A backlash preventing structure for a steering column is provided for reducing the cost by reducing the number of parts and improving the ease of assembly, and for preventing hammering noise. The steering column has a cylindrical movable jacket slidably fitted into an outer cylindrical housing, the outer cylindrical housing having three holes formed therethrough in an axial direction, a steering shaft swingably disposed within the movable jacket, and a steering wheel secured to one end of the steering shaft. The backlash preventing structure, which prevents backlash of the movable jacket against the outer cylindrical housing, comprises a pair of press members each fitted into a left or a right side hole of the outer cylindrical housing, and a leaf spring fixed to the outer cylindrical housing with a screw screwed into a central hole of the outer cylindrical housing for urging the press members onto an outer peripheral surface of the movable jacket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlash preventing structure for a steering column which is equipped in an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
A steering column, which is a device for changing the direction in which an automobile runs, may permit a driver to adjust a steering wheel by tilting the steering wheel in the vertical direction and moving up or down the steering wheel along a steering shaft in order for the driver to ensure an optimal driving posture for his physical constitution.
However, in such a steering column, backlash in a telescopically movable structure would not only give unpleasant feeling to a driver who manipulates a steering wheel, but also cause a degradation in a steering wheel supporting rigidity, so that vibrations of the engine, vibrations of the chassis, when running on an irregular ground, and the like would cause the steering wheel to vibrate, thus spoiling manipulation feeling of the driver, and reducing the commercial value of the automobile itself.
The applicant has therefore proposed a structure for preventing the foregoing backlash (see Laid-open Japanese Utility-Model Registration Application No. 6-74562). The backlash preventing structure is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.
FIG. 8 is a lateral sectional view of the conventional backlash preventing structure, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line C-C in FIG. 8. In these figures, a cylindrical upper jacket 101 is fixed on a chassis, and a cylindrical movable sleeve 102 is slidably fitted on the upper jacket 101. A steering shaft, not shown, is coupled to the movable sleeve 102, and a steering wheel, not shown, is securely connected to one end of the steering shaft.
A square window hole 102a is formed through the top of the movable sleeve 102, and a rectangular plate 103 is fitted into the window hole 102a. The plate 103 has an inner surface formed in an arcuate shape which is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the upper jacket 101. A protrusion 103a is formed at the center of the inner surface of the plate 103. Then, the protrusion 103a is fitted into an elongated hole 101a of the upper jacket 101, which is formed long in a direction in which it slides, thereby preventing the movable sleeve 102 from rotating and limiting the stroke of the movable sleeve 102.
On the top of the plate 103, a pair of press members 104 are spaced apart from each other, and are urged in directions opposite to each other by a spring 105 interposed between the press members 104. These press members 104 and spring 105 are housed in a cover 106 which is attached to a pair of seats 102b integrally implanted on the edge of the window hole 102a of the movable sleeve 102 with screws 107.
Here, the top of each press member 104 is formed into a tapered surface 104a which is in contact with a tapered region 106a of the cover 106.
Thus, the foregoing plate 103, press members 104, spring 105, cover 106, and screws 107 make up the backlash preventing structure. According to this backlash preventing structure, since the two press members 104 are urged in the directions opposite to each other by the spring 105, the press members 104 act to press the plate 103 onto the upper jacket 101 through a wedging action made by the tapered surface 104a in contact with the tapered region of the cover 106, thus preventing backlash of the movable sleeve 102 with respect to the upper jacket 101.
However, since the foregoing backlash preventing structure requires a total of seven parts, i.e., one plate 103, two press members 107, one spring 105, one cover 106, and two screws 107, these parts cause an increase in cost. Also, since the assembly of the backlash preventing structure involves mounting the two pressing members 104 with the spring 105 kept in a compressed state, dedicated assembling tools must be provided, thus implying a problem with respect to the ease of the assembly of the backlash preventing structure.
Also, the fixation of the plate 103 in the axial direction depends on a frictional force resulting from the urging force of the spring 105, and in principle, the plate 103 is permitted to move in the axial direction, so that during a telescopic operation (a sliding operation of the movable sleeve 102 along the steering shaft), the plate 103 can move in the axial direction to generate hammering noise with the movable sleeve 102.

Backlash preventing structure for steering column


A method to heat a stator bar and clip assembly in a brazing chamber including: placing the stator bar and clip assembly in the brazing chamber, wherein the assembly is seated in a heating coil; positioning a conductive mass between a press and the stator bar and clip; applying the press to the assembly while the assembly is seated in the coil; heating the stator bar and clip by applying energy to the coil; brazing the stator bar to the clip with the heat from the coil, and removing the press and cooling the brazed clip.

The present invention relates to brazing the ends of large stator bars that are used in power and industrial generators, positioning these bars in a brazing station, and fitting header clips to the bars during assembly.
Stator bars are typically large, long and heavy, e.g., 35 feet long and hundreds of pounds (lbs.). The bars are generally straight and extend the length of a stator. When seated in a stator, the straight sections of the stator bars form a cylindrical array around a rotor. The ends of the stator bars extend axially from opposite ends of the stator. The end portion of the stator bars extend from the stator and are curved to form end turns. The ends of stator bars are connected through copper or stainless steel fittings and water-cooled connections to form continuous hydraulic winding circuits.
Each water-cooled stator bar comprises an array of small rectangular solid and hollow copper strands. The array of copper strands in each bar are generally arranged in a rectangular bundle. The hollow strands each have an internal duct for conducting coolant through the bar. The ends of the bars are each connected to a hydraulic header clip.
The hydraulic header clip serves as an electrical and a cooling flow connection for the armature winding bar. The hydraulic header clip is a hollow connector that includes an enclosed chamber for ingress or egress of a cooling liquid, typically deionized water. At one open end, the clip encloses the ends of the copper strands of the armature winding bar. A braze alloy bonds the end sections of the strands to each other and to the hydraulic header clip. The ends of the solid and hollow strands are brazed to a hydraulic header clip fitted to the end of the stator bar.
The stator bar end and clip assembly must be heated to melt the braze alloy and braze the assembly together. A system and method is needed for applying heat to the clip and stator bar end assembly during the brazing process.

Movable heating method and system having fixed heating source for brazing stator bars


The present invention is directed to a drawframe having a sliver delivery device and a computer part for maintaining a predetermined quality of sliver, wherein there is a predetermined overproduction from a card and/or a drawframe relative to a spinning machine. The arrangement temporarily decreases production to temporarily compensate for the overproductions. The sliver which is produced during the decrease in production may be delivered to a separate can.

The invention relates to a method of maintaining a predetermined quality of a carded sliver produced in a card and/or drafted in a drawframe, the sliver being delivered into a can be a sliver delivery device in a continuous spinning mill process.
The actual spinning machine which produces the yarn end product is of course the costliest machine in the spinning process and is therefore required to operate at maximum efficiency--i.e., to have very short downtimes.
The various machines before and after the spinning machine are therefore so designed performance-wise as to overperform relative to the spinning machine so that the same does not have to wait for the feeding of its feedstock nor for subsequent processing, for example, in a winder.
The overperformance system applies to all the machines involved in the feeding of the feedstock for the spinning machine--i.e., in the blowroom of a spinning mill--viz. as will be described hereinafter with reference to drawings, any machine in the working process has a higher output than the machine immediately following it. This is how the present day machine park in spinning mills has evolved; however, if a blowroom process has to be performed by a machine considerably more expensive than a following machine (excluding the spinning machine), the previous machine may of course have a shorter downtime than the subsequent machine for the sake of economic balance.
These differences in performance can of course be compensated for by buffer stores of product which will vary in size in dependence upon the difference between the performance of the previous stage and the performance of the next stage. Clearly, large buffer stores are undesirable for purely economic reasons and in the course of spinning mill automation systems must be devised throughout from bale opening to end product either to eliminate the known manual intermediate buffer stores or at least so to organize them so that they are automatable.

Maintaining a predetermined quality of sliver in a card and/or drawframe


Disclosed is a polishing fluid for improving surfaces formed by fused deposition molding with ABS, consisting of 30%-40% by weight of polymethyl methacrylate and 60%-70% by weight of a mixture. This application further discloses a method of preparing the polishing fluid by mixing under heating. The polishing fluid provided herein can quickly form a film on surfaces of the workpiece to be processed and fill depressions of the surfaces of the workpiece while dissolving the protrusions on the surfaces to render the surfaces smooth and even.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is the reverse process of tomography, in which a part is manufactured layer by layer. Specifically, filaments are melted and deposited layer by layer, and then the layers are bonded to form a three-dimensional object, which is further processed into components of any complexity. Compared with the traditional molding, the FDM technique not only greatly shortens the processing cycle and lowers the investment cost, but also can manufacture parts with more complex structure, and thus has been applied in a variety of fields. However, the layer-by-layer printing in the additive manufacturing process renders the surface of the manufactured parts step-shaped and uneven, affecting the appearance and use of the parts. It has been found that the unevenness in the surface can be reduced or eliminated by swelling the plastic parts with methyl methacrylate (MMA), thereby improving the surface quality.
There are many methods to polish parts manufactured by fused deposition modeling, enabling the polishing of parts involving different complexities and precision requirements. For example, the polishing treatment can be accomplished by applying a coating onto the surface just like the way of nail-painting or wall-painting, while this method generally involves poor adhesive force and an increase in size. Besides, organic solvents are also often used to polish the parts, such as acetone, ethyl acetate, butanone, dimethylacetamide, xylene, toluene, trichloroethylene, methyl ethyl ketone, methylene chloride, n-propyl bromide and perchloroethylene, where the organic solvent is heated at a high temperature to form steam or prepared into an aqueous solution, and then the steam or the aqueous solution is directly applied to the surfaces of plastic parts to provide a swelling effect, so as to uniformly polish the surfaces of the plastic parts. However, such surface treatment method has long fumigation or immersion time, which may greatly affect physical properties of matrix materials, and the organic solvents used therein are toxic or slightly toxic and volatile, and are prone to explosion after being overheated.

Polishing fluid for improving surfaces formed by fused deposition molding with abs and method of preparing same


A low power packet detector (LPPD) can significantly reduce the average power consumption of WLAN devices. The LPPD takes advantages of 802.11 protocols to turn on and off selected modules of an 802.11 receiver based on the packets on the medium and the decoding stages. The LPPD can be implemented mostly in firmware with minor hardware modifications to existing chips or be implemented in ASIC technology that takes full advantages of the power saving made possible by it.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to a low power packet detector for low power wide local area network (WLAN) devices. The invention is particularly useful and relevant to packet based wireless local area networks such as IEEE 802.11-based networks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wireless LAN chipsets and equipment have seen a rapid ramp up in revenue and market adoption in the last a few years. So far, the WLAN market has been mostly driven in the corporate market by the laptop users for its convenience of untethered connectivity, and driven in the home market for home networking purposes such as sharing of broadband connections among multiple PCs. The main care-abouts for the laptop and home PC users have been throughput, cost, and coverage. Due to the relatively large capacity of a laptop battery and the low expectations from end users (usually 4-5 hours of uninterrupted usage between charges are acceptable performances), power consumption of WLAN systems has been relatively relaxed compared with their brethrens in cellular wireless markets.
As the WLAN market matures and the cost of WLAN systems rapidly decreases, a lot of interest has been generated regarding the incorporation of WLAN capability into portable devices, notably cell phones and PDAs. Most of these portable devices are battery powered, and end users expect at least a few days of continuous use between battery charges. In addition, the WLAN feature, which provides connectivity for the primary applications such as voice, should not significantly reduce the usage time for the primary applications. The rule of thumb is that a new feature should not reduce battery life by more than 20%. Using the example of a 1500 mAh battery and at least 10 hours of active network connections, one could calculate that the average power consumption for WLAN system should be not more than 100 mW. Considering that today's WLAN system typically has a power consumption of around 700 mW during active usage, there is apparently a lot of work left on the power reduction front.
A more careful study of the usage pattern of most PDA/cell phone data services reveals that the network link is dominated by AP to terminal (downlink) traffic. Most popular applications envisioned for WLAN such as web browsing, email downloading, video streaming and entertainment are all dominated by downlink data traffic. An 802.11b BSS, after removing channel access and collision overhead, has a network maximum capacity between 5-7 Mbps. However, most applications including media heavy applications such as video streaming, rarely require a throughput of more than 1 Mbps at individual terminals. However, the 802.11 MAC protocol is based on the CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) contention based channel access mechanism, requiring all contending stations decoding all packets on the medium at all time to synchronize and avoid collisions. The side effect is that each WLAN device would be decoding packets at the network throughput, instead of at the data throughput at each terminal. The overhead in power consumption is phenomenal.
In view of the foregoing observations, it is both desirable and advantageous to provide a method that can significantly reduce the effective power consumption of a WLAN terminal device.

Low power packet detector for low power WLAN devices


An apparatus includes a printed circuit board (PCB) and a first flexible conductive cable (“flex cable”) secured to the PCB. The apparatus also includes a daughter card having an end adjacent to the PCB and a second flex cable secured to the daughter card. The apparatus further includes a connector which provides an electrically conductive connection between the first flex cable and the second flex cable. The connector is positioned to sandwich a portion of the first flex cable between the connector and the PCB.

Most printed circuit boards (PCBs) are constructed of a material like the well-known FR4 material, which has the advantage of being relatively economical to manufacture. FR4 is epoxy-based, with reinforcing glass fibers embedded in the epoxy.
One potential disadvantage of PCBs formed of FR4 is that such boards may not be suitable for implementation of high speed communication links that are expected to come into use in the near future. For example, for signaling in the 5 to 10 Gigabit per second (Gbs) range, or higher, the relatively high dielectric loss that would be occasioned by the FR4 material may make such signaling speeds impractical via traces on an FR4 PCB. It may be contemplated to construct PCBs of alternative materials that provide less dielectric loss, but such alternative materials tend to be quite expensive.
One of the present inventors, and another individual, have proposed that high-speed signaling paths be provided with flexible conductive cables (conventionally, and hereinafter, referred to as "flex cables"). Flex cables can be manufactured economically and of low-loss material. The present inventors now propose techniques to promote convenient assembly of electronic equipment in which flex cables are used to provide high-speed signaling paths.

Technique for blind-mating daughtercard to mainboard


A system and methods for determining whether to participate in reception reporting procedures for an eMBMS service. Multiple applications on a receiver device can consume the same file download or streaming eMBMS service, and can have conflicting opt in/opt out settings for reporting in middleware. Algorithms are provided that take into account the different opt statuses of applications, and allow middleware components to determine whether to log reception metrics for a service and/or whether a reception report should be uploaded after a service session of the service.

One of the features in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard is evolved multimedia broadcast multicast services (eMBMS), which enables broadcast and multicast services over a cellular network. Using LTE eNodeBs, the eMBMS feature allows media content to be distributed once and received by many end users in the same geographic region. In this manner, network operators may be able to increase efficiency when offering media services, for example, real-time streaming or file download services.

System and methods for determining opt in/opt out status of middleware reception reporting for eMBMS services


A baseplate, for use with a bass drum, including a center plate and a pair of wings extending outwardly therefrom. Each wing cradles and is adjustably secured to a lug affixed to a drum shell of a bass drum. A connection plate unitarily constructed with and extending from the center plate includes a terminal end with a lip for adjustably interfacing with a pedal clamp of a drum beater assembly for connecting the drum beater assembly to the bass drum. The pedal clamp is removably connectable to any point along the lip for laterally adjusting the striking point of a beater head onto the bass drum, the bass drum isolated from the pedal clamp for improving the resonance performance thereof, without changing the length of a beater shaft or the feel of the drum beater assembly.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a bass drum. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for a baseplate for use in connecting a drum beater assembly to the bass drum, where the baseplate provides alternative connection points for the drum beater assembly to laterally adjust the striking point of a beater head on the bass drum, where the length of a beater shaft and the distance from the striking point to the drum center are independently adjustable, where the bass drum is isolated from a pedal clamp for improving the resonance performance of the bass drum without changing the length of the beater shaft or the feel of the drum beater assembly.
2. Background Art
Modern drum sets typically include a bass drum and a drum beater assembly for providing a percussion sound background to accompany other instruments during a musical performance. In very general terms, a bass drum includes a cylindrical drum shell typically comprised of plywood and open at each of a pair of ends of the drum shell. Extended over each of the pair of ends of the drum shell is a surface known as a drum head. Each drum head is tensioned and held in position over a bearing edge of the drum shell by a cylindrical drum hoop. The drum hoop traps the material comprising the drum head between the bearing edge of the drum shell and the drum hoop. The drum hoop is typically comprised of metal or wood and is held in position by a plurality of strategically located mechanical clamps each comprising an anchor lug affixed to the drum shell, an attachment claw that grips the distal end of the drum hoop, and a tension rod that connects the attachment claw to the anchor lug. Once properly tensioned and affixed in position, the drum head serves as the surface that is repeatedly struck for producing an acoustic output signal. A pair of spurs or stabilizing legs are affixed to the drum shell for balancing the bass drum during operation.
The typical drum set also includes the drum beater assembly which cooperates with the bass drum for producing the acoustic output signal. In general, the drum beater assembly includes a mounting platform having the rear end of a pedal board hinged thereto. The forward end of the pedal board is attached to a chain that is affixed to and meshes with a toothed gear mounted on a rotating arm. The chain and rotating arm are caused to rotate by applying a downward force to the pedal board and the required applied force is determined by an adjustable spring suspended between the rotating arm and the mounting platform. Mounted to the rotating arm is a beater shaft with a beater head affixed to the distal end of the beater shaft. Upon applying the appropriate downward force to the pedal board, the chain is drawn downward and the toothed gear is caused to rotate while the beater shaft and beater head are thrust forward.
In the conventional prior art bass drum, the drum beater assembly is directly physically connected to the bass drum in the following manner. Positioned on the mounting platform of the drum beater assembly is a pedal clamp which is used to capture the drum hoop of the bass drum. A gap exists between the pedal clamp and the mounting platform which forms a jaw. The size of the jaw is determined by an adjustment knob positioned on the mounting platform. By positioning the jaw of the pedal clamp over the drum hoop and tightening the adjustment knob, the drum beater assembly is directly physically connected to the bass drum. Because of this direct connection, it is noted that a portion of the acoustic output signal generated by striking the drum head of the bass drum is shunted away to the drum beater assembly. This action results in some distortion of the resultant acoustic output signal.
When the beater head is operated and made to strike the drum head of the bass drum, the acoustic output signal is generated. The location at which the beater head impacts the drum head of the bass drum is referred to as the "striking point". The drum head is generally circular in nature and can be viewed as a unit circle having a horizontal x-axis and a vertical y-axis which creates four quadrants. Each of the four quadrants is separated by ninety degrees from each adjacent quadrant which meet at the center of the drum head. That is, the intersection of the horizontal x-axis and the vertical y-axis is the center of the drum head (sometimes referred to as the drum head center). The determination as to which of the four quadrants the beater head strikes the drum head is a function of the x-y coordinates of the striking point. In the conventional bass drum arrangement, the pedal clamp is rigidly attached to the bottom of the curved drum hoop and thus the horizontal x-coordinate of the striking point is essentially fixed and cannot be adjusted. However, the vertical y-coordinate of the striking point can be adjusted by altering the length of the beater shaft. Thus, the range of striking points is limited to the locus of points along the y-axis coordinate (determined by the length of the beater shaft) and the essentially fixed x-axis coordinate (determined by the lowest point on the circumference of the drum hoop that the pedal clamp is rigidly attached to). Further, the x-y coordinates of the striking point of the beater head on the drum head of the bass drum determines the pitch and amplitude of the acoustic output signal.
Certain problems exist in the prior art bass drum connection arrangement to the drum beater assembly. These problems included the following. In the first instance, (1) there was no convenient lateral placement options available for the connection of the drum beater assembly to the bass drum. In the conventional connection arrangement, the pedal clamp of the drum beater assembly was directly connected to the lowest point on the circumference of the drum hoop of the bass drum. Although the pedal clamp was able to be moved somewhat along the bottom circumference of the drum hoop, that movement was limited and the x-axis coordinate was essentially constant. Consequently, the lateral placement options for connection of the drum beater assembly to the bass drum were limited. In order to significantly change the x-y coordinates of the striking point of the beater head on the drum head, the length of the beater shaft had to be adjusted. This adjustment, in effect, modified the y-axis coordinate of the striking point.
Second, (2) in the traditional drum beater assembly-to-bass drum connection arrangement, adjusting the length of the beater shaft inextricably changes the distance from the striking point of the beater head onto the drum head-to-the center of the drum head. Thus, these two parameters (i.e., length of beater shaft and the distance from the striking point-to-the center of the drum head) cannot be adjusted independent of one another in traditional coupler arrangements. Further, this adjustment causes multiple undesirable side affects. For example, it is noted that adjusting the length of the beater shaft affects the feel of the pedal board of the drum beater assembly which is unacceptable to some drum artists. Furthermore, changing the distance from the striking point of the beater head-to-the center of the drum head affects the characteristics of the acoustic output signal generated by the bass drum. In effect, when the length of the beater shaft is adjusted, the y-axis component of the x-y coordinates of the striking point of the beater head is changed. This y-axis modification causes the beater head to strike the drum head at a different location on the drum head which changes the pitch of the acoustic output signal. Third, (3) the drum hoop is often damaged when the pedal clamp of the drum beater assembly is physically attached to the drum hoop of the bass drum. When the jaws of the pedal clamp are clamped down on the drum hoop, the outer surface of the drum hoop is typically damaged. Fourth, (4) the bass drum is typically not mechanically isolated from the drum beater assembly which causes the deterioration of the acoustic output signal. In the absence of adequate mechanical isolation, portions of the acoustic output signal will leak or be transmitted from the bass drum to the supporting structure, e.g., the floor surface, via the drum beater assembly. The loss of a portion of the acoustic output signal in this manner will deteriorate the fidelity of the original generated output signal. Fifth, (5) the distance from the striking point of the drum beater on the drum head-to-the center of the drum head could not be adjusted without changing the "feel of the pedal board" on the drum beater assembly. The lateral adjustment of the drum beater assembly along the horizontal x-axis was very limited. Consequently, the distance from the center of the drum head to the striking point of the drum beater onto the drum head was controlled by adjusting the length of the beater shaft (y-axis). However, adjusting the length of the beater shaft (y-axis) changes the amount of foot pressure that must be applied to operate the pedal board. This changes the "feel of the pedal board" which is sensed by the operator of the bass drum. Unfortunately, these two features were not independently adjustable.
With these inherent problems associated with the bass drum design in mind, reference should be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,370 issued to Yanagisawa on Mar. 10, 1998. Yanagisawa allegedly teaches a hoop clamping system for bass drum assemblies featuring an assembly attached to the foot pedal's floor plate into which the handle bolt is attached and made easily accessible from the side of the pedal. The toe clamp is activated by a pivoting cam, one end of which is under the heel of the toe clamp; the other in contact with the handle bolt. Turning the handle bolt causes the cam to lift or lower the heel of the toe clamp resulting in the desired clamping action. This hoop clamp system provides greater range of travel for the foot board, and substantially improves accessibility to the handle bolt for ease of adjusting the toe clamp. This hoop clamping system further reduces unwanted vibration and lowers manufacturing costs. The Yanagisawa toe clamp 47 is described in column 3 beginning with line 38 and is clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. Further, Yanagisawa FIG. 1 shows a prior art toe clamping mechanism which is briefly discussed at column 1, lines 23-41. It is noted that the prior art hoop clamping structure for a bass drum includes a toe or hoop clamp 71 on a drum pedal device 70. The clamp 71 engages the drum head loop 62 which is provided on the drum body 61 of the bass drum 60. The toe clamp 71 is pivoted by a T-bolt 72 which secures the drum pedal 70 to the bass drum 60. The pedal operated drum beater 73 is supported on a base 74, and the beater 73 is operated by a foot pedal plate 75.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,489 issued to Hoshino on Feb. 9, 1993 discloses a drum hoop clamp structure for use on a drum pedal that includes a pivotable clamp body supported on the drum beater as a pivot base for the clamp body and a clamping jaw rotatably journaled to the clamp body at one side of the clamp body pivot. When the clamp body pivots to move the clamp jaw against the drum hoop, the rotatable clamp jaw rotates with respect to the clamp body to an orientation providing fullest contact between the clamping surface of the clamp jaw and the drum hoop, regardless of the shape of the clampable surface of or the thickness of the drum hoop. FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 disclose the prior art and are described in column 1, lines 10-35. FIG. 5 of Hoshino '489 is identical to the FIG. 1 of the Yanagisawa '370 patent and includes a hoop clamping structure for a bass drum having a hoop clamp 71 on a drum pedal device 70. The hoop lamp 71 engages the drum head hoop 62 which is provided on the drum body 61 of the bass drum 60. The hoop clamp 71 is tightened and then fixed by a T-bolt 72, which secures the drum pedal 70 to the bass drum 60. The pedal operated drum beater is supported on a base 74, and the beater is operated by a pedal plate 75. As shown in prior art FIG. 6, clamping is performed with the tip of the drum head hoop engaging part 79 being raised. FIG. 7 shows the clamping of a thinner drum hoop 64 by tightening the T-bolt 72. In both cases, the engaging part 79 is raised making the connection between the bass drum and the drum pedal unstable.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0005689 A1 by Ito published Jan. 12, 2006 discloses a pedal coupling device. The pedal coupling device includes a body holding frame for holding the body of a bass drum, a base for placement on a supporting surface and coupled to a pedal device, and a bolt, which is a shaft for coupling the base to the body holding frame to be rotatable relative to each other. The base is rotatable between a coupling position at which the base is coupled to the pedal device and a storing position at which the base is located closer to the body. Rotating the base to the storing position when storing or carrying the bass drum enables compact storage of the pedal coupling device. Thus, the pedal coupling device is suitable for storing and carrying the bass drum.
The Ito pedal coupling device 12 as shown in FIGS. 2-3 is disclosed on page 2, right column in paragraph [0027]. The pedal coupling device 12 is formed of a body holding frame 31, which holds the body 2 of the bass drum 1, a base 32, which is located on the floor surface 1a and is coupled to the pedal device 16, and a shaft, which is a bolt 33 in this embodiment. The bolt 33 couples the base 32 and the body holding frame 31 to be rotatable relative to each other. The body holding frame 31 and the base 32 are made of sheet steel. In paragraph [0040], left column on page 4, Ito '689 notes that according to the pedal coupling device 12 of the preferred embodiment, the inclination angle of the bass drum 1 is easily changed by varying the length of the rear legs 11 to be inserted in the body 2. Furthermore, the beating spot of the beater 27 on the front head 3 and the stroke of the beater 27 are easily adjusted in accordance with the inclination angle of the bass drum 1. In paragraph [0044], left column on page 4, Ito '689 notes that the pedal device 16 is stably mounted to the bass drum 1 as compared to the conventional pedal device, which is mounted to the bass drum 1 by clamping the hoop 5. Additionally, in paragraph [0045], left column on page 4, the joint portion 44 on the forward section of the pedal coupling device 12 becomes thicker toward the clamp 17 and is entirely sandwiched by the clamp 17 as shown in FIG. 2. This prevents the pedal coupling device 12 from being separated from the pedal device 16 during a performance. In paragraph [0031] on page 3, lines 1-6, Ito notes that a front leg 51 located on the lower surface of the bottom surface portion 45 contacts the floor surface 1a to support the front portion of the bass drum 1 with the floor surface 1a. The front leg 51 is formed into a columnar shape with rubber material.
The prior art FIG. 7 appearing in the Ito Patent Publication US 2006/0005689 relates to U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,874 issued to Hoshino on May 16, 1989. Hoshino '874 discloses a bass drum support to position the drum beating spot at a desired height, to prevent stress at the connection of the drum to a foot pedal operated drum beater and to minimize transmission of vibration from the drum body to the support and the foot pedal. A front support leg is supported at the center of the front end of the body of the drum through a vibration absorption set, made, for example, of rubber. A pair of rear support legs extend to the rear part of the drum body and are resilient. The lengths of the rear support legs are adjustable. The rear legs are inclined forwardly of the drum body. Clamping of the front end of the drum by the drum beater pedal assembly is avoided.
FIG. 6 of Hoshino '874 is duplicate to the prior art FIG. 7 of Ito Patent Publication US 2006/0005689 A1 and is described in Hoshino '874, column 3, line 58 to column 4, line 11. Hoshino '874 notes that the side view of the bass drum support according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 6. Comparing it with a convention support of FIG. 7, there is no possibility for the metal drum hoop 15 in FIG. 6 to be deformed, or pressed down or sandwiched by the clamp of the foot pedal as in the conventional device. In addition, there is no change in the tuning of the drum which might result from such deformation. In the present drum support, the rear part 11R of the drum body can be held in a comparatively free state by means of the support legs 41, 42. This avoids application of unreasonable force to the drum body and no difficult strains or forces will develop.
Several other prior art designs for connecting the drum beater assembly to the bass drum are also know. They include coupler devices typically known as risers, cradles and hoop attachment devices. In general, a riser device serves to couple a bass drum to a drum beater assembly by lifting one end of the bass drum while relying on the pair of drum spurs (support legs) to lift the opposite end. The top of the riser supports the bass drum either by attaching to the drum hoop or by forming a seat on which the drum shell rests. The bottom of the riser is a connection surface that substitutes for the drum hoop upon which the pedal clamp can grab. All risers make physical contact with the bass drum either on the drum hoop or on the drum shell. A cradle is a device that connects the drum beater assembly to the bass drum by eliminating the pair of spurs (support legs). In effect, the cradle lifts both ends of the bass drum, not just one end of the bass drum like the riser device. A cradle also includes a connection surface upon which the pedal clamp can attach. When using a cradle, the drum beater assembly does not connect to the drum hoop.
Finally, hoop attachment devices are essentially risers that make physical contact with the drum hoop instead of the drum shell of the bass drum. In effect, a hoop attachment device is actually an extension of the drum hoop and thus fails to solve the significant problems associated with the acoustic output signal and the connection interface with the drum beater assembly. Risers that are classified as hoop attachment devices fail to avoid physical contact between the drum beater assembly and the drum hoop. This drum beater assembly-drum hoop contact dampens the resonance of the drum hoop resulting in deteriorating the acoustic output signal of the bass drum. The dampening of the drum resonance also occurs when the surface area of the drum shell is physically contacted. That is, the overall drum resonance is reduced as the amount of external hardware-to-drum shell contact increases, an inverse relationship. Most drum beater assembly-to-bass drum coupling devices do not provide any appreciable lateral adjustability for the drum beater assembly.
Some of these coupler devices include: (1) a riser device by the manufacturer DrumBum which does not provide a stable connection to the bass drum or drum hoop; (2) a home made riser device which also provides an unstable connection to the bass drum; (3) a riser device by the manufacturer Nodar Rode which requires drilling holes into the drum shell; (4) a riser device by the manufacturer Hoshino/Tama which also requires drilling holes into the drum shell and limits lateral drum beater assembly placement options; (5) various hoop attachment devices by various manufacturers including Gibraltar, Mapex, Ludwig, and various homemade designs, each of which limit lateral drum beater assembly placement options, or requires drilling holes in the drum shell, or requires cutting a notch in the drum hoop; and (6) various cradle devices by various manufacturers including (a) DW Drums, and (b) Danmar Percussion, both of which limit the lateral placement options of the drum beater assembly, and are designed for using a drum beater assembly with a non-bass drum.
Other prior art references show a prior art hoop clamping structure which includes a hoop clamp comprising a set of jaws. The space or gap formed in the jaws of the hoop clamp is controlled by a threaded T-bolt. The hoop clamp or set of jaws is used to grasp the lower circumference of the drum hoop of the bass drum. As with the other conventional connection arrangements between the drum beater assembly and the bass drum, the lateral placement options of the drum beater assembly are extremely restricted. Consequently, the horizontal x-axis coordinate of the striking point of the beater head on the drum head is essentially fixed in position and the range of the pitch and amplitude of the acoustic output signal is limited.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a baseplate for use with a bass drum which (1) provides lateral placement options for the connection of the drum beater assembly-to-the bass drum for conveniently repositioning the striking point of the beater head along the horizontal x-axis of the drum head; (2) enables the beater head and the pedal clamp of the drum beater assembly to be laterally adjusted along the x-axis coordinate while the length of the beater shaft and the distance from the striking point of the beater head-to-the center of the drum head are adjustably independent of one another; (3) protects the drum hoop of the bass drum from damage caused by the pedal clamp of the drum beater assembly; (4) isolates the bass drum from the drum beater assembly resulting in improved resonance performance of the bass drum; and (5) enables adjusting the distance from the striking point of the beater head onto the drum head-to-the center of the drum head without changing the "feel of the pedal board" of the drum beater assembly.


A holder for an apparel belt which can be used as both a display holder and as a storage package. When used in either the display mode of the storage mode, the holder protects the belt from being scratched or otherwise physically damaged. The holder has a sleeve with an opening at one end thereof for receiving the strap of the belt, and a sleeve extension attached to the open end of the sleeve which acts as a backdrop for the exposed portion of the belt when the holder is used in its display mode and acts as a cover for the buckle when the holder is used in its storage mode. In the display mode, the holder is hung on a merchandising display rack from an orifice in the free end of the sleeve extension. The sleeve extension has a means for retaining the buckle and a portion of the belt strap outside the sleeve to expose that portion of the belt. In the storage position, the buckle end of the belt is detached from the retaining means on the sleeve extension and the strap is more fully inserted into the sleeve. The sleeve extension is then folded over the top of the buckle and held to the front of the sleeve by a suitable attachment means.

Apparel belts are clothing accessories commonly worn by men, women, and children. The belts are generally threaded through a series of belt loops on a clothing garment, such as a pair of trousers or a skirt, and function to prevent the waist band of the clothing garment from slipping below the waist of the wearer. Belts are also commonly worn as fashion accessories. In many circumstances, a person wears a belt primarily to enhance the visual appeal of his or her apparel.
A conventional belt is comprised of an elongated strap having a series of orifices at one end and a belt buckle affixed to the other end. The belt buckle has a prong for insertion through any one of the orifices. A belt loop is attached to the side edges or the back of the belt strap near the buckle to retain the free end of the belt strap when the belt is buckled. Belt straps are manufactured from a variety of materials; most commonly leather, fabric or plastic. The buckles are conventionally manufactured from metal. There is a significant consumer demand for belts of high quality. These belts may have straps and belt loops manufactured from fine or exotic leathers and belt buckles manufactured from precious or semi-precious metals.
Belts are generally displayed for sale on plastic belt hangers designed to hook onto the rod of a merchandising display rack. The belt buckle is detachably affixed to the hanger in any one of a variety of means and the belt strap depends loosely therefrom. This form of belt display device enables a potential purchaser to remove the belt and hanger from the display rack and, by placing it around his or her waist, verify whether it is the correct size. An example of such a belt hanger is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,741 issued Apr. 9, 1991 (Kolton et al.). One problem with this type of belt hanger is that when a plurality of belts are hung from the same rod of a merchandising display rack, or otherwise displayed in close proximity, there is contact between adjacent belts. When consumers and merchandisers handle the belts, belt buckles and straps may be scratched or otherwise damaged resulting in either the sale of a substandarad product or the inability to sell a defective product. This situation is particularly problematic with high quality belts due to the potential for significant financial loss and the fact that belt straps made from exotic and fine leathers are particularly prone to marring.
Another of the drawbacks with this type of belt hanger is that it provides an insufficient substrate for the provision of information regarding the belt. While plastic belt hangers can normally accommodate a label indicating the size of the belt and, possibly, the brand name, they do not allow for the display of other product information or trade-marks.
It is also known to display belts for sale in clear plastic boxes such as the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,605 issued Jul. 17, 1962 (Clement). While this type of holder protects the belts from damage more effectively than plastic belt hangers do, it does not adequately display the features of the belt. Merchandisers also find that the plastic boxes take up too much space. Furthermore, potential purchasers cannot feel the material from which the belt is constructed or verify whether the belt is the correct size without removing the belt from the box.
In addition to the aforementioned problems in displaying belts, there are also problems which arise from the conventional method of shipping belts from the manufacturer to the merchandiser. Belts are generally shipped from the manufacturer to the merchandiser in boxes. Typically, five to ten belts are formed into a coil and placed in a box. The box may contain one such coil or may contain two or more coils stacked on top of each other. With this method of packaging, there is nothing to protect a belt buckle or a belt strap from being scratched or otherwise marred by the buckle of an adjacent belt. In addition, after having been coiled for a period of time, leather belt straps tend to set in a coiled shape. Thus, once a shipment of belts is received by the merchandiser, the belts must be hung for a period of time to straighten them before they can be put on display. Although higher quality belts may be placed in a plastic or paper sleeve within the box, the plastic or paper sleeves are prone to slip off the belt and thus do not adequately protect it during shipping. Furthermore, if the belt is placed in a plastic or paper sleeve, the sleeve must be removed and discarded once the belt has been received by the merchandiser. The belt must then be installed on some form of hanger for display. Once the belt has been purchased, the sleeve is generally no longer available to cover the belt and it is therefore rolled and placed in a bag or box for the consumer. The form of packaging used by the merchandiser also fails to protect the belt from being scratched or otherwise marred.
Thus, there is a need for a belt holder which can be used to display an apparel belt and at the same time serve to protect it from physical damage. There is also a need for a means to protect apparel belts during shipping and in post-purchase packaging.


In a hinge apparatus for rotatably connecting a first housing and a second housing of an electronic apparatus, the hinge apparatus includes a first rotating portion adapted to be connected to the first housing and a second rotating portion adapted to be connected to the second housing and rotatable with respect to the first rotating portion. The second rotating portion unrotatably holds a switch. A cam member is disposed to face the switch. The cam member is rotatable with respect to the second rotating portion and adapted to be engaged with the second housing in a rotating direction of the hinge apparatus. The switch includes a conductive first contact and a conductive second contact faced to the first contact and adapted to be connected to and disconnected from the first contact. The cam member has a cam portion for pressing the second contact following the rotation of the cam member to connect and disconnect the second contact to and from the first contact.

This invention relates to a hinge apparatus for use in an electronic apparatus, such as a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a notebook-type personal computer.
For example, a mobile telephone generally comprises an operating part and a display part. The operating part is provided with an operating portion. The display part is provided with a display surface. Recently, the operating part and the display part are often connected by a hinge apparatus to be foldable, i.e., openable and closable. Such a mobile telephone will hereunder be call a foldable mobile telephone.
With the foldable mobile telephone, the display part may be opened only when it is desired and required. Thus, it is possible to protect the operating portion and the display surface and to prevent an operation error. Further, the mobile telephone in a closed state is reduced in size and is therefore convenient for a user to carry. In addition, the operating portion and the display surface can easily be increased in size.
A mobile terminal of the type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2002-320014. The mobile terminal comprises a pair of housings connected to each other to be openable and closable around a rotating portion, and a switch for detecting an opened state and a closed state of the housings. The switch is disposed inside one of the housings. Thus, the opened state and the closed state of the housings are detected by the switch. It is therefore possible to design the mobile terminal so that a power supply to the mobile terminal is automatically turned on and off when the housings are opened and closed, respectively.
However, the switch is disposed inside the one housing so that the mobile terminal is inevitably increased in size and complicated in structure.

Hinge apparatus having a switch and electronic apparatus including the hinge apparatus

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


A technique to stabilize subcarrier generation in a line-locked digital video system, caused by simultaneous locking of the genlock device causing continuous changing of a shared clock signal, by calculating a time shift occurring in an output waveform, converting the time shift into an equivalent phase shift and sending a corresponding phase correction number to a waveform generator block to correct the time shift, and thus stabilize subcarrier generation.

A line-locked video system is a digital system that acquires a line-by-line analog signal. An example of such a system would be a video decoder. Each line signal acquired by the system contains a synchronizing pulse and a "color burst," neither of which carry information that is displayed on the screen. The synchronizing pulse is utilized so that a genlock PLL can locate the analog signal and lock onto it. The "color burst" is a series of eight cycles at the subcarrier frequency which appear in blanking intervals for synchronizing the television receiver to the chrominance signal. The display portion of the signal is transferred after both the synchronizing pulse and the "color burst" portion of the signal. Due to the continuous changing of the clock(CLK) signal from the genlocking step, disturbance is usually created in the chrominance subcarrier PLL which will result in a phase shift and consequently in color stripe artifact. A more detailed background description is set forth below.
The composite video signal contains information which is used by a video system to generate a video picture on a display, monitor or television. Each period, within the horizontal portion of a composite video signal contains information representing one horizontal output line which is to be output on the video display, monitor or television. Each horizontal period includes a horizontal synchronization pulse, a burst signal and a video information signal. In many video transmission systems, color or chrominance information is represented by a particular phase of the chrominance subcarrier signal that is amplitude modulated with color information. The horizontal synchronization pulse is used by a phase-locked loop to synchronize the system for displaying the next horizontal line of video information. The burst signal is used to synchronize the phase and frequency of a local oscillator to that of the encoding oscillator so that color information can be "decoded" into its baseband color differential components.
A video picture or frame is made up of a number of horizontal lines included within the video display. To display a video picture or frame the video system begins at the top of the screen and displays the information within the composite video signal one horizontal line at a time. The information for each horizontal line is contained within a horizontal period of the composite video signal. After each horizontal period, the video system moves to the next line and displays the information within the next horizontal period of the composite video system. This continues until the video system reaches the bottom line on the video display. After displaying the video information on the bottom line of the video display, the video system must reset itself to the top of the display in order to begin displaying the next frame. In order to allow the system to reset itself to the top of the video display, a vertical blanking period is included within the composite video signal after the video information for each frame. This vertical blanking period allows the video system to reset to the top of the video display and begin displaying the information for the horizontal lines of the next frame. Therefore, a number of horizontal periods, enough to comprise a frame or screen, are strung together, within the composite video signal. Between each frame, the composite video signal includes a vertical blanking period which allows the video system to perform a vertical reset and prepare to display the next frame by moving back up to the top of the video display.
In this type of system, a genlock PLL device is used to lock and align with the synchronizing pulse portion of the signal. In the receiver portion of this system, a chrominance subcarrier PLL is utilized to detect and lock onto the "color burst" portion of the analog signal. These two PLLs share a common CLK signal. When the genlock PLL locks and aligns the video signal, the CLK is adjusted accordingly. Because of this arrangement, the problem which is readily encountered is a phase shift disturbance of the SINE wave in the chrominance subcarrier PLL in the receiver. This disturbance is caused by the simultaneous locking of the genlock device, thereby causing continuous changing of the CLK signal.

Technique to stabilize the chrominance subcarrier generation in a line-locked digital video system


A fan shroud includes a body portion and a barrel portion. The body portion and the barrel portion have a first side and a second side. The barrel portion is adjacent to the body portion and defines a cylindrical opening for a fan. The barrel portion and the body portion define a slot in the fan shroud designed to release excess air pressure from the shroud. The slot extends through at least one of the first side and the second side. Any number of slots of different shapes and sizes may be arranged on the fan shroud to reduce noise radiating from the fan shroud.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Automotive vehicles typically utilize an internal combustion engine to provide the power to operate the vehicle. Internal combustion engines generate heat due to the combustion process and it is necessary to continuously remove the excess heat from the vehicle's engine in order to maintain the operating temperature of the vehicle's engine at a specified level.
The usual method of removing this excess heat is an automotive cooling system. The cooling system utilizes a coolant pump which pumps coolant through the vehicle's engine to absorb the excess heat and then this heated fluid is pumped to a heat exchanger or radiator which removes the excess heat by performing a heat exchange process with ambient air. The coolant which has been cooled by the radiator is returned to the engine and the process continuously repeats itself. Typically, the temperature of the coolant is maintained at a minimum level using a thermostat or some other type of control system.
In order to reduce the size and thus the costs of the radiator, the automotive designer strives to have the radiator operate in the most efficient manner. One method used to maximize the efficiency of the radiator is to control the flow of ambient air through the radiator. This is accomplished by providing a fan which draws the ambient air through the radiator and then providing a fan shroud which ensures that the maximum amount of air is drawn through the radiator. The maximization of ambient air flow requires that the fan be located within the fan shroud.
A common problem with fans is the noise they generate during operation. The noise components generating the sound radiated by the cooling fan are tonal and overall noise. Tonal noise is a result of the rotation of the fan blades. Both tonal and overall noise are equally important for most cooling fans. Obstacles upstream and downstream of the fan create airflow disturbance and induce pressure fluctuation. Fan noise is typically caused by wall pressure fluctuation in the fan and shroud. This noise issue can be addressed by configuring the fan shroud to release this pressure thereby reducing the noise radiating from the cooling fan. The shroud must keep the same or equivalent airflow performance of the old design.

Pressure release slot for fan noise improvement


Principal components of herb or spice plant materials are simultaneously extracted and concentrated in at least one high temperature and pressure mechanical pressing step. The extract may be hydrated and then centrifuged to remove fine particulate solids and gums. A solution having several times the concentration of the pigments and flavor and aroma components of the starting raw material is obtained. The residual press solids and extract have significantly reduced bacterial counts as a result of the temperatures, high pressure, and high shear utilized, as well as the low moisture levels employed, thus producing not only a food grade extract but also a food grade residual solid having low bacterial counts and predictable, standardized levels of the principal components of interest. Additionally, edible antioxidants can be included in the process to enhance the stability of both the extract and the residual solids. The residual solids are ruptured in the process, giving rise to a quick-release and enhanced effect, and thus greater use effectiveness, when the herb or spice solids are used in foods or beverages.

Dried spices and herbs, most often in their ground form, are used in the preparation of foods and beverages to add flavor, aroma, color, and preservative properties that make the food or beverage more palatable and appealing. The dried spices, ground or unground, are usually added to the food or beverage during the preparation at such a point in the preparation that time is allowed for the principal components of interest to be extracted into the food or beverage to impart the desired combination of attributes to the food or beverage. Further, as spices and herbs are notoriously known to have inconsistent levels of the flavor, aroma, color, or antioxidants, it is commonly required that spices of varying levels of the principal components of interest be blended to make a final product that is consistent with regard to the principal components of interest to achieve predictable and repeatable performance with respect to the flavor, aroma, color, or antioxidant release into the food or beverage system in which they are used. This is a costly and time consuming process.
As suggested in prior art, much of the flavor, aroma, and/or color often is not effectively transferred to the food or beverage. U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,084 overcomes this obstacle of under-utilization of the principal components of interest by first extracting the principal components of interest and subsequently coating the spent spice from the extraction process with a portion of the extract originally removed, thereby extending the useful amount of flavor and aroma that can be derived from a given quantity of spice. It is also disclosed that this process derives value from the exhausted spice solids, from which the flavor, aroma, color, or antioxidants have been removed, which would otherwise be a waste product. This is a complicated and costly process for recovery of the maximum value of the principal components of interest.
Traditional methods for the sterilization of ground spices and extracts involve the use of extremely toxic substances such as ethylene oxide or methyl bromide, non-edible solvents which are inherently difficult to remove from the plant solids, irradiation, or steam and moisture treatment to reduce plate counts to acceptable levels for use in foods and beverages. Chemical sterilization, irradiation, and non-edible solvent extraction of spices are disagreeable to the consumer because of the perceived risks of residual chemicals and/or radiation remaining in the plant matter and, as a result, several processes using added moisture, such as water or steam, at elevated pressures have been developed as alternatives. Typical sterilization procedures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,678, 4,790,995, and 4,910,027. All sterilization processes are inherently costly in that they require a separate processing step or steps to accomplish the sterilization, and also present the possibility of further degrading the more unstable components. Addition of moisture or water vapor, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,678 and 5,910,027, prior to or during the heating and sterilization process, results in a cooked aroma not typical of the fresh, dehydrated spice and also results in steam distillation and loss of some of the volatile flavor and aroma constituents.
Traditional extraction processes for the manufacture of concentrated extracts (concentrated several fold as compared with the raw material) involve not only the use of various non-edible solvent systems, but also a large proportion of solvent in relation to the compounds of interest. Many require the use of petroleum distillates, chlorinated solvents, or highly flammable solvents which must be eliminated almost completely from the finished products to make them safe for consumption. These systems require expensive distillation equipment and special precautions must be taken to ensure worker safety and to limit environmental impact. The intensive processing required often destroys, modifies, or loses some of the more unstable compounds, delicate aromas, flavors, or pigments. More significantly, the last traces of undesirable non-edible solvents are very difficult to separate from the concentrated extract. The residual solid must necessarily contain the same residual non-edible solvents, which are removed only with difficulty. Such residual solvents limit the potential use of the residual solid for human consumption, and are potential environmental contaminants.
Other concentration techniques rely on high pressure equipment to obtain good solvating properties from gases, e.g., liquid or supercritical CO.sub.2 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,398). High pressure liquefied or supercritical gas extraction requires expensive equipment and has limited solvating abilities for some compounds requiring the addition of co-solvents, or solvents such as propane and butane, which are also difficult to control and may be environmentally sensitive or undesirable in a finished product.
Following extraction and desolventization, the concentrated extract is often standardized with edible solvents and emulsifiers to provide a concentrate with reproducible levels of the active or principal compounds of interest to the user.
In an effort to overcome the shortcomings and risks associated with the above-mentioned processes, extraction has been carried out using edible solvents such as vegetable oils or lard. Typical extraction procedures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,732,111; 2,571,867; and 2,571,948. These methods require a relatively large volume of solvent in relation to the compounds of interest and result in a dilute extract which is limited in its application and which has few of the advantages of the concentrates which can be produced using volatile solvents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,769 discloses a method for simultaneously extracting and concentrating in a series of high pressure countercurrent mechanical presses using relatively small amounts of vegetable oil as the solvent in an attempt to overcome the problem of dilution inherent in earlier processes. This method suffers from severe limitations in temperature and pressure ranges in an attempt to avoid unacceptable oxidative damage, color loss, yield losses, and flavor changes with the final result being that contact times must be unduly extended for up to 16-24 hours, adding greatly to the cost of the process. Extraction cycle times are unduly long for a given size pressing operation, and the process does not provide for a controlled degree of browning or for sterilization of the extract or of the residual solid. It is also limited to temperatures of less than 100.degree. F. Maximum pressures of up to about 500 PSI (cone pressure) are claimed and this severely limits the efficiency and throughput rate for a given size pressing operation, as shown by the disclosure of this patent.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,790,995 and 4,910,027 require the addition of a coating of animal protein to protect the spice from the loss of volatile aroma compounds during the sterilization process with water vapor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,678 requires bringing the moisture of the spice to above 8-14%, in some cases up to 16-20%, and holding the spice for an extended period of time prior to sterilization to equilibrate the moisture. This additional step is costly and time consuming.
Above all, there is the unsolved problem of obtaining satisfactory yields, quality, and throughput rates of acceptable extract and spice and herb solids having an acceptable content of active principle without undesirable oxidative damage to, and reduced stability of, the principal compounds of interest, while at the same time providing for simultaneous sterilization of both the spice or herb solid and extract.
Sesame oil is known to possess a unique combination of antioxidants including gamma-tocopherol, sesamol and its precursors and/or reaction products such as sesamolin and sesamolinol, and sterols with an ethylidiene side chain, such as delta-5 avenasterol and citrostadienol as described in EP 0,477,825 A2. As such, and as claimed in EP 0,477,825 A2, it is useful as a stabilizing agent in other vegetable oils. However, it is disclosed in the aforementioned patent that "cold pressed" sesame oil is not as stable as solvent-extracted sesame oil and therefore is not acceptable for the intended use.
EP 0,477,825 A2 states that sesame oil extracted by "cold pressing" is not sufficiently resistant to oxidative deterioration and "is found not to be effective in the present invention; in a typical instance it was found to have a Rancimat value of only 3.4 hours." as compared to an RBD sesame oil with "a Rancimat value of 30.7 hours." This would severely limit the utility of a prior art pressed oil but not one which has the economic advantage of being produced in the present process wherein no non-edible solvents are used and the residual press cake solids have significant economic importance as they contain a portion of the principal components of interest at standardized levels and have not been adulterated or contacted by any non-food grade substance.
Obviously, existing prior art procedures leave much to be desired, and it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a procedure for the production of spice and herb products which have significantly reduced microbial counts in both the extract and residual solids without the use of undesirable chemicals, irradiation, or high moisture contents with the attendant uncontrolled browning and loss of volatiles. It is also an objective of this invention to produce a spice or herb solid that will rapidly and efficiently release standardized amounts of the principal components of interest into the food or beverage in which it is used. It is also a primary objective of the present invention to provide a procedure for the production of spice and herb products having enhanced stability and which otherwise obviates the shortcomings of the prior art.

High temperature extraction of spices and herbs


The invention relates to a device for the photodynamic endoscopic diagnosis of human or animal tumor tissue with the help of a marker substance capable of fluorescence and with an endoscope and a light source. With this, means are provided in order to guide light from the light source via an endoscope to the diagnosis location in each case in one of at least two selectable spectral regions, that is in a white light region and in a region with blue-violet light, in order thus in each case to be able to carry out a visual examination with white light and stimulate a marker substance deposited in any tumor tissue to fluoresce. The means for selecting the light comprises an anti-fading filter which can be pivoted into the beam path of the white stimulation light on examination with white light and which filters out light, lying in spectral region stimulating fluorescence, from the white light. This anti-fading filter, together with other color filters may be mounted on a pivoting wing which can be selectively pivoted by the examining surgeon into the light path between the light source and the light guide cable, the pivoting wing being movable by way of a pivoting device.

The invention is concerned with the photodynamic diagnosis of tumor tissue and relates in particular to a device for the photodynamic endoscopic diagnosis of tumor tissue in the human or animal body with the help of a marker substance capable of fluorescence and with an endoscope as well as a light source. With this there are provided means in order to guide light from the light source via the endoscope to the diagnosis location in each case in one of at least two selectable spectral regions, that is the white light region and a region with blue-violet light, and in each case to be able to carry out a visual examination with white light and to stimulate a marker substance accumulated in any tumor tissue, to fluoresce.
With such a known device for tumor examination, a patient receives a systematic, oral, topical, instilled or otherwise enriched dosage of the dye .delta.-amino levulinic acid (ALA). After a given reaction time the body converts this substance into the dye porphyrine IX (PP IX). This preferably deposits itself in the regions changed by disease (DE 42 28 106 A). On illumination of the surface of the organ with light of a suitable spectral combination, the regions having a high PP IX concentration fluoresce with a red color and thus permit an easy detection and spacial definition of the diseased region.
The light which is suitable for stimulating PP IX contains only spectral components of approximately 380 to 445 nm, appears intensive blue-violet to the eye and thus is not very suitable for a normal diagnosis or for spacial orientation, e.g. in the body cavity to be examined, since it is desirable, before the diagnosis supported by fluorescence, to carry out a diagnosis under white light and to repeat this where appropriate. This means that the examining surgeon must be able to choose between these two operating types.
However by way of the intensive illumination of the surface of the organ the dye is broken down relatively quickly in the accumulation regions, by which means the fluorescence intensity is reduced and eventually completely disappears. This process is called "fading". Fading however occurs not only with illumination with blue light, i.e. in the blue light mode, but also with illumination with white light, in the white light mode, since the white light likewise contains fluorescence stimulating spectral components. With examination with white light the time thus available for an effective fluorescence diagnosis is reduced. Since the examination with white light is generally carried out first of all, it may even occur that the dye, i.e. the marker substance, has already faded before the first actuation of the actual stimulation light, due to which the flourescence supported diagnosis is no longer possible.
Moreover in some cases with the fluorescence examination in the blue light mode, the tumor does not distinguish itself clearly enough or unambiguously from healthy tissue. In such cases an increase in the contrast would be desirable.
From DE 196 08 027 A1 there is known a device for the photodynamic endoscopic diagnosis of tumor tissue. The examination is carried out with the known device in two operating modes, that is in the white light mode and in the blue light mode, however this is without a marker substance being led to the patient. In the light source there is located a stimulation light filter which only lets through light in a narrow wavelength band of 420 to 480 nm in order to be able to carry out a fluorescence observation on cancerous tissue with an endoscope. With observation in the white light region, this stimulation light filter is removed from the light path. To the endoscope there can be connected a televison camera unit which comprises a normal camera for taking a normal observation picture, i.e. in the white light region, and a fluorescence camera for taking a fluorescence picture. An optical system in the television camera unit contains a filter, for the fluorescence observation, which is arranged in front of the imaging lens, blocks off light with wavelengths which are let through by the stimulation light filter, and which only lets through light with wavelengths greater than 480 nm and smaller than 520 nm. Therefore only this light can reach the image intensifier of the fluorescence camera.
For producing fluorescent light, when biological tissue is illuminated with light in the region of 470 to 480 nm, this known device works in the region of the dimensional order of 480 to 600 nm with an intensity peak of 480 to 520 nm, wherein however cancerous tissue or other diseased tissue does not fluoresce. If the stimulation light filter is located in the beam path then only the fluorescing light produced by normal tissue of the object reaches the image intensifier of the fluorescence camera and is correspondingly intensified. Thus, because the device known from DE 196 08 027 A1 does not use a marker substance for marking the tumor tissue, the problem of fading of the marker substance does not occur.
DE 195 12 518 A1 describes an apparatus for treating tumors comprising a light source which emits a bundle of rays with ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation. An infrared filter as well as a filter for visible radiation are arranged in front of a light guide which directs the filtered bundle of rays onto an affected tissue part. For treatment, the patient is enriched with Ti02 (titanium dioxide) which accumulates much more in tumor cells. Thus when the tumor cells are irradiated with electromagnetic waves of a wavelength from the X-ray region to ultraviolet, with this the Ti02 is stimulated so that the tumor cells are destroyed by the released active oxygen. Apart from the fact that the apparatus known from DE 195 12 518 A1 is used for the treatment and not the diagnosis of tumors, in none of the operating modes is a protective filter employed. The region which stimulates the Ti02 in the tumor cells (approx. 280 to 400 nm) is always completely let through.

Device for the photodynamic endoscopic diagnosis of tumor tissue


A floating, water current-driven electrical power generation system has a hull supporting one or more paddle wheels. The unit is tethered in a stream or river so that the moving water turns the paddle wheel coupled to an electrical generator. A transmission matches stream flow conditions to the electrical generator. Stabilizing fins on the hull bottom help keep the hull properly aligned in the stream's current. Built-in leg structures are sized to prevent bottoming of the paddle wheel during periods of low water in the stream or river. Mounts are provided for an outboard motor useful for propelling the unit to a desired location. Larger versions of the system may be equipped with a boat mooring facility allowing a boat to propel the unit to a desired position in a stream or river.

Harnessing the potential or kinetic energy of water to provide motive force or, more especially, electrical power is well known. Vast hydroelectric projects take advantage of the potential energy available from water falling from one elevation to a lower elevation. On a smaller scale, water wheels and other similar mechanism have long been utilized to turn mill stones, and to power industrial machinery. In addition, stationary water wheels have, in fact, been used to turn small electrical generators.
However, traditional water wheels suffer from many disadvantages. Most importantly, they must be located near an uninterrupted source of water to function. This generally requires construction of a dam to impound sufficient water to overcome seasonal rainfall variations. Dam construction is typically both expensive and environmentally problematic. Obtaining a construction permit for a dam is no small feat. It would, therefore, be advantageous to utilize a "portable" water wheel to capture energy from moving water without need for a permanent structure, especially a dam.

Floating, water current-driven electrical power generation system


A composite iron-based powder suitable for soft magnetic applications such as inductor cores. Also, a method for producing a soft magnetic component and the component produced by the method.

Soft magnetic materials are used for various applications, such as core materials in inductors, stators and rotors for electrical machines, actuators, sensors and transformer cores. Traditionally, soft magnetic cores, such as rotors and stators in electric machines, are made of stacked steel laminates. Soft magnetic composites may be based on soft magnetic particles, usually iron-based, with an electrically insulating coating on each particle. By compacting the insulated particles optionally together with lubricants and/or binders using the traditionally powder metallurgy process, soft magnetic components may be obtained. By using the powder metallurgical technique it is possible to produce such components with a higher degree of freedom in the design, than by using the steel laminates as the components can carry a three dimensional magnetic flux and as three dimensional shapes can be obtained by the compaction process.
The present invention relates to an iron-based soft magnetic composite powder, the core particles thereof being coated with a carefully selected coating rendering the material properties suitable for production of inductors through compaction of the powder followed by a heat treating process.
An inductor or reactor is a passive electrical component that can store energy in form of a magnetic field created by the electric current passing through said component. An inductors ability to store energy, inductance (L) is measured in henries (H). Typically an inductor is an insulated wire winded as a coil. An electric current flowing through the turns of the coil will create a magnetic field around the coil, the filed strength being proportional to the current and the turns/length unit of the coil. A varying current will create a varying magnetic field which will induce a voltage opposing the change of current that created it.
The electromagnetic force (EMF) which opposes the change in current is measured in volts(V) and is related to the inductance according to the formula;v(t)32 Ldi(t)/dt
(L is inductance, t is time, v(t) is the time-varying voltage across the inductor and i(t) is the time-varying current.)
That is; an inductor having an inductance of 1 henry produces an EMF of 1 volt when the current through the inductor changes with 1 ampere/second.
Ferromagnetic- or iron-core inductors use a magnetic core made of a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material such as iron or ferrite to increase the inductance of a coil by several thousand by increasing the magnetic field, due to the higher permeability of the core material.
The magnetic permeability, μ, of a material is an indication of its ability to carry a magnetic flux or its ability to become magnetised. Permeability is defined as the ratio of the induced magnetic flux, denoted B and measured in newton/ampere*meter or in volt*second/meter2, to the magnetising force or filed intensity, denoted H and measured in amperes/meter, A/m. Hence magnetic permeability has the dimension volt*second/ampere*meter. Normally magnetic permeability is expressed as the relative permeability μr=μ/μ0, relative to the permeability of the free space, μ0=4*η*10−7 Vs/Am. Permeability may also be expressed as the inductance per unit length, henries/meter.
Magnetic permeability does not only depend on material carrying the magnetic flux but also on the applied electric field and the frequency thereof. In technical systems it is often referred to the maximum relative permeability which is maximum relative permeability measured during one cycle of the varying electrical field.
An inductor core may be used in power electronic systems for filtering unwanted signals such as various harmonics. In order to function efficiently an inductor core for such application shall have a low maximum relative permeability which implies that the relative permeability will have a more linear characteristic relative to the applied electric filed, i.e. stable incremental permeability, μΔ (as defined according to ΔB=μΔ*ΔH), and high saturation flux density. This enables the inductor to work more efficiently in a wider range of electric current, this may also be expressed as that the inductor has "good DC-bias". DC-bias may be expressed in terms of percentage of maximum incremental permeability at a specified applied electrical field, e.g. at 4 000 A/m. Further low maximum relative permeability and stable incremental permeability combined with high saturation flux density enables the inductor to carry a higher electrical current which is inter alia beneficial when size is a limiting factor, a smaller inductor can thus be used.
One important parameter in order to improve the performance of soft magnetic component is to reduce its core loss characteristics. When a magnetic material is exposed to a varying field, energy losses occur due to both hysteresis losses and eddy current losses. The hysteresis loss is proportional to the frequency of the alternating magnetic fields, whereas the eddy current loss is proportional to the square of the frequency. Thus at high frequencies the eddy current loss matters mostly and it is especially required to reduce the eddy current loss and still maintaining a low level of hysterisis losses. This implies that it is desired to increase the resistivity of magnetic cores.
In the search for ways of improving the resistivity different methods have been used and proposed. One method is based on providing electrically insulating coatings or films on the powder particles before these particles are subjected to compaction. Thus there are a large number of patent publications which teach different types of electrically insulating coatings. Examples of published patents concerning inorganic coatings are the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,309,748, 6,348,265 and 6,562,458. Coatings of organic materials are known from e.g. the U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,609. Coatings comprising both inorganic and organic material are known from e.g. the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,372,348 and 5,063,011 and the DE patent publication 3,439,397, according to which publication the particles are surrounded by an iron phosphate layer and a thermoplastic material. European Patent EP1246209B1 describes a ferromagnetic metal based powder wherein the surface of the metal-based powder is coated with a coating consisting of silicone resin and fine particles of clay minerals having layered structure such as bentonite or talc.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,118B2 reveals a soft magnetic powder metal composite comprising a least two oxides encapsulating powdered metal particles, the at least two oxides forming at least one common phase.
The patent application JP2002170707A describes an alloyed iron particle coated with a phosphorous containing layer, the alloying elements may be silicon, nickel or aluminium. In a second step the coated powder is mixed with a water solution of sodium silicate followed by drying. Dust cores are produced by moulding the powder and heat treat the moulded part in a temperature of 500-1000° C.
Sodium silicate is mentioned in JP51-089198 as a binding agent for iron powder particles when producing dust cores by moulding of iron powder followed by heat treating of the moulded part.
In order to obtain high performance soft magnetic composite components it must, also be possible to subject the electrically insulated powder to compression moulding at high pressures as it is often desired to obtain parts having high density. High densities normally improve the magnetic properties. Specifically high densities are needed in order to keep the hysterisis losses at a low level and to obtain high saturation flux density. Additionally the electrical insulation must withstand the compaction pressures needed without being damaged when the compacted part is ejected from the die. This in turn means that the ejection forces must not be too high.
Furthermore, in order to reduce the hysterisis losses, stress releasing heat treatment of the compacted part is required. In order to obtain an effective stress release the heat treatment should preferably be performed at a temperature above 300° C. and below a temperature, where the insulating coating will be damaged, about 700° C., in an atmosphere of for example nitrogen, argon or air.
The present invention has been done in view of the need for powder cores which are primarily intended for use at higher frequencies, i.e. frequencies above 2 kHz and particularly between 5 and 100 kHz, where higher resistivity and lower core losses are essential. Preferably the saturation flux density shall be high enough for core downsizing. Additionally it should be possible to produce the cores without having to compact the metal powder using die wall lubrication and/or elevated temperatures. Preferably these steps should be eliminated.
In contrast to many used and proposed methods, in which low core losses, are desired, it is an especial advantage of the present invention that it is not necessary to use any organic binding agent in the powder composition, which powder composition is later compacted in the compaction step. The heat treatment of the green compact can therefore be performed at higher temperature without the risk that the organic binding agent decomposes; a higher heat treatment temperature will also improve the flux density and decrease core losses. The absence of organic material in the final, heat treated core also allows that the core can be used in environments having elevated temperatures without risking decreased strength due to softening and decomposition of an organic binder and improved temperature stability is achieved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A wave power generator device having hypoid racks includes a buoyant tank, a roller mechanism, guide posts, a power generation platform, a hydraulic energy conversion mechanism and a cross lifting lever. The power generation platform is mounted on guide posts extended into the seabed. The cross lifting lever is provided in the throughhole in the middle of the platform. The lower part of the cross lifting lever is fixed with the buoyant tank by a movable connection rod. The roller mechanism is mounted at both sides of the buoyant tank and appressed to the guide posts. The hydraulic energy conversion mechanism includes a housing, one-way hydraulic cylinders, rolling wheels and is mounted on the power generation platform in cooperation with the cross lifting lever to achieve energy conversion motion to solve the control and adaption problem for a water level difference during the wave power generation.

The existing wave energy power generation platforms are ultimately fixed type and accordingly are provided with a very long piston rod for an oil cylinder. With the structure, the oil cylinder piston rod is inefficient in rigidity, is not stable enough, and has a quite short lifetime, so as not to apply to high power generator group to generate power, which is an urgent issue to be solved.

Wave power energy generation using hydraulic cylinders in cooperation with a cross lifting lever

Dinghai District, Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province


Modular connectors for rigid tubing are provided. An assembly according to embodiments of the present disclosure may include a rigid tube connected to a coupling assembly, the coupling assembly including a main body having a first tubular section and a second tubular section. The assembly may further include a connector head coupled to the coupling assembly, the connector head including a first section coupled to a second section, wherein the first and second sections define an internal cavity for housing an electrical connector, and wherein the first tubular section extends within the internal cavity.

Today's advanced buildings require innovative and flexible wiring systems. Current designs include modular wiring systems, which may be prefabricated according to customers' electrical and communications plans, and shipped to construction sites ready to install. These manufactured wiring systems may be installed in commercial, industrial, retail and institutional facilities, providing substantial saving in total installed wiring costs and reduced installation time over, e.g., traditional hard-wired approaches. Modular wiring systems often house wiring in a flexible raceway, such as MC cable. However, a need exists to provide modular wiring solutions with a rigid raceway. It is with respect to this and other drawbacks of the prior art that the present disclosure is provided.


Taxol is produced from taxol-producing microorganisms. Methods of obtaining he taxol-producing microorganisms are described. Radioactive labelled taxol products and methods for use of the radioactive labelled taxol and for the treatment of leukemia and cancer cells are described.

Taxol, which is of the chemical structural formula: ##STR1## shows significant properties of promoting the polymerization of tubulin and inhibiting the depolymerization of microtubules. For these reasons, taxol is a valuable antileukemic and antitumor agent and is the subject of increasing research.
Taxol is known to be extracted from the trunk bark of different species of the Taxus, or Yew tree. Yields are generally low, usually on the order of no more than about 100 milligrams per kilogram in the extraction process. Various procedures for the production of taxol are known for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,814,470 and 4,857,653. A chemical process for the preparation of taxol is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,011.
Wani et al, "Journal of the American Chemical Society", Vol. 93, May 1971, No. 9, pages 2325-2327, reports on the structure of taxol and its potential use as an antileukemic and tumor inhibitory compound. This publication further discusses an alcohol extraction procedure for obtaining taxol from the stem bark of the western Yew tree (Taxus brevifolia).
The Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, is one of only ten Taxus species known worldwide. It is not confined to the Pacific coast of North America as its name might imply, but grows inland as far east as Glacier National Park, Montana. Generally, it is a small tree, 7-13 meters in height and 5-10 cm in diameter. The crown is large and conical. Commonly, however, it is contorted with the main stem and some of the lower limbs growing close to the ground producing numerous adventitious roots resulting in a complex and dense interwoven thicket of growth. The tree is usually associated with deep, rich, moist soils near streams and lakes. It is an understory tree commonly found with Douglas fir, Western hemlock, Western red cedar and Western larch.
The inner bark of this remarkable little tree is the primary source of taxol. Taxol is a highly derivatized terpenoid having the structure indicated above, and has shown remarkable promise as an anti-tumor agent especially in breast and ovarian cancers. Unfortunately, at the present time, the supplies of taxol are inadequate to meet the current or projected demands. Taxol is only currently available from extract from the bark of yew trees. The inadequate supply of taxol is reflected in its current market price which is $6000.00 per gram. Thus, it is essential to understand how, where, and when, taxol is biosynthesized in the tree and the factors that affect its biosynthesis.
It is likely that many factors influence the production of taxol by Pacific yew. These include not only various environmental factors such as temperature and moisture level, but the genetic background of the tree itself. Also, plants are commonly hosts to a multitude of microbes including parasites, symbionts, endophytes, epiphytes, and mycorrhizal fungi. These organisms may also influence the production of secondary plant metabolites such as phytoalexins, whose presence can be triggered by elicitors from microbes. Such microbes may catabolize or derivatize plant compounds.
These and other reasons prompted the present inventors to devise an "in vitro" system of taxol production (see related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/845,097, filed Mar. 3, 1992. The system utilizes isotopic precursors of taxol, an optimized environment and the appropriate plant parts where taxol is synthesized. The result was an "in vitro" system of taxol synthesis from the most productive tissue portions of the Pacific yew tree.
However, the above in vitro synthesis described in related application Ser. No. 07/845,097 has certain limitations. The source of taxol production, the Pacific yew, is a relatively rare tree, and there is concern that the supply of taxol is not adequate to meet the demand.
Moreover, other methods, including total chemical synthesis, and derivatization of baccatin to yield taxotere are both inadequate. The chemical synthesis methods are multi-stepped and non-economically feasible while the taxane derivatization method utilizes a taxane isolated from yew needles.
Clearly, a microbial source of taxol would be preferable if it could be easily grown, would produce taxol (or a related taxane), and utilize the enormous U.S. biotechnology industry fermentation capabilities.

The Research and Development Institute at Montana State University