The present invention provides methods, compositions, formulations, and kits related to acadesine, or a prodrug, analog, or salt thereof, and/or a blood clotting inhibitor for preventing or reducing adverse side effects in a patient. The type of patient that may benefit includes a patient with decreased left ventricular function, a patient with a prior myocardial infarction, a patient undergoing non-vascular surgery, or a fetus during labor and delivery.

Gruber (U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,092) described prophylactic administration of AICA riboside compounds, including analogs and prodrugs thereof, to prevent tissue damage associated with undesired decreased blood flow. The AICA riboside compounds are administered in amounts between 0.1 and 500 mg/kg/day. AICA riboside's prodrugs, including those set forth in the commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,829, entitled "AICA Riboside Prodrugs," U.S. application Ser. No. 07/408,107, filed Sep. 15, 1989, entitled "Methods and Compounds for AICA Riboside Delivery and for Lowering Blood Glucose," and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/466,979, filed Jan. 18, 1990, entitled "Method and Compounds for AICA Riboside Delivery and for Lowering Blood Glucose," all of which are incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference, may also be administered. Certain prodrugs of AICA riboside are defined therein, and generally are compounds which, when introduced into the body, will metabolize into AICA riboside or an active metabolite, for example, AICA riboside monophosphate. Other prodrugs include mono-, di- and tri-5′ phosphates of AICA riboside.
Adenosine, 9-β-D-ribofuranosyladenine (the nucleoside of the purine adenine), belongs to the class of biochemicals termed purine nucleosides and is a key biochemical cell regulatory molecule, as described by Fox and Kelly in the Annual Reviews of Biochemistry, Vol. 47, p. 635, 1978. It interacts with a wide variety of cell types and is responsible for a myriad of biological effects. For instance, adenosine is a potent vasodilator, an inhibitor of immune cell function, and can at certain levels enhance activation of mast cells, is an inhibitor of granulocyte oxygen-free radial production, is anti-arrhythmic, and is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Considering its broad spectrum of biological activity, considerable effort has been aimed at establishing practical therapeutic uses for adenosine and its analogs.
Since adenosine is thought to act at the level of the cell plasma membrane by binding to receptors anchored in the membrane, past work has included attempts to increase extracellular levels of adenosine by administration of it into the blood stream. Unfortunately, adenosine is toxic at concentrations that have to be administered to a patient to maintain an efficacious extracellular therapeutic level, and the administration of adenosine alone is therefore of limited therapeutic use. Further, adenosine receptors are subject to negative feedback control following exposure to adenosine, including down-regulation of the receptors.
Other ways of achieving the effect of a high local extracellular level of adenosine exist and have also been studied. They include: (a) interference with the uptake of adenosine with reagents that specifically block adenosine transport, as described by Paterson et al., in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 255, p. 402 (1975); (b) prevention of the degradation of adenosine, as described by Carson and Seegmiller in The Journal of Clinical Investigation Vol. 57, p. 274 (1976); and (c) the use of analogs of adenosine constructed to bind to adenosine cell plasma membrane receptors.
There are a large repertoire of chemicals that can inhibit the cellular uptake of adenosine. Some do so specifically and are essentially competitive inhibitors of adenosine uptake, and others inhibit nonspecifically. P-Nitrobenzylthionosine appears to be a competitive inhibitor, while dipyridamole and a variety of other chemicals, including colchicine, phenethylalcohol and papaverine inhibit uptake nonspecifically.
Extracellular levels of adenosine can be increased by the use of chemicals that inhibit enzymatic degradation of adenosine. Previous work has focused on identifying inhibitors of adenosine deaminase, which participates in the conversion of adenosine to inosine. Adenosine deaminase activity is inhibited by coformycin, 2′-deoxycoformycin, and erythro 9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine hydrochloride.
A number of adenosine receptor agonists and antagonists have been generated having structural modifications in the purine ring, alterations in substituent groups attached to the purine ring, and modifications or alterations in the site of attachment of the carbohydrate moiety. Halogenated adenosine derivatives appear to have been the most promising as agonist or antagonist and, as described by Wolff et al. in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 252, p. 681, 1977, exert biological effects in experimental systems similar to those caused by adenosine.
Although all three techniques discussed above may have advantages over the use of adenosine alone, they have several disadvantages, the major disadvantages being that they rely on chemicals that have adverse therapeutic side effects, primarily due to the fact that they must be administered in doses that are toxic, and that they affect nonselectively most cell types. As described in Purine Metalolism in Man, (eds. De Bruyn, Simmonds and Muller), Plenum Press, New York, 1984, most cells in the body carry receptors for adenosine. Consequently, the use of techniques that increase adenosine levels generally throughout the body can cause unwanted, dramatic changes in normal cellular physiology.
With respect to post ischemic myocardial tissue and adenosine, it is stated in Swain, J. L., J. J. Hines, R. L. Sabina, and E. W. Holmes, Circulation Research 51:102-105 (1982), and in Holmes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,498 (issued Mar. 11, 1986), that adenosine concentration and blood flow are not altered in ischemic canine hearts exposed to the purine nucleoside 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside (AICA riboside). They also state that depletion of purine nucleotide pools, especially adenosine triphosphate (ATP), has been postulated to play a role in such dysfunction following, e.g., an ischemic event, and claim to have demonstrated an enhanced nucleotide synthesis and concomitant repletion of ATP pools by treating post-ischemic myocardium with the purine analog AICA riboside, stating that repletion of ATP pools should, in theory, enable the amelioration of tissue damage.
Several other groups of investigators, however, have published studies in which they were unable to demonstrate an enhanced repletion of ATP pools in ischemic tissue by the method of Swain et al., supra. Mentzer, R. M., Ely, S. W., Lasley, R. D., Lee, B. K. and Beme, R. M., Fed. Proc. 43:903 (1984); Mitsos, S. E., S. R. Jolly and B. R. Lucchesi, Pharmacology 31:121-131 (1985); Hoffineister, H. M., Nienaber, C., Mauser, M. and Schaper, W. E., Basic Research in Cardiology 80:445-458 (1985); Mauser, M., H. M. Hoffineister, C. Nienaber, and W. E. Schaper, Circul. Res. 56:220-230 (1985). In fact, Hoffmeister et al. demonstrate that ATP repletion by another mechanism does not improve cardiac dysfunction. Even Holmes and Swain have documented that AICA riboside does not effectively reach ATP because of an inhibition of the conversion of inosine monophosphate (IMP) to adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Sabina, R. L., Kemstine, K. H., Boyd, R. L., Holmes, E. W. and Swain, J. L., J. Biol. Chem. 257:10178 (1982); Amidon, T. M., Brazzamano, S., Swain, J. L., Circ. Suppl. 72:357 (1985); Swain, J. L., Hines, J. J., Sabina, R. L., Harburg, O. L. and Holmes, E. W., J. Clin. Invest. 74:1422-1427 (1984). Amidon et al., supra, state that "These results indicate that adenylosuccinate synthetase and/or lyase activities are limiting in isolated hearts and suggest that interventions designed to bypass IMP in AN (Adenine Nucleotide) synthesis might be more advantageous for increasing AN pool size." Swain et al., supra., (J. Biol. Chem.), also demonstrated that AICA riboside does not consistently alter ATP levels in non-ischemic myocardium.
While Mitsos et al., supra claimed that their study demonstrated that AICA riboside infused intracoronary in high doses protected globally ischemic hearts from the mechanical dysfunction associated with an ischemic insult, Hoffineister et al., Basic Res. Cardiol. 80:445-458 (1985), showed that on producing a reversible ischemia in dogs by coronary artery occlusion, AICA riboside application did not improve postischemic function and, in fact, worsened it. Swain et al., supra (J. Clin. Invest.) confirms the detrimental effects of high doses of AICA riboside on muscle contractility. Thus, the proposal that the administration of AICA riboside would be of benefit to patients after an ischemic event for repletion of ATP pools does not appear to be valid.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing discussion that a technique that would increase extracellular levels of adenosine or adenosine analogs at specific times during a pathologic event, that would increase these compounds without complex side effects, and which would permit increased adenosine levels to be selectively targeted to cells that would benefit most from them would be of considerable therapeutic use. By way of example, such a technique would be especially useful in the prevention of, or response during, an ischemic event, such as heart attack or stroke, or other event involving an undesired, restricted or decreased blood flow, such as atherosclerosis, for adenosine is a vasodilator and prevents the production of superoxide radicals by granulocytes. Such a technique would also be useful in the prophylactic or affirmative treatment of pathologic states involving increased cellular excitation, such as (1) seizures or epilepsy, (2) arrhythmias, and (3) inflammation due to, for example, arthritis, autoimmune disease, Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), and granulocyte activation by complement from blood contact with artificial membranes as occurs during dialysis or with heart-lung machines. It would further be useful in the treatment of patients who might have chronic low adenosine such as those suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, insomnia and other neuropsychiatric symptoms, including schizophrenia. The compounds useful in the invention, which include AICA riboside, may be used to accomplish these ends.
Another area of medical importance is the treatment of allergic diseases, which can be accomplished by either preventing mast cells from activating, or by interfering with the mediators of allergic responses which are secreted by mast cells. Mast cell activation can be down-regulated by immunotherapy (allergy shots) or by mast cell stabilizers such as cromalyn sodium, corticosteroids and aminophylline. There are also therapeutic agents which interfere with the products of mast cells such as anti-histamines and adrenergic agents. The mechanism of action of mast cell stabilization is not clearly understood. In the case of aminophylline, it is possible that it acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist. However, agents such as cromalyn sodium and the corticosteroids are not as well understood.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that effective allergy treatment with compounds which will not show any of the side effects of the above-noted compounds, such as drowsiness in the case of the anti-histamines, agitation in the case of adrenergic agents, and Cushing disease symptoms in the case of the corticosteroids, would be of great significance and utility. In contrast to compounds useful in the invention, such as AICA riboside and ribavirin, none of the three known mast cell stabilizers are known or believed to be metabolized in the cell to purine nucleoside triphosphates or purine nucleoside monophosphates.
Gruber (U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,640) described particular therapeutic concentrations of AICA riboside for the prevention of tissue damage associated with decreased blood flow in humans, and the determination of dosages which achieve efficacy while avoiding undesirable side effects. In one aspect, the AICA riboside or a prodrug thereof is administered to a person in an amount, which maintains a blood plasma concentration of AICA riboside for a sufficient time so that the risk of tissue damage is reduced in that person, of from about 1 ug/ml to about 20 ug/ml. In another aspect, the AICA riboside is administered to a person at a dosage of from about 0.01 mg/kg/min to about 2.0 mg/kg/min to reduce the risk of tissue damage. Another aspect features the prevention of tissue damage by administering a total dosage of AICA riboside of from 10 mg/kg to 200 mg/kg.
AICA riboside enters cells and is phosphorylated to AICA riboside monophosphate ("ZMP"), a naturally occurring intermediate in purine biosynthesis. AICA riboside increases extracellular adenosine levels under conditions of net ATP breakdown and, therefore, in light of the cardioprotective and neuroprotective properties of adenosine it may have potential therapeutic uses. However, AICA riboside has a relatively low potency and short half life. Also, we have found that AICA riboside does not cross the blood-brain barrier well and is inefficiently absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. These characteristics of limited potency, limited oral bioavailability and limited brain penetration decrease its potential for use as a therapeutic agent.
AICA riboside treatment has been reported to have beneficial effects in a number of experimental models of myocardial ischemia. In a dog model, in which pacing induced a profound progressive decline in wall thickening and endocardial blood flow and an increase in ST segment deviation of the intramyocardial EKG, AICA riboside markedly attenuated these changes to maintain contractile function> Young and Mullane, Am. J. Physio., in press (1991)!. In another dog model, in which ischemia was induced by coronary artery occlusion, AICA riboside was reported to be beneficial by significantly decreasing ischemia-induced arrhythmias and improving blood flow to the ischemic region of the myocardium (Gruber et al, Circulation 80 (5): 1400-1410 (1990)). An effect of AICA riboside to increase regional blood flow and maintain contractile function was also reported in a dog model of coronary embolization in which ischemia was induced by administration of microspheres directly into the coronary circulation (Takashima et al, Heart and Vessels 5 (Supplement 4): 41 (1990)). A potential consequence of this reported redistribution in blood flow by AICA riboside was said to be a reduction of infarct size (McAllister et al, Clinical Research 35: 303A (1987)). Treatment with AICA riboside has been reported to have favorable consequences in other experimental models of myocardial ischemia. For instance, Mitsos et al (Pharmacology 31: 121-131 (1985)) reported that AICA riboside improved the recovery of post-ischemic function in the isolated blood-perfused cat heart and Bullough et al. (Jap. J. Pharmacol 52: 85p (1990)) reported improved recovery in an isolated buffer-perfused guinea pig heart. Thus, AICA riboside has been reported to alleviate ischemia-induced injury to the heart in various experimental models.
AICA riboside has also been reported to protect brain tissue from damage in two different experimental models of cerebral ischemia. In a gerbil model of global ischemia, AICA riboside was reported to prevent the degeneration of hippocampal CA-1 cells, which in control animals were virtually completely destroyed (Phillis and Clough-Helfman, Heart and Vessels 5 (Supplement 4): 36 (1990)). In a rat model of focal ischemia, AICA riboside treatment was reported to provide a significant reduction in infarct size. The protective effects of AICA riboside have also been reported in other models of ischemia, including rat skin flap survival (Qadir et al, Fed Proc. A626 (1988); Salemo et al in Proceedings of 35th Annual Meeting of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, pp. 117-120 (1990)) and gastro-intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury (Kaminski & Proctor, Circulation Res. 66 (6): 1713-1729 (1990)).
A number of studies suggest that the beneficial effects of AICA riboside can be ascribed, at least in part, to an increase in local levels of adenosine, which has similar cardioprotective (Olafsson et al, Circulation 76: 1135-1145 (1987)) and neuroprotective properties (Dragunow & Faull, Trends in Pharmacol. Sci. 7: 194 (1988); Marangos, Medical Hypothesis 32: 45 (1990)). Evidence for AICA riboside-induced enhancement of adenosine levels is both direct i.e. a consequence of measurement of adenosine itself in both animal and cell culture models (Gruber et al, Circulation 80(5): 1400-1410 (1990); Barankiewicz et al, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 283: 377-385, (1990)) and indirect i.e. implicated by reversal of the anti-ischemic properties of AICA riboside by removal of exogenous adenosine using adenosine deaminase (Young & Mullane, Am. J. Physio., in press (1991)). In hearts subjected to ischemia and reperfusion, cellular damage has been, in part, attributed to plugging of the microvessels by neutrophils. Adenosine has been reported to inhibit neutrophil adhesion to coronary endothelial cells and hence neutrophil accumulation (Cronstein et al., J. Clin. Invest. 78: 760-770 (1986)). Consequently, another feature of the adenosine-mediated protective effects of AICA riboside in the heart can be through prevention of neutrophil-dependent tissue injury in some models of ischemia and reperfusion. This is supported by evidence for decreased accumulation of neutrophils in the ischemic region of the heart by AICA riboside (Gruber et al, Circulation 80: 1400-1410 (1990)).
A recognition of the cardioprotective and neuroprotective properties of adenosine have led to attempts to explore the therapeutic use of exogenously administered adenosine itself. However the short half life of adenosine in blood (<10 secs) necessitates the use of high doses and continuous infusions to maintain levels appropriate for most treatments. Adenosine itself causes hypotension, i.e. reduces blood pressure; it is also a negative chronotropic and dromotropic agent, i.e. reduces heart rate and electrical conduction in the heart, respectively. Adenosine would therefore exert marked systemic hemodynamic effects at concentrations that would be required to elicit cardioprotective or neuroprotective properties. These systemic cardiovascular actions are frequently contraindicated in most clinical conditions where adenosine could be useful. In contrast, as a result of its local effects on adenosine levels, AICA riboside administration does not produce such side-effects, even at doses considerably higher than the expected therapeutic levels (Gruber et al; Circulation 80: 1400-1410, (1990); Young & Mullane, Am. J. Physio., in press, (1991)).
Adenosine receptor agonists have also been studied and effects similar to adenosine have been reported in a number of experimental models. (Daly, J. Med. Chem. 25(3): 197 (1982). Again, because most cell types have adenosine receptors, exogenously administered adenosine agonists exhibit profound actions on a variety of tissues and organs, outside of the target organ, thereby limiting their therapeutic potential.
Other ways of potentially achieving the effect of a high local extracellular level of adenosine have been studied. They include: a) interference with the uptake of adenosine with reagents that specifically block adenosine transport, as described by Paterson et al., in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 255, p. 402 (1975); b) prevention of the degradation of adenosine, as described by Carson and Seegmiller in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol. 57, p. 274 (1976); and c) the use of analogs of adenosine constructed to bind to adenosine cell plasma membrane receptors.
There are a repertoire of chemicals that reportedly can inhibit the cellular uptake of adenosine. Some have been reported to do so specifically, and are believed to be essentially competitive inhibitors of adenosine uptake, and others are believed to inhibit nonspecifically. p-nitrobenzylthioinosine appears to be a competitive inhibitor, while dipyridamole and a variety of other chemicals, including colchicine, phenethyalcohol and papaverine appear to inhibit uptake nonspecifically.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,641 to Fischer et al. is directed to certain ribofuranosyl derivatives which are said to have cardiac and circulatory-dynamic properties. In particular, Fischer et al. are directed to certain compounds which are said to have intrinsic adenosine-like modes of action as determined by measuring decreased heart rate and blood pressure.
In contrast, AICA riboside and AICA riboside-like compounds lead to enhanced adenosine levels at the specific time and location of a pathological event and thus permit increased adenosine levels to be selectively targeted without the detrimental side effects.
The present invention is directed to AICA riboside analogs which exhibit and, in many cases, improve upon, the positive biological effects of AICA riboside. The novel compounds typically exhibit one or more of the following improvements over AICA riboside 1) functional benefits at lower doses; 2) more potent adenosine regulating actions; 3) increased half-lives or; 4) increased oral bioavailability and/or brain penetration.
Post-surgical complications are a significant source of morbidity and mortality, and healthcare expenditure.
For cardiac surgery, approximately one million patients undergo such every year, and approximately one in six develops a serious major organ complication relating to the heart, brain, kidney, GI tract and lung (Mangano, et al., 1997, J. Intensive Care Med. 12:148-160). Yet despite numerous advances in monitoring and technique, no drug has been shown to reduce or prevent these complications. The preoccupation has been with bleeding, and drugs are now used to prevent such. However, drugs which inhibit bleeding generally cause thrombosis, and therefore may induce ischemia and irreversible organ injury (Cosgrove, et al., 1992, Ann. Thorac. Surg. 54:1031-36).
For noncardiac surgery, approximately 250 million patients undergo such every year, and approximately four percent develop a serious major organ complication relating to the heart (Mangano, et al., 1990, Anesthesiology 2:153-84; Mangano, et al., 1990 NEJM 323:1781-88). Only one drug has been shown to mitigate injury-atenolol (Mangano, et al., 1996, NEJM 335:1713-20). As well, concerns for bleeding predominate, and drugs preventing thrombosis (anti-platelet, anti-clotting) are virtually contraindicated (Eagle, et al., 1999, JACC 34:1262-1347; Pearson, et al, 1994, Circulation 90:3125-33; Baumgartner, et al., 1994, Johns Hopkins Manual of Surgical Care, Mosby Yearbook, St. Louis).
However, for both cardiac and noncardiac surgery, marked excitotoxic and inflammatory responses occur for days after surgery, if not months after surgery (Silicano and Mangano, 1990, Mechanisms and Therapies. In: Estafanous, ed. Opioids in Anesthesia Butterworth Publishers, pp. 164-178). Such markedly exaggerated responses are associated with platelet and clotting factor activation, which may precipitate thrombosis.
Although recognized as a possibility, such agents are relatively—and in some cases (fibrinolytics), absolutely-contra-indicated because of fear of excessive hemorrhage at the surgical site, as well as at other sites (Eagle, et al., 1999, JACC 34:1262-1347; Pearson, et al., 1994, Circulation 90:3125-3133; Baumgartner, et al., 1994, Johns Hopkins Manual of Surgical Care, Mosby Yearbook, St. Louis). Further, some believe—especially after cardiac surgery—that platelet and clotting factor function are depressed after surgery, so that thrombosis is not an issue (Kestin, et al., 1993, Blood 82:107-117; Khuri, et al., 1992, J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 104:94-107). Thus, no effort has been made to investigate the use of anti-clotting agents immediately following surgery.
Finally, Applicants have shown that perioperative events manifest over six to eight months or longer (Mangano, et al. 1992, JAMA 268:233-39); thus, continuation of use of such anti-clotting agents throughout the in-hospital, and then post-discharge course, is rational.
Surgery patients—now numbering 40 million per year in the U.S. alone—are aging nearly twice as rapidly as the overall population. (See, Mangano, et al., 1997, J. Intensive Care Med. 12:148-160).
The current standards of care are unsatisfactory to address this critical problem, and novel approaches are desperately needed to prevent post-surgical complications in our aging population.
The electronic monitoring of the fetal heart rate is an important part of the labor and delivery process for women. In some cases, a deceleration in fetal heart rate, including persistent late decelerations with loss of beat-to-beat variability, nonreassuring variable decelerations associated with loss of beat-to-beat variability, prolonged severe bradycardia, sinusoidal pattern, confirmed loss of beat-to-beat variability not associated with fetal quiescence, medications or severe prernaturity, can require emergency intrauterine fetal resuscitation and immediate delivery. (Sweha, et al., 1999. American Family Physician 59(9):2487-2507; Kripke 1999, American Family Physician 59(9):2416). There is a need for methods to prevent or reduce adverse effects from these events for the health of the fetus.

Methods, compositions, and formulations for preventing or reducing adverse effects in a patient


A stake for insertion in soil to support an item such as a plant. The stake includes primary and secondary telescoping shafts and a foot adjustably secured to the primary shaft. The primary shaft has an upper end and a lower end. The lower end is configured for insertion into the soil at a first location. The foot has a supporting protrusion for insertion into the soil at a second location removed from the first location. Retractable ties are disposed within the secondary shaft and may be extended to support a plant. An adjustable collar may provide an anchor point for additional support.

Garden stakes are commonly used to support growing plants. Most are simple, straight support members, such as bamboo stakes. String can be used to support a plant next to the stake. Stakes have improved upon this simple example to include support wires to surround a plant. Multiple upright support members joined with hoops have also been employed and may be especially useful for fruit or vegetable bearing plants, such as tomatoes. However, as a plant grows the support needs may change. Furthermore a single stake size may not accommodate all plant sizes and support concerns.


A system and method is disclosed for seamless network management monitoring when a device or Virtual Machine migrates. As part of a network management monitoring system and method, a separate distinct identifier is designated to each port and each device or VM being monitored. When a device is located a specific port a correlation between the distinct identifier of that port and the distinct identifier of the device is stored in a correlation table and monitored. Once this correlation changes, the network management monitoring system recognizes a migration has occurred and updates the correlation table to correlate the new port's distinct identifier with the device's distinct identifier. Parameters that were set up to be monitored for the device can then continue to be monitored at the new location.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to network device management and more particularly to smart migration of monitoring parameters for performance network device management.
2. Description of the Related Art
Network management software provides network administrators a way of tracking the bandwidth and memory utilization of ports on a network. In general, network administrators choose the parameters that are desired to be monitored and set up specific flows to ensure those parameters are monitored and statistics about them are displayed. Generally, the parameters are selected for each port and as such the flow of parameters is tied to a switch port.
Most large networks and data centers include servers executing a series of virtual machines (VMs) where each virtual machine acts as a single purpose server. This virtual machine model allows much better use of the server hardware resources than a single use server model. The virtual machines may be managed using a virtual machine manager and monitored by the network management software. One side of effect of having a series of VMs is that the VMs may need to be moved or migrated from a current location to other locations. When a migration occurs, the parameters set up to be monitored for the particular VM or device may no longer be accessible to be monitored. Thus, new flows may need to be designated and set up by the network administrator each time a VM migrates. This is time consuming and inefficient. Therefore a method and system to improve the monitoring of VM parameters is desired that takes into account the possibility of migration.

Smart migration of monitoring constructs and data


A device for the positioning of a label, having a central aperture and peripheral edge, onto a surface of a disk, having a central hole and an outer edge including three components:

The present invention -relates to the field of compact disk labeling devices, and more particularly to a device for centering a disk with respect to a self-adhesive label while maintaining them in spaced relation and subsequently allowing them to contact, formatting a labeled disk.
The proliferation of compact disks (discs), also known as laser disks, in the form of music as well as CD-ROM products has become extensive. In recent years, recordable compact disks such as those produced by SONY, 3M, and KODAK has grown in popularity. Further, these disks are being used for archival data storage, immediate distribution of data, and for demonstration purposes. With this recent use has grown a need to label these disks once they have been produced. This is because once produced, there is no generally available visual method for determining the contents of the disk, without reducing storage capacity below the 680 MB of data of more, without external markings.
While manufacturers of large numbers of identical disks have their labels or identifying information painted, silk-screened or printed onto the disks, e.g., a layer of adherent ink adherent ink or pigment is applied to the surface of the disk, this method is generally impractical for recordable compact disk producers. For small runs or those requiring immediate availability of the disk, printing or painting based methods of labeling take too much time, incur a significant setup charge, and require special equipment. Automated disk imprinting devices may be large and cumbersome, with bulk pigmented ink supplies generally favoring long production runs.
Another known method of labeling a compact disk employs a direct printing using an ink jet system onto the surface of a disk. These systems provide a special carrier for the disk, which is printed using a conventional ink jet printing apparatus. This method suffers the shortcomings of ink jet technology, including problems with the inks used, such as smudging, running, lack of scratch resistance on the disk surface, and the like. This ink jet printing technology is also relatively slow.
Ink markers may also be used to label disks, but this is unattractive and can cause damage to the disk by breaking down the coating which protects the disk. Permanent ink markers often include solvents in the ink. As a result, manufacturers such as Avery Dennison, Avery Division, Diamond Bar Calif., produce self-adhesive labels shaped like, and designed for compact disks. Improper placement of a label on a disk, especially with the advent of high speed, e.g., ten or higher speed data transfer (with single speed data transfer defined as the rate necessary to support CD audio), and higher information density disk recording technologies, such as Digital Video Disk (xe2x80x9cDVDxe2x80x9d), may result in read errors, or drive motor damage due to dynamic imbalance of the disk.
Other known prior art includes: Kodaka et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,654, which relates to a method for forming indicia on compact disks. This method employs a molded impression from a xe2x80x9cmotherxe2x80x9d, and does not apply an adhesive label. Lexel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,464, relates to a hinged structure for pressing a marking onto a compact disk, and also does not apply an adhesive label. Sugaya et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,255, on the other hand, relates to an adhesive label marking system for compact disks. However, the labels are ultimately applied manually, without any apparatus for assisting in accurate placement on the disk. Hanna, U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,460, relates to an optical disk or phonorecord label having a hinged portion for individualized marking, which is apparently manually applied. Nakamura, U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,127, relates to a labeling system for 3.5 inch magnetic media encased in a rectangular plastic enclosure, and thus, whsle placing the labels in a desired location, do not place the label concentrically directly on the rotating media.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,001, and U.S. Ser. No. 661,443, filed Jun. 11, 1996, both assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, a compact disk labeling device and method is disclosed which provides various embodiments intended to assist in the accurate placement of an adhesive label, generally bearing a pressure sensitive adhesive, to a surface of a disk.
In a preferred embodiment, the label is centered with respect to the disk by means of a tapered member, inserted through the central aperture of the label, which gradually centers the label until it is in defined position. The disk is centered by a dowel inserted all the way through the spindle hole. After the label and disk are centered, a force is applied, allowing adhesion of the label to the disk. The force may be applied, for example, by a base on which the label rests, adhesive surface upward. The base, in this case, has an aperture allowing the tapered member to pass through. The dowel extends upwardly from the tapered member, and thus may serve as a handle. The label is placed on the surface of the base, adhesive side upward, with the central aperture overlapping the aperture in the base. The disk is placed on the dowel, and rests against a shoulder at an upper portion of the tapered member, with the side to be labeled facing downward. The tip of the tapered member is pressed through the central aperture of the label and the aperture of the base, with the tapered portion exerting a lateral force to center the label with respect to the tapered member.
After the label is centered, the disk, resting on the shoulder is further lowered, until it contacts the label. A force is uniformly applied which permits complete and uniform adhesion throughout the contact area between the disk and label, as compared to the device and apparatus of Japanese patent JPA 532498, where the adhesion force may cant the disk for an uneven application of the label among other deficiencies, i.e., the use of two positioning members being mandatory. The label normally has a contact adhesive, which requires a relatively low contact force to cause a strong adhesion, and thus a uniformly applied force will cause complete adhesion.
The label thus generally has a central circular hole, larger than the central aperture in the disk, so that no clearance problem will arise. A member within this central circular hole, which has a largest dimension approximately equal to the diameter of the hole, will locate the center of the label. This member is preferably a tapered tip cylinder, which provides an initial taper so that the tip may be easily guided into the central hole. Further insertion will gently relocate the label with respect to the member, until the label is concentric around the cylindrical portion of the member.
The label is centered by the taper on the tapered member and its larger diameter cylinder with respect to the disk. The larger diameter cylinder is insertable through the label and, in the preferred embodiment, the aperture in the surface. When the label is in a place near the junction between the larger and small diameter cylinders, the disk lies nearly adjacent to the label, properly positioned. Pressure may then be applied on top of the disk which is centered relative to the label by the dowel inserted all the way through the spindle hole so it cannot pivot or cant relative to the spindle axis, by any suitable means, including manual pressure, pressure on a pressure plate, an automatic pressure device, a spring or weight, or other known means, forcing intimate contact between the label and the disk, thus adhering the two.
The compact disk with the newly affixed label is then removed from the device by lining the cylindrical extension and pulling the positioning cone out of the positioning hole and the hollow core portion. Thereafter, the compact disk is lined off cylindrical extension. It not permanently affixed, the positioning plate may be removed from the cylindrical base and used to further press the label onto the compact disk. This last step is carried out by placing the positioning plate on top of the compact disk and manually pressing the plate against the disk whsle the disk is lying on a substantially flat surface. A separate pressure plate may also be provided, or another compact disk employed in order to compress the label.
Preferably, the label is held and pressed flatly against the disk to avoid wrinkles. Alternatively, after suitable alignment, the label may be xe2x80x9crolledxe2x80x9d onto the disk, i.e., applied to the disk by applying pressure along a chord or radius of the disk extending across the label.
Further, in order to prevent finger prints from appearing on the data surface of the compact disk, it is preferred that the pressure be manually applied centrally to the compact disk, inside the data region, of that a separate device, e.g., a plate or xe2x80x9cdummyxe2x80x9d compact disk be provided to apply pressure to the disk without finger contact. Of course, a user may wear gloves to avoid direct finger contact.
Generally, contact adhesives applied to labels have a strong adhesion even when applied under light pressure; the reason for care in the application of pressure is to assure that the label does not shift or curl during application and to eliminate air bubbles under the label.
It has also been proposed that a member for axially aligning the disk and the member of axially aligning the label are affixed to one another. Since the disk spindle aperture is smaller than the label central aperture, a coaxial structure having varying characteristic radii may be provided, having a first member for aligning the disk and means for selectively contacting the label and the disk after alignment. For example, the contacting means may be a spring loaded cylinder with a central spindle mounted in a plate, as for example shown in U.K. patent 2305907A to Grossman, so that the label is supported by the plate and centered by the cylinder; the disk is supported by the cylinder and centered by the spindle, and after centering of each, the disk may be lowered to contact the label by compressing the spring, to ostensibly apply uniform pressure against the force of the spring.
The spring disclosed may be a helically wound resilient element. However, this requires a two part, inner and outer cylindrical member forming a housing for the spring and two relatively movable parts so the spring can be compressed, which is not only expensive, but subject to mechanical malfunction if the spring binds or rides on one of the elements. Assembly and maintenance of the assembly is also time consuming and the helically wound spring may apply an uneven pressure between the contacting surfaces of the disk and label causing air traps therebetween resulting it a wrinkled label.
Similar spring devices are also disclosed in German Patent 196 28 678, granted Oct. 29, 1998, and WP 98/10934, published Mar. 19, 1998.
Further, the prior art devices are generally not knock-down, except for the device previously disclosed in the assignee""s prior patent and application, U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,001 and U.S. Ser. No. 661,443, but even so, cannot be conveniently packaged for shipment as a unit with minimum space requirements.
The present invention presents a solution to all these problems.
The present invention utilizes a compressible foam element as the counterspring force in lieu of a coiled spring between the disk and label to assure even distribution across the contacting surfaces. This results in simplifying the assembly of the device in use, and reduces the cost to axe2x80x94minimum as only three components are necessary informing the device: (1) a support base for the label having a central aperture; (2) a centering spindle having a first and second, reduced diameter portions for relatively centering the label and disk, the disk being seated on a shoulder between the first and second diameter portions; and (3) a compressible foam pad, cylindrical in shape adapted to be adhered to the bottom of the second diameter portion of the spindle and positioned in an aperture in the base on which the spindle may be seated. With the disk retained on the shoulder and centered by the second diameter portion of the spindle passing therethrough, the disk is moved towards the label supported adhesive side up on the base. The first diameter portion of the spindle enters the aperture in the base, centering the label relative to the disk and compressing the foam pad, which exerts a counterforce, uniformly between the disk and label as the two are adhered and united.
The reduced diameter portion of the spindle may then be raised like a handle to remove the coupled disk and label from the base and the united pair removed from the spindle. The resilient foam pad resumes its uncompressed state, ready for reuse.
In another embodiment, the spindle and foam pad can be formed as an integral unit, reducing the labeling device to two main components, minimizing loss of the components and reducing shipping space.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims and from the accompanying drawings herein:

Abstract: (1) a support base for the label having a central aperture; (2) a centering spindle having a first and second, reduced diameter portions for relatively centering the label and disk, the disk being seated on a shoulder between the first and second diameter portions; and (3) a compressible foam pad, cylindrical in shape adapted to be adhered to the bottom of the second diameter portion of the spindle and positioned in an aperture in the base on which the spindle may be seated. With the disk retained on the shoulder and centered by the second diameter portion of the spindle passing therethrough, the disk is moved towards the label supported adhesive side up on the base. The first diameter portion of the spindle enters the aperture in the base, centering the label relative to the disk and compressing the foam pad, which exerts a counterforce, uniformly between the disk and label as the two are adhered and united, to uniformly adhere the label to the disk without wrinkles or air pockets. The spindle and pad can be formed as an integral unit to reduce the components to two by the addition of a stabilizing plate ultrasonically welded to the pad at one end, and at its other end, the pad can be ultrasonically welded to the spindle.


A subsea well assembly utilizes outer, intermediate, and inner wellhead housings. The inner wellhead housing has a port extending through it that communicates the annulus with the bore of the inner wellhead housing. A sleeve mounts to the inner wellhead housing for opening and closing the port. The port allows the operator to cement a string of inner casing, with returns flowing through the port and back up the bore of the inner wellhead housing.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates in general to subsea wells, and in particular to a subsea well assembly having inner, outer, and intermediate wellhead housings, with a port and sleeve for exposing the annulus surrounding the inner wellhead housing for cementing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One type of subsea well installation utilizes an outer or low pressure wellhead housing that locates on the sea floor. The outer wellhead housing is a large tubular member secured to the upper end of an outer string of casing or conductor pipe. The outer casing will extend to a certain depth in the well, and will normally be cemented in place.
Then, the operator lowers a high pressure wellhead housing into the outer wellhead housing. The high pressure wellhead housing is connected to the upper end of a string of casing that extends through the conductor pipe to a greater depth in the well. The operator pumps cement down the inner casing, which flows back up the annulus between the inner casing and the conductor pipe. The cement returns pass through ports located in the outer wellhead housing.
Then, the operator will drill the well to a further depth. The operator lowers a casing hanger which lands in the interior of the high pressure wellhead housing. The casing hanger secures to a string of casing that extends through the inner casing to a greater depth. This inner casing will be cemented in place. Cement returns flow up the annulus surrounding the innermost string of casing and pass through flowby slots located on the exterior of the casing hanger. A seal will then be placed in an annulus space between the casing hanger and high pressure wellhead housing. Subsequently the operator may complete the well with tubing. Or the operator may drill to even greater depths and support additional casing hangers and strings of casing in the high pressure wellhead housing.
One reason for using multiple strings of different diameter in a well is to protect low pressure water zones in the earth's formation. Hydrostatic pressure of the drilling fluid in the well bore would exceed the formation pressure in certain cases if too much open hole portion is exposed. The drilling fluid weight is selected to be sufficiently greater than the pressures in the various earth formations to avoid a blowout. This weight may be excessive for low pressure formations located uphole in the well and not protected by casing. Drilling fluid may flow into the low pressure formations, which is not desired. In many cases, the use of one low pressure wellhead housing, one high pressure wellhead housing, and multiple strings of casing will be sufficient to adequately protect low pressure water zones in the well.
There are geographic areas, however, in which more casing than normal would be required to protect low pressure water zones. Running an additional casing hanger and string of casing may not always be feasible because of the shallow depth of the low pressure water zone. Also, additional casing strings result in the final production string possibly being smaller than desired.
It has been proposed by others to utilize an additional wellhead housing, resulting in an outer, intermediate, and inner wellhead housing. However, running an inner wellhead housing, without modification, creates problems. Wellhead housings do not have flowby slots on the exterior like casing hangers. Wellhead housings do not have packoffs or seals located between them. Consequently, an inner wellhead housing located within an intermediate wellhead housing would not have any passage for cement returns to flow.

Annulus shutoff device for a subsea well


A storage area network comprises: one or more replicating source and target storage volumes accessible by one or more hosts; a volume replication status checker for determining an active replication relationship between a source storage volume and a target storage volume; and a volume visibility engine for setting the target storage volume to be hidden from a host if the target storage volume is visible to the host and has a determined active relationship. The volume replication status checker is further for determining an inactive replication relationship between a source storage volume and a target storage volume; and the volume visibility engine is further for setting the target storage volume to be visible to a host if the target storage volume is hidden from the host and has a determined inactive replication relationship.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing disaster recovery replication for storage volumes. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing disaster recovery replication on storage volumes in a storage area network. The present invention operates in the general environment of system recovery for storage area networks.

Managing disaster recovery replication for storage volumes

International Business Machines Corporation


A vocoder device and corresponding method characterizes and reconstructs speech excitation. An excitation analysis portion performs a cyclic excitation transformation process on a target excitation segment by rotating a peak amplitude to a beginning buffer location. The excitation phase representation is dealiased using multiple dealiasing passes based on the phase slope variance. Both primary and secondary excitation components are characterized, where the secondary excitation is characterized based on a computation of the error between the characterized primary excitation and the original excitation. Alternatively, an excitation pulse compression filter is applied to the target, resulting in a symmetric target. The symmetric target is characterized by normalizing half the symmetric target. The synthesis portion performs reconstruction and synthesis of the characterized excitation based on the characterization method employed by the analysis portion.

Voice coders, referred to commonly as "vocoders", compress and decompress speech data. Vocoders allow a digital communication system to increase the number of system communication channels by decreasing the bandwidth allocated to each channel. Fundamentally, a vocoder implements specialized signal processing techniques to analyze or compress speech data at an analysis device and synthesize or decompress the speech data at a synthesis device. Speech data compression typically involves parametric analysis techniques, whereby the fundamental or "basis" elements of the speech signal are extracted. Speech basis elements include the excitation waveform structure, and parametric components of the excitation waveform, such as voicing modes, pitch, and excitation epoch positions. These extracted basis elements are encoded and sent to the synthesis device in order to provide for reduction in the amount of transmitted or stored data. At the synthesis device, the basis elements may be used to reconstruct an approximation of the original speech signal. Because the synthesized speech is typically an inexact approximation derived from the basis elements, a listener at the synthesis device may detect voice quality which is inferior to the original speech signal. This is particularly true for vocoders that compress the speech signal to low bit rates, where less information about the original speech signal may be transmitted or stored.
A number of voice coding methodologies extract the speech basis elements by using a linear predictive coding (LPC) analysis of speech, resulting in prediction coefficients that describe an all-pole vocal tract transfer function. LPC analysis generates an "excitation" waveform that represents the driving function of the transfer function. Ideally, if the LPC coefficients and the excitation waveform could be transmitted to the synthesis device exactly, the excitation waveform could be used as a driving function for the vocal tract transfer function, exactly reproducing the input speech. In practice, however, the bit-rate limitations of a communication system will not allow for complete transmission of the excitation waveform.
Prior-art frequency domain characterization methods exist which exploit the impulse-like characteristics of pitch synchronous excitation segments (i.e., epochs). However, prior-art methods are unable to overcome the effects of steep spectral phase slope and phase slope variance which introduces quantization error in synthesized speech. Furthermore, removal of phase ambiguities (i.e., dealiasing) is critical prior to spectral characterization. Failure to remove phase ambiguities can lead to poor excitation reconstruction. Prior-art dealiasing procedures (e.g., modulo 2-pi dealiasing) often fail to fully resolve phase ambiguities in that they fail to remove many aliasing effects that distort the phase envelope, especially in steep phase slope conditions.
Epoch synchronous excitation waveform segments often contain both "primary" and "secondary" excitation components. In a low-rate voice coding structure, complete characterization of both components ultimately enhances the quality of the synthesized speech. Prior-art methods adequately characterize the primary component, but typically fail to accurately characterize the secondary excitation component. Often these prior-art methods decimate the spectral components in a manner that ignores or aliases those components that result from secondary excitation. Such methods are unable to fully characterize the nature of the secondary excitation components.
After characterization and transmission or storage of excitation basis elements, excitation waveform estimates must be accurately reconstructed to ensure high-quality synthesized speech. Prior-art frequency-domain methods use discontinuous linear piecewise reconstruction techniques which occasionally introduce noticeable distortion of certain epochs. Interpolation using these epochs produces a poor estimate of the original excitation waveform.
Low-rate speech coding methods that implement frequency domain epoch synchronous excitation characterization often employ a significant number of bits for characterization of the group delay envelope. Since the epoch synchronous group delay envelope conveys less perceptual information than the magnitude envelope, such methods can benefit from characterizing the group delay envelope at low resolution, or not at all for very low rate applications. In this manner the required bit rate is reduced, while maintaining natural-sounding synthesized speech. As such, reasonably high-quality speech can be synthesized directly from excitation epochs exhibiting zero epoch synchronous spectral group delay. Specific signal conditioning procedures may be applied in either the time or frequency domain to achieve zero epoch synchronous spectral group delay. Frequency domain methods can null the group delay waveform by means of forward and inverse Fourier transforms. Preferred methods use efficient time-domain excitation group delay removal procedures at the analysis device, resulting in zero group delay excitation epochs. Such excitation epochs possess symmetric qualities that can be efficiently encoded in the time domain, eliminating the need for computationally intensive frequency domain transformations. In order to enhance speech quality, an artificial or preselected excitation group delay characteristic can optionally be introduced via filtering at the synthesis device after reconstruction of the characterized excitation segment. Hence, prior-art methods fail to remove the excitation group delay on an epoch synchronous basis. Additionally, prior-art methods often use frequency-domain characterization methods (e.g., Fourier transforms) which are computationally intensive.
Accurate characterization and reconstruction of the excitation waveform is difficult to achieve at low bit rates. At low bit rates, typical excitation-based vocoders that use time or frequency-domain modeling do not overcome the limitations detailed above, and hence cannot synthesize high quality speech.
Global trends toward complex, high-capacity telecommunications emphasize a growing need for high-quality speech coding techniques that require less bandwidth. Near-future telecommunications networks will continue to demand very high-quality voice communications at the lowest possible bit rates. Military applications, such as cockpit communications and mobile radios, demand higher levels of voice quality. In order to produce high-quality speech, limited-bandwidth systems must be able to accurately reconstruct the salient waveform features after transmission or storage. Hence, what are needed are a method and apparatus for characterization and reconstruction of the speech excitation waveform that achieves high-quality speech after reconstruction.
Particularly, what are needed are a method and apparatus to minimize spectral phase slope and spectral phase slope variance. What are further needed are a method and apparatus to remove phase ambiguities prior to spectral characterization while maintaining the overall phase envelope. What are further needed are a method and apparatus to accurately characterize both primary and secondary excitation components so as to preserve the full characteristics of the original excitation. What are further needed are a method and apparatus to recreate a more natural, continuous estimate of the original frequency-domain envelope that avoids distortion associated with piecewise reconstruction techniques. What are further needed are a method and apparatus to remove the group delay on an epoch synchronous basis in order to maintain synthesized speech quality, simplify computation, and reduce the required bit rate. The method and apparatus needed further simplify computation by using a time-domain symmetric characterization method which avoids the computational complexity of frequency-domain operations. The method and apparatus needed optionally apply artificial or preselected group delay filtering to further enhance synthesized speech quality.

Method and apparatus for characterization and reconstruction of speech excitation waveforms


A programmable control panel includes handles for executing at least a part of the program sequence, and memory cells for controlling an appliance and for storing software codes. The handles are, particularly, push-buttons and switches. The handles are used for inputting individual functions of an individual operating program sequence. Each of the individual functions is assigned to a specific one of the software codes stored in a specific one of the memory cells. The handles are linked to a specific one of the individual functions and to an associated one of the memory cells. A controller includes memory cells that are permanently assigned to the corresponding push-buttons, and operation of the push-buttons results in specific functions being included in the program sequence of the main program for the household appliance. The control panel can be part of a programmable household appliance. In order to simplify the configuration of control panels and the electronic controller, which can be combined with a control panel for different controller variants, each function in the program sequence is assigned a specific software code, and the software code (for example, a numerical code) is stored by entering it in specific memory cells. As a result, the respective function is assigned to the associated push-button or push-buttons.

The invention lies in the field of household appliances. The invention relates to a programmable household appliance having a control panel including push-buttons and switches that disposed for inputting functions of an operating program sequence. Programmable household appliances, in particular washing machines and washer/dryers or combined washer/dryers, have been around for a long time. Microprocessor-controlled program controllers have increased the range of program sequences of such household appliances to such an extent that they now are confusing to operate.
German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 44 22 128 A1 discloses a household appliance having factory preset programs that can be adapted to customer requirements. The adaptation is accomplished by having the electronic controller be freely programmable through a data input and data output unit having a display. To perform programming to vary or add functionality to the existing preset programs, further data and/or parameters must be entered in a manner that is not explained in any detail. The lack of details relating to the nature of the input require additional input handles to be provided according to prior art household appliances of this kind. The handles, themselves, are not necessary for calling up the stored preset programs. The refinement of that application also requires a display.
As set forth herein, the term xe2x80x9chandlexe2x80x9d is defined as an input mechanism, actuator, controller, or coding operation that conveys information from a user to a programmable controller. Example handles can include push-buttons and switches.
In addition, existing washing machines have control panels with handles for selecting specific program functions. Logic operations for controlling these handles are set up so that trained personnel, for example customer-service technicians, can enter a code for enabling specific control actions, namely, the sequence of operation of individual control handles. The code can be used to call up specific functions or specific customer-service programs. Execution of such programs can give the customer-service technician information about the correct running of the operating program merely by observing the washing machine, as compared to actually running the operating program, which would disadvantageously take too long for the required observation process. On the other hand, suitable codings can be used to call up demonstration programs in which a specific machine operating program sequence is simulated without the functional elements of the washing machine actually being operated. The simulation allows installed program sequences to be demonstrated on the washing machine control panel.
Furthermore, a method for storing and outputting a program that can be modified and executed by a processor is disclosed by European Patent Application A 408 431. The program can be used in conjunction with an electronic program controller for washing machines. The application discloses a capability for the manufacturer of the memory, of the program controller, or of the household appliance to edit a stored program. To edit the stored program, existing parts of the program are suppressed, or are replaced by other parts. The suppression/replacement is done by changing only the data stored in the read only memory, whose address is marked, for example, for each part of a level of a hierarchically broken down memory. The configuration allows memory volume to be saved. However, the disadvantageous factor with all of the above-mentioned prior art programmable household appliances is that the configuration of the control panels and the assignment of the handles or push-buttons are highly specific and require a large number of physically different specific embodiments. Such a requirement leads to a wide range of different assemblies, in particular control panels, and controller boards, which are, in turn, specifically manufactured for the particular assembly and are disposed behind the control panels.
Another prior art household appliance, European Patent Application A 715 235, discloses the ability to edit the contents of a program memory by external action through an opto-electronic interface using an external data processing appliance. However, the configuration requires specific equipment and software, which enormously complicates the measures for adaptation of a program memory to new requirements.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a programmable household appliance that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that improves the appliance""s programmability such that, particularly in the course of the production process, universal controller boards with appropriate switch elements can be used. Such an improvement considerably reduces customized assemblies.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a programmable household appliance, including a control panel having handles for inputting individual functions of an operating program sequence and for executing at least a part of the program sequence, and memory cells for controlling the appliance and for storing software codes, each of the individual functions of the program sequence being assigned to a specific one of the software codes stored in a specific one of the memory cells, the handles being linked to a specific one of the individual functions and to an associated one of the memory cells.
Thus, a programmable household appliance having a control panel according to the invention is distinguished by the fact that each function in the program sequence is assigned a specific software code (numerical code) that is stored in specific memory cells, and by the fact that each switch can be allocated a specific function from the respectively associated memory cell.
The invention allows a range of considerable advantages to be achieved in comparison with the prior art apparatuses. The invention firstly achieves a considerable reduction in hardware variants because the universal assemblies provided, in particular the controller boards, are configured universally for a wide range of specific type ranges of household appliances. The boards can be adapted, depending on the type, while in the production process. Such versatility is made possible by the free assignment of functions to the switches of the control elements, which, in turn, provides a major advantage in that model changes and adaptations to the respective household appliance can be carried out without physically changing the assemblies.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the handles can be push-buttons and/or switches.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, there are provided a controller, an interface connected to the controller, and a data input device connected to the memory cells through the interface for storing the software codes.
If, in order to store the software code, an interface is connected to the controller, through which interface a data input appliance can be connected to the memory cells, push-buttons can be allocated in any required manner from outside the household appliance. The allocation admittedly requires an external action; however, the household appliances can be automatically set in the appropriate manner at a programming station during production.
On the other hand, a respectively predetermined combination of control actions may also be provided for storing the software code. Then, in some circumstances, the customer service organization can also convert such a household appliance to a new program at the customer""s premises once the appliance has been set up.
A further particular advantage results from the flexible configuration of the control panel appearance, in particular, from the selection of the number, position, and shape of the push-buttons in or on the control panel. For example, broad or narrow push-buttons may be selected depending on the appliance type and, furthermore advantageously, the functional sequence can be freely defined.
The configuration results in an advantage that new control elements or operating steps can be added to the respective household appliance without physically changing its control panel board. Addition is done, according to the invention, by allocating the respective switches the desired new functions that the modified household appliance is intended to have.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the software codes are numerical codes.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the handles are a respectively predetermined combination of control handles for storing the software code.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, at least one of the handles is allocated a software code, in a respective one of the memory cells, associated with an unallocated function.
Particular flexibility in the allocation of the control elements and their construction results from the fact that a switch can be allocated a software code for xe2x80x9cunallocatedxe2x80x9d in the associated memory cell. Thus, even for household appliances whose configuration is particularly simple, the assemblies from considerably more complicated programmable household appliances can be used. The more complicated appliances, however, can be produced relatively more cost effectively, correspondingly, due to their mass-market nature.
xe2x80x9cTailor-madexe2x80x9d assemblies in specific configurations and in small quantities are considerably more expensive. The invention reduces such cost by allowing xe2x80x9cunallocatedxe2x80x9d switches either to be covered by broader push-buttons located alongside, without having to have the capability to address them through these push-buttons, or to disappear behind areas of a control panel configured with a correspondingly smaller number of push-button windows.
Thus, for example, it is feasible for three push-button elements for three switches that are present on the board and have corresponding functions to be replaced by one push-button element that covers all three switches and operates only the central switch, with only the single function of the central switch being called up when the one push-button element is operated. The other two functions of the switches located alongside being xe2x80x9cunallocated,xe2x80x9d in other words, these functions are not provided in the example household appliance.
Moreover, using one broader push-button to cover two or more switches has a particular advantage when all the switches are programmed similarly. The configuration improves the switching reliability because a switch, that, for example, may have become permanently switched off due to dirt or breaking, can be replaced by its xe2x80x9cneighborxe2x80x9d or one of its xe2x80x9cneighbors.xe2x80x9d
A number of unallocated switches can also advantageously be provided as spares in the assemblies so that functions that are newly introduced into the household appliance in the course of new developments or further developments can be implemented without physically changing the assemblies.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the control panel has a film cover softer in an area of the handles than in area where there are no handles.
A control panel in the form of a film cover is a particularly effective and cost-effective refinement when the film cover is softer in the desired push-button areas than in the areas where there are no push-buttons. Therefore, only a slight touch on the corresponding push-buttons in the softer push-button areas is required. Accordingly, any type of individual button configuration is possible, including a modification of only a single push-button in the change to all the other variants.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a programmable household appliance, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerxc3xa4te GmbH


A method of operating a multi-axis machine. The machine linkage is monitored to detect an approach by linkage joint(s) toward singularity. A degree of the approached singularity is determined. The joint(s) approaching singularity are identified. Virtual joints are used to replace the identified joint(s) in a manipulator matrix to modify the manipulator matrix. The modified matrix is used to determine position changes for the linkage links. This method can provide software-based compensation for a wide range of machine configurations, without a priori knowledge of singularities for a given machine.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Many machine tool installations are operated under numerical control (NC) to produce high-precision items such as aircraft parts. In such installations, a multi-axis machine may be software-driven to move one or more machine tools relative to a work piece. A multi-axis kinematic linkage of the machine is capable of moving a tool relative to a plurality of predetermined coordinate axes. Specifically, a plurality of translational and/or rotational joints may be operable singly and/or cooperatively to move one or more links to position a tool at a desired location. Occasionally, however, a multi-axis linkage may be moved to a position ("singularity", or "singular point") in which one or more degrees of freedom are lost. At a singular point, one or more joints may be incapable of moving a tool as instructed by the software.

Approaching and compensating for machine kinematic singularities


A bandgap reference voltage circuit having a bandgap start-up circuit for initiating operation of the bandgap reference voltage circuit, a bandgap core circuit for developing a bandgap reference voltage, and a bandgap output circuit for supplying a bandgap reference voltage. The bandgap start-up circuit is connected to a low impedance leg in the bandgap core circuit and the bandgap output circuit has a feedback circuit that is connected to a high impedance leg in the bandgap core circuit. The connection of the bandgap start-up circuit to the low impedance leg of the bandgap core circuit eliminates the possibility of metastable operation of the bandgap reference voltage circuit. This bandgap reference voltage circuit can be used in battery powered units having reduced supply voltages as low as, for example, 1.7V and the arrangement of the feedback circuit of the bandgap output circuit allows supplying of reference voltages greater and less than typical bandgap voltage.

The present invention relates, in general, to electrical circuits that provide reference voltages and, in particular, to bandgap reference voltage circuits that are substantially insensitive to temperature and avoid undesirable metastable operation.
Bandgap reference voltage circuits are used in Bipolar and BICMOS circuit designs for producing stable reference voltages for biasing circuits. The stable reference voltages are used to control other voltage levels within a chip and to provide bias currents that are proportional to absolute temperature.
Circuits that regulate voltage and provide bias current are used extensively in analog units such as cellular telephones. A bandgap reference voltage circuit in a cellular telephone must not only provide the required voltage regulation and bias current, but also must be power efficient because cellular telephone circuits are powered by batteries. The bandgap reference voltage circuit is integral to the operation of the cellular telephone circuits, so reliability of the bandgap reference voltage circuit is essential to avoid catastrophic failure.
Normally, bandgap reference voltage circuits have two operating states. The first operating state provides normal operation that produces the required regulated voltage or bias current. The second operating state is a zero current state, which means that the bandgap reference voltage circuit is not operational. Some bandgap reference voltage circuits have a third operating state which is the metastable state representing a circuit failure.
One of the more common problems with bandgap reference voltage circuits is the failure of the circuit to enter the normal operational state from the zero state. If the bandgap reference voltage circuit enters the metastable state, the output voltage does not attain a final reference value and the circuit might remain in the metastable state, with the result that the entire cellular telephone unit might fail.
A solution to this problem is to provide additional start-up circuitry that forces the bandgap reference voltage circuit into its normal operating state (i.e., the first operating state identified above). Additional start-up circuitry, however, adds load to the battery power supply and this can decrease power efficiency.
For silicon-based technology, the bandgap voltage typically is 1.2V. This bandgap voltage also is used to generate a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) current for analog circuits. Sometimes, a reference voltage greater or less than 1.2V is desired to adjust the temperature coefficient of the PTAT current. This facility is important in optimizing circuit performance.
Another consideration in the design of bandgap reference voltage circuits is the current trend to reduce the supply voltage in battery operated units. As the supply voltage is reduced, for example, from 3V to 2.2V, the bandgap reference voltage circuits are likely to not function properly with the result that the bandgap reference voltages will decrease with the decreases in the supply voltage.
To overcome the shortcomings of prior art bandgap reference voltage circuit a new and improved bandgap reference voltage circuit is provided by the present invention.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a new and improved bandgap reference voltage circuit.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a bandgap reference voltage circuit that minimizes greatly metastable operation.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a bandgap reference voltage circuit that can operate properly with reductions in the supply voltage.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a bandgap reference voltage circuit that develops reference voltages greater and less than the bandgap reference voltage.
A bandgap reference voltage circuit, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a bandgap start-up circuit for initiating operation of the bandgap reference voltage circuit, a bandgap core circuit for developing a bandgap reference voltage, and a bandgap output circuit for supplying a bandgap reference voltage. The bandgap core circuit has a low impedance leg to which bandgap start-up circuit is connected and a high impedance leg to which the bandgap output circuit is connected. The bandgap output circuit has a feedback circuit connected to the high impedance leg of the bandgap core circuit.
It is to be understood that the foregoing general description of the present invention and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary, but are not restrictive of the invention.

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical data-recording system comprises a laser, a dynamic digital hologram, an electronic controller, and a scanning mechanism. The dynamic digital hologram includes a plurality of holographic zones, and is configured to direct the irradiance received thereon to an optical recording medium. The electronic controller is operatively coupled to the dynamic digital hologram and configured to control the irradiance directed from each of the holographic zones. The scanning mechanism is configured to change a relative positioning of the laser versus the dynamic digital hologram so that each of the holographic zones is irradiated in sequence by the laser.

High-power, short-pulse laser irradiance can be used to write and store data onto a glass substrate. The irradiance induces, at its focus, long-lived or permanent structural and optical changes within the substrate medium, caused by non-linear (e.g., two-photon) absorption by the medium. In some cases, a nanoscale 3D structure with grating-like optical properties is formed at the focus of the irradiance. The term 'voxel' is used herein to refer to an individual locus of this or another induced structural or optical change within the substrate medium, which is useful for storing data.
A voxel can store data in many different forms. In principle, any of the Muller-matrix coefficients of a medium can be manipulated and used to encode data. In some examples, a voxel written onto a substrate may be modeled as a waveplate of a certain retardance δd (measured in nanometers (nm)), and angular orientation ϕ (measured in degrees). Both the retardance and the orientation may be used to encode data. When a voxel is written by a polarized laser beam, the angle of the polarization determines the orientation ϕ of the waveplate grating, while the intensity of beam (i.e., beam power or accumulated energy) determines the strength of the grating, and accordingly, the retardance δd.

Multi-beam optical system for fast writing of data on glass


The invention concerns itself with an apparatus and method for producing plastic slivers from plastic infeed stock. The splinters produced are especially suitable for use in plastic or cellulosic/plastic composites. The invention will readily accommodate a broad range of types and forms of plastic infeed stock, including waste plastic, whether or not it has been cleaned and sorted into homogeneous feed streams. The method cuts plastic into slivers by firmly holding the plastic infeed stock and slowly feeding it against rotating cutter heads. The feed mechanism automatically adjusts to varying amounts of feed stock. The slivers need no further processing before they can be used in composites.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the processing of materials into a usable form, and in particular to the creation of plastic slivers from plastic materials. The plastic slivers are especially suitable for use in composites of cellulosic and plastic materials.
2. Description of the Invention
The art of creating cellulosic/plastic composites is well-known; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,082,605, 5,088,910, and 5,096,046, among others. Generally, two or more dissimilar materials, at least one of which is a thermoplastic, serve as the source material. The source materials are blended together and introduced into a carrier fluid, e.g. air. The carrier fluid passes through a screen and deposits the blended materials onto the screen in the form of a mat. After the mat has been formed it is pressed into flat panels or molded shapes using a heated press. During pressing the plastic melts and flows around the cellulosic fibers, thereby encapsulating them and creating a rigid structure. An additional chemical binder may be used if the plastic does not impart sufficient binding strength. Some typical applications for air-laid composites are interior automotive panels, which are later overlaid with vinyl or carpeting, and curved furniture components such as chair seats.
The depletion of our natural resources and increased problems with waste disposal are also well-known. The energy and raw material required to create plastics and the over-flowing of landfills make the recycling of plastics an attractive option to landfilling plastic waste. Using recycled plastics in cellulosic/plastic composites would therefore be appealing if an economically feasible method of preparing them for such use was available.
Several problems exist, however, in using recycled plastics in cellulosic/plastic composites. Different types of recycled plastics are often mixed together and contain contaminants such as food and labels. Prior methods of making plastic fibers for use in composites have generally involved melting the plastic as a step in the fiber-making process (i.e. as a step prior to extrusion). These methods require the plastic to be homogeneous and free of contaminants, or the different plastics (with different melting points) and any existing impurities will at the very least cause the process to go awry; at most, they may possibly ruin the apparatus used to make the fibers. Impurities can foul flow passages in machinery used for melting plastic, and mixtures of different melted plastics generally cannot be formed into fibers of uniform shape and quality due to irregularities in the melting temperatures and viscosity (and hence the flow properties) of the mixture. The greatest problems arise when blow molding grade plastics such as HDPE, with low fractional melt indices, are introduced into the mix; they cannot be formed into fibers by extrusion processes because their viscosities are too high to form a fiber when forced through a die. The cleaning and sorting steps in processing the plastic tend to be time-consuming and expensive, and the heating necessary to melt the plastic adds additional expense due to the energy-intensive heating process. Some fiber production methods are able to sidestep one or more of these requirements, but they invariably have their drawbacks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,827 describes a method for producing fibers from waste plastic stock by a mechanical process, rather than by a melting process, but it requires the plastic fiber stock to be pre-formed into a cylinder (and thus melted and possibly cleaned and sorted). U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,562 describes a method for producing stock for composites out of waste plastic without any cleaning or sorting steps, but it requires heating and extensive machining. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,408,976 and 4,499,037 describe methods for producing plastic composite stock from plastic tubes, but they cannot be applied to stock with a non-tubular shape. The present invention resolves these problems by providing a method and apparatus for converting plastic waste into fibrous plastic composite stock which does not require melting, nor extensive cleaning, nor homogeneity of the waste plastic stock.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A repair plug for sealable insertion into puncture holes in tires has a conical shank carrying one or more buttress threads which may extend onto a head portion adapted for rotation with a screwdriver.

1. Field
This invention relates to the art of tire repair, and more particularly to an improved method and tire repair plug for repairing and sealing punctures in vehicle tires.
2. State of the Art
Various means for repairing tire punctures are disclosed in the prior art, all of which may be considered to be types of plugs which are sealably inserted into the puncture hole.
Some plugging devices are designed to be inserted into the puncture hole from the interior side (i.e. normally pressurized side) of the tire. Exemplary of such plugs are those found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,867 of Nitzsche, U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,074 of Langdon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,887 of Mendes and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,579,161 and 4,802,388 of Roberts. The use of such plugs is disadvantageous because it requires removal of the tire from the rim. Thus, roadside repairs are generally impractical. For the typical motorist, the repair must be performed in a commercial automotive tire repair shop at extra time and expense.
Other plugs are designed to be driven or pulled into a puncture with a removable rod or "needle." Such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,189 of Chambers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,524 of Nitzsche and U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,599 of Clifford.
The patent literature describes tire plugs which may be inserted into a puncture hole from the outside of the tire. Many have screw threads or circumferential ribs on the device which assist in retaining the plug within the puncture hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 570,942 of Merritt discloses a tapered screw having an enlarged head for receiving a machine screw. The underside of the screw head is concave for sealing against the tire surface. The tapered screw has fine V-threads of small pitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,554 of Westfall discloses a hollow, ribbed, cylindrical plug which is forced into a puncture hole by a rod. After insertion, a sealing "washer" within the hollowed plug remains rigid while the remaining plug portion collapses under the tire compression.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,343 of Alfanto describes an insertable resilient tire plug having a hollow body for containing a liquid rubber compound. The body has axial fins and a threaded head. During insertion, the plug body is twisted to wring out the liquid from the plug chambers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,048 of Wolfe discloses a screw type plug for a tire puncture. The plug has standard symmetrical V-threads and the head is cut off by a hacksaw after installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,901 of Reichenbach discloses a rigid threaded tire plug including a tapered portion with standard symmetrical V-threads, and a fracturable finger-gripping handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,998 describes a threaded plug having a cylindrical non-tapered resilient shroud encasing a rigid screw.
All of the aforementioned tire plugs have disadvantages. Some of the plugs comprise multiple parts, resulting in added manufacturing expense. Others require removal of the tire from the vehicle wheel for repair. Specialized tools are required to install some plugs. Additionally, the ability of many plugs to maintain a permanent seal is highly dependent upon the installer's technique. A single component tire plug is needed which is readily formed, easy to install, has sufficient flexibility to absorb tire movement while maintaining a seal, and is resistant its ejection from the puncture hole.


A stopper for a blood collection tube adapted to receive whole blood for centrifugal separation into its relatively light and heavy phases. The stopper is provided with a coating which prevents red blood cells from adhering to it so as to avoid red cell contamination of the lighter phase after phase separation. The stopper is coated with a cationic binding agent, such as tridodecylmethylammonium chloride, and then with an anionic anticoagulant such as dextran sulfate. A lubricant, such as silicone oil, is applied to the coated stopper to facilitate insertion of the stopper into the tube.

This invention relates to blood collection devices and, more particularly, to the reduction of cell contamination of the separated lighter blood phase in a blood collection device.
It is common practice to employ a collection tube for receiving a whole blood sample from a patient whose blood is to be clinically tested, and then to centrifuge the filled tube to separate the blood into its lighter phase, serum or plasma, and its heavier cellular phase. In some cases, well known automatic or centrifugally activated phase partitioning devices or materials are placed in the tube which provide a liquid-impervious barrier between the separated phases after centrifugation. The barrier maintains the light phase isolated from the cellular phase components and facilitates subsequent removal of the light phase from the tube free of red cells.
However, red blood cells often adhere to surfaces of the stopper within the tube after the phases have been separated so that such cells remain in that portion of the tube which contains the separated lighter phase. These cells may come in contact with the light phase during handling or during removal of the stopper and light phase from the collection tube, and can contaminate the light phase such that some clinical tests performed produce inaccurate and unreliable results.
In an attempt to prevent blood cells from adhering to the stopper, the stopper has been shaped so that cells contacting it will have a tendency to to slide off. However, such shaping of the stopper has not been entirely satisfactory. U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,572 illustrates a stopper shaped to reduce the chance of cells adhering to the inner side of the stopper. This method requires a special stopper construction and still does not insure against the adherence of cells to the stopper. It is also mentioned in that patent that if the stopper is made of rubber, then silicone oils or glycerine solutions can be used as lubricants for easy insertion and removal of the stopper, and that such treatment also gives added protection against cell or clot adherence to the stopper. However, coating stoppers with a lubricant has generally not been an effective solution to the prevention of cell adherence to the stopper and cell contamination of the light phase.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,021, a phase partitioning piston remains in its initial position and is sealed against contact with the blood by a frangible seal to prevent contamination of the piston by blood cells during phase separation. Upon increased centrifugal force, after phase separation, the seal is broken and moves to the bottom of the tube, and the piston slides to a position adjacent the interface of the light and heavy phases. This device employs a relatively expensive tube assembly having a stopper in each end. It also requires the operator to centrifuge the tube at one speed until phase separation has taken place, and then to increase the speed in order to break the frangible seal. Thus, such a frangible seal arrangement results in a rather complicated separation procedure and a relatively expensive device.


A PNP apparatus may include a robotic arm, and a PNP tool head carried by the robotic arm. The PNP tool head may include a body configured to apply bonding pressure to a first area of an electronic device, and a pick-up tip movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the body as the pick-up tip rests against a second area of the electronic device. The pick-up tip may define a vacuum passageway therethrough to couple a vacuum source to the second area of the electronic device.

Typically, electronic devices include one or more camera modules for providing enhanced media functionality. For example, the typical electronic device may utilize the camera modules for photo capturing and video teleconferencing. In the typical electronic device with multiple camera modules, the primary camera module has a high pixel density and an adjustable focus lens system while the secondary camera module is front-facing and has a lower pixel density. Also, the secondary camera module may have a fixed focus lens system.
For example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0057544 to Brodie et al, assigned to the present application's assignee, discloses a camera module for a mobile device. The camera module comprises a lens, a housing carrying the lens, and a lens cap over the lens and housing. The camera module includes a barrel mechanism for adjusting the lens.
During manufacture of an electronic device including one or more camera modules, there is a desire to manufacture the electronic device as quickly as possible, particularly in mass production runs. Manufacture of the electronic device may be performed manually or via machine. For example, in electronic devices that use surface mounted components, a pick-and-place (PNP) machine may assemble the components onto a printed circuit board (PCB). Quite literally, the PNP comprises a robotic arm that maneuvers and picks a component from one position and installs (i.e. places) the component on the PCB.
The typical PNP machine is a complex device that is quite customizable. Given the size and sensitivity of the components being assembled, the movements of the PNP machine are programmable with great precision. For example, the exact speed of the robotic arm as it travels is controlled. Of course, there is a general desire to increase the speed of the robotic arm, thereby increasing the units per hour (UPH) that the PNP machine can assemble. Barriers to the speed of the robotic arm are not only based upon the mechanical limits of the robotic arm, but also the limits of the components being assembled.
For example, in the typical camera module component, such as the adjustable zoom camera module component discussed above, the barrel is movable and may be damaged due to the acceleration forces during assembly by the typical PNP machine. In particular, camera module components comprising a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for the barrel are susceptible to damage if the PNP operates at too great a speed.
Referring initially to FIGS. 1-2B, an approach for picking-and-placing a VCM camera device 60 using a PNP device 70 is shown. The VCM camera device 60 illustratively includes a housing 63, and a lens barrel 62 carried by the housing. The housing 63 illustratively includes a plurality of suction areas 61a-61d. The PNP device 70 illustratively includes a robotic arm, and a PNP tool head coupled to the robotic arm and comprising a central passageway 71 coupled to a vacuum source, and a plurality of suction openings 72a-72d coupled to the central passageway. During a typical pick operation, the robotic arm moves the PNP tool head to be adjacent the VCM camera device 60 so that the plurality of suction openings 72a-72d are correspondingly positioned on the plurality of suction areas 61a-61d, thereby creating a suction attachment between the PNP device 70 and VCM the camera device 60. The PNP tool head may then move and place the VCM camera device 60. A drawback to this approach is that the lens barrel 62 is in free motion during the movement of the robotic arm. Accordingly, during applications where the robotic arm moves at high speeds, the lens barrel 62 may damage the VCM motor actuator.

PNP apparatus and PNP tool head with direct bonding pressure pick-up tip


A brace hosiery apparatus including a hollow, cylindrical brace covering disposed about at least a portion of an orthotic brace and a first connector that when removably connected to a second connector secures the brace covering to the orthotic brace.

Orthotic braces are commonly used to adjust irregularities in the foot, ankle, or leg and to diminish pain and discomfort in the feet, legs, hips, back and neck. While the use of orthotic braces can be beneficial to the user, orthotic braces tend to rub against the user's skin which can cause chafing, blistering, pain and sweating. Also, orthotic braces are not generally considered to be visually appealing which tends to draw unwanted attention to the user.
To this end, a need exists for an apparatus that can prevent the orthotic brace from rubbing against the user's skin and provide a cushioned barrier while camouflaging the brace and granting the user a more visually appealing orthotic system. It is to such an apparatus that the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein are directed.

Brace hosiery apparatus, assembly and method of use