In a sailing catamaran provided with a forwardly directed pivoted arm carrying at the free end a third pontoon into alignment in front of either of the catamaran hulls a triangular truss assembly is provided bridging across the hulls. The apex of the truss assembly is then engaged to a point along the length of a mast which has its foot or base resting on the arm. A forestay stretched between the mast and the end of the arm supports a headsail while a mainsail is mounted on the mast.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sail driven watercraft, and more particularly to a sailing catamaran with its sails supported in a bridging trapeze to articulate along with an articulated third pontoon laterally displaced to align in front of the lee hull when tacking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The inherent benefits of a sailing catamaran are universally well known and have been appreciated throughout, and even before, recorded history. Specifically, the wide spacing between the hulls of a catamaran allows for a very narrow hull shape with the consequent reduction in drag. Even earlier the low drag aspects of a long and narrow hull, stabilized by an outrigger, have been universally appreciated and there is some suggestion that it is this appreciation that has promoted human migration across the various Pacific islands. The asymmetric aspects of a single stabilizing outrigger, however, result in grossly asymmetrical sailing performance across and into the wind and the symmetry of a catamaran hull platform is therefore most often associated with the early development of sail surfaces in the Pacific. Simply, the symmetrical aspects of the catamaran platform appear to promote the desired sailing utility on both sides of the wind.
This beneficial symmetry of a catamaran, however, has its own disadvantages, namely the characteristically low performance of a catamaran when beating or sailing towards the wind. This loss of windward performance, which has become more pronounced as sail efficiency improved, stems from the inherent offset of the sail surfaces from the center of buoyancy, an offset that imposes a turning moment about the volumetric center of the lee hull. It is, of course, the combination of a symmetrical deployment of the sail rigging relative an asymmetrical buoyancy point that produces this moment, and the wider the catamaran platform the less efficient it is to the wind. As result most of the notorious sailing performers of current vintage are characteristically asymmetrical, with a strong preference for either the one or the other side of the wind.
Recently, however, a catamaran structure has been developed in which a third hull or pontoon can be articulated to align adjacent and ahead of either on of the two catamaran hulls, with the tack of a single sail tied to this moveable pontoon to be carried therewith. This novel hull development has been described by Alan Blundell, "Vari-Scari; Philosophy and Development of the Design" Publication 115, The Amateur Yacht Research Society, BCM AYRS, LONDON WC1N 3XX (1994). While the foregoing new development in catamaran architecture represents a significant advance in the art, its general acceptance has not followed, primarily because of the inherent difficulties in sail handling associated with the articulated sail tack where even the developer, himself, resorts to gybing as the primary method for changing tacks. In addition the above developer, while recognizing the benefits of a stepped hull, fails to optimize same. The resolution of both these deficits, along with other improvements, will therefore result in a highly efficient, fast and commercially viable catamaran structure and it this inventive resolution that is disclosed herein.


Real-time customer packet traffic is instrumented to determine measured delays between two or more points along a path actually traveled by a packet, such as within or external to one or more packet switching devices. These measurements may include delays within a packet switching device other than the ingress and egress time of a packet. These measured delays can be used to determine whether or not the performance of a packet switching device or network meets desired levels, especially for complying with a Service Level Agreement.

The communications industry is rapidly changing to adjust to emerging technologies and ever increasing customer demand. This customer demand for new applications and increased performance of existing applications is driving communications network and system providers to employ networks and systems having greater speed and capacity (e.g., greater bandwidth). In trying to achieve these goals, a common approach taken by many communications providers is to use packet switching technology. Increasingly, public and private communications networks are being built and expanded using various packet technologies, such as Internet Protocol (IP). Note, nothing described or referenced in this document is admitted as prior art to this application unless explicitly so stated.
Customers who rely on the use of such networks may contract with one or more service providers to provide one or more guaranteed levels of service, which is typically referred to as a Service Level Agreement. It is important for a Service Provider to provide such service, and to provide measurements detailing such provided levels of service.
In the past, typically special measuring devices (e.g., test instrumentation devices) are connected at various points in a network, which send test packets among themselves in order to measure the levels of service provided between these special measuring devices.


The present invention relates to a seat mount assembly for a vehicle having a seat, such as a tractor. The seat mount assembly, in one embodiment, includes a seat support, one or more seat securing members connected to the seat and movably engaged with the seat support and at least one seat adjust handle. The seat mount assembly enables users to conveniently change the seat position while remaining seated.

The present invention generally relates to seat mount assemblies. More specifically, the present invention relates to seat mount assemblies for tractors which enable users to adjust the seat position.
The typical tractor has an adjustable seat to accommodate the different sizes and needs of users. Some known seats require the user to get off of the seat in order to adjust the seat. Once off of the seat, the user must turn knobs or use tools in order to adjust the seat position. A significant disadvantage with these seats is inconvenience.
Other known seats are adjustable while the user is remaining on the seat. The adjustment mechanisms for these types of seats are relatively complex. These mechanisms include a relatively high number of parts, such as wireforms, coil springs, rails and/or ball bearings. Due to this complexity, these seat adjustment mechanisms have several disadvantages. They malfunction relatively frequently, require a relatively high amount of maintenance services and are relatively expensive to manufacture.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome these disadvantages.


A locking mechanism for a quick response fire sprinkler includes an arcuate leaf spring having an inherent radially inwardly directed biasing force being split to provide spaced end portions. A circumferentially extending detent is provided in the peripheral face of the arcuate leaf spring for engaging a circumferential groove provided in the sprinkler valve housing. A fusible temperature responsive element is inserted between the spaced ends of the arcuate spring for spreading the arcuate spring and associated detent radially outwardly into the circumferential groove for holding the sprinkler valve in the closed position. When the temperature responsive element becomes fused, the arcuate leaf spring is retracted radially inwardly from the valve housing allowing the sprinkler valve to open.

Various fire sprinkler systems have been proposed having a slidable valve held in a closed position by a locking mechanism releasably held by an ambient temperature responsive element, whereby when the ambient temperature reaches a certain elevation, the temperature responsive element is actuated releasing the locking mechanism, thereby allowing the valve to slide to the open position.
The locking mechanism most frequently employed in these sprinkler systems includes a ball-lock arrangement wherein a plurality of circumferentially spaced balls extend between the valve and the temperature responsive element, whereby the force biasing the valve to the open position is distributed evenly to all of the balls, thereby preventing too much stress being transmitted to any single part of the lock. While these locking mechanisms have been satisfactory for their intended purpose, they are expensive, they involve many small, close tolerance machine parts, and they are difficult to assemble.
After considerable research and experimentation, the locking mechanism of the present invention has been devised which is comparably inexpensive, has few parts, and is easy to assemble.

Locking mechanism for quick response fire sprinkler


In a liquid crystal display apparatus, a glass substrate has connection terminals and a stepped section at an edge thereof. A liquid crystal display panel is mounted on the glass substrate and is electrically connected to the connection terminals. A flexible printed board has leads and an insulating layer partly covering the leads. The connection terminals are adhered by a conductive adhesive agent to the leads, so that the stepped section of the glass substrate receives an edge of the insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relate to a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, and more particularly, to the alignment of a flexible printed board with a glass substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an LCD apparatus is constructed by a glass substrate, an LCD panel mounted on the glass substrate, and a flexible printed board adhered to the glass substrate. The flexible printed board drives the LCD panel. Therefore, the flexible printed board has leads electrically connected to the LCD panel and an insulating layer partly covering the leads.
In a first prior art LCD apparatus, connection terminals are formed along edges of the glass substrate. The leads of the flexible printed board are connected to the connection terminals by a thermocompression bonding process using a thermosetting conductive adhesive agent. When connecting the leads of the flexible printed board to the connection terminals of the glass substrate, the conductive adhesive agent is heated while the flexible printed board is lowered under pressure until they are connected with each other. This will be explained later in detail.
In the above-described first prior art LCD apparatus, however, while the leads and the insulating layer are located respectively at different levels on the flexible printed board, the connection terminals of the glass substrate are on the same plane as the compression bonding surface at the time of the thermocompression bonding process, so that the insulating layer is inevitably located off the edge of the glass substrate. Therefore, the leads of the flexible printed board are left uncovered and exposed to the atmosphere, resulting in conductive contaminant adhered to the exposed leads, which may by turn give rise to a short-circuiting therein.
In a second prior art LCD apparatus (see JP-A-5-72545 & JP-A-8-138774), an about 0.3 to 1.0 mm width beveled section is formed along the edge of the glass substrate. As a result, when the conductive adhesive agent is forced off the edge of the glass substrate by the thermocompression bonding process, squeezed adhesives is received in the beveled section. Therefore, the leads of the flexible printed board are completely covered by the adhesive agent, thus avoiding a short-circuit between the leads of the flexible printed board. This also will be explained later in detail.
In the above-described second prior art LCD apparatus, however, since it is difficult to closely control the flow of the conductive adhesive agent, and also the location of the edge of the insulating layer fluctuates, the exposed leads of the flexible printed board may not be covered satisfactorily. In addition, since the part of the conductive adhesive agent that is forced off will simply remain by chance on the beveled section of the glass substrate, when subjected to stress due to external force or made to become brittle for some reason or other, the part of the conductive adhesive agent can easily come off the beveled section of the glass substrate, to thereby affect the operation of the LCD apparatus as foreign objects blocking the back light.

Liquid crystal display apparatus having stepped section in glass substrate


A computer-implemented method for performing a voltage-based measurement of a resistive memory cell having a plurality of programmable cell states includes providing, via a processor, a prebiased voltage at a connecting node. The method further includes prebiasing a bitline capacitance of the resistive memory cell. In other aspects, the method includes settling, via the processor, a sensing circuit to a target voltage. The method further includes outputting a resultant value based on a sensed voltage at the resistive memory cell.

The present disclosure relates to memory cell circuits, and more specifically, to enhanced temperature compensation for resistive memory cell circuits.
A prominent example for resistive memory cells having a plurality of programmable levels or states is Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM), and more particularly, Phase Change Memory (PCM). PCM is a non-volatile solid-state memory technology that exploits the reversible, thermally-assisted switching of specific chalcogenides between certain states of different electrical conductivity.
PCM is a non-volatile memory technology having low latency, high endurance, long retention and high scalability. PCM may utilize multi-level cell functionality to accomplish a low cost per bit, high-speed read/write operations, and high bandwidth and high endurance. Multilevel functionality (for example, multiple bits per PCM cell) may be a way to increase storage capacity and thereby to reduce cost.
Multi-level PCM may store multiple resistance levels between a lowest (SET) and a highest (RESET) resistance value at each memory cell. Multiple resistance levels (described hereafter as "levels") correspond to partial-amorphous and partial-crystalline phase distributions of the PCM cell. Phase transformation (such as, for example, memory programming) may be enabled by Joule heating. In this regard, Joule heating can be controlled by a programming current or voltage pulse. For example, the multiple states or levels in a PCM cell may be created by varying the programming power, thus creating different crystalline and amorphous fractions within the memory cell. In metal-oxide resistive memory devices, multiple states may correspond to variations in the gap between conductive oxygen-vacancy filaments and the electrodes.
In resistive memory, the fundamental storage unit (referred to generally herein as the "cell") can be set to a number of different states which exhibit different electrical resistance characteristics. Information may be recorded in the cells by exploiting the different material states to represent different data values. For example, to read recorded data, cell-state can be detected via measurements that exploit the differing resistance characteristics in order to differentiate between possible cell-states. Some semiconductor memory technologies may employ these basic principles for data storage, including oxide-based memory techniques using resistive RAM and memristor memory, ionic-transport-based memory, and phase-change memory.
Phase-change memory exploits the reversible switching of certain chalcogenide materials between at least two states with different electrical resistance. In single-level cell (SLC) PCM devices, each cell can be set to one of two states, crystalline and amorphous, by application of heat. Each SLC cell can thus store one bit of binary information. Storage of more than one bit per cell may be advantageous. A cell can be set to m states where m>2, and these states can be distinguished on readback via the cell resistance characteristics. In some aspects, multi-level cells (MLCs) can be set to one of m>2 resistance levels, each corresponding to a different cell state. MLC operation is achieved by exploiting partially-amorphous states of the chalcogenide cell. Different cell states can be set by varying the effective volume of the amorphous phase within the chalcogenide material. This in turn varies cell resistance.
To write data to a PCM cell, a PCM memory system may apply a voltage or current pulse to the cell to heat the chalcogenide material to an appropriate temperature to induce the desired cell-state on cooling. By varying the amplitude of the voltage or current pulses, different cell-states can be achieved. PCM memory systems may read a value at each PCM cell using cell resistance to distinguish the different cell-states. The PCM system may measure resistance for a read operation in the sub-threshold region of the current-versus-voltage (I-V) characteristic of the cell, e.g., in the region below the threshold switching voltage at which a change in cell-state can occur. A PCM system may read measurement in a variety of ways, but most techniques rely fundamentally on either voltage biasing and current sensing, or current biasing and voltage sensing. In a simple implementation of the current-sensing approach, the PCM system may bias the cell at a certain constant voltage level and sense the resulting cell current to provide a current-based metric for cell-state. PCM systems may read an output of the cell state by measuring the cell current at a known voltage. Said in other way, using conventional methods the PCM system may read the cell output by measuring a current through the cell. This solution works fine as long as one is only interested in distinguishing among a few levels that may be widely separated.
Reading MLC cells can be particularly challenging because the read operation can involve distinguishing fine differences in cell resistance via the current/voltage measurements. For example, resistance may drift to a higher resistance level with the passing of time. Resistance drift is a characteristic phenomenon observed in phase-change memory cells, which manifests itself as a steady increase in the electrical resistance of the stored cell-state over time. Drift can adversely affect the reliability of MLC storage in PCM, because the distance between adjacent levels is small and stochastic fluctuations of the resistance may be more likely to cause level overlap over time than in binary storage. Compared to SLC operation, these fine differences may be more affected by random noise fluctuations and the resistance drift, resulting in errors when retrieving stored data. To counteract this loss of data integrity associated with MLC memory, enhanced cell-state metrics can be used to compensate for the loss of data integrity.
One such used enhanced metric focuses on the sub-threshold slope of the I/V characteristic of the cell. Using this method the metric can be based on the difference between two read measurements of the same cell. This type of metric may be less sensitive to noise and drift. The metric can be a voltage based metric in the sense that it calls for the measurement of cell voltages (or cell voltage differences) at given bias currents. In general, voltage-based metrics may be advantageous over current-based metrics because the voltage-based metrics can result in less resistance drift over time, less susceptibility to noise, better SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), and may allow more intermediate levels to be packed into one cell.
However, the conventional techniques for obtaining voltage-based metrics (using current biasing and voltage sensing) may be undesirably slow. Since PCM devices may store multiple bits of information per cell, the distinguished levels may be tightly spaced. Voltage-based metrics are often used in order to pack more levels per cell, and provide more reliable readings for tightly-spaced levels. From a circuit-level perspective the standard solution of biasing the cells at a constant current and digitalizing the measured voltage may carry with it a significant cost in processing speed. This speed penalty associated with the conventional voltage measurement technique means that there may be a fundamental conflict between the requirement for a fast random access of the memory and the need for voltage-based metrics supporting high density MLC memory. For example, the hybrid approach may use a voltage-biased search loop to acquire target biasing current even though being significantly faster than other solution may not provide sufficient speed improvement to be comparable with current-based metric solutions and used in next generation of memory-based storage systems.
PCM memory is often subject to wide range of operating temperatures that can adversely affect PCM cell state readings, which are correlated to the operating temperature of the cell (even more than to the resistance drift). In addition to, each cell state may have different sensitivity to the temperature, which could provide inaccurate readouts when temperature varies. It may be advantageous to optimize voltage-based measurements for PCM cell state readings that can provide consistently accurate measurements at all operational temperatures.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Enhanced temperature compensation for resistive memory cell circuits

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method of rendering content on a wireless device. The wireless device sends a message to a server requesting an application and identifies itself with its rendering capabilities. The wireless receives an identification of a custom configuration of a plurality of rendering blocks of the wireless device associated with the application. The custom configuration configures the plurality of rendering blocks of the device. The wireless device receives compiled content from the application executing on the server that includes render commands expressed in a syntax that is device generic but has parameters specific to the rendering capabilities of the wireless device. A reader of the wireless device processes the compiled content and issues commands to individual rendering blocks of a graphical user interface based on the rendering commands of the compiled content and based on the custom configuration.

The widespread and increase in popularity of wireless devices have led to an increase in the number of wireless device types in the world. For example, the use of cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), PalmPilots, BlackBerrys, laptops, IPods, etc., have become prevalent in the market. The increase in the number of wireless devices has also increased the demand for various applications to run on various wireless devices.
The market is fractured among many manufacturers with different types of wireless devices including brands, models, generations, etc. For example, each year new manufacturers enter the market and existing manufacturers provide new models and new versions for existing wireless devices. Each wireless device is unique based on its brand, model, rendering capability, battery life, processing power, display resolution, color capability, display size, etc., collectively known as wireless device attributes.
Unfortunately, since each wireless device is unique, each application must be tailored in accordance with the wireless device attributes to fully utilize the capabilities of the wireless device. For example, to utilize the entire display of the wireless device, the application must be tailored to render the application in accordance with the display size and resolution of the wireless device.
Unfortunately, the increase in the number of applications, the types of wireless devices and the need to tailor each application to a given wireless device type has increased the cost of developing applications. With ever increasing number of models and brands of wireless devices, the number of applications and application versions required to accommodate all of these different wireless devices has increased as well. Since each application must be specific to a given wireless device type with a given brand and model, applications are substantially developed from the ground up for each wireless device type. Unfortunately, developing applications from the ground up for each wireless device has increased the cost of developing and customizing each application to accommodate each wireless device brand and model.
Moreover, the increase in cost of developing applications due to the need to tailor each application to all the specific brands and models of wireless devices has hindered and limited the number of titles that a software vendor can produce annually. Software developers simply do not have the time or the resources to take even a single application through a customized quality assurance and debugging process, much less each application for each type of wireless device, thereby limiting the number of titles that a software vendor can produce.
Also, the task of producing all the required versions of a title is not only time consuming and laborious but it also tends to limit upgrades and patches to existing titles. In general, a wireless device runs the application locally and renders the result. Thus, updating applications requires a patch/update to be specially developed for and provided to each wireless device individually. For example, updating/patching an application may require the wireless device user to access the application provider's website via the wireless device and to navigate through multiple pages in order to determine whether an update is ready. When an update is ready, the user actively initiates the update process. As a result, many users may not update their applications due to this laborious process.

Method and system for rendering content on a wireless device


A cable guide is provided for a movable body such as a chair having legs with casters. The cable guide guides a cable attached to the movable member away from the casters during movement of the movable member and/or horizontal rotation of a portion of the movable member.

This invention concerns a cable guide structure which protects cables such as telephone cords, tubes or cables (hereafter called simply xe2x80x9ccablesxe2x80x9d) when they are connected to a revolving chair with casters on its legs in such a way that they trail freely on the floor. More specifically, when electricity is supplied from the exterior to a revolving office chair with casters on its legs to provide power for a built-in health appliance such as an electric massager, shoulder heater or shiatsu device, this cable guide structure protects the power supply cable from being run over by the casters or getting wound around the legs of the chair. The scope of the invention is not limited to office chairs only; it could also be applied when a person seated in a chair is being monitored for pulse rate or other physiological data, or when a cable is providing audio or video signals to a seated person.
An example of a revolving office chair with casters provided in the prior art is shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,925 (FIG. 7 herein). This revolving chair 500 moves freely about the floor with the rotation of casters 540. Its post 520 is able to rotate 360 degrees about its center in the horizontal plane. It is customary for a person seated in such a revolving chair with casters to move about the floor while seated in the chair. At such times, if the chair has a built-in electrical appliance to which a power supply cable 550 is connected, the cable may be trapped under casters 540 (see FIG. 8) so that the casters lock up, and the cable may be damaged. Or, as is shown in FIG. 9, casters 540 may run over the cable, so that it becomes entangled among legs 530. This will limit the mobility of the chair and may cause damage to the cable.
A prior art design to alleviate these problems, which was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,920, is shown in FIG. 10. It provides a cylindrical guard (cylindrical portion 137) around each caster (wheel assembly 119) so that the power supply cord cannot be run over. Another solution was offered in U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,099, shown in FIG. 11. A panel (flipper plate 30) is provided on the front of each caster to keep the cable away from the wheels so that it cannot be run over. Panel 30 is attached by hinge pin 31 so that it hangs down under its own weight. Its front end 33, then, is normally in contact with the floor so that it can lift up the cable.
However, the prior art designs for office chairs do not address the problem illustrated in FIG. 8, which occurs when several of the casters are locked simultaneously by being trapped in a cable lying on the floor. When one end of the cable is attached to the seat of the chair and the other is attached to a wall outlet, the cable""s freedom of movement is limited. When the casters move, then, the cable can get hung up on them, which can result in the casters becoming locked. If people in an office frequently move their chairs around, this will happen again and again. When it does happen, the plug may be pulled out of the wall outlet, or the chair which is stuck may tilt on the fulcrum provided by the casters and fall over.
Or, as is shown in FIG. 9, the connection site 511 where the cable is attached to seat 510 may end up, when the seat rotates on post 520, on the side of the chair opposite socket 522 and plug 551. When this happens, the portion of electrical cord 550 which is on the floor can easily become entangled among legs 530 so that it hinders the free movement of casters 540. In the prior art solutions discussed above, then, cable connection site 511 lacks a stabilized directionality with respect toward socket 552 and plug 551; thus the danger that the cable will become entangled on casters 540 remains unaddressed.
This invention is developed in order to eliminate the problems discussed above. The object of this invention is to provide a cable guide structure which would stabilize the direction of an electrical or other cable trailing onto the floor from a revolving office chair with casters on its legs or some other revolving and movable body.
Another object of this invention is to provide a cable guide structure which would make it difficult for the cable and casters to interfere with each other regardless of the movement of the casters when the cable extends from a revolving, movable chair with a built-in electrical appliance in such a way that it can move freely on the floor.
For this purpose, the cable guide structure according to this invention has a supporting arm which holds the electrical cable virtually horizontal in the space above the legs of the chair so that it cannot be run over by the casters. This supporting arm is mounted to the post of the chair in such a way that it can revolve around the post. The arm supports the cable in the space above the legs and leads it out a given distance from the post, where it is allowed to drop from the end of the arm to the floor. This distance is somewhat beyond the radius of the rotational path of the chair legs. Thus the cable which runs out from the chair is guided along the supporting arm until it is allowed to drop to the floor a sufficient distance beyond the casters. When the chair revolves or moves, the portion of the cable which is on the floor will not be run over by the casters. In addition, this invention also provides a caster sweeper unit for each caster to sweep away the portion of the cable which is on the floor. It thus offers two separate types of cable guide structures to prevent the cable from being run over by the casters


An electric front derailleur for a bicycle. The derailleur includes a chain guide, a linkage assembly movably connected to the chain guide, and an electrical actuation unit operatively coupled to the linkage assembly to move the chain guide with respect to the electrical actuation unit. The electrical actuation unit includes a mounting portion configured to be attached to a bicycle frame. The mounting portion is secured to the electrical actuation unit. The mounting portion permits the position of the electric front derailleur to be adjusted with respect to the bicycle frame.

The invention generally relates to a front derailleur for a bicycle, and more particularly, to a mounting structure of an electrical actuation unit of an electric front derailleur.
A derailleur mounting bracket is often welded or otherwise fixed to the seat tube of the bicycle frame to support a front derailleur. A drawback of the derailleur mounting bracket is that it does not allow for variation in the size difference between different front sprockets; thus, different front derailleurs may be necessary to accommodate different sprockets.


A business method for centrally managing documents in a client server system. The business method is operable in a client-server system with a database, a voice response system and a fax reception system to a telecommunications network. A user through the voice response system, provides a login request over the telecommunications network using a fax machine with a telephone. The system checks to determine if the user has an account and if the user does not have an account setting up an account with the user over the telecommunications network. Next, the user via the voice response system provides a category to be associate with a document to be faxed from the user. The user faxes a document to be stored in the database that is associated with a category under an account for the user. To retrieve a document previously faxed for storage, the information relating to the document is searchable and the document can be faxed back to the user fax machine. In an alternate embodiment, a computer readable medium and system is disclosed that corresponds to the method above.

1. Field of the Invention
Broadly this invention relates to electronic storage systems and networks. More particularly, this invention relates to the field of electronic storage of business and personal records over the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although facsimile machines have been around for more than fifty years, only within the last ten years due to improvements in optical scanning and printing have the price of fax machines dropped to a point to where most companies use fax machines. In fact, fax machines have become ubiquitous in most businesses today.
Consumers can purchase stand alone fax machines or fax machines in combination with other optical and printing options such as the Brother 6-1 MFC Printer which not only prints and faxes but can scan and copy as well. The use of fax machines and scanners have made written communications over long distances much easier.
Another technology advancement over the last ten years has been the advent of the World-Wide-Web ("Web"). The Web has become immensely popular largely because of the ease of finding information and the user-friendliness of today's browsers. A feature known as hypertext allows a user to access information from one Web page to another Web page by simply pointing (using a pointing device such as a mouse) at the hypertext and clicking. Another feature that makes the Web attractive is having the ability to process the information (or content) in remote Web pages without the requirement of having a specialized application program for each kind of content accessed. Thus, the same content is viewed across different platforms. Browser technology has evolved to enable running of applications that manipulate this content across a wide variety of different platforms.
The Web relies on an application protocol called HTML (Hyper Text Mark Up Language) which is an interpretative scripting language for rendering text, graphics, images, audio, and real-time video on a Web compliant browser. HTML is independent of client operating systems. So HTML renders the same content across a wide variety of software and hardware operating platforms. Software platforms include Windows 3.1/95/98, Windows NT/2000, Copeland, AIX, Unix, and equivalent. Popular compliant Web-Browser includes Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
The Web has made the access to information much easier to a large population of user as a result of the decrease in price of computer hardware and electronic storage combined with the increase of the throughput to many consumers such as cable modems, ADSL, DSL and WebTV™.
The availability of Web and the increase use of optical scanning technologies such as fax machines has not reduced the amount of paper used for personal and business records. The increase use of paper is due to many factors. One factor for the increase use of paper in business and personal records are that users of paper are unfamiliar with optical scanning technologies.
Another factor for the increase use of paper in business is the need for emergency backup of electronic medium. Many people lack the discipline to backup important documents electronically stored. Accordingly, the requirement to backup important documents stored electronically has slowed the adoption of optical scanning technologies to store documents.
Still, another factor for the increase use of paper, is the inability to access personal and business information while traveling. People often take copies of documents and information while they are away from their home or business for convenient access. For example, a person may take a document along with them such as a bank statement when going to loan officer about a loan. By taking a document with them, the user exposes the document to being lost, mutilated or inadvertently destroyed. Accordingly, a need exists to make the conversion, storage and retrieval of documents easy and secure for individuals and businesses to take advantage of optical scanning technologies available today.

Method and system for centralized information storage retrieval and searching

International Business Machines Corporation


An ecology stay-on tab beverage can end has a center panel having a public side and an opposing product side. The center panel has a displaceable tear panel defined by a frangible score groove and a non-frangible hinge portion of the center panel located between a first end and a second end of the frangible score which retains the displaceable tear panel to the center panel subsequent to opening. The displaceable tear panel has a symbol thereon. The symbol conveys information to a user and is formed by a relief feature on the tear panel. The symbol and the relief feature are spaced at least 0.050 inches radially inwardly of the frangible score groove such that no portion of the symbol and the relief feature are closer than 0.050 inches to the frangible score.

Typical end closures for beer and beverage containers have an opening panel and an attached leverage tab for pushing the opening panel into the container to open the end. The container is typically a drawn and ironed metal can, usually constructed from a thin plate of aluminum. End closures for such containers are also typically constructed from a cutedge of thin plate of aluminum or steel, formed into a blank end, and manufactured into a finished end by a process often referred to as end conversion.
These types of container ends have been used for many years, with almost all such ends in use today being the "ecology" or "stay-on-tab" ("SOT") ends in which the tab remains attached to the end after a tear panel, including large-opening ends ("LOE"), is opened. The tear panel being a portion of the can end defined by a frangible score length and a non-frangible hinge segment. The tear panel may be opened, that is the score may be severed, and the tear panel displaced at an angular orientation relative to the remaining portion of the can end, thus creating a pour opening through which the beverage may be poured from the container. The tear panel remains hingeably connected to the remaining portion of the can end by the non-frangible hinge segment, leaving an opening through which the user draws the contents of the container. In an LOE, the pour opening is about 0.5 square inches in area.
Opening of the tear panel is operated by the tab which is attached to the can end by a rivet through a rivet island on the tab. The tab is typically attached to the can end such that a nose of the tab extends over a proximal portion of the tear panel in a stowage position. A lift end of the tab is located opposite the tab nose and provides access for a user to lift the lift end, such as with the user's finger, to force the nose against the proximal portion of the tear panel. With most can ends, the stowage position and opening position are in the same location; however, some can ends known in the art require rotation of the tab from a stowage position to the opening position prior to an opening sequence, i.e. the fracturing of the frangible score.
When the tab nose is forced against the tear panel, the score initially ruptures at a vent region of the score. This initial rupture of the score is primarily caused by the lifting force on the tab resulting in lifting of a central region of the can end, including the rivet and immediately adjacent the rivet. As the tab is lifted further, the score rupture propagates along the length of the score, eventually stopping at the hinge segment.
Venting is an initial release of pressure from within a pressurized container upon initial fracture of the score about the tear panel, typically upon the initial lifting of the lift end of the tab by a user.
In general, beverage can end design requires a careful balancing of structural elements to achieve a beverage can end of a desired strength while maintaining proper function of the SOT opening assembly. Changes to one structural element to improve one physical characteristic of the beverage can end will routinely adversely affect a different physical characteristic.
For example, strengthening the can end through localized coining, or the compression of the metal to produce a localized region of reduced thickness, will create a volume of excess metal that typically must be used to form some structure, else it could have an adverse effect on performance of the can end. Oil can-effect or warping of the center panel often results from coining or other processes that create a localized excess volume of metal.
Additionally, if a designer selects a score line depth which is too deep, the resulting can ends are subject to being ruptured during the production and during packaging and shipping operations. On the other hand, if the score depth is too shallow, excessive force may be required to rupture the score. In such a situation, even if the user is physically able to apply sufficient force to rupture the score line, the tab and the tear panel itself may deform in a manner to prevent complete rupture of the full length of the score.
It is desirable to have a tear panel that is stiff and resists deformation during the opening procedure. The tendency of a tear panel to deform excessively during score rupture is to a large extent, a function of the relative stiffness of the tear panel. The stiffness of a tear panel may, in turn, be influenced by the metal gauge, i.e., the thickness of the tear panel, and also the amount of "slack", or localized excess, metal in the tear panel. Tear panel slack may be produced by various sources including rivet formation and also the very scoring needed to create a tear panel. The relative size of a tear panel also affects the rupture performance of a tear panel since a panel of larger area tends to bend more and thus diffuse the rupture force applied by the tab more than a smaller tear panel of the same metal gauge.
One common technique used for increasing the relative stiffness of a tear panel is to create a deboss panel which circumscribes the tear panel and rivet and in which the tear panel and the rivet are recessed.
Another technique is to form a raised or "embossed" metal bead in the middle of the tear panel to take up metal slack. The tear panel may also have a deboss bead. The deboss bead may have a surface portion which ramps upwardly and radially inwardly, relative to an axis passing through the staked portion of the tab and oriented generally normal to the generally flat, radially extending surface. In either case, the bead structure is formed in a shape which generally follows the geometric shape of the score of the tear panel, thereby evenly drawing slack metal from the tear panel. The bead structure may also be used to provide better leverage by opening force on the tear panel by the tab.
Thus, the structure of the beads on the tear panel, including placement, depth/height, shape, surface area, and volume are of the utmost importance in the functionality and operation of the can end overall and, in particular, performance during the severing of the frangible score during opening. For this reason, there have been no known efforts to use the tear panel as a means for conveying information to a user through beading or other structures. Again, any structural change to the tear panel would have an effect on can end performance. Any non-uniform, irregular shaped bead could place unwanted forces on the frangible score. Additionally, any coining or additional scoring could create slack metal in the tear panel that would adversely affect can end openability.
Prior art can ends have been used to convey information to users. Recycling instructions, manufacturing codes, and the like have been incised or scored into a public surface of a center panel of the can end and outside a perimeter of the tear panel. The alpha-numeric symbols used to convey information are typically very shallow. Typically, emboss and deboss beads are not employed.
More recently, and with some success, the tab has been used to convey information to users. This information may be in the form of promotional materials, logos, or the like. Methods such as printing, incising, laser ablation, stamping, beading, etc. have been proposed to provide information on the tabs. The tab is used for this purpose because changes to the tab are less likely to adversely affect beverage can end performance. However, the available surface area on the tab is very limited for these purposes, even when enclosing the finger hole to create a billboard-like surface on the tab.
The inventors have identified a commercial need to expand the use of information-conveying symbols on can ends. It would be desirable to utilize a larger surface area of the can end in a more prominent location on the center panel, wherein a user is naturally encouraged to view the information carrying symbols in the manner intended by the designers. The tear panel is the most likely location for such symbol due to its location on the center panel and because the tear panel naturally faces the user when the user lifts the tab to begin an opening sequence of the can end. However, the structural importance of the tear panel during manufacturing and during the severing of the frangible score have generally eliminated the tear panel from consideration for communicating information in the form of structural symbols to a user.
Thus, the problem addressed by the inventors can be stated: In a beverage can end or lid comprising a stay-on-tab ecology opening assembly, where is a desirable location for information-communicating symbols on a public side of a center panel; and what are the structural requirements of a displaceable tear panel having information-communicating structural elements thereon when the stay-on-tab opening assembly and the beverage can end must maintain the physical and functional properties required of a properly opening beverage can.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior can ends of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Can end tear panel with decorative relief features


A hysteresis control valve (10) is disposed between a master cylinder and a wheel cylinder. The hysteresis control valve comprises a first stepped piston (12) fixed within a cylinder bore (11a) and including a bypass bore (12b) communicatable with the wheel cylinder, a second stepped piston (13) slidably mounted within the cylinder bore (11a) and having at its one end a valve body (14) opened under a given pressure to prevent communication through the bypass bore 12b, and a cup seal (15) disposed between the outer periphery of the first stepped piston (12) and the inner periphery of the cylinder bore (11a).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brake system for a motor vehicle which is designed particularly to provide hydraulic braking pressure with hysteresis characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
To improve riding comfort, various means have been proposed to provide a brake with hysteresis characteristics. One such means is to provide a vacuum booster with a reaction rubber disk between an input piston and an output rod.
In order to obtain sufficient hysteresis in a hydraulic booster, a seal may more tightly be clamped between the input and output members. This results in an increase in the resistance to sliding movement of the input member and thus, requires greater pedal pressure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a brake system for a motor vehicle, which provides sufficient hysteresis characteristis in a hydraulic pressure source.


Systems, methods, interfaces, and software can facilitate identification of law firms and/or legal professionals. For example, an informational retrieval system may include a database comprising information regarding lawyers and a server is configured to: receive a query regarding a legal issue from at least one client access device; associate the query with a corresponding legal context; generate a list of lawyer names contained in the database; calculate at least one legal experience indicator for each of the lawyer names; and rank the lawyer names in the list according to the calculated legal experience indicator associated with each of the lawyer names and according to the corresponding legal context associated with the query.

A key aspect of the American legal system (as well as many others around the world) is its reliance on professional advocates, or lawyers, to facilitate adjudication or avoidance of legal disputes. Indeed, one of the constitutional rights that we as Americans cherish most dearly is the right to counsel. Thus, when confronted with a legal issue, one of the first questions that prudent businesses and individuals seek to answer is which attorney or law firm will assist them with expert legal advice and advocacy.
In recent years, many facing this question have sought to use the power of the Internet as a tool in identifying and/or selecting effective counsel for their legal needs. For example, many use general search engines, such as www.Google.com or www.Yahoo.com, to broadly search the World Wide Web for lawyers based on location and particular legal expertise. Others rely on legally focused resources, such as www.findlaw.com which provides and maintains an extensive directory of law firms and legal professionals.
Although both generic and specific resources can be effective in identifying relevant lawyers, the present inventor has recognized there is considerable room for improvement. For example, the current resources lack any objective information regarding the experience of lawyers in specific legal specialties.
Accordingly, the present inventor has identified a need for better ways of searching for lawyers.

Systems, methods, and interfaces for aggregating and providing information regarding legal professionals

Thomson Reuters Global Resources Unlimited Company


An automated object inspection system is presented. The inspection system includes an imaging system to produce at least two images of said object having different optical properties and an analyzer coupled to the imaging system to receive the images and to perform a variety of inspection operations on said images. The imaging system may produce images of the object under inspection in the visible range having varying exposure values. A vision engine included in the analyzer may combine said images through an algorithmic process into one image having high light dynamic range. Alternatively, the imaging system may produce images of the object in the visible or non-visible electromagnetic range. The analyzer may perform inspection routines on said images. An imaging system capable of producing digital video is presented, wherein each frame of video produced by said camera is composed of multiple images having different optical properties.

The manufacture of golf balls typically involves a series of sequential processes performed at different processing stations, typically spatially separated one from another. Golf balls typically have at least a core and a dimpled cover formed over the core. The outer cover of the golf ball is formed with various materials, such as urethane elastomers, balata, ionomers or any other appropriate materials. The cover surfaces are formed with dimples of various numbers, sizes and patterns, which improve flight distance, control and stability. The golf ball cover generally contains a white or other colored concentrate, or is painted. The outer surface of the ball covers usually have the manufacturers indicia printed thereon, as well as an application of a paint or clear coat for the purposes not only of good appearance but also of improving flight distance and protecting of the indicia.
Freshly coated golf balls are transported from a clear coat spray paint booth to a separate drying station at a remote location. Additional printing, such as a logo, may be applied over the cured clear coat.
Each process must be carefully monitored for quality assurance purposes. Inspections based on predetermined control criteria are performed to achieve a desired production quality. The manufacturer can manually inspect the entire lot if a given number of defective balls are found therein. Moreover, if a defect, such as a gross cosmetic defect or a defect affecting performance or durability, is found, the manufacturer may choose to shut down the entire system.
Since automated production is faster, each of the above processes can be performed at a separate automated processing station functioning at optimal efficiency and speed, so that the overall production rate is maintained at the desired high level. For instance, pad-printing apparatus preferably includes an array of print-pads arranged to apply a production print sequentially on various locations on the surface of the golf ball, with the golf ball being indexed before being passed to the next print-pad. Also, the clear coating process preferably is performed by an automated spray painting technique utilizing a spray paint booth with one or more spray paint guns. A quick drying clear coat paint having a catalyzing agent may be used to reduce the usual clear coat drying time of about ten hours to about one hour or less.
On the other hand, automation of the manufacturing process can cause various manufacturing defects. For example, automated pad-printing equipment may leave smudges from excess ink carried by the printing pad. Vibration or improper set-up, such as improper positioning or accidental switching of the paint supply hoses cutting off paint supply to the spray guns, causes defective coating on golf balls. Moreover, the clear coat paint may periodically clog the spray booth filter, interfering with proper spraying of paint.
While clear coat spray painting operation utilizing catalyzation can significantly reduce the curing time, catalyzation can also occur in the spray booth, resulting in a thick brittle coating on the spray booth filter and increasing the probability of spray paint malfunctions. Clogging of spray guns and gelling of the clear coat during application result in inadequate clear coating of the golf ball. Moreover, transferring the freshly coated golf ball to the curing station before inspection does not alert the operator to attend to unacceptable spray painting apparatus conditions until the end of the curing process. Thus, to maintain high production rates, it is necessary to identify the defective products early on in the treatment process.
Given the quality control necessary to meet production standards and the high production rates of golf ball manufacturing plants, actions to correct a malfunction in the automated processing equipment should be taken as soon as possible. Accordingly, there is a need for speedy and efficient inspection of golf balls so that any manufacturing problem may be corrected early to reduce further production of defective balls.
A variety of automated inspection systems and quality control methods are used in automated processing stations, such as coating, finishing, or otherwise affecting the surface appearance of products. Most of the known automated inspection systems employ vision cameras to capture an image of the products. The products to be inspected are typically illuminated to allow the cameras to see the entire products, e.g., dimpled golf balls are illuminated to prevent shadows from forming in the dimples. For example, commonly-owned U.S. App. No. 2001/0012389 discloses another golf ball inspection system using a custom lighting system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,244 discloses an elaborate system to illuminate golf balls. U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,812 discloses an inspection system utilizing a plurality of charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras to inspect indicia on golf balls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,098 discloses a vision system for inspecting fruits. This system also utilizes CCD cameras, albeit with an infrared lens, to capture the images of fruits.
At least one vision inspection system employs infrared cameras for inspection. U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,520 discloses a system for inspecting fruits. This system uses a first camera in the near infrared range and a second camera in the mid infrared range to capture images of the products to be inspected. The background information is removed and the two images are subtracted leaving the defects. A drawback of this system is that at least a portion of the exterior surface of the products to be inspected must be raised about 5° C. to 15° C. higher.
Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,998 discloses light-emitting diodes mounted over the golf balls to be inspected to provide constant and even light sources. In addition to using non-ambient light sources for even lighting, the '998 patent discloses the use of ultraviolet lighting in order to detect the presence of a substance, such as a coating, applied to the surface of a golf ball. Images of the golf ball are captured by a detecting apparatus and then analyzed using discrete element detecting algorithm and industry standard blob analysis. Standard blob analysis tools count the number of discrete elements in the viewing area. This technique uses an algorithm to create a boundary outline around each discrete element being inspected. The boundary is broken down, such as into small line segments and arcs, to create a geometric representation which may be modified based on a best fit algorithm to match the object being inspected to a reference image. The algorithm then searches for breaks or significant changes in contour along the boundary, missing ink inside each boundary, and excess ink, marks, smudges, or doctor blade marks outside each boundary. Additionally, the boundary detection algorithm may calculate the relative positions of pairs of indicia, such as a logo and a number, to assure correct positioning. This is done by comparing the pattern detected in an inspection image with a predefined reference pattern. In a vision inspection system, the discrete element typically is identified as a continuous area of dark pixels exceeding a specified gray scale value without a break.
Cameras capturing images from the visible range in systems of the prior art generally produce images with low dynamic range, defined as the ratio of intensity of the highest luminance areas of a scene to the intensity of the lowest luminance areas of a scene. An inspection system employing low dynamic range image processing to capture an indoor scene may produce images that have low contrast, for instance a contrast of 50:1 or 100:1, while the scene in reality may display a contrast of 1,000:1 or more. Because the image sensors of the prior art systems can accommodate only a relatively small range of incident light, fine details on the surface of the object under inspection can be obscured or lost when the image is displayed. The poor light dynamic range of the images of the prior art inspection systems can make it difficult for the operators of the systems to discern certain defects on the surface of golf balls. For instance, minute but significant inconsistencies in coating coverage or small smears of indicia may not be scrutable in the image produced by the cameras of a prior art system by an inspection technician. In the event that the analyzer of the inspection apparatus detects a defect, subsequent scrutiny of the image by the human operator may fail to pick up said defect, leading the operator to allow the defective product to proceed to distribution.
Further, prior art inspection systems that employ image sensors in the non-visible electromagnetic range alone produce images that have limited optical properties. Defects that do not radiate the appropriate energy at the proper intensity (i.e., infrared, ultraviolet) cannot be detected by the sensors of these systems. There exists a need in the art for an inspection system that utilizes multiple images of the object under inspection having different optical properties so that wider range of defects can be detected and scrutinized without the need for complex lighting.

Method and apparatus for inspecting objects using multiple images having varying optical properties


Digital video data (such as full motion video and audio) is distributed over a computer network to workstations by an analog video server. The network carries digital network signal traffic. The analog video server retrieves video data from a storage device. The analog video server then decompresses the digital data and converts it into an analog signal. The analog signal is shifted to a bandwidth (such as television channels) that is different from the bandwidth of the network signal traffic, and then combined with the network signal traffic to be distributed over the network. At a workstation, the analog signal is split off of the network signal traffic and provided to a display. Plural workstations can display the same analog signal. Schedules for broadcast times are provided on the network to the workstations. Plural channels in the analog signal bandwidth can be utilized to simultaneously broadcast plural analog signals to the workstations.

Multimedia application programs for workstations or computers are becoming more widespread. An example of a multimedia application program is the provision of full motion video to a workstation display and synchronized audio to workstation speakers.
A tremendous amount of storage is required for full motion video. A common technique for reducing the amount of storage requirements for video files is to compress the video data. The video data is then decompressed before being displayed. But even with data compression techniques, the amount of storage required for full motion video is very large. For example, using a particular type of compression and decompression technology referred to in the industry as digital video interactive, a typical data file contains about 9 megabytes of data for every 60 seconds of playback time.
One way to avoid having full motion video data files take up too much storage space on an individual workstation is to utilize a digital video server. Referring to FIG. 1, the digital video server 11 services plural workstations 13 that are connected to a token-ring local area network 15. The server 11, which is a high performance file server, accesses a data storage device 17, such as a hard disk drive. The compressed data files are stored on the data storage device 17 and transferred over the network in the compressed format. Each workstation 13 on the local area network (LAN) 15 has a display and speakers. In addition, each workstation 13 has a display adapter 19 that decompresses the video data for display on the workstation display. One type of display adapter is known as the Action Media II display adapter, available from IBM (IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation).
To access stored video data files, a workstation 13 sends a request along the network to the digital video server 11. The digital video server 11 retrieves the digital data file from the storage device 17 and sends it digitally on the LAN 15 to the requesting workstation.
The digital video server system described above suffers from several disadvantages. First, the LAN 15 presents a bottleneck to the distribution of video data to a large number of workstations. For example, in order to sustain full motion video at each workstation, the file server and token-ring network must deliver data to each workstation at a sustained rate of about 1.2 megabits per second (utilizing digital video interaction compression technology). We have determined experimentally that it is possible to sustain 10 simultaneous full motion video applications running on a 16 megabit per second token-ring network, while still leaving some bandwidth on the network to support other network traffic. However, a network may have more than 10 workstations that wish to simultaneously use full motion video data files.
There is currently no satisfactory method to ensure that video data can be delivered to each workstation at a constant, required (or guaranteed) rate. Successful operation depends on either limiting the number of video data enabled workstations on the network to a serviceable amount or limiting the number of simultaneous video applications by an informal agreement among workstation users.
A second disadvantage to the prior art digital video server is that video data file retrieval efforts are often duplicated, thereby effectively reducing the video capacity of the network. For example, if two or more workstations wish to simultaneously view the same video data file, then the digital video data file is retrieved twice or more and provided separately to each requesting workstation. Thus, two or more data streams of the same video data file may be simultaneously provided on the network to the requesting workstations. This duplication results in inefficiencies and in taking up valuable network capacity.
A third disadvantage to the prior art video digital server is that each workstation must contain a display adapter for decompressing the video data. These type of adapters are relatively expensive and thus add to the cost of providing full motion video to a number of workstations.

Distribution of television signals to workstations


A pull-out guide assembly for drawers or the like with which the drawer can be pulled free of a cabinet while it is still held by the guide assembly. The guide assembly has an intermediate rail on each side of the drawer which moves between, and with respect to, the drawer and the cabinet. The movement is steered by a belt forming a closed loop. The belt is carried on the intermediate rail and is connected both with the drawer and the cabinet.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pull-out guide for drawers comprising one rail movably mounted on either side of the drawer between holding means disposed on the side of the body and on the side of the drawer, the rail making a relative movement with respect to the body as well as with respect to the drawer, when the drawer is pulled out or pushed in.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such pull-out guides are widely used in modern furniture production, particularly in the production of kitchen and office furniture. It is their task to facilitate the movement of the drawer. Moreover, it is their task to hold the drawer in the body and prevent the drawer from tilting over in the pulled-out position.
In order to give free access to the objects in the drawer it should be possible to pull the drawer fully or almost fully free of the body.


Basic commodity or collector's object in particular of a high replacement collector's value with an identification label, whereby the identification label is formed in material of the object itself as an optical mark which is not visible if illuminated with a light source with a wavelength range within the sensitivity range of the human eye but is visible to the human eye if illuminated with a light source outside this sensitivity range the label being situated in an area of a housing surface or other area of the which is optically transparent for at least a part of the wavelength range within the sensitivity range of the human eye and for an additional wavelength range which is outside the sensitivity range of the human eye and which is used to read the label, whereby the undamaged nature of the area is at least to a high degree important when evaluating the replacement or collector's value.

The invention relates to an object of high replacement value or a collector's item with an identification label.
High class basic commodities and works of art are often given identification labels which are unique and which make it possible to identify the object or determine the owner,
These identification labels often are sequences of digits or characters which are on or imprinted on labels or signs, The disadvantage with this is that the labels can either be removed easily or are so tightly connected to the object that the labeled object is no longer unblemished and its collector's value or value of use is diminished.
A labeling method is disclosed in FR 2 560 119 B1 (French patent specification) which utilizes a so-called stream-laserhead. The object to be labeled is carried via a conveyor belt in front of the stream-laser printhead. The laserhead is positioned and moved by a device which is controlled by a microprocessor in order to sequentially create a prescribed writing pattern. For example the position of a number of prescribed letters and digits are thereby defined by their coordinates. Three photoelements control the position of the object to be labeled on the conveyor belt. When the object has reached a certain position the stream-laser printhead activates and puts the labels onto the surface material dot by dot.
With this method labels are created which are clearly visible and therefore forgeable and which also impair the optical impression of the surface of the object.
A method to label plastic parts is disclosed in DE 34 11 797 A1 (German Offenlegungsschrift) with which visible labels (for example non-erasable key inscriptions) are written into a laser light absorbing plastic layer under a transparent layer by a laser beam.
A method to label laminated glass panes is disclosed in DE 31 47 385 C2 (German Patent) with which by using a laser beam a visible label is written into the intermediate layer of a laminated glass which has a different absorption coefficient for the laser radiation than the glass.
These two labeling methods can also only be used for certain objects and are only to a certain degree forgery-proof due to the visibility of the labels for all.
A method to identify objects which have been mislaid is disclosed in DE 37 23 856 A1 (German Offenlegungsschrift) which uses three different labels of which two labels are only perceptable in UV-light and the third is of the usual type.
This method does not seem to be very practical due to the large amount of labeling and identification work and the crucial three labels are no more forgery-proof than any other usual label.
In all cases the labels do not or only partly fulfill the function required of them.

Basic commodity or collector's object with identification label

BORUS Spezialverfahren und -gerate im Sondermaschinenbau GmbH


The present invention relates to a novel imidazole derivative having a C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitory activity and a use thereof. A novel imidazole derivative or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof according to the present invention exhibits an excellent inhibitory activity against C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and thus it is anticipated that a more fundamental approach and target treatment will be possible in the prevention or treatment of degenerative brain nervous system diseases.

In parallel with a recent rise in an aging population, there has been a rapid increase in patients suffering from degenerative brain nervous system diseases. The degenerative brain nervous system diseases may occur due to an aging-induced structural degeneration of brain nerve cells; a secondary symptom caused by adult diseases such as a circulatory disorder, etc.; or physical, mechanical factors such as traffic accidents, industrial accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc., wherein Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and the like are known as related diseases thereof.
Meanwhile, a C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which is classified as a serine-threonine kinase, is also called a stress activated protein kinase (SAPK), which is one of the three subtypes of a mitogen activated protein kinase. The JNK is activated in reaction with various stimuli such as cytokine, mitogen, osmotic stress, ultraviolet irradiation, etc., wherein such activated JNK is known to stimulate the phosphorylation of numerous transcription factors including C-Jun of AP-1 as well as the phosphorylation of intracellular proteins such as Bcl2, p53, etc., which are associated with apoptosis. Also, JNK genes form different protein isoforms by means of a splicing process. Out of them, the distribution of JNK3 is concentrated in brain tissues, unlike about 10 other protein isoforms of the same kind, such that there have been various ongoing studies on a relation between the JNK3 and the degenerative brain nervous system diseases.
Particularly, the JNK3 carries out phosphorylation-activation of an amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is a main cause of Alzheimer's disease, such that the APP is located onto a cell membrane and its conversion into beta amyloid is stimulated. By doing so, the beta amyloid is formed, after which its resulting toxicity induces a neuronal cell death. In this case, it is reported that such activation of the JNK3 serves as a main factor. Also, it is seen that a mouse with Familial Alzheimer's diseases (FAD) showed a remarkable decrease in oligomeric beta amyloid and an increase in cognitive ability by means of the removal of the JNK3, and it is also found that a mouse with the JNK3 gene removed therefrom showed an acquisition of resistance to MPTP, a substance for causing Parkinson's disease; obtained an inhibitory effect on adverse reactions to a glutamate analogue, a neurotoxic substance; and the like.
Against such a background, there have been actively ongoing studies to find a JNK3 inhibitor as a novel substance for treating degenerative brain nervous system diseases (Korea Patent Publication No. 2001-0029352), but they have not been enough to produce satisfactory results yet.

Imidazole derivative having JNK inhibitory activity and use thereof


A process is disclosed for disposing mineral processing tailings. The process includes the step of treating the tailings to produce a flowable paste including a mass comprised of particles at least approximately 15% of which are less than 20 microns in diameter. The process further includes the step of preparing an unconfined ground surface tailings disposal site by grading a selected site to produce a substantially level paste receiving bed. The flowable paste is then deposited onto the paste receiving bed from a discharge station to flow by gravity to a natural angle of rest of between approximately 1.degree. and 10.degree. slope. The paste is allowed to consolidate from flowable to a solidified state, retaining the natural angle of rest. Overburden is then placed over the solidified paste. The process is particularly useful in ore processing using cyanidation in which cyanide destroying chemicals are used at or prior to preparation of the flowable paste.

Paste technology is an emerging technology, especially in the mining industry for disposal of tailings to meet environmental requirements. Instead of using elaborate and costly disposal of tailings in plastic lined basins, paste technology may be used for modification of the tailings materials to produce more favorable environmental effects.
Tailings formed in a flowable paste have been pumped to underground or underwater disposal sites. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,172 discloses disposing of hazardous industrial solid waste such as mill tailings in a water saturated area. In the disclosed process, mill tailings are formed into a flowable paste and are pumped to an excavation under a body of water. In this process, cement is mixed with the paste as a binding agent so the paste will become a hardened mass under the standing water.
While the above process appears to be functional for water saturated areas, a need remains for adequate disposal in areas which are relatively dry. The present process fills this need eliminating the need for deep water dispersion where the standing water is used as a cap. The present process further simplifies deposition of the paste by eliminating the need for special considerations to assure that the flowable paste will not mix with standing water.


Lateral flow immunoassay devices for determining the concentration of an analyte in a sample and methods for measuring analyte concentration in sample using such lateral flow immunoassay devices.

Recently there has been an increased interest in predictive, preventative, and particularly personalized medicine which requires diagnostic tests with higher fidelity, e.g., sensitivity and specificity. Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFIA) devices incorporate such diagnostic test and is a well-established technology in Point-of-Care (POC) diagnostics. Low cost, relative ease of manufacture, long shelf life, and ease of use by the customer are some of the advantages that make LFIA's very attractive.
The basic principal of a Lateral Flow Immunoassay is shown in FIG. 1. During the early development of LFIA diagnostic devices, the main focus was primarily on qualitative systems which provide an easy yes or no answer. The best know qualitative lateral flow system is the pregnancy test.
Currently however, there is an increasing demand for more sensitive, quantitative and also multiplexing measurements which require the implementation of reader systems. As such, Lateral Flow Immunoassay Devices can be used in new markets and for new applications.
The capillary flow rate is very important for LFIA's because the effective concentration of an analyte in a sample decreases with the square of an increase in flow rate. For quantitative measurements of analytes this relationship is very important because the signal intensity directly correlates with the effective concentration. Thus, the flow speed of the sample across the analytical test line affects quantitative measurements for the analyte of interest. For example a sample viscosity change of 30%, within normal blood viscosity variation, will result in up to 70% signal variation.
The viscosity of different samples, for example blood samples, may vary significantly. The significant variation in viscosity of samples (and therefore the capillary flow rate) does not generally affect the performance of pregnancy tests; however, when a biomarker value, such as its concentration, is to be tested and compared to its previous values quantification of the analyte/biomarker is very important.
In LFIA's the flow of the sample through the membrane is driven by capillary forces. The pore size of the absorbent materials/membranes and the viscosity of the sample are two parameters that have a direct influence on the flow speed of the sample through the system. With respect to the flow speed/rate damage to the membrane of the LFIA during the manufacturing process will introduce multiple artifacts that adversely affect the flow behavior. For example, separation of the membrane from the backing (or adhesive tape) results in an unobstructed path for the sample to flow rapidly down the edge of the membrane. This will lead to a concave flow and artifacts in the measurement.
Printed electronics includes certain printing methods which allow the creation of circuits on a huge variety of substrates such as paper or textiles. Advantages of printed electronics are that they allow low-cost, high-volume, high-throughput production of electrical systems. Especially for small, inexpensive and disposable devices this technology can be very advantageous in improving reliability of quantitative diagnostic test using LFIA's. This makes printed electronics very attractive to the field of single use biosensors.
Jolke Perelaer et al., "Inkjet-printed silver tracks: low temperature curing and thermal stability investigation", Journal of Materials Chemistry (2008), vol. 18, pp 3209-3215, describe inkjet printing of ink at low temperature. The possibility to print low temperature curing materials increases the amount of usable material on which the electrodes can be printed (for example printing on temperature sensitive nitrocellulose membranes). Other printing methods such as roll to roll printing and stamping are also possible.
Some other key factors that affect the signal produced in a lateral flow test include temperature and ionic strength (including pH) of the solution. Including sensors and actuators that measure and influence such conditions is also important in reducing variations in the signal generated.

Sensor integration in lateral flow immunoassays and its applications


The invention concerns a method of regulating the current in a direct current machine with which are associated an arrangement for generating a current target value signal, as well as a PWM generator (FIG. 11: 182) whose output signal (PWM2) is controllable by means of a control signal (u—156) and controls the current in the direct current machine, having the following steps: a) the pulse duty factor of the PWM generator is controlled with the control signal (u—156); b) with the output signal (PWM2) of the PWM generator, the current in the direct current machine is controlled in such a way that a pulsed direct current (i—2; i—2′) is obtained in a supply lead thereof; c) a pulsed current-dependent signal (u—2) is derived from this pulsed direct current (i—2; i—2′) and is compared to the current target value signal (PHI1); d) as a function of the result of that comparison, the control signal (u—156) for controlling the PWM generator (182) is modified in such a way that the current in the direct current machine is regulated to the desired target value.

Direct current (DC) machines are used today for many purposes, in particular in their modern form as electronically commutated motors (ECMs), since they combine a compact design with long service life and excellent positioning properties. This is true in particular of such machines in the power range from 5 to 500 W.
It is very advantageous in this context to control such DC machines using digital control elements such as microcontrollers or microprocessors, plus an associated program. The program is preferably designed so that it can control all the functions of the DC machine, e.g. commutation of current from one winding phase to the other, rotation speed regulation, rotation speed monitoring (is the direct current machine defective or jammed?), external communication via a data bus, or documentation of characteristic operating data of the DC machine, e.g. operating hours, maximum winding temperature attained, production date, factory number.
It is desirable in this context to make a DC machine of this kind versatile, i.e. the program plus hardware should make it possible to use a DC machine of this kind, and a device equipped with it, in many different ways. This is the case not least for one of the principal areas of application of such machines, namely the driving of fans.

Method for controlling or regulating the current in a direct current machine for a fan


The marine natural product (−)-8,15-diisocyano-11(20)-amphilectene, isolated from the Caribbean sponge Svenzea flava, was used as scaffold to synthesize five new products, all of which were tested against laboratory strains of Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The scaffold contains two isocyanide units that are amenable to chemical manipulation, enabling them to be elaborated into a small library of sulfur and selenium compounds. The scaffold along with its isothio- and isoselenocyanate analogs has low to sub-micro molar antiplasmodial activity.

Tuberculosis and Malaria are two of the world's deadliest diseases, with more than two million deaths worldwide in 2013, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. Plasmodium falciparum has for some time been developing resistance against known antimalarial drugs, and therefore new drugs are urgently needed. Chloroquine was the first drug produced on a large scale for treatment and prevention of malaria infection. Chloroquine has activity against the blood stages of Plasmodium ovale, P. malariae, and susceptible strains of P. vivax and P. falciparum. Widespread resistance in most malaria-endemic countries has led to a continual decline in its use for the treatment of P. falciparum, although it remains effective for treatment of P. ovale, P. malariae, and, in most regions, P. vivax.
Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Standard antimycobacterial drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazidamide, ethambutol, streptomycin) have been used for decades, and resistance to the medicines is also widespread. If a patient is unable to tolerate isoniazid, or if isoniazid-resistant TB is present, rifampicin, ethambutol, and pyrazidamide are usually used for 18 months. If rifampicin-resistant TB is present, the regimen usually consists of isonizaid, ethambutol, and pyrazidamide for 18 months. If there is resistance to both isoniazid and rifampicin, the disease is very difficult to treat. Disease strains that are resistant to a single anti-TB drug have been documented in every country surveyed. In some cases more severe drug resistance can develop. Extensively drug-resistant TB, XDR-TB, is a form of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that responds to even fewer available medicines, including the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs. About 480,000 people developed MDR-TB in the world in 2013. More than half of these cases were in India, China and the Russian Federation. It is estimated that about 9.6% of MDR-TB cases had XDR-TB. Hence, the search for new antitubercular drugs is a priority so as to overcome the problem of drug resistance and to finally eradicate TB.
The marine sponge metabolite (−)-8,15-diisocyano-11(20)-amphilectene 1 (see FIG. 1) was first reported by Faulkner et al. from Hymeniacidon amphilecta in 1978, and has been shown subsequently to exhibit potent in vitro anti-infective activity. Several structurally related natural products as well as a small number of synthetic analogs prepared from diisocyanide 1 also exhibit antimalarial and antimycobacterial potential. While comparison among their activities reveals that the biological activity is generally dependent on the presence of the isocyanide functionality, the structural features of the carbon backbone and the location of the isocyanide groups also seem to play a pivotal role. Notwithstanding, the observation that a plethora of sponge-derived isocyanide-, isothiocyanate-, isocyanate-, and formamide-containing diterpenoids based on amphilectane, cycloamphilectane, isocycloamphilectane, and isoneoamphilectane skeletons are often active (usually in the low nanomolar range), suggests that the biological activity does not depend strictly on the presence of the isocyanide functionality. This observation implies that the metabolite's carbon skeleton can also modulate biological activity.
As part of the inventor's drug discovery program in search of new agents for the treatment of Malaria and Tuberculosis, we became interested in the synthesis of a limited number of amphilectane-based isothiocyanate and isoselenocyanate diterpenes for biological evaluation. Of the two classes of congeneric compounds, organic isoselenocyanates are of particular interest since so far they have received much less attention compared to their sulfur and oxygen analogs. diisocyanide 1 was targeted as a suitable starting material, a well-known antimalarial and antimycobacterial pharmacophore which contains both a rigid amphilectane skeleton and two isocyanide "handles" with potential for further synthetic elaboration. It was anticipated that comparison among the biological activities exhibited by the strickly related amphilectane analogs with those of 1 would reveal definite structure-activity relationships. While the isothiocyanate moiety is found in many natural products only two isothiocyanate-containing amphilectane diterpenoids with antiplasmodial activity have been documented. Remarkably, no studies assessing the potential antiplasmodial or antimycobacterial properties of isoselenocyanate-containing compounds (synthetic or natural) have been reported so far.

Natural product-based synthesis of novel anti-infective isothiocyanate- and isoselenocyanate-functionalized amphilectane diterpenes


The present invention relates, inter alia, to method of assessing the reactivity of a polymerizable material (especially an aluminosilicate) in forming a geopolymer. The present invention also relates to methods of forming a geopolymer, and to geopolymers formed by the method. The method of assessing the reactivity of the polymerizable material may include first assessing whether the polymerizable material is layered or particulate. Next, if the polymerizable material is layered, the method may include measuring the moles of polymerization network forming elements in an amount of polymerizable material, whereby the moles of polymerization network forming elements is indicative of the reactivity of the polymerizable material in forming a geopolymer. Alternatively, if the polymerizable material is particulate, the method may include measuring the molar charge of polymerization network modifiers in an amount of polymerizable material, whereby the molar charge of polymerization network modifiers is indicative of the reactivity of the polymerizable material in forming a geopolymer.

It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.
Geopolymers are synthetic materials produced by polymerization of a polymerizable material under alkaline conditions. These materials can provide comparable performance to traditional cements or concretes, and can also exhibit properties including high compressive strength, low shrinkage, fast or slow setting, acid resistance, fire resistance and low thermal conductivity.
Geopolymers also have an added advantage in that they can be produced from waste materials such as fly ash. Fly ash is an aluminosilicate fine particle residue collected from flue gas after the combustion of coal in a coal-fired power station. Globally more than 500 million tonnes of fly ash is produced annually, and a substantial amount is disposed of in landfills and/or lagoons. Fly ashes may be classified under ASTM C-618 into Classes F, C and N.
However, when for example fly ashes are used to make geopolymers, there can be a wide variation in the mechanical properties of the geopolymers formed. For example, Diaz-Loya et al (2011) studied the mechanical properties of geopolymer concretes made from different fly ashes collected from power stations across the United States. The result showed that the geopolymers made from 11 Class F fly ashes had an average compressive strength of approximately 36 MPa, while the geopolymers made from the remaining 11 Class C fly ashes had an average compressive strength of approximately 50 MPa. One geopolymer from a Class C fly ash only achieved a compressive strength of 2.73 MPa while some geopolymers from Class F fly ashes exhibited compressive strengths around 12 MPa. Three fly ashes were excluded as they were neither Class F or Class C according to their SO3 content and particle size distribution.
Other researchers have also found similar variations when Australian fly ashes from different sources were used to make geopolymers. When the same activation and curing conditions were used, some fly ashes generated geopolymers with high compressive strength while other fly ashes were poorly activated and were unsuccessful in forming geopolymers (Keyte 2008; Provis et al. 2009).
A reason for the large variation in the geopolymer products is the highly heterogeneous nature of fly ash. It is reported that there are more than 13 identifiable phases in a fly ash, including C3A-rich glass and low-silica glass (which are the main phases in high-calcium fly ash) and mullite-rich glass and Class F glass (which are the main phases in low-calcium fly ash) (Bumrongjaroen, et al. 2007). Furthermore, the mineral in coal powder varies from one power plant to another, even from time to time at the same plant, and the temperature inside the boiler may vary from 800 to 1400° C. Consequently, the collected fly ash may vary significantly in particle size, shape and composition.
Therefore, it is difficult to predict what properties a geopolymer will have, based on the starting materials used in the geopolymerization reaction.
One method to quantify the reactivity of fly ashes for geopolymer synthesis is described in US2011052921, which provides a procedure to quantify the reactivity of fly ashes in alkaline solutions as a function of pH and temperature. In this document, the fly ashes were characterized by their reactivity, measured in terms of the reaction progress which is the relative mass of reacted glass in alkali hydroxide solution as a function of time. However, this procedure requires reactions to be performed on the fly ash samples over periods of up to 14 days, and at temperatures of up to 75° C., before filtering, drying, washing, filtering and then drying the sample. This procedure can be time-consuming, and the measured reactivity may be affected by many variables including the molarity and kind of alkali in the alkali hydroxide solution, the temperature and the water-to-solid-ratio.
Other methods have focused on manipulating the activation conditions to achieve the desired geopolymer properties, such as the maximum mechanical properties. This may include manipulating the activator, additives and/or the curing temperature (Bakharev 2005; Criado, Palomo, and Fernández-Jimenez 2005; Dombrowski and Buchwald 2007). However, these conditions may require manipulation for each fly ash used.
Consequently, in one aspect an object of the present invention is to provide a method of assessing the reactivity of a polymerizable material in forming a geopolymer, based on the properties of the polymerizable material alone. In further aspects, an object of the present invention is to overcome one or more of the difficulties discussed above or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.


A clutch adapted for use in a screwcapping device to apply a preselected amount of torque to the driven component having a pair of axially aligned circular cylinders of equal diameter each having a generally smooth engaging surface facing the other clutch cylinder. Each of the cylinders has cavities in the rear side for containing magnets. The magnets are secured in the cavities by means of a cured polymeric resin. The maximum torque provided by the clutch is controlled by using removable spacer disks of varying thicknesses and having a diameter equal to that of the cylinders positioned between the engaging surfaces. The spacer may have a slot extending from the radius to the periphery adapted to be positioned on a central spindle passing through the cylinders.

Various capping devices have heretofore been utilized for applying threaded caps to prethreaded containers. Such devices utilize a clutch to control the amount of torque applied so that the container is properly closed but also to prevent too much torque from being applied which could make the container too difficult to open or even strip the threads thereon Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,964,240; 4,364,218; 4,485,609 and 4,674,264. The devices shown in the prior art have generally used rings of concentric magnets with some form of control device to control the axial position of those magnets. Various devices have also incorporated rings of magnets of alternating polarity Even though such devices have been available, they have tended to be complex and costly and thus many capping devices utilizing spring loaded mechanical and friction clutches are still in use; for example, in the dairy industry wherein threaded plastic bottles are generally closed by means of threaded closure caps. A need has thus continued to exist for such a device incorporating a simplified but effective clutch mechanism.

Screwcapping device with torque limiting magnetic clutch