An adjustable bow for a tonneau cover assembly used on a pick-up truck to provide support for a lightweight removable cloth cover for the truck bed. The tonneau cover assembly has an aluminum perimeter frame secured to the truck bed with multiple support bows extending transversely across to support and elevate the cloth tonneau cover that is secured to the perimeter frame by multiple snap fasteners.

1. Technical Field
This device relates to truck tonneau covers that use a lightweight perimeter frames around the truck bed over which is stretched a canvas cloth material. Support bows are used to raise and support the canvas cover between the frame supports transversely across the bed.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have relied on a variety of different structural configurations to support and extend the cloth tonneau cover over the truck bed, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,419,677, and 4,792,178.
Other examples of adjustable bow supports found in related areas are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,565,746 and 3,894,766.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,617 a pick-up truck tonneau cover can be seen wherein a cover is stored within a housing positioned at the forward end of the truck bed. Cross bows are disclosed extending transversely over the bed and are held in place within registration slots formed in the side rails secured to the side walls of the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,178 is directed towards a tonneau cover assembly in which the cover is dispensed from a storage roll and is guided within opposing guide tracks positioned on the side walls of the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,746 shows a support frame for a truck body cover that defines a frame work over which a water-proof tarpaulin is secured. Multiple tubular bows are formed from two part construction using a center crown part to join same together at their apex. The ends of the respective tubular bows are telescopically adjustable within registering openings in the crown part through aligned apertures and placement pins positioned therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,766 is drawn towards a cargo carrying vehicle which shows a two-part structure for flat bed trucks with a telescopically length adjustable bow assembly extending therebetween. The bow ends use right angularly extending pins movable in a longitudinal slot and registerable in spaced notches within the slots for extension adjustment.

Adjustable bow for a truck tonneau cover


A cylinder body includes a cylinder hole and a discharge flow passage. The cylinder hole receives a plunger and forms a pressurizing chamber in one axial end portion thereof. The discharge flow passage is connected to the pressurizing chamber and is adapted to guide and discharge the pressurized fuel from the pressurizing chamber to an outside of the housing. A connection opening of the discharge flow passage is formed in a hole wall of the cylinder hole. A pressure is applied to a predetermined prestressing subject area in the hole wall of the cylinder hole and a passage wall of the discharge flow passage through autofrettage to generate a residual compression stress in the predetermined prestressing subject area and thereby to form a prestressed area of a final product. The prestressing subject area includes an inner peripheral edge of the connection opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel supply pump and a manufacturing method of a housing of the fuel supply pump.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 5, a prior art fuel supply pump 100 includes a plunger 101, a cylinder body 103 and a plunger drive mechanism (not shown). The plunger 101 is adapted to reciprocate in an axial direction thereof. The cylinder body 103 includes a cylinder hole 102, which receives the plunger 101 in an axially slidable manner. The plunger drive mechanism (not shown) converts a rotational motion, which is transmitted from an internal combustion engine (not shown), into a linear motion and conducts the linear motion to the plunger 101. The fuel supply pump 100 is applied to an accumulator type fuel injection system, which injects high pressure fuel having a pressure of more than 100 MPa into the internal combustion engine through a common rail.
Furthermore, in the fuel supply pump 100, one axial end portion of the cylinder hole 102 is fluid-tightly closed (partitioned) by the plunger 101 to form a pressurizing chamber 104, in which fuel is pressurized. In the fuel supply pump 100, the plunger 101, which is axially slidably received in the cylinder hole 102, is axially reciprocated to change a volume of the pressurizing chamber 104, so that the fuel is drawn into the pressurizing chamber 104 and is then discharged from the pressurizing chamber 104 upon pressurization of the fuel in the pressurizing chamber 104.
Specifically, a discharge flow passage 106 is connected to the pressurizing chamber 104 to discharge the pressurized fuel from the pressurizing chamber 104, and a connection opening 107 of the discharge flow passage 106 is formed in a hole wall (an inner peripheral wall) of the cylinder hole 102, which forms the pressurizing chamber 104. Furthermore, a check valve 108 is placed in the discharge flow passage 106 to limit a backflow of the fuel toward the pressurizing chamber 104. When the pressure of the fuel in the pressurizing chamber 104 becomes larger than a predetermined valve opening pressure, the check valve 108 is opened, so that the fuel, which is pressurized in the pressurizing chamber 104, is guided to an outside of the fuel supply pump 100 through the discharge flow passage 106. In this way, the fuel, which is pressurized in the pressurizing chamber 104, is discharged to the outside of the fuel supply pump 100 through the discharge flow passage 106 and is then supplied to the common rail.
In the fuel supply pump 100, a stress load is repeatedly and intensively applied to an inner peripheral edge 109 of the connection opening 107 and an area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109 upon repeating of increasing and decreasing the fuel pressure in the pressurizing chamber 104. Therefore, it is required to increase the pressure resistance at the inner peripheral edge 109 of the connection opening 107 and the area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109.
It has been proposed to increase the pressure resistance by applying a residual compression stress through autofrettage. Specifically, It is known to apply the technique of autofrettage to a common rail or a fuel injector of an accumulator fuel injection system (see, for example, DE102006054440B3 corresponding to US2010/0154501A1).
Therefore, it may be conceivable to increase the pressure resistance at the inner peripheral edge 109 of the connection opening 107 and the area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109 by applying the technique of the autofrettage thereto.
However, the inner peripheral edge 109 is formed in a hole wall of the cylinder hole 102, which has been processed to have a high hardness through, for example, a carburizing process, a nitriding process or a hardening process (a quenching process) to meet a requirement of having a seizing resistance against the slide contact of the plunger 101 to the hole wall of the cylinder hole 102. Therefore, even when the pressure is applied to the hole wall of the cylinder hole 102 to increase the pressure resistance at the inner peripheral edge 109 and the area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109 through the autofrettage, it is difficult to apply the residual compression stress to the inner peripheral edge 109 and the area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109. Thereby, it is not possible to increase the pressure resistance at the inner peripheral edge 109 and the area adjacent to the inner peripheral edge 109.

Fuel supply pump and manufacturing method of housing of the same


An apparatus for detecting a rollover of a vehicle is provided. The apparatus comprises a detector, memory unit, calculator, and rollover determination unit. The detector detects a roll angular velocity of the vehicle. The memory unit memorizes a value of the roll angular velocity detected by the detector. The calculator calculates a predictive value to the roll angular velocity to be expected when a predetermined period of time elapses, by using a past value of the roll angular velocity of the vehicle, the past value being memorized in the memory unit. The rollover determination unit determines whether or not there is a possibility that the vehicle will make a rollover, on the basis of the predictive value to the roll angular velocity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a rollover of a vehicle and an apparatus for activating occupant protective devices.
2. Related Art
Recent vehicles are frequently required to have a variety of safety devices for occupants. One of such devices is safety devices, such as pretensioners and shock absorbing airbags. These devices are very helpful for occupants when the vehicle makes a rollover or an overturn due to various reasons.
A variety of techniques for determining such a rollover, which is absolutely necessary for activating the occupant protective safety devices, has been proposed at present, as can be seen from Japanese patent-laid open KOKAI (unexamined) Nos. 7-164985 and 2001-260780.
The former proposes how to determine a turnover of a vehicle. According to this determination technique, an inclination angle of the vehicle and an inclination angular velocity thereof are detected to determine a vehicle's turnover using a relationship between the inclination angle and the inclination angular velocity. If this determined result reveals a possibility of causing the turnover, one or more occupant protective devices mounted on the vehicle are activated immediately.
However, this determination technique is still unsatisfied as described below. Though the rollover of the vehicle can be classified into many types in terms of their causes, one type is a rollover called "flip-over," in which wheels on one of the right and left sides of a vehicle run on an obstacle so that the vehicle makes a rollover. In this case, the vehicle rolls over at a faster speed, it is absolutely necessary to activate the occupant protective device(s) in an early stage during the rollover. However, in such an early stage, the inclination angle is still low. Hence, this conventional determination way concludes that the vehicle inclination in progress at present will not result in a rollover, whereby it is very difficult to activate the occupant protective device(s) in an early and proper timing during the rollover.
Of the foregoing prior art references, the latter (No. 2001-260780) provides how to determine whether or not there is a possibility that a vehicle will make over. This reference shows a two-dimensional map that uses two parameters consisting of a roll angle of a vehicle and a roll angular velocity thereof. Threshold lines are set on the map so as to form non-rollover regions showing non-rollover and rollover regions showing a possible rollover. Whether or not a history line defined by a roll angle and a roll angular velocity of a vehicle crosses one of the threshold lines from the non-rollover region to the rollover region shows whether or not that is a possibility of causing a vehicle's rollover, respectively. This determined result is then reflected in control of deploying air curtains and/or side airbags.
Furthermore, this rollover determination makes the threshold lines move in response to an increase in a side skid speed of the vehicle. This festinates the timing to start the deployment to protect the occupant in a trip-over. However this start timing is not always proper.
For example, assume that a vehicle whose height is high, such as SUV (Sports Utility Vehicles) crashes into a side of a parked vehicle. In such a case, a rollover may be caused, which is called "SUV side-impact originated rollover." In this rollover, the crashed vehicle makes a roll around axis passing the wheels on the non-crashed side immediately after the crash, and no side skid speed is detected. However, an occupant upper body is forced to swing toward the crash side immediately after the crash, so that it is necessary to deploy the driver's side devices such as air curtains in an early stage of the rollover. With regard to protecting the occupant from such rollovers, the foregoing determination based on the conventional map is not totally sufficient in detecting a more proper timing for deploying the safety devices.

Apparatus for detecting rollover of vehicle and apparatus for activating occupant protective device


A microdischarge device has a semiconductor layer, an intermediate layer, and a conductive layer. A tapered cavity is disposed in at least the semiconductor layer.

The present invention relates to microdischarge devices and, in particular, to novel structures for light emitting devices. It has long been known that electrical discharges are efficient sources of light, and today gas discharge lamps (including fluorescent sources, and metal-halide, sodium, or mercury arc lamps) account for most of the world's light-generating capacity (several billion watts on a continuous basis). Most of these devices are, unfortunately, bulky and frequently have fragile quartz or glass envelopes and require expensive mounting fixtures. In addition to general lighting, discharges produce ultraviolet and visible light for other purposes, such as germicidal applications (disinfecting surfaces and tissue), cleaning electronic and optical surfaces in manufacturing, curing polymers and activating light-sensitive molecules for medical treatments and diagnostics.
Although discharge devices were apparently first demonstrated by A. D. White in 1959, only recently were microdischarge devices fabricated in silicon by techniques developed in the integrated-circuit industry. As shown in FIG. 1, and see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,027, a conventional microdischarge device 100 fabricated in silicon has a cylindrical cavity 102 in the cathode 104 of the device 100. The semiconductor cathode 104 was affixed to a copper heat sink with conductive epoxy. The anode 106 for the microdischarge device 100 was typically a metal film such as Ni/Cr. A thin dielectric layer 108 deposited onto the silicon electrically insulates the cathode 104 from the anode 106. When the cavity 102 is filled with the desired gas and the appropriate voltage imposed between the cathode 104 and the anode 106, a discharge is ignited in the cavity 102.
Microdischarges have several distinct advantages over conventional discharges. Since the diameter of single cylindrical microdischarge devices, for example, is typically less than 400–500 μm, each device offers the spatial resolution that is desirable for a pixel in a display. Also, the small physical dimensions of microdischarges allows them to operate at pressures much higher than those accessible to conventional, macroscopic discharges. When the diameter of a cylindrical microdischarge device is, for example, on the order of 200–300 μm, the device will operate at pressures as high as atmospheric pressure and beyond. Furthermore, at these high pressures, the microdischarge produces a stable, uniform glow. In contrast, standard fluorescent lamps, for example, operate at pressures typically less than 1% of atmospheric pressure.
Despite their applications in several areas, including optoelectronics and sensors, microdischarge devices can have several drawbacks. For example, the lifetime of the devices is exceedingly short, operating for only a few tens of hours. Damage to the anode is quickly visible and is caused by sputtering. Extracting optical power from deep cylindrical cavities is also frequently inefficient. If the cylindrical cathode for a microdischarge is too deep, it will be difficult for photons produced below the surface of the cathode to escape. In addition, conventional microdischarge devices may require fabrication techniques such as mechanical drilling and ablation. The use of these techniques limits the minimum size of the cavity diameter, thereby limiting the resolution of the devices. Furthermore, scaling an array of the devices is difficult as devices at the perimeter of large arrays may ignite preferentially.

Microdischarge devices and arrays having tapered microcavities

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A vascular occlusive device, such as an embolic coil, having thrombogenic fibers extending from the coil and having an outer barrier which encapsulates and flattens the fibers along the sides of the embolic coil for preventing activation of the coil until the outer barrier has been dissolved, or removed, from the embolic coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical implantable device, and more particularly, to a vascular occlusive device, such as an embolic coil for occluding an aneurysm, which includes structural elements, such as thrombogenic fibers, placed on the occlusive device for reacting with bodily tissue, such as blood, for promoting tissue growth into the vascular occlusive device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years vasculature occlusive devices have been placed within the vasculature of the human body to occlude, or partially occlude, blood flow through the vasculature. Additionally, such devices have been introduced into aneurysms in order to fill, or partially fill, the aneurysm so as to reduce the pressure, which is applied to the interior of the aneurysm in order to prevent further growth or expansion of the aneurysm. These devices may take the form of a coil, such as a helical coil, and are typically placed within the vessel or aneurysm by use of a delivery catheter, which is inserted into the vessel and positioned such that the distal end of the delivery catheter is adjacent to a selected site for placement. Once the occlusive device is placed within a blood vessel or aneurysm, surrounding tissue reacts with the "foreign" object and begins to grow into and around the device to provide more complete occlusion of the aneurysm. Examples of such delivery catheters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,407, entitled "Method And Apparatus For Placement Of An Embolic Coil" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,136, entitled "Endovascular Electrolytically Detachable Guidewire Tip For The Electroformation Of Thrombus In Arteries, Veins, Aneurysms, Vascular Malformations And Arteriovenous Fistulas." These patents disclose catheter systems for delivering embolic coils to preselected positions within vessels of the human body in order to treat aneurysms, or alternatively, to occlude a blood vessel at a preselected location.
Occlusive devices which take the form of coils may be helically wound coils, random wound coils, coils wound within coils or other such coil configurations. Examples of various coil configurations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,210, entitled, "Vascular Occlusion Assembly" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,259, entitled, "Vasoocclusion Coil With Attached Tubular Woven Or Braided Fibrous Covering." Such coils are generally formed from radiopaque metallic materials, such as platinum, gold, tungsten or alloys of these metals. Oftentimes several coils are placed at a given location within a vessel, or within an aneurysm, to more completely occlude, or partially occlude, the flow of blood through the vessel or aneurysm. Thrombus growth onto the coils further enhances the occlusive effect of the coils.
In the past, embolic coils have been placed within the distal end of a delivery catheter and when the distal end of the catheter is properly positioned, the coil may then be pushed out of the end of the catheter with, for example a guidewire, to release the coil at the desired location. This procedure of placement of the embolic coil is conducted under fluoroscopic visualization such that the movement of the coil may be monitored and the coil may be placed at a desired location.
In addition, such coils have been specifically designed to be stretch resistant, such as the vasculature occlusive coil disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,418, entitled, "Stretch Resistant Vaso-Occlusive Coils (II)" which discloses a helically wound coil having a polymeric stretch resistant member extending through the lumen of the coil and fixedly attached to both ends of the coil to prevent the coil from stretching.
In order to increase the thrombogenicity of an embolic coil, such coils have included a coating, such as collagen, which is applied to the surface of the coil. This concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,671, entitled, "Embolic Elements And Methods And Apparatus For Their Delivery," which discloses such a collagen coated embolic coil. One of the problems with collagen coated coils is that when the coil is initially positioned within an aneurysm, there is an immediate reaction between the collagen and surrounding blood which causes an immediate thrombogenic response, which can in turn make it difficult, if not impossible to reposition the coil to a more desirable location within the aneurysm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,162, entitled, "Soft-Ended Fibered Micro Vaso-Occlusive Devices," discloses a helically wound embolic coil with thrombogenic fibers carried by adjacent turns of the helically wound coil.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,550, entitled, "Water-Soluble Coating For Bioactive Vasoocclusive Devices," discloses an embolic coil having an inner coating which serves as a thrombogenic agent and an outer coating of a water soluble agent which dissolves after placement of the coil in order expose the thrombogenic inner coating to enhance the growth of thrombus into an around the coil. The water soluble coating prevents the thrombogenic inner coating from coming into contact with the surrounding blood until the water soluble coating is dissolved by contact with blood which is comprised largely of water. While the vascular occlusive device disclosed in this patent includes an agent for enhancing thromboginicity of the device and also includes an outer coating to prevent such activity until the outer coating is dissolved by blood flow, there is no control over when the dissolving process begins and therefore no control over the time in which the thrombogenic agent becomes activated. Without such control, it is possible that thrombus can begin forming on the coil prior to the time the coil is properly placed within a vessel, or aneurysm, therefore making it very difficult if not impossible to reposition, or remove, the improperly placed coil. Alternatively, with water soluble outer protective coating the passive process of removing the outer coating may be so slow that the reaction may not occur in a timely manner.
Still further U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/738,477, filed on Dec. 17, 2003, entitled, "Activatable Bioactive Implantable Medical Device And Method Of Use" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/738,473, filed on Dec. 17, 2003, entitled, "Activatable Bioactive Vascular Occlusive Device And Method Of Use," disclose implantable medical devices having bioactive coating with an outer barrier to prevent exposure of the bioactive inner coating until such time as the outer barrier is dissolved or removed by the application of an external agent.

Activatable bioactive vascular occlusive device


A tool is used to custom fit rubber slip-ons onto golf shoes for use in wet conditions to keep the feet of the golfer dry. The tool can be manually manipulated to cut openings into the sole of a slip-on of an appropriate size so that the openings are aligned with the spikes of the golf shoe. When openings have been cut for all of the spikes, the sole of the slip-on rests against a base of the spikes and the sole of the golf shoe. The tool has an elongated hollow body with two ends. One end has a circular cutting edge thereon and the other end has a handle thereon. After the slip-on is placed onto the golf shoe with the spikes separating the sole of the slip-on from the sole of the golf shoe, the tool is aligned with each spike in turn to cut an appropriate opening for that spike. Previously, slip-ons have been designed with pre-cut openings but these slip-ons can only be used with a specific model of golf shoe of a specific manufacturer having a specific size.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool for fastening slip-ons to golf shoes and a method of use therefor. More particularly, this invention relates to a tool for manually cutting openings into a sole of slip-ons to accommodate spikes of golf shoes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf is rapidly increasing in popularity and in those geographical areas where golf cannot be played in winter, avid golfers try to extend the season as long as possible. These golfers play golf from the early Spring to the late Fall. These golfers also play golf in all kinds of weather including wet or rainy conditions. When it is raining or areas of the course are wet or soggy, water leaks through golf shoes worn by the golfer and the golfer becomes extremely uncomfortable, particularly when the weather is cold. These conditions often cause the golfer to terminate the game prematurely or cause a lack of concentration.
It is known that golf shoes can be kept substantially dry under wet conditions by installing slip-ons (which are usually made of flexible rubber material) to the shoes, said slip-ons having pre-formed holes therein to accommodate the spikes. Golf shoes of different manufacturers or of different sizes have spikes located in different locations. Slip-ons are generally available in small, medium and large sizes so that one size fits all within a fairly broad range. Thus, if a slip-on with pre-formed openings in the sole is desired, the slip-ons must be cut differently for each size, for each model and for each manufacturer of golf shoes. This design requirement is highly impractical. A retailer must keep a large inventory of pre-cut slip-ons to have slip-ons for all of the golf shoes sold by the retailer. Also, when the openings are pre-formed, they are often made too large and water can seep into an interior of the slip-on through the pre-formed openings. Or, one or more spikes on the golf shoes is not properly located and the slip-ons must be stretched by an extraordinary amount to fit the shoe, thereby enlarging the opening still further and making the slip-ons difficult to remove. Obviously, once the pre-formed openings are cut, the slip-ons have a limited use.

Tool for custom fitting slip-ons to golf shoes and a method of use therefor


The present invention relates to encapsulated lactic acid, where lactic acid is in a solid, pure, crystalline form. The encapsulation of food acids is common practice. Many companies produce encapsulated citric, tartaric and sorbic acids or GDL. However, lactic acid, a major food acid for its flavour and conservation effect, is not available in a pure solid crystalline encapsulated form. As no substrate is needed for said coated solid lactic acid particles, the lactic acid content of said particles may be very high and the activity of the lactic acid is not impaired by the substrate. Furthermore, the encapsulated solid lactic acid particles according to the invention are easy to handle and are less expensive than encapsulated liquid lactic acid.

The use of acids in the food industry is well known. For example in the making of dry or semi dry sausages, lactic acid producing bacteria has long been used in order improve flavour and conservation of the product. Most often, encapsulated acids are used for controlled release of acid in a food composition. The control-release mechanisms vary with the application. Some applications require a temperature release (when the product is exposed to a given temperature the acid is released; fat/oil coatings), water release (when the product is exposed to water release takes place; water soluble coatings), pH release, and the like. The aim is to protect the encapsulated core from the environment up to the time when it is needed. Different applications require a different level of encapsulation. Typically, for an application where temperature release is required, the quality of the encapsulation is judged by the percentage of release of the product dispersed in water at room temperature. A 90% encapsulation refers to a product releasing 10% (w/w) of core ingredient in the water at room temperature after a given time. Similarly, the release of the food ingredient can be directly measured in the application itself through different analytical methods.
The use of encapsulated food acids in meat was first reported in the early 1960's. At first, the use of glucono delta lactone (GDL) for curing purposes was described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,116. Shortly after, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,359,120 and 3,560,222, encapsulated food acid was reported to have similar effects. In the same period, patent applications were filed for the production of encapsulated food acids. The processes used were very diverse: from top-spray fluid bed coating to coacervation, and from co-axial extrusion to spray drying techniques.
Lactic acid is widely used in the food industries, such as in the dairy, meat, and bakery industries and in the confectionery industry. Lactic acid is also often reported as being used in a coated form in a food composition. See, for instance, CH 527 570, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,262,027, and 4,576,825. However, these patents disclose the use of lactic acid in the liquid form, and it is necessary to combine the liquid lactic acid with a solid substrate in order to obtain a solid composition. In CH 527 570, lactic acid is combined with glucose, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,845 with a solid carrier, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,584 with micro-cellulose or calcium lactate, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,592, 4,772,477, and 6,153,236, the lactic acid is platted on calcium lactate. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,825, liquid lactic acid is encapsulated using a co-axial-extrusion method.
In all patents where the use of coated lactic acid is reported and where the lactic acid is mixed with another component in order to be solid, the other component does not bring any additional advantages. Its effect is limited to the solidification of lactic acid either by absorption (glucose, starches, micro-cellulose) or by reaction (calcium lactate). The content of lactic acid in these products does not exceed 60% (w/w) usually due to the extra components. Often, the content of lactic acid of the final products presented in these patents does not exceed 50%, and more commonly it does not exceed 30% (w/w). Moreover, the products combined with lactic acid to render it solid can have adverse effects on the application. For example the calcium lactate combined with the lactic acid has a buffering action on the lactic acid. Also, encapsulation of liquid lactic acid requires expensive equipment and the resulting encapsulated liquid lactic acid is expensive and difficult to handle.
Crystalline Lactic acid is described by Schouten et al. (Low Temperature Crystal Structure And Molecular Conformation Of L(+) Lactic Acid, J. Mol. Structure, 323: 165-168 (1994)). Even though crystalline lactic acid had been known, it is difficult to crystallize lactic acid owing to the instability of the crystals, which are very hygroscopic. Due to this hygroscopicity, and due to the separation method used in the classical crystallization process, there is a liquid phase at the surface of the crystals. Further, the handling of the crystal is difficult because when the crystals contact air, they absorb water, increasing the amount of liquid phase present at the crystal surface.
These and other deficiencies are overcome using the products and methods of the present invention, as described below.


Implementing processor instrumentation in a processor pipeline includes determining a pipeline depth of each micro-operator for an instruction group used in an execution phase of the processor pipeline. The pipeline depth corresponds with a duration of execution, each micro-operator performs a type of functional operation in the execution phase, and the instruction group includes all the micro-operators required for the execution phase. A targeted micro-operator is identified for which the processor instrumentation is being performed, and the pipeline depth corresponding with the targeted micro-operator is used to determine and report a performance of the targeted micro-operator as part of the processor instrumentation. Problems indicated by the processor instrumentation are diagnosed and addressed based on the performance of the targeted micro-operator.

The present invention relates to out-of-order instruction processing, and more specifically, to accounting for multiple pipeline depths in processor instrumentation.
Instrumentation or, more specifically, processor instrumentation in the hardware context refers to monitoring or measuring the performance of a running processor. Instrumentation logic can provide metrics that facilitate the identification and mitigation of sources of performance issues. A software program involves the execution of many instructions by the processor. Instruction pipelining is a technique to implement instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. Instructions are divided into a series of sequential steps (i.e., pipelines) that are performed by different processor units in parallel. Thus, every part of the processor can be used at all times to increase the throughput. Through the pipelining technique, multiple instructions can be overlapped during execution (i.e., out-of-order instruction processing can be performed). Processor instrumentation logic can help to pinpoint which stage of a pipeline is responsible for stalling or delays in the instruction processing.

Accounting for multiple pipeline depths in processor instrumentation

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Provided are a silanylamine-based compound of Formula 1 and an organic light emitting diode including an organic layer having the same:

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a silanylamine-based compound and an organic light emitting diode including an organic layer comprising the compound, and more particularly to a silanylamine-based compound with superior electrical stability and high charge transporting capability and a high glass transition temperature, which is able to prevent crystallization, and an organic light emitting diode including an organic layer comprising the silanylamine-based compound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic light emitting diodes are self light-emitting devices that exhibit wide viewing angles, excellent contrast, and quick response times, and thus have received a much attention recently. Moreover, organic light emitting diodes have excellent driving voltage characteristics and can produce multiple colors.
Typically, an organic light emitting diode has an anode/emitting layer (EML)/cathode structure. An organic light emitting diode can also have various other structures, such as an anode/hole transport layer (HTL)/EML/cathode structure and an anode/HTL/EML/electron injection layer (EIL)/cathode structure, which result from adding a hole injection layer (HIL), a HTL, and an EIL between the anode and the EML or between the EML and the cathode.
Polyphenyl compounds or anthracene derivatives have been used in the HTL, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,596,415 and 6,465,115. However, lifetime, efficiency, and power consumption characteristics of an organic light emitting diode using these materials in a HIL and/or a HTL do not meet desired levels, and thus there is a need to improve these characteristics.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Silanylamine-based compound and organic light emitting diode

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, Ar1, Ar2, X and X′ are described herein. Embodiments of the silanylamine-based compound of Formula 1 exhibit superior electrical properties and high charge-transport properties, and can be efficiently used as hole injecting materials, hole transporting materials, and/or emitting materials suitable for phosphorescent and fluorescent organic light emitting diodes emitting light of all colors, including red, green, blue, and white. Furthermore, an organic light emitting diode having the silanylamine-based compound of Formula 1 can have high efficiency, low driving voltage, and high brightness.


The techniques described herein provide software testing of a candidate software system. In some examples, a testing service compares at least one candidate response to at least a first control response to obtain one or more candidate test differences. The testing service may compare at least a second control response of the plurality of control responses to at least one of the first control response of the plurality of control responses or a third control response of the plurality of control responses to obtain one or more control test differences. The testing service may then analyze the one or more candidate test differences based on the one or more control test differences to generate an evaluation of whether one or more of the candidate test differences are due to differences between the candidate software system and the control software system that generated the first control response.

Software architects often engage in a process of improving software after deployment of the software. The improvements may be implemented by modifying a software system or by creating a new software system (e.g., a replacement system), where the modified or new software system is intended to replace or operate beside the deployed (current) software system. Deployment of the modified or the new software system may have an impact on hardware that supports the software system (e.g., require more or less processing power and/or time), may impact outcomes resulting from user interaction (e.g., satisfy, annoy, or frustrate users, etc.), or may have other possible outcomes (e.g., include bugs, etc.). Therefore, it is desirable to perform a comparison test to compare results following execution of the modified or new software system against results following execution of the deployed software system prior to a full deployment of the modified or new software system. However, comparison tests of deployed software systems with modified or new software systems may result in detection of differences that are unimportant or otherwise not meaningful, for example, random differences.


A method of making an individualized restaurant menu for a customer desirous of avoiding ingestion of customer-selected ingredients. A database is loaded into a computer. Names of all the ingredients used by the restaurant are loaded into the database. A plurality of recipes are loaded into the database. Each recipe comprises ingredients selected from the ingredients, named in the database. The customer selects any ingredients the customer wishes to avoid. The customer's name is entered into the database in association with the names of ingredients which the customer has selected as to-be-avoided. The database of recipes is automatically searched for the ingredients-to-be-avoided. All available recipes not containing ingredients-to-be-avoided are printed on a menu, customized for the customer. The menu includes the customer's name, the names of ingredients-to-be-avoided, and a list of names of servings of selected available recipes.

There is a growing awareness of the importance of diet, and there is a consciousness among many people that certain ingredients may be harmful to their health. Persons who are allergic to certain ingredients may suffer adverse reactions, including in extreme cases anaphylactic shock and death, as a result of ingesting such ingredients.
Others have been advised by their doctors to avoid such things as cholesterol or sodium. Some people simply dislike the taste of certain ingredients.
Typically, a restaurant menu provides little information to the customer about what ingredients are in the recipe of any given serving listed on the menu.
An allergic person may have to engage in a long discourse with the waiter regarding an ingredient the allergic person is trying to avoid, with the waiter making frequent trips to the kitchen to consult with the cook about his recipes.

Method of making individualized restaurant menus


Methods and apparatus for a semaphore mechanism in a distributed computing environment are disclosed. A state manager coordinating accesses to objects from distributed clients implements programmatic interfaces for semaphore operations. A client process submits a permit record directed to a semaphore instance protecting a shared resource. The client process receives a representation of permit records associated with the resource. The permit records provide an indication of an order in which permit requests for the resource were processed. The client process uses the permit records to determine whether it has been granted a permit, and if it determines that the permit has been granted, performs operations on the resource.

Implementing computing systems that manage large quantities of data and/or service large numbers of users often presents problems of scale. For example, as demand for various types of computing services grows, it may become difficult to service that demand without increasing the available computing resources accordingly. To facilitate scaling in order to meet demand, a particular computing service might be implemented as a distributed application that executes on a number of instances of computing hardware. For example, a number of different software processes executing on different computer systems may operate cooperatively to implement the computing service. When more service capacity is needed, additional hardware or software resources may be deployed.
However, implementing distributed applications may present its own set of challenges. For example, in a geographically distributed system, it is possible that different segments of the system might become communicatively isolated from one another, e.g., due to a failure of network communications between sites. As a consequence, the isolated segments may not be able to coordinate with one another. If care is not taken in such circumstances, inconsistent system behavior might result (e.g., if the isolated segments both attempt to modify data that they would ordinarily coordinate access to).
More generally, the larger the distributed system, the more difficult it may be to coordinate the actions of various actors within the system (e.g., owing to the difficulty of ensuring that many different actors that are potentially widely distributed have a consistent view of system state). In some distributed systems, fairly sophisticated lock managers or state managers may be implemented to help manage concurrent accesses to some types of shared resources, e.g., by providing support for mutual exclusion locks. However, in many cases, a lock mechanism that only allows one entity to hold the lock at a time may not be appropriate for some types of operations being implemented by distributed applications.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.

Semaphores in distributed computing environments


The circuit arrangement for generating two signals staggered in time from a clock signal and for measuring their time stagger receives at its input a clock signal, from which it generates an undelayed signal and a signal delayed relative to the undelayed signal. The generated signals appear at a first and second output of the circuit arrangement, respectively. A delay time measuring arrangement comprises a reversible inverter connected between the input of the circuit arrangement and the first output of the circuit arrangement and a NAND gate. The NAND gate receives at one input the delayed signal and at the other input the output signal of the inverter and furnishes an output signal from which the time stagger existing between the undelayed signal and the delayed signal can be precisely determined. The reversible inverter is switchable by a switching signal between a non-inverting condition in a working phase and an inverting condition in a measuring phase. The reversible inverter may by formed by an XOR gate receiving at one input the clock signal and at the other input the switching signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for generating two signals staggered in time from a clock signal and for measuring their time stagger. The circuit arrangement comprises an input to which the clock signal is applied, a first output at which an undelayed signal generated from the clock signal is delivered, a second output at which a signal generated from the clock signal and delayed relative to the undelayed signal is delivered and a delay time measuring arrangement for measuring the time stagger between the delayed signal and the undelayed signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art circuit arrangement of this kind comprises two inverters connected in series between the input of the circuit arrangement and the first output of the circuit arrangement. The delay time measuring arrangement comprises a NAND gate which receives at one input the delayed signal and at the other input the output signal of the first inverter which is the inverted clock signal. The NAND gate furnishes an output signal which depends on the time stagger existing between the two input signals of the NAND gate. The first inverter is needed because the output signal of the NAND gate represents the time stagger between two signals only when one of the two signals is inverted. The second inverter is needed for reconverting the inverted clock signal to its original form so that it can be used as an undelayed signal together with the delayed signal.
One problem particular to this prior art circuit arrangement resides in the fact that the time stagger determined from the output signal of the NAND gate does not correspond to the actual time stagger between the signals occuring at the two outputs of the circuit arrangement. The reason for this is that the undelayed signal appearing at the first output of the circuit arrangement is affected with the transit delay occuring in the second inverter needed for reconverting the signal, but this transit delay cannot be sensed by the NAND gate since the second inverter is located downstream of the circuit point at which the inverted clock signal is branched off to the NAND gate. This is the reason why there is an uncertainty as to the time stagger actually existing between the two signals appearing at the two outputs of the circuit arrangement, which uncertainty cannot be removed in the prior art circuit arrangement. This drawback is particularly serious when an extremely small and precisely defined time stagger needs to be achieved between the two signals.

Circuit arrangement for generating two signals staggered in time from a clock signal and for measuring their time stagger


Digital television (DTV) broadcasting using COFDM modulation is designed to modulate orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) mid-band carriers with metadata including synchronization signals and transmission-mode signals. DTV signals modulate OFDM carriers occupying portions of the frequency spectrum of the transmission channel that extend in frequency both below and above these mid-band carriers. The OFDM midband carriers are capable of signaling when a new broadcast service is used that differs from the one disclosed. The signaling is provided by modulating the midband carriers with respective elements of signature sequences, each of which signature sequences is composed of Zadoff-Chu sequences and repetitive pseudo-random sequences scrambled by a Zadoff-Chu sequence.

Techniques for COFDM DTV broadcasting are prescribed in the ETSI TS 302 755 V1.3.2 Technical Specification titled "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Frame structure channel coding and modulation for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2)" published in April 2012 by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. This DVB-T2 standard is based on time-division multiplex of T2 frames of COFDM symbols possibly having future-extension frames (FEFs) interleaved therewith, every six consecutive ones of which frames is considered to constitute a "super frame". The duration of a T2 frame can be of as long a length as 250 ms (milliseconds) and begins with a P1 portion of a preamble, which P1 portion signals which of various ways for transmitting COFDM DTV signals is currently in use. The number of ways for transmitting COFDM DTV signals that can be signaled in each P1 preamble is 24, 8 in an S1 period and 16 in an ensuing S2 period. The three-bit S1 field indicates whether the currently incoming transmissions are T2 frames using 64,800-bit LDPC codeblocks, T2-lite frames using 16,200-bit FEC codeblocks, or FEFs using some still-to-be-decided form of FEC coding. The three-bit S1 field further indicates whether the P2 portion of the preamble following the P1 portion is to be interpreted presuming single-input/single-output (SISO) reception or multiple-input/single-output (MISO) reception. The first 3 bits of the 4-bit S2 field are referred to as S2 field 1. When the preamble format is of the typeT2_SISO, T2_MISO, T2-LITE_SISO or T2-LITE_MISO, S2 field 1 indicates the FFT size and gives partial information about the guard interval for the remaining symbols in the T2-frame. The ensuing single-bit S2 field 2 that concludes the S2 field indicates whether the preambles of all the T2 frames in a super frame are all of the same type or not.
DVB-T2 permits the time-division multiplexing of several physical layer pipes (PLPs), and information concerning the operating characteristics of those PLPs) is conveyed by first-layer (L1) signals that immediately follow the P2 portion of the preamble. Each L1 signal consists of an L1-pre signaling initial portion followed by an L1-post signaling portion. All L1 signaling data, except for the dynamic L1-post signaling, shall remain unchanged for the entire duration of one super-frame. Therefore, any changes implemented to the current configuration (i.e., the contents of the L1-pre signaling or the configurable part of the L1-post signaling) shall always occur at the transition from one super-frame to the consecutive next super-frame. The L1-pre signaling is 200 bits in size. It specifies whether the L1 signal is a repeat or not, the length of guard intervals, the type of peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) reduction employed, the natures of FEC coding and the modulation of OFDM carriers in the ensuing L1-post signaling, the size of the ensuing L1-post signaling, pilot carrier pattern, whether L1-post signaling is scrambled or not, and other items related to super-frame structure. The L1-pre signaling concludes with 32 parity bits of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) coding. The so-called "configurable" portion of L1-post signaling is 257 bits in size and comprises information relating to FEFs and to PLPs. The "configurable" field can be followed by "dynamic" and "extension" fields. The L1-post signal concludes with 32 parity bits of CRC coding followed by bits for padding the L1-post signal to prescribed size.
The complete L1 signal includes 457 bits for signaling. Nonetheless, additional signaling capability may be required, and per custom this has been afforded by so-called "in-band" signaling wherein control signals replace portions of the broadcast normally allocated to DTV signal. In-band signaling undesirably complicates time-division multiplexing of components of the baseband signal to be up-converted in frequency and then broadcast. More important, in-band signaling undesirably complicates de-multiplexing of components of the baseband signal in a COFDM DTV receiver. In-band signaling tends to reduce digital payload in the DTV broadcast system, but this undesirable effect can be mitigated by replacing the bits for padding the L1-post signal with at least part of the in-band signaling.
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is an international consortium of television broadcasters, manufacturers of equipment for transmitting DTV signals, and manufacturers of equipment for receiving DTV signals. ATSC seeks to develop a "universal" standard for terrestrial over-the-air COFDM DTV broadcasting in most countries in the world, which countries prescribe a variety of permissible radio-frequency channels for such broadcasting. These RF channels have different bandwidths in different countries, six megahertz (MHz) bandwidth being used in North American countries and 8 MHz bandwidth being used in European and Asian countries. Manufacturers of equipment for receiving DTV signals are apt eventually to desire development of a bandwidth-agnostic way to specify the nature of RF channels selected for reception. A bandwidth-agnostic a way of specifying the nature of RF channels selected for reception would allow portable DTV receivers to continue to be able to receive DTV signals usefully when transported from a country in which 6 MHz RF bandwidths are used in over-the-air DTV broadcasting to a country in which 8 MHz RF bandwidths are used for over-the-air DTV broadcasting, or vice versa. A bandwidth-agnostic way of specifying the nature of RF channels selected for reception might also reduce the number of different electronics designs for DTV receivers that a DTV receiver manufacturer might have to produce to encompass a global market for them.
The Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell-telephone standard specifies coded orthogonal frequency multiplexed (COFDM) carriers being used to convey down-link telephonic signals and single-carrier frequency-division multiple-access (SC-FDMA) being used to convey up-link telephonic signals. SC-FDMA is favored over OFDM in the uplink communications where lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) greatly benefits the mobile terminal in terms of transmit power efficiency and reduced cost of the power amplifier. The signaling as to which of various ways for transmitting COFDM down-link telephonic signals is currently being received by a cell telephone is specified by the modulations of 72 COFDM carriers located in the central portion of the radio-frequency (RF) channel, 12-carrier-wide groups of which 72 carriers each include receiver synchronization signaling and 84-bit Master Information Blocks (MIBs). The 72 COFDM carriers use Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) modulation specified in the 3GPP TS 36.211 V9.1.0 standard published in March 2010 by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Current practice is further described in the ETSI TS 125 213 V10.0.0 Technical Specification titled "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Spreading and modulation (FDD)" published in May 2011 by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and corresponding to the 3GPP TS 25.213 V 10.0.0 standard.
The location of E-UTRA modulation of 72 COFDM carriers in the middle of the RF channel is bandwidth-agnostic, the information as to RF channel bandwidth being conveyed within the MIB block. Also, the E-UTRA modulation conveys a considerable number of bits of information in patterns of pilot carriers therein. These observations inspired the inventors to consider to whether or not the E-UTRA modulation might be adapted to meeting goals they perceived to exist in prior-art COFDM DTV broadcasting systems.
In a first type of E-UTRA modulation used for down-link in cell telephony, the 72 COFDM carriers are considered to be grouped in six groups of 12 adjacent carriers within frames 10 milliseconds in duration. Each frame is apportioned into ten sub-frames of like duration, and each sub-frame consists of seven sample periods. Each sub-frame includes seventy-two subcarriers times seven sampling periods for a total capacity of 72×7=504 bits. Every 5 milliseconds 63 central ones of the 72 COFDM carriers in this E-UTRA modulation are briefly modulated for one sample period by respective elements of a Zadoff-Chu sequence, also known as a generalized "chirp" sequence. In the next sampling period 62 central ones of the 72 COFDM carriers are modulated by respective elements of two concatenated 31-bit pseudo-random noise (PN31) sequences as additively scrambled in accordance with the preceding Zadoff-Chu sequence. In the context of the first type of E-UTRA modulation, the Zadoff-Chu sequence is referred to as "primary synchronization signal", and the scrambled concatenated pair of PN31 sequences is referred to as "secondary synchronization signal". Pilot carriers at positions other than those in these synchronization signals are referred to as "reference symbols" and are used to specify sectors and cells in cell telephony.
COFDM DTV broadcasting systems use a large number of COFDM carriers. Typically, this number approaches 2 048, 4 096, 8 192, 16 384 or 32 768. In DVB-T2 these numbers are 1 705, 3 409, 6 817, 13 633 and 27 265 respectively. Generally, these numbers are loosely referred to as 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K and 32K, respectively. The inventors observed it to be desirable that as many as possible of the COFDM carriers be dedicated to conveying DTV signals, rather than metadata descriptive of the DTV signals. Accordingly, the inventors prefer modifying the first type of E-UTRA modulation used for down-link in cell telephony so as to include just 64 COFDM carriers when such modulation is instead used to transmit metadata concerning DTV signals in a DTV broadcasting system. Preferably such modification includes grouping the 64 COFDM carriers in eight groups of eight adjacent carriers and extending sub-frames of metadata to include eight sample periods. Then, each sub-frame of metadata includes sixty-four subcarriers times eight sampling periods for a total capacity of 64×8=512 bits.
Sampling periods are adjusted to be the same rate as those used in the DTV signal and are several times longer than for the E-UTRA modulation used for down-link in cell telephony. Frame size for the metadata is likely to vary depending upon FFT size and upon the durations of T2 frames and FEFs. A sophisticated practice is to time accurately the primary synchronization signals in the E-UTRA modulation used in conveying metadata about DTV respective to the occurrences of T2 frames and FEFs in the COFDM DTV signal.
In the continuing development of DTV broadcasting, new systems are apt to be developed that cannot be usefully received by DTV receivers already in the field. It would be useful if receivers could be signaled as to the general type of DTV broadcasting system or other broadcasting system currently occupied an RF channel. This would facilitate receivers determining whether a currently received RF broadcast signal was of a general type that the receiver was capable of usefully receiving. This feature is especially useful for receivers designed for receiving signals broadcast according to a variety of transmission standards used in different countries.
The "universal" standard to be developed for terrestrial over-the-air COFDM DTV broadcasting is expected to be used for many years and is referred to as ATSC 3.0. However, a concern of the broadcasting community as expressed in ATSC is that the development of future standards for terrestrial over-the-air COFDM DTV broadcasting be accommodated by transmitters specifically signaling receivers as to whether they transmit COFDM TV according to DVB-T2, ATSC 3.0, some later version of ATSC 3.0 or some future broadcasting standard. Increasing the number of bits in the "configurable" portion of L1-post signaling to accommodate additional parameters descriptive of some later version of ATSC 3.0 or some future broadcast standard undesirably increases signaling overhead.
An alternative approach is to encode a digital signature sequence that is the key for specific interpretation of further bits of signaling in an L1 signal of a data frame similar to a DVB-T2 data frame. This facilitates one of a plurality of different broadcast standards using some or all of the further bits in an L1 signal differently from another or others of that plurality of different broadcast standards. It is desirable that a number of digital signature sequences can each be readily distinguished from each and all of the others, but this tends to require digital signature sequences quite a few bits long, which also tends to increase signaling overhead, although perhaps to lesser degree than extending the L1 signal or augmenting the L1 signal with in-band signaling that replaces data.

Broadcasting system with digital television signals and metadata that modulate respective sets of OFDM carriers


An adjustable golf putter which has an attachment means which allows the shaft to be removed from the putter head, and allows the angle between the golf club shaft and the golf club putter head to be adjusted. An array of angle selection notches and an angle selection tooth are provided on the first end of the shaft. These angle selection notches correspond to a variety of angles between the shaft and the putter head body. Choice of an angle selection notch positions determines the angle between the putter shaft and the putter head body and holds it at that angle in a positive manner. The putter also has interchangeable face plate assemblies, which provide for changing the mass of the putter head and the loft angle of the striking face.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to golf clubs, and more particularly to an adjustable putter in which the angle between the golf club shaft and the golf putter head is adjustable.
2. Background
U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,196, to Romolo Busnardo, inventor of the instant invention, discloses an adjustable golf putter. This putter provides for adjustment of the angle between the golf club shaft and the putter head, as well as the angle of the striking face, and adjustment of the mass of striking face and the putter head body. These adjustments are necessitated by the critical nature of a putter to a golfer's game.
No club in the golfer's ensemble of clubs is used more often than a putter. A typical round of golf involves 18 holes of play. A par round of golf for most courses constitutes 72 strokes. "Regulation" golf usually involves a drive, a second shot on to the green, and two putts. That being the case, 36 strokes in a typical par round of golf will be putts. Many golfers will use the putter even more, depending on the golfer's ability.
The majority of putters on the market follow the conventional wisdom that a putter face needs a positive loft of several degrees. It is believed that loft on a putter is needed to aid roll.
Most putters do, in fact, have several degrees of loft. When a ball is putted, it moves across the green initially by sliding. As the frictional forces of the green cause the spin rate of the ball to increase, the ball eventually stops sliding and begins to spin or roll. It is while the ball is rolling that the putt has the greatest amount of directional stability due primarily to the inertia created by the rolling ball.
Therefore, it would follow that the sooner the ball begins to roll, the greater the control that the player will have over his putt. It is particularly true on very well kept greens. By using a putter having a negative loft, top spin is imparted on the ball when struck, increasing the tendency of the ball to roll rather than slide.
Nevertheless, at times the player would prefer that the putt have several degrees of positive loft, for example, when playing off the fringe or when playing long putts or putts on greens which are not so well kept. In these instances, a few degrees of positive loft may be beneficial for moving the ball nearer the hole.
Accordingly, it would be of benefit to the experienced putter to be able to interchange between a positive loft and a negative loft striking face, depending on course and play conditions. In addition, a golfer may wish to be able to adjust the angle between the golf club shaft and the head of the putter. This angle is called the lie of the club, and other golf clubs have been used which have an adjustable lie. Typical among putters with an adjustable lie is a frictional adjustment means. With a frictional adjustment means, an infinite number of positions can be chosen which determine the angle between the shaft and the putter head. These can range from perpendicular to horizontal. However, the rules of the United States Golf Association (U.S.G.A.) require that the angle between the putter shaft and the putter head be greater than 10 degrees, and that it be fixed in a positive (non-resistance) manner. Adjustable angled putters which adjust by means of a frictional connection do not meet this requirement.
It is to be pointed out that in regulation golf play, the golfer is prohibited, by current regulations, from changing the configuration of the putter once it has been initiated. However, even with such restriction, a golfer using my present invention will enjoy substantial advantages in that he or she will be able to configure the golf putter to meet the particular course grounds restrictions before regulation play begins. The putter can also be adjusted to account for preferences of different players, so one putter may be configured to the preferences of a another owner or user.
Accordingly, it is an objective of this invention to provide an adjustable lie putter, in which the angle chosen between the putter shaft and the putter head is a rigidly fixed position, but a position which can be changed.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a way to insure that the angle between the putter shaft and the putter head meets the U.S.G.A. requirement that it be greater than 10 degrees.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a putter shaft in which the striking face of the putter is adjustable for negative loft, positive loft, mass, and the degree of friction between the striking face and the golf ball.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a striking surface which is supported at its two ends, but free to flex in its middle.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


An apparatus for mixing fiber tufts includes a first conveyor for accommodating thereon a row of fiber bales; a bale opener for travelling along the row of fiber bales and removing fiber tufts sequentially from the fiber bales; a storage system for storing a plurality of fiber bales each containing fiber of predetermined properties; a selecting device for selecting fiber bales of desired properties from the fiber bales accommodated in the storage system; and a second conveyor for sequentially advancing the selected fiber bales from the storage system to the first conveyor for complementing the row of fiber bales accommodated on the first conveyor for obtaining a series of fiber bales thereon having preselected, determined properties.

This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for removing fiber tufts from fiber bales of different origins and for mixing the detached fiber tufts, such as cotton, chemical fiber or the like. For the detaching operation the fiber bales are assembled into at least one transportable group (row).
According to a known method a plurality of bale groups are provided, each composed of a plurality of fiber bales. The fiber material is removed (detached) from the bales of the individual groups and is subsequently blended in a downstream-arranged mixing apparatus. The fiber bales are arranged in groups; within each group the fiber material is of the same origin. Stated differently, all the fiber bales within any individual group contain fiber of identical properties. The fibers of different groups are, as individual components, conveyed pneumatically to the mixing apparatus through transporting ducts and are intermingled for the first time in such mixer. The several bale series or bale groups each form a mixing component. The composition of the blend in the mixer is varied by changing the proportion of the fiber components from the individual groups as the blend is prepared.
It is a disadvantage of the above-outlined process that for each group a separate fiber bale opening device has to be provided, that is, the number of the fiber bale openers corresponds to the number of the different fiber origins. It is a further disadvantage of the conventional method that the various detaching processes have to be controlled differently, as a result of which the opening devices of the bale opener are periodically idle which is inefficient and uneconomical and may lead to operational disturbances in case of breakdown.

Method and apparatus for detaching and mixing fiber tufts


A Hover Effect craft is disclosed that includes a

This invention relates an apparatus for traveling at high speeds over water; and more particularly, to an apparatus combining a mode of operation of a ground-effect ship with a plurality of marine engine assemblies so as to provide a benefit of greater fuel economy, precise maneuvering, and control in all operating conditions.
There is a long felt need throughout the industrialized world to develop alternative transportation systems. Cities are crowded, choked with traffic, and even air transportation systems are increasingly operating at full capacity. Water in the form of rivers, bays, and coastal waterways, are a transportation resource that is not, at this time, being effectively used.
In the United States alone, Long Island Sound, the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, and many major rivers, are a potential transportation resource. Among the difficulties in developing water transportation is the inherent lack of speed with conventional shipping, and the rough ride associated with hydroplaning ships.
Conventional travel by water is slow and is currently used almost exclusively for freight hauling or leisure travel. The present invention teaches and discloses an apparatus for traveling at high speeds over water with a comfortable ride, dynamic stability, and efficient mechanical traction of props in water.
The instant invention combines the speed of ground effect aircraft, with operationally integrated engine/prop assemblies so as to provide the apparatus with high-speed operation that also provides flight stability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,401 issued to Vollmerhausen discloses a Ground Effect Ship utilizing a wing-hull to support a passenger compartment piggyback style. The wing-hull member includes a plurality of pontoon elements, on each wingtip of the wing-hull member, so that, as the apparatus gains cruising speed, a port or a starboard pontoon biases against the waters surface to stabilize the apparatus in sailing-flight operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,582, issued to Lippisch discloses a Ground Effects Utilizing and Transition Aircraft that includes retractable landing gear, enclosed in a floatation/wing combination so as to transition from a boat operation to ground effect and, at higher speeds, to operate as a true aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,482, issued to Custer, discloses a Channeled Airplane Wing so as to position a propeller near a trailing edge of a wing channel to increase aerodynamic lift.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,088, issued to Betts, discloses a High Lift Aircraft wherein a canard is attached between a port and a starboard fuselage to provide pitch control for the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,550, issued to Beardsley, discloses an Airborne Surface Vehicle and provides a plenum chamber/body shell design that flows air downward such that the air compresses under the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,831, issued to Weiland, discloses a Winged Surface Effect Vehicle that includes oppositely disposed floatation pontoons with a wing structure communicating between the floatation structures.
None of the prior art, taken collectively or individually, discloses an apparatus with a ground-effect flight operation in combination with multiple in-water propulsion; and further, none of the prior art discloses an apparatus wherein a plurality of marine engines pull the apparatus into a stable flight configuration.
A primary object of the invention is to provide a means for high-speed water ground-effect transportation utilizing a forward wing element in combination with a trailing platform element.
Another object of the invention is to provide an aerodynamic lifting means so as to stabilize the apparatus in operation against variant forces of wind and wave.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hydrodynamic lifting means so as to lift the apparatus to a dynamic waterline while the apparatus is operating under flight conditions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a forward wing element so as to generate a coefficient of aerodynamic lift that functions to dampen or cancel vibration caused by the hydrodynamic passage of the apparatus through water.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means for maneuvering operation so as to turn and maneuver the apparatus in xe2x80x98closexe2x80x99 operating conditions, such as when docking.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means for suspension so as to rotate a passenger compartment as the apparatus maneuvers through turns.

Abstract: a forward wing element;

Abstract: a plurality of high-pressure air valve elements;

Abstract: at least one air conduit member disposed to a leading edge of the forward wing element;

Abstract: at least two engine/prop assemblies; each engine/prop assembly including at least one floatation tank element;

Abstract: each one of said engine/prop assemblies depending from the terminal ends of the forward wing element;

Abstract: a platform element disposed to the trailing edge of the forward wing element so as to be rigidly affixed to the trailing edge of the forward wing element; the platform element including cutout cavities for a plurality of inflatable members and cutout cavities for a plurality of air-fan blower elements;

Abstract: a suspension device;

Abstract: a passenger compartment member disposed above the suspension device.


A wave energy transmission apparatus has a conduit made from a refractory oxide. A transparent, refractory ceramic window is coupled to the conduit. Wave energy passing through the window enters the conduit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wave energy transmission apparatus. More specifically, the invention is a wave energy transmission apparatus designed to transmit optical wave energy from a high-temperature environment to a thermally-protected environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Space vehicles encounter extreme elevated temperatures (>3000° F.) and dynamic pressures that have in some cases produced powdery char from thermally-induced, ablation-heat-shield charring during atmospheric re-entry. The resulting char can fly into radiometer measurement ports such as those installed for determining exterior re-entry heating conditions on Apollos IV and VI. The heat shield char filling the optical ports obstructs the spectral and thermal readings of the spectrometer or radiometer. Similar problems exist in wind tunnels, scramjet combustors, or laboratory applications when, for example, radiometer measurement ports are formed in a heat-shielding structure used to separate a high-temperature environment from a thermally-protected environment.
Additionally, transparent windows designed for high temperature environments typically have a crystalline structure. When exposed to re-entry or other high-temperature environments, differences in thermal expansion can develop along grain boundaries in crystalline windows and lead to window failure.

Wave energy transmission apparatus for high-temperature environments

United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


Some examples include receiving a microblog entry from a social stream domain. Further, some implementations include determining, based on a topic space associated with the social stream domain and a media domain, a topic that is associated with the microblog entry. Some implementations include determining, based on the topic space, one or more media items that are associated with the topic.

Social media has become a disruptive platform for addressing many multimedia problems that could not be elegantly solved previously. For example, real-time social data may be utilized in semantic video indexing, video (or image) context annotation and visualizing political activity and flu outbreaks, among other examples. Social media streams (e.g., microblogging streams like Twitter®) may be a good indicator of crowd sourcing activity of a social community. The information in social streams is real time. As a result, such information may provide information about real life events quickly. World events such as the Egyptian Revolution, the London riots and the Japan Earthquake have been extensively captured using social streams such as Twitter® and Facebook® updates.


An interdental tooth-brush includes a support bar (1) with a transversal hole (2a) at one end, a small brush stick (3) with a filiform projection (3a) apt to engage into the transversal hole (2a), and a retention device to fix the projection (3a) into the transversal hole (2a) in an interchangeable manner. The transversal hole (2a) is formed into a support head (2) provided at the end of the support bar (1). This support head (2) has a protuberance projecting through a slot (4a) of a cap (4) fitted onto the support head (2). The cap (4), having two diametrically opposite slots (4a, 4b), is axially slidable between a position of release, in which both slots (4a, 4b) are aligned with the transversal hole (2a), and a locking position, in which the rear slot (4b) is axially offset with respect to the hole (2a ).

The present invention concerns an interdental tooth-brush of improved structure.
As known, interdental tooth-brushes are at present widely spread on the market and they generally consist of a suitably shaped support bar, at the free end of which there is mounted a small replaceable brush stick.
Since, for evident reasons of oral hygiene as well as for practical reasons, said small brush stick should be appropriately thrown away quite often and replaced by a new one, it is important for it to be mounted on and removed from the shaped support bar in a very simple and quick way.
For this purpose, it is known to construct the brush stick in the form of a thin braided wire, from which radially project a plurality of single bristles, generally of synthetic material. Said braided wire stick thus comprises a main portion, carrying the bristles for the required cleaning operations, and a tail portion with no bristles, by which it is applied onto the shaped support bar. The brush stick is applied by inserting its tail portion into a transversal hole at the end of the support bar, folding it along said bar and locking it thereon by suitable means.
In a known construction--for example according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,377 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,143--said locking means consist of an annular bush, by which said tail portion is fixed into an axial retention slot formed at the end of the support bar. The drawback of such locking means lies however in the fact that the bush may slip out of the support bar--for instance when removing the brush stick--and get lost.
The European Patent Publication No. 311,937 provides for a slidable locking bush, which cannot slip off and get lost because of the presence of stop pins. Nevertheless, in this case, the brush stick is mounted by way of a block incorporating the tail portion of the braided wire, whereby the locking bush does not have to bend said braided wire.
According to another known solution, the locking is obtained by means of a half-bush, hinged onto the support bar and covering laterally said folded tail portion of the brush stick. This system prevents the locking means from accidentally slipping out; nevertheless, the half-bush is not apt to ensure a very reliable retention and, furthermore, it comprises sharp edges which can cause trouble to the user when cleaning his or her teeth.


A flash memory of the present invention has a comparator for inspecting whether or not data is erased from each memory cell. If data written in each of all the memory cells has been erased completely, erasing operation to the memory cell block is prohibitted.

A typical non-volatile semiconductor memory device, in which contents are electrically programmable and simultaneously erased by one operation (hereinafter it is called "flash memory"), includes a plurality of memory cells each provided with a floating gate covered with an insulation layer.
In such a flash memory, charges are injected to a floating gate by an avalanche breakdown or channeling so that a threshold voltage of the memory cell is raised to write a predetermined data therein. On the other hand, charges are removed from a floating gate of a memory cell by a tunnel effect between the floating gate and a source or a substrate of the memory cell in order to erase a data stored in the memory cell.
In such a flash memory, a threshold value of a memory cell may become negative by an over-erasing, so that the memory cell is constantly conductive. Consequently, all of memory cells connected to a bit line common to the conductive memory cell become constantly conductive.
Accordingly, some kinds of flash memories with a function for inspecting erasing condition have been proposed. In a first conventional flash memory, each floating gate of memory cell is injected with charges of predetermined amount before erasing operation to uniform charged condition of the memory cells. Then, an erasing voltage is applied to each memory cell for a time shorter than a time which is required to erase data in the memory cell. After that, an erase check voltage, for example 3.2 V voltage generated by dropping an external voltage, is applied to a gate of each memory cell to inspect whether or not data has been erased from the memory cell. The operation of erasing and inspection is repeated until data are erased from all the memory cells completely.
According to the first conventional flash memory, however, there is a disadvantage in that some of memory cells may be over-erased due to non uniformity of erasing speed among the memory cells when data written in all the memory cells are simultaneously erased. As a result, the flash memory can not operate normally.
A second conventional flash memory includes a memory region divided into plural blocks each composed of plural memory cells. According to the second conventional flash memory, non uniformity of erasing speed among the memory cells is decreased. However, it is required that erasing operation is repeated by times corresponding to the number of the memory cell blocks in order to erase data stored in all memory cells of the flash memory. As a result, the erasing time becomes long totally.


A method of manufacturing a floating gate provides an enhancement for the efficiencies of electron charge and injection. First, a conductive pattern, constituting the floating gate is formed on a substrate. A first insulation layer is formed on a sidewall of the conductive pattern, and then a second insulation layer is formed at an upper portion of the conductive pattern in ways that increase the sharpness of an edge portion where the sidewall and upper portions of the conductive pattern meet. Therefore, electron transference from the floating ate to a control gate is facilitated.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming a floating gate and to a method of manufacturing a non-volatile semiconductor memory device comprising a floating gate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are generally divided into volatile semiconductor memory devices and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices. In the volatile semiconductor memory device, data stored in the cell is dissipated when power is not applied. However, in the non-volatile semiconductor memory, stored data in the cell is retained even when power is not applied thereto. Because non-volatile semiconductor memory devices can store data for long periods of time, they are used to meet the current high demand for flash semiconductor memory devices such as EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memories).
Meanwhile, flash semiconductor memory devices can be generally categorized as stacked flash semiconductor memory devices and spilt gate flash semiconductor memory devices. The split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device has a structure wherein a floating gate and a control gate are separated from each other, and the floating gate is electrically insulated from the outside. Information is stored in a memory cell of the split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device using the principle that current in a memory cell changes depending on electron injection (programming)/electron discharge (erasing) into/from the floating gate. In the electron injection, hot electrons are injected into the floating gate by a channel hot electron injection (CHEI) mechanism. The electron discharge is accomplished by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling through a tunnel insulation layer between the floating gate and the control gate of the split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device. In connection with the electron injection (programming) and electron discharge (erasing), a voltage distribution may be explained as an equivalent capacitor model. Recently, the split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device has been widely used for the purpose of storing data.
The efficiency of the split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device required depends on the ease in which electrons can be transferred from the floating gate to the control gate. Therefore, various research into the structure of the floating gate aims at improving the efficiency of electron transference in the hope of realizing a floating gate having a small cell and, in turn, a non-volatile semiconductor memory device having lower power consumption, and an excellent ability to be integrated with a logic device.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,130 discloses a method of manufacturing a floating gate capable of promoting the transference of electrons from the floating gate to a control gate. The method entails oxidizing an upper portion of the floating gate to increase the sharpness of the edge of the floating gate. However, the sharpness is increased only at the upper portion of the floating gate. Accordingly, the speed at which electrons can be transferred from the floating gate to the control gate is still rather limited.
Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-91532 discloses a method of manufacturing a split gate type of flash semiconductor memory device in which a gate oxide is formed on a silicon substrate, and then a polysilicon layer and a nitride layer are sequentially formed on the substrate including over the gate oxide. The nitride layer is selectively etched by a photolithographic process to form a nitride mask pattern. Then, an oxide layer is formed on the polysilicon layer. The polysilicon layer and the nitride mask pattern are removed by etching to leave a portion of the polysilicon layer beneath the oxide layer. After an interpoly tunnel insulation layer is formed, a control gate is formed on the oxide layer, the interpoly tunnel insulation layer and the gate oxide. Impurities are implanted between the polysilicon layer and the oxide layer to form source/drain regions, whereby the split gate type flash semiconductor memory device is completed. According to the above-mentioned publication, the split gate flash semiconductor memory device has enhanced programming and erasing efficiencies and improved endurance in terms of its programmability and erasability.
Meanwhile, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1999-26616 discloses a split gate type of memory device including an insulation layer for a floating gate formed on a semiconductor substrate, an insulation layer on the floating gate, a sidewall silicon oxide layer covering the sidewall of the floating gate, and a control gate insulated from the floating gate by the insulation layer and the sidewall silicon oxide layer. In this split gate type of memory device, the floating gate comprises polysilicon, and a silicon oxide layer is substituted for at least a portion of the polysilicon near the sidewall of the floating gate electrode. According to the publication, data writing and holding characteristics of the split gate type of memory device are improved without causing variations in the threshold voltage at the control gate, and data from being excessively erased.
However, in the methods described above, additional processes are required for forming the insulation layer between the floating gate and the control gate, and the gates may not be precisely aligned. Therefore, problems still remain, such as excessive cell size and the difficulty of integrating the memory device with a logic device.

Method of manufacturing a floating gate and method of manufacturing a non-volatile semiconductor memory device comprising the same


The present invention thus provides a method for producing L-lactic acid, which comprises the step of culturing a lactic acid bacterium that can produce L-lactic acid in a medium containing any one selected from the group consisting of cellobiose, cellooligosaccharides, xylose, arabinose, and glucose derived from cellulose and/or hemicellulose as a substrate to obtain L-lactic acid. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Enterococcus mundtii NITE BP-965 can be used.

Polylactic acid (PLA) is expected as a base material for sustainable society in view of not only biodegradability thereof, but also, in these days, the characteristic that it can be produced by using biomass as a raw material.
Lactic acid monomers used as the raw material of polylactic acid are commercially produced by chemical synthesis or microbial fermentation. Although chemical synthesis of lactic acid always provides a racemic mixture, high optical purity L- or D-lactic acid can be produced by microbial fermentation depending on the selected microorganism. Optical purity of the raw material lactic acid greatly influences on the physical characteristics of polylactic acid. Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) formed by polymerization of only L-isomers, and poly-D-lactic acid (PDLA) formed by polymerization of only D-isomers have higher crystallinity compared with poly-DL-lactic acid (PDLLA), which is a random polymer of D-lactic acid and L-lactic acid, and also show higher heat resistance. Therefore, production of high optical purity lactic acid by fermentation is considered important.
Biomass raw materials used for various fermentative productions mainly consist of corn and sugarcane, and edible parts (starch, sucrose) of these are used. If non-edible biomass raw materials such as non-food crops, woody biomass and rice straw can be used for fermentative production, such production does not compete with food and feed production, and thus is desirable.
When non-edible biomass is used, not starch, but cellulose and hemicellulose constitute the main fermentation raw materials (carbon source). However, cellulose and hemicellulose cannot be directly used for lactic acid fermentation by a lactic acid bacterium, but require pretreatments (liquefaction and saccharification) for use in lactic acid fermentation.
Methods for the pretreatments can be roughly classified into physicochemical methods using acid, alkali, or the like, and biochemical methods using microorganisms or enzymes. However, as for the former type of methods, if it is intended to decompose cellulose into monosaccharides, treatments must be performed under relatively severe conditions, and fermentation inhibitors such as furfural are by-produced during such treatments. On the other hand, if the treatments are performed under relatively mild conditions, products of the treatments contains oligosaccharides derived from cellulose (cellooligosaccharides), and therefore there arises a disadvantage that, since cellooligosaccharides cannot be utilized by most of fermentative microorganisms, fermentation yield decreases. As for the latter biochemical methods, although research and development of enzymes themselves that decompose cellulose are advancing, enzymatic decomposition of cellulose into monosaccharides requires use of large amounts of various enzymes and long time. Furthermore, manufacturing cost of these cellulose decomposition enzymes is extremely high, and glucose (C6 saccharide) and cellobiose (C6 disaccharide) as the hydrolysis products are also potent inhibitors of CBH and BGL (Non-patent documents 1 to 3).
Further, if hemicellulose is hydrolyzed, xylose (C5 saccharide) and oligosaccharides thereof (C5 oligosaccharides) are obtained, and if they are used for lactic acid fermentation, molar yield of lactic acid is usually halved compared with the case of using C6 saccharides (Non-patent documents 4 to 7).
As for lactic acid production from non-edible biomass, there are a plurality of reports concerning heterolactic acid fermentation and D-lactic acid fermentation (Non-patent documents 4 to 10). However, there are extremely few examples of fermentative production of L-lactic acid as the raw material of poly-L-lactic acid from mixed saccharides derived from non-edible biomass as the raw material, and any practically usable bacterium has not been found so far.

Method for producing L-lactic acid by lactic acid bacterium under presence of pentose and cellooligosaccharides

KYUSHU UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION