Immersion Raman probes use collimated light as opposed to a diverging fiber bundle or lens-based focusing geometry to deliver and collect light to and from a sample, thereby eliminating problems associated with chromatic aberration. The probes convey counter-propagating excitation and collection beams to and from a distally sealed, signal-transmissive optical component such as a window immersed, in contact with, or otherwise exposed to a sample volume. The counter-propagating excitation and collection beams pass directly through the sealed optical component and into the sample volume in collimated form for Raman analysis thereof. The probe may further include a baffled sample chamber coupled to the distal end of the probe optic body, with one or more optical elements to reflect the counter-propagating beams. The sample chamber may be fixed or axially movable to facilitate path length adjustment. The invention finds utility in process Raman, microscopy and other applications.

Most existing, commercially available Raman probes are based on a lens-based focused geometry that require selecting the correct focal length for the type of sample undergoing evaluation. As shown in FIG. 1A, clear liquids allow for long focal lengths within a sample, though particulates and bubbles may reduce throughput and degrade signal to noise. One solution, illustrated in FIG. 1B, involves optically moving the focal point and depth of field closer to the distal end of the probe. Despite the improvement, problems remain with slurries and solids. A further solution, shown in FIG. 1C, involves the use of a ball lens, for example, to facilitate focusing directly on the face (tangent) to the distal tip of the optic. Although distance, depth of field and phase boundary are well controlled, shorter focal lengths generate stronger Raman signals from the window material, potentially interfering with the Raman signal from the sample. Laser safety is also an issue, as is the possibility of lased-induced fouling on the window.

Raman immersion probe systems and methods


the invention shows a jamming device having a transmitting system that outputs a signal frequency modulated that inhibits a low power receiving antenna from receiving a fixed frequency such as a cellular telephone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to jamming devices and, more specifically, to a jamming device having a transmitting system that outputs a signal frequency modulated that inhibits a low power receiving antenna from receiving a fixed frequency such as a cellular telephone.
The jamming device of the present invention while functioning as a stand alone device, in the preferred embodiment can be incorporated into existing electrical systems whereby energizing said electrical system will cause said jammer to inhibit the use of low power radio transmission/reception devices such as cellular phones.
Additionally, there can exist one or more sensors incorporated into the jammer triggering circuit that can trigger the jamming device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other jamming device designed for inhibiting the use of low power transmission/reception devices. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,299 issued to Amoroso et al. on Feb. 17, 1987.
Another patent was issued to New on Mar. 19, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,771. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,438 was issued to Blokker, Jr. et al. on May 12, 1992 and still yet another was issued on Jun. 15, 1993 to Lee as U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,680.
Another patent was issued to Luck on Jun. 14, 1994 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,405. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,398 was issued to Moberg et al. on Sep. 15, 1998. Another was issued to Reynolds on Dec. 15, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,596 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 14, 1999 to Boyer et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,934.
Another patent was issued to Taguchi on Apr. 18, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,577. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,529 was issued to Linz et al. on Feb. 27, 2001. Another was issued to Katsura on Apr. 4, 2001 as E.P. Patent No. 1 089 446 and still yet another was issued on Jan. 11, 2001 to Gim as WIPO Patent No. WO 01/03352

Abstract: The jamming device can function as a stand alone device or be incorporated into existing electrical systems whereby energizing said electrical system will cause said jammer to inhibit the use of low power radio transmission/reception devices such as cellular phones.


The invention generally relates to optically variable devices, methods of preparation and applications or uses therefor. In particular, the invention includes trigger molecules employed as a dopant for a liquid crystal material. The liquid crystal material contains helical elements having a natural twist. The dopant is effective to change the natural twist of the helical elements when the dopant is addressed with incident light. Suitable dopants are selected from binaphthalene and derivatives thereof.

Counterfeiting of goods, financial and identification documentation is a growing worldwide problem and has generated an industry in providing means to identify and authenticate genuine products. Optically variable devices (OVDs) provide a first line of defense by creating labels, hot foils, threads and laminates as both deterrent and authentication devices providing multiple level security protection and through the visual overt feature, a simple public recognition feature. Several technologies, such as holograms and color shifting inks, are used to create an image that in some way alters as the observer moves or rotates the security device. This may include changes in the image, switching from one image to another, changes in the color and several other variable effects that provide a means to identify the genuine from the counterfeit. Changes to the visual appearance of these security images provide clear differentiation from copies made by color photocopiers, for example, which cannot replicate these effects.
Technology development in the field of OVDs has included the use of liquid crystals to create an image that alters color as the angular view is changed. It is known that liquid crystals in a chiral nematic phase (cholesteric) form a helical structure that reflects circular polarized light over a narrow wavelength band. The color reflected back is created by a process referred to as constructive interference. The particular color is determined by the pitch of the helix and the angle of view. In its natural state, the individual helix elements are randomly oriented, so the incident light is scattered in all directions and no color is observed. When the material is aligned so that the cholesteric helical axis is perpendicular to the plane of the layer/substrate, for a majority of the structures, a strong color can be observed at a particular angle of view. The condition for constructive interference also occurs at a second more acute angle of view. Thus, a second, shorter wavelength spectrum is seen so that color one changes to color two as the angle of view is changed.
It is known that certain liquid crystal materials exhibit different colors when viewed in transmission or reflection and different intense colors are seen at different angles of view (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,637,896; 4,614,619 and 4,893,906).
As competitive technologies continue to develop and counterfeiting skills and knowledge continue to increase, the ability to differentiate one security technology from another or from a counterfeit has greater importance. Increasing the range of color elements or effects achieves this differentiation and is described in the prior art. WO2005105474 describes a first optically active layer of cholesteric liquid crystal and a second partially active layer of cholesteric liquid crystal superimposed directly over the first layer. Reflected light from the two layers mix in an additive way to create a new range of color effects. WO2008046537 describes a similar method in which two layers of cholesteric liquid crystal are superimposed. The first layer is in the form of a motif or graphic design. The angular color selectivity of the layers are controlled so that the first layer reflects light into a green spectrum seen from one angle of view and the second layer reflects light into a green spectrum seen from a different angle of view.
A method of manufacturing a patterned layer of polymer material is described in WO200034808. A layer of cholesteric ordered liquid crystal material is patterned by the process of a convertible compound that when irradiated with certain energy sources alters the pitch of the helix structure in the exposed areas. The change in pitch alters the reflected and transmitted light. The material is then polymerized/cross linked by a UV source to freeze the layer and fix the perceived color. In this way a color pattern can be achieved. In EP0982605 there is described a chain terminating agent added to polymerizable material that absorbs the radiation used for polymerization and alters the pitch of the cholesteric helical structure. Variation in the radiation source used for polymerization alters the helical pitch and therefore, the reflected and transmitted colors.
WO200034808 and EP0982605 have significant drawbacks for application in manufacturing processes. For example, WO200034808 employs dose-dependent photo-isomerizing components where the absolute twisting power is low and the difference in twisting power between the two isomeric forms is modest. These factors combine to require a high concentration to achieve a visually appealing effect. EP0982605, for example, employs a combination of alignment-, temperature- and polymerization-induced phase change events to influence dose-dependent helical pitch variance that complicates manufacturing processes.
In the prior art, a material is typically applied as a single color with a graphic that is applied in the process as an area where the liquid crystal alignment is removed so that the image appears dark against the liquid crystal background color. There is a desire in the art to create an image that introduces a second color as opposed to black. There has been demonstrated that two colors may be exhibited in separate graphics, but there has not been shown exhibiting two colors in close register. It has been suggested that ink jet printing may potentially offer the ability to print several different mixes each reflecting a different color, but conventional ink jet technology is not capable of accommodating the liquid crystal material specifications, in particular, the high viscosity. Thus, there is a desire to create more than one color in register. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to develop new liquid crystal materials and methods that can be employed with ease in manufacturing processes to produce OVDs which exhibit more than one color in register. The invention relates to achieving this objective utilizing a dopant approach.


A vehicle steering control apparatus has a steering wheel, a steering mechanism mechanically separate from the steering wheel for steering the left and right front wheels and a reaction force motor for imparting an operation reaction force against the steering wheel. A steering motor is provided to impart a turning force to the steering mechanism, while a clutch is provided to mechanically connect and disconnect the steering wheel to and from the steering mechanism. A drive torque detector is provided to detect a drive torque imparted to the steering reaction force actuator. A torque sensor is provided to detect an operating torque imparted to the steering wheel. A clutch connection determiner determines that the clutch is in a connected state when a drive torque direction detected by the drive torque detector and an operating torque direction detected by the operating torque detector are different.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle steering control apparatus including a steer-by-wire system and a clutch for mechanically connecting and disconnecting a driver operating unit to and from a steering unit configured to steer a steered wheel.
2. Background Information
In conventional steer-by-wire (SBW) systems in which the steering wheel and the steering mechanism of the front wheels are mechanically separated from each other (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-225733), a clutch is provided as a backup mechanism for mechanically connecting the steering wheel and the steering mechanism together. When an abnormality occurs in a portion of the SBW system, the clutch is connected and the SBW control is suspended immediately and replaced with an assist control that reduces the steering burden of the driver.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle steering control apparatus. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Vehicle steering control apparatus and method


Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for generating an anonymized medical image of an anatomical body part of a patient, a corresponding computer program, a program storage medium storing such a program and a computer for executing the program, as well as a medical system comprising an electronic data storage device and the aforementioned computer. The disclosed method encompasses establishing a mapping from a patient image onto an atlas, changing that mapping, and applying the inverse of the changed mapping to the atlas in order to transform image content from the atlas to the patient image in order to achieve a deformed and thereby anonymised appearance of the patient image.

It is desirable to anonymize patient faces in medical images in a way that the resulting data set still looks like a real patient data set so that image processing algorithms designed for medical data can still be applied without restrictions to the anonymized scans.
So far face anonymization is done by coarse, non-anatomical modifications of the image in the facial region (e.g. by cutting off the face completely or by strong smoothing of the image in this region to remove biometric details). The result of such modifications looks distinctly different from normal patient images.
Such coarsely modified data sets are no longer representative of real patient scans. Many processing algorithms will not be able to deal with the non-anatomical modifications introduced by the above procedure, since they were optimized to work on normal patient scans (i.e. they might be confused by, for example, a sharp cut plane through the face which is normally oblique in contrast to a normal end plate of a data set). On the other hand, when training machine learning algorithms, such anonymized data will push the algorithm to learn the common, non-anatomical features of the data (e.g. the absence of a face) and such an algorithm would then be unusable on normal data. In the era of machine learning, it is desirable to make the training data as similar as possible to the data on which the algorithm shall later be applied. We thus ideally need original patient data or, if this is not possible for data privacy reasons, well simulated and prepared data.
The present invention has the object of improving anonymization of patient images.
The present invention can be used for anonymising patient image data to make the data suitable for use e.g. on a platform for distribution of medical image data such as Quentry®, a product of Brainlab AG.
Aspects of the present invention, examples and exemplary steps and their embodiments are disclosed in the following. Different exemplary features of the invention can be combined in accordance with the invention wherever technically expedient and feasible.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Anonymisation of medical patient images using an atlas


A chip carrier for a semiconductor chip is provided. A plurality of solder pads for bump soldering are formed on a chip mounting surface of the chip carrier, to allow a flip chip to be mounted and electrically connected to the chip carrier. A solder mask layer is formed on the chip carrier, wherein a plurality of openings are provided in the solder mask layer to expose the solder pads, and an outwardly opening extended portion is formed respectively from the openings corresponding to the solder pads having a relatively narrower pitch therebetween, so as to prevent formation of voids during an underfill process for filing a gap between the flip chip and the chip carrier.

The current trend for developing electronic products is heading towards fabricating a device with a minimized and compact size, improved functions, and increased input/output connections. Typically, a conventional semiconductor package is fabricated by packaging a single integrated circuit (IC) or semiconductor chip with a lead frame or substrate via processes such as die attach, wire bonding, molding, and trim and form processes, making the size of the fabricated package be several times of that of the semiconductor chip. A later developed flip-chip technology involves forming gold (Au), tin/lead (Sn/Pb) or other metal bumps on the semiconductor chip, allowing the metal bumps to be soldered to solder pads on a flip-chip substrate. The current flip-chip technology has been improved in a manner that a package can be made having a size almost the same as that of the chip, and such package is customarily referred to as Chip Scale Package (CSP). The flip-chip technology provides significant benefits, such as high density, low induction, easy control over high frequency noise, minimized package size, and so on, thus fulfilling the packaging requirements for the above-mentioned highly efficient and portable products in the future.
Although the flip-chip semiconductor package has the above benefits, it is still necessary to further improve the current packaging technology in terms of downsizing the device in response to the semiconductor fabrication process developed towards a finer pitch arrangement. Referring to FIG. 1a showing a conventional flip-chip semiconductor chip carrier 1, a plurality of solder pads 11 are formed on predetermined positions of a substrate 10, for allowing a plurality of metal bumps on a semiconductor chip (not shown) to be soldered to the solder pads 11 on the substrate 10. A typical pitch between the adjacent solder pads is limited to the size of about 200 to 250 μm according to the current substrate manufacturing capacity. However, for a flip-chip package having a chip formed with solder pads at its peripheral positions, the pitch between metal bumps on the chip is always sized smaller than 150 μm. Therefore, in such flip-chip package, as shown in FIG. 1b disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,064, solder pads 11′ on a substrate 10′ are formed by grooves 13 in a solder mask layer 12 on the substrate 10′ so as to achieve a pitch sized smaller than 150 μm between the adjacent solder pads 11′.
Although the above-mentioned technique can solve the problem of reducing the pitch between the adjacent solder pads, other serious problems are incurred as a result of variously sized pitches between the solder pads. Referring to FIG. 1c, there are at least formed a pitch A and a pitch B between the adjacent solder pads 11″, wherein the pitch A is sized smaller than the pitch B. As shown in FIG. 1d, once a semiconductor chip 17 is mounted on the substrate 10′ in a flip-chip manner and a reflow process is performed for soldering the metal bumps on the chip 17 to the solder pads 11′ on the substrate 10′, then an underfill process is carried out to fill a gap between the chip 17 and the substrate 10′ with an underfill resin 14. Since the underfill resin 14 flows faster through the relatively wider pitch B than the relatively narrower pitch A, voids 15 would be formed by air trapped in the relatively narrower pitch A as shown in FIG. 1e. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1f, an undesirable bridging effect between the metal bumps may be caused by the voids 15 between the adjacent metal bumps 16 during subsequent reflow and surface-mount technology (SMT) processes, thereby reducing the package yield.
Therefore, the problem to be solved here is to provide a chip carrier with bumps pads being arranged in differently sized pitches so as to prevent formation of voids due to differently sized pitches between the solder pads during an underfill process.

Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd.


Light emitted from a coherent light source undergoes fine adjustment of its polarizing direction by a polarizing device and is directed to a liquid crystal device through a collimating optical system. The polarizing device is capable of fine-adjusting the polarizing direction in accordance with the wavelength of the incident light, thereby providing a high contrast ratio. When an image is recorded by holography using such a liquid crystal spacial light modulator, it is possible to obtain an image of high quality.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal spacial light modulator used in display panels, image information recording etc., and to a holographic image information recording apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Researches on image information recording and reproduction techniques using holography have been under way since the 1960s. Especially, three-dimensional information recording and reproduction apparatus have recently begun to attract attention from the fields of medicine, art, etc. as the application value of such apparatus is recognized. Active matrix liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, for use in portable TV, projection-TV, etc., using twisted nematic liquid crystals have also been actively developed, and high performance, high resolution products have begun to be marketed. Under these circumstances, the holographic image recording system has been proposed which uses an LCD panel as the spacial light modulator (SLM) and displays a computer-processed image on the liquid crystal SLM to produce object light.
In the holographic image recording system, the performance of the liquid crystal SLM plays an important part in determining the quality of recorded images. Besides, anti-noise measures are an essential requirement, which is not the case with conventional LCD panels illuminated with incoherent light. To specifically describe the measures, it is required to suppress speckle noise, interference noise, etc., which are caused as a result of the illumination of the liquid crystal SLM by coherent light.
In a conventional LCD panel, as shown in FIG. 1, polarizing plates 2a and 2b are respectively attached to the front and back surfaces of a liquid crystal device 1. Light emitted from a light source 10 is passed through a lens 20, a pinhole 23, and a lens 21, and is polarized by the polarizing plates 2a and 2b in the rectilinear direction coinciding with the anchoring direction of the liquid crystal device 1. The liquid crystal device 1 rotates the direction of polarization of the incident light to modulate the intensity of the outgoing light emitted through the polarizing plate 2b on the back side. However, such a construction is disadvantageous in that the performance, including the contrast ratio, of the liquid crystal device 1 cannot be fully utilized, being restricted by the performance of the polarizing plates 2a and 2b.
To describe in detail, the polarizing plates have the shortcomings in that the light transmittance is low, that the extinction ratio is relatively low, and that the polarizing direction is not uniform but dispersed within the surface. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the polarizing direction may slightly deviate from the proper angle because of an error in attaching the polarizing plates to the liquid crystal device. As a result, the contrast ratio of the SLM is reduced. Another factor contributing to the reduced contrast ratio is the inability to obtain the proper polarizing direction for incident light other than that of a particular wavelength because the proper polarizing direction with the liquid crystal device 1 varies depending on the wavelength of the light entering the SLM. As a result, the contrast ratio of the SLM is reduced.
Further, in the conventional LCD panel, film-like polarizers are used. The problem is that the light is reflected on the surface of the polarizers, thus generating interference noise. To prevent the reflection of light, an anti-reflection film can be provided on the surface of the polarizer, but it is difficult to provide a durable anti-reflection film on the surface of a film-like polarizer.
For the above reasons, in order to obtain a high quality image using a liquid crystal SLM, it is necessary to adjust the polarizing direction of the incident light without providing a polarizer on the front side of the liquid crystal panel. To achieve this purpose, it is possible to collimate the linearly polarized light from a laser light source for direct entry to the liquid crystal device, but in such a construction, if the laser light source itself is to be rotated through a minute angle for fine adjustment of the polarizing direction of the laser beam, a relatively large-sized mechanism will be required for the rotation of the laser light source. On the other hand, a mirror may be used so as to reduce the size of the entire optical system, but the light reflected by a mirror generally becomes elliptically polarized and is therefore not desirable. Furthermore, when the liquid crystal SLM is applied to holography, the problem is that the reference light separated from the object light by a half mirror also becomes elliptically polarized. Thus, in the liquid crystal SLM, it is not easy to properly design an optical system capable of fine-adjusting the polarizing direction of the incident light.

Holographic recording apparatus having a liquid crystal modulator including a diffuser with plural phase shift regions

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image forming device equipped with a light scanning device having a polygon mirror that deflects laser light by rotating, a focusing element for focusing deflected laser light onto a photosensitive body, and a reflection mirror reflecting and guiding to the photosensitive body the laser light which passes through the focusing element, given that a distance L between an end surface of the focusing element and the reflection mirror is 8 mm≦L≦25 mm, and an angle Θ formed by incident light and reflected light of the reflection mirror is 25°≦Θ≦45°, the focusing element, the reflection mirror, and the photosensitive body are disposed such that a relationship between L and Θ satisfies 8 mm ≦LtanΘ≦12 mm is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device such as a laser copier, a laser printer, or the like, which is provided with a light scanning device which scans and exposes laser light onto a photosensitive body.
2. Description of the Related Art
The structure shown in FIG. 5 is known as a conventional image forming device provided with a light scanning device which scans and exposes laser light onto a photosensitive body.
An image forming device 100 has a photosensitive drum 102. A charging roller 104, a developing roller 106, and a cleaning device 108 are disposed along the peripheral direction of the photosensitive drum 102. A light scanning device 110, which irradiates laser light onto the photosensitive drum 102, is provided between the charging roller 104 and the developing roller 106. A transfer roller 112 is disposed so as to face the photosensitive drum 102, at the side of the photosensitive drum 102 opposite the side where the light scanning device 110 is provided.
A polygon mirror 122, an fθ lens 124, and the like are disposed in the light scanning device 110. The laser light which passes through the fθ lens 124 is illuminated onto the photosensitive drum 102.
A sheet tray 114, which accommodates sheets and the like, is disposed beneath the light scanning device 110. A sheet which is fed-out from the sheet tray 114 is conveyed by conveying rollers 116 to the region where the photosensitive drum 102 and the transfer roller 112 face one another.
The photosensitive drum 102 is charged to a predetermined potential by the charging roller 104. The laser light illuminated from the light scanning device 110 is illuminated such that a latent image is formed. This latent image is developed by the developing roller 106 such that a toner image is formed. The toner image is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 112, and the toner image on the sheet is fixed at a fixing device 118.
Such an image forming device 100 has an image forming unit 120 in which the photosensitive drum 102, the charging roller 104, the developing roller 106, and the cleaning device 108 are integral. By opening a cover 126 formed at the top portion of a housing 130, the image forming unit 120 can be installed and removed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-109335).
However, in this image forming device 100, the sheet tray 114 is disposed beneath the light scanning device 110, and the laser light is illuminated rectilinearly from the light scanning device 110 onto the photosensitive drum 102. Therefore, there is the problem that the depth of the housing 130 (the dimension thereof in the transverse direction in FIG. 5) is large. Moreover, the image forming unit 120 is installed and removed by opening the cover 126. Therefore, there is the need to ensure space for opening the cover 126 above the housing 130, and the workability at the time of replacing the image forming unit 120 is poor.
As a countermeasure to the large size of the image forming device 100, as shown in FIG. 6, there is proposed an image forming device 140 in which a reflection mirror 166 is provided at the light exiting side of a polygon mirror 162 and an fθ lens 164 in a light scanning device 160 (see, for example, JP-A No. 8-2000).
In the image forming device 140, a photosensitive drum 142 is charged to a predetermined potential by a charging roller 144. Laser light is illuminated from the light scanning device 160 such that a latent image is formed. The latent image is developed by a developing roller 146 such that a toner image is formed. The toner image is transferred by a transfer roller 148 onto a sheet which is being conveyed by conveying rollers 152. The surface of the photosensitive drum 142 after transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 150.
In this image forming device 140, the laser light is reflected by the reflection mirror 166 and is illuminated onto the photosensitive drum 142. Therefore, as compared with the image forming device 100 shown in FIG. 5, the image forming device 140 has the feature that the depth (the transverse direction dimension in FIG. 6) of a housing 170 can be made smaller.
However, in the image forming device 140, the laser light turn-back angle of the reflection mirror 166 is 60° or more. The height of the housing 170 is large when the space for placement of the reflection mirror 166 and the photosensitive drum 142 is taken into consideration. Further, when a sheet tray 171 is disposed beneath the photosensitive drum 142, the height of the housing 170 becomes even larger. Moreover, when the photosensitive drum 142, the charging roller 144, the developing roller 146, and the cleaning device 150 are made integral and structure an image forming unit (see FIG. 5), it is difficult to make the image forming device 140 compact when the direction of installing and removing this image forming unit is taken into consideration.


A method of electronic purchase order processing includes receiving an electronic purchase order, applying at least one rule to the electronic purchase order to determine whether the electronic purchase order should be accepted or rejected, and providing the acceptance or rejection of the electronic purchase order.

The present invention relates generally to the field of systems for and methods of processing purchase orders. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems for and methods of applying rules to accept or reject the purchase orders.
One particular business that processes purchase orders is the retail business. Operations for a business often include purchasing merchandise from a supplier for sale to customers or for use in the processes and products for the business. Generally, purchasing merchandise or supplies from the supplier involves sending a purchase order to the supplier requesting a specific number of items for a specific price. The number of items multiplied by the price of the items provides a total cost associated with the purchase order. Prior to sending the purchase order, the purchase order may need to be approved by an entity, such as a budgeting department. The entity may apply one or more rules, or checks, to the purchase order in determining whether to approve the purchase order. For example, a rule may dictate that the approval is granted or denied based on whether incurring the total cost of the purchase order is acceptable in view of budget constraints. Accordingly, the purchase order is approved or rejected based on budget constraints prior to being sent to the supplier.
The rules that are applied to the electronic purchase order may be any of a plurality of types of rules. For example, the rule may be a budgeting rule. Budget rules describe the amount of money available to purchase merchandise for a given time period. During a pre-season planning and buying phase, the budget rules may be used by planners and buyers for the retail business to control their purchasing budget. During a seasonal phase, the budget rules may be utilized in calculating performance as the budget rules are updated based on retail activity. For example, planners and buyers may monitor the updated budget rules to determine if each category's performance is proceeding according to plan or if corrective steps, such as price reductions or stopped orders, need to be taken to manage inventory.
The retail business can require that certain purchase orders be processed in a very short amount of time, while other purchase orders must be placed in advance of the desired delivery. For example, changes in current trends in the fashion industry may require that inventory be increased on short notice. Additionally, fashion articles may require ordering well in advance of delivery, in some cases six months or more in advance. For certain aspects of the fashion industry, items may be required to be ordered one or more seasons in advance. An advantageous purchase order system must accommodate this variation in lead times of the ordered items without unnecessarily tying up funds.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for processing electronic purchase orders based on the application of one or more rules. There is a further need for such a system and method configured to automatically modify the rules based on a qualifying event. There is yet further a need for such a system and method configured to provide a user with an option to modify an electronic purchase order that was rejected based on the application of the one or more rules. Even further, there is a need for an automated system and method that automatically approves or rejects a purchase order after performing an open-to-buy function.

Program product for purchase order processing


The present invention relates generally to the use of erythropoietin (EPO) to facilitate resuscitation from cardiac arrest. For a mammalian subject suffering from cardiac arrest, concurrent administration of EPO with resuscitation after the onset of ventricular fibrillation facilitates the resuscitation. Administration of EPO serves to attenuate myocardial abnormalities caused by cardiac arrest and the resuscitation efforts and favor improved resuscitation outcomes. The main effect of EPO that facilitates resuscitation is the preservation of left ventricular myocardial distensibility leading to improve left ventricular preload and the amount of blood ejected by chest compression. This effect enables higher coronary perfusion pressures to be generated resulting in a higher rate of return of spontaneous circulation and higher survival rates. The very same effect enables the return of spontaneous circulation to occur faster reducing the time a human subject is in cardiac arrest. These effects lead to a higher number of cardiac arrest victims to survive and to do so with intact neurological function in most of the survivors.

It is estimated that approximately 330,000 individuals suffer an episode of sudden cardiac arrest every year in the United States. Yet, the percentage of individuals who are successfully resuscitated and leave the hospital alive with intact neurological function averages only 7% nationwide. Efforts to successfully restore life are formidably challenging. They require not only that cardiac activity be initially reestablished but that injury to vital organs be prevented or minimized. A closer examination of resuscitation statistics reveals that efficient emergency medical services (EMS) systems can initially restore cardiac activity in 30 to 40% of sudden cardiac arrest victims. Yet, nearly 40% die before admission to a hospital presumably from recurrent cardiac arrest or complications during transport. Of those admitted to a hospital, 60% die before discharge as a result of myocardial dysfunction, hypoxic brain damage, systemic inflammatory responses, intercurrent illnesses, or a combination thereof. Driving poor outcome is the severe injury that tissues suffer consequent to ischemia and reperfusion.
A cardiac arrest is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract effectively resulting in the cessation of blood delivery to the whole body. As a consequence cells of the whole body suffer injury that result from oxygen starvation. Lack of oxygen supply to the brain causes victims to immediately lose consciousness and stop breathing. Cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack (myocardial infarction). In a cardiac arrest the heart suddenly stops beating. In a heart attack, blood flow to a region of the heart muscle is disrupted. That region of the heart muscle deprived of blood flow suffers injury which might lead to cell death if blood flow is not restored promptly. During a heart attack, only a part of the heart ceases to work properly; the rest of the heart muscle continues to work promoting blood flow albeit the total work produced by the heart may be sometimes diminished. However, heart attacks can sometimes lead to cardiac arrest in which the heart as whole stops beating and ceases to promote blood flow into the systemic circulation (as described above).
In apparently healthy adults, cardiac arrest is often precipitated by ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation most often is associated with underlying coronary artery disease. In this setting, ventricular fibrillation may be the initial manifestation of a heart attack. However, ventricular fibrillation does not have to be associated with a heart attack, but can be associated with electrical abnormalities of the heart muscle originating in a region of the heart in which there is reduction of blood flow or disproportionate increase in oxygen demands in such region. Ventricular fibrillation can also be associated with the following: structural abnormalities of the heart—such as those caused by ischemic heart disease or by non-ischemic cardiomyopathies—that alters the normal propagation of electrical impulses creating areas in which chaotic electrical activity can originate and propagate through the rest of the heart muscle; associated with trauma to the heart; congenital or acquired abnormalities of ion channels that regulate the way in which the electrical impulse of the heart is initiated and propagated; the administration of drugs that can alter such ion channels; abnormalities in the chemical composition of the blood that can alter the way in which the electrical impulse of the heart is initiated and propagated; and abnormalities in the valves of the heart. Cardiac arrest can also occur without ventricular fibrillation, for example in cases in which the heart stops beating because of asystole in which there is no electrical impulses originating from the heart, or because of pulseless electrical activity in which electrical impulses originating from the heart are not effective to promote normal contraction of the heart muscle. Cardiac arrest caused by asystole or pulseless electrical activity is typically associated with conditions leading to severe curtailment of the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart muscle, which may be associated with respiratory failure or severe loss of circulating blood volume. Cardiac arrest caused by asystole or pulseless electrical activity can also be associated with existing cardiac disease, especially when severe heart failure has developed. However, asystole or pulseless electrical activity more commonly occurs after a period of untreated or ineffectively treated ventricular fibrillation. In this setting, the ventricular fibrillation activity gradually decreases and eventually ceases leading to asystole or pulseless electrical activity. This explains why individuals in whom cardiac arrest is precipitated by ventricular fibrillation, at the time of initial rhythm analysis asystole or pulseless electrical activity is present in more that 50% of the instances.
In children, cardiac arrest is more commonly caused by severe curtailment of oxygen delivery to the heart muscle, which may be associated with near-drowning or respiratory failure. However, children can also suffer cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation.
After onset of cardiac arrest, profound global myocardial ischemia develops. The ensuing resuscitation efforts promote flow through the ischemic myocardium, which—albeit obligatory for resuscitation—creates conditions for reperfusion injury. As a consequence several functional myocardial abnormalities develop during cardiac arrest and the resuscitation effort that in of itself can compromise the capability for reestablishing cardiac activity. These abnormalities include the progressive loss of left ventricular myocardial distensibility during cardiac resuscitation that manifests by left ventricular wall thickening with reductions in cavity size and which limits the ability of chest compression to promote forward blood flow. Early after return of spontaneous cardiac activity, there is prominent ventricular ectopic activity with frequent episodes of refibrillation. In addition, systolic and diastolic left ventricular function is reversibly impaired causing variable degrees of hemodynamic dysfunction. We have previously shown that these myocardial abnormalities can be ameliorated by inhibition of the sodium-hydrogen exchanger isoform-1 (NHE-1) using cariporide (Ayoub I M, Kolarova J D, Yi Z, Trevedi A, Deshmukh H, Lubell D L, Franz M R, Maldonado F A, Gazmuri R J. Sodium-hydrogen exchange inhibition during ventricular fibrillation: Beneficial effects on ischemic contracture, action potential duration, reperfusion arrhythmias, myocardial function, and resuscitability. Circulation 2003; 107:1804-1809; Gazmuri R J, Ayoub I M, Hoffner E, Kolarova J D. Successful ventricular defibrillation by the selective sodium-hydrogen exchanger isoform-1 inhibitor cariporide. Circulation 2001; 104:234-239; Gazmuri R J, Hoffner E, Kalcheim J, Ho H, Patel M, Ayoub I M, Epstein M, Kingston S, Han Y. Myocardial protection during ventricular fibrillation by reduction of proton-driven sarcolemmal sodium influx. J Lab Clin Med 2001; 137:43-55; Kolarova J D, Ayoub I M, Gazmuri R J. Kolarova J D, Ayoub I M, Gazmuri R J. Cariporide enables hemodynamically more effective chest compression by leftward shift of its flow-depth relationship. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2005; 288:H2904-H2911; Kolarova J, Yi Z, Ayoub I M, Gazmuri R J. Cariporide potentiates the effects of epinephrine and vasopressin by nonvascular mechanisms during closed-chest resuscitation. Chest 2005; 127:1327-1334).
The present invention discloses that administration of the glycoprotein hormone EPO also serves to attenuate these myocardial abnormalities and favor improved resuscitation. EPO is a 30.4-kDa glycoprotein best known for its action on erythroid progenitor cells and regulation of circulating red cell mass. However, EPO also activates potent cell protective mechanisms during ischemia and reperfusion in a broad array of tissues, including the myocardium (Cai Z, Manalo D J, Wei G, Rodriguez E R, Fox-Talbot K, Lu H, Zweier J L, Semenza G E Hearts from rodents exposed to intermittent hypoxia or erythropoietin are protected against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Circulation 2003; 108:79-85; Calvillo L, Latini R, Kajstura J, Len A, Anversa P, Ghezzi P, Salio M, Cerami A, Brines M. Recombinant human erythropoietin protects the myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury and promotes beneficial remodeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100:4802-4806; Moon C, Krawczyk M, Ahn D, Ahmet I, Paik D, Lakatta E G, Talan M I. Erythropoietin reduces myocardial infarction and left ventricular functional decline after coronary artery ligation in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100:11612-11617; Parsa C J, Matsumoto A, Kim J, Riel R U, Pascal L S, Walton G B, Thompson R B, Petrofski J A, Annex B H, Stamler J S, Koch W J. A novel protective effect of erythropoietin in the infarcted heart. J Clin Invest 2003; 112:999-1007; Tramontano A F, Muniyappa R, Black A D, Blendea M C, Cohen I, Deng L, Sowers J R, Cutaia M V, El Sherif N. Erythropoietin protects cardiac myocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis through an Akt-dependent pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2003; 308:990-994; Cai Z, Semenza G L. Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase signaling is required for erythropoietin-mediated acute protection against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Circulation 2004; 109:2050-2053; Lipsic E, van der M P, Henning R H, Suurmeijer A J, Boddeus K M, van Veldhuisen D J, van Gilst W H, Schoemaker R G. Timing of erythropoietin treatment for cardioprotection in ischemia/reperfusion. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2004; 44:473-479; Parsa C J, Kim J, Riel R U, Pascal L S, Thompson R B, Petrofski J A, Matsumoto A, Stamler J S, Koch W J. Cardioprotective effects of erythropoietin in the reperfused ischemic heart: a potential role for cardiac fibroblasts. J Biol Chem 2004; 279:20655-20662; Wright G L, Hanlon P, Amin K, Steenbergen C, Murphy E, Arcasoy M O. Erythropoietin receptor expression in adult rat cardiomyocytes is associated with an acute cardioprotective effect for recombinant erythropoietin during ischemia-reperfusion injury. FASEB J 2004; 18:1031-1033; Namiuchi S, Kagaya Y, Ohta J, Shiba N, Sugi M, Oikawa M, Kunii H, Yamao H, Komatsu N, Yui M, Tada H, Sakuma M, Watanabe J, Ichihara T, Shirato K. High serum erythropoietin level is associated with smaller infarct size in patients with acute myocardial infarction who undergo successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005; 45:1406-1412). These protective effects are mediated through genomic and non-genomic mechanisms; with the non-genomic mechanisms being particular relevant to acute protection (Bullard A J, Govewalla P, Yellon D M. Erythropoietin protects the myocardium against reperfusion injury in vitro and in vivo. Basic Res Cardiol 2005; 100:397-403; Rafiee P, Shi Y, Su J, Pritchard K A, Jr., Tweddell J S, Baker J E. Erythropoietin protects the infant heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury by triggering multiple signaling pathways. Basic Res Cardiol 2005; 100:187-197; Nishihara M, Miura T, Miki T, Sakamoto J, Tanno M, Kobayashi H, Ikeda Y, Ohori K, Takahashi A, Shimamoto K. Erythropoietin affords additional cardioprotection to preconditioned hearts by enhanced phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2006; 291:H748-H755).
EPO has been traditionally viewed as a primary regulator of red blood cell production (Graber S E, Krantz S B. EPO and the control of red cell production. Annu Rev Med 1978; 29:51-66). Yet, recent studies demonstrate the EPO also exerts protective effects on the myocardium in the setting of ischemia and reperfusion injury (Cai Z, Manalo D J, Wei G, Rodriguez E R, Fox-Talbot K, Lu H, Zweier J L, Semenza G L. Hearts from rodents exposed to intermittent hypoxia or EPO are protected against ischemia-reperfusion injury (Circulation 2003; 108:79-85; Calvillo L, Latini R, Kajstura J, Leri A, Anversa P, Ghezzi P, Salio M, Cerami A, Brines M. Recombinant human EPO protects the myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury and promotes beneficial remodeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100:4802-4806; Tramontano A F, Muniyappa R, Black A D, Blendea M C, Cohen I, Deng L, Sowers J R, Cutaia M V, El Sherif N. EPO protects cardiac myocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis through an Akt-dependent pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2003; 308:990-994; Cai Z, Semenza G L. Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase signaling is required for EPO-mediated acute protection against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Circulation 2004; 109:2050-2053; Lipsic E, van der Meer P, Henning R H, Suurmeijer A J H, Boddeus K M, van Veldhuisen D J, van Gilst W H, Schoemaker R G. Timing of EPO treatment for cardioprotection in ischemia/reperfusion; United States Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0009908A1; United States Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0198663A1; United States Patent Application Pub. No. 2005/0075287; International Patent Application WO 03/057242; International Patent Application No. WO 2004/00464). In a rat model of myocardial infarction caused by left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion and reperfusion, administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) attenuated post infarct deterioration in hemodynamic function by reduction of cardiomyocyte loss, attenuated the reactive hypertrophy of surviving cardiomyocytes, and also prevented apoptosis (Moon C, Krawczyk M, Ahn D, Ahmet I, Paik D, Lakatta E G, Talan M I. EPO reduces myocardial infarction and left ventricular functional decline after coronary artery ligation in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100:11612-11617).
These and other aspects and attributes of the present invention will be discussed with reference to the following drawings and accompanying specification.

Facilitation of resuscitation from cardiac arrest by erythropoietin

Rosalind Frankling University of Medicine and Science


A mechanism for raising a toilet seat includes two geared shafts that are cooperatively engaged while mounted on a toilet. A foot-operated lever attached to a first of the geared shafts provides torque thereto, causing a rotation of the first geared shaft upon depressing the lever. This, in turn, causes a rotation of the second of the geared shafts. The second geared shaft includes a metal flange or other connector that secures a toilet seat thereto over the bowl of the toilet. As the two geared shafts rotate, the toilet seat raises and lowers with the movement of the metal flange on the second geared shaft.

Most toilets in the developed western world have a seat. The typical seat is a moveable device, to be manually lifted when using the toilet as a urinal. Seat design, however, has never favored this fact, and it is very common to this day to fumble for a finger-hold on the bottom edge of toilet seats in both public and residential bathrooms in order to lift them to the raised position. This is both unsanitary and inconvenient.
Other numerous attempts to produce a commercially viable toilet seat lifting device have encompassed designs that are ungainly or involve mechanisms that require considerable manufacturing cost and complexity and user maintenance. U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,371 to Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,367 to Gamblin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,782 to Ratajac and U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,335 to Gaston all involve hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders and complicated levers and linkages necessitating manufacturing complexity and undue expense, along with user assembly and maintenance issues associated with hydraulic and pneumatic designs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,595 to Carmel involves two levers, a floor-mounted base and numerous linkages, as well as an electrical motor option to lift the seat. This too, is overly complex to manufacture and difficult for the end user to install and maintain.


Disclosed are systems and methods which provide communication network antenna pattern configuration for optimized network operation. Preferably, a statistical smart antenna configuration is provided in which antenna patterns associated with various base stations of the communication network are configured to capitalize on the complex morphology and topology of the service area in providing optimized communications. Antenna patterns are preferably configured using merit based determinations, based upon link propagation conditions such as associated with the complex morphologies and topologies of the service area, to aggressively serve areas which are best served thereby while not serving areas which are best served by other network systems.

As wireless communications become more widely used, the number of individual users and communications multiply and, thus, communication system capacity and communication quality become substantial issues. For example, an increase in cellular communication utilization (e.g., cellular telephony, personal communication services (PCS), and the like) results in increased interference experienced with respect to a user's signal of interest due to the signal energy of the different users or systems in the cellular system. Such interference is inevitable because of the large number of users and the finite number of cellular communications cells (cells) and frequencies, time slots, and/or codes (channels) available.
In code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, for example, a number of communication signals are allowed to operate over the same frequency band simultaneously. Each communication unit is assigned a distinct, pseudo-random, chip code which identifies signals associated with the communication unit. The communication units use this chip code to pseudo-randomly spread their transmitted signal over the allotted frequency band. Accordingly, signals may be communicated from each such unit over the same frequency band and a receiver may despread a desired signal associated with a particular communication unit. However, despreading of the desired communication unit's signal results in the receiver not only receiving the energy of this desired signal, but also a portion of the energies of other communication units operating over the same frequency band. Accordingly, as the number of users utilizing a CDMA network increases, interference levels experienced by such users increase.
The quality of service (QOS) of communications and the capacity of the communication network are typically substantially impacted by interference or noise energy. CDMA systems are interference limited in that the number of communication units using the same frequency band, while maintaining an acceptable signal quality, is determined by the total energy level within the frequency band at the receiver. For example, the phenomena known as "pilot pollution" in CDMA systems manifests itself as pilot signal interference associated with reception by a particular subscriber communication unit of pilot signals of a number of base station communication units. For a base station to be received well by a subscriber unit the base station should have a strong pilot signal as received by the subscriber unit. However, the pilot signals of all other base stations received by the subscriber unit provide interference with respect to the other pilot signals. Accordingly, the strength of a particular pilot signal as received by a subscriber unit is not determined from absolute power of the signal, but instead is generally a ratio of signal or carrier to interference (C/I). Similar phenomena is experienced with respect to other communication protocols, e.g., global system for mobile (GSM) systems experience similar effects.
The QOS of communications with respect to communication units may be greatly affected by such interference, even though the power level of communication signals, e.g., pilot or beacon signals, are quite high. Accordingly, outage areas (locations where service is not supported) of cellular networks are often defined in terms of a noise or interference related threshold, such as establishing an acceptable C/I threshold. For example, in a CDMA system an outage area may be defined through use of a threshold such that the pilot Ec/Io (energy per chip of the pilot to the total received interference) is less than a predetermined threshold (e.g., −15 dB). GSM systems implementing frequency hopping schemes experience similar limitations with respect to interference.
Cellular communications systems have typically been conceptualized for analysis and planning purposes as a grid of hexagonal areas (cells) of substantially equal size disposed in a service area. A base transceiver station (BTS) having particular channels assigned thereto conceptually may be disposed in the center of a cell to provide uniform wireless communications throughout the area of the cell. Therefore, a grid of such cells disposed edge to edge in "honeycomb" fashion may be utilized for information with respect to the relative positions of a plurality of BTSs for providing wireless communications throughout a service area.
However, it should be appreciated that the communication coverage associated with a BTS typically varies substantially from the theoretical boundaries of the cell due to cell topology and morphology. For example, topological characteristics (mountains, valleys, etc.) and/or morphological characteristics (large buildings, different building heights, shopping centers, etc.) result in different path losses or other propagation attributes experienced in different azimuthal directions from the BTS. Accordingly, in practice homogeneous signal quality is not provided throughout the area of a cell or throughout the network.
Typically cells have been implemented as omni-trunks, where each cell is able to use each channel in the full 360° azimuth of a BTS, or sectored configurations, such as breaking the cells down into 120° sectors such that each cell channel communicates in the 120° azimuth an associated sector. However, because of the irregular boundaries experienced in actual cell implementations (e.g., path loss variance), a user moving about a cell and even a sector may experience a wide variety of communication conditions, including outage conditions (e.g., Ec/No <−15 dB) or poor quality of service. For example, this user may move only a few degrees in azimuth with respect to a BTS and experience significant signal quality degradation. Accordingly, this user may experience unacceptable communication conditions, such as the aforementioned outage conditions, when noise or interference levels are otherwise generally within acceptable limits for operation within the network.
Both the user's signal of interest, such as a serving pilot signal, and interference associated therewith are typically subject to log-normal shadowing. Accordingly, the communication conditions experienced are dependent on the variance of both.
It can therefore be appreciated that the capacity of the cell may be unnecessarily limited and/or the quality of communications provided thereby may be substandard if the quality of various signals of interest with respect to individual users is not maintained and/or interference energy is not controlled. A need therefore exists in the art for systems and methods which are adapted to provide optimized communications throughout a communication network.

Passive shapable sectorization antenna gain determination


A shell plate for being indexed in angular steps is on a carrier which is, in turn, mounted to the upper end of the reloader ram. Indexer rod engageable elements such as cylindrical equiangularly spaced apart pins project downwardly from the bottom of the shell plate. An indexer rod is carried in the shell plate carrier. When the ram is driven to nearly its lowermost position, the manual operating lever is near the end of its swing at which time it abuts the indexer rod for the latter to engage one of the pins to rotate the shell plate. The indexer rod is retracted and reset by having it slide down a guide track from the uppermost position of the ram and the guide track is angulated in part to be engaged by the rod and retracted. The reloader is distinguished by indexing the shell plate only when the ram is within a few millimeters of its lowermost limit. The reloader also features an improved device for inserting primers in shells and an inserter for inserting shells into the indexable shell plate for being reloaded. The shell inserter is especially designed for working with a reloader wherein the shell plate indexes when the ram is very near its lower limit the design provides for inserting the shell in the shell plate when the ram has begun to move upward again at which time substantial force is available from the manual operating lever.

The invention disclosed herein pertains to a fully progressive ammunition shell reloading machine. Various models of progressive reloading machines are known. They are characterized generally by performing several shell reloading operations in sequence and then discharging the shell after the final step which usually involves pressing and securing the bullet in the shell. The usual sequence of operations is to first press the shell into a tool at a first station which expels the spent primer cap and may also size the shell. The next step is to insert a new primer followed by the step of filling the shell with a predetermined amount of powder. A bullet is inserted in the shell at the next station and it may be crimped before the reloaded shell is discharged from the machine. The sequence of operations performed on the shells is done while the shells are held in shellholder pockets in a rotatable shell plate for being indexed angularly from one tool station to another until all reloading operations are completed. The shell plate is usually indexed through one angular step when the vertically reciprocal ram on which the shell plate is carried is moving downwardly. A lever is manually operated to effectuate the sequence of reloading operations simultaneously on all shells in the index plate so that when one shell, for example, is having its spent primer cap removed, the shell that is advanced rotationally one angular step ahead is having a new primer inserted in it and so on. When an individual shell has undergone all of the reloading steps, it is discharged from the shell plate.
An existing progressive shell reloading machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,222, for example.
The term "shell" is used herein as synonymous with "cartridge or case" for pistol and rifle ammunition since the illustrated embodiment of the reloader is dedicated to processing metal cases rather than shotgun shells.


An assembly is provided that enables the operation of all hydraulic sidebooms to be achieved while simultaneously inherently avoiding commonly recurring problems attributable to inadvertent contact between the hook block and the upper block or to an impending tipping condition. Application of joystick technology is provided to enable simultaneous manipulation of the boom and load, wherein a long-established, routinely-accepted combinatin of two to three controls is replaced by a single joystick control. A fail-safe thumb actuator is also provided for a single joystick control. An anti-contacting feature is provided that stops the upward travel of the hook block if it is about to come in contact with the sideboom's stationary upper block, and thus preventing consequent damage that wound result if contact took place. All hydraulically-operated sidebooms are inherently insulated from the occurrence of unsafe conditions attributable to exceeding machine capacities by an anti-tipping feature that monitors a combination of boom angle and weight of the line load.

The present invention relates to sidebooms used for pipelaying, and more particularly pertains to methods and apparatus providing a simplified control system for improving the handling of the plurality of controls for operating the boom and load of hydraulically-operated sidebooms, and for providing a plurality of apparatus for fail-safe operation of these sidebooms during pipelaying.
It is well known in the art that tractor-type vehicles having an integrated adjustable boom disposed on a side thereof are commonly used for pipelaying. Referred to as "sidebooms," such vehicles were mechanically-operated in their first incarnation and are now readily available from original equipment manufacturers in hydraulically-operated models. The use of hydraulically actuated booms and hoist assemblies is described by Stefanutti in U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,218, wherein hydraulic cylinders are used either inside or astride the boom to raise and lower the boom. The apparatus taught by Stefanutti has not been widely accepted in the art.
As taught by Vinton in U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,669, however, while the introduction of such hydraulically-operated sidebooms were anticipated to provide improvements associated with effectively and safely manipulating winches and cables through an operator's interfacing with clutches, brakes, and levers for controlling the position of the boom and for hoisting and lowering a load, such sidebooms failed to provide the prerequisite control and versatility. To attempt to remedy this deficiency in the art, Vinton discloses a hydraulic circuit that includes two separate sources of hydraulic fluid for controlling sideboom movement-related functions. One fluid source provides low volume hydraulic fluid for accomplishing not only precise, low-speed manipulation and control, but also for preventing anti-drift of both boom and hoist. The other fluid source provides high volume hydraulic fluid for providing high-speed operation of these movement and control functions. The plurality of control valves inherent in the Vinton circuit for controlling the hoist and the boom motors are operated via two levers. This apparatus also incorporates a hydraulic cylinder, instead of a drum/cable arrangement for controlling the boom; no drums or cables are involved in raising or lowering either the boom or the hook, except a short cable connected to the hook at the end of a hydraulic cylinder. As is known by those skilled in the sideboom art, this methodology was a commercial failure.
As a further development in the sideboom art, Forsyth teaches in U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,110 a hydraulically-operated sideboom intended to prevent boom over-rotation, to impart positive drive to the boom and load winches, and to provide improved control over free fall and vertical kick-out. These safe operating features are particularly intended for pipelaying applications involving lifting and lowering of large pipes.
As will be understood by practitioners in the art, the drawworks systems known in the art are operated by a sophisticated combination of clutches and brakes in order to control the cooperative movement of the boom and the load. Moreover, a drawworks system built upon a discontinued mechanically-operated, low-drive sideboom--having significantly more controls than a conventional discontinued tractor--inherently suffers from a panoply of problems associated with the simultaneous use of a daunting ensemble of gear-shifting mechanisms, clutches, and brakes, all operated by 6 different hand controls to properly lift and manipulate heavy pipes under conditions generally characterized by unpredictable and adverse terrain. Pipeline construction companies constitute approximately 95% of the users of this type of machinery. As will be appreciated by those conversant with the art, historically, such pipeline construction companies have had to choose either one of the newer high-drive sidebooms with herein before mentioned faults and high price or one of the discontinued low-drive sidebooms that are more economical but are more dangerous and are very difficult to operate. Manufacturers such as Komatsu, Fiat-Allis, Mid Western, and Caterpillar now build pipelayers with a hydraulic system that includes two to three hand controls for operating sideboom winches for handling pipes during pipelaying operations. It should also be noted that, as the pipelaying industry continues to mature, the number of skilled sideboom operators has gradually diminished.
As should be evident to those skilled in the art, it would be advantageous for construction companies who engage in pipelaying operations to have the benefit of improved handling, safety, and efficiency. It would be also advantageous for pipeline contractors to have the ability to utilize sidebooms that achieve a level of safety heretofore unmatched by any other sideboom system known in the art, regardless of design. Of course, it would be advantageous for pipelaying contractors to have the benefit of a hydraulic sideboom that inherently simplifies or mitigates the two to three controls associated with controlling the lifting and lowering of a pipe load. Accordingly, these limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention, and improved means and techniques are provided which are useful for controlling boom and load maneuvering with a single lever, for providing a fail-safe anti-tipping feature, and for providing a fail-safe anti-two-blocking feature--all of which enable efficient and safe pipelaying operations heretofore unknown in the sideboom art.


A method and a system for evaluating inertia of a power system and a storage medium. The method includes: injecting a cosine active power disturbance into the power system by small-disturbance injection, and obtaining frequency response at a node where the disturbance is injected, where the active power disturbance can be an energy storage, wind power, or photovoltaic power; acquiring an evaluation framework of inertia and frequency regulation capability of the power system according to relative characteristics of a frequency response function; and constructing a mathematical relationship between the impedance and frequency response characteristics according to a relationship among active power disturbance, frequency fluctuation and impedance.

As fossil energy sources are continuously exploited and the carbon emission standard becomes increasingly stringent, power systems dominated by conventional synchronous power sources is gradually replaced with those dominated by non-synchronous power sources, such as wind and photovoltaic. Considering that the power system plays a predominant role in the carbon emission, it is required to shut down a large number of power systems using fossil energy to achieve the "carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals". In view of this, the number and capacity of non-synchronous power sources such as wind and photovoltaic power sources connected to the power grid through power electronic converters will continue to grow rapidly. Moreover, due to the mutual decoupling between the non-synchronous power source and the grid frequency, it fails to actively provide inertia support for the power system under active power disturbances, resulting in attenuation of the inertia level of the power system and deterioration of anti-disturbance capacity and frequency stability of the power system, which poses a challenge to the safe and stable operation of the low-inertia power system.
Currently, the inertia and frequency regulation capability of the power system are evaluated mainly by large-disturbance event-dependent offline evaluation and phasor measurement unit (PMU)-based online identification. Unfortunately, these methods commonly struggle with low accuracy, large data demand and poor robustness, and are not suitable for the analysis of the normal state and small disturbance. Moreover, they also fail to effectively reflect the contribution of the "generation-grid-load-storage" diversified virtual inertia resources to the inertia and frequency regulation capability of the power system. Thus, how to accurately evaluate the inertia of the power system and the frequency regulation capability of each node under normal operation, precisely regulate the inertia and frequency regulation capability of the power system according to the evaluation results, and formulate prevention and emergency control strategies in advance to enhance the capability of the power grid to resist the large-capacity active-power impacts, such as high voltage direct current (HVDC) mono-pole/bi-pole block and the disconnection of new energy, is still a great challenge for the low-inertia power system.

Method and system for evaluating inertia of power system and storage medium


A disposable glove dispensing system may allow for a user to efficiently put on a disposable glove without touching the outside of the glove. In various embodiments, a disposable glove may comprise an opening for hand entry having a first opening edge and a second opening edge, a first interconnection point located near the first opening edge, where the first interconnection point attaches the disposable glove to a first adjacent disposable glove, and a second interconnection point located near the second opening edge. The second interconnection point may attach the disposable glove to a second adjacent disposable glove, wherein the disposable glove is positioned between the first adjacent disposable glove and the second adjacent disposable glove. Furthermore, a disposable glove dispensing system may comprise a pack of interconnected disposable gloves, and a glove dispenser comprising two glove hangers for hanging the pack of disposable gloves hang.

Medical professionals, restaurant employees, and any other individual that handles food, chemicals, samples, or in any way is attempting to prevent the spread of germs cannot be sure they are operating effectively if the outside of a glove is touched prior to the user putting the gloves on their hands. Thus, it is desirable to have a delivery method and apparatus for allowing the user to insert their hands directly into an open glove without contaminating the glove outer surface.

Method and apparatus for disposable glove dispensing


A system for coating a substrate with a thin film which has a high transmissivity in the visible spectrum and a high reflectivity in the thermal radiation spectrum. The film coating has at least one carbon layer crystallized with a diamond structure and doped with foreign atoms, the carbon layer being electrically conductive depending upon the doping concentration cA of the foreign atoms and having low radiation emissivity in the thermal radiation spectrum.

Generic coating systems are generally called "low e" (low emissivity) systems. Such coating systems, which are applied for example to flat glass, serve to admit light in the visible spectrum but reflect longer-wavelength thermal radiation. When such flat glass is used in window glazing, it makes an advantageous contribution toward minimizing radiant heat loss from a room through glass windows.
Conventional low-e systems consist basically of the following succession of coatings: substrate/metal oxide/metal/metal oxide.
Such a low-e coating system is described, for example, in German Patent 42 11 363. The actual functional coating is the metal layer which consists of metals with a very low coefficient of radiation emission. Usually the metal coating consists of silver, gold or also copper, and alloys of these metals. The metal oxide layers serve as anti-reflective coatings and at the same time they serve to protect the metal coating against mechanical and/or chemical environmental action. Also provided are multi-layer protective coatings which increase resistance to environmental influences in generic low-e coating systems.
On account of the increasingly stringent requirements as regards the optical and energy parameters of low-e coating systems and their required resistance to environmental influences, it has been found that conventional coating systems no longer satisfy these requirements. Resistive coatings consisting of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) are known, which have emissivities between 0.15 and 0.13. One disadvantage of the use of low-e coating systems using such ITO coatings is that large-scale architectural glass applications are very expensive due to the extremely high material cost of indium. As an alternative, low-e coatings made from tin oxide are used, which for reasons of cost are applied to the support material pyrolytically and have an emissivity of 0.4.
The invention is addressed to the problem of creating a low-e coating system of the kind described above, which will have improved resistance to chemical and/or mechanical action and avoid the deficiencies of the known technical solutions.

Coating system transparent to light and reflecting thermal radiation


A method of making a light sensitive printing plate such as might be used in lithography, comprises creating a surface layer on substrate base material by depositing particulate coating material on the base material using a dry deposition technique, the surface layer being formed from particles whose size is less than about 15 .mu.m, and creating an image layer on the deposited surface layer so that the surface layer is located intermediate the base material and the image layers.

Lithographic processes involve establishing image (printing) and non-image (non-printing) areas on a substrate, substantially on a common plane. When such processes are used in the printing industries, non-image areas are generally hydrophilic, and image areas are generally oleophilic. Consequently, oil based inks are repelled from the non-image areas after water has been applied to the substrate.
Image and non-image areas can be created by processes which include a step of exposing a layer of image material on the surface of the substrate to radiation. The exposure to radiation creates solubility differences in the image material corresponding to image and non-image areas. Following development, the soluble areas are removed, leaving a pattern on the substrate corresponding to the image.
Preparation of the substrate for receiving a layer of the image material must ensure that the material bonds to the substrate, at least prior to image formation. However, it must allow release of the soluble image material after development.
Suitable image materials for use in lithographic processes can include those based on diazonium/diazide materials, polymers which undergo depolymerization or addition photo-polymerization, and silver halide gelatin assemblies. Examples of suitable materials are disclosed in GB-1592281, GB-A-2031442, GB-A-2069164, GB-A-2080964, GB-A2109573 and EP-A-377589.
Substrates used in the printing industry commonly comprise an aluminum base layer, which has a layer of aluminum oxide on its surface, intermediate the base material and a subsequently applied image layer, resulting from a controlled oxidation reaction conducted electrochemically. Prior to the oxidation reaction, the surface of the aluminum base layer is subjected to a cleaning treatment, for example involving washing with alkali. The base layer is then subjected to a texture control treatment, for example involving an etching process, which increases the surface area of the substrate, which in turn controls the strength of the bond between the substrate and the image material and increases the ability of the substrate to hold water. It can be appropriate in some circumstances to modify the characteristics of the surface coating of aluminum oxide in order to ensure that the strength of the bond between the surface and the subsequently applied image layer is appropriate, both in the regions which are to remain bonded to the oxide coating and in the regions which are to be removed. This treatment can involve treatment with water, a solution of a phosphate or silicate salt, or a polycarboxylic acid.
A problem with this known process for preparing substrates for use in lithographic processes with an aluminum base layer, is that it uses a significant amount of energy in the course of the steps by which the base layer is etched and then oxidized. There can also be significant consumption of materials for cleaning and etching the surface of the substrate prior to oxidation, which gives rise to expense both in terms of the materials themselves and of subsequent disposal of the used materials.
GB-1238701, published in 1971, discloses a process for preparing a lithographic printing plate in which a surface of a foil such as of aluminum is subjected to a uniform treatment with a plasma arc jet. Finely dispersed silica introduced into the jet causes a layer of silicate to be formed on the surface of the foil. The process disclosed in the document does not appear to have been used commercially to produce plates.
Substrates used in lithography can also be formed from materials other than aluminum, such as for example, another metal such as steel, a polymeric material such as a polyester, or a paper based material. Processes used to prepare such substrates for coating with light sensitive material vary widely from that used to prepare an aluminum substrate.

Method of thermally spraying a lithographic substrate with a particulate material

Flat 4, 11 Blenheim Road, St Johns, Wakefield


An LPP detection unit detects an LPP from a wobble signal. A correction unit obtains a difference set by performing processing of calculating a difference in signal level between an LPP-present sync pattern portion and a non-LPP sync pattern portion having the same polarity, and executes correction on an RF signal at a timing when the LPP is detected, by using the difference set. The LPP-present sync pattern portion is a sync pattern portion obtained when the LPP is detected at the timing of the sync pattern portion positioned at the head of a sync frame of the RF signal. The non-LPP sync pattern portion is a sync pattern portion obtained when no LPP is detected at the timing of the sync pattern portion of the sync frame. In the case of reproducing information recorded on a DVD-R/RW optical disk, the occurrence of errors due to the effect of the LPP can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk device, and more particularly, to a technique for reproducing information recorded on an optical disk compliant with DVD-R and DVD-RW standards.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 16 shows a partial plan view of an optical disk compliant with DVD-R and DVD-RW (hereinafter, collectively referred to as "DVD-R/RW") standards. Referring to FIG. 16, the optical disk has a groove area in which user information is recorded, and an area between adjacent grooves is called a land. Although the grooves are meandering, the grooves and lands are each shown in a rectangular shape for convenience of illustration.
Each land has auxiliary information, such as a physical address, recorded as a land prepit (LPP). In the case of recording information to be reproduced (hereinafter, referred to as "reproduction information") on the optical disk, focused laser light is irradiated onto the disk surface, and the LPP is detected from a signal called a wobble signal which is obtained from the reflected light, thereby obtaining physical positional information of the optical disk. This makes it possible to record user information as an information mark at any position in the groove area. The meandering of each groove can be detected from the wobble signal, and a recording clock is generated from the wobble signal. Recording of the information mark in synchronization with the recording clock allows recording without causing any inconsistency even in the case of linking or overwriting data. Further, in the case of recording, laser power is increased and physical properties are changed by control of the temperature of a light focusing area, thereby forming the information mark.
During reproduction of the optical disk having the information mark recorded in the groove area, laser light is irradiated onto the groove, and a read signal containing reproduction information and synchronization information is obtained from the reflected light. During the reproduction, the laser light is oscillated with a smaller power than that required at the time of recording, to thereby prevent the information mark from being erased.
Note that the read signal obtained during the reproduction generally has a frequency higher than that of the wobble signal, and is called an RF signal.
FIG. 17 corresponds to FIG. 11 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-59018, and illustrates an example of a reproducing apparatus for reproducing an optical disk. The reproducing apparatus includes an A/D converter 11, an offset corrector 12, an asymmetry corrector 13, a PLL circuit 14, an error calculator 16, an optical head 17, an equalizer 19, a tap coefficient corrector 20, and a Viterbi decoder 21.
An optical disk 18 is rotated by a spindle motor (not shown) at a constant angular velocity or at a constant linear velocity. In the optical head 17, the distance between the disk surface and an objective lens and the radius positions of a groove and a focused light spot of the optical disk 18 are controlled by a servo circuit (not shown), and the focused light spot is irradiated onto the groove. The reflectance and polarization of the reflected light from the disk surface vary depending on the presence or absence of the information mark, and are detected by a detector (not shown) to thereby obtain an analog RF signal S1.
The A/D converter 11 performs A/D conversion on the analog RF signal S1, thereby obtaining a digitized RF signal S2. The offset corrector 12 performs offset correction for an output S2 of the A/D converter 11 based on an output of the error calculator 16. The asymmetry corrector 13 receives an output S3 of the offset corrector 12, detects asymmetry, and corrects the asymmetry. The PLL circuit 14 controls an output S4 of the asymmetry corrector 13 and a sampling clock of the A/D converter 11 to be synchronized in phase with the RF signal S1. There is also known a reproducing apparatus in which an AGC (not shown) performs a gain control for making the signal amplitude constant, before the output S4 of the asymmetry corrector 13 is supplied to the PLL circuit 14 and the equalizer 19.
The equalizer 19 equalizes the output S4 of the asymmetry corrector 13 by using a tap coefficient controlled by the tap coefficient corrector 20 so as to obtain a PR characteristic determined by the Viterbi decoder 21. When the SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) and channel characteristics of the input signal are substantially constant, the equalizer 19 may perform equalization using a fixed coefficient instead of using the tap coefficient from the tap coefficient corrector 20.
The Viterbi decoder 21 receives an output S5 of the equalizer 19 and performs maximum likelihood detection, for example, thereby obtaining detection data which is a channel bit data string.
The error calculator 16 receives the output S5 of the equalizer 19 and the detection data output from the Viterbi decoder 21, and outputs error information. Specifically, the error calculator 16 first converts the detection data into a signal (replica signal) expected as a corresponding input of the Viterbi decoder 21. Then, the error calculator 16 calculates a difference between the output S5 of the equalizer 19 and the replica signal, and outputs the difference only when the replica signal is located in the vicinity of the center of the reference level of the Viterbi decoder 21. The output serves as miscalculation information. The tap coefficient corrector 20 corrects the tap coefficient so that the difference between the output S5 of the equalizer 19 and the output of the error calculator 16 is minimized, and outputs the corrected tap coefficient to the equalizer 19.


Devices and methods for streamlining the completion of work functions within a lateral pipe connected to a main pipe. A variety of different lateral devices may be used to aid in the process of relining the main or lateral pipe. A lateral location device is inserted into the lateral pipe prior to relining of the main pipe and is subsequently used to aid in the conventional cutting of the main-lateral interface. A lateral cutting device actually performs the main-lateral cutting process from within the lateral or from within the main. A lateral inspection device crawls up the lateral for inspection via camera. A lateral relining device aids in the placement of a liner used to reline the lateral pipe. Each of these interchangeable work functions may be optional performed by one or more lateral devices, often carried and inserted by a delivery device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for pipeline rehabilitation, and, more specifically, the present invention relates to devices used to cut or assist in the cutting of lateral openings in a main pipeline after a relining process.
2. Description of the Background
Various pipeline networks are used in a variety of different technological disciplines. For example, largely subterranean potable water pipeline networks deliver clean water to homes and businesses and sewer pipeline networks guide used water and wastes away from these same locations for further treatment or disposal. In general, pipeline networks are used to guide an almost limitless variety of liquids and gases from one location to another, either under pressure or by the force of gravity.
A section of a conventional pipeline network for subterranean sewers is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1A shows an isometric view of the pipeline network, and FIGS. 1B and 1C show front (down the longitudinal axis) and side views, respectively. As seen in FIG. 1, a main line 10 typically traverses in a longitudinal direction with a variety of different lateral lines 12, 14 intersecting the main 10 at various locations. The lateral connections with the main 10 occur at various angles in planes co-linear with the longitudinal axis (FIG. 1C) and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (FIG. 1B). A lateral typically may intersect with the main 10 at any angle within the upper hemisphere of the main.
The pipeline network also includes a plurality of surface manholes (not shown) that provide access to the subterranean pipeline network at various locations. For sewer pipelines, a distance of 300 feet between successive manhole access points is common. These access points intersect with the main as vertically intersecting laterals.
After years of wear, the walls of the pipelines begin to crack, leak and generally deteriorate, and this wear may adversely affect use of the pipe. As such, various processes have been developed to rehabilitate these pipelines and provide for a longer service life. One common rehabilitation method involves relining the interior walls of pipes with an epoxy or resin-impregnated felt liner that is prefabricated and rolled in the form of a rolled-up sock (i.e., one end open and one end closed). The liner is fed down through a manhole access point and is guided into the pipeline main. Pressurized water is then forced into the open end of the rolled liner forcing it to unroll and unfurl down the length of the main. The far end of the liner is tied off or closed to allow for the expansion of the felt liner against the inside of the pipe wall.
The relining process is typically performed on pipes that have been prepared for relining by removing serious flaws, such as collapses and extensive debris. In these cases, a machine or other means, depending on the size of the pipe, is used to assess and repair the main and/or lateral (extending to a house or building) before relining.
After unrolling, the felt liner, often referred to as Cured In Place Pipe (CIPP), is filled with pressurized heated water and is allowed to cure for several hours depending on the CIPP length, thickness and other relining factors. For an 8″ sewer main, a typical cure time may be three hours. After curing, the closed end of the liner is cut open allowing the water to proceed down the main out of the liner. The result is a relined, and hence rehabilitated, pipe that lasts for up to 50 more years with regular maintenance. This process is obviously much cheaper than excavating and replacing the mains of subterranean pipe networks.
At this point, each of the lateral connections with the main is now covered over with the cured epoxy lining. Therefore, to restore service to the houses and other buildings connected to the main through the laterals, new openings in the Cured In Place Pipe must be cut at each lateral connection. Typically, for smaller pipes that do not allow for man-entry within the mains for cutting (e.g., smaller than 24″ in diameter), a small tele-operated machine is used to cut the laterals open after curing. The machine includes an air-powered routing bit with three axes of manipulation that is tele-operated from the surface. Via tele-operation, the cutting machine is positioned in front of a lateral.
To accomplish the lateral cutting task using conventional methods, the operator uses a camera view from an inspection sled which is being towed directly in front of the lateral cutting machine which provides a perspective view of the cutting operation. Typically, a conventional video feed is used for tele-operation of the machine. The operator (at the surface) uses the analog video image to look for a "dimple" or depression in the newly cured liner caused by the pressurized water indenting the soft felt liner at the location of most laterals. In some cases, a lateral may not cause a dimple in the liner. In these cases, a pay-out sensor may be used to generally identify the location of each lateral prior to lining, and the lateral cutting machine may be stopped at each of the recorded locations after lining and attempt to drill or punch a lateral hole at each of these locations. In either case, the conventional method lacks a great deal of precision.
Once the lateral locations are found, the operator uses his camera view to punch through the lined lateral and relieve any backpressure in the lateral pipe (e.g., so that waste water does not back up all the way into the house or building). Then, the operator must re-cut the opening of the lateral to some predefined standard (e.g., 90–95% of the original diameter of the main-lateral interconnection). Further, it is important that the cutting step not leave a ledge at the lower portion of the lateral as such a ledge would provide a collection point for waste and other materials that may come down the lateral in the future.
In all, conventional lateral cutting machines, even with an experienced operator, take approximately 30 minutes to cut each lateral open after relining. This process is performed serially, one lateral at a time. In a typical 300 foot sewer run, there may be 15 laterals which would take 7½ hours to cut. This, combined with the setup, inspection and breakdown time, can total over 9 hours just to reestablish service to a single section of main sewer pipes. Even if the relined pipe lasts for 50–70 years as projected, upkeep on the millions of miles of underground sewer and potable water pipe in this country would be beyond the scope of conventional methods.
Although shown and described herein with respect to sewer pipelines, the present invention could also be used in other industries, such as general industrial, water, gas, or chemical pipes. Those skilled in the art can easily adapt the features of the present invention to these and other pipeline networks.


The disclosure provides catalyst materials useful for hydrogenating olefins and shifting carbon monoxide and methods for using such catalyst materials. In one aspect, the disclosure provides catalyst materials including (a) copper, present in the range of about 20 weight % to about 80 weight %; (b) one or more stabilizer oxides stable under reducing conditions, each stabilizer oxide being a transition metal oxide or a metalloid oxide, the one or more stabilizer oxides being present in a total amount in the range of about 20 weight % to about 70 weight %; and (c) one or more multiple-valence metals, each multiple-valence metal being present in a positive oxidation state, the one or more multiple-valence metals are present in the range of about 0.1 weight % to about 40 weight %, all on an oxide basis.

Field of the Invention
The disclosure provides catalyst materials useful for hydrogenating olefins and shifting carbon monoxide and methods for using such catalyst materials.
Description of Related Art
Many industrial processes, such as Fischer-Tropsch process, produce an off-gas (or tail gas) that contains hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (such as olefins), among other components. While some of the off-gas can be recirculated to the reactor, recirculation of all of the off-gas to the Fischer-Tropsch reactor causes CO2, CH4, and inerts to build up thus reducing the amount of hydrocarbons produced by the Fischer-Tropsch reactor. It can be desirable to use the off-gas stream to form commercially useful products, such as hydrogen. But the presence of olefins and CO in the off-gas stream can hinder its use in further reactions. As a result, olefins and CO are often removed from the off-gas stream. For example, olefins can be hydrogenated to paraffin and CO can be shifted to H2 and CO2.
Typically, olefins in the off-gas are hydrogenated over a Cu or Ni catalyst. The hydrogenation is typically followed by a shift reaction to convert CO and water to CO2 and H2 over a Cu- or Fe-based catalyst. These two steps typically require different catalysts. Or in cases where the same catalyst is used for both steps, the operating reaction conditions for the two reactions significantly different, such that they need to be performed in separate processes.

Catalyst materials for hydrogenating olefins and shifting carbon monoxide