Honeycomb extrusion dies for the extrusion of honeycomb ceramics of high cell density and reduced cell wall thickness are machined from fully consolidated powder-formed (P/M) stainless steels, providing dies with reduced feed hole roughness, improved feed hole straightness, and superior discharge slot finish, with the result that significantly enhanced extrusion performance and higher quality honeycomb extrusions are realized.

The present invention relates to extrusion dies for forming thin-walled honeycomb structures from extrudable materials. More particularly, the invention relates to extrusion dies offering improved utility for the extrusion of thin-walled high-cell-density ceramic and metallic honeycombs.
In the manufacture of ceramic honeycombs, particulate mineral batch materials are dispersed in an appropriate vehicle to form a plasticized powder batch, and the batch is forced through a honeycomb die to provide extruded green bodies of complex honeycomb shape which are then dried and fired. Thin-walled ceramic honeycomb structures thus produced display utility in a variety of applications. For example, such structures are used as substrates for the support of catalysts in automotive exhaust gas treatment systems, as well as for other catalyst carriers, filter bodies, and thermal regenerators or heat exchangers. Metallic honeycombs of similar configuration have been used as gas heaters.
As the art of honeycomb extrusion has advanced, honeycombs with finer and finer cell structures and thinner cell walls have been developed. The production of these finer honeycombs requires that extrusion dies with finer structure be used. Dies used for the extrusion of ceramic honeycombs are typically machined metal plates or blocks having shallow, crisscrossing and interconnecting discharge slots on the downstream or outlet face of the die from which the plasticized batch emerges and through which, during emergence of the batch, the webs or sidewalls of the cells of the honeycomb structure are formed. To supply the batch material to the discharge slots, feed holes communicating with the slots are provided in the opposite or inlet face of the die.
To provide finer honeycombs with higher cell densities (more cells per unit area) and thinner cell walls, the discharge slots and feedholes must of course be formed closer together and be smaller in size. For advanced ceramic honeycomb products, the objectives are to achieve cell densities exceeding 600 cells/in.sup.2 and cell walls below about 200 .mu.m in thickness.
To achieve these dimensions, slot and feedhole machining to very close tolerances is required. Meeting such tolerances has required the use of non-traditional machining processes such as electrochemical machining (ECM) and wire electrical discharge machining (EDM). EDM is the preferred process for generating the discharge slots and ECM is typically used for producing the precise arrays of small feedholes needed to supply the discharge slots.
In the prior art, extrusion dies for the manufacture of ceramic honeycombs have been formed of tool steels or stainless steels. Stainless steels are harder to machine but offer significant advantages for honeycomb die fabrication because they offer a corrosion resistant medium which can withstand relatively high stresses and attack by aqueous media. In addition, many stainless steels can be wear-coated with hard surfacing materials such as carbides and nitrides. Such coatings significantly enhance the ability of the die to resist wear from the abrasive ceramic powder batch materials extruded therethrough.
The difficulty of shaping these very hard stainless steel materials has led to the suggestion of alternative extrusion die manufacturing strategies, particularly where complex feedhole shapes are desired. Thus U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,556, for example, discloses a method of forming an extrusion die from a powder, wherein a powder preform for the die, typically of ceramic composition but optionally of metal, is at least partially machined while in a porous and unconsolidated (green or chalk-hard) state. The shaping of consolidated die blank materials is also mentioned, although specific materials useful in that procedure are not actually described or discussed.
Unfortunately powder-formed dies made as described in the above patent have not yet been proven for use in the production of high-cell-density, thin-walled honeycomb structures. One problem with the described approach is the difficulty of maintaining high dimensional precision in feedholes and/or discharge slots made in unconsolidated materials during the high-shrinkage process of consolidating them to useful densities. Thus the materials of choice for the fabrication of advanced honeycomb extrusion dies are still wrought stainless steels and tool steels.
Descriptions of the use of EDM and ECM for the fabrication of stainless steel extrusion dies are found in the patent literature. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,320,721 and 5,322,599, for example, describe the application of ECM processes to the machining of die feedholes, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,035 documents the application of wire EDM to the machining of discharge slots in the outlet faces of the dies.
In principle, the finer hole and slot dimensions needed for advanced honeycombs can be reached with ECM and EDM machining techniques. In practice, however, the resulting dies do not demonstrate the expected extrusion performance. Forming defects including missing webs (interruptions in the formation of the cell walls of the honeycomb) and swollen webs (wall segments of excessive thickness), are often observed, as is unacceptable twisting or turning ("bowing") of the extruded material as it exits the extrusion die. In general, these defects are usually attributed to defects in design or finish of the extrusion dies.
It would be desirable to develop a die or die machining procedure for making dies for the extrusion of very fine honeycomb structures which would permit the extrusion of honeycombs with thinner walls and/or higher cell counts at yields as high or higher than present honeycomb extrusion processes.
It would also be desirable to develop a die which would permit the extrusion of less advanced ceramic honeycombs at higher yields and in higher quality. Yet, any material selected for this application would have to be sufficiently strong to handle the relatively large extrusion pressures required for fine honeycomb extrusion, and sufficiently durable and wear resistant to resist the abrasive effects of presently used ceramic powder batches.

Process for forming honeycomb extrusion die


A dredging system for removing material from a submerged ground surface includes a dredge head housing having an enclosed, pressurized agitation chamber into which the material to be removed is received from an intake opening. Connected to the housing is a feed line that supplies pressurized fluid, such as water, air or both, to a fluid manifold connected to the housing and within the agitation chamber. The fluid manifold contains cutting outlets for discharging the pressurized fluid onto the material to liquefy the material and lifting outlets for discharging the pressurized fluid so as to urge the liquefied material towards a riser chute. The riser chute is connected to a top cover of the housing and extends above the housing and upwardly discharges the liquefied material into the water column of the body of water.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to waterway channel maintenance. More specifically, the invention relates to channel dredging, particularly channel side dredging.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shoaling and the buildup of silt and mud are common problems around docks, ports and channels, and frequent dredging is required to maintain sufficient depth of water for use by ships, barge and other waterborne vehicles. Many types of dredge equipment have been developed, including cutter-head dredges, bucket or shovel dredges, and side trailing hopper dredges. These dredge systems use mechanical manipulation of the dredged material, either by pumping or scooping, to transfer the material away from the area being dredged, e.g. a dock or channel side. An example of a dredging system using pumping is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,251. This reference discloses a hand operated suction dredge head and a hydraulic submersible pump assembly. Water and sludge is driven through a conduit and pump and is discharged to a location remove from the dredge head. While these systems are somewhat effective in dredging level surfaces, the angularity of channel sidewalls can present challenges to the operation of certain types of these dredges.
Another problem present with prior dredge systems is that they are destructive to bottom dwelling creatures because of the mechanical action of the dredging. Also associated with mechanical dredging systems is the problem of finding a location for the dredged material after it has been removed. Very often the ship from which the dredging is taking place must act as a temporary storage area for the removed material. This necessitates a larger ship size than otherwise needed, thereby requiring more crew and a higher United States Coast Guard license rating to operate the vessel. An additional special problem with systems that transfer material by pumping is that the slurry dredged up and pumped through the pumps is very abrasive. This abrasiveness causes the pumps to wear at a higher rate than pumps just pumping water.
A more recent system, referred to as water injection dredging (WID), has shown advantages in dredging channel side buildup. Generally, WID involves injecting water into the material, liquefying it and causing it to flow under its own weight to deeper adjacent water. An example of WID is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,000. While this technique can be useful for higher level side dredging, it is largely ineffective for bottom dredging where there is no lower runoff level.
Another problem associated with both WID and mechanical dredging systems is that they produce a layer of "fluff" or low density mixture of bottom material and water just above the dredged bottom. When survey equipment tries to measure the depth of the bottom the depth recording equipment records the fluff layer rather than the true dredged bottom.


A group III nitride semiconductor laser device includes a laser structure, an insulating layer, an electrode and dielectric multilayers. The laser structure includes a semiconductor region on a semi-polar primary surface of a hexagonal group III nitride semiconductor support base. The dielectric multilayers are on first and second end-faces for the laser cavity. The c-axis of the group III nitride tilts by an angle ALPHA from the normal axis of the primary surface in the waveguide axis direction from the first end-face to the second end-faces. A pad electrode has first to third portions provided on the first to third regions of the semiconductor regions, respectively. An ohmic electrode is in contact with the third region through an opening of the insulating layer. The first portion has a first arm, which extends to the first end-face edge. The third portion is away from the first end-face edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a group III nitride semiconductor laser device.
2. Related Background Art
Patent Literature 1 discloses a nitride-based semiconductor laser device. The semiconductor laser device in Patent Literature 1 enables the easy detection of defects caused in the device by cleaving without an increased number of steps in the manufacturing process. The nitride-based semiconductor laser device includes nitride-based semiconductor layers formed on a c-plane n-type GaN substrate, a light-emitting face of a fractured face, and p-side pad electrode formed on the nitride-based semiconductor layers. The p-side pad electrode includes a notch formed so as not to cover a ridge at the end section in which the light-emitting face 30a is located. The p-side pad electrode is disposed away from the edge of the light-emitting face.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a nitride-based semiconductor laser device disposed on a semi-polar surface of a substrate. The end faces of an optical cavity in the nitride-based semiconductor laser device are not formed by cleaving.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-28020    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent No. 4475357

Group III nitride semiconductor light emitting device


A system that reduces overly optimistic program execution. During operation, the system encounters a bounded-execution block while executing a program, wherein the bounded execution block includes a primary path and a secondary path. Next, the system executes the bounded execution block. After executing the bounded execution block, the system determines whether executing instructions on the primary path is preferable to executing instructions on the secondary path based on information gathered while executing the bounded-execution block. If not, the system dynamically modifies the instructions of the bounded-execution block so that during subsequent passes through the bounded-execution block, the instructions on the secondary path are executed instead of the instructions on the primary path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for improving performance within computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for enabling optimistic program execution.
2. Related Art
Several software and hardware mechanisms exist that can initiate a control transfer of execution to a pre-determined address in the event of an error or a failure during execution of a bounded-execution block. Examples of such mechanisms include try-catch blocks in languages including C++ and JAVA, the C library's setjmp-longjmp functions, and transactional-execution blocks in systems that support transactional memory. (JAVA is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation).
These bounded-execution blocks contain a primary path, which is the preferable path or the optimal path, to be taken when executing the bounded-execution block. If the execution of the primary path fails, execution of the bounded-execution block restarts at the entrance of a secondary path. This secondary path can perform actions such as executing a copy of the instructions on the primary path using a different contention-handling mechanism (e.g., using locks instead of using transactional memory mechanisms), or performing a remedial action such as reporting an error.
The primary path is generally the optimistic path. If the execution of code on the primary path succeeds, then the overall execution time of the program will be reduced. However, conditions within the computer system can cause the primary path to constantly fail or to be less optimal than the secondary path. If the bounded-execution block is executed many times (e.g., within a for loop), it is inefficient and costly to repeatedly execute the code on the primary path when the code is likely to fail or is less optimal than the code in the secondary path.
Because of this risk, programmers and compilers use these techniques less aggressively than possible. In other words, they produce less-than-optimal code in the common case in order to avoid significant performance problems in unusual situations. Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for enabling optimistic program execution.

Method and apparatus for enabling optimistic program execution


An energy saving method for acquiring in vivo images of the gastro-intestinal tract is provided. A device, such as an autonomous capsule, includes at least one imaging unit; a control unit connected to the imaging unit and a power supply connected to the control unit. The control unit includes a switching unit and an axial motion detector connected to the switching unit. The axial motion detector detects the axial movement of the device and if the axial acceleration is below a pre-determined threshold, disconnects the power supply thereby preventing the acquisition of redundant images. A method for operation and use of the device is provided.

Endoscopic inspection is a common practice in the medical diagnosis of gastro-intestinal (G.I.) diseases. The video camera used for identifying observable irregularities of the internal lining of the G.I. tract is installed within an endoscope and progressive scenes are observed by pushing the endoscope inside the tract. The endoscope is a tubular device typically containing either a camera with the associated electric circuits or a fiber-optic image guide. It also includes a light source or a light guide, and an electrical conductor for accepting signals and/or supplying energy. Because the movement of the endoscope head along the G.I. tract is brought about by a pushing action, the mechanical impact associated with such application of force become especially adverse as soon as the head of the endoscope enters a bend. In such bends, the movement of the endoscope is greatly impeded, risking the G.I. tract walls, which are susceptible to perforation, and limiting the method of endoscopic inspection to non-convoluted regions of the G.I. tract.
An in-vivo autonomous video capsule, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,531 whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, moves along the G.I. tract by virtue of the natural squeezing action of the tract's walls, thus overcoming the risk of the pushing action, and, in addition, offering a more convenient method of administering the camera. An additional benefit of the capsule is avoiding the cumbersome aspects of connecting the intestines of the patient to external appliances. Via the autonomous capsule, images of the gastro-intestinal tract are obtained without physical connections being made to an energy source or an information drain. An internal power supply energizes the capsule and supports the illumination, image acquisition and radio transmission of the information to an external receiver. Because of the considerable length of the G.I. tract, many images have to be acquired in order to cover the entire length of the tract, this amount of data may be augmented by redundant images of the same site which are acquired when the capsule stops moving or is only barely doing so. Such a task consumes a substantial amount of energy, thus potentially becoming a limiting factor in respect of quality and quantity of the set of images collected in a single inspection. An additional drawback connected with redundancy of images of a G.I. tract is the effectivity of analysis stage. Once the entire sequence of images is presented to the analyzing physician, a lengthy process of finding the potential sites of interest ensues. Any redundancy existing in such a sequence of images poses a disturbance to analysis procedure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A water jet cleaning device for a includes a base and a cover secured to a toilet. A tube is secured in the base has a lower end coupled to a water tank. A pipe is secured on the tube and has an upper end extended outward the cover and has an outlet coupled to a sprayer head and has a valve seat. A rod is received in the pipe and has a plug for engaging with the valve seat of the pipe and a spring may bias the plug to engage with the valve seat. A water jet may flow out of the sprayer head via the pipe when the plug is forced away from the valve seat against the spring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning device, and more particularly to a water jet cleaning device for a toilet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, people may assemble, by themselves, a spray nozzle or a spray gun to a water tank for cleaning purposes after visiting john and doing No. 1 job. However, it will be difficult for the user to use or operate such a spray device.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional toilets.


A transfer printed, flocked fabric includes a textile substrate, raised nylon fibers on the substrate, a black-pigmented adhesive adhering the nylon fibers to the substrate and disperse dye distributed in a pattern in upper portions of the nylon fibers and the upper portions of the nylon fibers being colored only by disperse dye, thereby forming a deep, dark, crock-fast, colored print.

The present invention relates to improvements in transfer printing on flocked fabrics.
Flocked fabrics are known to be made by adhering short fibers, typically nylon or polyester to a substrate using, conventionally, a clear adhesive. The fibers may be pre-dyed, known as fiber-dye, or in their natural state, in which they are a white, translucent color.
Transfer printing entails combining a paper having the dyestuffs for the fabric arrayed on it in a print pattern, placing the paper and fabric into intimate contact and exposing the paper and fabric to pressure and heat. The result is the sublimation of the disperse dye and its entry into the fibers of the fabric. It is conventional for transfer print papers to have the print arrayed over the entire extent of the paper, so that the pattern to be printed can be seen in reverse on the paper itself. Transfer printed fabrics, having been exposed to heat and pressure in the printing process typically have a flat and papery look and hand. This is often deemed undesirable, especially in a flocked fabric.
It is known to add pigment to an adhesive used in some flocked fabric manufacturing. In one case, the pigmented adhesive is used to bind flock on fabric which is subsequently printed using wet processing techniques to achieve deep rich colors. However wet processing involves very different considerations from transfer printing, which is a lower-cost, dry process. Tinted adhesives are also known for use with pre-dyed flock, to obtain an overall intensity of shade.
However, it has not been possible previously in printing the flocked fabrics with transfer printing to achieve deep, dark shades using conventional print papers. When this is attempted, there are problems of grin-through, crocking and inferior lightfastness. The fabric substrate can be seen between the fibers, interfering with the desired visual effect of the printed pattern. Efforts to add dyestuff to the print paper in order to achieve deeper shades have been unsuccessful because the dyestuff in such a heavy concentration is not fully absorbed into the fibers. As a result, the dyestuff can rub off, an undesirable and commercially unacceptable result. The rubbing off of the colors in this fashion is known as "crocking".
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method for transfer printing onto flocked fabrics to achieve deep, dark shades, and also a need for deep, darkly transfer printed flocked fabrics.


In certain embodiments, a method for interfacing an application to a distributed transaction coordinator includes receiving a distributed transaction request from an application in a first runtime environment. In response to the request, the application is enlisted with a distributed transaction coordinator in a second runtime environment. The first runtime environment is at least partially distinct from the second runtime environment. A transaction identifier is received from the distributed transaction coordinator. A first resource manager is invoked to enlist in the distributed transaction using the transaction identifier and a second resource manager is invoked to enlist in the distributed transaction using the transaction identifier.

Transactions may be distributed over multiple database systems and, in these cases, typically comprise a set of actions. These actions are often organized to conform to the following properties: Atomiticity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID). More particularly, data changes within a transaction are typically committed together or are rolled back together (atomiticity). In the case that a transaction is rolled back, the effected resources are returned to the valid state they were in before the transaction (consistency). Any changes made to data by a transaction are invisible to other concurrent transactions until the transaction commits (isolation). Once a transaction is committed, the changes may persist even in the face of subsequent system failures (durability). In order to provide such features and functions, a two-phase commit protocol may be implemented. For example, the X/Open Distributed Transaction Processing Model describes such a two-phase commit protocol in which the transaction manager requests each enlisted resource manager to prepare to commit and, if all resource managers successfully prepare, broadcast a commit decision. The X/Open DTP XA Specification is a software architecture that allows multiple application programs to share resources provided by multiple resource managers and allows their work to be coordinated into global transaction.

System and method for interfacing an application to a distributed transaction coordinator


A system and method for sharing a WAN TCP tunnel between multiple flows without having head of the line blocking problem is disclosed. When a complete but out of order PDU is stuck behind an incomplete PDU in a TCP tunnel, the complete but out of order PDU is removed from the tunnel. To do that, first the boundaries of the PDUs of the different flows are preserved and the TCP receive window advertisement is increased. The receive window is opened when initially receiving out-of-order data. As out-of-order complete PDUs are pulled out of the receive queue, to address double counting, place holders are used in the receive queue to indicate data that was in the queue. As out-of-order data PDUs are pulled out of the queue the window advertisement is increased. This keeps the sending side from running out of TX window and stopping transmission of new data.

In WAN optimization products, and some other products, there is a need to tunnel multiple flows in the same Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) tunnel. Carrying multiple local area network (LAN) TCP connections over one WAN TCP connection can cause head of line blocking. Head of line blocking occurs if there is a frame loss for one of the data flows. In this case, the flow with the missing frame gets stuck in the TCP tunnel until the lost frame is retransmitted. Flows that follow the missing frame flow will be impacted by this as they will also not be delivered until the first flow has passed through the TCP tunnel. This results in unnecessary time delays.
One way to avoid this problem is to establish a WAN TCP connection for each LAN TCP connection. However, this requires many resources and is very inefficient.
Thus, what is needed is an efficient method for carrying multiple LAN TCP connections over one WAN TCP connection while avoiding a head of line blocking problem.

Transmission control protocol window size adjustment for out-of-order protocol data unit removal


This invention provides an aqueous coating composition, more particularly an aqueous floor finish composition, comprising water, at least one polymeric film forming agent, and a plasticizing agent, wherein the improvement comprises at least a portion of the plasticizing agent being at least one tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acid having an average of from about 6 to 30 carbon atoms per molecule. Such compositions have one or more improved properties such as increased hardness as compared with the same compositions using only conventional plasticizers such as tributoxyethyl phosphate, improved wetting of the substrate by the composition during application, improved coating film leveling, improved multiple coat gloss development, and improved resistance to wear, black heel marking and scuffing.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an aqueous coating composition such as a floor finish that contains a plasticizing agent that comprises at least one tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acid.
2. Background Art
Aqueous coating compositions are well known and find use as protective coatings for various substrates such as wood, metal, plastic and the like. Such compositions typically contain a film-forming polymer such as an acrylic polymer. That polymer forms a continuous protective coating over the substrate to, often in conjunction with other additive materials such as other polymers, pigments, dyes, ultraviolet light absorbing agents and the like, help protect it from damage caused by the sun, abrasion, foot traffic, pressure, and so forth. The film-forming polymers are typically selected for their physical properties such as water solubility, flexibility, hardness, resilience, toughness and the like to fit the needs of the substrate being protected and the environment in which the coating will be used.
One way to modify the properties of the polymers included in the coating composition is to include a "plasticizing agent" or "plasticizer". A plasticizing agent is typically a compound that can associate with the polymer and thereby modify the physical properties of the polymer or of the coating composition itself. For example, a plasticizing agent may serve to change the hardness, flexibility, or ability of a polymer or a coating formed from it to form a continuous film. The plasticizing agent is thus used to impart desirable properties to the film left behind when the coating composition is applied to the substrate and the volatile components are removed such as by drying. These desirable results are achieved by the plasticizing agent without having to change the nature of the polymer itself or to obtain properties that are not possible to get by simply modifying the polymer itself.
Plasticizers are commonly added to aqueous floor finishes as can be seen from an examination of U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,610 to Fiarman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,196 to Rogers; U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,078 to Rogers et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,607 to Dwyer et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,755 to Gregory. The plasticizing agents employed may be of the permanent type that are insufficiently volatile to remain in the coating film after drying or of the fugitive type that substantially evaporate along with the water and other volatile components of the coating composition during the drying process. One of the most commonly used plasticizing agents is tributoxyethyl phosphate since it not only acts as a plasticizer, but also facilitates good coating film formation as a leveling agent as noted in the Gregory '755 Patent. Tributoxyethyl phosphate is a somewhat expensive raw material and its use adds a significant cost to the composition.
One attempt to avoid the use of a plasticizer such as tributoxyethyl phosphate in a floor finish composition is U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,734 to Owens et al. that teaches self leveling aqueous floor polish compositions that do not require the use of tributoxyethyl phosphate as a leveling agent. Instead, Owens et al. teach using polyalkoxylated linear aliphatic alcohols as leveling agents.
Fatty acids and salts are also taught as being useful in aqueous floor finish compositions, but the purpose for their use is in the form of fatty acid salts to serve as emulsifiers or leveling agents as noted in the Rogers '196, Rogers et al. '078 and Gregory '755 Patents. The Gregory '755 Patent notes that the fatty acids useful include C.sub.12 -C.sub.18 fatty acids of animal, vegetable or synthetic origin and prefers the use of tall oil fatty acids in amounts of up to 10% when such ingredients are used.
As will be discussed later, I have found that a certain class of synthetic fatty acids, C.sub.6 -C.sub.30 tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acids, unexpectedly provide very beneficial properties to aqueous coating compositions when they are used as a portion of the total amount of plasticizing agent in such compositions, especially in aqueous floor finish compositions.
The C.sub.6 -C.sub.30 tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acids have been known for some time and some of them are commercially available from Exxon Chemical Americas of Houston, Tex. under the trade name of "NeoAcids" such as "Neo Decanoic Acid" that has an average of 10 carbon atoms per molecule. Except for certain purified products, these products are typically provided as mixtures of structural isomers. Their properties and potential uses are described in Exxon's product brochure no. SC89-134-500C entitled NeoAcids Properties, Chemistry and Applications, copyright 1982 (16 pages). However, the use of such acids in unmodified form as plasticizing agents is not suggested in that brochure. A tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acid having an average of 10 carbon atoms per molecule is also commercially available as "Versatic Acid" from Shell Chemical Company of Houston, Tex.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,955 to Carman teaches thermoplastic acrylic resin coating compositions that are organic solvent solutions of such resins. These compositions may include from 0.5% to 3.0% of an acid or anhydride in the composition to improve the adhesion of the coating to a substrate when it is dried at up to 180.degree. F. (82.2.degree. C.). Among the various acids and anhydrides that are said to be useful is ethyl hexoic acid that is a C.sub.8 secondary alkyl monocarboxylic acid rather than a tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acid. These coating compositions are not aqueous compositions.
Two Patents to Inskip, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,180,620 and 4,210,705, describe the use of from 0.01% to 0.5% by weight of a divalent metal salt of neo decanoic acid as an adhesion control agent for polyvinyl butyral. Nothing is said concerning the use of the monocarboxylic acids alone as a plasticizing agent. Inskip teaches that quantities in excess of 0.5% provide little or no additional benefit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,973 to Stanton teaches the use of tertiary alkyl monocarboxylic acids such as neodecanoic acid in aqueous water-soluble soap lubricants for conveyor belts and the like to reduce viscosity of the lubricants and to improve lubricity effectiveness. The Stanton compositions do not contain film-forming polymers and are aqueous mixtures of 2%-40% by weight of fatty acid soaps and neodecanoic acid that may optionally further include anionic or cationic surfactants, and chelating agents.

Plasticized aqueous coating compositions


A system and method for forming a bone construct include providing bone marrow stromal cells on a substrate without disposing the cells within an exogenous scaffold, and culturing the cells in vitro in osteogenic media such that the cells form a confluent monolayer and detach from the substrate to form a self-organized three-dimensional bone construct. A system and method for forming a ligament construct using fibrogenic media and a system and method for forming a functionally integrated bone-ligament construct are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tissue engineering, and more particularly to a system and method for producing engineered bone, ligament, and bone-ligament constructs.
2. Background Art
Bone is a vascularized tissue composed of a number of different types of cells. The tissue is predominately made up of a mineralized type I collagen matrix, and crystals within the mineralized matrix are composed of hydroxyapatite, a form of calcium phosphate. The three different types of cells in bone are osteoblasts, osteocytes, and osteoclasts. These cells each have different functions that allow bone tissue to continually remodel itself. Osteoblasts are the cells involved in the deposition and mineralization of type I collagen. These cells are round in morphology with cytoplasmic projections. Once the osteoblast is fully surrounded by mineralized matrix, it differentiates into an osteocyte. Osteocytes are cells that sit in open lacunae within mineralized bone. The functions of an osteocyte are to both resorb bone and to deposit new bone. Osteocytes are connected to other cells via cytoplasmic projections that can travel through channels within the mineralized matrix. Finally, osteoclasts are large multinucleated cells with large vacuoles that are involved in the bone resorption. Osteoclasts have two different types of plasma membranes: clear zones and ruffled borders. The ability of bone to remodel itself allows it to change its architecture and constitution (e.g. local density) with changes in its loading environment. Also, when fractured or inflicted with a small defect, bone can easily heal by the combination of processes of collagen deposition, mineralization, and resorption.
Ligaments are dense, relatively avascular connective tissues of the musculoskeletal system that help control joint motion, along with muscle. These tissues connect one bone to another and function to provide mechanical stability in joints, serve as a guide to joint motion, and prevent excess motion. About 80% by volume of ligament tissue is composed of longitudinally aligned collagen bundles. Most of the collagen is type I, however, type III is also present, as is elastin. Fibroblasts are the cellular component in ligaments and make up approximately 20% of the adult tissue volume. These cells attach to the individual collagen bundles and are elongated longitudinally.
The interface between bone and ligament is referred to as an enthesis. The purpose of the enthesis tissue is to transmit loads with high fidelity over a minimal volume of tissue from the compliant ligament to the stiff bone at the bone-ligament interface. This tissue is composed of four different zones that aid in the transition between the two vastly different tissues. The four zones of the enthesis are ligament, unmineralized fibrocartilage, mineralized fibrocartilage, and bone. The transition from ligament to unmineralized fibrocartilage is gradual, whereas a distinct boundary exists between unmineralized and mineralized fibrocartilage in adult tissue. This boundary is termed a tidemark and can be identified using hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining due to its extreme basophilic nature (Claudepierre and Voisin, Joint Bone Spine 72: 32, 2005; Benjamin et al., J Anat 208: 471, 2006). Fibrocartilage zones are composed of type II collagen and proteoglycans such as aggrecan, biglycan and decorin. The cells in fibrocartilage have the phenotype of chondrocytes, round and arranged in pairs or rows within lacunae. There are no molecular markers that are unique to this type of tissue, however, fibrocartilage, and in general the enthesis, is generally characterized by the presence of type II collagen due to the fact that this protein is not present in the neighboring ligament and bone tissues (Waggett et al., Matrix Biol 16: 457, 1998).
There are approximately one million surgeries each year in the United States that require bone and ligament grafts to replace tissue damaged by disease or extensive trauma. Several limitations are associated with grafting, such as graft availability, donor site morbidity, and immune rejection. Because of these complications, strategies are being developed to engineer bone and ligament tissue in vitro.
Current approaches to engineer bone and ligament involve the design of a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold that promote the differentiation and proliferation of osteogenic or fibroblastic cells and the deposition and mineralization of an osteogenic or fibroblastic extracellular matrix (ECM). The scaffold design rubrics also include the ability to withstand physiological loads in vivo and either the eventual incorporation into the native tissue or degradation during the course of tissue development (Salgado et al., Macromol Biosci 4: 743, 2004). Polymers such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), poly(propylene fumarates), and poly(caprolactones) provide a matrix that promotes cell adhesion and migration, allow for the deposition and mineralization of ostcogcnic ECM in vitro, and have predictable degradation rates, but lack the mechanical properties needed to withstand the loads placed on natural bone in vivo (Ishaug et al, J Biomed Mater Res 36: 17, 1997; Vehof et al., J Biomed Mater Res 60: 241, 2002; Peter et al., J Biomed Mater Res 43: 422, 1998).
Hydroxyapatite and b-tricalcium phosphates are ceramics used for bone scaffolding that also promote cell adhesion and proliferation and, when implanted, have shown positive results in regards to bone regeneration in vivo. However, the brittle nature of ceramics inhibits their use in healing large defects (Salgado, 2004; Ducheyne and Qiu, Biomaterials 20: 2287, 1999). Polymer-ceramic composite scaffolds such as calcium phosphate salts embedded in poly(caprolactones) have been designed to mitigate the problems with using each material alone, but a significant percentage of cells fails to attach to the composite scaffold due to limited surface-to-volume ratio (Zhou et al., Polym Int 56: 333, 2007; Zhou et al., Biomaterials 28: 814, 2007). Single layer cell sheets grown from bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and wrapped around composite scaffolds have recently been shown to form constructs that resemble bone in vitro and in vivo (Zhou et al., Biomaterials 2007). However, this method still involves the use of an exogenous scaffolding that must incorporate into native tissue. Therefore, while scaffolding strategies appear to promote osteogenic or fibroblastic cell growth, limitations such as immune rejection, degradation, and nonphysiological mechanical properties of the scaffold need to be considered when used for bone and ligament repair.

System and method for forming bone, ligament, and bone-ligament constructs

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


A syringe guide and vial holder facilitates the insertion of a syringe into a medicine vial and the subsequent withdrawal of medicine from the vial into the syringe. The syringe guide and vial holder is constructed of a single piece of material and includes a vial holder for holding a medicine vial, a throat allowing access to the vial cap, and a syringe cradle for supporting a syringe.

Not applicable.
This invention relates to syringe guide and vial holders, specifically to such syringe guide and vial holders that are intended for use with a hypodermic syringe and a medicine-containing vial.
This invention relates generally to devices for aiding in the self-use of syringes, and more particularly, to a guide for inserting a syringe needle into a medicine vial. When using a syringe to inject medicine, it is desirable to provide a guide or other device to facilitate filling the syringe with the desired medicine from the medicine vial. The guide helps align the syringe needle with the cap of the vial and provides a more stable connection between the syringe and the vial. While the use of syringe guide and vial holders has facilitated the use of syringes, especially by non-medically-trained people, the prior art syringe guide and vial holders have left many areas available for improvement. For example, many prior art syringe guide and vial holders fail to simplify the construction and use of syringe guide and vial holders (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,272 to Stawski (1971), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984)). Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders require a vial to be seated in a trough or cylinder that precludes easy sterilization of the entire vial cover without removing the vial from the devices (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders require a user to manipulate retaining bands to secure and release a vial and a syringe (U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999)). This prior art overcomplicates the use of syringe guide and vial holders for many syringe users who only need a simple device to help steady the vial and the needle during the insertion process. In addition, the construction of some prior art syringe guide and vial holders has failed to allow precise positioning of a tip of a syringe needle into the reservoir of medicine in a vial (U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,272 to Stawski (1971) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984)). To aid in fully extracting the last contents in the vial, the needle should be inserted into the vial no further than the neck of the vial so that when the vial is inverted, as is typically done when filling a syringe, the needle will be immersed in the medicine regardless of the amount of medicine remaining in the vial. The ability to precisely control the penetration depth is especially advantageous given today""s high cost of medicine and the consequent desire to avoid waste. While the depth of the needle can always be statically set (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)), a syringe guide and vial holder that allows manual adjustment of the penetration depth is especially helpful. Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders are specifically designed to accept only currently mass-produced syringes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Any future variation to the specifications of the mass-produced syringes could render the syringe guide and vial holders unusable. The attributes of the present invention avoid this type of obsolescence. Another area for improvement of syringe guide and vial holders relates to their ease of cleaning (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993) and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985)). The repeated use of a syringe guide and vial holder for administering medicine can result in spills of the medicine on the syringe guide and vial holder. The spills are desirably washed off. Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders, however, are constructed with difficult-to-clean crevices and pockets in the syringe guide and vial holder (U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). This means that the syringe guide and vial holder must be carefully washed and that makes the use of the syringe guide and vial holder more burdensome than necessary. Prior art syringe guide and vial holders have the cap of the medicine vial obstructed from full digital access when in normal position of use (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Yet common medical protocol is to wipe the cap thoroughly with a sterilizing material immediately before use. The attributes of the present invention allow full access to the vial cap for the purpose of sterilization. Prior art syringe guide and vial holders have also suffered from allowing the medicine vial to be easily dislodged or jarred out of alignment with respect to the guide. Poor retention of a medicine vial makes a syringe guide and vial holder difficult to use, and often necessitates a user having to separately hold the vial using both hands. When the vial must be separately held, the ease of inserting the syringe needle is diminished. The ease of use is increased by removing any closed apertures on the syringe guide and vial holder through which a syringe must be carefully threaded. Additional ease of use is provided by designing the syringe guide and vial holder such that a syringe is easily positioned upon it. A need can therefore be seen for a new syringe guide and vial holder that overcomes all of these disadvantages of the prior art and fully takes into account the foregoing design considerations.
In accordance with the present invention a syringe guide and vial holder comprises a holdable body, a cradling syringe support, and a grasping vial support.
Accordingly, beside the objects and advantages of the syringe guide and vial holder described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
a) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for use by a person with limited manual dexterity;
b) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for use by a person inexperienced in extracting medicines with a syringe;
c) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be held securely by a human hand;
d) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be held comfortably by a human hand;
e) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for the re-use of a medicine vial without removal of the vial from the syringe guide and vial holder;
f) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for the extraction of the last vestiges of liquid from a vial;
g) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder capable of being stored in a transportable refrigerating device;
h) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder capable of being stored in a refrigerator;
i) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder with clear access to a cap of a vial, for the purpose of sterilization, without a need to remove the vial from the syringe guide and vial holder;
j) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be placed on a generally flat, horizontal surface without fear of tipping or rolling;
k) To provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be cleaned by hand or by a dish-washing machine.
Further objectives, features, and advantages of my syringe guide and vial holder will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the ensuing description of certain preferred embodiments.


A method and system for transmitting information between a transmitter and a receiver that has capabilities through a communication link that has transmission characteristics. The information to be transmitted is received. The capabilities of the client are then determined. The transmission characteristics of the communication link are also determined. The received information is then converted into a format that is based on the capabilities of the client, the transmission characteristics of the communication link, or both the capabilities of the client and the transmission characteristics of the communication link. The information is then transmitted to the client in the format.

There has been recent interest in systems that enable access to computer sourced data and applications via devices (often referred to as "client" devices) that are simpler and less costly than the traditional personal computer (PC). Two examples of these so-called "client" devices are web-pads and remote-desktop devices.
Web-pads (e.g., the reference design from National Semiconductor, Inc., see http://www.national.com/appinfo/solutions) carry just enough processing power to run a browser application, which is perhaps a lightweight or thin version of the usual PC browser program. Data and applications are transmitted to the device in the form of web pages that are typically sourced from servers on the Internet. By employing a Hypertext Mark-Up Language (HTML) format, a number of different screen sizes, and hence client form-factors, can be supported.
Unfortunately, this prior art approach incurs the cost of requiring sufficient processing power at the client to run the browser application. This processing requirement is significantly increased when support is required for popular multimedia data-types and their associated plug-ins, such as, Flash™ files (Flash™ player available from Macromedia, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif.), audio files (e.g., MP3 audio files), and video files.
In the case of a remote-desktop device, a local PC acts as the server, and transmits the data necessary to support a remote instance of its desktop interface (e.g., Windows™) on the client's screen. In this prior art approach, the graphics system calls (e.g., draw rectangle and draw text string) are transmitted between an application and the rendering software/hardware. For example, "Windows Terminal Services", which is available from Microsoft, Inc. of Redmond, Wash., and "WinFrame", which is available from Citrix Systems, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., transmit the graphics system calls (e.g., draw rectangle and draw text string) between an application and the rendering software/hardware.
One disadvantage of this approach is that the remote-desktop device requires sufficient processing power to render the graphics system calls that the device receives. For certain applications, these processing power requirements exceed the maximum size restrictions, maximum weight restrictions, and maximum power consumption requirements of the applications.
Furthermore, although this prior art approach provides tolerable results when simple shapes and text are involved, unfortunately, when multimedia data-types are involved, this prior art approach performs poorly, if at all. For example, in the case of video data, the application renders directly to the screen. Consequently, if video is supported at all, every frame must be sent as a bitmap to the client, which can lead to high bandwidth requirements, especially where wireless links are concerned.
Both prior art approaches also assume that a small client screen size precludes conventional, PC-like, interaction, and that such PC-like interaction is not possible for very small displays (e.g., displays of a cell-phone or a display of a wrist-watch)
Another disadvantage of these approaches is that the quality of the communication link between the PC the portable display unit is not adequately addressed. As can be appreciated, the quality of the communication link is very important. A present challenge is that a number of ever-changing factors (e.g., noise and interference in the environment) can adversely affect the transmission of the information between the PC and the display unit. When the quality of the communication link is not adequately addressed in the transmission scheme, considerable risk is taken that data may be lost or otherwise corrupted.
Accordingly, it would be desirable for there to be a mechanism that enables low cost, compact, lightweight, low power client devices to display media-rich information and that overcomes the disadvantages set forth previously.

Method and system that tailors format of transmission to suit client capabilities and link characteristics

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An arrowhead puller for pulling an arrowhead having a threaded shank from a tree or a stump comprises an elongate handle having a working end and a gripping end and having a tapped hole extending therethrough, a bolt having a shank with a threaded portion threaded into the tapped hole and having a head providing a fulcrum, and an end piece having a tapped socket to receive the threaded shank of an arrowhead and being hinged to the handle near the working end so as to permit relative movement of the handle and the socket through a range of relative positions. The tapped hole is about one inch from the working end and at least four inches from the gripping end, whereby the handle turning on the fulcrum functions as a leverage force-multiplying lever.

In archery and hunting, it is common for an arrow shot at a target to miss the target and for the arrowhead to embed itself in a wooden object, such as a tree, stump, or target support. Even if the shaft and fletching of the arrow are removable from the arrowhead, it can be very difficult to remove the arrowhead from a tree, stump, or target support without damage to the arrowhead.
Various tools for prying, pulling, or extracting an arrowhead from a tree, stump, or target stand have been disclosed in prior patents. Those patents include Burns U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,251, Orton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,471, Allen U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,068, Sanders U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,278, Ulsh U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,562, Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,625, and Troncoso, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,100.
Arrowheads of two types are common, namely field points and broadheads, both of which are exemplified in the Troncoso, Jr., patent noted above. Commonly, an arrowhead of either type has a shank with a threaded portion and a shaft of an arrow has a threaded socket, which is adapted threadedly to receive the threaded portion of the arrowhead shank to connect the shaft and fletching removably to the arrowhead. For purposes of interchangeability, dimensions of the threaded portions of the arrowhead shanks and the threaded sockets have been standardized.
As exemplified in the Sanders, Ulsh, Smith, and Troncoso, Jr., patents noted above, it is known for a prying, pulling, or extracting tool to be removably connectible to the threaded shank of such an arrowhead after the shaft and fletching have been removed.
Other devices of related interest are disclosed in Knott U.S. Pat. No. 90,559, Cannon U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,584, Morris et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,618, Boyer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,176, Jackson U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,675, Rigsby et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,195, and Conte U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,330.


An optical element is disclosed comprising an upper portion (9) and a lower portion (8) defined in opposite parts with respect to a median line (x--x) passing through the geometric center (C.sub.1, C.sub.2) of the optical element, wherein the factor of luminous transmittance is between 30% and 80% in the lower portion (8) and between 3% and 40% in the upper portion (9). Advantageously, furthermore, the curve of spectral transmittance as a function of the wavelength in the lower portion (8) and at a distance of at least 10 mm from the median line (x--x) is such as to show: a minimum in a wavelength range of from 495 to 510 nm, ii) an increase in spectral transmittance at wavelengths lower than 495 nm and higher than 510 nm, iii) a maximum at a wavelength lower than 440 nm, iv) a reduction in the spectral transmittance as the wavelength decreases starting from said maximum.

As is known, in some activities and sports practices the perceptive capacity and, more generally, the vision of an object may be disturbed in the presence of a high relative velocity between the perceiving subject and the object, or in the presence of poorly defined objects and surfaces due to a limited illumino-environmental contrast.
Conversely, in some circumstances, vision may be further disturbed and impaired when it is necessary to focus alternately and repeatedly an object in the presence of an illumino-environmental contrast now limited now high, such as for instance that which exists, respectively, between an object and the ground or an object and the sky that has in itself a markedly higher luminance.
In this regard, some experimental tests carried out by the Applicant in sunny conditions in a varied town environment in the presence of vegetation and at the latitude of about 43.degree. North, have shown that the luminance of the sky may be from 1.5 to about 9 times higher than the luminance of the ground.
In such circumstances, the eye must vary continuously the pupillary diameter, consequently adjusting the exposure of the retina to the external light, to face alternately high and low luminosity conditions.
In spite of the efforts of the eyes to adapt itself to an average situation, which in any case would not allow an optimal vision, this brings about a visual stress that may lead to a visual straining and in some cases also to a partial (even though reversible) damage of the receptors located on the retina.
Such unfavorable phenomenon is always present and particularly marked when playing some sports activities, among which golf or clay-pigeon shooting, in which the athlete or the sportsman repeatedly passes from the observation of objects having a low illumino-environmental contrast or at least that are in a relatively little luminous field (for instance, the golf ball against the background of the green course) to the observation of objects that are in a markedly more luminous field (for instance, the flight of the golf ball against the blue background of the sky after each shot).
Examples of other activities subject to high visual stresses due to the need of perceiving rapidly moving objects include winter sports in general, as well as tourist- or competitive driving of any vehicles, such as for instance, cars or motor-cycles, aircrafts, boats, etc.
In order to somehow obviate the problem and to render the vision of moving objects clearer and sharper, it has been proposed the adoption of protective optical elements made of plastics--such as for instance eyeglasses or unitary masks--incorporating a specific substance suitable to filter visible light, as is described in European patent application EP 0 382 684.
Even though the protective optical element disclosed in the aforementioned European patent application can partly compensate for the anomalies due to the limited illumino-environmental contrast, allowing to reduce the perception time of moving objects and to improve the definition of their contour, it does not allow to remedy in any way to the visual stress due to the need of repeatedly take account of different luminance conditions.

Optical element for use in eye-protecting devices


A cable tie is used in conjunction with a cable tie installation tool to bundle a plurality of objects, such as wires or cables. The cable tie includes a head and a tail, the head having a pair of outwardly projecting wings. The tail is capable of insertion through the head so that the cable tie takes the shape of a loop with the tail engaging and being locked in position by a pawl inside the head, the tail being incapable of removal once it is inserted in the head. The cable tie installation tool includes a housing which is adapted to receive an individually loaded cable tie and which protects internal components of the tool. A transport assembly, which includes a motor driven belt, advances the tail of the cable tie around the plurality of objects to be bundled. A jaw assembly, which includes an upper jaw and a lower jaw that are driven by a motor into open, closed and overdosed positions, guides the tail through the head to form the cable tie into a closed loop around the desired bundle. A cinch assembly, which includes a pair of spaced apart, motor driven cinch knurls, further advances the tail through the head so as to reduce the size of the closed loop around the desired bundle. A tension monitoring device establishes and monitors a maximum tension level for the closed loop around the bundle, the device terminating activation of the cinch assembly upon detecting the maximum tension level. A cut assembly, which includes a knife blade coupled to a solenoid, severs the excess portion of the tail fed through the head once the tension monitoring device terminates activation of the cinch assembly.

The present invention relates generally to cable ties and more particularly to a cable tie used in conjunction with a cable tie installation tool.
Cable ties, also known as harnessing devices, are well known devices and are commonly used in the art for holding together a bundle of objects, such as wires or cables.
One type of cable tie which is well known and widely used in the art comprises an elongated strip of plastic material having rectangular head at one end and a serrated tail at the other end. Feeding the tail of the tie through a strap receiving channel formed in the head results in the cable tie taking the shape of a loop with the serrations of the tail engaging and being locked in position by a pawl inside the head, the tail being incapable of removal once it is inserted in the head.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,529 to J. R. Paradis, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a bundling of objects using a harnessing device with a locking head and a strap with teeth that are controlled by stretching. The locking head contains a pawl or tang that engages the teeth of the strap by wedging. One or more wedging teeth are desirably located on the locking tang as well. A further tooth to promote locking is desirably included in the locking head. The strap is advantageously molded of stretch reorientable material which is subsequently stretched to control the profile of the teeth which are engaged by the locking tang and head. The teeth are spaced on the strap to permit use of the teeth near the head for the harnessing of small bundles. The pawl is provided with specified pivot points for both the insertion and loading of the strap in the head.
Another type of cable tie which is well known and widely used in the art comprises an apertured strap fitted to a buckle-like head, with a tongue that enters the apertures of the strap.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,608 to R. B. Fay, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a tie formed by a locking head and an attached ladder strap. The head contains a longitudinal guide channel for receiving the strap, after encirclement of items to be bundled, and an internal locking tang. The latter is deflected with respect to relatively narrow auxiliary channels on opposite sides of the guide channel. One of the auxiliary channels receives the locking tang during the bundling of the items; the other auxiliary channel contains a stop against which the locking tang becomes abutted in planar engagement by the reverse thrust of the harnessed items.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,648 to L. P. Dekkers, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a tie formed by a locking head and an attached ladder strap. The head contains a locking tang and a guide channel that receives the strap after encirclement of items to be bundled. The tang engages the rungs of the ladder strap for the adjustable retention of the items. The free end of the strap has a light-weight webbed tail that facilitates the insertion of the strap into the head. The strap is advantageously molded of a stretch reorientable material and is subsequently stretched to produce a suitable strengthening and elongation of the webbed tail.
Cable ties of the type described above are often wrapped around a bundle of objects using a portable cable tie installation tool. As can be appreciated, cable tie installation tools facilitate the ease in which an operator can feed the tail of a cable tie through its associated head, which is highly desirable.
A fully automatic cable tie installation tool is one well known type of cable tie installation tool which is well known and widely used in the art.
Fully automatic cable tie installation tools typically comprise an electric motor that derives its power from a power cord or a battery pack which is either disposed within the tool or carried by the operator. The electric motor is used to automatically separate an individual cable tie from a clip, or strip, of interconnected cable ties and automatically wrap the individual cable tie around the desired bundle using a pair of arcuate jaws.
Fully automatic cable tie installation tools of the type described above are well known and are commonly used in commerce. However, it has been found that fully automatic cable tie installation tools suffer from a notable drawback.
Specifically, it has been found that the automatically driven mechanics which separate an individual cable tie from a clip of interconnected cable ties greatly increases the overall complexity of the tool. As a result, fully automatic cable tie installation tools have been found to be considerably expensive to manufacture and heavy, which is highly undesirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tie.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tie which is particularly useful in bundling together two or more objects.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tie as described above which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a tie as described above which is easy to use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tie as described above which is tamper-proof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tie as described above which is designed to be used in conjunction with a cable tie installation tool.
Accordingly, as one feature of the present invention, there is provided a cable tie for bundling a plurality of objects, comprising an elongated tail having a first end and a second end, a head integrally formed to the first end of said tail, said head being adapted to cooperate with said tail to form a closed loop around the plurality of objects, and first and second outwardly projecting wings formed onto said head.
Additional objects, as well as features and advantages, of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments for practicing the invention. The embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.


A die for extruding solid aluminum profiles having variable thickness is defined with outlets and a bearing length which is constant throughout the profile. The flow of metal into the profile is defined by calculating an angle of entry of the metal at each point of the profile. The angle is a function of a ratio of a perimeter to the thickness of the profile at each point thereof. A feed chamber has at least one step with an interior edge. The interior edge defines the angle relative to the orientation of the profile.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the extrusion of aluminum and to the construction of dies for such extrusion. Aluminum for extrusion purposes can be a commercial high purity grade of aluminum such as EC Alloy, Alloy 1050 or Alloy 1060 (Aluminum Association designations), all containing at least 99.45% by weight aluminum metal with less than 0.4% of alloying constituents such as silicon and iron and 0.05% or less of constituents such as copper, manganese, magnesium, and zinc. More commonly, extruded aluminum shapes are made from higher strength alloys containing 87-98% aluminum and varying small percentages of silicon, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, chromium, zinc, and/or titanium, for example Alloy 2024, Alloy 5083, Alloy 5086, Alloy 5456, Alloy 6005, Alloy 6053, Alloy 6061, Alloy 6063, Alloy 6101, Alloy X6261, Alloy 6262, Alloy 6351, Alloy 6463, Alloy X7004, Alloy 7075, Alloy 7079, and Alloy 7104.
Detailed chemical compositions of these and similar alloys used for aluminum extrusion can be found in "Handbook of Aluminum"; Alcan Aluminum Corporation (third edition, 1970), pages 148-149. Correlation of these alloy number designation with ASTM specifications, SAE specifications, and federal specifications can be found in the same Handbook at pages 232-236. Correlation of Aluminum Association alloy number designations with designations used in Europe can be found in K. Laue and H. Stenger "Extrusion--Processes, Machinery, Tooling" (translated by A. F. Castle and G. Lang, American Society for Metals, 1981), at pages 128 and 438.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical extrusion, a preheated ingot or billet is placed in a hydraulic press and squeezed at high pressure through a steel die so that it emerges from the press in the desired cross section, which can be solid or hollow. Depending on the alloy used, the billet is preheated to a temperature in the range of 420.degree. to 500.degree. C. (in the lower part of the range for high aluminum alloys and higher for alloys with greater amounts of alloying constituents), and partly as a result of frictional heating at the die lands the extrudate exits the die at temperatures ranging from 560.degree. to 600.degree. C.
Traditionally, the extrusion dies for the extrusion of solid aluminum profiles having one or multiple outlets have been constructed with different bearing lengths according to the thickness of the profile and its distance from the center of the die as a way to regulate the flow of the metal and to obtain the correct shape and dimensions.
The bearing surfaces have a braking effect. As summarized by Laue and Stenger (at page 341), the length of the die lands should be at least twice the wall thickness for aluminum sections with a minimum value of 2.5 to 3 mm.
Feed prechambers have also been utilized to insure the coupling or welding between two consecutive extrusions, see Laue and Stenger at page 316.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,625 to Harris et al. disclosed a means to correct differences in the rate of flow of metal through different sections of the die orifice which comprises, in combination with such a die, a baffle mounted ahead of the inner face of the die and having an opening in line with and larger than that of each die orifice. The baffle plate is always oriented transversly to the flow of metal. There is no disclosure relating the thickness of the extruded product to the angle of entry of metal into the die.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,559 to Rosenkranz disclosed overcoming problems of cracks and fractures occurring under some conditions of operating an extruder, or forging press in his terms. Rosenkranz' solution is to make sure heterogeneous components of the substance of the grain boundaries which are soluble in the mixed crystal (as in alloys) are sufficiently softened but not fused; this is accomplished by operating in a temperature range higher than previously believed desirable. Maintaining the temperature in the desired range, according to Rosenkranz,
" . . . is dependent on, or made possible by, several factors namely the specific pressure of the forging press, the degree of pressing, the initial temperature of the billet, the pressing speed maintained during the pressing operation, and the conicity of the frictional surface of the die also. By using longer and more conical frictional surfaces of the die, more frictional heat is produced than by using short and non-conical pressing tools. (See column 4 lines 56 to 62 and line 73 to column 5 line 1.) Note the linkage of longer and more conical frictional surfaces to temperature control, which is also reiterated at column 5 lines 44 to 58." PA1 "The heat required for maintaining the temperature difference between the billet and the section is then produced by the heat of friction and deformation the magnitude of which is conditioned by the degree of deformation and the length and conicity of the frictional surface. According to recent discoveries by the inventor the maximal amount of frictional heat is obtained at angles of 2 to 60 between the frictional surface of the die and the direction of pressing. According to the cross sectional area of the section, however, often angles of inclination amounting at least to 1/20 and going up to 120 are possible." PA1 a die body having a prechamber formed therein with at least one step, a bearing length and at least one outlet communicating with the prechamber, the bearing length being constant throughout the profile, and an angle of entry regulating a flow of metal into the profile, the angle of entry being defined at each point of the profile as a function of the ratio of the perimeter to the thickness of the profile.
At the same time, the angle of inclination is here stated to be selected independently of the cross sectional area or thickness.
This is confirmed by the following two paragraphs (column 5 line 64 to column 6 line 24) and Table 1 included, where for the extrusion of a flat rod "the angle of inclination of the frictional surface must be smaller on the smaller side than on the wider side" but only the relative magnitudes of the angle are specified for various ratios of the length of the narrow side and broad side of a flat rod. Thus Rosenkranz shows the angle of inclination being varied while the thickness remains the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,734 to Asher disclosed an extrusion die including a "passageway with a bearing section having parallel bearing surface portions in the direction of extrusion which extend inwardly from an inlet opening a variable distance." Accordingly, the angle of entry is always the same, namely zero, and hence there can be no relationship whatever between the angle of entry and the thickness of the extrudate. Asher's summary of prior art includes drawings and discussion of extruder dies with tapered inlet portions, but no mention of any relationship between the angle of entry and the thickness of the extruded product.

Process and system of calculation for construction of dies for extrusion of solid aluminum profiles

Buzon 196 Las Lomas Del Gallego 50800 Zuera


The invention is in the field of aircraft shock struts, of the type having a piston cylinder and a piston head, for slowing movement of an aircraft structure toward the ground, particularly during landing or take-off. The invention provides a more constant change in pressure across the piston head, that is generally independent of piston head speed, relative to the prior art. The piston head has a damped valve poppet received within the piston head moveable from a first position wherein the damped valve poppet covers a pressure relief orifice to a second position that uncovers a pressure relief orifice, thereby providing a more constant change in pressure across the piston head.

The invention is in the field of aircraft shock struts for slowing movement of an aircraft structure toward the ground, particularly during landing or take-off.
Shock struts are a common and necessary component in most aircraft landing gear assemblies. Such shock struts generally utilize an "air cover oil" arrangement wherein a trapped volume of gas is compressed as the shock strut is compressed, and a volume of liquid (usually oil) is metered through an orifice. The air provides suspension and spring rate, and the oil provides a fluid amplified force under dynamic conditions. Some shock struts have a fluid amplified force that depends on the rate at which the shock strut is compressed, of which the well known tapered rod within a fixed orifice is an example (also known as a "metering pin"). Other shock struts provide a fluid amplified force that is generally not dependent on the rate at which the shock strut is compressed. The invention relates to this type of shock strut. An example of a prior art aircraft shock strut having this characteristic is presented in FIG. 1 of the drawings.
FIG. 1 presents a simplified schematic cross-section, not to scale, of prior art aircraft shock strut 100, shown mounted to an aircraft structure 10 by an attachment structure 12. A wheel and tire assembly 14 is attached to the shock strut 100. The aircraft structure 10, attachment structure 12, and wheel and tire assembly are shown in phantom, and structures such as locking mechanisms and retracting mechanisms are not shown in FIG. 1 in order to avoid obscuring shock strut 100. Various arrangements of such structures are very well known in the art, and are not critical in describing shock strut 100.
Still referring to FIG. 1, shock strut 100 is generally cylindrical, having an elongate piston structure 102, and a hollow elongate cylinder structure 104. The cylinder structure 104 receives the piston structure 102 in a manner that permits relative telescoping movement between the cylinder structure 104 and the piston structure 102. The piston structure 102 and the cylinder structure 104 define a sealed elongate cavity 106 at least partially filled with a liquid (shown as dashed lines). A portion 111 of cavity 106 is filled with a gas, the shock strut 100 being a member of the well known "air over oil" class of shock struts. Various sealing arrangements between piston structure 102 and 104 that allow telescoping movement between piston structure 102 and 104 while maintaining a seal are well known in the art, and need not be repeated here. A piston head 108 is attached to the piston structure via a support tube 114 that divides the elongate cavity 106 into an upper cavity 110 and a lower cavity 112. Support tube 114 has openings 116 so that all parts of upper cavity 110 are in fluid communication with each other. Compressing shock strut 100 causes piston structure 102 to move into cylinder structure 104 thereby reducing the volume of cavity 106 which compresses the portion 111 filled with gas. The portion 111 filled with gas thereby provides a spring rate. In addition, piston head 108 has at least one fixed orifice (not shown in FIG. 1), and fluid is pumped from lower cavity 112 to upper cavity 110 as the shock strut 100 is compressed, thereby increasing resistance to compression through fluid amplification while simultaneously dissipating compression energy. These features are presented in more detail in FIG. 2.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a detailed view of the piston head 108 is presented. Piston head 108 is hollow, and has one or more openings 124 and 126 so that upper cavity 110 extends inside piston head 108. The piston head 108 has at least one fixed 118 orifice and at least one pressure relief orifice 120. Relative telescoping movement of the cylinder structure 104 and the piston structure 102 toward each other increases pressure in the lower cavity 112 thereby developing a change in pressure across the piston head 108 that causes the liquid to flow from the lower cavity 112 to the upper cavity 110 through the fixed orifice 118. Piston head 108 has circumferential seal 122 that seals the upper cavity 110 from the lower cavity 112 while permitting relative sliding movement between the piston head 108 and the cylinder structure 104. Piston head 108 and circumferential seal 122 define an effective hydraulic area across which the change in pressure acts thereby adding to the overall resistance to compression of shock strut 100. Piston head 108 also dissipates compression energy by metering the liquid through fixed orifice 118 resulting in dissipation of at least part of the work required to telescope the piston structure 102 toward the cylinder structure 104. Part of the work is stored as recoverable spring energy in the portion 111 filled with gas (FIG. 1) which resiliently suspends the aircraft structure 10 while taxiing on the ground, and also allows the piston structure 102 and cylinder structure 104 to return to their original positions after the compression force is removed, i.e, after take-off. Such operation is well known in the art.
Piston head 108 has a valve poppet 128 received within the piston head 108 moveable from a first position wherein the valve poppet 128 covers the pressure relief orifice 120 to a second position that uncovers the pressure relief orifice 120. The valve poppet 128 is shown in the first position in FIG. 2. Pressure relief orifice 120 is uncovered when the valve poppet is in the second position by providing the valve poppet 128 with at least one venting orifice 130 that aligns with the pressure relief orifice when the valve poppet 128 is in the second position. Valve poppet 128 has a cylindrical probe 132 having an upper portion 134 exposed to liquid in the upper cavity 110 and a lower portion 136 exposed to liquid in the lower cavity 112. Openings 131 in valve poppet 128 place the underside of valve poppet 128 in fluid communication with the rest of upper cavity 126. Cylindrical probe 132 is closely fitted to a mating surface on the piston head 108 to provide an effective seal between the upper cavity 110 and lower cavity 112 under dynamic conditions when the piston structure 102 and cylinder structure 104 rapidly move together. Under dynamic conditions, the upper and lower portions 134 and 136, and piston head 108 cooperate to define a hydraulic area across which the change in pressure acts and develops an upward force on the valve poppet 128. With the cylindrical probe 132 the hydraulic area is the circular cross-sectional area of the probe.
Still referring to FIG. 2, a spring 138 urges the valve poppet 128 into the first position with a predetermined force. The change in pressure acting across the lower portion 136 and the valve poppet upper portion 134 develops a force acting against the spring 138 that moves the valve poppet 128 from the first position to the second position upon the force exceeding the predetermined force. Moving the valve poppet 128 to the second position uncovers the pressure relief orifice 120 via venting orifice 130 upon which the change in pressure causes the liquid to flow from the lower cavity 112 to the upper cavity 110 through the pressure relief orifice 120 and venting orifice 130. The valve poppet 128 begins to move to the second position when the pressure across the piston head 108 exceeds a predetermined value due to the fixed orifice 118 being unable to pass enough fluid to keep the change in pressure from exceeding the predetermined value, so the pressure relief orifice 120 opens to provide an additional flow path. Opening the pressure relief orifice 120 decreases the change in pressure across the piston head. The spring 128 returns the valve poppet 128 to the first position upon the force decreasing to less than the predetermined force. The valve poppet may oscillate between the first and second positions in response to loading conditions imposed on the shock strut, thereby maintaining a generally constant predetermined change in pressure across the piston head 108. The valve poppet 128 thereby acts as a regulator. The change in pressure is determined by the predetermined spring force, and the hydraulic area across the probe 132 upon which the change in pressure acts. Thus, the fluid amplification force generated by the shock strut 100 is generally independent of the speed with which the piston structure 102 moves toward the cylinder structure 104. The various orifices are sized based on the worst case, corresponding to the greatest piston head speed and stroking force. The predetermined change in pressure is determined by the needed stroking force in the worst case, and the orifices are designed to provide the predetermined change in pressure, or a little less since valve poppet action actually provides a band within which the change in pressure is maintained, and the center of the band generally corresponds to the predetermined change in pressure.
The spring 138 determines the predetermined force at which the valve poppet 128 begins to move. A helical spring 138 is used which has a spring constant, resulting in some change in the spring force as the valve poppet moves from the first position to the second position. The change in spring force from the first position to the second position is minimized in order to provide a narrow target band for the generally constant predetermined change in pressure across the piston head 108. The change in spring force may be minimized by minimizing the spring constant of helical spring 138.
Though shock strut 100 is certainly safe and effective, it has a tendency to generate an oscillatory suspension load in some situations. For example, a sudden impact on the shock strut induced, for example, by the wheel and tire assembly 14 striking a depression in the runway results in an under damped jouncing motion in the cylinder structure 104. In some aircraft, the motion is not objectionable, and the tire is capable of absorbing and mitigating the motion until it damps out due to damping within the tire and low levels of damping inherent in shock strut 100. In some aircraft, however, the motion is objectionable, and may render shock strut 100 unacceptable. In addition, the tendency to generate an oscillatory suspension load renders shock strut 100 unacceptable for certain other applications. For example, shock strut 100 is unacceptable for use with an aircraft tail skid that has no tire to absorb and mitigate the jouncing motion. Without a tire, the jouncing motion is directly transferred to the aircraft structure. Therefore, an improved shock strut similar to shock strut 100 is desired having a reduced or eliminated tendency to generate an oscillatory suspension load following a sudden impact.

Aircraft shock strut having an improved piston head


A system for varying the weight over one or more axles of a truck carrying a container, the container, the truck and the one or more axles being arranged in the manner of a vacuum tank mounted on a vacuum truck having a front axle and one or more rear axles, the system including: a telescopic subframe comprising one or more elongate structures, each elongate structure having a fixed part and a telescoping part telescopically engaged with the fixed part, and each fixed part fixedly attached to a mounting frame of the truck so that the telescopic subframe lays substantially horizontally on the mounting frame; and one or more hydraulic cylinders operable by a controller, each hydraulic cylinder attached to and operably coupling the truck and the vacuum tank.

Typical trucks with vacuum tanks (hereinafter referred to as "vacuum trucks") consist of a cylindrical tank of sufficient construction to withstand a typical external pressure of 15 psi and an internal pressure from 15 psi for non-code tanks to 35 psi for U.S. Department of Transport (DOT)/Transport Canada (TC) 407/412 certified pressure vessels. The tanks are attached to a vacuum pump that may consist of a hydraulically driven air or liquid-cooled vane pump or a much larger, more powerful positive displacement blower or liquid ring vacuum pump.
The tanks on vacuum trucks are typically attached at their rear sides to a pivot or hinge-point at the rear of the truck, about which they are pivoted by a hydraulic dump cylinder operably coupled to the front of the tank (i.e., that end of the tank facing the front of the truck). In this manner, a hatch or door on the rear of the tank can be opened, the tank can be propelled upward at its front end so as to pivot about the pivot-point, and the contents of the tank, previously drawn into the tank by an attached vacuum system, can be discharged to the rear of the truck.
Vacuum trucks are usually subjected to road and bridge axle weight restrictions, and often are not able to take full advantage of the allowable gross weight over the front axle of the truck chassis. Front axles are typically permitted to bear an over-axle weight of 20,000 lbs, while rear axles are typically subjected to restrictions of 32,000 lbs or 40,000 lbs, depending on the jurisdiction. In jurisdictions where the lesser weight restriction is imposed, the typical payload for current vacuum trucks is approximately 15,000 lbs with the rear axles bearing their maximum allowable gross weight of 32,000 lbs and the front axle bearing only approximately 14,500 lbs of a possible 20,000 lbs of allowable over-axle weight. Where local laws allow the heavier rear axle rating, the typical payload increases to approximately 23,000 lbs, with the rear axles bearing their maximum allowable gross weight of 40,000 lbs and the front axle bearing only approximately 15,000 lbs of a possible 20,000 lbs of allowable over-axle weight.
The inability to transfer payload weight to the front axle, in order to scale the truck to its maximum capacity, severely limits the amount of material that can be loaded into the tank and legally hauled over roads and consequently, restricts profitability for the operator.
Further, while a vacuum tank is usually secured to a frame of the truck at the rear of the tank by a hinged connection, typically, the front of the tank simply rests on the frame with only the hydraulic dump cylinder holding down the front end. In some jurisdictions, this arrangement has been determined to be insufficient for securing the tank to the truck in the event of a rollover incident, and as such, regulations have come into effect requiring that all DOT/TC 407/412 cargo tanks certified for hauling hazardous waste incorporate a front tank hold-down.
Furthermore, traditional DOT/TC 407/412 vacuum trucks require that the rear bumper extend rearward from the truck, past the rear valves by a prescribed distance to provide crash protection for the rear valves in the event of a rear-end collision. This typically results in the contents of the tank being dumped onto the bumper, requiring operators to engage in the unsavoury and laborious task of manually cleaning the rear crash protection bumper prior to travelling on the roads. Additionally, hydraulic vibrators are often utilized on the bottom of the tank shell to assist in off-loading stubborn solid or semi-solid residue left in the tank.
Additional difficulties with existing systems may be appreciated in view of the detailed description below.

System for adjusting over-axle weight of a vacuum tank truck


A scrub brush-sponge includes a base provided with a recessed peripheral lip, which has a plurality of attenuated regions configured to minimize the resistance of the base to external bending forces, and a sponge coupled to the base and made from polymeric material, which may have as low a PPI as 10. The sponge is configured so that it can effectively surround at least a substantial peripheral portion of instruments or portions to be treated with fluid, which is contained within the sponge, without applying substantial external forces to the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scrub sponges, and particularly, relates to scrub brush-sponges associated with a variety of medical procedures and adaptable for treating medical instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous brush structures are known in the art. Some of these structures are functionally effective as well as convenient in use or ergonomic. While a minor amount of brush modification continues, surprisingly, scrub brushes used by medical professionals have not been substantially modified for quite some time. Structurally, a typical scrub brush has a base coupled to a rectangular sponge, which is saturated with antiseptic, germicide and/or soapy fluid and has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape.
In the medical field, many scrub brush-sponges have a great variety of adaptations. Besides traditional functions, such as cleaning the hands of the professional, removing blood and treating wounds, the brushes also may be used for cleaning a variety of medical instruments, particularly those instruments that need to be sterilized or, at least, cleaned repeatedly during a surgical procedure.
While such rectangular sponges may effectively clean flat surfaces, they may be less effective while treating annular surfaces, which are rather typical for a great variety of medical instruments. Particularly, many of the medical instruments, which are used for invasive procedures such as colonoscopy or other diagnostic procedures, to name a few, have substantially circular bodies. Customarily, surgical medical instruments undergo thorough sterilization before the beginning of the medical procedure. However, as mentioned above, many instruments can be reused during the same medical procedure and, thus, have to be repeatedly cleaned before each subsequent use.
Since the base of the typical brush may not be sufficiently flexible, the user has to apply excessive bending forces to flex the base so that the sponge would surround the annular body of the medical instrument. Otherwise, without flexing the base, a typical rectangular sponge may clean only a segment of the entire annular body, which leads to a time-ineffective cleaning process in a situation often requiring the instantaneous availability of any given instrument.
Assuming that the user does not experience any difficulty in flexing the scrub brush-sponge for cleaning medical instruments, the scrub still may remain inefficient, because the surface of the sponge is typically smooth. The smoothness, at least partially, depends on the number of pores per inch (PPI). The higher the PPI the smoother the surface. And while a typical smooth surface is perhaps pleasant for cleaning the user's hands, it may be ineffective for cleaning the metallic or other surfaces of medical instruments.
A need, therefore, exists for a scrub brush-sponge configured with an ergonomic structure that enables the user to clean medical instruments in a time-effective manner
Still a further need exists for a scrub brush-sponge having a structure that can be sufficiently flexible to enable the user to effectively clean medical instruments in a relatively effortless maimer.
Another need exists for a scrub brush-sponge configured with a sponge that is characterized by as relatively low PPI for effectively scrubbing the surface of numerous medical instruments.

Surgical scrub brush and cleaner apparatus


A recording medium processing device includes a printing section capable of printing visible information on a non-recording side of a recording medium, a data processing section for retrieving print data in which one recording medium and visible information printed and/or to be printed on the non-recording side of the recording medium are associated with each other, and a print configuration section for determining a printing area of the visible information to be printed on the non-recording side of the one recording medium based on the print data retrieved by the data processing section.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording medium processing device, a printing method, and a computer program used when printing visible information on a non-recording side of a recording medium.
2. Related Art
In recent years, optical disks, the optical recording mediums, have rapidly been spread as mediums for recording pictures and sounds in a digital format. In particular, the optical disks provided with printable sides (non-recording sides) which can be printed with inkjet printers have been attracting attention because information (visible information) relating to the contents recorded on the optical disks can be described on the surfaces of the disks.
As a device for printing visible information on such an optical disk, for example, there can be cited an optical disk drive having a printing function (see JP-A-11-134648). After recording data on a recording side of the optical disk with an optical pickup, the optical disk drive can print visible information representing the content of the data on non-recording side using a thermal method or a inkjet method, assuming that no visible information is printed on the non-recording side.

Recording medium processing device, printing method, and computer program