There are provided a cutting/polishing tool that may be readily manufactured and have an improved cutting performance, and a manufacturing method thereof.

In general, to perform a cutting operation or a polishing operation, particles having excellent abrasion resistance such as diamond particles, carbide, boric acids, nitrides, hard metal and ceramic pieces may be used. Among these, diamonds are well-known as being the hardest substances on Earth, and have been widely used for a cutting tool or a grinding (polishing) tool due to this fact.
Typically, a diamond tool configured as segments may include a cutting/polishing segment (cutting tip) on which the diamond particles are distributed, and a metal body (tool body or shank) to which the cutting/polishing segment is fixed.
FIG. 1 is a view showing examples of various types of diamond tools configured as segments. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), a saw blade 10a configured as segments includes a plurality of segments 12a (cutting tips) that are fixed to a disk shaped-metal body 11a. A core bit 10b configured as segments, as shown in FIG. 1(b), includes a plurality of segments 12b (cutting tips) that are fixed to a metal body 11b, and a polishing wheel 10c configured as segments, as shown in FIG. 1(c), includes a plurality of segments 12c (polishing tips) that are fixed to a bottom surface of a metal body 11c. As for the above described segments 12a, 12b, and 12c of the cutting/polishing tools 10a, 10b, and 10c, diamond particles (D) are randomly distributed between metal powders (bond metal)(M), and the diamond particles distributed in each segment may perform a cutting/polishing operation.
To manufacture the above described cutting/polishing segment, a powder metallurgy scheme may be generally used. Specifically, metal powder and diamond particles (crystals) are mixed, and the mixture is molded into a cutting/polishing segment shaped-form. Then, the obtained molding is heated to a high temperature to form the cutting/polishing segment with dense tissue through a sintering scheme or a hot pressing scheme. Thereafter, the cutting/polishing segment is bonded to the tool body (shank), and in this bonding process, a laser welding, a brazing using a silver solder, a diffusion bonding using sintering, and the like may be used. However, the above described tool manufacturing method may have many problems in that a complex process such as sintering and the like may be required for manufacturing the cutting/polishing segment, and an additional process such as a welding operation, or the like, may be required for fixing the cutting/polishing segment to the tool body, and therefore many processes and facilities may be required for manufacturing the cutting/polishing tool, and much labor may be also required.
In order to overcome these problems, there is disclosed Korean Patent No. 452563 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,065) directed to a manufacturing method for a cutting tool using a laser cladding technology.
As shown in FIG. 2(a), in a manufacturing method for a cutting tool disclosed in Korean Patent No. 452563, a mixed powder of the metal powder (M) and the diamond particles (D) may be sprayed using a powder supplying device 30 while heating an outer surface 11a of a tool body 11 using a laser heating device 20, and the mixed powder of the metal powder (M) and the diamond particles (D) may be deposited on the outer surface 11a of the tool body 11 to form a cutting body 12. In this instance, while the cutting body 12 is formed on the tool body 11 of the cutting tool, the tool body 11 may be moved to a direction (X) opposite to a gravity direction (G), and an angle (±w) between the gravity direction (G) and a line perpendicular to a section (S) where the deposition is performed by a laser heating device 20 may be maintained in a range of 60 degrees to 90 degrees for a time period during which the mixed powder is clotted. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, even in a case of forming a cutting body 12′ on an outer surface 11a′ while rotating a disk-shaped tool body 11′, the angle (±w) between the gravity direction (G) and the line perpendicular to the section (S) where the deposition is performed may be maintained in the range of 60 degrees to 90 degrees for the time period during which the mixed powder is clotted.
As described above, the manufacturing method for the cutting tool shown in FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 4 may allow the cutting tool to be manufactured through a single process by laser-cladding the metal powder (M) and the diamond particles (D) directly onto the tool bodies 11 and 11′, and thereby may improve productivity and reduce manufacturing costs. Also, in the case of sintering the cutting/polishing segment, a mechanical bond between the diamond particles and the metal powder is achieved, however, in a case of using the laser cladding technology, a chemical bond between the diamond particles and the metal powder is achieved and thus, the manufacturing method may improve an adhesion and a quality of the tool thereby.
In addition, as for the manufacturing method for the cutting tool disclosed in the above Korean Patent, since the tool body 11 may be moved in the direction (X) opposite to the gravity direction (G) while being heated in a practically horizontal direction using the laser heating device 20, there is an advantage in that a distribution range of the diamond particles (D) is relatively widened in comparison with the related art (background art of the Korean Patent No. 452563) where heat is applied from an upper side of the tool body 11.
Meanwhile, in the case of manufacturing the cutting tool using the laser cladding process, a melting and a clotting momentarily occur in an area where a laser beam is radiated, however, the diamond particles may be moved in the direction opposite to the gravity direction, due to a specific gravity difference between the diamond particles and a melted metal powder, even in the short period of time.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 2(b), an oval shaped-molten pool may be generated on a processing part of the cutting body 12 corresponding to a section (S) where the laser beam is radiated, by a transfer speed of the tool body 11 and a radiation direction of the laser beam, and the diamond particles (D) may be momentarily moved to a top end of the molten pool due to a specific gravity lower than a specific gravity of the molten metal powder (M). Specifically, the diamond particles (D) may be densely located in a part of the oval-shaped molten pool that is far from the outer surface 11a of the tool body 11.
Consequently, in the manufacturing method for the cutting tool disclosed in the Korean Patent, since the diamond particles (D) are densely located only in an outer surface side of the cutting body 12 as shown in FIG. 3, the diamond particles (D) are not uniformly distributed throughout the entire cutting body 12 and thus, the efficiency of the cutting tool may not be uniformly achieved, and the cutting body 12 may not be used as a whole.
Also, in the manufacturing method for the cutting tool disclosed in the Korean Patent, there is a problem in that since the diamond particles (D) are densely located on the outer surface side of the cutting body 12, that is, the outer surface, an additional laser cladding process may not be performed in a part of the previouslyformed cutting body 12. That is, in a case of melting the outer surface of the previously formed cutting body 12 by repeatedly applying heat to the outer surface of the previously formed cutting body 12, the cutting performance of the diamond particles may be degraded and oxidation of the diamond particles may be easily generated due to properties of the diamond particles that are susceptible to heat. In addition, since the metal powder (M) restraining the diamond particles (D) may be re-melted, restraints on the diamond particles (D) may be released, so that the deposited diamond particles may be floating so as to be densely located in the outer surface side of the molten pool. As a result, it is difficult to perform laser cladding processes multiple times.

Cutting/polishing tool and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: The method for manufacturing the cutting/polishing tool including at least one cutting/polishing body may comprise preparing a tool body, and forming a cladding layer including cutting material particles by spraying, onto an outer surface of the tool body, the cutting material particles and a metal powder having a specific gravity greater than a specific gravity of the cutting material particles while heating the outer surface of the tool body using a heating device installed in a lower side of the outer surface of the tool body so that the metal powder is deposited on the outer surface of the tool body, wherein the cladding layer configures the at least one cutting/polishing body.


Methods of treating a PD-1-resistant cancer are provided and comprise administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a c-Rel inhibitor and a therapeutically effective amount of a PD-1 inhibitor. A pharmaceutical combination comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a c-Rel inhibitor, and a therapeutically effective amount of a PD-1 inhibitor is also provided. Finally, methods of treating a cancer such as a CTLA-4-resistant cancer, a CD137-resistant cancer, and an OX-4-resistant cancer are provided and comprise administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a c-Rel inhibitor and a therapeutically effective amount of a CLTA-4, CD137 or OX-4 inhibitor, respectively.

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States; melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, and accounts for less than 5% of skin cancer cases but causes greater than 75% deaths of skin cancer. Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive cancer, usually characterized by a lack of therapeutic success and eventual metastasis, with lethal result. Malignant melanoma is noted for its aggressive clinical behavior, propensity for lethal metastasis and therapeutic resistance. This clinical picture, coupled with an increase in incidence, has motivated efforts to understand the genetic underpinnings of melanoma initiation and progression and translate such insights into effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye. About 25% develop from a mole with concerning changes including an increase in size, irregular edges, a change in color, itchiness, or skin breakdown. The primary cause of melanoma is ultraviolet light (UV) exposure in those with low levels of skin pigment. The UV light may be from either the sun or from tanning devices. Those with many moles, a history of affected family members, and who have poor immune function are at greater risk. A number of rare genetic defects such as xeroderma pigmentosum also increase risk. Diagnosis is by biopsy of any concerning skin lesion. In those with slightly larger cancers, nearby lymph nodes may be tested for spread. Most people are cured if spread has not occurred. In those in whom melanoma has spread, immunotherapy, biologic therapy, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy may improve survival. With treatment the five-year survival rates in the United States is 98% among those with localized disease and 17% among those in whom spread has occurred. The likelihood that it will come back or spread depends how thick the melanoma is, how fast the cells are dividing, and whether or not the overlying skin has broken down.
An increased understanding of melanocyte biology and melanoma pathogenesis has led to the development of targeted therapies which have the potential for major improvements in the care of patients with advanced melanoma. One important breakthrough is the discovery that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway drives tumorigenesis. For example, metastatic melanoma containing V600E mutations in BRAF (a protein that activates the MAPK pathway), is a highly aggressive skin cancer with poor prognosis. This mutation is found in around 50% of melanomas. Targeting activated BRAF V600E with vemurafenib leads to dramatic and rapid tumor regression. However, the drawback of this treatment is the acquired resistance arising from mutations that bypass the requirement for activated BRAF V600E in MAPK signaling. Additionally, there is currently no effective therapy for the 15-20% of melanomas with activated NRAS or other commonly known mutations.
Alternative FDA-approved therapies for disseminated melanomas include immune modulators such as IL-2 and anti-CTLA-4 (Ipilimumab), which are administered at high dose, and the B-Raf enzyme inhibitor Vemurafenib (marketed as Zelboraf). Other therapies for use in melanoma treatment include Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib), a MEK inhibitor. The therapeutic antibody Yervoy (ipilimumab) is also described for use in stimulating a patient's immune response. The vast majority of the responses to these regimens are partial and even good responses are often followed by relapses in which the recurring tumor has acquired substantial resistance to the therapy. Thus, the reported poor response of the combination of chemotherapy and immunomodulators, or using two or more anticancer drugs to treat metastatic melanomas in patients, underscores a need to develop new compounds for treatment of melanoma. Thus there is a need for alternative therapies for this disease.

Use of pentoxifylline with immune checkpoint-blockade therapies for the treatment of melanoma

THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK


An ignition coil is so constructed that a transformer which includes a center core wound with a primary coil and a secondary coil, and a side core is fixed to a case by an insulating resin, and a core cover formed of material adherable to the insulating resin and a core cover formed of material releasable from the insulating resin are provided between the side core and the secondary coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ignition coil which is used mainly in an internal combustion engine for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ignition coil includes a transformer which is formed by arranging a primary coil, a secondary coil outside the primary coil, and a center core inside the primary coil. A side core provided outside the center core constitutes a magnetic circuit in combination with the center core. After these components have been contained in a case and connected to interior parts of a vehicle by means of a connector assembly for connection with a vehicle harness, they are fixed and insulated by an insulating resin. Generally, electromagnetic steel plates are employed for making the center core and the side core, and thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin is employed as the insulating resin. The case is provided with an output terminal, which is connected to an ignition plug of an internal combustion engine by way of a high voltage cord.
In the ignition coil so constructed as described above, supply and disconnection of a primary current passed through the primary coil is controlled by control signals from a control unit in the internal combustion engine, by way of the connector assembly. When the primary current passed through the primary coil is cut off by the control signal at a determined ignition timing of the internal combustion engine, a counter electromotive force is generated in the primary coil, and high electric voltage is generated in the secondary coil. The generated high voltage is inputted to the ignition plug of the internal combustion engine which is connected by way of the high voltage cord.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-6-112069
The side core formed of the electromagnetic steel plate exists in the insulating resin which has a different coefficient of linear expansion, and distortion may occur in the insulating resin when a thermal stress has been applied. In case where the thermal stresses have been repeatedly applied, an abrasion or a crack may occur in the insulating resin. Under the circumstances, the crack of the insulating resin starting from the side core has been prevented by mounting a core cover on the side core. However, the crack in the insulating resin which has occurred in the side core may exert bad influence on those components which are faced with the side core. For example, there is such probability that distortion may occur in the secondary coil (especially, in its bobbin), around the bobbin of the secondary coil which is located at a position close to the side core, and formed of material having high adherence to the insulating resin. The abrasion or crack which has occurred as the results will be a cause of an internal leak, and the distortion will be a cause of a break of the coil. Therefore, it has been a problem that this may lead to such a phenomenon that output voltage of the ignition device for the internal combustion engine is lowered or not at all generated.


The present invention relates to a sampler for gas hydrates by hole bottom freezing, the sampler comprises a fisher, a wire-line coring mechanism and an outer barrel, and it further comprises a refrigeration portion, a low temperature control portion and a frozen insulation sample portion, which constitute an inner barrel assembly located inside the outer barrel together, wherein a refrigerant in the refrigeration portion is injected into the frozen insulation sample portion under a control of the low temperature control portion, so that a cooling medium in the frozen insulation sample portion is always kept under a predetermined temperature, and a core sample of gas hydrates is frozen at the bottom of a drill hole. The invention also relates to a sampling method using the sampler as mentioned above. In the invention, the temperature of the sample can be decreased by using an external cooling source to suppress hydrate decomposition, the critical decomposition pressure of gas hydrates can be reduced by active decreasing the temperature of the sample, and the stability of gas hydrates is maintained by a passive pressure drop. The method of the present invention need not to keep the pressure of the sample, and is simple to obtain a core sample of gas hydrates with higher fidelity.

With the coming of an era of high oil prices, seeking a variety of alternative energy sources has become imperative. At present, the carbon volume of gas hydrates in global seabed is two times as much as that of carbon in coal, oil and natural gas. Thus, the gas hydrate has become an important reserve energy which must be considered in the balanced development of energy strategic. The total volume of gas hydrates in South China Sea is probably half as much as that of oil and natural gas in onshore and offshore of China. Therefore, as an alternative source of energy, the development and utilization of gas hydrates have been increasingly emphasized by people in the world. Gas hydrates are mainly distributed in the seabed sediment of the ocean edge and permafrost horizon of onshore. Sample drilling is a most direct way to identifying gas hydrate, and is also the essential method to verifying the investigation achievement of other ways. So, sample drilling has great significance for the development of gas hydrates.
Gas hydrates are formed under the condition of low temperature and high pressure, such special condition needs high requirements on sample drilling. At present, the pressure-tight core barrel is a main truth-preserving core sampling tool, and its design mentality is that when the hydrate core (or core sample) has entered into the core chamber of the pressure-tight core barrel, the bottom of the core barrel is closed by a ball valve to enable the core to maintain its initial pressure, and a pressure compensation device is used to control the pressure in order to maintain it unchanged during the whole process of lifting the core from the hole bottom, and then a freezing preservation process is carried out after the core has been lifted to the ground. The heat preservation method of the core in the drill hole mainly uses thermal insulation materials to achieve passive thermal insulation. This method is used to inhibit hydrate decomposition by mechanically maintaining a constant pressure, the requirements for the strength of whole core, especially strength and sealing of the ball valve are quite high. Even if the sealing performance of the ball valve decreased slightly, the core would not be able to maintain the initial pressure, which may cause a failure of coring. When the design pressure of the sampler reaches a certain level, the materials and sealing performance of the sampler need to be improved a lot if the pressure is desired to be further increased, but it is not easy to be achieved.

Sampling method and sampler for gas hydrates by hole bottom freezing


A control valve according to one embodiment includes a shaft that transmits the solenoidal force to a valve element. A solenoid includes a bottomed sleeve into which the pressure of refrigerant is introduced, a core secured coaxially to the sleeve, a plunger, contained in the sleeve on its bottom side, which is displaceable integrally with the shaft in a direction of axis line, a first spring that applies the biasing force in a valve opening direction to the shaft, a second spring that applies the biasing force in a valve closing direction to the plunger, and a shaft support member, which is press-fitted such that the shaft support member is secured to an inner wall of the sleeve near its bottom portion. The second spring is set between the shaft support member and the plunger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control valve for controlling the discharging capacity of a variable displacement compressor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automotive air conditioner is generally configured by arranging and placing a compressor, a condenser, an expander, an evaporator, and so forth in a refrigeration cycle. The compressor is, for example, a variable displacement compressor (hereinafter referred to simply as "compressor" also) capable of varying the refrigerant discharging capacity in order to maintain a constant level of cooling capacity irrespective of the engine speed. In this compressor, a piston for compression is linked to a wobble plate, which is mounted to a rotational shaft rotatingly driven by an engine. And the refrigerant discharging rate is regulated by changing the stroke of the piston through changes in the angle of the wobble plate. The angle of the wobble plate is changed continuously by changing the balance of pressure working on both faces of the piston as part of the discharged refrigerant is introduced into a hermetically-closed crankcase. The pressure within this crankcase (hereinafter referred to as "crank pressure") Pc is controlled by a control valve for a variable displacement compressor (hereinafter referred to simply as "control valve" also), which is provided between the discharge chamber and the crankcase of the compressor.
Such a control valve is often configured as an electromagnetic valve and has a valve hole, through which to communicate between the discharge chamber and the crankcase, within a body. And the opening degree of a valve section is regulated by moving a valve element, placed within the body, toward and away from the valve hole, thereby controlling the flow rate of refrigerant introduced into the crankcase. The valve opening degree is regulated by a balance among a force, generated by a refrigerant pressure, acting on the valve element, a drive force generated by a solenoid, and a biasing force of a spring placed for the purpose of regulating a control setting value.

Control valve for variable displacement compressor


A system is provided for correlating evidence grids. In certain embodiments, the system includes a sensor that generates signals describing a current section of an environment; a memory configured to store measurements of historical sections of the environment; and a processor coupled to the sensor and configured to calculate navigation parameters based on signals received from the sensor. Further, the processor converts the signals received from the sensor into a current evidence grid and removes data from the current evidence grid to form a reduced evidence grid; converts the measurements of historical sections into a historical evidence grid; and correlates the reduced evidence grid with the historical evidence grid by adjusting position and orientation of the reduced evidence grid and the historical evidence grid in relation to one another and calculating correlative values, and searching for a highest correlative value.

Evidence grids are representations of terrain data obtained from sensors that measure characteristics of an environment. In at least one implementation, the sensors can acquire range and angle measurements of terrain features in the environment of the sensor. When the sensor is attached to a moving vehicle, evidence grids created at different times can provide navigational information that can be used to map the terrain and aid in providing a navigational solution for the vehicle. When evidence grids are used to provide navigational information, previously obtained data is combined to form a historical evidence grid, while recently obtained data is combined to form a current evidence grid. The historical evidence grid can be viewed as a compact view of the world that can be updated in real time. As such, the historical evidence grid is different from a fixed terrain map, such as the Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED), where DTED is a standard of digital datasets that includes a matrix of terrain elevation values. To determine the current position of a vehicle, a system correlates the current evidence grid with the historical evidence grid. The current evidence grid is adjusted through six degrees of freedom (three translational degrees of freedom along three perpendicular axes and three rotational degrees of freedom about the three perpendicular axes) to match the current evidence grid to the historical evidence grid. The adjustments can be processed to determine the movement of the vehicle since the historical evidence grid was created.
However, because both the current evidence grid and the historical evidence grid can also be used for path planning and obstacle avoidance (along with navigation), the evidence grids contain data describing empty space and the space inside objects in the environment, significantly increasing the amount of memory consumed by each evidence grid. For example, a single historical evidence grid can contain 5 million data points and use up to 120 MB of memory. The amount of data contained in evidence grids inhibits the ability of processors to correlate different evidence grids in a timely manner and may prevent evidence grids from being used for navigation in applications with faster time requirements.

Systems and methods for correlating reduced evidence grids


A method and apparatus use decision logic deployed on a reconfigurable logic device to process a stream of financial information at hardware speeds. The decision logic can be configured to perform data reduction operations on the financial information stream. Examples of such data reductions operations include data processing operations to compute a latest stock price, a minimum stock price, and a maximum stock price.

Indications are that the average database size and associated software support systems are growing at rates that are greater than the increase in processor performance (i.e., more than doubling roughly every 18 months). This is due to a number of factors including without limitation the desire to store more detailed information, to store information over longer periods of time, to merge databases from disparate organizations, and to deal with the large new databases which have arisen from emerging and important applications. For example, two emerging applications having large and rapidly growing databases are those connected with the genetics revolution and those associated with cataloging and accessing information on the Internet. In the case of the Internet, current industry estimates are that in excess of 1.5 million pages are added to the Internet each day. At the physical level this has been made possible by the remarkable growth in disk storage performance where magnetic storage density has been doubling every year or so for the past five years.
Search and retrieval functions are more easily performed on information when it is indexed. For example, with respect to financial information, it can be indexed by company name, stock symbol and price. Oftentimes, however, the information being searched is of a type that is either hard to categorize or index or which falls into multiple categories. As a result, the accuracy of a search for information is only as good as the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the index created therefor. In the case of the Internet, however, the information is not indexed. The bottleneck for indexing is the time taken to develop the reverse index needed to access web pages in reasonable time. For example, while there are search engines available, designing a search which will yield a manageable result is becoming increasingly difficult due to the large number of "hits" generated by less than a very detailed set of search instructions. For this reason, several "intelligent" search engines have been offered on the web, such as Google, which are intended to whittle down the search result using logic to eliminate presumed undesired "hits".
With the next-generation Internet, ever-faster networks, and expansion of the Internet content, this bottleneck is becoming a critical concern. Further, it is becomingly exceedingly difficult to index information on a timely basis. In the case of the Internet, current industry estimates are that in excess of 1.5 million pages are added to the Internet each day. As a result, maintaining and updating a reverse index has become an enormous and continuous task and the bottleneck it causes is becoming a major impediment to the speed and accuracy of existing search and retrieval systems. Given the ever increasing amounts of information available, however, the ability to accurately and quickly search and retrieve desired information has become critical.

Method and apparatus for processing financial information at hardware speeds using FPGA devices


The accurate determination of the presence of a fluid in a container is determined by assessing the difference in various pressure readings relative to a threshold value. The method distinguishes between actual aspiration of a fluid and aspiration of a film that can otherwise lead one to believe that fluid has been aspirated when it has not. The method is particularly useful in clinical analyzers such as automated enzyme immunoassay devices.

This invention relates to the to the automated transport of fluids.
Fluid dispensers are integral components of most automated clinical analyzers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,085 to Jessop proposes an apparatus and method for detecting sample aspiration in such instruments. The device and method employ a pressure sensor to detect the presence of the fluid meniscus in the sample container. When the meniscus is sensed it is assumed that fluid lies beneath and can then be aspirated and dispensed. This method and device have proven useful. However, fluids that are to be aspirated do not always present a meniscus that can reliably be used to determine the location of the surface of the fluid. When this happens, such analyzers can indicate that sufficient fluids have been aspirated when such is not the case. Accordingly, a method for indicating when such a false reading has occurred would be useful.
The invention is a method for determining whether a fluid has been aspirated. In the method, pressure readings are taken during a slow aspirate process and during a priming process. Reference pressure measurement also occurs after priming. Two differences are determined, one is the difference between pressure readings during slow aspirate and the reference pressure and the other is the difference between the reference pressure and pressure readings during prime. If either is less than a predetermined threshold then an error message is communicated.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the pressure reading during slow aspirate is a trough reading and the pressure reading prime is a prime reading where trough and peak values may be statistical (e.g. numerically averaged values) at or near the trough and peak readings.
In yet a further embodiment of the invention, the threshold is determined statistically. In this embodiment, a parameter such as CpK can be used to calculate the effectiveness that the film of fluid will be detected without a high frequency of false positive.

Thin film detection during fluid aspiration


A spinal fixation and guidance system comprising: a spinal cage configured to be received between adjacent first and second vertebrae; and an alignment assembly comprising: a guidance element for guiding one or more fasteners for fastening said spinal cage relative to said adjacent vertebrae; or fastening said spinal plate to adjacent vertebrae and a mating element comprising engagement portions for mating with said guidance elements relative to the spinal cage.

The discussion of any prior art documents, techniques, methods or apparatus is not to be taken to constitute any admission or evidence that such prior art forms, or ever formed, part of the common general knowledge.
Spinal fusion surgery is intended to prevent the movement of painful vertebrae. In particular, spinal fusion surgery limits motion between adjacent vertebrae by creating a fusion environment therebetween.
A common method of stabilising and limiting the motion between adjacent vertebrae is, after the insertion of an intervertebral cage, securing screws through and via the intervertebral cage into the adjacent vertebral bodies. Securing the intervertebral cage with screws to the vertebrae normally involves screwing fasteners, through apertures in the cage and into prepared holes in the vertebrae.
A problem associated with implantation of the cage and insertion of integral screws through the cage into bone is limited visualization through a small 30 incision and utilising and or securing an adequate alignment guide for the correct screw trajectory during both preparation of screw holes and initial screw insertion. Migration of the cage and incorrect trajectory or angle, either during hole preparation or screw fastening, can jeopardise precise placement of both the cage and screw. This may lead to further complications including, for example, the cage migrating posteriorly during screw insertion and coming into contact with posterior neural and vascular structures; the preparation of the screw hole at the incorrect angle or trajectory therefore not gaining adequate bone purchase; or the inadequate fixation of the cage to the vertebrae and therefore affecting construct stability and increased risk of pseudoarthrosis.
Further, there is an additional known risk associated with integral screw fixation through a spinal cage directly fastened into bone not providing required or adequate stability or rigidity due to inadequate bone or unexpected spinal instability. This lends to the requirement of a completely separate plate and screw system to be applied to the vertebral segment and therefore a wider surgical incision to be made. A plate, cage and screw system is often required to be on standby should an intraoperative change of surgical procedure be necessary.
Accordingly, there is a need for providing a spinal fixation and guidance system and a method of use that addresses some of the problems associated with the prior art.

Spinal fixation and guidance system and method


Di-p-toluoyl tartrate, di-t-butylacetyl tartrate, di-butyryl tartrate and di-i-valeryl tartrate of (dialkylamino-2 alkyl)sulphonyl-26 pristinamycin II.sub.B having general formula (I) wherein Alk represents a straight or branched alkylene radical and R represents straight or branched alkyl radicals, said radicals having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms.

However, the oxidation processes which lead to this sulphone are not always totally satisfactory given that they often lead to an impure product. It is necessary to carry out subsequent purifications, in particular by chromatography, in order to arrive at a product of satisfactory quality.
Moreover, a limited choice of solvents may be used for treating these products. The salts hitherto prepared were soluble in chlorinated solvents or ketones, solvents normally employed for the treatment of pristinamycin II.sub.B sulphones. No acid has allowed until now the preparation of salts which precipitate in the solvents employed.

Salts derived from 26-(dialkylaminoalkylsulphonyl)pristinamycin IIB


In one aspect, the present invention provides a travel garment bag having a cover with an opening through which items to be carried within the bag may be inserted; a wire box inflexible frame enclosed within and supporting the cover; and a hanging strap attached to the inflexible frame and capable of extending through a second opening in a top wall of the cover. The hanging strap includes a strap having a hook and ring attached to opposite ends thereof. In order to hang the garment bag on a horizontal rod, such as a closet rod, the strap is wrapped around the rod and the hook is hooked on the ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to garment bags for use when traveling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most travel garment bags have been designed primarily for items such as suits and shirts that can be conveniently hung on hangers. However, there are many clothing items such a underwear, socks, handkerchiefs, folded shirts, etc. which are not readily used with hangers. When such small items are placed in a conventional garment bag, they tend to collect in one large mass at the bottom of the bag and become disordered. Therefore, there exists a need for a travel garment bag which can be used to carry such small items of clothing so that they do not become disordered during traveling.


In a thermostatic valve for a cooling system of an internal combustion engine with an inlet connection, a first outlet connection and a second outlet connection, and first, second and third valve elements for closing and opening the inlet and first and second outlet connections, at least two wax cartridge thermostats are provided for operating the valve elements and at least one of the wax cartridge thermostats is connected to an electric heating element for influencing the operation of the respective wax thermostat.

The invention relates to a thermostatic valve for a cooling system of an internal combustion engine, in particular of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle.
A cooling system for an internal combustion engine usually comprises a coolant circuit 10 in which the present invention can also be used and which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1.
The coolant, for example water, is fed to the internal combustion engine 12 via a coolant feed line 14 by means of a pump 16. After the coolant has passed through the internal combustion engine 12 and correspondingly has been heated up owing to an exchange of heat, it flows via a coolant discharge line 18, a coolant return line 20 and a coolant radiator line 22 to a radiator 24 in order to be cooled again in said radiator by means of an exchange of heat with cooling air. The coolant which is cooled in this way is then fed back from the radiator 24 to the internal combustion engine 12 via the feed line 14.
If the temperature of the coolant flowing out of the internal combustion engine 12, which is sensed by a suitable temperature sensor 26 in the discharge line 18, for example during the warm-up phase of the internal combustion engine, is relatively low after startup of the internal combustion engine and it is not necessary to cool the coolant, the coolant is fed back directly to the feed line 14 via a coolant bypass line 28 without running through the radiator 24. The coolant thus arrives back at the internal combustion engine 12 without being cooled so that it is successively heated until it reaches a temperature which requires cooling. The coolant is therefore then directed through the radiator 24.
Usually a thermostatic valve 30 is provided for directing the coolant from the return line 20 into the radiator line 22 and/or the bypass line 28. The thermostatic valve 30 controls the opening and closing of a first passage from an inlet connection 32 which is connected to the return line 20, to a first outlet connection 34a which is connected to the radiator line 22, and of a second passage from the inlet connection 32 to a second outlet connection 34b which is connected to the bypass line 28. The control is carried out as a function of the temperature of the coolant sensed at the outlet of the internal combustion engine 12 by the temperature sensor 26.
Furthermore, the coolant which is heated in the internal combustion engine 12 can also be used to heat a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. For this purpose, the coolant circuit 10 has a coolant heater line 36 which branches off from the discharge line 18 and by means of which the coolant is carried to a heat exchanger 40 by means of a pump 38. In the heat exchanger 40, the warm coolant exchanges heat with an air stream which is blown into the passenger compartment. The coolant is cooled as a result of heat being transferred to the air stream of the heating system of the passenger compartment. The coolant which is cooled in this way is then fed back to the feed line 14.
In order to heat the passenger compartment when the internal combustion engine 12 is stationary, an additional heater (referred to as a stationary-vehicle heater, not illustrated) may optionally be provided, said heater being connected to the heat exchanger 40 in parallel with the coolant circuit 10.
For example, what is referred to as a rotary slide thermostatic valve, whose method of operation and switched states are illustrated schematically in FIGS. 2A to 2D is known from the prior art as a thermostatic valve 30 for regulating the temperature of the coolant which is fed to the internal combustion engine 12.
As illustrated in the Figures, the rotary slide thermostatic valve 30 has a valve chamber 42 which has the inlet connection 32 in the axial direction and the first and second outer connections 34a, 34b in the radial direction. A rotary slide 44 which can rotate about the axis which is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing is provided in the chamber 42, said rotary slide 44 being constructed with two closure areas and two opening areas in such a way that the switched states described below can be set.
In the first switched state of the thermostatic valve 30, which is illustrated in FIG. 2A, for the purpose of what is referred to as full throttle, the rotary slide 44 is placed in such a rotary position that both the first and second outlet connections 34a, 34b are closed. As a result, the coolant is prevented from circulating and the coolant is stationary, inter alia also in the internal combustion engine 12, where it consequently heats up. The warming-up of the internal combustion engine 12 can be promoted by this full throttle.
In the warm-up operating mode of the internal combustion engine 12, the second outlet connection 34b is cleared by the rotary slide 44, while the first outlet connection 34a remains closed, as illustrated in FIG. 2B. In this way, the coolant is returned to the internal combustion engine 12 only via the bypass line 28 so that it gradually heats up.
As the temperature of the coolant rises, partial cooling of the coolant becomes necessary so that the thermostatic valve 30 is switched into the mixed operating mode. In this mixed operating mode, the rotary slide 44 is in such a rotary position that both outlet connections 34a and 34b are opened (see FIG. 2C) so that part of the coolant flows through the radiator 24 and the other part is fed back directly to the internal combustion engine 12.
When there is a maximum demand for cooling capacity, the first outlet connection 34a is fully opened and the second outlet connection 34b is closed (cooling operating mode according to FIG. 2D) so that all of the coolant is directed through the radiator 24 for the purpose of cooling.
The operating positions of the rotary slide thermostatic valve 30 can be set quickly and precisely by means of a suitable electromechanical control system, and the rotary position of the rotary slide 44 can also be sensed electronically. The high costs of such a rotary slide thermostatic valve, in particular for controlling it, as well as its heavy weight and its large size are disadvantageous.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermostatic valve for a cooling system of an internal combustion engine, with which the switched states of a rotary slide thermostatic valve can be set and the switching times are as short as possible. Furthermore, the thermostatic valve should be as small as possible and as lightweight as possible and it should also be inexpensive.

Thermostatic valve for a cooling system of an internal combustion engine


A staples adjusting device includes two boards received in the magazine and one of the two boards has a recess defined in the inside thereof, and a concavity is defined in the bottom of the recess. An adjusting plate is movably received between the two boards and has two inclined slots defined in two ends thereof, each of the slots has a boss of an actuating member extending therethrough. A protrusion extends from the actuating member and a rod extends through the protrusion. The rod has a stop extending radially outward therefrom and two springs are mounted to the rod and biased between the stop and the protrusion, and between the inside of the concavity and the protrusion so that when pushing the rod to compress the springs, the adjusting plate is moved to push the staples contacting against the inside of the magazine by moving the two bosses in the two inclined slots so that there will be no gap defined between the staples and the inside of the magazine.

FIG. 1 show a conventional magazine 10 for a power stapler, staples 12 are received in the magazine 10 and pushed by a block 11 which is biased upwardly to force the top-most staple contacting against the stopper board 13. The top-most staple will be ejected by an ejector (not shown) of the power stapler into a desired object. Because the width in the magazine 10 is fixed so that there will be a gap "d" defined between the front tip of the staples 12 and the inside of the magazine 10, and the power to eject the staples is so powerful that the following staples 12 could be influenced and inclined toward the gap "d" as shown in FIG. 2. This is happened frequently and it takes time to preclude such "jam" situation.
The present invention intends to provide a staples adjusting device and includes a movable adjusting plate which push the staples to contact against the inside of the magazine so as to eliminate the gap defined between the staples and the inside of the magazine.
The present invention is automatically adjust the staples which is shorter than the width of the staple magazine so that the inherent shortcomings found in the conventional magazine can be well overcome.

Staples adjusting device for a magazine of a power stapler


A data input-output device for a camera comprises a data input interface having first and second switches for generating input data, first and second flip-flops for latching input data generated by opening and closing the first and second switches, a data converting circuit for converting the input data generated by opening and closing the first and second switches to digital data by a combination of the input data generated by opening and closing the first and second switches and of output data of the first and second flip-flops, a plurality of AND circuits in which the digital data converted by the data converting circuit is inputted, and a data output interface for outputting a plurality of digital data from AND logic obtained by the plurality of AND circuits. The device has the advantages of enabling a reduction in the number of terminals when manufactured as an IC, simplifies the pattern of a printed circuit board due to its simple random logic, and permits the mounting of the elements in high density.

(2) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data input-output device for a camera, and more particularly to a data input-output device for a camera that outputs data converted from input data generated by opening and closing two switches as a plurality of digital data by random logic.
(2) Description of the Related Art and Problems To Be Solved By the Invention
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-149624 entitled "Controller for Camera", both the input and output terminals of prior art data input-output devices for cameras are comprised of one terminal, respectively, and the binary states of each input and output terminal are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU).
In Japanese Patent Application No. 1-201613 entitled "Encoder Device", data taken out of mechanical elements decoded according to function is decoded as digital data by an A/D converting circuit built in a CPU.
The device described in the aforementioned Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-149624 has the drawbacks that it only reduces the number of input ports for the CPU and that it cannot determine the state when both of two switches are closed.
The device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-201613 has the drawbacks that it requires an A/D converter of either the counter type or the double integral type, both of whose circuits are so complex that they cannot be used for fast data input/output of a camera and the like and which have a limited range of use.

Camera dual switch single data input-multiple data output device


A method for producing a novel silicone foam by reaction of a polyisocyanate with a silicone oligomer having a plurality of functional end groups with active hydrogens, optionally in the presence of fire-retardants, under foam forming conditions which creates a new silicone foam for use in items such as residential upholstered furniture industry, seat cushions and bedding etc., and specifically for use in applications that require, high resilience and fire-retardant properties such as aircraft and surface transportation seat cushioning, military and shipboard mattresses etc.

Flexible polyurethane foam is used for bedding and upholstered furniture due to its durability, lack of odor, non-allergenic properties, ease of cleaning, and resistance to dry-cleaning solvents, oils, and perspiration. However, ordinary flexible polyurethane foam can readily ignite because of its open cell structure, which allows the oxygen required for combustion to penetrate below the surface of the foam. Once ignited, flexible polyurethane foam tends to burn vigorously because of its very large surface area per unit weight. These risks have lead to the implementation of safety standards for industries that use polyurethane foam.
In order to meet safety standards, considerable efforts have been made to provide polyurethane foams with satisfactory flame retardancy. Most flexible polyurethane foams are produced by a condensation reaction between a polyether polyol and an isocyanate in the presence of foam forming agents. When these compounds are mixed together, liberated carbon dioxide gas acts as the blowing gas to make the material into foam. One approach to produce foams with satisfactory flame retardancy has been to add reactive or non-reactive flame-retardant as a part of the foam producing process. Phosphorus and/or halogenated compounds, borates, aluminum trihydrate, melamine, expandable graphite, and many other flame-retardants have been used in the foam making process. Another approach to make flame retardant foam is to post-treat the foam with flame-retardants after the foam has been produced.
Silicone foam is produced by a condensation reaction between a siloxane polymer containing silanol (Si—OH) groups and crosslinkers containing silane (Si—H) groups in the presence of a catalyst. When these compounds are mixed and reacted together, the formation of siloxane linkages (Si—O—Si) occurs, liberating hydrogen gas, which acts as the blowing agent to make the material into foam. Because of its high silicone content, silicone foam is typically less flammable than flexible polyurethane foam.
The most widely used silicones are based on polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS). Tyagi, Yilgor, McGrath and Wilkes, Polymer, 1984, 25, 1807 reported that the characteristics of these siloxanes such as very low intermolecular forces, ease of rotation, and relatively long and fairly strong Si—O bond enable these polymers to exhibit flexibility, thermal stability, and properties which are fairly constant over a wide range of temperature. Silicone polymers in general are also known to have unique and useful properties such as low surface energy, low glass transition temperature, and high gas permeability. Robb and Ann, Acad. Sci. 1968, 146, 119 reported that silicone polymer is 10 times more permeable to oxygen than natural rubber and low-density polyethylene and 100 times greater than butyl rubber and nylon. Silicone polymers, including polydimethylsiloxane when not crosslinked, are widely used in the fields of cosmetics, food processing and various medical applications.
Siloxane-modified polyurethanes have a wide range of applications since their properties can be tailored by variations of their components. Siloxane-modification of polyurethanes has shown microphase segregation producing a silicone-rich soft segment in polyurethane elastomers. According to Couchman (Macromolecules, 1978, 11, 1156) and Camberlin, and Pascault (J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Phys. Edn., 1984, 22, 1835), one of the reasons for this phase separation is the incompatibility of the soft segment (solubility parameter, δ=7.46 cal1/2 cm−3/2 mol−1) with polar hard segment (δ=13.2). This unique rearrangement process depends on various factors such as polydimethylsiloxane length, siloxane content and the nature of the contacting surface. Tezuka, Kazama and Imal, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 1991, 87(1), 147 reported that the top surface of a block copolymer can be completely covered with the polydimethylsiloxane in the dry state and the thickness of the top layer ranged from 20-100 A° depending on the siloxane block length and siloxane content. When the contacting surface changed from dry to aqueous, a surface rearrangement occurred producing a polyurethane-like surface. The structure and the orientation behavior of these polymers were studied by means of infrared dichroism, small angle light scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry and it was found that the incorporation of siloxane moiety in the main chain reduced the crystallization capability of the soft segments. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), ESCA, and FT-IR studies of a large number of silicone modified polyurethane elastomers revealed that these block co-polymers contained a silicone rich surface. Nelson, Jayakody, and Sorathia "Silicone Modified Polyurethanes", Proceedings, The 8th Annual BCC Conference on Flame Retardancy, Stamford, Conn. (1997) reported utilizing difunctional polydimethylsiloxanes both silanol terminated (Si—OH) and aminoalkyl terminated, to increase fire-retardancy of elastomeric polyurethanes. Cone calorimetric data showed polyurethane elastomers prepared using aminopropyl dimethyl terminated PDMS gives lower peak heat release rates than silanol terminated PDMS. They have identified some formulations with aminopropyl dimethyl terminated PDMS which gave peak heat release rates as low as 300 kW/m2 compared to polytetramethylene ether glycol modified polyurethane elastomers (2577 kW/m2) at 25 kW/m2 exposure. Jayakody, Nelson, Sorathia and Lewandowski "A Cone Calorimetric Study of Flame Retardant Elastomeric Polyurethanes Modified with Siloxanes and Commercial Flame Retardant Additives", J. Fire Sci. Vol. 16, 1998, 351-382 showed that the replacement of polytetramethylene ether glycol from MDI based polyurethane elastomers with isobutylmethylamine terminated polydimethylsiloxanes showed a 89% reduction of peak heat release rate (261 kW/m2) compared to the polytetramethylene ether glycol based system (2435 kW/m2) at 25 kW/m2 exposure.
The above discussion shows that the incorporation of siloxane block into the backbone of polyurethane elastomers yields a significant improvement on the flame retardancy of the polymers. A practical flexible foam including a siloxane moiety would be desirable in the art. The primary object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a new opened cell flexible silicone foam.

High resilient silicone foam and process for preparing same


The housing of an electrical machine should, despite efficient cooling, be provided with a more compact design. To this end, the invention provides that the cooling ducts (2) of a housing (1), which is preferably provided in the form of an aluminum extruded profile, are left open toward the inside. The inner walls of the cooling ducts (2) are then formed by an inserted stator pack (4). This enables the corner areas of the housing to be kept free for assembly and the reduction of material for manufacturing the housing (1). In addition, due to the open cooling air ducts (2), thin wall thicknesses in the profile and thus small motor dimensions while simultaneously having a large cooling duct cross-section can be realized.

The present invention relates to a housing for an electrical machine, comprising an outer wall and at least one cooling duct within the outer wall, through which cooling duct a coolant can be transported.
In order to increase power, electric motors are cooled using an air stream or another cooling medium. In this case, the air stream is frequently generated by an additional fan (axial or radial fan) and conducted across or through the motor.
Since the present invention relates particularly to an external ventilation concept, the customary cooling principles of externally ventilated motors are briefly mentioned below. Firstly, corner cooling systems are known for extruded profiles, in which systems the cooling stream flows through the corner regions of the extruded profile. However, one disadvantage of this is that a design of this type is unfavorable for motor assembly since no cutouts for screws can be provided in the corners.
Furthermore, hood jackets with external fans which are placed over the motor are known for cooling electric motors. In this case, the motor is cooled with a cooling-air stream on three sides. However, one disadvantage of this system is the increased physical volume.
A further cooling concept is based on providing cooling ducts, for example for air cooling, in the laminated core of a motor without a housing. In this case, the coolant flows directly through punched-out portions in the stator core.


Mutual remote support between users is easily facilitated without troublesome complicated user registration. For user terminals between which remote support is performed, a user can use an appropriate supporter user terminal to enable the supporter user terminal to access a supportee user terminal to thereby facilitate setting manipulation and check device (or terminal) status with regard to not only the supportee user terminal but also a supportee device that is communicably connected to the supportee user terminal, by merely selecting the supportee device (or terminal) from an address book stored in the corresponding user terminal. Further, when a necessary application is not installed in a counterpart user terminal, it is possible to transmit information for installing the application through an SMS or the like.

The present invention relates to a user terminal, an operator server, a remote support system, a remote support method, and a user terminal program, remote support being mutually performed in the remote support system.
In recent years, a variety of services have been provided to users by connecting a portable terminal, connected to a public line network, to a web server or the like. Particularly, with the appearance of smart phones (high functional mobile phones), high level services that were conventionally provided by a personal computer can be provided by the mobile phone.
Instead of a server providing services, various functions are mounted in a smart phone itself. Thus, much time may be required for a user to become familiar with all mounted functions. For example, although a function desired by a user is mounted in the smart phone, the user may be unable to use the desired function if it is difficult to be fully aware of a method for setting the function.
Accordingly, a user needs to fully understand setting manipulations and functions of the smart phone in order to maximize the utilization efficiency of high level web services and high level functions of the smart phone. Further, it is sometimes the case that a user who is not familiar with the manipulations of a terminal makes errors by deleting important setting information or making inappropriate settings when initially setting the terminal.
In view of the above, there is disclosed means for remotely setting a user terminal and/or enabling the user to be aware of the user terminal by performing remote support (remote maintenance) on the user terminal. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-006062 discloses means for enabling a server to obtain screen information of each client and the server to constantly display the screen information as a list to thereby improve the support and monitoring efficiency of the clients.
Further, there is disclosed means for performing a remote manipulation by, e.g., enabling an operator (supporter) terminal to remotely log into a supportee user terminal and sharing a real-time screen. Specifically, by successively transmitting a screen displayed on the user terminal to the operator terminal and manipulating the operator terminal, it is possible to perform input manipulation (remote manipulation) of the user terminal as if directly manipulating the user terminal. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-034315 discloses a remote support method using a mobile phone.
However, with the explosive dissemination of smart phones and personal computers, the number of users dealing with high-performance information appliances has recently been increasing. Therefore, the number of users with respect to one operator also increases, and thus the time and the service quality that can be devoted to the support per user are expected to deteriorate in inverse proportion to the number of users. In addition, since the operator can freely manipulate an individual device through the remote support, users who are not familiar with information appliances often feel a sense of possibly irrational crisis.
Recently, a system in which a customer serves not only as a service provider but also as a service receiver has been developed beyond the conventional relationship that a company serves to provide a service and a customer receives the service. In such a system, it is possible to create values by facilitating service exchange between customers and enabling companies to prepare environments for facilitating the service exchange instead of providing services.
The present inventor has paid attention to the facts that the number of service providers are significantly increased by enabling users to receive remote support from other users instead of a professional company for providing remote support, and the sense of security of a user who receives remote support from another user can be improved in terms of privacy or a decrease in risk of crime in the case that the user providing the remote support is a member of his/her family, a friend, or the like.
When an operator remotely logs into a user terminal by manipulating an operator terminal, an error may be generated into a device connected to the user terminal in which the operator is logging, instead of the user terminal. For example, when a smart phone receiving remote support is connected to a wireless LAN at home, it is necessary to set a service set identifier (SSID). To that end, it is required to check and manipulate an SSID setting of a wireless router. However, even by only logging into the smart phone, it is not allowed to check and/or manipulate the SSID setting thereof.
Thus, the present inventor has focused on whether to check and/or manipulate a device that is communicably connected to a supportee device (a smart phone in this example) by using the supportee device.
The present inventor has also attended to the point that manageability can be improved by allowing a user serving as an operator to store each supportee device in a form associated with a corresponding user (owner) when remote support is performed between users. Further, the present inventor has given attention to the fact that, when a desired one of the devices that are communicably connected to terminals is supported as above, an appropriate terminal that needs to be logged into is automatically selected to thereby improve manageability.
Furthermore, the present inventor has paid attention to the point that, in order to enable the user terminal to realize a variety of functions by installing applications, when a necessary application is not installed in a counterpart user terminal, it is possible to simply provide customer-to-customer remote support without a troublesome complicated user registration process by detecting non-installation of the necessary application and providing information for installing the application as a message.

User terminal, operator server, remote support method and user terminal program


Supplying work for many parts supplied for vehicle assembly is progressed toward one radiation center, and the supplied parts are assembled into one vehicle on a rotary-type assembly bed provided at the radiation center.

Regarding the assembly of motor vehicles, a configuration in which motor vehicles are assembled along one long straight-line shaped conveyor has widely been known conventionally. Specifically, a long straight-line shaped conveyor is arranged in a plant, and along this straight-line shaped conveyor, there are provided assembling stages for successively attaching parts to a vehicle being assembled along this conveyor; for example, an axle module is arranged at the first stage, a frame module is attached to the axle module at the next stage, the frame is turned over on the conveyor and an engine is attached to this frame at the next stage, and a cab is further attached to the frame at the next stage. This straight-line shaped conveyor moves in one direction as the assembling work progresses. At a position at which all of various assembling processes executed along this conveyor have been finished and a predetermined inspection has been completed, the assembled vehicle leaves the conveyor and is delivered.
Regarding this long straight-line shaped conveyor, there have been known a system in which the vehicle being assembled is moved at a fixed slow speed during the operation and a system in which the movement is stopped during the execution of assembling work and the vehicle is moved intermittently in accordance with set timing (tact).
At both sides of the straight-line shaped conveyor, stages for supplying parts and materials for assembly to the assembly line for vehicles are arranged. Specifically, the axle module, frame module, engine, cab etc. are supplied at positions necessary for the assembly line. The configuration is such that these parts and materials are prepared in a mode such as to be capable of being supplied, in principle, in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of conveyor and are supplied to the conveyor. In the process in which parts and materials are supplied, in addition to work for supplying a member completed as a module onto the conveyor, work for conducting inspections before assembly, which are executed at the final assembling stage of each module and the like work are included.
Regarding the straight-line shaped conveyor of the conventional example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 (applicant: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.) described below have been known. Also, a conventionally known assembly line for vehicles that is not of a straight-line shape has disclosed in Patent Document 4 (applicant: MC Micro in Germany) described below. Also, though not for the assembly of vehicles, an example in which a manufacturing line is formed into a circular shape has been disclosed in Patent Document 5 (applicant: Ricoh Co., Ltd.) described below.    Patent Document 1: JP H10-59233 A    Patent Document 2: JP 2000-18251 A    Patent Document 3: JP 2002-79964 A    Patent Document 4: JP H8-290798 A    Patent Document 5: JP 2002-133710 A

Assembly plant and assembly method for vehicle


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet, a sensor unit assembly including a sensor unit and a holder attached to the sensor unit, and a cover member attached to the sensor unit assembly. The sensor unit includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The cover member includes a light transmission portion covering a light emitting side of the light emitting element and a light receiving side of the light receiving element and an engaging portion sandwiched between the sensor unit and the holder.

A known image forming apparatus includes a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and a transparent member covering a light emitting side of the light emitting element and a light receiving side of the light receiving element. The transparent member is detachably attached to a light path forming member.
A user or a maintenance operator can remove the transparent member from the light path forming member by moving the transparent member toward the front side in parallel to the light path forming member.
As the transparent member is configured to be removed from the light path forming member by parallel movement, the transparent member may come off unintentionally.

Image forming apparatus with sensor unit assembly cover member


Banding artifacts in steady state free precession (SSFP) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are reduced by acquiring and combining multiple SSFP images in an augmented matrix where an acquisition vector in k-space is equal to a Fourier matrix of the trajectory on a known distortion operator for each trajectory in k-space.

This invention relates generally to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and more particularly the invention relates to MRI using steady state free precession (SSFP) with banding artifact reduction.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-destructive method for the analysis of materials and represents a new approach to medical imaging. It is generally non-invasive and does not involve ionizing radiation. In very general terms, nuclear magnetic moments are excited at specific spin precession frequencies which are proportional to the local magnetic field. The radio-frequency signals resulting from the precession of these spins are received using pickup coils. By manipulating the magnetic fields, an array of signals is provided representing different regions of the volume. These are combined to produce a volumetric image of the nuclear spin density of the body.
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is based on nuclear spins, which can be viewed as vectors in a three-dimensional space. During a MR experiment, each nuclear spin responds to four different effects—precession about the main magnetic field, nutation about an axis perpendicular to the main field, and both transverse and longitudinal relaxation. In steady-state MR experiments, a combination of these effects occurs periodically.
Refocused steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequences have recently gained popularity in magnetic resonance imaging, due to improved gradient hardware. SSFP imaging provides high signal and good contrast in short scan times. However, in regions of high local magnetic field variations, SSFP images often suffer from characteristic bands of signal loss, or "banding artifact".
Several multiple acquisition methods to reduce the banding artifact have been described in the prior art. In these schemes, multiple sets of images are acquired each with a different RF phase increment from one sequence repetition to the next (RF phase cycling). The images are combined in a way to effectively reduce the dark band artifact. However, the extra cost in scan time (usually up to a factor of 4) is limiting.

Artifact reduction in SSFP MRI using super field view reconstruction

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


The bottom tier (24) of a conveyor belt (22) arranged in a spiral stack (26) is supported by and driven by inner and outer drive chains (28) and (30). The inner and outer drive chains are supported on and ride along support rails (32) and (34). The inner and outer drive chains are driven by a drive system (35) composed of inner and outer drive systems (36) and (38), each including a drive motor with a drive gear engaged with the inner and outer drive chains. Each of the motors is controlled by a separate variable frequency drive unit (114) and (116) which in turn are controlled by a control system (44). The control system (44) also controls the operation of a lubrication system (40) that supplies lubricant to the drive chains.

In a typical spiral conveyor system, a self-stacking belt is arranged in and travels in circular tiers from the bottom of the stack to the top and then perhaps in a second stack, the belt travels from the top back down to the bottom of the stack. The bottom belt tier rests on and is driven by inner and outer drive chains that ride on a support rail. The drive chains carry the weight of the belt stack as well as the weight of the work product (often food) loaded on the spiral conveyor belt during thermal processing operations which may involve either heating or cooling of the work product.
The inner and outer drive chains are driven by individual motors. These motors are connected to a single, common variable frequency drive unit to control the speed of the motors. The outer chain is longer than the inner drive chain since the outer support rail is longer than the inner support rail, and as such the outer drive chain travels at a faster rate than the inner drive chain. The gear ratios between the inner and outer drive motors must be extremely accurate to achieve the proper force and speed distribution between the inner and outer drive chains.
To achieve the proper gear ratios between the drive motors, nonstandard gears often must be used that are not only costly, but also often have reduced torque capacity relative to standard gears. Moreover, the inner and outer drive chains may wear at different rates. As a drive chain wears, it elongates. As a consequence, the drive ratio between the inner and outer drive chains may become unbalanced and thereby no longer maintaining a proper force distribution between the inner and outer chains. This will result in one of the motors having to "work harder" than the other motor, which in turn accelerates the wear of the drive chain that is working harder relative to the other drive chain.
Also, when a single variable frequency drive unit is used to drive the inner and outer drive motors, the feedback data from the variable frequency drive line, including, for example torque, amperage, etc., is not useful since it does not relate to a particular motor or drive chain.
It is necessary to lubricate the drive chains during use. The frequency and quantity of lubrication is based on information from the variable frequency drive unit pertaining, for example, to the travel distances of the inner and outer drive chains. However, the frequency and amount of lubrication needed by the inner and outer drive chains may differ due to, for example, the differences in torque load applied to, and in wear being experienced by, the inner and outer drive chains. As a consequence, it is possible that one of the drive chains may be over-lubricated or under-lubricated due to the unevenness of the wear and/or torque load being experienced by the drive chains.
The present disclosure provides a system and method for prolonging the service life of a drive system for a spiral conveyor by controlling the operation of the drive motors in a unique manner and thereby providing relevant data for controlling the lubrication of the drive chains.

Spiral conveyor drive control and lubrication


Methods, systems, and computer readable media for storing data associated with packet related metrics are disclosed. According to one method, the method includes generating a test packet including a port tuple sequence number (PTSN), wherein the PTSN indicates a number of packets across multiple flows associated with a same port tuple, wherein the port tuple indicates an ingress port and an egress port that the test packet traverses at a device under test (DUT), and storing the PTSN in an entry of a data structure, wherein the entry is indexed by the port tuple.

When testing various devices, it is important to make sure that testing mimics real world scenarios and conditions. For example, when testing a data center grade network switch, a test operator may want to stress test the network switch using a substantial number (e.g., hundreds of thousands or millions) of flows (e.g., packet groups or sessions). Conventional testing equipment has limits (e.g., hardware and memory related limits) associated with the number of flows that can be emulated. In particular, the number of concurrent emulated flows is generally related to memory resources. For example, conventional testing equipment typically generates packet related metrics by storing and analyzing packet related data that is indexed by flow identifiers. However, storing packet data for millions of flows requires substantial memory resources, which can be very expensive and inefficient.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for storing data associated with packet related metrics.

Storing data associated with packet related metrics


One or more computing devices, systems, and/or methods for constructing a chat video are provided. For example, a user may define a participant definition defining one or more participants for a conversation to playback through the chat video. The user may define a sequence of content items (e.g., images, videos, text, emojis, emoticons, etc.) that are to be displayed through a chat interface for the conversation. A sequence of message elements (e.g., chat bubbles) are constructed based upon the participant definition and/or the sequence of content items. A message element comprises a content item and is assigned to a participant. The sequence of message elements are surfaced through the chat interface to visually present the conversation as a rendering used to construct the chat video.

Many users communicate through chat and message interfaces. In an example, two users may communicate using text messages that are displayed through text message interfaces hosted on mobile devices of the users. For example, a first user may send text, a video, a photo, an emoji, etc. through a text message to a second user. A text message interface, hosted on a device of the second user, may display messages received from the first user and messages that the second user has sent the first user. A group chat message interface may allow more than two users to communicate. For example, a group chat message interface, on the device of the second user, may display messages received from other users of a group chat and messages that the second user has sent the other users. It may be advantageous to convey conversations, speeches, and/or other story telling communication through such a format.


A bearing mounting for a shaft having a pillow block support with a through opening for the shaft and a bearing within the opening. A bearing sealing member is mounted on the support on each side of the bearing. Each bearing support sealing member is laterally spaced from the bearing to form an open chamber adjacent each side of the bearing.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward an improved bearing assembly for shafts.
The invention is more particularly directed toward an improved housing for bearing assembly for shafts.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Known bearing mountings for shafts employ seals that are usually an integral part of the bearing. The seals are mounted directly on the bearing structure. Any excess lubricant in the bearing leaks past the seals. Any contaminants around the bearing mounting that leak past the seal in the other direction immediately contact the bearing and can adversely affect its operation by contamination. Lubricant leakage from bearing mountings is normally not a problem. However when the bearing mountings are employed in food handling or food preparation environments, or similar environments where cleanliness is essential, or in environments where contaminants are present, lubricant leakage in bearing mountings is unacceptable.
The known bearing seals are also usually quite complicated in construction and mounting. Often the seals are composed of several elements.


The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for administering medicants, specifically anesthesia, to a catheterized patient. An administration tube is provided in longitudinal connection with an aspiration tube. The administration tube preferably has plural fenestrations provided along its length to administer anesthesia to the areas surrounding the catheter. The aspiration tube has at least one opening to aspire fluids from a patient. A preferred usage is for the interpleural space, wherein fluids are aspired through a series of aspiration apertures on the aspiration tube, and the surrounding tissues and intercostal nerves are anesthetized through the fenestrations to alleviate pain and discomfort commonly associated with catheters.

The present invention relates to multiple lumen tubes for insertion into a patient. Specifically, the invention relates to evacuation of fluids from a patient's chest and problems associated therewith. More generally, the invention relates to anesthetizing areas adjacent to a catheter inserted into a patient.
The pleural space is a space between the lung and the chest wall. Intercostal nerves that provide sensation to the chest and abdomen lie in close proximity to the pleural space. In addition, nerve fibers that carry pain sensation lie within the lung tissue itself and are also close to the pleural space. Therefore, insertion of catheters into this space for evacuation of fluids or for other medical reasons causes extreme irritation and pain. It is therefore necessary to administer anesthetic to the patient. It is common to anesthetize a patient through oral or intravenous means. It is very difficult to localize these type of anesthetics, and various side effects are common. Installation of local anesthetics is preferable in such a case, thereby affecting only the nerve structures adjacent the catheters.
A major problem with installation of local anesthetics is the delivery of anesthetic to the appropriate nerves. One method involves placement of a thin flexible catheter into the pleural space using blind techniques. This results in a high incidence of misplacement into the lung and chest wall. Since the catheter cannot be directed into exact areas, large volumes of anesthetics must be used to fill the pleural spaces in order to block the appropriate nerves. This can result in high incidences of drug toxicity, leading to seizures and heart problems.
Many disease states and ailments of the lung require evacuation of air or liquids from the pleural space. These include trauma, cancer, pneumonia, infection and post-operative treatment. The most common technique for removal of these fluids involves placement of a large bore tube which provides suction or drainage. A major source of pain in these situations is the tube itself. The tube also lies adjacent to areas which generate pain, such as incisions or lesions. There is no known apparatus which simultaneously irrigates the pleural space while delivering anesthesia to alleviate associated pain and discomfort.
As with the pleural space, the use of catheters is common for treatment of ailments and post-operative treatment. It is also common for these inserted catheters to cause discomfort due to irritation of adjacent nerves.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with thoracostomy tubes, as well as general problems with present catheters.

Multiple lumen thoracostomy catheter and method for administering anesthesia


A solid state electronic device exhibiting negative differential resistance s fabricated by depositing a thin layer of amorphous silicon on a single crystal substrate, doped N.sup.+. The amorphous silicon is simultaneously crystallized and oxidized in a dry N.sub.2 and O.sub.2 mixture. The result is a layer of amorphous Sio.sub.2 surrounding microclusters of crystalline silicon. A layer of polycrystalline silicon is deposited to a thickness of approximately 0.5 micron. Ohmic metal contacts are made to the top and bottom. These active layers are isolated by insulating SiO.sub.2. A bias voltage applied between the metal contacts results in negative differential resistance due to tunneling through resonant energy levels in microclusters.

Modern microwave and millimeter wave technology requires solid state sources, mixers, and amplifiers which can operate at extremely high frequency, which have low-noise characteristics, and which can be integrated in an IC (integrated circuit) technology. Devices for the highest frequencies generally must be made from GaAs, or other III-V IC's, which are much more expensive than silicon IC's. Alternatively, the III-V device can be hybridized with silicon IC's, which introduces difficult and expensive processing steps.
A resonant tunnel diode (RTD), made from either silicon or a III-V semiconductor, has a Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) in its I-V characteristic and as a result has the capability of operation as an oscillator, an amplifier, or a mixer at extremely high frequencies with reasonable current density and with very low noise. Such RTD's must be fabricated with an epitaxial growth technique such as MBE, MOCVD, MOMBE, etc. Devices made using these techniques will be expensive and difficult to integrate with a less-expensive IC technology.

Negative differential resistance device based on tunneling through microclusters, and method therefor

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


The present invention provides a cylinder-type linear motor. The motor includes a fixed part including a coil assembly having a plurality of ring-shaped coils arranged in the axial direction to form a cylindrical space, and a yoke member made of a magnetic material, which is provided on the outer periphery side of the coil assembly and a moving part including a linear motion shaft provided on the axis line of the fixed part so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction, and a permanent magnet assembly having one or more permanent magnets magnetized in the axial direction, which is provided on the linear motion shaft. The motor is characterized by when the axial length of the ring-shaped coil is taken as C, the axial length of the permanent magnet assembly as M, and the outside diameter thereof as D, a stroke S is equal to or smaller than (n×C−M), the axial length Y of the yoke member is set equal to or larger than (M+S+0.8×D), and the ring-shaped coils are arranged in a predetermined phase order and the ring-shaped coils of the same phase are connected to each other to form one phase winding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cylinder-type linear motor having a permanent magnet in a moving part section and a plurality of ring-shaped coils in a fixed part section, and a moving part thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a two-phase cylinder-type linear motor that has been known conventionally.
In FIG. 11, a moving part 100 of the cylinder-type linear motor includes a linear motion shaft 101 reciprocating in the axial direction, a cylindrical moving part yoke 102 mounted on the linear motion shaft 101, and a plurality of ring-shaped permanent magnets 103 arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the moving part yoke 102 in a magnetized manner such as to adopt an alternate polarity with a magnetic pole pitch P in the axial direction. Also, a fixed part core 201 of a fixed part 200 has ring-shaped yoke portions 202 each having a smaller inside diameter and ring-shaped yoke portions 203 each having a larger inside diameter, both yoke portions being laminated alternately in the axial direction. As a result, on the inner peripheral surface of the fixed part 201, a large number of ring-shaped tooth portions 204 and ring-shaped groove portions 205 are formed in the axial direction with an equal pitch (P/2). In the ring-shaped groove portions 205, ring-shaped coils 206, 207 , . . . , 213 are disposed in the phase order of A phase and B phase. Therefore, the ring-shaped coils 206, 208, 210 and 212 disposed alternately are connected to each other to form an A-phase winding, and the remaining coils 207, 209, 211 and 213 are also connected to each other to form a B-phase winding.
An axial length M of a moving part core section is longer than an axial length K of a fixed core section, and therefore is an axial length in which the moving part and the fixed part face each other, namely, a thrust contribution length K. Also, a stroke length S is expressed by (M−K) From FIG. 11, the travel range length of the moving part is expressed by (K+2S), namely, (thrust contribution length+2×stroke length S). The total motor length is set so as to satisfy the travel range length of the moving part. As the related art, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-107732 and Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 5-15139 can be cited.

Cylinder-type linear motor and moving part thereof