Methods for determining the presence and level of active drugs in fluid samples are provided. Advantageously, entire families or classes of drugs can be tested for in one test by identifying the enzyme or receptor upon which members of that drug family act and measuring enzyme activity levels or binding activity levels of receptors. Methods for establishing standard activity levels of these drugs based upon results from samples having known quantities of drug therein are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with the screening for the presence of drugs in fluid samples. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with screening for the presence of drugs in fluid samples which may or may not contain any drugs being screened for. Still more particularly, the present invention is concerned with the screening for the presence of drugs in fluid samples when it is known that the individual providing the fluid sample is on drugs and the screening procedure can help determine proper medication levels. In the instance where it is not known whether or not the individual providing the sample is on any drugs, the present invention is particularly useful in that it identifies the presence of drug families rather than discreet drugs. The same is true for when it is known that the individual providing the sample is supposed to be on a drug that is in a particular family of drugs whereby the screening procedures can be used to determine compliance with taking prescribed medications. Even more particularly, the present invention utilizes a screening technique which identifies the presence of at least one member of a family of drugs by the effects of the drugs on specific enzymes or receptors which are acted upon by the specific families of drugs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The laboratory screening of drugs, both prescription and non-prescription, is typically by a form of immunodetection which relies on the development of a specific antibody to the drug or compound being screened for. This antibody is then used to detect the drug in a sample which may or may not contain the drug or compound of interest. A major hurdle which needs to be overcome to accomplish immunodetection using this method is the development of an antibody that is specific for each drug. The antibody must be produced with a sufficient titer, a measure of concentration, to efficiently detect the presence of the drug. Additionally, the antibody must have sufficient specificity to react only with the drug of interest so that accurate results may be obtained. While these requirements are normally obtainable, they inherently result in a system with severe limitations. The greatest of these limitations is the detection of the drug after it is no longer biologically active.
Drugs may be broadly classified into one of two categories. The first type of drug is active in the form that is present in the drug as taken by an individual. This category of drugs requires no structural modification and the drugs in this class are therapeutically active in the medication. The second category of drugs requires a structural change before becoming therapeutically active. In both categories, additional metabolites may also be as active as the parent compound or its first metabolite while other metabolites may have little or no activity. This drastically increases the difficulty in determining the amount of therapeutically active drug present in any fluid sample taken from an individual. Due to the similarity of metabolite structures with the drug as taken or with other metabolites, the metabolites may also contribute to the immunodetection signal so that, regardless of prodrug or metabolite, the signal would be related to total drug exposure. In some instances a metabolite may be therapeutically inactive while still being detected by the antibody developed to detect the drug. In this scenario, immunological detection would overestimate the concentration of active drug present. The opposite problem may occur where a detected metabolite has an even greater activity than the parent drug. In this scenario, immunological detection would underestimate the concentration of active drug present. Thus, current immunodetection methods cannot differentiate the biological activity of the drug or its metabolites. The result is a system which is good at detection of the presence of a drug but totally ineffective at the more important determination of the amount of active drug present. Moreover, metabolites which are similar in structure, regardless of their activity level, may also be identified and thereby further contribute to an inaccurate determination of the concentration of active drug present in the sample tested. Accordingly, one thing needed in the art is a drug screening test which only determines or detects the presence or levels of active drugs in fluid samples.
Many drugs and classes of drugs produce their effect by activational inhibition of specific receptors or activation or inhibition of specific enzymes. Often, an entire class of drugs will produce the same effect on a specific receptor or enzyme, thereby resulting in the therapeutic effect. In the case of drugs and classes of drugs effecting receptors, a drug may bind to a receptor site, thereby inhibiting the binding of the natural activators or inhibitors. Alternatively, the drug may react in the receptor site and irreversibly modify the structure or shape of the receptor, thereby resulting in its inactivation. Other methods of inhibition include binding to other regulatory sites present on the receptor, interfering with cofactor binding, or interaction with other cell surface molecules required for receptor action. Irrespective of the method of inactivation or inhibition, the receptor no longer works with its normal efficiency. Accordingly, another thing needed in the art is a drug screening test which identifies drug presence by determining effects on specific receptors. The usefulness of such a test could be greatly increased if the test could identify the presence of a class of drugs regardless of which specific drug in that class was actually present.
In the case of drugs which effect the activation or inhibition of specific enzymes, a drug may bind to an enzyme's catalytic site and inhibit the binding of the natural substrate. Alternatively, the drug may react in the catalytic site and irreversibly modify the enzyme, thereby resulting in its inactivation. Other methods of inhibition include binding to the regulatory sites present on the enzyme, interfering with cofactor binding, or interaction with the normal substrate, thereby limiting its binding to the enzyme. Irrespective of the method of inactivation or inhibition, the enzyme no longer works with its normal efficiency. In reality, the drug and/or its metabolites have reduced the enzyme's catalytic rate. Therefore, another thing needed in the art is a drug screening test which identifies drug presence by determining enzyme activity. Again, the usefulness of such a test could be greatly increased if the test could identify the presence of an entire class of drugs, regardless of which specific drug in that class was actually present.

Methods of determining active levels of drugs in fluid samples


A method for packaging, shipping, displaying and positioning a foldable filter having a hinge into an air filtration unit wherein the foldable filter is pivotable about the hinge between a collapsed position and an expanded position. The method includes the steps of positioning the foldable filter in the collapsed position, inserting the collapsed foldable filter into a package, shipping the collapsed foldable filter within the package to a store, positioning the packaged foldable filter for display at the store, removing the foldable filter from the package, moving the foldable filter to the expanded position and positioning the foldable filter into the air filtration unit. The foldable filter includes first and second frame sections connected by the hinge and pleated filter material that includes at least one pleat edge extending generally parallel to a hinge axis. The hinge is formed at least partially by a portion of the at least one pleat edge.

The present invention relates generally to air filters, and more particularly, to a foldable filter for an air filtration unit. The present invention also relates to a method for packaging, shipping, displaying, and positioning the foldable filter into an air filtration unit.
Conventional air filters are common in the air purification art for absorbing odors and/or particulate matter. A typical filter is often manufactured for use in a specific air purifier. Certain tower-style air purifiers utilize filters which may be exceptionally long compared to the width and thickness of the filter.
Not surprisingly, this awkward shape does not allow for convenient shipping. Atypical package or box dimensions are required to pack the filters for shipping. This is disadvantageous to both the shipper and the carrier. The shape also makes display of the filter in retail stores cumbersome. Valuable shelf space is wasted, and consequently fewer filters or other products are capable of display.
It is therefore desirable to develop an air filter which, while still suited for normal use in an air filtration unit, alleviates the difficulties of shipping and displaying of the prior art filters. It is further desirable to develop a method of shipping, displaying, and positioning such filters in air filtration units.

Foldable filter for an air filtration unit and method


The invention relates to a connector clamp having a housing and a current bar disposed thereon, and having a receiving unit for receiving a conductor, and having a clamping unit with a clamping spring held in the housing for clamping the conductor against the current bar in order to conduct an inserted conductor to the current bar in an electrically conductive manner. An activation unit is provided that acts on the clamping spring in order to open the clamping unit. The activation unit is provided with an indicator unit for indicating a clamping state of the clamping unit. The activation unit is coupled in terms of movement to the clamping unit. The receiving unit is disposed spatially between a fixed section of the clamping spring and the activation unit so that the indicator unit indicates the clamping state of the clamping unit independently of the spatial position of the housing.

Connector clamps with opening units which are used, in particular, to ensure a secure connection of flexible conductors in the connector clamp have become known in the prior art. To accomplish this, with a flexibly embodied conductor, for example, a tool is used in the connector clamp to allow the conductor to be reliably plugged into the connector clamp, where the conductor is held securely once actuation of the opening unit has ended, producing a secure electrical connection.
Clamps that have a status indicator for indicating the status of a plugged-in conductor have also become known in the art.
One disadvantage of the prior art is that when an opener is provided, there is no status indicator, and when the status indicator is provided, there is no opener.
A connector clamp for circuit boards is known from DE 10 2006 014 646 A1, for example, which has a pusher element made of plastic for opening the clamping position. A separate status indicator is not provided in this prior art document. In certain mounting situations, it is possible to read from the pusher element whether a conductor is held in place at the clamping point. However, if the mounting situation of the connector clamp is of this type, the position of the pusher element provides no indication as to the clamp status. The position of the pusher element is not representative of clamp status, for example, in an overhead mounting, as in that case the pusher element is not moved back to its normal position by the force of gravity. However, even with an arrangement on a vertical circuit board, it is not guaranteed that the pusher element will reliably indicate the clamp status. The disadvantage of this prior art is that no reliable indication of clamp status is provided.
A connector clamp is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,364 B2, in which an opener for opening the clamp connection is provided. The opener is coupled with the clamp spring, so that even with mounting on a vertical rail or with overhead mounting, the position of the pusher element generally acts as an indicator of clamp status. One disadvantage of this prior art, however, is that the path difference between the opened and closed positions of the opener is small, so that the status can be reliably identified only by a careful inspection from a short distance.


A recording head assembly that includes two side-by-side and separately actuated heads. To increase tape capacity while controlling tape mis-registration, write elements are provided in two subsets with a first subset provided on a first of the two heads and a second subset provided on the second of the two heads. The two subsets are offset a distance along the direction of travel for a tape (or horizontal offset) while the two subsets of write elements are also offset along the longitudinal axes of the heads (or bumps on the heads) such that a first subset acts as the upper half of the write element set and a second subset acts as the lower half of the write element set. The subsets of write elements simultaneously writes data, and a similar arrangement can be provided for two subsets of read elements that are aligned with the write elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to tape drives and, more particularly, recording (or read/write) heads of tape drives adapted to reduce or control track mis-registration (TMR) to facilitate recording with increased track density, which leads to increased storage capacity.
2. Relevant Background
Tape drives have been widely employed in industry for over thirty years due to their ability to store large amounts of data on a relatively small and inexpensive removable format. Typically, tape drives use a storage tape that is wound between a pair of tape reels as data is transferred to or from the tape media via a read/write tape head assembly. In one arrangement, one of the reels (e.g., the "take-up" reel) is part of the tape drive while the other reel (e.g., the "cartridge" or "supply" reel) is part of a removable cartridge. Upon insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive, the storage tape on the cartridge reel is coupled to the take-up reel of the tape drive (e.g., via respective leaders). After coupling, the tape is unwound from the cartridge reel, moved past the tape head assembly and wound onto the take-up reel via a drive motor. Next, the tape is unwound from the take-up reel, moved past the tape head assembly and wound onto the cartridge. Subsequently, the storage tape is uncoupled from the take-up reel, prior to removing the cartridge from the tape drive. In another arrangement, both reels are part of a cassette which is inserted into a tape drive and driven by a drive motor.
To increase the storage density and reduce the access time of magnetic tapes, a popular trend is towards multi-head, multi-channel head structures with narrowed recording gaps and data track widths so that many linear data tracks may be manipulated on a tape medium of a predetermined width (e.g., such as one-half inch width tape) passing by the head structures at increasingly faster rates of speed. However, various factors work against the ability of existing and planned tape drives to achieve such increased storage densities and reduced access times.
In a tape drive system, the misalignment of a data reader to a previously written track is a critical factor that affects capacity. In the data storage industry, this misalignment is typically referred to as track mis-registration (TMR), and TMR is affected by many variables with one of the largest variables being tape dimensional stability (TDS). TMR due to TDS is generally calculated by multiplying a tape distortion factor of a particular media (e.g., magnetic storage tape used in a tape cartridge used with a tape drive) by one half the writer element span of a recording head of read/write head assembly. The writer element span is a linear measurement of the distance between outer elements on a bump of the recording head. TMR due to TDS is caused by changes in the width of the media or tape between the time it is written by write elements and the time it is later read by read elements, and these changes in width can be due to factors (that together define the tape distortion factor) such as the media's coefficient of thermal expansion, creep, and coefficient in tension.
TMR can limit how many tracks can be written on tape, and, as a result, TMR needs to be addressed during the design of recording heads because the industry's goal for each new generation of tape drives is to double the capacity for a particular tape width. For example, a typical product evolution for a tape drive would be to design a head to have the same number of write elements (e.g., 32 elements) but space these elements closer together so as to span half the width of those in a previous generation head (i.e., to have a write element span that is reduced by fifty percent). The number of servo bands then would be doubled on the media, which would require the development of a new servo pattern. Further, the new tape drive may have to meet the design requirement that it be able to read tapes written by the previous generation tape drives and to write tapes that are readable by the previous generation tape drives. To meet these additional requirements, the new tape drive would include additional read and write elements at the channel spacing (e.g., distance between elements on a bump of a head) of the previous generation.
Using this type of head design for each new generation can cause a number of problems or create design and manufacturing challenges. The addition of numerous elements to a head at a tighter pattern and to provide legacy read/write abilities and creation of a new servo pattern adds significantly to the cost and complexity of the tape and the recording head. Further, spacing a particular number of write and/or read elements (e.g., 32 elements) in half a previous span is also a concern due to added manufacturing complexities and due to increased problems with cross talk between the head elements.
As a result, there remains a need for a new design for a tape drive head assembly (or recording head assembly) that is configured to reduce TMR due to TDS so as to allow recording at increased track densities so as to increase capacity.

Tape drive with head assembly having dual offset devices


A blocking outlet and corresponding locking plug provide a completely enclosed safety electrical connection system for supplying electrical power from a wall fixture. The blocking outlet installs in a conventional wall-mounted electrical box, providing access to building electrical wiring. The outlet has receptacles that retain spring-loaded covers, which have a closed position generally flush with the front side of the face plate. The springs provide sufficient tension to the covers to block small children from inserting fingers or foreign objects into a receptacle, preventing inadvertent exposure to hazardous voltage. Yet adults can easily insert a corresponding locking plug directly into a receptacle without cover removal. Regardless, the interior of a receptacle has no exposed contacts. Small access apertures in the interior of an outlet receptacle contain recessed contacts. When inserted, the plug compresses the cover fully into the receptacle to an open position, exposing the access apertures to retractable plug prongs. An ergonomic finger hold on the plug is pulled-out to retract the prongs for insertion into an outlet. After insertion, the finger hold is pushed-in to extend the prongs into the access slots, wiping against the outlet contacts and connecting the plug to electrical power. The extended prongs also lock the plug into the receptacle. For removal, the finger hold is pulled-out, unlocking the plug, which can then be easily pulled from the outlet. A face plate seals the receptacles and provides a wall trim for both the electrical box and the outlet in a manner comparable to a standard face plate. An adapter plug has a socket that accepts a standard AC plug, converting it to a locking plug.

A standard electrical outlet has open slots that expose children to potentially lethal electrical shock hazards. A curious child is prone to insert a conductive object into one of the slots. A child can be shocked if they are in simultaneous contact with a xe2x80x9chotxe2x80x9d conductor and a low impedance path to ground. To avoid this risk, parents of young children frequently insert nonconductive plugs into all unused outlets to block out other objects. These plugs, however, significantly reduce outlet convenience. Standard AC plugs also create a shock hazard due to their tendency to pull partially out of an outlet, leaving exposed prongs that remain connected to electrical power. A child can easily touch these with their small fingers or a conductive object. Further, in research, industrial or military environments, an explosion hazard exists when electrical outlets are used in the vicinity of volatile chemicals and gases, which can be ignited with an inadvertent spark at an exposed contact.
A safety electrical connection system according to the present invention provides a covered outlet and a corresponding locking plug. Spring-loaded covers block small children from probing the outlet with fingers and foreign objects, yet allow adults to insert a corresponding locking plug without cover removal. Internally, outlet receptacles have no exposed contacts, further reducing the potential for electrical shock. The covered outlet is compatible with existing electrical boxes. A corresponding face plate provides aesthetic wall trim for the outlet and functions to environmentally seal the conductors within. The locking plug is configured to compress the covers when inserted into the outlet. The plug has retracting contacts that extend within the outlet to make a fully-enclosed electrical connection and to lock the plug in place. The plug can be pre-wired as a locking plug or configured as an adapter plug that converts a conventional AC plug to a locking plug.
One aspect of the present invention is a safety electrical connection system having an outlet housing with a front face and a receptacle. The receptacle has an entrance at the front face and access apertures within the receptacle. A nonconductive face plate has an cutout and is mountable to the outlet housing front face so that the cutout aligns with the outlet entrance. Contacts are mounted to the outlet housing near the access apertures and outside the receptacle. The contacts are configured to provide an electrical connection between an external power source and an electrical load. A cover is mounted within the receptacle, the cover is generally urged toward the entrance so as to provide a barrier between the entrance and the access apertures.
In one embodiment, the face plate has a raised wall around the cutout. A shelf inside the receptacle mates with the raised wall when the face plate is mounted to the housing so that the wall becomes a continuous portion of the receptacle. In another embodiment, a plug has a probe that inserts into the receptacle. Prongs retract and extend from the probe. When extended, the prongs electrically connect with the outlet contacts through the aperture. In a particular embodiment, the receptacle, the face plate cutouts and the probe are all keyed. The keying may be a generally triangular shape with rounded corners and a square apex. In another embodiment, the distance from the face plate cutout to the access apertures is at least about 0.6 inches. In yet another embodiment, the outlet housing is installed within a wall-mounted electrical box so that the access apertures are located behind a wall surface.
Another aspect of the present invention is a safety electrical connection system comprising a housing having a generally planar front face and a socket configured to accept an electrical plug. A probe extends from the front face and is configured to insert into an electrical power outlet. Prongs within the probe have an unlocked position retracted into the probe and a locked position extended from the probe. The prongs are adapted to hold the probe inside the outlet in the locked position. A contact is mounted to each prong and is adapted to provide an electrical connection between the power outlet and the socket.
In one embodiment, a finger hold actuates the prongs. The finger hold has a pulled-out position away from the housing and a pushed-in position integrated with the housing. The pulled-out position corresponds to the unlocked prong position and the pushed-in position corresponds to the locked prong position. In another embodiment, the power outlet has a covered receptacle configured to accept the probe, outlet contacts adapted to electrically connect to a power source, and access apertures located between the receptacle and the outlet contacts. The prongs extend through the apertures in the locked position so as to connect the prong contacts with the outlet contacts. In yet another embodiment, the prongs extend generally perpendicularly near the end of the probe. In a particular embodiment, the probe extends at least about 0.6 inches from the housing front face to the probe end. In a further embodiment, the front face has a gasket around the probe so as to provide a seal between the probe and the outlet. In yet another embodiment, the probe and the receptacle are keyed with a generally triangular shape having rounded corners and a square apex.
A further aspect of the present invention is a safety electrical connection method including the steps of installing a receptacle within a building wall so that the receptacle extends from an opening near the wall surface to a bottom interior to the wall and creating an aperture inside the receptacle near the bottom. Other steps are locating a contact interior to the wall, exterior to the receptacle and near to the aperture and routing a source of electrical power to the contact. A further step is accessing the contact through the opening and the aperture so as to provide power to an electrical load. In one embodiment, another step is inserting a spring loaded cover within the receptacle so as to block the opening. In one embodiment, the accessing step involves pushing the cover to the receptacle bottom so as to expose the aperture. In another embodiment, the accessing step comprises the substeps of inserting a probe into the receptacle and extending a prong from the probe through the aperture so as to electrically connect the prong with the contact. In yet another embodiment, the accessing step comprises locking the probe within the receptacle. In a further embodiment, the accessing step comprises the further substep of adapting a standard electrical plug to the probe.


A recording tape cartridge which can be loaded into a drive device having a reel on which a recording tape is wound and which is rotatably accommodated in a case, the reel including: a resin-formed main portion which includes a reel hub formed in a tubular shape having a floor, the recording tape being wound around an outer peripheral surface of the reel hub; and a substantially disc-shaped metal plate attached firmly to an outer surface of a floor portion of the reel hub, wherein a gate portion, through which a resin material is introduced at the time of molding the main portion, is provided at a radial direction outer side of the metal plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording tape cartridge which rotatably accommodates a reel on which a recording tape, such as a magnetic tape or the like, is wound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recording tapes, such as magnetic tapes and the like, are used as external recording media of computers and the like. Little space is required for storage of the recording tape, and a large amount of information can be recorded thereon. A so-called single-reel recording tape cartridge is used which rotatably accommodates, within a case, a single reel on which such a recording tape is wound. (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-251983 and Japanese Patent No. 3187022, for example.)
The reel, which forms the recording tape cartridge, has a resin-formed reel hub at an axial central portion thereof. The reel hub is formed in a tubular shape having a floor. A recording tape is wound on an outer peripheral portion of the reel hub. Flanges are provided at both axial end portions of the reel hub. One flange is provided integrally with the reel hub and forms a main portion of the reel. The other flange is formed as a separate component and is attached firmly to the reel hub by welding or the like.
An annular reel gear is provided on an outer surface of the floor portion of the reel hub, along an outer circumference portion of the floor portion. The reel gear is exposed to the exterior from a gear opening of the case. The reel gear meshes with the driving gear, which is formed at a rotating shaft of the drive device. When the rotating shaft is rotated while the reel gear is meshed with the driving gear, the recording tape is pulled out of the case or taken up onto the reel in the case.
A disc-shaped metal plate, made of a magnetic material, is attached firmly to the outer surface of the reel hub at an inner side of the reel gear. In the state in which the reel gear is meshed with the driving gear, the metal plate is magnetically attracted and held in a non-contact manner by a magnet provided at the rotating shaft. The attracting force keeps the reel gear and the driving gear being meshed with each other.
Known methods of firmly attaching such metal plate to the reel hub include insert molding, and welding by caulking. These methods will be described referring to drawings.
As shown in FIG. 14, at a reel 200, a metal plate 206 is firmly attached by insert molding to a floor portion 202A of a reel hub 202 at an inner side of a reel gear 204. A flange 208 extends integrally from one axial direction end portion of the reel hub 202. A through hole 210 is provided at an axial central portion of the metal plate 206. The through hole 210 is of a so-called socket-and-spigot joint shape having a large-diameter portion 210A provided at the axial end portion opposite to the floor portion 202A. Further, three through holes 212 (only one of them is illustrated) are formed in the metal plate 206 at the radial direction outer side portions of the through holes 210 along a circumference coaxially with the through holes 210. Each through hole 212 is of a socket-and-spigot joint shape having a large-diameter portion 212A.
In the reel 200, gate portions G are provided in the metal plate 206 at an inner side of the through holes 210. At the time of resin molding, a resin material, which is a molding material, is introduced through the gate portions G. In the reel 200, by pouring the resin material through the gate portions G into a mold in which the metal plate has been inserted, the reel hub 202 and the flange 208 can be formed integrally and the metal plate 206 is attached firmly to the reel 200.
In the reel 220 shown in FIG. 15, the metal plate 224 is welded by caulking to the floor portion 222A of the reel hub 222 at an inner side of the reel gear 204. A through hole 226 is provided at an axial central portion of the floor portion 222A of the reel hub 222. A braking member, which prevents rotation of the reel when the recording tape cartridge 10 is not in use, is operated from outside via the through hole 226. A plurality of caulking projections 228 is provided protruding from the outer surface of the floor portion 222A. A through hole 230 corresponding to the through hole 226, and a plurality of through holes 232 corresponding to the caulking projections 228 are formed in the metal plate 224. In the reel 220, after the reel hub 222, the flange 208 and the like are integrally formed, the caulking projections 228 are inserted in the through holes 230 of the metal plate 224. By the caulking projections 228 being caulked, the metal plate 224 is attached firmly to the floor portion 222A.
In the reel 220, the gate portions G are provided in the outer surface of the floor portion 222A between the through hole 226 and the reel gear 204. By the resin material being introduced through the gate portions G to fill the mold, the reel hub 202 and the flange 208 are integrally formed. In this way, the metal plate 224 is attached firmly to the outer surface of the floor portion 222A so that the gate portions G are covered by the metal plate 224. Although not illustrated, such a structure is also known that each through hole 232 has a large diameter portion into which the resin material enters after the caulking so that the caulking projections 228 does not project out further than the metal plate 224.
However, the structure shown in FIG. 14 has the following drawbacks. First, it is necessary to provide a relatively large through hole 210 at the axial central portion of the metal plate 206 in order to provide the gate portions G. As a result, the area of the metal plate 206 for being attracted by the magnet is made small. Second, because the gate portions G are provided utilizing the through hole 210 that passes through the metal plate 206, in the case in which, for example, a plurality of gate portions G is to be provided, it is necessary to position the metal plate 206 in a direction in which the metal plate rotates using a dedicated equipment. Third, in the case in which, for example, the gate portions G are provided at places which are offset from the axial central portion, it is necessary to position the metal plate 206 within the mold. Further, the setting for resin molding becomes complex and the metal plate 206 may often be defectively attached.
In the structure shown in FIG. 15, because the metal plate 224 is welded by caulking after the reel hub 222 is molded, inclination of the surface of the metal plate 224 often becomes inconsistent depending on conditions of caulking, and thus it is difficult to obtain surface profile accuracy of the metal plate 224. In particular, if the gate scar after the molding of the reel hub 222 remain projecting, the metal plate 224 which the gate scar is to abut often inclined. As a result, the surface profile accuracy of the metal plate 224 often cannot be kept within the tolerance.


A gas liquid contact structure having a plurality of corrugated woven wire sheets alternated with rigid support members to separate and support the woven wire sheets. The vees or peaks of the corrugations are aligned and oriented in the same direction with the rigid support members separating and preventing the corrugations from nesting together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for placement in a vessel to act as a distillation packing or a demister pad to remove entrained liquid from vapors. More particularly the invention relates to a packing made up of corrugated woven wire mesh sheets separated and supported by a rigid support element and made up into a bale.
2. Related Art
Many types of packing have been developed for use in mass transfer or heat exchange columns. In general, these packing facilitate contact between the liquid and vapor streams by causing more uniform distribution of liquid and vapor over the surface of the packing.
Corrugated plates, known as ripple trays have long been used in the art. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,591,343 and 2,767,967. Also corrugated plates have been used as distribution trays in packed columns. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,062.
The use of corrugated woven wire fabric as distillation structure has also been known in the art.
In addition flat woven wire demister pads have been used to remove entrained liquid in vapors. The entrained liquid impinges upon the wires and drains downward by gravity while the vapor passes through the openings in the mesh. Generally demister pads comprises a plurality of sheets of the woven wire fabric closely packed together to prevent the trapped liquid from becoming entrained again.


A linear translation table for use in conjunction with a sheet feeding machine and a conveyor for laterally translating the sheet feeding machine over rows of product receiving portions of boxes or blisters in sheets of bubble packaging such that the sheet feeding machine can deliver product in an array of rows and columns of product receiving portions as the linear translation table is pitched. The rows of product receiving portions are indexed and linear translation table reverses direction to fill the next row. A controller on the linear translation table is programmed for the distance between columns and stops long enough for the sheet feeder to dispense a product into the product receiving portion. In this manner boxes with rows and columns of segments to be filled with product or formed pocket sheets can be filled with a sheet feeding machine which normally only delivers product linearly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sheet feeding machines and more particularly to a translatable support of a sheet feeding machine such that product can be delivered to different lateral positions when the machine is translated.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art a sheet feeding machine has been fixed in position and a tray, box, or slot on a conveyor belt in front of the sheet feeding machine would receive product counted out of the sheet feeding machine until the proper count was reached and then the tray would be emptied, box moved, or conveyor belt translated so that an empty tray, box or slot would be present in front of the sheet feeder to receive the next batch of product. Conveyor belts or other translator devices would move the batches of product along. However, for filling a sheet of packaging such as a blister pack tray, bubble pack or a box having rows with several receptacles in each row a means for translating the sheet feeder is required.


Apparatus and method for reducing the air pressure ahead of the contact patch of a rotating wheel by directing an air jet substantially at right angles or forwardly of right angle to the plane of the wheel to increase, improve traction and the heating characteristics. In an embodiment the air is heated so as to further improve the traction and other characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to devices and apparatus for improving the air flow around the wheel.
2. Description of Related Art
As wheels of vehicles rotate, the air dynamics associated with rotating wheels becomes increasingly important. When the vehicle is moving at relatively high speeds, the oncoming air can create a number of problems as it strikes the wheel. For example, the air striking a lower portion of the wheel tends to be compressed immediately in front of the contact patch between the wheel and the roadway and to lift the wheel off the roadway. This leads to heating of the ambient air, heating of the wheel, reduced traction on the road, and moisture condensation due to the air being compressed ahead of the contact patch. At extreme speeds, the heated compressed air can float the wheel out of contact with the roadway.

Method and apparatus for directing a stream of pressurized fluid at a location forward of a wheel to improve the traction of the same


The present disclosure relates to systems and methods to implement efficient high-bandwidth shared memory systems particularly suited for parallelizing and operating large scale machine learning and AI computing systems necessary to efficiently process high volume data sets and streams.

Generally, most current machine learning systems are hand-tuned special purpose systems designed to solve very specific and narrow problems. But newly emerging application areas for AI tools demand a more flexible system architecture that can support a growing number of parallel processing tasks that must be applied to incoming data streams in real time, and to process very large data sets efficiently.

Efficient high bandwidth shared memory architectures for parallel machine learning and AI processing of large data sets and streams


Film composites useful as adhesives for plastic piping are described.

Various circumstances require repair of plastic, i.e., polyethylene piping. Repair or connection can be affected by applying an adhesive or composite directly to the crack in the pipe. Alternatively, a multipart sleeve can be placed over the defect or pipe connection and sealed about it. Still another alternative when a pipe is damaged is to cut out the damaged area and replace it with a new section of piping. Yet another alternative is to "spot weld" the plastic piping together as is known in the art.
The afore-mentioned methods have some disadvantages. For example, application of an adhesive or composite to a crack tends to not provide a uniform seal. Also, the application may involve a "cure" time in which pressure exerted within the pipe may force the material out of the crack.
With regard to application of a multipart sleeve to the damaged area, this may often involve significant labor to excavate the area about the pipe so that the sleeve can be placed around the damaged area.
Cutting of the pipe to undertake repairs is often not desirable, especially when the pipe contains a liquid, such as oil or water, or a flammable gas. The operator would need to shut off the liquid or gas and purge the pipe to avoid contamination of the liquid or risk a gas explosion. This is generally not acceptable for most applications. Additionally, as mentioned above, excavation about the section to be replaced would be required. This can prove to be quite costly, both in terms of time as well as other financial resources.
Welding, including spot welding, can also be problematic. If the pipe contains or contained a flammable substance, the arc, spark, open flame and/or relatively high temperatures typically involved in welding could ignite the material. Again, excavation about a large area might be required to access the repair site and can be costly.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an improved system and method to repair plastic piping.

Polyethylene pipe patching systems and methods


HIV gp41 mimetibody polypeptides and encoding polynucleotides are disclosed. Methods of utilizing the polypeptides to reduce or inhibit HIV fusion with a cell membrane and entry into target cells are also disclosed.

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Most currently available antiretroviral agents inhibit essential HIV-1 enzymes, either the reverse transcriptase or the protease. Recent advances have markedly improved the outcome for many patients who receive these classes of antiretroviral drugs. However, the success of current therapy is limited by the emergence of drug-resistant viruses, the necessity of sustained adherence to complex regimens and the potential for toxic side effects. Novel classes of safe and effective agents with a low risk of cross-reactivity with other antiretroviral drugs continue to be needed.
It is thought that targeting viral entry may have advantages over the inhibition of steps in the viral life cycle after the cell has been infected (reviewed in Kilby and Eron, N. Engl. J. Med. 348: 2228-2238 (2003)). The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein is involved in viral entry and consists of two noncovalently associated subunits, a surface glycoprotein (gp120) and a transmembrane glycoprotein (gp41). Portions of gp120 bind to the CD4 receptor and chemokine coreceptors (CXCR4 and CCR5) on target cells (Feng et al., Science 272: 872-877 (1996); Dragic et al., Nature 381: 667-673 (1996); Deng et al., Nature 381: 661-666 (1996)). After gp120-CD4-coreceptor binding, the gp41 subunit undergoes a conformational change that promotes fusion of the viral and cellular membrane, resulting in entry of the viral core into the cell, transport to the nucleus and ultimately, proviral integration and expression (Chan et al., Cell 89: 263-273 (1997)).
The primary amino acid sequence of gp41 includes "heptad-repeat" regions (HR1 and HR2), reflecting the presence of periodic hydrophobic regions found in alpha-helical "coiled-coil" secondary structures (Gallaher et al., AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 5: 431-440 (1989); Delwart et al., AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 6: 703-706 (1990)). HR1 and HR2 form a helical bundle containing three members (a trimer) of each domain (Chan et al., supra; Tan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 94: 12303-12308 (1997); Weissenhorn et al., Nature 387: 426-430 (1997)). These heptad repeats have a role in the conformational changes essential for membrane fusion of HIV-1 with host cells (Dubay et al., J. Virol. 66: 4748-4756 (1992); Wild et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 91: 12676-12680 (1994)).
Synthetic peptides that mimic HR2 segments of gp41 block fusion and have significant antiretroviral effects (Gallaher et al., supra; Delwart et al., supra; Dubay et al., J. Virol. 66: 4748-4756 (1992)). Two peptides, T-20 and T-1249, have been studied in clinical trials (Wild et al., AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 9: 1051-1053 (1993); Eron et al., J. Infect. Dis. 189: 1075-1083 (2004); reviewed in Kilby and Eron, supra; also reviewed in Jiang et al., Curr. Pharm. Des. 8: 563-580 (2002)).
T-20 (FUZEON® brand of enfuvirtide), a 36-amino-acid peptide derived from the HR2 sequence, has been demonstrated to reduce viral levels in infected patients 1-2 logs in clinical trials (Kilby et al., Nat. Med. 4: 1302-1307 (1998)). This compound is used in combination with existing therapies employing multiple anti-HIV drugs such as highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and is also used to treat salvage therapy cases, where patients are no longer responsive to their treatment regimen. However, this peptide HIV fusion inhibitor is sensitive to proteolytic digestion and therefore has a short plasma half-life of about 1.8 hours. Consequently, large doses (90 mg/injection) need to be administered twice daily for full efficacy (reviewed in Jiang et al., supra).
In comparison, T-1249, a 39-amino-acid consensus peptide derived from HIV-1, HIV-2 and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) gp-41, has an increased, but still relatively short plasma half-life of 9 to 14 hours and also needs to be injected twice daily to sustain effective blood levels (Eron and Hogan, PRN Notebook 7: 16-22 (2002)). Thus, a need exists for improved HIV fusion inhibitors with longer half-lives.

Human immunodeficiency virus gp41 mimetibody polypeptides


The present disclosure provides a brightness control method and a terminal device. The brightness control method includes: when confirming switching from a first mode to a second mode, adjusting a brightness of a first area of a screen of the terminal device from a first brightness to a second brightness; where the first brightness is the brightness of the first area in the first mode, and the first brightness is different from the second brightness; and, after entering the second mode, setting a brightness of a second area of the screen to be a third brightness. After entering the second mode, the brightness of the first area is the second brightness.

When one terminal device is applied to some special scenes and these scenes require high brightness display in a certain specific area of the terminal device, one brightness adjustment method of the terminal device is usually to first adjust all areas of a screen to high brightness, and then lower the brightness of other areas while ensuring the high brightness of the specific area. However, there are flicker problems in the above process.

Brightness control method and terminal device

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An internal-combustion-engine misfire determination system includes: detection sections that detects the rotational speeds of the output shaft and the downstream shaft; a rigidity estimation section that performs a rigidity estimation process in which frequency components caused by a resonance due to torsion of the torsion element are extracted from the rotational speeds, and the rigidity of the torsion element is estimated based on a value obtained by comparing amplitudes of both of the extracted frequency components and on the detected output shaft rotational speed; a resonance influence component calculation section that calculates a resonance influence component caused by an influence of the resonance on the output shaft rotational speed; and a misfire determination section that determines the occurrence of the misfire in the internal combustion engine based on a rotational speed for determination that is obtained by subtracting the calculated resonance influence component from the output shaft rotational speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a misfire determination system for an internal combustion engine, a vehicle, a system for estimating the rigidity of a torsion element, a misfire determination method for an internal combustion engine, and a method of estimating the rigidity of a torsion element. More specifically, the invention relates to an internal-combustion-engine misfire determination system for determining the occurrence of a misfire in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine of which the output shaft is connected, through a torsion element, to a downstream shaft downstream of the torsion element, a vehicle including such a misfire determination system, a system for estimating the rigidity of a torsion element that is interposed between the output shaft of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine and a downstream shaft, a misfire determination method for determining the occurrence of a misfire in an internal combustion engine, and a method of estimating the rigidity of a torsion element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A misfire determination system for an internal combustion engine has been proposed that, in a vehicle in which vibration control is performed using an electric motor so as to cancel fluctuation in torque (rotational fluctuation) of a crankshaft of an engine, calculates the amount of adjustment of torque that is output from the electric motor for vibration control, and detects misfiring in the engine based on the amount of adjustment of torque made by the electric motor (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-65402 (JP-A-2001-65402), for example).
In a misfire determination system installed in a vehicle in which a damper (torsion element) is interposed between the crankshaft of the engine and a downstream shaft, fluctuation in torque of the crankshaft due to explosive combustion in the engine induces resonance of the torsion element and the downstream components including the torsion element. The resonance causes rotational fluctuation of the crankshaft, and as a result, even when it is tried to detect the occurrence of a misfire in one of the cylinders of the engine based on the rotational fluctuation of the crankshaft, the occurrence of a misfire cannot be accurately detected. The rotational fluctuation of the crankshaft that is caused by resonance is affected by the rotational speed of the crankshaft and the rotational speed of the downstream shaft, and in addition, affected by the rigidity (spring constant) of the torsion element. The manufacturing error and the chronological change are large with respect to the spring constant of the torsion element, and it is therefore desirable to accurately estimate the spring constant when the rotational fluctuation of the crankshaft caused by resonance is analyzed.

Misfire determination system and method for internal combustion engine, vehicle including misfire determination system for internal combustion engine, and system for and method of estimating rigidity of torsion element


A bearing block has a head containing a totatably mounted post to enable attachment of the block on a support. A manually operated latch mechanism is mounted in the head, and the latch may be moved into engagement with one or more recesses in the post to lock the post in a given position.

Blocks or pulleys are used in a variety of application, including tackle systems and on sailing vessels to control and change direction of lines. A standard block or pulley includes a line receiving sheave rotatably mounted between a pair of cheeks or side plates, with the cheeks extending in one direction beyond the sheave to provide a head for attachment of the block to other objects, or a support.
In a block used as a yacht fitting, a swivel post extends outwardly from the head, and a shackle is attached in an opening through the swivel post. The swivel post is rotatably mounted in the head, in order to allow the block to rotate and accommodate a changing angle of a line. In other situations, the swivel post is fixed in position by use of a set screw in the head in engagement with the swivel post as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,645. The set screw may be engaged and disengaged as required, but this requires the use of a screwdriver and possible loss of the set screw.
There is a continuing need to provide simplification and convenience features on yacht fittings in order to improve operations and changes under sailing conditions without sacrifice of reliability.

Swivel post latch system for bearing block


A primary object of the present invention is to provide a polylactic acid decomposition method that efficiently decomposes polylactic acid so that the polylactic acid can readily undergo degradation by a biological treatment such as methane fermentation. Specifically, the present invention provides a polylactic acid decomposition method involving a step of impregnating a polylactic acid-containing organic material with a treatment solution containing an organic acid salt and/or inorganic acid salt of an amine compound.

Because polylactic acid is biodegradable, many attempts have been made to develop applications of polylactic acid as a new-generation plastic. Products made from polylactic acid can be decomposed by microorganisms that are present in natural environments, in composts, etc. Therefore, polylactic acid products have an advantage in that they can be directly subjected to a biological treatment even when in admixture with easily degradable organic materials.
However, it has been found that while polylactic acid is prone to decompose in an aerobic atmosphere, polylactic acid is less susceptible to decomposition in an anaerobic atmosphere (see Patent Literature 1). Accordingly, if polylactic acid is subjected as is to methane fermentation, which requires an anaerobic atmosphere, the fermentation treatment has the disadvantage of taking a long time.
In view of the above, a method for solubilizing polylactic acid has been proposed wherein before subjecting the polylactic acid to methane fermentation, it is mixed with wastewater resulting from methane fermentation to thereby solubilize the polylactic acid at a temperature of about 50° C. to about 60° C. (see Patent Literature 2). However, when using this method, the final lactic acid yield is low, and polylactic acid cannot be efficiently solubilized; therefore, improved polylactic acid treatment efficiency and efficient energy recovery cannot be achieved by this method.
If lactic acid can be recovered after treating polylactic acid, recycling of resources can be achieved by providing a starting material for production of polylactic acid, which also contributes to global environmental protection and energy conservation. Accordingly, establishment of a technique for recovering lactic acid from polylactic acid has also been strongly desired by industry.
However, the above-mentioned polylactic acid solubilization method has the following problem. When using this method, polylactic acid is broken down into a lower molecular compound but partly remains as polymers or oligomers; therefore, lactic acid cannot be obtained with high recovery efficiency.
With such a background of prior art, there has been a desire for the development of a lactic acid production technique comprising efficiently decomposing polylactic acid, as well as an efficient energy recovery technique comprising subjecting polylactic acid to a decomposition treatment.


The present invention provides an optical imaging lens. The optical imaging lens comprises eight lens elements positioned in an order from an object side to an image side. Through controlling convex or concave shape of surfaces of the lens elements, the optical imaging lens may shorten system length with a good imaging quality.

Recently, as the specifications of optical imaging lenses rapidly evolve, various factors, such as slim and thin in sizes, smaller f-number (Fno) facilitating enlargement of luminous flux and great field of view angle are two trends. For more pixels and better resolution, increasing image height of an optical imaging lens with a bigger image sensor to receive imaging rays contributed to an image is required. Accordingly, achieving slim and thin in sizes for a short system length in view of the various relevant considerations of small f-number, great field of view, great image height and presenting good imaging quality may be a challenge in the industry.

Optical imaging lens including eight lenses of +−+++−+−, +−+−+−+−, +−+−−−++, +−+−−−+−, +−+++−−− or +−−−+−+− refractive powers

Genius Electronic Optical (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.


A method for preparing frozen par-fried potato strips comprising about 32% to about 52% moisture which remain fresh tasting after storage at about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.). The method comprises peeling, trimming and cutting raw potatoes into strips, blanching, and reducing the moisture content of the potato strips to not less than about 54% followed by, par-frying the potato strips in oil for a time sufficient to reduce the moisture of the potato strips to a final moisture content of from about 32% to about 52%. Thereafter, the par-fried potato strips are frozen. The frozen par-fried potato strips have reduced levels of 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine and relatively high levels of 2,4-decandienal. When cooked, the finished French fries have improved flavor over conventional oven baked fries.

French fries are one of the most popular convenience foods. A wide variety of French fried potato products are produced for both foodservice and home use. French fried potato strips, commonly referred to as "French fries" are served in most fast food restaurants. Most restaurants including large restaurants and consumers prefer to prepare the French fries from the frozen or chilled partially fried product (hereinafter par-fried) rather than go through the procedure of preparing French fries from raw potatoes. The par-fried potatoes are converted by the fast food restaurant or consumer into products such as French fried potatoes and the like.
The use of par-fried potato strips has been widely adopted in fast food restaurants because of the advantages they offer. A few of the recognized advantages associated with the use of chilled and frozen par-fried potato strips are, for example, users know the exact cost, the number of servings and the cost per portion. In addition, use of the frozen par-fried potatoes simplifies storage and inventory control, assures uniform quality from one season to another and reduces labor and preparation time for serving.
Commercial par-fried potato products are often shipped over long distances and generally must be stored for extended periods of time in the frozen state at about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) prior to ultimate purchase by the consumer. The potato strips are partially fried, then frozen or chilled and packaged. The packaged par-fries are shipped to restaurants, groceries, or ultimate consumers. During shipping and storage and until they are prepared, the products are refrigerated (i.e. held in a chilled state at cold storage temperatures of about 35.degree. F. to about 45.degree. F. (1 .7.degree. C. to about 7.2.degree. C.) in a frozen state at temperatures below 32.degree. F. (0.degree. C.). Prior to consumption, the chilled or frozen par-fried potato strips are reconstituted (e.g., by finish frying in oil, baking, microwaving) to produce ready-to-eat French fries.
Typically par-fried potato strips that are intended to be finished by cooking are relatively high in moisture content (e.g., about 60% to 70% moisture). When these par-fries are finished by baking in an oven, the bake time is relatively long (e.g., .gtoreq.10 minutes) and the finished fries are generally limp and soggy and do not have a crisp crust. To shorten the baking time and improve the surface texture, the par-fries can be fried to lower moisture contents (e.g. <60% H.sub.2 O). However, this presents another problem in that when frozen par-fried potato strips that comprise less than about 53% moisture are stored at temperatures between about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) to about 30.degree. F. (-1.1.degree. C.), they tend to develop undesirable off-flavors during storage . The off-flavor may be described as "stale" and/or "cardboard". Although this development of off-flavor may not be noticeable when the par-fries are finished by a deep-fry process, it is very noticeable when the fries are oven-finished.
It is believed that the components responsible for the off-flavors volatilize during the frying process and that any off-flavors in the French fries are masked and/or diluted by the uptake of conditioned oil from the frying kettle. However, in the frozen par-fried potato strips that are finish cooked by an oven baking process, the stale or cardboard off-flavor is not voltailized, masked or diluted and therefore, the stale or cardboard flavor is quite noticeable.
Therefore, it can be seen that providing storage stable par-fries, comprising less than about 53% moisture, that retain good flavor when baked in an oven is a difficult task.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide frozen par-fried potato strips which are flavor stable during frozen storage.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide chilled or frozen par-fried potato strips which remain fresh tasting upon cooking, particularly oven baking, after frozen storage.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide frozen par-fried potato strips, which when finished, will have substantially the same lubriciousness and textural attributes of French fried potato strips that have been finished by deep frying.

Storage stable par-fries having reduced levels of pyrazine


A burner tip having a converging portion with a multiplicity of ports. The ports are sized and positioned so that a substantially constant ratio is maintained between any selected cross-sectional flow area within the converging portion and the sum of the port areas downstream from that cross-sectional flow area, thereby maintaining a substantially constant pressure within the tip. A disk is positioned at a downstream portion of the converging portion to flatten the flame.

Burner tips for commercial use in furnaces are subjected to a variety of important requirements, including capacity requirements, flame shape, flame stability and backfire resistance. It has been a longstanding challenge in the art to design a tip which provides superior backfire resistance without sacrificing capacity, flat-flame capability or excellent flame stability at high flow rates.
Prior art burner tips fail to address a primary cause of backfire, which has been found to be uneven pressure within the tip. U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,400 to Vatsky discloses a cone-shaped burner tip having four pie-shaped openings which admit secondary air into the nozzle to mix with the fuel. There is no suggestion for maintaining constant pressure within the tip, nor does the reference suggest a way to prevent backfire or to prevent the flame from blowing itself out when operating at a high flow rate of the air-fuel mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,917 to Hindenlang discloses an air-mixing device for a burner which comprises a frusto-conical air-mixing and directing member which is provided with a plurality of air passage holes. The frusto-conical member converges and compresses a substantial portion of the combustion air, while the air passage holes divert a portion of the combustion air to the periphery of the throat opening to create turbulence. This turbulence is intended to cause thorough mixing of fuel and combustion air, and to increase the cross-sectional area and solidity of the flame. However, there is no suggestion of means for maintaining fuel-air pressure control within the burner tip, or of achieving enhanced flame dynamics.
There remains a need in the art for a burner tip which controls backfire while providing high capacity burner stability and flat-flame capability.


A closure assembly for wine bottles includes a bottle having a cylindrical opening in the neck, a funnel shaped surface connecting to the cylindrical opening and a flat planar rim on the outside of the bottle. A secondary closure in the shape of an inverted hat fits over the rim and engages a glass by means of a thermoplastic adhesive.

This invention relates to a closure assembly for a bottle, and in particular, wine bottles. The invention also contemplates a novel secondary closure construction.
The wine industry has, for generations, utilized a wine bottle wherein a cork served as a primary closure. Various devices were then utilized to provide a secondary closure or cover for the cork and bottle opening into which the cork is fitted. Morehouse, in Patent No. 368,959, discloses a bottle stopper construction of the type which could possibly be used in the environment described. Quick, in Patent No. 827,665, discloses yet another construction. Additional references include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 1,116,663 (Woodruff), U.S. Pat. No. 1,222,765 (Hudson), U.S. Pat. No. 1,481,034 (Stattmann), U.S. Pat. No. 1,612,144 (Muller et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 1,654,720 (Clark), U.S. Pat. No. 2,338,102 (Fields), U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,542 (Price), U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,591 (Spelman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,547 (Finke), U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,246 (Finke) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,080 (Finke).
Of the above references, attention is specifically drawn to Price, U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,542, wherein a stopper is fitted into the neck of a bottle and covered with a foil cap. Also, reference is directed to Spelman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,591, which discloses a bottle wherein a cork is positioned in the neck of the bottle as a primary closure and a secondary closure comprises a foil cap.
Recent developments in the wine industry suggest that the primary closure be covered with a thermoplastic wax material as a secondary closure. The thermoplastic wax material is fitted into the neck over the primary closure. Finke, U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,547, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,246 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,080 are examples of this approach.
Nonetheless, there has remained a need to develop a secondary and primary closure assembly for a wine bottle which has improved aesthetics, provides the function of a secondary closure to cover the neck of the bottle as well as the primary closure and, finally, which is easily removable and perhaps indicates a tamper-proof arrangement. Thus, heretofore, wine containers and bottles had a decorative capsule covering both the bottle neck and the primary closure or a cork. The recent introduction of disks made of paper, wax or a combination of paper and wax used to seal the area on the top of the cork exposed to the outside of the bottle typically fitted within the neck of the bottle. They may provide a decorative appearance.
There are various problems associated with these methods. For example, lead capsules are not used due to the potential for exposure to lead. Aluminum foil laminated capsules or plastic capsules are difficult to remove, in some cases do not have a pleasing appearance and may occasionally cause finger cuts. The use of a wax plug on top of the primary closure provides a construction which is difficult to remove and which may shatter during removal. Paper or wax may bond too tightly to the cork, again making it difficult to remove. On occasion, when consumers remove a paper or wax covered cork, they will invert the cork and put the paper or wax into the bottle if all the fluid from the bottle is not consumed. The paper or wax may then undesirably come into contact with the contents of the bottle, or the seal may fall into the bottle and subsequently become ingested by a consumer. Restaurants also complain that wax particles are unsightly on tablecloths and tend to stain tablecloths, carpet and wait staff garments. Wax also tends to be less tamper evident as the wax and cork can be removed using a two-prong style cork remover without leaving some evidence of tampering.
Thus there has remained a need for an improved closure assembly, and more particularly, a closure assembly which utilizes an improved secondary closure, particularly in the wine industry.


A method for producing a duct-integrated floor-raising material includes the steps of: forming a first enclosed space, a second enclosed space, and a third enclosed space, having a molten tubular parison pressed flat and extruded from pinch-off portions by a pair of split molds, wherein portions of the parison corresponding to the pinch-off portions are welded to each other; molding the first hollow portion, the second hollow portion, the duct portion, and the waste bag in which a blow pin is pierced to outer surfaces of the tubular parison corresponding to the spaces, a pressurized fluid is blown to expand the parison, and the tubular parison is pressed against the surfaces of the split molds for shaping the parison; and cutting the waste bag to form an air intake port or an air outlet port on the duct portion.

Heretofore, a resin duct-integrated floor-raising material is used for adjusting the height of the floor surface of an automobile.
The resin vehicle floor-raising material is in a nearly rectangular panel shape in a predetermined thickness (height) according to the specifications. The raising material is demanded to reduce the weight, and is disposed on the floor pan of the automobile, mainly on the foot of a driver seat. Moreover, since the raising material is demanded to have stiffness, particularly compressed stiffness in that the driver's feet are placed on the top surface, an integrated hollow structure body is adopted in which a rib is disposed in the integrated hollow structure body to extend between a top sidewall and a back sidewall for joining the two walls.
Since such a floor-raising material is a resin integrated hollow structure body, a method for molding the floor-raising material is blow molding, which is more technically advantageous than injection molding. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing an automobile floor-raising material by blow molding.
The method for producing an automobile floor-raising material is a method for blow-molding a molten parison in split molds. The manufacture method generally includes the steps of opening the split molds, dropping the molten parison between the opened split molds, and clamping the split molds and blowing a pressurized fluid into the molten parison.
More specifically, the manufacture method is a method for producing an automobile floor-raising material in a hollow double wall structure including a front sidewall and a back sidewall opposite to each other as a gap is spaced. In the manufacture method, first, split molds are opened. The split molds are formed of two molds. One of the molds includes a rib forming portion protruding in a plate shape to form a plurality of groove ribs recessed in grooves on the front sidewall side of an automobile floor-raising material. The other mold includes a rib forming portion protruding in a nearly cone shape to form a plurality of cone ribs recessed in a nearly cone shape on the back sidewall side of the automobile floor-raising material. Subsequently, a molten parison is dropped between the split molds. The split molds are then clamped in such a way that the tip end portion of the rib forming portion of the one mold faces and comes close to the tip end portion of the rib forming portion of the other mold. Subsequently, a pressurized fluid is blown into the parison. Thus, the parison is expanded along a cavity in the split molds, and the groove rib is integrally welded to the cone shaped rib. Thus, the front sidewall is formed with a plurality of groove ribs recessed in grooves nearly in parallel with each other toward the back sidewall. On the other hand, the back sidewall is formed with the cone shaped ribs recessed in a nearly cone shape at positions opposite to the groove ribs toward the front sidewall side. As a result, the automobile floor-raising material is blow-molded in which the top walls of the cone shaped ribs and the tip end portions of the groove ribs integrally form welded portions.
Generally, an air duct is disposed near the foot of the driver seat in order to flow air-conditioned air from an air conditioner disposed on the front part of the automobile to the rear seat of the automobile. The air duct extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction across the adjacent edge portions of the resin vehicle floor-raising material disposed on the foot of the driver seat or across the opposite edge portions.
On this point, Patent Document 2, for example, discloses a duct-integrated floor-raising material in which an air duct and a floor-raising material are integrally formed in a module and the number of parts is reduced. This duct-integrated floor-raising material is made of a resin, and has a hollow double wall structure formed of a top sidewall and a back sidewall. Moreover, in the duct-integrated floor-raising material, a first recessed groove and a second recessed groove protruding from the back sidewall to the hollow portion side are integrally formed at a welded portion with respect to the top sidewall. Thus, a duct portion is disposed between the first recessed groove and the second recessed groove, and the duct portion includes an air channel separated from the hollow portion of the floor-raising material.
In the case where such a duct-integrated floor-raising material is integrally molded by blow molding as in Patent Document 1, a blow pin should be pierced into a molten parison for applying a blowing pressure, resulting in the following technical problems.
First, a defective product is produced depending on the position to pierce the blow pin.
More specifically, as discussed above, the duct extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction across the adjacent edge portions of the duct-integrated floor-raising material or the opposite edge portions. Thus, the duct-integrated floor-raising material is formed with three hollow portions partitioned from each other. One of the hollow portions is a duct forming an air channel. In the duct-integrated floor-raising material, the hollow portion is divided unequally as compared with a typical duct. Therefore, the divided hollow portions include a single large hollow portion, a single small hollow portion, and a duct forming an air channel and formed between the large hollow portion and the small hollow portion. In this case, the hollow portions other than the duct are not demanded to have strict-sealing properties as long as a predetermined stiffness is maintained. The reason is that even though the mark (a hole) of the blow pin is left and the sealing properties are not secured, originally, a carpet is laid on the top surface of the duct-integrated floor-raising material. Thus, the beauty of the appearance is not demanded, thereby securing the heights of the hollow portions, or the thickness of the floor-raising material.
However, the duct portion is an air conditioning air channel. Thus, when the mark (a hole) of the blow pin is left, air is leaked from the mark to cause a reduction in ventilation efficiency. With the reduction in ventilation efficiency, an unusual sound sometimes occurs from the floor surface in leaking air.
The duct portion may be separately molded (for example, the duct portion is blow-molded) and prepared as a molded component in order to maintain the performance or the quality of a duct. However, the floor-raising material is blow-molded without the duct portion, and the duct portion is later assembled. Thus, the manufacture efficiency of the floor-raising material can be degraded.
Secondly, since there are a larger number of blow pins, the circulation of blowing air is poor, which adversely affects the molding properties.
More specifically, in the case where blow pins are pierced to three hollow portions partitioned from each other for blow-molding, it is necessary to increase the number of blow pins to pierce according to the volumes of the hollow portions from the viewpoint of molding efficiency. However, on the contrary, an increased number of blow pins sometimes degrade the circulation of blowing air in the hollow portions. As a result, the molding properties of the molten parison molded by a blowing pressure are sometimes degraded.
Thirdly, the improvement of the sound insulation properties of the duct portion in which ventilating air flows is restricted.
More specifically, in order to improve the sound insulation properties of the duct portion, it is necessary to increase the volume of the hollow portion in the duct portion. However, in the case of the duct-integrated floor-raising material, the duct portion is disposed between the small hollow portion and the large hollow portion, and has a limitation on the expanse. On the other hand, it is inevitable to restrict the volume of the hollow portion in the duct portion of the duct-integrated floor-raising material. This is because the height of the duct portion is generally set lower than the heights of the small hollow portion and the large hollow portion because a driver, for example, steps on the top surface of the duct portion. Moreover, the duct portion between the small hollow portion and the large hollow portion is formed to be protected by the adjacent small hollow portion and the adjacent large hollow portion with stiffness. As a result, an air passing sound is sometimes noticeable, which comes from the duct portion of the duct-integrated floor-raising material disposed on the foot of the driver seat.
Fourthly, it is difficult to secure molding efficiency without impairing a weight reduction.
More specifically, in the case where blow pins are pierced to the large hollow portion, the small hollow portion, and the duct portion to mold the portions by blow molding, it is possible to achieve a weight reduction by individually forming hollow portions in the large hollow portion, the small hollow portion, and the duct portion. However, it is difficult to secure molding efficiency. In this case, a hollow portion should be disposed as an air channel in the duct portion. However, the large hollow portion or the small hollow portion may be entirely formed in a solid without blow molding because of no need to provide a hollow portion in the large hollow portion or the small hollow portion. However, when the large hollow portion or the small hollow portion is formed in a solid entirely, it does not considerably contribute to reducing the weight because the heights of the hollow portions are used for raising the floor.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 4462924    Patent Document 2: JP-A-2010-30553

Method for producing duct-integrated floor-raising material


A circuit board inspection device for inspecting the operation of a circuit board having a predetermined part or wire formed therein includes a supporting substrate disposed substantially in parallel with the parts mounting surface of the circuit board, and a signal change detection unit made of a coil or a capacitor disposed in a position of the supporting substrate corresponding to the part or wire of the circuit board, with the supporting substrate being disposed substantially in parallel with the circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for detecting or diagnosing an abnormal/failure state of an electronic circuit, and particularly relates to a circuit board inspection device for predicting, detecting or preventing abnormality/failure in operation or performance of an electronic circuit, for example, in equipment having the electronic circuit which is called PWBA formed out of a plurality of circuit boards connected with one another.
Also, the present invention relates to a method for performing prediction or detection of abnormality or failure in operation or performance (hereinafter collectively referred to as "failure diagnosis") of circuit members in apparatus having a circuit board mounted with the circuit members, such as a printer, a facsimile machine or a multi-function machine having the same functions as the printer and the facsimile machine; a failure diagnosis system for effectuating the failure diagnosis method; and a printed wiring board for use in the failure diagnosis system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with improvement in performance and function of electronic equipment such as personal computers or copying machines, more and more analog and digital electronic circuits for various applications for achieving the improvement have been stored in the form of printed boards. In addition, a large number of electronic circuit boards having high reliability and capable of operating at a high speed and with a high accuracy are mounted as means for operation control or the like in other industrial equipment such as automobiles, aircraft, robots, or semiconductor designing devices. When these electronic circuit boards are connected through cables in various forms, desired specifications for implementing a series of functions can be achieved.
Equipment mounted with such boards is used typically in an office or in a house, but may be used in an oppressive environment in some cases. Thus, the environment where such equipment is used is in a wide range. Particularly in a bad environment where the equipment is used, various abnormalities or failures difficult to be detected may occur in spite of normal use. Thus, a great deal of labor is required for restoring the equipment.
Even when the equipment is used in a normal environment, there may occur an abnormality or a failure in the electronic circuits. The location where the abnormality or the failure has been detected cannot be identified frequently though it cannot be the that the frequency of such an abnormality or a failure is low. Further, once there occurs an abnormality in the electronic circuit boards, a prompt countermeasure must be taken in view of safety, cost and so on.
As an example of such a countermeasure, when a person who is in charge of repairs is notified of information of abnormality or failure in a copying machine or a printer, the person in charge of repairs may rush to the scene to specify a failure location on the basis of failure location information, failure history information or the like recorded in the equipment and take action such as exchange or repair.
Alternatively, when such equipment is connected to a network so as to transmit information such as condition management or failure information automatically to a station for managing such information, the person in charge of repairs may analyze the information before taking such action.
However, when there occurs abnormality or failure as described previously, the equipment is usually out of commission, causing a downtime disadvantageously to the user side.
On the other hand, the maker side also faces the following situation. That is, it may take much labor to specify the failure location, or it is not always possible to specify the failure location correctly. Thus, it may cost a great deal to exchange all the possible parts for the failure. Alternatively, it may take much time for repair per se, or action to be taken may be delayed due to limited manpower. Thus, in fact, both the user side and the maker side are often in a situation leading to a great loss.
Therefore, to specify a failure location or to predict the occurrence of a failure per se, various approaches such as an approach to increase accuracy to specify the failure location, an approach to reduce a temporal loss in specifying the failure location, an approach to grasp various abnormal conditions or failure conditions without exception, and an approach to realize these approaches with a simple configuration and at a low cost have been taken.
One example is disclosed in "Detection of Flaws in a Printed Circuit Board by Using an Eddy-Current Testing Approach" (2002, written by Hisashi Fujiki et al. Faculty of Engineering, Kanazawa University
http://magmac1.ec.t.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/magcap-j/research-j/ec ta-j.html, searched on Dec. 4, 2002).
This technique detects abnormalities by a non-contact method using a magnetic field detection probe small in size and unique in shape. The magnetic field detection probe detects a magnetic field generated from a current flowing through a target wire. When the magnetic field detection probe scans wiring of a board in a non-contact manner, abnormalities occurring in an existing high-density wiring printed board, including failures of ICs as well as disconnection/line-width abnormalities of the wiring in the board are detected in a high-speed and mechanical-stress-free state.
On the other hand, JP-A-2000-74998 specifies a failure in the following manner. That is, a power supply current for each electronic board is allowed to flow into a resistor connected in parallel with a power supply. Current information of the electronic board is read based on a potential difference between the opposite ends of the resistor, and compared with that in a normal state, so that a failure is judged.
However, such a circuit board inspection device has the following problems. That is, according to the technique disclosed in "Detection of Flaws in a Printed Circuit Board by Using an Eddy-Current Testing Approach", the conditions of a signal line on the circuit board or the magnetic field generated from the current flowing through the signal line can be sensed in a non-contact manner and with high accuracy, but an exclusive probe used as means for sensing the magnetic field is so expensive that it costs much to detect a failure. In addition, the area which can be measured at one time is a pinpoint. Thus, there occurs a problem that it takes much time or much labor to inspect a failure over the whole area of the circuit board.
On the other hand, according to the technique disclosed in JP-A-2000-74998, for example, a sensing portion has to be incorporated at the time of designing the circuit board and used fixedly. Thus, there occurs a problem that the technique is poor in flexibility of arrangement.
According to a typical method of failure diagnosis, a failure location is specified with voltages or signal waveforms in major locations monitored by means of a measuring device such as a tester. Since various locations have to be measured in such a diagnosis method, there is however a problem that it takes much labor for failure diagnosis to thereby result in deterioration of working efficiency.
Therefore, as a more efficient diagnosis method, there is a self-diagnostic system (Diagnostics system). According to the Diagnostics system, upon starting etc. of apparatus, the apparatus per se diagnoses a failure in each board or each electronic circuit. In the Diagnostics system, a failure diagnosis circuit for monitoring the circuit operation is provided at the time of designing electronic circuits. For example, a signal pattern (expected value) during the operation of the apparatus is monitored in every circuit module or every board or every circuit portion, and stored in advance. An output of the diagnosis circuit during actual operation is compared with the expected value. Thus, the existence of failure occurrence is diagnosed, and a failure location is specified.
On the other hand, with the recent improvement of performance and function, the operation of electronic circuits becomes more and more complicated. For this reason, the number of locations and the data width of each signal to be monitored for detecting a failure increase so that the scale of the failure diagnosis circuit increases. As a result, there is a problem that the number of man-hours for design increases so that the cost of the electronic circuits increases.
Therefore, to specify a failure location or to predict the occurrence of a failure per se, various approaches such as an approach to increase accuracy to specify the failure location, an approach to reduce a temporal loss in specifying the failure location, an approach to grasp various abnormal conditions or failure conditions without exception, and an approach to realize these approaches with a simple configuration and at a low cost have been taken.
For example, JP-A-11-38111 discloses apparatus for detecting a magnetic field generated by a current flowing through an electronic circuit. The apparatus proposed in JP-A-11-38111 measures a magnetic field generated from a current flowing through only one wire in circuit wiring of a printed circuit board or an LSI mounted in high density, at high resolution and in a non-contact manner while suppressing the influence of adjacent wires of the circuit wiring. With such apparatus, the operation of an electronic circuit to be failure-diagnosed can be monitored without providing a diagnosis circuit in the electronic circuit.
However, according to the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the conditions of a signal line on the circuit board or the magnetic field generated from the current flowing through the signal line can be sensed in a non-contact manner and with high accuracy, but an expensive exclusive probe (sensing probe) has to be used as means for sensing the magnetic field. Thus, it costs much to detect a failure.
In addition, in order to check the conditions of any desired wire or terminal, the sensing probe has to be brought close to the vicinity of the wire or terminal for observation. This is because the detectable range of one probe is so narrow that the probe has to be brought close to a location to be diagnosed in order to diagnose the location accurately. Accordingly, for example, as shown in FIG. 21, as the means for bringing the probe close to a target portion, it is necessary to adopt a manner using manual operation, or to move the probe by use of mechanical means. It is therefore difficult to perform measurement in the state where the electronic circuit board is installed in a system such as electronic equipment, and it is necessary to perform failure diagnosis over the electronic circuit board off-line. As a result, it has to take much time and much labor. In addition, it is difficult to fix the position relation between the probe and the portion to be inspected. Thus, it is difficult to perform accurate inspection.
The circuit operation may be monitored all over the electronic circuit board with a plurality of exclusive probes installed in the system in order to monitor the circuit operation in a plurality of desired ranges. However, it costs a great deal for such a case. On the other hand, without adopting such a moving manner or with a small number of probes installed, only a range or ranges near the probe(s) can be detected. Thus, the detectable range becomes very narrow.
Thus, the related-art failure diagnosis method is not always user-friendly in view of the cost and the degree of freedom in setting a portion to be failure-diagnosed.


A garment having a piece of clothing with a plurality of pad segments located proximate a backside of a wearer's body, including at least one joint region, for protecting the wearer by dissipating energy resulting from a sudden impact. The pad segments arranged with respect to the interior radius of the joint region such that an interstitial space located between each adjacent pad segment becomes narrower moving a protruding portion of each adjacent pad segment closer together, and in some instances such that the adjacent protruding portions touch one another, when the joint region moves from an extended position to a flexed position. The garment with energy dissipating pad segments may be used alone or in conjunction with pads that shield energy.

Protective garments are well known to provide protection for a user in many different types of sports where sudden impact occurs as a result of activity or is a very real possibility, such as football, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, basketball, baseball and the like. Protective garments are worn to protect the user, such as athletes, from the energy force that results from sudden impact. Protective garments and equipment designed for use in contact sports typically rely on two modes of dissipating energy from impact forces, padding and shielding. Padding typically dissipates the energy force through elastic deformation of the padding material, while shielding deflects a portion of the energy force away from the body.
While there are numerous protective garments within the industry, one of the major problems in designing effective athletic gear is the need to balance protection with mobility. The proper balance can also be dependent upon the specific sport, such as to provide minimal restriction by the user for the types of movements that are utilized in that sport. For example, activities in football often result in sudden impact in the front and/or side portions of the body, such as the shoulders, head, hips, thighs and knee areas, whereas hockey and/or lacrosse also can receive sudden impact from a stick or the solid puck/ball in the front, side and/or backside portions of the body, including the elbows, triceps, forearm, lumbar area and/or buttocks. The proper balance can also be dependent upon the particular type of player in the respective sport, such as a quarterback compared to a defensive lineman in football or a goaltender compared to a center in hockey.
Some protective garments, such as shirts, shorts or pants, have used padding and/or segmented padding that is inserted into pockets or openings in the garment, which adds to the bulk of the garment and impedes mobility. Other protective garments have used segmented or articulated padding and/or shielding located on the exterior of the garment, which leaves interstices and/or joints between padding segments within which flexing and bending can take place. Placing the segmented or articulated padding and/or shielding on the outside of the garment, however, provides its own difficulties for padding located proximate the user's joint, such as the interstices in the segmented and/or articulated padding becoming bigger or wider when the proximate joint is flexed resulting in inadequate dissipation of energy force for protection.
Therefore, a need exists for garments with protective padding that provides a proper balance of protection and mobility to the user where sudden impact to the backside of the body is common while also providing adequate protection to joints throughout the entire range of motion.

Garment with integrated protective padding