Oil pollution floating on a body of water is abated or contained by a fire fence generated by a series of devices which are interconnected by cables and anchored to form a barrier line. Each device comprises a buoy connected to a depending, negatively-buoyant tank of pressurized combustion gas and a burner nozzle disposed for providing a pilot flame near the water's surface to ignite an oil slick thereon. The pilot flame Way be controlled to sustain combustion of the floating oil and dissipation of same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a device and system for containing and abating a marine oil spill characterized by plural interconnected floating flame starters for burning and containing an oil slick.
2. Background
The containment and abatement of marine oil spills and other sources of marine oil pollution continue to be vexing problems. Many marine oil slicks may be abated by combustion of the oil. However, crude oils, in particular, may not sustain combustion over the entire area of the slick due to wind and wave action and due to the composition of the oil itself. However, combustion of marine oil slicks is one of the most complete and least capital intensive methods of abating and containing marine oil pollution. In this regard, a unique device, system and method have been developed for containing and abating oil spills and other sources of marine oil pollution by generating a fire fence or combustion zone to eliminate oil on the water's surface and to contain the spread of an oil slick.


A measurement apparatus and corresponding method can be used to measure an absolute diameter of a part in a shop floor environment. A tracker such as a laser tracker monitors a position of a probe end of a measurement arm of the apparatus. The position measured by the laser tracker can be used directly account for errors in the apparatus such as, for example, positioning errors of the measurement arm. The position monitoring of the tracking device eliminates complex apparatus calibrations and calculations used for previous devices.

In assembly of rotary machines, such as gas turbine engines, many measurements of parts are taken to determine assembly orientation to minimize vibration and run-out. Typical measurement apparatuses are capable of performing only relative measurements, such as eccentricity and roundness. U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,219,353 and 8,538,725 (both by assignee and herein incorporated by reference) provide apparatuses and methods for performing absolute diameter measurements.


A cylinder to a vane motor is designed to include cylindrically shaped inlet and outlet holes, an axial passage that includes a blocked upstream portion that bypasses the upstream inlet holes, spaced circumferentially slots for leading a portion of the pressurized air into the inlet holes, discharging the portion of pressurized air from the axial passage into an annular cavity to bathe the bearing in the cooler pressurized air, and recirculating the portion of pressurized air through another axial passageway to flow into all of the inlet holes. The discharge holes are judiciously oriented in a particular pattern to assure that the edge of the vanes wear uniformly. The inlet holes are spaced from the pinch point of the spindle to cylinder to permit an increased volume of pressurized air to enter the vane motor and the outlet holes are spaced to maximize the power stroke of the vane motor. The pressurized air is introduced centrally in the motor housing and diverted to flow to the outer periphery of the cylinder.

Rotary machines typically utilize vane motors that are pneumatically powered to cause rotation of the output shaft. As is well known these machines comprise a cylinder, sometimes referred to as a casing and an eccentrically mounted spindle relative to the bore of the cylinder, sometimes referred to as a rotor. The cylinder is stationary and through apertures in the cylinder lead pressurized air to impinge on the working face of the reciprocating vanes mounted in slots formed in the spindle to cause the spindle to rotate and then exhaust the spent air through additional holes formed in the cylinder. The outer edge of the vanes is in contact with or in close proximity to the inner surface of the cylinder and the spindle during the power stroke of the vane motor transitions from close to the inner surface of the cylinder bore toward the furthest distance there from and during the exhaust portion of the stroke the spindle transitions from the furthest point away the inner surface of the cylinder toward the closest point thereto. Heretofore, the cylinder had apertures formed therein that were configured in the shape of slots. The pressurized air that is admitted to the spindle impinge on the working face of the vanes to cause them to rotate the spindle.
I have found that the vane motor can be enhanced by substituting cylindrical holes for the slots, providing a series of axially spaced holes defining the inlet to the vane motor, providing a pressurized air axial passageway in the cylinder to feed pressurized air to these inlet holes, by-passing the upstream portion of the inlet holes and providing circumferential slots in the cylinder that feed a portion of the pressurized air to the inlet holes, discharging that portion of the pressurized air to circulate over the bearings supporting the spindle and providing another axial passageway for returning the remaining pressurized air to the inlet holes and providing a plurality of judiciously located discharge cylindrical holes to discharge the spent air after performing work on the vanes. The routing of the pressurized air and spent air flowing into and out of the cylinder is done in such a way as to reduce both heat and noise that would otherwise be generated by the vane motor. Suffice it to say that this invention affords the following features that serve to enhance the vane motor and in certain medical instruments, such as a surgical drill, this invention reduces heat, vibration, noise and allows for a smaller envelope size that goes to the comfort and feel in the hands of a surgeon.                1. Smaller motor spherical ball bearing located at the fore end of the power cylinder provides a cavity within the housing to re-circulate the power cylinder's working compressed air which contributes to lowering the temperature of the bearing and affording improvements to the vibrations and heat characteristics.        2. Cylinder input holes are oriented relative to the spindle vanes so as to increase input airflow acting on the vane's working surface.        3. Slots in the cylinder formed adjacent to the inlet holes cool the cylinder before entering the vane motor.        4. A portion of the inlet air to the motor is diverted to flow to the front bearing and toward the aft end so as to air cool the front bearing housing and air cool the cylinder.        5. Additional increased power is obtained by the orientation of the exhaust holes in the vane motor relative to the inlet holes.        6. Minimizing vane wear by the uniform distribution of the vane's contact area with the cylinder.


A side key module installed at a side of a mobile communication terminal, contactly coupled up to a PCB embedded in the terminal, and simply fabricated without a soldering process. The side key module disposed between a side key installed at the side of the terminal, and the PCB installed in the terminal, including: a first plate of conductivity configured in a lengthwise form including a cut-out space and contacting with the PCB; a second plate of conductivity configured in the same plane with the first plate and disposed in the cut-out space of the first plate, contacting with the PCB; a body accommodating the first and second plates; and a metal dome joining with a side of the body and enabling the first and second plates to be electrically connected together by contacting with the first and second plates if the side key is pressed.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments relate to side key modules installed at sides of mobile communication terminals, contactly coupled up to printed circuit boards embedded in the mobile communication terminals. Particularly, the exemplary embodiments according to the present invention relate to a side key module that can be simply fabricated without a soldering process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mobile communication terminals are portable electronic apparatuses for enabling users to conduct wireless communication with the others. Those mobile communication terminals may be generally classified into several types, e.g., bars, folders, slides and swings, by outer shapes and operation modes.
In such a mobile communication terminal, as well as a keypad exposed on the front of the body, side keys are additionally installed at sides of the body of the terminal for the purpose of handling a camera built therein and adjusting volume of various kinds.
With the trends toward slimness, those side keys are needed to occupy smaller areas in mobile communication terminals. Nevertheless, for side key modules using tact switches, there is a limit in designing to make thickness slimmed down because they require wide areas in printed circuit boards (PCB) of mobile communication terminals due to large sizes of the tact switches.
Even with other types of side key modules using flexible PCBs (FPCB), those are inconvenient for fabrication because soldering processes should be carried out to connect the FPCBs with PCBs of mobile communication terminals.

Side key module for mobile communication terminal


An isolated Pseudomonas cepacia strain having the identifying characteristics of Pseudomonas cepacia NCSU strain 5.5B (A.T.C.C. No. 55,344) is disclosed. Also disclosed are a biocontrol agent comprising the aforementioned strain and a method of controlling Rhizoctonia comprising the step of administering such a biocontrol agent in an amount sufficient to inhibit the growth of Rhizoctonia solani.

Rhizoctonia stem rot is a condition of plants in which Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn [Teleomorph=Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk], colonizes in the stem and roots of a plant. Stem rot is a serious disease which can result in stunting or die back of mature plants later in production. Jones, R. K., North Carolina Flower Growers' Bulletin, 35(4):6-11 (1990); Strider, D. L. et al., Poinsettias in Diseases of Floral Crops Volume 2, 351-403 (D. L. Strider, ed., Praeger Publishers, New York, 1985). Stem rot can be detrimental during all stages of plant growth, but is particularly favored under the conditions that prevail during late-summer rooting. Consequently, the prevention or control of stem rot during the rooting period is critical. Ecke, P., Jr., Matkin, O. A., and Hartley, D. E. (eds). The Poinsettia Manual. (Paul Ecke Poinsettias. Encinitas, Calif., 1990).
Control of stem rot is dependent on cultural practices and the use of effective chemical fungicides. Powell, C. C., Jr., Plant Dis 72:693-695 (1988); Snowden, S. E. et al., Fungic and Nematic Tests 38:182 (1982). The use of clean, sterilized pots, pasteurized soil or propagation medium, disease free stock plants, and sanitary greenhouse practices combined with repeated applications of fungicides such as benomyl [(methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole-carbamate] or PCNB (pentachloronitrobenzene) can reduce severity and spread of stem rot. See Snowden et al., supra, Bolton, A. T., Canadian J Plant Path. 5:181-184 (1983). The disease, however, continues to occur annually at endemic and occasionally epidemic levels. This is attributed to poor management, time, labor, and expense involved in the implementation of control measures and growing fears and constraints related to chemical pesticide use. See Tweedy, B. G, The future of chemicals for controlling plant diseases in Challenging Problems in Plant Health 405-415 (T. Kommedahl and P. H. Williams, eds. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, Minn. 1983); see also Urbain, C. D., Farm Jour 110(13):15-16 (1986). For example, fungicides, particularly when misused, can pose environmental and health related risks. Food and groundwater contamination, residue carryover, applicator exposure, plant injury, and buildup of pest resistance due to pesticides have cast doubts about their future use. See Urbain, supra; Staub, T. et al., Plant Dis 68(12):1026-1031 (1984); Powell, C. C., Jr., Plant Dis 72:693-695 (1988).
These problems have stimulated interest in alternative means of disease control, such as biological control. Cook, R. J. et al., Perspectives in The Nature and Practice of Biological Control of Plant Pathogens 426-444 (R. J. Cook and K. F. Baker, eds., American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, Minn. 1983); Baker, K. F., The future of biological and cultural control of plant disease in Challenging Problems in Plant Health 422-430 (T. Kommedah. and P. H. Williams, eds., American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, Minn. 1983). Biological control of plant diseases with antagonistic microorganisms has potential; these tactics can be safe, effective, and economical. Efforts to control R. solani with strains of fungi, bacteria, or actinomycetes have shown marginal success; however, none have been developed for use on a practical basis. See Beagle-Ristaino, J. E. et al., Phytopathology 75:560-564 (1985); Kwok, O. C. H. et al., Phytopathology 77:1206-1212 (1987); Rothrock, C. S. et al., Can. J. Microbiol 30:1440-1447 (1984).
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for treating stem rot of plants through the use of a biocontrol agent. It is a further object to provide the aforementioned biocontrol agent.

Pseudomonas cepacia strain 5.5B and method of controlling Rhizoctonia solani therewith


The invention provides a pulsation damping device in which an offset load on a pulsation suppression diaphragm is eliminated while an air supply valve and an air discharge valve are separately and independently juxtaposed, and an extendable and contractible portion of the pulsation suppression diaphragm is always caused to be straightly extendingly and contractingly deformed in the axial direction of a device body casing, whereby the response property of the opening and closing operations of the air supply and discharge valves can be improved and the pulsation suppressing performance can be ensured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device that is interposingly used in a liquid transporting pipe through which transported liquid such as liquid for processing a semi-conductor device is transported to various portions by a reciprocal pump, to damp pulsations generated by variations in flow quantity and pressure due to the reciprocal operation of the reciprocal pump.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pulsation damping device of this kind is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open Nos. 617752 and 8-159016.
Among such disclosed devices, the pulsation damping device for a pump which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 6-17752 is shown in FIG. 11. The device comprises: a sealed device body casing 60; a liquid chamber 61a which is disposed in the device body casing 60, which temporarily stores liquid transported by a reciprocal pump to exert a liquid storage function, and which then allows the liquid to flow out; and an air chamber 61b which is disposed in the device body casing 60 and separated from the liquid chamber 61a via a pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 that is configured by an extendable and contractible bellows, and which is filled with compressed air. The device is configured so that the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 is extended and contracted by pulsations due to the discharge pressure of the pump, and the pulsations are damped by the capacity change of the liquid chamber 61a.
In the case where the discharge pressure of the reciprocal pump is varied, the extension and contraction amount of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 must be restricted to a predetermined range in order to balance the liquid pressure in the liquid chamber 61a with the air pressure in the air chamber 61b. To comply with this, the following configuration is employed in the device shown in FIG. 11. An automatic air supply valve mechanism 63 and an automatic air discharge valve mechanism 64 are disposed in the device body casing 60. In the case where the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 is extended from a reference value S in the direction of increasing the capacity of the liquid chamber by the liquid pressure variation in the liquid chamber 61a, when the diaphragm exceeds a predetermined range A, an air supply port 66 is opened by the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 via a valve push rod 65 of the automatic air supply valve mechanism 63, to adjust the air filling pressure of the air chamber 61b so as to raise the pressure. In the case where the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 is contracted from the reference value S in the direction of decreasing the capacity of the liquid chamber, when the diaphragm exceeds a predetermined range B, an air discharge port 68 is opened by the automatic air discharge valve mechanism 64 by means of a slider 67 which abuts against a closed end face 62a of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62, to discharge the air in the air chamber 61b so as to lower the air filling pressure.
By contrast, FIG. 12A shows the pulsation damping device for a pump which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 8-159016, and FIG. 12B shows an air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism for the pump. The device uses an air chamber internal pressure adjust valve mechanism which restricts the capacity change of a liquid chamber 61a that is disposed in a similar manner as the liquid chamber 61a disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 6-17752, within a predetermined range. In the mechanism, the air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism comprising: an operating rod 69 which operates in accordance with the displacement of the closed end face 62a of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62; and a slide valve element 71 which is operated by the operating rod 69 to cause an air supply and discharge passage 70 connected to the air chamber 61b to selectively communicate with the air supply port 66 and the air discharge port 68 is protrudingly attached to the outside of the device body casing 60. The valve mechanism is configured so that, when the capacity of the liquid chamber 61a is increased to exceed a predetermined range, the air supply port 66 communicates with the air supply and discharge passage 70, and, when the capacity of the liquid chamber 61a is decreased to exceed the predetermined range, the air discharge port 68 communicates with the air supply and discharge passage 70. The valve mechanism comprises: a cylindrical casing 72 in which the air supply port 66, the air discharge port 68, and the air supply and discharge passage 70 communicating with the air chamber 61b are formed; and the slide valve element 71 which is coaxially connected to the operating rod 69, and which is slidably fitted into a cylinder 73 housed in the cylindrical casing 72.
Among the above-mentioned two conventional art examples, in the former pulsation damping device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 6-17752, as shown in FIG. 11, the automatic air supply valve mechanism 63 and the automatic air discharge valve mechanism 64 are disposed integrally with a lower end member 60a constituting a part of the device body casing 60. When one of the valve mechanisms 63 and 64 is broken or becomes faulty, therefore, the whole device must be disassembled and repaired, or replaced with another one. In any case, the work requires much labor. Therefore, the configuration is disadvantageous in maintenance and cost. Furthermore, the device has a structure in which the air discharge port 68 of the automatic air discharge valve mechanism 64 is closed by a gravitational drop of a discharge valve element 75. Therefore, the closing operation is unstable, and the device must be always placed so that the discharge valve element 75 in a vertical posture and the air discharge port 68 maintain their vertical positional relationship. For example, the device cannot be applied to a use in which the discharge valve element 75 has a horizontal posture, and hence the kinds of devices are restricted. Moreover, the valve push rod 65 of the automatic air supply valve mechanism 63, and the slider 67 of the automatic air discharge valve mechanism 64 which are independently juxtaposed are in direct contact at two points with the closed end face 62a of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 configured by the bellows. One of the members, or the valve push rod 65 is in direct contact with a position which is deviated from the center portion of the closed end face 62a. When the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 is extended and contracted, therefore, an offset load is applied to the diaphragm, thereby hindering the extendable and contractible portion of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 62 from being straightly deformed extendingly and contractingly in the axial direction Xxe2x80x94X of the device body casing 60. This impairs the response property of the automatic air supply and discharge valve mechanisms 63 and 64, thereby causing the pulsation suppressing performance to be lowered.
In the air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism disclosed in the latter publication or Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 8-159016, the configuration in which suction and discharge of air are concentrated into the single valve mechanism as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B is employed. Even when the valve mechanism is broken or becomes faulty, therefore, it is not required to disassemble the whole device, and repair and replacement can be performed by detaching only the single air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism. Unlike the former device, the closing of the air supply and discharge ports 66 and 68 is not performed by the weight of the discharge valve element 75. Therefore, the problem of the former device can be solved. By contrast, however, the device has drawbacks that the air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism itself is complicatedly structured, that it is difficult to seal the slide valve element 71, and that the mechanism protrudes to the outside of the device body casing 60 to increase the size of the whole device, thereby making the device bulky.
The invention has been conducted in view of the above-discussed problems. It is an object of the invention to provide a pulsation damping device which can be placed and used in either of the vertical and horizontal directions, and which can be configured in a wide variety of kinds.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pulsation damping device in which maintenance of air supply and discharge valves can be easily conducted, and an air supply/discharge valve structure wherein the air supply valve and the air discharge valve are separately and independently juxtaposed is employed so that the valve structure can be more simplified, the fault frequency can be made lower, and the device can be produced more economically than the above-mentioned air supply/discharge switch valve mechanism.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pulsation damping device in which an offset load on a pulsation suppression diaphragm configured by a bellows is eliminated while an air supply valve and an air discharge valve are separately and independently juxtaposed, and an extendable and contractible portion of the pulsation suppression diaphragm is always caused to be straightly deformed extendingly and contractingly in the axial direction of a device body casing, whereby the response property of the opening and closing operations of the air supply and discharge valves can be improved and the pulsation suppressing performance can be ensured.
The pulsation damping device of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The reference numerals in the figures are used in this paragraph in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, and the use of the reference numerals is not intended to restrict the contents of the invention to the illustrated embodiments.
The invention provides a pulsation damping device comprising: a sealed device body casing 17 having a liquid chamber 20a which receives liquid to be transported by a reciprocal pump or the like through an inflow passage 2, which temporarily stores the liquid, and which then allows the liquid to flow out through an outflow passage 3, and an air chamber 20b which is to be filled with compressed air for suppressing pulsation; and a pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 which is disposed in the device body casing to separate the liquid chamber 20a and the air chamber 20b from each other, and which is freely extended and contracted in accordance with a balance between variations in flow quantity and pressure of the transported liquid flowing into the liquid chamber, and an air filling pressure of the air chamber, wherein the pulsation damping device includes: a valve casing 23 which is placed in the air chamber 20b to be opposed to a center portion of a closed end face of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18, the closed end face facing the air chamber 20b, and which has an air supply port 31 through which, when the air filling pressure of the air chamber is to be raised, the compressed air is introduced into the air chamber, and an air discharge port 32 through which, when the air filling pressure of the air chamber is to be lowered, the compressed air is discharged from the air chamber to an outside; an air supply valve 36 which is disposed in the valve casing, and which opens and closes the air supply port 31; a spring 37 which always closingly urges the air supply valve; an air discharge valve 43 which is disposed in the valve casing 23 to be juxtaposed with the air supply valve 36, and which opens and closes the air discharge port 32; a spring 49 which always closingly urges the air discharge valve; an air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 which is placed to abut against the center portion of the closed end face of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18; an air supply valve rod pressing portion 55 which is disposed on the air supply/discharge valve control plate, and which pushes a rear end portion of a valve rod 41 of the air supply valve 36 to open the air supply valve, in accordance with that the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber is raised to overcome the air pressure of the air chamber and the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is extended; an air discharge valve rod pulling portion 56 which is juxtaposed with the air supply valve rod pressing portion on the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28, which is slidably connected to a rear end portion of a valve rod 45 of the air discharge valve 43, and which pulls the valve rod 45 to open the air discharge valve 43, in accordance with that the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber is lowered, the air pressure of the air chamber overcomes the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber, and the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is contracted; and springs 57 which are interposed between the valve casing 23 and the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 to respectively surround outer peripheries of the air supply valve rod 41 and the air discharge valve rod 45, and which pressingly urge the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 toward the center portion of the closed end face of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18.
In this case, the valve casing 23 and the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 may be connected to each other by one, or more preferably plural guide shafts 58 which are parallel to extending and contracting directions of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18, and the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 may be moved in parallel along the guide shafts.
In the thus configured pulsation damping device, in accordance with that the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber 20a is raised to overcome the air pressure of the air chamber 20b and the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is extended, the air supply valve rod pressing-portion 55 on the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 pushes the rear end portion of the air supply valve rod 41 to open the air supply valve 36, thereby supplying the air into the air chamber 20b. When the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber 20a balances with the air pressure of the air chamber as a result of the above operation, the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is contracted, and the air supply valve 36 is closed by the forces of the spring 37 and the air pressure.
In accordance with that the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber 20a is lowered, the air pressure of the air chamber 20b overcomes the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber, and the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is contracted, the air discharge valve rod pulling portion 56 on the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 pulls the air discharge valve rod 45 to open the air discharge valve 43, thereby discharging the air in the air chamber 20b. When the liquid pressure of the liquid chamber 20a balances with the air pressure of the air chamber 20b as a result of the above operation, the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is extended, and the air discharge valve 43 is closed by the forces of the air pressure and the spring 49. Irrespective of variations of the discharge pressure of a reciprocal pump or the like which transports the transported liquid to the liquid chamber 20a, therefore, the extension and contraction amount of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 can be restricted within a predetermined range, and the pulsation amplitude can be suppressed to a low level.
Since the air supply and discharge valves 36 and 43 are respectively closingly urged by the functions of the springs 37 and 49, the air supply port 31 and the air discharge port 32 can be closed stably and surely. Even when the device is placed and used in any of the vertical and horizontal directions so that the air supply valve 36 and the air discharge valve 43 have a vertical or horizontal posture, the opening and closing operations of the air supply port 31 and the air discharge port 32 are not hindered.
Although the air supply valve 36 and the air discharge valve 43 are independently juxtaposed in the valve casing 23, the air supply valve rod pressing portion 55 for opening the air supply valve 36, and the air discharge valve rod pulling portion 56 for opening the air discharge valve 43 abut against the center portion of the closed end face of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 via the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28. In extension and contraction of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18, therefore, an offset load is eliminated, so that the extendable and contractible portion of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is always straightly deformed extendingly and contractingly in the axial direction of the device body casing 17. Consequently, the response property of the opening and closing operations of the air supply and discharge valves 36 and 43 is improved and the pulsation suppressing performance can be ensured.
In this case, when the valve casing 23 and the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 are connected to each other by one, or more preferably plural guide shafts 58 which are parallel to extending and contracting directions of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18, the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 can be always surely moved in parallel, and the operations in which the extendable and contractible portion of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is always straightly deformed extendingly and contractingly in the axial direction of the device body casing 17 can be further ensured.
In another pulsation damping device of the invention, the valve casing 23 is detachably fittingly attached to the device body casing 17. According to this configuration, when one of the air supply valve 36 and the air discharge valve 43 is broken or becomes faulty, repair and replacement of the valve can be easily performed by detaching only the valve casing 23 from the device body casing 17. This is advantageous in maintenance. Furthermore, the air supply valve 36 and the air discharge valve 43 are separately and independently disposed in the single valve casing 23. Therefore, the valve structure is simple, becomes less faulty, and can be economically produced, and the valve casing 23 can be compactly accommodated without substantially protruding to the outside of the device body casing 17.
In a further pulsation damping device of the invention, an air driven reciprocal pump portion 4 is integrally attached to the device body casing 17, the reciprocal pump portion 4 comprises: a pump casing 6 which is disposed integrally with one side portion of the device body casing 17; a pump diaphragm 7 which is disposed in the pump casing 6 to be opposed to the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18, and which is extendingly and contractingly deformable in the extending and contracting directions of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18; an air cylinder portion 14 which drives the pump diaphragm 7 to extend and contract the diaphragm; and a pump working chamber 9a in which check valves 16a and 16b are disposed inside the pump diaphragm 7, the check valves being alternately opened and closed in accordance with extending and contracting deformation of the pump diaphragm to perform actions of sucking and discharging the liquid, and the transported liquid which is discharged from the pump working chamber 9a via the discharge check valve 16b is temporarily sent into the liquid chamber 20a.
In the thus configured pulsation damping device, when the pump diaphragm 7 is extendingly and contractingly deformed via the air cylinder portion 14, the suction check valve 16a and the discharge check valve 16b in the pump working chamber 9a are alternately opened and closed, and suction of the transported liquid from the inflow passage 2 into the pump working chamber 9a, and discharge of the transported liquid from the pump working chamber 9a to the outflow passage 3 are repeated to perform a predetermined pumping function. At this time, the transported liquid which is discharged from the pump working chamber 9a via the discharge check valve 16b flows out into the outflow passage 3 through the liquid chamber 20a of the pulsation damping device 5. In this case, in a peak portion of pulsations of the discharge pressure of the discharged liquid, the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is moved in the direction along which the capacity of the liquid chamber is increased to absorb the pressure, and, in a valley portion of the pulsations, the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18 is moved in the direction along which the capacity of the liquid chamber is decreased to raise the pressure of the discharged liquid, thereby absorbing pulsations. As a result, the transported liquid can be flown out continuously and smoothly without producing pulsations. Since the reciprocal pump portion 4 and the pulsation damping device 5 are integrated with each other and external pipes connecting them are not required, the cost and the size of the whole can be reduced, and the installation space can be largely decreased. Since external pipes are not used, there is no fear that liquid leakage due to breakage of the pipes or the like occurs after a long term use. Since the pressure loss is very small, the pump capacity can be made small so that the pump itself can be miniaturized and the installation and occupation area of the pump can be decreased.
In a still further pulsation damping device of the invention, in the air discharge valve rod pulling portion 56, a sleeve 48 which has a guide hole portion 48a in a front end portion is disposed on the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 to be juxtaposed with the air supply valve rod pressing portion 55, and a rear end portion of the air discharge valve rod 45 is slidably passed through the guide hole portion 48a of the sleeve 48 so as to be prevented from slipping off, the rear end portion having a flange 44. According to this configuration, the air discharge valve 43 can be surely pulled and opened in accordance with the movement of the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 which is moved followingly with the contracting operation of the pulsation suppression diaphragm 18.
In a still further pulsation damping device of the invention, in the air discharge valve rod 45, a root portion with respect to the air discharge valve 43 is slidably passed through a valve rod guide hole portion 47a of an air discharge valve rod holder 47 which is disposed in the valve casing 23. According to this configuration, the linear movement guidance of the air discharge valve rod 45 can be surely performed.
In a still further pulsation damping device of the invention, the air supply valve rod 41 is slidably passed through a valve rod pass hole 39 of an air supply valve holder 40 which is disposed in the valve casing 23, the valve rod pass hole 39 being formed in a rear end portion of the air supply valve holder, and a rear end portion of the air supply valve rod 41 protrudes toward a rear side of the air supply valve holder 40. According to this configuration, the linear movement guidance of the air supply valve rod 41 can be surely performed.
In a still further pulsation damping device of the invention, a front end portion of each of the guide shafts 58 is coupled integrally with the valve casing 23, and a rear end portion of the guide shaft 58 is slidably passed through a guide sleeve 22 fixed to the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 so as to be prevented from slipping off, the rear end portion having a flange 58a. According to this configuration, the air supply/discharge valve control plate 28 can be moved in parallel stably and surely


A cart transport vessel includes a fixed platform configured to hold at least one cart, a fixed ramp located adjacent to the fixed platform and a foldable ramp extension that is rotatably coupled to a front end of the fixed ramp. In an opened configuration, a first side of the foldable ramp extension faces upwardly and is in planar alignment with a planar top surface of the fixed ramp and an opposing second side of the foldable extension faces downwardly. In a closed configuration, the foldable ramp extension is rotated so that the first side of the foldable ramp extension faces downwardly and is in contact with the planar top surface of the ramp section and the opposing second side of the foldable ramp extension faces upwardly to provide a flat operator workspace area that is configured to be stood on by an operator.

Retailers participate in supply chain management and logistics to control product quality, inventory levels, timing and expenses. Retail companies may have a variety of different brick and mortar store formats including large format stores and small format stores and need to manage their supply chain and logistics in accordance with the different types. The supply chain for a retailer includes all of the contributors involved in getting merchandise into the hands of customers and guests. Logistics is the moving and storing of goods including shipping and warehousing.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.


This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.

Traditionally, machine learning models were manually constructed by experts who would define a structure of the model and then use automated techniques for model training. As machine learning models have grown more complex, various attempts have been made to automate the process of generating machine learning models. However, these efforts have met with limited success.

Automated generation of machine learning models


A valve control system for controlling the operation of a pressure fluid-activated device such as a hydraulic cylinder includes a valve housing having an internal, sealed valve chamber therein. A valve spool is slidably disposed for lengthwise movement within the valve chamber, the valve spool having a valve member for selectively admitting a pressure fluid through passages in the vale housing. A movable handle for manual operation of the valve is connected to the valve spool by a connecting mechanism, whereby movement of the handle causes lengthwise movement of the valve spool relative to the valve housing. A neutral-centering tactile feedback mechanism applies a return force to the handle when the handle is in an operative position. The return force varies in proportion to the pressure of the pressure fluid within the valve, which pressure actuates the device. The feedback mechanism ceases to apply the return force when the handle returns to a neutral position. The load, however, remains pressurized, permitting an arm or tool operated by a suitable device, such as a hydraulic cylinder, to remain in position. For example, an excavator arm could remain suspended in mid-air without need for the operator to hold the handle, providing enhanced convenience and safety.

Hydraulic valves are used in a variety of applications, such as the control of hydraulic cylinders. In particular, such valves are an integral part of the control system for hydraulically operated arms of heavy machinery such as backhoes, excavators, and the like. Such a valve generally has an internal valve chamber with ports that allow fluid to flow into and from the internal chamber, for example, a pressure port through which pressurized fluid flows into the valve chamber, one or more load ports through which the pressurized fluid is conducted to a load-moving device such as a hydraulic cylinder, and one or more exhaust ports for depressurizing the valve chamber. A movable valve member within the valve chamber regulates communication between the pressure, load and exhaust ports.
Among hydraulic valves, dual spool or double cylinder valves are well known. See in particular Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,220, issued Aug. 27, 1985, Hoffman U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,234, issued Dec. 28, 1971, Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,116, issued May 6, 1980, Taplin U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,031, issued Jun. 16, 1984 and Garnjost et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,965, issued Jul. 13, 1982.
In many known valves, the valve is actuated manually by a handle, as in Petry U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,264, issued Oct. 16, 1969 and Woodcock U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,418, issued Jan. 16, 1979. Byers U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,978, issued Jan. 25, 1972, and McKay U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,369, issued Aug. 19, 1986 describe systems wherein the handle provides tactile feedback, i.e., a resistance that provides a feel of the valve pressure to the operator.
Despite the availability of a wide variety of hydraulic valves, control systems utilizing such valves for operating hydraulic digging arms and the like lack a means for allowing the operator to feel, through the handle, a force proportional to the hydraulic pressure. Such a force would warn the operator when an obstruction has been encountered. For example, when excavating near a foundation, the excavator operator normally cannot readily tell whether the digging arm has hit the foundation wall, possibly damaging it. Tactile feedback can prevent such accidents by allowing the operator to feel the sudden increase in pressure when the obstruction is encountered. Tactile feedback in the form of a variable resistance control handle, however, would create a problem in situations where the operator might want to lift and hold a load without forcefully holding down the control handle. The present invention addresses this problem by providing a neutral-centering valve construction suitable for control of hydraulic-cylinder operated devices.


A method for forming a film pattern, comprises: disposing a first bank forming material to a substrate so as to form a first bank layer; disposing a second bank forming material on the first bank layer so as to form a second bank layer; and pattering the first bank layer and the second bank layer so as to form a bank including a pattern forming region having a first pattern forming region and a second pattern forming region, the second pattern forming region having a width larger than a width of the first pattern forming region, and being continuously formed from the first pattern forming region, wherein the first bank layer has a sidewall facing the pattern forming region and a first contact angle of less than 50 degrees with respect to a functional liquid containing H2O on the sidewall, and the second bank layer has a second contact angle larger than the first contact angle with respect to the functional liquid.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for forming a film pattern, and a method for manufacturing a device, an electro-optical device, an electronic apparatus, and an active matrix substrate.
2. Related Art
As a method for forming a wiring line, which has a predetermined pattern, and is used in electric circuits and integrated circuits, photolithography has been widely used. However, the photolithography needs large-scale equipment such as vacuum apparatuses and exposure apparatuses, and sophisticated processes to form the wiring line having a predetermined pattern. In addition, almost all of materials are wasted due to a low efficiency of about several percent in using the materials, resulting in high manufacturing costs.
Alternatively, a method is proposed in which a wiring line having a predetermined pattern is formed on a substrate using a droplet discharge method (called an inkjet method) in which a liquid material is discharged from a liquid discharge head as a droplet. For example, the method is disclosed in JP-A-11-274671 and JP-A-2000-216330. In the inkjet method, a liquid material (functional liquid) for a pattern is directly patterned on a substrate, and then the patterned material is subjected to heating or is irradiated by laser so as to form a desired pattern. Accordingly, the method has an advantage in that no photolithography is required, processes can be drastically simplified, and the amount of consumed raw material can be reduced since the row material can be directly applied on a patterning position.
Recently, circuits included in devices have been highly densified. This requests, for example, wiring lines to be further reduced in width. However, in the pattern forming method using the droplet discharge method described above, it is difficult to stably form a fine pattern since a discharged droplet spreads on a substrate after landing on the substrate. Particularly, when the pattern functions as a conductive film, spreading of the droplet causes a liquid pool (bulge), which may cause a failure such as wire breakage or short. As an alternative, a technique is proposed in JP-A-2005-12181. The technique employs a bank structure including a region for forming a wide width wiring line, and a region for forming a fine wiring line that is formed so as to be connected to the region for forming a wide width wiring line. In the technique, a functional liquid is discharged to the region for forming a wide width wiring line, so that the functional liquid flows into the region for forming a fine wiring line by a capillary phenomenon, thereby a fine wiring pattern is formed.
Here, if the difference is significant between the widths of the region for forming a fine wiring line and the region for forming a wide width wiring line, to which the functional liquid is discharged, the amount of functional liquid that flows into the region for forming a fine wiring line by a capillary phenomenon runs short. This is because that the functional liquid usually flows along a bank that defines the region for forming a wide width wiring line. As a result, a problem arises in that the film thickness of a formed fine wiring pattern is thinner than other wiring patterns.
As an alternative to increase the thickness of a fine wiring pattern, for example, a method can be employed in which a part of the width of the region for forming a wide width wiring line is narrowed so as to increase a flowing amount of a functional liquid into a region for forming a fine wiring line from the region for forming a wide width wiring line.
However, it is difficult to adequately control the flowing amount of the functional liquid in the above-described case where the amount of the functional liquid flowing into the region for forming a fine wiring line (a first pattern forming region) is increased by narrowing a part of the region for forming a wide width wiring line (pattern forming region). For example, if the function liquid flows into the region for forming a fine wiring line too much, the thickness of the fine pattern becomes thicker than those of others, resulting in a difference in thickness between the fine pattern and others.
As a result, if the technique is, for example, applied to form a gate wiring line and a gate electrode continued from the gate wiring line, stable transistor characteristics are hardly achieved due to the difference in thickness between the gate wiring line and the gate electrode.

Method for forming film pattern, and method for manufacturing device, electro-optical device, electronic apparatus and active matrix substrate


A front end module for a motor vehicle includes a tubular cross-member and injection molded components made from plastic, which are injected onto the cross-member. At least two of the injection molded components are connected to each other via the cross-member and separately connected to the cross-member.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a front end module
European patent document EP 1 849 686 A1 discloses a front end module with a pipe formed by means of fluidic internal pressure, which has two neckings axially spaced apart, into which an injection molded component made from plastic is injected. For this purpose, rings are provided surrounding the pipe and from which the injection molded component, referred to as columns, extrudes in one piece vertically downwards. Both separate injection molded components are adjacent to a receiver for the engine radiator. A respective installation space for lighting units is connected laterally. The composite component made from the metallic pipe and the injected plastic components form the front end module. The hold of the two columns on the pipe, which results from the shrinking of the plastic on the pipe, is, however, insufficient with respect to higher mechanical loads, such that the columns are able to rotate around the pipe relatively easily and can also slip axially inside the extension of the neckings.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are directed to a front end module of this kind such that an improved hold of the injection molded components on the cross-member is achieved in a simple way.
In accordance with the invention there is a separate connection of at least two of the injected plastic components, with which the indirect connection is excluded by the cross-member, achieves a force distribution that impedes a release of the respective plastic component part on the cross-member, if it does not prevent it completely. For this purpose, during a loading of one of the plastic components, a moment of inertia is produced in the other plastic component around the cross-member axis due to the connection, the moment of inertia in turn exerting a counter force on the loaded plastic component, which causes a torsional stress in the connection element of the connection and thus counteracts the loading and therefore improves the hold of the one plastic component.
In an advantageous development of the invention, the cross-member is bent, wherein at least one of the plastic components is arranged in a bending region of the cross-member over a longitudinal section. For this reason, the plastic components have a particularly strong hold on the cross-member, as the plastic component set in the bending region is no longer able to move axially or radially or at most when exerting very large forces. In a further advantageous development of the invention, the profile cross-section of the tubular cross-member is formed to be non-circular at least locally, wherein at least one of the plastic components is placed on this non-circular position. For this reason, the plastic component also has an improved hold in the circumferential direction of the cross-member, wherein this is set to be non-rotatable on the cross-member. With the additional arrangement in the bending region, the plastic component or the plastic components that are connected to one another has a particularly good hold on the cross-member.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the connection of the plastic components is firmly formed. This simplifies the formation of the connection considerably, as no connecting elements are required at all and only a single cavity for the plastic components to be formed and to be connected is necessary. The plastic components can be advantageously produced at the same time in a single work step and with a single tool and thus are produced with procedural economy. Additionally, the firmness of connection provides an increased stability for the plastic component arrangement. It is conceivable, alternatively or additionally to the firmness of connection, to provide a positive connection between the components. For this purpose, the components can be injected at different points in time, such that the already-set component is equipped with positive connection elements such as elevations and troughs, which are positively surrounded by still liquid or viscous injection molding of the other component or of the other components. Due to the molding heat of the still liquid injection molding, it is possible that the already set component can be melted easily such that a firm connection can also be achieved at the same time as the positive connection.
The cross-member can likewise have positive connection elements, which are surrounded by the injection molding of the formed component or which form a supporting operative connection to the injection molding during injecting. These can, for example, be formed by a reshaping of the hollow cross-member, in particular by means of fluidic internal pressure or by a combination of the inner pressure with a mechanical press processing, for example by means of a stamp. The cross-member can also preferably have a shape deviating from a rotationally-symmetrical cross-sectional outline, for example an oval or a square shape. This is also preferably found where the injection molding fits against the cross-member, such that the injected plastic also has an anti-rotation feature and thus an improved hold on the cross-member due to the cross-sectional shape.
According to a particularly preferred development of the invention, the injection molded components include two columns thatthe extrude perpendicularly downwards and are spaced apart axially. These border the side of the engine radiator receiver and are axially spaced apart from the ends of the cross-member. The cross-member has injected longitudinal and transverse ribs, which together form a net surrounding the cross-member and connect the columns to one another in the region of the cross-member. Due to the formation of a net, which surrounds the cross-member in the space between the columns, an extremely rigid connection is created with a low installation space requirement and material usage, the connection not only being rigid in all directions but also stiffening the entire plastic complex and the cross-member. Due to the extremely rigid connection, a secure hold for the plastic components on the cross-member is created even in the case of high mechanical forces.
According to a preferred development of the invention, multifunctional components are created due to the formation of the injection molded components as columns, the multifunctional components not only forming a frame for the engine radiator receiver but also forming a partial frame for the lighting units from the outside in, on which fixing positions for the lighting unit are formed in one piece. Furthermore, parallelogram-shaped receivers, which are similarly formed in one piece, for the crash boxes and/or an insert device in the lower side member and/or a hanging eyelet for the auxiliary heating system and/or for the washing water container and/or for the Z-support, can be formed on the columns.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the thus already highly integrative character of the front end module is further increased by the ribs between the columns being outlet points for multiple functional configurations of the plastic injection molded complex. These are thus connected in one piece to a sealing frame for the engine radiator and/or to fixing elements for the proximity control system and/or for a deflection plate to prevent intake of snow and/or for the engine radiator and/or to levelling elements for a bumper and the engine radiator and/or to guiding walls for the air intake and/or to receivers for engine hood bumpers and/or to a hanging device for a support strut to support the engine hood and/or support plates for the upper edge of a body component.
Furthermore, the ends of the cross-member could preferably have transverse and longitudinal ribs that are sprayed on and connected to one another, which bear receivers for engine hood bumpers in one piece and/or for the fixing of a handling device to transport and position the front end module in the installation. For installation space and/or weight-saving considerations, these plastic coatings can be formed separately from the plastic injection molded complex detailed above. It is, however, conceivable for these plastic coatings to likewise be connected to the plastic injection molded complex in one piece for an improved hold on the cross-member.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the cross-member has fixing elements for the engine hood lock. These are represented in the form of holes, by means of which the lock can, for example, be screwed on. The holes can be created to be precisely positioned and with a highly precise hole pattern during the reshaping procedure of the cross-member, which occurs using inner pressure reshaping. For this purpose, punching stamps are integrated into the reshaping tool, which are not only able to punch out slugs from the tubular cross-member but also close the created holes in a way that seals them using high pressure. This is achieved by a conicity of the stamp, which is connected to the cutting edge and is immersed in the hole. The plastic is injected during the reshaping procedure or immediately after it, the plastic forming the partial high-filigree plastic components after setting. On completion of the reshaping, the inner pressure is reduced to a support pressure, such that a collapse of the cross-member due to the incidental injection molding pressure is prevented.


A trap assembly for trapping birds which have natural instinct to nest or roost in dark places is provided. The trap assembly comprises a housing having a closed end and an open end. A darkened area within the housing entices the birds to enter the housing through the open end. A trap mechanism immediately adjacent the open end traps the birds within the housing thereby preventing the birds from exiting the housing via the open end.

The present invention related to bird traps and, in particular, it relates to bird traps which trap birds having a natural instinct to nest or roost in darkened places.
Certain birds, such as sparrows and starlings, have a natural instinct to nest or roost in darkened paces. The inside of soffits and overhangs around houses and other buildings generally provide a favored nesting environment for these birds. Once these birds have entered the soffits and overhangs, it is difficult to remove the birds without endangering the lives or health of the birds. However, if the birds are not removed, the birds can cause damage to the structure of the building and create a genuine noisy nuisance for any occupants of the infested buildings.
A variety of bird traps are known in the art. Many bird traps, such as the traps described in the Wood et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,468 and the Krenson U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,373, rely on food or bait to entice birds to enter a wire or mesh trap. However, many bait traps lack complete effectiveness since during most of the year, birds have plenty of natural food in their environment. Therefore, many birds do not have the hunger necessary to entice them to enter the trap.
Other traps, such as the trap described in the Boyer U.S. Pat. No. 1,506,045, rely on happenstance to trap the birds. For example, the trap described in the Boyer patent includes a tubular entry positioned in a window. The tubular entry leads to a fabric or mesh container. Spring finger at the end of the tubular entry and adjacent the container prevent birds within the container from gaining access back into the tubular entry.
The Boyer patent teaches that the mesh container should be sufficiently permeable to allow air to flow into the building through the tubular entry. Therefore, the Boyer patent's trap does not rely on the a bird's natural instinct to nest or roost in a darkened area but, instead, birds enter the tubular entry of the trap on mere chance or in search of food. In addition, the birds are only trapped after traveling completely through the tubular entry and entering the container. Anywhere along the tubular entry, such as when the bird realizes that it is not entering a place to feed, the bird could turn around and leave the tubular entry without being trapped.
Still, there are other types of devices which actually remove flying animals, such as bats, from a certain area. The bat elimination device described in the Lafforthun U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,638 includes a tubular passage extending from a house or other building to an outside exit chamber. A perforated door on the exit chamber permits air to flow through the tubular passage. Accordingly, bats enter the tubular passage due to the bat's natural instinct to travel toward the source of an air current. There is no teaching or suggestion within the Lafforthun patent of actually trapping the bat, but only preventing the bat from reentering the house or barn. Unfortunately, since the bat is not immediately prevented from reentering the area upon entry into the tubular passage, the bat could reenter the house or barn once it has reached the exit chamber if the bat would not pass through the doorway.
The traps or elimination devices as described in the above patents do not rely on a bird's natural instinct to nest or roost in darkened areas. In fact, none of the above patents either teach or suggest a darkened area to lure birds to enter and to immediately trap the bird to prevent the bird from escaping the trap or device from the point of original entry.


A storage stable pharmaceutical composition comprising a solution of Oxaliplatin in water and a catalytic amount of a carbohydrate. A process for forming such pharmaceutical composition comprising dissolving a known amount of Oxaliplatin in water; adding an amount of carbohydrate in the range of 0.0010% to 0.05% w/v with respect to such solution; agitating the mixture to get clear solution; filtering it through a filter membrane under aseptic conditions; and filling the solution resulting into glass vials sealed with elastomeric stoppers and aluminium flip-off seals.

Platinum (II) complexes have found wide acceptance for treatment of variety of tumors, especially Lung cancer, Lymphoma, Ovarian cancer, Testicular cancer, Bladder cancer, Urothelial cancer and Head/neck cancer in both humans and animals. Of these platinum analogues, oxaliplatin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,846), also known as L-OHP, a third generation platinum complex containing diamino cyclohexane carrier ligand, is approved for the treatment of advanced carcinoma of the colon or rectum in combination with infusional 5-FU/LV.
Currently, the marketed formulations of oxaliplatin are available as a lyophilized or freeze dried powder, which just prior to administration are reconstituted using an aqueous solvent, preferably water for injection, and administration of the solution thus obtained subsequent to dilution with dextrose solutions.
However, the lyophilized oxaliplatin formulation is associated with several disadvantages such as:                a) Double handling: To administer a lyophilized preparation, double handling of the drug is required. The lyophilized cake has to be first reconstituted and then administered;        b) Dissolution time of the cake: In some cases, the complete dissolution of the powder may require prolonged shaking because of solubilisation problems;        c) Health Hazard: Improper reconstitution of a lyophilized powder sometimes result in the formation of air-borne droplets ("blow-back"), which, in the case of a potent antitumor agent such as platinum complexes may be a health hazard to the personnel making up the solution for injection;        d) Improper dose: There is always a problem in reconstituting a lyophilized powder in that an inappropriate quantity of diluents may be used because of a different vial size. This could result in an improper dose being administered to a patient; and        e) Cost of manufacture: The manufacture of a lyophilized formulation is quite costly, since it not only requires capital investment for installation of a lyophilizer, but also its maintenance.
Generally, the stability of the reconstituted solution is not a major issue, since such solutions need to be administered immediately or within a prescribed time, generally not exceeding 8 hrs. However, Oxaliplatin is an exception since, following reconstitutions, oxaliplatin is prone to instability, particularly in solutions containing certain nucleophilic agents. For example, some reconstitution solutions containing chloride ions, such as 0.9% sodium chloride solutions, also known as normal saline solutions, which is very commonly used in hospitals, if used for such a reconstitution of oxaliplatin lyophilized powder, has the serious consequence of rapidly decomposing the oxaliplatin metal complex, forming a precipitate (dichloro-diaminocyclohexane-platinum complex).
As a consequence of the abovementioned limitations, several ready-to-use, aqueous pharmaceutical compositions of oxaliplatin have been proposed:                a) In U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,988, Ibrahim et al disclose a pharmaceutically stable oxaliplatin preparation for parenteral administration comprising an aqueous solution of oxaliplatin, in a concentration of 1 to 5 mg/ml, and with a pH in the range of 4.5 to 6. The specification states that this preparation is free of any other components and should, in principle, not contain more than about 2% of impurities. However, subsequently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,902 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,068 report that the simple aqueous solutions of oxaliplatin prepared according the teachings of this particular patent are insufficiently stable.        b) In U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,902, Anderson et al disclose a stable oxaliplatin solution formulation comprising therapeutically effective amount of oxaliplatin, an effective stabilizing amount of a buffering agent and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier wherein the buffering agent is oxalic acid or an alkali metal salt thereof.        c) In U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,068, Lauria et al disclose a stable oxaliplatin solution formulation comprising oxaliplatin, and effective stabilizing amount of lactic acid and/or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of lactic acid and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.        d) In WO 01/15691, Ibrahim et al disclose pharmaceutically stable solutions of at least 7-mg/ml oxaliplatin containing a sufficient amount of a solvent having at least a hydroxylated derivative selected from 1,2-propane-diol, glycerol, maltitol, saccharose and inositol. The specification states that these are the only suitable agents and the limited choice of hydroxylated derivatives to use has been done following a very large number of experiments and after consideration of several options.        e) In U.S. Ser. No. 03/0,109,515, Lauria et al disclose a stable oxaliplatin solution formulation comprising oxaliplatin, and effective stabilizing amount of malonic acid and/or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of malonic acid and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.        f) In EP 1466599, Schridde et al disclose a infusion-concentrate containing oxaliplatin and a physiologically compatible carbohydrate as solubility enhancer.
The specification states that, with higher concentrations of carbohydrates, the formation of the degradation or the reaction products of oxaliplatin caused by the presence of hydroxide anions is drastically reduced or suppressed. Further, since these solutions containing carbohydrates are suitable for solublising the oxaliplatin, the concentration of carbohydrates, preferably glucose, should be at least 50 mg/ml.                g) In EP 1466600, Schridde et al disclose an oxaliplatin solution, which preferably in addition contain sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, ethane sulfonic acid, or paratoluosofonic acid.        h) In U.S. Ser. No. 05/0,090,544, Whittaker et al disclose a pharmaceutical liquid formulation of oxaliplatin for parenteral administration comprising oxaliplatin, water and an additive selected from the group consisting of tartaric acid, a salt of tartaric acid, a pharmaceutically acceptable derivative of tartaric acid and mixtures thereof.
From the abovementioned disclosures, it would be apparent that most, if not all the methods for stabilization of oxaliplatin solutions involve utilization of buffering agents to adjust the pH of the formulation and to maintain the formulation within a desired pH range. As mentioned above, several dicarboxylic acids such as oxalic acid, lactic acid, malonic acid, tartaric acid, several monocarboxylic acid such as sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, ethane sulfonic acid, or para-toluenesulfonic acid and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts have been proposed as a buffering and stabilizing agent for oxaliplatin. However, most of these auxiliary substances have several disadvantages, which limits their use in pharmaceutical products. For example utilization of oxalic acid or its salt, which because of Le Chatelier's principle reduces the formation of oxalate ion, generated by hydrolysis of oxaliplatin in aqueous solution, has notable nephrotoxicity. Further, in the intravenous therapy, higher concentrations of oxaliplatin or oxalate ion pose the risk of local and systemic side effects such as local pain, aggregation of thrombocytes, thrombosis, kidney stones etc. making, in general, the addition of oxalate ions in injection non-desirable, a plausible reason why oxalic acid or for that matter malonic acid utilized as additives in U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,902 and U.S. Ser. No. 03/0,109,515 are not approved by the USFDA for inclusion into a parenteral composition.
Moreover, for selection of an appropriate auxiliary substance to achieve stabilization, there is neither any general guideline nor can an inference be drawn from the teachings of the abovementioned specification. For e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,902 discloses that, except oxalic acid, utilization of other buffering agents such as acetate, citrate, phosphate, glycine or tris buffer does not stabilize the aqueous solution of oxaliplatin. U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,068 also supports and suggests that acetate and citrate buffers are not suitable for oxaliplatin solutions. However, exactly opposite is the teaching of EP 1,466,600, which states that phosphoric, sulfuric and other acids could be utilized for preparing a stable oxaliplatin solution.
Another approach utilized in stabilizing the oxaliplatin solution is through enhancing the solubility of oxaliplatin as disclosed in WO 01/15691, by adding 1,2-propane diol, glycerin, maltitol, saccharose, or inositol or as disclosed in EP 1,466,599 by adding a physiologically compatible carbohydrate in at least 50 mg/ml concentrations. However, all these additives have immense disadvantages when used at the specified concentrations for preparation of injectable medicinal solutions. All of these carbohydrates are most easily available sources of energy, which can lead unbalancing of metabolism, especially owing to widely spread diabetes mellitus in the therapy of oxaliplatin caused by age. Moreover, inositol and glucose are physiologically important intracellular sugars and their salts are essential components of signal transduction cascade. Inositol is also administered orally and intravenously in experimental therapy as maturing promoter in pre-mature babies. Further it also has unwanted potential of neurological side effects.
Further, it might be mentioned that other hydroxylated derivatives as disclosed in WO 01/15691 do not belong to the standard auxiliary substances with known side effects, which are used for preparing the parenteral solutions. These compounds are normally used only in pharmaceutical preparations as auxiliary substances for external or oral use and are not recommended by Health Authorities worldwide or the parenteral use.
It might be further mentioned that Health Authorities all over the world are very concerned about the level of degradation products and impurities present in a drug substance or a drug product. As a consequence, regulatory approval norms today are very stringent about the level of impurities present in a drug substance or a drug product. In view of this, it is rather intriguing how an oxaliplatin solution containing more often than not amounts of additives in such a higher percentage as suggested by the prior teachings could comply with pharmacopoeial specifications, even though such solutions may be stable.
From the foregoing, it would be apparent that there is no universal method or system for stabilization of an oxaliplatin solution, which is simple, convenient, economical and is not dependent on the vagaries of critical parameters like pH, amount and nature of additives, specially requisite mono carboxylic acid or dicarboxylic acid, or nature of hydroxylated solvents etc.
A need, therefore, exists for a pharmaceutical composition of oxaliplatin which is universal, simple, convenient, and is not dependent on the vagaries of critical parameters like pH, nature and amount of additives specially requisite monocarboxylic acid or dicarboxylic acid, nature of hydroxylated solvents etc.
The present invention is a step forward in this direction and overcomes most, if not all the limitations of the prior art methods in providing a novel and simple method for stabilization of oxaliplatin solutions.


Conflict checking for writing operations in an SQL database system is carried out for nested statements invoked by a parent statement. Each statement has an associated table access data structure defined at compile-time indicating the tables in the database that the statement accesses and the mode of access. At execution-time the table access data structure for each nested statement is accessed and the information is compared with a list of tables maintained for the parent statement to determine if there is a read/write or write/write conflict possible if the nested statement is executed. Where there is no conflict detected, the information from the table access data structure is copied to the list of tables.

Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMSs) typically support the ability to have one or more query statements such as SQL (Structured Query Language) statements called from within the scope of execution of a parent query statement. With the support of such capabilities as the inclusion of SQL statements within User-Defined Functions (UDFs) and the calling of stored procedures (STPs) from within triggers, it is now possible for the execution of a parent query statement to result in the execution of one or more nested SQL statements.
A problem in database systems executing nested query statements is the detection and prevention of read/write and write/write conflicts (writing conflicts) that may occur between nested statements, and between nested statements and the parent statement itself. Such detection and prevention is necessary to ensure that the overall execution results of the parent and nested statements are consistent and deterministic.
A read/write conflict may occur when a SELECT statement and a DELETE statement are defined so that on execution they both act on the same table. An example of a write/write conflict is when on execution an INSERT statement and a DELETE statement act on the same table. When these conflicting actions occur within the processing of nested statements invoked by a single parent statement, it is advantageous to be able to detect and prevent these collisions. Without such detection, non-deterministic processing may result with potential resulting data sets with missing rows, incorrect results, or even infinite loops in processing.
In a database system that is implemented in a partitioned shared-nothing environment, the above problems are potentially compounded. In such a system, the nested query statements can be executing at any partition within the system and the conflicts between the nested statements can be different at each partition. In addition, the conflicting statements can be occurring at different nesting levels, relative to the original parent statement, when they collide at a partition.
One approach to avoiding such read/write and write/write (writing) conflicts is to first require routines that modify query data to be defined as such within the system. The definition of each routine includes information on what tables will be read and written by the routine. The query compiler can then set up the query access plan such that conflicts will not occur. A significant problem with this approach is that it may result in performance penalties for statements that do not, in fact, cause conflicts.
Another approach is to implement a runtime detection and prevention algorithm. During the time that a table is being modified, the database system ensures that the table cannot be accessed by a nested statement (in a trigger or UDF) or a runtime error will result. Because the nested statements are precluded from accessing the table during the time that it is modified, results of this approach are potentially affected by the access plan selected by the database system. Such an approach is also difficult to implement in a database system implemented in a partitioned, shared-nothing environment. In addition, the detection and prevention occurs only for the time during which a table is being accessed. However, protecting a table only while it is in use can make the behaviour of statements acting on that table non-deterministic. This form of conflict avoidance can be very inconvenient for the user as the user has no direct control over how the compiler chooses to process query statements and therefore the user cannot make the conflict checking predictable.
It is therefore desirable to provide detection and prevention of read/write and write/write conflicts in an query database system that permits access to data that will not cause a conflict and that is not subject to the access plans chosen by the database system.

Detection and prevention of writing conflicts within nested query statements

International Business Machines Corporation


A composite anti-friction bearing structure comprising a bearing substrate and an anti-friction layer. The bearing structure can be in the form of bushings, wear plates, wear rings, etc. The anti-friction layer includes particles of an alloy which combines lubricity of molybdenum with the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of elements such as cobalt and nickel. The invention is particularly related to anti-friction bushings for use in die sets, presses and other heavy duty machinery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite anti-friction bearing structure comprising a bearing substrate and an anti-friction layer. The bearing structure can be in the form of bushings, wear plates, wear rings, etc. The invention is particularly related to anti-friction bushings for use in die sets, presses and other heavy duty machinery.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Bearing structures such as friction bearings, wear plates and wear rings are designed to accommodate rotational or linear contact motion in machines. In addition to lubricants, it is known to coat or plate various materials onto the bearing substrate to form an anti-friction layer providing reduced friction and increased wear resistance.
Long lasting precision bushings are an important component in commercially acceptable die sets. Because these bushings are often subjected to high press velocities and substantial side thrust forces, it is necessary that they be formed from a monolithic block and that they be carefully constructed to exacting specifications. Two types of plain guide bushings are well known to the art: hardened steel bushings and plated bushings in which a thin layer of bronze is plated inside the bore of a steel bushing. In either case, the bushing is closely fitted to a hardened and ground guide post with a diametrical clearance ranging from about 0.00076 to 0.002 cm.
Hardened steel bushings, when properly lubricated and maintained in alignment, will provide excellent service and wear life at moderate press speeds. For applications with higher speeds or higher side loads, bronze plated bushings are preferred because they reduce chances of galling or seizing. Bronze is also superior to steel in its ability to conduct heat away from the bearing surface.
These bronze plated bushings must be lubricated regularly to avoid failure. It is well known to provide bushings with means for lubrication, such as a lubricating fitting so that grease or other lubricants may be periodically introduced to the bushing internal bearing surface. However, under high velocity and extreme load conditions such lubricants are quickly dissipated; and if the tool operator is not diligent in the proper and periodic application of lubricant, it is possible that a bushing may seize despite all of the foregoing design precautions.
Many strategies have been employed to overcome the problem. One solution is to install a central lubrication system on each press which constantly meters lubrication to the guiding, but this approach is very expensive.
Another method for reducing servicing requirements is to employ a ball bearing guiding instead of friction guiding, but this too is expensive, and since ball bearing guiding is not as rigid as solid guiding, wear to the stamping tool is more rapid.
Some years ago a new friction-bushing was introduced to the market, one which incorporated a series of drilled holes filled with graphite plugs. The principle behind this design was that frictional heat will cause the graphite plugs to "sweat" and exude a portion of lubricant onto the bearing surface. This was the first step toward a self lubricating bushing, but the design had its problems.
First, the bushing ran at elevated temperatures, so the running clearance between the guide pillar and bushing had to be large. This made it impossible to perform close tolerance stamping work. Second, the multiplicity of lubrication holes weakened the bushing's structure, and wear was rapid. Third, the graphite lubricant left a dirty, greasy residue in the die area. Fourth, if the operator mistakenly added lubricant to the guiding, the graphite would form a sticky mess with the lubricant and make it very difficult to disassemble the guide pillar from the bushing. Fifth, the bushing was expensive and time consuming to produce. A series of holes had to be drilled into the bushing, then graphite plugs had to be inserted into the holes by hand.
A quality bushing for use in die sets and in other high load applications and capable of self-lubrication for extended periods of service is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,548 (Danly, Sr.). Danly, Sr. developed a process for forming a compacted and sintered porous bronze bearing layer on an internally machined cylindrical surface of the monolithic steel bushing body. For lubrication, the bushing included one or more recesses extending along the internal bearing surface and in communication with a passageway from a lubricant reservoir. This recess facilitated distribution of the lubricant on the internal bearing surface. The sintered bronze layer was preferably a porous layer impregnated with a solid polymeric lubricant.
Although the above bushing with sintered porous bronze bearing layer represented a dramatic improvement in the state of the art and required lubrication at much less frequent intervals, it nevertheless did require re-application of lubricants, and was liable to failure if not lubricated. Stamping plant managers have difficulty enforcing good maintenance practices on their production lines. One problem in particular stands out—getting press operators to regularly lubricate the stamping tools. This policing job is particularly difficult in large stamping plants running on a 3 shift basis.
It will be readily apparent that these shortcomings are not limited to bushings. Presently, "self lubricating" bronze plates are known, which are drilled and plugged with graphite plugs. These plates suffer the same limitations as discussed above with respect to bronze plated bushings. There is thus a need to improve bronze wear plates and wear rings of the type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,460 (Johnson et al) U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,026 (Roper), U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,054 (Roper) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,893 (Seidl et al.).
It is known from, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,861 (Ecer) to provide a bearing structure having a substrate and a bearing surface of alternating hard metal and soft metal areas. Hard metals, commonly known in the art as hardfacing compositions, are generally either metal carbide based compositions or intermetallic hardfacing alloys. These materials are well known to those skilled in the art under various proprietary names, such as STELLITE alloys, HAYNES alloys, DELCROME alloys and TRIBALOY alloys. STELLITE alloys are examples of a carbide based hardfacing alloys, whereas TRIBALOY alloys are examples of intermetallic hardfacing alloys.
According to Ecer, powdered hardfacing composition is deposited on the bearing precursor surface, and then a concentrated beam of energy (from e.g., laser beam, electron beam, gas tungsten arc welding device) is applied to melt the hardfacing composition in the shape of strips, chevrons or islands. Excess, unsolidified hardfacing powder is removed, and a soft metal such as brazing and bearing metals and alloys (e.g., silver, silver based alloys, copper, copper based alloys, tin, tin based alloys, nickel, nickel based alloys, lead and lead base alloys, and aluminum bronze alloy) is melted to fill the gaps between the strips. The intermediate product is then machined to provide the final composite bearing surface.
Unfortunately, such a process and design cannot be easily adapted to non-planar surfaces, and particularly deep recesses such as internal bores of bushings. Further, the environment of use indicated in this patent, such as crankshaft bearings and "downhole" prospecting for oil, indicates presence of external liquid lubricants.
The present inventors thus determined that there is need for bushings and wear plates particularly suitable for use in high velocity and extreme load conditions where conventional lubricants are quickly dissipated and conventionally lubricated bearing structures are liable to failure if not properly monitored and replenished.
The present inventors wanted to develop a bushing that required no re-application of lubricant, that could operate under tight running clearances, would be long lasting and wear resistant, would not degrade in performance if not lubricated, and would be economical to manufacture.

Metal forming device including bearing with sintered anti-friction bearing surface


An automobile lift and straightening platform is useful for performing repairs on motor vehicles received thereon, and includes a base, a bench which includes treadways for permitting the vehicle to roll thereon and receiving anchors for coupling the vehicle body to the bench, a lifting unit for raising and lowering the bench relative to the base, and a locking unit for locking the bench in an elevated position relative to the base and thereby inhibiting undesired lowering of the vehicle. An unlocking member is provided which may be actuated by the foot of the worker. A hand held control is connected to a power unit for operating an extensible ram of the lifting unit to raise and lower the bench, thus permitting one worker to lower the bench when simultaneously actuating the control and the unlocking member. The platform receives a pulling assembly which is more readily aligned and coupled to the bench by the provision of for and aft suspension assemblies which permits assisted tilting of the pulling assembly to insert a tongue of the pulling assembly into a receiver on the bench.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a platform for lifting automobiles for use in small repair facilities requiring the platform to be readily moved and capable of one person operation. More particularly, it is concerned with a lifting platform capable of receiving pulling towers in a multiplicity of different locations for straightening an automobile chassis and body with enhanced ease of use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automobiles involved in collisions often require extensive body work to return the automobile to its original body alignment. The work often includes the use of strategically positioned pulls on the chassis and/or body to straighten the chassis. This technique of straightening is well known in the art, but until recently has required large, heavy platforms to support the automobile and withstand the pulling forces. These platforms are very useful, but because of their size and expense have been limited to larger and more specialized body shops which have sufficient size and volume of repair work to justify the space and expenditure of large platforms. Smaller repair shops could not devote the space, funds, or manpower necessary to utilize such large platforms. In addition, larger repair shops would benefit from a lighter platform which could be readily moved and used for work not involving high force pulls.
More recently, various efforts to providing a smaller repair platform have been initiated. These platforms have been generally small scissor lifts designed to have a lifting tower coupled at one location on the platform. Their configuration thus has limited capability in regard to the pulling force or direction which may be applied to the automobile. Moreover, these existing platforms are not designed to permit drive-on/drive-off capabilities, making usage more difficult for a single individual.
There has thus developed a need for a small, economical repair platform which not only lifts the vehicle to permit access to the undercarriage and usage for purposes other than body straightening, but also accommodates the needs of the small repair shop for improved positioning of pulling towers and facilitates one-person usage.
These objects have largely been met by the present invention which enables a worker to quickly and easily position the automobile on the platform, position a pulling tower, and raise and lower a deck on which the automobile is supported without additional assistance. Moreover, the platform permits the automobile to be driven onto the platform into a predetermined position, and then driven off. Moreover, the platform includes as a safety feature a locking bar assembly which prevents unintended lowering of the deck unless the worker performs two simultaneous operations.
Broadly speaking, the automobile lift and straightening platform of the present invention includes a base, a lifting assembly, a bench having a pair of drive-on decks, a locking assembly, and optionally, or at different times during the course of use, a pulling assembly which may be mounted to the bench or to an extension, and runways having ramps to permit a vehicle to drive onto the deck. The runways may be coupled to the base and detachably receive ramps and chocks thereon so that the automobile may be driven on to the deck until stopped by the chocks at a predetermined position, and then backed off or alternatively the ramps may be repositioned in place of the chocks whereby the automobile may be driven in the same direction.
Moreover, the bench and extension present a multiplicity of receivers for enabling attachment of a pulling assembly including a tower to the platform, thereby providing improved pulling force capability as the tower or towers need not tilt in order to be positioned opposite a damaged portion of the vehicle and then to pull from the desired location relative to the vehicle. Further, the configuration of the bench makes it possible for more than one tower to be employed for simultaneous pulling at multiple locations. The tower thus retains the same pulling power at different elevations relative to the bench or extension. The tower preferably includes a spring assist in regard to its height above the supporting surface, whereby the tower may be more easily attached to a receiver. The deck is configured to receive anchoring stands for coupling the automobile to the deck. Thus, the automobile may be driven onto the deck, coupled thereto by the anchors, and then be raised, such that for the large majority of automobiles and trucks, there is no need to lift either the automobile or the deck prior to coupling.
In order to facilitate operation by a single worker, the platform hereof includes removable wheel assemblies and a trolley which may be mounted to the platform for moving by a single person. The locking assembly is gravity actuated and prevents the deck from undesired lowering relative to the base, and an unlocking arm actuated by a foot pedal permits the worker to actuate a hand control to lower the deck while using his foot to disengage the locking assembly. Thus, lowering of the deck requires two independent operations which may be performed by a single person, thereby making it unlikely that the deck will be unintentionally lowered until ready.
These and other features will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the drawings and the following description of the preferred embodiment.
FIG. 1 is a left rear perspective view of the automobile lift and straightening platform of the present invention, showing the deck elevated relative to the base and the ramps and chocks in position on the runways;
FIG. 2 is a front right perspective view of the platform of the present invention showing the front tower mount and the deck elevated relative to the base;
FIG. 3 is a front right perspective view of a pulling extension for attachment to the front tower mount for providing additional locations for attachment of one or more pulling towers;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the platform of the platform of the present invention showing the location of the deck relative to the runways when in a lowered position;
FIG. 5 is a left side elevational view of the platform of the present invention shown in a lowered position;
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the platform of the present invention showing the deck in an elevated position;
FIG. 7 is a left side elevational view thereof;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view with portions of the top plate of the deck broken away, showing longitudinally slidable anchor blocks in the interior of the deck, demountable transport wheel assemblies, and a tower coupled to the pulling extension positioned in the front tower mount;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational view of the platform showing a pulling tower coupled to the pulling extension as illustrated in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken longitudinally through the platform hereof, showing the upper and lower cylinder mount and rear lift arms in an elevated position;
FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the rear of the platform showing attachment of a transport trolley for moving the platform after the attachment of the wheel assemblies; and
FIG. 12 is a fragmentary elevational view in partial section through a channel of the base showing one of the wheel assemblies mounted to a runway receiver.

Portable lift and straightening platform