A hypodermic syringe includes a barrel with a plunger slidably extending therein. The plunger includes an outer plunger element and an inner plunger element telescoping together. A plunger cap may be advanced after injection to rotate the plunger. A resistance lock retains the cap and plunger indexed until actuation. The rotation actuates latches and locking fingers on the luer hub to engage a probe axially and rotationally on the seal end of the plunger and disengage the slots in the barrel, respectively. The rotation disengages the seal stop to release the annular seal and finally releases the engagement between the outer plunger element and inner plunger element. The foregoing provides for the retraction of the luer hub and associated needle into the barrel.

The field of the present invention is hypodermic syringes with safety systems for the avoidance of sharps injuries.
For some time the art has recognized the desirability of protecting personnel from accidental sharps injuries, or needle sticks, and against contact with fluid that leaks, drips or is sprayed from a syringe after the syringe is used to deliver an injection. Sometimes, after a syringe is used to inject fluid into a patient, some fluid remains in the syringe, particularly at the tip of the needle. This fluid may include the fluid injected into the patient from the syringe and/or body fluids from the patient such as blood. Any fluid remaining in the syringe after use of the syringe may leave the syringe, such as by leaking, spraying or dripping from the syringe and may contact persons or objects in the area. Syringes with retractable needles may be especially prone to this loss of fluid when the needle quickly retracts into the barrel of the syringe after injection.
More recently, concerns have been expressed about the possibility of transmitting serious or potentially fatal infections as a result of sharps accidents. Most recently, legislation requiring the use of safe needle technology is pending in a number of states and before the Occupation Safety and Health Administration. Safe, conveniently used and inexpensive systems are needed which reduce the amount of manual manipulation required to make the needle safe against sharps injuries and fluid dispersal.


A method, computer program product and system for detecting and compensating for color misregistration. A black/white edge or a solid color edge on a target may be scanned. A black/white edge may refer to a black image, e.g., black text, on a white surrounding background having a rapid spatial transition from black to white. A solid color edge may refer to a solid color image, e.g., solid color text, on a white surrounding background having a rapid spatial transition from color to white. A curve of gray values versus spatial pixel positions for each color channel, e.g., red, green and blue color channels, may be generated. A misregistration error may then be calculated by calculating the offset between the color channel curves. The misregistration error may then be used to calibrate the scanner to compensate for the detected color misregistration.

Conventionally, a color scanner may include a unit configured to photoelectrically scan an image and convert the image into digital information. Such a unit may be referred to as a "reading unit." A reading unit may include an illumination system, e.g., fluorescent white light, incandescent lamp source, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), that produces light which is reflected from the document to be scanned. The light reflected from the document is directed through a focusing device to filter out the primary colors into particular linear Charge Coupled Device (CCD) arrays, e.g., a red CCD array, a green CCD array, and a blue CCD array. Hence, the reflected image of the document may be separated into the primary colors which are directed onto separate CCD arrays. A color scanner may further include an apparatus configured to move the location where the reading unit is measuring so as to digitize an entire two dimensional area.
The CCD arrays may be configured to read the reflected light from the same portion of the document either at different times or simultaneously. In either case, the red color CCD array is activated to read a line scan image in a plane, referred to as a "red color plane." Further, the green color CCD array is activated to read a line scan image in a plane, referred to as the "green color plane" and the blue color CCD array is activated to read a line scan image in a plane, referred to as the "blue color plane." If these color planes are not aligned, a phenomenon, commonly referred to as "color misregistration," may occur.
Color misregistration may cause black or color text, or in the case of an image or graphic having edges, cause it to become blurred with color outlines. This is especially problematic when making copies of such text, graphics or images with blurred color outlines, as the copying process adds additional color misregistration from the printer. Further, if color misregistration is different in the horizontal and vertical directions when the text is converted to black, then the relative thickness of text strokes may also be different horizontally and vertically thereby causing the text to appear unbalanced.
Currently, the methods for detecting and correcting color misregistration involve complex computations using significant processing power.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to detect and calculate the amount of color misregistration using a simple algorithm that may be used to calibrate the color scanner to compensate for the detected color misregistration.

Detecting and compensating for color misregistration produced by a color scanner


The invention is related to administration of monoclonal antibody JAA-F11 to an individual for inhibition of metastasis and/or inhibition of growth of cells which express TF-Ag, or for detection of tumors or metastatic foci which express TF-Ag. For inhibition of metastasis or inhibition of growth of cells expressing TF-Ag, the method comprises administering to the individual a therapeutic amount of mAb JAA-F11, wherein the JAA-F11 mAb inhibits the metastasis and/or growth of the TF-Ag expressing cancer cells. For detection of tumors or metastatic foci, mAb JAA-F11 is conjugated to a detectable label and administered to the individual. Detection of the label identifies metatstatic foci or tumors which comprise cancer cells expressing TF-Ag.

During carcinogenesis, alterations occur in the biosynthesis of carbohydrate structures on the cell surface, and several different carbohydrates linked either to proteins or to lipids have been recognized to be tumor-associated antigens. TF-Antigen (TF-Ag) is a tumor-associated antigen of several carcinomas, including breast, lung, bladder, prostate and pancreas (1-4). TF-Ag has been proposed to be involved in the metastatic process (5-10).
TF-Ag is Galactoseβ1-3 N-Acetyl Galactosamine, a disaccharide attached to a protein by an alpha O-serine or O-threonine linkage. TF-Ag was discovered by Thomsen, Friedenreich and Hueber in the late 1920's (2). TF-Ag is hidden on various normal cell membranes because it is linked to other carbohydrates, either by tertiary structures or by highly negative-charged sialic acid (3,7). The densities of TF-Ag predict the histologic grade of carcinomas (9,11), the invasive potential, and the probability of early recurrence in breast (2,12-13), urinary bladder, and prostatic carcinoma (14).
TF-Ag is more than an immunopathologic marker; it is postulated to have a role in adhesion and metastasis (2). Reversible or irreversible adhesion is a primary step of invasion (15) and may occur when the TF-Ag adhesion molecules recognize ligands such as galectins or other lectins (4,16). There is an increased expression of TF-Ag in metastatic tumors, and lectins that bind TF-Ag are in common sites of metastatic tumor growth (17). Ligands for TF-Ag adhesion have been found in the vascular endothelium, the liver, the bone marrow and the lymph nodes (18-19) and this may explain how TF-Ag levels are related to carcinoma aggressiveness (20).
There have been reports concerning the immunotherapeutic value of an induced immune response to carbohydrate tumor associated antigens (8,26-29). For example, O'Boyle et al show development of very low level IgG and IgM responses to two antigens which are related to TF-Ag, Tn (GalNAc) and sialylated Tn (NANAα2-6GalNAc) in colon cancer patients (26-27). Longenecker's studies in breast cancer patients used a keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) conjugate of sialyl Tn and obtained higher responses and observed some clinical response in these patients (29-30). Springer and Desai used vaccination with a T/Tn vaccine composed of types O and MN red blood cell derived glycoproteins which resulted in improved breast cancer patient survival although only small amounts of IgM were made (15). Immunization of breast cancer patients with Globo H (a hexasaccharide which contains TF-Ag), conjugated to KLH injected with the adjuvant QS21 to improve immunogenicity resulted in most patients forming only an IgM response (31). However, IgM is generally of lower affinity and specificity than IgG, and represents a less mature immune response, and many previous studies relating to antibodies to TF-Ag involve IgM antibodies. Further, some anti-TF-Ag antibodies are not clinically useful because they cause undesirable proliferation of tumor cells (45). Moreover, while peptides which can bind to TF-Ag and inhibit cell adhesion in vitro have been described (5), it has also been found that some peptides which can bind to the TF-Ag on human carcinoma cell lines and interfere with cell aggregation exhibit a low monomeric affinity for the TF-Ag, and therefore cannot be dissolved at high concentration in aqueous buffers, which significantly limit their potential use (Landon et al., Journal of Protein Chemistry, (2003) Vol. 22: pp 193-204).
One study purported to investigate the effect of a monoclonal antibody to TF-Ag on cancer cells in a mouse model (Shigeoka, et al. Tumor Biology (1999) 20: 138-146). However, that study attempted to simulate metastasis by direct injection into the liver of cancer cells that were pre-incubated with the monoclonal antibody before being injected. Nodule formation in the livers of mice injected with the cells pre-incubated with the monoclonal antibody were compared to mice receiving injections with cancer cells that were not pre-incubated with the monoclonal antibody. While there were fewer nodules in mice receiving the pre-incubated cells, this study did not provide a relevant model of antibody-mediated inhibition of metastasis because, due to the pre-incubation of the cancer cells with the monoclonal antibody, there was no requirement for the antibody to travel through the body to locate and bind to cells expressing the TF-Ag. Further, there was no assessment as to whether the nodule formation was the result of cancer cells traveling through the endothelium in a manner similar to the natural metastatic process or whether the nodules were simply the result of lodging and proliferation of the injected cells.
Finally, while the production and characterization of another anti TF-Ag monoclonal antibody has been described (21), none of the aforementioned studies demonstrate that the use of a monoclonal antibody to TF-Ag would inhibit either metastasis or growth of cancer cells in an individual.

Therapeutic use of anti-TF-Antigen antibody

The Research Foundation of State University of New York


Cyclohexane is reacted with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of nitric acid which is used as a catalyst in a suitable solvent for the production of trimeric cyclohexane peroxide.

This is a §371 of PCT/EP2004/001920 filed Feb. 26, 2004, which claims priority from German Patent Application No. 103 08 891.1 filed Feb. 28, 2003.
Trimeric cyclic ketone peroxides are known. In 1968 P. Story (JACS 90, 817 (1968)) discovered a method for producing macrocyclic hydrocarbons and lactones from tricycloalkylidene peroxides by pyrolysis. Hence tricycloalkylidene peroxides are valuable starting materials for preparing these classes of compounds which are otherwise very difficult to produce.
Tricyclohexylidene peroxide (trimeric, cyclic cyclohexanone peroxide) is particularly in demand for the synthesis of cyclopentadecane and hexadecanolide which are starting materials for musk perfumes.
In DE 21 32 616 P. Story discloses a two-step method for producing tricyclo-alkylidene peroxides. He prepares a 1-hydroperoxy-1′-hydroxy-dicycloalkylidene peroxide from cycloalkanone, hydrogen peroxide and acid and converts it further with strong acids to form the desired cyclic compound. Trimers and dimers are formed in this process approximately in a ratio of 75:25 in yields of <60% based on the cycloalkanone that was used.
The handling of these solid peroxides which are very sensitive to friction and shock is a safety risk.
Harding and Whalen (Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Product Research Development 1975, vol. 14, No. 4, p. 232-239) published a study on the preparation of trimeric, cyclic cyclohexanone peroxide and investigated the direct preparation of cyclohexanone and hydrogen peroxide without isolating open-chain intermediate products. They were able to avoid the risk of handling solid peroxides by working in solvents (high-boiling hydrocarbons). They optimized the conditions of synthesis (type and amount of solvent, acid and temperature) in extensive experiments. Under the best conditions they obtained trimeric cyclic cyclohexanone peroxide in a yield of 84% in addition to 1 to 7% and on average 4% dimers. The reaction time at about 20° C. was 22 hours. The most suitable acids proved to be 70% perchloric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid. The use of sulfuric acid resulted in substantially longer reaction times.
They strongly advised against the use of nitric acid because of the danger of forming unstable pernitric acid.
The disadvantages of this method are the use of 70% perchloric acid (dangerous, expensive) or concentrated hydrochloric acid (corrosive; chlorine can be formed with hydrogen peroxide), the use of a large quantity of acetic acid as a solubilizer (250 g/mol cyclohexanone, waste water pollution!) and the long reaction time which makes a batch process uneconomical and makes it practically impossible to carry out a continuous process.
Hence there is a need to create a method for producing trimeric ketone peroxides which as selectively as possible (without large amounts of dimers) results in a high yield, a short reaction time and as little waste as possible and also enables a continuous operation.
Hence the object of the invention is to create a method which has the stated advantages.
This is achieved according to the invention by a method for producing trimeric ketone peroxides by reacting cyclic or open-chain ketones with H2O2 in the presence of an acidic catalyst in a suitable solvent which is characterized in that nitric acid is used as the catalyst.

Method for the production of trimeric ketone peroxide solutions


A method for disambiguating features in unstructured text is provided. The disclosed method may not require pre-existing links to be present. The method for disambiguating features in unstructured text may use co-occurring features derived from both the source document and a large document corpus. The disclosed method may include multiple modules, including a linking module for linking the derived features from the source document to the co-occurring features of an existing knowledge base. The disclosed method for disambiguating features may allow identifying unique entities from a knowledge base that includes entities with a unique set of co-occurring features, which in turn may allow for increased precision in knowledge discovery and search results, employing advanced analytical methods over a massive corpus, employing a combination of entities, co-occurring entities, topic IDs, and other derived features.

Searching for information about entities (i.e., people, locations, organizations) in large document collection, including sources such as a network, may often be ambiguous, which may lead to imprecise text processing functions, imprecise association of features during knowledge extraction, and, thus, imprecise data analysis.
State of the art systems use linkage based clustering and ranking in several algorithms, such as PageRank and the hyperlink-induced topic search (HITS) algorithm. The basic idea behind this and related approaches is that pre-existing links typically exist between related pages or concepts. A limitation of clustering-based techniques is that sometimes contextual information needed to disambiguate entities is not present in the context, leading to incorrectly disambiguated results. Similarly, documents about different entities in the same or superficially similar contexts may be incorrectly clustered together.
Other systems attempt to disambiguate entities by reference to one or more external dictionaries (or knowledgebase) of entities. In such systems, an entity's context is compared to possible matching entities in the dictionary and the closest match is returned. A limitation associated with current dictionary-based techniques stems from the fact that entities may increase in number at any moment and, therefore, no dictionary may include a representation of all of the world's entities. Thus, if a document's context is matched to an entity in the dictionary, then the technique has identified only the most similar entity in the dictionary, and not necessarily the correct entity, which may be outside the dictionary.
Most methods just use entities and key phrases in the disambiguation process. Therefore, there is still a need for accurate entity disambiguation techniques that allow a precise data analysis.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for disambiguated features in unstructured text


The invention disclosed here is a starter tube for initiating a vitrification process for melting contaminated soils, waste products, and hazardous materials. The starter tube comprises a tubular sheath made of a flexible material. Received within the sheath is an electrically conductive starter material. The sheath is gas-permeable so that gases created by the starter material during commencement of vitrification will escape from the tube.

The vitrification of contaminated soils and other waste products (collectively "waste materials") can be accomplished by passing an electric current between spaced-apart electrodes which may be surrounded by the waste materials. Normally, the waste materials cannot adequately conduct electricity to initiate melting during the vitrification process. It is therefore necessary to create an electrically conductive path between the electrodes in order to start the process. The electric current transmitted along the path generates heat, which melts the waste materials. The conductivity of the melted waste materials is higher than when unmelted and is sufficient to carry the current as vitrification continues.
Initially, only the waste materials immediately surrounding the path will melt. However, as the waste materials become more conductive upon melting, they generate the heat for further vitrification which is transmitted to the surrounding unmelted materials and causes the zone of vitrification to gradually enlarge. This continues until the waste materials between and about the electrodes have completely melted. At that point, application of the electric current is terminated, and the molten materials are allowed to cool and solidify. The result is a mass of stable glass or glassy material in a vitreous and crystalline form. This method is particularly useful in connection with stabilizing or immobilizing hazardous materials (e.g., hazardous non-radioactive wastes, radioactive materials, or mixed) which have been or will be buried in the ground. The same kind of method can be performed above the ground in melting containers or other above-ground staging areas.
The electrically conductive path needed between the electrodes can be created in a number of different ways. The conventional way is to create a vein consisting of a graphite-glass frit mixture ("starter material") that electrically interconnects the electrodes. The starter material is sufficiently conductive to initiate the vitrification process and is subsequently consumed during vitrification.
To date, the predominant commercial application of large-scale vitrification technology for treatment of contaminated soils and waste materials has been the in-situ vitrification ("ISV") process. ISV involves digging shallow ground trenches between electrode positions of an ISV machine for defining a starter material channel. As an example, sometimes conventional two-by-six inch boards are placed along opposite sidewalls of individual trenches to hold the starter material in place and to define a vein of uniform cross-section. This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 7, which is labelled "prior art."
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a trench extending between the electrodes of a conventional ISV machine. After two two-by-six boards 1, 3 are arranged in the trench 7, and the starter material 5 is poured between the boards, the boards are subsequently removed. The starter material 5 is then covered with a few inches of clean soil (although sometimes the waste material itself is used) and the vitrification process commences.
The problem with the prior art arrangement shown in FIG. 7 is that it is labor intensive and creates problems with respect to creating a uniform vein of starter material. Currently, ISV machines have a large hood which covers the area to be vitrified. The hood carries the electrodes and locates them relative to the vitrification site. Placement of the hood is usually the first step in the vitrification process. Thereafter, the electrodes are positioned and one or more trenches between electrode positions are dug by workmen underneath the hood. The forms and starter material are then passed to the workmen for placement and burial.
The invention disclosed and claimed here provides a more efficient way to place the starter material prior to vitrification. How the invention accomplishes this is described below.

Starter tube for use in vitrification process


Methods for additive manufacturing are provided. In embodiments, such a method comprises illuminating a photothermal base with light, the photothermal base comprising a photothermal material and mounted in an additive manufacturing system to form a first interface between a surface of the photothermal base and a curable composition comprising thermally curable components, wherein the light induces light-to-energy conversion in the photothermal base to generate heat at the first interface, thereby inducing curing of the thermally curable components to form a first cured region. Additive manufacturing systems and photothermal bases are also provided.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, refers to a number of technologies for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) objects based on digital data representing the 3D objects. The digital data is broken down into a series of two-dimensional (2D) cross-sections and the 3D object is fabricated layer-by-layer. There are a number of 3D printing technologies for polymeric materials, which are based on the types of starting materials (i.e., powder, pellets, wires, and liquids). Stereolithography (SLA) is a type of 3D printing technique in which liquid photopolymer in a vat is selectively cured by light-activated polymerization. Although SLA achieves high geometric resolution, it requires starting materials that are photoactive, e.g., photocurable prepolymers or prepolymers doped with a photoactive or photothermal agent. As such, the resulting fabricated objects either have limited mechanical strength or are contaminated with the photoactive/photothermal agent.

Additive manufacturing with curable compositions


A horizontal conveyor chain is guided along a curved section in the path of the conveyor by an elongated guide strip. The guide strip is mounted in a fixed horizontal position closely adjacent to and on the radially inner side of the curved section of the path in sliding contact with the chain. The guide strip is made of a hard, slippery plastic material, preferably nylon or Teflon.

In a typical conveyor system, a conveyor chain is suspended from an I-beam by hangers. When the chain goes around a curve in the conveyor path, a guide is needed to help the chain around the curve and prevent the hangers from binding. Presently, the guide consists of a series of steel segment rollers which turn on vertical axes and are arranged in a line which follows the curve. The rollers are very expensive and have a relatively short life. Accordingly, the rollers have to be replaced frequently at considerable cost.
In accordance with the present invention, the guide rollers are eliminated and instead a single plastic guide strip is substituted, which may be made of any suitable plastic material, preferably nylon or Teflon. The guide strip provides a continuous guiding surface extending in an arc corresponding to the radius of the curve in the path of the conveyor. The chain slides over the smooth outer surface of the guide strip. Plastic guide strips are considerably cheaper and much longer lasting than rollers. The plastic surface of these strips is quite slippery and minimizes the increase in power required to guide the chain around a turn.
One object of this invention is to provide a guide for the conveyor chain in a conveyor system having the foregoing features and capabilities.
Another object is to provide a guide for the conveyor chain which is in the form of a single, simple strip of plastic and replaces the several rollers heretofore required, is rugged and durable in use, and is capable of being inexpensively manufactured and installed.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings.


This technology relates to a battery device, a control method, and an electric vehicle capable of providing a highly secure anti-theft function. A battery outputs DC power through a power line, a reader/writer communicates by outputting a high-frequency signal through the power line to read authentication information of an electronic device when the electronic device is connected to the battery through the power line, a microcomputer stores the read authentication information and controls the battery when first connection to the electronic device is performed, and performs an authentication process of the electronic device based on the read authentication information and the authentication information stored in the first connection and controls the battery according to a result of the authentication process of the electronic device when second or subsequent connection to the electronic device is performed. This technology may be applied to the battery device mounted on a power-assisted bicycle, for example.

This technology relates to a battery device, a control method, and an electric vehicle, and especially relates to the battery device, the control method, and the electric vehicle capable of providing a highly secure anti-theft function.
Recently, a power-assisted bicycle becomes widely used (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
It is supposed that the battery device mounted on the power-assisted bicycle is charged once every one-day to one-week use, so that this is designed to be easily attached/detached to/from a bicycle main body and carried for convenience. Therefore, only the battery device might be easily stolen.

Battery device, control method, and electric vehicle


The feeding apparatus includes a pressure plate cam gear which contacts and separates a pressure plate with and from a feeding roller rubber in a forward rotation of a stepping motor, then interrupts the drive power transmission to the pressure plate, then transmits the driving power again to the pressure plate by a reverse rotation of the stepping motor to return the pressure plate to a separated state and terminates the drive power transmission to the pressure plate, a gear portion provided at an end of a feeding roller shaft for transmitting the driving power from the stepping motor to the feeding roller rubber, and a control circuit for reversing the stepping motor after a leading end of a recording medium is detected by a PE sensor lever.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feeding apparatus for feeding a recording medium such as a sheet material, a film material or a cut paper sheet one by one, and a recording apparatus equipped with such feeding apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
As a recording apparatus for recording a character or an image on a recording medium such as a cut paper sheet, there have conventionally been known an ink jet recording apparatus, a thermal transfer recording apparatus, an electrophotographic recording apparatus, etc.
Among these, a smaller configuration of the entire recording apparatus and a lower production cost are requested for the ink jet recording apparatus and the thermal transfer recording apparatus as they are often used in personal applications.
FIG. 21 is an external perspective view of a prior ink jet recording apparatus. In FIG. 21, a recording medium 200 is set in an automatic sheet feeding apparatus (hereinafter represented as ASF) 201. The ASF 201 is provided with a cover 202 for a main body of a recording portion having an ink jet recording portion therein. The ASF 201 is provided with a discharge tray 203 for supporting a recording medium after recording.
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the ASF only in FIG. 21, in the course of a feeding operation.
Referring to FIG. 22, The ASF 201 is provided with an ASF base 209 for setting the recording medium 200. The ASF base 209 supports a feeding roller shaft 203, on which provided is a feeding rubber 206. FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view showing the feeding rubber 206. As shown in FIG. 23, the feeding rubber 206 has a D-shaped cross section, and it is moved, prior to a feeding operation, to a position where a straight portion of the D-shape is opposed to the recording medium thereby preventing a friction between the recording medium and the feeding rubber 206. The recording medium is set along a pressure plate 210, which is brought closer to the feeding rubber 206 only in a feeding operation and is contacted with the recording medium 200 by a power of an unillustrated compression spring provided behind the pressure plate 210. The feeding roller shaft 203 receives a driving power from an unillustrated motor through a gear train 207, and is rotated in a direction to convey the recording medium 200 from the ASF base toward an unillustrated recording portion. A sensor masking portion 204, integrally formed on the feeding roller shaft 203, rotates together with the feeding roller shaft 203 and masks or exposes a transmission photosensor 205 fixed on an unillustrated substrate. The pressure plate 210 is contacted with and separated from the feeding roller 206, in synchronization with one turn of the feeding roller shaft 203.
A configuration executing such elevation and lowering of the pressure plate in synchronization with a rotating operation of the feeding roller shaft is disclosed for example in Japanese Registered Patent No. 3090161.
In an initial operation state of the ASF 201, the feeding roller shaft 203 is in such a rotational position that the sensor masking portion 204 masks the transmission photosensor 205. In such state the pressure plate 210 is separated from the feeding rubber 206. In case it is in a non-masking position, an initializing operation is executed by an initialization signal from the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus. In case it is in a masking position, after the entry of a recording signal, the feeding roller shaft 203 starts rotation and the pressure plate 210 approaches the feeding rubber 206, whereby the feeding rubber 206 comes into contact with the recording medium 200 thereby executing a feeding thereof. The recording medium 200 thus fed is separated into a sheet in a separating portion 208 and conveyed to the recording portion.
However, the prior recording apparatus described above has been associated with following drawbacks.
Firstly, in the prior recording apparatus, it is necessary to establish an initial position for the feeding operation, in order to prevent a frictional contact between the recording medium and the feeding roller rubber, and a position sensor is provided for this purpose. Therefore the prior recording apparatus requires a complex electrical structure with an increased production cost. Also since a drive control is executed for stopping a motor in response to a detection signal from the sensor, it is necessary to secure a precision in the stopping position of the motor. Therefore, a highly precise motor is required, leading to an increase in the production cost.
By forming the feeding roller rubber in a circular shape instead of the D-shape, it is no longer necessary to initialize the rotational position of the feeding roller rubber, but the position of the pressure plate needs to be initialized. In the prior configuration, a sensor is still required to initialize the pressure plate, thereby elevating the production cost as in the above-described configuration.
Secondly, in case the distance from the feeding roller rubber to the recording portion is made long, the feeding roller rubber is required to have a circumferential length at least equal to the feeding distance to the recording portion, so that it has to have a large diameter, thus increasing the dimension of the entire recording apparatus.
Particularly in an ASF of so-called cassette feeding type in which the recording media are set horizontally, instead of the above-described ASF which is provided in the conventional recording apparatus and in which the recording media are placed on a pressure plate in a state inclined from the horizontal direction, the diameter of the feeding roller directly influences the height of the entire recording apparatus. Therefore, such ASF is difficult to employ in realizing a recording apparatus of a reduced height, thus resulting in a large installation space.
Also, together with an increase in the size of the entire recording apparatus, an external casing, such as a cover, for the entire apparatus also becomes larger, thus resulting in an increase in the cost of the material for forming the external casing etc. and elevating the production cost.
Particularly in case of employing a feeding roller rubber of a D-shaped cross section for preventing frictional contact between the recording medium and the feeding roller rubber as in the prior recording apparatus described above, the circumferential length of the arched portion of the feeding roller rubber, other than the straight portion thereof, has to be made longer than the feeding distance to the recording portion. Therefore, an even larger diameter is required than in the feeding roller rubber of the circular shape, thus being difficult to use in realizing a recording apparatus of a reduced height.
Thirdly, the prior recording apparatus utilizes the biasing force of a compression coil spring provided at the rear side of the pressure plate, as pressurizing means for pressing the pressure plate to the feeding roller rubber. For this reason, a medium stacking portion for stacking the recording media becomes thicker by the length of such compression coil spring, thereby leading to an increase in the dimension of the entire apparatus. This drawback becomes more conspicuous, as in the case of the roller diameter mentioned above, in so-called cassette feeding in which the recording media are stacked horizontally.

Feeding apparatus and recording apparatus having the same


A method and system for operating a hybrid vehicle that includes an integrated starter/generator and a driveline disconnect clutch is described. In one example, the method determines whether or not to rotate an engine via an electric machine while propelling a vehicle via the electric machine according to vehicle efficiency.

At low driver demand loads, an engine may be operated in a high efficiency engine operating region by loading the engine via an electric machine. However, if a battery state of charge (SOC) is high, then there may be no place to store electric energy that is generated via the electric machine. Consequently, during some operating conditions, the electric machine may not be able to load the engine to increase engine operating efficiency.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Methods and system for arbitrating fuel cut out for a hybrid vehicle


Disclosed herein is a replaceable fuel separation unit having a permeable substrate for separating a fluid source into at least two separate fluid streams, and delivering the two separated fluid streams to separate tanks.

Fuel separation devices have been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,972,093 and 6,711,893. A fuel separation unit can accept a mixed feed stream, deliver the mixed feed stream to a permeable substrate, and separate the mixed feed stream into two streams, a retentate and a permeate. The feed stream can be a gas or a liquid. For example, If the separation unit is used to separate fuel such as gasoline, a mixed feed stream such as a fuel having a mixture of components can be heated and introduced to the fuel separation unit as a gas. The fuel can be separated into, for example, a relatively high Research Octane Number (RON) fuel portion and a relatively low RON fuel portion. The separated high RON fuel (the permeate) can then be cooled and delivered to a separate tank, to be used by the automobile when needed. An automobile may require high RON fuel during a high-output operation state such as at start up or upon acceleration. By providing a source of high RON fuel, the engine can perform better during high-output operation, For example, the ignition timing of the engine can be advanced, thereby increasing the output of the engine during these high-output operations.

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A liquid-crystal display for use in small-sized transceivers is provided. This display includes a signal processing circuit processing a radio signal received by an antenna, a liquid-crystal driver converting an output signal from the signal processing circuit into a display control signal, a liquid-crystal plate responsive to the display control signal from liquid-crystal driver to display information thereon carried by the radio signal, an electroluminescence plate disposed between the liquid-crystal plate and the liquid-crystal driver, illuminating a bottom area of the liquid-crystal plate opposite to the display area, and a conductive shield member attached to the bottom area of the electroluminescence plate, blocking conductive coupling of the liquid-crystal plate and the liquid-crystal driver for screening the antenna from noise interfering with radio reception.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a liquid-crystal display for use in a small-sized radio transceiver, and more particularly to a shield attached to an EL (electroluminescence) plate connected to ground for reducing noise generated from a liquid-crystal driver, interfering with radio reception of an antenna.
2 Background of Related Art
Generally, small radio transceivers are equipped with a liquid-crystal display, a liquid-crystal driver controlling the liquid-crystal display for displaying received image information, and a shield plate covering the liquid-crystal driver.
FIG. 6 shows a typical liquid-crystal display for use in small radio transceivers which includes a liquid-crystal plate 21 for displaying characters, printed boards 22 having mounted thereon the liquid-crystal plate 21 and a liquid-crystal driver 23, an antenna 24 for receiving radio signals, and a shield plate 25 for covering the liquid-crystal driver 23,
In this type of liquid-crystal display, the number of characters to be indicated on the liquid-crystal plate 21 is relatively small. The liquid-crystal plate 21 is thus designed to indicate characters over at most two lines, as shown in FIG. 6. Specifically, a large-sized display covering the whole of the radio transceiver is not required. Noise entering the antenna 24 from the liquid-crystal driver 23 can be reduced by locating the liquid-crystal driver 23 away from the antenna 24 or covering it with a shield plate so that the noise does not interfere with radio reception of the antenna 24.
However, in recent years, the transmission speed of small radio transceivers is increased for increasing information elements to be transmitted, thus requiring a large-screen display capable of indicating characters over four or more lines, for example. Additionally, the small transceivers are further required to be small and compact.
In order meet such requirements, the operational speed and performance of a CPU used in small radio transceivers have been improved, and small radio transceivers using large-sized displays capable of displaying a great deal of information have been developed. Such small radio transceivers however encounter the drawback in that a liquid-crystal driver generates noises with increase in operational speed thereof, which greatly interfere with the radio reception.
In such a small radio transceiver, a liquid-crystal driver is usually not mounted on a printed board and formed with IC chips mounted on a COB (Chip On Board) with TAB (Tape Automated Bonding), connected to a liquid-crystal plate. Thus, the interval between the COB and the liquid-crystal plate is short, and it is difficult to dispose a shield plate between the COB and the liquid-crystal plate, thus resulting in a further increase in noise.

Liquid crystal display with shield member arranged on a electroluminescent plate

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A multi-conductor cable tester and continuity analysis system having two groups of connector sockets wherein each group of connector sockets includes a plurality of different connector sockets designed to mate with the connector ends of the cable under test. An end of the multi-conductor cable is inserted into one cable socket from each socket group and the interconnection between the inserted cable ends is automatically determined by the system which interrogates each connected end of the cable separately, revealing unidirectional coupled data paths as may be provided with diodes or other electronic components. Additionally, the system compares the determined bi-directional continuity with previously stored cable continuity data corresponding to different, known cables and provides reference to one of the cables corresponding to the pre-stored cable data. Further cable embodiments provide automatic cable socket determination, continuity matrix display and cable test data analysis indicating the compatibility of the cable-under-test to the equipment to be interconnected.

The variety of multi-conductor cables including those that have different connector types terminating the ends have virtually an unlimited combination of connector pin connections or combinations, and thus cannot be quickly or rapidly tested to determine their continuity without reference to specific cable data. Furthermore, the proliferation of complex equipment to be interconnected makes cable verification an increasingly recurrent task. Moreover, identification of the particular cable function or interconnect is necessary to determine the corresponding pin connection information, which determination is frequently unavailable or time consuming to provide.
A great many modern computer cables do include internal wiring. Worse, the internal wiring is sealed in molded connectors that are identical in appearance to other cables that have different internal wiring. Thus, it is impossible to differentiate certain cable types by appearance only. As a consequence, many cables that look right for an application and fit everything properly do not work, leading to confusion, tedious debugging, and possible ascribing the fault to a computer or peripheral to which the cable connects, in turn leading to disassembly of the computer or peripheral In addition to wasted time, damage may be done to the unnecessarily-opened equipment in attempting to solve the problem.
Cables also occasionally incorporate particular electronic components, such as diodes, at the connectors to provide a form of equipment interface or adapter to permit communication between equipment not originally intended. Such electronic components are inadequately detected or measured by existing cable testers which typically interrogate the data path by placing interrogation signals only on one connector and receiving signals from the second connector. Since cables having direction related continuity will provide different continuity depending on which connector the interrogation signal is applied and the direction or polarity of the interrogation signal. Thus, cable testers adapted to perform continuity measurements on some cables will provide incomplete or erroneous findings.

Continuity analysis system with graphic wiring display


A pressure control device (1) for maintaining a constant predetermined pressure in a container which is arranged for dispensing a fluid contained in the container from the container at that pressure. The pressure control device includes a first chamber (4) and a second chamber (6), as well as at least one closing member (8) movable relative to the second chamber for releasing and closing a fluid connection between the first chamber and the container depending on the position of the closing member relative to the second chamber. The first chamber is filled with a gas which, in use, has a higher pressure than the pressure in the container. The second chamber is located outside the first chamber.

This invention relates to an assembly comprising a cylindrical container and a pressure control device for maintaining a constant predetermined pressure in the container which is arranged for dispensing a fluid contained in the container from the container at said pressure, the pressure control device comprising a first chamber and a second chamber as well as at least one closing member movable relative to the second chamber (6) for releasing and closing a fluid connection between the first chamber and the container depending on the position of the closing member relative to the second chamber, the first chamber being filled with a gas which in use has a higher pressure than the pressure in the container, and the position of the closing member relative to the first chamber being at least dependent on the prevailing pressure in the container and the prevailing pressure in the second chamber, while in use the fluid connection is released when the pressure in the container decreases below the predetermined pressure, so that gas flows from the first chamber to the container and the pressure in the container increases again until the fluid connection is closed again by the closing member as a result of the increased pressure in the container, wherein the second chamber is located outside the first chamber, and the closing member comprises a stem which extends through a first opening of the first chamber wherein the first opening is provided with a sealing ring and the stem is provided with a circumferential recess where the sealing ring extends in the recess. Such an assembly is known, from EP-A-0 446 978.
A disadvantage of the known assembly is that the fluid in the container will not always be suspended in a reliable and accurate manner. This means that with the passage of time, diffusion of gas from the first chamber and the second chamber to the container will occur. Since the pressure in the second chamber determines the predetermined pressure in the container of the container, this means that the predetermined pressure over time is unstable. In addition, it is found that the closing member will not react properly to a decreasing and increasing pressure in the container. In that event, accordingly, no accurate pressure control in the container will occur.
Furthermore the closing member is provided with a membrane to which the stem is attached for opening and closing of the first chamber.
This in turn has an adverse effect on the movability of the stem for regulating the pressure, so that pressure control becomes inaccurate. This also results in the above disadvantage. Further if the container is almost empty the effective volume of the container wherein the fluid to be dispensed is present becomes relative large to the volume of the fluid which may cause an inaccurate dispense of the fluid.
The object of the invention is to provide a solution to the disadvantages outlined hereinabove.
Accordingly, the assembly according to the invention is characterized in that the first chamber consists of a vessel which is provided with a first opening, the second chamber is formed by a cylinder which is closed at a first end and of which a second end constitutes a second opening and the closing member consists of a plunger moveable in the axial direction of the cylinder wherein the plunger is located into the cylinder and comprises the stem which extends from the vessel through the first opening of the vessel and the second opening of the cylinder to the cylinder the plunger is provided on its outer side with a sealing ring which constitutes a gas seal between an outer side of the plunger on one side and an inner side of the cylinder on the other, the vessel being designed as a plunger which is arranged to be received, in the container so as to be movable in axial direction of the container, the vessel dividing the container into an upper and a lower part, the fluid connection terminating in the lower part of the container, while the upper part of the container is fluid with the fluid to be dispensed, and in use, when the pressure in the upper part) of the container decreases below the predetermined pressure, 4, the pressure in the lower part of the container will likewise decrease because the vessel designed as a plunger will move such that the volume of the upper part of the container will decrease whereas the volume of the lower part of the container will increase, whereby also the fluid connection between the vessel and the lower part of the container is released, so that gas flows from the vessel to the lower part of the container and the pressure in the lower part of the container as well as the pressure in the upper part of the container will rise again, while the vessel designed as a plunger moves further upwards until the fluid connection is closed again by the closing member as a result of the increased pressure in the lower part of the container.
Because the first chamber consists of a vessel wherein the second chamber is located outside the vessel, the first chamber can be made completely gas tight.
Furthermore because the first chamber consists of a vessel it can easily be designed as a plunger which is arranged to be received, in use, in the container so as to be moveable in axial direction of the container. The container is then divided into an upper and lower part wherein the upper part of the container is filled with the fluid to be dispensed and wherein, in use, the fluid connection terminates in the lower part of the container. If almost all of the fluid in the container has been dispensed, the volume of the upper part will decrease, thereby guarantying an accurate and reliable and stable way of dispensing the residual liquid. Because the second chamber is located outside the vessel it can be formed by a cylinder comprising the plunger moveable in the axial direction of the cylinder. Because the plunger is moveable freely within the cylinder the stem which opens and closes the opening of the vessel responds only to the relevant gas pressures independent from the position of the plunger within the cylinder whereby again a highly accurate way of suspending fluid from the container is guaranteed. Because the outer part of the plunger is provided with a sealing ring a good gas seal between the outer side of the plunger on the one side and the innerside of the cylinder 10 on the other is obtained thereby avoiding that gas can flow from the upper part of the container to the lower part of the container and vice versa.
According to a particular embodiment, the volume of the second chamber is dependent on the position of the closing member relative to the second chamber. In that case, the prevailing pressure of the second chamber alone can be used for determining the predetermined pressure. It is also possible, however, that other means are included in the second chamber for the purpose of exerting a pressure on the closing member. To be considered here is, for instance, a spring.

Pressure control device for maintaining a constant predetermined pressure in a container


A system for managing the inventory of reagents for a laboratory automation system. The system for managing the inventory of reagents comprises a controller, software for the controller, and a refrigerator capable of refrigerating reagents, detecting the presence or absence of reagents in the refrigerator, and detecting the location of reagents in the refrigerator. The system for managing the inventory of reagents is connected to a laboratory automation system. The laboratory automation system comprises at least one clinical analyzer. A typical system for managing inventories of reagents includes an operator interface for the loading of boxes of reagents and other supplies, radio frequency identification system for identification of inventory and tracking, robotic mechanisms for loading containers onto the track system and removing containers from the track system, de-capping equipment, refrigeration equipment, and information technology connections to laboratory analyzers and vendors.

Automated analyzers are well-known in the field of clinical chemistry and in the field of immunochemistry. Representative examples of such automated analyzers include, but are not limited to, PRISM® analyzers, AxSym® analyzers, ARCHITECT® analyzers, all of which are commercially available from Abbott Laboratories, Cobas® 6000, commercially available from Roche Diagnostics, Advia, commercially available from Siemens A G, Dimension Vista, commercially available from Dade Behring Inc., Unicel® DxC600i, commercially available from Beckman Coulter Inc., and VITROS, commercially available from Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics. Each of these analyzers suffers from various shortcomings, some more than others. Some of the shortcomings encountered by more than one of these automated analyzers include the use of large volumes of sample, the use of large volumes of reagents, the generation of large volumes of liquid waste and solid waste, and high costs. Some of the aforementioned automated analyzers are not designed so as to be able to carry out both clinical chemistry assays and immunoassays. Some of the aforementioned automated analyzers are not capable of being modified to suit the demands of certain users. For example, even if a user desires to have more immunoassay reagents on an analyzer and fewer clinical chemistry reagents on the analyzer, or vice versa, the user cannot modify the configuration. Furthermore, the addition of additional immunoassay modules and/or clinical chemistry modules to increase throughput is difficult, if not impossible. Some of the aforementioned automated analyzers require a great deal of maintenance, both scheduled and unscheduled. In addition, some of the aforementioned automated analyzers have scheduling protocols for assays that cannot be varied, i.e., the assay scheduling protocols are fixed, which limits such features as throughput. For example, modification of current assay protocols or addition of new assay protocols may be difficult, if not impossible. The ARCHITECT® analyzers currently in use can only support six variants of chemiluminenscent microparticle immunoassay protocols. In addition, some of the aforementioned analyzers occupy a great deal of floor space and consume large quantities of energy.
Users of automated analyzers desire the automated analyzers to have a minimal effect on laboratory operations, e.g., reduction of quantities of reagents and samples used, simplification of ordering of consumable items. Users of automated analyzers further desire more automation of processes, e.g., automated loading of reagents, automated loading of other consumable items. Users of automated analyzers still further desire safer and more reliable apparatus, e.g., minimal quantity of unexpected failures, minimal down-time, minimal time required to diagnose and repair unexpected failures. Users of automated apparatus further desire quiet apparatus and environmentally friendly apparatus.
Currently, the management of reagents and other consumable items used in automated clinical analyzers is performed manually. Customers load reagents and consumable items onto automated clinical analyzers based on need, i.e., low inventory, calibration status, i.e., calibrated lots are used first, expiration date, i.e., oldest items are used first, and menu distribution, i.e., maximization of laboratory throughput. In addition, customers track the usage of reagents and consumable items and manually order replacement items to maintain a reasonable inventory. In addition, customers manually sort reagents to remove recalled products and to manually distribute literature relating to data on the safety of materials, package inserts, and assay protocols. Still further, customers track temperature of the reagents during shipping and storage. Still further, positive identification of consumable items is essential in many industries, and tracking of lots used to manufacture or test a product is considered good manufacturing practice. It would be desirable to automate as many as possible of the functions normally carried out the manage reagents and other consumable items.

Systems and methods for managing inventories of reagents


A projection-type display apparatus that has enhanced the sense of being present by adaptively adjusting, with a simple constitution, projection illumination, depending on an image signal, without causing color changes and by increasing apparent contrast. The projection-type display apparatus includes a light source, a liquid crystal light valve that modulates light emitted from the light source by turning its light polarization plane, and a projection lens that projects the light modulated by the liquid crystal light valve onto a projection surface, wherein a pivotable light polarizer is arranged between the light source and the liquid crystal light valve. The black level of an image is adjusted by adaptively pivoting the light polarizer in response to the image signal.

This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 2002-285078 filed in Japan on Sep. 30, 2002, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to projection-type display apparatuses capable of adjusting projection illumination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Projection TVs, which project and display images, are well known as one example of video apparatuses that realize largescreen TVs. Among projection TVs, there are two typical types, those that magnify and project CRT images and those that utilize light valves such as liquid crystal panels. While the former CRT-type projection TVs have a technical problem that picture quality technically contradicts picture luminance, the latter light-valve-type projection TVs have recently been developed so as to overcome the technical problem of the former CRT-type projection TVs. The light-valve-type projection TVs have an essential advantage in compatibility between picture quality and picture luminance since they have, as systems independent of each other, a light source, and light valves for forming images. However, in comparison with CRT-type projection TVs, the light-valve-type projections TVs have, because of light leakage, disadvantages in the contrast, especially display of black color. For instance, there has been a problem that, since in video images in movies and the like which contain many dark scenes, black level cannot be displayed in high contrast, the images appear to have background luminance in their nominally black regions, which spoils the viewer's sense of being present.
To cope with these problems, projectors utilizing a mechanical light shutter for controlling the amount of light which illuminates the light valve have been proposed (see, e.g., Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-23106 (p. 4-5, FIGS. 6-10) and Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-90705 (p. 5-6, FIGS. 6-13)).
FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating a projector described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. The projector shown in FIG. 12 is constituted from three principal parts including a light source unit 100, an illumination-optics unit 110 and a projection lens 120. Among them the illumination-optics unit 110 includes an integrator-optics system 111 and a color-separation/color-composition system 109. The integrator-optics system 111 includes a first lens array 112, a second lens array 113, a light shade 114 which acts as a light shutter, a polarization-conversion element 115 and a superposition lens 116. In FIG. 13, the configuration of the second lens array 113, the light shade 114, the polarization-conversion element array 115 and the superposition lens 116 is shown.
The light source unit 100 is provided with a light source lamp 101 and a concave mirror 102, radial light rays emitted from the light source lamp 101 are reflected by the concave mirror 102, and then emitted toward the first lens array 112 as approximately parallel light beams. The first lens array 112 has a matrix arrangement of a plurality of microlenses rectangular in contour, separating light emitted from the light source unit 100 into a plurality of partial light beams. The second lens array 113, being constituted from as many microlenses as those constituting the first lens array 112, functions to guide the plurality of partial light beams emitted from the first lens array 112 in such a way that the plurality of partial light beams is approximately condensed onto the polarization-separation element of the polarization-conversion element array 115. The polarization-conversion element array 115 is constituted from the polarization-separation element, which separates light emitted from the second lens array 113 into an S-polarization component and a P-polarization component, and a λ/2 phase difference plate that converts the polarization direction, and emits linearly polarized light by converting the polarization direction of an incident light beam.
The light shade 114 as a light shutter is arranged between the second lens array 113 and the polarization-conversion element array 115. The light shade 114, arranged opposite the incident light plane of the polarization-conversion element array 115, is a tabular body formed with alternating light reflection portions 117 that shut out light and have approximately the same width as that of the incident light and aperture portions 118 that allow light to pass through, as shown in FIG. 14. The light shade 114 is formed, in combination with a drive mechanism 119, so that the surface constituted from the light reflection portions 117 and the aperture portions 118 shifts in parallel to the incident light plane of the polarization-conversion element array 115 (X direction in FIG. 14), resulting in the incident light plane of the polarization-conversion element array 115 being openable and closable. That is, the amount of light entering the polarization-conversion element array 115 can be adjusted by shifting the light shade 114 in parallel. Since the polarization-conversion element array 115 is arranged just or proximately on the position where arc images of the light source form, the first lens array 112 is approximately in optically conjugate relationship with the incident pupil of the projection lens 120. This means that, even when light is shut out by the light shade 114 in the vicinity of the polarization-conversion element array 115, adjustment of brightness can be carried out without causing illumination non-uniformity, which is the same effect as the case with stopping-down the projection lens 120.
The foregoing method for adjusting the amount of light can raise the contrast of a displayed image and, especially, can be averted the problem that when a projected screen has a small size, background luminance in nominally black regions of the image makes the image brighter than necessary and the image is difficult to be watched.


An embodiment of the present invention includes an open-ended, non-spinning housing, which is fitted with an inner lining that rotates within the housing at speeds sufficient to de-water material loaded from within and along the length of the inner liner. A loading conveyor system has a discharge end that can be relatively positioned horizontally at various depths within the inner liner to deposit product at continuously variable layer depths on the inner liner while it is spinning. Once loaded, the inner liner is accelerated to a drying speed and the housing is swiveled to vertical on gudgeons. Once drying is complete, the inner liner is slowed down, or stopped, and the de-watered product can fall out to land on an unloading conveyor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to centrifuge mechanisms, and more particularly to equipment for removing excess water from solids, such as de-watering leafy vegetable matter after washing and liquid-solid filtration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Centrifugal food drying is currently being used to remove water from prepared salads after washing, to extract excess oil from chips and snacks, to salvage chocolate and nut meats from stale candy, to remove excess fat from meats and to extract juice and pulp from fruit. For example, Bock Engineered Products, Inc. (Toledo, Ohio) markets an "FP" series of centrifuges for dry weight capacities ranging from thirty-five pounds to 130 pounds. The Bock FP centrifuges includes a stainless steel basket, lid and cover. A fluid drive power transfer system spins the basket on a vertical axis and is stated to be self-balancing. The units are bolted to a floor with a tripod arrangement. A high volume model, FP-90, comes with a stainless steel lifting yoke, a basket floor dolly, a waterproof timer and a grid liner. A high-volume/multi-product model, FP-900, has a basket tachometer, stainless steel base and legs, stainless steel back panel, hydrostatic variable speed control, stainless control circuit housing, stainless steel basket lifting yoke and a waterproof timer. The basket operates at a maximum of 1200 to 1700 revolutions per minute, depending on the manufacturer involved, to obtain a G-force of 600 to 980. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a program for approving such centrifuges in food processing. Operation of the Bock FP centrifuges includes a six step process.
In a first step, a hoist is used to put the basket into the centrifuge. The basket pins are checked to see that they are securely seated into the lifting yoke. A second step is to load the basket evenly. An improved drying is obtainable by placing a back-up grid in the basket before loading. The back-up grid can remain in place when dumping later. Leafy foods can be loaded to the top of the basket. Heavier foods, such as carrots and onions, are loaded no higher than the top of a centerpost in the basket. The maximum dry weight load is not recommended to exceed 130 pounds, and the basket can be loaded either inside or outside the machine. In a third step, the basket is guided into the machine by holding the inner rim of the basket, then unhooking and removing the yoke. In a fourth step, the inner rim of the basket is rotated by hand until firmly seated on a drive ball. The lid is closed and a start button is pressed to begin the automatic cycle. Bock cautions its users that the basket must be fully seated on the drive ball. In a fifth step, after a red indicator light goes out, the lid may be opened and the yoke is hooked to mating pins to lift the basket out. Bock cautions its users never to open the lid while the basket is moving, otherwise severe injury can result. In a sixth step, the contents of the basket are dumped by holding the inner rim and rotating the basket on the yoke.
A similar de-watering centrifuge is marketed by Gabilan Manufacturing, Inc. (Salinas, Calif.). The Gabilan unit is offered commercially for spin-drying lettuce, cabbage, spinach, onions, celery, carrots and other processed vegetables and other industrial applications. The Gabilan model GC10001p uses a three-point suspension system and a 8.9 cubic foot basket that rotates on a vertical axis within a stationary drum with a cover. Dry weight process capacity has been published by Gabilan as being 140 pounds for chopped lettuce, 175 pounds for shredded cabbage and forty pounds for whole leaf spinach. The basket operates at a maximum of 1076 revolutions per minute.
A fully automatic vegetable spin dryer is marketed by Sanborn (Wrentham, Mass.) as the SANBORN Model P. Drying applications include spinach, salad mix, cole slaw mix, shredded and chopped lettuce, shredded and chopped cabbage and related vegetables, e.g., onions, carrots, etc. The SANBORN Model P appoints itself to eliminating manual operations in the drying process by having a feed conveyer to load a spin dryer that rotates on a vertical axis, a product discharge cone that opens up the bottom of the spin dryer and a take-away conveyer system on which the product drops from the spin dryer. An inner basket is forty inches in diameter by twenty-four inches in height and is adjustably rotated up to 1100 revolutions per minute. A five step process is involved.
In a first step, a feed system controls the batch sizes and automatically loads the spin dryer, with the objective of consistent capacity from load to load. In a second step, the spin dryer operates at a low speed during the feed cycle to distribute wet product evenly around an inner basket. In a third step, the spin dryer automatically initiates the drying cycle at the end of the feed cycle. The rotational speed of the basket is increased to a drying speed and spun for a predetermined period. In a fourth step, a discharge cycle causes the spin dryer to decelerate to a "safe" unloading speed and the product discharge cone is released. The dried product falls out to the take-away conveyor. In a fifth step, the product discharge cone is raised back to its closed position and the spin dryer is re-accelerated to feeding speed, and the five-step cycle is repeated.
In general, conventional vertical centrifuges receive batches of produce to be de-watered in cylindrical perforated metal baskets. The baskets have a central female shaft hexagonal socket in the bottom which slip fits on the male hexagonal vertical drive shaft in the machine frame. The machine frame is very heavy to contain fragments should the basket breakup during the centrifuging process, as sometimes happens because of uneven loading.
The centrifuge shaft thus both supports and drives the basket, sometimes through a modified gimbals to adjust for uneven loading. The uneven loading, which run the basket out of balance, can trip a vibration safety switch, which will cut off power. The basket load of produce then must be manually redistributed before the centrifuge can accelerate to full speed for the de-watering process.
In some prior art machines there is a twin door opening bottom to discharge the de-watered produce, while in others the produce is removed by hand through the top opening of the basket. The machines are generally furnished with two or more baskets, since each one must be individually loaded, lifted, transported and set down into the centrifuge for the centrifugal operation, then lifted out and suspended over a receiving facility, where the bottom is opened for unloading. Baskets without bottom doors must be inverted to unload.
Because of their size and weight, the baskets are usually handled by overhead hoists mounted on monorails, and therefore, a typical de-watering system requires a relatively large area and several operators. Frequent repairs are necessary because of the damage sustained from uneven loading.
Since washing processes are usually continuous, elimination of the basket loading, unloading and moving requirement would both improve the process and reduce the cost. An open-ended cylinder that is spun rapidly on a horizontal axis can be used for de-watering. Uniform loading is simple and readily obtainable, and eliminates out of balance problems that can have catastrophic consequences.
A better method of de-watering washed or rinsed leafy vegetables such as lettuce or spinach is therefore needed in the vegetable drying industry.

Horizontally-spinning and horizontal loading centrifuge and method for de-watering bulk materials in large volumes

Controls Systems & Mechanics International


Embodiments of systems and methods for confirming fluid fill in automobile subassemblies are described herein. Such systems can include a weigh station to determine if the assembled automobile differential is at an acceptable weight that is indicative of proper fluid fill. A method of detecting a fluid fill condition for an automobile subassembly can comprise transferring the subassembly to a weigh station, applying constraints configured to prevent removal of the subassembly from the weigh station, weighing the subassembly, and determining the fluid fill condition based on the weight of the subassembly.

The present disclosure relates to automobile assembly processes, and more particularly to testing procedures for determining whether an automobile subassembly has been properly filled with fluid.
In the course of assembling an automobile, it is critical that certain mechanical components be filled with the appropriate fluids. One such component is the differential housing which requires fluid for both lubrication and cooling. If a vehicle leaves the factory with an unfilled or improperly filled differential, the omission may not be detected until after the vehicle is put into service and a failure of the component occurs.

Automobile subassembly fluid fill confirmation

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.