An image signal generating unit supplies a single image signal to multiple image display units having different unit numbers. Embedded in the image signal is an index signal designating the image display units on which the image signal is to be displayed. Each image display unit compares its unit number with the index signal to select displayable frames of the image signal, preferably storing and displaying the most recent selected frame. Each image display unit can thereby display a different image. The image signal may have a standard format.

The present invention relates to an image signal generating apparatus, an image display unit, and a control method for an image display unit useful in, for example, a personal computer system having a plurality of image display units.
Examples of image display units to which the invention is applicable include liquid crystal display (LCD) units, cathode-ray tube (CRT) units, digital micromirror device (DMD) units, plasma display panel (PDP) units, and field-emission display (FED) units.
As a conventional example of a system with multiple image display units, FIG. 1 shows a system in which a single image signal generating unit 101 supplies separate image signals through separate cables to four image display units 102 simultaneously. The image signals are generated separately by four image signal generators 103. The image signal generators 103 comprise, for example, hardware circuits disposed on one or more expansion cards installed in a personal computer. Each image signal generator 103 has a separate cable connector. Each image signal, and each image display unit 102, has a standard resolution such as seven hundred sixty-eight lines with one thousand twenty-four picture elements or pixels per line (1024×768 pixels). The four image signals may be combined, as shown, to form a single image with a higher resolution (2048×1536 pixels).
A problem with this conventional system is that each time an image display unit is added to the system configuration, another image signal generator 103 and another interconnecting cable are required. The number of image display units 102 that can be controlled is thus limited by the expansion capacity of the personal computer. Often, the personal computer lacks space for an adequate number of display signal generators 103, or for an adequate number of cable connectors.
FIG. 2 shows another conventional example, in which the image signal generating unit 101 has a single image signal generator 103 that generates a high-resolution signal (for example, a signal with a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels). The high-resolution signal is distributed to four image display units 102, each having a lower resolution (1024×768 pixels, for example). Each image display unit 102 displays one quadrant of the image.
A problem in this configuration is that high-speed digital-to-analog (D/A) and analog-to-digital (A/D) converters are required to generate and process the high-resolution image signal. High-speed D/A and A/D converters are expensive, and their performance limits both the attainable resolution and the quality of the displayed image. In practice, the limited performance of available D/A and A/D converters tends to degrade the image quality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image signal generating apparatus, image signal transmission apparatus, image signal generating method, image signal transmission method, image display unit, control method for an image display unit, and image display system


The present invention relates to a process for the production of aqueous dispersions which form powder coatings at room temperature, have an average particle size of 0.1 to 10 .mu.m, contain polyols and blocked polyisocyanate crosslinking agents, and, after stoving, yield coatings with improved water and solvent resistance, in particular on metallic substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of aqueous dispersions containing polyols and blocked polyisocyanate crosslinking agents, which dry as a powder on the surface to be coated and, after stoving, yield coatings with improved water and solvent resistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aqueous polyurethane dispersions are known (c.f. Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organ. Chemie, 4th edition, volume E 20, page 1659 (1987)). However, where higher quality is demanded, for example, in automotive lacquer coatings, non-reactive polyurethanes exhibit various weaknesses. The essential reason is the lack of crosslinking between the film-forming macromolecules, which results in diminished water and solvent resistance and poor mechanical properties. More recent post-crosslinking coating systems, such as those obtained by combining isocyanate-reactive resins with blocked polyisocyanate crosslinking agents (c.f. J. W. Rosthauser, K. Nachtkamp in Advances in Urethane Science and Technology, K. C. Frisch and D. Klempner, editors, volume 10, pages 121-162 (1987)), provide better properties.
The resins used are polyurethane, polyepoxy, polyester or polyacrylate resins or dispersions which are crosslinkable via hydroxyl groups. The crosslinking agents are blocked polyisocyanates, which have optionally been hydrophilically modified. Such systems are known, for example, from DE-OS 4,213,527, EP-A 581,211, EP-A 427,028, U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,144, DE-OS 3,345,448 and DE-OS 2,829,648.
Systems which may be considered for lacquer and coating applications have the characteristic of exhibiting good film-forming properties even at room temperature. If this characteristic is not present, films having overall poorer properties are obtained, e.g., poorer levelling and lower gloss. Film formation is sometimes improved by the addition of solvents.
The application of powder coatings from the aqueous phase is described, for example, in EP-A 652,264. A disadvantage is that, during production, extrusion of the binder is followed by a grinding operation, which is very elaborate and associated with high costs. Moreover, there are limits to powder fineness in a grinding operation.
It has now been found that it is possible to economically obtain valuable, solvent-free, heat curing lacquer dispersions which dry as a powder by combining certain isocyanate-reactive resins with blocked polyisocyanate crosslinking agents. The resulting products are valuable coating compositions, which may be applied as a one-component system to provide coatings having particularly high quality surface properties. It should be emphasized that highly level, high gloss coatings having very good water and solvent resistance are obtained.
A further advantage is that even though the binders dry as a powder, coatings produced according to the invention may be applied using existing liquid lacquer equipment. Thinner coats are obtained than with conventional powder coating, and cleaning operations are simplified in comparison with conventional powder coating since the equipment and booths may be spray cleaned. Cleaning operations are also simplified in comparison with solvent-based lacquer coating because neither film formation nor, in comparison with two-component lacquers, crosslinking occurs at room temperature.
Known conventional aqueous coating compositions, which form coatings at temperatures as low as room temperature, often have only a narrow application window (range of temperature and relative atmospheric humidity during application) and have a distinct tendency to blister (pinholing). Eliminating these difficulties is distinctly more favorable with binders which dry as a powder. Surface properties are less dependent upon climatic conditions (temperature, relative atmospheric humidity) during application. Greater film thicknesses may also be achieved without pinholing due to evaporation of the water.

Process for the production of aqueous stoving coating compositions


A universal patellar clamp is disclosed. The clamp includes an articular surface clamping member having a central aperture defining a centerline axis. The central aperture is sized to accept all available known sizes of cannulated reamers. An anterior clamping member is positioned along the centerline axis and is movable with respect to the articular clamping member to effect clamping of the patella. A pair of guide arms are engaged with the articular clamping member to be positioned over the central aperture and provide a guide hole for supporting a threaded guidewire or pin along the centerline axis. The guide arms are removable from their position over the central aperture to clear the aperture for access by the cannulated reamer.

The present invention is directed to a universal patellar clamp.
In total knee replacement surgery, a prosthesis is provided in which one component is fastened to the distal end of the femur which has been resected and another component is fastened to the proximal end of the tibia which has been resected so that the two components will act together in permitting the leg to bend and straighten out. In performing such surgery, the patella is not normally replaced but rather is resurfaced such that the interior crown portion facing the condyles is cut and reamed to form a cavity in which a patellar prosthesis is implanted. The patellar prosthesis has a crown facing inwardly to engage the patellar or trochlear groove of the femoral component.
In preparing a patella for an implant, it is usually necessary to engage the patella with a clamp having a circular cross sectional configuration and, using the interior surface of the clamp as a guide, ream a cavity in the patella of sufficient size to receive the patellar implant intended to be used. Depending upon a number of factors including the size of the patient, the patellar implant could be one of a number of different sizes. As a result of this, it was, heretofore, necessary to have available a number of clamps each having a different diameter for guiding various size reamers. Typical prior art methods of forming a cavity for implanting a patellar prosthesis are shown and described in the following publications, which are incorporated herein by reference: Brochures entitled "The AMK Total knee System Design Rationale and Surgical Procedure" (page 25), DePuy, Division of Boehringer Mannheim Corporation, Warsaw, Ind., and "WHITESIDE ORTHOLOC.RTM. Modular KNEE SYSTEM", copyright 1989 by Dow Corning Wright, Arlington, Tenn. Copies of such references are herewith enclosed.
There has recently been introduced a new design of patellar prosthesis having a tapered surface on the side away from the crown. One such prosthesis is the subject matter of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/508,088, filed Oct. 18, 1990, by the applicant herein. The method for implanting such a patellar prosthesis is the subject-matter of my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 652,882 and the clamp of my present invention is well-suited for use with the method disclosed in such patent application; however, it should be understood that the apparatus of the present invention is not so limited and may be used with a wide variety of methods for implanting a patellar prosthesis. It has a significant advantage over the prior art for implanting a patellar prosthesis of a type in which one of a number of different sizes is to be used depending upon the patient in that the present invention provides a universally sized patellar clamp to guide the reamer. Accordingly, in utilizing the apparatus of the present invention, it is not necessary to have available a plurality of clamps of varying sizes.
To aid in the understanding of the apparatus of this invention, it is necessary to briefly summarize the surgical method disclosed and claimed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 652,882. The '882 invention provides a new method for preparing a human patella for implanting a patellar prosthesis therein and a new method for implanting a patellar prosthesis in a human patella. As is well-known in performing knee replacement surgery, the patella is everted and retained in a position permitting the surgeon to have access to the articular surface which is normally engaged in the intercondylar notch between the condyles. Under the '882 invention, with the patella so supported, the surgeon, using a saw or similar tool for performing osteotomy, removes the top portion of the articular surface, thus leaving a flat surface near the central portion of the patella. Desirably, only a small portion of the articular surface is removed in order to leave as much of the original patella intact as possible. Thus, as pointed out in the above-identified patent application, it is desirable that as little of the human patella be removed as possible.
Following removal of the top of the articular surface a threaded guidewire or pin is used to drill a passageway in the central portion of the patella at substantially right angles to the flat surface. Then, using the threaded guidewire which may be left in the passageway or a rod of similar size to that of the threaded guidewire positioned in said passageway, a cannulated reamer is placed over the threaded guidewire or other guide rod and, using such threaded guidewire or guide rod as a guide, the reamer is utilized to ream the patella thereby forming a cavity having a size and configuration suitable for receiving the patellar prosthesis. Following such reaming, the cavity is cleaned, bone cement placed therein and the patellar prosthesis implanted therein. If desired, the reaming could be performed in stages, initially using a reamer sized to form a relatively small cavity and thereafter using a reamer sized to form the cavity for receiving the patella prosthesis.


In a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus that ejects a droplet from a nozzle into hardening liquid to manufacture a seamless capsule SC, tube passages which are synthetic resin tubes are provided as flexible sections between pumps and the nozzle. The vibration caused by the pumps is absorbed in the flexible sections and thus is not transmitted to the nozzle, whereby eyes or the like of the seamless capsule caused by vibration noises can be suppressed. Instead of a synthetic resin tube, a vibration absorbing block formed of an elastic member may be attached to the tube passages. Alternatively, a vibration absorbing unit, which is provided with a pad formed of an elastic member and for holding the tube passages, may be provided.

Conventionally, many seamless capsules used for a medicine or the like are manufactured by a so-called dropping method. The dropping method is carried out by using a multiple nozzle. Thus, in the case of manufacturing a two-layer capsule, a double nozzle having an ejection port for ejecting the capsule filling substance and an ejection port for ejecting the film forming substance respectively arranged at the inside and at the outside is used. The filling substance and the film forming substance are ejected from the tips of the respective nozzles into hardening liquid, and the ejected liquid drops take a spherical form due to the surface tension thereof. Then, the liquid drops are cooled and hardened in the hardening liquid that is forced to circulate at a constant speed to make spherical seamless capsules.
As such a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus, those disclosed in, e.g., Patent Documents 1 to 3 have been proposed. Patent Document 1 discloses a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus using a multiple nozzle provided with a vibration unit. In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, liquid flow for forming capsule is allowed to be ejected from the multiple nozzles into hardening liquid. Jet liquid flow formed in the hardening liquid is cut by means of vibration to thereby form a multilayer seamless capsule. More specifically, a vibration unit is arranged at a diaphragm-shaped flexible part provided at the upper portion of the nozzle. Vibration is applied to the nozzle using the vibration unit to divide the jet liquid flow in the hardening liquid into multilayer droplets. The multilayer droplet is moved in the hardening liquid together with the liquid flow. Then, the external layer of each droplets are hardened to form a multilayer seamless capsule.
Patent Document 2 discloses a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus that applies intermittent flow of coolant in a regular manner to jet flow of capsule forming liquid which is ejected from a multiple nozzle from the side periphery of the jet flow to thereby form a multilayer seamless capsule. In the apparatus of Patent Document 2, the capsule forming liquid is supplied from a liquid storage tank to the nozzle by means of a liquid feed pump and is ejected from the nozzle as jet flow. The jet flow is divided by means of impact of the intermittent flow of the coolant into small multilayer droplets, each of which is hardened in the coolant to become a multilayer seamless capsule. Patent Document 3 discloses a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus that directly vibrates the nozzle so as to form a multilayer seamless capsule. In the apparatus of Patent Document 3, the flexible part as provided in the apparatus of Patent Document 1 is not provided in the nozzle, but a vibration unit provided at the upper portion of the nozzle is used to directly apply vibration to the nozzle.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3361131    Patent Document 2: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Publication No. 04-067985    Patent Document 3: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 59-112831
Meanwhile, in such a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus, capsule forming liquid is generally supplied from a liquid storage tank to the nozzle by a liquid feeding unit provided with a liquid feeding pump. The liquid storage tank and nozzle are connected to each other by a liquid feeding tube. That is, the capsule forming liquid is supplied to the nozzle through the liquid feeding tube by the operation of the liquid feeding pump. However, in such a seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus, when the liquid feeding pump is activated, vibration occurs in the liquid feeding unit. This vibration is transmitted to the liquid feeding tube to thereby vibrate the tube itself. When the liquid supply tube vibrates the vibration is transmitted to the nozzle, with the result that the vibration is superposed on (added to) the jet flow ejected from the nozzle.
When vibration is applied to the nozzle as in the case of the apparatus disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 3 in a state where the vibration is superposed on the jet flow, it causes a problem in that vibration other than the vibration applied by the vibration unit is added to the jet flow as noise. When a noise component other than the vibration unit is added to the vibration added to the jet flow, a nonuniform liquid layer may be caused or droplet diameter may become nonuniform, causing problems, such as casing eyes of the seamless capsule, uneven thickness thereof, or variation in the particle diameter thereof.
In contrast, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, an accumulator for alleviating minute pulsating flow of the liquid to be supplied is provided between the pump and nozzle so as to keep the nozzle inner pressure substantially constant. However, this configuration does not prevent the vibration generated in the pump from being transmitted to the nozzle. Thus, a problem of the noise vibration cannot be solved.
On the other hand, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3, a flexible portion for absorbing the vibration of the nozzle is provided in the middle of the liquid feeding tube so as to prevent the vibration of the nozzle from being transmitted to the pump side. This configuration eventually allows the vibration generated in the pump to be absorbed at this flexible portion. However, the flexible portion disclosed in Patent Document 3 aims to prevent an adverse effect caused due to application of the vibration to the nozzle itself and is an adapter-type member attached to the connection portion between the liquid feeding tube and nozzle. An experiment conducted by the present inventor reveals that it is impossible to sufficiently prevent transmission of the vibration generated on the liquid feeding unit side only by attaching the adapter-type small member to the pipe sleeve. In addition, the influence that the vibration generated on the liquid feeding unit side gives to the nozzle is far greater than the influence that the vibration generated on the nozzle gives to the pump and is directly linked to product quality.
An object of the present invention is to prevent the vibration generated on the liquid feeding unit side from being transmitted to the nozzle in the seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus so as to reduce vibration noise at the time of capsule formation thereby stabilizing product quality.

Seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus


A method and corresponding test kit is provided for the determination of whether a non-consensual sexual encounter between known individuals has occurred when previous consensual relations have taken place between the known individuals.

Cases of sexual abuse and rape are often carried out by a perpetrator known to a victim. Random acts of sexual violence by unknown perpetrators are much less common. It is also often the case that there have been multiple experiences among the known partners and there is an allegation that the last encounter was non-consensual. While most of the time the incidences happen with bilateral verbal consent, sexual encounters amongst known partners can become sexual abuse or rape if one partner does not give consent or worst of all a sexual act is forced on the unwilling partner.
In instances where the victim's assailant is known to them and they previously had consensual sexual experiences in the two days prior to a non-consensual encounter, it is difficult to prosecute the offense as the perpetrator offers a defense that the event never occurred or if admitted, that the encounter was consensual. If the victim that files criminal charges is female, she will be subjected to a physical pelvic exam to collect forensic physical evidence as well as cultures, semen collection, and finally a specimen for DNA analysis.
However, conventional DNA based testing of collected semen from a woman is unable to provide a date of when an incident occurred. It is currently not possible to establish the date of a non-consensual sexual encounter relative to consensual sexual activity based on DNA evidence. The collection of evidence of non-consensual sexual activity is further complicated if the victim showers or otherwise attempts to cleanse themselves.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved diagnostic method to determine the timing of a non-consensual sexual encounter has occurred relative to previous consensual relations between the same individuals.

Method of temporal determination of semen-based DNA sample


The present invention relates to a Lactuca sativa seed designated 79-02 RZ, which exhibits slow bolting, resistance to downy mildew (Bremia lactucae), and currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri), as well as leaves which are crisp, deeply-incised, nicely-frilled, and have a medium red colored apical margin. The present invention also relates to a Lactuca sativa plant produced by growing the 79-02 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the lettuce cultivar, represented by lettuce variety 79-02 RZ.

All cultivated forms of lettuce belong to the highly polymorphic species, Lactuca sativa, which is grown for its edible head and leaves. As a crop, lettuces are grown commercially wherever environmental conditions permit the production of an economically viable yield.
Lactuca sativa is in the Cichoreae tribe of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Lettuce is related to chicory, sunflower, aster, scorzonera, dandelion, artichoke and chrysanthemum. Sativa is one of about 300 species in the genus Lactuca.
Lettuce cultivars are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases such as downy mildew (Bremia lactucae), and currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri). These diseases result in millions of dollars of lost lettuce crop throughout the world every year.
Downy mildew (Bremia lactucae) is highly destructive of lettuce grown at relatively low temperature and high humidity. Downy mildew is caused by a fungus, Bremia lactucae, of which various strains or races exist.
Downy mildew causes pale, angular, yellow areas bounded by veins on the upper leaf surfaces. Sporulation occurs on the opposite surface of the leaves. The lesions eventually turn brown, and they may enlarge and coalesce. These symptoms typically occur first on the lower leaves of the lettuce, but under ideal conditions may move into the upper leaves of the head. When the fungus progresses to this degree, the head cannot be harvested. Less severe damage requires the removal of more leaves than usual, especially when the lettuce reaches its final destination.
Of the various species of aphids that feed on lettuce, the currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri) is the most destructive species because it feeds both on the leaves of the lettuce as well as deep in the heart of the lettuce, making it difficult to control with conventional insecticides. The lettuce aphid feeds by sucking sap from the lettuce leaves. Although direct damage to the lettuce may be limited, its infestation has serious consequences because the presence of aphids makes lettuce unacceptable to consumers.
Although several known lettuce cultivars exhibit resistance against disease, irrespective of lettuce type, many lettuce cultivars affected produce large leaves that, when cut to smaller size pieces generally result in a lot of cut surface resulting in a diminished shelf life with respect to wound-induced discolouration of these cut surfaces.
At present the attractive red colour in pre-packed lettuce mixtures is often provided by plant species other than Lactuca sativa. Use is made of radicchio rosso (Cichorium intybus), red cabbage or red-veined spinach or red-veined chard. The disadvantage of using leaves from other vegetables than lettuce is that the different taste of these other vegetables is often experienced as undesirable. Radicchio rosso is for example a Cichorium intybus that has a bitter taste. For taste red-leaved lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is usually preferred over other red-leaved species.
The red leaf colour of lettuce is caused by anthocyanin in the leaves. Antocyanin is an antioxidant, which contributes to the healthy image of lettuce. The disadvantage of anthocyanin is the growth reduction due to absorption of light entering the leaf. This absorbed light is not available anymore for photosynthesis and therefore growth is reduced. As lettuce producers are looking for high yielding varieties, i.e. growth, medium red lettuce varieties are often considered as a good compromise between yield and an attractive red leaf colour.
Although several known lettuce cultivars can be harvested mechanically at young plant, i.e. babyleaf stage, no pest and disease resistant lettuce cultivars exist that can be harvested mechanically at mature stage and still provide leaf pieces that are of small, directly edible size and have an attractive medium red colour. Mechanical harvesting saves labour cost and improves labour conditions in comparison with commonly applied hand-harvesting methods.
For mechanical harvesting it is also important to have a slow bolting variety with a short core. The horizontal knife should cut through the leaves, but not through the core. The lower the core, the lower the knife, and the higher the yield.
There exists a need, therefore, for an mechanically harvestable, medium red, crisp-leaved lettuce variety which exhibits a combination of resistance against downy mildew (Bremia lactucae), and currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri). Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.


An automatic filing device for photos, prints and other similar materials for inserting pairs of photos arranged back-to-back into envelopes. The insertion is carried out by means of a rotating shelf (5) on which the photos are placed and a pusher (7) which slides them into the envelopes. The method of insertion is also described.

It has been known for some time that photo shops supply to customers, together with the negatives and the developed photos, folders similar to a booklet, for the purpose of containing the above-mentioned photos.
The step of inserting the photos into said folders is done manually by the customer.
At present, in fact, there is no equipment on the market that is capable of sufficiently carrying out the operation of automatic mechanical insertion, or that, when installed in photo shops or directly in developing and printing laboratories, makes it possible for the customer to receive not loose photos but photos already inserted into a folder in the exact order in which they were on the roll of film.
With such a solution, one could eliminate the danger of deterioration of the photos caused by handling during the transportation from the developing laboratory to the photo shop, and above all, damage caused by the customer when manually inserting the photos. This operation is complicated by the difficulties in separating the edges of the envelopes, which tend to stick to each other due to an electrostatic charge.

Automatic filing device for photos prints and similar materials


A method of forming a zeolite shaped body is carried out by preparing an aqueous mixture containing a zeolite, a silica binder material and an extrusion aid. The extrusion aid is at least one of PVAc-PVA1 (80-89) and polyacrylamide. The mixture is formed into a body having a selected shape. The shaped body is heated to form the zeolite shaped body.

Zeolites or molecular sieves used for catalysts are often formed into shaped body by binding with binder materials. Commonly used binder materials include alumina, silica, silica-alumina, clay, or combinations of these materials. When using shaped catalyst it is important that the catalyst has sufficient physical integrity during its use in commercial reactors. Without sufficient physical strength, the catalyst can be damaged or degrade, creating fines and debris that can have negative consequences on the reaction and the reactor equipment. Several measurements are performed to determine physical integrity of a shaped catalyst. Such measurements include attrition resistance, bulk crush strength, particle crush strength, etc.
Certain binder materials may impart better physical or mechanical properties to the shaped zeolite catalyst than others. The particular binder material used, however, may also affect the reaction or reactions, making the use of certain binders that provide better strength unsuitable in certain applications. For example, certain reactions are affected by acidity. Although alumina, which is a commonly used as a binder material, has weak acidity, the weak acidity can still affect certain reactions. Silica has low or no acidity making it useful as a binder in those reactions that are affected by acidity. Catalyst bound with silica, however, may have lower physical strength than other binder materials.
Accordingly a need exists for improving the mechanical properties of silica bound zeolite catalysts.

Method of forming zeolite shaped body with silica binder


An electrical connector comprising a housing having a terminal receiving passageway extending therethrough, where the passageway includes an insertion portion having a longitudinal axis and a contact retaining portion having a longitudinal axis, the connector characterized in that the housing includes a first part having the insertion portion therein and a second part having the contact retaining portion therein, where the second part is displaceable between a first position where the longitudinal axes are offset from each other to a second position where the longitudinal axis coincide and where the terminals are insertable in the first position and retained in the second position. A position assurance feature for contact retaining members is also provided by cooperating camming features that assure assembly of the two parts is always in the first position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector and in particular to an electrical connector housing wherein terminals are disposed having a positive retention structure to assure the contacts are retained therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern electrical connector housings, and particularly those used in automotive applications, include a number of desirable features. These electrical connectors can prevent the ingress of contaminates by incorporating sealing members so that the electrical interconnection does not deteriorate. It is also known to incorporate shoulders into a terminal receiving cavity such that locking lances extending outward from the terminal interfere with these shoulders to assure that the terminal is properly positioned and retained within the cavity. Furthermore, in order to assure that the terminals remain in their proper position, secondary locking members which are displaceable between an open position wherein the terminal may be seated in the passageway and a locked position where the secondary locking member now obstructs the passageway such that it would interfere with the inserted terminal to prevent removal from the passageway. Finally, it is also known to incorporate position assurance features for the secondary locking member that would prevent a mating connector half from being connected thereto unless the secondary locking member is properly positioned to retain the contacts. Furthermore, it is also known to incorporate coding features into the connector to assure that mating connectors are complementary to each other and properly oriented at the time of mating.
While all of these features are known, incorporating them into a single electrical connector has resulted in complicated structure that may not be easily manipulated by an installer. Furthermore, this complicated structure typically will involve multiple components which are difficult to keep in place during assembly and prior to assembly, such as during storage or shipping.


This specification discloses a satellite transmission system for transmission of TCP/IP compatible packets from a head end computer through a satellite uplink, an extraterrestrial satellite, a satellite downlink, and an integrated satellite receiver/router for outputting of the TCP/IP compatible packets through a port on the receiver/router onto a computer LAN or WAN. The system may include an Internet or telecommunications backchannel. The receiver becomes router enabled by means of a removable insertion Ethernet/Router insertion card inserted into a slot in the receiver, although the transmission system may be used to simultaneously transmit a variety of other services through the receiver by use of other service slots in the receiver. The Ethernet/Receiver supports the IGMPv2 Multicasting (querier and non querier modes), standard TCP/IP (including UDP and Telnet), and SNMP protocols.

The Internet is an enormous network of computers through which digital information can be sent from one computer to another. The Internet's strength—its high level of interconnectivity—also poses severe problems for the prompt and efficient distribution of voluminous digital information, particularly digitized imaging, audio, or video information.
Internet service providers (ISP's) have attempted to accelerate the speed of delivery of content to Internet users by delivering Internet content (e.g., TCP/IP packets) to the user through a satellite broadcast system. One such system is the direct-to-home ("DTH") satellite delivery system such as that offered in connection with the mark, "DirecPC." In these DTH types of systems, each subscriber or user of the system must have: (i) access to a satellite dish; (ii) a satellite receiver connected to the satellite dish and mounted in the user's PC; and (iii) an Internet back channel in order to request information from Internet Web sites.
The DTH system is thus quite costly, since each user must have its own receiver and connection to a satellite dish. The DTH system is also somewhat difficult to deploy since the satellite receiver is mounted in each DTH user's PC.
The DTH system also does not take advantage of any pre-existing satellite systems, and it often is a single carrier system, dedicated to the delivery of Internet content to the user. It does not allow the user flexibility to receive, much less distribute to others, other types of services, such as non-Internet radio broadcast or faxing services for example. The DTH systems also typically modify the IP packets at the head end, thus introducing significant processing delay through the need to reconstruct packets on the receiving end.
DTH systems may also utilize the DVB standard, in which event the system might broadcast other services. DVB systems, however, utilize a statistical data carrier. For this and other reasons, the DVB systems often cause significant additional delay due to the need to reconstruct packets from the statistically multiplexed carrier sent through the DVB system.
The DTH system is also typically quite limited in its bandwidth capabilities. The consumer DirecPC system, for example, is limited to 440 kbps, thus limiting its effectiveness as a reliable, flexible, and quick distribution vehicle for Internet content, particularly voluminous content, to all users of the system through the one carrier.
Another system used by ISP's and others to deliver Internet content through satellites is the use of commercial or professional quality satellite receivers in conjunction with traditional routers connected into an ISP LAN or similar LAN for delivery of the received content through its LAN to its subscribers either on the LAN or through modems and telecommunications lines interconnecting the modems. (See Prior Art FIG. 3.) These types of separate receiver-and-router satellite systems have typically required use of traditional satellite data receivers with integrated serial, often RS-422 types, of interface or data outputs. The data output is connected into the router, which then converts the data into Ethernet compatible output and routes and outputs the Ethernet onto the LAN.
The applicant has discovered that these prior art data receiver and separate router systems present several problems. For example, the traditional data receivers are relatively inflexible and support only one or two services; and the use of a separate router is expensive. In addition, these types of systems usually employ a DVB transport mechanism, which is not well suited to transmitting Internet and similar types of content for a number of reasons. One reason is that, as noted above, the DVB transport protocol and mechanism add substantial delays into the system. Another is that, as the applicant has discovered, the DVB transport mechanism utilizes excessive amounts of bandwidth.

Satellite receiver/router, system, and method of use


A bladed rotor has blades fitted in grooves around its rim. The blades are prevented from making significant movement lengthways of their grooves by abutment members which are so formed as to enable fitting and removal without the use of special tooling.

The rotor may comprise the fan.
During operation of an associated engine, the rotor blades undergo fluid loading, which causes them to attempt to move in a direction axially of the engine. It follows that they have to be restrained. However, the manner of restraint must be such as to facilitate easy removal, preferably, of individual blades for the purpose of repair or substitution, without the need for use of special tooling.
Whilst it is known to restrain members against movement axially of an associated engine, where the members are located in grooves in the rim portion of a rotor, those members do not have blades projecting from them. An example of such an arrangement is described and illustrated in British patent specification 1,514,724. In that specification a rotor has a peripheral groove intersected by axial grooves which are engaged by co-operating feet on individual members. Each member has a groove in its foot, which corresponds in profile to that of the rotor. A leaf spring, or spring loaded locking device lies in the peripheral groove and is urged flat by a tool so as to enable fitting of a member in an intersecting groove. On fitting of a member, the spring is released, to thereby arch or curve into the groove in the member's foot. The spring or device is long enough to span the groove in the foot of the member, and any tendency of the member to move axially of the engine, is prevented by interaction between the spring or device and extremities and the walls of the peripheral groove.
The arrangement of 1,514,724 is entirely unsuitable for use where the member includes a blade. There is no facility for the provision of tool insertion apertures and, consequently, no way of manipulating the spring device.


A process for the preparation of a quaternary ammonium bisulfate which comprises the reaction of a quaternary ammonium alkylsulfate with sulfuric acid in a solvent mixture comprised of water and isopropyl alcohol, followed by the recovery of the solid quaternary ammonium bisulfate by crystallization from the reaction mixture.

This invention is generally directed to processes for the preparation of quaternary ammonium compounds, and more specifically to economically feasible, large scale processes for the preparation of quaternary ammonium bisulfates. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the preparation of quaternary ammonium bisulfates, especially hydrogen sulfates, such as distearyl dialkyl ammonium bisulfates, by the reaction of the appropriate ammonium salt with sulfuric acid in a specific solvent mixture. The resulting products can be selected as additives, especially charge control additives for toner compositions, and in embodiments may be useful as antifungal components and surface active agents such as phase transfer catalysts. In developer and toner compositions, the aforementioned charge control additives impart or assist in imparting a positive charge to the toner resin particles and enable toners in some instances with rapid admix characteristics. These toner compositions usually contain pigment particles comprised of, for example, carbon black, magnetites, or mixtures thereof, cyan, magenta, yellow, blue, green, red, or brown pigments, or mixtures thereof, thereby providing for the development of black and/or colored images in electrophotographic, especially xerographic, imaging and printing processes, including color processes.
Developer compositions with charge enhancing additives, and processes for the preparation thereof in some instances, which additives impart a positive charge to the toner resin, are known. Thus, for example, the use of quaternary ammonium salts as charge control agents for electrostatic toner compositions is described in several U.S. Pat. Nos. such as: 3,893,935; 4,221,856; 4,312,933, a division of U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,111; 4,291,112; 4,298,672; 4,560,635; 4,675,118 and 4,812,381.
Toner and developer compositions with the quaternary ammonium salt compounds of the present invention are specifically illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,157, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Further, there are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,762, the disclosure of which is being totally incorporated herein by reference, toner and developer compositions comprised of a mixture of charge enhancing additives wherein one of the additives is an alkylammonium bisulfate as described herein.
Quaternary ammonium bisulfates (hydrogen sulfates) and methods of preparing thereof are described in the literature. A number of bisulfates with the generic formula (R.sup.1).sub.3 R.sup.2 N.sup.+ HSO.sub.4 --, and more specifically tetraalkylammonium bisulfates (C.sub.3 -C.sub.6) and aryltrialkylammonium bisulfates, and methods for the preparation thereof are described by A. E. Brandstrom et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,533. In a first synthetic scheme, a quaternary ammonium iodide was obtained from an alkyl iodide and the corresponding alkylamine in acetonitrile, and then reacted with dimethyl sulfate to produce a tetraalkyl or aryltrialkylammonium methylsulfate. After removal of the solvent by distillation, water and a catalytic amount of sulfuric acid was added and the mixture was allowed to boil for 24 hours while distilling off methanol. Subsequent to evaporation to dryness, the crude bisulfate was purified by recrystallization. A second route involves the reaction of a tetraalkylammonium hydroxide with a molar equivalent of sulfuric acid, the evaporation of the resulting solution to dryness and the recrystallization of the crude bisulfate from methyl ethyl ketone. In another method described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,533, a tetraalkylammonium bromide is reacted with pentachloropheaol in a two phase organic-aqueous solvent system in the presence of sodium hydroxide. The resulting tetraalkylammonium phenolate is then reacted with aqueous sulfuric acid, the aqueous solution evaporated and the bisulfate found in the residue reprecipitated from a solvent such as methyl isobutyl ketone. Yet another method described in the aforementioned U.S. patent involves the preparation of certain quaternary ammonium bisulfates by reacting a quaternary ammonium halide with sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The reaction mixture can be filtered, the filtrate evaporated in vacuum and the residue redissolved in an organic solvent to recover the bisulfate by recrystallization.
A variant of the aforementioned first method, that is the dimethyl sulfate method, Is detailed in "Preparative Ion Pair Extraction", Apotekarsocieteten/Hassle, Lakemedel, Sweden, 1977, pages 139 to 148 by A. Brandstrom and reproduced by C. M. Starks and C. Liotta in "Phase Transfer Catalysis, Principles and Techniques", Academic Press, New York, 1978, pages 76 to 77. This procedure involves the Use of several organic solvents in a multi step process, in particular chlorobenzene, dioxane and petrol ether.
An ion pair extraction method is also described in the aforementioned textbooks. For example, a tetraalkyl ammonium iodide, trioctylamine and sulfuric acid are reacted in a two phase toluene-water solvent system. The aqueous phase containing the bisulfate is extracted with an organic solvent such as methylene chloride to remove excess tetraalkyl ammonium halide and the excess of sulfuric acid as an ion pair with trioctylamine. Water was removed at reduced pressure and the residue was recrystallized from methyl isobutyl ketone to obtain the pure quaternary ammonium bisulfate.
Dehmlow et al. in Syntheses, 1985, pages 508 to 509, indicates that most of these methods work well for tetrabutyl ammonium derivatives, but they cannot be extended to more hydrophobic (lipophilic) ammonium bisulfates. Alternative methods for obtaining more hydrophobic tetraalkyl ammonium bisulfates were pursued by Dehmlov et al. One of these methods involves the synthesis of tetraalkyl ammonium thiocyanates and their reaction with relatively concentrated sulfuric acid. Byproducts of the reaction include H.sub.2 S, CO.sub.2, CS.sub.2 and HSCN, and a rather involved work-up procedure is required to isolate the bisulfate. Another method, described by De Giorgi et al., Synthetic Communications, 17(5), 1987, pages 52 to 533, requires the reaction of sulfuric acid with quaternary ammonium azides. The quaternary ammonium azides, in turn, have to be prepared from quaternary ammonium methane sulfonates by reaction with sodium azides.
The prior art methods are rather complicated, not easily conducive to scale-up, nor do these methods usually provide for an economically feasible commercial process, problems avoided or minimized with the processes of the present invention.
Another procedure for Producing quaternary ammonium hydrogen sulfate, specifically tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, is described in U.K. Patent Application 2,073,748. The method proposed involves the reaction of quaternary ammonium halide with sulfuric acid in the presence of an alcohol. After completing the reaction by heating to reflux, the byproduct, butyl bromide, was removed by distillation together with some of the alcohol used in the reaction. The proposed recovery of the bisulfate from the residue involves the extraction with methylene chloride, evaporation to dryness of the organic phase and recrystallization from methyl isobutyl ketone.
Disclosed in copending patent application U.S. Ser. No. 396,497 now abandoned, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, is a process for the preparation of distearyl dimethyl ammonium bisulfate by a process for the preparation of quaternary ammonium compounds of the formula R'.sub.2 R".sub.2 N.sup.+ X-- wherein R' and R" are independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, and alkylaryl; and X- is an anion, which comprises the reaction by heating a water insoluble quaternary ammonium salt with an acid.

Process for quaternary ammonium bisulfates


Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to generating a scanning strategy based on a dynamic taint module. A dynamic taint module associated with an application is caused to be initiated for a crawling phase of a security test. A report is received from the dynamic taint module. The dynamic taint module is restricted. The scanning strategy is based on the report.

Software security testing is used to identify vulnerabilities in an application such as a Web application. Traditional black-box security testing for Web-based software works by using a security testing application, often referred to as a scanner, which poses as an attacker. In a black-box approach, the scanner explores an Application Under Test (AUT) by making HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests and evaluating the HTTP responses or the lack thereof in order to find all of the URLs where the AUT accepts input. The URLs where the AUT accepts input may be referred to the attack surface of the AUT. The scanner then creates attacks based on the attack surface and likely categories of vulnerabilities. The scanner applies the attacks to diagnose the presence or absence of vulnerabilities by evaluating the program's HTTP responses. In a black-box approach, the scanner does not have any insight into the internal workings of the AUT.

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP


A rotating field sensor includes four detection circuits each of which generates an output signal responsive to the direction of a rotating magnetic field, and an angle calculation unit configured to calculate four angle values in correspondence to four groups each consisting of two detection circuits selected from the four detection circuits. The angle calculation unit calculates each of the four angle values on the basis of two output signals of the two detection circuits constituting a corresponding one of the four groups.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotating field sensor for detecting an angle that the direction of a rotating magnetic field forms with respect to a reference direction, and to an angle determination method using the rotating field sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, rotating field sensors have been widely used to detect the rotational position of an object in various applications such as detecting the rotational position of an automotive steering wheel. Systems using rotating field sensors are typically provided with means (for example, a magnet) for generating a rotating magnetic field whose direction rotates in response to the rotation of the object. The rotating field sensors use magnetic detection elements to detect the angle that the direction of the rotating magnetic field forms with respect to a reference direction. The rotational position of the object is thus detected.
Among known rotating field sensors is one that includes two bridge circuits (Wheatstone bridge circuits), as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0053865 A1. In the rotating field sensor disclosed therein, each of the two bridge circuits includes four magnetic detection elements and outputs a signal responsive to the direction of the rotating magnetic field. The output signals of the two bridge circuits are different in phase from each other by ¼ the period of the output signals of the bridge circuits. The output signals of the two bridge circuits are used as a basis for determining an angle detection value which corresponds to the angle that the direction of the rotating magnetic field forms with respect to a reference direction.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0053865 A1 discloses a technique for determining an angle detection value with a reduced error by providing four detection circuits each of which includes a bridge circuit and performing an arithmetic operation using the output signals of the four detection circuits.
A known magnetic detection element for use in a bridge circuit is a magnetoresistive (MR) element that is formed by serially connecting a plurality of MR films each of which exhibits a magnetoresistive effect, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0053865 A1, for example.
In the case of a rotating field sensor including two bridge circuits as described above, the determined angle detection value is no longer correct if at least one of the two bridge circuits fails.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0053865 A1 discloses a method including monitoring the resistances of the bridge circuits, the potentials at two output ports of each bridge circuit, the magnitude of a signal corresponding to a potential difference between the two output ports, or the like. According to the method, a bridge circuit is determined to be in failure if the monitored value exceeds a predetermined range of the normal value.
The foregoing method is able to detect such a failure of a bridge circuit that the monitored value deviates greatly from the normal value due to, for example, the occurrence of a break in any location in the bridge circuit or the occurrence of a short circuit across a magnetic detection element. Disadvantageously, however, the foregoing method is not able to detect such a failure of a bridge circuit that the monitored value deviates from the normal value by a relatively small amount. Such a failure can occur, for example, when one of the plurality of MR films connected in series to constitute an MR element is short-circuited or when the plurality of MR films become anisotropic.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0053865 A1 further discloses a technique for determining, in the case of a failure of one of the four bridge circuits, the angle detection value by an arithmetic operation using the output signals of two of the four bridge circuits other than the failed bridge circuit. This technique, however, is not able to detect such a failure of a bridge circuit that the monitored value deviates from the normal value by a relatively small amount, as described above. If such a failure occurs, it is not possible to identify two bridge circuits that are other than the failed bridge circuit, and consequently, it is not possible to determine a correct angle detection value.
The descriptions so far have dealt with the problem with a rotating field sensor that determines an angle detection value by using the output signals of two bridge circuits. However, the foregoing problem applies to all rotating field sensors that include a plurality of detection circuits each configured to output a signal responsive to the direction of a rotating magnetic field.

Rotating field sensor and angle determination method using the same


A multi-stratum multi-timescale control for self-governing networks provides automatic adaptation to temporal and spatial traffic changes and to network state changes. Microsecond timescale reacting through the routing function, a facet of the lowest stratum, allows a source node to choose the best available route from a sorted list of routes, and to collect information on the state of these routes. Millisecond timescale correcting through the resource allocation function, a facet of the intermediate stratum, allows the network to correct resource allocations based on requirements calculated by the routing function. Long-term provisioning through the provisioning function at the higher stratum allows the network to recommend resource augmentations, based on requirements reported by the resource allocation function. The control is implemented in the network through coordination across edge node controllers, core node controllers, and network controllers. Metrics based on automated measurements of network performance are used by the control to adjust network resources. The Routing index is collected by the routing function and is the average rank of the selected route within a route-set. The routing function also collects measurements on route Constituent Traffic, which quantifies traffic in each of three categories: (carried) first-class, (carried) secondary, and rejected. The Resource Allocation Index is a metric collected by the resource allocation function. It quantifies the number of failures in re-allocating resources. In another aspect of this invention, a provisioning method is provided, which recommends appropriate link capacity increments based on the afore-mentioned Constituent Traffic measurements, and based on rules provided by the network operator.

Network provisioning processes enable a network to determine the location and size of different network resources available for long-term deployment, typically in the order of several months or years. Such provisioning exercises are typically based solely on projected traffic demands within a network and the agreed traffic exchanges across other networks.
Traditionally, network provisioning has been based on underlying traffic-characterization models, traffic-flow models and performance models. The traditional provisioning process worked well in the telephone network where traffic loads were predictable. The traffic could be characterized with a reasonable accuracy, and the respective performance models that relate the performance to the traffic loads and the network resources were both accurate and tractable.
However, none of these conditions applies to fast-evolving data networks. Accurate traffic characterization at both the microscopic and macroscopic levels is not feasible in the rapidly evolving data networks. Microscopic characterization refers to a parametric description of each traffic stream, whereas macroscopic characterization is concerned with the spatial distribution of traffic. Microscopic-level characterization is difficult due to the rapidly changing nature of the traffic; macroscopic-level characterization is difficult due to changing network services.
Elaborate traffic characterization models and their ensuing provisioning models, even if believed to be accurate, maybe applicable over only relatively short timescales. It would take researchers years to develop and refine such models only to discover, before the exercise is complete, that the models are obsolete. A good example is the development of the tedious Markov Modulated Poisson Process, which is based on assumptions that have since been deemed to be inadequate. Another extreme is the self-similar-traffic model, which would yield an unduly pessimistic estimation of the network performance. In addition to the inadequacy of these models, the traffic parameters required to implement the mathematical models are difficult to determine. Data traffic is a rapidly moving target and its composition changes with technology. Higher access capacity, new applications, new protocols, etc., have a significant effect on the traffic characteristics at both the microscopic and macroscopic levels.
The use of precise microscopic models, even if they were attainable and tractable, cannot be justified, given the rapid change of the traffic nature. Instead, a simplified traffic model may possibly be used as long as the values of the characterizing parameters are updated frequently. A simplified traffic model also leads to a simplified microscopic provisioning model that facilitates the computation of traffic-flow across the network. The use of frequently updated simplified models, however, requires traffic monitoring, at least at each source node, and frequent execution of provisioning models. The network performance, however defined, must still be measured in order to validate the provisioning model. Furthermore, considering the unavailability of a satisfactory traffic model, it is difficult to determine what to measure and how to extract parameters from the measurements. Moreover, this solution would require the use of both traffic models and traffic monitoring, which would require excessive computing time, after which relevant, current data on which to base provisioning decisions may not be easily obtained.
Another issue to be considered is that most network configurations today are carried out statically through manual provisioning intervention. Core nodes provided in such networks are cross-connectors, optical and/or electronic, which are configured on a semi-permanent basis. Some proposals like the ITU-T's Automatically Switched Transport Network (ASTN) introduce dynamic configurations, but still require the configuration requirements to be determined through manual intervention. Therefore there is still a need to automatically predict such configuration requirements through learning based on measurements in the network.

System and method for network control and provisioning


A bodily fluid analyzer including a dry test strip impregnated with a reagent providing a non-precipitating reaction to exclude non-desired analytes. The reagent complexes the non-desired analytes so they remain in solution but cannot participate in the test reaction. Red blood cells are removed from the detection area by slowing their vertical movement and stopping flow when the detection membrane is saturated.

The invention in general relates to bodily fluid analysis systems including a disposable test strip and a spectrophotometric sensing device, with particular application to on-site testing of particular analytes in blood.
The level of certain analytes in blood and other body fluids is often used to diagnose disease, determine disease risk factors, monitor the course of a therapy, or determine the presence of illicit drugs. For example, analytes carried in blood have been evaluated to determine various cholesterol and triglyceride levels as a significant indicator of risk of coronary heart disease.
The blood analysis necessary to determine bodily fluid analytes, such as total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides, may be performed in clinical setting in a laboratory or on site using dry test strips. In the laboratory, the blood is centrifuged to separate the red blood cells from the plasma, and carefully controlled chemical tests in test tubes are performed to determine the concentration of analytes. Dry test strips utilize several membrane layers to separate red blood cells from blood plasma, react the plasma with a particular reagent or reagents, and obtain a signal indicative of the concentration of a particular analyte, which is usually a spectrophotometric signal. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,192 issued Sep. 27, 1988 to Terminiello et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,575 issued Oct. 16, 1984 to Peter Vogel et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,619 entitled "Disposable Diagnostic System"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,716 issued Aug. 4, 1992 to Tatin B. Thakore; U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,051 entitled "Membranes, Membrane Overlays, For Exclusion of Erythrocytes, And Method Of Immunoassay of Whole Blood Analytes"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,532 issued Jan. 28, 1997 to James Connolly; U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,849 issued Jan. 9, 2001 to Walter Rittersdorf et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,190 issued Jul. 6, 2004 to Jinn-Nan Lin et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0126830 published Jul. 1, 2004 on an invention of Bruce Shull et al.; and United States Patent Application Publication No. US2005/0003523 published Jan. 6, 2005 on an invention of Sunil Anaokar et al.
All of the above systems depend on precipitation and/or filtration to separate the unwanted components from the analytes to be tested. For example, if HDL is the desired analyte, the other lipoproteins are reacted to for a precipitate and are filtered from the plasma using filter membranes. However, the precipitates tend to block the pores in the system and impede the flow the desired analytes also, which reduces the amount of the desired analytes that reach the reaction area, and thus reduces the accuracy of the test. The conflict between the need for good separation of unwanted components from the analytes and the accuracy problems associated with such separation has caused the accuracy of the test strip/spectrophotometric systems to plateau, and has limited the usefulness of this art. Thus, there is a need for a test strip/spectrophotometer architecture that can improve the capabilities of the dry strip technology system and that yield more accurate readings.

Non-precipitating bodily fluid analysis system


Provided are a level shifter and a digital to analog converter, which can make a minimum value of an output voltage be greater than 0. In the circuit, sources of a first field effect transistor and a second field effect transistor are connected to a first direct current power supply; a drain of the first field effect transistor and a gate of the second field effect transistor are connected to one terminal of a first capacitor; a connecting end formed after the other terminal of the first capacitor is connected to an input end of a phase inverter is used as a digital signal input end; a gate of the first field effect transistor, a drain of the second field effect transistor, a source of a third field effect transistor, and a source of a fifth field effect transistor are connected to one terminal of a second capacitor.

At present, digital to analog converters have been widely applied in various fields. For example, in a communications base station, both a receive channel and a feedback channel generally need a high-speed and high-precision digital to analog converter.
A level shifter used in a digital to analog converter in the prior art is shown in FIG. 1, and includes a first field effect transistor M1, a second field effect transistor M2, a third field effect transistor M3, a fourth field effect transistor M4, a first capacitor C1, a second capacitor C2, and a phase inverter IVN, where the first field effect transistor M1, the second field effect transistor M2, and the fourth field effect transistor M4 are N-type field effect transistors, and the third field effect transistor M3 is a P-type field effect transistor; a source of the first field effect transistor M1 is connected to a source of the second field effect transistor M2, and a connecting end after the connection is connected to a direct current power supply, where the direct current power supply is a working power supply of the level shifter; a drain of the first field effect transistor M1 and a gate of the second field effect transistor M2 are connected to one terminal of the first capacitor C1; and the other terminal of the first capacitor C1 is connected to an input end of the phase inverter IVN, and a connecting end after the connection is used as a digital signal input end Vin; a gate of the first field effect transistor M1, a drain of the second field effect transistor M2, and a source of the third field effect transistor M3 are connected to one terminal of the second capacitor C2; and the other terminal of the second capacitor C2 and a source of the fourth field effect transistor M4 are connected to an output end of the phase inverter IVN; a power supply end of the phase inverter IVN is connected to the direct current power supply; a drain of the third field effect transistor M3 is connected to a drain of the fourth field effect transistor M4, and a connecting end after the connection is used as an analog signal output end Vout; and a gate of the third field effect transistor M3 and a gate of the fourth field effect transistor M4 may be connected to the direct current power supply.
In the level shifter shown in FIG. 1, because at the digital signal input end Vin, sometimes a digital signal "0" is input and sometimes a digital signal "1" is input, the first field effect transistor M1 sometimes is turned off and sometimes is turned on, to charge the first capacitor C1. Likewise, the second field effect transistor M2 sometimes is turned off and sometimes is turned on, to charge the second capacitor C2, so that a voltage difference exists between the two terminals of the first capacitor C1 and between the two terminals of the second capacitor C2, where the voltage difference is a direct current power supply voltage Vdd.
When a digital signal "0" is input at the digital signal input end Vin, a voltage corresponding to the digital signal "0" is 0. Potentials at points in the level shifter shown in FIG. 1 are shown in FIG. 2. A voltage of the input end of the phase inverter IVN is 0, and a voltage of the output end of the phase inverter IVN is Vdd. Because the voltage difference between the two terminals of the first capacitor C1 and the voltage difference between the two terminals of the second capacitor C2 cannot change suddenly, a voltage at the drain of the first field effect transistor M1, that is, a voltage at the gate of the second field effect transistor M2, is Vdd, and a voltage at the drain of the second field effect transistor M2 and at the source of the third field effect transistor M3, that is, a voltage at the gate of the first field effect transistor M1, is 2Vdd. According to the potentials at the points and types of the field effect transistors, states of the field effect transistors may be determined. Because the first field effect transistor M1 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage 2Vdd is higher than the source voltage Vdd, the first field effect transistor M1 is turned on, and the first capacitor C1 is charged; because the second field effect transistor M2 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is not higher than the source voltage Vdd, the second field effect transistor M2 is turned off; because the third field effect transistor M3 is a P-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is lower than the source voltage 2Vdd, the third field effect transistor M3 is turned on; and because the fourth field effect transistor M4 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is not higher than the source voltage Vdd, the fourth field effect transistor M4 is turned off That is, when a digital signal "0" is input at the digital signal input end Vin, an output voltage of the analog signal output end Vout is 2Vdd.
When a digital signal "1" is input at the digital signal input end Vin, it is assumed that a voltage corresponding to the digital signal "1" is V0, and V0>0. Potentials at the points in the level shifter shown in FIG. 1 are shown in FIG. 3. A voltage of the input end of the phase inverter IVN is V0, and a voltage of the output end of the phase inverter IVN is 0. Because the voltage difference between the two terminals of the first capacitor C1 and the voltage difference between the two terminals of the second capacitor C2 cannot change suddenly, a voltage at the drain of the first field effect transistor M1, that is, the gate of the second field effect transistor M2, is Vdd+V0, and a voltage at the drain of the second field effect transistor M2 and at the source of the third field effect transistor M3, that is, the gate of the first field effect transistor M1, is Vdd. According to the potentials at the points and types of the field effect transistors, states of the field effect transistors may be determined. Because the first field effect transistor M1 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is not higher than the source voltage Vdd, the first field effect transistor M1 is turned off; because the second field effect transistor M2 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd+V0 is higher than the source voltage Vdd, the second field effect transistor M2 is turned on, and the second capacitor C2 is charged; because the third field effect transistor M3 is a P-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is not lower than the source voltage Vdd, the third field effect transistor M3 is turned off; and because the fourth field effect transistor M4 is an N-type field effect transistor, and the gate voltage Vdd is higher than a source voltage 0, the fourth field effect transistor M4 is turned on. That is, when a digital signal "1" is input at the digital signal input end Vin, an output voltage of the analog signal output end Vout is 0.
It can be seen that, a minimum value of an output voltage of the level shifter in the prior art is 0. For some application scenarios in which there is a requirement that a minimum value of an output voltage of a level shifter is greater than 0, the level shifter shown in FIG. 1 obviously cannot meet the requirement, and therefore application scenarios of the level shifter are limited.

Level shifter and digital to analog converter


A pipe joint lubrication device including at least one first nozzle for application of lubricant on at least one of the fittings, a threaded nipple or a threaded socket, wherein the at least one first nozzle is provided on a first jaw housing which is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the nipple or the socket.

This invention regards a pipe joint lubrication device. More particularly, it regards a pipe joint lubrication device for lubrication of the threads of a pipe socket (socket) and of a pipe nipple (nipple). The lubricant is sprayed on while the nipple is rotated relative to the socket, the rotation taking place about the longitudinal axis of the socket and the nipple. The pipe joint lubrication device is particularly well suited for lubrication of the joints of a pipe string, such as is known from e.g. petroleum exploration and production.
It is customary when joining e.g. threaded drill pipes, to apply a lubricant (dope) on the threads, both in the socket and on the nipple. The purpose of the lubricant application is, in addition to facilitating the coupling and uncoupling of the pipes, to seal the threaded connection between the socket and the nipple when this is exposed to the relatively high fluid pressure encountered during drilling.
Previously it has been customary to apply the lubricant manually by means of e.g. a brush, However, mechanized lubricating apparatuses have been developed, in which the lubricant is sprayed onto the threads via nozzles, e.g. by use of compressed air.
Mechanized lubricating apparatuses according to prior art comprise relatively complicated positioning mechanisms and often represent an obstacle to efficient coupling of pipe lengths, as the lubricating apparatus must be brought up to the coupling location for each lubricating operation.
The object of the invention is to remedy or at least reduce at least one of the disadvantages of prior art.
The object is achieved in accordance with the invention, by the characteristics given in the description below and in the following claims.


A filling device for anesthetic vaporizers, with a connection piece which can be connected to a connection opening of an anesthetic reservoir in a gas-tight and liquid-tight manner. Leakage of anesthetic gas or liquid anesthetic can be avoided during the filling especially of low-boiling anesthetics by providing the reservoir 10 with a seal 17, which closes the connection opening 9 at least in a liquid-tight manner and can be opened by a projection 5 which is arranged on the connection piece 2 and extends into the interior space of the connection opening 9, as soon as the connection piece 2 is sealed off from the surroundings against the connection opening 9 by a sealing element 15 in a gas-tight and liquid-tight manner.

Such a filling device has become known from West German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 37,20,326.
The prior-art filling device consists of a flexible tube-like delivery line, which has a coaxially led filling canal and breather canal. At the end of the filling device that is to be connected to a reservoir there is located a screw cap as a connection piece to the connection opening of an anesthetic reservoir, which may be, e.g., a glass bottle that is filled with liquid anesthetic. When screwing the screw cap onto the connection opening of the opened reservoir, the canals immerse into the storage bottle. A sealing washer at a stop of the screw cap is pressed against the end face of the neck of the bottle, and thus it closes the reservoir and establishes a gas-tight connection between the reservoir and the filling device against the surroundings. With its bottle-side opening, the filling canal remains in the gas phase located above the liquid even when the filling device has been put in place tightly, and the breather canal immerses into the liquid anesthetic in the vicinity of the bottom of the bottle. To fill an anesthetic vaporizer with the liquid anesthetic, the reservoir is raised to the extent that the liquid anesthetic will penetrate into the filling canal under the effect of the force of gravity, and the amount of gas displaced from the anesthetic vaporizer will flow through the breather canal into the reservoir.
It proved to be disadvantageous for the filling process that considerable amounts of anesthetic vapor are released even during the opening of the reservoir to connect the filling device, and that small amounts of liquid anesthetic may be spilled in the case of careless handling of the opened reservoir. It is also possible that larger amounts of liquid anesthetic will run out when the opened reservoir is knocked over. Especially in the case of low-boiling point anesthetics, considerable amounts of anesthetic vapor will form, and they will escape into the surroundings if the reservoir is open.

Filling device for anesthetic vaporizers


A sintered hard metal compact for use in earth-boring bits comprises 80 to 94% by weight tungsten carbide particles, 5.4 to 18% by weight cobalt particles and 0.6 to 2.0% by weight nickel particles wherein the ratio of cobalt to nickel is approximately 9:1 by weight. These materials are formed according to conventional powder-metallurgy techniques to provide a hard, sintered compact for use in earth-boring bits having superior properties for drilling applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sintered hard metal compacts for use in earth-boring bits, specifically to the composition of binder matrix materials for use in such sintered hard metal compacts.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Sintered hard metal compacts long have been used in earth-boring bits to provide such bits with wear-resistance and increased earth-disintegrating ability. Many of these compacts comprise carbides of the group IVB, VB, VIB, or VIIB metals. The carbides are sintered into solid solution with one or more transition metals selected from group VIII. The transition metals thus form a binder matrix for the carbide particles. Depending on the composition of such a hard metal compact, various desirable mechanical properties, such as fracture-toughness, wear-resistance, and hardness are obtained.
The group VIII transition metal cobalt makes an excellent binder matrix material because it has excellent wetting properties in its liquid state. Its wetting ability permits cobalt to distribute itself better over carbide particles, thus providing an excellent binder matrix material having high toughness. However, cobalt is somewhat rare and more expensive than other metals, and can be difficult to obtain. Therefore, the bulk of recent effort in hard metal technology is to find a substitute for cobalt in the binder matrices of such hard metals.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,763, Apr. 12, 1966 to Ohlsson et al. discloses a hard metal alloy having superior qualities even if cobalt is wholly or partly substituted by nickel and/or iron. U.S Pat. No. 3,384,465, May 21, 1968 to Humenik, Jr., et al. discloses a sintered compact of tungsten carbide with a binder matrix of iron and nickel in place of cobalt-based material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,081, Jun. 11, 1974 to Hale discloses a hard metal having a binder matrix comprised mostly of iron with addition of up to 15 weight percent cobalt and 20 weight-percent nickel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,446, Nov. 23, 1976 to Okawa discloses a hard metal with a binder matrix comprised of nickel and cobalt, preferably in the ratio of 2:1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,945, Aug. 14, 1990 to Griffin discloses a cutting element for use in an earth-boring bit having a binder matrix comprising nickel and iron.
Most of the foregoing references disclose compositions directed toward replacement of cobalt in the binder matrices of sintered hard metals while retaining objectively good mechanical properties such as hardness, wear-resistance, and fracture-toughness. None of these materials have proved particularly successful for use as compacts in earth-boring bits.
This lack of success may be attributable to the fact that the cutting dynamics of earth-boring bits, and the loading and wear experienced by sintered hard metal compacts used in such earth-boring bits, are not fully understood. Therefore, the utility of a material quantified only by measured mechanical properties is dubious because the exact combination of desirable mechanical properties for sintered hard metal compacts for use in earth-boring bits also is not fully understood.
It has been found that a hard, sintered compact having a binder matrix comprised of nickel and cobalt yields an improved compact that is well-suited to the demanding environment present in earth-boring bit applications. The present invention employs a ratio of cobalt to nickel in the binder matrix that is substantially higher than that disclosed in the prior art, which is directed toward decreasing the quantity of cobalt in such compacts, as discussed above.

High-strength tungsten carbide material for use in earth-boring bits


At the time of starting a synchronous motor (40), one method of the present invention assumes that the synchronous motor (40) rotates at a revolving speed of not less than a predetermined level, and detects an electrical angle of a rotor (50) according to a first detection process, which has a practical accuracy when the revolving speed of the rotor (50) is not less than the predetermined level (step S120). In case that the electrical angle has not been detected successfully, the method detects the electrical angle of the rotor (50) according to a second detection process, which has a practical accuracy when the revolving speed of the rotor (50) is less than the predetermined level (step S160). Another method first detects the revolving speed of the rotor (50). The method adopts the first detection process to detect the electrical angle when the observed revolving speed is not less than a predetermined level, and adopts the second detection process when the observed revolving speed is less than the predetermined level. Even when the rotor (50) has already been rotated by an external force or inertia at the time of starting the synchronous motor (40), the method enables accurate detection of the electrical angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of detecting an electrical angle in a synchronous motor in a sensor-free manner and regulating electric currents flowing through polyphase windings of the synchronous motor, so as to control operation of the synchronous motor. The present invention also pertains to an apparatus for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A motor control apparatus for controlling operation of a synchronous motor generally has a unit that detects an electrical angle of a rotor, and regulates the electric currents flowing through polyphase windings according to the observed electrical angle of the rotor. Resolvers, encoders, and other sensors may be applicable for the electrical angle detection unit. Sensor-free structures that detect the electrical angle based on the electric currents flowing through the windings have, however, proposed recently, in order to enhance the reliability of detection.
The applicants of the present invention have proposed a device that detects an electrical angle of a synchronous motor at a high accuracy even when a rotor is at a stop or rotates at a low revolving speed (JAPANESE PATENT LAID-OPEN GAZETTE No. 7-177788). The proposed device measures behaviors of electric currents flowing through the windings and detects the inductance of the windings, which is affected by the position of the rotor, and thereby the electrical angle according to the observed behaviors of the electric currents. This device is based on the finding that detection of the behaviors of electric currents flowing through any two phases leads to unequivocal determination of the electrical angle in the case of a three-phase synchronous motor. This technique is specifically effective when the rotor rotates at a low revolving speed. The applicants of the present invention accordingly have proposed a structure that detects the electrical angle according to the behaviors of electric currents flowing through the respective phase coils while the rotor is at a stop or rotates at a revolving speed of less than a predetermined level. The structure adopts the conventional method of detection utilizing the counterelectromotive forces when the revolving speed of the rotor is not less than the predetermined level. This structure thus enables the electrical angle to be detected at a high accuracy, irrespective of the rotation of the rotor, that is, whether the rotor is at a stop, rotates at a low revolving speed, or rotates at a high revolving speed.
The proposed electrical angle detection device, which detects the electrical angle based on the behaviors of electric currents, does not require a sensor, such as a resolver, but enables the electrical angle to be detected at a high accuracy even when the rotor rotates at a low revolving speed. When the electrical angle detection device is actually incorporated in a motor control apparatus that controls operation of a synchronous motor, however, problems discussed below arise in some applications of the synchronous motor. In the normal application of the synchronous motor, operation of the synchronous motor starts from the state in which the rotor is at a stop. It can thus be assumed that measurement of the electrical angle starts from the state in which no electromotive forces are generated in the respective windings of the synchronous motor. In case that the synchronous motor is attached to, for example, a drive shaft of a vehicle, the rotor may rotate with a rotation of the drive shaft, although the synchronous motor is not specifically used either as a motor or a generator. In such cases, the electromotive forces due to the rotation of the rotor cause electric currents flow through the respective phase coils. Under these conditions, a voltage is applied between the phase coils and the behaviors of electric currents are measured. The electrical angle determined from the observed behaviors of electric currents may accordingly not represent the actual electrical angle of the rotor accurately.

Method of controlling operation of synchronous motor and motor control apparatus for the same


A broadband multi-phase output delay locked loop (DLL) circuit can be operated in a wide range of frequencies and generate various phases. Unlike conventional voltage control delay lines in which delay cells are connected in series, the DLL circuit utilizes a delay matrix in which a resistant network is used so that the number of delay cells connected in series is reduced, various phases can be outputted, and a delay interval error (phase error) due to the resistant network is minimized. The current of the delay cells is controlled so that the delay cells in the delay matrix can operate in a wide range of frequencies, and load capacitance values of capacitors connected in parallel in the delay cells can be controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a delay circuit used in storage media. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a broadband multi-phase output delay locked loop circuit including a delay matrix.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Due to the growth of the semiconductor industry and material engineering, optical storage media have been developed to store high-capacity data. Currently, CD and DVD technology comprise the standardized form of optical storage media and can store 650 MB and 4.7 GB of data respectively. Next generation storage media such as, for example, a Blu-ray disc, uses a laser having a wavelength of 405 nm to store data with a capacity of approximately 25 GB in similarly sized CDs. The Blu-ray disc has the largest capacity among currently existing optical storage media and can read and write data with a minimum speed of 66 Mb/s. Accordingly, circuits which perform high speed read/write operations to such discs are also required. Different data input/output speeds depend on the position radius of the disc when data is read from the disc. In addition, consistent read/write operation must be supported in all frequency domains making the use of a broadband delay locked loop (DLL) circuit essential. In a typical 12×-speed blue-ray disc, the disc band remarkably broadens and the frequency domain required by the DLL circuit is 60 MHz to 800 MHz. Existing DLL circuit designs do not accommodate this frequency domain. In addition, the clock signals utilized by the DLL circuit must accommodate 40 different phases to generate signals for the write operation across all frequencies.
A restriction on generating the various phases at high-speeds is the relatively small delay margin. When generating N phases which are separated by the same delay, a delay margin should be T/N for a clock cycle T and an error between the delays should be smaller than T/2N. For example, if 20 phases are generated in a 12×-speed blue-ray disc, the highest frequency is set at 792 MHz and an error between the delays should be smaller than 31 ps. However, generating a plurality of phases restricts high-speed circuit operation. In other words, when N phases are generated, the number of delay stages should be N or N/2 at a minimum. Accordingly, the maximum locking frequency depends on the number of delay stages.

Broadband multi-phase output delay locked loop circuit utilizing a delay matrix


A positioning device for positioning an object table relative to a reference frame with a drive unit including a first part connectable to the reference frame and a second part for holding the object table is described. The drive unit is constructed to displace the object table in a first direction by generating a force in the first direction on the second part, and a torque acting on the second part about an axis substantially perpendicular to the first direction such that the resulting force of the force and the torque is directed substantially through the center of gravity of the assembly including the object table and the second part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a positioning device, which can be used in a lithographic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
Such a lithographic apparatus may further include one or more positioning devices for displacing and positioning an object table provided with, e.g., the substrate or the patterning device.
Drive units such as linear motors, planar motors or linear actuators are often applied in the positioning device for generating the desired force. Examples of such positioning devices including linear motors can, for example, be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,246 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441. In general, such drive units or motors include a first part that includes an array of permanent magnets (also referred to as the magnet array) that extends in a first direction and a second part that includes a plurality of coils (also referred to as the coil assembly), positioned adjacent to each other in the first direction. During operating, the coils are supplied with an electric current (e.g. from a three-phase current supply) thus generating an electromagnetic force between the first part and the second part of the motor.
In general, some type of bearing may be provided between the first part and the second part allowing both parts to be displaced relative to each other in the first direction. Additionally, the bearing may be arranged to maintain a predefined distance between the first and second part in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Examples of such bearings are gas bearings (such as air bearing), ball bearings or slide bearings. In case of an air bearing (or any other gas bearing), a pre-load force is often applied. This pre-load force may be provided by, e.g., the weight of the moving assembly (in case the second direction corresponds to the vertical direction) or may be provided by a separate unit including, for example, a ferromagnetic member attached to the first part and a permanent magnet member attached to the second part.
In a lithographic projection apparatus, such a pre-loaded air bearing is often applied since it allows a displacement that is substantially frictionless and contactless. The latter is beneficial in that it may reduce the risk of contamination (by particles) that could occur in other types of bearings such as ball bearings. Such an air bearing usually extends along the first direction or includes various so-called bearing pads that are arranged along the first direction. In such an arrangement, the repelling force of the air bearing combined with the attractive pre-load force provides an equilibrium force at certain value of the distance between the first part and the second part in the second direction.
In many apparatuses, e.g. a lithographic apparatus, the positioning devices are designed as light as possible, in order, for example, to improve the dynamic behavior of the apparatus and to increase the productivity yield.

Positioning device and lithographic apparatus