An edible mix includes granulated lemon juice solids, granulated citric acid or granulated malic acid, and encapsulated natural lemon oil. In one embodiment, the edible mix also includes granulated maltodextrin, granulated ascorbic acid, and granulated lactose. In one embodiment, the components of the edible mix are mechanically mixed together to form a substantially homogeneous composition. In one embodiment, several of the components are blended by an agglomeration method.

The invention relates generally to edible mixes and, more particularly, to a natural lemon edible mix.
People generally enjoy a slight taste of lemon in their foods and beverages. For example, it is common for a person to squeeze a portion of a freshly cut lemon into a beverage, such as a glass of water or a soft drink. Similarly, it is common for a person to squeeze a portion of a freshly cut lemon onto a food item, such as a fish or seafood, prior to eating the food item. Often times, however, a person may have difficulty in locating a fresh lemon to squeeze in their beverage or onto their food items. Therefore, lemon-flavored mixes, which may be placed in beverages or on food items, have been created. These known lemon-flavored mixes, however, contain various preservatives, sweeteners, spices and/or additional chemicals. Additionally, large quantities of the known lemon-flavored mixes have to be added to a beverage or onto a food item to provide a person with sufficient lemon favor. Finally, these known lemon-flavored mixes tend to clump together and do not pour well out of a dispenser, such as a packet or a shaker type dispenser.
Thus, a need exists for an edible mix that tastes and smells like a lemon and does not include preservatives. Additionally, a need exists for an edible mix that does not require a person to use a large quantity of the edible mix to achieve a sufficient lemon taste. Finally, a need exists for an edible mix that tastes and smells like a lemon and can be easily poured out of a dispenser, such as a packet or a shaker type dispenser.

Edible mix and method of making the same


A mechanism for snowboard support while riding a chair lift is provided. The support mechanism includes a flexible retractable cable within a housing having a recoil mechanism. The housing is advantageously mounted to the snowboard or the snowboard binding mechanism. The recoil assembly has two main elements, a housing member which stores a retractable cable and a spring assembly that retracts the flexible cable advantageously into the housing member. The recoil assembly may allow for adjustment of an elongation length of the retractable flexible cable.

Snowboarding is a rather new sport that began in the United States in the 1960s. Back then a short-thin board with a rope attached at the nose, called the "Snurfer", was ridden without bindings. In the 1970s the current snowboard shape began to evolve, but it wasn't until the early 1980's that steel edges and P-tex bases popular with skis were introduced into snowboard technology.
This steel edge technology gave the control necessary in all snow conditions and the growth of the sport has mushroomed ever since. As is generally understood snowboarding is one of the rapidly growing sports today, with its enjoyment currently in excess of skiers for young people entering winter sports. In the early days of snowboarding many ski areas did not permit snowboarding on their slopes. Today, due in part to the improved image of snowboarding brought about by organized competition and the growing popularity of the sport itself only a few areas discriminate against snowboarders. The popularity and acceptance of snowboarding has spread worldwide. Snowboarding was recently recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a full medal sport for the 1998 Olympic Games in Japan.
While the popularity of snowboarding has seen explosive growth among young people its popularity has also been embraced by older people as an alternative to skiing. As the sport has evolved a series of improvements in equipment has occurred. It has been found desirable to fasten the snowboarder rider into place with a variety of specialized bindings. These bindings have taken the shape of several forms, however, common among all is the need to have the forward foot of a rider secured at all times.
Snowboard riders traditionally remove one of their boots from its binding for the ride up the chairlift. The free boot allows the rider to maneuver through the chairlift lines and onto the chairlift itself. The snowboard rider can either support the snowboard with the free foot or just let the snowboard hang by the foot secured in the front mounting. In the case where the snowboard is supported by the free foot this method of support often results in stress fatigue and discomfort to the leg supporting the board. In the case where the snowboard is hanging freely, the weight of the board has the tendency to cause injury to the ligaments, tendons and muscles of the foot bound in the binding. The weight of the snowboard itself has a tendency to pull on the ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc., causing damage over time that is exacerbated with the natural fatigue to the rider's leg that has tired through hours of activity.
Even with newer snowboards that have taken advantage of progress in material science to produce lighter weight snowboards made of fiberglass or similar resins, this undesirable stress upon the fixed foot's tendons, ligaments and muscles has not been alleviated. Unfortunately, during the course of a day, this stress, fatigue and discomfort reduces enjoyment of the sport and most importantly increases the chance of serious injury to the snowboard rider.
Prior solutions have produced a variety of leashing and strapping arrangements that consist of various methods to alleviate this fatigue to the snowboarder. U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,968 to Crego et al. ("Crego") is a temporary hold-up device for a snowboard support. Crego discloses a temporary hold-up device for snowboard support that uses a substantially stiff cord to temporary support the board during the chairlift ride. The rider engages the unfastened binding mechanism with this substantially stiff cord to help support the weight of the snowboard during the chairlift ride. Unfortunately, this device is cumbersome and storage of the device between its use is problematic.
Another attempt to solve the problem of leg strain due to unsupported snowboard weight can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,260 to Brill ("Brill"). Brill provides a detachable loop strap which encircles a portion of the snowboard and goes over the rider's knee. The detachable loop of Brill appears to be a cumbersome and difficult device to use. Unfortunately, Brill much like Crego suffers from difficulty in use and storage of the device between use.
Accordingly, there is need for a device that will serve to support the snowboard in a way to prevent fatigue when the snowboarder is riding a chair lift or the like. There is further need for a support device that is compact and contains a convenient method for storage between its use.


A device for determining a chemical composition of a living eye including a light emitting unit configured to emit a light beam, a light guidance unit including at least one first focusing lens having an entry surface and an exit surface to be brought in optical contact with the eye and to illuminate at least part of the eye with the light beam emitted by the light emitting unit and to receive and guide at least a fraction of a light beam leaving the eye towards the light detecting unit. The light guidance unit is arranged to illuminate the part of the eye with the light beam having an oblique angle of incidence with respect to a visual axis of the eye, and includes a second focusing lens having an entry surface and an exit surface. Further, the exit surface of the first focusing lens has a curvature conformal to a wave front of the light beam leaving the exit surface and impinging on the part of the eye.

Many industrial, scientific and medical processes involve the measurement of the chemical composition of tissue of the human body for a variety of applications. In most cases the accuracy of the measurements is of great importance for the quality of the output of the process mentioned. A specific type of tissue measurements involve the measurement of the transparent media of the eye, as is applied, for example, in ophthalmology where proteins, pharmacological substances, or other molecules in aqueous humor are determined, wherein the presence of these substances provide an indication of the quality of the eye and sometimes information concerning underlying diseases.
Most methods of measuring the pathologic conditions in the eye are based on chemical and histological techniques to acquire information on molecule changes in the tissue or identification of pathogens which implies the use of spectroscopic techniques like absorption, scattering, electronic spin, and/or mass spectroscopy.
The limitations of these methods are that the most of them are performed in vitro, which makes invasive procedures in the eye necessary that may led to complications like hypotony or an endophthalmitus of the eye and is a frightening intervention from the patients point of view.
A solution is the application of in vivo spectroscopy, especially with Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy offers an opportunity to detect molecules qualitative as well quantitative and is a valuable tool to investigate biological materials in aqueous environments. For Raman spectroscopy in the living eye a laser beam is focussed in the tissue of interest and the back scattered light comprising the Raman signals is gathered, e.g. in a confocal device, and analyzed in a spectrometer.
The limitation of these methods is the restriction of the amount of incident light due to the vulnerably of the retinal tissue for light exposure, making the detection of molecules that are present in low concentration difficult if not impossible.
A solution is the application of an oblique illumination with respect to the visual axis of the eye in such a way that the incident excitation beam is not aimed at the retinal tissue. An oblique illumination of the eye can be performed with a device according to the preamble above.
A disadvantage of this technique is that the oblique alignment with the corneal surface interferes with the optical quality of the setup in such a way that it obstructs the confocal tissue selection.

Device and method for performing measurements of the chemical composition of the anterior eye


A mausoleum (10) formed from a plurality of crypt structures (12) each having a generally tubular plastics crypt liners (14) surrounded at side, roof and floor portions thereof by set concrete (81).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mausoleum and to a module for forming a mausoleum.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,878,656 (Duwe & Duwe), 3,897,663, 3,938,773, 4,048,772, 4,068,425, 5,243,794 describe various forms of mausoleums constructed from prefabricated members. These are intended for above ground burial and, usually, present a vertically and horizontally extending array of crypts.
The crypt structure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,663 has spaced parallel vertical walls having sidewardly projecting supports at vertically spaced locations, horizontal slabs being positioned on the support so as to extend between the side walls. The arrangements of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,878,656, and 3,938,773 employ modules which have at least portions which are of inverted U shaped section so that the lower edges of these may rest upon upper walls of underlying modules to form the structure. The arrangements in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,048,772 and 5,243,794 use L-shaped modules. All of these arrangements are therefore characterised in that each module defines less than the whole of the side wall/ceiling/floor of each individual crypt. That is, in each case one horizontal slab or an analogous modular portion forms both the floor and the ceiling of each vertically adjacent pair of crypts, and each crypt chamber is not defined until vertically superimposed modules are provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,783,523 describes a burial vault formed of concrete and having a separately formed roof. Two vaults may be stacked one above the other, but this arrangement is not convenient for forming a multi-crypt mausoleum. For example, since access to the lower vault is prevented when the uppermost vault is positioned on it, so the lower vault must be closed before stacking the vaults.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,014,614 describes a temporary burial vault, which has bottom top and side walls moulded together and an end cover slidable vertically to a position where it closes an open end of the vault. This vault is also not suitable for forming a multi-crypt mausoleum.
U.S. Pat. No. 692,067 (Okey) describes a portable burial vault formed of a metal inner shell, closed by an end closure and then sealed by application over all exterior surfaces of a concrete-like material. Because of its configuration, this is not suitable for forming a multi-crypt mausoleum.
It is highly desirable that crypts be properly sealable. Otherwise gases or liquid products formed from the entombed body may leak from the crypt and cause undesirable odours and unsightly appearance, or damage. Infestation by insects can occur if even a slight crack or opening appears in the crypt. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to secure long term sealing in the described prior constructions. Even where adequate sealing is in the first instance provided, such as by placing sealing material between portions of the structure defining a crypt floor and side walls of the crypt, such as by use of settable or resilient sealing elements, most mausoleum structures are substantial in size and weight, and it is impossible to surely avoid long term movement of modules relative to each other, such as due to settling of mausoleum foundations, or expansion or contraction of modules or parts of these. In cases where the modules are structurally self-sufficient (ic individually capable of self-support) movement as between modules, such as twisting movement about the lengthwise axis of a crypt, may quite readily open up gaps between adjacent modules. This is particularly so where, as is usual, reinforced concrete is the medium from which the modules are formed.
Generally, cracking of concrete structures is likely to occur over time, and will in the prior described constructions likely in any event to lead to leakage in the long term.


A table saw includes a table for placing a workpiece thereon. A saw unit may be vertically movably supported on the table and may have a saw blade mounted thereon. A battery-driven motor may be mounted on the saw unit for rotatably driving the saw blade. A battery mounting device may be provided for mounting a battery on the table saw.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery powered table saw that has a table and a saw unit vertically movably supported on the table.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known motor driven saws, excluding permanently installed floor models, are generally classified as either portable saws or table saws. Portable saws are generally adapted to rest on and move along a workpiece so as to cut the workpiece. Table saws have a table for placing a workpiece thereon and have a saw unit vertically movably supported on the table, which saw unit can be moved downward toward the workpiece on the table so as to cut the workpiece.
Some known portable saws have a battery powered motor. For example, U.S. Design Pat. No. 363,656 teaches such a portable saw. However, known table saws are driven by an AC power source and the applicant is not aware of any attempts to produce a battery-driven table saw. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,153 teaches such a table saw that is driven by an AC power source. Thus, known table saws all require that an electric cord from the table saw be connected to an outlet by means of a plug. As a result, the table saw cannot be used in places in which no outlets are present. For this reason, the operator is limited in the places in which cutting operations can be performed using such AC powered table saws.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An approach is provided for optimizing a deployment pattern. Precedent system(s) that have components that match components in an initial deployment pattern of a new system are identified. A historical performance of the precedent system(s) is determined to not satisfy target non-functional requirements (NFRs) and target service levels of the new system. Responsive to determining that the historical performance did not satisfy the NFRs and the target service levels, the components in the initial deployment pattern are modified and a new deployment pattern for the new system is generated so that (i) the new deployment pattern includes the modified components and (ii) a performance of the new system using the new deployment pattern is likely to satisfy the target NFRs and the target service levels. A recommendation for deploying the new system using the new deployment pattern is generated.

The present invention relates to managing information technology (IT) and communication systems, and more particularly to constructing and optimizing deployment patterns.
Deployment patterns are metadata descriptions of IT and communications systems. Deployment patterns are used as instructions by cloud orchestration tools to automate the accurate construction of virtual IT and communications systems including compute, network, and storage systems. To construct a deployment pattern of good quality, a human pattern developer requires significant knowledge of (1) multiple classes of components in the system, including networks, security, directories, storage, applications, databases, and application servers; (2) the relationships among the aforementioned components; and (3) non-functional requirements (NFRs) and target service levels (e.g., target levels for availability and fluctuations in transaction throughput over time) and how to design infrastructure to achieve the NFRs and the target service levels. NFRs are requirements associated with characteristics of the system, including the security, availability, response time, throughput, and latency).
The known approaches to building deployment patterns have the following issues. Few people or teams have the skills to produce a deployment pattern of good quality. Issues with deployment patterns are identified when the system based on the pattern fails during a test phase or in production. A pattern developer can review documentation on precedent implementations to guide the deployment pattern design, but there is no guarantee that the documentation is accurate. Collecting data including metadata descriptions of the components in a system, relationships between the components, performance characteristics of the components, and service level achievement over time is labor-intensive. Because of the aforementioned issues, pattern developers manually build deployment patterns based on incomplete and possibly inaccurate information. A pattern developer can easily overlook key information such as performance data in log files that indicate issues with an existing system. The pattern developer may be replicating a bad design or copying a system that has failed to meet its target service levels.
Another issue with the known approaches to building deployment patterns includes a lack of an automated means of validating that a deployment pattern will meet desired service levels. For example, the pattern developer does not have an automated means to ensure that the deployment pattern will yield a system that has 99.99% availability or 500 millisecond latency. Many production systems achieve service levels by having excess infrastructure, such as more compute capacity or higher bandwidth network connections that is needed. This excess infrastructure means that ongoing infrastructure costs are higher than they need to be. For example, the pattern developer does not have an automated means for determining whether production resources are being used effectively and efficiently.
Yet another issue with the known approaches to building deployment patterns includes the need for a human to manually adjust the deployment pattern in response to the system being modified to meet a different target service level. For example, a deployment pattern that establishes a customer premise environment comprising security, teller machines, and voice services will need less network and compute capacity for a small rural office and greater capacity at a regional center. The pattern developer must manually adjust each deployment pattern to suit the different offices. The required manual adjustment takes a significant amount of labor and is error-prone.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique that automatically constructs and enhances a deployment pattern at a design phase that precedes any test or production phase, where the deployment pattern is based on complete and accurate information from existing systems, where the information specifies the components in the existing systems, interrelationships between the components, performance characteristics of the components, and service level achievement in the existing systems over time.

Constructing and enhancing a deployment pattern

International Business Machines Corporation


Techniques are shown for providing third-party applications access to user resources based on user actions and processes that provide the third-party applications with the correct security tokens. The scope of access granted in various implementations of the disclosure is all documents which the user has already opened with the third-party application.

Security and privacy of online data and content are a concern for most users of the Internet and web-based storage systems. A user who would like to create new resources for, or who has stored certain personal or sensitive resources or content on a web-based storage system, would like to control access to these user resources.

Controlling access by web applications to resources on servers


Multivalent, multispecific molecules having at least one specificity for a pathogen and at least one specificity for the HLA class II invariant chain (Ii) are administered to induce clearance of the pathogen. In addition to pathogens, clearance of therapeutic or diagnostic agents, autoantibodies, anti-graft antibodies, and other undesirable compounds may be induced using the multivalent, multispecific molecules.

Most forms of nonsurgical cancer therapy, such as external irradiation and chemotherapy, are limited in their efficacy because of toxic side effects to normal tissues and cells, because of the limited specificity of these treatment modalities for cancer cells. This limitation is also of importance when anti-cancer antibodies are used for targeting toxic agents, such as isotopes, drugs, and toxins, to cancer sites, because, as systemic agents, they also circulate to sensitive cellular compartments such as the bone marrow. In acute radiation injury, destruction of lymphoid and hematopoietic compartments is a major factor in the development of septicemia and subsequent death.
In the field of organ transplantation, the recipient's cellular immune response to the foreign graft is depressed with cytotoxic agents which affect the lymphoid and other parts of the hematopoietic system. Graft acceptance is limited by the tolerance of the recipient to these cytotoxic chemicals, many of which are similar to the anticancer (antiproliferative) agents. Likewise, when using cytotoxic antimicrobial agents, particularly antiviral drugs, or when using cytotoxic drugs for autoimmune disease therapy, e.g., in treatment of systemic lupus erythematosis, a serious limitation is the toxic effects to the bone marrow and the hematopoietic cells of the body.
The detection of a target site benefits from a high signal-to-background ratio of detection agent. Therapy benefits from as high an absolute accretion of therapeutic agent at the target site as possible, as well as a reasonably long duration of uptake and binding. In order to improve the targeting ratio and amount of agent delivered to a target site, the use of targeting vectors comprising diagnostic or therapeutic agents conjugated to a targeting moiety for preferential localization has long been known.
Examples of targeting vectors include diagnostic or therapeutic agent conjugates of targeting moieties such as antibody or antibody fragments, cell- or tissue-specific peptides, and hormones and other receptor-binding molecules. For example, antibodies against different determinants associated with pathological and normal cells, as well as associated with pathogenic microorganisms, have been used for the detection and treatment of a wide variety of pathological conditions or lesions. In these methods, the targeting antibody is directly conjugated to an appropriate detecting or therapeutic agent as described, for example, in Hansen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,193 and Goldenberg, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,331,647, 4,348,376, 4,361,544, 4,468,457, 4,444,744, 4,460,459, 4,460,561, 4,624,846 and 4,818,709, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
One problem encountered in direct targeting methods, i.e., in methods wherein the diagnostic or therapeutic agent (the "active agent") is conjugated directly to the targeting moiety, is that a relatively small fraction of the conjugate actually binds to the target site, while the majority of conjugate remains in circulation and compromises in one way or another the function of the targeted conjugate. In the case of a diagnostic conjugate, for example, a radioimmunoscintigraphic or magnetic resonance imaging conjugate, non-targeted conjugate which remains in circulation can increase background and decrease resolution. In the case of a therapeutic conjugate having a very toxic therapeutic agent, e.g., a radioisotope, drug or toxin, attached to a long-circulating targeting moiety such as an antibody, circulating conjugate can result in unacceptable toxicity to the host, such as marrow toxicity or systemic side effects.
While some agents exist for clearing non-interacting agents, these agents do not generally involve the use of a specific mechanism for targeting clearance. In some cases, however, to speed up this hepatobiliary recognition process, the clearing agent may be substituted with sugar residues, primarily galactose, such that the galactosylated complex is recognized by the asialoglycoprotein receptors in the liver. By using a galactosylated biotin-protein, substantially all circulating streptavidin-antibody and galactosylated biotin-protein is deposited into the liver on the first pass through, making the clearing process very fast and efficient. With circulating avidin conjugate removed, excess biotin-chelate-radionuclide is rapidly eliminated, preferably renally. Because the radionuclide spends a very short time in circulation, considerably less marrow toxicity to the patient is seen compared to when the radionuclide is attached directly to the antibody. However, it has been found that some of these clearing agents may bind to and remove the therapeutic or diagnostic agent that is beneficially bound to the target site.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,840 discloses a method for reducing the effect of elevated background radiation levels during surgery. The method is to inject the patient with antibodies specific for neoplastic tissue and which are labeled with radioisotopes having a suitably long half-life, such as Iodine-125. After injection of the radiolabeled antibody, the surgery is delayed at least 7-10 days, preferably 14-21 days, to allow any unbound radiolabeled antibody to be cleared to a low bloodpool, background level.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,412 discloses methods for reducing or correcting for non-specific background radiation during intraoperative detection. The methods include the administration to a patient who has received a radiolabeled primary antibody, of a contrast agent, subtraction agent or second antibody which binds the primary antibody.
A need exists, therefore, for improved clearing agents which work efficiently and rapidly to target the agent sought to be cleared to the cells responsible for clearance.


A gear drive assembly for a supercharger is provided. The gear drive assembly has at least one gear member rotatable about an axis of rotation and includes a cover member operable to substantially enclose the at least one gear member. A tube member extends though the cover member and is generally aligned along the axis of rotation. The tube member is operable to vent the gear drive assembly. A supercharger assembly incorporating the gear drive assembly is also disclosed.

It is known in the art to utilize positive displacement compressors, such as roots-type and screw-type compressors, having lobed rotors for supercharging internal combustion engines and for providing compressed air for other purposes. Such a compressor, when used as an automotive supercharger, may include a housing having a rotor cavity in which a pair of rotors, having interleaved lobes, rotates to transport volumes of intake air between an inlet passage of the housing and an outlet passage of the housing thereby increasing the pressure at the outlet passage.
Sustained high load operation of the supercharger increases the air temperature exiting the supercharger, with the highest temperatures typically reached at high engine speeds and supercharger loads. The air tends to heat lubricating oil within a gear drive assembly of the supercharger by forced convection/conduction.

Vented gear drive assembly for a supercharger


Apparatus and methods for penetrating a downhole target within a wellbore include providing a body with a longitudinal axis, a first end, and a second end into a wellbore, the body having a nozzle at the first end. The nozzle is adapted to project a medium, such as molten thermite, in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, such as in a downhole direction. An initiation source is usable to consume a fuel load associated with the body to cause projection of the medium in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the wellbore, to affect an obstruction in the wellbore. A series of such apparatus can be used in succession, such that the actuation of each preceding apparatus enhances the effect of each subsequent apparatus on the obstruction.

When drilling, completing, and/or otherwise forming or operating on a wellbore, it is often necessary to install and/or set devices that block, seal, restrict, or isolate a portion of the wellbore. For example, sub surface safety valves (which typically include a flapper valve), are deployed to restrict the egress of lower zoned material (e.g., oil and gas); however, it is common for flapper valves to become blocked or otherwise hindered or prevented from opening, preventing production or other operations. In other situations, foreign objects (e.g., "fish"), debris, and/or other objects, can become lodged within a wellbore, especially at restrictions in a wellbore. Such items can often present difficulties in removal due to the lack of fixation of the object in the wellbore and/or the material of the object (e.g., Inconel, Hastalloy, etc.)
Conventional methods for removing downhole obstructions include use of jars to apply a physical/mechanical force to such obstructions, pigs or similar fluid jetting systems typically used to clean a conduit (e.g., to remove paraffin or similar substances), and other similar systems that generally rely on physical/mechanical force to forcibly move an obstruction.
A need exists for apparatus and methods usable to penetrate, perforate, or erode a target that presents a blockage, obstruction, hindrance to travel, and/or inadequate flow path in a wellbore.

Apparatus and methods for overcoming an obstruction in a wellbore


A nonwoven fabric which is particularly useful as a liquid transport layer in an absorbent product. The fabric is formed of a mixture of fibers of varying sizes and polymer compositions, selected to provide the desired liquid transport properties to the fabric, and thermally bonded by calendering to form a coherent fabric structure.

Disposable absorbent products, such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, and the like, typically include a liquid impermeable outer covering, an absorbent layer, and an inner layer which contacts the skin of the wearer. The inner layer is referred to in the art as coverstock, topsheet, or, in diaper applications, diaper liners.
Typically, the liner or coverstock layer is a liquid permeable, porous nonwoven fabric, such as a carded web or a spunbonded web. The absorbent core can include wood pulp fibers and optionally superabsorbent particles designed to absorb many times their own weight in liquid. To provide a comfortable yet effective product, the liner layer ideally permits liquid to flow through it rapidly into the absorbent layer ("rapid strike through") but does not permit or, at a minimum does not facilitate, re-transmission of liquid from the absorbent layer to the "wearer" side of said inner layer ("resists rewet").
Many conventional absorbent products, however, do not provide adequate liquid strike through and rewet properties. Often liquid is delivered to the absorbent system at a rate faster than the rate at which the system can transport the liquid away from the wearer's skin into the absorbent core (i.e., the liquid uptake rate of the system is slower than the liquid delivery rate). Even if the absorbent system can adequately handle an initial liquid surge, once wetted, the absorbent material can lose resiliency and collapse, thus affecting the ability of the system to handle subsequent liquid surges. As a result, at least a portion of the liquid can pool on the liner layer and/or wick back to the liner layer adjacent the wearer's skin. This can cause wearer discomfort, skin irritation, and leakage.
Design features, such as elastic gathers at the leg and waist region of the product, can alleviate leakage. Alterations to the design and/or amount of the absorbent material can also reduce these problems. While these and other design modifications can minimize leakage, they do not alleviate these problems, and can in some cases aggravate the problem.
Additional layers ("surge" layers) can be introduced between the absorbent layer and the liner layer to improve fluid uptake and to reduce wetback. Typically, surge layers are relatively thick, high loft carded nonwoven webs bonded using through-air bonding techniques. Through-air bonding bonds the fibers of the fabric together to provide fabric integrity while also maintaining the desired fabric structure (such as loft, density, etc.) to provide the desired liquid transport properties. Exemplary through-air bonded nonwoven webs useful as surge layers in absorbent personal care products are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,166 to Bishop et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,846 to Ellis et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,810 to Allen, Jr. et al. These patents recognize that through-air bonding should be used to control the structure of the fabric (such as level of compression or collapse of the structure).
While these and other fabrics can be effective, it can be difficult to provide through-air bonded fabrics which have adequate liquid transport properties yet also have desired strength, bulkiness, compressibility, resilience, and the like. Further, manufacturing through-air bonded carded fabrics can be slow, and the fabrics can be expensive relative to other types of nonwoven fabrics. Still further, these fabrics are typically provided as roll goods with small fabric yardages per roll, thus increasing shipping costs.
Chemically bonded (i.e., adhesively bonded) carded nonwoven fabrics and calendered carded nonwoven fabrics also can be used as a liquid transport layer in an absorbent product. These fabrics, however, have relatively low loft, and thus the liquid transport properties are not as desirable as those exhibited by through-air bonded carded webs.

Nonwoven fabrics having liquid transport properties and processes for manufacturing the same


An integral reinforced resin grating structure having a plurality of load bars having a height dimension and a neutral axis and a plurality of cross bars integrally connected with said load bars. The cross bars may have a height less than the load bar height. The upper surface of the cross bars may be flush with the upper surface of the load bars. The lower surface of the cross bars may be located near or above the neutral axis of the load bars. The cross bars and load bars are reinforced with rovings placed along their respective longitudinal axis. The load bars have longitudinal rovings placed below the lower surface of the cross bars. Above the lower surface of the cross bars, the load bar rovings are interwoven with the cross bar rovings.. For improved plastic reinforced grating structures having increased surface hardness and abrasion resistance, tabular alumina or other materials having a Mohs hardness of approximately 7 or higher may be added to the resin.

Fiberglass reinforced grating structures have several attractive features such as increased corrosion resistance, simple fabrication and installation, a high resistance to flame and sparks, slip-resistance, and a high strength-to-weight ratio. A disadvantage inherent in the design of fiberglass reinforced grating structures is the tradeoff of increased corrosion resistance at the expense of longitudinal strength. When uni-directional strength is important, pultruded grating is the preferred method of manufacture. Pultruded grating is typically produced by first making the load bars and cross bars by the pultrusion process and then assembling the bars together, resulting in a final product which is not an integral structure. Thus pultruded grating has a disadvantage of requiring secondary processing for the attachment and interconnection of the cross bars to the load bars as well as requiring the sealing of joints for corrosion resistance. Another disadvantage of pultruded grating is that the holes drilled in the load bars for insertion of the cross bars result in a decrease in strength of the structure. Another disadvantage of pultruded grating is it has inferior corrosion resistance due to the penetration of corrosive material through the intersections created by the drilled holes in the grating structure. Further, pultruded grating has reduced impact resistance in comparison to molded grating due to the lower resin content.
Prior art molded grating methods typically create grating having reinforcement material aligned in two directions and interwoven throughout the entire height of the grating for bi-directional strength. Thus where strength in one direction is primarily needed, molded grating has the disadvantage in that relatively expensive plastic resin material is not utilized in the most efficient structural manner. Another disadvantage of molded grating is that reinforcement is added to both load and cross bars in equal amounts for bi-directional strength while pultruded grating primarily reinforces the load bars for strength primarily in one direction. This results in molded grating being relatively more expensive and lower in strength in comparison with pultruded grating. In addition, the greater amount of expensive plastic resin used to manufacture the grating increases the processing time and costs. Further, molded grating has the disadvantage of allowing fluids to pool in the open areas of the grating.
Therefore, a more economical process is desired for producing a fiber reinforced plastic grating having an improved design which more efficiently utilizes expensive plastic resin and reinforcement material. In addition, an integrally made grating structure is also desired which eliminates the need for secondary processing. Furthermore, an improved fiber reinforced plastic grating article having greater structural strength and rigidity while having a lower weight yet maintaining corrosion and impact resistance is highly advantageous.

Composite Structures International, Inc.


A monitor controller configured to control a display content on a display unit is configured to keep displaying a bird's-eye-view image when an operation of an operation device is sensed in the state where the display unit displays the bird's-eye-view image, and to cause the display unit to display the bird's-eye-view image when the operation of the operation device is sensed in the state where the display unit does not display the bird's-eye-view image.

Conventionally, there has been a proposed technique for a hydraulic excavator including: a revolving unit equipped at its rear portion with two cameras; and a controller for selecting one of images from two cameras and causing the selected image to be displayed on a monitor unit, for causing the monitor unit to automatically display an image on the upstream side in the rotation direction during rotation of the revolving unit (for example, see Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-295321 (PTL 1)).
Also conventionally, there has been a proposed technique for a hydraulic excavator including a revolving unit equipped with a plurality of cameras, for displaying images taken by the plurality of cameras on one screen of a monitor screen. Specifically, during the operation of a control lever, a camera image of a view seen in the direction opposite to the operation direction of the control lever is displayed in an enlarged manner (for example, see Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2007-278025 (PTL 2)).

Work vehicle and control system for work vehicle


A system and method comprising RF tags, RFID readers, voice input devices, and voice recognition software may capture even characteristics associated with a workflow. Workflow characteristics, such as JobId, OperatorID, StationId and EventId may be stored in RF tags and may be captured along with a timestamp, when brought together in the close proximity of a RFID reader. Next node information may be captured to construct detailed workflow diagrams based upon captured data. Quantity information, as well as other information, may be entered verbally and converted to computer readable form using voice recognition software.

This invention relates to tracking systems and methods for tracking job data generated in document production environments. More specifically, the present invention relates to collecting workflow related information using wireless and voice detection technologies.
Most production environments utilize manual data collection methods for collecting workflow related information. This information may consist of job identification information, operator information, workstation information and quantity information.
Technological advances have introduced automation to the manual collection methods and include PC based collection devices as well as wireless handheld barcode scanners.

Systems and methods for capturing workflow information


A weapon delivery system includes a vertical structure defining an opening and a hidden compartment above the opening, and a delivery structure pivoted to a bottom of the vertical structure that when in a closed position generally covers the opening. The delivery structure includes a horizontal top member adapted to support a long gun in a known orientation in the hidden compartment and, when the delivery structure is moved to an open position, causes the long gun to be dropped onto the hands of the person in the known orientation. This allows the person to immediately grasp the long gun in a manner ready to deal with an intruder or danger. The illustrated system is a bed headboard positioned so that a person sleeping on the bed can reach up, press the delivery structure, and drop the long gun into their waiting hands.

The present invention relates structures that provide a weapon delivery system for delivering long guns (e.g. rifles, shot guns) from a hidden compartment, and in particularly relates to a vertical structure (e.g. furniture or headboard) able to deliver a stored long gun quickly to an owner in a known orientation via a simple panel movement. The illustrated structure is a bed headboard with storage compartment therein, but it is contemplated that the present innovation is not limited to only headboards or furniture. Instead, the present innovation can be incorporated into any vertical structure where a person is immediately adjacent the vertical panel in a known position relative to a weapon stored therein, particularly where the person's hands are ready to receive and hold the weapon in a ready-for-use position.
Many gun owners want to store their guns in a safe but easily accessible place, for example so that their rifle is quickly available for home defense and personal safety. One example is where a person may want to access their weapon in the middle of the night to defend themselves against an intruder in their house. However, in addition to nights being dark, and also to the awoken person being startled and unsettled, it is very difficult to traverse quietly to the location of a stored rifle, load it, grip the gun in a safe manner, and otherwise get ready to confront the intruder without making unwanted noise. In some circumstances, it may be preferable not to turn on lights, and even if a light can be turned on, it would take a while for an awoken person's eyes to become accustom to the light.
A weapon delivery system is desired that is able to safely store a long gun in a concealed location while also being capable of quickly delivering the rifle into awaiting hands of the gun owner in a way that naturally and inherently causes the gun owner to grip and hold the gun safely in a natural orientation in their hands for immediate use, potentially without even getting out of bed.

Furniture structure providing weapon delivery system


The invention relates to a differential gear having a differential housing in which two conical compensating gears are rotatably supported about a first axis of rotation and two conical output gears meshing with the compensating gears are rotatably supported about a second axis of rotation oriented at right angles to the first axis of rotation, wherein a spring device is arranged between the differential housing and at least one of the output and/or compensating gears to load it with a spring force.

Such a differential gear is generally known and is used, for example, in a motor vehicle in order to allow different speeds of a wheel at the inside of a corner and a wheel at the outside of a cover on cornering. Differential gears are also called differential transmissions and the differential housing a differential basket. The output gears or compensating gears are also called bevel gears due to their conical form.
It is furthermore known to arrange a washer disk between an output gear or a compensating gear and an inner wall of the differential housing to avoid a running of the output gear or compensation gear into the differential housing and any wear associated therewith.
It has been found to be problematic with differential gears of the initially named kind that load changes in a powertrain, e.g. of a motor vehicle, coupled with the differential gear, can result in an unwanted noise development, a so-called load change knocking, in the differential transmission.


A dialogue supporting apparatus that easily selects a desired sample sentence from among candidate-sample sentences corresponding to inputted speech. The dialogue supporting apparatus includes a speech recognition unit performing continuous speech recognition of the inputted speech, a database unit having a sample sentence database holding the correspondence of sample sentences of a source language and a target language, a sample sentence selection unit selecting one or more sample sentences from within the sample sentence database, according to a speech recognition result or operation of a GUI unit, a sample sentence comparison unit (i) comparing the one or more sample sentences selected by the sample sentence selection unit and the speech recognition result, (ii) calculating word scores from an appearance location of the words, and (iii) deriving a display parameter for each word of each sample sentence, based on the word scores, and the GUI unit performing the display of a sample sentence based on the display parameter.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable dialogue supporting apparatus which converts a speech-inputted source language sentence into a target language and outputs the converted sentence in speech or text form.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Dialogue supporting systems which translate speech input have been developed as software for workstations and personal computers. In a laboratory environment, performance has reached a practical level for users familiar with their usage, in the case where the scope of conversation is limited to applications for travel conversation, and the like. However, in terms of usability, performance has not yet reached a level that allows usage by the average overseas tourist on an actual trip. In order to improve usability, packaging in readily-portable size hardware and implementation in a user interface that is easy to master and operate, is necessary.
Conventionally, usability is improved by limiting the functions and performance of speech translation software developed for workstations and personal computers, and transplanting these into a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) (see "AN EXPERIMENTAL MULTILINGUAL SPEECH TRANSLATION SYSTEM", Kenji Matsui et al., Workshops on Perceptual/Perceptive User Interfaces 2001, ACM Digital Library, ISBN 1-58113-448-7, for example).
In the sample sentence-based translation method using speech input, many thousands of sample sentences need to be prepared in order to cover the average travel conversation, and depending on the result of speech recognition, there are cases where many sample sentences appear as candidates. For example, in the case where words having a high frequency of appearance, in terms of the sample sentences as a whole (for example, ┌ (aru)┘ (be, have), ┌ (en)┘ (Yen), and so on), are accurately recognized in the speech recognition but the rest of the sample sentences cannot be recognized satisfactorily, the number of sample sentences selected as candidates and presented to the user consequently increases. In such cases, it is not easy for the user to select a desired sample sentence from among the candidate-sample sentences. In particular, when the display device for viewing the list of candidate-sample sentences is small and the number of sample sentences that can be viewed simultaneously is considerably small, selecting a desired sample sentence from among the candidates presented becomes even more difficult. Furthermore, when a sample sentence that is similar to the desired sample sentence is found while looking through the candidate-sample sentences, there are many instances where there is hesitation in deciding as to whether to select such sample sentence or to search for a closer matching sample sentence. As such, a function for aiding selection for large amounts of candidate-sample sentences is necessary.
For this reason, the applicant of the present application proposes a speech conversion apparatus that enables a flexible search by searching out a sample sentence based on the dependence relationship of words within the sample sentence, and can improve the usability of displayed details (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-288339 Publication, for example).
However, the improvement of sample sentence search accuracy has limitations. In particular, in the case where the display device for viewing the list of candidate-sample sentences is small and the number of sample sentences that can be viewed simultaneously is considerably small, selecting a desired sample sentence from among the insufficiently presented candidates is difficult.
Thus, the present invention is conceived in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as an objective to provide a dialogue supporting apparatus that can easily select a desired sample sentence from among candidate-sample sentences corresponding to inputted speech.


The invention relates to a compound of formula (I):

The present invention relates to new 6-amino- or 6-hydrazino-sulphonyl-3-quinolylphosphonic acid compounds and to compositions containing them.
The prior art describes compounds that are capable of countering the excitatory and toxic effects of the excitatory amino acids (EAA) by blocking the initial activation of the AMPA (xcex1-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid)/kainate receptor (EP 0 640 612). Their usefulness is accordingly recognised for inhibiting pathological phenomena, especially neurotoxic phenomena associated with hyperactivation of the neurotransmission paths to the excitatory amino acids. Those compounds pose serious problems of nephrotoxicity, however, as has also been shown to be the case for other non-NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) antagonists of reference, such as, for example, 6-nitro-7-sulphamoyl-benzo[f]quinoxaline-2,3-dione (NBQX) (Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 1994, 14, 251-261).
The Applicant has discovered new compounds that have more powerful non-NMDA antagonist properties than do the compounds of the prior art, with greatly reduced associated nephrotoxicity. Those compounds are therefore new and are potential powerful therapeutic agents for the acute, and also chronic, treatment of neurological and psychological disorders involving those amino acids, for example degenerative disorders such as cerebrovascular accident, cerebral or spinal traumatism, epilepsy, chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer""s disease, schizophrenia, lateral amyotrophic sclerosis or Huntington""s chorea.
More especially, the present invention relates to compounds of formula (I):
wherein:
R1 represents a halogen atom or a trifluoromethyl group,
R2 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl or cycloalkyl group,
R3 represents an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, arylalkoxy, hydroxy, aminoalkyl, alkylaminoalkyl, dialkylaminoalkyl, alkylcarbonyl, arylcarbonyl or arylalkylcarbonyl group or an NHR6 group (wherein R6 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkylcarbonyl, arylcarbonyl, arylalkyl or arylalkylcarbonyl group),
or R2 and R3 together form with the nitrogen atom carrying them a ring having 5 or 6 carbon atoms, in which one of the carbon atoms can be replaced by an oxygen, nitrogen or sulphur atom or by an SO or SO2 group or by an NRa group (wherein Ra represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or arylalkyl group),
R4 and R5, which may be identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or arylalkyl group or a group
xe2x80x83(wherein R7 and R8, which may be identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl group),
it being understood that:
xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d is understood to mean a linear or branched alkyl group containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms,
xe2x80x9calkoxyxe2x80x9d is understood to mean a linear or branched alkoxy group containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms,
xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d is understood to mean a cyclic alkyl group containing from 3 to 8 carbon atoms,
xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d is understood to mean the groups phenyl or naphthyl, it being possible for those groups to be unsubstituted or substituted by from 1 to 3 groups selected from alkyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, cyano, nitro, polyhaloalkyl, SO2NR9R10 (wherein R9 and R10, which may be identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl group) and halogen atoms,
their enantiomers and diastereoisomers and addition salts thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid or base.
Among the pharmaceutically acceptable acids there may be mentioned by way of nonand-limiting example hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, sulphuric acid, phosphonic acid, acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, methanesulphonic acid, camphoric acid, oxalic acid, etc.
Among the pharmaceutically acceptable bases there may be mentioned by way of non-limiting example sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, triethylamine, tert-butylamine, etc.
The preferred compounds of the invention are compounds of formula (I) wherein R1 represents a chlorine atom.
The preferred groups R3 are the alkyl group (such as, for example, methyl or propyl), the dialkylaminoalkyl group (such as, for example, dimethylaminoethyl), the aryl group (such as, for example, phenyl), the arylcarbonyl group (such as, for example, benzoyl) or the group NHCOR wherein R represents an alkyl or aryl group.
An advantageous aspect of the invention relates to compounds of formula (I) wherein R2 is a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group.
When R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 advantageously represents the groups cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, arylalkoxy, hydroxy, aminoalkyl, alkylaminoalkyl, dialkylaminoalkyl, alkylcarbonyl, arylcarbonyl, arylalkylcarbonyl or NHR6.
When R2 is an alkyl group, R3 advantageously represents the group alkyl.
The hydrogen atom is the preferred meaning for the substituents R4 and R5.
More especially still, the invention relates to compounds of formula (I) which are:
7-chloro-2-oxo-6-[(n-propylamino)sulphonyl]-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid,
7-chloro-6-[(methylamino)sulphonyl]-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid,
6-(anilinosulphonyl)-7-chloro-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid,
6-[(2-benzoylhydrazino)sulphonyl]-7-chloro-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid,
7-chloro-6-[(2-{4-[(di-n-propylamino)sulphonyl]benzoyl}hydrazino)sulphonyl]-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid, and
7-chloro-6-({[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amino}sulphonyl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3-quinolylphosphonic acid hydrobromide.
The enantiomers, diastereoisomers and pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts with an acid or a base of the preferred compounds of the invention form an integral part of the invention.
The invention relates also to a process for the preparation of compounds of formula (I), characterised in that there is used as starting material a compound of formula (II):
wherein R1 is as defined for formula (I),
which is condensed, in the presence of a base, such as, for example, pyridine, with a compound of formula (III):
to yield a compound of formula (IV):
wherein R1 is as defined hereinbefore,
which is cyclised in the presence of a catalytic amount of piperidine to obtain a compound of formula (V):
wherein R1 is as defined hereinbefore,
which is subjected to a mixture of nitric acid and sulphuric acid to yield a compound of formula (VI):
wherein R1 is as defined hereinbefore,
which is reduced using palladium-on-carbon in the presence of hydrogen or iron in a dilute alcoholic medium to yield a compound of formula (VII):
wherein R1 is as defined hereinbefore,
which is subjected, after conversion to the corresponding diazonium salt, to the action of sulphur dioxide in the presence of CuCl2 to yield a compound of formula (VIII):
wherein R1 is as defined hereinbefore,
which is condensed with a compound of formula HNR2R3 wherein R2 and R3 are as defined for formula (I) to yield a compound of formula (I/a), a particular case of the compounds of formula (I):
wherein R1, R2 and R3 are as defined hereinbefore,
which is partially or totally deprotected in the presence of, for example, trimethylsilane bromide to yield a compound of formula (I/b), a particular case of the compounds of formula (I):
wherein R1, R2 and R3 are as defined hereinbefore and R1 represents a hydrogen atom or an ethyl group,
which may be condensed with a compound of formula (IX):
wherein Rxe2x80x3 represents an alkyl, aryl or arylalkyl group or a group
(wherein R7 and R8 are as defined for formula (I)),
to obtain a compound of formula (I/c), a particular case of the compounds of formula (I):
wherein R1, R2, R3, R5 and Rxe2x80x3 are as defined hereinbefore,
which compounds of formulae (I/a) to (I/c) constitute the totality of the compounds of formula (I), and can be purified according to a conventional separation technique, are converted, if desired, into their addition salts with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid or base, and separated, where appropriate, into their isomers according to a conventional separation technique.
The compounds of the invention have very valuable pharmacological properties since they are powerful inhibitors of the AMPA receptor, and they are moreover selective since they do not affect the NMDA receptor and therefore do not have any of the side-effects described for NMDA antagonists, and especially do not have the nephrotoxicity associated with a number of AMPA/non-NMDA antagonists. The use of those compounds as inhibitors of pathological phenomena associated with hyperactivation of the neurotransmission paths to the excitatory amino acids will therefore be particularly appreciated in the acute, and especially chronic, treatment of neurological and psychological disorders involving those amino acids, for example degenerative disorders such as cerebrovascular accident, cerebral or spinal traumatism, epilepsy, chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer""s disease, schizophrenia, lateral amyotrophic sclerosis or Huntington""s chorea.
The present invention relates also to pharmaceutical compositions comprising as active ingredient at least one compound of formula (I) alone or in combination with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.
Among the pharmaceutical compositions according to the invention, there may be mentioned more especially those that are suitable for oral, parenteral, nasal, per- or transcutaneous, rectal, perlingual, ocular or respiratory administration, especially tablets or dragxc3xa9es, sublingual tablets, sachets, paquets, gelatin capsules, glossettes, lozenges, suppositories, creams, ointments, dermal gels and drinkable or injectable ampoules.
The dosage varies according to the sex, age and weight of the patient, the route of administration, the nature of the therapeutic indication, or any associated treatments and ranges from 50 mg to 1 g per 24 hours in 1 or more administrations.
The following Examples illustrate the invention and do not limit it in any way.

6-amino- or 6-hydrazino-sulphonyl-3-quinolynyl-phosphonic acid compounds

Abstract: wherein:

Abstract: R1 represents halogen or a group CF3,

Abstract: R2 represents hydrogen or alkyl or cycloalkyl,

Abstract: R3 is as defined in the description,

Abstract: R4 and R5 represent hydrogen or alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or arylalkyl a group

Abstract: Medicaments.


The present invention provides a system and method for supplying and managing oxygen suited for use on-board an aircraft for providing breathable oxygen to pilots and cockpit crew. Components of the system work together to optimize oxygen utilization while reducing costs from maintenance and added weight of traditional pressurized gaseous cylinders. Components include a rapid oxygen supply for immediate use in emergency situations, an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG), a controller, a pulsed oxygen delivery subsystem that detects inhale/exhale phases and adapts to physiological requirements, and a breathing mask for each pilot and cockpit crew member.

This invention generally relates to a system and method for providing regulated flow of oxygen, including for a pilot or cockpit crew member on-board an aircraft. The invention more particularly relates to a system and method for ensuring that oxygen gas suitable for breathing is rapidly and intermittently available to a pilot or cockpit crew member on-board an aircraft including during an aircraft's descent. Components of the system include oxygen generators.
Conventional systems and methods for supplying oxygen to an aircraft pilot or cockpit crew member rely on gaseous oxygen contained in cylinders that are stored on-board the aircraft and delivered to pressure and/or flow regulator devices.
There are disadvantages to relying entirely on either a pressurized cylinder of oxygen enriched gas or a chemical oxygen generator. Pressurized cylinders of oxygen enriched gas add significant weight to an oxygen supply system and contribute to its hazard potential by providing an ever-present risk of combustion. Added weight increases fuel costs. Oxygen from pressurized cylinders of gas may be distributed from one or more sources within a distribution network of an aircraft or individual cylinders may be provided for each pilot and cockpit crew member. In either case, given the limited space of an aircraft, oxygen from the cylinders is typically not far from components of the aircraft's illumination system increasing the hazard potential. For example, individual cylinders or outlets of a distribution network above the seats are near the lights. Chemical oxygen generators decrease this hazard potential and reduce the weight of continuously storing pressurized gaseous cylinders but have limited applications. For example, chemical oxygen generators are designed to be usable only a single time for shorter flights (e.g. under about 22 minutes) and their applicability may further depend upon the terrain of the flight path. The need to refill pressurized cylinders and to replace single use chemical oxygen generators increases the maintenance costs for aircraft oxygen supply systems.
A system is known that utilizes molecular sieve bed and/or permeable membrane technology, to produce first, oxygen for use for breathing by an aircrew, and second, nitrogen for use as an inert environment in the fuel tanks of an aircraft. However such systems still require the provision of compressors for both the oxygen, in order that the oxygen can be delivered at an appropriate pressure for breathing, and for the nitrogen. Also, the concentration of oxygen which can be produced is restricted by virtue of the nature of the conventional on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device technology which is used.
Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology is based on the principle that gases under pressure are generally attracted to solid surfaces upon which the gases are adsorbed. Higher pressure results in greater gas adsorption. When the pressure is reduced or swings from high to low, gas is released or desorbed. Gaseous mixtures may be separated through pressure swing adsorption (PSA) because different gases tend to be adsorbed or attracted to different solid materials to varying degrees. Accordingly, when the pressure is reduced gases that are less strongly attracted to the solid materials will be desorbed first to form an outlet stream. After the bed of solid material to which gases are adsorbed reaches its capacity to adsorb, pressure is further reduced to release even the more strongly attracted gases. As applied to an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG), engine bleed air is typically fed into the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) device, the nitrogen component of air is adsorbed to a bed of solid material more strongly than the oxygen component of air, and an outlet stream of enriched oxygen is produced. This is similar to the process used in portable oxygen concentrators for emphysema patients and others who require oxygen enriched air to breathe.
On-board oxygen generators (OBOG) based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology are dependent upon compressed air. On an aircraft this compressed air is typically available as engine bleed air having pressure in the range of 30 to 40 psig and at a temperature in the range of 320 to 380° F. However, in the event engine bleed air or compressed air from an alternative source is not readily available, compressors may be used to pressurize air sufficiently that it is suitable to be received by a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) type on-board oxygen generator (OBOG).
Adsorbents for pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems must have the ability to discriminate between two or more gases demonstrating selective adsorption. Suitable adsorbent materials for ppressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems are usually very porous materials selected for their large surface areas, for example activated carbon, silica gel, alumina and zeolites. The gas adsorbed on these surfaces may consist of a layer only one or at most a few molecules thick. Adsorbent materials having surface areas of several hundred square meters per gram enable the adsorption of a significant portion of the adsorbent's weight in gas. The molecular sieve characteristics of zeolites and some types of activated carbon called carbon molecular sieves serve to exclude some gas molecules based on size, in addition to the differential adsorption selectivity for different gases.
Oxygen for breathing generated by on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) devices typically is not rapidly available due to the required cycling through membranes. While ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices typically are superior to molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) devices based upon an ability to provide purer or more highly concentrated oxygen-enriched gas at pressure, oxygen from ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices is also not rapidly available due to the high temperature requirement necessary for oxygen generation from such devices. It would be desirable to provide a system that leverages the advantages of on-board oxygen generators (OBOG), including ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices incorporating existing solid electrolyte oxygen separation (SEOS) technology and molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) devices incorporating pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology, without sacrificing availability of breathable oxygen gas in the short-term during descent or upon an emergency situation arising by integrating other components capable of providing high purity oxygen in the short-term.
It would also be desirable to provide a system incorporating a molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) device that utilizes pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology to supply sufficiently oxygen enriched air at holding altitudes below 30,000 feet. The ability to rely on molecular sieve oxygen generator (MSOG) devices to supply oxygen below 30,000 feet may also reduce the cost of electricity and heating for the ceramic oxygen generator (COG) devices that produce more highly enriched oxygen gas (about 99% pure) required for altitudes of 30,000 feet and up.
It would further be desirable to provide a system that includes a controller for managing the supply of oxygen from the various sources in the system to ensure a prompt, rich supply of oxygen is available, to maximize efficiency of oxygen usage, and to recycle or store for future use gaseous products that are not needed in the short-term.
Heavy pressurized oxygen cylinders and single use chemical oxygen generators contribute to the maintenance costs of aircrafts reliant upon these oxygen sources. It would be highly advantageous to reduce reliance on pressurized gaseous oxygen cylinders and chemical oxygen generators by reserving their usage to emergency and descent situations before oxygen enriched gas from an on-board oxygen generator (OBOG) device is available.
Finally, it would be advantageous to conserve oxygen that is available or generated by providing oxygen to the masks of passengers or crew through a pulsed supplier with a feedback mechanism such that oxygen flow is only provided as needed. The present invention meets these and other needs.

On-board generation of oxygen for aircraft pilots


A spindle motor includes a base plate, a stator, and a rotor. The base plate has a plurality of air-guiding holes. The stator includes a bearing portion and a plurality of coil portions. The bearing portion is fixed on the base plate. The coil portions are connected to and surrounded the bearing portion, and are disposed above the air-guiding holes. The rotor is rotatably mounted to the bearing portion and disposed adjacent the coil portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a spindle motor and an optical disc drive employing the spindle motor, and more particularly, to a spindle motor with air-guiding holes and an optical disc drive employing the spindle motor.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical discs have gradually replaced conventional magnetic storage medium and become a type of indispensable optical storage medium for modern people due to the facts that the optical disc is inexpensive, easy to carry, large in storage size and easy for reservation, and can store data for a long time. Because of the widespread use of the optical discs, optical disc drives for reading the optical discs have also become a common and necessary electronic product.
In general, a traverse inside the optical disc drive is provided with a spindle motor for carrying an optical disc for high speed rotation and an optical pickup for reading data on the optical disc. The spindle motor usually includes a stator, a rotor, and a base plate. The base plate is mounted to the traverse and the stator is fixed to the base plate. The rotor is typically pivotably mounted with respect to the stator in a floating manner. In particular, the stator may include a bearing portion and a plurality of coil portions connected to a periphery of the bearing portion. The rotor may include a rotary shaft pivotably mounted in the bearing portion in a floating manner and an annular magnetic element disposed adjacent the coil portions. The annular magnetic element is, for example, a permanent magnet.
A user can place an optical disc on the spindle motor to rotate the optical disc. Since the optical disc is an external load from the perspective of the motor, in case of a high unbalance of the optical disc, the motor may bear a large external load thus causing an increased chance of contact and abrasion between the rotor and the stator. After a long term operation, the coil portions of the stator may generate a large amount of heat and conduct the heat to the bearing portion of the rotor thus causing deterioration of the quality of lubricating oil and degradation of the load capacity of the oil film in the bearing portion. This phenomenon may accelerate the wear between the rotor and the stator thus shortening the lifespan of the motor. In addition, with the rotating speed of the optical disc drive being increased, the spindle motor also generates more heat correspondingly, which may cause an overheat issue of the bearing portion to be more severe.

Spindle motor and optical disc drive having the same

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corporation


A method and apparatus for increasing the volumetric efficiency with which automotive vehicle frames are stacked on a carrier such as a railroad flat car. Frames are alternately reversed end-for-end and/or laterally offset from one another and may be longitudinally angled and internested between adjacent stacks. Twin sheet molded HDPE spacers are used.

It is currently known to ship automotive vehicle frames from, for example, a fabrication plant to an assembly plant by railroad flatcar. Typically, the frames are stacked vertically one atop the other using underlying pallets and spacers which are known in the art as "pin bars" and which comprise steel structures approximately 20 inches in height with a base plate and a top plate joined by welded steel struts. A long steel pin projects upwardly through the top plate so that it can fit into holes which are strategically located in the frame rails. After a number of frames are stacked one on top of the other using pin bars in front and rear sets, the stacks are covered and strapped down. The stack must be firmly and securely strapped because it is relatively unstable and cannot be permitted to shift laterally or longitudinally during transportation on the rail car. The loading of frames on rail ears in this mariner is typically space-limited rather than weight-limited; i.e., volume limitations imposed on rail cars and flatbed trucks can be exceeded before the weight load limit is reached.


A method is disclosed for repairing a defect in an anatomical feature, the defect having a surface that defines a volume. The method includes receiving imaging data obtained using a medical imaging technique. The imaging data represents the anatomical feature. In one example, the method further includes creating a three-dimensional (3D) model of a mold for an implant based on the imaging data. The mold includes a cavity that replicates the volume of the defect. In another example, the method further includes creating a 3D model of an implant based on the imaging data. The implant is configured to fill the volume of the defect. In various implementations, the mold, the implant, and/or a replica of the implant are formed based on the 3D model of the mold or the 3D model of the implant. Guides and implants corresponding to the method are also disclosed.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Shoulder joint reconstruction may require repairing a defect in a shoulder joint such as a void in a glenoid fossa resulting from severe wear. Current methods for reconstructing a shoulder joint sometimes are not sufficiently accurate to reproduce the natural movement of the shoulder joint such as glenoid version. Typically, surgical planning for a shoulder joint reconstruction is performed based on two-dimensional (2D) x-rays. During the procedure, a surgeon visually examines a defect and attempts to form an implant by hand that conforms to and fills the defect. The surgeon forms the implant from a material such as bone graft and shapes the material using a tool such as a chisel, a saw, or a knife.
Performing shoulder joint reconstructions in the manner described above can be tedious and time consuming. In addition, it is difficult to accurately form an implant by hand that conforms to a defect and fills the defect to provide a continuous surface with the surface surrounding the defect. Thus, the natural movement of the shoulder joint may not be reproduced.

Patient-specific glenoid guide and implants


A hemming machine is disclosed having a base, a nest adapted to support a part to be hemmed, a nest carrier which supports the nest and in which both the nest and nest carrier are vertically movably mounted to the base. At least one hemming die is laterally slidably mounted to the base and movable between an extended position in which the die overlies a portion of the nest, and a retracted position in which the die is spaced laterally outwardly from the nest. A lock unit selectively locks the nest carrier against vertical movement relative to the base in at least one, and preferably two positions, so that, with the nest carrier locked against movement relative to the base, inflation of a hydraulic bladder sandwiched between the nest and nest carrier displaces the nest vertically upwardly from the carrier so that the part carried by the nest is compressed against the hemming dies and performs the hemming operation. Preferably, a single drive shaft not only displaces the nest and nest carrier, but also powers the hydraulic circuit to inflate the bladder and thus upwardly displace the nest relative to the nest carrier with an amplified force required to achieve the final flattening of the hem.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sheet metal hemming machines.
II. Description of Related Art
There are many previously known hemming machines. Many industries, such as the automotive industry, utilize sheet metal hemming machines to secure two metal parts together. These sheet metal hemming machines typically comprise a base having a nest vertically slidably mounted relative to the base. The nest, in turn, supports the part to be hemmed.
At least one, and typically three to five hemming die sets are laterally slidably mounted to the base and movable between an extended position and a retracted position. In the extended position, the die overlaps the nest so that vertical displacement of the nest toward the hemming die causes the part to be hemmed to be compressed upon the die thus forming the hem. Typically, a prehem is first formed by a prehem die to bend the sheet metal at an angle of approximately 45xc2x0 while a final hem die retrorsely flattens the sheet metal hem together.
In order to form the hem, the part to be hemmed is first positioned on the nest and, with the hemming dies retracted, the nest is moved to a position just below the prehem die and clearing the part flange to be hemmed. The prehem die set is then moved to an extended position after which the nest is displaced vertically upwardly against the prehem die and retracted after having reached the nominal hemming pressure. The hemming dies are then moved to a retracted position and the nest is moved to a position just below the final hem die. The final hem die is then moved to an extended position and the nest is vertically displaced against the final hem die to complete the hem and also retracted after having reached the final hem pressure. The dies are then moved to their retracted position and the finished part is removed from the nest.
These previously known hemming machines have all suffered from a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the previously known hemming machines have required the use of multiple hydraulic actuators to vertically displace the nest due to the massive weight of the nest. Such actuating means are expensive, hard to maintain and polluting.
Derivated from the previously already known machines, a first generation of electric hemmer has been developed by simply replacing the hydraulic cylinders by one or more linear ball screws powered by electronically synchronized drives.
But to face the double constraint of high production rate and high hemming pressure force, these drive configurations are generally oversized to be able to move quickly for a prehem to a final hem position in high speed, and then to deliver a high torque in static. Such oversizing (xc3x974; xc3x976) is not only expensive, but presents a real risk for the tooling in case of jamming or other incidental event, by introducing a tremendous reverse inertia to the system.
The present invention provides a hemming machine which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
In brief, the hemming machine of the present invention comprises a base which is fixed to a ground support surface. Both a nest and nest carrier are vertically slidably mounted to the base with the nest carrier positioned beneath the nest. In the conventional fashion, the nest is adapted to support the part to be hemmed.
Similarly, in the conventional fashion, at least one, and more typically three to five sets of dies, are laterally slidably mounted to the base between an extended and a retracted position. In their extended position, the dies overlie the nest and thus the part to be hemmed. Conversely, in their retracted position, the dies are laterally spaced from the nest to permit free vertical movement of the nest past the dies as well as the part loading/unloading. One die set typically performs the prehem while the other die forms the final hem.
The nest carrier and nest are vertically movably mounted not only relative to the base, but also relative to each other. In order to displace the nest relative to the nest carrier, at least one hydraulic driven bladder is sandwiched in between the nest and the nest carrier while a lock unit selectively locks the nest carrier against downward movement. Thus, with the nest carrier locked against vertical movement, inflation of the driven bladder vertically displaces the nest upwardly relative to the nest carrier.
In order to selectively inflate and deflate the driven bladder, at least one drive bladder is sandwiched in between a piston and the nest carrier. This driven bladder is fluidly connected to the drive bladders by fluid conduits. Thus, with the nest carrier locked against downward vertical movement, movement of the piston toward the nest carrier compresses the drive bladders thus pumping hydraulic fluid contained within the drive bladders from the drive bladders and to the driven bladders. This in turn vertically displaces the nest upwardly relative to the nest carrier so that, with the hemming dies in their extended position, the part to be hemmed is compressed against the hemming dies in the desired fashion.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a single rotary shaft is rotatably mounted to the base and extends through an opening in the nest carrier and threadably engages the piston. The piston in turn abuts against a lower surface of the nest carrier. Thus, with the lock unit in its retracted position thus permitting free vertical movement of the nest carrier relative to the base, rotation of the shaft vertically moves the nest and nest carrier in unison with each other in order to position an upper surface of the nest beneath either the prehem or final die. With the nest so positioned, one or more lock units engage the nest carrier to prevent further downward movement of the nest carrier. Thereafter, rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction draws the piston downwardly away from the nest carrier thus compressing the drive bladders. Compression of the drive bladders, in turn, pumps fluid from the drive bladders to the driven bladders thus vertically displacing the nest upwardly and compressing the part to be hemmed against the die set.
The surface ratio between each kind of bladder (driven/drive bladder) is such that the force developed by the drive is amplified by a factor of 4 to 8.