There is provided an absorbent pad with contoured and/or complex shapes, and/or an absorbent pad having a single, double, or multi-layer islands. There is also provided methods for manufacturing such absorbent pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to absorbent pads. More particularly, the present invention relates to absorbent pads having contoured and/or complex shapes.
2. Description of Related Art
An absorbent pad is used for a variety of purposes including food-packaging, medical absorbent, laboratory cleanup, transportation packaging and safety, and personal hygiene. One use of an absorbent pad in the food-packaging industry is for the absorption of fluids secreted from meat, poultry, seafood, and other food products.
Absorbent pads are generally square or rectangular with straight edges. The absorbent core material is often a single layer of cellulose fluff or airlaid non-woven cut into the square or rectangular shape. The absorbent core material can also have multiple layers of tissue combined and cut into the square or rectangular shape. However, certain absorbent packaging designs are best served with unique and complex absorbent structures. Therefore, there is a commercial need for absorbent pads that are of shapes other than square or rectangular to more precisely fit an array of packaging shapes and sizes.
In conventional absorbent pads, a layer of film, non-woven material, or paper is typically attached to the upper and/or lower surface of the absorbent core material by gluing essentially at least one side of the entire inner absorbent core surface and/or the outer edges using a hot-melt or cold liquid adhesive. The inner absorbent structure, or core, is cut with straight knifes into squares or rectangles, with the surrounding film, paper or nonwovens also cut with straight blades.
The absorbent core material typically has an amount of a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) in either granule or fiber format. The superabsorbent polymer expands greatly as it absorbs liquids, posing problems for absorbent pads. As the superabsorbent polymer expands, it exerts pressure on the outside layers of the pad and the seams sealing the upper and lower layers thereby creating a risk of bursting. It is important, particularly in the food-packaging industry, to keep the superabsorbent polymer inside the absorbent pad and away from the food product before and after the swelling of the superabsorbent polymer.
Another problem that arises with the high absorbent capacity of one or more superabsorbent polymers is the desiccation of food products within the packaging. Absorbent pads have been developed that use holes, slits, or microperforations in the top sheet of the absorbent pad to allow for effective fluid absorption while minimizing the drawing effect that causes the desiccation of the food product. U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,873 describes an absorbent pad with microperforations.
Often there is a need to deliver in the absorbent pad other components, such as active ingredients. These components typically perform better when allowed to remain dry, or at a minimum, not fully immersed or saturated with liquid. For example, an enzymatic oxygen scavenger, which is used to remove oxygen from the interior of food packages to provide improved shelf life and appearance, function best when dry or only damp. An absorbent pad that would allow for one or more of these components to be placed in a separate layer, portion, or zone from the absorbent core material is desirable.
There remains a commercial need for an absorbent pad that further minimizes the potential for bursting at the seams, while also providing multiple layers, portions, or zones for separating the absorbent core from other components. It would further be desirable to have an absorbent pad that has shapes other than square or rectangular.


In a displacement pump for pumping pressure medium out of a container to a consumer, in particular a servo-assisted steering system for motor vehicles, a pump package (2) is inserted into the interior of a housing (1). The pump package (2) comprises a rotor (3), a cam ring (4) and a plurality of operating rods (5). Between the cam ring (4) and the rotor (3), work chambers divided by the operating rods (5) are formed, which are bounded in the axial direction by control plates (8, 9). A bypass flow limiting to valve (11) is used to regulate an effective flow. A throttle (12) of the bypass flow limiting valve (11) is formed by at least one bore. The throttle (12) is embodied in a throttle insert (13), which to adjust a characteristic effective flow curve can be mounted in various positions between a pressure chamber of the pump and the bypass flow limiting valve (11). To that end, the throttle insert (13) is integrated with a control plate (9). In addition, at least two bores (14, 15) are provided in the throttle insert (13), which discharge into a pressure kidney (10a) disposed in the control plate (9). A control plate is a precision part, so that the flow conditions and thus the characteristic governing curves can be reproduced very accurately. As a result of the mutual influence of the two throttle bores, the governing tolerance is not sensitive to minor errors in the rotary position of the throttle insert.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a displacement pump for pumping pressure medium from a container to a consumer, in particular a servo-assisted steering system for motor vehicles. Inserted into the interior of the housing is a pump package, comprising a rotor, a cam ring, and a plurality of operating rods. By way of example, the operating rods may be embodied as vanes of a vane cell pump or as rollers of a roller cell pump. Between the cam ring and the rotor, work chambers are formed, which are subdivided by the operating rods and are bounded in the axial direction by control plates. A bypass flow limiting valve is used to regulate an effective flow. A throttle of the bypass flow limiting valve is formed by at least one bore. The throttle is embodied as a throttle insert, which to adjust a characteristic effective flow curve can be mounted in various positions between a pressure chamber of the pump and the bypass flow limiting valve.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
One such displacement pump is known from German Patent DE 24 02 017 C2 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,414. In this pump, a throttle insert is inserted into a pressure conduit transverse to the flow course. As a result, in the pressure conduit, a point of restricted cross section is formed. At this point the throttle bore discharges into the pressure conduit.
It has been found that this arrangement, under certain circumstances, reacts very sensitively to the rotary position of the throttle insert. Since the pressure conduit is a cast conduit that has a surface that is not entirely uniformly reproducable, the regulating characteristic curve of the flow regulating valve cannot be predetermined with the requisite precision.
The object of the invention is to achieve a more precise-tolerance characteristic curve of the flow regulating valve of a displacement pump.


A separation system is disclosed for separating selected particles from a mixture of particles in a fluid. The system includes a froth flotation vessel into which in use the mixture of particles and fluid are subjected to an upward flow of an introduced gas to form a froth layer which rises above an interface formed between the froth layer and the mixture of particles and fluid, such that a quantity of the selected particles is conveyed out of the vessel by the froth layer to become a first product of the system. The vessel also has a first outlet arranged in use for receiving a flow of some of the mixture of particles and fluid from the vessel, an entry to the first outlet being located in a region proximate to, but below, the interface. The vessel also has a second outlet arranged in use for receiving a flow of some of the mixture of particles and fluid from a region of the vessel which is located below the first outlet. In use the first outlet receives a quantity of the selected particles which were not conveyed out of the vessel by the froth layer, and the second outlet receives a quantity of the selected particles in a first by-product of the system. The first by-product comprises a relatively higher percentage of solids compared to the flow of particles and fluid in the first outlet. The flow of the mixture of particles and fluid from the vessel via the first outlet passes to a classification device, which separates the flow into two or more fractions on the basis of their size or density or a combination of the two.

Froth flotation is used extensively in industry to separate valuable particles from particles of waste material. In the minerals industry for example, rock containing a valuable component is finely ground and suspended in water, to form a pulp or slurry. Reagents are generally added that attach selectively to the valuable particles making them water repellent or non-wetting (hydrophobic), but leaving the unwanted particles in a wettable (hydrophilic) state. The hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles are referred to as mixed particles. In the minerals industry, the valuable particles are often referred to as "values", while the waste material is known as "gangue". Bubbles of air are introduced into the suspension in a vessel or cell. The hydrophobic particles, also referred to as selected particles, attach to the bubbles, and rise with them to the surface of the suspension where a froth layer is formed. The froth flows out of the top of the cell carrying the flotation product. The particles that did not attach to bubbles remain in the liquid and are removed as tailings. Reagents such as frothers may be added, that assist in the creation of a stable froth layer.
The process of adding reagents to the suspension of particles is known as conditioning. Conditioning reagents are usually specific to the particular ore body that is to be treated and the mineral species it contains. The reagents may include a collector, which reacts or adsorbs selectively with the surfaces of the particles to be separated, and a frother, that has the function of stabilizing the bubbles introduced into the system, so that a stable froth layer is formed. Other reagents that may be added, depending on the nature or the ore to be treated, include activators, that assist the collector to adsorb to the particles to be separated, and depressants, that prevent the collector from adsorbing on unwanted minerals.
The formation of a froth layer is an important characteristic of the froth flotation process. In a stable froth layer, froth is discharged over the lip of the flotation cell, being continuously replaced by bubbles with attached particles and entrained particles, from the pulp or slurry in the cell beneath. While moving towards the overflow lip, the froth drains and entrained particles are able to flow back into the pulp, enhancing the purity or grade of the flotation product. The interface between the pulp and the froth is maintained at an appropriate level, so that the froth product can reach the required grade and recovery of particles from the flotation cell.
Machines used in the froth flotation process are known in prior art. A common design consists of an agitator or impeller mounted on a central shaft and immersed in a suitably conditioned pulp in a flotation cell. The rotating impeller creates a turbulent circulating flow within the cell that serves to suspend the particles in the pulp and prevent them from settling in the vessel, to disperse a flow of gas that is introduced into the cell into small bubbles; and to cause the bubbles and particles to come into intimate contact, thereby allowing the hydrophobic particles in the pulp to adhere to the bubbles. The bubbles and attached particles float to the surface of the cell where they form a froth layer that flows over a weir, carrying the flotation product. The impeller customarily is surrounded by a stator that assists in the creation of a highly sheared environment in the vicinity of the impeller, and also prevents the formation of a vortex or whirlpool in the liquid in the cell. Flotation machines of this type, known as mechanical cells, are described in textbooks such as Wills' Mineral Processing Technology, 8th edition, James Finch ed., Elsevier, New York, 2015. Other types of flotation machine, such as column cells, are also described.
It is well known that the recovery of particles in existing flotation devices depends on the size of the particles. For a given floatable species, the recovery of ultrafine particles is very small. With increasing particle size however, the recovery increases until a maximum is reached. With further increases in the particle size, the recovery becomes progressively lower. In base metal flotation, the optimum range for recovery is between 20 and 120 μm in general, although in some cases the upper limit may be slightly increased. Particles above the optimum range are described as coarse particles. For particles of lower density such as coal, the optimum range with current technologies may extend up to 400 μm.
The inability of mechanical cells to recover coarse particles has a detrimental effect on the energy expended in grinding the rock that enters the mill. The grinding energy can be related to the final grind size by an expression known as Bond's Third Law, which can be written:
      Energy                                (              kW                          -                                  hr          /          t                    )        =      10                                        W        i                          (                              1                                          P                80                                              -                      1                                          F                80                                                    )            where Wi is the Bond Work Index, and P80, F80 are the 80% passing sizes (μm) of the grinding mill product and the feed to the mill, respectively. The size of the feed material to the mill is typically 150 mm or greater, so the second term in the brackets is negligibly small compared with the first term. It can be appreciated that if the flotation circuit downstream of the mill could process particles that were much larger than those in current practice, there would be significant savings in grinding energy costs and in the costs of the grinding media such as steel balls and mill linings, the two being proportional. For example, if in a mill where the final grind size is currently 100 μm, the final size could be increased to 400 μm, there would be a 50% reduction in grinding energy and media consumption. Since grinding energy is the largest single energy component in a base-metal concentrator, and a very significant cost in the operation of a complete mine-mill complex, a reduction of energy of this magnitude would lead to massive savings for the whole mining enterprise. Accordingly, there is a long-felt need to be able to float coarse particles, to bring about the savings indicated.
Another long-desired feature of froth flotation technology is the ability to process suspensions with a high fraction of solids. The feed to flotation machines in present technologies is generally in the range 5% for coal to 45% solids in base metal flotation. A system that can accept feeds that are just below the packing limit of the solids, typically up to 75% solids for typical ore suspensions, would be highly beneficial, because of the reduction in the process water demand. By increasing the percent solids in the feed, the quantity of recirculated water in the plant will be reduced, as will the demands placed on the downstream thickening and dewatering operations. Furthermore, if the particles are coarser than in current practice, the water lost from the concentrator in the tailings delivered to settling ponds or dams will be considerably reduced. This feature is very important when a concentrator is to be located in a region with limited availability of makeup water.
To mitigate the problem of coarse particle detachment, an invention has recently been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 9,085,000), in which flotation is carried out in the relatively calm environment of a fluidised bed. Hydrophobic particles attach to bubbles in the fluidised bed and rise upwardly into a separation zone, in which non-hydrophobic particles detach from the wakes of the rising bubbles and fall back into the fluidised bed, while bubbles with attached hydrophobic particles rise into a froth layer. The froth bubbles flow over a launder lip carrying the hydrophobic particles. Non-hydrophobic particles discharge from the flotation column from the top of the fluidised bed. To maintain the bed in a stable operation, liquid is recycled from a settling zone above the fluidised bed, and returned into the base of the bed.
When a fluidised bed flotation cell is operation, the gas bubbles contact relatively coarse hydrophobic particles in the fluidised bed. The bubble-particle aggregates rise out of the bed and into the separation zone. Many of the relatively finer particles are able to rise upwards to enter the froth zone, discharging over the lip of the containing vessel as a first flotation concentrate. Surprisingly, it has now been observed that not all bubble-particle aggregates have sufficient buoyancy to enter the froth, and they tend to congregate below the froth zone. Given sufficient time, the bubbles coalesce or burst, and the attached particles fall back to the fluidisation zone, or the aggregates may make contact with lightly-loaded bubbles rising in the settling zone, and gain sufficient buoyancy to enter the froth.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, method and apparatus for froth flotation


A method and apparatus for condition diagnosing of a tap changer immersed in a cooling fluid, controlling and regulating an inductive power device, such as a transformer or reactor. The diagnosing method compares and evaluates expected heat exchanges between the tap changer and ambient air and the inductive power device, an expected amount of heat generated by the tap changer during operation, together with an actual temperature of the fluid. From the actual temperature, expected heat exchanges and expected generated heat, the heat balance in the system may be obtained and is used for disgnosing the operation conditions of the tap changer. The results from the condition diagnosing may be used as indicators that can alarm operators or may be sent as a data signal to remote and/or portable display means, such as a computer.

Tap changers are widely used today to regulate and control the output of large or medium sized inductive power devices, such as transformers and reactors. These inductive power devices transform electric power from a first power system to a second power system. As the load of the second system increases, the output voltage of the inductive power device drops. In order to compensate for this output voltage drop, i.e. maintain a relatively constant output voltage level in the second power system, or adjust the output voltage in accordance with power board customers requirements, the tap changers are used.
The tap changer controls and regulates the voltage transformation for transformers and inductance for reactors. In a transformer, the voltage of the second system depends on a turn ratio, i.e. the ratio between the number of turns between the secondary and primary winding of the transformer. The tap changer, most often being connected to the primary winding, affects this turn ratio by performing a switching between different fixed contacts or taps of the winding. This switching is typically performed in small steps resulting in a voltage change of about 0.5–2.5%, usually around 1.5%, of the rated voltage per step.
The tap changer becomes heated by its operations but also by the load and is therefore immersed in a cooling fluid, most often oil. The cooling fluid acts at the same time as an insulating medium. But since arcing normally occur during switching operations the oil may deteriorate and deterioration products are formed in the fluid. In order not to contaminate the inductive power device, the tap changer is preferably separated from the fluid of the inductive power device and is placed in fluid filled tank, in turn being located either in or on the tank of the inductive power device.
Since the tap changer and the fluid become heated during operation, a monitoring of the tap changer is often employed to maintain a reliable and efficient operation. In such a monitoring, several parameters may be measured and observed to get a picture of the overall condition of the tap changer. In particular the temperature of the cooling and insulating fluid needs to be kept below a certain safety limit. Breakdowns, possibly leading to the destruction of the entire or part of the tap changer or a shortening of its life may happen if the fluid temperature exceeds certain limits. In some situations also the inductive power device may be affected, damaging its equipment of shortening its life.
In the patent JP 10041162 an abnormality diagnostic device for a tap changer is disclosed. The device has a torque detector to detect a torque of a drive shaft of the tap changer. A temperature detector detects the temperature of the tap changer. Based on this detected temperature, a correction operation is carried out on a standard torque pattern. The corrected standard torque pattern is then compared with the detected torque pattern of the drive shaft in order to diagnose any abnormality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,060 discloses an oil immersed electric power switch-gear, such as a tap changer, with an oil circulating system filtering formed carbon particles from the oil. The circulating system is provided with a temperature probe for measuring the temperature of the oil leaving a tank containing the tap changer. The measured temperature is compared with setpoint values to detect a possible too high oil temperature. In order to prevent or minimise equipment damage due to the high oil temperature alarms are issued and/or electrical loads are disconnected.
Most prior art monitor and diagnosing systems, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,060 above, concern protection against acute damage to the tap changer and its associated equipment. The systems most often base the condition diagnosing of the tap changer on a direct temperature measurement of the cooling and insulating fluid and perform actions if the temperature exceeds certain safety thresholds. Thus, any actions are only taken if the fluid temperature is high enough and the situation therefore is or soon may become critical. Such emergency actions may include load reduction and in extreme conditions shutting down the tap changer and inductive power device. However, a malfunctioning tap changer may not necessarily lead to a dangerous heating at all instances. A malfunctioning tap changer may e.g. operate at a low load and will then, despite its defects, operate at a permitted temperature. No indication of the defect is detected until the load and power is increased. At such an occasion, it is often very inconvenient to take the tap changer out of operation for repair, since it typically coincides with an increased performance demand.
It would therefore be advantageously if one, as a complement to the conventional overtemperature protection devices, could achieve an apparatus for providing information about the actual operation condition, related to heat issues, of the tap changer at any instant, i.e. a condition diagnosing apparatus.


A fixing device including a heat roller for heating a sheet, a press roller, pressed against the heat roller, for pressing the sheet on the heat roller, an aluminum plate provided along the outer circumference of the press roller, so as to surround the press roller, a mold member, provided away from the aluminum plate to face thereto, for supporting the aluminum plate, and a frame, interposed between the aluminum plate and the mold member, for defining a closed space for heat insulation, between the aluminum plate and the mold member.

The present invention relates to a fixing device equipped in, for example, an electrophoto-copying machine.
With regard to the fixing device of an electrophoto-copying machine or the like, it is required to maintain a fixing rate while a continuous copying operation. In order to maintain the fixing rate, it is necessary to control the temperature of the fixing device within a certain range during the continuous copying operation.
The fixing device feeds a sheet between a heat roller and a press roller pressed upon the heat roller to pass between them, and thus a toner image is fixed on the sheet. A heater is provided within the heat roller, and a thermistor is arranged on the surface of the heat roller.
The temperature of the fixing device can be controlled by, first, detecting the surface temperature of the heat roller using the thermistor, and turning on or off the heater within the heat roller in accordance with the temperature detected.
It should be noted that as the copy speed of the electrophoto-copying machine increases, each sheet passes through the fixing device in a short period of time, and therefore the heat amount given from the fixing device decreases.
Further, during the continuous copying mode, the number of sheets which pass through the fixing device within a certain period of time increases, and therefore the heat amount drawn by the sheets increases, thus lowering the temperature of the fixing device as a whole.
In order to avoid the lowering of the temperature, it is effective to maintain the temperature of the press roller.
The copying machine is set in a stand-by status when the surface of the heat roller of the fixing device becomes to have a predetermined temperature. At the same time, the surface of the press roller which is in contact with the heat roller is heated to the surface temperature of the heat roller.
However, when copying is started, sheets absorb heat of the heat roller and press roller, and further, the heat of the heat roller is absorbed not only by the sheets but also by the press roller which is in contact with the heat roller.
Under these circumstances, when the heat of the press roller which is once heated when a copying operation is started, can be kept, it becomes possible not only to decrease the heat amount absorbed from the heat roller to the press roller, but also to increase the heat amount given from the press roller to sheets.
An example of the technique of keeping the temperature of the press roller, is to enclose a press roller by a heat insulating member.
This technique is further divided into two versions. In one version, heat is reserved by a U-shaped bracket (sheet metal) which is provided to enclose a press roller, with a felt material is adhered on the inner surface of the bracket, and an aluminum foil adhered on the surface of the felt material, whereas in the other version, a press roller is enclosed by a U-shaped aluminum plate.
The U-shaped bracket or the U-shaped aluminum plate, mentioned above, is fixed to a fixation frame with a screw or the like.
However, when the U-shaped bracket or the U-shaped aluminum plate is fixed to the fixation frame with a screw, the radiation heat of the press roller is easily radiated to the fixation frame from the bracket or the aluminum plate via the fixation screw.
As a result, such a technique entails the drawback of a poor heat reserving effect of the press roller, which causes a decrease in the fixation rate in a high-speed copying mode or a continuous copying mode.


Low vapor pressure compound-based fuels are provided. These fuels are useful in catalytic burner systems that can be used to disperse fragrances, insecticides, insect repellants (e.g., citronella), aromatherapy compounds, medicinal compounds, deodorizing compounds, disinfectant compositions, fungicides and herbicides.

Flameless catalytic fragrance lamps that auto-catalytically burn a fragrance/fuel mixture to emit a fragrance have been available for over 100 years. The typical fragrance lamps burn fuel that is composed of approximately 90 wt % 2-propanol, 8 wt % water, and 2 wt % fragrance. Currently, there are several flameless catalytic lamps available on the market. The catalytic fragrance lamps currently employ low boiling alcohol-based fuel for several reasons. The fuel is used as a carrier for the fragrance. The fragrance/alcohol mixture is transported from a reservoir to a flameless catalytic burner which simultaneously combusts the alcohol while dispersing the fragrance in the surrounding atmosphere. Alcohols are also used because their high vapor pressure (2-propanol has a vapor pressure of 42.74 mm Hg at 25° C.) allows them to soak the wick, which transports them to the burner very efficiently and allows a sufficient, continual flow of fuel from the reservoir to the catalytic burner. Furthermore, combustion of low boiling alcohols by the catalytic burner produces only small amounts of carbon, or coke, which over several months of intermittent use will cause the catalytic burner to clog and cease operation. Finally, catalytic combustion of 2-propanol produces almost no smoke, so the fragrance is released while not producing any visible smoke from the catalytic fragrance lamps.
However, currently used fuel mixtures will likely face severe use restrictions in the future by regulatory bodies seeking to minimize pollution. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) plans to impose bans on currently used fuel mixtures that contain greater than 18 wt % of alcohol-based fuels. As an example, 2-propanol is classified as a volatile organic compound (VOC), and currently used fuel mixtures contain greater than 18 wt % of 2-propanol relative to the total composition.
In light of the environmental and pollution concerns surrounding currently used fuel mixtures, it is desirable to develop new low vapor pressure fuels (LVP) and fuel compositions for use in catalytic fragrance lamps that meet or exceed VOC regulations imposed by regulatory bodies such as CARB. The present invention is directed to the identification and synthesis of compounds that will meet the above mentioned requirements and function as suitable fuels for catalytic fragrance lamps.

Low vapor pressure fuels for use in catalytic burners

The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System


A computer-implemented method for compilation of applications includes storing, at a server, a plurality of variants, wherein each of the plurality of variants describes a distinct client architecture. A plurality of optimized binaries for an application are maintained at the server, wherein the plurality of optimized binaries correspond to different variants in the plurality of variants. The server receives a request from a client to download the application, wherein the request includes a reference to a first variant that describes the client's architecture. A determination is made that the first variant corresponds to a first optimized binary of the plurality of optimized binaries, and the server provides the first optimized binary to the client.

Client-side applications are often written in script languages (e.g., Javascript) or compiled into intermediate forms (e.g., bytecode) to run on a wide variety of client computing devices with different central processing unit (CPU) architectures, hardware accelerators, or platform libraries. An interpreter or compiler "just-in-time" (JIT) approach is used to execute the applications on the client computing device.
However, processing power, RAM, and storage capabilities of client computing devices are usually much less capable compared to desktop or server-side components. Even when power and storage capabilities of a client computing device are as capable as a server, battery power consumption of the computing device is a concern. As a result, client-side compilation of software is often light-weight and not as good as server-side compilation.
To cope with client computing devices that lack certain hardware accelerators or platform libraries, some applications may carry extra software libraries to emulate missing hardware or platform capabilities. The extra software, however, wastes bandwidth at download for clients that already have some or all of the software capabilities and thus do not need the extra software.

Method and system for compilation with profiling feedback from client


Thermal conditions within a computer unit are monitored. A system-level temperature sensor responds to intake cooling air. A subsystem-level temperature sensor responds to the temperature of a subsystem-level component, preferably a motherboard or a backplane. When the temperature sensed by of the system-level temperature sensor falls outside of a critical limit, it is determined whether the temperature sensed by the subsystem-level temperature sensor generally correlates with the temperature sensed by the system-level temperature sensor. If there is no correlation, the operation of the computer unit is continued.

Computer units generate heat as a result of conducting electrical currents within their various semiconductor integrated circuits, power supply and other internal components. The amount of heat generated and the criticality of that heat varies depending on the component. A central processing unit (CPU) generates considerable heat because of its very high frequency of operation and its continual operation. A CPU usually has its own directly attached heat sink to dissipate its heat. Other components, such as memory integrated circuits (ICs) generate more moderate amounts of heat, due to the more intermittent nature of the electrical currents they conduct. Generally speaking, less intensively used integrated circuits do not require separate heat sinks but are generally attached in groups to circuit boards or to a main circuit board called a motherboard. Other components within the computer unit enclosure may include backplanes, data transfer buses and specific devices connected to the data buses. Devices connected to the bus may generate significant heat. The power supply, which converts conventional AC power to DC power used by the computer components, is usually a significant source of heat.
The heat generated by the internal computer components must be removed. Otherwise, the components within the computer will degrade, their performance will become unreliable, and under extreme conditions the components will self-destruct. Consequently, computer units utilize cooling systems to remove the heat. The most prevalent type of cooling system is an air cooling system. Cooling air is drawn through a vent in an enclosure for the computer unit which surrounds and encases the computer components. One or more cooling fans or blowers draw in intake cooling air and force the cooling air through the enclosure and over the internal components of the computer unit. In some circumstances, the cooling fan or blower is integrated with the power supply. The heat sink attached to the CPU may have its own dedicated cooling fan to remove the higher concentration of heat generated by the CPU. The temperature of the cooling air has an effect on cooling the computer unit. A higher air temperature reduces the cooling effect.
Because of the critical need for cooling, modern computer units include a capability for monitoring thermal conditions. Temperature monitoring capability is particularly important for high-end servers because its reliability for communicating data is directly related to the operating temperature of its critical components. The the reliability of the servers internal components must be protected from harsh thermal conditions which might allow or cause its internal operating components to exceed their acceptable operating limits.
Higher performance computer servers typically employ multiple thermal sensors to assure reliable and safe operation. Critical components such as CPU's have a dedicated sensor embedded in their integrated circuitry for monitoring the die temperature during operation. At the subsystem level, such as on the motherboard, the backplane, any devices connected to an internal bus, and the power supply, on-board sensors monitor the local operating temperature of these components. Finally, at the system level, such as for the cooling air which flows through the enclosure, thermal sensors safeguard the overall system operating environment.
The conventional practice in monitoring the thermal conditions of computer units is straightforward in terms of making decisions based on the temperature signals supplied by the multiple thermal sensors. So long as the temperature indications fall within a normal operating range, the computer unit continues its operation in the normal way. However, if any one of the temperatures sensed exceeds the normal operating range, warnings are issued and/or the operation of the computer unit is shut down.
While the conventional practice is generally reliable in preventing damage to the computer unit, problems of reliability have arisen as a result of permitting each individual temperature sensor to control the continued operation of the computer unit. An intermittent or permanent sensor failure or malfunction cannot be accounted for, because the indications from each individual sensor have the capability of individually shutting down the computer unit. Individual sensor indications are not evaluated for accuracy or reliability. The chances of false decision-making are increased, with the result that the system performance is adversely affected by limiting or reducing system uptime and availability while increasing maintenance costs.
The degree of importance of the indications from the different sensors is not differentiated. For example, the CPU temperature and the intake cooling air temperature, when beyond limits, can create immediate and serious consequences. On the other hand, an occasional increase in temperature above the upper limits of less critical components can be more readily tolerated. Due to the unique airflow, thermal and fluid dynamic characteristics of each different computer unit and its use at different installation sites, the sensors will experience different temperatures. As a consequence, some of the sensors will be more prone to exceed normal operating ranges, while other sensors will be less prone to do so. The conventional practice does not recognize these significant differences.
These and other similar and related problems have led to system shut-downs, and the delivery of automatic support (ASUP) messages to system administrators to report abnormal operating conditions under circumstances where the thermal operating environment was within acceptable limits. Proper system operation and availability has been needlessly and adversely affected, and the costs associated with maintenance and monitoring of the computer unit have been unnecessarily increased, among other undesirable consequences.

Thermal monitoring and response apparatus and method for computer unit


The present disclosure relates to a multi-dimensional user interface apparatus that selects an object by sensing a motion of a user and a control method thereof.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to a user interface apparatus and method for controlling the same, and more specifically, to a multi-dimensional user interface apparatus and method that sense a motion of a user to select an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the wide spread of computer-enabled electronic devices such as laptop computers, smart phones, and the like, the methods of recognizing a user command have been diversified: For example, a two-dimensional (2D) selection method using a mouse, a selection method using tracking a user hand motion on a space, or a selection method using a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) handheld input device has been proposed.
However, the above conventional methods are inconvenient to select an object, because they require three steps. For a user to select an object, the user determines the target th select, locate a 2D or 3D cursor on the object using a mouse or 6 DOF handheld input device, and finally trigger some confirmation mechanism like pressing a button.
This three-step selection mechanism takes not only user fatigue, but also relatively more time. Accordingly, it is required for new user interface means to improve user intuitiveness and usability without cumbersome steps.

User interface apparatus and method for controlling the same

Abstract: The user interface apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an eye gaze sensing unit to sense eye positions and eye gaze directions of a user, and a hand shape sensing unit to sense a hand shape of the user, wherein the user interface apparatus calculates a position factor related to a location of an object from the eye positions and the eye gaze directions, calculates at least one conformity factor related to a conformity between the hand shape and the object from the hand shape, and determines the object as a target selected by the user based on the calculated position factor and the at least one conformity factor.

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A TV receiver has a tuner and a controller for controlling a tuning operation of the tuner. The controller includes a calculation unit for effecting a calculation of preferred stations using as parameters tuned channels and the times for which the channels are selected. A tuning frequency arrangement storing unit determines the channels that are frequently watched by a user on the basis of the calculation and stores indications of the channels. The channel indications thus stored are read out in ranked order to perform a tuning operation in response to successive actuation of a preferred-station key.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a television (TV) receiver, and particularly to a TV receiver in which information based on a user's life style can be obtained
2. Description of Conventional Technique
A present TV receiver has been frequently used in such a manner that a channel selecting operation of selecting a desired one of many broadcasting channels such as VHF broadcasting stations. UHF broadcasting stations, BS broadcasts from a broadcasting satellite, etc. is carried out so as to be matched with a user's life style.
That is a viewer's favorite broadcast channels (channels which are more frequently used by a viewer) tend to be fixed according to time and circumstances in accordance with an individual life style. For example some viewers provide a high audience rating to an A station which frequently broadcasts baseball games of their favorite team when a professional baseball pennant race is started, and some viewers watch, without missing a single day, a sumo wrestling program of a B station which broadcasts the program everyday.
Here, the following situation is considered. After switching a TV receiver on, a viewer having such a life style watches a gardening program of another broadcasting station (i.e., a station which is not his favorite station), and a time for a sumo wrestling program which he watches everyday has come. If he does not beforehand preset a broadcast channel of the sumo wrestling program in the TV receiver or if a preset operation itself is impossible because the number of preset broadcast channels is already equal to the permissible number, he can not watch the sumo wrestling program unless a current channel is switched over through a position tuning, a direct tuning or a skip tuning operation.
In such a situation, if he searches a desired channel through a channel UP key or a channel DOWN key, the search operation is very cumbersome when the target channel is far from the current channel, and if he searches a desired channel through ten keys, the search operation is very inconvenient because the number of the target channel is unknown.

Television receiver that automatically keeps track of favorite channels to facilitate tuning


In one embodiment, an integrated circuit has a L-level permutable switching network (L-PSN) comprising L levels of intermediate conductors. The integrated circuit can be used in electronic devices, such as switching networks, routers, and programmable logic circuits, etc.

A programmable logic circuit, also referred to as field programmable gate array (FPGA) is an off the shelf integrated logic circuit which can be programmed by the user to perform logic functions. Circuit designers define the desired logic functions and the circuit is programmed to process the signals accordingly. Depending on logic density requirements and production volumes, programmable logic circuits are superior alternatives in terms of cost and time to market. A typical programmable logic circuit is composed of logic cells where each of the logic cells can be programmed to perform logic functions on its input variables. Additionally, interconnect resources are provided throughout the programmable logic circuit which can be programmed to conduct signals from outputs of logic cells to inputs of logic cells according to user specification.
As technology progresses to allow for larger and more sophisticated programmable logic circuits, both the number of logic cells and the required interconnect resources increases in the circuit. Competing with the increased number of logic cells and interconnect resources is the need to keep the circuit size small. One way to minimize the required circuit size is to minimize the interconnect resources while maintaining a certain level of connectivity. Therefore, it can be seen that as the functionality implemented on the chip increases, the interconnection resources required to connect a large number of signals can be quickly exhausted. The trade-offs are either to provide for a lower utilization of logic cells in a circuit while keeping the circuit size small or to provide more routing resources that can increase the circuit size dramatically.
There has been a progression of increasingly complex connection styles over the last forty years in the field of programmable logic circuits. L. M. Spandorfer in 1965 describes possible implementation of a programmable logic circuit using neighborhood interconnection, and connections through multiple conductors using switches in a Clos network. R. G. Shoup in his PhD thesis of 1970 describes both the use of a neighborhood interconnect and the use of a bus for longer distance interconnect.
Freeman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302 of 1989 describes a commercial implementation of a FPGA using neighborhood interconnects, short (length one, called single) distance interconnects, and global lines for signals such as clocks. The short distance interconnects interact with the inputs and outputs of logic cells where each input is connected through switches to every short wire neighboring to a logic cell and horizontal and vertical short wires connect through a switch box in a junction. El Gamal et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,745 introduces segmented routing where inputs and outputs of logic cells interact with routing segments of different lengths in one dimension.
Peterson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,610 and Cliff et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,611 introduce a local set of conductors interfacing with a set of logic elements where every input of the logic elements is connected, through switches, to every local conductor in the set; additional chip length conductors are introduced both horizontally and vertically where the horizontal conductor can connect to the vertical conductors and the horizontal conductors connect to multiple local conductors. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,745, U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,610, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,611, the input conductor of a logic cell has full connections to the set of local conductors (e.g. for n-inputs and k-local conductors, there is n×k switches connecting the inputs to the local conductors. A multiplexer (MUX) scheme may also be used so that the number of transistors is reduced). In U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,745, U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,610, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,611, the general interconnect resources are limited to one or two different lengths (i.e. singles of U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302, local and chip length in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,610 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,611) or limited in one dimension (i.e. different lengths horizontally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,745, local vertically in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,610 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,611).
Camarota et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,166 and Kean in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,003 introduce a routing scheme with more than two different lengths in both dimensions with limitations in the reach of those conductors. While U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,166 allows each wire to be selectively driven by more than one possible driving source, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,003 is limited to be unidirectional in that each wire is hardwired to a multiplexer output. The connectivity provided in both U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,166 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,003 are very low, based on the premises that either connections are neighborhood or relatively local, or logic cells itself can be used as interconnection resources instead of performing logic functions. Ting in U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,410, U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,217, U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,991 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,597,196 described a multiple level architecture where multiple lengths of conductors interconnect through switches in a hierarchy of logic cells.
Young et al. in U.S. 2001/0007428 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,616 describe an architecture with multiple lengths of wires in two dimensions (three in each dimension), where for short local connections, a near cross-bar scheme is used where a set of logic cells outputs are multiplexed to a reduced set of output ports which then interface to other interconnect resources. The longer wires generally fan-in into shorter length wires in a respective dimension. Reddy et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,694 discloses another architecture where inter-super-region, inter-region, and local conductors are used. A cross-bar scheme is used at the lowest level (using MUXs) for the local wires to have universal access to the inputs of the logic elements. Reddy et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,526 discloses various schemes having circuit reduction techniques in the local cross-bar.
Reblewski et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,810 describes an architecture building a programmable logic circuit using crossbar devices recursively. Wong in U.S. Pat. No. 6,693,456 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,308 use Benes switching networks as the interconnection fabric for programmable logic circuit.
At the base level of circuit hierarchy, multiple-input Look Up Table (LUT) logic cells are commonly used. There are two advantages in using a LUT as the base logic cell. One advantage is that the LUT allows programmable implementation of any Boolean functions having up to the multiple-input and one output. Another advantage is that the multiple inputs are interchangeable and logically equivalent. Hence, it does not matter which signal connecting to which input pin of the LUT for the LUT to function correctly as long as those signals connect to the respective inputs of the LUT.
A common problem to be solved in any programmable logic circuit is that of interconnectivity, namely, how to connect a first set of conductors or pins carrying signals to a second multiple sets of conductors to receive those signals where the logic cells originating the signals and the logic cells receiving the signals are spread over a wide area in an integrated circuit (i.e., M number of outputs from M or less number of logic cells where one or more outputs of each logic cells connects to inputs of one or more logic cells). A conventional solution is to use a cross bar switch where every conductor of the first set is connectable to every conductor in the second multiple sets of conductors directly through a switch. Unfortunately, this approach is impractical in most cases. Prior solutions in one degree or another try to divide the connectivity problem into multiple pieces using a divide and conquer strategy where local clusters of logic cells are interconnected and extended to other clusters of logic, either through extensions of local connections or using longer distance connections. These prior interconnect schemes are ad hoc and mostly based on empirical experiences. A desired routing model or interconnect architecture should enable or guarantee full connectivity for a large number of inputs and outputs over a large part of the circuit all the time.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,139, U.S. Pat. No. 7,256,614 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,417,457 by the present inventors describe one type of switching network (L-SN) with L levels of intermediate conductors which uses Ei=[1:L+1](I[i−1]×D[i]) number of switches and L levels of intermediate conductors of I[i] number of conductors, having D[i] sets of conductors for i=[1:L] to connect a 0-the level of conductors of I[0] number of conductors to a (L+1)-th level of conductors of (D[L+1]×Πi=[1:L]D[i]) number of conductors consisting of D[L+1] sets of conductors. The L-SN can be used as part of an interconnection fabric for a switching system, a router or a programmable logic circuit with much reduced switch counts and the number of switches used in the switching network is determined by a mathematical relations of the sizes of the 0-th level of conductors of I[0] number of conductors, the L levels of intermediate conductors and the size of the (L+1)-th level of conductors of (D[L+1]×Πi=[1:L]D[i]) number of conductors consisting of D[L+1] sets of conductors. The switching network, when limited to be a 1-SN or at the last intermediate stage or level in the conventional designs, can have certain routing limits when at least one multicasting signal is logically grouped together with other signals from the first set of conductors in a skewed distribution. Thus, it is desirable to have an enhanced permutable switching network for programmable logic circuits where the routability or interconnectivity may be enhanced in the presence of multicasting signals independent of signal distribution while the cost of interconnections remains low in terms of number of switches and the software efforts in determining a place and route and the circuit layout implementation may be simplified.
One type of an L-level switching network (L-SN) of the conventional design was first described by the present inventors in U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,139, U.S. Pat. No. 7,256,614 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,417,457 in which the L-SN has (L+2) levels of conductors with L-level(s) of intermediate conductors of I[i] number of conductors consisting of D[i] sets of conductors for i=[1:L], L≧1 and Σi=[1:L+1](I[i−1]×D[i]) number of switches where the 0-th level of pins or conductors of I[0] number of pins or conductors selectively couple to the (L+1)-th level of pins or conductors of (D[L+1]×Πj=[1:L]D[j]) number of pins or conductors consisting of D[L+1] sets of pins or conductors through the L level(s) of intermediate conductors and Σi=[1:L+1](I[i−1]×D[i]) number of switches of the L-SN. A variable, DS[i], is defined as DS[i]=(I[i−1]/I[i])×D[i] for i=[1:L+1]. A DS[i]-tuple is DS[i] number of conductors of the (i−1)-th level of conductors with the characteristics that the DS[i]-tuple selectively couple to one conductor, through a respective DS[i] number of switches, in each of the D[i] sets of conductors of the i-th level of conductors of the L-SN for i=[1:L+1]. Additionally, in the L-SN, the I[i−1] number of conductors of the (i−1)-th level can be organized into (I[i−1]/DS[i]) groups of DS[i]-tuples for i=[1:L+1].
As an illustration of the conventional designs, FIG. 1A shows one embodiment of the switch couplings between the first two levels of conductors in the conventional L-SN of U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,139, U.S. Pat. No. 7,256,614 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,417,457, where L=2: the 0-th level of conductors of I[0]=36 number of conductors, [1:36], selectively couple to the first level of conductors of I[1]=36 number of conductors consisting of D[1]=2 sets of (intermediate) conductors, {[101:118], [119:136]}; not every conductor of I[1] number of conductors are labeled in the embodiment of FIG. 1A, and for purpose of illustration, those conductors are assumed to be consecutively labeled, thus the first set of conductors of the D[1]=2 sets has (I[1]/D[1])=18 conductors, [101:118], where the I[0] number of conductors [1:36] selectively couple to the eighteen conductors [101:118] of the first set of the first level of conductors through I[0]=36 number of switches; and the D[1]-th set has eighteen conductors [119:136] where the I[0] number of conductors [1:36] selectively couple to the eighteen conductors [119:136] of the D[1]-th set of the first level of conductors through I[0]=36 number of switches. A DS[1]-tuple of the embodiment of FIG. 1A is of size two which is any of the two consecutive conductors such as [1,2], [3,4], etc. of the I[0] number of conductors [1:36]; a DS[2]-tuple is of size three which is any of the three consecutive conductors such as [101:103], [104:106], etc. of the I[1] number of conductors [101:136].
FIG. 1B illustrates one embodiment of the switch couplings between the next two levels of conductors of the 2-SN embodiment of FIG. 1A; the first level of conductors of I[1] number of conductors selectively couple to each of the D[2]=3 sets of conductors of I[2]=36 number of conductors where each of the D[2] sets has twelve conductors: [141:152], [153:164] and [165:176]. Again, not every conductors of I[2] of FIG. 1B are labeled and they are assumed to be consecutively labeled; thus the I[1] number of conductors [101:136] selectively couple to each of the D[2] sets of twelve conductors: [141:152], [153:164] and [165:176] through, respectively, I[1]=36 number of switches. Since L=2, D[3]=D[L+1]=Πj=[1:L]D[j]=6 and DS[3]=(I[2]/I[3])×D[3]=6, each of the six consecutively labeled conductors of I[2] of FIG. 1B such as [141:146], [147:152], etc. would be a DS[3]-tuple.
FIG. 1C illustrates one embodiment of the switch couplings between the last two levels of conductors of the 2-SN embodiment of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B; the second level of conductors of I[2] number of conductors selectively couple to each of the D[3]=6 sets of conductors of I[3]=36 number of conductors where each of the D[3] sets has six conductors: [181:186], [187:192], [193:198], [199:204], [205:210] and [211:216]. Again, not every conductors of I[3] of FIG. 1C are labeled and they are assumed to be consecutively labeled; thus the I[2] number of conductors [141:176] selectively couple to each of the D[3] sets of six conductors: [181:186], [187:192], [193:198], [199:204], [205:210] and [211:216] through, respectively, I[2]=36 number of switches.
It is readily observed that any of the conventional L-SN described above can be drawn such that the DS[i] number of conductors of each DS[i]-tuple can be logically labeled as being consecutive for i=[1:L+1] as illustrated in FIG. 1A through FIG. 1C.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1B, assuming conductor or net 101 carries signal connection specification (1, 2) indicating destination connection specifications to F1 and F2 modules of FIG. 1C of the L-SN, net 102 has connection specifications of (2, 3), net 103 has connection specifications of (1, 3), net 104 has connection specifications of (1), net 105 has connection specifications of (3) and net 106 has connection specifications of (2, 3); the six nets [101:106], or the two DS[i]-tuples {[101:103], [104:106]}, has a total of ten connections to the pins of the [F1:FK] modules with three connections to F1, three connections to F2 and four connections to F3. At most nine connections can be made in the 2-SN example of FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, illustrated by the blackened squares indicating activating the switches connecting the conductors where one of the connection specifications (3), connecting to a pin of F3, of net 106 can not be made in the six nets example illustrated in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C.
Specifically, in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, net 101 connects to 141 which then connects to 181 of F1 and 187 of F2 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares, net 102 connects to 153 which then connects to 189 of F2 and 195 of F3 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares, net 103 connects to 165 which then connects to 185 of F1 and 197 of F3 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares, net 104 connects to 154 which then connects to 183 of F1 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares, net 105 connects to 142 which then connects to 193 of F3 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares, net 106 connects to 166 which then connects to 191 of F2 through the respective switches indicated by the blackened squares while the connection to F3 of net 106 can not be completed.
Thus generally the six conductors [101:106] of the (i−1)-th level of conductors can be considered as "source-conductors" or the two DS[i]-tuples {[101:103], [104:106]}can be considered as "source-tuples" where the "source-conductors" or the "source-tuples" selectively couple to six conductors of the i-th level of conductors (141, 142, 153, 154, 165, 166) where those conductors can be considered as the "coupling-conductors" for i=2 in FIG. 1B.
The six nets routing example illustrated using FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C with one pin connection left un-routed can be resolved if the connection specifications are not congested together: this can either be accomplished by changing the switch coupling patterns between two consecutive levels of conductors different from the L-SN constructs or by managing the distributions upstream to prevent locally skewed congestions downstream.

Permutable switching network with enhanced multicasting signals routing for interconnection fabric


A hip joint prosthesis having a retainer for a modular bearing in an acetabular cup and also having a bearing extraction member mounted in the cup for removal of a primary bearing. One embodiment of the bearing extraction member is a plug which is located in a hole provided in the acetabular cup and which is covered by a polyethylene bearing directly molded into the cup. The plug is an internally threaded plug with a convex head and is adapted to be pulled out of its resting position in the cup with the aid of an extraction tool such that the head of the plug exerts a removal force on the molded polyethylene bearing, causing it to disengage from the cup.

This invention relates to surgically implantable hip joint prostheses and, more particularly, to a hip joint prosthesis that combines advantages of modular and nonmodular prostheses.
Artificial joints of the human body, including in particular knee and hip joints, have been available for 50 years or more and have been the subject of intense development for at least the last 20 years. The earliest designs provided metal-to-bone or metal-to-metal contact between the articulating surfaces of a joint. Friction and wear were significantly reduced in subsequent designs by the introduction of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as a load-bearing surface. For example, a typical hip joint prosthesis has an acetabular cup or shell lined with a polyethylene load-bearing surface which is designed to contact a rounded femoral head made of metal.
A number of different methods of securing a polyethylene liner or bearing in an acetabular cup have been developed over the years, as exemplified by the following patents which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties:
There are two general types of prosthetic components: modular and nonmodular. A nonmodular prosthesis has a bearing secured to a base, e.g., an acetabular cup, during fabrication in the factory, typically by direct compression molding. A modular prosthesis has a prefabricated bearing designed to be attached to the base during surgery.
A modular prosthesis has several advantages over nonmodular prostheses, one of which is that an assortment of different prostheses, i.e., different base/bearing combinations, can be created in the operating room from a small inventory of separate bases and bearings of various sizes, shapes and other characteristics. With a modular prosthesis, an orthopedic surgeon can implant an appropriate base for the patient and then fit the patient with several trial bearings in the process of selecting an appropriate primary bearing to attach to the implanted base. Modular bearings are often readily removable, and in such cases they have the further advantage of facilitating revision surgery, which may become necessary in cases of traumatic injury or bearing surface wear, by enabling replacement of the bearing without removing the base.
There are also advantages to a nonmodular prosthesis construction, such as design simplicity due to the absence of a need for a retaining mechanism for a removable bearing, and relatively low cost. An even more significant advantage is that a nonmodular component is virtually immune to micromotion at the interface between the bearing and the base.
Micromotion is very difficult to avoid with modular components due to the typical need for clearances between bearing and base to ensure that they fit together during assembly in the operating room. A very secure locking method may avoid the problem, but nonmodular fabrication of the prosthesis, e.g., direct compression molding of a bearing onto a base, avoids the issue. Unfortunately, a nonmodular prosthesis has heretofore made revision surgery more difficult in that the entire prosthetic component must be removed and replaced. In addition to the extra operating time involved and extraction tools required. such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,985 to McKay, removal and replacement of the base requires sacrificing the existing fixation to the bone and has associated complications, including possible bone loss or fracture and the difficulty of reestablishing solid fixation. Nevertheless, it is conventional wisdom regarding a nonmodular prosthesis that the bearing component cannot be changed without changing the base component.
The present invention combines advantages of modular and nonmodular designs by providing a hip joint prosthesis with an integral bearing extraction member for extraction of a bearing from an implanted acetabular cup without disturbing the implanted cup. An extraction member according to the principles of the invention may be implanted as part of an acetabular cup assembly having a modular bearing to facilitate removal of the modular bearing, but is especially useful as part of a nonmodular prosthesis whereby the prosthesis is made convertible in vivo from a nonmodular device to a modular device.
According to one aspect of the invention, the prosthesis includes an acetabular cup having a retainer for a modular bearing, a primary bearing directly molded to the cup, and implantable means for removing the molded primary bearing from the acetabular cup substantially in one piece without disturbing the acetabular cup. A retainer as that term is used herein is a part of the base, i.e., the acetabular cup, that is capable, alone or in conjunction with an auxiliary element or elements, of retaining a modular bearing in place on the base. It may be formed on the base as a one-piece or multi-piece retainer.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a bearing extraction member is mounted in an acetabular cup in contact with a primary bearing as a part of the prosthesis designed to be actuated during revision surgery. Upon actuation, the bearing extraction member forces the primary bearing out of the acetabular cup, after which the primary bearing and extraction member are removed and replaced by a modular bearing. In some cases, conversion to a modular device would be a desirable option even during the primary surgery. It is routine for surgeons to check the patient""s range of motion before and after cementing or otherwise permanently affixing a prosthesis of a chosen size in the patient""s acetabulum. With a nonmodular prosthesis the surgeon has little recourse but to dislodge the complete prosthesis and remove it and any associated cement if the final range-of-motion check is unsatisfactory. The present invention provides a desirable alternative.
A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved surgically implantable joint prosthesis.
Another object of the present invention is to provide advantages of a nonmodular joint prosthesis, including the virtual absence of micromotion, and yet allow a surgeon performing revision surgery to replace a primary bearing without disturbing the base member and thereby jeopardizing fixation.
Another object of the invention is to extend the lifetime of an artificial joint.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hip joint prosthesis with integral bearing extraction member


A water treatment process whereby heat is used and recaptured to pasteurize water and or sewage effluent. Contaminated waters are partially treatable utilizing bacterial and chemical processes; however some bacteria (e.g. Cryptosporidium and Giardia) are resistant to chemicals. The present process raises the temperature of the water to a desired pasteurization temperature and for a corresponding required length of time to destroy pathogens and viruses. A heat exchanger is employed to use the waste heat from the pasteurization tank to pre-heat the fluid entering the tank. After the initial heating of the tank, the pre-heating reduces the required heat to maintain the temperature of the tank. Make-up heat increases the temperature within a small temperature range. The make-up heat may be waste heat from a separate process.

Planet Earth should be our most prized possession, however, each and every day our waters are being polluted with industrial wastes and sewage.
Cities and towns, when economically feasible, do employ primary and secondary waste water treatment methods, however, the effluent from these methods may still contain viruses and pathogens that contaminate surface or subsurface waters.
Specifically:
1. It is estimated that at least 10,000 people per day die from the most basic water-borne diseases.
2. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada have tested and confirmed that in excess of 100 water systems in Northern Canada have potential health and safety concerns.
3. The British Columbia Waste Water Association estimates that 20% of 250,000 on-site sewage and disposal systems in British Columbia are failing.
4. It was discovered in 2003 that sewage contains and spreads the SARS and West Nile Virus.
5. A recent Canadian health report claims "Cancer" will strike 41% of Canadian males and 38% of Canadian females. Studies have shown that chemicals like chlorine which are used to disinfect water interact with organic materials to form carcinogenic chemicals know as Trihalomethanes.
6. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has recently identified more than 200 disinfection by-products from: Chlorine, Ozone, Chlorine Dioxide and Chloramines that may pose health risks.
7. In British Columbia, there are at least 100 "Boil Advisories" any day of the year.
What is therefore desired is a novel fluid pasteurization treatment apparatus and process which uses considerably less energy during the pasteurization process by utilizing what would otherwise be waste heat, among other advantages and innovations to implement the process according to the present invention as better set out below.


A connecting device for connecting a first item having a connecting mechanism and a second item having a second connecting means for use when the first item connecting means is incompatibly mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable with the second item connecting mechanism. The connecting device comprises a sheet having a first edge and a second opposed edge. A first connection mechanism is secured to the first edge for connecting it to a mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanism with the second item connection mechanism. A second connection mechanism is secured to the second edge of the first sheet member for connecting the second edge of the sheet to the second item connection mechanism, so that the first connection mechanism matches the first item connection mechanism and the second connection mechanism compatibly matches, operates, functions or is otherwise connectable with the second item connector mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device for connecting mismatched, inoperative, non fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms, and, more particularly, it relates to a connector device which allows a user to connect together items having mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms, such as zippers, snaps, buttons, hook and loop connector systems, hooks, grommets, buckles and equivalent connector systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many items, such as tarps, tents, awnings, sleeping bags, garments, etc., utilize various connection mechanisms, such as zippers, snaps, buttons, hook and loop connector systems, hooks, grommets, buckles and equivalent connector systems, for connecting the items to each other. Oftentimes, it is necessary or desirable to connect together items having mismatched or inoperative connecting mechanisms. Although a separate fastening mechanism, such as tape, thread, staples, and equivalent fastening systems can be used to bypass the mismatched or inoperative connecting mechanisms, it is may not be possible to connect these items together using the connection mechanisms provided with the items. Unfortunately, using such separate fastening mechanisms is time consuming, often irreversible and expensive so that many items with mismatched or inoperative connecting mechanisms are simply discarded.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a connector device for connecting together items having mismatched or inoperative connecting mechanisms. Additionally, a need exists for a connector device for connecting together items, which device connects together a variety of items having a variety of connection mechanisms. Furthermore, there exists a need for a connector device for connecting items together which is easy to use, inexpensive to produce, and avoids waste.
The present invention is a connector device for connecting together a first item having a first item connecting mechanism and a second item having a second item connecting mechanism, wherein the connecting mechanisms have mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms. In general, the connecting device comprises a first sheet member having a first side and a second side substantially opposite the first side, and having a first edge and a second edge substantially opposite the first edge. A first connection means is secured to the first edge of the first sheet member for connecting the first edge of the first sheet member to the first item connection mechanism. A second connection mechanism is secured to the second edge of the first sheet member for connecting the second side of the first sheet member to the second item connection mechanism. The first connection mechanism compatibly matches the first item connection mechanism and the second connection means either compatibly matches the second item connection mechanism, or otherwise overcomes the inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms.
The present invention further includes a connection assembly for connecting together items having mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms. The connection assembly comprises a first connection mechanism securable to a first connector and a second connection mechanism spaced from the first connection mechanism, the second connection mechanism securable to a second connector on a second item to overcome problems due to the first connector being mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms
The present invention still further includes a method for joining together at least a first item having a first item connector and a second item having a second item connector with the first item connector being incompatibly mismatched, inoperative, non-fully functioning or otherwise unconnectable connection mechanisms with the second item connector. The method comprises providing a first sheet member having a first side and a second side substantially opposite the first side, and having a first edge and a second edge substantially opposite the first edge, securing a first connection mechanism to the first edge of the first sheet member, the first connection mechanism compatibly or operatively matching the first item connector, connecting the first connection mechanism to the first item connector, securing a second connection mechanism to the second edge of the first sheet member, the second connection mechanism compatibly or operatively matching the second item connector, and connecting the second connection mechanism to the second item connector.

Connector device for connecting together items having mismatched or inoperative connection mechanisms


A system, apparatus, and method in which an induction head is used to impinge an electromagnetic force field on a molten metal bead to shape same, e.g., to flatten same.

A welding operation is often used to fuse two materials together, typically two workpieces or two portions of a workpiece. A filler material in the form of a consumable electrode or a filler wire is often added to the joint to form a pool of molten material. During a welding operation, particularly when the weld is elongated due to relative travel of a torch along a joint, a weld bead may be formed. In general, a weld bead refers to a deposit that is made during a single welding pass.
A cladding operation involves the deposition of metal on a workpiece, and similarly a bead may be formed.
An additive manufacturing operation is similar to the cladding process, but generally refers to a process of layering deposits of material, e.g., metal, to form a three-dimensional structure. This is also referred to as 3-D manufacturing or printing.
All three of these operations can be referred to generically as a metalworking operation.
In fillet welding, when a horizontal weld is performed, the bottom toe angle and radius of the bead can become sharper than the top angle due to gravitational forces on the bead. When a vertical weld is performed, the molten metal has a tendency to flow down the weld line, also due to gravity, and this can create unwanted shaping of the weld.
When pipe welding a horizontal pipe from about the 4:00 o'clock position to about the 8:00 o'clock position, the same gravitational forces cause the molten bead to droop out of the weld.
In FIG. 1A, there is illustrated in cross section a horizontal fillet weld so as to illustrate the various portions of the weld. As illustrated, the weld includes a fusion zone where the filler and workpiece materials fuse together. As measured from a root of the weld, there is a difference between the actual throat of the weld and theoretical throat of the weld. This difference is reflected as a mounding of on the top of the weld. This mounding also creates toes between the original surfaces of the workpieces and the surface of the excess mound of bead material. These toes include toe angles that can be measured.
As illustrated in FIG. 1B, similar mounding can occur in horizontal groove welds.
FIG. 2, illustrates how the stress concentration at the toes of a weld would increase with decreasing toe angles. It can be seen that the stress concentration factor greatly increases exponentially as the fillet radius/thickness decreases.
In some instances, a machining process may be performed after a welding operation to further improve the weld. For example, a machining process involving rotary burr grinders or disc grinders may be performed to reduce certain stress concentrations of the weld. Additionally or alternatively, peening, tungsten inert gas (TIG) dressing, plasma dressing, laser welding, and/or any similar machining may be performed on the weld.
However, these machining processes are often difficult to control with respect to the weld. In addition, these processes take a considerable amount of time to achieve the desired result, thereby decreasing productivity. Also, some of these machining processes, such as grinding, may result in sparks, dust, and/or other debris, which may create a hazardous environment.
Further, there is known the problem of "humping" which occurs at high welding speeds. This includes a periodic undulation in the weld bead profile. The occurrence of humping limits the range of usable welding speeds in most fusion welding processes and can prevent increases in productivity in a welding operation. See, e.g., T. C. Nguyen, et al. "The humping phenomenon during high speed gas metal arc welding," Science and Technology of Welding and Joining (2005), Vol. 10, No. 4, pp 447-459.


A storage tank with a full-contact floating roof is provided with automatic drains that have drain openings that are elevated above the top surface of the deck of the roof. Tilting mechanisms are used to tilt the deck toward the drains, causing liquid on the deck surface to pool at the drains, rising to the level of the drain openings. Cables connected to elevated portions of the tank can be used to tilt the deck from above, and landing supports can be used to tilt the deck from below.

This invention relates generally to large-scale liquid storage tanks, and more particularly to full-contact, floating-roof storage tanks used for storing liquids at atmospheric pressures. Such tanks, which sometimes include a separate, fixed roof, commonly range from 15′ to 400′ or more in diameter, holding up to 1.5 million barrels of liquid or more.
Vapor control is often an issue. Vapors escaping from stored hydrocarbon-based liquids can present a health, safety, or fire hazard. Vapors escaping from flammable liquids can form an explosive mixture with air. Other liquids, particularly those containing sulfur, have an objectionable odor when allowed to freely evaporate. Consequently, efforts are often made to minimize evaporation losses in storage tanks.
A floating roof is a buoyant structure that floats on the liquid surface, limiting evaporation. An "internal" floating roof is used inside a tank with a separate, fixed roof. An "external" floating roof is used in a tank that has no fixed roof. In addition to reducing evaporation losses, floating roofs also keep weather and airborne contaminants out of the stored product.
There are different types of floating roofs. A vapor-space roof typically has buoyant members that support a deck above the liquid surface. For example, some floating roofs have a relatively thin aluminum deck that is supported by members that float on the surface of the stored product, leaving several inches of vapor space between the surface of the liquid and the deck. The space is useful because aluminum decks are more subject to leaking than welded steel decks. The distance from the top of the roof to the bottom of the buoyant members can be relatively large, on the order of 12 inches or more. One problem with this arrangement is that the stored product often leaks into the floating members, and is difficult to remove without supporting the floating roof from a fixed roof that has been designed for this additional load.
Full-contact floating roofs, on the other hand, leave no space between the deck and the surface of the product. They are designed to float on the surface of the product.
In a typical floating-roof tank, the shell of the tank is cylindrical and the roof floats upon the surface of the liquid product stored in the tank, rising or falling within the tank as liquid product is pumped in or drawn out. To allow space for inlet or outlet piping or internal process structures, and to make it easier to perform maintenance work on either the floor of the tank or the bottom of the floating roof, structure is generally provided to keep the roof suspended off the floor when the tank is completely emptied.
Sometimes this suspending structure takes the form of supports that maintain the roof at a low level. These supports can be fixed or adjustable. Fixed supports provide limited maintenance accessibility and decrease the useable tank volume. Manually-adjustable supports impose less limitation, but generally require personnel to enter a confined, potentially dangerous space to adjust the settings of the supports. They also add more weight to the floating roof and create potential emission pathways.
Supporting a floating roof from a fixed roof or providing remotely-activatable bottom supports would allow the position of a floating roof to be adjustable from the outside. However, the cost of such arrangements has generally been prohibitive on full-contact roofs.
The fact that liquid product sometimes collects on the deck of the floating roof contributes to the high cost. If too much liquid reaches the top of the deck, it can imbalance the roof and cause it to sink. Recovery of a sunken roof can be expensive and time-consuming, and is a safety hazard. The added weight of liquid on the deck must also be factored into design considerations. The roof itself and the supporting structure must be strong enough to withstand the load of trapped liquid when the roof is in a suspended position. (U.S. standards and regulations today require designers to assume a live load of 12.5 psf on the floating roof.) These requirements have generally led to heavy roofs which, in turn, have led those skilled in the art away from idea of trying to suspend a full-contact floating roof from either a fixed roof or from the shell of the tank.
With vapor-space roofs, the problem of liquid on the top of the deck is sometimes solved by providing drain openings in the deck. However, conventional drain openings are not practical on full-contact floating roofs because the top surface of the deck is generally below the surface level of the stored product, and the stored product would tend to flow up through the drains onto the deck.

Storage tank with self-draining full-contact floating roof


An improved carburetor useful for reducing emissions of small gasoline powered engines commonly used to power lawnmowers and the like has a bypass air inlet and valve for venting amounts of fresh air into the fuel/air mixture to lean the mixture prior to combustion. The enleanment of the fuel/air mixture reduces carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions. The valve lags the engine load condition such that during a sudden high load condition (e.g. during acceleration) the valve remains momentarily closed to provide a rich fuel/air mixture. Likewise, during a sudden lightened load condition (e.g. during deceleration or shutoff) the valve remains momentarily open to provide a lean fuel/air mixture. Hence, emissions are reduced while engine performance and response are not compromised. In the preferred embodiment, a mechanical linkage connects the bypass air valve to the engine throttle. The lagging function is controlled by a mechanical or electrical damper. In an alternate embodiment, the lagging bypass valve is controlled according to engine temperature which inherently lags the current engine load condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to emissions control for small four-cycle gasoline engines and, more particularly, to an improved carburation device which greatly reduces emissions while maintaining acceptable levels of performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Emissions from gasoline engines is a major air pollution problem. California has been a leader in enacting regulations aimed at reducing gasoline engine emissions. Until very recently, most of these regulations have been targeted towards automobile emissions. However, small gasoline engines commonly used to power lawn-mowers, emergency generators, and the like, have now been recognized as significant contributors of harmful emissions. Accordingly, California has passed emissions regulations which are estimated to effect about 500,000 small four-cycle engines by the beginning of 1994. Other states as well as the EPA nationally are expected to follow suit in due course.
Typical automobile emission reduction systems include catalytic converters and fuel control systems. In recent years, computer controlled fuel injection systems have largely replaced conventional carburetors in most automobiles. Unfortunately, the price and complexity of such systems make them impractical for small engine adaptation.
When a cold engine is first started, a richer mixture is required to insure stable combustion until fuel vaporization improves. Simplified temperature driven automatic chokes, similar to the type once used in automobiles, have been tried on small engines. However, these implementations have been unsuccessful due to the difficulty of providing a uniformly rich mixture over a wide range of operating conditions. For example, a simple automatic choke (or manual choke) will tend to flood the engine with excess fuel if the throttle is opened too wide for the current choke setting. In order to avoid these problems, many small engines today use a choke or primer to briefly supply extra fuel for easy starting and tune the carburetor fuel/air mixture rich. Unfortunately, the carburetor remains tuned rich after warm-up and continues to supply excess fuel throughout the operation and subsequently results in very high emissions. Additionally, when the throttle is closed suddenly, the fuel supply is momentarily too great. This excess fuel causes a large excursion in carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, and sometimes cause rich misfire.
In order to reduce HC and CO emissions a leaner fuel/air mixture for the current load condition is desired. One way to achieve this result is to use a smaller carburetor jet to lean the mixture. Leaning the mixture in this manner decreases emissions but also introduces several new problems. The choke function must be improved to compensate and allow smooth running during warm-up. Throttle response (or response to an increased load) suffers because the existing carburetors have no acceleration enrichment mechanism other than using a rich mixture at all times. Also, the leaner mixture may not provide the fuel cooling needed under high load conditions to prevent engine overheating.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,568,437 to Briggs and 4,483,309 to Norman et al. disclose internal combustion engine carburetors which are designed to reduce emissions by leaning the fuel/air mixture with fresh air using a bypass air inlet with valve mechanically linked to the throttle. As the throttle is opened wider, the bypass valve is also opened wider to vent ambient air to lean the mixture. This reduces emissions, but performance suffers. When the throttle is suddenly opened, such as during acceleration, the bypass valve also opens resulting in a fuel/air mixture which is too lean for suitable acceleration response. Additionally, if the throttle is suddenly closed, the instant depravation of ambient air will cause the mixture to become too rich causing excess emissions and possible misfires.

Carburetor with lagging bypass air valve


A multi-view autostereoscopic display apparatus with improved resolution, includes: a display panel alternately displaying a plurality of images of different view points; an image separating device for separating the plurality of images such that the separated images can be alternately observed in different viewing zones; and a directional backlight unit switched between a plurality of different angular distributions of illumination to selectively provide light to the display panel, wherein the directional backlight unit is switched between the plurality of different angular distributions of illumination in synchronization with an image display period of the display panel.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a multi-view autostereoscopic display apparatus and, more particularly, to a multi-view autostereoscopic display apparatus with improved resolution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Autostereoscopic display apparatuses produce a left eye image and a right eye image having a binocular parallax and separately direct the left and right eye images to a left eye and a right eye, respectively. The user recognizes the left eye image and the right eye image provided by the autostereoscopic display apparatuses through the retinas of the corresponding eyes and thus can see a stereoscopic image. In general, autostereoscopic display apparatuses can be roughly classified into a parallax barrier type and a lenticular type.
FIG. 1 shows schematically a related art parallax barrier type autostereoscopic display apparatus 10 including a backlight unit 11, a display panel 12, and a parallax barrier 14. First and second images are displayed on alternating vertical pixels 13 of the display panel 12 and separated by the parallax barrier 14 having vertical narrow slits such that a viewer's left and right eyes respectively see the first and second images. That is, the first and second images displayed on the display panel 12 are separately directed by the parallax barrier 14 toward different viewing zones 15a and 15b. When the two eyes are located in different viewing zones 15a and 15b, the first and second images having binocular parallax are distributed to the left and right eyes such that the two eyes receive the images of different view points to see a stereoscopic image.
A lenticular type autostereoscopic display apparatus using a lenticular lens sheet composed of vertical microlenses produces a stereoscopic image based on the same principle as that of the parallax barrier type autostereoscopic display apparatus of FIG. 1. A stereoscopic image, displayed with the related art parallax barrier type autostereoscopic display apparatus of FIG. 1 or the related art lenticular type autostereoscopic display apparatus, can be seen by several viewers simultaneously. However, the related art autostereoscopic display apparatuses have a problem in that the horizontal resolution of the stereoscopic image appears two times less than the original panel resolution. The related art autostereoscopic display apparatuses have another problem in that the viewer's head needs to be kept horizontally within a narrow zone of about ±3 cm to see a correct stereoscopic image. For example, the viewer's left eye should be located in a second viewing zone 15b and the viewer's right eye should be located in a first viewing zone 15a in FIG. 1. If the left eye is located in a first viewing zone 15a and the right eye is located in a second viewing zone 15b due to his or her slight movement, he or she sees the images in reversed perspective.
FIG. 2 shows schematically a related art 4-view autostereoscopic display apparatus 20 with an improved degree of freedom. Referring to FIG. 2, the multi-view autostereoscopic display apparatus 20 includes a backlight unit 21, a display panel 22, and a parallax barrier 24. While the autostereoscopic display apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 is configured such that each slit of the parallax barrier 14 covers two pixels 13, the multi-view autostereoscopic display apparatus 20 of FIG. 2 is configured such that each slit of the parallax barrier 24 covers four pixels 23. Also, the pixels 23 of the display panel 22 alternately and vertically display first through fourth images of slightly different view points, unlike the pixels 13 of the display panel 12.
Then, referring to FIG. 2, four viewing zones 25a through 25d are repetitively formed in a horizontal direction at a viewing distance in front of the display panel 23. In this case, the viewer's left and right eyes may be respectively located in third and fourth viewing zones 15c and 15d, second and third viewing zones 15b and 15c, or first and second viewing zones 15a and 15c. Accordingly, as the viewer moves from side to side, he or she may see images with slightly changed view points. However, if the viewer's left and right eyes are respectively located in the fourth and first viewing zones 15d and 15a, he or she sees the images in reversed perspective. Such discontinuity features can be solved by increasing the number of view points. However, the greater is the number of view points, the lower is the horizontal resolution. For example, in the 4-view autostereoscopic display apparatus of FIG. 2, horizontal resolution is 4 times lower than the original resolution. In an 8-view autostereoscopic display apparatus, horizontal resolution is 8 times lower than the original resolution.

Multi-view autostereoscopic display with improved resolution