An interference photocathode includes a reflective substrate and interference layers disposed on said reflective substrate for selectively enhancing a first photoelectric yield of said photocathode when irradiated by radiation having a first wavelength relative to a second photoelectric yield of said photocathode when irradiated by radiation having a second wavelength. In one embodiment, the interference layers include a dielectric layer having a wavelength dependent effective thickness disposed on said reflective substrate such that said effective thickness for radiation having said first wavelength is an odd multiple of a quarter of said first wavelength and said effective thickness for radiation having said second wavelength is an even multiple of a quarter of said second wavelength. In another embodiment, the dielectric layer includes a layer of electrically conductive material and a dielectric material disposed between said layer of electrically conductive material and said reflective substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to interference type photocathodes having coatings to selectively reject radiation at one frequency and selectively detect radiation at a nearby wavelength.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,871 to Driscoll discloses a photodiode constructed of a metal (e.g. nickel) that emits electrons only in response to far-UV radiation of 140 nanometers shorter wavelengths. A window (e.g. magnesium fluoride) is positioned at the entrance to the photodiode to filter out far-UV radiation with wavelengths shorter than 100 nanometers. Thus, the photodiode is sensitive to radiation in a wavelength range no greater than 100 to 140 nanometers, and its sensitivity to radiation outside that range is less than 10% of its maximum sensitivity within the range.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,059 to Taylor discloses a photometer that comprises two basic components: a window through which radiation passes, and a cathode which has a photoelectric surface that is excited by desired radiation that passes through the window. The window used in the Taylor photometer blocks out penetration of all visible and near ultraviolet, whereas the infrared and lower frequency radiation which is transmitted does not effect the cathode. Therefore, the structure is suitable for detecting radiation between 150 and 800 angstroms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,504 to Helvy et al. discloses an electron discharge device with a photoemissive cathode which is disposed within an envelope for providing photoelectrons in response to radiation incident thereon. The device is improved by forming the face plate from an optical filter which transmits radiation predominantly in a first portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Furthermore, the photoemissive cathode has an intrinsic responsivity extending from said first through a second portion of the spectrum. However, the combination of the filter face plate and the photoemissive cathode limits the tube to a responsivity within a spectral range of s id first portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,496 to Dolizy discloses a photoelectric detection device comprised of a vacuum chamber provided with a window having a substrate which bears a photocathode on the internal surface of the vacuum chamber. The device is sensitive to incident luminous radiation between a short wavelength bottom threshold .lambda..sub.1 and a longer wavelength upper threshold .lambda..sub.2. Variations in photoelectric power are connected with the composition and thickness of the layers, the probability of electron emission, and the topology of the surfaces, these parameters having a different effect according to the wavelength range of the incident beam. The invention of Dolizy suppresses the influence of the sensitivity threshold .lambda..sub.2 of the detection device by filtering the incident light spectrum and suppressing this high threshold .lambda..sub.2. This filter can be an interference filter constructed by a series of layers of material with high and low optical indices. For this purpose, a low pass filter (one which passes shorter wavelengths) is created which cuts off the longer wavelength for which the transmission of the low pass filter is perhaps in the region of 10%. Light passes through the interference filter producing at the outlet a light beam of which the wavelengths are limited in the upper part and possibly in the lower part according to characteristics of the filter(s) in the context of the invention. This beam of filtered wavelengths is absorbed in the photocathode to generate electrons emitted over the complete surface of the photocathode.
D. Kossel et al, Physics of Thin Films, edited by G. Hass and R. E. Thun, Academic Press, New York, 1969, describe coatings designed to absorb radiation at a particular wavelength.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A self-contained hydrodynamic bearing unit with improved sealing and performance is disclosed. Centrifugal capillary seals are angularly defined between an outwardly tapered outer surface of a top screw and an inwardly tapered inner surface of an annular clamp ring at the top of the bearing unit as well as between an outwardly tapered outer surface of a seal plate and an inwardly tapered inner surface of an annular clamp ring at the bottom of the bearing unit. During operation, bearing lubricant is pumped away from the seal opening and toward the bearings by centrifugal force at the seals, providing dynamic sealing. When the bearing unit is not rotating, capillary forces retain the lubricant within the seal, preventing the lubricant from leaking. The tapered configuration of the seals also shortens the vertical seal length for a given effective seal length, thereby maximizing the journal bearing length/span and improving dynamic performance of the bearing unit.

The development of computer hard disk drives demands ever increasingly higher track density, lower acoustic noise, and better reliability under shock and vibrational disturbances. The undesirable characteristics of the widely used ball bearing spindles, such as high non-repetitive runout, large acoustic noise, and high resonance frequencies due to bearing defect, impose severe limitation on the drive's capacity and performance.
The use of a non-contact bearing, such as a hydrodynamic bearing ("HDB"), may overcome the aforementioned limitation. The full film lubrication of a fluid bearing displays significantly lower non-repetitive runout and acoustic noise, and its higher damping provides better resistance to external shock and vibration.
The deployment of the HDB system in a hard disk drive environment requires that the lubricant be securely sealed inside of the bearing structure under all operating and non-operating conditions in order to prevent performance degradation of the bearing and contamination in the drive. At the same time, the bearing system needs to have enhanced dynamic performance and be easily manufacturable in order to satisfy cost requirements. As explained below these requirements often come into conflict with each other and have heretofore resulted in compromised HDB spindle designs.
There have been a number of prior approaches for providing seals for hydrodynamic bearing units. Static seals, such as O-rings and surface tension or capillary seals, have been employed to seal hydrodynamic bearings.
An example of capillary seals is disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,612 entitled: "Hydrodynamic Bearing and Seal", the disclosure thereof being incorporated herein by reference. One drawback of the approach described in the '612 patent is it has proven somewhat difficult to provide recirculation ports around the bearings in order to realize a lubricant recirculation capability in circumstances such as imbalanced pumping and/or shock load. Another drawback is that since both top and bottom seals are at the inside diameter of the HDB unit, any splashed droplets which separated from the lubricant surface may be driven out of the bearing by centrifugal force. In addition, because of the small seal volume available at the HDB unit inside diameter, the lubricant may leak out of the bearing due to thermal expansion and/or filling volume variations. Finally, another drawback is that the capillary seals are defined such that a larger taper angle was not manufacturably possible. That is, to increase the taper angle of the seals, shaft diameter at the ends would have to be decreased or the overall diameter would have to be increased to the point of degrading bearing performance.
Small (3.5 inch disk diameter and smaller) form factor disk drives are used in unlimited applications and orientations. Consequently, a hydrodynamic bearing system for a disk spindle in such drives, e.g. having a full Z-dimension of 1.6 inch height spindle manifesting high inertial loading, must also operate in all possible orientations, and to be able to withstand and sustain certain shock events and vibration levels without leakage. A cover-secured or top-fixed HDB motor is required for disk drives with high inertial load, such as disk drives including six or more rotating disks. For top-fixed spindles, the requirement for two lubricant seals poses a considerable challenge.
Generally, there are two types of top-fixed HDB spindle designs, namely, a single thrust-plate design, and a double thrust-plate design, shown in FIG. 1.
The single thrust plate design described is U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,612 exhibits the drawbacks discussed above.
The double thrust plate design of FIG. 1 was an improvement over the single thrust plate design in some aspects. However, the double thrust-plate design illustrated in FIG. 1 also exhibited the drawback of controlling the tolerance of the total length of the sleeve which defines the thrust bearing clearance (which is about 10 microns). Another drawback related to manufacturing difficulty in controlling the tolerances of perpendicularity and surface finish at both ends of the e.g. bronze sleeve. In addition, because the sleeve is typically made of bronze, the sleeve tends to wear by coming into contact with the grooved steel thrust plate having pumping grooves during starting and stopping intervals.
An HDB improving upon both the single thrust plate design of the '612 patent and the double thrust plate design of FIG. 1 was proposed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/519,842, shown in FIG. 2, the disclosure thereof being incorporated herein by reference. However, the single thrust plate HDB of FIG. 2 still manifests certain drawbacks. Specifically, the thrust bearing clearance may vary due to possible deformation caused by press fitting thrust bushing 70 onto outer sleeve 16 over a short shoulder on sleeve 16 whose length is limited by the location of the top seal. In addition, the diameter of the top seal plate 80 is larger than that of the bottom seal plate 81, which may cause unidirectional pumping by centrifugal force. Another drawback is that the orientation of the capillary seals 91 does not utilize centrifugal force in sealing the lubricant. Bearing lubricant is pulled back only by static forces, i.e. capillary forces. Finally, the capillary seals are oriented such that a requirement for long capillary seal length would reduce the journal bearing length and/or journal bearing span in such a way that dynamic performance is degraded in small form factor spindles e.g. a 1 inch height disk drive.
Thus, a hitherto unsolved need has remained for a hydrodynamic bearing system which is leak free irrespective of orientation, shock and vibration, and which is readily and reliably manufacturable at reasonably low manufacturing cost.


The present disclosure relates to a simple one-pot process for the production of ammonia. The process involves electrolysis of air and water using a molten or concentrated aqueous hydroxide electrolyte in the presence of an iron catalyst. The process exhibits one or more of the following benefits: (i) it is an efficient, cost-effective low-energy process, (ii) it eliminates carbon dioxide (CO2) evolution, (iii) it eliminates the need for a separator, and (iv) it bypasses the need for a preliminary hydrogenation step.

The Haber-Bosch process annually hydrogenates over 120 million tons of N2 from the atmosphere (see, e.g., Smil, Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2004) and Rockstron, et al., Nature, 461, 472-475, 2009) to produce ammonia for fertilizer (Eq. 1) (see Strait, et al., Nitrogen+Syngas 303, 1-3, 2010). Today, hydrogen for ammonia synthesis is produced primarily through steam reformation, which consumes 3-5% of the world's natural gas production and releases large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere.N2+3H2→2NH3  (1)CH4+2H2O→4H2+CO2  (2)
The ammonia hydrogenation reaction is separate from the steam reforming reaction that generates the required hydrogen (Eq. 2). Renewable energy driven water splitting may provide an alternative H2 source, but economic, non-CO2 emitting sources of H2 have yet to be proven on the industrial scale. Although ammonia hydrogenation is exothermic, it is kinetically disfavored at ambient temperature and pressure. In the Haber-Bosch process, this kinetic limitation is overcome by using an iron based catalyst, repeated cycling, high pressure and elevated temperatures. These conditions are energy intensive and consume 2% of world energy production.
Several electrochemical processes have been pursued to provide alternative syntheses of NH3. The electrolytic formation of nitrides from nitrogen gas in molten alkali chlorides has been reported (Bonomi et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 124, 982-986, 1977 and Bonomi et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 126, 248-251, 1979), including subsequent reactions with hydrogen to yield ammonia. However, these have not led yet to commercial production of ammonia due to several challenges, including the competing back-reaction of nitride to nitrogen (see, e.g., Murakami et al., J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 125, 334-335, 2003; Ito et al., J. Nuc. Energ. 344, 128-125, 2005; Murakami et al., Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 8, D12-D14, 2005; Murakami et al., Electrochem. Solid-State Lett., 10, E4-E6, 2007; and Serizawa et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 159, E87-E91, 2012). In 1985, room temperature electrolytic synthesis of ammonia was described, albeit at low rate, via protolyis of W(N2)2(PMe2Ph)4 (see Pickett et al., Nature, 317, 1845-653, 1985).
Ammonia has been synthesized from H2 and N2 in aqueous sulfate solutions using metal-phthaolcyanine (C32H18N8) complexes loaded onto carbon black as a cathode and platinum loaded onto carbon black as an anode. Again, this only operates at a low rate. Density functional calculations have been used to evaluate hydrogen and nitrogen adsorption and/or reduction on a variety of transition metals as possible electrocatalysts in ammonia formation (see Skulason et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 3, 1235-1245, 2012). The solid-state electrochemical synthesis of ammonia in two compartment cells with either proton or oxide ion conductors has been described with the highest rate reported at 80° C. and 2 Volts using a NAFION® (a sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene based fluoropolymer-copolymer, DuPont) membrane separator (see Amar et al., J. Solid State Electrochem., 15, 1845-1860, 2011).
There are reports of using water or steam as a reactant in lieu of hydrogen for the electrosynthesis of ammonia, as a means to avoid the CO2 emissions shown in Eq. 2. The rate of ammonia formation is, however, several orders of magnitude lower, and the coulombic efficiency drops to less than 1% when using water, rather than H2 (see Amar et al., J. Solid State Electrochem., 15, 1845-1860, 2011). One study discloses a strontia-ceria-ytterbia oxide proton conducting solid electrolyte at 450° C. to 700° C. and a ruthenium based catalyst but reports that the conversions with respect to nitrogen or steam were low, primarily because of the poor conductivity of the working electrode (see Skodra et al., Solid State Ionics, 180, 1332-1336, 2009). Using a NAFION separator in aqueous 2 M KOH with a Ru/C cathode, enabled ammonia synthesis from water and nitrogen at a rate of a maximum coulombic efficiency of 0.9% at 2.8×10−12 mol NH3 s−1 cm−2 at 20° C. and, at 90° C. a maximum rate of 2.1×10−11 mol s−1 cm−2 at 0.2% efficiency (see Kordali et al., Chem. Comm., 1673-1674, 2000). Using Pt/C on a gas diffusion layer at both electrodes and room temperature NAFION as the electrolyte yielded NH3 at a higher rate of 1.1×10−9 mol s−1 cm−2, consuming water at the anode and air at the cathode at 0.6% coulombic efficiency (see Lan et al., Sci. Rep., 3, 1145, doi:10.1038/srep01145, 2013). Recently, ammonia has been formed at 0.8% coulombic efficiency and a similar rate of 0.9×10−19 mol s−1 cm−2 using Pt/C electrodes and a NAFION membrane (see Lan et al., RSC Adv., 3, 18016-18021, 2013).
A eutectic NaOH/KOH cell for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, as shown in Eq. 3, has been described (see Ganley et al., Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 34, 3604-3611, 2009 and Licht et al., Chem. Comm., 23, 3006-3007, 2003).H2O→H2+½O2  (3)
There is a need for a new, efficient process for the production of ammonia that is low energy and, more importantly, eliminates carbon dioxide (CO2) production, thereby reducing carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.

Process for the production of ammonia from air and water


A fluid delivery system supplies fluid to a rotatable crankshaft integrated within a mechanical press and develops damped clearance spaces at the bearing surfaces of the fluid coupling device. In one arrangement, a rotary union is adapted for driving rotation by the crankshaft and provides a fluid pathway disposed in flow communication with a fluid access channel formed in the crankshaft. Bearing support is provided by an oil film present within a clearance space defined between the rotary union and a stationary housing disposed thereabout. In another arrangement, a stationary fluid transfer device is adapted for non-rotation and disposed within a crankshaft cavity to define a clearance space therebetween. A fluid pathway formed therein communicates fluid to the crankshaft access channel. Bearing support is provided by an oil film present in the clearance space. There are no sliding face seals in either of the arrangements.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for delivering fluid to a rotary device, and, more particularly, to a fluid delivery system including a rotary union which is adapted for use in a mechanical press to supply fluid to the crankshaft and which provides damped clearance spaces at its bearing surfaces.
2. Description of the related art
Mechanical presses are generally provided with a frame structure having a crown and bed in which a slide member is supported for reciprocating movement relative to the bed. A crankshaft mounted within the frame structure translates rotary motion generated by a drive mechanism into reciprocating linear activity that is coupled to the slide member through an intermediate assembly of connecting rods. During the press stroke, the upper die mounted to the slide member is brought into pressed engagement with a lower die mounted to a bolster, which in turn is secured to the bed. Mechanical presses of this construction, such as straight side presses and gap frame presses, are widely used for blanking and drawing operations and vary substantially in size and available tonnage depending upon their intended use.
The flywheel assembly serves as the primary source of stored mechanical energy and rotary driving power in the mechanical press. Standard configurations have the flywheel located between the main drive motor and clutch, while being mounted on either the driveshaft, crankshaft, or press frame by use of a quill. The main drive motor replenishes the flywheel with rotational energy as it becomes depleted due to the on-going press stamping operations, during which the clutch engages the flywheel and establishes a driving connection with the crankshaft that acts to draw energy away from the flywheel and convert it into useful mechanical work for powering the press components.
One aspect of mechanical press construction important to its durability and effectiveness concerns whether an adequate lubrication system has been provided to supply the bearing supports with sufficient amounts of pressurized fluid. This concern is vitally important to mechanical presses that rely upon rotary devices such as crankshafts, flywheels, and drive shafts to consistently generate high levels of torquing power necessary to meet the load requirements of the particular industrial application. A two-fold problem exists in attempting to supply oil to these rotary components. First, the rotational motion makes it difficult to transmit oil to the bushing clearance areas from an external source. Furthermore, it is difficult to provide adequate sealing protection to a rotating machine without introducing the risk of friction-related structural degradation, which occurs due to the abrasive contact between the seal and the adjoining rotating surface.
One conventional approach to providing such oil delivery involves the use of a stationary rotary union that supplies oil to the rotating crankshaft. A seal secured to the rotary union is provided at the interface between the rotary union and the adjacent crankshaft in order to prevent fluid leakage. However, as noted above, it is difficult to provide a durable seal in the manner described because the stationary sealing member, which is disposed in abutting contact with the rotating device, is constantly being subjected to frictional pressures that develop due to the sliding contact between the rotating shaft and the intimately coupled sealing member. It is therefore desirable to provide a system for lubricating the bearing supports that incorporates a rotary union but avoids any implementation requiring a sealing member to be placed in direct contact with the crankshaft or other rotary machine surface.
The conventional rotary union attempts to minimize the seal damage arising from frictional influences by employing anti-friction bearings. However, this bearing arrangement presents problems because the free and undamped clearance it establishes with adjacent machine surfaces leads to pounding out of parts when high levels of vibration severity occur during the stamping operation. It is therefore desirable to provide a rotary union that is devoid of any free and undamped clearances.

High pressure rotary union for mechanical power press


Modular containers are formed in a collapsible fashion by flexible or rigid bodies and panels. A size of a modular container may be selected by inflating the modular container to a desired pressure or volume, coupling two or more bodies of the modular containers together, or mating the bodies of the modular containers to common bases or surfaces. The modular containers may be accessed via one or more openings in vertical or horizontal surfaces of such modular containers in order to load items into such modular containers or to unload the items therefrom. The modular containers may be assembled or collapsed manually or automatically, and transported to one or more locations separately or in stacks.

Contemporary online marketplaces are able to offer a wide variety of groups or types of items (including goods, services, information and/or media of any type or form) to customers who may be located in virtually any area of the globe, in any number of ways. Such items may be delivered in one or more containers to a fulfillment center or other facility operated by the online marketplace by one or more sellers, vendors, manufacturers or other sources. Upon arriving at the fulfillment center or other facility, the items may be unpacked or otherwise removed from such containers, and transported to one or more storage locations. When a customer places an order for one or more of the items, the items may be retrieved from a designated storage location and transported to a workstation where the item is to be packaged in one or more containers and prepared for delivery to the customer.
The processes of selecting containers and dunnage (e.g., paper, plastic, foam materials or "bubble wrap") to be included in such containers for a delivery of one or more items may be substantial drivers of the costs or time that are required in order to prepare and deliver such items. For example, while containers such as boxes, bags, tubes or envelopes are typically manufactured in nominal sizes, an item having dimensions that deviate from dimensions of nominally sized containers may require packing within a container having a number of voids or unused spaces, which are typically filled with dunnage. Moreover, selecting proper amounts and types of dunnage may create dilemmas for workers who are packing items within containers, as selecting excessive amounts of dunnage or overly heavy dunnage increases the weight of a container and may lead to unnecessary increases in cost, while selecting insufficient amounts of dunnage or inadequate types of dunnage may increase a risk of damage to an item during delivery. Furthermore, even when an item arrives at a destination safely, a customer or other recipient must dispose of a container in which the item arrived, along with any associated dunnage upon its arrival.


Provided is a sound-absorbing material, including an adsorbent material and a thermal conductive material. The thermal conductive material is uniformly dispersed in the sound-absorbing material. The thermal conductive material includes a carbon fiber material, and a weight ratio of the carbon fiber material in the sound-absorbing material is within a range of 0.05% to 10%. Further provided are a preparation method of the sound-absorbing material and a speaker using the sound-absorbing material. The sound-absorbing material has higher thermal conductivity and can be added to a rear cavity of the speaker to effectively conduct heat generated when the speaker is working, thereby improving the heat dissipation performance of the speaker.

Electro-acoustic transducers are commonly used in mobile phones, computers, televisions, automobiles and other products. As an electro-acoustic transducer, a speaker can convert electrical energy into mechanical energy of the vibration of a diaphragm when being energized, so as to radiate and sound. In addition, the voice coil of the speaker has a certain resistance value. The voice coil will heat up when the power is on, and the greater resistance or the long-term operation will cause the voice coil to produce a higher temperature rise. The high temperature will adversely affect an adhesive used for bonding the voice coil and the diaphragm, thereby reducing the service life of the speaker. In addition, with the development of speakers in a trend of miniaturization, the product structure becomes more and more compact, and the heat dissipation problem of the voice coil will become more prominent. At present, there are some methods in the industry to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of speakers, such as using materials with better thermal conductivity for shells and diaphragms of speakers, or adding thermal conductive materials to absorbent materials to form sound-absorbing materials with thermal conductivity.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sound-absorbing material in the related art includes a thermal conductive material 21 and an adsorbent material 22. The thermal conductive material 21 is in the form of particles or flakes and includes one or more of graphene, aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, silicon carbide, and the like. However, since the thermal conductive material 21 is in the form of particles or flakes, after being filled into the sound-absorbing material, the particles or flakes of the thermal conductive material are in a discrete state and separated from each other, which is not conducive to improving the overall thermal conductivity of the sound-absorbing material. If the thermal conductivity of the sound-absorbing material is improved by increasing the content of the thermal conductive material, the thermal conductive material will take up too much volume and the content of the adsorbent material in the sound-absorbing material will decrease, resulting in the loss of the acoustic performance of the sound-absorbing material.
Therefore, a better solution is needed to solve the heat dissipation problem of the speaker.

Sound-absorbing material, preparation method thereof and speaker using same


Durable furniture articles include a desk having a desktop supported on an apron which is supported between opposed depending side panels. A modesty panel is also interconnected between the side panels and a carrel is disposable on the desk. A desk drawer is formed by a foldable bottom panel, opposed side panels and a rear wall, all of which include flanges which are weldable together at contiguous surfaces thereof. Lock hasps are disposed on the drawer bottom to cooperate with a reinforcing member of the apron to lock the drawer in a closed position, hidden from view and comprising parts which are not easily disassembled. A chest of drawers assembly is formed by a perimeter formed metal frame, opposed side panels, a shallow pan back wall, a top perimeter apron and a top panel member. A modular wardrobe unit or storage unit includes a sheet metal enclosure, opposed side panels and a formed sheet metal base frame. Vertically stackable beds are characterized by spaced apart tubular posts interconnected by a folded metal deck or pan. L-shaped anchor brackets may be inserted in the tops of the posts and are secured to the bottom edges of posts of another bed so that the beds may be vertically stacked and anchored to each other.

Furniture for institutional settings must meet certain requirements. The furniture must be particularly durable, yet aesthetically pleasing and be constructed of a minimum number of uncomplicated parts which are economical to manufacture and assemble. Moreover, the furniture should be difficult to disassemble so that the furniture or parts thereof cannot be easily vandalized or stolen, used in performing pranks, used as a weapon or utilized in taking unauthorized leave of an institutional setting.
One particular furniture article usually found in institutional settings comprises a desk. An increasingly common requirement for desks is that they be particularly adapted for supporting electronic devices such as digital computers and related equipment and that certain security for such equipment be provided. Other desirable features in durable furniture articles have been sought with respect to the construction of cabinets, carrels, chests of drawers, wardrobe units and similar structures wherein simplified construction of the article is desired while providing an aesthetically pleasing structure. Bed structures, in institutional settings, when stacked one on top of the other in so-called "bunk bed" fashion, must be properly secured to each other and be constructed in such a way as to provide for easy stacking and unstacking of the beds without requiring complicated assembly and disassembly.
The present invention has been directed to providing durable furniture articles which overcome the deficiencies of prior art furniture while providing the desired features mentioned above.


This invention integrates with a country's customs and immigration system to issue an electronic visitor's visa, and to validate periodically, electronically a visitor's visa within the country's borders. A computer-encoded visa card is created and issued to the visitor at the country's overseas consulate. Pertinent visa application information is embedded in the issued card. Cryptographic technology is used with the card to maintain privacy, as well as to reduce fraud and other misuse. The card is used as the visitor's official identification document whilst in the country. During the visitor's stay, at specified intervals, the visitor registers with self-service kiosks, which are placed at various locations within the country. The kiosks are securely integrated with the customs and immigration database.

Since the tragedy of Sep. 11, 2001 (9/11), the US has been revising its methods and systems for issuing visas to foreign visitors. Newspapers have reported that a number of the 9/11 hijackers entered the US on fraudulent visas ("Some 9/11 Hijackers Got Into the U.S. With Fraudulent Visas", AP, Jan. 26, 2004). Furthermore, even prior to 9/11, theft and fraudulent use of passports were common. The US has tackled this problem in a number of ways, which are now briefly discussed.
After 9/11, the US Congress imposed a deadline of Oct. 26, 2004 for 27 industrialized countries to issue computer-coded passports for their citizens wishing to travel to the United States. This requirement is problematic in that the solution relies on other nations, rather than being under the control of the US. This invention addresses this issue in conjunction with the requirement of computer-coded travel documents.
In January 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implemented a new system at 115 airports and 14 seaports, which is designed to confirm the identity of arriving foreign visitors. The new system is called the US-VISIT program, i.e. the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology. Further information on the US-VISIT program can be found at www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/USVisitRegulation1-5-04.pdf
Today the primary focus of US-VISIT is on entry. By the end of 2005, it is planned that entrance and exit procedures will be phased in at all border entrances in the US. Currently 30 airports implement the exit portion of the program.
The US-VISIT uses scanning equipment to collect biometric identifiers, specifically digital fingerprints and digital photos of a person's face.
Data collected from foreign visitors is securely stored as part of a visitor's travel record. Upon exiting the US, visitors check out at kiosks by scanning their passport or visa and repeating the fingerprint scan.
The stored information will be available to authorized officials and law enforcement agencies and will help verify compliance with visa and immigration policies. The information, e.g. the scanned fingerprints, will be checked against a database of known and suspected terrorists and other undesirables.
Two other existing US visitor systems are currently in place that use optical memory-based cards. The first system is the US Permanent Resident Card system. The second system is the Border Crossing Card system implemented by the Department of State. These systems do not use a computer kiosk to issue and verify the optical cards, as the present invention teaches.
A potential problem arises when a visitor overstays his visa. An article titled "Criminal aliens at large a 'crisis'" (The Washington Times, Feb. 11, 2004) highlights the problem and consequences of criminal visitors disappearing in the US, after deportation orders were initiated. The common global phenomenon of terrorist sleeper cells is another consequence of this problem.
In the current system, this overstay will be caught if he exits the country. It is possible that a warrant for visitor's arrest could be issued because the central database has detected a visitor's overstay. The problem is then locating the individual. The majority of visitor visas are issued for a period of six months. Within six months, it is possible for a visitor to fraudulently change his identity. The invention proposes to close many of these loop holes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system to issue an electronic visa of a foreign visitor at a country's foreign consular premises


An apparatus for determining wheel assembly alignment comprises a contact assembly, a light source, and a light beam receiving assembly. The contact assembly engages the wheel assembly to define a plane of orientation of the wheel assembly and the light source projects a beam of light with respect to the contact assembly. The light beam receiving assembly receives the light beam and forms an image of the light beam indicating the orientation of the wheel assembly with respect to a predetermined position. The receiving assembly may include a Fresnel lens for directing the received light beam to a target and a camera device for imaging the light beam on the target, with the camera device adapted to provide toe and camber information of the wheel assembly based on the location at which the light beam impinges upon the target. The contact assembly may be pressed against the wheel assembly without being secured thereto.

In the automotive industry, proper vehicle quality requires measurement and adjustment of wheel alignment settings, both during manufacture and subsequently during the useful life of the vehicle. Proper positioning and alignment of vehicle wheels, and especially steerable wheels such as the front wheels of a vehicle, requires the setting of toe, camber angle, and caster angle. Toe is the angle between the vehicle's longitudinal axis and a plane through the center of the wheel/tire and affects the straight-ahead running of the vehicle as well as steering. Camber angle is the inclination of the wheel axis toward the road surface in a vertical. Caster angle influences lateral control, is typically moderately negative, and is the distance between the contact point of the wheel/tire with the road and the point at which the steering axis intersects the road as viewed from the side of the wheel. During assembly and/or repair of vehicles, it is important to measure, adjust or audit, and set the toe as well as the camber and caster angles of vehicle wheels, and especially steerable wheels, so the vehicle will drive and steer properly.
In the past, various methods have been used to measure toe and camber of vehicle wheels including direct and indirect methods. Direct measurement methods require human operators or mechanisms to place or mount measurement tools in contact with or to the vehicle and are subject to placement error and wear. Indirect measurement methods, sometimes referred to as noncontact methods, typically include the viewing or sensing of the image of light projected on a tire and the use of a computer to calculate the tire position from such images to provide the ultimate alignment information. While the prior known direct measurement methods were cumbersome, time-consuming, often labor-intensive, and less accurate than desired, the noncontact or indirect methods often required precisely located, relatively complex light and therefore expensive projectors as well as highly sophisticated calculation methods to determine the wheel and tire position.
Therefore, a need was determined for an apparatus and method for measuring and determining the orientation of a vehicle wheel and, more broadly, any three-dimensional object, which would allow rapid, accurate determination of the plane of the wheel or object in an efficient and less expensive manner to indicate the position of the wheel/tire with respect to the vehicle center line for purposes of setting the toe and/or camber of the wheel/tire for alignment purposes.

Apparatus and method for determining the orientation of an object such as vehicle wheel alignment


A storage device is provided for separately holding non-split sinkers having eyelets at top ends thereof relative to a support surface. At least one retainer is provided for individually holding a single non-split sinker fixed relative thereto. The retainer has a sidewall structure forming an internal pocket for retaining the non-split sinker, and a vertical support wall joined to the retainer sidewall. A pair of cooperable mating devices is engaged with the support surface. One of the hubs is attached to the vertical support wall and both of the hubs are clamped together on the support surface.

In sportfishing, trolling is a technique which is used extensively to fish at the surface of the water and also to fish much deeper for species of fish which normally forage at greater depths in salt and fresh water bodies of water. Lake trout are an example of a fresh water species which feed at depths which can range to 60 feet or more from the surface. To this end, it is conventional for a fisherman to secure a relatively large weight or sinker to the end of a fishing line and then attach an artificial or natural bait which will be maintained substantially at a predetermined depth. Sinkers used in Great Lakes fishing are typically spherical, non-split anchors generally weighing 24 or 32 ounces and having retainers or eyelets at their top ends for engaging the fishing line.
Because of their inherent size and shape, fishermen have encountered some drawbacks in the handling of such sinker balls. For example, in preparing for a fishing outing, setting up of fishing equipment involves juggling a rod, line and bait while accessing sinker balls from a box or the like which might not be ideally located relative to the set up location. Also, in reeling in a fish that has been caught, the fishing line is raised causing the sinker ball to swing precariously back and forth. From a safety standpoint, it is important to control the sinker ball so that it does not injure the head or body of someone on the boat, and is not tripped upon if it is deposited on the deck and rolls thereon.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a storage device which is normally conveniently mounted on different portions of a fishing boat to enable convenient and reliable storage and retrieval of sinker balls in a manner which overcomes the drawbacks set forth above.

Storage device for sinker balls used in sportfishing


Devices and methods for providing deterministic execution of multithreaded applications are provided. In some embodiments, each thread is provided access to an isolated memory region, such as a private cache. In some embodiments, more than one private cache are synchronized via a modified MOESI coherence protocol. The modified coherence protocol may be configured to refrain from synchronizing the isolated memory regions until the end of an execution quantum. The execution quantum may end when all threads experience a quantum end event such as reaching a threshold instruction count, overflowing the isolated memory region, and/or attempting to access a lock released by a different thread in the same quantum.

Multithreaded programs, even if given the exact same input, may not produce the same output due to a variety of factors such as timing differences, inter-thread communication, and/or the like. Such nondeterminism in systems with multiple execution pipelines may severely complicate testing, debugging, and deployment of multithreaded programs. For example, even if a bug can be identified, it may be difficult to reproduce the buggy behavior if the behavior only occurs intermittently. As another example, there are no guarantees that a nondeterministic multithreaded program will perform the same way as tested once it is deployed.
While some attempts have been made to produce systems that execute multithreaded programs in a deterministic manner, each of the prior systems have shortcomings. In some previous attempts, speculation schemes are required, which add a great deal of complexity to the hardware required for implementation. In other previous attempts, multiple threads have been serialized, which has a negative effect on performance. What is needed are systems and methods for deterministic execution of multithreaded programs that have low hardware complexity yet are able to provide highly efficient performance.

Systems and methods for providing deterministic execution

University of Washington through its Center of Commercialization


Methods and apparatus for enabling substantially bloodless surgery and for stemming hemorrhaging. High intensity focused ultrasound ("HIFU") is used to form cauterized tissue regions prior to surgical incision, for example, forming a cauterized tissue shell around a tumor to be removed. The procedure is referred to as "presurgical volume cauterization." In one embodiment, the method is particularly effective for use in surgical lesion removal or resection of tissue having a highly vascularized constitution, such as the liver or spleen, and thus a propensity for hemorrhaging. In further embodiments, methods and apparatus for hemostasis using HIFU is useful in both surgical, presurgical, and medical emergency situations. In an apparatus embodiment, a telescoping, acoustic coupler is provided such that depth of focus of the HIFU energy is controllable. In other embodiments, apparatus characterized by portability are demonstrated, useful for emergency medical situations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to uses of ultrasonics in medical technology applications, more particularly to a method and apparatus for performing presurgical and surgical procedures using high-intensity focused ultrasound.
2. Description of Related Art
Studies in the use of ultrasound--sound with frequency above 20,000 Hz, the upper limit of human hearing--began in the early 1940's [see e.g., A New Method for the Generation and Use of Focused Ultrasound in Experimental Biology, Lynn et al., Focused Ultrasound in Experimental Biology, Journal of General Physiology, 1943, pp. 179-193]. It is widely accepted that the first refined system for the use of ultrasound in the medical arts was developed by William and Francis Fry at the University of Illinois, Urbana, in the 1950's (a paper was published as part of the Scientific Program of the Third Annual Conference of the American Institute of Ultrasonics in Medicine, Washington D.C., Sep. 4, 1954, pp. 413-423).
In the main, research and development has been concerned with diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Therapeutic ultrasound refers to the use of high intensity ultrasonic waves to induce changes in tissue state through both thermal effects--induced hyperthermia--and mechanical effects--induced cavitation. High frequency ultrasound has been employed in both hyper-thermic and cavitational medical applications, whereas low frequency ultrasound has been used principally for its cavitation effect. Diagnostic medical ultrasonic imaging is well known, for example, in the common use of sonograms for fetal examination.
Various aspects of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound methodologies and apparatus are discussed in depth in an article by G. ter Haar, Ultrasound Focal Beam Surgery, Ultrasound in Med. & Biol., Vol. 21, No. 9, pp. 1089-1100, 1995, and the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, November 1996, Vol. 43, No. 6 (ISSN 0885-3010). The IEEE journal is quick to point out that: "The basic principles of thermal effects are well understood, but work is still needed to establish thresholds for damage, dose effects, and transducer characteristics . . . " Id., Introduction, at page 990.
In high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) hyperthermia treatments, intensity of ultrasonic waves generated by a highly focused transducer increases from the source to the region of focus where it can reach a very high temperature, e.g. 98.degree. Centigrade. The absorption of the ultrasonic energy at the focus induces a sudden temperature rise of tissue--as high as one to two hundred degrees Kelvin/second--which causes the irreversible ablation of the target volume of cells, the focal region. Thus, for example, HIFU hyperthermia treatments can cause necrotization of an internal lesion without damage to the intermediate tissues. The focal region dimensions are referred to as the depth of field, and the distance from the transducer to the center point of the focal region is referred to as the depth of focus. In the main, ultrasound is a promising non-invasive surgical technique because the ultrasonic waves provide a non-effective penetration of intervening tissues, yet with sufficiently low attenuation to deliver energy to a small focal target volume. Currently there is no other known modality that offers noninvasive, deep, localized focusing of non-ionizing radiation for therapeutic purposes. Thus, ultrasonic treatment has a great advantage over microwave and radioactive therapeutic treatment techniques.
A major issue facing the use of HIFU techniques is cavitation effects. In some quarters, it is recognized that cavitation can be used advantageously. See e.g., Enhancement of Sonodynamic Tissue Damage Production by Second-Harmonic Superimposition: Theoretical Analysis of Its Mechanism, Unmemura et al. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol. 43, No. 6, 11/96 at page 1054. Cavitation can occur in at least three ways important for consideration in the use of ultrasound for medical procedures. The first is gaseous cavitation, where dissolved gas is pulled from solution during a negative pressure phase of an acoustic wave. The second is vaporous cavitation due to the negative pressure in the negative pressure phase becoming low enough for a fluid to convert to its vapor form at the ambient temperature of the tissue fluid. The third is where the ultrasonic energy is absorbed to an extent to raise the temperature above boiling at ambient pressure. At lower frequencies, the time that the wave is naturally in the negative pressure phase is longer than at higher frequencies, providing time for gas or vapor to come out of the fluid. All other factors being equal, a lower frequency will have a lower intensity level for cavitation than a higher frequency. Higher frequencies are more rapidly absorbed and therefore raise the temperature more rapidly for the same applied intensity than a lower frequency. Thus, gaseous and vaporous cavitation are promoted by low frequencies and boiling cavitation by high frequency.
For HIFU applications it has been found that ultrasonically induced cavitation occurs when an intensity threshold is exceeded such that tensile stresses produced by acoustic rarefaction generates vapor cavities within the tissue itself. Subsequent acoustic compressions drive the cavities into a violent, implosive collapse; because non-condensing gases are created, there are strong radiating pressure forces that exert high shear stresses. Consequently, the tissue can shred or be pureed into an essentially liquid state. Control of such effects has yet to be realized for practical purposes; hence, it is generally desirable to avoid tissue damaging cavitation whenever it is not a part of the intended treatment.
Another problem facing the designer of ultrasound medical devices is that the attenuation and absorption rate of ultrasound in tissue is known to exponentially increase in proportion to the frequency. In other words, a very high frequency, e.g., 30 MHz wave would be absorbed nearly immediately by the first tissue it is applied to. Yet, lower frequencies, e.g., 30 KHz-60 KHz, are associated with cavitation effects because of the longer rarefaction time periods, allowing gaseous vapor formation. Thus, the effect of ultrasound energy is quite different at a frequency of 30 KHz versus 30 MHz. The rate of heat generation in tissue is proportional to the absorption constant. For example, for the liver, the attenuation constant is approximately 0.0015 at 30 KHz, but is approximately 0.29 at 3 MHz. Therefore, all other variables being equal, the heat generated in liver tissue is about 190 times greater at 3 MHz than at 30 KHz. While this means hyperthermia can be achieved more quickly and to a much greater level with high frequencies, the danger to intervening tissue between the transducer and the focal region is much more prevalent.
Thus, there is a continuing need in the field for means of improving heating penetration, spatial localization, and dynamic control of ultrasound for medical applications, along with the discovery of new methodologies of their use.
An even less explored field of ultrasound use is as a direct surgical tool for non-invasive surgical procedures. While ultrasound has been used as a electromechanical driver for cutting tool implementations (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,299 to Davison et al. for an ultrasonic scalpel blade, sometimes referred to as a "harmonic scalpel"), the use of ultrasonic radiation directly in a device for performing presurgical and surgical procedures, rather than therapeutic procedures, has been limited. An ultrasonic diagnostic and therapeutic transducer assembly and method of use for ophthalmic therapy is shown by Driller et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,569. The acoustic coupler in the Driller device is a fluid-filled, conical shell, mounted to a transducer apparatus and having a flexible membrane across the apertured, distal end of the cone. Depth of focus is controlled by changing the aperture size and the spacing from the focal point of a fixed focal point transducer by using cones of varying axial length. The problem with this construct is that the focal point is fixed and that the cones must be manually changed (compare Driller's FIG. 2 and FIG. 5).
During invasive surgery, an obvious primary problem is bleeding. The most common surgical technique in the state of the art for coagulating bleeding vessels is to apply an electrical cauterizing probe to the bleeding site (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,060, to Wiksell for an ultrasonically driven, oscillating knife having a means for emitting high-frequency electrical energy which induces heat in the tissue). However, if a bleeding vessel is more than about 1.5 mm in diameter, or in an organ such as the liver, which is highly vascularized and where uncontrolled hemorrhage is the primary cause of death in hepatic trauma, direct electro-cauterization is ineffective. A more complicated technique of clamping of a large blood vessel and electrical cauterization via the clamp or with laser light can sometimes be effective. A major problem that is not solved with either electrical or laser cauterization techniques is the control of a rapidly bleeding vessel because the blood egress is often sufficiently large enough to carry the heat away before coagulation or tissue necrosis is accomplished. In liver surgery, neither is effective. Moreover, organs such as the liver and spleen are subject to bleeding profusely from cracks in the parenchyma, which is usually diffuse and non-pulsatile due to the large number of small vessels. In another example, the control of bleeding is the most important variable in determining the length of neurosurgical craniotomy procedures.
Another important application in need of technologically advanced medical treatment is for emergency hemorrhaging situations, e.g., an accidently severed femoral artery, massive internal bleeding, or puncture wounds due to bullets, knives, or automobile accidents. Prompt stemming of visible hemorrhaging is literally a matter of life or death. Standard procedure to arrest visible bleeding is to maintain pressure on the puncture site until coagulation is sufficient to stem the flow of blood. Without sophisticated hospital equipment and invasive surgery, the problem of internal bleeding lacks suitable emergency treatment devices.
The present invention meets the various needs in the field of technology by presenting a method and apparatus using high intensity focused ultrasound for inducing coagulative necrosis and hemostasis that can be used in presurgical procedures such that substantially bloodless surgery can be achieved. The present invention further provides methods and apparatus using high intensity focused ultrasound for stemming hemorrhaging in emergency situations or with organs where tradition methodologies are ineffective.

Method and apparatus for medical procedures using high-intensity focused ultrasound


A system and method for employing BLE nodes in a PEPS system to determine whether a FOB is within or outside of a vehicle. The method includes interrogating the FOB using a signal transmitted by a BLE device on the vehicle to determine whether the FOB is in a predetermined vicinity of the vehicle and receiving a Bluetooth signal at the BLE device that is transmitted by the FOB if the FOB is in the vicinity of the vehicle. The method also included determining a transmit power of the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the FOB and determining a receive power of the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the FOB and received by the BLE device. The method uses the transmit power and the receive power in a comparison process to determine whether the FOB is inside or outside of the vehicle.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a passive entry and passive start (PEPS) system on a vehicle that employs a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device (node) within the vehicle and, more particularly, to a PEPS system on a vehicle that employs one or more BLE nodes within the vehicle to determine whether a vehicle fob is within the vehicle or outside of the vehicle.
Discussion of the Related Art
Modern vehicles typically employ a key fob (FOB) that wirelessly transmits RF command signals to a vehicle controller to perform certain vehicle functions, such as lock the doors, unlock the doors, open the trunk, open the hatch, start the engine, turn on a security light, etc. The vehicle operator will press a particular push button on the FOB that typically has an image of the function that the button provides in order to transmit the command signal to the vehicle. The transmission is coded in such a manner that not only does the command perform a certain operation, but also protects the transmission from being recorded and resent by a third party. FOBs of this type have a limited range, and provide a convenience factor for the vehicle operator.
Modern vehicles also typically allow a vehicle driver to set various vehicle devices and systems, such as vehicle mirrors, seats, pedals, radio, etc., to a particular desirable setting, and then allow the driver to record those settings as pre-sets by activating a storing button. If the settings are changed from the last time the vehicle driver drove the vehicle, such as by another vehicle driver, then that vehicle driver can activate the pre-sets, such as by pressing the storing button or another button, so that all of the devices are returned to the desirable position for that driver. A signal transmitted from the FOB identifying the vehicle driver can be used to set the various vehicle devices and system to the pre-set conditions, where the particular FOB is unique to the vehicle driver.
As mentioned above, a typical system that allows a FOB to provide vehicle commands is activated by the vehicle driver or other authorized user using the FOB. In some vehicle designs, the vehicle performs the particular function automatically as the user approaches the vehicle, where the user is not required to actively transmit the signal. One known system, referred to as a passive entry passive start (PEPS) system, periodically interrogates or polls the area immediately around the vehicle to detect the FOB using a low frequency (LF) pulsed signal (30-300 kHz) transmitted from the vehicle at a predetermined pulse rate. The pulse width and the pulse rate of the polling signal are set based on how fast the user could be approaching the vehicle and how far from the vehicle it is desirable to first detect the user. When the FOB receives the low frequency pulsed polling signal, and authenticates it, the FOB will automatically transmit a command signal to the vehicle so that the vehicle will perform the particular function that is has been programmed to perform.
Low frequency signals are typically used for the FOB polling because they only radiate a short distance. Further, because of the short range of the low frequency pulsed polling signal, it is possible to interrogate directionally, such as at the left or right side of the vehicle or the front or rear of the vehicle. Thus, because the vehicle can know the direction of the approaching user, the vehicle need only open the door for that side.
Generating and transmitting low frequency signals typically requires a relatively large amount of current, such as on the order of about 700 mA for each pulse that is transmitted. Therefore, the amount of time that the PEPS system is able to provide the pulsed polling signal at the low frequency before the vehicle battery voltage is reduced to an unacceptable state-of-charge, below which the driver may not be able to start the vehicle, is relatively short, for example, on the order of 12-24 hours. When this time has passed since the last time the vehicle was started, the PEPS system will go into a sleep mode, and not be able to provide the polling signal.
In certain vehicle designs, because of the high energy use of the interrogation process, the system only "wakes-up" to provide the interrogation of the FOB when the user pulls on the vehicle door handle. Other designs have been proposed for a vehicle that allow a vehicle door handle to retract into the vehicle door for security purposes and upon detection of an authorized user will extend the handle to allow the driver to gain access to the vehicle. Current systems that deploy a vehicle handle from a retracted position may require about ten feet between when an authorized vehicle user is detected and when the user arrives at the vehicle to perform the operation satisfactorily. Another limitation of low frequency PEPS systems is that they require multiple low frequency antennas, such as five, which are relatively large and difficult to package.
In order to overcome this power limitation of PEPS systems, it has been proposed in the art to employ a BLE node integrated on the vehicle that is used to interrogate the FOB. Bluetooth device pairing is well understood by those trained in the art and can be accomplished by three methods, namely, 'Just Works', 'Alphanumerical Key Entry' and 'Out of Band' key exchange. In all three methods, the pairing devices exchange information including the exchange of private information that is only known to the pairing devices. This private information is used to establish connections in future encounters.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0158213, titled, Vehicle Data Services Enabled by Low Power FM Transmission, assigned to the assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses a PEPS system that employs Bluetooth technology. The '213 application discloses a Bluetooth pairing process between a consumer's smart phone/consumer electronic (CE) device and a vehicle to secure the communications between the vehicle and the CE device and to determine if the CE device is an authorized device. For example, when pairing a CE device with a vehicle, the CE device and the vehicle exchange information known only to those two devices. The next time the CE device and vehicle are within the Bluetooth radio frequency range, the devices can automatically establish a Bluetooth session based on the private information that was previously shared between the devices. That is, the CE device and the vehicle exchange the private Bluetooth information over the FM frequency band. Thus, the CE device and the vehicle are able to verify/confirm that the CE device and vehicle are authorized devices. The private information can also be used to secure the data exchange between the CE device and the vehicle through encryption processes that uses the private information as an encryption key, which is well known to those trained in the art.
Employing low energy Bluetooth technology allows the vehicle to be parked for an extended period of time and still be operational to interrogate the FOB once it is within the vicinity of the vehicle. Further, since modern smart phones employ BLE technology, it is conceivable that future vehicles may not even require a FOB where the user's personal smart phone would be used instead.
One of the features of a PEPS system is to allow engine starts by pushing a button on the vehicle dashboard by an authorized user. In order to verify that the person pushing the button is an authorized user, the PEPS system must verify that the authorized FOB is within the vehicle at the time that the start button is pressed. A potential problem exists in that one authorized user may start the vehicle with the properly authorized FOB within the vehicle, such as a husband warming a vehicle for a wife on a cold day, where once the vehicle is started and the husband leaves the vehicle with the FOB, the wife may drive away the car without an authorized FOB. When this person reaches her destination and then wishes to start the car to return, she will not have the FOB to allow the vehicle start. Therefore, it is necessary that the PEPS system always knows whether the FOB is inside or outside the vehicle while it is running.
The current PEPS systems use the 125 kHz and an RSSI (received signal strength indicator) threshold to determine if the FOB is within the vehicle. Determining whether the FOB is inside or outside of the vehicle is straight forward for the low frequency PEPS system because the signal strength falls off quickly the farther the FOB is from the vehicle. Also, for the current PEPS systems, once the vehicle is running, power draw is no longer a concern and the PEPS system can continuously provide periodic interrogations of the FOB to ensure that it is still within the vehicle. However, BLE nodes operate at 2.4 GHz, which makes determining whether the FOB is within the vehicle or outside the vehicle very difficult by conventional RSSI threshold techniques. This is due to the fact that at these high frequencies, such as 2.4 GHz, the signal reflects off of various metallic objects and the RSSI fluctuates and oscillates over very short wavelengths (2-4 cm) depending on the signal reflections.

Vehicle integration of BLE nodes to enable passive entry and passive start features


A brazing method includes assembling a first member and a second member, the first member including a base plate made of a ferrous material and a diffusion suppressing layer laminated on the base plate and made of a Ni—Cr alloy including more than about 15% and less than about 40% of Cr, the second member being disposed on the first member with a brazing material of a Cu—Ni alloy including more than about 10% and less than about 20% of Ni therebetween, and maintaining the temporary assembly at a temperature of more than about 1,200° C. to fuse the brazing material and diffuse Ni atoms and Cr atoms into the fused brazing material to form the braze joint, causing the resulting brazing material to have an increased melting point due to the Ni and Cr contents of the braze joint to self-solidify the braze joint, and then cooling the resulting assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brazing method which produces a braze joint having excellent corrosion and oxidation resistances, and also relates to a brazed structure produced by the brazing method.
2. Description of the Background Art
With a globally growing interest in environmental issues, there has recently been an increasing demand for cleaning diesel engine emission gas. For the emission gas cleaning, an attempt has been made to suppress generation of NOx by EGR (emission gas recycling) in which a portion of the emission gas is passed through a heat exchanger for reducing the temperature of the emission gas and introduced into an engine for reducing the oxygen concentration of the intake gas, and heat generated by combustion is absorbed by the emission gas having a higher specific heat to reduce the combustion temperature.
The heat exchanger is produced by brazing members which are made of such material as a stainless steel and are to be joined to each other with the intervention of a braze joint formed by fusing and solidifying a brazing material. A copper brazing material having a melting point of not lower than 1,000° C. and having excellent corrosion resistance is typically used as the brazing material.
A clad material has recently been proposed as a material for the members to be joined for improving the corrosion resistance of the braze joint. As disclosed in JA-3350667-B, the clad material includes a base plate composed of a ferrous material and a Fe atom diffusion suppression layer laminated on the base plate and composed of pure Ni or a Ni-based alloy mainly containing Ni for preventing Fe atoms, which may deteriorate the corrosion resistance, from diffusing into the braze joint from the ferrous material. Further, JA-2003-145290-A proposes a Fe atom diffusion suppressing layer composed of a N—Cr alloy containing Cr in a proportion of not smaller than 10 mass % and not greater than 30 mass % to provide a braze joint of a Cu—N—Cr alloy for improvement of the oxidation resistance and the corrosion resistance of the braze joint.
As described above, the use of the clad material including the Fe atom diffusion suppressing layer improves the corrosion and oxidation resistances of the braze joint of the heat exchanger. In recent years, however, the emission gas cleaning has been more heavily demanded. Correspondingly, the corrosion resistance of the braze joint against emission gas condensate has been more heavily demanded.


Circuitry acquires, when predetermined money handling is executed, stored money information including specific information of money stored in a storage before execution of the money handling and money transfer information including specific information of money transferred in execution of the money handling, determines, based on the stored money information and the money transfer information, a presence or absence of an occurrence of an abnormality related to money in the money handling apparatus and generates, in a case that it is determined that there is the presence of the occurrence of the abnormality, fraud data related to the occurrence of the abnormality.

The present disclosure relates to technologies for checking an occurrence of a fraud in a money handling apparatus.
Japanese Patent No. 5606711 describes a technology for checking presence or absence of an abnormality in a banknote depositing and dispensing machine during a detailed inspection by circulating banknotes stored in a storage via another empty storage or a money depositing and dispensing section to check an inventory amount and comparing a result of inventory amount check with stored inventory amount data.
In a configuration according to Japanese Patent No. 5606711, in a period from an end of a detailed inspection and a start of a next detailed inspection, even when someone takes out one or more banknotes from the apparatus, it is not found that the one or more banknotes have been taken out. Therefore, even in a case where someone extracts one or more banknotes from the apparatus and uses them privately, if the someone returns one or more banknotes of the same amount as the amount of the extracted banknotes to the apparatus before a next detailed inspection, this fraud is not discovered. The fraud would be of course discovered if the someone could not return one or more banknotes. However, the fraud might be discovered after days have been passed, and therefore, it tends to be difficult to find detailed circumstances of the fraud or the amount of damage may be large in some cases.
Also, in the configuration of Japanese Patent No. 5606711, when a controller who checks results of detailed inspections takes part in a fraud, the fraud would not be discovered.
In view of the foregoing, a technology disclosed herein has been devised, and therefore, it is an object of the present disclosure to enable more strict monitoring of an occurrence of a fraud for money handling apparatuses.

Money handling system, money handling apparatus, center apparatus, and fraud detecting method for money handling apparatus


The present invention relates to a recombinant bacterium expressing an antigen that is translocated to the cytosol of a host organism, and uses thereof. To this end, the present invention provides a recombinant bacterium comprising a nucleic acid encoding an antigen that is translocated to the cytosol of a host cell utilizing Type III secretion system. The recombinant bacterium is generally chosen from intracellular pathogens that reside in the phagosome and fail to induce rapid T cell activation. The translocated antigen may be a viral antigen, a bacterial antigen, or a tumor antigen. Methods of imparting immunity using the recombinant bacterium are also provided.

Various vaccine vectors or adjuvants that induce potent T cell responses are known in the art (Kaufmann and Hess, 1997). However, very few vaccine vectors exist that induce rapid and potent memory CD8+ cytolytic T cell responses, and that are safe and cost-effective (Raupach and Kaufmann, 2001). Unlike other T cells, CD8+ T cells uniquely provide immune-surveillance to the entire body because they recognize targets in the context of MHC class I molecules, which are present in every cell (Bevan, 1995). Furthermore, CD8+ T cells can eliminate infected cells or tumour cells rapidly. Thus, the induction of specific, potent CD8+ T cells is highly desirable for diseases that are caused by intracellular pathogens and tumours.
Intracellular pathogens induce CD8+ T cell responses; however, the responses are either highly attenuated or the organism itself is highly toxic. Generally, rapid proliferation of pathogens is countered by rapid presentation of antigen to CD8+ T cells within the first few days of infection and activated CD8+ T cells undergo profound expansion (>1000-fold) within the first week of infection, which results in resolution of infection (Kaech and Ahmed, 2001). Similarly, CD8+ T cells play a key role in mediating immune-surveillance against tumours (Smyth et al., 2000). While antibodies and helper T cells mainly promote clearance of extracelluar pathogens (Kaech et al., 2002), CD8+ T cells play a principal role in controlling intracellular pathogens and tumours. Thus, rapid induction of memory CD8+ T cells is essential for developing vaccines against tumours or intracellular pathogens.
While the CD8+ T cells play a key role against various diseases, their induction is highly tedious. Antigenic proteins injected into hosts in the absence or presence of adjuvants does not lead to the induction of CD8+ T cells (Moore et al., 1988). This is mainly because extracelluar proteins do not gain access to the cytoplasm (cytosol) of antigen-presenting cells (APC) (Rock, 1996). Rather, these extracellular proteins or vaccines are trafficked through specialized intracellular vesicles called phagosomes, which leads to the activation of helper T cells to aid antibody production. For induction of CD8+ T cell responses, the pathogen or the vaccine has to reside within the cytosol of an antigen-presenting cell (Bahjat et al., 2006).
Alternative routes of cross-presentation of non-cytosolic antigens to T cells have been suggested (Schaible et al., 2003; Houde et al., 2003; Yrlid and Wick, 2000), however the efficiency of these pathways in controlling pathogens isn't clear (Freigang et al., 2003). Dendritic cells may pick up antigen from dying APCs and present it to CD8+ T cells (Albert et al., 1998). Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) induces rapid death of macrophages and dendritic cells (Hersh et al., 1999; van der Velden et al., 2000) and it has been shown that cross-presentation of ST antigens occurs through dendritic cells (Yrlid and Wick, 2000). Phagosomes have themselves been considered to be competent at promoting cross-presentation (Houde et al., 2003). However, these mechanisms are of little protective value since rapid pathogen elimination is not observed. Cells that are cross-presenting ST antigens don't appear to serve as good targets for CD8+ T cells to mediate their function. Thus, target cell accessibility seems to be the critical difference between direct and cross-presentation.
Subunit vaccines that consist of purified proteins admixed with adjuvants typically do not induce CD8+ T cell response due to residence of these entities within phagosomes of cells (Bahjat et al., 2006). However, some adjuvants induce CD8+ T cell responses most likely by the cross-presentation pathway (Krishnan et al., 2000). Subunit vaccines are difficult to mass-produce and are faced with numerous technical difficulties including batch to batch variability, quantitation of the antigen-adjuvant ratio, and extensively laborious procedures. To avoid this problem, live vaccines are preferred. However, live vaccines can be either over- or under-attenuated and it is difficult to find the right balance (Raupach and Kaufmann, 2001).
Typically, viral infections (such as Lyphochoriomeningitis virus, LCMV) lead to potent activation of CD8+ T cell responses due to their replication within the cytosol of infected cells (Kaech et al., 2002; Murali-Krishna et al., 1998). However, it is difficult to justify the use of viral vectors as a live vaccine due to the lack of availability of reagents to control the virus, particularly in immunocompromised hosts. Live bacteria can be considered as an alternative option for vaccine development since antibiotics can be used in case they are not controlled by the host. However, extracellular bacteria do not gain access to the cytosol of infected cells, hence fail to induce CD8+ T cell response (Bevan, 1995). On the other hand, intracellular bacteria induce CD8+ T cell response, albeit poor, despite residing within the phagosomes of infected cells, perhaps by cross-presentation (Kaufmann, 1993)—the caveat being that intracellular bacteria (e.g., Salmonella, Mycobacteria, Leishmania) that reside within the phagosomes of infected cells induce a chronic infection, implying that CD8+ T cells fail to eradicate them from the host (Kaufmann, 1993; Hess and Kaufmann, 1993).
There remains a need in the art for a safe, cost-effective method to induce rapid and potent memory CD8+ cytolytic T cell responses.


A protective device for motor vehicle airbag systems to protect the vehicle occupants utilizes a vessel whose wall piece, which can break out, is configured as part of the wall of a hollow valve block provided with the outflow orifice. The wall piece is equipped with an extension projecting into the interior of a valve block. The piston rod is guided displaceably, transversely relative to the extension in the valve block, and moved by a pyrotechnic propellent charge. The rod serves to break out the wall part and is provided with a collar which, in the event of ignition, strikes against the extension and thus leads not to a violent breaking-out, but to a pivoting of the wall piece before the final breaking-out.

The present invention relates to a protective device for the occupants of a motor vehicle, especially of a passenger car, and, more particularly, to a protective device having a pressure vessel which serves for the storage of a pressurized gas and which is connected, via an outflow orifice provided in the pressure-vessel wall, to the interior of a bag inflatable by the gas. The outflow orifice is closeable via at least one valve consisting of a pressure-vessel wall piece surrounded by a predetermined breaking point and of a piston rod which is connected operatively to this wall piece. The piston rod projects on one side from a closed tripping cylinder filled with a pyrotechnic medium and is axially displaceable out of a first end position into a second by a piston arranged in the tripping cylinder when the pyrotechnic medium is ignited.
A protective device for an airbag system is shown in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,118,745. This device comprises a can-shaped, essentially cylindrical vessel having in its interior, and coaxially relative to its longitudinal mid-axis, a cylinder which is filled with pyrotechnic material and in which a piston connected firmly to a piston rod projecting from the cylinder on one side is so arranged that in the first end position of the piston rod, that is to say when the airbag system is not tripped, it can still cover a specific distance until its end face butts against the cylinder. The end of the piston rod facing away from the piston bears perpendicularly against a plate-like wall part of the cylindrical vessel which is surrounded by a predetermined breaking point. Consequently, when ignition occurs in the tripping cylinder, the piston rod is pressed violently by the piston, coming under pressure, against the wall part which breaks out at its predetermined breaking points and which causes the gas located in the pressure vessel to flow into the inflatable bag. To prevent the compressed gas from entering the bag too violently, the cylindrical vessel is surrounded by a second vessel equipped with a cover which is guided displaceably in the direction of the axis of the piston rod and covers the vessel and which is provided over its entire circumference with outlet holes for the escaping compressed gas. The compressed gas flowing out of the pressure vessel as a result of the violent breaking-open of the wall part is advantageously throttled and distributed. In an emergency, however, the cover acting as a distributor and guided telescopically on the inner vessel and on the outer vessel can jam.
Other types of protective devices as shown, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,305,908, possess similar plate-like valves which are blasted off on the end face of the pressure vessel when a propellent charge is ignited. Pressure vessels are also known, e.g. German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,781,383, which can be arranged transversely relative t the direction of travel of the vehicle in an elongate recess in the vehicle dashboard. These pressure vessels are surrounded concentrically by an outer vessel provided with a horizontal slit-like outlet orifice and are broken open over their entire length along a horizontal predetermined breaking line as a result of the explosion of an explosive charge. In all these instances, an undesirable uncontrolled inflation of the impact bag facing the driver or the front passenger occurs.
An object on which the present invention is based is, therefore, to provide a protective device such that the undesirable violent escape of the compressed gas into the airbag is prevented.
This object has been achieved, in a protective device with a wall piece which is part of the wall of a hollow valve block provided with the outflow orifice. The wall piece is equipped with an extension projecting into the interior of the valve block, the piston rod is displaceable in the valve block transversely relative to the extension, and the extension is located in the path of movement of the piston rod.
As a result of this configuration, the wall piece is not torn out perpendicularly to the plane in which its predetermined breaking points lie, but pivoted relative to this plane. The wall piece pivots in a flap-like manner about initially remaining connecting points, before it can be torn out completely by the force of the outflowing compressed gas. Consequently, during axial displacement of the piston rod, sickle-like orifices first occur on two opposite sides of the loosening wall piece, and these increase in size until the entire valve orifice is opened. It thereby becomes possible to control the quantity of outflowing compressed gas and to keep it relatively small in the initial phase, before the entire available quantity of compressed gas flows out violently. The present invention consequently allows a perfect, fault-free deployment of the initially folded-together impact bag without fearing an obstruction caused by a jamming of mechanically guided parts, and also makes it possible to obtain a lefthand-twist characteristic line for the outflow.
Another advantage of protective devices constructed according to the present invention resides the outflow orifice covered by a cap-like cover, which itself is provided with outflow orifices, if the piston rod is equipped, at its end facing away from the actuating piston, with the cap-like cover projecting radially from it. In such an embodiment, the cover is lifted off directly from the piston rod and therefore in a fault-free manner from the outflow orifice, and can also deploy the impact bag mechanically to some extent in parallel with the quantity of compressed gas flowing out as a result of the actuation of the piston rod and serve as a kind of guide blade for the escaping compressed gas which can thereby be deflected in a controlled manner and enter the impact bag in a diffuser-like way.
The cover of the present invention can be equipped with an edge which extends parallel to the axis of the piston rod and which is held sealingly in the manner of a piston in a cylindrical recess of the valve block, as long as the piston rod is in the first end position. This embodiment allows a compact and stable closed configuration of the entire protective device which, in the non-actuated state, is protected against external influences, especially against possible soiling. The outflow orifices of the cover can be provided solely in its edge so that the desired deflection of the escaping quantity of compressed gas is achieved and the undesirable onrush of the central region of the impact bag in the direction of the person to be protected is prevented. These outflow orifices can also be configured as slits which extend from the free end of the edge towards the closed cover part and which have a circular rounding on their closed side.
As a result, the effect of a throttling of the quantity of compressed gas flowing out in the first few milliseconds can be further assisted, because the quantity of compressed gas cannot yet escape through the full cross-section of the outflow slits. To achieve as uniform a distribution as possible of the escaping compressed gas from these outflow slits, a perforated plate having a central recess for the piston rod can be fastened to the free continuous face of the edge.
The length of the edge measured parallel to the piston rod, can be so configured that it corresponds to the displacement travel of the piston rod out of the first end position into the second. With the piston rod extended, the cover with its edge has also come out of the guide completely, so that, in addition to the outflow slits, an annular region can also be provided for the outflowing compressed gas, if this is necessary.
An especially advantageous embodiment is provided if there are in the valve block two diametrically opposed wall parts with extensions which are aligned with one another and the free end faces of which are at a distance from one another somewhat greater than the diameter of the piston rod. It thus becomes possible to provide the maximum possible lever arm for the pivoting of the wall pieces without the space requirement becoming too great.
A sleeve-shaped pressure vessel, closed off by the wall of the valve block, can be connected respectively adjacent to each wall part in accordance with another advantageous feature of the present invention. This then results altogether in an elongate, approximately cylindrical vessel which has centrally, in its middle, the outlet orifice with the diffuser cover attached to the piston rod. Such embodiments are especially suitable for actuating the impact bag for the front passenger because, on account of its dimensions, it can even be accommodated unproblematically in the dashboard above the glove compartment generally to be arranged there.
The valve block can, however, also be surrounded by a tire-shaped pressure vessel which is arranged concentrically relative to the valve block and which is closed on its open inside by a cylindrical wall of the valve block according to another embodiment of the present invention. This affords a compact design but one which, in view of its dimensions, is more suitable for accommodation in the middle part of the steering wheel, i.e. for use as an impact bag for the driver.
In the above embodiments, at least the pressure vessels attached to the valve block can consist of a thin-walled material which is reinforced externally by a composite fiber winding enveloping the pressure vessels. The valve block itself can be produced from a forged hollow section with a greater wall thickness than the material of the pressure vessels. Aluminum or aluminum alloys in particular have proved especially advantageous for this, because the total weight of the protective device can thereby be kept low. This valve block can accommodate not only the outflow orifices but also other functional elements. It can be welded in a gas-tight manner to the pressure-vessel parts.
Both the filling orifice closable in a pressure-tight and gas-tight manner and a safety valve can be provided in the solid valve block. The pressure vessel or pressure vessels can be assigned a pressure sensor, for the continuous detection of the pressure prevailing in the pressure vessels which sensor is mounted either on the wall of the pressure vessels or directly on a wall of the valve block.

Motor vehicle occupant protective device


An electronic cigarette case is provided, and comprises a bracket configured to accommodate an electronic cigarette; the electronic cigarette case further comprises an elastic soft block mounted on the bracket and configured for holding the electronic cigarette. By implementing the electronic cigarette case in the present invention, the following advantages can be achieved. The electronic cigarette case adopts the elastic soft block to hold electronic cigarettes, so that the electronic cigarettes can be accommodated in the electronic cigarette case firmly and prevented from loosening. Furthermore, since the structure of the elastic soft blocks is made of soft rubber or foam, which has good elasticity and low hardness, the electronic cigarettes can be avoided from being scratched effectively.

Electronic cigarette cases are configured to store electronic cigarettes. An electronic cigarette case in the prior art includes a bracket configured for accommodating electronic cigarettes, and the bracket is usually made of plastic. Because the bracket generally has high hardness, if the bracket fixes the electronic cigarettes firmly, the electronic cigarettes may be scratched when they are taken out of or put into the electronic case. However, if the bracket does not fix the electronic cigarette firmly, the electronic cigarettes accommodated in the electronic cigarette case may get loose, and thus the electronic cigarettes may be damaged.

HUIZHOU KIMREE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN BRANCH


The present invention provides a method of treating boiler and condensate water by the addition of an effective amount of a hydroxyamine-acid ester treatment reagent or an all-in-one treatment composition comprising a hydroxyamine-acid ester. Modification of a hydroxyamine to a hydroxyamine-acid ester generally reduces the odors of the amine while providing a means to formulate the composition into a solid form. The ester typically decomposes at conditions in the boiler to release the hydroxyamine to treat the boiler water. Other components used to treat boiler water and condensate related problems may be formulated with the hydroxyamine-acid ester to form the all-in-one treatment composition.

A boiler requires extremely pure water in order to avoid a plurality of different problems. Unfortunately, water coming into most boilers is not pure enough to avoid these problems. Impurities in the water, including gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, would rapidly contaminate the water and damage the boiler.
In addition, condensed steam, referred to as condensate, generated in the boiler and accompanying boiler lines, is a major source of impurities. Condensate generally traps impurities, especially gases including oxygen and carbon dioxide, from the air and becomes contaminated. The contaminated condensate inevitably reenters the pool of boiler water, thereby further contaminating the boiler water. Other problems including accumulation of scale, maintenance of pH, boiler pitting by oxygen, and the generation of carbonic acid in the water may occur as a result of contaminated boiler water. Therefore, the contaminants must be removed or treated.
Currently there are a variety of different physical and chemical treatments for contaminated boiler water. Conventional treatments have included the use of amines, particularly to scavenge oxygen and neutralize carbon dioxide. These amines are generally volatile, having boiling points comparable to elevated temperatures in the boiler, and vaporize into the steam to treat the resulting condensate.
Amines which have been used treat boiler water include octadecylamine, typically used as a filming amine, and diethylaminoethanol which has also been used to treat condensate systems. However, these amines, as well as other conventional amines commonly used as boiler water treatment agents, typically are commercially available only as liquids. In addition, the prior art boiler water treatment compositions containing amines were prepared and stored as liquids. As with most liquid amines, these compositions generally emit repugnant and potentially toxic odors which may be detected during manufacture, packaging, or shipping processes, and particularly during the use in treating boiler water. In addition, prolonged storage of liquid amines generally allows the vapor pressure to build exposing the user to serious noxious odors and unhealthy levels of vapors. Such amines and corresponding compositions, therefore, pose possible health and safety risks to the user and are likely to affect any person involved with the processing of such boiler treatment agents who may be exposed to the odors and vapors. Therefore, there exists a need to relieve the odor generated by liquid amine boiler water treatment compositions. There also remains a need to improve the formulation of the amine used to treat boiler water and to improve the ease and comfort by which the amine may be used to treat boiler water.

Modified amine for boiler water treatment