This invention relates to an airconditioning system which uses a plurality of absorption chiller-cells, for refrigerating an antifreeze fluid that is circulated through fan-coil units of an airconditioning system. The anti-freeze fluid passes through refrigerant evaporators in each cell structure in a consecutive order for lowering the temperature of the antifreeze fluid gradually. More particularly, it relates to an absorption chiller-cell system having a plurality of evaporators employing multi-refrigerant circulation circuits in an absorption cycle to produce sufficient refrigerant for the airconditioning system. The invention enables the physical size of the system to be relatively small, so that the system can replace conventional electric airconditioning units for home applications. In further aspects, this invention provides an airconditioning system which includes a plurality of absorption chiller-cells that produce various kinds of capacity of the system by combining more or less numbers of chiller-cells, the invention provides also an easier and simpler solution for maintenance or replacement of chiller-cells.

The present invention relates to an airconditioning system utilizing a plurality of absorption chiller-cells for refrigerating a second coolant medium such as an anti-freeze solution to obtain a sufficient low temperature for the indoor fan-coil units of an airconditioning system, by circulating and exchanging heat of the second coolant medium gradually from the first absorption chiller-cell and through up to numbers of absorption chiller-cells in a consecutive order, for providing an accumulative chilling effect, to give more efficient and faster cooling.
Further the invention provides a method and apparatus for operating an absorption chiller-cell, utilizing an absorption refrigeration means which has a plurality of evaporator means. The apparatus employs multi-refrigerant circulation circuits in an absorption cycles so as to enable the physical size of the system to be smaller and the cooling capacity larger, when compared to existing absorption systems. This invention also provides an airconditioning system wherein absorption chiller-cells produce various different capacities by combining various numbers of chiller cells, chiller cells maintenance or replacement is easily accomplished.
Various systems have been devised before to make an airconditioning system utilizing an absorption refrigeration means. One known arrangement is to use water as the refrigerant and lithium bromide as the absorbent. However, this system is not suitable for home use due to its physical size and a complex construction required to solve the crystallization problem. There is also the risk of freezing due to the use of water as the refrigerant.
Another known airconditioning system uses a solution pair of ammonia as refrigerant and water absorbent. This system is relatively small compared to the system using LiBr (lithium bromide) and water, but still too big to replace the present electric airconditioning unit for home or apartment application. The main problem of the prior art absorption refrigeration cycle, is the technical difficulty in producing enough refrigerant at low temperature somewhat below that of the heat load with a small physical system. The prior art, including numerous patents and studies, is mainly concerned with the technology of improving the coefficient of performance (COP) of an absorption refrigeration system regardless of the physical size of the system. Conventional absorption refrigeration systems are not easily maintained or operated, and are therefore not adaptable for home applications.
An object of this invention is to provide an airconditioning system utilizing an absorption refrigeration means having a plurality of absorption chiller-cell structures for chilling a sufficient quantity of an antifreeze solution to a sufficient low temperature for the fan-coil units of an airconditioning system. Another object is to provide a method and apparatus for operating an absorption refrigeration system having a plurality of evaporators that provide an improved cooling capacity with a limited physical size refrigeration system. Still another object is to provide an absorption refrigeration system having a reduced physical size whereby the system can replace the cooling unit of the conventional electric airconditioning system for home use. Still another object is to provide an air conditioning system which is capable of increasing or decreasing its cooling capacity by increasing or decreasing the number of chiller-cell units to produce various different airconditioning system capacities. Still another object is to provide an absorption airconditioning system which will be easier to maintain and repair.
The outstanding characteristic of the invention is that the refrigerating means comprises a plurality of absorption chiller-cell structures for refrigerating an antifreeze fluid to sufficient low temperature; the anti freeze fluid is circulated through each absorption chiller-cell in consecutive order, to produce enough refrigerant volume to meet the cooling capacity requirements of the air conditioning system.
Another outstanding characteristic of the invention is to provide an airconditioning system based on the diffusion absorption (DA) cycle by employing multi-refrigerant circulation circuits in an absorption cycle. The DA technology is based on the Platen-Muntecs cycle and is currently manufactured internationally for hotel room and recreational vehicle refrigerators. The unique features of the new technology are (1) it can be gas-fired with no electric input required and (2) machines based on a DA cycle are essentially silent. Until the present invention it was thought that the DA cycle should consist of one refrigerant loop circuit, one solution loop circuit and one gas loop circuit; the single loop arrangement is not suitable for airconditioning systems due to its poor cooling capacity. The present invention employs multiple loop technology, i.e. multiple evaporators and multiple condensers.
Another unique characteristic of the invention is the method of heat exchange between an antifreeze and each absorption chiller-cell, employing tube-in-tube principles to create a plural evaporator and associated heat exchanging chambers. The antifreeze solution exchanges heat with the evaporating refrigerant by flowing as a liquid film along the outside surface of each evaporator tube. The temperature and volume of the antifreeze solution is controlled by using multiple evaporators in parallel flow relation, and passing the antifreeze solution in serial fashion through separate heat exchangers associated with the respective evaporators, whereby the antifreeze solution is cooled in stages.

Airconditioning system utilizing absorption chiller cell


A cooling apparatus comprises a main refrigerator having a refrigerant-filled chamber, a sub-refrigerator connected parallel to the main refrigerator and having a refrigerant-filled chamber, switch control means for controlling the switching operation between the supply of a refrigerant used in the main refrigerator to the sub-refrigerator, and the stop of the supply of the refrigerant, on the basis of predetermined conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cooling system for cooling an object to a very low temperature, such as a refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator, a superconducting magnet apparatus, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that most of superconducting magnet apparatuses now put to practice employ both an immersion cooling system wherein a superconducting coil and a cryogenic refrigerant such as liquid helium are contained in an adiabatic container, and a system wherein a thermal shield embedded in an adiabatic layer of the adiabatic container is cooled by a cryogenic refrigerator. Moreover, a superconducting magnet apparatus which employs a refrigerator direct cooling system is now being developed. In this apparatus, a superconducting coil contained in an adiabatic container is directly cooled by a cryogenic refrigerator.
Many of such superconducting magnet apparatuses use a refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator as a cryogenic refrigerator, on the grounds that it has a small size and can realize a sufficiently low temperature. The refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator usually employs a plural-stage expansion type cooling system with a plurality of refrigerant-filled chambers, and a gas control system for introducing gas of high pressure into the overall cooling system and exhausting gas therefrom in an alternate manner. A typical refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator employs the Gifford-McMahon refrigerating cycle.
To cool a superconducting coil less than its critical temperature by a refrigerator direct cooling method, a refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator which employs a two-stage expansion system is usually used. This refrigerator cools the thermal shield to about 50 K. in a first cooling stage, and the superconducting coil to about 5 K. in a second cooling stage.
It is desirable to minimize the pre-cooling time required to cool the superconducting coil less than its critical temperature. In the case of using the refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator constructed as above, however, more than 50 hours are usually required for the following reason:
FIG. 1 shows examples of cooling capacities of the first and second cooling stages in the refrigerant-filled chamber type refrigerator, which employs the two-stage expansion system and the Gifford-McMahon refrigerating cycle. As is evident from FIG. 1, the cooling capacity of the first or second cooling stage is substantially constant within a range of from the room temperature (300 K.) to about 100 K. In other words, in this temperature range, the required pre-cooling time cannot be shortened even when a large amount of gas is supplied from the gas control system, since the amount of heat absorption is inherently limited.

Cooling system having plural cooling stages in which refrigerate-filled chamber type refrigerators are used


An exemplary method for manufacturing an elastomeric flooring comprises: providing a first rubber mixture (2); providing a decor carrier material (6) comprising areas with a decor layer (7) wherein the decor layer (7) contains a second rubber mixture; shaping the first rubber mixture (2) by converting it to a rubber web (5); applying the decor carrier material (6) comprising the decor layer (7) onto the rubber web (5), wherein the decor layer (7) comes in contact with the rubber web (5); vulcanizing the rubber web (5) with the decor layer (7) applied to it, wherein the decor layer (7) bonds to the rubber web (5); and removing the decor carrier material (6).

DE 199 15 729 A1 describes an elastomeric flooring whose upper side forms a decor surface. In this case, decor elements are embedded in the rubber sheet of the flooring in such a way that the decor elements are visible from above. DE 195 07 113 C1 describes a random-patterned elastomeric flooring with two or three basic colors. EP 1 475 490 A1 describes an elastomeric flooring with a structured surface. DE 10 2010 036 122 A1 describes an elastomeric flooring in which the matrix contains particles of a thermoplastic material.

Method for producing an elastomer floor covering having a decorative layer and an elastomer floor covering with a decorative layer


An electronic water flow control device, which includes a mini-scale electrical generator which changes the mechanical energy from water flow into electrical energy for storage in a battery and for further use in driving a motor, by means of the control of a control circuit, to carry a piston rod to move forward or backward through the operation of a speed reducing gear set, so as to push a ball valve away from a water inlet for the passing therethrough of water flow or permit such a ball valve to block up the water inlet.

The present invention is related to an electronic water flow control device which is controlled to operate by means of a control circuit with self-provided electric power which is obtained from water power generation.
The water flow control device which is commonly called water tap or faucet is used for starting or stopping the flow of water in a pipe or barrel. Conventionally, a water flow control device is operated through swiveling or pressing control to turn on or off the valve therein so as to start or stop the flow of water. Recently, various types of infrared induced automatic water flow control devices have been developed to satisfy consumers' demand for high quality and high performance. A common disadvantage of the existing infrared induced automatic water flow control devices is their high cost. Another common disadvantage of the existing infrared induced automatic water flow control devices is the limitation of the availability of AC power supply.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic water flow control device which can change mechanical energy from the flow of water into electrical energy for storage in a battery for further use in the operation of a motor and a detector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic water flow control device which utilizes compression springs to reserve mechanical energy for use in controlling the movement of a piston rod which pushes a ball valve to move away from a water inlet and permits such a ball valve to block up such a water inlet.


Elastic-loaded, retractable shank surgical pins having a hollow shank adapted to receive an elastic-loaded retractable shank can be inserted into the bone flap or into the walls of the skull cavity from which the bone flap has been removed, the retractable shank compressed against the elastic loading, and the bone flap placed into position in the skull cavity. The retractable shanks are allowed to expand outwards into corresponding holes positioned in the skull or bone flap, securing the latter in place without the necessity of protruding wires or other conventional locating devices. The pins need not be positioned parallel to each other, and may be spaced around the bone flap, preferably constituting the sole means of securing the bone flap in the skull cavity.

In many surgical procedures involving the cranium, a section of the skull bone (cranium) must be removed to provide access to the brain or other underlying tissue. The section removed may be round, square, or other shape dictated by the nature of the operation, the equipment available, the training of the surgeon, and the like. Following the operation, the bone flap removed must be repositioned and maintained stably for a period of time sufficient to allow the bone to knit together
In the past, two principle methods have been used to secure the bone flap, as illustrated by FIGS. 1a and 1b. In FIG. 1a, a series of holes are drilled adjacent to each other along the mating peripheries of the skull and the bone flap. Wires are inserted through these holes and twisted or tied together to anchor the skull and bone flap in close proximity. The use of such wires causes several problems which are well recognized The protruding wire is apt to cause irritation due to either or both the normal motion of the scalp over the wires, or the palpation of the scalp over the wires Moreover, the protrusion of the wires above the surface of the cranium causes an elevation of the scalp at these positions, which may become more noticeable as scar tissue caused by relative movement of wires and scalp builds over time. This problem is aesthetically displeasing when a portion of the bone flap removed is below the patients hairline, or for balding patients, virtually anywhere. An improvement over the use of wires to maintain a bone flap in position is the use of screw-type devices as illustrated by FIG. 1b. However, these screw-type devices share some of the irritational and in large part, the disfiguring disadvantages of the use of wires.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,912 are disclosed metal pins having two tapering shanks extending from a central protruding collar. One shank is pressed into the bone flap while the other shank is inserted into a hole in the skull positioned to receive the shank. The collar limits the degree of insertion into the bone flap. The device of the '912 patent is illustrated in FIG. 2a, and an application of the device is illustrated in FIG. 2b.
As can be seen in FIG. 2b, the use of the pins of the '912 patent is partially helpful in alleviating irritation and disfigurement by eliminating a number of wires and/or screw-type devices. However, the pins must be positioned parallel to each other and located on the same side of the bone flap, or they will be unable to enter the holes in the skull drilled to receive them. Thus, while one side of the bone flap may be secured with such pins, the remaining sides must be fixed in position with traditional fastening devices such as wires or screw-type fasteners.

Elastic loaded retractable pin device for cranial bone attachment


The present invention relates to a method for hydrophobization of a fabric surface comprising providing a stream of a substantially anhydrous gas, passing said gas over or through a substantially anhydrous liquid of an alkylsilane, preferably a fluorinated alkylsilane to provide an alkylsilane, preferably a fluorinated alkylsilane vapor and bringing said vapor in contact with the fabric surface, thereby allowing the optionally fluorinated alkylsilane to bind covalently to the fabric surfaced. The present invention further relates to a fabric comprising a superhydrophobic surface finish prepared by a method of the invention and to a device for carrying out the method of the invention.

Surface modification aims to tailor the surface characteristics of a material for a specific application without detrimentally affecting the bulk properties. At present a range of methods is used to effect surface modifications on a wide range of materials, including biomedical devices and biomaterials, wood, textiles, leather, metals, glass, ceramics, paper and plastics.
Such finishes may for instance include wettability, water-repellent and waterproofing finishes; coloration, lacquering, and abrasion protection finishes; chemical softening, easy-care, antistatic and soil-release finishes; flame-retarding finishes; and anti-microbial, rotproofing and hygiene finishes. The finish itself constitutes a chemical substance bonded to the surface by mechanical or chemical interaction.
The application of these finishes requires a specific application process and must be tailored to the material and the desirable properties. In fact, as each material differs in its surface properties the application of a finish layer thereon may require specific adaptations of the process. For instance in the field of textile finishes, such parameters as fiber nature (100% natural, synthetic or blends thereof) and inherent absorbent properties as well as weave and construction of a textile fabric, largely determine the possibility of subjecting the material to a wet finish process. In addition, the properties of the finish are very much determined by the process used. For instance when a smooth finish is to be obtained on a rough surface, a wet process that deposits large amounts of finish material is preferred.
In the field of regatta sailcloths, important improvements can be expected from surface finishes. Modern sailing regattas are high-tech events comparable to F1 car racing. Constant development of new sailcloths, weaves, yarns, laminates, foils and reinforcement fibres is extremely important for regatta yachting. The spin-off benefits of these high tech developments results in improved sailcloths for the coastal and cruising sailor.
The majority of the sails are woven cloths, often based on polyester fibres such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET), also known as Dacron®, which provides for a durable, easy to handle and reasonably priced product. Over the years these relatively traditional weaves have been improved with respect stretch and UV resistance, durability, and ease of handling and maintenance resulting in the production of sails based on ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, e.g. Spectra® and Dyneema®), liquid crystal polymer (LCP, e.g. Vectran®), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN, e.g. Pentex®), or aramid (e.g. Kevlar® and Twaron®) fibers.
In search for lighter materials, laminate sailcloths have been developed that consist of 3-5 alternating layers of a woven material, for instance in the form of a taffeta (silk weave), scrim (loose mesh) or inlay (strands) as the primary load carrier and for abrasion resistance, and a film material such as PET (e.g. Mylar®) or PEN for holding the fibres in place and providing stretch resistance. These layers are glued together to provide the laminate. Laminate sailcloths are stronger and more stretch resistant and therefore particularly useful for larger sail areas common for the larger yachts. Their low weight also makes these sails easier to handle and improves sailing efficiency, however, at the expense of increased costs and reduced durability, since these laminates are prone to de-lamination and mildew. In addition, improved water-repellency is required.
Water introduced between the sheets or the seams of the sailcloth is a serious cause of fungal growth. An increase in the water-repellency of the sailcloth reduces the infiltration of water in the sailcloth. In addition, because weight is very important for sailcloths, water-repellency prevents accumulation of water and dirt (anti-staining), and provides for stable lightweight characteristics.
It is well known that the hydrophobicity of a surface determines its water-repellency. One existing method for providing hydrophobicity uses a wet finish process which involves the application of a liquid coating solution to the material surface and an intensive post-application treatment to activate the hydrophobic properties of the coating. These wet coatings are not very durable as they are insufficiently permanent. Also, large amounts of coating solution are required making the process costly. Most importantly these methods result in a significant increase in the weight of the material.
An example of such a wet finishing process is described in GB114782. GB114782 describes the use of fluorine-silicon adducts and the impregnation of a textile fabric by spraying or dipping with a solution of the fluorine-silicon. This is an example of a wet finish process that does not result in a monomolecular layer. The disadvantage of that method is that the fabric becomes too heavy.
Another example of such a wet finishing process is described in EP0588242. EP0588242 describes the covalent binding of chlorosilane based chemical adsorbents to a material surface wherein a in the form of monomolecular film bonded to materials via a chlorosilane layer in order to render these material water and oil repellent. The process of EP0588242 comprises contacting the material with a chlorosilane solution to adsorb the chlorosilane to the material, removing the unbound chlorosilane and reacting the unreacted chlorosilyl groups of said adsorbed chlorosilane with water to form a chemically adsorbed monomolecular film. Subsequently, a chlorosilane-based chemical adsorbent having fluorocarbon groups is chemically adsorbed to this film, thus forming a chemically adsorbed monomolecular film having water- and oil-repelling properties. This method comprises several steps and is not a one-step process. Furthermore, the alkylsilane is not bonded directly to the surface of the fabric.
Another existing method uses a gas phase process involving the deposition of gaseous precursors under the influence of a plasma.
Gas plasma treatment has the advantage that very thin layers can be deposited. However, the problem with such methods is that they are very expensive as dedicated equipment is needed for applying the coating. In addition, these methods are very difficult to perform on the scale needed for treating the large surface areas of sails as the processes must be carried out at reduced pressure in a treatment chamber housing the plasma source.
Thus, the problem with current methods for hydrophobing a material surface, and in particular a material having a large surface area such as a sailcloth, is that these methods result in a significant increase in weight and that the coating is insufficiently durable, or that they are not economical.
The aim therefore is to provide an economic method by which a hydrophobic functionality can be added to the cloth without significantly increasing its weight, and without compromising durability and wear resistance.
GB1023897 discloses the use of a two-step method for rendering fibrous material water-repellent comprising a first step of using an organic ester of titanium or an alkyl tin carboxylate as a catalyst followed by a second step involving the treatment with a vaporous fluorohydrocarbon alkoxysilane having an alkoxygroup as hydrolysable group. The drawback of this process is that it is very uneconomical to perform two separate treatment steps on a large areas of material such as a sailcloth.

Hydrophobic surface finish and method of application

Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO


A system includes a control board, a controlled board, and a connector connecting the control board to the controlled board. The control board includes a processing unit that configures the reference voltage signals, a non-volatile memory that stores information about the reference voltage signals, and a DAC that outputs the reference voltage signals in accordance with instructions from the processing unit. The controlled board includes: first and second voltage reference devices that receive first and second reference voltage signals, respectively, and a radio-frequency device that receives a first frequency signal and a second frequency signal and outputs a third frequency signal based on one of the first and second reference voltage signals. The connector includes an analog line for providing reference voltage signals to the first and second voltage reference devices and a digital line for providing control signals to activate one of the first and second voltage reference devices.

Modern RF devices, such as mixers, upconverters, downconverters, power amplifiers and the latest highly integrated multifunction ICs, often require operation mode tuning using multiple independent voltage references (VREF). In some circumstances, the reference voltages need to be re-adjusted at runtime for various operation environments such as temperature, frequency, power level, etc. Such devices are usually calibrated during product manufacturing, for example, individually calibrated for each manufactured unit, and the values of the reference voltages are stored inside the on-board electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM).
A most common approach to provide multiple reference voltages to the controlled device is illustrated in FIG. 1, where a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with multiple channels is used.
In a modular design approach, a CPU/MPU with a DAC are disposed on one board referred as the "control board", while the controlled device, such as mixers, upconverters, etc., are disposed on a different board referred as the "controlled board". The physical interface between the control board and the controlled board is predefined so that the same type of the control board can be connected to different predefined types of the controlled board. FIG. 2 depicts a structure of a revised system to provide reference voltage to a mixer on a controlled board.
However, a connector of the control board has a limited and fixed number of analog lines determined by the original design of the controlled board. Future revisions or new types of the controlled board may require more reference voltages than originally designed. Therefore, the interface of a current controlled board may not be able to provide enough analog lines to meet the new design requirements. FIG. 3 depicts a compatibility problem of the revised system to provide reference voltage to a mixer on a controlled board. Note that the mixer needs two reference voltage signals but the control board can only provide one.

System of providing multiple voltage references to a radio-frequency device using a single analog line


An ON/OFF push button switch is disclosed which includes a housing, a fixed contact fixedly mounted on the housing, and a movable contact adapted to be brought into and out of contact with the fixed contact. An operating portion of the disclosed switch is supported in the housing in which the movable contact is to be movable in a direction towards the fixed contact. A contact connect spring located between the housing and the movable contact is provided to urge the movable contact towards the fixed contact. A contact release spring is located between the housing and the operating portion to urge the operating portion away from the fixed contact with an urging force greater than that of the contact connect spring. A coupling arrangement is provided for releasably coupling the movable contact and the operating portion together with the movable contact being inhibited from being moved away from the operating portion towards the fixed contact. Operation control provision is made 1) for maintaining an ON state where the operating portion approaches the housing to put the movable contact in contact with the fixed contact and for 2) releasing the ON state when the operating portion is further pushed down towards the housing in the ON state.

This invention relates to a push button switch which is put into an ON state (or an OFF state) when an operating portion is pushed and then put into an OFF state (or an ON state) when the operating portion is pushed again.
A conventional push button switch of the type described is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. A push button 1 is mounted on a housing 3 to be movable along an axial direction. The push button 1 is urged by a first spring 4 in an upward direction in FIGS. 1 and 2. The push button 1 has a guide chamber 5 which is formed at a position offset from a center axis of the push button 1. A movable contact 2 is mounted on a sleeve 6 which is movably inserted into the guide chamber 5. A second spring 7 is for urging the movable contact 2 towards a fixed contact 8 (in a downward direction in the figures).
The second spring 7 is substantially fully relaxed when the push button 1 is not pushed down, namely, in an OFF state. In this condition, an urging force for urging the movable contact 2 towards the fixed contact 8 is substantially equal to zero. The movable contact 2 is surrounded by a cylindrical rubber contact 9. The rubber contact 9 is for isolating the movable contact 2 from the fixed contact 8 when the urging force of the second spring 7 is equal to zero. The push button 1 is further provided with a heart cam (not shown). The housing 3 is provided with a pin 10 travelling along an outer periphery of the heart cam.
The heart cam comprises a cam plate having a recess formed on the upper side thereof. When the push button 1 is pushed down, the pin 10 is relatively upwardly moved along the outer periphery of the heart cam to be engaged with the recess of the heart cam. Thus, the push button 1 is held in a depressed position at a predetermined distance. When the push button 1 is pushed again, the pin 10 is released from engagement with the recess of the heart cam to thereby bring the push butt, on 1 into a free state.
In the push button switch of the above-mentioned structure, when the push button 1 is pushed in an OFF state, the first and the second springs 4 and 7 are compressed. The sleeve is moving downwardly by the urging force of the second spring 7. In this event, the rubber contact 9 is deformed to allow the movable contact 2 to be brought into contact with the fixed contact 8. On the other hand, the pin 10 is engaged with the recess of the heart cam to hold the push button 1 in the depressed position. Thus, the contacts are held in an ON state.
When the push button 1 is pushed again, the pin 10 is released from engagement with the recess of the heart cam after the first and the second springs 4 and 7 are slightly deformed. Subjected to the elastic restoring force of the first and the second springs 4 and 7, the push button 1 is moved upwardly. As a result, the second spring 7 is substantially fully relaxed and therefore loses the urging force for urging the movable contact 2 downwards. The movable contact 2 is moved away from the fixed contact 8 by the elastic restoring force of the rubber contact 9. Thus, the contacts are put into an OFF state.
In the above-mentioned push button switch, the push button 1 is pushed down to compress the second spring 7. The second spring 7 exerts the urging force to bring the movable contact 2 into contact with the fixed contact 8. In order to put the switch into an ON state, an operator must push down the push button 1 with a pressing force sufficient to compress the first and the second springs 4 and 7. Thus, the pressing force required to the operator inevitably becomes large.


A lithium and bromine trifluoride electrochemical cell designed to be discharged after being activated and stored, the cell comprising an anode made of lithium or lithium alloy and a positive current collector made of carbon black, and containing at least one compound that is soluble in bromide trifluoride, and is capable of stabilizing the passivation layer of said anode and of blocking corrosion of said anode during storage, the compound being selected from sulfonates and being at a concentration lying in the range 10.sup.-2 moles per liter to 1 mole per liter. After the cell of the invention has been stored, it restores a large fraction of its initial capacity (curve C).

Potentially the most advantageous electrochemical couple is the lithium-fluorine couple whose theoretical potential is about 5.9 volts with a theoretical energy density of greater than 5000 Wh/kg. Nevertheless, it is difficult to envisage using fluorine directly because of severe difficulties in handling it. Fluorine is a gas at ambient temperature and under atmospheric pressure and it is extremely reactive.
In contrast, it is possible to envisage using fluorine associated with some other element, thereby obtaining compounds that are more easily handled at a temperature close to ambient temperature. This applies when fluorine is associated with a halogen such as bromine, thereby obtaining a liquid compound such as bromine trifluoride, which liquid can be used as a catholyte in liquid cathode lithium primary cells.
It is observed that lithium and certain aklaline-earth metals are passivated in bromine trifluoride. The excessive passivation of the metals is even somewhat of a limitation on the system. This causes the anode of a lithium and bromine trifluoride cell that has been activated and stored for a few hours in open circuit to cease discharging.
An object of the present invention is to avoid this drawback and to enable a large fraction of the energy of the cell to be recovered even if it has been stored for several tens of hours after being activated.

Lithium/bromine trifluoride electrochemical cell designed to be discharged after being activated and stored

Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite


Coding and decoding of video images includes the use of multiple reference pictures and determining motion vector and time delay information for the video images. Video images are quantized and transmitted with the motion vector and time delay information from a first station to a second station. A new video image is predicted for display at the second station as function of the motion parameter codes and multiple reference pictures. The invention may be used in connection with a video communication and/or video conferencing system as a long-term memory predictor to improve image-coding efficiencies and motion compensation. The long-term memory prediction extends the spacial displacement utilized in block-based hybrid video coding by a variable time delay. The arrangement and method employ a proposed bit allocation scheme to provide increased coding efficiencies of the video coder. Applications include video reproduction of repetitive sequences, such as when the video camera is shaking or an image portion is repetitively moving between previously-displayed positions.

Video signals can be digitized, encoded, and subsequently decoded in a manner which significantly decreases the number of bits necessary to represent a decoded reconstructed video without noticeable, or with acceptable, degradation in the reconstructed video. Video coding is an important part of many applications such as digital television transmission, video conferencing, video database, etc.
In video conferencing applications, for example, a video camera is typically used to capture a series of images of a target, such as a meeting participant or a document. The series of images is encoded as a data stream and transmitted over a communications channel to a remote location. For example, the data stream may be transmitted over a phone line, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) line, or the Internet.
The encoding process is typically implemented using a digital video coder/decoder (codec), which divides the images into blocks and compresses the blocks according to a video compression standard, such as the ITU-T H.263 and H.261 standards. In standards of this type, a block may be compressed independent of the previous image or as a difference between the block and part of the previous image. In a typical video conferencing system, the data stream is received at a remote location, where it is decoded into a series of images, which may be viewed at the remote location. Depending on the equipment used, this process typically occurs at a rate of one to thirty frames per second.
One technique widely used in video systems is hybrid video coding. An efficient hybrid video coding system is based on the ITU-T Recommendation H.263. The ITU-T Recommendation H.263 adopts a hybrid scheme of motion-compensated prediction to exploit temporal redundancy and transform coding using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) of the remaining signal to reduce spatial redundancy. Half pixel precision is used for the motion compensation, and variable length coding is used for the symbol representation.
With the above-mentioned coding algorithm, fifteen negotiable coding options can be used, either together or separately. The motion compensation (MC) is often carried out by employing the immediately preceding image which is available as a reconstructed image at encoder and decoder. While long-term statistical dependencies in the coded video sequence have not been fully exploited in existing international standards for improving coding efficiency, a specified negotiable coding option called "Reference Picture Selection Mode" (RPS mode) permits a modified inter-picture prediction called "NEWPRED". This prediction is intended to stop temporal error propagation due to errors. Transmission errors cause different results of the decoding process at encoder and decoder, thereby leading to differently and inconsistently reconstructed frames. The RPS mode can use backward channel messages sent from a decoder to an encoder to inform the encoder which part of which pictures have been correctly decoded at the decoder. The encoder may select one of the picture memories to suppress the temporal error propagation due to the inter-frame coding. A particular picture memory is selected as reference for inter-frame coding of a complete picture, which is represented as a "group of blocks" or a "slice" as specified in the H.263 document. The amount of additional picture memory accommodated in the decoder may be signaled by external means as specified in the ITU-T Recommendations.
The RPS mode is designed to suppress the temporal error propagation due to the inner-frame coding which occurs in case of transmission errors. Techniques to use multiple reference pictures in order to achieve the additional goal of improving coding efficiency are being analyzed within the MPEG-4 standardization group. These techniques include schemes known as "Sprites," "Global Motion Compensation," "Short-Term Frame Memory/Long-Term Frame Memory" and "Background Memory" prediction. A commonality of these techniques is that the video encoder can choose between the immediately preceding reconstructed picture and a second picture, either being generated by the prediction technique. While the use of more than a second picture has been exploited when combining various ones of the above techniques, the selection among the reference pictures has been a heuristic approach leading only to small coding gains.


Embodiments of the invention provide composite roofing strips that may be attached to a roofing membrane for aesthetic and/or functional purposes and method of attaching the same. According to one embodiment, a composite roofing strip may include a longitudinally extending body having a base and a lateral member extending from the base, and may also include an insert extending partially or fully along the body and coupled therewith. The insert may be formable so as to allow the composite roofing strip to be adjusted to have a desired profile and to maintain the desired profile of the composite roofing strip post adjustment.

The present invention generally provide strips or structures that may be attached to a roof, and more specifically provide strips or structures that may be adjusted to have and maintain a desired profile or shape prior to attaching the strips or structures to the roof.
Thermoplastic roofing system provide various advantages to roofing structures, such as excellent weatherability, resistance to puncture and tears, resistance to chemical, grease, and UV light, high reflectivity and/or emissivity, long term strength and flexibility, and the like. These roofing systems are also typically easy to install and are, thus, generally desirable. These roofing structures, however, are general uniform in appearance and may have limited aesthetic appeal. What is needed is a roofing strip that can be attached to roofing systems to provide increased aesthetic appeal and/or serve other functional purposes while being easy to install.

Composite profile structure for roofing applications


Composer method and apparatus are disclosed in which human readable representations of characters are typed on the first part of a page and are thereafter typed on a second part of the page in the machine readable form. Key stroke signals generated by the typewriter keyboard are stored in a memory prior to being applied to access corresponding type ball positioning signals within a table to print the characters using a conventional type ball on the first portion of the page. Thereafter, the conventional type ball is replaced by a special type ball and the key stroke signals stored in the memory are used to access corresponding ones of a different set of type ball positioning signals within a second memory to enable the special type ball to type optically readable binary coded representations of the characters on the second part of the page. Each character is represented by a string of seven bits plus a parity bit which are typed using either a single strike of a group of eight bits on the special type ball or two different strikes using two different groups of four bits on the special type ball.

1. History of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for printing human-readable and machine-readable indicia on printable media, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for printing human-readable characters and machine-readable representations thereof on the same page.
2. History of the Prior Art
With the continued development of data processing equipment and the capabilities and applications therefor, it has become necessary or desirable to be able to machine-read printed characters in various applications. Such requirement may arise, for example, where typewritten characters on a page are to be stored, communicated or otherwise processed. One common way is to scan the page by an appropriate scanning matrix device and store it as non-coded information. Each character space is constituted of cells or pels. As each character is scanned using an array of photodiodes the various pels of the character cell are binary encoded in accordance with the presence or absence of indicia thereat. Typical character cell dimensions are 24 by 40 pels. This dictates a storage requirement of 960 bits for each character. This translates into a storage capacity requirement of approximately 500 kilobits for a complete page of data, assuming the use of a conventional compression technique.
It will readily be appreciated by those skilled in the art that storage requirements of up to 500 kilobits per page can be highly disadvantageous from the standpoint of space, expense and other factors. One method of reducing this requirement is by optical character recognition. There are several disadvantages and limitations upon the use of conventional OCR techniques with human-readable characters. For one thing most such systems are limited to use with a single character font. In such situations it may be difficult or impossible to use or recognize other types of font such as italicized characters, underlined characters and the like. Further problems in the nature of registration, skewing, segmentation and the like arise as the result of the difficulty in having to scan and store information for the large number of pels defining each individual character. In such situations large arrays of photodiodes or like elements must be accurately positioned if the binary information corresponding to the characters is to be generated accurately. Further problems may arise as a result of the inability to store and communicate representations of typewriter functions such as "tab" in addition to the characters themselves.
Even in instances where the characters to be optically scanned are limited to a single font system, recognition problems may arise due to other factors such as in the case of proportional typing where character width may vary on a character-by-character basis. Moreover, certain font systems and certain types of characters have proven to be incompatible with OCR techniques because of such things as the configuration of the font system or the number of different characters that must be recognized. Thus, in the case of oriental characters where a single alphabet may be comprised of thousands of different characters, OCR techniques may be impractical or impossible because of the extremely large storage capacity required in some cases and the inability to satisfactorily distinguish between and thereby recognize the individual characters in still other cases.
Varieties of equipment have been developed in an effort to provide greater capability in the recognition and processing of different types of printed characters. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,136 of Postal, for example, a teletypewriter is modified so as to be able to print different types of characters using coded ink in conjunction with coded photoluminescent components. Examples of systems which provide a machine-reading capability in conjunction with human-readable characters are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,568 of Hagelbarger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,061 of Ritzerfeld, U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,960 of Dilsner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,394 of Bindshedler and U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,262 of Taplin. In the Bindshedler patent human-readable characters are also magnetic so as to be machine-readable. In the Hagelbarger patent the various type elements of a typewriter type each human-readable character and at the same time make a magnetic recording thereunder. In the Taplin patent visible and invisible but machine-readable versions of each character are superimposed. In the Ritzerfeld patent coded information is recorded together with the printed matter. In the Dilsner patent a coded character is printed in a space in the middle of conventional uncoded characters.
While the systems described in the above-noted patents solve some of the problems present in the prior art, they still leave much to be desired. For one thing, most such systems require extensive revision to or redesign of conventional printing equipment and the electronics associated therewith. Of at least equal importance is the fact that such systems abandon optical character recognition in favor of magnetic recording and sensing and other techniques which may at the very least be impractical for many applications such as where large volumes of typewritten messages are to be processed.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus capable of printing and recognition of both human-readable and machine-readable characters, which system is of relatively simple design and may require only minor modifications to a standard piece of equipment such as a memory typewriter. It would furthermore be desirable to provide a method and apparatus in which human-readable characters can be made available for optical recognition in relatively simple and straightforward fashion so as to lend itself to use with various different character sets and font systems as well as various spacing or organizational commands.

Method and apparatus for typing characters and optically readable binary representations thereof on same page

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a high capacity paper tray cabinet and transport apparatus for transporting sheets of paper or other print media from the high volume tray to a printer which sits on top of the cabinet. A pivotally mounted convex paper guide and a pivotally mounted concave paper guide housing at the rear of the cabinet define a paper path therebetween which extends generally vertically and then curves to a generally horizontal direction for feeding paper to the single sheet paper path in the printer through an access aperture in the rear wall of the printer. Paper drive rollers and an electrical resistance paper pre-heater are mounted in the apparatus proximate the discharge end of the paper path such that pre-heated paper can be immediately fed at the appropriate location of the paper path in the printer, preferably an inkjet printer.

The present invention relates to computer driven printers and, more particularly, to increasing the capacity of print media supply for an inkjet printer. For ease of reference, instead of the term print media, the term paper will be used herein and is intended to encompass all forms of print media including paper, transparencies, vellum, etc. One example of prior art printer with which the present invention is useful is the Hewlett Packard inkjet color printer Model 1200 which has standard vertically spaced paper input and output trays on the front of the printer as shown and claimed in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/055,650 filed Apr. 30, 1993 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The standard paper input tray shipped with the printer has a capacity of about 180 sheets of paper resulting in frequent print stoppage for replenishment of the paper supply in the input tray during high volume printing. It is desired to reduce the amount of printer downtime due to reloading of the input tray.
Ordinary paper trays comprise rectangular bins having vertical walls with multiple springs and pressure plates to urge the stack of paper upwardly against drive rollers to permit reliable paper feeding. Another type of tray, particularly useful with the present invention, has a slanted wall at the paper output end which is designed to permit the surface tension of the paper in the tray to be broken with the paper being physically stacked in the tray at an angle as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,969, and owned by BDT Buero Datentechnik GmbH. Trays of this type employ an articulated paper pusher arm mounted in either the paper tray or the printer housing which urges the top sheet of paper in the tray toward the printer paper feed mechanism.
Also, as is well known, inkjet printers apply wet ink to the paper or other print medium which is preheated before application of the ink to prevent or at least minimize shrink banding of the paper. Accordingly, the HP 1600C color inkjet printer referred to above incorporates a paper pre-heater in the path of movement of the paper from the standard input tray, the pre-heater being located immediately before the paper reaches the print zone.
A primary objective of the present invention is to efficiently guide and transport paper from a relatively large capacity (as compared with the standard input tray) auxiliary paper input tray to the print zone of known printers without substantial modification of the printer design.
A second objective of the present invention is to use a portion of the known printer's paper transport and guide means in the paper transport path which extends from an existing manual single sheet paper feed input slot to the print zone to guide the paper to the print zone.
A third objective is to preheat paper fed from an auxiliary paper tray at a location proximate the print zone.

Print media transport apparatus for moving print media through a printer from a high volume input tray accessory


The invention relates to a method for removing oxygen from a water containing reaction medium. A pair of electrodes (cathode and anode), are added to the medium, with a surfactant attached to the surface of at least one of the cathode and anode. The medium is kept at an acidic pH, and an electrical current is applied. Oxygen is drawn to the electrodes, displacing surfactant, and reacts with H+ ions and H2O molecules to form H2O2, which can then be removed.

Many chemical reactions involve the production of oxygen or infiltration of the reaction system by oxygen molecules. The reactions and manner in which this happens are well known to the skilled artisan as are the ramifications which include, e.g., undesired chemical and/or electrochemical reactions leading to undesirable, potentially reactive byproducts, oxidation of reactants which are necessary for the desired reaction, and corrosion of the materials used to produce reaction vessels. In certain situations, such as hydrocarbon processing, the build up of excess oxygen is not only a safety risk, but also a cause of revenue loss due to the undesirable depletion of hydrocarbon feedstock as a result of the oxidation of the feedstock, whether the reaction is carried out at ambient or elevated temperatures. The adverse effects can and do occur even when trace amounts of oxygen are present.
Desulfurization of crude oil is an important industrial process, commonly carried out via "hydrotreatment." Conventional hydrotreatment requires relatively high temperature and pressure parameters, as well as high hydrogen partial pressures to remove organic sulfur. During nonconventional in situ desulfurization processes, organic sulfur compounds are electrocatalytically converted to easily removable sulfur compounds through hydrogenation reactions, while hydrogen is replenished via water molecules, when these are split into hydrogen ions (H+) and oxygen at the anode. The resulting oxygen and its buildup is problematic and of concern, as it is an oxidizer of sulfur and as well as of hydrocarbon feedstock, and a possible cause of combustion of the hydrocarbons.
Further, when oxygen (along with moisture) is present in these systems, it is well known that it may corrode the reactor vessels and associated equipment. Other materials, such as trace metals, acids, salts, bases, charged electrodes and high concentration of H2 under high pressure, can aggravate these problems, especially when moisture is present. When moisture is present, an electrical circuit can be created, resulting in the depletion or degradation of the materials of the reactive vessel and materials which make up the processing equipment.
All of these, as well as other reasons known to the skilled artisan, point to a need to remove the dissolved oxygen from systems, be they aqueous or non-aqueous. Further, if the oxygen could be scavenged and converted into one or more useful materials, this would add value to any of these reaction systems.
Methods for removing oxygen and moisture from reaction systems are known; however, it is also known that these conventional methods frequently become impediments to the processes of interest. Many of these removal methodologies are difficult to implement, and/or are not economically viable. Hence, a methodology to remove oxygen from reaction systems which is non-invasive, simple to implement, and produces a useful product, would be a great advancement in the art.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a method for removing excess oxygen from a reaction system by converting it to a useful product, i.e., hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and thus avoid or alleviate the problems discussed supra. How this is accomplished will be seen in the disclosure which follows.

Method for removing oxygen from a reaction medium


Forces are applied to a device under test and its mechanical response is measured by a laser vibrometer (50). The forces are applied without making physical contact with the device by producing an acoustical force with an ultrasonic beam (54). One embodiment employs two confocal transducers (56, 58) that produce beams that flood the device. Drive signals modulate the ultrasonic beams to produce the desired forces, and the use on a plurality of ultrasonic beams enable selective excitation of different modes of vibration of the object (7).

The field of the invention is vibration testing of articles of manufacture, and particularly, systems for vibrating very small items and observing the vibrational modes and resonances.
Non-contact vibration measurement using laser doppler vibrometry is a well-established technique. The laser doppler vibrometry method uses an interferometer to measure the doppler frequency shift induced by the vibration of the object. In order to measure the vibration of the object, the laser measurement beam strikes the object to be measured and interferes with a reference beam. The resulting frequency shift induced in the interference beam is the vibration of the target surface.
Micro-sensors and micro-actuators are the key components in a micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS). The performance of a micro-sensor or micro-actuator is determined in large part by the dynamic mechanical properties thereof. For instance, the bandwidth, resolution, and response time of some micro-sensors are determined by their mechanical resonance. The output characteristics of micro-actuators such as the force amplitude and the operating frequency thereof are also determined by their dynamic behaviors. Therefore, the testing method for evaluating the dynamic behaviors of the microstructures is very important. Several excitation and detection approaches have been developed to characterize the dynamic responses, vibration characteristics and the mode shapes of microstructures. Moreover, the material properties, e.g. residual stress, Young's modulus and fatigue properties, can also be determined.
The measured dynamic response of a microstructure will be affected by the technique used to vibrate the microstructure. FIG. 1 shows a conventional excitation device which drives the microstructure through built in electrostatic electrodes. The microstructure 10 formed on a silicon substrate 11 by a semiconductor manufacturing process is an insulator cantilever, for example, made of silicon oxide. In order to allow the cantilever 10 to be excited, a conductive film 12 such as a chromium film is applied over the insulator cantilever 10. Then, a variable-frequency sinusoidal voltage is applied between the silicon substrate 11 and the metallized line 12 leading to the cantilever 10 by way of a variable frequency oscillator 13. Accordingly, the cantilever 10 with the chromium film 12 can be electrostatically attracted toward the substrate with either voltage polarity so as to excite the mechanical motion of the cantilever 10. With this electrostatic approach, an additional conductive film which does not belong to the microstructure is deposited. Therefore, this test method is a destructive one. In addition, the presence of the additional film 12 may influence the dynamic behavior of the original cantilever 10.
FIG. 2 schematically shows another conventional excitation device which mechanically excites a microstructure. A test chip 20 with a microstructure (not shown) is attached onto a piezotransducer 21, and a voltage 22 is applied for driving the piezotransducer 21 so as to mechanically excite the physically attached test chip 20. The piezotransducer 21 is made of PZT. The natural frequencies of a PZT disc are strongly dependent on the ratio of diameter/thickness, and a PZT disc with finite dimensions has complex mode distributions in the frequency domain. As a result, when a PZT transducer acts as the excitation source applied to a microstructure, the spurious vibrational modes of the PZT transducer is strongly coupled with the dynamic responses of the microstructure. This dynamic coupling effect will interfere with the dynamic responses of the microstructure.
FIG. 3 shows a further conventional excitation device which uses a swept-sine signal to drive a microstructure. A specimen 31 with a microstructure (not shown) is attached to a PZT transducer 30. By providing a dynamic signal analyzer 32, a swept-sine signal is generated to drive the PZT transducer 30 and excite the specimen 31. A swept-sine signal generated by a dynamic signal analyzer typically has frequencies under 50 kHz so as to be suitable for a millimeter dimensional microstructure. As for a micron dimensional microstructure with higher natural frequencies, higher exciting frequencies will be required.
FIG. 4 shows a still further conventional excitation device which uses acoustic waves to excite a microstructure. A small loudspeaker 41 is mounted above a cantilever 40 to be excited. By providing AC power to the loudspeaker 41, the resulting acoustic waves 43 propagate via the air to the cantilever 40, causing the cantilever 40 to vibrate. The testing is limited to the frequency range of the loudspeaker 41 which can be much narrower than the desired vibrational frequencies.

Vibroacoustic system for vibration testing

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


A control circuit and method is provided to automatically cut out a dimmer circuit from a high intensity light source until the light source has first been triggered and turned on at a high intensity level with the required high voltage. After an initial high illumination occurs a dimmer control circuit is electronically cut into the light circuit and a dimmer control knob, connected with a potentiometer, may then be used to raise or lower the illumination of the high intensity lamp. Thus, the high intensity lamp will be turned on regardless of the position of the dimmer control. Without the control circuit, the high intensity lamp would not trigger if the control knob was at a low intensity setting.

(1) Field of the Invention
This disclosure pertains to an electronic control circuit for high intensity fiber optic light sources used in surgery, dentistry, and other applications such as inspection of aircraft and the like where a fiber optic cable carries light to the point of use to provide a high intensity light.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Modern enclosed arc lamps as made by G.E. and others have natural characteristics that require a certain sequence of operations to place them into condition to ignite and then to continue illumination after ignition. Also, the lamp intensity can be varied from its maximum intensity to a usable low intensity once the lamp has gained a certain operating condition.
Power supplies are now manufactured that provide the sequence of operations necessary for proper illumination. Also, these power supplies now furnish the necessary electronic circuitry to vary the intensity of the lamp after initial ignition. However, the point at which an operator may adjust the lamp intensity, without extinguishing the lamp, is determined by the operator, and is not automatic. Further, if the intensity setting is low at the time the unit is turned on, the arc lamp will not receive the required voltage to trigger itself into an on condition. This invention provides a circuit which allows the lamp to trigger regardless of the setting of the brightness control. This disclosure shows a circuit which utilizes the lamp's own electronic condition to automatically energize the dimming circuit to cut in and engage when all conditions are correct for proper illumination and for proper dimming control.
Prior high intensity lamps (enclosed arc lamps) are triggered initially through a capacitor which is discharged causing a high voltage surge (approx. 7500 volts) across the lamp electrodes. This initial voltage surge causes minute ionization reducing the gas resistance sufficiently to permit a second, highly capacitive discharge (approx. 160 volts DC), to flow across the lamp electrodes, further ionizing the gases and initiating illumination.
After these initial voltage surges, the power supply controls the amperage permitted to flow in the lamp at approximately 7.8 amperes d.c. However, at the 7.8 amp. level, the voltage across the electrodes will initially drop to approximately 12 volts d.c. Next, the power supply will permit the voltage across the lamp electrodes to rise to its normal full illumination of 35 to 45 volts d.c., while the amperage is maintained at 7.8 amperes. Until the lamp has received and conditioned itself to approximately 24 volts d.c., the dimming control which reduces the amperage across the lamp electrodes, and, adjusts the intensity of the lamp, should not be used. If the dimming control was permanently wired into the lamp ignition circuit, and the control potentiometer set to a low position, the power circuit could not control the lamp and place it into an ignition condition. Under such a low illumination setting, it would then be necessary to increase the control potentiometer setting (increase the brightness setting) before a successful ignition could occur.
The above facts regarding inability of the lamp to trigger if the brightness control is at a low setting may seem insignificant at first reading until a few other factors are considered. Personnel using this equipment would only know of this lamp characteristic and inability to trigger at a low intensity setting by studying the operating manual, or, using the instrument on many occasions to familiarize themselves with it. Unfortunately, a manufacturer of instruments sold to the general public must realize ideal conditions never exist and regardless of previous explanation, customers demand the unit works when they flip the switch.
Another point and a more irritating one to our customers is the fact that the enclosed arc lamp has a delay in trying to restart itself once it has been ignited, even if ignited only for a very short period of time. This is a natural characteristic of the gases used in the lamp construction. The lamp can start easily in a cold condition; however, once the gases are warmed up, the lamp will not restart until the gases have cooled again to a certain level. In a fully illuminated lamp, delay can be a time interval of a full minute while in false starts it is, of course, a lesser time, but nevertheless irritating. Because of these facts, it is necessary that an automatic means be provided for the lamp to properly ignite, remain ignited until ready for dimming control, and then the actual dimming control be electronically connected when ready.
Problems involved in the prior art are overcome by the instant invention which provides an automatic triggering of the light source regardless of the intensity setting of a control knob on the control panel and its associated control potentiometer.

Automatic dimmer cutout for arc lamp of fiber optic light source


A method includes capturing an optical image to form raw data indicative of the optical image and using a look-up table to transform the raw data into transformed data that indicates a second image. A white color balance of the second image is computed, and the values in the look-up table are modified based on the computed white color balance.

The invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical computer system 5 may include a digital camera 12 that electrically captures an optical image 13 and a computer 10 that may store, print or display the captured image. To capture the image, the camera 12 typically includes an image sensor 11 that captures digitized portions of the image (called pixels) and communicates indications (digital bits, for example) of these pixels to the computer 10 (via a serial bus 14, for example).
The image sensor 11 typically does not respond to light frequencies in the same manner as the human eye. As a result, raw data that is provided by the image sensor 11 may need to be transformed so that the transformed data indicates the optical image 13 as perceived by the human eye. However, before this transformation occurs, the raw data may need to be manipulated to compensate for other effects introduced by the camera 12, such as stray lighting effects, lens flare effects and the nonlinearity of the image sensor 11. Also, the raw data may be manipulated to adjust a white color balance in the image that is indicated by the data.
The term "white color balance" refers to a measure of the balance of colors in the captured image. For example, when an image is captured under a florescent light, the raw data from the image sensor 11 may indicate a generally green image. To correct an incorrect white color balance, the computer 10 may scale the pixel intensities (that are indicated by the raw data from the image sensor 11). For example, the computer 10 may scale the pixel intensities that indicate red, green and blue color components of the optical image 13 by different factors (called αR, αG, and αB, respectively) to compensate for an white color imbalance.
Unfortunately, an image processing circuit, such as the above-described camera 12, may be specifically designed for a given image sensor and other components of the camera 12. Thus, there is a continuing need for an imaging processing circuit that more readily accommodates different camera components, such as image sensors that have different sizes and types, for example.


A process and device for bundling a fiber composite which has been drafted in a drafting device having a pair of output rollers and a pair of delivery rollers gathers together the fiber composite leaving the pair of output rollers in a fiber bundling zone. The fiber composite is conveyed through the fiber bundling zone and supported through the fiber bundling zone on one side by a conveying plane which moves in the direction of conveyance of the fiber composite. A suction air stream is drawn through the fiber bundling zone at substantially a right angle to the conveying direction of the fiber composite. The suction air stream causes the gathering together of the fiber composite in the bundling zone at a width substantially equal to a desired width of the fiber composite.

The instant invention relates to a double-belt draw frame for spinning plant machines with a fiber bundling zone which follows the pair of output rollers of the main drafting zone and is followed by the pair of delivery rollers. In this known type of draw frame (DE-A1-41 39 067) an additional pair of small belts running around the pair of output rollers is installed and guides the fiber composite emerging from the pair of output rollers directly into the pair of delivery rollers and whose small under-belts run over the lower rollers of the pair of output rollers as well as of the pair of delivery rollers. The upper roller of the pair of delivery rollers is provided with suction openings arranged in ring form. In this manner a greater number of fibers are to be bundled and compacted than in known draw frames, so that almost all the fibers are brought together and are compacted in the pair of delivery rollers, thus avoiding the formation of any so-called spinning triangle.
It has been shown that this device provides only limited satisfaction. Due to the fact that the pair of output rollers is surrounded on both side by a small belt, very high pressures must be applied in order to attain a perfect drafting nip point. This is in turn a disadvantage with small belts running at high speed because these belts are subjected to greater wear due to the high stress. Additionally, the fibers are also gathered together and bundled imperfectly. It was found that the double-belt guidance of the fiber sliver emerging from the pair of output rollers causes a gathering together and bundling to take place only directly in the input nip of the pair of delivery rollers through the suction zone of the upper roller of the pair of delivery rollers. Since the fibers are deflected very much in this gathering together, they follow this deflection only in part, and this results in incomplete bundling. Furthermore, no tension drafting is possible with the known device because the small under-belts extend over the output roller and the delivery roller.
It is known from DE-39 27 936 C1 that a completely drafted fiber sliver can be gathered together in a fiber bundling zone following drafting. At the output of the draw frame, a deflection path is provided for this and is formed by the lower output roller. In the area between the nip and the following pressure rollers which are also interacting with this output roller, the output roller is provided with a suction zone for the drafted fiber roving in the vicinity of which a blowing apparatus with a flow component perpendicular to the suction zone is installed. Fiber bundling is effected by this blown air stream while the suction zone only has the task of removing the blown air. It has been shown that the deflection as well as the blown air has a negative influence on the fibers during bundling, so that the desired, improved yarn values are not obtained.


Electronic air cleaners for use in heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) systems and associated methods and systems are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an electronic air cleaner includes one or more collecting electrodes having a collection material with a porous, open-cell structure and a conductive internal portion. The collection material can be configured to collect and receive charged particulate matter in an airflow path. After a period of time, used collection material can be removed from individual collecting electrodes and replaced with new collection material.

The most common types of residential or commercial HVAC air filters employ a fibrous filter media (made from polyester fibers, glass fibers or microfibers, etc.) placed substantially perpendicular to the airflow through which air may pass (e.g., an air conditioner filter, a HEPA filter, etc.) such that particles are removed from the air mechanically (coming into contact with one or more fibers and either adhering to or being blocked by the fibers); some of these filters are also electrostatically charged (either passively during use, or actively during manufacture) to increase the chances of particles coming into contact and staying adhered to the fibers.
Another form of air filter is known as an electronic air cleaner (EAC). A conventional EAC includes one or more corona electrodes and one or more smooth metal collecting electrode plates that are substantially parallel to the airflow. The corona electrodes produce a corona discharge that ionizes air molecules in an airflow received into the filter. The ionized air molecules impart a net charge to nearby particles (e.g., dust, dirt, contaminants etc.) in the airflow. The charged particles are subsequently electrostatically attracted to one of the collecting electrode plates and thereby removed from the airflow as the air moves past the collecting electrode plates. After a sufficient amount of air passes through the filter, the collecting electrodes can accumulate a layer of particles and dust and eventually need to be cleaned. Cleaning intervals may vary from, for example, thirty minutes to several days. Further, since the particles are on an outer surface of the collecting electrodes, they may become re-entrained in the airflow since a force of the airflow may exceed the electric force attracting the charged particles to the collecting electrodes, especially if many particles agglomerate through attraction to each other, thereby reducing the net attraction to the collector plate. Such agglomeration and re-entrainment may require use of a media afterfilter placed downstream and substantially perpendicular to the airflow, thereby increasing airflow resistance. Another limitation of conventional EACs is that corona wires can become contaminated by oxidation or other deposits during operation, thereby lowering their effectiveness and necessitating frequent cleaning. Moreover, the corona discharge can produce a significant amount of contaminants such as, for example, ozone, which may necessitate an implementation of activated carbon filters placed substantially perpendicular to the airflow that can increase airflow resistance.
While fibrous media filters do not produce ozone, they typically have to be cleaned and/or replaced regularly due to an accumulation of particles. Furthermore, fibrous media filters are placed substantially perpendicular to the airflow, increasing airflow resistance and causing a significant static pressure differential across the filter, which increases as more particles accumulate or collect in the filter. Pressure drop across various components of an HVAC system is a constant concern for designers and operators of mechanical air systems, since it either slows the airflow or increases the amount of energy required to move the air through the system. Accordingly, there exists a need for an air filter capable of relatively long intervals between cleaning and/or replacement and a relatively low pressure drop across the filter after installation in an HVAC system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic air cleaners and associated systems and methods


A transverse beam for roof loads on a motor vehicle which is equipped with roof rails. A holding element on each end region of the transverse beam comprises two clamping jaws which can be drawn toward each other by a tightening member. The jaws are clamped to the spars of the roof rails in order to prevent shifting of the transverse beam along the spars upon strong acceleration or deceleration. A recess in at least one clamping jaw. At least one friction brake arranged in the recess, which is supported against the spar. The brake comprises a molded body, e.g. of hard rubber or of wear resistant tough plastic material. The bottom surface of the recess is obliquely inclined to cause the brake body to securely engage the spar as the beam and the vehicle accelerates in the direction of reduced height of the recess.

The present invention relates to a transverse beam and means for preventing motion of the beam relative to a spar on which the beam is supported. The beam of the invention has particular use for supporting roof loads on a motor vehicle which is equipped with roof rails. At each of its end regions, the beam has a holding element having two clamping jaws which can be pulled toward each other by a clamping element for attaching the transverse beam to the longitudinal spars of the roof rails.
In a transverse beam of this type, known from German Utility Model 81 36 129, an adhesive force is produced by tightening turnbuckles which pull the clamping jaws of a holding element together, against the corresponding spar. This has disadvantages. Excessive clamping pressure can deform the spar surface, a notch effect, or can even lead to breaking of the clamping jaws. On the other hand, too low clamping pressure can permit the transverse beam supporting the roof load to shift in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle upon strong acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. Such shifting of the beam can have serious consequences.
DE 33 01 706 A1 does not directly relate to a transverse beam of the type indicated above. But it shows that a roof luggage rack provided with support feet and clamping lugs can be attached on rain gutters which extend on both sides in the region of the upper edge of the roof of a motor vehicle. In order to prevent the roof luggage rack from slipping beyond the roof gutters upon hard braking or upon a collision of the vehicle with another vehicle or an obstacle, this known construction provides stop means on the roof rails for limiting shifting of the roof rack in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
Another known roof luggage rack for a motor vehicle, shown in DE 33 01 705 A1, is supported by support feet in the rain gutters extending on both sides in the region of the upper edge of the vehicle roof. This rack can be attached on the motor vehicle by clamping lugs which engage below the rain gutters and can be clamped with the support feet. It is designed so that it is reliably held on the roof of the motor vehicle even upon strong deceleration or acceleration of the vehicle. For this purpose, blocking means are provided on the roof luggage rack. These act between the rack and the rain gutters to prevent forward shifting of the roof luggage rack in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

Transverse beam for loads, particularly roof loads on a motor vehicle equipped with roof rails


A selective call system (100) having at least two base sites (120, 122, 124) for communicating with a plurality of selective call receivers (108) wherein at least one of the plurality of selective call receivers having acknowledge-back capability. A base site (110, 122, 114) has a base site transmitter (210) for communicating with a selective call receiver (108) and a base site receiver (214) for receiving an acknowledge-back signal from the selective call receiver (108). The selective call receiver (108) has a receiver (304) for receiving a signal from the base site (110, 122, 114), a decoder/controller (306) coupled to the receiver (304) for decoding the signal received from the base site transmitter (210), a status indicator(504) coupled to the decoder/controller (306) for indicating a predetermined status of a power supply for the selective call receiver (108). The selective call receiver (108) further has an acknowledge-back transmitter (334) coupled to the decoder/controller (306) for transmitting acknowledge-back signals to the base site (110, 122, 114) and an acknowledge-back suspension circuit (310) coupled to the acknowledge-back transmitter (334) for inhibiting transmissions of acknowledge-back signals in response to the status indicator (504).

In conventional selective call systems, when a selective call receiver is paged, a message is delivered to the selective call receiver by transmitting the message during a predefined time period identifying the selective call receiver to which the message is intended. The selective call receiver, as is well known, battery saves during the other time period until its predetermined time period occurs, during which, the selective call receiver turns-on and checks if a message is addressed to it. If not, the selective call receiver continue its battery save routine. When a message is addressed to the selective call receiver, the selective call systems have no way of telling if or when the message was received. Therefore, the selective call system can retransmit the same message for a predetermine number of times to ensure that the selective call receiver has every opportunity to receive the message. Unfortunately, the retransmission of messages waste valuable air-time.
Acknowledge-back selective call receivers, however, upon receipt of a message, are able to transmit an acknowledge-back response to the selective call system informing it that the message was received. Therefore, with acknowledge-back selective call receivers, the selective call system does not need to continue retransmitting the same message because the acknowledge back response verifies, among other things, that the message was received. Unfortunately, because the selective call receiver is portable and has a limited energy content battery, the transmission of the acknowledge back responses deplete the battery much quicker. As is well known, transmitting require more energy that receiving, therefore, the selective call receiver may receive pages but is unable to transmit the acknowledge-back responses because the battery is so depleted that it is unable to power-up the transmitter even thought the selective call receiver is still able to receive pages. Under these conditions, the selective call system may choose to continue retransmitting the same message although the message was received.
Therefore, what is needed is a selective call receiver that is able to eliminate or reduce the need for the selective call system to continue retransmitting the same messages when no acknowledge-back response will be transmitted.

Selective call receiver capable of suspending acknowledge-back signals and method therefor


An electrically or electromagnetically operated valve has a movable structural group with a magnetic armature, which is movable along an axis between a first and a second position to open or close the valve. The valve has a valve sleeve in which the magnetic armature is movable between the first and the second position, the magnetic armature defining on its axial sides two volumes in the valve sleeve. There is provided a throttling element elastic in the radial direction, which is arranged between the first volume and the second volume such that upon axial movement of the movable structural group it throttles an air stream between the first volume and the second volume in order to decelerate a movement of the movable structural group.

Electrically or electromagnetically operated switch valves comprise, inter alia, the components described hereinbelow in more detail. Such a valve comprises in particular a movable structural group with a magnetic armature which is movable along an axis in a valve sleeve, whereby in a first position at least one flow is released which is blocked in the second position. For this, the magnetic armature is coupled to a sealing element which co-operates with a valve seat. The magnetic armature is moved by energizing a coil which surrounds the valve sleeve.
Valves of the above-mentioned kind are used for a great variety of purposes. They are used for example in different ways and for different functions in air suspension systems of automobiles. For example, there are valves for filling and emptying the air spring bellows, valves for connecting or disconnecting accumulators in the system, as well as valves via which the bellows volumes can be connected to additional volume as needed. Preferably, such valves are operated electromagnetically, as is the seat valve described in DE 10 2011 078 102 A1.
The dynamic behavior of the automobile requires a short switching time which entails a high switching speed and impact speed of the movable components or sealing elements. Known valves were hence provided with damping elements which damp the impact of the movable components against the stationary parts. The seat valve described in DE 10 2011 078 102 A1 has, for example, such damping elements which damp an impact of the magnetic armature on a pole member. However, the switching operation of the valve is acoustically perceptible in spite of impact damping elements. Hitherto, this switching noise was concealed by engine noises of the internal combustion engine. This concealment is reduced, however, for example because at present immission control measures, like start-stop automatic system, hybrid drives or electric vehicles are implemented, for the reason of which the switching noise comes to the focus of attention and is audible to the vehicle passengers.


There is disclosed a child resistant cap and container assemblage comprising a container and a cap member that is secured to the container so that it can not be removed without either breaking the cap member or damaging the seal that joins the cap member to the container. The cap member is provided with a nozzle having an internal locking means so that the contents of the container can not be accessed when the container is in its normal upright position. To access the contents in the container, the assemblage is titled to disengage the locking means enabling the nozzle to be opened and permitting a user to access the contents of the container using only one hand.

This invention is directed toward a child resistant cap and container assemblage which is particularly suitable for pharmaceuticals provided in the form of unit doses of medication.
Typical child resistant closures for bottles and containers usually require the user to perform some preliminary manipulations before the bottle or container can be opened. For example, some closures require the user to align a mark on the cap with a mark on the bottle or container in order to remove the cap (normally, a snap off cap). Other closures require the user to squeeze or pinch the cap and simultaneously rotate it to unscrew it and remove it from the bottle or container. Still other closures require the user to exert downward pressure on the cap and simultaneously rotate it in order to unscrew it and remove it from the bottle or container.
Although such closures are effective, they require the user to use both hands and exert some effort. Many users, because of illness, manual deformation, limited manual dexterity, and the like, have difficulty in removing the closures or can not remove them at all. Such closures are typically touted as being "child resistant", "tamper proof", and the like, but observant and innovative children have been known to readily remove them.

Child resistant cap and container assemblage


A toy toilet includes a toilet bowl, a seat supported by the toilet bowl, a hinged cover for the seat, and a reservoir. Positioned in the reservoir is a cylinder and piston arrangement having a fluid conduit to the toilet bowl and a mechanical linkage to the cover so that the movement of the cover moves the piston to "flush" the toilet.

This invention relates to toys and, more particularly, to a toy toilet which may be used in play settings with a doll.
There have been many toys devised which allow a child to play with dolls as through they were human. For example, doll houses serve this purpose. Doll houses are often outfitted with toy furniture includng chairs, tables, beds, and the like which allow the child to emulate various human situations realistically. More recently, various pieces of toy bathroom furniture have been devised. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,531 issued to C. C. Sloan, Oct. 22, 1974, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,001 issued to Marvin Glass and Associates, Dec. 21, 1976, both disclose toy showers for dolls; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,496 issued to Lettam, Inc., Oct. 20, 1970, shows a toy chamber pot for dolls.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved toy toilet for a doll.
It is another object of this invention to provide an expecially realistic toilet which may be used with dolls for emulating a bathroom setting.


In sewing work for attaching slide fastener chains to fabric or leather articles, a device for controlling the traveling velocity of the fastener chain is provided, comprising a pair of upper and lower cantilever members supported by a supporting member on the table of a sewing machine. The lower cantilever is fixed to form a space between its under side and the table surface, while the upper cantilever is movable toward and apart from the lower cantilever. A suitable frictional resistance is imparted to the fastener chain traveling between the two cantilevers when the upper, movable cantilever is laid on the lower, fixed cantilever. The movement of the upper cantilever is linked to the raising and lowering mechanism of the presser foot of the sewing machine. This device serves to keep the traveling fastener chain from puckering or waving.

The present invention relates to a braking guide device for controlling the feeding velocity of a slide fastener chain on a sewing machine whereby the slide fastener chain is attached to an article, e.g. fabrics, plastic sheets, leathers and the like, to be used with the slide fastener chain as fastened thereto.
Slide fasteners either of a continuous length or a unit length are usually sewn to articles, such as fabrics, plastic sheets, leathers and the like, using a sewing machine. The sewing of the fasteners to the articles is performed with the so-called fastener stringer which is one separable half of the fastener or with a fastener chain formed by interengaging a pair of the opposing fastener stringers. The fastener chain or stringer is fed under the presser foot of the sewing machine together with the article which is overlaid by the fastener chain or stringer as the sewing machine feed is moved.
In the feeding of the fastener chain and the fabric article, their traveling velocity is desirably the same so that the phenomenon of puckering or waving does not take place. It is, however, generally difficult to obtain the same traveling velocity, and the finished fabrics or cloths having the slide fastener chain sewed thereon tend to suffer from puckering or waving. Such difficulty may be obviated only by the skill of workers or operators who control the traveling velocity of the fabric or article by either acceleration or retardation of the sewing machine or alternately by hand, aided by their perceptional feeling.
Such manually accelerating or retardating operation may result in a tolerable matching of the traveling velocity when the properties of the carrier tape of the fastener chain and the article are closely similar to each other. However, if the properties widely differ from each other, for example, the article being a shaggy or fuzzy corduroy, very elastic knit cloth, leather- fur or the like, it is very difficult to obtain conformity between the traveling velocity of one and that of the other by mere manual control. Particularly, when the article to which the fastener chain is to be sewed is a shaggy cloth, the traveling of the fastener tape is badly disturbed and the waving of the finished article or puckering of the fastener chain is unavoidable. A usual way to solve this problem is that braking action is given to the fastener chain to produce frictional resistance during the traveling of the fastener chain under the presser foot of the sewing machine.
One of the known means for producing frictional resistance to the fastener chain is to provide a braking device on the route of travel of the continous fastener chain from a magazine containing the fastener chain in a reeled form to the presser foot of the sewing machine, so that the traveling velocity of the fastener chain is retarded by depressing the spring of the braking device. Alternatively, a special type of the presser foot of a sewing machine is known which is equipped integrally with a braking device at the inlet side of the fastener chain (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,329,991 and Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 47-46050).
The above-described means for imparting frictional resistance to the fastener chain is utilized only when the fastener chain is of a continous lengthy form. This is because, once the leading end of the fastener chain is inserted into the braking device, the traveling fastener chain is continuously under friction in the subsequent sewing. On the other hand, when the fastener chain is of a unit product length, it is required to insert and pull each fastener chain individually into or through the braking device, resulting in markedly reduced efficiency in the sewing work.

Cantilevered braking guide for attaching slide fastener chains