An attachment for a bicycle is disclosed, permitting use of the bicycle in water, with relatively efficient propulsion and steering, and also on land, without removal of the attachment. Floats of the attachment are positioned on either side of the bicycle, connected by frame members which are removably attached to forward and rearward portions of the bicycle frame. The front wheel of the bicycle is provided with a solid circular disc, closing the space within the rim, so that the front wheel acts as a rudder in water when steered. Connected to the rear wheel spokes are a series of impeller cups or vanes which strike the water in the bottom of their stroke of movement to drive the bicycle forward. The floats may be of a lightweight foam material, or may be inflatable. For use as an exercising device, the bicycle may be provided with a resistance device engaged against the rear wheel, and the bicycle may be elevated on blocks, via the floats.

The invention relates to vehicles, and more particulary to an amphibious bicycle and an attachment to a conventional bicycle, of any of various types and sizes, for making it amphibious.
A wide variety of different types of floating bicycles and float attachments for bicycles have previously been suggested. These apparatus have used various types of propulsion means for the bicycle while in the water, nearly always connected in some fashion to be driven by pedalling. In many of the prior devices, a ruddering device was connected to the front wheel or front wheel steering fork. See, for example, Petroskey U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,239; Vigo U.S. Pat. No. 2,323,261; Payette U.S. Pat. No. 799,667; Hartlett U.S. Pat. No. 839,476; and Munsen U.S. Pat. No. 1,034,278. Petroskey shows a float attachment for a conventional bicycle, connected to the bicycle by means of the front and rear wheel axles. The front wheel of the bicycle is provided with a rudder which is attached to the bottom of the front wheel for water operation, and this rudder has its own steering axis and a cable for operating it rather than being controlled by steering of the handlebars. Propulsion is provided via a separate shaft extending between a rear pair of floats, with paddles on the shaft driven by connection to the rear sprocket of the bicycle. While appearing effective for water operation, the Petroski apparatus did not provide for land operation of the bicycle with the marine apparatus attached, and the floating bicycle was not easily converted back to conventional use.
Vigo disclosed a floating bicycle having circular floats instead of bicycle wheels. A rudder was connected to the front wheel steering fork, operable by use of the handlebars.
Hartlett shows a type of floatable bicycle having paddles connected to the spokes of the rear wheels, for propelling the floating bicycle by means of the pedals. Munsen shows a bicycle intended for amphibious use, having front and rear floats which could be swung upwardly when the bicycle was to be used for land operation.
No previous floating bicycle known to the applicant has been useable on either land or water without adjustment or modification when going from one mode to the other. In addition, no prior device has included a float device which is as easily removable as that of the present invention. Moreover, no prior water bicycle or amphibious bicycle has been as efficient in design as the present invention, taking advantage of the existing components of a bicycle to the extent of the amphibious device described below.


A water treatment tank for use in a water treatment or softening system is disclosed which is operative in a treatment mode to receive untreated water through an inlet port and to pass treated water through an outlet port, and which is operative in a backwash mode to receive wash water through the outlet port and to pass waste water through the inlet port. Treatment tank has a vessel having an interior cavity which is partitioned into a top headspace portion, and a middle treatment bed space portion, and a bottom headspace portion via the placement of a pair of distributor filters mounted within the interior cavity to extend between the side walls thereof. The filters are spaced-apart, respectively, from the top end wall to define therewith the top headspace portion and the bottom headspace portion. A standpipe is provided to extend between and in fluid communication with the outlet port and the bottom headspace portion for conveying treated water from the bottom headspace portion to the outlet port when the treatment bed is operated in the treatment mode, and for conveying wash water from the outlet port to the bottom head space portion when the treatment tank is operated in the backwash mode. The treatment bed space portion between the first and the second distributor filter is filled with an ion-exchange resin, and a portion of the top headspace portion is filled with a particulate filter medium supported by the first distributor filter. The unfilled portion of the top headspace portion defines a freeboard space to accommodate the expansion of the filter medium when the treatment tank is operated in the backwash mode.

The present invention relates to water treatment systems, sometimes commonly known as water softening systems, and more particularly to a unique water treatment tank therefore containing a packed ion-exchange resin bed.
Throughout the United States, much of the municipal or groundwater used by residential and commercial consumers alike is termed "hard" as being laden with certain mineral salts including carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates of calcium, magnesium, and iron. Although generally not considered harmful through contact or ingestion, hardness in water is objectionable as the calcium, magnesium, and iron ions form insoluble soaps via a reaction with soluble soaps such as sodium stearate. Insoluble soaps, due to their sticky nature, adhere to surfaces such as bathtubs to form the dreaded "ring," and to fabrics giving them a dingy appearance. Additionally, as insoluble soaps have no cleansing power, soap in excess of that needed to precipitate the calcium and magnesium in the hard water must be added in order to obtain an adequate cleansing action. The excess soap represents an added expense to be borne by the consumer.
Hard water also is responsible for the formation of a tightly adherent scale in both boilers and teapots alike. At high temperatures, many of the minerals dissolved in hard water are precipitated as insoluble, scale-forming carbonates of magnesium, calcium, and iron, or sulfates of calcium which may foul heat exchangers, water heaters, and the like. Furthermore, a such scale has a relatively high thermal conductivity, it is a poor conductor of heat and attributes to an increased fuel consumption in boilers and water heaters and exchangers.
In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that the removal the minerals responsible for hardness in service and potable water is of economic importance both for the commercial and residential consumers. For these reasons, processes have evolved for "softening" water. In this regard, an ion-exchange process has become the most widely employed method for softening water. Ion exchange, in actuality, is a chemical reaction in which mobile, hydrated ions in solution are exchanged, equivalent for quivalent, with ions such as sodium which are of a like charge, but which form soluble precipitates with soap, carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates. Naturally occurring, insoluble minerals, such as the sodium aluminosilicates known as zeolite, were the first products recognized as suitable for commercial use as ion-exchange media. The zeolite solid has an open, fishnet-like microscopic structure forming interstices which may hold, for example, mobile, positively-charged sodium cations. When water containing calcium and magnesium ions is filtered slowly in a treatment tank containing a treatment bed formed of a thick layer of coarse zeolite granules, tile calcium and magnesium in the water are replaced by the sodium in the zeolite, and vice versa, to thereby soften the water. Zeolites, however, have a relatively low ion exchange capacity per unit volume, and have been replaced by higher-capacity, synthetic resin particulates, such as polystyrene-divinylbenzene, as the ion-exchange medium of choice for water treatment tanks.
In operation, any ion-exchange resin eventually will reach the limit of its ion exchange capacity for removing magnesium or calcium ions. Thereupon, the resin must be regenerated to its sodium form with a salt or brine solution. During regeneration, the tank is taken off-line, and is first backwashed with a countercurrent flow of water to cleanse and hydraulic reclassify the resin particles in the treatment bed The resin then is regenerated with a solution of common salt, i.e., sodium chloride, which simultaneously removes the magnesium and sodium ions in the form of their soluble chlorides and replaces them with sodium ions to return the resin to its sodium-based state. The regenerated resin then is rinsed free of the soluble calcium and magnesium chloride byproducts and any excess salt and finally is returned to service ready to again soften another equal volume of hard water.
As is illustrated by Moses, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,825, equipment for the ion-exchange process heretofore has been typified by a closed, generally cylindrical treatment tank in which the ion-exchange resin is supported on a layer of graded gravel or sand to form a treatment bed. Optionally, a layer of activated carbon for adsorbing organic compounds affecting the taste, odor, or color of the water being softened, may be included as a first treatment layer supported by the ion-exchange resin layer. A standpipe or riser tube is provided to extend from an outlet port in the top of the tank to bottom of the tank. A valve assembly also is provided to control the direction of water flow through an inlet port in the top of the tank and the outlet port at the upper end of the standpipe. The treatment tank is installed in a water line for operation under the existing water pressure, and is connected to auxiliary equipment including brine- and salt-storage tanks. In service, the valve assembly is set so that raw water to be softened is made to flow from the upper inlet port downwardly through the tank wherein it is softened as it percolates through the resin portion of the treatment bed. The treated water then flows upwardly through the standpipe where it exits the tank through the outlet port. However, as the treatment bed also exerts a filtering action of the water, the bed must be periodically backwashed effecting its expansion and suspension for removing entrained particulates which were filtered from the water during the service cycle. Such backwashing, which may be accomplished concurrently with regeneration, is effected by setting the valve assembly either to redirect the water inflow or a brine solution from an auxiliary tank through the downpipe tube. The brine or water exits the pipe at the bottom of the tank, and thereafter assumes a flow through the bed in an upward direction which is countercurrent to the downward flow during service. The backwash water or expended brine solution then exits the bed through the inlet port which is now provided by the valve assembly to be in fluid communication with a drain or sewer line.
Although representing a relatively simple and economical construction, treatment tanks of the "unpacked" type exemplified by Moses have been viewed as being of a less than optimal design. For example, the stratification of the treatment bed inevitably is disturbed as the various layers thereof, which may include activated carbon for taste and odor removal, calcium carbonate for neutralization, and manganese greensand for iron removal, are intermixed during the backwashing operation. Also, owing to a high void volume fraction within the bed, the flow of water therethrough may exhibit a channeling effect characterized by a preferential flow following the path of least resistance through the bed as opposed to a uniform or plug flow which fills the entire bed.
Indeed, as early as the year 1900, experimenters have proposed alternatives to the "unpacked" or "loose" bed design common in the water treatment art. For example, Grever, U.S. Pat. No. 661,339, offered a water filtering tank internally divided into two separate compartments by a pair of diaphragms of woven wire supported on circular grates. The compartments were filled with a filtering medium, and a flow distributor plate was provided below the inlet port to distribute the inflow equally over the filtering medium. The design was stated to eliminate the channeling effect which otherwise would have been expected to occur.
Notwithstanding that the advantages of a "packed" bed design as exemplified by Grever have been known since the turn of the 19th century, such a design has heretofore yet to be successfully incorporated into a commercially-viable water treatment tank. Rather, it has been accepted that adequate cleaning of water conditioning or softening treatment beds could be effected only by expanding and fluidizing the bed during backwashing to separate its constituent particles and allow any particulate contaminants entrained therebetween to be flushed from the bed. However, this bed expansion requires the provision of a freeboard space between the upper surface of the bed and the top of the treatment tank to accommodate the volume increase of the bed as it is expanded during backwashing. In order to provide this freeboard space during backwashing while providing for a packed bed configuration during service, Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,377, has proposed internally dividing a treatment tank into a pair of bed compartments with free-floating rather than fixed diaphragms. The diaphragms also facilitate the utilization of a stratified, multi-layered treatment bed in maintaining the segregation of the layers during service and backwash. During service, the pressure of the downwardly-directed water flow moves the free-floating diaphragms downward to compact the treatment medium. Likewise, during backwash, the pressure of the upwardly-directed water or brine moves the free-floating diaphragms upward to expand the bed compartments to accommodation the expansion of the treatment medium.
However, the Miller design suffers, as have the conventional "unpacked" bed designs heretofore common in the an, from the fact that the expansion of the bed during backwash and/or regeneration significantly increases the water usage of the tank. For example, it is not uncommon for such units to use as much as 40 to 100 gallons of water during backwash/regeneration, which at the very least lessens any water savings attributable to the use of softened water. Were water a renewable rather than a finite resource, then such usage might be considered acceptable albeit somewhat uneconomical. However, as states and municipalities have recognized the imminent need for water conservation, some have gone so far as to enacted regulations imposing maximum water usage requirements for water conditioners. Thus, it is apparent that water treatment tanks offering both water savings and improved performance are needed and would be well-received by residential and commercial users alike.


A method of filtering overlay data by field is provided in the present invention. The method includes the following steps. A minimum number of measure points per field on a semiconductor substrate is decided. Field data filtering rules are set. Overlay raw data is inputted. A raw data filtration is performed to the overlay raw data by field according to the field data filtering rules. Modified exposure parameters are generated for each field according to overlay data of remaining measure points per field after the raw data filtration when the number of the remaining measure points per field is larger than or equal to the minimum number of the measure points per field. Accordingly, the modified exposure parameters will be more effective in reducing the overlay error because more outliers may be filtered out before generating the modified exposure parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of filtering overlay data by field, and more particularly, to a method of filtering overlay data by field for generating modified exposure parameters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In semiconductor manufacturing processes, in order to transfer an integrated circuit onto a semiconductor wafer, the integrated circuits from a database are first designed as a layout pattern and a photomask is then manufactured according to the layout pattern. Patterns on the photomask may then be able to be transferred to the semiconductor wafer. The steps mentioned above may be regarded as a photolithographic process. The layout pattern has to be extremely accurate for forming delicate integrated circuits so as to align with the patterns of the previous and following steps.
The overlay errors between different patterned layers might occur for many reasons, such as the alignment accuracy of the exposure apparatus, wafer warpage, and influence from other manufacturing processes. The overlay errors have to be monitored for quality control and being used to modify the exposure parameters and/or find out the cause of the overlay error.

Method of filtering overlay data by field


A mobile lift crane includes a carbody and at least four crawlers attached to the carbody, each crawler having a crawler frame attached to the carbody by a trunnion having an axis. The crawler frame is attached to the carbody so as to be able to pivot with respect to the carbody about the axis of the trunnion. The crane also includes a rotating bed rotatably connected to the carbody such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the crawlers and a boom pivotally mounted on a front portion of the rotating bed. A linear actuator is connected between the crawler frame and the carbody and extends through the trunnion.

The present invention relates to a mobile lifting crane that uses crawlers mounted on a carbody through a trunnion. The invention provides a way of easily installing the trunnion and connecting the crawler to the carbody when the crane is set up at a new job site.
Mobile lift cranes typically include a carbody having moveable ground engaging members; a rotating bed rotatably connected to the carbody such that the rotating bed can swing with respect to the ground engaging members; a boom pivotally mounted on a front portion of the rotating bed, with a load hoist line extending there from, and counterweight to help balance the crane when the crane lifts a load. There are different types of ground engaging members, most notably tires for truck mounted cranes, and crawlers. The crawlers typically have a frame, at least one drive tumbler supported on the frame; and a track made of a plurality of connected track shoes wrapped around the frame and engaging the drive tumbler so that a plurality of the shoes are in contact with the drive tumbler. Many cranes have two crawlers, one on each side of the carbody. However, there are some cranes that have four crawlers, two on each side of the carbody.
Because a mobile left crane is often used on uneven ground surfaces, there is a benefit for a crane having four crawlers to have each crawler mounted to the carbody in a manner that the crawler frame can pivot about a horizontal axis through which it is connected to the carbody. With such a pivoting movement, as the crane travels over uneven ground, the crawler can rotate with respect to the carbody as needed to best distribute the weight of the crane and any load being lifted. One method of mounting the crawlers to the carbody so that they can pivot is to use a trunnion. An example of a crane with four trunnion mounted crawlers is a Bucyrus Erie Model 300D dragline.
Since a crane will often be used in various locations, it needs to be designed so that it can be transported from one job site to the next. Moving a crane can be a formidable task when the machine is large and heavy. For example, highway limits on vehicle-axle loads must be observed and overhead obstacles can dictate long, inconvenient routings to the job site. One solution to improving the mobility of large construction machines, such as cranes, is to disassemble them into smaller, more easily handled components. The separate components can then be transported to the new job site where they are reassembled. For example, the typical practice has been to disconnect, remove, and transport the crawlers separately from the crane carbody. For a very large crane, it may also be necessary to separate the carbody into individual members. The ease with which the crane can be dismantled and set up has an impact on the total cost of using the crane. Thus, to the extent that fewer man-hours are needed to set up the crane, there is a direct advantage to the crane owner
In conventional cranes, each of the crawlers is typically bolted to the carbody of the crane. Because the connections between the crawlers and the crane carbody must sustain tremendous loads, the size and number of bolts used in these connections can be substantial. Accordingly, removing each of the crawlers from the carbody of the crane usually requires the loosening and removal of numerous large bolts from each of the crawler to carbody connections. Once the crane components are delivered to the new job site, then the crawlers must be carefully aligned with the carbody, and each of the bolts must then be re-inserted and tightened for each of the crawler-to-carbody connections. As a consequence, the disconnection and re-connection of the crawlers to the crane can be a difficult and time-consuming process.
One attempt to overcome some of the above-described problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,279 to Petzold, entitled "Carbody to Crawler Connection", which issued Oct. 20, 1998. This patent discloses a carbody to crawler connection that utilizes a pair of pins. A vertical pin extends upwardly from the horizontal flange on the top of the carbody arm and is configured to loosely engage a hole in the horizontal flange on the top of the crawler frame weldment. A horizontal pin passes through lower portions of the vertical flanges of the carbody arm and the vertical flange of the crawler frame weldment. The crawler is attached to the carbody by first placing the hole in the horizontal flange on the top of the crawler frame weldment over the vertical pin on the top of the carbody arm. The hole in the vertical flange of the crawler frame weldment is then aligned with the holes in the vertical flanges of the carbody arm. The horizontal pin is then inserted through these holes to complete the connection.
The carbody to crawler connection disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,279 has several advantages over the bolted-type connections typically used in conventional cranes. For example, this type of connection eliminates the need to carefully align and fasten numerous bolts. However, this type of connection does not allow the crawler to be attached by a trunnion so that the crawler may pivot about a horizontal axis. U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,764 discloses another carbody-to-crawler connection that has proved valuable for larger cranes, again allowing the crawlers to be easily and quickly removed and installed for crane transportation. However, again this type of connection does not allow for the use of a pivotal connection between the carbody and the crawler frame.
Thus there remains a need for a mechanism whereby a very large crane can be provided with crawlers that are mounted to a carbody with a pivotal connection that can be easily taken apart and reassembled, and preferably that can be used on a carbody that itself can be easily taken apart and transported and then reassembled at a new job site

Trunnion transportation system and crane using same

Abstract: The linear actuator is part of a self attachment mechanism. The trunnion includes a tubular member with a longitudinal axis, a first end configured for connection to the crane carbody and a second end configured for connection to the crawler frame. At least one of the ends is configured to allow rotational movement of the crawler frame relative to the carbody about the longitudinal axis. The linear actuator is mounted within the hollow central tubular member. The linear actuator is preferably a hydraulic cylinder. A carbody connector is attached to one end of the hydraulic cylinder, and a crawler frame connector is attached to the other end of the hydraulic cylinder.


A single metal sheet suction reed valve member having a plurality of radial outwardly extending reeds which is held between a cylinder block having a plurality of axial cylinders in spaced annular relation and a valve plate together with a gasket, is formed with radial outwardly extending fingers between adjacent reeds. The end surface of the cylinder block is formed with a spot faced recess at the central region which connects all cylinders and which receives the suction reed valve member. The spot faced recess is formed with a radius greater than a distance from the center of the cylinder block to a point on an opening edge of one of the cylinders in symmetry with another point on the opening edge intersecting with a side edge of the corresponding reed in relation to an imaginary line connecting between the centers of adjacent cylinders. Each finger extends to the periphery of the spot faced recess and covers the bottom surface region of the recess between adjacent cylinders. Thus, the fluid leakage path between adjacent cylinders along the arcuate edge or the extending end of each finger is relatively long so that fluid leakage may be substantially prevented.. Each finger may be formed sufficiently wide so as to extend to adjacent reeds and to overlap adjacent cylinders. Thus, the reexpanding volume of the fluid in each cylinder is reduced.

This invention relates to fluid suction and discharge apparatus including a cylinder block having a plurality of cylinders and pistons slidably reciprocated in the cylinders, for example fluid compressors, and, in particular, to improvements of the seal between adjacent cylinders in such apparatus.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,029, a fluid compressor is disclosed wherein a single sheet of suction reed valve means of a metal sheet comprising a central portion and a plurality of radially outwardly extending reeds is used. The cylinder block is formed with a central spot faced recess on an end surface for the accomodation of the suction reed valve means. A gasket is held between the suction reed valve means and the cylinder block. Thus, the seal between the cylinder block and the valve plate is achieved without the use of a housing to contain the cylinder block and many O-rings so that the volume of the compressor may be reduced.
In the construction disclosed in the prior patent, a narrow gap exists between the peripheral end surface of the central portion of the suction reed valve means and the bent portion of the gasket along the step of the center recess, which communicates between adjacent cylinders.
On the other hand, each reed does not extend to cover the entire sectional area of the corresponding cylinder. Therefore, when the piston reaches the top dead position at the end of the compressing operation, a small part of the fluid is retained in spaces at both sides of the reed between the piston top surface and the valve plate. The retained fluid reexpands in the cylinder at the following suction operation, which results in to a lower volumetric efficiency of the compressor.


Nonfragmenting rupture disk assemblies and methods are provided. The assemblies basically comprise an inlet rupture disk supporting member for communicating fluid pressure to said rupture disk, an outlet rupture disk supporting member including a pressure relieving fluid flow passageway therethrough, a rupture disk sealingly clamped between the inlet and outlet supporting members which forms a hinged blow-out portion that is folded into the outlet supporting member upon pressure relieving rupture and fluid flow through the ruptured disk, and catching means disposed in the outlet supporting member for catching the leading edge of the blow-out portion as it is folded into the outlet supporting member thereby preventing fragmentation of the blow-out portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to nonfragmenting rupture disk assemblies and methods, and more particularly, to improved such assemblies and methods wherein the rupture disk ruptures into a hinged blow-out portion which is caught and prevented from moving and tearing by pressure relieving fluid flow.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A variety of safety pressure relieving assemblies of the rupture disk type have been developed and used heretofore. Generally, the assemblies include a rupture disk supported between inlet and outlet supporting members, the inlet supporting member being connected to a relief connection of a vessel or system containing fluid pressure. When the fluid pressure within the vessel or system exceeds the design rupture pressure of the disk, the disk ruptures causing fluid pressure to be relieved from the vessel or system through the ruptured disk and the outlet supporting member.
Various types of rupture disks have heretofore been used including rupture disks which are formed of single parts and composite rupture disks formed of several parts. For example, single part rupture disks which are flat or which include domed portions have commonly been used heretofore. Composites of such rupture disks and other complimentary components such as vacuum supports and disk cutting members have also commonly been used.
Domed rupture disks generally include a central concave-convex portion. Domed rupture disks in which the concave sides of the disks are exposed to fluid pressure are commonly known as "conventional" rupture disks. Conventional rupture disks are placed in tension by the force of the fluids under pressure exerted thereon, and rupture occurs when the tensile strength of the disk material is exceeded. Domed rupture disks in which the convex sides of the disks are exposed to fluid pressure are known as "reverse buckling" disks. Reverse buckling rupture disks are placed in compression by the fluid pressure exerted thereon, and typically, when the design rupture pressure of the disk is exceeded, the concave-convex portion first reverses itself and then ruptures.
Cutting members including cutting edges of various configurations have been utilized with composite reverse buckling rupture disks to puncture the disks upon reversal and bring about the full opening thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,648, assigned to the assignee of this present invention, which is incorporated herein by reference for purposes of disclosure, is directed to a composite rupture disk comprised of a reverse buckling rupture disk attached to a cutting member which includes a partially circular cutting edge. Upon reversal of the reverse buckling rupture disk, the cutting edge is contacted by the disk which severs the disk and forms a hinged blow-out portion therein.
One or more lines of weakness formed by scores or grooves which define one or more blow-out portions have been utilized in both conventional and reverse buckling rupture disks. The blow-out portions can take a variety of configurations and can be hinged to the remainder of the disks by areas not including lines of weakness. Upon rupture, the disks tear along the lines of weakness whereby the fragmentation of the disks is substantially prevented.
While the heretofore utilized rupture disk assemblies have been successfully used in a great number of applications, problems are still encountered. A particular such problem involves the fragmentation of the blow-out portions of the disks due to the pressure relieving fluid flow through the ruptured disks and the outlet supporting members which imparts a whipping action to the blow-out portions. The whipping action in turn causes pieces of the blow-out portions to fragment or sever which can damage or contaminate downstream processes and/or equipment into which the fragments are carried.
A number of solutions to this fragmentation problem have been proposed and utilized substantially successfully. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,337, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which is incorporated herein by reference for purposes of disclosure, is directed to a rupture disk assembly including a reverse buckling rupture disk having a line of weakness formed by a C-score therein which defines a hinged blow-out portion. A rupture disk hinge supporting surface is provided which extends into the concave portion of the rupture disk and functions to slow the rupture process and to support the hinge area whereby tearing and fragmentation of the blow-out portion does not occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,722, also assigned to the assignee of this present invention and incorporated herein by reference for purposes of disclosure, is directed to a reverse buckling C-scored rupture disk assembly which includes a notch removed from a portion of the inlet supporting member to cause disk failure at reduced pressures when the assembly is inadvertently installed upside down. In addition, the assembly includes a hinge supporting member to prevent fragmentation of the C-shaped blow-out portion produced when the rupture disk ruptures during normal operation.
While the above described rupture disk assemblies and other prior art assemblies have been utilized successfully to reduce the incidence of fragmentation, some fragmentation still occurs as a result of the blow-out portions of the rupture disks still being subjected to the above mentioned whipping action. The incidence of such fragmentation increases as the size of the rupture disk increases and the design rupture pressure thereof decreases. That is, a large diameter, low pressure rupture disk is more likely to produce such fragmentation upon rupture than is a smaller higher pressure disk. This is because upon rupture, the blow-out portion of a large diameter, low pressure rupture disk which is formed of thin material, is readily moved and whipped about by the pressure relieving fluid flow through the ruptured disk and the outlet supporting member.
Thus, there is a need for improved nonfragmenting rupture disk assemblies and methods which prevent the above mentioned whipping action and the fragmentation incident thereto.


A versatile saw that can be used as a high-branch-pruning saw, etc., employing an annular internal toothed saw disk having internal teeth on its internal circumference. Each of a pair of openable holders support the periphery of an annular two-piece internal toothed saw disk and maintain the internal toothed saw disk in an annular form with the holders closed. An object is cut by the internal teeth by rotating the internal toothed saw disk maintained in an annular shape while being held by the holders along its periphery. The rotating internal toothed saw disk is capable of stopping at a prescribed position of the holder. Split internal toothed saw disks are held by the holders which are openable. The holders are opened to facilitate the placing of the object inside the internal toothed saw disk. In order to introduce the object inside the internal toothed saw disk, one part of the annular internal toothed saw disk can incorporate a cut section so that the saw disk can be opened at this cut section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal toothed saw, the internal circumference of which being provided with saw teeth for cutting an object, and more particularly to a versatile internal toothed saw that can be used as a pruning saw, and in particular, as a high-branch-pruning saw for pruning high branches.
2. Prior Art
Among conventional high-branch-pruning saws, manually operated types with saw teeth fastened at the tip of a long supporting stick and electric saws such as chain saws are known.
A type of saw which cuts the object with saw teeth formed on the periphery of a disk is generally known, and a method for cutting the object using a rotating annular internal toothed saw disk is also known as it is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. S51-88887. But the method for cutting the object using a rotating annular internal toothed saw disk is only used as a precision cutter employing a special thin cutter disk and not as a general saw such as a pruning saw for gardening.
Conventional high-branch-pruning saws, whether manual or electric, are used for cutting branches from a certain direction. Therefore, it is not always possible to cut a given branch accurately depending on the way it grows. For example, if the branch is cut from above, the weight of the branch itself acts on it to open the cut. But this way of cutting is not possible using a conventional high-branch-pruning saw.
Using a conventional annular internal toothed saw disk that rotates, the object is cut by inserting its axial tip inside the internal circumference of the internal toothed saw disk. This is useful when slicing the end surface of the object. However, a conventional annular internal toothed saw disk is not capable of cutting a long object at an arbitrary position.
The object of the present invention is to provide a versatile saw using a rotary internal toothed saw disk that is capable of cutting the object at an arbitrary position. More specifically, the objective of the present invention is to provide a saw such as a high-branch-pruning saw that is capable of cutting a branch from an arbitrary direction, for example, from the top of the branch.
The rotary internal toothed saw of the present invention comprises an openable pair of holders and an annular two-piece internal toothed saw disk that is held by the holders. The openable pair of holders support the periphery of the two-piece internal toothed saw, and are capable of maintaining the annular shape of the internal toothed saw disk with the holders closed. The internal toothed saw disk, which is rotated, is designed to stop at a fixed position with respect to the holders, and at this position, each part of the two-piece internal toothed saw disk is held by the corresponding holder in such a way that they can be opened together with their corresponding holders.
The above configuration makes it possible for the holders supporting the two-piece annular internal toothed saw disk to open and have the object introduced inside the internal toothed saw disk at any position of the object at which the object is required to be cut. When the holders are closed and the internal toothed saw disk is rotated maintaining its annular shape, an object can be cut by the internal teeth of the internal toothed saw disk. The pair of holders which are openable for introducing the object inside the internal toothed saw disk, may be opened by flipping both of them open, but it is also possible to fix one of them and flip open just the other so that the latter opens relative to the former. The holders can also open in any direction, e.g., parallel to the plane, perpendicular to the plane, etc. The important thing is that the object can be introduced inside the internal toothed saw disk.
As a way of introducing the object inside the annular internal toothed saw disk, the internal toothed saw disk may be cut at one place and supported by a holder which is at least divided at one point along its periphery, wherein the internal toothed saw disk is rotated with its annulus maintained in a planar condition and is stopped at the position where the divided position of the holder and the cut position of the internal toothed saw disk meet, and both parts of the holder move in relatively different directions that are each perpendicular to the plane of the internal toothed saw disk to allow the cut part of the internal toothed saw disk to open.
It is also possible to hold the periphery of an annular internal toothed saw disk, which is cut at one place, by means of a holder, which is divided into several parts, wherein some of the several parts of the divided holder hold the internal toothed saw disk and some of the parts of the divided holder are openable so that the internal toothed saw disk can be exposed, and at the cut position of the exposed internal saw disk the cut part can be opened by forces acting in directions perpendicular to the plane of the internal toothed saw disk.


The invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator (1) for driving a movable part (2), for example a rotor, having an elongate piezoelectric resonator (3), which serves to perform longitudinal vibrations and which is acted upon by elastic means (10), for example a spring (10). The elastic means (10) acts upon the piezoelectric resonator (3) mainly in the longitudinal direction (11) and serves to exert a force on the resonator (3) in a direction towards the movable part (2), the resonant frequency of the elastic means (10) being substantially smaller than the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric resonator (3), and the piezoelectric resonator (3) is guided by at least one guide element (4, 5) in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction (11). This enables the resonator (3) to vibrate as freely as possible, which leads to a higher efficiency.

The invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator for driving a movable part by means of an elongate piezoelectric resonator, which serves to perform longitudinal vibrations and which is acted upon by elastic means.
The use of piezoelectric drives in small electrical appliances becomes increasingly significant because drives of this type are very robust, compact and flexible in use. The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,073 describes such a piezoelectric drive. It relates to a longitudinally vibrating piezoelectric resonator, which drives a shaft. Furthermore, the piezoelectric resonator has its end which faces the shaft secured to a spring, which spring exerts a force perpendicular to the rotor and urges the latter against the force. This has an adverse effect on the efficiency.
It is an object of the invention to provide a piezoelectric actuator having a high efficiency.
According to the invention this object is achieved in that at least one piezoelectric resonator and a spring means, which exerts a force on the piezoelectric resonator at least in the direction of its longitudinal vibrations, are arranged in such a manner that the spring means acts upon the piezoelectric resonator, the resonant frequency of the spring means being substantially lower than the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric resonator.
This solution has the major advantage that the piezoelectric resonator can vibrate in a longitudinal direction of vibration without having to overcome any large resistances. When the resonator expands it exerts a force on the movable part, as a result of which the movable part is set into motion. This force can be exerted only when it experiences a counteracting force. This counteracting force is applied by the elastic means. When the resonator contracts, the counteracting force of the elastic means should be as small as possible. This is possible because the piezoelectric resonator and the elastic means are not secured to one another but merely abut against one another and can also become disengaged from one another as a result of the different resonant frequencies of the piezoelectric resonator and the spring means. The efficiency of a piezoelectric resonator increases according as it can vibrate more freely. In contrast thereto, the piezoelectric resonator in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,073 requires a part of the applied electrical energy to overcome frictional resistances and to tension the spring means.
In the embodiment defined in claim 2 the piezoelectric resonator drives a rotor. In order to increase the efficiency even further it is important to find the optimum angle between the piezoelectric resonator and the rotor. This angle depends inter alia on the nature of the material of the resonator and the rotor and the coefficient of friction, which depends thereon. The optimum angle can be calculated and set by means of this coefficient.
The embodiment defined in claim 3 has the advantage that at its end which faces the rotor the piezoelectric resonator cannot move away from the rotor. This ensures in a reliable manner that the resonator cannot leave the rotor.
In the embodiment defined in claim 4 the problem is solved that as a result of the friction between the piezoelectric resonator and the guide elements and the pressure of the resonator on the rotor the angle increases in the course of time because material is eroded as a result of wear. In order to preclude this, the angle is chosen so as to be slightly smaller than calculated, which allows for the increase of the angle during operation.
The embodiment defined in claim 5 improves the power transmission of the piezoelectric resonator. In order to increase the efficiency, it is advantageous to deposit a hard material on the end of the piezoelectric resonator which faces the rotor. This material is wear resistant and at the same time provides the high coefficient of friction required for a correct power transmission between the resonator and the rotor.
The multi-layer resonator defined in claim 6 can operate with substantially lower voltages than a conventional single-layer resonator. This reduces the power consumption.
By means of the embodiment defined in claim 7 it is achieved that less energy is transferred to the guide elements via the contact areas between the resonator and guide elements in a direction normal to the resonator. Therefore, a deliberate acoustic mismatch of the resonator and the guide elements is provided.
According to claim 8 the piezoelectric actuator is used for driving the cutting members in an electric shaver. This provides a substantial reduction of the power consumption and the weight in comparison with shavers having conventional electric motors.
The embodiments defined in claims 9 and 10 concern a shaver having rotary cutting members. The use of the space-saving piezoelectric actuators makes it possible to provide a separate drive for each of the rotors of a shaver having a plurality of rotors. This enables the rotors to be driven fully independently of one another and with different speeds. Conventional electric motors require so much space that particularly in shavers there is room for only one motor. Speed differences between the commonly driven rotors can then be realized only by means of a gear transmission, which renders the construction more intricate and does not variable differences in speed between the rotors.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail by way of example with reference to the drawing.


The disclosed safety device helps prevents the dog from falling from, being thrown from, or jumping from the back of a pickup truck by securing them with a safely attached net to the truck racks. The net grids (openings) are sized to either allow or prevent the dog from getting just their heads through the net. The net is easily removable for tall cargo and it also allows you to carry cargo that normally needs to be secured to the truck bed itself or in a truck with a cap. The cargo can be such as; commercial and residential construction material, yard debris, and sporting goods.

1. The Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to truck bed safety device for the safe travel of dogs in the interior section of a pick-up truck bed area.
2. General Background
According to the American Humane Society it is estimated that 100,000 dogs die each year riding in truck beds. In addition, veterinarians see numerous cases of dogs being injured because they jumped out or were thrown from the bed of a pickup truck. If these dogs are lucky enough to still be alive, broken legs and joint injuries are among the most common types of damage that they sustain and often result in amputation.
The current option for traveling with dogs in a truck bed are leash systems that require the dog to be leashed to the inside of truck bed. This still leaves the dog at risk of jumping out if the leash is not adjusted right or getting tangled in the leash itself. With multiple dogs in the truck bed the risks are even higher.
There exists a need for a safety device that uses a truck's rack system to enclose the bed of the truck with a net to help prevent deaths and injuries yet still give the dog the experience of being outside.
There exists a need for a safety device that uses a truck's rack system to enclose the bed of the truck with a net to help prevent the passage of heavy articles and debris of various sizes to outside of the truck bed.


Method for installation of an offshore tower, which comprises: providing a tower mast, piles, anchoring means, a platform with securing means, and buoyancy means with securing means; fastening piles to platform; fastening mast to platform in the use position; providing actuation and/or braking means between piles and platform; providing a platform between lower zone and upper zone; anchoring means to piles and to platform; launching buoyancy means; launching base assembly (platform, mast, piles, anchoring means); securing base assembly to buoyancy means using securing means; transferring transport assembly to tower location; actuating actuation and/or braking means until piles are fixed in the seabed; fastening piles to seabed; actuating actuation and/or braking means until platform is on a level with pile upper zone; mounting wind turbine on mast; removing securing means and withdrawing buoyancy means from platform; and tensioning anchoring means.

Without limiting character, solutions generally contemplated in the current state of the art for offshore foundations are listed and succinctly described below.                Gravity foundations: footings with concrete structure, often with pedestals. They are transported and anchored with barges and/or marine cranes. For low depths.        Pile-based foundations:        Metal driven-in monopile, gap-free with the tubular metal mast of the tower. For low depths.        Tripile: the metal tower rests, using a transition piece generally in the form of three-arm blade, on three vertical piles submerged and driven into the seabed. For medium and high depths.        Tripod: the metal tower is supported on a structure of three inclined piles, which rest on the ground using driven-in piles or another similar system. The tower may be centred with respect to the tripod piles or located on one of them. For medium and high depths.        Lattice: the metal tower rests using a lattice structure of four piles. For medium and high depths.        Suction bucket: based on the driving-in of watertight buckets in the marine subsoil and the consequent use of the different pressure differences generated. For low depths.        Buoyancy solutions secured to the seabed. For very high depths.
In relation to the gravity foundations, they are largely formed in situ using, among other means, mixer boats and/or crane boats, so that the environmental conditions cannot be very aggressive. Furthermore, the ground must be firm so that normally the upper layer of the seabed is removed for better settling; in this case, submariners cover the ground in gravel. The main disadvantage of installing this type of systems is their high cost, which a study indicates is directly proportional to the square of the depth at which the wind farm is placed. This means they are only applied at low depths.
In relation to pile-based foundations and suction buckets, they usually use support assemblies formed ashore. For these alternatives, it is not necessary to condition the seabed, which allows saving considerable money. Even so, the cost is high since it requires an important deployment of means of transport (barges, floating cranes or hoisting vessels, floating cranes or pile driver vessels, etc.) both for the transport of components involved and for the in situ assembly, without prejudice to the fact that both the transport and assembly and the manufacturing are relatively simple. Furthermore, if only the means of transport and assembly necessary to install the towers one by one are used to keep the costs to a minimum, the tower installation depends on the means for it remaining free after installation of the previous tower, which often determines an installation rate slower than that desired.
Buoyancy foundations have been considered but are not at a point which allows their mass industrialization.

Method of installation of an offshore wind turbine tower, with pile-based foundations, and equipment for implementing said method


A pharmaceutical composition including N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis-(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine (TPEN) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, an alginate compound, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The pharmaceutical composition is useful for the treatment of hypoxia-related diseases.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use thereof for treating hypoxia-related diseases and, more particularly, to pharmaceutical compositions including TPEN and an alginate compound as active ingredients.
Hypoxic-Ischemic injury results from a tissue restriction in blood supply leading to a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand, which may result in cell necrosis. Restoration of oxygenated blood to an ischemic tissue, i.e., reoxygenation, may give rise to a more severe tissue damage which is usually associated with programmed cell death, namely apoptosis. The link between these two events is known as ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Hence minimizing IRI has broad range clinical implications. IRI is regarded as a redox active metal and free radical mediated cascade that occurs during acute myocardial infarction, stroke, thrombolysis, and other pathological situations associated with ischemia followed by reoxygenation/reperfusion. This type of injury/damage to tissue and organs also occurs in the post-ischemic reperfusion during medical procedures such as cardiopulmonary bypass, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary angioplasty and other thrombolytic procedures.
Biologically important transition-metals, such as copper, iron and zinc, are also redox active metals and have been found to play a critical mediatory role in reperfusion-induced myocardial damage. Hence, their intracellular transport is tightly regulated and under normal physiological conditions, are stored in situ within protective intracellular stores proteins like ferritin and ceruloplasmin.
However, under situations as hypoxia-ischemia they are frequently released from their stores and subjected to high oxygen level upon initiating reperfusion. The result is the triggering of redox-active catalysis processes and formation of harmful free radicals, so called reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton and Haber-Weiss reactions.
ROS are involved in and mediates many diseases, syndromes and pathologies, such as heart and brain stroke, brain trauma, organs transplants rejection, various neurodegenerative diseases, arthritis, etc.
Ischemia-induced high accumulation of intracellular transition metals as iron, copper and also zinc which significantly contributed to organ injury like ischemic brain damage through promotion of neuronal apoptotic death. Removing zinc by chelating agents may be an effective approach to reduce ischemic brain injury.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,851 to the present inventor teaches a metal chelating agent, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis-(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine (TPEN), being capable of protecting heart tissue from ischemia-reperfusion damage. This high specificity heavy metal chelating agent is thought to work by changing the redox potential of redox-active metals (transition metals), into an inactive form before the onset of reoxygenation and hence preventing the yield and the release of hazardous reactive oxygen species (ROS).
International patent application WO 2013/003445 teaches that TPEN is capable of providing heart cells up to, but not greater than, 70% protection from hypoxia stress injury. The effective concentration range of TPEN was between about 1 to about 10 μM. TPEN administered at higher concentrations resulted in decreasing protection efficacy (Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility, October 2007, Volume 28, issues 7-8, pp. 421-428).
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, pharmaceutical compositions for treating hypoxia-related diseases which are effective and devoid of the above limitations.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods for the treatment of hypoxia-related diseases


A witching power supply unit, which suppresses switching loss in switching elements and surge voltage onto an output rectifier device and reduces the number of components, is provided. The switching power supply unit include: a switching circuit of full bridge type disposed on the input side; a rectifier circuit disposed on the output side; a transformer disposed between the switching circuit and the rectifier circuit and including a first winding on the input side, a second winding on the output side, a third winding; a surge voltage suppressing circuit connected in parallel with the switching circuit; and a driving circuit. The third winding is connected to the full bridge circuit to form a H-bridge configuration. Magnetic coupling between the first and second windings and magnetic coupling between the first and third windings are both looser than that between the second and third windings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching power supply unit in which a switched output obtained by switching a DC input voltage is taken out in an output winding of a power converting transformer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various types of DC-DC converters have been proposed as a switching power supply unit and provided for practical use. Many of them are of a type in which a DC input voltage is switched with a switching operation by a switching circuit (inverter circuit) that is connected to a primary winding of a power converting transformer (transformer device), and the switched output (inverter output) is taken out in a secondary winding of the power converting transformer (transformer). The voltage appearing in the secondary winding in accordance with the switching operation of the switching circuit is rectified by a rectifier circuit, then is converted into a direct current by a smoothing circuit and outputted.
In a switching power supply unit of this kind, an output rectifier device such as an output rectifier diode is connected in series with a power transmission line in the rectifier circuit. Therefore, it is extremely effective for improving operative efficiency of the switching power supply unit to reduce loss in the output rectifier diode.
Reduction of loss in the output rectifier diode is effectively realized by using a diode having a small forward voltage drop. However, since the diode having a small forward voltage drop has also a low reverse withstand voltage, in order to use a diode having a small forward voltage drop as the output rectifier diode, it is particularly necessary to suppress the reverse voltage.
In a switching power supply unit of this kind, what to be most considered as such reverse voltage is a surge (spike) voltage caused by a parasitic element at the time of on/off operation of the switching circuit. It is to be noted that the surge voltage is applied as a reverse voltage to the output rectifier diode. Accordingly, various ideas have been executed in the past to suppress such surge voltage (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,479 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-187801, for example).


A laser diode suitable for integrated and fiber optic applications requiring single transverse and single longitudinal mode operation. The single transverse mode is provided by making a gallium arsenide double heterostructural laser diode with a narrow stripe width and a relatively long length. The single longitudinal mode operation is provided by cracking the diode transverse to the stripe at one or more locations to form internal etalons in the laser cavity.

There are a number of integrated optical signal processors and fiber optic devices currently being developed or proposed that require a semiconductor diode laser source operating in a single longitudinal and fundamental transverse mode. Some examples of applications include an integrated optical RF spectrum analyzer, integrated optical and bulk optical wideband correlators, and laser fiber gyroscopes. Moreover, modulated versions of the single mode diode laser are required for long haul, single mode, fiber optic data links operating at very high data rates (1 Gbps), both because the narrow spectrum permits optical pulse propagation with a minimum of temporal dispersion and the optical response of such a laser diode is essentially free of relaxation oscillations. In integrated optical or bulk optical single processor applications, multimode oscillation either longitudinal or transverse leads to loss of resolution and reduced dynamic range. In fiber optic applications, multi-transverse mode operation results in reduced efficiency and coupling to single mode optical fibers and increased pulse dispersion. Therefore, there has been required the development of a single longitudinal and single transverse mode laser diode that can be mounted in a rugged, environmentally stable package capable of long life at room temperature and that can operate at an exceptionally low threshold and high efficiency.
The technology of the growth of gallium arsenide double heterostructure laser diodes has progressed to the point where a reasonably uniform state-of-the-art now exists among a number of sources of laser diode material. High quality double heterostructural structure wafers fabricated by liquid phase epitaxy yield broad area current thresholds of about 1000 A/cm.sup.2. At least five manufacturers (ITT Electro-Optical Products Division, RCA Incorporated, Laser Diode Laboratories Incorporated and Spectronix Incorporated) offer CW laser diodes with oxide striped current confinement having nearly identical current and output specifications. These diodes operate at threshold currents of 100 to 200 mA and 10 mW output when operated 100 mA over threshold. In spite of this uniformity in operating parameters, none of these available diodes are acceptable for use in many critical integrated optical circuit or single mode fiber applications. The difficulty is that two critical areas, the achievement of reliable single longitudinal mode oscillation, i.e., single frequency operation, and adequate control of the diode transverse spatial mode pattern are lacking in these devices.
Several diode manufacturers have sought to get around these problems by reducing the area of current confinement through the introduction of buried mesa or etch well of a width which is typically 0.5 to 2 .mu.m. The disadvantages of this procedure are the increased cost and the reduction of diode output power to only 1 or 2 mW. An advantage does result for end fire coupling into a fiber in that a more symmetrical beam shape is produced but part of this advantage is negated by the low numerical aperture of the single mode fibers into which this type of diode is usually coupled. Conversely, integrated optical circuits naturally accommodate a nonsymmetric output beam. The optical power required by integrated optical circuits is generally several milliwatts, whereas that required for long fiber optic links having high data rates and low bit error rates can exceed 10 mW. Each requires a laser diode of 10 to 25 mW output power when coupling losses are considered.
Heretofore the solutions to the difficult technical problem of achieving a reliable single mode oscillation, i.e., single frequency operation, involve the use of distributed feedback structures in the laser cavity to act as frequency sensitive filters or the control of doping levels in the active region. However, because of the losses inherent with the reported techniques, they are not consistent with low threshold CW room temperature operation with high efficiency. The other major problem area has been the control of diode transverse spatial mode pattern. Many exotic resonator designs heretofore reported for transverse mode selection employ tilted or curved stripes or filamentary resonators. These techniques increase resonator loss and hence adversely affect lasing threshold and efficiency. Additionally, the required packaging and environmental stability has been lacking in the prior art. However, this in some measure can be overcome through the use of the concepts embodied in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 069,311 entitled "Heat Sink Laser Diode" by Allen et al, filed Aug. 24, 1979 and assigned to Applicants' assignee.
Typically, to create a laser diode one must have a PN junction in which electrons are injected across the junction followed by recombination of electrons and holes to generate photons. For lasing to occur, a spontaneous emitted photon must transverse the cavity formed by the semiconductor material and the natural mirrors at the opposite ends thereof with sufficient gain to avoid attenuation. In a heterostructure laser diode, the carriers are confined in an active region by a potential barrier to reduce the temperature dependence of the threshold as well as its value. The barrier is created by putting in material with a higher energy gap near the junction. The most widely used of such materials are gallium arsenide and aluminum arsenide.


Described herein are high yield methods for making magnolol (5,5′-diallyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol) and tetrahydro-magnolol (5,5′-dipropyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol).

There is a need for safe, effective antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agents for use in oral care compositions. Magnolia extract is known to contain compounds having antibacterial and/or anti-inflammatory properties, and such compounds have been the focus of considerable interest for use in oral care compositions. The use of such compounds in oral care compositions is described, for example, in WO2001/085116, WO 2011/106492 and WO 2011/106493, the contents of which application are incorporated herein by reference. Methods of synthesizing magnolol (5,5′-diallyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol) are disclosed, e.g. in WO 2011/106003. Synthetic non-natural analogs of various components of magnolia extract having other alkyls in place of allyl are also known to have antibacterial activity, but the compounds are in some cases expensive or difficult to synthesize.
Existing synthetic methods for magnolol involve costly reagents and yields are low. There is a need for cheaper, higher yield synthetic procedures to make magnolol and related compounds.

Processes for making magnolol and derivatives thereof


Disclosed is a mechanism for receiving bales or cartons in small stacks or cubes and delivering single bales or cartons in pre-determined alignment. The bale or carton is placed on an elevator floor and moved up in steps of one tier at a time. A pusher arm sweeps the top tier of bales or cartons in the elevator off of the stack into a tier container. The tier container has drag chains which move the bales or cartons laterally into an orienting chute where each is oriented to the same pre-determined position regardless of its position in the stack. Two such units may be combined with a common chute so that two different stacks of bales or cartons may be alternatively singulated.

This invention relates generally to devices for handling hay bales and cartons, and more specifically to apparatus for breaking down stacks of bales or cartons and feeding them singularly and alternatively to other handling apparatus.
In recent years, the art of handling hay bales and cartons has become increasingly mechanized. Numerous devices now exist for picking up hay bales in the field and forming them into convenient sized stacks which are tied together by the bales being in different position orientation. These convenient sized stacks, generally called cubes, are then moved about with forklift type trucks equipped with the squeeze arms. The cubes are loaded and unloaded on highway trailers and are themselves stacked together to make large haystacks for storage. Large hay users such as dairies, cattle feed lots, and pellet mills typically inventory their hay in stacks.
Efforts to mechanize the feeding of hay from such bale stacks has also made progress. Machines have been developed to de-bale hay bale by breaking off the wires and breaking or chopping the bale for easy use of feeding. No truly effective devices have yet been developed, however, for breaking the bale cubes down into single bales oriented in such a way that they can be conveniently fed to the de-baler. This work is still largely done by hand.
Since it is sometimes desirable to mix or intersperse bales of different kinds of hay, mechanization of the destacking operation is further complicated. Cartons are also assembled into stacks, frequently on pallets, so they can be readily handled in packing houses and factories. Again effective mechanization is not yet available for breaking down a carton stack into a line of single commonly oriented units.
It is, therefore, a major object of my invention to provide an apparatus for breaking down a stack of bales or cartons into single units all oriented in like positions regardless of their orientation in the stack.
It is also an important object of my invention to provide a destacker of the type described which will operate on cubes of hay bales formed by nearly all commonly used bale stackers.
It is a further object of my invention to provide a destacker of the type described in which the final orientation of the bales or cartons is achieved by a gravity chute, thereby minimizing the power requirement.
It is still another object of my invention to provide a destacker of the type described which operates with sufficient speed to produce a continuous run of single like-oriented articles.
It is yet another object of my invention to provide a destacker of the type described which can be paired with a like unit and a common orienting chute whereby bales from the second unit may be destacked and interspersed with bales from the first unit.
It is still a further object of my invention to provide a destacker of the type described which is of rugged construction and substantially maintenance free.


A fuel cell stack comprising: a cell stack body having stacked single cells and a manifold for supplying or discharging a fluid to the stacked single cells, the single cell including a membrane electrode assembly and a separator sandwiching the membrane electrode assembly; an end plate stacked onto the cell stack body and having a through-hole along the stacking direction of the cell stack body; and a fluid tube body inserted detachably into the through-hole so as to pass through the end plate, the fluid tube body being connected to the manifold, wherein a part of the outer surface of the fluid tube body opposite to the inner surface of the through-hole is separated from the inner surface of the through-hole.

A fuel cell stack has a structure in which fuel cell (single cell) are stacked. A single cell includes a membrane electrode assembly (hereinafter, referred to as "MEA") having a polymer electrolyte membrane and a pair of catalyst electrodes sandwiching the polymer electrolyte membrane; and a pair of separators sandwiching the membrane electrode assembly.
The polymer electrolyte membrane is composed of an electrolyte having an ion exchange membrane of a fluorine resin type having a sulfonic acid group, or a polymer ion exchange membrane such as an ion exchange membrane of a hydrocarbon resin.
The catalyst electrode includes a catalyst layer which contacts with the polymer electrolyte membrane for promoting an oxidation-reduction reaction in the catalyst electrode, and a gas diffusion layer located at the outside of the catalyst layer and that has permeability and conductivity. The gas diffusion layer includes a carbon coat layer for enhancing contact property to the catalyst layer, which contacts with the catalyst layer, and a gas diffusion base layer for diffusing an externally supplied gas so as to allow the gas to be supplied to the catalyst layer. The catalyst layer of a fuel electrode layer contains platinum or an alloy of platinum and ruthenium, for example, and the catalyst layer of an air electrode contains platinum or an alloy of platinum and cobalt, for example.
The separator is a conductive member for preventing a fuel gas supplied to the fuel electrode and an oxide gas supplied to the air electrode from being mixed with each other.
Since the fuel cell stack has the single cells stacked, it can electrically be connected in serial. The fuel cell stack also has a pair of end plates that sandwiches the cell stack body (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1). The end plate has a fluid tube body for supplying a gas or a cooling medium to the fuel cell stack or for discharging the gas or the cooling medium from the fuel cell stack.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating fuel cell stack 10 disclosed in Patent Document 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the fuel cell stack 10 disclosed in Patent Document 1 has cell stack body 11, and end plates 15 and 17 that hold the cell stack body 11. The end plate 13 has fluid tube bodies 17 and 19.
In fuel cell stack 10 disclosed in Patent Document 1, end plate 13 and fluid tube bodies 17 and 19 are in contact with each other without having a gap therebetween as illustrated in FIG. 1. There has also been known a technique in which the fluid tube body is made of a material having a low thermal conductivity in order to prevent a heat of a fluid flowing through the fluid tube body from transferring to the end plate (e.g., see Patent Document 2).
When a fuel gas (containing hydrogen) and an oxide gas (containing oxygen) are supplied to the respective single cells in the fuel cell stack having the above-mentioned configuration, electric energy can continuously be taken out. A chemical reaction generated due to the supply of the fuel gas and the oxide gas to the single cell will be described below.
A hydrogen molecule supplied to the fuel electrode is divided into a hydrogen ion and an electron by the catalyst layer of the fuel electrode. The hydrogen ion moves toward the air electrode through the humidified polymer electrolyte membrane. On the other hand, the electron moves toward the air electrode to which the oxide gas is supplied through an external circuit. In this case, the electron passing through the external circuit can be used as electric energy. At the catalyst layer of the air electrode, the hydrogen ion moving through the polymer electrolyte membrane, the electron moving through the external circuit, and the oxygen supplied to the air electrode react with one another to produce water. The above-mentioned chemical reaction also produces heat.
When the fuel gas and the oxide gas are supplied to the fuel cell as described above, the electric energy and thermal energy can simultaneously be obtained. Therefore, the fuel cell stack is utilized as a home cogeneration system for power generation and hot-water supply (e.g., see Patent Document 3). In the home cogeneration system, the heat generated during the power generation is successively collected by using a cooling medium discharged from the fluid tube body. The collected heat is stored in a hot-water tank, and utilized as necessary likewise the electric energy.
There has been known a fuel cell system having the fuel cell stack sandwiched between the end plates, a fuel processing apparatus that produces a fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell stack, and an interconnect section that connects the end plates and the fuel processing apparatus (e.g., see Patent Document 4). In the fuel cell system disclosed in Patent Document 4, a gap is partially formed between the interconnect section and the end plates in order to minimize the transfer of heat between the fuel processing apparatus and the fuel cell stack.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-294330    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-063623    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-293996    Patent Document 4: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0134470


The intracellular distribution of mortalin is used to determine the complementation group of tumor cells. Also disclosed are the gene sequences that encode mortalin and the amino acid sequence of the mortalin proteins.

Normal human diploid cells have a finite potential for proliferative growth. Thus, as the aging process occurs, the capacity of cells to proliferate gradually diminishes. The loss of cellular proliferative capacity of cells in culture is termed "senescence," and is the in vitro analog of aging (Hayflick, L. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 25:585 (1961); Hayflick, L. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 37:614-636 (1965); Norwood, T. H. et al., In: Handbook of the Biology of Aging (2nd ed.), Finch, C. E. et al. (eds.) Van Nostrand, New York pp. 291-311 (1985); Goldstein, S., Science 249:1129-1133 (1990); Smith, J. R., Monogr. Devel. Biol. 17:193-208 (1984); Smith, J. R. et al. Exper. Gerontol. 24:377-381 (1989), all herein incorporated by reference). Experimental evidence suggests that the age-dependent loss of proliferative potential may be the function of a genetic program (Orgel, L. E., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 49:517 (1963); De Mars, R. et al., Human Genet. 16:87 (1972); Buchwald, M., Mutat. Res. 44:401 (1977); Martin, G. M. et al., Amer. J. Pathol. 74:137 (1974); Smith, J. R. et al., Mech. Age. Dev. 13:387 (1980); Kirkwood, T. B. L. et al., Theor. Biol. 53:481 (1975).
Indeed, the onset of senescence and aging are accompanied by significant changes in the profile of genes that are expressed. Through an analysis of such changes, researchers have identified unique mRNAs that are amplified in senescent cells in vitro (West, M. D. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 184:138 (1989); Giordano, T. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 185:399-406 (1989); Lumpkin, C. K. et al., Science 232:393-395 (1986)), thus suggesting that cellular senescence is mediated by an inhibitor of DNA synthesis (Spiering, A. I. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 179:159-167 (1988); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 160:297-306 (1985); Drescher-Lincoln, C. K. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 153:208-217 (1984); Drescher-Lincoln, C. K. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 144:455-462 (1983)). The recognition of such changes has prompted efforts to clone the genes that encode the factors that control cellular senescence and proliferative capacity (Kleinsek, D. A., Age 12:55-60 (1989); Sierra, F. et al., Molec. Cell. Biol. 9:5610-5616 (1989); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., J Cell. Biochem. (Suppl.0 (12 part A)) 193 (1988); Kleinsek, D. A., Smith, J. R., Age 10:125 (1987)). Smith, J. R. (PCT Patent Appln. Publication No. WO 93/12251) describes senescent cell derived inhibitors of DNA synthesis.
Although the proliferative capacity of a cell is believed to be carefully regulated, cells can, through mutation or viral infection, lose their ability to respond to such regulatory factors and thereby re-acquire a capacity to proliferate. For cells cultured in vitro, this process is referred to as immortalization. In vivo, such uncontrolled cellular proliferation is a defining characteristic of cancer.
I. The Complementation Groups of Tumor Cells
Insight into the control of cellular proliferation has been gained from studies in which normal and immortal cells have been fused to form heterokaryons. Such studies have demonstrated that the quiescent phenotype of a normal cell is dominant over the proliferative phenotype of an immortalized carcinoma cell of a immortalized transformed cell (Bunn, C. L. et al., Exper. Cell Res. 127:385-396 (1985); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Somat. Cell Genet. 7:411-421 (1981); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Science 221:964-966 (1983); Muggleton-Harris, A. et al., Somat. Cell Genet. 6:689-698 (1980)).
Normal diploid somatic cells undergo a limited number of population doublings in culture (Cristofalo, V. J. et al., Exp. Cell Res. 76:419-427 (1973); Goldstein, S., Science 249:1129-1133 (1990); Hayflick, L., Mutat. Res. 256:69-80 (1991)) in contrast to tumor derived cells which can proliferate unabated. The former are widely accepted as a model for aging at the cellular level (Hayflick, L., Mutat. Res. 256:69-80 (1991); Schneider, E. L. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73:3584-3588 (1976)) and the latter of a system which accepted as a model for aging at the cellular level and the latter offer a system which can be exploited to investigate the mechanisms that limit cell division potential and those that permit unlimited cell division. There have been many studies documenting the cellular changes that accompany senescence (Harley, C. B., Mutat Res. 256:271-282 (1991); Holiday, R., J. Gerontol Biol. Sci. 45:B36-41 (1990); Macieira-Coelho, A., Mutat. Res. 256:81-104 (1991); Sherwood, S. W. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:9086-9090 (1989)).
Theories as to the molecular mechanisms underlying senescence fall into two broad categories depending on whether their authors consider that senescence is caused by (i) random accumulation of errors in macromolecules or (ii) genetically programmed processes. Much evidence has been accumulated in favor of a normal genetic program being responsible for expression of the senescent phenotype. Its converse, immortalization, is an essential step in the full transformation of cells to tumorigenicity (O'Brien, W. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:8659-8663 (1986)) and in fact it has been proposed that cellular senescence is a mechanism for tumor suppression in human cells (Sager, R., Science 246:1406-1412 (1989)). Hybrids obtained from the fusion of normal cells with immortal cells have limited division potential (Bunn, C. L., et al., Exper. Cell Res. 127:385-396 (1980); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Science 221:964-966 (1983); Muggleton-Harris, A. et al., Somat. Cell Genet. 6:689-698 (1980)) indicating that the phenotype of cellular senescence is dominant and immortality results from recessive changes in normal regulatory genes. Further, fusion of different immortal human cells with each other yields in some case hybrids which exhibit limited division potential while the fusion of other pairs of immortal cells yields immortal hybrids (Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Science 221:964-966 (1983)). Such complementation assays have led to the assignment of 30 immortal human cell lines to four complementation groups (Ning, Y. et al., Mutat Res. 256:303-310 (1991); Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85: 6042-6046 (1988)). Microcell mediated chromosome transfer studies have defined chromosomes 1 and 4 as carriers of senescence genes; the nature and the function of these genes remains to be defined (Ning, Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:5635-5639 (1991)).
Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al. demonstrated that pairwise fusions between different immortalized cells occasionally resulted in hybrids that had lost their capacity to proliferate (Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 85:6042-6046 (1988)). By systematically conducting a pairwise analysis, four complementation groups were identified (A, B, C, and D). The fusion of cells having the same complementation group created hybrids that maintained the immortalized character of the parental cells. In contrast, when immortalized cells of different complementation groups were fused, the normal genes of one parent "complemented" the deficient mutant genes of the other, and the resulting hybrids became senescent. This discovery suggested the possibility that a small number of undefined and unidentified genes or pathways might control the ability of a cell to proliferate (Pereira-Smith, O. M. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 85:6042-6046 (1988)).
A capacity to readily determine the complementation group of a tumor cell would provide a valuable means for assessing the severity of the disease, and thus aid in determining the aggressiveness that must be used to treat the cancer. Moreover, a sensitive means for discerning tumor cells in micro-tumors, or for determining whether a tumor contains different classes of tumor cells would greatly be of great assistance in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The present invention provides such methods.

Mortalin and methods for determining complementation group assignment of cancer cells


The object of the present invention is to provide a solenoid control valve simple in construction and low in cost, realized by reducing the number of component parts, eliminating screw-joined portions, and minimizing the use of rubber O rings. A valve hole of a pilot valve, a hole of a bearing for supporting one end of a shaft of a solenoid, and a fitting hole in which is fitted one end of a sleeve, are formed along the same axis in a body. This makes it possible to accurately establish the concentricity of movable components of the solenoid when the sleeve is fitted in the fitting hole, and hence, a pilot valve element can be integrally formed with the shaft. Set values for a main valve and the pilot valve are adjusted by adjusting the amounts of insertions of a press-fit member and a bearing by press-fitting. At the same time, a space below a piston and an end of a hole through a core are closed by the press-fit members and the solenoid and the body are joined to each other by caulking a yoke to thereby eliminate screw portions, and minimize rubber sealed portions.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solenoid control valve, and more particularly to a pilot-operated solenoid control valve for controlling a flow rate of refrigerant such that a differential pressure across the valve becomes equal to a differential pressure set by a solenoid.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A refrigeration cycle e.g. of an automotive air conditioning system is known which condenses or cools high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant compressed by a compressor by a condenser or gas cooler, changes the condensed or cooled refrigerant into low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant by a pressure-reducing device, evaporates the low-temperature refrigerant by an evaporator, separates the evaporated refrigerant into gas and liquid by an accumulator, and returns gaseous refrigerant obtained by the separation to the compressor. As the pressure-reducing device of the system, a pilot-operated solenoid control valve is used which is capable of controlling a flow rate of refrigerant by an electric current externally supplied.
The conventional pilot-operated solenoid control valve is comprised of a body containing a main valve and a pilot valve, and a solenoid for actuating the pilot valve. The solenoid is configured such that a shaft supporting a plunger is supported by two-point support at both ends thereof so as to prevent the plunger from sliding on the sleeve containing the same. To this end, bearings supporting the shaft are arranged on the same axis as that of the sleeve, and designed such that a clearance between the bearings and the shaft is small, with a view to prevention of the shaft from being inclined. A hysteresis characteristic exhibited when an electric current supplied to the solenoid is increased and decreased is reduced by the above configuration.
On the other hand, the pilot valve arranged in the body includes, for instance, a ball-shaped pilot valve element. This pilot valve element is held on an end of the shaft supported by the body in a manner movable forward and backward. The driving force of the solenoid is transmitted to the pilot valve element via the shaft of the solenoid and the shaft of the pilot valve.
Here, in the above solenoid control valve, to transmit the driving force of the solenoid to the pilot valve element, two shafts are interposed between the solenoid and the pilot valve. This is for the following reason: On the solenoid side, to support the plunger in a manner movable forward and backward on the same axis as that of the sleeve, it is necessary to arrange two bearings on the same axis as that of the sleeve. Further, when the solenoid is joined to the body containing the main valve and the pilot valve, since the axis of the shaft of the solenoid and the axis of the shaft of the pilot valve are not accurately aligned with each other, the shaft is divided for absorbing the misalignment of the respective axes of the shafts at the divided portions, so as to subsequently transmit the driving force of the solenoid to the pilot valve.
Further, in the conventional solenoid control valve, the assembly of component parts and adjustment thereof are carried out by using screws, and sealing thereof is effected by using rubber O rings. For instance, the solenoid and the body have fitting portions formed with screw threads, and they are joined to each other by screwing the solenoid into the body. Further, a set value for the solenoid control valve is adjusted by adjusting the load of a spring urging the main valve. This adjustment is normally carried out by adjusting the amount of screwing of an adjusting screw. Similarly, in the solenoid as well, the load of a spring urging the plunger in a direction away from a core is adjusted by adjusting the amount of screwing of an adjusting screw receiving one end of the spring.
In the conventional solenoid control valve, however, the solenoid is configured such that the hysteresis is reduced by its own configuration, and when the solenoid is screwed into the body, the shaft holding the pilot valve element is driven by the shaft of the solenoid. To realize the above construction, it is necessary to provide a portion for receiving the bearing for supporting one end of the shaft of the solenoid, and portions of the solenoid and the body via which the solenoid screwed into the body to connect them. Further, to transmit the force of the solenoid to the pilot valve element, it is necessary to provide two shafts. Thus, an increased number of component parts is required, which increases the manufacturing costs of the solenoid control valve.
Further, the portions of the solenoid and the body via which they are joined, and portions of the body and the solenoid in which adjusting screws for adjusting the loads of the springs are inserted require machining of screws, which hinders reduction of the manufacturing costs of the solenoid control valve.
Further, although the above joining portions are sealed by rubber O rings, it is known that refrigerant permeates the rubber O rings to leak outside the sealed portions depending on the refrigerant used. Therefore, there is a demand for minimizing the use of rubber O rings for sealing.