An irrigation pipe splice is formed from two sub-assemblies, each sub-assembly including a sleeve mated to a pipe section. Each sleeve has an inner wall and an outer wall connected by a rim, the outer wall surrounding at least a portion of the inner wall and forming a gap therewith. In the pipe splice, the inner and outer walls sandwich a pipe wall within the gap.

The present disclosure relates to a pipe splice and to a sleeve and a method of using the sleeve to splice two pipe sections together.
Pipes, such as irrigation pipes, may be cut into pipe sections when setting up an irrigation system in a field. These sections may be spliced together at the end of their use in the field to form a continuous pipe that may be reused.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,233, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of joining two hose segments by placing a first inner segment within a second outer segment to create an overlapping area and then applying heat and compressive force upon the overlapping area to fuse the two segments together. A flat heat shield which is positioned within the overlapping area prevents the inner circumferential surface on the inner segment from adhering to itself during heat fusion.
During use, pipes normally accumulate dirt and sediment on their outer and inner surfaces. These surfaces should be cleaned in the vicinity of the overlapping area for the two segments to bond successfully.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,698, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an apparatus for forming a butt joint between two pipe sections which comprises a pair of sleeves made of material which melts and fuses at the same temperature as the pipe sections. To make the butt joint, each sleeve is first inserted into an end of a pipe section and then the two pipe sections are axially aligned to bring their sleeves into abutting engagement with each other. Applying heat upon the vicinity of the sleeves causes the abutting faces of the sleeves to become fused together, and each sleeve to be fused to its respective pipe section.
If the sleeve and pipe have slightly different melting temperatures, the sleeve might not fully fuse with the pipe resulting in a weaker but joint. This may be overcome if the pipe sections would directly fuse to each other.

Irrigation pipe splice sleeve and method


A portable electronic apparatus includes a main body having a top surface on which a keypad is exposed and a bottom surface disposed opposite to the top surface, a display unit disposed to be hinge-connected to the main body to rotate 360 degrees, and having a front surface to display images and a rear surface disposed opposite to the top surface, and a position fixing unit to fix the main body and the display unit at a first position where the top surface of the main body and the front surface of the display unit are in contact with each other and at a second position where the bottom surface of the main body and the rear surface of the display unit are in contact with each other by using a magnetic force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a portable electronic apparatus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a portable electronic apparatus that can perform a 360 degree rotation operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a laptop personal computer (PC) includes a main body having a keypad, etc. and a display unit having a display panel, and the main body and the display unit are foldably connected to each other through a hinge unit. In recent years, as tablet PCs, smart phones, and the like using a touch screen are popularized, laptop PCs having various functions have emerged.
Reflecting these trends, the laptop PCs that include a touch screen like the tablet PC are being released. The laptop PCs including the touch screen can support a tablet mode as well as a normal clamshell mode. Also, laptop PCs rotatable 360 degrees as well as laptop PCs rotatable within 180 degrees have been released. Here, the laptop PCs rotatable 360 degrees generally includes the tablet mode.
In the normal laptop PCs rotatable 180 degrees, when they are kept or carried, a display unit is closed, that is, in a state that a front surface of the display unit and a top surface of a main body are in contact with each other (an angle between the display unit and the main body is 0 degree), the display unit and the main body are fixed to each other by a detent of the hinge unit. However, in the laptop PCs rotatable 360 degrees, the display unit and the main body may not maintain but can be released from a 360 degree rotation state by using the detent of the hinge unit. Also, the detent of the hinge unit may not enough to provide a 360 degree rotation operation of the display unit.
Accordingly, in the laptop PCs rotatable 360 degrees, a way to fix the display unit and the main body in a 360 degree state as well as in a 0 degree state is required.


A portable gas burner which is usable in remote areas without electricity is provided for use as a fire place burner, or as a camp fire burner or as a stove burner or as a grill burner. The novel gas burner comprises a base unit onto which is mounted a hollow ceramic fiber top which is connected to the base unit so as to form a gas manifold therebetween for receiving a mixture of gas and air. A manually operable gas valve means in said base unit is connected to a gas supply. The valve when opened allows a mixture of gas and air to flow through a gas line into the gas manifold until such time as a temperature thermocouple sensing element is heated sufficiently to hold manually operable gas valve open.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to efficient gas burners for burning natural gas and propane gaseous fuels. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel gas burner system that may be used in fireplaces and/or camp fires and is portable to accomplish dual purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gas burners are classified in U.S. Class 126, sub-classes 91, 92R, 125, 126 and 512. In our U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,073 there is disclosed and claimed a flat pan burner having a U-shaped base pan which is connected to a formed top layer. The burner in this patent was designed for and has been used in gas fireplaces.
In our co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/705,845 filed Sep. 27, 1996, there is shown and described hollow log burners of the type manufactured for use in artificial log camp fires. This latter burner system includes light-weight reinforced ceramic fiber (RCF) logs which have hollow passageways as well as burner jets for producing gas flames emitted from the logs and is incorporated by reference herein. Such gas log units have been used in remote areas where natural gas is not available, thus, require that tanks of propane be provided and that the units can be disassembled and assembled at the camp site if stored in a disassembled or partially assembled condition. Such units are not usable as a grill or as a gas burner system for a gas fireplace, thus, are single purpose fireplace units. Our U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,568 issued Nov. 18, 1997 also shows and describes moulded lightweight insulating reinforced ceramic fiber (RCF) fireplace elements using materials of the type used herein.
It would be desirable to provide a novel dual purpose gas burner which may be used in a fireplace as a burner or on a deck as a campfire or a grill and/or as a portable and storable campfire-grill that may be set into operation by removing a storage cover and connecting a gas line to the burner unit.


A structural article comprises a substrate having an ionic charge which is coated with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. The coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. The substrate is preferably fiberglass, the filler is selected from the group consisting of fly ash, charged calcium carbonate, ceramic microspheres and mixtures thereof and the binder material is preferably acrylic latex. The substrate is preferably bonded together using a mixture of urea formaldehyde and standard acrylic. In a preferred embodiment, the coating comprises nearly 85% of the structural article and a filler which is approximately 50% fly ash and 50% calcium carbonate comprises approximately 85% to 95% of the coating.

This invention relates to structural articles and a method for making such articles comprising a substrate having an ionic charge coated with a coating having essentially the same charge and consisting essentially of a filler material and a binder material.
For many years substrates such as fiberglass have been coated with various compositions to produce structural articles having utility in, among other applications, the building industry. U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,005 relates to structural laminates made with facing sheets. The laminates described in that patent include thermosetting plastic foam and have planar facing sheets comprising 60% to 90% by weight glass fibers (exclusive of glass micro-fibers), 10% to 40% by weight non-glass filler material and 1% to 30% by weight non-asphaltic binder material. The filler materials are indicated as being clay, mica, talc, limestone (calcium carbonate), gypsum (calcium sulfate), aluminum trihydrate (ATH), antimony oxide, cellulose fibers, plastic polymer fibers or a combination of any two or more of those substances. The patent further notes that the filler materials are bonded to the glass fibers using binders such as urea-, phenol- or melamine-formaldehyde resins (UF, PF, and MF resins), or a modified acrylic or polyester resin. Ordinary polymer latexes used according to the disclosure are Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber (SBR), Ethylene-Vinyl-Chloride (EVCl), PolyVinylidene Chloride (PvdC), modified PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC), PolyVinyl Alcohol (PVOH), and PolyVinyl Acetate (PVA).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,032 discloses an acrylic coating comprised of one acrylic underlying resin which includes fly ash and an overlying acrylic resin which differs from the underlying resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,329 discloses a fire retardant coating composition comprising fly ash and vinyl acrylic polymer emulsion. The fly ash is 24 to 50% of the composition.
Many different coating compositions have been formulated over the years but often such compositions would bleed through substrates, such as fiberglass substrates, if the substrates were coated on just one side, unless the compositions had a high binder content and/or included viscosity modifiers to enhance the viscosity of the coating composition. To prevent bleed through, such coating compositions sometimes had their viscosity increased by blowing or whipping air into the compositions. Although such blown compositions did not bleed through to the other side of mats such as fiberglass mats, the raw material costs for the compositions were high because of the numbers of constituent elements involved.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a structural article having a coating which includes only two major constituents, while eliminating the need for viscosity modifiers, for stabilizers or for blowing. It is also an object of this invention to provide a low cost, relatively light weight structural article comprised principally of a coating having a low binder content and a high filler content. It is a further object of this invention to provide a relatively light weight, low cost coating which coats a substrate without bleeding through the substrate.


The sensing system includes a plurality of modulators that are each configured to modulate a different light signal. The sensing system also includes optical pathways that transport the modulated light signals to one or more wavelength reflectors. Each wavelength reflector is configured to reflect a portion of the modulated light signals at a characteristic wavelength that is a function of an influence external to the wavelength reflector. The sensing system also includes a light sensor configured to receive the reflected light signals and to output a modulated electrical signal that is a function of the power of each of the reflected light signals. The sensing system can also include electronics configured to employ the modulated electrical signal so as to determine one or more results selected from a group consisting of: the characteristic wavelength of one or more of the wavelength reflectors and a level of the external influence on one or more of the wavelength reflectors. Examples of external influences include, but are not limited to, strain, stress, temperature, and properties of materials contacting the wavelength reflector such as index of refraction or pH.

Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing Systems have been employed to monitor strain for a variety of different applications such as monitoring the strain on civil structures including bridges and dams. These sensors typically include an optical fiber with a Bragg Grating. A Bragg Grating reflects light with wavelengths at a characteristic wavelength known as the Bragg wavelength and passes other wavelengths of light. The Bragg wavelength shifts in response to changes in the level of strain on the Bragg Grating. As a result, the sensing system can determine the level of strain on the Bragg Grating from the Bragg wavelength. These sensing systems often include tunable, narrow-linewidth light sources such as tunable lasers to generate light signals that are reflected by the Bragg Grating. Alternately, these sensing systems may include a broadband light source, and use a demultiplexer to demultiplex the reflected light signals. In this case, each of the demultiplexed light signals is received at a different photodetector. These components increase the cost, size and/or complexity of the Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing System. As a result, there is a need for an improved Optical Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing System.

Sensing system having wavelength reflectors that receive modulated light signals


A method and apparatus for transferring a weight of chain link mesh fence and holding the fence in position while a single installer secures the fence. The apparatus includes a lever arm, at least one tip for engaging an intersection of chain link mesh, a pivot point between the lever arm and tip, a hook attached to the lever arm by a flexible tether or connector which allows the chain link mesh to remain in place once engaged. The installer first places the pivot point on the fence post and pivots the chain link mesh upward to the desired height. Then the installer attaches the hook to an intersection of fence so that the flexible tether is taut. Once done, the forces are balanced on each side of the pivot point of the apparatus and the installer can release the tool and work with both hands to install the fence.

Chain link fences have been well recognized as a cost-effective and quickly built method of cordoning off large spaces. One difficulty associated with the installation of chain link fence from an installer's view point is that the chain link is heavy. Although on a per square foot basis, many other types of fencing materials are heavier, chain link wire mesh has a unique property not many other fencing materials possess. That is, that the chain link wire mesh is provided in spools of continuous sections. Typically installation is accomplished by unrolling a spool of such chain link wire mesh along the ground at the base of vertical uprights and horizontal members to which the mesh is to be attached. One installer walks along the length of chain link wire mesh positioning the mesh as close to the finished embodiment as possible, while freeing the mesh from entanglements along the ground. At least one other installer clips, wire ties, or by some other attachment means attaches the chain link wire mesh to the horizontal members. The mesh is now hung similar vertically and allowed to slide horizontally along the horizontal members. At this point, the installers stretch the mesh horizontally and clip or wire tie the mesh to the vertical uprights.
Although variations exist on this method of installation, the process of installing chain link fence is essentially as described. The typical installation requires at least two people, one to assist in holding the chain link mesh to a desired height, while the other secures it in place. The Applicant is aware of one method which eliminates the need for two installers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,557 to Johnson describes a guide roller device which purportedly eliminates the need for two installers.
The Johnson device consists of a rolling mechanism which enables an installer to hook portions of chain link mesh to hook elements. An installer using a plurality of such Johnson devices could then roll the chain link mesh along a horizontal member of the fence. Feasibly, a single person could attach at one end a length of chain link mesh to a vertical and with proper placement of a plurality of Johnson devices hooked to said mesh, that person could stretch the mesh and fasten the other end of said chain link mesh. However, the Johnson device does not appear to overcome the problems associated with the intersection of a vertical upright and a horizontal member.
Typically chain link fences are constructed so that every so many feet, there is an intersection between a horizontal member and a vertical upright. This is because the weight of the chain link mesh hanging from the horizontal member must be supported every so often. Were the span between vertical uprights sufficiently long, the horizontal members would be subject to failure due to the load suspended therefrom. As stated above, the obvious solution to this problem is to situate vertical uprights at desired space intervals. However, rolls of chain link mesh are longer in total length than are the distances between any two vertical uprights. As such, when a plurality of Johnson devices are used to hang chain link wire mesh from the horizontal members, it is likely that during the tensioning process one of the intersections between a vertical upright and horizontal member will be caused to interfere with at least one of the Johnson devices as the Johnson devices are caused to roll along said upright.

Chain link fence installing device and method of using the same


A fixture for measuring runout in firearm cartridges, casings and bullets is provided. The fixture holds the cartridge at the tip and forward of the rim for rotation. A self centering tip bearing holds the tip of the cartridge, casing or bullet for rotation about an axis of rotation. The exterior surface of the cartridge, casing or bullet is supported in a V-shaped knife edge bearing. The distance from the knife edge bearing to the tip bearing is adjustable to accommodate various cartridge sizes. Interchangeable tip bearing tools are provided for rotatably holding bullets and casings, and for locating areas of variation in the thickness of the casing wall. The thickness indicating tool has a flat surface offset from the cartridge axis, which rests against the curved interior surface of a casing, forming a chord which supports the interior surface at two points. The gauge arm, placed on the outside of the casing between the two points, can then measure the relative thickness of the casing wall.

The present invention relates to devices for locating eccentricities in cartridge casings, bullets, and cartridges for firearms.
All shooters, whether they are police officers, olympic shooters, or weekend enthusiasts, have one common goal: hitting their target accurately and consistently. Accuracy and consistency in shooting depend largely on the skill of the shooter and the construction of the firearm and ammunition.
The accuracy of a firearm can be enhanced by the use of precisely-made components, including precisely-made ammunition. It is well known in target shooting that using ammunition in which the propellant weight and type, bullet weight and dimensions, and cartridge dimensions are held within very strict limits, and are thus consistent can improve accuracy in shooting. The wider the variation or impreciseness of these individual factors, the greater the loss of accuracy. Such loss of accuracy produces wide variations in bullet trajectory, which in target shooting produces a large pattern or grouping of bullet holes in the target (and a lower score than would be expected if the group were smaller or "tight"). The variations in the physical components of the ammunition should therefore be considered in order to obtain optimum accuracy.
As a practical matter, commercially available ammunition or ammunition components, like casings, bullets, primers, and propellant, are all made within certain tolerances set by their manufacturers. Therefore, while these components may be within the manufacturing tolerance, some of the components may be near the optimal specification while others may be very close to the outside tolerance.
For example, cartridge casings are optimally cylindrical in shape. Thus, if one imagines a longitudinal axis passing through the center of casing from the head of the casing extending out of the mouth of the casing, a cross-section of the casing taken anywhere along the axis, perpendicularly to the axis, would reveal that the axis is in the center of a circle, if the casing is optimally shaped. That is, the wall of the casing is "concentric." However, perfect concentricity is rare; casings, bullets, and cartridges may exhibit one or more eccentricities. Thus, casings may be produced which have a "thin" side or a "thick" side, or bullets may be produced which deviate from a perfectly circular cross section to produce a "high" area where two halves of a mold joined. Such variations from the optimum are called "eccentricities." As pointed out by Creighton Audette in "Overlooked Aspects of the Cartridge Case," Precision Shooting, December 1981, Vol. 27, No. 8, one must consider the eccentricities if accuracy in shooting is to be attained.
"Runout" is a term which is often used to describe eccentricities which affect the outer (external) surface of a cartridge casing, bullet, or other generally cylindrical object. Runout is a deviation from the midline axis (also known as the central longitudinal axis or the geometric axis) of the outside surface of a cylinder. For example, cartridge casing "runout" can involve a "banana shape" curve in which the casing is not a perfectly straight cylinder, but bends longitudinally. With this kind of runout, each cross section may be perfectly circular, but eccentric or offset relative to the geometrical axis of the cartridge as a whole. "Banana shape" runout is typically seen only in fired cartridge casings (which are commonly cleaned, resized and reloaded), and typically becomes more pronounced with every firing.
"Egg-shape," or out-of-round runout occurs when one transverse cross section of a casing, bullet or cartridge is not circular. This eccentricity is typically local, and may occur at any one cross section independently of its occurrence at any other cross section. Having found egg shape at one point, one cannot predict what various degrees, shapes or orientations of deformity might be found elsewhere.
Head runout occurs when the head on a casing is not "square." This condition occurs when the head of the casing (or more commonly, a portion of the head of the casing) is not perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the casing.
Yet another troublesome eccentricity occurs when the casing wall thickness is not uniform. When this occurs, a portion of the casing wall is thinner. Because the outer surface of the casing may be uniform, checking for runout will not reliably determine variations in casing wall thickness. If the casing is thinner in a certain area, that section of the wall may unevenly stretch upon firing in both width and length, and the whole casing may, after several uses, be distorted into a banana-like shape.
All of these eccentricities effect accuracy in shooting. With runout, the bullet can be misaligned off axis in the bore when the cartridge is chambered in the firearm. If the casing thickness varies, for example in the neck region where the bullet is lodged, the bullet can be laterally offset and again may be positioned in the bore off axis from the optimum position when chambered. As noted above, very small errors will spread the bullet trajectories. For accurate shooting, the casing, bullet and loaded cartridge should be true within 0.001 inch or less.
In a cartridge having a bullet and casing which may each have one or more different eccentricities, random orientation of the eccentricities will cause a loss of accuracy (larger group size) when shooting at a target. A cartridge with one or more randomly oriented eccentricities can have unpredictable ballistics. Cartridge runout (out-of-roundness, bending, or lack of symmetry about the central axis of the cartridge) in either the bullet or the casing will spread the bullet trajectories if the departure from truly cylindrical shape is as little as a thousandth of an inch. If one could determine the location of the eccentricities, it would be possible to orient the eccentricities and mark or "index" the loaded cartridge. As explained by Creighton Audette, indexing allows the shooter to consistently align the eccentricities in a loaded cartridge in the chamber of a firearm, thus offsetting any inaccuracy due to the eccentricities. As noted above, eccentricities as small as 0.001 inch can effect accuracy. Such small errors are not detectable with the naked eye, and are difficult to detect with ordinary equipment.
Thus, the need exists for a fixture which can reliably check cartridge casings, bullets, and loaded cartridges for runout and check cartridge casings for variations in wall thickness. Such a fixture should be accurate, easy to use, inexpensive and rugged.


A device for supporting a roller bearing housing of a double-roll crusher is provided, wherein each roller has a fixed bearing with a non-self-aligning design and a floating bearing with a non-self-aligning design, and wherein at least one load distribution element is arranged between the machine frame of the double-roll crusher and the housing of each roller bearing. The at least one load distribution element has at least two elastic, spatially separated individual elements, with at least one recess between the individual elements providing a spatial separation in the vertical direction.

The invention relates to a device for supporting a rolling mill bearing housing of a two-high roller press, in which both rollers respectively exhibit a fixed bearing in a design such that it cannot move at an angle and floating bearing in a design such that it cannot move at an angle, and in which between the machine frame of the two-high roller press and the housing of each rolling mill bearing, at least one load distribution element is arranged, and a rolling mill bearing that exhibits a bearing housing support according to the invention.
Two-high roller presses, also designated high-compression roller mills, are used for pressure-crushing of medium-hardness to brittle materials. They comprise two driven rollers rotating in opposite directions, between which there is a milling gap. One of the rollers is formed as a fixed roller supported so that it is stationary and the other roller is supported so that it can move transverse to the milling gap. The floating roller is spring-supported with a correspondingly high pressure, normally applied by hydraulic cylinders, through which the input material located between the rollers is pressed against the fixed roller. In the context of pressure regulation, the hydraulic elements on the floating roller side adjust the milling force and therefore the gap between the floating and fixed rollers when in operation (operating gap).
The force-exerting support of the rollers is done horizontally on vertical elements of the machine frame. The forces exerted in the pressure treatment are therefore directed via the rolling mill bearings into the machine frame. For the rolling mill bearing, roller bearings are usually used. From DE 36 35 885 C2, the use of spherical roller bearings that exhibit an angular movement of only a few degrees are known, on which bearing housing a thin rubber body is arranged on the fixed roller side to compensate for tolerances.
A tilting in the roller bearing, as may occur for the floating roller may not be compensated for by the bearing that cannot move at an angle, depending on construction. From DE 40 34 822 A1, a rolling mill bearing is known with non-oscillating bearings that are guided over the rubber pressure bearings in a swivel movement, and at the same time, the pressing forces are distributed using this elastic body (rubber cushion) through the bearing housing onto the roller bearing.
The elastic bodies, e.g. rubber cushions, firstly draw on the function of guaranteeing an optimum, i.e. as homogeneous as possible load distribution on the roller bearing. In particular, the forces acting by the exertion of force from the hydraulic cylinders and pressing elements on the bearing of the floating roller are distributed optimally over the bearing housing onto the rolling elements. Secondly, on the sides of the floating roller there are slight angular movements, resulting from the tilting and deflection of the roller, and on the fixed-roller side manufacturing tolerances and deflection that are to be compensated for. Slight angular movements from the possible tilting and deflection of the floating roller may only be accepted if the rubber element has a sufficient thickness.
To fulfil the functions mentioned above, according to the prior art, on the floating roller side respectively a thick, soft rubber element is used for each bearing and on the fixed roller side a thin, hard rubber element is used for each bearing. In particular, on the side of the fixed roller, this produces a stiffening under load and therefore not a good load distribution on the bearing housing on the load side, so that a few roller elements are heavily loaded in the direction of the load. Optimum, on the other hand, is as homogeneous as possible a distribution of the load in terms of magnitude to as many roller elements as possible.
The invention is based on the task of overcoming the stated disadvantages of the prior art, by the load distribution on the roller bearings of the fixed and floating roller being optimised or mutually compensated for by the fixed and floating roller.
This task is solved by a device for supporting a rolling mill bearing housing of a two high roller press with the characteristics of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments arc specified in the dependent claims.

Bearing housing support of a double-roll crusher


The present invention provides an improved intraocular lens haptic having an enlarged anchoring head and an integrally formed support portion extending therefrom. An oblong hole is provided in the anchoring head. The haptic is punched from a sheet or ribbon of polyvinylidene fluoride film, and thereafter a lens optic is cast around the anchoring head. During the casting operation, the lens optic material fills in the oblong hole and all spaces around the anchoring head. Thus, the anchoring head is firmly embedded in an outer periphery of the lens optic. Because the haptic is punched, it can be fabricated to have a variety of different anchoring head shapes and to have a variety of support portion shapes with varying numbers of bends at different bend angles. The orientation of the oblong hole within the anchoring head is also easily changed as is the orientation of the anchoring head relative to the support portion, although both structures are integral and formed from a single sheet of material.

An intraocular lens has a principal refractive structure, known as a lens optic, and one or more support structures for positioning and centering the lens optic within the anterior or posterior chamber of an eye. Commonly referred to as "haptics", these support structures may be integrally formed with the lens optic (a one-piece lens), or separately manufactured and attached to the lens optic (a multi-piece lens).
An important goal for intraocular lens design is to minimize trauma to the eye when the lens is inserted. To that end, effort is made to ensure, for example, that the incision to the eye is kept small during the implantation operation; that biologically inert materials are used in the construction of the intraocular lens; and that the physical proportions of the lens do not interfere, irritate, or damage delicate inner eye tissue.
What makes achieving the design goals difficult is that often the characteristics necessary for a good lens optic are undesireable for the lens haptic, and vice versa. The two have conflicting design requirements.
Conventional intraocular lens optics, for instance, are commonly made from biocompatible materials such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). With this rather rigid material, lens optics are easily cast or machined into their final form. So in regard to handling ease and manufacturability, the benefits of PMMA are obvious. By the same token, because this material is rigid, many of the foregoing design goals are compromised.
More recently, however, more flexible materials have been devised for the lens optic. Flexible lens optics cast of elastomeric materials such as silicone or hydrogels, for example, have gained popularity because they produce foldable intraocular lenses that may be inserted through a beneficially small incision in the eye.
Once the intraocular lens is implanted, the haptics must hold the lens optic in proper alignment with the optical axis of the eye as well as support the weight of the lens optic. The haptics must therefore be sufficiently rigid to perform their function. In short, haptics must simultaneously be pliant enough to avoid damaging delicate eye tissue yet rigid enough to act as a support structure.
To be sure, the majority of the so called "small incision lenses" have been limited to multi-piece designs. One reason is that a small incision lens connotes a flexible lens that is folded during implantation. Experience has seen that a flexible lens optic material that is desirable for the optic is usually too flimsy to work for the haptic in its support function--hence, the evolution toward the multi-piece lens design.
The type of material is also an issue. Elastomerics commonly used for the optic do not perform satisfactorily as a haptic, except in a broad flange configuration, which is less desirable than other more streamlined configurations. As a result, flexible intraocular lenses depend on more rigid polypropylene monofilament haptics.
A wide variety of haptic configurations intended for use with silicone or other elastomeric lens optics have been produced by permanent deformation of an elongated filament, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,426 to Ting et al.; or by staking in the lens optic an anchor formed at an end of the filament haptic, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,062 to Knight et al. Unfortunately, the Ting and Knight intraocular lenses exhibit only moderately satisfactory pull strengths. As is known in the art, pull strength is a measure of the haptic's ability to resist detachment from the lens optic when subjected to an outward, radial tensile force. Such a force, among others, is commonplace during implantation surgery.
In order to obtain acceptable pull strengths, some filament haptics are provided with an enlarged anchoring head that helps secure it to a flexible lens optic. But an enlarged anchoring head is usually difficult to form consistently because conventional manufacturing techniques involve, for example, winding an end of the monofilament material around a small diameter mandrel and ultrasonically welding the overlapping part of the filament to fix the looped shape. This technique is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,846 to Christ et al. The welding is necessary because without it, the loop cannot hold its form. Once the shape collapses, it is easy for the haptic to detach from the lens optic. Additionally, even if the loop were welded closed, the filament may be too flexible to retain the loop shape under tension, and again the loop would collapse.
Although the prior art looped-shape anchoring head helps interlock the haptic to the lens optic, and the design has met with some commercial success, it does have drawbacks. The process steps undergone in creating the looped anchoring head are extremely labor intensive, and require highly-trained technicians to skillfully guide intricate tools while observing through a magnifying lens. As such, it is difficult to maintain consistently high quality in the finished product. Also, because so much labor is involved, high production speeds cannot be attained. Consequently, conventional intraocular lenses of this type are not easily adapted to automated mass production, and production costs are significant.
Furthermore, by wrapping an end of the filament around the mandrel and welding it to create the closed loop, a double thickness of haptic material at the point of overlap is made. This double thickness may be greater than the thickness of the optic itself, causing the haptic to protrude from the lens surface. In the alternative, the looped anchoring head may be positioned closer to the thicker central optical zone of the lens and away from the thinner lens periphery. Unfortunately, the presence of the anchoring head in the optical zone may distort or detract from the image seen through the lens optic.
Another disadvantage inherent in the welded-loop anchoring head haptic is the potential for the weld to break as the filament is subjected to longitudinal stress. This has been known to result in the haptic pulling away from its anchoring point and out of the optic altogether.
Insofar as the weld itself is concerned, it may be prone to chemical degradation, which may contaminate the ambient environment after implantation. Such an occurrence could be catastrophic in the eye because it may lead to vision problems.
There have been attempts at configuring other shapes for the enlarged anchoring head, aside from welded-loop discussed above. For instance, the attempts of Ting, Knight, as well as those seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,013 to Ting et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,354 to Van Gent collectively disclose enlarged anchoring heads having a triangular shape, a saw-tooth shape, an arrow-head shape, a knob shape, a barbed hook shape, and a hammer-head shape. The resulting haptics, however, have proven inadequate for a variety of reasons, for instance: (1) reliance on bonds that may fail or chemically leach into the environment; (2) non-adherence of optic/haptic materials; (3) an axially symmetrical anchoring head design that cannot resist torque along that rotational axis; or (4) the anchoring head shapes are too bulky.
A key to superior pull strength is the amount of surface area that the anchoring head engages in a specific direction within the lens optic. Indeed, it determines the pull strength, and the ability of the haptic-optic joint to withstand torsional and bending forces.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved haptic that exhibits high pull strength, and resists torsional and bending forces, yet easily adapts to mass production, and is biocompatible.

Intraocular lens haptic with enlarged anchoring head


Provided is a multi-layer restoration method using a LCAS (Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme) in a synchronous network having a mesh structure. The method includes: performing a hardware restoration method if a network failure is detected; performing a pre-planned restoration method if the network failure is not repaired by performing the hardware restoration method; determining whether channels that pass along a line where the network failure occurs use the LCAS if the network failure is not repaired by performing the pre-planned restoration method; and applying the LCAS to the channels if the channels are determined to use the LCAS, and performing a dynamic restoration method if the channels are not determined to use the LCAS. The multiplayer restoration method minimizes data loss due to an increase in restoration time and overcomes service disconnection caused by failure to obtain a spare channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-layer restoration method in a synchronous network having a mesh structure, and more particularly, to a multi-layer restoration method using a Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS).
2. Description of the Related Art
In transmission equipment currently being developed for high-speed processing of mass signals in high-speed mass networks, hardware used has become complex and software for controlling the hardware has also increased in complexity. Therefore, network failure caused by disconnection of optical lines, natural disasters, etc., and equipment failure must be quickly repaired to provide stable service.
Conventional network restoration methods are divided into a centralized control system and a distributed control system according to a private recovering control system, and a line restoration method and a path restoration method according to an objective of a signal restoration method in which a hardware restoration method is divided into restoration methods of 1+1 and 1:N, and a software restoration algorithm is divided into a pre-planned restoration method and a dynamic restoration method.
The dynamic restoration method is a conventional restoration method that performs real time restoration based on network status after network fails. The dynamic restoration method transfers broadcasting restoration data using a data communication channel (DCC) between nodes of a link distribution system. Such a method increases data processing overhead, causing a reduction of restoration performance.
In the meantime, the pre-planned restoration method performs restoration using a predetermined restoration route according to a failure location, thereby increasing restoration performance. However, such a method cannot predetermined the restoration route for every network failure, increases an amount of memory, has vulnerability in a network traffic change, and thereby fails to restore every network failure.

Multi-layer restoration method using LCAS

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A convertible patient lifting and transport apparatus includes a frame assembly mounted on wheels and adapted for rolling movement over a supporting surface. The frame assembly defines a patient carriage zone for being occupied by a patient above the supporting surface. A patient support is carried by the frame assembly. The patient support is convertible for supporting the patient in the carriage zone in a generally supine position and in a seated position. A mechanical elevating assembly is provided for lifting and lowering the patient support relative to the frame assembly. A frame conversion assembly moves the frame assembly between an open condition wherein the frame assembly expands for straddling a bed of the patient when lifting and removing the patient from the bed, and a closed condition wherein the frame assembly retracts outside of an area surrounding the bed for transporting the patient to a location away from the bed.

This invention relates to a convertible patient lifting and transport apparatus, and to a method of transporting a patient from the bed to the toilet, or other distant location, and then back to the bed. The invention is especially applicable for use in the health care industry to reduce the incidence of on-the-job injury associated with manually lifting, handling and transferring patients. Injuries to the back and shoulder are most common.
Standard programs for health care injury prevention focus on body mechanics and back care, and the proper lifting techniques to employ when handling a patient. Notwithstanding this, injuries result even when proper body mechanics and lifting techniques are used. Lifting a patient is not simply overcoming a heavy weight. The patient's physical condition, size, shape, deformities, physical impairments, and weight are all factors impacting the manner in which a transfer is made. Some patients are combative and uncooperative. Patients can also be unpredictable, suddenly resisting movement and throwing caregivers off balance during a lift or transfer. Optimum posture is often difficult to maintain making the proper lifting technique impractical to follow.
Although mechanical and electromechanical lifting devices have been available for years, statistics showing physical overexertion from lifting and transferring bedridden patients remain unacceptable. Some nurses and other caregivers are reluctant to use such devices because of their many drawbacks and limitations. Among the disadvantages are the excessive time required to perform the lift and the instability of the patient in the device during the lift. Such devices can also aggravate sensitive skin, and typically place the patient in an embarrassing position when lifted. Moreover, these devices create storage problems, are difficult to maneuver, and generally cannot move sufficiently close to the patient's bed to effect a safe and proper transfer.
Many of the above problems were first addressed by the applicant in its prior issued patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,483. The complete disclosure of this patent is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention has features and advantages beyond those described in the '483 Patent. The invention includes a convertible support frame which expands to straddle the bed of the patient, and retracts to facilitate maneuvering within the patient's room. The patient is transferred between the bed and the bathroom and moved from a generally supine position to a seated position without any manual lifting or handling.

Patient lifting and transport apparatus and method


Disclosed herein are processes for preparing carbonized polymers, such as carbon fibers, comprising: sulfonating a polymer with a sulfonating agent that comprises SO3 gas to form a sulfonated polymer; treating the sulfonated polymer with a heated solvent, wherein the temperature of said solvent is at least 95° C.; and carbonizing the resulting product by heating it to a temperature of 500-3000° C.

The world production of carbon fiber in 2010 was 40 kilo metric tons (KMT) and is expected to grow to 150 KMT in 2020. Industrial-grade carbon fiber is forecasted to contribute greatly to this growth, wherein low cost is critical to applications. The traditional method for producing carbon fibers relies on polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which is solution-spun into fiber form, oxidized and carbonized. Approximately 50% of the cost is associated with the polymer itself and solution-spinning.
In an effort to produce low cost industrial grade carbon fibers, various groups studied alternative precursor polymers and methods of making the carbon fibers. Many of these efforts were directed towards the sulfonation of polyethylene and the conversion of the sulfonated polyethylene to carbon fiber. But the methods and resulting carbon fibers are inadequate for at least two reasons. First, the resulting carbon fibers suffer from inter-fiber bonding. Second, the resulting carbon fibers have physical properties that are inadequate.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,446 described a process of sulfonating high density polyethylene using chlorosulfonic acid (Examples 1 and 2), sulfuric acid (Examples 3 and 4), or fuming sulfuric acid (Example 5). Example 5 in this patent used 25% fuming sulfuric acid at 60° C. for two hours to sulfonate high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which was then carbonized. When the inventors used this method to sulfonate linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), the resulting fibers suffered from inter-filament bonding, and poor physical properties. Consequently, this method was judged inadequate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,666 made strongly acidic cation-exchanging fiber from fibrous polyethylene using sulfur trioxide gas as the sulfonating agent. Since the goal of this patent was to make acidic cation-exchanging fiber via gas phase sulfonation, the sulfonated fibers were not carbonized.
WO 92/03601 used a concentrated sulfuric acid method described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,446 to convert ultra high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene fibers to carbon fibers. In Example 1 of this application, the polymer fibers (while under tension) were immersed in a 120° C., 98% sulfuric acid bath, the temperature of which was raised at a rate of 30° C. per hour to a maximum temperature of 180° C. The sulfonated fibers were then washed with water, air-dried, and then (incompletely) carbonized at a temperature up to 900° C. Examples 2 and 3 in this application are prophetic and do not contain any data. The sulfonation times and batch process methods disclosed in this reference are inadequate.
In Materials and Manufacturing Processes Vol. 9, No. 2, 221-235, 1994, and in Processing and Fabrication of Advanced Materials for High Temperature Applications—II; proceedings of a symposium, 475-485, 1993 Zhang and Bhat reported a process for the sulfonation of ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene fibers using sulfuric acid. Both papers report the same starting Spectra fibers and the same sulfonation process. The fibers were wrapped on a frame and immersed in 130-140° C. sulfuric acid and the temperature was slowly raised up to 200° C. Successful sulfonation times were between 1.5 and 2 hours. The fibers were removed at discrete intervals and washed with tap water, dried in an oven at 60° C. and carbonized in an inert atmosphere at 1150° C. Although good mechanical properties of the carbon fibers were reported by this method, an expensive gel-spun polymer fiber was utilized and the sulfonation time was inadequate.
In the early 1990s A. J. Pennings et al. (Polymer Bulletin, 1991, Vol. 25, pages 405-412; Journal of Materials Science, 1990, Vol 25, pages 4216-4222) converted a linear low-density polyethylene to carbon fiber by immersing fibers into room-temperature chlorosulfonic acid for 5-20 hours. This process would be prohibitively expensive from an industrial prospective due to the high cost of chlorosulfonic acid as well as the long reaction times.
In 2002, Leon y Leon (International SAMPE Technical Conference Series, 2002, Vol. 34, pages 506-519) described a process of sulfonating LLDPE fibers (d=0.94 g/mL) with warmed, concentrated H2SO4. A Two-stage sulfonated system was also described, wherein "relative to the first stage, the second sulfonation stage involves: (a) longer residence time at a similar temperature (or a larger single-stage reactor at a single temperature); or (b) a slightly higher acid concentration at a higher temperature." See page 514. Specific times and temperatures were not disclosed. In this reference tensile properties of the resulting carbon fibers were determined differently than is convention. Cross-sectional areas used for tensile testing were "calculated from density (by pycnometry) and weight-per-unit-length measurements" (pg 516, Table 3-pg 517). However, ASTM method D4018 and C1557 describe that diameters should be measured directly by microscopy or laser diffraction. After adjusting the reported tensile properties using the microscopy-measured diameters (Table 2, pg 517) new values were determined as follows:
Meas-ReportedReportedAdjustedAdjustedEst.uredYoung'sTensileYoung'sTensileTrialdiam-diam-ModulusStrengthModulusStrengthStrain#eterseters(GPa)(GPa)(GPa)(GPa)(%)229-1014.31050.903510.44 0.86269-1013.2n.d.1.54n.d.0.89NA279-1014.01341.34680.681.0
The methods disclosed in this reference produce carbon fibers having inadequate tensile strength and modulus.
In spite of these efforts, adequate methods of converting polyethylene based polymer fibers to carbon fiber are still needed. Thus disclosed herein are methods of making carbon fibers from polymer fibers, the methods comprising the sulfonation of the polymer fiber, subsequent hot solvent treatment of the sulfonated fibers, followed by carbonization of the fibers. These methods result in industrial grade carbon fibers having superior properties, when compared to those that were not treated with a hot solvent.
In one aspect, disclosed herein are processes for preparing carbonized polymers, the processes comprising:                a) sulfonating a polymer with a sulfonating agent that comprises SO3 gas to form a sulfonated polymer;        b) treating the sulfonated polymer with a heated solvent, wherein the temperature of said solvent is at least 95° C., and        c) carbonizing the resulting product by heating it to a temperature of 500-3000° C.
The compounds and processes disclosed herein utilize polymeric starting materials. The polymeric starting materials may be in the form of fabrics, sheets, fibers, or combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the polymeric starting material is in the form of a fiber and the resulting carbonized polymer is a carbon fiber.
In another aspect, disclosed herein are carbon fibers made according to the aforementioned processes.
In still another aspect, disclosed herein is an apparatus useful in the batch processes described herein.

Processes for preparing carbon fibers using gaseous sulfur trioxide


Disclosed is a product and method for transplanting biological fluids into a host animal (including humans) that have been collected from donor animals. These biological fluids have been purified and processed so that they are a cellular, sterile, pathogen free, and a form that can be stored for considerable periods of time without degradation. In one embodiment, synovial fluid is harvested from a large number of donors to produce the transplantation compound. Donor fluid is collected from a number of joints per animal, and initially screened for obvious abnormalities (clarity, color, viscosity . . . etc.) and accepted or rejected on a joint-by-joint basis at the time of collection. The collected fluid is frozen in the field. Once in a laboratory setting, the fluid is warmed and spun down in a centrifuge. The supernate is collected, filtered, and mixed in large batches while the permeate is discarded. The supernate is re-frozen, lyophilized (freeze-dried) to form a cake and packaged as an individual dose under vacuum. The product is sterile, stable, has a long shelf life and can be readily reconstituted and injected into a joint.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to treating maladies in mammalian joints and more specifically to transplanting biological fluids in mammalian joints for therapeutic benefit.
b. Description of the Background
Various methods of treating joint maladies have been attempted dating back to the origins of human and veterinary medicine. Most of these treatments fall under the realm of either medicines or modalities. Medicinal treatments typically involve the adding of some type of chemical agent, either topically or systemically to the affected patient. Modality treatments such as heat, ice, electrical stimulation, physical manipulation or the like are performed on the affected joint or surrounding tissue. The modality treatments seek to induce a physiological change in the targeted area that stimulates or promotes healing. The transplantation of biological fluids from one part of a single host to another, in order to affect a therapeutic state, has been attempted for at least 30 years.
For example, synovial fluid has been harvested from "good" joints in horses and transplanted into "bad" joints of the same animal with limited success. One of the primary drawbacks in using this technique is that it assists one joint at the expense of others. By using the synovial fluid from donor animals to transplant into the affected joint of an ailing recipient, a new series of challenges come into play. Transmittal of pathogens, disease and infection to the recipient, as well as various negative immunological responses of the host to donor tissue can arise. If any cellular component of the donor animal fluid or other contaminant is exchanged, infection and/or rejection issues can arise that can be more detrimental to the animal than the malady that was initially being treated. The use of donor fluids that have been screened for pathogens and cellular components has been contemplated with limited success mainly due to the volatility and shelf life of the biological fluids. Synovial fluid, for example, begins to degrade within hours of being removed from the host and conventional preservation techniques have not been able to suspend this deterioration in a manner that is conducive to practical use. A method is therefore needed to preserve synovial fluids for extended periods to allow these fluids to be stored and transplanted in other animals at a later time.

Method of treating mammalian joint maladies by biological fluid transplantation


A message viewer for generating a prioritized view of a plurality of messages stored in an email mailbox is disclosed. The viewer includes a script for defining one or more concepts against which a message can be prioritized, the or each concept comprising one or more conditions against which a message can be tested. A display script operates on each message, to generate a fit to a selected one or more of the concepts, the fit corresponding to whether or not the message fulfils the conditions. Once complete, the display script creates a display representative of the respective fits of the messages to the one or more selected concepts.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an improved display aimed at assisting a user in the prioritisation of effort applied to reading and responding to messages.
2. Description of the Related Art
Email systems generally provide the user with a number of core directories, or folders, which usually comprise: an inbox to which all new messages are added; an outbox containing those messages which have been sent; and a deleted or trash folder containing recently deleted messages—once an update, such as a replication with a server, has been requested this folder is usually emptied.
In addition to these folders, users are usually provided with the ability to create hierarchies of new folders, for example one for each of their different work activities, and store emails in those folders and sub-folders. Traditionally, the user is provided with the ability to view summary information for a list of the email messages in a folder. The summary information includes: the originator of the message; the subject heading; and the date and time of receipt.
In addition to this information, some email systems, such as Lotus Notes, enable the user to allocate categories to a message such as: urgent; for your information; or company confidential. These additional categories are also shown when viewing the summary information for email messages in each folder. For example, Lotus Notes displays those messages flagged as urgent with a red exclamation mark alongside them.
A challenge being faced by the many email recipients, particularly in the commercial sector, is that the volume of email received is increasing. In some extreme cases email recipients may receive in excess of a hundred messages a day relating to any one of their ongoing work activities. Some email systems are providing agent based capabilities which automatically filter email to reduce the volume of apparently unactioned messages.
Nonetheless, in deciding how to deal with messages, recipients face the following problems: it is difficult to prioritise the actioning of messages. This is because reading email is time consuming, especially when very large numbers of messages are received, and simply scanning the directory lists represents an ineffective approach to prioritisation. For example, unimportant messages are occasionally flagged as urgent whilst very important messages may be received from an unknown sender with no subject listed; the current email display mechanisms, in particular those which use folders and lists of message, do not necessarily represent the recipient's priorities; not all email requires immediate action and in some cases a recipient may wish to take time to consider a response. In such case the email must either be filed or it gradually drifts down the email display. In either case it is possible to forget a response; messages are occasionally filed incorrectly and are then overlooked in subsequent reviews; and email psychology tends to focus individuals on maintaining a tidy inbox as opposed to an effective prioritisation of work activity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved display aimed at assisting users in prioritisation of work through the use of message priority definition and graphical display of prioritised messages.
Accordingly, the invention provides a method for generating a prioritized view of a plurality of messages, comprising the steps of: defining one or more concepts against which a message can be prioritized, the or each concept comprising one or more conditions against which a message can be tested; for each message, generating a fit to a selected one or more of said concepts, said fit corresponding to whether or not said message fulfils said conditions; and creating a display representative of the respective fits of said messages to said one or more selected concepts.
While the problems addressed by the invention are described in terms of email messages, it will be seen that the invention can be applied to the prioritisation of work associated with messages of any type.
Nonetheless, in relation to email systems, a discussion thread is the term used for the group of messages resulting from users replying to messages received from another user. Some email systems provide functionality enabling the user to view the summary information of messages grouped in discussion threads. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the messages are grouped into discussion threads before being displayed according to the invention.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a combination lamp which combines at least two different lamp components in a unitary configuration, preferably reducing the total amount of space taken up for the same amount of illumination produced. The combination lamps are preferably suitable for use on vehicles, light fixtures, lamps, decorative articles, etc., and each lamp component preferably has a power connection element independent from the other lamp components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lamps having light-emitting diode (LED) light sources, for example, light fixtures and lamps such as free standing lamps, lamps for vehicles, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates a combination of one or more LED lamps, more specifically a combination back-up and stop/turn/tail lamp of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Multiple lamps are often used to illuminate a common area, either in combination or in an alternating fashion. For example, a room can have light fixture such as fluorescent lighting which illuminates the entire room when on, and provides no light when it is off. In addition, the room can have atmosphere lighting which provides a dim illumination. Similarly, the rear of a vehicle can have back-up lamps, which light up when the vehicle is being moved in reverse, as well as stop/tail/turn lamps which light up when the driver brakes, signals to turn, or turns on the headlights. These lamps are typically adjacent to each other, and most vehicles have two of each lamp, one on either side of the rear of the vehicle, above the rear bumper. In certain vehicles, such as trucks, it is common to have more than two of the back-up lamp and/or the stop/tail/turn lamp to provide brighter illumination.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a device that can combine two or more lamps in a unitary configuration which provide at least substantially the same illumination as the individual lamps.


The present invention provides improved techniques for managing storage resources, such as disk drives, I/O ports, and the like in a network based storage system according to a user position within the network. Embodiments according to the present invention can provide a relatively high performance storage access environment for the mobile users moving around a wide area. For example, in one applicable environment, there are several data centers in the wide area, and each data center has a local storage system that is connected to the other storage systems through a network. Copies of a user's volume can be made in some of the storage systems. A remote copy function is utilized for making real time copies of the user's volume.

The present invention relates generally to techniques for managing storage resources, and in particular to techniques for providing high performance storage access environment for the mobile users within a wide area.
The information technology revolution brings with it an ever increasing need for more storage capacity for business enterprises. It is expected that the average Fortune 1000 company's storage requirement will more than double in the coming years. In addition, growth has brought shortages of skilled persons in the information technology field. These challenges confront many companies facing the need to expand and improve their information technology assets. Increasingly, companies are turning to network based storage systems as a method of coping with the need to grow capacity in view of rapidly increasing demand. Further, with the introduction of wide area networks, storage systems have become able to span larger geographic distances than ever before.
While certain advantages to conventional technologies are perceived, opportunities for further improvement exist. For example, there are a lot of users who move around a wide area. However, conventional network based storage solutions do not readily adapt to the users that can change position in an area as large as Seattle to San Francisco, for example. Further, the managing of storage resources is often an on-going task that is conventionally performed by a host computer that uses the storage resources. In other words, using conventional approaches, the storage systems are largely confined to a local area.
What is needed are improved techniques for managing storage resources over a widely dispersed geographic area.

High performance storage access environment


Methods and systems for detecting malware by monitoring client-side memory stacks are described. A request for a payment process is received and a client-side memory stack is populated with a series of functions corresponding to the requested payment process. The execution of each function is monitored to determine whether the series of functions and an order of execution of the functions from the client-side memory stack are the same as an expected series of functions and in an expected order corresponding to the payment process. The monitoring also determines whether the number and types of parameters called by the functions are the same as the expected number and types of parameters. The monitoring further determines whether the timing of the execution of the functions is the same as an expected timing. Remedial action is performed when the any of these factors is determined to be different than what is expected.

The use of electronic devices to perform secure financial transactions has become more common over the years as the volume of online purchases continues to increase. One option for executing the payment for such transactions is by using payment system applications. Payment system applications (e.g., PayPal's One Touch™) provide for third-party payment processing that can be used across several merchants, thereby reducing the friction for consumers when making online purchases. As these applications become more popular, however, they also become more lucrative targets for hackers. For example, payment system applications that run on electronic devices for executing transactions between users may be vulnerable to hacking. To prevent such compromises from occurring, certain forms of authentication may be used. While authentication processes may prevent some amount of hacking, these processes are not indomitable, especially as hackers become more sophisticated. These types of security compromises may result in monetary loss to consumers and/or merchants, as well as exposure of sensitive personal and financial information.

Detecting malware by monitoring client-side memory stacks


In a structure where the lid portion is mounted on the main housing body comprising apertures and in such a manner as to turn freely thereon, the concave lock portion and the locking protrusion adjacent thereto capable of locking the lid in the closed state are located in the aperture side of the main housing body. The lid portion is provided with the hooking piece comprising the spring portion and the arc-shaped protrusion. When the lid portion turns to open or close the aperture portion, the arc-shaped protrusion comes into contact with the locking protrusion under pressure with the spring portion, in order that a force opposing to the turning direction may be applied thereto before and after it passes through the locking protrusion, to keep the lid portion in two states i.e. the open state and the closed state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card interface device comprising a housing having a switching function on a lid.
2. Related Art
It has been required that input and output of a card interface device or a control device thereof can be turned on or off in accordance with open or close of a lid thereof, thereby to prevent the apparatus from being damaged and to improve reliability thereof. In a structure where a card is inserted into, for example, an input/output terminal of an interface of a personal computer or a loading slot for a memory card of a portable terminal or a digital camera, it is necessary that operation should be carried out under the condition that the card is inserted therein and is completely into contact with the contact point of the device. If the contact is not perfect, the device and the card may be damaged or may not function properly.
A structure having a lid provided at a loading slot for a card has been considered to solve the problem mentioned above, thereby certifying the state of insertion of the card by opening or closing the lid and then making the device operate by turning on a switch of a power supply, etc. when the lid is closed. For instance, the lid is pivotally mounted on the loading slot of the housing accommodating an electronic circuit, and a cam connected to the turning axis of the lid turns on or off the switch located adjacent thereto.
However, the turning axis of the lid has to be very small and the cam also becomes small in this structure for a miniaturized device, so that the axis and the cam driving the switch may become strained and result in lack of durability. Furthermore, instability such as turning on or adversely turning off of the switch may take place when the lid is not completely closed. To avoid the trouble described above, a structure that makes switch operation assured by applying a reverse torque to the direction of opening or closing of the lid (it means the circulation in regular or reverse direction) bounded by a certain turning position has been expected.
The present invention is intended to overcome such inconvenience and to provide a card interface device that can comprise a housing with a lid ensuring high durability and accomplishing reliable switching operation at a low cost.


The present invention provides a medical coupling site which is adapted to be attached directly to a standard male luer lock fitting. The coupling site includes a valve element contained within a tubular retainer. The retainer is provided with outwardly extending lugs for engaging the threaded locking collar of a male luer lock whereby the male luer lock will be held in positive mechanical locking engagement with the coupling site. The valve element is provided with rib members extending inwardly from an inner wall of the valve element toward a slit formed in a diaphragm such that the rib members act to bias the slit to a closed position.

The present invention relates to a coupling site for use in medical applications and more particularly, to a coupling site which includes a valve element and support structure for cooperation with a standard male luer lock having a male luer taper and a threaded locking collar.
In recent years there has been increased concern with the spread of infectious diseases which may result from puncture wounds made by medical needles. There is also concern with the inconvenience of handling devices having needles which may inflict painful puncture wounds and which may be easily broken. However, needles have continued to be used in a association with injection sites or other coupling sites in medical applications to transfer fluids to and from syringes or fluid conveying cannula. The continued use of needles for such coupling sites may be attributed to the convenience with which a needle may be inserted through a soft diaphragm wherein a fluid-tight seal is formed around the needle and, subsequently the needle may be withdrawn from the diaphragm resulting in the diaphragm resiliently filling in and closing the aperture formed by the needle. Thus, needle type injection sites have the advantages of providing quick access for a fluid cannula as well as providing an access site which ensures a fluid-tight seal due to the small size of the aperture formed in the diaphragm by the needle.
In spite of the advantages associated with needle type injection sites, there is a recognized need for replacing such an injection site with one which eliminates the needle in order to avoid the disadvantages associated therewith including the possibility of medical personnel receiving a puncture wound during the use thereof and the progressive deterioration of the diaphragm resulting from repetitive puncturing of the diaphragm.
One proposed solution for eliminating needles at coupling sites includes providing a valve member having a slit for receiving a blunt cannula therethrough wherein the slit is biased to a closed position such that a fluid-tight seal is formed at the valve member when the cannula is removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,588 to Atkinson discloses a valve for receiving the blunt end of a syringe and includes a slit diaphragm member mounted within a tubular body wherein the diaphragm is stretched in the area of the slit and moves in close to the tubular body as a luer taper portion of the syringe is inserted. In addition, the exterior wall of the body portion is dimensioned to be received within a threaded locking collar of the syringe surrounding the luer taper whereby an additional fluid-tight seal is formed with the valve.
It has been recognized that it is not only desirable to provide a valve adapted to receive a blunt cannula such as the luer taper of a syringe, as is disclosed by the above Atkinson patent, it is also desirable to provide a connection or coupling which positively locks the blunt cannula to the coupling site and thereby prevents inadvertent removal of the cannula during use. A concept for providing a mechanical lock between a blunt cannula and an injection site is disclosed in PCT Publication No. WO 90/11103 which discloses an injection site having a housing mounting a preslit septum and means for mechanically coupling a specially adapted cannula to the housing. One such special cannula contemplates providing a female luer connection for threadably engaging within the threaded locking collar of a male luer lock fitting on a syringe and further includes a specially configured blunt cannula having a tapered end for passing through the preslit septum of the valve. In addition, the housing holding the septum may be provided with threads for engaging coupling threads located interiorly of a shield surrounding the cannula.
It should be noted that in the above-described site, the outer diameter of the housing is formed larger than the inner diameter of the threaded collar on the syringe in order to provide sufficient space for the septum which expands outwardly into an annular space during insertion of a cannula.
There is a need for a medical coupling site that is usable with blunt cannula such as are provided by standard male luer lock fittings having a male luer taper surrounded by a threaded locking collar and in which the site is provided with a valve element and means for directly engaging the threads on the locking collar to form a mechanical connection. It should be noted that such a site is highly desirable in that standard dimensions for both male and female luer taper fittings have been recognized by both the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI) and by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Thus, the fittings formed on the ends of syringes, as well as fittings for the majority fluid connections used in medical applications throughout the world, conform to the ANSI and ISO standards and a coupling site incorporating a valve for use with such standard fittings would provide the advantage of allowing a positive mechanical connection to be formed at the coupling site as well as eliminate the need for the use of needles or special cannula to penetrate the valve element, and thus would overcome disadvantages associated with prior art coupling sites.
Elimination of the need for a special cannula for use at the coupling site would also provide a cost advantage in that only the coupling site would need to be purchased and existing fittings could be used in conjunction with this site.
One problem associated with providing a coupling site for use with a standard male luer lock results from the limited space provided between the outer surface of the male luer taper and the inner surface of the threaded locking collar which makes it difficult to provide both a rigid locking surface on the outside of the fitting for engaging the locking collar and a flexible valve element of sufficient size and resilience to releasably accommodate the male luer taper.
Thus, the Atkinson patent described above describes a valve element which may be used with a luer fitting, but in which the outer surface of the elastomeric valve element is received in contact with the locking collar without the inclusion of any rigid member for engaging the threads within the collar. The PCT publication described above discloses an alternative approach to the same problem in that the adapter provided for attachment to a standard luer lock is provided with a locking collar which is larger than the locking collar provided on the male luer lock, thus permitting the coupling site to be constructed with an enlarged diameter to accommodate a sufficiently large septum for receiving a cannula having the desired diameter for providing sufficient flow through the site.
There are certain physical design limitations to providing a valve element which will both receive a luer taper as well as reliably reseal after the luer taper is removed. Several prior art valves for receiving a luer taper provide a thick disk or septum, such as is disclosed in the above-noted PCT publication, wherein the disk or septum is formed with a sufficient amount of resilient material around the slit to close the slit when a cannula is not present. Space must be provided in order to accommodate the distortion of material around the slit as the cannula is inserted and this space must either be provided within the fluid passage area for receiving the cannula or within the housing supporting the disk or septum, such as may be provided by an annular space directly adjacent to the outer periphery of the disk or septum.
Alternatively, the slit may be formed in a relatively thin diaphragm, such as is disclosed in the Atkinson patent, wherein sufficient space for receiving the distorted portions of the diaphragm around the slit is provided within a space defined by a tubular body portion for receiving the luer taper.
Thus, it is apparent that in any coupling site sufficient space must be provided around the circumference of any valve member in order to accommodate distortion of the resilient material forming the valve member such that little space is available for additionally accommodating a rigid member adapted to engage the threaded locking collars surrounding the male luer taper. Further, if the material surrounding the slit portion of the valve element is reduced, the forces provided by the material to resiliently bias the slit to a closed position are also reduced and thus may result in an undesirable structure which will not positively seal the slit closed upon removal of a cannula or luer taper.
It should further be noted that it is preferable to provide a coupling site which is adapted to receive cannula having a diameter at least as large as a standard male luer taper in order to avoid introducing any restriction to flow at the site with resulting reductions in the flow rate.
Accordingly, there is a need for a medical fluid path coupling site which may be coupled directly to a standard male luer lock including means for forming a mechanical connection with a threaded locking collar portion of the luer lock. In addition, there is a need for such a site including a valve in which a slit for receiving a male luer taper portion of the male luer lock is positively biased to a closed position to prevent leakage through the valve when the male luer taper is removed.


The distribution of content items, such as news items, in a news publishing platform is governed by a plurality of interrelated factors. These factors include publisher bias, trust bias, and user-specific bias, which reflect the user's reading history, the social clusters to which the user belongs, the user's location etc. To model the relevance of each content item to a given user, a metric of the overall story strength is calculated in accordance with one or more of these biases. The content item is delivered to the target in accordance with the story strength metric.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for content distribution. Embodiments of the invention relate in particular to the digital distribution of news content under dynamic editorial control.
Description of the Prior Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
In print media, news content is prepared for publication by journalists, reporters, editors etc. then assembled into a published news publication (a daily newspaper, or a magazine for example). Exercising control over the placement, timing, news content, writing style and tone, political bias, etc. is the role of one or more content editors.
The rapid adoption of digital media alongside or in place of print media has created ever more potential content (and indeed sources of content) from which content editors are asked to select suitable articles for their readers. Sources of content may include anything from an established news agency delivering news reports for syndication to a citizen journalist updating his weblog (also known as a "blog"). The forms of digital media have also proliferated: content may be published as a news feed (using technology such as RSS or Atom), as an article on a web page or a blog, as "short form" messages on social networking websites (such as "tweets" on Twitter [RTM] or "status" updates on Facebook [RTM]).
In a typical digital media scenario, a reader subscribes to a web-based news publishing service. Using a username and password to authenticate access, the reader then uses a web interface, such as an internet browser application or a dedicated application (such as an "app" for a touchscreen tablet device or mobile phone), to view and/or interact with the output of the publishing service. The web interface delivers news articles, marketing promotions, etc. in accordance with search terms entered by the user or optionally articles selected by virtue of their novelty and/or their relevance to a known attribute of the subscriber.
Examples of attributes of the subscriber include a "history" of most recently requested content, a record of content for which the user actively expressed a preference (for example giving a percentage or star rating or "liking" the content), and their current or registered location. Location may for example be determined by the billing address for the subscription, a location provided by the user in response to a query, a location calculated from a satellite location system reading (e.g. GPS, Galileo, etc), or the current location inferred from the access point from the user device to the internet (i.e. WiFi access point IP address, a cell ID in a cellular radio access network).
The automated selection of new articles is crude at best, since attributes such as usage history and location are given undue prominence over factors which may be more important to the reader (such as an expectation of a literary tone or style, a degree of quality or reporting reliability).
A more sophisticated method for distributing content to a plurality of subscribers which balances delivery of relevant information with the provision of content with a characteristic slant is therefore desirable.

Targeted content distribution based on a strength metric


A method of assigning a weight value to an online news article, and a system for executing the method are provided. A method of assigning a weight value to an online news article, includes the steps of: receiving an article content from an article providing system of an article generator, and storing the received article content in an article collection database; creating an editorial weight value of the article content via an automatic weight assigning system, the automatic weight assigning system comprising a plurality of weight value lists; and storing the editorial weight value and the article content in a news database.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of assigning a weight to an online news article, and a system for executing the method, and more particularly, to a method and system which can assign an editorial weight value based upon the editorial index to a news article of an article generator, and thereby inform users of a value of an article, determined to be important by the article generator, in an online system.
2. Description of Related Art
Current print-type newspaper edits an article, which a corresponding newspaper company determines to be important, and determines a display location of the article for each page. Accordingly, newspaper readers read articles which have been edited according to an inclination of the newspaper company. Generally, the newspaper company places important articles on a front page to emphasize a message for readers.
However, the index of the rated article may not be applied to an online news article, particularly, to news portals. Specifically, since an article is transmitted from the newspaper company irrespective of importance of the article, it may not be easy to inform online users about the importance of the article in an online system.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system for collecting and providing an article according to a conventional art. As shown in FIG. 1, the system includes a database 102, a search engine 103, and a webpage 104. The database 102 collects an article content 101 from each of a plurality of article generators. The search engine 103 searches the database 102 for the article content 101 by using a keyword entered from a user. The webpage 104 displays the retrieved article content 101 to the user.
As described above, in the conventional art, an importance for the article content 101, determined by the article generators concerning the article content 101, is not reflected. Specifically, the article content 101 is retrieved according to the entered keyword, and the retrieved article content 101 is displayed for the user.
Specifically, in a conventional article providing system, an article generator may not transmit a message of the article generator to a user. Also, the user may not recognize an importance for each article.

Method for offering news article via on-line system based upon editorial index and system for executing the method


For one disclosed embodiment, a delay is to receive signals and to delay received signals for an amount of time at least partially dependent on a supply voltage to generate delayed signals. Logic is to help measure a characteristic relating to the supply voltage based at least in part on the delayed signals. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

With trends toward using lower power supply voltages on integrated circuits, power supply noise is of increasing concern. Power supply noise can, for example, induce jitter which can reduce effective cycle time for processors and/or reduce maximum bandwidth on input/output (I/O) links. Because modeling of power supply noise is prone to uncertainties, measuring power supply noise is desirable.
The figures of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Supply voltage characteristic measurement


A process for producing a photographic suspended processing agent composition is disclosed, comprising previously mixing at least two powder or granular solid components constituting said composition and rapidly adding said mixed powder or granular solids to water or a liquid medium mainly comprising water under quick stirring to disperse and suspend the solid components, thereby producing a suspended processing agent composition for silver halide photographic materials.

In general, the processing of silver halide photo-graphic light-sensitive materials, for example, the processing of a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, comprises fundamental processes of color development, desilvering and image stabilization including water washing. In the color development process, the color developing agent reacts with a silver salt to thereby imagewise produce a dye and developed silver. In the desilvering process, the developed silver produced in the color development process is oxidized (bleached) into a silver salt by a bleaching agent having oxidizing action and removed from the light-sensitive layer by a fixing agent which forms soluble silver together with unused silver halide, or the oxidation into a silver salt and the removal thereof are performed in one stage by a bleach-fixing solution. In the image stabilization process, the atmosphere of the image layer is adjusted to attain the stability of the image formed over a long period of time.
In the black-and-white development, the fundamental process also comprises development, desilvering and water washing.
In respective processing steps, an aqueous solution containing one or more processing chemicals (called a processing solution) is used. Each processing solution is relatively low in the concentration and accordingly, the system where a processing solution usable as it is, is produced by a manufacturer of processing chemicals, transported to a processing laboratory and stored, is generally inadequate in view of profitability, storage space or working.
In order to solve this problem, two methods have been conventionally used. One is a method of preparing a mixture of powder chemicals by mixing processing chemicals constituting the processing solution in a ratio according to the processing solution construction, packaging the mixture to form a so-called solid processing agent, supplying the solid processing agent to a processing laboratory, dissolving it in water at the processing laboratory to have an appropriate concentration, and using the dilution as the processing solution. Another is a method of dissolving the constituent processing chemicals in a high concentration, filling the solution in the liquid and concentrated state into a container to produce a concentrated liquid processing agent, supplying the processing agent to a processing laboratory, diluting it with water to have a predetermined concentration at the laboratory, and using the dilution as a processing solution. The former is specifically described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,843,484. With respect to the latter case, U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,619 describes a concentrated liquid processing agent for color development and U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,521 describes a black-and-white concentrated processing agent.
In recent years, to cope with the requirements for improvement of the productivity in the development processing and for rapid processing, the concentration of the development processing solution rather tends to have a higher concentration. When constituent processing chemicals are contained at a concentration in-excess of the solubility, insoluble components are separated in the solution to present a suspended state. In general, the suspended particle cannot actually have a size of 50 .mu.m or less even if the stirring efficiency is extremely increased. On the contrary, with the passing of time, the particles grow bulky due to the coagulation mechanism or partly the Ostwald ripening mechanism, as a result, they sooner or later become incapable to be floating in the solution and start to precipitate. The precipitate is gradually solidified to lose flowability as the time elapses and turns into a bulky lump or adheres to the wall or bottom of the container, and then the processing solution is no more usable. Accordingly, the liquid and concentrated processing agent must fundamentally be a homogeneous solution having a concentration less than the saturation solubility so that it can be stably stored and used without no problem. Under these circumstances, reduction of volume by concentrating a solution is very hard to attain.
With respect to the liquid concentrated processing agent, pasting of a black-and-white development processing solution has been conventionally known, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,735,774. Further, in the case of a color developer, pasting or concentrating has also been applied for various purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 2,784,086 discloses pasting using an alginic acid derivative as a tackifying agent, namely, a thickener. Japanese Published Unexamined International Application No. 57-500485 discloses a technique of pasting a concentrated liquid processing agent for color development. According to this technique, a processing agent is maintained in the concentrated paste state by adding silicon dioxide, sodium sulfate, lithium sulfate or diatomaceous earth which are photographically inactive. This is, however, accompanied by the increase in the ionic strength and not preferred for the concentrating. The addition of these pasting aids causes useless reduction of the solubility and at the same time, lowers the activity coefficient of the processing solution constituent chemicals.
Furthermore, the pasting is not to elevate the degree of concentration by increasing the solubility of processing chemicals but only delays the separation or if the separation starts, retards the cohesive solidification of insoluble matters to somewhat prolong the use term, and the volume reduction is not substantially solved. On the contrary, since the processing agent is reduced in the flowability, the workability at the processing laboratory is very impaired. In particular, the liquid processing agent loses the advantage such that the dissolving work can be dispensed with.
Accordingly, it was considered that if a processing agent having both the small volume as an advantage of the solid processing agent and the flowability as an advantage of the liquid processing agent is obtained, the above-described problems can be solved and moreover, a liquid development processing agent for silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials satisfying the requirements in various aspects such as profitability, environmental safety, workability and storage stability can be obtained, which is advantageous in that reduction in the volume of the processing agent, in the weight of the processing agent container, in the space for preservation and storage and in the cost for transportation of the processing agent can be realized, the chemicals can be rapidly and simply dissolved even in chilled water without any splashing or contact on the dissolving working for the preparation of the processing agent, and generation of tar due to air oxidation does not occur during the storage.
The cue for realizing the processing agent having both the small volume as an advantage of the solid processing agent and the flowability as an advantage of the liquid processing agent is a processing agent technique capable of ensuring the aging stability even in the concentrated state and stably performing the production with good reproducibility.
As a result of extensive investigations, the present inventor has found that a concentrated processing agent composition having the advantages both of the liquid processing agent composition and the solid processing composition as described above, namely, capable of maintaining the flowability even in the suspended state, can be realized. However, if the highly concentrated processing agent composition is produced by the usual method where the raw material chemicals are added in sequence to the mixing tank, insoluble suspended particles readily undergo changes by various conditions in the production process, for example, precipitate by coagulation, become bulky or solidify. Therefore, the reproducibility in the production is poor and stable production on a practical level is difficult to attain.

Process for producing photographic suspended processing agent composition