The present invention provides a one-piece, open-seam garment which encompasses the head, covers and conforms to the body and limbs of the wearer, and provides on-demand access to one portion of the covered body and limbs without uncovering the remainder of the body and legs. When worn, the garment provides privacy and protection for the person unlike the conventionally used johnnies and hospital gowns conventionally worn during physical examination or medical treatment in the physician's office or clinic.

The design and construction of articles of clothing for the human body has varied enormously in form and appearance; and typically is the result of a compromise between function and fashion. Thus, history has provided us with a broad variety of styled garments which were intended to protect the individual against the weather and an unpredictable environment. These include the basic articles of clothing we use today such as dresses, pants, coats, shirts, and intimate apparel; as well as outer covering garments such as overcoats, coveralls, cloaks, capes, and headgear of various kinds. In comparison, many cultures and societies have created fashionable garments which have come to represent and be associated with particular aspects or features of their race, nation, politics, or philosophy. Representative of such societal fashions are the toga, the sari, the poncho, the sarong, and the kimono. Each of these unique garments is as much a statement of the wearer's culture and civilization as they are a reflection of his need to protect himself from his environment.
It will also be appreciated that some articles of clothing are created to meet and satisfy a specific need or purpose. Thus, firemen wear protective coats and helmets; law enforcement personnel often wear bullet-proof vests; surgeons wear presterilized operating gowns; cowboys wear chaps; and classical ballerinas wear tutus. Convention has also served to dictate specific fashion for appearance sake such as tuxedos and tailcoats for semi-formal and formal evening wear. In most cases, however, an accommodation made between function and fashion gives best service.
Given the long and varied history of clothing, it is therefore incongruous and incredible what a man, woman, or child is expected to wear today when being examined by his physician or when he is admitted to the hospital for medical treatment on either an elective or emergency basis. Typically, the individual is asked to undress completely and is given a single garment to wear as best he can. This garment, conventionally termed a "hospital johnnie" or "johnnie gown", is merely one-half of a shrunken night shirt of the flimsiest material. Unless the individual is extraordinarily small in height and stature, this garment is insufficient to cover the body effectively. Typically, when the person slips his hands through the sleeves and pulls the cloth up towards his neck, the hemline of the garment commonly ends above the genital area and the person's back and buttocks often remain completely exposed to the ambient environment without any covering whatsoever. The person is thus compelled to clutch the garment with both hands, often wrapping his arms around himself in order to keep the garment ends from flapping open or falling off entirely. As a consequence, even after having donned and clutched this garment, the individual remains half-naked at best and is frequently an embarrassment to himself, if not to his neighbors.
It is useful here to recall that the hospital johnnie was intended to serve several important purposes. First, the person waiting for medical examination or treatment should not be encumbered or hampered by the multiple layers of clothing normally worn as street clothing or protective articles against inclement weather. All such clothing merely acts as physical barriers to the purpose of the medical examination or treatment. Second, the physician must have access to those parts of the body which require physical examination and/or treatment; nevertheless, there is no reason for the person to be totally nude when only one limb or portion of the torso is the focus or point of interest. Third, most persons wearing a hospital johnnie feel embarrassed sitting in the presence of another fully clothed person who is a complete stranger; and the individual's own standards of personal modesty deserve respect. Lastly, it is not unusual for the medical examination and/or treatment to involve articles, fluids, and other implements which sometimes cause an unavoidable release of fluids, creams, or other discharges in the immediate area of examination or treatment. The clothing worn at that moment thus frequently becomes spotted and/or soiled; and it is advantageous that a person's personal clothing not be subjected to such accidental spillage and soiling. All of these are good and valid reasons for wearing a protective garment other than the individual's personal clothing when the person is an outpatient either at the physician's office or in a hospital clinic setting.
Equally important and more revealing is the instance of the inpatient who has been admitted to the hospital on either an elective or emergency basis. The individual's own preferred night clothing for sleeping or lounging--typically nightgowns, pajamas, robes, and housecoats--is often unsuitable in maternity wards, in surgical situations, with intravenous administration tubing and devices, as well as with the commonplace plaster casts employed with bone fractures or during irregularities of the body such as diarrhea and incontinence. The person in these medical situations often needs multiple changes of clothing in a single day; and concomitantly would benefit from wearing a kind of clothing which facilitates intermittent examinations and access of the requisite body areas and limbs at any moment. Moreover, it is commonplace to see recovering and convalescent patients walking up and down the halls and corridors of a hospital or clinic as a form of both therapy and exercise for limited duration before again returning to bed for the next several hours. The need for effective protective clothing is thus greatest when the person is a hospital inpatient.
Nevertheless, despite these many varied and compelling reasons, the traditional johnnie gown with all its well recognized deficiencies and failures continues to be used routinely as the only available type of protective garment. As strange as it may seem in this highly sophisticated and technologically advanced age, there has been no improvement or successor to the hospital johnnie other than the form in which it was introduced many decades ago. Clearly, therefore, the need for an article of clothing which not only covers the body and limbs of the wearer but also provides access when needed to the covered body and limbs would be generally recognized and acknowledged as a major improvement and innovation in this art.

One piece, open seam wrapping garment for covering and uncovering the human body on-demand


A bipyridine-based metal complex includes a complex of bipyridine-based ligands and metals, and is utilized in an ink composition. The bipyridine-based metal complex may be used alone, as well as in combination with other coloring agents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bipyridine-based metal complex and an ink composition comprising the same, and more particularly, to a bipyridine-based metal complex in which metal is coordinated with bipyridine-based ligands having superior coloring ability and durability, and an ink composition comprising the complex as a coloring agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, coloring agents embody their inherent colors by selectively absorbing or reflecting visible light, and are classified as dyestuffs and pigments.
Dyestuffs are used in any materials to be dyed, thus providing considerable fastness to daylight, washing, friction, and the like. Pigments are coloring matters in the form of particulates, and are not absorbed into the material to be dyed but adhere to the surface of the material to be dyed by physical means (e.g., adhesion, and the like), thus providing their inherent colors.
Dyestuffs are used as coloring agents in fibers, leathers, furs, papers, foodstuffs, t medicines, cosmetics, ink-jet inks, and the like, and pigments are used in paints, printing ink, plastics, rubber, furniture manufacturing, textiles, papers, cosmetics, ceramics, and the like.
The colors embodied by the coloring agents are determined by the wavelengths in the visible light range of 3,000 to 7,000 Å selectively reflected or transmitted by the particles of the coloring agent. The coloring agents may be classified into organic coloring agents and inorganic coloring agents based on their molecular structures. In the organic coloring agents, the colors are embodied by cycles of absorbing, transferring and transmitting light through conjugation of double bonds, and in the inorganic coloring agents, the colors are embodied by the ligands coordinated with metals in the compounds absorbing light, thus putting the ligand-metal complex in an excited energy state, and then emitting light by lowering to base energy level.
In general, organic coloring agents may embody a wide range of colors, and their colors are bright and clear, but they have problems of weak light resistance causing decoloration or discoloration. On the other hand, inorganic coloring agents are very durable and have good light resistance, but embody a narrow range of colors and have limited classes.
Various coloring agent compounds, for example, pigment complex compounds, employing metal complexes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,971,739, 3,987,023, 4,077,953, 4,152,324, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-152044. These patents disclose methods in which a metal is incorporated into an azo group containing compound to form a complex compound by forming covalent bonds using intramolecular coordinate bonds.
However, in such methods, the compounds should comprise a specific functional group of an azo group, and the compounds should comprise both a coordinate bond functional group and a covalent bond functional group within molecules such that coordinate bonds and covalent bonds are formed at proper distances when reacting with metal compounds. Also, the above disclosed complex compounds are not satisfactorily durable and cannot embody a wide range of colors, and the like. Thus, there remains a need for improvements in the compounds.

Bipyridine-based metal complex and ink composition comprising the same


Apparatus and associated methods relate to immersive collaboration based on configuring a real scene VRE operable from a real scene and a remote VRE operable remote from the real scene with an MR scene model of the real scene, creating an MR scene in each of the real scene VRE and remote VRE based on augmenting the MR scene model with an object model, calibrating the remote MR scene to correspond in three-dimensional space with the real scene MR scene model, and automatically providing immersive collaboration based on the MR scene in the remote VRE and updating the real scene VRE with changes to the remote VRE. In an illustrative example, the MR scene model of the real scene may be determined as a function of sensor data scanned from the real scene. In some embodiments, the MR scene model may be augmented with an object model identified from the real scene. The object model identified from the real scene may be, for example, selected from a known object set based on matching sensor data scanned from the real scene with an object from a known object set. In some embodiments, the remote MR scene may be calibrated based on applying a three-dimensional transform calculated as a function of the real MR scene and remote MR scene geometries. Some designs may recreate a subset of the real scene in the remote VRE and update the real scene VRE with changes to the remote VRE. Various embodiments may advantageously provide seamless multimedia collaboration based on updates to the remote VRE in response to physical changes to the real scene, and updating the real scene VRE in response to changes in the remote VRE.

Virtual reality is a simulated experience. In some scenarios, virtual reality may simulate a scene. In various examples, a scene simulated using virtual reality may be based on a digital model of the scene. Some virtual reality scene models may represent artificial scenes that cannot physically exist. In various examples, a virtual reality scene model may represent a real scene that exists in the physical world. In an illustrative example, a Virtual Reality Environment (VRE) may be configured with a virtual reality scene model. For example, a VRE configured with a virtual reality scene model may simulate the scene based on the virtual reality scene model.
Some VRE simulations may facilitate an immersive user experience in a simulated scene created in a VRE. In some scenarios, a user may desire an experience that may be prohibitively costly, or dangerous. Some experiences may require substantial skill to enjoy or perform effectively. For example, a user may desire to climb a mountain, or repair electrical equipment. In an illustrative example, a VRE simulating malfunctioning electrical equipment could be configured to provide the user with training to repair the electrical equipment.
Some VRE experiences may include subsets of real and virtual scenes. In an illustrative example, a virtual reality model of a real scene may be augmented with a virtual reality model of an artificial object to create a Mixed Reality (MR) model of the scene. In some examples, an MR scene model may include a scanned virtual model of a real object located outside the scene. In various scenarios, multiple users located in different physical locations may desire to jointly experience an MR scene in a VRE configured in each user's physical environment. Each user may be required to periodically adjust their VRE to spatially correspond with the joint MR scene.

Remote collaboration methods and systems


An evacuated tube solar thermal collector uses a set of evacuated solar thermal collector tubes in heat exchanging contact with a fluid flowing through a header tube. Two heat pipes are provided in each evacuated thermal collector tube, and the condenser ends of the heat pipes are positioned in the header tube with a spacing that provides improved heat transfer from the heat pipes to the header tube. When 14 mm heat pipes contained in 58 mm collector tubes are used in a header tube having a capacity of about 0.5 gallons with a heat transfer liquid that is flowing at a rate of about 0.3 gpm, the spacing between heat pipes in each collector tube is about 24 mm, center to center, and the spacing between corresponding heat pipes of immediately-adjacent collector tubes is about 80 mm.

Evacuated tubes for solar thermal energy collection typically contain an outer tube and an inner heat pipe. The outer tube has two walls, and a heat absorbing material coats the inside of the inner wall. The space between the walls is evacuated to prevent heat loss from the inner wall to the environment outside the tube. The inner heat pipe is hollow, and the space inside the pipe is substantially evacuated except for a small quantity of liquid, such as alcohol or water, that is contained inside the inner heat pipe.
Sunlight shining on the tube passes through the transparent outer wall and heats the heat absorbing material on the inner wall of the tube. The heat absorbed by the heat absorbing material is not lost to the environment, and instead heats the heat pipe. This causes the liquid in the heat pipe to vaporize and rise to the top of the pipe. A heat transfer fluid, such as water or glycol, flows through a header tube around the upper ends of the heat pipes and absorbs heat from the heat pipe vapor. The loss of heat from the vapor to the heat transfer fluid causes the vapor in the heat pipe to condense and flows back down into heating portion of the heat pipe. As the process repeats, solar energy continues to be absorbed by the heat pipes, used to vaporize the heat pipe fluid, and transferred from the heat pipes to the heat transfer fluid in the header as the heat pipe vapor condenses. The efficiency with which heat is transferred from the heat pipes to the header fluid is one determinant of the efficiency of the device.
A need exists for solar thermal energy collectors having improved heat transfer between the heat pipes and the header fluid. The present invention addresses that need.


A system for outputting visual data from a mobile device application on a mobile computing device to a vehicle display, the system comprising a wireless transceiver for communicating signals between a mobile computing device and a vehicle computing system having a graphical display. The vehicle computing system is configured to receive caller identification from the mobile computing device identifying a mobile device application configured to operate with the vehicle computing system. The vehicle computer system is also configured to receive a signal from the mobile computing device representative of a visual indication to be displayed on the vehicle display. The vehicle computer system may determine a location to display the visual indication on the display and output the visual indication on the vehicle display at the determined location.

Below, a few prior art entertainment systems are described. Additional details of these systems may be obtained from the identified references below.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,393 discloses a system that allows users to be provided with the option of having destination information, such as a street address and/or destination phone number, obtained from online mapping services, transmitted to their vehicle's navigation system. In certain embodiments, the user may logon to an online vehicle server to provide information necessary to identify their respective vehicle. Once the target vehicle is identified, the destination information may be transmitted to this vehicle by the vehicle server, after which the vehicle's navigation and communication system may be automatically populated with the received destination information.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,583 discloses a cellular phone that places a call to vehicle navigation apparatus, performs ID matching, and acquires information on the position of the vehicle measured by the vehicle navigation apparatus. The cellular phone acquires peripheral map data including the position of the owner of the vehicle and the position of the vehicle where the vehicle navigation apparatus is mounted from a position information center and displays the data acquired together with the data on the positions.

Method and system of outputting in a vehicle data streamed by mobile applications


The device for applying decorations and characters on glass, glass ceramic or ceramic products includes an image roller (5) provided with an electrostatically chargeable photoconductive layer; a photo-exposure assembly (6) for generating an electrostatic charge image corresponding to at least one of decorations and characters to be applied; a supply container (8) for a toner with a device (8a) for developing the electrostatic charge image with the toner; a dimensionally stable transfer roller (7) for receiving the toner image, which is in direct contact with the image roller on one side and with the product (2) on its other side; at least two coronas (9, 10) including a first corona (9) arranged on the transfer roller (7) and a second corona (10) arranged under the product near the transfer roller (7) and a heater for burning the toner image onto the product, after electrostatically transferring the toner image to the product by means of the coronas.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for applying decorations and/or characters on glass, glass ceramic or ceramic products using electrophotography, having:
an image roller, which has an electrostatically chargeable photoconductive layer,
a photo-exposure assembly for generating an electrostatic charge image corresponding to the decorations and/or characters to be applied,
a supply container for a preferably ceramic toner and devices for developing the electrostatic charge image with this toner,
an intermediate substrate, which is in direct contact on one side with the glass, glass ceramic or ceramic product and is embodied such that it receives the toner image, and on the other side is in direct contact with the glass, glass ceramic or ceramic product,
at least two coronas, of which the first corona is disposed on the intermediate substrate and the second corona is disposed in the region of the contact zone of the product with the intermediate substrate, and
having heating means for burning in the toner image, electrostatically transferred by means of the coronas, onto the product.
2. Related Art
To glass, glass ceramic or ceramic products, decorations are applied within a wide scope to achieve desired aesthetic impressions. In certain products, captions, identification codes or the like must also be applied, for instance in order to give the user the requisite information directly. A typical example that can be named is the glass ceramic plate for a stove burner area, which along with the trademark, such as Ceran(copyright), also has other operating and status indications, and in accordance with customer wishes, decorations, especially decorations in color, as well.
For applying such decorations and/or characters, which are designated herein by the term xe2x80x9cimagesxe2x80x9d, various methods and devices are known, of which two have thus far gained significance in the industry.
In the first typical method, ceramic dyes are imprinted using current printing techniques directly to the glass and ceramic products; the dye is first dried to the point of being wipe-proof and then burned in; in the case of the aforementioned glass ceramic plates for burner areas, the burning in of the dye typically takes place during the ceramization. In that case, the imprinting is therefore not done onto the finished glass ceramic plate but already on the green product to be ceramized.
In screen printing, which is generally used for the aforementioned printing process, a screen printing template must first be produced. To that end, the screen of fine-mesh textile or wire cloth, which is fastened over a printing frame, is covered at the image-free places with a template cut out of paper, drawn using greasy ink, or produced photographically. By means of this screen printing template, the ceramic dyes are then applied directly to the glass or ceramic product. The production of the screen printing template in the known method is very complicated and uneconomical for individual production of single items. Furthermore, with the aid of a scraper, the printing ink must be applied through the open places in the screen printing template either manually or in screen printing machines. Screen printing is also a wet process, in which ceramic dye pigments pasted up with printing oil are used as printing ink, so that relatively large, expensive machines with driers are required, and furthermore, there are major problems of worker protection and environmental pollution, especially because of the solvents required in the production process. The solvents in the printing oil evaporate relatively easily, so that complicated, expensive worker protection provisions must be made, and besides, separate filtering systems are required. Moreover, in screen printing as in offset printing, a plurality of printing operations in succession for the various colors (such as cyan, magenta, yellow and black) are needed, which again leads to very large systems. In the known printing processes there is also the problem that reproducibility of colors can not be assured in large-scale mass production, and furthermore, after even a small number of items have been produced, that is, after about one hundred printing operations, the screen printing template must be cleaned.
In addition, in screen printing the resolution of the colored imprint made is limited by the screen mesh of the screen printing template. As a result, the printed ceramic or glass products are often unsatisfactory with regard to smoothness, homogeneity, and the resolution of the color imprint. Furthermore, if a desired quality is to be achieved, various special inks must often be used.
In the second typical method, ceramic dyes are not applied directly to the glass and ceramic products but rather to a transfer means, such as a paper coated with gum arabic. This transfer means, thus prepared, is then placed on the ceramic or glass product at the desired position and moistened; as a result, the paper can be removed, leaving the inks behind on the product. Finally, the product is then fired in a manner known per se, which causes the ceramic inks to fuse to the product. Once again, this achieves a permanent imprint on the ceramic or glass product.
This second typical method works on the principle of the decal. It is known for the ceramic inks to be applied to the transfer means using current printing techniques, especially screen printing, but this has the aforementioned disadvantages of screen printing.
It has therefore also been disclosed by German Patent DE 44 13 168 C2 that instead of conventional ceramic printing inks, a novel ceramic toner be used, that is, ceramic dye compositions that comprise fine particles of ceramic pigments, fluxing agent (glass), binder resin(s) in typical additives, and which are applied to the transfer means using an electrophotography reproduction process (electrocopying process). With the aid of these provisions, a method for producing decorated successfully be created aforementioned problems. A decorated ceramic and that is superior to known products in terms of the fineness and resolution of the decoration (imprint).
The known method also enables a simplified application of the images to the transfer means. By acquisition of the data of the desired image to be applied to the ceramic or glass product, for instance using a digital color scanner or by using original graphic data and transferring these data using a personal computer to the image memory of the electrophotographic reproduction device, such as a laser printer, the user is advantageously for the first time given the capability of making changes, for instance in color graduation, or rastering, without additional effort even if the numbers being produced are quite low. In addition, all the graphics and/or modifications that are possible with modern computer technology can be transferred directly to the transfer means.
The decisive disadvantage of this known method is that a transfer means is required in conjunction with further method steps, in order to apply the image from this transfer means onto the glass or ceramic product. Aside from the additional expense for producing the images on the product, there is also the risk that the images on the moistened transfer means will slip when the substrate is applied and peeled off, a problem that is quite familiar from decals, so that the images are applied distorted, which then does not meet the required tolerances for the colored product.
A comparable electrophotographic reproduction process for applying images to tiles using a transfer means has been disclosed by international patent disclosure WO96/34319, for which the described disadvantages apply to the same extent.
From the patent literature, methods for applying decorations and/or characters to glass, glass ceramic or ceramic products (substrates) have also become known in which no transfer means as in the decal method is employed; in other words, methods in which the decorations and/or characters are applied directly to the substrate.
German Patent DE 197 18 303 C1, for instance, describes a method for producing a glass disk provided with a colored image or decoration, in which an original of the multi-colored image or decoration is applied to a painted underlay and is transferred to the glass disk with the aid of a reproduction system, comprising a color-scanner, image processing software, and a color plotter in the form of an ink jet plotter, using baking inks in the ink jet plotter. The inks applied are then fired at an elevated temperature.
This method has the disadvantage that the inks applied to the glass substrate by the ink jet plotter begin to run while being applied to the hydrophobic glass surface, so that images that are decorations with sharp contours cannot be produced.
European Patent Disclosure EP 0 834 784 A1 also describes an apparatus for applying decorations and/or characters to glass or ceramic products using electrophotography. This apparatus comprises the following:
an image roller, which has an electrostatically chargeable photoconductive layer,
a photo-exposure assembly for generating an electrostatic charge image corresponding to the decorations and/or characters to be applied,
a supply container for a ceramic toner and devices for developing the electrostatic charge image with this toner,
an intermediate substrate in the form of an endless belt or a transfer roller, which is in direct contact on one side with the image roller and picks up the toner image, and which on the other side is in direct contact with the glass or ceramic product, so as to transfer the toner image from the intermediate substrate directly onto the glass or ceramic product.
The transfer of the toner image, applied to the intermediate substrate, to the glass or ceramic product is done in such a way that by suitable heating devices, on the one hand the intermediate substrate in the contact zone with the glass or ceramic product is heated to a temperature of at least 100xc2x0 C., and on the other, the glass ceramic product is heated to a temperature of at least 60xc2x0 C.
In this heat transfer method, the toner on the intermediate substrate is brought to the molten state, and the molten toner is then transferred to the glass or ceramic product. Because of this melting process, however, the toner and thus the charge image runs somewhat, so that in this method as well, the contour sharpness leaves something to be desired. Moreover, it is not readily possible to remove the molten toner completely from the intermediate substrate, so that there is a risk that ghost images will be carried along.
From Japanese Patent Disclosure JP 08-146819A, a method for applying decorations and/or characters to glass, glass ceramic or ceramic products using electrophotography, and an associated apparatus, are known which make possible sharp-contour copying without the risk of ghost images.
This known method employs the following steps:
exposing a rigid substrate, provided with a photoconductive layer, to light in accordance with the decorations and/or characters to be applied, creating a corresponding latent electrostatic charge image, developing this electrostatic charge image with a toner that comprises ceramic pigments encased by a binder to produce a corresponding toner image,
transferring the toner image to an intermediate substrate,
transferring the toner image on the intermediate substrate to the glass, glass ceramic or ceramic product using an electrostatic field, and
burning in the electrostatically transferred toner image.
This known method is performed by a device, having
an image roller, which has an electrostatically chargeable photoconductive layer,
a photo-exposure assembly for generating an electrostatic charge image corresponding to the decorations and/or characters to be applied,
a supply container for a preferably ceramic toner and a device for developing the electrostatic charge image with this toner,
an intermediate substrate in the form of an endless belt, which is in direct contact on one side with the image roller and is embodied such that it picks up the toner image, and which on the other side is in direct contact with the glass, glass ceramic or ceramic product,
at least two coronas, of which the first corona is disposed on the endless belt and the second corona is disposed in the region of the contact zone of the product with the endless belt, and having
heating means for burning in the toner image, electrostatically transferred by means of the coronas, onto the product.
In the case of the aforementioned JP 08-146 819 A, an endless belt is provided as the intermediate substrate. Intrinsically, an endless belt such as this has a certain flexibility and is therefore subject to deformation from contact with the image roller and the product and is therefore unstable and thus not true to form as is required if an undistorted and in particular large-area image that meets high tolerance requirements is to be applied to the product.
Furthermore, in the known case, the second corona is disposed on the product next to the contact zone between the endless belt and the product, and as a result the electrostatic transfer of the intermediate image on the endless belt to the product leaves something to be desired.
The object of the invention, based on the aforementioned device known from JP 08-146 819 A and 25 defined at the outset, is to embody this device such that it is possible to apply an undistorted and in particular large-sized image, which meets high tolerance requirements, to the product.
This object is attained according to the invention in that the intermediate substrate is formed by a dimensionally stable transfer roller, and that the second corona is disposed beneath the product, directly in the contact zone.
If a suitably undistorted image, which meets high tolerance requirements, is to be transferred to the product, in particular large-sized products (0.25 m2), it is critical to achieve the most true-to-form and stable embodiment of the intermediate substrate medium. According to the invention, this is best achieved successfully by the use of a rotationally symmetrical, rigid body, that is, the transfer roller. The transfer roller is not subject to deformations the way the endless belt is.
Because the second corona is disposed beneath the product, directly in the contact zone between the transfer roller and the product, the electrostatic transfer of the intermediate image located on the endless belt to the product is improved significantly.
In a refinement of the invention, the device is expediently embodied such that beneath the product in the contact zone with the transfer roller, a counterpart roller, embodied as a hollow roller, is disposed in direct contact with the product, and the second corona is disposed in the interior of the counterpart roller, on its surface in the region of the contact zone; and that the first corona at the transfer roller is disposed in the contact zone with the image roller and has a potential that is opposite the charge of the toner image on the image roller; and that a further, third corona, which has an opposite potential from the first corona and the second corona in the counterpart roller, is disposed on the transfer roller in the contact zone with the product.
This provision makes for an improved transfer of the electrostatic toner image on the image roller by way of the transfer to the product.
For an optimized transfer of the toner image to the product, along with an optimal disposition of the coronas, the embodiment of the transfer roller also has decisive significance, on the one hand because it is in direct contact with the hard, glassy products, and on the other because the material used for it affects the electrostatic fields, which are definitive for the transfer of the charged toner image.
To meet these conditions, it is necessary for the transfer roller to be a hollow roller, in whose interior at least one corona is mounted.
In a first refinement of the invention, the device is made such that the transfer roller embodied as a hollow roller has an electrically insulating core of plastic, preferably a glass-fiber- or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic; and a relatively soft layer of electrically conductive silicone, EPDM or other suitable plastics or rubber mixtures is applied to the core; and that in the interior of the transfer roller, the first, upper corona is disposed in the contact zone with the image roller, and the third, lower corona of opposite potential is disposed in the contact zone with the product.
A transfer roller constructed in this way makes it possible, because of its electrically insulating core, for the coronas to be disposed in the interior of the transfer roller. The electrostatic transfer processes take place solely in the outer conductive layer, which is relatively soft and therefore assures good contact with the solid, in particular glassy products.
In a second refinement of the invention, the device is embodied such that the transfer roller embodied as a hollow roller has a core of metal material, preferably aluminum, onto which a first layer of insulating silicone or similar materials is applied; and that onto this fundamental structure, a relatively soft layer of electrically conductive silicone, EPDM or other suitable plastics or rubber mixtures is applied; and that the first, upper corona is disposed in the contact zone with the image roller and the third, lower corona of opposite potential is disposed in the contact zone with the product, in each case outside the transfer roller.
In this kind of embodiment, because of the shielding effect of the metal core, the coronas are disposed outside the transfer roller in the contact regions. In this embodiment as well, the electrically effective processes take place in the conductive, soft layer, which is electrically insulated from the metal core by the first layer of insulating material, so that the electrostatic charge image develops solely in the outer, soft layer.
Good results in terms of both electrostatics and in terms of the contact with the hard, glassy products are attained if in one feature of the invention, the layer of electrically conductive material, preferably silicone, has a hardness in the range of 50 Shore A with a specific internal resistance in the range of 10 kOhm/cm and a thickness in the range of 5 mm. Other values are fundamentally conceivable as well.
To reduce abrasion from the transfer roller, in a further feature of the invention, the layer of electrically conductive material is covered with a very thin, conductive Teflon(copyright) layer or some other suitable coating. This layer increases the sliding capacity without markedly changing the electrostatic conditions.
The first layer of insulating material, which in the second embodiment of the transfer roller having a metal core is applied to that core, preferably has a thickness that is in the range of 2 mm. This layer thickness suffices to insulate the outer, conductive layer electrically and is not excessively heavy. However, the invention is not limited to this value.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the device is embodied such that the counterpart roller has a metal core, preferably of aluminum, onto which a relatively soft layer of insulating material, such as silicone, is applied; this layer, like the comparable layer of the transfer roller, also has a hardness in the range of 50 Shore A and a thickness in the range of 5 mm.
Such an embodiment pays due attention to both the electrostatic and the mechanical conditions, but the invention is not limited to these values.

Device for applying decors and/or characters on glass, glass ceramics and ceramics products


The present disclosure relates to a video repair method and apparatus, an electronic device, and a storage medium. The method includes: acquiring first forward optical flows and first reverse optical flows between adjacent images among continuous multiple frames of images; respectively performing optical flow optimization processing on the first forward optical flows and the first reverse optical flows to obtain second forward optical flows corresponding to the first forward optical flows and second reverse optical flows corresponding to the first reverse optical flows; performing forward and reverse conduction optimization on the continuous multiple frames of images by utilizing the second forward and the second reverse optical flows, respectively, until all the images in the optimized continuous multiple frames of images satisfy repair requirements; and obtaining repaired images of the continuous multiple frames of images according to the optimized images obtained by the forward conduction optimization and the reverse conduction optimization.

Image repair is always an important issue in computer vision, and is significantly applied to many fields, for example, achieving the purposes such as image watermark removal and image inpainting by means of image repair. As an extension of an image repair issue in a video, video repair is more difficult to implement than a simple image repair issue. However, with the development of the Internet, an application of a video repair algorithm has a wider prospect, for example, a video watermark needs to be removed and certain parts of the video needs to be removed, etc.

Video repair method and apparatus, and storage medium

Beijing Sensetime Technology Development Co., Ltd.


The scent dispersal system of this invention includes a reservoir for holding a liquid scent, a cap to close an opening in the reservoir, a conduit extends outward from the cap, a wick extends from the reservoir's interior to the exterior via the conduit and a way is provided to attach the scent dispersal system to an individual. A wick retainer is used to prevent pulling the wick from the reservoir and to retain the end of the wick in the liquid scent. A tube plug is used to close and seal the end of the conduit. Through capillary action the scent is automatically drawn to an exposed end of the wick extending outward from the end of the conduit. The scent is automatically dissipated or dispersed from the exposed end of the wick. As one walks, the scent creates a trail by rubbing off on grasses, leaves or other flora in the woods. At a fixed location the scent is dissipated by evaporation from the wick. Strength of the scent is controlled by the amount of the wick exposed.

The present invention relates to a scent dispersal system and more particularly to an automatic system for the dispersal of liquid scent.
Liquid scents are often used by hunters and others to mask the human oder or to attract a particular species of animal. This is to increase the odds of attracting and observing the animals of the wild. Hunters are probably the most common users of such scents but other nature lovers also use scents as such. In addition to hunting, scents are used during nature photography, wildlife studies, by hikers who want to observe wildlife and by others who in general want to observe wild life.
There are many scents available on the market for attracting various species of wild life. All claim and do have various differences, advantages and disadvantage from one another. Whether one is better than another is often in the judgment of the user.
Just as there are many different types of scents, there are different methods of application or use. This invention addresses a method of dispersing a scent.
The most common method of use is to place cotton or other absorbent material into an open container. The scent is poured onto the absorbent material and the open container is placed in a desired position. Often multiple containers are used to surround an area to more resemble a natural dispersal of an animal scent. One disadvantage is that this is a fixed area dispersal. If there is a desire to move the containers must be also be moved. Additionally, the time required to prepare and place the open containers of scent adds up. This is a manual method of application.
Another method is to apply the scent directly to the clothing of the individual. This could be pant legs, arms or even boots. The disadvantage of this method is that it is messy and clothing becomes scented or stained and only a fixed or limited amount of scent can be applied. As the scent dissipates and dries, or becomes diluted or washed off by wet grasses, rain or walking through water, additional scent has to be applied and reapplied. Again this can be messy and time consuming.
An absorbent pad attached to the individual is another method. This method prevents clothing from being scented. Still the disadvantage remains that only a little scent can be applied and must be reapplied in a short time.
Yet another method uses an absorbent pad attached to an individual by a cord. The scent is applied to the absorbent pad. The absorbent pad is pulled behind the individual as they walk. By applying scent in this manner, the scent rubs off on the trail, ground or surrounding grasses. This leaves a scent trail. But as the trail is being made, the scent is diluted as the individual walks. This results in a strong scent at the beginning and a weak scent trailing off to no scent at the end.
The advantage of the last methods is that trails can be made by the scents as one walks through the woods or along trails. It is desirable to leave a trail of certain scents that animals will find and follow. This often leads the animal right to the individual making the trail. But again the disadvantage is the limited amount of scent that can be used in making a trail.
One major disadvantage of these prior methods is that once a scent is applied, the scent remains until diluted, washed off, evaporated or otherwise eliminated. Once a scent is used there is no recovery when done. This results in excessive amounts of scent being wasted. In addition you cannot "shut off" the scent when done. Additionally, there is no easy way to control the strength of the scent or scent trail. Once applied, that is the initial strength of the scent and through the dissipation and evaporation the strength diminishes rapidly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a scent dispersal system that overcomes the disadvantages of other method of use and to maintain and enhance the advantages. With the scent dispersal system of this invention a large quantity of liquid scent can be used, the method of dispersal is automatic and not messy. Clothing and parts of the body are not stained or scented. Plus a trail of scent can be left without the dilution of the trail or scent as the individual walks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved scent dispersal system that is easy to construct and simple to use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a scent dispersal system adapted for use with a wide variety of different scents to thereby substantially eliminate all other methods of application and use. With this invention any liquid scent can be used. Trails are easily and automatically made as one walks along trails or through grass or woods. Plus the invention provides an easy method to establish a fixed location of scent if desired.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a scent dispersal system that may be open and closed at any time. When open the scent will be dispersed and when closed the liquid scent contained therein will be conserved and "shut off" until the next use.


An exemplary hearing aid system includes a receiver unit configured and positioned within the user's ear canal so as to minimize insertion loss and/or occlusion effect.

A wide variety of hearing aid instruments are known in the art. Most hearing aids, worn in the ear (ITE) or behind the ear (BTE) occlude to some degree the ear canal, causing an occlusion loss. Occlusion loss is described as a difference between performance of an open ear response (REUR—real ear unaided response) and the performance of an ear with a hearing aid in place but turned off (REAR—real ear aided response with hearing aid turned off). Therefore, placing a hearing aid in the ear eliminates the natural ability of the patient's concha and the ear canal to produce a resonance between, e.g., 2000 and 4000 Hz (hertz), which naturally increases sounds entering the ear. This important feature allows human ear to better understand speech information. The average enhancement is about 16 to 20 dB. It can be clearly seen that a loss of 16 to 20 dB (loss of REUR) in addition to a loss due to a mechanical structure of the hearing aid can create a significant occlusion loss of sometimes up to 40 dB at frequencies between 2000 and 4000 Hz. This presently described hearing aid is configured to eliminate and/or significantly reduce such loss (terms "occlusion loss" and "insertion loss" when a hearing aid is inserted into an ear but turned off are used interchangeably).
Also, most hearing aids—either ITE or BTE—positioned within the ear canal create an occlusion effect. That is, the occlusion effect is associated with the sensation or feeling that the patient's head is "at the bottom of the barrel," with the patient's own voice becoming intolerably loud. This is often related to a patient's rejection of the amplification due to the patient's discomfort with the patient's own voice.
Placing an earmold or a shell of a custom made hearing aid within the ear canal can produce a low frequency amplification of the patient's voice of between about 10 and 20 decibels. This can relate to a perceived loudness increase in the patient's own voice of about four times the actual loudness of the patient's voice.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a hearing aid that avoids the occlusion loss and occlusion effect problems described above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides a substrate carrying mechanism, a substrate processing apparatus, and a semiconductor device manufacturing method that, when carrying a substrate, suppress the generation of scratches and particles caused by substrate deformation, suppress a decrease in substrate holding force due to substrate deformation, and realizes stable high-speed carriage. Namely, the substrate carrying mechanism, the substrate processing apparatus, and the semiconductor device manufacturing method of the present invention include: a plate-like body that becomes a support base body of a substrate that is a carrying subject; and substrate support portions in which plural convex portions disposed on a surface of the plate-like body are placed on a circumference of a circle that is smaller than the diameter of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate carrying mechanism that supports a substrate that is a carrying subject, a substrate processing apparatus that is equipped with the substrate carrying mechanism, and a semiconductor device manufacturing method that is performed by using the substrate processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, substrate processing apparatus used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process are equipped with a processing chamber and a carrying device. The processing chamber processes substrates such as wafers. The carrying device carries the substrates into the processing chamber, and carries the substrates out from the processing chamber. The carrying device is equipped with a substrate carrying mechanism called tweezers. The substrate carrying mechanism supports the substrates that are the carrying subjects. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2007-184476 discloses such carrying mechanism. This substrate carrying mechanism is configured such that a stepwise support portion is formed on a two-pronged fork-like plate-like body called a finger plate, and the support portion supports four places in the neighboring portions of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate from the back surface side of a surface of the substrate that undergoes processing.
However, in the substrate carrying mechanism described in JP-A No. 2007-184476, in a case when deformation, such as warping and bending, has occurred in the substrate, the substrate contacts at places outside the support portion, and rubbing occur due to a decrease in the force to hold the substrate by the support portion (frictional force between the substrate and the support portion). Such contact and rubbing may lead to the generation of scratches and particles. Further, when deformation has occurred in the substrate, the contact area between a support member and the substrate decreases, and the substrate holding force decreases. When the substrate holding force decreases, carrying capability of the substrate decreases.

Substrate carrying mechanism, substrate processing apparatus, and semiconductor device manufacturing method


The present invention has a plate and rod assembly for implantation in the cervical region of the spine which includes an occipital plate having an angled anchor bridging area that is attached to the lower posterior curve of the skull. On either side the bridging area is connected to offset legs which join flanged areas having a high friction surface and which include tethered rod anchors having rod-receiving channels. These flanges include undercut slots longer in one direction than the other to capture the side plates integral to the open U-shaped members including the rod-receiving channels. The side plates extend longer in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the rod when it is in the channel so that they can thus be lowered into the slot and rotated by 90 degrees to capture the channels in the flanges. The channels are closed by a capnut which has a bottom annular flange that also helps to lock the rod in place. The angle of the rod-receiving flanges relative to the plate bridging area allows the rods to be positioned close to the cervical vertebrae so that they can also be attached to the cervical vertebrae using vertebral anchors. The capnut is self-aligning and includes a visual alignment cue that helps to inhibit cross threading by indicating the proper side for starting the capnut on the threads of the channel. Three debossed dots show the alignment relative to a similarly placed set of dots on the proper side of the rod-receiving channel.

Constructs have been designed for some time for implantation in the spine which generally include a series of bone fasteners, such as hooks or screws, that are secured to the vertebrae, and which are used to hold stabilizer means such as a rod or plate that spans several vertebrae for stabilization, fixation, and/or for alignment of the vertebrae.
Typically, a spinal rod assembly includes two sets of rods that are fixed to adjacent vertebrae on either side of the spinous process to span a section of spine. The bone anchors may include a number of fixation means, such as screws or hooks, that are used for fixation to the spine, and anchor means, such as rod anchors that includes means to secure the rod to the fixation means. In some systems these component parts are a single integral unit, while other systems utilize a number of assembled components such as for the anchor portion of the assembly.
There are a number of considerations which go into the design of the assembly. The constructs need to be relatively easy to assemble, to be safe for the area of implantation, to provide for flexibility of use to accommodate a number of different indications for implantation and for variations in individuals who require their use, to be strong, yet minimally invasive and low profile, to be useful for manipulation, as well as for the maintenance of the desired alignment of the spine.
There are spinal systems which have successfully worked out these design criteria for the lumbar and the thoracic areas of the spine. However, the occipito-cervical area is deserving of even closer scrutiny as the areas for implantation become smaller and the associated nerves and arteries need to be identified and avoided. Moreover, there is less muscle mass to cover the implant.


An offshore universal riser system (OURS) and injection system (OURS-IS) inserted into a riser. The OURS/OUR-IS provides a means for pressurizing the marine riser to its maximum pressure capability and easily allows variation of the fluid density in the riser. The OURS-IS includes a riser pup joint with provision for injecting a fluid into the riser with isolation valves. The OURS includes a riser pup joint with an inner riser adapter, a pressure test nipple, a safety device, outlets with valves for diverting the mud flow, nipples with seal bores for accepting RCDs. The easy delivery of fluids to the OURS-IS is described. A method is detailed to manipulate the density in the riser to provide a wide range of operating pressures and densities enabling the concepts of Managed Pressure Drilling, Dual Density Drilling or Dual Gradient Drilling, and Underbalanced Drilling.

Risers are used in offshore drilling applications to provide a means of returning the drilling fluid and any additional solids and/or fluids from the borehole back to surface.
Riser sections are sturdily built as they have to withstand significant loads imposed by the weights they have to carry and the environmental loads they have to withstand when in operation. As such they have an inherent internal pressure capacity. However, this capacity is not currently exploited to the maximum possible. Many systems have been proposed to vary the density of fluid in the riser but none have provided a universally applicable and easily deliverable system for varying types of drilling modes. They all require some specific modification of the main components of a floating drilling installation with the result that they are custom solutions with a narrow range of application due to the costs and design limitations. For example, different drilling systems are required for different drilling modes such as managed pressure drilling, dual density or dual gradient drilling, partial riser level drilling, and underbalanced drilling.
An example of the most common current practice is illustrated by FIG. 1, which is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,135 assigned on its face to the Hydril Company. To compensate for movement of the floating drilling installation a slip joint SJ (telescopic joint) is introduced. This slip joint consist of an inner barrel IB and an outer barrel OB that move relative to each other, thus allowing the floating structure S to move without breaking the riser R between the fixed point well W and the moving point D, which is the diverter where the top of the riser returns the drilling fluid. A ball joint BJ (also called and designed as a flex-joint) provides for some angular displacement of the riser from vertical. The conventional method sees any pressure in the riser R due to flow of pressurized fluids from well W as an uncontrolled event (kick) that is controlled by closing the BOP (Blow Out Preventer) either by rams around the tubulars, or by blind rams if no tubulars present or by shear rams capable of cutting the tubulars. It is possible for the kick to enter the riser R and then it is controlled by closing the diverter D (with or without tubulars present) and diverting the undesired flow through diverter lines DL. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,135 patent Hydril introduces the concept of an annular blow out preventer used as a gas handler to divert the flow of gas from a well control incident. This allows diversion of gas by closing around the tubulars in hole, but not when drilling, i.e., rotating the tubular.
In FIG. 1 the seals between the outer barrel OB and inner barrel IB are subjected to much movement due to wave motion and this has led to a limitation of the pressure sealing capacity available for the riser. In fact the American Petroleum Institute (API) has established pressure ratings for such seals in its specification 16F, which calls for testing to 200 psi. In practice the common upper limit for most designs is 500 psi. There are some modifications that can be made as shown in U.S. Patent Application No. US2003/0111799A1 assigned on the face to the Cooper Cameron Corporation which envisions a working rating to 750 psi. In practice the limitation on the slip joint seal has also led to an accepted standard in the industry of the diverter D, ball joint BJ (also sometimes replaced by a unit called flex-joint) and other parts of the system like the valves on the diverter line DL having an industry wide rating of 500 psi working pressure. The outer barrel OB of the slip joint SJ (telescopic joint) also acts as the attachment point for the tension system that serves to keep the riser R in tension to prevent it from buckling. This means that a leak on the slip joint SJ seals involves significant down time in having to lift the whole riser from the subsea BOP (Blow Out Preventer) and servicing the slip joint SJ. In practice it has meant that no floating drilling installation service provider or operating company has been willing to take the risk to continuously operate with any pressure in the riser for the conventional system as depicted again in FIG. 3a.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. US2005/0061546 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,092 assigned on their face to Weatherford/Lamb Inc. have addressed this problem by proposing the locking closed of the slip joint SJ, which means locking the inner barrel to the outer barrel, thus eliminating movement across the slip joint seal. The riser R is then effectively disconnected from the ball joint BJ and diverter D as shown in FIG. 2. The riser is closed by adding a rotating blowout preventer BOP on top of the locked closed slip joint SJ. This effectively decouples the riser R from any fixed point below the rotary table RT. This method has been used and allowed operations with a limit of 500 psi, the weak point still being the slip joint seals. However decoupling the riser R means that it is only held by the tensioner system T1 and T2. This means that the top of the riser is no longer self centralizing. This causes the top of the Rotating Control Device RCD to be off center as a result of the ocean currents, wind patterns, or movement of the floating structure. This introduces significant wear on the sealing element(s) of the RCD, which is detrimental to the pressure integrity of that system.
Also, the design introduces a significant safety hazard as now substantial amounts of easily damaged hydraulic hoses used in the operation of the RCD, as well as pressurized hose(s) DL and safety conduit SC, are introduced to the vicinity of the riser tensioner wires depicted as coming from the slip joint SJ to the sheaves at the bottom of the tensioners T1, T2. These wires are under substantial loads in the order of 50 to 100 tons each and can easily cut through softer rubber goods (hoses). The U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,092 patent suggests the use of steel pipes, but this is extremely difficult to achieve in practice. Also, the installation and operation involves personnel around the RCD, a hazardous area with the relative movement of the floating structure to the top of the riser. All of the equipment does not fit through the rotary table RT and diverter housing D, thus making installation complex and hazardous. Thus the use of this invention has been limited to operations in benign sea areas with little current, wave motion, and wind loads.
A summary of the evolution for the art for drilling with pressure in the riser is shown in FIGS. 3a to 3c. FIG. 3a shows the conventional floating drilling installation set-up. This consists typically of an 18¾ inch subsea BOP stack, with a LMRP (Lower Marine Riser Package) added to allow disconnection and prevent loss of fluids from the riser, a 21 inch riser, and a top configuration identical in principle to the U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,135 patent. This is the configuration used by more than 80% of today's floating drilling installations. In order to reduce costs the industry moved towards the idea of using a SBOP (Surface Blow Out Preventer), with a floating drilling installation, U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,193 as illustrated in FIG. 4, where the 21 inch riser is replaced with a smaller high pressure riser capped with a SBOP package similar to a non-floating drilling installation set-up as illustrated in FIG. 3b. This design evolved to dispensing completely with the subsea BOP, thus removing the need for choke, kill, and other lines from the sea floor back to the floating drilling installation and over 160 wells were drilled like this in benign ocean areas. In attempting to take the concept of a SBOP and high pressure riser further into more environmentally harsh areas a subsea component for disconnection (as marketed by the Cameron corporation as the ESG system) and securing the well in case of emergency was re-introduced, but not as a full subsea BOP. This is shown in FIG. 3c with another evolution of running the SBOP below the water line and tensioners above to enable for heave on floating drilling installations with limited clearance. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,092 is shown in FIG. 3d for comparison. In trying to plan for substantially higher pressures as experienced in underbalanced drilling where the formation being drilled is allowed to flow with the drilling fluid to surface, the industry has favored designs utilizing an inner riser run within the typical 21 inch marine riser as described in U.S. Pat. App. 2006/0021755 A1. This requires a SBOP as shown in FIG. 3e. The drawback of all these systems is that they require substantial modification of the floating drilling installation to enable the use of SBOP (Surface Blow Out Preventers) and the majority are limited to benign sea and weather conditions. Thus they are not widely implemented as it requires the floating drilling installation to undergo modifications in a shipyard.
Methods and systems as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,230,824 B1 and 6,138,774 attempt to disperse totally with the marine riser. Methods and systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,262, U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,975, and U.S. Pat. App. 2006/0102387A1 envisions setting a RCD device on top of the subsea BOP to divert pressure from the marine riser as does U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,685 B2. All of these patents are not widely applied as they involve substantial modifications and additions to existing equipment to be successfully applied. FIG. 5 shows this as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,975. The problem with the foregoing systems that utilize a high pressure riser or a riserless setup is that one of the primary means of delivering additional fluids to the seafloor, namely the booster line BL that is a typical part of the conventional system as depicted in FIG. 3a is removed. The booster line BL is also indicated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. So the systems shown in FIGS. 3b and 3c, while providing some advantages, take away one of the primary means of delivering fluid into the riser. Also the typical booster line BL is tied in to the base of the riser which means that the delivery point is fixed.
There is also an evolution in the industry to move from conventional drilling to closed system drilling. These types of closed systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,904,981 and 7,044,237 and require the closure and by consequence the trapping of pressure inside the marine riser for floating drilling installations. This is schematically depicted in FIG. 6b, with FIG. 6a depicting the conventional system of FIG. 3a for comparison. Also the introduction of a method and system to allow continuous circulation as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,397 allows a drilling circulation system to be operated at constant pressure as the pumps do not have to be switched off when making or breaking a tubular connection. This allows the possibility of drilling with a constant pressure downhole, which can be controlled by a pressurized closed drilling system. The industry calls this Managed Pressure Drilling. With the conventional method of FIG. 3a, no continuous pressure can be kept in the riser. With the method of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,092 patent in FIG. 3d the envelope has been taken to 500 psi, however with the substantial addition of hazards and many drawbacks. It is possible to increase the envelope by the methods shown in FIGS. 3b, 3c and 3e. However the addition of a SBOP (Surface BOP) to a floating drilling installation is not a normal design consideration and involves substantial modification usually involving a shipyard with the consequence of operational downtime as well as substantial costs involved, as already mentioned earlier. The system and method of this invention will enable all the systems shown in FIGS. 3a to 3g to be pressurized and to have the ability to inject fluids at any point into the riser. Furthermore any modification that lessens the normal operating envelope (i.e. weather, current, wave and storm survival capability) of the floating drilling installation leads to a limitation in use of that system. The systems shown in FIGS. 3b, 3d, 3e, and 3g all lessen this operating envelope, which is a major reason why these systems have not been applied in harsher environmental conditions. The system depicted in FIG. 3c does not lessen this operating window significantly, but it does not allow for an easy installation of a RCD. All of these limitations are eliminated by the present invention.
The systems mentioned earlier in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,904,981 and 7,044,237 discuss closing the choke on a pressurized drilling system, and using manipulation of the choke to control the backpressure of the system, in order to control the pressure at the bottom of the well. This method works in principle, but in field applications of these systems, when drilling in a closed system, the manipulation of the choke can cause pressure spikes that are detrimental to the purpose of these inventions, i.e., precise control of the bottom hole pressure. Also, the peculiarity of a floating drilling installation is, that when a connection is made, the top of the pipe is held stationary in the rotary table (RT in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). This means that the whole string of pipe in the wellbore now moves up and down as the wave action (known as heave in the industry) causes the pressure effects of surge (pressure increase as the pipe moves into the hole) and swab (pressure drop as the pipe moves out of the hole). This effect already causes substantial pressure variations in the conventional method of FIG. 3a. When the system is closed by the addition of a RCD as shown in FIG. 3d, this effect is even more pronounced by the effect of volume changes by the pipe moving in and out of a fixed volume. As the movement of a pressure wave in a compressed liquid is the speed of sound in that liquid, it implies that the choke system would have to be able to respond at the same or even faster speed. While the electronic sensor and control systems are able to achieve this, the mechanical manipulation of the choke system is very far from these speeds. In order to reduce, or even optimally remove these pressure spikes (negative or positive from the desired baseline), a damping system is required. The best damping system in an incompressible fluid system is the introduction of a compressible fluid in direct contact with the incompressible fluid. This could be a gas, e.g., Nitrogen.
The RCD (Rotating Control Devices) development originated from land operations where typically the installation was on top of the BOP (Blow Out Preventer). This meant that usually there was no further equipment installed above the RCD. As access was easy, almost all of the current designs have hydraulic connections for lubricating and cooling the bearing or for other utilities. These require the attachment of hoses for operation. Although some versions have progressed from surface type to being adapted for use on the bottom of the sea as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,975 they fail to disclose a complete system for achieving this. Some systems as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,685 disperse with hydraulic cooling and lubrication, but require a hydraulic connection to release the assembly. A complete system would require a latching mechanism; that also allows transfer of the hydraulic connections from the outside of the riser to the inside of the riser, and vice versa, so as to remove any hydraulic action or hoses internal to the riser. Furthermore the range of RCDs and possibilities available means that it requires a custom made unit to house a particular RCD design as described U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,685. The U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,685 provides only for a partial removal of the RCD assembly, leaving the body on location.
Many ideas and patents have been filed, but the field application of technology to solve some of the shortcomings in the conventional set-up of FIG. 3a has been limited. All of them modify the existing system in a custom manner taking away some of the flexibility. There exists a gap in the present industry to provide a solution to allow running a pressurized riser for the majority of floating drilling installations to allow closed system drilling techniques, especially Managed Pressure Drilling to be safely and expediently applied without any major modification to the floating drilling installation.
These requirements are:                (1) Be able to pressurize the marine riser to the maximum pressure capacity of its members;        (2) Be able to be safely installed using normal operational practices and operated as part of marine riser without any floating drilling installation modifications as required for surface BOP operations or some subsea ideas;        (3) Provide full-bore capability like a normal marine riser section when required;        (4) Provide the ability to use the standard operating procedures when not in pressurized mode;        (5) Does not lessen the weather (wind, current and wave) operating window of the floating drilling installation;        (6) Provide a means for damping the pressure spikes caused by heave resulting in surge and swab fluctuations;        (7) Provide a means for eliminating the pressure spikes caused by movement of the rotatable tubulars into and out of a closed system; and        (8) Provide a means for easily modifying the density of fluid in the riser at any desired point.


A method for separating materials, in which a mixture of materials is guided through a channel in a direction of flow that extends at least approximately parallel to the gravitational field. Utilizing a wash fluid conveyed through the channel in a direction transverse to the direction of flow of the mixture of materials, at least one material component of the mixture of materials that is to be separated is displaced from the mixture of materials and removed from the channel. A device is also provided that is particularly suitable for carrying out the method.

This is a nationalization of PCT/EP02/03551 filed Mar. 28, 2002 and published in German.
1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to a method for separating materials in which a mixture of materials is guided through a channel in a direction of flow extending at least approximately parallel to the gravitational field and a wash fluid is conveyed through the channel, which displaces from the mixture of materials and removes from the channel at least one material component of the mixture of materials that is to be separated. The invention further relates to a device for separating materials for carrying out the aforesaid method.
2. Related Art
A method and a device of the aforementioned type are known from DE 100 38 932. In this known method the mixture of materials to be separated is introduced into a vertically arranged channel and flows through this channel whilst being influenced by the gravitational field. In the channel a plurality of guide members is arranged successively, which direct a flow of wash fluid that flows into the channel in the opposite direction to the direction of flow of the mixture of materials. As a result of this a displacement area is formed in the area of each guide member, in which the wash fluid flows through the mass flow of the mixture of materials whilst displacing thereby the material component of the mixture of materials to be separated and removing the latter from the channel at the end of the channel, at which the mixture of materials was introduced into the channel. On account of the multitude of employed guide members which must be precisely aligned to each other and positioned in the channel in order to generate the desired flow effect of the wash fluid in the channel the device used to carry out the method has a correspondingly complicated design.

Method and device for separating materials

Bokela Ingenieurgesellschaft fuer mechanische Verfahrenstechnik mbH


A disclosed method includes determining modifications have been made to a program and deriving data flow seeds that are affected by the modifications. The method includes selecting one of the data flow seeds that are affected by the modifications or data flow seeds that are not affected by the modifications but that are part of flows that are affected by the modifications and performing a security analysis on the program. The security analysis includes tracking flows emanating from the selected data flow seeds to sinks terminating the flows. The method includes outputting results of the security analysis. The results comprise one or more indications of security status for one or more of the flows emanating from the selected data flow seeds. At least the deriving, selecting, and performing are performed using a static analysis of the program. Apparatus and program products are also disclosed.

This invention relates generally to analysis of program code and, more specifically, relates to static analysis of program code.
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention disclosed below. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived, implemented or described. Therefore, unless otherwise explicitly indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Static analysis is an analysis that involves examining the code of programs such as Web programs without executing the code of the program. Some type of model is (or, more typically, models are) created of the code of the program, to estimate what would happen when the code actually is executed.
Static security analysis generally takes the form of taint analysis, where the analysis may be parameterized by a set of security rules, each rule being a triple <Src,San,Snk> denoting the following:
1) source statements (Src) reading untrusted user inputs;
2) downgrader statements (San) endorsing untrusted data by either endorsing or sanitizing the untrusted data; and
3) sink statements (Snk) performing security-sensitive operations.
There are a number of techniques for analyzing taint flow from sources to sinks. These techniques also consider whether flow passed through a downgrader (also called an endorser or sanitizer for endorsement or sanitization, respectively) that performs downgrading of the taint. One set of techniques includes graphs such as call graphs. Call graphs are directed graphs that represent calling relationships between methods in a computer program.
Using such techniques, given security rule r, a flow from a source in Srcr to a sink in Snkr that does not pass through a downgrader from Sanr comprises a potential vulnerability.
One of the biggest advantages of static security analysis, compared to black-box security testing, is that static security analysis can become an integral part of the development process: The analysis can be run on a system that is not in a deployable state (e.g., because of missing code, errors, or inability to run the system on the given hardware resources), and also runs significantly faster than a black-box scan and without the need to configure the analysis.
Although static security analysis has many benefits, the analysis may still be improved.

International Business Machines Corporation


An outerwear garment such as pants or coveralls has a waterproof seamless seat insert. The insert made of waterproof fabric and is attached to the garment to cover at least the seat portion and the adjacent rear leg portions of the garment. The waterproof insert is attached to the garment inside of the outer layer, and if the garment has an inner liner, preferably between the outer layer and the inner liner. The seamless seat waterproof insert is attached to the garment along its periphery so that the seamless seat is substantially free of the seat portion of the outer layer. The waterproof seamless seat insert eliminates the need to waterproof a back rise seam in the insert. The insert preferably continues under the crotch and towards the waist to provide a seamless crotch as well. The insert is preferably made of a relatively lightweight, stretch material so that the insert does not compromise the fit of the garment that is defined by the other textile layers of the garment.

Most trousers and similar garments such as coveralls are constructed using at least four panels of fabric which cover the legs and torso. The four panels are secured together by sewn seams, namely: a continuous inseam, outseams, a front rise seam and a back rise seam. The continuous inseam, the front rise seam and the back rise seam all intersect at the crotch of the garment. The back rise seam extends from the crotch and passes through the seat portion towards the waist. The front rise seam extends from the crotch and passes through the front torso portion to either the waistband, or the bottom of the fly. It is largely accepted throughout the textile industry that this type of configuration allows the panels to be cut and tailored so that the garment provides a flattering fit, especially in the seat.
These types of garments have conventionally been waterproofed by providing a waterproof outer shell. Alternatively, or in addition to a waterproof outer shell, a waterproof insert attached to the garment inside of the outer layer of the garment can be used, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. RE 33,966 entitled "All Weather Garment" by Robison, filed on Mar. 8, 1990, originally issued Feb. 19, 1991, and re-issued on Jun. 23, 1992. The above-referenced Robison patent explains that moisture penetrates needle holes of the garment's sewn seams, especially in the crotch and along the back rise seam. The Robison patent is directed to a method of sealing sewn seams in the waterproof insert to be watertight.

Outerwear garment having a waterproof seat


An anti-lift characteristic of a rear suspension of a vehicle is enhanced by including a carrier at which a rear wheel is rotatably mounted; a trailing arm longitudinally aligned with respect to a vehicle body, ends of the trailing arm being respectively connected to the carrier and the vehicle body; and a connecting unit connecting the vehicle body and a body-side end of the trailing arm, and varying a vertical position of the body-side end according to a running state of the vehicle.

In general, dynamic behavior of a vehicle is controlled by the suspension system of the vehicle. Such a vehicle suspension system includes individual suspensions disposed at each of front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right corners of the vehicle.
In designing the vehicle suspension system, reduction of nose dive behavior of the vehicle is taken into account. The nose dive behavior indicates a behavior in which the vehicle body is inclined, that is, a behavior in which a front of the vehicle is lowered and a rear of the vehicle is raised.
In order to reduce such a nose dive behavior, in general, a front suspension is designed to enhance its anti-dive characteristic, and a rear suspension is designed to enhance its anti-lift characteristic.
In a typical rear suspension, a carrier (also called a knuckle) at which a wheel is rotatably mounted is linked to the vehicle body via at least one linking member. Among the linking members, a linking member that lies along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle is called a trailing arm.
Anti-lift characteristics of the rear suspension can be effectively enhanced by raising the vertical position of the body-side connection point of the trailing arm, i.e., raising the pivoting center of the trailing arm. When a braking force is applied to a rear wheel, the trailing arm receives a torque to rotate toward the vehicle body. Therefore, when the pivoting center of the trailing arm is raised, the trailing arm receives a greater torque to rotate toward the vehicle body, and accordingly the anti-lift characteristic of the rear suspension is enhanced.
However, when the pivoting center of the trailing arm is raised, a spring supporting the trailing arm shows a poorer extension/compression trajectory, and this deteriorates a trajectory of the rear wheel.
In this sense, according to the prior art, the vertical position of the pivoting center of the trailing arm is compromised such that the trajectory of the rear wheel is not excessively deteriorated. Therefore, enhancement of the anti-lift characteristic is very limited.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.


A power management and distribution (PMAD) system includes a main DC bus, an auxiliary DC bus, a power converter, one or more hybrid solid-state circuit breakers, and a controller. The power converter converts power from the main DC bus to provide a regulated output to the auxiliary bus. Each hybrid SSCB includes a main switch connected between the main DC bus and a load and an auxiliary switch connected between the auxiliary DC bus and the load. The controller selectively turns the main switch and the auxiliary switch On/Off to selectively supply power from the main DC bus and/or the auxiliary DC bus to the load, and to selectively regulate the voltage on the auxiliary DC bus.

The present invention is related to power management and distribution (PMAD) systems and in particular to PMAD systems employing hybrid solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) circuits.
Power management and distribution (PMAD) systems control the supply of DC and/or AC power to various loads. Circuit breakers and switches are commonly employed by these systems to not only control the supply of power to the various loads but also to protect the load from fault conditions. More recently, solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs) have been employed to provide fast response time, eliminate arcing during turn-off, and prevent bouncing during turn-on transients. For example, power semiconductor devices such as metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) are commonly employed by SSCBs to control the distribution of power to a load. In particular, power MOSFETs are commonly employed due to their low conduction losses when conducting. The SSCB is part of a solid-state power controller (SSPC) that includes a controller, current and voltage sensors to monitor the current and voltage, respectively, provided to the load by a power semiconductor device and emulates traditional circuit breaker functionality by turning the power semiconductor device Off to protect the associated load from fault conditions. Thermal sensors may also be employed to protect the SSCB.
One of the specifics of SSCB is high overload requirements that may exceed 1000% of the rated current. To achieve this high current rating, a large number of MOSFET devices are connected in parallel. MOSFETS can be easily paralleled, because of the positive thermal coefficient of their on-state resistance. However, during overload transient conditions the MOSFETs within SSCB may be subject to a current imbalance that results in a particular device exceeding its peak current or continuous thermal ratings. This condition creates reliability concerns. Unbalance may be caused by parameter mismatches between semiconductor devices, gate drive parameter mismatches, and/or power circuit parameter mismatches. There is a need to improve SSCB and PMAD architecture to meet high overload transient requirements without over sizing the SSCB.

Power management and distribution with auxiliary DC bus


Techniques for managing licensing of a software application that includes a plurality of executables are presented. The techniques can include detecting an initiation of the software application on a client computer; obtaining a license for a usage of a first executable of the plurality of executables; detecting an initiation of at least a second executable; obtaining execution type data for the second executable specifying one of: a license for a usage of the second executable is not required if an instance of the second executable is executing on the client computer, or a license for a usage of the second executable is not required if at least one executable of the plurality of executables is executing on the client computer; determining, based on the execution type data, that a license for a usage of the second executable is not required; and executing the second executable.

Some known techniques for software license management are encryption-based, operating by encapsulating the executable binaries within an encrypted runtime environment. When the encapsulated binary is executed, the encapsulated shell sends a message to a license server requesting an application software license. If a license is available, the license server sends a reply to the encapsulated runtime environment with the encryption key to unlock the application executable and execute the application binary. If a license is not available, then the license server sends a reply to the encapsulated runtime environment to display a license denied message to the end user. Once the executable terminates, the runtime environment will send a license checkin message to the license server.
Some known techniques for software license checkout and checkin embed, within a software application executable, a set of tools to perform checkout and checkin license entitlements from a license server. These embedded utilities, which may decrypt the encrypted application executable, are usually provided by a license management system vendor that does not develop the application executable itself. Consequently, such known techniques may not be available for managing licensing for arbitrary software applications. Even if such techniques are available for a particular software application, because the license management vendor provides the embedded tools, the associated costs are passed on to the user, even if the user does not utilize that particular software application.
License servers may be used when an entity requires an automated method for enforcing the terms and conditions of vendor application license agreements. However, the vast majority of software subject to software license agreements is intended to be sold and distributed on a one-license-per-machine basis. Such software is therefore typically not provisioned to work with license servers.
In order to make a typical application work with an encryption-based license server, an administration team for the license must acquire the tools to encrypt applications from the license manager vendor, encrypt the suite of applications they want the company to use, and then distribute only those encrypted applications. Such encryption-based techniques thus require a non-trivial amount of administrative effort. Because such techniques involve modifying the executable with encryption, they may in some circumstances result in program faults. As a result, customer support for the application software by the application vendor may be withheld because the vendor may consider such encryption methods unsupportable and deny providing technical assistance.
It is a common practice for application vendors to specify a list of multiple terms and conditions for purchased software license agreements. These may include limits on the number of simultaneous uses of a license (concurrent jobs, concurrent nodes, and concurrent users), limits on which nodes may have access to the licenses, limits on which users can have access to the licenses, and/or limits on whether a license can be deployed domestically or internationally. In addition, vendors can specify that a set of licenses can only be used by persons that are a member of a particular group, and/or used by persons that are a member of a particular skill set. Generally, these terms and conditions are conjunctive ("and") conditions and not disjunctive ("or") conditions.
However, existing software license management solutions at most provide the ability to evaluate a license usage request based on a single criterion. The type of license entitlement criterion used by existing solutions include concurrent jobs, or concurrent nodes, or concurrent users, or a list of nodes, or a list of users. Existing solutions require that for a given application, only one license entitlement criterion be used to determine whether a license entitlement is granted or rejected. In particular, the vast majority of application license managers use some form of a concurrent software license—a single criterion—to determine software entitlement outcomes.
Further, it is common for corporations to deploy software licenses to clients so as to provoke violations of the terms and conditions, which can result in huge penalties for non-compliance. For example, the vast majority of software applications do not have automated checkout/checkin license management software to enforce the relevant terms and conditions. Moreover, software vendors frequently add combinations of license restrictions, such as restrictions on a list of clients and a list of user account names.
To optimize the deployment and use of software licenses, it is desirable to know where the available license entitlements are stored, where the licenses are deployed, who is using the license, how often the licenses are being used, and how much license maintenance is required. Further, one should be able to identify unused or little used licenses for all types of software. Solutions exist to capture some of this information, for concurrent software licenses only. However, software entitlements based on only concurrent software licenses account for about 2% of software titles. The remaining software titles may be subject to software license agreement terms and conditions that are node based, user based, token based, enterprise based, group based, skill based, pool based, site based, or domain based.
Large companies need to allocate costs of software licensing among their various projects for accounting purposes. This is particularly important when the software licensing terms charge on a per-use, per-job, or per-hour basis. Employees may work on a variety of projects and should be equipped with tools to account for costs appropriately. For companies with a large selection of chargecodes (alternatively charge codes), the glut of choices increases the burden of finding the desired chargecode and the risk of electing a wrong line in error. Where software license managers allow chargecode management at all, the typical solutions involve multiple transactions between the user and the license server. The user may send a request for available chargecodes, the server may respond to the request, and the user may send an update, which the server may or may not acknowledge. On the face of it, these transactions may appear nominal, but when a server may need to process tens of thousands of requests an hour, any transaction other than a license checkin/checkout will have a negative effect on the maximum throughput of license requests that can be processed in an hour.
Software license entitlement management services may be performed on multiple license entitlement servers, which require synchronized license management configurations. Maintaining such license management configurations can be time consuming and error prone. In addition, managing and supporting hundreds of thousands to millions of clients is extremely labor intensive and time consuming. Further, troubleshooting, debugging, and resolution of client software can be very complicated.
Typically, application service maintenance support is performed by remotely logging into the target and searching for potential misconfigurations. This is frequently very labor intensive to diagnose and/or update. In addition, obtaining detailed diagnostic information for analysis is virtually non-existent, making it nearly impossible to replicate the issues/failures.
Software applications that are managed may include multiple executables. Such applications may be subject to software license agreements that specify complex rules for how many licenses to collect from a client to achieve full functionality of the application.

Execution type software license management