A hydraulic spool valve includes a valve housing which has a valve bore having two control chambers, which directly follow one after the other axially at a distance and extend beyond the diameter of the valve bore. A connection surface of the valve housing has a pump connection opening connected by a first fluid channel to a first of the two control chambers. A consumer connection opening is connected by means of a second fluid channel to a second of the two control chambers. The valve has a control piston, which is guided back and forth in the valve bore to fluidically connect or separate the two control chambers. A radial web of the valve housing projects into each control chamber, with an extension delimited in the circumferential direction. The web in the second control chamber is longer in the circumferential direction than the web in the first control chamber.

A hydraulic spool valve of this type is known from DE 36 44 269 C2. Spool valves of this type are primarily in the form of directional valves for controlling the direction of movement of a hydraulic consumer. The connection ports are located in a connection face of the valve body, a specific hole pattern being defined for the location of the connection ports relative to one another and relative to the valve bore for each nominal size of a directional valve. Depending on the nominal size of a directional valve, a plurality or all of the connection ports are located outside a central axis which is perpendicular to the connection face and passes through the axis of the valve bore.
According to DE 36 44 269 C2, in an annular control chamber, a web is provided which protrudes radially into the control chamber. A web is provided in particular in the control chambers which are assigned to connection ports which are located outside said central axis and into which a fluid channel opens tangentially. A web in a control chamber is intended to prevent an annular flow and a rotational movement of the control piston caused by said flow. A rotational movement of this type would entail increased wear on control pistons and bodies and increased leakage. The flow losses caused by an annular flow per se are not considered in greater detail in DE 36 44 269.


A method, apparatus, and system for recovering from loss of a packet.

In packet-based digital communication networks, one or more packets may not be delivered to the intended recipient. Such unreceived packets may be retransmitted upon discovery that they were not delivered. Receipt after transmission or retransmission may, however, be later than desired. Thus, there may be a need for a system, apparatus, and method for recovering from loss or non-timely receipt of a packet.


The present invention comprises a method of forming a zinc oxide based thin film transistor by blanket depositing the zinc oxide layer and the source-drain metal layer and then wet etching through the zinc oxide while etching through the source-drain electrode layer. Thereafter, the active channel is formed by dry etching the source-drain electrode layer without effectively etching the zinc oxide layer.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods for forming zinc oxide based thin film transistors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current interest in thin film transistor (TFT) arrays is particularly high because these devices are used in liquid crystal active matrix displays of the kind often employed for computer and television flat panels. The liquid crystal active matrix displays may also contain light emitting diodes for back lighting. Further, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been used for active matrix displays, and these OLEDs require TFTs for addressing the activity of the displays.
The TFT arrays may be created on a flat substrate. The substrate may be a semiconductor substrate, or may be a transparent substrate such as glass, quartz, sapphire, or a clear plastic film. A gate dielectric layer overlies a gate electrode. A passivation dielectric overlies the upper surface of a second conductive electrode, to electrically isolate the second conductive electrode from the ambient surrounding the upper surface of the TFT device.
TFTs made with amorphous silicon have become the key components of the flat panel display industry. Unfortunately amorphous silicon does have its limitations such as light sensitivity, light degradation, and limited aperture ratio for active matrix arrays. Another problem associated with amorphous silicon is its low field effect mobility. The mobility required for OLEDs is at least 10 times higher than that achievable with amorphous silicon. In recent years, transparent TFTs have been created in which zinc oxide has been used as the active channel layer. Zinc oxide is a compound semiconductor that can be grown as a crystalline material at relatively low deposition temperatures on various substrates such as glasses and plastics. Zinc oxide based TFTs will not degrade upon exposure to visible light. Therefore, a shield layer, as is necessary for silicon based TFTs is not present. Without the shield layer, the TFT remains transparent.
In forming zinc oxide and doped zinc oxide for TFTs used in flat panel displays, it is difficult to effectively deposit the zinc oxide and doped zinc oxide while also forming an active channel. There is a need in the art for effectively forming a zinc oxide based TFT.

Process for making thin film field effect transistors using zinc oxide


A combination switch for a vehicle which employs only one connector for electrical connections. A body is formed with a first recess and second recess formed on the left and right sides of the body, respectively. A first switch is mounted to the first recess, and a second switch is mounted to the second recess. A terminal block is mounted to the body between the first and second switches. The terminal block electrically connects the first switch and the second switch. An electrical connector is provided on either the first switch or the second switch for connecting to an external connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a construction of a combination switch for a vehicle having a body to which first and second switches are mounted. More particularly, the present invention relates to a construction of a combination switch for a vehicle wherein a connector for receiving electric power from an external power supply is mounted either on the first switch or on the second switch.
2. Description of Prior Art
A conventional combination switch is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Preliminary Publication (JITSUYO KOKAI) No. 63-196755. The conventional combination switch has a construction wherein a switch unit having a coupler for lighting and a switch unit having a coupler for wipers and other couplers are secured by bolts to a switch body. A horn shoe provided on the switch body is connected to a connection of one of the switches, and the lighting coupler side of the switch unit is connected primarily to the power supply.
However, the conventional combination switch has a plurality of couplers for each of the two switch units, one of the switch units being on the left side of the body and the other on the right side. This construction includes many couplers which require a large number of parts and a longer time for electrical wiring. Thus, this construction is responsible for high manufacturing and assembly cost.

Construction of combination switch for vehicle


A hitch bar for a trailer hitch assembly is formed from an elongated bar including a notched proximal end and a mounting rack carried on the distal end. The notch is V-shaped and extends in a vertical plane so as to define upper and lower projecting lugs at the proximal end of the bar. The notch reduces the stiffness of the elongated bar at its proximal end allowing the bar to deflect and absorb a portion of the reaction load. The bar also redistributes that load in the hitch box, thereby reducing localized force and extending the life expectancy of the hitch.

It has long been known in the art to provide a trailer hitch assembly for towing a trailer behind a vehicle. Such a trailer hitch assembly incorporates (a) a hitch receiver connected by a frame to the vehicle, (b) a hitch bar including a mounting rack or support and an elongated post adapted for engagement in a receiver box of the hitch receiver and (c) a ball mount head adapted for engagement on the mounting rack. This basic type of trailer hitch assembly is shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,856 to Reese; U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,837 to Reese; U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,601 to Lindahl et al. and the co-pending patent application Ser. No. 08/138,172 filed Oct. 15, 1993 entitled "Weight Distributing Hitch" also own by the assignee of the present invention.
In the over thirty years since this basic type of trailer hitch assembly was developed, numerous design modifications have been made with a goal of improving the overall product. For example, competitive pressures in the marketplace have led the various manufacturers of trailer hitch assemblies to make a serious effort to control manufacturing costs while at the same time increasing the overall useful service life of the assemblies to benefit the end user. While significant improvements have been made, these competitive pressures are still present and still further improvements relating to the control of costs and the enhancement of performance characteristics and useful service life are desired.


The present invention relates generally to precast cantilevered retaining walls and methods of using and forming precast cantilevered retaining walls. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cantilevered concrete retaining wall having a base shear key and blockouts for receiving a material that substantially impedes the wing wall from sliding or other inadvertent movement, to a method of retaining a soil embankment with a cantilevered concrete retaining wall, and to a method of manufacturing a precast concrete cantilevered retaining wall.

Retaining walls are subject to various forces that may cause them to fail. Pressure at the toe of the footing is generally larger than pressure at the heel of the footing so retaining walls have an inherent tendency to tilt forward away from an embankment. Occasionally, the base soil is of a poor quality and when sufficient backfill is placed between the backface of the retaining wall and an embankment, for example, the approach fill at a bridge abutment, the backfill pressure produces a settlement with lateral effect into the zone beneath the heel so that the retaining wall may tilt back into the backfill and the embankment. Lateral forces generated by earth and water pressure may cause the base of the retaining wall to slide outward and fail. Retaining walls are generally designed to resist these lateral forces by creating friction between the bottom surface of the footing and the soil. Some soil types are more prone to shifting or erosion and may decrease the friction between the footing and soil. Different soil types exert different amounts of pressure on the retaining wall. Local soil conditions may require an increase in the width of the footing to achieve the required friction between the bottom surface of the retaining wall and the soil to counteract the lateral forces on the retaining wall. However, making the footing wider increases the amount of materials used, increases transportation costs, and requires increased excavation of soil to form a wider subgrade which increases cost and time required for site preparation and installation. In some cases, it may not be possible to increase the footing width based on site requirements. The depth of the footing cover can also be increased in some situations to provide additional resistance to lateral forces; however, this also increases the cost of site preparation because excavation must be deeper, and additional concrete is required which increases costs as well.
Concrete retaining walls that are cast-in-place at the job site are known to have a higher coefficient of friction between the footing and the soil compared to precast concrete retaining walls that are manufactured at a precast plant, transported to the job site, and placed on the soil. However, there are several shortcomings in the use of cast-in-place retaining walls compared to the use of precast concrete retaining walls. Creating forms for a retaining wall at a job site is time consuming and may require the presence of many employees at a remote location. The job site may not be as safe for employees as a precast plant due to open excavations, the presence of heavy equipment, and the natural environment. The forms may have to be custom made, increasing labor and material costs and making re-use of the forms unlikely. Placing and aligning reinforcing steel precisely at a job site may be more difficult than at a precast plant, potentially weakening the retaining wall. The concrete for the retaining walls may have to be transported long distances to the job site in individual truckloads increasing transportation and labor costs. Finally, the concrete is exposed to the environment while it is curing which can increase the curing time or adversely affect the strength characteristics of the retaining wall. Construction of the project may be delayed while waiting for the concrete to cure.
Due to the numerous limitations associated with cast-in-place retaining walls, there is an unmet need for a precast concrete retaining wall which has a coefficient of friction equivalent to a cast-in-place retaining wall of similar size.


Disclosed is a process of producing a porous metal body containing a metal component which is likely to be oxidized, by which process the amounts of residual carbon and residual oxygen therein are decreased, and by which the performance of the product porous body can be largely promoted. The process for producing a porous metal body by sintering a material of the porous metal body, which material is obtained by coating a slurry containing a metal powder and an organic binder on an organic porous aggregate, comprises a defatting step of treating the material of the porous metal body at a temperature not higher than 650° C. in an atmosphere containing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; a decarbonization step of treating the material of the porous metal body after the defatting step in an inert atmosphere or vacuum atmosphere at a temperature not higher than sintering temperature; and a sintering step of retaining the material of the porous metal body after the decarbonization step in an inert atmosphere, vacuum atmosphere, hydrogen atmosphere, or in a reducing atmosphere containing hydrogen gas and an inert gas at a temperature not higher than the melting point of the metal powder.

Powdery metallurgical products are now generally produced by press-molding a mixed powder of metal powder and a lubricant such as zinc stearate after packing the mixed powder into a die; and performing a defatting step and sintering step in an inert atmosphere or in a reducing atmosphere. In these cases, the shape of the product is retained by the mechanical tangling of the metal particles by the outer force exerted during the pressing in the die. The lubricant is added in an amount of about 0.5 to 1% by weight based on the metal powder, and mainly contributes to the promotion of the releasing property of the product and promotion of the packing property of the material powder into the die.
On the other hand, a process for producing a porous metal body is known wherein an organic porous body made of a resin foam such as polyurethane foam or the like is coated with a slurry containing metal powder and an organic binder, is defatted and sintered to obtain a porous metal body (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). By this method, before the initiation of the sintering of the metal powder, the shape is retained by the polyurethane foam at lower temperatures, and by the organic binder in the temperatures higher than the decomposition temperature of the polyurethane foam.
As the organic binder which is required to exist without being decomposed up to the sintering initiation temperature, a substance which is easy to be carbonized, such as a phenol resin, is used in many cases. With a metal which is easy to be reduced such as nickel or copper, the region wherein carbon is oxidatively decomposed and the metal, for example, nickel is reductively sintered is the Region I in the Ellingham diagram shown in FIG. 1. Since this Region I exists in the area higher than 500° C. which is relatively cold, and the widths of the oxidation-reduction conditions of carbon and the oxidation-reduction conditions of nickel are large, a porous metal body having decreased residual carbon amount and decreased residual oxygen amount can be produced by controlling the composition of the atmosphere during sintering.
Patent Literature 1: JP 6-158116 A


Systems and methods to determine presence of an analyte using an implantable medical device are disclosed. In an embodiment, a medical system includes an implantable medical device, a light source, an optical sensor and a processor. The implantable medical device includes an indicator tag, which is responsive to an analyte. The light source is configured to emit light onto the indicator tag, where the emitted light comprises at least one wavelength of light, and where the indicator tag emanates light, in response to the emitted light, that corresponds to whether the indicator tag is exposed the analyte. The optical sensor is configured to receive at least a portion of the emanated light, which includes at least one wavelength of light. And, the processor is configured to determine whether the indicator tag is exposed to the analyte based on the received light.

The onset or occurrence of a medical condition may be determined by determining the presence of an analyte and/or measuring one or more analyte concentrations. However, many conventional systems and methods that measure analytes to determine one or more medical conditions are oftentimes transient in time. For example, to determine the onset of a hyperglycemic event or a hypoglycemic event, subjects may be required to prick their fingers to determine their glucose levels. Many subjects, however, may either forget to check their glucose levels or not check their glucose levels often enough to prevent a hyperglycemic or a hypoglycemic event. As such, subjects may experience adverse events due to blood sugar that is either too high or too low. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for alternative systems and methods for determining the presence of an analyte and/or an analyte concentration of a subject.

Systems and methods for determining presence of an analyte using an implantable medical device


A time-domain dielectric spectroscopy device and method are described wherein measurements are taken of the absorption and dielectric response function of a dielectric material in order to identify dielectric materials.

Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is one of several methods used for physical and chemical analysis of materials. Most advanced among the methods are chromatographic, spectroscopic, mass-spectrometric, thermodynamic and electric. All of the foregoing methods are characterized by high precision and accuracy with the exception of thermodynamic and electric which are of relatively low accuracy. Electric methods are able to identify the basic characteristics of a substance, such as tg.sigma. and .epsilon.. However, the dielectrics of different classes may share identical values for tg.sigma. and .epsilon., making it impossible to identify a substance based on these parameters alone.
Although DS has been under continued development it does not currently enjoy substantial or significant use since it requires a great deal of complex and expensive equipment operated by highly skilled technicians. Additionally, information on dielectric materials could only be obtained over limited frequency ranges.
Known to the art are several time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) methods. For example, Waldmeyer and Zschokke-Granacher disclose a single reflection time-domain reflectometry method (J.Phys.D:Appl.Phys. 8:1513-1519, 1975). This method may be utilized to obtain the frequency spectrum of the permittivity of materials. In practice, the voltage step pulse of a step generator is propagated along a coaxial transmission line where it is at least partially reflected by the test material. The permittivity of the material is determined from the following expression: EQU .epsilon.*(s)=(2V.sub.o /s)U.sub.s (s)-1!.sup.2
where V.sub.o /s represents the ideal step function of voltage and U.sub.s (s) is the falling and reflecting pulse of the voltage. Another method by Kaatze and Giese (J.Phys.E:Sci.Instrum. 13:133-141, 1980) relies on observations of a sample's response to exciting step voltage pulses. In some basic aspects this method resembles the Fourier Transform technique. Voss and Happ (Phys.D:App.Phys. 17:981-983, 1984) describe a method which uses voltage pulses and allows separation of the test signal from the response in time. The dielectric function g(T) of solids and liquids can be determined from the reflection response. Frame and Fouracre (Phys.D:Appl.Phys. 18:99-102, 1985) use exponential and t.sup.-n power law response. The decay current as a function of time is generally found to be of the form: EQU I(t)=Kt.sup.-n
where K and n are constants, that is the dielectric response function of the form: EQU .function.(t)=Kt.sup.-n /C.sub.o V.sub.o
where C.sub.o is the capacitance of the sample and V.sub.o is the applied voltage. The complex susceptibility as a function of frequency is: ##EQU1## Baba and Fujimura (Jap.Journ.App.Phys. 26(3)479-481, 1987) used reflected waves from the surface of the dielectric under test and obtained relaxation parameters of dielectric .epsilon..sub.o ; .epsilon..sub..infin. ; t.sub.o with the Fourier transform technique. In the method of Hart and Coleman (IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation 24(4)627-634, August 1989), a voltage pulse of known shape is applied to the object and the resulting current form measured. Fourier transformation of the time variation of the object's conductance yields the dielectric spectrum. Feldman et al. (Colloid Polym. Sci 270:768-780, 1992) considered the TDS method to be based on the reflectometry principle in time-domain in order to study heterogeneities in the coaxial lines according to the change of the test signal shape. Until the line is homogeneous this pulse is not changed; when heterogeneity is introduced, for example by the presence of a dielectric, the signal is partly reflected from the air-dielectric interface, while the remainder of the signal passes through it. Skodovin et al (J Colloid Interface Sci 166:43-50, 1994) introduced a method of total reflection in which the sample cell is placed at the open end of a coaxial line. The shapes of reflected step pulses from a cell filled with a sample and from a cell filled with a reference liquid were recorded. Via a Fourier transform, the dielectric spectrum of the sample is given by: EQU .epsilon.*(.omega.)=.epsilon.'(.omega.)-i.epsilon."(.omega.)-i.sigma./.omeg a..epsilon..sub.o.
All of the reviewed methods of the time-domain dielectric spectroscopy are different from the proposed method. They use a reflection time-domain method for observation of the response of the dielectric sample to exciting step voltage pulses of picoseconds duration.
The positive charge center in an atom of the substance is displaced in relation to the negative charge center when an electric field is placed across an atom as shown in FIG. 1. This is known as polarization. From Frohlich H. (1958) "Theory of Dielectrics" the linear approximation of the dielectric polarization P (electric dipole movement of the volume unit) is proportional to the electric field tension E in the sample: EQU (1) P=.sub..chi. E
where proportional coefficient .sub..chi. is called the dielectric susceptibility.
When an external electric field is applied the dielectric polarization reaches its equilibrium value, not instantly, but over a period of time. By analogy, when the electric field is broken suddenly, the polarization decay caused by thermal motion follows the same law as the relaxation or decay function: EQU (2) .alpha.(t)=P(t)/P(o).
The value of the displacement vector D (t) in the electric field E (t) may be written: ##EQU2## where .epsilon..sub..infin. is the high frequency limit of complex dielectric permittivity .epsilon.*(.omega.); .PHI.(t-t') is the dielectric response function.
The dielectric response function is: EQU .PHI.(t)=.epsilon..sub..infin. +F(t) (4)
where F(t)=(.epsilon..sub.s -.epsilon..sub..infin.) 1-.alpha. (t)!, .epsilon..sub.s is the static dielectric permittivity.
The dielectric response function may be written as follows: EQU .PHI.(t)=.epsilon..sub..infin. +(.epsilon..sub.s -.epsilon..sub..infin.) 1-.alpha.(t)!. (5)
The complex dielectric permittivity .epsilon.*(.omega.) is an analog of the dielectric response function in the time-domain: ##EQU3## where L is the operator of the Fourier-Laplace transform.
If the relaxation function is: EQU .alpha.(t).congruent.exp(-t/.tau..sub.m) (7)
where .tau..sub.m represents the dielectric relaxation time, then the relation first obtained by Debye is true for the frequency domain: EQU .epsilon.*(.omega.)-.epsilon..sub..infin. !/ (.epsilon..sub.s -.epsilon..sub..infin.)=1/(1+i.omega..tau..sub.m). (8)
For most of the investigated dielectrics experimental results cannot as a rule, be described by such a relation. This relation is true only for ideal or close to ideal real dielectrics.
The spectral function of the complex dielectric permittivity .epsilon.*(.omega.) can be substituted by the dielectric response function in time-domain. This means that time-domain response function of the dielectric, i.e. the current under step-function field, is derived by the Fourier transform from the frequency domain function. These functions are exponential, and may be presented as follows: EQU .omega..sup.n-1 .revreaction.t.sup.-n ( 9) EQU .omega..sup.m .revreaction.t.sup.-(m+ 1)
where .omega. is frequency, t is time, n and m are constants, .revreaction. is direct and inverse Fourier transform.
This is the mathematical basis for substitution of complex dielectric permittivity .epsilon.*(.omega.) in frequency-domain, with the dielectric response function .PHI.(t) in time-domain.
As shown in Jonscher AK "Dielectric Relaxation in Solids", the dielectric relaxation process is accompanied by decay current i(t) which is proportional to the dielectric response function: EQU i(t) .varies..PHI. (t). (10)
Furthermore in Jonscher AK "Dielectric Relaxation in Solids" the universal dielectric response function is: ##EQU4## where K.sub.1 ; K.sub.2 ; n; m are constants, that characterize the microscopic properties of the dielectric. A graph of the decay current is presented in FIG. 2.
In order to get the most complete characteristics of the dielectric, the absorption phenomena will be used. The absorption phenomena is a self-relaxation process after a quick discharge of the dielectric. The absorption phenomena may be described by the following approximate expression: EQU V.sub.a (t)=a t.sup.b e.sup.ct ( 12)
Where t is time, a, b, c, are absorption parameters, and a>0; 0>b>1; c<0; e=2.718. The apparatus presented in this invention goes through the series of steps (OA, AB, BC, CO) to arrive at the absorption curve DEFI. (FIG. 3)
The dielectric is charged on OA interval up to V.sub.CH volts, then on AB interval, the dielectric is kept under the same voltage, (V.sub.CH). Next the dielectric is discharged on BC interval until 0 volts is achieved. At last, the dielectric is kept at 0 volts on CD interval. DEFI interval is an actual absorption phenomenon. The FI interval is the dielectric response function course. The proposed apparatus forms this curve, and also calculates a unique set of a, b, c, m, and n parameters for the dielectric under measurement.

Time-domain dielectric spectroscopy method and apparatus


A molding dies have a first shaft holding portion and a second shaft holding portion. The first shaft holding portion supports an outer surface of a metal shaft which is exposed between an axial end surface of the throttle valve and a first collar molded in the throttle body. The second shaft holding portion supports an outer surface of the metal shaft which is exposed between the other axial end surface and a second collar molded in the throttle body. The first and the second collar have a first and second shaft holes into which the metal shaft is inserted. The first and the second holding portions restrict a flowing of melted resin into the first and the second shaft holes.

In an electrically controlled throttle apparatus, a driving device such as a motor controls an opening degree of a throttle valve in accordance with a position of an accelerator pedal stepped by a driver. The throttle apparatus made from a resin material is introduced to enhance the fuel economy, to reduce the weight and to reduce the cost. FIG. 19 shows the throttle apparatus made from the resin, which comprises a throttle body 101 forming an intake manifold, throttle vale 102 adjusting an air amount flowing through the throttle body 101, a throttle shaft 103 supporting the throttle valve 102, a power unit biasing the throttle valve 102 in opening direction, and a coil spring 105 biasing the throttle valve 102 in closing direction. An engine control device controls the power unit in order to adjust the opening degree of the throttle valve 102 according to a position of an accelerator pedal stepped by a driver.
The power unit comprises a driving motor 106 and a power transmitting device (reduction gears). The reduction gears include a pinion gear 110 which is connected with a motor shaft 109 of the driving motor 106, an intermediate gear 111 which engages with the pinion gear 110, and a valve gear 112 which engages with the intermediate gear 111. A throttle opening sensor is provided on an outer surface of the throttle body 101. The throttle opening sensor includes a permanent magnet 113 disposed inner surface of the valve gear 112, and a magnetic detector 114 which generates an electromotive force according to a magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 113. The valve gear 112 is connected with one end of the throttle shaft 103. The magnetic detector 114 is a non-contact type detector and is disposed in a sensor holding portion 116 of a sensor cover 115 in such a manner that the magnetic detector 114 confronts to an inner surface of a yoke.
FIG. 20 shows a throttle apparatus of which throttle valve is driven by the driving motor. When the throttle valve is closed, an air tightness of the throttle valve depends on the clearance gap between an inner surface of the tubular throttle body 101 and an outer periphery of the throttle valve 102.
Conventionally, the throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are independently manufactured in each different process. Subsequently, a manufactured throttle valve 102 is combined with a manufactured throttle body 101 in accordance with an inner peripheral dimension of the manufactured throttle body 101 in a downstream process. Alternatively, a manufactured throttle body 101 is combined with a manufactured throttle valve 102 in accordance with an outer circumferential dimension of the throttle valve 102 in a downstream process. Thus, a predetermined clearance is obtained between the bore inner periphery of the throttle body 101 and the outer circumferential periphery of a throttle valve 102. A throttle shaft 103 integrally rotates with the throttle valve 102. Both of the ends of the throttle shaft 103 are rotatably supported by cylindrical bearings 104 provided in the throttle body 101.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,336, which is a counterpart of JP-5-141540A, shows molding methods in which a manufacturing process of the throttle body and the throttle valve is reduced. In the molding methods, the throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 shown in FIG. 21 are integrally molded of a resinous material in the same molding dies. At first, the substantially tubular throttle body 101 is integrally molded of a resinous material. Subsequently, inner periphery (bore inner periphery) of the throttle body 101 is used as a part of a molding die molding the throttle valve 102, and the throttle valve 102 is molded. Thus, a shape of an outer circumferential periphery of the throttle valve 102 is adapted to a shape of the bore inner periphery of the throttle body 101 in the above molding methods.
The molded throttle body 101 is gradually cooled in the body cavity to be solidified. Subsequently, the movable die is slid forward in order to form a valve cavity, into which a resinous material is filled. The throttle valve 102 is molded of a resinous material in the throttle body 101.
However, in the above molding methods of the throttle valve 102, the throttle body 101 is molded of a resinous material while the molded throttle body 101 is restricted by dies in its radial direction and in its substantially circumferential direction. Thus, the throttle valve 102 is molded of a resinous material while the throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are restricted by the dies. The throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are taken out of the dies, and gradually cooled. In this cooling period, the unrestricted throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are contracted. The throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are deformed. Accordingly, it is difficult to maintain the clearance in a predetermined dimension between the inner periphery of the throttle body 101 and the outer circumferential periphery of the throttle valve 102.
A practical use of the throttle apparatus releases an internal stress, by which the apparatus is deformed. When the throttle apparatus is made from a crystal resin and is crystallized, the apparatus is deformed due to the crystallization thereof. Even the apparatus is annealed or aged, the throttle body 101 and the throttle valve 102 are deformed individually.
To solve the above problem, the inventors filed Japanese patent application No. 2003-285434 on Aug. 1, 2003. In this application, the throttle valve and throttle body is formed in a same die in such a manner that the throttle valve 102 is opened in a predetermined angle. A metal shaft is insert molded in a resin shaft of the throttle valve, and a first collar and a second collar are insert molded in the bore wall to support the both ends of the metal shaft. If a melted resin is introduced between the outer surface of the metal shaft and the inner surface of the collar during molding, the metal shaft hardly rotate in the collar. That is, the throttle valve may hardly rotate in the throttle body 101.
When the center axes of the first and the second collar deviate from each other, the throttle valve may hardly rotate in the throttle valve smoothly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Forming method of throttle apparatus for internal combustion engine


A Utility Raceway for modular walls, fixed walls, and modular fixed or moveable partitions. The Utility Raceway is comprised of multiple compartments where electrical, data, and communication devices and device mounting brackets can be mounted on both sides of the raceway. The configuration of the Utility Raceway is I beam. Compartments can be added or deleted. Holecuts can be provided in the center structure of the I beam so that access can be made from one compartment to another. This will increase the capacity of said Utility Raceway making it easier for fiber optic cable to be used because of crucial bending requirements of said fiber optic cable. Said Utility Raceway can use existing manufacture's electrical, data and communication device mounting brackets and device plates. Said Utility Raceway can be metallic or non-metallic. It can use metallic or non-metallic electrical, data and communication device plates and mounting brackets or any combination thereof.

The present invention relates to a novel and useful design for a communication, data, and electrical Utility Raceway. The Utility Raceway can be used as a structural member of a fixed or moveable wall or partition. The Utility Raceway has increased wiring capacity and increased flexibility allowing addition or deletion of data, communication, and electrical conductors and devices on both sides of said Utility Raceway. Other compartments of said Utility Raceway can be used for air handling, signal wiring, emergency wiring, gas or other utilities.
Raceways are not new concepts. A common Utility Raceway designed to accommodate said communication, data, and electrical devices and device mounting brackets on both sides of said raceway is new. Existing raceways are not designed to be used as a structural member that will support walls. Said Utility Raceway can be used as a structural member to support walls.
AT Power Systems, Tehalit, Easy WireBowers, Walker, Nepco, The Wiremold Co., Midland Ross, Isoduct, Hubbell, Dual-Lite and Panduit all have raceway systems that will accommodate electrical power, data, and communication. These raceway systems are not designed for mounting electrical, data and communication devices and device mounting brackets on both sides of said raceway systems, and they are not designed for use as structural support.
HKL, Tyton Corporation, and Circuit Trak all have non-meatlic raceway systems that are designed for low voltage communication and data or other non-UL listed low potential conductors. None are designed for power, 300 V to ground. None have the ability to mount devices and device mounting brackets on the front and back of said raceway systems. None can be used as a structural support for modular or fixed walls and partitions.
Although there are raceway systems that are designed to accommodate electrical power, communication conductors, data conductors and devices none can be used for structural support of a fixed or moveable partition or wall. None are designed to access both sides of said raceway systems. None are designed to be the structural top of a moveable or fixed wall or partition for use with lighting equipment as well as communication, data and power. None have a cover that is designed for use in dividing compartments. None have designed a cover that will reduce the electro magnetic interference--EMI--and radio frequency interference--RFI--to an acceptable level. None have designed raceways for use with fiber optic cable.
The present invention shows a Utility Raceway that has sweep elbows that will allow ease of fiber optic cable to make vertical or horizontal turns. The present invention has the ability of addition and deletion of electrical power, communication and data device plates and brackets for mounting of devices on both sides of the raceway. Holecuts can be provided in the center I beam structure that will allow both sides of the raceway to be used for fiber optic, data, power and communication conductors. Thus, making the sweep radius larger for ease of use with fiber optic conductors and connection of coaxial conductors to their devices. Tee and crossover connections, using the present invention's barriers in conjunction with said holecuts in the I beam structure, will allow greater ease of crossing power and low potential conductors. This will allow greater ease in radius sweeps for fiber optic and coaxial conductors. The present invention may use metallic or non-metallic dividers separating the compartments. Metallic dividers in said Utility Raceway or in a metallic cover can help reduce the electro magnetic interference--EMI--and radio frequency interference--RFI.


A method is described for generating at least one feature for an occupant protection system, which is determined from at least one basic feature and analyzed for generating a triggering signal for an occupant protection device, and a corresponding device. During normal operation, at least one short-term window integral is calculated from the at least one basic feature and used as a starting value for calculating a corresponding long-term integral when a starting condition for a crash operation obtains, the at least one long-term integral being made available to a following method as a feature for generating the triggering signal for the occupant protection system.

A method for generating at least one feature for an occupant protection system based on a detected acceleration signal usually receives acceleration data continuously after initialization of an associated control unit. By analyzing such acceleration data, this method determines whether the vehicle is in a normal driving situation or in a potential crash situation at a given moment. A crash situation is referred to as a potential crash situation because the method cannot always decide reliably up to this point in time whether it is an actual crash or a case of misuse. During the normal driving situation, large portions of the method are in a dormant state or in a reset state, i.e., no calculations are performed, thus allowing an approach that conserves computer capacity. When a potential crash incident is detected, the parts of the method that are in a dormant state are also activated and, for example, features such as vehicle deceleration and/or forward displacement of occupants during the crash are calculated, threshold value curves are analyzed, functions are calculated pertaining to triggering decisions, etc.
If, after leaving the dormant state, it is found that it is only a misuse situation, it is necessary to ensure that the calculated features and variables, such as the deceleration and forward displacement of occupants, are restored to their starting state after the end of the misuse situation.
Known methods for generating at least one feature for an occupant protection system frequently use window integrators that calculate the features of deceleration and occupant forward displacement based on a detected acceleration signal. The window integrators are automatically reset to a starting value when no significant directional acceleration signal is applied for a prolonged period of time, i.e., the window integrators have a memory limited in time by the length of the window. In an alternative approach, the integrators are started for calculation of the features of deceleration and occupant forward displacement only when the detected acceleration signal reaches or exceeds a so-called noise threshold. If this noise threshold is no longer exceeded by the detected acceleration signal for a prolonged period of time, the integrators are reset again and/or reintegrated over a constant value or reset immediately to a starting state.

Method and device for generating at least one feature for an occupant protection system


The present invention relates to methods and compositions for treating and/or preventing allergic diseases or conditions by inhibiting one or more components of the steroidogenic pathway.

Steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids (GCs), play an important role in the regulation of the immune system (Chrousos, G. P., N. Engl. J. Med. 332, 1351-1362 (1995)). Endogenous glucocorticoid synthesis is controlled by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Chrousos, G. P., N. Engl. J. Med. 332, 1351-1362 (1995); Rhen, T., & Cidlowski, J. A., N. Engl. J. Med. 353, 1711-1723 (2005)) and is regulated by the transcriptional control of steroidogenic enzymes of the cytochrome P450 gene family (Mueller, M., et al. J. Exp. Med. 203, 2057-2062 (2006)). Corticosteroids have been used in treating allergic diseases due to their anti-inflammatory activity (Barnes, P J. Br. J. Pharmacol. 163:29-43 (2011)), but, somewhat paradoxically, increasing evidence indicates that corticosteroids may also enhance disease pathogenesis by activating and enhancing growth of CD4 T cells and inhibiting Th1 cytokine production (Cima, I., Fuhrer, A., & Brunner, T. Immunol. Lett. 106, 99-102 (2006)). Glucocorticoids amplified immune responses in steroid-insensitive CD8+ T cells (Ohnishi, H., et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121, 864-871 (2008)). As well, the corticosteroids themselves may induce Th2 cytokine production while simultaneously suppressing the production of Th1 cytokines (Koya, T. et al. J. Immunol. 179, 2787-2796 (2007)).
The inhibitory role of GCs on immune cells is well characterized (De Bosscher, K., et al. Endocr. Rev. 24, 488-522 (2003); De Bosscher, K, & Haegeman, G. Mol. Endocrinol. 23, 281-291 (2009)). GCs reduce inflammation through inhibition of NF-κB and by inducing the expression of anti-inflammatory proteins including annexin 1 and MAPK phosphatase 1 (Chrousos, G. P. N. Engl. J. Med. 332, 1351-1362 (1995)). GCs and other synthetic derivatives have been used to treat a variety of diseases, including inflammatory diseases of the intestine and asthma (Barnes, P J. Br. J. Pharmacol. 163:29-43 (2011); Faubion, W. A. Jr., et al. Gastroenterology 121, 255-260 (2001)). Although the anti-inflammatory activity of GCs is well described, accumulating evidence suggests that GCs can also enhance immune cell activation, inducing gene transcription and promoting the pathogenesis of allergic diseases (Cima, I., et al. J. Exp. Med. 200, 1635-1646 (2004); Ohnishi, H., et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121, 864-871 (2008)). Steroid hormones are mainly produced in the adrenal glands, but other tissues also produce GCs through the induction of steroidogenic enzymes (Chrousos, G. P. N. Engl. J. Med. 332, 1351-1362 (1995); Payne, A. H. Biol. Reprod. 42, 399-404 (1990)). The intestinal mucosa contains steroidogenic enzymes such as cytochrome P450, family 11, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (Cyp11a1) and synthesizes potent GCs which exhibit both an inhibitory and a co-stimulatory role on intestinal T cell activation (Cima, I., et al. J. Exp. Med. 200, 1635-1646 (2004)).
Cyp11a1 (also known as P450scc) is a key regulator of steroid biogenesis as the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the steroidogenic pathway, converting cholesterol to pregnenolone (Pazirandeh, A., et al. FASEB J. 13, 893-901 (1999)). Induction of the Cyp11a1 promoter by epidermal growth factor involves a ras/MEK1/AP-1-dependent pathway (Croft, M. et al. J. Exp. Med. 180, 1715-1728 (1994)). Cyp11a1 is expressed primarily in the cortex of the adrenal gland, but testis, ovary, placenta, thymus, and intestine also express Cyp11a1 (Cima, I., et al. J. Exp. Med. 200, 1635-1646 (2004); Pazirandeh, A., et al. FASEB J. 13, 893-901 (1999)). Activation of Cyp11a1 results in a spectrum of steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids that are known to play a role in T cell function (Mosmann, T. R., and Coffman, R. L. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 7, 145-173 (1989); Seder, R. A. et al. J. Immunol. 148, 1652-1656 (1992)). Several of the gonadal steroids have been shown to have important immune effects on T cells that express their cognate receptors. T cells express receptors for androgen and estrogen and receptor activation can impact cytokine gene transcription. These studies have related gender bias to differences in the response of CD4, CD8, and T regulatory cells (De Bosscher, K., et al. Endocr. Rev. 24, 488-522 (2003); De Bosscher, K, & Haegeman, Mol. Endocrinol. 23, 281-291 (2009)). T cells also express many of the steroid metabolic enzymes (De Bosscher, K., et al. Endocr. Rev. 24, 488-522 (2003)). Depletion of Cyp11a1 in mice or rabbits results in steroid deficiency, female external genitalia, and death (Shih, M. C., et al. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 336, 80-84 (2011); Pang, S., et al. Endocrinology 131, 181-186 (1992); Yang, X., et al. Endocrinology 132, 1977-1982 (1993)). In humans, mutations in the Cyp11a1 gene result in a steroid hormone deficiency, causing a rare and potentially fatal form of lipoid congenital adrenal hyperplasia (Kim, C. J., et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 93, 696-702 (2008); Al Kandari, H., et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 91, 2821-2826 (2006)). Patients with a heterozygous or homozygous mutation of Cyp11a1 exhibit adrenal insufficiency and sex reversal (Tajima, T., et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86, 3820-3825 (2001); Parajes, S., et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 96, E1798-E1806 (2011)).
Transcription factors such as Steroidogenic Factor-1 (SF-1), Activator Protein 2 (AP-2), and several tissue-specific GATA family proteins enhance the transcription of Cyp11a1 through interactions with AP-1, specificity Protein-1 (SP-1) and AP-2 (National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute) Third Expert Panel on the Management of Asthma. National Center for Biotechnology Information (U.S.). Expert panel report 3 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007). In particular, the GATA protein family plays an important role in the regulation of Cyp11a1 expression (Barnes, P J. Br J. Pharmacol. 163:29-43 (2011)). GATA binding elements have been identified in the Cyp11a1 promoter and Cyp11a1 expression was decreased in GATA3-deficient mice (Wei, G, et al. Immunity 35, 299-311 (2011)). GATA4 significantly upregulated Cyp11a1 expression in granulosa cells (Sher, N., et al. Mol. Endocrinol. 21, 948-962 (2007)). These results identify important events in the transcriptional regulation of Cyp11a1 that directly affect steroid synthesis and release.
CD4 Th cells play a pivotal role in the induction and control of allergic inflammation, including food allergy (Islam, S. A., & Luster, A. D. Nature Med. 18, 705-715 (2012)). In a mouse model of food allergy, allergen-specific CD4 T cells were activated in the mesenteric lymph nodes and recruited to the small intestine, resulting in increased levels of Th2 cytokines in the inflamed small intestine (Knight, A. K., et al. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 293, G1234-G1243 (2007)).
In humans, allergen-specific Th2 CD4 T cells are essential in the development and maintenance of both type I IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated food allergic responses. In patients with anaphylactic peanut allergy, increased numbers of peanut-specific IL-5- and IL-4-producing Th2 cells are found in peripheral blood (Prussin, C., et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 124, 1326-1332 (2009)). In addition, peanut-specific T cell lines from individuals with peanut anaphylaxis primarily produce Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-13) (DeLong, J. H., et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 127, 1211-1218 (2011)). Other food allergies were also characterized by increased levels of Th2 cytokines; in patients with milk-induced gastrointestinal diseases, milk-specific CD4 T cells derived from the duodenal mucosa produce high levels of Th2 cytokines, especially IL-13 (Beyer, K., et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 109, 707-713 (2002)).
Allergic asthma is a heterogeneous inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) (Kim, H. Y., et al. Nat. Immunol. 11, 577-584 (2011); Holgate, S. T. Nat. Med. 18, 673-683 (2012)). Numbers of CD8+IL-13+ T cells are increased in asthmatics (Gelfand, E. W. and Dakhama, A. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 117, 577-582 (2006)) and during the development of experimental asthma in mice (Hamelmann, E. et al. J. Exp. Med. 183, 1719-1729 (1996); Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 172, 2549-2558 (2004); Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 174, 4979-4984 (2005)). In an atopic environment rich in IL-4, these CD8+ T cells mediate asthmatic responses (Koya, T. et al. J. Immunol. 179, 2787-2796 (2007)). However, the mechanisms regulating the conversion of CD8+ effector T cells from IFN-γ to pathogenic IL-13-producing effector cells have not been defined.
Asthma has increased dramatically over the past 50 years and now affects 5-10% of the population in many developed countries (Kim, H. Y., et al. Nat. Immunol. 11, 577-584 (2011)). National and international guidelines recommend the use of inhaled corticosteroids as the first step in controlling airway inflammation and symptoms in persistent asthma (Holgate, S. T. Nat. Med. 18, 673-683 (2012); Gelfand, E. W. and Dakhama, A. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 117, 577-582 (2006)). However, it has been demonstrated that 45% of steroid-naive asthmatic patients do not respond to inhaled corticosteroids. Corticosteroid insensitivity has been adopted as a principal criterion for characterizing asthma severity (Hamelmann, E. et al. J. Exp. Med. 183, 1719-1729 (1996)). Increased numbers of CD8+ T cells, which are more resistant than CD4+ T cells to corticosteroids (Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 172, 2549-2558 (2004); Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 174, 4979-4984 (2005)), have been detected in steroid-insensitive asthmatics (Koya, T. et al. J. Immunol. 179, 2787-2796 (2007)) and have correlated with lower lung function (LaVoie, H. A. and King, S. R. Exp. Biol. Med. 234, 880-907 (2009)). The inventors and others also found that numbers of CD8+IL-13+ cells were increased in experimental asthma models in mice (Shih, M. C. et al. Mol. Endocrinol. 22, 915-923 (2008); National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute) Third Expert Panel on the Management of Asthma. National Center for Biotechnology Information (U.S.). Expert panel report 3 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007, Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007) as a result of their activation by IL-4-producing CD4+ T cells (Martin, R. J. et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 119, 73-80 (2007)). CD8+ T cells can be polarized to effector subsets with cytokine profiles similar to those found in CD4+ T cells (Li, L. B. et al. Blood 110, 1570-1577 (2007); Payne, A. H. Biol. Reprod. 42, 399-404 (1990); van Rensen, E. L. et al. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 172, 837-841 (2005)). Both in vivo and in vitro, IL-4 is capable of triggering CD8+ T cell differentiation from a predominant IFN-γ-producing cell to one producing IL-13. However, the mechanisms underlying this conversion of CD8+ T cells is unknown.
Transcriptional profiling identified Cyp11a1 transcripts as one of the most highly up-regulated during the differentiation of CD8+ T lymphocytes to a Tc2 phenotype, that is, a CD8 T cell capable of IL-13 production. This upregulation of Cyp11a1 in CD8+ T cells is similar to the upregulation seen in CD4+ T cells in a peanut allergy model, suggesting that this enzyme is essential in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for pro-allergic differentiation.
CD4+ T cell differentiation into Th2 cells with production of IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 has been shown to be critical for the development of altered airway responsiveness and eosinophilic airway inflammation in experimental models of asthma (Samy, T. S. et al. Endocrinology 142, 3519-3529 (2001); Pottratz, S. T. et al. J. Clin. Invest. 93, 944-950 (1994)). In addition to CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells can be polarized to effector subsets with cytokine profiles similar to those found in CD4+ T cells (Payne, A. H. Biol. Reprod. 42, 399-404 (1990); van Rensen, E. L. et al. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 172, 837-841 (2005)). It has been previously demonstrated that there is an important role for type 2 (Tc2) CD8+ T cells in the development of experimental asthma (Slominski, A. et al. FEBS J. 273, 2891-2901 (2006)) as a result of their activation by IL-4-producing CD4+ T cells (Martin, R. J. et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 119, 73-80 (2007)). Increased expression of BLT1 (leukotriene B4 receptor) on the surface of CD8+ T cells leads to their increased accumulation in the lungs (Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007). Both human (Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 172, 2549-2558 (2004)) and mouse (Miyahara, N. et al. J. Immunol. 174, 4979-4984 (2005)) CD8+ T cells demonstrate an insensitivity to corticosteroids not seen in CD4+ T cells, supporting the notion that CD8+ T cells are at the root of the failure of asthmatics to respond to corticosteroids and may be responsible for persistent AHR and inflammation (Koya, T. et al. J. Immunol. 179, 2787-2796 (2007)). In asthmatics, numbers of CD8+ T cells in the airways have correlated with lower airway function (LaVoie, H. A. and King, S. R. Exp. Biol. Med. 234, 880-907 (2009)).
Current therapies for allergic asthma have been fairly restricted with few new drugs introduced into the clinic in the last decade. Inhaled corticosteroids have remained the main anti-inflammatory agent for asthma. Indeed, upwards of 40-50% of asthmatics fail to respond to inhaled corticosteroids with changes in FEV1 (Hamelmann, E. et al. J. Exp. Med. 183, 1719-1729 (1996)). Moreover, corticosteroids may also enhance disease pathogenesis, especially amplifying responses in the steroid-insensitive population of CD8+ T cells (Miyahara, N. et al. Nature Med. 10, 865-869 (2004)). Corticosteroids may induce Th2 cytokine production while suppressing the production of Th1 cytokines. A combination of steroid insensitivity and plasticity of CD8+ T cells may be major contributors to the failure of some patients to respond to corticosteroids. CD8+BLT1+IL-13+ CD8+ T cells have been proposed to be a primary cause of the airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness seen in asthma (National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute) Third Expert Panel on the Management of Asthma. National Center for Biotechnology Information (U.S.). Expert panel report 3 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007, Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; 2007). However, the mechanism underlying the conversion of CD8+ T cells from IFN-γ-producing cells to IL-13 producing cells remains unclear.

Targeting the steroidogenic pathway for treating and/or preventing allergic diseases


A coding apparatus including a base layer, a speech quality enhancement layer, and a multiplexer. The base layer filters an input speech signal using linear prediction coding and generates an excitation signal corresponding to the filtered speech signal through a fixed codebook search and an adaptive codebook search. The speech quality enhancement layer searches a fixed codebook using parameters obtained through the fixed codebook search in the base layer, or searches the fixed codebook using a target signal, which is obtained by removing a contribution of a fixed codebook of the base layer and a signal which is obtained by synthesizing and filtering a previous fixed codebook of the speech quality enhancement layer from a target signal for the fixed codebook search of the base layer. The multiplexer multiplexes signals generated by the base layer and the at least one speech quality enhancement layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a speech codec employing a code excited linear prediction (CELP) algorithm, and more particularly, to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) bit rate scalable speech coding and decoding apparatus and method of speech quality enhancement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Speech codecs employing a code excited linear prediction (CELP) algorithm are currently most popular for use in mobile communication systems. CELP speech codecs are based on linear prediction coding (LPC). Transmission rates and bandwidths of the speech codecs vary according to the type of service to which they are applied.
However, the transmission rates and bandwidths of general speech codecs are set by coding apparatuses, not by decoding apparatuses. Further, when a multicasting, in which a packet is sent from one transmitter to a plurality of receivers over a network, is performed, if the speech codec used on a side of the transmitter has a fixed bit rate, the quality of the packet transmitted to the plurality of receivers, which request a variety of bit rates, may deteriorate.
To solve this problem, speech codecs adopting a bit rate scalable speech coding method has been developed. Such speech codecs configure a bit stream containing base codec information and additional information such that quality of a signal transmitted can be more accurately restored.
Conventional bit rate scalable coding methods are classified into a signal-to-noise (SNR) bit rate scalable method and a bandwidth scalable method.
The SNR bit rate scalable speech coding method codes and decodes a speech signal using hierarchical coding. That is, the SNR bit rate scalable speech coding method codes a speech signal in a base layer and a speech quality enhancement layer, respectively. The base layer transmits only information for restoring the least of the speech quality, and the speech quality enhancement layer transmits additional information for enhancing the speech quality.
However, conventional SNR bit rate scalable coding apparatuses are constructed such that the speech quality enhancement layer is independent of the base layer. Thus, since calculations of energy and a correlation between an impulse response and a target signal (or target vector) necessary for a fixed codebook search are performed respectively in the base layer and the speech quality enhancement layer, a great number of calculations are required to obtain parameters for the fixed codebook search.
Furthermore, since the conventional SNR bit rate scalable coding apparatuses change the structures of existing standard CELP speech codecs to additionally operate the speech quality enhancement layer, the conventional apparatuses are not compatible with the existing standard CELP speech codecs.

Bitrate scalable speech coding and decoding apparatus and method


The invention is a disk-shaped screen adapted for removable placement onto one end of a standard-type oil filter. When the screen is placed on the oil filter, it is located in an area bounded by the oil filter's mounting gasket and it overlies the filter's inlet ports. The screen is made of a wire mesh having approximately 1600 openings per square inch. The screen functions to collect larger-sized particles from the oil stream before they enter the interior of the oil filter. By collecting these particles in a readily viewable manner, the screen enables a person to easily determine from the types and size of collected particles if any unusual engine wear has occurred or if the engine has suffered internal damage.

In automobile engines, the lubricating system normally includes a filter designed to remove particulate impurities from the lubricating oil. The filter is located in the oil flow path just downstream of the oil pump so that any particulate impurities in the oil are trapped in the oil filter before they reach vital engine areas such as the bearing surfaces.
One of the most critical periods when filtration of the oil is required is when breaking in a new or rebuilt engine. During the break-in period, the engine's moving parts are rubbing against each other and wearing down any surface irregularities until the parts mesh smoothly with each other. As this is occurring, minute particles of metal are often worn or broken off from the contacting surfaces and are picked up by the moving oil. In addition, if there are any gaskets and/or seals that are disintegrating due to improper installation or defective materials, particles of these materials will also become caught in the oil stream. As the oil is continually pumped, these particles become trapped in the filter.
After the initial break-in period is completed, the old oil and oil filter are normally removed from the engine and are replaced with new oil and a new oil filter. For most engines, this period occurs after approximately 500 miles of driving. For racing engines, the period is usually much less. At the end of this short period, an engine is considered to be broken in since the rate of engine wear will have greatly decreased.
If one were to cut apart the old oil filter to inspect it at the end of the break-in period, one would be able to view all of the collected particles. By inspecting the type and quantity of particles, one could ascertain how much wear had taken place and possibly the location(s) where the wear had taken place. If an unusually large amount of metal or gasket/seal particles are present, this indicates that an engine component either is misaligned, defective or was improperly installed. Even if the engine seems to be operating correctly, the presence of a great number of particles in the filter indicates that a premature engine failure might be imminent.
For the average vehicle, an inspection of the oil filter's interior is not performed after the break-in period. This is due to the large amount of time and effort required to cut open an oil filter. Since the rate of premature engine failures is fairly low, the added time and expense are not considered warranted. In addition, since the inspection results may be inconclusive or only signal that a part may fail under certain adverse conditions, most engine builders do not want to needlessly alarm their customers.
The above noted disinclination to inspect the oil filter is not shared by racing car mechanics or others who are concerned with the reliability and long-term durability of the vehicle's engine. For a mechanic in charge of a racing car, knowledge of how the engine's parts have broken in is critical. For this reason, the engine's oil filter is checked frequently during and after the racing engine's break-in period. However, for the average person, it is impractical and extremely difficult to check the interior of a typical oil filter.


Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuitry having a string of diode-connected field-effect transistors (FETs) connected between a bus and ground plane for triggering a shunt element, such as a large n-channel FET, connected between the same or a different bus and the ground plane. The bus or buses are diode-connected through the base-emitter junction of pnp transistors to signal pads, as well as to a positive voltage power supply. The string of FETs turns on when the pad-to-ground voltage, and thus the bus-to-ground voltage, exceeds a threshold characteristic of an ESD event. The string acts as a voltage divider to bring a node between two of the FETs up to a voltage that will activate an n-channel trigger FET, which is part of a resistive-load inverter. This drives another inverter that in turn drives the shunt FET. When the voltage is pulled back down below the threshold voltage, the shunt FET continues to shunt current to the ground plane for the duration of the ESD event.

During a two terminal, electrostatic discharge (ESD) event, a large current pulse is injected into one electrical connection or signal pad of an integrated circuit and extracted from another pad, with all other pads floating. Typical current pulses from such events have peak injected currents that exceed one ampere. For an integrated circuit to survive such an event without damage, a robust, low impedance shunt path for the current must be available from any pad to any other pad. In order to avoid interfering with the integrated circuit's normal operation, ESD protection circuitry generally have both active (on) and inactive (off) states. The protection circuit should stay off under normal operating conditions and turn on quickly during an ESD event. It should effectively steer current into the intended shunt path when it is active, but should not interfere with normal operation while in its off state. In particular, the protection circuit coupled to a signal pad must not add excessive resistive or capacitive load to the pad, or add excessively to the noise level of signals applied to the signal pad, or have substantial off-state leakage.
Some functional applications of an integrated circuit require direct connections of input or output (I/0) terminal pads to one or more external buses. These buses may carry active signals even when power is not applied to the integrated circuit. ESD protection circuitry must not interfere with the operation of those buses under those conditions. The directly connected I/0 pads must not draw excessive current when a bus signal is pulled high and power to the integrated circuit is off. Because the buses can carry active signals even when power to an integrated circuit with one or more I/0 pads directly connected to the bus is off, the protection circuitry must maintain a high trigger voltage in power-off conditions. Consequently, the ESD protection circuits must have a trigger voltage that is independent of the supply voltage. Conventional shunt devices, such as silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) and field FETs, are triggered by avalanche breakdown or punchthrough above some fixed voltage threshold. These devices require series resistance between the shunt device and the nFET driver of the I/0 pad for reliable protection in many integrated circuit processes. Alternatively, capacitive coupling could be used to lower the trigger voltage of such shunt devices under transient conditions, but, with capacitive coupling, the above-noted requirement for low power-off leakage with signals active would be very difficult to meet.
An object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection circuit for I/0 terminal pads of an integrated circuit with supply voltage independent triggering, meeting low leakage, no series resistance requirements, which is especially adapted for situations where signals-active/power-off ESD protection is needed.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an ESD protection circuit which is also adaptable for use on signals that do not have the signals-active/power-off requirement, so that a diode connection from the signal to the positive power supply bus is tolerable.

Electrostatic discharge protection circuit with dynamic triggering


A collector boost circuit is disclosed for providing a first voltage in a first mode of operation to a power amplifier, and another voltage in a second mode of operation to the power amplifier. The collector boost circuit uses an indicator signal derived by an RF detector to switch between the first and the second mode of operation. The another voltage is a boosted voltage greater than the first voltage and is provided when required during peak excursions to prevent amplifier clipping through a boost capacitor. The another voltage is continuous and varies in accordance with the detected peak signal amplitude.

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a technology for transmitting different data sets within each of multiple signals simultaneously over a single transmission path, such as a cable or wireless system. Each signal travels within a carrier—a unique frequency range that is modulated by data being transmitted.
Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a spread spectrum technique that distributes each data set of the different data sets over a large number of carriers that are spaced apart at predetermined frequencies. This spacing provides the "orthogonality" in this technique, which allows for demodulators that are responsive only to frequencies relating to a signal data set. The benefits of OFDM are high spectral efficiency, resiliency to RF interference, and immunity to multi-path distortion. OFDM is advantageous because in a typical terrestrial broadcasting scenario there are multi-path channels—transmitted signals arrive at a receiver using various paths of different length. Since multiple versions of a signal interfere one with another it becomes difficult to extract data being transmitted.
High bandwidth-efficiency modulation schemes (such as, but not restricted to FDM, OFDM, and CDMA) usually result in signals that exhibit a large dynamic range, or peak to average power ratio (PAPR). For amplifying such a signal, an amplifier must support a range of pulse amplitudes from a first level of low amplitude through to a second level of high amplitude, and accommodate as such this peak amplitude. Though support for peak amplitude is a requirement in high bandwidth efficiency modulation standards, peak pulses come with such infrequency that designing a power amplifier (PA) to support them, though required, increases the power consumption of the PA and adds a level of complexity and cost that is undesirable.
For example, it is known to improve power consumption of PAs by varying supply voltage with a DC-to-DC converter to be proportional to the amplitude of the transmitted signal as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,161 (Dacus et al, "Amplifier with Dynamically Adaptable Supply Voltage). Lower collector voltages are used to achieve lower output powers and higher collector voltages are used to deal with higher amplitude portions of the signal to be transmitted. Assuming high efficiencies in the regulator, very low power consumption is realized at low modulation frequencies by switch-mode techniques. As the frequency of the modulation is increased the difficulty of designing ever-faster switch-mode regulators becomes too great and linear power handling stages are needed and no efficiency gain results.
The regulator approach is Prior Art and, is an effective way of increasing the PA efficiency, by varying the collector or drain voltage on the amplifying transistor and changing the load line of the PA. Linearity requirements, however, force the gain/phase response to be linear with voltage change, or that pre-distortion is applied.
Other variants on this theme attempt to use a very fast, envelope tracking power supply on the collector in combination with a variable base supply. The modulation amplitude is realized by varying the power supply voltage while the phase information is injected onto the RF signal. Envelope tracking requires an even more complex power supply than the DC-to-DC converter approach and has yet to be demonstrated in a practical fashion. Such a circuit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,641 where an excess envelope sensor is used to detect peak voltages and in turn enhance the output voltage fed to the power amplifier.
Several RF systems containing power amplifiers have recurrent periods with large peak excursions and these peak excursions need to be handled, in order to improve the efficiency of these systems by ensuring linearity of the power amplifier. As discussed in WO 01/67598, in prior art applications, one method to handle signals with large peak-to-average ratios is to control the DC power supply to a power amplifier. For example, in this case, one set of voltage levels are supplied to the power amplifier when the instantaneous amplitude is below a desired level and another set of voltage levels is supplied when the instantaneous amplitude is above a desired level.
In prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,519 a circuit is disclosed for allowing a power amplifier to work under different operating power supply voltages, in response to different input signals. Specifically, circuitry is provided for controlling the level of the voltage supplied to a power amplifier, via supplementary supply path. In this circuit, two controllable impedances in the form of field-effect transistors as well as an inductor are provided, for when in operation with control pulses, directing the flow of current and providing enhancement voltage to the amplifier when necessary. However, the disadvantage of such a circuit is that it is not realizable within a low cost integrated power amplifier due to the difficulty in integrating the inductor and the PA on the same substrate.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus to improve the power output, efficiency, and distortion of an OFDM power amplifier without significantly increasing the power supply complexity, or needing a second voltage supply. Advantageously, improving these attributes is beneficial in WLAN systems in order to provide users with better data transmission range, longer intervals between battery charging, and more generally lower power consumption.
It would be further advantageous to provide a method that is suited to integration within a single integrated circuit.

Integrated implementation of a voltage boost follower and method therefor


The present invention relates to improved processes for the manufacture of acetic acid. A pump around reactor is used to produce additional heat for the production of steam. The pump around reactor receives a portion of the reaction solution produced by the carbonylation reactor and further reacts that portion with additional carbon monoxide and/or reactants.

A widely used and successful commercial process for synthesizing acetic acid involves the catalyzed carbonylation of methanol with carbon monoxide. The catalyst contains rhodium and/or iridium and a halogen promoter, typically methyl iodide. The reaction is conducted by continuously bubbling carbon monoxide through a liquid reaction medium in which the catalyst is dissolved. The reaction medium comprises methyl acetate, water, acetic acid, methyl iodide and the catalyst. Conventional commercial processes for carbonylation of methanol include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,329, 5,001,259, 5,026,908 and 5,144,068, the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Another conventional methanol carbonylation process includes the Cativa™ process, which is discussed in J. H. Jones, "The Cativa™ Process for the Manufacture of Acetic Acid," Platinum Metals Review, 44 (3): 94-105 (2002), the entire contents and disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The reaction solution from the carbonylation reactor contains unreacted starting materials as well as components of the reaction medium, including catalyst. U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,744 discloses a process for the preparation of acetic acid, which comprises carbonylating methanol with carbon monoxide in a carbonylation reactor ("first reactor") in the presence of a reaction fluid comprising a rhodium catalyst, methyl iodide, an iodide salt, methyl acetate and water, while continuously withdrawing the reaction fluid from the first reactor and introducing it into a flash zone to separate it into an evaporated part and an unevaporated part, characterized in that a second reactor is provided between the first reactor and the flash zone. Methanol is carbonylated with the carbon monoxide contained in the reaction fluid in a state in which it is dissolved therein in the second reactor with a residence time of 7 to 120 seconds at 150° C. to 250° C., and the carbon monoxide contained in the reaction fluid withdrawn from the first reactor in a state in which it is dissolved therein can be converted into acetic acid in the second reactor through the same carbonylation as that occurring in the first reactor, which enables effective use and high recovery of carbon monoxide.
The carbonylation reaction is exothermic and the heat of the reaction must be regulated to control reaction temperatures. The heat of the reaction typically is transferred to the flasher along with the reaction solution. The flasher operates at a lower pressure than the carbonylation reactor, which results in a temperature decrease of the reaction solution.
The heat of the reaction may also be recovered. U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,039 discloses removing the heat of reaction from the highly exothermic process by using a steam boiler heated by the pump-around stream. The heat from the reaction may also be transferred to other systems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,576 discloses a process for the production of carboxylic acid in the presence of solid catalyst particles that uses the exothermic heat of reaction with high efficiency in recovering the carboxylic acid product. This process uses indirect heat exchange to transfer the heat of reaction to another stream, without the need for an additional heat transfer fluid such as steam. U.S. Pat. No. 7,465,823 discloses a process and system in which a portion of the heat produced during the production of the acetic acid is transferred to the vinyl acetate production and/or purification process and system to facilitate production and/or purification of the vinyl acetate product.
As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, there is incentive and a need for improvement to existing processes for the production of acetic acid. The present invention provides some such improvements. The entire contents and disclosure of the references discussed herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

Pump around reactor for production of acetic acid


Provided are a thermally conductive silicone composition, a thermally conductive material and a thermally conductive silicone grease, wherein a liquid silicone, an aluminum nitride powder and a zinc oxide powder are comprised, and wherein the total amount of those powders are from 500 to 1,000 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the liquid silicone and the ratio of the zinc oxide powder to the sum total of the aluminum nitride powder and the zinc oxide powder is from 0.05 to 0.5 by weight.

Most of electric and electronic appliances generate heat while they are used, so that the removal of generated heat therefrom is necessary for their normal operation. With the intention of removing the generated heat from those appliances, many means have been proposed. For instance, in miniature electronic parts, especially electronic devices provided with integrated circuits, thermally conductive materials, such as a thermally conductive grease and a thermally conductive sheet [Japanese Tokkai Sho 56-28264 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,775) and Japanese Tokkai Sho 61-157587, wherein the term "Tokkai" means an "unexamined published patent application], have been used as such means.
In general, such an electronic device comprises integrated circuits and cap parts for protecting them, and a thermally conductive material is applied so as to contact directly with both of the circuit element and the heat-reducing part, or indirectly therewith via certain materials. Thus, the heat generated from integrated circuit chips during operation is transmitted in the thermally conductive material to be transferred directly or indirectly to the heat-reducing part, and further radiated therefrom. The rough sectional view of such an electronic device, wherein a thermally conductive material is used, is shown in FIG. 1.
As the aforementioned thermally conductive material, a heat-reducing grease of the type which uses a silicone oil as a base material and a zinc oxide or alumina powder as a thickener is already known [Japanese Tokko Sho 52-33272 and Japanese Tokko Sho 59-52195 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,984), wherein the term "Tokko" means an "examined patent publication"). In recent years, aluminum nitride has been developed as a thickener which enables further improvement of thermal conductivity (as disclosed, e.g., in Japanese Tokkai Sho 52-125506).
Since aluminum nitride has insufficient oil-holding power, however, its content in a silicone oil is limited to a very narrow range, specifically the order of 50-95 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of silicone oil. Accordingly, the contribution of aluminum nitride to improvement in the thermal conductivity of silicone grease is not great although the aluminum nitride itself has a good thermal conductivity.
In addition, Japanese Tokkai Sho 56-28264 discloses the thixotropic thermally conductive material comprising a liquid organosilicone carrier, silica fibers in an amount required for effectively preventing the liquid carrier from exuding, and at least one thickener selected from among dendrite-form zinc oxide, flake-shaped aluminum nitride and flake-shaped boron nitride. In this thermally conductive material also, the enhanced oil-holding power is secured by incorporating spherical silica fibers as an essential component; as a result, the content of an aluminum nitride powder is inevitably lowered. Therefore, a sufficient improvement in thermal conductivity cannot be expected in this case also.
The drawback as described above can be mitigated by combining a particular organopolysiloxane with spherical grains of hexagonal aluminum nitride to enable the incorporation of a very large amount of aluminum nitride in the silicone oil (Japanese Tokkai Hei 2-153995).
When the aluminum nitride grains are coarse in size, however, gaps are formed among the grains because aluminum nitride is a very hard material having Mohs's hardness of 7-9. Accordingly, even if the aluminum nitride powder is added in an increased amount with the intention of heightening the thermal conductivity, the thermal conductivity attained is below expectation, namely of the order of 5.5.times.10.sup.-3 cal/cm.multidot.sec.multidot..degree. C., and so a satisfactory result has not been achieved as yet.
As a means to solve the above problem, a method of using a fine aluminum nitride powder and a coarse aluminum nitride powder in combination can be adopted [Japanese Tokkai Hei 3-14873 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,870)]. In this case, however, the grease prepared, although the thermal conductivity thereof is improved, is low in consistency (in other words, hard) and poor in dispensation suitability. Therefore, such a means is undesirable from a practical point of view.
Thus, a method of using an organopolysiloxane of the kind which can hold a large amount of metallic powder in combination with at least one metallic powder selected from the group consisting of ZnO, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, AlN and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 was also proposed (e.g., in Japanese Tokkai Hei 2-212556 and Japanese Tokkai Hei 3-162493). However, satisfactory heat-reducing grease is not yet realized by such combinations.

Heat conductive silicone composition, heat conductive material and heat conductive silicone grease


A method of estimating the airspeed of an aircraft during low airspeed conditions includes measuring a negative impact pressure using a pitot-static probe on the aircraft. Then, the method includes estimating a non-zero airspeed of the aircraft as a function of the measured negative impact pressure.

The present invention relates to air data computers (ADCs) or systems, and algorithms implemented therein, for use in helicopters or other rotorcraft. More particularly, the present invention relates to a Low Airspeed Assist (LAA) method, and ADCs or systems implementing the same, to provide more accurate airspeed information in helicopters or other rotorcraft at low airspeeds.
Air data systems on helicopters and other rotorcraft include one or more pitot-static probes, an air data computer connected to the pitot-static probe(s), and other sensors if desired. The pitot-static probe(s) are mounted toward the front end of the helicopter, and are used to sense or calculate total pressure Pt and static pressure Ps If the aircraft utilizes more than one pitot-static probe, Pt is the average total pressure and Ps is the average static pressure measurement. As is known in the art, impact pressure (also referred to as dynamic pressure and commonly denoted Qc) can be calculated by subtracting the static pressure Ps from the total pressure Pt. These pressure measurements are most accurate when the pitot-static probe is properly placed on the aircraft to minimize aerodynamic errors from the vehicle, and when the pitot-static probe is sensing pitot and static pressure in a pressure field created only by the forward velocity of the vehicle and is free of the rotor downwash effect seen during slow flight, take-offs, and landings.
At low airspeeds, the impact pressure readings from the pitot-static probe(s) are affected by downwash from the main rotor into the static ports of the pitot-static probe(s), by high pressure fields beneath the rotor, and by the local pitch of the aircraft during takeoff. These effects cause the impact pressure reading to be less than the free stream impact pressure, thus resulting in negative values of impact pressure during such an event.
Conventionally, the impact pressure Qc is calculated as indicated above, and then that impact pressure is converted to an airspeed using known techniques. Using conventional techniques, with a negative impact pressure, calculated airspeed will be zero even though the helicopter in fact has a non-zero airspeed. As the helicopter increases in airspeed, relative to the helicopter, the downwash angles back toward the rear of the aircraft. At some minimum airspeed for the particular helicopter and flight conditions, the downwash moves completely behind the pitot-static probe(s), allowing accurate pressure measurements of impact pressure for use in the airspeed calculation.
During takeoffs and landings, it is important for estimated airspeeds to be readable and repeatable. Conventionally, measured helicopter airspeeds have only been accurate and repeatable when they have surpassed the minimum airspeed mentioned above, at which the downwash angles behind the pitot-static probe(s), relative to the helicopter. A minimum airspeed that is important to helicopter pilots is the Take Off Safety Speed (TOSS). The TOSS is the speed at which the aircraft will safely take to the air. This speed varies with aircraft, takeoff weight, air temperature, etc. An improved method of estimating helicopter airspeeds while the calculated impact pressure is still negative and the aircraft is accelerating through the Critical Decision Point (CDP—a point along the flight path that dictates the decision point on where to land, should landing be necessary) would be a significant improvement in the art.

Low airspeed assist algorithm for air data computer applications


A firefighting monitor includes logic circuitry for determining the reaction force caused by the flow of firefighting fluid therethrough. The reaction force may be communicated to structures remote from the monitor for taking appropriate actions in response to the reaction forces exceeding one or more criteria. The monitor may also use flow and nozzle data for calculating a reach of the stream of the fluid, and may transmit this reach data to a remote location. The monitor may also utilize multiple pressure sensor transducers positioned inside the monitor for determining the rate of fluid flow, rather than a paddle wheel-type sensor.

The present invention relates generally to firefighting equipment, and more particularly to firefighting monitors that include improved sensor and control features.
Conventional firefighting monitors are used in a variety of different applications and environments to deliver firefighting fluid to a fire. In some applications, the firefighting monitors may be mounted to different locations on a fire truck, or to other mobile vehicles, such as boats. In other applications, the monitors may be mounted to stationary structures. In still other applications, the monitor may not be mounted to anything at all, but may be portably laid on the ground at a desired location. Regardless of the particular environment of the monitor, conventional monitors typically include one or more rotatable sections that allow the stream of firefighting fluid to be redirected to different locations through the movement of the one or more rotatable sections. In some monitors, the rotatable sections may be controlled electronically from a remote location, allowing a firefighter to reposition the stream of firefighting fluid from a location removed from the monitor. Conventional monitors may also include a paddle wheel sensor adapted to detect a flow rate of the firefighting fluid flowing through the monitor.

Elkhart Brass Manufacturing Company, Inc.


A refrigerated worksurface for processing food products includes a base and at least one cooling element supported on the base. A preparation surface is positioned on the base atop the cooling element and is configured to be cooled by the cooling element. A cooling system is configured to circulate a coolant through the cooling element so that a temperature of the preparation surface is maintained within a predetermined range. The cooling element may be one or more cooling element pans or may be a passage beneath the preparation surface for flow of fluid through the passage and in contact with an underside of the preparation surface.

The present invention relates to a refrigerated worksurface. The present invention more specifically relates to a refrigerated preparation table having a refrigerated worksurface for preparing objects such as food products.
It is known to provide for a refrigerated table that may be used for preparing food products (such as meat, etc.). Such known refrigerated tables typically provide a platform or surface for preparing food products and a cooling coil having a refrigerant (such as a volatile, direct expansion refrigerant) circulated through the cooling coil to provide cooling to the surface of the table.
For example: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,105,566 and 2,156,795 show a cutting block that rests on coils carrying refrigerant. U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,600 shows a cutting table having a plenum that directs cold air onto a working surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,928 shows cooling coils for freezing a liquid into a block that provides an ice-top cutting surface. However, such known refrigerated worksurfaces do not realize certain advantageous features (and/or combinations of features).
It would be desirable to provide a refrigerated worksurface or the like of a type disclosed in the present Application that includes any one or more of these or other advantageous features:                (1) A preparation surface that resist introduction of bacteria and residue from the food products and is readily cleanable.        (2) A drain system configured to remove condensation and other liquids from the preparation surface.        (3) Cooling elements to provide cooling to the preparation surface.        (4) Multiple cooling elements that are individually controllable to provide a desired pattern of cooling rates on the preparation surface.        (5) Cooling elements that ate removable to facilitate assembly, maintenance and replacement activities.        (6) Cooling elements in the form of "pans" having a series of passageways for circulation of a coolant.        (7) A thermal conducting layer interfacing with the cooling elements and the preparation surface to promote cooling of the preparation surface and to enhance uniformity of the temperature of the preparation surface to reduce "warm spots."        (8) A cooling system for providing a liquid coolant for circulation through one or more of the cooling elements.        (9) A cooling system capable of interconnection with a network of other refrigeration devices within a facility.        (10) A cooling system capable of operation as a stand-alone unit.        (11) A preparation surface having a cavity configured for flow-through of a coolant and stiffening structure configured to support the weight of the coolant and the weight of food products thereon.        (12) A modular construction capable of disassembly and reassembly intended to reduce the shipping volume of the refrigerated preparation table from a factory to an end user (e.g. a facility such as a supermarket, meat-packing facility, or the like).        (13) Insulation intended to improve the thermal performance of the refrigerated preparation table and to reduce condensation.


A drive device for a movable furniture part includes an ejection force accumulator which can be tensioned, and an ejection element mechanically loaded by the ejection force accumulator and used to carry out an ejection movement of the moveable furniture part from a closed position into an open position. The ejection movement can be initiated by a compression movement of the movable furniture part into a compression position which is behind the closed position. The drive device also comprises a tensioning device for tensioning the ejection force accumulator with energy which can be emitted by the ejection movement. During the compression movement, at least 50% of the energy emitted by the ejection force accumulator during the ejection movement can be introduced into the ejection force accumulator by the tensioning device.

The invention concerns a drive device for a movable furniture part, comprising an ejection force storage member which can be tensioned, and an ejection element for carrying out an ejection movement of the movable furniture part from a closed position into an open position. The ejection movement can be initiated by an over-pressing movement of the movable furniture part into an over-pressing position which is behind the closed position, and the ejection element is force-actuated by the ejection force storage member and a tensioning device for tensioning the ejection force storage member with energy which can be released during the ejection movement. Further, the invention concerns an item of furniture with a furniture carcass, a movable furniture part and such a drive device.
For many years in the industry of furniture fittings, there have been several kinds of drive devices to enable an easy ejection of a movable furniture part (as, for example, a drawer or a furniture door) from a closed position. Thereby, a user does not have to pull the movable furniture part in order to open it, but the user can activate or initiate the ejection or opening by an ease triggering movement (e.g. by over-pressing the movable furniture part). Some examples for this are disclosed in the documents WO 2012/084594 A1, WO 2014/114514 A1, WO 2014/165876 A1 and WO 2013/134799 A1.
Mostly, one problem with mechanical drive devices is how and where the ejection force storage member is tensioned. In the simplest versions, an ejection force storage member is tensioned in the last closing movement section before reaching the closed position (e.g. according to the ballpoint pen principle). Then, during the ejection, the active ejection is carried out along the same movement section in opening direction.
However, there are also other drive devices where the ejection force storage member is tensioned further outward during opening or closing (thus not in the last closing or opening section). An example of this configuration is specified in the AT 008 629 U1. A similar device is also disclosed in the DE 198 23 305 A1.
Now, however, with many known drive devices, depending on the force of the ejection force storage member or depending on the weight of the movable furniture part, the tensioning movement is considered to be disturbing. This means there is no continuous and uniform opening or closing movement as indeed the tensioning of the ejection force storage member has to be carried out at least on a part of the opening and/or closing path. In this section, thus, the movement of the movable furniture part is less smooth.

Drive device for a movable furniture part