Disclosed is a process in which surface-active additives are used in the slurry phase Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes to shorten the period between the start of the reaction and the attainment of steady-state rates and selectivities, to improve product yields and to control or prevent foam formation. Compositions comprising silicone antifoam compounds and fluorosilicone polymers are the preferred surface-active additives of the instant process.

Trialkoxysilanes, especially trimethoxysilane and triethoxysilane, are used in the production of silane coupling agents. One method of synthesis of trialkoxysilanes is directly from silicon and an alcohol. This method is known variously in the art as the Direct Synthesis, the Direct Reaction, the Direct Process or the Rochow Reaction. For trialkoxysilanes, it is most conveniently performed in slurry reactors.
In a slurry reactor for the Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes, catalytically-activated silicon particles are maintained in suspension in a thermally stable, high boiling solvent and are made to react with an alcohol at an elevated temperature. This type of reaction is disclosed by Rochow in U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,077. The patent teaches preparation of trialkoxysilanes by directly reacting copper-silicon mass, suspended in a silicone oil, with alcohol at 250°-300° C. The copper-silicon mass contains about 10 weight percent copper and is prepared by heating copper and silicon above 1000° C. in a furnace in a stream of hydrogen gas. This method results in low yields of trialkoxysilanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,457 teaches the use of polyaromatic hydrocarbon oils as solvents in the Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes from an alcohol and finely divided silicon metal activated with cuprous chloride catalyst. Although the use of cuprous chloride results in increased yield over that obtained using the sintered copper-silicon mass of U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,077, the use of cuprous chloride catalyst also results in the formation of HCl which, in turn, necessitates the use of costly corrosion resistant materials of construction for the reactor and its ancillary equipment. Further, the presence of chloride in the reactor and in the product stream reduces the yield of trialkoxy-silane by catalyzing the consecutive reaction of trialkoxysilane with the alcohol to yield tetra-alkoxysilanes.
Additionally, when methanol is a reactant, the HCl resulting from the use of the cuprous chloride catalyst will react with some of the methanol to produce methyl chloride and water. This loss of methanol to an undesirable side reaction makes the cuprous chloride catalyzed reaction inefficient. Moreover, water produced by this reaction can react with trialkoxysilanes and tetraalkoxysilanes to produce soluble and gelled siloxanes and further reduce the efficiency of the Direct Process. The presence of water in the reaction mixture can also inhibit the sustained conversion of silicon metal to desirable products at economically beneficial rates. Other patents, for example Japenese Kokai Tokkyo Koho 55-28928 (1980), 55-28929 (1980), 55-76891 (1980), 57-108094 (1982) and 62-96433 (1987), which disclose the use of cuprous chloride and cupric chloride and alkylated benzene solvents such as dodecylbenzene and tridecylbenzene, are subject to these same limitations. It is desirable to use the alkylated benzenes because they are less expensive and less hazardous to people and the environment than the polyaromatic hydrocarbon solvents of U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,457.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,173 discloses that the use of copper (II) hydroxide as catalyst avoids the limitations associated with cuprous chloride and provides a high selectivity to trialkoxysilanes. The preferred solvents are diphenyl ether, polyaromatic hydrocarbons like THERMINOL® 59, THERMINOL® 60 and THERMINOL® 66, and alkylated benzenes such as dodecylbenzene. However, when copper (II) hydroxide is used in combination with alkylated benzene solvents, such as dodecylbenzene, the Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes becomes unstable after approximately 25-35 weight percent of the silicon has been reacted. When methanol is the alcohol reactant at temperatures above about 220° C., the trimethoxysilane content in the reaction product declines from approximately 90-95 weight percent to approximately 50-60 weight percent and recovers again to between 80-95 weight percent after about 60 percent silicon conversion. Simultaneous with this loss of selectivity is the enhanced formation of methane, water and dimethyl ether. Methane and dimethyl ether formation represent inefficient use of the methanol reagent. Problems attendant to the generation of water in the reaction mixture have been recited hereinabove.
Alcohol dehydration and dehydrogenation are especially troublesome problems when ethanol and other higher homologs are used in the Direct Synthesis. At some temperatures (>250° C.), alkenes and aldehydes, and not the desired trialkoxysilanes, are formed in significant amounts. Even when these are not the predominant products, their presence in the reaction mixture can result in the inhibition of further catalytic activity. At lower temperatures, (for example 220° C.) alcohol decomposition reactions are less prevalent, but the Direct Synthesis is impractically slow. Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho 55-2641 (1980) discloses the use of cyclic ethers to improve reactivity and selectivity to triethoxysilane when the Direct Synthesis is conducted in dodecylbenzene at these lower temperatures. Cyclic ethers such as dibenzo-18-crown-6 are quite expensive; others such as 12-crown-4 are also toxic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,937 (European Patent application EP 0709388 A1) discloses a process for the Direct Synthesis of triethoxysilane and trimethoxysilane, wherein CuCl is the catalyst, tri- and tetra-toluenes and/or their alkyl substituted derivatives are the solvents and dimethylsilicone oils are antifoaming agents. The polyphenyl solvents of this process are expensive heat transfer fluids.
Foaming problems are also disclosed in Example 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,457 (German Patent 2,247,872). Foaming can lead to the partial or complete discharge of the reaction slurry from the reactor into the distillation and receiving vessels attached thereto. This is not only operationally inefficient with respect to raw material usage, but it also presents a difficult and time-consuming cleanup problem in laboratory, pilot and commercial scale reactions.
Thermal activation of slurries containing copper catalysts and silicon is disclosed in a number of patents, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,775,457 and 4,727,173. Use of hydrogen to activate silicon with copper for the Direct Reaction has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,380,997; 2,473,260; 3,641,077; and 4,314,908. Hydrogen activation, as taught in these patents, is accomplished at temperatures above about 400° C. in fixed bed reactors, fluidized bed reactors or furnaces with silicon—copper catalyst mixtures containing more than 1.5 weight percent copper. No teaching is given regarding selectivity, reactivity and reaction stability of the silicon—copper masses in the slurry phase Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes.
Suzuki, et al. (Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, vol. 64 (1991) pp 3445-3447) disclosed that hydrogen activation of silicon—CuCl2 mixtures (2.5 wt % Cu) in a fixed bed at 260° C. afforded complete silicon conversion and high (89%) selectivity to trimethoxysilane in a fixed bed Direct Reaction with methanol. The duration of the induction period, the reaction rate and selectivity to trimethoxysilane were all very dependent on the temperature of hydrogen activation.
Thus, there continues to exist the need for a stable, highly selective and rapid Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes which is conducted in cheaper, less hazardous solvents and yet avoids the above-mentioned deficiencies of copper chlorides and alkylated benzenes. In particular, there is a need for such a Direct Synthesis which eliminates or avoids the alcohol reduction and alcohol dehydration side reactions. These needs are addressed in a copending patent application filed on even date herewith and assigned to the assignee of the present application, bearing internal file number 89603 and entitled "Activation of Copper-Silicon Slurries for the Direct Synthesis of Trialkoxysilanes".
There is also a need for a Direct trialkoxysilane Synthesis process in which foaming is controlled so that the reaction slurry is retained in the reactor. Moreover, the foam control method(s) must not have any deleterious effect(s) on the selectivity, rate and stability of the Direct Synthesis of trialkoxysilanes and must remain effective throughout the entire course of the reaction, especially when the solvent is used for more than one charge of silicon, when recycled solvent is used, or when the Direct Process is conducted continuously.

Surface-active additives in the direct synthesis of trialkoxysilanes


A method which improves the correspondence between the produced fancy yarn and the predetermined configuration of said fancy yarn. The fancy yarn is guided through a sensor device in a spinning device after it is formed and the diameter of the fancy yarn is continuously measured by the sensor device. The fancy configuration of the produced yarn is determined on the basis of the measured values of the diameter and is compared with the predetermined fancy configuration. The comparison is carried out until sufficient correspondence between the predetermined fancy configuration and the fancy configuration of the optimized, produced yarn is achieved.

The invention relates to a method for the production of a fancy yarn, particularly such a method in which an effect configuration is predetermined and data is generated therefrom representing the selected effect configuration, and spinning adjustments are generated based on this data.
A yarn is called a fancy yarn, in which thick locations are present with predetermined larger diameters and with predetermined lengths, the so-called effects. The yarn sections located in between with a smaller diameter, in other words, the effect-free sections, are called webs. The effect data determining a fancy yarn include, in particular, the effect length, the effect diameter, the effect frequency and the respective effect-free thread length or web length.
Fancy yarns are becoming increasingly important. Areas of use are, for example, denim materials, materials for casual clothing and home textiles.
Fancy yarns can also be produced on rotor spinning machines. In this case, for example, the fiber feed to the opening roller of the rotor spinning mechanism is changed, in that the rotational speed of the draw-in rollers is varied. For this purpose, mechanical gearings are activated, which drive continuous shafts along the machine. The draw-in rollers are made to rotate by means of these shafts. The large mass of the moved parts of a drive system of this type and the gearing play, however, makes it impossible, or only with difficulty, to achieve a precise and abrupt change of the yarn thickness at the beginning and end of an effect. The speed during the spinning of fancy yarn optionally has to be sharply reduced compared to the speed when spinning effect-free yarn.
German Patent Publication DE 44 04 503 A1 describes a rotor spinning machine, in which each draw-in roller with its drive shaft is directly connected to an associated stepping motor. Each stepping motor can be activated by an activation unit. Random speed changes of the fiber band intake can be generated with a random generator. A fancy yarn with predetermined effects cannot be produced with this known rotor spinning machine. However, programs for controlling ring or rotor spinning machines, especially their delivery cylinders, have been developed, with which effects can be adjusted in a targeted manner.
The spinning machine described in German Patent Publication DE 40 41 130 A1, is used for producing fancy yarn using a program control for the effect formation. Specifications such as rotational speed of the drive motors, speeds or specific machine parameters are provided and controlled. For example, for a specific flame or effect type of the fancy yarn to be produced, the rotational speed course of the electric motor is predetermined as a desired value curve. The actual rotational speed is monitored, for example, and recorded in a control device. By maintaining the predetermined rotational speed course, the configuration of the predetermined design of the fancy yarn should be ensured. Deviations from the desired configuration of the fancy yarn, such as may occur despite adhering to specific mentioned specification values, are not recognized in the spinning machine of German Patent Publication DE 40 41 130 A1. This can lead to a reduction in the quality of the fancy yarn or even to the production of reject yarn.
The configuration of the fancy yarn during rotor spinning does not only depend on the control of the draw-in roller, but is also influenced, for example, by the low pressure in the spinning device or by the yarn rotation. It can therefore easily occur that the diverse influencing variables are inadequately coordinated and the configuration of the fancy yarn produced differs from the predetermined configuration of the fancy yarn to an undesired extent. A change in the spinning adjustments on the basis of a visual qualifying checking of the yarn often leads to costly and very time-consuming coordination processes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for the production of a fancy yarn


A method and system for identifying and localizing a reentrant circuit isthmus in a heart of a subject during sinus rhythm is provided. The method may include (a) receiving electrogram signals from the heart during sinus rhythm via electrodes, (b) creating a map based on the electrogram signals, (c) determining, based on the map, a location of the reentrant circuit isthmus in the heart, and (d) displaying the location of the reentrant circuit isthmus.

In canine hearts with inducible reentry, the isthmus tends to form along an axis from the area of last to first activity during sinus rhythm. It was hypothesized that this phenomenon could be quantified to predict reentry and the isthmus location. An in situ canine model of reentrant ventricular tachycardia occurring in the epicardial border zone was used in 54 experiments (25 canine hearts in which primarily long monomorphic runs of figure-8 reentry was inducible, 11 with short monomorphic or polymorphic runs, and 18 lacking inducible reentry). From the sinus rhythm activation map for each experiment, the linear regression coefficient and slope was calculated for the activation times along each of 8 rays extending from the area of last-activation. The slope of the regression line for the ray with greatest regression coefficient (called the primary axis) was used to predict whether or not reentry would be inducible (correct prediction in 48/54 experiments). For all 36 experiments with reentry, isthmus location and shape were then estimated based on site-to-site differences in sinus rhythm electrogram duration. For long and short-runs of reentry, estimated isthmus location and shape partially overlapped the actual isthmus (mean overlap of 71.3% and 43.6%, respectively). On average for all reentry experiments, a linear ablation lesion positioned across the estimated isthmus would have spanned 78.2% of the actual isthmus width. Parameters of sinus rhythm activation provide key information for prediction of reentry inducibility, and isthmus location and shape.
During ventricular tachycardia, the heart beats rapidly which can be debilitating to the patient and cause such things as tiredness and even syncope (i.e. fainting). This clinical problem usually follows a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and is caused by abnormal electrical conduction in the heart because the cells become damaged during the infarct. When conduction is slow and abnormal, a process called reentry can occur in which the propagating electrical wavefront travels in a circle, or double loop, and reenters the area where it had previously traveled. This propagation around the loop(s) occurs very rapidly, and a heartbeat occurs once each time the propagating wavefront traverses around the loop or loops. Since the condition is abnormal, the heart muscle does not contract as it should, so that the strength of the pumping action is reduced, and the rapidity of the heartbeat causes the heart chambers to not fill with blood completely. Therefore, because of both the poor filling action and the poor pumping action, there is less blood delivered to the tissues. This causes the maladies that the patient experiences.
A promising cure for this ailment is radio-frequency catheter ablation, which does not require surgery and is permanent. In the ablation procedure, a catheter is inserted through an artery of the patient and is positioned in the heart chamber. At the appropriate location on the inner heart surface, known as the endocardium, radio-frequency energy is delivered from the tip of the catheter to the heart tissue, thereby blocking conduction at the place of delivery of the energy, which is called the target site on the heart. Ideally, energy is delivered to the location between the double loop where the electrical wavefront propagates. This is called the best, or optimal target site. However, it is sometimes difficult to locate the best target site, and also the precise surface area to which energy should be delivered is often unknown and presently must be done by trial and error.
The present disclosure describes a system and method for determining the shape and location of the target site, which is called the reentry isthmus. U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,883 to Ciaccio et al describes a method to find the isthmus based on signals acquired while the heart was undergoing ventricular tachycardia.
Although this former method potentially represents a substantial improvement over existing methods, it is not always convenient and cannot be used in all cases. For example during clinical electrophysiologic (EP) study, in which the clinician endeavors to determine the target site to ablate the heart in the patient, it is attempted to initiate ventricular tachycardia by electrical stimulation. If tachycardia cannot be initiated, the former method described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,883 to Ciaccio et al will not work because the methodology requires signals obtained from the heart surface during ventricular tachycardia. Furthermore, sometimes tachycardia can be initiated but there is poor hemodynamic tolerance, which means that the pumping of blood is so poor during the tachycardia that the doctor must terminate it so that the patient does not experience syncope. The method of the present disclosure addresses both problems.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the reentry isthmus may be localized and its shape may be estimated based on sinus-rhythm signals from the heart surface. Sinus-rhythm is the normal rhythm of the heart. Therefore, based on this methodology there may no longer be a need to induce ventricular tachycardia in the patient's heart during clinical EP study.
The method of the present disclosure provides the clinician with a target area to ablate the heart to stop reentrant ventricular tachycardia from recurring. Accuracy is important so that only those portions of the heart at which ablation is needed are actually ablated. Ablating other areas can increase the chance of patient morbidity, by damaging regions of the heart unnecessarily. Also, there is less chance that the patient will be required to have a repeat visit, which will reduce cost of the total procedure and reduce discomfort to the patient. Rapidity is important to reduce the amount of fluoroscopy time and therefore reduce the radiation exposure to the patient, as well as cost due to the reduction in time for the procedure, and patient discomfort.
The method of the present disclosure is also an advance over previous methods because there may be no need to acquire many signals directly from the heart surface which is difficult and time consuming, for the procedure. Instead, only the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal may be needed during tachycardia. This ECG signal may be obtained during the EP study, or even via a Holter Monitor when the patient is ambulatory and the heart undergoes an episode of tachycardia. Therefore, the method of the present disclosure may greatly improve the accuracy of targeting the best ablation site to stop reentrant ventricular tachycardia even when tachycardia cannot be induced or is hemodynamically stable, both of which occur in a significant number of patients.
Treatment of reentrant ventricular tachycardia by catheter ablation methods is hampered by the difficulty in localizing the circuit, particularly when the circuit structure is complex, the tachycardia is short-lived, or when reentry is not inducible during electrophysiologic study [1]. If measurements of sinus rhythm activation could be used to accurately localize reentry circuit features, it could potentially greatly improve the cure rate under these circumstances. A number of clinical and experimental studies to determine the usefulness of sinus rhythm parameters for targeting reentry circuits have been reported. The time of latest depolarization during sinus rhythm has been partially correlated to the location of the reentry isthmus; however, the relationship is inexact [2-3]. At the border zone, both normal and abnormal (low-amplitude, fractionated, or wide-deflection) electrograms are present [2-5]; however, these abnormal electrograms can be present both within and away from the reentry circuit location and are therefore not a specific predictor of its position in the border zone. Therefore, methods for detection and measurement of abnormal sinus rhythm activation characteristics are not presently sufficient for targeting reentry circuits for catheter ablation, although presence of abnormality suggests the proximity of arrhythmogenic substrate.
When a reentrant circuit can be induced in the infarct border zone by programmed electrical stimulation in a canine model [6], the area where the isthmus forms has at least two conspicuous substrate properties: 1) it is the thinnest surviving cell layer of any area of the border zone [6-7], and 2) there is disarray of gap-junctional intercellular connections which extends the full thickness from the infarct to the surface of the heart [8]. Since these substrate properties persist regardless of rhythm type, they may affect electrical conduction at the isthmus area during sinus rhythm. The hypothesis that these phenomena could be quantified and used to predict reentry inducibility, and isthmus location and shape, when it occurs, was tested in this study.

System and method for determining reentrant ventricular tachycardia isthmus location and shape for catheter ablation

The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York


A media universe database is configured to store a plurality of elements of media universe content related to a media universe. An analysis of a digital video is performed. Based at least in part on the analysis, a correspondence is determined between one or more objects in the digital video and respective elements of the media universe content. An interactive digital video is generated based on the digital video. The interactive digital video comprises a plurality of video frames including one or more interactive video frames. The one or more interactive video frames comprise one or more interactive objects corresponding to the elements of media universe content.

Various entities may create or control media universes that encompass fictional worlds. Broadly speaking, a fictional world is a (generally) self-consistent setting for works of fiction. Broad categories of fictional worlds may include, but are not limited to, fictionalized versions of the real world, alternate history or alternative reality universes, science fiction universes, and fantasy worlds. A fictional world may be based on one or more works in various media including but not limited to books, short stories, comic books, graphic novels, movies, shows or series distributed via various channels (e.g., television, cable, or web series), cartoons, anime, games, and toys. In addition, new works in various media including but not limited to books, short stories, comic books, graphic novels, movies, shows or series, cartoons, anime, games, and toys may be specifically created with content or storylines set within an existing fictional world.
A fictional world may include its own histories, storylines, environments, locations, civilizations, characters, objects, technologies, flora, fauna, languages, rules, and so on. In many fictional worlds, there is an accepted collection of media, storylines, histories, characters, objects, locations and so on that may be viewed as the canonical content (or canon) of the world. New works may follow the canon to maintain continuity within the world, and may extend the canon with new storylines, characters, and so on. In addition, there may be other non-canonical content (e.g., "fan fiction") based on or set within the fictional world. The collection of all media and other canonical and non-canonical content for a fictional world may be referred to as a media universe.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include", "including", and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.

Generating interactive content using a media universe database


An optical scanning device for generating a data signal representative of an object which is scanned comprising a light source for illuminating the object; an imaging assembly for projecting imaging light from the object onto an image plane; a plurality of linear photosensor arrays positioned at the image plane for generating light sensing signals indicative of the intensity of light in different spectral regions impinged thereon; a transparent plate positioned in adjacent overlying relationship with the photosensor arrays; a plurality of filter coatings disposed on different regions of the transparent plate in alignment the plurality of photosensor arrays for filteringly transmitting imaging light in the predetermined different spectral regions to the different photosensor arrays.

The present invention relates generally to optical scanners and, more particularly to color optical scanners and photosensors used therein.
Optical scanners operate by imaging an object and then separating the imaging light into its spectral components, typically red, green, and blue. Separate color component images are sensed by different optical sensor arrays which each generate a signal representative of the associated color component image which is sensed. These data signals from the different sensors are then processed and stored on a suitable medium, e.g. a hard disk of a computer or video tape of a camcorder for subsequent display and/or manipulation.
A number of color scanning devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,144 for COLOR IMAGER UTILIZING NOVEL TRICHROMATIC BEAMSPLITTER AND PHOTOSENSOR of Vincent issued Nov. 24, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,696 for COLOR IMAGE INPUT APPARATUS WITH VARIOUS ELEMENTS HAVING MATCHED APERTURES of Neumann et al. issued Nov. 8, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,703 for OPTICAL SCANNER WITH MIRROR MOUNTED OCCLUDING APERTURE OR FILTER of Boyd et al. issued May 28, 1991; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,727 for BEAM SPLITTER/COMBINER APPARATUS of Steinle issued Aug. 13, 1991 which are each hereby specifically incorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein. Scanners typically employ linear sensor arrays which sense imaging light from a scan line portion of an object. A linear sensor array comprises a single row of picture elements or "pixels" which each generate a signal representative of the intensity of the light impinged thereon. A typical pixel dimension in a linear sensor array of a color optical scanner is 0.008 mm.times.0.008 mm.
Some optical scanners employ a three-line, CCD (charge coupled device) photosensor unit which is used to simultaneously sense red, green and blue imaging light from the scanned object. One method of filtering the component light beams which are sensed by a three-line CCD unit is to pass the imaging light beam through multiple reflective color filter coatings applied to glass plates located between an imaging lens assembly and the three-line CCD unit. Such filtering methods are used with beamsplitter devices such as described in detail in the above referenced patents of Vincent, Boyd et al. and Steinle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,696 of Neumann et al. discloses a color image input apparatus which includes a support assembly, and beam forming assembly, a projection assembly, and a sensor assembly. The support assembly includes an opaque platen provided with an elongate aperture. The beam forming assembly includes a pair of front reflecting mirrors and a filter assembly. The filter assembly includes three filter windows, each of which includes a transmissive color separation filter. Light shining through a first filter window produces a blue beam, light shining through a second filter window produces a green beam, and light shining through a third filter window produces a red beam. The projection assembly typically includes a number of lenses and an aperture forming iris. The sensor assembly includes three photoelectric sensor arrays. The projection assembly focuses the red beam on the first sensor array, the green beam on the second sensor array, and the blue beam on the third sensor array. The outputs of the sensor assembly form a red/green/blue signal which represents the portion of the color image on a transparency which is aligned with the support assembly aperture. The blue, green and red beams are transposed and focused by the projection assembly. The photoelectric sensor arrays, which are typically formed from a matrix of photosensitive semiconductor devices, convert the intensities of various portions of the red, green, and blue beams to form the red/green/blue signal.
Another known method of filtering imaging light which is to be impinged upon a three-line CCD unit is to apply a filter coating directly to each linear CCD array. Three-line CCD units which have different color filters deposited directly on the linear CCD arrays are known in the art and are commercially available. However there are several disadvantages which are associated with such CCD units:
1) The deposited filter material must be compatible with the silicon substrate material from which the CCD is constructed. There are only a limited number of filter materials which are suitable for deposit on a CCD substrate. The spectral response bandwidths available from such deposited filters is limited and may not be suitable for some imaging device applications where high color fidelity is required.
2) The efficiency or transmissibility of filters deposited directly onto the CCD sensor arrays is relatively low and thus when such coated sensors are used it may be necessary to use expensive, highly efficient optics.
3) The production process for depositing filter coatings directly onto CCD arrays is rather expensive. Additionally, if a process error occurs during the filter deposit process the entire silicon substrate must be scrapped at considerable expense.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a filter and sensor assembly which overcomes these problems in the art.

Color image sensing assembly with multiple linear sensors and aligned filters


An acoustic tracking system for determining a position of an object is provided that includes one or more receivers that detect an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters. The system also includes a processing component that determines a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters and selects at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters. Each selected pair includes a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters. The processing component also determines a position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

Finger hovering is becoming a highly desirable feature for mobile applications. With finger tracking capability, it may be unnecessary for a user to touch the screen of a mobile device to control a mobile application executing on the mobile device. The hovering feature can be used for remote gesture control, such as photo sliding or map navigation. Unlike camera, electrical field, and self-capacitance or mutual-capacitance based hovering solutions, an ultrasound based hovering system may transmit specially designed broadband modulated ultrasound patterns from ultrasound transmitters.
Ultrasound finger hovering tracking may have an advantage over electrical field based hovering systems and capacitance based hovering systems. For example, an advantage may be that the ultrasound based hovering system uses a minimum amount of hardware. For example, the ultrasound based hovering system may share microphones used by audio and voice applications. Further, the ultrasound based hovering system may operate with adjustable hovering distance and may also work off-screen. Electrical field types of hovering systems may require special electrode pattern design and circuits. Electrical field based hovering systems may only track the movement of the center of gravity of the whole hand and may be unable to track movement corresponding to only the finger. Moreover, the performance of electrical field types of hovering systems may be affected by device grounding conditions. Additionally, a capacitance based hovering system may require a special touchscreen design and the hovering distance may be small (e.g., 2-3 centimeters).
The ultrasound based hovering system may track finger movements by using multiple ultrasound transmitters and microphones. In an example, transmitters (e.g., speakers) transmit ultrasound waves, and microphones receive the reflected signal pattern from the hovering fingertip. The fingertip coordinates may be calculated using triangulation algorithms.
The accuracy of the ultrasound based hovering system, however, may be affected by a number of factors, such as signal-to-noise ratio and transducer bandwidth. An error source may be due to reflections from the non-fingertip parts of the hand. Unlike an ultrasound pen, a hovering finger suffers from unintended reflections from the palm and knuckles. These reflections can cause triangulation errors and discontinuities of the traces. Another error source may be from the fact that the reflection points on the fingertip for each transmitter and receiver pair are not the same. This may result in traces not being smooth, especially in the z-direction.


Provided are adhesive articles and assemblies that include a flat and at least partially elastic backing along with a patterned adhesive coating on each side of the backing. When viewed from directions perpendicular to the backing, the adhesive on one side of the backing does not substantially overlap the adhesive on the opposing side of the backing. As a result, it is possible to use a stretch removable adhesive article that uses, for example, an aggressive adhesive to provide a reliable bond but still remove cleanly and easily from delicate substrates that would otherwise be damaged or destroyed if bonded with conventional adhesive constructions.

Stretch removable adhesive articles provide temporary bonding solutions in a wide variety of commercial and industrial applications. These adhesive articles can be easily removed from a bonded substrate by stretching the article lengthwise in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the substrate. Because the adhesion substantially degrades as the adhesive is elongated, the stretching action enables the adhesive to be conveniently detached without damaging the underlying substrate. These articles are commonly used to bond two different substrates to each other, thus allowing two adhesively bonded materials to be separated from each other without damage to either substrate.
Commercial stretch removable adhesive articles include COMMAND brand adhesive tapes sold by 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn. and POWER-STRIPS brand self-adhesive tapes sold by Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, Germany. These products can be optionally provided with long discrete strips of a pressure sensitive adhesive with a pull tab at one end to facilitate stretching of the strips during removal. Optionally, the adhesive areas can be protected using a release liner prior to use. In some cases, it is advantageous for the adhesive to undergo inelastic deformation as it stretches to avoid sudden recoil, or "snap," when the adhesive fully detaches. An ancillary benefit of inelastic deformation during stretching is that such products do not return to their original shape, thereby indicating if the product has been previously used or tampered with.
Adhesive tapes and films that are stretch removable can be especially useful in bonding to soft and/or delicate surfaces. For example, such articles have been used for temporary attachment of paper articles, such as for holding posters, signs, or other large format graphics, or even bonding to skin in medical tape, wound or surgical dressing, athletic tape, surgical drape, and medical device applications. Finally, these articles can also be used to facilitate attachment of other articles to clothing, as commonly used in adult incontinence pads or feminine hygiene products such as absorbent sanitary napkins, which are adhered to undergarments. These types of applications pose unique challenges not only because of the flexibility of the substrate but also the need to reconcile the demand for high levels of adhesion with the need to avoid inadvertent damage to the substrate during removal.


To provide a storage management technique for creating and managing, with single operation by a user, a large quantity of writable snapshots, which satisfy a requirement desired by the user, while controlling a use form of a storage apparatus not to exceed limits of the performance and the capacity of the storage apparatus. Therefore, a management computer manages configuration information and performance information of plural storage apparatuses and an operation state of a writable snapshot. When a writable snapshot is created, the management computer controls, concerning an original snapshot, a use form of the storage apparatuses not to exceed a disk performance limit and a controller performance limit and a capacity limit of a storage on the basis of the number of writable snapshots to be created and a performance requirement (IOPS) and a capacity requirement of the writable snapshot.

Recently, in a storage apparatus, data stored in the storage apparatus is managed using a set of files and directories present in the storage apparatus at a point in the past and a snapshot function for realizing recording of the set.
As an application of such a snapshot, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a writable snapshot (also referred to as "Writable Snapshot (WSS)" in this specification). In Patent Literature 1, the storage apparatus includes an original snapshot (also referred to as golden image (GI)) and a pool which accumulates a writing request to the original snapshot as a difference (also referred to as difference pool or WSS pool). During reference, the storage apparatus creates a snapshot image after writing from the original snapshot and difference data in the pool to provide a host computer with the writable snapshot (WSS).

Management system and control method for computer system for managing a storage apparatus


A card based business communication is produced in a unique manner in which a pigmented coating is applied over one face of the card substrate so as to change the appearance of the card material and provide a based for a high resolution image. An image is applied either directly over the pigmented coating or alternatively, the image may be reverse printed on a transparent film such that when the film is applied over the pigmented coating, the image will be visible through the face of the film.

There are currently a plethora of business communication constructions, marketing and advertising pieces and other items that are available in the market today for communicating products and services with an intended audience. Yet with this inordinately large selection of offerings and permutations, there remains a continuing need to develop new products due to changes in technology, societal trends, diversification of marketing, packaging and advertising campaigns and new information handling needs of businesses and consumers alike.
The market for printed communication material is also changing and becoming more sophisticated with the customers for such products, correspondingly becoming more demanding in having the communication deliver a more impactful message to customers. Printed products, such as communication pieces and other assemblies that are intended to be used in business communications, can be delivered in a wide variety of formats, constructions and configurations. However, the difficulty arises in maximizing the contact with each individual customer in order to try and capture repeat business opportunities with customers previously serviced by the business.
Today, there are wide varieties of product offerings available that serve multiple purposes and functions, including product offerings that are used in fulfilling the needs in the card carrying products market, such as identification cards, membership cards, gift cards and the like.
Conventional manufacturing processes that are used today in creating cards are typically based on or created by applying a printed paper or other imaged substrate over the surface of the card or other synthetic material which then forms the image on the card or placard material. The paper layer is adhered to the surface of the card typically through a pressure sensitive adhesive. Once the material is laminated the assembly may then be collected, die-cut and the individual cards created. That is, large sheets of plastic materials may be used as a base substrate and then through lamination of large printed sheets on the plastic or synthetic material a series of cards may be created which can then be cut down to the appropriate size for form individual cards.
Specialty cards, which may be referred to "prime" cards are those having a glossy or shiny appearance. The shiny or glossy image is commonly created by coating a varnish over the top of the paper ply that has been printed typically on a flexographic press. Flexography is commonly used today for the production of the substrates that will be used in creating prime card materials as well as for the printing of decorative items, including the rendering of packaging.
The technology employs a series of plates and one or more stations, containing inks (usually a different colored ink at each station) to apply colored images to the web as the web traverses the press. Through improvements in ink qualities and other modifications and enhancements in the technology, the image quality in flexographic presses and resulting products has improved to about 150 lines per inch.
For a point of reference, typically, screens that have rulings of about 60 to 100 lines per inch are normally used to make halftone printed images for newspapers. Screens with about 120 to 150 lines per inch are commonly used today to produce images for magazines and commercial printing. Such screens are regularly produced by electronic dot generation.
Electronic dot generation is normally performed by computers that use unique screening algorithms, in cooperation with electronic scanners and image setters, to produce halftone images that are to be subsequently used to render an image. The pixels of digitized images are first assembled into dots that are then used to form shapes, sizes, rulings, etc. which create the ultimate image produced on the substrate.
Such a conventional card based construction, a card in which a paper ply is placed directly on and adhered or otherwise affixed to the card, may suffer from various drawbacks which may be undesirable. Conventional assemblies can delaminate over time, such as due to exposure to moisture, dramatic temperature changes and other environmental conditions. If any delamination occurs with such prime card products, the prime card product will normally be ruined.
Another problem that may be encountered with such conventional card constructions is that moisture may be is absorbed in the paper layer also can cause bubbling or rippling of the paper substrate. This situation can be a particular problem where the card is placed in a high humidity environment.
What is needed therefore is a card bearing business communication construction that can be produced in a glossy configuration without suffering from the drawbacks associated with prior art constructions.

Card carrying business communication product and method of producing same


A LEC bypass technique which provides analog voice grade communications from a caller to an independent Central Office (CO) for local services and/or to a long distance inter-exchange carrier ("IXC") for long distance services by utilizing existing tariffed network data services and existing tariffed commercial DID/DOD services. The telephone switching equipment of an Independent Central Office is located in a new residential housing development (single detached, attached, or multi-family) or a new commercial development and used to provide local and long distance calling services, as well as Internet access and other telecommunications services, to the residents of the residential housing development or the tenants of the commercial development. The long distance service is provided using a hardwired LEC bypass connection that does not pass through the voice tariffed switch operated by the LEC, while the local service within the development as well as local service via the public switched network is provided via DID/DOD trunks purchased from the LEC and unbundled for use by the residents in the residential development or tenants in the commercial development. Residents in other new housing or commercial developments may also be serviced by the Independent Central Office by installing a D4 multiplexer on-site at the development and connecting to the Independent Central Office using the same LEC bypass techniques used for long distance access.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a telecommunications system for providing a central office which is independent of the local exchange carriers and, in particular, to a system which bypasses and thus does not require the involvement of an incumbent local exchange carrier central office with respect to vertical and call control features and other central office functions and which instead uses existing tariffed data network services and existing tariffed commercial DID/DOD services to provide central office functions to residents of new residential housing developments (single detached, attached, and multi-family) and tenants of new commercial developments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The divestiture of American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in 1984 resulted in the creation of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies ("RBOCs"). Since AT&T remained as purely a long distance carrier, the business of providing local telephone services came under the control of these seven RBOCs. After divestiture, the seven RBOCs (the "Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers" or "LECS") owned all of the expensive "hardwire" infrastructure necessary to provide local telephone services and owned the local networks to which all of the long distance carriers ("IXCs") had to pay access fees in order to originate and terminate their customer's long distance calls. Since the RBOCs had not been required to freely allow competition for local telephone service in the local markets, to date no company has been successful in entering the estimated $90 billion Local Exchange Carrier ("LEC") market in the United States on a large scale, large scale being defined as including residential customers. Therefore, regarding the provision of local telephone services across the United States, the AT&T divestiture in 1984 basically replaced a national monopoly (AT&T) with seven geographic monopolies (RBOCs).
Despite the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the purpose of which was to effect significant competition in the LEC markets, the existing RBOCs, due to their overwhelming size and their ownership of the existing infrastructure, have to date been successful in inhibiting any significant competition in the LEC market since any new entrant into the market has only two options for the provisioning of local telephone services: (1) building new infrastructure which is prohibitively expensive, or (2) successfully negotiating contracts with the incumbent LECs which require the payment of excessive fees to the incumbent LECs in order to utilize the LEC infrastructure to resell local telephone services. Neither of these options is particularly appealing since either option substantially favors the RBOCs in the following ways:
1. There is currently no viable, cost effective alternative to the conventional "hardwire" platform to allow large scale competition in the LEC market on a national basis or even on a regional basis. PA1 2. The costs to build a new infrastructure today are prohibitive. In a Wall Street Journal article dated Feb. 12, 1996, the costs of building such an infrastructure were projected at $5 billion to "get started" and $20 billion to "extensively penetrate the market." It has since become clear to the entire telecommunications industry that these projected costs were very low. In 1996, both AT&T and MCI announced strategic plans calling for large scale (including residential customers) building of local networks to compete with the Incumbent LECs. However, neither AT&T nor MCI has pursued these plans and both have admitted that doing so, on a large scale, would not be economically feasible. On Jul. 14, 1997, the Wall Street Journal reported MCI's projected loss of $800 million in its attempt to build local networks in a number of metropolitan markets to begin to compete for local commercial accounts. This news caused MCI to lose $5 billion of market value in one day! AT&T has also suffered significant losses in its attempt to enter the LEC market. PA1 3. The RBOCs have enjoyed one of the highest operating cash flow margins of any U.S. industry, over double that of the IXCs. While the LEC business has remained "proprietary," the long distance business, with its increased competition, has become much more of a "commodity" business. AT&T has had its market share drop to 54% since 1984 and has had its average revenue per minute cut almost in half. Hence, AT&T and MCI are not in a position to "outspend" the RBOCs in infrastructure development. PA1 4. The RBOCs have all filed to become long distance service providers ("IXCs"). In contrast to the plight of AT&T and MCI in their attempts to enter the LEC market, there are no costly infrastructure obstacles blocking entry of the RBOCs into the IXC market: the RBOCs can buy ready made networks from IXC providers at wholesale rates for immediate deployment. The RBOCs initially announced that their initial strategies regarding the provision of long distance services would be to resell, where discounts usually run about 80%. However, in contrast, the resale discounts the RBOCs originally intended to offer the IXCs for resale of local services were closer to 10-15%.
To ensure their own competitive survival, the IXCs must make inroads into the profitable LEC market. However, to date no technology has been proposed which would enable a company independent of the RBOCs to provide local telephone services at a competitive cost. None of the previously available solutions is economically viable for the reasons noted above. There is thus a great need in the art for a system and method which would enable a company independent of the RBOCs to provide cost competitive local telephone services, and hence meaningful competition to the incumbent RBOCs in the LEC market, without requiring a cost prohibitive infrastructure investment.
Accordingly, a LEC bypass technique is desired which permits cost effective competition with the Incumbent LECs in the local telephone market without requiring specialized customer premises equipment, without significant infrastructure investment, and without "deals" with the Incumbent LECs. Embodiments of the present invention have been designed to meet this great need in the art.
Embodiments of the present invention have also been designed to meet another great need in the art, the need to significantly reduce the monopolistic access charges charged by the LECs on most long distance calls, charges which cost customers tens of billions of dollars each year. Most long distance calls must be originated through the LEC switch, and most calls are terminated by the LEC switch as well. Therefore, access charges payable to the incumbent LECs continue to be incurred. Specifically, with respect to outgoing calls placed from a subscriber location, the LEC switch which serves the subscriber's customer premises equipment senses an off-hook condition and extends dial tone. When the dialed digits are received in the LEC switch, any features associated with the originating subscriber, such as speed dialing, are applied to the call, and the call is then routed to the desired destination. If the call is a long distance call that is routed to a long distance or inter-exchange carrier (IXC), then the IXC will pay originating end and terminating end "access charges" to the LEC for servicing the call, and the subscriber will, in turn, pay the IXC for the total cost of the call.
Currently, the access charges paid to LECs by the IXCs for the use of carrier common line service vary by LEC but can, depending on a call's duration and cost per minute, constitute upwards of 40% of the overall cost of the call. Accordingly, eliminating the stranglehold the LECs have on the local market and their claims to the originating end access charges could save a significant percentage of the cost of a long distance call. Bypassing the LEC and the associated originating end access charges could also save the IXCs a significant portion of their service costs for providing long distance calls and, once the associated savings are passed on to their subscribers, potentially save their subscribers billions of dollars each year in long distance charges. Payment of such access charges remains a key issue in the telecommunications industry since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and is one of the primary obstacles to enhanced competition between the LECs and other potential entrants into the local telecommunications marketplace. As a result, any long distance service provider who can bypass the LEC and avoid payment of the originating end access charges will be at a substantial competitive advantage. Not unexpectedly, the RBOCs are utilizing every possible means to protect their access charge monopoly, and hence, have currently tied up the implementation of certain provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in district court litigation.
The inventor is aware of only three prior art techniques by which to complete a long distance call without paying the access charges to the LEC.
The first prior art technique known to the inventor for bypassing the LEC is to provide a separate communications system which provides the subscriber with access to the unregulated long distance telephone carriers through an alternative transmission path besides telephone lines into the subscriber's premises. For example, Baran describes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,820 a bi-directional communications system which bypasses the LEC by conveying voice and data over cable television lines from the customer premises to a switching unit that has the functionality of a Class 5 central telephone office switch (5ESS) and is connected to the public switched telephone network. In the system described by Baran, special terminal units are provided at the customer premises, and the signals from the terminal units are converted by a relay transceiver bi-directionally between the signal format of the terminal units and fixed length compliant asynchronous transfer mode ("ATM") cells. These ATM cells are then transmitted via the cable television bandwidth to a cable television hub where the ATM cells are bi-directionally converted by a transmission interface unit into time division multiplexed signals in the upstream direction away from the terminal units for connection to a cellular telephone switch, and from time division multiplexed signals into fixed length compliant ATM cells in the downstream direction towards the terminal units.
While the system described by Baran does indeed bypass the LEC, it still encumbers the subscriber and long distance carrier with many of the same problems as the conventional telephone system. In particular, since the cable television lines are typically owned and operated by a cable television company, access charges are still payable to the cable television company. Also, additional equipment, namely, the terminal units, is required at the customer premises, leading ultimately to additional cost to the subscriber.
The second prior art technique known to the inventor for bypassing the LEC is to create a virtual piped connection over the conventional telephone lines using specialized customer premises equipment at the subscriber location and a specially configured call control platform in the IXC network to originate and receive calls using in-band signaling techniques. Such a technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,111, where Schlanger describes a system utilizing a specialized multiplexer to create a virtual piped connection by converting an analog trunk signal into a usable in-band digital carrier. The virtual pipe is established through an initial call made from the specialized customer premises equipment, while in a conventional mode, to the call control platform. Once the virtual pipe is established, the specialized customer premises equipment operates in a bypass mode such that calls made by the subscriber using the specialized customer premises equipment "bypass" the LEC. As long as the virtual pipe exists, the IXC can provide vertical and call control features and functions for incoming and outgoing calls using in-band signaling, while the call control functions typically provided by the customer premises equipment using out-of-band signaling, such as call origination, off-hook, on-hook, and ringing, are provided using in-band signaling. However, conventional out-of-band signaling may still be used to provide conventional LEC features such as call waiting. The virtual pipe to the call control platform may be used for a plurality of calls without being disconnected since the customer premises equipment is prevented from generating a conventional out-of-band mode disconnect signal until breakdown of the virtual pipe is requested by the subscriber. As a result, a subscriber can make one call and pay for one access connection via the LEC and then use that single access connection indefinitely to produce calls across that "virtual" channel.
While the in-band signaling technique described by Schlanger can greatly reduce the amount of access charges paid by the subscriber and long distance carrier, such a technique is disadvantageous in that specialized customer premises equipment is required that must be carried around by the subscriber. Such equipment adds greatly to the cost for the subscriber and is also a very inconvenient way to implement LEC bypass for the subscriber.
The third prior art technique known to the inventor for bypassing the LEC is for the subscriber to lease a DS1 (T1) line to provide direct switch to switch access to the IXC. However, this approach is prohibitively expensive to all but those companies with very high call volumes sufficient to justify the cost of a T1 line. Leasing a T1 line is quite impractical for companies or individuals with relatively small call volumes where the leasing costs of the T1 line alone would be greater than the amount otherwise paid in originating end access charges.
Accordingly, a LEC bypass technique is further desired that does not require specialized customer premises equipment and which is thus more cost competitive. A LEC bypass technique is also desired which extends the benefits of direct T1 access to smaller volume callers without the associated costs of leasing an entire T1 line. Further embodiments of the present invention have been designed to meet these great needs in the art as well.

Independent central office which provides local and long distance calling services to new residential and commercial developments


A method for charging an electrostatic precipitator, powered by a power supply and having a plurality of corona electrodes and a plurality of collector electrodes, such that a precipitator capacitance may be formed therebetween, includes a storage capacitor across the power supply, having a storage capacitance. A voltage switch is capable of selectively electrically coupling the electrostatic precipitator to the storage capacitor. The storage capacitance is sufficient to charge the electrostatic precipitator to a preselected operative voltage within a rise time greater than a first preselected value and less than a second preselected value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pollution control systems and, more specifically, to devices for removing pollutants from the effluent of exhaust systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) may be used for collecting dust produced by the combustion of coal in generating electricity with commercial electric power boilers. As shown in FIG. 1, ESPs 2 known to the art usually comprise corona electrodes 4, such as long wires, and parallel collection electrodes 6, such as sheet metal plates. In a typical commercial ESP, there are about 50,000 corona electrodes, each about 30 feet long or more, and about 200,000 square feet of collection electrode surface area.
A rectified half-wave or full-wave voltage is applied between the corona electrodes and the collection electrodes. As the voltage reaches a critical value, gasses surrounding the corona electrode break down electrically and produce an avalanche of electrons, thereby forming a "corona" between the electrodes. Moving under the influence of the electric field between the corona and collection electrodes, the velocity of the electrons decrease as they get further from the corona electrodes. This allows electrons to be captured by gas molecules, thereby producing ions which attach to gas-borne particles, such as dust. The particles are then attracted to the collection electrodes by the electric field and the subsequently collected particles are periodically removed from the collection electrodes by rapping the plates.
The power input to an ESP is limited because the ions and the charged particles must pass through the dust layer on the collection electrodes. If the electrical resistivity of the dust is high, the interstitial gasses in the collected dust layer break down electrically when the current is increased above a critical value. This disadvantageous breakdown is referred to as "back corona" and results in positive ions being generated and propelled into the interelectrode space, which may discharge the previously charged particles and cause sparks between the electrodes. Thus, with high resistivity dust, the current is limited so that the collection efficiency is seriously reduced.
Formation of the corona at the corona electrode occurs first at the point along the electrode with the smallest effective radius, producing a local flare as the voltage is increased. The intensity and length of the flare increases until the space charge generated by the ion cloud and charged particles suppress the corona, causing breakdown at the next smallest radius. This process continues until there are a series of discrete flares or corona points along the length of the corona electrode.
Several studies of the distribution of current through the collected dust layer have shown that the highest current density occurs at the point on the dust layer immediately across from a flare and decreases with distance away from the flare. The ratio of peak to average current is approximately two to one. It is peak value of current density that determines the onset of back corona or sparking. Therefore, significant improvement in ESP performance will occur if a more uniform corona is produced, with a peak current density less than a predetermined maximum.
An alternative to rectified sine wave voltage electrification is the application of a pulsed voltage. A number of commercial installations use voltage pulses with a fast voltage rise time and a short pulse duration (typically one microsecond). This results in a much more uniform corona that typically appears as a uniform sheath surrounding the corona wire. With pulsed energization, currents of about twice that of conventional energization can be attained without sparking or the onset of back corona.
The electrical characteristics of a precipitator can be represented by a resistor-capacitor equivalent circuit, with the capacitor parallel to a variable resistor. When a pulsed voltage is applied, the voltage does not fall at the end of the pulse because it is maintained by the charge on the precipitator capacitance. To achieve a pulse, one must dump the charge into a resistor or similar discharge element. Because the amount of energy dumped is large compared to the useful energy, such type of pulsed energization has the disadvantage of not being operationally economical for most applications.

Method of charging an electrostatic precipitator


An apparatus for hydrotesting a hollow component includes a generally cylindrical main body having a bore therethrough that defines first and second open ends, the bore including a central axis;

The invention relates in general to apparatus and methods for testing ammunition, and in particular to apparatus and methods for testing the structural integrity of a mortar fragmentation body.
During launch, high pressures are applied externally to the outer surface of a projectile. These high external pressures create inward forces that can collapse the projectile. Internal testing has been the traditional method of testing ammunition components. An internal hydrotest is much easier to perform, however, internal testing typically requires a large compromise on the load being applied. The internal test load produces stresses that are very different from the stresses produced during an actual launch.
The present invention provides apparatus and method for externally testing ammunition components. The invention can be used in a destructive mode (at higher pressure) to validate computer modeling. Or, the invention can be used in the normal non-destructive mode at launch pressure that is intended to be used 100% during production to detect and screen out critical defects. The invention can also be used to apply hydrostatic pressure internally.

Hydro test apparatus and method for ammunition

Abstract: first and second end plates fixed to the main body for closing the first and second open ends, the first end plate including a vent port and a pressure port that open into the bore radially distal from the central axis, the second end plate including a vent port and a pressure port; an alignment disc disposed in the bore and fixed atop the second end plate, the alignment disc including a vent port and a pressure port that open into the bore radially proximal the central axis, the vent port and the pressure port of the alignment disc being in fluid communication with the vent port and the pressure port, respectively, of the second end plate; and a movable sealing cap disposed in an opening in the first plate and movable along the central axis of the bore.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A personal security alarm in the form of a wearable case containing an sonic alarm transducer, a capacitor power supply, and a manually operable trigger for completing an electrical circuit between the power supply and the alarm transducer to operate the transducer by discharging the power supply. An oscillator is electrically connected between the power supply and the alarm transducer when the trigger operates, to output a variable frequency signal. An amplifier electrically connected between the oscillator and the alarm transducer amplifies the tone signal and drives the alarm transducer with the amplified signal. The oscillator can be programmed with a predefined variable frequency signal. A charger can be coupled through the case to charge the capacitor power supply without removing the power supply from the case. If the alarm is triggered, a catch mechanism must be released to deactivate the sonic alarm prior to completion of a preset interval, thus thwarting potential deactivation of the alarm, should an attacker seize control of it.

Personal security alarms which can be triggered in an emergency situation to emit alarm sounds are well known. Typically, they are carried as a separate accessory on a key chain, in a pocket, in a purse, etc. Because such modes of carrying can be inconvenient, users often forget to carry such alarms or carry them only sporadically, if at all. Moreover, reaching the alarm and activating it can be difficult and time consuming in an emergency situation if the user has to fumble in a pocket, purse, etc. to find the device, locate the alarm trigger and activate it. This may be virtually impossible in an emergency situation, particularly if the user is attempting to fend off an attacker. Even if the device is located and successfully activated it may be seized by the attacker and deactivated.
Some prior art personal security alarms can be worn on the wrist and are thus more readily accessible and less vulnerable to seizure or deactivation by an attacker. However, such devices are typically battery powered, which presents added inconvenience. Relatively bulky, expensive batteries must be periodically replaced, with the replacement frequency increasing dramatically if the alarm is triggered. A further disadvantage is that prior art devices are commonly easily deactivated. If such a device is seized by an attacker and deactivated, the objective of the device is thereby thwarted.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art.

Quick charge capacitor powered non-interruptible wearable personal security alarm


A template or wrapper tree for a document such as a web page is generalized from the bottom up (from leaf toward root of a logical tree structure of the template). At a given level in the tree, sub-trees are clustered and the clustered sub-trees are generalized, and the process is repeated at a next higher level in the tree, resulting in a generalized template or wrapper tree. This can be done by generating a nested pattern regular expression based on the sub-tree clusters, merging sub-trees based on the nested pattern regular expression, and then replacing sub-trees in a tree-based regular expression of the template or wrapper at the given level with the merged sub-trees. This process is repeated at a next higher level of the tree (progressing from leaf towards root) until the wrapper or tree-based regular expression that represents the template is fully generalized.

The Internet hosts a plethora of web portals in diverse fields like e-commerce, boarding & lodging, and entertainment. Information on websites or web pages of such portals is often presented in a uniform format to give a uniform look and feel, or appeal, to the pages. This can be achieved by using scripts to generate the static content and logical structure (referred to as a template) of the pages, and a database to provide the dynamic content, such as pricing of products. Precise detection of the template can therefore be important for applications that automatically extract information from such sites or sources.
The template detection task can become more challenging when multiple entities like products and search results are presented in the form of records on a single page. If the structure of the records is strictly-continuous, i.e. information in every record is similarly formatted, existing nested pattern detection algorithms can suffice to extract precise information. However, the records do not always follow a strict structure/pattern, hence requiring the template detection mechanism to detect approximate patterns. This is because, although the structure of different records can be largely similar, their information maybe formatted slightly differently. For example, a product description in one record can be in plain text, while in another record the product description can have formatting tags like <B> and <I>. Further, optional information like presence of discount price in addition to the original price, or absence of a rating-image in a record where rating information was not available, can contribute to structural differences between two records within the same page. These factors, if not accounted for, can lead to ineffective, inefficient or low-recall extraction when attempting to extract multiple entities from a page. Accordingly, effectively detecting approximate patterns can be useful to enable generation of a more precise template.
Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Generating document templates that are robust to structural variations