The present invention is a process to apply an electrical pretreatment to a fibrillating heart that begins the process of organizing the action of the chaotically contracting myocardial cells, so that the defibrillating waveform applied after the pretreatment can accomplish its task with less energy than would otherwise be required. The same electrodes are employed for both pretreatment and defibrillation. In one preferred embodiment a long-duration, low-voltage pretreatment pulse is generated directly by battery and voltage-conversion circuitry, and is followed by the defibrillation pulse delivered from the previously charged capacitor. In variations on this embodiment, the capacitor is charged during the pretreatment pulse, or between the pretreatment and defibrillation pulses. In other preferred embodiments, pretreatment consists of a train of pulses of appreciably lower energy than the defibrillation pulse, and with inter-pulse time adjusted so that necessary capacitor recharging can be accomplished, so that the same capacitor (a component of dominant size) can be used for all pretreatment pulses and for the defibrillation pulse as well. Wide-ranging variations of pulse duration, height spacing and waveform are included, as well as selected polarity inversions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to defibrillation processes, and more particularly, pertains to the new process of pretreatment, especially electrically rendering the heart muscle more amenable than it would otherwise be to the influence of defibrillation waveforms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Defibrillation, or causing the cessation of chaotic and uncoordinated contraction of the ventricular myocardium by application of an electrical voltage and current, in its most primitive form goes back to the last century. [J. L. Prevost and F. Batelli, "Spur quelques effects des descharges electriques sur le couer des mammifers", Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des sanes de l'Academie des sciences, Vol. 129, pp 1267, 1899.] The sophistication and effectiveness of defibrillation techniques has grown rapidly in recent decades. One of the most recent developments has been the practical advent of implantable defibrillation systems. [R. A. Winkle, R. H. Mead, M. A. Ruder, et al., "Long-term outcome with the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator", J Am Coll Cardiol., vol 13, pp 1353-1361, May, 1989. M. H. Lehman, S. Saksena, "Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in cardiovascular practice: Report of the policy conference of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology", PACE, vol 14, pp 969-979, June, 1991.] With the acceptance of this technology, the new challenge is to reduce system size while preserving its effectiveness, in order to improve the patient's quality of life and to extend the range of application of such systems. [R. A. Winkle, "State-of-the-Art of the AICD", PACE, vol 14, pp 961-966, May, 1991, pt II. N. G. Tullo, S. Saksena, R. B. Krol, "Technological improvements in future implantable defibrillators", CARDIO, vol 7, pp 107-111, May, 1990.]
The next challenge, not yet met, is to develop ways to detect imminent fibrillation so that sophisticated pacing techniques may forestall its onset, thus sparing the patient the discomfort and trauma of a high-energy electrical discharge within the upper body. [J. E. Skinner, C. Carpeggiani, C. E. Landisman, et al., "Correlation dimension of heartbeat interval is reduced in conscious pigs by myocardial ischemia", Cir. Res., vol 68, pp 966-976, April, 1991. M. W. Kroll and K. W. Fulton, "Slope filtered correlation dimension algorithm and its evaluation with pre-fibrillation heart rate data", J. Electrocardiology, vol 24, January, 1992.] Until an ability to anticipate fibrillation has been achieved, it will be necessary to achieve defibrillation by passing a large current through the heart using a system such as that represented schematically in FIG. 1, the prior art. The current must be large enough to extinguish wavefronts by directly depolarizing a major portion of the myocardium. [D. P. Zipes, J. Fischer, R. M. King, et al., "Termination of ventricular fibrillation in dogs by depolarizing a critical amount of myocardium", Am Cardiol., vol 36, pp 37-44, July, 1975.] The current value must also be above the defibrillation threshold, and above an upper limit of ventricular vulnerability so that cells will not be stimulated in a fashion that causes fibrillation to commence anew. [P. S. Chen, N. Shibata, E. G. Dixon, et al., "Comparison of the defibrillation threshold and the upper limit of ventricular vulnerability", Circulation, vol. 73 #5, pp 102-1028, May, 1986.]
Prior art in the broadest sense uses an arrangement like that shown schematically in FIG. 1 to deliver electrical stimulus to the heart. A typical waveform, voltage versus time, employed for defibrillation may be the monophasic waveform pictured in FIG. 2, the prior art. Typical values are a pulse duration of 7 milliseconds, a peak amplitude of 750 volts and peak current of 15 amperes, assuming electrodes that yield a heart resistance of approximately 50 ohms. A minor variation of this prior art case involved one pulse delivered between a certain pair of electrodes, and a second pulse delivered through a different pair of electrodes.
Another prior art option that shows improved results is the biphasic waveform depicted in FIG. 3, the prior art. [E. G. Dixon, A. S. L. Tang, P. D. Wolf, et al., "Improved defibrillation thresholds with large contoured epicardial electrodes and biphasic waveforms", Circulation, vol 76 #5, pp 1176-1184, Nov., 1987.] Here, the initial pulse is similar to the monophasic pulse, but a second pulse of opposite polarity is caused to follow the first immediately by a switching reversal of the capacitor.
The processes and procedures of the prior art that most nearly approach the novel feature of the present invention, however, are quite remote from it. Hence, their marginal relevance can best be appreciated by first noting the outline of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the short-duration, high-voltage defibrillating pulse is preceded by a contiguous and same-polarity, long-duration, low-voltage waveform. In other embodiments of the present invention, a train of electrical pulses requiring little energy storage achieves temporal and spatial organization of significant portions of the heart muscle, so that a subsequent defibrillating pulse can accomplish its role using less energy than would otherwise be required. The pulse train is delivered through the large electrodes used to administer the defibrillating pulse.
The only even remotely similar methods in the prior art are these: One could argue that in the biphasic defibrillation of the prior art, the initial pulse constitutes an electrical pretreatment that improves the efficacy of the second, although several significant elements of the present invention are absent altogether in this case, particularly the train of pulses of the other embodiments. A further point of difference is that our pretreatment pulse or pulses are of significantly lower energy than the defibrillation pulse, whereas the first pulse in the biphasic waveform is usually of higher energy than the second.
Pulses delivered at a rapid rate are sometimes used in the prior art of pacing to combat tachycardia, or rapid pulse. The aim here is to "outrun" the tachycardia by administering heart-stimulating pulses at a high rate. This pulse-train case is very different from those of the present invention, however, because (1) it delivers pulses through the pacing lead rather than through the large defibrillation electrodes; (2) it employs pulse voltages in the neighborhood of 5 volts rather than several hundred volts; (3) it seeks to achieve a cessation of tachycardia rather than fibrillation; (4) its pulse train delivered through the pacing lead is never followed by a significantly stronger pulse, whereas in embodiments of the present invention, the train of pulses delivered through the defibrillation electrodes is always followed by a significantly stronger pulse.
It should be noted that the dual-pulse, single-path option was studied in the 1960s and found to yield no improvement. [Kugelberg, Jan. "Ventricular defibrillation: a new aspect", Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica, Supp 372, Stockholm, 1967.]
Another aspect of prior art is the dual-pulse process discussed above as a variation on the monophasic waveform, wherein the initial pulse could conceivably be termed "pretreatment". But this method differs fundamentally form the present invention because a different path is used for the second path in the dual-pulse method of the prior art. Other prior art is the work of Jones and Jones. [J. L. Jones and R. E. Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,397, filed May 30, 1985, and issued Jan. 20, 1987.] It employs what is essentially a biphasic pulse, followed by a comparatively low-power "healing pulse", the last having the same polarity as the first pulse. The concept of a final low-power or healing pulse is totally absent from the present invention.
Summarizing, the present invention differs from the prior art in that it uses (1) many pulses or else one or more long-duration, low-voltage pulse; (2) high-heart-rate pulse spacings greater than, for example 200 milliseconds, while the dual-pulse spacing is negligible, or the order of 1 millisecond; (3) the same pair of electrodes for all pulses; (4) one or many low-energy pulses followed by a high-energy pulse, rather than two or more pulses of comparable energy.

Process for defibrillation pretreatment of a heart


Provided is a network resource provisioning method for bandwidth guarantee per flow in a differentiated service Internet in which bandwidth needed for each flow is individually requested. The method includes setting an optimum path between a source node and a destination node based on a request for traffic for a specific period of time; performing static provisioning in which bandwidth is allocated to the optimum path according to a service class thereof; determining whether all of the bandwidth allocated to the optimum path by performing static provisioning are used up, and accepting connection admission according to the determination result; and when connection admission is not accepted, performing dynamic provisioning in which additional bandwidth is allocated to the optimum path based on a request for traffic from a new incoming flow. Accordingly, it is possible to efficiently provide a quality-guaranteed service by accepting a request for bandwidth per flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network resource provisioning method for bandwidth guarantee per flow, and more particularly, to a network resource provisioning method, which is a service quality guaranteeing method, for providing quality-guaranteed services by performing static provisioning based on existing requests for traffic to set an initial network and performing dynamic provisioning based on a change in incoming traffic during a data service, thereby guaranteeing bandwidth requested per flow, and a connection admission control method based on the network resource provisioning method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advancements in data transmission technology have resulted in increases in the optical bandwidth of the Internet, e.g., XDSL and the Metro Ethernet. Also, the development of various Internet multimedia content has lead to the introduction of new application services, such as Internet broadcasting, Voice over IP (VoIP), and a virtual private network, which require guaranteed service quality. Accordingly, Internet service users have started requesting differentiated services to receive quality of service guaranteed per flow, and thus, much attention has been paid to the development of techniques of guaranteeing service quality on the Internet.
Accordingly, in the field of the Internet, there is a growing need for techniques of guaranteeing service quality that satisfy not only a bandwidth guarantee but also transmission reliability, real-time transmission, etc. in order to support service applications that need various requirements, not best-effort services.
Examples of techniques of guaranteeing service quality on the Internet include connection admission control, congestion control, traffic shaping/metering/marking, scheduling, etc. Among these techniques, connection admission control is first needed.
Connection admission control is aimed at provisioning network resources to provide a reliable path that guarantees users' requirements of a reduction in packet loss probability or network delays.
Methods of provisioning network resources using a bandwidth broker are broadly categorized into a static provisioning method and a dynamic provisioning method. Here, the bandwidth broker determines whether a user's request for a service is acceptable, and allocates resources in a network accordingly.
In general, the static provisioning method is used for network resource management using the bandwidth broker. In this method, resources are allocated to a predetermined routing path in units of a specific period of time (a day, a week, or a month) in an offline mode according to a service-level agreement, and when a user makes a request for a new connection, acceptance of the request is determined according to the allocated resources. Accordingly, the static provisioning method cannot exactly reflect the dynamic status of a network, resulting in inefficient use of resources.
In contrast, in the dynamic provisioning method, the bandwidth broker receives reports regarding the current status of a network from all nodes in the network and reflects the statuses in resource allocation. Thus, it is possible to dynamically manage resources and perform connection admission control when a user requests a new connection, according to the status of the network or a change in routing. However, this method needs frequent communication to be established between all of the nodes in the network and the bandwidth broker, and the bandwidth broker to perform resource management for each link in the network. Therefore, the dynamic provisioning method has disadvantages in terms of scalability and complexity.
Also, when using the bandwidth broker for resource allocation, since the bandwidth broker performs connection admission control for all requests for connection, responses to the requests cannot be immediately made and resource allocation depends greatly on the performance of the bandwidth broker.
Thus, the static provisioning method using a bandwidth broker is not applicable to dynamic Internet traffic or routing in a network, and a change in network resource allocation is made in units of a specific period of time in the static provisioning method, thereby preventing efficient use of network resources.
In the dynamic provisioning method, which has been introduced to compensate for the problems of the static provisioning method, the bandwidth broker receives reports regarding the status of a network from all nodes in the network and manages the network (even the levels of links in the network). Also, communication is frequently established between each node and the bandwidth broker, thereby preventing scalability and increasing complexity.

Network resource provisioning method for bandwidth guarantee per flow

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A sealing arrangement for sealing a quartz tube with a UV lamp therein and electrical cable extending therefrom through the lid of a pressurized fluid purification vessel. In one version, a tubular fitting, threaded on opposite ends, is received over an end of the quartz tube and threadedly engaged in an aperture in the lid and sealed with a first annular seal, a second annular seal in the tubular fitting seals about the quartz tube. A compression nut with an axial extension threadedly engages the opposite end of the tubular fitting and a strain/flexure relief is threaded into the axial extension. In a second version, the second annular seal comprises a flexible sleeve with a member having resilient radially deflectable fingers compressed thereon by a compression nut; and, duplicates of these parts employed to seal about the electrical cable.

The present disclosure relates to sealing of a quartz tube containing an electrical device with an electrical lead extending from the tube through the metal wall of a pressurized fluid vessel. Such tubes are employed in fluid purification systems utilizing radiation, such as that emanating from an ultraviolet lamp, within the quartz tube for purification of the fluid. Purification systems employing UV radiation are used in commercial fluid filtration and purification systems where the fluid is to be recycled or used continuously in a process and particularly for water filtration and purification processes.
In systems of the aforesaid type, the pressure vessel may have a removable lid with a plurality of quartz tubes extending therethrough and sealed therein for providing within each of the tubes an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating the fluid in the pressure vessel. In applications where the pressure vessel is of a relatively large volume with a multiplicity of quartz tubes provided through the lid, each with a UV lamp therein, the pressure vessel may be operated with fluid pressures therein in the order of 10 bar (1013 kPa) with fluid temperatures ranging from −60° C. to 105° C. It will be understood that when it is required to remove the lid from the pressure vessel for servicing the contents of the pressure vessel, which may include filters, that it is first required to remove the quartz tubes and UV lamps before the lid is removed from the pressure vessel. Also, it is desirable that the quartz tubes may be removed individually for UV lamp replacement without removing the lid. In such pressure and temperature environments, it has been found difficult to provide a simple, reliably sealing arrangement for sealing the quartz tube in the lid of such a pressure vessel in a manner which provides for easy removal and reassembly. Providing a simple, reliable, readily installable and easily removable technique for sealing of the quartz tube through the metal lid of the pressure vessel has proven difficult in view of the brittleness of the quartz tube with respect to providing the necessary sealing to retain the fluid pressure in the vessel and preventing leakage between the quartz tube and the metal lid. In addition. In the event of breakage of a quartz tube, it is required to maintain the integrity of fluid sealing to prevent fluid escape from the vessel, either around the quartz tube or around the electrical cable. This has proven particularly difficult and complex where extremes of fluid temperatures are encountered. In addition, the electrical leads for the UV lamp extending from the quartz tube require additional securing and flexure strain relief to prevent damage and/or shorting of the electrical leads. Heretofore, this has required a multiplicity of fittings and seals to accomplish the intended result. Thus, it has been desired to provide a simple easily installed and removed and effective way of sealing a quartz tube through the metal wall of a pressure vessel and to provide for securing and strain/flexure relief of the electrical leads extending from the quartz tube.


A method for forming a self-aligned local-halo metal-oxide-semiconductor device is provided. The present method is characterized in that a pair of first sidewall spacers is firstly formed on opposite sides of a gate electrode over a semiconductor substrate, and then a pair of second sidewall spacers is formed, each of which formed on one side of each first sidewall spacer. Next, a raised source/drain is formed upward on the substrate between each shallow trench isolation and each second sidewall spacer. Thereafter, the pair of second sidewall spacers is stripped away. Then, the gate electrode and raised source/drain act as the self-aligned ion implant masks, a LDD/Halo implantation is performed to form a local LDD/Halo diffusion region between each shallow trench isolation and each of the first sidewall spacers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a raised source/drain semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method for forming a local-halo semiconductor device with raised source/drain.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As semiconductor devices are scaled to smaller dimensions, generally in the sub-0.1 xcexcm region, it is highly desirable and generally necessary to fabricate such devices with source/drain shallow junction and a controllable halo implant region adjacent to the source/drain shallow junction to reduce short channel effects, such as subsurface punchthrough and hot carrier effect. The halo implant region is a doped implanted region, which is oppositely doped to the shallow junction region. However, when a silicide is formed on the source/drain region, the silicide easily contacts with the shallow junction to make junction leakage. Therefore, an approach to resolve the leakage problem is to use raised source/drain. Since the raised source/drain is formed upward above the substrate, the silicide could not easily contact with the shallow junction, and then the junction leakage can be reduced.
FIGS. 1A to 1C shows various steps for forming a conventional N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device with raised source/drain. The conventional method comprises the following steps. Firstly, referring to FIG. 1A, a P type semiconductor substrate 100 is provided. A plurality of shallow trench isolation 101 is formed in the substrate 100. Then, a gate oxide 102 and a gate electrode 103 are sequentially formed between each pair of the shallow trench isolation 101 on the substrate 100. Subsequently, placing an implant mask on the substrate 100 and by way of ion implantation, to form an N type lightly doped drain region 104 between the gate electrode 103 and each of the pair of shallow trench isolation 101 in the substrate 100. And then, performing halo implantation to form a halo implant region 105 with P type conductivity surrounding each of the lightly doped drain region 104.
Secondly, referring to FIG. 1B, forming a conformal silicon dioxide layer 106 on the gate electrode 103 and then forming a silicon nitride layer 107 on the conformal silicon dioxide layer 106. The conformal silicon dioxide layer 106 is anisotropically etched by way of reactive ion etch method to form a pair of first sidewall spacers 106 on opposite sides of the gate electrode 103 and a pair of second sidewall spacers 107 on the opposite sides of the first sidewall spacer 106.
Finally, referring to FIG. 1C, forming a raised source/drain 108 upward on each of the pair of the lightly doped drain region 104. However, there are some disadvantages existing in this conventional method. One is the halo implant region 105 surrounding the lightly doped drain region 104 increases the junction capacitance, resulting in a slower operation speed for the MOS device. The other is the misalignment of the ion implant mask can cause changeable LDD/halo implant regions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for forming a local halo MOS device with raised source/drain to reduce the junction capacitance and also overcome the drawbacks of the conventional method.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a method for forming a self-aligned local-halo metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device with raised source/drain, in which a gate electrode and the raised source/drain act as the self-aligned masks, a LDD/halo implantation is performed to form a local LDD/halo diffusion region therebetween in the substrate. The local LDD/halo diffusion region reduces the junction capacitance. Thereby, the operation speed of the MOS device is facilitated.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a self-aligned local-halo metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device with raised source/drain, in which a gate electrode and the raised source/drain act as self-aligned masks to form a local LDD/halo diffusion region therebetween. Therefore, an extra mask is not necessary and then the manufacturing process is simplified.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a method for forming a self-aligned local-halo metal-oxide-semiconductor device. At first, a semiconductor substrate with a first conductive type having a plurality of shallow trench isolation formed therein is provided. Then, sequentially forming a gate oxide and a gate electrode between each pair of the shallow trench isolations over the substrate. Next, forming a first sidewall spacer along each side of the gate electrode. And then, a second sidewall spacer is formed along one side of each first sidewall spacer. Thereafter, forming a raised source/drain upward on the substrate between each shallow trench isolation and each second sidewall spacer. Then, each second sidewall spacer is removed. Following, forming a lightly doped diffusion region with a second conductive type being opposite with the first conductive type between each raised source/drain and the gate electrode in the substrate. Finally, forming a halo diffusion region with the first conductive type surrounding the lightly doped diffusion region. By way of the present method, a local LDD/halo diffusion region with a low junction capacitance is obtained. And then, the operation speed of the MOS device is facilitated.

Method for forming self-aligned local-halo metal-oxide-semiconductor device


The present general inventive concept relates to a system of method having an electronic flight display that meets the FAR 23.1311(b) regulatory requirement for redundant backup instruments in the cockpit. The present general inventive concept also provides a system and method to detect failures, obstructions, or improper operation of the aircraft pitot pressure sensing system using a combination of dissimilar sensor data that is independent from each other, e.g., allocated from different sources and employed for different purposes on different displays, and displays information on an avionics display screen.

1. Field
The present general inventive concept relates to electronic avionics systems and methods, more particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to systems and methods to detect and/or provide backup in the event of failures, obstructions, or improper operation of an aircraft pitot pressure sensing system or other failures of instruments. In one embodiment, the present general inventive concept relates to a unique electronic flight display architecture that meets the FAR 23.1311(b) regulatory requirement for redundant backup instruments in the cockpit. In another embodiment the general inventive concept uses a combination of dissimilar sensor data and displays information to an avionics display.
2. Description of Related Art
The FAA Advisory Circular 23.1311-1B sets forth acceptable means of showing compliance with 14 CFR §23 for installing electronic displays in part 23 airplanes. Among other things, it requires a reversionary or backup architecture for electronic primary flight displays, or an equivalent level of safety.
Pitot pressure and ambient static pressure are used to determine aircraft indicated airspeed, which is a critical performance determinant of the aircraft and which is also often used to schedule the performance or operation of various aircraft systems, e.g., trim motors, artificial feel systems, envelope protection systems, or may be used in the computation of other flight parameters, e.g., attitude information from an Air Data Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS).
Where failure of the pitot system is a critical failure, conventional aircraft design implements a pitot sensing architecture with sufficient redundancy to assure availability of reliable data. Examples of such redundancy architectures are dual redundant pitot probes with dual redundant and monitored heating elements, with each probe heater connected to a different power generation source. In many legacy light aircraft, the installed pitot system does not possess sufficient redundancy to assure availability of the accurate data, which can result in use of misleading data and/or which generally precludes the use of data in performing critical functions, and retrofitting such legacy aircraft with redundant pitot systems is extremely difficult and costly.


One embodiment is an electric drive system for an aircraft including a motor, a gear box associated with the motor, and a cooling fan for drawing air into the unit across an electronic component to cool the electronic component and for expelling air into an oil cooler for cooling oil contained therein. The electric drive system further includes an oil distribution system for distributing oil cooled by the oil cooler to at least one motor and at least one gearbox, the distributed oil being used to cool the motor and the gearbox, a reservoir for collecting the distributed oil after it has been used to cool the motor and the gearbox, and at least one structural element for retaining the motor, gearbox, the cooling fan, the oil distribution system, and the reservoir together as a unit.

An electric motor may be used by aircraft as a power source for various functions, such as supplying rotational energy in an aircraft propulsion system. Some electric motors cool their internal electrical components using airflow, drawing ambient air into the motor and exhausting the warmed air out of the motor. In aircraft propulsion systems that utilize only a single motor, the lack of a backup motor increases the likelihood of a crash or other catastrophic condition should the motor fail. A single motor propulsion system also may not meet the power demands required by the propulsion system in the most efficient manner. Using two or more motors in a propulsion system addresses these concerns, but can give rise to other issues, including, but not limited to, an air management problem.

Electric drive system line replaceable unit with integrated thermal cooling


In this laser two successive sections of a light guide form a light amplifier (S1) and a saturable absorber (S2). In the invention a passive section (S3) of the guide follows the absorber. The invention is applicable especially to processing an optical signal.

A document from Japan (PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN, vol. 8, No. 49 (E-230) [1486], 6th Mar. 1984; & JP-A 58 202 581 NIPPON DENSHIN DENWA KOSHA, 25th Nov. 1983) describes a known laser of this kind. In this laser, two top electrodes follow each other over a light guide. One injects a power supply current through an amplifier forming a section of the guide. This current passes through a semiconductor junction in which the guide is inserted. This current thus injects carriers of opposite conductivity type into the guide, which enables the amplifier to effect the amplification needed to build up a light oscillation. The other top electrode injects an absorbance control current into a saturable absorber which is formed by another section of the guide. This current controls the absorbance of the absorber. The absorber is followed by a passive guide.
Other applications of some of the concepts underlying the present invention are disclosed in the commonly assigned U.S. patent application of J. Chesnoy et al. entitled POSITIVE FEEDBACK DEVICE FOR PROCESSING AN OPTICAL SINGAL, filed concurrently herewith under Ser. No. 07/841,710. To the extent such copending application may contain any additional information that might be of any assistance in the use and understanding of the invention claimed herein, It is hereby incorporated by reference.

Semiconductor laser with a saturable absorber


A pressure control for use in applications such as refrigeration, air conditioning and ice generating machinery includes a highly accurate snap acting switch, field adjustable trip points and reset points and a reference scale. The trip point is adjusted by means of an adjustment screw, while the reset point is adjusted by changing the differential, or the difference between the trip point and reset point. The differential is adjusted by adjusting the amount of "lost motion" within the control by employing an actuator which includes a cam surface and means for changing the position of the cam surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of pressure controls and, more particularly, to the field of compact, direct mount pressure controls for use on machinery such as that used for refrigeration, air conditioning and ice generation. Still more particularly, the invention relates to a positive action switch, wherein the switch is thrown to a first position when an actuator is moved to a first position and is returned to its initial position when the actuating plunger moves to a second position different from the first position. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to adjustment of the set and return points, including simplified control of the lost motion aspect of the invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
On refrigeration, air conditioning and ice generation equipment, a variety of pressure controls have been used in the past to cycle the compressor, cycle the condenser fan, prevent system overload, etc. In the past, these controls have generally fallen into two categories. In the first, highly accurate controls which had easily accessible trip points and reset points were used and were adapted to various applications and field conditions. These controls normally relied on extensive lever mechanisms and multiple springs to make adjustments. These components made them unsuitable for mounting directly to the equipment due to the high vibration levels usually associated with such equipment. This necessitated mounting the control remotely from the equipment and connecting the control with a hose or capillary. Breakage or leakage in the hose or capillary would result in a loss of refrigerant charge.
The second type of prior art controls have been direct mount controls, which were usually constructed in a rugged manner to take the compressor vibration. However, these controls were usually less accurate than the type described above. The majority of the direct mount controls have trip points and reset points which are factory set and are not field adjustable. Even on those controls where field adjustment is possible, it has been very difficult and usually requires that the control be removed from the equipment to make the adjustment. Also, in the latter case, it has been a typical practice to adjust the differential by varying the contact gap, which in turn severely limits the load which the switch can effectively carry.
One type of control which has been employed is the positive action switch or snap switch. Generally speaking, it consists of a flexible arm which is contacted by an actuating plunger to force the flexible arm past an "over center position." As soon as the flexible arm is forced past such position, the construction of the switch is such that the portion of the arm carrying electrical contacts will move from positive contact with a stationary contact on one side to contact with a stationary contact on its other side by a single positive movement known commonly as the "snap." See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,789,173, issued Apr. 16, 1957.
When the plunger is retracted away from the flexible arm in such devices, the flexible arm again passes over its over center position, which causes the flexible arm to "snap" the contacts carried by it back to their first position. Thus, a basic characteristic of these devices was that the switching action will occur at substantially the same position of the plunger, regardless of whether the plunger is traveling in one direction or the other, for there is only a very small distance of a few thousandths of an inch between each side of the over center position. Previously, deficiencies noted for such switches were overcome by utilizing more than one positive action switch whenever it was desirable to have switching in a circuit occur at different positions of the device which actuates the switch plunger.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,055, issued Feb. 1, 1966, a switch was described which overcame the latter problem by providing means in a single positive action switch for differential switching positions of the actuating plunger. Furthermore, in the device shown in this patent, the distance of actuating plunger travel between switch operation in one direction and switch operation in the opposite direction was adjustable, utilizing the positioning of two "abutments" in different areas of the switch to engage opposite sides of the switch blade, depending on which direction the plunger was traveling. Movement of the plunger was opposed by a resilient device such as a spring, so that when the plunger was retracted, the switching operation in the opposite direction would occur only when an abutment carried between the spring and the switch arm reached the surface of the switch arm, resulting in a lost motion approach to switch adjustment. In such device, instead of only a few thousandths of an inch existing between switch operation and switch reactivation, switching in the opposite direction would not occur until the plunger has been withdrawn to a position on the order of thirty thousandths to one hundred fifty thousandths (30/1000-150/1000) of an inch further away from the position which would normally cause the switch to operate. The device provided means not only for adjusting the initial switch point, but also the distance between the differential positionings of the actuating plunger.
During operation of the switch most recently referred to, actuation of the plunger would cause contact on the upper surface of the switch blade, forcing it down until the blade would snap to the depressed position. The free end of the blade would bring the contacts from one location to another, resulting in the desired switch actuation. Following switching, typically the passive plunger, located on the opposite side of the switch blade, would start to move but would not cause the switch to move to its initial position until it had moved upwardly by approximately one hundred thousandths (100/1000) of an inch. An abutment on the passive plunger would, at that point, approach the lower side of the blade, eventually contacting it and providing the force to bulge the blade upwardly and snap it to its elevated, original position. The differential distance between the actuation positions was adjusted by rotating threaded plugs with a screwdriver, such adjustment varying the amount of protrusion of a pin beyond the abutments and therefore controlling the distance between the respective abutments described in the patent.
With the device described in the last-mentioned patent, control has been a problem, as has been the establishment of the relative pressures set by the various adjustment mechanisms.
A pressure switch which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art would be a significant advancement in the art.

Direct mount pressure control with a field adjustable trip point and reset point


Method, system, and programs for hybrid information query. A request is first received from a user associated with a hybrid query. The hybrid query is expressed in accordance with an input in terms of one of a user, a feature, and a document, and a desired hybrid query result in terms of one of a user, a feature, and a document. A mapping is then determined between the input and the desired hybrid query result. A hybrid model is established based on hybrid information collected and associated with one or more users. The mapping is performed based on the hybrid model to obtain the desired hybrid query result based on the input. Eventually, the desired hybrid query result is provided as a response to the hybrid query.

1. Technical Field
The present teaching relates to methods, systems, and programming for Internet services. Particularly, the present teaching relates to methods, systems, and programming for providing information to Internet users.
2. Discussion of Technical Background
Search engines are programs that search documents for specified keywords and return a list of the documents where the keywords were found. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art search engine 100. The search engine 100 retrieves web pages by a web crawler. The contents of each page are then analyzed by a main module 102 to determine how it should be indexed. Data about web pages are stored in an index database 104 for use in later queries. When a user 106 enters a query 108 into the search engine 100 by using keywords, the main module 102 examines its index and provides the user 106 a listing of best-matching documents, e.g., web pages, from the index database 104 as query results 110 according to its criteria. However, the known search engine 100 only looks for the words or phrases in the documents exactly as entered from the query. It allows only query of documents through keywords. In other words, the query 108 is limited to only keywords, and the query result is limited to documents in the prior art search engine 100.
Personalized content recommendation may be available in the prior art search engine 100 by a content analyzer 112 and a content suggestion module 114. Traditional content recommendation may be realized in one of two ways—through collaborative filtering or content-based filtering. Collaborative filtering approaches build a model based on the user's public information, e.g., past behaviors, as well as similar decisions made by other users, and use that model to predict other content that the user may be interested in. Content-based filtering approaches utilize a series of discrete characteristics of known content stored in the database 104 in order to recommend additional content with similar properties. In addition, the prior art search engine 100 usually considers only explicit relationships among users and interests of users explicitly expressed based on their online content consumption activities. Implicit relationships, although handled in some existing technologies, are most identified via ad-hoc approaches. Furthermore, traditional recommendation systems usually only acquire data voluntarily provided by users, e.g., through questionnaires, or data recorded by the recommendation systems when users are directly interacting with the recommendation systems, e.g., cookies or activity logs when the users are signing in the recommendation systems. As a result, new users or inactive users of the recommendation systems cannot be used to provide data for building recommendation models. Accordingly, for new users or inactive users whose personal data is unavailable or sparse, the traditional systems become less effective in personalized content recommendation.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved solution for hybrid information query based on information associated with users, whether such information is static, dynamic, offline, online, explicit or implicit, all in a systematic and effective manner in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Method and system for hybrid information query

HAIZHI WANGJU NETWORK TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.


In a motorcycle engine, an air-intake port is opened upwardly, a throttle body is arranged so as to be inclined toward the front, and an idle-adjusting apparatus having an idle-adjusting lever is arranged at a position above a cylinder head and close to a cylinder head cover. The idle-adjusting lever is arranged at a relatively high position where a driver's hand reaches easily, thereby improving operability thereof. A fuel injection apparatus integrally includes the throttle body, an injector, and the idle-adjusting lever. The idle-adjusting lever is ergonomically arranged at a position substantially surrounded by the cylinder head cover, the throttle body and the injector, such that the idle-adjusting lever is arranged in a compact space, by which a compact layout of the engine is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an idle-adjusting apparatus in a motorcycle, and to a motorcycle incorporating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an idle-adjusting apparatus having an idle-adjusting lever provided integrally with a fuel injection apparatus of a motorcycle.
2. Description of the Background Art
It is known to provide a choke knob on a carburetor as an idle-adjusting apparatus for improving a performance of an engine during a start-up operation thereof. Also there is a known idle-adjusting apparatus, which improves starting performance by providing a choke knob on the carburetor above a main bore in the crosswise direction and by adjusting the number of idle revolutions by pulling out the choke knob sideways, and thereby increasing the amount of intake air supplied to a combustion chamber of the engine. An example of an idle-adjusting apparatus is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document JP-A-2002-371944.
A lever for adjusting the idle, such as a choke knob, as described above, is preferably easily operable by an operator who is operatively engaging a seat of the vehicle. However, since a lever (choke knob) is operated by pulling out laterally, if an attempt is made to arrange the lever for adjusting the idle at a user-friendly position, the layout of the engine may be adversely affected, which results in difficulty in providing a compact layout of the engine and the peripherals thereof.
In particular, when providing a choke knob integrally with a fuel injection apparatus having a number of components, the layout of the engine becomes further complicated and difficult.
The present invention has been made to overcome such drawbacks of existing arrangements of an idle-adjusting lever in an engine layout. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a compact layout of an engine including a fuel injection apparatus, while securing easy operability thereof.

Idle-adjusting apparatus for a motorcycle, and motorcycle incorporating same


There is provided a liquid discharge head, including: a pressure chamber connected to a nozzle from which a liquid is discharged; an actuator configured to apply discharge pressure to the liquid in the pressure chamber; a first supply channel which is connected to the pressure chamber, and through which a first liquid is supplied to the pressure chamber; a second supply channel, different from the first channel, which is connected to the pressure chamber, and through which a second liquid different from the first liquid is supplied to the pressure chamber; a first valve which is disposed in the first supply channel, and by which the first supply channel is opened and closed; and a second valve which is disposed in the second supply channel, and by which the second supply channel is opened and closed.

The present disclosure relates to a liquid discharge head.
As a conventional liquid discharge head, there is known a piezo ink-jet head described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2017-185676. The head includes a nozzle from which an ink composition that contains a pigment is discharged, a pressure chamber for applying pressure to the ink composition so that the ink composition is discharged from the nozzle, and a connecting portion connecting the pressure chamber and the nozzle. An image is formed on a recording medium by the ink composition discharged from the nozzle.


Provided is a random number generating device capable of generating highly irregular random numbers with a simple configuration. The random number generating device includes: a receiving unit including a receiving mechanism configured to receive, in a contactless manner, energy transmitted from a transmitting unit, the receiving unit being configured to convert the energy received by the receiving mechanism into a reception voltage; a voltage controlled oscillator configured to output an oscillating output signal based on the reception voltage; and a pseudorandom number generator configured to generate pseudorandom numbers varying in accordance with an oscillation frequency of the output signal from the voltage controlled oscillator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to random number generating devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that random numbers are used as the ID (identification number) of a communication device such as an IC card or a contactless communication device. In such a case where random numbers are used as an ID, the random numbers are required to be highly irregular. In order to meet such a requirement, there is a known technique in which a stabilized power supply for supplying a constant output voltage to a load circuit is used, such that random numbers are generated by using a control signal that is generated by amplifying a variation of the output voltage from a reference voltage (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-122560).
FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a conventional random number generating device. As shown in FIG. 17, such a random number generating device as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-122560 includes: a regulator 900; a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 930; and a random number generator 940. In order to supply a constant output voltage Vout as power supply for a load circuit 920, the regulator 900 amplifies a difference between a reference voltage Vref and a feedback voltage S93 by means of an amplifier 91, thereby generating a control voltage S91. Based on the control voltage S91, the output voltage Vout is adjusted. The VCO 930 outputs an output signal CLK whose oscillation frequency has been varied in accordance with variation in the voltage level of the control voltage S91. The random number generator 940 generates pseudorandom numbers based on the output signal CLK from the VCO 930. Accordingly, the pseudorandom numbers generated by the random number generator 940 vary in accordance with the oscillation frequency of the VCO 930 (i.e., vary in accordance with the control voltage S91 of the regulator 900). Therefore, the random number generator 940 can generate highly irregular random numbers, so long as the control voltage S91 varies constantly.
Also, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. H10-340183 discloses a configuration for generating pseudorandom numbers varying in accordance with variation in the voltage level of a control voltage inputted to a control terminal of a VCO.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


The present disclosure relates to a laminated article with an invisible seam. The laminated article, in accordance with the present disclosure, is a laminate tube or lamitube. The present disclosure also relates to a process for manufacturing of laminated articles with substantially invisible seam.

Tubes are used in large quantities for the packaging and dispensing of various products, such as cosmetics, ointments, shampoo, toothpaste, ketchup, and the like. Initially, such tubes were made of light metals like aluminum however, due to certain drawbacks such as deformation, sharp edges, low shelf life, and less durability, plastic or laminated tubes, generally known as Plastic Barrier Laminated Tubes (PBL) Tubes have been introduced. Plastic Barrier Laminated (PBL) tubes are produced commercially and are now being widely used for wide range of product storage. For long term and efficient storage of products, the tubes are manufactured with multiple layers of films and different types of core barrier materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,905 discloses the production of seamless reinforced polymeric thermoplastic tubing for use with corrosive chemicals either alone or as a fixed lining for more rigid tubing. US Patent Application No. 2001/0042297 A1 discloses a method for producing a laminated tube of metal which has a pipe-like core sheathed in an external seamless tube, the core and external tube being telescoped together and then pressed together radially by drawing, as well as a method for producing a laminated tube of metal which is pressed radially by drawing.
During the process of manufacturing the laminate tubes, the laminate is slit according to the size of the laminated tube to be manufactured. Once the laminate is slit into smaller laminates of appropriate size, the outer layer of the laminates are printed. Further, the printed laminate is formed into a laminated tube by fusing together the longitudinal ends of the laminate. The longitudinal ends of the laminate are generally non-printed area or non-printed strips of the laminate that are overlapped and fused to form a seam of the tube. The seam of the tube is typically a hump shaped, high risen and distinguishably visible non-printed area. The seam is generally left non-printed because chemicals such as varnish contained in printing ink usually contaminate the seam area causing superficial bond between the seal interfaces during the process of fusing the laminates. As a result, the non-printed strips of the laminate restrict the area of printing on the laminate, thereby restricting a printed curved surface area of the laminated tube, and compromising with the aesthetics of the tube.

Invisible seam laminated article and process of manufacture


A screening apparatus for separating acceptable and rejectable material from a pressurized stream of fluid pulp is provided. The screening apparatus includes a housing with a chamber having a geometry conducive for deflecting air and light materials radially away from an axis of rotation and to peripheral regions of the housing. The chamber is disposed at one end of the housing and has a dimension defined by an axial spacing between the housing and an end portion of a screen basket, the axial spacing along the axis of rotation increasing with increasing radius relative to the axis of rotation. Deflecting the air and light material away from the axis of rotation improves the separation of acceptable and rejectable materials from the fluid pulp and reduces wear of the internal components of the screening apparatus.

This invention relates to screening apparatus as encountered in the pulp and paper industry. The screening apparatus separates rejectable material from acceptable material when both are in a liquid suspension.
In the papermaking process, a screening apparatus is typically used to separate foreign material from a fluid pulp. For example, a screening apparatus for recycling paper materials, is often fed material having non-recyclable materials, (e.g. plastics, foams, self-stick adhesives) which are all required to be separated from the recyclable paper.
A typical screening apparatus includes a housing within which a screen basket is mounted around a concentrically positioned rotor assembly. The screen basket is usually made from a relatively thin metal plate material having openings sized to screen the non-recyclable materials. When mounted in a screening apparatus, the screen basket provides a barrier between a screening chamber and an accept chamber. Fluid pulp is introduced to the screening chamber by way of a feed inlet which is typically at the screening chamber. Material unable to pass through the screen basket flows to an end of the screening chamber away from the feed inlet and is removed through a reject outlet. Acceptable material passing through the screen basket to the accept chamber moves on to the accept outlet for further processing.
The rotor assembly generally includes pulse elements such as, hydrofoils or a drum cylinder having a contoured surface, mounted on a rotating shaft and in close proximity to the screen basket to sweep past the openings of the screen basket. The pulse elements may be positioned on either the feed or accept side of the screen basket. The rotating pulse elements generate hydrodynamic pulses in the radial direction with enough force and frequency to continuously remove any fiber plugs that occur in the screen basket openings.
In operation, fluid pulp introduced under pressure to the feed inlet circulates along the outer radial portion of the screen apparatus housing. A spinning action is imparted to the circulating fluid pulp by the rotational motion of the rotor assembly such that materials with low specific gravity accumulate along the axis of rotation of the rotor assembly and materials of higher specific gravity move to outer radial portions of the housing. One type of screening apparatus includes an air bleed placed along the axis of rotation and within the feed chamber so that air and light materials amassed at the axis of rotation can be removed.

Pressure screening apparatus with baffle


A power supply circuit for a DRAM has a power-on detection circuit which detects when an external power supply potential reaches a predetermined potential and produces first and second detection signals, and an internal power supply circuit which generates an internal power supply potential. The power supply circuit further has a first intermediate potential generating circuit which generates a first intermediate potential from the external power supply potential and supplies it to an intermediate potential supplying node and, when the first detection signal is produced and the first intermediate potential reaches a predetermined potential, stops the supply of the first intermediate potential to the intermediate potential supplying node and the intermediate potential generating function, and a second intermediate potential generating circuit which generates a second intermediate potential from the internal power supply potential and, when the second detection signal is produced, supplies the second intermediate potential to the supplying node. The first intermediate potential generating circuit has a larger driving capability than that of the second intermediate potential generating circuit. It is made possible to shorten the rising time of the intermediate potential after the power is switched-on and to reduce the overall current consumption.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply circuit for a dynamic random access memory (hereinafter referred to as a "dynamic RAM"), and more particularly to a power supply circuit for a dynamic RAM having an internal power supply circuit for generating an internal power supply potential lower than an external power supply potential and a circuit for generating an intermediate potential which is one half of the internal power supply potential.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In the actual use of the dynamic RAMs, with the advancement of a higher integration thereof, the potential of an opposing electrode of a capacitor constituting a memory cell is set to an intermediate potential between a power supply potential and a ground potential from such a stand point as increasing reliability. In a dynamic RAM of 16 M-bits, it has reached to a point where one having an internal power supply circuit to generate a power supply potential lower than an external power supply potential is available. In that arrangement, the external power supply potential is generally 5 V but the internal power supply potential is used after it is lowered to 3.3 V. In this connection, the intermediate potential is set to 1.65 V which is an intermediate value between the internal power supply potential of 3.3 V and the ground potential.
FIG. 1 shows in a block diagram a conventional power supply circuit for a dynamic RAM, which has an internal power supply circuit and an intermediate potential generating circuit as described above.
The internal power supply circuit 2 receives an external power supply potential of 5 V and generally produces an internal power supply potential V.sub.INT of 3.3 V. The intermediate potential generating circuit 4a receives the internal power supply potential V.sub.INT and generates an intermediate potential V.sub.H which is one half the internal supply potential V.sub.INT.
The intermediate potential V.sub.H which is driven by the internal power supply potential V.sub.INT is stable and not influenced by any fluctuations of the external power supply potential V.sub.CC, which results in an increase in an operation margin or tolerance of the circuit to which the intermediate potential V.sub.H is supplied. However, when the power supply is switched on, there inevitably occurs a delay in the rise time of the internal power supply potential V.sub.INT because it rises in response to the external power supply potential. Further, since the intermediate potential generating circuit 4a has been designed to operate at a low potential and a low power consumption, the driving capability thereof is accordingly small so that it takes a time before the intermediate potential V.sub.H reaches a predetermined potential.
On the other hand, as for the rise time of the intermediate potential V.sub.H, there is a requirement for this to be usable within 100 .mu.S after the rising of the external power supply potential V.sub.CC. In order to meet such requirement, it is necessary to make the intermediate potential generating circuit 4a sufficiently large for maintaining the corresponding driving capability.
In the conventional power supply circuit for the dynamic RAM described above, the internal power supply potential is received and then the intermediate potential V.sub.H is generated so that, after the power is switched on, it takes a time for the intermediate potential V.sub.H to reach a predetermined potential. Any attempt to make such time shorter will inevitably result in an increase in current consumption. These are problems to be solved by this invention, in the conventional power supply circuit for the dynamic RAM.

Power supply start up circuit for dynamic random access memory


A filter system for a hard disk drive which has a venturi that is actuated by rotation of the magnetic disk and which pumps internal air through a recirculation filter located within the disk drive. The drive unit also has a diffusion tube, desiccant and breather filter coupled to the ambient by a breather port in the housing of the disk drive.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disk drive assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives contain magnetic heads which magnetize and sense the magnetic fields of adjacent magnetic disks. The introduction of contaminants such as dust or water into the drive unit may induce errors during the operation of the disk. It would be desirable to absolutely seal the disk drive to prevent foreign matter from enter the inner cavity of the drive unit. Unfortunately, defects occur in the manufacturing or subsequent use of the disk drive, such that a perfect seal is not always attained. For this reason most commercially available hard disk drives contain filter systems that remove contaminants that enter the drive unit. Such filter systems typically have a dedicated opening or openings through which ambient air may flow into the disk drive. A filter(s) is typically placed in fluid communication with the opening to capture any contaminants that may enter the drive.
A filter system for a hard disk drive must be capable of removing both dust and water particles that may enter the drive unit. Additionally, it is also desirable to have a second filter system that removes any contaminants that were not captured by the primary filters, trapped in the drive during assembly, or that enter the cavity through a secondary opening. Such a filter system must also compensate for variances in the ambient pressure. For example, using the disk drive at elevation may reduce the internal pressure within the drive unit. Subsequent use at lower altitude may cause the higher pressure ambient to force air into the disk drive. It would therefore be desirable to have a drive unit that has an efficient filter system and which does not allow air to enter the inner cavity of the disk drive when the unit is used in environments having different air pressures.

Air filter and circulation system for a hard disk drive


Methods and devices for controlling the oxidation of a hydrocarbon to an acid by regulating the temperature hold-up time, and conversion in consecutive reaction zones. The temperature in the consecutive reaction zones progressively decreases, while the hold-up time increases. Preferably, the conversion also increases. One of the major advantages of the methods and devices of the present invention is that an outstanding balance between productivity and selectivity/yield of the desired acid may be achieved. In this respect high yields and selectivities may be obtained without sacrificing productivity.

There is a plethora of references (both patents and literature articles) dealing with the formation of intermediate oxidation products, such as diacids, for example, one of the most important being adipic acid. Adipic acid is used to produce Nylon 66 fibers and resins, polyesters, polyurethanes, and miscellaneous other compounds.
There are different processes of manufacturing adipic acid. The conventional process involves a first step of oxidizing cyclohexane with oxygen to a mixture of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol (KA mixture), and then oxidation of the KA mixture with nitric acid to adipic acid. Other processes include, among others, the "Hydroperoxide Process", the "Boric Acid Process," and the "Direct Synthesis Process, " which involves direct oxidation of cyclohexane to adipic acid with oxygen in the presence of solvents, catalysts, and initiators or promoters.
Initiators or promoters are presently being used to shorten considerably an induction period at the beginning of the reaction. Accepted explanations, which have been given regarding the role of the initiators or promoters, involve oxidation of the catalyst, which is usually cobaltous ions to cobaltic ions.
The Direct Synthesis Process has been given attention for a long time. However, to this date it has found little commercial success. One of the reasons is that although it looks very simple at first glance, it is extremely complex in reality. Due to this complexity, one can find strikingly conflicting results, comments, and views in different references.
It is well known that after a reaction has taken place according to the Direct Synthesis Process, a mixture of two liquid phases is present at ambient temperature, along with a solid phase mainly consisting of adipic acid. The two liquid phases have been called the "Polar Phase " and the "Non-Polar " phase. However, no attention has been paid so far to the importance of the two phases, except for separating the adipic acid from the "Polar Phase " and recycling these phases to the reactor partially or totally with or without further treatment. Further, no attention has been paid to the behavior of catalyst, such as solubility, for example, during reaction conditions.
It is also important to note that most, if not all, studies on the Direct Synthesis Process have been conducted in a batch mode, literally or for all practical purposes.
There is a plethora of references dealing with oxidation of organic compounds to produce acids, such as, for example, adipic acid, benzoic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, etc.
The following references, among the plethora of others, may be considered as representative of oxidation processes relative to the preparation of diacids, and especially adipic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,119 (Kollar) discloses a process for the oxidative preparation of C.sub.5 -C.sub.8 aliphatic dibasic acids by
(1) reacting, PA1 (2) removing the aliphatic dibasic acid; and PA1 (3) recycling intermediates, post oxidation components, and derivatives thereof remaining after removal of the aliphatic dibasic acid into the oxidation reaction. PA1 (1) reacting, at a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon conversion level of between about 7% and about 30%. PA1 (2) isolating the C.sub.5 -C.sub.8 aliphatic dibasic acid. PA1 (a) reacting the hydrocarbon with the oxidant at a first oxidation rate and at a first temperature in a first reaction zone, the first reaction zone being characterized by a first hold-up time; PA1 (b) continuing reacting the hydrocarbon with the gaseous oxidant at a second oxidation rate and at a second temperature in a second reaction zone, the second reaction zone being characterized by a second hold-up time, the second temperature being lower than the first temperature, the first hold-up time to the second hold-up time being at a ratio lower than 1. PA1 a first reaction chamber having a first volume; PA1 first hydrocarbon feeding means for feeding liquids comprising a hydrocarbon into the first reaction chamber; PA1 first gaseous oxidant feeding means for feeding gaseous oxidant into the first reaction chamber; PA1 first temperature control means for controlling a first temperature within the first reaction chamber; PA1 a second reaction chamber having a second volume; PA1 a first liquid transfer means for transferring liquids from the first reaction chamber to the second reaction chamber; PA1 second gaseous oxidant feeding means for feeding gaseous oxidant into the second reaction chamber; PA1 second temperature control means for controlling a second temperature within the second reaction chamber; PA1 the first volume and the second volume being adapted to accommodate a desired first hold-up time of liquids in the first reaction chamber and a desired second hold-up time in the second reaction chamber, the first hold-up time to the second hold-up time being at a ratio lower than 1. PA1 an n-1 reaction chamber having an n-1 volume; PA1 an n-1 hydrocarbon feeding means for feeding liquids comprising a hydrocarbon into the n-1 reaction chamber; PA1 an n-1 gaseous oxidant feeding means for feeding gaseous oxidant into the n-1 reaction chamber; PA1 an n-1 temperature control means for controlling an n-1 temperature within the n-1 reaction chamber; PA1 an nth reaction chamber having an nth volume; PA1 an n-1 liquid transfer means for transferring liquids from the n-1 reaction chamber to the nth reaction chamber; PA1 an nth gaseous oxidant feeding means for feeding gaseous oxidant into the nth reaction chamber; PA1 nth temperature control means for controlling a nth temperature within the nth reaction chamber; PA1 the n-1 volume and the nth volume being adapted to accommodate a desired n-1 hold-up time of liquids in the n-1 reaction chamber and a desired nth hold-up time in the nth reaction chamber, the n-1 hold-up time to the nth hold-Lip time being at a ratio lower than 1, n being an integer greater than 2, and preferably 3-5.
(a) at least one saturated cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon having from 5 to 8 ring carbon atoms in the liquid phase and PA2 (b) an excess of oxygen gas or an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of PA2 (c) a solvent comprising an organic acid containing only primary and/or secondary hydrogen atoms and PA2 (d) at least about 0.002 mole per 1000 grams of reaction mixture of a polyvalent heavy metal catalyst; PA2 (a) at least one saturated cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon having from 5 to 8 ring carbon atoms in the liquid phase and PA2 (b) an excess of oxygen gas or an oxygen containing gas mixture in the presence of PA2 (c) less than 1.5 moles of a solvent per mole of cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon (a), wherein said solvent comprises an organic acid containing only primary and/or secondary hydrogen atoms and PA2 (d) at least about 0.002 mole per 1000 grams of reaction mixture of a polyvalent heavy metal catalyst; and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,767 (Drinkard et al.) discloses formation of cyclohexyladipates in a staged reactor, e.g., a reactive distillation column. A mixture containing a major amount of benzene and a minor amount of cyclohexene is fed to the lower portion of the reaction zone and adipic acid is fed to the upper portion of the reaction zone, cyclohexyladipates are formed and removed from the lower portion of the reaction zone and benzene is removed from the upper portion of the reaction zone. The reaction zone also contains an acid catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,157 (Kollar) discloses a process for the preparation of C.sub.5 -C.sub.8 aliphatic dibasic acids through oxidation of corresponding saturated cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons by
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,800 (Park et al.) discloses a process for the manufacture of adipic acid is disclosed. In this process, cyclohexane is oxidized in an aliphatic monobasic acid solvent in the presence of a soluble cobalt salt wherein water is continuously or intermittently added to the reaction system after the initiation of oxidation of cyclohexane as indicated by a suitable means of detection, and wherein the reaction is conducted at a temperature of about 50.degree. C. to about 150.degree. C. at an oxygen partial pressure of about 50 to 420 pounds per square inch absolute.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,100 (Barnette et al.) describes a process of oxidizing cyclohexane to produce cyclohexanonc and cyclohexanol, said process comprising contacting a stream of liquid cyclohexane with oxygen in each of at least three successive oxidation stages by introducing into each stage a mixture of gases comprising molecular oxygen and an inert gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,876 (Rapoport et al.) describes a process for the preparation of cyclohexyl hydroperoxide substantially free of other peroxides by oxidation of cyclohexane containing a cyclohexane soluble cobalt salt in a zoned oxidation process in which an oxygen containing gas is fed to each zone in the oxidation section in an amount in excess of that which will react under the conditions of that zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,513 (Russell) discloses the oxidation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen in a series of reaction zones, with vaporization of cyclohexane from the last reactor effluent and parallel distribution of this cyclohexane vapor among the series of reaction zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,185 (Pugi) discloses a process for manufacturing precursors of adipic acid by oxidation with an oxygen-containing inert gas which process is conducted in at least three successive oxidation stages by passing a stream of liquid cyclohexane maintained at a temperature in the range of 140.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. and a pressure in the range of 50 to 350 p.s.i.g. through each successive oxidation stage and by introducing a mixture of gases containing oxygen in each oxidation stage in an amount such that substantially all of the oxygen introduced into each stage is consumed in that stage thereafter causing the residual inert gases to pass countercurrent into the stream of liquid during the passage of the stream through said stages.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,751 (Oberster et al.) discloses a process for the production of epsilon-hydroxycaproic acid in which cyclohexane is oxidized by liquid phase air oxidation in the presence of a catalytic amount of a lower aliphatic carboxylic acid and a catalytic amount of a peroxide under certain reaction conditions so that most of the oxidation products are found in a second, heavy liquid layer, and are directed to the production of epsilon-hydroxycaproic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,806 (Lidov et al.) discloses a process for the production of adipic acid by the further oxidation of the products of oxidation of cyclohexane after separation of cyclohexane from the oxidation mixture, and more particularly to stage wise oxidation of the cyclohexane to give high yields of adipic acid precursors and also to provide a low enough concentration of oxygen in the vent gas so that the latter is not a combustible mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,271 (Barker et al.) discloses a process for the production of adipic acid by the two-step oxidation of cyclohexane with oxygen. In a preferred embodiment, mixtures comprising cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol are oxidized. In another embodiment the process involves the production of adipic acid from cyclohexane by oxidation thereof, separation of cyclohexane from the oxidation mixture and recycle thereof, and further oxidation of the other products of oxidation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,608 (Kollar) discloses a process for the preparation of aliphatic dibasic acids from saturated cyclic hydrocarbons having from 4 to 8 cyclic carbon atoms per molecule in the presence of a solvent which comprises an aliphatic monobasic acid which contains only primary and secondary hydrogen atoms and a catalyst comprising a cobalt salt of an organic acid, and in which process the molar ratio of said solvent to said saturated cyclic hydrocarbon is between 1.5:1 and 7:1, and in which process the molar ratio of said catalyst to said saturated cyclic hydrocarbon is at least 5 millimoles per mole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,603 (Leyshon et al.) discloses a process for recovering the copper-vanadium catalyst from the waste liquors obtained in the manufacture of adipic acid by the nitric acid oxidation of cyclohexanol and/or cyclohcxanone.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,087 (Porter et al.) discloses the oxidation of cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons in the liquid phase with a gas containing molecular oxygen and in the presence of about 10% water to produce two phases and avoid formation of esters.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,282 (Hamblet et al.) discloses production of adipic acid and related aliphatic dibasic acids; more particularly to the production of adipic acid by the direct oxidation of cyclohexane.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,513 (Hamblet et al.) discloses the production of adipic acid and related aliphatic dibasic acids and more particularly to the production of adipic acid by the oxidation of cyclohexane.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,494 (loder et al.) discloses the oxidation of cyclic saturated hydrocarbons and more particularly to the production of cyclic alcohols and cyclic ketones by oxidation of cyclic saturated hydrocarbons with an oxygen-containing gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,493 (Loder et al.) discloses the production of aliphatic dibasic acids and more particularly to the production of aliphatic dibasic acids by oxidation of cyclic saturated hydrocarbons with an oxygen-containing gas.
German Patent DE 44 26 132 A 1 (Kysela et al.) discloses a method for dehydration of process acetic acid from the liquid-phase oxidation of cyclohexane with air, in the presence of cobalt salt as a catalyst after separation of the adipic acid by filtration and the cyclohexane phase by phase separation, while simultaneously avoiding cobalt salt precipitates in the dehydration column, characterized in that the acetic acid phase to be returned to the beginning of the process is subjected to azeotropic distillation by the use of added cyclohexane, under distillative removal of the water down to a residual content of less than about 0.3 to 0.7 wt %.
PCT Demand International publication WO 96/03365 (Costantini et al.) discloses a method of recycling a cobalt-containing catalyst in a reaction involving the direct oxidation of cyclohexane into adipic acid using an oxygen containing gas. The method is characterized in that the reaction mixture, obtained in a preceding stage where the cyclohexane was oxidized into adipic acid, of which at least part of the intermediate oxidation products, such as cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, the carboxylic acid and water has been separated and of which at least part of the adipic acid formed has been recovered by crystallization, undergoes at least one extraction operation using at least one co-solvent or a mixture comprising a co-solvent and a carboxylic acid. The method is also characterized by the separation of a mixture containing at least part of the cobalt catalyst, part of the carboxylic acid and optionally residual quantities of other compounds and a solution containing the co-solvent and at least part of the glutaric and succinic acids formed during the oxidation reaction, and the carboxylic acid.
None of the above references, or any other references known to the inventors disclose, suggest or imply, singly or in combination, oxidation of cyclic hydrocarbons to dibasic acids in multiple stages of temperature/conversion, subject to the intricate and critical controls and requirements of the instant invention as described and claimed.
Our U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,531, 5,558,842, 5,502,245, and our co-pending applications 08/477,195 (filed Jun. 07, 1995), 08/587,967 (filed Jan. 17, 1996), and 08/620,974 (filed Mar. 251, 996), all of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe methods and apparatuses relative to controlling reactions in atomized liquids.
Our co-pending application, Docket No. T-603, of Mark W. Dassel, Eustathios Vassiliou. David C. DeCoster, Ader M. Rostami, and Sharon M. Aldrich, titled "Methods and Devices for Controlling the Reaction Rate of a Hydrocarbon to an Acid by Making Phase-related Adjustments ", filed on Mar. 6, 1997, and having a Ser. No. 08/812,847, is also incorporated herein by reference.
Our co-pending application, Docket No. T-701, of Mark W. Dassel, David C. DeCoster, Ader M. Rostami, Sharon M. Aldrich, and Eustathios Vassiliou, titled "Methods and Devices for Preparing Dibasic Acids ", filed on Mar. 27, 1997, and having a Ser. No. 08/824,992 is also incorporated herein by reference.
All of the following patent applications, which were filed simultaneously with the present application are also incorporated herein by reference:
Docket U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/889,985 of Eustathios Vassiliou, Mark W. Dassel, David C. DeCoster, Ader M. Rostami, and Sharon M. Aldrich, titled "Methods and Devices for Controlling the Reaction Rate of a Hydrocarbon to an Intermediate Oxidation Product by Pressure Drop Adjustments",
Docket No. U.S. patent application Sr. No. 08/862,281 of Mark W. Dassel, Eustathios Vassiliou, David C. DeCoster, Ader M. Rostami, and Sharon M. Aldrich, titled "Methods and Devices for Controlling the Reaction Rate of a Hydrocarbon to an Intermediate Oxidation Product by Monitoring Flow of Incoming and Outcoming Gases ";
Docket U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/861,180 of David C. DeCoster, Ader M. Rostami, Mark W. Dassel, and Eustathios Vassiliou, titled "Methods and Devices for Controlling the Oxidation Rate of a Hydrocarbon by Adjusting the Ratio of the Hydrocarbon to a Rate-Modulator":
Docket U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/861,176 of Mark W. Dassel, Eustathios Vassiliou, David C. DeCoster, and Ader M. Rostami, titled "Methods of Preparing an Intermediate Oxidation Product from a hydrocarbon by Utilizing an Activated Initiator "; and
Docket U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/861,210 of Eustathios Vassiliou, Ader M. Rostami, David C. DeCoster, and Mark W. Dassel, titled "Pseudo-Plug-Flow Reactor."

Methods and devices for controlling the oxidation of a hydrocarbon to an acid by regulating temperature/conversion relationship in multi-stage arrangements


An image recognizing apparatus is equipped with: a detecting unit configured to detect, from an input image, a candidate area for a target of recognition, based on a likelihood of a partial area in the input image; an extracting unit configured to extract, from a plurality of candidate areas detected by the detecting unit, a set of the candidate areas which are in an overlapping relation; a classifying unit configured to classify an overlapping state of the set of the candidate areas; and a discriminating unit configured to discriminate whether or not the respective candidate areas are the target of recognition, based on the overlapping state of the set of the candidate areas and the respective likelihoods of the candidate areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recognizing apparatus, an image recognizing method, and a program for the image recognizing method. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique which is suitably used to detect a specific subject such as a person, an automobile or the like or a part thereof from an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique of detecting a specific subject image from a general image is widely applied to various fields such as image search, object detection, object recognition, object tracing and the like. As an example of the technique like this, a method of particularly detecting a face area from a general image has been proposed (see P. Viola and M. Jones, "Robust Real-time Object Detection" SECOND INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON STATISTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL THEORIES OF VISION, Jul. 13, 2001). In this method, a rectangular small area (hereinafter, called a detection window) is first extracted from an input image, and it is discriminated whether or not a face is included in the detection window. Here, such discrimination is performed by passing the detection window through a discriminator which is constituted by cascade-connecting strong discriminators. In a case where the detection window is discriminated as a subject by all the strong discriminators, a result indicating that the face is included in the detection window is output. Contrarily, in other cases, a result indicating that the fact is not included in the detection window is output.
On another front, as an effective method for detecting a human whole body area of which the shape fluctuation is larger than that of a face, there has been proposed a method of using as a feature quantity an HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients) in which a histogram of gradients in a rectangular area is provided for each direction (see N. Dalal and B. Triggs "Histograms of Oriented Gradients for Human Detections" (CVPR2005)). Incidentally, the human whole body area will be called a human body area in the following description.
In such techniques as described above, there is a problem that a physical body, a background or the like which is similar to the shape of a subject but is not actually the subject is erroneously detected. In particular, in case of detecting a human body, an area around the human body tends to be erroneously detected. For example, there is a case where a shoulder or a leg which is a part of the human body is erroneously detected as the human body area. This is because it is conceivable that the shape of the shoulder or the leg is similar to the shape of the human body (i.e., the shape of the laterally-facing human body). Moreover, when a person overlaps a background such as a tree(s), a mountain(s) or the like having a rounded shape upwardly, an area including not only the person but also the background is erroneously detected as the human body area. This is because it is conceivable that the shape obtained by combining the tree(s) or the mountain(s) with the person is similar to the shape of a human body.
A human body area often exists in the vicinity of such erroneous detection, and the relevant human body area is correctly detected. For this reason, a result obtained by correctly detecting the human body area and a result obtained by erroneously detecting the area other than the human body area often overlap each other. Under such a situation, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-176504 has proposed a method of, when there are overlapping detection results, comparing the likelihoods of these results and selecting the detection result having the higher likelihood.
However, the above method is not suitable for a case where both the overlapping detection results are directed to the human body areas. For example, this method is not suitable for a case where a child stands in front of an adult, a case where, although two persons seem to stand side by side, one person actually stands at a distant place behind the other person, and the like. In any case, when the above method is applied to such circumstances, there is a fear that the human body area correctly detected is deleted from detection candidates as an erroneous detection result.

Image recognizing apparatus, image recognizing method, and program


A liner for a work machine body, such as the body of an off-highway truck, protects the body from wear. The liner has a plate with openings through the plate arranged in a preselected pattern. The plate is of a size to fit a particular portion of the body and is typically removably fastened to the body. The plate has raised strips of abrasion-resistant cladding, such as chromium carbide, bonded to the top surface thereof. The raised strips cause material to tumble, instead of to slide, when being removed from the truck. The tumbling action reduces wear on the liner.

Work machines which carry material are subject to wear through the movement of material in the body of the machine. For example, an off-highway truck typically has a material-carrying body which can be moved to an upright position to eject the material through an opening in the body. This wear is particularly aggravated, for example, by the sliding of material across the portion of the bed or floor adjacent the rear opening from which the material is ejected. Other trucks for hauling and dumping may have similar problems with wear.
In an attempt reduce wear, many solutions have been tried. For example, sheets of material as liners are sometimes added to a truck body to provide additional protection. To increase the durability of such sheets, the entire surface of the sheet has been provided with a durable cladding of abrasion-resistant chromium carbide material. However, such liners are still subject to the same high wear of sliding materials as the truck bodies they protect since they have a substantially smooth upper surface, which permits the materials to slide from the body. Another solution has been to attach bars to the bed or floor of a truck body in rows across the width of the bed. Similarly, a cross hatch of plates approximately two inches high have been added to provide "boxes" on the bed of the truck. The bars or boxes cause material to tumble instead of slide as it moves across the truck bed be ejected from the rear opening. This tumbling motion reduces wear by tending to eliminate the high wear characteristics of sliding material. However, these so-called tumbler bars or boxes require a considerable amount of welding to attach, involve the handling of a large number of different parts, are limited in the way they can be attached (typically only by conventional welding) and are susceptible to breaking loose. If they do break loose, the metal parts can be ejected from the truck body into another material handling device, such as a rock crusher, and cause damage to that device.
One known solution to the problems presented by tumbler bars or boxes is to use a liner plate of hard steel having a pattern of openings cut therethrough. The openings through the liner plate cause material exiting the body to tumble as they pass thereover and also trap fines, both of which reduce wear on the liner plate. However, such a liner plate is advantageously formed from hard steel, e.g. 400 to 500 Brinell hardness, which does not lend itself to welding due to the difficulty of preheating the steel sufficiently. As a result, fasteners, such as bolts or rivets, may be needed to secure the liner plate to the machine body.
This invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.

Liner for a work machine body and method for manufacturing the same


A method for treating chromium ore waste contaminated soils by detoxification, fixation, immobilization and stabilization comprising the steps of soil grinding, pre-activating, reducing chromium valiancy, forming insoluble metal hydroxides, and incapsulating the chromium compounds containing agglomerates to prevent potential chromium leaching from the soil according with the standard toxicity characteristic leaching procedure requirements. Additive agents such as an acidic solution, a bivalent iron sulfur containing salt, e.g. ferrous sulfate, an alkalifying agent, e.g. calcium lime slurry or lime kiln dust or caustic, a stabilizing agent, e.g. cement, cement kiln dust, silicates, polyelectrolytes, and the like are also disclosed as assisting in the chromium immobilization reactions by reacting with certain constituents in the soil.

Remediation of contaminated diverse natural resources such as soils, river and lake muds, land development fields, water and wastewater treatment sludges and the like poses complicated problems. Particularly, chromium ore processing residue contains extremely toxic hexavalent chromium values which present a significant disposal problem.
The hexavalent chromium contaminated soils can adversely effect the environment by dry toxic dust being blown into the air which can cause carcinogenic effects on human health, and by the discharged leachates which, when flushed by rains and other precipitations through contaminated soils, muds, sludges, etc., would contain toxic chromium and would contaminate ground water aquifers, agricultural fields and surface water resources.
The invention presents a versatile system which lends itself to be adaptable to a wide variety of different field applications. Such applications of the proposed method also is of great importance in terms of environmental protection and natural resources recovery. Industries which discharge the toxic chromium ore are held responsible for remediating soil. If such industries no longer exist, the governmental agencies are often held accountable for reducing the concentrations of toxic contaminants to acceptable leachate levels normally tested by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP).
The present invention addresses the need for methods for detoxifying and stabilizing dangerous chromium compounds effectively in soils, muds, sludges, and the like. It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the method disclosed herein is not limited in application solely to detoxification and stabilization of chromium ore contaminated soil mentioned above, and that the present invention is adaptable to other remediation efforts involving the treatment of other heavy metals.
Physical processes for heavy metal, particularly chromium removal from soils are known in the art and they include flushing the contaminated solid materials then treating elutriates and stabilizing toxic metals and other inorganic elements in a stable final material.
The known processes of soil flushing suffer many drawbacks because a substantial portion of the metals, particularly chromium, in the soils are bound with organic soil components and cannot be released unless the organic compounds are destroyed. That is why the relevant industries prefer chemical methods over physical procedures for removing heavy metals, particularly chromium, and other elements from contaminated materials, but these chemical methods of metal extraction are focused on costly and complex procedures.
There is a number of known processes and apparatus for heavy metals, particularly chromium, immobilization (stabilization) in contaminated solid material, residue or waste. However, there is no evidence that available methods used for contaminated soil remediation in non-toxic forms can economically meet current United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requirements based on the standard Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) limits.
An example of such a method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,321 (1984) which is focused on admixing chromium ore waste with mud or sludge dredged from a natural preferably salty water source, then admixing the above mixture with ground granulated blast furnace slag and finishing with setting the final admixture in a quiescent state to yield a solid mass having low permeability and high load bearing characteristics. The unsolidified admixture is basified, particularly treated by lime, to yield pH 10.0-12.0. One of major drawbacks of this invention is the necessity of a source of salty water mud or sludge which restricts the area of applicability of this method. A further drawback of this method is complexity and cost of sludge (mud) treatment by settling/dewatering as well as that of blast furnace slag handling. Another drawback of this method is a relatively high pH of the final solid product which can cause problems by using the product as backfill.
Another procedure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,558 for treating a sludge or drainage containing hexavalent chromium compounds comprises the use of calcium haloaluminate bearing rapid hardening cement in a short time for Cr.sup.6+ fixation. The method is focused on hexavalent chromium fixation without reducing it to the trivalent state. The invention does not contain any information on meeting the TCLP limits, thus cannot be advantageous to the method proposed herein. Also such specific reagent as calcium haloaluminate can be expensive and is considered impractical for large amounts of soil to be treated.
A still further process for converting hazardous industrial or other wastes into an inert, non-polluting and useful soil-like product is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,968. This method is based on treating the toxic wastes by an admixture of bentonite clays with portland cement in alkaline pH range to provide encapsulation of pollutants in the matrix of solid mass material. Along with a very high cost of bentonite clays, one of the most important disadvantages of this method is that the final product is liquid and requires large volumes of excavation and containment to provide hardening and handling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,373 describes a coating composition for treating solid wastes to encapsulate toxic metal and/or organic pollutants from wastes includes an aqueous silicate solution containing potassium oxide and silicon dioxide, a catalytic amount of an aqueous sodium borate solution and a fixative containing solid calcium oxide with possible addition of fumed silica. Such an exotic composition was proposed for solid wastes treatment and is considered useful for small amount of a toxic metal containing material but impractical for soil remediation.
Thus, a continuing problem faced by those skilled in the art is the practical utility of incorporating above concepts into workable, efficient and feasible chemical engineering systems.

Method of detoxification and stabilization of soils contaminated with chromium ore waste