A packaging device for a pill packaging apparatus is provided, wherein the packaging device is used for inserting pills into a series of pill receptacles being conveyed generally horizontally thereunder. The packaging device generally comprises a resilient pad driven in an orbital motion. The orbitally driven resilient pad is brought into engagement with pills protruding from the pill receptacles. The orbital motion of the resilient pad imparts a rotational motion to the pills in contact with the pad and thereby urges the protruding pills into the receptacles. An associated method of packaging pills is also provided.

The present invention relates to pill packaging devices and methods and, more particularly, to an orbital motion device and associated method for packaging pills, tablets, capsules, and the like.
Pharmaceutical products such as pills, tablets, capsules, and the like are often packaged in disposable packaging for distribution to the consumer. Such disposable packaging includes thermoformed and cold formed blister packages as well as pouches, sachets, or disposable bottles.
Conventional blister packages typically include a generally planar web portion having a plurality of receptacles formed therein. A thermoforming process, for example, can be used to form the receptacles in a thermoplastic web. Each receptacle in the web may receive one or more pills and the receptacles may be arranged in a grid pattern having multiple rows and/or columns. After pills have been placed in all of the receptacles, an aluminum or plastic foil layer is adhered to the planar web portion to seal the pills within the receptacles.
An important aspect of forming these packages relates to the placement of the pills in the receptacles prior to the foil layer being applied. This procedure is preferably performed by an automated machine capable of precisely and accurately placing the pills into the receptacles at a high speed. An exemplary form of such an apparatus has been commercially available under the name, xe2x80x9cAylward Feed Systemxe2x80x9d from Aylward(copyright) Enterprises, Inc. of New Bern, N.C., also the assignee of the present invention. The Aylward Feed System includes a feeder cassette and drop chute assembly having a plurality of chutes for guiding pills into the appropriate receptacles. An orienting tray is positioned above the feeder cassette for passing pills into the feeder cassette which, in turn, passes the pills into the drop chutes.
The orienting tray, the feeder cassette, and the drop chute assembly are mounted on a frame which extends over a conveyor having a series of empty pill blister packages placed thereon. The frame is generally movable in registration with the pill packages moving thereunder. The frame is fixed in the horizontal direction of the conveyor if the conveyor is an intermittent type. If the conveyor is a continuous type, the frame is moved on an undercarriage driven at the same speed as the conveyor. Therefore, with a continuous conveyor, the frame xe2x80x9cgallopsxe2x80x9d back to register and moves with the next blister package after the preceding package has been filled.
Accordingly, as an empty pill package is moved under the drop chute, the drop chute is lowered and an escapement mechanism is activated in the feeder cassette to release a single pill which falls through the drop chute and into the corresponding receptacle in the package. More particularly, for example with blister packages, the drop chute is lowered and a pill is released to fall through the drop chute until it engages the bottom of the blister. The frame is then raised which, in turn, raises the drop chute and deposits the pill in the blister. This operation defines a gravity feed pill packaging system.
The drop chute assembly may include a plurality of individual chutes arranged in a block so as to define a grid. Each of the chutes extends in a generally vertical direction, but may include a portion at the lower end thereof which is angled so that a pill exiting the drop chute does so at an acute angle relative to the blister package.
In operation, where a pill is being packaged in a loose-fitting receptacle, this type of system will often place a pill into the blister receptacle by sliding a pill down the drop chute, wherein the lower end thereof is angled so that a pill exiting the drop chute is placed in the blister package at an acute angle relative thereto. Since the pill is deposited into the receptacle at an angle, it will sometimes xe2x80x9cslidexe2x80x9d into the receptacle until the leading edge of the pill engages a side wall thereof The drop chute is then moved away from the blister receptacle to allow the trailing edge of the pill to clear the drop chute and drop into the receptacle under the force of gravity. Thus, the pill is introduced to the receptacle, essentially diagonally, at an angle corresponding to the angle of the lower end of the drop chute. An apparatus and method of this type for packaging pills is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,902 to Aylward, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Although these types of feeders have achieved widespread commercial acceptance, problems may arise if the pills are being deposited into a package having receptacles which are closely toleranced or xe2x80x9ctight fittingxe2x80x9d with respect to the dimensions of the pills. Tight fitting receptacles are desirable in some instances, such as in blister packaging, wherein the tight tolerances minimize rattling of the pills within the receptacles. However, where a pill is to be inserted into a tightly toleranced receptacle using these types of systems, the pill may not be capable of simply being slid into the receptacle in a diagonal orientation.
For example, for a caplet which is generally in the shape of a transversely flattened capsule, the dimensions of the receiving receptacle in the blister package may be only slightly greater than the dimensions of the caplet. That is, the overall length and width of the receptacle may only be slightly greater than the overall length and width of the caplet, respectively. Accordingly, when the caplet is slid into the receptacle at an angle with the leading edge of the caplet dropping into the receptacle and engaging a side wall thereof before the trailing edge is released, the caplet may become oriented with its diagonal dimension approximately parallel or angled slightly upward relative to the planar web portion of the blister package. In this situation, the maximum dimension of a longitudinal cross-section of the caplet, here the diagonal dimension, may be slightly greater than the length of the accommodating receptacle and thus the trailing edge of the caplet will lie against a portion of the side wall of the receptacle, above the bottom wall thereof The force of gravity may not be sufficient to cause the pill to drop fully into the receptacle, which leaves part of the trailing edge of the caplet extending above the planar web portion of the blister packet. This can also occur if the blister package material is wrinkled or otherwise distorted in the bottom or sides of the receptacle. In some instances, a caplet or pill may even xe2x80x9cstand upxe2x80x9d on its leading edge within a receptacle. As would be appreciated, these occurrences may have an adverse effect on the subsequent application of the foil layer if the trailing edge of the caplet extends above the plane of the blister package.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved packaging apparatus and method for placing pills and the like into pill receptacles such as blister packages in a preferred orientation, more particularly in the receptacle and below the planar web portion of the blister package, before application of a sealing foil layer. Such an apparatus and method should be able to quickly and accurately insert the pills, even the pills which are xe2x80x9cstanding up,xe2x80x9d into the receptacles to provide high packaging speed and quality. Such an apparatus and method should also be capable of efficiently and reliably inserting pills into receptacles dimensioned in close tolerance to said pills.
The above and other needs are met by the present invention which, in one embodiment, provides a packaging device for a pill packaging apparatus, wherein the packaging device is used for inserting pills into a series of pill receptacles being conveyed generally horizontally thereunder. The packaging device generally comprises a rotationally-driven shaft and a resilient pad eccentrically coupled to the shaft, the shaft then driving the resilient pad in an orbital motion. In one advantageous embodiment, the resilient pad is capable of being brought into engagement with pills protruding from the pill receptacles. The orbital motion of the resilient pad thereby urges the protruding pills into the receptacles.
More particularly, the present invention comprises a pill packaging apparatus for packaging pills in a series of pill receptacles, comprising a conveyor for conveying a series of pill receptacles generally horizontally therealong, a feeder mechanism extending over the conveyor for supplying pills into the pill receptacles in a predetermined manner, and a packaging device disposed downstream of the feeder mechanism with respect to the conveyor. The packaging device may further comprise an eccentric coupled between the shaft and the resilient pad, wherein the eccentric is adjustable to vary the breadth of the orbital motion of the resilient pad. The resilient pad may be comprised of, for example, a rubber material or may comprise a frame having a fabric stretched tautly thereacross and attached thereto. Where the resilient pad comprises a fabric covered frame, the frame is configured to at least extend over the width of the pills in the receptacles such that only the fabric engages the pills protruding therefrom throughout the breadth of the orbital motion of the resilient pad. In addition, the fabric may be comprised of, for example, a stainless steel cloth or other material approved by the appropriate regulatory authority for use in the packaging of pharmaceuticals, wherein the material is preferably capable of contacting the pills without causing damage thereto. In some instances, the packaging device is further adapted to provide downward force on the pills protruding from the receptacles, in addition to the orbital motion imparted to the pills by the resilient pad. For example, the resilient pad may be configured such that the weight of the pad provides the downward force on pills protruding from the pill receptacles. Alternatively, a separate urging device operably connected to the resilient pad may urge the resilient pad toward the pill receptacles to provide the downward force on the pills protruding therefrom.
A further advantageous aspect of the present invention comprises a method for packaging pills in individual receptacles in a blister package. First, pills are fed into the receptacles. A resilient pad is then moved adjacent to the receptacles such that the resilient pad engages pills protruding therefrom. An orbital motion is then imparted to the resilient pad to urge the protruding pills into the receptacles. In some instances, the method may further include the step of imparting a downward force on pills protruding from the receptacles following the step of removing the resilient pad adjacent to the receptacles.
Thus, the pill packaging device and associated method according to embodiments of the present invention are capable of inserting pills into pill receptacles in an orientation below the planar web portion of the blister package before the sealing foil layer is applied. The apparatus and method target pills which are protruding from, and even xe2x80x9cstanding upxe2x80x9d in, the pill receptacles and impart an orbital motion thereto to quickly and accurately insert the pills into the receptacles and thereby provide high packaging speed and quality. In this manner, the apparatus and method according to embodiments of the present invention are capable of inserting pills into receptacles where the receptacles are dimensioned in close tolerance to the pills. It will be recognized, therefore, that the invention facilitates the achievement of a number of distinct advantages over prior art pill packaging devices.

Orbital motion pill packaging device and associated method


A process for synthesizing a compound of the formula I: ##STR1## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, wherein each P independently represents H or a protecting group, and R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 independently represent H, C.sub.1-10 alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl, or substituted C.sub.1-10 alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl, comprising:. reacting the compounds: ##STR2## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, and ##STR3## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, wherein X represents OP(O)(OR).sub.2, or OSO.sub.2 R, wherein R represents C.sub.1-6 alkyl, aryl or perfluoro C.sub.1-6 alkyl, in the presence of an amine selected from the group consisting of: diisopropylamine (DIPA), dicyclohexylamine (DCHA), 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (TMP), 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (TMG), 1,8-diazabicyclo4.3.0!undec-7-ene (DBU) and 1,5-diazabicyclo4.3.0!non-5-ene to produce a compound of formula I.

The present invention relates to the synthesis of carbapenem antibiotics. It has been discovered that the inclusion of a secondary amine in the coupling reactions described herein significantly and surprisingly enhances the rate of reaction, allowing for shorter reaction times and relatively complete conversion at lower temperatures than observed when tertiary amines are used in this type of reaction.
Triethyl and diisopropylethyl amines have been reported to be useful in these reactions, but the reaction times and conditions have been unacceptable from a commercial standpoint. For example, WO 93/15078 published on Aug. 5, 1993, relates to similar reactions in the presence of a tertiary amine, such as diisopropyl-ethylamine, or an inorganic base, such as an alkali metal carbonate, e.g., potassium carbonate. Such reactions are performed at a temperature between -25.degree. C. and ambient temperature.
One object of the present invention is to effect a reaction between the carbapenem base molecule and the 2-position side chain which is sufficiently rapid and efficient to minimize the formation of side reaction products, and to avoid the need for inappropriate high and low temperatures and other reaction conditions.
Another object of the present invention is to avoid the use of catalysts and other reaction components which would require a separate removal step if traces thereof were contained in the final product.
These and other objects will be apparent from the teachings contained herein.

Process for synthesizing carbapenem antibiotics


A sintering plant includes an apparatus for transporting sinter material along a sintering section through at least one first zone in which the sinter material heats to a low temperature, and through a second zone in which the sinter material heats to a high temperature. Discharge lines are provided along the sintering section. A dioxin catalytic converter for exhaust gas is provided in the discharge lines disposed along the second zone or directly downstream thereof. In this manner, catalytic breakdown of dioxins can be achieved even in the exhaust gas of a sintering plant, which has not been possible heretofore.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sintering plant having measures for decreasing dioxins in exhaust gas.
A sintering plant is a large-scale plant in the metallurgical industry and serves for agglomerating finely particulate or fine-dust metal, metal oxide or metal sulfide solid mixtures. The agglomerated solid mixtures can then be used in a blast furnace.
The material to be sintered, which is also referred to as sinter material, is solidified in the sintering plant by sintering, i.e. by heating to a point close to the melting point with surface softening and partial melt and slag formation. For that purpose, the sinter material is put onto a so-called traveling grate. In the case of ore smelting, the sinter material can be a fine ore, calcined pyrites, a blast furnace flue dust or a fine dust from a metal-processing industry, possibly together with returns, slag-forming addition or a solid fuel mixture, for example. The traveling grate in that plant is generally constructed as an endless chain from individual pallets to be filled. The chain runs over corresponding guide rolls in the working direction of the sintering plant. In that case, the filled upper track of the traveling grate or of the sintering belt runs over a suction box or forced-draft box, in which reduced pressure or overpressure is respectively generated by a suction or forced-draft fan, so that combustion air is respectively sucked or forced through the filled pallets. Sintering plants are currently known having grate widths up to 5 m and suction lengths up to 150 m.
At an inlet location, the pallets passing by are first charged with previously roasted returns to protect the grate bars and are then charged with the sinter material, which is possibly mixed with fuel. The charged pallets then pass by an ignition furnace, so that the sinter material or the fuel present therein is ignited by an ignition flame. The combustion and sintering process in the individual pallets then continues in a self-supporting manner because of self-sustaining combustion due to the air passed through by the suction or forced-draft fan, while the pallets are transported to an outlet location through the use of the sintering belt.
In order to conduct the exhaust gas or the combustion gas, a number of discharge lines are disposed along the upper track of the sintering belt in the sintering plant. The exhaust gas of the discharge lines transported by the suction or forced-draft fan through the individual pallets is collected in a collective exhaust gas line and finally passes through a stack into the environment. In order to recover fine dusts and to protect a downstream suction fan, an electrostatic precipitator is usually integrated into the exhaust gas line. The dusts produced from the electrostatic precipitator can be recirculated again to the sintering plant.
A majority of the sinter material processed in the sintering plant is finely particulate and fine-dust abraded material from filing, grinding or drilling processes of the metal-processing industry. However, that abraded material is frequently disadvantageously mixed with oily cutting aids, lubricants or coolants, which have halogenated hydrocarbons and aromatics to a not inconsiderable extent. Therefore, in the thermal processes during the sintering operation, the sintering plant also forms dioxins, which can pass into the environment through the exhaust gas. Sintering plants therefore represent the largest source for the emission of dioxins as compared with other large-scale plants of the metal production and metal-processing industry. Thus, in the exhaust gas of a sintering plant, dioxin values up to 60 ng TE/m.sup.3 have been found downstream of the electrostatic precipitator (TE=toxic equivalents). The term "dioxins" is used in this context as a collective term for the group of cyclic halogenated aromatic polyethers. They include, in particular, the cyclic ethers (furans) and the cyclic diethers (the actual dioxins). Particularly toxic representatives of the two groups which may be mentioned in this case are polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF).
In order to keep the level of dioxins released by a sintering plant into the environment below the legally prescribed limit value (currently 0.1 ng TE/m.sup.3), an article by W. Weiss, entitled: "Minderung der PCDD/PCDF-Emissionen an einer Eisenerzsinteranlage" [Reducing the PCDD/PCDF Emissions from an Iron Ore Sintering Plant], in VDI Berichte No. 1298 (1996), pages 249 ff., has disclosed adding a mixture of calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH).sub.2 and carbon (in the form of blast furnace coke or activated carbon) as an admixture to the exhaust gas of a sintering plant. That is done to adsorb the dioxins and to withdraw the partially dioxin-laden admixture from the exhaust gas again using a cloth filter and recirculating it back to the exhaust gas. In addition, an article by G. Mayer-Schwinning et al., entitled: "Minderungstechniken zur Abgasreinigung fur PCDD/F" [Techniques for Decreasing PCDD/F in Flue Gas Emission Control], in VDI Berichte No. 1298 (1996), pages 191 ff., discloses using zeolites as a dioxin adsorber in the exhaust gas of a sintering plant.
On one hand, in comparison with the adsorption technique, a substantially more effective catalytic breakdown of the dioxins in the exhaust gas of a sintering plant through the use of a suitable dioxin catalyst, due to the low exhaust gas temperatures of below 200.degree. C., is only possible with an expensive heating of the exhaust gas. Laden dioxin adsorbers, on the other hand, have to be ultimately disposed of in a landfill, which in turn gives rise to considerable costs and in addition represents a hazard to the environment.


The target detecting device comprises a radar sensor, an imaging sensor, and an ECU. The target detected by the radar sensor is selected under certain conditions, for example, i) a reception intensity of the reflected radar waves is equal to or more than a predetermined value, or ii) the target is moving, to be outputted externally. When a stopped vehicle is detected on a road by the sensor, and a target, for example a pedestrian, present behind the stopped vehicle is detected from the image acquired by the imaging sensor by performing image recognition using predetermined patterns of a target, the ECU makes the selection condition less restrictive than the selection condition for targets other than the target present behind the stopped vehicle, or unconditionally selects the target present behind the stopped vehicle.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a target detecting device for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and a target, such as a pedestrian, captured by a sensor mounted to the vehicle.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a technology is known in which targets, such as pedestrians and vehicles, present near a reference vehicle are detected using a millimeter-wave sensor. Among the detected targets, a target that satisfies a predetermined condition, such as the intensity of reflected waves from the target being a predetermined value or more, is selected. Information on the selected target is then outputted. The outputted target information is used in a process for avoiding collision between the target and the reference vehicle, such as applying a brake of the reference vehicle. (see Japanese registered patent JP-B-4313712).
In Japanese registered patent JP-B-4313712, another technology is disclosed that an image of the area surrounding the reference vehicle is captured using an image sensor. An image recognition process is then performed on the captured image using patterns of a predetermined target such as a pedestrian or a vehicle. A target is detected as a result. The result of the target detection is used in a process for avoiding collision between the target and the reference vehicle such as applying the brake of the reference vehicle.
In some instances, the reference vehicle meets a pedestrian who suddenly steps out from behind a stopped vehicle. To avoid collision with the pedestrian, the reference vehicle is required to detect the pedestrian while the pedestrian is still behind the stopped vehicle.
From the perspective of the reference vehicle, a portion (particularly the lower body) of the pedestrian positioned behind the stopped vehicle is hidden from view by the stopped vehicle. Therefore, the intensity of reflected waves from the pedestrian is weak. As a result, the pedestrian positioned behind the stopped vehicle is not selected as a target for which information to be outputted. In addition, the lower body of the pedestrian positioned behind the stopped vehicle is hidden by the stopped vehicle, only the upper body of the pedestrian appears in the image captured by the image sensor. In this instance, the pedestrian may not be detected even when the image recognition process is performed using patterns of the entire body of a pedestrian.
Hence a target detecting device is desired that can effectively detect a target including a pedestrian that is present behind a stopped vehicle.

Target detecting device for avoiding collision between vehicle and target captured by sensor mounted to the vehicle


A semiconductor device having a semiconductor substrate and a first insulator overlying the semiconductor substrate. A spiral coil inductor overlies the first insulator and a second insulator overlies the spiral coil inductor. A patterned ferromagnetic film overlies the second insulator and a patterned magnetic-bias film overlies the patterned ferromagnetic film.

Inductance is the ability of a device to store energy in the form of a magnetic field. An inductor is an electronic component designed specifically to provide a controlled amount of inductances. Inductors generally consist of a length of wire wound around a solenoidal or toroidal shape. The inductance may be increased by placing a core with a high magnetic permeability within the core. Suitable materials such as iron, powdered iron and ferrite may be utilized. Commercially made inductors have values ranging from less than 1 microhenrys (μH) to about 10 Henrys (H). Small inductors have been used in radio-frequency tuned circuits and as radio-frequency chokes. Large inductors have been utilized at audio frequencies with the largest inductors being used as filter chokes in power supplies.
Coil-shaped inductors are used in tuned circuits for audio frequencies to the ultrahigh radio-frequency region. In the ultrahigh-frequency and microwave bands, short links of transmission lines can serve as inductors. Any length of line shorter than ¼ electrical wavelength short-circuited at the far end acts as an inductor. The same is true of a section of line between ¼ and ½ wavelength, with an open circuit at the far end.
A perfect inductor shows only inductive reactance, and no resistance. Such a perfect inductor exists only in theory and real inductors have some ohmic loss as well as reactance. Inductors have been utilized in semiconductor devices, and those skilled in the art continue to develop semiconductors with inductor assemblies having improved properties.
The present invention provides alternatives to the prior art.

Magnetic-bias ferromagnetic spiral inductor

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to a tracking system for indicating the direction and behavior of an animal such as a hunting dog. The system generally comprises a radio frequency transmitter for mounting on the animal's collar and a hand-held receiver which is capable of detecting and indicating not only the location of the animal but its behavior. The transmitter has a detector connected to a CPU which generates pulse train signals depending on the barking characteristics of the animal. The receiver receives the signals and indicates the animal's barking characteristics by light or sound signals and/or pulses. These indications help the user determine the animal's behavior, such as when the animal travels beyond ordinary sight and hearing range, which can be useful in hunting applications.

The present invention relates to an animal tracking system including a transmitter mounted on a collar and a hand-held radio receiver, and particularly to an animal tracking system having means for indication of the animal behaviour.
Tracking systems using radio frequency transmitters and receivers for detecting the direction or position of an animal, or a person or any other object are well known,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,163 discloses a child monitoring device which monitors the position of a child by detecting the signal strength of a radio frequency carrier from a transmitter attached to the child. If the signal of the radio frequency carrier is too weak, the child is too far away from the adult who has the child position monitoring device. When this happens, the adult is informed that the child has wandered too far away through the use of an audio tone or through the use of vibrations coming from the device. Once the adult is notified that the child is too far away, the device also has a locating display for indicating the relative direction of the child with respect to the adult. The display uses eight LEDs arranged around an emblem used to represent the position of the adult. The LED which lights up indicates the relative direction of the child.
Another publication, U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,800, discloses a transmitter attachment for hunting arrows including a hollow tubular member. The tubular member has a transmitter mounted in one end and a battery in the other end. When the arrow hits the target the transmitter is energised. A directional receiver is utilised to locate the arrow.
To control the whereabouts of a pet or an animal, a system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,923 can be employed. Said system uses one or more transponders to establish a boundary. The transponders receive an incident signal from a transmitter and generate a distinguishable return signal which, when the animal moves into proximity of the boundary, is received by a unit arranged on the animal to initiate application of an aversive stimulus which deters the animal from traversing the boundary.
Another more relevant prior art publication is U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,094, disclosing a radio tracking system adapted for domestic pets wearing collars. The system comprises a transmitting unit attached to the collar of the animal and a hand held receiver unit indicating strength of signals sent from the transmitting unit through illumination of a plurality of LED lamps. The receiver is pointed in a variety of directions, until a direction is identified which results in the strongest indicated signal, which illuminate more lamps than are illuminated when the receiver is pointed in other directions. This indicates the location of the animal wearing the transmitter.
Similar tracking systems preferably intended for hunting purposes are the Trackers.RTM. FTV466B and FTV 660 systems provided by Fintracker in Finland.
Neither of the above mentioned prior art tracking systems detects or indicates any particular behaviour of the tracked animal. However, an already known tracking system of the inventor has a motion detector. When a dog, wearing a transmitter of the system, does not move for some reason, the transmitter starts sending a particular signal to a receiver of the system used by the owner of the dog. The receiver indicates the signal to the user in a suitable way, such as by a light indicator or an audio signal. Since the direction also can be detected by the receiver the owner can find the dog and rescue it.


The subject invention is directed to a new and useful line replaceable unit (LRU) including an LRU case defining an interior compartment for housing critical function circuit card assemblies and including a back plane wall and opposed interface wall. At least one critical function circuit card assembly (CCA) is housed within the LRU case. The critical function CCA includes an input output connector mounted in proximity to the interface wall, as well as a backplane connector. The LRU includes a backplane CCA operatively connected to each backplane connector of the at least one critical function CCA. The backplane CCA is configured and adapted to provide operative communication among multiple critical function CCA's. The critical function CCA's can be mounted to the LRU case proximate the interface wall and the backplane wall to be mechanically and electrically isolated from one another except for connections provided by the backplane CCA.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to line replaceable units, and more particularly to interconnection systems for line replaceable units.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of devices and systems are known in the art for connecting line replaceable units (LRU's) to other systems. For example, LRU's on aircraft connect to avionics for control and monitoring of various aspects of the aircraft. Typical LRU's are designed to be readily connected and disconnected from the surrounding systems, e.g., the avionics, for easy LRU replacement or upgrade.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for systems and methods that allow for improved operability in LRU's, including enhanced flexibility and reliability, as well as reduced cost. There also remains a need in the art for such systems and methods that are easy to make and use. The present invention provides a solution for these problems.


Refurbishing used or damaged engineering components is performed using a subtractive surface engineering process to remove material from worn or damaged critical surfaces. The method involves initially performing the process on the component to remove a first quantity of material from the surfaces, inspecting the surface of the component to determine the extent of damage and subsequently further performing the process to remove a further quantity of material if necessary.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods of refurbishing or restoring metal components back to an acceptable operational condition using subtractive surface engineering techniques that maintain the component within geometrical tolerance. The method is particularly applicable to components manufactured or finished to tight tolerances that are used in metal to metal contact mechanisms and where the original manufacturing geometric specification may be absent or unavailable. The method further relates to a method of assessment of such components for refurbishment and the refurbished products thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Used, worn or damaged high value metal components and new components damaged during storage, handling, assembly or transportation, including cam shafts, crank shafts, bearings, gears and the like, can sometimes be refurbished by regrinding or re-machining (e.g. milling, lathing and the like) the component's critical used surfaces. If the operation is successful, the component may be put back into service at less cost than would have been the case were the component replaced by a new part. In order to do this, however, the machinist must have a copy of the component's Engineering Specification Drawing (ESD) or equivalent specification sheet to be able to correctly refurbish the critical surfaces. The ESD will contain information such as all dimensions used to originally manufacturer the component, the tolerances on all dimensions, the component's material and heat treatment, and the like. This information is needed to allow the machinist to correctly regrind or re-machine the component's critical surfaces and to inspect the results.
Also, often complex and expensive Component Specific Tooling (CST) is required to fixture the metal component for any regrinding or re-machining operation and/or component specific inspections. The machinist must have a set of this CST, or be able to manufacture suitable tooling to fixture and/or inspect the component.
Since the refurbishment is often done at a facility other than that of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the ESD and/or CST are likely to be unavailable and probably unattainable from the OEM. In fact many OEMs do not make their ESDs available to third parties. In all likelihood then, these components would be scrapped at great expense. In many cases, replacement components are no longer manufactured or require a long lead time to purchase. This can lead to costly lost machine availability or to the premature retirement of the entire machine from which the used component came.
In addition, even if the ESD and CST are available, a considerable amount of manpower and expensive equipment is needed in setting up and carrying out the regrinding or re-machining process. For just one individual item, the cost of re-machining may not justify the effort required. This is often the case if a single machine is overhauled; a small number of different components with varying shapes and sizes will need to be refurbished. The cost of refurbishment by a regrinding or re-machining process may very well be too expensive to be commercially viable.
An additional problem is that of retaining the original tolerances. In certain circumstances, regrinding may remove so much material that the component becomes undersized. This cannot always be determined prior to commencing work and the high levels of scrap in such processes considerably increase the overall cost of the work. Usually a regrinding operation will comprise setting up and aligning the component in the grinder or lathe, performing a first pass, inspecting and adjusting the alignment of the component and performing a further pass to remove the desired quantity of material. Sometimes, a number of passes may be required merely to achieve correct alignment. In certain processes, the minimum amount of material that can be effectively ground in a single pass is 10-20 microns. If three passes are required to complete the component, as much as 60 microns may have been removed. For e.g. a gear tooth in which material has been removed from both faces of the tooth, a total dimensional change of 120 microns may result.
An additional problem is that these refurbishing methods can result in surface material movement, deformation, impregnation, tearing, smearing and/or metal overlapping. These forms of material distress hereinafter referred to as "surface distortion" can mask the effectiveness of inspection techniques such that the surface damage cannot be identified and the component could be put back into service without having been successfully restored.
Superfinishing of engineering components at a final stage of production has been known for a number of years. One method of superfinishing is a chemically accelerated vibratory finishing procedure available from REM Chemicals, Inc. The procedure uses an active chemistry such as a mildly acidic phosphate solution which is introduced with the component into a vibratory finishing apparatus together with a quantity of non-abrasive media. The chemistry is capable of forming a relatively soft conversion coating on the metal surface of the component. Vibratory action of the media elements will only remove the coating from asperity peaks, leaving depressed areas of the coating intact. By constantly wetting the metal surface with the active chemistry, the coating will continuously re-form, covering those areas where the bare underlying metal has been freshly exposed, to provide a new layer. If that portion remains higher than the adjacent areas it will continue to be rubbed away until any roughness has been virtually eliminated. A general description of this superfinishing process is provided in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,491,500 4,818,333 and 7,005,080 and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. US 2002-0106978 and US 2002-0088773 each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Application of such a process to surfaces of large sized gears is described in WO2004/108356, the contents of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
Studies have been performed to determine the utility of such processes in the refurbishment of used gears. Based on such studies it has been determined that a beneficial effect may indeed be achieved in removing damage such as foreign object damage (FOD), scoring, micropitting, pitting, spalling, corrosion, and the like. The extent to which components could be refurbished was hitherto determined by the depth of the damage according to an initial inspection of the parts. For gears where the depth of the damage was less than 0.1× the AGMA (American Gear Manufacturers Association) recommended maximum backlash, refurbishment was generally considered possible. For damage exceeding this depth, the part was generally recommended for scrap. Based on this damage assessment, a large proportion of the gears initially assessed were not deemed suitable for refurbishment. Additionally, of those components where refurbishment using superfinishing was carried out, a number of the components were subsequently scrapped after treatment due to the presence of excessive damage that only became apparent on treatment. In these cases, not only was the component scrapped but the time taken to perform a complete refurbishment cycle was also wasted.
Procedures are available for non-destructive testing of metallic components to determine the extent of surface damage. Such procedures including photomicrography and fluorescent penetrant inspection are however highly complex and their performance adds greatly to the overall cost of a refurbishment procedure. It would thus be desirable to have an improved procedure for assessing candidate components for refurbishment that allows more components to be recovered without unnecessarily adding to the overall cost and time per successfully recovered component.

Method for inspecting and refurbishing engineering components


An evaporative humidification unit of modular construction readily adapted for assembly in selected configurations is provided. The configuration or array required for a particular installation is determined, and a supporting framework for the configuration is assembled from a selection of standardized structural components. The framework defines an array of compartments for basket or container units containing discrete, randomly-oriented flow-diffusing packing elements. The front and rear faces and floor of the basket units are mesh covered whereby air may be drawn transversely through the mass of diffusing elements while water is flowing downwardly therethrough. Spray units are positioned above the baskets for spraying water onto the mass of diffusing elements, and a collection pan is located beneath each basket for collecting and carrying away water which flows downwardly through the mass.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to a device for humidifying a stream of air, and more particularly to a modular evaporative humidification structure for use with units supplying conditioned air to the interior of enclosed structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Present day industrial-type buildings are conventionally supplied with conditioned air for maintaining desired atmospheric conditions within the building by means of so-called airhouses or air handling units disposed about or within the building. In such airhouses fresh air from the outside and/or return air from the building interior are drawn into the airhouse in selected proportions, conditioned as by heating, cooling, humidifying, filtering, purifying, dehumidifying etc. as appropriate, and then admitted to the building to maintain desired atmospheric conditions therewithin. Systems of the type with which the invention has particular utility are disclosed and fully described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,264, 4,960,041, and 5,146,977, as well as copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/665,352, filed Mar. 6, 1991, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The buildings with which such air handling units are employed vary widely in size and design, and may range from a few thousand square feet to one million square feet or more in area. As a result, the airhouses employed may also vary in design, number and size. In many instances it may also be desirable to retrofit existing airhouses to incorporate state-of-the-art systems as disclosed in the aforementioned patents and patent application, for increased energy efficiency and compliance with pollution and health standards. Where it is desired to provide humidification in the air handling system, due to the differences in size and construction of the airhouses it has heretofore generally been necessary to custom design and build an evaporation unit for each airhouse. This procedure is both costly and time-consuming, and may result in undue delay in completion of a project.

Modular evaporative humidification device


In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving a data cipher operation. The method also comprises processing the data cipher operation. The processing of the operation includes generating a number of portions of ciphertext from plaintext, wherein a load operation associated with the generating of at least one portion of the ciphertext executes prior to a store operation associated with the generating of a prior portion of the ciphertext.

Communication networks and the number of users of such networks continue to increase. On-line sales involving both business-to-business and business to consumer over the Internet continues to proliferate. Additionally, the number of people that are telecommuting continues to grow. Both on-line sales and telecommuting are examples of usage of communication networks that typically involve private and sensitive data that needs to be protected during its transmission across the different communication networks.
Accordingly, security protocols, (e.g., Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0, Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), etc.), have been developed to establish secure sessions between remote systems. These security protocols provide a method for remote systems to establish a secure session through message exchange and calculations, thereby allowing sensitive data being transmitted across the different communication networks to have a measure of security and/or untamperability.
Moreover, different ciphers have been developed to allow for these secure communications using such different security protocols. RC4 is a stream cipher having variable size keys using byte-oriented operations. RC4 employs a Substitution (S)-box in its generation of byte values that are subsequently XORed with the plaintext to generate the ciphertext and/or XORed with ciphertext to generate the corresponding plaintext.
However, current approaches for RC4 are limited in their execution speed due to the bottlenecking that occurs while accessing the S-box. In particular, a processing unit executes the RC4 operations in conjunction with a memory that is used to store the S-box needed for the operations. Accordingly, the processing unit accesses the S-box for the different operations. To help illustrate, FIG. 1 includes pseudo-code for a prior art technique for RC4 used in the generation of ciphertext. As shown, FIG. 1 includes pseudo-code 100 that comprises a while loop based on while code statement 102, wherein code statement 104, code statement 106, code statement 108, code statement 110 and code statement 112 are executed within the while loop.
Additionally, FIG. 2 illustrates a waterfall diagram of the process cycles for an implementation of the pseudo-code shown in FIG. 1, according to the prior art. In particular, waterfall diagram 200 illustrates a partially unrolled implementation of the while loop of pseudo-code 100. Pseudo-code 100 is typically executed in a processor wherein the S-box used in conjunction with pseudo-code 100 is stored in a memory coupled to the processor. In FIG. 2, the memory is pipelined, has a single read port, a single write port, and takes three cycles to access. FIG. 2 includes waterfall diagram 200 that illustrates the change in the values of variables of pseudo-code 100 as well as the timing of the accesses to the memory. Waterfall diagram 200 includes column 202, which is a list of the operations of pseudo-code 100. Accordingly as shown, the rows of waterfall diagram 200 correspond to the operations shown in pseudo-code 100. Waterfall diagram 200 also includes column 204, which illustrates the process cycles for the execution of pseudo-code 100.
Columns 206-216 of waterfall diagram 200 illustrate the change in the variables of pseudo-code 100 (i, j, a, b, t and l). Column 218 illustrates a temporary variable (temp) that is used for the storage of temporary results within the processor. The variables i, j and t are used as indexes into the S-box. The variables a and b are used to temporarily store values retrieved from the S-box based on the index variables i and j, respectively. The variable l is used as an index into the data arrays for both the plaintext and the ciphertext generated there from.
Column 220 of waterfall diagram 200 illustrates the reading of the memory (that is coupled to the processor executing pseudo-code 100) for a first cycle, while column 222 illustrates the reading of the memory for a second cycle. Column 224 of waterfall diagram 200 illustrates the writing to the memory.
As will be shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, current approaches for an RC4 operation include the generation of a single byte of ciphertext for one iteration of the while loop (shown in pseudo-code 100). Accordingly, a given iteration of the while loop in FIG. 1 includes (1) a single set of memory accesses from the S-box, (2) a swap of the data retrieved from the memory accesses and (3) the XORing of the plaintext based on the swapped data for the generation of a single byte of ciphertext. Moreover, as will be shown by waterfall diagram 200, this approach includes a number of process cycles wherein there are no accesses made to memory, thereby causing the RC4 operation to be limited in execution speed due to bottlenecking that occurs while accessing the S-box.
Returning to FIG. 1, the LEN variable stores the length of the plaintext or data to be ciphered. The while code statement 102, therefore, executes until the number of bytes equaling the value stored in LEN have been ciphered.
At process cycle zero (shown at column 204 of waterfall diagram 200), the processor executes code statement 104, wherein the value stored in the S-box (S[ ]) at an offset of i+1 is assigned to the variable of a, as part of the memory accessing (as shown in column 220).
At process cycle one, the processor executes a portion of code statement 106, wherein the variable i is incremented (as shown in column 206). Additionally, within process cycle one (as shown in column 222), the second read cycle associated with the read operation of S[i] is also occurring, as two process cycles are needed to retrieve the data from memory.
At process cycle two, the processor executes the other portion of code statement 106, as the value of j+a is assigned to j. In particular, since the read operation of S[i] takes two cycles to complete (after two process cycles), the result of such operation cannot be employed until three cycles later (process cycle two), wherein j equals the value of a added to the current value of j. Accordingly, the result of the memory operation is added to the current value of j to generate a new value of j (as shown in columns 208 and 210).
At process cycle three, the processor executes code statement 108 wherein the value stored in the S-box (S[ ]) at an offset of j is assign to the variable b, for a second memory access (as shown in column 220). In particular, the access of the S-box is available three cycles after a prior access to the S-box (process cycle zero).
At process cycle four, none of the code statements in pseudo-code 100 is executed. Rather, in process cycle four, the second cycle associated with the read operation of S[j] is executed (as shown in column 222).
At process cycle five, (as part of the swapping of the data in the S-box) the processor executes a portion of code statement 110, wherein the value of b is assigned to the location within the S-box having an offset of i (as shown in column 224). Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, a write to memory occurs wherein the location within the S-box having an offset of i is set to the current value read from memory (as b has been set to this current value in process cycle four). Additionally, at process cycle five, the variable t is assigned to the addition of the values of a (S[i]) and b (S[j]). As shown in FIG. 2, t is therefore set to the value of S[i] plus the current value read from memory (S[j]). Also at process cycle five, the processor executes a portion of code statement 112, wherein the value at the location within the array of data to be ciphered (plain[ ]) at an offset of l is read from the memory (as shown in column 220).
At process cycle six, (as part of the swapping of the data in the S-box) the processor executes another portion of code statement 110, wherein the location within the S-box having an offset of j is set to the value of a (as shown in column 224). Also within process cycle six, the processor retrieves the value at the location within the S-box having an offset of t (as shown in column 220). Additionally within process cycle six, the second read cycle for the retrieval of the value at the location within the array of data to be ciphered (plain[ ]) at an offset of l is read from the memory (as shown in column 222).
Additionally, an overlap in the generation of two different portions of ciphertext is occurring, as the second iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1 (denoted by parenthesized value in column 204) commences during process cycle seven of the first iteration of that while loop. At process cycle seven (process cycle zero of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the temp variable is set to the value at the location within the array of data to be ciphered (plain[ ]) at an offset of l (as shown in column 218), wherein the temp value is set to the value read from memory (MR2)). Also at process cycle seven (process cycle zero of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1) is where the retrieval of the value at the location within the S-box having an offset of t is completed (shown in column 222). Additionally, the operation (a=S[i]) (code statement 104) of the next iteration of the loop in FIG. 1 is performed.
At process cycle eight (process cycle one of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the processor generates the byte of ciphertext. In particular, the temp variable is set to the current temp value (plain[l]) XORed with the value at the location within the S-box having an offset of t (S[t]) (as shown in column 218 where temp is XORed with the value read from memory (MR2) (which is S[t])). Also during process cycle eight (process cycle one of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the operation (i++) (code statement 106) of the next iteration of the loop of FIG. 1 is performed.
At process cycle nine (process cycle two of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the remaining portion of code statement 112 is executed, wherein the l variable is incremented (as shown in column 216). Moreover, at process cycle nine (process cycle two of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the byte of ciphertext that was generated is stored in a data array (cipher[ ]). In particular, the value of temp is stored into the array of data that is ciphered at an offset of l (as shown in column 224). Finally, during process cycle nine (process cycle two of the subsequent iteration of the while loop of FIG. 1), the operation (j=j+a) (the remainder of code statement 106 associated with the next iteration of the loop of FIG. 1) is performed. Thus, certain non-speculative operations that contribute to the generation of the next portion of cipher text are overlapped with the operations to generate the previous portion of cipher text.
The loop of FIG. 1 can be implemented in FIG. 2 in of a number of different ways. For example, the loop can be implemented in FIG. 2 to cause the repetition of process cycles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7(0), 8(1) and 9(2) until the plaintext has been ciphered into ciphertext. As another example, the remaining process cycles of the next ciphertext could be continued to process cycle 6 of that ciphertext and the loop could cause the repetition of 7(0), 8(1), 9(2), 3, 4, 5 and 6.
In a similar manner to the generation of ciphertext through encryption of plaintext, RC4 can also be used to generate plaintext through the decryption of ciphertext. Thus, RC4, whether encrypting or decrypting, translates input text blocks into output text blocks.
Disadvantageously, as illustrated, the bottleneck of this prior art approach to an RC4 operation is associated with the access of data from the S-box stored in memory. The overlapping of the generation of the two different portions of ciphertext are non-speculative in nature. Specifically, in order to avoid the generation of inaccurate data for the ciphertext, the write operation to the S-box for the generation of a first portion of ciphertext is complete prior to the load operation to the S-box for the generation of a second portion of the ciphertext. As shown, three cycles are needed for each read operation in order to ensure that the data retrieved from the S-box is up-to-date. Accordingly, one byte of the plaintext is encrypted into ciphertext per seven process cycles.

Speculative execution for data ciphering operations


Methods and systems provide for dynamically altering notification preferences within a communication platform. The system receives one or more future events and one or more past events associated with a user of a communication platform; a notification associated with a future event; and a user behavioral profile associated with the user. The system determines whether one of the future events coincides with the notification time for the notification. The system then deploys an artificial intelligence (AI) model to analyze the user behavioral profile with respect to the event notifications at the notification time, the one or more past events, and any coinciding future events, and provide, based on the analysis, a prediction score for whether notification preferences associated with the notification should be altered for the user at the notification time. Finally, the system alters the notification preferences if the prediction score meets or exceeds an alteration threshold.

Digital communication tools and platforms have been essential in providing the ability for people and organizations to communicate and collaborate remotely, e.g., over the internet. In particular, there has been massive adopted use of communication platforms allowing for remote video sessions between multiple participants. Communications applications for casual friendly conversation ("chat"), webinars, large group meetings, work meetings or gatherings, asynchronous work or personal conversation, and more have exploded in popularity.
With the ubiquity and pervasiveness of remote video conversations, users of such communication platforms frequently find themselves in back-to-back scheduled events throughout the day, e.g., meetings, virtual gatherings of coworkers, and other events. Some users may have remote work meetings or other commitments booked constantly during work hours for a week or even several weeks in advance. Some may even have work meetings or events scheduled for non-work, personal hours. Related to these events, the user may also receive notifications from the communication platform hosting the events (via, e.g., video and/or audio communication sessions). Such notifications may interrupt users during other important work activities such as an event the user is participating in, or during personal experiences such as the user eating dinner with his family.

Dynamic alteration of notification preferences within a communication platform


Systems and methods are presented herein for generating at least one preview of a portion of a content item, wherein the at least one preview is selectable and, when selected, enables a user to change to a playback position of the at least one preview. An input corresponding to a request to generate at least one preview of a portion of a content item is received. At least two key events corresponding to the portion of the content item is identified. In response to identifying the at least two key events, at least one interactive thumbnail corresponding to the at least two key events is generated, wherein the icon corresponds to a preview of the portion of the content item.

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for providing selectable options to change a currently viewed portion of a content item, and more particularly, to systems and methods that generate selectable icons that correspond to various key events within a content item that, when selected, determine which portion of the content item will be displayed for viewing.


Provided is a microorganism that is able to efficiently produce protocatechuic acid or a salt thereof by using a saccharide as a raw material, and a method of efficiently producing protocatechuic acid or a salt thereof by using the microorganism. Provided is a transformant having protocatechuic acid producing ability, subjected to modifications of enhancement of 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase activity; enhancement of chorismate pyruvate lyase activity; and enhancement of 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase activity. Also provided is a method of producing protocatechuic acid or a salt thereof, including the step of culturing the transformant in a reaction solution containing a saccharide so as to cause the transformant to produce protocatechuic acid or a salt thereof.

Against the backdrop of global warming and exhaustion of fossil resources, production of chemical products using renewable resources has been recognized to be an important measure with view to realizing a low-carbon society, as new industrial biorefinery, along with biofuel, and has attracted attention.
Protocatechuic acid is a useful compound, as it can be used as an antioxidant by itself, while it serves as a raw material for medicine, agricultural chemicals, flavoring agents and the like.
Conventionally, protocatechuic acid is produced principally by extraction from natural products (agricultural products). With such a producing method, however, it is difficult to mass-produce protocatechuic acid, since there are problems of limited production of natural raw materials and low efficiency of extraction from natural products.
Some of microorganisms are known to have an ability of metabolically degrading a variety of aromatic compounds so as to use the compounds as carbon sources, generating protocatechuic acid as a metabolic intermediate. Considering this, proposed are methods of controlling this metabolism so as to produce a variety of compounds via protocatechuic acid by fermentation processes using saccharides as raw materials. Particularly, a method of producing a large amount of protocatechuic acid inexpensively by using saccharides derived from renewable inedible biomass resources as raw materials is environment-friendly, and the development of the same is desired.
Patent Documents 1, 2 teach methods of producing catechol from saccharides via protocatechuic acid, by using transformants that are obtained by introducing a 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase gene and a protocatechuate decarboxylase gene derived from bacteria of the genus Klebsiella, into bacteria of the genus Escherichia or bacteria of the genus Klebsiella, which are able to convert a carbon source via an aromatic amino acid biosynthesis common pathway into 3-dehydroshikimate. Patent Document 2, further, teaches that for the production of catechol via protocatechuic acid, shikimate dehydrogenase is preferably inactivated so that the conversion of 3-dehydroshikimate into chorismate is inhibited.
Further, Patent Documents 3, 4 teach methods of producing cis,cis-muconate, or adipate from saccharides via protocatechuic acid, by using transformants that are obtained by introducing a 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase gene, a protocatechuate decarboxylase gene, and a catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase gene into bacteria of the genus Escherichia or bacteria of the genus Klebsiella. Patent Documents 4, 5 teach that a certain enzyme on the metabolic pathway from 3-dehydroshikimate to chorismate is preferably inhibited.
Still further, Patent Document 5 teaches methods of producing gallic acid or pyrogallol from saccharides via protocatechuic acid, by using transformants that are obtained by introducing a 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase gene and a variant-type 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase gene into bacteria of the genus Escherichia or bacteria of the genus Klebsiella.
These Patent Documents 1 to 5, however, do not intend to produce protocatechuic acid, and it is a problem that the generated protocatechuic acid is converted to catechol, cis,cis-muconate, adipate, or gallate. Besides, practically sufficient efficiency has not been achieved yet in the production of these substances. Further, in microorganisms disclosed in these Patent Documents, pathways thereof for biosynthesizing aromatic amino acids are blocked with a view to improving the productivity of the target compounds. In a case of use of such a microorganism, which therefore has auxotrophy for tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine, para-hydroxybenzoate, para-aminobenzoate, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate, these six types of compounds have to be added to medium.

Transformant, and method for producing protocatechuic acid or salt thereof using same

RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE EARTH


A tent comprising: a) a fabric covering including a plurality of longitudinal walls and end walls, wherein a first longitudinal wall has an opening having around its periphery a panel attachment means and wherein said longitudinal walls are sewn to said end walls; b) a support means positioned in proximity to each of said end walls sufficient to cause said longitudinal walls to form a triangle when affixed to a support means; and c) a panel containing a phase change material sufficient to heat said tent""s interior when cold and cool said interior when hot.

The present invention relates to portable shelters. More particularly, it relates to a self-contained tent configured to selectively utilize solar energy in combination with a phase change material in order to absorb sunlight and radiate energy to maintain said tent at a constant temperature in sunlight and darkness.
With the increasing popularity of outdoor activities, a resurgence of interest occurred in the camping industry. A variety of tent designs evolved to meet his demand. Such Tents have been designed to meet a variety of user needs and seasonal conditions relative to various user groups which range from the occasional camper, to backpackers, to mountain climbers, to name a few.
Most current tent designs provide single layer, nylon fabric walls and multi-section support frames. Support frames may thread through sleeves at the walls or fit to external fasteners. Some tents include captured frames which store with the tent.
Depending upon the user group, tents typically assemble to a walled cabin configuration or to a variety of geodesic shapes. For serious campers, shapes and numbers of pole supports are configured to provide a low profile structure which is stable under windy conditions. For occasional users, fewer sections are typically provided, and the height of the tent is increased to permit standing. None of the tents are constructed to primarily accommodate solar conditions.
Triangular and A-frame tents are also known. Many traditional tents, such as used by boy and girl scouts, erect to isosceles triangle configurations. Low profile tents are principally used for sleeping accommodations. An access opening at an end wall permits entry and a covering rain fly may be separately supported above the tent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,197 issued to Dobberstein on Dec. 10, 1996 discloses a solar tent. This patent discloses a fabric tent wherein multi-layered fabric walls are constructed and arranged to be reversible so as to selectively reflect or absorb solar radiation in cooperation with a longitudinal access door. Said door has a removable cover, screen and/or window panels including adjustable relief panels which vary the exposure. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Gustafson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,935 which issued on Jan. 19, 1988, teaches a multi functional tent. Gustafson discloses a solar heated tent in which the interior is protected from the effects of inclement weather and insects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,584 issued to the United States of America, Navy on Sep. 23, 1997 discloses an apparatus for holding a space vehicle at a constant temperature. This apparatus has a cellular sandwich on the outer surface of the space vehicle. This sandwich has two outer layers and translucent cells between the two outer layers. The translucent cells contain a phase change material. The outer layer is more distant from the space vehicle. In this position, the outer layer is able to transmit sunlight to the translucent cells and transmit radiation away from the translucent cells. The phase change material absorbs sunlight and radiating energy so as to maintain the space vehicle a constant temperature in sunlight and darkness. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Therefore, what is needed is a portable shelter or tent that is able to maintain a constant temperature in sunlight and darkness via a phase change material.
This invention is directed to a tent having a fabric covering. The covering includes a plurality of longitudinal walls and end walls. The first longitudinal wall has an opening that has around it an attachment means for securing within said opening a panel containing a means for heating and cooling the tent""s interior. The longitudinal walls are attached to end the end walls. Sewing is the preferred means for attaching said longitudinal walls to the end walls. A support means is positioned in close proximity to each of said end walls in a manner sufficient to cause said longitudinal walls to form a triangle of a height sufficient to permit entry into said tent.
Prior to erecting the tent, said panel is securely affixed to the longitudinal wall having an opening therein. When the tent is erected and the end walls closed, a phase change material (xe2x80x9cPCMxe2x80x9d) contained within said panel causes the tent""s interior to be heated or cooled thereby keeping occupants within said tent comfortable. The phase change material is activated by solar energy. When solar energy is absorbed by the PCM, the tent""s interior is cooled. At night, energy absorbed the PCM is released whereupon the tent""s interior is heated. In order to maximize solar energy absorption, the panel containing said PCM is positioned so as to face the sun.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide for a means for safely heating a tent without utilization of an open flame.
Another object of this invention is to provide for a means for keeping occupants of a tent warm and thereby minimize the use of bulky sleeping bags and blankets.
Yet another object of this invention is maximize available space in a tent by avoiding the use of sleeping bags and blankets.
Still another object of this invention is to provide vents at end walls to control interior conditions in the tent.
Yet another further object of this invention is to provide for fastening means to securely affix a panel containing a PCM within a longitudinal tent wall.
And still yet further object of this invention is provide a hook and loop fastener means to affix a panel containing a PCM within a longitudinal tent wall.
An even still yet further object of this invention is to utilize solar energy to heat a tent""s interior even in cold weather so long as the sun is shining.


A multilayer wiring board assembly, a multilayer wiring board assembly component and a method of manufacture thereof are described in which it is possible to easily laminate together flexible FPCs having highly packing densities by via-on-via and chip-on-via. The multilayer wiring board assembly is laminated by laminating together a plurality of multilayer wiring board assembly components, each of which is made by preparing a copper plated resin film 10 made of a copper plated resin film made of a resin film having adhesivity which is provided with a copper foil bonded to one surface thereof and in which a through hole is opened through said copper foil and said resin film, and a conductive paste filler embedded by screen printing in the through hole of said copper plated resin film from said copper foil with a leading end of said conductive paste filler being projected from said resin film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer wiring board assembly composed of a plurality of printed circuit boards in a multilayered structure, a multilayer wiring board assembly component for use in laminating the same and the manufacturing method of the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a multilayer wiring board assembly, a multilayer wiring board assembly component for use in laminating the same and the manufacturing method of the same, wherein the multilayer wiring board assembly is flexible and implemented with a highly packing density by the Flip Chip Mounting technique and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flexible printed circuit board (which is simply referred to as an "FPC" in this description) is composed of a resin film having a small thickness for the purpose of maintaining the flexibility thereof. Because of this, in the case of such FPCs, it is essentially very difficult to assemble a plurality of FPCs in a multilayered structure (a multilayer wiring board assembly). However, along with the advent of the implementation of FPCs with a highly packing density, the need for multilayered structures of FPCs has increased in recent years, for example, in consideration of the arrangement of lead wirings as connected to flip chips mounted on FPCs. In this situation, a multilayer wiring board assembly has been manufactured by multilayering a plurality of FPCs with an intervening glass epoxy prepreg sheet and so forth between each adjacent boards while one or both surface of each FPC has been formed with a circuit pattern, forming holes through the entirety of all the layers by means of a drill and the like, and interlayer interconnecting the layers by the use of a through hall plating and the like.
However, in the case of such a conventional method of manufacturing multilayer wiring board assemblies by the use of a through hall plating, it is impossible to form a via hole anew on another via hole and to mount a chip on a via hole, generally called as via-on-via since a hole remains in the center of a through hall even after plating. Because of this, when a multilayer wiring board assembly is implemented with a highly packing density, there are several impediments such that a lead can not be extended from the position just below the chip while interlayer interconnection tends to excessively occupy a substantial area.
On the other hand, for example, ALIVH (Any Layer Interstitial Via Hole: a registered trademark of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) is a rigid multilayer wiring board assembly in which via-on-via is possible while a conductive paste is used for interlayer interconnection between each adjacent layers. An ALIVH board is formed by repeating the process sequence including opening a through hole in an uncured resin board, filling the through hole with a conductive paste, joining a copper foil to the uncured resin board, hardening the resin while compression bonding in order to form a multilayered structure and etching the copper foil in order to form a circuit pattern.
However, while via-on-via is possible in the case of the manufacturing method as described above to form ALIVH boards since the interlayer interconnection is made by means of a conductive paste, it is extremely difficult to manufacture FPCs in the form of a multilayer wiring board assembly by applying the manufacturing method to FPCs because it is necessary to open a hole through a resin film such as a polyimide film having a small thickness followed by filling up the hole with a conductive paste. This is because, when opening a hole in a resin film having a small thickness, the position and the size of the hole tend to change due to distortion of the resin film, the sucking force of a drill and the like so that the necessary accuracy of alignment is hardly achieved during the printing operation of the conductive paste and the positioning of the respective layers.
Also, while via-on-via is possible in the case of the manufacturing method making use of a conductive paste for the interlayer interconnection like ALIVH, it is difficult to make electric connection between a copper foil and a conductive paste without compromising the electric characteristics of the copper foil and the conductive paste so that the respective venders make use of proprietary methods respectively. Namely, generally speaking, when interlayer interconnection is made by via-on-via, a copper foil and a conductive paste are connected to each other by inserting the copper foil between adjacent conductive paste layers. In this case, the conductive paste is arranged to pierce the copper foil for the purpose of preserving electric connectivity between the copper foil and the conductive paste filler. For example, in the case of an ALIVH board, a conductive paste is printed in order to form a projection while the thickness of the board is reduced during thermocompression for bonding because of the use of an uncured resin board so that it becomes possible to make electric connection of a copper foil pierced by the projection of the conductive paste.
However, in the case of a board made of such a substance that the thickness of the board is not reduced during thermocompression for bonding, like a polyimide used for making a resin film in the case of FPCs, the projection of a conductive paste is less effective in piecing the copper foil. As a result, it is difficult to make electric connection between a copper foil and a conductive paste without compromising the electric characteristics.
Furthermore, in the case where a through hole is filled with a conductive paste, the conductive paste is printed in the condition that the surface of the conductive paste is slightly depressed since the conductive paste is pressed during printing. Because of this, there is a problem that, even if boards having through holes filled with a conductive paste are joined to each other, it is impossible to achieve sufficient electric connectivity between the fillers of the conductive paste.
Also, while the resin film having adhesivity is contracted or expanded during heating, the contraction or expansion can be cancelled out if there is a center line of symmetry in the cross section thereof. However, in the case of an adhesive layer having no center line of symmetry, there is observed curl in the cross section of the board during heating for lamination. Particularly, a polyimide film is a highly flexuous material and therefore tends to be significantly curled.

Multilayer wiring board assembly, multilayer wiring board assembly component and method of manufacture thereof


In a method for emulating an environmental sensor in a motor vehicle in a specified collision situation at a first predetermined speed of the motor vehicle, raw data are recorded in a collision situation at a second speed, which is lower than the first speed, with the environmental sensor to be emulated using the motor vehicle and/or a structurally substantially identical motor vehicle and stored. The stored raw data and/or raw data extrapolated therefrom are used downsampled for emulating the environmental sensor at the first speed.

The present invention relates to a method for emulating an environmental sensor in a motor vehicle in a specified collision situation at a first predetermined speed of the motor vehicle, a method for testing an anticipatory safety system of a motor vehicle in a collision situation, wherein the safety system includes data received from an environmental sensor, in particular via a vehicle bus, and an emulation system for an environmental sensor of the motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Anticipatory safety systems for motor vehicles are generally known. The environment of the motor vehicle is hereby monitored for potential collision situations by environmental sensors (anticipatory sensors), for example laser scanners, radar sensors, PMD (Photonic Mixer Device), image-producing sensors and the like, for activating with a control device measures that prevent an accident or lessen the severity of an accident. For example, brake interventions can be performed or airbag algorithms can be pre-parameterized, and the like.
To be able to test the anticipatory safety systems, it is known to install the systems in a motor vehicle in addition to the employed environmental sensors used to perform a so-called "crash test", i.e. by intentionally causing a certain defined collision situation. In most cases, this also results in an actual collision, because the actual anticipatory sensor data can only be recorded by the environmental sensors during actual collisions.
Disadvantageously, the installation and integration of the environmental sensors (anticipatory sensors) is expensive, and most motor vehicles tested, for example in crash buildings, lack such environmental sensors. In addition, the anticipatory sensors are mostly destroyed in crash tests, although these sensors may be very expensive prototypes.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to obviate prior art shortcomings and to provide an improved method and system for obtaining realistic sensor data from an environmental sensor during a crash test, without requiring installation of the sensor or risking destruction of the sensor.

Method for emulating an environmental sensor in a motor vehicle and for testing an anticipatory safety system, and an emulation system


A wireless transmitter system for use in maintaining a wireless link with a remote transceiver includes a beamforming transmit antenna structure and a power control unit for controlling transmit power levels. The system determines the direction of the remote transceiver and then generates a transmit antenna beam in that direction. The power control unit then determines the antenna gain of the generated beam and uses the antenna gain information to adjust the transmit power level of the system so that it does not exceed government mandated limits. In one embodiment, the average transmit duty cycle of the system is also used to adjust transmit power. The system is capable of achieving a maximum transmit power without exceeding applicable power limits.

Wide area networks (WANs) that can be accessed wirelessly from homes and small offices are becoming increasingly popular. Such systems can offer a myriad of data services to subscribers including, for example, a relatively high speed connection to the Internet. Typically, a professional installation of transceiver and antenna equipment is required at the subscriber location to provide subscriber access to a WAN. During the installation process, a technician must first determine an appropriate mounting location for an antenna unit on the exterior of the subscriber's building and then perform a relatively complex antenna aiming procedure to ensure that the antenna is properly directed toward the WAN base station antenna. Transceiver equipment is then installed and cabling is run from the external antenna location to the location of the subscriber's communication equipment inside the building. This rather complicated setup procedure adds to the overall cost and complexity of providing WAN services and is relatively inefficient.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus that allows simplified installation and setup of a wireless subscriber terminal for use with a WAN or similar communication network. Preferably, the method and apparatus will allow a subscriber to perform the terminal setup without the need for a professional installer.

Transmit power control within a wireless transmitter


The present invention provides a process for abating emissions from a manufacturing stream comprising the steps of:. (a) from the manufacturing stream, feeding the emissions comprising NO.sub.x to a scrubbing reactor; PA1 (b) to the emissions in the scrubbing reactor, adding alkali solution and NO.sub.2 in an amount sufficient so that a substantial amount of the NO.sub.x forms ammonium nitrite or ammonium nitrate while maintaining the pH of the formed ammonium nitrite solution at greater than about 7.5 and vent gas comprising mist exits from the scrubbing reactor; PA1 (c) maintaining the temperature of the vent gas at less than about 40.degree. C.; and PA1 (d) removing the mist from the vent gas.

Many manufacturing processes including those for the production of nitric acid, sodium nitrate, or hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt result in emissions which may include NO.sub.x (where x=1 or 2), SO.sub.2, and mist. Kirk-Othmer, "Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology", Volume 17, pages 93-94 (1996) teaches processes for making nitric acid and three methods for abating NO.sub.x emissions in nitric acid production to an acceptable level for discharge to the atmosphere. The three methods include extended absorption (reaction of nitrogen oxides with water to form acid), selective catalytic abatement (catalyst and ammonia fuel selectively reduce nitrogen oxides in preference to combustion), and nonselective abatement (catalyst and propane or natural gas reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen).
Kirk-Othmer, "Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology", Volume 22, pages 383-393 (1997) teaches processes for making sodium nitrate.
Hydroxylamine is widely useful in the transformation of organic compounds to derivatives, which in turn may be intermediates in pharmaceutical or industrial synthesis of other complex molecules. An important use of hydroxylamine is captively in the synthesis of caprolactam which may then be polymerized to polycaprolactam.
The classical method for the production of hydroxylamine is that ascribed to Raschig. An important commercial process consists of the reduction of ammonium nitrite with ammonium bisulfite and sulfur dioxide to give hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt. Upon hydrolysis, hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt gives hydroxylamine sulfate, an intermediate in the production of caprolactam. The overall reaction for production of hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt is
(1) NH.sub.4 NO.sub.2 +NH.sub.4 HSO.sub.3 +SO.sub.2 .fwdarw.HO--N--(SO.sub.3 NH.sub.4).sub.2 where PA1 (2) NH.sub.4 OH+SO.sub.2 .fwdarw.NH.sub.4 HSO.sub.3 PA1 (a) from the manufacturing stream, feeding the emissions comprising NO.sub.x to a scrubbing reactor; PA1 (b) to the emissions in the scrubbing reactor, adding alkali solution and NO.sub.2 in an amount sufficient so that a substantial amount of the NO.sub.x forms ammonium nitrite or ammonium nitrate while maintaining the pH of the formed ammonium nitrite solution at greater than about 7.5 and vent gas comprising mist exits from the scrubbing reactor; PA1 (c) maintaining the temperature of the vent gas at less than about 40.degree. C.; and PA1 (d) removing the mist from the vent gas. PA1 (a) from the manufacturing stream, feeding the emissions to a scrubbing reactor; and PA1 (b) to the emissions in the scrubbing reactor, adding alkali solution and NO.sub.2 in an amount sufficient so that a substantial amount of the NO.sub.x forms ammonium nitrite or ammonium nitrate and a substantial amount of said SO.sub.2 forms ammonium sulfite or ammonium sulfate while maintaining the pH of the formed ammonium nitrite solution at greater than about 7.5 and vent gas comprising mist exits from the scrubbing reactor; and PA1 (c) maintaining the temperature of the vent gas at less than about 40.degree. C. Preferably, step (d) is removing mist from the vent gas.
In commercial practice, the reaction is conducted in a packed tower or column where a solution of the reactants is recirculated, an aqueous nitrite solution is fed to the recirculating reactant stream, and supplemental ammonia, such as ammonium hydroxide or ammonium carbonate, is added in an amount to satisfy the stoichiometric requirements NO.sub.2.sup.- :NH.sub.4.sup.+ =1:2 and SO.sub.2 .uparw., obtained for example by the combustion of sulfur with air, is fed at the bottom of the packed column and is vigorously contacted with the liquid in the packed section of the tower. The amount of SO.sub.2 fed to the tower should also satisfy the requirements of equation (1) above and the three reactants should therefore be fed in the molar proportions NO.sub.2.sup.- :NH.sub.4.sup.+ SO.sub.2 =1:2:2.
The reaction is complex, with the possibility of many side reactions which have been discussed authoritatively in a review by F. Seel, Fortschr. Chem. Forsch. 4, 301-332 (1963). Side reactions do occur and as a result, NO.sub.x gases, predominantly NO, are released. When the reaction is carried out at lower temperatures, yields of hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt are improved and the extent to which side reactions occur and NO.sub.x are formed is decreased. But even at 0.degree. C., a temperature which is expensive to maintain, NO.sub.x emissions, primarily NO, still constitute up to 3,000 volume ppm in the vent gas.
A known process for abating NO.sub.x emissions is taught by commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,036. The process treats emission gases from the production of hydroxylamine disulfonate diammonium salt and comprises adding NO.sub.2 to the emission gases and contacting the mixture of NO.sub.2 and emission gases with an aqueous alkali solution sufficiently to form nitrite and nitrate ions in the alkali solution. Unfortunately, this patent illustrates a lab scale process which was operated for only four hours and not in a continuous manner. When we tried to scale up the process taught by the patent and then operate a continuous process, the result was unsatisfactory.
Thus, a need exists in the industry for an improved emission abatement process which is of commercial scale and operated continuously.

Process for abating NO.sub.x emissions from a manufacturing stream


A hard and wear resistant coating for a body includes at least one metal based nitride layer having improved high temperature performance. The layer is (Zr1-x-zSixMez)Ny with 0<x<0.30, 0.90<y<1.20, 0≦z<0.25, and Me is one or more of the elements Y, Ti, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and Al, comprised of a single cubic phase, a single hexagonal phase or a mixture thereof, with a cubic phase of a sodium chloride structure and a thickness between 0.5 μm and 15 μm. The layer is deposited using cathodic arc evaporation and is useful for metal cutting applications generating high temperatures.

TiN has been widely used as hard layer on cutting tools. However, due to its relatively poor oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures, the focus has shifted towards more complex ternary and quaternary compounds, e.g. Ti—Al—N, Ti—Al—Si—N and Ti—Cr—Al—N with improved high temperature performance. For example, Ti—Al—Si—N has been reported as super hard, H>40 GPa, explained in terms of a two phase structure consisting of crystalline phase of NaCl-type in combination with x-ray amorphous Si3N4 or SiINx.
EP 0588350 discloses a hard layer of Ti—Si—N composite material deposited on a body using an evaporation technique resulting in layers with a composition of TiaSib where a is between 75 at % and 85 at % and b is between 15 at % and 25 at %.
JP 2004-338058 discloses a hard coating comprising a compound nitride layer of Ti, Si and Y. The layer has a layered structure composed of gradient layers wherein each layer has a maximum Si content and a minimum Si content. JP 2004-338008 and JP 2004-322279 disclose similar hard coatings comprising a compound (Ti,Si,Cr)N layer and (Ti, Si, Zr)N, respectively.
CN 101338411 discloses Zr—Si—N layers grown by co-sputtering of pure Zr and pure Si targets in a mixed argon and nitrogen discharge on substrates to a total thickness of 2 to 3 μm.
EP 1736565 discloses a cutting tool insert, solid end mill, or drill, comprising a body and a coating composed of one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer comprises a cubic (Me,Si)X phase, where Me is one or more of the elements Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta and Al, and X is one or more of the elements N, C, O or B.
WO2005100635A1 discloses an AlxSiyMezN coating, 0.001≦z≦0.08 where Me is a metal dopant element, for example Zr.
Today industry continuously seeks solutions for economic and high productivity/feed-through manufacturing. To meet these demands there is a need for new materials with advanced properties to improve tool life during operation. Within the metal cutting tool industry, a major part of this effort is focused to improve the wear behavior of the cutting tools by designing the properties of the coating material used in the application. Typically, a high productivity/feed-through cutting process results in a dramatic increase of the tool temperature and hence a coating material with a high temperature wear resistance is essential.

Body with a metal based nitride layer and a method for coating the body


A method of tracing a route between an origin node and a target node within a TCP/IP data network, consisting of sending in a dichotomy-based fashion a succession of messages for tracing the route. The advantage of this method is that it reduces the number of messages necessary for tracing the route.

In accordance with protocols of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) family, each node of the network typically has a view of only a portion of the network, with the result that the routing function is distributed across the network without any of the nodes knowing the complete route taken by the data packets.
The routing protocol can be the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), for example.
In most cases, these protocols are sufficient because the sender of a packet is generally interested only in the actual transmission of their packet, and not in the exact route that it takes. Nevertheless, there are a few applications in which a knowledge of the complete route taken by the packets is at least important, if not essential.
One such application is the broadcasting of packets to a plurality of destinations, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 and as described in Request for Comments (RFC) 1054, entitled "Host Extensions for IP Multicasting".
FIG. 1 shows seven nodes R1, R2, R3, . . . , R7. The node R1 sends out data packets. The data packets typically form part of a data stream, for example a video data stream. Also shown in the figures are arrows corresponding to the directions in which information is communicated between the nodes. The double-headed arrows represent symmetrical communications.
The nodes R6 and R7 are to receive the data stream. They therefore send to the source R1 of the stream a registration message, for example a "Join" message of the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) as defined in RFC 1112.
The registration message from the node R7 passes through the nodes R5 and R2 before reaching the source node R1. The registration message from the node R6 also passes through the nodes R4, R3, R2 and R1.
The data stream is therefore transmitted at the same time to the node R2 for transmission to the node R6 and to the node R5 for transmission to the node R5.
If the node R1 had known the exact route to each of the destination nodes, it would have transmitted a single data stream to the node R5, for the latter to duplicate that stream, both to the node R7 and to the node R6.
Thus a lack of knowledge of the complete route between the nodes rules out optimum use of the data network and overloads it unnecessarily.
One solution to knowing a route between two nodes is the "TraceRoute" software, the first versions of which date from 1988.
Its basic principle consists of setting an increasing time to live for a packet sent to the node to which a route is looked for. Each node passed through decrements the time to live of the packet by one unit. When the time to live reaches 0, the node that has received the packet no longer transmits it, but sends the sender a Time To Live Exceeded message, inserting its identifier into the message. Accordingly, a simple method used by the TraceRoute software consists of transmitting a packet with a time to live of 1, then 2, 3, etc. until the target node is finally reached. The complete route to the target node can be reconstructed by storing in memory each time the node sending the Time To Live Exceeded message.
However, a method of this kind has the major drawback of necessitating a large number of packets. In a real world data network, the size of the routes can be large and can therefore imply an excessive number of packets and Time To Live Exceeded messages.
A similar method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,741, entitled "Method and apparatus for determining a communications route between two nodes in an Internet Protocol (IP) network". This is also an iterative method. The number of packets transmitted is therefore proportional to the size of the route looked for. The method can therefore lead to congestion of the network because of the proliferation of these route tracing messages.

Dichotomy-based method of tracing a route between two nodes of a data network


A trailer includes a floor engageable with a load, the trailer floor comprising a plurality of floor panels. Each floor panel comprises a plurality of tubular portions that are hollow inside to reduce weight. The tubular portions have an upper wall comprising pairs of parallel channels which slideably receive at least one sliding bracket for securing the load to the trailer.

A trailer, such as a flatbed trailer, includes a pair of longitudinally extending I-beams that extend the length of the bed. Each I-beam includes an upper flange, a lower flange extending parallel to the upper flange, and a web interconnecting the upper and lower flanges. A suspension system is connected to the lower flange. Cross members extend through the webs and are connected to the webs. Longitudinally extending floor members are connected to upper surfaces of the cross members. The floor members extend between the I-beams so that a load may engage upper surfaces of the I-beams and the floor members.
Traditionally, at least one of the floor members is made of wood for securing a payload to the trailer. The traditional method of securing a trailer load to the trailer is by nailing fasteners to the wood floor members.