Olefin is etherified with alcohol to provide an ether or mixture of ethers employing a catalyst comprising MCM-36.

This invention relates to a process for the catalytic reaction of olefin(s) with alcohol(s) to provide ether(s). More particularly, the invention relates to a process for the reaction of one or more light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, butene(s), pentene(s), hexene(s), heptene(s), etc., or mixtures thereof, with one or more lower alkanols, e.g., methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, etc., or mixtures thereof, to provide one or more ethers employing the acidic form of a particular synthetic porous MCM-36 material as catalyst. The product ether(s) are useful, inter alia, as high octane blending stocks for gasoline.
Zeolitic materials, both natural and synthetic, have been demonstrated in the past to have catalytic properties for various types of hydrocarbon conversion. Certain zeolitic materials are ordered, porous crystalline aluminosilicates having a definite crystalline structure as determined by X-ray diffraction, within which there are a large number of smaller cavities which may be interconnected by a number of still smaller channels or pores. These cavities and pores are uniform in size within a specific zeolitic material. Since the dimensions of these pores are such as to accept for adsorption molecules of certain dimensions while rejecting those of larger dimensions, these materials have come to be known as "molecular sieves" and are utilized in a variety of ways to take advantage of these properties. Such molecular sieves, both natural and synthetic, include a wide variety of positive ion-containing crystalline silicates. These silicates can be described as a rigid three-dimensional framework of SiO.sub.4 and Periodic Table Group IIIA element oxide, e.g., AlO.sub.4, in which the tetrahedra are cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms whereby the ratio of the total Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, and silicon atoms to oxygen atoms is 1:2. The electrovalence of the tetrahedra containing the Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, is balanced by the inclusion in the crystal of a cation, e.g., an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal cation. This can be expressed wherein the ratio of the Group IIA element, e.g., aluminum, to the number of various cations, such as Ca/2, Sr/2, Na, K or Li, is equal to unity. One type of cation may be exchanged either entirely or partially with another type of cation utilizing ion exchange techniques in a conventional manner. By means of such cation exchange, it has been possible to vary the properties of a given silicate by suitable selection of the cation. The spaces between the tetrahedra are occupied by molecules of water prior to dehydration.
Prior art techniques have resulted in the formation of a great variety of synthetic zeolites. Many of these zeolites have come to be designated by letter or other convenient symbols, as illustrated by zeolite Z (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,243), zeolite X (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,244), zeolite Y (U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,007), zeolite ZK-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,195), zeolite ZK-4 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,752), zeolite ZSM-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,886), zeolite ZSM-11 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,979), zeolite ZSM-12 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,449), zeolite ZSM-20 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,983), zeolite ZSM-35 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,245), and zeolite ZSM-23 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,842), merely to name a few.
The SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio of a given zeolite is often variable. For example, zeolite X can be synthesized with SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratios of from 2 to 3; zeolite Y, from 3 to about 6. In some zeolites, the upper limit of the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is unbounded. ZSM-5 is one such example wherein the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is at least 5 and up to the limits of present analytical measurement techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,871 (Re. 29,948) discloses a porous crystalline silicate made from a reaction mixture containing no deliberately added alumina in the recipe and exhibiting the X-ray diffraction pattern characteristic of ZSM-5. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,061,724, 4,073,865 and 4,104,294 describe crystalline silicates of varying alumina and metal content.
There is a need for an efficient catalytic process to manufacture ethers from the reaction of light olefins with lower alkanols augmenting the supply of high octane blending stocks for gasoline. Relatively low molecular weight ethers such as methyl-t-butyl ether (MTBE) and t-amyl methyl ether (TAME) are in the gasoline boiling range and are known to have a high blending octane number. The petrochemicals industry produces mixtures of light olefin streams in the C.sub.2 to C.sub.7 molecular weight range and the conversion of such streams or fractions thereof to ethers can also provide products useful as solvents and as blending stocks for gasoline. An FCC unit may produce olefins in the gasoline boiling range, e.g., having from 5 to 7 carbon atoms. Such an FCC unit may also produce light olefins having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms.
The reaction of light olefins with lower alkanols to provide ethers is a well known type of process.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,633, diisopropylether (DIPE) is prepared from isopropyl alcohol (IPA) employing montmorillonite clay catalysts, optionally in the presence of added propylene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,210 discloses the use of silicatungstic acid as catalyst for the reaction of olefin(s) with alcohol(s) to provide ether(s).
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,914, DIPE is produced from IPA and propylene in a series of operations employing a strongly acidic cation exchange resin as catalyst.
In the process for producing a gasoline blending stock described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,890, a mixed C.sub.4 stream containing isobutylene is reacted with aqueous ethanol to form a mixture of ethyl tertiary butyl ether and tertiary butanol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,219 describes the preparation of MTBE by reacting isobutylene and methanol in the presence of boron phosphate, blue tungsten oxide or crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite having a silica to alumina mole ratio of at least 12:1 and a constraint index of from 1 to about 12 as catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,787 discloses the preparation of alkyl tert-alkyl ethers such as MTBE and TAME by the reaction of a primary alcohol with an olefin having a double bond on a tertiary carbon atom employing as catalyst an acidic zeolite having a constraint index of from about 1 to 12, e.g., zeolite ZSM-5, 11, 12, 23, dealuminized zeolite Y and rare earth-exchanged zeolite Y.
European Pat. Application 55,045 describes a process for reacting an olefin and an alcohol to provide an ether, e.g., isobutene and methanol to provide MTBE, in the presence of an acidic zeolite such as zeolite Beta, zeolites ZSM-5, -8, -11, -12, -23, -35, -43 and -48, and others, as catalyst.
German Pat. No. 133,661 describes the reaction of isobutene and methanol to provide a mixture of products including MTBE, butanol and isobutene dimer in the presence of acidic zeolite Y as catalyst.
According to Japanese Pat. No. 59-25345, a primary alcohol is reacted with a tertiary olefin in the presence of a zeolite having a silica to alumina mole ratio of at least 10 and the x-ray diffraction disclosed therein to provide a tertiary ether.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,239 describes the etherification of olefins with an alcohol over a catalyst comprising a zeolite designated MCM-22.


A machine for removing the hair from animal hides, comprises an upwardly open vat and a horizontal perforated plate arranged in the lower part of the vat and rotationally driven on a central pivot by suitable means. The plate is provided on its surface in contact with the material to be treated with sharp edges formed on the contour of said perforations, and bounded peripherally by a fixed perforated cylinder, defining with the inner wall of the vat a coronary space ensuring the removal of the hair stripped off and projected by centrifugal force into the openings of said cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine for depilating animals and it is applied more particularly to the external treatment of the skin of previously boned ungulate animals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Until now machines carrying out an identical operation are known, such as that described in French Certificate of Addition No. 2,112,689, for "Device for skinning panses and washing vegetables". The latter is constituted by an upwardly open vat for introducing the previously heated pieces to be skinned and by a perforated horizontal plate, arranged in the lower part of the vat and driven on a central pivot by suitable rotating means. The interior of the vat has bosses freely distributed over its inner wall and on the top of the rotary plate. These bosses are for the purpose of stirring a mixture of feet and/or heads of hoofed animals already scalded and of scraper elements constituted essentially by the hoofs of these animals and this, under permanent sprinkling with very hot water. Thus, the adherence of the hair diminishing under the effect of the heat, the hoofs tear off the hair from the skin which is driven by the flow of hot water to the recovery tanks.
However, such a machine has certain drawbacks. The bodies to be skinned must necessarily have good rigidity to enable the scraping of the hoofs on the hair of the hide which, obviously, considerably spoils the yield of the machine since the bony tissue occupies a predominant place in the trotters and the heads of hoofed animals. The yield of the machine is also restricted by the presence of the scraper elements. In addition, when the epilation is finished, it is necessary to sort out the scraper elements and the treated parts for the purposes of the particular uses of each.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which overcomes these drawbacks.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine which does not use either scraper elements nor the rigidity of the pieces to be skinned.
It is a further object to provide a machine which fulfils the function of scalding.

Machine for depilating the skins of slaughtered animals


A stacking assembly is operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion. The stacking assembly includes a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces and an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device. The LE urge roller is operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin. The TE alignment device includes a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device which cam defines a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade. The stacking assembly also includes an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly.

Automated equipment is typically employed in industry to process, print and sort sheet material for use in manufacture, fabrication and mailstream operations. One such device to which the present invention is directed is a mailpiece sorter which sorts mail into various bins or trays for delivery.
Mailpiece sorters are often employed by service providers, including delivery agents, e.g., the United States Postal Service USPS, entities which specialize in mailpiece fabrication, and/or companies providing sortation services in accordance with the Mailpiece Manifest System (MMS). Regarding the latter, most postal authorities offer large discounts to mailers willing to organize/group mail into batches or trays having a common destination. Typically, discounts are available for batches/trays containing a minimum of two hundred (200) or so mailpieces.
The sorting equipment organizes large quantities of mail destined for delivery to a multiplicity of destinations, e.g., countries, regions, states, towns and/or postal codes, into smaller, more manageable, trays or bins of mail for delivery to a common destination. For example, one sorting process may organize mail into bins corresponding to various regions of the U.S., e.g., northeast, southeast, mid-west, southwest and northwest regions, i.e., outbound mail. Subsequently, mail destined for each region may be sorted into bins corresponding to the various states of a particular region e.g., bins corresponding to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, sometimes referred to as inbound mail. Yet another sort may organize the mail destined for a particular state into the various postal codes within the respective state, i.e., a sort to route or delivery sequence.
The efficacy and speed of a mailpiece sorter is generally a function of the number of sortation sequences or passes required to be performed. Further, the number of passes will generally depend upon the diversity/quantity of mail to be sorted and the number of sortation bins available. At one end of the spectrum, a mailpiece sorter having four thousand (4,000) sorting bins or trays can sort a batch of mail having four thousand possible destinations, e.g., postal codes, in a single pass. Of course, a mailpiece sorter of this size is purely theoretical, inasmuch as such a large number of sortation bins is not practical in view of the total space required to house such a sorter. At the other end of the spectrum, a mailpiece sorter having as few as eight (8) sortation bins (i.e., using a RADIX sorting algorithm), may require as many as five (5) passes though the sortation equipment to sort the same batch of mail i.e., mail to be delivered to four thousand (4,000) potential postal codes. The number of required passes through the sorter may be evaluated by solving for P in equation (1.0) below:P(# of Bins)=# of Destinations  (1.0)
In view of the foregoing, a service provider typically weighs the technical and business options in connection with the purchase and/or operation of the mailpiece sortation equipment. On one hand, a service provider may opt to employ a large mailpiece sorter, e.g., a sorter having one hundred (100) or more bins, to minimize the number of passes required by the sortation equipment. On the other hand, a service provider may opt to employ a substantially smaller mailpiece sorter e.g., a sorter having sixteen (16) or fewer bins, knowing that multiple passes and, consequently, additional time/labor will be required to sort the mail.
As sortation equipment has been made smaller to accommodate the physical limitations of available space, the throughput requirements must increase to enable an operator to perform multiple sortation passes, i.e., to satisfy the RADIX sorting algorithm discussed in the preceding paragraph. As the throughput requirements increase, the speed of operation increases commensurately which can increase the frequency of jams or damage to mailpieces as they are diverted from a high speed feed path to one of the sortation bins. Damage can occur when a mailpiece comes to an abrupt stop or remains in contact with a high speed belt or continuously operating roller. With respect to the latter, mailpieces can be abraded when a mailpiece sits at rest while a roller or belt of an ingestion assembly continues to drive.
Various attempts have been made to control the divert/stacking function and configure the sortation bin such that a jams and damage are mitigated when a mailpiece is collected/accumulated in a sortation bin. In Stephens et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,956, a divert/stacking assembly includes rotating arm which is driven about an axis which is substantially orthogonal to the feed path and in-plane with sheet material at it travels, on-edge, along the feed path. Once the leading edge of the sheet material comes to rest against a registration stop, the arm is activated to urge the trailing edge of the sheet material into the bin, thereby causing the edges of the accumulated sheets to be in register and each of the sheets to be parallel. While systems such as that described in the '956, patent improve the general alignment of sheets within a sortation bin, such divert/stacking assemblies do not account for variable forces which may be required to divert such sheet material or sheet material which may vary in weight or thickness. Furthermore, as the rotating arms or urge rollers continue to operate, such divert/stacking assemblies can damage the sheet material.
A need, therefore, exists for a stacking assembly which aligns sheet material, e.g., a mailpiece, in a sortation bin while mitigating jams and damage to the sheet material.

Anti-abrasion assembly for mailpiece stacking assembly


A seismic isolating bearing for supporting a building on a foundation includes a laminated body adapted to be interposed vertically between the upper and lower structures. The laminated body comprises alternately arranged viscoelastic layers and stiffener plates, having a hole defined vertically therein, and an energy absorber assembly disposed in the hole, for absorbing energy applied thereto. The energy absorber assembly comprises a lead block inserted in the hole, with the lead block having an intermediate portion held against an inner circumferential surface of the hole. The energy absorber assembly also has a viscoelastic cylindrical body disposed between an outer circumferential surface of at least one of upper and lower end portions of the lead block and the inner circumferential surface of the hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seismic isolating bearing for supporting a structural body for protection against earthquakes, and more particularly to a seismic isolating bearing for isolating a wide variety of vibrational energies ranging from minor vibrations induced by road traffic to medium- and large-scale earthquake vibrations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various seismic isolating bearings for use between structural bodies, such as between buildings and the ground have been proposed to protect the structural bodies against earthquakes and other vibrations.
One typical seismic isolating bearing comprises a laminated body for supporting vertical loads, the laminated body comprising viscoelastic layers and stiffener plates that are alternately arranged in a vertical direction.
The laminated body has a first coupling on its lower end for coupling the laminated body to a member fixed to a foundation on the ground, and a second coupling, on its upper end, for coupling the laminated body to a structural body that is to be supported.
The laminated body also has a vertical central hole in which there is fitted a cylindrical lead block which is complementary in shape to the central hole. The lead block serves as an energy absorber.
Operation of the conventional seismic isolating bearing will be described below. If the lead block were dispensed with, the laminated body would function as follows:
When the first coupling would move horizontally with respect to the second coupling due to an earthquake, the laminated body would allow such a horizontal movement to a considerable extent through its own elastic deformation (shearing deformation).
In building applications, such a seismic isolating bearing, with no lead block, would be effective and useful to some extent. However, the laminated body would be substantially deformed under the pressure of strong winds applied to the building. With respect to a more serious problem, since the elastic energy of the laminated body can be stored, it would possibly permit greater vibrations to be applied to the building, which the laminated body supports, when an earthquake occurs than to buildings that are fixed directly to ground, resulting in larger damage to the building.
The above problems are solved when the laminated body is combined with the lead block.
The lead block bears the wind-induced load applied to the building for protecting the laminated body against shearing elastic deformation. When a relatively strong earthquake occurs, the lead block is plastically deformed itself, dissipating a portion of the applied earthquake energy as thermal energy. In this sense, the lead block serves as an energy absorber.
The function of the laminated body as an elastic support and the function of the lead block as an energy absorber are combined with each other for high isolating performance.
However, it is known that the physical properties of the lead block vary upon repeated elastic deformation, resulting in deterioration of its function as an energy absorber.
To determine configurations and dimensions of a lead block, therefore, it is necessary to design the lead block so that it will perform the best function as an energy absorber under most critical conditions.
More specifically, the lead block is required, from a design standpoint, that it be elastically deformed only when it is hit by a relatively strong earthquake, i.e., the lead block should be thick and sturdy.
Seismic isolating bearings capable of functioning effectively, without fail, against large vibrations induced by strong earthquakes and also smaller vibrations with relatively weak vibrational accelerations caused by relatively weak earthquakes, heavy traffic conditions, and the like, should be highly useful.
However, since the highly rigid lead block cannot be deformed by weak vibrational accelerations, the conventional seismic isolating bearing is not effective to absorb vibrations induced by relatively weak earthquakes.
Another problem is that the equivalent stiffness of the conventional seismic isolating bearing does not match medium vibrations caused by medium-scale earthquakes.
The amount of plastic deformation that the lead block undergoes when subjected to medium vibrations is smaller than that which is induced by large vibrations caused by stronger earthquakes. Therefore, the equivalent stiffness of the seismic isolating bearing against medium vibrations is larger than against large vibrations.
Inasmuch as the equivalent stiffness of the seismic isolating bearing is established to match strong earthquakes, it is too high for medium vibrations. Therefore, the natural period of vibration of the system, which is composed of the building and the seismic isolating bearing, is too short to isolate the building from medium-scale earthquakes.


A dye fixing element is disclosed, comprising a support having provided thereon a dye fixing layer which mordants a diffusible dye, wherein at least one of said dye fixing layer or a layer adjacent thereto contains two or more kinds of high molecular weight binders which exhibit phase separation each other so as to give a mat appearance.

In the conventional color diffusion transfer process and heat development transfer process, diffusible dyes formed or released imagewise through development of a light-sensitive element after exposure are diffused and transferred into a dye fixing layer containing a mordant or a dye-accepting polymer. Dye images are observed after the dyes have been transferred and fixed in the dye fixing layer.
The appearance of the surface, be it glossy or mat one, is selected depending on the end-use purpose of the dye fixing element, the user's preference, and so on.
Though addition of a matting agent has so far been known as one of the matting methods, the most inexpensive and effective method is such that unevenness is given to the support surface through embossment processing performed in the course of the production of the support. Therein, however, a dye fixing layer with a smooth surface is not obtained, because when a dye fixing layer constituted by a mordant and a binder is provided on a support whose surface has been rendered uneven by the embossment processing, the dye fixing layer surface opposite to the interface between the support and the dye fixing layer also becomes uneven corresponding approximately to the unevenness of the support surface. The case wherein the dye fixing element poor in surface smoothness is superimposed on a light-sensitive element, and diffusible dyes produced in the light-sensitive element are transferred into the dye fixing element to form the dye images, causes a problem of generating transfer marks (or such uneven density as to have white spots in colored areas corresponding to concaved spots).
In the heat development transfer process in particular, a preferably used method involves containing in the image forming reaction system as a base precursor a combination of a basic metal compound slightly soluble in water and a compound capable of undergoing in water as a medium the complexing reaction with the metal ion constituting said slightly soluble metal compound (which is abbreviated as "complexing compound", hereinafter), and raising the pH of the reaction system by allowing these two compounds to react with each other upon heating. (In order to prevent these slightly soluble metal compound and complexing compound from reacting with each other prior to development-processing, it is desirable that the slightly soluble metal compound should be incorporated in, e.g., a light-sensitive element, and the complexing compound in, e.g., a dye fixing element having a support other than that of the light-sensitive element.) However, when the dye fixing element poor in surface smoothness is superimposed upon the light-sensitive element, an increase in pH through the reaction between the foregoing compounds occurs in the convex part, but little occurs in the concave part. Thereby, an ununiform distribution of an alkali concentration is caused at the interface between both elements to result in a serious problem of considerable generation of dye-image transfer marks.
On the other hand, the method of forming a mat surface by addition of matting agent particles causes transfer marks similar to those described above when the particle size of the matting agent is relatively large, compared with the thickness of the dye fixing layer, whereas when the particle size is relatively small the method cannot achieve a sufficient matting effect. Moreover, the method of using a matting agent in the outermost layer generally causes a sharp drop of the maximum image density.
Accordingly, even in these methods of adding a matting agent, dye fixing elements with a uniform mat surface, which exhibit high image density and no transfer mark, have not been obtained yet.


An apparatus and method includes a database journal that records journal entries. Each journal entry includes a validation value that is computed from the data and metadata for the record before it is changed. In this manner, journal entries may be applied with confidence to a record in a database. This is especially useful when minimized data journal entries are used. If the validation value of the journal entry matches the validation value computed from the data and metadata of the record that the journal entry is to be applied to, then the record before applying the journal entry is identical to the record in the original database, and the journal data may be applied to the database record. If the validation value of the journal entry does not match the validation value computed from the data and metadata of the record that the journal entry is to be applied to, the record is not the same as in the original database when the journal entry was generated. As a result, an error message is generated to indicate that an error was encountered when applying the journal entry. In this manner, the apparatus and method of the preferred embodiments automatically validate a database record before applying journal data to the record.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to apparatus and methods for computer databases.
2. Background Art
Since the dawn of the computer age, computers have evolved and become more and more powerful. In our present day, computers have become indispensable in many fields of human endeavor including engineering design, machine and process control, information storage and retrieval, and office computing. One of the primary uses of computers is for information storage and retrieval.
Database systems have been developed that allow a computer to store a large amount of information in a way that allows a user to search for and retrieve specific information in the database. For example, an insurance company may have a database that includes all of its policy holders and their current account information, including payment history, premium amount, policy number, policy type, exclusions to coverage, etc. A database system allows the insurance company to retrieve the account information for a single policy holder among the thousands and perhaps millions of policy holders in its database.
Database system typically include a database manager that assures the integrity of the database as changes to the database are made. The database manager typically records changes to a database in a journal. The journal allows changes to the database to be rolled back if needed. In addition, a journal may be used to replicate a database by applying the journaled changes to a remote database in the same order the journaled changes were made to the original database.
Most journals known in the art record all fields in a record before a change is made to the record, including fields in the record that do not change. Because recording data that has not changed takes valuable space and time in a database journal, a newer concept known as minimized data journaling was introduced. With a minimized data journal, only the changed fields of a record are recorded, which assumes that the fields in the record that are not represented in the journal did not change.
Because not all information is present in a minimized data journal entry, it is possible under some circumstances that applying the minimized data journal entry to a replicated database may result in problems. If an application changes a record in the database, and a minimized data journal entry is then applied to the changed record, the result may be a mix of old and new data, resulting in an invalid record. To date, minimized journal data has not been extensively used in the industry due to the potential for problems if the journal is not replayed in exactly the same order as the original database, or if changes are made to a database record prior to applying one or more minimized data journal entries to the record. As a result, most database users do not use minimized data journaling due to the potential problems that might arise under certain circumstances. Full journaling is most commonly used, requiring significantly more information to be stored in the journal. Without a way to automatically verify that a database record is in an expected state before applying a minimized data journal entry to the record, the computer industry will be left with the undesirable choice of making full journal entries, at a cost of greater storage requirements and greater required bandwidth for transmitting the journal entries to a remote location, or making minimized journal entries with the potential for problems discussed above. Neither of these choices is desirable.

Apparatus and method for validating a database record before applying journal data

International Business Machines Corporation


A series of open dumbbell shaped connectors, each with a male end and each with a female end, sized so that a male end may be snapped into a female end to form a series that may be connected at each to a handle, with the series having sufficient resistance to movement of the handles that forearms and wrists may be reasonably exercised to develop and maintain muscle tone by a user twisting and coiling the series.

There are many varied complex exercise units shown in the patent literature indicating there is a perceived need. The objectives of the subject invention include:
a light weight unit PA1 a unit that may be easily carried in a briefcase or suitcase PA1 a unit that may be easily assembled PA1 a unit that may be placed in various positions or shapes and will stay in said position or shape. PA1 a unit particularly suited for arm, wrist and shoulder muscle and joint rehabilitation.
The major components in this invention are essentially hollow dumbbell plastic shapes with one male end and one female that with considerable force may be snapped together to make a flexible joints so that a series snapped together may be bent or shaped using the force necessary to move each joint. With a handle connected on either end of a one to two foot series of these dumbbell plastic shapes the resistance to movement of the handles is sufficient to give a reasonable work out in a few minutes. Depending upon the use smaller diameter or fewer of the dumbell shaped connectors may be used. Plastic shapes manufactured by LOC-LINE.RTM. are suitable for this use.


A lightweight auxiliary deck for utility, recreational and conventional passenger vehicles comprising a rectangular laminated deck having thin upper and lower sheets, a peripheral wall adjoining the sheets, an inner rigid cellular core and an outer resilient molding. A resilient cushion is detachably retained to the upper surface of the deck. In the first aspect the deck is installed in a vehicle with the vehicle's rear seat removed and has a pair of foldable tubular legs attached to the lower surface of the deck which are rotatably adjustable outwardly to an operative position for supporting the deck and inwardly toward the deck to a position in bearing relationship to the deck for storing the deck and a structure for securing the legs to a vehicle floor. In the second aspect the deck is installed in a vehicle with the rear seat in place and has a single foldable tubular leg attached to the lower surface of the deck which is rotatably adjustable outwardly to an operative position for supporting the deck and inwardly toward the deck to a position in bearing relationship to the deck for storing the deck.

This invention relates to vehicle decks and more particularly to a lightweight auxiliary deck for sleeping and transporting articles in utility and recreational vehicles. These vehicles have large cargo areas which are under utilized because of an inability to adapt the area to a user's needs.
One aspect of the current practice is that valuable objects in the cargo areas are subject to theft because they are exposed to view through the windows of the vehicles. Another aspect of the current practice is that many vehicle occupants, such as sportsmen and highway travelers, desire to sleep in these areas but are discouraged from doing so because of a lack of a comfortable sleeping platform.


Partially overlapping display elements have light string sets mounted thereon and sequentially illuminated to simulate animation of a decorative part of an outdoor light display.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to light displays and, more particularly, to the simulation of motion on a part of an outdoor light display.
2. Description of Related Art
To celebrate Christmas, it is known to string electric lights on an outdoor wire frame staked into the ground. The frame is typically configured in a shape commemorative of the season, e.g., a Santa Claus figurine. At night, the lights are constantly or intermittently illuminated. Although quite satisfactory for their intended purpose, such light displays lose their esthetic appeal over time, since the lighting effect does not vary.


A hoist for raising and lowering objects with an apparatus for detecting mechanical overload of the hoist. The system provides a hoist having an alternating current motor connected to an alternating current power supply. The level of current of the power supplied to the motor is compared to a level of power indicative of a mechanical overload condition. If the current signal representative of the actual motor current level equals or exceeds the mechanical overload reference current then an overload output signal is provided.

Mechanical overloading of hoists occurs frequently in their regular everyday operation. Often, frequent overloading is overlooked in an effort to avoid operation and production delays. Nevertheless, mechanical overloading is undesirable whether it occurs inadvertently or as a routine, intentional practice. Hoists and cranes incorporating hoists typically have mechanical overload monitoring devices which sense mechanical strain on the hoist. In these devices, a strain sensor is placed in engagement with the hoist apparatus at a location which may, for example, be the most critical mechanical stress area of the hoist. An output signal from the strain sensor indicative of an overload is fed to the hoist control and used to provide an overload indication and possibly prevent further operation of the hoist. Typically, several relays and their contacts are operated in order to utilize the output signal from the strain sensor. An example of one type of mechanical strain overload monitoring device has a load cell located in contact with the dead end of the wire rope of the hoist at the location of the rope attachment to the hoist frame. The load cell produces an output signal indicative of the strain produced in the rope by the weight of the load object raised and carried or lowered by the hoist.
Alternating current adjustable frequency drives for various types of motor applications have been in use for some time. More recently, adjustable frequency motor drives have been developed for hoist applications, however, due to exacting load control requirements required by hoists, various problems with adjustable frequency drives have prevented their wide spread use. One problem with adjustable frequency drives has been their lack of reliability in producing the necessary torque to control the load at the initiation of hoist operation. A recently developed solution to this problem involves the maintaining of the hoist brake engaged at the beginning of motor operation, applying power from the adjustable frequency drive at a low frequency only sufficient to produce the current and thereby the torque necessary to control the load on the hoist when the brake is released, and releasing the brake only after the necessary current level is detected.
The above described approach has made adjustable frequency drive systems far more reliable in their load controlling ability at the initiation of hoist operation, however, further development of adjustable frequency drive systems to provide them with additional characteristics and reliability is desirable to make them competitive with other types of drive systems. One of these desirable characteristics is the ability to detect mechanical overloading of the hoist.

Method and apparatus for detecting mechanical overload of a hoist


The invention operates in connection with a secure storage compartment feature of a storage security appliance to allow users to see the encryption and permission relationships between hosts and storage in one view. The invention also provides a user tool that enables users to manage secure storage compartments (encryption/key relationship) easily and access permissions between them. The invention also provides a user tool that helps users find missing relationships/permissions easily when troubleshooting a host's missing storage after a storage security appliance is installed. The invention further provides a user tool that overlays cross mapping/relationship information on top of a topology view, thereby making it easy for a user to see missing or extraneous relationships between hosts and storage.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to data encryption. More particularly, the invention relates to cross mapping a graphical interface to show encryption relationships between hosts and storage devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantages of networked data storage technologies such as Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Area Networks (SAN) are well established, but storing an organization's data on a network creates significant security risks. Technologies, such as NAS and SAN, that aggregate data in a storage network can improve scalability, manageability, and access to critical data, while substantially reducing the total cost of storage. Additionally, storage networks can simplify the process for enterprises seeking to implement comprehensive disaster recovery programs. However, data in networked storage environments is significantly more vulnerable to unauthorized access, theft, or misuse than data stored in more traditional, direct-attached storage. Aggregated storage is not designed to compartmentalize the data it contains, and data from different departments or divisions becomes co-mingled in the network. Data backup, off-site mirroring, and other disaster recovery techniques increase the risk of unauthorized access from people both inside and outside the enterprise. Partner access through firewalls and other legitimate business needs also create undesirable security risks. With storage networks, a single security breach can threaten the data assets of an entire organization.
Technologies such as firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) seek to secure data assets by protecting the perimeter of the network. While important in their own right, these targeted approaches do not adequately secure storage. Consequently, they leave data within the network itself dangerously open to both internal and external attacks. Once these barriers are breached, e.g. via stolen passwords, uncaught viruses, or simple misconfiguration, data assets are fully exposed.
It is known to secure networked storage by protecting data both in transit and stored on disk. The Decru DataFort™ product (Decru, Redwood City, Calif.; see FIG. 1) is an example of an encryption appliance, referred to as a storage security appliance, that fits transparently into NAS, SAN, and other environments, securely encrypting and decrypting data at wire-speed. Because such devices are built specifically to secure data storage, storage security appliances combine high-performance hardware with comprehensive key management, thus creating a powerful, yet manageable security solution. Storage security appliances are typically application-independent, vendor-agnostic, and fit seamlessly into the existing network infrastructure. With a secure storage security appliance enterprises can fully leverage the benefits of networked storage, confident that their data assets are secure.
Typical storage security appliances use secure storage compartments in the storage security appliance to compartmentalize data within a storage device, so users from one workgroup cannot access data belonging to another unless explicitly authorized to do so. Data in each secure storage compartment can be encrypted using a different key, thus providing for separation.
In connection with this feature of a storage security appliance, it would be advantageous if users could see the encryption and permission relationships between hosts and storage in one view.
It would be further advantageous if a user tool were available that enabled users to manage secure storage compartments (encryption/key relationship) easily and access permissions between them.
It would also be advantageous if a user tool were provided that helped users find missing relationships/permissions easily when troubleshooting a host's missing storage after a storage security appliance is installed.
It would also be advantageous to provide a user tool that could overlay cross mapping/relationship information on top of a topology view, thereby making it easy for a user to see missing or extraneous relationships between hosts and storage.

Cross mapping graphical interface to show encryption relationships between hosts and storage devices


A process for preparing 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals and .alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-.beta.-silyloxy-1,3-dioxolane-4-propanoic acid esters using these acetals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of pharmaceutical chemistry and provides a process for preparing 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals useful as pharmaceutical intermediates and a process for employing these acetals in the preparation of .alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-.beta.-silyloxy-1,3-dioxolane-4-propanoic acid ester intermediates.
2. State of the Art
Ketene silyl acetals were first prepared by Petrov, et al.; see J. Gen. Chem. (USSR), 29, 2896-99 (1959). H. Greuter, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 29 (27), 3291-94 (1988) teach the use of allylic esters of chlorodifluoroacetic acid in silicon induced Reformatsky-Claisen reactions in which 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals are the inferred intermediates. M. Yamana, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 24 (5), 507-10 (1983) and Y. Takeuchi, et al., J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I, 1149-53 (1988) teach the preparation of difluoro silyl enol ethers on reaction of chlorodifluoromethyl ketones with zinc dust and trimethylsilyl chloride.
2,2-Difluoroketene silyl acetals have been prepared from the direct reaction of bromodifluoroacetate esters, zinc amalgam and chlorotrimethyl silane in triglyme; see J. C. Easdon, New Synthetic Methodology for Organofluorine Compounds, Ph.D. Thesis, Chemistry Department, Graduate College of the University of Iowa, July 1987. Kobayashi, et al. in Japanese Patent 2,067,250 and Tetrahedron Lett., 29 (15), 1803-06 (1988) describe the preparation of 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals by reacting methyl iododifluoroacetate with zinc dust in acetonitrile and treating the resultant organozinc species (Reformatsky reagent) with trialkylsilyl chloride. They further disclose the preparation of .alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-2,2-dimethyl-.beta.-[(trialkylsilyl)oxy]-1,3-diox olane-4-propanoic acid methyl esters from the reaction of 2,3-O-isopropylidene-D-glyceraldehyde with the in situ-generated difluoroketene silyl acetals. The 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals proved to be superior to the corresponding Reformatsky reagents in that they afforded much higher erythro/threo (anti/syn) ratios in the condensation reaction with 2,3-O-isopropylidene glyceraldehyde than the latter reagents.
Matsumura, et al., in Japanese Patent 2,270,841, described the preparation of anti-.alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-2,2-dimethyl-.beta.-[(trialkylsilyl)oxy]-1,3 -dioxolane-4-propanoic acid esters from the reaction of bromodifluoroacetate and iododifluoroacetate esters with trialkylsilyl chloride and zinc in acetonitrile, followed by treatment with 2,3-O-isopropylidene-D-glyceraldehyde and titanocene dichloride.
Esters of chlorodifluoroacetic acid are reported by R. W. Lang and B. Schaub, Tetrahedron Lett., 24, 2943-6 (1988) to undergo Reformatsky-type condensation reactions with aldehydes on treatment with activated zinc dust in dimethylformamide. However, low yields were obtained when they attempted to condense aliphatic, enolizable aldehydes with chlorodifluoro-acetate under these conditions, unless ultrasonication was used. S. Mcharek, et al., J. Organometallic Chem., 401, 211-15 (1991) similarly report Reformatsky-type condensation reactions of methyl chlorodifluoroacetate and simple aliphatic aldehydes in dimethylformamide, or mixtures of methylene chloride and dimethylformamide, by electrolytic reduction at a sacrificial zinc anode in the presence of a nickel catalyst. Note that the reaction of ethyl chlorodifluoroacetate with zinc dust and trialkylsilyl chloride in dimethylformamide does not afford the corresponding 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetal, but rather yields the O-silylated carbinol amine formally derived from its condensation with the solvent; see R. W. Lang, Helv. Chim. Acta., 71, 369-73 (1988).
In addition to the utility described above, 2,2-difluoroketene acetals have proven useful as intermediates for preparing 3-amino-2,2-difluoro esters as described by T. Taguchi, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 29, 5291-4 (1988). Similarly, Kitagawa, et al., Chem. Lett., 1307-10 (1990), have reported that 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals readily undergo Michael condensation with .alpha., .beta.-unsaturated carbonyl compounds or their derived acetals. These adducts have proven useful in the preparation of difluoro derivatives of the .alpha.-amino acids, glutamic acid and lysine. The .alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-2,2-dimethyl-.beta.-[(trialkylsilyl)oxy]-1,3-diox olane-4-propanoic acid esters themselves are useful as intermediates in the preparation of antitumor and antiviral nucleosides.
An object of the present invention is to provide a process for preparing 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals from esters of chlorodifluoroacetate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a process for preparing .alpha.,.alpha.-difluoro-.beta.-silyloxy-1,3-dioxolane-4-propanoic acid esters using the 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals generated in situ.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments.

Process for preparing 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetals and .alpha., .alpha.-.beta.silyloxy-1,3-dioxolane-4-propanoic acid esters


A semiconductor light emitting device includes an n-type region, a p-type region, and light emitting region disposed between the n- and p-type regions. The n-type, p-type, and light emitting regions form a cavity having a top surface and a bottom surface. Both the top surface and the bottom surface of the cavity may have a rough surface. For example, the surface may have a plurality of peaks separated by a plurality of valleys. In some embodiments, the thickness of the cavity is kept constant by incorporating an etch-stop layer into the device, then thinning the layers of the device by a process that terminates on the etch-stop layer.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to III-nitride semiconductor light emitting devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Semiconductor light-emitting devices including light emitting diodes (LEDs) are among the most efficient light sources currently available. Materials systems currently of interest in the manufacture of high-brightness light emitting devices capable of operation across the visible spectrum include Group III–V semiconductors, particularly binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys of gallium, aluminum, indium, and nitrogen, also referred to as III-nitride materials. Typically, III-nitride light emitting devices are fabricated by epitaxially growing a stack of semiconductor layers of different compositions and dopant concentrations on a sapphire, silicon carbide, III-nitride, or other suitable substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), or other epitaxial techniques. Sapphire is often used as the growth substrate due to its wide commercial availability and relative ease of use. The stack grown on the growth substrate typically includes one or more n-type layers doped with, for example, Si, formed over the substrate, a light emitting or active region formed over the n-type layer or layers, and one or more p-type layers doped with, for example, Mg, formed over the active region.
Since sapphire is not conductive, contacts to both the p- and n-sides of the active region must be formed on the top side of the device, requiring that a portion of the active region and p-type region be etched away to expose a portion of the buried n-type region. The device is thus a non-planar surface with narrow insulating blocking layers separating the n- and p-contacts, a geometry that is difficult to package. Also, much of the area of the active region is lost to the n-contact and insulating regions, providing a poor fill factor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,523 describes a III-nitride device formed by removing the growth substrate. The epitaxial stack is wafer bonded to a host substrate of GaP, GaAs, InP, or Si. The growth substrate is then removed by laser melting, wet chemical etching, or selective etching of a sacrificial layer. Removing the growth substrate permits the active region to be disposed between two dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors, in order to form a resonant cavity device. The use of a resonant cavity may increase control of the direction of emitted light, increase the amount of light extracted from the device, and increase the spectral purity of the light emitted normal to the device.
Needed in the art are improved III-nitride resonant cavity structures.

Resonant cavity III-nitride light emitting devices fabricated by growth substrate removal


A rotary vane gas cycle apparatus having radial vane guide slots in the rotor for receiving vane guides on the rotor vanes which slide in the slots. One or more radial guides are provided for each vane. In one embodiment a vane guide is provided on one side of the vane. The rotor guide slots restrict movement of the vane toward or away from the guide slot.

This invention relates to a rotary vane gas cycle apparatus.
In rotary vane gas cycle apparatus, such as a reverse Brayton cycle cooling system described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Edward, 3,967,466 and 3,977,852, compression and expansion is obtained by the radial movement of vanes in slots in a rotor. Various means have been used, such as bearings and cams, to control the movement of the vanes in the slots to reduce end wear on the vanes. Conventional means used however, permit axial and radial twisting of the vanes in the slots thus requiring greater end clearance to eliminate uneven wear on the vane ends. The added clearance results in greater thrust loading of the bearings. Movement of the vanes in the slots also add to the frictional loading of the apparatus.

Vane guides for rotary vane gas cycle apparatus


A label-free imaging-based flow cytometer that measures size and cell protein concentration simultaneously is disclosed. Cell protein concentration adds a parameter to cell classification that improves the specificity and sensitivity of flow cytometers without the requirement of cell labeling. The system uses coherent dispersive Fourier transform to perform phase imaging at flow speeds as high as a few meters per second. To retrieve cell information in real-time, an analog signal processing system based on quadrature phase demodulation is described.

1. Technical Field
This technology pertains generally to imaging, and more particularly to phase contrast imaging for cell screening.
2. Background Discussion
Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for cell counting and biomarker detection in biotechnology and medicine, especially with regards to blood analysis. Standard flow cytometers perform cell type classification both by estimating size and granularity of cells using forward- and side-scattered light signals and through the collection of emission spectra of fluorescently-labeled cells. However, cell surface labeling as a means of marking cells is often undesirable, as many reagents negatively impact cellular viability or provide activating/inhibitory signals, which can alter the behavior of the desired cellular subtypes for downstream applications or analysis.
Cell protein content measurement can be used in many biomedical applications such as blood doping detection, infection monitoring, drug development and screening, studies of necrosis and apoptosis, cell cycle progression and differentiation, and in cancer diagnostics. Current methods for cell protein concentration measurement include electrical methods based on dielectrophoresis, mechanical methods based on microchannel cantilevers, and optical methods based on scattering patterns, emission spectra of external cavity lasers, and holographic and phase microscopy. These methods are either inherently too slow for high-speed flow cytometry applications, or require feedback mechanisms to provide necessary precision.
Furthermore, size-based classification can also be used for label-free identification of cells of interest in a suspension stream. However, due to significant overlap of size ranges between most mammalian cells, size-based technologies require additional layers of parametric gating to be useful as a diagnostic tool.

Real-time label-free high-throughput cell screening in flow

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A seat adjuster has upper and lower tracks slidably inter-engaged with the seat carried by the upper track. A bar extends along side the upper track and has a rearward end pivotally mounted on the vehicle floor. A lock member which carries the seat belt is attached to the upper track and slides freely along the bar during normal fore and aft adjusting movement of the seat. The lower track is mounted on the vehicle floor by yieldable legs. Upon rapid vehicle deceleration, the forward momentum of the seat mass induces yielding of the yieldable legs and forward canting of the seat causing the lock member to be canted relative the bar and lock therewith so that the occupant restraint loads imposed on the seat belt are transmitted through the lock member and bar to the vehicle floor. In addition, when the seat is adjusted full rearwardly, the upper track is cantilevered rearwardly from the lower track so that the upper track yields and bends to further cant the lock member and contribute to the locking engagement of the lock member with the bar.

The prior art has recognized the desirability of mounting a seat belt buckle on the vehicle seat so that the buckle adjusts fore and aft with the seat to remain at a consistent location aside the occupant torso. The prior art has also recognized the desirability of providing a load transfer mechanism by which the occupant restraint load imposed on the seat belt is transmitted directly to the vehicle floor without loading the seat adjuster mechanism.
The aforedescribed belt load transfer mechanism conventionally includes a toothed bar which extends along side the seat and has a rearward end pivotally mounted on the vehicle floor rearward of the seat. A locking mechanism normally slides along the bar and moves into a locking relationship with the bar upon the imposition of an occupant restraint load on the seat belt.
It would be desirable to provide a load transfer mechanism which would lock up prior to the onset of the occupant restraint load on the seat belt.


A method in which the position of an object pattern in an image can be accurately detected is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: (a) preparing a reference pattern which has a pattern and a background which are composed of pixels each having a value regarding the brightness or gradation; (b) dividing the image into a plurality of sections; (c) selecting arbitrarily an area having two or more of the sections; (d) obtaining the brightness data from each of the sections; (e) obtaining a sum of products of the value of each pixel and the brightness data of each section corresponding to the pixel; (f) moving the area to another position in the image; (g) repeating steps (d) to (f); and (h) deciding that the area from which the sum having an extreme value is obtained is the one containing the object pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of detecting the position of an object pattern in an image, and more particularly, to a method of position recognition which may be suitably applied for recognizing an object pattern having good shape reproducibility such as a pattern on the surface of an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a position of a surface pattern of an integrated circuit is detected by a so-called template matching method in which a reference pattern having the shape to be detected has been previously registered as a template, an image is picked up by a television camera, the pattern of each section of the picked-up image is binary-coded, and then the binary-coded data of the pattern are sequentially compared with the template for detecting the position where the best matching between the two is obtained.
This method will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A shows a binary-coded template 51 in which the pattern to be detected is binary-coded by denoting a white pixel by the digit "1" and denoting a black pixel by the digit "0". A binary-coded image 52 to be inspected is shown in FIG. 5B. In practice, the template 51 is produced only in a computer, and not actually formed in a physical body as shown in FIG. 5A, and thus the processes described below are conducted in the computer. The template 51 is superimposed over an area in the top left-hand corner of the object image 52, and the matching status between the facing pixels is examined. If "0" is superimposed on "0" or "1" on "1", it is determined that the pixels match each other. Next, the template 51 is moved by one pixel to the right for performing the examination in the same manner. Such examination is repeated until the template 51 is moved to the bottom right-hand corner of the image 52. Thereafter, the area having the highest matching rate is determined as the recognition point. In the case of the image 52, the area indicated by C has the highest matching rate (i.e., 64), and, therefore, the area C is detected as the recognition point. In other words, the area C has the object pattern.
However, the above method has a drawback in that, if the lightness of a body changes, the binary-coded image of the body also changes, leading to a recognition error or a total failure of recognition. For example, when the body from which the binary-coded image of FIG. 5B is obtained under a bright condition is processed under a dark condition to obtain a binary-coded image thereof, all pixels of the obtained binary-coded image turn into the state of "0", leaving no pixels in the state of "1". Therefore, the matching rate will become the same at any position, resulting in that the position of the object pattern cannot be determined. The above-mentioned drawback is caused also by changing the reflectivity of the body to be inspected or by changing the illuminance on the body.

Method of detecting the position of an object pattern in an image

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An apparatus and method for compensating for dust particles on the surface of an optical disk during a write operation includes a circuit for sensing the reflected laser light back from the optical storage medium, and a negative peak detection circuit for determining when the reflected laser light drops below the average read power level. The reflected laser power is reduced below the average read level whenever a dust or dirt particle is blocking a portion of the incoming laser light. An additonal circuit means then increases the power of the laser beam by an amount proportional to the detected reduction so that the data can be effectively recorded.

Optical and magnetooptical data storage systems combine very high storage density with low cost, random access, and erasability. The commercial success of these systems has led to a technological push to further increase the areal density, data rates, access times and the erasability of these types of drives.
The basic principles of magnetooptical recording involves pulsing a focused laser beam to a high power for a short period of time in order to raise the temperature of a perpendicularly magnetized medium. The temperature of the magnetized medium is elevated for a sufficiently long time such that an externally applied magnetic field can be used to reverse the direction of magnetization in the heated region. When the laser power is reduced, the active layer of the optical medium cools to a lower temperature. At a reduced temperature, the region of reversed magnetization persists.
To read the medium, the same laser beam is employed to sense the orientation of the magnetized regions previously encoded. Information is then read from the optical disk in conformance with the optical Kerr effect. According to the optical Kerr effect, light reflected off the surface of the magnetic material is optically polarized. The polarization angle of the electromagnetic radiation reflected from the surface of the magnetic material is a function of its magnetization. This polarization is the result of the interaction between the photons and the molecular order imposed by the magnetizing field. The stronger the magnetic field the greater the molecular ordering, and the more that the ordering influences the incident radiation.
Optical recording systems take advantage of the polar Kerr effect during read-out of information by sensing in which direction the linearly polarized light reflected from a perpendicularly magnetized medium will be rotated (e.g., to the left or right according to the direction of magnetization). Thus, by simply checking the direction of the plane of polarization of a reflected light, information can be read using the same laser that was utilized to write the information to the medium. (It is important to note that reading has no influence on the state of magnetization since the read laser power is relatively low. Hence, read-out produces an insufficient temperature rise to alter the direction of magnetization within the optical medium).
One of the problems that arises in optical disk drive systems is the presence of contaminated particles or defects on the surface of the optical disk. Investigation into the effect of dust and dirt particles on the surface of the optical disk indicates that the most serious impact is on the write process. The read-back process has been demonstrated to be relatively immune to this phenomena.
The crux of the problem lies in the fact that a dust particle is capable of blocking a portion of the incoming laser light during write operations. This light, as previously discussed, is used to raise the temperature of the magetized medium. However, in blocking a portion of the incoming light the dust particle effectively reduces the available write power being delivered to the magnetizing layer at the very point where the data is to be recorded. If the write power drops below a certain threshold level, the underlying perpendicularly magnetized medium fails to reach a high enough temperature capable of reversing the direction of magnetization.
The ramification, of course, is that the dust particle (or other contaminate particle) prevents the data from being properly recorded. In this respect it has been observed that even a very small dust particle on the disk surface can adversely affect data integrity over an area of more than five times the diameter of the particle itself. As a consequence, uncorrectable errors are caused, even in disk drive systems incorporating extensive ECC correctional capabilities.
What is needed then is a way to compensate for the reduction in power at the active surface of the medium due to the presence of a dust particle on the surface of the disk. As will be seen, the present invention discloses a novel circuit which is capable of detecting the presence of a contaminate particle on the optical disk drive's surface. The invention then increases the write power of the laser over the area of the disk where the contaminate particle is blocking the incoming laser light. The increase in laser power is made to be proportional to the reduction sensed. The additional laser power overcomes the loss of light phenomena. Consequently, drive systems incorporating the present invention are capable of writing data reliably--even in the presence of very large (i.e., up to 0.5 millimeters) dust particles.

Compensation for dust on an optical disk by increasing laser writing power


A system is provided having a controller for controlling operation of warning devices mounted on a vehicle for providing warning signals directed external of the vehicle. The controller receives one or more vehicle event signals, each indicative of occurrence of a different vehicle event. The controller responsive to receiving each vehicle event signal overrides operation of one or more of the warning devices from a normal operating mode into an override operating mode in accordance with the vehicle event associated with the vehicle event signal being received. In an override operating mode, warning device(s) may provide visual signals to supplement pre-existing vehicular light indicators of vehicle events, while other warning device(s) may be disabled to avoid confusion with such vehicular light indicators. To facilitate ease of connection, each warning device couples to the controller at an output port for receiving power and ground, and control signals from the controller.

Visual warning devices in the form of flashing lamps or rotating beacons, are often mounted in and along exterior of vehicles, typically trucks, so as to provide warning signals in a single color or multiple colors to other motorists on the road. These visual warning devices modify vehicles for use in particular applications, such as construction, emergency services, roadway maintenance, and the like, and are in addition to those typical manufacturer installed (or pre-existing) visual indicator lamps, such as tail lights indicating brake activation, turn signals, and reverse signals. Visual warning devices may be of same or different types, and are typically installed along the exterior body of the vehicle so that motorists are provided with adequate warning along different viewing angles. For example, common locations for mounting visual warning lights are along back, right and left sides of a vehicle, with one or more rotating beacons along the top of the vehicle.
It has also been found that operation of the visual warning devices can interfere with perception by other motorists of typical visual indicator lamps of vehicle operation, such as tail lights when indicating braking or turn signals, causing potential safety risk. For example, an accident can happen when a driver of a car behind a vehicle with such multiple flashing visual warning devices along the rear thereof fails to realize until too late such illumination of tail lights indicating braking due to the driver's mental focus on the flashing visual warning devices. Further, drivers of nearby cars can fail to realize until too late the activation of the turn signals of such vehicle when shifting traffic lanes due to confusion with flashing visual warning devices. Accordingly, it would be desirable to operate such visual warning devices in a manner that enhances perception by others of vehicle events associated with operation of typical visual indicator lamps when activated as well as any other vehicle events to enhance safety in vehicle operation.
Additionally, a trained installer or technician is currently needed to change the operation of visual warning devices mounted on a vehicle. Thus, it would further be desirable to provide a user interface that allows the user of the vehicle to easily select one of different patterns of operation, synchronization, or even output color in the case visual warning devices that having alternative colors or color patterns. Further, it would be desirable if installed visual warning devices enabled high and lower power operation as would be useful for day and night time operation.

System for controlling multiple warning devices mounted on a vehicle to provide warning signals


A semiconductor laser device includes a semiconductor laser chip containing a diode having a polarity; a heat sink on which the semiconductor laser chip is mounted at an interface of the semiconductor laser chip and the heat sink, the heat sink including a pn junction generally parallel to the interface; and a block on which the heat sink is mounted, wherein the diode of the semiconductor laser chip and the pn junction are electrically connected in parallel and in opposite polarity so that the pn junction of the heat sink functions as a reverse current blocking diode for the semiconductor laser chip.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a semiconductor laser device including a semiconductor laser chip 1 that is disposed on an electrically insulating heat sink 2, such as SiC, which, in turn, is mounted on a block 3 of a good thermal conductor, such as silver or a copper/tungsten alloy. An electrode 4' extends from the interface of the semiconductor laser chip 1 and the heat sink 2 and is electrically connected to the block 3 by a wire 5. A surface electrode 4 on the opposite surface of the semiconductor laser chip 1 from the heat sink 2 is connected by a wire 6 to one terminal 7 of a power supply (not shown). The block 3 is electrically connected to the other terminal of the power supply.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a conventional semiconductor laser device circuit including a laser diode LD, such as the semiconductor laser device shown in FIG. 12, and a driver V. The driver V produces a large current pulse that is supplied to the semiconductor laser LD. The circuit of FIG. 13 includes a reverse current blocking diode D connected in parallel to and in the same polarity as the power supply. The reverse current blocking diode D and driver V are connected through a parasitic inductance L to the laser diode LD. The parasitic inductance L is an inherent feature of the circuit and is not an added inductance. When the driver V produces a forward-going pulse for the laser diode LD, the parasitic inductance L may cause a counter electromotive force (emf) to be produced with a magnitude v=-L*dI/dt where L is the inductance of the parasitic inductance and dI/dt is the rate of change of the current through the circuit with time. The reverse polarity counter emf produces a current that is blocked by the reverse current blocking diode D, thereby protecting the driver V. However, if the magnitude of the counter emf exceeds the maximum reverse bias voltage that the laser diode LD can withstand, then a large reverse current flows in the laser diode LD. This large reverse current can damage and even destroy the laser diode LD.

Semiconductor laser device including heat sink with pn junction


According to embodiment, an interpretability and quality estimation method includes generating an interpretability or quality estimate for an image or frame using one or more feature characteristics of a reference image when a reference image associated with an image is available or partially available, and generating an interpretability or quality estimate for the image or frame using one or more feature characteristics of the image when a reference image associated with the image is not available.

The use of imagery including still imagery and video imagery has become pervasive with the advent of computing systems capable of processing such imagery. Along with the expanded use of imagery has been a need and/or desire to quantify or otherwise estimate the quality of imagery. To this end, a Video National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (VNIIRS) has been developed. The Video NIIRS scale defines different levels of image quality/interpretability based on the types of tasks an analyst can perform with images of a given Video NIIRS rating. The overall concept is that imagery analysts should be able to perform more demanding interpretation tasks as the quality of the imagery increases. Video NIIRS differs from the well known still image NIIRS in that each criterion has an associated temporal activity component that requires video to accomplish.

Video interpretability and quality estimation


A pneumatic timer for a timing relay is regulated by the axial movement of a valve needle through a chamber formed in the body of the timer. The valve needle forms a tapered valve stem along its longitudinal axis and the valve stem is eccentrically disposed in a passageway leading from the valve chamber to provide a crescent-shaped bleed area between the valve chamber and the interior of an expandable bellows. Springs are disposed in the valve chamber to bias the needle to its eccentric position, where the valve stem contacts a portion of a valve seat formed around the passageway. The size of the bleed area between the valve stem and the noncontacting portion of the valve seat changes as the valve needle is moved along its axis, but the shape of the bleed area remains substantially the same, so that the valve can more easily be set to provide the desired time delay.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is pneumatic timing devices, and more particularly, those devices used in timing relays to provide a time delay between the operation of a relay electromagnet and the actuation of some relay switch contacts. Timing relays are used in circuits for controlling industrial machines and processes of many kinds, particularly those machines and processes that are driven by one or more electrical motors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pneumatic timers with needle-type valves are disclosed in Haydu et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,249,716, issued Dec. 26, 1963, and in a copending application, Ser. No. 895,728, filed Apr. 12, 1978, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This copending application is directed to an adjustment mechanism for controlling the axial position of a valve needle. The needle extends from a valve chamber into a passageway that opens into the interior of a bellows. The valve needle controls the rate of air flow into the bellows, thereby controlling its expansion.
Besides having a mechanical adjustment that is easily and conveniently operated, a pneumatic timer should permit an operator to easily locate a particular time setting. The scale on the typical timer provides only an approximate setting. The scale is used to make a first, coarse setting of the timer, at which the actual time delay period is observed. Additional, finer settings can then be made until the actual time delay period is exactly, or within a tolerable amount of, the desired time delay period. The fewer settings that are needed, the better is the measure of adjustability of the timer.
Adjustability can be adversely affected in the manner of backlash or hysteresis, so that a timer provides inconsistent time delays from one setting to the next. This is observed when a timing reference mark is moved away from a scale mark, and is then moved back again to that mark, and where the resulting time delay is different for the second setting than for the first. Generally speaking, this is caused by a change in the shape of the valve opening and the rate of air flow therethrough. More specifically, this can be caused by the rotation of a valve needle that is not concentrically formed around its longitudinal axis, though still within manufacturing tolerances. The shape of the valve opening can also be changed when the valve needle is shifted laterally, or tilted to a position non-parallel to the longitudinal axis of its surrounding chamber.
In a prior construction, a rectangular flange formed on a valve needle to limit rotation is separated by a narrow gap from the interior walls of the valve chamber. This allows the needle to rotate, shift or tilt, or possibly move in all of these ways, with an adverse effect on the adjustability of the device.

Pneumatic timer with eccentrically disposed valve needle


An atomic oscillator includes: a light source; an atom cell containing a gaseous alkali metal atom, and a nitrogen- and argon-containing buffer gas, and through which light from the light source passes; a photodetector that detects light having passed through the atom cell; and a container containing only a mixed gas containing nitrogen and argon, and housing the atom cell.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an atomic oscillator, and a frequency signal generation system.
2. Related Art
An atomic oscillator as a frequency signal generator is known that includes a light source; an atom cell charged with alkali metal atoms such as cesium; a photodetector for detecting light having passed through the atom cell; and a container housing the light source, the atom cell, and the photodetector. The atomic oscillator oscillates as a result of an energy transition of alkali metal atoms.
For example, JP-A-2015-119443 describes a gas cell having an internal space charged with metal atoms and a buffer gas. The buffer gas is a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and argon gas, and the molar fraction of the argon gas in the mixed gas is adjusted in a range of 15% to 40% to achieve desirable temperature characteristics.
However, when the atmosphere inside the container housing the atom cell is atmospheric air, there are cases where substances with small molecular weights, such as helium, enter the atom cell through it. This may cause fluctuations in the frequency of the atomic oscillator.

Atomic oscillator and frequency signal generation system


Moldable intumescent thermoplastic elastomer materials are disclosed based on suitable proportions of polyethylene, chlorinated polyethylene and a silicone elastomer with silphenylene siloxane monomer moieties and stabilizers, all with foamers, char formers and fillers. Examples of suitable silphenylene-siloxane monomer moieties are 1,4-phenylene-hexamethyltrisiloxanyl and 1,4-phenylene-1,1,3,5,5-pentamethyl-3-vinyltrisiloxanyl where the respective methyl groups may be replaced with suitable phenyl groups or other lower alkyl groups and their fluorinated analogs.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,535 describes a family of compositions in accordance with its title, "Moldable Intumescent Polyethylene and Chlorinated Polyethylene Compositions." These compositions are readily moldable by a variety of polymer molding practices into articles that have good physical strength. Moreover, the molded bodies have an additional property of serving as a heat and fire barrier. Upon exposure to a flame, they initially burn but do not melt and drip. Instead, they form a relatively strong foamed barrier of carbonized char and inorganic ceramic-like material. In some embodiments of these high density polyethylene (HDPE) and chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) compositions, a silicone elastomer (specifically, an organosiloxane) is used in addition to, or as a replacement for, some of the CPE. In many formulations the siloxane polymer improved the processibility of the material by reducing the mixing torque requirement. Further, in the molded product the polysiloxane reduced smoke evolution.
It is an object of this invention to provide a family of polyethylene and chlorinated polyethylene-based intumescent flame retardant materials containing silphenylene-siloxane elastomers for improved intumescence properties and improved processing properties.

Moldable intumescent materials containing novel silicone elastomers


The self-contained ball-strike detector uses two transducers to detect the presence of an incoming pitch, and a series of transducers located on the upper surface of a home plate-shaped housing to determine whether the pitched ball is within the strike zone. Ultrasonic transducers are located near both the right and left boundaries of the strike zone. These transducers and a centrally-located transducer emit high frequency signals in the direction of the pitched ball. A reflected signal is used to determine whether the pitched ball is within the strike zone. The size of the strike zone may be changed to accommodate batters of different heights. The apparatus includes audio and visual indicators of whether the pitch is a "ball" or a "strike" as well as indicators if the batter is "out" or is entitled to a "walk". The apparatus maintains the ball/strike count for each batter, and has light emitting diodes to visually indicate the current count for the batter.

This invention relates to electronic devices used in sporting-type games. More particularly, this invention relates to electronic devices used in baseball games.
In the game of baseball, incoming pitches are directed towards an imaginary strike zone that is adjacent to the batter's box where the batter stands. A pitched ball which passes through at least a portion of the strike zone is called a "strike", regardless of whether the batter swings the bat at the pitched ball. A batter is allowed a predetermined number of strikes before he is called "out". Any pitch that does not pass through a portion of the strike zone and is not swung at by the batter is called a "ball". If the batter receives a predetermined number of "balls", he progresses or "walks" to first base.
Although there are several definitions of the term "strike zone", for purposes of this application, a "strike zone" is an imaginary area that is located above the home plate. The strike zone is defined by right, left, upper and lower boundaries. The right and left boundaries are imaginary vertical planes that extend upward from the right and left sides of the home plate. The lengths of the vertical sides depend upon the height of the batter. In general, the upper boundary of the strike zone is a plane aligned with the armpits of the batter, and the bottom or lower boundary is a plane aligned with the knees of the batter. Since batters have different heights, it is apparent that the upper and lower boundaries of the strike zone vary from batter to batter.
A human umpire is typically required to determine whether the pitched balls are "balls" or "strikes". There are several disadvantages of having a human umpire calling balls and strikes. One disadvantage is the expense involved in paying the umpire to perform his duties. In not-for-profit baseball leagues, it is often difficult to adequately pay the umpires. Umpires must then be found to volunteer their time to umpire a baseball game. In some baseball leagues, for example, the expense of obtaining an umpire is prohibitive so that no umpire is used. In that event, the baseball teams are required to decide between themselves whether a particular pitch is a "ball" or a "strike". Disagreements as to the call of a particular pitch are inevitable in such cases.
Another disadvantage of using human umpires is that they make mistakes. No human umpire is capable of total accuracy in determining whether an incoming pitched ball passes through a portion of the strike zone. Also, there is a great deal of variation in the way different human umpires call balls and strikes. Some umpires use a so-called "small" strike zone because they tend to narrowly define the imaginary boundaries of the strike zone. Other umpires use a so-called "large" strike zone, or call pitches very erratically. In any case, it is apparent that there are many disadvantages whenever a human being must be used to call balls and strikes.
Several attempts have been made to devise electronic systems to avoid the need for human umpires. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,450 to Pyle is an automatic umpire for slow pitch softball which detects the impact of the pitch on a surface placed behind the baseball home plate. Any pitch which hits the surface is considered a "strike". The Pyle apparatus is obviously limited to use in slow pitch softball games in which the parties agree in advance that a strike is any pitch which hits the indicated surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,662 to DePerna discloses a sophisticated, electronic baseball game that includes a pitch detection mechanism. However, the pitch detection mechanism requires a pair of substantially spaced sensors, one near the playing surface and one on the ceiling. These and other sensors must be electrically connected together in an elaborate system to detect whether a pitched ball is within the strike zone. The system in DePerna is very complicated and expensive, and probably cost prohibitive for most applications.

Automatic baseball ball and strike indicator


An upper unit and lower unit are connected by two hinge portions that allow them to move between open and closed positions and to turn around each other. Undercuts are formed on an edge of the upper or lower unit and extensions are formed on the lower or upper unit not provided with undercuts, to mate with the undercuts of the other unit. For the upper unit to turn around the lower unit, the upper unit must first be raised so as not to touch the extensions. Therefore, the present invention prevents scraping damage of surfaces of the upper and lower units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to foldable portable electric devices, and more particularly, to the prevention of scraping damage to upper and lower units of the foldable portable electric devices which may occur when these upper and lower units fold upon one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a conventional foldable portable electric device is described in the Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Kokai No. H11-275191. A perspective view of this conventional foldable portable electric device is shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, the foldable portable electric device 101 comprises the main body 102, a flip portion 103, damage prevention cushions 104, keys 105 and hinge 106.
The flip portion 103 is connected to the main body 102 through hinge 106. The damage prevention cushions 104, made of an elastic material, are mounted on the main body 102 and protrude from the front surface of the main body 102 in the vicinity of the keys 105.
Referring to FIG. 1, the flip portion 103 turns on a curved hinge 106 to open or close so as to expose or cover the keys 105. When the flip portion 103 is closed, it comes in contact with the damage prevention cushions 104 mounted on the surface of the main body 102 preventing scraping damage to the surfaces of the flip portion 103 and the portions of the main body 102 covered by the flip portion.

Structure to prevent scraping damage to foldable portable electric device when upper and lower units thereof are in contact


Security auditing of an application is performed based on object data associated with the application. An application is executed on a physical or emulated host device, and assembly code is generated for the executing application. The assembly code is analyzed to identify objects associated with the application, and to identify relationships between the objects. Data stored in member variables of the objects is retrieved by setting analysis points at which to extract member variable data during execution of the application. Based on the object data, relationship data, and retrieved member variable data, potential security risks are identified for the application. Security risks may include access of data on the host device and external communication of the accessed data. The application may be instrumented to include logging functionality, or to disable certain features of the application, and deployed to enable further monitoring for security risks.

With the growing popularity of mobile devices, there is an increasing demand for applications, or apps, to run on such devices. Unfortunately, publicly distributed apps may include malware, spyware, or other types of malicious software configured to compromise system security. Such non-secure applications may lead to theft of a user's personal, financial, or other sensitive data. Moreover, in cases where an employee uses a personal device to access an employer's corporate network, installation of malicious applications on the device may lead to a breach in corporate security and potentially large economic losses for the corporation. Traditional security auditing solutions monitor an application as it executes on an end-user's device. However, such solutions may allow a security breach and data leakage from the device before the security breach is detected and stopped.
Certain implementations and embodiments will now be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, in which various aspects are shown. However, various aspects may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Application auditing through object level code inspection


Disclosed is a dispenser (10) for use with an automatic floor scrubbing machine (75), and a method for cleaning a floor. The dispenser (10) has a solid chemical (13) which is dissolved by water spray from a spray nozzle (21). The detergent solution is then directed by a conduit (25) to a scrub brush (85). A water reservoir (83) provides water for the detergent solution, and a valve (38) directs water to a rinse conduit (37) for rinsing of the floor. After cleaning, the dirty water or detergent solution is carried through conduit (36) to a recovery tank (84).

Automatic floor cleaning machines are designed to clean hard floor surfaces. Typically, the automatic floor cleaner applies detergent solution to an area of the floor, scrubs the floor with the detergent solution, and vacuums the dirty or spent wash water off the floor area. The floor cleaning machine has a compartment for the clean detergent solution, and a compartment for the dirty detergent solution. During use, the detergent solution is progressively transferred from the clean solution compartment to the dirty or spent solution compartment.
The operator makes the detergent solution by adding a certain amount of concentrated liquid detergent to a certain quantity of clean water. The concentration of the resulting detergent solution may be rather imprecise, in that it depends merely upon the ratio of concentrate detergent solution to water. If too little detergent solution is added, then there may be inadequate cleaning of the floor. If too much detergent solution is added, then an undesirable residue, excessive foaming, and waste of the detergent may result.
With conventional floor scrubbers, the concentration of the detergent solution is fixed once the solution has been made. However, the optimum detergent concentration will vary according to the type and amount of soil on the floor, the type of floor cleaning machine, the type of cleaning chemical being dispensed, the type of surface being cleaned, the temperature of the solvent, the degree of mechanical action applied to the floor being cleaned, and the volume of cleaning solution being produced. With known designs, the only variables available to the operator in adjusting the cleaning efficiency of the unit are: (1) the dispensing rate of the detergent solution, (2) the linear velocity of the machine, and 3) the ability to make repetitive passes over the floor area. The former variable is the rate of the detergent solution flowing onto the scrubbing brush. As a result, the operator's ability to control the detergent action of the machine is somewhat limited.
With conventional floor cleaners, it is also relatively difficult for the operator to rinse the floor with clear water, because there is no capability for clear water to be conveniently dispensed from the floor scrubber. In order to rinse the floor, the user must assemble a separate hose assembly from a nearby water supply point. This is an inconvenient and time-consuming process, especially if the water source is remote from the floor area that is being rinsed. It is possible to dispense water through the floor scrubber if the detergent solution from the solution tank is completely drained and the tank is then filled with fresh water. However, the solution tank contains detergent residue, and this process would be time-consuming and difficult.
The present invention addresses these and many other problems associated with currently available floor cleaning systems.

Solid detergent dispenser for floor scrubber machine


A hinge of single piece construction particularly adapted for providing a removable pivotal attachment for a raised cover on a cat litter box wherein the rearward ends of the litter container and cover are each provided with vertical slots positioned such that upon the cover being disposed on the container in a closed position the slots on the cover are disposed adjacently above and in axial alignment with the slots on the litter container. The hinge defines a curvilinear depending tab portion adapted to extend through one of the aligned pairs of slots against a portion of the litter box and be removably retained in a snug fitment within the slot in the litter container. The tab portion of the hinge member merges into a curvilinear guide portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from the tab portion which merges into a cover support portion. Upon the tab portions of a pair of hinges being extended through the aligned vertical slots and the forward end of the cover being raised from the container, the cover is caused to pivot rearwardly on the container by the curvilinear guide portions of the hinges until a raised rear wall portion of the cover abuts the cover support portions of the hinges causing the tab position of the hinges to bear against the litter box whereupon the cover rests on the support portions of the hinges in a fully open position without the need for additional support while providing unobstructed access to the litter container.

The present invention relates to a novel hinge configuration particularly adapted for providing a cat litter box with a removable hinge cover. The use of removable covers for cat litter boxes has become increasingly popular as the cover conceals the animal waste and soiled litter from view. Such covers generally comprise elevated side walls so that the cat can use the litter box without the pet owner having to remove the cover from the litter box. It has been found that the privacy afforded by such litter box covers is preferred by many cats. An example of a cat litter box having a removable elevated cover is the litter box marketed by Booda Products, Inc. under the trademark BOODABOX.
When the waste and soiled litter are removed from a covered litter box or when the litter is changed, the pet owner must remove and replace the cover. For a litter box cover to be acceptable to cats, it must be relatively large so as not to appear overly confining and provide easy access for the cat and adequate space for the cat to stand within the box. As a result, many pet owners have found litter box covers inconvenient to use and awkward to handle. By providing a hinged securement of the cover to the rear of the box, these problems could be obviated as the pet owner could merely pivot the cover out of the way to provide unobstructed access to the interior of the litter box. However, conventional hinge mechanisms are not readily detachable and would render the litter box more difficult to clean and, due to the bulk of the box with the cover attached, more difficult to transport. It would be highly desirable to provide a hinge mechanism for use on a cat litter box which allowed for such pivotal movement of the cover on the box and which allowed the cover to be readily detached from the box. Due to space limitations in many locations where cat litter boxes are kept, it would also be desirable if such a hinge mechanism provided a support for the cover in the raised position to maintain unobstructed access to the box without having to pivot the cover rearwardly of the box to the floor. The hinge mechanism of the present invention achieves these objectives and does so with a minimal impact on the cost of the litter box.

Hinge assembly for providing a cat litter box with a readily removable hinged cover