A flexible layer of piezoelectric material, e.g., a known PVDF polymer, is used for generating electrical energy for use on a water craft. In one arrangement, the sheet is laminated within a craft hull of fiberglass. Electrodes are provided for the major opposite surfaces of the layer, and an encapsulating material, e.g., fiberglass or a layer of the polymer itself, comprises the water contacting, exterior surface of the hull. In salt water, the water is one electrode, and an outer encapsulating layer is omitted. Spaced apart air pockets are optionally provided along the polymer sheet for increasing the flexing thereof in response to passing water and for inducing turbulence in the passing water. Elongated, flexible and electroded sheets, optionally including air pockets, are towed behind or beneath the craft, or are flown from a mast on the craft.

This invention relates to water crafts, particularly small vessels such as sailboats and dinghies, and to the use of piezoelectric materials for generating electrical energy for use on such crafts.
The present invention has particular utility with regard to a problem particularly prevalent in small pleasure crafts, namely, the safe and efficient provision of electrical energy over extended periods of time during which only relatively small quantities of electrical power are required. For reasons of safety, all water crafts are required to, or at least sensibly should, carry navigation lights, that is, small lights designed not particularly for purposes of on-board illumination, but for rendering the crafts visible to other craft at night and in poor weather. Such lights consume energy over prolonged periods of time and, although of small wattage, do require significant amounts of electrical energy. The problem, particularly in small crafts where even a small motor generator is undesirable for reasons of cost, safety, space requirements, noise and the like, is that the only practical presently available source of electrical energy is the common lead storage battery. Such batteries, however, require re-charging or periodic replacement, and require, in the absence of on-board charging means, frequent interruptions in the otherwise continuous usage of the crafts. Also, even with small on-board motor generator means for trickle charging the batteries for maintaining them continuously charged, the need to carry fuel for the generator motor and the noise and fumes therefrom are generally objectionable.

Water craft using piezoelectric materials


An output shaft of a rotating electrical machine and a drive device input shaft are disposed at different shaft center positions. A first gear meshing with a second gear provided on the output shaft of the rotating electrical machine for reducing rotation and transmitting the reduced rotation to a transmission input shaft is provided coaxially with the drive device input shaft, and at least a part of the clutch is disposed at an inner-diameter-side position so as to overlap a gear portion of the first gear in an axial direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid drive device including as driving sources an engine (for example, an internal combustion engine such as a gasoline engine and a diesel engine) and a rotating electrical machine (including, for example, a rotating electrical machine serving as a motor for receiving electric power supply and generating driving force (for example, rotational driving force), a rotating electrical machine serving as a generator for receiving driving force and generating electric power, or a rotating electrical machine serving either as a motor or a generator depending on the operation state) and structured to obtain driving force from one or both of the engine and the rotating electrical machine, perform shifting in a transmission, and transmit the resultant driving force to driving wheels so that a vehicle travels.
2. Description of the Related Art
The applicants introduced a hybrid drive device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-001708 as an example of a hybrid drive device. An object of the technology disclosed in JP-A-2004-001708 is to provide a hybrid vehicle drive device having a structure with reduced a dimension in an axial direction as compared to a related device without increasing a dimension in a radial direction, while using an engine and a motor, which are connected together as a power source.
The hybrid vehicle drive device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-001708 includes an annular motor centering around the axis of an engine output shaft, a starting device for transmitting driving force from the engine and motor to a transmission downstream side, and a transmission for receiving the driving force of the engine and motor through the starting device. In this drive device, the starting device includes a starting clutch and a damper device, which have an annular shape centered around the aforementioned axis and are arranged spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance in an axial direction. The starting clutch is provided so that at least a part of the starting clutch overlaps the motor in an axial direction, and the starting clutch is located on an inner-diameter side of the damper device.
As shown in JP-A-2004-001708, this technology uses a structure in which a rotor of a rotating electrical machine is fixed to an outer-diameter part of a clutch hub and rotation of the rotating electrical machine is transmitted directly to an intermediate shaft. When the clutch is in an engaged state, the engine output is also transmitted through the clutch to the clutch hub of the clutch and transmitted to the intermediate shaft.
A hybrid drive device including two kinds of drive sources (an engine and a single rotating electrical machine) and a transmission has originally been developed in order that the occupied space required to mount the hybrid drive device can be reduced as much as possible. As in the related art described above, however, in the case of using the structure in which the output of the driving source (especially the rotating electrical machine) is directly applied to the transmission and transmitted to driving wheels after shifting in the transmission, the size of the rotating electrical machine itself tends to be increased depending on the driving torque required for traveling, which may be against the object of reducing the size of the device.
Moreover, in the case of using the structure in which rotation from both the engine and the rotating electrical machine is reduced in speed in the transmission, the size of the transmission needs to be increased, providing room for improvement.
In order to increase the torque that is generated in the rotating electrical machine, it is mainly necessary to increase the axial length of the stator and rotor of the rotating electrical machine or increase the diameter of the rotating electrical machine so that the torque that can be generated is increased. However, in a hybrid drive device of the present application that is preferably used in, for example, an FF (front engine-front wheel drive) type, the space that can be occupied by the hybrid drive device is limited, and it is therefore difficult to take measures to increase the torque by significantly increasing the diameter of the rotating electrical machine. Moreover, in the case where the axial length of the rotating electrical machine is increased, the axial length of the hybrid drive device (the length in the left-right direction in FIG. 1) becomes too long, which is not preferable.


A decoupling sleeve for mounting in a motor vehicle exhaust pipe (LE), the sleeve (5) comprising in particular a mechanical portion (10) having two rigid end zones (15) for connection to the exhaust pipe (LE), and a sealing portion (11) that is thermally insulated from the inside by an insulation portion (12) and that extends over substantially the entire length of the mechanical portion (10) of the sleeve, the sleeve being characterized in that the sealing portion (11) comprises a central zone (22) formed by a layer or wall (24) made of a material that is flexible and that withstands temperature, and two rigid end zones (23) respectively connected to two end zones (15) of the mechanical portion (10), the sealing portion (11) forming a covering that is continuous, closed, and leakproof.

The invention relates to a decoupling sleeve for mounting in a motor vehicle exhaust pipe.
In general, a motor vehicle engine exhaust pipe is connected to the outlet of the exhaust manifold of the engine. This pipe generally comprises one or more cylindrical units (catalytic converter, expander, muffler) constituting a number of masses along a pipe proper itself made up of one or more rigidly interconnected segments. The assembly is suspended from the bodywork of the vehicle via moderately flexible links formed by suspension points or straps generally based on elastomer, and it must accommodate movements of the engine associated with vertical accelerations, with sudden changes of speed, with thermal expansion, with assembly tolerances, . . . .
That is why an exhaust pipe usually includes a flexible tubular coupling referred to as a xe2x80x9cdecoupling sleevexe2x80x9d which serves to avoid the exhaust pipe being damaged or destroyed by the various constraints mentioned above. The sleeve makes it possible to obtain the flexibility that is required for decoupling engine vibration from the exhaust pipe and from the bodywork, and it improves comfort in the cabin of the vehicle.
As a general rule, the sleeve must withstand a flow of hot gas whose temperature can reach or even exceed 900xc2x0 C. on a continuous basis and it must also withstand the external conditions to which the exhaust pipe is subjected. However, the sleeve must not interfere with the operation of various elements in the exhaust pipe, and in particular, for gasoline engines, it must not allow any air to enter the catalytic converter.
Sleeves are known that are constituted by tubes of 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm thick stainless sheet metal, the sheet metal being corrugated to form a bellows having an internal lining and an external braid or knit. However, such sleeves are stiff and they have modes of vibration that are well-marked and noisy. Furthermore, they can withstand no tension, no twisting, and no deformation in bending, in shear, or in compression in excess of acceptable levels.
In general, the degree of sealing required upstream from the catalytic converter makes it necessary to use a covering that is closed completely and in leakproof manner since otherwise it would be necessary for the elements of a discontinuous structure to be clamped together extremely tightly, which state of affairs is difficult to maintain under all deformations of the sleeve. In addition, deformations of the sleeve give rise to folding and to folds that crisscross, and the continuous tube or sheet elements must be extensible since otherwise they risk mechanical destruction.
Unfortunately, flexible materials capable of providing the required degree of sealing, e.g. elastomers, are of limited temperature capability. It is therefore necessary to have a high temperature elastomer of silicone or analogous type, together with thermal protection.
Difficulties with thermal insulation are then made worse by constraints associated with space availability, since the inside diameter of the sleeve cannot be made smaller without greatly impeding the flow of gases, while its outside diameter is constrained by the very limited amount of space available for the exhaust pipe. Furthermore, conduction through the couplings causes the leakproof junction between them and the elastomer covering to be the hottest region of the covering. Finally, ordinary refractory felts have thermal conductivity that increases greatly at high temperature.
In document FR-A-2 676 502, the decoupling sleeve is made of a silicone type high temperature elastomer material which is protected internally by refractory and fibrous insulating materials. The need for providing at least a minimum level of bending strength requires the silicone to be very thick (about 7 mm thick) which considerably degrades effects relating to thermal protection and to the flexibility that can be expected in compression.
In document EP-A-0 145 020, the decoupling sleeve has a cylindrical metal framework which serves as a support for a set of superposed layers, in particular an inner fabric layer based on inorganic fibers, a sealing layer constituted by a metal foil, a thermal insulation layer, and an outer protective layer. At each end of the sleeve, the set of layers is pinched together by means of stitches made with wire.
In document FR-A-2 758 588, the decoupling sleeve is constituted by a functional stack of materials preferably shaped to form a bellows and comprising an inner layer, a barrier layer, a thermal insulation layer, and a leakproof outer layer made of elastomer, the stack being held between two interleaved helical springs, one on the inside and the other on the outside.
At each of their ends, the two springs present touching turns to constitute rigid surfaces. These surfaces which extend over a length of not less than 1 cm are used to enable the sleeve to be connected to the ends of two pipe segments of the exhaust pipe between which the sleeve is interposed. Such connections can be made by means of rigid collars or by crimping, for example.
However, to obtain good sealing and good mechanical strength simultaneously, all of the layers beneath the elastomer, including the insulation which is already rather thin given the space available, are highly compressed by the crimping and thus lose their effectiveness. In the absence of a sealing gasket, clamping does not provide sufficient sealing for an application to engines having catalytic converters, for example.
The proximity of the connection to the pipe proper, which is generally thin and made of metal, worsens the heating of the elastomer in this zone because of conduction, in particular when continuity is established for sealing purposes.
Given the structure of the prior art decoupling sleeves mentioned above, and the various constraints they are called on to withstand, an object of the invention is to design a decoupling sleeve which does not present the drawbacks of the prior art and which is capable of complying as well as possible the conditions it needs to satisfy in order to mitigate the effects of the constraints inherent to the operating conditions of an exhaust pipe.
In other words, an object of the invention is to design a flexible decoupling sleeve which is capable of withstanding a flow of gas at high temperature, and which is intended more particularly for providing mechanical and vibrational decoupling in an exhaust pipe.
To this end, the invention provides a decoupling sleeve for mounting in a motor vehicle exhaust pipe, the sleeve comprising in particular a mechanical portion having two rigid end zones for connection to the exhaust pipe, and a sealing portion that is thermally insulated from the inside by an insulation portion and that extends over substantially the entire length of the mechanical portion of the sleeve, the sleeve being characterized in that the sealing portion comprises a central zone formed by a layer or wall made of a material that is flexible and that withstands temperature, and two rigid end zones respectively connected to two end zones of the mechanical portion, the sealing portion forming a covering that is continuous, closed, and leakproof.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the mechanical and sealing portions are dissociated from each other so as to perform their respective functions independently of each other.
The flexible layer or wall of the sealing portion of the sleeve is made of an elastomer material such as silicone which is thermally protected radially by the insulation portion and axially by the two end portions of the sealing portion.
The two end portions of the sealing portion are constituted by two long thin covers, preferably made of a material that conducts heat poorly, such as stainless steel for example, said covers serving to reduce heat conduction towards the flexible layer and also to contribute to making the sealing portion in the form of a continuous covering that is closed and leakproof.
In an embodiment of the sealing portion:
the thickness of the flexible wall is about 0.5 mm to 3 mm, and the wall is folded and reinforced by flexible turns, e.g. to provide better mechanical strength against the pressure of a gas flow; and
each cover is relatively long and thin, possibly also having fins, folds, or conductive extensions to provide a greater area for evacuating heat, while the thinness and the poor conductivity of the covers limit heat conduction from the two hot zones where the sleeve is connected to the exhaust pipe.
In general, the radial insulation portion of the flexible wall of the sealing portion extends beneath the covers to insulate them, and it is made of an insulating material having a thickness of about 5 mm to 20 mm.
The mechanical portion of the sleeve can be made with various structures, some of which are described below, it being understood that this mechanical portion does not in itself constitute an essential characteristic of the invention.
In an important advantage of the invention, the fact of connecting the decoupling sleeve to the exhaust pipe via the mechanical portion of the sleeve serves to prevent the thermal insulation and sealing portions being crushed and also serves to limit the amount of heat that is transferred to these portions

Decoupling sleeve for mounting in a motor vehicle exaust pipe


Compositions and methods are provided for sterilizing hemodialysis apparatus, particularly for reprocessing dialyzers in a manner that minimizes membrane perforations. The compositions contain a protic acid and a metal chlorite, and have a pH of at least about 2.3 and no greater than 4.2. Methods of this invention include contacting both the blood side and the dialysate side of a dialysis membrane with the composition, followed by first displacing the composition on the dialysate side with water or an aqueous alkali buffer having a pH in excess of about 6.0, such that the pH of the composition on the blood side of the dialysis membrane increases to at least about 5.0. The composition on the blood side is then displaced with saline. In a further embodiment, the composition has a pH ranging from 3.3 to 4.2, and the amount of chlorite ion in the form of chlorous acid ranges from 0.5% to 5.0% by weight of the total amount of chlorite ion in the composition. In this embodiment, the composition may be employed without associated membrane degradation by using existing hemodialysis set-up techniques, except that dialysate displacement on the dialysate side precedes saline displacement of blood side.

There are over 100,000 individuals in the United States whose kidney functions do not provide adequate urinary clearance of accumulated blood waste products. Approximately 90% of this population relies on hemodialysis (i.e., the so-called "artificial kidney") to remove impurities and fluids from their blood. Hemodialysis is also used in other instances, such as a direct or supportive measure during the treatment of certain heart conditions and scleroderma, and in the removal of metabolites from methyl alcohol poisoning.
The artificial kidney is a mechanical-chemical approach which utilizes both diffusion and ultrafiltration to remove impurities and fluids from blood. In dialysis, the blood of a patient is circulated from the patient's body into a dialyzer, where it flows over a semi-permeable membrane bathed in a cleansing or "dialysate" solution. Impurities in the blood pass through the membrane into the dialysate solution by diffusion. In addition, due to a difference in pressure between the blood and dialysate solution, excess fluid in the blood is removed by ultrafiltration. This process is known as "hemodialysis", and dialysis patients must generally undergo hemodialysis 2 to 3 times per week for 4-6 hours per treatment.
The first extracorporeal dialyzer was reported in 1960 and used a flat plate device containing blood with a dialysate solution flowing on the other side of a membrane. This was followed in the late 1960s by a twin-coil dialyzer and, soon thereafter, by the current hollow-fiber dialyzer. Hollow-fiber dialyzers are roughly shaped like a flashlight, and consist of 100 micron diameter membrane tubes (typically cellulosic or cellulosic ester based) through which the blood flows, and which are bundled together and immersed in a counter-current flow of dialysate solution. The dialyzer is, in turn, connected to a dialysis machine which contains a number of sensors (e.g., blood flow, blood leaks, blood pressure, etc.), as well as pumps, valves, flow pistons and flow diverters.
The portion of a representative dialysis machine which contains the dialyzer is represented in FIG. 1. More specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates the location of hollow-fiber dialyzer 1, blood flow from the patient 2, blood flow to the patient 3, dialysate solution flow into the dialyzer 4, dialysate solution flow out of the dialyzer 5 and pump 6 which controls blood flow through the dialyzer. Dialysate solution (about 500 ml/minute) is moved into and out of the dialyzer by a series of pumps, one of which extracts a specified amount of spent dialysis fluid from the circuit and replaces it with fresh dialysate. Impurities pass from the blood and into the dialysate by diffusion. In addition, because there is a difference in pressure between the blood and dialysate, excess fluid in the blood is removed by ultrafiltration. Within established safe limits, the trans-membrane pressure is allowed to change freely to any value that results from the dialyzer ultrafiltration rate chosen.
While the price of dialyzers has been significantly reduced since their initial introduction, the annual cost for patients who undergo hemodialysis 2 to 3 times per week with a so-called "single-use dialyzer" is quite high. Accordingly, much attention has been given to cleaning and sterilizing a dialyzer for repeated use by a given patient. In addition to the obvious amortization of equipment cost over the use-life of the dialyzer (i.e., typically greater than 10 reuses), patients experience fewer symptoms of "first-use-syndrome," which occurs when the patient's blood encounters the membrane and plastic components of a new dialyzer. With use, dialyzers become internally coated with the patient's own proteins (e.g., albumen, fibrinogen, globulin and immunological proteins) which minimizes the severity of such first-use reactions in subsequent dialysis sessions. Since reuse of dialyzers was first introduced in the mid-1960's, evidence has been accumulating that this practice is quite effective and, provided the dialyzer is adequately sterilized between uses, reuse has not been associated with any increase in the rate of infection resulting from dialysis.
To date, the most prevalent and least expensive hemodialyzer reprocessing sterilant has been formaldehyde, which is generally used in the form of a 4% aqueous solution. Formaldehyde is now used in 43% of the hemodialysis centers that reprocess dialyzers. However, those operating in the industry are becoming increasingly reluctant to use formaldehyde because of (a) the antibody formation which formaldehyde provokes, (b) the status of formaldehyde as a co-carcinogen and (c) formaldehyde's overall noxiousness in handling. Similar problems are associated with the related sterilant glutaraldehyde, used in 8% of reprocessing. A more recent sterilant is based on a peracetic acid/hydrogen peroxide combination, and accounts for 49% of reuse sterilant. This system, however, has been associated with an increased level of morbidity in patients exposed to dialyzers reprocessed using this sterilant.
A more effective and more compatible sterilant has been identified, and is based on the cidal species associated with chlorous acid. Such a sterilant was introduced into the hemodialyzer processing market by Alcide Corporation in 1985 under the trade name RenNew-D. The technology of this sterilant involved the combination of lactic acid with a metal chlorite to yield chlorous acid-containing disinfecting compositions. One such chlorous acid system was found to be more effective against bacteria (and bacterial spores) compared to a 4% aqueous formaldehyde solution, and was also able to destroy certain water-borne microorganisms (such as Mycobacteria chelonei) which had caused septic outbreaks and deaths in a number of clinics using formaldehyde for hemodialyzer reprocessing. Dialyzer reuse lifetimes were also significantly greater with the chlorous acid system, and the solutions were more "user friendly" than the formaldehyde-based and peracetic/peroxide-based sterilant systems. In addition, and in contrast to other dialyzer sterilants, the chlorous acid system did not denature the inner-protein coatings of dialyzer surfaces.
Practitioners did, however, experience certain problems with the chlorous acid sterilant RenNew-D. Specifically, random perforations appeared in several of the many blood-bearing cellulosic microtubules in dialyzers which had been treated with this product. These "holes" apparently resulted in several cases of septicemia in patients who had been reconnected to the disinfected dialyzers, where bacteria and/or bacterial fragments in the non-sterile dialysate solution passed through the membrane perforations into the patient's blood stream. This problem resulted in the product's subsequent removal from the market.
While significant advances have been made in the field of hemodialysis, particularly with regard to reprocessing dialyzers for multiple reuse by a single patient, significant disadvantages are encountered with existing sterilant solutions used for reprocessing. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved sterilant compositions suitable for use as reprocessing sterilants, as well as methods relating to their use. The present invention fulfills these needs, arid provides further related advantages.

Composition and methods for sterilizing dialyzers


A method and apparatus are provided for a dynamic information connection search engine. User actions may be detected on at least one client system. In response, a determination may be made whether the user is searching for supported information. When the user is searching for supported information, information may be extracted electronically from, for example, third party websites, direct supplier connections, and/or intermediate databases. Potential suppliers may be automatically selected in response to the detected user search. Queries may be formulated from the user search and transferred to one or more selected suppliers over a network coupling (e.g., the Internet and/or an intranet). The queries may include one or more requests for information. One or more responses may be received from the suppliers, and the responses may be used to generate a result list for the user. The result list may include information and/or query status information. Further, an electronic link may be provided to a website of one or more of the supplies from which the information was derived.

Various systems and methods directed to searching for information (e.g., information accessible via the Internet) have been provided. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,205, issued Mar. 19, 2002 to Iyengar et al. This patent is entitled "Obtaining And Utilizing Commercial Information" and discusses a "method for providing reservation information related to airline flights, lodging, transportation and the like using a communications network".
Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.

Efficient search of supplier servers based on stored search results


A method of recognizing a conveyor belt wear condition is provided. Relationships between an apparent compressive stress in a wear resistance test and surface roughness of a sample and between the surface roughness and amount of wear per unit frictional energy of the sample are acquired. A wear condition of an upper cover rubber is recognized based on an apparent compressive stress generated on the upper cover rubber at a use site, and a database is created based on the relationships. Alternatively, relationships between an average wear pitch calculated from the surface roughness and viscoelastic properties of the sample and between the average wear pitch and an actual amount of wear of the sample are acquired. A wear condition of the upper cover rubber is recognized based on the viscoelastic properties of the upper cover rubber of the use site and a database is created based on the relationships.

Various objects including iron ore, limestone, and other mineral resources are conveyed by conveyor belts. When being conveyed by the conveyor belt, an object to be conveyed is fed onto an upper cover rubber of the conveyor belt from a hopper or another conveyor belt. The fed object to be conveyed is loaded on the upper cover rubber and conveyed in a traveling direction of the conveyor belt. When the object to be conveyed is loaded on the upper cover rubber and conveyed, the upper cover rubber is subject to wear as a result of the object to be conveyed sliding on the upper cover rubber. The amount of wear generated on the upper cover rubber due to the fed object to be conveyed greatly changes based on the specification and use conditions of the conveyor belt.
Evaluation methods using a Pico abrasion test, DIN (German Institute for Standardization) abrasion test, Lambourn abrasion test, Taber abrasion test, Williams abrasion test, Akron abrasion test, or the like are known as methods of evaluating rubber wear resistance. Furthermore, evaluation methods using a wear testing device for a conveyor belt was also proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-20319). With these evaluation methods, the amount of wear of a worn rubber sample is measured by pressing a pressing body against a rubber sample while relatively moving both. However, the wear resistance obtained by these conventional evaluation methods and actual wear resistance of a conveyor belt at a use site greatly deviate. Therefore, evaluation methods using a rubber sample have a problem where a wear condition of a conveyor belt at a use site can not be accurately recognized.

Method of recognizing conveyor belt wear condition


A golf ball includes a solid core which includes a blend of polybutadiene and polyurethane rubber. The rubber component of the core consists of 70 to 95% by weight of a high cis content polybutadiene rubber and 5 to 30% by weight of polyurethane rubber. The core also includes an acrylate of a zinc salt and an organic peroxide initiator.

This invention relates to golf balls, and more particularly, to a golf ball having a core which includes polyurethane rubber.
Golf balls which are currently available fall into two general categories--balls which include a balata cover and balls which include a more durable, cut-resistant cover. Balata covers are made from natural balata, synthetic balata, or a blend of natural and synthetic balata. Natural rubber or other elastomers may also be included. Synthetic balata is trans polyisoprene and is commonly sold under the designation TP-301 available from Kuraray Isoprene Company Ltd.
Balata has been used as a cover for golf balls due to the excellent spin/playability properties and flight performance properties. However, balata is an expensive material, and processing balata golf balls is both time consuming and expensive.
Most cut-resistant covers utilize Surlyn ionomers, which are ionic copolymers available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Surlyn ionomers are copolymers of olefin, typically ethylene, and an alpha-beta ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as methacrylic acid. Neutralization of a number of the acid groups is effected with metal ions, such as sodium, zinc, lithium, and magnesium.
DuPont's U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,272 describes procedures for manufacturing ionic copolymers. Ionic copolymers manufactured in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,272 may have a flexural modulus of from about 14,000 to about 100,000 psi as measured in accordance with ASTM method D-790.
DuPont's U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,981 describes ionic copolymers which include a softening comonomer. Ionic copolymers produced in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,981 are considered "soft" ionic copolymers and have a flexural modulus of about 2800 to about 8500 psi. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,264,272 and 4,690,981 are incorporated herein by reference.
Other cut-resistant materials which can be used in golf ball covers are ionic copolymers or ionomers available from Exxon under the name Iotek, which are similar to Surlyn ionomers except that acrylic acid is used rather than methacrylic acid.
Recently, ionomeric blends containing V.L.M.I. (Very Low Modulus Ionomers) have been used for golf ball covers. The addition of V.L.M.I. improves playability properties, but sacrifices coefficient of restitution as a function of initial velocity (C.O.R./Initial Velocity) and distance properties. Blends of ionomers containing V.L.M.I. are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,814 and 5,120,791.
High acid ionomers are ionomers having an acid content of 18% by weight or higher of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid. Standard grade ionomers are ionomers having an acid content of 15% by weight or lower of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid. Examples of high acid ionomers are Surlyns 8220 and 8140, which contain 20% and 19% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, respectively.
Several patents describe using high acid ionomers to form golf ball covers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,739 to Sumitomo Rubber Industries discloses a cover composition which contains an olefin and 20-30% of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid which has 15 to 30% of its carboxylic acid groups neutralized with monovalent or divalent metal ions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,572 to DuPont describes a composition formed from an ionomer or a blend of ionomers. The ionomer contains 16-25% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid which is neutralized with lithium, zinc and sodium ions.
Thermoplastic and castable polyurethane materials have been used in golf ball construction (primarily in golf ball covers) for many years, with varying levels of success.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes are produced through the reaction of bifunctional isocyanates, chain extenders and long chain polyols. To produce thermoplastic properties, it is necessary for the molecules to be linear. The hardness of the polymer can be adjusted based upon the ratio of hard/soft segments produced in the reaction. Thermoplastic polyurethanes have been evaluated as covers for golf balls, with no significant success. Thermoplastic polyurethanes generally do not have the resilience properties required for a premium sold core golf ball, and the temperature required to melt the thermoplastic polyurethanes make them unsuitable for use as covers on thread wound golf balls. Recently, there has been some success in utilizing thermoplastic polyurethanes as mantle layers in multi-layer golf ball covers.
Castable polyurethanes are made by reacting essentially equimolar amounts of diisocyanates with linear, long chain, non-crystalline polyesters or polyethers. This results in the production of a soft, high molecular weight mass with essentially no crosslinking. To solidify this material, chain extenders such as short chain diols (e.g., 1,4-butane diol) or aromatic diamines (e.g., methylene-bis-orthochloro aniline (MOCA)) are utilized. This results in creation of linear segments, which are rigid in comparison to the initial mass described above. Castable polyurethanes have been used in the production of wound golf balls for a number of years, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,123,061 and 5,334,673. However, this method of production (as descried in European Patent Application 0 578 466 A) is time consuming, and inefficient.
The vast majority of golf balls currently produced are two-piece golf balls, consisting of a solid core and a Surlyn (ionomer) cover. Generally, Surlyn covered golf balls have exceptional durability properties, but are considered hard compared to a wound ball construction, and are not preferred by the better player.
In recent years, new ionomers have been developed to result in softer feel and playability properties, but at a significant sacrifice in initial velocity and resilience properties. It is also important to note that if a very soft ionomer cover is used to lessen the compression of (soften) the golf ball, cut resistance properties also become poor.
More recently, golf balls have been introduced which utilize multi-layer covers, where a soft mantle or cover layer is used to improve the playability properties (feel--as measured by PGA compression) of the golf ball. This has been somewhat successful, but the feel (compression) of the ball can only be softened to a certain point before significant losses in resilience properties are observed. Generally, the mantle and cover layers of multi-layer golf balls are made using ionomers, thermoplastic polyester elastomers, polyether block co-polymers, and other thermoplastic materials.
The feel of a golf ball can also be improved by adjusting the composition of the solid core to produce a lower compression. Generally, a solid golf ball core is made utilizing primarily polybutadiene rubber, or a blend of polybutadiene rubber with a small amount of natural rubber, polyisoprene rubber, or both. The golf ball core is "cured" utilizing a zinc diacrylate/peroxide cure system. As the core formulation is adjusted to reduce core compression, resilience properties of the core decrease, and can decrease to a level where resilience properties are low, and unsuitable for use in a premium golf ball.

Golf ball having a core which includes polyurethane rubber


A safety umbrella includes: a central shaft; a rib assembly having a plurality of top ribs pivotally secured to an upper notch on the shaft each top rib pulled by a pulling rope to be tensioned towards an upper portion on the shaft, and a plurality of stretcher ribs each pivotally connected between each top rib and a runner slidably held on the shaft, with each stretcher rib forming an acute angle between the stretcher rib and the shaft; whereby upon opening of the umbrella, the tension force as effected by the pulling rope and acting upon each top rib will be transferred to each stretcher rib to form an upwardly orienting fraction force to lift the stretcher rib along the shaft to stably hold the rib assembly at an opening state; and a ball resiliently held in a lower portion of the shaft, whereby upon closing of the umbrella, the runner will be engaged with the ball for stably retracting the rib assembly at a folded condition, thereby eliminating the acute spring catches as found in a conventional umbrella and preventing from injury to the umbrella user.

As shown in FIG. 31, a conventional umbrella includes: a central shaft C having a plurality of top ribs T pivotally secured to an upper notch N on the shaft, a plurality of stretcher ribs S each pivotally connected between each top rib T and a runner R slidably held on the shaft; whereby upon opening of the umbrella, the runner R will be retained on an upper portion of the shaft by an upper spring catch C1 resiliently held on the shaft; and upon closing of the umbrella, the runner R will be retained on a lower portion of the shaft by engaging a slot R' formed in the runner with a lower catch C2 resiliently held on a lower portion of the shaft.
Since either upper catch C1 or lower catch C2 has an acute corner portion formed on the catch, it may easily injure an umbrella user when depressing the catch for closing or opening the umbrella.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional umbrella and invented the present safety umbrella without spring catch.


A wearing-orientation selectable contact lens including: an optical zone; a first diopter power region provided in the optical zone; and a second diopter power region having a lens power that is more positive than that of the first diopter power region. A superficial center of the second diopter power region is decentered on a symmetrical meridian from a geometric center of the optical zone. A circumferential positioning member is provided so as to selectively set up: a first stable state where the superficial center of the second diopter power region is positioned to one of left and right side of the eye, and a second stable state where the superficial center of the second diopter power region is positioned to another of left and right side of the eye. A visible indicator mark is provided for identifying a lens orientation of the first stable state and the second stable state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contact lens, and relates in particular to a multifocal contact lens having a plurality of diopter power regions.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is commonly understood that in order to correct presbyopia, for example, multifocal contact lenses such as bifocal lenses will be prescribed. These lenses include a distance region provided as a first diopter power region and a near region provided as a second diopter power region having a more positive additional diopter power than that of the distance region.
For example, EP-A2-0201231 discloses such multifocal contact lenses with a configuration where a distance region and a near region are formed in a concentric pattern about a lens geometric center. On the other hand, it is known that the center of the pupil is slightly biased from the center of the cornea toward the nose. Consequently, with the configuration as taught in EP-A2-0201231, the two regions do not have an intended positional relationship with respect to the pupil during actual wear, because the distance region and the near region are formed in a concentric pattern about the lens geometric center on the assumption that the lens geometric center is to be aligned with the center of the pupil. As a result, it is not possible to afford an effective correction neither for distance vision nor for near vision.
Accordingly, in Japanese unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-6-289329, the Assignee proposed multifocal contact lenses wherein a near region is decentered from a lens geometric center toward the nose. With this arrangement, both the distance vision and the near vision can be effectively corrected by aligning the visual axis of the eye with the lens optical axis, being advantageously correspondent with the visual axis of the eye shifting toward the nose when looking at something near. However, the multifocal contact lenses disclosed in JP-A-6-289329 may have a near region being decentered not only in the lateral direction but also in the vertical direction of the wearer. Accordingly, it will be necessary to provide the lenses for use in the right eye and in the left eye individually, requiring additional specifications for the left and right eyes. Thus, if the lenses are supplied through made-to-stock production, a lot of stocks need to be prepared, posing a risk of increase in production cost or management cost.
A general problem with the multifocal contact lenses disclosed in EP-A2-0201231 or JP-A-6-289329 is that since the multifocal contact lens includes one optical region with a plurality of diopter power regions, each diopter power region has a narrow effective optical region. Consequently, optical characteristics are not as good as those of monofocal lenses. For example, many of the patients who now wear multifocal lenses for correction of presbyopia have corrected only distance vision with monofocal lenses so far. By using multifocal lenses, they become more satisfied with their near vision, whereas they are discontent with their distance vision compared to that by using monofocal lenses. In particular, during the night, their distance vision suffers from flare that occurs due to defocus of the near region, causing poor visibility. Thus, many of users of the multifocal lenses wear monofocal lenses when they drive or play sports at night, which obliges them to own both multifocal lenses and monofocal lenses for alternative use.
Another risk associated with the multifocal contact lenses is that correction may vary depending on changes in environment such as changes of brightness from day to night, or changes in usage such as changes from operating PC indoors to watching sports outdoors. Namely, when providing prescription for multifocal contact lenses, while the corrective diopter powers will be decided by an objective examination or a subjective examination, the corrective diopter power for near vision in particular is often decided with a great regard for the wearers' vision in the subjective examination. Here, in most cases, the multifocal contact lens will be prescribed indoors. Consequently, the multifocal contact lenses optimized under the environment at the time of prescription pose a risk that the wearers become less satisfied with their vision which changes under the different environment or usage conditions.
Furthermore, since multifocal contact lenses have a plurality of diopter powers to be adjusted, the prescription needs more time and labor than in case of monofocal lenses. Therefore, the multifocal contact lenses tend to be avoided by prescribers. Similarly, for the wearers, it takes time to get used to the multifocal contact lenses because of the unique vision thereof different from that of monofocal lenses.
An alternative method of correcting presbyopia is monovision prescription as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,881, for example. In monovision prescription, a contact lens adjusted for distance vision is adapted to be fitted to one eye while a contact lens adjusted for near vision is adapted to be fitted to the other eye. By so doing, the one eye will be given distance vision while the other eye will be given near vision. With this arrangement, it is possible to see the desired image by selecting from the image obtained through the distance vision and the image obtained through the near vision according to the action of wearers' brain. However, monovision prescription has not become widespread because of requirement of time and labor for prescription as well as difficulty in choice of lenses suitable for environment of usage.

Wearing-orientation selectable contact lens


Described herein are compositions useful for the preparation of high modulus matrix resins for composites comprising a cycloaliphatic epoxide and a particular modifier.

Advanced composites are high strength, high modulus materials which are finding increasing use as structural components in aircraft, automotive, and sporting goods applications. Typically they comprise structural fibers such as carbon fibers in the form of woven cloth or continuous filaments embedded in a thermosetting resin matrix.
Composite properties depend on both the matrix resin and the reinforcement. In unidirectional carbon fiber composites, important mechanical properties include longitudinal strength and modulus, transverse tensile strength and modulus, and longitudinal compressive strength. The matrix affects all of these properties, but has the greatest effect on compressive strength and transverse tensile properties. High composite compressive strengths and transverse tensile moduli require that the matrix have a high modulus.
State-of-the-art epoxy matrix resin systems in advanced composites are typically based on N,N,N',N'-tetraglycidyl 4,4-diaminophenyl methane and 4,4-diaminodiphenyl sulfone. These resins produce unreinforced castings which have tensile strengths of about 8,000 psi and tensile moduli of 500,000 to 550,000 psi. Unidirectional composites containing 60 volume fraction fiber made with these matrix resins typically have transverse tensile strengths of 5,000 to 7,000 psi and transverse tensile moduli of 1.0 to 1.4 million psi. Higher transverse properties are very desirable for applications such as pressure vessels. Improved compressive properties are desirable for structures subjected to high compressive loads, such as sucker rods for oil wells.
Epoxy resin systems affording higher matrix properties than those in state-of-the-art formulations are known. For example, compositions comprising bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether and m-phenylenediamine produce unreinforced castings with superior tensile strengths (e.g. 14 to 17.000 psi) and tensile moduli (650 to 670,000 psi).
Related epoxy compositions are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,102, which discloses tacky, curable copolymers formed by reacting bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether with aliphatic polyols such as ethylene glycol. Castings made by curing these compositions with m-phenylenediamine have some of the highest tensile strengths (16 to 18,000 psi) and tensile moduli (700 to 850,000 psi) of any thermosetting material. However, in commercial production, these epoxy compositions require long reaction times and complicated vacuum distillation and water washing steps as part of their production processes. Moreover, the yield of the final resin is low, typically 40 to 50%.
It has now been found that epoxy compositions which produce unreinforced castings with a high level of tensile properties and a high heat deflection temperature can be obtained by blending a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin such as bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether with a specific group of modifiers. The blend of cycloaliphatic epoxy resin and modifier produces castings with properties comparable to those obtained with the compositions described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,102. This process is simpler and affords the final product in higher yields than that used to make copolymers of bis(2,3-epoxycyclopentyl) ether and aliphatic polyols.
In the prior art, compositions have been prepared with glycidyl type epoxy resins such as bisphenol-A epoxy resins and modifiers which are described as antiplasticizers. Hata et al in Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Volume 17, pages 2173 to 2181 (1973) and Volume 21, pages 1257 to 1266 (1977) disclosed that polychlorinated biphenyls, dibutyl phthalate and the phenol adducts of bisphenol-A epoxy resins are effective antiplasticizers in a bisphenol-A epoxy resin cured with ethylenediamine. Also, Khozin et al in Polymer Science USSR, Volume 21, pages 1938 to 1948 (1980) described modifiers such as polyhalogeneated biphenyls, azobenzene, hydroxy diphenyl, carbon tetrachloride, tricresyl phosphate in bisphenol-A epoxy resins cured with 4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane. P. D. McLean et al in The British Polymer Journal, Volume 15, March 1983, pages 66 to 70 described additives for bisphenol-A epoxy resins cured with 4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane. The additives are described as fortifiers. They are reaction products between a substituted aromatic amine or amide and a monoepoxide or diepoxide.
However, there are no references to the use of any of the above modifiers with cycloaliphatic epoxides. None of the modified aromatic epoxy resin compositions in the prior art show the combination of tensile modulus greater than 680,000 psi, tensile strength above 10,000 psi with a heat deflection temperature above 100.degree. C. The compositions of this invention, when cured with selected aromatic amines, meets all these requirements.

Epoxy resin systems containing modifiers


Novel grain products are disclosed. Modified de-oiled distillers dried grains that include stillage obtained from anaerobic digestion of the oil cake are provided. In various embodiments, the modified de-oiled distillers dried grains may be the stillage from anaerobic digestion of the oil cake only, may also include the ordinary DDGs obtained from fermentation of the endosperm portion of the grain, or may include stillage obtained from further anaerobic digestion of the ordinary DDGs.

The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present teachings. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present teachings relate to, but are not limited to, the field of corn product production. The invention relates, for example, to de-oiled flour and production of methane, ammonia, and modified dried distillers grains as well as modified dry grind ethanol processes for their production.
2. Description of the Background Art
Corn oil has a number of properties and uses that are attractive to consumers and to producers of consumer products. Refined corn oil is crude corn oil from which fatty acids and phospholipids have been removed. Refined corn oil is reputed to have excellent frying quality and resist smoking and/or discoloration. Refined corn oil typically has a pleasant taste, resists development of off-flavors, and has a high polyunsaturated fat content. Refined corn oil has also been postulated to reduce blood cholesterol levels. Products such as margarines, salad oils, and cooking oils may include refined corn oil. Corn oil may also be used for biodiesel applications.
Corn processing methods may be divided into a number of broad groups, including dry grind ethanol, modified dry grind ethanol, corn wet milling and corn dry milling (Singh, V., et al., "Modified Dry Grind Ethanol Process," Publication of the Agricultural Engineering Dept. of Univ. of Ill. and Urbana-Champaign, UILU No. 2001-7021, Jul. 18, 2001, incorporated by reference herein). Variation within processes may occur based on the preferences of the miller.
In a typical traditional dry grind ethanol operation, whole corn is ground, treated with enzymes, and cooked. The resulting "mash" is treated with enzymes to further liberate glucose from the starchy endosperm tissue. The converted mash is fermented and distilled, producing ethanol, carbon dioxide, and distillers dried grains (DDGs), which are the undissolved solid components (stillage) remaining in the fermentation tank after the broth is removed. These conventional DDGs are thus comprised of yeast and unfermented left over components of the corn.
Traditional dry grind ethanol operations have a number of disadvantages. For instance, use of the entire kernel in the mash, including the non-starch portions of the kernel, reduces the efficiency of the operation. Furthermore, the non-ethanol byproducts (including DDGs) have a relatively low value, and they include a high oil content that is relatively difficult to remove. A typical conventional dry grind ethanol operation is depicted in FIG. 1.
In a typical modified dry grind ethanol operation, corn is first cleaned in a dry state, to remove cobs and other undesirable components, such as iron or stones. The corn may also be wet-cleaned to remove dirt or dust. Following cleaning, the corn is tempered to between about 14% and 22% moisture, typically about 20% moisture. Tempering entails treating the corn with cold water, hot water, and/or steam. This softens the bran and germ and allows them to be more easily separated from the endosperm.
Following tempering, and while the corn is still moist, the germ, tip cap, and pericarp (bran) are separated from the endosperm, which is customarily used to make grits, meals, and flours. The bran and germ proceed through the "through stock" stream, which is dried, cooked, and aspirated. This removes the bran. The remaining dried germ, which typically contains about 45% corn oil on a dry basis, is transferred to a separate facility, where the oil is removed through chemical extraction or auger press/expeller. The corn residue from the press or extraction (oil cake) is then used as an animal feed.
The non-bran, non-germ components of the kernel (principally endosperm tissue) are ground and converted to mash, as is done in the conventional dry grind ethanol operation. Again, the mash is typically treated with enzymes to liberate glucose. The mash (more accurately the glucose in the mash) is fermented and distilled, producing ethanol, DDGs and carbon dioxide. Because the germ, which contains the highest oil content of the corn grain is not used in the fermentation process, the DDGs from this modified process may be considered de-oiled relative to the DDG's obtained from the ordinary process A typical modified dry grind ethanol process is shown in FIG. 2.
Modified dry grind ethanol operations are typically more advantageous than conventional dry grind ethanol operations, because the additional capital cost involved in establishing modified operations is offset by the added value obtained by separating the germ and bran from the materials used in fermentations. The separated germ may be shipped to a treatment facility, then extracted or treated with an expeller to obtain corn oil and the remaining oil cake is customarily used as an animal feed component.
Corn dry milling, without ethanol production, typically involves addition of water to the corn kernel, increasing the moisture content to about 22%. Germ is made more resilient by the addition of water due to differential swelling relative to the other kernel components. The corn is treated (by abrasion or grinding) to break the kernel into bran, germ, and endosperm fragments, and the pericarp and germ fragments are removed from the endosperm. Because the separation is not highly specific, the germ fraction from corn dry milling includes a lower corn oil concentration than the germ fraction from a modified dry grind ethanol operation. Therefore, the germ and bran fractions are usually sold as ingredients in animal foods. The germ and bran fractions are typically not incorporated into any whole corn products, because the amount of oil that is present may be sufficient to foul the product. Following removal of the germ fraction and the bran fraction, the endosperm fraction is separated based on size of the various flakes Endosperm products include flaking grits, brewers grits, cones, meal, and flour. A typical dry corn milling process is shown in FIG. 3.
It would be desirable to provide an improved dry corn milling process to extract further value from corn and similar grains. It would further be desirable to produce an improved de-oiled DDGs and other de-oiled whole grain products that may be made from such an improved process.


A motorcycle includes a frame, a front wheel, a rear wheel, an engine and a plenum. The rotational axes of the front and rear wheels define a first plane that is perpendicular to a second plane. The engine includes an air intake port and an exhaust port. A first pipe transmits air from the plenum to the air intake port and has a first longitudinal section. A second pipe receives exhaust from the exhaust port and has a second longitudinal section. The first and second longitudinal sections have substantially identical cross sectional configurations and are located on opposite sides of the second plane such that they are, at corresponding longitudinal locations, substantially equally spaced from the second plane. Also, the first and second longitudinal sections are located such that they are, at corresponding longitudinal locations, substantially equally spaced with respect to the first plane.

When a conventional motorcycle includes only a single exhaust pipe, that pipe is typically associated with either the left or right side of the motorcycle. For example, when such a motorcycle includes a single exhaust pipe on its right side, no exhaust pipe is provided upon its left side. As an exhaust pipe provides a prominent aesthetic characteristic of a motorcycle, onlookers of the motorcycle having only one exhaust pipe might observe that the motorcycle undesirably exhibits an asymmetrical, lopsided or otherwise unbalanced appearance. Adding an exhaust pipe to the left side of the motorcycle can be inefficient, cost prohibitive and can sufficiently increase the motorcycle's weight as to reduce the motorcycle's performance characteristics. Accordingly, there is a need for a pipe system for a motorcycle that includes only a single exhaust pipe but that nevertheless appears balanced upon the motorcycle.


The device of this invention is an enclosed firebox constructed to fit in a wall fireplace cavity such that the front piece of the enclosed firebox faces the room interior while the back piece faces the outdoors. The front piece contains duct openings to emit heated air from within the firebox into the room. The openings can be closed off to prevent air flow from either into or out of the room. The heated air is obtained from air outside the room to be heated.

In the usual fireplace structure, room air is drawn into the combustion chamber, and, after combustion, is passed up the chimney duct. Furthermore, after the fire in the chamber dies down, room air continues to pass through the chamber and up the duct. Both of these room air movements can cause large heat loss from the room. It would be beneficial to have a structure which does not depend upon room air for conbustion and which also prevents heat loss from the room after combustion in the structure has substantially ceased. The device of this invention achieves these desired results.


A system receives a call from a user via a telephone in which the user requests data files from a computer network. A Teletext page is allocated to the user by the system and identified by a number. The system generates a menu in the allocated Teletext page and includes it in a broadcast television signal from which the user makes a selection by pushing a number on the telephone keypad. The number identifies a data file on the computer network. The system writes the information from the requested file to the Teletext page included in the television broadcast signal.

In recent years, there has been explosive growth in the Internet, and in particular of the WorldWide Web (WWW), which is one of the facilities provided via the Internet. The WWW comprises many pages or files of information, distributed across many different servers. Each page is identified by an individual address or "Universal Resource Locator (URL)". Each URL denotes both a server machine, and a particular file or page on that machine. There may be many pages or URLs resident on a single server.
Typically, to utilise the WWW, a user runs a computer program called a Web browser on a client computer system such as a personal computer. Examples of widely available Web browsers include the "WebExplorer" Web browser provided by International Business Machines Corporation in the OS/2 Operating System software, or the "Navigator" Web browser available from Netscape Communications Corporation. The user interacts with the Web browser to select a particular URL. The interaction causes the browser to send a request for the page or file identified in selected URL to the server identified in the selected URL. Typically, the server responds to the request by retrieving the requested page, and transmitting the data for that page back to the requesting client. The client-server interaction is usually performed in accordance with a protocol called the hypertext transfer protocol ("http"). The page received by the client is then displayed to the user on a display screen of the client. The client may also cause the server to launch an application, for example to search for WWW pages relating to particular topics.
WWW pages are typically formatted in accordance with a computer programming language known as hypertext markup language ("html"). Thus a typical WWW page includes text together with embedded formatting commands, referred to as tags, that can be employed to control for example font style, font size, lay-out etc. The Web browser parses the HTML script in order to display the text in accordance with the specified format. In addition, an html page also contain a reference, in terms of another URL, to a portion of multimedia data such as an image, video segment, or audio file. The Web Browser responds to such a reference by retrieving and displaying or playing the multimedia data. Alternatively, the multimedia data may reside on its own WWW page, without surrounding html text.
Most WWW pages also contain one or more references to other WWW pages, which need not reside on the same server as the original page. Such references may be activated by the user selecting particular locations on the screen, typically by clicking a mouse control button. These references or locations are known as hyperlinks, and are typically flagged by the Web browser in a particular manner. For example, any text associated with a hyperlink may be displayed in a different colour. If a user selects the hyperlinked text, then the referenced page is retrieved and replaces the currently displayed page.
Further information about html and the WWW can be found in "World Wide Web and HTML" by Douglas McArthur p18-26 in Dr Dobbs Journal, December 1994, and in "The HTML SourceBook" by Ian Graham, John Wiley, New York, 1995.
Conventionally, to access WWW pages via the Internet, a user has needed access to relatively specialised and expensive hardware such a personal computer fitted with a modem communications link and a WWW browser software package. More recently, there have become available a variety of so-called "set-top boxes" each for linking a domestic television receiver to the WWW. Examples of such step top boxes includes the Internet TV Terminal available from Phillips/Magnavox and the WebTV Internet Terminal available from Sony Corporation. A set-top box typically includes a modem communication link connectable to the WWW via a subscriber telephone line and a video output connectable to a domestic television receiver for displaying WWW pages down-loaded from the WWW via the modem link. It would be desirable to enable users to access the Internet access with no, or at most the bare minimum of, additional specialist hardware.

System and method for accessing data files in a computer network


An ice delivery system includes an ice bin with an ice maker thereon. An auger dispenses ice from the bin and agitators within the bin prevent blockage. The agitation may follow a pattern depending on the location of the agitators with some about the periphery less employed than those adjacent the auger. An ice gate receives ice and flowing air to direct the ice pneumatically to a multistation diverter. The flow through the diverter is vertically downwardly. Tubes from the diverter convey ice to remote dispensing stations. The dispensing stations have prechambers with drains and lockable gates to advantageously receive ice for delivery into the remote station bins or block the ice storage area to allow cleaning. Conduit couplings are configured to connect tubing without creating an area of ice blockage or allowing the buildup of contamination. Germicidal lights or ozone may be used in the ice bin to avoid contamination. Further, active agents for cleaning, de-scaling or sanitizing may be introduced through the ice gate on an automatic cycled basis.

The field of the present invention is pneumatic ice distribution to dispensing stations.
Apparatus and methods for distributing ice to remote stations have been developed, particularly for use in the food service industry. Such systems incorporate a central ice bin, transport conduits, remote dispensing stations and a source of pneumatic energy to move the ice from the central bin to the dispensing stations. One such system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,421, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In designing such systems, important considerations include enhancing ice flow, maintaining the integrity of the ice in a frozen state and avoiding contamination. In operating such systems, ice has been found to have a tendency to stick together and form blockages in the handling system. Avoidance of such blockages and the proper handling of a blockage when it does occur are of critical importance to the reliability to such systems. Maintaining the ice in an appropriate frozen state is also important. Localized thawing followed by re-freezing encourages the agglomeration of pieces of ice, resulting in blockage and inappropriate dispensing. The quality of the ice dispensed also is dependent upon the appropriate maintenance of uniform temperatures. Contamination has been a problem in such systems. Ice bins form a convenient source for manually taking scoops of ice. Further, placing foreign objects, such as glasses and bowls, in the ice for chilling has also been found to be a common, if inappropriate, use of ice bins. Resolutions of these issues is necessary for public safety and commercial acceptance of such systems.

Method and apparatus for the distribution of ice


One or more human resources systems implements one or more cryptographically secured ledger(s) to persist transactions related to administered objects, such as employee objects. Attribute and/or state changes associated with a given employee object are represented as transactions between accounts that represent different attributes and/or states.

Distributed computing and storage systems and services, such as those provided by computing resource service providers (e.g., over the Internet), are increasingly utilized by enterprises and individual users to augment, and in some cases, replace on-premise computing resources. However, as such distributed systems and services are not necessarily under complete control of the implementing user or enterprise, the integrity of transactions made therewith can be difficult to ascertain (from the perspective of the user), and difficult for which to provide assurances (from the perspective of the service provider). Additionally, a given data object or entity may be represented and modified by multiple disparate elements of a system, or different systems altogether, and may thus suffer from a lack of verifiable consistency with respect to the data object or entity's state at a given point in time.
For example, a human resources system (or plurality of such systems) may be implemented to track the state of an organization's employees, as well as that of other verticals and hierarchies associated with those employees (e.g., cost centers, departments, job titles, and the like). For various reasons, such systems would benefit from time-state consistency (whether eventually or synchronously guaranteed), auditability, and/or immutability with respect to transactions, such as state changes, associated with the represented employees or other objects.

Verifiable cryptographically secured ledgers for human resource systems


A linear bearing with revolving roller elements has a carrier body on which a closed track is formed, the runner elements moving on this track, which comprises a load track, a return track, and two substantially U-shaped roller element deflection tracks. Lateral guide means are provided for the roller elements: the guide means have homogeneous lateral guide walls for the roller elements and are formed to be step-free and continuous over the length of the load track and over at least part of the adjacent deflection tracks.

Linear bearings are known that have a carrier body, on which pairs of tracks associated with one another and defined by lateral guide means and on which tracks roller elements move are formed. One of them, the load track, is associated with the supporting roller elements, and the other, the return track or path, is arranged for returning the unloaded roller elements; the two tracks are joined together at their ends by essentially U-shaped roller element deflection tracks, forming a closed path.
Linear bearings of this type are known in many kinds of embodiments. The roller elements may be balls, rollers or drum-like elements, and so forth, which are located one behind the other on the load track for a pressure column. In other conventional embodiments, however, the roller elements are kept spaced apart from one another by special provisions. For instance, the roller-like roller elements, carrying bearing journals on the ends, are supported on these journals in chain links, resulting in an endless interlocking structure in the manner of a "pull chain". A fundamental feature of these linear bearings is that the roller elements must be guided very accurately on the tracks, because otherwise they jam against one another, or in the case of roller elements in the form of rollers they tilt or wobble. Such phenomena cause rough operation, vibration, and so-called stick-slip effects, and so forth, which moreover entail increased wear and thus shorten the service life of the linear bearing.
For production reasons, it is necessary as a rule to produce the roller element deflectors disposed on the ends of the load track as separate parts that are secured to the carrier body and have the deflection tracks for the roller elements. In order to guide the roller elements on the substantially U-shaped deflection path, multiple-piece deflector devices are often necessary, the individual parts of which are held together by clamping shackles and the like. Because of their complicated shape, the parts are certainly not made of the same material as the carrier bodies (which as a rule are of steel); instead, materials that are readily molded and more favorable in cost are used, such as aluminum, plastic, brass, and so forth.
Thermal changes in state, caused for instance by increased operating temperatures, can cause displacements and variable changes in length of these parts of the deflector devices relative to one another and in comparison with the carrier body, with the result that the very close tolerances that are indispensible for satisfactory lateral guidance of the roller elements are exceeded, with the disadvantageous effects noted. Since the deflector devices are mounted on the carrier bodies on the face end, so that their face dividing them from the carrier body is located directly at the end of the load track (see FIG. 6 of German Patent 33 03 832 to Teramachi, for instance), the transition point between the load track and the deflection track is at an intrinsically highly . unfavorable point, at which the roller elements traveling on the load track, for instance, are relieved and in this process undergo a certain elastic deformation. Because of the close tolerance in terms of lateral guidance of the roller elements, these linear bearings therefore entail relatively high production expense, and may possibly require re-machining after assembly in the region of the roller element deflections.


The present invention provides a system suitable for displaying price modeling data having an indexing module that calculates indexes based on price modeling data and a display module configured display a calculated index. Other embodiments provide a data aggregation module that aggregates indexes calculated by the indexing module that may be also be displayed.

Price modeling using a variety of analytical methods has been described in many publications including, for example, economic treatises, textbooks, and patents. Numerical information culled from vast data sets containing numerous transaction based sales operations may be analyzed and displayed in any of a number of different ways such as through word processing, spreadsheets, and graphical software programs. Modeling this numerical information visually in a price modeling context presents various challenges to designers and analysts.
In order to effectively communicate via visual display methods information gleaned from data sets, designers face many challenges. In one instance the sheer number of data entries in a transaction based data warehouse can typically exceed many millions of transactions. Displaying millions of individual entries on a single display will not generally provide an analyst with useful information. That is, simply graphing a large number of entries alone will not generally provide useful insight into the characteristic and nature of the data set. In this situation, predictive analysis of the data becomes difficult, if not impossible, as a practical matter. Thus, designers must, in some fashion, aggregate, or allow the user to flexibly aggregate the data in order to display any meaningful characterization of a data set.
Typically, generally known statistical analysis methods may be employed to aggregate data. Averages, medians, modes, and other statistical methods well known in the art may be utilized to aggregate data so that trends and analysis may be affected. However, in some cases, unique methods of data aggregation may be desirable. For example, an average value of price quotes for a particular region may give a sales person a basis upon which to make a real time price quote to a customer. The average value, in this example, represents a statistical locus around which all the price quotes for that region tend to fall. Averaging has an added benefit of reducing a chosen set of data to a single number thus deriving performance gains when analyzing and manipulating the data set. However, as can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, average values cannot generally account for relative comparisons between groups of related items. To make a relative comparison between groups of related items, an index may be calculated.
Indexes, which are generally known in the art, have been employed in a variety of manners. Stock markets, for example, often use indexes as a gauge of general market condition. Index calculations are typically performed in batch processes. As such, indexes are indicators of past performance only and generally cannot be used to compare real-time data changes. Indexing also tends to aggregate data in ways that make it difficult if not impossible to explore lower level data orders such as individual transactions for example. Further, while indexes generally provide a single value as an indicator, they are not generally visualized in other ways. Thus, an innovative index calculation that may be generated in response to real-time data changes, that allows extraction and manipulation of the underlying data, and that may be visualized in new ways is desirable to achieve a more robust and rich analysis.
Another complication confronting designers in modeling and displaying large transaction based data sets is that in typical legacy systems, aggregating data often results in the loss of individual transaction information due in part to methodologies selected to enhance performance. As noted above, an average value represents a statistical locus around which all values in the data tend to fall. Also noted above, averaging represents a way of reducing a data set. In many cases, however, a finer level of granularity with respect to the data set may be desirable since, in at least some instances, outliers and dispersions of data tend to become aggregated or averaged away resulting in a distortion of original data set. Thus, for example, a data set may be reduced by averaging based on a given criteria (e.g., average prices for a given item by region). The data set, in this example, may be reduced to a single entry for each item in a given region. As an example, the average price of a widget in the western region may be represented as a single entry. Unfortunately, however, once a data set is reduced, the ability to examine a single transaction or even a group of transactions within the data set is typically severely limited or impossible. Thus, methods to recapture and display single or group transactions of a reduced data set may be desirable.
In view of the foregoing, systems and methods for generating and displaying indexed price modeling data.

System and method for generating and displaying indexed price modeling data


A light emitting composition includes a light-emitting lumophore-functionalized nanoparticle, such as an organic-inorganic light-emitting lumophore-functionalized nanoparticle. A light emitting device includes an anode, a cathode, and a layer containing such a light-emitting composition. In an embodiment, the light emitting device can emit white light.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to light emitting compositions and light-emitting devices that include the light-emitting compositions. Specifically, this invention relates to light emitting compositions and light-emitting devices that include a light-emitting lumophore-functionalized nanoparticle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic electroluminescent devices capable of emitting white light are desirable because of their potential utility as backplane lights for displays, overhead lighting and other lightweight, low profile, low power lighting applications. White light-emitting Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) devices with high color purity and brightness exceeding 2000 cd/m2 have been demonstrated at least since 1994. (1, 2) However, there is considerable difficulty in preparing white emitting OLEDs because it is generally quite difficult to prepare a device with a single layer that can emit white light. Several ineffective strategies have been employed to generate white light by electroluminescence including: preparation of devices with multiple emitting layers, e.g. red, green and blue (2); use of a single emitting layer doped with multiple small molecule emitters of different colors (1, 3, 4); blends of different color emitting polymers (5, 6); excimer (7) or "electromer" (8) emission from a semiconducting polymer; excimer emission from an interface (9); and broad emission from metal chelates (10).
There are significant drawbacks to all of these approaches. Preparation of devices with multiple emitting layers is typically more difficult and time consuming than preparation of devices with fewer layers. Device failure is more likely to occur due to interfacial defects, and matching the conduction band energies of multiple layers is complicated at best. Small molecules tend to have limited solubility in polymers. Blends of small molecule emitters and polymer dispersions of emitters tend to aggregate or phase separate, which often results in decreased device performance and poor color stability. Excimers and electromers often show field dependent emission spectra and their formation changes the transport properties of the device. Classical polymer-based systems are typically difficult to purify and exhibit poor batch-to-batch reproducibility. It is also very difficult to control the structure of classical polymer-based systems except in a very general sense. Finally, broad spectral emission from small single molecules typically heavily consists of green wavelength components and has a much lower efficiency for the red and blue components. The human eye is most sensitive to green light; hence in an actual device, it is desirable to have the red and blue wavelength components brighter than the green components. Molecular orbital and quantum mechanical theories forbid this type of emission from a single small molecule material.
The following articles are referred to above and incorporated by reference herein in their entireties:    1. Kido, J., Hongawa, K., Okuyama, K. & Nagai, K. White light-emitting organic electroluminescent devices using the poly(N-vinylcarbazole) emitter layer doped with three fluorescent chromophores. Applied Physics Letters 64, 815 (1994).    2. Kido, J., Kimura, M. & Nagai, K. Multilayer White light-Emitting Organic Electroluminescent Device. Science 267, 1332-1334 (1995).    3. Kido, J., Ikeda, W., Kimura, M. & Nagai, K. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. (part 2) 35, L394 (1996).    4. Tasch, S. et al. Applied Physics Letters 71, 2883 (1997).    5. Yang, Y. & Pei, Q. Journal of Applied Physics 81, 3294 (1997).    6. Granstrom, M. & Inganas, O. Applied Physics Letters 68, 147 (1996).    7. Gao, Z. Q., Lee, C. S., Bello, I. & Lee, S. T. White light electroluminescence from a hole-transporting layer of mixed organic materials. Synthetic Metals 111-112, 39-42 (2000).    8. Lee, Y.-Z. et al. White light electroluminescence from soluble oxadiazole-containing phenylene vinylene ether-linkage copolymer. Applied Physics Letters 79, 308-310 (2001).    9. Chao, C.-I. & Chen, S.-A. White light emission from exciplex in a bilayer device with two blue light-emitting polymers. Applied Physics Letters 73, 426-428 (1998).    10. Hamada, Y. et al. White light-emitting material for organic electroluminescent devices. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. (part 2) 35, L1339-L1341 (1996).

Light emitting devices and compositions comprising lumophore-functionalized nanoparticles