A method for controlling footwear, comprising cushioning a transient force during use of the footwear at a first period of a gait cycle, storing energy from said cushioning, and releasing the stored energy during use of the footwear at a second period of the gait cycle, and after said transient force has subsided. The control can be electronic, mechanical or hydraulic, and is preferably dependent on a sensed gait cycle phase. The control may be adaptive to the user or the use of the footwear. The stored energy can be used to assist in locomotion, to generate electrical energy, to drive a heat pump, or simply dissipated.

Athletic or performance footwear is typically designed for low weight, comfort and functionality. Fashion and style may also be significant considerations. Embedding significant control systems within footwear must therefore justify the cost, complexity, weight and size, especially in view of the adequate functioning of existing available footwear designs.
Bladder Fit Control
In various types of athletic footwear, it is recognized that the comfort and fit of the footwear can affect the athletic performance. In order to increase both the comfort and fit of footwear, manufacturers have incorporated inflatable bladders of various designs into the construction of the footwear.
The demands for comfort and snugness of fit in other athletic events has resulted in the use of the inflatable bladders in various types of athletic footwear, including athletic shoes used for basketball and other sports. There are presently available athletic shoes incorporating an air pump, such as depicted within U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,765, to inflate air bladders located within the sole of the shoe, or alternatively, bladders located in portions of the upper or the tongue of the athletic shoe. The advantages of these types of shoes is manifested primarily by their increased comfort and the secure positioning or fit of the foot within the shoe. Another benefit derived from the use of air bladders is the potential for reduction of forces transmitted through the shoe to the foot and ankle of the wearer during performance of the athletic endeavor. Thus, current athletic shoes having incorporated air bladders provide enhanced comfort and fit, while also reducing the occurrence of various types of injuries.
Air bladder fit control systems for footwear are therefore well known and accepted. These systems generally have good performance, are low mass and size, acceptable cost and a simple user interface. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,756,298; 5,480,287; 5,430,961; 5,416,988; 5,343,638; 5,257,470; 5,230,249; 5,146,988; 5,113,599; 4,999,932; 4,995,173; 4,823,482; 4,730,403; 4,662,087; 4,502,470; and 4,374,518, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, showing designs and construction methods for adjustable footwear upper and methods and means for adjustment thereof.
For typical athletic shoes currently commercially available which incorporate both the inflatable air bladders and inflation pump, the comfort and fit of the article of footwear is adjusted by inflating the air bladder by use of the pump after securing the footwear about the foot. The wearer simply inflates the air bladder until a particular pressure level, or fit, is felt by the foot. However, due to the rigors of various athletic events, and because the human foot tends to swell and contract with varying levels of activity, it is very difficult for the individual to obtain a consistent fit from one use to the next, or to recognize the difference in their performance, based upon a pressure setting for the air bladders that is merely sensed by the foot. Therefore, designs have been proposed which include a pressure sensor, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,227, expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The development, incorporation, and use of inflatable air bladders within athletic footwear has been applied to ski boots used for downhill skiing. Thus, a number of patents relate to the field of ski boots which incorporate inflatable air bladders, for example, German Patent No. DE 2,162,619, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,087. While the original designs for ski boots having air bladders incorporated the use of an external pressurizing device such as a hand pump, more recent designs incorporate the design of the pump into the article of footwear, such as for example the ski boot of U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,022. Various footwear designs also provide a compressor which is actuated by user activity, providing a supply of compressed air while the footwear is in vigorous use.
Shoe Sensors
It is well known to provide instrumentation to monitor various aspects of footwear, both internally and externally. This instrumentation includes, for example, sensors for determining time-pressure profiles around the foot.
The advantages and general design of intelligent adaptive surfaces are well known, as are various methods for implementation in particular articles, such as seating surfaces, mattresses, and the like. It is also known to provide various controls for modifying footwear during use. For example, Gross et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,099, Gross et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,067, and Gross U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,933, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, proposes footwear systems which seek adaptive fit. That is, as the wearer moves, the footwear senses the pressure distribution profile of the user's foot within the footwear, and adjusts a set of bladders to achieve a desired state.
The theory of intelligent adaptive surfaces provides that too high a pressure applied to an area of skin may cause discomfort or produce medical problems. By adjusting the pressure applied to an area of skin, a more ergonomic support is provided. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,745,937; 5,713,631; 5,658,050; 5,558,398; 5,129,704; 4,949,412; 4,833,614; 4,467,252; 4,542,547; 3,879,776, expressly incorporated herein by reference. Using a first approximation, the goal of an intelligent support surface is to equalize the pressure applied to the skin along the entirety of the contact area, and to increase the contact area. See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,962, incorporated herein by reference. Using sensors, the pressure applied to the skin is measured. Actuators, provided under the surface, deform the surface to adjust the applied pressure and potentially increase the contact patch. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,099; 5,587,933; 5,586,557; 5,586,067; 5,283,735, 5,240,308; 5,170,364; 5,060,174; 5,018,786; and 4,944,554, expressly incorporated herein by reference. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,174,424; 5,022,385; A more sophisticated system models the anatomical portion being supported and provides a force distribution map, thereby selectively applying forces over the contact surface. Thus, more sensitive areas are subject to less pressure than less sensitive areas. An even more sophisticated algorithm takes into consideration the time of pressure application, and will adjust the contact force dynamically to, for example, promote circulation.
Foot and shoe sensor arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. D365,999; 5,775,332; 5,720,200; 5,678,448; 5,673,500; 5,662,123; 5,659,395; 5,655,316; 5,642,096; 5,619,186; 5,608,599; 5,566,479; 5,541,570; 5,511,561; 5,500,635; 5,471,405; 5,456,027; 5,449,002; 5,437,289; 5,408,873; 5,361,133; 5,357,696; 5,323,650; 5,302,936; 5,296,837; 5,269,081; 5,253,656; 5,253,654; 5,107,854; 5,079,949; 5,042,504; 5,033,291; 5,010,772; 4,996,511; 4,956,628; 4,862,743; 4,858,621; 4,852,443; 4,827,763; 4,814,661; 4,771,394; 4,745,930; 4,745,301; 4,703,445; 4,651,446; 4,649,918; 4,649,552; 4,644,801; 4,604,807; 4,578,769; 4,554,930; 4,503,705; 4,489,302; 4,437,138; 4,426,884; 4,152,304; 4,054,540; 3,974,491; and 3,791,375, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference, which may be suitable in various embodiments of the invention, and also disclose various electronic interfaces which may also be applicable to the present invention.
Demon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,412, expressly incorporated herein by reference, proposes a system which seeks to modify the transient pressure peak within the sole by selectively bleeding a gas or liquid chamber within the sole, based on a pressure sensor, to limit peak forces and control cushioning.
Footwear Cushioning
Crary, U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,261, expressly incorporated herein by reference, discloses an energy absorption system for a footwear heel in which only a portion of the absorbed energy is recovered. See also U.S. Patent references cited therein, each of which is also expressly incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,93, October, 1889, Walker; 507,490, October, 1893, Gambino; 968,020, August, 1910, Yandoli; U.S. Pat. No. 2,234,066, March, 1941, Winkel et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,387,334, October, 1945, Lemke; U.S. Pat. No. 2,399,543, April, 1946, Dack; U.S. Pat. No. 2,414,445, January, 1947, Cahill; U.S. Pat. No. 2,441,039, May, 1948, Smith et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,454,951, November, 1948, Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,038, February, 1954, DeWerth; U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,460, June, 1955, Stasinos; U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,971, May, 1961, Murawski; U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,661, September, 1961, Israel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,490, July, 1974, Murawski; U.S. Pat. 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A number of technologies are known for improving the function and comfort of footwear soles. These include adjustments for size and foot shape, as well as cushioning, energy recovery, pumps and compressors for providing a source of compressed air, and improved stability. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,771,606; 5,704,137; 5,701,687; 5,598,645; 5,575,088; 5,537,762; 5,384,977; 5,353,525; 5,325,614; 5,313,717; 5,224,278; 5,224,277; 5,222,312; 5,199,191; 5,179,792; 5,086,574; 5,046,267; 5,025,575; 4,999,932; 4,991,317; 4,936,030; 4,934,072; 4,894,932; 4,888,887; 4,845,863; 4,772,131; 4,763,426; 4,756,096; 4,670,995; 4,610,099; 4,458,430; 4,446,634; 4,414,760; 4,319,412; 4,305,212; 4,229,889; 4,187,620; 4,129,951, 4,016,662; 4,008,530; and 3,758,964, expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Footwear Cooling and Cryotherapy
A number of known footwear designs seek to generate a flow of air through the footwear to promote evaporation of perspiration and cool the foot. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,697,171; 5,697,170; 5,655,314; 5,515,622; 5,505,010; 5,408,760; 5,400,526; 5,341,581; 5,303,397; 5,295,313; 5,068,981; 4,974,342; 4,888,887; 4,860,463; 4,813,160; 4,776,110; 4,679,335; 4,602,441; 4,499,672; 4,438,573; 4,373,275; 4,364,186; 4,078,321; and 3,973,336, expressly incorporated herein by reference, for their disclosure of designs and methods for cooling footwear, the implementation of locomotion actuated air compressors, and integration within footwear designs.
Cryotherapy and personal cooling systems are also known, which facilitate comfort under normal conditions, and promote healing and reduce inflammation accompanying injury. For example, the therapeutic use of a combination of cryotherapy to about 4 degrees C. and controlled external pressure of about 0.4–0.8 psi has been used to speed healing after physical injuries, especially of the extremities.
Heat transfer systems are desirable under many circumstances. Heating is generally easily accomplished, by dissipating power. Cooling, however, generally requires coupling an endothermic mechanism with an exothermic mechanism of equal or greater magnitude, although in a different environment, to create a heat pump. Thus, heat may be transferred without violating the laws of thermodynamics. Many different types of cooling systems are known. However, efficient active miniature (<300 W thermal transfer capacity) cooling systems pose many design compromises, and few optimal designs are available. For subminiature designs (<10 W thermal transfer capacity), Peltier designs are typically used. However, such systems require a significant electrical current.
Cooling is generally provided in a number of ways. First, heat in an object to be cooled may be lost by transferring heat energy from a hotter mass to a cooler mass, which may be an active, facilitated or conduction process. Second, an artificial gradient may be created to allow heat to be moved effectively from a hotter to a colder mass. This process includes, e.g., compressing a gas to increase its temperature, then shedding the heat resulting from the compression to the environment, followed by decompressing the cooled gas in a different location to a net colder state than prior to compression. Various phase change, e.g., vaporization, solidification, adsorption, dissolution, etc., and irreversible processes may also be used to provide cooling. Thermoelectric junctions may also be used to cool, although their power efficiency is relatively low.
"Cryotherapy" is defined as the treatment of injury using the benefits derived by application of cold, optionally with external applied pressure. Such therapy has been shown to be particularly effective in treating musculoskeletal trauma resulting from an injury or by the application of a wrenching force to the body, e.g., lacerations, sprains, strains, fractures, contusions or fractures. This type of injury may be accompanied by a tearing of tendons, ligaments or other tissue, and triggers the body's own natural healing process. See Sloan et al., "Effects of Cold and Compression on Edema", The Physician and Sports Medicine, 16(8) (1988); Bailey, "Cryotherapy", Emergency, 40–43 (August, 1984); Cryomed Brochures. U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,381 to Roslonski teaches a cryotherapy device which applies both cold and pressure to an extremity which involves the introduction of a pressurized volatile refrigerant liquid, e.g., Freon® (a chlorofluorocarbon or "CFC"), through a controlled flow rate valve, which cools a maze passage in a flexible device. A pressure relief valve maintains a back-pressure in the system. It is also known to circulate a cooled fluid through a conduit in a bandage.
Chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants are known to be available and to be used alone or in mixtures. In a Roslonski-type system, the lowest boiling component of such a refrigerant mixture acts to propel the refrigerant from the canister and precool the remaining refrigerant liquid as it enters the cooling matrix. The mid temperature boiling refrigerant acts to cool the tissue by boiling in the cooling matrix at a temperature approximately the same as the desired tissue temperature. Lastly, the highest boiling component acts as a heat transfer agent to improve the effectiveness of the device, by stabilizing the operation over a range of environmental conditions and helping to distribute the vaporizing refrigerant. The highest boiling component generally vaporizes before it reaches the end of the cooling matrix.
While refrigeration systems may operate in a single phase, i.e., expansion of a compressed gas, high efficiency at environmental temperatures may often be advantageously obtained using a phase change material, such as when a fluid boils or evaporates, carrying the heat of vaporization with the gas phase from the site of cooling, or the melting of a solid, which absorbs heat. Thus, the area in proximity to the phase change will be cooled, and, in a gaseous system, the gas is expelled to the atmosphere or to a recycling (reliquification) system. This phase change generally allows substantial heat energy transfer with comparatively lower temperature gradients than single phase systems, i.e., gas expansion systems. These smaller temperature gradients allow temperature buffering around a desired temperature range, thus allowing a degree of self regulation. The fluid also typically withdraws more heat per mass and volume unit than a gas. Thus, a system employing a liquid phase may also allow a more compact system, due to the higher heat energy capacity of liquids than gasses.
The following patents relate to known refrigerant systems: Lodes, U.S. Pat. No. 2,529,092; Senning, U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,579; Ashkenaz, U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,438; Munro, U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,273; Borchardt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,040; Hutchinson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,342; Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,054; Orfeo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,536; Nikolsky, U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,776; Ermack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,064; and Nikolsky U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,002. Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,395 relates to a pneumatic pressure garment for application of therapeutic pressure. Gottfried, U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,413 relates to a pressurized bandage with splint functions. Towle, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,410 relates to a pneumatic wound dressing. Gardner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,404 relates to a pressure device for therapeutic treatment of body extremities. Romano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,503 relates to an orthopedic device having a pressurized bladder for spinal treatment. Curlee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,957 relates to a therapeutic corset for applying pressure to a portion of the back. Cronin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,658 relates to a gloved splint, providing a shock absorbing treatment and possible heat removal from the hand. Johnson, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,335, and Johnson Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,455, both relate to a leg treatment system having a cold thermal fluid and having means for applying pressure. Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,318, relates to a cryotherapy apparatus having a cold compress and a gravity fed cold liquid. Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,783, relates to a cryotherapy procedure employing a gravity pressurized cold liquid. French et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,072, relates to a heated or cooled liquid thermal therapy system. Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,689, relates to a cryotherapy sleeve for therapeutic compression. Meserlian, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,227, relates to an apparatus for massaging or supporting the legs of a horse. Gammons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,541, relates to a flexible circulating pad which ensures fluid flow to all areas. Sauder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,998, and Sauder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,537, both relate to a limb refrigeration device for cryotherapy. Kolstedt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,716, relates to a device for circulating pressurized cold fluid in a sleeve for cryotherapy. Arkans, U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,944, relates to a cooled liquid cryotherapy device. Larsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,415, relates to a body cooling apparatus including a compressor and a condenser. Tucker, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,834, relates to a pneumatic splint device. Robbins et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,297 relates to an inflatable pillow support having automated cycling inflation and deflation of various portions thereof. Artemenko et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,902 relates to a medical splint apparatus, having an inflatable splint body and a circulated cooling agent, cooled by solid carbonic acid (CO2). Davis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,819 relates to a pressurized splint adapted to apply a thermal treatment to a human extremity. Nicholson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,435 relates to on inflatable splint having a coolant chamber to apply pressure and cool to a human extremity. Berndt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,537 relates to a self-retaining cold wrap which treats an injury with cold and pressure. Baron, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,542 and Baron, U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,867 both relate to a self-inflating compression device for use as a splint. Golden, U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,146 relates to a cooling thermal pack with circulating fluid which conforms to body surfaces to apply a cooling treatment. Moore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,620 and Gammons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,541 relate to treatment pads with circulating fluid for providing a hot or cold treatment to a patient. Brannigan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,097 relates to a thermally capacitive compress for applying hot or cold treatments to the body. Arkans., U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,133 relates to a pressure measurement apparatus for measuring the pressure applied by a pressure cuff to a human extremity. Kiser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,470 relates to a device for assisting in pumping tissue fluids from a foot and ankle up the leg. Stark, U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,190 relates to an apparatus providing body refrigeration, for use in high ambient temperature environments by workers. FR 2,133.680 relates to a system for cooling objects, including beverage cans, using fluorocarbons, e.g. Freon®. Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,051,100, Burkhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,516 and Richards, U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,704 relate to pressure relief valves. Ninomiya et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,622 relates to a check valve assembly. Martin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,550,840, Both et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,964, Galeazzi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,534, Mura, U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,587, White, U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,110 and Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,775 relate to pressurized container dispensing valves and systems containing same. Frost, U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,610 relates to a pressurized container valve and detachable dispensing attachment device. Nakano, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,501, relates to a refrigerant charging apparatus for charging a refrigerant, including a refrigerant can, an upper can-opening part, a conduit having two inner passages for indication and charging, respectively, a lower can-opening part, and a level indicator communicating with the refrigerant can via both can-opening parts, for indicating a remaining quantity of the refrigerant in the can. Chruniak, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,555, relates to a climate controlled food and beverage container which operates off an automotive climate control system. Howell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,833, also relates to a food storage container operating off an automotive air conditioning system. Fujiwara, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,222, relates to an automobile refrigerator detachably connected to the air conditioner of a vehicle. Maier, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,248, relates to an automobile air conditioner driven beverage cooling system. Kitayama, U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,890, relates to a portable chiller for chilling an ophthalmic solution, cosmetic preparation, beverage or the like. This portable chiller consists generally of a cylinder filled with a liquefied refrigerant gas and a chiller case. Ramos, U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,183, relates to a cooling device for beverage cans which cools by releasing liquid nitrogen or liquid air from a containment "bubble". Sundlhar, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,193, relates to a cooling device for beverages which cool by releasing liquid carbon dioxide. Saia, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,579, also relates to a liquid carbon dioxide cooling system. Fischler, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,273, relates to a coiled tube insert releasing a liquid refrigerant for cooling a beverage. Aitchison, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,933, relates to a liquid pressurized refrigerant system for cooling a fluid container. Beck, U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,856, relates to a liquid refrigerant beverage cooling device. Willis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,643, relates to a beverage cooling system employing compressed gas or liquid refrigerant with an improved heat exchanger system. Barnett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,484, relates to a liquid refrigerant system for cooling a can. Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,101, relates to a liquid refrigerant beverage chilling mechanism. Tenebaum, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,102, also relates to a liquid refrigerant beverage cooling mechanism. Dodd, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,464, relates to a container which is cooled by the release of a pressurized refrigerant. Kim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,703, and Kim, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,407, both relate to a refrigerant cooled can mechanism. Shen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,838, relates to a pressurized coolant for a beverage can. Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,470, relates to a self cooling can having a pressurized refrigerant. Ladany, U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,548, relates to a beverage cooling device which employs compressed gas. Nof, U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,271, relates to a pressurized gas method for cooling a container and liquid contained therein. Riley, U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,321, also relates to a beverage cooling device which preferably carbonates the beverage on release of the gas. Rhyne Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,037, relates to a beverage cooler for sequentially cooling a plurality of beverage containers. Holcomb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,395, relates to a food container cooling system having a pressurized refrigerant fluid which is released into an expansion chamber. Campbell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,158, relates to an insulin cooling device including a refrigerating agent. Ehmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,793, also relates to an insulating container with a refrigerant. Manz, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,625, relates to a Thermoelectric refrigerant handling system. Merritt-Munson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,838, relates to a refrigerant cooled cosmetic bag. Martello, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,847, relates to a liquid refrigerant system for cosmetics. Merritt, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,600, relates to a solar powered thermoelectric cooler for a cosmetic bag which seeks to employ heat produced by the thermoelectric cooling element to recharge a rechargeable power source. Collard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,798, relates to a thermoelectric refrigeration device. Rudick, U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,070, relates to a thermoelectric beverage can cooler. Harris, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,330, relates to a thermoelectric vehicle cooling system. Kitayama, U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,707, relates to a portable vaporizing liquid refrigerant chiller device. Isaacson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,809, relates to an insulating wrap having a eutectic solution in a film barrier container. Baroso-Lujan, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,680, relates to a Freon-22® cooled beverage container which flashes liquid Freon into an evacuated space. Each of the above references is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Goble, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,929, relates to a non-CFC substitute refrigerant for R-12, including 2–20% isobutane (R-600a), 41–71% chlorodifluoromethane (R-22) and 21–51% chlorodifluoroethane (R-142b). Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,817, relates to a low boiling azeotropic or essentially azeotropic mixtures containing monochlorotrifluoromethane and methyl fluoride. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,036, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1,1,2 trichorotrifluoroethane and cis-1,1,2,2-tetrafluorocyclobutane. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,049, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1,2 difluoroethane and 1,1,2-tricloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,054, relates to constant boiling mixtures of dichloromonofluoromethane and 1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,973, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane and 2-chloroheptafluoropropane. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,974, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane and octafluorocyclobutane. Murphy, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,436, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane and hydrocarbons. Ostrozynski, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,865, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluorochloroethane. Ostrozynski, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,976, relates to constant boiling mixtures of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluorochloroethane and chlorofluoromethane. Zuber, U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,807 describes an azeotropic composition containing water, isopropanol, and either perfluoro-2-butyltetrahydrofuran or perfluoro-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane. The inventor states that the composition is useful as a vapor phase drying agent. Van der Puy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,104, describes an "azeotropic-like" composition containing t-butyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl ether and perfluoromethylcyclohexane. The inventor states that the composition is useful for cleaning and degreasing applications. Fozzard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,257 describes an azeotrope containing perfluoro-n-heptane and toluene. Batt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,716 describes an "azeotrope-like" composition containing perfluorocyclobutane and ethylene oxide. The inventor states that the composition is useful as a sterilizing gas. Shottle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,997 describes an azeotrope containing perfluorocyclobutane and chlorotetrafluorethane. Merchant, U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,202 describes an azeotrope containing perfluoro-1,2-dimethylcyclobutane and either 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane or dichlorotrifluoroethane. The inventor states that the azeotrope is useful in solvent cleaning applications and as blowing agents. The inventor also notes that "as is recognized in the art, it is not possible to predict the formation of azeotropes. This fact obviously complicates the search for new azeotrope compositions" (col. 3, lines 9–13). Azeotropes including perfluorohexane and hexane, perfluoropentane and pentane, and perfluoroheptane and heptane are also known. Flynn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,601, provides an azeotropic composition, including a non-cyclic perfluorinated alkane and a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) solvent, for example, perfluoropentane and perfluorohexane, and 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethaiie and 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane. A hydrofluorocarbon composition, R-236fa, having a boiling point of −1 degrees C. is known. Another known composition is c-(CF2)4O, also having a boiling point of about −1 degrees C. Each of the above references is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Magnetorheological Fluids and Valves
Magnetorheological fluids are known for a number of purposes. See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,207, Jan. 1, 1985, Fluid Control Means for Vehicle Suspension System; U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,758, Mar. 29, 1988, Tunable Electrorheological Fluid Mount; U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,407, Sep. 20, 1988, Electrorheological Fluids, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,342, Jun. 6, 1989, Controllable Fluid Damper Assembly; U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,392, Jun. 13, 1989, Semi-Active Damper for Vehicles and the Like; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,172, Nov. 14, 1989, Observer Control Means for Suspension Systems or the Like; U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,699, Dec. 19, 1989, Vibration Attenuating Method Utilizing Continuously Variable Semi-Active Damper; U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,754, Jan. 30, 1990, Electrorheological Fluid Force Transmission and Conversion Device; U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,264, Feb. 6, 1990, Semiactive Damper with Motion Responsive Valve Means; U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,680, Mar. 13, 1990, Semiactive Damper Piston Valve Assembly; U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,272, May 1, 1990, Semi-Active Damper Valve Means with Electromagnetically Movable Discs in the Piston; U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,057, May 8, 1990, Electrorheological Fluid Composite Structures; U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,425, Jun. 26, 1990, Method of Operating a Vibration Attenuating System Having Semi-Active Damper Means; U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,573, Aug. 21, 1990, Velocity Transducer for Vehicle Suspension System; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,089, Aug. 28, 1990, Hybrid Analog Digital Control Method and Apparatus for Estimation of Absolute Velocity in Active Suspension Systems; U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,523, Feb. 19, 1991, Fluid Circuit for Semi-Active Damper Means; U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,079, Apr. 2, 1991, Semi-Active Damper Valve Means and Method; U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,513, Apr. 16, 1991, Electroactive Fluid Torque Transmission Apparatus with Ferrofluid Seal; U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,823, Jul. 9, 1991, Vibration Isolator with Electrorheological Fluid Controlled Dynamic Stiffness; U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,307, Jul. 16, 1991, Surfactant-Based Electrorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,774, May 4, 1993, Valving for a Controllable Shock Absorber; U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,622, Jan. 4, 1994, System for Reducing Suspension End-Stop Collisions; U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,623, Jan. 4, 1994, System for Controlling Suspension Deflection; U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,281, Jun. 11, 1994, Magnetorheological Fluid Dampers; U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,330, Feb. 8, 1994, Magnetorheological Fluid Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,360, Mar. 15, 1994, Atomically Polarizable Electrorheological Material; U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,438, Apr. 26, 1994, Ionic Dye-Based Electrorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,373, Jan. 17, 1995, Magnetorheological Materials Based on Alloy Particles; U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,121, Feb. 14, 1995, Banded On-Off Control Method for Semi-Active Dampers; U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,973, Mar. 14, 1995, Variable Shock Absorber with Integrated Controller, Actuator and Sensors; U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,917, Mar. 21, 1995, Magnetorheological Fluid Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,874, May 23, 1995, Method for Activating Atomically Polarizable Electrorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,312, Feb. 20, 1996, Multi-Degree of Freedom Magnetorheological Devices and System for Using Same; U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,049, May 31, 1994, Magnetorheological Fluid Composite Structures; U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,238, Nov. 26, 1996, Magnetorheological Materials Utilizing Surface-Modified Particles; U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,474, Feb. 4, 1997, Temperature Independent Magnetorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,752, Jul. 8, 1997, Thixotropic Magnetorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,704, Jul. 29, 1997, Controllable Seat Damper System and Control Method Thereof; U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,077, Sep. 23, 1997, Aqueous Magnetorheological Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,615, Nov. 4, 1997, Magnetorheological Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,004, Dec. 2, 1997, Controllable Fluid Rehabilitation Device Including a Reservoir of Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,746, Jan. 6, 1998, Organomolybdenum-Containing Magnetorheological Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,746, Jan. 27, 1998, Portable Controllable Fluid Rehabilitation Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,783, Jan. 27, 1998, Control Method for Semi-Active Damper; U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,372, Oct. 6, 1998, Magnetorheological Fluid Devices and Process of Controlling Force in Exercise Equipment Utilizing Same; U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,547, Dec. 1, 1998, Controllable Brake; U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,851, Mar. 9, 1999, Controllable Vibration Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,184, May 4, 1999, Method and Magnetorheological Fluid Formulations for Increasing the Output of a Magnetorheological Fluid Device; U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,767, May 25, 1999, Magnetorheological Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,238, Sep. 7, 1999, Passive Magnetorheological Fluid Device with Excursion Dependent Characteristic; U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,455, Oct. 12, 1999, Method for Auto Calibration of a Controllable Damper Suspension System; U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,358, Jun. 30, 1999, Controllable Platform Suspension System for Treadmill Decks and the Like and Devices Thereof; U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,633, Oct. 17, 2000, Aqueous Magnetorheological Fluid with High Stability and Redispersion Capability; U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,664, Feb. 22, 2000, Method and Magnetorheological Fluid Formulations for Increasing the Output of a Magnetorheological Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,681, Jun. 6, 2000, Controllable Cab Suspension; U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,486, Aug. 1, 2000, Two-Way Magnetorheological Fluid Valve Assembly and Devices Utilizing Same; U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,093, Sep. 12, 2000, MR Portable Hand and Wrist Rehabilitation Device; U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,709, Oct. 17, 2000, MR Adjustable Valve and Vibration Damper Utilizing Same; U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,633, Oct. 17, 2000, Aqueous Magnetorheological Material; U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,930, Nov. 28, 2000, Washing Machine Having a Controllable Field Responsive Damper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,470, Dec. 12, 2000, Two-Way Magnetorheological Fluid Valve Assembly and Devices Utilizing Same; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,910, Dec. 12, 2000, Magnetorheological Grip for Handheld Implements; U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,290, Feb. 13, 2001, Magnetorheological Fluid Brake with Integrated Flywheel; U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,806, Mar. 20, 2001, Controllable Device Having a Matrix Medium Retaining Structure; U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,717, Mar. 20, 2001, Stable Magnetorheological Fluids; U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,060, May 22, 2001, Low Cost Servo-Positioning Systems Using MR Fluid Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,859, Sep. 4, 2001, Magnetically-Controllable, Active Haptic Interface System and Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,088, Oct. 2, 2001, Magnetorheological Fluid Seismic Damper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,249, Oct. 16, 2001, Linear-Acting Controllable Pneumatic Actuator And Motion Control Apparatus Including a Field Responsive Medium and Control Method Thereof; U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,813, Oct. 30, 2001, MR Fluid Controlled Interlock Mechanism; U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,110, Oct. 30, 2001, Adaptive Off-State Control Method; U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,419, Jan. 15, 2002, Magnetically-Controllable, Semi-Active Haptic Interface System and Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,080, Jan. 22, 2002, Apparatus Including a Matrix Structure and Transmission; U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,465, Apr. 16, 2002, Magnetically-Controllable, Semi-Active Haptic Interface System and Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,671, Apr. 30, 2002, Magnetically Controlled Friction Damper and Use Thereof; U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,604, May 7, 2002, Method for Adjusting the Gain Applied to a Seat Suspension Control Signal; U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,239, May 28, 2002, Controllable medium device and apparatus utilizing same; U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,193, May 28, 2002, Magnetorheological compositions; U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,813, Aug. 6, 2002, Magnetorheological fluid devices exhibiting settling stability; U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,404, Nov. 5, 2002, Instant magnetorheological fluid mix; U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,986, Apr. 15, 2003, Magnetorheological grease composition; U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,185, Aug. 26, 2003, Magnetorheological fluid based joint; D473,950, Apr. 29, 2003, Combined container and field responsive material; U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,105, Feb. 24, 2004, Magnetorheological twin-tube damping device; and EP 1,196,929 B1, Feb. 25, 2004, Stable Magnetorheological Fluids, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.
Both thermal (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,681,024; 5,659,171; 5,344,117; 5,182,910; and 5,069,419, expressly incorporated herein by reference) and piezoelectric (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,185, expressly incorporated herein by reference) microvalves are known, with other physical effects, such as magnetic, electrostatic (see, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,597; 5,417,235; 5,244,537; 5,216,273; 5,180,623; 5,178,190; 5,082,242; and 5,054,522, expressly incorporated herein by reference), electrochemical (see, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,905, expressly incorporated herein by reference) and pure mechanical devices also possible. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,647,574; 5,640,995; 5,593,134; 5,566,703; 5,544,276; 5,429,713; 5,400,824; 5,333,831; 5,323,999; 5,310,111; 5,271,431; 5,238,223; 5,161,774; 5,142,781, expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) valves are also known. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,659,171; 5,619,177; 5,410,290; 5,335,498; 5,325,880; 5,309,717; 5,226,619; 5,211,371; 5,172,551; 5,127,228; 5,092,901; 5,061,914; 4,932,210; 4,864,824; 4,736,587; 4,716,731; 4,553,393; 4,551,974; 3,974,844, expressly incorporated herein by reference. See "Tini Alloy Company Home Page", www.sma-mems.com/nistpapr.htm; "Thin-film TI—NI Alloy Powers Silicon Microvalve", Design News, Jul. 19, 1993, pp. 67–68; see also "Micromechanical Investigations of silicon and Ni—Ti—Cu Thin Films", Ph. D. Thesis by Peter Allen Krulevitch, University of California at Berkley (1994); MicroFlow, Inc. (California) PV-100 Series Silicon Micromachined Proportional Valve.


A buckle having a device for gripping a length of webbing, comprising a buckle body formed from two side arms connected by an end arm. A locking device is connected to the ends of the side arms. A first transverse bar is mounted between the two side arms. A second transverse bar having a gripping surface is mounted between the first transverse bar and the end arm, and is vertically offset from the first transverse bar. A gripping cam is pivotally mounted between the two side arms and in between the transverse bars. The gripping cam has a gripping surface that contacts the second transverse bar and an opposite free end. A length of webbing threaded between the second transverse bar is securely held between the gripping surfaces of the transverse bar and gripping cam until the free end of the cam is pressed downward. If the cam breaks, the webbing is still held in place by the two transverse bars.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a buckle having a webbing gripping device. In particular, the invention relates to a buckle or other device having a gripping cam that grips a strap or length of webbing and prevents the it from slipping.
2. The Prior Art
Many types of buckles are used to secure two ends of a strap or length of webbing together, typically for use as safety belts, or in luggage or outerwear. Typically, these buckles have a series of transverse arms through which the strap is threaded. These arms allow the webbing to be adjusted to fit the size of the user. When tension is applied by the strap, the strap tends to stay in place due to the friction of the strap against itself and the buckle. However, if the tension is applied perpendicular to the buckle, the friction on the strap is reduced and it can easily slide out of the buckle.
This phenomenon occurs frequently when the buckle is used as a child restraining belt in such places as high chairs. Because an infant has a very small circumference, the angle at which the tension is applied to the buckle is rarely near 180.degree., and can often approach 90.degree.. At this point, the strap can easily slide out of the buckle and the belt is rendered ineffectual. Agitated motion by the infant while strapped into the belt can further increase the risk of slippage.
Accordingly, there have been efforts to provide a device that securely grips the strap or webbing under tension from all angles. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,166 to Lundstedt. This device has a flexible projecting member that rests against a transverse member of the buckle. The webbing is threaded in between the projecting member and the transverse member, and the tension from the projecting member keeps the webbing in place. This device has the disadvantage that once the webbing is sufficiently tightened, it cannot be easily loosened from the buckle to enlarge the belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,628 to Prete, Jr. et al. shows a buckle assembly having a webbing gripping device in the form of a cam member that firmly holds the webbing against the buckle. This device is useful as long as the cam member is functional. However, due to the tensioned arrangement of the cam member, there is a great risk that the cam member may break during use, causing the webbing to be completely released from the buckle.
Another device produced by Yoshida Kogyo K.K. (YKK) utilizes a pivoting grooved arm that grips the webbing as it is pulled tight against the buckle. The arm is a separate piece that is loosely held between the two sides of the buckle. While this device is easily adjustable, the webbing can easily slip out of the buckle if the tension is applied perpendicular to the buckle, as described above.


The invention relates generally to a disposable household cleaning device and more specifically to disposable dustmop covers and broom covers. The present invention is made of soft, non-abrasive material to insure that the surface being cleaned is not scratched or otherwise harmed during the cleaning process. The present invention also avoids the need to launder dirty dust mop heads. The invention is designed to work in conjunction with commonly used household cleaning devices and employs individually exposable adhesive debris-retaining surfaces which assist in the efficient collection of dust and debris and which allow the invention to be reused several times before disposing of it.

This invention relates generally to disposable household cleaning devices and more specifically to disposable dust mop covers, broom covers, and dusting mitts.
Over the past several years there has been a resurgence in the popularity of non-carpeted bare floors in the home. Bare floors, which include floors made of hardwood, marble, granite, ceramic, vinyl and other non-carpet surfaces, require different cleaning techniques than carpeted surfaces. Carpeting is most effectively cleaned by vacuum cleaners. However, vacuum cleaners can scratch bare floor surfaces and do not clean bare floors as efficiently as brooms and dust mops.
When one cleans with a broom or dust mop, the dust and debris collected accumulates in the fibers of the broom or on the head of the dust mop until the dust is shaken off or until the head of the dust mop is washed in a washing machine.
Today, because an ever-increasing number of people live in multiple-unit or high-rise housing, many people are unable to go outdoors to shake out their broom or dust mop. In addition, an environmental hazard may be created by shaking out a cleaning device outdoors, which in essence simply dumps the accumulated dust and debris (along with any cleaning product residue) into the environment.
Cleaning a dirty dust mop head in the washing machine creates its own unique inconveniences and difficulties. First, the dust mop head must be washed in a separate load, otherwise, floor dirt and debris would be mixed in with one's clothing. In addition, if any cleaning sprays or polishes were used on the mop head, a chemical residue will be left in one's washing machine.
When cleaning a floor with a broom, one must continually bend over to sweep the accumulated dust and debris into a dust pan. Also, when using a broom with a dust pan, some dust and debris invariably remains on the surface of the floor. Finally, brooms, dust mops and dust cloths are simply unable to fully collect certain types of debris, such as hair.
The present invention is designed to eliminate the problems noted above, as well as to allow for more efficient and effective cleaning than by traditional means.
Specifically, a disposable cleaning cover, which can be fitted over a dust mop or broom much like a pillowcase is fitted around a pillow, or worn like a glove, allow for the easy cleaning of floors or other household surfaces. The covers include individually employable debris-retaining surfaces (such as a series of removable adhesive strips) surrounded by soft, non-abrasive material to insure that the surface being cleaned will not be scratched or damaged. Each debris-retaining surface may be used several times before it needs to be replaced. Because each cover includes a series of individually employable debris-retaining surfaces, a given cover may be used numerous times before it needs to be disposed.
The present invention also obviates the need for buying additional bulky and expensive cleaning devices because the disposable covers are specifically designed to easily fit over standard sized brooms or dust mops or to be worn on one's hand like a glove. And, as noted above, the present invention makes the use of a dust pan unnecessary.
The entire cover and debris-retaining surface can be made of easily recyclable paper and other fiber-based materials so that although the product is "disposable", it may be disposed of in an environmentally prudent manner by simply recycling the product along with one's newspapers.


A weather strip is mounted on a circumferential portion of a door opening for a vehicle door. The weather strip includes a trim portion having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a hollow seal portion, and a designed lip is formed on the trim portion so as to extend therefrom. An adhesive layer and a flocked portion are formed on a designed surface of the weather strip such as an external surface of the designed lip, the flocked portion being provided with a multiplicity of pile fibers which are bonded to the adhesive layer at one end thereof, which pile fibers are each angled randomly with respect to a normal direction to the external surface of the lip portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip and a method for manufacturing the weather strip. More specifically, the invention relates to a flocked weather strip and a method for manufacturing the same weather strip.
2. Related Art
In general, a weather strip is provided along a peripheral portion of a door of a vehicle such as an automobile or a circumferential portion of a door opening of a vehicle body. As an example of a weather strip, there is known, for example, a weather strip which includes a trim portion having a substantially U-shaped cross section which is mounted on the peripheral portion of the door or a flange formed along the circumferential portion of the door opening and a hollow seal portion which is provided so as to protrude from the trim portion. Then, when the door is closed, the seal portion is brought into press contact with the circumferential portion of the door opening or the peripheral portion of the door so as to establish a seal between the door and the vehicle body.
In recent years, since the same external appearance quality as that of an interior decorative component such as a fabric is also demanded for an external surface of a weather strip, that is, a portion of the weather strip such as a designed surface or a seal surface thereof which becomes visible such that the weather strip is mounted accordingly, there exists a weather strip in which a fabric is attached to an external surface of the weather strip so as to realize an increase in the design properties thereof (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Publication NO. JP-B-6-104343). When attaching the fabric to the weather strip, however, normally, in order to prevent the fabric from interrupting the deformation of the seal portion when the door is closed, an adhesive is applied to the external surface of the seal portion, so that the external surface of the seal portion is prevented from adhering to the fabric.
In a case where the external surface of the seal portion is prevented from adhering to the fabric, however, when the weather strip is mounted on the circumferential portion of the door opening or the like, the fabric does not follow the deformation of the seal portion in a corner or the like, and there may be caused a risk that wrinkles are produced in the fabric.
On the contrary, in case the external surface of the seal portion is made to adhere to the fabric, since the seal portion is made difficult to be deformed, there is caused a fear that the sealing properties are reduced.
Further more, there have been developed weather strips in which an increase in their design properties is realized by flocking is applied to the designed surface of the trim portion (refer to, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. JP-54-79613U).
In the related art, however, since flocking is applied to the trim portion which constitutes a substrate (or a base material) so that pile fibers adhere almost vertically to the trim portion by an electrostatic flock machining, only a uniform appearance is provided. And the uniform appearance looks artificial, no natural feeling such as the fabric and a textile etc. being able to be felt. In addition, although flocking has been proposed which provides an irregular effect on the surface of the trim portion, it has still been difficult to produce the natural feeling in the fabric or the textile.

Weather strip and manufacturing method thereof


A method for backing up virtual machine (VM) data is described, and includes, in response to a request to back up a first VM of a first storage system, determining a disk layout of a VM disk associated with the first VM, the disk layout having nodes in a hierarchical structure, each node corresponding to a VM. The method includes traversing the disk layout to derive a first storage location of a first VM configuration data of the first VM and a second storage location of a second VM configuration data associated with a second VM that is a parent VM to the first VM, identifying a first VM snapshot from the first configuration data and a second VM snapshot from the second configuration data, determining a list of changed blocks representing data blocks that are different between the first and second VM snapshots, and backing up the changed blocks.

Modern corporations frequently use virtual machine and hypervisor technology to allow multiple guest operating systems to run on a single host machine. This allows the corporation to maximize the resources of the host machines it owns. A corporation can also easily duplicate and modify instances of virtual machines, and revert and delete virtual machines using various interfaces provided by the virtual machine software vendor. The virtual machine software may run directly on the hardware ("bare metal hypervisor") or on a host operating system running on the hardware. The hardware may further be customized to virtual machine execution, e.g., by having solid state drives to increase disk I/O.
The ease of modifying virtual machine instances has prompted virtual machine software vendors to introduce snapshot and cloning features. These features allow an administrator to create a snapshot of the state of a virtual machine, preserving the state of the virtual machine at the snapshot creation time. Furthermore, cloned virtual machines, which may be known as "child" virtual machines, may be created from these snapshots of the "parent" virtual machine. These child virtual machines include all the data of the snapshot of the parent virtual machine, and changes to the child virtual machine do not affect the snapshot or the original parent virtual machine. Furthermore, these child virtual machines may be created without the need to make an entire copy of the parent snapshot.

Generic process for determining child to parent inheritance for fast provisioned or linked clone virtual machines


The present disclosure describes a crumpled form of MXene materials, and methods of making and using these novel compositions.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides and nitrides, known as MXenes, have lately gained interest due to the high carrier densities resulting in metal-like conductivities combined with hydrophilicity and demonstrated potential in applications ranging from energy storage, water purification, hydrogen storage, photovoltaics, and EMI shielding among many others. The MXenes moniker is derived from related layered MAX phase compositions, from which MXenes can be derived.
Computational studies have predicted capacities between 217 and 351 mAh·g−1, depending on the type of surface terminations, when Ti3C2Tx is used as an anode in Na-ion electrochemical cells. However, experimentally, etched and non-delaminated Ti3C2Tx electrodes exhibited an initial capacity of only 100 mAh·g−1, and this capacity almost vanishes when electrodes of the same composition were prepared using vacuum filtration of delaminated nanosheets due to the dense packing of the 2D sheets resulting in poor electrolyte penetration.
Several strategies have been attempted to overcome this problem. One approach evaluated has used carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as spacers in vacuum filtered Ti3C2Tx MXene films to facilitate electrolyte penetration, which led to a nearly 5 fold increase in capacity compared to that of MXene films without CNTs. Another approach has involved the use of poly(methyl methacrylate) templating to create hollow Ti3C2Tx spheres thereby alleviating the issue of dense restacking during vacuum filtering. These hollow MXene spheres showed a capacity of 350 mAh·g−1 at 0.25 C. Even though this is the highest capacity value reported for Ti3C2Tx in Na-ion cells, the synthesis procedure is complex and not easily scalable and the resulting electrodes are fragile. Still others showed that simple shaking of the etched MXene particles in KOH results in delamination and formation of Ti3C2Tx nanoribbons which exhibited a capacity of 150 mAh·g−1 at a current densities of 20 mA·g−1. However these electrodes do not perform well at current densities above 200 mA·g−1 and show nearly the same capacities as those of just etched MXenes at higher currents.
The present invention takes advantage of the discoveries cited herein to avoid at least some of the problems associated with previously known methods.

Crumpled mesoporous MXene powders synthesized by acid-, base-, or salt-induced crumpling


An aluminum nitride sintered body having a thermal conductivity of at least 100 W/mK, preferably at least 120 W/mK, more preferably at least 140 W/mK, and most preferably at least 160 W/mK is produced by baking with a sintering additive using an aluminum nitride starting powder of high purity derived by direct nitriding of metallic aluminum. The sintering additive is selected from compounds of Group IIa, IIIa, and IIIb metals of the periodic table and preferably it comprises predominantly Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 or a precursor thereof. In one embodiment, the starting powder and the sintering additive are slurried with a binder and an organic solvent and shaped into a sheet. The sheet, after drying and binder removal, is suitable for use in making multilayered ceramic substrates, ceramic heaters, radiators, and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aluminum nitride sintered body, and more particularly to an aluminum nitride sintered body having high thermal conductivity which is produced from a starting powder prepared by direct nitriding of metallic aluminum, and a method of producing the same. The present invention also concerns an aluminum nitride green sheet produced from such a starting powder and a method for making it.
2. Prior Art
With the progress of large-scale integration in recent years, there is an increasing demand for insulated substrates having high thermal conductivity in order to package semiconductor elements generating large amounts of heat such as high integrated circuits, power transistors, laser diodes, and the like.
Sintered bodies based on beryllium oxide or beryllia (BeO) have conventionally been used as ceramic materials having high thermal conductivity, but the use of these materials in a wide variety of applications is limited due to their toxicity. As a substitute for beryllia, aluminum nitride (AlN) has been used in the production of highly thermal conductive substrates because it is stable and has high thermal conductivity in addition to good high-temperature strength and electric insulating properties.
As mentioned above, aluminum nitride possesses properties which make it suitable for use in the production of semiconductor substrates, and its theoretical thermal conductivity is estimated to be as high as about 300 W/mK. However, sintered bodies of aluminum nitride presently available on the market have generally much lower values of thermal conductivity on the order of 100 W/mK or less. Accordingly, improvement in thermal conductivity of aluminum nitride sintered bodies is still desired.
In one method of producing ceramic substrates in which a printing technique is used to form a desired conductive pattern such as a thick-film integrated circuit on the substrate, the conductive pattern is initially formed by means of screen printing on a green ceramic sheet, the printed green sheet is then punched to make blanks, and the blanks are piled one atop another, and are baked to form a ceramic IC package. This method can be performed inexpensively and is suitable for the mass-production of ceramic packages, particularly multilayered ceramic substrates or packages. In order to make aluminum nitride multilayered substrates using this method, it is desired to provide quality green sheets of aluminum nitride which have improved green strength and capable of producing high-quality sintered bodies, and a method of making such green sheets. Production of aluminum nitride green sheets from a starting powder prepared by the alumina reduction method mentioned below is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Applications Nos. 60-171270 and 60-180964.
Since it is difficult to sinter aluminum nitride powder alone, it is conventionally sintered with the aid of a sintering additive, which is mixed with an aluminum nitride starting powder prior to shaping. Sintering additives which are known to be suitable for this purpose include compounds of Group IIa metals (alkaline earth metals), Group IIIa metals (rare earth metals), and Group IIIb metals (aluminum group metals) of the periodic table such as Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 (yttrium oxide or yttria), CaO (lime or calcium oxide), and CaC.sub.2 (calcium carbide). See Japanese Patent Laid-Open Applications Nos. 59-207814, 60-60910, 60-65768, 60-71575, etc.
There are two well-known methods for preparing aluminum nitride powder. One is the direct nitriding method in which metallic aluminum powder is directly nitrided with nitrogen or ammonia gas. The other is the alumina reduction method in which alumina powder is mixed with carbon and baked in nitrogen or ammonia gas to effect reduction of alumina and nitriding simultaneously.
In the direct nitriding method, the aluminum nitride powder product is usually contaminated with cationic impurities in an amount of at least a few percent by weight which enter the product from the grinding vessel or grinding media in the step of grinding the starting metallic aluminum material in order to increase the efficiency of nitriding or in the step of pulverizing the aluminum nitride powder formed by nitriding in order to reduce the particle size to one suitable for use in shaping and sintering. The pulverization of formed aluminum nitride powder is usually required since a considerable portion of the powder is agglomerated after nitriding. Also in the pulverization of the aluminum nitride powder, the surface of the powder is oxidized to a certain degree, and therefore the aluminum nitride powder product obtained by the direct nitriding method usually contains oxygen in an amount of at least 2% by weight, and in most cases at least 3% by weight. Such aluminum nitride powder containing oxygen and cationic impurities in such relatively large amounts are not suitable for use as starting materials to produce high-quality aluminum nitride sintered bodies. For this reason, the use of aluminum nitride powder obtained by the direct nitriding method in the production of sintered bodies having high thermal conductivity with the aid of a sintering additive is limited.
In the alumina reduction method, since agglomeration of particles does not occur significantly during nitriding, the starting alumina can be previously pulverized to the desired particle size prior to reduction an nitriding, and the resulting aluminum nitride powder can be used without further pulverization. Thus, according to this method, aluminum nitride powder having an average particle diameter of 2 .mu.m or less can be obtained and it can be directly used as a starting powder in the production of sintered bodies. Because of elimination of the pulverzation procedure after nitriding, aluminum nitride powder prepared by the alumina reduction method is relatively pure. Its content of cationic impurities can be readily decreased to 0.5% by weight or less, and its oxygen content is usually at most 3% by weight. In view of these advantages, in the prior art production of aluminum nitride sintered bodies, aluminum nitride powder obtained by the alumina reduction method has been used in most cases as a starting powder to be sintered with the aid of a sintering additive.
However, as mentioned above, most of the aluminum nitride sintered bodies obtained in the prior art from the above-mentioned relatively pure starting powder prepared by the alumina reduction method exhibit relatively low values of thermal conductivity on the order of 100 W/mK or lower, which is much lower than the theoretical value of about 300 W/mK.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Applications Nos. 60-178688 and 61-91068 describe the production of aluminum nitride sintered bodies having a thermal conductivity of more than 100 W/mK, but neither of these teach the use of an aluminum nitride starting powder prepared by the direct nitriding method. In addition, in the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 61-91068, a mixture of an aluminum nitride starting powder and a sintering additive is baked in the presence of free carbon or a carbonaceous substance as a deoxidizer in order to lower the oxygen content of the sintered product and thereby improve its thermal conductivity. This makes the overall operation very complicated.
With respect to the manufacturing process, the direct nitriding method can be performed by a very simple process of heating metallic aluminum powder in nitrogen or ammonia gas followed by pulverization. On the contrary, the alumina reduction method involves (1) thorough mixing of alumina powder and carbon powder, (2) heating of the mixed powder in nitrogen or ammonia gas, and (3) removal of the residual carbon by oxidation or burning. Because of its simplicity, the direct nitriding method can provide aluminum nitride powder at much lower cost than the alumina reduction method. Typically, the cost of manufacturing aluminum nitride powder by the direct nitriding method is from one-fourth to one-sixth of that by the alumina reduction method.
Accordingly, it is very advantageous to use an aluminum nitride starting powder prepared by the direct nitriding method in the production of aluminum nitride sintered bodies in order to decrease the manufacturing cost thereof. However, as mentioned above, the use of aluminum nitride powder prepared by the direct nitriding method has been limited, particularly in the production of sintered bodies having high thermal conductivity, due to its relatively low purity.

Aluminum nitride sintered body and production thereof


A conveyor system (10) includes a conveyor course (12), which has a curved portion and two tracks (22, 24) located one above the other, and a conveyor carriage (14); each of the tracks (22, 24) is assigned at least one horizontal track roller (34, 36) of the conveyor carriage (14), and at least one of the tracks (22, 24) is assigned a further horizontal track roller (34, 36), which is spaced apart in the conveying direction (L) from the one track roller (34, 36) associated with the same track (22, 24). The axes of rotation (A, B) of the two track rollers (34, 36) are located in alignment with one another; and, whenever both tracks (22, 24) are each assigned a further track roller (34, 36), the axes of rotation (A, B) of these further track rollers (34, 36) are likewise in alignment with one another.

The invention relates to a conveyor system, including a conveyor course, which has at least one curved portion with an axis of curvature and a radius of curvature, in which a conveying direction or longitudinal direction pointing along the conveyor course, a upright direction extending parallel to the axis of curvature, and a crosswise direction extending orthogonally to both the conveying direction and the upright direction, may be associated with this conveyor course, and in which the conveyor course moreover has two tracks, one above the other in the upright direction and extending at a predetermined spacing from one another; and furthermore including a conveyor carriage having at least three rollers, in which at least one track roller having an axis of rotation extending substantially in the upright direction is assigned to each of the tracks, and in which at least one of the tracks is assigned a further track roller with an axis of rotation extending substantially in the upright direction, which axis is spaced apart in the conveying direction from the one track roller associated with the same track.
Already at this point, the term "upright direction", but also the other orientation indications maintain their validity even if the conveyor course extends at a predetermined angle to the horizontal. In that case, the "upright direction" will also not run exactly in the direction of the vertical but rather will form the predetermined angle with it. It should also be remembered that the conveying direction, in curved portions of the conveyor course, extends in the direction of the tangent to the particular place on the conveyor course in question.
A generic conveyor system is known for instance from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,960,938, 6,062,378, and 6,237,755 B1. The known conveyor system includes a conveyor course, embodied as a profile girder, with a first roller track, whose surface is inclined to the horizontal by a slight angle, so that it can absorb the support load of the conveyor carriage that is transmitted from support rollers. Moreover, two further roller tracks are provided, of which one extends substantially vertically and the other forms a slight angle with the vertical. Via these two roller tracks, track rollers transmit the torque, exerted by a load applied to the conveyor carriage laterally, to the conveyor course. The two further roller tracks are spaced apart from one another not only in the upright direction of the conveyor course but also in the crosswise direction. Overall, the conveyor carriage has two such roller triplets, which are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor course.
In practice, it has been found that the conveyor carriage of this known conveyor experience problems when traveling through curved portions of the conveyor course, and especially when cornering. Specifically, these problems increase all the more, the greater the curvature of the curved portion of the course, that is, the tighter the curve. As will readily be appreciated, it is precisely the tightest possible curve radius that is definitive for how much installation space must be made available for a conveyor system.
Solely for the sake of completeness, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,646,656 and 4,331,229 may be mentioned.

Conveyor system with a conveyor carriage with axially aligned track rollers


The detection of an orientation of a stylus relative to a touch sensitive surface is disclosed. In one example, a touch image of the stylus tip and the hand used to grasp the stylus can be captured by the touch sensor panel and analyzed to determine the stylus' orientation relative to the surface of the touch sensor panel. The analysis can include estimating the size of the user's hand, determining the distance away from the user's hand at which the stylus tip makes contact with the touch sensor panel, and determining an angle of tilt based on the estimated size of the user's hand and the distance between the tip and the user's hand.

Touch sensitive devices have become popular as input devices to computing systems due to their ease and versatility of operation as well as their declining price. A touch sensitive device can include a touch sensor panel, which can be a clear panel with a touch sensitive surface, and a display device, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), that can be positioned partially or fully behind the panel or integrated with the panel so that the touch sensitive surface can cover at least a portion of the viewable area of the display device. The touch sensitive device can allow a user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensor panel using a finger, stylus, or other object at a location often dictated by a user interface (UI) being displayed by the display device. In general, the touch sensitive device can recognize a touch event and the position of the touch event on the touch sensor panel, and the computing system can then interpret the touch event in accordance with the display appearing at the time of the touch event, and thereafter can perform one or more actions based on the touch event.
As touch sensing technology continues to improve, touch sensitive devices are increasingly being used to compose and mark-up electronic documents. In particular, styli have become popular input devices as they emulate the feel of traditional writing instruments. When a stylus interacts with a touch sensitive device, information about the stylus' orientation relative to the touch sensitive device (i.e., the tilt of the stylus) can allow the touch sensitive device to more accurately map the stylus' location on the touch sensor panel by minimizing the parallax error between the stylus tip and the touch nodes of the touch sensor panel.

Stylus tilt and orientation estimation from touch sensor panel images


Method for industrial manufacture of pure MgCO3 comprising providing an olivine containing species of rock, to comminute the olivine containing species of rock to increase its surface, to contact the comminuted olivine containing species of rock with water and CO2. The process is conducted in at least two steps, namely a first step (R1) at a first pH where a dissolving reacting as represented the equation: Mg2SiO4(S)+4H+=2Mg2++SiO2(aq)+2H2O, takes place. Then a precipitation takes place in the second step (R2) at a higher pH as represented by the equations: Mg2++HCO3−=MgCO3(S)+H+, and Mg2++CO32−=MgCO3(S), the presence of HCO3− and H+ ions mainly provided by the reaction between CO2 and water.

The present invention concerns a method for industrial manufacture of a pure magnesium carbonate (magnesite) from an olivine containing species of rock while immobilizing CO2. The method allows simultaneous manufacture of other valuable products, hereunder particularly amorphous silica.
Anthropogenic emission of CO2 is by many considered to be one of the largest environmental problems in our time. The Kyoto obligations imply various types of fees when CO2 is released. There is thus a demand for cost-effective methods of handling CO2. Injection into water containing or empty petroleum reservoirs has been suggested as a method for deposition/removal of CO2 in which CO2 has been used to expel more hydrocarbons from hydrocarbon reservoirs (EOR) is a variant which may involve economical advantages.
Another possibility is to bind CO2 as carbonates by reacting CO2 with species of rock/minerals which contain elements that together with CO2 provides solid substances/minerals (carbonates) of which the most relevant elements for the manufacture are Ca, Mg, and Fe.
CO2 can e.g. be bound to MgO resulting in precipitation of MgCO3. This reaction implies that CO2 which is produced in industrial processes, like e.g. gas power plants, hydrogen production from natural gas or from methane production, can be immobilized.
Manufacture of MgO from magnesite (MgCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) is however not interesting since the production of MgO in these cases will imply formation of the same amount of CO2 as can be immobilized, hence the net CO2 effect is zero.
With regard to the manufacture of MgO from other sources than carbonates, like magnesium containing silicates (sulphates and phosphates) the situation is different. Such a manufacture of MgO only to immobilize CO2 will however be expensive. ON the other hand the economical potential for such a way to immobilize CO2 could be significantly improved and possibly be profitable if CO2 and water in various amounts are brought to react with a species of rock or a mineral in an industrial process where valuable products are formed during the immobilization of the CO2. An example of a suitable species of rock is dunite which mainly is comprised by the mineral olivine (+90%), which I Norway is found in large deposits at Sunnmoere and in Nordfjord. (The Aaheim occurrence alone served about 65% of the world market in 2006). This species of rock has in various acidic processes been considered as raw material for magnesium production and for production of amorphous silica.
CO2 with or without various amounts of water, used as an industrial chemical in industrial processes to provide the combined saleable products, MgCO3, amorphous silica, Fe2O3, (Fe, Mg)Cr2O4, and Pt, while simultaneously immobilizing CO2, has not previously been done.
The rock species dunite typically comprises more than 90% of the mineral olivine. Olivine occurs in a miscible (isomorphous) series in which the most common miscible minerals (end units) are forsterite Mg2SiO4 and fayalite Fe2SiO4. In the dunite occurrence in Aaheim the forsterite and fayalite components constitute 93% and 7% respectively. Olivine is not stable at the temperature and pressure conditions that exist at the earth surface. This mineral will e.g. react with CO2 in water under formation of carbonates. In nature, however, this general reaction progresses relatively slow:

The reaction rate can be increased to convenient process rates under laboratory and industrial process conditions and can be optimized by varying pressure, temperature as well as the amount ratio of CO2 to H2O.
The rock species dunite comprises in addition to the main constituent olivine minerals like e.g. chromite/magnesium chromite (Fe, Mg) Cr2O4 (0, 2-5%) and chrome containing chlorite. Chromite which is formed at deep levels in the earth crust by solidification of mafic melts or the uppermost part of the earth mantel (dunite, periodite and other ultra mafic rock species) also comprises the noble metal platinum and platinum group metals like palladium, osmium, iridium, and ruthenium. Rock species rich in chromite can contain from 0.1 to 6-7 ppm of platinum group metals. In some cases a content of up to 50 ppm has been described.
Direct carbonation of olivine has earlier been described as a one-step process (Fauth et al. 2000; O'Connor et al., 2002, 2005). The process makes use of a mixture of water, CO2 and olivine and the dissolving of olivine and the precipitation of carbonate and silica takes place in one single operation. Experiments have been performed within a temperature and CO2 pressure of 25-250° C. and 25-250 bars in closed autoclaves. Magnesium carbonate and silica are identified as reaction products. The reaction rate and degree of conversion are low especially at low temperatures and pressures. The effect of grain size, temperature and CO2 pressure has been systematically investigated. This process, however, gives little ability to distinguish between reaction products.
Multi step processes for carbonation of olivine, serpentine or other silicates have also been investigated. In these processes, however, CO2 is not included as a reactant in the first step. Blencoe et al (2004) describes a process where silicates are dissolved with lye in a first reaction chamber. The dissolved metal hydroxide is thereafter reacted with gas in a separate reaction chamber for formation of carbonates. In several processes acid is used to dissolve silicates (Maroto-Valer et al., 2005; Park et al., 2005). CO2 then is added to solution only after silicate minerals have been dissolved in an acidic solution. Dziedic et al (2004) describes a method for dissolving CO2 in water in which metal ions (Na, Mg, Ca) are added to precipitate salts from the carbonic acid. The method however does not address the problem of how to provide the metal ions.


A technique for adding filler metal polygons in metal layers on a chip area of an IC design. In one example embodiment, this is accomplished by computing a size of a filler metal polygon using chip design layout data. One or more regions on the metal layers of the IC design that do not meet metal density requirements are then identified. The identified one or more regions are then filled with one or more filler metal polygons as a function of the metal density requirement and coupling capacitance between metal lines.

Signal integrity is rapidly becoming one of the important issues in IC designs, especially in very large scale integration (VLSI) physical designs. As the chip size and performance are increasing, the process feature size is reducing. This can result in a higher parasitic induced capacitance on the signal lines which can result in having a very strong impact on the design functionality. Such noise may reduce performance or even introduce logic failures into the IC system.
In IC designs, filler metal polygons (electrically inactive areas) are added to chips in order to maintain an even distribution of metal density across a chip, which reduces the potential for defects on the chip due to uneven chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) during the chip manufacturing process. Having a certain percentage of coverage for metal has been a general requirement for foundries. Typically, metal density is maintained in the range of about 20% to 80%.
In order to meet the metal coverage requirements, chip designers generally add filler metal polygons on each metal layer in a chip without giving any consideration to coupling capacitance between metal routes and added filler metal polygons. Exemplary metal routes include power routes, clock routes, and signal routes. Typically, the size of the filler metal polygons is about 3 microns×3 microns in size. The added filler metal polygons that violate minimum spacing requirements (between the added filler metal polygon and the metal route) are removed and then checked for metal density requirements. If the metal density requirements are not met, then the above process is repeated until the metal density requirements are met. In general, the above process can become very iterative and time consuming.
In addition, the above technique often leaves the added filler metal polygons too close to the metal routes due to the effort to increase the metal density. This can lead to increased parasitic capacitance, i.e., coupling capacitance between the metal routes and the added filler metal polygons. This in turn, can affect the performance of the chip, such as reducing the frequency of operation of the chip or can affect the functionality of the design. In some instances, the frequency degradation can be as much as 10%. Thus, in the deep sub-micron range, the characteristics of the metal routes (interconnect) and the filler metal polygons can significantly dominate the overall performance of a chip.

Method and apparatus for deep sub-micron design of integrated circuits


A replacement seat and back is disclosed for installation onto an existing chair which includes a unitary molded construction with a seat supporting a substantially upright back joined by an integral curved portion. The back is provided with a hollow interior with a slotted entrance adjacent to the curved portion so as to insertably receive the back of the existing chair. The seat includes an edge marginal downwardly depending attachment flange constituting a snap-on attachment for securing the seat to the existing seat. Preferably, the contour, color and overall shape of the replacement seat and back conforms with the contour, color and overall shape of the existing chair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of furniture, such as chairs, and more particularly, to a novel replacement seat and back combination adapted to be installed over an existing seat and back serving as a replacement of worn out or discolored chair seats and backs.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In many public areas, such as bowling alleys or the like, a multiplicity of chairs are employed to accommodate customers and the general public. Normally, these chairs are of a mass production design and of low cost so as to permit commercial usage. However, problems and difficulties have been encountered with such chairs or seats, which stem largely from the fact that colors fade, plastic construction cracks, wear and tear destroys visual appeal, and the like. It is the conventional practice to replace such seats and seat backs by disassembling the worn seat from its supporting stanchion or legs, followed by procuring a replacement seat that can be installed on the stanchion or legs. Such a procedure requires the usage of tools and requires disassembly of the seat from the stanchion so that the worn out seat can be discarded and a brand new seat substituted therefor. In other instances, it is common practice to throw the entire seat, stanchion or legs away and replace with a complete chair assemblage. Obviously, any of these prior procedures is expensive, time-consuming, and requires skill to repair or replace.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a simple and economical means for replacing the seat and back of a chair which does not require skill on behalf of personnel. Such a means for replacement must include conformal fitting and color coordination.


Sorbent compositions that include a base sorbent material having a high porosity and surface area and a boron-selective agent are particularly useful for the sequestration of boron from waste materials such as coal combustion residual leachate (CCRs). By using a boron-selective agent in conjunction with a high surface area base sorbent material such as activated carbon or biochar, a sorbent composition with a high capacity for sequestering boron at relatively low cost is provided.

Regulations for groundwater monitoring and corrective action of coal combustion residuals (CCR, primarily composed of coal ash) landfills and surface impoundments were put in place by the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule (40 CFR Parts 257 and 261) calling for viable remedy options to be made available. Among the elements subject to regulation is boron, which is known to be harmful to animals and humans in elevated concentrations, and may cause gastrointestinal disorders, central nervous system disorders, and the like. Leachate from CCRs commonly include a boron concentration of about 1 ppm to 14 ppm.
The World Health Organization (WHO) limit for boron in drinking water is 2.4 mg/L, and several states have limits ranging from 0.6 mg/L to 1 mg/L. Boron has a high potential for contaminating groundwater at CCR sites because it is the most abundant of the minor elements found in coal ash, is highly mobile in an aqueous environment, and doesn't readily precipitate. It is not typically removed by conventional water treatment methods, and removal requires high-cost methods such as boron specific ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis, and/or electro-deionization. Interest has been focused on the possibility of in-situ, passive treatment, such as permeable reactive barriers, for remediation at CCR landfills and surface impoundments.
A boron specific ion exchange resin is the most widely used selective boron removal technology, but it is limited by the resin's hydrophobicity, moderate surface area, large chemical requirements for regeneration, and high price.

Sorbent compositions for the removal of boron from aqueous mediums


A circuit arrangement for adjusting the bit rates of two signals of which the higher bit rate signal is structured in frames, includes a buffer memory (2), a write counter and a read counter (6, 8) as well as a phase comparator (7) and a control circuit (10). With these modules the bits of the lower bit rate signal are arranged in the frames of the higher bit rate signal. In addition to these bits negative or positive stuff bits are also inserted in the frames. In order to avoid jitter when the lower bit rate signal is recovered at the receiver end, the phase different between the two signals is determined more accurately. This effected with a counter (55, 56) whose count is applied to the phase comparator (7) to determine the digits after the decimal point for the phase difference. Furthermore, a controller (9) is provided in an automatic control system (7, 10, 8) for controlling the clock for the read counter (8), to which controller the output signal of the phase comparator (7), as well as information about the number of positive or negative bits to be stuffed during the next stuffing operation, is applied.

The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for adjusting the bit rates of two signals of which the signal having the higher bit rate is structured in frames, wherein the circuit arrangement comprises a buffer memory, a write counter and a read counter as well as a phase comparator and a control circuit for inserting positive or negative stuff bits between the bits of the lower bit rate signal.
Circuit arrangements for bit rate adjustment in information transmission systems are necessary, for example, in plesiochronous multiplexers which multiplex plesiochronous signals. Two binary signals are termed plesiochronous when their bit rates are nominally the same, but may in fact deviate from a nominal value within a given tolerance. Before plesiochronous signals can be multiplexed by a plesiochronous multiplexer, they all have to be brought to the same (10% higher) bit rate, for example, by means of a circuit arrangement having the features described above. The ratio of the input bit rate to the frame frequency denotes the number of bits of the lower bit rate signal which are to be inserted in a frame. If this ratio for the nominal value of the two magnitudes is an integer, two techniques can be distinguished: First the positive-zero-negative stuffing technique and secondly the positive-negative stuffing technique.
If in the first case the instantaneous clock frequency of the lower bit rate signal is equal to the nominal bit rate, all bits of this signal which arrive each second can be inserted in the frames of the higher bit rate signal, without the need for inserting positive or negative stuff bits (variable stuff bits are denoted here).
If in the second case the instantaneous clock frequency of the lower bit rate signal is equal to its nominal value, positive and negative stuff bits are inserted alternately.
A positive stuff bit refers to a bit without information content at a location usually carrying an information or data bit, whereas a negative stuff bit transmits a data bit to a location otherwise occupied by a fixed stuff bit. The fixed stuff bits are used for the coarse frequency adjustment and may contain additional and secondary information for the receiver.
In an article--to be referenced (1) in the following--by Grover et al. (Grover, W. D.; Moore, T. E.; McEachern, J. E.: Measured Pulse Stuffing Jitter in Asynchronous DS-1/Sonet Multiplexing with and without Stuff-Threshold Modulation Circuit, Electronics Letters (1987), Vol. 23, pp. 959 to 961), a circuit arrangement is described with which the above operations of stuff bit insertion can be performed. An arrangement of this type comprises an addressable buffer memory, in which a first signal is written by means of a write counter and from which a second signal is read out by means of a read counter. If the circuit is located at the transmitter end, the first signal is written into the buffer memory with a bit clock and the write counter is incremented with this clock. A control circuit drives the read counter with a clock in whose otherwise regular edge pattern certain edges are lacking. The pattern of the lacking edges reflects the frame structure. A phase comparator forms the difference between the write and read addresses, of which the magnitude is monitored and if a threshold is transgressed or fallen short of a signal is applied to the control circuit as a sign that a positive or negative stuff bit is to be inserted into the frame (stuff request). The control circuit then inserts with the write clock an additional edge at a specific location of the frame or removes an edge from the sample used thus far.
At the receiver end of the transmission system after a plesiochronous demultiplexer a corresponding circuit arrangement can be switched for removing again the positive and negative stuff bits and for bringing the bit rate back to its original value. The removal of the stuff bits is again effected via a buffer memory in which the useful data are written. The reading operation controls a phase-locked loop for producing a clock frequency which is as uniform as possible (presents little jitter). By jitter is meant the deviation of the clock edges from their nominal value. Strict requirements are made on jitter suppression in accordance with CCITT Recommendation G. 823. High-frequency spectral portions in the jitter can be reduced at the receiver end by the low-pass phenomenon of the phase control loop. However, a randomly low-frequency spectral portion of the so-called stuff jitter (cf. the article by D. L. Duttweiler: Waiting Time jitter; Bell System Technical Journal 51, (1972), pp. 165 to 207) may develop, whose amplitude can be controlled or reduced respectively, only when stuffing is performed (thus at the transmitter end).
In order to reduce this jitter it is proposed in the article by Grover et al. to use sawtooth modulation for the threshold of the threshold detector.

Circuit arrangement for bit rate adjustment