An apparatus and a method for freezing foods includes a first conveyor having one end thereof located on the feed portion and that conveys the articles to be frozen in a first direction and a second conveyor extending directly beneath the first conveyor along thereof and conveying foods fallen from the other end of the first conveyor in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The apparatus further includes a coolant tank disposed beneath the second conveyor and storing coolant that freezes foods fallen from the second conveyor, a third conveyor having at least one portion thereof submerged in the coolant in the coolant tank and conveying the foods fallen from the second conveyor while immersing them in the coolant, and a coolant spraying means disposed above the first conveyor and spraying coolant toward the first conveyor.

Recently, as a freezing means of foods, liquid freezing with liquid (brine) as a freezing medium has increasingly been used, and with this liquid freezing, the temperature zone of maximum ice crystal formation (approx. 0 to −5° C.) in which ice crystals are formed can be passed through as fast as possible through immersion of foods in liquid (ethanol solution and the like) at temperatures from −20 to −35° C., for example, and thus foods can be frozen with little cellular destruction by ice crystals upon freezing.
As a freezing apparatus adopting such liquid freezing, for example, patent document 1 discloses a conveyor type freezing apparatus comprising a freezing tank filled with liquid at temperatures below 0° C., a conveyor for taking foods out to the atmosphere after the foods are immersed and frozen in the freezing tank and a blower disposed on the downstream of the conveyor and removing alcohol remaining in the foods having been immersed in alcohol in the freezing tank.

Continuous food freezing device and continuous food freezing method


A system and method to store a service level objective, produce one or more network conditions on a first network link where such network condition matches the state of such network condition on a second network link, and where the second network link connects to a remote network location, execute a transaction of an application over the first network link and predict if a service level of the transaction of the application over the second network link reaches the stored service level objective.

Network capacity planning may measure a network's ability to serve users at remote locations at an acceptable speed and with acceptable transaction success rates. The process may involve measuring the computing resources that may be necessary to support users at a remote location in their use of a particular application. Among the constraints on the performance of a network are bandwidth, latency, bandwidth utilization, packet loss rate, jitter rate and others.
Factors that may be considered for evaluating a performance of an application at a remote network location may include a transaction response time (TRT) that a user at a remote location may encounter when for example requesting a transfer of data from a remote server or the updating of data to a remote data base. A maximum permissible range for a TRT may be known as a service level objective (SLO).
Prior network capacity systems, either analytical and/or discreet event simulation tools may model network communication constraints on links with remote locations, and may execute transactions of an application on such models. Modeling network constraints, characteristics or conditions to remote network locations is subject to inaccuracies and inconsistencies and is heavily dependent on the integrity of the model being used.

System and method for comparing a service level at a remote network location to a service level objective


The electric cartridge type heater has a continuous central fitting hole (2) for receiving a cylindrical body to be healed in a gap-free manner, an inner metal jacket (1), an outer metal jacket (3) and a healing conductor wound on the circumference of a coil form (8), which is inserted in an annular chamber (4). The coil form has a cylinder wall with holes (10) or ducts (11/1) for receiving ends (12, 13, 15, 16) of the heating wire winding (9). The connecting conductors (18, 19) are led radially to the outside through an opening (20, 20/1) of the outer metal jacket (3) in an axial area which is located away from the two axial ends of the annular chamber (4) and is located between two heating wire windings (9/1, 9/2) or two winding sections (9a, 9b) of the same heating wire winding (9).

An electric cartridge type heater of the type of this class is known, for example, from DE 103 33 206 A1.
Contrary to other cartridge type heaters, which are used for the same purpose, for example, for heating a plastic injection molding nozzle, the cartridge type heaters of this class have the advantage that they can provide a sufficiently long heating wire length for the needed heating capacity with a very small wall thickness of the cylindrical cartridge wall in the compacted state and that they also offer the possibility of providing a heating capacity distribution over the length of the cartridge type heater by selecting different distances between windings in certain axial areas.
While the electric terminals usually exit from the cylindrical cartridge body on the front side in these prior-art cartridge type heaters, it is required in more recent injection molds, especially in molds with a plurality of cavities, that the electric terminals shall not be arranged on one of the front sides of the cartridge type heater, but somewhere on the circumference.
Even though there already are heating devices for plastic injection molding nozzles with terminals that are arranged radially or tangentially in the middle of the heating body, these heating devices are wound tubular heating elements, which have a completely different design and are also not comparable to the cartridge type heater of this class in terms of capacity.


Methods of multilevel mark and multilevel mark code are provided in this invention. The Methods can realize encoding of various objects, encoding of structures and interrelation of the objects. The methods can distinguish various object codes, make the encoding resources inexhaustible, and solve problem of various resource sharing. The present invention provides the related processing method, for examples, object inputting, outputting, searching, and etc. The present invention also provides related apparatus. The methods and apparatus provided by this invention can be broadly used in various regions in the world, in various fields, in various software and hardware.

All codes used now, such as ASCHII, GB2312, GBK, BIG5, Unicode, international 10646 and etc., belong to non-multilevel mark codes; the multilevel machine codes. I proposed in CN 1122476A (ZL 94114104.7)and CN 1182234A (ZL96115997.9), also belong to non-multilevel mark codes. Singular machine codes and multilevel machine codes all belong to non-multilevel mark code.

Object representing and processing method and apparatus


In a content delivery scheme for target files, one or more recipes for each of the target files are encoded in an index. The index uses a framework that is able to represent content delivery schemes involving static containers, dynamic containers, self-contained containers, containers that are not self-contained, containers with internal delta dependency and containers with no internal delta dependency.

Conventional data compression techniques use a compression engine that accepts one file as input and produces a compact version of that file as output. A corresponding decompression engine performs the inverse function, accepting the compact form as input and reconstructing the original file for output on the destination computer.
Differential compression is a different technique. It takes two files as input: a target file and a "basis" file, which is usually an older version of the target file. The compression engine determines the differences between the basis file and the target file and creates a compact "delta" file as output. On the destination computer, the decompression engine takes the existing basis file and the compact delta file as input and creates the target file as output. This is known as "applying the delta file to the basis file". If the basis file and the target file are very similar, the size of the delta file will be very small, generally much smaller than the file that results from simply compressing the target file conventionally. The size of the delta file is proportional to the number and nature of differences between the basis file and the target file.
The goal of a content delivery scheme is to produce a particular set of target files at a consumer's computer. Throughout, the term "consumer" is used to refer to the consumer of the content, and does not imply any monetary transaction. A content delivery scheme may be used, for example, when a software vendor releases a new product or a software upgrade, or has determined new virus signatures, spam rules, advertisement blocking rules, etc. The term "computer" not only includes mainframes, servers and personal computers (e.g., desktop, laptop and notebook computers), but also other devices capable of processing data, such as PDAs (personal digital assistants), mobile telephones (e.g. smartphones), set-top boxes, gaming consoles, handheld gaming devices, and embedded computing devices (e.g. computing devices built into a car or ATM (automated teller machine)).
A content delivery solution involves delivery to the consumer's computer of files and information necessary to produce the target files at the consumer's computer. Delivery of the files by the content provider or a third party may be, for example, via network transmission or using a physical medium such as a diskette, a compact disk or other physical medium. The files may be any kind of file, whether data, code, a document, a spreadsheet, a drawing, music, or something else.
For example, if there are three target files FileA, FileB and FileC, one solution is to create a conventional archive containing a single copy—possibly compressed—of each of these files, deliver the archive to the consumer's computer, and produce the target files by extracting—and if appropriate, decompressing—the contents of the archive at the consumer's computer. A non-exhaustive list of examples of conventional archives includes: WinZip®archives, "MICROSOFT®" CAB (cabinet) archives, TAR archives, GNU zip (GZIP) archives, bzip2 archives, RAR archives, and Java archives (JAR).
If one can assume the presence of an earlier version of each of these files at the consumer's computer, another solution is to create a delta archive containing the delta files that encode how each target file differs from its earlier version, deliver the delta archive to the consumer's computer, and produce the target files by extracting the contents of the archive and applying the delta files to the earlier versions to synthesize the target files at the consumer's computer.
Yet another possibility is to create an intra-package delta (IPD) package, as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0022175 to Sliger et al., published Jan. 27, 2005 and which is incorporated herein by reference. For example, this IPD package may contain a compressed copy of FileA, a delta file Δ(A→B) that encodes how FileB differs from FileA, and another delta file Δ(A→C) that encodes how FileC differs from FileA. The solution is to create this IPD package, deliver it to the consumer's computer, and produce the target files at the consumer's computer by extracting and decompressing the compressed copy of FileA, extracting the delta file Δ(A→B) and applying it to FileA to synthesize FileB, and extracting the delta file Δ(A→C) and applying it to FileA to synthesize FileC. Since there is an internal delta dependency, FileA must be produced before either of FileB or FileC can be produced. The order in which FileB and FileC are synthesized is not important in this example.
Obviously many other solutions are also possible. For example, another solution is to create an IPD package that contains a compressed copy of FileB, a delta file Δ(B→A) that encodes how FileA differs from FileB, and the delta file Δ(A→C). This solution includes delivering the IPD package to the consumer's computer, and producing the target files at the consumer's computer by extracting and decompressing the compressed copy of FileB, extracting the delta file Δ(B→A) and applying it FileB to synthesize FileA, and extracting the delta file Δ(A→C) and applying it to FileA to synthesize FileC. Due to the internal delta dependency, FileB must be produced first, then FileA and then FileC.
Yet another solution is to create what can be referred to as an extra-package delta (XPD) package, which is described briefly in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0022175. An XPD package differs from an IPD package in that at least one of its target files is produced by applying a delta file in the package to a basis file that is external to the package. For example, if one can assume the presence of an earlier version of FileC at the consumer's computer, the XPD package may contain a compressed copy of FileA, a delta file Δ(C→B) that encodes how FileB differs from FileC, and a delta file Δ(Cold→C) that encodes how FileC differs from its earlier version. The solution is to create this XPD package, deliver it to the consumer's computer, and produce the target files at the consumer's computer by extracting and decompressing the compressed copy of FileA, extracting the delta file Δ(Cold→C) and applying it to the earlier version of FileC to synthesize FileC, and extracting the delta file Δ(C→B) and applying it to FileC to synthesize FileB. Due to the internal delta dependency, FileC must be produced before FileB. FileA may be produced at any time independent of the production of the other target files.
If one can assume the presence of an earlier version of FileC at the consumer's computer, a further solution is to create an XPD package that contains the delta file Δ(Cold→C), a delta file Δ(C→B) that encodes how FileB differs from FileC, and a delta file Δ(Cold→A) that encodes how FileA differs from the earlier version of FileC. The solution is to create this XPD package, deliver it to the consumer's computer, and produce the target files at the consumer's computer by extracting the delta file Δ(Cold→C) and applying it to the earlier version of FileC to synthesize FileC, and extracting the delta file Δ(C→B) and applying it to FileC to synthesize FileB, and extracting the delta file Δ(Cold→A) and applying it to the earlier version of FileC to synthesize FileA. Due to the internal delta dependency, FileC must be produced before FileB. FileA may be produced at any time independent of the production of the other target files.
Although conventional archives, delta archives, IPD packages and XPD packages are all used in content delivery schemes, they differ in many respects. Some (conventional archives and IPD packages) include all the files needed to produce the target files (i.e. are self-contained), while others (XPD packages and delta archives) do not. Some (IPD packages and XPD packages) have internal delta dependencies, while others (conventional archives and delta archives) have no internal delta dependencies. Moreover, their formats, their authoring tools and the tools for expanding them, are different.
If using a conventional archive or a delta archive, the decision of which files to include in the archive for a given set of target files is trivial. If using an IPD package or an XPD package, the task of determining which delta files to create and which files to include in the package for a given set of target files is not trivial. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0022175 describes a method for determining which delta files to create in order to obtain the smallest IPD package.
When determining which content delivery solution to use, the content provider's options are limited by the content delivery scheme authoring and expansion tools that are available, the computational resources available to the content provider and the consumer, bandwidth and time-to-deploy considerations for the delivery of the files, and the restrictions of the particular archive or package format chosen.

Framework for content representation and delivery


A monitoring camera has a body (10), a focus ring (20), a lens (30) and an optional control cover assembly (50). The focus ring (20) has an inner flange with an inner threaded surface (24) and an outer threaded surface (23) to attach respectively to the lens (30) and the body (10). The structure allows the lens (30) to be focused over a broad range. Additionally, the control cover assembly (50) is attached to a side face of the body (10) to cover and protect multiple switches (16) on the body (10).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitoring camera, and more particularly to a monitoring camera that is mounted on a wall in a fixed place but can be easily adjusted.
2. Description of Related Art
Monitoring cameras mostly are mounted in a fixed position at a high place in buildings or street corners to provide recordings of a specific location for security purposes or to document accidents. A conventional monitoring camera has a body, a focus ring, a standard lens and an optional telephoto lens detachably mounted on the body, wherein the telephoto lens usually is classed with two international standard, one is a C-mount and the other is a CS-mount.
The focus ring is a disk with a central hole that has an inner flange. The inner flange has an inside surface, a threaded outside surface and a bayonet mount on the inside surface. The threaded outer surface is screwed onto the body.
The telephoto lens or the standard lens is attached to the bayonet mount in the focus ring to hold the lens and to focus of the monitoring camera. Even though the bayonet mount allows the lens to be changed quickly, the bayonet mount is a deficiency in design for a security camera in that the bayonet mount is exposed and inadvertently contact by repair personnel will cause the monitoring camera to lose its precise focus.
Another deficient feature of the design of the conventional monitoring camera is that all switches are attached behind the body so that the monitoring camera is not easily controlled because of limited access space behind the body when the monitoring camera is attached on the wall. Additionally, all switches are exposed without any covering and easily malfunction as a result of dust or moisture.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional monitoring camera.


A maintenance free composite door frame and a method for making the door frame. The composite door frame includes a plurality of framing members, each including a core formed from a foamed or cellulosic material that includes a wall surface adapted to be mounted within a cavity formed in the wall of the house or other building with which the frame is to be used, and a door surface is opposed to the wall surface and is adapted to extend within the cavity. The core preferably includes an elongate base member and an elongate stop member mounted on the base member in a parallel relationship to the base member. Each framing member further includes a resilient shell, which is preferably formed from a waterproof material, and which may be snap-fit on the core. The shell forms a continuous waterproof expanse which generally conforms to the shape and configuration of the core to cover and protect the door surface of the core and the lateral edges extending between the core's wall surface and the door surface. The shell may further include weather stripping that is formed with the shell in a one-piece unit, and the framing members may further include conventional or invented brickmold attached thereto. A method for making the invented door frame is also disclosed.

Conventional door frames, especially exterior door frames, are formed from lumber, such as ponderosa pine. These frames have been the industry standard for years, however, as discussed below, require time-, labor- and waste-intensive steps when compared to the invented composite door frame described herein. Furthermore, conventional frames have inherent weaknesses and security concerns on account of their materials of construction.
By way of background, it should be understood that door frames have four principle components. The first two are a pair of elongate jambs, which extend vertically in a side-by-side, opposed relationship to each other to define the side walls of a cavity into which a door is hung. The other two are a header that spans the distance between the upper regions of the jambs to connect the jambs and define the top wall of the cavity, and a sill that spans the distance between the lower regions of the jambs to define the bottom wall of the cavity. Typically, the jambs and header have the same, or substantially the same, cross-sectional configuration. The sill usually is inclined as it extends inwardly from the exterior of the wall within which the frame is installed. A door is "hung" or mounted, via hinges, on one jamb, and includes a lock or clasp that engages a corresponding socket on the other jamb. As used herein, the jamb on which the door is mounted is referred to as the door-side jamb, and the jamb that is engaged by the door's lock or clasp is referred to as the lock-side jamb.
The header and jambs of a conventional frame typically have the cross-sectional configuration shown in FIG. 1. A portion of a jamb is indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1. As discussed, however, the header and jambs typically have the same cross-sectional configuration. Jamb 10 include a base member 12 that is mounted within an opening in a wall of the building, house or other structure. Base member 12 includes a lower surface 14 that is mounted against the portion of the wall that defines the opening, and exterior and interior surfaces 16 and 18, respectively, that face in the direction of the corresponding exterior and interior surfaces of the wall. As discussed, base member 12 is formed from lumber through a process described subsequently. Member 12 includes a stop region 20, which selectively engages the door and defines the forward limit to which the door may pivot in the direction of the exterior of the wall. Member 12 also defines a rabbetted or removed region 22 through which the door passes before and while in engagement with stop region 20.
Each jamb typically includes some form of weather stripping 24 that is secured to stop region 20. In FIG. 1, weather stripping 24 is inserted within a channel 26 carved within stop region 20. The jambs and header may also include brickmold, which is mounted on exterior surface 16 and extends laterally beyond the frame to overlap a portion of the exterior surface of the wall forming the opening for the frame. As shown in the portion of the lock-side jamb shown in FIG. 1, the jamb typically includes at least one socket within which portions of the door's lock are inserted to prevent selectively the door from being opened. As shown, jamb portion 10 includes a pair of sockets 28 and 29, which are configured to receive bolts from a standard door lock and a deadbolt lock.
While this configuration has been the industry standard for years and seems safe enough, it offers only minimal security to a determined intruder. The principle reason for this lack of security is due to the lumber which is used to form the conventional exterior door frame. Because sockets 28 and 29 are mounted a standardized distance away from stop member 20, there is only a narrow portion of base member 12 between the sockets and interior surface 18 of the jamb. Furthermore, because the grain of the lumber extends generally along the length of the jamb, the jamb is prone to splitting or shattering in the direction of the grain. These combined factors contribute to a frame which may be relatively easily broken or split by forcing, and most commonly kicking, the door inwardly in the general vicinity of where the lock engages the jamb's sockets.
Another problem with conventional exterior door frames is the way even treated lumber deteriorates when exposed to rain, extreme temperatures, snow, insects, etc., over a prolonged period of time. Wood exterior frames tend to splinter and chip over time, as well as when bumped or otherwise struck during use. Furthermore, when lumber gets wet, it expands. Therefore, conventional frames tend to deform and expand into the opening when water penetrates the weathertreating, if any, on the frame. Furthermore, once water contacts any portion of the lumber, it wicks along the wood to contact and thereby deform or begin deteriorating adjacent regions. Attempts have been made to wrap portions of the frames with a thin, paper-like layer of weather resistant material, but this has not proven to be a sufficient remedy for this problem over time. While this wrapping or capping process may extend the life of the frame, it still requires the time and labor-intensive process to form the underlying lumber construction, and furthermore lacks sufficient strength and structure to protect and support the rest of the frame. Therefore, there remains a need to protect a conventional frame from the elements, as well as from being struck by individuals or other objects.
An additional problem with conventional frames is the significant time-, labor- and waste-intensive steps needed to manufacture the frame. As an initial step, a tree is chopped down, delimbed, debarked and cut into elongate strips of lumber. During this initial step, approximately twenty-five percent, or more, of the original wood is wasted. The produced lumber predominately is what is referred to as "shop-grade" lumber, in that it is rough and contains knots and other irregularities. Therefore, the next step is to cut out the knots and other inregular areas from the lumber and then fingerjoint the remaining pieces back together. At this point, the lumber is in elongate lengths that are substantially free or "clear" of knots and other defects.
The lumber is next fed through a molder, which shapes the lumber into the cross-sectional configuration shown in FIG. 1. At this point, approximately forty or more percent of the remaining wood has been discarded or otherwise removed from the original lengths of lumber. Next, notches 26 are carved into the stop regions of the strips, the strips are cut to length and the ends are notched with a double end tenoner so that the jambs and header will smoothly mate with each other. The lengths of molded lumber are subsequently primed, so that they may be later painted, and weathertreated, to slow the deterioration of the frame from exposure to rain, snow and other elements. Finally, the frame is assembled, weather stripping is secured to the jambs, sockets are drilled in one jamb to receive portions of a lock, and a door is hung on the other jamb.
This process is not only slow and labor-intensive, but as discussed above, also is extremely wasteful, raising environmental as well as other cost and efficiency concerns. Although a number of exterior door frames are known in the prior art, such frames are unsatisfactory due to their failure to address and satisfy all of the concerns listed above.
With the above problems in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exterior door frame that may be quickly and easily produced without the excessive waste, time and labor required to produce conventional frames.
Another object is to provide a maintenance free door frame that is durable and rugged enough to maintain its appearance and strength even after prolonged exposure to the elements.
One more object is to provide an exterior door frame that includes a structural shell that protects the core of the frame from damage and from exposure to the elements.
Yet another object is to provide such a shell that is snap-fit onto the frame's core.
Still another object is to provide such a shell that is waterproof and substantially free from holes or other apertures.
Another object is to provide such a shell that can be extruded in a continuous expanse.
One more object is to provide an exterior door frame with a core that is stronger and less prone to splitting when compared to lumber.
Another object is to provide such a core that is formed by discrete lengths of plywood.
Still another object is to provide such a core that may be formed from a cellulosic material.
Yet another object is to provide an exterior door frame that includes a brickmold member, and especially a brickmold member that can be snap-fit to the frame.
The invention achieves these and other objects and advantages in the form of a composite exterior door frame that includes a plurality of framing members, each including a core formed from a foamed or cellulosic material that includes a wall surface adapted to be mounted within a cavity formed in the wall of the house or other building with which the frame is to be used, and a door surface is opposed to the wall surface and is adapted to extend within the cavity. The core preferably includes an elongate base member and an elongate stop member mounted on the base member in a parallel relationship to the base member. Each framing member further includes a resilient shell, which is preferably formed from a waterproof material, and which may be snap-fit on the core. The shell forms a continuous waterproof expanse which generally conforms to the shape and configuration of the core to cover and protect the door surface of the core and the lateral edges extending between the core's wall surface and the door surface. The shell may further include weather stripping that is formed with the shell in a one-piece unit, and the framing members may further include conventional or invented brickmold attached thereto.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will become more fully apparent as the detailed description below is read with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Composite door frame and method of making the same


The invention relates to a workpiece, in particular a housing (6) for an electrical switch, and to a process for its production. The workpiece is composed of at least two workpiece parts (7, 8) of plastic, preferably a thermo-plastic, welded together by laser beams (11) along a joining zone (10), the two workpiece parts (7, 8) having a transmission coefficient and an absorption coefficient for the spectrum of the laser beams (11) which are different from one another, at least in subregions. The one, first workpiece part (8) is made to be at least partially transmitting for the laser beams (11) in the region from a first coupling-in zone (12), in which the laser beams (11) impinge on the first workpiece part (8), up to the joining zone (10), whereby part of the laser beams (11) can penetrate through the first workpiece part (8) and can penetrate into the second workpiece part (7) at a second coupling-in zone (13). The second workpiece part (7) is made to be at least partially absorbent for the laser beams (11) in the region of the joining zone (10) at the second coupling-in zone (13).

The invention relates to an article of manufacture (also referred to as a workpiece), particularly a housing for an electrical switch. First and second plastic parts of the article of manufacture are in a face-to-face relationship and are welded together by a laser beam along a joining zone. The first and second plastic parts have, for a laser beam spectrum, transmission coefficients as well as absorption coefficients different from one another. The first plastic part has a first coupling-in zone designed as a location of impingement of the laser beam. The first plastic part is transparent for the laser beam from the first coupling-in zone to the joining zone, whereby at least one part of the laser beam can pass through the first plastic part and can penetrate into the second plastic part at a second coupling-in zone thereof. The second plastic part is absorbent for the laser beam in a region of the joining zone at the second coupling-in zone. The invention also relates to a process of welding together the first and second plastic parts by a laser beam to form the article of manufacture.
Housings consisting of plastic for electrical switches serve for accommodating the electrical components, such as fixed contacts, switching contacts, etc., and possibly further components. The housings are generally composed of a plurality of housing parts, as a rule of a complex spatial shape. The housing parts are put together during the assembly of the switch, a solid connection between the housing parts often having to be produced. This connection must be adapted to the contour of the housing parts and consequently may have a spatially three-dimensional form.
It is known, in particular if the housings are to be hermetically sealed toward the outside, to connect the housing parts to one another by means of ultrasonic welding. It is disadvantageous in this case that solder connections on the electrical components and also the electrical components themselves may be destroyed on account of the ultrasonic vibrations, ultimately making the switch unusable. There is consequently the need for a process for welding the housing parts of electrical switches which does not adversely affect the electrical components.
It is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 36 21 030 to weld plastic films to one another by the action of laser beams. For this purpose, the plastic films are laid flat one on top of the other. Subsequently, a focused laser beam passes through the films, the films being heated in the joining zone in such a way that they assume a molten state, with the result that after cooling they are bonded together in the joining zone.
Films are thin parts, with the result that heating up in the entire joining zone is possible when the laser beams pass through. As a rule, an acceptable welded connection between the films is thereby accomplished. In the case of thicker workpieces, such as in the case of housings of electrical switches, only a superficial heating up of the workpiece is possible however with the known joining process, whereby a usable welded connection between two workpiece parts is not achievable. In particular, for design reasons, in the case of housing parts of electrical switches the joining zone is often arranged on the inner side of the housing. Such an inner welded connection obviously cannot be produced by the known joining process.
A process for welding sheets of plastic by means of laser beams is further known from EP-A2-0 159 169. In the case of this process, a second sheet is arranged on a first sheet, which is made to be absorbent for the laser beam by using an additive in the plastic. Used as the additive is a black dye, in most cases carbon black. The plastic of the second sheet does not contain any additives, with the result that the second sheet is largely transparent for the laser beam.
Subsequently, a laser beam acts on the second sheet, the laser beam penetrating the second sheet and being absorbed in the first sheet, with the result that the contact surfaces of the two sheets adjacent to one another melt and bond together during the subsequent cooling.
In the case of this process it is disadvantageous that the second sheet must not contain any additive and is in an uncolored, milky-white state, while the first sheet is colored with a black dye. The workpieces produced thereby are consequently composed of parts of a very different color, with the result that the overall visual impression is adversely affected. It is, however, desired specifically in the case of housings of electrical switches that the complete housing has a homogeneous visual impression, in particular with regard to the color. Moreover, the sheets shown in the published specification constitute planar formations which are welded together over a flat surface. However, as a rule, housing parts, in particular those for electrical switches or the like, have complicated geometries, the joining zone of the parts to be connected to one another having to follow this geometry and therefore not being restricted to one plane. The published specification does not provide any suggestion for the production of complex, spatially extending joining zones. The known process is therefore not suitable for the welding of housing parts, in particular for electrical switches.

Workpiece of plastic and production process for such a workpiece


Techniques for layout-based page capture. A user selection performs a selection defining an area of interest based on the layout of an electronic document. The program retrieves electronic documents based on the defined area of interest. The selection can be performed visually on a rendering of the electronic document thereby providing the user with visual feedback as to what content has been selected. The selection can be applied across multiple electronic documents.

Electronic documents typically include information content, such as text, tables, equations, graphics, images or other objects such as video or audio clips, and layout or formatting information that defines the visual appearance of the document—that is, how the content is to be arranged and represented for display. Thus, for example, a page of an electronic document can include text arranged in two columns taking up a top portion of the page and an image that occupies the bottom portion of the page. Electronic documents can be generated and viewed using any of a variety of word processing programs such as Microsoft® Word, page layout programs such as Adobe PageMaker®, or other content management programs such as Adobe Acrobat® or web browsers such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer.
Electronic documents can include a collection of one or more pages, which can represent bounded subunits of content (e.g., a page in a typical word processing document sized to be fit on particular type of paper) or unbounded subunits of content (e.g., a web page that can contain essentially any amount of content). Electronic documents, or pages within such documents, can include references or links to other locations in a page or document, or to other pages or documents, which may be available locally or at remote locations on a network, such as web pages located on the World Wide Web.
Links can be associated with any item displayed and selectable within a document, such as text, graphics or images. Electronically, links are often displayed in some distinguishing manner such as by underlining text with which the link is associated. A reader viewing a document that includes links can jump to a linked document or a different part of the same document by activating the text or a hot spot associated with a link. Links can be activated through a graphical user interface by, for example, clicking on the associated text or hot spot using a mouse or other pointing device, or through keyboard commands in a textual interface, or potentially using voice commands.
Links can be implemented as hyperlinks embedded within a document or page. A hyperlink can be implemented, for example, as HTML code that contains the address, such as the URL (uniform resource locator), for another document, such as a web page, or another location within the same web page. A hyperlink can be embedded in a text string, an image, or a portion of an image (commonly called a hot spot). Typically a web page contains a plurality of hyperlinks and a user navigates from one web page to another linked web page by activating the desired hyperlink.
A web site is a collection of web pages that are managed by or for a single entity. Typically, the web site has a start page or index page which contains links to a first level of web pages, the first level of web pages containing links to a second level of web pages, and so forth.
Content management programs, such as Adobe Acrobat®, allow users to capture or download web pages for viewing at a later time. For example, a commuter can use such a program to download articles of an online newspaper to a laptop before leaving home and later read the latest news while sitting on a train with no web connection.
A web site typically contains a wide variety of content. For example, an online newspaper may contain not only news content, but advertising content as well. Even within the news content, there can be a wide range of subjects and the user may only be interested in some of the subjects. Unfortunately, conventional programs provide limited options for selecting what content to capture. The user can explicitly choose which links to capture by manually clicking on those links while viewing a page in the program display. However, this option is tedious and time-consuming. Alternatively, some programs permit the user to specify that all links from a given page should be followed down to a specified level. While this relieves the user from manually selecting which links to follow, it can require substantial memory and processing time to capture multiple levels. It can also result in the capture of large numbers of unwanted pages. Finally, in some programs, the user can specify a specific server or path and the program will only follow links corresponding to the specified server/path. However, the users may not always want pages that share the same server or path or may find that the server or path is too restrictive.


A differential apparatus (7) comprises: a differential casing (21) rotated by an engine power; a plurality of pinion gears (65, 66) slidably housed in accommodation holes (63, 64) formed in the differential casing: a pair of side gears (35, 37) geared with each other via the pinion gears, two opposing end surfaces thereof being slid relative each other, either directly or via a thrust washer (61); and a block member (47, 91, 97) interposed between two inner circumferential surfaces of the two side gears so as to center the side gears, respectively. In particular, at least one oil sump (77, 79; 95; 101) is formed between the block member and the side gears, to supply lubricant to sliding portions between the block member (47, 91, 97) and the side gears (35, 37) and between two opposing end surfaces of the two side gears, by a centrifugal force generated by the rotating differential casing. Further, it is preferable to further form at least one central oil passage (301, 303, 305) at the centering portion (365) so as to extend from an inner circumferential side to an outer circumferential side of the boss portions (357, 359) of the two side gears (353, 355). Further, it is also preferable to form at least two radial oil passages (881, 885; 977, 978) between inner wall surfaces of the differential casing (821, 921) and the side gears (835, 837; 939, 941), respectively in such a way that a radially inward end thereof communicates with the helical oil passage (877, 879; 979L, 979R) and a radially outward end thereof communicates with sliding portion between the side gear and the differential casing, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a differential apparatus, and more specifically to an improvement for lubrication of a differential apparatus composed of parallel axis pinion gears which and which is applicable to front, center and rear differential gears for an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some examples of prior art differential apparatus related to a first aspect of the present invention will he described hereinbelow with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a first prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Utility Model Application No. 1-146062. This differential apparatus 201 includes a plurality of worm wheel sets 209 each composed of two worm wheels 207 separately in mesh with a respective other at each spur gear portion thereof and a pair of worm gears 211 and 213 (i.e., side gears) each in mesh with each worm wheel 207, each of the two worm gears 211 and 213 are spline-coupled with one of two output (wheel drive) shafts 215 and 217 of an automotive vehicle, respectively.
Therefore, when a differential casing 219 is rotated by an engine power, the drive power of the engine is distributed to both right and left output (wheel drive) shafts from the worm wheel sets 209 to the two worm gears (i.e., two side gears) 211 and 213, respectively. In this case, the differential motion can be limited by frictional resistances generated between the worm wheels 207 and worm gears 211 and 213, respectively.
FIG. 2 shows a second prior art differential apparatus whose structure is similar to that disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 6-207645. This differential apparatus 203 includes a pair of helical pinion gears 221 and 223 slidably and rotatably housed in accommodation holes formed in a differential casing, respectively and in mesh with each other. A pair of helical side gears 225 and 227 are in mesh with the helical pinion gears 223 and 221, respectively. Further, the helical side gears 225 and 227 are spline-coupled with one of two output (wheel drive) shafts of an automotive vehicle, respectively.
Therefore, when a differential casing is rotated by an engine power, the drive power of the engine is distributed to both right and left wheels from the helical pinion gears 221 and 223 to the helical side gears 225 and 227, respectively. In this case, the differential motion can be limited by frictional resistances generated between the respective helical gears 221, 223, 225 and 227 due to thrust forces generated by gearing between the respective helical gears. The differential motion can also be limited by other frictional resistance generated between the respective helical gears 221, 223, 225 and 227 and the inner wall surfaces of accommodation holes or sliding portions of the differential casing due to reaction forces generated between the respective helical gears. In the differential apparatus 203, the two helical side gears 225 and 227 are directly in sliding contact with respect to each other at each inner end surface thereof.
FIG. 3 shows a third prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 7-71560. This differential apparatus 205 includes two helical side gears 229 and 231 and a thrust washer 233 interposed between the two side gears 229 and 231. In this differential apparatus 205, the two helical side gears 229 and 231 are indirectly slid with respect to each other via the thrust washer 233.
In order to obtain a stable differential limiting force generated due to the sliding motion between the two helical side gears 229 and 231; that is, to prevent the vibration of the two helical side gears, the helical side gear 229 is formed with a cylindrical projected portion 235 and the helical side gear 231 is formed with a cylindrical recessed portion 237 so that the two helical side gears can be aligned with each other at a centering portion 239. In addition, a thrust block 241 is interposed between two inner circumferential surface portions of the two helical side gears 229 and 231 in such a way as to be brought into contact with the inner ends of the two output shafts fixed to the two side gears 229 and 231, respectively.
In the above-mentioned first prior art differential apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a helical oil groove 243 is formed in the differential casing 219 for lubrication. Further, in the differential apparatus shown in FIG. 3, in general, some oil gaps (i.e., grooves) are formed by cutting off some teeth formed at the spline portion between each helical side gear 229 or 231 and each output shaft, in order to introduce lubricant from the helical oil groove (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1) into an inner side between the two helical side gears 229 and 231. In other words, in the differential apparatus, although some oil passages are generally formed to introduce lubricant from outside differential casing to the inside the differential casing, when the thrust block 241 is interposed in the inner circumferential surface portions of the two helical side gears 229 and 231 as shown in FIG. 3, since lubricant flow is shut off by the presence of the thrust block 241. It is difficult to allow the introduced lubricant to flow to the respective sliding portions between the thrust block 241 and the two inner end surfaces of the two helical side gears 229 and 231. Thus, there exists a problem in that seizure occurs at the inner end surfaces of the two helical side gears 229 and 231. In addition, the centering portion 239 as shown in FIG. 3. Prevents the lubricant from flowing smoothly, and there exists another problem in that seizure occurs at the sliding portion at this centering portion 239.
In addition, once lubricant flow is shut off as described above, lubricant cannot flow smoothly through the gaps formed between the helical side gears 229 and 231 and the output shafts respectively, there arises anther problem in that cracks are easily produced due to the fretting corrosion at the spline portions between the side gears and the output shafts, respectively.
In addition, when the centering portion 239 is formed as shown in FIG. 3, the two helical side gears 229 and 231 cannot be used in common, and there exists a disadvantage that the number of parts increases that is, a single type gear cannot be utilized.
An example of prior art differential apparatus related to a second aspect of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the attached drawings.
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show a fourth prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 6-207646. This differential apparatus is of parallel shaft type, in which a differential limiting force can be obtained by rotational frictional forces generated between pinion gears and two side gears.
In the differential apparatus 401 shown in FIG. 4(a), a pair of side gears 404 and 406 are rotatably disposed in a differential casing 402 coaxially with the casing 402 so as to oppose each other at the central portion of the casing 402. Further, the two side gears 404 and 406 are aligned with each other at a centering portion 405 by butting an inner projecting end surface of the side gear 404 into an inner recessed end portion of the side gear 406.
Further, a plurality of pairs of pinion gears 408 are arranged within the differential casing 401 in parallel with and around the rotational axis of the two side gears 404 and 406. One of the two pinion gears of each pair is in mesh with the left side gear 404 and the other (not shown) of the two pinion gears of each pair is in mesh with the right side gear 406. Further, the two pinion gears 408 in each pair are in mesh with each other.
The differential casing 402 is formed with accommodation holes 410 for housing these pinion gears 408 respectively, so that each of pinion gears 408 is slidably and rotatably housed in one of these accommodation holes 410. Further, the differential casing 402 is formed with a lubricant opening 412 in the outer circumferential wall thereof to exhaust lubricant from the rotating pinion gears 408 to the outside of the differential casing 402.
Therefore, when the differential casing 402 is rotated, an engine power is distributed from the pinion gears 408 to the two side gears 404 and 406; and then to the two output shafts, respectively. In more detail, the engine power can be distributed differentially to the right and left wheels, respectively on the basis of rotations of the respective pinion gears 408 each rotating on its own axis according to a difference in drive resistance between the two wheels. In this case, since the pinion gears 408 are slidably rotating in the accommodation holes 410 formed in the differential casing 402, respectively, once a differential motion occurs, a differential limiting force can be obtained due to the frictional resistances generated between the respective pinion gears 408, the side gears 404 and 406 and the other members (e.g., inner wall surfaces of the differential casing) in contact with these gears.
In the differential apparatus shown in FIG. 4(a), it is effective to provide a centering portion 405 between two inner end surfaces of the two side gears 404 and 406, in order to prevent misalignment between each pinion gear 408 and the center of each accommodation hole 41. This feature stabilizes the differential limiting characteristics, without causing any seizure between each pinion gear 408 and each accommodation hole 410.
Further, in the differential apparatus 401 of this type, it is well known that frictional force can be increased and thereby the differential limiting force can be strengthened by constructing the respective gears 404, 406 and 408 as helical gears; that is, by sliding the outer end surface portions 414 and 418 of the two side gears 404 and 406 with inner wall surfaces of the differential casing 402 according to the drive torque inputted to the differential casing 402, and by sliding the inner end surfaces 416 of the two side gears 404 and 406 with each other. Here, it is preferable to interpose a washer at each of these sliding portions 414, 416 and 418 to prevent the end surfaces of the side gears 404 and 406 and the wall surface of the differential casing 402 from being worn off easily, to eliminate the heat treatment process, and to smoothen the slidable motion for stabilization of the differential limiting characteristics, as disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application Nos. 6-1017414, and 6-185581.
However, in the prior art differential apparatus as shown in FIG. 4(a), since the boss portions of the two side gears 404 and 406 are formed into cylindrical shape, respectively, lubricant flows into the inner space formed between the two end surfaces of the two side gears through oil gaps formed by cutting off some teeth of each spline portion between the inner circumferential surface of the side gear and the outer circumferential surface of the output shaft, respectively, as shown by arrows shown in FIG. 4(b).
In the prior art differential apparatus shown in FIG. 4(a), however, the inner space formed between the two end surfaces of the two side gears 404 and 406 is closed by the fitting surface at the centering portion 405 between the two side gears 404 and 406, and the lubricant entering the inner space between the two side gears 404 and 406 cannot flow radially outward to the outer circumferential surfaces of the boss portion of the two side gears 406. Thus, there exists a problem in that lubricant cannot flow smoothly. In other words, at the centering portion 405, both the side gears are aligned with each other by bringing the two circumferential fitting surfaces of both the side gears into sliding contact with each other. The sliding contact portions shut off enclose the lubricant passage so that it has been impossible to obtain a definite lubricant flow.
Further, in the case where other boss portions are formed on the side of the axially outer end surfaces 414 and 418 of the side gears 404 and 406 in order to form two centering portions for the two side gears by use of the inner wall surfaces of the differential casing 402, the lubricant passage is blocked, and a definite lubricant flow cannot be obtained.
Some examples of prior art differential apparatus related to a third aspect of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 5 shows a fifth prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 59-97346. In this differential apparatus 501, a differential casing 503 is composed of a casing body 503a and two casing covers 503b and 503c. Engine power for rotating the differential casing 503 is transmitted from three pairs of first and second pinion gears 505 and 507 to two output shafts via two right and left side gears 509 and 511. The first and second pinion gears 505 and 507 and the right and left side gears 509 and 511 are all spur gears. Further, each pair of pinion gears 505 and 507 are slidably and rotatably housed in a respective of accommodation holes 513 and 515 formed in the casing body 503a of the differential casing 503.
When an engine torque is transmitted to the output shafts during straight drive or turning drive, the two pinion gears 505 and 507 are brought into pressure contact with the wall surfaces of the accommodation holes 513 and 515. This is due to the gearing between the two pinion gears 505 and 507 and the two side gears 509 and 511, respectively or due to the gearing between the two pinion gears 505 and 507 themselves pinion gears 505 and 507 rotate under frictional contact with the differential casing 503. The frictional resistance generated as described above becomes a differential limiting force for the differential apparatus.
FIG. 6 shows a sixth prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 60-175843. In differential apparatus 601, a drive power of an engine for rotating a differential casing 603 is transmitted from pairs of two pinion gears 605 and 607 to the two output shafts via two output side gears 609 and 611, respectively. These pinon gears 605 and 607 are also slidably and rotatably housed in accommodation holes 613 and 615 formed in the differential casing 603, respectively. The pinion gears 605 and 607 and the side gears 609 and 611 are all helical gears. Further, the differential casing 603 is formed with an opening 619 on a side wall portion thereof to introduce lubricant from outside thereof into the differential casing 603.
When a torque is being transmitted, the helical pinion gears 605 and 607 are brought into pressure contact with the wall surfaces of the accommodation holes 613 and 615 of the differential casing 603, respectively by reaction force generated due to the gearing between the helical pinion gears and the helical side gears respectively, and frictional forces can thus be generated thereat. Further, other frictional forces can be also generated between the helical side gears 609 and 611 and between the respective helical gears 605, 607, 609 and 611 and the inner wall surfaces of the differential casing 603 due to thrust forces generated by the gearing between the helical gears. The frictional resistance generated as described above becomes a differential limiting force of the differential apparatus.
FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) show a seventh prior art differential apparatus disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Patent Application No. 6-323373. In this differential apparatus 701, a drive power of an engine for rotating a differential casing 704 composed of a differential body 702 and a cover 703 is transmitted from a plurality (three in this example) of pairs of pinion gears 705 and 707 in mesh with each other. These pinion gears belong to central pinion gears of different pairs, respectively. Drive is transmitted to two output shafts via two right and left side gears 709 and 711, respectively. These pinon gears 705 and 707 are also slidably and rotatably housed in accommodation holes 713 and 715 formed in the differential casing 703, respectively. The pinion gears 705 and 707 and the side gears 709 and 711 are all helical gears. Further, the differential casing 703 is formed with an opening 720 on the outer circumferential wall portion of the casing body 702 to communicate with the outside of the differential casing 704.
When torque is being transmitted, the pinion gears 705 and 707 are brought into pressure contact with the wall surfaces of the accommodation holes 713 and 715 of the casing body 702, respectively by reaction force generated due to the gearing between the pinion gears and the side gears, respectively, and thus frictional forces can be generated thereat. Further, other frictional forces can be also generated between side gears 709 and 711 and between the respective gears 705, 707, 709 and 711 and the differential casing 704 due to thrust force generated by the gearing between the respective helical gears. The frictional resistance generated as described above becomes a differential limiting force of the differential apparatus.
In the above-mentioned prior art differential apparatus 501, 601 and 701 as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7(a) and 7(b), the differential limiting force can be obtained by the respective gearing reaction forces generated between the pinion gears and the side gears according to the input torque and on the basis of the frictional resistance generated between the pinion and side gears and the differential casing due to the gearing thrust force. Accordingly, when sufficient lubricant is not supplied into the differential casing, that is, to the sliding portions between the pinion gears 505 and 507; 605 and 607; 705 and 707 and the accommodation holes 513 and 515; 613 and 615; and 713 and 715, respectively, there arises a serious problem in that seizure and scuffing (gall) occur. The result is that a stable differential limiting force cannot be obtained.
In particular, as with the case of the differential apparatus 601 and 701 as shown in FIGS. 6, 7(a) and 7(b), when the side gears 609 and 611; and 709 and 711 and the pinion gears 605 and 607; and 705 and 707 are helical gears, since the frictional forces generated at the end surfaces of the pinion gears and the side gears due to the above-mentioned thrust force contributes much to the differential limiting force. Sufficient lubrication is particularly essential at the respective end surfaces of these gear elements. It has been impossible to obtain sufficient lubrication by introducing lubricant only through the opening 619 or 720 formed in the side wall or the outer circumferential wall of the differential casing. This is because when lubricant is introduced into the differential casing through the opening 619 or 720, the introduced lubricant is scattered rearward and outward by centrifugal force of the various gears. Thus, lubrication effect is particularly small at the sliding portions between the end surfaces of the side gears and the differential casing and at the sliding portions between the end surfaces of the pinion gears and the differential casing. Thus, there arises a serious problem in that seizure and scuffing occur frequently at these sliding portions, with the result that a stable differential limiting force cannot be so far obtained.

Differential apparatus having helical oil distribution passages to radial oil passages


Agricultural methods of biological control and organisms useful in such methods are disclosed, such as novel endophytic symbiotic Bacillus subtilis and methods of biologically controlling fungal diseases of plants. These strains are useful vectors for the delivery of their beneficial gene products to plants.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to biological methods and products useful in agriculture. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method for controlling diseases caused by Fusarium moniliforme, biological control agents useful in such a method, and biological agents useful in agriculture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fungi of the genus Fusarium are responsible for numerous crop plant diseases around the world. These fungi are particularly harmful to cereal crops, such as corn, sorghum, and wheat. For example, one or more species of Fusarium can be isolated in every season from nearly every vegetative or reproductive part of corn in every corn-growing region of the United States. A particular species of Fusarium can occur singly or as part of a complex of Fusarium species or fungi or other genera. Depending upon weather, soil and the particular cereal variety, damage to the crop can range from negligible to extensive. A common occurrence, for example, is for a Fusarium diseases caused by Fusarium fungi include seedling blight, root rot, stalk rot, and ear rot.
Fusarium moniliforme is the most widely prevalent and economically important Fusarium found on corn in the United States, and is the most frequently isolated Fusarium species in shelled corn. Seed lots with 100% infection are not uncommon. It is also the most frequent cause of ear rot, and has been implicated in seedling blight and root rot. One of the primary diseases affecting the corn crop in the United States is stalk rot, and Fusarium moniliforme is considered to be the predominant stalk rot fungus in at least 10 states: Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. F. moniliforme is also known to produce a phytotoxin and at least five chemically distinct classes of mycotoxins.
Fusarium graminearum is found less often in corn kernels than F. moniliforme, primarily occurring in the humid sections of the corn belt east of the Mississippi River and along the Atlantic seaboard. F. graminearum is a cause of ear rot and seedling blight, and one of the important causes of stalk rot in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Northern corn belt states. F. graminearum also produces mycotoxins in kernels and stalks.
Additional species of Fusarium fungi that are of lesser importance than F. moniliforme and F. graminearum in corn disease include F. graminum, F. tricinctum, F. oxysporum, and F. soloni. While these species are mainly of importance as parts of disease complexes, F. tricinctum has been reported to produce mycotoxins in kernels and stalks.
Most Fusarium fungi are not believed to be strong pathogens. Generally, they produce major symptoms and damage crops only when the crops are under stress. The advance of the fungi in the plant is determined largely by what stress is occurring and the rate of cell death in plant tissues. Fusarium fungi have a wide host range of cereals and grasses and very effective methods of survival in soil or plant residues. Wherever grasses or cereals are grown in the United States, Fusarium infection of seedlings, roots, stalks, or ears is always possible. Thus, a method of controlling Fusarium infection in cereal crops is highly desirable. See generally, Fusarium Diseases, Biology and Taxonomy (P. E. Nelson, T. A. Toussoun, and R. J. Cook, eds. 1981); Christensen and Wilcoxson (1966) Amer. Phytopathol. Soc. Monogr. No. 3, 59 p.; Koehler (1959) Illinois Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 658. 90 p.
Attempts have been made to control fungal infections of plants by biological means. For example, Kommedahl and Mew (Phytopathology, Vol. 65, 2396-300, 1975) have reported that three corn hybrids were coated with Bacillus subtilis and Chaetomium globosum to determine the effect on seedlings, final stands, stalk rot, and yields in the field, in comparison with the standard chemical seed treatment, captan. Stalk rot and breakage were less with the organism- and captan-coated seeds compared to non-coated seeds. Grain yields, however, were generally higher for the captan-coated seeds than for the organism-coated seeds. It was concluded that the organisms were not as consistent as captan in protecting the plants, and that additional research was required before the use of organisms for coating corn kernels would be commercially feasible. Kommedahl and Mew, supra, also reported that captan is widely used as a seed treatment because it is reliable, easy to apply, and inexpensive. It was also reported, however, that captan is not always a good seed treatment under all conditions. In particular, Kommedahl and Mew, supra, reported that under prolonged conditions of low soil temperature and high soil moisture, biological controls proved superior to captan in reducing root infections. This was attributed to the possible multiplication of organisms and their growth from the seed to the root surface. For additional discussion of biological control of fungal infections in plants see generally: R. J. Cook, BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PLANT PATHOGENS (Amer. Phytopathol. Soc. 1982); Burges, H. D. (ed.) (1981) Microbial Control of Pests and Plant Disease 1970-1980, Academic Press, New York; Baker, Phytopathology Vol. 58, 1395-1401; Kommedahl and Chang, (1966), Phytopathology Vol. 56, 885; Kommedahl, (1972) Plant Dis. Rep. Vol. 56, 861-863; Mitchell, (1973) Soil Biol. Biochem. Vol. 5, 721-728; Papavizas, (1973) Soil Biol. Biochem, Vol. 5, 709-720.
Kawamoto and Lorbeer (Plant Dis. Reptr., Vol. 60, 189-191, 1976) report that onion seedlings were protected from damping off, caused by a particular strain of Fusarium oxysporum by infesting the onion seedlings with Pseudomonas cepacia Burkh strain 64-22. This P. cepacia strain (64-22) was reported to be recovered from the root, root-stem zone and seed coat on 18-day old seedlings from inoculated seeds. Live cells of P. cepacia, 64-22 were reported to inhibit Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae, while dead cells and culture filtrate did not. The authors stated that the mechanism through which P. cepacia protects young seedlings was open to speculation. The authors concluded that the experiments reported at least supported the feasibility of biological control measures to improve onion seedling stand, but that "at present we could not recommend infesting onion seed with P. cepacia for commercial plantings . . . ", presumably because some strains of P. cepacia have been reputed to be pathogenic to onions.
R. D. Lumsden (Phytopathology Vol. 72, 709, 1982) reported that a strain of P. cepacia is antagonistic to Pythium aphanidermatum and protects cucumber seedlings from infection by this fungus in soil. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,584, to Lumsden et al, a new biotype of P. cepacia designated SDL-POP-S-1 is described as protecting cucumber and peas from Pythium disease. Protection is afforded through bacterial inoculation of seeds.
Another strain of Pseudomonas cepacia protected Chinese Aster against wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi in greenhouse and field tests (Cavileer et al, American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, Abstract No. 522, 1985).
One isolate of Enterobacter cloacae, E. cloacae EcET-501, in addition to its ability to fix nitrogen, has been shown to have biocontrol potential for Fusarium wilt of cucumber (Sneh et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 74, 115-1124, 1984), Phythium blight of turfgrass (Nelson et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 82, 206-210, 1992), Sclerotinia dollar spot of turf (Nelson et al, Plant Dis., Vol. 75, 510-514, 1991), Pythium seed rot of vegetables (Chao et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 76, 60-65, 1986; Hadar et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 73, 1322-1325, 1983; Nelson et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 76, 327-335, 1986), and some postharvest diseases of fruit (Wilson et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 77, 303-305, 1987; Wilson et al, Plant Dis., Vol. 69, 375-378, 1985). In addition to Phythium species, this E. cloacae is also effective in suppressing species of Fusarium and Rhizopus in the soil (Wilson et al, Phytopathology, Vol. 77, 303-305, 1987; Campbell, Biological Control of Microbial Plant Pathogens, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,584 (Lumsden et al, 1986) discloses that a variety of bacterial strains including members of the genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Enterobacter were found to be antagonists of Fusarium. Among the fungal antagonists, root-colonizing Pseudomonads, P. fluorescens and nonfluorescent P. cepacia were the most numerous. The patent also discloses that Enterobacter cloacae was a medium to poor colonizer.
While various biocontrol agents for control of pathogenic fungi are known in the art, there still remains a need for an effective biocontrol agent for pathogenic fungi, especially Fusarium, and especially a biocontrol agent which is a symbiotic endophyte. The present invention described below is an endophytic symbiont and is antagonistic to pathogenic fungi. The present invention provides a method for controlling pathogenic fungi in agricultural crops which is different from the prior art biocontrol agents.

Use of Bacillus Subtilis as an endophyte for the control of diseases caused by fungi

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Agriculture


A multifunctional video apparatus and a method of providing a user interface (UI) thereof. The multifunctional video apparatus has diverse functions such as image capturing, image reproduction, image editing, image input/output from/to an external device, etc., and provides a UI capable of performing the above-described functions more conveniently.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a multifunctional video apparatus and a method of providing a user interface thereof. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to a multifunctional video apparatus and a method of providing a user interface (UI) thereof, which can perform diverse functions such as image capturing, image editing, voice recording, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional multifunctional video apparatus is an apparatus in which diverse video devices are integrated. Implementation of such a conventional multifunctional video apparatus has become possible by grafting new digital technology onto video apparatuses.
Since functions performed by the conventional multifunctional video apparatus constantly increase in size and complexity, methods of using the conventional multifunctional video apparatus have also become quite complicated.
Accordingly, a need exists for a user interface (UI) that facilitates a user's manipulation and provides an excellent visual effect.

Multifunctional video apparatus and method of providing user interface thereof


Known is a zero intermediate frequency receiver or zero-IF receiver in which DC-offset correction is done in the I- and Q-paths, after mixing down of the received RF-signal or of an IF-signal. Such a DC-offset correction is not sufficient for high gain I- and Q-paths, particularly not in pagers for receiving long messages. Furthermore, no optimal power saving is achieved if such a receiver alternately operates in receive mode and sleep mode. A zero intermediate frequency receiver is proposed in which DC-offset correction is distributed over the high gain I- and Q-path. Preferably, blocking means are provided between DC-offset correction circuits and low pass filters in the I- and Q-path to prevent that an output signal of an upstream DC-offset correction circuit in the path excites a downstream low pass filter in the path during DC-offset correction. Herewith, considerable power savings are achieved.

The present invention relates to a zero intermediate frequency receiver comprising a local frequency generating arrangement which is coupled to a pair of quadrature related mixers for mixing down a received signal to a pair of quadrature related signals to be demodulated in an in-phase signal path and in a quadrature signal path, a path comprising a cascade of at least a low pass filter and two amplifiers, and a DC-offset correction circuit between the amplifiers. Such a zero intermediate frequency receiver, which can be a direct conversion zero-IF receiver, a double conversion zero-IF receiver, or any other suitable zero-IF receiver, can be a digital paging receiver using a FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) or PSK (Phase Shift Keying) modulation scheme, but also a cordless or cellular receiver, or the like.
A receiver of the above kind is known from the published European Patent Application EP 0 594 894 A1. This European Patent Application discloses DC-offset correction in a zero intermediate frequency TDMA receiver or so-called zero-IF receiver. The received signal is mixed down by mixing with a local oscillator in a quadrature mixer. A DC-offset in the mixed down signal is compensated by baseband processing. For DC-offset correction a control loop is provided in both the in-phase signal path and the quadrature signal path. In addition to an overall correction loop in which DC-offset is corrected over many time slots, the receiver comprises an inner control loop for offset correction of a signal received within a time slot. This additional control loop may include a comparator comparing a difference signal in the overall control loop with zero and thereby acting as a one-bit analog-to-digital converter, cascaded with a successive approximation digital-to-analog converter determining in successive steps an offset correction value of the overall control loop so that the value of the difference signal is substantially zero. A zero intermediate frequency receiver can be a part of a message pager. Such pagers are narrow band receivers having a high gain in the in-phase and quadrature signal paths. With new paging protocols like APOC, FLEX and ERMES very long messages can be sent. During the reception of the signal the DC-drift has to be sufficiently small (typically<3 .mu.V at the output of the mixer). Otherwise, zero crossings in the in-phase or I-signal and in the quadrature or Q-signal will be lost. Furthermore, when receiving relatively long messages, DC-offset correction can only be done during the reception of a sync-word (approximately once every second), without losing useful information, i.e. a part of a message to be received. For such receivers, the known DC-offset correction does not operate satisfactorily. Furthermore, pagers normally operate in a reception mode for receiving messages and in a sleep mode during which most of the reception circuitry is switched off. For saving the battery of the pager, the period in which the pager is in the reception mode should be as short as possible.


An apparatus includes a signal generation module that injects a signal in a pilot conductor. The signal includes two or more AC components. Current in the pilot conductor is injected in a grounding conductor of power cables connecting a power source to a load, and the grounding conductor is connected to a ground return. A current monitor module monitors current in the pilot conductor or ground return, an AC detection module determines an AC current corresponding to each of the two or more AC components present in the monitored current, and an AC threshold module determines if one or more of the AC currents is below an AC threshold. A trip module opens a contact in response to determining that at least one of the AC currents is below an AC threshold for longer than an AC current time threshold. The contact disconnects the power source from the power cables.

Mining is a very special environment that is by its very nature hazardous. Mine shafts are very limited physically, often include wet conditions, and can have explosive gases and dust. The mining industry has a long history of accidents and fatalities. As a result, governmental regulations as well as company policies are geared toward making mining safer for those that enter and work in mines. One governmental agency that regulates mining practice in the United States is the Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA"). MSHA provides regulations as well as enforcement of the regulations.
Mining equipment is typically large and requires a significant amount of power. Mining equipment is also typically portable. To provide power to the mining equipment, portable power sources are provided in and around mines. Due to the high power requirements of mining equipment as well as mines having long shafts, often mining power source have voltages that are higher than are typically found in industrial situations. It is not uncommon for the mining power sources to provide power with voltages being about 1 kilo volt ("KV"). In addition, due to the portability of the mining equipment and power sources, often power is provided using flexible cables run without conduit. Due to the high voltages, exposed cables, wet conditions, etc., special consideration must be made for safety of the electrical power systems in mining.
One way to increase safety and reliability of mining power systems is to determine if grounding conductors are in place and properly connected. When grounding conductors are not properly connected, have short circuits, etc., when a fault condition occurs, electrical current can flow through the earth surrounding mine shafts as well as through mining equipment. Current flowing in unintended routes create a shock hazard for miners both for fault conditions before overcurrent protection reacts as well as steady state conditions when continuous current flow in unintended paths.
MSHA has provided regulations for monitoring current in grounding conductors. MSHA regulations regarding ground current were changed several years ago. Much of the electrical power system equipment in use today in mines today does not meet current MSHA requirements found in testing standard 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R.") section 75 and 30 C.F.R. section 77 with respect to ground current monitoring.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-frequency ground monitor current sensing


An electrode for batteries that does not include a metal-film-type current collector is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the electrode comprises a composite having a core-shell structure including a core having an electrode active material, and a metal material coated on or doped in the surface of the core. A secondary battery having the electrode has increased capacity and energy density and exhibits improved lifespan characteristics.

In general, there are various kinds of secondary batteries, such as a nickel cadmium battery, a nickel hydride battery, a lithium ion battery, and a lithium ion polymer battery. Such secondary batteries have been used in large-sized products that require high output, such as an electric vehicle and a hybrid electric vehicle, a power storage apparatus for storing surplus power or new and renewable energy, and a backup power storage apparatus, as well as small-sized products, such as a digital camera, a portable digital versatile disc (P-DVD) player, a cellular phone, a wearable device, a portable game device, a power tool, and an electric bicycle (E-bike).
A lithium secondary battery generally includes a positive electrode (a cathode), a separator, and a negative electrode (an anode). The materials of the positive electrode, the separator, and the negative electrode are selected in consideration of the lifespan, the charge and discharge capacity, the temperature characteristics, and the safety of the battery.
With increased demand for a secondary battery having large capacity and high efficiency, various attempts have been made to increase the capacity and energy density of the battery. In the case in which the inner space of a battery cell is reduced, however, gas is not rapidly discharged from the battery cell, whereby the battery cell may easily explode. In the case in which the amount of electrode mixture that is loaded is increased, the length of the path along which lithium ions move is increased, whereby the lifespan of the battery cell is reduced.
Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-210490 discloses an electrode active material including core particles, each of which includes a lithium phosphate composite transition metal oxide, and a conductive carbon material coated on the surface of each of the core particles, Chinese Patent Application Publication No. 102651476 discloses a positive electrode configured such that positive electrode slurry including a silicon-carbon composite positive electrode active material, configured to have a structure in which silicon is coated on the surface of carbon, is applied to copper foil, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0101873 discloses a positive electrode active material having a coating layer, including a sulfur (S) component formed on a core. In the inventions disclosed in the above publications, however, a general electrode, which is configured to have a structure in which an electrode active material is applied to an electrode current collector, is used. Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-258031 discloses an electrode having no electrode current collector. However, it is not possible to suggest a technical solution for using a conventional lithium transition metal oxide, since only a conductive polymer material is used as an electrode active material.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2011-0100114 discloses micro-scale active material particles constituting an electrode having no electrode current collector, wherein the micro-scale active material particles are present in the form of particles or wedges and wherein the micro-scale active material particles include both at least one kind of active material and at least one kind of non-active material. Since the micro-scale active material particles are configured to have a structure in which electrode particles, serving as a current collector, are difficult to be electrically connected to each other, however, the performance of a battery is low, and the structure of the battery is complicated, since a separate porous material is prepared as a core.
Therefore, there is a strong necessity for technology that is capable of enabling a conventional general positive electrode active material to be used, enabling gas to be discharged promptly from a battery cell when the battery cell swells, thereby preventing a reduction in the lifespan of the battery cell, and enabling the capacity and the energy density of a battery to be increased.

Electrode having no current collector and secondary battery including the same