An integrated HVACR control and protection system includes a modular and reprogrammable design providing a plurality of possible combinations of power detection, voltage detection, run current detection, transient current detection, temperature detection, universal thermostat interface, peripheral or remote control, and local display and control. The control and protection system is capable of evaluating the relationship between real power used by an HVACR system compressor and other system operating parameters to detect problems early in the failure cycle, i.e., before a failure has progressed to requiring a system shutdown or causing damage to other components. Additionally, a control system and method provide sensorless detection of various HVACR system faults, such as, for example, loss of refrigerant or a refrigerant flow restriction, that impact the relationship between real power and current, voltage, temperature, or other operating parameters. Peripheral or remote control includes wired or wireless system monitoring and parameter programming using a personal digital assistant (PDA), for example utilizing IR communication between the PDA and the control and protection system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control, monitoring, and protection devices for environmental conditioning systems including heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems ("HVACR systems").
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior HVACR control devices monitor line voltage, line current, and other parameters such as temperature to determine the state of an HVACR system component, such as a compressor. For example, such a device may monitor line current and in the event excess current is detected, for example from a locked motor rotor, the control device will shut down the system. When the control device detects a fault and shuts down the system, a technician typically must physically inspect components of the HVACR system to determine the cause of the fault.
Generally, each separate control device detects a fault after failure of a system component. For example, a direct short sensed by a motor current monitoring device after motor overheating has caused breakdown of the winding insulation, or no heating or cooling capacity detected by a pressure sensor after refrigerant blockage or loss that reduces efficiency. Detection of such faults often does not occur until additional damage has occurred, requiring system shut down until repairs are complete.
Control devices may include limits relating to system parameters, for example, desired temperature, motor current, and pressure. Control devices, for example a circuit card, are generally located within a housing for the HVACR system; therefore, determining and adjusting limits or other aspects of parameters stored by the control device generally requires cumbersome access.

Integrated HVACR control and protection system


The present invention, a pressure relief valve includes a valve body having, a valve seat and a flap valve pivotally mounted on said valve body, wherein said flap valve sealably co-operates with said valve seat in a closed position thereby sealing off said pressure relief valve, wherein the valve flap pivots about a pivot axis between a closed position and fully opened position. The pressure relief valve also includes a coil spring operably connected to said flap valve for applying a continuously increasing spring force as said valve pivots from the closed position to the fully opened position. The pressure relief valve further includes a pivot arm rigidly connected to said flap valve at one end and pivotally connected to a link arm at the other end, wherein said link arm is operably connected to said springs, such that the biasing force of the springs is communicated to the flap vale through said link arm and said pivot arm. Wherein, the linkage is adapted to enable the valve closing force to be preselected according the position of the flap valve, such that the valve closing force is a function of valve position.

The hazards presented in the event of a fire by large vessels containing pressurized fluids, particularly flammable fluids such as railcars for the conveyance of liquefied petroleum gases, are well known. The pressure within such a vessel when subject to external heat such as that due to an external fire, will rise, whilst the temperature of walls of the vessels, particularly in areas not in contact with the liquid contents of the vessels, may rise to a level at which their structural strength is sufficiently reduced to result in catastrophic failure to sustain the increased pressure within the vessel. Since such fires commonly arise following an accident such as a derailment, the orientation of the vessel when required to sustain such an abnormal position is not predictable.
The desirability of fitting a vessel with an efficient pressure relief valve is widely recognized and the performance requirements for such a valve are onerous and must be capable of providing an adequate rate of fluid flow under wide range of emergency conditions. It must retain a reclosure capability such as to restrain unnecessary continuation of venting of the contents of the vessel when its internal pressure has fallen to an acceptable level even after exposure to extreme temperatures. According to the circumstances and the orientation of the vessel during venting, the valve may be required to pass gas, liquid or a mixture of gas and liquid. The rate of volume discharge of gas will be much higher than that for liquid or a liquid/gas mixtures. The valve must be gas and fluid tight under non-emergency conditions as well.
Conventional pressure relief valves for this type of application have usually been of the poppet type, and rating for a desired vapour at a discharge rate. The configuration of a poppet valve is such as inherently to limit the valve opening which can be achieved with a valve body of a given size, and the difference between opening and closing pressures is fixed by the design of the valve.
The requirement for safety relief devices to resist a predetermined set pressure and to fully flow at only a slight increase in pressure, requires that the springs be sufficiently rigid to attain the set pressure and as well have a low enough spring rate to allow the valve to fully open during a necessity for full flow. Traditionally this requirement demands relatively large springs, which are aligned with the stem of the valve creating excessive profiles and obstructions in the fluid flow through the valve.
Some attempts have been made to solve this problem in particular U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,056 to Alberto Solaroli entitled Pressure Relief Valve and U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,547 to Alberto Solaroli again entitled Pressure Relief Valve has attempted to provide the necessary valve opening forces without having to resort to extremely large springs . I refer particularly to U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,547 in column 3, lines 15 to 25 where the inventor describes the use of a longitudinal slot 44 shown in FIG. 3 having a distal end within which is retained a sliding boss 46 formed with a groove 48 which engages an end loop 50 of a tension spring 52. As described in this patent, once the internal pressure is great enough to overcome the set force or set pressure, crank arm 42 pivots from the vertical position thereby allowing sliding boss 46 to move down a longitudinal slot 44 in the crank arms distal end, thereby attempting to reduce the spring bias on said valve as the valve opens from a closed position to an open position. This particular arrangement is subject to galling and friction forces on sliding boss 46 in longitudinal slot 44 which may be unpredictable and subject to the lubrication and materials employed.
The present invention allows for a small highly rated spring to supply the set resisting force with any further deflection of the spring providing a constant force or other force profiles as the application requires during opening.
Unlike conventional safety relief valves used in the storage and transportation of bulk fluids using the stem and seat arrangement, the present valve swings away from the flow channel allowing virtually unrestricted flow directly exiting the area that is under excess pressure. The design is such that the circular valve opens away from the seat and from the plane of mounting. Subsequently, extremely high flow rates can be achieved using this design.
Using the presently invented mechanism, the valve can for example operate as though the springs where providing constant force, opening from the set or closed position to a fully open position with little or no increase in restraining force. As the valve is opened by a pressure increase in the containment vessel or line, the component of restraining force can for example become smaller and remains less than the fluids static and dynamic force.
It is the objective of the invention to provide a pressure relief device, that is not constrained by the size of the springs, which directly act as the resisting force against normal operating pressures and events of over pressuring.


Stents and methods for producing stents are provided. The stent includes a polymeric substrate comprised of 10-50% (w/w) of alginate and 45-85% (w/w) of gelatine and further includes a polymeric biodegradable resin for coating said polymeric substrate. The stent can also include a contrast agent. The stent can further include a crosslinking agent. The method for producing the stent includes dissolving the alginate and gelatine in water and stirring to obtain a polymeric substrate. The method also includes adding a crosslinking agent to the substrate, injecting the substrate into a mold to obtain the stent, placing the stent in a first alcohol solution, and placing the stent in a crosslinking agent solution. The method further includes placing the stent in a second alcohol solution, and a series of interchanging drying and immersing steps.

A first-generation of biodegradable ureteral stents based on natural origin polymers developed in the state if the art (described in Barros A A, Rita A, Duarte C, Pires R A, Sampaio-Marques B, Ludovico P, Lima E, Mano J F, Reis R L. 2015. Bioresorbable ureteral stents from natural origin polymers; J Biomed Mater Res Part B 2015:103B:608-617) has proven to be an interesting alternative to conventional stents, but it has however demonstrated to fail upon the first in vivo validation in a pig model.
In the first-generation of biodegradable ureteral stents, these were produced using alginate, gellan gum and a blend of these with gelatine (described in Barros A A, Rita A, Duarte C, Pires R A, Sampaio-Marques B, Ludovico P, Lima E, Mano J F, Reis R L. 2015. Bioresorbable ureteral stents from natural origin polymers; J Biomed Mater Res Part B 2015:103B:608-617). The bacterial adhesion of Gram-positive and Gram-negative was assed and compared with a commercial stent (BIOSOFT® duo, Porges, Coloplast) and showed a decrease of adhesion. The biodegradation profile was observed to be highly dependent on the composition of the stent, with a complete dissolution of alginate-based stents during 14 days and the gellan gum-based stents up to 60 days [16]. A first-generation of biodegradable ureteral stents based on natural origin polymers developed previously has proven to be an interesting alternative, but it has however failed upon the first in vivo validation due to its poor mechanical properties (see FIG. 6D).
The most frequent adverse effects reported by patients experiencing ureteral stenting are pain and difficulties in urinary tract [1]. These problems can significantly impact patient quality of life with loss days of working, urinary leakage and sexual difficulties [2]. In last years, new ureteral stent designs have been tested with novel polymers, coatings and the incorporation of active compounds in an attempt to significantly reduce the most common problems like bacterial infection and encrustation [2-4]. Lange et al [1] in a recent review concluded that the stent of the future will be degradable, in a control manner, and possible to coat or elute active compounds. No biodegradable ureteral stent is currently available on the market, although in past year's there has been a crescent interest in this field [1]. Polymers like polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and alginate-based materials have been used to develop the biodegradable ureteral stents [5-9]. Lumiaho, J. et al reported an in vivo studies in pig model using polylactic acid and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) based stents which have shown good properties like antireflux properties and favorable drainage but the biocompatibility and the degradation profile were proven to be insufficient for clinical use [5,10,11]. The same ureteral stents showed a different behavior in a canine model, presenting a good biocompatibility and degradation which occurred in 12 weeks [12]. Other studies using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based ureteral stents reported favorable radiopaque and drainage properties, but the biocompatibility was compromised, according to what is reported in the literature [5,13-15]. The degradation of the ureteral stents must be uniform and homogenous, preventing the formation of fragments during the degradation process that can block the ureter [1,6,16]. URIPRENE® stent (Poly-Med, USA), a radiopaque, glycolic-lactic acid based stent has been designed to degrade in the direction of the bladder coil to renal coil preventing ureteral obstruction secondary to degrading stent fragments [1]. The in vivo pig model studies of URIPRENE® reported a good stability and biocompatibility, with a predictable degradation during 2-4 weeks while maintaining drainage. In previous studies, it was reported an ureteral stent produced with natural based polymers processed by critical point drying with carbon dioxide [16]. This study was however not the first in literature to report alginate-polymer-based temporary ureteral stents. Lingeman et al [9,17] showed in a phase I and phase II clinical trials that these ureteral stents were designed to be intact at least 48 h before degradation with facilitated urinary drainage, favorable tolerability and safety profiles. The problem of these alginate-based stents is the fact that it presented a nonhomogeneous dissolution profile and fragmentation resulting in the need for secondary procedures to remove fragments in some patients.

Ureteral stent, methods and uses thereof

ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TISSUE ENGINEER


A telescopic emergency egress device includes an outer tube having a front end and a back end, an inner tube having a front end and being telescopically movable along the outer tube, a spring compressed to push the inner tube to move from a retracted position to an extended position, a retainer operable to maintain the inner tube in the retracted position, and a device for lowering a person at the front end of the inner tube from a higher level to a lower level at a speed of sufficient safety to the person.

More and more high buildings now exist in the world. A problem arising from them is that their excessive height may cause the occupants to be at risk when normal routes of egress are blocked or inoperative during an emergency, such as an earthquake or a fire.
In view of the problem, an egress device that can lower a user from a high level to the ground outside a building was developed. FIG. 4 shows a conventional emergency egress device in which a post (90) is pivotally connected to an arm (92) that has a ring (920) attached to the free end thereof, and a governor (94) with harness (96), line (980) and reel (98) are stored in a box (99) in the general proximity of the base of the past (90).
In the event of an emergence, the arm (92) is pivoted about an axial 900 to a horizontal position to extend the free end thereof outside a window or over the edge of a balcony and clear of the side of the building. The governor (94) with harness (96), line (980) and reel (98) are removed from the storage box (99), and the governor (94) is attached to the ring (920) at the end of the arm (92) by means of a C-ring (940). The harness (96) is attached to the rope (980) which is reeved through the governor (94) and wound on the reel (98). The reel (98) is dropped to the ground thereby unwinding the rope (980) from the reel (98). The user securely places the around his/her body, slides or jumps from the window or balcony ledge and is lowered to the ground away from the event causing the emergency.
This conventional emergency egress device is useful in an emergence, however, the primary disadvantage is the multiplicity of steps that must be taken to prepare the device for use. In short the user loses a great deal of time preparing the device before an escape can be made. Another disadvantage includes the necessity to slide or leap from the window or balcony ledge before any weight is put on the device and the user natural reluctance to take such a leap. Finally, the conventional device requires floor space for storage.


The main objection of the present invention is to provide a high quality color filter having a colored layer formed by ink jet method and without color irregularity, a void, or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high quality color filter without a void, or the like, to be used for a liquid crystal display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the development of the personal computers, in particular, the development of the portable personal computers, demand for a liquid crystal display, especially a color liquid crystal display tends to be increased. However, the color liquid displays are expensive; therefore, a request that the cost should be reduced has been increasing. In particular, a request that the cost of their color filters, which accounts for a high ratio in the total cost, should be reduced has been raised.
Such a color filter, in general, comprises colored patterns of three primary colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) so that liquid crystals are operated as a shutter by switching on or off the electrodes each corresponding to the pixels of R, G and B. Thereby, color display can be provided according to light transmission to the each pixel of R, G and B.
As the production methods for a color filter executed conventionally, for example, a dye method, a pigment dispersion method, or the like can be presented. However, according the methods, in any case, the same step should be repeated for three times for coloring the three colors of R, G and B so that problems are involved in that the cost is increased or the yield is lowered due to the repetition of the steps.
Then, a method of forming a semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer on a base material, using a semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer forming coating solution containing a semiconductor photo catalyst and a material to have the characteristic change by the function of the semiconductor photo catalyst according to the energy irradiation, and exposing in a pattern so as to form a pattern with the characteristic change, or the like has been discussed by the present inventors (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-074928). According to this method, a colored layer can be formed easily, utilizing the characteristic difference of the above-mentioned semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer.
Moreover, as an application of the method, also a method of directing an energy to a patterning substrate comprising a transparent base material, a light shielding part formed on the base material, and a semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer formed so as to cover the light shielding part from the base material side for changing the characteristic of the semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer only in the region without the formation of the light shielding part is discussed by the present inventors (JP-A No. 2004-212900). According to the method, it is advantageous in that the pattern with the characteristic changed can be formed without using a photo mask, or the like, and a method of, for example, utilizing the same at the time of forming a striped colored layer used for a striped color filter or a zigzag colored layer used for an IPS mode color filter is also discussed.
Here, according to a color filter having a striped colored layer or a colored layer of an IPS type color filter, since a light shielding part 4 is formed so as to be crossed with each colored layer 8 for example as shown in FIG. 7A, in general, the colored layers are formed by coating a colored layer forming coating solution not only of the pattern for forming the colored layers, that is, the opening parts sectioned for the light shielding parts for forming the colored layer but also on the light shielding parts crossing with the pattern so as to form the colored layers. However, in the case the above-mentioned method of exposing the semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer from the base material side is used, the characteristic of the semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer only in the opening parts sectioned by the light shielding parts is changed without changing the characteristic of the semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer on the light shielding parts crossing with each pattern. Therefore, in the case the colored layer forming coating solution is coated, the colored layer forming coating solution cannot be adhered onto the semiconductor photo catalyst containing layer on the light shielding part crossing with the above-mentioned colored layer so that the colored layer forming coating solution 10 cannot be spread neatly to the end parts of the opening parts sectioned by the light shielding parts 4 as shown in for example FIG. 7B so that irregularity or a void can be generated in the colored layer.
Moreover, as another example of a production method for a color filter, a method of forming a bank for storing a colored layer forming coating solution for forming a colored layer on a base material, applying a plasma process to the bank with a fluorine composition as the introducing gas so as to have the bank as liquid repellent, and forming a colored layer by the ink jet method is also proposed (JP-A No. 2000-187111). Also in this case, the colored layer forming coating solution cannot be adhered on the liquid repellent bank to be crossed with the striped colored layer, or the like so that as in the above-mentioned case, the colored layer forming coating solution cannot be spread neatly to the end parts of the opening parts sectioned by the light shielding parts, thereby irregularity or a void can be generated in the colored layer.

Abstract: To achieve the object, the present invention provides a color filter comprising a base material, a light shielding part having a plurality of linear light shielding parts formed by a predetermined equal interval on the base material and interlocking light shielding parts for interlocking two of the light shielding parts adjacent by a predetermined interval, and colored layers formed between each of the linear light shielding parts so as to cover the interlocking light shielding parts, wherein opening parts sectioned by the light shielding part are formed on the base material such that the opening parts have a shape with the top end part of at least one corner part cut out by a straight line or a curved line, and furthermore, the colored layers are formed by the ink jet method.


Methods and procedures allow devices interwork with various types of service layers by updating the device to support the protocol of the M2M/IoT service layer that is being communicated with. Devices can coordinate/initiate download of a service layer API that is compatible with the service layer the device is attempting to use. A service layer can coordinate the autonomous update of a device with the proper service layer API which allows the device to then communicate and use services supported by the service layer component to the device. A service layer can detect a device or application lacking proper service layer functionality and can trigger a management entity to update the device or application with the service layer API required such that the device can then register to the service layer and use its services. A device or application can be customized or optimized to the service layer that it is registered to and using.

From a protocol stack perspective, a service layer 102 is typically situated above the application protocol layer 104 and provides value added services to applications 106 or to another service layer. Hence a service layer 102 is often categorized as a "middleware" service. A Machine-to-Machine (M2M)/Internet-of-Things (IoT) service layer is targeted towards M2M/IoT devices and applications.
An example deployment of an M2M/IoT service layer, instantiated within a network, is shown in FIG. 2. In this example, a service layer instance 202 is a realization of a service layer. A number of service layer instances, such as service layer instance 202, are deployed on various network nodes (i.e., gateways and servers) for providing value-added services to network applications, device applications, and the network nodes themselves. Recently, several industry standard bodies (e.g., oneM2M) have been developing M2M/IoT service layers to address the challenges associated with integration of M2M/IoT types of devices and applications into network deployments such as the Internet, cellular, enterprise, and home. An M2M service layer can provide applications and devices access to a collection of M2M-oriented capabilities supported by the service layer. A few examples of such capabilities include security, charging, data management, device management, discovery, provisioning, and connectivity management. These capabilities are made available to applications via Application Program Interfaces (APIs) which make use of message formats, resource structures and resource representations defined by the M2M service layer.
The goal of oneM2M is to develop technical specifications which address the need for a common service layer that can be readily embedded within hardware apparatus and software modules to support a wide variety of devices in the field with M2M application servers worldwide. The oneM2M common service layer supports a set of Common Service Functions (CSFs) (i.e. service capabilities), as shown in FIG. 3. An instantiation of a set of one or more particular types of CSFs is referred to as a Common Services Entity (CSE) 302 which can be hosted on different types of network nodes (e.g. Infrastructure Node, Middle Node, and Application-Specific Node. CSEs are termed IN-CSE, MN-CSE and ASN-CSE respectively).
Initially, oneM2M is developing a service layer compliant with RESTful architectural principles that acts upon defined resources (as shown in FIG. 4). A resource is a uniquely addressable element in the architecture having a representation that can be manipulated via RESTful methods such as Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete. These resources are made addressable using a Universal Resource Identifiers (URIs). A resource may contain child resource(s) and attribute(s). A child-resource is a resource that has a containment relationship with a parent resource. The parent resource representation contains references to its child resources(s). The lifetime of a child-resource is limited by the parent's resource lifetime. Each resource supports a set of "attributes" that store information of the resource.
Recently, the M2M Service Component Architecture (as shown in FIG. 5) is being developed to consider legacy deployments that are not RESTful based, and which are primarily suitable for the infrastructure domain where the CSE is viewed as a set of service components. It largely re-uses the existing service layer architecture shown in FIG. 4, but within the service layer various M2M services can be grouped into service components. In addition to existing reference points, it introduces the inter-service reference point Msc 502. Communication between M2M Service Components passing over the Msc reference point 502 utilizes a web service approach, which is the most popular technology for building Service-Oriented Architecture (SoA)-based software systems.
The following briefly describes some of the M2M/IoT interworking approaches that already exist in specifications or development. 'Interworking' refers to the ability for M2M devices designed to communicate via a particular service layer or protocol to communicate with another service layer that uses different messaging or protocols. The following focuses on communications between M2M/IoT devices/applications with M2M/IoT service layers. Some of the procedures can also be applied to M2M/IoT service layer to service layer communications.
The oneM2M architecture solution to interworking with non-oneM2M solutions is based on the use of specialized interworking Application Entities that are interfaced to the CSE via standard Mca reference points.
Such specialized applications are named Interworking Proxies and are shown in FIG. 6. The Interworking Proxy Application Entity (IPE) 602 is characterized by the support of a non-oneM2M reference point, and by the capability of remapping the related data model to the oneM2M resources exposed via the Mca reference point.
The remapping is typically supported via a full semantic interworking of the data model used by the non oneM2M and a related protocol interworking logic, and, depending on the complexity of the non oneM2M data model, can imply the definition of a complex set of resources built via the basic oneM2M ones, or a simple direct mapping of the communication via the containers.
The oneM2M architecture defines the following three variants of how interworking through an Interworking Proxy Application Entity over Mca can be supported:                1) Interworking with full mapping of the semantics of the non-oneM2M data model to Mca.        This is typically supported via a full semantic interworking of the data model used by the non-oneM2M solution and the generic data model used in oneM2M (based on usage of containers) for exchanging application data. The IPE includes the related protocol interworking logic.        Depending on the complexity of the non-oneM2M data model, this can imply that the Interworking Proxy Application Entity constructs a complex set of resources (built from the basic oneM2M resources) in the CSE. These resources are oneM2M representations of the non-oneM2M data model and are exposed by the IPE on Mca. They enable CSEs and AEs to access the entities in the non-oneM2M via the IPE.        The benefit of this level of interworking is that it offers a unique solution for enabling communications among different protocols. The data model of the non-oneM2M solution determines its representation (the names, data types and structure of the containers) in the M2M System. It caters for different levels of interworking including protocol interworking, semantic information exchange, data sharing among the different solution and deployments. It enables offering additional values with respect to what is today available via existing protocols and proprietary service exposures.        Note: With this level of interworking an M2M Application can access non-oneM2M solutions without the need to know the specific protocol encoding for these solutions. A drawback is that the IPE also potentially needs to interwork between a non-oneM2M security solution and oneM2M security. E.g. it needs to be the termination point of any non-oneM2M specific encryption.        2) Interworking using containers for transparent transport of encoded non-oneM2M data and commands via Mca.        In this variant non-oneM2M data and commands are transparently packed by the Interworking Proxy Application Entity into containers for usage by the CSEs and AEs.        In this case the CSE or AE needs to know the specific protocol encoding rules of the non-oneM2M Solution to be able to en/de-code the content of the containers.        3) Interworking using a retargeting mechanism.
The oneM2M specification goes on to indicate that these interworking approaches can be integrated into the CSE 302 to achieve a permanent part of the deployment.
Building the Environment for Things as a Service, BETaaS, is a European Union funded project that includes a platform for the execution of M2M applications, which is built on top of services deployed in a "local cloud" of gateways, the latter being the devices which provide the smart objects with connectivity to the Internet (e.g., smart phones, home routers, road-side units). BETaaS's main focus is defining adaptation layers 802 to interconnect BETaaS with the main architectures proposed at a European level for M2M communication, including ETSI M2M and IoT-A. In addition to being highly scalable, security, dependability and QoS features will be embedded "by design" into the BETaaS platform
In this implementation the "Adaption Layer" is specific to the service layer with which the M2M/IoT device will communicate.
Device Management (DM) is the process in which a centrally located user can configure, monitor, diagnose, and otherwise manage a remotely located device. This is especially valuable when the devices are mobile in nature or deployed in remote areas that make access to them difficult. Typically, a DM server at a central site downloads commands to be executed on the device. A DM client running on the device will receive these commands and process the state changes necessary to execute the desired operations. This communication mechanism between the DM server and the DM client is implemented using defined procedures and message formats and is known as a DM protocol. Two of the well-known DM protocols are the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM Protocol and the Broadband Forum (BBF) CPE WAN Management Protocol. Another emerging DM protocol is the OMA LWM2M Protocol.
FIG. 9 shows the OMA DM Protocol architecture in which a DM Server 902 sends device management commands to DM Clients running on devices. The DM Client maintains a set of Managed Objects (MO) 906 within a resource structure referred to as the DM Tree. These MOs 906 are used to manage a particular function on the device such as software updates. The management commands operate on the nodes of the DM Tree 908 and may cause state changes within the device.
In the BBF CPE was management protocol, OMA defined a DM Gateway that offers limited group management functionality through the use of the Gateway Management Object (GwMO). This GwMO targets providing software distribution to a group of devices managed by the DM Gateway. Since GwMO resides only on a DM Gateway, the group management is only available for devices connected to the gateway. Other DM devices cannot be managed in a group.
The OMA Lightweight M2M (LWM2M) Protocol provides a similar client-server architecture in which a LWM2M Server manages a LWM2M Client running on a device. FIG. 10 shows the LWM2M architecture and the different interfaces provided. These interfaces focus on communications between the LWM2M Server 1002 and the LWM2M Client 1004. There is no support for group operations in which a LWM2M Server 1002 can manage multiple LWM2M Clients on different devices. Operations are performed on Objects that reside on the device.
FIG. 11 shows the BBF TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol architecture where an Auto-Configuration Server (ACS) 1102 is used to manage Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) devices 1104, 1106 and 1008. The ACS uses Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) to perform management operations on the data models of the CPE devices 1104, 1106 and 1108.
The architecture of FIG. 11 specifies limited group management support through the use of multicast transport protocols such as File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) and Digital Storage Media Command and Control (DSM-CC). This is limited for file transfers and specifically for downloads only. The ACS 1102 will provide each CPE the details of the multicast group to join to initiate the file transfer. In addition, provisions are made in some RPC calls to allow an ACS 1102 the ability to set or get multiple parameter values from the same CPE. These provisions are only enabled for the corresponding RPC call and are limited to the same CPE only.
Service Discovery is generally conducted by a client to determine the ID, IP address, host and/or port for a desired service which is either statically provisioned at installation or manually configured via management or control tools and listed in a database or container accessible by the client, or registered at a server and maintained in the registry database or directory which is also accessible by the client.
DNS server may be used for both service and device discovery. But here, only DNS Service Discovery (DNS-SD) is discussed. DNS-SD built on top of the Domain Name System (DNS). It allows clients to discover a list of named services by type in a specified domain using standard DNS queries. The service instance can be described using a DNS service (SRV) (RFC 2782) and DNS text (TXT) (RFC 1035) record.
DNS resource records (RR) are named and structured on a DNS server to facilitate service discovery. Given a type of service that a client is looking for, and a domain in which the client is looking for that service, the DNS-SD allows clients to discover a list of named instances of that desired service, using standard DNS queries for a particular service instance described using a DNS SRV record and DNS TXT record. The SRV record has a name of the form "<Instance>.<Service>.<Domain>" and gives the target host and port where the service instance can be reached. The DNS TXT record of the same name gives additional information about this instance, in a structured form using key/value pairs. A client discovers the list of available instances of a given service type using a query for a DNS pointer (PTR) record with a name of the form "<Service>. <Domain>", which returns a set of zero or more names, i.e. the names of aforementioned DNS SRV/TXT record pairs.

Method and apparatus of interworking M2M and IoT devices and applications with different service layers


A method is provided for producing a housing body for optoelectronic components that are reliable and inexpensive. The method creates a hermetic joint between a metal sleeve and a glass pane by joining together a housing element and a preferably metallic housing arrangement. The housing element and the housing arrangement are brought into contact with a glass solder, before the housing element and housing arrangement are joined. The glass solder is applied as a shapeable material, in particular as a paste. The glass solder is pre-vitrified and has its shape fixed by energy being introduced at least once, in particular as a result of organic constituents being burnt off. After the housing element has been inserted into the housing arrangement, a joint that is hermetic at least in regions, is produced between the glass pane and housing arrangement.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for hermetically housing optical components, in particular for producing a housing body or parts thereof, in which preferably optoelectronic components are hermetically encapsulated or packaged, and also relates to optical components produced in accordance with the process.
2. Description of Related Art
Hermetically packaged or encapsulated housings are often used to protect sensitive components, such as lasers or photodiodes, from environmental influences and help to ensure a sufficient service life of these components.
Hitherto, glass-metal joining technologies which are known per se to the person skilled in the art and in which the housing comprises a metal component and a glass component acting as a window, which are hermetically joined to one another, have been used to produce housings/optical caps of this type.
Housings of this type often comprise a sleeve-like metal body and a glass pane which can be received in the sleeve and serves as a window. In the known production of housings/optical caps of this type, the metal and glass components were joined by means of a glass solder arranged in the form of a ring which was used as a sintered shaped part. In this case, before the components were actually joined together, the glass solder shaped part had to be produced in a separate operation using sintering technology. Then, the shaped part was inserted in an accurately fitting manner into the sleeve-like metal component and covered with the round glass pane. This was followed by the fusion operation in which sleeve and glass pane were joined to one another in a hermetic and force-fitting manner. To ensure the desired hermetic sealing of the housing, the position and shape of the glass solder between metal sleeve and glass pane in each case had to be adapted in an appropriate way. Tight tolerances have to be observed both for the housing components and for the glass solder. Therefore, considerable attention has to be paid when producing and inserting the glass solder shaped parts, which is time-consuming and expensive. Often, in particular in the case of inclined joining surfaces, it was nevertheless impossible to prevent high scrap rates, since any running of the glass solder shaped parts led to inaccurate application.
Furthermore, this technology is confronted with pronounced feasibility limits as soon as the glass window is no longer required in the form of a round disk, but rather with a polygonal contour, in particular as a right angle or in other shapes which deviate from a simple round geometry or the surface which is to be covered with glass solder is not horizontal or convex in shape. On account of their shape, there are very considerable restrictions on the glass solder shaped parts which can be produced by sintering technology, especially with the degree of accuracy required.
The conventional process is also unsuitable for optical caps, the windows of which are arranged obliquely in the metallic sleeve, on account of an excessive quantity of solder and on account of the solder ring slipping before it is melted or during the soldering operation.

Method for hermetically housing optical components, and optical components produced according to said method


An engine mounting apparatus for attaching an engine to a suspension pylon includes a mounting block, first and second links connectable between the engine and the mount block and first and second fixings connectable between the suspension pylon and the mount block. The apparatus further has a catcher link, located between the first and second links, that is connectable to the engine at a first end and to the suspension pylon at a second end via a third fixing with a clearance between the catcher link and the engine such that no load is transferred between the engine and the suspension pylon in normal operation. The apparatus also has a catcher fixing between the mount block and the catcher link, the catcher fixing having a clearance with respect to the mount block such that no load is transferred between the mount block and the catcher link in normal operation.

It is conventional when mounting an engine on an aircraft, whether under a wing or against the fuselage, to provide a front and a rear mounting apparatus with respect to the engine. Where the engine is a gas turbine engine, the front mounting is generally provided in the vicinity of the compressors and the rear mounting is generally provided in the vicinity of the turbines. However, other apparatuses are possible. The engine is suspended under the wings or from the tail of an aircraft by front and rear engine mounting apparatuses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,227 discloses a mounting apparatus that comprises a main attachment structure, or mount block, having two load transfer links interconnecting the engine and the main attachment structure. Four bolts are provided to interconnect the aircraft pylon and the main attachment structure and thereby transfer the loads from the engine into the pylon. A standby attachment structure is provided as a fail-safe mechanism. It comprises a protrusion extending from the pylon and is arranged to sit, in use, through a slot in the main attachment structure. When it is located through the slot a pin can be inserted through an aperture in the protrusion so that the pylon and main attachment structure cannot be separated. There is a clearance around the pin in the aperture so that no load is transferred during normal usage. However, if one of the two load transfer links fails, the clearance is taken up and the load is transferred through the standby attachment structure.
One disadvantage of this apparatus is that the pin is obscured by the surrounding components. This means that it is prone to being overlooked during inspection and maintenance of the engine and mounting or assembly and / or disassembly of the engine mounting. If the pin is not inserted through the aperture in the protrusion during mounting of the engine to the aircraft pylon there is no fail-safe mechanism in the event of failure of one of the load transfer links. If the pin is not removed before the bolts during dismounting of the engine, the full weight of the engine is inadvertently transferred through the pin and the standby attachment apparatus, which may stress and damage the pin thereby requiring its replacement for full safety.
Another disadvantage of this apparatus is that the fail-safe mechanism is only effective in the event of a failure of one of the load transfer links. In the event of the failure of the main attachment structure there is no alternative load path. This is likely to result in one or both of the load transfer links being inoperative and may result in the engine becoming detached from the pylon.
A further conventional apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,357, which has a platform, or mount block, having three links connecting it to the engine and bolts to connect it to the aircraft pylon. Two of the links are load transfer links that are connected at one end to the engine, at the other end to the platform and at an intermediate position to the platform with a sliding connection to allow thermal expansion between the components. The third, fail-safe link is connected to the platform at one end and to the engine at the other by a pin having a clearance. Thus, during normal operation the third link is unloaded. In the event of failure of one of the two load transfer links, the clearance is taken up and the load is transferred through the third, fail-safe link.
This apparatus also is unable to provide a fail-safe mechanism in the event of failure of the platform. As with U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,227 one or both of the load transfer links may become inoperative and the engine may become detached from the pylon.


A stripline laser includes a housing having two sides. An exit window is disposed at one of the sides for a laser beam traveling in a given direction. Two metal electrodes are mutually spaced apart defining a discharge gap therebetween. At least two mutually parallel bars having very low coefficients of temperature expansion retain two resonator mirrors at a precisely fixed mutual spacing. The electrodes are rigidly joined to the housing and to the bars in the given direction at only one location in a reference plane. The electrodes are secured at another location against motions relative to the housing running perpendicular to the discharge gap. A holder adjustably fastens an inclination of at least one of the mirrors relative to the discharge gap. The bars fix an axial position and an angular position of the at least one adjustable mirror relative to the reference plane. The reference plane is disposed at least approximately midway between the mirrors.

Stripline or waveguide lasers are known from German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 37 29 053 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,738. The construction mentioned above is described in Published European Application No. 0 477 865. There, bars with very low temperature expansion coefficients are rigidly fastened to two opposed end walls of a laser housing; the electrodes are also rigidly fastened to one end wall, the reference plane, while in contrast on the opposite end wall they are held movably in the direction of the discharge gap by one or more alignment pins.


This invention relates to a burglarproof key cylinder lock which comprises an outer tubular member, and an inner tubular member rotatably provided within the outer tubular member. A properly coded magnet key is inserted into the inner tubular member. The outer tubular member is provided with at least one switch member therein which is turned ON when a properly coded magnet key is inserted into the inner tubular member. An input signal discrimination circuit is provided for cutting off output signals to supply elements essential for the operation of an engine for a vehicle in case a key other than the properly coded key is inserted.

This invention relates to a burglarproof device for a vehicle.
Conventionally, as a device of this kind, there is an embodiment disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 5621/89. This embodiment essentially comprises a key switch unit having a key switch provided in a steering column on the vehicle side, a control unit for controlling starting of an engine, and a key unit adapted to be inserted into the key switch unit to permit the engine to be started.
However, the above-mentioned embodiment has the following drawbacks recited below.
In the key unit and the control unit, transmitters, each including a CPU for memorizing specific codes set for each vehicle, are incorporated therein, respectively. Thus, such units are of complicated structure as a whole.
Each key unit includes therein a CPU, a light emitting element, a plurality of contacts, etc., and these electronic elements are complicatedly combined in the key unit. For this reason, there is a high probability that the key unit becomes out of order.
If the key unit itself has become out of order, there would occur an inconvenience such that the engine cannot be started in any way by the key operation.

No. 57-1, 3-chome, Utsukushigaoka, Midori-ku


A foldable handle for long-handled tools includes first and second handle members hingedly coupled together at their respective coupling ends by a toggle linkage. The linkage is pivotably coupled to each of the handle members via first and second pivot pins respectively forming a double-jointed articulating joint. The joint includes multiple locking features which cooperate to form a rigid and anti-rotational joint when the handle members are in a coaxially-aligned operational unfolded condition. The linkage includes oppositely extending arm portions slideably insertable into complementary configured locking axial passages in the hinge members. Each handle member includes a plurality of mutually interlocking axial protrusions. The linkage includes a block-shaped middle portion between the arms which lockingly engage a transverse channel in each end of the handle members. Finally, a slideable collar covers the joint and threadably engages one of the handle member to conceal and secure the joint.

The present invention generally relates to tools having long handles, such as without limitation implements such as brooms, mops, or others as some examples.
Conventional push brooms, dust brooms, mops, and other household cleaning or other implements have long handles that typically end in a threaded cap that can be screwed into a mop head or brush head having an internally threaded hole for receiving the handle. The purpose of the handle is to enable the user to use the implement comfortably, but at the same time, the handle causes the implement to take up a lot of space.
The problem associated with the length of conventional handles manifests itself in various ways. The shipping of brooms from the manufacturer or distribution center to a retail store where they will be sold, or to a purchaser is cumbersome and unduly expensive in comparison to the value of the item because the implements take up so much shipping space and are awkward to stack or otherwise bundle conveniently for shipment. Likewise, implements with long handles are difficult to store in small spaces such as janitorial closets, the work vehicles of tradesmen and tradeswomen, or in other places. Long conventional handles also present problems in terms of placement on store shelves where space is well-known to be at a premium.
Handles that slide into one another, or "telescope," have been used to provide collapsibility for some implements, but they are not ideally suited for the application of axial forces such that which occurs when using a broom, mop, or other tool or implement. Such telescope handles generally tend to break prematurely or collapse unexpectedly when in use. Moreover, these types of handles require some sections to have a smaller diameter than others, which unacceptably reduces strength and rigidity. Another problem with telescoping handles is that foreign particles or liquids can find their way into the telescoping portions and can interfere with proper operation to collapse or extend the handle. Still another problem is that the internal mechanism that permits the telescoping action can break, which renders the handle to about half the size it needs to be for comfortable operation.
Although some cleaning implements are shipped for convenience with separate handle segments that must be assembly by the end user, such constructions cannot readily be broken back down easily or conveniently once assembled and therefore do not offer a usable solution.
What is needed is an implement that has an elongated handle that can easily be broken down for storage or shipment so that it takes up much less space, maintain a mechanical coupling between segments of the handle when collapsed, and still be very sturdy and dependable.


A message receiving apparatus for receiving messages from a message transmitting apparatus generates first data for producing a display which urges a user of the message transmitting apparatus to input a message, and generates second data within the first data for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message. The message receiving apparatus sends the first data including the second data to the message transmitting apparatus and subsequently receives the message from the message transmitting apparatus. The message transmitting apparatus for transmitting messages to the message receiving apparatus receives the first data for producing the display and the accompanying second data for specifying the conversion type and produces the display according to the first data. On receiving the message inputted by the user in response to the display, the message transmitting apparatus converts the input message according to the second data and transmits the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.

This application is based on applications Nos. 9-348939 and 10-193001 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a message receiving apparatus for receiving messages converted for secret communication, and a message transmitting apparatus for transmitting the converted messages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In computer-to-computer communications, encryption techniques are widely used to protect privacy of information against third parties aside from the transmitter and the receiver of the information. Digital signature techniques which add signature information to transmission information are equally widely used to guarantee secure information transmission from the transmitter to the receiver.
For example, in the WWW (World Wide Web) system on the Internet, encryption techniques can be used when a user of a client apparatus inputs a message of a predetermined format in response to information provided from a server apparatus and transmits the input message to the server apparatus. The SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol and the S-HTTP (Secure-HyperText Transfer Protocol) are representative of such encryption techniques used in the WWW system.
To communicate a message which requires privacy using the SSL protocol, first a server (receiver of the message) sends a request to select whether to use the SSL protocol to a client (transmitter of the message), and the client accordingly selects to use the protocol (that is, to encrypt the message) and sends a list of available encryption methods to the server. After the server selects one of the available encryption methods, the message communication begins between the server and the client using the selected encryption method.
Thus, in message communication using the SSL protocol, to perform encrypted message communication depends on the client""s decision to encrypt the message. Similarly, when using other conventional encryption techniques, encrypted communication is performed depending on whether the client chooses to perform encryption. This dependency on the client to decide whether to perform encryption often places a constraint on the performance of the server.
The present invention aims to provide a message receiving apparatus that determines whether to perform encryption/digital signature on each input message in a message transmitting apparatus according to conditions under which the message is transmitted from the message transmitting apparatus, and the message transmitting apparatus that transmits messages to the message receiving apparatus.
In order to fulfill the above object, the message receiving apparatus of the present invention is a message receiving apparatus for receiving messages from a message transmitting apparatus, the message receiving apparatus including: a first generating unit for generating first data for producing a display which urges a user of the message transmitting apparatus to input a message; a second generating unit for generating second data within the first data for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message; a transmitting unit for transmitting the first data including the second data to the message transmitting apparatus; and a receiving unit for receiving the message from the message transmitting apparatus after the first data including the second data has been transmitted to the message transmitting apparatus.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus generates the first data for producing the display that urges the user of the message transmitting apparatus to input the message, generates the second data within the first data for specifying the conversion type for secret communication of the message, transmits the first data including the second data to the message transmitting apparatus, and subsequently receives the message from the message transmitting apparatus.
Thus, the message receiving apparatus can, according to its intentions such as improvement of the security in communication, freely specify the conversion type for secret communication of the message to be sent from the message transmitting apparatus. Also, the message receiving apparatus can specify a conversion type for each of a plurality of messages to be sent from the message transmitting apparatus.
The above object can also be fulfilled by a message receiving apparatus for receiving messages from a message transmitting apparatus, the message receiving apparatus including: a first receiving unit for receiving first data concerning a use condition of the message transmitting apparatus from the message transmitting apparatus; a first generating unit for generating second data for producing a display which urges a user of the message transmitting apparatus to input a message; a second generating unit for generating third data for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message according to the received first data; a transmitting unit for transmitting the second data and the third data to the message transmitting apparatus; and a second receiving unit for receiving the message from the message transmitting apparatus after the second data and the third data have been transmitted to the message transmitting apparatus.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus receives the first data concerning the use of the message transmitting apparatus from the message transmitting apparatus, generates the second data for producing the display which urges the user of the message transmitting apparatus to input the message, generates the third data for specifying the conversion type for secret communication of the message according to the first data, and transmits the second data and the third data to the message transmitting apparatus. The message receiving apparatus subsequently receives the message from the message transmitting apparatus.
Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus with intentions such as improvement of the security in communication can by itself specify the conversion type for secret communication of the message according to the use condition of the message transmitting apparatus.
Here, the message receiving apparatus may further include an associating unit for associating the first data with conversion type information that indicates whether to perform encryption, which encryption method should be used if performing the encryption, whether to perform digital signature, and which digital signature method should be used if performing the digital signature, wherein the use condition of the message transmitting apparatus shown by the first data corresponds to an attribute of the user of the message transmitting apparatus, and wherein the second generating unit generates the third data according to the conversion type information associated with the first data.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus, on receiving the first data concerning the user attribute of the message transmitting apparatus, generates the third data according to the conversion type information associated with the first data, the conversion type information indicating whether to encrypt/digitally sign the message and which encryption/digital signature method should be used. The message receiving apparatus then sends the second data and the third data to the message transmitting apparatus and subsequently receives the message converted by the message transmitting apparatus according to the third data.
Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus can specify whether to encrypt/digitally sign the message and which encryption/digital signature method should be used, based on the user attribute of the message transmitting apparatus.
Here, the second data may be written in an HTML format, wherein the third data is written within the second data using tags that extend the HTML format.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus, on receiving the first data, generates the second data written in the HTML format and further generates the third data within the second data using the tags according to the first data.
Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus can specify whether to perform encryption/digital signature and which encryption/digital signature method should be used for the message by adding the special tags to the document written in HTML, based on the user attribute of the message transmitting apparatus. Thus, a conversion type can easily be specified for each of a plurality of messages by adding such special tags to an HTML document.
Here, the message receiving apparatus may further include a storing unit for storing fourth data showing key information necessary for the message transmitting apparatus to perform the encryption, wherein the transmitting unit transmits the second data, the third data, and the fourth data to the message transmitting apparatus.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus transmits the fourth data showing the key information necessary for the encryption to the message transmitting apparatus along with the second data and the third data. Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus can easily specify the encryption method which uses the key information.
Here, the message receiving apparatus may further include a reconverting unit for reconverting the message received by the second receiving unit.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus, after sending the second data and the third data to the message transmitting apparatus, receives the message which has been converted by the message transmitting apparatus according to the conversion type specified by the third data and reconverts the received message. Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus can perform secret communication of the message with the message transmitting apparatus with greater convenience by reconverting the received message.
Here, the conversion type specified in the third data may indicate whether to perform encryption, which of encryption methods set in advance in the message transmitting apparatus should be used if performing the encryption, whether to perform digital signature, and which of digital signature methods set in advance in the message transmitting apparatus should be used if performing the digital signature.
With this construction, the message receiving apparatus generates the third data according to the first data received from the message transmitting apparatus, the third data including an indication concerning whether to perform encryption/digital signature and which of encryption/digital signature methods set in advance in the message transmitting apparatus should be used.
Accordingly, the message receiving apparatus can specify whether to encrypt/digitally sign the message and which of encryption/digital signature methods set in the message transmitting apparatus should be used, based on the use condition of the message transmitting apparatus.
Also, to fulfill the above object, the message transmitting apparatus of the present invention is a message transmitting apparatus for transmitting messages to a message receiving apparatus, the message transmitting apparatus including: a receiving unit for receiving first data for producing a display which urges a user of the message transmitting apparatus to input a message from the message receiving apparatus, the first data including second data for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message; a displaying unit for producing the display according to the first data; an inputting unit for receiving the message inputted by the user in response to the display; a converting unit for converting the input message according to the second data; and a transmitting unit for transmitting the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.
With this construction, the message transmitting apparatus receives, from the message receiving apparatus, the first data for producing the display which urges the user to input the message and the accompanying second data for specifying the conversion type for secret communication of the message. The message transmitting apparatus then produces the display according to the first data, receives the message inputted by the user in response to the display, and converts the input message according to the second data. This converted message is then transmitted to the message receiving apparatus.
Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can convert the message according to the conversion type which has been specified by the message receiving apparatus with intentions such as improvement in the security in communication.
The above object can also be fulfilled by a message transmitting apparatus that outputs first data for producing a display to a displaying unit and transmits a message, inputted by a user via an inputting unit in response to the display, to a message receiving apparatus, the message transmitting apparatus including: a receiving unit for receiving the first data for producing the display which urges the user to input the message from the message receiving apparatus, the first data including second data for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message; a converting unit for converting the message inputted by the user according to the second data; and a transmitting unit for transmitting the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.
With this construction, the message transmitting apparatus receives, from the message receiving apparatus, the first data for producing the display which urges the user to input the message and the accompanying second data for specifying the conversion type for secret communication of the message. The message transmitting apparatus then outputs the first data to the displaying unit, converts the message inputted via the inputting unit in response to the display according to the second data, and transmits the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.
Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can convert the message according to the conversion type, that has been specified by the message receiving apparatus with intentions such as improvement of the security in communication, through the use of the existing displaying and inputting units.
The above object can also be fulfilled by a message transmitting apparatus for transmitting messages to a message receiving apparatus, the message transmitting apparatus including: an acquiring unit for acquiring first data concerning a use condition of the message transmitting apparatus; a first transmitting unit for transmitting the first data to the message receiving apparatus; a receiving unit for receiving, from the message receiving apparatus, second data for producing a display which urges a user to input a message and third data, generated according to the first data, for specifying a conversion type for secret communication of the message; a displaying unit for producing the display according to the second data; an inputting unit for receiving the message inputted by the user in response to the display; a converting unit for converting the input message according to the third data; and a second transmitting unit for transmitting the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.
With this construction, the message transmitting apparatus acquires the first data concerning the use of the message transmitting apparatus and transmits the first data to the message receiving apparatus. The message transmitting apparatus then receives the second data for producing the display which urges the user to input the message and the third data, generated according to the first data, for specifying the conversion type for secret communication of the message from the message receiving apparatus, and produces the display according to the second data. On receiving the message inputted by the user in response to the display, the message transmitting apparatus converts the input message according to the third data and transmits the converted message to the message receiving apparatus.
Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can convert the message according to the conversion type specified by the message receiving apparatus with intentions such as improvement of the security in communication. Also, since the conversion type has been determined by the message receiving apparatus based on the use condition of the message transmitting apparatus, the message can be converted in accordance with the conversion type appropriately specified by the message receiving apparatus.
Here, the message transmitting apparatus may further include an associating unit for associating the third data with conversion type information that indicates whether to perform encryption, which encryption method should be used if performing the encryption, whether to perform digital signature, and which digital signature method should be used if performing the digital signature, wherein the converting unit converts the input message according to the conversion type information associated with the third data.
With this construction, the message transmitting apparatus converts the input message according to the conversion type information indicating whether to perform encryption/digital signature and which encryption/digital signature method should be used.
Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can encrypt and/or digitally sign the message according to an indication, made appropriately by the message receiving apparatus according to the use condition of the message transmitting apparatus, concerning whether to perform encryption/digital signature and which encryption/digital signature method should be used.
Here, the second data may be written in an HTML format, wherein the third data is written within the second data using tags that extend the HTML format.
With this construction, the third data received together with the second data is written within the second data of the HTML format using the tags that extend the HTML format. Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can encrypt and/or digitally sign the message according to an indication which can be made easily by the message receiving apparatus by adding the special tags to the HTML document and transmitting the document to the a message transmit ting apparatus.
Here, the message transmitting apparatus may further include a preventing unit for preventing the third data written using the tags from being displayed.
With this construction, the third data written within the second data using the tags is not displayed on the screen of the message transmitting apparatus. Since the third data specifying the conversion type is not displayed on the screen, it is possible to prevent the specified conversion type from being changed in the message transmitting apparatus.
Here, the receiving unit may receive fourth data showing key information necessary for performing the encryption from the message receiving apparatus together with the second data and the third data, wherein the converting unit converts the input message according to the third data and the fourth data.
With this construction, the message transmitting apparatus converts the message using the key information shown by the fourth data according to the conversion type information associated with the third data. Accordingly, the message transmitting apparatus can easily encrypt the input message using the received key information necessary for the specified encryption method.

Message receiving apparatus and message transmitting apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method of processing used tires and the recovery of the products thereof. The process includes adding shredded automobile tire to a bath containing a combination of isocyanide, polyurethane, latex, and soybean oil. The resultant mixture is then heated at approximately 700.degree. F. for a period of 10 minutes. The process allows the recovery of the following products, including but not limited to: oil, steel, vinyl chloride, carbon, and carbon black. The addition of soybean oil to the bath mixture provides a safer and more economical process. The current process does not require the use of a special atmosphere nor does it require the use of a high pressure system.

The present invention relates to the field of recycling used tires. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of processing used tires and the recovery of products thereof.
The recycling of used tires and the recovery of component products is known in the art. However, many previous methods have sought to reclaim only a single product. This strategy has been used where it is economically feasible to recover the component product to be reclaimed. Other methods have reprocessed used tires with the idea of converting the resulting component products into new functional materials. Some processes have sought to reprocess the used tires into crude oil, while others have attempted to reprocess used tires into rubber strips or useful resins.
Schmidt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,588 discloses a machine for reducing vehicle tires to small chip-like particles. The Schmidt "tire chipper" is representative of the first step in the process used to reclaim materials from used tires.
In Stapp, U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,983, a process for converting tire scrap to useful oil, especially crude oil, is disclosed. This process uses a hydrogen atmosphere and a temperature of approximately 350.degree. C.-450.degree. C. This process also utilizes a preferred pressure of 750-3,000 psi and a preferred processing time between 30 minutes and 4 hours. This process is representative of the high energy input required for the reprocessing of used automobile tires. Further, the presence of a hydrogen atmosphere, in combination with the high temperatures, presents a potentially dangerous processing method.
Johnson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,478,826, discloses a method of reclaiming Buna N type rubber (synthetic rubber) by means of using phenyl-beta-naphthylamine, at atmospheric pressure, at approximately 250.degree. F.-350.degree. F. for 6-10 hours. This process also utilizes a pressure of approximately 60-75 psia. This process represents a way of reclaiming synthetic rubber, however, it does not teach the reprocessing of used automobile tires.
In Price, U.S. Pat. No. 693,151, a process for reclaiming rubber from vulcanized rubber waste is disclosed. The Price process utilizes a superheated fluid to bathe the vulcanized rubber waste which is heated to approximately 300.degree. C.-450.degree. C. This process uses high temperatures and low pressures due to the superheated fluid. The liquid bath contains hyposulfite of soda which has the effect of preventing further oxygenation of the rubber waste, which would produce a further vulcanization. The soda solution also functions to remove the sulfur from the rubber waste. However, this process is a closed process utilizing super-heated steamed heat and as such presents the dangers associated with such processes.
Merges, U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,769, discloses a method and apparatus for reclaiming rubber scrap. The Merges method also discloses the use of swelling additives, like oil, and the use of heat in order to plasticize the scrap material. However, the Merges process discloses the use of centrifugal forces which simultaneously expose the scrap in a pulsating manner to friction, milling, shearing, and crushing forces. Further, the Merges process does not disclose the optimization of the swelling procedure, nor does it describe the different properties of the swelling agents.
In Massoubre, U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,922, a method of regenerating vulcanized rubber, resulting products, and compositions containing the regenerating products, is disclosed. The process described includes the steps of taking the finely divided vulcanized rubber, using a swelling agent to plasticize the rubber, adding a devulcanization agent to the rubber, and heating the rubber and solvent mixture within the temperature range of 180.degree. C.-230.degree. C. for two to three hours. The oil used as plasticizer is used in a ratio in the preferred embodiment of 65%-100% oil to scrap. The Massourbre process discloses solvents which include mineral oils obtained by the distillation of petroleum oil or coal, vegetable and animal oils consisting of the glyceric esters of fatty acids, and compounds of the above oils. The vegetable and animal oils disclosed are castor oil and paraffin. In the examples disclosed, both the vegetable and animal oils are used in combination with mineral oils. The Massoubre process requires subjecting the scrap to relatively low temperatures, for long periods of time, and in the presence of large amounts of oil as seen in the oil to scrap ratio.


The present disclosure extends to maintaining an item inventory status at an inventory cache management system. The inventory cache may be refreshed regularly by a threshold-based triggering mechanism. In embodiments, as item inventory breaches certain thresholds, the inventory cache may be refreshed with increased frequency to mitigate overselling or underselling scenarios and reduce overall network traffic for items having relatively high inventory levels.

An inventory availability tracking system is typically an important component of a merchant site. As used in the present disclosure, the term "merchant site" may refer to an e-commerce site, an m-commerce site, a store kiosk, or other types of sales operations. Generally, an inventory management system may include functionality to track current inventory levels of one or more products offered for sale at a merchant site. Overselling or underselling are undesirable scenarios that could occur in cases where inventory availability tracking in a merchant site is unclear or unreliable.
Updating an item inventory at a front end web or app server on a real-time basis may be a resource-intensive process as it typically may involve: a complex backend algorithm to determine the accurate availability and delivery date of an item in a most optimal and expedited fashion; network delays (from the web/app server to back end systems and/or databases); additional access restrictions like authentication and authorization processes, protocol termination, acceleration, encryption, and decryption; and raw data access and additional processing.
Fast page creation and delivery to consumers may be important because as page load times increase, consumers may be increasingly more likely to abandon the page. Accordingly, slow page loading times on a merchant site may directly decrease overall sales and profitability.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.


A post pulling device includes a tower having first and second side members, each side member having a plurality of receiving slots. Each receiving slot of the first side member corresponds to a respective receiving slot of the second side member. The post pulling device includes a rigid bar having opposed first and second ends, opposed first and second sides, and first and second pivoting members extending from the first and second sides, respectively. The first and second pivoting members are respectively receivable in corresponding receiving slots of the first and second side members. An end plate and a lanyard are included for coupling a post to the first end of the rigid bar. A hitch element may be coupled to the tower for selectively coupling the tower to a vehicle hitch. The rigid bar may be telescopic with structures for maintaining the rigid bar at a selected length.

This invention relates generally to post pulling devices and, more particularly, to a post pulling device that is adjustable to accommodate multiple usage situations and that may be selectively secured by a user's foot or to a receiver attachment of an all-terrain vehicle.
Fence posts frequently need to be removed from their ground position, such as for repair, replacement, or just to clear an area of all obstructions. Common difficulties with this process of post removal include obtaining enough leverage to completely remove the post and to do so without breaking it. This is especially a problem when removing round wooden posts. It may be desirable to both place and pull posts as part of a landscaping project.
Various devices have been proposed for pulling posts out of the ground, especially devices for pulling metal posts. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not provide enough leverage (or properly distributed leverage) to pull the posts effectively. Further, the existing devices are not adjustable for various pulling situations and are not selectively stabilized by a user's foot or by attachment to an all-terrain vehicle.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a post pulling device that can attach to a post so as to pull the post effectively and efficiently without damaging it. Further, it would be desirable to have a post pulling device that is adjustable for multiple usage situations. In addition, it would be desirable to have a post pulling device that may be stabilized by a user's foot for manual operation or by attachment to an all-terrain vehicle.


A spiral wound gasket having an annular body serving as a centering member which is integrally disposed at the inner periphery side of a gasket body formed by winding, in the form of a spiral. The gasket body comprises a metal hoop material and a filler material overlapping each other. When this gasket is disposed at fit-joint-type pipe connection portions of the exhaust pipe system in a motor vehicle, the annular body serves as a centering member to prevent the gasket body from protruding into the fit joint. This prevents the gasket body from deterioration and damage, thus assuring a high sealing property for a long period of time. Further, merely by inserting and fitting the gasket, the gasket may be automatically aligned and positioned with respect to the fit joint. Further, the inner peripheral surface of the gasket body and the annular body form an annular closed space, thus making the entire gasket into a lightweight design.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gasket having excellent sealing properties to be disposed at fit-joint-type pipe connection portions of, for example, the exhaust pipe system in a motor vehicle in which a high-temperature gas flows. More specifically, the present invention relates to a spiral wound gasket formed by winding, in the form of a spiral, a metal hoop material and a filler material overlapping each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a gasket to be used for sealing the ends of exhaust pipes in, for example, an internal combustion engine, there is known a gasket as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication 190665/1988.
Such a gasket is made in the following manner. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a gasket 22 is formed by winding, in the form of a ring, a band-like steel sheet 20 and a gasket material 21 such as asbestos overlapping each other. In the gasket 22, the winding end 20A of the band-like steel sheet 20 at the outer periphery side of the gasket 22 is raised such that, when the gasket 22 is inserted into a large-diameter portion 24 of an exhaust hole 23, the winding end 20A resiliently comes in contact with the large-diameter portion 24.
In the gasket 22 having the arrangement mentioned above, when the gasket 22 is inserted into the large-diameter portion 24 of the exhaust hole 23, the winding end 20A at the outer periphery side is turned inwardly, causing the winding end 20A to resiliently come in contact with the large-diameter portion 24. Accordingly, the gasket 22 is so held as not to fall off of the exhaust hole 23 due to vibration or the like. It is therefore not necessary to support the gasket 22 by hand or with a jig until a flange portion 25A of an exhaust pipe 25 comes in contact with the gasket 22. This advantageously improves the workability of attaching of the gasket 22 and the exhaust pipe 25.
In the conventional gasket 22 mentioned above, however, there is a likelihood that a portion of the gasket 22 will protrude into the exhaust pipe 25 in a state where the gasket 22 is properly installed. If a portion of the gasket 22 protrudes into the exhaust pipe 25, the protruding portion deteriorates or is damaged, causing the sealing properties of the gasket to be decreased in a short period of time.


In accordance with the present invention, a system and method that exploits the efficiency of the spectrum utilization is provided. The proposed technique, which is referred to as dispersed spectrum utilization, is based on the idea of transmitting the information over multiple dispersed bands in contrast to the current wireless communication systems which transmit the signal over a single band. A cognitive radio transceiver is developed for the implementation of this dispersed spectrum utilization technique.

Spectrum is one of the most costly, on-demand and important resources for wireless communication systems. Cognitive radio has the capability to exploit the utilization of the spectrum by using the available empty spectrum holes temporarily, in an opportunistic manner. The available spectrum can be in the form of a single band (i.e. whole spectrum) or multiple dispersed bands (i.e. dispersed spectrum). Cognitive radio systems currently known in the art utilize the spectrum, for a single user, employing whole spectrum techniques.
In the whole spectrum utilization approach for cognitive radio, the transmit signal occupies a single band as illustrated with reference to FIG. 1. For the whole spectrum utilization system, the baseband signal is processed over a single branch. The baseband transmit signal with absolute bandwidth in the whole spectrum utilization method occupies a whole band. As illustrated with reference to FIG. 2, the baseband signal s(t) is upconverted to the desired carrier frequency, fc, amplified, filtered and then transmitted over the channel. At the receiver side, the received signal is filtered out using a bandpass filter (BPF) with bandwidth of Bwh and downconverted to the baseband.
In prior art systems, the received signal is considered as an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal with zero coefficients at the sub-carriers corresponding to the unused bands. Then, the signal can be processed as in a conventional OFDM receiver. However, the available spectrum can be very dispersed in some cases, which requires processing of very large bandwidths if the signal is considered as a single OFDM signal.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an improved cognitive transceiver and method of use that does not require the processing of large bandwidths. Such a cognitive transceiver would result in a more efficient communication system.

Cognitive radio transceiver for dispersed spectrum utilization


The present invention relates to a method for producing L-amino acid, such as L-phenylalanine and L-tryptophan, is provided using bacterium belonging to the genus Escherichia wherein the L-amino acid productivity of said bacterium is enhanced by enhancing an activity of protein encoded by the yddG gene from Escherichia coli, wherein said protein has an activity to make said bacterium resistant to L-phenylalanine, a phenylalanine analogue, or a tryptophan analogue. The present invention further relates to a method for producing lower alkyl ester of α-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine.

Conventionally the L-amino acids have been industrially produced by method of fermentation utilizing strains of microorganisms obtained from natural sources or mutants of the same especially modified to enhance L-amino acid productivity.
There have been disclosed many techniques to enhance L-amino acid productivity, for example, by transformation of microorganism by recombinant DNA (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,765). These techniques are based on the increasing of activities of the enzymes involved in amino acid biosynthesis and/or desensitizing the target enzymes from the feedback inhibition by produced L-amino acid (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open application No56-18596 (1981), WO 95/16042 or U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,661,012 and 6,040,160).
On the other hand, the enhancement of amino acid excretion activity may improve the productivity of L-amino acid producing strain. Lysine-producing strain of a bacterium belonging to the genus Corynebacterium having increased expression of L-lysine excretion gene (lysE gene) is disclosed (WO 9723597A2). In addition, genes encoding efflux proteins suitable for secretion of L-cysteine, L-cystine, N-acetylserine or thiazolidine derivatives are also disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,663).
At present, several Escherichia coli genes encoding putative membrane proteins enhancing L-amino acid production are disclosed. Additional copies of rhtB gene make a bacterium more resistant to L-homoserine and enhance the production of L-homoserine, L-threonine, L-alanine, L-valine and L-isoleucine (European patent application EP994190A2). Additional copies of the rhtC gene make a bacterium more resistant to L-homoserine and L-threonine and enhance production of L-homoserine, L-threonine and L-leucine (European patent application EP1013765A1). Additional copies of yahN, yeaS, yfiK and yggA genes enhance production of L-glutamic acid, L-lysine, L-threonine, L-alanine, L-histidine, L-proline, L-arginine, L-valine and L-isoleucine (European patent application EP1016710A2).
Earlier the present inventors obtained, with respect to E.coli K-12, a mutant having a mutation, thrR (herein referred to as rhtA23) that is concerned in resistance to high concentrations of threonine or homoserine in a minimal medium (Astaurova, O. B. et al., Appl. Bioch. and Microbiol., 21, 611-616 (1985)). The mutation improved the production of L-threonine (SU Patent No.974817), homoserine and glutamate (Astaurova, O. B. et al., Appl. Bioch. and Microbiol., 27, 556-561, 1991) by the respective E. coli producing strains.
Furthermore, the present inventors have revealed that the rhtA gene exists at 18 min on E.coli chromosome close to the glnHPQ operon that encodes components of the glutamine transport system, and that the rhtA gene is identical to ybiF ORF between pexB and ompX genes. The unit expressing a protein encoded by the ORF has been designated as rhtA (rht: resistance to homoserine and threonine) gene.
Besides, the present inventors have found that the rhtA gene amplification also conferred resistance to homoserine and threonine. The rhtA23 mutation is an A-for-G substitution at position −1 with respect to the ATG start codon (ABSTRACTS of 17th International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in conjugation with 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, San Francisco, Calif. Aug. 24-29, 1997, abstract No. 457). It is known that the nucleotide composition of the spacer between the SD sequence and start codon and especially the sequences immediately upstream of the start codon profoundly affect mRNA translatability. A 20-fold range in the expression levels was found, depending on the nature of the three nucleotides preceding the start codon (Gold et al., Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 35, 365-403, 1981; Hui et al., EMBO J., 3, 623-629, 1984). Therefore, it may be predicted that rhtA23 mutation increases expression of rhtA gene.
The rhtA gene encodes a protein that consists of 295 amino acid residues and has calculated molecular weight of 31.3 kDa. The analysis of the RhtA sequence revealed that it is a highly hydrophobic protein containing 10 predicted transmembrane segments. A PSI-BLAST search of the nucleotide sequence of E.coli strain K-12 belonging to the genus Escherichia (Science, 277, 1453-1474 (1997)) revealed at least 10 proteins homologous to RhtA. Among them there are proteins encoded by ydeD and yddG genes. It was shown the ydeD gene is involved into efflux of the cysteine pathway metabolites (Daβler et al., Mol. Microbiol., 36, 1101-1112, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,663). The yddG gene has been known as putative CDS, which may encode functionally unknown protein (numbers 3687 to 4568 in the sequence of GenBank accession AE000244 U00096).


An annuloplasty ring holder including a head having an upper surface and an annuloplasty ring receiving surface facing opposite the upper surface. The annuloplasty ring holder also includes means for attaching an annuloplasty ring to the annuloplasty ring receiving surface. The means for attaching an annuloplasty ring to the annuloplasty ring receiving surface may include one or more suture guides operatively associated with the head and configured to position one or more sutures to removably associate an annuloplasty ring with the annuloplasty ring receiving surface. The head may include a central hub and more than one spoke radiating out from the central hub. If the head is thus configured, each spoke will include a portion of the annuloplasty ring receiving surface.

Annuloplasty rings are used to stabilize and restrict the mitral or tricuspid annulus in heart valve repair surgery. There are several different types of annuloplasty rings in current clinical use. For example, the Carpentier-Edwards ring is a rigid "D" shaped semi-closed ring. The Cosgrove-Edwards band is a fully flexible "C" shaped ring, and the Medtronic-Duran ring is a fully flexible circular ring.
Annuloplasty ring holders are particularly useful for use during implantation of flexible annuloplasty rings because of certain surgical attachment and positioning challenges caused by the very nature of the rings' flexibility. Without a holder, the surgical assistant has to retain the ring using his or her fingers, or using a pair of forceps. This is awkward as the ring holding point has to be frequently readjusted as the several implantation sutures are placed through the circumference of the ring body. For this reason, many surgeons prefer that flexible annuloplasty rings be supplied mounted on disposable holders.
An annuloplasty ring is often secured to the holder using one or more sutures that may pass through the body of the ring or around a ring section. The ring is released from the holder by severing one or more of the retaining sutures.
Prior art annuloplasty ring holders feature a circumferential channel or flange against which the annuloplasty ring may be secured. Typically holders are substantially planar. Thus, with prior art devices the annuloplasty ring is positioned around the outer circumference of the planar holder structure. This configuration can in certain instances limit a surgeon's ability to securely abut an annuloplasty ring against a patient's annulus since the holder may interfere with proper positioning. In addition, prior art annuloplasty ring holders typically feature a holder head having a curved or shaped circumferential channel or flange which supports the ring along some or all of its inner circumference. Such devices excel at holding an annuloplasty ring in a desired shape. However the extended ring contact along a shaped circumferential supporting surface or channel can limit a surgeon's ability to effectively place attachment sutures through the ring. In particular, an extended ring contact surface prohibits a surgeon from using running sutures. Circumferential ring placement on a holder can also hinders efficient ring release after implantation. The present invention addresses one or more of these concerns.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.