A pumping system 10 is provided for pumping fluid from a downhole well to the surface through a production tubing string well. A rotatable drive rod 18 extends from the surface to power the downhole pump, and includes a plurality of rod couplings. The downhole pump includes a pump stator 22 and a rotor 24 rotatable within the pump stator. A lifting member 36 provided at the upper end of the stator is engaged by a drive coupling 34 to retrieve the pump from the well. The lifting member has an internal shoulder 44 tapered radially inwardly and upwardly, such that a rod coupling engages the internal shoulder and passes through the lifting member as the rotor is pulled upward.

Progressive cavity pumps have been used for decades to pump fluids from an oil well to the surface through a production tubing string. A progressive cavity pump is conventionally powered by a rotating sucker rod string positioned within the tubing string.
It is periodically desirable to retrieve a downhole pump to the surface for inspection and/or repair. As a practical matter, it is highly preferred to retrieve the downhole pump without requiring the retrieval of the tubing string. Many operations also allow sand or other soil material from the formation to enter the interior of the pump, thereby adversely affecting pumping efficiency. In a flushing operation, the rotor may be axially pulled from the stator housing, the interior of the housing flushed to remove the sand or other debris, then the rotor reinserted into the housing to continue pumping operations.
An existing downhole pumping system includes a drive coupling at the upper end of the rotor which may engage a lifting nut to disengage a pump from a landing nipple and retrieve the pump to the surface. A flat shoulder on the lifting nut may thus engage a similar flat surface at the upper end of the drive coupling. The drive coupling outer diameter is larger than the lifting nut internal diameter, such that when the two components engage during pump retrievable, the pump housing is unseated from the landing nipple and retrieved to the surface.
In order to conduct a "flush by" operation, the rotor is axially pulled from the stator and flushed with clean fluid. During this pulling operation, the pump stator should remain seated in the landing nipple, however the drive coupling may engage the lifting nut and unseat the entire pump. One existing solution is to add an extension between the top of the stator and the lifting nut which is sufficiently long to allow the rotor to be pulled out of the stator before engaging the lifting nut. Sucker rods typically have a maximum length of 30 feet, and if the pump length is less than 30 feet, adding such an extension may allow the rotor to be pulled out of the stator before engaging the lifting nut. This solution increases the length of the pumping system, but may work in cases where an extension tube is less than 30 feet in length to allow flush by to be performed. For other applications, an extension greater than 30 feet is not a practical solution to the problem because a sucker rod coupling positioned along the length of this 30 feet extension may engage the inside diameter of the lifting nut and still inadvertently unseat the pump. One possibility is a single-length sucker rod which has a length of 50 feet or more without a coupling, but this solution would be expensive. It would also be difficult to transport such a special sucker rod, and would require a full size workover rig to perform a flush by operation. The cost of a single 50 foot long sucker rod may thus be prohibitive.
A progressive cavity pump with a retrievable rotor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,992. A retrievable electric pump is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,483. U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,902 discloses a type of progressive cavity pump, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,832 discloses a retrievable electric motor pump. U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,051 discloses a retrievable rotary pump, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,060 discloses another type of retrievable progressive cavity pump. Improved pump construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,045.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved pumping system for retrieving a downhole pump is hereinafter disclosed, wherein a pumping system allows the rotor to be pulled from the stator for reliably performing a flushing operation.


The present invention relates to a battery pack to which a thin-film label can be easily attached, and a label attaching method thereof. Disclosed in one embodiment is a battery pack comprising: a battery cell having an electrode assembly accommodated in a case; and an external film, which has a label attached to at least one surface of the case and directly attached to the case, a step difference compensation tape attached to the upper surface of the label and positioned on one side of the label, and a protective film attached to the upper surface of the label and extending to the upper part of the step difference compensation tape, wherein the protective film is attached so as to be detachable from the label.

Unlike a primary battery which is not rechargeable, a secondary battery is capable of being charged and discharged. A low-capacity secondary battery composed of a single battery cell packaged in the form of a pack is used for various small portable electronic devices such as cellular phones and camcorders. A high-capacity secondary battery in which a plurality of battery cells are connected to each other in a pack structure is widely used as a power source for driving a motor of a hybrid car.
Secondary batteries are manufactured in various shapes and are generally classified as a pouch type battery, a cylindrical battery or a prismatic battery. A secondary battery may be constructed by accommodating an electrode assembly having a separator as an insulator between positive and negative electrode plates and an electrolyte in a case. In addition, the secondary battery may have a label attached to its outer surface, the label including various kinds of pieces of information (for example, manufacturer, model name, product number, a variety of standards or quality indications, usage precautions, and the like) printed thereon. Meanwhile, the label having a small thickness may increase the likelihood of defect occurrences, and the label having a large thickness may make it difficult to achieve a compact secondary battery.

Battery pack and label attaching method thereof


A controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber including a pilot type damping valve having a back-pressure chamber for each of an extension stroke and a compression stroke. A piston connected to a piston rod is fitted into a sealed cylinder in which a hydraulic fluid is contained. During an extension stroke of the piston rod, the hydraulic fluid in an upper cylinder chamber flows to a lower cylinder chamber through an extension-side hydraulic fluid passage, an extension-side orifice hydraulic fluid passage, an extension-side back-pressure chamber, an axial hydraulic fluid passage, a radial hydraulic fluid passage, a compression-side back-pressure chamber, an extension-side check valve and a compression-side hydraulic fluid passage. During a compression stroke, the hydraulic fluid in the lower cylinder chamber flows to the upper cylinder chamber through the compression-side hydraulic fluid passage, the compression-side orifice passage, the compression-side back-pressure chamber, the radial hydraulic fluid passage, the axial hydraulic fluid passage, the extension-side back-pressure chamber, the compression-side check valve and the extension-side hydraulic passage. The hydraulic fluid passage for an extension stroke and the hydraulic fluid passage for a compression stroke have some elements in common, thus simplifying the structure of the controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber.

The present invention relates to a controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber capable of appropriately controlling damping force characteristics.
As a hydraulic shock absorber mounted on a suspension apparatus of a vehicle such as an automobile, there is known a controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber in which damping force characteristics can be appropriately controlled according to road surface conditions, vehicle running conditions, etc., so as to improve ride comfort and steering stability.
Generally, a controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber comprises a sealed cylinder in which a hydraulic fluid is contained, and a piston connected to a piston rod is slidably fitted into the cylinder. The piston divides the inside of the cylinder into two chambers. The piston is provided with a main hydraulic fluid passage and a bypass passage which permit communication between the two chambers in the cylinder. The main hydraulic fluid passage is provided with a damping force generating mechanism including an orifice and a disk valve, and the bypass passage is provided with a damping force controlling valve for changing a flow path area of the bypass passage.
In this arrangement, the bypass passage is opened by means of the damping force controlling valve, to thereby reduce a resistance to the flow of the hydraulic fluid between the two cylinder chambers, and thus reducing a damping force. To increase a damping force, the bypass passage is closed, to thereby increase the flow resistance between the two chambers. Thus, damping force characteristics are controlled by opening/closing the damping force controlling valve.
However, when a damping force is controlled only by changing the flow path area of the bypass passage, the following problem arises. That is, although damping force characteristics can be changed to a large extent in a low piston speed region in which a damping force is dependent on the restriction of an orifice in a fluid passage, damping force characteristics cannot be greatly changed in intermediate and high piston speed regions in which a damping force is dependent on the degree of opening of the damping force generating mechanism (disk valve) in the main hydraulic fluid passage.
As a countermeasure, there is known a controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2003-278819, in which a pilot type damping force controlling valve is provided as a damping force generating mechanism in a main hydraulic fluid passage. In this pilot type damping force controlling valve, a back-pressure chamber (a pilot chamber) is formed at the back of a disk valve. The back-pressure chamber is communicated through a fixed orifice with a cylinder chamber on the upstream side of the disk valve and communicated with a cylinder chamber on the downstream side of the disk valve through a flow rate control valve (a pilot control valve).
In this controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber, the flow rate control valve is operated, to thereby directly control the flow path area of a flow passage between the two chambers in the cylinder, while the pressure in the pilot chamber is changed due to a pressure loss at the flow rate control valve, to thereby change the valve-opening pressure of the disk valve. Thus, orifice characteristics (in which a damping force is approximately proportional to the square of the piston speed) and valve characteristics (in which a damping force is approximately proportional to the piston speed) can be controlled simultaneously, thus making it possible to control damping force characteristics within a wide range.
However, in the above-mentioned controllable damping force shock absorber, when the pilot type damping force controlling valve is provided for each of an extension stroke and a compression stroke, independent hydraulic fluid passages are required to be formed for an extension stroke and a compression stroke, so that the structure of the hydraulic shock absorber becomes complicated. This results in high manufacturing costs and makes it difficult to ensure durability and reliability of the hydraulic shock absorber.

Controllable damping force hydraulic shock absorber


Compositions comprising two different populations of polymer-active agent conjugates, wherein the weight average molecular weight of the polymers associated with each population is different, are provided. Also provided are methods preparing such compositions and methods for administering such compositions.

Scientists and clinicians face a number of challenges in their attempts to develop active agents into forms suited for delivery to a patient. Active agents that are polypeptides, for example, are often delivered via injection rather than orally. In this way, the polypeptide is introduced into the systemic circulation without exposure to the proteolytic environment of the stomach. Injection of polypeptides, however, has several drawbacks. For example, many polypeptides have a relatively short half-life, thereby necessitating repeated injections, which are often inconvenient and painful. Moreover, some polypeptides may elicit one or more immune responses with the consequence that the patient's immune system may be activated to degrade the polypeptide. Thus, delivery of active agents such as polypeptides is often problematic even when these agents are administered by injection.
Some success has been achieved in addressing the problems of delivering active agents via injection. For example, conjugating the active agent to a water-soluble polymer has resulted in polymer-active agent conjugates having reduced immunogenicity and antigenicity. In addition, these polymer-active agent conjugates often have greatly increased half-lives compared to their unconjugated counterparts as a result of decreased clearance through the kidney and/or decreased enzymatic degradation in the systemic circulation. As a result of having a greater half-life, the polymer-active agent conjugate requires less frequent dosing, which in turn reduces the overall number of painful injections and inconvenient visits to a health care professional. Moreover, active agents that were only marginally soluble demonstrate a significant increase in water solubility when conjugated to a water-soluble polymer.
Due to its documented safety as well as its approval by the FDA for both topical and internal use, polyethylene glycol has been conjugated to active agents. When an active agent is conjugated to a polymer of polyethylene glycol or "PEG", the conjugated active agent is conventionally referred to as "PEGylated." The commercial success of PEGylated active agents such as PEGASYS® PEGylated interferon alpha-2a (Hoffmann-La Roche, Nutley, N.J.), PEG-INTRON® PEGylated interferon alpha-2b (Schering Corp., Kennilworth, N.J.), and NEULASTA™ PEG-filgrastim (Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) demonstrates that administration of a conjugated form of an active agent can have significant advantages over the unconjugated counterpart. Conjugates with small molecules such as distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (Zalipsky (1993) Bioconjug. Chem. 4(4):296-299) and fluorouracil (Ouchi et al. (1992) Drug Des. Discov. 9(1):93-105) have also been prepared.
Despite these successes, it is often challenging to provide conjugate-containing pharmaceutical preparations that are both pharmacologically active and have the right balance between a fast onset and sustained action. For example, the PEGASYS® brand PEGylated interferon alpha-2a has only about 7% in vitro activity in comparison with the native form of this interferon. While the resulting PEGylated interferon product makes up for the decrease in activity by having a longer half-life, not all pharmaceutical products will have the flexibility for merely providing sustained activity in vivo; many pharmaceutical products would ideally provide both a relatively rapid onset in addition to sustained activity in vivo. Thus, the present invention seeks to solve these and other needs in the art by providing conjugate-containing compositions whereupon administration of the composition to a patient results in a relatively rapid onset followed by relatively sustained activity.


The image data coding apparatus has an image pickup system for generating at least dynamic images. The apparatus further comprises a data processing section, two transforming sections, a quantizing section, and a coding section. The data processing section three-dimensionally arranges image data for several adjoining frames among the dynamic image data as three-dimensional image data, divides the three-dimensional image data into several three-dimensional blocks with a specified size, and outputs each three-dimensional block data. The first transforming section applies three-dimensional orthogonal transform to the three-dimensional block data and outputs three-dimensional transform coefficient data. The second transforming section transforms the three-dimensional transform coefficient data into one-dimensionally-arranged transform coefficient data. The quantizing section quantizes the one-dimensionally-arranged transform coefficient data with a specified quantization width and generates quantization output. The coding section codes the quantization output and generates coding output.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coding apparatus and coding method for efficiently compressing and coding image data, especially dynamic image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
To record the image signal picked up by a solid pickup tube represented by CCD in a memory such as a memory card, magnetic disk, or magnetic tape as digital data, the amount of data becomes enormous. Therefore, to record many frame images within a range of limited recording capacity, it is necessary to compress the obtained image signal data in some ways.
For example, a digital electronic still camera stores photographed images in a data storage medium such as a memory card or magnetic disk instead of a silver film as digital data. Therefore, the number of image frames to be recorded in a memory card or magnetic disk drive is specified and recording of the images equivalent to the specified number of frames must be assured.
Also, a digital VTR (video tape recorder) must be able to record the specified number of frames independently of the amount of image data per frame. That is, it is necessary to securely record still or dynamic images equivalent to the required number of frames.
Moreover, the time to record and reproduce data should be short and constant. Especially for dynamic images, this is also important in order to prevent images of the next frame from missing.
The coding method obtained by combining orthogonal transform coding and entropy coding is popular as an image data compressing method meeting the above conditions.
The following is the outline of the method studied in international standardization of still image coding which is a typical example of the above method.
In this method, image data for one frame is first divided into blocks with the specified size and two-dimensional DCT (discrete cosine transform) is applied to each block as orthogonal transform. Then linear quantization is executed according to each frequency component and Huffman coding is applied to the quantized value as entropy (information content per message) coding. In this case, for the direct-current component, differential value from the direct-current component of adjoining blocks is Huffman-coded.
For the alternating-current component, Huffman coding is performed by scanning from low to high frequency components, which is called zigzag scan, and by using consecutive invalid component values (value of 0) and the following valid component values obtained. This is the basic part of this system.
Only with this basic part, however, the number of codes is not kept constant for each frame because Huffman coding which is entropy coding is used.
Therefore, the following method is proposed to control the number of codes. In this method, first, said basic part is processed and also the total number of codes generated in the entire screen is obtained. And the optimum quantization width to access the purposed number of codes for the DCT coefficient is estimated with the total number of codes and the purposed number of codes. Then, the processing of said basic part is repeated beginning with quantization, using the quantization width.
And the optimum quantization width to access the purposed number of codes is estimated again with the total number of codes generated this time, that of codes precedently generated, and the purposed number of codes. If the estimated quantization width coincides with the precedent quantization width and the total number of codes generated this time is smaller than the purposed number of codes, processing ends and codes are output. If not, processing is repeated using a new quantization width.
The following is the concrete description of the above operation according to FIG. 12. Image data for one frame (the image for one frame proposed in the international standardization plan consists of 720 CX 576 pixels) is divided into blocks with the specified size (e.g. blocks A, B, C, etc. consisting of 8.times.8 pixels) as shown in (a) and two-dimensional DCT (discrete cosine transform) is applied to each divided block as orthogonal transform as shown in (b) to sequentially store the data in an 8.times.8 matrix memory. Image data has spatial frequency which is frequency information based on the distribution of variable-density information when it is viewed through a two-dimensional plane.
Therefore, image data is converted into direct-current component DC and alternating-current component AC by executing said DCT. Thus, data showing the value of direct-current component DC is stored at the origin or the position (0, 0) on the 8.times.8 matrix memory, data showing the maximum frequency of the alternating-current component AC in the horizontal-axis direction at the position (0, 7) on the memory, data showing the maximum frequency of the alternating-current component AC in the vertical-axis direction at the position (7, 0) on the memory, and data showing the maximum frequency of the alternating-current component AC in the diagonal direction at the position (7, 7) on the memory. At the intermediate position, frequency data in the direction related by each coordinate position is stored so that data in will appear beginning with the lowest-frequency data from the origin side.
The linear quantization is executed (c) according to each frequency component by dividing the data stored in each coordinate position in this matrix by the quantization width for each frequency component obtained by multiplying the specified quantization matrix by the quantization width coefficient Ca, and Huffman coding is applied to the quantized values as the entropy coding. In this case, for the direct-current component DC, the differential value from the direct-current component of adjoining blocks is expressed by a group number (number of additional bits) and additional bits, the group number is Huffman-coded, and the obtained code language and the additional bits are combined to generate coded data (d1, d2, e1, e2).
The coefficient (value other than 0) also effective for the alternating-current component AC is expressed by a group number and additional bits.
Therefore, for the alternating-current component AC, Huffman coding is performed by scanning from low to high frequency components, which is called zigzag scan, and by using consecutive invalid (value of 0) components (run number of zeros) and the group number of the following valid component value obtained to generate coded data by combining the obtained code language and additional bits.
Huffman coding is executed by coding data obtained by assigning bits to data for said direct-current component DC and alternating-current component AC per frame image so that the minimum number of bits will be given to the data most frequently generated in the data distribution and the maximum number of bits will be given to the data most rarely generated in it.
This is the basic part of this system.
Only with this basic part, however, the number of codes is not kept constant for each image because Huffman coding which is entropy coding is used. Therefore, the following processing is used to control the number of codes.
First, said basic part is processed using the temporary quantization width coefficient .alpha. and, at the same time, the total number of codes (total number of bits) generated in the entire screen of one frame is obtained (g).
The optimum quantization width coefficient .alpha. to access the purposed number of codes for the DCT coefficient is estimated with said total number of codes, purposed number of codes, and temporary quantization width coefficient by means of Newton Raphson Iteration (h).
Secondly, the processing of said basic part beginning with quantization is repeated using the quantization width coefficient .alpha. (i).
Thirdly, the optimum quantization width coefficient .alpha. is estimated again with the total number of codes generated this time, total number of codes precedently generated, purposed number of codes, quantization width coefficient .alpha. used this time, and quantization width coefficient .alpha. precedently used. If the estimated quantization width coefficient .alpha. coincides with the precedent quantization width coefficient .alpha. and the total number of codes generated this time is smaller than the purposed number of codes, processing ends and coded data generated this time is output and stored in a memory card (f). If not, the quantization width coefficient .alpha. is renewed and processing is repeated using the new quantization width .alpha..
As mentioned above, for a digital electronic still camera, for example, the number of images to be recorded in a memory card, magnetic disk drive, or magnetic tape must be assured. Therefore, image data is compressed and recorded. However, the processing time should be as short as possible and constant in view of operability.
Also, it is desired that image data can efficiently be compressed. These items are required not only for digital electronic still cameras but for other applications.
Said international standard plan system is one of the compression methods meeting the above requirements. In this system, image data can efficiently be compressed by the technique obtained by combining the orthogonal transform coding with entropy coding for each block shown in the example of said basic part. However, because entropy coding is used, there is the disadvantage that the number of codes depends on images and the number of images to be recorded in a memory card or magnetic disk drive is indeterminate.
Also for the method to control the number of codes shown in the example of prior art, there is the disadvantage that not only the processing time is indeterminate but it should generally be increased because the number of pass repetitions of the basic part depends on images. The disadvantage is especially fatal for the system using dynamic images.

Image data coding apparatus and coding method for dynamic-image data


A logo display includes a light guide plate including a light emitting surface, a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) optically coupled to the light guide plate, and a light-transmissive layer disposed on the light emitting surface of the light guide plate. A light-transmissive colored pattern is formed on the light-transmissive layer. The light-transmissive colored pattern is configured for filtering out a color component of the light incident on the light-transmissive layer same as a color of the light-transmissive colored pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a logo display, and particularly to a logo display for displaying a logo symbol with light emitted from an LED light source.
2. Description of Related Art
Usually, logo displays can be sorted into a non-luminous type logo display and a luminous type logo display. With respect to the non-luminous type logo display, it cannot be seen and cannot work when there is not enough external light introduced therein.
With respect to the luminous type logo display, it usually adapts a cold cathode fluorescent lamp as a light source. However, the cold cathode fluorescent lamp has several disadvantages, such as, having a large volume preventing a compact design of the logo display, containing mercury which is harmful for the environment, being frangible, and so on.
What is needed, therefore, is a logo display which is environmentally friendly and has a longer operating life.


The invention is essentially a sequential (“DMA”) apparatus using a novel arrangement of at least three electrodes and at least two block electrodes to produce a DMA apparatus having at least two sequential DMA regions between pairs of adjacent electrode walls within the same housing. This apparatus is used to improve the transfer of particles into the subsequent DMA region without a vacuum or pump, and to improve the separation of target particles from non-target particles and concentration and collection of the target particles.

(1) Field of the Invention.
The present invention generally relates to a sequential differential mobility analyzer for separating and concentrating the size of selected target ions or charged target particles (collectively "Target Particles"). More particularly, the invention disclosed herein primarily uses a combination of differential aerodynamic mobility and differential lateral electrical mobility, within sequential regions having both airflow(s) and electrical field(s), to separate Target Particles (having a targeted size and electronic charge) from other particles.
A differential mobility analyzer ("DMA") is an instrument typically used to separate small charged aerosol particles based on their electrical mobility, for detection and classification. Many DMAs include two charged concentric cylindrical electrodes, creating an electric field between adjacent electrode walls. This essentially annular pathway (or annular region) between adjacent electrodes may be considered the analysis region. Also included is an aerosol inlet for introducing sample particles (including Target Particles) into the instrument. A sheath gas inlet permits sheath gas (or sheath gas, collectively "sheath gas") to flow into the instrument between the electrodes, which draws the polydispersed particles through the annular region.
In most cases, the resolution of the DMA is limited by diffusion, turbulence, initial spatial distribution of particles, and the ratio of aerosol flow to sheath flow which relates to the transfer function of the particles.
One disadvantage with using only two electrodes is that traditionally there is only one drift region of electrical field inducing differential lateral drift of different particles due to each particle's electrical charge and aerodynamic diameter.
Another disadvantage with using traditional tandem or sequential DMAs is that they do not include a plurality of analysis regions within the same housing, and fewer target particles will be separated en route to the instrument exit. The typical sequential DMA setup will not materially increase the resolution above that of its individual DMA components.
Yet another disadvantage of a regular DMA is that sheath flow through the gap in electrodes is directed inwardly toward the central exit. This is required to improve the particle transport efficiencies only because classified aerosol flow which contains only target particles are suctioned by the external pump. This flow direction reduces the resolving power of the instrument because it does not prevent the diffusive crossing of unwanted particles (including neutral particles).
Another disadvantage of existing DMAs is that target particles are diluted because the classified aerosol flow rate is high or fast, to achieve sufficient transport efficiencies. Consequently, possible coupling devices such as a mass spectrometer cannot utilize all the particles in the classified aerosol flow. In this regard, the detection efficiencies are severely limited.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
The electrical mobility of a charged particle is inversely related to the particle's size; smaller particles exhibit greater mobility within an electrical field than do larger particles (of like charge). Conversely, larger particles travel more in a "downwind" direction during its longer residence time in the drift region due to their smaller electrical mobilities. By calibrating and coordinating the parameters of both the airflow and the gradient(s) of the electrical field(s) transversing the airflow route(s), smaller-than-targeted particles can be electronically attracted while larger-than-targeted particles continue being swept downstream with the airflow, so that only the Target Particles exit the instrument. Ideally only the Target Particles, having the desired electrical mobility and particle size, are extracted from the analyzer.
The following patents are arguably material to the patentability of the invention disclosed herein:
patent/App. #1st InventorDate of Issue/Publication6,607,597Sun et al.Aug. 19, 20036,787,763De La Mora et al.Sep. 7, 20047,161,143De La Mora et al.Jan. 9, 20077,213,476Cheng et al.May 8, 20077,521,673Arcas et al.Apr. 21, 20097,723,677Ramiro Arcas et al.May 25, 2010
U.S. Pat. No. 7,723,677 issued to Ramiro Arcas et al. essentially discloses a DMA having an electric field component opposite to the drag flow to cause the main electric field to be oblique to the velocity field of the drag flow, rather than perpendicular to the velocity field of the drag flow. It discloses a control volume with a rectangular base in which two opposing walls made up of electrodes define an electric field. The two remaining opposite sides of the region form an inlet and outlet of the ordinary cross flow, which is perpendicular to the electrodes. It also discloses the usage of resistive electrodes or conductive electrodes separated by insulators to achieve an electric field against the sheath flow inside the controlled volume. With the external circuit being open or closed, the controlled volume can be switched from classic DMA to DMA utilizing oblique fields against the sheath flow. The device contains shared controlled volume as well as a single inlet with multiple exit slits. One of the exit slits located upstream is used when the device is used as DMA with oblique field.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,476 issued to Cheng et al. essentially discloses a multi-stage DMA for aerosol measurements including a first electrode having at least one inlet for receiving an aerosol including charged particles for analysis. A second electrode is spaced apart from the first electrode, and has at least one sampling outlet disposed at a plurality of different distances along its length. A volume between the first and second electrode between the inlet and one of the outlets forms a classifying region, with the first and second electrodes for charging to suitable potentials to create an electric field within the classifying region. The inlet in the first electrode receives a sheath gas flow at an upstream end of the classifying region, wherein each sampling outlet functions as an independent DMA stage and simultaneously classifies different size ranges of charged particles based on electric mobility. The aerosol is preferably injected from a central electrode and the sampling flow is preferably withdrawn through an outer electrode.
None of the cited patents expressly disclose a sequential DMA analyzer having a housing enclosing electrodes forming a plurality of sequential DMA analysis regions without overlap of controlled volume for analyzing a Target Particle, with the sample aerosol intended to initially travel downstream with the sheath flow without pump assistance, and including a plurality of guide electrodes for guiding Target Particles to the exit outlet.

Sequential differential mobility analyzer and method of using same


A reusable envelope (10) for the delivery of mail and the return delivery of a response. The reusable envelope (10) includes a single sheet (12) of a selected material with various folds to achieve an envelope similar to a standard envelope. A front panel (14) is defined at a central portion of the sheet. A first wing portion (28) and a back portion (32) are folded and secured to one another. A top flap portion (52) extends from the front panel (14)and may be folded toward the back portion (32) to facilitate sealing the reusable envelope (10) for original delivery. A second wing portion (40) extends from the back portion (32) and is folded and removably secured to a portion of the front panel (14). An opening (20) is revealed for the withdrawal and placement of selected articles to be delivered upon removal of the second wing portion (40). A sealing flap (46) is provided for sealing the opening (20) for return delivery of the reusable envelope (10). Windows may be provided at selected locations along the front panel (14) and second wing portion (40) to facilitate the viewing of sending and/or return addresses printed upon the contents within the reusable envelope (10).

It is well known that creditors, utility companies, and other such entities periodically send statements through the mail in order to notify the debtor, customer, or otherwise of an amount due. The statements may be printed by high impact printers, in which case the form may be of the continuous feed type with internally positioned carbon paper, or the statement may be printed otherwise and stuffed into an envelope. In either case, it is well known that a return envelope is typically enclosed along with the statement in which the statement is to be returned.
The return envelope is typically imprinted with the address of the original sender, or it may define a window through which a portion of the statement may be viewed. That portion of the statement visible through the window will normally have the address printed thereon. The address, whether on the statement or on the envelope, may include not only the typed alpha-numeric address, but may also include a bar-code equivalent of a portion of the address sufficient for optical character readers such as those utilized by the United States Postal Service for more efficient mail handling. When not included on the address portion of an envelope by the sender, a bar-code is printed on the envelope either by manual operator control, or by optical character recognition equipment.
It is well known that when such a statement is received, the outer envelope is typically removed and discarded. A goal of many people today is to reduce the amount of waste produced. It is well known that the number of envelopes thrown away in instances such as that described is numerous. In consideration of the goal to reduce waste, it is therefore desirable to reduce the amount of envelopes used and thrown away.
Many marketing companies utilize mail such as monthly statements from power and phone companies to its fullest advantage by stuffing the envelopes with advertisements. This practice is typically not accomplished with mailings which are printed on continuous forms. Therefore it is profitable to use the envelopes in which the statement, reply envelope, and any other selected material may be inserted as selected.
Other envelopes have been produced to serve various functions. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following U S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 174,940 H. E. Brown Mar. 21, 1876 1,335,814 J. C. Blue Apr. 6, 1920 1,371,670 R. Dority, et al. Mar. 15, 1921 1,401,324 R. Dority, et al. Dec. 27, 1921 2,383,652 C. A. Holmblad, et al. Aug. 28, 1945 3,111,257 J. R. Peach Nov. 19, 1963 ______________________________________
The envelope disclosed by Brown in the '940 patent includes an extra back on which the intended recipient's address is printed. A corner is cut away from the extra back to reveal the postage stamp which is cancelled. In the event the mail is unclaimed, the extra back is removed to reveal the sender's address so that the mail may be returned. The cancelled postage is not removed, but is intentionally left in place as proof of postage such that the envelope may be returned.
The '814 patent issued to Blue discloses an envelope that may be readily opened by the postal inspector without destruction of the envelope. Such an envelope would not be of useful value today as such mail is required to be as completely sealed as possible in order to prevent tampering and further as evidence of any such tampering.
The '670 patent issued to Dority discloses an envelope of a size to receive a return envelope and a statement. The outer envelope defines a window through which the addressee's name appears as it is typed on the statement. This is the arrangement that is now trying to be avoided as it demands the disposal of the outer envelope when the statement is received.
The '324 patent issued to Dority discloses an envelope on which the statement is printed and then which is used as a return envelope. As in the '670 patent issued to Dority, the return envelope is inserted into an outer envelope which is disposed of on receipt.
Holmblad, in the '652 patent, discloses an envelope and insert which have registered openings through which a sealing strip may be received. Postage may be affixed to the sealing strip. When the sealing strip is removed, the insert may be removed, refolded, and reinserted for return mailing. There are no provisions for completely sealing the contents of the envelope, nor for the placement of selected advertisements within the envelope.
The envelope disclosed by Peach in the '257 patent is used for both delivery of a statement and return of payment. However, there are no provisions for the removal of any printing on the exterior of the envelope. Provision is made only for the hiding of material along the top edge of the envelope including the original return address and postage. Anything outside the top area, such as a printed bar code or other information, would not be removed or hidden, and would thus render the envelope unusable for return mail.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for reusing an envelope which has been delivered with a statement which must be answered through the post.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a reusable envelope which provides a means for removing any indicia pertinent only to the original mailing of the envelope, including the cancelled postage and the original recipient's address, including any associated bar code, printed on the face of the envelope.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such an envelope which creates a minimal amount of waste product during and after use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope which may be used to insert advertisement within as selected by the sender of the envelope.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means for substantially sealing the contents within the envelope during both the original and return mailings.


The present invention details a sleeve and bushing of an electromechanical automatic planetary transmission. The sleeve and bushing operate to confine the desired flow of transmission lubricant through the components of the planetary gear arrangement. Additionally, the sleeve and bushing assist in maintaining a sufficient pressure level in the cavity of the planetary carrier to enable the lubricant to reach the bearings of the pinion gear. Moreover, the radius or size of the bushing/sleeve arrangement can be adjusted to occupy the radial clearance or cavity between the sun gear and main shaft for an automatic transmission with axially separable splined sun gear and sun gear shaft.

The planetary gear arrangement of an automatic transmission allows the transmission to reduce or enhance the input speed received from the power source. The planetary gear arrangement's components include a ring gear, planetary carrier with at least one pinion gear, and a sun gear. The gears of the planetary gear arrangement encircle the main shaft of the transmission and through engagement with a series of clutches influence the output speed of the main shaft.
Given their essential functionality, planetary gear arrangements are often analyzed for improvements to their manufacturing processes and overall costs. The sun gear, for example, can be separated from its shaft to simplify the manufacturing process for each respective member. Such an alteration can create new demands on neighboring components within the planetary gear arrangement.
Optimizing the fuel economy and ensuring proper cooling of all the internal components in the hybrid transmission can also be critical. Planetary components can also assist in directing the flow of a lubricant to transmission components thereby reducing fatigue and increasing the transmission's lifecycle.
An electromechanical transmission is described U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/531,528, entitled "Two-Mode Compound-Split, Hybrid Electro-Mechanical Transmission Having Four Fixed Ratios," Schmidt et al., filed Dec. 19, 2003, assigned to General Motors Corporation and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Sun gear bushing and sleeve and method for sealing in a hybrid electromechanical automatic transmission


A vehicle frame structure provides a large protected cavity. Lateral energy management zones absorb impact energy on the sides of the protected cavity, and forward and rearward energy management zones absorb impact energy forward and rearward of the protected cavity. In an exemplary embodiment, the frame is characterized by dual load paths along the protected cavity and by graduated front and rear energy management zones.

Alternative vehicle fuels, such as compressed hydrogen and natural gas, have lower specific thermal energy per unit mass than more conventional fuels like gasoline and diesel fuel. Accordingly, an alternative fuel vehicle may have a significantly reduced driving range before refueling than a conventional fuel vehicle with identical fuel storage capacity. It is therefore desirable for alternative fuel vehicles to accommodate larger fuel storage tanks than those found in conventional fuel vehicles.
It is also desirable to place alternative fuel storage tanks in a protected location within the vehicle chassis. Accordingly, alternative fuel storage tanks are typically placed between the rear wheels of the vehicle. However, packaging space between the rear wheels is limited, which, in turn, limits the size of the tanks and, therefore, the vehicle travel range between refuelings.


Smart cargo container system comprising auditable, secure, sealable, stackable, trackable and pollable, universal, “pallet boxes” used: 1) auto-latchingly secured to the under-carriage transverse I-beams of over-the-road semi-trailers by means of a guiding latching system; and 2) stackable, up to three or more high, in the trailers or warehouses. Sophisticated battery-powered electronic locks, sensors and alarms are provided, as well as an RF communications and GPS locator module that radios to a base station the time, location and status of the inventive smart cargo container, and any anomalous events as they occur, including unauthorized attempts to open or break into the container, or potential damage events. In addition, both the locks and comm modules are programmable, and provide extensive, and selectably pollable and downloadable event, access and transport history and audit trails. The comm system permits remote tracking and real time status check via the Internet, LAN or WAN wireless networks.

A variety of cargo container systems have been proposed in the prior art but have not developed into a universal system for cargo transport that answers the complex needs of both shipping customers and the trucking industry.
Companies typically budget 2-4% of the value of a shipment for loss due to theft in transit. A typical type of petty theft occurs from a stacked pallet of merchandise in corrugated containers. A thief will cut or punch a hole in an exposed side of a box, remove some merchandise and then rotate the box to conceal the damaged side. Typical loading dock check-in procedures merely confirm the receipt of a number of pallets containing a number of cartons. Since the time and location of the loss cannot be determined at the time of discovery by simple external inspection, no recovery attempt is made. Such theft losses also occur in the warehouses and back rooms of retailers and wholesalers.
Another common and accepted form of loss is in-transit damage. When items are shipped in corrugated boxes on pallets it is very common for the boxes to sustain corner and end damage that renders them unsuitable for full value retail sale. Many wholesalers and distributors offer a level of claim for damages of 1 to 2% that will be honored without requiring return of goods. These low-level claims are frequently taken as an automatic discount by retailers regardless of the condition of the goods they receive. Additionally, much larger losses due to damage during shipment are not uncommon. Management of such large damage claims, which require return of goods as proof of damage, are very costly. They entail additional shipping costs and substantial administrative overhead, as well as genuine cost of goods due to product loss.
The American Trucking Association reports that the average Class 8 truck having a permitted load capacity of 60,000-90,000 pounds, actually carries a haul weight on average of just under 29,000 pounds (source: ATA Trucking Trends 2000). This represents an underutilization of the truck's hauling capacity in weight of more than 50% on average. The reasons for this are two-fold. First, in some cases, owing to the density of the materials being shipped, the truck simply fills (cubes out) before the weight limit is reached. In this instance undercarriage usage could provide immediate benefit because it effectively increases the carrying volume of the trailer. Second, in other cases, the structural strength of the cargo as packed on un-reinforced pallets does not allow the cargo to be stacked at all, or in other cases does not allow the cargo to be stacked to the full interior height of the trailer.
Accordingly, this exemplary state of the art reveals that there remains a significant and substantial unmet need for universal, fully closeable and lockable pallet containers for secure shipment of a wide range of goods, both interior of the trailer for improved security and under-slung to maximize the unused, permitted carrying capacity of trucks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Computer-executed method for losslessly compressing and decompressing electronic media data. The method is executed in four phases. During the initial phase, the most significant bits are removed. During the second phase, data segments capable of occupying less space are replaced with a nominator of a fixed field of denominators, and the resultant data is hashed. In the third phase, the hashed data is compressed using an entropy reduction technique. In the fourth phase, the compressed data is stored using an arithmetic coding. Multiple passes may be performed, therefore increasing the compression ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compression of electronic data. More specifically, it relates to recursive-capable lossless compression of highly random electronic data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Compression of electronic data is essential to normal functionality of modern information technologies. As the amount of digital data and the sizes of computer files increase at an unprecedented rate, the need for efficient compression of electronic data is more pressing than ever. Current compression technologies, however, are limited in their capabilities.
Most compression algorithms focus on removing entropy—repeated or similar data fragments—from the original data. Numerous compression technologies based on this scheme are widely known and used in the art. They include the use of dictionaries, tables of previously encountered data, and partial matches of previous data. Hashes of the previous data have been used to improve efficacy of compression technologies, and multithreaded engines have been used to decrease the time required to compress the datasets. However, to date, little has been done to approach compression of electronic data that is highly random and has little to no entropy, such as JPEG2000 and NITF files.
Technologies for compression of electronic data may be divided in two broad categories: lossy and lossless. Lossy compression inevitably introduces a degree of degradation to the original data—meaning that an exact replica of the original data cannot be recovered after the original data is compressed. Although lossy compression can be quite beneficial for some uses, degradation of original data is a major drawback that renders lossy compression ineffective for many applications.
Lossless compression, on the other hand, permits the original electronic data to be compressed and decompressed without any degradation. A number of lossless compression algorithms are known in the art. Most rely on run-length encoding, or a modified version thereof, to exploit redundancy in the electronic data. During compression, the blocks of data having a particular value are substituted with a smaller number of key bytes, thus reducing the size of the data. The key bytes contain both the value of the byte and the number of bytes in the run. The key bytes dictate the number of times the data byte value must be expanded or duplicated to obtain the original data from the compressed data. An example of lossless compression method implementing this technique is the Lempel-Ziv-Welch method patented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,302.
The lossless compression methods known in art have some significant limitations. Although they can be quite effective for compressing data with a high amount of entropy, such as text files and word-processor documents, they are ineffective and often counterproductive for compression of highly random data, such as JPEG2000 and NITF. Moreover, even for electronic data with high entropy, once the entropy is reduced after lossless compression, currently available methods cannot compress such data any further.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method of lossless compression of electronic data capable of recursive compression.

Recursive-capable lossless compression mechanism


The invention relates to a multi-layer, coextruded, biaxially oriented tubular sausage casing with improved oxygen barrier properties especially for wrapping sausages, which are heat treated after filling.

The invention relates to a multi-layer, coextruded, biaxially oriented, tubular sausage casing with improved oxygen barrier properties which casing has barrier properties in respect of water vapour and oxygen permeation from the time of filling until removal of the wrapping sufficient for the purposes of sausage storage life and visual appearance. Examples of particularly suitable contents are: boiled sausages.

Multi-layer, coextruded, biaxially oriented tubular sausage casing with improved oxygen barrier properties


This invention relates to gravity-driven car racing, specifically an improved electrical timing start switch for race tracks such as used in the popular Pinewood Derby race. The present invention eliminates the imprecise coupling between the mechanical release of start posts and the subsequent generation of an electrical timer start signal by a separate micro switch-based contact. The micro switch is eliminated and the start post trigger release mechanism itself is insulated and wired as a normally closed contact that will essentially immediately start the race timer when activated. The difference in the time the start posts begin to move and the time the trigger “switch” activates the timer is then reduced to an extremely short and precise time. This time is that for mechanical movement propagation from the trigger release point to the start posts, only about 20 millionths of a second for a one lane track.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gravity-driven car racing, specifically an improved electrical timing start switch for race tracks such as used in the popular Pinewood Derby race.
2. Prior Art
Millions of Pinewood Derby races have been run since the inception of the race in 1953, mostly by Cub Scouts and their parents. But the currently available race tracks have a problem in the way electrical car start timers are turned on. Refer to the prior art FIG. 1 which points out a typical start mechanism, a version of which is shared by all prior art tracks. The typical location of a start gate is at the top of an initial elevated track portion called a ramp. A spring force is supplied by strong rubber bands or a spring arrangement such as shown in FIG. 1. When trigger action allows the start posts to rotate, thus releasing the cars, the lever of a common micro switch is released by the start post support bar. The movement of the micro switch lever applies or releases pressure that activates an internal snap-action contact closure inside the micro switch. This final action then triggers an electronic race timer. So first there is a start post support bar release, such movement in turn moving the micro switch lever, and then this lever causing in turn compression or release of the internal snap-action switch. This sequence of events leads to inaccurate start times. In such a conventional start switch arrangement, there is substantial variability in the time elapsed from the instant the start posts allow gravity forces to begin to move the cars until the micro switch contacts send a start signal to the race timer. Race winners can be decided by timer differences on the order of a tenth of a millisecond, and the prior art spread in race starting times may typically be tens of milliseconds. This variability can lead to an undesirable spread in race times for repeat runs of a car down the track. Thus, the true performance capability of a car may not be recorded. Also, simulation models of gravity cars are constantly improving, and these require precise initial conditions that force begins when time begins. Thus the measured start time data used to test the models needs to be accurate.
Referring again to prior art FIG. 1, we see that the items associated with the prior art start gate are mounted on a brace 17 or on other ramp member such as a main support leg 16 or the side of the ramp 19. A plurality of start posts 22 are supported by a wooden or metal bar 23 which is mounted to the ramp underside by a hinge with pivot 24. A lever 25 supports the bar 23 in a cocked position as shown with spring 26 stretched. Whenever the lever 25 is moved in the arrow direction, the bar 23 rotates around hinge pivot 24, allowing a micro switch lever 28 at the bottom of the start micro switch 27 to drop. This drop causes the internal contacts in the micro switch to send a start signal to a race timer through the wire pair 21. The lever 28 has flexure and there may be variations in the positioning of the micro switch itself relative to the bar 23. These also add uncertainties in the timing start signal turn on relative to the actual motion onset of car 20.


Various arrangements for debugging logic being executed by a webserver is presented. A virtual machine of the webserver may execute runtime threads for a plurality of remote users. The web server may compile business logic code received from a developer computer system via a web-based interface into an logic insight injected code. The logic insight injected code may be compiled from the business logic code to include debugging functionality. The virtual machine of the webserver may execute the logic insight injected code concurrently with the runtime threads being executed for the plurality of remote users. The debugging functionality of the logic insight injected code being executed may not affect execution of the runtime threads for the plurality of users.

Typically, when a software developer is writing code, the developer will compile and execute the code in a debugging mode. A debugging mode allows the developer a window into how the code the developer has written is executing. When code is executed in a debugging mode, the developer can typically: view variable values during execution, set breakpoints at which execution of the code will halt until the developer triggers continued execution, and/or step through execution of the code on a line-by-line basis.
Such an arrangement may work well when the code being written by the developer is being compiled, debugged, and/or executed at a computer system local to the developer. However, when a remote computer system is being used to compile and execute software, a debugging mode may not be available. A multi-user webserver may compile and execute code for multiple users simultaneously. Therefore, a first user may be executing a first piece of code while a second user may be executing a second piece of code. These users may be unaffiliated.
A webserver being used to compile and execute the code for the multiple users may only operate in a debugging mode or a runtime mode (execution of compiled code without debugging) at a given time. As such, either all users executing code on the webserver would need to use the debugging mode or all users would need to use the runtime mode at a given time.
It may be desired that one or more users compiling and/or executing code on a webserver be permitted to function in a runtime mode unaffected by one or more developers that are debugging code.

Debugging analysis in running multi-user systems


Systems and methods for obtaining a SQL query, translating the SQL into a modified SQL query incorporating a privacy mechanism, and outputting the modified SQL query incorporating the privacy mechanism. In some embodiments, the modified SQL query incorporating the privacy mechanism is forwarded to a SQL database.

The mass availability of cheap storage combined with an ever-increasing number of internet-connected devices has led to an explosion of data. It is often difficult to glean insight from data in the raw. For this reason, it is a common practice to first load the data into some kind of database system. To facilitate exploration and analysis, such systems are commonly queried using specialized formal query languages, such as ANSI SQL or similar, to enable expedient searching and distillation of data.
Frequently, datasets contain elements which pertain to individuals. Such elements may be identifying or sensitive in nature, presenting privacy concerns.
In response to these concerns, personal or sensitive data can be simply removed, redacted, or held back from the database or organizational data sources. But depending on the data, this may render the dataset less suitable, or even unusable, for various purposes that are valuable to the organization and/or to society. In other words, removing or redacting data significantly reduces its analytic value and can reduce the analytic value of the entire dataset.
A privacy mechanism is a (possibly) randomized algorithm which takes as input a database (which is generally understood to contain information regarding some individuals), and a query over that database, and outputs the response to the query. In some examples, a privacy mechanism can provide a relatively accurate response to the query while limiting the ability of an outside party to infer that the database contains information regarding any individual from the query result.
Differential privacy is a family of mathematical techniques that formally limit the amount of private information that can be inferred about each data subject. There are two main types of differential privacy, offering slightly different privacy guarantees: "global," which offers data subjects deniability of participation, and "local," which offers deniability of record content. Despite being slightly different, both operate by introducing randomization into computations on data to prevent an attacker from reasoning about its subjects with certainty. Ultimately, these techniques afford data subjects deniability while still allowing analysts to learn from the data.
Concerning ("global") differential privacy, consider a game in which an attacker is provided a pair of databases 1, and 2 that differ only by insertion (or deletion) of a single record, and the evaluation of some privacy mechanism, , over either 1 or 2. The attacker is allowed to examine 1, 2, and is given a full specification of the privacy mechanism , so that the attacker can independently evaluate  over 1, 2, or any input of their choosing. The goal of the attacker is to guess whether the provided evaluation is (1) or (2). This task is considered difficult if the attacker is forced to guess and, regardless of attack methodology, is unlikely to be able to correctly guess the source database significantly more than 50% of the time. Intuitively, if the attacker is unable determine the input database from the result after being given the complete contents of 1, 2, and being permitted examination of and experimentation with , it must be that the result carries little information about the row in which the databases differ. Further, the privacy mechanism  is considered private if its construction ensures that this task is difficult over any pair of adjacent databases.
Formally, difficulty is ensured by requiring that the privacy mechanism respect a certain distributional condition with respect to its output. Specifically, a privacy mechanism, , is called ("globally") ε-differentially private, if for any pair of databases 1, 2 which differ from each other by insertion (or deletion) of a single record, and any S⊆Range(), it holds that Pr[(1)∈S]≤eε·Pr[(2)∈S].
Roughly, when ε is small, this condition ensures that there exists no set of outputs that provide a significant advantage in determining whether the privacy mechanism was evaluated over 1 and 2. One way to quantify the advantage conferred to an adversary hoping to discriminate 1 from 2 is as follows: Let S⊆Range(). We think of observing the event S whenever  returns a value contained in S. The significance (privacy-loss) of observing the event S under the privacy mechanism  is:
            ℒ                        D          1                ,                  D          2                    𝒜                  (      S      )        :=      ln              (                        Pr                                [                                          𝒜                                                  (                                      𝒟                    1                                    )                                            ∈              S                        ]                                    Pr                                [                                          𝒜                                                  (                                      𝒟                    2                                    )                                            ∈              S                        ]                              )
Thus, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that enable an organization to maintain a SQL database and balance safeguards to personal privacy with the need to provide access to the data in its databases in a manner that lowers or minimizes the reduction in analytic value while also providing an appropriate level of protection to the personal or sensitive data.

Systems and methods for privacy-enhancing transformation of a SQL query


A system is provided for securing a vessel (24) such as a tanker to a moored body (12) that is moored to the sea floor, which enables the vessel to remain secured in more severe weather. In addition to the deployed length (27) of securing line (26) that extends between the moored body and the vessel, applicant stores an additional length (28) of securing line. When large drift forces are applied to the vessel, the vessel is allowed to drift away from the moored body, while a braking apparatus (34) pays out the previously-stored length of securing line, while resisting such pay out by maintaining a high securing line tension such as 300 tons. When the drift force decreases to a predetermined low level such as 60 tons, the braking apparatus draws in the securing line to draw back the vessel towards its quiescent position. By allowing vessel drift while absorbing energy from the securing line being paid out, applicant significantly slows the drifting vessel so the vessel does not drift as far and has less velocity when the drift forces have decreased.

This relates to the securing of a vessel such as a tanker, to a moored body such as a buoy or another vessel that is moored to the sea floor.
Tankers are often temporarily secured to moored bodies that lie at the sea surface and that are moored to the sea floor. The moored body is often a buoy or vessel that floats at the sea surface and that is moored by catemary chains to the sea floor. However, some moored bodies lying at the sea surface are moored by a single anchor leg or form the top of a fixed tower. Tankers are often moored to such bodies by elastic mooring lines which have one line end fixed to the vessel bow (sometimes the stem) and an opposite end fixed to the moored body. The elastic line is designed to elongate under an increasing load so the tanker can remain moored in difficult weather without exceeding line tension capacity. In a severe sea state, the capacity of the elastic line can be exceeded and the tanker must cast off when severe weather is approaching. A system for securing a vessel to the moored body, which enables the vessel to remain moored in more severe weather, would be of value.


An improved binder clip comprised of resilient sheet metal pincher substantially triangular in cross section and metallic wire actuating arms which are rotably hinged at pincher grip edges. Pressure applied on the actuating arms urge open the pincher at grip edges while making contact at pivot bars. By providing a pivot point closer to the gripping edges, the pincher requires less pressure to open and consequently less pain and discomfort to the fingertips.

The present invention relates to a clip used for binding papers together.
In the typical design of prior art for a clip used in binding papers together, a sheet metal pincher bent into triangular cross section is opened by pressing on metallic wire actuating arms (2) hinged at the two gripping edges. These actuating arms rest on upper and lower surface of pincher and must by design extend a considerable distance past the back edge of the pincher. After pincher is opened and then relaxed to grip papers, actuating arms may be left in the opening position (up position) or pivoted down at hinges to lay flat against the papers. In either position these arms interfere with viewing and turning the pages. The other major problem is the difficulty in opening this type of clip. A great deal of pressure must be exerted on the actuating arms to force open the pincher. This causes pain and discomfort in the fingertips, especially with the larger clips.


A multi-layer ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and an external electrode. The ceramic body includes a first main surface and a second main surface that face in a first direction, internal electrodes laminated in the first direction, and a penetrating hole that has a diameter decreasing from the first main surface toward the second main surface and includes a tapered surface, the internal electrodes being exposed on the tapered surface. The external electrode includes a first conductive layer disposed along the tapered surface, and a second conductive layer disposed along the first main surface and connected to the first conductive layer.

The present disclosure relates to a low-profile multi-layer ceramic electronic component, a method of producing the multi-layer ceramic electronic component, and a circuit board.
Representative multi-layer ceramic electronic components include multi-layer ceramic capacitors. Along with miniaturization, reduction in thickness, and achievement of high performance of electronic devices, there are demands for reduction in mount space in the multi-layer ceramic capacitors mounted to the electronic devices. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-130999 discloses a low-profile multi-layer ceramic capacitor.

Multi-layer ceramic electronic component, method of producing the same, and circuit board


A centrifuge includes a rotor, a rotation shaft which has a through-hole communicated with an interior of the rotor, a face seal which slidingly contacts an end of the rotation shaft and has a path communicated with the through-hole of the rotation shaft, a wall member which accommodates the face seal, a sample transfer unit which transfers a sample through the rotor, and a coolant circulation unit which circulates a coolant to the wall member. The sample transfer unit transfers the sample by pressure so that a pressure of the sample flowing through a portion where the rotation shaft and the face seal slidingly contact with each other is higher than a pressure of the coolant flowing through the wall member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a centrifuge, and more particularly, a centrifuge which continuously performs centrifugal separation on a sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
Centrifuges are used for separating particles which do not, or do not easily, settle out in a normal gravitational field. Particles separated by centrifuges include viruses and fungus bodies which are necessary materials for producing medicines and vaccines. In a production process of medicines and vaccines, continuous flow centrifuges which can continuously separate and refine materials are used.
Continuous flow centrifuges have a face seal which abuts a rotation shaft of a rotor. The face seal is supported by a spring so as to contact the rotation shaft with a constant pressure. In order to cool down the face seal which generates heat due to friction with the rotation shaft, a coolant is circulated around the periphery of the face seal.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2006-247610 discloses a continuous flow centrifuge which has a face seal held by two kinds of O-rings formed of different materials. According to such a continuous flow centrifuge, it is possible to prevent a contamination of a sample with a coolant due to a seal defect caused by a swelling of an O-ring.
The face seal has a lifetime and needs to be replaced, in general, after about 40 to 50 hours of operation, even though it is cooled down by a coolant. When the face seal is continuously used beyond its lifetime, a sealing property between the rotation shaft of the rotor and the face seal is lost, so that it becomes difficult to isolate a sample from the coolant. Accordingly, the sample may be contaminated by the coolant, and may become improper to use.