A method and apparatus are presented for actuating a differential pressure firing head to actuate a perforating gun at a downhole location in a subterranean wellbore adjacent a formation. An exemplary method includes positioning the perforating gun and the differential pressure firing head at a downhole location on a tubing string and then communicating an applied fluid pressure to a wellbore annulus, a first chamber which communicates the applied fluid pressure to a low-pressure side of the firing head assembly, and a second fluid chamber which communicates the applied fluid pressure to a high-pressure side of the firing head assembly. The applied fluid pressure is then trapped within the second fluid chamber. When the applied pressure in the annulus is subsequently removed, a pressure differential is created across the firing head by the low pressure in the first chamber and the trapped applied pressure in the second chamber.

Without limiting the scope of the present invention, its background will be described with reference to perforating a hydrocarbon bearing subterranean formation with a shaped-charge perforating apparatus, as an example.
After drilling the section of a subterranean wellbore that traverses a hydrocarbon bearing subterranean formation, individual lengths of metal tubulars are typically secured together to form a casing string that is positioned within the wellbore. This casing string increases the integrity of the wellbore and provides a path through which fluids from the formation may be produced to the surface. Conventionally, the casing string is cemented within the wellbore. To produce fluids into the casing string, hydraulic openings or perforations must be made through the casing string, the cement and a distance into the formation.
Typically, the perforations are created by detonating a series of shaped-charges located within one or more perforating guns that are deployed within the casing string to a position adjacent the desired formation. A firing head assembly is deployed in the work string housing the perforation guns to initiate detonation of the shaped charges. Several techniques have been used to actuate perforating guns, including electrically, through drop-bar mechanisms, and through pressure-actuated mechanisms. A common type of firing head for detonating the perforation guns, is a differential pressure firing head; that is, a firing head which is activated by a pressure differential applied across the firing head.
One commonly used technique for conveying the perforating guns and associated apparatus into the well is to assemble the same on a tubing string, thus providing what is commonly referred to as a tubing conveyed perforating system. Such tubing conveyed perforating systems are available from the Halliburton Reservoir Services division of Halliburton Company, the assignee of the present invention. Perforating guns and associated apparatus can also be deployed on a wireline or coiled tubing.
One commonly used operating system for tubing conveyed perforating systems is a firing head which operates in response to a pressure differential. The pressure differential is typically created by applying increased pressure, either to the tubing string or to the annulus surrounding the tubing string, and conveying the increased pressure to one side (the high pressure side) of an actuating piston contained in the firing head. Typically, such a firing head will have hydrostatic pressure balanced across the actuating piston as the tool is run into the well. When it is desired to operate the tool, increased pressure is applied to the high pressure side of the actuating piston. Some prior art designs have created a pressure differential by increasing tubing pressure, above hydrostatic pressure, on the high pressure side of the piston, where the low pressure reference is hydrostatic pressure. Similarly, some firing head apparatus are actuated by maintaining tubing pressure while reducing hydrostatic pressure, thus creating a pressure differential across the firing head where the hydrostatic pressure is the low pressure. Another approach utilizes an isolated low pressure chamber (often, atmospheric) positioned within or adjacent a firing head as a low pressure reference zone. The firing head actuates in response to increased tubing pressure which creates a pressure differential compared to the low pressure chamber which is in constant communication with the low pressure side of the actuating piston. Other methods employ a low pressure chamber (e.g., atmospheric) positioned in a fluid chamber which is initially open to hydrostatic or tubing pressure. The system is pressure balanced until the low pressure chamber is opened, at which point the fluid pressure in the fluid chamber drops, creating a low pressure reference for firing the head.
Disclosure regarding methods for actuating firing heads and types of differential firing heads can be found in the following references, which are each incorporated herein by reference for all purposes: U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,755, to George; U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,189, to George; U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,616, to Colla; U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,544 to Bagley; U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,718 to Gambertoglio; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,718 to Barrington.
There are disadvantages to using firing heads which require substantial pressure to be applied to the tubing or annulus to provide the increase in pressure which actuates the tool. In some instances, the pressures necessary to actuate the tools may be excessively high. Also, in many well perforation jobs it is desirable to perforate in an underbalanced condition, that is with a relatively low pressure present in the well annulus when perforating occurs, and thus if high pressures are applied to actuate the perforating gun, it is necessary to be able to bleed off those high pressures very rapidly before the well is actually perforated. Further, in some situations it is preferable to actuate the perforating guns with no applied tubing or hydrostatic pressure. Thus it is seen that there is a need for a pressure actuated firing system which can avoid or eliminate the application of excessively high pressures.

Method and apparatus for actuating a differential pressure firing head


The subject disclosure is directed towards using timing and/or relative depth data to reduce false positives in gesture detection within a depth-sensed region. Depth camera data is processed to position a cursor over a displayed representation of a control. If the user's hand hovers over the control for a threshold time period, and then changes hand depth a relative amount (e.g., pushes the hand forward a delta amount), an event is fired. The displayed representation of the control may change (e.g., enlarge) upon hovering. The relative depth may be computed based upon the depth when the user hand initially enters the control area. The relative depth may remain the same if the user pulls the hand away from the camera by tracking the maximum depth and firing the event when the maximum depth value minus the current depth value reaches a delta value.

Interacting with a computing device, such as a computer, game system or robot, without requiring an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, touch-sensitive screen or game controller, presents various challenges. In general this is accomplished by detecting user gestures and interpreting their meaning.
The conventional way in which users interact with computing devices is via user Interfaces that present options in the form of menus, lists, and icons. For such user interfaces when used in conjunction with gesture detection, user gestures need to be interpreted relative to a display of the user interface.
However, known contemporary detection and interpretation technology has a number of drawbacks. One such drawback includes false positives, in which a user triggers an action that the user did not intend to trigger.

Depth camera-based relative gesture detection


A book search system and media for generating a book index corresponding to a collection of books and for providing context snippets related to a search string formulated by a user based on the book index are provided. The book index includes a word hash that represents unique words and an offset to a location list that stores locations for each instance of the unique word. The book search system receives the search string from the user, parses the search string to locate phrases and words, and traverses the book index to generate a list of locations for each word or phrase included in the search string. The book search system utilizes a variable-sized container having a maximum size to store subsets of each word or phrase included in the list of locations to generate the context snippets for the search string.

Users have grown accustomed to searching for material relevant to a query over a network, such as the Internet. Conventionally, search systems receive a query having query words associated with web pages from a user and process the query to provide results to the user. The results include a listing of web pages that match the query. For each web page in the listing, a summary of the web page is provided. The summary allows the user to better understand content included in the web page. In the conventional search system, the summary of each web page is generated by processing each web page matching the query to detect a structure of the web page. The structure is based on tags included in the web page. Based on the detected structure of each web page, specific portions—such as paragraph and header sections—of the web page are searched to find all locations of the query words. In turn, sentences that are co-located with the query words included in the query are utilized to generate the summary.
It would be beneficial if users could search on-line book content to find books relevant to a particular search query, in a way similar to other on-line searches. But applying the conventional summary generation process utilized by conventional search systems to books introduces numerous performance issues. The conventional summary generation process is designed to process web pages. Typically, web pages are short structured documents that contain less than five pages. On the other hand, a book may be unstructured and may contain several hundred pages. Because a book is orders of magnitude larger than a web page, the conventional summary generation process is unable to provide a summary of an unstructured book that includes the query words in an acceptable period of time. The traversal of each page of the unstructured book to locate the query words creates a processing bottleneck that drastically reduces the time efficiency of the conventional summary generation process. In other words, when applied to unstructured books, the conventional summary generation process is too slow.

Context snippet generation for book search system


A barrier metal integrated circuit structure, including relatively thin, highly nitrided layers of TiW (i.e., TiW:N) straddling a central conductor layer, and in turn each being straddled by adjacent layers of relatively thick substantially un-nitrided TiW material, and a method for its fabrication including deposition of layers of TiW and TiW:N, the latter in a N.sub.2 dominated atmosphere by backs puttering and/or under backbias conditions effective for establishing at least a saturated level of nitrogen into the TiW:N, resulting in an effective barrier to migration of conductor materials from the conductor layer.

The present invention is directed toward the field of integrated circuit (IC) barrier structures and methods, and more particularly toward multi-layer TiW structures for preventing undesired diffusion of conductor materials within the IC structures.
Barrier layers are employed in conventional integrated circuits adjacent to composite or layered metal lines including conductor materials used for interconnecting devices within integrated circuits fabricated on silicon chips. The metal lines are fabricated from electrical conductor material, such as AlCu or AlSiCu for example, sandwiched between straddling "barrier layers" of refractory metal or metallic alloy material, for example TiW, an alloy of 10-30 atomic % Ti in W.
These barrier layers are conventionally provided for many reasons including the effective prevention of the interaction of the conductor materials such as aluminum for example with adjacent structures and materials for example adjacent silicon structures, according to a phenomenon called "spiking." The phenomenon of spiking may involve the penetration of the conductor metals such as Al into adjacent semiconductor structures, and this may result in short circuit defects damaging to device operation.
Additionally, according to conventional knowledge and practice, these barrier layers are of a nature effective to reduce top surface reflectivity for semiconductor devices, which is advantageous to permit effective operation of photolithographic techniques used in semiconductor manufacturing. In particular, the top surface of a barrier layer is of diminished reflectivity and can effectively reduce the comparatively high optically reflective surface of the electrical conductor material employed to make device interconnections within a particular integrated circuit device to an acceptable level. This diminished reflectivity improves the photolithographic patterning capability of the electrical conductor layer, as is conventionally recognized.
The barrier layers are additionally conventionally known to be effective for suppressing plastic flow of aluminum atoms during fabrication of integrated circuit devices, thereby becoming effective to prevent so-called "hillock" formations and to shunt current aside to minimize the risk of an open circuit developing from electromigration of conductor materials, or moreover even the stress-induced migration of conductor materials such as aluminum.
However, despite the above advantageous features and advantages of conventional barrier layers, their structures, and the methods for making them, there are problems encountered with the barrier layer structures and the methods for making them, according to the current and past state of the art of this technology. One such problem is that the barrier layers in past and current multi-layer IC structures require a disadvantageous thickness of the barrier metal layer itself to be effective in minimize "spiking". Traditional multi-layer IC structures rely upon particularly thick layers of TiW to reduce open circuit defects due to electro-migration from the electrical conductor used for electrical interconnections within IC structures. Current TiW thicknesses may be acceptable with semiconductor processes having junction depths greater than 0.2 micrometers, wherein spiking is not a primary concern. With such processes, current thicknesses of the barrier layers provides no significantly prohibitive problem.
Unfortunately, spiking becomes a more significant problem with structures defined by semiconductor processes directed toward junction depths of less than 0.2 micrometers. In particular, submicron processes are subject to more severe constraints.
Additionally, the barrier layer which is electrically conductive can react with the primary electrical conductor, reducing electrical conductivity of the entire conductor structure. This can be controlled by passivating the interface between the barrier metal and the primary electrical conductor.
An additional problem encountered with barrier layer fabrication relates to the temperature processing steps which must be used in later fabrication steps to preserve the structures already fabricated. As is well known, selecting a semiconductor process defines the basic parameters of the structures and materials which can be used, including their dimensions and their intermediate processing. Traditionally, nitrided TiW (TiW:N) can be formed by using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in N.sub.2 or NH.sub.3 ambient or reactive sputtering techniques. Further, the ideal temperature range for reaction of non-porous saturated TiW:N layers using RTA is 700.degree.-900.degree. C.
However, this approach is limited to a first application of a layer of TiW:N. Once a subsequent conductor layer, e.g. Al, is deposited, the temperature range for subsequent manufacturing methods is very restricted, and a processing range of 700.degree.-900.degree. C. is no longer tenable. Thus, for any further layers of TiW:N which are thereafter desirable, fabrication must then be typically conducted according to a process such as reactive sputtering, which can employ lower temperature processing.
Unfortunately, reactive sputtering at these lower temperatures results in a TiW:N layer of high diffusivity which is especially susceptible to spiking. Compared to structures fabricated according to RTA processing, a much thicker layer of TiW:N is required to provide a wider barrier margin against defects, when lower temperature processes are employed. The enhanced thickness of the barrier layer of TiW:N which must be employed to address the increased likelihood of defects of course results in additional processing which is coupled with no significant advantages, a step which for example does not make the final structures fabricated have any added current carrying capacity.
Thus, an object of this invention is the development of improved diffusion barrier structures employing TiW and TiW:N alloy layers, which are functionally effective, economical to employ, and are not subject to current disadvantages and limitations.

Methods of making integrated circuit barrier structures


The invention relates to a halide-containing alkali tungstate catalyst for the synthesis of alkylmercaptans from alkanols and hydrogen sulfide, and to a process for the preparation of this catalyst.

The present invention relates to a catalyst comprising halide-containing alkali tungstates for the synthesis of alkylmercaptans from alkanols and hydrogen sulfide, and to a process for the preparation of this catalyst.
The term "alkali" is to be understood as meaning bonded alkali metals according to the periodic system of the elements, it also being possible for the tungstates to contain two or more different bonded alkali metals. The term "halide" is to be understood as meaning the bonded halogens of the periodic system of the elements, it also being possible for the alkali tungstates according to the invention to contain two or more different halides.
Among the alkylmercaptans, methylmercaptan in particular is an industrially important intermediate, for example for the synthesis of methionine and also for the synthesis of dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethylsulfone. Nowadays, it is prepared predominantly from methanol and hydrogen sulfide by reaction on a catalyst of aluminum oxide. The synthesis of methylmercaptan is usually carried out in the gas phase at temperatures of from 300 to 500° C. and at pressures of from 1 to 25 bar.
As well as containing the methylmercaptan that is formed, the reaction mixture contains unreacted starting materials and secondary products, such as, for example, dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl ether, as well as gases that are inert in terms of the reaction, such as, for example, methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and nitrogen. The methylmercaptan that forms is separated off from this reaction mixture.
For the economy of the process, it is necessary for the yield in the catalytic reaction of methanol and hydrogen sulfide to methylmercaptan to be as high as possible, in order to keep the outlay in terms of the separation of the resulting methylmercaptan from the reaction mixture as low as possible. In particular, the energy outlay for cooling the reaction gas mixture in order to condense the methylmercaptan represents a major cost factor here.
In order to increase the activity and selectivity, potassium tungstate or caesium tungstate is usually added to aluminum oxide as support. The tungstate is usually used in amounts of up to 25 wt. %, based on the total weight of the catalyst. An improvement in the activity and selectivity is also obtained by increasing the molar ratio of hydrogen sulfide to methanol. Molar ratios of from 1 to 10 are conventionally used.
However, a high molar ratio also means a high excess of hydrogen sulfide in the reaction mixture and hence the necessity of circulating large amounts of gas. In order to reduce the energy outlay required therefore, the ratio of hydrogen sulfide to methanol should therefore differ only slightly from 1.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,820,062 relates to a process for the preparation of organic thiols, in which there is used a catalyst of active aluminum oxide to which potassium tungstate has been added in an amount of from 1.5 to 15 wt. %, based on the weight of the catalyst. With this catalyst, good activities and selectivities are achieved at reaction temperatures of 400° C. and molar ratios of 2. This U.S. patent specification mentions various possibilities for incorporating the potassium tungstate into the aluminum oxide. For example, impregnation processes, coprecipitations and pure mixtures are said to be usable. The actual preparation of the catalyst is accorded little importance for the economy of the synthesis process of methylmercaptan. EP 0 832 687 B1 describes the advantages of the use of caesium tungstate (Cs2WO4) as promoter instead of potassium tungstate (K2WO4). For example, increased activity with simultaneous good selectivity can be achieved by the use of caesium tungstate.
By increasing the caesium tungstate concentration to up to 40 wt. %, the selectivity in respect of methylmercaptan can be increased to up to 92% without the activity being disproportionately impaired.
The general opinion is that the best selectivity is achieved with catalysts in which the alkali/tungstate ratio is 2:1 (A. V. Mashkina et al., React. Kinet. Catal. Lett., Vol. 36, No. 1, 159-164 (1988)).
The object of the present invention is to provide a catalyst and a process for its preparation, which catalyst is distinguished at low molar ratios of hydrogen sulfide to methanol by improved activity and selectivity compared with the known catalysts and accordingly results in a better yield and greater economy of the process.

Catalysts comprising halide-containing alkali tungstates for the synthesis of alkylmercaptan, and process for their preparation


A lighted nock assembly is disclosed for use with an archery projectile. A portion of an insert fits within, and is shouldered against, the tail end of the projectile shaft. The insert includes a recess terminating in a floor portion, and a face to bear against the nock shoulder. An LED/battery assembly fits within the recess of the insert abutting the floor portion. A nock fits over the LED/battery assembly and into the recess of the insert. Ready-to-fire, the LED/battery assembly comprises an activation gap between the LED lamp and the body of the battery assembly. A gap, greater than or equal to the activation gap, is left between the shoulder of the nock and the face of the insert. When fired, the bow string drives an internal surface of the nock into the front end of the LED/battery assembly and illuminates the LED lamp.

In archery, it is well-known that a nock is associated with the rearmost portion of an arrow, cross-bow bolt, and the like. A bowstring fits into the nock and propels the arrow from the bow upon release. With the advent of translucent plastic nocks, along with the advent of small-profile light emitting diode ("LED") and battery assemblies, it was recognized that the tail portion of an arrow could be lighted by fitting an LED/battery assembly within the translucent nock. It was recognized, advantageously, that such a lighted nock could provide a means to track arrow flight and targeting, such as may be useful at night, in low light conditions, or in poor visibility situations.
Notwithstanding, reliable, consistent, and convenient activation of such small-profile LED and battery assemblies has proven challenging to manufacturers. This problem was described in greater detail in Applicant's U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/729,901, filed on Nov. 26, 2012, entitled, "Universal Lighted Nock and Processes Therefor," and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/749,050, filed Jan. 4, 2013, and entitled, "Vane For Bolts, Arrows, And The Like," the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
As described therein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,930, issued Jul. 20, 1982 to Carissimi, and United States Patent Application Publication US 2012/0100942 by Minica, published Apr. 26, 2012, provide examples of such products. Disadvantageously, such products typically are formed in integral units, wherein a user cannot substitute a nock or an LED/battery assembly of his own choosing. Rather, a user is captive to a particular manufacturer's device construction, nock and LED color selections, and product availability. Additionally, due to the sealed and/or closed nature of such devices, switching off the LED/battery assembly after activation can sometimes be difficult and can tax one's dexterity—especially in field-use conditions.
Accordingly, in Applicant's above-referenced patent document, Applicant further disclosed embodiments of lighted nock subject matter that solve the aforedescribed activation problem for many projectile configurations. Advantageously, Applicant's disclosed subject matter provides a more universal construction, whereby a user conveniently may gain access to the working components, whereby those components may be transferred to other arrows, whereby the user may substitute nocks and LED/battery assemblies of his choice, and whereby the user can more easily access the LED/battery assembly to activate and deactivate the assembly without undue difficulty—all in field-use conditions.
It would be further desirable, however, to provide a lighted nock assembly that would provide for use of a standardized nock and for use of a standardized size, length, style, and/or configuration of small-profile LED and battery assembly within any of the several standardized arrow and cross-bow bolt sizes available in the marketplace. In order to do so, it would be beneficial to provide an insert for use within a conventional arrow or bolt shaft, the insert being appropriately sized on one end to accommodate and provide for use of such a standardized nock and standardized small-profile LED and battery assembly, while being appropriately sized on an opposite end to fit within, and be affixed into, a particular sized conventional arrow or bolt shaft.
It is to the disclosure of such lighted nock assemblies and related processes of use that the following is directed.

Lighted nock activation means and processes therefor


A recording apparatus includes a transporting unit which transports a recording medium and a recording unit which records data (e.g., prints) on the recording medium. A control unit controls the recording unit and the transporting unit. A detection unit detects a back end of the recording medium at a more upstream side of a transporting path than the recording position of the recording unit. A first judgment unit determines whether a scheduled recording is possible when the recording medium, while being transported, reaches a position where the recording should be performed when the detection unit detects the back end of the recording medium. A second judgment unit determines whether a portion of the scheduled recording to the recording medium is possible when the recording medium is transported to the position where the recording should be performed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method in a recording apparatus which can prevent an improper recording such as platen printing from occurring by judging whether a scheduled recording is possible at a position where transportation of a recording medium is stopped when detecting the back end of the recording medium which is being transported and by stopping performing the scheduled recording in the case in which the recording is impossible.
2. Related Art
Since the past years, as for a recording apparatus such as a serial printer, JP-A-2001-232882 (for example, paragraphs [0070] to [0077] and FIGS. 5 and 6) and JP-A-2006-212923 have disclosed the superposition control technique in which a paper feeding operation and a carriage operation are partially simultaneously performed in order to shorten the entire printing processing period. The superposition control technique conducts the paper feeding operation by driving a paper feeding motor (PF motor) after finishing printing processing of the amount of one pass. After that, a carriage motor (CR motor) is driven at a predetermined timing before the PF motor stops. By such an operation, it is possible to promptly start the printing operation at the same time when the paper feeding operation stops. Accordingly, this technique is advantageous in that it is possible to shorten the entire printing processing period over a technique in which the carriage operation is started by driving the CR motor after the stopping of the paper feeding operation.
For example, JP-A-2001-232882 discloses a recording apparatus which judges whether the back end of paper runs off a recording position of a recording head toward the downstream side in a paper transportation direction when paper feeding is stopped in the case in which the length of paper in the paper transportation direction (the paper transportation direction length) is shorter than a setup size, and which suspends the printing operation by issuing an order of printing refusal although the carriage is already driven in the case in which it is judged that the back end of the paper runs off the recording position. That is, the remaining amount of override area (printable range) is acquired on the basis of a counting value of an override counter which is driven after the back end of the paper passes a paper detection sensor and the remaining amount of paper feeding by a PF motor is also acquired. Thus, in the case in which it is judged that the remaining amount of paper feeding is the same or larger than the remaining amount of the override area, the printing refusal command is issued. Accordingly, in the case in which the back end of the paper has passed the recording position of the recording head, the printing operation is suspended by the printing refusal command and thus it is possible to prevent platen printing from occurring without wasting printing processing time.
However, a recording head is typically provided with a plurality of nozzles arranged in the paper transportation direction, and although JP-A-2001-232882 discloses that it is possible to prevent the platen printing from occurring, it likely happens that a printing is given to the platen as well as to the paper when movement of the nozzles (nozzle row) of the recording head is interrupted by the paper in the paper position after the stopping of the paper feeding. In this case, in spite of having been printable in the paper, there is a problem that the printing will be stopped. In the case in which a desired portion of an image cannot be printed in the paper because the paper is short, the printing may be terminated after some portion of the image is partially printed. In such a case, it is desirable that a printable part of the image is printed. For example, even if a marginal printing is set up, it is desirable that a printable range of the image is printed on the paper, losing the margin of the paper.

Recording method in recording apparatus, and recording apparatus


The device of the present invention is a guitar pick that is useful as a pick for stringed instruments. The device is generally worn between the two joints of middle phalange of a forefinger of a hand that is used to pluck the strings that extend over the aperture to the resonating cavity of the stringed instrument. The device has a pick portion that is attached to a ring portion. Preferably the pick portion projects from the ring portion at an angle from the plane of the ring portion. The angled projection of the pick portion from the ring portion permits a user to quickly and easily switch from picked play to finger picking play. It is conceivable that other fingers of either hand could be adorned similarly to a useful end.

Plectra or, as otherwise and hereafter referred to, "picks"have long been used to play stringed instruments. Typically, these picks are all similarly constructed from a resilient material, such as plastic or metal, to be flat and substantially triangular-shaped. In use, the traditional pick is gripped between the thumb and forefinger and directed across the string or strings of choice. However, the traditional guitar pick is not without infirmities.
For example, because traditional guitar picks require being gripped, there is a tendency towards being dropped. This generally happens when the musician's grip slips or becomes loosened as a result of sweat or fatigue. Furthermore, a musician may either use a pick or his fingers, commonly referred to as "finger-picking", to pluck strings. Should the musician desires to quickly alternate between "picking"with the traditional pick or "finger picking", the traditional guitar pick fails to provide the means to facilitate the musicians desire to alternate between playing styles. In an effort to address these and other problems, other practitioners in the art have disclosed related inventions.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,237, issued to Beall ("Beall"), discloses a pick connected to a band that wraps around the user's finger. The band is connected to the pick portion of the invention and holds the pick to the player's forefinger. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,720, issued to McIntyre ("McIntyre"), and Des.Pat. No. 291,809 issued to Jasper ("Jasper") also disclose guitar picks that permit wearable use. These designs feature more complete bands that wrap around the finger to hold the pick to the hand.
Unfortunately the Beall, McIntyre, and Jasper designs are somewhat complex and difficult to manufacture because each design is comprised of two or more pieces. This complexity results in increased cost that is eventually reflected in what the consumer pays. U.S. Pat. 3,699838, issued to Montgomery ("Montgomery"), presents one solution directed at this problem by disclosing an inexpensively manufactured one-piece wearable-pick.
The Montgomery patent discloses a one-piece pick constructed to fit over the end of the finger. Further, this design is easily and inexpensively stamped to the correct shape. However, because this pick is worn directly over the fingertip, or distal phalange, it may obstruct the musician's ability to play with the fingertip of the finger on which the device is worn frustrating the musician's ability to alternate between using the fingertip and the Montgomery pick.
So, while it is clear that the previously mentioned designs solve the problem associated with picks that require a thumb-forefinger grip, these designs are generally complex and relatively expensive to manufacture. On the other hand, the remaining less complex devices may obstruct the ability to play with the fingertip of the finger on which each of these devices are worn. It would instead be advantageous to construct a pick that is wearable and easily and inexpensively constructed, and that does not obstruct with the musician's ability to play with their fingertip.


On a continuous machine for filling capsules with at least one pharmaceutical product, the top shell of a capsule is transferred by advancing the top shell inside a relative seat, which is normally connected to a suction device to retain the top shell as of a loading station, and is connected to a blow device to release the top shell at an unloading station; pneumatic connection of the seat to the suction device being cut off upstream from the loading station in a travelling direction of the seat, so as to pick up the top shell directly at the loading station.

In the pharmaceutical industry, a machine is known for filling capsules, each comprising a bottom shell and a top shell closing the bottom shell.
The machine normally comprises a first wheel, on which each capsule is first positioned vertically, with the top shell on top of the bottom shell, and then opened; a conveying line connected to the first wheel to pick up the bottom shells successively and feed them along a given first path extending through at least one metering and filling device; a second wheel connected to the first wheel to pick up the top shells successively at a first transfer station; and a third wheel connected to the second wheel to receive the top shells successively at a second transfer station, and connected to the conveying line to successively receive the bottom shells, each of which is closed with the respective top shell.
The second wheel cooperates with the first and third wheel to feed each top shell along a second path of substantially the same length as the first path, and therefore in time with the relative bottom shell, comprises at least one seat for a top shell, and is mounted to rotate about a respective axis of rotation to feed the seat through the first and second transfer station.
The seat is normally connected to a suction device for removing the top shell off the first wheel and feeding it along the second path, and is connected, at the second transfer station, to a blow device to release the top shell onto the third wheel.
Given the relatively severe centrifugal forces to which the top shells of the capsules are subjected by the operating speeds of the first and second wheel, that the first and second wheel must differ fairly considerably in diameter to achieve the same length for both paths, and that the seat is normally connected to the suction device, known capsule filling machines of the above type have several drawbacks, mainly due to transfer of the top shells between the first and second wheel normally commencing upstream from the first transfer station, and so jeopardizing correct positioning of the top shells inside the seat on the second wheel and on the third wheel, and therefore closure of the relative bottom shells.
Failure to close a bottom shell results in stoppage of the machine to remove the bottom shell and relative top shell off the third wheel, and in fairly considerable downtime.

Method and wheel for transferring top shells of capsules on a machine for filling capsules with at least one pharmaceutical product


Tubelining device and technique using a coating-applicator for slip-casting a fluent liner coating onto the internal surface of a tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to lining an internal surface of a tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tubes are widely used in industrial, municipal, and domestic applications as means to transport flowable materials between different locations. In many industrial applications, the tubes are used to transport chemicals under severe conditions, such as corrosive, high temperature, high pressure, and combinations of these conditions. Two primary concerns in these applications are wear and/or corrosion damage to the internal walls of tubes. Wear is a problem for tubes in general while both wear and corrosion problems can be a concern in the case of metal tubes. Every year the cost of wear and/or corrosion damage to tubes is in the many millions of dollars in terms of production down-time and tube repair or replacement work.
To address the corrosion and wear problems associated with metal tubes, for instance, the tube ideally would be formed as a composite of the two types of materials, with ceramic on the inside and metal on the outside. There are a number of conventional techniques for forming protective ceramic coatings on internal surfaces of metal tubes. Among these, a surface chemical reaction has been used to form an oxide film on the inner surfaces of metal tubes, for example, by high-temperature oxidation or low-temperature anodization. Alternatively, thin film deposition techniques, such as physical vapor or chemical vapor depositions, have been used to coat the inside surfaces of the metal tubes with a ceramic material. Thermal-sprayed deposition of ceramic coatings on the inside of the tubes also has been practiced. Additionally, shrink-fitting, i.e., heating up a metal tube followed by telescopically inserting a tubular ceramic shell inside the heated tube, has been known. Also, another technique is to dip the metal tube in a ceramic slurry to provide a ceramic coating on at least the inner surfaces of the tubes. Unfortunately, prior techniques are either expensive or time-consuming approaches for obtaining a uniformly thick ceramic film on the internal surfaces of metal tubes. Furthermore, a more versatile process is needed that not only is applicable to metal tubes, but which also could be practiced on and easily adapted to other types of tubes, such as ceramic tubes.
Sealing and lining techniques for conduits and pipes are also known from the patent literature mentioned below:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,879 to Shishkin et al. teaches a device for coating the internal surface of a pipeline which uses hoses, a rotating blade and a smoothing cone. A coating mixture is delivered by a flexible hose to a cone shaped member. The cone shaped member distributes the coating material on the inner surface of the pipeline and serves to smooth out the coating material to form a uniform layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,937 to Holland teaches a pipe lining apparatus wherein a pipe liner vehicle travels through the pipe applying the material as it moves through. The distributor discharges concrete out of the discharge element onto the inner surface of the pipe as the vehicle traverses in the direction indicated by the arrow. A set of rotating trowel arms smooth the mortar which has been deposited.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,389 to Shubert teaches a frusto-conical troweling apparatus for pipe lining. A dispensing head rotates to sling mortar against the interior surface of the pipe. The pipelining machine supplies mortar through a hose, and is pulled from right to left by any suitable means. The conical troweling device moves along with the hose and evens out the mortar on the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,178 to Yamamoto et al. teaches a process whereby inorganic oxides are used as sealants to repair and prevent leakage in a pipeline. The sealant contains fine particles of inorganic oxide weakly adhering to one another into aggregations which can enter and plug fine cavities of the interior of a pipeline.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,905 to Nobis teaches an apparatus for internally coating pipes. The coating material is drawn through a pipe and fed to the rotating spraying device which atomizes the material and disperses it onto the internal surface of the pipe. The coating material is not specified in the patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,377 to Perkins et al. teaches a method and apparatus for lining a section of pipe with cement mortar. A section of the water main is lined by delivering wet mortar from a mixer to a lining apparatus, and throwing the wet cement mortar onto the cleaned surface of the water main.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,417 to Northcutt teaches a system for pipe lining including a forward seal and a following spreader defining a chamber therebetween for receiving flowable lining material. The spreader is immediately followed by a cylindrical elongate platen formed of radiant-energy transparent material. A radiant energy source is mounted inside the platen which emits radiant energy that is transmitted through the platen to the flowable lining material to effect or accelerate the curing of the lining material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,400 to Sagawa teaches a method for coating an interior surface of an elongated pipe member using a pair of plugs. A first lead plug member has a resilient cylindrical body with an outer diameter close to an inner diameter of the pipe member, and a trailing second plug member has a cylindrical body of an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe member and a brush provided at an end portion of the body of the second plug member, where the brush fiber radially extend outward such that their outer ends define a cylindrical surface having a diameter close to that of the pipe diameter. The coating is applied to the interior surface of the pipe member while the two plug members proceed therethrough.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,659 to Naf teaches a process for sealing and internal repair of systems of laid conduits in which a sealant is first applied to the leak by either introducing a sealant into the leaky conduit by means of air, in which the sealant is a dry water-swellable bentonite, a dry hydraulically disintegrated plastic dispersion preparation, or a mixture thereof and then conduit is filled with fluid; or alternatively, the sealant is introduced into the leaky conduit by means of water where the sealant is a finely divided inert material. Next, the conduit is emptied and compressed air charged with abrasive particles is blown through the conduit. Then, the conduit is internally coated by blowing into it a solvent-free epoxy resin containing a hardener and fibers.

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.


In a tread portion of a pneumatic tire, a first sipe wall surface of a sipe includes at least two first peak portions and at least one first valley portion at each position of the sipe extension direction, which are bent in a wave-like shape to form surface recesses and protrusions along a sipe depth direction. The first valley portion is sandwiched between the two first peak portions in the sipe depth direction, and extends from one end of the sipe in the extension direction to the other end of the sipe in the extension direction. A recess depth of the first valley portion with respect to the two first peak portions gradually reduces. A position of at least one of the two first peak portions in the sipe depth direction and a position of the first valley portion in the sipe depth direction become gradually closer.

In general, in a pneumatic tire (hereinafter, simply referred to as a tire), a plurality of sipes extending in a tire lateral direction are provided in blocks of a tread portion for the purpose of improving braking performance on wet road surfaces and icy road surfaces with an edge effect and a drainage effect exerted by the sipes. However, when the sipes are provided, rigidity of the blocks is degraded. Thus, in a new product tire, increased wear amount due to flexed blocks and degradation of steering stability on dry road surfaces are caused. Further, there has been known a technique of enhancing rigidity of the blocks by preventing the blocks from being flexed with sipes that are formed in a wave shape along a sipe depth direction. When wear progresses during traveling, a tread gauge is thick, and rigidity of the blocks is higher due to degradation of tread rubber. Thus, braking performance on wet road surfaces and icy road surfaces is largely degraded. Further, regarding the sipes in a wave-like shape, a sipe cutting edge provided to a mold for vulcanization molding is difficult to come off, and hence the blocks are more likely to be damaged when the sipe cutting edge comes off from the tire. Causing the cutting sipe to come off from the tire as described above is referred to as demolding of the tire.
For example, there has been known a pneumatic tire capable of suppressing degradation of rigidity of blocks or ribs in a new product tire with sipes, preventing rigidity of the blocks and the ribs from being excessively high along with wear progress, and effectively making improvement in degradation of demolding of the tire at the time of vulcanization molding (Japan Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-105131).
In the pneumatic tire, sipes are provided to the blocks and/or the ribs of a tread portion, and bend portions forming recesses/protrusions in a sipe width direction are provided along a sipe depth direction at at least both ends of the sipe in a sipe length direction. The sipe has such a shape that the size of the recesses/protrusions of the bent portions are gradually reduced toward the center in the sipe length direction and that the bent portion at one end and the bent portion at the other end in the sipe length direction form the recesses/protrusions in directions opposite to each other in the sipe width direction.
In the sipe, the width of the recesses/protrusions reduces gradually as approaching the other end from the one end in the sipe length direction, and the width of the recesses/protrusions is zero at the center between the one end and the other end in the sipe length direction. In the pneumatic tire, when one sipe wall surface is flexed, the recesses/protrusions of the other sipe wall surface can support the one sipe wall surface, and hence rigidity is secured. Meanwhile, the size of the recesses/protrusions of the bent portions of the sipe reduces gradually toward the center in the sipe length direction, and hence the sipe cutting edge of the mold is difficult to come off at the time of vulcanization molding.
However, demolding of the pneumatic tire at the time of completion of vulcanization molding is not yet sufficient. When the width of the recesses/protrusions of the bent portion is reduced for the purpose of improving demolding of the tire, a flexed block and a rib, that is, the one flexed sipe wall surface cannot be supported sufficiently by the recesses/protrusions of the other sipe wall surface. As a result, rigidity is not improved.


There is described a radiation source module for use in a fluid treatment system. The radiation source module comprises: a housing having an inlet, an outlet and a fluid treatment zone disposed between. The fluid treatment zone comprises a first wall surface and a second wall surface interconnected by a floor surface. The first wall surface, the second wall surface and the floor surface are configured to receive a flow of fluid through the fluid treatment zone. The radiation source module further comprises at least one radiation source assembly secured with respect to the first wall surface and the second wall surface and a module motive coupling element connected to the housing and configured to be coupled to a module motive element to permit the radiation source module to be installed in and extracted from the fluid treatment system. A fluid treatment system comprising the radiation source module is also described.

Field of the Invention
In one of its aspects the present invention relates to a radiation source module for use in a fluid treatment system. In another of its aspects, the present invention relates to a fluid treatment system incorporating a radiation source module.
Description of the Prior Art
Fluid treatment systems are generally known in the art. More particularly, ultraviolet (UV) radiation fluid treatment systems are generally known in the art.
Early treatment systems comprised a fully enclosed chamber design containing one or more radiation (preferably UV) lamps. Certain problems existed with these earlier designs. These problems were manifested particularly when applied to large open flow treatment systems which are typical of larger scale municipal waste water or potable water treatment plants. Thus, these types of reactors had associated with them the following problems:                relatively high capital cost of reactor;        difficult accessibility to submerged reactor and/or wetted equipment (lamps, sleeve cleaners, etc);        difficulties associated with removal of fouling materials from fluid treatment equipment;        relatively low fluid disinfection efficiency, and/or        full redundancy of equipment was required for maintenance of wetted components (sleeves, lamps and the like).
The shortcomings in conventional closed reactors led to the development of the so-called "open channel" reactors.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,482,809, 4,872,980 and 5,006,244 (all in the name of Maarschalkerweerd and all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereinafter referred to as the Maarschalkerweerd #1 patents) all describe gravity fed fluid treatment systems which employ ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Such systems include an array of UV lamp modules (e.g., frames) which include several UV lamps each of which are mounted within sleeves which extend between and are supported by a pair of legs which are attached to a cross-piece. The so-supported sleeves (containing the UV lamps) are immersed into a fluid to be treated which is then irradiated as required. The amount of radiation to which the fluid is exposed is determined by the proximity of the fluid to the lamps, the output wattage of the lamps and the flow rate of the fluid past the lamps. Typically, one or more UV sensors may be employed to monitor the UV output of the lamps and the fluid level is typically controlled, to some extent, downstream of the treatment device by means of level gates or the like.
The Maarschalkerweerd #1 patents teach fluid treatment systems which were characterized by improved ability to extract the equipment from a wetted or submerged state without the need for full equipment redundancy. These designs compartmentalized the lamp arrays into rows and/or columns and were characterized by having the top of the reactor open to provide free-surface flow of fluid in a "top open" channel.
The fluid treatment system taught in the Maarschalkerweerd #1 patents is characterized by having a free-surface flow of fluid (typically the top fluid surface was not purposely controlled or constrained). Thus, the systems would typically follow the behaviour of open channel hydraulics. Since the design of the system inherently comprised a free-surface flow of fluid, there were constraints on the maximum flow each lamp or lamp array could handle before either one or other hydraulically adjoined arrays would be adversely affected by changes in water elevation. At higher flows or significant changes in the flow, the unrestrained or free-surface flow of fluid would be allowed to change the treatment volume and cross-sectional shape of the fluid flow, thereby rendering the reactor relatively ineffective. Provided that the power to each lamp in the array was relatively low, the subsequent fluid flow per lamp would be relatively low. The concept of a fully open channel fluid treatment system would suffice in these lower lamp power and subsequently lower hydraulically loaded treatment systems. The problem here was that, with less powerful lamps, a relatively large number of lamps was required to treat the same volume of fluid flow. Thus, the inherent cost of the system would be unduly large and/or not competitive with the additional features of automatic lamp sleeve cleaning and large fluid volume treatment systems.
This led to the so-called "semi-enclosed" fluid treatment systems.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,418,370, 5,539,210 and Re36,896 (all in the name of Maarschalkerweerd and all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereinafter referred to as the Maarschalkerweerd #2 patents) all describe an improved radiation source module for use in gravity fed fluid treatment systems which employ UV radiation. Generally, the improved radiation source module comprises a radiation source assembly (typically comprising a radiation source and a protective (e.g., quartz) sleeve) sealingly cantilevered from a support member. The support member may further comprise appropriate means to secure the radiation source module in the gravity fed fluid treatment system.
Thus, in order to address the problem of having a large number of lamps and the incremental high cost of cleaning associated with each lamp, higher output lamps were applied for UV fluid treatment. The result was that the number of lamps and subsequent length of each lamp was dramatically reduced. This led to commercial affordability of automatic lamp sleeve cleaning equipment, reduced space requirements for the treatment system and other benefits. In order to use the more powerful lamps (e.g. medium pressure UV lamps), the hydraulic loading per lamp during use of the system would be increased to an extent that the treatment volume/cross-sectional area of the fluid in the reactor would significantly change if the reactor surface was not confined on all surfaces, and hence such a system would be rendered relatively ineffective. Thus, the Maarschalkerweerd #2 patents are characterized by having a closed surface confining the fluid being treated in the treatment area of the reactor. This closed treatment system had open ends which, in effect, were disposed in an open channel. The submerged or wetted equipment (UV lamps, cleaners and the like) could be extracted using pivoted hinges, sliders and various other devices allowing removal of equipment from the semi-enclosed reactor to the free surfaces.
The fluid treatment system described in the Maarschalkerweerd #2 patents was typically characterized by relatively short length lamps which were cantilevered to a substantially vertical support arm (i.e., the lamps were supported at one end only). This allowed for pivoting or other extraction of the lamp from the semi-enclosed reactor. These significantly shorter and more powerful lamps inherently are characterized by being less efficient in converting electrical energy to UV energy. The cost associated with the equipment necessary to physically access and support these lamps was significant.
Historically, the fluid treatment modules and systems described in the Maarschalkerweerd #1 and #2 patents have found widespread application in the field of municipal waste water treatment (i.e., treatment of water that is discharged to a river, pond, lake or other such receiving stream).
In the field of municipal drinking water, it is known to utilize so-called "closed" fluid treatment systems or "pressurized" fluid treatment systems.
Closed fluid treatment devices are known—see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,335 (Maarschalkerweerd #3). Maarschalkerweerd #3 teaches a closed fluid treatment device comprising a housing for receiving a flow of fluid. The housing comprises a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a fluid treatment zone disposed between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, and at least one radiation source module disposed in the fluid treatment zone. The fluid inlet, the fluid outlet and the fluid treatment zone are in a collinear relationship with respect to one another. The at least one radiation source module comprises a radiation source sealably connected to a leg which is sealably mounted to the housing. The radiation source is disposed substantially parallel to the flow of fluid. The radiation source module is removable through an aperture provided in the housing intermediate to fluid inlet and the fluid outlet thereby obviating the need to physically remove the device for service of the radiation source.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,346 [Taghipour et al. (Taghipour)] also teaches a closed fluid treatment device, particularly useful for ultraviolet radiation treatment of fluids such as water. The device comprises a housing for receiving a flow of fluid. The housing has a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a fluid treatment zone disposed between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet and at least one radiation source having a longitudinal axis disposed in the fluid treatment zone substantially transverse to a direction of the flow of fluid through the housing. The fluid inlet, the fluid outlet and the fluid treatment zone are arranged substantially collinearly with respect to one another. The fluid inlet has a first opening having: (i) a cross-sectional area less than a cross-sectional area of the fluid treatment zone, and (ii) a largest diameter substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the at least one radiation source assembly.
Practical implementation of known fluid treatment systems of the type described above has been such that the longitudinal axis of the radiation source is: (i) parallel to the direction of fluid flow through the fluid treatment system, or (ii) orthogonal to the direction of fluid flow through the fluid treatment system. Further, in arrangement (ii), it has been common to place the lamps in an array such that, from an upstream end to a downstream end of the fluid treatment system, a downstream radiation source is placed directly behind an upstream radiation source.
The use of arrangement (ii) in a UV radiation water treatment system has been based on the theory that radiation was effective up to a prescribed distance from the radiation source, depending on the transmittance of the water being treated. Thus, it has become commonplace to interspace the radiation sources in arrangement (ii) such that the longitudinal axes of adjacent radiation sources are spaced at a distance equal to approximately twice the prescribed distance mentioned in the previous sentence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,800 [Free] teaches an ultraviolet sterilizing system for waste water adopting arrangement (ii) described above. In the system taught by Free, channels are formed around a single lamp assembly and projections are formed in the channels to induce turbulent plug flow such that when the apparatus is inserted into a flow of liquid to be treated, the channels act to confine and direct liquid about the housing and the projections act to establish a continuous, cyclical flow in the channels between housing and the channels walls. This system has disadvantages since it requires individual channels be provided between a wall structure and a single lamp assembly. Thus, when treating large volumes of water, it is necessary to utilize a plurality of radiation source assemblies. The arrangement taught by Free is quite complicated since each radiation source assembly would have to be configured to have a pair of opposed chambers as shown in Free and each chamber would have to have the projections required to establish the so-called plug flow of the liquid. This is not surprising since the aim of the Free system is to create a continuous, cyclical flow in the channels between housing and the channels walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,663 [Blatchley, III et al. (Blatchley)] teaches an apparatus for applying ultraviolet radiation dosage to fluids in an open channel. With particular reference to FIG. 12 in Blatchley, there is shown a fluid treatment channel containing a module having a series of vertically disposed lamps (14). Disposed on the sidewalls of the fluid channel are a series of fluid diverters (27). As shown, the arrangement of fluid diverters (27) is such that each fluid diverter (27) projects into the fluid treatment channel to the same extent. Such an arrangement is disadvantages since it results in relatively high fluid head loss and low treatment efficiency.
The deficiences in Free and Blatchely have been addressed in International Publication Number 2008/055344 [Ma et al. (Ma)] by providing an improved fluid treatment system. The improvement results from using an approach that is somewhat counterintuitive to the prior art approach. Specifically, the prior art approach of Blatchely was premised on using a flow diverter structure on the wall of the fluid treatment zone to direct fluid (typically water) being treated from the wall toward the center of the fluid treatment zone in which there is disposed a series of radiation source assemblies. Contrary to this approach, the present fluid treatment systems uses a combination of the radiation source assembly and a prescribed wall structure to encourage fluid flow along the sides of the walls of the fluid treatment zone while obviating or mitigating short circuiting (i.e., the phenomon where fluid travel along the wall is not subject to a sufficient dose of radiation). Thus, unlike the prior art approach which seeks to concentrate fluid flow toward the middle of the fluid treatment zone, fluid treatment system taught by Ma relies on relatively uniform fluid flow from side to side in the fluid treatment zone while obviating or mitigating short circuiting.
While the fluid treatment system taught by Ma represents a significant improvement in the art, there is room for improvement. Specifically, practical implementations of fluid treatment systems such as those in accordance with arrangement (ii) described above (particularly those taught by Blatchley and Ma having diverting or other structures projecting from the side walls of the open channel into the fluid treatment zone) involve the use of relatively long radiation sources that need to be placed very close to the side walls of the of the open channel. This leads to the significant likelihood that the radiation sources will be damage through inadvertent contact with the side—e.g., as the radiation sources are installed or extracted from the fluid treatment system. It is also advantageous to maintain a tight tolerance for the prescribed distance between the radiation source and the side wall to ensure optimal performance of the reactor. Such a tolerance can be achieved when the reactor module is manufactured as a single unit. A final consideration is that since treatment channels are becoming narrower and pre-manufactured sealable housing will be easier to install.
It would be highly desirable to have a radiation source module and a fluid treatment system that overcomes the above problems.

Radiation source module and fluid treatment system


A fueling station payment system having a fuel pump dispensing fuel to individual customers; a forecourt controller; a terminal disposed within said fuel pump, said terminal comprising a processing unit, a secure card reader, an encryption module and a wireless communication module; said terminal being in wireless communication with a payment processor such that encrypted secure payment information is transmitted between said terminal and said payment processor; said terminal being in wireless communication with the cloud such that encrypted secure payment information is transmitted between said terminal and said cloud; one or more point of sale systems which communicate with said forecourt controller using established protocols; and a gateway device, wherein said terminal communicates wirelessly with said gateway device, and wherein said terminal and said forecourt controller communicate with each other through said gateway device, and wherein said gateway device communicates with said forecourt controller using said established protocols of said point of sale systems.

The present invention relates generally to service or fueling stations at which fuel is dispensed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fueling station transaction or payment system that retrofits with existing fuel pump peripherals. Retail fueling environments usually include a plurality of fuel dispensers or fuel pumps located in a forecourt area outside of a convenience store building. Typically, the fuel pumps will each be equipped with pay-at-the-pump capability so customers can perform fueling transactions using a user interface on the respective fuel pump. For example, the customer can present a credit or debit card using a card reader installed on the fuel pump's user interface to pay for the fuel without entering the convenience store. Internally, the pumps typically contain flow meters, pulsers, control electronics, valves, manifolds, and internal piping. Many of these components are subject to regulatory requirements to maintain a high degree of accuracy.
Accepting payment cards as a method of payment subjects various fuel pump components to security standards and regulations promulgated by the Payment Card Industry ("PCI") and/or EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa). These standards were created in an attempt to prevent fraud and other security issues that arise due to the acceptance of payment cards and the transmission of sensitive information associated with the payment cards, such as account number, account holder information, and personal identification numbers ("PIN"). Generally speaking, these standards and requirements must be met by both software and hardware components used to receive, store, transmit, or otherwise handle the sensitive information. This is also known as PCI compliance.
Existing retail fueling environments (as shown in prior art FIG. 1) provide an integrated system that enables fuel dispensing payment both in-store and pay at the pump. For in-store payments, each fueling station has a convenience store 10, also known as a C-store, for customers to interact with an attendant and pay for fuel or purchase other convenience store items, such as food, drinks or sundries. The C-store 10 can also be a kiosk or small enclosure that does not permit customer entry, with customer service provided via a window or transaction counter. Convenience stores utilize payment systems that have a back office system 20, one or more point of sale (POS) systems 30 and a forecourt controller 40.
The back office system 20 includes hardware and software that provides accounting, inventory, record management and other back office and convenience store operations and management services. In one embodiment, the back office system 20 has a server and one or more personal computers or terminals for employee access and use. The back office system 20 may also be cloud-based or located off-site and provides employees with remote access via a network, such as the Internet and or through personal computers or portable electronic devices. The back office system 20 communicates with each POS system 30 and with the forecourt area via a forecourt controller 40, each of which is discussed below. In another embodiment, the back office system 20 may be located partially on-site and partially in the cloud 99 where it may be accessed via a network, such as the Internet. The back office system 20 may track and provide management of POS system transactions, such as fuel, food, drink and goods purchases at the convenience store 10.
The convenience store 10 may have one or more POS locations for customers to make their purchases. A POS system 30 may include an electronic cash register (ECR) 31 for processing the purchase, tracking inventory and handling cash transactions.
Each electronic cash register 31 also provides for card payment transactions, such as Visa, Mastercard or payment by debit cards. For these types of payments, each point of sale system 30 includes a secure card reader (SCR) 32 for reading payment card information, whether via the card's magnetic strip, EMV, near field communication (NFC) or other form of contactless payment. Each POS system 30 may also have a PIN pad terminal (EPP) 33 for PIN entry in connection debit card transactions, or the entry of other information by a customer, such as their zip code, gratuities or payment confirmation information. In many cases, the secure card reader 32 and PIN pad terminal 33 are integrated into a single device, referred to as a payment terminal or payment device, that also includes a display screen, magnetic card reader and card insert for processing EMV card transactions. Each secure card reader 32 may communicate the payment card information to the electronic cash register 31 and back to the back office system 20 for card payment processing. Alternatively, the point of sale system 30, by either the electronic cash register 31 or card reader unit 32, or by a payment device, may communicate directly with a third party payment processor 98 to obtain authorization of the card payment transaction. The system transmits to the payment processor the credit card number, the PIN, and other block and transaction information, including pre-authorization and post authorization. For enhanced security, in one form of a PCI compliant system, for example, no PCI information is shared with the back office system 20 and, instead is communicated directly by the secure POS system 30, or its payment device, to the payment processor 98. Only non-PCI payment transaction data is shared with the back office system 20.
These types of systems risk losing the ability to process card payment transactions if the communications connection is lost or interrupted. For example, if the payment device processes card payments directly with the payment processor, then the ability of the fueling station to accept card payments will be interrupted if the payment device loses its communications connection to the payment processor. The interruption may be caused by any number of factors, such as interference or a weak signal if the communication is wireless, an error with the payment devices communications components or module, or a break or disconnection if the connection was hard wired. Additional difficulties may arise if the connection is lost or interrupted during a fueling transaction. During commencement of a customer fueling transaction, the customer inserts or swipes a payment card into the payment device, and the payment device obtains pre-authorization for the card payment transaction from the payment processor. Upon the customer's completion of fueling, the payment device completes the card payment transaction and obtains a post-authorization from the payment processor. If the communication is interrupted mid-fueling. The payment device may obtain pre-authorization without the ability to timely obtain the transactions post-authorization.
The convenience store 10 also includes a forecourt controller 40 which through direct communication lines 57 communicates with and serves as a controller for each fuel pump 50 located in the outdoor forecourt area. Each fuel pump 50 includes a number of peripherals 51 for facilitating payment at the pump and fuel dispensing. As an example, many existing fuel pumps have a secure card reader 52, a PIN pad 53, a near field communication (NFC) device 54, a printer 55, a gas dispenser 56 and a display 58.
The display 57 provides information to customers about the fueling station and services, and instructions, status and updates for payment and fuel dispensing. The secure card reader (SCR) 52, PIN pad (EPP) 53 and near field communications 54 peripherals are similar to those described above and used as part of the POS system 30 with the electronic cash register 31 within the convenience store 10. Because these peripherals 51 are located outside and are not regularly attended by convenience store staff, they may include added security, such a tamper-proof housing, and protective coverings or materials to protect against the elements. The fuel pump 50 may also include a printer 55 for generating receipts of payment transactions. Of course, the fuel pump also includes gas dispensers 56 for selecting the desired octane rating fuel and dispensing the fuel into a vehicle.
In many existing and legacy fuel pumps 50 each of these peripherals 51 is "dumb" in nature, i.e., each of the peripherals 51 lacks a processor and is dependent upon the forecourt controller 40 to control their activities. The forecourt controller 40 serves as a controller for each fuel pump 50 and its peripherals 51 and as an intermediary between each POS system 30 and the fuel pumps 50. The forecourt controller 40 may also facilitate card payment transactions for the fuel pumps 50.
In a conventional fueling station, the forecourt controller 40 controls the peripherals 51 of each fuel pump 50. With respect to the secure card reader 52 and PIN pad 53, the forecourt controller 40 may control when they are activated to read a magnetic card strip or accept a keypad entry. In other situations, the forecourt controller 40 may place them or itself into a listening mode that initiates a payment transaction or other activities when activated by a customer, such as by swiping a card or pressing one or more of the PIN pad keys. The secure card reader 52 and PIN pad 53 transmit the customer input to the forecourt controller 52, which then facilitates payment with the payment processor 98. The forecourt controller 40 may also control the display 58, communicating to the display 58 what information will be shared with the customer. Upon completion of an accepted or declined payment transaction, the forecourt controller 40 communicates and controls the printer 55 to print receipts.
The forecourt controller 40 also controls the gas dispensers 56. As an example, depending upon the fuel octane rating selected by a customer, the forecourt controller 40 will activate the appropriate fuel lines or pumps to deliver the selected gasoline to the customer's vehicle. It may also monitor the flow rates, number of gallons pumped, and when to start and stop the pumping cycles. The forecourt controller 40 processes and coordinates this information to provide the customer a display of the amount of fuel pumped, real time pricing, and then use that information to facilitate card payment at the fuel pump 50. As can be seen from the foregoing summary, the forecourt controller 40 directs and coordinates the activities of each fuel dispenser peripheral 51.
As explained above, the forecourt controller 40 processes card payment transactions made at the fuel pumps 50 for customers paying at the pump 50. To accomplish this, the forecourt controller 40 communicates with third payment processors 99. As part of this system, the forecourt controller 40 and each POS system 30 (or electronic cash register 31 or payment device) must be certified to communicate and engage in transactions with a third party payment processor 98. This is a certification for communicating between the fuel station's payment systems and the payment processor 98. The peripheral devices 51 are not individually certified and depend upon the forecourt controller 40 for these services. All requests and responses to and from the forecourt controller 40 to the payment processor 98 must match. This setup, configuration and certification requires software and the creation of scripts (rule writing). Depending upon the types of card payments that may be accepted (VISA, MasterCard, Discover or AMEX), and the methods of acceptable payment (magnetic strip, EMV, contactless payment and NFC), certification may be complex.
To process card payments, the forecourt controller is dependent upon its communication connection to the payment processor. If that connection is lost or interrupted, customers are unable to use payment cards to purchase and pump fuel. Additional issues may arise if the communications between the forecourt controller and the payment processor are interrupted during a fueling transaction. As explained above, this may occur if the forecourt controller obtains pre-authorization from the payment processor and a customer commences fueling, but that connection is lost before the fueling transaction is completed and before a post-authorization has been requested or obtained by the forecourt controller.
The forecourt controller 40 also communicates with the various POS systems 30 for customers paying inside for the fuel dispensing. Each electronic cash register (ECR) 31 is capable of initiating a fuel pump transaction, with payment using the electronic cash register's payment device and then communicating with the forecourt controller 40 to assign the outdoor pump 50 and effectuate the transaction and fuel pumping. Alternatively, the forecourt controller 40 may communicate with the back office system 20 which receives communications from each POS system 30. Accordingly, the forecourt controller 40 is a critical component of fuel station operation whether a customer pays inside or outside at the pump 50. When payment is inside, the point of sale system 30 handles the payment processing and communicates with the forecourt controller 40 to facilitate the fuel dispensing. When payment is made at the pump 50, the forecourt controller 40 handles the payment processing and the fuel dispensing.
All of these components, the back office system 20, each point of sale system 30 and the forecourt controller 40 may communicate using any conventional means, whether as part of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) and including wired, wirelessly or via a cloud based solution in communication with each component.
Many if not most of the current fuel station payment systems are weak in terms of payment security, as the technology has surpassed their capabilities. Many existing and legacy fuel pumps 50 include secure card readers 52 and PIN pad 53 peripherals that are limited to processing card payments using prior or outdated technology. As an example, existing fuel pumps 50 were implemented and installed prior to adoption of EMV cards, contactless payment and/or the use of NFC for Apple Pay, Google Pay and other smartphone payment methods. Since the peripherals 51 in existing fuel pumps 50 are dumb and controlled by the forecourt controller 40, current replacement solutions require replacement or updates to the various peripherals 51 and updates and modifications to the existing forecourt controller 40 that controls them. Other known solutions require replacement of the entire system, which may include the fuel pumps 50, the underground fuel tanks, the peripherals 51, the complete back office system 20, forecourt controller 40 and each POS system 30.
Replacing existing equipment is costly and time consuming. As an example, fuel station owners may operate multiple fueling station locations that utilize different fuel pumps 50, peripherals 51, back office systems 20 and POS systems 30 at each locations. Equipment and software may have been purchased and installed at different times, or the stations acquired from pre-existing businesses who selected and installed different equipment. Additionally, a station's various fuel dispensing islands may have been added or built over different periods of time and incorporate different technologies. Accordingly, fuel stations and fuel pumps 50 may utilize different hardware, software and fuel dispensing peripherals 51, which increases the complexity of upgrading them.
Replacing an existing fuel station's fuel dispensing systems with up-to-date EMV and other card payment technologies can be costly and time consuming. The costs for system replacement can reach five hundred thousand dollars for a single fuel station and require weeks of station downtime resulting in revenue losses. The gas pumps 50 and forecourt controller 40 communicate with the station's underground tanks and associated pumps and controller components, which must also be replaced in connection with new pumps 50 and the forecourt controller 40. The extent of these replacements requires complete station shutdown during implementation and replacement of the fuel dispensing system. The costs and extent of this transition makes the process irreversible. The new system results in purchaser lock-in. A fueling station that is unsatisfied with a new system cannot rollback or reverse the decision without undergoing another significant capital expenditure and weeks of station downtime.
In many cases replacing some of the station's components is also not a reasonable alternative. Simply replacing existing secure card readers 52 and PIN pad 53 peripherals with EMV compatible equipment will not solve the problem because of certification requirements. As explained above, the forecourt controller 40 and each point of sale system 30 must be certified to work with the payment processor 98. The more recent implementation and requirements for Euro pay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) adds another layer of complexity to this certification requirement. Certification to process EMV transactions (not including contactless payment or NFC) may take two or more years to complete the certification process. In comparison, the number of scripts needed to implement EMV increases from approximately forty scripts and rule writing for magnetic card strip processing to over forty thousand for EMV card payment processing.
Additionally, as part of the payment processing, the EMV credit card and card reader communicate with each other, and the payment processor 98, and the card company. Under the existing system for magnetic strip card payment processing, all communications are with the payment processor 98. There are other certification requirements as well, such as with each card brand (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AMEX), and with payment application developers. The certifications also differ depending on whether payment is made via contact or contactless card payment.
Replacing some of the station's components or peripherals is also not a reasonable alternative for other reasons. Different fuel dispenser peripherals use different standards for communication, connectivity and cabling. The secure card reader 52, PIN pad 53 and other peripherals 51 may connect and communicate with the forecourt controller 40 using various and differing cabling standards, such as Ethernet, USB, RS232, and RS485. Replacement equipment must be compatible with the existing cabling or a complete station re-wiring may be necessary.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method and system for updating and retrofitting existing fueling station systems that address and eliminate the problems discussed above. It is an object to provide such a system and method comprising two primary components: (1) a smart terminal that is inserted into each fuel pump, which replaces at least the existing secure card reader and possibly additional existing peripherals, and which encrypts payment information for wireless transmission; and (2) an in-store gateway device that interfaces with the forecourt controller and wirelessly communicates with each smart terminal.
It is an object of this invention to provide in such system back-up and redundant systems for processing card payment transactions in the event one or more forms of communication between one or more of the various components and a payment card network or payment processor are down or interrupted.

Fuel dispensing terminal and proxy system and method of redundancy


Systems and methods that optimize GPU processing by front loading activities from a set time/binding time to creation time via enhancements to an API that configures the GPU. Such enhancements to the API include: implementing layering arrangements, employing state objects and view components for data objects; incorporating a pipeline stage linkage/signature, employing a detection mechanism to mitigate error conditions. Such an arrangement enables front loading of the work and reduction of associated API calls.

Advancement of technology in the world of communications and computing has significantly advanced entertainment systems and enhanced user experiences. In general, entertainment systems strive to realistically recast an environment in which an event or game action occurs. Such trend can also involve recreating the environment based on a user's expectations or desires. Moreover, recent advancements in processing power and transmission capability have made it possible to recreate a realistic setting in relatively small computer enabled systems.
Typically, the entertainment industry offers a variety of passive and interactive forms of settings for amusements, which often are tailored depending on target audience. For example, different video games and television events or programs are specifically marketed to specific life styles, target age groups, and the like. Similarly, head mounted computer displays enable users to experience a graphical environment, wherein a user can enjoy an illusion of presence in the displayed environment. In general, such software for generating virtual reality environments have typically been employed for training and entertaining of personnel, wherein relatively inexpensive computing devices enable 3D virtual reality user interfaces. These 3D virtual reality worlds allow a user to explore a simulated environment. Such environments can further include views from an ordinary street scene with walkways, roads, and buildings to a completely fictitious landscape of an outer space planet. In general, the end goal with virtual reality interfaces still remains to provide the user the most realistic experience possible.
Rendering and displaying 3-D graphics typically involves a plurality of calculations and computations. For example, to render a 3-D object, a set of coordinate points or vertices that define an object to be rendered is initially formed, wherein vertices are subsequently joined to form polygons and define surfaces. Once such defining vertices are formed, a transformation from an object or model frame of reference to a world frame of reference and subsequently to 2-D coordinate is completed. Throughout such procedure, vertices can be rotated, scaled, eliminated or clipped (if they fall outside of a viewable area) lit by various lighting schemes and sources, colorized, and the like. Such processes for rendering and displaying a 3-D object can be computationally intensive and can involve a large number of operations for each vertex.
For example, complexities can arise within the shading process that describes appearance of a material at any point of a 1-D, 2-D or 3-D space, via a function (e.g., procedural shader) in a shading parameter space. In general, the object is "immersed" in the original 1-D, 2-D or 3-D space and the values of shading parameters at a given point of surface are defined as a result of procedural shading function at such point. For instance, procedural shaders that approximate appearance of wood, marble or other natural materials have been developed. Moreover, by passing source code designed to work with a shader into an application, a shader becomes an object that the application can create/utilize in order to facilitate the efficient drawing of complex video graphics—for example, as vertex shaders, geometry shaders, and/or pixel shaders.
Such Vertex, geometry and/or pixel shaders can commonly be implemented wholly as software code, and/or as a combination of more rigid pieces of hardware with software for controlling the hardware. (GPU), which can run on the host CPU. These implementations frequently are contained in a CPU or emulated via employing a system's CPU. For example, hardware implementations can directly integrate a CPU chip, to perform the processing functionality required of shading tasks. Moreover, pixel and vertex shaders can be implemented as specialized and programmable hardware components. Such vertex and pixel shader chips are highly specialized and typically do not behave as prior CPU hardware implementations. Also, GPUs are increasing speed at a faster rate when compared to advancements in CPUs. Accordingly, GPU performance is desired to be decoupled from CPU performance.

Application program interface for programmable graphics pipeline


An object of the present invention is to provide novel dextrin fatty acid ester that is excellent in tackiness and useful as a base for cosmetics and the like. The novel dextrin fatty acid ester is prepared by esterification between dextrin and fatty acids, wherein the dextrin has an average degree of glucose polymerization of 3 to 150; the fatty acids comprise more than 50 mol % and 100 mol % or less, based on the total amount of the fatty acids, of one or more saturated branched fatty acids having 4 to 26 carbon atoms, and 0 mol % or more and less than 50 mol %, based on the total amount of the fatty acids, of one or more fatty acids selected from the group consisting of saturated linear fatty acids having 2 to 22 carbon atoms, unsaturated linear or branched fatty acids having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, and saturated or unsaturated cyclic fatty acids having 6 to 30 carbon atoms; and the degree of substitution by the fatty acids is 1.0 to 3.0 per glucose unit.

Various types of resins have been used in cosmetics. A large number of products have been developed by using shape-retaining ability brought about by the adhesion (tackiness) and hardness of these resins. Resins are broadly classified into: naturally-derived resins whose starting materials are natural plant-derived resins, for example, pine resin, dammar, mastic, copal, amber, balsam, and Japanese lacquer or natural animal-derived resins, for example, shellac; and synthetic resins synthesized from chemicals with petroleum as a material. Particularly, the natural plant-derived resins are used in not only cosmetics but also in foods such as chewing gum. For example, rosin acid pentaerythritol ester is a naturally-derived resin prepared by esterification between abietic acid contained in a solid resin called rosin (obtained from the secretory fluid of pine) and pentaerythritol (natural sugar alcohol) (see patent document 1), and is also currently used in general in cosmetics and foods. Unfortunately, this resin, in cosmetics, often presents an odor problem, which tends to be made more noticeable by heating for dissolution. In addition, its film has a little adhesion and thus requires adding a plasticizer for adjustment. In some cases, the resin contained therein in large amounts may impair the texture of the cosmetic.
Alternatively, for example, a silicone resin has been used as a synthetic resin (see patent document 2). Although this resin is free from problems associated with safety, odor, or texture, it may be difficult, particularly, for cosmetics, to impart the affinity of the film for the skin due to its poor adhesion to the skin.
Thus, attention has been focused on naturally-derived dextrin fatty acid ester. However, some conventional dextrin fatty acid esters (patent document 3), which are prepared by esterification of branched fatty acids, cause gelation of liquid oil, but have insufficient adhesion (tackiness).

Dextrin fatty acid ester that does not cause gelation of liquid oil, and uses thereof


A fixing unit that is provided in an image forming device and fixes a toner image transferred to paper is constructed of two belts, belt guides each of which guides the inner periphery of each of the belts, a heating member arranged in one of the belts or heating members arranged in both of the belts, a drive roller for driving the inner periphery of the belt, wherein the belts pinch paper on both surfaces thereof by the belt guides and carry the paper. This construction can realize a fixing unit reduced in size and capable of printing images at high speeds and shortening a rise time that elapses until the fixing unit reaches a fixable temperature.

The present invention relates to a fixing unit for fixing a toner image on a recording medium in an electrophotography device.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H5(1993)-127551, a fixing unit is proposed that includes a belt looped over a drive roller and a driven roller and a belt looped over a pair of rollers each of which is pressed via the former belt onto each of the drive roller and the driven roller.
When a belt is used for a fixing unit in an electrophotography type image forming device using toner, the width of nip where paper is pinched and heated can be elongated in the carrying direction. For this reason, even if the carrying speed of the paper is increased, toner can be heated for a sufficient time and hence a recording speed can be increased. In a fixing unit using a belt, there is a construction in which nip is defined by a roller and a belt. In this construction, the paper and the belt can be carried by the roller, which can simplify a drive mechanism. However, to widen the width of nip, an angle formed by a belt looped over the roller needs to be increased, which increases the degree of curl of paper along the roll. To decrease this angle to decrease the degree of curl, the diameter of the roller needs to be increased, which increases the size of the fixing unit and increases heat capacity to increase a rise time that elapses until the belt reaches a fixable temperature. In the case where both parts to define the nip are belts, the problem of curl can be eliminated but a force that presses toner onto the paper at the nip defined by the belts opposed to each other becomes weak. For this reason, to increase a fixing capability, the width of the nip needs to be further elongated as compared with a case where one of the parts to define the nip is a roller. Further, to drive and carry the belt, at least two rollers for each of the belts, that is, a total of four rollers need to be provided. This makes the construction of the fixing unit complex and elongates a rise time that elapses until the belt reaches a fixable temperature.

Heat fixing unit with improved belt handling