A device for maintaining a desired inflation pressure within the tire utilizes a motor and air compressor disposed upon the rotating wheel to eliminate the requirement for a rotary pneumatic joint. The air compressor provides a source of air for maintaining inflation pressure and is driven by a DC motor. The motor is, in turn, driven by a generator which is partially disposed upon the rotating wheel and partially disposed upon a non-rotating portion of the vehicle. A stationary magnet attached to a non-rotating portion of the vehicle defines the generator's stator. Windings which define the generator's armature are formed upon a substrate which is applied to the rotating wheel such that the windings pass within close proximity to the stationary magnet. The air compressor may alternatively be mechanically driven directly by the rotation of the wheel.

The desirability of maintaining correct inflation pressure in automobile tires and the like is well established. Improper tire inflation has been determined to decrease fuel economy, increase tire wear, and decrease safety. Optimum fuel economy results when automobile tires are inflated to the proper pressure where the rolling resistance of the tire is minimized. Over-inflation causes excessive wear near the middle of a tire's tread as the tire bulges outward. Conversely, under-inflation results in excessive wear at the edges of a tire's tread as the tire flattens. The United States National Highway Traffic Administration reported that 1.5 billion dollars in tire wear could be saved annually by proper tire inflation.
Safety is enhanced by proper tire inflation due to the improved control afforded thereby. The United States Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 260,000 accidents, 28,000 injuries, and 720 deaths were caused by improper tire inflation in a single year.
Although proper tire inflation may be maintained by regularly checking tire pressure and adjusting it accordingly, this procedure tends to be largely ignored because of the inconvenience involved. Furthermore, tire pressure varies with the temperature of the air in the tire and is consequently effected by vehicle speed, road surface, and ambient temperature.
Improved traction may be achieved by varying the inflation pressure depending upon the surface over which the vehicle is to be driven. Driving a vehicle over a hard surface, i.e. a paved road, is more efficiently accomplished with tires having a higher inflation pressure than is required to drive the same vehicle over a softer surface. Increased pressure is desirable when driving over a hard surface because it results in relatively low tire surface area contacting the road surface and consequently results in reduced tire wear and improved rolling resistance. However, greater traction is generally required when traveling over softer surfaces, i.e. sand or snow. Increased tire traction may be achieved by reducing the tire's inflation pressure. Such reduced inflation pressure results in an increase in the surface area of the tire in contact with the driving surface, thus enhancing traction.
Variations in tire inflation pressure also result from changes in the payload or weight carried by the vehicle. Increasing the payload increases the force exerted upon the tires. This necessitates a corresponding increase in tire pressure in order to maintain the optimum contact area of the tire upon the driving surface.
Systems for automatically inflating and deflating vehicle tires are well known. Typical among such systems are those which allow an operator to vary the pressure within a vehicle's tires as desired. Such systems are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,783, issued to Turek; U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,999 issued to Holbrook; U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,502 issued to Ruf; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,737 issued to Goodell et al. In each of these prior art tire inflation systems, air is provided from an air source located within the vehicle to the rotating tires via the use of rotary pneumatic joints and seals.
The use of such rotary seals involves several inherent disadvantages. Foremost, is the complexity of the installation, which increases both the cost and the potential for maintenance problems. Additionally, such rotary joints are necessarily operated in an environment which is inherently hostile to their performance. Various contaminants such as oil, water, dirt, and sand are almost continually present and thus represent a potential hazard to the integrity of the seal. The hostility of the environment is further aggravated by potential use of the vehicle upon unpaved surfaces whereby the vehicle is additionally subjected to rigorous shock and vibration.
Thus, although such automatic tire inflation systems are technically feasible for their intended purposes, they possess inherent economic and practical deficiencies which detract from their overall effectiveness in the marketplace.

Automatic tire pressure monitor and inflation system


Methods, apparatuses, and systems related to the electrochemical separation of target gases from gas mixtures are provided. In some cases, a target gas such as carbon dioxide is captured and optionally released using an electrochemical cell (e.g., by bonding to an electroactive species in a reduced state). Some embodiments are particularly useful for selectively capturing the target gas while reacting with little to no oxygen gas that may be present in the gas mixture. Some such embodiments may be useful in applications involving separations from gas mixtures having relatively low concentrations of the target gas, such as direct air capture and ventilated air treatment.

Efforts have been made to remove target species from gas mixtures. For example, over the last two decades there has been an effort to mitigate global warming by curbing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. A number of approaches, such as conventional thermal methods, have been pursued to tackle carbon dioxide capture at different stages of its production: either post combustion capturing at power plants, or concentrating it from the atmosphere, after which it is either pressurized and stored in geological formations, or it is converted to commercially useful chemical compounds. Other potential applications of target gas removal include removing target gases directly from air or from ventilated air. Improved apparatuses, methods, and/or systems are desirable.

Electrochemically mediated gas capture, including from low concentration streams


The present invention presents methods and apparatus supporting acceleration of networked applications by means of dynamic distributed execution and maintenance. It also enables management and administration of the distributed components of the networked applications from a responsible point of origination. The method and apparatus deploys a plurality of proxy servers within the network. Clients are directed to one of the proxy servers using wide area load balancing techniques. The proxy servers download programs from backend servers and cache them in a local store. These programs, in conjunction with data stored at cached servers, are used to execute applications at the proxy server, eliminating the need for a client to communicate to a backend server to execute a networked application.

Currently, access over the Internet to Web-based applications is provided by having a Web-browser connect directly over a network of routers to a Web-server that maintains static content in data files, and composes dynamic content by executing programs, typically cgi-bin scripts or Java servlets. However, during periods of congestion due to traffic patterns on the Internet, this arrangement results in poor response times for the end client. The situation is typically worse the farther the client is located from the Web-server and the greater the number of intermediary routers involved in the network connection.
One way to improve application response time, reliability, and availability is to distribute the applications to proxy servers located closer to the client browsers. Distribution of content is used to improve the performance of the network by means of proxies within the network that cache pages.
The simple caching approach works well for data that is static and unchanging, e.g. images, video clips, etc. A proxy server is deployed within the network in many different ways. Some of the common ways include using a proxy server as a reverse proxy, where the proxy server is located closer to the web-server it is proxying for; as a forward proxy, where the proxy server is located closer to the browser or the client applications; or is as other auxiliary servers which may be located elsewhere within the network. The proxy server usually provides information to the browser on behalf of a backend server. The browser may contact the proxy server due to a variety of reasons e.g., because it has been explicitly configured to do so, or because the domain name server gives it the location of a proxy server instead of the backend web-server, or because a network operator or backend web-server operator has configured the network to send requests from the browser to the proxy server in a transparent fashion.
However, the techniques of caching that are commonly deployed in the current Internet do not work well with a large portion of web-accessible content. Data that is personalized to a client, or data that is generated by invocation of programs like cgi-bin scripts or servlets can not be readily cached at the proxies. For a server offering electronic services over the Internet, non-static data forms a significant portion of their overall data content. It would be advantageous to have a scheme whereby such dynamically generated content, and web-centric applications can also benefit from the presence of proxies.
As in the case of caching of static data, it is highly desirable that the caching of applications be done so that the administrative and operation control of the data/application resides with the original server, rather than with at the proxy server. A solution is needed which accelerates applications while still providing the administrative control of the application to the original server, rather than the proxy server.

Method and apparatus for distributed application acceleration

International Business Machines Corporation


Devices and related methods are disclosed herein that generally involve detecting and interpreting gestures made by a user to generate user input information for use by a digital data processing system. In one embodiment, a device includes first and second sensors that observe a workspace in which user gestures are performed. The device can be set to a keyboard input mode, a number pad input mode, or a mouse input mode based on the positioning of the user's hands. Subsequent gestures made by the user can be interpreted as keyboard inputs, mouse inputs, etc., using observed characteristics of the user's hands and various motion properties of the user's hands. These observed characteristics can also be used to implement a security protocol, for example by identifying authorized users by the anatomical properties of their hands or the behavioral properties exhibited by the user while gesturing.

Traditionally, human interaction with digital data processing systems (e.g., personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, server computers, cell phones, PDAs, gaming systems, televisions, set top boxes, radios, portable music players, and the like) required physical manipulation of one or more input devices such as a keyboard or mouse. These systems present a number of ergonomic issues, as the user is required to conform to the fixed geometry of the device. For example, traditional input devices have fixed or limited button sizes, which can make interaction with such devices awkward and/or error prone, especially for those with larger or smaller hands. Traditional input devices can also increase the weight and size of the digital data processing system, thereby reducing portability and user convenience. Moreover, physical acquisition can be ungainly, while the frequent shifting between devices (e.g., between a keyboard, number pad, and mouse) can cause a user to not only physically reset but also to perform mental tasks that can be consciously or unconsciously disruptive to the user's thought process and concentration.
Moreover, traditional input devices can present a number of security challenges. First, unless the system is secured (e.g., by a password that must be entered prior to access), anon-authorized user could use a conventional input device to access the associated digital data processing system. Further, even if the system is password-protected, the traditional input device could be vulnerable to unscrupulous third parties who could readily observe keystrokes as a password is entered. Finally, the conventional input device is essentially a passive device that most often provides a one-time gating function with no independent ability (e.g., apart from recognizing a password) to distinguish between a truly authorized system user and an imposter, either at the time of entry of the password, for example, or continually while the user continues accessing the system.
Various "virtual keyboard" input devices have been proposed, however, these too suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, such systems rely primarily on detecting only the tip of the user's finger and calculating the fingertip's velocity in order to determine when a "key" strike occurs. Such systems also generally rely on a static model in which virtual keys are assigned to fixed locations within a workspace. Accordingly, such systems focus on the point of impact between a user's fingertip and a surface that defines the workspace. In practice, however, data regarding the fingertip's velocity at a fixed virtual location is insufficient to achieve the level of accuracy that users need and/or expect from an input device. Moreover, these systems essentially lock the user into a fixed geometry that presents the same ergonomic issues posed by traditional mechanical keyboards as discussed above, for example. Further, such systems generally function only in a keyboard mode, or lack a convenient and non-disruptive way to switch between available input modes. An exemplary virtual keyboard input device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,422 to Rafii et al., entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENTERING DATA USING A VIRTUAL INPUT DEVICE," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved input devices for digital data processing systems.


A pair of plasma beam sources are connected across an AC power supply to alternatively produce an ion beam for depositing material on a substrate transported past the ion beams. Each plasma beam source includes a discharge cavity having a first width and a nozzle extending outwardly therefrom to emit the ion beam. The aperture or outlet of the nozzle has a second width, which second width is less than the first width. An ionizable gas is introduced to the discharge cavity. At least one electrode connected to the AC power supply, alternatively serving as an anode or a cathode, is capable of supporting at least one magnetron discharge region within the discharge cavity when serving as a cathode electrode. A plurality of magnets generally facing one another, are disposed adjacent each discharge cavity to create a magnetic field null region within the discharge cavity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for generating plasma and ion and to the use thereof. The invention has particular utility with respect to plasma and ion sources used for industrial processes such as plasma treatment, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and plasma etching of substrates and will be described in connection with such utility, although other utilities are contemplated such as for use as electric propulsion devices for space applications.
2. Description of Related Art
Plasma and ion sources are usefully applied in a number of processes including: Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), reactive ion etching, plasma surface modification and cleaning, increasing the density of evaporated or sputtered films and assisting a reactive evaporation or sputtering process. Of growing interest is the application of these processes to larger substrates such as flexible webs, photovoltaic panels and architectural and vehicle glass.
Several plasma and ion sources are commercially available and many more have been disclosed. Commercially available plasma and ion sources include: Hollow cathode plasma sources, gridded ion sources, end hall ion sources, closed drift type ion sources (both extended acceleration channel and anode layer types) and impeded anode types such as the APS Pro available from Leybold Optics USA. While successfully applied to small substrate applications like semiconductors or optical filters, they are less effective in processing wide substrate applications. This is primarily due to the use of point electron sources for beam creation and neutralization. Point electron source technologies such as filaments, heated low work function materials and hollow cathodes are difficult to linearly extend. Consequently, the ion and plasma sources that rely on these point electron sources have difficulty producing the uniform linear beams required for large area substrates. In the case of anode layer ion sources, while a uniform ion beam is emitted over a long source length, these sources suffer from lack of ion density and the beam can be difficult to neutralize for long sources.
Therefore, there is a need for a uniform, linear plasma or ion source that can be readily extended to wide substrates. This ideal linear source should also not require a delicate or expensive electron source, such as filaments or LaB6 cathodes, and should be capable of operating over a wide process pressure range. This source should also be physically compact, economical and should produce a dense, efficient plasma beam.
Another important criterion for the ideal linear plasma source is the ability to maintain a continuous PECVD process without excessive coating of the source. In prior art sources such as Lopata et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,952, the source electrode is exposed to the precursor gases and substrate in the process chamber. The result is that while useful coatings may be deposited on the substrate, the source is quickly coated causing process drift and arcing. In semiconductor batch applications, an etch process is run after set intervals to clean the exposed electrode(s). In continuous processes, such as roll to roll web or in-line coating systems, a PECVD process must run for many 10's of hours without stopping. In these applications an etch cleaning cycle is not practical. Therefore, a linear plasma source is needed that maintains stable operation over long continuous process runs.
Prior art relevant to the present invention can be grouped into three categories: Unbalanced magnetron sputtering sources, hollow cathode sputtering sources and plasma and ion sources.
Unbalanced Magnetron Sources
Window and Savvides presented the concept of unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputter cathodes in several published articles. In these articles, a Type II unbalanced magnetron is disclosed with its ability to ionize the sputtered flux from the cathode. The fundamental operating principles of the null magnetic field region and mirror magnetic confinement electron trapping are taught.
A planar target type II UBM as presented by Window and Savvides is shown as prior art in FIG. 13. Window and Harding later disclosed a type II UBM without a central magnetic material or high permeability pole. In FIG. 13, magnets 200 are configured around the periphery of a rectangular or round shunt plate 201. Central soft iron pole 207 is located in the center of the shunt plate 201. Due to the unequal magnetic strengths of the peripheral and center poles, a null field point 203 is created above magnetron trap 205 and strengthening field lines above the null point produce a mirror confinement region 208. In operation, magnetron plasma 204 sputters target 206. Electrons leaving the magnetron plasma are trapped in the mirror containment region 208 creating a second visible plasma region. As presented in the literature, the mirror plasma region ionizes a significant portion of the sputter flux from the target. Plasma 208 generated in the mirror region also projects out to substrate 209 and usefully bombards the growing sputtered film. Plasma 208 can be used for plasma processes such as PECVD, plasma treatment etc. While finding use in plasma source applications, the sputtered flux from target 206 is not always welcome, the UBM must operate in the mTorr range typical for magnetron sputtering and, for PECVD applications, and exposed target 206 is quickly contaminated by condensing PECVD constituents.
Hollow Cathode Sputter Sources
The term Hollow Cathode has been used to describe a variety of sputter sources in the prior art.
Rust in U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,805 discloses a hollow cathode confined magnetron with the substrate passing through the center of the cavity.
Sebastiano et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,057 discloses a hollow cathode configured magnetron with an anode positioned opposite from the opening into the process chamber. The anode in this position will allow electrons to reach the anode without having to pass out of the discharge cavity first. No gas is introduced into the discharge cavity separate from the opening to the process chamber.
Hedgcoth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,245 teaches a sputter source in a cavity separate from the process chamber. The magnetic field is along the axis of the cavity cylinder and a magnetron type containment region is reported to be created around the inside of the cavity cylinder walls. The opening to the process chamber creates a discontinuity in the magnetron racetrack. Anodes are located inside the cavity, at each end.
Kubo et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,302 discloses a sputtering apparatus comprised of multiple magnetron cathode cavities. Process gas is introduced into the base of each cavity. The cavities are open to the process chamber.
Helmer et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,611 discloses an unbalanced magnetron sputter cathode with a cup shaped or annular cathode. A null magnetic field point is produced adjacent to the cathode opening. The discharge cavity is open to the process chamber. In FIG. 6 of this patent a separate microwave applicator is fitted over the cathode opening. Though separate from the cathode, the applicator opening dimensions are equal to or larger than the cathode cavity. In one embodiment process gas is introduced into the cavity at the base of the cavity opposite the process chamber opening.
Scherer in U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,280 teaches an apparatus for coating substrates by cathode sputtering with a hollow target. The magnetron discharge in the cavity is balanced such that a weak null point is produced well outside the cavity in the process chamber.
Bardos et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,602 teaches a linear arc discharge source. The discharge cavity does not include a magnetron confined plasma region and the discharge cavity opening is exposed to the process chamber.
McLeod in U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,100 discloses a box shaped hollow cathode sputter source. The bottom of the box is either electrically floating or connected to the cathode. The box is open to the process chamber and process gas is not introduced into the box other than via the process chamber opening.
Other Plasma Sources
Maschwitz et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,945 teaches a bipolar plasma source, plasma sheet source, and effusion cell utilizing a bipolar plasma source. In the preferred embodiment, a magnetron cathode plasma is not created and the hollow cathode cavity opening is exposed to the process chamber.
Miljevic in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,918 discloses a hollow-anode ion-electron source comprising a discharge cavity with a reduced dimension opening conduit to the process chamber. There is no magnetron confined region or null magnetic field point within the discharge cavity.
Khominich in U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,074 teaches a cathode arc vapor deposition method and apparatus that implements a cusp magnet field. There is no magnetron confined region inside the discharge cavity and the cavity is open to the process chamber.


A Bi-Pod cantilever mount and method for supporting laser metrology equipment on a surface. The cantilever mount includes an adjustable mast and legs for adjustably positioning the laser metrology equipment on one or more surfaces. The adjustability of the mount optimizes the ability to utilize the laser metrology equipment at locations where it has been traditionally difficult to take readings.

When at sea, ships may be damaged as a result of various reasons, including collision with another vessel, grounding, or even weapon strike. Laser metrology equipment is a very important means for obtaining data related to the damage to facilitate damage control. There are no known mounts for accommodating the mounting of laser metrology equipment over the side of a waterborne ship to capture accurate data for damage control incidents. For an afloat ship, because of the lack of a versatile mounting arrangement, it is not possible to set up data-capturing equipment pier-side or on an adjacent ship, and properly obtain valid and accurate data from a target ship. Thus, it is desired to have a mounting apparatus that has the capability of holding the laser metrology equipment and also the flexibly to position the laser metrology equipment to facilitate data collection when the hull is damaged.

Bi-pod cantilever mount for laser metrology apparatus and method

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


Nanocomposite materials having a composition including an inorganic constituent, a preformed organic polymer constituent, and a metal ion sequestration constituent are disclosed. The nanocomposites are characterized by being single phase, substantially homogeneous materials wherein the preformed polymer constituent and the inorganic constituent form an interpenetrating network with each other. The inorganic constituent may be an inorganic oxide, such as silicon dioxide, formed by the in situ catalyzed condensation of an inorganic precursor in the presence of the solvated polymer and metal ion sequestration constituent. The polymer constituent may be any hydrophilic polymer capable of forming a type I nanocomposite such as, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneoxide (PEO), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and combinations thereof. Nanocomposite materials of the present invention may be used as permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) to remediate contaminated groundwater. Methods for making nanocomposite materials, PRB systems, and methods of treating groundwater are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to type I nanocomposites. More particularly, the present invention relates to type I nanocomposites useful as permeable reactive barriers to selectively remove metal ion contaminants from subsurface contaminated water.
2. State of the Art
Subsurface contaminated groundwater containing cesium or other metals presents an important environmental problem that must be addressed. Several approaches have been used to remediate contaminated groundwater. For instance, research into subsurface walls that prevent the spread of contaminants through the subsurface has been ongoing since about 1990 at Laurence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). These walls, called viscous liquid barriers (VLBs), are designed to control subsurface contaminants by forming an impermeable barrier, allowing nothing, either benign or hazardous, through the wall. VLBs are composed of liquid ceramic precursors that fast-cure in the subsurface to produce a purely ceramic monolith with extremely low permeability. In laboratory tests these walls functioned well, yet during field tests problems were discovered. Specifically, diversion of groundwater flow patterns prevented this technology from being effective.
Another technology that has been used to remediate contaminated groundwater is permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). Generally described, PRBs are underground permeable walls with a reactive material (e.g., iron, compost, limestone, sodium dithionite, or zeolites) that degrades or immobilizes contaminants in groundwater flow. As contaminated water passes through the reactive zone of the PRB, the contaminants are either immobilized or chemically degraded to a more desirable state (e.g., less toxic, more readily biodegradable, etc.). PRBs are installed as permanent, semi-permanent, or replaceable units across the groundwater flow path of a contaminant plume. The barriers may contain reactants, nutrients, or oxygen depending on the contaminant. PRBs can be installed in one of two basic ways: funnel-and-gate or trench. The funnel-and-gate system has impermeable walls that direct the contaminant plume through a gate containing the reactive media. In the trench technique, a trench is installed across the path of the plume and is filled with the reactive media. In both cases the groundwater is able to pass through the media while the contaminant is collected.
The most widely used PRB in remediation projects is the zero valent iron (ZVI) wall. This type of wall, made from iron or an iron containing material, can be placed in the ground in various ways such as, conventionally or via slurry injection, depending upon the demands of a particular site. The ZVI wall functions to remove chlorinated organic contaminants from the subsurface by reductively de-chlorinating these species as contaminated groundwater flows through the wall. While this is an extremely effective remediation technology for halogenated organic contaminants, ZVI walls are not able to effect the removal of most metal ions from subsurface contaminant plumes. Despite these limitations, PRBs are still a relatively new remediation strategy, and offer tremendous advantages once the current technical difficulties are overcome. Examples of permeable barriers for decontaminating groundwater using iron-based or other materials such as active metals, activated carbon, limestone, etc are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,786 to Carpenter et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,695 to Naftz et al.
While the ZVI wall and VLBs are capable of remediating groundwater, a need exists for a PRB capable of selectively removing metal ions such as cesium from contaminated groundwater. An ideal PRB would: (1) have a tunable water passing rate to approximate the hydraulic conductivity of the subsurface environment where the PRB is placed; (2) have sufficient mechanical strength, when wet and dry, to maintain barrier integrity; (3) have the ability to incorporate selective metal sequestration agents so that they remain active, yet do not leach from the barrier; and (4) be deployable through direct injection methods such that trenching is not needed. Additionally, there is a need to keep the technology as low cost as possible, while remaining reliable. The present invention, as described in more detail below, fulfills these needs.
The inventors fulfill the above mentioned needs by creating new nanocomposite materials that may be used to form PRBs of the present invention. Generally, type I nanocomposites have a preformed polymer constituent embedded in an inorganic constituent wherein the inorganic constituent is formed in situ from the condensation of an inorganic precursor in a mixture with the polymer constituent. Type I nanocomposites also lack significant covalent bonding between the preformed polymer constituent and inorganic constituent. Type I nanocomposites have been reported to be formed with a variety of organic preformed polymers and inorganic precursors. Namely, nanocomposites formed from preformed polymers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneoxide (PEO), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) are known in the art to be formed from the condensation reaction of the TEOS in the presence of the solvated polymer. Such material systems form nanocomposites having a polymer constituent (PAN, PEO, PEG, PVA, or PVAc) forming an interpenetrating network with the silicon dioxide constituent. Other types of preformed polymers have been used with TEOS to form nanocomposites. The article Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Network Materials by the Sol-Gel Approach, Chem. Mater. 1996, 8, 1667–1681 by J. Wen and B. L. Wilkes provides a background on many types of nanocomposites that have been formulated.

Organic/inorganic nanocomposites, methods of making, and uses as a permeable reactive barrier


A key identification system that includes a key identification system housing, a key clamp, a key ring support tray, and two digital identifiers is disclosed. The key identification system housing may include a key receiving aperture extending through housing and sized to receive at least some of a key blade of a key. The key clamp is positioned adjacent to the key receiving aperture and allows the system to maintain the key blade in a fixed position within the key identification system housing when the key is inserted into the key receiving aperture. The key ring support tray is typically coupled to the key identification system housing below the key receiving aperture. The two digital identifiers are positioned within the key identification system housing and designed to capture key blade information.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to key identification systems for key duplicating systems.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, when a master key for opening a lock is duplicated, it is duplicated by first identifying or classifying the master key to be able to identify an appropriate key blank for the duplicate key. Conventional systems for key identification have required the operation skills of a trained worker to properly identify the master key and subsequently select the appropriate key blank. Other automated systems have used optics to identify a master key, but are susceptible to inefficiency and error due to the likelihood of movement of the master key during identification.


An ink jet recording apparatus comprises a driving circuit for sequentially supplying drive signals according to recording information and an ink jet recording head that deposits ink onto a recording medium in response to the drive signals. The apparatus determines if the supply of drive signals has been interrupted for a predetermined time period. If so, when the supply of drive signals resumes, a recording control circuit increases the energy of a predetermined number of drive signals. With this arrangement, the recording density can be maintained uniform, even if there are gaps in the recording information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an ink jet recording apparatus having sheet or liquid path for containing liquid as an ink container, and provides an advantageous technique in particular for an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a recording head of bubble jet type which generates bubbles by rapid heating with the electro-thermal converting element thereby emitting ink droplets.
2. Related Background Art
A recording head of the bubble jet type, utilizing bubbles generated by thermal energy as the ink droplet forming means, is capable of significantly reducing the area of activating element, thereby realizing a high-density and compact recording head and eventually compactizing the recording apparatus.
Also the fluctuation in the function among different heads can be reduced since the electro-thermal converting elements can be precisely formed with a photolithographic process.
Next, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,376,945 and 4,719,472 disclosing a technique for desirably recording with liquid temperature maintained constant are known as a preliminary heating technique of the ink jet recording apparatus. Further, as a technique for modifying the preliminary heating according to an environmental condition or sequence for conducting preliminary heating necessarily on turning on a main switch, British patent 2159465B and British publication 2169855A disclose a speed heating by increasing preliminary heating pulse width without liquid emission.
Among those preliminary heating systems, one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,359 is to add pulse for preliminary heating to the drive pulse for recording and is a very important and advantageous invention as a technique for achieving stabilized recording.
While, as a technique for preliminary emission independent of actual recording, there are British patent 2159465B and British patent publication 2169855A that disclose more concrete examples of an ink jet technique to stabilize recording in accordance with an environmental condition.
As described in the above, in the field of the ink jet recording, excellent preliminary emission means is known and used as shown in the above documents.
Problems not noticed in the above documents have been found after extensive research. The background of the present invention is described as follows. That is, an ink jet recording apparatus, particularly the recording head of serial type, often provides, in the recorded image, a record area of lower density in comparison with other areas.
FIG. 6 shows a sample of recording with a conventional bubble jet recording apparatus, for explaining the above-mentioned phenomenon, wherein 1A-1D are recording regions, including regions 2 of lower density. There is employed a recording head of serial type, which effects recording by scanning motions in a direction indicated by an arrow. As will be apparent from this figure, the lower density appears at the start of recording of each line, and at the start of recording after an unrecorded region.
The cause of this phenomenon will be explained in the following, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
FIG. 4 shows the change in the diameter of recording dots, as the function of lapse of time in each of the recording regions 1A-1D shown in FIG. 6. It will be apparent, from this figure, that the diameter of recording dots varies considerably between the start and end of the recording in a scanning line.
A cause of this phenomenon is that, in a recording head of bubble jet type, a large electric power has to be applied instantaneously to a electro-thermal converting element for generating the bubble, and the heat dispersion is not conducted sufficiently because of the high-speed drive, so that the electro-thermal converting element and the ink are heated with the lapse of recording time, thus causing a change in the rate of expansion or contraction of bubbles and in the viscosity of ink.
However, in the actual recording, the change in the diameter of recorded dots is not directly reflected in the change in the density of recorded image. More specifically, if the ratio of the actual area of dots to the area of pixel in which said dots are placed (said ratio being hereinafter referred to as the area factor) is low, the density of the pixel is influenced by the low density, for example white, of the background of the recording sheet, and the record density is lowered. Thus, when the area factor is relatively small as shown in FIGS. 5(a) to (c), the change in the diameter of recording dots significantly affects the density of the recorded image. On the other hand, when the diameter of recording dots is increased to an area factor of about 100% as shown in FIGS. 5(d) and (e), the density of the recorded image is not too much affected by a slight change of the diameter of recording dots.
Consequently the use of a larger dot diameter is preferable for reducing the change in the image density, but an excessively large dot diameter is not desirable becuase of requires an excessively long time for the ink to be fixed on the sheet. Thus, if the dot diameter is so selected as to ensure rapid fixing even at the end of a scanning line where the dot diameter increases, the area factor decreases in the pixels in the initial portion of the recording, thus resulting a decrease in the recorded image density.

Ink jet recording apparatus with increased-energy pulse drive after a recording interruption


A valve for a product-guiding processing plant comprises a housing, in which a closure member and a closure member seat are arranged. The closure member seat is provided on a cylindrical inner wall of a housing portion of the housing. The closure member has a sealing element, which cooperates in a sealing manner with the closure member seat in a closed position of the closure member. The closure member is displaceable in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the housing between an open position, in which the sealing element is distanced from the closure member seat, and the closed position. The valve comprises a scraper for detaching product residues from the inner wall of the inner cylindrical housing portion, the scraper being arranged ahead of the sealing element, as viewed in the direction of closure of the closure member from the open position into the closed position, and being moved along and against the inner wall of the inner cylindrical housing portion when the closure member is displaced from the open position into the closed position.

The invention generally relates to valves for use in product-guiding plants. More specifically, the invention relates to a valve, comprising a housing, in which a closure member and a closure member seat are arranged. The closure member seat being provided on a cylindrical inner wall of a housing portion of the housing, wherein the closure member has a sealing element, which cooperates in a sealing manner with the closure member seat in a closed position of the closure member. The closure member is displaceable in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the housing between an open position, in which the sealing element is distanced from the closure member seat, and the closed position.
A valve of the type described in the introduction can be used for example in the food processing industry, but also in the chemical industry, in product-guiding processing plants.
A valve according to the invention can be designed as a single seat valve with just one closure member and just one closure member seat, as a double seat valve with two closure members and two closure member seats, or as a double sealing valve with a closure member with two sealing elements spaced in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the housing.
A valve of the type described in the introduction is generally used in a product-guiding processing plant to separate two pipelines from one another in the closed position of the closure member, such that no product can pass from the one pipeline into the other pipeline, or to interconnect the two pipelines in a product-guiding manner in the open position of the closure member. In the open position of the closure member, product flows from one pipeline, through the valve housing, past the closure member and closure member seat, and into the other pipeline.
Within the meaning of the present invention, "product" is not only understood to mean an end product, but also preliminary stages of products or components of products or ingredients, which are processed to form a finished product.
If such a product-guiding processing plant is used in a brewery for example, water, yeast, wort, green beer or finished beer for example may flow through the pipelines.
If such a product-guiding processing plant is used in a dairy for example, milk, fruit preparations, yoghurt, milk-based beverage preparations and the like may flow through the plant.
If the product-guiding processing plant is used in a facility, for example for producing finished soups and the like, products containing not only liquid, but also solid material, flow through the pipelines of the processing plant accordingly.
An example of a product-guiding processing plant in the chemical industry is a plant for producing paints or varnishes for example.
When operating a valve of the type described in the introduction in a product-guiding processing plant, it has been found that product residues may deposit on the cylindrical inner wall of the housing portion, in which the at least one closure member seat is provided. In particular when the valve is used in a product-guiding processing plant of a milk processing facility, it has been found that product residues that tend to harden in a gypseous manner and adhere relatively firmly to the inner wall of the cylindrical housing portion deposit on the cylindrical inner wall of the housing portion. When the closure member is transferred into the closed position, the sealing element may not be able to detach or push aside the product residues depending on the strength of the attachment of the product residues to the cylindrical inner wall of the housing portion, but instead the sealing element runs over the adhering product residues. As the sealing element is moved along the cylindrical inner wall of the housing portion, the sliding friction of the sealing element along the cylindrical inner wall of the housing portion thus increases disadvantageously, and the movement of the sealing element over the product residues disadvantageously leads to quicker wear of the sealing element. If the product residues are located in the region of the closure member seat, the sealing effect of the sealing element at the closure member seat is also reduced, and therefore the valve may exhibit leaks even when the sealing element is not yet worn.
With a known valve according to DE 10 2007 038 124 A1, no measures are taken to remedy this problem.

Valve for product-guiding processing plant


A printing press packing gauge is provided in the form of a channel member or saddle for lengthwise disposition along and support from a blanket cylinder with the open side of the channel member abutted and seated against the blanket cylinder and one end of the gauge including an elongated reciprocal sensor lengthwise shiftable relative to the channel member generally radially of the cylinder while an indicator spindle is mounted for lengthwise shifting longitudinally of the channel member and movement connecting structure in the form of a bellcrank pivotally supported from the channel member is provided and operatively connects the sensor with the spindle for simultaneous and equal shifting of the spindle relative to the channel member responsive to shifting of the sensor relative to the saddle member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for accurately determining the exact "squeeze" between the plate on a plate cylinder of a printing press and the blanket on the blanket cylinder of the printing press. The correct "squeeze" is essential for the ink on the plate to properly transfer therefrom to the blanket and subsequently to the paper to achieve superior printing quality.
Adjustments are made before and during a printing run to maintain the exact "squeeze" and are effected by inserting a packing material beneath either the plate or the blanket and in many instances beneath both the plate and the blanket. During a printing run frequent measurements should be taken on both the plate cylinder and the blanket cylinder to ensure the "squeeze" is maintained correct.
2. Description of Related Art
Various different forms of blanket thickness gauges and other devices heretofore have been provided to determine and maintain proper "squeeze" between the plate and the blanket on a printing press in order to ensure top quality printing. Examples of these previously known gauges and other devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,840,918, 3,090,129, 3,324,759, 3,432,933, 4,450,628 and 5,084,983 as Well as German Patent 3435860 and Swiss Patent 219053. However, these previously known devices are not as readily usable and/or accurate as the packing gauge of the instant invention.

Non-magnetic printing press packing gauge


A method for producing powders for inhalation includes a first mixing step of stirring a first active ingredient and a carrier in the presence of a milling medium, and mixing the first active ingredient and the carrier while crumbling the agglomerates of the first active ingredient to obtain a mixture of the carrier and the first active ingredient; and a second mixing step of adding fine powders to the mixture obtained in the first mixing step, and stirring and mixing the mixture and the fine powders in the presence of a milling medium.

In Japanese Patent Application National Publication No. 2010-533697 (Patent Literature 1), a dry-powder medicament and a method for producing the same are disclosed. In this production method, powders of multiple kinds of active ingredients are fractionated, then to which a carrier is mixed, and multiple kinds of carrier-mixed active ingredients are further blended (paragraph [0021] and FIG. 1 of Patent Literature 1).
In Japanese Patent Application National Publication No. 2006-515830 (Patent Literature 2), a method for producing a dry powder inhalant composition is disclosed. In this production method, a carrier and a first granular inhalant pharmaceutical ingredient are mixed, then to which a second granular inhalant pharmaceutical ingredient is mixed, and thus a dry powder inhalant composition is produced. In addition, in Patent Literature 2, salmeterol is the second granular inhalant pharmaceutical ingredient.
In Japanese Patent Application National Publication No. 2004-507343 (Patent Literature 3), finely-milled particles are disclosed. In Patent Literature 3, a method for milling a solid substrate and multiple small particulates by using beads, while mixing the solid substrate and the multiple small particulates is disclosed.
In Japanese Patent Application National Publication No. 2009-519972 (Patent Literature 4), a method for producing a particle-based pharmaceutical formulation for pulmonary or nasal administration is disclosed. In this method, particles of pharmaceutical formulation and an excipient particulate material are mixed, and the mixture is milled by ball mills to produce a medicament.

Method for producing powders for inhalation


The present invention provides chiral nucleotide analogs having the Formulas I and II ##STR1## and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and solvates thereof, and their pharmaceutical compositions for use in the treatment of viral infections, especially those caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to certain chiral nucleotide analogs and their compositions and use in the treatment of viral infections. In particular, the present invention relates to certain chiral acyclic treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diseases.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Infectious viral diseases are recognized as an important medical problem. Progress against infectious viral diseases requires the development of drugs with selective antiviral activity while remaining benign to normal cell lines. A number of antiviral agents currently under study, which seem to possess some selectivity, are nucleoside analogs. In general, these compounds are structural analogs of the naturally occurring nucleosides. Structural modification in either the purine or pyrimidine base nucleus and/or the saccharide component results in a synthetically modified nucleoside derivative which, when incorporated into a viral nucleic acid forming process, acts to disrupt further synthesis of viral nucleic acid. Effectiveness of these antiviral agents depends on selective conversion by viral enzymes, but not by host enzymes, to the corresponding nucleotide analog which is then converted to the triphosphate and incorporated into viral nucleic acid. A problem with this antiviral strategy has been the emergence of certain viral strains whose enzymes poorly promote phosphorylation of the nucleoside analogs. To circumvent this problem, intact nucleotide analogs appear to be potentially quite useful as antivirals for incorporation into viral nucleic acid.
Reist and Sturm in PCT/U.S. 84/00737, published Dec. 6, 1984, disclosed new phosphonic acid analogs of nucleoside phosphates which are useful as antivirals for incorporation into viral DNA. The structural formula for these compounds is shown below as Formula 1. ##STR2##
In the Reist compounds, B is a purine or pyrimidine base: R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 together complete a .beta.-pentofuranose sugar or R.sub.1 is H and R.sub.2 is H or hydroxymethyl; R.sub.3 is H or OH; X is H, OH, or together with Y is carbonyl oxygen, and Y can also be H; Z.sub.1 and Z.sub.2 are H or alkyl. These art compounds are generally distinguished from the compounds of the instant invention by (a) the ether-oxygen link to the carbon atom attached to the base which is intended to preserve or mimic the acetal oxygen bond of a pentofuranose sugar ring and (b) the phosphate modification which is a phosphonoalkylene moiety. In contrast, the acyclic sugar analog component of the instant compounds is comprised of an all carbon atom backbone up to a phosphonomethoxy moiety.
Similarly, synthesis and anti-Herpes virus activity of phosphate and phosphonate derivatives of 9-[(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxy)methyl]guanine (Formula 2) were disclosed by Prisbe, et al., in J. Med. Chem., 1986, 29, 671. ##STR3##
More closely related are adenine phosphonic acid analogs (Formula 3) and their syntheses which were disclosed in the United Kingdom patent application of Holy, et al.. GB 2,134,907A, published on August 22, 1984, and its related U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,825. ##STR4##
In Formula 3, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 may be hydrogen and R.sub.4 is independently a hydrogen atom or a --CH.sub.2 P(O)(OH).sub.2 group.
A preferred example of one of these compounds, known as (S)-HPMPA (Formula 4), was disclosed by E. DeClercq, et al., in Nature, 1986, 323, pp. 464-467, and in Antiviral Research, 1987, 8, pp. 261-272, and earlier by A. Holy, et al., Nucleic Acids Research, Symposium Series No. 14, 1984, pp. 277-278. The reported antiviral activity of HPMPA resides only in the isomer having the (S)-configuration at the chiral center on the side chain. The corresponding (R)-isomer is reported to be devoid of antiviral activity. ##STR5##
European Patent Application EP-253,412 of A. Holy, et al., published on Jan. 20, 1988, discloses a series of N-phosphonylmethoxyalkyl derivatives of pyrimidine and purine bases (Formula 5) exhibiting antiviral activity ##STR6## in which R is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxymethyl group and B is an optionally substituted pyrimidin-1-yl, pyrimidin-3-yl, purin-3-yl, purin-7-yl, or purin-9-yl residue, whereby unsubstituted adenin-9-yl is excluded. Substituent B is preferably, inter alia, guanin-9-yl. One of the examples wherein B is guanin-9-yl and R is --CH.sub.2 OH (HPMPG) is disclosed only as the racemic (RS)-isomer.
European Patent Application EP-269,947 of R. R. Webb, II, et al., published on Jun. 8, 1988, discloses a series of phosphonomethoxyalkene purine and pyrimidine derivatives which are useful as antiviral agents and have the general Formula 6 ##STR7## wherein B is a purine or pyrimidine base; alk.sub.1, alk.sub.2, and alk.sub.3 are chemical bonds or alkylene groups; Q is hydrogen or hydroxy; and R.sub.1 -R.sub.4 are hydrogen or alkyl, provided that B is not 9-adenyl when R.sub.1 -R.sub.4 is hydrogen and alk.sub.1, alk.sub.2, alk.sub.3, and Q are as disclosed by A. Holy, et al., GB 2,134,907, cited above. There is also generically disclosed in European Patent Application EP-269,947 as Example 32 and Example 35 in Table 1 and in claim 8 the racemic compound of the present invention. The racemic compound of the present invention was never made and was suggested as only one of many possible combinations.
In Nucleotide Analogs as Antiviral Agents; ACS Symposium Series 401; Martin, J. C. Ed.: Washington, D.C., 1989, Chapter 5, pp. 72-87; J. J. Bronson, et al., report on the series of nucleotide analogs disclosed in the above cited European Patent Application EP-269,947 publication. Also, in J. Med. Chem., 1990, 33, 1207-1213, C. U. Kim, et al., describes a similar series of compounds.
The present applicants have separately prepared the (R)- and (S)-isomers of 9-[2-(phosphonomethoxy)propyl]guanine (2'-methyl-PMEG) and have discovered, surprisingly, that both are active against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In sharp contrast, as disclosed in the present invention, both the (R)- and (S)-isomers of HPMPG are inactive against HIV. More surprising was the unexpected finding that the (R)-isomer of 2'-methyl-PMEG provides complete protection of both MT4 and CEM-SS cells against HIV over a concentration range of from about 5 to 100 .mu.M with no observable cytotoxicity at concentrations less than 100 .mu.M. In contrast, PMEG is approximately 30 fold more cytotoxic than (R)-2'-methyl-PMEG.
There is no teaching contained in these references, or combination thereof, which would make obvious the use of the instant compounds against HIV infections. Furthermore, there is no teaching which would suggest the preparation of one specific isomer and that one isomer would provide both unexpected lower toxicity and greater selectivity as an anti-HIV agent.

Use of chiral 2-(phosphonomethoxy)propyl guanines as antiviral agents

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic


An integrated advanced method for forming a semiconductor device utilizes a sacrificial stress layer as part of a film stack that enables spatially selective silicide formation in the device. The low-resistance portion of the device to be silicided includes NMOS transistors and PMOS transistors. The stressed film may be a tensile or compressive nitride film. An annealing process is carried out prior to the silicide formation process. During the annealing process, the stressed nitride film preferentially remains over either the NMOS transistors or PMOS transistors, but not both, to optimize device performance. A tensile nitride film remains over the NMOS transistors but not the PMOS transistors while a compressive nitride film remains over the PMOS transistors but not the NMOS transistors, during anneal.

In today's rapidly advancing semiconductor manufacturing industry, reducing device feature sizes and increasing device speed is more and more emphasized. Versatile improvement approaches are applied to manufacturing processes to gain higher device performance. For example, a single semiconductor chip may be designed to include both low resistance areas and high resistance areas. With regard to the high resistance areas, an electrostatic discharge device (ESD) may advantageously be formed to prevent from external charging damage, for example. The ESD may be achieved through applying a sacrificial covering such as an oxide layer over portions of the device to serve as a mask and prevent silicide formation in these portions.
In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, it is known that the formation of stressed films over doped areas increases the speed of the associated semiconductor device by producing a mechanical stress in the underlying film or substrate that contains the dopant impurities. Such a stress increases the mobility of the dopant impurities. The dopant impurities or charge carriers with increased mobility enable faster operating speed for semiconductor devices such as transistors. It would therefore be desirable to utilize such stressed films in various appropriate applications.
With regard to the spatially selective silicidation process, one technique is to use an oxide film as the silicide prevention film in areas that are not to be silicided. The sacrificial oxide film is patterned and removed from the areas that are to be silicided. This typically involves multiple oxide etch or strip operations. After the silicide is formed in areas where the sacrificial oxide is not present, the sacrificial oxide film must be removed from the non-silicided areas. These oxide removal operations may create voids in oxide spacers formed alongside transistor gates formed beneath the sacrificial oxide film, and may also create other divots in the device, both of which degrade device performance. Another approach is to use a stressed nitride film as a suicide prevention layer. In order to utilize a tensile or compressive stressed silicon nitride film to increase carrier mobility and also act as a silicide prevention film, a stack of a stressed nitride film over an oxide film has been tried as a suicide resistant film stack.
A shortcoming associated with the use of the nitride film, however, is that, when a stressed nitride film remains over a transistor during anneal, device degradation may occur for either or both of the PMOS and NMOS transistors, depending on the type of silicon nitride film used. Conventional techniques employing a sacrificial nitride film as part of the silicide prevention films stack may therefore adversely affect device performance of either PMOS or NMOS transistors.
As such, it would be advantageous utilize a stressed silicon nitride film as a silicidation prevention film without degrading either NMOS or PMOS device performance.

Method for forming integrated advanced semiconductor device using sacrificial stress layer

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A carboxylic acid e.g. acetic acid, is recovered from an aqueous feed stream containing the corresponding ester, an alcohol and a small amount of water by catalytically dehydrating the alcohol to the corresponding ether and water, and reacting the water with the ester to generate a liquid carboxylic acid rich product stream. The acid is recovered by distillation. In a second embodiment, additional alcohol and/or water are co-fed with the feed or fed directly to a catalytic distillation column, resulting in a liquid bottom product stream of substantially pure acetic acid and a top distillate stream of substantially pure ether.

Several industrial processes produce streams containing one or more esters of carboxylic acids, RO.CO.R′, where R and R′ are selected from among hydrocarbyl radicals or substituted hydrocarbyl radicals. Examples of such industrial processes include those for production of vinyl alcohol polymers or terephthalic acid. Carboxylic acid esters can be hydrolyzed to generate the corresponding acid and alcohol, as shown in Equation 1. Equation 1 is an equilibrium reaction and requires an excess of water to drive the reaction well to the right hand side.RO.CO.R′+H2OROH+HO.CO.R″  [1]
Processes for production of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its derivatives are described by Marten in "Vinyl Alcohol Polymers" in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. A variety of vinyl ester monomers can be polymerized to form a polymer, of which polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is preferred. PVAc then is further reacted to manufacture PVA. Commonly, PVAc is reacted with methanol (MeOH) to form PVA and methyl acetate (MeOAc). The components of the polymerization reaction mixture are continuously separated. Unreacted monomer can be stripped from the reactor using, for example, methanol vapor. The overhead fraction from the stripper comprises a mixture of vinyl ester monomer and at least one solvent such as methanol. The vinyl ester monomer is then extracted for recycle to the polymerization reactor. In the production of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) MeOAc is produced as a by-product at a ratio of 1.68 tons of MeOAc per ton of PVA.
One outlet stream typically comprises a mixture including MeOAc, MeOH and a small amount of water. The weight ratio of these components varies over a range of relative concentrations, among which a typical composition is approximately 75% MeOAc, 23% MeOH and 2% water. Among these components MeOH and water have relatively low value when compared to the values of MeOAc and acetic acid (HOAc).
The MeOH and MeOAc can be distilled off and, at the same time, water can be added in order to obtain an aqueous PVA solution. However, there are disadvantages to this approach. The resulting PVA suspension is fine, difficult to filter, and so the process is uneconomical. Further, this approach requires time-consuming, energy intensive and hence expensive distillation of large amounts of solvents requiring a plurality of distillation columns. Several approaches have been undertaken to improve the chemical efficiency and economics of processes for production of PVA. In particular, efforts have been directed to recycle of solvents and processing of the outlet streams to recover valuable by-products.
Kowaka et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,859 issued in 2004 describe a method for production of high-strength PVA with a high degree of saponification. The apparatus for the process of '859 includes an outlet line for recovery of MeOH and MeOAc identified in FIGS. 1 through 3 by the reference numeral 7, however no details are presented for the process for the separation and recovery of those components.
Bauer et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,720 issued in 2003 describe an alternative approach in which a liquid phase comprising MeOH, MeOAc and HOAc is recycled for use in further polyvinyl ester transesterification. The process of '720 can be used for other alcohols and esters. The mixture of alcohol and corresponding ester is recycled for use as the polymerization reaction medium. Make-up comprising one or both of MeOH and HOAc is provided to maintain the composition of the recycle mixture. The PVA is produced and isolated using saponification with KOH and then neutralization, preferably with a strong acid such as HCl. Thus water, less than 1% by weight in the initial reaction mixture, is produced by both the reaction of MeOH and HOAc and the neutralization process.
MeOAc may be sold or further hydrolysed to recover HOAc.
Kim et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,770 issued in 1998 describe a reactive distillation process for the well known equilibrium reaction 2 for the recovery of MeOH and HOAc from catalytic hydrolysis of MeOAc. Reaction 2 is a specific example of the type of reaction shown in Equation 1.MeOAc+H2OMeOH+HOAc  [2]
It has long been recognized that this reaction could be used to recover HOAc from MeOAc from a PVA manufacturing process as described, by example, by Adelman et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,940 issued in 1982. It also was recognized in '940 that it was necessary to minimize the amount of water used in the process to reduce the costs of recovery and re-use of the products from the reaction in the PVA manufacture process. However, when a minimum amount of water is used, the equilibrium reaction 2 lies to the left hand side. Reaction 2 can be driven to the right hand side only by continuous removal of at least one of the products.
In an alternative approach for treatment of the PVA manufacture outlet stream, MeOAc can be separated from the mixture using extractive distillation. One example of this method is described by Xiao et al. in Chemical Engineering Science, volume 56, pages 6553-6562 (2001). In the first column, water is added to the liquid stream from the PVA plant. The volatiles from the first column are then hydrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor containing a bed of an acidic catalyst which catalyzes the hydrolysis of MeOAc to MeOH and HOAc. The effluent stream from the fixed bed reactor is distilled in a second distillation column to provide a volatiles stream and a bottoms stream. The volatiles from the second column are recycled for mixing with further MeOAc feed to the first extractive distillation column. The bottoms from the second column are separated into a water rich stream and a HOAc rich stream by distillation in a third column. The bottoms from the first column are separated by distillation in a fourth column into a water rich stream and a MeOH rich stream. Thus the overall process for recovery of HOAc requires four distillation columns and a fixed bed reactor. Further, to drive well to the right hand side the well known catalytic MeOAc hydrolysis equilibrium reaction shown as Equation 2, it is necessary to use a large amount of water. Thus the process is energy intensive as that water must be volatilized in both the second and third columns.
Each of the above processes requires use of a plurality of columns and reactors to react, separate and recover the components of the stream from the PVA manufacturing reactor. Consequently, capital and operating costs are high. Further, when water is added, either as reagent or for extractive distillation, that water must also be separated, which is a costly and time consuming feature.
Hoyme et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,465 issued in 2003 describe another concept based process, derived from simulations using the commercial available program Aspen Plus, in which the stream containing MeOAc from PVA manufacture is reacted in a reactive distillation column to produce DME and HOAc. Water was added to hydrolyze MeOAc and thereby generate HOAc which is recovered. The molar ratio of water in the process stream is between 0.05% and 20%, and preferably is between 0.3% and 3%. In this process it is recognized that methanol also may react to generate dimethyl ether (DME) and water in the also well known acid catalyzed equilibrium reaction shown in Equation 3. The process of Hoyme et al. in '465 is basically hydrolysis of MeOAc to HOAc by addition of water.2MeOHMe2O+H2O  [3]

Process for recovery of a carboxylic acid from a feed stream containing the corresponding ester


A package or palletized load comprises a lower section of elongated articles which are disposed in a side-by-side abutting array and are upended so as to be supported upon one of the longitudinally extending side surfaces thereof. Additional elongated articles, disposed in an array comprising multiple rows and columns and forming an upper section of the package or palletized load, are then stacked atop the lower section of the package or palletized load. Due to the fact that the articles comprising the lower section of the package or palletized load are relatively inflexible along their transverse extents, the elongated articles disposed within the upper section of the package or palletized load will be properly supported so as not to be adversely affected by means of gravitational forces to which the multiplicity of elongated articles will be subjected during shipping, handling, transportation, and storage.

In connection with the formation of packages or palletized loads comprising elongated articles, such as, for example, lumber products, and more particularly, elongated wooden boards used for constructing decks or similar structures, it is often the case that the boards are shipped, handled, transported, and subsequently stored, in accordance with well-known, conventional techniques or arrangements wherein the boards will be subjected, for example, to gravitational forces which will act along the longitudinal extents of the boards so as to tend to cause the boards to droop or sag at, for example, longitudinally central portions thereof. Still further, it is a significant problem within the wood or lumber industry that such prolonged sagging or drooping of the boards over extended periods of time, such as, for example, during shipping, handling, transporation, and storage of the boards, will tend to induce permanent warpage or deformation into the boards thereby rendering them, at worst, totally unsuitable for their intended usage, or at best, difficult to work with in connection with the construction of, for example, deck or similar structures.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved arrangement or technique for arranging packages or palletized loads of such elongated lumber products or boards, in preparation for the shipping, handling, transportation, and storage of the same, wherein, for example, the elongated lumber products or boards will in fact be adequately supported throughout the entire longitudinal extents or lengths thereof such that the elongated lumber products or boards will not in fact be adversely affected by such gravitational forces acting thereon. Accordingly, the elongated lumber products or boards will not experience sagging or drooping along the longitudinal lengths or extents thereof, particularly at or within the longitudinally central portions thereof, so as not to, in turn, experience permanent warpage or deformation which would otherwise render the elongated lumber products or boards useless or at least substantially difficult to use.

Package, palletized load, and method of forming the same


Differential decoding processing applied to multilevel modulation is accomplished with the circuit scale kept small by including; an MSB coordinate rotating part for performing coordinate rotation based on information of the first two most significant bits of a signal received via a synchronous detection part; an MSB symbol likelihood generating part for generating likelihood with respect to the first two most significant bits after differential decoding, with the use of two sets of bit strings at different points in time for which coordinate rotation has been performed; an LSB symbol likelihood generating part for generating likelihood with respect to less significant bits; and a soft decision error correction decoding part for generating a decoded signal with the use of the likelihood of the first two most significant bits and the likelihood of the less significant bits.

In recent years, multilevel modulation is being applied more and more for the purpose of improving the frequency utilization efficiency in addition to giving an optical communication system a large capacity. However, it is a known fact that raising the multilevel degree in order to increase the transmission capacity decreases phase noise tolerance proportionately (see, for example, Non Patent Literature 1).
A technology of inserting a pilot signal has been proposed in order to guarantee transmission performance to deal with phase slipping due to phase noise that is caused by multilevel modulation transmission (see, for example, Non Patent Literature 2).
Inserting a pilot signal, however, increases the degree of redundancy depending on the frequency of pilot insertion, and the accompanying rise in the operating speed of an electric circuit leads to a problem of difficulty in dealing with high transmission rate.
As another known technology to deal with the phase slipping, there is known to use differential encoding. This technology gives tolerance for changes in absolute phase by providing information about a transition between consecutive signal points on a phase space of two I/Q signals that are orthogonal to each other. This does not require the insertion of an additional signal, which means that there is no accompanying rise in signal operating speed, and therefore has an advantage of excellent suitability for high-speed signal transmission.
In a known technology related to multilevel-signal demodulation processing, a more significant bit of a received signal is used to determine a quadrant of the signal's coordinates, whereas likelihood generating processing is performed with respect to a less significant bit of the received signal independently of the more significant bit (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
There is also known a technology of receiving a modulated signal that has been encoded differentially and generating likelihood with respect to the received signal (see, for example, Patent Literature 2, Patent Literature 3, and Patent Literature 4).
In still another known technology, likelihood generating processing is performed separately with respect to a more significant bit and less significant bit of a received quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal vector (see, for example, Patent Literature 5, Patent Literature 6, and Patent literature 7).
In a known technology for a method of differentially encoding two bits on the most significant bit (MSB) side which are associated with quadrant identification, and encoding bits on the least significant bit (LSB) side by Gray encoding, decoding processing combined with symbol rotation is performed on the LSB-side bits (see, for example, Patent Literature 8).
A digital coherent transmission technology that uses digital signal processing is drawing attention as a technology for accomplishing a transmission rate of 100 Gbps or higher.
With this technology, amplitude information obtained with the use of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) can be applied to the processing of a received signal, which makes it easy to employ, in combination, an error correction technology that uses soft decision, and improves reception performance.

Multi-level differential decoding device and method for quadrature amplitude modulation communication system


An animal control device for prohibiting animal access to or egress from a desired area. The transmitter comprises a flexible transmitter strip and strip extensions that are designed to be physically unobtrusive. The strip further comprises on/off switch, frequency control, AC power plug and a battery backup. The receiver and emission component of the device comprises a removable and adjustable animal collar, or plurality of animal collars which emit audible sound, ultrasound, vibration, or mild electric shock.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to animal control devices and more specifically to a device for restraining an animal from entering or exiting an area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animal control devices are not new in the prior art. By way of example:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,242 to Davis et al. discloses an animal constraint device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,392 to Andre et al. discloses a device for preventing an animal from crossing a zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,276 to Peinetti discloses an echo-ranging boundary system for animals.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe an animal control device that provides for the advantages of the present invention. Therefore, a need exists for an improved animal control device. In this respect, the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.


A purpose of the present invention is to provide a temperature history indicator that allows for visual confirmation of whether the temperature is at or below a prescribed temperature as well as simple conversion of this information into data. A temperature history indicator according to the present invention is characterized by being provided with a label layer and a temperature-indicating layer laminated above or below the label layer, wherein the temperature-indicating layer includes a substance having at crystallization starting temperature of 10° C. or lower and a melting point at least 20° C. higher than the crystallization starting temperature.

In the world, so many commodities such as pharmaceuticals and foods are necessary to be stored within a certain temperature range. Such commodities are manufactured in factories and then transported to customers such as hospitals, supermarkets, and wholesalers by vehicles having a refrigerator function. Some commodities are temporarily stored in a warehouse in a factory and then transported to a customer.
The commodity must be kept at an appropriate temperature during transportation or storage in order to prevent degeneration of the commodity. For example, pharmaceuticals kept at inappropriate temperature lead to problems such as a reduction in medicinal effect, production of a harmful substance, and an increase in the harmful substance. Foods kept at an inappropriate temperature also lead to problems such as deterioration in taste or flavor due to denaturation.
In the European Union (EU), therefore, Good Distribution Practice of Medical Products for Human Use (2013/C68/01), which provides appropriate temperature control and the like for pharmaceuticals, has been executed since September 2013. As a result, real-time control using a temperature sensor and recording using a pen recorder or the like have been performed for temperature control in a container for pharmaceuticals transportation. Such control is available when a significant number of commodities are collectively transported from a factory. However, when one or several commodities are individually transported from a wholesaler to a hospital and the like, such strict control is difficult in light of both the staff and cost.
A display is therefore now investigated so that when temperature is deviated from a storage temperature, the information indicating such deviation can be displayed. In such a display, if the storage temperature is optimum, no color is developed, but if the storage temperature is lower than the optimum, a color is developed, and even if temperature rises again, the developed color does not disappear. A display with such a temperature tracer function is provided on a commodity or a package of the commodity, thereby when the commodity is exposed to an atmosphere below the storage temperature, such a temperature history remains.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an irreversible heat fading indicator for temperature history detection, in which a heat fading layer including a quasi-reversible heat fading material is provided. The indicator is designed such that when temperature is equal to or lower than a certain temperature, indication of "cold storage at optimum temperature" disappears and "out of optimum storage temperature" is displayed to inform that temperature becomes equal to or lower than the certain temperature or lower.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a reversible temperature-indicating element including a support and a temperature-indicating layer, which is switchable between a transparent state and a cloudy state according to a temperature change, on the support.


A control system for an electromechanical drive in a vehicle has a motor (29) whose connections (24, 25) are connected to the assigned control elements (2, 3) of a bridge circuit, a control circuit (21) with signal connections (12, 13) at which control signals are provided for controlling the control elements, a return circuit (6) through which information about the operating state of the motor (29) is returned to the control circuit (21) in order to monitor the functioning of the motor, wherein the signal connections (12, 13) can be switched as output or as input, the information about the operating state is returned through the return circuit (6) to these signal connections that can be switched as input or as output, and the control circuit has a monitoring program (21) that records and evaluates the returned information about the operating state during a monitoring phase in which the signal connections (12, 13) are switched as input.

In automotive engineering electromechanical drive systems are used, for example in window regulators, in seat adjusters, in sunroof adjusters and for other accessory drive systems. They consist of an electric motor that is arranged in the cross-arm of a bridge circuit (also referred to as H-circuit). The armature current of the electric motor is specified using control elements of the bridge circuit. The control elements are controlled by control signals that provide a control circuit. The control elements are frequently formed using a relay for reasons of simplicity and costs. However, the bridge circuit can consist completely or partly of semiconductor switches. The control circuit usually contains a microprocessor or a microcontroller.
In a motor vehicle, an electromechanical drive is exposed to rough operating conditions. Pulse-shaped stress increases (load dump) can occur in the vehicle electrical system that can lead to a malfunction of the control. If the stress increase occurs during a control process of the relay, this can lead to a thermal overload of the mechanical contacts of the relay. If a normally open contact of a relay "hangs" on the positive counter contact, the motor could operate against a mechanical limitation and could be thermally overloaded. If there is no protective device and the error is unnoticed, this overheated motor can cause a fire. This poses a considerable safety hazard in a motor vehicle.
In order to prevent a thermal overload of the motor, the use, for example, of a temperature sensor to record the winding temperature of the motor, is known from prior art. A temperature sensor can fail and is also expensive. The other alternative is to use a monitoring circuit to monitor the operating state of the bridge circuit and thus the potential on the motor connecting terminals.
What poses to be a problem here is the expenditure that results from the fact that every returned state signal allocates an input signal connection to the control circuit. If the control circuit is designed, for example as a microcontroller, then the type, thus the overall size and also the price of the microcontroller are predetermined using the number of the returned signals. If the control circuit is supposed to be designed in a miniaturized form as a mechatronic module, it is disadvantageous to use a microcontroller having many I/O pins.

Control system to monitor the functioning of an electromechanical drive in a vehicle


A wireless network system and a method of transmitting or receiving data over a wireless network capable of limiting transmission or reception of request packets by stations existing on the wireless network, where directional communication is performed in a high-frequency bandwidth, while a wireless network coordinator is being changed or while the wireless network coordinator is in a busy state. The wireless network station includes an identification unit which determines a state of network with reference to a beacon frame of a received superframe; a generation unit which generates a packet which includes an accepting command based on a result of the determination by the identification unit; and a communication unit which transmits the packet which includes the accepting command through a communication channel, wherein the identification unit determines whether the accepting command can be transmitted with reference to the beacon frame which indicates whether the accepting command which is transmitted by a wireless network station on or participating in the network can be transmitted.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a wireless network system and a method of transmitting or receiving data over a wireless network, and more particularly, to a wireless network system and a method capable of limiting the transmission or reception of request packets by stations existing on the wireless network, where directional communication is performed in a high-frequency bandwidth, while a wireless network coordinator is being changed or while the wireless network coordinator is in a busy state.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional superframe 100. The conventional superframe 100 sequentially includes a beacon period 110, a contention access period (CAP) 120, and a channel time allocation period (CTAP) 130. During the CAP 120, asynchronous data or control commands are transmitted or received. The CTAP 130 is composed of channel time allocations (CTA's) 132 and management CTA's (MCTA's) 131. The CTA's 132 are used to transmit or receive control commands, isochronous data, and asynchronous data.
The length of the CAP 120 is determined by an access point (AP) and is communicated to stations, which exist on a network, using a beacon frame broadcast during the beacon period 110.
The CAP 120 uses a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) method as a media access method. On the other hand, the CTAP 130 uses a time division multiple access (TDMA) method in which each station has a specified time window. The AP allocates a channel time for a device requesting media access and exchanges data with a corresponding station during the allocated channel time. Here, the MCTA's 131 are either allocated to a pair of stations, which desire to exchange data with each other and use the TDMA method for access, or they are shared CTA's using a slotted aloha protocol.
Presently, a method of transmitting compressed data using a bandwidth of several gigahertz and a method of transmitting uncompressed data using a frequency bandwidth of several tens of gigahertz are being developed. However, since uncompressed data is larger than compressed data, it can be transmitted only in a frequency bandwidth of several tens of gigahertz. In addition, even when having packet loss, uncompressed audiovisual data is less affected by the packet loss than the compressed data in terms of display quality.
Therefore, in order to transmit or receive data in such a high frequency bandwidth, each station may transmit a request packet to a coordinator requesting the coordinator to allocate a frequency bandwidth and approve its participation in a network. However, if a station transmits a request packet to the coordinator while network management authority is being handed over from a network coordinator to a new network coordinator, a new coordinator may fail to receive the request packet. Similarly, a coordinator in a busy state may be unable to service the request packet and may fail to receive the request packet. Accordingly, the station which transmitted the request packet cannot receive a response packet from the new coordinator, or the busy coordinator, and has to retransmit the request packet, thereby causing a loss of a communication bandwidth.
In this regard, an invention is required that can prevent a loss of a communication frequency bandwidth by limiting the transmission or reception of request packets by stations while network management authority is being handed over from a network coordinator to a new network coordinator or while a network coordinator is in a busy state.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wireless network system and method of transmitting or receiving data over wireless network


A method of meta-learning includes receiving a prediction objective, extracting a plurality of subsets of data from a distributed dataset, generating a plurality of local predictions, wherein each local prediction is based on a different subset of the plurality of subsets of data and the prediction objective, combining the plurality of local predictions, and generating a final prediction based on the combined local predictions.

1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to scalable online hierarchical meta-learning, and more particularly, to a system and method for implementing scalable online hierarchical meta-learning.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With the emergence of sensor technologies and the general instrumentation of the real world, big data analytics are being utilized more frequently to transform large datasets collected by sensors into actionable intelligence. In addition to having a large volume of information, large datasets may also be defined by their heterogeneity and distributed nature. Learners may be utilized to extract and analyze data from a large dataset. Existing distributed data mining techniques may be characterized by limited data access as the result of the application of local learners having limited access to a large and distributed dataset. The applications of such distributed data mining systems to real-world problems across different sites and by different institutions offer the promise of expanding current frontiers in knowledge acquisition and data-driven discovery within the bounds of data privacy constraints that prevent the centralization of all the data for mining purposes.

Scalable online hierarchical meta-learning

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A coffee maker includes a water reservoir, a heater coupled to the water reservoir, a conduit coupled to the heater, a coffee filter holder, a condensate chamber for channeling steam condensate to the water reservoir, and a fluid distributor operatively connected between the conduit, filter holder and condensate chamber. The fluid distributor channels hot water from the conduit to the filter holder and collects and condenses steam produced from the filter holder and conduit, thus preventing escape of steam into the interior of the coffee maker.

Many arrangements of coffee makers with and without integral coffee grinders are commercially available on the market. Such coffee makers utilize hot water to make coffee and as a consequence, generate quantities of steam. In particular, during a brew cycle, hot water is channeled into a filter unit holding a filter which, in turn, holds coffee. Steam is generated in the filter unit and often rises up and out of the coffee maker's casing. This escaping steam may result in physical injury, i.e., burns, to the user. Further, the escaping steam condenses on and around the coffee maker creating cleaning problems.
Another problem associated with a conventional coffee maker is the fact that, as a water reservoir is refilled with water and a heater is still active or hot, the water is heated by the heater and is suddenly discharged from the coffee maker. More specifically, in some circumstances, the heater remains active or hot after the brew cycle (i.e., the heater remains activated to keep coffee in a carafe warm or has not cooled down from a recent brew action). As water is poured into the water reservoir, the heater immediately heats the water and generates hot water and steam both of which are automatically channeled through the coffee maker. That is to say, the heater causes a brew action to start as the water reservoir is refilled. The resultant hot water and steam are suddenly discharged from the coffee maker and may result in injury to the user.
Accordingly, it is a fundamental object of the present invention to provide a coffee maker which collects and condenses steam generated during a brew cycle, thereby preventing steam from escaping the coffee maker.
It is a further object of the invention is to provide a coffee maker which has a safety valve for preventing the discharge of hot water and steam.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a coffee maker which has safety interlocks for preventing the discharge of hot water and steam.


An vehicle seat belt includes a buckle system. The buckle system includes a seat belt buckle with a buckle face, a release button, and an opening for receiving a seat belt tongue. The buckle includes a seal positioned on the buckle face to seal the buckle face and prevent contaminants from entering the interior cavity of the buckle. Should contaminants penetrate the seal, drain holes located on the bottom side of the seat belt buckle may allow the contaminants to pass through the interior cavity of the buckle rather than harm the internal components of the seat belt buckle. Additionally, the seal, made of a flexible material, may aid in the prevention of noises that occur when the buckle comes in contact with other vehicle components.

The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicle seat belts. More specifically, the invention relates generally to vehicle seat belts and a mechanism to prevent contaminants from affecting the operation of the seat belt buckle.
Generally, seat belt buckle designs have a moveable press button and an opening that are designed to meet the requirements of several governing bodies in addition to automobile manufacturer's standards for button release forces, etc. The opening, which receives the locking portion of the seat belt, may allow contaminants to pass through and potentially harm the interior components of the seat belt buckle. Buckles are positioned in an upright position in vehicles for ease of operation and detection. This configuration places the opening in a vulnerable position for contamination.
Therefore, there is a need for a vehicle seat belt buckle that is protected from potential damage caused by liquids, debris, and other contaminants that may occur during the normal operation of the vehicle.