A compressible variable capacitance sensor for determining the presence, size, position, and type of an object such as a human body part includes two flexible conductor elements separated by a non-conductive compressible element. The capacitance of the capacitance sensor changes as a function of force applied by an object on the capacitance sensor. A controller senses the capacitance of the capacitance sensor and controls a device accordingly. The device may be a movable closed opening such as a window in which the controller controls the window as a function of the monitored capacitance to prevent pinching of the object. The device may also be a seat in which the controller determines the characteristics of the seat occupant based on the monitored capacitance.

The present invention is generally related to capacitance sensors for determining the presence of an object and, more particularly, to a capacitance sensor having a non-conductive compressible element between flexible conductors for determining the presence of an object.
Various types of sensors are used to determine the presence, size, and/or position of an object such as a human body part. For example, in the automotive industry, sensors are used for pinch sensing at electrically operated doors, windows, hatches, decks, hoods, lids, and the like and for seat occupant sensing.
A pinch sensor detects the presence of an object such as a finger, hand, and the like being pinched by a closed opening such as a window. In operation, the pinch sensor generates a pinch signal in response to an object being pinched by the window. In response to the pinch signal, a controller controls the window to reverse direction to prevent further pinching and allow the object to be removed from the opening. A seat occupant sensor generates an occupant signal indicative of characteristics of an object such as a human occupant sitting on a seat. A controller uses the occupant signal to control various systems such as an air bag system as a function of the occupant""s characteristics (adult or child) sitting on the seat.
Motor current sensors, infrared beam sensors, and continuous switch sensors have been used for pinch sensing. A problem with motor current sensors and infrared beam sensors is that they can be fooled into causing an electrically closed opening to remain open due to changing mechanical and environmental conditions. A problem with continuous switch sensors is that they do not provide any lag time between switch activation and a pinch of an object. Thus, what is needed is a pinch sensor that is reliable in view of changing mechanical and environmental conditions and that provides a lag time to prevent a pinch of the object.
Fiber-optic sensors, ultrasonic sensors, electromagnetic sensors, piezometric sensors, and switch matrix sensors have been used for seat occupant sensing. A problem with these types of seat occupant sensors is that they are complex and costly. Thus, what is needed is a seat occupant sensor that is simple and cost efficient.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a capacitance sensor having a non-conductive compressible element between flexible conductors for determining the presence of an object.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pinch capacitance sensor having a non-conductive compressible element between flexible conductors for determining the presence of an object about to be pinched by a closed opening.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seat occupant capacitance sensor having a non-conductive compressible element between flexible conductors for determining seat occupant characteristics such as presence, size, position, and type of the seat occupant.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a seat occupant capacitance sensor having a non-conductive compressible element between flexible conductors for determining whether a seat object is an animate or inanimate object.
In carrying out the above objects and other objects, the present invention provides a sensor for determining the presence of an object. The sensor includes first and second flexible conductor elements separated by a separation distance and having a capacitance dependent on the separation distance. A non-conductive compressible element is interposed between the first and second flexible conductor elements. The non-conductive compressible element compresses in response to an object applying a force to at least one of the first and second flexible conductor elements such that the separation distance between the first and second flexible conductor elements decreases. The capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements changes in response to the separation distance between the first and second flexible conductor elements decreasing.
The sensor may include a controller for monitoring the capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements. The controller determines the presence of an object applying a force to at least one of the first and second flexible conductor elements in response to the capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements changing.
The controller, which may include a microprocessor, may be operable for generating an offset signal to bias the capacitance between the first and second flexible conductor elements. The controller may be operable for executing filtering software to monitor the capacitance between the first and second flexible conductor elements. The controller may be operable for executing an adaptive threshold detection algorithm to monitor the capacitance between the first and second flexible conductor elements.
The first flexible conductor element may be a center core with the second flexible conductor element coaxially surrounding the non-conductive compressible element and the first flexible conductor element. The second flexible conductor element is preferably electrically grounded. An elastomeric overcoat may coaxially surround the second flexible conductor element.
The sensor may further include a non-conductive compressible core. In this case, the first flexible conductor element coaxially surrounds the non-conductive compressible core, the non-conductive compressible element coaxially surrounds the first flexible conductor element, and the second flexible conductor element coaxially surrounds the non-conductive compressible element.
The sensor may further include a third flexible conductor element. In this case, the second and third flexible conductor elements are electrically grounded and surround at least a portion of the first flexible conductor element. The non-conductive compressible element is interposed between the first, second, and third flexible conductor elements such that the first and second flexible conductor elements are separated by a first separation distance and have a first capacitance dependent on the first separation distance, and the first and third flexible conductor elements are separated by a second separation distance and have a second capacitance dependent on the second separation distance. The first and second capacitances change in response to the first and second separation distances decreasing when an object applies a force to at least one of the second and third flexible conductor elements.
The non-conductive compressible element may include a cell foam, at least one of the first and second flexible conductors elements may include a braided electrically conductive wire or an electrically conductive plate.
Further, in carrying out the above objects and other objects, the present invention provides a pinch sensor system for determining the presence of an object within an opening defined by a closed opening device. The pinch sensor system includes a compressible capacitance pinch sensor fixedly positioned adjacent a closed opening device. The compressible capacitance pinch sensor has first and second flexible conductor elements separated by a separation distance. The first and second flexible conductor elements have a capacitance dependent on the separation distance. The compressible capacitance pinch sensor further has a non-conductive compressible element interposed between the first and second flexible conductor elements. The non-conductive compressible element compresses in response to an object within the opening touching the compressible capacitance pinch sensor such that the separation distance between the first and second flexible conductor elements decreases. The capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements changes in response to the separation distance between the first and second flexible conductor elements decreasing.
The pinch sensor system further includes a controller for monitoring the capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements. The controller determines the presence of the object within the opening in response to the capacitance of the first and second flexible conductor elements changing. The controller controls the closed opening device as a function of the change in capacitance.
Also, in carrying out the above objects and other objects, the present invention provides a seat occupant sensor system. The seat occupant sensor system includes at least one seat occupant sensor disposed within a seat. The at least one seat occupant sensor includes first, second, and third flexible conductor plates. The first flexible conductor plate is interposed between the second and third flexible conductor plates such that the first and third flexible conductor plates are separated by a separation distance. The second and third flexible conductor plates are electrically grounded and the first, second, and third flexible conductor plates have a capacitance dependent on the separation distance. The at least one seat occupant sensor further includes a first non-conductive compressible element interposed between the first and second flexible conductor plates and a second non-conductive compressible element interposed between the first and third flexible conductor plates. The first and second non-conductive compressible elements compress in response to a seat occupant applying force to the at least one seat occupant sensor such that the separation distance between the second and third flexible conductor plates decreases. The capacitance changes in response to the separation distance decreasing.
The seat occupant sensor system further includes a controller for determining characteristics of the seat occupant as a function of the capacitance of the at least one seat occupant sensor.
The at least one seat occupant sensor may include a seat back sensor disposed within a seat back of the seat. The controller determines whether the seat occupant is sitting back on the seat back as a function of the capacitance of the seat back sensor.
The at least one seat occupant sensor may include a seat bottom front sensor disposed within a front portion of a seat bottom of the seat. The controller determines whether the seat occupant is sitting short or forward on the seat bottom as a function of the capacitance of the seat bottom front sensor.
The at least one seat occupant sensor may include a seat bottom left sensor disposed within a left portion of a seat bottom of the seat and a seat bottom right sensor disposed within a right portion of the seat bottom. The controller determines whether the seat occupant is sitting left or right on the seat bottom as a function of the capacitances of the seat bottom left and right sensors.
The at least one seat occupant sensor may include at least one seat bottom sensor disposed within a seat bottom of the seat. The controller determines the weight of the seat occupant as a function of the capacitance of the at least one seat bottom sensor.
The controller may be operable to reverse the polarity between the first, second, and third flexible conductor plates such that the first conductor plate is electrically grounded. The controller monitors the capacitance of the at least one seat occupant sensor after reversing the polarity to determine whether the seat occupant is an animate or inanimate object.
The above objects and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the present invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Compressible capacitance sensor for determining the presence of an object


A computerized system which enables the contact lens fitter to select a contact lens by specifying its "base curve" and diameter and then to obtain a visual representation of how that lens would fit the cornea of a specific patient using a simulation of the traditional fluorescein dye procedure. The patient's corneal contours are electronically stored, having been ascertained, for example, using the image scanning technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,260. The contour of the contact lens is positioned to a predetermined point over the contour of the corneal surface and iteratively rotated about two axes to establish a minimum average clearance. At this point, the clearance is depicted by a color display analogous to that which would be obtained using the actual contact lens on the patient's cornea with the fluorescein dye.

Contact lenses that ride directly over the corneal surface of the eye, floating on a micro-thin layer of tear fluid, are widely prescribed to correct refractive errors in vision. However, the traditional method of fitting contact lenses is a laborious process, often requiring weeks of trying various lens shapes. Each fitting usually requires at least fifteen minutes before the patient is comfortable with the lens in place. Then the optometrist applies fluorescein dye drops to the patient's eye to reveal the amount of clearance between the contact lens and the corneal surface. Fluorescein is a bright orange dye that fluoresces lime green in the presence of cobalt blue light. It is relatively harmless although an occasional person may have an allergic response. In the lens fitting process, the more clearance between the contact lens and the cornea, the more dye is permitted in the space, as indicated by a fuller green fluorescence of the dye. The fluorescein test is considered quite reliable but is not usable with the popular soft contact lenses because the material from which they are made, hydrogel, absorbs the fluorescein dye, staining the lens. It would be useful to provide a method of fitting contact lenses which avoids the need to test multiple contact lenses in the patient's eye.

System for computerized fitting of contact lenses


A life and property protection system including a monitoring member having a plurality of sensors and devices for monitoring the interior of the vehicle and communicating with phone devices of designated individuals and 911 dispatch. The system has an activation mode that is triggered when motion is detected, a pre-alarm mode triggered when preset criteria is met, and an alarm mode when the system is not manually reset after a preset time period following a text to designated phone devices.

This invention is directed to a life detection system and more particularly to a system for detecting the presence of a person and/or a pet in a vehicle in a dangerous or unwanted situation.
Over the past few years in the news we have heard of tragic stories where children or pets are unintentionally left in locked vehicles under extreme heat conditions. If left for too long of a period, these situation have tragic consequences including death. Likewise, unattended vehicles are frequently targeted for burglaries causing damage to the vehicle and lost property.
Presently, no known system is known for detecting the presence of an individual or a pet in a vehicle, notifying a vehicle owner or operator, and notifying authorities when necessary. While car alarms provide a deterrent, they provide no assistance in documenting and recording evidence to apprehend the burglar. Therefore, a need exists in the art for a system that addresses these needs and deficiencies.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a life detection system that prevents injury to individuals and pets left in vehicles in extreme conditions.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a life detection system that records evidence of a vehicle burglary.
These and other objectives will be apparent to those skilled in the art based upon the following written description, drawings, and claims.


Processes are disclosed for bioconversion processes in which a ME biocatalyst is surrounded by water-insoluble liquid during the bioconversion to facilitate one or more of mass transfer of substrate to and bioproduct from the biocatalyst and the separation and recovery of bioproduct from the water-insoluble liquid. The ME biocatalyst irreversibly retains microorganizms for the bioconversion and has, in its interior, an aqueous environment.

Metabolic processes have long been proposed for anabolic and catabolic bioconversions. Microorganisms of various types have been proposed for these bioconversions and include bacteria and archaea, both of which are prokaryotes; fungi; and algae. Metabolic processes are used by nature, and some have been adapted to use by man for millennia for anabolic and catabolic bioconversions ranging from culturing yogurt and fermentation of sugars to produce alcohol to treatment of water to remove contaminants. Metabolic processes offer the potential for low energy consumption, high efficiency bioconversions in relatively inexpensive processing equipment and thus may be and are often viable alternatives to chemical synthesis and degradation methods. Often anabolic processes can use raw materials that are preferred from a renewable or environmental standpoint but are not desirable for chemical synthesis, e.g., the conversion of carbon dioxide to biofuels and other bioproducts. Catabolic bioconversions can degrade substrates and have long been used for waste water treatment. Considerable interests exist in improving metabolic processes for industrial use and expanding the variety of metabolic process alternatives to chemical syntheses and degradations.
Virtually all microorganisms require the presence of water in liquid or vaporous form. Consequently, metabolic processes that have been proposed by prior workers involve the contact of an aqueous medium with the microorganisms. The aqueous medium may be a continuous phase in which the microorganisms exist or may be an aqueous phase wetting the microorganisms or support on which the microorganisms reside.
The use of an aqueous medium can pose challenges. For instance, one or more substrates or one or more metabolic products may have little, if any solubility in water, thereby presenting mass transfer challenges. Another challenge, is the separation of the sought bioproduct from an aqueous medium. Distillation is an often used process, which can be energy intensive especially where the boiling points of the sought bioproduct and water are proximate. With some oxygenated organic compounds such as alcohols, azeotropes can form thereby presenting additional problems in the separation of the sought bioproduct from water.
Some disclosed bioprocesses inherently or by choice generate relatively dilute broths of the sought bioproduct in water. Woods, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,682,821 B2, disclose a photobioreactor system in which solar energy is used to provide a concentrated ethanol product that can be more economically distilled. The patentees state that photobioreactor systems experience various limitations for use in massive scale industrial production of low-cost biofuels. One such limitation is stated to be the evaporation of ethanol from the aqueous medium. The photobioreactor comprises a chamber having a translucent or clear region to allow in sunlight to contact an aqueous fermentation medium in a lower part of the chamber wherein ethanol and water vapors can condense on the upper part of the chamber. The condensate has an enhanced ethanol concentration thus enabling more economic recovery of an anhydrous ethanol product.
In other instances, for example, fermentation processes to make butanols, including, but not limited to n-butanol and isobutanol, the butanol in the aqueous medium must be maintained relatively dilute since the butanol is toxic or inhibitory toward the microorganisms. In general, the concentration of butanol is less than about 3 volume percent in the aqueous medium. Due to the amount of water required to be removed, distillation is not the preferred recovery process. Workers have sought to modify microorganisms to increase tolerance. See, for instance, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0105103 A1. Workers have also proposed extraction of butanol from the aqueous medium to maintain the butanol concentration below that which adversely affects the microorganisms. Erdner-Tindall, et al., in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0143993 A1 have proposed processes for producing alcohols using an ionic liquid as a solvent to separate an alcohol product from a fermentation broth. They state that ionic liquids will generally have no measurable vapor pressure, have a high solubility for alcohol product, and are immiscible with the aqueous fermentation broth. They further state that the ionic liquid has little to no toxicity to the microorganism.
A prior disclosure of extraction of some bioproducts from aqueous media was made by Tedder in U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,298. The patentee discloses a process for producing simple aliphatic alcohols, most particularly ethanol, using an organic solvent containing an extractant for contact with aqueous fermentation medium withdrawn from fermentation unit. An alcohol-solvent extract phase and an aqueous phase are formed, and the alcohol is separated from the alcohol-solvent phase, e.g., by evaporation or distillation. The patentee contemplates returning the aqueous phase to the fermentation unit. The solvent system disclosed comprises a hydrophobic solvent, such as aliphatic hydrocarbon, and extractant.
Shirazi, et al., in the above-mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/918,868 disclose biocatalysts having a high tolerance to the presence of toxins. These biocatalysts comprise                i. a solid structure of hydrated hydrophilic polymer defining an interior structure having a plurality of interconnected major cavities having a smallest dimension of between about 5 to about 100 microns and an HEV of at least about 1000 and        ii. a population of microorganisms capable of converting sugars to at least one organic product substantially irreversibly retained in the interior of the solid structure, said population of microorganisms being in a concentration of at least about 60 grams per liter based upon the volume defined by the exterior of the solid structure when fully hydrated wherein the microorganisms maintain their population substantially stable.
The microorganisms are believed to undergo phenotypic alterations enabling, inter alia, enhanced tolerance. The disclosed biocatalysts are particularly attractive for continuous processes for the bioconversion of fermentable sugars to ethanol as the biocatalyst is substantially devoid of solids generation, and, being a solid, enables separation of the biocatalyst from the fermentation broth. Additionally, the phenotypic alterations reduce the requirement of the microorganism for sugars for metabolic sustenance thereby enabling the bioconversion of as much as about 99 percent of the fermentable sugars to bioproducts. Moreover, the biocatalyst has a long lifetime and competition with undesired microorganism is substantially eliminated. For ease of reference, these biocatalysts are herein referred to as ME biocatalysts.
Improved processes are sought for bioconverting substrate to bioproduct where the microorganisms need to be retained in an aqueous medium.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Bioconversion processes using water-insoluble liquids


Systems and methods whereby, for example, one or more functional elements can be established and/or employed. Such functional elements might serve a number of purposes. For instance, such functional elements might be employable in interoperating with devices, software, and/or the like, in working with entities, and/or the like. Such functional elements may, for example, be arrangeable in an associative and/or hierarchical manner.

In recent years, computers have gained an increasingly prominent role in the lives of many people. For example, many people have come to rely upon computers to handle their media (e.g., movies, images, and/or music), their communications (e.g., text, voice, and/or video communications), their entertainment (e.g., video games), and/or the like.
Accordingly, there may be interest in technologies that further allow people to incorporate computers into their lives.

System and method for functional elements


A system and method for improving handoff performance of a cellular telecommunications network having a serving exchange and a serving cell in which a mobile station is engaged in a call. The system adapts a first timeout period during which signal strength measurements are collected from a plurality of cells that neighbor the serving cell. A variable timing mechanism measures time periods starting when a handoff measurement request is generated. The system then sets the variable timing mechanism to measure a specified time period for each of the plurality of cells, collects the signal strength measurements during the specified time period, and processes the signal strength measurements when the specified time period expires. The system also adapts a second timeout period during which a handoff request from the mobile station is queued while awaiting an available voice channel in a target cell for handoff. The system measures a default value for the second timeout period, changes the default second timeout period to an adapted second timeout period for which there is a maximum probability of handing off a call associated with the handoff request, and determines whether the handoff request should be queued for the default second timeout period or the adapted second timeout period.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to radio telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for adapting a time period for the collection of signal strength measurements from serving cells and neighbor cells prior to and during handoff of a mobile station in layered cell structures and across exchange boundaries.
2. Description of Related Art
In existing cellular radio telecommunication systems, all base stations have signal strength receivers that measure the current signal strength of signals on all frequencies utilized in neighboring cells. When a call connection between a mobile station and its serving base station deteriorates in strength and/or quality, the serving base station requests a handoff from the serving mobile switching center (MSC). Before handing off the mobile station, the MSC performs a locating function to locate or identify available neighboring cells that have adequate signal strength to satisfy the handoff request. Signal strength measurements are taken in the serving cell in which the mobile station is operating as well as in neighbor cells. The measurements are then collected and compared in order to determine whether the mobile station should be handed off and if so, to which neighbor cell.
Existing systems have a fixed timeout delay during which the MSC receives signal strength measurements. At the conclusion of the timeout delay, the MSC compares the measurements that it has received, and makes the handoff determination. The existing fixed timeout delay is independent of cell configurations even though different cell configurations may affect the time required to collect signal strength measurements from all of the neighbor cells. For example, if the serving cell is a microcell in a layered cell structure, additional time may be required to collect measurements from higher layered cells and neighboring microcells. In this situation, the fixed timeout delay may not be sufficient to collect all the signal strength measurements prior to processing the data, thereby excluding the possibility of considering higher layer cells or some neighboring cells as handoff candidates. The fixed timeout delay is not addressed by any so-called "Fast Handoff Algorithms" proposed within the cellular telecommunications industry for microcells. These Fast Handoff Algorithms deal with the measurement of signal strengths by a single signal strength receiving device as opposed to the collection of measurements from a plurality of cells.
Additionally, for situations in which the neighbor cells include cells within the serving cell's exchange as well as outer cells in cooperating exchanges, all signal strength measurements from cells within the serving cell's exchange are withheld from processing until either (1) measurements from cooperating exchanges are received, or (2) timeout from the signaling protocol used to communicate with the cooperating exchanges occurs. At that point, all received measurements are then processed. By the time conditions 1 or 2 occur, measurements from cells within the serving cell's exchange may be up to 13 or 14 seconds old, and may no longer be representative of signal strengths in those cells. However, the system cannot merely ignore the measurements from neighbor outer cells, because to do so would preclude inter-exchange handoffs. Therefore, a method is needed to balance between waiting for outer cell measurements and beginning handoff processing in order to optimize the handoff process.
Condition 1 may cause a handoff failure if one or more of the mobile switching centers (MSCs) in the cooperating exchanges is programmed with an excessive delay. An excessive delay may allow the mobile station to move out of the coverage area of the serving cell, causing the signal strength and/or signal quality to deteriorate to the point that the call is dropped before the measurements are processed and a handoff determination is made. MSCs in cooperating exchanges may be manufactured by different manufacturers who design their systems with different delays in returning signal strength measurements. Therefore, when the MSC in a cooperating exchange is manufactured by a different manufacturer, the delay in returning signal strength measurements is not within the control of the serving exchange, but nonetheless, may adversely impact its handoff performance.
Condition 2, waiting for timeout from the signaling protocol used to communicate with the cooperating exchanges to occur, may also cause handoff failures. This timeout delay may allow the mobile station to move out of the coverage area of the serving cell before the measurements are processed and a handoff determination is made. Some revisions of the IS-41 intersystem signaling protocol, for example, have had timeout delays as long as 15-seconds. This delay in processing the received signal strength measurements has particularly adverse effects when the mobile station is operating in a microcell and starts to move out of the serving cell. By the time the 15-second delay has elapsed, the mobile station may have moved out of the serving microcell, causing the signal strength and/or signal quality to deteriorate to the point that the call is dropped before the measurements are processed and a handoff determination is made. Therefore, in existing cellular radio telecommunication systems, the deployment of microcells must be restricted to avoid certain configurations having a higher probability of dropped calls due to the excessive timeout delay.
Although there are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming, U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,356 to Bodin et al. (Bodin) discusses subject matter that bears some relation to matters discussed herein. Bodin discloses a system and method for ensuring that handoff requests take priority over new requests to engage voice channels. If no voice channels are available when a handoff request to a particular target cell is received, Bodin stores the handoff request in a corresponding queue for a predetermined period of time. If a voice channel becomes available while the handoff request is stored, the voice channel is utilized to satisfy the handoff request. Only if the handoff queue is empty are voice channels assigned to new call requests.
The predetermined time period of Bodin is separate and distinct from the timeout delay of the present invention. The predetermined time period of Bodin begins after the locating procedure is completed and has located neighbor cells which are acceptable as target cells for handoff, and after the handoff request is generated and stored in the handoff queue. At the conclusion of the time period of Bodin, the handoff request is removed from the queue. The purpose of the time period of Bodin is to ensure that if no handoff is possible to a particular target cell, each handoff request is directed to another target cell which may be able to satisfy the handoff request before the call connection deteriorates to the point that it is lost.
The measurement collection timeout delay of the present invention, on the other hand, is part of the locating procedure that identifies satisfactory target cells for handoff. As noted above, the timeout delay is the length of time that the MSC will wait for signal strength measurements to be received from serving and neighbor cells before it analyzes the measurements received to determine the best target cell. The adaptive queuing timeout delay of the present invention adapts the queuing timeout delay based upon network topology and the signal strength and quality in the target cell for handoff at the time the signal strength measurements were collected. This is a capability that is neither taught nor suggested by Bodin. Thus, review of the foregoing reference reveals no disclosure or suggestion of a system or method such as that described and claimed herein.
In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for adapting the measurement collection timeout delay to different configurations of serving cells and neighbor cells in layered cell structures and across exchange boundaries. Such a system and method would adapt the measurement collection timeout delay for configurations in which the existing fixed timeout delay, the timeout delay of cooperating MSCs, or the timeout delay of intersystem signaling protocols increase the possibility of handoff failures. It would also be advantageous to have a system and method for adapting the queuing timeout delay for different network topologies. The present invention provides such a system and method.

System and method for adaptive measurement collection and handoff queuing in a radio telecommunications network


In a walking stick comprising a rod with a handle structure formed at one end of the rod, the handle structure includes a cylindrical opening receiving indicating or signaling instruments.

The invention relates to a walking stick comprising a rod with a handle at one end thereof.
Walking sticks do not only serve as walking aids for older people, but they are also used as aids by hikers. They are often useful on difficult terrain when brush blocks the hiking path or when a steep trail has to be negotiated. But they are also useful on good trails in woods and meadows and even on city streets.
Walking sticks are also known to have bells or horns for generating warning signals. Such walking sticks are in demand particularly by young people who have been discharged from the army after finishing their duty. However, since these walking sticks are used generally only for a short period, the signal generating devices are attached on the walking stick only provisionally. Furthermore, they are so attached that they would be bothersome during an extended hiking tour.
For long hikes, a hiker generally takes measuring instruments along such as a watch, a compass or a thermometer. Those instruments are usually carried on the body or in pockets of his or her clothing. Carrying such instruments on the body has the disadvantage that the wristbands with which these instruments or usually attached to the body generate and collect sweat. This is generally quite uncomfortable for the hiker. Keeping the instrument in a pocket of a clothing piece has the disadvantage that the instrument has to be removed from the pocket for use. Furthermore, the storage of such instruments is problematic, if, for example, for a hike in the summer time, no clothing with pockets is worn by the hiker. Furthermore, for example a thermometer kept in a pocket would not indicate the correct air temperature.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a walking stick with instruments readily and neatly accommodated by the stick.


An internal combustion engine piston includes a crown including a ring belt portion including an outer wall and ring grooves, wherein the outer wall has a first end, a combustion bowl including an inner wall having a second end, a top wall extending between the inner and outer walls, and an annular cavity between the inner and outer walls, including an opening opposite the top wall, and at least partially defining a cooling gallery. At least one insert protrudes into the cooling gallery so as to axially overlap the ring grooves to direct coolant to desired portions of the crown.

The present disclosure relates to pistons used in internal combustion engines fueled by gasoline, diesel, alcohol or any other combustible fuel. Internal combustion engine pistons are usually composed of two elements; a skirt and crown. While in service, pistons used in internal combustion engines, such as medium and heavy duty diesel engines, are exposed to extremely hot operating temperatures. To reduce the temperature of piston components, especially components adjacent to the combustion chamber, a cooling gallery may be provided within the piston crown. The cooling gallery may be formed by an interior volume located within the piston crown and may be covered with a piston crown cover plate. The cooling gallery is a permanent feature of the piston crown. A piston crown cover plate is typically located along a lower surface of the piston crown. The cooling gallery and crown cover plate generally define a chamber or channel having a permanently defined volume.
Due to severe thermal stresses generated by the hot combustion chamber temperatures, it may be necessary to cool the piston crown during engine operation. As one example, the piston crown for diesel engines may be cooled via an oil spray directed into the cooling gallery. The oil flows into the cooling gallery through an inlet aperture in the piston, and the reciprocating motion of the piston during engine operation generally moves the oil back and forth within the cooling gallery. Accordingly, at least part of the heat of the piston crown portion is removed. The heated oil typically exits the cooling gallery through an exit aperture in the piston, while fresh oil can be supplied to the cooling gallery through the inlet aperture.
Internal combustion engines, particularly medium and heavy duty diesel engines, include stringent cooling requirements due to the elevated combustion pressure and temperature within the combustion chamber. Moreover, to improve engine performance it has become increasingly desirable to operate engines at even higher combustion pressures and temperatures. Additionally, cooling requirements may vary depending on the intended operating conditions of a particular engine. Unfortunately, the existing cooling gallery formed in the piston crown may not always be able to meet the increasing cooling requirements or be fit for the intended cooling requirements of the piston crown in a particular engine.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a piston that will provide enhanced cooling properties when compared to the current pistons that are available today.


Method and system for automatically displaying, visually and/or audibly and/or by an audible alarm signal, relevant weather data for an identified aircraft pilot, when each of a selected subset of measured or estimated aviation situation parameters, corresponding to a given aviation situation, has a value lying in a selected range. Each range for a particular pilot may be a default range, may be entered by the pilot and/or may be automatically determined from experience and may be subsequently edited by the pilot to change a range and to add or delete parameters describing a situation for which a display should be provided. The pilot can also verbally activate an audible display or visual display of selected information by verbal entry of a first command or a second command, respectively, that specifies the information required.

Although general aviation (GA) flights account for about 60 percent of the total hours flown, GA flights account for about 92 percent of the aviation accidents. About 15 percent of the GA accidents are attributed to weather. Two factors that contribute to weather-related accidents are (1) the cognitive overload of interpreting the large amount of textual data, much of which may be irrelevant, and (2) the inadequacy of in-flight updates of data related to weather. Graphical displays of many aspects of weather are now available to supplement textual weather briefings. Data link technologies to provide weather data to GA pilots in flight are being developed.
Approximately 4 percent of non-military aircraft are classified as commercial air carriers; the remaining 96 percent are considered general aviation (GA) aircraft. Approximately 73 percent of the non-military aircraft are small aircraft, with 2 to 6 seats and 1 or 2 piston engines. Within this latter group, loss or lack of weather awareness has been responsible for most of the fatalities (an estimated 73 percent in 2001, for example) for at least two reasons: (1) delays in obtaining in-flight briefings, when these are requested; and (2) difficulty in interpreting in-flight weather briefings in the formats usually presented.
Where weather information is needed, the conventional method for in-flight briefings is for a pilot to request a verbal update of weather and wind conditions, using an aircraft radio, from a ground-based weather specialist. The time interval for interaction between pilot and weather specialist is very short and is limited to specific information explicitly requested by the pilot. The number of pilots seeking such information increases in a given region when the weather is worst and the pilots may need, but may be unable to request, additional information. This often produces long time delays in response by the weather specialist and may also produce artificially shortened interactions, as the specialist tries to respond to each pilot in a long queue. Faced with this situation, the specialist is unlikely to provide other useful information that can be acted upon by the pilot, or that may even reverse a decision to continue, alter or discontinue a flight by a given route.
What is needed is a system, specific to a particular pilot, that (1) senses and stores the types of weather information that is often requested by the pilot in one or more identifiable situations, (2) senses when an identifiable situation is present, (3) provides the weather information in one or more of several optional formats (e.g., alphanumeric text, graphical and audible) according to the pilot's preferences, and (4) allows automatic as well as manual change of the parameters that describe an identifiable situation.

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


Intraluminal stent assemblies and methods of deploying the same. The assemblies include a catheter including at least one lumen formed therein. At least one inflatable member is disposed on the catheter and in communication with the lumen. The inflatable member includes at least one distal projection and/or at least one retention material. A stent is expandable from a compressed configuration to an expanded configuration. The stent is disposed on the inflatable member in the compressed configuration. A sheath is slidably positioned over the stent wherein the stent expands to the expanded configuration upon retraction of the sheath. The inflatable member is inflated with a fluid flowing through the lumen. The at least one distal projection and/or at least one retention material retain the stent in position on the inflatable member while the stent is being deployed.

Heart disease, specifically coronary artery disease, is a major cause of death, disability, and healthcare expense. A number of strategies have been developed for treating coronary heart disease, some of which are specifically designed to treat the complications resulting from atherosclerosis and other forms of coronary arterial narrowing.
An important development for treating atherosclerosis and other forms of coronary narrowing is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, hereinafter referred to as "angioplasty" or "PTCA". One objective in angioplasty is to enlarge the lumen of the affected coronary artery by radial hydraulic expansion. The procedure may be accomplished by inflating a balloon within the narrowed lumen of the coronary artery. Radial expansion of the coronary artery occurs in several different dimensions, and is related to the nature of the plaque. Soft, fatty plaque deposits are flattened by the balloon, while hardened deposits are cracked and split to enlarge the blood vessel lumen. The wall of the artery itself may also be stretched when the balloon is inflated.
Angioplasty may be performed as follows: A thin walled hollow guiding catheter may be introduced into the body via a relatively large vessel, such as the femoral artery in the groin area or the brachial artery in the arm. Once access to the femoral artery is achieved, a short hollow sheath, or guiding catheter, may be inserted to maintain a passageway during the procedure. The flexible guiding catheter may negotiate an approximately 180 degree turn through the aortic arch to descend into the aortic cusp where entry is gained to either the left or the right coronary artery, as desired.
After the guiding catheter is advanced to the area to be treated by angioplasty, a flexible guidewire may be inserted into the guiding catheter through an expandable balloon and advanced to the area to be treated. The guidewire may be advanced beyond the lesion in preparation for the advancement of a balloon catheter having an expandable balloon portion composed of a resilient material. The balloon catheter may be advanced into position by sliding it along the guide wire. The use of the relatively rigid guide wire is desirable for steerability to advance the catheter through the narrowed lumen of the artery and to direct the balloon, which is typically quite flexible, across the lesion. Radiopaque markers in the balloon segment of the catheter facilitate positioning across the lesion. The balloon catheter may then be inflated with contrast material to permit fluoroscopic viewing during treatment. The balloon is alternately inflated and deflated until the lumen of the artery is satisfactorily enlarged.
While the affected artery generally may be enlarged, in some instances the vessel re-narrows (restenosis) acutely or chronically with time, thereby negating the positive effect of the angioplasty procedure. In the past, vessel restenosis has frequently necessitated repeat PTCA or open heart surgery. While vessel restenosis may not occur in the majority of cases, it occurs frequently enough that such complications comprise a significant percentage of the overall failures of the PTCA procedure, for example, twenty-five to thirty-five percent of such failures.
To lessen the risk of vessel restenosis, various devices have been developed for mechanically maintaining the patency of the affected vessel after completion of the angioplasty procedure. Such mechanical endoprosthetic devices, which are generally referred to as stents, are typically inserted into the vessel in a radially compressed configuration, positioned across the lesion, and then expanded into contact with the vessel wall to maintain an open passageway. Effectively, the stent overcomes the natural tendency of the vessel walls of some patients to re-narrow, thereby maintaining a more normal flow of blood through that vessel than would be possible if the stent were not in place. The stent is typically a cylindrically shaped device formed from wire(s) or a tube and intended to act as a permanent prosthesis. A typical stent may range from about 5 mm to 50 mm in length.
Various types of stents have been proposed, including expandable and self-expanding varieties. Expandable stents are generally conveyed to the area to be treated on balloon catheter assemblies or other expandable devices. For insertion, the stent may be positioned in a compressed configuration along the delivery device, such as a balloon catheter defining a balloon with two folded and wrapped wings, to minimize the stent diameter. After the stent is positioned across the lesion, the stent may be expanded by the delivery device, causing the length of the stent to contract and the diameter to expand. Depending on the materials used in construction of the stent, the stent maintains the new shape either through mechanical force or otherwise.
Self-expanding stents are generally conveyed to the area to be treated on catheter assemblies. Such stents are generally manufactured from resilient materials that can be compressed and then naturally re-expand when deployed. As such, self-expanding stents typically do not require a balloon to provide an expansion force. Some stent designs include a sheath placed over the compressed stent (and balloon assembly) to retain the stent on the balloon and to create an even outer surface on the assembly for negotiation through the narrowed vessels. The sheath may also be used to maintain a self-expanding stent in its compressed configuration. Once the catheter assembly is positioned, the stent may expand as the sheath is slidably retracted.
Prior art stents have included coiled stainless steel springs; helical wound spring coil made from shape memory alloy; expanding metal stents formed in a zig-zag pattern; diamond shaped, rectangular shaped, and other mesh and non-mesh designs. Exemplary stents and catheter assemblies including balloon mounted stents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,079 issued to Wolinsky, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,274 issued to Stiger, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,189 issued to Wolinsky, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,694 issued to Poncet; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,676 issued to Cox.
Some difficulties have been encountered with the deployment of certain self-expanding stents, including difficulties related to placement accuracy. For example, some self-expanding stents can store energy axially from the frictional force generated as the outer restraining sheath is retracted from the expanding stent. This may cause the stent to act somewhat like a spring, storing energy as the frictional force acts on the stent. As the stent expands beyond the end of the sheath, the stored energy may be immediately released, causing the stent to "jump" or slip. This may result in an inaccurate placement of the stent within the body vessel. As such, it would be desirable to provide a strategy for deploying a self-expanding stent that would limit jumping and slippage thereby increasing the accuracy of stent placement.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an intraluminal stent assembly and method of deploying the same that would overcome the aforementioned and other disadvantages.

Intraluminal stent assembly and method of deploying the same


Disclosed is a system and method for mixing a plurality of graphics and video signals to create a desired output format, the desired output format being a mixture of the received signals. The mechanisim for achieving this rich format is a multi-modal graphics video overlay controller. The controller having a set of opcodes, selects a subset of the opcode set, this selection being a function of a desired output format of the mixed signals. The subset of opcodes is then utilized to control the means for selectively switching among the received graphics and video signals to create the desired output format. The selective switching is accomplished on a pixel by pixel basis.

When data is presented pictorially, our well developed two and three dimensionally oriented eye-brain pattern recognition mechanism allows us to perceive and process many types of data very rapidly and efficiently. In fact, in many implementation, design, and construction processes, pictures are virtually indispensable for visualizing and communicating.
However, creating and reproducing a meaningful picture presents problems that have stood in the way of widespread use of pictures. The ancient Chinese proverb "a picture is worth a thousand words" only became a cliche in our society after the introduction of technological means (the printing press and later photography) of producing and reproducing pictures easily and cheaply.
These technology breakthroughs made it fast and easy to capture the essence of an idea or situation with an illustrative drawing or photograph. No longer was it necessary to painstakingly draw, carve, or paint individual copies of a scene.
Today, the blending and enhancing of the inter-relationship of computer graphics and video are the most important mechanized means of producing and reproducing pictures since the invention of the television.
Video provides us with the opportunity to review events which have already occurred and to witness events, which we otherwise could not attend, as they unfold. Graphics, on the other hand, with the assistance of a computer, provides the advantage of enabling us to create and perceive pictures of abstract, synthetic objects, including graphs and charts. Lastly, interactive graphics, which is a form of human-machine interaction, combines the best features of the interactiveness of textural communication with the graphical communication of two and three dimensional plotting.
Arguably, static pictures were often a good means of communicating information, dynamically varying pictures are frequently even better. This is especially true when one needs individualized time varying phenomena, both real (e.g., deflection of an aircraft wing in supersonic flight, or the evolution of a human face from childhood through old age) and abstract (e.g., growth trends such as the use of nuclear energy in the USA or the population movement from cities to suburbs and back to the cities, as functions of time).
A movie is therefore often more expressive in showing changes over time than, say, a sequence of slides. Similarly, a dynamic sequence of frames on a display console can often convey smooth motion or changing form better than a slowly changing sequence of individual frames. This is especially true when the user can control the animation by adjusting its speed, the proportion of the total scene and the amount of detail shown, and other effects. In a video format, adjustments are made by reversing the image, scaling and zooming, as well as other video manipulations. Much of the technology for the mixing of video and graphics therefore deals with a combination of hardware and software techniques.
Thus, the mixing of video and graphics allows us to achieve much higher bandwidth human-machine communication using a judicious combination of text with static and dynamic pictures than is possible with text alone. This higher bandwidth makes a significant difference in our ability to understand data, perceive trends, and visualize real or imaginary objects. By making communication more efficient, mixing technology makes possible greater productivity, higher quality and more precise results or products, and lower analysis and design costs.
Traditionally, video and graphics data, which are in digital format, are stored within two frame buffers, or memory storage areas. The graphics data is stored in one memory area, while the video data is stored in another memory area. Both sets of data are accessed and converted to an analog signal. These analog signals are then mixed, on a pixel by pixel basis, and sent to a display station.
This method of mixing video and graphics data is referred to as a "video overlay," i.e., the video data is overlaid on top of the graphics data. There are three traditional methods for accomplishing this.
One method teaches that within the graphics environment, a particular color is defined to be an overlay color. In other words, by designating a particular color as the overlay or transparent color, the implementation of the method treats all instances of that color as transparent, i.e., wherever that color appears within the graphics data, video data will be seen to show through. This method of mixing video with graphics is well-known as the "Overlay Key Color Method." A second method of mixing video data with graphics data is to actually create a rectangular window, and utilize the window to create a window-within-a-window image. This method is now available in many television sets, as the "picture-within-the-picture," the difference being that in such an implementation two video signals are being mixed, as opposed to video and graphics signals. With this method, the graphics data provides the background, while the video data is mapped to the rectangular window area. This creates the appearance that the video data is on top of the graphics data. This is known as the "X-Y Window" method of mixing video and graphics data.
The last method utilizes a system for "tagging" a stream of video data. The video data is evaluated and a search is conducted for a particular color or range of colors, each piece of data having such a range is then chroma key color tagged. Later, when the video is mixed with the graphics data, the video is projected on top of the graphics, and each chroma-key color tagged piece of data is treated as either opaque or transparent. The piece of data which was not tagged is therefore treated in a complemented manner. This is known as the "Video Chroma Key Tag" method of mixing video and graphics data.
Each of the three above methods is hardware dependent. As such, only one method may be implemented within one computer at a particular time. This limits the user to that specific implementation.
Thus, a user wishing to implement the Video Chroma Key Tag Method on a computer in which one of the other two methods exists is required to physically remove the hardware supporting the present method and insert the Video Chroma Key Tag hardware in its place.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a means by which to switch dynamically among the various graphics and video mixing methods which is both efficient and accurate.
There exists a further need in the art for a means by which to switch among the various graphics and video mixing methods which is hardware independent.
There exists still a further need in the art for a means by which to switch among the various graphics and video mixing methods which can operate in real-time.
There exists still a further need in the art for a means by which to utilize the various graphics and video mixing methods such that they interact and cooperate with each other to coexist simultaneously upon a single display device.

System and method for the mixing of graphics and video signals


A kit containing at least one cleaning article and a package therefor. The cleaning article has a layer of tow fibers and a layer of sheet material, joined together in a layered construction. The cleaning article is compressed as contained in the package and releases as dispensed to ambient pressure. Such release aids in fluffing of the cleaning article, improving cleaning performance.

Various cleaning articles have been created for dusting and light cleaning. For example, cloth rags and paper towels used dry or wetted with polishing and cleaning compositions have been used on relatively flat surfaces. But, rags and paper towels are problematic for reasons such as hygiene (the user's hand may touch chemicals, dirt or the surface during cleaning), reach (it may be difficult to insert the user's hand with the rag or paper towel into hard-to-reach places) and inconvenience (cleaning between closely-spaced articles typically requires moving the articles).
To overcome the problems associated with using rags and paper towels, various dust gathering devices having feathers, lamb's wool, and synthetic fiber brushes have been utilized for more than a century, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 823,725 issued in 1906 to Hayden. Such dust gathering devices can be expensive to manufacture, and as such are designed to be cleaned and reused. One problem associated with a reusable dust gathering device is that such dust gathering devices may not hold or trap dust very well. Soiled, reusable devices are typically cleaned via shaking or through other mechanical agitation. This process is not entirely satisfactory as it requires an extra step during, interrupting and/or following the cleaning process. Furthermore, the attempted restoration of the device may not be successful, allowing redeposition of the previously collected dust.
To address the problems experienced with reusable dust gathering devices, disposable cleaning articles have been developed which have limited re-usability. The cleaning article may be used for one job (several square meters of surface) and discarded as being disposable, or may be restored and re-used for more jobs, then discarded. Traditional cleaning articles including feather dusters, cloths, string mops, strip mops and the like, are not disposable for purposes of this invention.
These disposable cleaning articles may include brush portions made of synthetic fiber bundles, called tow fibers, attached to a sheet as shown in Publication 2010/0319152. The tow fibers and sheets in such articles may be bonded together as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,578; U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,671; U.S. Pat. No. 7,779,502; U.S. Pat. No. 7,788,759; U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,797; U.S. Pat. No. 8,186,001 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,349. Or the tow fibers may be attached to a plate as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,787. The cleaning articles may be manufactured using the processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,743,392 and/or 7,003,856.
Such cleaning articles may be made, for example, according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,813,801; 6,968,591; 6,984,615; 7,228,587; 7,231,685; 7,234,193; 7,234,914; 7,237,296; 7,237,297; 7,243,391; 7302729; 7,302,730; and/or 7,334,287 (having a common related application). The patents in this linage have a common feature—strips laterally extending from both sides of a generally planar article. U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,784 teaches strips extending not only from both sides of the article, but also from the front. Other geometries include U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,671 which does not use laterally extending strips but cleans only from one side of the implement and U.S. Pat. No. 7,251,851 which teaches a duster having a spiral configuration when disposed on the handle. Dusters which advantageously do not require gather strips are shown in commonly assigned publications: 2013/0232710A1, having differential overhang between the sheet and fibers; 2013/0232711A1, having a sheet with apertures; 2013/0232714A1, having an elastically contracted sheet; and 2013/0232706A1, having an elastically contracted upstanding panel, all filed Mar. 9, 2012. Optionally the cleaning article 10 may further comprise a non-planar structure, as disclosed in commonly assigned US publication 2011/0131746A1, filed Dec. 4, 2009 or wetting as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,803,726.
All such cleaning articles are typically packaged in a flat state. A plurality of these articles may be stacked together in a common cardboard box. Such stacking increases the planarity of these articles conserving packaging and handling costs, but potentially leading to diminished cleaning performance.
To get optimum performance, a user should pre-fluff the cleaning article prior to use. Fluffing, as defined herein, is the process of increasing the apparent volume of the cleaning article. The volume may be increased if the tow fibers and optionally any sheet layers extend out of the plane. In a particular embodiment, the tow fibers extend radially outwardly approximately 360 degrees from the longitudinal axis. A desirably fluffed cleaning article has no, or only minimal, apparent planarity.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,402 teaches the importance of fluffing, but relies upon unusual and complex manufacturing to achieve the fluffing. But this attempt does not provide fluffing without extraneous steps by the manufacturer or user.
Even with instructions, many users simply do not correctly perform the fluffing step. Some users do not read the instructions and entirely skip this step. Fluffing can be frustrated if the gather strips are partially joined together due to improper cutting during manufacture, making the fluffing insufficient or more difficult. The user may tire of the fluffing steps and not fully complete this process. Accordingly, a system which fluffs but does not require extra steps by the user is needed.
Thus, there is a need for a cleaning article which does not require the user to perform a separate, but optional, fluffing step at the point of use. Such cleaning article may be fluffed during dispensing and provide ready-to-use performance without the need for a separate fluffing step.


Systems and methods for providing a dynamically adjustable, synchronously and/or asynchronously reciprocating fluid dispenser. A pump drive motor is coupled to the reciprocating fluid pump to actuate a pump shaft within a pump cylinder, wherein the pump shaft includes a duct that allows fluid to selectively pass thereby within the pump cylinder. As the pump shaft rotates within the pump cylinder, fluid is allowed to enter into a pump bore defined by a portion of the pump cylinder through a pump ingress port. As the pump shaft rotates, it blocks the pump ingress port. Further rotation allows the duct to allow the fluid in the pump bore to be dispensed through a pump egress port. An adjustment motor is coupled to an adjustment mechanism, which selectively adjusts the volume of the pump bore. A controller is coupled to the adjustment motor to dynamically control the adjustment motor, to cause the adjustment mechanism to be precisely and repeatably modified, and/or to control the particular waveform. As such, the volume of fluid dispensed is extremely accurate, repeatable, and dynamic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accurately and repeatably dispensing fluid. In particular, the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing a dynamically adjustable, synchronously and/or asynchronously reciprocating fluid dispenser.
2. Background and Related Art
A variety of industries require a safe, accurate handling of fluid. One such industry is the medical industry. By way of example, in the medical industry an assay testing procedure is typically employed to determine whether an infectious disease (e.g., hepatitis or another infectious disease) is present in a particular blood serum. As part of the testing procedure, a biological sample is disposed into a testing receptacle. A reagent is added to the biological sample. In performing the test, it is important that the amount of the biological sample and the amount of the reagent are accurate. In particular, the amount of the reagent added to the biological sample may be in the range of 50 μL-100 μL, with a required accuracy of ±0.5 μL.
The assay testing procedure may further include a variety of separate test receptacles to perform a variety of assay tests to confirm and/or compare results. Some assay testing procedures may include disposing a series of specific reagents.
Valveless, positive displacement pumps have been used in applications that require a safe, accurate handling of fluid. An example of a valveless, positive displacement pump is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,003. While the pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,003 is an available technique, the pump does not provide an accurate calibration for metering and dispensing fluids. For example, the piston stroke of the pump is not easily adjusted and the angular displacement of the ports cannot be readily calibrated.
Further problems with techniques used in industries that require a safe, accurate handling of fluid include the fact that complex pump designs increase the likelihood for error in manufacturing and assembling the pumps. And, pump designs with moving parts contribute to field failure and maintenance costs.
Thus, while techniques currently exist that are used in industries requiring a safe, accurate handling of fluid, challenges still exist with such techniques, including a requirement for calibration of the fluid-handling device for each surrounding condition, an inability to provide accurate calibration, an increased likelihood for error, an increased likelihood for field failure, increased maintenance costs, and other such challenges. Accordingly, it would be an improvement in the art to augment or even replace current techniques with other techniques.

Systems and methods for providing a dynamically adjustable reciprocating fluid dispenser


Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods associated with lightweight docking stations for one or more micromobility transit vehicles. The docking station may include one or more racks configured to dock micromobility transit vehicles, a lock hole in a rack plate of the one or more racks, and a base. The lock hole may be configured to align with a respective locking device of each of the one or more micromobility transit vehicles. The base may be configured to elevate the one or more micromobility transit vehicles to align the respective locking device with the lock hole. A method may include identifying at least one rack from the one or more racks is available for docking the one or more micromobility transit vehicles and communicating with a mobile computing device to display an indication of the at least one rack available for docking the one or more micromobility transit vehicles.

Parking (or docking) stations for micromobility vehicles for hire (e.g., shared scooters, sit-scooters, bicycles, etc.) are robust and represent a significant investment for a ridesharing company. These and other considerations limit the amount of parking stations that can be placed within a municipality or region. Legacy parking stations may also need to be updated with new or updated technology and/or features. At times, legacy parking stations go "offline" due to many factors, including loss of signal, disconnection from a central server, a dead battery, and dock mismatch, among others. In such situations, a rider may not be able to end their ride for hire at an offline station, leading to the rider being "stuck in ride" and not being able to take a subsequent ridesharing ride. In addition, a potential rider may approach an offline station and become frustrated with not being able to unlock and/or remove a micromobility vehicle for hire. Also, private micromobility vehicles are often locked to private parking stations owned by the ridesharing company, overcrowding the parking stations and sometimes preventing a rider from properly parking/locking a micromobility vehicle for hire at the parking stations.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for a lightweight docking station that addresses the deficiencies noted above, other deficiencies known in the industry, or at least offers an alternative to current techniques. For example, improvements are needed to identify and notify ridesharing users of offline docking stations, reserve or rent micromobility vehicles only from online docking stations, navigate ridesharing users to only online docking stations, limit the vehicles that can be parked/locked at the docking stations, and the like.

Lightweight docking station for micromobility transit vehicles systems and methods


High pressure synthesis of various crystals such as diamond, cBN and the like can be carried out using reaction assemblies suitable for use in methods such as temperature gradient methods. The reaction assembly can be oriented substantially perpendicular to gravity during application of high pressure. Orienting the reaction assembly in this manner can avoid detrimental effects of gravity on the molten catalyst, e.g., convection, hence increasing available volumes for growing high quality crystals. Multiple reaction assemblies can be oriented in series or parallel, each reaction assembly having one or more growth cells suitable for growth of high quality crystals. Additionally, various high pressure apparatuses can be used. A split die design allows for particularly effective results and control of temperature and growth conditions for individual crystals.

Apparatuses for achieving high pressures have been known for over a half century. Typical ultrahigh pressure apparatuses include piston-cylinder presses, cubic presses, tetrahedral presses, belt presses, girdle presses, and the like. Several of these apparatuses are capable of achieving ultrahigh pressures from about 4 GPa to about 7 GPa.
High pressure apparatuses are commonly used to synthesize diamond and cubic boron nitride (cBN). Generally, source materials and other raw materials can be selected and assembled into a high pressure assembly which is then placed in the high pressure apparatus. Under high pressure, and typically high temperature, the raw materials combine to form the desired product. More specifically, graphite, non-diamond carbon or even diamond can be used as a source material in diamond synthesis, while hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) can be used in cBN synthesis. The raw material can then be mixed or contacted with a catalyst material. Diamond synthesis catalysts such as Fe, Ni, Co, and alloys thereof are commonly used. Alkalis, alkaline earth metals, or compounds of these materials can be used as the catalyst material in cBN synthesis. The raw material and catalyst material can then be placed in a high pressure apparatus wherein the pressure is raised to an ultrahigh pressure, e.g., 5.5 GPa. An electrical current can then be passed through either a graphite heating tube or graphite directly. This resistive heating of the catalyst material is sufficient to cause melting of the catalyst material, e.g., typically about 1300° C. for diamond synthesis and about 1500° C. for cBN synthesis. Under such conditions, the source material can dissolve into the catalyst and then precipitate out in a crystalline form as either diamond or cBN.
Typically, either an isothermal method or temperature gradient method is used to synthesize diamond. Each method takes advantage of the solubility of carbon under various conditions, e.g., temperature, pressure, and concentrations of materials. The isothermal method involves use of a carbon source material, metal catalyst, and sometimes a diamond seed. The carbon source is most frequently graphite or other forms of carbon material. Under high pressures and high temperatures, graphite is much more soluble in molten catalyst than diamond. Therefore, graphite tends to dissolve or disperse into the molten catalyst, or create a colloidal suspension therewith, up to the saturation point. Excess carbon can then precipitate out as diamond. Typically, a diamond seed can be surrounded by a thin envelope of molten catalyst, e.g., Fe, Ni, Co, and their alloys. In this case, the carbon can dissolve into and diffuse across the molten catalyst envelope toward the diamond seed of a diamond nucleus. Due to the presence of a thin molten catalyst layer, this type of isothermal process is also often referred to as a thin film process.
In contrast, the temperature gradient method involves maintaining a temperature gradient between a carbon source and the diamond seeds which are separated by a relatively thick layer of molten catalyst. The carbon source is kept at a relatively higher temperature than the diamond seed. As such, the carbon is more soluble in the hotter regions. The carbon then diffuses toward the cooler region where the diamond seed is located. The solubility of carbon is reduced in the cooler regions, thus allowing carbon to precipitate as diamond at the diamond seed. Typically, the molten catalyst layer is relatively thick in order to maintain a sufficient temperature gradient, e.g., 20° C. to 50° C., and is therefore also often referred to as a thick film process.
Unfortunately, currently known high pressure crystal synthesis methods have several drawbacks which limit their ability to produce large, high-quality crystals. For example, isothermal processes are generally limited to production of smaller crystals useful as superabrasives in cutting, abrading, and polishing applications. Temperature gradient processes can be used to produce larger diamonds; however, production capacity and quality are limited. Several methods have attempted to overcome these limitations. Some methods incorporate multiple diamond seeds; however, a temperature gradient among the seeds prevents achieving optimal growth conditions at more than one seed. Some methods involve providing two or more temperature gradient reaction assemblies such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,817. Unfortunately, high quality diamond is typically produced only in the lower portions of these reaction assemblies. Some of these methods involve adjusting the temperature gradient to compensate for some of these limitations. However, such methods involve additional expense and variables in order to control growth rates and diamond quality simultaneously over different temperatures and growth materials.
Therefore, apparatuses and methods which overcome the above difficulties would be a significant advancement in the area of high pressure crystal growth.

High pressure crystal growth apparatuses and associated methods


The instant application is directed towards methods for removing sulfide from a wastewater stream. The pH of the wastewater stream is adjusted to between 7.0 and 8.0. A first oxidizing agent is mixed with the wastewater stream, oxidizing the sulfide to elemental sulfur. The wastewater stream is then softened by mixing lime with the wastewater stream. The addition of lime further raises the pH of the wastewater stream to 10.0 or higher, and converts the elemental sulfur to soluble sulfide (S2-) and/or thio-sulfate. Calcium carbonate is precipitated and sulfide (S2-) and/or thio-sulfate is adsorbed thereon. Thereafter, the wastewater stream is directed to a solids-liquid separation process, which separates the calcium carbonate and adsorbed sulfide (S2-) and/or thio-sulfate from the wastewater stream. The solids-liquid separator produces an effluent that includes residual elemental sulfur. The effluent is then mixed with a second oxidizing agent, which oxidizes the residual elemental sulfur to sulfate, producing a treated effluent.

Natural and industrial processes produce sulfide in the environment. Sulfide found in the nature is primarily produced by biological process under anaerobic conditions and exists as free hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at pH below 7.0. Under alkaline condition, it exists as bisulfide (HS−)/sulfide (S2−) ions. Biogenic H2S is encountered in groundwater, swamp and marshes, sewage, natural gas deposit, etc. Sources of sulfide in wastewater from industry include coal processing, oil and gas refining, and metals and mining operations. From aesthetic, health, ecological, and industrial view points, sulfide containing water must be treated carefully prior to discharge. Furthermore, with the increasing interest in water reuse, membrane (NF/RO) processes are becoming very popular. Elemental sulfur produced from sulfide is a potential threat for membrane fouling. In order to protect membrane, sulfide must be reduced to a very low level (preferably to non-detect), prior to the membrane process.
Several sulfide treatment alternatives including stripping, oxidation with chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, permanganate; chemical precipitation, adsorption, and biological processes are available. Each process has a niche guided by the water quality, flow, process objectives, and applicability. Because of convenience, process reliability, and flexibility, chemical oxidation with hydrogen peroxide is becoming popular. However, in order for complete oxidation of sulfide to sulfate, a high dosage of hydrogen peroxide is required, which often makes the process economically unfavorable. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved cost effective method which would oxidize sulfide to sulfate without generating any elemental sulfur.

Process for reduction of sulfide from water and wastewater

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support


The present invention describes a backlight module that includes a lamp, a diffuser, an optical film and a liquid crystal display panel installed in sequence between a reflective mask and a diffuser, and the reflective mask has a light transmission window at the bottom, and the light transmission window includes a dimmer, an optical film and a sub liquid crystal display panel installed in sequence outside the light transmission window, so that a light is evenly emitted from the upper and lower liquid crystal display panels and sub liquid crystal display panels. The invention not only simultaneously displays screens, but also improves the light application rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved backlight module, more particularly to a double-sided backlight module that provides a single light source for simultaneously displaying screens on both upper and lower liquid crystal display panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a cross-sectional view of a backlight module of a general liquid crystal display panel according to a prior art is illustrated. An assembly of a whole backlight module comprises a reflective mask 1, a light source, a diffuser 2, an optical film 3, and a liquid crystal display panel 4 installed outwardly in sequence; wherein the light source could be a linear, a U-shaped or other continuously bent lamp 5 installed between the reflective mask 1 and the diffuser 2 with an appropriate distance apart. The display effect of the liquid crystal module depends on the light emitted by each lamp 5, and the diffuser 2 and the optical film 3 provide a function of diffusing the passing light to improve the bright and dark band areas occurred on the liquid crystal display panel at the position facing each lamp, where no light is produced.
However, the light of the lamp 5 is diffused in all directions. Since the liquid crystal display panel 4 is located only at one side of the backlight module, therefore the light diffused towards the backside of the lamp can be reflected by the reflective mask 1, and the light can be diffused from the liquid crystal module to achieve the display effect. Such arrangement loses part of the light when reflecting the light of the light source, and thus lowering the light application rate and only providing a single-sided display function, which has not fully used the light.


An ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer satisfying the following formula (1), wherein peak intensities, determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, of vibrations derived from a —CF2H group, a —CF2CH2COF group, a —COF group, a —COOH group, a dimer of a —CF2COOH group and a monomer of a CF2CH2COOH group, a —COOCH3 group, a —CONH2 group, and a —CH2OH group satisfy the following formula (2):75≤tan δ(60)/tan δ(5)×100≤225  (1)PIA/(PIB+PIC+PID+PIE+PIF+PIG+PIH)≥0.60  (2)                wherein tan δ(60), tan δ(5), PIA, PIB, PIC, PID, PIE, PIF, PIG and PIH are as defined in the specification. Also disclosed is a molded article obtained by molding the ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer and an electric wire including a core and a coat formed from the ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer.

Ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymers (ETFE) have excellent properties such as heat resistance, weather resistance, electric insulation, and non-stickiness, and have better moldability and mechanical strength among fluororesins. Thus, ETFE is processed by a melt-molding technique into a wide variety of molded articles such as coated electric wires, tubes, sheets, and films, and is subjected to a variety of studies.
For example, Patent Literature 1 aims to produce a molded article excellent in heat resistance and stress-crack resistance with good productivity and discloses a fluorine-containing copolymer composition containing ETFE having a specific monomer composition ratio and a specific amount of copper oxide.
Patent Literature 2 aims to achieve excellent heat resistance and improved crack resistance at high temperatures and discloses an ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer containing a repeating unit derived from ethylene, a repeating unit derived from tetrafluoroethylene, and a repeating unit derived from a specific fluorovinyl compound.
Patent Literature 3 aims to provide a copolymer that generates no bubbles due to volatile components during molding and discloses a method for stabilizing a tetrafluoroethylene copolymer including bringing a tetrafluoroethylene copolymer produced by polymerization using peroxydicarbonate as a polymerization initiator into contact with ammonia or an ammonium salt of weak acid after the polymerization.
Patent Literature 4 discloses an ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer containing copolymerized units of ethylene, tetrafluoroethylene, and a fluorine-containing vinyl monomer represented by the following formula:CH2═CH—Rf
(wherein Rf is a C4 or higher perfluoroalkyl group), wherein the fluorine-containing vinyl monomer is contained in an amount of 0.8 to 2.5 mol % of the sum of all monomers, and the copolymer has an ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene mole ratio of 33.0/67.0 to 44.0/56.0, a CH index of 1.40 or lower, a melting point of 230° C. or higher, and a melt flow rate of 40 (g/10 min) or lower.


An audio signal analyzer and encoder is based on a model that considers audio signals to be composed of deterministic or sinusoidal components, transient components representing the onset of notes or other events in an audio signal, and stochastic components. Deterministic components are represented as a series of overlapping sinusoidal waveforms. To generate the deterministic components, the input signal is divided into a set of frequency bands by a multi-complementary filter bank. The frequency band signals are oversampled so as to suppress cross-band aliasing energy in each band. Each frequency band is analyzed and encoded as a set of spectral components using a windowing time frame whose length is inversely proportional to the frequency range in that band. Low frequency bands are encoded using longer time frames than higher frequency bands. Transient components are represented by parameters denoting sinusoidal shaped waveforms produced when the transient components are transformed into a real valued frequency domain waveform. Stochastic or noise components are represented as a series of spectral envelopes. The parameters representing the three signal components compose a stream of compressed encoded audio data that can be further compressed so as to meet a specified transmission bandwidth limit by the deleting the least significant bits of quantized parameter values, reducing the update rates of parameters, and/or deleting the parameters used to encode higher frequency bands until the bandwidth of the compressed audio data meets the bandwidth requirement. Signal quality degrades in a graduated manner with successive reductions in the transmitted data rate.

It is a basic premise of audio signal encoding techniques that if one has a perfect model of the instrument or device that is creating a sound, then the amount of data required to encode the sound will be very small, resulting in very high data compression ratios. For instance, to record a piano (or any other instrument) playing a single note, such as middle C, using full compact disk (CD) recording techniques (e.g., 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per sample), results in a huge amount of information per second (e.g., 705.6 kbps or 88,200 bytes per second). However, if it is known that the sound being recorded emanates from a piano and both the sound analysis system that is recording the sound, and the receiving systems that will reproduce the recorded sound, have perfect models of the piano, then the only data required will be the data required to indicate the note being played (1 byte is more than sufficient to which of the 88 notes on a piano), and the note's amplitude (perhaps 1 additional byte), plus data sufficient to identify the beginning and ending of the playing of that note. (This is equivalent to the data on a printed page of music.) In a simple data recording system using a piano model, data identifying the piano note being played can be recorded once every sample period, where a typical sample period would be 10 or 20 milliseconds, resulting a data recording rate of 100 to 200 bytes per second. Obviously a data rate of 200 bytes per second represents a great deal of data compression from the full 88,200 bytes per second rate, and in fact indicates a compression ratio of 441 to 1. In more realistic, real world audio analysis and recording systems, compression ratios of 10 to 1 or so are generally considered to be very good.
As presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,509, the use of sinusoidal modeling for speech and audio signals is well established. In audio signal analysis and recording systems using sinusoidal modeling, an audio signal is analyzed each sample period to determine the sinusoidal signal components of the signal during that sample period. For example, the sinusoidal components will often be a fundamental frequency component and a set of harmonics. Any portion of the signal not easily represented as sinusoidal components is typically represented as stochastic noise through the use of noise envelope parameters.
However, actual applications of sinusoidal modeling have been generally limited to single-speaker speech and single-instrument (monophonic) audio. More recently, there have been various attempts to perform sinusoidal modeling on wideband, polyphonic (or multisource) audio signals for the purposes of data compression. The present invention provides an improved audio signal analysis and representation method that provides significant benefits and better compression than the prior systems known to the inventors.
In traditional sinusoidal analysis methods, the input audio signal is first broken into uniformly sized segments (e.g., 5 to 50 millisecond segments), and then processed through one or several fast Fourier transforms (FFT) to determine the primary frequency components of the signal being processed. The process of breaking the input sound into segments is referred to in the literature as "windowing", or multiplying the input digital audio with a finite-length window function. Once the spectral peaks have been identified, parameters (such as frequency, amplitude, and phase) for each spectral component are determined, quantized and then stored or transmitted. This method works well if the input is a monophonic source, and the traditional analysis methods can determine what the single fundamental frequency happens to be.
In the case of general audio signal compression, there can be any number of audio sources (polyphonic) and thus multiple fundamental pitches. It is well known that the traditional methods of windowing and frequency component identification give poor results on wideband audio signals.
The present invention is premised on the theory that the aforementioned poor results are caused primarily by two problems: 1) a fundamental tradeoff between time resolution and frequency resolution, and 2) failure to accurately model the onset of each note or other audio event. The present invention also addresses the failure of prior art systems to provide graceful degredation of signal quality as the data transmisison bandwidth is gradually decreased and/or as an increasing fraction of the transmitted data is lost during transmission.
The tradeoff between time resolution and frequency resolution manifests itself in the following scenario. If signal analysis procedure is designed to have very good pitch resolution, say, .+-.5 Hz, which may be necessary for resolving bass notes, then the corresponding window will have to be about 200 milliseconds long. As a result, the analysis procedure will have very good pitch resolution, but the time resolution (i.e., the determination of the temporal onset and termination of each fequency component) will be very poor. Any time a partial begins (a new frequency track), its attack will be smeared across the entire window of 200 milliseconds. This makes the attack dull, and gives rise to a problem called "pre-echo". When a receiving system synthesizes an audio signal based on the audio parameters generated while using wide windows, synthesized coding error noise (like smeared partial attacks) is heard before the actual attack begins, this is known as "pre-echo".
Another problem associated with prior art audio data encoders is that the compressed audio data produced by those encoders is not easily scaled down to lower data rates. Most high-quality wideband audio algorithms in use as of the end of 1996 (such as MPEG and AC-3) use perceptual transform coders. In these systems the digital audio is broken into frames (usually 5 to 50 milliseconds long), each frame is converted into spectral coefficients using a time-domain aliasing cancellation filter bank, and then the spectral coefficients are quantized according to a psychoacoustic model. The most recent version of these "transform-based" audio coders, known as MPEG2-AAC, can have very good compression results. A CD-quality sound signal having 44100 samples per second and 16 bits per sample, having 22 kHz bandwidth and a data rate of 705.6 kbps is compressed to a signal having a data rate of about 64 kbps/sec, which represents a compression ratio of 11:1.
While 11:1 is a very good compression ratio, transform coders have their limitations. First of all, if the available transmission data rate (i.e., between a server system on which the compressed audio data is stored and a client decoder system) drops below 64 kbps, the sound quality decreases dramatically. In order to compensate for this loss of quality, the original audio input must be band limited in order to reduce the data rate of the compressed signal. For example, instead of compressing all audible frequencies from 0-20000 Hz, the encoding system may need to lowpass filter any frequencies above 5500 Hz in order to compress the audio to fit in a 28.8 kbps transmission channel, which is the typical bandwidth available using the modems most frequently found on desktop computers in 1997.
Another limitation of the transform encoders are that the encoding technique is not scalable. On a computer network like the Internet, the actual bandwidth available to a user with a 28.8 kbps modem is not guaranteed to be 28.8 kbps. Sometimes, maybe, the user will actually received 28.8 kbps, but the actual available bandwidth can easily drop at various times to 18 kbps, 6 kbps, or anywhere in between. If a transform coder compresses audio to generate encoded data having a data rate of 28.8 kbps, and the data rate suddenly drops to only 20 kbps, the audio quality of the sounds produced by client decoder systems will not gracefully degrade. Rather, the transform coder will produce silence, noise bursts, or poor time-domain interpolation. Clearly, it would be highly desirable for the quality of the sounds synthesized by client decoders to degrade gracefully as the available bandwidth decreases and when random data packets are dropped or lost during transmission. Gracefully degradation means that the listener will not hear silence or noise, but rather a gradual decrease in perceptual quality.

System and method for multiresolution scalable audio signal encoding

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A method for processing a document that includes a plurality of fields having respective contents. The method includes providing labels to be assigned respectively to the fields and one or more rules applicable to the contents of the fields according to the labels assigned thereto. A computer reads the contents of the fields, and assigns the labels to the fields responsive to application of the rules to the contents.

In many document imaging systems, large numbers of forms are scanned into a computer, which then processes the resultant document images to extract pertinent information. Typically the forms comprise preprinted templates, containing predefined fields that have been filled in by hand or with machine-printed characters. Before extracting the information that has been filled into any given form, the computer must first know which field is which. Only then can the computer process the information that the form contains. The same problem is encountered in form documents and tables that are entered into the computer electronically, when there are differences in format or semantics between different forms or tables.
In some applications, such as population censuses and tax processing systems, a variety of different forms are used. Usually a human operator is employed to identify the locations and contents of the fields on the forms and thus to label the fields for the computer. In some cases, when a large variety of form types is provided without prior sorting by type, it is necessary for the operator to preprocess nearly every document before it can be input to the computer. The involvement of the operator increases the cost of document processing substantially.

International Business Machines Corporation