A battery with a case with bottom, top and side walls and partitions forming first, last and at least one middle cells, each containing a group of positive and negative plates and electrolyte to a fill level, characterized by preformed unitary bottom and side walls and partitions having hermetically sealed surfaces and junctures, each cell floor forming positive and negative lead-containing wells in alignment with the wells of adjacent cells, and an intercell connector across each partition below the fill level and held in fluid-tight engagement with the case in position to electrically connect the lead in one well of a middle cell to the lead in a well of the adjacent cell. A method for manufacture of such battery.

Lead-acid storage batteries have long been an efficient and effective source of power for a variety of applications. From every indication it is clear that such batteries will continue in heavy use into the indefinite future. While much work has been done to develop nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-iron batteries, lithium, sodium-sulphur systems and other electrochemical storage systems, and other alternative power sources, lead-acid batteries remain and are likely to remain the best choice for strong reasons, including their relatively low cost.
The economy and dependability of lead-acid storage batteries makes such batteries practical for a vast number of applications, including stand-by power systems for communication and emergency lighting, automotive and truck-starting applications, electric vehicles, wheel chairs, uninterruptable computer power supplies, and systems for solar and wind power storage, to name just a few.
Lead-acid storage batteries present many problems and have many shortcomings which, despite decades of efforts, have not been overcome. Among these are the potential for explosions, the problem of human contact with lead including during manufacture, and low energy density problems.
Conventionally made lead-acid storage batteries are susceptible to explosions. The seriousness of the problem of potential battery explosions is expressed in an article in the May 1993 issue of Battery Man magazine, entitled "Valve Regulated Lead Acid Recombinant Batteries SLA," by John James, Eugene I. Aidman, Galina Aidman and Joseph A. Orsino, two paragraphs of which are as follows:
"[L]ead-acid batteries . . . are by their very nature gas producing systems. The gases produced, unfortunately, are predominantly hydrogen and oxygen in a ratio conducive to violent explosions if inadvertently subjected to flames or sparks, which are two indigenous environmental conditions. PA0 "No effort should be spared in the attempt to make the lead-acid battery a human and environmentally safe product. The many lawsuits in the courts today attest to the fact that, under unfortunate circumstances, the use of the lead-acid battery may injure people and produce untenable environmental damage."
Reliable government statistics indicate that there are over 6,000 injuries reported annually from battery explosions.
Conventional lead-acid storage batteries have intercell connections inside the battery just under the top wall. Such connections are typically made by welding an upstanding projection from a plate bridge of one cell to an upstanding projection from the plate bridge of the adjoining cell. The weld is through a hole in the battery container partition between cells. In a 12-volt post-style battery there are five such welds, while in side-terminal batteries there are seven. These welds are made above the top of the plates in the headspace of the battery where hydrogen and oxygen gases collect during the electro-chemical operation of the battery.
In addition to the intercell weldments, plate groups within each battery cell are welded to their respective plate bridge along the tops of the plates. Thus, there are a substantial number of welds within the battery.
Miswelds or broken welds at any of the weld locations are sources of electrical arcing within the headspace of the battery. Such internal arcing ignites the hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture in the headspace, causing accidental explosions.
The long-standing problem of battery explosions has remained unsolved.
It is well known that human exposure to lead should be minimized. Therefore, when use of lead is necessary or beneficial, it is well accepted that use of less lead is desirable because that implies less human exposure to lead at all stages of production and use--both of the raw material itself and of the lead-containing product. It is likewise desirable to minimize human exposure by the nature of product design and the nature of manufacturing methods.
In the field of lead-acid batteries, progress has been made in recent years in reducing the handling of lead and exposure to lead in battery production. For one thing, progress has been made in recovering, recycling and reusing lead used in the manufacture of storage batteries; 96.8% is recovered according to 1991 data available from The Battery Council International. Among the advances more directly related to battery production methods are mechanization of welding operations and reduction of lead dust in manufacturing facilities.
Despite recent progress, there is a continuing need for improvements to reduce the amount of lead used in lead-acid storage batteries, to further reduce or eliminate human contact with lead in battery production and, more generally, to further reduce human exposure and health concerns related to lead use in storage batteries.
Another consideration or shortcoming with respect to lead-acid batteries has been their substantial weight or, stated differently, an energy density which is relatively low because of the heavy weight of the battery. This shortcoming is a particular concern in applications in which the power supply must be mobile, such as electric-powered vehicles, where total vehicle weight is a factor determining and limiting vehicle range.
Everyone concedes or would concede that it is wasteful and environmentally unsound to use more lead than necessary in batteries. It is also known that long electrical paths increase the internal resistance of the battery and, as a result, decrease the its energy density. Certain limited progress has been made in recent years in shortening the electrical path from the battery cells to the external battery terminals. This has been done mainly with certain "through-the-partition" cell connectors and the use of external side terminals.
Yet there is a long-standing unsatisfied need in the field of lead-acid storage batteries for batteries which have a still shorter electrical path and which, in whatever way, are substantially lower in weight and higher in energy output than the conventional lead-acid storage batteries of recent years.
Certain of the above problems and shortcomings have been addressed in earlier work, including the disclosures of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,719. The device of such patent has lead-receiving cavities in its base which extend from one cell to an adjacent cell and provide electrical union. The case of such device has side walls and partitions which are unitary with the top wall, and this structure is essentially glued to the base by the insertion of epoxy over the lead and most of the base in position to join with the walls and partitions.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,719, while it does address certain problems, including the problem of potential explosions, has leakage potential because of its method of manufacture. Because of the construction of such device, heat sealing by ultrasonic welding, or other modern methods, is not easily done. Furthermore, its method of manufacture has too many steps, and is therefore potentially slow and costly. The invention was never used commercially.
Thus, the many problems noted above have remained unsolved. There is an important, long-standing need for improvement in lead-acid batteries.

Explosion-resistant storage battery and method of manufacture


A pile installation recording system for driven piles and auger cast piles. The recording system records a variety of parameter data received from sensing devices. The parameter data is stored, analyzed, and displayed to provide the operator with accurate and timely information regarding the pile installation. In addition, the parameter data may be stored on removable media, and further manipulated to generate a variety of reports regarding the pile installation.

Present construction techniques include foundations formed from deep routed support columns referred to as piles. Current pile technology falls into two basic types: (1) driven piles, which are pounded into the earth by a series of blows from an automated hammer; and (2) auger cast piles, which are formed by drilling into the earth with an auger and backfilling the resulting hole with concrete as the auger is withdrawn. It should be noted that driven piles are typically made of steel, timber, or concrete.
Larger equipment and higher design loads are often specified to minimize the number of piles and reduce project costs. Therefore, performance of each foundation element is more critical, requiring additional quality assurance for every element of a project. It is easily recognized that quality is involved in the success or failure of any project. Since projects built on deep foundations require that a support system be properly installed, failure of any component could result in the failure of the entire project regardless of how carefully the above ground structure is built. Individual inspection of driven or cast-in-situ piles is practically impossible after installation, and thus quality control during pile installation is of great importance. Accordingly, most construction codes specify proper recording of installation observations. Many companies require total quality management (TQM) for risk management to reduce legal liability.
In the past, manual visual observations of blow count or drilling progress, followed by static testing of a small sample of piles, were often the only available construction quality control methods. There are numerous drawbacks to a manual recording system. In this respect, manually recorded observations are only as reliable as the observer, and thus numerous errors were common. For instance, counting blows during pile driving is monotonous, and lack of concentration or interference with the inspector caused inadvertent errors in counting.
The accuracy of both blow count and/or pile penetration was frequently very poor when reference marks were inaccurately drawn on the pile. The blow count for pile driving was often recorded for relatively large increments (i.e., blows per 250 millimeters, or blows per foot), and the pile was driven farther than necessary to assure consistent blow count. If the equivalent blow count over a smaller interval (or several successive smaller intervals to assess consistency), could be reliably taken, then the accuracy and economy of the project could both be significantly improved.
Furthermore, the field records were often transcribed for legibility, potentially compounding errors, particularly when the original field records were difficult to read. In addition, the recorded data was subject to abuse by alterations. Moreover, manual recording is a labor intensive process, and therefore expensive.
Static loading tests are performed on a small number of piles to at least twice the design load in order to prove the foundation design. Because of the high cost of failure, test piles are often purposefully driven harder or farther than necessary. As a result, proof tests usually pass easily, with the actual safety factors being higher than required. Production piles then use the same very conservative criteria, resulting in higher than necessary costs. In numerous cases the static tests are avoided due to high costs, unwanted construction delays, or because they are practically impossible for piles in deep water. While extra care is generally given in driving a test pile, production piles are often installed with less care, and thus may not achieve the same quality.
Current manual inspection reports often provide incomplete information and/or contain errors due to fast hammer speed, high number of blows and the monotonous nature of the task. Since errors are unacceptable, it is desirable to record the installation both automatically and accurately. Moreover, other important observations often neglected include actual hammer performance, pile inclination angle, start-interruption and/or end of driving times, pile cushion change, section length, and the like. Accordingly, there is a need for a pile installation recording system for driven piles, which automatically and accurately acquires data, and which provides accurate and comprehensive installation reports.
In the case of auger cast piles, there has been a reluctance to increase loads due to cross section uncertainties. In this respect, auger cast pile quality is very dependent upon the skill of the installation crew. If the continuous flight auger (CFA) is withdrawn too rapidly, the concrete volume will be reduced and the structural strength of the shaft may be insufficient. For auger cast piles, manual inspection is extremely difficult and therefore either minimal or even totally lacking. Determination of concrete volume can be perhaps made by counting cycles of the grout pump and calibrating the volume of each cycle. Even if this is accomplished the task must be coordinated with the auger withdrawal rate and this complexity means it is an almost impossible task to determine with any reasonable accuracy the volume pumped per unit depth. The shaft quality is totally dependent upon the skill of the contractor. The volume precision is insufficient for smaller diameter shafts. The "counting" is easily abused and the resulting manual inspection is usually at best a wild guess and not considered reliable by the engineer responsible for the project. In many cases, high safety factors are assigned to reduce this risk, making auger cast piles uneconomic. Accordingly, there is a need for a pile installation recording system for auger cast piles, which automatically and accurately acquires data for every auger cast pile during installation, and which provides accurate and comprehensive installation reports. This will increase the specifying engineer's confidence in the integrity of auger cast piles. As a result, auger cast piles will be more cost effective and more widely accepted at various project sites.
The present invention addresses the drawbacks of prior art manual recording methods, and provides significant improvements to existing electronic pile installation recording systems.


Scavenging chemicals used in mitigation treatments of hydrogen sulfide in hydrocarbon streams often continue to react and form polymers that foul the processing system. Disclosed herein are methods for determining if a scavenging chemical mitigator, or its reaction or degradation product, will polymerized during or after mitigation treatments. This information allows for the optimization of mitigation treatments that pre-emptively control or prevent polymer formation. Such pre-emption measures reduce the cost and time related to remedial actions to treat polymer-fouled equipment.

Hydrocarbon fluids and gases often contain a variety of sulfur compounds. When sulfur is present in concentrations of 1 percent or more by weight, the hydrocarbon is characterized as "sour," whereas concentrations of 0.5 percent or less are "sweet" hydrocarbons. It is well known that sulfur compounds contained in hydrocarbon streams are corrosive and damaging to metal equipment, particularly copper and copper alloys. Sulfur has shown a particularly corrosive effect on equipment such as brass valves, gauges and in-tank fuel pump copper commutators.
One such destructive sulfur compound is hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic, corrosive gas produced through the breaking down of organic sulfur compounds by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRBs). Once hydrogen sulfide is detected in a hydrocarbon stream, it is necessary to mitigate hydrogen sulfide's impacts and bring the hydrocarbon stream to the desired specifications. Unfortunately, hydrogen sulfide is not found in isolation, but together with methane, hydrogen and higher hydrocarbons, as well as traces of nitrogen-, oxygen-, calcium-, and metal-containing species, all of which complicate the selection of the most suitable hydrogen sulfide mitigation technique.
There are multiple biological, chemical, and mechanical/operational (physical) mitigation techniques from which to choose amongst, according to the hydrocarbon stream characteristics, hydrogen sulfide concentration, economic considerations, and other variables. Biological mitigation techniques focus on removing hydrogen sulfide from water in wastewater treatment plants, but have not been used for hydrocarbon streams.
Mechanical mitigation techniques include releasing hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere at wellheads, pumps, piping, separation devices, oil storage tanks, and water storage vessels. Flaring is also used to burn gases that would otherwise present a safety problem. It is common to flare natural gas that contains hydrogen sulfide to convert the hydrogen sulfide gas into less toxic compounds.
The oil and gas industry has previously utilized nitrogen stripping systems to remove the hydrogen sulfide. Nitrogen is an inert gas that prevents the flammable gases from igniting and thus eliminates the risk of explosion. Once the hydrogen sulfide has been separated from the gas, it can be converted to a waste product that can safely be disposed of or it can be used in the manufacturing of sulfur. However, it is difficult and costly to transport the liquid nitrogen that these stripping systems need. Thus, physically stripping hydrogen sulfide from hydrocarbon streams may not be cost effective.
Chemical mitigation techniques utilize additives to scavenge and absorb hydrogen sulfide. Caustic soda wash absorbs and removes small quantities of hydrogen sulfide from natural gas and refinery gases. Additionally, iron oxide, either fixed in an Iron Sponge or free flowing, is used to scavenge and remove hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans from natural gas.
Another class of scavengers are formaldehyde releasing chemicals called triazines. Triazines react with hydrogen sulfide to provide a substantially non-toxic compound or a compound which can be removed from the hydrocarbon. Currently, the most frequently used triazine hydrogen sulfide scavengers are hexahydrotriazines, including monoethanolamine (MEA) triazine and methylamine (MMA) triazine. These triazines are effective scavengers that are available at reasonable cost and are readily deployable in scrubbers or in a production train that can be physically located adjacent to hydrocarbon sources such as gas wells.
Though triazines are the most popular chemical mitigators, they do have some disadvantages. FIG. 1A displays the chemical reaction between MEA triazine and hydrogen sulfur. The triazine reacts with hydrogen sulfide, resulting in the release of an MEA 'arm'. Under extreme conditions that are not present at all hydrocarbon-containing reservoirs, the reaction is able to proceed until trithiane forms.
When the MEA triazine is spent to a high level, or when the reaction with hydrogen sulfide has proceeded very far along its pathway, the dithiazine reaction product exceeds its solubility in the aqueous medium and comes out of solution as a highly dense layer. Once formed, this dense liquid layer can undergo one of two outcomes. It may simply crystallize to the monomeric species in large cubic crystals, as has been isolated and observed in field fluids. Under certain conditions, however, dithiazine may undergo a secondary, polymerization reaction that involves opening of the dithiazine ring to form amorphous dithiazine, a highly insoluble polysulfide, per FIG. 1B.
Amorphous dithiazine deposits present a significant problem to the gas processing industry. The deposits can form blockages in gas processing equipment, storage tanks, truck tanks, and water disposal wells. Cleanup procedures are time consuming and difficult. Often, the equipment has to be taken off-line so the deposits can be manually chipped away. This makes cleaning up amorphous dithiazine deposits an expensive venture.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,920,568 discloses a method of treating the amorphous dithiazine buildup with a solution of hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide reacts with the amorphous dithiazine at temperatures between 65-70° C. and breaks apart the buildup for easy removal. Peroxides alone, however, are very aggressive to oil and gas assets, and cannot be used without the necessary additives designed to mitigate these negative effects. WO2018001604 teaches the use of an organic peroxide as an amorphous dithiazine dissolver, together with a selected corrosion inhibitor to avoid corrosion of oil field equipment. However, removal of the dithiazine deposits is still costly and time consuming even with these methods.
What is needed in the art is a simple and safe method for testing for conditions that lead to polymerization of chemical mitigators or their reaction products such that steps can be taken to prevent the formation of polymer deposits and/or such steps optimized. If amorphous dithiazine, or other polymers with solubility problems, do not form, there is no need to take remedial action. Ideally, this method is reliable with a high throughput to quickly screen various conditions, components, or compositions in the ongoing mitigation of hydrogen sulfide downstream, midstream or upstream.


There is provided a plasma torch in which a plasma arc emanating from an electrode in a torch body (1) is pinched in a torch nozzle (3) and is then flushed therefrom, characterized in that an axis of said torch nozzle (3) is deviated in position from with a center line of said torch body (1).

In a plasma cutting or welding process, especially where a workpiece or a pair of workpieces having a configuration in which the accessibility of a plasma torch thereto is poor, it has been necessary to employ a plasma torch having an elongated forward end.
If, however, such a plasma torch having an elongated forward end is employed, a problem has been encountered a large welding or cutting current a torch nozzle tends to be melted and damaged due to an insufficient cooling thereof. The required cooling effect does then become insufficient since it is unable to ensure a sufficient water coolant passage up to a point of the arc restraining region or the forward end of the said torch nozzle that tends to be elevated in temperature by an arc heat as well as by a radiation heat from the work due to the dimensional limitation of the said plasma torch.
In an attempt to meet with this problem, there has hitherto been proposed a modified plasma torch, as disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Sho 62-47630 or Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Sho 63-39347, that is designed to make its forward end flat, thereby enhancing its accessibility to a workpiece in two side directions, and at the same time to provide a cooling water passage around a torch nozzle, thereby enhancing the ability to cool the torch nozzle.
Such a plasma torch in the prior art has its forward end flat in horizontal cross sectional, approximately rectangular, configuration and its torch nozzle whose axis is located as coincident with a center line of its torch body. And, the said plasma torch has a cooling water feed passage and a cooling water return passage distributed at both sides of the said torch nozzle, the two passages being configured to communicate with each other at the forward end of the said torch nozzle so that said both sides and said forward end of the torch nozzle may be cooled.
There has also been proposed in the prior art a plasma torch of another configuration, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. Hei 1-60783, in which an electrode thereof is fitted and supported in an electrically conducting section of its torch body and a torch nozzle is disposed outside of this electrode via a spacer (constituted of a guide cylinder) of an insulating material. And, in it, the shortest gap section between the electrode and the torch nozzle is provided in the vicinity of an electrode forward end so that a dielectric breakdown due to a high frequency voltage which develops when a pilot arc is ignited may occur in the said shortest gap section (in the vicinity of the electrode forward end) while preventing an abnormal discharge which might otherwise be produced in any area other than the electrode forward end within the torch body.
Also, there has been a plasma torch of still another design in the prior art, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-379, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Sho 56-4351, which is provided with a cap that is attached to an electrical insulator mounted to surround the forward end of its torch body whereby a welding or a cutting operation is carried out while maintaining a standoff constant by holding the said cap in contact with a workpiece.
It may be noted that a conventional plasma torch of "flat" type as mentioned above has the advantage that the closeness of the outer surfaces of both sides in two directions of the thinner portion of its horizontal cross sectional configuration from the axis of the torch nozzle leads to a good accessibility to a workpiece at these both sides, which in turn leads to the ability to weld while displacing towards the thicker portion of the said cross sectional configuration. The plasma torch can even be inserted even into a groove section if the root faces of a groove edge butt section of thick plates are to be welded together. With this construction, however, it should be noted that since the accessibility to the workpiece is only good at the both sides of the said thinner portion of the cross sectional configuration, applicable workpieces are limited; furthermore, if the plasma torch furthermore if mounted on a robot, and a rectilinear welding operation is to be performed there will be a number of singular points generated which are impractical in a posture of the robot. Hence, there arises a limited flexibility. Furthermore, there arise the problems that such a plasma torch in the prior art, with the torch nozzle as a consumable part being of a flat configuration, may make an entire machining process for a given purpose complicated, may require a brazing step, thus making the process highly expensive, and will necessarily make a running cost hereof prohibitively high.
Also, in a plasma torch in the prior art of the type mentioned above the shortest gap section between the electrode and the torch nozzle is located in the vicinity of the electrode forward end, and is designed to dispose an outer torch nozzle around the electrode forward end via a guide that is composed of an insulating material. Further, such a plasma torch is designed to dispose, in the vicinity of the electrode forward end, the shortest gap section between the electrode and the torch nozzle so that a dielectric breakdown with a high frequency voltage that develops when a pilot arc is ignited may occur in the said shortest gap section (in the vicinity of the electrode forward end), thereby preventing a discharge (abnormal discharge) that might otherwise occur in an area other than the electrode forward end. However, since there should naturally be a space (gap) produced between the said guide (of an insulating material) and the torch body, especially if the said guide is leaked with a water coolant or in the like situation, the problems arise that when the pilot arc is generated, a so-called creeping discharge will be generated over the guide surface. Thus, a discharge (abnormal discharge) will develop between an area other than the electrode forward end and the torch nozzle to the extent that the torch nozzle may be burnt or otherwise damaged.
Alternatively, another plasma torch in the prior art in which the torch body has a cap attached to its forward end, has said cap attached to the electrical insulator mounted around the forward end of the torch body and is designed to carry out a welding or a cutting operation while maintaining a standoff constant by holding the said cap in contact with a workpiece. This enables an arc length to be held constant and the cutting or welding quality to be stabilized. Also, if this is used in welding, it has been noted that especially in an arc spot welding process, since a welding spot can be covered with the cap attached to the forward end, there ensues an enhanced shielding effect so that such a welding spot may remain unoxidized. With any of these plasma torches, however, since the forward end cap is directly in contact with a workpiece, certain problems are not avoidable. Thus, due to a heat conduction from the workpiece or by receiving a radiation heat from the arc, the cap tends to be melted and deformed. This results in the inability to maintain the standoff constant and causes the torch itself to be melted and damaged. Also, in a plasma torch in which a plasma gas is swirled, the problem has been found to develop that depending on a particular shape of a gas venting hole provided, if a workpiece arc spot is shielded, an air may be entrapped into a chamber constituted by the torch body and the cap to oxidize arc spot or a flow of the gas in the chamber may be disturbed, thereby lowering welding quality.
The prevent invention has been made with the foregoing problems in consideration.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a plasma torch whereby where an electrode and a torch nozzle, especially the forward end of the torch nozzle and an arc restraining section or its vicinity that receives a radiation heat from an arc or a working zone, are enough cooled by a water coolant, the lengths from the axis of the torch nozzle in at most three directions are minimized, the accessibility to a workpiece in the said directions is predominantly enhanced while providing less costly. The electrode and the torch nozzle which are regarded as consumable parts and are readily machinable since they are arranged to be symmetrical to each other.
Also, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a plasma torch whereby a creeping discharge path of a guide surface within a torch body is blocked, thereby preventing the occurrence of an abnormal discharge within the torch and preventing the torch from being burnt and otherwise damaged.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a plasma torch which is capable of preventing a workpiece engaging or contacting cap attached to the forward end thereof from being melted and deformed by permitting it to be cooled by a water coolant in order to maintain a standoff constant, permits a workpiece arc illumination peripheral region to contact with the said cooled workpiece contacting cap and to be cooled thereby and, especially where a lap spot welding operation is to be performed, permits the diameter of a molten pool on the workpiece front side to be minimized so as to enhance the appearance quality of the welded workpiece, and further permits an arc illumination area to be shielded completely from the outer atmosphere while preventing a flow of the plasma gas from being disturbed so as to enhance the welding quality and stability.


A non-impact printhead having a plurality of driver IC chips and and a plurality of recording elements such as LEDs. Each driver IC chip includes a plurality of current-carrying channels that are operative for carrying current to respective recording elements on the printhead and a control for controlling operation of the driver. The control includes a circuit that provides a test circuit interface which includes (a) a test access port for input of update command signals and clock inputs to the test circuit; (b) a test data input terminal for inputting test data and control data into the chip; (c) a plurality of registers connected to the test data input terminal with at least one of the registers storing control data for controlling operation of the driver; (d) a test data output terminal for outputting test data and control data from the chip to an adjacent chip; and (e) a selector connected to the registers and the test data output terminal for selecting test and control data for output from the test data output terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-impact printer apparatus and method for recording and to circuitry thereon for controlling data and other signals flowing to a printhead forming part of the printer apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The increasing functionality of integrated circuits (ICs) and circuit boards supporting such ICs has made testing of the boards by conventional techniques ever more difficult. For this reason, the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) has adopted a standard (1149.1) for testing circuit boards by a technique known as boundary scan. The IEEE 1149.1 proposal is substantially identical to the boundary scan architecture adopted by the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) of Europe and North America which is described in the document JTAG Boundary Scan Architecture Version 2.0, published in March 1988.
In accordance with the JTAG and IEEE boundary scan architecture individual boundary scan cells in a device (i.e. an integrated circuit ) are serially linked to establish a boundary scan register. Under the control of a test access port (TAP) controller in each device, each bit of an externally generated test vector TDI is shifted into a successive one of the cells. Thereafter, the bit in each "output" cell (i.e., a cell whose parallel output is fed to another cell) is applied to each "input" cell (i.e., a cell whose parallel input is coupled to an output cell). The bit at the parallel input of each "input" cell is captured (i.e., retained in place of the bit originally shifted into the cell). After the bits are captured, the bits are shifted out of all of the cells and are compared to the bits in a vector expected to be produced when no faults are present. Any deviation indicates a faulty connection between cells.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,126,759 and 5,253,934 light-emitting diode (LED) printheads are described having plural input lines for inputting control signals and image data to each of plural driver ICs located on the printheads. In addition to power (V.sub.cc and V.sub.DD) and ground, other control signals lines include an exposure clock signal (EXPCLK), latch signals, a token bit signal, a token bit clock signal for shifting the token bit and a token bit directional signal for determining the direction for latching data in the driver chip. As noted in the aforementioned patents, the exposure clock signal provides non-linear clock pulses used by the driver for controlling on-time (pulsewidth modulated) of each LED in accordance with plural bits of image data associated with a pixel to be recorded. The token bit signal is used to designate a latch register which is associated with a particular LED for latching of a multibit data signal. As data is forwarded to a data bus in the driver, the token bit, token clock signal and token bit directional signal allow appropriate image data to be captured in a corresponding latch register. The respective data can then be printed for respective periods determined by the image data and the exposure clock pulses. In addition to the noted control signals, additional select signals are provided to the driver chips to decode various modes of operation. Among these modes are two modes that allow a multiplexed data signal to access two registers (LREF and GREF) common to every driver chip, which are used to bias the current output level of the drivers. In addition, there is a mode which allows a "bias monitor" output to be activated which controls monitoring of driver current in an extra channel. All of these additional functions are accessed serially in time over the same line. Since normal operation of passing image data over this same line is one of the defined modes of operation, this excludes access to these other functional modes during normal operation, i.e., when image data is passed over the line.
It would be desirable to be able to access certain registers for example, the LREF and GREF registers at any time without interrupting normal image data loading and printing operation and without the need of a dedicated secondary data path into the driver chip. It would also be desirable to access additional control functions on the driver chips without the need of dedicated secondary data paths while providing the standard IEEE 1149.1 testability functions, including boundary scan for the driver chip. It would also be desirable to provide control data for these control functions to the driver chip during recording of a line of current pixels without affecting such printing so that the control data then may be used to control recording of a line of subsequent pixels.

Led printhead and driver chip for use therewith having boundary scan test architecture


A reproducing head is moved by a moving stand along the diameter at a constant speed. At this time, an in-focus detecting circuit waits until the cancellation of the focus control. The time to the cancellation of the focus control is counted by a microprocessor. Based on the time, the microprocessor discriminates the radius of an information recorded disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recorded disk reproducing apparatus suitable for reproducing optical disks, in particular, optical disks having the same format and different diameters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As optical disks having the same format and different diameters, the following three types have already been on the market as common ones:
(i) laser disks (LDs) with diameters of 20 cm and 30 cm; PA1 (ii) compact disks (CDs) with diameters of 8 cm and 12 cm; and PA1 (iii) magneto optical disks with diameters of 3.5 inches and 5.25 inches. PA1 A first method is such that a reflection type optical sensor such as a photocoupler is arranged at a position outside of the radius of a smaller optical disk when the optical disk is attached to the motor to discriminate the diameter based on the presence/absence of reflected light. PA1 A second method is such that the diameter is discriminated based on the length of the total recording time recorded on an innermost area of the optical disk called a table of contents (TOC). PA1 A third method is such that the optical disk is driven at a constant torque to discriminate the diameter by counting the activation time required for the number of rotations to reach a predetermined value. PA1 A fourth method is such that the diameter is discriminated by a combination of the second and third methods. PA1 According to the first method, an extra part such as the photocoupler is necessary for discriminating the diameter, which leads to an increase in cost. Moreover, since the size of the apparatus increases because of the attachment of the extra part, the reduction in size cannot be realized. PA1 According to the second method, the discrimination is impossible when work or a program of a short recording time is recorded on a disk of a large diameter. PA1 According to the third method, since the user touches the medium itself as described above when an LD or a CD is reproduced, when the motor controlling system is confused by finger-prints or flaws, the activation requires a long time even when a disk of a small diameter is reproduced, so that a mis-discrimination may occur. When a frequency generator is attached to the motor to directly monitor the number of rotations, the frequency generator is an obstacle to the reduction in size and cost like the first method. PA1 According to the fourth method, the defects of the second and third methods are compounded.
Of these disks, the magneto optical disks are put in cases called cartridges having different diameters, so that it is mechanically impossible to reproduce magneto optical disks of different diameters with the same apparatus. However, with respect to the LDs and CDs, the mediums themselves are designed to be directly touched by the user and their reproducing apparatuses do not have any mechanical limitations in reproducing disks of different diameters.
Therefore, unless the diameter is discriminated by some kind of electric means, there caused problems in operating the reproducing apparatus. For example, since disks having different diameters as mentioned above have different moments of inertia, unless the control gain of a motor for rotating the optical disk is changed according to the diameter, an appropriate gain is not obtained for the margin of gain of the motor controlling system In the worst case, a defect such as hunting is caused.
To avoid such a problem, conventionally, a processing such as changing the gain of the motor controlling system is performed by discriminating the diameter of the optical disk by the following methods:
However, these conventional methods have the following defects:

Disk reproducing apparatus having a disk diameter determining function


Some aspects include a method of associating electronic devices for communicating data. The method includes receiving a message on a first device indicating that a second device is discoverable and pairable. The method further includes determining whether the first device is pairable, transmitting a pairing response to the second device based on the determination that the first device is pairable, and pairing the first device to the second device in response to the received message and the determination that the first device is pairable. For example, some aspects include devices such as headsets, watches, and medical devices configured to use such methods for communicating data.

1. Field
This application relates generally to communications, and more specifically, to wireless communication.
2. Background
Wireless technologies enable communications between devices and may be employed for a variety of applications associated with various wireless communication networks such as personal area network ("PAN") and body area network ("BAN"). Devices in such networks are typically subject to a discovery and pairing process to define a particular personal or body area network. Thus, a need exists for alternative methods and apparatuses for discovery and pairing of communication devices.


A surgical bandage for treating a wound that allows various fluids or fluid-like substances including cyanoacrylate adhesives to be applied. The surgical bandage has a wound treatment portion for being placed over a wound and a place for a flowable cyanoacrylate adhesive or any other fluid or fluid-like substance to be applied to the underlying wound (laceration, surgical incision or other tissue separation). A source is used to apply the cyanoacrylate or other fluid to the wound treatment portion flowing through at least one opening of the wound treatment portion to the underlying wound and its surrounding area either by direct application or from a non-contact distance. The surgical bandage allows for direct visualization before, during and after its application. The surgical bandage allows for removal of blood or any fluid that may be present in, on or around the wound by blotting or wiping.

In the past many methods have been developed to bring into apposition the edges of a wound or surgical incision so that the natural process of wound healing can occur. Among the products developed in the past that approximate wound edges include sutures made from various materials both naturally occurring and synthetic, many variations of tapes and metallic staples. All of these items involve methods that have advantages and disadvantages.
Sutures (or stitches) have the advantage of strength in holding the wound edges in close approximation but are somewhat complicated and time-consuming to place. Sutures also require a relatively high level of expertise and experience to use. Placement and removal of sutures may involve some pain and may require the use of local anesthetics. There is the inconvenience of a second visit to a healthcare professional which is usually required to remove the sutures.
Tape is simple and fast to use to approximate wound edges and requires little expertise and only minimal experience. However because the strength is dependent on adhesives that are pre-placed on the surface of the tape and are subject to losing their adhesive ability over time or with exposure to moisture, tape may not hold the wound edges close together for a long enough period of time to allow the natural wound healing process to occur.
Metallic staples have the advantage of strength in holding the wound edges close together but require expertise and experience to use them effectively. Like sutures, placement of staples may be painful and require the use of local anesthetics. Staples also involve the inconvenience of a second trip to have them removed by a healthcare professional. In addition, both sutures and staples may leave a scar pattern that is cosmetically unattractive.
Recently, adhesives have been developed to provide a way to bond wound edges in close approximation while the natural process of wound healing occurs. Products related to "super glue" or cyanoacrylates have been used to bond the wound edges together. The bond is formed when liquid cyanoacrylate is spread tangentially along the surfaces at the wound's edges spanning the edges. The liquid cyanoacrylate reacts with moisture on the surfaces and then hardens to form a solid mass that holds the wound edges together by bridging the edges together at their surfaces. It is important that the liquid cyanoacrylate not pass into the wound itself.
Techniques for the use of cyanoacrylates often involve having a healthcare professional apply the cyanoacrylate while holding the wound edges together with his gloved fingers or forceps. A total of 3–4 applications should be spread in layers directly over the junction of the tightly approximated wound edges allowing 10–15 seconds between applications for the liquid cyanoacrylate to set or harden. One recent article recommended that the total time that the wound edges should be held closely together is 2½ minutes. Also, it is critical that the wound edges be held in close approximation to ensure that none or a minimal amount of the adhesive enters the wound itself and is allowed to contact the structures under the skin. Further, holding the wound in close approximation also creates a better cosmetic result after healing has occurred (i.e., no scar or a less noticeable scar).
A device that will simplify the process and help healthcare professionals follow the proper procedure will ensure that these adhesives are used effectively. One patent describes a bandage having a porous bonding member or bonding pad that can be used in conjunction with a carrier member for wound apposition. However, the bonding pad is thick and therefore, has the disadvantage of not allowing direct visualization of the wound and the adjacent areas before, during and after its application.

Surgical bandage and methods for treating open wounds


Methods and systems are provided for creating and processing an electronic customs declaration manifest. These methods and systems include creating a image of the customs declaration form, converting the image of the customs declaration form into an electronic customs manifest, and transferring the electronic customs manifest to a database. In addition, a image is may also be forwarded electronically to a remote encoding center, where the customs declaration form data is manually converted into an electronic file for storing in a database. Customs services of both the originating and destination countries review the declared information stored in the database. When the international mailpiece arrives at the border, domestic customs service may find a matching unique identifiers on the international mailpieces and customs declaration forms stored in the database. The service provider may load an international mailpiece into an airplane, if a domestic customs service allow the international mailpiece having a matching unique identifier to leave the originating country. A service provider may return an international mailpiece to the domestic customs service if an international mailpiece is not allowed to leave the originating country.

Millions of consumers mail letters, packages, and other mailpieces worldwide daily. An international mailpiece generally may not leave the sending country until the appropriate customs service reviews the customs declaration form itemizing the mailpiece's contents and its declared value. Similarly, an international mailpiece may not enter the destination country until the customs declaration form is reviewed by the customs service in that country. Today, to send a mailpiece internationally, depending on the type of international mailpiece and the declared value of its contents, the sender must fill out one of the available paper customs declaration forms. That paper form, affixed to the mailpiece, must then be reviewed by the customs services of the sending and destination countries.
Each time a mailpiece crosses a country's border, the customs service of that country may screen its contents. The customs service may perform that screening by opening and visually inspecting the contents of the mailpiece. More often, however, the customs service simply reviews the disclosure form, such as the customs declaration form, prepared by the sender of the international mailpiece. Typically, the customs declaration form lists all the items enclosed in the mailpiece and their declared value.
Currently, most customs declaration forms designed for consumer use are in paper form. Once a consumer fills out a customs declaration form, one copy may be stored by the service provider in archives and another copy may be stored by the customs service of the country from which the mailpiece is sent. A third copy, typically attached to the international mailpiece itself, may need to be examined twice. The first time, the customs declaration form may be examined prior to the international mailpiece leaving the sending country by its customs service. The customs declaration form may also be examined a second time prior to delivery of the international mailpiece by the customs service of the destination country.
The review of a paper-based customs declaration form by two customs services significantly increases the delivery time of international mailpieces. As is well known in the art, delivery of an international mailpiece may take up to six weeks. For example, an international mailpiece mailed via airmail service or economy mail service offered by a service provider, such as the United States Postal Service (USPS), may be in transit for four to six weeks.
In addition, because of the significant volume of international mail, customs services may need to review millions of customs declaration forms on a daily basis. And, to review customs declaration forms, customs service personnel may need to travel to the shipping and receiving sites of service providers where international mailpieces arrive for further routing. The review process may be further slowed due to the need for customs service personnel to handle each international mailpiece individually.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods and systems for creating and maintaining customs declaration forms in an electronic format enabling paperless and expedient forwarding, review, search, and storage via digital means, such as with a computer-based network.

Method and system for providing electronic customs form


A device for monitoring an elevator area utilizes a three-dimensional semiconductor sensor for detecting three-dimensional image information. The sensor includes a light source that is mounted so that the elevator area to be monitored is disposed in the illuminated area of the light source, a sensor group that is mounted in such a manner that it receives reflected light, and a processing chip for converting the electrical signals into image information. In addition, the device includes a processing device that is connected with the semiconductor sensor in order to make available three-dimensional image information. The processing device processes the image information in order to obtain state information representing the state of the elevator area to be monitored.

The present invention relates to a device for monitoring an elevator area, a method for elevator area monitoring, and a software module for elevator area monitoring.
Elevator systems comprise at least one elevator car which is movable in an elevator shaft or freely along a transport device. The elevator car is usually moved from floor to floor in order to allow persons to board and alight there or in order to be loaded or unloaded there.
The interior space of the elevator car, but also the access region disposed in front of the elevator shaft, is particularly critical since, for example, in the case of faulty functioning of the elevator a risk to persons can arise. As an example, the opening of a shaft door may be mentioned, although no elevator car is located behind the shaft door that is opening. In addition, for example, it is also possible to be caught in the door region.
It is also conceivable that inappropriate behavior of a person, faulty handling of the elevator or inexpert loading or unloading of the elevator leads to problems.
There is therefore noted a tendency to monitor these critical areas in order to be able to recognize problems in good time and, in particular, to avoid risk to persons.
Mechanical, magnetic, inductive or similar switches are frequently used for monitoring the doors of an elevator. In addition, optical systems, such as, for example, light barriers or light gratings are used. With approaches of that kind certain information—for example, about the status of the doors—can be supplied to the elevator control. However, the information content is relatively limited, since, for example, a switch is only in a position of indicating two states (digital information whether a door is open or closed). Monitoring solutions of that kind are predominately limited to the immediate vicinity of the car doors and/or shaft doors.
In order to be able to construct a more complex monitoring system there is needed, for example, a combination of several switches and light barriers.
Optical systems in particular have certain advantages, since by contrast to mechanical solutions they operate contactlessly and are not subject to mechanical wear. Unfortunately, even in the case of more complex optical systems such as are used in elevators the meaningfulness is limited to a few states and the detection range is rather restricted. It is possible to detect, for example, whether anybody is in the door area, and movements are able to be recognized. Larger three-dimensional areas cannot, however, be so reliably monitored. In addition, the reaction time of light barriers or light gratings is approximately 65 milliseconds, which in certain circumstances can be too long.
Certain optical photosensors even enable detection of three-dimensional images, wherein mechanically moved parts—for example, in the form of mirrors—are used. These sensors are complicated and costly.
A system for monitoring elevator doors is shown in PCT Patent Application WO 01/42120, which operates with a pre-programmed processor, a digital camera, an analog camera or a video camera. The camera supplies a sequence of two-dimensional images, through the comparison of which information about the state of elevator doors is made available. This system operates with external light which is intercepted and received by the camera. This leads to problems in situations where the intensity of the outside light strongly varies—for example, in the case of incidence of sunlight—and thus the image brightness strongly increases.
Conversely, the use of such a camera for that purpose can also be problematic when the outside light which is present is insufficient. In the case of area monitoring it is essential that the monitoring functions securely and reliably in all circumstances. A dependence on outside light is problematic from this viewpoint. According to the above-identified PCT patent application there is used a classical pattern recognition approach (pattern matching) in order to be able to evaluate the sequence of two-dimensional images. A system operating according to the PCT patent application with two-dimensional images cannot make any statement about distances. A specific statement about movements and movement directions is possible with such a two-dimensionally operating system only by computer-intensive reprocessing of the supplied images.
A further monitoring system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,768. The system described there uses a camera, images of which are provided in a complicated mode and manner in order to be able to make a statement about whether and how many persons are present in the region of the elevator. The camera makes recording sequences with different zoom settings so as to be able to produce a statement therefrom about possible movements.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,049 an elevator is described in which it is detected by means of an infrared sensor or infrared sensors whether one or more persons wait in the access area of the elevator. Determination of the number of persons does not take place here.
Three-dimensional semiconductor sensors are known which enable three-dimensional detection of image information. Sensors of that kind are known from, for example, the article "Fast Range Imaging by CMOS Sensor Array Through Multiple Double Short Time Integration (MDSI)", P. Mengel et al., Siemens AG, Corporate Technology Department, Munich, Germany. Such a three-dimensional semiconductor sensor can be used for three-dimensional monitoring.
A further example is described in the article "A CMOS Photosensor Array for 3D Imaging Using Pulsed Laser", R. Jeremias et al., 2001 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, page 252.
Elevator systems with access control exist. Such systems operate, for example, by means of badges and badge reading apparatus. Thus, it is possible to check whether a person is authorized to use the elevator. Only a person recognized by badge can call an elevator and select a destination floor. To that extent systems of that kind function reliably. However, who and how many persons enter the elevator car are hardly capable of checking by current approaches. Access can be additionally controlled by appropriate constructional measures, for example a turnstile, an access gate or other architectonic measures. However, these approaches are complicated and often not suitable for aesthetic reasons.
In the case of present-day identification systems for elevator utilization it thus cannot be ensured that in fact only authorized persons enter an elevator car or leave at a floor for which they have access authorization.

Three-dimensional monitoring in the area of an elevator by means of a three-dimensional sensor


A portable telephone set having a ringing circuit for producing different ringing tones depending upon the use mode of the portable telephone set, a portable mode or a mobile mode. The ringing circuit comprises a mode detecting circuit for detecting the use mode, an internal loudspeaker housed in a housing of the portable telephone set for producing a first ringing signal when the portable telephone set is in the portable mode, an external loudspeaker connected externally of the housing for producing a second ringing signal when it is in the mobile mode and a ringing tone generator for generating a first and a second ringing tones for driving the respective loudspeakers producing first and second ringings. The first and second ringing tones have frequency spectra compatible with frequency characteristics of these loudspeakers to produce the respective ringings efficiently. The ringing signal generator may be a single ringing tone generating circuit producing two kinds of ringing tone or may be comprised of two different ringing tone generating circuits.

The present invention relates to a portable telephone set and, more particularly, to a portable telephone set having a ringing circuit and to be used in a portable mode and mobile mode.
There has been known a portable telephone set which has two use-modes, i.e., a portable mode in which the telephone set is used by a user while bringing it with him and a mobile mode in which it is mounted on a vehicle. In the portable mode, a compact and light-weight, built-in loudspeaker is used. In the mobile mode, a relatively large external loudspeaker is used because the loudspeaker outputs not only a ringing tone but also a voice signal and thus the voice quality therefrom plays an important role.
In general, in the above-mentioned ringing circuit, the built-in, i.e., internal loudspeaker is compact and has narrow frequency characteristics while the external loudspeaker has relatively wide frequnecy characeristics. In the conventional ringing circuit, however, a ringing signal having a single frequency spectrum is used. Thus, when the frequency characteristics of the internal and external loudspeakers are different, there may be a problem that the energy of a ringing signal for driving the loudspeaker cannot be used effectively. More definetely, when the ringing signal spectrum is broad and the internal loudspeaker is used, a portion of the frequency spectrum of the ringing signal which is not used increases and the power consumption of a ringing signal generating circuit is undesirably increased. On the other hand, when the ringing signal frequency spectrum is narrowed to adjust it to the internal loudspeaker, it is impossible to supply enough power to the external loudspeaker, so that an effective ringing sound cannot be generated.
Furthermore, the switching between the internal and external loudspeakers is manually carried out. This manual switching is a troublesome operation for the user.

Ringing circuit for use in portable telephone set


A simple miter guide uses planar sheet material to define an overlay panel, a saw guiderail and depending lumber guides and spacers which orient the lumber at a predetermined angle relative to the saw blade and space the guide over an underlying surface. The guide is designed specifically for construction lumber such as two-by-fours and two-by-sixes, and is used by placing the guide on a flat surface, and feeding the lumber into the guide from the back until it is properly aligned for the saw cut. The guide and lumber can be aligned to establish an orthogonal square-cut, or an angle-cut such as 45 degrees. A saw guiderail guides the end of the saw foot as it moves across the saw support raceway, spacing the sawblade adequately from the guide to prevent damage, and permitting an angled undercut to be made. Means to mount the guide to an underlying surface are provided, although unmounted operation is useful too.

The instant invention is the subject of Disclosure Document No. 320258, filed Nov. 9, 1992. It is in the field of miter boxes and other angle-establishing devices enabling quick and simple saw cuts to be made at pre-determined angles with repeatable accuracy.
Many devices of this nature have been devised and patented over the years, as would be expected. These devices tend to be rather complicated by nature. Once having conceived a basic, simple idea, often the inventor or developer would expand upon the idea to accommodate many different functions or adjustments of the unit until the unit would become impractical either to use or to build.
Also, because of the infinite variety and the dimensioning and type of wood and other materials upon which a miter device may be used, an effort to accommodate all, or many, different types of wood or other materials results in a unit that is possible to use in many different ways but is not perfect for any single application.
For example, any miter device designed to use when cutting both plywood and two-by-fours would likely be awkward in either mode. Whereas, no doubt there are innumerable specialized angle-establishing devices for cutting materials, there is a need for a very simple miter guide which can be used on construction sites and which is particularly adapted to both the nature of construction work and the materials most often cut on construction sites. Specifically, because construction workers are continuously moving around in the building under construction, they carry power hand saws, particularly circular saws, as they move rather than bringing the wood to a central sawing area due to the mobile nature of their work and the fact that the wood that they cut is often in the form of long construction boards such as two-by-fours and two-by-sixes too long and awkward to be conveniently carried to a remote part of the building.
Many very fine angle-establishing aids are mountable on a stationary saw and not suitable for construction site use. Any miter guide used by construction workers must be lightweight, easy to use, and compact, as well as rugged and foolproof in operation.


A helical element for insertion into tissue comprises a helical element having an insertion end, a protruding end and an open central area within the wire, rods, filaments, cables or the like that form the helix. The helical element has at least its insertion end covered by a cap of a water-soluble or water-dispersible composition. The cap is provided with a surface shape in a cross-section in which surface variations are present in the cross-section which create a surface orientation where a line from the center of the cross-section can intersect the surface, and a line perpendicular to said radius at a point of intersection with said surface forms four quadrants, three of said quadrants containing water-soluble or water-dispersible cap material. There is either a hollow area within the composition within the open central area or the material is more porous than the remaining material. The helical element preferably comprises an electrical lead, such as a positive endocardial lead, with an electrode at the protruding or distal end of the lead.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of insertable or implantable materials or devices in which the material or device is secured into the tissue of a patient through a helical or screw element which is secured into tissue or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to protective elements such as protective caps over a penetrating or pointed section of the material or device, wherein the protective element is capable of timely removal (as by dissolution) from the penetrating or pointed section during technical (e.g., medical) procedures.
2. Background of the Art
Many therapeutic or protective procedures for patients include the implantation of devices into a patient. Such implantations include drug delivery systems, electrostimulating devices (such as pacemakers or pain reduction devices), monitoring devices, electrical leads, electrodes, sensor elements, etc. These devices often have to be firmly secured within the patient to prevent movement of the device that would defeat or diminish its effectiveness. This is particularly true with electrical leads in pacing or defibrillation devices, which must be precisely located so that patient monitoring and electrical stimulation is effective. There are a number of different formats for the securement of electrical leads in patients, including, but not limited to, clips, sutured attachment, corkscrew-like inserts (referred to as helical inserts), and other conventional securement formats found in mechanical systems.
A preferred means of securing leads is the helical insert such as found in the Guidant Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Sweet-Tip® Model 4269 bipolar endocardial lead. This lead comprises a helical element having a base side (proximal end) with an electrode and a sharp tip on an insert side (a distal end) of the element. The pointed end penetrates tissue when a rotating motion is applied to the helical element, causing the element to puncture and or screw into the tissue, advancing the proximal end towards the tissue. The proximal end may have a relatively flat or convex electrical plate, electrode, sensing element (e.g., semiconductor, circuit board, pressure plate, etc.) or contact, and the advancing of the helical element into the tissue brings the contact into firm position with the tissue. In pacing or defibrillating devices, the electrical discharge passes through the electrode and/or into the helical connecting element. In some leads, the helical element is coated with a thin insulating coating layer (which must also be biocompatible) to render the helical element inactive or passive (from the standpoint of discharge). Typical coatings could include ceramics, and polymers such as polyamides, polyimides, polyurethanes, silicone resins, polyacrylates, and especially poly-para-xylylene (e.g., Parylene C).
These types of devices may be inserted into a patient by a number of different medical procedures. The less invasive or traumatic the procedure, the more desirable is that procedure. For example, although the electrodes may be inserted by open chest surgery, the delivery of the electrode through catheterization techniques through arteries or veins is much more preferred. The difficulties involved with passing a sharp element through the vasculature of a patient can be readily appreciated, especially where the path can be tortuous. Further difficulties in passing a sharp element arise when medical procedures require passing the element through heart valve structures. To avoid damage to the patient, the Guidant CRM Sweet-Tip® Model 4269 bipolar endocardial lead provides a mannitol cap over the helical element in the lead. The mannitol cap provides a protective cover for the helical element which prevents the point of the helical element from scraping or puncturing interior walls of the vasculature, valve leaflets or other tissue during introduction of the element to the patient. The mannitol effectively dissolves during the procedure, depending on the placement of the electrode and other environmental factors, usually over the course of about 4 to 10 minutes. This practice of providing caps on the leads has been effective in preventing damage to the patient during the introduction of the lead. Improper use of the lead, as by unauthorized immediate or premature insertion, can lead to inadequate fixation, possibly resulting in dislodgement or unsatisfactory pacing.
There have been two areas identified by the present inventors where improvements may be made in the use of mannitol caps in the protection of helical leads or securing elements. First, because of the physical shape of the helical element, mannitol present within the core of the helix tends to be dissolved out more slowly than desirable from within the helix and adjacent any electrode at the proximal end of the helical element. Further, any slowly dissolving mannitol that does remain within the confines or central area of the helix may have a tendency to obstruct the advance of the helical element through the tissue until all of the mannitol in the core area has been removed. Second, the lack of consistent rates of dissolution of the caps from the helical element, for example where the lead was prematurely positioned into soft tissue, tends to require surgeons to wait for a maximum length of time to provide assurance of the cap dissolution and proper electrical contact. Any prolongation of implant time, as would be the case here, is highly undesirable. Although neither of these considerations affect the in place performance of the connected leads, the reduction in procedural time by reducing or eliminating these effects is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Removable cap for tissue-insertable connections

Abstract: The helical element may comprise any biocompatable material with sufficient structural integrity to provide a secure attachment to tissue in a patient. Where the helical element is also to provide an active (electrically active) function, the composition of the helical element should also be electrically conductive.


In response to a low-frequency superframe signal, the input frames TRA, TRB of each of two digital channels, shifted in time, are applied each to a frame locking circuit which produces sync signals SYA, SYB; and are also applied to a common cyclic addressing double memory. In the write mode each memory location is addressed to contain a block of TRA and a block of TRB of the same rank controlled by write counters which are incremented by the signals SYA and SYB. Each location has a read counter which is shifted to the more delayed signal of the sync signals SYA and SYB by a phase comparator and a coincidence detector. The output signals having information frames TRA' and TRB' are in phase.

Any digital transmission system may be disturbed by a large number of causes, such as the imperfection of the transmission medium (for example, a radio relay link), the presence of noise on the transmission channel, radio interference or a breakdown. These disturbances are manifested, on the side of the user, by an error rate in the bit stream used and by periods of time during which transmission is interrupted, which poses a general technical problem. When the cost of the bit stream is not too high, more specifically in ground-based communication networks, a simple prior-art solution for solving the general technical problem mentioned above consists of diversity transmission duplicating the signal to be transmitted, transmitting the signal over two separate channels and selecting the better of the two signals on reception. The present invention in this context is related to the doubling of the digital channel, in which situation the particular problem is posed of correcting the phase of the two received signals. Among other applications, this phase correction allows the receiving arrangement to switch over from one signal to another without causing errors as a result of the loss of the frame clock, and so on. In these conditions it becomes possible to change from a signal of frame TRA to a signal of frame TRB as often as necessary, in response to the respective errors in each frame, using the maximum errorless period of time of each digital path without the risk of degrading the composite signal.
In order to re-establish signal equalization on two digital paths that carry the same information it is known, more specifically from U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,654, to form a negative feedback loop between the output and control input of a variable delay circuit inserted in a first information channel, while a control circuit which also receives the same information present on a second channel is incorporated in the loop. Such an arrangement leads to drawbacks inherent with any control element, which are the complexity of its use and its slowness.

Signal phasing arrangement in a system for doubling the digital channel


An improved method for the demethoxycarbonylation of porphyrinic compounds such as pheophorbides involving reacting the starting porphyrinic compound with a high boiling point solvent to which a selected amount of water has been added.

Photodynamic therapy is a procedure that uses photoselective (light-activated) drugs to target and destroy diseased cells. Photoselective drugs transform light energy into chemical energy in a manner similar to the action of chlorophyll in green plants. The photoselective drugs are inactive until switched on by light of a specific wavelength. This gives physicians the potential to target specific groups of cells and control the timing and selectivity of treatment. The result of this process is that diseased cells are destroyed with minimal damage to surrounding normal tissues.
Photodynamic therapy begins with the administration, to a patient, of a photoselective compound that is selectively taken up and/or retained by the biologic target, i.e., tissue or cells. After the photoselective compound is taken up by the target, a light of the appropriate wavelength to be absorbed by the photoselective compound is delivered to the targeted area. This activating light excites the photoselective compound to a higher energy state. The extra energy of the excited photoselective compound can then be used to generate a biological response in the target area. As a result of the irradiation, the photoselective compound exhibits cytotoxic activity, i.e., it destroys cells. By localizing the irradiated area, it is possible to contain the cytotoxicity to a specific target area. For a more detailed description of photodynamic therapy, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,563,262, 5,693,632, 5,354,858, 4,877,872, and 4,988,808, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Phorbines, pheophorbides, and derivatives of chlorophylls are a known class of photoselective compounds useful for photodynamic therapy. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,675,338, 4,656,186, 5,198,460, and 5,506,255. A particularly useful compound that acts as a template for further chemical modifications is the chlorin derivative known as methyl pyropheophorbide. This compound is generally produced by the following reaction scheme: ##STR1## See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,460.
The present inventors have found, however, that the demethoxycarbonylation step (depending on the scale of the reaction) is inconsistent in yield and in time to reaction completion. In general, the longer the reaction time, the more decomposition products are produced, which detrimentally impacts the purity and yield of the desired product. It has been found by the present inventors that, in commercial scale production, commercially available 2,4,6-collidine (2,4,6-trimethylpyridine) alone is inadequate in effecting the demethoxycarbonylation reaction, causing major decomposition of the starting pheophorbide due to much longer reflux reaction times.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for the demethoxycarbonylation of pheophorbides that provides a consistent yield of the desired pyropheophorbide compound.
There is also a need for a method for the demethoxycarbonylation of pheophorbides that provides a reduced reaction time to completion.
There is a further need for a method for the demethoxycarbonylation of pheophorbides that provides the desired pyropheophorbide compound in improved purity.
There is a further need for a method for the demethoxycarbonylation of porphyrins on a large scale that improves the yield, lowers the reaction time, and improves the purity of the desired porphyrin compounds.

Method for the demethoxycarbonylation of porphyrinic compounds such as pheophorbides


The electrical machine has a stator, which comprises thirty-six slots and thirty-six teeth with an alternating sequence and a winding system (10) which is arranged at least partially in the slots and has three winding phases (34, 35, 36). The winding system (10) contains in total eighteen coil elements (11-28), which are laid in each case two slots, with the result that a slot associated with another of the coil elements (11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 28) is located between the two slots associated with one of the coil elements (13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27). In each case two of the coil elements (11-28) form one of nine interwound groups of coil elements (29), wherein, of the four adjacent slots belonging to a group of coil elements (29), the first and the third slot are associated with one coil element (13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27), and the second and the fourth slot are associated with the other coil element (11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 28) in this group of coil elements (29). The two coil elements (11-28) of each group of coil elements (29) are associated with in each case two different winding phases (34, 35, 36). In each case one substantially unwound tooth (30) is provided between two adjacent groups of coil elements (29).

The invention relates to an electrical machine having a stator which has thirty six slots and thirty six teeth in an alternating sequence, as well as a winding system which is at least partially arranged in the slots and has three winding phases.
At the moment, two different embodiments essentially exist for an electrical machine such as this which, in particular, is in the form of a synchronous machine with permanent-magnet excitation, and these embodiments differ from one another in the configuration of their respective winding system.
In the first embodiment, the winding elements of the three winding phases are completely interleaved in one another. For example, that is to say, three successive slots are filled with electrical conductors which in each case belong to another of the three winding phases. In a corresponding manner, in the case of an embodiment with twelve slots, the first winding element of the first winding phase would run in the first and the fourth slots, the first winding element of the second winding phase would run in the second and the fifth slots, and the first winding element of the third winding phase would run in the third and the sixth slots. The slot occupancy of the second winding elements, which are connected in series with the respective first winding elements, result from those of the first winding elements by addition of six slot positions in each case. This winding system has four poles, that is to say two useful pole pairs, so that the ratio of the number of slots (=12) to the number of poles (=4) assumes the value 3. This is a typical minimum value for first embodiments. In an alternative first embodiment, forty eight slots are provided and sixteen poles, once again resulting in a ratio value of 3.
In the second embodiment, the winding elements of the three winding phases—apart from circuitry in the area of the end windings—are completely separated from one another. So-called tooth-wound coils are used as winding elements and, in particular, are each inserted into two adjacent slots and surround the tooth located between the two adjacent slots. In this case, electrical conductors on two different tooth-wound coils may be arranged in one slot. In a corresponding manner, in the case of a configuration with six slots, the first tooth-wound coil of the first winding phase would run in the first and the second slots, the first tooth-wound coil of the second winding phase would run in the second and the third slots, and the first tooth-wound coil of the third winding phase would run in the third and fourth slots. The slot occupancy of the second tooth-wound coils connected in series with respect to the respective first tooth-wound coil results from that of the first tooth-wound coils by addition of three slot positions in each case. This winding system also has a total of four poles, so that the ratio of the number of slots (=6) to the number of poles (=4) assumes the value 1.5. This is a typical maximum value for second embodiments. In an alternative second embodiment, the number of slots provided is twenty four, and the number of poles is sixteen, once again resulting in a ratio value of 1.5.
An electrical machine according to the first embodiment has a relatively large end winding area, whereas, in contrast, the second embodiment leads to a comparatively small overall slot area.
The object of the invention is therefore to specify an electrical machine of the type referred to initially whose response is better than that of the known prior art.

Electrical machine having a three-phase winding system


The apparatus serves for pushing at least one of two hollow glass articles from a dead plate of a glass forming machine onto a conveyor belt. A pusher serves for this purpose, and includes a base portion and, for each glass article which is to be pushed, at least one thrust finger extending transversely to the base portion. Each thrust finger defines with the base portion a pocket for receiving the glass article. A nozzle is arranged in the region of a corner of the associated pocket. From each nozzle compressed air can be blown such that a pressure below atmospheric pressure which draws the glass article into the pocket is created between the pusher and the glass article. The compressed air is blown from the corner out between the base portion and the glass article.

The invention relates to an apparatus for pushing at least one hollow glass article from a dead plate of a glass forming machine along a curved path onto a conveyor belt.
In one known apparatus of this type, disclosed in US 5 527 372 A, a stream of air is directed eccentrically against the heel of a bottle, so that the greater part of the airflow passes around the bottle in the clockwise direction (FIG. 4) through the corner of the pocket of the pusher, while the lesser part of the airflow passes around the bottle in the anticlockwise direction. The discharge opening for the stream of compressed air is located at the bottom of the free end of each finger of the pusher. A thrust pad on the finger ends above the discharge opening. Nevertheless, the compressed air exiting from the discharge opening is deflected upwards between the thrust pad and the bottle. This has the result that the bottle in the known apparatus is not permanently in contact either with the thrust pad or with the face pad of the side wall. The positioning of the bottle on the conveyor belt is correspondingly uncertain. Furthermore, the consumption of air is comparatively large, since compressed air flows all around the bottle. The path of the compressed air to reach the free end of the finger is comparatively long and convoluted. This results in corresponding losses of pressure.
From published international application number WO97/26220 A1 are known a series of embodiments per se, which all have to do with the suction effect of a stream of compressed air exiting from a nozzle. In FIGS. 1 and 3 reference is made to circular nozzles, although in relation to the nozzle in FIG. 3 one could alternatively use a slot nozzle, similar to the slot nozzle in FIG. 14.
The principle is to be understood from FIGS. 14 to 17 of this publication. The compressed air is supplied to a main wall of the pusher through a passage and exits from a nozzle slot, as a rule at an angle to the main plane of the main wall. This angled exit has the result that the air stream makes contact with the face pad, as is shown particularly clearly in FIG. 15. The publication describes this as the so-called Coanda effect (see page 10, lines 24 to 29). In each case, approximately from the horizontal centre of the main wall of each pocket air is blasted in the direction of that corner of the pocket in which the bottle is to stand. This jetting of air into the bottle corners has the result that turbulence and build-up of air would arise there if one did not provide a suction aperture in the associated finger, as shown in FIG. 14.
It is the object of the invention to reduce the structural cost and the consumption of compressed air. However, the apparatus should also prevent the glass articles from being released unintentionally by the pusher at high angular velocities (high conveyor velocities or large track radii of the outer glass articles in multiple mold machines), before the pushed glass article has reached its final position on the conveyor belt. Such a premature release of the glass article from the desired position would lead to transportation errors.
This object is achieved by using a pusher which comprises a base portion and, for each glass article to be pushed, at least one thrust finger extending transversely from the base portion, wherein each thrust finger with the base portion defines a pocket to receive the glass article, the pusher including a nozzle for each pocket, and wherein from each nozzle compressed air can be blown such that a pressure below atmospheric pressure which draws the glass article into the pocket is created between the pusher and the glass article. Each nozzle is arranged in the region of a corner of the associated pocket such that the compressed air can be blown from the corner out between the base portion and the glass article. The apparatus is particularly suitable for the simultaneous pushing of two or more glass articles which have been manufactured in particular in a section of an I.S. (individual section) glass forming machine. The conveyor belt runs along all sections of the I.S. glass forming machine. Preferably, jets with a bore of about 2 mm diameter and compressed air at about 2.0 to 2.5 bar are used. It is recommended that the compressed air should be supplied in a timed manner, in other words only during those parts of the pushing cycle in which otherwise there would be the danger that the glass article would be freed in an undesired manner from its pocket of the pusher. The arrangement of the jet in the region of the corner of the associated pocket of the pusher has the advantage that the compressed air is blown outwards from this corner. Therefore, in the corner, this cannot lead to turbulence and a build-up of air. Sucking the compressed air from the corner is therefore superfluous. Additionally, for a positionally accurate delivery of the glass article onto the conveyor belt, the moment in time that the compressed air is switched off is no longer critical. The consumption of air is reduced, since the compressed air no longer has to flow around the glass article but only now flows through between the base portion and the glass article.
Because the nozzle is mounted on the base portion, there is a particularly short supply path for the compressed air up to the jet.
Because the nozzle can be mounted at different heights on the pusher, one may choose the optimum height level for the jet for any axial length of the glass article.
Because the compressed air is blown at an angle downwards from each nozzle one achieves an optimum utilisation of the compressed air for the achievement of the desired suction effect between the base portion and the glass article.
The fact that compressed air can be blown out from each nozzle at least approximately parallel to the base portion leads to a particularly low consumption of compressed air with good suction effect.
The compressed air can be blown from each nozzle in the direction of a cylindrical part of the glass article which has a maximum transverse dimension, thus, a gap of greater or lesser dimensions is formed between the base portion and the glass article, the size of which gap is very easily controllable however. The gap can in each case have an influence on the final positioning of the glass article on the conveyor belt, transversely to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor belt. The advantage of blowing against the cylindrical part of the glass article lies in a particularly good utilisation of the compressed air to achieve a sufficient suction effect.
During the pushing, the glass article is in contact with at least one thrust finger, which leads to a defined position of the glass article in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.
The base portion includes a carrier rail having a horizontal longitudinal axis allowing supply channels that are arranged to carry compressed air in the carrier rail. The supply channels for each thrust finger each include an upper cross-passage and a lower cross-passage issuing respectively at an upper contact surface and at a lower contact surface of the carrier rail. Depending upon the desired height of the nozzle, a coupling member carrying the nozzle can be connected in a gas-tight manner either with the upper contact surface or with the lower contact surface. In each coupling member there is provided a connecting passage creating a permanent connection between the associated cross-passage and the nozzle. In this manner it is possible to achieve a very effective and flexible supplying of the jets with compressed air.
At least one thrust finger of each pocket is mounted on the associated coupling member, thus the thrust fingers participate in any possible setting movements of the coupling member. By virtue of this, a separate adjustment of the thrust fingers is superfluous.
Because each coupling member can be adjusted relative to the carrier rail in the directions of the longitudinal axis of the carrier rail it is possible to adjust the thrust fingers of adjacent pockets to match the spacing of the longitudinal axes of adjacent glass articles from one another.
These and further features and advantages of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a number of embodiments which are illustrated in the drawings.

Apparatus for pushing hollow glass articles onto a conveyor belt