Filtration medium is formed of a mass of nonwoven melt blown support and filtration fibers which are integrally co-located with one another. The support fibers have, on average, relatively larger diameters as compared to the filtration fibers which are integrally co-located therewith. Preferably, the filtration medium is disposed within at least one annular zone of a filtration element, for example, a disposable cylindrical filter cartridge having an axially elongate central hollow passageway which is surrounded by the filtration media. A depth filter cartridge in accordance with the present invention may thus be formed having one or more additional filtration zones (which additional filtration zones may or may not respectively be provided with integrally co-located support fibers) in annular relationship to one another. As a result of the melt blown, nonwoven fiber structure in accordance with the present invention whereby at least one filtration zone is comprised of relatively larger diameter support fibers integrally co-located with relatively smaller diameter filtration fibers, a filter cartridge having a wide range of "engineered" physical properties (e.g., in terms of filtration, pressure drop tolerance and the like) can be provided.

Depth filter cartridges formed of a nonwoven mass of a melt blown polymer are well known and have achieved widespread use in fluid filtration applications. Typically, such melt blown filter cartridges are made by extruding a polymer through orifices associated with a melt blowing die to form fibers which are directed toward a rotating forming mandrel. During melt blowing, a flow of inert gas (e.g., air) acts on the molten fibers so as to attenuate the fibers to relatively fine diameter and to randomly distribute the attenuated fibers onto the forming mandrel. Over time, therefore, a mass of nonwoven, randomly intermingled solidified fibers builds up on the forming mandrel. Controlled axial movement of the built-up mass of melt blown fibers relative to the melt blowing die will therefore allow a cylindrical filter cartridge of indefinite length to be formed continuously.
During melt blowing, it is well known that one or more of the process conditions associated with the melt blowing die may be varied so as to responsively achieve varied attributes of the resulting melt blown fibers in terms of fiber diameter and/or density, and thereby pore size. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,904,798 and 3,801,400 (the entire content of each being incorporated expressly hereinto by reference), there is disclosed a technique whereby the (i) temperature of the polymer, (ii) speed of polymer extrusion, (iii) speed of rotation of the forming mandrel, (iv) distance between the melt blowing die and forming mandrel, and/or (v) weight of an idler roll associated with the forming mandrel, may be changed so as to gradually change the density of a melt blown fiber layer relative to a previously melt blown adjacent layer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,594,202 and 4,726,901 (the entire content of each being incorporated expressly hereinto by reference) disclose a technique whereby the fiber diameter of the melt blown fibers is controllably varied to achieve substantially constant voids volume for each level of fiber diameter variance throughout the radial dimension (depth) of the filter cartridge without substantial fiber-to-fiber bonding.
In use, a filter cartridge must be capable of withstanding a significant pressure drop across its radial thickness (which pressure drop increases with increasing entrapment of particulates removed from the filtered fluid). In order to permit the filter cartridge to withstand pressure drops within design limits without collapse of the filter medium, it has been conventional practice to include a separate perforated tubular core around which the filter medium is disposed. (Please see in this regard, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,933,557, 4,032,688 and 4,112,159, the entire content of each being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).
It has also been proposed in the art to form "coreless" depth filter cartridges which include a nonwoven mass of melt blown fibers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,864 (the entire content of which is incorporated herein expressly by reference) discloses a technique whereby a coreless melt blown filter cartridge may be made by varying the pressure applied to the accumulating fibers on the forming mandrel so as to obtain a filter of varying media density. Thus, although the diameters of the fibers in the various layers is substantially constant, by varying the pressure on such accumulated fibers from one zone to the next, a filter cartridge may be made having an innermost zone of sufficiently high density to serve as an integral "core".
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,479 (the entire content of which is incorporated expressly hereinto by reference) has disclosed a depth filter cartridge formed of melt blown fibers having support filaments at a central area of the filter with diameters sufficiently large to thermally bind into a structure which is strong enough to support the remainder of the filter structure without collapse. This zone of relatively large diameter fibers thereby serves as an integral "core" for the remaining surrounding relatively small diameter filtration fibers.
While the above-described filter cartridges possess certain beneficial attributes, some improvements are still needed. For example, it would especially be desirable if a melt blown, nonwoven filter cartridge could be provided whereby one or more of the annular filtration zones was provided with integral support structure. It would furthermore be desirable if such integral support structure was in the form of continuously produced melt blown support fibers which are integrally co-located (i.e., intermingled) with concurrently melt blown filtration fibers within one or more of the annular filtration zones so that the filtration characteristics and pressure drop limits could be selectively "engineered" to meet specific end-use applications. It is towards fulfilling such a need that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Broadly, the present invention is embodied in filtration media formed of a mass of nonwoven melt blown support and filtration fibers which are integrally co-located with one another. The support fibers have, on average, relatively larger diameters as compared to the filtration fibers which are integrally co-located therewith. In preferred embodiments, the filtration media is disposed within at least one annular zone of a filtration element, for example, a disposable cylindrical filter cartridge having an axially elongate central hollow passageway which is surrounded by the filtration media.
The cylindrical filter cartridge according to the present invention will thus preferably include at least one annular filtration zone surrounding a central axially elongate hollow passageway and will integrally be formed of the co-located relatively larger diameter support fibers and relatively smaller diameter filtration fibers. A depth filter cartridge in accordance with the present invention may therefore be formed having one or more additional filtration zones (which additional filtration zones may or may not respectively be provided with integrally co-located support fibers) in annular relationship to one another. As a result of the melt blown, nonwoven fiber structure in accordance with the present invention whereby at least one filtration zone is comprised of relatively larger diameter support fibers integrally co-located with relatively smaller diameter filtration fibers, a filter cartridge having a wide range of "engineered" physical properties (e.g., in terms of filtration, pressure drop tolerance and the like) can be provided.
Further aspects and advantages of this invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.

Filter cartridges having nonwoven melt blown filtration media with integral co-located support and filtration


A data storage device and a FLASH memory control method with a cache space. The FLASH memory control method includes the following steps: using a plurality of channels to access a FLASH memory, wherein the FLASH memory has a plurality of blocks each with a plurality of pages, and the blocks are grouped to be accessed by the different channels; allocating a random access memory to provide a cache space, the cache space having a plurality of cache areas caching write data for the different channels, respectively; distributing the data issued from a host to correspond to the different channels; and reusing a latest-updated cache area of the cache space to cache write data when a logical address requested to be written with data is identical to a logical address that the latest-updated cache area corresponds to.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data storage space with a FLASH memory and a FLASH memory control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
FLASH memory is commonly used as a storage medium in today's data storage devices. A NAND Flash, for example, is primarily used in memory cards, USB flash devices, solid-state drives and so on. By a multi-chip package technique, a NAND FLASH chip and a controller chip may be combined into one package, named eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard).
Today, FLASH memory is widely used with considerably increased storage capacity. For FLASH memory, however, the huge storage capacity may considerably affect the operation efficiency.

Data storage device and flash memory control method


An internal combustion engine has a cylinder head with a combustion chamber defined by a depression in the head. The raised face surface of a piston extends into the combustion chamber in the cylinder head as the piston approaches top dead center, and creates turbulent squish currents within the chamber as closely matching surfaces on the piston face and on the walls of the combustion chamber in the head force gases out from between these surfaces. The turbulence helps to prevent autoignition and allows higher compression ratios than would otherwise be possible.

In carbureted spark-ignition engines, one means of increasing the thermal efficiency (and thus the work output) of the engine is to increase the compression ratio, defined as the ratio of the maximum volume between the piston and the head to the minimum volume between the piston and the head. A higher compression ratio increases the thermal efficiency of the engine. It is therefore desirable for high-performance engines to have the greatest compression ratio possible.
However, the compression ratio cannot be increased indefinitely. The higher compression ratio causes higher temperatures and pressures in the combustion chamber's fuel-air mixture upon compression, thereby increasing the possibility of rapid self-ignition of the fuel-air mixture at some unplanned point during the work cycle. Such an event is commonly referred to as "knock" or autoignition.
A high degree of autoignition is undesirable because it lowers the engine efficiency and it also increases the chances of engine failure. Engine efficiency drops when autoignition occurs because cylinder gas expansion occurs at a time when its work potential cannot be fully utilized. For maximum work output, ignition is best begun shortly before the piston reaches top dead center so that peak combustion chamber pressures occur shortly after the piston reaches top dead center. Peak pressures at this point allow the work generated by the expanding combustion gases to be utilized over the greatest length of piston travel. The rapid pressure increases associated with autoignition can cause peak pressures to occur before this point, perhaps when the piston has not yet reached top dead center, thereby causing work losses by opposing the piston motion. Further, autoignition promotes heat losses from the engine because the combustion gases vibrate and "scrub" the cylinder walls as the shock wave from autoignition travels through the cylinder. Autoignition can also cause premature engine failure due to the extremely high temperatures it causes in the cylinder, as well as from the damage it causes by stress from the shock waves.
Autoignition is frequently triggered in high compression ratio engines by the normal process of ignition. The spark plug (or plugs) ignites the compressed fuel-air mixture, and as the flame front begins to travel from the spark site through the chamber, the end gas--the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder farthest away from the spark plug(s)--is additionally compressed by the expansion of the gases behind the flame front. The mixture is already at a state of high temperature and pressure due to its previous compression, and if this additional compression of the end gas causes further temperature and pressure increases, the end gas may autoignite.
While autoignition may be decreased by using a fuel with a higher octane rating--and therefore a higher ignition temperature--it is also helpful to increase the speed of combustion, leaving little time for autoignition of the end gas to occur. A number of steps may be taken to increase the rate of combustion, such as the use of modified fuels or multiple spark plugs. Another method involves increasing the turbulence in the combustion chamber immediately prior to and during combustion. Turbulence within the chamber causes the uniform flame front within the combustion chamber to distort, creating a more convective mode of heat transfer and sending "tongues" of highly reactive radicals from the flame front into the unburned mixture. These conditions combine to promote more rapid combustion of the unburned mixture than would occur in a quiescent, low-turbulence mixture.
While some turbulence is created within the combustion chamber by the mere act of the piston compressing the air-fuel mixture, the effect can be heightened by modifying the shape of the combustion chamber so that the motion of the piston interacts with the chamber contours to cause greater turbulence during compression. It is especially desirable if the greatest turbulence occurs in the end gas near the end of the compression stroke, just before ignition. Examples of chamber configurations designed to promote mixing and/or turbulence are found in U.S. Patents 4,838,222, 4,844,040, 5,115,774, and 5,115,776.
It is further desirable for the combustion period to be approximately constant, when measured in crankshaft degrees, over the range of speeds at which the engine will operate. This insures that regardless of engine speed, the expanding combustion gases will exert their peak pressures when the piston is at approximately the same position. A constant combustion period further insures that as the engine speed increases, thereby decreasing the compression time and causing more rapid temperature and pressure increases, the time for autoignition to occur will be proportionately decreased. A near-constant combustion period can be accomplished if the combustion chamber can be designed so that turbulence increases as engine speed is increased.
Autoignition is present in almost all internal combustion engines to some extent, and is difficult to totally eliminate. The goal of high-performance engine design is to minimize autoignition to such an extent that it no longer harms the engine's performance or its structure, while at the same time obtaining the highest compression ratio possible.

Internal combustion engine having high performance combustion chamber


A combination flying toy/beverage can insulator comprising an insulating cylinder and weighted nose ring for fixing the center of gravity of the device at a point about 12% to 18% of the full length of the device distal from the leading edge of the device.

The prior art includes several devices which function both as beverage holders and as flying toys. For example, a patent to McMahon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,922 teaches a cylindrical insulating container which can be used as a flying toy. The McMahon device includes separate inner and outer cylinders between which is sandwiched a weighted ring to provide aerodynamic stability. The patent to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,709 teaches a cylindrical insulator/flying toy including a nose element for locating the center of gravity between 25% and 38% from the leading edge of flight. Johnson also teaches the use of spokes in the inner space of the insulator. A patent to Hill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,788 teaches an aerial toy with a peripheral, though nonstreamlined, ring at the leading edge with a ratio of leading edge weight to trailing edge weight resulting in a center of gravity located between 27.3% and 31% of the distance from front to back of the device. A patent to Morrow, U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,776 discloses a cylindrical aerial toy having weighted means such that the center of gravity is approximately 1/3 (331/3%) of the distance from the front of the device to the rear of the device and achieving its aerodynamic properties, in part, from rotation in flight. Ethridge, U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,923 discloses a flying toy device in which the weight of the leading end portion to the weight of the trailing end portion is substantially equal to 2.5, that is the center of gravity is approximately 28.6% of the distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge. Other patents of interest are:
______________________________________ Patentee Patent No. ______________________________________ Miller 5,099,898 Gordon 4,383,422 Ventimiglia 4,534,391 Byrns 4,671,424 Cudmore 4,390,148 Klahn 4,151,674 Flatau 3,982,489. ______________________________________
If an axisymmetric throwing/flying toy is spun about its axis of symmetry, the gyroscopic effects will add to the stability of the device. This can make a normally unstable device stable. One example is a football which has its center of gravity at 50%. The devices of the prior art are normally statically unstable, having a combination of too much mass for the small aerodynamic stabilizing forces that can be generated, incorrect location of center of gravity and improper leading edge design. As a consequence, they cannot be stably projected without a high rate of spin. Because of the unique combination of shape and position of the center of gravity, the devices of the present invention, however, have strong built-in static stability which makes spin unnecessary.
The present invention is a combined ring wing/beverage container wrap insulator which exhibits superior static stability flying characteristics even when thrown with little or no spin. Its light weight and optimally fixed center of gravity thus make it particularly easy for children or persons unused to or unskilled at throwing to achieve very satisfying flight patterns. The soft front end and the low mass make the device significantly less dangerous on impacting people or objects. The device also floats well making it particularly suitable for use in water sports. It always floats high with its axis vertical so that it can be readily seen in the water. In addition, the device provides excellent insulation for the beverage can and holds the bottom of the beverage can off surfaces upon which the device is placed and thus acts as a coaster. In brief, the arrangements in accordance with the principles of the present invention exhibit a superior extended floating flight path, are easy to throw, are easy to catch, are light and unlikely to hurt an unprotected hand, have a desirable "squishy" feel, maintain a long flight path and are effective thermal insulators.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example, the principles of the present invention.

Combination beverage insulator and flying toy


A memory device includes a memory cell on a first region of a substrate. An active region is in a second region neighboring the first region of the substrate, and an extension direction of the active region has an acute angle with the <110> direction of the substrate. A transistor serving as a peripheral circuit is on the second region of the substrate. In the memory device, defects or failures due to a crystal defects or a dislocation of the substrate may decrease.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to semiconductor devices. More particularly, example embodiments relate to memory devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a vertical memory device including a plurality of memory cells vertically stacked on a substrate has been developed. Due to the plurality of memory cells stacked on the substrate, the substrate may have a large amount of stress. Thus, the vertical memory device may have structural and/or electrical defects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor device including different orientations of memory cell array and peripheral circuit transistors


The invention comprises an improved carrier having laterally and inwardly extending tabs from the top of each side wall of the carrier for use in a storage system that facilitates the adjustment and rearrangement of vertically-stacked components.

Currently, the most popular storage system for CD's relies on fixed tracks or slots in which the CD's, within their respective cases, are inserted into a fixed track unit or slot and removed from the track for use.
In a CD storage system wherein a system of organization such as alphabetizing or grouping is to be maintained, the prior art unitary track or slot system creates a problem when additional CD's are sought to be added to the system. In order to create an open track or slot at a particular position in the vertical stack, each and every CD above or below the track or slot to be voided for insertion of the additional CD must be moved one track or slot, up or down. Such a system is inconvenient and time consuming and tends to direct the person storing the CD's away from an organized storage system.
A further problem is that some CD's come in a double CD case which requires the physical space of two tracks or slots without any partition between them. In this situation, it is impossible to store a double CD case in a storage system unless the system provides a double space track. Where a double space track is provided, its location is fixed, thus, not permitting a system of organization.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are the ease in which a specific track or slot may be made available for an additional CD, assuming, of course, that the storage system is not at full capacity. There is no need to remove each CD as required by a fixed track/slot system, blocks of CD's being moved up or down without need for removal of each and every CD as in the prior art.
Another object and advantage is the ability to insert different size CD cases anywhere within the storage unit. This allows double CD cases to be stored anywhere in the storage unit by simply removing two single storage carriers and replacing them with a single double carrier.
Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.


A disposable re-useable urine receptacle that, when used, provides comfortable, discrete, and safe urine collection and containment until the collected urine can be properly disposed of, either by the wearer or someone else. It achieves these goals by conforming to the wearer's body, expanding to a predetermined self-supported shape, and disallowing side wall-to-wall adherence between fillings. An apparatus for automated disposal of urine is also disclosed.

Existing plastic urinary bags, worn on the thigh or calf, are typically of a design that has remained largely unchanged since such bags were first introduced. An exemplary bag is constructed of two pieces of identically sized and shaped plastic film that is sealed in such a manner as to create a rectangular, flat vessel with an inlet valve at the top and an outlet valve at the bottom. The valves are sealed in place between the two layers of plastic film. To attach the bag to the user's thigh or calf, slits are made at the four corners of the bag to permit the insertion of an adjustable strap (both top and bottom). This strap is usually made of latex rubber or some similar material to which a plastic "button" has been attached. Holes on the strap permit the user to adjust the tension of the strap by stretching the appropriate hole over the button, thus establishing a fixed degree of tension corresponding to the circumference of the leg to which the bag is attached.
Because of the design of such bag, when it is filled with urine it expands to form a rectangular balloon with the surface area of the bag in contact with the leg decreasing steadily in proportion to the volume of liquid contained within the bag. Thus, as the bag fills, it expands in such a manner as to press against the clothing raising the clothing well above the surface of the skin. This tends to make the bag obvious to others, which can be embarrassing to the user. Further, as the bag fills, the force holding the bag in place shifts almost exclusively to the straps, which accentuates the pressure already exerted by the buttons against the user's skin, to cause sores.
In addition, because such bag is constructed of identically sized and shaped sheets of plastic, reuse of the bag after emptying becomes problematic when the two wet surfaces come in contact with one another. The surface tension of the liquid tends to cause the two sides of the bag to stick together, even despite some surface texturing found in some bags. The force required to separate the two sides, which is required to allow the bag to be filled, is sometimes greater than the force exerted by the flow of urine into the bag. Thus, the tendency for the sides to stick together can cause the flow of urine into the bag to be stopped completely with potentially serious health consequences. For those with external catheters, this result can alternatively lead to failure of the catheter itself, which will result in the urine flowing freely onto the leg, clothing, and chair.
Current inlet valves used to prevent backflow add to this problem as well. When the sides of the bag stick together at the top of the bag, they impinge upon the valve because the valve extends into the bag itself. The force required to open the valve therefore includes the force required to open the inlet valve itself and to separate the bag sides from the valve opening. For example, a flat flutter valve that extends into the bag can be affected by pressure exerted against it by the closed sides of the bag. These sides often impinge upon the valve, which interferes with, and sometimes blocks, the flow of urine into the bag. Impingement on these valves also occurs to hinder urine flow when any object is placed on top of the bag, including the user's arms or hands when the bag is worn on the user's thigh.
Current inlet tubes also hinder the flow of urine by causing misalignment between the bag and the catheter that carries the urine. The placement of inlet tubes on existing bags is along the central axis of the bag such that placement of the bag on the user's thigh causes the inlet tubes to point away from the point at which the catheter is inserted or attached to the user. The resulting misalignment often causes the catheter to become constricted as a result of a very small radius bend that forms where the catheter enters the inlet tube. This constriction, like the aforementioned side wall sticking and valve impingement, can interfere with and sometimes block the flow of urine into the bag, which leads to serious health consequences.

Urine receptacle and apparatus for automated disposal of urine


Apparatus (2) for use in operator training with, and the testing and evaluation of, missile detection systems which use infrared sensors which integrate incident energy over a finite time period, which apparatus (2) comprises at least one infrared illumination source (4) for illuminating the sensors, characterised in that the infrared illumination source (4) is a pseudo continuous wave laser infrared illumination source (4) with signal duty and peak power controlled by means of an amplitude, pulse width and pulse repetition interval modulation circuit (8), whereby the laser infrared illumination source (4) operates at shorter repetition intervals than the finite time period so that the laser infrared illumination source (4) appears to the infrared sensors to be a real missile signature.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in operator training with, and the testing and evaluation of, infrared sensors for missile detection. More especially, this invention relates to apparatus for use in the testing and evaluation of infrared sensors which are for missile detection and which integrate incident energy over a finite time period.
Apparatus is known for use in operator training with, and the testing and evaluation of, infrared sensors for missile detection. The known apparatus comprises an infrared illumination source for illuminating the sensors. The infrared illumination source may be a lamp such for example as a xenon arc lamp or a quartz halogen lamp. Alternatively, the infrared illumination source may be thin filaments of carbon or a metal. The apparatus tests and evaluates the infrared missile detection sensors by illuminating them. The infrared missile detection sensors may be positioned on, for example, an aircraft.
In the above mentioned known apparatus, the use of infrared illumination sources such for example as the lamps or the thin filaments has proved to be a limiting factor in the generation of high powers in the mid-infrared wavelength range of 3-5 μm. More specifically, problems associated with the known apparatus using the lamps or the thin filaments are as follows.    1. High input power requirements for high power sources.    2. Attempts to reduce out of band wavelengths may lead to thermal management issues.    3. The generation of wavelengths which extend beyond the required infrared band can result in impractical operating conditions due to the wavelengths generated, such impractical operating conditions including those relating to eye safety and to covertness of source.    4. The beam width in any illumination system is limited by the source extent and by aperture constraints. For complete coverage of all infrared missile warning sensors, for example as placed on an aircraft, a beam width around 3° is required. However, beam widths much greater than 3° obtained with existing infrared illumination sources may result in a lower power density across the intended target.    5. Modulation capabilities of heated lamps and filaments are limited. These modulation capabilities are adequate for present day infrared missile detection sensors but they generally do not have the capacity for future developed infrared missile detection sensors.    6. High electromagnetic emissions, which are related to normal operation and the infrared illumination source being modulated, may be generated at problematic magnitudes. This is especially a problem for infrared illumination sources in the form of lamps.    7. The known infrared illumination sources cannot generate sufficient infrared power within aperture limitations which apply. These aperture limitations are dictated by the need to present a realistic source extent to the sensor, for example when mounted on an aircraft. This is especially so where imaging systems are employed.
It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the above mentioned problems.

Apparatus for use in operator training with, and the testing and evaluation of, infrared sensors which are for missile detection


A method of automatically inspecting an exposed and bent lithographic plate having an image thereon to determine whether the image is in proper registration relative to the plate. The plate has front, rear, and opposite side edges. The method comprises the steps of automatically conveying a lithographic plate from bending apparatus to an inspection station, the plate having been bent by the bending apparatus to form flanges along the front and rear edges of the plate to enable mounting of the plate on a press, moving the lithographic plate into a fixed reference position at the inspection station and holding the plate in that position, automatically inspecting the plate when it is in its fixed reference position to determine whether the image is in proper registration relative to the plate, and automatically conveying the plate from the inspection station to a first destination if the image is not in proper registration relative to the plate and to a second destination of the image is in proper registration relative to the plate. Apparatus for carrying out this method is also disclosed.

This invention relates generally to the processing of lithographic plates and, more particularly, to method and apparatus for automatically inspecting a lithographic plate after it has been exposed and bent to determine whether an image on the plate is in proper registration with respect to the plate.
In printing a lithographic color image on newspaper stock, for example, stock is fed through successive rolls of a press. One or more lithographic plates are mounted on each roll for printing a single color of the image on the stock, with different color plates on successive rolls adding different colors to the image. To produce a clear final image, it is essential that precise registration of the images be achieved; otherwise the superimposed printed color images on the stock will be out of registration. Obtaining such registration is difficult. Not only must the image be precisely applied to the plate during the exposure process, but the exposed plate must be precisely bent to form the flanges required for mounting the plate on the press. Over the years plates have been checked for proper image registration in various ways, but these have proven to be less than entirely satisfactory, either because the inspection has occurred prior to the time the plate is in final form (e.g., prior to the bending step), thus making a final check of registration impossible, or because the inspection has involved manual steps, such as manually conveying a plate after it has been bent to an inspection station where it is inspected, and then manually removing the plate from the inspection station, all of which greatly increases the time and labor required before the plate is ready for application to a press.

Method of and apparatus for automatically inspecting an exposed and bent lithographic plate


A method of selectively controlling pyrophosphate-utilizing microorganisms comprises contacting said microorganisms with an organism controlling amount of certain organophosphonate compounds. Accordingly, a method of treating amoebiasis in a human or lower animal comprises administering to a human or lower animal in need of such treatment a safe and effective amount of such organophosphonate compound. Similarly, a method of selectively controlling Propionibacteria species in the manufacture of cheese comprises incorporating an organism controlling amount of an organophosphonate compound in the raw materials for said cheese.

Wood, H. G., Federation Proceedings 36:2197-2205 (1977) reviews the metabolism of several pyrophosphate-utilizing organisms.
Chemical Review 77:349-367 (1977) discusses possible uses of phosphonates as analogs of natural phosphates.
J. Biol. Chem. 249:7737-7741 (1974) discusses the pyrophosphate dependent phosphofructokinase of Entamoeba histolytica.
T. J. Britz, et al., S. Afr. J. Dairy Technol., 8(2):79-83 (1976) describes detection of propionibacteria as the causative organisms of defects in Gouda cheese.
A series of U.S. patents to M. D. Francis describes the use of phosphonates to treat various diseases involving bone mineral. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,080.
The biological activity of phosphonate compounds in areas other than those involving bone mineral is also known. The following references are illustrative of some of the types of biological responses described in the literature for phosphonate compounds.
Canadian Pat. No. 753,207 (Monsanto) discloses polyphosphonates, including EHDP, as a potentiator for phenolic and quat bactericides used in sanitizing, antiseptic and cosmetic compositions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,644 appears to be the counterpart of Canadian Pat. No. 753,207.
German 1,045,373 (Hoechst; 1957) discloses diphosphonic acids and their use in cosmetic products, as stabilizers for antibiotics such as penicillin, and for the prevention of blood coagulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,869 (Henkel; 1973) discloses the use of EHDP in combination with diamino antimicrobials to provide synergistic microbiocidal results.
Kaye, M., Nephron (1973), 10(2-3), 188-94 discloses tests of EHDP (ineffectual) in the treatment of hyperparathyroidism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,537 (American Cyanamid; 1960) discloses various phosphonic acid derivatives as potentiators for tetracycline antibiotics.
3,4-dihydroxybutyl-1-phosphonate is disclosed as an inhibitor of phosphatidyl glycerol synthesis in E. coli. Shopsis, et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1974), 249(8), 2473-7.
The use of phosphonoacetic acid in the treatment of herpes simplex is disclosed in "Antimicrobial Agents in Chemotherapy" (1975), 7(3), 285-8, by Gerstein, et al.
The use of phosphonic acids (generally monophosphonates) as herbicides, plant growth regulators, and the like, is disclosed in a variety of publications, including U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,640, Indian Journal of Applied Chemistry (1971), 34(6), 249-52; Japanese Patent 74/40936 (CA 82 150525 g) and CA 81 73452f.
The use of phosphonates as algicides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,476 (1975) and the use of phosphonates to inhibit fungi and bacteria is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,120 (1975).

Control of pyrophosphate microorganisms with organophosphonates


Provided herein are nucleic acids and methods for selectively amplifying in parallel tens of thousands of high quality oligonucleotides without common sequences. The resultant oligonucleotides can be used for a variety of purposes and applications including but not limited to DNA nano structure synthesis.

Two- and three-dimensional nanoscale shapes can be constructed from folding a long strand of DNA. This folding is based on the specificity of the interactions between complementary nucleotides. Folding of the long DNA strand is aided by multiple short oligonucleotides, referred to as "staple" strands. Each oligonucleotide binds the longer DNA strand in multiple non-contiguous regions, resulting in various shapes. To produce a single shape such as a nanotube or nanosheet, hundreds (or even thousands) of select oligonucleotide staple strands may be required.
Tens of thousands of high-quality oligonucleotides (oligonucleotide pool) can be synthesized in parallel on chip-based platforms. Nonetheless, the amount of oligonucleotides (e.g., 1 pmol total) is far too small to be used directly for the assembly of two- and three-dimensional nanoscale nucleic acid structures.

Selective nucleic acid amplification from nucleic acid pools


A fuse device and a fuse element having excellent rapid blowout properties and excellent insulation properties after blowout even in a size-reduced fuse device are provided. A fuse element constitutes a current path of a fuse device and blows out due to self-generated heat when a rating-exceeding current flows, a length W in a width direction perpendicular to a conduction direction being greater than a total length L in the conduction direction in the fuse element. In particular, the fuse element includes a low melting point metal layer and a high melting point metal layer, the low melting point metal layer eroding the high melting point metal layer when current flows to cause blowout.

Conventionally, fuse elements which blow out due to self-generated heat when a rating-exceeding current flows therethrough are used to interrupt a current path. Examples of often-used fuse elements include, for example, fuses fixed by a holder wherein solder is enclosed in glass, chip fuses wherein an Ag electrode is printed onto a ceramic substrate surface, and screw-in or insertion type fuses wherein part of a copper electrode is made thinner and assembled into a plastic case.

Fuse element, fuse device, and heat-generator-integrated fuse device


An apparatus and method are provided for generating a plurality of data frames in a DSL modem configured as an HTU-C device using a single clock source. The technique of the present invention generates a data clock signal by combining a first clock signal provided by a clock source and a receiver overhead signal provided by framing circuitry for indicating the insertion of frame overhead bits into a data frame. The generated data clock signal has the characteristics such that, while said receiver overhead signal is inactive, said data clock signal is active at a frequency substantially equal to frequency of the first clock signal, and while the receiver overhead signal is active, the data clock signal is inactive. The result of this technique is that incoming data is clocked into the data frame at a data rate substantially equal to the frequency of the first clock signal only during time intervals when frame overhead bits are not being inserted into the one data frame. By using a single clock source to provide both the data rate and signaling rate, a reduction in cost, space, complexity, and power consumption of the HTU-C device may be achieved as compared to conventional devices.

The present invention relates to transmission of data on a subscriber loop in a public network such as, for example, a telephone network. More specifically, the present invention provides an improvement of standard single pair digital subscriber line (SDSL) technology.
A wide variety of technologies and transmission standards have been developed for transmission of data via currently existing public network resources. A substantial portion of these resources comprise copper twisted pair transmission lines. This is especially true for the final connections to individual subscribers, i.e., subscriber loops. Without other limitations such as core network filters, such copper lines can achieve practical data rates on the order of tens of megabits per second (Mbps). Of course, substantial attenuation occurs at the higher data rates thereby limiting the length of the subscriber loop which may be serviced at such rates. For example, 24 gauge copper supports reliable transmission of data at the DS1 standard, i.e., 1.544 kbps, also commonly referred to as T1, for up to 12,000 feet. By contrast, the same 24 gauge copper will only support the STS-1 standard, i.e., 51.840 Mbps, for lines of less than 1000 feet.
The term "digital subscriber line" (DSL) refers to a modem or modem pair connected by one or more twisted pairs having a specific data frame format and associated transmission rate. The first digital subscriber line technology, referred to as IDSL, corresponds to what is also known as basic rate ISDN. IDSL technology transmits duplex data at 144 kbps over copper lines using a 2B1Q modulation scheme. The modems multiplex and demultiplex the data stream into two B channels (64 kbps each) and a D channel (16 kbps) as described in ANSI T1.601, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
High data rate digital subscriber lines (HDSL) are related to the earlier IDSL using the same modulation scheme to transmit data at the T1 data rate over two twisted pairs as described in ANSI Committee T1 TR-28, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. A single pair digital subscriber line (SDSL) is a single pair version of HDSL, i.e., transmitting data at one-half the T1 data rate, i.e., 768 kbps, over a single twisted pair. For both HDSL and SDSL and as shown in FIG. 1, data are organized into 6 ms frames 102 comprising alternating overhead and payload sections 104 and 106. The four payload sections 106 each include twelve 97-bit payload blocks 108, 96 bits (110) of which are data and one bit (112) of which represents block overhead. This works out to the well known data rate of 768 kbps. Overhead sections 104 and 112 represent an additional 16 kbps for an actual transmission rate of 784 kbps.
FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of one portion 200 of a standard SDSL, configured as a HDSL Terminal Unit-Central Office (HTU-C) or public branch exchange (represented by modem 204). The central office typically transmits data via twisted pair line 216 to a subscriber premises (represented by modem 206, FIG. 3). The data to be transmitted enters framing circuitry 208 of modem 204 at the raw data rate of, for example, 768 kbps. Framing circuitry 208 organizes the incoming data stream into the 6 ms frames described above with reference to FIG. 1. In order to perform this task, the framing circuitry 208 utilizes a signal generated from a 768 kHz oscillator 210. The signal provided by oscillator 210 to framing circuitry 208 functions as a data clock, and is used in communicating and synchronizing with incoming raw data on line 201. While the framing circuitry 208 organizes the incoming data stream into the 6 ms frames, it generates frame overhead data, which is multiplexed with the raw data, and inserted into the frame at a rate of 16 kbps. During the time that the frame overhead data is being inserted into the frame, the incoming raw data is queued in a FIFO buffer. When the insertion of frame overhead data is finished, the data from the FIFO buffer is then inserted into the frame, followed by incoming raw data from line 201. The framed data are then sent to bit pump 212 where, using a 784 kHz oscillator 214, they are encoded according to the 2B1Q modulation scheme and transmitted via twisted pair line 216 to the subscriber premises.
As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional HTU-C system, requires two different clock sources: one for the data rate and one for the signaling rate. The solution to this requirement is classically solved via two externally provided clock signals, each signal being generated from a separate oscillator. In FIG. 2, the 768 kHz oscillator 210 is utilized as a data clock by the framing circuitry for generating the data frames and for communicating and synchronizing with the incoming raw data. The 784 kHz oscillator 214 is utilized as a signaling clock by the bit pump for modulating the data frames according to the 2B1Q modulation scheme. However, use of two separate clock sources increases cost, complexity, power consumption, and space utilization of the DSL modem. What is desirable, therefore, is to provide a DSL modem having reduced, cost, complexity, power consumption, and space requirements compared to conventional DSL modems configured as HTU-C devices.


A mixing device employs a rotating hollow column or pipe that is motor-driven for rotation, is open at both ends to, at its upper or outer end, receive an inflow of a mixing fluid, such a gas or liquid, and its opposite or lower end, to simultaneously receive a co-axial inflow of a fluid-like or flowable charge material that is to be thoroughly and substantially uniformly mixed with the counter in-flowing mixing fluid. A positive in-flow of the flowable material from a container, for example, is effected from the lower end of the device within the column, to combine with the in-flow of the mixing fluid and premix therewith in a swirling movement with respect thereto at an annularly open portion of the column and, as thus premixed, enter one or more annular out-flow chambers defined by spaced-apart disc assemblies which are being rotated to generate centrifugal force to finally complete the mixing of the materials and project them annularly radially outwardly therefrom, as into the container from which the flowable material is being drawn by reason of positive inward or suction pressure generated by a powered rotation of the column and its attached disc assembly or assemblies. Each disc or plate assembly may be shaped to provide a desired type and direction of outflow of the now fully mixed material from the outflow chamber or chambers back into the container from which fluid such as a liquid is being drawn.

There have been many devices for mixing flowable material such as liquids, including stirrers, paddle wheels and other rotatable motor-driven apparatus in which two or more materials to be mixed are placed in a container within which the materials are directly agitated. I have determined what the power requirements are for normal commercial quantities of materials to be fully mixed, such as in the paint, chemicals and other fluid processing industries.


A process is disclosed for inhibiting corrosion of metal surfaces and deposition of particulates in an air preheater system. In the process, a composition (preferably aqueous) comprising a corrosion inhibiting amine and a surfactant having an HLB value of from about 8 to about 20, preferably from about 10 to about 14, is supplied to the combustion gas-in side and/or to the air-in side of the air preheater for protection of the metal surfaces and minimizing such deposits. In a preferred embodiment, the process of the invention can employ an amine salt of a C.sub.12 to C.sub.24 tertiary alkyl amine an amine oxide, or an amine oxide salt, either alone or with a surfactant.

The present invention relates to a process for inhibiting corrosion of metal surfaces and minimizing deposits in an air preheater system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process in which a corrosion inhibiting and antifouling composition is supplied to the air preheater system.
The combustion gases of fuel fired vessels contain various contaminants or combustion by-products which can cause corrosion of system metals when condensed in the cold end of the system, i.e. when the temperature drops below the dew point. Moreover, solids can deposit which can also cause gas flow restrictions in the air heater.
Typical corrosive agents are H.sub.2 CO.sub.3 produced in the combustion of carbon and H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 from SO.sub.3 produced in the combustion of sulfur. As the flue gases pass through the boiler heat exchange system, heat is extracted with consequent cooling occurring. As the dew point of the gas is reached, condensing of these corrosive agents into an aqueous solution occurs. The condensed weak and strong acids corrode boiler system metals-typically, economizers, air heaters, ducts, electrostatic precipitators, stacks, etc. The wet, sticky mass which accumulates in itself is a foulant but also causes entrapment or adhesion of particulates from the flue gas. The corrosion and fouling which occur affect the reliability of the fuel fired unit, reduce efficiency of heat transfer in the energy recovery equipment, cause forced outages, reduce the megawatt output of the unit (deration), increase maintenance costs, and reduce equipment life.
Various techniques, have been employed in attempt to prevent corrosion and inhibit deposition in air preheater systems, i.e., at the cold end of boiler combustion systems. One method maintains the exit gas temperature above the dew point. This method, however, causes loss of usable energy.
Another method involves disassembling of the cold end components, cleaning them of deposits and replacing deteriorated materials as required. This method also causes loss of usable energy due to fouling. In addition, there is considerable down time and the equipment life is reduced.
In another process inorganic powders such as magnesium oxide, sodium aluminate and the like are added, for example, to flue gases from a boiler. These inorganic powders react with the acidic materials in the flue gases, which are primarily H.sub.2 CO.sub.3 and H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 from the carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide in the flue gases. These powders are added in proportion to the concentration of such materials to cause a neutralization reaction in which the H.sub.2 CO.sub.3 and H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 are removed as solid materials.
The processes employing inorganic powders, however, have a number of disadvantages. They employ a stoichiometric amount of the powder relative to the amount of the acid material in the gas stream. Also, the reaction product between the acid in the gas stream and the inorganic powder is a solid which can cause fouling of the air preheater, especially when the air heater metal temperature is below the water dew point. Moreover, the inorganic powders are not distributed very well over the air preheater surfaces, because they are powders. In addition, these powders require chemical powder feed equipment, which is costly to purchase and install and to maintain. Still further, the inorganic powders increase the amount of particulate matter that a downstream particulate collector must remove.
Others have employed neutralizing amines as cold-end additives. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,728, 4,134,729, 4,185,071 and 4,206,172 disclose the use of alkanolamines and ethylene polyamines as such cold-end additives, either alone or in combination with each other or in combination with sodium aluminate. The effectiveness of these amines as corrosion inhibitors are, however, relatively limited. The amount of amine added is directly related to the acid content of the combustion stream to be treated and therefore requires a relatively large amount of amine for such processes. Moreover, the amines provide relatively unstable formulations with water and therefore cannot be stored over a wide range of temperatures over long periods of time without difficulty. The amines typically form dispersions in water.

Process for inhibiting corrosion and minimizing deposits in an air preheater system


A built-up table lamp includes a lamp stand formed by bending a fan-like sheet of flexible material to define a truncated-conic structure having a larger lower end standing on table and a small upper end to support a bulb socket assembly. An inner truncated-cone is received within the upper end of the lamp stand and an outer truncated-cone is fit over the upper end of the lamp stand to sandwich therebetween the upper end of the lamp stand. The bulb socket assembly includes a socket having a threaded tube mounted to the bottom thereof to insert through holes formed on the truncated-cones to be secured thereon by a nut. A lamp shade is formed by bending a fan-like sheet of flexible material to define a truncated-conic structure. The lamp shade has a plurality of holes formed thereon to receive and nut-secure thereon a threaded end of each of a plurality of harp rods of which the other ends are threadingly engaged to inner-threaded holes formed on a ring. The ring is disposed and thus supported on a circumferential flange formed on the socket. A light bulb is inserted into the socket and electricity is supplied thereto by means of a power cord extending through the tube and the lamp stand to be connectable to an external power source.

Table lamps are commonly used in living rooms or offices. Table lamps generally comprise a stand on which a bulb socket assembly is mounted. The bulb socket assembly comprises a socket electrically connected to an external power source with a power cord connected therebetween and a light bulb mounted on the socket. A lamp shade is used to cover the bulb for softening the light and decoration. Conventionally, the lamp shade and stand have fixed shape and configuration so that in storage and transportation, they occupy a great space.
It is therefor desirable to provide a table lamp structure which is capable to save the space occupied thereby during storage and transportation so as to overcome the above drawback.


A crack gauge for monitoring the progress of fatigue crack propagation in a conductive substrate is made by applying an inorganic insulating layer and then a metallic conductor. The conductor is laid in a geometry which results in a change in a measured electrical property of the conductor (e.g., resistance) as a fatigue crack propagates through the substrate and breaks the conductor. The adherent crack gauge is especially reliable in hostile environments. A special conductor geometry is useful for especially fatigue resistant substrates.

The invention relates to the field of crack detection and especially to fatigue cracking in conductive materials, such as metals. Decal type crack detectors exist which are applied to fatigue crack substrates with an organic binder.
These decal detectors, however, often fail to fracture as a crack propagates or the conductors continue to make intermittent contact after fracture occurs. Both situations result in erroneous data. Moreover, the organic bond is not always stable in hostile environments, such as pressurized liquid or elevated temperatures.
The present invention overcomes these deficiencies of the decal type detectors by providing an inorganically bonded conductor. The geometry can be similar to those of the prior art decal type or a special geometry can be utilized.


More efficient utilization of available bandwidth is implemented in an OFDM wireless communication system. The partitions of bandwidth may be of different sizes and may be different from the original system design parameters. Basic system structure such as the number of tones used and the number of OFDM symbol times in a slot is maintained throughout the system. Bandwidth is varied by adjusting the inter-tone spacing or bandwidth associated with a single tone. As the inter-tone spacing is increased, the OFDM symbol transmission time is decreased following an inverse proportional relationship. A wireless communications device, during a first period of time transmits signals using a first uplink frequency band of a first number of uniformly distributed tones and during a second period of time transmits signals using a second uplink frequency band of a second number of uniformly distributed tones, the second number being the same as the first number, the second frequency band being wider than the first frequency band.

In some wireless communications systems, the total available bandwidth in a given cell or sector may be partitioned into different frequency bands, e.g., distinct frequency bands. In addition, the total available bandwidth in a given cell or sector may vary throughout the system.
Typically, the known available bandwidth in a given cell or sector is partitioned to include a number of frequency bands, each band in the system having the same bandwidth, basic structure, and timing so that the wireless terminals can readily establish connections, perform communications, and execute hand-off operations with the various base stations throughout the system. When, the available bandwidth (BW) in a given cell or sector is partitioned, in addition to the fixed size frequency bands, there may be left over unused frequency bandwidth that is currently wasted.
FIG. 1 includes a drawing 100 illustrating exemplary partitioning of BW in an exemplary code division multiple access (CDMA) system and a drawing 150 illustrating exemplary partitioning of BW in an exemplary orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. In drawing 100, the available BW, e.g., 5 MHz, 102 is partitioned to include three 1.25 MHz BW bands (104, 106, 108), each associated with a carrier frequency (fA 110, fB 112, fC 114), respectively. CDMA signaling (116, 118, 120) is associated with (fA 110, fB 112, fC 114), respectively. Regions 122 and 124 represent signaling overlap from adjacent bands. Regions 126, 128 represent regions of boundary areas, which have been established within the allocated 5 MHz band 102 to limit interference to outside adjacent bands. In CDMA systems, due to the characteristics of the CDMA signals and the power shaping filters used for each band (104, 106, 108) the 1.25 MHz bandwidth associated with the composite of the regions 126, 122, 124, and 128 is used and generally needed to: (i) limit interference levels between adjacent bands (104, 106, 108) thus allowing for reliable operation in the system and (ii) prevent the signaling from (116, 120) from encroaching on adjacent bands outside of the allocated 5 MHz band 102, which may be allocated to a system operated by a different service provider.
In drawing 150, the available BW, e.g., 5 MHz, 152 is partitioned to include, e.g., three 1.27 MHz BW bands (154, 156, 158). OFDM signaling within band 154 includes signals communicated on OFDM modulation symbols using, e.g., 113 evenly spaced tones (tone 1 160, tone 2 162, tone 3 164, . . . tone 113 166). The inter-tone spacing (184, 186) is the same between each tone, e.g., 11.25 KHz. The inter-tone spacing of 11.25 kHz also represents the bandwidth allocated to a single tone. Similarly, OFDM signaling within band 156 includes signals communicated on OFDM modulation symbols using, e.g., 113 evenly spaced tones (tone 1 168, tone 2 170, tone 3 172, . . . tone 113 174). The inter-tone spacing (188, 190) is the same between each tone, e.g., 11.25 KHz. Similarly, the OFDM signaling within band 158 includes signals communicated on OFDM modulation symbols using, e.g., 113 evenly spaced tones (tone 1 176, tone 2 178, tone 3 180, . . . tone 113 182). The inter-tone spacing (192, 194) is the same between each tone, e.g., 11.25 KHz. With OFDM signaling, unlike CDMA signaling, quite sharp power shaping filters can be used due to the nature of the OFDM signals. Drawing 150 shows three exemplary power shaping filters (151, 153, 155), each associated with a bandwidth only slightly larger than 1.27 MHZ (157, 159, 161), respectively. This leaves a remaining unused bandwidth of slightly less than 1.19 MHz, as represented by the composite of regions 163, 165, 167, and 169. This amount is less than the standard size of 1.27 MHz needed for an additional standard band, yet sizeable.
In the exemplary OFDM system, the remainder unused bandwidth may be a result of the exemplary 5 MHZ system being different than what the system was originally designed. For example, the exemplary OFDM system may have been originally designed for distinct bandwidth allocations of approximately 1.27 MHz.
In view of the above, there is a need for methods and apparatus, particularly in OFDM systems, that increase or maximize the use of available allocated bandwidth. Methods and apparatus that flexibly allow for adaptations to changes in available bandwidth would be beneficial. Changes could be in response, e.g., to additional bandwidth licensed to a service provider or to dynamic redeployments of bandwidth to meet current user needs. In addition, designs that allow wireless terminals (WTs) to readily adjust to use different amounts of bandwidth in different sectors and/or cells of the same system would be advantageous. In such multiple bandwidth OFDM systems, there is also a need for efficient methods and apparatus to communicate from a base station to the WTs the bandwidth and/or structure associated with the cell and/or sector.

Wireless terminal methods and apparatus for use in wireless communications systems supporting different size frequency bands


A method for preparing a low caloric dextrin of which caloric value is not more than 280 kcal/100 g is provided using a pyrodextrin prepared by heating a starch to which mineral acid is added. The method comprising the steps of dissolving a pyrodextrin into water, and reacting alpha-amylase on the dextrin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a low calorie dextrin by treating pyrodextrin with enzyme.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, living standards have improved remarkably in Japan with, in particular, eating habits attaining substantially the same levels as those in Western countries. As a result, the average life span of Japanese people has been prolonged, thereby bringing about a rapidly aging society which, in turn, results in structural changes in disease sharply increasing the diseases of adult people. Thus, promotion of health is now one of the matters of greatest concern. In this connection, the Health and Welfare Ministry of Japan published a proposal of "Guideline of Eating Habits for Promotion of Health" in 1985 with regard to the eating the habits of Japanese people in general, and in which it was pointed out that one of the problems pertaining to Japanese eating habits was "excessive intake of energy."
On the other hand, in various kinds of processed foods, starch itself and most modified starches, such as pregelatinized starch, pyrodextrin, starch derivative, glucose, corn syrup solids and maltodextrin, are actually employed in large quantity. Caloric values of these starch products, however, amounts to about 400 Kcal/100 g, and accordingly only pyrodextrin is known among the starch products as a useful low calorie food material capable of saving the mentioned "excessive intake of energy."
The inventors of the present application have been aggressively engaged in research and development of dietary fibers, and based on the results thereof, already filed a patent application titled "Method for Preparing Dextrin Containing High Percentage of Dietary Fibers" and others. It has been heretofore known that pyrodextrin is a low calorie material, but is not adaptable to be employed as food material due to its stimulative taste and smell, coloring difficulty, etc. The inventors, however, have come to conceive an idea of employing this pyrodextrin as a new food material. To realize this new idea, the inventors have been further aggressively engaged in studies of overcoming the mentioned drawbacks of pyrodextrin aiming at a satisfiable low calorie food material therefrom while maintaining the property of low calorie as it is. The inventors further have attempted to develop means for easy mass production.

Method for preparing low calorie dextrin


A force application system for a disc brake assembly in which twin pistons engage a configured load plate featuring stiffening ribs at specific locations to maximize the stiffness thereof seeking to provide uniformity of pressure transmitted therethrough to a friction pad. Additional uniformity of pressure is achieved by forming recesses in the backing plate of the friction pad proximate regions of pressure peaks. A singular recess at the point of pressure peak or recesses defined in a pattern identified by infinite element analysis may be utilized to optimize uniformity of pressure distribution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disc brake mechanisms and, more specifically, to a mechanism featuring a load plate configured to optimize the distribution of lining/rotor contact pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention is particularly applicable to a disc brake assembly of the type which includes a rotor mounted for rotation with a vehicle wheel and a caliper straddling the periphery of the rotor. Friction pads are carded by the caliper on opposite sides of the rotor and are movable into contact with oppositely disposed friction surfaces of the rotor by actuating means driven by an air actuator. In a caliper disc brake, each friction pad is located intermediate one leg of the caliper and the adjacent friction surface of the rotor. The actuating mechanism is usually carried by one leg of the caliper and serves to move the friction pad adjacent to that leg axially into contact with the rotor. The reaction force of such contact draws the other leg of the caliper and the other friction pad into contact with the opposite surface of the rotor. Although various arrangements are known for applying force to fiction pads within a disc brake assembly, most impart the force directly to a backing plate defined as a flat semi-rigid structure. Some cases utilize a single piston, whereas others impart the force using dual annularly displaced pistons. In either case the lack of stiffness in the structure of the backing plate and the concentration of piston force at the region of contact results in a nonuniform pressure distribution causing peak forces in the friction material. As a result, nonuniform pressure distribution produces ineffective use of lining material such that the full effectiveness of the lining/rotor contact may not be realized. Therefore, there is a need for a disc brake assembly which applies force to a friction pad through a structurally stiff member that provides uniform pressure distribution between the lining and the rotor.

Disc brake assembly including a configured load plate


A filter unit comprises a plastics frame into which a sheet of filter medium is insert moulded. Portions of the frame form apertures and other portions allow fluid access to and from the opposed surfaces of the filter medium when the frame is covered by a flat surface. The frames also form portions of an integral capsule enclosing the medium. A number of such filter units can be stacked together in various configurations so that the apertures form inlets and outlets for fluid so that, in some configurations, fluid can be passed through the filter units in parallel while, in other configurations, fluid can be passed through filter units in succession. Filters of any convenient size can be produced by increasing the number of filter units in a stack. The filters are bi-directional. The frames can be of polypropylene connected to hydrophilic microporous nylon membrane by injection moulding, which has been found to give a filter unit that can be integrity tested.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to filters and filter units.
2. Review of the Prior Art
In known filters, a number of filter units are formed together in a stack to provide a filter having a required surface area of filter medium. An example of this is shown in GB-A-2063089A.
This specification discloses a filter comprising a number of filter units which are formed by generally circular plastic supports with filter media bonded to their upper and lower surface. Radial passages in the support lead to a central aperture which, when the filter units are stacked together, forms an outlet for filtrate. The filter units are contained within a casing which provides an inlet for fluid being filtered.
It is a disadvantage of the arrangement of GB-A-2063089 that the filter units are complicated to manufacture and difficult to assemble. The flow is not fully reversible in this arrangement and the filter medium can only be encapsulated by the provision of a separate casing.
GB-A-1234283 shows a similar arrangement in which a disc-shaped holder carries filtering material. Each disc has peripheral apertures and a central aperture so that when the discs are stacked together, fluid to be filtered enters via the peripheral apertures and passes generally radially to the central aperture via the filtering material.
Again, these discs can only be encapsulated by the provision of a separate casing because of the peripheral apertures. The provision of such a casing adds to the cost and lengthens the manufacturing process.

Plastic frame filter unit for a stack assembly


A network node supports switching fixed length information cells between a source unit and a destination unit. The invention uses two lookup tables called the active and the standby calendars for each of said output line. Each entry in the calendars represents the position of one cell in the output cell stream which will be sent onto said output lines. While the active calendar is controlling the network cell multiplexing onto a node output line, the standby calendar is updated at each traffic change by looking for a calendar free position for the new traffic starting with a targeted theoretical entry position. A Free Location Table (700) is used, storing the calendar organized by pages. The standby calendar updating starts with reading a Free Location Table page pointed at by the most significant bits of the theoretical entry. Should said page contain only ones (i.e., no free cell position) looking for the nearest page containing at least one zero (i.e., free cell position) and updating the Table and standby calendar accordingly, and then swapping calendars.

The basic advantage of the new high bandwidth, low delay, fixed length cell based transfer mode techniques, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), is to allow multiplexing and switching of different types of information over the same network: data, voice, image, video, while optimizing the bandwidth and resources utilization.
To that end, the various network user's traffic are split into fixed and/or variable length data packets (or blocks) which are then split into fixed length cells in an ATM type network. The basic problem is to conveniently orient these cells within the network bearing in mind that thousands of users connected to the same network shall share the same network link. In a high speed transmission environment, and with users operating essentially in burst mode and at different speed from one another, one may easily understand that conflicts and congestions can occur within the network.
Congestion control inside these networks is one of the major problems to be resolved. As the cells are short, no space is allocated in their headers to enable error recovery for the cell payload (i.e. users data). If one cell of the block has been lost or discarded by the network in case of network congestion, error recovery is performed at the higher-level by recovery protocols retransmitting the user data block. The error rate being extremely low in the internode links, cells lost because of random errors is not a potential problem. However, when a node discards cells for reason of traffic congestion, it is unlikely that these cells will come from a small number of logical data blocks. Discarding 1000 cells, if the average user data blocks length is 2KBytes (a low estimate), sent as 43 cells, may cause the network to absorb a retransmission of 43,000 cells! This case indeed is the worse case when the 1000 messages come from 1000 different connections. That is why the protocols need to be efficient enough to minimize congestion problems in this type of networks.
In the ATM connection-oriented networks, the end-to-end traffic of data for one user, between the source and the destination, is represented by a Virtual Connection (VC); several Virtual Connections may be grouped in a Virtual Path (VP) that can be switched as a unit. The bandwidth is allocated dynamically, based on predefined conditions and agreements with each user, as part of a connection setup signalling procedure that precedes end-to-end information exchange. At call admission time, the source user provides, in addition to the destination point, a set of parameters, called the traffic descriptors, which attempt to describe the traffic that will be generated onto the links. For instance, a mandatory descriptor is the peak cell rate of the connection, R. If this parameter is sufficient to fully describe Constant Bit Rate (CBR) connections, i.e., periodic stream of cells such as uncompressed voice, further parameters are necessary to describe Variable Bit Rate (VBR) connections such as those for video traffic. The burst of traffic is measured by the average cell rate and the average duration of an emission at the peak rate R in most of the high speed networks literature. As indicated above, in ATM networks, cells may be lost or unacceptable delays can be induced in case of traffic congestion. Depending on the type of traffic conveyed over the ATM network, the first or the second just mentioned behavior of the network, in case of congestion, may damage the quality of traffic over the virtual connections: for voice traffic, cells can be lost but a delay in transmission is unacceptable. When pure data is transferred on the virtual connection, the delay can be acceptable but not the cell loss. That's why the network guarantees a Quality of Service (QoS). The QoS guaranteed by a network is, in most cases, expressed in terms of cell loss probability and maximum end-to-end delay for a cell, independently of network topologies and protocols. One can note that the end-to-end delay between two users is increased if the end-to-end connection crosses different network entities (private or public carrier networks) which have their own protocols and traffic management.
In order to meet the QoS, the network nodes have to control the traffic congestion both at connection admission time and once the connection is established.
At connection admission time the access node has to decide if it can accept the connection or not: its decision is based on the actual load of the links, and its analyzis of the traffic parameters of the connection. Moreover, it has also to compute a path table to carry this overload of traffic through the different nodes. If no path is found, the call is rejected. It is important to note that the decision to accept a new call has to be taken not only if the network node estimates that the QoS for the connection will be met but also if it is sure that the added traffic will not have a significant impact on the QoS of all the connections already established.
A first control on traffic congestion, once the connection is established, is performed by the policing function implemented in a device, the policer, of the network access node adapter. The policer will detect and penalize the violation of the peak cell rate on the current traffic compared to the one required at call set up.
Instead of the peak cell rate, another descriptor the Sustainable Cell Rate, (SCR) can be used as a criterion for the policing function. Accordingly, any reference to the peak cell rate can be replaced by SCR. The policing function is also referred to, in the ATM literature, as the Network Parameter Control (NPC) or the Usage Parameter Control (UPC) depending on whether the source unit is a Network Node or a Customer Premise Node (or port). Indeed, an efficient policing function should be transparent as long as the traffic characteristics provided by the source at call setup are met. This means that the policing algorithm should discard or tag as discardeable, user cells unless the cell loss probability is less than or equal to the one defined by the QoS. On the other hand, the policing function will also discard or tag the cells that are in excess versus the peak cell rate provided at call set up.
A second control of traffic congestion consists in shaping the output network node traffic by spacing the cells departures in such a way that the time between two departures of cells for the same connection shall never be below the minimal value negotiated at connection setup time. It has been shown that, on the average, the multiplexing of spaced cells tends to decrease the `burstiness` of the aggregate traffic and then allows a better utilization of the network resources. This invention shall essentially focus on this second aspect of traffic congestion, and accordingly shall be implemented within (or combined with) the shaping device (shaper).
FIG. 1 shows the shaping principle applied to the input cells stream 1. The shaded cells have been sent by a first user and the cells marked with a cross have been sent by a second user. The result of shaping is shown with the output cells stream 2: the cells marked with = have been moved and the departure time between two cells has become more regular. The spacing of the cells is done according to the bandwidth sharing required by the users: in the output cell stream, the departure time between two cells is smaller for the cells of the first user than for the second user's cells, because the first user has required a greater bandwidth share than the second user. Moreover, in the output stream the bursts of traffic have decreased: one can note that the groups of two cells belonging to the same connection of the input stream 1 have disappeared in the output stream 2.
The policing function is implemented in the access network nodes. The device implementing the policing function, the policer, is part of the high speed adapter cards; it controls and, if necessary, penalizes the traffic entering the network.
The shaping function is implemented in the devices accessing a network: they can be Customer Premise Nodes accessing an ATM network or a Network Node at the boundary of a first ATM network and intending to access another ATM network. As some Customer Premise Nodes can implement a policer, it is recommended to implement also the shaping function in the node at the boundary of a network connecting Customer Premise Nodes with policers. The device implementing the shaping function, the shaper, is also part of the high speed adapter cards and controls the sending of the output traffic cells.
FIG. 2 shows a network node 5 which shall include shaper and policer functions. Reference numeral 15 designates the input lines conveying the input cell streams which are received by the input adapters 10; in each adapter the policer controls and penalizes, if necessary, the cell stream for each user. Then the cells are switched in the switch 30 and sent to the output adapters 20. In each output adapter 20 there is a shaper which spaces the cells which are sent to the output lines 25 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows an example of network topology to convey the traffic of users from the source unit 40 to the destination unit 60 through the networks 42 and 52. In these networks the nodes 45 are the access nodes; the policers are implemented in these access nodes 45. The shapers are implemented in the source unit 40 and in the node 50 which is at the boundary of the first network 42 and which accesses the second network 52. As the destination unit 60 may be a Customer Premise Node having implemented a policer, it is recommended to implement also a shaper in the node 55 located at the boundary of the network 52.
Many policing schemes have recently been studied; some of the most known are the leaky bucket, the jumping window, the moving window as described by Raif O. Onvural in his book entitled "Asynchronous Transfer Mode Networks: performance issues", Artech House edition. Without lack of generality, each policing function estimates one or more traffic parameters for a given period of time P. As this period of time P decreases, the policer may become non-transparent to users generating a traffic in conformance with the parameters negotiated at connection establishment time. On the other hand, as P increases, the policer takes longer to detect that the source exceeds its declared characteristics. However, the latter approach is more fair since it allows the user to generate a stream of cells that have short-term fluctuations. This is done at the expense of more memory requirements at the node level.
The only policing function proposed as a standard by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union), is the Generic Cell Rate Algorithm (GCRA). Details of the GCRA are given in the ATM Forum, "ATM User-Network Interface Specification", Version 3.0, 1994. Its role is, for each connection, to monitor the traffic arriving upstream according to the cell period T (T corresponds to the inverse of the peak cell rate R) and a given tolerance {character pullout} on this period. Basically, a cell is assumed to be conforming if the time elapsed between the arrival of two consecutive cells (belonging to the same connection) is greater than or equal to T-{character pullout}. If not, the cell is assumed to be non-conforming and is tagged and then, possibly discarded.
The policer discards cells not only because the source of traffic has violated the parameters negotiated at connection establishment but also because of a distorsion in the cell stream well known as jitter or Cell Delay Variation (CDV). This distorsion is due to the queuing of the cells at each intermediate network node and more generally the multiplexing of the cells on the output lines. The magnitude of the jitter depends on many parameters: the connection peak rate, the peak rate of the other connections that share the same link, the link load, the number of nodes passed through etc . . . . A consequence of the jitter is to induce, as the user cells travel through the network, some distortion on the traffic parameters declared by the source upstream. Especially, the instantaneous peak cell rate R' which may be modified and may pass beyond the value R declared by the source upstream at connection establishment time. In the worst case R'>R and the policing function with a short measurement interval (small period of time P) may take undesirable discarding actions. This is typically the case of the GCRA when the specified tolerance {character pullout}, named Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVT), is small. That's why the shaping function will buffer cells so that the departure rate from a node is less that the arrival rate. It has been shown that the multiplexing of spaced cells tends to decrease the "burstiness" of the aggregate traffic and then allows a better utilization of the network resources. Policing and shaping control techniques should take into account the real-time constraints; as implemented in high speed network node adapters dealing with lines at several hundreds of Megabits per second. For example, the cell transmission time (cell time cycle) is about 2.7 .mu.s for a line speed of 155.52 Mbps (OC-3), and less than 0.7 .mu.s for a line speed of 622.08 Mbps (OC-12). This implies that the shaping and policing methods have a very short time to `manage` an incoming call. For instance, assuming that only ten instructions are needed to both compute a cell transmission time and queue the cell to an output buffer; assuming that each instruction takes no more than one time cycle, the execution requires from the processor more than 14 Mips (Million of instructions per second) devoted to this task, for an OC-12 output link. Usually hardware devices are preferred and only simple computations (a few software instructions) and basic manipulations of cells are possible. As a consequence, shaping function will have to cope with a trade-off between complexity and performance and any step or device slowing-down the shaping process shall represent a serious drawback to the operability of the network.
Taking into account these above performance considerations, two shaping schemes are briefly examined hereunder.
The first one, relies on a very basic principle: the shaping function sends a given number, p, of cells at the link speed C, and keeps "silent" (i.e. the cells are buffered) till p(C/R-1).
If this approach requires no computation nor complex operations at the cell level, the CDV induced is quite bad and the tolerance that should be accommodated at the GRCA level to accept all the cells would be typically p(C/R-1).
The second one, more sophisticated, is detailed in Eugen Wallmeier and Tom Worster's article entitled "The spacing Policer, an algorithm for efficient peak bit rate control in ATM networks", published in the Proceedings of the of the XIV International Switching Symposium, Yokohama, Japan, Oct. 25-30, 1992. For an incoming cell of one connection, the time between two cell transmissions is such that the output peak rate is met, and the cell is queued to a list-of-cells that have to be sent at the same time tk. This list is referenced by the nth entry of a cyclic calendar with N inputs. A new entry of the calendar is sought at each cell time cycle, and the list-of-cells that have to be sent at time tn (0.ltoreq.n<N) if any, is moved and queued to an output list. In short, the following operations are done at each cell time cycle:
Computing the transmission time ti for the incoming cell belonging to connection i PA1 Enqueueing the cell to the list-of-cells at the nth (0.ltoreq.n<N) entry of the calendar. PA1 Moving the list-of-cells of the current position m (0.ltoreq.m<N) of the calendar to the output list. PA1 Sending the first cell to the output list. PA1 Incrementing the calendar position. PA1 splitting said calendars into so-called pages with n cells entries per page, n being a predefined number; PA1 providing and associating to said calendars a Free Location Table organized into n-bits wide pages wherein each bit position in a page is associated to a cell entry position in the corresponding calendar page, said Free Location Table bit position being set either to 0 or to 1 depending on whether the corresponding calendar cell position is free or busy in the corresponding calendar page; whereby said calendar updating includes: for each new entry, locating the theoretical entry position in the standby calendar, defining the corresponding page, reading the corresponding Free Location Table page and should said Free Location Table page contain only ones, detecting a collision situation in which case the system looks for the nearest Free Location Table page including at least one free bit position, then performing an entry in the nearest free position of corresponding standby calendar page and updating the Free Location Table and the calendar accordingly; and, PA1 Swapping said active and standby calendars.
As one can see, the number of computations/manipulations is important. Moreover, the size of the calendar has to be quite large to support connections with small peak rate (large T). Although this algorithm gives good results in terms of CDV, it is impossible (without the knowledge of the aggregate incoming traffic pattern) to predict the jitter induced by the spacer. Therefore, the tolerance that should be accommodated at the GCRA must be quite large to ensure a minimal cell loss probability.
Most of the existing shaping schemes rely on the following principle: they compute a cell transmission time at each cell arrival, which depends on both current time and the time when the last cell was transmitted. For this reason, these shaping schemes may be referred to as cell-basis schemes. This is both time consuming and implying a heavy computing load.
A first improved method was proposed in the Copending European Application Number 94480086.1 to the same assignee. Said method is based on scheduling in advance the departure time of data cells provided by the network sources. The shaping is activated each time a change occurs in the traffic supported : new traffic added, end of traffic, modification in the traffic already established.
To that end, the proposed method consists in preparing in advance the departure of the cells for all the traffic established in the network node and which will be sent onto the output lines. For each output line, the cell stream is stored into two lookup tables called the calendars: the active calendar and the standby calendar.
While improving condiderably the traffic shaping, said method may, and does, lead to so-called colliding situations which affect the system performances.
One object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for shaping data cells transfers while minimizing the collision situations and therefore improving the system performances.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hardware apparatus for implementing the method of this invention.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism allowing a fast resolution of the collisions detected during the write entries of an ATM shaping table.
These and other objects, characteristics and advantages of the invention, shall be more readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method and an apparatus for shaping the output traffic in a fixed length cell switching network node