Providing a time-of-transaction currency conversion from a merchant's local currency to a cardholder's credit card currency uses a conversion rate developed by reference to the particular merchant, acquirer, card association and issuer. After a merchant has generated an authorization request in the merchant's currency for a transaction by a cardholder in a different currency, the transaction amount in the authorization is converted from the merchant's currency to the currency of the cardholder's issuing currency, and optionally modified to include additional fees. The converted authorization request is then transmitted to the appropriate card association and then to the issuing bank for authorization, with a response returned to the merchant. The cardholder sees and approves the transaction in the cardholder's currency, and in an amount identical to the amount for which he will be billed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to processing credit card transactions involving currency conversion, and in particular to determining the conversion rate at the time of authorization in order to provide a cardholder with the final price of the transaction in the cardholder's billing currency based upon a specific currency exchange rate that is developed by reference to a combination of merchant, merchant location, acquirer, gateway, value-added reseller, currency, card type, transaction type, and/or card issuer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a credit card environment, a transaction takes place between a merchant and a cardholder. The merchant contracts with an acquiring bank for an account that permits the merchant to accept credit and debits cards (collectively referred to as "credit cards") issued by a card association as a method of payment for sales completed by the merchant. The merchant's account is denominated in a settlement currency, which is typically the same as the legal currency in the jurisdiction where the merchant is located. Furthermore, the currency in which the merchant receives payment is generally the same as the settlement currency (e.g. a U.S. based merchant has a merchant account denominated in U.S. Dollars and receives payment in U.S. Dollars). If a merchant desires to have more than one settlement currency, it establishes multiple settlement accounts at an acquiring bank that can support this, each associated with a specific currency. In a conventional system, the merchant is typically only able to consummate credit card transactions in the settlement currency, and its customer can only view pricing and complete a transaction in the settlement currency. For readability, the term "local currency" is used below to refer to the currency in which the merchant receives settlement.
There is a variety of technology available to enable merchants to accept credit card payments. For example, the merchant may use a stand alone credit card processing terminal separate from the merchant's other business processes. Further, the merchant may use a credit card device integrated within another business application; for example in the case of a hotelier, a solution that is encompassed in a property management system that manages several aspects of the hotel's business. Additional integrated examples include but are not limited to gasoline pumps, electronic cash register (ECR) systems, and the like. The term Point-Of-Sale Device (POS device) is used below to generally describe these devices.
In many cases, the POS device may be connected directly to either an acquiring bank or third-party processor contracted to handle credit card processing functions on behalf of the acquiring bank. The acquirer or third-party processor (collectively, the "acquirer"), in turn is in communication with the card associations for the purpose of authorization and settlement of the credit card transactions. In other cases, the POS device may be connected to the acquirer via a "payment gateway" which is centrally-hosted by a third party and which has connectivity to multiple processors. In still other situations, typically when very large merchants are involved, numerous remote locations may connect to the corporate host central site, akin to an in-house gateway of sorts, for processing. In practice, numerous combinations of the above can and are deployed within the industry.
When the cardholder completes a transaction abroad, or more specifically where a transaction is consummated outside of the country where the issuing bank is located, the currency in which the transaction is denominated (i.e. the merchant's "local currency") is often different than the currency in which the cardholder is billed (i.e. the currency of the card's issuing bank, or the "issuing currency"). Consequently, at some point the transaction amount must be converted from the local currency to the issuing currency so that that the issuing bank can provide a statement to the cardholder in the cardholder's issuing currency.
Conventionally, this conversion is not performed by the card associations at the time of the authorization, but rather occurs after the transaction has been authorized and "batched" (i.e.: submitted by the merchant for payment) during the general card association settlement process. Referring now to FIG. 1, assume that a cardholder 102 from the United Kingdom is visiting the United States and completes a transaction using a credit card denominated in British Pound Sterling Sterling. The cardholder presents the credit card to the merchant whose merchant account is denominated in United States Dollars. Assume also that US $150=£100 on the wholesale market. If the cardholder purchases an item for $150 from merchant 104, the transaction between the cardholder and the merchant will be both completed in and sent to the card association in U.S. dollars. The merchant then sends the transaction record to its acquirer 106, which is responsible for obtaining payment on the merchant's behalf. The acquirer 106 forwards to the card association 108 the transaction record, still denominated in U.S. dollars. The card association 108 determines that the issuing currency is British Pound Sterling, and converts the transaction into that currency using a wholesale rate established by the respective card associations. At this point in the settlement process, the card association conventionally applies a markup percentage, illustrated in FIG. 1 as a 1% markup, raising the converted transaction amount to £151. Next, when the card issuer 110 receives the transaction, it typically applies its own markup to the transaction, e.g., a 2% to 4% markup, which in this case raises the transaction amount to £103 if the markup is 2%. The new amount, as converted by the card associations and issuing bank and including the fees imposed by the card association and issuing bank, in this case £103, or US $4.50 more than the original purchase price, is then provided to the cardholder, typically on the cardholder's next billing statement. At some point in the future, the cardholder is presented with a statement that lists the final converted amount of the transaction in the issuing currency. Depending upon the specific business practices of the issuing bank, the exact manner in which the conversion was achieved (e.g., the actual conversion rate applied to the transaction and the specific fees imposed by the card association and issuing bank) is typically not clearly disclosed to the cardholder. Thus, in this conventional model, the card association 108 and the card issuer 110 receive a profit on the conversion markup, but the merchant and the acquirer do not. Furthermore, the cardholder is not able to determine the final amount of the transaction in his local currency at the time of the transaction, but rather will discover the amount of the transaction in the issuing currency only upon receiving his next billing statement. Further, even then he may not be able to determine the exact manner in which the final amount was calculated due to this lack of disclosure on the part of the card association and issuing banks. The cardholder does not have any opportunity to reject the conversion itself or choose some other institution or entity to provide the currency conversion.
In view of the foregoing, a need therefore exists for a foreign exchange payment system that allows a merchant to present a cardholder with the final price of a credit card transaction denominated in the cardholder's issuing currency at the time of the transaction. In addition, a need exists for a way to allow merchants, acquirers, processors, payment gateways and point-of-sale device providers and other participating parties in the transaction stream to facilitate a time-of-transaction currency conversion service without requiring broad changes to such parties' processing and accounting infrastructures.

Time-of-transaction foreign currency conversion


A technique includes providing power to a group fuel cell system components and providing sensors to monitor conditions of the fuel cell system. The status of each sensor is associated with a switch, and the switches are serially coupled together. The delivery of power to the fuel cell system components is regulated in response to states of the switches.

The invention generally relates to a regulating the communication of power to components of a fuel cell system.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy produced by a reaction directly into electrical energy. For example, one type of fuel cell includes a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), often called a proton exchange membrane, that permits only protons to pass between an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell. At the anode, diatomic hydrogen (a fuel) is reacted to produce hydrogen protons that pass through the PEM. The electrons produced by this reaction travel through circuitry that is external to the fuel cell to form an electrical current. At the cathode, oxygen is reduced and reacts with the hydrogen protons to form water. The anodic and cathodic reactions are described by the following equations:H2→2H++2e− at the anode of the cell, andO2+4H++4e−→2H2O at the cathode of the cell.
A typical fuel cell has a terminal voltage near one volt DC. For purposes of producing much larger voltages, several fuel cells may be assembled together to form an arrangement called a fuel cell stack, an arrangement in which the fuel cells are electrically coupled together in series to form a larger DC voltage (a voltage near 100 volts DC, for example) and to provide more power.
The fuel cell stack may include flow plates (graphite composite or metal plates, as examples) that are stacked one on top of the other, and each plate may be associated with more than one fuel cell of the stack. The plates may include various surface flow channels and orifices to, as examples, route the reactants and products through the fuel cell stack. Several PEMs (each one being associated with a particular fuel cell) may be dispersed throughout the stack between the anodes and cathodes of the different fuel cells. Electrically conductive gas diffusion layers (GDLs) may be located on each side of each PEM to form the anode and cathodes of each fuel cell. In this manner, reactant gases from each side of the PEM may leave the flow channels and diffuse through the GDLs to reach the PEM.
The powering up of the fuel cell system must be carefully regulated, especially in view of the various stray gases that may be present. In this manner, the fuel cell system must be powered up in a manner to ensure that if significant levels of certain stray gases (hydrogen, for example) are present, these levels are reduced before electricity is provided to components of the fuel cell system. Otherwise, a hazardous condition may result, as an electrical spark may ignite a stray gas.
The presence of significant stray gas levels inside the compartment is an example of one of the various alarm conditions that need to be monitored in connection with operation of the fuel cell system. Thus, the fuel cell system typically include various sensors for purposes of detecting these alarm conditions. In this manner, should a sensor in the fuel cell compartment indicate an unacceptable level of a particular stray gas or another alarm condition (such as an over temperature condition or an over pressure condition (as examples)) during power up or at any other time, corrective action may need to be taken.
Thus, there is a continuing need for better techniques and arrangements to control the delivery of power to components of the fuel cell system.

Regulating the communication of power to components of a fuel cell system


The relative orientation of an orthodontic appliance and a tooth is selected by providing a first relative orientation between the appliance and the tooth, and defining a first set of hypothetical reference lines or rays between the base of the appliance and the tooth in virtual three-dimensional space. The distance along each ray is then determined. Next, the relative orientation of the appliance and the tooth is changed to a second orientation. A second set of rays is defined between the appliance and the tooth, and the distance along each ray is determined. A mathematical computation is then carried out on the determined distances in order to help determine whether the first orientation or the second orientation provides a better fit between the base of the appliance and the tooth surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to a method for orienting an orthodontic appliance, such as a bracket or buccal tube, to a tooth. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method for selecting the relative orientation of an orthodontic appliance that is adapted to be directly bonded to a tooth by an adhesive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthodontic treatment involves movement of malpositioned teeth to orthodontically correct locations. Orthodontic treatment can result in improved occlusion, so that the teeth properly function with other teeth in a satisfactory manner during mastication. Orthodontic treatment can also greatly enhance the aesthetic appearance of the patient's oral cavity.
One common type of orthodontic treatment involves the use of tiny appliances known as brackets that are often fixed to the patient's anterior, cuspid and bicuspid teeth. An archwire is placed in a slot of each bracket. The archwire forms a track to guide movement of the teeth to desired locations.
Ends of orthodontic archwires are often placed in passages of small appliances known as buccal tubes. In turn, the buccal tubes are fixed to the patient's molar teeth. The brackets, buccal tubes and archwires form an orthodontic system that is commonly known collectively as "braces".
One popular method of orthodontic treatment is known as the "level-arch" technique, and involves placing the brackets on the patient's teeth at certain selected locations so that the "U"-shaped archwire extends in a generally level plane at the conclusion of treatment. When the archwire is initially installed on the brackets, the malpositioned teeth may cause the wire to deviate from its normally planar configuration (in horizontal view) and from its normally smoothly curved configuration (in plan view). However, the inherent resiliency of the archwire tends to urge the brackets and hence the associated teeth toward a level array wherein the archwire re-assumes its normally planar and smoothly curved configuration. The level-arch technique is considered satisfactory by many orthodontists because the need for bends, steps or other adjustments in the archwire is reduced and in many cases eliminated, resulting in a savings of time for both the orthodontist as well as the patient.
As can be appreciated, the degree of success of the level-arch technique is related in part to the position and orientation of the brackets and buccal tubes on the patient's teeth. For example, if one of the brackets is bonded to a patient's tooth at a location that is too close to the patient's gingiva (i.e., the patient's gums) relative to the placement of brackets on adjoining teeth, that tooth will protrude outwardly an excessive distance in an occlusal direction (i.e., in a direction toward the outer tips of the patient's teeth) relative to adjoining teeth at the conclusion of treatment if all of the brackets are aligned in a level array. In such an instance, the orthodontist can correct the orientation of the malpositioned tooth by placing bends or steps in the archwire at locations adjacent each side of its bracket, but such a practice entails additional work for the orthodontist and may also increase the overall length of treatment time.
As a consequence, many suggestions have been made in the past for improving the placement accuracy of orthodontic appliances during the procedure of bonding the appliances to the patient's teeth. For example, height gauges such as the well-known "Boone" gauge provide a means for indicating a desired position of the appliance on a tooth relative to the occlusal edge of the associated tooth. Another device for improving placement accuracy is known as a positioning device or jig, such as the devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,455,137, 4,850,864 and 5,429,229. These devices support the appliance on a tooth surface at a location that is a pre-determined distance from the occlusal edge of the tooth.
While the bonding techniques described above are considered satisfactory by some practitioners, there are shortcomings that are inherent with such techniques. For example, access to the surfaces of certain malpositioned teeth (such as the bicuspid and molar teeth) may be difficult. In some instances, and particularly in connection with posterior teeth, the practitioner may have difficulty seeing the precise position of the appliance relative to the tooth surface. Another problem with the above described techniques concerns the significant length of time needed to carry out the procedure of positioning and bonding an appliance to each individual tooth, which is a nuisance both to the patient as well as to the orthodontist. The risk of moisture contamination from the patient's saliva also increases as the time increases that the patient is awaiting completion of the bonding procedure. The above factors may also unduly impair the accuracy of placement of the appliances on the teeth and/or increase the chance that the ultimate adhesive bond will not have sufficient strength to retain the appliances on the teeth during the course of orthodontic treatment.
Bonding techniques known as "indirect bonding" avoid many of the problems noted above. In general, indirect bonding techniques involve the use of a transfer tray having a shape that matches the configuration of at least part of one of the patient's dental arches. A set of appliances is releasably connected to the tray at certain, pre-determined locations. Once adhesive is applied to the base of each appliance, the tray is placed over the patient's teeth until such time as the adhesive hardens. Next, the tray is detached from the teeth as well as from the appliances, often with the result that all of the appliances that were previously connected to the tray are now bonded to their respective teeth at certain intended, pre-determined locations. The procedure is often then repeated for the patient's other dental arch.
In more detail, one known method of indirect bonding includes the steps of taking an impression of the patient's dental arch and then making a replica plaster or "stone" model from the impression. A sealing solution (such as Liquid Foil brand sealing solution from 3M) is applied to the stone model and allowed to dry. If desired, the teeth of the model are marked with a pencil to assist in placing the appliances in ideal positions.
Next, the appliances are temporarily bonded to the sealed stone model. Optionally, the bonding adhesive can be a chemical curing adhesive (such as Concise brand from 3M) or a light curable adhesive (such as Transbond XT or Transbond LR adhesive from 3M). Optionally, the appliances may be adhesive pre-coated brackets such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,015,180, 5,172,809, 5,354,199 or 5,429,229.
A transfer tray is then made by placing matrix material over the model as well as over the appliances on the model. For example, a plastic sheet matrix material may be placed over the model and appliances and then heated in an oven. A vacuum source is used to evacuate air between the matrix material and the model. As the matrix material is heated, the plastic sheet material is drawn down over the model and assumes a configuration that precisely matches the shape of the replica teeth of the stone model and adjacent appliances.
The plastic model is then allowed to cool and harden to form a tray. Next, the tray and the appliances (which are embedded in an interior wall of the tray) are detached from the stone model, and the sides of the tray are trimmed as may be desired. The tray also may be cut into smaller sections for ease of placement during bonding. If the cured adhesive remains on the appliance base after detaching the appliances from the model, the adhesive can serve as a custom-made bonding surface having a contour that matches the contour of the patient's tooth for a snug, mating fit.
Once the patient has returned to the office, a quantity of adhesive is placed on the base of each appliance (or on the cured adhesive, if any), and the tray (or tray section) with the embedded appliances is then placed over ma tching portions of the patient's dental arch. Since the configuration of the interior channel in the tray closely matches the respective portions of the patient's dental arch, each appliance is ultimately positioned on the patient's teeth at precisely the same location that corresponds to the previous location of the same appliance on the stone model.
Both light-curable adhesives and chemical curing adhesives have been used in indirect bonding techniques to secure the appliances to the patient's teeth. If a light-curable adhesive is used, the tray is preferably transparent or translucent. If a two-component chemical curing adhesive is used, the components can be mixed before application to the appliances, or alternatively one component may be placed on each appliance base (or on the cured adhesive, if any) and the other component may be placed on the tooth surface. In either case, placement of the tray with the embedded appliances on corresponding portions of the patient's dental arches enables the appliances to be bonded to the teeth as a group in a relatively short amount of time. With such a technique, individual placement and positioning of each appliance in seriatim fashion on the teeth is avoided.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,544, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes improved methods and apparatus for precisely positioning and bonding orthodontic appliances to the teeth. In one embodiment described in that patent, orthodontic appliances are releasably connected to arms that, in turn, are slidably received in passageways of a transfer tray. After the transfer tray is received on one of the patient's dental arches, the arms are moved along the passageways until the adhesive on the appliances comes into contact with the tooth surfaces. The arms provide a means for moving the appliances to certain pre-selected positions on the teeth.
In some of the embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,544, the transfer tray is made by placing analogs of the orthodontic appliances on replica teeth such as a stone model. Each analog is connected to a respective fixture arm, and a quantity of matrix material is then applied to both the replica dental arch and the fixture arms. After the matrix material has hardened, the fixture arms with the appliance analogs are replaced by carrier arms that are releasably connected to the selected appliances.
The resulting location of the orthodontic appliances on the patient's teeth according to the methods and apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,544 is determined in substantial part by the selected orientation of the appliance analog on the replica dental arch. One method of selecting this orientation can be carried out manually by, for example, drawing pencil lines along the replica teeth in a mesial-distal direction, optionally using one of the height gauges described above. As another option, an automated device such as a computer controlled robotic arm may be used to place the appliance analogs on the associated replica teeth, using software and digital information of the replica dental arch to select desired locations of the analogs and ultimately of the selected appliances.
There is a continuing need in the art to further increase the accuracy of placement of orthodontic appliances on the patient's teeth, so that the ultimate positions of the teeth at the conclusion of orthodontic treatment is identical to the positions sought by the orthodontist. In addition, it is desirable that any new method for selecting the orientation of an orthodontic appliance on a tooth be carried out by the use of computer software that would be useful in diagnosis and treatment planning as well as in subsequent manufacturing processes, such as in the fabrication of indirect bonding transfer trays as described above.

Method of orienting an orthodontic appliance to a tooth


This invention discloses a data storage drive system. The system includes a pickup head for performing data access functions connected to a secondary winding of a transformer. The transformer further includes a primary winding connected to a driver controller provided with a pre-amplifier for generating a data writing pulse. The secondary winding further having an pulse decay-constant adjustment capacitor and a pulse decay-constant adjustment inductor for adjusting a pulse decay constant for generating less than ten-percent sag for the data writing pulse whereby the writing pulse can overwrite an entire bit-length onto a data track In a preferred embodiment, the pickup head and the secondary winding are configured as a removable and replaceable module. In a preferred embodiment, the pickup head is provided with signal reading and writing head for a magnetic or optical flat data-storage medium. In another preferred embodiment, the pickup head is provided with signal reading and writing head for an optical flat data-storage medium. In another preferred embodiment, the drive system is further provided with an optical to electrical signal converter for converting optical signals retrieved from the optical flat data-storage medium to electrical signals.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems and method for reading data from and writing data to data storage medium by employing the data recording technology. More particularly, this invention is related to an improved data access system. The data access system is implemented in a portable data-card drive device that has a high-speed data access subsystem with novel pulse shaping circuit for performing transformer-coupled read/write operations. The transformer-coupled pickup head becomes a removal and conveniently replaceable unit to enhance a long-term reliable and economical operation of the data card drive system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional technology of reading-writing data on concentric circular data tracks of a flat data storage medium often presents a problem that the data-bit density varies between the outer tracks and the inner tracks. The variable bit density in data storage is due to a geometrical factor that the outer data tracks are much longer in length than the inner tracks. A common practice is to form the inner tracks with a capacity to store the data bit at a higher bit density than that of the outer tracks. Due to the variations of data storage density between the inner and outer data tracks, a more complicated servo control system implemented with more complex signal-processing algorithms is required. Additionally, by varying the data storage density from the inner tracks toward the outside tracks, the data transfer rate is also changed in accessing data from the inner tracks compared to the outside data tracks. More complicated data processing schemes must be applied to deal with such access rate variations. Higher error rates may incur due to these variations between the inner tracks and the outer tracks.
Additionally, a conventional disk drive system implements a directly coupled configuration with the pickup head directly connected to a preamplifier. The directly coupled pickup configuration often imposes a limit on the life span and usefulness of the storage medium as the pickup head is more prone to damages. When a pickup head is damaged, the disk drive system crashes and the whole system becomes useless. Unless properly backed up, the data stored in storage medium with a damaged pickup head would be very difficult to retrieve. For a direct coupled pickup head, this inherent limitation cannot be overcome with the technology currently available in the data recording and storage industry.
Therefore, a need still exists for an improved data-card drive system to overcome the aforementioned difficulties encountered in the prior art. Specifically, this storage card drive system must provide a uniform density for data storage and a data-card drive system to access the data-storage card. Furthermore, it would be desirable that this system is portable and is also provided with several standardized sizes for processing standardized data-storage cards.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a data storage-card drive system with a pickup head moving above the data-storage card in rotational movement. The data read-write functions are enabled only for arc-segments of the rotational movement such that the data tracks are arranged as plurality of parallel arcs, e.g., half-circles. The pickup head is further configured with a transformer-coupled removable head that can be conveniently replaced such that the aforementioned difficulties and limitations encountered in the prior art can be resolved.
Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved transformer coupled pickup head configured as a removal module that can be conveniently removed and replaced. The pickup head is connected to a secondary winding of the transformer with the primary winding connected to a driver for generating write current pulses. The secondary side of the transformer has a greater pulse decay constant to assure that the write current has a sufficient pulse width to overwrite the entire length of the data bits on a data track
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved transformer coupled pickup head configured as a removal module that can be conveniently removed and replaced. The pickup head is formed as either a magnetic or optical pickup head. For an optical pickup head, the drive system is further provided with an optical to electrical converter to convert optical signals to corresponding electrical signals for transfer through the transformer to a data signal processor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data-storage card drive system with a pickup head driven by a motor, e.g., a brushless motor, to rotate over the data-storage card with the rotation axis perpendicular to the card surface. The motor is mounted on a carriage for making horizontal movement along a longitudinal direction of the data card. The position of the pickup head is then servo-controlled by moving the carriage and the motor while the data storage card either stays at a fixed position or the pickup head is rotated and the card makes horizontal linear movements.
Briefly, in a preferred embodiment, the present invention discloses a data storage drive system. The system includes a pickup head for performing data access functions connected to a secondary winding of a transformer. The transformer further includes a primary winding connected to a driver controller provided with a pre-amplifier for generating a data writing pulse. The secondary winding further having a pulse decay-constant adjustment capacitor and a pulse decay-constant adjustment inductor for adjusting a pulse decay constant for generating less than ten-percent sag for the data writing pulse whereby the writing pulse can overwrite an entire bit-length onto a data track In a preferred embodiment, the pickup head and the secondary winding are configured as a removable and replaceable module. In a preferred embodiment, the pickup head is provided with signal reading and writing head for a magnetic or optical flat data-storage medium. In another preferred embodiment, the pickup head is provided with signal reading and writing head for an optical flat data-storage medium. In another preferred embodiment, the drive system is further provided with an optical to electrical signal converter for converting optical signals retrieved from the optical flat data-storage medium to electrical signals.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various drawing figures.

Pulse shaping for a transformer coupled read/write recording device


An expandable clothes hanger base is located in a luggage body and is composed of a plurality of front inclined fork rods and rear inclined fork rods linked with the front inclined fork rods. The front inclined fork rods are provided with a slide clamp slot, a hanging hook and a pivoting slide pillar and are also linked with two rear inclined connection rods and an action body. The action body is provided with a clamp slot, a pivoting slide pillar and a front inclined connection rod. The front inclined fork rods, the rear inclined fork rods, the rear inclined connection rod and the front inclined connection rod are provided respectively with a center pivoting hole, a center pivoting pillar, an end pivoting hole, and a back pivoting hole for engaging the pivoting bolt so as to enable the expandable clothes hanger base to be extracted and retracted. The action body is capable of actuating the front inclined fork rods to join together or move apart.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a suit hanger base 10 of the prior art comprises a fastening seat 12 having two fastening holes 11, and a hanging frame 13 extending downwards from one end of the fastening seat 12 such that the underside of the fastening seat 12 is parallel to the top of the hanging frame 13 and that the underside of the fastening seat 12 and the top of the hanging frame 13 are provided therebetween with a channel 14. The hanging frame 13 is provided in the top side thereof with a plurality of locating grooves 15. The hanging frame 13 is further provided at the free end thereof with a retaining plate 16. The retaining plate 16 forms an insertion recessed edge 18 along with a retaining projection 17 of the fastening seat 12.
Such a prior art suit hanger base 10 as described is defective in design in that the hangers can not be located in the locating grooves 15, and in that the hangers are prone to slide back and forth in the channel 14 at such time when the luggage is shipped from one place to another. In addition, the suit hangers located in the locating grooves 15 of the hanging frame 13 can not be removed at random. In other words, the suit hangers must be removed from the locating grooves 15 one after another sequentially. Moreover, the suit hangers can not be easily removed from the locating grooves 15 of the hanging frame 13 if the locating grooves 15 are overcrowded.


An inverted-F antenna has at least two antenna conductive elements coupled in series via at least one switch. An antenna apparatus includes control means for controlling the at least one switch.

Some current desktop personal computers include respective television tuner cards. Typically, such a tuner card is connected via a coaxial cable to an antenna for receiving terrestrial broadcast signals and an antenna dish for receiving satellite broadcast signals, both of which are mounted on a rooftop.
For these several years, mobile apparatuses, such as notebook personal computers (PCs) and personal digital assistants (PDAs), having the capabilities of performing wireless communications via respective small size antennas coupled to the apparatuses, such as the wireless LAN communications, the Bluetooth standard short distance wireless communications and the mobile telephone communications, have been spreading widely. Such mobile apparatuses, however, cannot receive the current terrestrial analog television signals in good condition with respective small antennas coupled to the apparatuses. Thus most mobile apparatuses do not include television tuner cards. In the future, however, when terrestrial digital television broadcasting becomes available in Japan, such mobile apparatuses will be able to receive, with respective small antennas, relatively high quality RF signals with carriers modulated with digital image signals. Thus it is expected that, in the future, many mobile apparatuses will have a capability of receiving terrestrial digital television broadcast signals.
In general, however, RF signals of a plurality of terrestrial television broadcasts exhibit lower frequencies and a wider frequency range than those of the wireless LAN communications and other short distance wireless communications. Transmission and reception of RF signals of a plurality of terrestrial television broadcasts require a relatively large size antenna, which cannot be accommodated in a mobile apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (JP-A) No. HEI 11-251825 discloses a small inverted-F antenna which can be accommodated in a small mobile communication apparatus. This inverted-F antenna has an antenna length equal to one quarter of the wavelength λ of the transmitted and received RF signal, and is suitable for implementing in a mobile communication apparatus. The inverted-F antenna is associated with a resonant circuit for controlling radiator length in accordance with the frequency and also a resonant circuit for controlling the distance between the feed point and the ground in accordance with the frequency.
Typically, in the inverted-F antenna, a variable capacitance diode is employed for a resonant circuit to control its resonance frequency. However, the typical range of tuning capacitance of such a variable capacitor is relatively small. Widening the range of variable capacitance requires an undesirable relatively high control voltage to be applied to the capacitor.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (JP-A) No. HEI 10-284919 discloses a small antenna apparatus for a mobile communication unit for transmitting and receiving a wide range of RF signals. This antenna apparatus includes the antenna proper and a frequency tuning circuit. The tuning circuit includes an arrangement formed by a diode and a capacitor coupled in parallel. The resonance frequency of the antenna is varied by controlling the on/off operation of the diode.
The inventors have recognized the need for an inverted-F antenna, which has a variable capacitor controllable with a relatively low control voltage, and which has a wider frequency range for receiving RF signals of a plurality of terrestrial broadcasts.
An object of the present invention is to provide an inverted-F antenna that has a wider frequency range.
Another object of the invention is to provide tuning of a resonance frequency of an inverted-F antenna with a wider frequency range.

Antenna apparatus including inverted-F antenna having variable resonance frequency


A bow sight member includes a mounting plate secured to a bow in an orthogonal relationship, with the mounting plate including an L-shaped front sight support member projecting forwardly of the bow, with an L-shaped rear sight member positioned rearwardly of the bow, wherein each sight member includes a mounting plate arranged in a coplanar relationship to slidably secure respective front and rear sight plates thereon, with the front and rear sight plates respectively mounting respective front and rear sights.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to bow sight apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved bow sight apparatus wherein the same is directed to the securement of a bow sight structure relative to an associated archery bow.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of sight structure mounted relative to an associated archery bow is present in the prior art in a variety of configurations, such as indicated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,576; 4,967,478; 4,894,921; and 4,999,919.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a bow sight structure arranged for ease of adjustment and accommodation of an archery quiver utilizing a compact rigid organization and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


This invention is designed to neutralize and destroy all airborne particulates and infectious material prior to the return of this ventilation air into the High Energy Particulate Absorber [HEPA] System of a forced air ventilation building. This sterilizing and purifying device will return only safe and clean air to the building ventilation system. This smallest particulate absorber will be located just prior to the standard return air vent in the forced air ventilation system and it will neutralize and destroy all sizes, even nano and micro sized airborne particulates.

There are quite a few prior art patents herein referenced that do seek to control, modify, purify, and improve air in a building environment, and some are quite creative and achieve good results but in a small and limited manner. With this patent the goal is to clear and clean not only the patients' rooms, but the entire hospital will benefit as the existing HEPA Filter System would receive sterile and clean intake air from all patients' rooms, clinics, doctors' offices, waiting rooms, and everywhere possible in the hospital. Soon, the goal can be 'The Number One Cleanest Hospital in the Area' wherein the particulate count gets very, very low.
Today, the hospitals announce that they are Number One in their State with the most Doctors, Consulting Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Emergency Facilities, Labs, Operating Rooms, Patient Beds, High Tech Diagnostic Machines, Parking Lots for Everyone, perhaps Valet Parking & Parking Garages. All of the Real-Time Convenience Anyone Would Want! So, do you want a dirty hospital that has lots of parking, and expensive machines [that the tax-payer pays for], consulting Doctors, Fancy Rooms, or a Hospital that is safe and clean? Would you want a Number One Rated Clean Hospital, or a Number 2 Dirty and Infectious Hospital? Nothing is ever mentioned about Cross-Infections or Highest Death Rate of a truly Dirty Hospital. Is there any interest in a Clean Hospital without Cross-Infections?
Where can you go to get Pneumonia? Dengue Fever? "Mercer" [MRSA aka Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus]? Flu? You would have to go to a Hospital. Go to Visit a Friend, or a Patient, or just stop by to inquire at a Clinic, to get sick! You can't get such germs in a food store, auto dealer, or a restaurant, or 7-11, or out in the public, or out in the open air, the germs are not there, or just too few to get you sick. You go to the Hospital because that's where the germs are. [Thanks, Willie Sutton]
The modem hospitals are dirty, and spread diseases everywhere with the help of HEPA [High Energy Particulate Absorber). The HEPA System itself is not at fault, even though this forced air ventilation system was developed in the time of the Second World War. Today the HEPA still does its job moving the air around in a building, but mostly now the windows are closed and do not open, especially in large cities where there are risks in opening a window on the 61″ floor. Another factor is the inside air is not ever changed, air can be added to when the pressure in the building drops, then more air is needed to continue the proper ventilation. Some of the air inside a building can be years old, 10 or 20 years old and still full of germs. The standard HEPA System also cannot maintain its velocity and speed around inside the building to reach far distances when it is too restrictive of its flow path with restrictive filtering. Thus, the standard system cannot detain or absorb the smallest of microbes [0.3 microns or less] that cannot be seen by the eye, and that's where the germs are. They pass right through the HEPA System without interruption. But, the important question is where do these infectious invisible germs come from?
HEPA gets its diseases from the patients. HEPA gets them from the hallways and corridors, the nurses' stations, the clinics, waiting rooms, lobby, emergency treatment rooms, examination rooms, just about everywhere in the hospital. The infectious material floats around and moves about everywhere that has ventilation by the HEPA System. You need to breathe clean air almost 20,000 times a day, and so, HEPA will find You. If you are a patient this infectious material from everywhere will find You also. This is one way that hospitals give to everyone, including You, exposure to an infectious disease FREE of charge, every hour of every day. There has to be some way that the ventilating system can get those diseases. They get them from the patients. They get them from the clinics, doctors' waiting rooms, and treatment rooms, doctors' offices, emergency stations, because that's where the diseases are.
Usually, you will be found in those 'open to inspect' hospital gowns that are required to wear items while a patient. You might be covered in bandages or awaiting surgery, but you will have 'new friends' that you cannot see because they are too small. In your room, the long-awaiting infectious germs can move in with you to add to your troubles, or just feed on you as only they can. Your new friends don't stay with the healthy people that visit, or people that move around fast like nurses or doctors. They will stay with someone bedridden and unable to move with tubes in their arms. This is where the term "nosocomios" came from, meaning a 'cross-infection' that can attack and infect the bedridden patient with another disease while they are sleeping or drowsy, lying down, bedridden and cannot move, taking pills, and just can't get up, then they are perfect to infect. Doctors, Nurses, Visitors, Healthy People are hard to catch, but not The Bedridden. How can a clean smelling and visually well prepared room cause you any trouble? You went into a hospital to get well, not to get sick with another illness or infection.
Unfortunately this issue is all too familiar and commonplace today with tens of thousands of hospital patients becoming newly infected, and in some cases dying from this type of cross-infectious disease that is hiding in their room. Cross-infection, often called 'nosocomio' as a definition [Source: Cassell's Spanish Dictionary, page 583] is quite extensive and quite serious in modern hospitals that can kill and disable patients.
The hospitals are very dirty and dangerous to be in as a patient, as a receptionist. As a nurse, as staff that work inside, as a lab worker, or to work in food service or cleaning. Thousands upon thousands of microbes, pathogens, viruses, and bacteria, plus mold, yeasts, spores, dust motes, all float through the AIR every hour, every day. The particulate count in a hallway could exceed 80,000 per cubic foot, in a clinic reception area could exceed 100.000 per cubic foot, in the cafeteria could exceed 200,000 per cubic foot, every day. A hospital uses the same air in its building all year long, as it COSTS too much to cool or heat outside fresh air to come inside, so they use the same air all the time, day after day, year after year. These invisible and unseen infectious particulates kill more patients and staff each year across the country than cars. The patient goes into a hospital with one disease trying to be treated and cured, but can die from a new disease already there in the hospital.
The news media tells the public about the number of csr related deaths and about wartime deaths each year, but nothing is said about the number of patients and staff in a hospital that sicken and die each year from dirty air in the hospital carrying diseases. These invisible and unseen infectious air particulates kill more patients and staff than the entire Viet Nam War [it was c. 58,000 deaths]. In recent years deaths from car accidents has been less than 40,000 killed. Also, in recent years the estimate from "blood infections" is more than 99,000 deaths per year, and with a conservative estimate by U. S. Department of Labor at 250,000 deaths per year. In one recent journal issue, a researched total listed 440,000 deaths per year, and another broader listing from The Center for Disease Control [CDC] in Atlanta listed hospital deaths at 721,000 [for all types of hospital deaths]. There is no directed accounting for infected nurses, emergency station workers, or paramedics who breathe in infections in the air, or receive needle sticks or blood borne infections while working. Many just sicken over time, and just retire to go home to live out their lives as best they can, and die unnoticed and forgotten years later.
An excellent article by Robert Lee Hotz reviewing where the germs hide in a hospital room was printed in The Wall Street Journal on Apr. 28, 2015, wherein the article was entitled: "Researchers Map Where Hospital Pathogens are Lurking". In this article the sub title was "Bacteria by design", wherein he describes, 'Researchers are learning building materials, ventilation, humidity, and other interior design features affect the kinds of bacteria people encounter in hospitals.' There is shown a profile of a typical patient room, based on recent studies microbial DNA.
Air Conditioning Vents: Air from mechanically ventilated rooms tends to be dominated by a few closely linked bacteria related to known human pathogens and human associated bacteria related to known human pathogens and human associated.
Windows: Hospital Rooms when ventilated with open windows have greater bacterial diversity, with more plant & soil associated bacteria.
Chair: Microbes on chair seats are dominated by human bacteria from the gastro-intestinal tract, urogenital tract & skin.
Upholstery: Drug resistant staph [staphylococcus] germs can live up to a week on some common furniture fabrics. E-coli [Escherichia coli] can last 96 hours on some coverings.
Tray table: Strep [Streptococcus], which cause an estimated 700 million infections world-wide every year, can survive for months on a dry surface.
Patient bed: Within hours of a new patient's arrival, the new occupants personal collection of microbes spread throughout the room helping make the microbiome of each hospital room unique.
Showerhead: Moisture-loving bacteria living in showerheads include potential pathogens that are significantly different from microbes found elsewhere in the patient rooms.
Doorway: People come in & out of a patient's room about 100 times a day, shedding about 37 million bacteria every hour into the surrounding air or onto surfaces touched.
Counter tops: Depending on the material involved some surfaces can have thousands of different types of bacteria while others have only a few hundred.
Mobile phone: On the average, people touch their cell phones 150 times a day, seeding them with thousands of bacterial types.
His article in The Wall Street Journal from 2015 has taken you on an important tour of how many bacterial types exist in a hospital environment, and where and how myriads of bacteria survive, and how many cannot be reached to be cleaned. What is not addressed is that millions, even billions and trillions, are out of sight and not on the surface of counters and furniture in a patient's room. 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' is an old saying, and since you cannot see the germs anywhere in the open air, you will never know just how many there are. Under the chair, under the couch, under the bed, under the chest of drawers, under the bedside serving tray, underneath and out of sight, out of mind is where they are. Also, you cannot reach them anyway, how can you clean under tables and chests, on the wall behind curtains or blinds, in the tubes that bring in the 'fresh' forced ventilation air for you to breathe. You cannot and you never will be able to clean off the germs that live in your room. And, if you are a patient, you are too sick to do it anyway. So, who is the easiest target? The swift, ever moving nurses, or doctors, or cleaning staff, who are somewhat used to these germs; or the bedridden patient lying immobilized in the bed?
In the article by Robert Lee Hotz in The Wall Street Journal takes you on an important tour, but out of sight, there are crevices and vast areas unreachable underneath everything that are forever festering with colonies of bacteria, fungus, mold, spores, motes, infectious diseases and these lush colonies of small pathogens and particulates can dislodge and float away from time to time into the open air in a building by the ventilating means provided by HEPA. These small invisible and unseen creatures live and grow and fester in patient's rooms and throughout the hospital and traditional cleaning just won't cut it. Ineffective cleaning is irresponsible and truly dangerous to Everyone who works in any part of this building, especially since the small air is re-circulated for many, many years [perhaps 20 to 30 years]—it is the same air over and over again. It circulates the same infectious invisible creatures until they find a new home, a place to live and grow—perhaps, YOU.
Hospitals abound in dangerous and irresponsible 'Dry Boxes' wherein infectious syringe needles and hazardous medical sharps are just thrown into a dry box to fester and outgas infected particulates out into the open air for HEPA to pick up and move around everywhere, How can a hospital clinic or corridor have 100,000 particulates per cubic foot in the ambient air. Does anywhere else have such a high count? Would Office Buildings, or Schools, or Government Buildings have such a high count of infectious materials? Do Homes have such a high count? Most of the particulates will be benign or acceptable without difficulty like plain dirt or dust you face every day without getting infected, and less dangerous microbes that are too scattered to be effective, and others likely that your system is already used to or able to control. While you wade through the myriads of pathogens thick and deep in the hallways and they clutter up the air, you likely are normally protected from any danger.
But, in every closed air system there is danger, especially so in hospitals, there is infectious material that can lead to your discomfort and sickness. While these particulates and pathogens are somewhat rare, the question is, 'Where do they come from'? Where can you find the infected material? Does infection come from Department Stores, from the Mall, or any other place besides the Hospital? Many thousands of patients who go to the hospital to be treated and saved get new disabilities or diseases, perhaps, death, from cross-infection found in the hospital.
In this invention in application, there is a novel, new, and non-obvious way to curb infections in a hospital or in clinics, emergency and rescue work, patient wards, in short, everywhere that injections and surgery are performed. Over time this invention will destroy every hidden infectious germ, bug, creature, or whatever that hides in a hospital; and the building will be clean and free of airborne floating invisible and unseen. This issue will soon become chaos and disaster for all hospitals and an evident issue in every building with forced air ventilation systems, even where you work. Not only the risks from germs, bugs, and creatures, but from 'super bugs'.
In my recent U.S. Pat. No. [9,707,047] entitled: "Chemical Gel to Dissolve Metal and Hazardous Medical Sharps" the extent of an allowed activity of a chemical gel in a claim [claim 2] reads: "The medical sharps acidic gel disinfectant and dissolving composition renders harmless infectious material or diseases selected from the group consisting of microbes, viruses, pathogens, and bacteria". A further claim [claim 5] indicates the efficacy of a gel in its activity as it reads: "A medical sharps acidic gel disinfecting and dissolvent blunts and corrodes metal medical sharps upon contact with said gel composition". What will happen over time is every infectious germ will move, expand, or relocate to become airborne and then available to be drawn into the closed air system to spread out all over the buildings.
In a recent 'U.S. News & World Report' that surveys all U.S. Children's Hospitals [189] for a national ranking [2018-19], wherein they are evaluated for exceptional care in six specialties in medical procedures. Other factors cited included: [a] Patient outcomes; [b] Availability of specialized care and advanced technologies; [c] Support services for patients and families; & [d) Commitment to best practices, including measures to prevent infections; [e] A national survey of pediatric specialists. Then it summarizes in a statement from UVA: "The commitment of our multidisciplinary team to constantly seek ways to improve care for our patients and their families is reflected in these honors from U.S. News." Said Ms. Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace, chief executive officer of UVA [University of Virginia] Medical Center and its Children's Hospital for their hard work." I wonder if the CEO of UVA Children's Hospital really means what she said about protecting the children from infection? In this invention in application these small invisible creatures can be totally eliminated as a virulent source of infection as it is borne through the air. Consider the positive effect that this invention can disinfect and dispose safely of ALL infectious pathogens, microbes, viruses, and bacteria that pass through the air. No infectious material, including all dangerous small invisible creatures, can survive as they pass though the air in the patient's room, and so their disposal becomes NON-HAZARDOUS Waste for normal disposal as common trash in a routine manner.
In the etiology of hospital issues regarding the management of infection from 'nosocomio' [previously described], Roberta Carson published an article in an effort to improve patient involvement with diseases, "Reduce Your Risk of Exposure to Superbugs in Hospitals", on Oct. 16, 2017 in the journal, Hospital Issues, Patient Safety. [She had previously lost a young child to such issues in a Hospital] She states: "What exactly is a superbug?" And outlines that these are "In simple terms, a superbug is bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics." She continues to explain: "No one wants their hospital stay to make them sicker than they were upon admittance. Whether you [or a loved one] are in a hospital for a serious illness or straight-forward surgery, developing an infection from a dangerous superbug can leave you clinging to life.
The bad news: superbugs in hospitals are common and dangerous. The good news: you can take steps to reduce your risk of exposure to superbugs in hospitals. In 2017, The World Health Organization [WHO] released their first-ever list of 12 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. The report states that antibiotic-resistance is growing, and the medical community is running out of options. The most dangerous bacteria, classified as 'critical priority', includes a group of multidrug resistant that are dangerous for patients who rely on devices such as ventilators and blood catheters in hospitals, nursing homes, and other settings. These bugs can cause severe, often fatal infections, such as blood stream infections and pneumonia. To make things worse, according to WHO, "these bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well." Thereupon it states, "How common and dangerous is this? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] each year in the U.S., at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least [99,000+ in 2017] die each year as a direct result of these infections. How are patients exposed? Unfortunately, patients exposure can occur in many ways. Pathogens move through the air through coughs and sneezes. Medical staff that do not adequately wash hands between patients, then expose others to pathogens. Hard surfaces [e.g., bed rails, nurse call buttons, tray tables etc.] that are not properly cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis pose risks to all who touch them. Additionally, these germs can live on medical equipment, such as ventilators and catheters that are not adequately cleaned. Further on she states: "What can you do as a patient or family caregiver to reduce your risk of exposure to superbugs in hospitals? For airborne pathogens: "Since there are so many germs in hospitals, act as if all items in a hospital are contaminated. Regularly wipe down hard surfaces with wipes containing bleach, including items that fall on the floor.
Ask all medical staff to wash their hands and/or put on a new pair of sterile gloves before touching the patient. Don't be bashful. Unfortunately, doctors and other medical staff are not washing their hands as frequently as they should. Ask for a private room to reduce the chance of contamination from a sick roommate. If you cannot get a private room, use the room separating curtain, this is especially relevant if the roommate is coughing or sneezing. She continues listing other categories such as: "For pathogens on medical equipment; and Reduce antibiotic overuse" and with many useful and potentially life-saving items from her own experience. What Roberta Carson has attempted to give back is a bitter experience with her young son dying of cancer, and her observations that well can save someone's life.
Of some importance and interest is the List of 12 World Health Organization [WHO] priority pathogens that are critical and without any effective means of control through antibiotics today. The following is the WHO List of Bacteria for which antibiotics are urgently needed:
Priority 1: Critical:                Acinetobacter beaumannili, carbapenem-resistant;        Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem resistant;        Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem resistant; & ESBL-Producing; Priority 2: High:        Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant;        Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-vancomycin-intrmediate & resistant;        Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant;        Campylobacter spp., fluroquinolone-resistant;        Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant;        Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant;
Priority 3: Medium:                Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non susceptible;        Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant;        Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant.
This listing is the current demand for new antibiotics to treat and control diseases now without any satisfactory cure from the current antibiotics.
In one recent report on where these pathogens are to be found in a hospital, it is stated that "on any given day about 1 in 25 patients is fighting an infection contracted during hospital care, at an estimated cost of more than $36 billion a year." According to U.S. Department of Labor, 250,000 patients die yearly [2016] from hospital causes. In any event the risk and the cost is high, quite possibly your own life, or a loved one. It always seems to be getting higher every year, The mortuary business must be a very profitable business when linked up with your community hospital.
In a modern number one quality hospital, even a pneumonia patient breathes 20,000 times a day helping the entire closed forced air ventilated hospital try to get pneumonia. Pneumonia was the Number One Killer on Earth prior to Dr. Fleming's penicillin antibiotic in 1945. Isn't this data enough to ask why hospitals are so dirty? And, then I can begin to understand why hospitals everywhere do not want to talk about numbers of 'wrongful deaths' that are their own fault. I begin to wonder just how much is a corpse worth to the hospital, or worth to the mortuary? Can this be so profitable that the hospitals do not want to disclose its value?
The cleaning up the air in a hospital, and clearing out invisible creatures that are dangerous, is a daunting task and it does involve many relevant and related patents across several disciplines requiring investigation in order to structure such a cleaning task. I have divided these several disciplines into separate categories in order to address these issues and properly organize this material. Some categories are easy, and others are lengthy and complex, so here are the basic divisions:
These Categories Are:
I. Acids;
II. Ultraviolet [UV] & UV Lamps;
III. Lasers & Their Radiation;
IV. Filters:
V. Sterilization & Purification, Includes: Heat & Pulsed Lights;
VI. Sensors [Net-Worked or Pressures];
VII. Electric, Electrodes, Electrostatic & Misc.
Now, in the first category are the Virulent and Disruptive Acids that are deadly to germs, superbugs, all small invisible & unseen creatures that infect buildings. Only a few patents are to be found here out of the more than 10 million now issued, of which I am involved in 3 of them [+1 more in PPA].
Category I. Acids of NotePatent No.DateInventor/Assignee5,038,9291991Susanne Kubofeik5,441,6221995T. R. Langford/KEW Import-Export6,315,1132001Britton & Woodward/Hetex Co.9,707,0472017Woodward/CIG CO.
The next Category has Ultraviolet Light, and Lamps, and its Radiation which is a reasonably old art, evident a hundred years ago. In this upcoming category the earliest cited was in 1928, but further investigation will uncover some earlier. The common start for Ultraviolet was as early as 1 940's but since then it became fashionable in the 1980's with increasing usage until recently adjudged an unwelcome light for humans causing aging in the skin and its use has slowly dwindled away today. Other types of acceptable radiation are now available for such use. As in this invention, any use of UV is in a closed system, and is not radiating out, or leaving the sealed casing, there will be no complaint because it does its work well and does kill all of the smallest of creatures and superbugs.
Category II. Ultraviolet [UV] & UV Lamps.Patent No.DateInventor/Assignee2,261,2151941L. F. Bird/Trustee3,418,0691968J.J.E.A. Decupper/Detec S.A.4,229,6581980D. L. Gonser/Dentsply Corp.4,504,4451985A. Walz4,790,8621988Namo et al/Matsushita Electric Co.7,459,6942008R. Scheir et al*01191082012Y. Goldshtein*030557872012B. R. Henson9,707,3072017M. Shur et al/SensorElectronic Tech.
To follow here is a recent invention that certainly does its work—quick and precise—the LASER, developed by Gordon Gould in 1957, and somewhat 'infringed' by fellow scientist and employers as they could. He was denied a patent for c. 30 years while the infringers fought tooth & nail to hold on—but LOST the fight as original records showed and Gould got his patent and damages. The value is shown here in this patent in application is in the final stage in the 'bug battle', then, the Laser will 'fry' the survivors and escape artists in the final best embodiment as shown to follow.
Category III. LASERS & their RadiationsPatent No.DateInventor/Assignee4,152,6251979R. W. Conrad/U.S.Army6,184,5172001T. Sawada et al/YokogawaElec.Corp.*02645122004J. R. Hartlove/NorthropGrumman*01676182005H. Hoshino et al7,435,9822008D .K. Smith/EnergetiqTechlnc.7,989,7862011D. K. Smith et al/Energetiq8,242,6952012T. Sumitomo et al/Ushio+Ener'q8,309,9432012D. K. Smith et al/Energetiq8,551,3992013M. E. Shannon et al/Medizonelnc.9,368,3372016P. S. Antsiferov et al/Rnd-Is-An.Rus10,111,3372018B. A. Strumm et al[*= Patient in review to issue]
The next section will cover 'Filters' which have worked well for many years and do have a number of different models to serve cleaning debris from water, fluids, or air. To even consider filtering out the smallest of particulates would seriously slow down its forced air speed and volume to a point of stagnation and disuse. The old standby HEPA does its work efficiently for larger and numerous particulates, but in this invention in application the very smallest of particles at the source of their entrance into a room, or into the air flow, is where this invention is set to work. In other words, this invention introduces the smallest of particles into its cleansing filtering system to be stopped, neutralized, and destroyed totally forever.
Category IV. Filters—All TypesPatent No.DateInventor/Assignee2,804,8391957W. W. Hallinan4,309,9921982M. J. Dodak4,917,8621990Allen & Carol Kraw*03198512012S. Hoglund et al/Honeywell Inc.9,399,1862016H. Welke/EnergyTechTrust9,552,7152017S. Breslin/EDTech Co.9,623,3522017O. Y. Kas et al/EMD Millipore Corp.9,797,6092017S. Sekiguchi/Nikka Micron Co.9,920,9472018S. Breslin/BD Tech Co.9,981,0562018M. Al-Zeer/MAZRA Inc.10,087,2352018G. L. Warren et al/CSLLimited [AU]10,101,2582018S. L. Kaufman et al/TSI Inc.[*= Patent in Review to Issue]
Category V. has complexity with divisions of its topics wherein the Sterilization is first, with Air Purification second, and Lights & Pulsed Lights is third. The basic category concerns Sterilization and Sanitation with many ways to achieve such a goal. This category is many years old back into the mid to early 1800's with steam autoclaving, even to today. The varied issues for using steam heat require careful consideration on how best to use it. In modern times chemicals such as alcohol and chlorine can accomplish much in cleaning off bacteria. Cleaning out the air moving throughout an area required much different procedures and the air can contain infectious material which need to be managed and removed. The issue with light is for highly intense white light that has proven its merit destroying bacteria. The light type herein is not the same as Laser Driven Light of Category III, and it is an old art used over time to sterilize milk and food of their bacteria.
Category V: Sterilization, Sanitizing, & Purification:includes with Heat, Lights, pulsed lights, LED'sPatent No.DateInventor/AssigneeA. Sterilization:3, 753,6511973R. M. G. Boucher/Wave Energy Inc4,448,7501984M. L. Fuesting*00083782006K. Imai et al7,186,3712007D. Watling/Bioquell UK Ltd*01911002009J. L. Deal9,072,8032015A. Sakaki/Pharmabio Corp00386242016M. D. Krosney9,943,6202018L. F. Bender et al/ControlledPerf.GasesB. Air Purification:3,984,2961976J.R.Richards4,790,8631988N.Naruo et al5,904,8961999A. V. L. High/A.R.Grindt*02692542005L. L. Roitman*02538602007W. Schroder*03141642009H. Yamashita et al/SharpKabushiki9,518,0822016D. S. Allison et al/AlderbioHoldingsRE46,8042018W. Zhang/W. Zhang9,974,8802018M. D. Krosney9,974,8812018J. R. Kim/SeoulVlosysCo.9,980,7482018K. C. Worriflow/LifeAireSystemsC. Lights & Pulsed Lights:4,880,5121989P. A .Cornelius et al/KollmorgenCorp.*02314962003M. Sato et al/Casio ComputerCo.*92578772006H. Anderle et al 7,068,3612006G. D. Cimino et al/Baxter,&Celus*02065542011H. Anderle et al/BaxterHealthcare[*= Patent in review to issue]
Then in Category VI for Sensors: Networked or Pressure; the detection of contaminants has to be an issue to rate a listing in this category. The sensor without working inside the new device is not of note herein. The temperature and humidity measurements are for forced air conditioning or heating are not relevant herein, and such issues are external to this new device. Acknowledging and counting of contaminants is useful, and when such is done inside the framework that covers the return air inlet, it would listed here to follow.
Category VI. SensorsPatent No.DateInventor/Assignee4,304,9961981F . K. Blades/PureCycleCorp5,394,9341995Rein et al/AmericanStandardInc.6,701,7722004Kreichauf et al/HoneywellInc.6,941,1932005Frecska et al/AWI LicensingCo.7,674,4402010A. Martin/Bioquell UK Ltd.*02473962011S. H. Zhang/SmithsDectionInc.*02416012012S. L. Kaufman9,857,3012018I. Nourbakhsh/CarnegieMellonUniv.9,988,6912018Sislian et al/DetonCorp.10,006,8712018S. L. Kaufman/TSI Inc.10,066,8472018W. Zhang/DongguanLifaAirTech.[*= Patent in review to issue]
This Category VII is in part a catch all for miscellaneous electrical devices as described to include electrostatic, electrodes, arcs, plus infrared and heat. In this category there is listed only the patents that destroy the infectious material that passes through the device on their way to the main HEPA air return inlet so as the deliver only clean and sterile air to the forced air ventilation system of the building. In the hospital air systems many varied types of infectious material originates in the patient's rooms, treatment clinics, medical procedure offices, emergency care stations and such, and to return through the air inlet to the main ventilation system will clean up all infectious material to leave a hospital free of cross-infections.
Category VII: All types, including electrical and electronic means, plus infrared and heat.Patent No.DateInventor/Assignee2,072,4171937Berndt et al2,258,7651941R. F. James2,482,5071949Rentschler et al3,218,5101965P. Schulz3,926,5561975R. M. G. Boucher4,071,3341978Kolb et al5,667,5641997S. Weinberg/WeinProductsInc.5,993,7381999D. Y. Gosani/Univ.AirTech.6,042,6372000S. Weinberg6,054,3242000Sullivan et al6,149,7172000Satyapal et al/CarrierCorp.6,187,2712001Lee et al/LG ElectronicsInc.7,767,1692010Snyder et al/Sharper Image8,295,6902012Brooke et al9,504,2552016Y. Cai/NMS Tech Ltd.9,808,8082017Wen et al/Univ.of Washington9,919,8162018F. Tenegal/Nanomakers[France][All items are +++'s unless noted otherwise] [*= Patent in review to issue]
Now all of the Categories are finished and they list 100 U.S. Patents that really support the main issues of this application. These cited patents do represent the most relevant of the prior art as is listed as references in the opening pages as both in patents issued and application for review prior to issue as a full utility patent. There are prior art references of 597 patents in the opening pages with 27 International Classes shown, and 47 classes of the CPC under the new AIA designation, and 27 separate classes of USPC, and 30 World Patents. All of these references [+Bibliography with 10 books] show an effort of more than 800 items in review out of the 12,000 found in overall class search of patents. The rationale behind such a lengthy search is that this patent in application covers a lot of items when forming up its procedures to try to totally Clean Up The Hospitals. In the 'Summary of the Invention' with Claims and Figures these efforts will become obvious that this effort and these many disciplines are required to gain a Letters Patent.
    A=Ultra-Violet Saturation Chamber, in the 'C' type the radiation passes through the flesh, stopped only by a human bone, to cook the flesh with morbid sunburn and oftentimes fatal Melanoma Cancer.    B=Vapor from Chemical Dissolvent out-gassing at room temperature.    C=Laser [light amplified stimulated emission radiation] gives high heat beams quicker than light to destroy invisible creatures.    D=An ozone chamber from a device that saturates air with deadly ozone.    E=A high voltage electrostatic screen that obliterates insects and germs.    F=Charcoal Filters designed to disintegrate and stop infectious material.Of Note: As these devices can be adjusted and assembled for local conditions at a Hospital; as claimed herein, an intake and an exhaust particulate counter sensor will quickly yield a physical count of how effective such a device would be, and adjustments can then be undertaken to correct any issues that are seen.
INDEX TO FIGURES TO FOLLOW:REF. NUMBERBRIEF DESCRIPTIONS 2Hospital Bed 4Intake Air Vent 6Exhaust Air Vent 8Wall Lights10Ceiling Lights11Arrows Showing Air Movement12Small Convenience Table14Over Bed Table16Sleeping Couch17Sealed Viewing Window18Large Comfortable Chair19Small Convenience Chair20Large Door [36″]22Kitchen Area23Bathroom24Storage Closet25Tub & Shower34Return of Air to HEPA38Arrows Showing Air Movement47Cleanout Tray48Vacuum Access for CleanoutA + 40UV-C Saturation ChamberBVapor from Dissolvent AcidC + 46Laser BeamsDOzone ChamberEElectrostatic ScreenFCharcoal FiltersOf Note:FIGS. 10 & 11 show a typical return exhaust air device that installs on the wall over the HEPA [forced air ventilation system] vent that gathers up the room air to be re-circulated over and over again.


A vaccine strain of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), tested in clinical trials, is capable of preventing chickenpox in children. This virus has been modified by the introduction into its genome of heterologous DNA which encodes an immunogenic polypeptide of another human pathogen. This heterologous polypeptide is expressed in cells infected by the recombinant virus. Such recombinant VZV is useful as a vaccine for chickenpox as well as for heterologous pathogens.

Chickenpox is caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a member of the herpesvirus family. The disease occurs in people with no prior immunity to VZV. VZV-specific antibodies can be demonstrated shortly after the onset of disease, decline during convalescence, but remain detectable for many years and correlate with immunity to the disease. Chickenpox is highly contagious; over 90% of the population becomes exposed to VZV before the age of 20. In most or all cases, VZV becomes latent, possibly in dorsal root ganglion cells. From this latent state, VZV can reactivate and cause zoster even in the presence of specific antibodies, probably as a result of weakened cellular immunity. The disease is highly morbid to the immunosuppressed and to those beyond the second decade.
In 1974, Takahashi reported the isolation of the Oka strain of VZV from the vesicle of a child with chickenpox. This strain then was attenuated by passage through guinea pig embryo cells and human diploid fibroblasts. The attenuated variant of VZV/Oka has been tested clinically in thousands of youngsters. It is capable of eliciting high levels of antibodies reactive with the surface of the VZ virion. Furthermore, this strain displays protective efficacy for the prevention of chickenpox in young children and in the immune-compromised. It is noteworthy that this strain of VZV is the only available viral vaccine which can be used safely in immune-compromised patients, thus making VZV versatile for broader applications.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the etiologic agent of infectious mononucleosis. The EB virion has 3 major surface glycoproteins: gp350 (350,000 dalton glycoprotein), gp220, and gp85. The gp350 and gp220 polypeptides are the products of a single viral gene. These 2 glycoproteins are capable of eliciting the production of antibodies capable of neutralizing EBV infectivity in vitro. Therefore, the gp350 gene and its products are useful for the preparation of a vaccine to EBV-induced disease through the use of recombinant DNA techniques. Furthermore, it would be desirable to vaccinate people simultaneously against both VZV- and EBV-induced diseases, or alternatively against both VZV-induced disease and another disease.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the infectious agent responsible for several varieties of human liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives per year. The HB virion is composed of two groups of structural proteins, the core proteins and the envelope or surface ("S") proteins. In addition to being the major surface proteins of the virion, i.e., Dane particle, the "S" proteins are the sole constituents of Australia antigen, or 22 nm particles. The "S" proteins are the translational products of a large open reading frame (ORF) encoding 389-400 amino acids, depending upon serotype. This ORF is demarcated into three domains, each of which begins with an ATG codon that is capable of functioning as a translational initiation site in vivo. These domains are referred to as preS-1 (108-119 amino acids), preS-2 (55 amino acids), and S (226 amino acids) in their respective 5'-3' order in the gene. The six protein products derived from this ORF have the following compositions:
1) gp42 (42,000 dalton glycoprotein)=preS-1/preS-2/S (meaning preS-1, contiguous with preS-2, contiguous with S) PA1 2) p39 (p=protein)=preS-1/preS-2/S PA1 3) gp36=preS-2/S (two glycosylation sites) PA1 4) gp33=preS-2/S (one glycosylation site) PA1 5) gp27=S (one glycosylation site) PA1 6) p24=S (or HB surface antigen, i.e., HBsAg)
Outside of man, chimpanzees are the only species which is fully susceptible to HBV infection, as reflected in quantifiable markers such as HBs.sup.+, elevated serum levels of liver enzymes, etc. Chimpanzees have been vaccinated with three doses of purified HBsAg particles (containing p24) and then challenged with a large dose of infectious HBV. While mock-vaccinated animals have suffered the signs of acute HBV infection, the HBsAg-vaccinated animals have been protected completely from any signs of infection. Therefore, in this experimental system, HBsAg particles, composed of gp27 and p24 (S domain only), have been sufficient to induce protective immunity. Spurred by these observations, several manufacturers have produced HB vaccines composed of HBsAg particles.
Recent data have suggested that the preS-1 and preS-2 domains may play an important role in immunity to HBV infections. Both antibodies to preS-1 (elicited by immunization with a peptide consisting of amino acid residues 10-32 of preS-1) as well as antibodies to preS-2 (elicited by immunization with a peptide consisting of amino acid residues 1-26 of preS-2) are capable of blocking the binding of HBV to human hepatoma cells in vitro; anti-HBs (sera from patients vaccinated with HBsAg lacking preS-1 or preS-2) is incapable of mediating this blocking event. If this in vitro event mimics in vivo infection, then pre-S (i.e., preS-1 and preS-2 in toto linked together) domains may represent the HBV binding site to its liver cell receptor, and anti-pre-S may block HBV attachment and initiation of infection. In addition, it has been found that anti-pre-S rises in titer during the recovery phase from acute HBV infection, indicating a role for these antibodies in recovery. Finally, it has been shown that vaccination of chimpanzees with a 108 amino acid pre-S polypeptide (residues 27-119 of preS-1 contiguous with 1-16 of preS-2) was capable of mediating some measure of protection against HBV challenge. In sum, these experimental observations have suggested that the pre-S domains are a useful addition to present HB vaccines, thus highlighting the desirability of expressing the large ORF encoding preS-1/preS-2/S.

Varicella-zoster virus as a live recombinant vaccine


A client or Web application assembly or group of assemblies is bound to a version of shared assemblies associated with a particular targeted execution environment. The targeted execution environment (and thus the version of shared assemblies associated with it) may be selected or detected. A file such as a configuration file is automatically modified. The selected or detected execution environment may be the same as or different than the local version. The client or Web assembly is automatically bound to the targeted shared assemblies. A user interface enables the selection of a particular execution environment. Alternatively, a user interface informs of the detected targeted execution environment and enables the reconfiguration of the Web assembly. This invention provides a mechanism and process for maintaining legacy software after a new software development tool is installed, without deploying a new version of shared assemblies.

In the early days of programming, each application typically was self-contained. A simple application program might comprise a single executable file (frequently denoted by the extension ".exe"), while a complex application might comprise several executables chained together. Because the executables comprising a particular application could be used only by that application, the likelihood that applications would interfere with each other was remote.
Over the years, however, the size of application files grew dramatically, encouraging the sharing of code modules by applications via dynamic linking. For example, the code modules containing the functions that make an operating system work may be shared by all the applications written to run on that operating system. A file comprising a code module that can be shared in this way is sometimes called an assembly or dynamic link library and may have the extension ".dll".
Initially, file-sharing was not a problem. Most applications only used the dlls provided with the operating system or else used private (unshared).dlls. As operating systems evolved, additional dynamic link libraries were often created, some designed to be shared among the applications developed by the operating system vendor, and others designed to be used by all developers creating applications designed to run on the operating system. Typically, these dynamic link libraries contain groups of functions that provide a standard functionality, eliminating the need for each application to implement that functionality independently.
Initially, an application that used a particular .dll might require a separate distribution of the library containing the .dll if the .dll was not included with the operating system. Software development companies frequently update the .dlls accompanying an updated version of their operating system or application to fix bugs or to add new functionality. If a new version of a .dll appeared, even if the new .dll was used in all new builds of a product, at least some of the previous distribution disks would be likely to have an older version of the .dll. Hence, frequently an individual might own several programs each using a particular dll, each program having a different version of the .dll on its distribution disks. This state of affairs can be problematic.
For example, a user may have software that uses one version of a .dll and then install software that uses a newer version of the same .dll which does not work with the first software package. Similarly, users often reinstall software—either during a system upgrade or to change configurations. In many cases a user would install software that included an older version of a particular .dll on a system that already contained a newer version. This would cause the more recently installed version of the .dll to replace the newer version of the .dll. As soon as the user attempted to run a program that required the newer version, problems might occur ranging from operational difficulties to general protection faults.
In "Component-Solution" programming, programmers take advantage of reusable, cost-effective "off the shelf" software components that implement specific functions. "Off the shelf" software components may comprise classes, custom controls and other application programming interfaces (APIs). Use of the component-solution framework for programming has resulted in the generation of hundreds of dlls that may be shared by literally thousands of applications.
If a single .dll is missing from, present in an older version in, or present in an incompatible newer version in the library of shared assemblies installed on a computing device, an application may fail. A poorly designed installation program, user error, registration error or a change in the user's PATH environment variables are a few of the ways in which this problem can occur. This suite of problems has been collectively referred to as "Dll Hell". Dll Hell is a problem of ongoing maintenance as well as an installation problem.
One approach to solving the problem of Dll Hell is to bind an application to a particular instance of its associated .dll. In this scenario, when a user installs a first program, a first .dll will be stored with the first program. If the user installs a second program using a different version of the same .dll, the old version of the .dll will remain and the new version of the .dll will be installed with the second program. Hence, installing a new application will have no impact on the operation of the old application. One way to accomplish this outcome is to associate a version number with each .dll. When an application is built, it is bound (typically at compile time) to a version of the dlls associated with the software that generates the executable. A consequence of this approach is that a deployed application program executable generated from a specific version of the software development software, has to have the specific version of the shared assemblies associated with that version of the software development software in order to run.
Now suppose someone has developed, for example, a collection of programs using a design time development environment version 1 which is associated with shared assemblies version 1. Suppose further that subsequently, someone installs a new version, version 2, of the design time development environment which is associated with a new version of the shared assemblies, shared assemblies version 2. Suppose the collection of programs developed using design time development environment version 1 is deployed to a number of desktops. Suppose further that a developer decides to fix a bug in one of the programs using design time environment version 2. The mere act of fixing a bug in one of the programs after installation of version 2 of the design time development environment will force an upgrade of the shared assemblies to version 2 of the shared assemblies on all the desktops running the collection of programs, because when the modified program is recompiled, it will be bound to version 2 of the shared assemblies. One can readily see the magnitude of the problem created if one considers that a particular application may be deployed to hundreds or thousands of desktops. It would be helpful, if there were a way to maintain older applications without having to upgrade the shared assemblies with which the older software is run, while still enabling an upgrade to a new version of a software development tool.

Cross version customization of design environment


The integrated jet fluid level shutoff sensor vent assembly is designed for use in conjunction with a non-pressurizing tank fast fill system, and to support automatic shutoff fast fill refueling of vehicles. The integrated jet fluid level shutoff sensor vent assembly is mounted to a fuel tank and exposed inside the fuel tank for sensing a predetermined level of fuel within the fuel tank and allowing fully vented refueling.

This invention relates generally to an integrated refueling shutoff sensor and fuel tank vent assembly for automatic shutoff fast fill refueling of vehicles without pressurizing the fuel tank, and more specifically relates to an integrated jet fluid level shutoff sensor and fuel tank vent assembly used in conjunction with a dual valve receiver designed to support automatic shutoff fast fill refueling of vehicles without pressurizing the fuel tank.
Currently, refueling receivers work in conjunction with fast fill automatic shutoff nozzles that require a tank back pressure build up in order for them to shutoff. In order to use a pressurized refueling system, the fuel tanks have to be structurally designed to withstand internal pressures of up to 10 psi. This current system of automatic shutoff fast fill refueling therefore can not be utilized in machinery with fuel tanks of a lighter construction that can benefit from fast fill refueling.
Currently available refueling systems that predominantly rely on a back pressure generated within the vehicle's fuel tank for operation of an automatic shutoff nozzle also require a separate fuel tank vent or ventilation system to allow for the breathing of the fuel tank during refueling and/or vehicle operation. Maintaining a vehicle's fuel tank fully vented during vehicle refueling meets safety and environmental concerns, by minimizing tank over-pressurization and tank overflow that is commonly associated with conventional pressurized refueling systems. Separate installation of a fuel level sensor and a vent or ventilation system is time consuming and costly. It would therefore be desirable to provide an integrated jet fluid level shutoff sensor and fuel tank vent assembly, in which the fuel tank vent is fully integrated with the jet fluid level shutoff sensor, to improve ease of use and to facilitate installation and maintenance of a fuel tank vent or ventilation system, for use in conjunction with a non-pressurizing fuel tank receiver that would allow for full venting during refueling in conjunction with use of an automatic shutoff refueling nozzle. The present invention addresses these and other concerns.

Integrated jet fluid level shutoff sensor and fuel tank vent for vehicles


Composite materials made wholly from aromatic polyamides are prepared, which have the advantage of better performance and less delamination than composites composed of chemically distinct components. The foam matrix for such composites is prepared using N,N'-dialkylated aromatic polyamide. Both fiber reinforced foam structural forms and foam/felt laminates are prepared.

High strength, low weight structural materials are typically prepared by embedding fibers in foams to make a composite. Better performance and less delamination is seen when the fiber and matrix materials are similar in chemical, physical, and thermal properties.
Foam composite materials that are formable, have high strength to weight ratios, good mechanical strength and resistance to degradation at high temperatures in the presence of air have long been sought after. Such foam composites are particularly needed in uses where high temperatures are encountered in structures wherein mechanical strength of the composite is required. Another advantage is offered if the foam composite is machinable. Some uses are flex-circuit heater supports, solar panels (portable), fire walls, aircraft and race car composites, pleasure boats, engine compartments, racing hulls, bulk-heads, air-drop skids, ovens, fire proof fuel storage, fire shields (light weight), light weight (glider) aircraft constructs, hang glider structured parts, helmets, sports protective gear, military equipment, bearings, friction pads in high temp. service, aircraft shipping containers (freight), explosion containment devices, heating pads and food warmers, high temperature pallets, autoclaves and sterilizers.
Aromatic polyamides (aramids) are known to have many desirable properties such as good resistance to oxidation at high temperature, a high melting point, low flammability, high stiffness and good chemical resistance. Traditional methods of preparing solid, formable aramid materials cannot be used because the aramids tend to decompose before melting. Light weight foamed aramid components have been prepared (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,178,419 and 4,226,949) but they do not have high structural strength.
Composite materials with high structural strength have been made using aramid fibers in a variety of matrix polymers. These, however, have several disadvantages since the matrix materials exhibit lower temperature and chemical resistance than the aramid fibers. Additionally, since the matrix and fibers are chemically distinct materials the interfacial bonding between them can be weak and subject to separation, leading to delamination. An obstacle to the preparation of composite materials wherein a matrix and a fiber are composed of similar materials is that they do share many properties, such as high melting points. It is difficult to embed such fibers in the matrix material when it does not form a stable melt or is a fiber degrading solution. This obstacle was overcome in the instant invention by the use of a fusable precursor to the aramid foam matrix. The foams are prepared using N,N'-dialkyl aromatic polyamides, which have different solubility properties from the non-alkylated form used for the embeddable fibers. After the matrix material and fibers are combined, the composite is heated and the matrix is dealkylated, forming the foam and converting the matrix to the same polyamide as the fiber.