Light hydrocarbon enrichment is accomplished using a vertically oriented distillation column having a plurality of vertically oriented, nonselective micro/mesoporous hollow fibers. Vapor having, for example, both propylene and propane is sent upward through the distillation column in between the hollow fibers. Vapor exits neat the top of the column and is condensed to form a liquid phase that is directed back downward through the lumen of the hollow fibers. As vapor continues to ascend and liquid continues to countercurrently descend, the liquid at the bottom of the column becomes enriched in a higher boiling point, light hydrocarbon (propane, for example) and the vapor at the top becomes enriched in a lower boiling point light hydrocarbon (propylene, for example). The hollow fiber becomes wetted with liquid during the process.

The petroleum industry uses 6.9 quadrillion BTU's of energy per year, 40% of this energy is used for distillation nation wide. The energy consumption used in the distillation process is even larger worldwide. Ethylene and propylene (olefins) are two of the largest commodity chemicals in the U.S. and are major building blocks for the petrochemicals industry. These olefins are mostly separated by cryogenic distillation that demands extremely low temperatures and high pressures. Over 75 billion pounds of ethylene and propylene are distilled annually in the U.S. at an estimated energy requirement of 400 trillion BTU's.
The largest potential area for energy reduction is in the cryogenic isolation of the product hydrocarbons from the reaction by-products, methane and hydrogen. This separation requires temperatures as low as −150° F. and pressures exceeding 450 psig.
Light hydrocarbon olefin/paraffin separations are dominated by cryogenic distillation technology at an estimated 1.2×1014 BTU's expended annually. In addition, there is enormous capital and operating costs associated with distillation. This has motivated an appreciable amount of effort towards pursuing alternative olefin/paraffin separation technologies. In the past decade, reactive or selective membranes for the olefin and paraffin separation had been widely investigated. However, the difficulty of long term stability associated with these facilitated transport membranes is a major obstacle.
Recently, the possibility of capillary condensation using a porous structure to separate light gases was explored, and the potential of using non-selective membrane for the olefin/paraffin separation was shown (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,792). In 2003, work was reported on using non-selective and non-porous membrane as structured packing to replace the distillation column for water-isopropanol separation and also suggested the possibility of using this technology for light hydrocarbon mixture separations (reference: Zhang, G. et al., "Hollow fibers as structured distillation packing," Journal of Membrane Science 2003, 215, 185-193).
Non-selective micro-porous membranes have been used as a barrier material in membrane contactors for vapor/liquid or liquid/liquid mass transfer, desalination, concentrating fruit juice and enriching the oxygen in blood during open-heart surgery (reference: "Hollow fiber membrane contactors", Journal of Membrane Science, 159 (1999) 61-106).
A unique feature of micro-porous membranes is a large surface area within a small volume, normally more than 3000 m2/m3, that provides an increased rate of mass transfer at least 10-20 times faster than the conventional tray and structured packing materials (creating an intimate contact between liquid and vapor phases). Although the high efficient Sulzer Chemtech® structured packing materials (AG Corporation), such as 250 Y/X, have conquered the chemical industry globally in the past twenty years, it has not been used in the C3 and C4 splitters since they require high liquid loads where structured packings typically deteriorate in performance. An advantage of using hollow fibers as structured packing is that the liquid and vapor velocity are not interrupted by the two-phase fluid mechanics. Therefore, the column packed with hollow fibers can operate above the normal flooding limits and below the normal loading limits.
However, the general requirement for use of a porous membrane in membrane distillation is that the membrane should not be wetted by the process liquids, because it is believed that the membrane wall once filled with liquid will increase the mass transfer resistance between the liquid and vapor phase, as well as reduce the flux of process fluid passed through the membrane wall. Therefore, historically it has been a requirement that the membrane used in the membrane distillation exhibit non-wetting characteristics (reference: "Membrane distillation", K. W. Lawson et al., Journal of Membrane Science, 124 (1997) 1-25; "Hollow fiber membrane contactors", Journal of Membrane Science, 159 (1999) 61-106; and, "Designing hollow fiber contactors", M. C. Yang et al., AIChE Journal, 32 (1986) 1910-1916).
The present invention includes the uses of a non-selective mesoporous and/or microporous membrane to separate olefinic mixtures from light vapor byproducts at higher temperatures and lower pressures than are currently required.
Various objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


A drop test apparatus includes a frame, a first blocking board, a second blocking board, two first pivot poles and two second pivot poles. The frame includes a base board and a holding board above the base board for holding a tested product. The first blocking board is located between the base board and the holding board for placing the tested product when the tested product is dropped from the holding board. The second blocking board is secured to the base board. The two first pivot holes and the second two pivot poles are connected the first blocking board with the second blocking board, and a distance between the first blocking board and the second support is adjusted.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to testing apparatuses, and more particularly to a drop test apparatus for a product.
2. Description of Related Art
In a drop test for a product, the product is usually placed on a holding board, and a blocking board is provided to support the tested product when the tested product is dropped. Usually, a distance between the holding board and the blocking board is constant. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

HONG FU JIN PRECISION (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.


The present invention relates to a transmission system, especially for use in a motorized vehicle. More particularly, the present invention discloses the use of a flywheel for assisting an engine in speeding up when acceleration is requested. The flywheel (135) is coupled to an epicyclic gearing (G) having three rotational members (41, 42, 43); this epicyclic gearing (G) is further coupled to a load (L) and to an engine (E), in parallel to a transmission unit (MT; CVT).

The present invention relates in general to a transmission system for transmitting drive power from a drive energy source to a driven load. The invention relates particularly to a transmission system for use in a motor vehicle, where the drive energy source is the engine of the vehicle and where the driven load can be considered as being the vehicle itself or its wheels. In the following, the invention will be explained for the particular application of a transmission system in a motor vehicle, but it is explicitly noted that the invention is not restricted to such application. For instance, it is possible that the driven load is a combustion engine, an electrical motor, a generator, a gas turbine, etc.
In motorised vehicles, it is common practice to transfer the energy from the drive energy source such as a combustion engine to the wheels through the intermediary of a transmission system. One of the purposes of the transmission system is to allow the output shaft of the engine and the wheels to rotate with mutually different rotational speeds. The ratio of the rotational speed of an input member of the transmission system to the rotational speed of an output member of the transmission system, indicated as transmission factor, can be changed manually or automatically, depending on the type of transmission system, and in particular the transmission factor may be continuously variable.
In automotive engineering, it is an ongoing objective to reduce energy consumption when the vehicle is in use. One way of achieving this objective is to minimise the size of the drive energy source. This reduces the amount of weight to be moved and provides an optimal use of the driver energy source and, if the drive energy source is an internal combustion engine, it usually provides better energy conversion efficiency. However, a disadvantage of smaller drive energy sources, especially smaller combustion engines, is that such drive energy source is only capable of providing adequate drive power at relatively high revolutions per minute. As a consequence, relatively small drive power sources have a bad load response, i.e. an unfavourable acceleration delay, because it is necessary to speed up the engine from a momentary engine speed to a higher engine speed in order to be able to deliver the required amount of drive power.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanical transmission system which is capable of assisting the engine in speeding up when acceleration is required.
In practice, a transmission system which is intended to assist the engine in speeding up is already commercially available from Honda; it is the so-called Integrated Motor Assist System. This known transmission system comprises a specific electrical motor coupled in series with a continuously variable transmission between a drive unit comprised of a combustion engine and a driven load comprised of the wheels of the vehicle, while further this known transmission system comprises a specific electrical accumulator. When acceleration is required, the relatively small combustion engine would give insufficient acceleration response by itself, but is assisted by the electrical motor which receives its energy from the electrical accumulator or battery. This battery is fed by the engine during less requiring operating conditions (and/or by absorbing breaking energy). Thus, when acceleration is required, the wheels are driven from two sources: the one source being the combustion engine, the other source being the electrical motor powered by the electrical accumulator. Thanks to the presence of the electrical motor and the electrical accumulator, the internal combustion engine can be chosen to be one with relatively low maximum engine torque, i.e. usually a relatively small engine. However, disadvantages of this known construction relate to the use of electrical energy, the necessity of converting kinetic energy to electrical energy vice versa, and the weight and costs of the electrical installation.
Therefore, it is a further object of the present invention to solve said disadvantages. More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a transmission system enabling the use of energy saving and relatively light drive energy sources (engines) while maintaining the advantage of using conventional, i.e. mechanical, technology, while further keeping the costs and weight of the transmission system relatively low.
According to an important feature of the present invention, the transmission system comprises an epicyclic gearing with three rotational members, wherein a first rotational member is coupled to an input of the transmission system, wherein a second rotational member is coupled to an output of the transmission system, and wherein a third rotational member is provided with a flywheel function, i.e. it is constructed as a flywheel or operatively connected with a flywheel. The epicyclic gearing may be of any type known per se, but preferably the epicyclic gearing comprises a planetary stage. Further the transmission system comprises a main transmission coupled between said input and said output of the transmission system, resulting in a desired ratio between the first and second rotational members of the epicyclic gearing being defined. In such transmission system according to the invention, under normal drive conditions the flywheel will absorb kinetic energy, while further the kinetic energy of the flywheel will be released towards either or both of the input and output of the transmission system during acceleration, thereby assisting the drive energy source. The construction is favourable in that it uses conventional technology with readily available components in a relative simple configuration. Further, the advantages of the invention can be achieved with a relatively low weight of the flywheel to be used. Further, the construction of the invention can be used in combination with any of the known types of transmission.
It is noted that it is known per se to use a flywheel in a drive line. In configurations where such flywheel is mounted directly of an input shaft of the transmission system, such configuration cannot be used to assist an engine in raising its rotational speed, since the flywheel is only capable of delivering energy while slowing down. In configurations where such flywheel is used to store kinetic energy when the vehicle is slowing down and to supply driving force to the vehicle when the vehicle is accelerating, it is necessary to equip the flywheel with a controlled coupling/uncoupling device, which is provided with actuation elements, which require actuation energy, etc, such that the construction is rather complicated. Further, when a flywheel is intended for supplying driving force to a vehicle, the flywheel must be relatively large and heavy, and must be operated at relatively high rotational speeds, however, the flywheel is used as a buffer of kinetic energy for the vehicle, i.e. when the vehicle is slowing down, kinetic energy of the vehicle is used to speed up the flywheel, while it is intended to accelerate the vehicle, rotational energy from the flywheel is transferred to the vehicle, causing the flywheel to slow down.
Further, it is noted that the use of epicyclic gearing in general, and the use of planetary stages in particular, in transmission systems is known per se. However, the purpose of such use differs from the purpose of the present invention in that normally the epicyclic gearing is applied as a fixed transmission ratio for improvement of the efficiency of a continuously variable transmission used in combination with the gearing or to change the ratio coverage of a transmission used in combination with the gearing. For instance, in the construction disclosed in WO96/35063, a planetary stage is operatively provided between an engine and a load, and a continuously variable transmission is arranged between the pinion carrier of the planetary stage and either the sun gear or the ring gear.
Further, it is also known per se in the art to use epicyclic gearings for increasing the overall transmission efficiency while reducing the ratio coverage or, vice versa, to increase ratio coverage to the detriment of the overall transmission efficiency.

Transmission system, especially for a motor vehicle


A reactor includes a plurality of metal leaves which extend from an interior of the reactor to its exterior. The leaves occupy a space between an internal mandrel and an external tube. In one embodiment, the leaves are generally flat pieces of foil, stacked together so that they do not touch except at spacers formed in the pieces. In another embodiment, the leaves are formed of a pleated and crimped foil, each leaf being defined by a piece of foil that has been folded over upon itself. In both embodiments, the leaves extend from the internal mandrel, radially outward to an inner surface of the tube. The reactor facilitates the transfer of heat between the outside of the reactor and its inside region.

This invention relates to the field of surface catalytic reactions and/or heat exchange. The present invention provides a reactor which fits within a cylindrical tube, and which effectively transfers heat from the exterior of the tube to the interior of the reactor, or from the interior of the reactor to the tube.
The reactor of the present invention achieves the same objectives as those of the catalyst supports described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/896,302, filed Jul. 21, 2004, and in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/105,973, filed Apr. 14, 2005. The disclosures of both of the above-mentioned applications are incorporated by reference herein.
One of the objectives of the reactors described in the above-cited applications is to avoid the problems associated with the use of ceramic materials in the manufacture and operation of catalytic reactors. Packed bed ceramic catalysts have the disadvantage that they have low thermal conductivity, making it difficult to transfer heat from the periphery of the reactor to the inside, or vice versa. Also, the thermal mismatch between the metal and ceramic portions of prior art reactors eventually leads to pulverization of the ceramic material, thus limiting the useful life of the reactor. Like the devices described in the above-cited applications, the present invention also comprises an all-metal structure which inherently avoids these problems.
The reactors in the above-cited applications have a spiral, or truncated spiral structure. The reactor of the present invention has leaves that are not spiral, but instead extend radially outward from the interior of the reactor to its exterior. This arrangement provides improved heat transfer between the exterior and the interior of the reactor.
The reactor of the present invention can be used, for example, in the field of catalytic fuel reforming, to make hydrogen, which is then used in generating electricity through a fuel cell, or in other industrial processes such as oil and gas refining, ammonia and fertilizer production, hydrogenation of oils and chemicals, and iron ore reduction. The reactor could be used as a catalytic or non-catalytic combustor, or as a simple heat exchanger.


Tie rod assemblies include a tie rod body, a coupling feature having a shaft, a ring positioned on the shaft, and a bushing rotatably coupled to the shaft. At least a portion of the shaft is positioned within the tie rod body, with an external threaded region of the bushing engaged with an internal threaded portion of the tie rod body to couple the coupling feature to the tie rod body. The ring is sized such that it is configured to prevent longitudinal translation of the coupling feature with respect to the bushing, via engagement with the shaft. The shaft is free to rotate within the bushing and within the tie rod body, to provide a tie rod assembly having a swivel end. The bushing may be rotated to adjust the length of the tie rod assembly. Related methods include assembling and adjusting the length of the tie rod assembly.

Tie rods are structural components having pins or hinge supports at both ends that are designed to withstand tensile and/or compressive loads along the longitudinal axis of the tie rods. Such tie rods are commonly used in various industries, including but not limited to aviation, automotive, mass transit, and static construction, to "tie" one structural member to another, and/or to transfer movement and forces across components. For example, in aircraft, tie rods may be used to transfer forces across cabin equipment, floor panels, walls, stow bins, closets, and/or crew quarters.
During assembly, manufacturing, production, and/or installation of structures, such as an aircraft, tolerance variations and stack-ups may accumulate. To accommodate and/or account for such tolerance variations, adjustable length tie rods are sometimes employed. Tie rods with adjustable ends may be useful to allow for installation in different locations or arrangements. However, conventional tie rods that are available with fixed or adjustable lengths only have limited adjustability at the ends provided by spherical bearings. Other conventional tie rods include swivel ends that allow for more adjustability at the ends, but these tie rods are limited by their fixed length.

Adjustable tie rod assemblies having a swivel end and related methods


Provided is a method of automatically detecting an end node behind a phone on a computer network. Media access control (MAC) address of an end node is determined, wherein the end node is coupled to a phone and the phone is coupled to a switch on a computer network. It is also determined whether the MAC address of the end node is recognized on a port of a switch on the computer network. If the MAC address is recognized on a port of a switch, a list of MAC addresses recognized on the port is obtained. If the list has two MAC addresses, the MAC address of the end node from one of the two MAC addresses is determined.

A network node ("node") is an addressable device connected to a computer network. Some examples include a modem, hub, and switch. In addition, if the node is a computer, it is often called a "host". For instance, a personal computer (PC), server, printer, or phone may act as a host. Typically, the nodes present in a computer network are identifiable through a network management application.

Automatic detection of an end node behind a phone on a computer network

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to generate a data input signal in response to a first control signal and a second control signal. The second circuit may be configured to (i) generate the first control signal and the second control signal and (ii) determine whether the first circuit is coupled to (a) a first logic level circuit when in a first state and (b) an impedance circuit and a second logic level circuit when in a second state.

Semiconductor devices often use a common silicon device to provide different or varying levels of functionality. Such differences in functionality are needed to support the use of the silicon device in different target environments. The use of the silicon device in a different target environment includes changing the address of the silicon device as seen on a control bus.
When extra functionality is added to a semiconductor device as the design of semiconductor evolves, it is necessary that the semiconductor device functions identically in a system to a previous part with no changes to the printed circuit board (PCB) layout. Such a change may be achieved by software. However, with other systems there may not be a controlling host device. Due to a lack of a controlling device, configuration pins provide a solution. Common silicon is often configurable by connecting one or more pins to a high or low logic level. In small standard packages, there may not be enough available pins to allow all of the necessary configuration settings, especially for test modes. When a part is an upgrade of a previous product with additional functionality, the pin count must remain the same, but the additional functionality will still need to be switched on or off. Where the added functionality is needed, a board change is acceptable. However, when it is necessary to maintain backward compatibility, the device packaging cannot be changed. Testing purposes provides another case where extra modes are needed. Changes to the board layout for testing purposes are not significant.
Adding more configuration pins to a part where no pins are available or using existing spare pins will allow more device configurations to be selected. However, adding more configuration pins to a part will increase the need to change existing board layouts. As the package changes the parts will become non-interchangeable. Standard packages and the correct number of pins may not be available. In small devices, the cost of the packaging is a significant part of the overall product cost.
It would be desirable to provide a method and/or apparatus that implements multi-bit configuration pins to eliminate the need to change existing board layouts and eliminate non-interchangeable standard packages.


A fuel oil burner utilizing a hot surface ignition with an ignitor that is fully sintered and has essentially no porosity, a voltage phase regulator circuit for applying rectified half-wave AC line voltage, full-wave rectified AC, or either half-wave or full-wave rectified AC line voltage to the ignitor to supply power thereto, and AC line voltage to a blower motor, an AC-to-DC converter, a DC voltage preregulator, and a DC voltage regulator for providing twelve volts DC for operation of a control circuit that has a first time constant circuit for preheating the ignitor and maintaining the ignitor at consistent ignition temperature for a predetermined ignition trial time period and a second time constant circuit for driving second and third motor drive circuits. The third motor drive circuit energizes the start winding of the blower motor and the second motor drive circuit energizes the main winding of the blower motor thus starting the motor and providing fuel to the combustion chamber during a predetermined time concurrent with the ignition trial period. At that time, a third time constant circuit either maintains the fan blower motor in its energized state, if a flame of sufficient magnitude and frequency is detected, or de-energizes the blower motor, if the flame is not detected in less than one second after the ignitor is de-energized.. A lock-up circuit is provided such that if no flame is detected, restart is accomplished only by first removing power and then reapplying power to the unit. The unit can be restarted in this manner even if there is a flame in the combustion chamber. Also, a shutdown circuit is provided if the flame detector shorts during burner operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the control of fuel burning devices in general and in particular relates to a fuel oil burner operating with intermittent ignition and using a hot surface 120 volt ignitor electrode that is sintered to full density with no porosity and that will withstand applied voltages in excess of 230 volts AC for short duty cycles, a circuit for controlling the duty cycle, and a voltage phase regulator circuit to operate an 85 to 120 volt hot surface ignitor from a 180 to 254 volt AC source or operate a 60 volt hot surface ignitor from a 60 to 132 volt AC source and providing half wave consistent output voltage to the ignitor and that further includes a trial ignition period during which time a blower motor of the split-phase type, and having a main winding and an auxiliary start winding, provides both air and fuel to the combustion chamber. If a flame is not detected in less than one second, the device is de-energized and starting must be retried.
In a second embodiment, a series-type voltage regulator circuit is used to operate an 85 to 120 volt hot surface ignitor from a 180 to 254 volt AC source, to operate a 60 volt hot surface ignitor from a 60 to 132 volt AC source, or to operate an 85 volt hot surface ignitor from an 85 to 132 volt AC source and providing full wave consistent output voltage to the ignitor.
In the third embodiment of the present invention, a first circuit is provided that applies full-wave voltage to the ignitor only during the preheat and ignition trial periods for ignition purposes. A second circuit is provided that applies half-wave voltage to the ignitor continuously, beginning with the RUN period, for fast re-ignition and to burn any fuel coming in contact with the ignitor during the RUN period and thus prevents carbon buildup on the ignitor, especially if heavy fuels, such as diesel, are used. A third circuit is provided which automatically adjusts the preheat time and the ignition on-time, depending on the applied line voltage and the current draw of the ignitor.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Portable forced air kerosene heaters typically comprise an outer housing surrounding a combustion chamber. Air is forced into the combustion chamber. A burner is located at one end of the combustion chamber and the burner normally has a fuel nozzle frequently incorporating eductor means providing jets of air to draw, mix, and atomize the fuel delivered by the nozzle. The nozzle, together with the eductors, discharges a combustible fuel-air mixture into the combustion chamber. An ignitor is provided to ignite the mixture and, after initial ignition, continuous burning occurs. Typically, during the continuous combustion, forced air heat currents issue from the end of the heater opposite the burner and additional heat radiates from the surface of the heater housing.
Portable space heaters of the general type described are frequently provided with a direct spark type of ignitor and a motor. The motor normally runs a fan supplying air to the combustion chamber and the eductors and operates a fuel pump or air compressor to supply the fuel to the combustion chamber.
When the portable space heater is functioning properly, fuel burning will occur near the end of the combustion chamber at which the burner is located. In the event of reduced air flow, however, the flame will move toward the opposite end of the combustion chamber, the oxygen supply becoming inadequate for proper combustion. Under such a circumstance, it is desirable to shut down the heater. Inadequate air may result because of a malfunction of the fan or a blocking of the passages for air into or out of the combustion chamber.
It is also desirable to shut down the portable space heater when there is a flame failure. This can occur by virtue of faulty ignition, a blockage of the fuel nozzle, or exhaustion of the fuel supply.
Further, the prior art portable heaters utilize a spark gap for ignition. Some use heating coils that glow at a particular temperature sufficiently hot to cause ignition.
Hot surface ignition systems (HSI) have been used for more than twenty years for gas ignition in units such as gas clothes dryers, gas ovens, gas fired furnaces, and boilers thus replacing and eliminating standing gas pilot lights. Low voltage ignitors (12 and 24 volts) of the hot surface type are made from a patented ceramic/intermetallic material. These ignitors are used in compact low wattage assemblies for ignition of gas fuels. The element reaches ignition temperature in less than 10 to 15 seconds and utilizes about 40 watts of power. The ignitor is made from a composite of strong oxidation resistant ceramic and a refractory intermetallic. Thus hot surface ignitors have no flame or spark. They simply heat to the required temperature for igniting a fuel air mixture. Such ignitors have not been used in oil burning systems because the ignitor material is porous and oil entering the porous cavities causes buildup of the materials that are inimical to the operation of the burner.
A 120 V HSI ignitor has been developed in which the material is compressed and sintered to full density leaving no porosity resulting in a high performance ceramic composite. It can operate at very high temperatures such as 1,300 to 1,600 degrees Celsius. This same ignitor can withstand 230-volt operation at a reduced duty cycle to prevent overheating. The application of such high voltage hot surface ignition device is especially attractive for use in the present invention wherein fuel oil burning heaters are to be constructed. They provide unique advantages over prior art gas flames, heating coils, and spark gap ignition systems. However, the temperature of said hot surface ignitor varies with the applied voltage and some variation is found in normal response variations among the ignitors themselves.
This invention solves this problem by providing a circuit that responds to both current and voltage applied to the hot surface ignitor and is also used to operate a 120-volt ignitor directly on 230 volts or operate a 60-volt hot surface ignitor from a 60 to 132 volts AC source without a step-down transformer or series connected power dissipating devices.
In any case, malfunctions in the prior art heaters can cause insufficient or incomplete burning or a failure to burn issuing fuel thus producing a dangerous condition of highly flammable liquid or noxious fumes. Prior art devices include a number of safety control circuits for fuel burning devices that are proposed to avoid the many and often undesirable results of improper burning or flame failure.
Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,766 (Donnelly oil burner control 1973), a pretrial ignition period is determined by a bimetallic thermal switch which, after a predetermined period of time if ignition has not started, opens and removes the power to the heater.
Manual resetting of the bimetallic contacts is required to restart. However, during burner operation, if the flame for any reason goes out, a new trial period is automatically reinitiated. This could be dangerous if a fuel buildup in the combustion chamber is ignited. Further, if the photocell detecting the flame is shorted during operation, the burner will continue to operate because the circuit cannot detect that the photocell has been shorted and a shorted photocell condition is similar to the normal flame condition, which is a very low photocell resistance. The control will only detect a shorted photocell at start-up. Further, spark ignition is constantly applied during each cycle of the line voltage. Finally, there is an electric spark ignition circuit. Further, this control does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits. In addition, this control does not provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,327 (Thomson oil burner control 1972), a fluctuating control signal, due to flame fluctuation, is rectified and energizes a relay. This circuit is entirely a DC circuit. It responds only to the presence or absence of a flame and would require a separate circuit for a trial ignition period. It has no start-up circuit or restart circuit, no preheat circuit, and no hot surface ignition. Again, this control does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits and, further, this control does not provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,811 (Horon oil burner control 1972), if the photocell shorts during operation, there is no detection of loss of flame. Thus there is no shutdown of the fuel flow to the burner or the air blower. It also uses a spark gap ignition with a continuous spark being applied. There is no hot surface ignition and it does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits. It also does not provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,709 (Clark, commonly assigned), if the unit fails to start during an ignition trial period, a resistance heater opens the contacts of a thermal breaker unit to remove power. There is no shutdown of the control system if the photocell shorts. This control does not provide an ignition preheat period required for HSI ignition. This control does not provide an ignition preheat period required for HSI ignition. This control does not have the separate ignition control circuit for intermittent ignition. However, this control does contain moving parts. The timings of this control vary greatly with a change in applied voltage. There is no HSI ignition and, again, this control does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits. This control also does not provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,039 (Eldridge Jr. gas burner), if the unit fails to start during an ignition trial period, a resistance heater opens the contacts of a thermal breaker unit to remove power. It utilizes only AC voltage, uses a mechanical relay to cause continued operation of the circuit by detecting the heat of the flames, and has an automatic restart. It is not shut down during operation if the flame is gone. It simply keeps trying to ignite the fuel. Further, there is no hot surface ignition and the control does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits, neither does it provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,804 (Walbridge), an ignitor coil is used rather than a spark gap or pilot flame for ignition. The temperature of the ignitor coil is sensed by a photocell and, when the proper temperature is reached, the fuel valve is opened. It has a trial ignition in which, if a flame does not occur, a heating element opens bimetallic contacts to remove power. If the photocell is shorted during operation, the system simply tries to restart and does not shut down unless the heating element in the circuit reaches a predetermined temperature. Again, this device does not provide a motor start drive or preregulator or voltage regulator power supply circuits and neither does it provide current or voltage regulation to the ignitor.

Power phase regulator circuit improvement, motor start switch, self-adjusting preheat and ignition trial improvement, and series-type voltage regulator improvement to hot surface ignition control for fuel oil burner


A fuel injector assembly for an internal combustion engine includes an injector body having a control valve in fluid communication with a source of fuel. A fuel nozzle assembly is employed to disperse fuel from the assembly. A high pressure fuel passage provides fluid communication between the control valve and the fuel nozzle assembly. The high pressure fuel passage has at least one end opening through the injector body and having an inner diameter. A shape memory alloy plug seals the open end of the fuel passage. The plug has a first diameter smaller than the inner diameter when inserted into the open end and a second diameter in sealing engagement with the inner diameter upon undergoing a metallurgical phase change from martinsite to austenite such that the plug generates a seal with the fuel passage. In addition, a method of making the fuel injector assembly employing a shape memory alloy plug to seal the high pressure fuel passage is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a high pressure fuel injector for internal combustion engines. More specifically, the invention relates to a fuel injector which employs a shape memory alloy to plug a high pressure fuel passage and a method of manufacturing same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel injector assemblies are employed in internal combustion engines for delivering a predetermined, metered amount of fuel to the combustion chamber at preselected intervals. In the case of compression ignition, or diesel engines, the fuel is injected into the combustion chamber at relatively high pressures. Presently, conventional injectors are delivering this fuel at pressures as high as 32,000 psi. These are fairly high pressures and have required considerable engineering attention in ensuring structural integrity of the injector, good sealing properties, and effective atomization of the fuel within the combustion chamber. However, increasing demands on greater fuel economy, cleaner burning, fewer emissions, and No.sub.x control have placed, and will continue to place, even higher demands on the engine's fuel delivery system including increasing the fuel pressure within the injector.
Fuel injectors presently employed in the related art typically include a high pressure fuel passage which extends between a solenoid actuated control valve and the plunger cylinder in the injector body. Fuel at relatively low pressure is supplied to the control valve which then meters the delivery of the fuel at predetermined intervals through the high pressure fuel passage to the plunger cylinder. The fuel ultimately exits the injector through a fuel nozzle.
The high pressure fuel passage is often formed in the injector body by drilling a hole from one side of the injector body through a chamber formed to accommodate the structure of the control valve and between the control valve and the plunger cylinder. The opening in the side of the injector body formed from the drilling is then sealed with a steel plug through a brazing operation. One of the disadvantages with this arrangement is that the brazed plug requires expensive tools and tapered hole machining during the manufacturing process and expensive metal removal after the high temperature braze and hardening process. Further, as the demand for higher fuel injection pressure has increased, the reliability of brazed plugs in this environment has not always met the high manufacturing quality standards required in the relevant industries. More specifically, the brazed plugs can leak and even fail under the high injection pressures. Further, both the plug and the fuel passage are subjected to cyclical pressures ranging between 0 and the peak stress generated by the fuel pressure. The alternating stress amplitude adversely effects the fatigue life of the injector body and can result in early failure through body cracks.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a better seal for the high pressure fuel passage of a fuel injector which reduces costs by eliminating the brazing process presently employed in the related art and while providing a very secure, tight seal at the open end of the high pressure passage that resists leaking, even under very high pressures. Further, there is a need in the art for a sealing mechanism in this environment which reduces the stress amplitude on the injector body generated in the high pressure fuel passage.

High pressure fluid passage sealing for internal combustion engine fuel injectors and method of making same


In the gas-turbine engine control system having first and second control channels each inputting the outputs of speed sensors and controlling supply of fuel to the engine based on the inputted outputs, four outputs generated by the sensors are compared with each other to determine whether three of the four outputs are within a range that allows the three to be considered identical, and the three are then compared with a remaining one to determine whether the four outputs are within the range that allows the three to be considered identical to the remaining one, and based thereon, each of the four outputs is determined to be the output that is usable in the fuel supply control. With this, through the three-value comparison and the four-value comparison, when the high-pressure turbine speed sensor or the like is installed by plural numbers, it becomes possible to accurately select the sensor output(s) that is usable in the fuel supply control, thereby improving the control accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control system for a gas-turbine engine, more specifically a control system for a gas-turbine aeroengine used in aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gas-turbine engine control is performed by using the outputs of a group of sensors installed in the engine to discriminate the engine operating condition and conducting various kinds of control, including calculation and control of the amount of fuel to be supplied, based on the discriminated condition. In determining acceptability or reliability of the sensor outputs, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 6(1994)-050174 teaches a technique that determines or checks whether each sensor output is within an a permissible range, responds to each determination that it is not within the permissible range by resetting the upper and lower limits of the permissible range in accordance with the direction of the deviation, counts the number of times that the inputted value in the next cycle swings up and down within the permissible range within a predetermined time period, and determines that the sensor is faulty when the count value exceeds a predetermined value.
In the gas-turbine engines, in particular in the gas-turbine aeroengines, sensors of the same type are installed at different locations and one among from the sensor outputs is selected to be used in the control. However, the prior art mentioned above only proposes determining the sensor faulty based on the deviation in the permissible range, and discloses nothing on selecting a reliable or appropriate one from among the outputs of the same-type sensors.


Biomacromolecules such as proteins are inactivated by hydrophobic ANSA derivatives of the formula:

Nitric oxide (.NO) is an essential bioactive molecule that mediates a variety of actions, such as vasodilation, neurotransmission, and host defense. However, increased .NO production is often associated with the pathogenesis of various disorders, including cancer (Moncada et al, 1991; Kerwin et al, 1995). .NO is produced endogenously by a family of enzymes known as .NO synthases (NOS). Only the inducible isoform (iNOS) produces .NO concentrations in the micromolar range (Nathan, 1997), which is high when compared with the pico- to nanomolar concentrations produced by neuronal (nNOS) and endothelial (eNOS) isoforms (Brovkovych et al, 1999). iNOS is highly active in induced macrophages during chronic and acute inflammation causing excessive nitrosation (covalent attachment of nitroso group to thiols or amines) of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids—a condition known as nitrosative stress.
Recent studies indicate that the increases NOS expression and activity may contribute to tumor development or progression. High levels of .NO synthesis were observed in human gynecological (Thomsen et al, 1994), prostate (Klotz et al, 1998), breast (Thomsen et al, 1995), colon (Ambs et al, 1998), and central nervous system tumors (Cobbs et al, 1995). High levels of .NO are also observed in the most common chronic inflammatory diseases of digestive tract, which predispose individuals to cancer (Wilson et al, 1998; Mannick et al, 1996; Al-Mufti et al, 1998). Furthermore, most infectious bacteria produce a significant amount of NO endogenously and also become a subject to a macrophage-derived NO.
.NO is chemically unreactive toward most bioorganic compounds, but it spontaneously auotoxidizes to yield the highly reactive species, N2O3— the actual nitrosating agent (Williams, 1997; Kharitonov et al, 1995; Grisham et al, 1999) (FIG. 1A). Nitrosation of biological substrates occurs with high efficiency during nitrosative stress in body fluids and tissues (Grisham et al, 1999; Ischiropoulos, 1998). To explain the mechanism of nitrosation in vivo and particularly under noninflammatory conditions when the concentration of free NO is low, the mechanism of micellar catalysis of NO oxidation has been put forward (Liu et al, 1998; Nedosapasov et al, 2000). NO and O2 are both hydrophobic molecules, areas of high hydrophobicity can act as a "sponge" to sequester them from the surrounding aqueous phase. High local concentrations of NO and O2 in a hydrophobic phase, e.g. within lipid membranes, can significantly accelerate NO oxidation and N2O3 formation (Liu et al, 1998; Nedosapasov et al, 2000). Recently, we demonstrated that such micellar catalysis of NO oxidation occurs within the hydrophobic cores of various soluble proteins (Nedosapasov et al, 2000) (FIG. 1B). For example, serum albumin can accelerate the formation of N2O3 more than 15,000 times (Rafikova et al, 2001).
FIG. 1 shows micellar catalysis of .NO oxidation and nitrosation of biological substrates. FIG. 1 shows the third order reaction of .NO with O2 (k=6×106 M−2 sec2) (Wink et al, 1994). FIG. 1 shows hydrophobic compartments (micelles) formed by a protein globule accumulate .NO and O2 from aqueous solution thus accelerating the formation of reactive nitrosating species, N2O3. N2O3 can react with water only at the surface of the protein (via intramolecular NO+ transfer) to form nitrite (NO2−). At the same time, various nucleophiles (e.g. thiols [SH]) can penetrate the protein interior or exist already inside and be accessible for nitrosation (Nedosapasov et al, 2000).

Nitrosation-inducible inhibitors biological macromolecules

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 are hydrophobic or affinity groups and R3 is selected from the group consisting of aminoacyl groups and peptidyl groups upon nitrosation. ANSA derivatives can be designed to selectively kill tumor cells and various pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.


A method of accessing a peripheral device can include determining whether the peripheral device is busy. The method can include selectively providing to a processor, according to whether the peripheral device is busy, either a driver or a program. The driver, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to offload the operation to the peripheral device. The program, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the operation in lieu of the peripheral device performing the operation.

Hardware peripheral devices (peripheral devices) are often included within systems to perform selected operations quickly and efficiently. The peripheral device typically is custom hardware that is designed to perform a selected operation efficiently. In this regard, peripheral devices can be referred to as "hardware accelerators." One example of a custom peripheral device, or hardware accelerator, is a circuit or processor specifically designed to perform Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operations. Typically, the hardware accelerator can perform the FFT operations in less time than a conventional, or general purpose, processor executing software would require to perform the same operations. Continuing with this example, a process within the system can offload an FFT operation to the peripheral device rather than perform the FFT operation itself, thereby increasing the overall system speed.
Peripheral devices typically are single core systems. Thus, when disposed within a multi-process system, the peripheral device can only service one request at a time. When performing an operation requested by a first process within the system, the peripheral device is busy, and thus, not available to service a request from any other process. Accordingly, requests for service directed to the peripheral device from other processes are not acted upon until the peripheral device completes processing of the request from the first process. Only when finished processing the first request from the first process will the peripheral device begin to service a next and different request.
While incorporation of a peripheral device has advantages in terms of reduced processing time, such devices also introduce complexity and potential bottlenecks into a system. Any process that wishes to utilize the peripheral device must include the necessary intelligence, whether via additional programming or circuitry, to determine whether the peripheral device is busy or available. The process further must have the intelligence to react to either condition. Accordingly, any designer of a process in the system that seeks to utilize the peripheral device must have knowledge of the way in which the peripheral device works in order to leverage functionality of the peripheral device. In the case of a software-based process, for example, the software developer must create the necessary program code for interacting with the hardware peripheral device as described. That program code must be configured to contend with cases in which the peripheral device is free and busy.

On-demand switching between hardware and software implementations of a peripheral device


An organic light emitting diode (OLED)/polymer OLED (PLED) displays and operation with a precharge latency. Particularly, precharging operation of such a display device with a precharge switch latency. According to the operation, a capacitive aspect of a display element is precharged, and the display element is activated so as to conducting a current therethrough. The precharging is terminated after the activation of the display element. Then a current is supplied and conducted through the display element for exposure of the display element. In this operation, a precharge droop that may occur during the transition between precharge and exposure can be avoided or minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to electrical drivers for a matrix of current driven devices, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for avoiding droop of precharged column voltage in such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a great deal of interest in "flat panel" displays, particularly for small to midsized displays, such as may be used in laptop computers, cell phones, and personal digital assistants. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are a well-known example of such flat panel video displays, and employ a matrix of "pixels" which selectably block or transmit light. LCDs do not provide their own light; rather, the light is provided from an independent source. Moreover, LCDs are operated by an applied voltage, rather than by current. Luminescent displays are an alternative to LCD displays. Luminescent displays produce their own light, and hence do not require an independent light source. They typically include a matrix of elements which luminesce when excited by current flow. A common luminescent device for such displays is a light emitting diode (LED).
LED arrays produce their own light in response to current flowing through the individual elements of the array. The current flow may be induced by either a voltage source or a current source. A variety of different LED-like luminescent sources have been used for such displays. The embodiments described herein utilize organic electroluminescent materials in OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes), which include polymer OLEDs (PLEDs) and small-molecule OLEDs, each of which is distinguished by the molecular structure of their color and light producing material as well as by their manufacturing processes. Electrically, these devices look like diodes with forward "on" voltage drops ranging from 2 volts (V) to 20 V depending on the type of OLED material used, the OLED aging, the magnitude of current flowing through the device, temperature, and other parameters. Unlike LCDs, OLEDs are current driven devices; however, they may be similarly arranged in a 2 dimensional array (matrix) of elements to form a display.
OLED displays can be either passive-matrix or active-matrix. Active-matrix OLED displays use current control circuits integrated within the display itself, with one control circuit corresponding to each individual element on the substrate, to create high-resolution color graphics with a high refresh rate. Passive-matrix OLED displays are easier to build than active-matrix displays, because their current control circuitry is implemented external to the display. This allows the display manufacturing process to be significantly simplified. Whether internal or external, the control circuitry of OLED displays requires various complicated schemes relating to the supply and timing of different voltages and currents.
In a typical display matrix, OLEDs require a minimum voltage level in order to illuminate. Because providing such minimum voltage to an OLED using only a current source is typically slow, display matrix technology implements the use of a voltage source to precharge OLEDs before the desired illumination time of the OLEDs. Thus, when a current source is applied to illuminate the OLEDs, it is desirable to have the minimum voltage level on the OLEDs to immediately illuminate the OLEDs. However, even when the voltage source is used to precharge the OLEDs, there is an undesirable drop in voltage across the OLED when the current source is applied. This drop may cause undesirable delays in illumination and/or improper illumination. Thus, a system and method for compensating for the delays in illumination and/or improper illumination is needed.

Method and system for precharging OLED/PLED displays with a precharge latency


A method and apparatus for treating with treating liquid the inside surfaces of cylinders of a work such as a V-shaped engine having cylinders with at least two different axial alignments, characterized in the steps of rotating the work in such a way that each cylinder in another axial alignment is aligned with a longitudinal passage-forming member provided in a workstation; and repeating the same operations on said cylinder at said workstation, thereby allowing for easy operations without interruption an apparatus for performing these steps is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method or apparatus for treating with treating liquid such as plating liquid the inside surface of cylinders of a work provided with at least two cylinders such as engine blocks, and in particular, to such a method or apparatus allowing for treating the inside surface of cylinders having different axial alignments, using a flowing liquid system at a high productivity.
2. Background of the Art
Various technologies for treating the surface of a work, such as plating and degreasing prior to plating, are hitherto known. For example, immersing methods adapted for plating and the like, in which a work is immersed in a treating liquid stored in a tank, are commonly conducted; however, in the methods, treating time is extremely long, and productivity is low. Thus, a method which allows for high speed treatment with an improved efficiency by flowing treating liquid relative to the surface of a work to be treated has been recently developed. Such an apparatus is characterized in plating treatment of the inside circumferential surface of a work having a cylindrical portion by permitting treating liquid to flow over the surface. In the apparatus, a passage-forming cylindrical member is mounted on a work-gripping member of a workstation, in which the passage-forming cylindrical member is being inserted into a cylinder of a cylinder block which is placed on the workstation. By permitting treating liquid to flow between the outside circumferential surface of the passage-forming member and the inside circumferential surface of the cylinder, an intended surface treatment such as plating treatment can be efficiently conducted on the inside wall of the cylinder.
However, in the above apparatus, when the passage-forming member is affixed to the work-gripping member, it is difficult to adapt the above apparatus for cylinders, each having the axial center slanted at a given degree from the axial direction of the cylinder block, such as a cylinder block of a V-shaped engine, since a structure in which each passage-forming member can be placed inside each cylinder without interruption cannot be readily constructed. For this reason, when a work is a cylinder block such as that of a V-shaped engine having circumferential surfaces having at least two different axial alignments, it is difficult or impossible to treat all of the circumferential surfaces without interruption. Further, an apparatus adapted for a work having cylinders with a single axial alignment cannot be readily employed for a work having cylinders with different axial alignments, since the center of balance of the work is not aligned with the axial alignments of the cylinders, thereby making it difficult to secure the work on a workstation.
In addition, in the aforesaid apparatus, the end of the cylinder opposite to the end in which an electrode is inserted is simply closed with a closing member covering the end from the outside. However, in many cases, covering the end from the outside is not sufficient to fully seal the end. In the case of a high speed flowing system, the closing member is especially prone to leaking of treating liquid. Further, when a projecting step such as a crankshaft bearing portion is formed inside the cylinder surface at the end, it is difficult to seal an airtight cover at the end of the cylinder.

Apparatus for surface treatment of work having plural cylinders with different axial alignments


A method for performing disjunctive single-index access on a database is disclosed. The method includes a query engine determining whether a first OR predicate and a second OR predicate map to a shared index. Responsive to the query engine determining that the first OR predicate and the second OR predicate map to the shared index, the first OR predicate and the second OR predicate are ordered in an ascending sequence. A first range of the first OR predicate is queued. A first row of the shared index is probed for the first range of the first OR predicate. Whether the first row is disqualified by the first OR predicate is determined. Responsive to determining that the first row is not disqualified by the first OR predicate, the row is reported in a result reporting structure. Responsive to determining that the row is disqualified by the first OR predicate, whether the first range of the first OR predicate overlaps a second range of the second OR predicate is determined, and, responsive to determining that the first range of the first OR predicate overlaps the second range of the second OR predicate, the row is checked against second range of the second or predicate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and relates specifically to databases. More specifically, the present invention relates to performing disjunctive single-index access on a database in a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Predicates containing OR conditions present challenges for database management systems in determining the most efficient access to data. One typical approach for improving query performance for such predicates involves exploiting multiple index access as described in "Single Table Access Using Multiple Indexes: Optimization, Execution and Concurrency Control Techniques" by C. Mohan, Don Haderle, Yun Wang, Josephine Cheng. Another alternative involves rewriting the predicates into either conjunctive or disjunctive normal form to best exploit either a single or multiple indexes respectively as described in "Factorizing Complex Predicates in Queries to Exploit Indexes" by Surajit Chaudhuri, Prasanna Ganesan, Sunita Sarawagi.
When the columns referenced are common to each OR predicate, then it may be possible to match these to the same index. For cases where the OR references a single column, such as the structure WHERE C1=? OR C1=? OR C1=?, then database management systems are known to already simplify this to the form WHERE C1 IN (?, ?, ?). Unfortunately, when multiple columns are referenced in the OR, multi-index access may be used and will invoke multiple probes of the same index. The problem with this approach is that ordering is not maintained by the multiple index access steps, and thus a final sort is required if an ORDER BY was specified that could have been satisfied by the index. Since ordering is not maintained, then there is no way to terminate the ORing early if only the first "n" rows are required. This is a common requirement for cursor scrolling applications. An additional limitation of the multi-index access as proposed in the aforementioned article is that index-only access is not supported, even if all required columns are available in the chosen indexes.
Rewriting the predicates into disjunctive normal form promotes exploitation of multi-index access which then introduces the aforementioned limitations, specifically loss of order and inability to terminate early. Rewriting the predicates into conjunctive normal form supports exploitation of single index access which can then support ordering without the requirement for sort. However, the conjunctive predicates may be less selective or may still involve OR'd predicates, and thus full matching of the single index may not be possible.
In addition, many of the existing solutions for improving processing of complex OR predicates involve detailed analysis of overlapping ranges or duplication of filtering which can be consolidated resulting in a reduction of the predicates to be applied. Such processing however requires complex evaluation of such predicates which can add additional overhead to the prepare or runtime processing depending on when the literal values are known.
What is needed is a method, system and computer program product for simplifying the processing of OR'd predicates that can be mapped to a single index.

Method and system for disjunctive single index access

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for differentiating service within a service mesh. A translator service receives network traffic directed to a service mesh from a communications network. The translator service can determine a service characteristic for the network traffic and update rulesets within the service mesh based on the determined service characteristic. The updated rulesets enable the service mesh to differentiate services for the network traffic similarly to forwarding rules within the communications network.

Traffic over communications networks is often associated with various service characteristics such as, for example, Quality of Service (QOS) which impact how the traffic is routed and processed throughout the communications network. For example, a high Quality of Service (QOS) may indicate that a message should always receive priority in forwarding and can cause associated traffic to be forwarded and processed throughout the communications network at the expense or delay of lower Quality of Service (QOS) traffic.
Traffic will often make its way into a service mesh for processing. Service meshes typically include large amalgamations of microservices which provide specialized functional processes for processing data and are interconnected via virtual and/or local networks. Once traffic leaves a communications network and enters into a microservice mesh, forwarding and processing rules that are enforced on, for example, a data plane of the communications network are no longer applicable within the microservice mesh. As a result, service characteristics and the like are not maintained from the communications network and into the microservice mesh.

Differentiated services within a service mesh


A process for augmenting energy in a dryer used in processing is disclosed. The process includes providing a source of syrup having concentrated solids. They syrup is then directed through a syrup line to a recirculation pump where it is recirculated to a heat exchanger having a source of heat delivered thereto. The syrup is heated to a temperature above a flash point of the syrup. The heated syrup is delivered to a flash tank and water vapor is flashed off and then directed through a vent and into a dryer. Cooled syrup remaining in the flash tank is delivered through a cooled liquid line to the syrup line to repeat the process. The delivery of water vapor to the dryer results in an additional source of energy being transferred to the dryer.

Many industries, such as wet milling facilities, sugar processing, refineries, ethanol production facilities, will employ evaporators to clean and recover process water, which has become laden with dissolved solids that have leached from the process. Example of such processes include but are not limited to front end hydration, slurry, cook systems and the like. By evaporating the water portion, a relatively clean water stream can be recovered to reuse in the process. However, when the clean water is flashed from the process water, the remaining solids are concentrated and must be handled further. This concentrated stream is often termed syrup. The syrup is often mixed with a wet solids stream prior to being injected into a dryer. The solids in the syrup are combined with the wet solids and recovered for use or sale. While this is a common and reasonable handling of the syrup, it can put an extremely high load on the energy requirements and subsequent throughput of the dryer.


A video printer for printing a magnetic pattern of a master tape on a slave tape comprises a read head for reading a control signal printed on the slave tape, a phase shift circuit for shifting a phase of the control signal read by the read head, and a write head disposed downstream of the read head with respect to a running direction of the second tape and for rewriting on the second tape the control signal with the phase shifted by the phase shift circuit.

The present invention relates generally to a video printer and more particularly, to the tracking adjustment of a slave tape in a high-speed video printer.
One of the conventional methods of making reproduction of magnetic tapes uses a printer for magnetic tapes. This printer is constructed to print a magnetic pattern of a master tape on a copy or slave tape by directly contacting magnetic surfaces of the master and copy tapes with each other, to which heat or magnetic field is applied.
A general task to be fulfilled by the printer is to print a geometric magnetic pattern of the master tape on the copy tape as correctly as possible. In view of such task, JP-A 58-23330 proposes a technique of preventing lateral displacement between the master and copy tapes. JP-A 2-247823 proposes a technique of arranging a positioning means by which side ends of the running master and copy tapes coincide completely with each other.
When printing is carried out by only one video printer and one master video tape recorder (VTR) for recording a video signal on the master tape under restricted conditions, the above techniques proposed by JP-A 58-23330 and JP-A 2-247823 are effective. However, when printing is carried out by a plurality of video printers and master VTRs over a long period of time to produce copy tapes, a problem of compatibility between the devices becomes serious which does not arise when using only one video printer and one master VTR.
Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, a description will be made with regard to this problem. FIG. 5A shows a format of a master tape 501, which has a video signal track 502 and control (CTL) signal 503 recorded thereon.
FIG. 5B shows a format of a slave or copy tape 511, which has a video signal track 512 and CTL signal 513 printed thereto. Reference numeral 514 designates an initial position of a reproducing head.
FIG. 5C shows the slave tape 511 displaced with respect to the master tape 501 upon printing. In case of FIG. 5C, the slave tape 511 indicated by a fully-drawn line is displaced upward with respect to the master tape 501 indicated by a dotted line.
As for reproduction of the copy tape, suppose that when a video signal track and a CTL signal are printed in the state that the master tape 501 as shown in FIG. 5A and the slave tape 511 as shown in FIG. 5B coincide completely with each other in the tape cross direction, a position of a reproducing head of a reproducing device with respect to the CTL signal is adjusted so that the initial position 514 of the reproducing head with respect to the CTL signal 513 is in the center of the video signal track 512 as shown in FIG. 5B.
If printing is carried out in the state that the slave tape 511 is displaced upward as shown in FIG. 5C, the video signal track 512 printed from the master tape 501 to the slave tape 511 has a start position near a lower edge of the slave tape 511.
Referring to FIG. 5C, upon reproduction of the slave tape 511, as being adjusted to have a predetermined height "h" from the lower edge of the slave tape 511, the reproducing head occupies a position 516 with respect to a recorded position of the CTL signal. Thus, the video signal track 512 cannot be read out by a center portion of the reproducing head, i.e. track displacement is produced.
Therefore, in order to make the reproducing head pass a center portion of the video signal track 512 and occupy a position 515 with respect to the CTL signal, the reproducing head should parallelly be moved by one in the longitudinal direction of the slave tape 511.
The same problem arises when reproduction of a tape copied from a different master tape from that one as shown in FIG. 5A is carried out by the reproducing device having a reproducing head height "h" as shown in FIG. 5B.
Therefore, with the conventional high-speed video printer, the height of guides in a tape running system should be always controlled and maintained to keep displacement between the master and slave tapes upon printing within an error of several microns.
Moreover, when using a plurality of master tapes having different CTL signal positions, the height of the guides should be adjusted every tape change, resulting in a lowering of the productivity.
As for a procedure of conventional tracking adjustment, first, a video signal recorded on the master tape is printed on the slave tape according to the above method, producing a sample tape.
Then, the sample tape is wound in a cassette. This sample cassette is set in a reference reproducing device to reproduce a video signal as recorded therein. At that time, an output signal of the reproducing device is measured by a measuring device such as an oscilloscope.
Tracking adjustment is carried out in observing a waveform of the output signal displayed on the oscilloscope. Specifically, a position of the reproducing head is adjusted so that the amplitude of a video radio frequency (RF) signal or reproduced video signal is maximum. At that time, the reproducing head occupies the position 515 as shown in FIG. 5C, so that if a video signal is reproduced from the position 515, the reproducing head can trace the center portion of the video signal track 512.
However, if displacement of a lower edge of the sample tape is greater than a predetermined value due to displacement with respect to the master tape upon printing, etc., the position 515 of the reproducing head when having the maximum video RF signal is displaced with respect to the normal tracking start position 516 as shown in FIG. 5C, producing displacement between a position of the CTL signal and a start position of the video RF signal, which corresponds to track displacement.
If track displacement is within tolerance, it is judged that this track displacement is allowable, finishing tracking adjustment to carry out mass production of the tapes. If not, the height of the guides of the video printer is changed by in the order of several microns, and the above procedure is repeatedly carried out.
The work of adjusting the amount of track displacement in the reference reproducing device by the height of the guides of the video printer is difficult, even for a skilled person, to accomplish decisively, requiring usually some additional adjustment. This results in a lowering of the productivity upon mass printing of the tape.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a video printer which is free from the above drawback and enables easy adjustment of track displacement.

High-speed video printer with tracking adjustment of slave tape


Eyeglass assemblies include an eyeglass lens having an engaging portion. The junction between the body portion of the lens and the engaging portion can consist essentially of smoothly curved surfaces. The engaging portion can be extend from the periphery of the lens or can be a recess in the lens. In some assemblies, under typical conditions of use, the engaging portion is maintained in contact with an eyeglass frame member by means of a removable bonding member (RBM). Under selected atypical ambient conditions, the RBM changes so that the engaging portion and the frame member can be separated. The RBM can be a suitable adhesive (RBA), or a component composed of a shape memory metal (RBSMA) or a material which softens when subjected to heat or other atypical condition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to eyeglasses.
2. Introduction to the Invention
Conventional eyeglasses include a bridge member which rests on the nose of the wearer; two rims which are secured to the bridge member and to which the lenses are secured; and two temple members which are secured to the rims and rest on the ears of the wearer. In many cases, each rim has an opening therein, so that the lens can be placed within the rim, after which the open ends of the rim are secured together by means of a screw which passes freely through an aperture in a lug in one of the open ends into a threaded recess in a corresponding lug in the other open end. U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,775 discloses an improved system for attaching optical frames and lenses which provides positive, reversible attachment without rims, cords or screws. In that system, an eyeglass lens including at least one shaped engaging portion cooperates with an attachment member so that the lens is removably attached to an eyeglass frame. The attachment member can comprise a separate member which is connected or connectable to the eyeglass frame, or it can be an integral part of the eyeglass frame. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4, 895,438, 4,896,955, 6,523,952 and 6,843,561 also disclose improved eyeglass frames, some of which make use of a member composed of a shape-memory alloy (often hereinafter abbreviated to SMA) and/or a lens including a shaped engaging portion. The entire disclosure of each of the five U.S. patents referred to above is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.


A medical tool includes, a deflectable distal end, at least a pull wire, and a deflection assembly. The at least pull wire having a first end coupled to the distal end of the medical tool and configured to be moved for deflecting the distal end. The deflection assembly is coupled to a second end of at least the pull wire and is configured to control a deflection of the distal end. The deflection assembly includes a first gear having a first rotation axis, and a second gear, having a second rotation axis and including a jagged surface for integrating with the first gear. The jagged surface is slanted relative to the second rotation axis, and when the first gear rotates, the second gear is configured to be rotated by the first gear, to move along the second rotation axis and to deflect the distal end by moving the pull wire.

Some medical tools, such as ear-nose-throat (ENT) tools, may have bending capabilities.
For example, U.S. patent application publication 2011/0295242, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,992,422 on Mar. 31, 2015, describes devices and systems for controlling movement of a working end of a surgical device by means of a robotic system. In one embodiment, systems and devices are provided for moving an end effector on a distal end of a surgical fastening device. Movement can include rotational movement of the end effector about an axis of the shaft, articulation of the end effector relative to the shaft, and actuation of an end effector, e.g., closing, firing, and/or cutting.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,455 describes a catheter having an electrode tip assembly that is bendable at the selection of the user in two different directions. The electrode tip assembly assumes different asymmetric predetermined curve configurations when bent in the two directions and is manipulated by means of steering wires adjustably connected tangentially to the lateral edges of a rotatable cam located in the catheter handle.

Deflection mechanism of an ear-nose-throat tool


A method and system are provided for use in a computer system for organizing and displaying notification items associated with the system, applications or other components, within a notification area. The system monitors items that are placed in the notification, comparing the period of placement with a predetermined time threshold value, If the item has remained inactive for longer than the predetermined threshold period, the item is hidden from the notification area. Additionally, the system monitors the hidden items for changes in icon appearance and will unhide the item upon a change in appearance or specific selection by a user. New items and unhidden items are arranged in the order of the most recent addition to the notification area. The system also allows a user to customize the behavior associated with individual notification items.

Computer operating systems commonly incorporate a feature to communicate system and application prompt and status information to the user. A notification area is available on the user interface that provides a mechanism for such communications. Notification areas are typically a user interface representation of the status of system, application or program items. This representation provides user awareness of the communicated status and usually provides a method for users to access a higher level of detail on particular items. Typically, applications that are developed for an operating system have the ability to place items in the notification area and to interact with items so placed. The presence and changes in appearance, along with the positioning of these items, provide notification to the user. Thus, users can quickly become aware of and recognize newly delivered notifications.
The notification area is populated as applications or the system request a user notification from the operating system. FIG. 6 illustrates a view of a notification area on a display produced in the "WINDOWS" operating system. As shown in FIG. 6, notification items are represented by icons 240-266, each associated with a particular notification. The notification area is typically located along the bottom of a computer display. A notification area typically displays an icon or some other representation that corresponds to the name of an application and/or a status. For instance, icon 266 located in the far left of the notification area represents a notification to the user that the virus protection program is currently running on the system and icon 260 indicates that a PCMCIA device is available on the system. As more notifications arise, the number of icons or symbols in the notification area increases. Since this area can be populated at will by applications, inactive items can be and are regularly placed in the notification area. This placement serves as a launch point into the application and as free advertising for the application. Therefore, while placement of the item in the notification area may be desirable for the application author, it may be undesirable for the user because it obscures the purpose of the notification area. Consequently, the numerous icons added and intended for divergent purposes obscure the original intention of the notification area, namely the delivery of meaningful user notifications, and prevent users from recognizing newly delivered notifications.
In the "WINDOWS" graphical operating system, as applications make system requests via the provided Shell_NotifyIcon Application Programming Interface ("API"), items can be added to the notification area. More items are added to the notification area as more applications make the request. These new items are placed to the right of the right-most item and make it difficult for a user who wishes to determine how or if the notification area has recently changed.
As previously mentioned, when multiple applications place icons in the notification area for non-intended purposes the user becomes unduly burdened with trying to determine which icons represent valid notifications. For example, an application could place an icon in the notification area merely as a way to display its icon in multiple locations on the user interface. Therefore, it can be seen that the notification area becomes cluttered with items that do not serve a notification function. This defeats the primary function of the notification area, namely to quickly and meaningfully notify the user.
Accordingly, there exists a need to better organize the notification area and to obscure undesirable items from the notification area. Moreover, there is a need for such a method and system to create more efficient, faster and consistent communication to the user via the user interface.

Method and system for reducing notification area clutter


A magnetic resonance imaging system that:. applies gradient pulses in a sequence that elicits large amounts of data early in a scan to provide an evolving image; and reduces the Gibbs artifacts to increase the utility of the evolving images.

Imaging using MRI systems in the past required that data acquisition be substantially completed prior to image reconstruction. The reconstruction of the images in MRI systems is accomplished by transforming the data acquired using two-dimensional Fourier transforms. The data acquisition scan in the past proceeded from an edge of a two-dimensional Fourier transform plane through the center of the plane to an opposite edge. Most of the data is actually acquired around the center of the Fourier transform plane. Thus, in the past, it was necessary for the MRI system to first acquire at least more than half of the data prior to processing the data to provide the image.
Subsequently, apparatus and methods were promulgated, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,552 referred to hereinabove, wherein the acquisition proceeds from the center or near the center of the Fourier transform plane outwardly enabling the almost immediate processing of the data to provide the image.
However, the acquisition from the center outwards often causes artifacts, especially Gibbs artifacts. One of the reasons for the Gibbs artifacts in the evolving images is that the sampling time is extremely limited. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,991, which issued on Aug. 21, 1990, and is based on Israeli Patent Application 86570 filed on May 31, 1989, and the Israeli Patent Application 098053 filed on May 3, 1991, both assigned to the Assignee of this Application. The contents of the patent and the later filed application are hereby incorporated herein.
A signal representation in the image domain near a discontinuity, for example, includes an "oscillatory overshoot" which is approximately 9% of the magnitude of the signal at the discontinuity. When few sampling points are available; i.e., in the early phases of the evolving image, the 9% amplitude is approximately in the center of the discontinuity. As more sampling points are taken the overshoot is compressed towards the edge of the discontinuity which reduces the effects of the artifact to improve the spatial resolution.
Accordingly, during evolving image processing, when few sampling points are available, the Gibbs artifact is especially pronounced making the early images of the evolving image virtually illegible for diagnostic purposes.
Data acquisition requires that a patient being imaged be placed in a strong static magnetic field. The strong static magnetic field aligns the protons of certain elements within the body. The aligned protons are exposed to RF pulses which nutate the aligned protons into a plane transverse to the static magnetic field when the frequency of the RF pulses is the Larmor frequency.
After the application of the RF pulses, the nutated protons rotate in the transverse plane and also dephase and tend to realign themselves with the magnetic field. The signals due to the movement of the nutated protons in the transverse plane generally are known as free induction decay (FID) signals which are proportional to the density of the nutated protons. These signals are used as raw data for reconstructing images or else echo procedures are used for rephasing the FID signals periodically to obtain what are known as echo signals. The echo signals are then used as raw data for reconstructing the images. The raw data is preferably transformed using two-dimensional Fourier transforms to obtain data for image pixels which correspond to locations in the patient.
The locations of the detected FID signals (herein "FID signals" include either FID signals themselves or the echo signals) are obtained in a well known manner using gradient pulses.
In the prior art, in general, image reconstruction does not commence until at least half of the phase encoding gradient pulses have been applied. In the past, in general, the first phase encoding gradient pulse applied was the maximum negative phase encoding gradient pulse followed by the maximum negative plus one phase encoding gradient pulse and sequentially through to the maximum positive phase encoding gradient pulse.
As is well known, at the zero value of a phase encoding gradient pulses, the received signal is generally largest; i.e., most of the data is acquired. That is why image reconstruction could not start until at least the zero phase encoding gradient was applied; i.e., until at least half the phase encoding gradients were applied. Where only half of the phase encoding gradients were used, computations were necessary to construct the other half of the data. As is recognized in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,912 and in the '552 Patent referred to above, if data reconstruction could be accomplished on line; i.e., while the data acquisition was in process; then, valuable throughput time would be saved. Where the image is reconstructed on-the-fly as in the '552 and the '912 patents, the clinician does not have to wait for complete image data to determine the efficacy of the imaging procedure being used. If the image location is wrong, for example, the clinician can restart the procedure and move the selected slice early in the data acquisition process without having to wait for the entire data acquisition. Time-saving is also effected by not having to wait for all the data to be acquired before reconstruction of the image starts, because as the data acquisition proceeds, the image becomes progressively clearer. Thus, when the physician obtains sufficient information, usually prior to the acquisition of all the scheduled data, he can stop the data acquisition process.
The evolving images early in the evolving image process, have low resolution, but have a high signal-to-noise ratio; thereby, theoretically compensating for the low resolution. However, such evolving images are adversely affected by the Gibbs artifacts to the point of demeaning the usefulness of the partial images for diagnostic purposes. The '552 Patent improved on the '912 Patent by, among other things, starting acquisition away from the zero point during the initial system instability; then after a fixed number of encoding gradients, during which the system stabilized, acquiring data at the zero point. However, because of the paucity of data, the Gibbs artifacts still remained and were pronounced. Notwithstanding the improved signal-to-noise ratio of the evolving images, the Gibbs artifacts degraded the evolving image to an extent wherein the evolving image procedure in many cases was hardly useful.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to further improve on the "evolving image" procedure by reducing the artifacts through asymmetrical sampling, complex conjugating and filtering of the acquired signal which is particularly effective vis-vis the Gibb's artifact. Without the Gibbs artifact, the improvement in the legibility of the image during the evolving image process is readily apparent, Thus, without the Gibbs artifact, the relatively high SNR of the early evolving images provides a good useful legible image in pereceptibly less acquisition time.
A related object of the present invention is a reduction of the Gibb's artifact without adversely affecting the resolution, the SNR or the scan time of evolving images.
Yet another related object of the present invention is to provide methods and systems for acquiring usable relatively Gibbs artifact-free images on the fly in MRI systems; i.e., to provide MRI systems wherein image reconstruction commences almost simultaneously with image acquisition and nonetheless Gibbs artifacts are greatly minimized. Thereby maximizing the legibility and usefulness of even the early evolving images.


A rescue harness for interconnecting the upper body portions of a person with a safety line. The harness includes an upper body portion encircling loop which is uniquely designed to remain open to receive the person's head and arms after which it automatically chinches down about the person's back or chest in a manner to positively secure the person within the harness loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rescue harnesses. More particularly, the invention concerns a normally open harness which automatically cinches down about the victim's chest and back upon a lifting force being exerted on the harness.
2. Discussion of the Invention
Various types of rescue harnesses and slings have been suggested in the past. Typically these devices comprise an elongated strap portion which is formed into a loop that is adapted to pass around the wearer's back or chest and under both arm pits. The loop is typically formed by means of a buckle or clip that interconnects the ends of the strap. Such devices have been used for a variety of purposes including water rescue, helicopter extractions, ski lift evacuations and in other emergency situations. Typical of the prior art devices are those offered for sale by J. E. Weinel, Inc. as Model Nos. RS-1 and RS- 2, the latter being a side opening rescue sling.
Other types of prior art rescue slings and restraint devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,409,702 issued to Gill, U.S. Pat. No. 1,490,066 issued to Carr and U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,689 issued to Cole.
A drawback found in many of the prior art rescue harnesses and slings is that during actual rescue operations, the loop portion of the sling tends to twist and close making it difficult for the struggling victim to slip into the harness loop. Further, in many cases, even if the victim succeeds in emplacing the loop portion about his body, he can easily slip from the harness during the lifting operation. For example, when the loop portion is positioned under the victim's arms and about the chest or back, should the victim lose consciousness or become excessively fatigued during the lifting operation, the arms will extend upwardly causing the victim to slip downwardly through the harness loop.
The aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art rescue harnesses are uniquely overcome by the device of the present invention which is specially designed to remain open to receive the victim's head and arms after which it automatically cinches down about the victim's back or chest in a manner to positively secure the victim within the harness loop.