A calibrated torquing wrench that can be set to a predetermined value and upon reaching this torque by the rotation of the wrench will release the gear (28), spring (34) engagement and will allow the wrench to free-wheel for a small angle before re-engagement of the gear (28) and spring (34). The wrench will then endlessly rotate and repeat the predetermined value without exceeding the setting.

This invention relates to a torque yielding wrench used to apply a predetermined torque value to an object work element which may be a bolt, nut, fastener or the like and upon reaching this value will disengage without exceeding this setting.
The importance in industry of a precision wrench which will mechanically limit the amount of turning moment or torque is well known to persons familiar with the general requirements of mechanical fabrication, assembly, service, repair or inspection. Further, there is the requirement for a wrench that, without exceeding this preset value, will upon its attainment disengage the loading system of the wrench from a socket or other connecting member, and upon further rotation will only repeat the cycle of increasing from no-load to predetermined load, and will have the ability to produce this effect through a wide torque range for a series of varying sizes or of loading in subject work fasteners.
Heretofore, mechanical preset spring actuated torque applying wrenches have normally had their actuating springs continuously maintained in a loaded condition throughout their life. This period of existence in a constantly stressed form has had a tendency to shorten the life span by progressive failure and spring crystallization, and require frequent recalibration. Other problems have been their multiplicity of parts and the requirement of high precision in fabrication.
Various inventors have created numerous modifications and variations to achieve a torquing wrench capable of obtaining preset values. U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,187 to Van Hoose (1964) discloses a torque limiting wrench that has a torsion bar and sliding clamp to change the wrench's effective length but is highly complex. U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,286 to Larson (1966) is a preset torque measuring device that uses a split shank of a non-common hand wrench material that must be precisely reproduced, will operate over a limited range and has a working mechanism open to the intrusion of foreign materials such as grease, particles, etc., with the possible modification of the setting or complete failure of the wrench. U.S. Pat. No. 1,512,192 to Benko (1924) is a preset device that uses a lever arm, a pawl member with a sliding mounted spring that applies a varying load to a toothed wheel, and with the difficult ability to consistently reproduce an accurate value. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,734,412 to Orner (1956), 3,003,378 to Hotchner (1961), 2,427,153 to Mossberg (1947), and 2,674,108 to Latimer (1954) have a similarity of intent but widely varying complex systems.


An implantable medical device comprises an enclosure, a first plurality of electrical contacts disposed within the enclosure, at least a first electrical component secured within the enclosure, a second plurality of electrical contacts on the first electrical component, and a terminal array for providing electrical coupling between the first and second plurality of electrical contacts. The terminal array comprises a housing having a plurality of apertures therethrough, the housing having a first side and a second opposite side. Each of a plurality of conductive terminals is positioned within one of the plurality of apertures and has a first contact region proximate the first side of the housing and a second contact region proximate the second side of the housing. The first contact region is electrically coupled to one of the first plurality of electrical contacts, and the second contact region is electrically coupled to one of the second plurality of contacts.

Implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neuro-stimulators, and the like are generally deployed in a housing comprising two metal halves forming a "clam shell" assembly. Electrical communication to external sensing electrodes and/or therapy delivery electrodes is often accomplished by means of a rigid plastic connecting module fixed to an outer portion of the housing. One or more feed-through connectors permit electrical communication to and from the electrical components or circuitry contained within the housing while at the same time maintaining the hermeticity of the device.
The construction of such implantable medical devices using the above described basic architecture oftentimes requires complex manufacturing operations which increase costs, lower yields, and limit design freedom. One such operation includes providing the electrical contacts and interconnections between components such as batteries, capacitors, and feed-throughs with internally deployed hybrid circuitry formed on substrates such as printed wiring boards (PWBs), flex substrates, ceramic substrates, and the like. That is, the substrates are not directly compatible with welding or wire-bonding. In the case of welding the substrate metalization and even the substrate itself may be damaged due to their respective low melting points. For example, in the case of a PWB or flex substrate, the epoxy glass or polyimide would melt if an attempt were made to weld directly to the plated metal. Ceramic substrates may also be damaged by the rapid local heating. While wire-bonding to the metalization of a PWB or flex circuit is possible, a gold finish is required and solder splatter is possible. Furthermore, the use of a gold finish can cause brittle solder joints.
It is well known that the trend towards smaller device sizes requires smaller and more closely spaced interconnect terminals. Unfortunately, this presents certain problems. First, components can "swim" or "float" on solder pads during the soldering process resulting in non-uniform component spacing and excessive tilting with respect to the PWB surface. This variation must be kept to a minimum to achieve minimum electrical separation and bond/weld variations induced by the angle of their terminal bond/weld surface. Additionally, as the size of the individual terminals or contacts continues to shrink, the terminals are difficult to manage with current pick-and-place surface-mount assembly equipment.
One approach currently being used involves the soldering of individual, gold-plated terminal blocks to the hybrid substrate. Electrical coupling to these blocks is then made by welding or wire-bonding. In addition, the use of individually placed surface-mount solder buttons is known. These approaches, however, still suffer from the above described disadvantages. The use of a ceramic block array provides for multiple connections to a hybrid circuit with consistent terminal spacing and protection from solder wicking to the bond surface; i.e. solder migrating up the side, and in some cases to the top. Unfortunately, the impedance through each terminal from one surface to the other surface results in large voltage drops at high currents.
In view of the forgoing, it should be appreciated that it would desirable to provide a surface-mount solderable terminal assembly that provides weldable and/or wire bondable surfaces for electrically connecting the components of a hybrid circuit to other components such as batteries, capacitors, feed-throughs, etc. which is cost effective and which provides for reduced spacing between contacts while at the same time avoiding the disadvantages and problems described above. Additional desirable features will become apparent to one skilled in the art from the foregoing background of the invention and following detailed description of a preferred exemplary embodiment and appended claims.

Implantable medical device including a surface-mount terminal array


Slotted floor sections formed of reinforced concrete and commonly referred to as gang slats, that underlie and serve to support farrowing crates within a farrowing house, are provided with conduit means embeddedly built in the gang slats for circulation of a heated fluid through side sections of the gang slat for maintaining surfaces of the side sections in a warm condition conductive to promoting a healthy litter of newborn pigs, and wherein additional conduit means are embeddedly built in a central section of the gang slat so as to concurrently aid in maintaining surfaces of the central section in a cool condition conducive to the health of the sow.

As the swine production industry has evolved from the status of a supplement to farm income to that of a major enterprise with production in intensified units, modern confinement facilities for the hogs and pigs have been developed. These facilities require the application of increasingly refined principles of breeding, nutrition, physiology, and environmental control so that the hogs can be developed to economically produce the maximum quality products. With respect to swine management, the primary object is to minimize environmental factors which are adverse to the swine so as to provide maximum opportunity for survival and growth.
Particularly during farrowing, a large number of pigs in the litter fail to survive for finishing or breeding as a result of crushing by the sow, infections, or starvation. Thus, climatically controlled farrowing houses or facilities with specially adapted farrowing pens have been employed to minimize the losses from the litter. Typically, the sow is confined within a central pen portion of the farrowing pen or crate, which is only large enough to permit her to recline on her side. Side pens of the farrowing crate adjacent each side of the central pen accommodate the litter, and a divider forming the adjacent sides of the central and side pens prevents the sow from entering the side pens and injuring the litter. The pigs in the litter, however, can obtain access to the sow for feeding by passing under the divider, and thereby, the pigs can move to either side of the sow as is required.
In the usual arrangement for an animal shelter of this farrowing house type, two rows of pens are provided along the length of the shelter, with the pens placed in a side-by-side arrangement adjacent each other. A center aisle between the rows provides access to the pens, and side aisles at the rear of the pens can also be included. The flooring of the shelter, which supports the pens and animals, is typically raised above the ground surface so as to form a pit beneath the flooring. Furthermore, the flooring is usually slotted to permit passage of the animals' waste through to the pit below. The slotted floors not only reduce or practically eliminate floor cleaning, but also greatly retard the spread of disease and parasites by allowing the rapid removal of excrement from the pens. Additionally, the slotted floor is an essential component in controlling the atmospheric environment of the farrowing house, in that air is circulated downwardly through the slots to control the temperature and diffusion of odors.
The survival and development of both the litter and sow within a confinement facility of this type is dependent on proper control of ambient temperatures within the facility. A newborn pig is dependent on supplemental heat from the environment since it is incapable of maintaining its own body temperature. On the other hand, sows must be protected from exposure to high temperatures, since they have very limited ability to dissipate body heat by sweating. Typically, it is desirable to maintain a temperature of 80.degree. F. for newborn pigs, while the surrounding temperature for the sow is preferably maintained at 65.degree. F. Thus, any supplemental heat provided for the litter can adversely affect the sow if exposure to the heat occurs. Similarly, if the sow is cooled in order to promote the health of the sow, exposure of the litter to the cooler temperatures could endanger the survival of the newborn pigs.
Prior methods of supplying supplemental heat for the litter have incorporated independent heating systems that direct radiant or convective heat toward the litter. Thus, in some facilities, heat lamps are positioned above the litter or pen in which the litter is contained. The inefficiency or radiant and convective heat supplied in this manner diminishes the economy of production. Furthermore, supplemental heat provided in this manner is not easily controlled to maintain the desirable temperature, and inadvertent heating of the sows cannot always be avoided.
Other methods of supplying supplemental heat to the litter have incorporated systems for heating the entire farrowing house. As shown in U.S. Patent to Jones et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,271, U.S. Patent to Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,230, U.S. Patent to Becker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,550, and U.S. Patent to Jones et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,014, these heating systems adapt the flooring of the facility for circulation of a heated fluid through the flooring whereby heat is supplied by conduction and radiation. In a typical construction there is provided a slotted floor composed of individual slats positioned in a parallel spaced arrangement and supported at their opposite ends. The slats, which have been formed from precast concrete, aluminum, and thermoplastic materials, include conduits that are embedded within each individual slat for circulation of a heated fluid through the slat. The conduits are interconnected to form a continuous system, and thereby to complete surface of the flooring is heated as heat is conducted from the fluid. These systems do not allow selective heating of the litter alone, and detrimental heating of the sow cannot be avoided.
Heretofore, the provision of a moderate temperature for the sow has either been neglected or provided by cooling the entire farrowing house when inside temperatures regularly exceeded extremely warm conditions. One method for cooling the facility was to circulate air through pens, and toward that end, the slotted floors allowed circulation of air around the pigs and down through the floor. In another method as illustrated in the above-noted patent to Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,271, flooring systems for animal shelters were developed whereby a coolant could be circulated through the flooring to reduce the temperatures within the facility. These systems were therefore limited to either heating or cooling, and the sow and litter would necessarily be maintained at the same temperature. Simultaneous heating of the litter and cooling of the sow was not possible, so that the preferred temperatures could not be provided.
Furthermore, construction of the flooring for farrowing houses or facilities has been substantially simplified in recent years with the development of floor sections containing a plurality of slats and which are integrally formed by casting reinforced concrete. A representative product of this type is shown in U.S. Patent to Stevenson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,334. These integral floor sections are commonly referred to as gang slats. The gang slats are supported at opposite ends on the peripheral and center walls of the farrowing house in a manner similar to the installation of the individual slats, but there is an additional advantage in that installation is convenient. So far as can be determined, no one has heretofore provided any type of built-in heating or cooling means with gang slats and with which this invention is particularly concerned.

Slotted floor section with built-in means adapted for concurrently heating litter and cooling sow in farrowing house


In soldering an electronic component, for the purpose of leading molten solder during re-flow, metallic powder 8 is mixed into flux employed so as to intervene between a bump and an electrode. The metallic powder 8 has a flake or dendrite shape including a core segment 8a of the metal molten at a higher temperature than the liquid phase temperature of solder constituting a solder bump and a surface segment 8b of the metal with good-wettability for the molten solder and to be solid-solved in the core segment 8a molten. In the heating by the re-flow, the metallic powder remaining in the flux without being taken in a solder portion is molten and solidified to become substantially spherical metallic particles 18. Thus, after the re-flow, the metallic powder does not remain in a flux residue in a state where migration is likely to occur, thereby combining both solder connectivity and insurance of insulation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for soldering an electronic component on a substrate and a soldering structure of the electronic component.
2. Related Art
As a method for mounting an electronic component on a substrate, traditionally, soldering has been widely employed. The manner of soldering includes various techniques such as a method of forming a metallic bump serving as a connecting electrode formed on the electronic component by soldering and a method of "solder-precoating" of forming a solder layer on the electrode surface of the substrate. In recent years, from the point of view of environmental protection, in the above soldering, "lead-free solder" containing a least quantity of harmful lead has been adopted.
The lead-free solder is greatly different from the lead-series solder conventionally employed in their composition. Therefore, as regards the flux employed in a soldering process, the flux conventionally generally employed cannot be adopted as it is. Specifically, the conventional flux has an insufficient activating operation so that removal of an oxidation film on a solder surface is insufficient. Thus, it is difficult to assure good solder-wettability. For such solder having inferior solder-wettability, the flux having the composition in which metallic power of the metal with excellent solder-wettability such as silver is mixed has been proposed (for example, see JP-A-2000-31210). By using such flux, the solder molten in a re-flow process can be wet-spread along the surface of the metallic powder in the flux so that the solder molten can be led to an electrode which is a connecting target.
However, in the flux disclosed in the above Patent Reference, as the case may be, the following inconvenience has occurred according to the contents of the metallic powder. The mainstream in recent years is a non-cleaning technique in which cleaning for eliminating the flux component is not carried out after the soldering. Therefore, after the re-flow, the flux component remains as a residue deposited around a soldered portion. So the metallic powder contained in the flux also remains around the soldered portion.
At this time, if a large quantity of metallic powder remains, poor insulation due to migration may occur. In this case, if the contents of the metallic powder are reduced in order to prevent the poor insulation, the effect of leading the molten solder by the metallic powder in the re-flow process is lowered. As a result, the solder-connectivity was deteriorated. Particularly, in the soldering for manufacturing a semiconductor device by stacking a package component with semiconductor elements packaged in a resin substrate, a gap is likely to occur between the bump to be soldered and an electrode owing to warping of the resin substrate. As a result, poor connection due to solder-wettability occurred with high frequency. As described above, the conventional soldering method using the flux containing the metallic powder has a problem that it is difficult to combine the maintenance of solder-connectivity and assurance of insulation.

Method for soldering electronic component and soldering structure of electronic component


This disclosure pertains to a composite fiber mat for producing a support plate for a motor vehicle component, wherein at least a first subarea of the composite fiber mat is provided with at least one reinforcing seam.

Composite fiber materials and, in particular, composite fiber mats are becoming more and more popular as starting materials for support components in motor vehicles. A composite fiber material generally consists of two main components, namely an embedding matrix and reinforcing fibers, wherein the interaction between these two components makes it possible to achieve properties that are superior to those of other composite materials, for example with respect to stability and low weight. The matrix of the composite fiber mat largely determines the appearance of the composite fiber mat and mechanically holds in position the reinforcing fibers, as well as transmits and distributes tensions between the fibers. The matrix may further protect the fibers from external mechanical and chemical influences. The fibers provide the composite fiber mat with the required strength. They absorb mechanical stresses and provide the material with tensile strength, compressive strength and bending strength.
The composite fiber material may be compressed and formed in a pressing tool in a preheated state in order to produce a preform or semifinished product that can be processed into a support plate of a motor vehicle component in further processing steps. These further processing steps may include, for example, laminating a cover layer on the component, forming the component to its final three-dimensional shape and integrally attaching other components.
Preforms of multilayer fiber mats as described, for example, in DE 10 2010 041 179 A1, DE 10 2012 021 738 A1 and EP 2 246 180 A2. The composite fiber mats described in these documents are produced of several layers that are bonded or sewn together.
In motor vehicle components, locally different stresses occur in different regions of the components during their production and use. During the production of the components, the occurring tensile and bending stresses may be higher in certain locally limited regions than in other regions due to the three-dimensional shaping of the support plate. Locally different stresses can also occur during the use of the component. On an interior door panel, for example, the region of the door handle or the region of the map pocket is subjected to higher tensile forces than other regions. On a cargo floor, higher stresses can be expected to occur in the central, well accessible region than on the edges. In case of a collision, the probability of a high compressive point load is also higher in certain regions of the motor vehicle component than in other regions, for example in the region of the dashboard compared to the front passenger seat or certain parts of the car body.
It may therefore be desirable to locally reinforce support components of the motor vehicle without increasing the overall weight of the motor vehicle component or at least without thereby increasing the weight more than necessary.

Composite fiber mat for producing a support plate for a motor vehicle component and method for manufacturing the same

International Automotive Components Group, GmbH


A process for regenerating catalyst particles is disclosed. The process includes the steps: (a) withdrawing a regeneration zone effluent comprising halogen from a regeneration zone, wherein the regeneration zone contains catalyst particles comprising halogen; (b) contacting a first portion of the regeneration zone effluent with adsorbent in a first adsorption zone, removing halogen from the first portion of the regeneration zone effluent, and withdrawing from the first adsorption zone a first adsorption zone effluent; (c) contacting the first adsorption zone effluent with a water removing material to create a first water-depleted stream; and (d) passing the first water-depleted stream to the regeneration zone. Other embodiments include different orders of the steps.

Numerous hydrocarbon conversion processes are widely used to alter the structure or properties of hydrocarbon streams. Such processes include isomerization from straight chain paraffinic or olefinic hydrocarbons to more highly branched hydrocarbons, dehydrogenation for producing olefinic or aromatic compounds, reforming to produce aromatics and motor fuels, alkylation to produce commodity chemicals and motor fuels, transalkylation, and others.
Many such processes use catalysts to promote hydrocarbon conversion reactions. These catalysts tend to deactivate for a variety of reasons, including the deposition of coke upon the catalyst, and/or loss of catalytic metal promoters such as halogens. Consequently, these catalysts are typically reactivated in a process called regeneration. Regeneration can include, among other things, removing coke from the catalyst by burning (combustion), and replenishing catalytic promoters such as halogens on the catalyst, and drying the catalyst.
One of the problems during regeneration of halogen-containing catalysts is the loss of halogen from the catalyst. This happens when catalyst particles are contacted with gases that, while regenerating the catalyst particles, tend also to remove halogen from the catalyst particles. Therefore, processes have been developed for returning a halogen to catalyst particles undergoing regeneration. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,391 discloses a method for regenerating catalyst particles wherein chlorine-containing vent gas from a catalyst regenerator is sent to an adsorption/desorption system to recover the chlorine, and the recovered chlorine is passed back to the catalyst regenerator.
Water can build up in the circulating gas, and if using a catalyst sensitive to moisture, then moisture reduction becomes desirable.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved process for the regeneration of halogen-containing catalysts wherein excess moisture can be removed from the process streams of the catalyst regeneration system.

Process for regenerating catalyst particles


A propulsion device of the ship includes a port side screw propeller; and a starboard side screw propeller provided in a forward or backward direction in a longitudinal direction of the ship from the port side screw propeller, such that a part of propeller wings of the starboard side screw propeller overlaps with propeller wings of the port side screw propeller. One of the port side screw propeller and the starboard side screw propeller, which is on a forward side in a longitudinal direction of the ship, is the forward screw propeller, and the other is the backward screw propeller. The forward screw propeller has a wing shape by which tip vortex cavitation is more difficult to be generated by the forward screw propeller than the backward screw propeller.

As an example of a propulsion device of a ship, a system of single-engine single-axis (one main engine and one propeller) and a system of twin-engine twin-axis (two main engines and two propellers) are known. As the propulsion device of a general commercial ship, the single-engine single-axis system and the twin-engine twin-axis system are often adopted. The ship which adopts the former is called a single-screw ship, and the ship which adopts the latter is called a twin-screw ship.
Also, in recent years, as the ship becomes larger in size, problems are caused such as the lowering of propulsive efficiency in accompaniment with increase of a load to a screw propeller, and the increase of hull vibration and the occurrence of erosion in accompaniment with extension of a cavitation range in the single-screw ship. It is known that these problems can be solved by the twin-screw ship. In the twin-screw ship, loading one propeller is reduced to improve the propeller efficiency and the occurrence range of the cavitation can be narrowed.
As an example that two screw propellers are provided at the stern of a ship, an overlapping propeller (OLP) type, an interlock propeller type, a two-propeller parallel arrangement type, and so on are known. In the OLP type, two propellers are arranged to be displaced in a forward or backward direction, such that the two propellers are overlap each other when viewed from the stern. The propulsion efficiency can be improved by 5-10% in the OLP type of ship, compared with that of the single-screw ship. Also, in the interlock propeller type of ship, the propellers are arranged such that each wing of one screw propeller appears between the wings of the other propeller. In the two-propeller parallel arrangement type of ship, the two propellers are arranged symmetrically in parallel to each other in a longitudinal direction of the ship.
Here, when two screw propellers are arranged in the stern structure of a single-screw ship (having a skeg type of stern in which a stern central portion is made thin to bring the propellers close to each other), it is desirable from the viewpoint of a slow water flow near the hull centerline and longitudinal vortices such as bilge vortices that the propellers are arranged in the neighborhood of the hull centerline. In the propeller position of a usual single-screw ship, the longitudinal vortices of a slow water flow, which are such as a pair of the bilge vortices symmetrical with respect to the hull centerline and rotating into an inboard direction, are generated in the stern. Because the propeller is designed to have a high efficiency in the slow flow, the propulsion efficiency can be improved by rotating the propeller near the longitudinal vortices and collecting the slow flow and the longitudinal vortices in the neighborhood of the hull centerline. In case of the OLP type of ship, the outboard direction is often adopted as the rotation direction of the propeller, in order to collect the longitudinal vortices near the hull center efficiently for improvement of propulsion performance.
For example, in Patent Literature 1 (WO2006/095774), a technique is disclosed in which the propeller loading and the generation cavitation can be reduced when using the OLP structure for the stern portion of a single-screw ship.

Propulsion device and ship using the same


A wall cabinet and method for constructing the same is disclosed wherein vacuum formed, heat fusible polymeric sheet material is used to provide a one-piece body portion and a sealed, hollow door portion. The body portion is provided with an integral mounting flange including perpendicularly extending hinge leaves for pivotal mounting of the door portion. Construction of the hollow, sealed door portion enables two separate sheets of polymeric material to be vacuum formed simultaneously and bonded together along a peripheral seam having a thickness substantially less than two sheets in a manner not distracting from the appearance of the door. Assembly of the body portion and door portion is provided by threading studs into the hinge leaves through vertically opposed corners of one side of the door panel. A latching mechanism is provided between the mounting flange of the body portion and the inside surface of the door panel.

The present invention relates to a wall cabinet for storage of articles therein and, more particularly, to a vacuum formed, heat fusible sheet material cabinet structure having a unitary body portion and a sealed, hollow door pivotally secured to the body portion.
There exists a large variety of wall cabinets for selection by consumers to serve numerous purposes, such as medicine cabinets, vanities and storage. These wall cabinets mount either on or in a wall of a building and may be constructed of wood, metal or plastic. A consumer, upon considering acquisition of such a wall cabinet, is primarily concerned with looks, weight, structural integrity and price of the unit. It is well known that in recent years plastic materials have been used in construction of an increasing number of articles for consumer use, including wall cabinets. The increasing use of plastics, more particularly polymeric compositions, is a result of the increase in cost of raw materials, such as steel and wood, and the costs of machinery and labor involved in manufacturing articles from the heretofore more conventional materials. The use of plastics results in reducing the weight of a cabinet and thus facilitates handling and installing thereof. At the same time, however, structural integrity is a problem with plastic materials, and previous plastic cabinet constructions and the manufacturing costs in connection with molds and dies for forming cabinet parts and assembly procedures for the parts have not enabled providing a low cost plastic cabinet without sacrificing aesthetics and/or structural integrity.
More particularly with regard to previous efforts to produce plastic wall cabinets, one-piece cabinet bodies such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,741 to Litner have been produced by deep drawing plastic sheet material or injection molding. While a light weight cabinet body can be produced in this manner, the cost of die components for injection molding or deep drawing are extremely expensive, and it is difficult to mold or die shape plastic sheet material free of surface defects which detract from the appearance of the end product. Moreover, the provision of such a cabinet body with a door or closure requires the use of hinge components suitably secured to the door and cabinet body, thus increasing the component parts to be assembled to complete the cabinet and the time required to complete the assembly, all of which further increase the cost of the cabinet unit. While the provision of hinge components integral with injection molded cabinet body and door components, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,764 to Goldfarb, may reduce the assembly time insofar as the cabinet body and door are concerned, such integral hinge structures will further increase the cost of the molds for the body and door components and will require the reasonably accurate boring of the aligned pin openings in the hinge components following the molding operation, thus offsetting the savings and assembly time.
With further regard to previous plastic wall cabinet constructions, the door or closure components thereof have not been constructed so as to promote all of the desired characteristics mentioned above, namely an attractive appearance, low manufacturing and assembly costs, light weight construction and structural integrity. In this respect, for example, the provision of a door frame and mirror assembly such as shown in the patent to Goldfarb is expensive and produces a heavy door component which imposes considerable stress on the plastic material of the cabinet body, hinges and door frame during opening and closing of the door. Accordingly, a relatively heavy plastic construction for the walls of the cabinet body and the hinge components is required to minimize the potential breakage or distortion of the plastic material as a result of the imposition of such forces. Such a heavy construction of course increases the cost of the end product without achieving the desired light weight construction. A planar cabinet door, such as that suggested by the disclosure of the patent to Litner, could be light weight if made of plastic. However, such a planar door would more than likely lack structural integrity as a result of flexibility thereof and would provide a less than desirable attractiveness.
The best combination of aesthetics, lightness of weight and structural integrity for a cabinet door would be provided by a hollow door construction comprised of front and back walls, one or both of which would be contoured for purposes of aesthetics and structural integrity, and which walls would be suitably interconnected with one another about the periphery of the door. A number of different methods could be employed to construct such a hollow door. In this respect, for example, two plastic sheets could be preformed by molding or die shaping to provide pan-shaped components having telescopically interengaging flanges which would be suitably bonded to one another. Production of a door in this manner would be extremely expensive in light of the cost of molds or dies for forming the wall components and/or the time and effort required to form and then secure the components together. Additionally, as pointed out hereinabove, injection molding and die shaping can produce defects in the surface of the plastic material. It is also well known to produce hollow plastic objects by introducing plastic sheets between contoured molds and blowing or drawing the sheets into contact therewith while peripherally bonding the sheets laterally adjacent the juncture of the mold cavities. While the molds and equipment for such vacuum or blow shaping is less expensive than injection molding or die shaping equipment, whereby production by vacuum or blow molding would be more economical, the latter methods produce a laterally extending seam in the area of juncture between the plastic sheets. Such a laterally projecting seam would be visible about the periphery of a cabinet door produced in this manner, and the time and effort required to finish the seam after forming the sheets in order to produce an acceptable appearance in the seam area would offset the savings achieved by producing the hollow door in this manner. Furthermore, efforts to minimize the unattractive appearance of the seam such as by removing the laterally projecting portions of the plastic sheets cannot, with reasonable efforts, mask the existence of the seam and, more importantly, result in weakening the bonded juncture between the sheets and thus the structural integrity of the hollow panel. It will be appreciated in connection with a light weight plastic cabinet door which is repeatedly opened and closed that flexure of the plastic material would promote separation of the sheets in the seam area therebetween.


A versatile unitary electrode splice cap for insulating and weatherproofing the splice connection between a neon tube electrode and its associated power cable in a neon sign system. The cap is useful both in "straight-on" and "double-back" installations.

A neon tube electrode, especially those used in modern advertising signs, often must be mounted outdoors where it is subject to a variety of adverse weather conditions. The electrical connection between each tube electrode and its associated power cable such as GTO cable, requires protection from moisture and other adverse components of the environment. If these connections are not properly covered, the useful life of the sign will decrease and hazardous shorts can occur which create a safety hazard at the site of such signage.
Another problem associated with the installation of outdoor electrical signs arises from close quarters which require that the power cable be doubled back over itself in order to complete a particular installation without "black spots" in the continuity of the message. Often such doubling back causes the insulating cover of the cable to crack whereupon the power cable becomes exposed and creates a potentially serious safety hazard.
The prior art proposed electrode housings to provide some measure of protection for splices used in the connection of neon tube electrodes to a power supply. However, such electrode housings can only be used in a limited number of situations and provide no substantial benefits to the installer when circumstances require a cable to be doubled back to assure continuity of the intended display.
Thus a need still exists for an electrode cap which is simple to install and which will provide a foolproof weatherproof cover for the spliced connection between a power cable and the neon tube electrode in the installation of neon signage. It is toward this need that the present disclosure is directed.

Weatherproof electrode splice cap for neon sign systems


Semantic-based processing techniques are disclosed. Semantic processing of content data comprising a content item is performed. A semantic processing-triggered event is triggered based at least in part on the semantic processing. A responsive action is performed in response to the event. The responsive action may include launching a business process, providing a result of semantic processing as an input, or augmenting a content item metadata set with a result of semantic processing.

Enterprise content management platforms, such as EMC Documentum®, provide the ability to define business event based processing, e.g., by defining a conditional expression based on a business dynamic data model, and an action associated with it, such as starting a process or compiling a report. Such platforms typically enable an event definition to include an indication of contextual data to provide as input to a triggered business process, or to capture in a report. However, the data that satisfies the conditional expression and/or is provided as input in existing system has been limited to existing attributes of a current context data object, for example.


Titanium dioxide pigment prepared by the high pressure (e.g., 10-200 PSIG) oxidation of TiCl.sub.4 vapor is improved with respect to carbon black undertone, specific surface area, and gloss properties by the addition of a nucleant consisting essentially of a cesium substance which is present in the amount of about 8-2,000 parts per million, based on the weight of the TiO.sub.2. The foregoing process is also used wherein the residence time of the reactants in the mixing zone of the reactor is about 1-16 milliseconds.

The preparation of pigmentary titanium dioxide by oxidizing titanium tetrachloride in the vapor state with an oxygen-containing gas is well known. Useful procedures therefore include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,488,439; 2,488,440; 2,559,638; and 2,833,627.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,488,439 and 2,488,440 also disclose that the addition of small, controlled amounts of water or hydrogenous water formers to the TiCl.sub.4 or oxidizing gas reactants promotes nucleation and production of a high quality pigment having a high carbon black undertone or CBU. CBU is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,488,440 (which is hereby incorporated by reference) and is a measure of particle size. The higher the carbon black undertone, the smaller the particle size and the higher the quality of the pigment for many applications. However, at increased oxygen concentrations and a corresponding allowable increase in reactor throughput, water becomes a less effective nucleant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,866 discloses generally an improvement in the production of TiO.sub.2 pigment by the oxidation of TiCl.sub.4 which comprises utilizing a metal ion nucleant selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, lithium, rubidium, cesium, calcium, barium, strontium and cerium. In accordance with such patent, incorporating the nucleant results in improved bulk density and carbon black undertone. Such patent also discloses that potassium chloride is preferred and that cesium chloride is less active than potasium chloride.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,091 describes another improvement in the production of TiO.sub.2 pigment by the oxidation of TiCl.sub.4 which comprises conducting the reaction at a pressure of about 20-400 pounds per square inch gage, in the presence of AlCl.sub.3. In accordance with such patent, the resulting TiO.sub.2 exhibits improved resistance to chalking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,745 discloses a process for producing agglomerated pigmentary TiO.sub.2 by vapor phase oxidation of titanium halide in a reaction chamber at elevated temperatures in the presence of minor amounts of (1) an alkali metal, water soluble inorganic compounds of alkali metals or water insoluble organic compounds of alkali metals, (2) an auxiliary gas, and (3) minor amounts of water.
In modern processes for the production of TiO.sub.2 by the oxidation of TiCl.sub.4, potassium chloride is generally the preferred nucleant. Also in such modern processes, TiO.sub.2 often is produced in reactors (1) operating at high pressures to reduce process equipment size and lower investment, and/or (2) having a short residence time of the reactants in the mixing zone of the reactor to increase product output. At such high pressures and/or short residence times, however, it appears that the effectiveness of potassium chloride (especially with respect to carbon black undertone, gloss and specific surface areas) can be reduced. In addition, this reduction in effectiveness generally is apparent even if the concentration of potassium chloride is increased. Consequently, despite the above advances in TiO.sub.2 production technology, there exists a need for a nucleant which produces increased TiO.sub.2 carbon black undertone, specific surface area and gloss properties while operating at high pressures, short residence times of the reactants in the mixing zone of the reactor or both conditions. It should be noted that there is an increasing need for such TiO.sub.2 pigment because modern end uses increasingly require these properties.


An information processing method, implemented by a mobile terminal including a touch display and rendering a graphic user interface on the touch display, content presented on the graphic user interface at least including a game scene, includes: when a sliding operation acting on a touch operation area is detected, controlling a visual field movement of the game scene on the graphic user interface according to the movement of the touch point of the sliding operation; and when it is detected that the touch point of the sliding operation enters a preset boundary area, acquiring the first sliding direction of the touch point entering the preset boundary area, and controlling, when the touch point is located in the preset boundary area, the visual field movement of the game scene on the graphic user interface according to the first sliding direction. incoherent.

With the development of mobile intelligent terminals and the game industry, a large number of mobile games with different themes are emerged to serve the needs of users. Multiplayer playing games by a team is the core gameplay of many mobile games. For example, the most core gameplay of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) type of mobile games is a 5V5 teambattle. In the process of players teambattles, it is important to view battle situation of a game scene in real time. Therefore, whether it is possible to provide a convenient and quick interaction mechanism for viewing visual field is an important factor in the user experience of such mobile games.
In the case of ensuring that a left-hand controls the move of the left joystick, the view of the panoramic visual field is limited in the MOBA type of mobile games. In the related art, the interaction mechanism for viewing visual field mainly includes the following three aspects.
First, a mini-map is provided in upper left corner of a graphic user interface, and the visual field of the game scene is viewed by dragging and dropping within the scope of the small map. Since the MOBA type of mobile games usually adopts a left joystick, the scheme cannot make players to view the visual field while controlling a movement of a virtual character.
Second, a small map is provided in upper right corner of a graphic user interface, and a movement of a game scene is realized by dragging and dropping within the scope of the small map, but the small map on the right side blocks the information of the game scene and the signal information.
Third, a visual field is viewed by dragging, dropping and mapping a right-handed joystick. When the joystick is dragged to the edge of the screen, if the position players want to view is not reached, the virtual character is controlled to move in that direction, or the visual field is dragged again.
In view of the above problems, no effective solution has been proposed yet.
It should be noted that the information disclosed in this section above is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art related art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Information processing method, apparatus, electronic device and storage medium


A flame retardant plastic optical fiber cord comprising a plastic optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding, and a jacket layer provided on the optical fiber, wherein the jacket layer has an oxygen index of not less than 25 as measured by the method stated in JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL STANDARD K 7201.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber cord comprising a plastic optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding, and a jacket layer provided on the optical fiber, and, more particularly, to a plastic optical fiber cord with excellent flame retardance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inorganic glass optical fibers have been known as optical fibers which are excellent in light transmission properties over a broad range of wavelengths. However, since said glass optical fibers do not have good processability or flexural strength, plastic optical fibers were developed and have been widely used as optical fibers.
These plastic optical fibers are basically comprised of a core polymer comprising a polymer which has excellent light transmission properties and a high refractive index, such as polymethyl methacrylate (hereinafter referred to as PMMA), polycarbonate (hereinafter referred to as PC), and a clad polymer comprising a transparent polymer which has a refractive index lower than that of the core polymer, such as fluorine-containing polymers.
Known examples of the plastic optical fibers of this type are optical fiber strands, bulk fibers made by covering optical fiber strands with a functional protective layer, optical fiber cords made by covering optical fiber strands with a jacket, bundled fibers made of an assembly of bulk fibers, and optical fiber cables made by applying tension members to the bulk fibers.
For the jacket material these all-plastic optical fiber cords use a vinyl chloride resin containing a plasticizer of not less than 10 wt %, or a polyethylene. Because these fiber cords have a low capacity for flame retardance, their applications are limited.


A power factor correction circuit which employs a full wave rectified input wave form made up of plurality of short duration pulses applied across a transformer to charge a capacitor during a major portion of the input voltage wave and produce a DC output signal at a lower voltage than the input voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power factor correction circuits, and more particularly to a power factor corrector which uses a high frequency current mode regulator integrated circuit to provide peak current limiting at a high frequency rate on a cycle by cycle basis. Input power line isolation is obtained with output direct current voltages that can be desirably less than the rectified input voltage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Power factor correction circuits are known in the art. For example a UC3852 circuit manufactured by Unitrode Corporation and described in its "Products and Applications" handbook for 1995 and 1996 on pages 10-269 to 10-284. Such a circuit utilizes a full wave rectified input signal such as is shown in FIG. 1 as curve 10.
Cycling from point A to B to C to D to E to F to G etc. This signal is applied across an inductance/capacitance circuit so that the capacitor, which produces the output voltage, is charged up during the time from point A to point B at which point the current decays to point J where it is then further charged to point D. This charging/decaying curve continues to point K to point F to point L etc. to provide a ripple curve of a substantially DC voltage for use by the down stream equipment. However, using this as an input signal, and without power factor correction, the input current would lead the input voltage to produce a power factor of about 0.85. This shows that only about 85% of the output signal is driven from the input signal thus producing a power factor of about 0.85. Increasing the width under curve 10 between points J and D; and between Points K and F would increase the power factor. However, increasing the area under these points would bring point J down curve 10 towards point C and point K down the curve towards point E which would badly increase the amount of ripple in the output voltage.
Utilizing a power factor correction circuit such as the above mentioned UC3852, the power factor can be corrected to 0.998 and thus, the output signal is driven by the line input during nearly 100% of the time.
One disadvantage to circuits such as the UC3852 is that the DC output circuit is not isolated from the AC input circuit which could produce a short circuit if a diode rectifier were used at the input. Another disadvantage for circuits such as the UC3852, is that the output voltage is considerably higher than the input voltage and, in fact, may be more than twice as high. This increased output voltage is undesirable for many situations such as, for example, supplying power to aircraft components because most aircraft use a 115 volt AC source and a 28 volt DC source. Accordingly, the output of the power factor correction circuit using the UC3852 could be as high as 230 DC volts when it would be desirable for the output to be a little higher than 28 volts.


A system and method for performing and settling an electronic scrip transaction between a merchant and a member includes a database storing accounts for one or more participating merchants, scrip distributors, sponsoring organizations, and members. The system also includes merchant terminals, scrip distributor terminals, sponsoring organization terminals, and a system manager terminal, which are interconnected to one another, as well as to the database, over a network, and a member scrip card, such as a magnetic stripe card or a smart card. Transaction information, including the transaction amount, is entered at a merchant terminal and sent over the network to a scrip distributor terminal or system manager terminal, and the member's account is automatically debited by the transaction amount. Additionally, merchant loyalty point credit or tuition credit can be awarded and stored for the member in connection with the transaction amount. The merchant's account is automatically credited with a merchant portion of the transaction amount, and the accounts of one or both of the scrip distributor and the sponsoring organization are credited with respective portions of the balance according to percentages on a look-up table also stored in the database.

Typically, scrip is a paper certificate that is sold by organizations to raise funds. In practice, a scrip distributor acquires the scrip from participating merchants and sells the scrip to an organization at an organization discount. In turn, the organization sells the certificates at face value to holders for a profit. The holders then exchange the face value of the scrip for goods or services from the participating merchants. The participating merchants redeem the scrip with the distributor at a deeper, merchant discount, and the distributor also makes a profit. Operationally, the distributor must maintain accounts for its scrip sales to each of the different organizations and for its scrip redemptions by each of the participating merchants. Similarly, the organizations and participating merchants must also maintain accounts on their scrip activity.
Since the scrip is traditionally a hard currency substitute, the scrip sales and scrip redemptions must be recorded in a bookkeeping manner and then settled to the accounts of the distributor, the organizations and the participating merchants. The labor required to manage the various accounts, together with the inherent float time associated with completing a transaction, jeopardize the feasibility of these accounts since the profit margins are small. In addition, the certificates are subject to counterfeiting, because the paper certificates do not have all of the security features of regular U.S. currency.
Scrip is traditionally a paper certificate that can be used as money to purchase goods or services. In the past, scrip has been used as paper money issued for temporary emergency use, such as in war times. However, more recently, scrip is used somewhat like a coupon or gift certificate and is sold by organizations for the purpose of raising funds. In a typical fund raising process, a scrip distributor, such as the National Scrip Center (NSC), a non-profit center run by the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., makes bulk purchases of discounted scrip from any number of over 300 participating local and nationwide businesses, such as The Gap. The discount may vary up to about 30 percent, depending on the terms of the deal that the scrip distributor is able to negotiate with a particular business.
After purchasing the scrip at a discount, the scrip distributor sells the discounted scrip to fund-raising organizations at a distribution price equal to the discounted price plus a small handling fee. The fund-raising organizations then sell the scrip to their members at full value. Thus, the fund-raising organizations collect the difference between the full value of the scrip and the distribution price. For example, a scrip distributor negotiates a deal with a local grocery store to purchase local grocery store scrip at a 6 percent discount.
In the foregoing example, the scrip distributor then keeps 2 percent as a handling fee and sells the local grocery store scrip to organizations at a 4 percent discount. The local organizations then sell the scrip to their members for full value, leaving the organizations with a 4 percent profit. So, in this example, if the scrip certificate has a $100 value, the scrip distributor purchases the scrip for $94 and sells it to the organizations for $96. The organizations sell the scrip certificate to their members for the full $100 value, leaving the organization with a $4 profit for each scrip certificate sold.
Scrip is advantageous in fund-raising, because it can be used as a money substitute for goods that a consumer is already going to buy. This is in contrast to other traditional fund raising events that require donations, such as telethons, or that require the consumer to purchase items that they do not really need, such as cookie sales. The scrip distributed by NSC, for example, can be used to purchase practically anything, including groceries, toys, household goods, restaurant meals, and bus, train or airline tickets.
The current scrip system, however, has a number of drawbacks. The current system for distribution of, and accounting for, traditional scrip is time-consuming and arduous, as the paper certificates are transferred from the participating stores to the distributors, the organizations, and finally to the consumers. Typically the distributor pays the participating merchants on a weekly or monthly basis for scrip. Scrip is sent from each merchant to the distributor, who must manually sort and file the various types of scrip. With the receipt of orders from the numerous organizations, the various merchants' scrip is accumulated for each order and then sent back to the ordering organization. Thus, the current system is essentially an antiquated, manual process.
Further, the current system allows for the distributors' resources to be wasted, as there is a sizable pool of scrip in float for a lengthy time period. Since the distributors pay for the scrip up front, the scrip is in float until the time that it is purchased by an organization. Even when a distributor has a check in hand from an organization, it may take days before the check amount is credited to the distributor's account. Thus, the distributors lose cash flow due to their inventory of scrip.
Moreover, because it is a paper money substitute, scrip has all of the disadvantages of paper money. Scrip is subject to counterfeiting, because the paper certificates do not have all of the security features of regular U.S. currency, such as special paper. Also, it may be easily mutilated or destroyed, such as by leaving it in a garment pocket that goes through a washing machine. Additionally, consumers may find it difficult to keep track of their scrip, as it comes in many different shapes and sizes. Some scrip distributors even issue special wallets just to keep track of scrip certificates.
Additionally, a consumer may be able to use scrip only at the specific business that issued the scrip. This is especially true because of the varying discount rates granted by the different businesses. These discount rates may vary from region to region, or even from store to store. Thus, it is inconvenient for consumers to make sure that they have the proper scrip with them, depending on where they are going.

System and method for automated electronic scrip transactions


The present invention relates to an electroviscous fluid comprising the dispersion in an electrical insulating fluid of an organopolysiloxane having at least one metal sulfonate group in its molecule. The electroviscous fluid of the present invention can further comprise a polyether. The electroviscous fluid of the present invention does not wear or abrade surrounding equipment, is thermally stable, and that has a large electroviscous effect (yield value) and an excellent dispersion stability.

The present invention relates to an electroviscous fluid which is a fluid whose viscosity can be changed by varying an externally applied electric voltage. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermally stable electroviscous fluid whose yield value is substantially increased by small voltages, which strongly resists particle sedimentation, and which does not wear or abrade surrounding equipment.
Fluids whose viscosity can be varied by the application of an external voltage can be used, for example, for power transfer, for shock absorption, and as valves, and as result such fluids have recently been the subject of some scrutiny. Fluids whose viscosity increases in response to an electrical field are collectively known as electroviscous fluids. However, in order to be able to withstand highly practical applications in, for example, clutches, engine mounts, and shock absorbers, an electroviscous fluid is required whose yield value is substantially increased by the application of small voltages.
Various types of such fluids have already been proposed. These have generally taken the form, for example, of dispersions of porous inorganic particles (e.g., silica, alumina, talc, etc.) in electrical insulating fluids. Electroviscous fluids are produced by dispersing in an electrical insulating fluid a particle having an electric double layer due to water being absorbed on the particle surface, the particles then orient in response to an external electrical field and the viscosity increases (more specifically, the fluid converts into a Bingham fluid and exhibits a yield value). This effect is hereinafter referred to as the Winslow effect. Based on the substantial practical advantages offered by silica (ease of industrial acquisition, rich potential for improvements and modifications in quality, etc.), many electroviscous fluids have been proposed that use silica in the system such as the fluids disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,047,507 to Winslow and in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open [Kokai or Unexamined] No. 61-44998 [44,998/86]). However, these particular electroviscous fluids do not perform satisfactorily in industrial applications because they abrade the surrounding equipment, suffer from particle sedimentation, and exhibit a Winslow effect of modest degree.
In order to improve upon these deficiencies, electroviscous fluids have been proposed that comprise a dispersion of a polyelectrolyte in an electrical insulating fluid. The term polyelectrolyte collectively denotes polymeric compounds that contain ion pairs within the structure. Many natural and synthetic polyelectrolytes are known, and the ion-exchange resins are the best known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1-180238 [180,238/89] discloses an electroviscous fluid that comprises a dispersion in an electrical insulating fluid of 44,998/86 microparticles of a polyelectrolyte that contains amine salt structures. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1-262942 [262,942/89] discloses an electroviscous fluid that comprises a dispersion in an electrical insulating fluid of particles prepared by pulverizing an ion-exchange resin. There are several advantages associated with the use of such polyelectrolyte particles such as that since the particles are made of organic polymer, (a) they have a small specific gravity and thus resist sedimentation, (b) they have little abrasiveness for surrounding equipment, and (c) they provide a relatively large Winslow effect. Another advantage associated with synthetic polyelectrolytes is that the particle can be freely engineered.
However, the preparation of polyelectrolyte particle-based electroviscous fluids as known in the art involves solidification of the electrolyte through three-dimensional crosslinking by some methodology followed by the preparation of microparticles by, for example, pulverization. In this approach, the three-dimensional configuration of the electrolyte is locked in at the point of synthesis and the electrolyte can then no longer be reworked. Another deficiency in this approach is that the microparticulation process cannot produce perfectly spherical particles, and this in turn precludes both a satisfactory dispersion stability and a satisfactory Winslow effect. In addition, all of the polyelectrolyte particles proposed to date are carbon-based. Silicone oil as described below is the best electrical insulating fluid (dispersion medium), however, carbon-based particles have a poor affinity for silicone oil.

Electroviscous fluids containing metal sulfonate functional organopolysiloxanes


A caliper brake assembly for a bicycle having a fork, a wheel having an axle mounted in said fork, and a brake disk mounted on the wheel, the assembly including a caliper housing mounted on the fork in a position to bridge the brake disk, the housing including an arm connected to the axle and a blind bore in the housing having a closed end and an open end, a piston mounted in the bore on each side of the disk, each piston including a brake pad, a master cylinder assembly connected to the bore, the caliper housing including passages connecting the open end of the blind bore to the closed end of the blind bore, and a lever assembly mounted on the bicycle for actuating the master cylinder assembly to pressurize the bore and move the pistons into engagement with the disk to brake the rotary motion of the wheel.

Caliper type disk brakes, hydraulic or mechanical, generally provided on bicycles include a caliper having a fixed brake pad on one side of the brake disk and a movable brake pad mounted on a piston on the other side of the brake disk. The brake is actuated by a hand operated lever mounted on the handlebar of the bicycle which is connected to the caliper by a cable. Compensation for wear of the brake pads can be adjusted for on the lever and on the caliper body to vary the stroke of operation of the cable.
One type of hydraulic brake on the market is connected to the fork by two screws that are located above the axle. There is no part of the brake that goes down to the axle. To use this brake requires buying a special fork that accepts this brake. Another type of brake on the market can be adapted to most forks. This brake has an arm that goes down to the axle. However, you must disconnect the cable and a fork hose clamp to remove the wheel. The brake stays with the wheel when the wheel is removed. This is cumbersome and takes a lot of time, and special tools are required to remove the caliper.
The two types of disk brakes presently on the market have one fixed pad and one movable pad. To allow the fixed pad to move away from the disk, the brake in one case and the disk in the other are mounted on pins which matingly engage corresponding bores. The pins will cause minimal drag when a good design is well maintained. However if the design is poor or any rust or dirt get between the pins and bores, the drag will increase. Even a minimal drag will irritate and impair the power of the rider.

Hydraulic caliper brake assembly for a bicycle


A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product are provided. The apparatus tunes a frequency provided by a VCO. The apparatus determines a relative capacitance change associated with a first frequency and a desired frequency from a look-up table. The apparatus adjusts a capacitor circuit in the VCO based on the determined relative capacitance change determined from the look-up table in order to tune from the first frequency to the desired frequency. The apparatus determines that the frequency provided by the VCO is a second frequency different than the desired frequency after adjusting the capacitor circuit. The apparatus performs an iterative search to further adjust the capacitor circuit when a difference between the second frequency and the desired frequency is greater than a threshold.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) band-select fast searching using predictive searching.
2. Background
A wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone or a smartphone) may transmit and receive data for two-way communication with a wireless communication system. The wireless device may include a transmitter for data transmission and a receiver for data reception. For data transmission, the transmitter may modulate a transmit local oscillator (LO) signal with data to obtain a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal, amplify the modulated RF signal to obtain an output RF signal having the desired output power level, and transmit the output RF signal via an antenna to a base station. For data reception, the receiver may obtain a received RF signal via the antenna, amplify and downconvert the received RF signal with a receive LO signal, and process the downconverted signal to recover data sent by the base station.
The wireless device may include one or more oscillators to generate one or more oscillator signals at one or more desired frequencies. The oscillator signal(s) may be used to generate the transmit LO signal for the transmitter and the receive LO signal for the receiver. The oscillator(s) may be required to generate the oscillator signal(s) to meet the requirements of the wireless communication system with which the wireless device communicates.
A VCO is used to generate the transmit LO signal and the receive LO signal. The VCO is tuned to a desired VCO frequency. Some applications may need a faster tuning speed with a reduced settling time of the VCO frequency. As such, there is a need for methods and apparatuses that improve a VCO tuning speed and reduce a settling time of the VCO frequency.

Voltage controlled oscillator band-select fast searching using predictive searching


A cable connector having a plug assembly which may be reversibly mated to a receptacle assembly. A grounding clip is provided as part of a socket insert subassembly which projects outwardly of the plug assembly for reception and mounting in the receptacle assembly. The grounding clip in part functions to insure that the plug and receptacle assembly housings are in grounded electrical connection with one another and further functions to electrically connect a ground wire means associated with the plug assembly to the housing thereof. The clip also includes a spring element which biases a latch for the connector into a locked disposition.

The present invention relates generally to electrical connection devices and more particularly to plug and socket connectors of the type used to couple cable conductors. Such a connector would be used for example in reversibly connecting a microphone cable to a cable for related equipment.
It is known in the prior art to employ cable connectors embodying interfitable, cooperating parts for purposes of electrically connecting cable conductors having a ground wire or sheath asociated therewith. The ground wires or sheaths may be in electrical connection with the respective housing portions of the connector in which each ground wire or sheath terminates whereby it is advantageous to electrically connect both portions of the connector housing together to provide a continuous grounding path through the connector. Such an electrical connector is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,961 to Bailey et al issued on Nov. 23, 1965.
It is known that a conductor sheath, for example, may be grounded at intervals to shield the conductor against impingement thereon of externally generated electrical interference. It is further known that the cable sheath, for the optimum performance of its function, should extend in an unbroken fashion throughout the entire length of the cable.
Accordingly, in utilizing such a connector as considered hereinabove, interference by electrical impulses emanating from sources outwardly of the connected cables may be minimized.
The connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,961 includes means for connecting cable sheaths to the respectively associated metallic housing portions and in turn discloses means for electrically connecting the housing portions and necessarily the ground wires or sheaths to one another across the connection.
Although connectors are known to include both halves of their housings electrically connected to one another as well as the respective ground wires or sheaths related thereto, such connectors include a multiplicity of elements which in turn involves the disadvantages of complicated fabrication, assembly and sources of reliability problems.


An air conditioner is provided. The air conditioner includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an oil separator for separating an oil of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor to collect the separated oil into the compressor, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant separated from the oil separator, and a supercooling part in which a main refrigerant that is the refrigerant condensed by the condenser is heat-exchanged with a branch refrigerant branched from the main refrigerant. At least a portion of the oil collected into the compressor passes through the supercooling part.

The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner.
In general, air conditioners are apparatuses for adjusting an indoor temperature to make a pleasant air environment in an indoor space.
Such an air conditioner includes an indoor unit disposed in an indoor space and an outdoor unit for supplying a refrigerant to the indoor unit. Also, one or more indoor units may be connected to the outdoor unit.
Also, the air conditioner may perform a cooling or heating operation by supplying the refrigerant into the indoor unit. Here, a cooling operation or heating operation that is an operation of the air conditioner is determined according to a flow of the refrigerant. That is, the air conditioner may perform the cooling operation or the heating operation according to a flow of the refrigerant.
First, a flow of the refrigerant when the air conditioner performs the cooling operation is as follows. A refrigerant compressed by a compressor of the outdoor unit is converted into a mid-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant by passing through a heat exchanger of the outdoor unit. When the liquid refrigerant is supplied into the indoor unit, the refrigerant may be evaporated while being expanded in a heat exchanger of the indoor unit. Thus, surrounding air of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit decreases in temperature by the evaporation phenomenon. Also, when a fan of the indoor unit rotates, the surrounding air of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit, which decreases in temperature may be discharged into the indoor space.
Second, a flow of the refrigerant when the air conditioner performs the heating operation is as follows. When a high-temperature high-pressure gas refrigerant is supplied from the compressor of the outdoor unit into the indoor unit, the high-temperature high-pressure gas refrigerant may be liquefied in the heat exchanger of the indoor unit. Energy emitted by the liquefaction phenomenon increases a temperature of the surrounding air of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit. Also, when the fan of the indoor unit rotates, the surrounding air of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit, which increases in temperature may be discharged into the indoor space.
The compressor disposed in the outdoor unit may compress the refrigerant to the high-temperature high-pressure gas state. The compressed refrigerant may be discharged together with oil existing in the compressor. Also, the refrigerant and the oil that are discharged from the compressor may be introduced into an oil separator and thus be separated by the oil separator. The oil separated from the oil separator may be collected into the compressor through an oil collection passage.
However, when the oil separated from the oil separator is directly collected into the compressor, the compressor may be deteriorated in efficiency.


Disclosed is a self-supporting trailer having at least a pair of rear wheels and a steerable and casterable front wheel with the weight of the trailer being substantially equally divided among the wheels. The front wheel is carried for turning movement by a yoke which is secured to the trailer frame by leaf springs. The leaf springs provide rigid and lateral stability between the yoke and frame and enable vertical movement of the frame relative to the yoke. The steerable wheel is carried by a fork pivotally coupled to the yoke. A drawbar is bifurcated at its rearward end for connection to the yoke arms and pivotal movement about a horizontal axis. The opposite end of the drawbar carries a tongue mounting a hitch for connection to the towing vehicle and a steering arm carried by the fork whereby the steering wheel tracks the turning movement of the towing vehicle. The hitch connection with the towing vehicle and the horizontal pivotal axis of the drawbar and yoke define a plane and the pivotal connections at opposite ends of the steering link are maintained in this plane throughout the range of angularity of the drawbar resulting from any difference in elevation between the towing vehicle and the trailer. With the foregoing construction, vertical loading of the towing vehicle from the trailer is substantially minimized or eliminated and lateral stability is assured by the steering and casterable front wheel of the trailer.

The present invention relates to a self-supporting trailer for connection to a towing vehicle and particularly relates to a self-supporting steerable trailer system wherein transmission of vertical and lateral loadings from the trailer to the towing vehicle are substantially minimized or eliminated.
With the advent of lighter weight towing vehicles for transporting campers and recreational vehicles of all varieties, as well as commercial and industrial trailers, it has become necessary to consider reducing the forces, both lateral and vertical, on the towing vehicle at its hitch point, as well as the drawbar forces generated by towing the trailer, in the design of any new trailer system. For example, the transmission of varying vertical loadings from the trailer through the drawbar and trailer hitch to the towing vehicle may subject the towing vehicle to dangerous rocking or vertical motion sufficient to impair or prevent control of the towing vehicle and its towed trailer. This variable vertical hitch weight is particularly critical in the case of trailers or campers supported solely by wheels located substantially medially of their lengths. The hitch of this type of trailer or camper subjects the towing vehicle to substantial and variable vertical loadings caused essentially by a rocking motion about the trailer wheel supports. This potentially dangerous condition is exacerbated when such trailer is coupled to a lightweight towing vehicle. Also, lateral loads induced by centrifugal force under turn conditions, cross and quartering winds, and other forces tend to displace the trailer and the towing vehicle laterally and these pose control and consequent safety problems for the operator of the light weight towing vehicle.
Prior trailer systems have simply not addressed themselves to the problems inherent in utilizing lightweight towing vehicles and are therefore not particularly adaptable for use with the newer lightweight towing vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,644 issued July 24, 1951, discloses a dolly for supporting the forward end of a trailer in a manner which relieves the towing vehicle of the weight of the forward end of the trailer. Yet the structure disclosed in that patent transmits a vertical downward load of predetermined magnitude on the hitch of the towing vehicle. Consequently, vertical hitch loadings of varying magnitudes obtain and, as noted previously, have deleterious effects on the control and safety of the towing vehicle, particularly a lightweight towing vehicle. Further, this U.S. patent provides a steering arm connecting between the towing vehicle and the steerable dolly at the forward end of the trailer. However, variations in the hitch angle in this construction would apparently cause a change in steering direction of the dolly which would not be in accordance with the turning movement of the towing vehicle. The foregoing described and other prior trailering systems thus do not appear to be particularly useful in the design of a trailer system for use with lightweight towing vehicles where the reduction or elimination of the vertical and lateral forces acting on the hitch of the towing vehicle is advantageous and necessary.


Disclosed herein are biomaterials that include a plurality of fibers embedded in a matrix of hydrogel material. The plurality of fibers and hydrogel material are formed during one process step. In one embodiment, the plurality of fibers and hydrogel materials are formed using a multilayer coextrusion process step. Additional process steps can be performed to form a tissue engineering scaffold. Such a scaffold can be used to grow biological matter. In one embodiment, stem cells are applied to the scaffold to grow biological material. Process steps can be controlled to determine certain mechanical properties of the resulting biomaterial. In one embodiment, the process steps are controlled to determine the stiffness of the resulting biomaterial. In such an embodiment, the stiffness of the resulting biological material determines physical properties of the biological material grown on the scaffold.

In recent years, the area of biomaterials has received much attention from commercial interests, academia, and government agencies. Generally, a biomaterial is a material that is designed to interact with biological systems. Biomaterials can take many forms including a homogenous material, a blended material, or composite material. Often such biomaterials are designed to have usefulness in the medical field for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes. Biomaterials can be formed from natural as well as synthetic materials and can include polymers, metals, ceramics, and many other materials.
While the attention paid to biomaterials has resulted in the development of many new materials, improvements to existing materials, and new and improved fabrication techniques, there remains substantial need for new biomaterials and new techniques and processes for fabricating biomaterials. Disclosed herein are novel methods for fabricating novel biomaterials.

Fiber reinforced hydrogels and methods of making same


A disk brake pad assembly includes a rigid metal backing plate, a brake friction lining pad and a damping structure including a viscoelastic material disposed between the backing plate and the friction lining pad and fixed to each. In one embodiment the damping structure is a perforated metal plate having perforations filled with viscoelastic damping material. The damping plate may be provided along its opposite sides with constraining layers. Such a perforated damping structure may be disposed on either side of the backing plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to damping structure for brake pad assemblies to inhibit brake squeal or noise, the invention having particular application to disk brakes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional brakes, particularly disk brakes, the frictional sliding between the brake shoe lining and the disk rotor may cause vibration of the brake shoe and of the other components coupled thereto, resulting in squealing or other noises. In order to suppress such noise, attempts have been made to fix a damping structure, including viscoelastic material, to the backing plate or shoe of the brake pad assembly to absorb or damp the noise-producing vibrations. Such damping structures have heretofore been provided on the outer or caliper side of the backing plate away from the friction lining.
The inventors of the present invention have determined that, for optimization of vibration damping performance, it is, in general, desirable for the damping structure to be disposed as closely as possible to the source of the vibrations, i.e., the interface between the rotor and the friction liner pad.
Applicants have further determined that the vibration or noise-damping performance of a damping structure, which is dependent on shearing of the viscoelastic material, is generally proportional to the surface area of the viscoelastic material. Heretofore, this surface area has been limited by the surface area of the backing plate to which the damping structure is attached.
Also, in prior damping arrangements which have been disposed on the outer surface of the backing plate, i.e., between the backing plate and the force-applying piston or caliper, the backing structure is subjected to torsional or rotational forces which can adversely affect performance. Furthermore, the area of contact with the piston is typically substantially less than the overall area of the damping structure. Thus, the damping structure has a tendency to become squeezed or compressed at the area of contact with the piston and has a tendency to lift or separate from the backing plate along the periphery thereof. Such prior damping arrangements have, in general, provided inadequate noise damping, particularly at lower frequencies.


In one aspect, in general, a measurement system includes a projector for illuminating a pattern on a surface of the object, at least two imaging devices for obtaining images of a portion of an object, wherein at least some of the images include representations of one or more illuminated reference markers, an instrument for identifying a predetermined feature of the object, and a computing device for determining first position information associated with the illuminated reference markers represented in the images, determining second position information associated with the instrument, and based on the first position information and the second position information, assigning a predetermined coordinate system of the object to the object.

This description relates to establishing coordinate systems for measuring objects.
To detect deformations and other types of manufacturing errors, parts are often inspected prior to being delivered and used for their intended purposes. Upon detection, parts deemed to have failed inspection may be identified for appropriate action (e.g., providing the defective part to a stage for corrective action, discard the part, etc.). For such inspections, information collected from each part may be compared to one or more predefined standards or requirements to determine if a deformation or other type of abnormality is present.

Establishing coordinate systems for measurement


A key operated door lock assembly comprising an operator assembly rotatable from a door open to a door closed position, including an operator, a plug in the operator having a key receiving opening, a support assembly for the operator assembly secured to the door including a light source operable for a predetermined period of time, and a first light pipe having a first end for receiving light from the light source and a second light transmitting end. Means for remotely operating said light source for a period of time selected so that a person can insert a key into the key receiving opening and rotate the operator assembly from the door closed position to the door open position. The operator assembly further includes a second light pipe having an exposed light transmitting portion and a light receiving portion, and means for supporting the second light pipe so that the light transmitting portion of the second light pipe is adjacent the key receiving opening. The second light pipe light receiving portion will be proximate the first light pipe light transmitting end when the operator is at the door closed position so that light from the light source will illuminate the key receiving end, and the second light pipe light receiving portion will be remote from the light transmitted from the first light pipe transmitting end when the operator is at the door open position.

There have been numerous designs to provide a light which will illuminate the keyhole of a lockset prior to entry. Recent patents in this area include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,398,175, 5,179,325, 5,057,957, 4,777,570, 4,467,402, 4,310,873, 4,234,909, 4,078,248, and 3,955,075.
Since part of the lockset is stationary (the housing which is secured to a door) and part of the lockset is rotatable (the knobs/levers), establishing the required connections has proven difficult.


A method is disclosed for providing photofinishing services for images having a main subject and background, comprising the steps of producing a digital image of a customer's photographic image; producing a main subject belief map from the digital image; employing the main subject belief map to produce a modified digital image; producing a print of the digital image; producing a print of the modified digital image; and delivering both prints to the customer. The step of employing the main subject belief map to produce a modified digital image includes zoom and crop steps that maintain a main subject within a resulting cropped image. The step of employing the main subject belief map to produce a modified digital image may include a subject emphasizing step. The emphasizing step may include the step of maintaining the main subject in color and the background in black and white, the step of altering the background by reduced brightness to produce a spotlight effect on the main subject, and/or the step of altering the background with reduced sharpness. The step of employing the main subject belief map to produce a modified digital image may include the step of altering pixel values that are a part of the main subject and/or altering pixel values that are a part of the background.

Conventionally in photofinishing, a multiple print service is provided to consumers when they drop their film rolls for processing at a photofinishing service provider. The advantage to consumer is that they can obtain two copies of the same picture at a much reduced cost, and more conveniently, than by ordering reprints later on. Reprints require more (usually manual) processing, so multiple print service is advantageous to both consumers and the photofinishing service providers.
A potential drawback with the conventional multiple print service is that, in general, not all the pictures in a film roll are worth having two prints. Many images may not have been properly exposed, composed, or timed.
Many pictures can be improved by applying a certain amount of cropping so that the main subject is more emphasized and background clutter is removed. Even for those that were reasonably composed, a certain amount of cropping can offer a new perspective for the pictured scene or event.
One problem with the conventionally multiple print service is that both prints are identical. For sharing with friends and relatives, it is perfect. However, there is also need for generating "fun" and "trendy" looking pictures that may not be an exact capture of the original scene. Possibly, one might want to make the second, black and white print of a color first print. Perhaps a Sepia print would be desired as the second print. Neither of these processes would require scene content analysis.
There are other, perhaps more attractive ways of making the second print more interesting. For example, in the motion picture "Pleasantville", there are scenes where the main people subjects are in color while the background is in black and white. Another example is simulated depth of the field, where the background is intentionally blurred to emphasize the foreground main subject. Such a modified print with one or more special effects applied, provided along with the original untouched print in a doubleprint set, can be of value to consumers. However, such a photofinishing service would be enabled only by means of an automatic way of segmenting the foreground main subject from the background. In addition, the results tend to be very sensitive to the correctness of the foreground/background segmentation if a binary mask is used.
The advent of digital imaging opened a new era in photofinishing. Within the wholesale and retail photofinishing industry, digital photofinishing began to take center stage. Films will be scanned so all the pictures are in digital format, opening doors for digital image processing and newer, better photofinishing services. One of such newer services is the doubleprint, which is essentially a multiple print with one of the prints having modifications according to subject content.
In the digital age, new ways of providing services emerge. Kiosk is a platform where consumers can bring old prints, film cartridges, memory cards or digital cameras as the source for making prints. Although in this case consumers have total control over what prints and how many prints to order (therefore do not have to stick to the paradigm of multiple prints), consumers surely can find the above mentioned modified prints valuable.
Internet ushered in yet another way of photofinishing. On-line picture fulfillment is the latest addition to photofinishing service family. Clearly, consumers have the flexibility to order all kinds of prints, including the above mentioned modified versions of the original pictures.
Furthermore, such modified pictures can be generated right within a digital camera once the requirements on memory and computing power are met by the camera design.
Therefore, there is a need for an automatic, error-tolerate way of producing modified prints based on subject content analysis.

Doubleprint photofinishing service with the second print having subject content-based modifications