An efficient and adaptive middleware infrastructure called the Event Heap system dynamically coordinates application interactions and communications in a ubiquitous computing environment, e.g., an interactive workspace, having heterogeneous software applications running on various machines and devices across different platforms. Applications exchange events via the Event Heap. Each event is characterized by a set of unordered, named fields. Events are routed by matching certain attributes in the fields. The source and target versions of each field are automatically set when an event is posted or used as a template. The Event Heap system implements a unique combination of features, both intrinsic to tuplespaces and specific to the Event Heap, including content based addressing, support for routing patterns, standard routing fields, limited data persistence, query persistence/registration, transparent communication, self-description, flexible typing, logical/physical centralization, portable client API, at most once per source first-in-first-out ordering, and modular restartability.

The concept of a tuplespace was first described in 1982 in a programming language called Linda, a coordination language for expressing parallel processing based on generative communication. A tuplespace is a logically shared memory or buffer that contains tuples (data entries). A tuple is a collection of ordered type-value fields, such as (integer 11, integer 8, integer 38), (string "to", string "aa", string "hi", string "ss") or (string "John", integer 38, decimal 156.7). Each tuplespace functions as a "blackboard" visible to all participants (e.g., software entities) in a particular scope.
A tuplespace model provides inter-process coordination via tuplespaces which are accessed associatively. Active software entities, which may be distributed over physically dispersed machines, can communicate to each other by releasing data (a tuple) into a tuplespace. Tuples may be posted to the tuplespace, or read/retrieved from the tuplespace in either a destructive or non-destructive manner. This means that senders generate data for use by others without needing to know which process will consume it, and consumers of data need not know who created it.
Tuples in the tuplespace are accessed by matching some or all the elements of the tuples to values or types presented in a predetermined tuple. More specifically, consumers request tuples using a template tuple whose field values are specified where an exact match is desired and left as wild-cards where values are desired to be retrieved from the matching tuple. When a match is found, the tuplespace infrastructure returns a matching tuple to the requesting process.
The most important language primitives in tuplespaces are 'out' (puts a tuple into the space), 'in' (consume a tuple from the space), and 'read' (copy a tuple from the space), where the 'in' and 'read' operations supply a template tuple that may specify explicit values or wildcards for any tuple fields. FIG. 1 shows an abstract representation of how tuplespaces function. In step (a), a sender places a 'circle type' tuple using 'out', as indicated by (1) and the tuple becomes available in the tuplespace (2). In step (b), a receiver submits a 'read' request for the 'circle type' tuple (3) and the tuplespace returns a copy of the 'circle type' tuple submitted in step (a), as indicated by (4). In step (c), the receiver submits 'in' request for the 'circle type' tuple (5) and the tuplespace returns a copy of the 'circle type' tuple submitted in step (a) and removes the copy in the tuplespace, as indicated by (6).
There are many tuplespace implementations in many languages in various states of development. For example, Sun Microsystems introduced JavaSpaces service specification in October 2000 to provide a distributed persistence and object exchange mechanism for code written in the Java programming language. Objects are written in entries that provide a typed grouping of relevant fields. Using the known two-phase commit model, the JavaSpaces service supports a simple transaction mechanism that allows multiple clients to write new entries, lookup existing entries, and remove entries from the space.
IBM introduced a similar concept via Java-based TSpaces in March 1998. The TSpaces consists of a set of network communication buffers (tuplespaces) and a set of application-programming interfaces (APIs) and classes that implement the API for accessing those buffers. The TSpaces package includes server software that implements the buffers and client software for accessing the buffers. For the client, TSpaces acts as a reminder service, carries out tasks assigned by the client, reports incoming messages and delivers outgoing messages, and notifies the client of events in which the client is interested.
The basic tuplespace model as introduced in Linda was intended to coordinate a set of processes designed to work together as part of a distributed application. In this situation, since no processes are foreign to one another, no heterogeneous application coordination is necessary. As such, implementations of the basic tuplespace model lack support for coordinating heterogeneous application interactions. Even most implementations of extended tuplespace models, such as JavaSpaces or TSpaces, while allowing disparate applications to coordinate, function only for one language, thus making them unsuitable for coordinating applications written in diverse languages for different platforms. For example, both JavaSpaces and Tspaces allow homogeneous applications written in Java to coordinate. This single platform support is only one of many reasons why existing tuplespace implementations are not well suited to coordinate dynamic heterogeneous application interactions in a ubiquitous computing environment. As described herein in a later section, known tuplespace implementations also lack support for many important and/or essential properties that optimize a ubiquitous computing environment.
The term "ubiquitous computing" was coined by Weiser in "The Computer for the 21st Century" Scientific American, 1991, 265(3), pp. 66-75. Since then, it is generally understood that the keys to ubiquitous computing include physical integration with the surrounding environment and spontaneous interaction across devices. To date, however, there is no good model for developing applications that allow for the spontaneous interaction. More particularly, currently there is no viable application coordination infrastructure enabling application portability and extensibility in ubiquitous computing rooms.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for an application interactions coordination infrastructure for a ubiquitous computing room having heterogeneous software applications running on various networked machines and devices across platforms. The present invention addresses this need.

Event heap: a coordination infrastructure for dynamic heterogeneous application interactions in ubiquitous computing environments


Oxide films are deposited under conditions generating a silicon-rich oxide in which silicon nanoclusters form either during deposition or during subsequent annealing. Such deposition conditions include those producing films with optical indices (n) greater than 1.46. The method of the present invention reduces the TID radiation-induced shifts for the oxides.

The trench refill and buried oxides are limiting factors for the total ionizing dose (TID) hardness of oxide isolated integrated circuits (ICs). High-density-plasma (HDP) oxide deposition is typically used for trench refill in deep submicron ICs. HDP provides trench refill capabilities without the long thermal cycles required to prevent enhanced etching, as it occurs for Tetraethyl Orthosilicate (TEOS). However, characterization of the TID radiation-induced voltage shifts for commercial HDP oxides has shown them to be more radiation sensitive than TEOS refill oxides used for previous device generations.
TID hardness of ICs is degraded by charge buildup in refill oxides of trench regions and buried oxides. Hughes et al, "Radiation Effects and Hardening of MOS Technology: Devices and Circuits", IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 50, No. 3, June 2003, provides an overview of radiation-induced effects and the many different approaches to their mitigation.
There is a need in the art for minimally invasive fabrication approaches for radiation hardening are needed to modify the charge trapping properties of deposited oxide films used in the semiconductor industry.

Technique to radiation-harden trench refill oxides

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A method and apparatus to reduce the noise in three-dimensional phase contrast magnetic resonance velocity measurements exploits the property that blood is incompressible and therefore the velocity field describing its flow must be divergence-free. The divergence-free condition can be incorporated by the projection operation on Hilbert space where the velocity measurements are projected onto the space of divergence-free velocity fields. The reduction of noise is achieved since the projection operation eliminates the noise component that is not divergence-free. Higher quality angiograms are produced due to the noise reduction in the velocity measurement signals.

This invention relates generally to fluid velocity measurement and imaging, and more particularly the invention relates to improved velocity measurement of an incompressible fluid using divergence-free constraint of true velocity.
Several technologies including Doppler ultrasound and magnetic resonance (MR) are known for measuring and imaging fluid flow. In Doppler ultrasound, the phase of reflected ultrasonic waves due to the flow of fluid provides a measure of velocity. In magnetic resonance imaging, bipolar flow encoding gradients can be used in a three-dimensional MRI procedure to provide a measure of flow. Pelc et al. "Encoding Strategies for Three Direction Phase Contrast MR Imaging of Flow" Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 405-413, 1991 discloses encoding strategies for the measurement of flow velocities in arbitrary directions with phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging.
Phase sensitive MR methods of flow measurement have certain limitations. For example, velocity induced phase shift is proportional to velocity, and dispersions in velocity result in dispersions of phase shift which, in turn, can result in attenuation of observable signal when the flow is complex. Further, imaging of blood flow in blood vessels necessitates a high signal to noise ratio to provide adequate image resolution. As described by Dumoulin et al. "Three Dimensional Phase Contrast Angiography" Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 9, pp. 139-149 (1989), three-dimensional Fourier transform (3DFT) imaging can be used to avoid some of the problems of phase sensitive flow techniques.
The 3DFT imaging provides a high signal noise ratio for a given time span because each acquired echo contains signals from all image voxels. Further, the volume imaging can unambiguously identify the location of a small vessel in surrounding anatomy. Thus, MR angiograms can be produced by computing the speed at each voxel and reprojecting the computed speed at one or more viewing angles.
The present invention is directed to reducing noise and increasing conspicuity of phase contrast velocity measurements and images.

Flow measurement of incompressible fluid using divergence-free constraint

Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A system and a method for testing information handling systems is provided. The system includes a top cover having a memory circuit and a bottom platform for receiving a test printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including a slot. The system includes a sensor determining the relative position of the memory circuit and the slot; and a host controller coupled to the test PCBA and the sensor through a port. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable and executable code is also provided. The code instructs a processor in a host controller in a test fixture to load a memory circuit on a crane; engage a sub-module carrying the memory circuit; load a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA); place a memory device on a slot in the PCBA; perform a system test on the PCBA; disengage the sub-module and the test fixture.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is related to the field of test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to memory installation in test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing.
2. Description of Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use similar to financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing typically use memory circuits inserted into slots provided by the circuits and boards under test. Memory circuits provided to a test fixture supply the memory needed by the circuit and board to perform test operations scheduled by the test fixture. In a manufacturing environment, hundreds and even thousands of boards and circuits are tested, as described above, in a few hours. Typically, the process of placing the memory circuits in the test bed is performed by hand.
Hand installation of the memory circuits in a test fixture has several drawbacks. First, the procedure is physically exhaustive and painful for the operator. Second, and as a result of the first reason, manual installation of the memory in a test fixture increases the propensity for error in the process. Third, and related to the first two reasons, the number of false errors in the test procedure increases when memory installation is manual. Indeed, operator exhaustion increases the likelihood of errors in placing the memory circuit into the slot. Thus, a circuit or board under test may fail a test simply because the memory circuit is not properly inserted in the slot. Thus, there is an increased cost in product turnover when a circuit needs to be tested more than once to correct a bad memory connectivity issue at the point of test. In addition, the continuous handling of memory circuits used for testing and the stress on the slot connectors or 'sinks' in the circuit board result in accelerated degradation of the memory circuits. Thus, memory circuits need to be continuously checked and replaced in state-of-the-art testing platforms. Also, there is the potential to damage the circuit board under test. In particular, manual handling of memory circuits may damage delicate components in the slot sinks.
What is needed is a system and a method for memory installation in a functional test fixture that avoids test errors while preserving the circuit board components and reduces the cost of testing. What is also needed is a system and a method that provides a fast and reliable test platform for printed circuit boards (PCBAs) in information handling systems.

System and methods for memory installation in functional test fixture


Implementations are described herein for analyzing vision data depicting undesirable plants such as weeds to detect various attribute(s). The detected attribute(s) of a particular undesirable plant may then be used to select, from a plurality of available candidate remediation techniques, the most suitable remediation technique to eradicate or otherwise eliminate the undesirable plants.

Weeds and other undesirable plants constitute a major cost for the agricultural industry. Many weeds can be treated with herbicides, but for a variety of reasons there is increasing resistance to their use. Herbicides can be expensive, especially when applied in a non-targeted, blanket manner. Herbicides are also coming under increasing environmental scrutiny for their role in contaminating groundwater and other water sources. There is a perception that chemicals used in agriculture may be harmful to human health from extended exposure, putting pressure on growers to stop using them. Additionally, with the increasing popularity of organic farming—for which non-organic herbicides are not typically permitted—organic herbicides may be cost-ineffective and/or inefficient. And many undesirable plants are developing resistance to herbicides.
With recent advances in artificial intelligence it has become practical to identify and classify individual plants as undesirable based on various types of sensor data, particularly two-dimensional ("2D") vision data. For example, robots can travel through a field acquiring vision data that can be analyzed to identify/classify undesirable plants such as weeds or other interlopers. However, weeds come in numerous different types, morphologies, sizes, maturity levels, and/or arrangements relative to other, desired plants. This makes weed management challenging for robots, which are typically better at homogenous tasks.


A voltage regulator controller having a means for automatic configuration in response to accessory devices is taught. Briefly stated, voltage regulator controller has a backplane which allows for interfacing with a plurality of accessory type modules such as communications modules, I/O modules and the like. The voltage regulator controller interrogates this bus and hence the accessory devices attached thereto and automatically configures the accessory devices found and activates appropriate handling algorithms for each device found.

Voltage regulators have been in existence and use for quite some time. It is known that they are a necessary part of any efficiently operated power distribution network or grid system, particularly when inefficient operation can result in significant lost revenue or maintenance problems.
As such, voltage regulators are being used with increasing frequency. Since they are such an important part of a modern distribution system there is an increasing need and desirability for providing remote as well as more sophisticated operation and monitoring of these voltage regulators as well as interconnection of voltage regulators via their controllers in order to accomplish this.
Heretofore, whenever options, accessories, features and the like have been utilized with voltage regulator controllers, such options, accessories and features are typically factory installed. There, any configuration specific items for handling these additional devices was done in the factory and required specialized installation procedures as well as different program loads for differently configured controllers. Some configuration options were even set via DIP Switches on an expansion board.
However, even if changes or additions to the voltage regulator controller (and hence the voltage regulator) were done in the field, it was frequently necessary to completely reconfigure the voltage regulator controller which typically required that the voltage regulator itself be taken out of service. This is proven to be not only inconvenient but expensive. Additionally, it also required trained technicians to install, delete or modify the accessory devices. Further, equipment changes also required particular tools, instructions and time. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, configuration and reconfiguration was more error prone since it relied on proper placement of DIP Switch settings, proper software changes, physical and electronic installation and the like.

Voltage regulator controller having means for automatic configuration of accessory devices


A grafted nonwoven substrate is disclosed having average fiber sizes of 0.7 to 15 microns, and a void volume of 50 to 95%, and a polymer comprising anionic monomer units grafted to the surface of the nonwoven substrate. The article may be used as a filter element to purify or separate target materials, such as monoclonal antibodies (MAb), from a fluid mixture.

Detection, quantification, isolation and purification of target biomaterials, such as viruses and biomacromolecules (including constituents or products of living cells, for example, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids) have long been objectives of investigators. Detection and quantification are important diagnostically, for example, as indicators of various physiological conditions such as diseases. Isolation and purification of biomacromolecules, such as monoclonal antibodies, produced from cell cultures are important for therapeutic and in biomedical research. Biomacromolecules such as enzymes have been isolated, purified, and then utilized for the production of sweeteners, antibiotics, and a variety of organic compounds such as ethanol, acetic acid, lysine, aspartic acid, and biologically useful products such as antibodies and steroids.
Chromatographic separation and purification operations can be performed on biological product mixtures, based on the interchange of a solute between a moving phase, which can be a gas or liquid, and a stationary phase. Separation of various solutes of the solution mixture is accomplished because of varying binding interactions of each solute with the stationary phase; stronger binding interactions generally result in longer retention times when subjected to the dissociation or displacement effects of a mobile phase compared to solutes which interact less strongly and, in this fashion, separation and purification can be effected.
Most current capture or purification chromatography is done via conventional column techniques. These techniques have severe bottlenecking issues in downstream purification, as the throughput using chromatography is low. Attempts to alleviate these issues include increasing the diameter of the chromatography column, but this in turn creates challenges due to difficulties of packing the columns effectively and reproducibly. Larger column diameters also increase the occurrence of problematic channeling. Also, in a conventional chromatographic column, the absorption operation is conducted until a predetermined loading of the resin with the binding chemical species, so as to not have breakthrough of the species; this is done either to prevent loss of valuable product, or to prevent contaminants from continuing to remain in the flow-through). This causes the dynamic or effective capacity of the adsorption media to be significantly less than the overall or static capacity.
When using a selective Protein A column, small amounts of contamination remaining after the primary capture steps will bind to the Protein A resin in the column. This contamination, albeit at a low concentration, will be released during product elution. The product fluid stream will need to be "polished" to remove the trace impurities such as host cell proteins and viruses to make a safe viable pharmaceutical or biological product.
Polymeric resins are widely used for the separation and purification of various target compounds. For example, polymeric resins can be used to purify or separate a target compound based on the presence of an ionic group, based on the size of the target compound, based on a hydrophobic interaction, based on an affinity interaction, or based on the formation of a covalent bond. There is a need in the art for functionalized membranes that overcome limitations in diffusion and binding, and that may be operated at high throughput and at lower pressure drops. There is a need in the art for polymeric substrates having enhanced affinity for selective removal of biocontaminates, such host cell proteins, cell debris, DNA fragments, viruses and cell debris from biological feed-streams in the production of monoclonal antibodies. There is also the need to have functionalized structures that overcome diffusion and productivity limitations in bind-and-elute operations, wherein the valuable antibody product is bound to a ligand so as to allow clearance of impurities such as leached Protein A, to be eluted after a predetermined loading of the antibody is reached.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Cloud data storage systems, methods, and techniques partition system data symbols into predefined-sized groups and then encode each group to form corresponding parity symbols, encode all data symbols into global redundant symbols, and store each symbol (data, parity, and redundant) in different failure domains in a manner that ensures independence of failures. In several implementations, the resultant cloud-encoded data features both data locality and ability to recover up to a predefined threshold tolerance of simultaneous erasures (unavailable data symbols) without any information loss. In addition, certain implementations also feature the placement of cloud-encoded data in domains (nodes or node groups) to provide similar locality and redundancy features simultaneous with the recovery of an entire domain of data that is unavailable due to software or hardware upgrades or failures.

Cloud data storage (CDS) describes data storage available as a service to a user via a network. A typical CDS system comprises storage nodes such as a cluster of interconnected storage servers made available to a client via a network (such as the Internet). In general, the design of CDS systems is governed by three basic considerations or tradeoffs: reliability, locality, and redundancy. First, the system should reliably store the data in a recoverable form such that no data is lost when up to a threshold number ("bounded number" or "bounds") of storage nodes or machines of the CDS system data center fail or otherwise become unavailable. Second, the data stored in the CDS system should be readily available and recoverable by accessing only a small number of other machines in the system ("locality") for any combination of CDS system failures that are within the bounds. Third, the system should optimize the overall size (and cost) of storage resources by minimizing the storage of redundant data.
Designing CDS systems that perform well with respect to all three competing considerations poses a substantial challenge. Conventional CDS systems employ a solution based on either replication or Reed Solomon encoding (RSE). The replication approach is where each file is replicated and stored on different machines to yield good reliability and locality but does little to minimize redundancy (thus leading to high costs). The RSE approach, on the other hand, groups pieces of data together into blocks that are encoded using an optimal erasure code (known as the Reed Solomon code or RSC) to yield good reliability and redundancy but, since any data recovery necessarily involves a large number of machines, provides poor locality.
In addition, the nodes or machines of a CDS system are typically organized into clusters that constitute upgrade domains where software and hardware upgrades are applied to all machines in a single domain at the same time, effectively rendering all data stored within that domain temporarily unavailable. For upgrade efficiency, optimal design considerations also require that the number of upgrade domains to be relatively small. Consequently, a significant challenge for a CDS system is placing data (system data and encoded redundant data) onto a small number of upgrade domains in a manner that keeps data available when certain machines are inaccessible due to failures even when an entire domain is inaccessible due to an upgrade.

Cloud data storage using redundant encoding


A drogue parachute assembly may comprise a canopy housing and a mortar. The mortar may include an inner mortar tube and an outer mortar tube configured to telescope relative to the inner mortar tube. The canopy housing may be coupled to the outer mortar tube. A guide plate may be configured to contact an interface surface of the canopy housing and pivot the mortar about a pivot joint.

During ejection events, an ejection seat may be propelled from an aircraft cockpit. The ejection seats may include parachute systems configured to reduce the velocity of the ejection seat and its occupant and deliver the seat and/or the occupant safely to land or sea. The parachute systems may include a drogue parachute, which may deploy rapidly in response to expulsion of the ejection seat from the cockpit. The drogue parachute may decelerate and stabilize the ejection seat to enable safe deployment of a main parachute.
The drogue bridle (also referred to as risers) attaches the drogue parachute to the ejection seat. The drogue bridle is usually routed around the rocket cutout in the seatback such that the seatback can be installed into the cockpit with the rocket already attached to the actuator. The bridle is folded and tacked along the seat back frame to prevent interference with other ejection system structures This routing and tacking tends to be tedious and time consuming for installers.

Interior drogue parachute assembly for ejection seats


An adapter plate to provide a stable supporting transition between the curvature of an exposed log in a log-construction building and electrical components to be installed into the log includes a substantially flat front side, a curved back side, and a center opening. The back side is provided with a smooth curvature complimentary to the curvature of the exposed log surface for snug installation thereto and tracking engagement therewith. The center opening is sized to slidably receive an electrical box into which the component is to be installed. The front side is configured to support the electrical box and for snug installation of the cover plate. The adapter plate is configurable for use with one or more electrical boxes ganged together. The adapter plate conceals the entire electrical box and the space between the component and the log.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an adapter plate for use with electrical switches, electrical outlets and similar components installed into exposed logs in log-construction buildings such as, but not limited to, as commonly encountered in log homes.
More particularly, the invention relates to an adapter plate that transitions between the curvature of the exposed side of such construction logs and the exposed boxes, components and covers to be installed into the logs.
2. Description of Related Art
Installation of electrical switches, electrical outlets and similar components into exposed logs of log-construction buildings presents several challenges. Unlike new building construction, access to installation locations is limited due to the relatively solid nature of log walls. Wiring, junction boxes, outlet and switch boxes, and other electrical wiring components must typically be installed through or into the relatively solid logs after the logs are secured in position in the building. In the trades, this is commonly known as rework type wiring because, for example, holes must often be drilled through the logs to run wiring, and holes must be formed in the logs for installation of switch and outlet boxes after the logs are secured in place.
As relates to the present invention, the curvature of the exposed sides of the logs creates difficulties when installing electrical outlets, switches and like components because such components are configured for normal installation into flat walls. In particular, the back sides of such components, such as mounting tabs on rework-type electrical boxes, and the back sides of conventional outlet and switch covers are generally flat, or provided with a flat perimeter for snug installation against a flat wall. Therefore, such components are not conveniently or desirably installed snugly against the curvature of an exposed log, and attempting direct snug installation of such components onto the curvature of a log can result in deformation of the components, or cracking of breaking in the case of plastic components. And even if installed, there is the likelihood of an aesthetically undesirable and unsafe space between the face of the log and the back sides of such components.
The conventional technique to overcome these difficulties is to create a flat surface area on the exposed curvature of a log of a size suitable for accommodation of the back side of the switch or outlet cover, or other component as required, and then hollow out the log in the center of the flat area for installation of the components into the opening in the log and securing to the flat surface surrounding the opening in the log. However, this is a labor intensive, and therefore, relatively expensive technique.
Installation of electrical outlets, switches and other such components into construction logs should not be such a difficult task. It would be convenient if such components could be installed into construction logs with the same basic techniques as used for installation into existing walls. Accordingly, there is a need for a device method that eliminates the need to establish a flat surface on the construction log prior to installation of such electrical components.

Adapter plate for electrical components installed into exposed logs in log-construction buildings


A new New Guinea Impatiens plant particularly distinguished by large, round, flat to slightly cup-shaped deep purple flowers, early flowering, deep green foliage with large leaves, and a medium size plant habit that is round and bushy, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri W. Bull, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Fisnics Purdeep'. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization made in the year 2002 in Hillscheid, Germany. The female parent was the proprietary New Guinea Impatiens plant 'K02-1080-1' (unpatented), while the male parent was the proprietary New Guinea Impatiens plant 'K02-9604-2' (unpatented). The seeds produced by the hybridization were sown in Portugal in the late Fall of 2002. A single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation in April 2003 in Moncarapacho, near Faro, Portugal.
The new cultivar was created in 2002 in Hillscheid, Germany and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Moncarapacho, Portugal and Hillscheid, Germany over a two-year period. 'Fisnics Purdeep' has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for in Switzerland on Mar. 30, 2005 and in Canada on Apr. 20, 2005.

New Guinea Impatiens plant named ‘Fisnics Purdeep’


A monoclonal antibody which specifically binds with an E2A/pbx1 fusion epitope.

The t(1;19)(q23,pl3.3) chromosomal translocation creates a fusion protein named E2A/pbxl (Kamps M P, et al., Cell 60:547-555, 1990; Nourse J, et al. Cell, 60:535-545, 1990). This protein is detected in 25% of childhood pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) (Carroll A J, et al. Blood, 63:761-764, 1984; Williams D, et al. Cell, 36:101-109, 1984) and has also been reported to be present in some cases of adult ALL (Ohno H, et al. Internal Medicine, 32:584-587, 1993).
In normal B cells, the E2A gene encodes 3 transcription factors E12, E47, and ITF-1/E2-5 by alternative splicing of a common messenger RNA (Hanthom P, Science 1990; 247:467-470; Nelson C, et al. Genes Dev 4:1035-1043, 1990). These proteins belong to the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors. It has been shown that this family of proteins forms homo and hetero dimers by interaction through their bHLH motifs. These complexes form tissue-specific transcriptional regulatory factors involved in various developmental pathways (Kadesch T., Immuno Today 13:31-36, 1992; Hu L Olson EN, et al. Mol Cell Biol, 12:1031-1042, 1992; Murre C, Biochem Biophys Acta, 1218:129-135, 1994). Pbx1 belongs to a homeobox gene family whose members are pbx1, pbx2, and pbx3. Pbx1 is expressed in all tissues except B- and T-cell lineages. The homeodomain of pbx1 binds to the sequence ATCAATCAA (VanDijk M A, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 90:6061-6065, 1993; Ubrun D, et al. Oncogene 9:1641-1647, 1994; Lu Q Knoepfler P S, et al. Mol Cell Biol 15:3786-3795, 1995). Based on the high degree of homology of pbx1 homeodomain to yeast a1 and a2, two transcriptional repressors, it has been suggested that pbx1 might act similarly as a transcriptional repressor in mammalian cells (Kamps M P, et al., Cell 60:547-555, 1990; Nourse J, et al. Cell, 60:535-545, 1990).
The E2A/pbx1 fusion protein consists of an N-terminal portion of 483 amino acids of the E2A protein fused with 342 or 259 amino acids from the C-terminus of pbx1 (Kamps M P, et al., Cell 60:547-555, 1990; Nourse J, et al. Cell, 60:535-545, 1990). The different sizes of the pbx1 portion results from a splice variant of pbx1 which deletes a region of the pbx1 c-terminus to the homeobox domain. The junction in both forms is identical (Kamps M P, et al., Genes & Dev. 5:358-365, 1991). The bHLH and DNA binding domains of E2A are deleted as a result of the t(1;19) translocation, but the activation domain of E2A is still retained in the fusion protein. It has been shown that a reporter gene construct containing pbx1 homeodomain DNA binding sequence is transactivated by E2A/pbx1 but not by pbx1 (VanDijk M A, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 90:6061-6065, 1993). This leads to the postulation that the spacially and temporally incorrect activation of pbx1 responsive genes contributes to the pre-B-ALL phenotype (VanDijk M A, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 90:6061-6065, 1993; Ubrun D, et al. Oncogene 9:1641-1647, 1994; Lu Q Knoepfler P S, et al. Mol Cell Biol 15:3786-3795, 1995). Transgenic mice studies, however, show that the E2A region is essential and the pbx1 homeodomain is dispensable for the development of malignant lymphomas (Monica K, et al. Mol Cell Biol 14:8304-8314, 1994). This finding suggests that the oncogenesis might be due to interactions between cellular proteins with E2A/pbx1 instead of homeodomain-DNA interactions. Little is known about the oncogenic mechanism conferred by the E2A/pbx1 chimeric protein. Although leukemic patients carrying the t(1;19) translocation are associated with a poorer prognosis, it is not known how this genetic abnormality confers such aggressive behavior. Over 85% of ALL patients with t(1;19) expressing E2A/pbx1 transcripts exhibit the same breakpoint (Hunger S P, et al. Blood 77:687-692, 1991; Izraeli S, et al. Blood 80:1413-1417, 1992).
Berendes et al., Leukemia, 9:1321-1327, 1995, disclose a polyclonal antiserum which was generated using the fusion-point E2A-pbx1 peptide LSRPPDSYSYLSIR.
To date, attempts to raise monoclonal antibodies to the E2A/pbx1 fusion protein have failed to result in monoclonal antibodies immunospecific for the E2A/pbx1 fusion proteins alone. It has been found that an antigenic peptide spanning the junction region, which includes the amino acid sequence PDSYS (SEQ. ID. NO. 1), contributed from the E2A protein, does not result in the production of fusion specific monoclonal antibodies.

E2A/pbx1 fusion protein specific monoclonal antibodies


An electronic device, in particular a safety device, for occupants of a vehicle has a push-pull output element controlled by an astable flip-flop with outputs via decoupling elements. The astable flip-flop and the decoupling elements receive operating voltage over a switching element that switches at a given acceleration threshold.

An electronic safety device-for occupants of a vehicle is known, for example, from the journal article 1141 in Ingenieurs de l'Automobile (1982) No. 6, pp. 69-77. For conventional safety devices of this type, the protection means for the occupants, such as an air bag and/or seat belt tensioner or the like is released by activating a "squib," or firing pellet, at the output element of an electronic circuit. The squib, basically in the form of a resistor wire, is activated using a current generated by the car battery itself or by a capacitor provided as a reserve power source. In response to a sensor signal indicating an accident situation provided by an acceleration-sensitive sensor, the entire current necessary to activate the squib is supplied at once to the squib. Normally, no interruption of the ignition process is provided or possible.
Recently the applicant has developed some particularly smart safety devices, wherein the amount of energy required for activating the ignition element or squib is supplied not at one time, but as if in packets in the form of a number of current pulses over time. This principle, known in the industry as AC ignition, allows for a particularly sensitive ignition of the ignition elements, allowing intervention in and influencing the ignition process even after the start of the ignition process. It is even possible to interrupt an ignition process already initiated if, for example, on the basis of the current measured values of the acceleration-sensitive sensor it is established that an acceleration signal initially deemed as particularly critical was not actually caused by a critical accident situation.


A semiconductor storage device according to an embodiment of the invention includes a semiconductor substrate and a plurality of memory cells on the semiconductor substrate. A first film is provided above the memory cells to form air gaps above a memory string in which the memory cells are connected in series.

For downscaling and high integration of a semiconductor storage device such as a NAND flash memory, the width of word lines (control gates) or the interval between adjacent ones of the word lines has been narrowed. When the interval between adjacent ones of the word lines is narrowed, a dielectric breakdown or a leak current may occur between the adjacent ones of the word lines. To suppress the dielectric breakdown or the leak current, provision of an air gap (a hollow) between adjacent ones of the word lines is considered. Because a relative permittivity of the air gap (that is, air) is lower than that of an insulating film such as a silicon dioxide film, the air gap between adjacent ones of the word lines can reduce a parasitic capacitance between the adjacent ones of the word lines and enhance the withstanding pressure between the adjacent ones of the word lines.
However, when an insulating film is formed on the word lines, the insulating film is shrunk by heat treatment or the like and pulls the word lines to apply a tensile stress to the word lines. Therefore, when an air gap is provided between adjacent ones of the word lines, the word lines are curved due to the tensile stress. When the word lines are curved, charge retention properties of memory cells corresponding to the word lines are deteriorated.
For example, when an air gap is provided between adjacent ones of memory cells in a memory string, memory cells on both ends of the memory string are pulled by an insulating film on the memory string toward the center of the memory string. In this case, charge retention properties of the memory cells on the both ends of the memory string are deteriorated.

Semiconductor storage device having communicated air gaps between adjacent memory cells


A method is disclosed for improving the quality of photographs taken in low-light conditions by adjustment of shutter speed and digital gain based on a shutter prioritization value. Using a network of sensor, a digital camera processes various parameters, such as luminance of the scene and movement of the camera or of subjects within the scene, to compute a shutter prioritization value. The value is then used to select the most appropriate shutter speed and digital gain combination from a constant exposure curve. Higher prioritization values correspond to faster shutter speeds and higher digital gain. Lower prioritization values correspond to lower shutter speeds and lower digital gain. In further embodiments, the shutter prioritization value may be manually customized by a user in order to produce artistic effects.

Technical Field
This disclosure relates to digital camera systems, and more specifically, to optimization of shutter speed for improved performance in low-light situations.
Description of the Related Art
Nearly all digital cameras available today automatically configure a multitude of photo capture parameters in order to optimize photographic performance. These parameters include shutter speed, digital gain (ISO), and aperture size. In order to configure these parameters, the camera processes sensory information gathered from a variety of sensors—including accelerometers and gyroscopes that measure motion of the camera and light sensors that measure the luminance of a scene. In most cases, a single auto-exposure (AE) algorithm, which is executing continuously on the camera, integrates and processes this and other sensor information and optimizes each of the photo capture parameters at the time of photo capture.
Standard auto-exposure algorithms typically produce high-quality results when a scene is sufficiently illuminated. Examples include professional photo shoots, outdoor daytime shooting, and indoor shooting with artificial light. However, in low-light situations, especially when either the camera or objects in the scene are in motion, auto-exposure algorithms often fail to produce high-quality results. Photos are often too dark, too grainy, or too blurry.


A decoration-used mold unit for defining a border on a work piece to facilitate cutting or milling. The mold unit includes an elongated rectangular main body formed with a first window for processing a first sink and a second window for processing a second sink. A first chucking section protrudes from a first side of the main body. A second chucking section protrudes from a second side of the main body. At least one abutting member is adjustably arranged at the second chucking section. The first chucking section and the abutting member respectively abut against two opposite sides of the work piece to clamp the work piece. In the processing procedure, the blade is restricted within the first and second windows so that the work piece will not be over-milled and the borders of the sinks keep straight.

The present invention is related to a decoration-used mold unit for defining a border on a work piece to facilitate cutting or milling. In the milling procedure, the blade is restricted within a certain range without over-cutting the work piece.
In decoration, when installing a wooden door, it is necessary for a carpenter to use a chisel to chisel the door to form desired channels or sinks for mounting a lock and a bolt.
Please refer to FIG. 5. A carpenter first marks the boarder 8 of the installation region of the lock on the door and then uses the chisel 7 to chisel the border 8. Then the region within the border 8 is chiseled by a certain thickness to form a sink 81 in accordance with the bolt. However, during the chiseling, a certain thickness 82 must be reserved near the face of the door to keep the door face tidy.
The border is manually chiseled one by one with the chisel 7. It is so hard to have the border straight. As a result, it often takes place that the lock or the bolt cannot be snugly installed into the sink 81. Under such circumstance, the carpenter needs to repeatedly fix the border. This is quite time-consuming and laborious. Moreover, it often takes place the thickness 82 between the door face and the sink 81 is incautiously broken by the worker when fixing the border. Under such circumstance, it is necessary to reinforce the thickness 82. This will waste the working time and affect the working quality.


A computerized voting system has a central computer, regional computers and voting modules connected to a data transfer link for communication with one another. The voting modules access the central computer database under control of the central computer control center. Voter data is created at one of the voting modules and communicated to the database for storage. Input voter data for a given voter at any one of the plurality of voting modules during an election is compared to the stored data for the given voter to verify that the given voter is eligible to vote. Access to the stored voter data for the given voter during an election is restricted to prevent the given voter from voting more than once during the election.

Voting machines have been used for years to accept, record and tabulate votes cast during an election so that election results can be available in a matter of a few hours instead of the several hours or days that were once necessary. Voting machines have eliminated some voting irregularities, such as the problem of stuffing ballot boxes, that existed with paper ballots. More modem voting machines can tabulate votes and have election results available within a few minutes after the polls are closed. While modern voting machines speed the voting process, problems still exist.
One problem is ensuring that the person voting is actually the registered person entitled to vote and not an impostor. Sometimes, voter identification is not checked at the polling place. At other times, identification is verified by comparing a voter's vehicle driver's license or passport against the registered voter list. While this process is helpful, a driver's license picture does not always clearly resemble the person, and it does not guard against a forged driver's license or passport. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a form of identification that is more definitive than a driver's license or passport photograph.
Another problem is ensuring that a voter votes only once. Sometimes, a voter's name is checked against the registered voter list at the single polling place where the voter is entitled to vote. While helpful, it does not eliminate the problem because a person's name may fail to appear on the voter's list for a number of reasons. When a name fails to appear, a voting official calls to determine whether a person is entitled to vote. When a person changes addresses resulting in a change of polling places and his name is omitted from the list at the new polling place, a call is made and the person allowed to vote at the new place. Sometimes, when the name is absent from the list at the new voting place, it is still on the list at the old voting place which makes it possible for a person to vote twice. In some places, a voter may vote at any one of several polling places thereby creating the potential for a voter to cast multiple votes. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a master voter list to which individual voter lists at polling sites are linked to prevent duplicate voting.


A compressor wheel device comprises a compressor wheel attached to a rotary shaft and a thrust collar attached to the rotary shaft at a back surface of the compressor wheel. The compressor wheel includes: a wheel body part with a hub and at least one blade provided on an outer peripheral surface of the hub; and a sleeve part having a cylindrical shape projecting along an axis direction from a back surface of the hub and having an outer peripheral surface on which a sealing groove extending along a peripheral direction is formed. The thrust collar has a circular plate-like shape including: one surface including an abutting surface abutting on an end surface of the sleeve part and extending along a radial direction; and the other surface including a slidably-contacting surface slidably contacting a thrust bearing supporting the rotary shaft in a thrust direction and extending along the radial direction.

One compressor wheel to be mounted on a supercharger includes a hub and a plurality of blades provided on an outer peripheral surface of the hub, and a through hole penetrating the hub in an axis direction is formed. This compressor wheel has what is called a through-bore configuration in which a rotary shaft is passed through the through hole and a nut is threadedly engaged with a projection projecting from a wheel front edge of the rotary shaft, thereby coupling the compressor wheel mechanically to the rotary shaft.
The foregoing through-bore configuration is known to cause a stress concentration part at an inner peripheral surface of the foregoing through hole. The stress concentration part occurs in the vicinity of a maximum outer diameter position. For example, while a compressor to be mounted on commercial vehicles, industrial superchargers, etc. is required to achieve a high pressure ratio, an outlet temperature at the compressor is increased in response to increase in the pressure ratio. This makes creep strength at the foregoing stress concentration part problematic. Using a high-strength material such as titanium for the compressor wheel for ensuring creep strength is not preferred as it results in cost increase.
One compressor wheel includes a wheel body member including the hub and the blade described above, and a circular cylindrical sleeve member (see Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a compressor wheel in which an axis end surface of the sleeve member is brought into contact with the center of the rear surface of the wheel body member and a position of the contact is melted with heat generated by rotating the sleeve member, thereby attaching the wheel body part and the sleeve member to each other fixedly. Patent Document 1 further discloses what is called a boreless configuration in which a tip of the rotary shaft is threadedly engaged with a female screw part formed at an inner peripheral surface of the sleeve member to couple the compressor wheel mechanically to the rotary shaft.
In the foregoing boreless configuration, the female screw part is provided closer to a back surface than the vicinity of the maximum outer diameter position to allow reduction in the occurrence of the stress concentration part. Thus, as compared to the through-bore configuration, this eliminates the need to increase creep strength to allow corresponding reduction in material cost.

Compressor wheel device and supercharger

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINE & TURBOCHARGER, LTD.


An implant driver assembly includes an assembly for advancing a threaded implant over a wire. The assembly may include a driver tool with a proximal end, a distal end and a first engagement surface that has a first thread. The driver tool may also include a first wire passage. The assembly may further include a wire locking mechanism with a second engagement surface having a second thread. The second thread is engaged with the first thread to rotatably couple the wire locking mechanism with the driver tool. The wire locking mechanism may further include a second wire passage. The second wire passage may be substantially coaxially aligned with the first wire passage.

Surgical procedures that require the insertion of a bone screw often include the use of a wire, such as a "K-wire", to deliver the bone screw to a desired point of insertion. The K-wire is attached to a bone at a desired point of screw insertion, and extends out of the incision. The bone screw is typically cannulated, meaning the screw has a longitudinal passage extending through the screw that allows the screw to be passed over the K-wire. A cannulated driver tool is also passed over the K-wire and engaged with the screw head to drive the screw into the bone at the desired insertion point.
K-wires can create complications as the bone screw is driven over the K-wire. For example, the K-wire can be inadvertently advanced beyond the anterior margin of the bone and damage vital organs as the screw is driven into the bone. In addition, the K-wire can kink during advancement of the screw over the K-wire. These problems can occur if the trajectory of the screw is not precisely aligned with the trajectory of the K-wire.
Surgeons have used two strategies to avoid or mitigate inadvertent advancement of the K-wire. In the first strategy, the surgeon inserts the K-wire only partly into the bone to provide a margin of error that allows for some inadvertent advancement of the K-wire into the bone. This strategy is problematic because there is a risk that the K-wire will be pulled out during the procedure. In the second strategy, the surgeon uses lateral fluoroscopy to monitor the K-wire throughout the screw insertion process. If K-wire advancement is observed under lateral fluoroscopy, the surgeon halts the procedure until steps are done to prevent further advancement. This strategy is also problematic because it exposes the patient to excessive radiation. Neither strategy prevents or addresses the problem of kinking. Therefore, known methods for driving bone screws over K-wires are prone to complications and are in need of improvement.

Driver assembly with guidewire control mechanism


A fiber-composite part having one or more electronic components that are located in arbitrary regions of the internal volume of the part are fabricated using a preform charge. The preform charge has a structure that corresponds to that of the mold cavity in which the part is being formed. By incorporating the electronic components in the preform charge, such components are then precisely located, spatially oriented, and constrained, and such location and orientation is maintained during molding to produce a part with the electronic components in the desired locations and orientations within its internal volume.

For many applications, it would be desirable to have a fiber-composite part that incorporates electronic components. For such applications, incorporated electronics will typically need to be at a precise location so as to properly interface with other electronic components on other parts.
Currently, technologies for fabricating molded parts are limited in terms of their ability to "embed" electronics; that is, there is an inability to locate an electronic component at an arbitrary location within the volume of a part. An exception to this is multi-step molding techniques, such as "over-molding," wherein a portion of a part is formed with an electronic component at its surface, and then further molding steps are performed in which additional resin is added, covering the component.
In a single-step compression-molding process, however, positioning and restraining a component during molding typically requires the use of registration features, which are conventionally located at the surface of the mold. Consequently, during the molding process, the electronic component must typically be placed in the mold cavity at a location that is near to the surface of the mold to engage such features. The result is a molded part with an electronic component residing on its surface, as opposed to being at a location within its internal volume.
The aforementioned limitation is due, at least in part, to the nature of the feedstock constituents or "charge" to the molding process. In prior-art molding technologies, the charge can generally be described as having either a "particulate" or a "laminate" form factor.
Particulate-based charge (e.g., chopped-fiber segments, BMC, polymer pellets, SMC, etc.) has no inherent organization or orientation; it is usually placed near the center of a mold, with a primary focus on total mass of the charge. Indeed, particulate charge is randomly oriented throughout the molding process, so any notion of particulate alignment/orientation/organization is meaningless. As a consequence, a particulate-based charge itself cannot locate, index, or register embedded components, at least in a single-step molding process.
Laminate form factors (e.g., composite plies, resin infusion sheets, etc.) provide a single dimension of indexing capability. In particular, a ply can support/define an electronic component's "vertical" position within a part's thickness (i.e., between layers of laminate), but the plies' planar nature prevents them from registering the lateral position of the electronics.
It will be appreciated that absent sufficient constraint, electrical components can become improperly located and/or spatially oriented in a final part. Thus, it has been challenging or impossible to embed a component at a desired arbitrary location within a part's internal volume in a single-step molding process.

Method and compositions for embedding electronics in fiber-composite parts fabricated via compression molding


A system and method for fast weighing of items such as mailpieces. The system includes a scale system having a platform connected to a load cell that provides an output signal to an analog-to-digital converter. The resulting digital output signal is processed by a low pass filter and analyzed by a microprocessor to determine weights of items on the platform. The microprocessor also determines postage amounts of items on the platform. The microprocessor also determines postage amounts as functions of the weights and outputs these postage amounts to a postage meter. The microprocessor determines the weights as the median of the peak to valley difference of the digital output signal when the digital output signal peak to valley difference is less than a predetermined value. The microprocessor identifies peaks and valleys of the digital output signal by determining when the derivative of the signal changes sign. The microprocessor uses the determined first peak value to determine if the weight is below the first weight break point. The microprocessor also estimates the weight as an average of a sum of medians for N preceding cycles if the digital output signal does not converge. The postage meter initially assumes that all mailpieces have a minimum postage amount due and corrects the postage amount when a weight signal is received from the microprocessor so as to take advantage of the fact that the majority of mailpieces require only a minimum postage amount.

The present invention relates to a system and method for rapid weighing of items. More particularly it relates to scale systems used in postage metering systems to weigh, and determine postage for, mailpieces or the like.
Postal scale systems are well known. Such scale systems weigh a mailpiece and determine the appropriate postage for that mailpiece as a function of the weight. Postal mailing systems where a mailpiece is transported onto a postage scale system, the appropriate postage is determined, and the mailpiece is then transported to postage metering system for imprinting with a postal indicium representative of the postage determined are also known. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,878; issued May 10, 1988. In such systems there is a constant need to increase the rate at which the scale can determine the weight of a mailpiece in order that the throughput of the system can be increased.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,048; issued: Nov. 22, 1988, discloses one approach to decreasing the time required for a postage scale system to determine the weight of a mailpiece. The system disclosed in this patent takes advantage of the structure of postage rate charts, i.e., the function that relates the weight of the mailpiece to the appropriate postage amount. Such rate charts provide a constant postage value for all weights between a pair of predetermined weight breaks. The system of the '048 patent takes advantage of this by use of an algorithm where a first estimate of the weight is made and used to determine the postage amount unless the first estimate is within a predetermined distance of a break point, in which case a second more accurate estimate is made.
A basic cause of the delay in determining weight for a mail piece is the tendency for a scale system to oscillate in response to the arrival of the mailpiece on the system. These oscillations are damped, but only slowly arrive at a new stable output value representative of the weight of the mail piece. Heretofore systems have relied on an averaging process over a number of samples taken over a number of cycles of the oscillations to approximate the weight output. While systems using such averaging type algorithms have generally proved satisfactory in the past, presently they are approaching limits such that it is difficult to increase the throughput of postage metering systems using such algorithms. This problem can be exacerbated by the presence of external vibrations, which can slow or even prevent the scale system output from converging to a sufficiently accurate approximation of the weight.
Thus it is the object of the present invention to provide a scale system, and a postage metering system incorporating such scale system, which can more rapidly determine the weight of a mailpiece or the like.

System and method for fast weighing of items such as mailpieces


Cationic ruthenium complexes of the formula A or B or mixtures containing them,

The present invention relates to cationic ruthenium complexes which can be used, for example, as catalysts in metathesis reaction and processes for their preparation.
Olefin metathesis (disproportionation) involves, in its simplest form, a reversible, metal-catalyzed transalkylidenation of olefins by rupture and reformation of carbon-carbon double bonds. In the case of the metathesis of acyclic olefins, a distinction is made, for example, between self-metathesis in which an olefin is transformed into a mixture of two olefins having different molar masses (for example conversion of propene into ethene and 2-butene) and cross-metathesis or cometathesis in which two different olefins react (for example propene with 1-butene to give ethene and 2-pentene). Further application areas of olefin metathesis include syntheses of unsaturated polymers by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclic olefins and the acyclic diene metathesis polymerization (ADMET) of xcex1,xcfx89-dienes. More recent applications concern the selective ring opening of cyclic olefins by means of acyclic olefins, and also ring closure reactions (RCM) by means of which, preferably starting from xcex1,xcfx89-dienes, unsaturated rings of various ring sizes can be prepared.
Suitable catalysts for metathesis reactions are in principle homogeneous and heterogeneous transition metal compounds.
Heterogeneous catalysts, for example molybdenum, tungsten or rhenium oxides on inorganic oxidic supports, have high activity and regenerability in reactions of non-functionalized olefins but often have to be pretreated with an alkylating agent to increase the activity when using finctionalized olefins such as methyl oleate. Olefins having protic functional groups (such as hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups or amino groups) lead to spontaneous deactivation of the heterogeneous catalyst.
In recent years, increased efforts have been made to prepare homogeneous catalysts which are stable in protic medium and in the presence of atmospheric oxygen. Here, specific ruthenium alkylidene compounds have attracted particular interest. Such complexes and processes for their preparation are known.
WO 93/20111 describes ruthenium- and osmium carbene complexes for olefin metathesis polymerization. The complexes have the structure RuX2(xe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CR2)L2. Ligands L used are triphenylphosphine and substituted triphenylphosphine. The complexes are prepared, for example, by reacting RuCl2(PPh3)3 with suitable disubstituted cyclopropenes as carbene precursors. However, the synthesis of cyclopropene derivatives involves a number of steps and is of little interest from a commercial point of view.
Similar reactions are described in WO 96/04289. Processes for olefin metathesis polymerization are also mentioned.
Use of such catalysts for peroxide crosslinking of ROMP polymers is described in WO 97/03096.
WO 97/06185 likewise describes metathesis catalysts which are based on ruthenium carbene complexes. Apart from the above-described method, they can also be prepared by reacting RuCI2(PPh3)3 with diazoalkanes. However, handling diazoalkanes constitutes a safety risk, particularly when the process is carried out on an industrial scale.
In addition, the starting materials of the formula RuCl2(PPh3)3 have to be prepared from RuCl33H2O using a large excess of triphenylphosphine. In the catalyst synthesis itself, PPh3 ligands are again lost as a result of ligand replacement. The carbene precursors used require multistage syntheses and do not keep indefinitely.
Organometallics 1996, 15, 1960 to 1962, describes a process for preparing ruthenium complexes in which polymeric [RuCI2(cyclooctadiene)]x is reacted with hydrogen in i-propanol in the presence of phosphine. This eliminates the need for the phosphine replacement. An undefined mixture of products is obtained. In addition, long reaction times are necessary when starting from a polymeric starting material. The cyclooctadiene present in the starting material does not contribute to the reaction and is lost.
J. Chem. Soc. Commun. 1997, 1733 to 1734, describes a synthesis of the methylene complex RuCI2(xe2x95x90CH2)(PCy3)2, which starts from dichloromethane and the ruthenium polyhydride complex RuH2(H2)2(PCy3)2. However, the ruthenium polyhydride complex is difficult to obtain. In addition, long reaction times are necessary.
The above ruthenium(II) alkylidene complexes, like all other known metathesis catalysts containing electron-rich transition metals, are unsuitable, or have only limited suitability, as catalysts for metathesis reactions of electron-poor olefins such as acrylic acid or derivatives thereof.
Catalyst systems based on molybdenum and tungsten have only very limited suitability for metathesis reactions of functionalized olefins. The most active catalysts involving electron-poor transition metals, e.g. the systems of the type (RO)2M(NR)(xe2x95x90CHRxe2x80x2)(Mxe2x95x90Mo, W) described in EP-A-0 218 138, suffer not only from the disadvantage of a low activity in respect of such substrates but also the disadvantage of an extremely high sensitivity to impurities in the feed and are also of no interest from an economic point of view because of their very high preparation costs. In J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 5162 to 5163, Crowe describes the use of these catalysts for mechanistic studies on cross-metathesis reactions of acrylonitrile (H2Cxe2x95x90CHCN) with H2Cxe2x95x90CHR (Rxe2x95x90electron-donating radical) to give NCHCxe2x95x90CHR and H2Cxe2x95x90CH2, which proceed to only moderate conversions even at high catalyst concentration. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,047 describes the ring-opening cross-metathesis of cyclooctadiene with methyl methacrylate using WCl6/SnMe4 to give oligomers having carboxylic end groups.
Inexpensive catalyst systems which are stable to impurities in the feed and to atmospheric oxygen and are suitable for metathesis reactions in which electron-poor olefins participate are unknown hitherto.
It is an object of the present invention to develop a catalyst system for metathesis reactions of electron-poor olefins to enable metathesis reactions to be carried out on large-volume, basic industrial products such as acrylic acid and derivatives thereof, acrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl sulfone, etc. Apart from a high activity, a high stability to impurities in the feed and to atmospheric oxygen as well as a long operating life and inexpensive and uncomplicated synthesis from readily available raw materials should be realized.
We have found that this object is achieved by catalyst systems comprising as active components cationic ruthenium complexes of the formula A (cationic carbyne complexes) or B (cationic carbene complexes) or mixtures in which these are present,
where B may be stabilized by a further ligand L4. In the structures A and B, xe2x80x94C
Xxe2x88x92 is an anion which does not coordinate or coordinates only weakly to the metal center, for example a complex anion from main groups III to VII of the Periodic Table of the Elements, e.g. BRxe2x80x34xe2x88x92(Rxe2x80x3=F or phenyl which may be substituted by one or more fluorine atoms or by polyfluorinated or perfluorinated C1-C6-alkyl radicals, for example C6H5xe2x88x92nFn where n=1 to 5), PF6xe2x88x92, AsF6xe2x88x92, SbF6xe2x88x92, ClO4xe2x88x92, CF3SO3xe2x88x92 or FSO3xe2x88x92,
Y is a monodentate or multidentate anionic ligand,
R and Rxe2x80x2 are each, independently of one another, hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C20-alkyl, C6-C20-aryl or C7-C20-alkylaryl or aralkyl radical,
L1, L2, L3 and L4 are, independently of one another, uncharged electron donor ligands, preferably nitrogen donors, for example amines and pyridines, phosphines, arsines, stibines, bearing at least two bulky radicals such as i-propyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, methyl or the like, or else xcfx80-coordinated olefins or solvent molecules.
The groups preferably have the following meanings:
Xxe2x88x92 is BRxe2x80x34xe2x88x92 where Rxe2x80x3=F or C6H3 (m-CF3)2,
Y is halogen, preferably chlorine, or OR where Rxe2x95x90C1-C6-alkyl, C6-C12-aryl, preferably phenoxide,
R is H,
Rxe2x80x2 is C1-C6-alkyl, C6-C12-aryl, C7-C20-aralkyl, preferably methyl or benzyl,
L1, L2 are phosphines bearing at least two bulky radicals,
L3, L4 are cyclic or acyclic ethers or tertiary amines such as NMe2phenyl, NMe3, NEt3.
The synthesis of the active components A and/or B or of mixtures in which these active components are present can be carried out starting from numerous organometallic starting materials, for example
by reacting hydrido(vinylidene) complexes of the type RuY(H)(xe2x95x90Cxe2x95x90CHR)L1L2, which can be synthesized by reacting RuCIH(H2)L1L2 with terminal alkynes HCCR, with R+Xxe2x88x92, where Xxe2x88x92is a non-coordinating or weakly coordinating anion. RuCIH(H2)L2 can here be prepared as described in the literature, for example from the polymeric ruthenium precursor [RuCl2(COD)]x(COD=cyclooctadiene) in i-propanol in the presence of L under a hydrogen atmosphere (Werner et al., Organometallics 1996,15, 1960 to 1962) or starting from the same starting material in sec-butanol in the presence of L and tertiary amines (NEt3) under a hydrogen atmosphere (Grubbs et al., Organometallics 1997, 16, 3867 to 3869). RuClH(H2)L2 is also obtainable starting from RuCl3.H2O in THF by reaction with L in the presence of activated magnesium under a hydrogen atmosphere (BASF AG, DE-A-198 00 934 which has earlier priority but is not a prior publication) and is preferably reacted in situ with 1-alkynes to give the corresponding hydrido(chloro)vinylidene complexes RuClH(xe2x95x90Cxe2x95x90CHR)L2. The latter can be isolated or react in situ with H+Xxe2x88x92(Xxe2x88x92=non-coordinating anion) to give the active components A and/or B of the present invention.
By reacting compounds of the type RuYYxe2x80x2(xe2x95x90CHR)L1L2 (where Y can be the same as Yxe2x80x2) with R+Xxe2x88x92, where Xxe2x88x92 is a non-coordinating or weakly coordinating anion. Mixed-anion alkylidene complexes RuXY(xe2x95x90CHCH2R)L2 can be prepared as described in DE-A-198 00 934 starting from RuXH(xe2x95x90Cxe2x95x90CHR)L2.
By reacting compounds of the type RuYYxe2x80x2(xe2x95x90CHR)L1L2 with anion-abstracting abstracting metal salts M+Xxe2x88x92 or Lewis acids such as BF3 of AlCl3 in the presence of a ligand L3, where Xxe2x88x92 is a non-coordinating or only weakly coordinating anion and the anionic ligands Y and Yxe2x80x2 can be identical or different. MX can be, for example, AgPF4, AgB(C5F5)4, AgPF6 or AgSbF6R+Xxe2x88x92, M+Xxe2x88x92and the corresponding Lewis acids are preferably used in a molar ratio, based on the organometallic starting material, of from 1:10 to 1000:1.
Reactions to give the active components A and/or B are preferably carried out in organic solvents under an inert gas atmosphere, preferably in solvents which can stabilize an unsaturated metal center by coordination, for example aliphatic or cyclic ethers such as dioxane or THF, amines, DMSO, nitriles, phosphines, arsines, stibines, water, olefins or other two-electron donors. The reaction is preferably carried out in THF at from xe2x88x92100 to +100xc2x0 C., preferably from xe2x88x9280 to xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C., and pressures of from 1 mbar to 100 bar, preferably from 0.5 to 5 bar.
The reaction can be carried out using one or more molar equivalents of R+Xxe2x88x92. L1xe2x88x923RX formed when using excess R+Xxe2x88x92does not adversely affect the reaction. The compositions comprising the active components A and/or B obtained in this way can be used in situ as a highly active metathesis catalyst system or can be stored at low temperatures under an inert gas atmosphere. If desired, the active components A or B are used in isolated form.
The reaction is generally complete after from 1 second to 10 hours, preferably after from 3 seconds to 1 hour. Suitable reaction vessels are glass or steel vessels in general, if desired lined with ceramic.
The components A and/or B or mixtures in which these components are present are highly active metathesis catalysts for linear and cyclic olefins.
The catalyst systems can be used, inter alia, for
self-metathesis of an olefin or cross-metathesis or two or more olefins,
ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclic olefins,
selective ring opening of cyclic olefins using acyclic olefins,
acyclic diene metathesis polymerization (ADMET),
ring-closure metathesis (RCM)
and numerous metathesis variants.
In contrast to RuCl2(xe2x95x90CHR)L2, use of these catalyst systems enables for the first time electron-poor olefins of the type RaRbCxe2x95x90CRCZ, where Ra, Rb, Rc are, independently of one another, hydrogen, C1-C12-alkyl or C6-C12-aryl and Z is an electron-withdrawing radical such as CO2Rd, CONH2, COX, CN where X is halogen and Rd is hydrogen, C1-C12-alkyl or C1-C12-aryl, to be reacted efficiently and with very high activity even under mild reaction conditions. Examples which may be mentioned are acrylic acid and its derivatives, fumaric and maleic esters, maleic anhydride, vinyl chloride, methyl vinyl ketone and others.
The invention is illustrated by the examples below.

Cationic ruthenium complexes, their production and their use

Abstract: where B may be stabilized by a further ligand L4 and

Abstract: X is an anion which does not coordinate or coordinates weakly to the metal center,

Abstract: R and Rxe2x80x2 are each, independently of one another, hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C20-alkyl, C6-C20-aryl or C7-C20-alkylaryl radical and

Abstract: L1, L2, L3 and L4 are, independently of one another, uncharged electron donor ligands, are described.


A device is provided for the manual override of atmospheric light activated headlight switches. The device is placed over a switch located on the dash board of an automobile. The device has a shutter which is movable between a first position wherein light is blocked from impinging on a photosensitive panel of the switch, and a second one wherein said panel is uncovered for permitting impingement of atmospheric light onto the panel. The device and related method permit the manual override of the switch to allow a driver to easily maintain the headlights and taillights in an on status.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photo activated automatic light systems for automobiles and automobiles having such systems, and more particularly relates to control systems for photo activated automatic light systems for automobiles and automobiles having such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various systems have been developed for automatically turning on headlights and taillights when atmospheric conditions darken and then turning off such headlights and taillights when atmospheric conditions lighten. Such systems typically utilize a photovoltaic cell on the dashboard in the interior of the automobile adjacent the windshield to act as a switch dependent upon the amount of light striking the cell surface. These prior systems also typically utilize a time delay mechanism in order to not turn the lights on or off whenever the dark or light conditions are merely temporary. Manually turning on the lights during daylight can result in annoying warning bells activating during opening of the car door and/or can result in undesired battery drainage if the lights are left on after the engine has been turned off. Some drivers desire that their headlights and taillights be on during day and night conditions, but also desire that the headlights and taillights automatically turn off within a reasonable time after the engine has been turned off.
Consequently, there is a need and a desire to solve these problems and improve conventional photo activated automatic light systems.

Manual override device for automobiles having photo activated automatic light systems


An athletic aid specially designed for track and field participants. Design intent is to provide a simple yet effective tool in improving starting techniques and increasing speed when coming out of starting blocks. Resistance means is provided. Further, proper muscle memory is promoted via a chin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of sporting apparatuses and more specifically relates to the quick start to drive force.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sports are a common-place activity in modern society. Many individuals participate in sports for entertainment, for competition, for promoting fitness, as amateurs or for making a living as a professional athlete. Sports may be team or individual in nature. Sporting events may include for example football, hockey, tennis, track and field and soccer. Athletes strive to be stronger, faster and look to apparatuses to help them in these endeavors. Athletes also look to develop proper form which may not be easy to achieve. Many athletes that compete in track and field running events desire that they would have a safe, reliable means to train and efficiently leave the blocks in a proper posture.
Various attempts have been made to solve problems found in sporting and training apparatus art. Among these are found in: U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,065 to Thomas M. Glassburner et al; U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0049114 to Scott R. Watterson et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,377 to Robert L. Boughner et al. This prior art is representative of sporting apparatuses. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a quick start to drive force system should provide a simple yet effective tool in improving starting techniques and increasing speed when coming out of starting blocks and, yet would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable quick start to drive force system to avoid the above-mentioned problems.


According to the method of manufacturing refined oil of the present invention, refined oil which has a viscosity of 20 cst or lower at 135° C., a pour point of 30° C. or lower, an alkali metal content of 1 wt ppm or less, a vanadium content of 10 wt ppm or less and a sulfur content of 0.3 wt % or lower can be prepared, by bringing feed oil into contact with hydrogen in the presence of the demetalizing/desulfurizing catalyst 3 and the hydrogenolysis catalyst 5. This method can decrease the viscosity, pour point and sulfur concentration of the refined oil to sufficiently low levels, and decreases the production cost.

The combined cycle power generation has been commercially practiced in which a gas turbine is driven by a gas of high temperature and high pressure that is generated by burning a fuel such as natural gas, while steam generated by using waste heat from the gas turbine is used to drive a steam turbine.
While natural gas is predominantly used as the fuel for these gas turbines, use of natural gas involves problems such as the high cost of storing and transporting the natural gas.
To avoid these problems, technologies have recently been developed to manufacture refined oil, which can be used as the gas turbine fuel oil, instead of the natural gas, from crude oil.
Japanese Patent Publication, First Publication No. 6-209600 discloses a technology to prepare refined oil which is preferably used as the gas turbine fuel oil by having low-sulfur crude oil react with hydrogen in the presence of a desulfurizing catalyst, thereby reducing the content of sulfur and heavy metals in the refined oil.
However, since the method disclosed in the publication mentioned above requires the use of low-sulfur crude oil as the raw material, a large amount of sulfur is included in the refined oil in the case of crude oil which has a high sulfur content is used. This results in the exhaust gas from the gas turbine containing a large amount of sulfur oxide, which is a problem that must be solved for environmental conservation.
Japanese Patent Publication, First Publication No. 2000-273467 (first publication date: Oct. 3, 2000) discloses a technique for producing a gas turbine fuel oil by hydrogenation of gas oil which has been obtained from crude oil through processes such as fractional distillation and solvent deasphalting, in the presence of a demetalizing/desulfurizing catalyst.
This method of refining gas oil by hydrogenation is capable of yielding refined oil suitable as a fuel having a viscosity of 4 cst or less, an alkali metal content of 1 wt ppm or less, a lead content of 1 wt ppm or less, a vanadium content of 0.5 wt ppm or less, a calcium content of 2 wt ppm or less, and a sulfur content of 500 wt ppm or less.
However, this method of manufacturing refined oil has problems such as the following.
(1) When heavy species of oil (heavy oil which includes a large amount of high-boiling point components and high concentration of ashphaltene such as, for example, crude oil, atmospheric residue, vacuum residue, deasphalted oil made from these species of oil through solvent deasphalting, vacuum gas oil and tar sand) are used as the feed oil, the viscosity of the refined oil prepared may be higher than the value described above. Use of such refined oil as the fuel results in problems such as poor atomizing characteristics of the fuel oil and poor combustion characteristics in the gas turbine.
(2) Although it is possible, even when a heavy species of oil is used as the feed oil, to lower the viscosity and pour point of the gas oil which is charged to hydrogenation refining process by regulating the operating conditions of the fractional distillation process and solvent deasphalting process while decreasing the yield of the refined oil, this leads to higher production cost due to the lower yield of the refined oil.
(3) Also, when heavy species of oil are used as the feed oil for the purpose of preparing refined oil for broad applications such as petrochemical industrial material, too it is possible to lower the viscosity and pour point of the refined oil by increasing the reaction temperature and pressure of the hydrogenation refining process. However, the effects tend to be insufficient, and in addition, increases in the operation cost and equipment cost cannot be avoided.

Refined oil and process for producing the same


An acoustic-attenuating wall panel for a nacelle of a turbine engine may include a radiused portion. The radiused portion may include an airflow surface having a concave configuration and which may be exposed to an airflow passing through the nacelle. The radiused portion may include an acoustic attenuating section.

Many commercial passenger aircraft use bypass gas turbine engines for propulsion. In a bypass turbine engine, ambient air enters an engine inlet and is pressurized and accelerated rearwardly by a fan located near the inlet. A relatively small portion of the pressurized air from the fan is passed into a core engine where the air is mixed with fuel and ignited causing combustion and expansion of the fuel-air mixture. The expansion of the fuel-air mixture rotatably drives the fan. The discharge of the combustion gas from the exhaust nozzle adds to the propulsive thrust of the gas turbine engine. A relatively large portion of the pressurized air from the fan passes through a fan duct that surrounds the core engine. The air exiting the fan duct may provide a significant portion of the propulsive thrust of the gas turbine engine.
In certain bypass turbine engines such as those having thrust reversers, the fan duct is bifurcated or divided by a pair of inner walls into two semi-circular fan ducts. Each one of the inner walls may include a semi-circular barrel portion that generally surrounds the core engine. The inner wall may also include an upper wall portion and a lower wall portion extending radially from circumferential ends of the barrel portion. The upper and lower wall portion may be coupled to diametrically-opposite sides (e.g., upper and lower sides) of a fan duct outer wall (e.g., a fan reverser cowl). The bifurcated fan duct arrangement provides improved accessibility to the engine interior for inspection and maintenance.
The operating efficiency and performance of a gas turbine engine may be enhanced by improving the aerodynamics of the airflow through the fan duct. For example, the fuel efficiency of a gas turbine engine may be improved by minimizing or eliminating protrusions in the wetted airflow surface of the fan duct. In addition, the specific performance of the gas turbine engine may be improved by minimizing the weight of the engine components such as the weight of the fan duct inner walls and outer walls. Furthermore, the noise output of a gas turbine engine may be reduced by acoustically treating the wetted surface area of the fan duct that is exposed to the airflow.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need in the art for a system and method improving the aerodynamics of the fan duct of a gas turbine engine and for reducing the weight of the fan duct components such that the performance of the engine may be improved. In addition, there exists a need in the art for a system and method for increasing the amount of fan duct wetted surface area that can be acoustically treated as a means for increasing the capacity for effecting noise reduction in the gas turbine engine.

Metallic sandwich structure having small bend radius


An electroformed sheath is disclosed for protecting composite components of a part, such as a fan blade of a modern gas turbine engine. The electroformed sheath includes a sheath body having a leading edge; a pressure side and an opposed suction side of the body that meet at the leading edge and extend away from the leading edge to define a sheath cavity therebetween; a head section of the body between the leading edge and the sheath cavity; and an electrically conductive mandrel insert positioned between the pressure and suction sides of the body. In manufacture of the electroformed sheath, the mandrel insert is secured in an appropriate mandrel having an exterior surface approximating the blade's airfoil configuration. The leading edge, head section and pressure and suction sides are electroplated around the mandrel insert so that the insert remains in the sheath body after removal of the mandrel. The position occupied by the mandrel defines the sheath cavity, and the component parts of the blade are secured within the cavity. The mandrel insert enhances electroformation of material from the electroplate bath around the mandrel insert so that the resulting electroformed sheath has a thickness range ratio (being a ratio of the thickness of a thickest part of the sheath (e.g., its leading edge) to the thickness of a thinnest part of the sheath (e.g., trailing edges of the pressure or suction sides)) in excess of 30:1.

To increase operating efficiencies of modern aircraft engines it is desirable to decrease weights of component parts. Substantial decreases in weights of components, such as propeller blades, have been achieved through use of composite materials, including for example graphite fiber reinforcements within an epoxy matrix. Composite blades, however, must be reinforced at their leading edges to provide adequate strength to protect the blade from erosion and foreign object damage, and especially from damage as a result of leading edge impact with birds, ice, stones, rain and other debris.
As is well known in propeller blade technology, adequate protection of a leading edge of a composite propeller blade is achieved by securing an electroformed nickel sheath to the leading edge. Manufacture of such electroformed sheaths is well known, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,375 to Leger, which Patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Typically, a die or mandrel, made of a conductive material such as titanium, is formed to have an exterior surface that conforms to a blade's airfoil configuration minus the thickness of the sheath to be electroformed on the mandrel. Desired thicknesses of the sheath are achieved by a well known process of "shielding", wherein barrier walls or shields are placed adjacent the mandrel in such positions that the shields direct the flow of an electroplate solution when the mandrels are placed in an electroplate bath. For example, where a sheath leading edge must be thicker, and hence stronger, than a sheath trailing edge, a shield portion adjacent a first surface section of the mandrel upon which is formed the sheath leading edge would be positioned a greater distance from that surface section of the mandrel than a shield portion adjacent a second surface section of the mandrel upon which is formed the sheath trailing edge. After the mandrel has been in the electroplate bath for a pre-determined length of time, it is removed; the electroformed sheath is next mechanically removed from the mandrel; and the sheath is then machined to smoothly fit over a composite component of the blade, in a manner well known in the art.
While electroformed sheaths have provided satisfactory protection for propeller blades, known sheaths are as yet inadequate for application to higher speed parts, such as fan blades of gas turbine engines. First stage fan blades of high bypass or advanced ducted engines in particular have become larger and travel at increasingly higher speeds to achieve desired performance requirements. Consequently the momentum of such blades is so great that blades made of composite materials having standard electroformed sheaths are not sufficiently strong to withstand ordinary foreign object damage within desired operational ranges of the blades. Therefore, most fan blades in modern gas turbine engines are manufactured of a hollowed-out metal, such as titanium, at extreme cost in labor and materials. The resulting all metal blades are much heavier than equivalent sized fan blades made of composite materials with an electroformed sheath.
Known electroformed sheaths are typically limited so that a ratio of the thickness of a thickest part of the sheath (e.g., the leading edge of the sheath) to the thickness of the thinnest part of the sheath (e.g., the trailing edge of the sheath) is generally 5:1, and may reach 10:1 at great cost. (The aforesaid ratio being hereinafter referred to as the "thickness range ratio".) For example, standard constraints of manufacture of the resulting blade require that the trailing edge of the sheath be no greater than 0.006 inches thick; which means 0.006 inches between an exterior surface of the trailing edge and an opposed inner surface of the trailing edge that contacts the composite material. Consequently, based on the thickness range ratio of existing electroformed sheaths, the leading edge can be no thicker than 0.030 to 0.060 inches. Appropriate strength requirements for electroformed sheaths on modern fan blades, however, mandate that the leading edge be approximately 0.500 inches thick, while manufacturing constraints require that the trailing edge remain at approximately 0.006 inches thick; being a thickness range ratio of approximately 80:1.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide an improved electroformed sheath that overcomes the strength, weight and cost problems of the prior art.
It is a more specific object to provide an electroformed sheath that affords adequate strength for protection of composite material components of a part such as a fan blade of a modern gas turbine engines.
It is a further specific object to provide an electroformed sheath for a part such as a fan blade that enhances the structural integrity of a leading edge of the blade.
It is another specific object to provide an electroformed sheath that facilitates affixation of the sheath to composite material components of a part.
It is yet another object to provide an electroformed sheath having a sufficiently thick leading edge to enable re-contouring or repair of the sheath to extend its useful life.
It is still another object to provide an electroformed sheath that may be fabricated by known manufacturing processes.
The above and other advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.