Methods and apparatus determine if an intruder passes into a security zone that is associated with a waterfront asset. An embodiment of the invention provides a harbor fence system that is designed to be deployed in water around ships or other waterfront assets to serve as a line-of-demarcation in order to provide protection. The harbor fence system comprises a series of spars that protrude above the water surface and that are connected with an electrical computer with a telemetry subsystem. Each spar contains electronic sensors, e.g. water immersion sensors and accelerometers, and circuitry to detect an intrusion and to communicate the location of the intrusion to a computer control station. The embodiment also facilitates deploying and retrieving the harbor fence system. Additionally, the embodiment may also determine whether an underwater intruder is passing under a protective boundary, in which the harbor fence system interfaces to an underwater sonar sensor subsystem.

There are numerous situations in which a waterfront asset, such as military and civilian ships, that are situated in a harbor environment must be protected. Potential threats to the waterfront asset may originate at the surface of the water or below the surface of the water that abuts the asset. Typically, protective systems are passive barriers, such as oil booms or heavy fixed barriers to stop boats, or simple lines of small floats on the water. Security boom systems are typically heavy, usually difficult to deploy and moor, and are not intended to be portable. Moreover, security booms usually cannot be seen at night or in fog or rain, and do not provide any indications of intrusion.
Consequently, a method and apparatus that may provide continuous protection for an asset by automatically warning personnel about a possible intruder, that has a reduced cost, that has mobility so that the protective system may be transported with the ship as the ship changes locations, that can be configured for a desired perimeter typology, and that uses less power while providing a required degree of protection from surface and underwater predators would be beneficial to advancing the art of protective systems for waterfront assets.

Science Applications International Corporation


In a locomotive having a dynamic braking capability, a method for maintaining an airflow path to a resistive grid disposed within a resistive grid enclosure having an enclosure inlet and an enclosure outlet is provided, wherein the method includes generating an inlet airflow into the enclosure inlet, creating a heated inlet airflow by associating the inlet airflow with the resistive grid such that the inlet airflow absorbs heat generated by the resistive grid, directing the heated inlet airflow toward the enclosure outlet to generate a heated outlet airflow, redirecting at least a portion of the heated outlet airflow to be thermally associated with a structural portion of the enclosure inlet such that the temperature of the structural portion of the enclosure inlet is increased above a predetermined temperature to reduce blockage of the enclosure inlet by snow and recirculating the redirected heated outlet airflow with ambient air being drawn into the resistive grid enclosure.

Conventional rail locomotive designs typically employ a plurality of traction motors for propelling and retarding the forward and reverse motion of the locomotive. When being used to propel the locomotive the traction motors function as electric motors which convert electrical current into kinetic or mechanical energy. For example, current locomotives typically include a diesel engine which is used to drive an alternator which generates and supplies an electrical current to a plurality of traction motors which, in turn, converts this electrical energy into mechanical energy causing the locomotive to be propelled in the forward or reverse direction. However, the traction motors may also be configured to function as generators to produce a dynamic braking action which is used to slow the movement of the locomotive by converting the kinetic energy of the locomotive into electrical energy. Unfortunately however, this electrical energy cannot be used or stored conveniently on-board the locomotive. As such, this energy must be dissipated. To accomplish this the traction motors are connected to a bank of electrical resistors called a dynamic braking grid and the electrical energy generated during the dynamic braking action is converted into thermal energy, or heat, using resistive elements within the dynamic braking grid wherein the dynamic braking grid is typically force cooled by fan-driven airflow which transfers the heat energy into the ambient environment.
However, certain design and physical characteristics of current dynamic braking grid resistor packages, such as the package size and the upper temperature limit of the materials used to construct the dynamic braking grid tend to limit the amount of dynamic braking power that may be applied to the locomotive and still be efficiently transferred into the ambient environment. This acts to limit the amount of power that may be dissipated by a grid at a given ambient condition based on temperature and pressure. For example, a typical stack of braking grids occupying a volume of approximately 50 cubic feet may only be able to dissipate 1.8 MW of power. As such, because the efficient transfer of heat energy from the resistors to the ambient environment is a critical factor to the proper performance of a dynamic braking system, it is desirable to maximize this efficiency. Unfortunately however, because current dynamic braking grid resistor package designs are subject to cost, size, weight and noise limitations and the amount of space available on board the locomotive, it is not practical to simply increase the size of the grid enclosure or the size, quantity and/or the capacity of the cooling fans and resistors.
One way that has been developed to help solve this problem involves maximizing the energy dissipated across the entire grid by minimizing "hot spots" in the braking grid while avoiding localized material failure. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, typical cooling fans provide an uneven airflow velocity distribution at the outlet of the fan, wherein the outlet airflow velocity is highest proximate the center of the fan blade and lowest at the root and tips of the fan blades. In order to control the airflow more efficiently, an airflow diffuser plate is disposed between the fan outlet and the grid package inlet. For example, a typical cooling fan 100 used in a dynamic braking grid resistor package is shown and includes an impeller fan blade 102 and a flat plate 104, wherein the flat plate 104 defines a plurality of diffuser holes 106. Flat plate 104 includes an annular ring portion 108, a central portion 110 and a plurality of corner portions 112, wherein the annular ring portion 108 is aligned with the high velocity components of the fan air flow and wherein the central portion 110 and the corner portions 112 are aligned with the low velocity components of the fan air flow. The annular ring portion 108 defines a plurality of holes 114 having a relatively low quantity and/or size and the central portion 110 and the corner portions 112 define a plurality of holes 116 having a relatively high quantity and/or size.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, the uneven distribution of openings in the flat plate 104 has the effect of making the distribution of airflow volume and velocity downstream of the flat plate 104 much more uniform than that provided at the fan outlet. Additionally, the flat plate 104 also serves to reshape the air stream from the generally circular cross-sectional shape of the cooling fan 102 into the generally rectangular cross-sectional shape of the grid package, providing a more evenly distributed airflow within the grid package. This acts to cool the resistor grid in a more evenly distributed manner. Unfortunately however, the flat plate 104 also acts as a flow restriction and causes a significant pressure drop in the air stream which reduces the mass flow rate of cooling air available for flow through the resistor grid package. This is undesirable because the cooling of the resistive elements remains inefficient.
With conventional systems having a fan and six resistors, it is difficult to lower the maximum grid operating temperature. For a standard system, due to successive grid heating, the discharge resistor experiences the highest temperature which limits the power and environmental capability of the system. Thus, the cooling of a conventional system is difficult to improve upon for a number of reasons such as, airflow could be improved via increased flow via increased fan size, but space is limiting, airflow could be improved via increased fan speed, but physical fan/motor stresses are constraining, airflow could be increased but noise levels are constraining, airflow could be increased by reducing the pressure drop across the system, but inlet losses are limited by the size of the system, and grid and diffuser losses are limited by the size of the system as well. For instance, grid pressure drops could be reduced by increasing grid spacing, but the grid would have to be larger to still maintain sufficient heat transfer area. In fact, with conventional systems, blowing snow and freezing condensation can enter the fan, resulting in it freezing.

Locomotive dynamic braking grid package configuration


An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a conveyance belt for conveying a recording medium; a cleaning roller kept in contact with the conveyance belt to clean the conveyance belt; and a controller for controlling the cleaning roller so as to be able to select between two modes for its driving, wherein the two modes are the mode in which the cleaning roller is driven by the movement of the conveyance belt and the mode in which the cleaning roller is driven independently of the movement of the conveyance belt.

The inkjet type recording apparatus has come into widespread use for various types of recording mediums as an apparatus for recording a high definition image. In this inkjet recording apparatus, when the recording medium is a flexible fabric, the recording medium is fed to the position below the recording head in an endless manner by a conveyance belt, and ink is emitted from the recording head to the recording medium.
In this case, the ink emitted from the recording head may reach the area protruding from the edge of a recording medium and may stick to the conveyance belt by penetrating the recording medium (printing through) or going through so-called "printing without border". In this case, the ink is transferred to the recording medium having been supplied newly and the recording medium is contaminated. Normally, a mechanism for cleaning the conveyance belt is installed on the inkjet recording apparatus equipped with such a conveyance mechanism (for example Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkai 2003-205658).
To put it more specifically, in the cleaning mechanism described in the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkai 2003-205658, the guide roller (14) of a conveyance belt (4) is placed opposite to the cleaning roller (cleaning sponge 17b) having been absorbed a cleaning liquid (water), as shown in FIG. 10. A conveyance belt passes through these rollers. During the course of passage, cleaning roller is rotated by following the conveyance belt, and absorbs and removes ink attached to the conveyance belt (paragraph numbers 0016 and 0025).
However, in the cleaning mechanism of the Patent Document 1, the cleaning roller is driven by the conveyance belt. This ensures the cleaning roller to be impervious to damage and provides excellent roller durability, but an increase in the amount of ink deposited on the conveyance belt or an increased in the conveyance speed of the recording medium (conveyance belt traveling speed) is considered to cause a considerable reduction in the efficiency of removing the ink deposited on the conveyance belt, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
If the cleaning roller is designed to be driven by itself without being driven by the conveyance belt, a high ink removal rate can be maintained, as shown in FIG. 13. However, the cleaning roller rubs against the conveyance belt, and this reduces roller durability. The object of the present invention is to improve roller durability while maintaining a high efficiency of removing the ink deposited on the conveyance belt.


A water resistant and vapour phase corrosion inhibitor composite material for wrapping around metallic items for protection and to reduce corrosion during storage and transportation. The composite material comprises a high strength, tear resistant, flexible scrim, a low density layer impregnated with a solid form vapour phase corrosion inhibitor, and a barrier layer to reduce the transmission of water, water vapour, oxygen and other environmental gases through the composite material. The barrier layer also reduces the atmospheric loss of gaseous vapour phase corrosion inhibitor from around the wrapped item. Each layer is formed from a polyolefin material to create a multi-layered polyolefin composite material that is easily recyclable.

The corrosion of metallic parts and raw materials is a problem that is encountered by manufacturers, transportation companies, retailers and the consuming public alike. Unchecked corrosion can lead to a reduction in value or a diminishing of the lifespan for metallic items. While corrosion may come in many forms and may be the result of many different causes, it is the corrosion that results from the ambient environment within which a part or metallic item is stored or transported to which this invention is directed.
The most common metals which are susceptible to corrosion from ambient or atmospheric conditions are iron or ferrous compounds, aluminium, brass, copper, and lead. The corrosion of such metals, and metallic items created from them, may take the form of oxidation, tarnishing, pitting, discolouration or the mottling of the exterior surface. Traditionally, corrosion of this nature is associated with contact between the metallic surface and liquids, such as water or acidic compounds. However, in many instances the corrosion may be a direct result of the ambient atmospheric conditions within which the metallic item is situated. For example, metallic parts, machinery and raw materials are often exposed to gaseous compounds of oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and other such gases which can create an inherently corrosive environment. It is therefore imperative that steps be taken to prevent corrosion from exposure to such atmospheric elements, particularly during shipping and storage of metallic items. When such items are also subjected to sodium chloride (for example when shipped by sea or by truck in northern climates during the winter) even further precautionary steps need to be taken.
While a variety of methods and devices have been developed to reduce or help eliminate corrosion during storage and transportation, one of the most promising to date has been the development of vapour phase corrosion inhibitors. In general, vapour phase corrosion inhibitors release gaseous compounds which help to protect the surfaces of metals through the deposition of a protective film or coating on the corrodible surface. Provided that a sufficient supply of the vapour phase corrosion inhibitor is available, a metallic item can be protected for a considerable length of time.
In the shipping and transportation of metallic parts or materials, others have proposed various methods of presenting vapour phase corrosion inhibitors in sufficient supply to ensure a constant deposition onto the corrodible surface. Such devices and methods include the use of foam packing pellets or chips which have been injected with a liquid component that slowly evaporates to provide a constant supply of vapour phase corrosion inhibitor. Similarly, others have utilized solid components that sublimate into a vapour phase corrosion inhibitor. Still others have laminated a cellulose or similar layer to the underside of a tarpaulin or cover and saturated the cellulose layer with a liquid component that evaporates into a vapour phase corrosion inhibitor.
While all of these prior methods and devices have met with some degree of success, they all suffer from their own inherent limitations and difficulties. Utilizing solid or liquid compounds physically applied to the exterior surface of porous substrates and anticipating their rate of sublimation or evaporation into a vapour phase corrosion inhibitor can be difficult, particularly where atmospheric conditions such as temperature and pressure can vary and thereby affect the rate of sublimation and evaporation. The physical nature of the pores in the substrate and the degree of saturation also can affect the rate of release of vapour phase corrosion inhibitor thereby making it difficult to control the concentration of inhibitor surrounding a metallic item. Furthermore, in order to ensure that sufficient levels of solid or liquid corrosion inhibiting compounds are available, the substrates that have thus far been used have been soft and porous with little inherent strength or abrasion resistance. For example, in the case where a liquid corrosion inhibitor is sprayed onto a cellulose layer laminated to the underside of a tarpaulin, the cellulose layer may be subjected to abrasion which may result in an area having little or no corrosion protection. That is, should a portion of the cellulose layer be damaged or stripped off, a section or portion of the metallic item may not receive adequate protection.
Similarly, the use of impregnated foams or silica gels have limited application. To ensure that an adequate supply of the solid or liquid inhibiting compound is adjacent to the corrodible surface, the entire metallic part or component must normally be encapsulated within the foam or silica gel. In addition, the use of impregnated foam or silica gel does not provide protection from the elements of weather, from ultra violet radiation from the sun, nor do they provide a barrier to dust and dirt.

Water resistant and vapor phase corrosion inhibitor composite material


A system is disclosed for performing x-ray photoelectron emission analysis which uses a collimated x-ray beam directed to an optically polished sample at a small grazing angle of incidence, a fixed sample/electron spectrometer geometry, and an x-ray detector for detecting x-rays reflected off of the sample. With the system, an enhancement of the x-ray field at layer interfaces in a multilayer sample can take place. The system permits depth profiling of an over layer on a substrate, such as a metal or metal oxide on a metal substrate. The enhancement permits absolute calibration of depth-dependence. The system reduces lineshape distortions due to inelastic electron scattering of exiting photoelectrons and eliminates energy distortions due to changes in the sample position relative to the focal point of the electron spectrometer.

X-ray photoelectron emission spectrometry, also known as x-ray photoemission spectrometry (XPS), is a well-established technique for the analysis of the chemical states of elements found near the surface of a material. In particular, the shift in the binding energy of electrons of various atoms according to their chemical state forms the basis of electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). In ESCA methods employing x-ray photoemission spectrometry, an x-ray source of known photon energy is used to excite photoelectrons in a sample, and the energy distribution of the excited electrons is determined by an electron spectrometer. The difference in energy, after correction for the work function of the spectrometer, is the binding energy of those electrons.
As ESCA methods employing x-ray photoemission spectrometry have been applied to surface and interface layers of increasing chemical and structural complexity, several factors have become evident. The shape of the lines in the photoemission energy spectrum must often be analyzed since the chemical states of a specific element or elements may be too similar in binding energy for their photoemission lines to be completely resolved.
It is also frequently desirable to determine the concentrations of a specific element in different chemical states at different depths in the sample. In this respect, the photoemission yield is inherently attenuated with depth below the surface. It would be desirable, therefore, to enhance the photoelectron emission from elements which may be buried beneath the surface, particularly in a material consisting of thin film layers.
There are several known approaches for carrying out ESCA methods employing x-ray photoemission for obtaining depth-dependence. Previous ESCA methods employing x-ray photoemission have made use of the principles of grazing angle incidence of the exciting x-rays or grazing angle takeoff of the emitted photoelectrons. With decreasing angles of incidence, the penetration depth of x-rays into a surface is likewise decreased, since slight increases in depth require traversing ever longer attenuating paths to reach a specified depth. Within a specific grazing angle of incidence known as the critical angle, .phi..sub.c, x-rays are known to be abruptly reflected from a surface, a process known as total external reflection. This reflection is accompanied by an even stronger decay of the x-ray field with depth into the sample. If the angular acceptance of photoelectrons emitted by the material is similarly limited to increasingly grazing exit angles, the depth of the emitting atoms is limited by the increasing attenuation which their photoelectrons will necessarily incur on their path out. By comparing the changes in the x-ray photoemission signal of a specific element as the angle of incidence of the x-rays or the takeoff angle of the photoelectrons is varied, some idea of the depth distribution of the emitting atom species may be obtained.
Some known ESCA methods employing grazing angle x-ray photoemission spectrometry measurements utilize the rotation of a sample with respect to a fixed x-ray source and a fixed electron spectrometer. The rotation of the sample brings about a change in grazing incidence angle and also brings about a change of alignment of the sample with respect to the electron spectrometer, an effect which can result in a distortion of the photoemission lineshape in the energy spectrum of the electrons. Furthermore, all cases of photoemission in which the sampling depth is determined by the mean free path of escaping electrons necessarily results in a photoemission line which is distorted by inelastic energy losses. These distortions can be especially important in the case where the photoemission lines of several chemical species overlap.
Another prior art ESCA method to obtain depth dependence employing x-ray photoemission spectrometry uses a fixed, collimated x-ray beam that is directed to a fixed sample at a specified angle. The photoemission electrons accepted by the electron spectrometer are limited to those leaving the sample at a specific angle, which may be varied When the electron spectrometer is positioned to accept electrons which escape the sample with a large angle relative to the surface, they may originate from a certain range of depths without being significantly attenuated. When the electron spectrometer is positioned to accept only electrons which escape at a very small angle relative to the surface, the range of depths from which they originate is much smaller, since the escape path involves traversing a greater length of material at a given depth. In this example, the escape angle of the electrons may be determined by actual motion of the electron spectrometer relative to the sample or by the motion of an admitting slit between the sample and an electron spectrometer which accepts electrons over a range of angles.
However, distortions in electron spectrometry occur with this method due to changes of electron transport characteristics in the sample and in the electron energy analyzer at different electron escape angles.
Aside from its use in x-ray photoemission spectrometry, the variable grazing incidence angle technique has also been utilized in prior art which sought to obtain elemental analysis with depth dependence by collecting the x-ray fluorescence radiation of atoms which were excited by a collimated x-ray beam. In that case however, the energy resolution of fluorescent radiation is insufficient to obtain the chemical state of the atoms, and attention to the relative alignment of the detector and the sample is not of significance.
It is only in the case of x-ray photoemission spectrometry, where the relative analysis may involve chemical species which differ from each other by energies of the order of less than 2 electron volts (eV), that attention to the lineshape and the distortions which may occur to it are of some consequence.
All of the prior art ESCA methods employing x-ray photoemission spectrometry described above employ apparatus elements in which the position of the sample surface that is exposed to the x-ray beam is varied with respect to the electron analyzer during the course of the analysis And this variation in the position of the sample surface that is exposed to the x-ray beam and the electron analyzer is a cause of distortion in the emitted electron spectrum.

X-ray photoelectron emission spectrometry system

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


The present invention provides a poxvirus-derived promoter, a vector comprising the same, a method for expressing a transgene using the promoter, and use of the vector in the prevention or treatment of a disease. A promoter according to the present invention can be used for induction of strong expression of a transgene.

Gene therapy is a method for treating or preventing various diseases such as genetic defects, infectious diseases, tumor, cardiovascular diseases and the like by administering genetic material such as DNA and RNA into a human body. Effective gene delivery, and induction or regulation of gene expression is important in the gene therapy. A substance used to deliver a gene into a cell is called a vector. The gene delivery vectors are largely divided into two categories, a non-viral vector and a viral vector.
As the viral vectors for gene delivery or gene expression in mammals, retroviruses, adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses, herpes simplex viruses, lentiviruses, and poxviruses have been used. Among them, poxvirus is widely used for gene delivery and therapeutic agent development, since it has large insertion capacity, excellent gene delivery and expression efficiency, and high safety, and allows production of viruses with high titers.
Viruses belonging to poxviridae include orthopoxvirus, avipoxvirus, parapoxvirus, capripoxvirus, suipoxvirus, etc. And the viruses belonging to orthopoxvirus include smallpox virus, vaccinia virus, etc. The vaccinia virus belonging to the orthopoxvirus had been used for the prevention of smallpox and has recently been developed as a gene delivery vector using genetic engineering technology.
The main advantage of vaccinia virus vector is that large genes can be introduced as compared to other viruses (e.g., at least 10 times larger genes can be introduced as compared to adeno-associated viruses) and various cells can be infected with the virus. In addition, vaccinia virus is considered to be ideal for use as a vaccine vector since it can induce an effective immune response. For example, Bavarian Nordic company is conducting clinical trials on prostate tumor patients using MVA vector expressing tumor antigen such as PSA or PAP as a cancer vaccine. In addition, anthrax vaccines, hemorrhagic fever virus vaccines, and epidemic stomatitis virus vaccines, etc. have been developed. Recently, vaccinia virus has also been developed as an oncolytic virus and is under investigation in clinical trials. As an example, JX-594, an oncolytic virus, has been developed by Sillajen (old name: Jennerex) and various clinical trials thereof on liver tumor, colon tumor, pediatric tumor, and melanoma patients are undergoing or have been completed.
The ideal gene delivery vector should deliver a gene to a target cell with high transduction efficiency and exhibit a high expression level of the target gene, so that a good therapeutic effect can be achieved. Also the manipulation and production of the vector should be simple. In particular, in order to increase the therapeutic efficacy through the expression of an antigen or a therapeutic gene, the expression level of the gene must be high. For this purpose, high transduction efficiency by a gene delivery vector and high level of gene expression controlled by a strong promoter are required.
The common promoters used for the gene expression include HCMV, EF-1 alpha, CAG and PGK promoter. However, in case of poxvirus, the gene transcription takes place in the cytoplasm, and thus, the above promoters don't work in the vaccinia virus vector, and a poxvirus-derived promoter should be used. Representative poxvirus-derived promoters include p7.5, pE/L, pHyb and p11 promoters.

Poxvirus-derived promoter, and vector comprising same


An apparatus, method, and system for providing asymmetric signal correction in a HDD system using magneto-resistive (MR) heads for reading information stored thereon. The MR head produces a signal that is asymmetric, and an asymmetric correction circuit corrects the asymmetric signal for further processing. The asymmetric correction circuitry comprises a differential amplifier having a variable gain for producing a current proportional to the asymmetric signal. The differential amplifier is coupled with two high speed switches for producing an output signal having only positive polarity. When the asymmetric correction output signal combines with the input signal, the resultant signal approximates the inverse distortion of the asymmetric input signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of information storage, and more particularly to correcting an asymmetric signal resulting from the use of magneto-resistive (MR) transducing heads in hard disk drives (HDD), and more particularly in HDD read channels.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 10 shows a schematic representation of a typical HDD, including at least one disk 1006 having a magnetic medium for storing information, a spindle, a motor 1007, and a controller 1008 for controlling disk rotational speed, a transducing head 1005 (for reading and writing data), a servo actuator assembly including a positioning controller for positioning the head over the appropriate disk track 1004, and data channels 1003 for transmitting data to and from the disk. The transducing head 1005 reads data from and writes data to the disk in data blocks having either fixed or variable length. A data block comprises a preamble (for acquiring timing signals), timing bits, a position error field, address bits, data bits, and error correction bits. Data blocks are recorded in sectors in concentric tracks. A track may comprise several sectors. The number of sectors may depend on the radial location of the track on the disk.
Data channels on an HDD transmit and receive data via a communication medium. HDD and communication systems can utilize similar techniques to encode data for storage and retrieval or for transmission and reception wherein data is encoded into a form in which it may be easily manipulated. Most modern applications of such systems encode data as numeric or digital information, wherein discrete numeric values are used to represent user data.
The storage or communication media do not directly manipulate such digital data. Rather, these media store or transmit analog signals representative of the digital data. For example, encoded digital information may be represented as magnetic flux changes stored in the magnetic media of a hard drive. The data embodied in the medium are then received or retrieved to decode the signals and reproduce the encoded digital data. A read channel is a circuit that reads or receives the encoded data and reproduces the original digital signal. In general, a read channel includes a transducer component that senses the analog signal and digital processing components that detect sequences of changes in the signal that represent encoded digital data. For example, a read channel used in a magnetic storage device includes a transducer head that senses the magnetic flux changes and produces a continuous analog signal that must then be detected and decoded. In general, certain peaks in the continuous waveform represent the encoded digital data.
Transducing heads may be either inductive or magneto-resistive (MR). An MR head is a device whose resistance varies with the applied magnetic field. In this regard, the head is capable of converting magnetic field variations produced by data into a time varying voltage or current in an electrical circuit. MR heads offer many advantages over other types of magnetic transducers and, consequently, are increasingly being used in HDDs. For example, MR heads are more sensitive than other types of read heads, such as thin film heads, and produce a stronger read signal. Also, MR heads have a better frequency response than other types of heads which use inductive coils as a sensing means. In addition, the read signal produced by an MR head is relatively insensitive to the relative velocity between the head and the medium, than is the case with other types of heads, because it is the level of the applied magnetic field which is sensed by an MR head and not the rate of change of magnetic flux lines through a coil. This is an advantage in systems where head/medium velocity may vary over a significant range. Lastly, because MR heads are not capable of writing data on a magnetic medium, magnetic data storage systems using MR read heads must include a separate write head thereby making it possible to optimize the read head and the write head for their particular functions.
A disadvantage of an MR read head is that it produces a signal with an asymmetric amplitude. For example, the asymmetric nature of the MR head may cause the signal produced by the read head reading data to be different than the magnetic signal applied to the write head for writing data. To overcome this problem, a bias current may be applied to the head to move the quiescent operating point of the head to be more asymmetric of the resistance characteristic. However, due to variation in the microstructure and magnetic properties of the recording medium and other manufacturing variables, biasing cannot completely remove the asymmetric aspect of the signal.
One approach is to use a filter having varying tap weights to change the shape of the waveform. Another variation is having a digital filter differentiate the waveform into sample and recreate an equalized waveform. Both these approaches are relatively complex.
Another approach provides circuitry to detect the polarity of an asymmetric signal and to add or subtract a shift voltage to adjust for the asymmetry.
A disadvantage of these approaches is that the corrective circuitry is dependent upon layout and process parameters that are difficult to control. Therefore, a need exists to address the asymmetric signal effects produced by such MR heads by providing circuitry to overcome the problems and limitations of the prior art.


A vacuum regulator and intermittent flow device are disclosed. Vacuum regulation is achieved via spring forces acting on a movable piston-tube assembly disposed within a regulator body having a cylindrical hollow interior. Vacuum is supplied to an input port and regulated vacuum is provided at an output port. Vacuum at the output is cut off when fluid flow is sufficiently restricted and the piston-tube assembly is urged in contact against a fluid flow aperture within the regulator body thereby blocking fluid flow. Multiple modes of operation are provided in the regulator by way of a three position mode knob that enables regulated vacuum, unregulated vacuum and an “off” mode of operation. The disclosed intermittent vacuum flow device is attached to the output of the vacuum regulator and enables timed cyclical on and off operation of vacuum regulation.

Vacuum regulators are well known in the gas pressure regulation and flow control industry. A variety of such devices have been developed over the years. Such devices are used in many applications, and medical applications are one of the more familiar, for example, where "suction" is required for removal of fluid from surgical incisions or breathing passageways wherein the vacuum applied must be limited to prevent damage or injury to soft tissues of the patient. Manufacturing processes are another known application for vacuum regulators.
Prior art vacuum regulation devices used in the medical field are fairly expensive to produce and maintain. Soaring medical industry costs demand a less expensive alternative. Further, it is often a requirement that vacuum applied in a medical application be supplied in an intermittent fashion, i.e., vacuum applied for a predetermined number of seconds, and then off for fixed or variable period of time in an intermittent cyclical fashion. A device with a related objective is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,050 entitled Oxygen Valve System. The '050 device functions to conserve oxygen by intermittently enabling and disabling pressurized oxygen delivery from a pressure regulation device coupled to a high pressure oxygen tank.
What is needed is a vacuum regulator that is less expensive to produce, meets medical industry standards, that includes an internal vacuum gauge providing impact protection and that provides an intermittent flow capability.

Vacuum regulator and intermittent flow device


The invention relates to a control unit of an electric power conversion apparatus that can decrease the high-order harmonic content generated by resonance of the inductance component of the primary wiring connecting an AC power supply 20 and the electric power conversion apparatus and a capacitor connected as a filter even if distortion occurs in an input current waveform.

FIG. 3 is a diagram to show the configuration of an electric power conversion apparatus in a related art described in JP-A-10-174444, for example. In the figure, numeral 20 denotes an AC power supply, numeral 21 denotes a converter section for converting AC power supplied from the AC power supply 20 into DC power, numerals 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d denote semiconductor switches making up a single-phase bridge circuit as the converter section 21, and numerals 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d denote diodes connected in inversely parallel to the semiconductor switches 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d. Numeral 24 denotes a smoothing capacitor connected to a DC side of the converter section 21, and numeral 25 denotes a load. Numeral 26 denotes a filter capacitor and numeral 27 denotes a reactance component of primary wiring for connecting the AC power supply 20 and the electric power conversion apparatus.
Numeral 31 denotes a reactor connected to an AC side of the converter section 21, numeral 32 denotes an AC voltage detector for detecting AC voltage of the AC power supply 20, numeral 33 denotes an AC detector for detecting AC of the AC power supply 20, and numeral 34 denotes a DC voltage detector being connected to both ends of the smoothing capacitor 24, for detecting DC voltage of the smoothing capacitor 24.
The main circuitry of the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art is made up of the converter section 21, the smoothing capacitor 24, the reactor 31, the AC voltage detector 32, the AC detector 33, and the DC voltage detector 34.
Numeral 40 denotes a control unit of the electric power conversion apparatus. The control unit 40 is made up of a DC voltage control section 41, a reference sine wave generation section 42, an AC command value calculation means 43, AC control section 44, a pulse width modulation section 45, and a switch drive section 46.
The AC control section 44 is made up of a subtraction section 47, a proportional calculation section 48, series connection of a band-pass filter (BPF) 49 and a proportional calculation section 50, which are placed in parallel with the proportional calculation section 48, and an addition section 51, to control in a discrete system. The BPF 49 is a band-pass filter with power supply frequency fs as the center frequency for allowing only the power supply frequency component to pass through and removing other frequency components.
The operation of the control unit 40 of the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art will be discussed with reference to FIG. 3.
The DC voltage control section 41 performs proportional integration calculation of deviation between DC voltage command value Vd* set by an output voltage setting device (not shown) and DC voltage detection value Vd# detected by the DC voltage detector 34 as DC voltage supplied to the load 25, and outputs the result as AC amplitude command value 1s*. The reference sine wave generation section 42 outputs reference sine wave sincot having the same period and the same phase as AC voltage detection value Vs# output from the AC voltage detector 32.
The AC command value calculation section 43 multiples the AC amplitude command value 1s* output from the DC voltage control section 41 by the reference sine wave sincot output from the reference sine a wave generation section 42, and outputs the result as AC command value is*.
The AC control section 44 inputs the AC command value is* output from the AC command value calculation section 43 and AC detection value is# detected by the AC detector 33 as AC of the AC power supply 20, and outputs AC voltage command value Vc*.
The pulse width modulation section 45 generates and outputs an on/off signal for performing on/off control of the semiconductor switch 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d making up the converter section 21 based on the command of the AC voltage command value Vc* output from the AC control section 44.
The switch drive section 46 turns on/off the semiconductor switch 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d according to the on/off signal output from the pulse width modulation section 45, thereby converting the AC power supplied from the AC power supply 20 into DC power.
Next, an operation of the AC control section 44 inputting the AC command value is* and the AC detection value is# and outputting the AC voltage command value Vc* will be discussed.
In the AC control section 44, the subtraction section 47 calculates deviation ei between the AC command value is* output from the AC command value calculation section 43 and the AC detection value is# detected by the AC detector 33.
The proportional calculation section 48 with proportional gain Kp multiplies the deviation ei by Kp. The deviation ei is input to the series connection of the BPF 49 and the proportional calculation section 50, which are placed in parallel with the proportional calculation section 48, and the proportional calculation section 50 with proportional gain Kps multiplies a deviation of the deviation ei in the vicinity of the power supply frequency passing through the BPF 49 by Kps.
The addition section 51 adds an output signal provided by multiplying the deviation ei by Kp by the proportional calculation section 48 and an output signal provided by multiplying the deviation of the deviation ei in the vicinity of the power supply frequency passing through the BPF 49 by Kps by the proportional calculation section 50 to obtain the AC voltage command value Vc*.
In the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art, the control unit 40 calculates the AC voltage command value Vc* from the DC voltage command value Vd*, the DC voltage detection value Vd* detected by the DC voltage detector 34 as the DC voltage supplied to the load 25, and the AC detection value is# detected by the AC detector 33 as the AC of the AC power supply 20 as described above and controls the main circuitry of the electric power conversion apparatus, thereby matching the DC voltage and the AC of the electric power conversion apparatus with the DC voltage command value and AC command value, respectively.
FIG. 4 shows the waveform of the AC command value is* output from the AC command value calculation section 43 in the control unit 40 of the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art.
FIG. 5 shows the waveform of the AC detection value is# detected by the AC detector 33, in the control unit 40 of the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art, in which high-order harmonic content superposed on the input current waveform. In the figure, (a) shows the waveform at the normal operation time and (b) shows the waveform when resonance occurs.
A comparison is made between the waveform of the AC command value is* input to the subtraction section 47 of the AC control section 44 and the waveform of the AC detection value is# according to FIGS. 4 and 5.
Microscopically, the waveform of the AC command value is* output from the AC command value calculation section 43 based on the discrete system control becomes a stepwise waveform changing at every given sampling time as shown in FIG. 4. In contrast, the waveform of the AC detection value is# detected by the AC detector 33 becomes a continuous waveform with higher response speed than the sampling time of the AC command value is* shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5(a).
Thus, in the deviation ei between the AC command value is* and the AC detection value is#, calculated by the subtraction section 47, waveform distortion equivalent to the sampling time in the AC command value calculation section 43 based on the discrete system control occurs in the input current waveform.
In the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art, if the primary wiring connecting the AC power supply 20 and the electric power conversion apparatus becomes long and the sampling time in the AC command value calculation section 43 based on the discrete system control and the time constants of the reactance component 27 of the primary wiring and the filter capacitor 26 become equal, even if slight distortion of the input current waveform occurs, the high-order harmonic content generated due to resonance of the inductance component of the primary wiring and the capacitor connected as filter is superposed on the input current waveform and the input current waveform is distorted as shown in FIG. 5(b).
The AC control section 44 for control in the discrete system in the related art uses the BPF 49 with the power supply frequency fs as the center frequency. In the configuration wherein the proportional gain in the vicinity of the power supply frequency fs of the discrete system control is increased equivalently by connecting the series connection of the BPF 49 and the proportional calculation section 50 in parallel with the proportional calculation section 48, two paths of the path of the proportional calculation section 48 and the path of the series connection of the BPF 49 and the proportional calculation section 50 are adopted and therefore the harmonic components generated due to the resonance of the inductance component of the primary wiring and the capacitor connected as filter cannot be removed.
Thus, the electric power conversion apparatus in the related art involves a problem of limiting the length of the primary wiring to avoid the resonance of the inductance component of the primary wiring and the capacitor connected as filter.
The invention is intended for solving the problems as described above and it is an object of the invention to provide a control unit of an electric power conversion apparatus that can output stable DC voltage even if the sampling time based on discrete value control and the time constants of the inductance component of the primary wiring and a capacitor connected as a filter become equal.


The present invention relates to a process for continuously recycling water soluble resin whereby a resin solution including about 6-12 percent by weight of resin is sprayed onto a core made of the resin. The resin used for the solution and core is selected from polyacrylic acid, copolymers of acrylic acid and acrylamide, copolymers of acrylic acid salt and ethyl acrylate, copolymers of acrylamide and acrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, and copolymers of vinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate. The spraying of the resin solution dissolves the core to form a polymer suspension from which resin is recovered for reuse.

Generally, when making an injection molded product using a synthetic resin as virgin material, if the desired injection molded product is a hollow molded product with a complicated structure, the molded product can be made by the following processing steps. Firstly, a water soluble resin is injection-molded into a core with a predetermined shape and the molded core is then positioned on a die for producing the desired product. Consequently, water insoluble resin is overmolded on the molded core that is positioned on the die. After the water insoluble resin solidifies, the water soluble resin core is sprayed with water to dissolve it. As a result, the desired hollow product made of a water insoluble synthetic resin is produced.
The above process is generally known as the "lost core technology." Typical water soluble resin used for making the core includes GBC 1330 TE (trade mark) which is available from Belland AG (Switzerland). GBC 1330 TE is a resin which is produced by mixing PAEA (polyacrylic acid-ethyl acrylate) and copolymers of acrylic acid and ethyl acrylate at a predetermined ratio and with a predetermined amount of mineral filler and, which is referred to as virgin resin. The copolymer has a hydrophilic group and, hence, the polymer chain is dissolved by water but not decomposed in water. Therefore, a polymer suspension is produced and it can be substantially recycled for reuse.
With the lost core technology, however, using the water soluble resin to injection-mold the core results in residual products, such as the polymer suspension produced during the dissolution of the core, that are discharged through the sewage system. In this case, even if the polymer suspension used is not noxious, it leads to environment contamination, particularly water pollution.
To solve the water pollution problem, a method for recycling residual resin from the polymer suspension in addition to the product molding process of the lost core technology has been proposed by Belland AG. More specifically, the proposed resin recycling method comprises either of two core dissolving steps.
Firstly, water is pumped passed and through the core that is positioned in a closed circuit. In this step, the closed circuit system is used to recirculate water having a temperature of 100.degree. C. or more to promote the dissolution of the core.
Secondly, an opened circuit system is used to spray several part-branched high temperature water streams from an inner part thereof and to drain the water to a sump in order to recycle the residual resin. Here, the time for dissolving the core depends on the thickness of the core, the shape of system parts and the temperature of water but is preferably set to fifteen minutes, and the specific dispersion time is set to 2-5 mm/min at a water temperature of 95.degree. C.
When the polymer suspension produced in the core dissolving process is subject to thin film evaporation, water is evaporated and the remaining resin is vacuum dried to obtain a pellet-shaped product which can be recycled by mixing with the core virgin material at an appropriate ratio.
However, with the first recycling method of Belland AG wherein water is pumped around the core in the closed circuit, although the melting temperature of resin is between 180.degree. C. and 210.degree. C., because the temperature of water to be used is more than 100.degree. C., the resin can only be dissolved slightly in the water, and moreover, since the boiling point of water is 100.degree. C., the water used to dissolve the core as well as the polymer are boiled at a temperature above 100.degree. C. Therefore by boiling the water or polymer suspension, the composition of the polymer suspension is changed, or bubbles and foam are produced within the tank containing the polymer suspension. The result is that the pumping efficiency is lower, the time for dissolving the core is longer in accordance with the compositional change of the polymer suspension or the lowering of pumping effect, and the specific dispersion time is also longer.
On the other hand, with the second recycling method, a higher pressure of 10-15 kg/cm.sup.2 is needed to spray the polymer suspension to dissolve the core. As a result, energy consumption is considerably increased and the cost of manufacturing the product is also increased.
Further, the separation of water from the polymer suspension is accomplished by a heating process wherein the polymer suspension is heated to evaporate the water component. Accordingly, the physical property of the resin is probably changed by the heat produced in the heating process, so that the physical property of the virgin resin is also changed.

Process for continuously recycling water soluable resin


A method protects a starting clutch. The method generates an estimated equivalent temperature of the starting clutch and performs an operation for protecting the starting clutch if the estimated temperature exceeds critical temperature, in order to prevent the burnout of the starting clutch caused by excessive slip under severe conditions. A system implementing the method is also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for protecting a starting clutch, and more particularly, to a method and system that provides an estimated temperature for the starting clutch and performs operations for protecting the starting clutch if the estimated temperature exceeds the critical temperature of the clutch.
2. Description of Related Art
In an automatic transmission vehicle, the temperature of a clutch used to control a transmission member generally corresponds to the maximum frictional heat energy of a friction member. In this case, the maximum frictional energy of the friction member is calculated using the maximum transmission torque, relative revolutions per minute (RPM) of components, and transmission time of the control of oil pressure. Further, a generally conventional clutch protecting logic controls the thickness of the friction member plate in order to ensure the clutch so that the temperature calculated from the maximum frictional heat energy of the friction member, which may be generated during the transmission, does not exceed critical temperature of the clutch. Accordingly, the clutch protecting logic generally protects the clutch.
Meanwhile, in an automatic transmission vehicle provided with a starting clutch, the temperature of the starting clutch is sensed by a temperature sensor that senses the temperature of oil dispersed through a friction member plate. If the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor exceeds critical temperature, the starting clutch is protected by conventional clutch protecting logic. However, when the temperature of the starting clutch is sensed using the temperature sensor, the amount of oil flowing on the friction surface of the starting clutch is not sufficient during the slip or locking of the starting clutch. For this reason, it is difficult to effectively sense the temperature of the starting clutch. Further, conventional clutch protecting logic generally only protects the clutch by using the maximum frictional heat energy generated during one time of transmission. Since the starting clutch has characteristic of continuous or repeated slip, cumulative temperature should be detected. However, since the cooling corresponding to the characteristic of the starting clutch is not considered in conventional clutch protecting logic, conventional clutch protecting logic cannot effectively calculate the temperature of the starting clutch. Accordingly, there is a problem in that it is difficult to protect the starting clutch. For this reason, there has not been proposed a starting clutch protecting logic based on the temperature corresponding to the characteristic of the starting clutch.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Method and system for protecting a starting clutch


A maize plant has in its genome a non-mutable form of a mutant allele designated vitX-8132. The allele is located at a locus designated as glt which conditions kernels having an altered starch characteristic. Maize plants including such a mutant allele produce a starch that does not increase in viscosity on cooling, after heating.

Maize kernels contain a commercially useful starch, which is a combination of amylopectins and amyloses. Amylose and amylopectin are both polymers of alpha-d-glucopyranose. The polymers differ only in the kind of linkages between glucose residues. Amylose is a linear polymer that has alpha-(1-4) links between adjacent glucose residues, and amylopectin is a branched polymer that contains some alpha-(1-6) links as well. The long amylose and amylopectin polymers store glucose in a semi-insoluble state. Glucose can be obtained by the plant cell by selective degradation of the polymers by specific enzymes.
Maize starch has many food-related applications, such as corn syrups, maltodextrins, dextrins and high fructose corn syrup. Although natural maize starch is useful, much of the starch used commercially today is either chemically or enzymatically modified. The usual purpose of chemical and enzymatic modification of maize starch is to alter the viscosity, texture, heat stability, freeze-thaw stability and other functional qualities of the starch.
There is keen interest today in providing natural maize starches which have the same properties as chemically-modified or enzymatically-modified starches. Use of natural starches eliminates the need for further processing of maize starches. This processing can be quite expensive. Additionally, consumers prefer "natural" food ingredients.
Conventional maize breeding can produce maize with altered corn starch. It was recognized in the 1920's that the "waxy" maize mutant produced altered starch, and maize derived from this mutant was commercially grown in the 1940's specifically for its starch content. Waxy maize produces starch that is nearly pure amylopectin. Maize varieties producing starch with a high amylose content were successfully developed in the 1950's. A great deal of emphasis from the 1950's through until the 1980's has been on improving the techniques for chemical and enzymatic modification of the maize starch.
Identification of a number of mutant maize genes has been the focus of much of the work directed towards creating new varieties of maize for altered starch. Workers have concentrated on the wx (waxy) gene of waxy maize and the ae (amylose extender) gene of high amylose maize. Other genes of interest to maize breeders have been the du (dull), sul (sugary 1), su2 (sugary 2), f1 (flouryl), sh2 (shranken 2), and h (hard or horny) genes. Combinations of these genes in maize have produced starches with a wide range of amylopectin-amyloses ratios, molecular weights and structural characteristics.
Viscosity and viscosity stability are primary criteria for starch applications in food systems. Currently, there is only one available untreated starch with the ability to cool without increasing in viscosity. That instance is a double mutant of dull and waxy, which is limited in use because of its reduced productivity. A starch with this property could be used in certain food products that are heated (for example, baby foods) without the necessity of chemical modification.

Mutant maize variety containing the glt1-1 allele


An apparatus for tightening connecting rod attachment members comprises a rotating mechanism for rotating and positioning a crankshaft about a center of its shaft section, angular deflecting mechanisms for deflecting nut runners about the center of the shaft section, axial displacement mechanisms for displacing the nut runners in an axial direction of the crankshaft, and inter-axis displacement mechanisms for making mutual approach or separation for a distance between the pair of nut runners and a distance between the pair of nut runners. The nut runners are operated to fasten a connecting rod to the crankshaft. Accordingly, one tightening apparatus can be used to tighten the connecting rod attachment members to the crankshaft even when the type of the crankshaft is changed. The tightening apparatus is applicable to a production line for carrying multiple types in a mixed manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for tightening connecting rod attachment members for fastening bolts or nuts as the attachment members in order to attach a connecting rod to a crankshaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multi-spindle nut runner apparatus, which is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 63-21531, has been hitherto used when a connecting rod is fastened with bolts or nuts to a crankshaft for constructing an engine. Such a multi-spindle nut runner apparatus is operated as follows in order to join the connecting rod by being fastened with nuts with respect to a plurality of pin sections of the crankshaft. That is, a nut runner socket corresponding to the pin sections disposed on a side of the top dead center of the crankshaft is allowed to make abutment prior to a nut runner socket corresponding to the pin sections disposed on the bottom dead center. The force of abutment, which is exerted by the nut runner socket on the pin sections disposed on the side of the top dead center, is used to intercept the rotation of the crankshaft. In this state, the connecting rod is joined by the aid of all of the pin sections of the crankshaft.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-318241 discloses a pitch change mechanism for a multi-spindle nut runner apparatus comprising a plurality of nut runner spindles incorporated into a sliding member. A driven member, which is provided on the sliding member, is engaged with a cam groove of a cam. Displacement of the cam causes the plurality of nut runner spindles to make mutual approach or separation by the aid of the driven member and the sliding member so that a plurality of bolts or nuts are simultaneously tightened.
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 4-136630 discloses a nut runner pitch-adjusting mechanism for nut runner holders. The nut runner pitch-adjusting mechanism is arranged as follows. That is, guide blocks are provided on a pair of guide rails which make intersection at a center of the nut runner holders. The pitch of the nut runners is changed by moving the guide blocks along the guide rails.
However, in the case of the conventional technique described above, for example, when the type of the crankshaft is changed from a crankshaft of the L-type engine to a crankshaft of the V-type engine, it is necessary to change not only the spacing distance of the attachment members for attaching the connecting rod to the crankshaft, but also the attachment angle and the spacing distance between the connecting rod and another adjacent connecting rod. Further, it is necessary to exchange the tightening apparatus corresponding to the type of each of the engines. Therefore, problems arise in that the exchange operation is complicated, the time required for the operation is prolonged, and the production cost becomes expensive.

Apparatus for tightening connecting rod attachment members


A container and a method for making a container are provided. The method includes injection molding a preform having a body forming region, a neck forming region, and a dome forming region. After forming the preform, the preform is mounted in a mold having a surface, the mold surface having a neck forming surface to form a neck having a snap fit portion or a threaded portion. After mounting the preform, the preform is stretched against the mold surface to form an intermediate article having a dome portion connected to a neck portion of the container. Thereafter, the dome portion is severed from the neck portion to produce a wide mouth container, wherein the ratio of a wall thickness of the neck forming region of the preform to the wall thickness of the neck portion is ranges from 4.8 to 7.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a wide mount polyethylene terephythalate (PET) container and a method for making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wide mouth bottles having threaded necks typically have neck finishes larger than 48 mm in diameter, and the majority of those bottles are produced on single stage injection mold equipment. This equipment is well suited for low volume applications primarily because the slower injection process is the determining factor in cycle time. For high volume applications two-stage PET equipment has been developed to make preforms having the desired finished threaded neck configuration in a separate injection molding machine and then reheating and blowing the preforms in another blowing machine. FIG. 5 shows a preform having the finished thread finished superimposed on a bottle produced using the preform. However, in this arrangement the blowing machine can out-produce the injection machine and preform inventories must be carefully monitored to keep an adequate supply for the blowing machine. This imbalance is compounded when two-stage equipment is used in wide mouth applications. This is primarily due to the size of the preform/neck finish and the physical size of the injection mold.
The single stage blow molding process combines the injection of the preform and blowing of the container into one machine. These machines have an extruder that melts the resin pellets and injects the molten resin into a mold to form the preform. The preform is then transferred to a conditioning station that either adds or removes heat from areas of the preform to help with forming the container. In some machines such as an Aoki, the conditioning station is eliminated and the preform design is the only factor used to determine material placement in the container. After the conditioning station, the preform is transferred to the blow station where the container is formed. The last operation is removing the container from the machine. This can be done in a fourth station as in a Nissei and Sipa or directly from the blow station as in Uniloy USB machines. In all one stage machines, the injection time determines the overall cycle time.
The size of the injection platen (preform neck diameter) and blow mold platen determine the maximum container size. On containers with small finishes (preform neck diameter), the container diameter determines how many will fit on the blow platen. Once the finish becomes large enough, the number of cavities is determined by how many preforms will fit into the injection station. Usually, more containers of a given body diameter can be produced if the finish diameter is reduced. By using the Trim-Lite process on a single stage machine, the finish size is kept small enough to allow the container diameter to determine the maximum number that can be produced in a single cycle.
In other words, although wide mouth PET containers can be manufactured on single stage PET blow molding machine, the number of mold cavities possible is wholly dependent on the diameter of the neck finish of the preform.
For example, when running a 155 mm diameter canister, the maximum cavitation on the existing machinery was limited to 2 (this represents the number of units that may be blow molded at one time). Note the large diameter of the threaded portion of the typical preform as shown in FIG. 5. Secondly, the neck (as with all single stage injected molded preforms) would have been solid plastic and would contribute a large portion to the overall bottle weight.
The finish diameter also affects the design of the preform and the material distribution in the blown container. As the finish diameter increased, the preform takes on a flatter, disc like shape resulting in less desirable stretching characteristics. A smaller finish allows the preform design to be more cylindrical which provides for better stretching characteristics.
Notably, when using the one stage blow molding process, the heat from the injection process is maintained in the preform. Thus, the preform is not cooled into a solid state. This means that the one stage preform is generally heated throughout more than the two stage preform prior to blowing. Because of the one stage preform having more internal heat, it can form small details better than the two stage process. The two stage process on the other hand due to it having less internal heat develops more stress hardening of the material and produces a stronger container for a given design. However, because the neck finish of wide mount containers is large, the number of mold cavities in the one stage blow molding machine is limited due to the available space. Thus, there is a need to for an improved method for making wide mouth PET containers.

Wide mouth container and method of making the same


A system for assessing text content of a product. The system includes a computing device having a processor and a storage device storing computer executable code. The computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to: provide text contents and confounding features of products; train a first regression model using the text content and the confounding features of the products; train the second regression model using the confounding features; operate the first regression model using the text contents and the confounding features to obtain a total loss; operate the second regression model using the confounding features of to obtain a partial loss; subtract the total loss from the partial loss to obtain a residual loss; use the residual loss to evaluate models and parameters for the regression models; and use the first regression model to obtain log odds of the words indicating importance of the words.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
E-commerce websites show a large number of products for customers to choose from. In order to help the customers to find products they need as quickly as possible, the e-commerce websites provide images of the products and text descriptions of the products. The text descriptions often include title of the product, brand of the product, seller for the product, specification of the products, customer review of the products, and question and answers of the product. In order for the customers to have satisfying online shopping experience, it is crucial to evaluate informativeness and aesthetic nature of the text description of the product, and improve quality of the text description. However, it is challenging to accurately assessing the quality of production description text.
Therefore, an unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

System and method for quality assessment of product description

Beijing Wodong Tianjun Information Technology Co., Ltd.

JD.com American Technologies Corporation


A Christmas light system is provided including a plurality of pieces having a front surface, a rear surface, and a periphery. A plurality of coupling mechanisms are coupled to the periphery of each of the pieces for interconnecting the same. A single clear flexible plastic tube is situated on an associated one of the pieces. A string of wires are situated within the tube having a plurality of bulbs spacedly coupled therealong between a first end and a second end thereof. The first end of the string of at least one piece has a plug mounted thereon for releasably coupling with a power receptacle for receiving power therefrom and delivering the same to the bulbs. The string of each of the pieces has a second end with an interconnect plug coupled thereto for releasably coupling with that of another one of the pieces for providing electrical communication therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Christmas tree lights and more particularly pertains to a new holiday light system for wrapping shrubs and the like with lights.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of Christmas tree lights is known in the prior art. More specifically, Christmas tree lights heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art Christmas tree lights include U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,519; U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,976; U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,925; U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,407; U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,547; and U.S. Pat. Des. No. 358,673.
In these respects, the holiday light system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of wrapping shrubs and the like with lights.


A method and apparatus for forming vents (13) in glass sheets (10). The method includes repetitively performing the steps of: (I) bringing a score head (21) and a platen (31) into contact with, respectively, the front (11) and rear (12) major surfaces of the glass sheet (10), (II) moving the score head (21) across the front major surface (11) along a predetermined path to form a vent (13), and (III) withdrawing the score head (21) and the platen (31) from the front (11) and rear (12) major surfaces, wherein: (i) the thickness (δ) of the glass sheet is less than or equal to 500 microns, and (ii) for each repetition of steps (I) through (III), the platen (31) is cleaned after step (III) and before step (I) to remove glass chips which if left on the platen (31) could cause the score head (21) to penetrate through the thickness δ.

Glass scoring is one of the fundamental processes in the manufacture of sheet glass. It is used to form a "vent" in the glass surface which extends partially, but not completely, through the thickness of the glass. Once formed, the vent functions as a separation line for controlled separation of the glass into two pieces by applying a bending moment or other mechanical force to the glass at the vent.
Mechanical scoring is used at various points in the glass manufacturing process. For example, it is used during the initial separation of individual glass sheets from a moving glass ribbon. It is also used during trimming of individual glass sheets to desired dimensions, as well as in the division of large glass sheets into smaller sub-pieces.
FIG. 1 shows the basic components of an automated mechanical scoring system. In this figure, 100 is a glass sheet (e.g., a moving glass ribbon), 20 is a scoring assembly having a scoring head 21, and 30 is a platen assembly which includes a platen 31. During scoring, the scoring head (e.g., a scoring wheel or a scoring point) is moved across a major surface of the glass sheet (referred to herein as the "front surface") along a predetermined path to form the desired vent. To support the glass during this process, the platen (i.e., a compliant platen in the prior art) is brought into contact with the opposite surface of the glass sheet (referred to herein as the "rear surface"). Examples of such platens (also known as "nosings") can be found in commonly-assigned U.S. Patent Application Publications Nos. US2008/0276646 and US 2009/250497A1, the contents of which in their entireties are incorporated herein by reference.
In the past, the use of a compliant platen to support the rear surface of a glass sheet during mechanical scoring has worked successfully with glass sheets having thicknesses above 500 microns, e.g., glass sheets having a thickness of 700 microns as used as substrates in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays. However, as detailed below, in accordance with the present disclosure, it has been found that the compliant platens used with thick glass do not work successfully with thin glass, i.e., glass having a thickness that is less than or equal to 500 microns. In particular, it has been found that the combination of a thin glass sheet and a compliant platen (i.e., a platen having a compliant glass-engaging surface) leads to unreliable scoring. In accordance with one of its aspects, the present disclosure addresses this problem.
In addition to the problem with compliant platens, it has also been found that when mechanical scoring is used repetitively with thin glass, e.g., in connection with the separation of individual glass sheets from a glass ribbon, rather than producing a vent as desired, the process results in cracking of the glass at the location of the score head in an uncontrolled manner. Moreover, the percentage of cracked sheets grows as the process is continued, i.e., the process enters into a "death spiral."
In accordance with another aspect, the present disclosure addresses this problem of uncontrolled cracking during the mechanical scoring of thin glass sheets. It both identifies the source of the problem and provides effective solutions to the problem that can be readily implemented in, for example, the context of an existing mechanical scoring process.

Methods and apparatus for scoring thin glass


A simple yet highly reliable technique for ejecting a droplet of heated solder, or other liquid conductive material, is described. Small droplets of an electrically-conductive liquid are ejected on-demand from a drop generator operating on a magnetohydrodynamic principle. The drop generator consists of two substantially parallel conductive paths separated by a thin electrically-insulating material. A channel for the conductive liquid contains a drop ejecting orifice, and the conductive liquid in the channel forms a first of these two parallel conductive paths. The other path is either a solid conductor or a second channel filled with the conductive liquid. A current on the order of 10-1000 amperes is pulsed through the two parallel conductive paths, and the interaction of the magnetic fields generated by the electric currents through the parallel paths with these currents forces a droplet of the conductive liquid through the orifice in the first channel. By adjusting the duration and/or magnitude of the pulsed current, the droplet size may be carefully controlled. In the preferred embodiment, the drop generator is in the form of a self-contained replaceable cartridge.

Devices for providing controlled sizes of liquid metal drops are used to create both electrical connections as well as mechanical connections between two pieces. For example, it is known to form solder bumps on a surface of an integrated circuit, where the solder bumps are eventually contacted by wires or contact pads from a second body to provide electrical and mechanical connections to the integrated circuit. The liquid drops of solder may also be used to form conductive traces, other conductive patterns, and mechanical structures. Typically, these solder bumps are 50-200 microns high.
The solder is usually heated to be in a molten state and, after ejection, freezes when it comes in contact with the workpiece. In most cases, the now solid solder drops are again melted for fusing the solder to a wire, a contact pad, or any other part.
The liquid metal is typically a tin-lead solder, but other metals and alloys commonly used for solders, such as gold, silver, and copper alloys, are also used.
Typical drop generators consist of a small tank filled with a liquid material, such as heated solder, which is connected to a pump. The pump forces the liquid metal through an orifice so that a certain size drop of metal is ejected from the orifice. Droplets, as opposed to a steady stream of the liquid metal, are created by either capillary-wave instability of the stream or a controlled pulsing of the liquid stream. One type of pump used to eject drops from the orifice is a piezoelectric plate which mechanically applies pressure to the tank upon a voltage applied to the piezoelectric plate. A single drop would then be ejected for each voltage pulse applied to the piezoelectric transducer.
The output orifice is typically non-wettable and small enough such that the liquid metal in the tank does not leak from the orifice without pressure applied by the pump.
The known drop generators have deficiencies because of either a complex construction or fluctuations in the size of an emitted droplet. For example, the performance of the piezoelectric transducer is highly dependent upon temperature conditions, such that variations in temperatures will vary the droplet size. Also, piezoelectric transducers can operate only below their Curie Point, which, for present materials, limits their use to metals with melting points below about 300.degree. C. Construction of piezoelectric force generators typically requires an adhesive to couple the force generator to a deformable element. Long-term mechanical stability of this adhesive bond is a significant design hurdle for these devices. Temperature, cycle-life, bulk modulus stability, and other sensitivities add unreliability to such systems.
Additionally, some known drop generators require pressure regulators, filters, complex liquid metal plumbing, dissolved gas monitoring, and other requirements which add bulk, expense, and complexity to the liquid metal droplet delivery system.
What is needed is an improved drop generator for liquid metal, such as heated solder, which is simpler, less costly, and potentially smaller than existing designs and which ejects droplets having a more controllable size.


A medical container with an electrolyte solution stored therein is disclosed. It is formed of a resinmade container main body, a base solution compartment, at least one isolated compartment or connected compartment, and an openable portion. The base solution compartment is arranged in the container main body and is filled with the electrolyte solution in a state steamsterilized together with the container main body. The isolated compartment or connected compartment is arranged in the container main body, is isolated from the base solution compartment by an isolation wall interposed therebetween, and is filled with a bicarbonate. The openable portion permits aseptic communication between the base solution compartment and the isolated compartment or connected compartment by an operation from an outside of the container main body at the time of use. The openable portion is formed at at least a part of the isolation wall. This medical container makes it possible to store an electrolyte solution, dialysate or the like at a pH value close to that of the body fluid without inducing kidney problems, diarrhea, vomiting or the like due to acidosis or the like upon use.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medical container with an electrolyte stored therein, and more specifically to a medical container which stores therein a body fluid replenisher to be administered through a peripheral vein or a central vein, such as an infusion solution, a dialysate for a circulatory system, such as an artificial kidney dialysate, or an electrolyte solution as a preserving solution for an organ or the like.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Despite the inclusion of bicarbonate ions (HCO.sub.3.sup.-) at a certain specific concentration in the blood or tissue cells of the human body, either absolutely or practically no bicarbonate salt, carbonate salt or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as "bicarbonate" for the sake of brevity) is contained in an infusion solution for use in the treatment or the like of the human body, a dialysate or an organ (tissue) preserving solution, although certain particular electrolytes are contained therein.
For example, the concentration of bicarbonate ions in the plasma of the human body is generally around 24 mEq/l or so. When directly administering a bicarbonate into the body by infusion or when indirectly administering it by a blood dialysis or peritoneal dialysis, it is desired to add the bicarbonate in an amount such that the concentration of bicarbonate ions in the solution conforms with that of bicarbonate ions in the plasma. It is however to be noted that an infusion solution or the like is filled in a plastic-made medical container and is supplied to a hospital generally in a state completely sterilized by autoclave sterilization or the like. Bicarbonate ions are therefore caused to decompose substantially into carbon dioxide gas upon autoclave sterilization if a bicarbonate is added beforehand in the electrolyte in the container. Further, a bicarbonate, when filled as a diluted solution in a conventional plastic-made medical container, decomposes into carbon dioxide gas and is hence lost, even when the medical container is not subjected to autoclave sterilization.
Accordingly, no bicarbonate is used in infusion solutions, dialysates and the like and instead, a substance which can be yield bicarbonate ions in vivo is added. To maintain the concentration of bicarbonate ions constant in plasma or the like, an acetate, a lactate or the like is added as a substitute for a bicarbonate.
For example, a typical electrolyte-replenishing infusion solution contains Na.sup.+ at 20 to 50 mEq/l, K.sup.+ at about 20 mEq/l or so, Cl.sup.+ at 20 to 50 mEq/l, and CH.sub.3 CH(OH)COO.sup.+ or CH.sub.3 COO.sup.+ at 30 mEq/l. In addition, glucose, fructose, xylitol, sorbitol or the like is contained at 1 to 10 wt.%.
The acetate or lactate serves to yield bicarbonate ions in vivo, thereby replenishing same. It also maintain the infusion solution acidic so that stability is retained in a container. Accordingly, an acetate or lactate is widely used in infusion solutions these days.
Further, an infusion solution has conventionally been used in a closed system, namely, by filling it in a plastic-made container of variable volume which does not require a bottle plug piercing needle or the like. Such a container is generally subjected to autoclave sterilization after it is filled with the infusion solution. The infusion solution may however undergoes discoloration during the autoclave sterilization if it contains a saccharide and has a high pH value. To cope with this potential problem, an electrolyte-replenishing infusion solution is prepared with its pH value lowered as much as permissible.
On the other hand, a peritoneal dialysate has, for example, the following composition and properties.
Electrolyte concentrations (mEq/l):
______________________________________ Na.sup.+ 130 to 150 K.sup.+ as needed Ca.sup.2+ 1 to 6 Mg.sup.2+ 0 to 3 Cl.sup.- 90 to 135 CH.sub.3 CH(OH)COO.sup.- 30 to 45 Glucose (g/dl) 1 to 8 Osmotic pressure (mOsm/l) 300-680 pH about 5.5 ______________________________________
An acetate or lactate yields bicarbonate ions in vivo, and serves to replenish bicarbonate ions which are consumed during dialysis.
As organ-preserving solutions, Eurocollin's solution, Wisconsin's solution and the like have been proposed. The followings can be mentioned as illustrative components for the preparation of Eurocollin's solution:
______________________________________ K.sub.2 HPO.sub.4 7.40 g/l NaHCO.sub.3 0.84 g/l KH.sub.2 PO.sub.4 2.04 g/l KCl 1.12 g/l MgSO.sub.4 0.48 g/l Heparin 5,000 units/l Osmotic pressure 326 mOsm/kg ______________________________________
It has also been proposed to have organ-preserving solutions added beforehand with antibiotics, physiologically-active proteins (insulin, antiplatelet factors, antidiuretic hormones, and the like), saccharides (glucose, mannitol, and the like), vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin E, and the like), organic acids (lactic acid, citric acid, and the like), nucleic acid bases (adenosine triphosphate, and the like), antihypertensives (calcium antagonists, .beta.-adrenocaptive antagonists, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and the like), anticoagulants (heparin, and the like). Further, addition of drugs such as the phosphoric diester compounds disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 215801/1995 has also been proposed.
However, when an acetate or an organic acid such as citric acid are used in large amounts in such an electrolyte solution as practiced to date, the tendency of acidosis is observed in the body of a patient who cannot promptly decompose the acetate or the like, for example, in the body of a patient suffering from a liver problem. When the pH value of an infusion solution or the like is controlled as low as possible, a patient administered with the infusion solution is overdosed with the acid or acids and may develop a kidney problem, diarrhea, vomiting or the like. Such symptoms are often observed especially when the pH value is 5.0 or lower.
With a view to overcoming such problems of an electrolyte solution and also making it as close as possible in composition to a body fluid or a tissue cell fluid, it may be contemplated to add a bicarbonate. As described above, however, resulting bicarbonate ions are decomposed upon autoclave sterilization or even during storage, tend to be lost gradually as carbon dioxide gas.
With the foregoing in view, it was then proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 105905/1994 to fill a bicarbonate solution in a compartment and then to enclose the compartment with a covering material having gas barrier property so that bicarbonate ions can be prevented from being lost as carbon dioxide gas. However, a bicarbonate in the form of an aqueous solution is mostly decomposed during autoclave sterilization, thereby failing to fully overcome the above-described problems.

Medical container with electrolyte solution stored therein

Material Engineering Technology Laboratory, Incorporated


A mobile communication device has a full function keyboard constructed in two positions wherein the first portion may be pivoted and the second portion may be moved linearly sideways between respective open and closed positions one in which the keyboard is hidden and the keypad of the device is exposed for normal use and a second in which a larger viewing area of the display screen is revealed and the two portions of the keyboard are positioned on opposite sides of the screen of the device.

The present invention relates generally to electronic devices and deals more particularly with mobile communication devices specifically mobile telephones and similar communication devices of the type having keyboard functionality.
Portable electronic devices particularly mobile telephones and similar communication devices have rapidly expanded in use and function as users have demanded increasing functionality. It is common to see mobile telephones that provide Global Computer Network access, messaging, personal information management, personal digital assistant functionality, music, facsimile, gaming, in addition to telephone communication. More complex keyboards have been provided to be compatible with the more complex applications that are found in such devices. One such full function keyboard arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,932, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention in which a foldable keyboard is provided wherein a panel has an inner and outer surface and rotates between two positions. The outer surface carries a communication keyboard and the inner surfaces carries a portion of the number of keys of the full function keyboard which keys are exposed for access and usage when the panel is rotated into an open position. The panel is in an overlapping position with a further fixed panel that carries the remaining portion of the number of keys of the keyboard on the fixed panel are exposed for access and usage when the rotated panel is in the open position. Although such devices are capable of providing more complex applications the display screen size remains fixed for both standard communication functionality and the advanced more complex functionalities.
It would be desirable to provide a larger display screen size and a full function keyboard for such communication devices while maintaining the compact size required in the mobile communication device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive means of providing a full function keyboard and a larger display screen size to accommodate the more complex applications of a mobile communication device when operated in the non-communication functionality mode.

Foldable/Slidable Function Keyboard for an Electronic Device