According to the present invention, a waveguide assembly is provided and includes a common input waveguide aligned along a first axis. The input waveguide supports two frequency bands and one or more polarities, namely high and low band signals of two polarities which are typically supplied using a feed horn which is coaxially aligned with the input waveguide. The waveguide assembly also includes an output waveguide for supporting and discharging the low band signal (one or more polarities). The output waveguide extends along a second axis which is parallel to the first axis containing the input waveguide but is displaced therefrom. In order to accomplish this the waveguide assembly has two or more waveguides connecting the input waveguide to the output waveguide. The waveguides are disposed substantially perpendicular to the input and output waveguides such that the low band signal is fed into the input waveguide and then separated therefrom by being carried within one or more planes defined by the waveguides before being discharged through the output waveguide.

This invention is related to a waveguide device which supports multiple signals having varying frequencies and polarities. More specifically, this invention relates to a multi-port multi-band transceiver interface assembly in which signals having a first band with one or more polarities are separated from second band signals (having one or more polarities) where the second band signals are supported by a waveguide structure having an input port and an output port which lie substantially in the same plane which is generally perpendicular to an input feed for the first and second bands.
As technology advances, an increasing number of reflector antenna applications, including satellite and other antenna type applications, require complex multi-port (4 or more) assemblies to support the multiple polarities and multiple frequency band signals that are used in such assemblies. Typically, these assemblies are referred to as waveguides. The complexity increases and certain difficulties arise when in addition to the input port in which the signals are all received, these systems also further require signals having multiple polarities to be transmitted and signals having multiple polarities to be received. For example, the system may require transmitting on 2 polarities and receiving on 2 polarities at the same time.
In response to such needs, assemblies have been developed to process such signals; however, these conventional assemblies have a number of associated deficiencies. For example, the conventional assemblies have been very costly and also have degraded performance in the form of degraded cross polarity rejection. In addition, these assemblies are typically inconveniently packaged and a mechanically bulky which causes the assemblies to be difficult to install and difficult to adjust the polarity. For example, four-port combiner devices with symmetric branching are available. These devices typically include a common port in which two input bands (high and low frequency) are inputted into the input port and then separated from one another. The low band is separated from the high band by using four lower ports which separate the two polarities of the low band. Thus, two lower ports are used for each polarity and the respective bands are sent upwards within four separate symmetric waveguide members. These four separate waveguide members comprise elongated members which each share a common axis with the input signal so that symmetry of the signals is maintained. Because the device has multiple ports, the device is relatively very long and mechanically complex because the feed antenna is connected to the common port such that it lies along the same axis as the transmit or receive elements. This results in a bulky assembly which is unsuitable for many applications. Other conventional assemblies have designs which require the heavy transmit radio to be mounted off the center feed horn axis, making it more difficult to support, and adjust, and less aesthetically attractive. Some assemblies which are compact and keep the transmitter in-line with the feed horn suffer from reduced performance due to asymmetries in the design of these assemblies. For example, some of these assemblies are somewhat limited to dual band applications where the two frequency bands are separated a considerable band width apart from one another. This limits the scope of application of the assembly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a waveguide assembly having a common port which supports band signals having different frequency bands and each containing one or more polarities, wherein one of the band signals is separated from the other band signal in a manner which permits the design of the assembly to be compact and symmetric.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a waveguide assembly is provided and includes a common input waveguide aligned along a first axis. The input waveguide supports two frequency bands each having one or more polarities. The frequency bands, namely high and low band signals, are typically supplied using a feed horn which is coaxially aligned with the input waveguide. The input waveguide preferably includes coaxial inner and outer members with the inner member being configured to carry a high band signal (one or more polarities). The inner member is constructed so that the high band signal is carried and passed straight through the inner waveguide preferably without any separation between the one or more polarities. The outer member supports the low band signal having one or more polarities.
The waveguide assembly includes an output waveguide for supporting and discharging the low band signal (one or more polarities). The output waveguide extends along a second axis which is parallel to the first axis containing the input waveguide but is displaced therefrom. In other words, the low band signal is received at one location and discharged at a second location spaced therefrom but axially aligned therewith. In this manner, the low band signal is separated from the high band signal and carried to the output waveguide where it is discharged from the waveguide assembly.
In order to accomplish this the waveguide assembly, according to one embodiment, has first and second waveguides connecting the input waveguide to the output waveguide. The first and second waveguides are disposed substantially perpendicular to the input and output waveguides such that the low band signal is fed into the outer member and then separated therefrom by being carried within one or more planes defined by the first and second waveguides before being discharged through the output waveguide.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a waveguide assembly which is compact and preferably symmetric in nature so that the phase of the low band signal does not change as measured at the input waveguide and the output waveguide. In this way, the phase length and orientation of the first and second waveguides are carefully controlled so that a phase difference does not result. In other embodiments, the first and second waveguides may be configured so as to introduce a phase difference if this is desired in a given application. In contrast to conventional waveguide devices, the first and second waveguides preferably lie within one or more planes which are substantially perpendicular to both the input and output waveguides and therefore the present waveguide assembly may be conveniently sandwiched between two components, e.g., the feed horn and a radio, during use of the waveguide assembly. This is in contrast with conventional devices which comprise elongated structures aligned along the same axis as the feed horn and the other component, such as the radio.
In one embodiment, the assembly also includes third and fourth waveguides in which the first, second, third, and fourth waveguides intersect one another at a first location and at a second location. The first location is where the input waveguide is coupled to each of the waveguides and the second location is where the output waveguide is coupled to each of the waveguides. The different polarities of the low band signal are separated from one another at the first location by being launched into a number of paths which each connects the input waveguide to the output waveguide. Next adjacent paths are spaced at a predetermined angle relative to one another and preferably, the predetermined angle is 90xc2x0 so that one polarity is carried within one path and the other polarity is carried within the path which has a 90xc2x0 orientation therefrom.
In this exemplary embodiment, each waveguide defines a respective path and has a phase length associated therewith. The paths are spaced apart so as to support both the first and second bands. The first and third paths, which are preferably spaced 180xc2x0 apart, carry the same polarity low band signal and the second and fourth paths, also spaced 180xc2x0 apart, carry the other polarity low band signal. The paths which are spaced 90xc2x0 apart therefore carry low band signals of different polarity. It is generally preferable to not introduce a phase difference between the different polarity low band signals as the signals are carried through the waveguide assembly. In order to accomplish this the phase length and orientation of the waveguides are carefully tailored so as to maintain a level of symmetry.
In one aspect of the invention, the different polarity low band signals are launched into respective waveguides in the same first plane in which the signals are later recombined before being discharged through the output waveguide. Because the signals are launched and recombined in the same first plane, a level of symmetry is achieved. In addition and importantly, the phase lengths of each waveguide is preferably equal to the others so as to also introduce further symmetry into the waveguide assembly. In several embodiments, the waveguides have a cross-over orientation which permits the phase lengths of each waveguide to be equal to one another. At locations other than the first and second intersections where the first waveguide member crosses over the second waveguide, each of the first and second waveguides includes a bridge-like section which extends out of its plane and permits the other of the first and second waveguides to pass thereunderneath. After the respective first or second waveguide passes thereunderneath, the respective waveguide returns to its plane and continues on to the output waveguide. This design achieves equal phase lengths resulting in greater symmetry introduced into the waveguide assembly, while keeping the first and second waveguides within a defined plane. A similar configuration for the third and fourth waveguides is provided.
In other embodiments according to the present invention, the phase lengths and/or structures of the waveguides may be altered so as to introduce a phase difference between the first polarity paths and the second polarity paths.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Multi-port multi-band transceiver interface assembly


A mechanical seal device in which, between a processing equipment which performs processing under a sterile condition and a rotary shaft used with its one end inserted in the processing equipment from an atmosphere side, seal parts are disposed outside the processing equipment at least at two places along a length direction of the rotary shaft from the processing equipment side toward the atmosphere side seals the rotary shaft, and when the inside of the processing equipment and the seal parts are sterilized, the atmosphere-side seal part is also easily and surely sterilized similarly to the other seal part. An airtight area is provided on an atmosphere side of an atmosphere-side seal part so that an area communicating with the atmosphere-side seal part is kept airtight all along a circumferential direction of a rotary shaft, and sterilizing gas supplied to a sealing fluid supplied area, which is an area between the rotary shaft and a device main body of the mechanical seal device, in order to sterilize the seal parts is retained in the airtight area.

The present invention relates to a mechanical seal device which, between a processing equipment where to perform processing under a sterile condition and a rotary shaft used with one end thereof inserted in the processing equipment, seals the rotary shaft and is provided between the processing equipment and the atmosphere, and to provide a processing apparatus.
As a known processing apparatus for agitating, as shown in FIG. 9 for example, a treatment solution or the like, known is an apparatus in which the treatment solution is stored in a processing equipment 100, a rotary shaft 101 provided with, for example, an impeller at its one end is inserted in the processing equipment 100 from an atmosphere side, and the rotary shaft 101 is rotated around its axis by a motor or the like connected to the other side of the rotary shaft 101 to agitate the treatment solution. The aforesaid agitation process is sometimes performed while unwanted bacteria are prevented from getting mixed in the treatment solution, as in, for example, the preparation of an injection solution, or chemical processes such as cell incubation and crystallization for obtaining sterile powder. In performing such a process in the aforesaid apparatus, the inside of the processing equipment 100, the rotary shaft 101 (impeller), and so on are sterilized with sterilizing gas such as, for example, saturated steam, for example, before the treatment solution is charged into the processing equipment 100, or before the process is started after the treatment solution is charged into the processing equipment 100. For this sterilization, for example, the saturated steam at 100° C. or higher is sufficiently supplied in order to surely sterilize the apparatus.
A known method used in the aforesaid apparatus to seal the rotary shaft 101 relative to the processing equipment 100 and airtightly seal a gap between an inner area of the processing equipment 100 and the air atmosphere is, for example, a method using a mechanical seal 101 or the like as described in Patent Documents 1, 2. This mechanical seal 102 includes seal members 103, 104 on the processing equipment 100 side and the rotary shaft 101 side respectively, having seal surfaces that seal on each other along a circumferential direction of the rotary shaft 101, and seals the rotary shaft 101 which rotates around its axis relative to the processing equipment 101, by making these seal surfaces seal on each other. In FIG. 9, 105 denotes a housing (casing) housing these seal members 103, 104.
Further, for the purpose of airtightly sealing the gap between the inside of the processing equipment 110 and the air atmosphere, preventing the friction between the seal members 103, 104, and letting out heat generated by the sliding, a sealing fluid, for example, a sealing gas or the like is supplied to a seal part 110 which is an area between the seal surfaces of these seal members 103, 104. At this time, a pressure in an area supplied with the sealing gas is sometimes set higher than an inner pressure of the processing equipment 100 in order to prevent the treatment solution or the like from leaking out from the processing equipment 100 via the seal part 110. Concretely, the seal members 103, 104 are disposed so that the aforesaid seal part 110 is formed at, for example, two places along a length direction of the rotary shaft 101 to form a double mechanical seal, and from a sealing fluid supply path 107, the sealing gas having a higher pressure than the inner pressure of the processing equipment 100 is supplied to a sealing fluid supplied area 106, which is an airtight area in a ring shape formed at a position that is between these seal parts 110 and between the rotary shaft 101 and the casing 105. Therefore, the sealing gas supplied to the sealing fluid supplied area 106 slightly enters the inside of the processing equipment 100 via the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side and leaks out to the atmosphere side via the atmosphere-side seal part 110.
Therefore, in a process that is performed while unwanted bacteria are prevented from entering the processing equipment 100 as described above, clean gas is also used as the sealing gas. Further, in order to prevent unwanted bacteria from entering the processing equipment 100 via inner wall surfaces of areas where the sealing gas flows (the sealing fluid supplied area 106 and the sealing fluid supply path 107), these areas are also sterilized by the supply of the aforesaid saturated steam from the sealing fluid supply path 107 to the sealing fluid supplied area 106 at the time of the sterilization of the processing equipment 100 and the rotary shaft 101. Accordingly, the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side out of the aforesaid two seal parts 110 is supplied with the saturated steam both from an inner peripheral side (the processing equipment 100 side) and an outer peripheral side (the sealing fluid supplied area 106 side), so that the temperature and pressure of the saturated steam in this seal part 110 are maintained, ensuring the sterilization of the seal part 110 under the same sterilization condition as that in the processing equipment 100.
As for the atmosphere-side seal part 110 (opposite the processing equipment 100), since an atmosphere of an area to which the steam leaks from this seal part 110 is, for example, the air atmosphere, the saturated steam leaking from the sealing fluid supplied area 106 to the air atmosphere gradually decreases in temperature and pressure to be condensed, so that its sterilizing operation weakens. Therefore, it cannot be said that the seal part 110 adjacent to the atmosphere is sterilized on the same level as that for the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side.
However, since the seal part 110 adjacent to the atmosphere communicates with an inner atmosphere of the processing equipment 100 via the sealing fluid supplied area 106 and the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side, the atmosphere-side seal part 110 also needs the sterilization process on the same level as that of the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side in order to surely prevent unwanted bacteria from entering the processing equipment 100. A possible method to sterilize this atmosphere-side seal part 110 on the same level as that for the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side is to set the temperature and pressure of the steam supplied to the sealing fluid supplied area 106 higher than values necessary for the sterilization so that the temperature and pressure necessary for the sterilization are maintained even when, for example, the temperature and pressure decrease due to the leakage of the steam from this seal part 110, but this requires an additional amount of energy for heating the steam, and necessitates imparting high heat resistance to members forming the mechanical seal 102, which leads to a cost increase of the apparatus. Further, providing a heat-insulating cover covering the whole mechanical seal as described in Patent Document 3 requires an extremely high heat energy.
Another known method is to dispose the aforesaid mechanical seal at three places along the length direction of the rotary shaft, but the seal part adjacent to the atmosphere is not sterilized, either, on the same level as that for the seal part 110 on the processing equipment 100 side.

Mechanical seal device and processing apparatus


A wire guiding device for enabling the guiding of a wire electrode at an angle with respect to the normal straight line of wire travel. The wire is placed at an angle by the upper and/or lower wire guide assemblies being displaced from one another. The wire guiding device includes a guide member having a bore that increases in diameter toward a first opening and wherethrough the wire electrode is received. The guide member is pivotally supported and is allowed to pivotally move about a point along the longitudinal axis of the bore about two axes of rotation. Pivotal movement of the guide member is caused by the wire electrode traveling at an angle between the guide assemblies with respect to the normal straight line of wire travel. Fluid under pressure is caused to be directed through the guide member and out toward a workpiece substantially surrounding the wire electrode for flushing the workpiece cutting area. The guide member incorporates wear-resistant materials such as natural diamond, diamond film, synthetic diamond, ceramic, carbide, sapphire, or cubic boron nitride, for enhancing its wear characteristics.

EDM apparatuses that use an electrically-conductive traveling wire for an electrode first generally became commercially available in approximately the 1970's. These apparatuses are commonly presently used in making precise cuts and shaping various electrically-conductive materials or workpieces. Typically, the wire electrode is wound around and travels between two turning spools and a pair of wire guides or guide assemblies, wherethrough the wire travels, are used to accurately situate or guide the moving wire electrode at the proper location with respect to the workpiece being cut. The wire and the workpiece are placed at different electrical potentials and a controlled electrical spark traveling between the wire and the workpiece causes the workpiece to be eroded and cut or shaped in a desired manner.
The first wire EDM apparatuses utilized a positioning table capable of moving the workpiece in a single plane along two orthogonal axes. By providing numerically-controlled servo motors on each of the two axes, the workpiece could be positioned with respect to the wire electrode for producing perpendicular cuts as desired along the workpiece.
Wire electrode machines were, thereafter, modified to provide taper cutting. Initially, the upper wire guide assembly was orbited to produce a taper cut such as is needed, for example, for draft clearances between punch and dies. Although orbiting the upper guide assembly worked for providing small angled cuts, the cutting speed was severely decreased because more material had to be removed. Further, the taper was limited to the offset in the oscillating guide.
Steeper angular cuts were later made capable without orbiting the upper wire guide but, rather, moving the upper guide with respect to the lower guide and placing the wire electrode at an angle with respect to the workpiece. As can be appreciated, although this means of angle cutting is effective, it is limited to smaller angles because of the inaccuracies created by the path of the wire being distorted. This distortion is shown in FIG. 1A whereat the upper and lower guides G are offset from one another and the guide outer surface S causes the wire W to be moved at an angle .alpha. rather than .beta. of the line intersecting reference points R. In addition, the wire W is caused to distort and overshoot the desired path and further inaccuracies are thus created.
A solution to EDM angle cutting has been to mechanically pivot the upper and lower wire guide assemblies while simultaneously moving the assemblies in a plane parallel to the workpiece and, thus, having the wire electrode exit and enter the guide assemblies generally co-linear therewith. Examples of such wire guiding assemblies and apparatuses are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,667,078 and 4,751,362. As can be appreciated, although these guide assemblies provide for angle cutting, the mechanical components for pivoting the guide assemblies create a system that is very complex, difficult to maintain, and generally costly.
Accordingly, a need exists for a wire electrode guiding device that solves the problem associated with prior guiding devices and provides for EDM larger angle cutting with a generally dependable, lower cost and accurate system.

Electrical discharge machine wire electrode guiding device


Multiple compact fluorescent annular lamps are arranged in complementary concentric fashion about a miniature tungsten-halogen light source. All lamping is combined with appropriate reflectors in a single assembly with internal controls so as to provide dimmable light, focused center light, and frigid weather illumination capability. Light output of high efficacy is produced by combining fluorescent technology and the versatility inherent in halogen incandescent technology. The annular fluorescent lamps are triangular or igloo-shaped in cross section and the associated reflector serves to redirect light from the base of the lamps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lamps and lighting systems including floodlights, spotlights and the like.
2. The Prior Art
Incandescent reflective lamp assemblies known as floodlights and spotlights have been in universal use for many decades, their outputs directed according to their mounting in recessed ceiling fixtures or as adjusted in their swivel arrangements. Floodlights broadcast light evenly and widely whereas spotlights direct light in a smaller dispersion pattern with emphasis on a brightly illuminated center area known as a spot.
Recessed ceiling light fixtures are sometimes known in the trade as "highhats" while swiveled light fixtures are entirely exposed and are commonly called tracklights. The advent of small fluorescent tubing, known as compact fluorescent (CFL), in the 1980's allowed designers to enclose fluorescent technology within assemblies small enough to be installed in fixtures originally meant for incandescent flood/spotlights. Representative lights in the market in the United States are designated first by a letter(s) describing their shape followed by a number designating their diameter in one-eighths of an inch. Hence a PAR 38 lamp is a Parabolic Aluminized Reflective lamp four and three-quarters inches in diameter; an ER 40 would be an Ellipsoidal Reflector lamp five inches in diameter. In both of these examples, the light (lumen) output will vary by design according to a range of designed-in wattages varying by hundreds of watts.
In my copending patent application Ser. No. 08/302,469, there is a discussion of details prior art for reflective compact fluorescent (RCFL) lamps (i.e. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,708, 4,833,574, 5,130,910, 4,723,200) that may in some cases replace incandescent flood/spotlight lamps, perhaps within the fixtures originally intended for the incandescents. Relamping with nine watt to twenty-six watt CFLs has been widespread, yet leaving much to be desired in five major areas.
The first and second major areas, weak lumen output and excessive outline dimensions, have been addressed my application Ser. No. 08/302,469, which discloses an invention that details differently shaped and oriented CFL tubing realizing dramatically high lumen output along with a finished assembly to match incandescent flood/spotlight spatial outlines. The reflective compact fluorescent (RCFL) lamp disclosed in the application solves these generalized performance and fit factors.
The third major area of needed improvement for RCFLs is with regard to their aesthetic distribution of light. Incandescent flood/spotlights utilizing small tungsten filaments positioned within parabolic or ellipsoidal reflectors easily direct light to achieve "pools" of light or desired "highlighting" of merchandise in retail stores. By contrast, CFL tubing, inherently requiring high amounts of surface area for fluorescing powders, cannot be focused to create the desired brighter center areas of light. For instance, though generally acceptable light levels are realized with CFL relamping in hotel lobbies, readability of newspapers may be sacrificed in the process without the focused light formerly provided by the original incandescents.
A fourth requirement for many users of recessed or track flood/spotlights is the capability of the lights to be dimmed for various purposes. Dimming of incandescent reflector lamps is easily and effectively accomplished by economical dimmer controls, sometimes called rheostats. As voltage to the incandescent light is lowered by the dimmer control, less amperage is drawn by the filament with a resulting lowering of emitted light. No harm is done to the incandescent lamp and its life is usually extended. Single, or multiple incandescent lamps on one circuit, are dimmed by a single inexpensive voltage control with no risk to the lamps. By contrast, CFLs and RCFLs, whether screw-in or handwired, have shown themselves to be extremely difficult and costly to be dimmed. Simple relamping, without adding additional system-wide wiring infra-structure, cannot achieve fluorescent dimming.
There are several reasons that dimmable retrofit RCFLs, whether screw-in or otherwise, are not in widespread consumer use. For a CFL to be dimmed without deterioration of its electrode elements, low voltage must be supplied and maintained to the elements to keep them heated while lamp arc voltage is reduced by another set of ballast connections. Only rapid-start type fluorescent lamps with four-pin two-circuit bases are capable of this, with the additional electrical system requirement demanding two separate voltages to be independently supplied to the original screw-in receptacle or hardwired fixture. New construction of buildings may include these two separate circuits at a reasonable cost, but this practice to date is virtually unimplemented. For the hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of flood/spotlight fixtures in existing commercial buildings, retail stores and malls, and homes, retrofit of low voltage supply lines is financially prohibitive. Additionally, as dimmable rapid-start elements require constant amperage to keep them heated, even in the non-dimming mode, wattage is consumed and wasted with no gain in lumen output. As a significant secondary effect, this constantly heated filament technology also incrementally increases building air conditioning loads and costs.
A fifth area needing improvement for retrofit and new building RCFLs is higher reliability of even starting, and consequently, life expectancy of the lamp, under cold weather conditions. Flood/spotlights, in particular, are commonly used in conditions exposed to outdoor ambient temperatures. Many of these installations are in exterior walkways, hotel entrances, unheated garages, industrial sites, home and commercial security areas, and the like. Manufacturers of CFL products routinely warn against use of CFLs at temperatures from 32.degree. down to 0.degree. F. depending upon the manufacturer. Not being able to start at all is one problem, and at critical temperatures the high voltage arc will sputter and try to establish a mercury vapor in vain--the result being either an extremely shortened life of the lamp, or outright permanent failure. Incandescent, including (tungsten) halogen lamps are proven in extreme cold, in fact their hours of life are extended by the cold. Fluorescent technology, including CFLs, have been unable to match incandescents in this respect.


An exothermic natural massage shell includes a natural bivalve shell comprising a first half and a second half adhered together with an adhesive to form a hollow chamber. An aperture is formed in the first half to provide a portal to the hollow chamber of the bivalve shell. A reactant is disposed inside the hollow chamber of the bivalve shell. The reactant may be a reactive powder mixture disposed inside a fluid-permeable pouch. Combining the reactant with an activator inside the hollow chamber of the bivalve shell causes an exothermic reaction that heats the bivalve shell and maintains the bivalve shell at a substantially constant elevated temperature for a duration of time. The adhesive adhering the first shell half to the second shell half includes a first elastomeric polymer bonding agent with balanced coefficient of expansion properties and a second flexible resin sealant that makes the adhesive moisture-proof.

A popular therapeutic massage technique involves heating natural stones or ceramic implements and using them to massage different parts of the body of the massage recipient. Typically the massage implements are heated with an external heat source such as a container of hot water or an electric heater. However, this approach has several drawbacks. First, the massage therapist must take care to not overheat the implements and burn the massage recipient, but at the same time ensure that the implements are hot enough to achieve their therapeutic purpose. Second, the implements begin cooling the moment they are removed from the external heat source. Even if the implements are at the desired temperature when they are first used, the implements constantly cool down until they must be returned to the external heat source. Thus, much of the time and effort of the massage therapist is occupied by shuttling implements between the heat source and the massage recipient, rather than being completely focused on performing the massage.
Another therapeutic massage technique involves using natural sea shells, particularly bivalve shells. However, using natural shells to perform a massage suffers from the same drawbacks mentioned above with respect to other heated massage implements. Additionally, natural bivalve shells present another problem, namely that the two halves of the bivalve shell must be adhered together. However, the massage shells undergo repeated heating and cooling cycles over their lifetimes as the massage therapist heats the shells for the massage and allows them to cool after the massage is complete. During each heating and cooling cycle, the shells expand and contract a small amount. Over time, this minute cyclical change in size causes the adhesive holding the two halves together to fail so that the two valves break apart.
Accordingly, it would advantageous to provide a massage implement that remains at a desired elevated temperature for a relatively long period of time, preferably for the duration of a typical massage. Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide a natural sea shell massage implement with an adhesive holding the shell halves together that does not fail if exposed to multiple heating and cooling cycles that cause expansion and contraction of the shell.

Exothermic therapeutic natural massage shells


An apparatus for the simultaneous detection of several ranges of wavelengths of polychromatic light radiation, using one detector for each detected range of wavelengths, includes an interference filter which filters the range of wavelengths to be detected out of the polychromatic light beam, and optical elements for guiding the polychromatic light beam to be detected. The optical elements include a first system of mirrors in the path of the incident polychromatic light beam for collimating it in a hollow-cylindrical manner, one mirror of the first system of mirrors being located at the center of the collimated light beam. The optical elements further include a second system of mirrors in the hollow-cylindrically collimated light beam that deflects this light essentially perpendicularly to the conceptual surface of the hollow cylinder and radially to the longitudinal axis of thereof. Photo-detectors associated with the particular deflection mirrors are mounted opposite the second system of mirrors to receive the deflected light. A common interference filter is mounted in the path of the beam between the deflecting mirrors and the photo-detectors, the deflecting mirrors and the associated photo-detectors being pivotable about the interference filter.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for simultaneously detecting several ranges of wavelengths of polychromatic light radiation, and in particular to a multi-channel spectrometer with spectral background correction.
Conventionally, light intensity is determined at different locations of the spectrum using a polychromator. If design constraints require an especially compact photometer, or if especially high light fluxes must pass through the measurement device, then as a rule interference filters are used in order to filter out the spectral range of interest.
To make possible quantitative measurements, the measurement signal must be corrected for the spectral background. One known method is to install an additional interference filter which selectively eliminates the background radiation. However, this method requires that the light being examined be evenly split onto different filters. Inaccuracies in dividing the light beam may result to varying degrees in mistakes in correcting the background of a signal. Moreover, each measurement channel requires its own interference filter, so that when high-resolution interference filters must be used, the cost of such systems increases correspondingly.
One alternative is provided by a system with dynamic background correction. Such a system includes an interference filter capable of being tilted or tipped from which the light exits at a specific central wavelength depending on the angle of incidence. Due to the design of interference filters, as the angle of incidence increases, there is a shift of the central wavelength toward shorter wavelengths. The change of the central wavelength can be determined as a function of the angle of incidence by the formula below ##EQU1## where .lambda.=central wavelength for angle of incidence .alpha.;
.lambda..sub.O =central wavelength for normal incidence; PA1 n.sub.e =effective index of refraction of the filter; PA1 .alpha.=angle of incidence of the light.
This relation applies to collimated light at an angle of incidence less than 10.degree.. When this value is exceeded, the shift of the wavelength entails a distortion of the passband of the interference filter and a lowering of the transmission.
E. Cammann et al. describe in Fresenius Z. Anal. Chem. 1988, 331:336-341 a system of element-selective plasma-emission detectors for gas-chromatographical analysis. Dissociated compounds are pyrolytically decomposed into their elements in an energy-rich inert or noble gas plasma. The mixture so created is energized and the subsequently emitted light is fed by means of optic fibers to the element-specific detectors. An interference filter is provided for each detector and is tipped to and fro by 10 to 15 degrees at a rate of about 20/s. The detector determines the intensity of the measured and background radiation over a given element-specific range of wavelengths.
However, such systems are disadvantageous in that their mechanical components are exceedingly complex. With rapidly varying detected signals, the tipping rate must be very high to allow simultaneous determination of the measured signal and background. Rates beyond 20 Hz are technically very difficult to achieve, and therefore ultimately will be limited.

Apparatus for the simultaneous detection of ranges of wavelengths


A method and system for providing message threads with messages of multiple modes of communication in a uniform manner is provided. A messaging system provides a unified communications user interface for message threads that include messages sent using different modes of communications. When a user wants to reply to a message of one mode with a message of another mode, the messaging system displays the communication client application context of the other mode so that the user can prepare and send the message using the appropriate functions. When the instant message is sent, the messaging system adds the instant message to the message thread so that it can be displayed as part of the message thread.

Computer systems provide many different modes of communication through which users can send messages. These modes of communication include electronic mail, Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP"), instant messaging, voice mail, and so on. Typically, different communication client applications are used to support different modes of communication. A user who wants to communicate using instant messaging and electronic mail would need to have installed on their computer system an electronic mail client application and an instant messaging client application. Each communication client application, however, provides its own interface or context for its messages. An electronic mail client application may provide a context that includes from, to, subject, and input fields and icons for creating messages, sending messages, replying to messages, resolving addresses, and so on. An instant messaging client application may provide a context that includes a list of contacts that are online, a pop-up window that is displayed when a message arrives, and a chat window for displaying and inputting instant messages.
A sender who wants to send a message to a recipient may want to select a mode of communication that is most appropriate given the "presence" of the recipient. Users may make their presence information available so that other users can decide how best to communicate with them. The presence information may indicate whether a user is logged on ("online") with an instant messaging service or is logged off ("offline"). Presence information may also provide more detailed information about the availability of the user. For example, even though a user is online, that user may be away from their computer in a meeting. In such a case, the presence information may indicate "online" and "in a meeting." The presence information may indicate various levels of "presence." For example, "offline" is a low level of presence, "online—in a meeting" is a higher level of presence, and "online—at desk" is an even higher level of presence. A publishing user ("publisher") makes their presence information available to others by publishing their presence information to a presence server. The presence server then provides the presence information to subscribing users ("subscribers"). Thus, a presence server may use a subscriber/publisher model to provide the presence information. Whenever the presence information of a user changes, the presence server is notified of the change by that user's computer system and in turn notifies the subscribing users of the change.
A recipient may decide to reply to a message using a mode of communication different from the mode of communication of the original message. For example, a recipient viewing an electronic mail message may reply using instant messaging to provide the response immediately because the sender of the electronic mail message is currently online as indicated by the sender's presence information. In such a case, the recipient would move from the electronic mail client application to the instant messaging client application to send the reply. Similarly, a recipient upon receiving an instant message may reply using VoIP to fully explain the reply because the sender is currently not in a meeting as indicated by the sender's presence information.
A difficulty with sending replies to messages using different modes of communication is that switching communication client applications may cause a user to lose their train of thought. For example, after starting up or switching to an instant messaging client application, the user may not fully remember the substance of their intended reply. Another difficulty is that the content of the original message and the reply message are stored separately. In particular, when a recipient receives a reply that is in a mode different from the mode of the original message, the recipient will not be provided the content of the original message in the reply, unless the sender of the reply copied the content over to the reply. Another difficulty is that the original message and the reply are archived separately with no indication that they form a message thread.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for assaying dry gases comprising sulphur trioxide capable of forming a mist. The gas to be assayed is introduced into a closed space and contacted therein with air comprising normal humidity which reacts with the gas to form a mist, whereafter the light-extinction properties of the mist are measured.

When producing sulphur acid problems relating to the undersirable emission of sulphur trioxide constantly occur, such occurrence being particularly evident when process equipment becomes overloaded and/or break downs in operation occur and/or production is re-started after such break downs.
Such emission can be tolerated in itself, provided that it is on such a small scale as to have no chronic effect on the environment. The emission of such gases must not be continuous, however, and consequently it is necessary to monitor gases which derive from industrial processes and which are liable to create emission problems.
Although with respect to certain gases, it is possible to assay the gas in the actual chimney stack, using light-absorption assaying methods herefor, the gas has either already been discharged from the system to the surroundings, or is in the process of being discharged, thereby rendering it impossible to recycle the gas, should such prove desirable.
Thus, there is a demand for a method by which the sulphur trioxide content of a dry exhaust gas can be measured downstream of an absorption tower in a sulphuric acid plant, so that the gas can be checked and controlled in a rapid fashion.


A high voltage seismic bushing charged with an insulating material has a porcelain tube having an adapter rigidly connected to one end of the tube. A connecting plate is rigidly connected to a mounting flange. The adapter is flexibly connected to the connecting plate such that the porcelain tube is free to move relative to the mounting flange in the event of an earthquake. The means for flexibly connecting the adapter to the connecting plate utilizes a damping mechanism to attenuate the movement of the porcelain tube. A resilient buffer member is interposed between the adapter and the connecting plate to provide a predetermined spacing therebetween and absorb the impact due to the movement of the adapter relative to the connecting plate. A sealing member seals the interface between the adapter and the connecting plate for containing the insulating material charged therein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bushing used with the lead wire portion of tank type electrical equipment, such as power transformers or circuit breakers for extra high voltages, 500 kv and above, and wherein the tank is filled with an insulating material such as an insulating gas, an insulating oil or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
High voltage electrical equipment may be used in an environment where damage due to airborne pollutants such as salt and dust is high. These devices utilize bushings having long porcelain tubes which increase both the surface leakage distance and the ability to withstand the contaminated environment for connection to overhead aerial wires. When such electrical equipment is employed in a region having a high frequency of occurrence of earthquakes, for example in Japan, they are continually exposed to risks due to the earthquakes and are designed with emphasis on seismic strength. When the bushing is installed and the electrical equipment encounters an earthquake, the amplification of the earthquake experienced by the bushing is affected by the position of installation, the foundation and tank portions of the equipment, the mounting seat for the bushing, etc. The natural frequency of the bushing is determined by the relationship between the weight distribution and the rigidity of the bushing. If the frequency of an earthquake approximates or equals the natural frequency of the electrical equipment, then a resonant phenomenon is developed such that vibrations are amplified to a very large magnitude by each of the tank, bushing mounting seat, etc. These amplified vibrations are applied to the bushing. Such an amplified vibration may exceed the breaking strength of the bushing resulting in the breaking of the porcelain tube.
The greater part of the frequencies of an earthquake ranges generally from one to ten hertz. Bushings mounted on electrical equipment of the 220 kv and higher classifications may have a natural frequency less than ten hertz. This figure is identical to the frequency of earthquakes. With bushings having porcelain tubes having dimensions of up to five meters even the strongest earthquakes experienced in the past do not exceed the breaking strength of these porcelain tubes which have sufficient seismic strength. However, the use of environmentally resistive, long, porcelain tubes of the 500 kv and higher classifications results in a high probability of having the natural frequency of the bushing equal to a few hertz or less which corresponds to the frequency of seismic waves. It is therefore possible to break the environmentally resistive, long, porcelain tubes upon the occurrence of a great earthquake. Strenuous efforts have been made to improve the seismic strength of these bushings. When the 1,000 kv class is put to practical use, one method of increasing the seismic strength of the bushings is by reinforcing the bushing in three or four directions from its extremity by means of stay porcelain tubes or the like. In this case, the vibration of the stays becomes a chordal vibration and a phenomenon is developed which includes a superimposed vibration different from that of the bushing portion. Thus, it is difficult to analyze the seismic strength and the reliability of the bushing. Also, it is necessary to consider the flashover voltage due to contamination when the stay porcelain tube portions are connected in parallel. The adhesion of contaminants is different between the bushing and stay porcelain tubes. With the stay porcelain tubes being smaller in diameter they are generally apt to be contaminated. In any case it is necessary to determine the magnitude of the flashover voltage in the parallel state. In this respect the reliability is also reduced. The present invention eliminates the need for stay porcelain tubes.


Many petroleum formations contain water having high salinity and/or high concentrations of divalent ions such as calcium or magnesium dissolved therein, and are additionally at temperatures from about 70.degree. F. to about 300.degree. F. Most surfactants suitable for use in oil recovery operations are either ineffective in high salinity or high hardness waters, or cannot tolerate the higher temperatures encountered in many such formations. A water-external phase emulsion, microemulsion or micellar dispersion containing a water soluble alkylpolyalkoxyalkylene sulfonate or alkylarylpolyalkoxyalkylene sulfonate and a water-insoluble polyethoxylated aliphatic alcohol (including alkanols) or polyethoxylated alkylphenol nonionic surfactant is an effective fluid for flooding in formations containing water whose salinity is from 70,000 to 220,000 parts per million total dissolved solids and also having temperatures as high as 300.degree. F. The fluid is phase stable over a wide range of formation temperatures and water salinities and hardness values.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns an oil recovery process and more specifically a surfactant-containing emulsion flooding oil recovery process. Still more specifically, this invention is concerned with an oil recovery process using a water-external phase emulsion comprising a dispersed hydrocarbon phase and a continuous aqueous phase, the emulsion containing a water soluble alkylpolyalkoxyalkylene sulfonate or alkylarylpolyalkoxyalkylene sulfonate anionic surfactant and a low HLB nonionic surfactant, which emulsion is phase stable and suitable for flooding formations containing high concentrations of salt and/or divalent ions such as calcium and magnesium, in formations whose temperatures are in the range of from about 70.degree. to about 300.degree. F.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Petroleum is recovered from subterranean formations in which it has accumulated, by penetrating the formation with one or more wells and pumping or permitting the petroleum to flow to the surface through these wells. Recovery of petroleum from formations is possible only if certain conditions exist in the formations. The petroleum must be present in the formation in an adequately high concentration, and there must be sufficient permeability or interconnected flow channels within the formation to permit the flow of fluids therethrough if sufficient pressure is applied to the fluid. When the formation has natural energy present in the form of an active, underlying or edge water drive, or gas dissolved in the petroleum to the producing well, or a high pressure gas cap above the petroleum-saturated portion of the formation, this natural energy is utilized first to recover petroleum. Recovery of petroleum in this manner using natural energy is referred to in the art as primary recovery. When this natural energy source is depleted, or in the instance of those formations which do not contain sufficient natural energy initially to support primary recovery, some form of supplemental or enhanced recovery process must be applied to the formation in order to extract petroleum therefrom. Supplemental recovery is sometimes referred to as tertiary recovery, although in fact it may be primary, secondary or tertiary in sequence of employment.
Waterflooding, which involves the injection of water into the subterranean, petroleum-containing formation for the purpose of displacing petroleum toward the producing well, is the most economical and widely practiced supplemental recovery method. Water does not displace the petroleum efficiently, however, due to at least in part to the fact that water and oil are immiscible and the interfacial tension between water and oil is quite high. Persons skilled in the art of oil recovery have recognized this limitation of waterflooding and many additives have been described in the literature for incorporation in the flooding water to reduce the interfacial tension between the injected water and the formation petroleum. U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,381 (1941) discloses the use of polyglycol ethers as surface acitve agents or surfactants too increase the capillary displacement efficiency of an aqueous flooding medium. U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,713 discloses the use of petroleum sulfonates prepared from specified boiling range fractions of petroleum feedstock as a surfactant in surfactant flooding supplemental oil recovery operations. Other surfactants which have been proposed for oil recovery operations include alkylpyridinium salts, alkyl sulfates, alkylaryl sulfates, ethoxylated alkyl or alkylaryl sulfates, alkyl sulfonates, alkyaryl sulfonates, and quarternary ammonium salts.
The above described surfactants are satisfactory in certain limited applications, particularly in formations containing water whose salinity and hardness, i.e. concentration of divalent ions including calcium and magnesium, and/or temperature, are relatively low. For example, when the salinity of the formation water is less than about 30,000 parts per million and the concentration of divalent ions is less than about 200 to 500 parts per million, petroleum sulfonates are very effective over a broad temperature range. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,792,731; 3,811,504; 3,811,505; and 3,811,507 describe oil recovery processes employing specified mixtures of water soluble anionic and water soluble nonionic surfactants which exhibit satisfactory performance in petroleum formations containing water having high concentrations of divalent ions, i.e. in the concentration range of from about 500 to 18,000 parts per million calcium and magnesium, but cannot be used in formations whose temperature exceed about 150.degree. F. because of the cloud point limitations of nonionic surfactants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,612 describes an oil recovery method using an aliphatic polyethoxy sulfate and an organic sulfonate. U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,308 describes the use of an aqueous solution of an alkyl or alkylpolyethoxy sulfate as a mobility buffer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,827,497 and 3,890,239 describe an oil recovery process and a fluid containing an organic sulfonate and an alkylpolyethoxy sulfonate. U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,471 describes an oil recovery process and a substantially oil-free fluid, e.g. a solution, employing an alkylarylpolyalkoxyalkyl sulfonate in single surfactant mode.
Oil recovery processes employing a substantially oil-free aqueous fluid containing an alkylpolyethoxyalkyl sulfonate or alkylarylpolyalkoxyalkyl sulfonate are uniquely suitable for use in high temperature, high salinity reservoirs. A low HLB, essentially water insoluble nonionic surfactant such as a polyethoxylated alkanol or polyethoxylated alkylphenol may be used in combination with the alkyl or alkylarylpolyalkoxyalkyl sulfonate to ensure phase stability of the aqueous fluid.
It is desirable that the viscosity of the oil recovery fluid be at least slightly greater than water and preferably greater than the crude oil present in the formation to ensure effective volumetric displacement. Microemulsions, emulsions and micellar dispersions exhibit greater viscosities than true solutions of surfactant but it is difficult to form an emulsion which is stable at high temperatures and in the presence of high salinity. Hydrophylic polymers may be incorporated in surfactant solutions to increase their viscosity, but most polymers are not stable at high temperatures or salinities and an interaction occurs between hydrophylic polymers and many surfactants.
In view of the foregoing discussion, it can be appreciated that there is a substantial, unfulfilled commercial need for a surfactant oil recovery method using a phase stable emulsion, microemulsion or micellar dispersion, preferably a viscous emulsion which can be injected into formations whose temperatures are in excess of 70.degree. F., up to 300.degree. F. which formations also contain water having salinities higher than about 30,000 parts per million total dissolved solids, and/or concentrations of divalent ions greater than about 2,000 parts per million.

Emulsion oil recovery process usable in high temperature, high salinity formations


An exerciser for disabled persons has a seat-footrest-arm support system that is driven by a motor and an offset crank drive. This drive works to move the seat and footrest in opposite directions, i.e., when the seat is down, the footrest is up and vice versa. This allows patient to go from a compressed state to a fully extended state during each crank cycle. By securing the patient's arms to stationary support bars, the arms are also similarly flexed and extended during the cycle. The device has speed control to operate at reasonable speeds during the workout. A second embodiment of the invention uses VELCRO covered mitts to secure the patient's hands to a VELCRO covered leg strap. In this way, the patient's arms will follow the movement of the patient's legs.

Due to the nature of their injuries, physically disabled persons, e.g., quadriplegics and paraplegics can not exercise the nonfunctional parts of their bodies. To preserve muscle tone and strength, the large muscle groups must be worked by some external means. These muscles may be worked by a physical therapist who will move the body parts that need work. Many devices have been developed to help in this process. Often, these machines are designed to work specific areas of the body. Examples of these devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,802,462 to Reiss et al., 5,110,121 to Foster, 4,869,494 to Lambert, Sr., 4,976,426 to Szabo, and 4,651,719 to Funk et al. Each of these devices is designed to work a particular muscle group or groups. For example, the Reiss et al. Patent works the lower back. The Szabo Patent is designed to work the legs, arms Or both, depending on the apparatus configuration. Funk et al. is designed to work the shoulder. While these devices perform their intended functions, and because they tend to focus on rehabilitation, they are generally limited to working those specific areas of the body that they were designed.
The present invention overcomes the limitations inherent in these devices to provide a complete workout of the body for a paraplegic. The device has a seat-footrest-arm support system that is driven by a motor and an offset crank drive. This drive works to move the seat and footrest in opposite directions, i.e., When the seat is down, the footrest is up and vice versa. This allows the patient to go from a compressed state to a fully extended state during each crank cycle. By securing the patient's arms to stationary support bars, the arms are also flexed and extended during the cycle. The device has speed control to operate at reasonable speeds during the workout. A second embodiment of the invention uses VELCRO covered mitts to secure the patient's hands to a VELCRO covered leg strap. In this way, the patient's arms will follow the movement of the patient's legs.
It is an object of this invention to produce a muscle exercise apparatus for physically disabled persons that works the entire body of the patient through a single operating mechanism.
It is another object of this invention to produce a muscle exercise apparatus for physically disabled persons that is efficient and economical to build and use.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce a muscle exercise apparatus for physically disabled persons that can be speed controlled in a simple and direct manner.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce a muscle exercise apparatus for physically disabled persons that can be adapted and converted for use by non-disabled persons.
It is yet a further object of this invention to produce a muscle exercise apparatus for physically disabled persons that will provide a complete body workout through even, smooth, nonjarring motion.

Muscle exercise apparatus for the physically disabled


A method of controlling a communication apparatus includes searching for external apparatus information about an external apparatus sent from the external apparatus, displaying identification information for identifying the external apparatus by using a web browser, based on the searched external apparatus information, and receiving, based on the identification information displayed by using the web browser, designation of any piece of identification information, wherein the searching searches for external apparatus information sent from an external apparatus that does not belong to a same network as the communication apparatus, and wherein in a case where designation of identification information about the external apparatus that does not belong to the same network as the communication apparatus is received, the communication apparatus is caused to belong to the same network as an external apparatus corresponding to the designated identification information and a communication is established between the communication apparatus and the external apparatus.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus having a web browser function.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, wireless technologies have become widely used. Mobile apparatuses, such as a camera and the like, that include a wireless communication function to communicate with an external apparatus, such as a personal computer (PC), are known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-205960 discusses a technique that is an example of this type of communication. Specifically, a camera serves as a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server, and images stored in the camera are available to the public. Then, a PC user browses the images stored in the camera, using a browser. This technique, however, is complicated because the PC user is required to directly input a uniform resource locator (URL) of the HTTP server by using the browser.

Communication apparatus and control method for service discovery processing


Toys of any shape which recover their original shapes after deformation when they are heated by electrical or thermal stimulus are introduced. The deformation and shape recovery action can be repeated. The form regaining action is achieved by a special characteristics of the shape memory alloys, for example, nitinol, which change their phase and thereby change their shapes when their temperature is raised beyond their transition temperature. Toys are covered by a soft plastic to enhance the look of them.

Toys, ornamental shapes or any other geometrical figures which remember their original shapes are the object of this patent. Some form regaining toys go back to their original shape after an external stimulus which caused their original deformation has been removed. But they do so at some fixed rate which is not controllable by a user unless he applies an extra stimulus to the toy. Some other toys change their shape only when a user applies a stimulus upon it. But they only do so while they lose their structure integrity, preventing a possibility of repeated use of the toy without extensive corrective readjustments. This patent concerns with toys which regain their prefixed original shape only when a user applies a stimulus upon it, and at the same time, without losing its structural integrity so that the toys can be used repeatedly.
There is a host of alloys, called shape memory alloys. When an alloy of this group is annealed at a very high temperature (typically 1000.degree. C. or above) in a given shape, the shape is fixed permanently unless it is annealed once again. If the alloy is cooled down below a certain temperature (typically 45.degree. C..about.80.degree. C.), called a transition temperature, it becomes quite weak mechanically and can thus be deformed relatively easily. After the deformation, if the temperature of the alloy is raised above the transition temperature, it recovers its originally fixed shape by changing phase of its crystal structure. Both the annealing temperature and the transition temperature depend on alloys.
An example of the shape memory alloy in Nitinol. This is made of nickel, titanium, a small amount of iron and a small amount of nitrogen. In metallurgical terms, this can be expressed as:
Ni-(40.about.52)Ti-(0.about.0.1)Fe-(0.about.0.1)N PA1 Cu-(13.about.16)Al-(3.about.6)Ni, PA1 Au-(4018 55)Cd, PA1 Cu-(18.about.25)Zn-(5.about.7)Al, PA1 Cu-(12.about.16)Sn
Where the numbers in parentheses indicate ranges of weight percentage of each following element. Other examples of shape memory alloys are:
and other alloys such as Ag-Cd, Ag-Zn, Cu-Al, Cu-Zn, Fe-Bn, Fe-Pt, In-Tl, Nb-Ti, Ni-Al, etc.
An object of this invention is to make toys and other objects with shape memory alloys so that they regain their prefixed shapes upon a heat supply by a user after they are deformed for any purpose.
Another object of the invention is to make the toys repeatedly usable without permanently damaging them after each use.
Another object of the invention is to cover the alloys with soft plastics to improve the appearance of the toys.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the following description.


A fuse holder for a cartridge type fuse is formed of a housing having a fuse transfer region and a fuse contact region in the interior space thereof. A fuse carrier is provided, which carrier is captured within the housing. The fuse carrier is movable between the fuse transfer region and the fuse contact region. A fuse is inserted or removed into the fuse carrier through a suitable opening provided within the fuse transfer region. Within the fuse contact region there are provided fuse contact members which engage the conductive ends of the fuse when the carrier moves the fuse into the fuse contact region.

This invention relates to fuse holders and, more particularly, to fuse holders adapted to receive fuses of the cartridge type.
It is common practice to provide fuse protection for electrically powered appliances, and the like. A common type of fuse utilized for in-line protection is what is known as a cartridge type fuse, which is ordinarily a small cylindrical cartridge having a diameter on the order of one-quarter inch. Such cartridge fuses generally comprise an insulated tube closed at both ends by conductive end caps, having internally disposed therebetween a fuse bus connecting the end caps. The end caps are adapted to be conductively engaged by respective fuse clips connected to the ends of respective leads. In this manner the fuse closes the circuit between the respective fuse clips and upon removal thereof at least one of the fuse clips is usually energized, presenting a hazard of shock and injury to the installer. Thus, many different types of devices have been proposed in the prior art which are specifically adapted to provide a means for insulated manual grasping of the cartridge fuse without unnecessarily exposing the installer to shock hazard. However, these devices have not proven to be entirely satisfactory due to, for example, difficulty of use.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a fuse holder for a cartridge type fuse that eliminates the possibility of a shock hazard while the fuse is being inserted or removed.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a fuse holder which is easy to use.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a fuse holder which is inexpensive to manufacture.


A method of mixing materials includes a fluid medium, such as an aqueous fluid or a gas, continuously introduced into a mixing column for a time sufficient to allow the fluid to at least substantially fill the column. A predetermined amount of at least one primary material is introduced into the upper end of the mixing column. The primary material is permitted to descend through the fluid medium at a predetermined rate. Secondary materials are introduced into the mixing column through at least one end or through at least one position along the side of the mixing column at an angle and velocity sufficient to cause the secondary materials to intimately contact the primary material along its path of descent through the fluid medium so that the primary and secondary materials are continuously mingled as they descend through the fluid medium until they reach the lower end of the mixing column. Another aspect of the invention relates to the mixed materials which are recovered from the lower end of the mixing column.

In the manufacture and installation of cementitious compositions, two types of mixing are used. Initially, the various ingredients used to form the compositions are combined by dry blending or other dry mixing techniques. Such techniques include the use of mixing equipment having a rotary screw, or blades or baffles rotating in a stationary housing, or those having a rotating or "tumbling" housing with blades or baffles fixed therein. The dry ingredients are thus combined to form a uniformly mixed or homogenous dry composition.
Thereafter, these conventional dry compositions are supplied to a job site in bag or bulk form, and are prepared for installation by mixing with water to hydrate the cementitious components so that the mixture can cure to a solid mass. Cementitious compositions can also be prepared by mixing the individual ingredients, such as cement, sand and some type of aggregate, and an aqueous fluid, such as water, by hand or with some type of mechanical mixer. In any event, the individual ingredients must be thoroughly co-mingled and wet mixed with the proper amount of water to hydrate the dry components so as to provide a final cementitious composition with the requisite integrity for commercial use.
While hand mixing can prove to be a most effective way of attaining a cementitious product of proper composition and integrity, the labor and manpower involved have compelled most workers to resort to automated mixing devices. These devices, however, have the disadvantage of being complex and requiring great expenditures of money to supply the energy required for routine operation. In addition, since these devices usually include grinding, blenders or other types of mixing components, the ordinary wear and tear of these parts minimize the effective longevity of the device. Naturally, the worn-out parts could be replaced, but this would require further expenditures of money and could result in machine shutdown time.
In recognizing the need for a more cost-effective and practical mixing device, U.S. Pat. Nos. 722,782; 1,029,126; 1,047,680; 1,107,237; 1,473,990; and 4,175,867 each disclose a device for mixing concrete wherein the mixing occurs through a combination of gravitational forces, the structural arrangements of the devices and/or the introduction of pressurized or unpressurized water.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,920,463 describes a method of manufacturing artificial sandstone wherein all of the mixing is done by spraying under pressure and where the materials are mixed while freely falling from elevated hoppers directly into the molds defining the contour of the finished product; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,138,172 discloses a batching apparatus wherein a combination of gravitational forces and specially designed baffle means contribute to the batching of the individual components.

Method of mixing particulate materials in a mixing column


A process for dyeing hair by preparing and applying to the hair an aqueous reaction medium comprising a dopa species, a reactive direct dye and an oxidant, said aqueous reaction medium optionally containing at least one hair dyeing agent selected from the group consisting of primary intermediates and couplers and also containing a buffer to maintain the pH in the range from 6 to 10 during the reaction, and removing said aqueous reaction medium from the hair within about one hour following its preparation.

As reported, for example, in Prota, Progress in the Chemistry of Melanins and Related Metabolites, Med. Res. Reviews, 8:525-56 (1988), melanins are naturally occurring pigments present in hair and skin. In humans, biosynthesis takes place in tyrosinase containing melanocytes. The tyrosinase enzyme catalyzes the hydroxylation of tyrosine to dopa and its subsequent oxidation to dopachrome. Once formed, dopachrome undergoes a series of complex reactions in the formation of eumelanins and phaeomelanins.
Melanins provide black and deep brown pigments, and are formed by oxidative polymerization of 5,6-dihydroxyindole derived biogenetically during the melanogenesis. On the other hand, phaeomelanins provide yellow to reddish brown pigmentation to hair and are formed by oxidative polymerization of cystein-S-yl-dopas via 1,4-benzothiazine intermediates.
Synthetic 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) has been disclosed in the prior art for use in hair and skin dyeing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,396 to Charle discloses a process for dyeing hair by contacting hair with an aqueous solution of DHI having a pH of at most 7 for 5 to 60 minutes, followed by an application of an aqueous solution capable of inducing oxidation and/or polymerization of DHI.
Dopa and dopamine are disclosed as hair dyeing precursors in the process of Herlihy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,322, wherein the aqueous hair dyeing composition comprises said precursor, an organic compound to assist dye dispersion and an iodate or periodate. The dopa or dopamine dye precursor is present in the aqueous hair dye composition in an amount of from about 1 to about 100 mg/ml, preferably from about 5 to about 25 mg/ml. Dopamine is preferred, according to Herlihy. The iodate or periodate is present in the composition at a concentration of 1 to about 50 mg/ml, while the dispersing agent is present in an amount of from about 0.1 to 30% (wt./vol.). Optionally, a color modifier can be incorporated into the aqueous composition of Herlihy, at a level of from about 0.1 to about 10 mg/ml. pH may be maintained between about 3 to about 7 by incorporation of an effective amount of a buffer. According to Herlihy, the above-described aqueous compositions disperse the dye on the hair shaft "with little or no penetration into the hair shaft." Column 2, lines 56-58.
The prior art fails to provide a commercially feasible process for effectively, permanently dyeing hair using dopa as a starting reagent. It is believed this failing is attributable to an inability of the prior art processes in making a melanin precursor available on the hair at concentrations suitable for its diffusion into the hair, for subsequent conversion to nondiffusable melanin, as further explained in detail below.
Indeed, the inability to provide an inexpensive yet effective process for dyeing hair with a melanin precursor has prevented use of melanogenesis in the commercial dyeing of hair.
Interest in melanogenesis to dye hair is quite high, however. This is because synthetic melanin pigments provide an exceptionally natural-looking deep brown or black color. Moreover, they are not irritating to the skin. Nor are they mutagenic.
It has now been found, quite surprisingly, that an aqueous hair dyeing process wherein an effective melanin-forming hair dyeing amount of 5,6-dihydroxyindole is generated during the reaction of dopa with an oxidant can be practiced inexpensively and under commercially feasible conditions, to achieve a permanent hair color.
It has also been found that an aqueous hair dyeing process, wherein an effective melanin-forming hair dyeing amount of a nitrogenous phenolic, especially indolic, melanin precursor is generated during the reaction of select substituted dopa compounds with an oxidant, can be practiced inexpensively and under commercially feasible conditions, to achieve a permanent hair color. Advantageously, the utilization of the substituted dopa compounds of the present invention is conducive to the attainment of a range of hair color shades, in contrast to the use of dopa alone as the starting reagent, which is capable merely of providing gray or black pigmentation to hair.
It has additionally been found that even further and more desirable color modifications to hair dyed in accordance with the process of the present invention may be obtained by including in the reaction mixture, along with the dopa and/or substituted dopa compound, one or more hair dye compounds selected from the group consisting of direct dyes, primary intermediates and couplers.
The hair dyeing process of the present invention contemplates the preparation of an aqueous hair dyeing composition by reacting dopa or a selected substituted dopa compound as hereinafter defined, with a ferricyanide oxidant to form a melanin-forming hair dye precursor, and applying the aqueous composition to the hair. The melanin precursor contained in said aqueous composition is capable of diffusing into the hair shaft in an amount effective to dye hair permanently upon its coincident conversion to melanin while in the hair.
The aqueous hair dyeing composition is produced by initiating reaction between the dopa species or a salt thereof with an inorganic oxidant that is a soluble ammonium, alkali or alkaline earth metal salt, especially sodium and potassium salts, of ferricyanide in an aqueous reaction medium buffered by sufficient buffering agent to maintain the reaction medium pH from about 6 to about 10 throughout the series of reactions that take place leading to the melanin precursor.
In order to achieve the permanent dyeing of hair in accordance with the process of the present invention, it is critical to generate melanin from the melanin-forming hair dye precursor in the aqueous hair dye composition in such amount as to effect a color change to the hair. The total color change may be gradually obtained by several applications of the composition over time, or may be effected by a one-time application of the composition, depending on the concentration of the dopa species, the duration of application, and the desires of the user. It is further critical that the hair dye composition be applied to the hair prior to the substantial formation of melanin so that the melanin precursor formed during the reaction may diffuse into the hair prior to the generation of melanin, the melanin then being formed within the hair. It is additionally important that the process for dyeing hair as described herein be capable of completion within less than about one hour.
In the case in which the dopa species is dopa or a salt thereof, the reaction with the oxidant leads to the formation of 5,6-dihydroxyindole, which melanin precursor, upon its conversion to melanin, provides hair with a permanent black color. In the case of the selected substituted dopa compounds, melanin precursors are obtained which, upon conversion to melanin, produce a range of shades depending upon the selection of the substituted dopa compound.
A further aspect of the invention is the optional incorporation of an hair dye component selected from the group consisting of direct dyes, primary intermediates, couplers and mixtures thereof in the reaction mixture. Following the initial dopa species-oxidant reaction, it is believed that the direct dyes, primary intermediate(s) and/or coupler(s) present in the reaction mixture react at least in part with the intermediate compounds formed prior to the melanin precursor, thereby providing chromatic characteristics to the melanins ultimately obtained.
In another aspect of the present invention, it has been found that the formation of indolic melanin precursors such as 5,6-dihydroxyindole is hastened by proper selection and amount of the buffer, apart from its requirement for maintaining pH of the reaction medium. Preferably, the buffer is a phosphate, carbonate or bicarbonate, and typically is included in substantial excess over the amount needed to maintain the requisite pH.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the process for dyeing hair contemplates treatment of the hair with agent(s) that promote melanin formation, e.g., a solution of a metal ion salt, which treatment accelerates the formation of melanin from the ultimate indolic precursor. Treatment with the promoting agent may be a pre- or a post-treatment, or in some instances may be conducted simultaneously with the application of the hair dye composition of the present invention.
The process of the present invention may conveniently be practiced by providing premeasured amounts of the reactants in separate containers packaged in kit form. The user simply admixes the reactants on or with subsequent application to the hair and allows the composition while it is reacting to remain on the hair for the prescribed period of time. It is seen that no special expertise is required to carry out the process, and accordingly the product and process are equally suitable for in-home use by the nonprofessional as well as salon use by the professional. Advantageously, the product in kit form is shelf-stable and is therefore suitable for retail sale and without precautions generally required for melanin-forming precursors, such as 5,6-dihydroxyindole, e.g., storage under anaerobic conditions.

Hair dying methods and kits which contain a dopa species, reactive direct dye, and a ferricyanide oxidant


Implantable prostheses fully or partially formed of polymer having a textured or porous outer surface. The surface permits and encourages osteogenesis into the prosthesis and enables it to become firmly and permanently anchored into surrounding bone. The prostheses include a femoral hip stem formed of a metallic core and a polymeric proximal body with a textured or porous surface formed from a laser texturing, machining, or grit blasting.

Two main techniques are commonly used to fix an implantable orthopedic prosthesis to bone: Techniques using bone cement, and techniques pressing the implant into position. During the former technique, bone cement (typically PMMA, or polymethylmethacrylate) is applied in a dough-like state as a grouting agent between the bone and the implant. The cement flows around the contours of the osteotomy and the implant and into the interstices of cancellous bone. Upon hardening, the cement forms a mechanical interlock between the bone and the outer surface of the implant. In effect, no bone growth into the surface of the implant occurs since cement is used to hold the implant in place.
Although bone cement gives good initial fixation, it has some disadvantages. As one example, the bond between the bone and implant can weaken over time and cause complications. Further, implants affixed with cement can subside after the cement hardens and also cause unwanted problems.
During the technique of pressing the implant into bone, no bone cement is used. Rather the implant is press-fit into a prepared bone cavity that closely approximates the shape of the implant. Long term stability of press-fit implants requires bone to form an interlock with the outer surface of the implant.
Currently, all porous coatings or textured surfaces of orthopedic implants are fabricated using mainly metallic materials and are on metallic substrates. Therefore, the contemporary porous coatings or textured surfaces of orthopedic implants have a much higher elastic modulus than surrounding bone. As a result of this disparity in elastic modulus, bone tissues are likely fractured or crashed because of the micro-motion and press-fit at the bone-implant interface.
Conventional press-fit prosthesis often provide inconsistent long-term fixation to bone because of inadequate interfacial osteogenesis (i.e., bone growth directly to the outer surface of the implant). As such, much effort and research have been devoted to understanding how bone grows into these surfaces; and how these surfaces can be modified to encourage such growth. In particular, much research has been directed toward bone growth into textured or porous surfaces adapted to engage bone.
Bone growth into porous orthopedic implants is generally a two stage phenomenon. In the first stage and immediately after implantation, the pores or outer textured surface of the porous component fills with a blood clot that begins to organize. Here, fibroblasts appear in the clot region and fibrogenesis occurs. Loose connective tissue and capillaries soon replace the clot. At this point, pre-osteoblasts begin to appear in the peripheral pores of the implant. These cells can become osteoblasts or chondroblasts depending upon the environment. If the original pore size of the implant is too small or if the porous structure has been distorted by applied loads, one or more of the above sequence of events can be interrupted or hampered. For example, a smaller pore size (<90 μm) generally leads to the ultimate formation of fibrous tissue, not bone in the implant.
In the second stage, after bone has filled the pores of the implant, the bone begins to remodel. Here, spicules in the implant that experience uniform stress tend to thicken while those spicules that experience no stress or excessive stress (stress concentration) tend to become resorbed.
During this stage, the material properties of the implant are very important. In particular, implants formed from metal and ceramic can have a distinct disadvantage. For example, the modulus of metals and ceramics is so high that the implants do not sufficiently deform under the applied loads. The implant thus does not adequately spread load to surrounding bone (known as "stress-shielding"), and resorption can occur. Further, bone spicules in these porous implants do not experience sufficient loads to thicken. Bone trabeculae in the higher modulus porous materials tend to thin, a situation that also can lead to resorption.
From this discussion, an important conclusion can be drawn: The biomechanical environment established by the implant material and the geometry of the porous substrate can have a profound effect on osteogenesis or osteointegration at the bone-implant interface. Not surprisingly, much effort has been directed toward engineering polymeric coatings for use with implants. For example, some prior implantable prosthetic devices have been coated with porous bio-engineered thermoplastic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,794, entitled "Prosthetic Devices Having Coatings of Selected Porous Bioengineering Thermoplastics," teaches a prosthesis having a thermoplastic coating to encourage bone growth into the surface.
Efforts also have been directed toward forming implants entirely of polymeric materials. Polymeric implants can have excellent characteristics for orthopedic, dental, and maxillofacial applications. The transmission of stress to bone in some of these implants more closely mimics the physiological, natural biomechanical environment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,864, entitled "Endosseous Plastic Implant Method," for example, teaches a cast polymeric implant having a porous surface to encourage bone growth. The porous surface was fabricated through polymerization of a powdered polymer-liquid monomer mixture. The prior art, then, has directed much effort to coating metallic implants with a polymer or forming implants entirely from polymers. At the same time, much research has been devoted to bone growth into metals and polymers alike.
It therefore would be advantageous to provide an implantable orthopedic prosthesis that was formed at least partially from a polymer having a porous or textured outer surface to promote osteogenesis.

Implantable orthopedic prosthesis with textured polymeric surfaces


A channel evaluator acquires a change predicted value from a known symbol, and a compensator compensates for a first symbol using the change predicted value. A demodulator restores a portion corresponding to this symbol with another subcarrier. A replica generator acquires a transmission replica of the restored symbol. The channel evaluator performs complex division on the replica with the symbol to acquire an amplitude phase ratio. A detector compares the amplitude phase ratio with an amplitude phase ratio acquired immediately previously. In case where an elimination condition is satisfied, the detector disregards the amplitude phase ratio acquired currently and uses an immediately previous value instead, an averaging unit averages amplitude phase ratios to acquire a next change predicted value, and the compensator compensates for a next symbol using the change predicted value. Hereinafter, the sequence of processes is repeated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus and a receiving method which are suitable for adaptively predicting the transmission characteristic in case where OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) packet communication is executed under a fast mobile environment, a program which achieves the receiving apparatus and method, and a computer readable information recording medium which has the program recorded thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the quick spreading of the Internet or the like is contributing to the construction of environments under which a vast amount of information, such as multimedia information, can exchanged anytime and anywhere. Demands for mobile computing to ensure transmission of such a vast amount of information under a mobile environment using portable telephones and PHS (Personal Handyphone Systems) as well as via cable networks.
In this respect, studies are being made on broad-band wireless systems which stand comparison with cable networks and can transmit a large amount of multimedia information. Efforts are being made to realize the standardization of broad-band communication, such as IEEE 802.11a, ETSI-BRAN and ARIB-MMAC, and wireless systems which use the 5 GHz band are actively studied. Those systems employ the OFDM transmission system, one of multi-carrier transmission systems, and have achieved a transmission rate of several tens of Mbps.
In the OFDM transmission system, a sender performs serial-parallel conversion on a signal to be transmitted, performs inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT) on the converted signal and then performs parallel-serial conversion on the resultant signal before transmission. A receiver side performs serial-parallel conversion on the transmitted signal, performs fast Fourier transformation (FFT) on the converted signal and then performs parallel-serial conversion on the resultant signal to acquire a transmission signal.
In those systems, the moving speed of each mobile terminal is assumed to be relatively slow, such as a quasi-stationary state or a stationary state.
However, there are increasing demands that users who are moving fast by cars or the like can be provided with wireless systems having a similar transmission capability. To realize an ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), particularly, the realization of such wireless systems is essential.
Direct adaptation of the conventional OFDM packet communication to a mobile environment however cause an amplitude phase variation in a reception signal due to multipath fading. This is originated from a change in transmission characteristic with the movement of the mobile terminal and the non-negligible influence of the Doppler effect.
In case of using the impulse response, various schemes have been proposed so far to compensate for reception signals by, for example, predicting the transmission characteristic by averaging the time series of impulse responses along the time axis for each sub-carrier (carrier frequency) of the OFDM transmission or obtaining a weighted mean using a forget coefficient.
It is however known that those schemes may have a difficulty in adequately predicting the transmission characteristic when the Doppler frequency is high at a specific sub-carrier which has been affected by the frequency selectivity fading and the signal amplitude phase varies significantly.

Receiving apparatus, receiving method, program and information recording medium

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Incorporated Administrative Agency