A gas sample chamber that is particularly advantageous for use with a semiconductor laser has the form of an elongated hollow tube with a specularly reflective inside surface, a semiconductor laser located at one end of the tube and a detector located at the opposite end of the tube. In one embodiment, apertures in the wall of the tube permit a gas to enter and leave the sample chamber by free diffusion. In another embodiment the gas flows into the hollow tube from a pressurized source through a port or is drawn through the tube by a suction pump. In other embodiments, the tube is partitioned into two successive sections by means of a window located within the tube. The window is transparent to radiation of two different wavelengths that coincide with the absorption bands of two different gases. The semiconductor laser is tuned to these wavelengths successively so that two gas components can be detected and measured simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of gas analysis and specifically relates to a sample chamber for use with a source of coherent radiation, such as a semiconductor laser, and capable of measuring the concentrations of several gases simultaneously.
2. The Prior Art
Numerous gas sample chambers are known in the art. Normally the design of a gas sample chamber is based on the task which the gas analyzer is expected to perform. The designer has a wide range of components at his disposal, and his design generally consists of a carefully selected combination of components. Each of the following references shows one or more components that are used in the present invention. However, none of the references shows the unique combination that is used in the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,508 issued Oct. 29, 1991, Wong describes a gas sample chamber consisting of a hollow serpentine passage that extends within a block of a plastic material. An ellipsoidal reflector focuses radiation from a source into the passage, and a detector is located at the other end of the passage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,754 issued Oct. 1, 1991, Wong describes a fire detector in which a source of radiation, which may be a laser diode, injects radiation having a wavelength corresponding to an absorption band of the gas (CO.sub.2) into a hollow passage that guides the radiation along an indirect path to a detector. A semipermeable membrane is used to keep unwanted particles out of the passage.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 59-173734, filed on Mar. 23, 1983 and laid open on Oct. 1, 1984, Miyazaki shows a gas analyzer that has a single source of infrared radiation, a single detector and hollow tubes through which the radiation passes from the source to the detector.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,150, Burough et al. show a gas analyzer in which a source of infrared radiation, which they state could be a semiconductor laser, is located at one end of a porous tube and in which a detector is located at the other end of the porous tube. Burough et al. do not disclose the use of specular reflections from the inside surface of their porous tube. The gas to be detected diffuses through the walls of the porous tube.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,332 issued Nov. 17, 1992, Wong describes a diffusion-type gas sample chamber that employs an elongated hollow tube having a specularly-reflective inner surface and a plurality of filtering apertures each covered by a semipermeable membrane to keep out unwanted particles while permitting free diffusion of gas into and out of the sample chamber.

Gas sample chamber for use with a source of coherent radiation


A method for producing subwavelength near-field optical apertures includes directing a laser beam at the top of a tapered optical fiber to melt the fiber tip. The melting forms a lens at the tip, and the resulting structure is then coated with metal in such a way that an aperture is left open, or the aperture is formed in the metal by means of an ion beam or a laser beam. In another embodiment, the tip of a micropipette is melted by a laser beam to form an aperture having thick walls.

The need for subwavelength apertures spans many area of science and technology from subwavelength optical imaging and nanofabrication with near field optics to electrical measurements of cellular biology with subwavelength apertures in micropipettes. The field of this invention is a method for making such a subwavelength aperture at the tip of an optical fiber that also behaves as a lens and for making micropipettes with apertures from as small as tens of nanometers with wall thicknesses as large as 1 mm.
One reason for developing new methods to produce subwavelength apertures is that the field of near-field optics is one of the fastest growing areas of science and technology today. Previously, the most successful method for creating near-field optical apertures was the use of techniques to taper glass in order to provide is a subwavelength region at the tip of the tapered glass structure which could be coated with metal in order to produce a subwavelength aperture at the tip. [A. Harootunian, E. Betzig, M. S. Isaacson, and A. Lewis; Appl. Phys. Lett. 49,674 (1986); A. Lewis, M. Isaacson, E. Betzig, and A. Harootunian, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,462; Issued: Apr. 17, 1990.]. These methods can be used to either produce a tapered micropipette or can be used to produce a tapered fiber optic element that can then be coated with metal to produce a subwavelength aperture. One aspect of these methods that can be improved is the taper angle of the tip and the core to cladding ratio when an optical fiber is employed. This is necessary for high light transmissions since it is important that the light beam, as it progresses through such a tapered structure, traverses the smallest region of subwavelength dimensions while remaining as much as possible in the core of the fiber. There have been generally two procedures to improve this characteristic of near-field optical elements. One procedure has depended on etching of the fiber tip [Jiang S. Ohsawa, H. Yamada, K. Pangaribuan, T. Chtsu, M. Imai, K. and Ikai. A.; Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 31,2282 (1992); S. J. Bukofsky and R. D. Grober. Appl. Phys. Lett. 71,2749 (1997)]. A second approach has to been to use an amended versions of the earlier pulling technology [Galina Fish, Sophin Kokotov, Edward Khachatryan, Andrey Ignatov, Rimma Glazer, Anatoly Komissar, Yuri Haifez, Alina Strinkovsky, Aaron Lewis and Kjony Lieberman; Israel Patent Application Serial Number: 120181: Filed: Feb. 9, 1997, PCT filed Feb. 8, 1998]. Micropipettes have not been produced with small apertures and the thick walls that have been achieved in accordance with the present invention.
In the past, there has been no approach to produce a lens with a subwavelength aperture at the tip in an optical fiber or to produce an aperture having a dimension in the region of tens of nanometers or around this region, either bigger or smaller, in a micropipette.
The invention is a method to produce a subwavelength aperture in the tip of a tapered or untapered optical fiber in which the tip also behaves as a lens. The method also allows the production of a micropipette with a small opening in its tip, with very thick walls surrounding the tip.

Lensed optical fibers and unique micropipettes with subwavelength apertures


Disclosed is a process for the preparation of metallocone complexes wherein stereoisomers of metallocene complexes formed at the time of synthesis can easily be separated. The gist of the present invention resides in separation of a part of an isomeric mixture of specific metallocene complexes bridged with a transition metal represented by the formula (1) as a complex having M--O bond. In particular, preferable is a process for separating a part of an isomeric mixture of a metallocene complex represented by the formula (2) as a .mu.-oxo-complex represented by the formula (3). ##STR1##

It is known that in the polymerization of olefins, especially propylene, any of the a tactic polypropylene, isotactic polypropylene and syndiotactic polypropylene can be produced by choosing a ligand of a metallocene complex among uniform catalysts (a metallocene complex/aluminoxane) for polymerization of olefins (Makromol. Chem. Rapid. Commun. 1983, 4, 417-421; Angew. Chem., Int. Engl. 1985, 24, 507-508; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1988, 110, 6255-6256; etc.)
Depending on the positions of substituents at the time of synthesis, metallocene complexes may permit the existence of stereoisomers. In the event a mixture of complex isomers formed on synthesis is straightforwardly used for polymerization of olefins where different olefin polymers are produced according to the different nature of the isomers, the resultant polymer will become a mixture of two different polymers. In case a uniform polymer is to be produced, therefore, the mixture of polymers has to be separated. Especially, a C.sub.2 symmetrical crosslinking type metallocene complex tends to form a racemic form and a meso form of isomers in a ratio of 1:1 on its synthesis. On polymerization of propylene, the use of the racemic form permits the production of isotactic polypropylene while the use of the meso form permits the production of atactic polypropylene. Hence, the meso form has to be eliminated in case of producing isotactic polypropylene alone. Separation of the recemic form and the meso form is usually carried out by extraction with a solvent and recrystallization. For obtaining a highly pure racemic form, however, repeating of the separation operations was necessary so that efficiency of the production was extremely low.
In Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No.Hei. 10-67793, there is disclosed that a method of changing the racemic/meso ratio wherein unnecessary isomer is decomposed with a decomposing agent such as acidic hydrogen atom or a reactive halogen atom. This method pertains to changing of the racemic/meso ratio by decomposing either one of the isomers, and more precisely, the racemic form is decomposed with ethylene-bis(4,7-dimethylindenyl)zirconium dichloride to obtain the pure meso form.
A number of references are known concerning the reaction for converting a metallocene complex into a .mu.-oxo-complex, for example, Inorganic Chemistry 15, No. 9, 1976 disclosing that dimethylhafnocene is brought into contact with water in the air to form .mu.-oxo-bis(methylhafnocene) and Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry 3, 1982, 572-576 disclosing that a metaflocene dihalide is converted into a .mu.-oxo-complex in the presence of water and a base.

Processes for the preparation of metallocene complexes


This application discloses a method, including: determining a transmission rate of a to-perform-sending optical network unit (ONU); generating a reset signal before the to-perform-sending ONU sends an optical signal, where the reset signal is used to trigger the OLT to perform a reset operation; adjusting a signal characteristic of the reset signal according to the transmission rate, to generate an adjusted signal; extracting a signal characteristic of the adjusted signal, and generating a first signal and a second signal according to the signal characteristic of the adjusted signal, where the first signal indicates the reset signal, and the second signal indicates the transmission rate of the to-perform-sending ONU; performing the reset operation according to the first signal; and after the reset operation is completed, adjusting the reception parameter of the optical line terminal OLT according to the second signal.

Currently, an NG-PON (Next Generation Passive Optical Network) is a research hotspot in the field of communications technologies. The NG-PON includes a 10 G PON (Passive Optical Network), a 10 G symmetric PON, and the like. An OLT (Optical Line Termination) is a central office device in a PON communications system, and is mainly used to: send Ethernet data to an ONU (Optical Network Unit) in a broadcast manner, perform a ranging process, and allocate a sending slot to the ONU, that is, control a start moment and an end moment of sending data by the ONU. The ONU is user equipment in the PON communications system, and is mainly used to: receive the Ethernet data broadcast by the OLT, respond to the ranging process performed by the OLT, and send data according to the sending slot configured by the OLT. One of current research issues is how to make the NG-PON compatible with an ONU (Optical Network Unit) in an EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) or a GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) deployed in a previous-generation technology. In this case, an OLT in the NG-PON needs to receive not only a signal sent by an ONU in the NG-PON, but also a signal sent by an ONU in the EPON.
Each ONU in the PON communications system performs access by means of time division multiple access. A signal received by the OLT is unexpected. For receiving of an unexpected signal, because rates of all unexpected packets are different, signal amplitudes and phases of all the unexpected packets are different from one another. Therefore, an optical receiving component of the OLT determines a rate of the ONU according to a signal characteristic of a received unexpected packet, and then adaptively adjusts a reception parameter of the optical receiving component according to the rate.
In the PON communications system, a requirement for a time sequence of data receiving is extremely high. However, duration of an unexpected packet is quite short. It is quite difficult for the OLT to detect a rate of the unexpected packet and then adjust a reception parameter of the optical receiving component in such a short time. Consequently, the OLT is likely to fail to adjust the reception parameter of the optical receiving component in time when the unexpected packet arrives, and therefore cannot correctly receive data.

Method for adjusting reception parameter of optical line terminal and optical line terminal


A method for preparing a doped optical fibre preform includes formulating, a rare earth material or a functional metal material and a co-doping agent into a doping solution, mixing a high-purity quartz powder with the doping solution, drying same at a temperature of 100° C.-150° C. for 12-48 hours, crushing and screening the same to obtain a doped quartz powder; depositing the doped quartz powder onto the surface of a target rod to form a doped core layer; replacing the doped quartz powder with the high-purity quartz powder, and depositing the high-purity quartz powder onto the surface of the doped core layer to form a quartz outer cladding; and removing the target rod, and gradually collapsing the entirety formed from the doped core layer and the quartz outer cladding at a high temperature to obtain the doped optical fibre preform.

The laser technique can introduce higher quality and precision to value chains and is an important means to promote the upgrade of the industrial structure of the manufacturing industry. In the laser application field, optical fibre lasers characterized by high conversion efficiency, good heat dissipation performance and stability and the like have become one of the mainstream lasers. Similar to other diode pumped lasers, the optical fibre lasers adopt pump light to achieve a high power density in optical fibres, so that laser-level population inversion of laser operating substances is generated, and oscillatory laser output can be achieved by properly adding a positive feedback circuit (constituting a resonant cavity). The optical fibre lasers essentially convert low-quality pump laser light into high-quality laser light output, and the high-quality laser light output can be applied to various fields such as the medical field, the material processing field and the laser weapon field.
At present, the rare earth doped optical fibre serving as the core component of the optical fibre lasers is the key factor determining the laser characteristic of the optical fibre lasers. Rare earth doped optical fibre preforms are prepared mainly through the porous layer liquid-phase doping method, the sol-gel method, the high-temperature flashing method, and the direct nanoparticle deposition method. However, all existing techniques cannot overcome the defects of poor doping uniformity of rare earth particles in optical fibres, high impurity content and the like. In addition, due to process limitations, the core diameter of optical fibre preforms and the doping concentration of rare earth ions are at a low level, and consequentially, the cost of laser optical fibres is high; and meanwhile, usage and system debugging are more difficult, and the requirements for commercialization and industrialization of optical fibre lasers cannot be met.
In the prior art, the rare earth doped optical fibre preforms are prepared mainly through the porous layer liquid-phase doping method, the sol-gel method, the high-temperature flashing method rarely used for experimental studies, and the direct nanoparticle deposition method. As for the sol-gel method and the high-temperature flashing method, equipment requirements are high, and the process is complex. The direct nanoparticle deposition method has high raw material requirements and is not beneficial to large-scale preparation. As for the porous layer liquid-phase doping method which is most widely used currently, a porous core layer is deposited on the inner surface of a quartz deposition tube and then is soaked in a solution containing rare earth elements so that the rare earth elements in the solution can be adsorbed into pores of the porous core layer; afterwards, the deposition tube is disposed on a sintering device to dry the porous core layer with inert gases, and the porous core layer is then sintered into a glass layer; and finally, the deposition tube is collapsed into a solid preform.
The porous layer liquid-phase doping method is complex in process, repeated deposition is needed to obtain a doped fiber core structure meeting drawing requirements, and as the doped fiber core structure has to be taken out of an airtight device between the deposition, soaking and drying procedures, impurities are likely to be introduced, and the laser performance of the rare earth doped optical fibre core is affected; and meanwhile, the local soaking effect of the liquid-phase doping method is inconsistent so that the problem of nonuniform longitudinal doping of preforms cannot be solved, and the longitudinal absorption coefficient of rare earth doped optical fibres is inconsistent, which is not beneficial to nonlinear effect control and batch application. Since the four methods mentioned above are all limited by the internal space of reaction tubes, prepared rare earth doped optical fibre cores are small, the number of optical fibres drawn in each batch is limited, and consequentially, the unit cost of optical fibres is high, and the requirement of the laser market for high-uniformity rare earth doped optical fibres cannot be met.
In the optical communication field, a large number of devices are externally provided with metal ion doped optical fibres, such as high-attenuation optical fibres used as the key materials of optoelectronic devices such as optical fibre attenuators. Similar to the laser optical fibre technique, the high-attenuation optical fibre doping technique has been mastered only by Corative Company in Canada and OptoNet Company in Korea internationally at present. The high-attenuation optical fibre doping technique is based on the porous layer liquid-phase doping method and has the problems of poor doping uniformity and low production efficiency caused by dimension and process limitations of optical fibre preforms.

Method for efficiently preparing doped optical fibre preform and doped optical fibre preform

FIBERHOME TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD


An electronic processing system may include a processor and a multi-level memory coupled to the processor, the multi-level memory including at least a main memory and a fast memory, the fast memory having relatively faster performance as compared to the main memory. The system may further include a fast memory controller coupled to the fast memory and a graphics controller coupled to the fast memory controller. The fast memory may include a cache portion allocated to a cache region to allow a corresponding mapping of elements of the main memory in the cache region, and a graphics portion allocated to a graphics region for the graphics controller with no corresponding mapping of the graphics region with the main memory.

Memory devices may have different capacity and performance characteristics and corresponding cost differences. An electronic processing system may include a two level memory (2LM) system with a large main memory and a smaller but faster cache memory. In such a two level memory system, it may be the case that memory regions that have been allocated to latency-sensitive operations such as graphics processing are persistently held in the cache memory in order to assure sufficient performance.

Operating system transparent system memory abandonment


A luggage case has a luggage receptacle with an openable lid at the top and sets of front and rear wheels at the undersurface which support the case in a self stabilizing manner as it is traveled along a floor, walkway or the like in an untilted orientation. A handle for facilitating such travel has a pair of telescoping arms with first ends that are pivoted to opposite sides of the back region of the receptacle and opposite ends linked by a cross member. The handle may be pivoted to and latched at an inclined active position at which it extends to a location which is both vertically and horizontally spaced from the back end of the luggage receptacle and a compacted inactive position at which the arms extend back along the sides of the receptacle and the cross link extends along the front surface of the receptacle. The wheels are preferably retractable to enable direct resting of the case on a supporting surface. Optionally, a child seat may be fastened to the case during traveling of the case.

Lifting and manually carrying luggage at airports, railway stations, hotels or other sites is a task which is generally disliked by travelers. Rental luggage carts are available at certain sites of this kind but the renting process is itself an inconvenience and such carts do not remain with the traveler after the baggage is checked in. Air travelers, including aircraft crew members, must typically walk a sizable distance after leaving the baggage check in area and the rental cart is no longer available for the purpose of transporting carry on luggage cases at such times.
Heretofore, much use has been made of wheeled luggage carriers which typically have a light weight and foldable construction to facilitate handling and storage of the device when it is not in use. Prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,662 discloses one example of a carrier of this type.
Such carriers are essentially small hand trucks of the type which have a platform on which the luggage case is rested, a pair of wheels which extend below one edge region of the platform and a handle which extends upward from the edge region. The user grasps and tilts the handle to lift the platform and luggage case upward from the underlying floor or the like and the carrier may then be pulled or pushed to the destination of the case. Such carriers are helpful but are not entirely free of inconveniences of their own.
The carrier is not self stabilized and it is not entirely self supporting during movement. A person who is pulling or pushing such a carrier must continually exert additional effort in order to hold the carrier at the tilted orientation that enables it to be traveled along the floor or other surface. In the absence of such effort by the user, gravity pivots the carrier until either the platform or the handle itself contacts the floor.
When the luggage case is removed from the carrier the carrier itself becomes essentially still another separate piece of luggage which the traveler must contend with.
The instability of such a carrier when it is tilted to the traveling orientation and the pivoting movement which occurs when the handle is released make it unsatisfactory for certain purposes such as for transporting a a small child along with a luggage case.
Efforts have heretofore been made to make the luggage case itself wheelable without the aid of a separate carrier. This typically consists of providing castor wheels at the surface of the case that faces downward when the case is in an upright position. A typical case in that position is substantially higher than it is wide and can easily topple over if it is not maneuvered with a great deal of precision. The person pulling such a case may have to lean over into an awkward posture.
Prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,289 discloses a luggage case with a pair of wheels and a built in retractable handle which can extended to facilitate movement of the case. When the handle is extended, the unit may be tilted about the wheels and be operated in essentially the same manner as the previously discussed luggage case carriers. Thus the unit is subject to the previously discussed limitations of prior carriers.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.


A safety apparatus for use on a hoisting crane used to hoist cargo from cargo transport trucks that detects hoisting such trucks and renders the hoisting mechanism inoperative. The safety apparatus includes sensors responsive to an unsafe condition in such trucks to generate a safety signal. A transmitter responsive to the safety signal transmits an operational signal to the hoisting crane that upon receiving and recognizing the operational signal renders the hoisting mechanism inoperative and alerts the crane operator of the unsafe condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cargo transfer cranes and particularly to a hoisting crane for loading and unloading cargo ships.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that the cost of lay days for a ship in harbor for on loading or off loading can prove particularly expensive to a ship's owner. Consequently, various methods have been developed for expediting the on loading and off loading of ships. One such method contemplates the loading of pieces of cargo in large containers to be contained therein for transfer to and from the ship as a unit. These containers are then hoisted directly from the trailer at dock side by a gantry crane which then transfers them to the ship's hold.
The rate of compensation which must be made to longshoreman personnel and truckers providing the labor associated with maritime cargo transfer is such as to demand the utmost efficiency in achieving such transfer. Because of the inordinate weight associated with the loaded cargo containers, safety is of extreme importance in avoiding dislocation thereof which may cause damage to the cargo and, more importantly, personal injury to the dock workers.
Truck drivers are often paid on a flat rate per delivery basis thus providing considerable incentive for rapid unloading of cargo from trailers towed by their truck tractors. The containers are typically loaded on the truck trailers and locked thereto to prevent shifting of the containers relative to the trailer during transport to the dock site. A recognized problem is the fact that the truckers or other responsible personnel, from time to time, neglect to unlock such locking mechanism thus leaving the container locked to the truck as the crane hoisting mechanism raises the container. This oftentimes results in lifting of the truck itself and sometimes the attached truck tractor with the driver aboard. Then, when the locking mechanism fails, or otherwise releases, freeing the trailer from the container, the trailer and truck tractor may be dropped on to the underlying dock from a considerable height, such as 20 or more feet above the dock, often resulting in damage to the truck and trailer and injury to the driver. Consequently, there exists a need for a safety apparatus which will limit hoisting of such containers when locked to the trailer.
Detection systems have been proposed in transfer cranes for detecting and controlling the distance between multiple trolleys mounted on such crane. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,357 to Miyoshi. While satisfactory for their intended purpose, such devices fail to detect an unsafe condition in a cargo truck transporting cargo to the crane.
Other mechanisms have been proposed for detecting the attitude of a crane to indicate an unsafe condition. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,893 to Gentile et al.
Still further devices have been proposed for detecting potential collision between material handling devices and to protect against such collisions. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,032 to Agnew et al. Crane safety cut off and overload devices have been proposed to enhance the safety of the operator and attendant personnel. Devices of this type are shown generally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,804,095 to Rohr et al., 4,003,482 to Cheze, 4,787,524 to Cobb et al. and 5,058,752 to Wacht et al., as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,835 to Latvys et al. and 3,824,578 to Harders. However, none of these devices detect an unsafe condition in a cargo transport truck or respond to such a condition to render a loading crane inoperative.
In our co-pending patent application, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,688, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, we disclosed the broad concept of a crane control system responsive to an unsafe condition in any one of a number of trucks serving such crane to render it inoperative. While that system has gained considerable acceptance, it has the shortcoming that under certain conditions the truck mounted sensors could be activated by a false signal such as in the instance when the sensing wand on the truck is accidentally or intentionally struck thus generating a false signal. In addition, the truck driver when delivering to a gantry crane must select the proper transmitter corresponding to the respective gantry crane which, if not properly selected, could disable the safety device.


Pre-moistened wiping articles are provided comprising a fibrous web impregnated with a liquid cleaning composition including an unstable dispersion of water, surfactant, and water insoluble polysaccharide particles such as natural starch and/or microcrystalline cellulose. Due to the instability of the dispersion the particles primarily reside on the surface of the fibers forming the fibrous web and are freely released from the web as a result of the mechanical and hydraulic forces associated with use of the article. The pre-moistened wiping articles are suitable for use in personal care applications including use as perineal wipes. Embodiments of the invention further include methods of making pre-moistened wiping articles comprising a fibrous web impregnated with the unstable dispersion.

Pre-moistened wipes have been used for personal cleaning for numerous years. In order to improve the cleaning efficiency of the wipes it is common to include aqueous based cleaning compositions containing various surfactants and/or detergents. However, cleaning compositions containing water and surfactant are often perceived as being too viscous and lacking a pleasing feel. In addition, pre-moistened wipes using high amounts of water and/or that readily release high amounts of water can contribute to a user having a prolonged feeling of wetness.
It is also common to include various emollients, skin conditioners, thickeners and other skin benefit agents in order to improve the cleaning efficacy of the wipe and/or the ability of the wipe to reduce skin irritation that sometimes results from cleaning. While the addition of such components increases the viscosity and/or richness of the cleaning composition's hand-feel, many skin benefit agents are hydrophobic and require the use of specific emulsifiers and/or thickening agents to provide a stable cleaning composition. Inclusion of such materials into the pre-moistened wipe often results in a wipe that has an undesirable feel; for example, often leaving the user with a slippery or sticky feeling. Thus, it is difficult to effectively incorporate ingredients into wet wipe formulations which will enable it to be an effective cleaner while still providing a pleasing skin feel, i.e. use of the wet wipe will not produce a feeling of excessive wetness, greasiness, and/or tackiness.
Therefore, in order to address the unmet needs associated with prior wet wipes, the present invention provides a pre-moistened wipe which is a highly effective cleaner and that provides both a pleasing initial feeling as the wipe is applied to the skin and yet which does not leave the consumer with an undesirable lingering feeling of wetness, greasiness and/or tackiness.


A sheet processing apparatus includes a processing unit, a sheet discharge unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The processing unit performs crease processing on a sheet. The sheet discharge unit discharges a sheet having been subjected to the crease processing by the processing unit. The determination unit determines whether a number of the discharged sheets having been subjected to the crease processing exceeds a predetermined number of sheets. The control unit performs control to cause the discharge unit to discharge a sheet. In a case where the determination unit determines that the number of the discharged sheets having been subjected to the crease processing exceeds the predetermined number of sheets, the control unit performs control to cause the discharge unit to not discharge sheets having been subjected to the crease processing onto the discharge destination.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus, a method of controlling a sheet processing apparatus, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
In the printing market, a print on demand (POD) using digital printing apparatuses has been becoming popular with recent increasing processing speed and image quality in electrophotographic printing apparatuses and ink-jet printing apparatuses. The POD printing has appeared in place of printing using large-scale printing apparatuses and printing methods so as to handle jobs of relatively small lots in short delivery time periods without using the large-scale apparatuses and systems.
Different from the conventional printing methods in which printing plates are made for printing, in the POD printing, in every printing for each print job, original data is edited and processed, print image data is generated, print appearance is set, and then, print processing is performed in the digital printing apparatuses. To add value to the print products, post-processing on the printed sheets may be performed by a sheet processing apparatus. This series of processing to such a print job is defined as a group of the processes associated with the print job, and called a print work flow in the POD.
In the POD print work flow, typically, a front page, insertion pages, and body pages are printed by a plurality of printing apparatuses, and bookbinding processing of the printed sheets is performed by an off-line sheet processing apparatus. By the off-line sheet processing apparatus, saddle stitch processing is performed to a bundle of sheets, and so-called center folding or center fold binding is performed to fold the saddle-stitch processed sheet bundle. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-50691 discusses a technique for reducing the workload of operators in such a POD print environment by performing shifts, dividing sheet insertion, and discharge destination change to another stacker every time the number of sheet bundles on a stacker reaches a predetermined number of sheets or a predetermined height.
Meanwhile, in the saddle stitching bookbinding, when a bundle of sheets is folded together, the amounts of elongation of the sheets in the folded portions on the outside of the sheet bundle are larger than those on the inside of the sheets. Consequently, portions of formed images in the folded portions of the sheets of the outside are elongated, and damage such as toner peeling and crack may occur at the portions of the formed images in the folded portions.
To solve such a problem, creasing apparatuses called creasers have been known. The creaser puts a fold (crease) in a folding portion of each sheet in advance prior to the execution of folding processing, for example, folding processing of a bundle of sheets in two, so that the sheets of the outside can be easily folded to prevent toner crack. In such known creasing apparatuses, a creasing blade comes in contact with a sheet to put a fold in the contact portion.
In the above-described POD print work flow, there is a use case in which creasing processing is performed by the creaser after printing is performed on a sheet to be the front page by the printing apparatus, to increase the quality of the saddle stitch bookbinding by the off-line sheet processing apparatus.
On the sheet creased by the crease processing, uneven portions are caused. When the uneven sheets are stacked one after another, the weight of the sheets stacked at the upper part is imposed on the uneven portions of the sheets stacked at the lower part, and thereby the crease portions may be crashed.
For example, in a stacking apparatus, a large amount of printed sheets, e.g., 3000 printed sheets, can be stored. In such an environment, when several thousand sheets are stacked therein, a considerable load is applied to the sheets stacked at a lower part, and the crease portions can be crashed easily.
If the creased portions are crashed, it is difficult to obtain full back crack prevention effect and to achieve maximum effects by the creasing processing.

Sheet processing apparatus, method for controlling sheet processing apparatus, and storage medium


In a method for operating a gas turbogenerator set, an exhaust gas stream (13) from the last turbine (5) is divided at least into two part streams (14, 15) routed in parallel. The first part stream (14) flows through a recuperator (26), and the second part stream (15) flows through a steam generator (27). The steam quantity (16) obtained from the steam generator (27) is introduced at a suitable point into combustion air (2, 27) used for operating a combustion chamber (2) belonging to the gas turbogenerator set. The exhaust gases from the turbine are consequently optimally cooled to good effect, this resulting in maximized efficiency.

In a gas turbogenerator set of the prior art, with a downstream recuperator for utilizing the heat of the exhaust gases from a turbine belonging to the gas turbogenerator set, it can generally be found that the heat yield from the still relatively hot exhaust gases is deficient, with the result that flue gases, the temperature of which may well still amount to 250.degree. C., are discharged. This situation is aggravated in sequentially fired gas turbogenerator sets, since, in these, only about 60% of the available compressed air can be passed through the recuperator. By contrast, the recuperator is subjected to exhaust gas to the extent of about 103%, so that it can easily be seen from this that only some of the heat potential of these exhaust gases can be utilized. In order to seek a remedy for this, it has become known to place a second recuperator downstream of the first: by means of this measure, the remaining heat potential of the exhaust gases is to be utilized even further here, preferably by attempts to provide a steam quantity which is then introduced into a steam turbine. However, high-grade steam cannot be provided in this way, so that such a measure results per se in a high loss of exergy.

Method for operating a gas turbogenerator set


A monitor and control system that responds to alarm signals representing different hazardous conditions in an environment having a number of utility service supply lines, such as a home residence. One or more sensors coupled to the processor are each associated with one or more of the service supply lines. Each sensor produces an alarm signal in response to a hazardous condition attributable to an associated supply line. Each associated supply line is provided with a control device that is coupled to an output of the processor, and the processor is configured to produce one or more output signals in response to an alarm signal at a given input. Each control device is arranged to disable its associated supply line with respect to a sensed hazardous condition in response to a corresponding output signal from the processor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to monitoring systems, and particularly to a system for sensing, alarming and correcting hazardous conditions arising from a variety of causes in a building environment including home residences.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Recently, manufacturers of high-temperature plastics vent (HTPV) pipes joined with the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to announce a recall program. Under the program, an estimated 250,000 HTPV pipe systems associated with gas or propane furnaces in consumers"" homes are being replaced free of charge. This is because HTPV pipes have been found to develop cracks and thus leak potentially fatal carbon monoxide (CO) gas. CO is a colorless, odorless gas produced by incomplete burning of carbon-based fuel, including natural gas and propane. The CPSC recommends that every home should be equipped with at least one CO sensor meeting all applicable standards. See CPSC Release #98-072 (Feb. 24, 1998).
Arrangements are known wherein a supply of a fuel such as natural or propane gas to an appliance (e.g., a water heater), is shut off by a valve upon detection of unburned gas above a certain threshold. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,609,930 (Dec. 7, 1926); U.S. Pat. No. 1,912,798 (Jun. 6, 1933); U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,214 (Nov. 28, 1950); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,284 (Feb. 22, 1966). The ""284 patent also discloses an alarm that is actuated upon a malfunction. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,806 (Aug. 26, 1980).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,392 (Feb. 23, 1993) shows a heating system shut-off arrangement, which system uses an existing safety switch or fuel valve of a combustion unit. The combustion unit is shut down in response to an output from an environmental condition sensor which senses smoke, heat, gas, flame and/or rate of heat rise. U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,802 (Jan. 25, 1994) also shows gas appliance detection apparatus for use with a water heater. The apparatus uses two sensors to detect gas spillage on account of a flue restriction, or a gas fume backup at the flame portion of the heater.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,526 (Jul. 6, 1982) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,651 (Aug. 7, 1984) show a home security/garage door operating system wherein a garage door is opened in response to detection of carbon monoxide above a preset level. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,739 (Nov. 19, 1996) discloses a carbon monoxide safety system capable of decreasing the concentration of CO by opening a garage door, or by interrupting power to a furnace.
A central monitor for a home security system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,606 (Apr. 8, 1986). While the system includes a number of sensors relating to heat, intrusion and appliance operation, there is no provision of any mechanism for corrective action such as, e.g., interrupting a water or fuel supply to a malfunctioning appliance.
Notwithstanding the above disclosed arrangements, there remains a need for a system that (a) allows a property owner to monitor a number of different utilities and appliances for dangerous conditions such as, e.g., the presence of CO, unusual levels of water, or excessively high or low temperatures at selected locations, (b) alarms the condition and provides relevant information to the owner or other responsible persons, e.g., via a telephone link, and (c) initiates certain corrective measures specific to the alarmed condition or conditions.
According to the invention, a monitor and control system includes a processor for responding to alarm signals representing different hazardous conditions in an environment having a number of utility service supply lines. One or more environmental condition sensors are coupled to corresponding inputs of the processor, and each sensor is operatively associated with one or more of the service supply lines. Each sensor produces an alarm signal in response to a hazardous condition attributable to an associated service supply line, and each supply line is provided with a control device that is coupled to a corresponding output of the processor. The processor is configured to produce one or more output signals as desired in response to an alarm signal at a given input of the processor, and each control device is constructed and arranged to disable its associated supply line with respect to a sensed hazardous condition in response to a corresponding output signal from the processor.

Building environment monitor and control system


This invention provides a new low vacuum oil/water mixture liquid separation method and an improved oil purification device for oil/water separation. Fully diffused purified gas is introduced into an oil/water mixture liquid in a low vacuum container, enabling the liquid to produce concentrated micro fine gas bubbles, enabling in the liquid to be in a state of gas/liquid two-phase mixture. This greatly increases the surface area of the oil/water mixture liquid, speeding up the oil/water separation. This invention provides an oil/water separation rate ten times higher than that of the conventional method. This invention is not only suitable for the purification of new oil, but is adequate in the recovery, regeneration and purification of various waste lubrication oils, hydraulic oils, and transformer oils.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves a low vacuum high-speed method for oil/water separation for mixture liquids or emulsions liquids of oil and water, as well as a device for purification of oil for low vacuum separation of oil/water and oil/gas, mainly used in industrial oils: the refinement of fresh oils as well as the recovery, regeneration and refinement of industrial waste oils.
2. Description of Related Art
With the speedy development of science, technology and industries, the demands of the degree of purification and refinement for industrial oils, such as lubrication oils, hydraulic pressure oils, and transformer oil, are becoming increasingly strict and the amount of oils consumed also grows daily. Subsequently, in industries, the refinement of fresh oils not only has to be up to the stipulated standards, but the discarding of waste oils is not permissible by environmental laws and the law on the utilization of resources as well. Furthermore, this is also impractical in consideration of production cost. Thus, the recovery, refinement and regeneration of huge amounts of waste oils are involved; the waste oils are made to reach the stipulated standards for use. In addition, when being used, the oils are also being contaminated at a high speed. Therefore, for oils in the process of being used, continuous purification is also needed to ensure normal operation of the equipment.
In the process of being used, contamination of the oils can produce great damage. For example, in hydraulic pressure systems, the rate of accidents caused by the contamination of oils can reach as high as 82%, while for electric and mechanical systems, only 18%. When transformer oils become off standard, the transformer will be in danger of being punctured.
The most harmful contaminants in oils are: water, gases, solid particles, and the like among which water can reduce the viscosity of the oils, thus making the oils out of conformity with the usage demand, water can also lower the membrane strength of the oils or break the oil membrane, resulting in accelerated wear and tear of the equipment; water and air can make the requisite chemical additives in oils become ineffective, producing acidic substances and speeding up the aging of the oils. While in operation, the life span of waterless transformer oil is 5.6 times that of water-containing transformer oil. As for hydraulic pressure systems, water and air enhance the gas hole phenomenon, thus affecting the stability, increasing the vibration and noises of the system, shortenting the life span of the equipment, and even creating accidents.
The water in oils is not only very harmful, but to separate it from the oils is also rather difficult. For oils with higher viscosity, when oil and water mixes, and when the mixture undergoes agitation during the equipment's operation, the mixture rapidly emulsifies; separation of the water from the oils at this state is even more difficult, especially the oils containing various chemical additives. The additives strengthen the oil/water emulsification, and this enhances the difficulties of separation. For example, there has not been a good device up to the present that can quickly separate the water from the hydraulic pressure oil. Besides, in the field of the purification of oils, the purification is usually being conducted by adopting chalk, silica gel, or activated carbon. However, when the water content is high, water can quickly render these absorbents ineffective. Therefore, it is necessary to first eliminate the greater part of the water.
Thus, the separation of oil/water is both very important and very difficult. The technology of low vacuum separation of oil/water and oil/gas as well as well as of the purification of oil has long been emphasized by people in the field of industry. There are many conventional devices in this respect, most adopting methods like these: pass the oil/water mixture (including emulsion) liquid through the spray element which is deposited at the top of the vacuum container or column, spray it into fine drops, then fall onto the filler or grid at the lower part, thus increasing the areas of interface of the two gas/liquid phases of the liquid, at the same time the resulting droplets are obstructed by the filler, thus prolonging the retaining periods of the liquid droplets or the thin liquid layers in space. The chances for the evaporation of the water in the oil are thus increased. Because the saturated steam pressure of the oil is very low, under this state, the oil evaporates very little, resulting in the gas and part of the water being separated under a low pressure, thus achieving the goal of oil/water separation and oil/gas separation. Finally, the oil or oil/water liquid falls to the lower part of the container, which is pumped or extracted to enter into the spray element again for recycle dewatering.
From the theory of mass transfer, it is known that the separation of oil/water is actually the evaporation of one component that is easier to evaporate in a two component mixture liquid. Under definite temperature or pressure (or in vacuum), it is required that the liquid possess the biggest possible interface areas of the two gas/liquid phases, therefore, the longer the liquid droplets or the liquid thin layers remain in the gaseous phase the better, the two gas/liquid phase interfaces should speedily renew. Only thus can the water in the oil/water mixture liquid be quickly separated out of the mixture. However, in the above conventional method using spray and filler there exist the following deficiencies: First, the capability of the spray plus filler to increase the interfaces of the two phases of liquid/gas is limited; second, the capability of the filler in obstructing, thus delaying the liquid from falling is even more limited; third, as the viscosity of oil increases, the surface of the oil is difficult to be renewed. These three factors limit the oil/water separation speed of the above conventional method.
The object of this invention is to provide a new method for the separation of oil and water, which differs from the conventional method in that oil and water can be rapidly separated under the same temperature and absolute pressure (vacuum); it also provides low vacuum oil/water separation, oil/gas separation using said method, as well as a device for the purification of oil.

Method of oil/water separation and device for purification of oil

Shanghai Petro-Chemical Complex, Research & Development Dept. Jin Shan Wei


Methods and devices relating to diodes including single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are disclosed according to embodiments of the present invention. According to one embodiment, a diode may include one or more SWCNTs. The SWCNTs may be grouped together in multiple bundles with the SWCNTs being generally aligned parallel to each other in the bundles.

Increasing demand for low power consumption in the electronics market combined with continued miniaturization of electronic device components in analogue or digital circuits has led to supply voltage being less than a volt (i.e., sub-volt levels) for many devices. The supply voltage to integrated circuit (IC) devices are typically provided by AC-DC power converters, which convert high frequency AC input voltage to a conditioned or rated DC output voltage at a given power level. Low-voltage AC-DC converters generally consist of a diode rectifier, which is often composed of several conventional semiconductor diodes, an inductor and capacitor.
Typical rectifier technology, however, is bulky and has lower power conversion efficiency. In addition, conventional power conversion diodes have problems with thermal conductivity, heat generation and manufacturing.

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


A Time Slotted Logical Ring protocol manages the flow of traffic in a duplex media including a cable distribution network with a head end, a local node, and a group of subscribers. The subscriber includes a cable modem which produces an HDLC serial interface which then goes to the subscriber or gets converted to ethernet by a router and then to the subscriber. The Time Slot portion of TSLR protocol manages upstream and downstream access and uses time tick identification frames in the downstream direction to control upstream traffic. A multiple logical ring protocol in TSLR is used to allocate cable bandwidth between the multiple subscribers.

A cable modem network includes a head end located at a cable company central location. The head end distributes cable services to different local areas of subscribers. Subscriber stations are terminated by cable modem boxes that are connected to the subscriber""s computer through a conventional data interface such as serial or Ethernet. The cable modem boxes allow the subscribers to transmit data back upstream on the cable network to the head end. For example, if a subscriber wishes to order a pay-for-view movie, the subscriber enters a selection that is transmitted by the cable modem back over the cable network to the head end. The head end then transmits a downstream signal to the subscriber with the selected movie.
With the installation of more subscribers on cable modem networks, it becomes more important to allocate bandwidth more efficiently on the cable return path. For example, different types of transmissions, such as voice traffic may require a higher priority than data traffic. Alternatively, certain subscribers may need to purchase more bandwidth or higher priority than other subscribers. Current cable modem systems do not efficiently allocate cable bandwidth over the return path.
Accordingly, a need remains for a cable access system that allows multiple users to both send and receive information in an orderly and efficient manner.
Communications between a head end and multiple subscribers on a cable network are scheduled using a Time Slotted Logical Ring protocol (TSLR). Data is broadcast from the head end to the subscribers over a downstream path of a broadcast media, such as a combination of a fiber optical link and coaxial cable. The TSLR protocol allocates bandwidth to subscribers on an upstream path of the broadcast media by assigning the subscribers to time slots on different logical ring levels. The time slots on a first ring level represent the total available bandwidth for the upstream path. The portion of the bandwidth allocated to one or more of the time slots on the first ring level are distributed between multiple time slots on lower ring levels that represent different user bandwidth requirements.
The TSLR protocol rotates selection of the time slots around the first ring level allowing the subscriber assigned to the selected time slot to transmit data upstream to the head end. When the selected time slot opportunity on the first ring level is allocated to a lower ring level, the TSLR protocol allows the subscriber assigned to the selected time slot on the lower ring level to transmit. The TSLR protocol then rotates assignment of another time slot on the lower ring level to the time slot on the first ring. Thus, each subsequently lower TSLR ring level allocates relatively smaller portions of upstream bandwidth to the subscribers.
The head end sends time tick identifier (TTI) frames to the subscribers assigned to the currently selected time slots. The TTI frames are used to notify the identified subscriber to transmit frames upstream back to the head end. After receiving the TTI frame, the subscriber sends back either a data frame or a heart beat frame to the head end. The heart beat frame is sent when the subscriber has no data to transmit or when transmitting a reduced sized data frame. The heartbeat frame is used by the head end to assign the subscriber to different ring levels. For example, subscribers sending only heartbeat frames back to the head end for a specified time period are assigned to lower frame levels than subscribers sending back data frames.
The subscribers are assigned to different ring levels and, in turn, sent TTI frames at different rates according to different scheduling criteria. In one embodiment of the invention as mentioned above, the subscribers are assigned to different ring levels according to the number of data frames sent back from the subscribers to the head end within specified time periods. The subscribers can also be assigned to classes. The TSLR then meters out a maximum number of TTI frames to individual subscribers within a fixed time period according to the assigned subscriber classes. The subscribers can also be allocated time-bandwidth credits. The credits allocated to each subscriber are reduced upon receiving TTI frames and TTI frames are no longer sent to subscribers with zero credits. The credits for the subscribers are then increased after selected time intervals.
Bandwidth efficiency is improved by releasing early TTI frames after the head end receives a subscriber heart beat frame. Efficiency is also improved by aggregating multiple subscriber data frames together and sending the aggregated frames all at one time to the head end. To prevent allocating too much bandwidth to low bit rate subscribers, the highest ring level assigned to individual subscribers is controlled according to a maximum transmission rate of the individual subscribers.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A device and method for determining compressive strength of solid matter in situ. One embodiment is particularly advantageous in underground mine roof bolting, where the device can be used to indicate the compressive strength of the rock immediately surrounding the roof bolt anchor. Such compressive strength indication is developed for each bolt installed as it is installed using no machine operator time or effort beyond the time and effort normally used already. The compressive strength indication is developed by monitoring rate of bolt head torque increase with respect to bolt head rotation and relating these to anchor tooth penetration parameters and hence rock compressive strength.

Roof bolting is used as the primary means of roof support in underground mines using the room and pillar mining method, currently 90% of U.S. underground coal mines. Typically, four to six foot deep holes are drilled vertically in the overlying rock strata. These holes are normally 1 to 13/8 inch in diameter and spaced on a four foot square grid. Steel rock bolts or roof bolts are inserted in these holes and either grouted in the hole for essentially their full length or provided with an expanding anchor at the upper end and a roofplate and bolthead at the lower end. In the latter case the bolt is normally tensioned to one half of the yield strength of the bolt, as provided in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 30, Part 75.200. The tensioned connection thus formed between the rock which houses the anchor, and the roof surface at the other end of the bolt, renders the roof structure much more competent and self supporting.
It is evident that the properties of the rock stratum receiving the anchor are a crucial factor in determining the quality of the roof support and hence the safety of the mine.
The method used to date to ascertain the quality of the rock at the anchorage horizon consists of installing a special roof bolt equipped with a pulling collar, fitting this bolt with a hydraulic jack and an extensometer, and applying additional tension to the bolt in increments by means of the hydraulic jack. Bolt displacement is then noted on the extensometer for each load increment added. The load at which the displacement increment per unit load increment, i.e., the derivative of displacement with respect to load, increases materially, which normally occurs relatively abruptly as load is added, is considered to be the maximum capacity of the anchorage stratum.
Obviously, the method just described is time consuming, a fact which is especially disadvantageous in a coal mining situation, where production time pressures are extreme. Furthermore, the method tends to destroy the anchorage of the bolt tested, which can therefore not be relied upon for contribution to roof support. It has also been found that in many coal mines the properties of the rock immediately surrounding the anchor are highly variable, even between neighboring bolts, so that performing a few pull tests as described may not be representative of an extensive roof area.
To date there has been no simple, reliable and convenient method or means available to ascertain rock quality for each bolt installed.
This invention is accordingly directed to a novel method and novel means for detecting the compressive strength of the rock immediately surrounding a roof bolt anchor.
A principal object of the invention is to provide a practical and convenient means of determining rock strength, using a modification and augmentation of the equipment means already in use to drill the rock bolt hole and tension the rock bolt. The novel method and means to detect the rock compressive strength utilize the development of an indication of rock compressive strength on each bolt installed during the normal bolt tightening cycle, so that no machine operation time or machine operator effort is required beyond the time and effort presently used to install each roof bolt. Knowledge concerning the anchorage strata thus made available for each bolt installed, as it is installed, can accordingly be used to modify the roof support plan if needed. For example, steps such as closer bolt spacing, different bolt length, different anchor types, and the like can be taken. A material increase in mine safety is anticipated through the use of this invention.
An additional object of the invention is to obtain reliable and accurate means of measurement and control of the torque delivered to the rock bolt head during the installation process.
A further additional object of the invention is to obtain a reliable and accurate means of maintaining a relationship between tension developed in the bolt and torque applied to the bolt head. The reliability and accuracy or torque to tension relationship is achieved primarily by providing special controlling means to maintain a constant low thrust to the rock bolt head during the rock bolt tightening process.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description thereof.
Similarly it will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention that useful application is not limited to underground roof bolting. Examples of additional fields of application include, but are not limited to, determination of rock strength in exploration and production drilling activity, on the surface as well as underground; determination of wood strength in structural members as well as in living trees; determination of concrete strength in structures such as dams; and determination of strength and characterization of materials such as coal in situ.

Device and method for determining material strength in situ


A new class of optical indicators which are capable of memorizing and preserving the spatial localization of intracellular analytes in a time resolved manner is described. The compounds comprise a chromophore carrying a photolabile group capable of undergoing an irreversible and detectable chemical transformation upon irradiation by light. The chromophore is linked to a binding site capable of binding an analyte, wherein binding of the analyte to the binding site alters an optical property of the chromophore, thus altering the ability of the photolabile group to undergo the chemical transformation. Methods and kits for memorizing the spatial localization of the analytes are also described.

Although Ca.sup.2+ is a well established intracellular messenger, there are still many unanswered questions concerning the kinetics and spatial localization of its effects. Because of the importance of calcium as an intracellular messenger, a variety of methods have been developed for measuring intracellular Ca.sup.2+ levels. The most successful of these use dye-linked chelators which change absorbance or fluorescence upon binding Ca.sup.2+ ions. Existing indicators for physiological cations such as Ca.sup.2+, as well as, Mg.sup.2+, H.sup.+, and Na.sup.+ change their optical properties reversibly in response to changes in cation concentrations. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,209, and EP 314,480. Chelating compounds have been developed that facilitate changing the intracellular calcium concentration. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,432, 4,806,604, and 5,141,627; and EP 177,202, in which a photochemical reaction causes the release or uptake of Ca.sup.2+ and thereby alters the ambient Ca.sup.2+.

Light-triggered indicators that memorize analyte concentrations

The Regents of the University of California


Systems, methods, and devices are provided for compensating for distortion of a contactless communication channel. The electronic device may include a radio frequency system that itself includes antenna to transmit and receive data using near-field communication (NFC) and an NFC signal processing circuitry. The NFC signal processing circuitry may receive an NFC signal via a communication channel formed between the electronic device and another electronic device and may determine a baseband reference waveform associated with the electromagnetic NFC signal and may determine an error between a portion of the electromagnetic NFC signal and the baseband reference waveform. Furthermore, the NFC signal processing circuitry may determine whether the error is outside of an acceptable error threshold range and, in response to the error being outside of the acceptable error threshold range, train a filter response of the NFC signal processing circuitry to estimate the communication channel.

The present disclosure relates generally to contactless communication, such as near-field communication (NFC), between electronic devices. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to compensating for distortion of a contactless communication channel.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Electronic devices, such as smartphones and computers, often include a radio frequency system to facilitate wireless communication of data with other electronic devices. In particular, the radio frequency system may include a radio frequency transceiver that emits wireless signals of a radio frequency to the other electronic devices to facilitate the contactless communication. For example, a near-field communication (NFC) transceiver module, such as an active reader, may communicate information with another NFC device, such as a passive tag. In some cases, however, NFC communication between two NFC devices may become distorted.

Compensating for channel distortion during contactless communication


Hydrocarbon fluid compositions comprising a liquid hydrocarbon, an aluminum soap, a hydrocarbon foaming agent and a gas. The fluids can be used in various oil field operations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hydrocarbon fluid compositions and their use in industrial applications in general.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Fluids are widely used in many industries, especially in the petroleum industry where different fluids are used in different operations including drilling, completion, wellbore cleaning, stimulation, and pipeline cleaning operations. There are two general classes of fluids: water-based fluids and non-aqueous based fluids. Alcohol-based fluids and hydrocarbon-based fluids are generally classified as non-aqueous fluids.
In general, when fluids are used in subterranean operations, the nature of the subterranean formation to a large extent dictates which types of fluids are suitable for use in such operations. Due to their low cost and high versatility, water-based fluids are normally preferred. However, certain subterranean formations are susceptible to water. When exposed to water, hydrocarbon production may decrease in such formations because of clay swelling and migration. For such water-sensitive formations, hydrocarbon-based fluids are generally preferred.
For drilling in water-sensitive formations, invert emulsion muds (fluid compositions containing a certain amount of water emulsified in oil), are widely used. An emulsion can be defined as the dispersion of one liquid, called internal phase, in another liquid, called the external or continuous phase. In invert emulsion muds, water droplets are dispersed in oil. Normally invert emulsion muds can contain about 50% of water. The disadvantages of the invert emulsion muds are their high costs and the extensive preparation and quality control required.
Hydraulic fracturing has been used for decades to enhance petroleum production. In hydraulic fracturing operations, a fracturing fluid is injected through a wellbore into the formation at a pressure sufficient to overcome the overburden stress and thus initiate fractures in the formation. Following the initiation of the fractures, solid particles called proppants, are mixed in the fracturing fluid and transported into the fractures. The function of proppants is to prevent the fractures from closing back when the pressure is released. There are different proppants including sands, ceramics, resin-coated sands and the like. The most common proppants are sands. The proppant-filled fractures provide highly permeable channels allowing petroleum to seep efficiently through the fractures into the wellbore.
Water-based fracturing fluids are by far the most commonly used. For water-sensitive formations, however, hydrocarbon-base fracturing fluids are generally preferred. To improve solid-carrying capability, hydrocarbon fluids are often gelled by adding gelling agents. There are two major types of gelling agents: alkyl phosphate esters crosslinked by aluminum or iron salts, and aluminum fatty acid salts including aluminum octoate and aluminum stearate.
In the oil field operations, especially in fracturing operations, alkyl phosphate esters crosslinked by aluminum or iron salts are widely used. To prepare the fluid a phosphate ester and an aluminum or iron salts are mixed into a hydrocarbon liquid. The in situ reaction between the phosphate ester and the aluminum or iron salt form aluminum or iron phosphate esters which further form three-dimensional networks gelling the hydrocarbon fluid. This method is well known in the art and examples can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,505,374; 3,990,978; 4,003,393; 4,316,810; 5,110,485; 5,693,837 and 6,297,210.
Recently, however, it has been found that excess amounts of phosphorus residues in crude oil causes fouling problems in refinery towers. To clean out the fouling, refinery towers have to be prematurely shut-down, at significant financial cost. It is believed that the excess amount of phosphorus residues in crude oil stems mainly from the phosphate esters used in the hydrocarbon-based fracturing fluids. Therefore, there is a general demand for fracturing and other well operations to use hydrocarbon-based fluids which contain no phosphate esters while at the same time have good solid carrying capability and low fluid loss.
An alternative is to use aluminum soaps, which contain no phosphorous, to gel the hydrocarbon fluids for oil field operations, in particular for fracturing operations. Aluminum soaps have been used to gel hydrocarbon fluids in many applications, especially in ink industry.
Unfortunately, compared to aluminum or ferric phosphate ester, hydrocarbon fluids gelled by the aluminum soaps such as aluminum octoate is in general less viscoelastic, or in order to achieve comparable viscoelastic property more aluminum octoate is required, which increases the cost. Good viscoelasticity is important for carrying solid particles such as proppants.

Hydrocarbon fluid compositions and methods for using same


An inflatable pillow comprising a first layer comprising a top sheet of material and a bottom sheet of material welded together so as to form a plurality of chambers in fluid communication with each other. A second layer comprising a top sheet of material and a bottom sheet of material are also welded together so as to form a plurality of chambers in fluid communication with each other. The first and the second layers are welded together such that the first and the second layers are in fluid communication with each other at one or more openings in the first and the second layers.

There are many different types of pillows on the market today. Some offer varying levels of cervical support, and many are made from state of the art materials that offer improved support characteristics.
Often, people prefer differing levels of pillow firmness at different times. Some prefer a relatively firm pillow over a soft pillow. Most pillows made of conventional materials offer a firmness characteristic that cannot be changed; in other words, there is typically no way to adjust a pillow to another user's preferences. Instead, the user is forced to purchase another pillow having different firmness characteristics. The need for adjustability spawned the field of adjustable pillows, commonly filled with air.
An air-filled pillow can be adjusted by the individual user to varying levels of firmness for a customized and comfortable firmness configuration. For example, a person that sleeps on their back may prefer a pillow of medium firmness, while a person that sleeps on their side should utilize a firm pillow for proper neck support. Inflatable pillows have even been formed with special sections that provide extra cervical support. These pillows have an extra chamber that can be separately inflated to a different level of firmness than the main pillow chamber. Inflatable pillows also have the advantage of being easy to transport, since they are relatively compact when deflated.
Although inflatable pillows available today can provide adjustable firmness, it is desirable to further improve the comfort of inflatable pillows, while still allowing them to be easily transportable and easy to inflate.


When virtual machines are activated under a condition in which an assignment request having a storage extent and a storage region origin is designated and an assignment request having only the storage extent designated are mixedly present, the logical partion (LPAR) whose storage origin is designated by flags is regarded as already assigned even when the storage region is not actually assigned, and a work table indicative of the current status of the storage assignment is generated in a not-in-use storage region table. The not-in-use storage region table is generated on the basis of the work table to determine the assignment or non-assignment of the LPAR to be activated, and assignment or non-assignment of a plurality of such not-in-use regions can be judged in an ascending order.

The present invention relates to methods for assigning regions in a storage in a data processor and, more particularly, to a method for logically dividing a storage into a plurality of storage regions and for suitably assigning the divided storage regions to a plurality of virtual machines to realize a plurality of virtual machines with use of a data processor.
For the purpose of operating a plurality of operating systems (OSs) on a single data processor, in general, there is used a virtual machine (VM) or a system known as a logical partition (LPAR) system. In order to implement a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) on a single data processor, a program called a virtual machine control program (VMCP) is run on a real data processor to generate the plurality of VMs under control of the VMCP and to operate the OSs of the VMs independently on their VMs. Accordingly, the VMCP has an additional function of causing the VMs to sharedly use hardware resources of the single real data processor.
As a method for enabling the VMs to sharedly use the hardware resources of the single real data processor, it has been proposed to divide a real storage into logical regions which are exclusively assigned to the respective VMs.
FIG. 1a shows an example of parameters which are designated by an operator to divide a real storage into logical regions. More specifically, LPAR1, LPAR2 and LPAR3 designate logical partitions allocated to respective VMs to be operated. In FIG. 1a, a parameter STO is indicative of a storage origin, a parameter STE is indicative of an initial storage extent and a parameter STR is indicative of a reserved storage extent. These parameters can be designated respectively for the different LPARs. The parameter STO designates the start address of one of the regions of the actual storage assigned to the associated logical partition LPAR. When the parameter STO is not designated, an uppermost address (63 in FIG. 1b) of the storage regions which is not being used currently on the real storage is assigned to the start address under the program VMCP. The parameter STE designates the storage extent of the initial storage region to be assigned to the associated LPAR. The parameter STR designates the reserved storage extent to be assigned to the associated LPAR. The reserved storage region is assigned to the associated LPAR or is removed under control of storage-region on-line and off-line demand instructions issued from one of the OSs operated in the initial storage region.
Shown in FIGS. 1b and 1c are examples of the storage region assignment to the respective LPARs of the real storage, when the partitions LPAR1, LPAR2 and LPAR3 given by all such three sorts of predetermined parameters as shown in FIG. 1a are activated, respectively. In this case, to "activate" means that, with respect to either one of the LPARs given in FIG. 1a, the storage region of the associated VM or LPAR is put in its usable condition. More in detail, FIG. 1b shows an example in which the regions LPAR1, LPAR2 and LPAR3 are activated in this order and the storage regions are assigned to all the LPARs. Meanwhile., FIG. 1c shows an example in which the regions LPAR1, LPAR3 and LPAR2 are activated in this order. In the case of FIG. 1c, the LPAR1 and LPAR3 are successfully assigned and the STO is not assigned to both of the LPAR1 and LPAR3, so that the assigned storage regions are reserved in the upper part of the real storage as shown. Thereafter, when an attempt is made to activate the LPAR2, the STO is designated for the LPAR2, for which reason the system tries to secure a storage region starting with the STO. However, since part of the storage region to be secured is already assigned to the LPAR3, its activation ends in a failure.
As already explained above, according to the method for assigning the regions of the storage to the respective LPARs (VMs), successful or unsuccessful assignment depends on the activating order of the respective LPARs. This problem cannot be ignored from the viewpoint of improving the operability of the system. Further, the prior art assignment method has another problem in that, in spite of the fact that a remainder of the storage extent of the LPAR to be activated is present in the real storage, the remainder storage extent cannot be used.

Storage region assignment method in a logically partitioned environment


A pin and socket connector assembly includes a stamped and formed pin terminal 2 and a stamped and formed socket terminal 4 received respectively in cavities of a cap housing 6 and a matable plug housing 8. Both the pin and socket terminals have rigid retention ribs 20, 40 located on stabilization sections 12 and 32 which cause the cylindrical stabilization sections to accurately inwardly deform as the terminals are inserted into the housing with the retention ribs engaging internal housing shoulders to lock the terminals in place. The socket terminal 2 has a socket terminal of generally triangular configuration with a seam formed by the terminal edges locate on one side and a slot 50 stamped at the apex of the other sides of the terminal extending partially into the socket section. Rigid embossed dimples 54 are located on the interior of the socket section to form fixed contact points for engaging a mating pin terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter of this invention is an electrical connector and a contact terminals used in that connector. The terminals are stamped and formed pin and socket terminals having defined contact points and lanceless contact retention sections. The connector housings are multiposition soft shell housings with keyed engagement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stamped and formed pin and socket electrical contact terminals mounted in multiposition soft shell housings are widely used for connecting electrical harnesses in a wide variety of applications. These soft shell pin and socket connectors are used in electrical appliances, automobiles, computers as well as similar applications. These prior art connectors are generally inexpensive to manufacture and use conventional materials such as brass or phosphor bronze for the contact terminals and conventional plastics such as Nylon for the insulation housing.
The most common form of these connectors use lanced contact terminals on both the stamped and formed female sockets and male pins which are crimped to the end of an insulated wire from which the insulation has been removed at the end of the wire. These terminals can be attached to wires using automated connector application machines. These lanced contact terminals typically have a stabilization section for centrally positioning the terminals in a single terminal cavity in the housing. This stabilization section is generally cylindrical and are normally located next to the wire crimp section of the terminal near the rear of the terminal.
Lanced stamped and formed pin and socket terminals typically have one or more lances formed outwardly from the generally cylindrical profile of the terminals between the stabilization section and the contact section of the terminals. These lances, which are in the form of a cantilever beam with one end joined to the terminal, extend at an acute angle with the ends of the lances facing the rear of the terminal. These ends of these lances extend outwardly beyond the inner dimension of the housing cavities in which the pin or socket contact section resides. When the pin or socket terminal is inserted into a housing cavity from the rear, the lances are inwardly deflected. When a terminal is fully inserted into its cavity, the lances will be located in a larger section of the cavity and the lances can spring back essentially to their normal position. A shoulder will generally be formed at the intersection of a larger cavity portion, in which the contact pin or socket portion of the terminal normally resides and the smaller portion of the cavity in which the crimp and stabilization sections of the terminals normally are located. The lances engage this shoulder to prevent withdrawal or back out of the terminal. A larger section of the terminal adjacent the rear of the terminals normally prevents the terminal from being inserted further into the cavity. The engagement between the lances and the housing shoulder provides the primary reaction surface against which a force is applied when pin and socket connectors are mated. These lances also prevent removal of the terminals prior to mating is a force is applied to the wires to which the terminals are attached. Since these connectors are typically applied on a mass production basis, reliable retention of the contact terminals in the housing is a important part of providing a quality assembly.
Although these traditional lanced pin and socket connectors continue to satisfactorily a wide variety of applications, there are problems associated with lanced pin and socket terminals. Although the terminals are stamped from resilient metals, the protruding lances can be overstressed, in which case they will not return to their normal position when released. Since the lances are exposed prior to insertion into the housing, this type of damage to the lances will occasionally occur. Since these terminals are used in large quantities, this type of damage is difficult to detect. These terminals are also used in connectors having multiple cavities, and one damaged terminal can result in a rejection of a larger connection. For example, sixteen position connectors are common and the percentage of defective connectors will be sixteen times the percentage of defective contact terminals.
Another problem with traditional lanced pin and socket terminals arises which these connectors are used in applications in which terminals at applied to a plurality of wires in a wiring harness. This is a typical use of pin and socket terminals in automotive and other applications. The wiring harness is assembled prior to insertion of the pin and socket terminals into the connector housing. The exposed lances on these terminals can easily snag the wires in the harness causing the harness to become entangled. The harnesses must then be disentangled adding an otherwise unnecessary manufacturing rework operation and thus adding cost to the assembly of the product in which the pin and socket terminal is used.
One solution to the some of the problems faced with lanced pin and socket terminals and connectors is the use of lanceless pin and socket terminals. Conventional lanceless pin and socket terminals have a small diameter or necked down section of the terminal between the pin or socket contact portion of the terminals and the terminal stabilization section of the terminal adjacent the rear of the terminals. A resilient plastic latch can be molded in the housing cavity. This plastic latch exhibits a resilient cantilever configuration and protrudes into the housing cavity. The latch deflects out of the way when the terminal is inserted and returns to its normal position when the smaller necked down section of the terminal is positioned next to the latch. The plastic latch then engages a shoulder formed on the pin or socket terminal to prevent withdrawal of the terminal. These lanceless pin and socket connectors have also met with considerable success and they quite satisfactorily meet the requirements of many applications. There are however certain problems associated with lanceless pin a socket connectors. Since the plastic latches must be resilient, the choice of material for the connector housing will be limited by this requirement. Thus the connectors may not be as inexpensive as they might otherwise be or they may not be able to satisfactorily meet the requirements of applications used in more stringent environments. Perhaps more importantly the presence of the latches in the housing results in a more expensive molded plastic housing. Additional material is required and the molds have more elaborate core pins for forming the housing cavities and therefore become more expensive to make and more expensive to operate. Additional cost is added to the final product. These plastic latches also can limit the size of the pin and socket connector which can effectively use lanceless pin and socket terminals. Smaller center to center distances for the terminals ultimately become unattainable with a lanceless terminal.
In some cases the contact retention attainable with both traditional lanced and conventional lanceless pin and socket terminals is unsatisfactory for a specific applications. In these cases a secondary lock is typically employed. These secondary locks typically engage some portion of the connector housing to provide additional backup for the terminals. Some secondary locks engage both the connector housing and the contact terminals. For example a secondary lock can be attached to the rear of the connector housing and can have a surface overlapping the rear of the terminal to prevent withdrawal. Some secondary locks also engage the resilient plastic latches to hold them in engagement with the lanceless pin or socket terminals. One form of this type of secondary lock can be inserted from the front of the housing between the end of the plastic latch and an adjacent surface of the housing. Some secondary locks are in the form of separate pieces which can be attached to the connector after assembly. These secondary locks can be attached to the rear or to the front, and in some cases are inserted into the housing from the side to prevent contact withdrawal. However, secondary locks in the form of distinct pieces can be lost or improperly assembled, and in any event constitute a separate part which must be inventoried and a separate manufacturing operation which add cost to the final product. Some secondary locks can be integral parts of the connector house and are typically are joined to the housing by a flexible web. At least one prior art connector employs a secondary lock of this type located at the rear of the main housing body. In some applications even secondary locking is not alone sufficient. Some assurance that the terminal is properly seated is required. This terminal position assurance is sometimes provided by a secondary lock with cannot be properly seated unless the terminals are properly positioned.
One objection, sometimes expressed in regard to any of these pin and socket terminals and connectors is that the cylindrical barrel shaped configuration of the typical pin as socket contact section does not provide a defined repeatable contact point for terminal to terminal engagement. Some concern has been expressed about the integrity of the contact interface for conventional pin and socket terminals. Reliable contact insertion forces have similarly been questioned. One alternative to the pin and socket terminal which is sometimes employed is a flat blade and socket configuration in which cantilever contact arms are used in the socket. A precise contact interface can be achieved by the engagement of these cantilever contact arms with the flat blade. However, these conventional blade and receptacle terminals can be inserted into an insulative housing in only one orientation. Again this complicates assembly of the connector and adds cost to the product.
Proper orientation of mating connectors is also important so that the connectors can only be mated in one orientation, thus insuring that only corresponding lines will be mated in multiposition electrical connectors. One conventional approach to the problem is to use slightly different cross sectional shapes for the housing cavities and housing silos in mating connectors. Some silos and cavities may have a circular cross section while others could have a square cross section and still others could have rounded corners, sometime having a generally D-shaped cross section. These different cross sections must be sufficiently different so that the soft shell housings cannot be deformed when excessive mating force is applied. Although this approach is generally reliable, one problem is that this approach requires the use of multiple core pins in the molds for each different cavity. A common cross section would permit the use of common core pins and the manufacture of many different housings with different numbers of contacts would be less expensive.

High density pin and socket electrical connector


A liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate, on which a reference potential trunk line that supplies a reference potential to a plurality of sub-pixels and a switching element of each of the plurality of sub-pixels, are disposed; and a second substrate, on which a display signal line that supplies a display signal, is disposed. A liquid crystal capacitance of each of the plurality of sub-pixels is formed between the first substrate and the second substrate. Pixels composed of the plurality of sub-pixels that correspond to a plurality of luminance regions are arranged in a matrix. In case that a prescribed half-tone is displayed in between pixels that are adjacent in the row direction, the plurality of sub-pixels that correspond to the same luminance region are arranged adjacently in the row direction.

In recent years, high image quality has been demanded of liquid crystal display devices, and a multipixel method is used (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), in which one dot is divided into two sub-pixels and the gradation is controlled in units of sub-pixels. The multipixel method, as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 18 of Patent Document 1, uses two sub-pixels that are electrically equivalent. The multipixel method varies the potential on each supplementary capacitance C connected to the two sub-pixels, so as to cause a potential difference between the pixels and to control the rendering of tone.
In the multipixel method, pixels with high luminance and low luminance are controlled by the polarity of each pixel. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 19, the bright/dark relationship of each pixel under dot inversion drive alternates between pixels with a high luminance and pixels with a low luminance. FIG. 19 is a drawing that describes the bright/dark relationship of pixels in the multipixel method. In FIG. 19, the region P1 that is surrounded with a broken line indicates one pixel.


A non-tracking spherical solar energy collector including a fluid lense and an absorber having an energy absorbing surface within the focal region of the lense. The minimal surface area of the absorber required for efficient solar energy collection is determined by ray tracing techniques utilizing known positions of the sun during days of winter and summer solstice.

This invention relates in general to solar energy collectors and deals more particularly with an improved non-tracking solar collector of the type which utilizes lense means for concentrating solar radiation on an energy absorbing surface or the like.
Heretofore various solar collectors of non-tracking type have been provided for concentrating solar radiation. A collector of non-tracking type is usually mounted in fixed position at a predetermined angle of inclination to most effectively receive and collect solar energy throughout the year. The absorbing surface of such a collector is usually excessively large, to compensate for the varying position of the sun throughout the year. Such an arrangement is inconsistent with efficient energy exchange. As a result, a considerable amount of the energy collected may be lost through inefficient energy exchange and transmission.
Accordingly, it is the general aim of the present invention to provide an improved solar collector of the energy concentrating type wherein the surface area of the absorber is minimized for optimum energy transfer. A further aim of the invention is to provide a durable non-tracking solar collector of the energy concentrating type for maximum interception of solar radiation and low cost manufacture and installation.