .mu.m. The single phase composition of this powder and its fine grain size are in sharp contrast to the powder which is derived by following the teachings of Rao et al. The lanthanum chromite powder prepared according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,780 could be sintered to 95.7% theoretical density at 1650.degree. C. for 4 hours in a graphite furnace and to 78% theoretical density at 1600.degree. C. for 2 hours in a furnace with oxygen partial pressure of 10.sup.-10 atmospheres. Densification of this lanthanum chromite to the indicated densities was much better than what was achievable by the powders of the prior art, such as those disclosed by Groupp and Anderson.
S. Hayashi et al. utilize another approach for lowering the sintering temperature of lanthanum chromite. In J. Mater. Sci. Lett., vol. 7, p. 457 (1988), Hayashi et al. are said to have prepared chromite powders in which chromium was partially substituted by zinc or copper. They prepared these zinc- or copper-doped chromite powders by standard ceramic techniques, that is, mixing of component oxide powders, calcination of the powder mixtures, and size reduction. Hayashi et al. formed compacts of the chromite powders by uniaxial pressing under 100 MPa pressure, followed by cold isostatic pressing under 300 MPa pressure. These compacts had a high green density of about 60% of theoretical and upon firing in air at 1600.degree. C. for 2 hours achieved a density of about 98% of theoretical when the concentration of zinc was 10 or 15 mol % or the copper concentration was 5, 10 or 15 mol %. The sintering of the zinc- or copper-doped chromites, prepared by Hayashi et al., to high density in air, i.e., oxidizing atmosphere is in sharp contrast to the behavior of strontium- or magnesium-doped chromites which require a reducing atmosphere. However, the sintering temperature of 1600.degree. C. for the powders of Hayashi et al. is still very high and the need to prepare powders which sinter at lower temperatures and especially close to 1400.degree. C. still exists.

Air-sinterable lanthanum chromite and process for its preparation


Time variant interleaving equalization of an interleaved analog to digital converter is disclosed. A high-frequency analog input signal is converted into a plurality of individual digital signals using a plurality of interleaved analog-to-digital converters. the plurality of individual digital signals are interleaved into a composite digital signal. The composite digital signal is processed in a time variant interleaving equalizer using a plurality of sets of equalizer coefficients.

Multiple interleaved Analog-to-Digital (ADC) converters are widely used to increase the sampling rate of the conversion. In order to adjust the multiple ADC's so that they perform equivalently, a typical commercially available high-speed ADC has build-in adjustable controls for the DC offset, gain, and clock timing. In addition to the DC offset, gain, and clock timing differences between ADC's, the amplitude frequency response and the group delay frequency response of ADC's are also not identical. These differences might arise from differences in the frequency responses of the analog signal distributing circuitry or the analog front end of an ADC (e.g., input amplifier, track-and-hold circuit, etc.), which are difficult to eliminate given current design practices and process technology variations. It is therefore necessary to equalize the response characteristics of the different ADC's. One equalization strategy is to digitally equalize after each ADC. However, equalizing each ADC separately limits the bandwidth over which the equalization can be done; especially since an individual ADC is only 1/N of the overall bandwidth desired given N ADC's in a system. Another equalization strategy is to digitally equalize after the ADC streams have been combined. However, at this point the different ADC frequency responses and group delays are intermingled and cannot be removed by a simple equalizer. In addition, in some cases, the equalizer uses FFT transforms in order to equalize in the frequency domain, and significant computation delay and complexity is introduced into the signal processing. It would be beneficial to be able to equalize the interleaved digitizer samples at full bandwidth without suffering from the intermingled ADC responses.

Digital equalization of multiple interleaved analog-to-digital converters


An improved drop/suspended ceiling system which provides consistent spacing between continuous, parallel support rails is described. The rails attach directly to floor joists which permits locating ceiling panels as high as possible with respect to the bottom of the joists. In other embodiments, the rails may be supported by hangers, but held in parallel by spacers hidden by the ceiling panels to avoid the use of conventional suspended ceiling cross-sectional members. In some embodiments, the rails attach within or between joists and can also be used as a remodel or new option. Panels can be used with existing steel drop ceilings in conjunction with the spacer channel to achieve a continuous, parallel look with traditional steel drop ceiling rails using the spacer. Rails and tiles can serve as a direct replacement for traditional tiles or long panels can be used from wall to wall in isles or small rooms.

The present invention relates to a drop ceiling system and components thereof. In particular, the present invention related to providing ceiling rail spacing with structure which is not visible after the ceiling is installed. The present invention also relates to a system which permits the positioning of ceiling tiles above associated, supporting joist.

Continuous rail, drop ceiling system and components


A method and an apparatus for concentrating/purifying a chlorine gas are disclosed in which a pressure swing adsorption method for alternately repeating an adsorbing operation and a desorbing operation employing one or more adsorption towers packed with an adsorbent for adsorbing the chlorine gas are used to obtain a high-purity concentrated/purified chlorine gas and an exhaust gas containing virtually no chlorine gas is obtained from the chlorine gas containing impurities by terminating the adsorption operation when the rate of temperature rise near the outlet end of an adsorption tower due to adsorption of chlorine therein rises above a predetermined amount.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for concentrating (purifying) a chlorine gas by the utilization of a pressure swing adsorption method (hereinafter referred to as "PSA method"), and particularly, it relates to a method and an apparatus for concentrating/purifying a chlorine containing gas so as to lower the chlorine concentration in a treated exhaust or residue gas and increase the purity of a (concentrated) chlorine gas product.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
As methods for concentrating a chlorine gas which have been heretofore known, there are a method which comprises absorbing the chlorine gas by a chlorine-containing organic solvent, and then vaporizing the chlorine gas; a method which comprises pressurizing/cooling a gas, and then separating the resultant liquid chlorine; a method which comprises adsorbing chlorine by silica gel (U.S. Pat. No. 1,617,305); and other techniques. However the method using a chlorine-containing solvent is not preferable, because the chlorine solvent has an influence on process parameters and hence the use of chlorine as a solvent will be restricted. On the other hand, the method which comprises pressurizing/cooling the chlorine gas to liquefy it requires a compressor and a freezer and therefore this method is not considered to be an advantageous technique. The method which comprises adsorbing chlorine by silica gel is also poor in efficiency and it is not an industrially effective technique. Therefore, this method has not been utilized so far. In particular, there have not been any industrially effective method and apparatus by which gases having low chlorine concentration can be converted to gases with a high concentration are concentrated without leaking the chlorine gas into an exhaust or residue gas.
As is apparent from the foregoing, a method and apparatus have not been developed thus far which provides an industrially effective process for concentrating/purifying a chlorine gas which contains impurities.
Furthermore, there has not existed a method for separating chlorine from a mixed gas containing the chlorine gas, particularly from a gas having a relatively low chlorine concentration and containing moisture to concentrate the chlorine.

Method and apparatus for concentrating chlorine gas