An electronic battery tester includes battery test circuitry configured to couple to a battery. A databus is configured to exchange data with external circuitry.

The present application is a Continuation-In-Part of and claims priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/816,768 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,941, filed Mar. 23, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/192,222, filed Mar. 27, 2000, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to battery testers of the type used to test storage batteries. More specifically, the present invention relates to a modular battery tester capable of interfacing with other types of test equipment.
Various types of battery testers are known in the art. One type of battery tester is based upon the measurement of a dynamic parameter, such as dynamic conductance. Examples of various battery testers and monitors are forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING TO DETERMINE DYNAMIC CONDUCTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH STATE-OF-CHARGE COMPENSATION; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC TESTER FOR ASSESSING BATTERY/CELL CAPACITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPRESSING TIME VARYING SIGNALS IN BATTERIES UNDERGOING CHARGING OR DISCHARGING; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION AND CONTROL OF THERMAL RUNAWAY IN A BATTERY UNDER CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,416, issued Dec. 10, 1996, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR STEP-CHARGING BATTERIES TO OPTIMIZE CHARGE ACCEPTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,757, issued Dec. 31, 1996, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR STEP-CHARGING BATTERIES TO OPTIMIZE CHARGE ACCEPTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE LOOSE TERMINAL CONNECTION DETECTION VIA A COMPARISON CIRCUIT; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH VERY HIGH NOISE IMMUNITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,920, issued Aug. 12, 1997, entitled METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THE CHARGING LEAD-ACID BATTERIES AND AN INTERACTIVE CHARGER; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,192, issued May 26, 1998, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A BAD CELL IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,756, issued Oct. 13, 1998, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH TAILORED COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,435, issued Nov. 3, 1998, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR JIS STANDARD; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,605, issued Jun. 22, 1999, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,829, issued Aug. 31, 1999, entitled MIDPOINT BATTERY MONITORING; U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,238, issued Dec. 14, 1999, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX IMPEDANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,751, issued Mar. 14, 2000, entitled APPARATUS FOR CHARGING BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,777, issued Mar. 14, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,976, issued Apr. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098, issued Jun. 27, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,245, issued Jul. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,167, issued Aug. 15, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,269, issued Oct. 24, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY EVALUATING THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,156, issued Dec. 19, 2000, entitled ELECTRICAL CONNECTION FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,483, issued Jan. 9, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX IMPEDANCE OF CELL AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,505, issued Jan. 9, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,369, issued Apr. 24, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,808, issued May 1, 2001, entitled TEST COUNTER FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,124, issued Jun. 19, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH INTERNAL BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,254, issued Jul. 10, 2001, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT DIAGNOSTIC TESTS ON BATTERIES AND FOR RAPIDLY CHARGING BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,563, issued Jul. 17, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX ADMITTANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,896, issued Sep. 25, 2001; entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX SELF-IMMITANCE OF A GENERAL ELECTRICAL ELEMENT; U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,897, issued Sep. 25, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY EVALUATING THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,087, issued Oct. 16, 2001, entitled APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,481, issued Oct. 30, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,607, issued Nov. 6, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING STORED CHARGE IN AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,608, issued Nov. 6, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,914, issued Nov. 13, 2001, entitled TESTING PARALLEL STRINGS OF STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,650, issued Nov. 27, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,793, issued Dec. 11, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,762, issued Dec. 18, 2001, entitled ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,113, issued Dec. 18, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,102, issued Feb. 26, 2002, entitled AUTOMOTIVE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,441, issued Mar. 19, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,303, issued Mar. 26, 2002, entitled ALTERNATOR DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM, U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,414, issued May 21, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,669, issued Jul. 9, 2002, entitled SUPPRESSING INTERFERENCE IN AC MEASUREMENTS OF CELLS, BATTERIES AND OTHER ELECTRICAL ELEMENTS; U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,158, issued Jul. 23, 2002, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT DIAGNOSTIC TESTS ON BATTERIES AND FOR RAPIDLY CHARGING BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,585, issued Aug. 17, 2002, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TESTING RECHARGEABLE ENERGY STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,158, issued Sep. 3, 2002, entitled VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TESTER WITH ENCODED OUTPUT; U.S. Pat. No. 6,456,045, issued Sep. 24, 2002, entitled INTEGRATED CONDUCTANCE AND LOAD TEST BASED ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,025, issued Oct. 15, 2002, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,026, issued Oct. 15, 2002, entitled PROGRAMMABLE CURRENT EXCITER FOR MEASURING AC IMMITTANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 09/703,270, filed Oct. 31, 2000, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/780,146, filed Feb. 9, 2001, entitled STORAGE BATTERY WITH INTEGRAL BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/816,768, filed Mar. 23, 2001, entitled MODULAR BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/756,638, filed Jan. 8, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/862,783, filed May 21, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 09/960,117, filed Sep. 20, 2001, entitled IN-VEHICLE BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 09/908,389, filed Jul. 18, 2001, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH INTEGRATED CIRCUIT SENSOR; U.S. Ser. No. 09/908,278, filed Jul. 18, 2001, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH EMBEDDED ENVIRONMENT SENSOR; U.S. Ser. No. 09/880,473, filed Jun. 13, 2001; entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/940,684, filed Aug. 27, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING STORED CHARGE IN AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 60/330,441, filed Oct. 17, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 60/348,479, filed Oct. 29, 2001, entitled CONCEPT FOR TESTING HIGH POWER VRLA BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 10/046,659, filed Oct. 29, 2001, entitled ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/993,468, filed Nov. 14, 2001, entitled KELVIN CONNECTOR FOR A BATTERY POST; U.S. Ser. No. 09/992,350, filed Nov. 26, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER, U.S. Ser. No. 60/341,902, filed Dec. 19, 2001, entitled BATTERY TESTER MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/042,451, filed Jan. 8, 2002, entitled BATTERY CHARGE CONTROL DEVICE, U.S. Ser. No. 10/073,378, filed Feb. 8, 2002, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS USING A CIRCUIT MODEL TO EVALUATE CELL/BATTERY PARAMETERS; U.S. Ser. No. 10/093,853, filed Mar. 7, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH NETWORK COMMUNICATION; U.S. Ser. No. 60/364,656, filed Mar. 14, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH LOW TEMPERATURE RATING DETERMINATION; U.S. Ser. No. 10/098,741, filed Mar. 14, 2002, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Ser. No. 10/101,543, filed Mar. 19, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/112,114, filed Mar. 28, 2002; U.S. Ser. No. 10/109,734, filed Mar. 28, 2002; U.S. Ser. No. 10/112,105, filed Mar. 28, 2002, entitled CHARGE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/112,998, filed Mar. 29, 2002, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH BATTERY REPLACEMENT OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/119,297, filed Apr. 9, 2002, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 10/128,790, filed Apr. 22, 2002, entitled METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING JUMP-START BOOSTER PACKS; U.S. Ser. No. 60/379,281, filed May 8, 2002, entitled METHOD FOR DETERMINING BATTERY STATE OF CHARGE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/143,307, filed May 10, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 60/387,046, filed Jun. 7, 2002, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THE LIFE OF A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/177,635, filed Jun. 21, 2002, entitled BATTERY CHARGER WITH BOOSTER PACK; U.S. Ser. No. 10/207,495, filed Jul. 29, 2002, entitled KELVIN CLAMP FOR ELECTRICALLY COUPLING TO A BATTERY CONTACT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/200,041, filed Jul. 19, 2002, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/217,913, filed Aug. 13, 2002, entitled, BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 60/408,542, filed Sep. 5, 2002, entitled BATTERY TEST OUTPUTS ADJUSTED BASED UPON TEMPERATURE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/246,439, filed Sep. 18, 2002, entitled BATTERY TESTER UPGRADE USING SOFTWARE KEY; U.S. Ser. No. 60/415,399, filed Oct. 2, 2002, entitled QUERY BASED ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; and U.S. Ser. No. 10/263,473, filed Oct. 2, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 60/415,796, filed Oct. 3, 2002, entitled QUERY BASED ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/271,342, filed Oct. 15, 2002, entitled IN-VEHICLE BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 10/270,777, filed Oct. 15, 2002, entitled PROGRAMMABLE CURRENT EXCITER FOR MEASURING AC IMMITTANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 10/310,515, filed Dec. 5, 2002, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/310,490, filed Dec. 5, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/310,385, filed Dec. 5, 2002, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE, U.S. Ser. No. 60/437,255, filed Dec. 31, 2002, entitled REMAINING TIME PREDICTIONS, U.S. Ser. No. 60/437,224, filed Dec. 31, 2002, entitled DISCHARGE VOLTAGE PREDICTIONS, U.S. Ser. No. 10/349,053, filed Jan. 22, 2003, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING A BATTERY FROM OVERDISCHARGE, U.S. Ser. No. 10/388,855, filed Mar. 14, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH BATTERY FAILURE TEMPERATURE DETERMINATION, U.S. Ser. No. 10/396,550, filed Mar. 25, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER, U.S. Ser. No. 60/467,872, filed May 5, 2003, entitled METHOD FOR DETERMINING BATTERY STATE OF CHARGE, which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
In general, battery testing techniques have used a single, integrated stand-alone unit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic battery tester with automotive scan tool communication


A bayonet assembly, for a firearm that has a knuckleguard, includes a rail connected to the firearm where the rail comprises a first position detent and a second position detent. The bayonet assembly may also include a bayonet that, in turn, includes a blade and a slide. The slide may be dimensioned and configured to engage the rail and the slide may include a slide catch that is dimensioned and configured to be engageable with the first position detent and the second position detent. In operation, the bayonet may be slid by a hand that is located within the knuckleguard from a remote position, where the slide catch engages the first position detent, to an extended position, where the slide catch engages the second position detent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to firearms and, more particularly, to bayonets for affixing to firearms.
2. Related Art
When an army unit anticipates a close quarter combat, the command "fix bayonets" may be given. Currently, carrying out this command requires a four-step procedure including the following steps as shown in sequence in FIGS. 1A through 1D.                1. Referring first to FIG. 1A, a soldier's non-firing hand 1 may hold a firearm 2 while the other or firing hand 3 may unsheathe a bayonet 4;        2. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, using the firing hand 3, the bayonet 4 may be aligned and mounted to a bayonet lug 5 (FIG. 1A) of the firearm 2;        3. Further, as shown in FIG. 1C, with the firing hand 3, the bayonet 4 may be locked by movement of the firing hand 3 in the direction of arrow 6 along the bayonet lug 5 of the firearm 2; and        4. Finally, referring to FIG. 1D, the firing hand 3 may be returned to a pistol grip 7 or stock 8 of the firearm 2.
It will be noted that each of these steps mandate use of a firing hand. If the enemy surprised and rushed a soldier from a short distance, the soldier may not have sufficient time to either complete all of the steps necessary to fix a bayonet or even to move the firing hand to engage a trigger of the firearm. In such a case, or where the soldier is also out of ammunition, the soldier may be forced into combat using the firearm as a club. Also, it is evident that these steps are not easily accomplished by a soldier who is running or even moving slowly.
It will also be recognized that during fighting with a bayonet, the knuckles of the non-firing hand are not protected by the current configuration of handguards on many firearms.
Previous attempts to develop firearm bayonets are noted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,314,672 describes an automatic bayonet that may be released by trigger action. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a trigger controls extension of a blade via action of a helical spring. It will be noted that this bayonet assembly suffers from the drawback that the trigger may be touched by accident, e.g. during cleaning of the firearm resulting in possible non-combat injuries.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 51,690 describes a firearm including a bayonet that is slid between two positions. With particular reference to FIG. 8, the bayonet slides in sockets made beneath the barrel, and is secured or locked in two different positions by means of a bolt passing through the inner end of the bayonet and secured by a spring that is said to press it constantly against the barrel so as to lock the bolt in one or the other of two holes drilled in the barrel. This configuration suffers from the drawback of requiring removal of a hand from supporting the barrel of the gun in order to retract the bolt from one hole and then to push and extend the bayonet from the firearm. Also, there is no protection for the knuckles during use of the bayonet.
Accordingly, to date, no suitable bayonet assembly is available which provides for rapid extension of a bayonet blade while also allowing for adequate control over the firearm during extension of the blade. It is also found that no suitable bayonet assembly is available which provides adequate protection for the knuckles of the non-firing hand during combat with the blade.

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


An implement for a combine, having an integral transport system with a pair of ground engaging wheels that are moved between transport positions used in transporting the implement and stowed positions on the implement during use of the implement. The wheels may be used as gauge wheels during use to support the ends of the implement. A trailer tongue is retractable and stowed onboard the implement during use, as is a tongue jack. Lights are provided at the end of the implement for visibility during transport. The lights are stowed beneath a cover on the end of the implement to protect the lights from damage during use. All components of the transport system are carried on the implement during use to ensure that they are with the implement when needed to transport the implement. All components are mounted with pins, enabling the implement to be converted between transport and use configurations without the use of hand tools.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an implement, such as header for a combine, that includes an integral transport system to enable the implement to be pulled lengthwise for transport of the implement, and in particular to an implement in which the transport system components are carried onboard the implement when the implement is used in the field.
2. Description of Related Art
To increase harvesting efficiency, harvesters, such as combines, have increased in size and capacity over the years. With this increase in capacity, the detachable header used for picking the crop has increased in width as well. A wider header increases efficiency by reducing the number of passes through the field required by the harvester to cover the entire field. However, the increased width of the header has resulted in transportation difficulties in moving the combine and header from field to field. With a wide header on a combine, it can be difficult to drive the combine on roads, and difficult or even impossible to cross narrow bridges. Vehicle width limitations on public roads may preclude transporting wide headers on the front of a combine.
One solution for the transport problems created by a wide header is to place the header on a trailer and pull the header in a lengthwise direction. This solution has the disadvantage of the added cost and upkeep of the trailer. Another problem is that harvesting may begin at one location in the field with the trailer left there, while the harvesting is completed at another location, or even another field several miles from the trailer.
Another solution for the transport problems created by a wider header is to equip the header with towing equipment, such as wheels and a tongue, enabling the header to be pulled lengthwise on its own wheels for transport. This eliminates the need for a separate trailer. Many such headers have components that are removed from the header and left in the field when harvesting begins. As with a trailer, these components may be several miles away from the combine when they are again needed. Some headers have been equipped with onboard towing equipment, but it is often difficult to change the header between the transport and harvesting configurations. Other headers fold, either upward or forward, to reduce the header width for transport.

Header for a harvester having an integral transport system


A system for reducing jitter in a signal includes a processor and a timer. The processor is configured to operate a first program and a second program. The timer is configured to generate a first interrupt a predetermined time before a second interrupt and to provide the interrupts to the processor. The processor is further configured to switch operation from the first program to the second program in response to the first interrupt and to perform time sensitive tasks upon receipt of the second interrupt.

The present invention relates generally to control systems for performing operations based on a signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to real-time control systems for performing time sensitive operations based on a clock signal.
Personal computer (PC) technology is becoming popular in systems with real-time requirements, such as control systems. One example is in control systems for drives (e.g., electrical drives, hydraulic drives, etc.). Manufacturers and users of machine tools are making increasingly exacting demands on the functionality of CNC (Computer Numeric Control) systems, demands that are mainly machine or application-specific and are not easily integrated in a standard control. Thus, it is desirable to have a control system which is open so that various applications can be implemented with the control system. PC technology provides such an open architecture.
However, PC technology does not generally have an operating system with adequate real-time capability. Hardware and software interrupts, interrupt closes, direct memory accesses (DMAs), and a myriad of other interrupts occupy the processor of the PC for long periods of time, preventing the processor from processing and sending data according to a real-time clock.
A control system running a PC operating system on one processor and a real-time operating system on another processor is costly. Accordingly, a single processor running first and second operating systems has been implemented. The first operating system is a PC operating system, such as MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT or other DOS-based system, and the second operating system is a real-time operating system. As a rule, such real-time operating systems operate according to a fixed clock signal generated by a timer circuit or a signal needed at an exact time in the future (e.g., a cam control signal). The fluctuation of this clock rate, called xe2x80x9cjitterxe2x80x9d, is a measure of the quality of the real-time system.
The timing diagram in FIG. 1 illustrates one problem with this system. Timing diagram 8 has an x-axis representing time and a y-axis representing processor operation. During time period 10, the processor is running the PC operating system. At time 12, a clock signal is received from the timer circuit, indicating the need to run the real-time operating system, as shown at time period 14. However, an interrupt has been received by PC system 10 prior to time 12. Therefore, the clock signal is not received by the processor until time 18 since the processor is busy servicing the interrupt. A time period 16 between time 12 and time 18 is called xe2x80x9clatency time.xe2x80x9d A difference between the latency time among several ticks is the jitter, which negatively impacts the quality of the real time system.
Another problem with the system of FIG. 1 is that a long latency time reduces the amount of processing time allocated to the real-time operating system, meaning fewer operations can be performed during this time. This is especially critical if the real-time program must end at a fixed time 19. In the case of a control system for a drive, fewer drives can be operated in time period 14 with a long latency time.
Prior methods of reducing jitter have been unsatisfactory. One method is to limit the openness of the system, such that certain routines and interrupts may not be used during the PC operating system time period 10. However, this limits the configurability and adaptability of the system. Another method is to verify the capability of the overall system based on each different application and, more specifically, based on the interrupt delays of each different application. However, this method is costly and requires a great deal more programming time and expertise. Another method is to use a non-maskable interrupt instead of a maskable interrupt. One drawback of this method is that some software routines (e.g., hardware programming routines) may need to disable interrupts (e.g., to access hardware registers within a fixed time period) and such routines will fail if interrupted by a non-maskable interrupt.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for reducing jitter in a signal. There is further a need for an improved real-time numeric control system for a drive having reduced jitter and improved quality. Further still, there is a need for an improved method of reducing jitter in a control system operating a PC operating system and a real-time operating system. There is also a need for a control system having both PC capability and real-time capability without requiring two separate and distinct microprocessors.
According to one exemplary embodiment, a control system having reduced jitter includes a processor and a timer. The processor is configured to operate a first program and a second program. The timer is configured to generate a first interrupt a predetermined time before a second interrupt and to provide the interrupts to the processor. The processor is further configured to switch operation from the first program to the second program in response to the first interrupt and to perform time sensitive tasks upon receipt of the second interrupt.
According to an alternative embodiment, a method of reducing jitter in a control system is disclosed. The control system operates a first program and a second program. The method includes operating the first program, generating a clock signal, generating an interrupt a predetermined time before generating the clock signal, and switching operation from the first program to the second program in response to the interrupt.
According to another alternative embodiment, a numeric control system for a drive includes an input/output circuit coupleable to the drive, a processor, and a timer. The processor is configured to operate a first operating system and a second operating system, wherein the second operating system is configured to provide drive data in real time to the input/output circuit. The timer is configured to generate a clock signal and an interrupt, wherein the interrupt is generated a predetermined time before generating the clock signal, and to provide the clock signal and the interrupt to the processor. The processor is further configured to provide the drive data in response to the clock signal and to switch operation from the first operating system to the second operating system in response to interrupt.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment, a system for reducing jitter in a control system is disclosed. The control system operates a first program and a second program. The system includes means for operating the first program; means for generating a clock signal; means for generating an interrupt a predetermined time before generating the clock signal; and means for switching operation from the first program to the second program in response to the interrupt.

System and method for reducing jitter in a signal


An active clearance control (ACC) for a turbofan engine is disclosed herein where the cross section of the external spray bars are fabricated in square or substantially square configurations.

This invention relates to active clearance controls for a turbofan engine and particularly to the spray-bar configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,320 granted on Apr. 26, 1977 to I. H. Redinger, D. Sadowsky and P. S. Stripinis, and assigned to the same assignee as this patent application discloses and claims spray bars that are externally and circumferentially mounted around the casing of the engine. Air bled from the fan through a manifold feeds these spray bars which in turn judiciously squirts air on the case to control its expansion and contraction. The purpose being is to position the outer air seals relative to the tips of the rotating engine machinery so as to control the gap therebetween. Obviously, the gap should be maintained at a minimum at all modes of engine operation for the entire flight envelope since the gap is a leakage path that adversely affects the efficiency of the rotating machinery, which in turn is reflected in loss of fuel economy. Of course, it is abundantly important to achieve optimum thrust specific fuel consumption. This patent, supra, discloses a spray bar (that is circular in cross section) with discretely located air holes. To satisfy certain ACC applications, it becomes necessary to increase the diameter of the tube which necessitates the tube to be spaced further from the engine case with a consequential loss in cooling effectiveness.
Further the circular cross section does not lend itself to create an optimum film of cooling air between it and the case and hence doesn't take full advantage of the further cooling obtainable from the spent air from the cooling jets that would otherwise scrub the case.
These square pipes not only allow for the more effective distribution of cooling air but also provide a more compact assembly while increasing cooling flow capacity. Thus it is contemplated by this invention that the cooling air is utilized as effectively and efficiently as possible, thereby only utilizing the amount of cooling air necessary to accomplish optimum ACC. This assures that the energy extracted from the engine for ACC purposes does not unduly penalize engine performances which is a consequence of extracting cooling air. Amongst the advantages afforded by the employment of this invention, but not limited thereto are:
(1) the distance between the pipe and the engine case being controlled say, the turbine case, is optimized which places the pipe at 6 to 10 hole diameters from the surface to be cooled; PA1 (2) the spent air lies closer to the engine case surface which scrubs the case which results in better cooling; PA1 (3) cooling air holes can be drilled at locations that allow the cooling jets to strike more responsive points of the engine case; and PA1 (4) the overall spray bar configuration is more compact for the amount of flow capacity they encompass because they follow the engine case contour more effectively.

External gas turbine engine cooling for clearance control


A process is provided for the biological treatment of aqueous waste in a pure oxygen activated sludge/ozone disinfection system as well as apparatus to accomplish the process.. In this process, the off-gas from an ozone disinfection tank, after removal of residual ozone, is blended with the pure oxygen stream needed to supply the requirements of activated sludge treatment basin and ozonation zone. This blending of two streams is carried out either in pipe line or in a specially built (and baffled) vessel. The combined stream is then compressed and split into two portions. One portion of the gas is diverted to the activated sludge treatment plant. The rest of the gas is dried to a dew point level and then fed to ozone generator. The discharge from the ozone generator contains a small percentage of ozone and is routed to the ozone disinfection tank. An alternate of the system, compresses the off-gas first and then combines it with pure oxygen stream.. A two bed desiccant type dryer should preferably be employed for the drying of the gas stream upstream of the ozone generator. A required amount of pure oxygen will be used to purge the inactive bed of the dryer.. The wastewater first flows into an oxygenation basin, whereby through the action of microorganisms in the presence of an oxygen rich gas, the organics in the wastewater are converted (oxidized) into harmless compounds. The wastewater is discharged into a settling basin, where the biomass settles to form activated sludge which is returned to the oxygenation basin. The clarified liquid from the settling basin overflows into an ozone contact tank where the ozonated gas is introduced to disinfect the water stream.

Municipal sewage and almost all industrial wastewater contains organic compounds in one form or other. A portion of these organics is biodegradable, i.e., the action of certain bacteria and microorganisms can decompose these organics into non-harmful compounds, namely carbon dioxide and water. In fact, the microorganisms utilize these organic compounds as food and thus, the organics are essential for the growth and reproduction of bacteria and other microorganisms. These microorganisms are aerobic in nature and oxygen is needed for survival as well as their growth.
This natural phenomenon is utilized to effect the removal of biodegradable compounds (commonly referred to as BOD) from the wastewater before it is discharged into public water streams where, if not removed, these organics would cause depletion of dissolved oxygen, a condition which would be harmful to the aquatic environment. The activated sludge process employs the above concept and is the most commonly used biological treatment method.
In conventional activated sludge processes the wastewater is aerated in a large aeration tank. For the removal of organic compounds, the aeration tank must have an adequate supply of oxygen (or air) and certain microorganisms (aerobic bacteria, protozoa). Other requirements are adequate amounts of micro-nutrients, absence of compounds toxic to bacteria and a certain dissolved oxygen level. In a nutshell, in the aeration tank, environmental conditions are maintained so as to promote the optimum growth of microorganisms and, thus, achieve maximum BOD removal.
The biological floc is suspended in the aeration tank and the tank contents are in turbulent regime to maintain the suspension. The wastewater containing suspended and dissolved organics is introduced at the inlet end where it is mixed with the returned sludge and is discharged into the tank. The tank contents, including wastewater, returned sludge and suspended biological floc are known as mixed liquor. The mixed liquor is continuously withdrawn from the tank and retention time in the tank is varied to achieve the desired treatment efficiency.
The mixed liquor is discharged into a clarifier/setting basin where the biological solids settle down to form sludge, and the clarified water overflows over the effluent weir. A portion of the sludge is returned to the aeration tank to maintain a steady concentration of BOD removing microorganisms in the aeration tank. Any excess sludge is wasted.
In conventional activated sludge, air is supplied to the tank by surface aerators or submerged diffusers. As the air contains only 20% oxygen, an enormous amount of air has to be supplied to satisfy the oxygen requirements. The primary disadvantages of an air system are large tank volumes required, lower oxygen transfer efficiency, and high oxygen consumption (per lb. of BOD removed).
In the past few years, there has been increased acceptance of pure oxygen activated sludge process. In this process, an oxygen rich gas (90%-95%) is supplied to the aeration tank rather than air. The primary advantages are improved oxygen transfer efficiency, better sludge settleability, less land area is required, lower capital and operating costs, and lower oxygen consumption (per lb. of BOD removed).
The effluent from the clarifier has some BOD, suspended solids and bacteria and it has to be disinfected ("bacteria kill") prior to discharging into the receiving stream. Chlorination is the most common mode of disinfection, however, the recent trend is towards the use of ozone for disinfection because (1) chlorination is known to produce toxic and carcinogenic compounds (chlorinated hydrocarbons), and (2) chlorine handling is hazardous.
The supply for the pure oxygen system consists of two components, the oxygen plant and the oxygen diffusion or transfer device. Except in very small plants, the oxygen has to be generated at site for improved economics. In the oxygen plant, air is compressed, liquified and separated into oxygen and nitrogen in a distillation column. The oxygen generated usually has a purity of 90% to 95%.
The next step is the transport and transfer of oxygen into the mixed liquor. Two methods of oxygen transfer are presently in the market. One "closed tank" system relies on a surface aerator or similar equipment to transfer oxygen from a closed ullage space to the mixed liquor. The other, called "open tank" system, employs a submerged (in mixed liquor) rotating diffuser or similar equipment to produce and disperse finer oxygen bubbles. Both of these systems achieve over 90% oxygen transfer efficiency.
Ozone, for the ozone disinfection system, although required in very small quantities (ozone dosage varying from 3-10 mg/l), is generated on site as it is naturally unstable and decomposes to oxygen over a period of time. The ozone system has essentially three components, (a) ozone generation; (b) ozone transport; and (c) ozone transfer to wastewater.
In almost all the commercial installations, ozone is generated by passing oxygen through a controlled corona discharge. Alternating current corona discharge is produced across two glass dielectric electrodes at potentials between 7,500-50,000 volts and 50-2,000 HZ frequency. The amount of ozone formed is directly proportional to the power dissipated in the discharge. However, 85%-95% of applied electrical energy is dissipated as heat in the discharge space. As ozone decomposes more readily at higher temperatures, this heat must be removed. Thus, all ozone generators are either air or water cooled.
Both air or oxygen can be used as feed gas and only a small amount of the feed gas is converted to ozone. In most of the commercially available generators, the conversion averages 1% for air feed and 2% for oxygen feed. With pure oxygen feed, the most efficient conversion occurs at 1.5% to 2% (least power consumed per lb. of ozone produced), however, the commercial generators can produce 4% ozone or more.
The efficiency of an ozone generator is also affected by the oxygen feed gas purity. Presence of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc., in the feed stream results in the slightly higher power consumption.
As the economical conversion levels are low (1.5%-2%) a large amount of carrier gas has to be used to produce the required dosage of ozone.
In a municipal sewage treatment plant, oxygen (rather than air) is invariably used to produce ozone for the reasons outlined below:
(a) The cost of oxygen production is offset by the increased conversion obtained in the ozone generator.
(b) The ozonation off-gas containing large amounts of oxygen (up to 90%) can be reused to supply the oxygen requirement of the biological treatment.
(c) As a side benefit the dissolved oxygen level of effluent is increased to meet the residual oxygen demand created by effluent BOD and COD, thus, eliminating post aeration.
Economics is foremost in the mind of all the designers and planners. It is obvious that pure oxygen shall be used for the ozone generation as higher ozone conversion is obtained, reducing the carrier gas requirement (to less than half).
High capital and operating costs associated with oxygen generation makes it logical to combine the ozone disinfection process with the pure oxygen biological treatment step. The ozone tank off-gas contains a significant amount of oxygen (up to 90%), and considering the high cost of oxygen production, it is imperative that ways be found to use this off-gas. It has been recognized by prior researchers and a few methods exist for the reuse or recycle of the off-gas.
The process proposed in this patent application utilizes a different method for the efficient utilization of the ozone tank off-gas and has significant advantages over the earlier processes.
The ozone in its oxygen carrier gas is normally introduced near the bottom of the tank using porous diffusers. Ozone is dissolved and consumed in the disinfection process. A small portion of oxygen (and other impurities) in the carrier gas is also dissolved in the water and leaves the system with the effluent. However, a major portion of the gas remains undissolved and collects in the space above the water. During its rise through the ozone tank, the carrier gas "strips" substantial quantities of nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the wastewater (upstream of the ozone tank, wastewater absorbs nitrogen on contact with atmosphere and CO.sub.2 as it is released in the oxygenation basin). The stripping action is due to the fact that the oxygen enriched carrier gas has a relatively small amount of nitrogen, CO.sub.2, etc., thus, the low partial pressure causes the transfer of these gases (N.sub.2, CO.sub.2) from the liquid to the gaseous phase. Therefore, the oxygen content of the off-gas is slightly lower than the feed gas.
As the ozone disinfection step is almost invariably accompanied by the pure oxygen activated sludge process, one of the simplest ways to utilize the off-gas would be to divert the oxygen rich off-gas to supply the requirements of the aerobic treatment process. An example of this system is McWhirther et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,277. In this process the only external gas supplied is the oxygen feed to the ozone generator. It effectively uses the ozone off-gas and maintains high oxygen purity in the feed gas to the activated sludge plant. However, as the oxygen requirement of the ozonation step in a municipal sewage treatment plant is normally greater than the oxygen required in the activated sludge process, a large amount of expensive oxygen enriched gas has to be wasted. Thus, for the most commonly occurring municipal sewage, the McWhirther patent does not eliminate the oxygen wastage, it merely reduces the amount of wastage. For convenience, the McWhirther process hereinafter has been referred to as "zero recycle system".
Another alternative is to recycle the off-gas to the ozone generator for the production of more ozone. However, each time the oxygen enriched gas is recycled and then fed to ozone contact tank, it picks up nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the ozone contact tank due to the stripping action as described above. Thus, the impurities level buildup with each recycle and the buildup continues until the partial pressure of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the feed gas is in equilibrium with the dissolved gas level in the wastewater.
Thus, if the contaminants are not removed, the oxygen content of the feed gas to the ozone generator decreases sharply, resulting in lower efficiency and increased power consumption in the ozone generation step.
It is apparent that the buildup of impurities should be limited to a reasonable level to achieve the most economical operation. This problem has been recognized by few researchers and few methods have been proposed.
Kirk U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,918 proposed a complete recycle system in which all the ozone off-gas is recycled to the ozone generator. To limit the buildup of contaminants, a provision is made to vent (purge) a portion of the recycle gas and introduce fresh make-up oxygen at the inlet to the ozone generator. However, to achieve economical oxygen purity level in the combined feed to the generator, a significant amount of recycle gas will have to be vented (wasted). Lapidot U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,163 has tried to eliminate this expensive venting (purging) of recycle gas by removing the contaminants by absorption of impurities in a cooled liquid. In the event the absorption step is not sufficient to increase oxygen purity to an economical value, a bleed valve has been provided to vent a portion of the gas.
Both of the above expedients are expensive and have no known commercial installation in existence or in design phase. For convenience, the above two processes hereinafter will be referred to as "total recycle system."
Key et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,637 has dealt with this dual problem of eliminating oxygen wastage and limiting impurity buildup, two seemingly conconcurrent phenomena, in the "partial recycle system". In this process, a substantial portion of the off-gas is recycled and the rest of the off-gas is diverted to the oxygenation basin. Fresh oxygen is introduced at the inlet of both the ozone generator and the oxygenation basin to supply the remaining requirement of ozonation as well as carbonaceous BOD removal process. The performance and economics of this process are greatly affected by the recycle rate (to the ozone generator). The recommended feasible range of recycle rate is 30% to 90% and 60% recycle is recommended as optimal, by the inventors, The important and critical features of this process are:
(a) As the recycle rate increases, the impurity level in the feed gas to the ozone generator increases indicating higher power consumption. However, at higher recycle rates, the possibility of oxygen wastage diminishes.
(b) At lower recycle rates the oxygen purity (to ozone generator) increases, however, the chances of oxygen wastage also increase. As described in detail later in this application, some venting of oxygen will occur at the recommended recycle rate of 60% under some operating conditions occurring in municipal wastewater treatment, particularly in the treatment of effluent having low BOD levels combined with high ozone dosage in the ozone treatment. The BOD of primary effluent in a municipal wastewater treatment plant normally varies from 60-300 mg/l. Later discussion herein will illustrate that the partial recycle process may result in oxygen wastage if primary effluent BOD is 190 mg/l or less.


A housing of a battery pack contains in addition to standard power cell elements a voltage converter. The voltage converter is interposed between the power cell elements and external output contacts of the housing. The voltage converter regulates the output voltage applied to the output contacts of the battery pack, such that the supply voltage of the battery pack remains at a predetermined value which is independent of the voltage supplied by the power cell elements to the voltage converter and does not vary over the discharge cycle of the power cell elements. Excess battery voltage available particularly during the initial portion of the discharge cycle of the power cell elements is efficiently converted to the predetermined output voltage value which reduces the overall current delivered by the power cells to extend the useful life of the battery pack between charges.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to batteries and particularly a battery pack including an electronic power saver circuit for an extended service life.
2. Description of Related Art
Preferred uses for electrical and electronic type equipment are evolving more and more into those which are typically referred to as "portable" uses. Much of today's electronic equipment includes portable power sources. Portable power sources may be, for example, solar power cells. The most conventional type of portable power sources for a majority of portable electric and electronic type utilization devices are batteries.
Batteries are classifiable broadly into non-rechargeable or expendable and rechargeable battery types. In each of these two categories there are batteries which differ by electrical characteristics, such as their nominal operating voltage, and by physical characteristics, such as their size, for example. In addition, batteries do not have a completely constant voltage output over the span of a discharge cycle. Depending on the type of battery involved, certain characteristics, such as charge-related voltage changes occur as the respective batteries experience a steady power drain over a single discharge cycle. Certain batteries, such as NiCad batteries, exhibit a more constant voltage output over a substantial portion of the discharge cycle than, for example, lithium type batteries.
For an electronic device to use the power of the battery over the battery's full discharge cycle, the minimum supply voltage of the battery must exceed the supply voltage requirements of the device over the entire discharge cycle of the battery. Batteries typically are rated at such a minimum voltage level, such that during the life cycle of a battery, the output voltage of the battery exceeds the nominal, rated voltage level.
Some electronic circuits of electronic devices can accept the excess voltage output by the battery without a problem. The circuits of other devices need to be protected from voltages which exceed a certain design voltage by a percentage of the nominal voltage, such as, for example, ten percent of the rated voltage. A voltage regulating circuit is consequently interposed between the power terminals of an electronic device and the particular circuit elements to be protected from an overvoltage.
An exchange of batteries in an electronic device, involving the substitution of a different type of battery, though of the same nominal voltage rating, may change the impedance of the power train and affect the operation of the circuit, even in the presence of protection circuits. Thus, typically, devices are not only designed for certain supply voltage levels, but are also restricted to the use of certain types of batteries.
Lithium type batteries are particularly distinctive in their characteristic life cycle voltage output performance, in that the voltage output of lithium type batteries varies over a single discharge cycle more than for example nickel-cadmium type batteries, the latter at a relatively constant voltage throughout most of their discharge cycle and drop off relatively sharply only when substantially discharged. While there are advantages to using lithium type batteries, the relatively wide voltage swing with respect to other type batteries over a discharge cycle of the lithium batteries presents designers with greater problems in controlling the excess available power caused by the initially greater available voltage. These problems have caused designers to shy away from specifying lithium type batteries for certain applications in which tight voltage controls are required.
Those electronic devices which include voltage protection circuits may cause higher power batteries to appear as less efficient power choices. If, for example, the protection circuits are dissipative power regulating circuits, a substantial part of the excess power may be dissipated or slowly drained by the protection circuits in effecting regulation of the supply voltage. The power drainage can often significantly diminish the life cycle or discharge cycle of the respective battery, making the battery appear to be less efficient than a comparable battery requiring less regulation over its discharge cycle.
Switching type regulators are more efficient in effecting regulation of the input voltage to a device. However, a battery supplier, for example, has no control over the type of regulator that is going to be used for a particular device to be powered by one of the supplied batteries. Hence, lithium type batteries cannot readily be taken as replacements for similarly rated batteries, in that the economic value of the battery to the consumer may be substantially diminished because of the existence of a dissipative voltage regulator circuit in a particular electronic device. If such batteries are, nevertheless, used as a replacement device, the image of the lithium batteries as a useful product may be affected detrimentally.

Battery pack including electronic power saver


A scanning apparatus for transparent documents includes a scanner which includes a host and a lid pivotally coupled with the host, and a transparent document holding module which is located between the host and the lid, and includes a main body and a light guide element which is located on the periphery of the main body. The host has an optical module for scanning. The optical module includes a plurality of lighting units and a first attraction element. The main body aims to hold a transparent document. The light guide element includes a second attraction element attracted to the first attraction element. When the light guide element is moved with the optical module, the direction of light projecting to the transparent document is altered. Thus when the light guide element is moved with the optical module along a track, scanning of images on the transparent documents can also be accomplished.

The technique of using a scanning apparatus to scan documents is well-known in the art. Regardless of transparent documents or opaque documents, a light source has to be provided to emit light, which projects to the document and enters into an optical module in the scanning apparatus to perform image scanning. For scanning opaque documents, the light emitted by the light source projects to the document, which reflects the light to the optical module to perform image scanning of the opaque document. For scanning transparent documents, the light emitted from the light source penetrates the document to reach the optical module so as to perform image scanning of the transparent document. Hence, the conventional dual-purpose scanners for transparent documents and reflective documents mostly have the reflective light source installed in the scanner host, and have the transparent light source installed in the lid of the scanner, but such a design has two independent light sources, and takes a great deal of space. Many elements are needed and the cost is higher.
To remedy the aforesaid problems, scanners that can scan transparent documents and reflective documents through using one light source have been developed. For instance, R.O.C. patent publication No. I220095 discloses a technique that has a lid including a reflective mirror and a light guide plate. Light emitted form a light source passes through two sides of the transparent document and is reflected by the reflective mirror to the light guide plate. The light guide plate directs the light to pass through the transparent document to perform scanning. Such a design can reduce the number of elements and save costs partially. However, it still requires a lot of space.

Scanning apparatus for transparent documents


A permanent magnet fluid generator with powerful magnetic field condensers. The condensers utilize neodymium magnets (2) which provide 12,000 gauss or greater to magnetically saturate steel pole pieces (1, 3.) The condensers' pole pieces are individually designed to magnetically oversaturate all commercial steel pipe walls (6) in all current diameters and thicknesses (e.g., ANSI, ASME, API, schedule #40, etc.) The generator drives flux lines completely through a commercial steel pipe wall (9) perpendicular to the flow of any fluid flowing inside the pipe. The fluid thereby generates an electrical current in the fluid that can be utilized to protect the pipe from scale and corrosion. The current can also be used to ionize molecules in the fluid or the substances dissolved or suspended in the fluid, producing many benefits, such as more suds, in hard water, inhibiting algae in water systems, improving irrigation water penetration, accelerating the clearing of effluent waters, and improving the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels.

This invention relates to treatment of fluid in pipes to prevent corrosion, etc., specifically to a device employing externally mounted permanent magnets that generate an electrical current in fluid. The device may be used for potable fluids, process fluids, effluent fluids, heating and cooling waters, and hydrocarbon fuels, flowing in all commercial steel pipe.

Magnet assembly with concentrator for providing flux lines perpendicular to fluid flow direction within steel pipe


An adjustable safety helmet visor that extends for protection for the face by providing a simple one-piece adjustable add-on visor that will fit a multitude of helmet configurations. The visor is formed of a pre-cut deformable synthetic resin material that is removably secured to the helmet by continuous bands of interengageable hook and loop material along its edges.

1. Technical Field
This device relates to safety helmets and associated face shields that provide protection to the user from wind and ancillary impact with foreign objects.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have relied on a variety of different face shield configurations that are positioned on safety helmets for motorcycles and the like, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,105,475, 5,208,916 and 5,365,651.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,475, a head gear with eye glass is disclosed wherein the head gear is provided with a head element adapted to be worn by a person which includes an eye shield carried by the head element which can be movably positioned with respect to the head element in either shielding or covering position relative to the wearers eyes or in a stored position. The device is pivotally secured to a portion of the head gear so that it can be moved away from the wearer's eyes as noted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,916 a sunglass assembly for visored head gear is disclosed in which the head gear includes a mounting device on which can be positioned a lens in front of the wearer's eyes extending from the brim portion of a cap. The device is designed to clip over the brim portion and have a movable adjustable mounting fixture for the transparent plastic or glass.
Finally, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,615 a head gear face shield with non-invasive universal mounting is disclosed in which a plastic face shield is illustrated being removably positioned by mechanical fasteners about a portion of the head gear so as to extend over the person's face in spaced relation thereto.


An odor control system for a settling tank containing a pool of wastewater to be clarified in which suspended particles are removed by gravitational settling and the water at the surface of the pool is clarified. Supported within the tank is an elongated effluent trough having a weir at one side thereof which extends upwardly therefrom to permit clarified water from the pool to spill over into the trough. Mounted over the trough along its full length is a hood having a side wall which extends into the pool at a position displaced from the weir the hood being constituted by a series of sections. The hood acts to capture noxious gases emitted into a region above the surface of the water therebelow as the clarified water spills over into the trough. The hood is provided with an inlet and an outlet duct whereby atmospheric air drawn through the inlet duct into the region under the hood entrains the emitted gases to produce a gas-laden air stream that flows at a specified velocity and is discharged from the outlet duct into an external scrubber. Formed in each hood section is a closable port providing access for test probes to determine the velocity of the gas-laden stream in the region and the concentration of the gases therein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an odor control system for wastewater settling tanks to capture and treat noxious and ordoriferous gases emitted therefrom, and more particularly to a system that includes a multi-section hood, each section of which is provided with an access port in which test probes are insertable to determine the velocity of the gas-laden air flowing under the hood and the concentration of the gases therein.
2. Status of Prior Art
Sedimentation is the process by which suspended particles heavier than water are removed by gravitational settling. Sedimentation which comes into play in the natural purification of streams and lakes is also widely used in the treatment of sewage and industrial wastes.
Systems for treating sewage and industrial wastes typically include preliminary settling tanks that collect a good part of the suspended of impurities before the clarified effluent is discharged into receiving waters or is subjected to further treatment in secondary settling tanks. In the secondary or final settling tanks, the clarified effluent from the primary tanks are further treated by additional settling and clarification to purify the effluent.
A settling tank has four functional zones; namely, an inlet zone, a settling zone, a sludge zone and an outlet zone. For high efficiency, inlets must distribute the incoming wastewater as uniformly as possible within the tank. In the sludge zone, sludge is worked into a sump from which it is withdrawn by gravity or by a pumping action. The main concern of the present invention is with the outlet zone in which the control of outflow is usually effected by a weir attached to one or both sides of an outlet trough of launder which acts as a lateral spillway.
The Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,704, discloses an outlet zone whose structure and operation is such as to prevent odoriferous and noxious fumes from entering the atmosphere. Because incoming waste is saturated with noxious gases and easily volatilized compounds, some degree of odor control is generally necessary in a liquid waste treatment system. In sewage, the objectionable compound which predominates is hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas having an offensive odor. This gas is highly toxic and a strong irritant to eyes and mucous membranes. Hydrogen sulfide is almost always present in sewage, for it is the product of anaerobic decomposition by bacterial present in the sewage and in the sewage treatment system.
With settling tanks and sewage collection systems having significant detention times, the generation of hydrogen sulfide, particularly in warm weather, can be so vigorous that the gases released form the tank create serious problems. Apart form its unpleasant ordor, the presence of hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere is hazardous to personnel in the vicinity of the tank and may cause permanent injury and even death. And since hydrogen sulfide will combine with moisture in the atmosphere and water on concrete or metal surfaces to form sulfuric acid, this acid may severely corrode the structures.
One known approach to odor control is to fully cover the settling tank. But this approach leaves much to be desired; for when the tank is covered with a concrete or other structure, the reaction of the gases with the structure then gives rise to serious corrosion problems. Moreover, the cost of such a cover is very high.
The outlet zone disclosed in the Anderson patent functions to localize the odoriferous and noxious fumes to the region of the collection trough or launder from which they are extracted, the settling zone of the tank being uncovered. The Anderson invention is based on the recognition that almost all of the noxious gases generated in a settling tank are released as the clarified water spills over the weirs mounted on the sides of the trough; hence by capturing these hazardous gases in the trough region and transporting the captured gases to a gas-control system or in otherwise disposing of the gases, one is able to reduce the discharge of gases into the atmosphere to an acceptably safe level.
The Anderson patent provides an outlet zone for a settling tank in which the trough is covered by a hood that also functions as a scum baffle. In a conventional outlet zone, a baffle which protrudes into the tank water is mounted adjacent to the weir of the trough to prevent grease and other floating matter from being discharged into the trough with the effluent. With the Anderson arrangement, the hood which acts to confine the gases released in the trough has a scum baffle integral therewith.
Inasmuch as the hood in Anderson which covers the trough is required to collect a relatively small volume of air as compared to a cover placed over the entire tank, a significant advantage of this arrangement is that it is not only more effective than a massive tank cover, but is also substantially less expensive to construct, operate and maintain.
Also of prior art interest is the Roley U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,536, which discloses an outlet for extracting noxious gases generated in a settling tank containing a pool of wastewater, the outlet including an effluent trough supported at a raised position in the pool against the tank wall. The trough is provided with a side wall parallel to the tank wall and lying somewhat below the surface of the pool. A weir, supported on this side wall and extending upwardly therefrom, permits clarified water from the surface region of the pool to spill over into the trough.
Overlying the trough and the weir is an odor control hood that includes a horizontal flat walk plate that extends from the tank to the upper edge of a vertical sidewall which extends downwardly into the pool. The sidewall together with the walk plate acts to confine noxious gases emitted into the region above the trough and the weir to prevent their discharge into the atmosphere. The walk plate includes a hatch cover section providing access to the weir when it becomes necessary to scrub and clean the weir.
In an existing settling tank odor control system of the type disclosed in the Roley patent, an external exhauster functions to draw an air stream having noxious gases entrained therein from the region underlying the hood and to feed this stream at a specified velocity to a scrubber. In this installation, the parameters are such as to change all of the gas-laden air beneath the hood several times per hour. The scrubber is designed to take this change rate into account and neutralize hydrogen sulfide (H.sub.2 S) and other highly odorous sewage gases such as indoles, skatoles, mercaptans and amines before the treated air is discharged into the atmosphere.
However, the rate at which noxious gases are generated and the volume of such gases captured by the hood depends on the nature of the wastewater being treated. Hence a given flow velocity setting may be inadequate in those situations where the concentration of noxious gases in the air stream becomes very high because of the changing character of the wastewater. Also, even if the nature of the wastewater does not change, the amount of noxious gases emitted therefrom varies with the seasons of the year. Thus in hot weather more gases are generated than in cool weather.
As noted previously, the presence of H.sub.2 S in the region beneath the hood can have a corrosive effect on the concrete walls defining the trough as well as on metal parts exposed to the gas, for H.sub.2 S combines with moisture in the air and with water on the concrete and metal surfaces to produce sulfuric acid. If, therefore, there are stagnant pockets of H.sub.2 S in the region under the hood or the flow velocity is too low to withdraw the gas from the hood confined region, over a period of time the resultant acid corrosion may be so damaging as to require major repairs or replacements.
It is essential, therefore, in order to calibrate an odor control system for a wastewater settling tank and maintain it in good working order, that the operator of the system be able periodically to check the gas-laden air stream velocity at a series of designated check points along the region under the hood covering the trough. From this measurement, the operator can determine whether the system is functioning properly under the prevailing conditions or whether correction is required because of some obstruction or impedance at some point in the gas-laden air stream path under the hood. It is also essential, in order to determine whether the system is functioning properly, to measure the concentration of gases at these points to be sure that there is no excessive rise in concentration.
In this way, adjustments can be made by the operator to maintain the odor control system in proper working order and thereby minimize the release of odoriferous gases into the atmosphere as well as to avoid corrosion. However, with an odor control hood arrangement of the types disclosed in the Anderson and Roley patents, the operator has no access to the trough region confined by the hood structure, and it is not possible to test the velocity of the gas-laden air stream flowing through the region or the concentration of gases therein.
Thus while the hood in the Roley patent is provided with hatch covers along the length of the trough, thereby giving access to the weir for cleaning purposes, when a hatch cover is raised the system is short-circuited and the airtight seal broken, thereby causing intereference with the specified air flow requirements.
One reason why it is important to know the prevailing gas concentration in the region under the hood is that in order to fully neutralize these gases, the scrubber into which the gases are fed must include chemicals for this purpose in an amount and strength sufficient for a predetermined volume and concentration of incoming gas. Hence in a given situation, a measurement of gas concentration may tell the operator of the system that the chemical charge in the scrubber is insufficient under prevailing conditions and must be increased.

Odor control system for wastewater settling tank with gas velocity test probes


Chinese name transliteration is described. A Chinese name including a surname followed by a given name is received. The received Chinese name is parsed into a surname and a given name by: identifying any dual-character surnames in the received Chinese name, by referencing a list of known Chinese surnames; identifying any single-character surnames in the received Chinese name, by referencing the list of known Chinese surnames; and identifying, among the remaining characters in the received Chinese name, any characters not belonging to a dual-character or a single-character surname as a given name. The identified surname and the identified given name are transliterated into a Mandarin Pinyin representation. The Mandarin Pinyin representation of the surname and the given name is normalized into a pre-determined representation.

The present invention relates to transliteration of characters, and more specifically, to transliteration of Chinese character names into Romanized names. As global travel becomes increasingly frequent, the need for name translation or transliteration from one language to another becomes more common, and standardizing the name transliteration process becomes increasingly important. Both the Chinese and Taiwanese governments, for example, have recently published official guidelines for Romanizing Chinese personal names. The two sets of guidelines are nearly identical and can be summarized as follows:                1. Use Mandarin Pinyin.        2. Observe the original surname (SN) given name (GN) order, with a space added between SN and GN.        3. Do not add a space between a two-character given name or a two-character surname, but insert an apostrophe to avoid ambiguity when the pronunciation of the second character begins with a vowel.        4. In the rare case where the surname field has two surnames (e.g., as seen in the names of some married women in Taiwan and Hong Kong), insert a hyphen between the two surnames.
In theory, these guidelines should be adhered to anywhere Romanized Chinese names are used, e.g. in international publications, information processing, international travel documents, etc. However, automatic systems that transliterate personal names based on the standard conventions do not exist. Most translation systems, such as Google Translate (available from Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.) and Systran (available from Systran S.A. of Paris, France), occasionally resort to Chinese character translation rather than transliteration of names. Such systems typically contain hundreds of millions of text documents or databases storing patterns of text that have already been translated by human translators and looks for patterns to help decide on the best translation. By detecting patterns in documents that have already been translated by human translators, these systems try to provide a statistical machine translation, rather than transliteration. Two serious issues are associated with these kinds of systems.
The first problem is that these systems do not always recognize names correctly. For example, in the Chinese name  is a two-character surname and  is a two-character given name. However,  is also a meaningful phrase in Chinese, which means "to further one's education". Google Translate correctly transliterates the name  to Ouyang, but translates  to "education", instead of Jìnxiu, which would be the correct transliterated form. Systran, on the other hand, recognizes  as a name and transliterates it correctly. However, when replacing the two-character surname  with the single character surname , Systran translates the name  to "European further education" because  also means "Europe" in Chinese.
The second problem is that using databases to store known names and phrases may sometimes fail to distinguish the individual to whom the original name refers. For example,  a famous Chinese Kung Fu star, is known as Jet Li by the western world. Google Translate always renders  as Jet Li, regardless of whether the name refers to the Kung Fu star or not. Transliterating the name would yield "Li Lianjie," which could indeed belong to quite a few people not as famous as Jet Li. Another interesting example, , is often used to refer to the 'average Joe' in Chinese but can also be a real name, "Zhang San." Google Translate never provides a transliteration, but rather always translates it to Joe Smith.
While the International Components for Unicode (ICU) has developed a Han-Latin module, which can be plugged in for Chinese transliteration, it is not geared specifically for personal name transliteration. Given a string of Chinese characters, the ICU's Han-Latin module simply inserts a space between two adjacent characters and transliterates each character into a Pinyin representation. For example,  is turned into "Jiang Ze Min" instead of "Jiang Zemin." This can lead to problems in situations where names are required to be parsed into a surname (SN) field and a given name (GN) field. The name "Jiang Ze Min" can mistakenly be parsed into "GN=Jiang Ze" and "SN=Min" in the Romanized form.
Parsing Romanized Chinese names may be error-prone even if the SN GN order is not a problem. Most common Chinese surnames are single characters. However, there exist quite a few dual character surnames. Some people also have two surnames (two single or even two double character surnames). For example, the single character  is a surname but it is also the first character of the dual character surname . ICU transliterates the name  as "Ou Yang Tian," but it is not clear whether the SN is "OU" or "OU YANG," based on the transliterated form. Thus, there is a need for improved automated techniques for transliterating Chinese names into a Romanized form.

International Business Machines Corporation


A plasma generating apparatus is provided which uses slipping surface discharge and microwave to generate a large quantity of plasma in a different gases or gaseous mixtures (including electro-negative gases) in a wide range of gas pressure (from a deep vacuum up to atmospheric pressure). The plasma generating apparatus includes high voltage pulse means for generating a high voltage pulse, plasma generating means based on the slipping surface discharge which excites as the high voltage pulse generated by high voltage pulse generating means, is supplied, microwave generating means for generating a microwave radiation for producing plasma, a chamber in which the plasma generating means are placed, and the plasma collects, the chamber receiving the microwave radiation from the microwave generating means, and a gas inlet through which a specific gas flows into the chamber, to generate a large quantity of plasma according to the plasma generating means and microwave generating means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma generating apparatus, and in particular, to a plasma generating apparatus for generating a large quantity of plasma using slipping surface discharge (SSD) and microwave discharge.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Microwave gas-discharge plasma source are of considerable current use in a modern technique and technology for a PCVD thin films deposition, etching of a metallic and dielectric samples, activation of dielectric samples, etc. The advantages of these sources consist in a relatively pure conditions of a plasma generation and maintenance as well as in a high efficiency of microwave source energy release in a plasma formation and as a consequence in the gas medium, etc. One of the main disadvantages of this method consists in a limited choosing of a working gases and relatively narrow limits of gas pressure at which gas discharge excitation is possible.
"Slipping" discharge along the metal-dielectric surfaces also falls in category of extensively using discharges: as a source of a powerful ultraviolet radiation in a molecular lasers, as a strong shock waves generator, etc. Among of this method advantages is possibility to excite discharge essentially in all gases and gaseous mixtures in a wide range of pressure: from deep vacuum (P.ltoreq.10.sub.-6 Torr) up to atmospheric pressure. Disadvantage of method consists in particular in a principle pulse work with relatively low attainable average energy release in the gas medium.


A tipping chair (10) includes a main strut (12),a pivot seat (34) on the main strut (12), a pivot slot (18) defined the main strut (12) and a pivot strut (24) pivotally secured within the pivot slot (18). Pivoting a prop end (28) of the pivot strut (24) out of the pivot slot (18) of the main strut (12) backward toward a bottom end (14)of the main strut (12) causes a seat end (26) of the pivot strut (24) to raise the pivot seat(34) , and the seat end (26) becomes secured to a latch (42) on a brace surface (40) opposed to a seating surface (38) of the pivot seat (34) to postion the chair (10) in a seated.configuration. Reversing the process returns the chair (10) to a flat, stored configuration to be optionally stored as wall art.

It is well known that people currently spend a great deal of time in stationary positions, such as being seated during work hours, while traveling to and from work, while eating, while enjoying television and while socializing indoors. Modern medicine is informing such persons that extended stationary positions may give rise to moderate to severe health concerns. For example, such seated office workers may gain excess weight, be subject to back problems due to comfortable rather than upright seating postures, and generally experience a decline in muscle tone. Many efforts have been undertaken to increase activity levels of such persons, including for example intervals for exercise of skeletal muscles, using stairs instead of elevators, using treadmill desks enabling very slow walking while working, and using active chairs.
"Active chairs" are a category of chairs that facilitates differing postures and limited movement of legs of persons using such chairs. Many can be seen in in a standard internet "GOOGLE SEARCH" of the phrase "active chairs" and then selecting the "images" uncovered in the search. A well-known example of an active chair is available under the product name "AERIS MUVMAN" from the AERIS Company of Germany, at http://www.aeris.de/en/muvman/. The Aeris Muvman includes a small seat supported on top of a post extending from a circular base that is wider than the seat. Another active chair is available from the same AERIS Company, and is entitled "Aeris Swopper" which has an adjustable length post sticking out of a partial circular base with a cushioned, spring-loaded seat, wherein the vertical post enables limited tilting. It is also available at http://www.swopper.com/. Yet another modern active seat is available under the product name "Focal Mogo", that is available from the FOCAL Company at http://www.focaluprightfurniture.com/. The Focal Mogo is simply a hard, small seat dimensioned to support only a user's buttocks, and the seat is attached to an eighteen-inch post that has semi-spherical rubber or plastic form that is secured to a lower end of the post is as wide as the post to minimize any sliding of the post during use.
While these and other known active chairs provide limited opportunity for movement by a user, most are focused upon use by office workers wherein there is typically a substantial amount of space for leaving the active chairs within the office. Further, such office active chairs invariably are designed to be in a style in harmony with brightly lit office spaces having file cabinets, untold numbers of pulsing computers and related office machinery frequently located in broken up office cubicles having an overall "industrial" appearance. In other words, none are designed to blend in with a comfortable and efficient home environment.
Moreover, it is increasingly popular, pleasing and economically beneficial to minimize "clutter" and excessive furniture in many modern residences. Indeed, both rural and urban living quarters are experiencing the many benefits of the popular "TINY HOUSE" movement, as discussed on the internet at many locations, such as at: http://tinyhouseblog.com/. None of the known active chairs are designed to comfortably fit within such intimate and carefully planned living environments. Consequently, there is a need for an active chair that provides significant health benefits to a user, that can be collapsed into an efficient and attractive storage configuration, that provides design harmony with the environment of its use, that can be easily opened up from storage for use indoors, and that can be carried by the user to an outdoor activity.

Portable, collapsible ergonomic tipping chair


A spare tire access hole lock for preventing the theft of spare tires on vehicles equipped with undercarriage mounted spare tires. The spare tire access hole lock is particularly suited for use on trucks that are equipped with an access hole in the bumper for facilitating the insertion of a tool necessary to release the spare tire from stowage. The spare tire access hole lock prevents entrance of a tool to release the spare tire from stowage by obstructing access to the spare tire release mechanism through the spare tire access hole. The spare tire access hole lock may be used by inserting it through the spare tire access hole and securing it with a standard padlock to prevent its removal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locks and more particularly pertains to spare tire access hole locks which may be used for preventing the theft of spare tires on vehicles equipped with undercarriage spare tires.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of spare tire locks is known in the prior art. More specifically, spare tire locks heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of locking spare tires are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
A spare tire lock can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,756, which issued to Fennell, that is attachable to the underside of tractor trailers for preventing theft of a spare tire captured therein.
Another example of a spare tire lock can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,912, which issued to Guarr, that comprises a flexible drive tube for insertion through the bumper access hole of such equipped vehicles that further includes a keyed engagement for coupling to the spare tire release mechanism.
The most common method of preventing theft of a spare tire has been the use of a chain and padlock in a manner tethering the spare tire to the vehicle. While this prevents theft of a spare tire by a thief not having tools, such attempt at preventing theft of the spare tire is easily negated by the use of a simple hand tool such as a bolt cutter which can be used to quickly cut through the chain. Furthermore, the chain rattles during vehicle travel which is annoying to the vehicle occupants.
The locking mechanisms previously mentioned do not block the spare tire access hole in the bumper of a vehicle to preclude theft of the associated spare tire. In addition, the patents described above do not provide a simple and effective accessory locking device that may be used without drilling or modifying the associated vehicle.
In this respect, the spare tire access hole lock according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing entrance of a tool to release the spare tire from stowage by obstructing access to the spare tire release mechanism through the spare tire access hole.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new spare tire access hole locks which can be utilized for preventing the theft of spare tires on vehicles equipped with undercarriage mounted spare tires by obstructing access to the spare tire release mechanism through the spare tire access hole. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A method for preparing low toxicity Fischer-Tropsch fuels suitable for use in a diesel engine and Fischer-Tropsch derived fuel compositions having low toxicity suitable for use in diesel engines characterized by a boiling range distribution wherein the 5 weight percent point is at a temperature of 570 degrees F. or less and the 95 weight percent point is at or above a temperature of 680 degrees F.; a kinematic viscosity at 40 degrees C. of less than 5.5 cSt; and a cloud point of less than −18 degrees C.

Liquid hydrocarbon based fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, are known to display a certain degree of toxicity when contacted with biological systems. For example, the toxicological effects of fuels on mice were reported by C. S. Baxter and M. L. Miller in an article titled "Mechanism of Mouse Tumor Promotion by N-Dodecane", Carcinogenesis, Vol. 8, pages 1787-1790 (1987) and by Walborg et al. in an article titled "Short-term Biomarkers of Tumor Promotion in Mouse Skin Treated with Petroleum Middle Distillates", Toxicological Sciences, Vol. 45, pages 137-145 (1998). See also "A 90-Day Toxicity Study of the Effects of Petroleum Middle Distillates on the Skin of C3H Mice" by James J. Freeman et al. in Toxicology and Industrial Health Vol. 6; 3/4, pages 475-491 (1990) and "The Role of Dermal Irritation in the Skin Tumor Promoting Activity of Petroleum Middle Distillates" by Craig S. Nessel et al., Toxicological Sciences, Vol.49, pages 48-55 (1999). Walborg et. al. used as a biomarker chemically induced epidermal hyperplasia in mice. In their tests, the increase in epidermal thickness observed after repeated treatments of mice over a two week period was evaluated. This test is a relatively rapid and cost-effective method for determining the biological activity of transportation fuels when applied topically.
Transportation fuels having lowered biological activity are highly desirable; however, few practical methods for manufacturing transportation fuels which display reduced toxicity have been reported. Studies have suggested that mineral oil when mixed with petroleum-derived middle distillates is able to reduce the skin irritation in mice. See J. J. Freeman et al. "Evaluation of the Contribution of Chronic Skin Irritation and Selected Compositional Parameters to the Tumorigenicity of Petroleum Middle Distillates in Mouse Skin" Toxicology, Vol. 81, pages 103-112 (1993) and Craig S. Nessel et al. "A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Mechanism of Skin Tumorigenesis by Straight-Run and Cracked Petroleum Middle Distillates" Toxicological Sciences, Vol. 44, pages 22-31 (1998).
The present invention is directed to a transportation fuel, suitable for use in a diesel engine which, using the methods described in Walborg et al., will display a reduced level of toxicity as evidenced by the difference between the epidermal thickness in mice treated with the fuel composition as compared to controls. The invention is also directed to a process for preparing the lowered toxicity transportation fuels of the invention.
For the purpose of this disclosure the term "transportation fuels" refers to a liquid transportation fuel. Generally, liquid transportation fuels will refer to fuels boiling within the range of gasoline, jet, or diesel. However, as will be explained in greater detail further on in this disclosure, the unique fuel compositions of this invention may have a boiling range outside of the boiling ranges of conventional transportation fuels. Fuel compositions of the present invention are particularly suitable for use as fuel in diesel engines.
As used in this disclosure the word "comprises" or "comprising" is intended as an open-ended transition meaning the inclusion of the named elements, but not necessarily excluding other unnamed elements. The phrase "consists essentially of" or "consisting essentially of" is intended to mean the exclusion of other elements of any essential significance to the composition. The phrase "consisting of" or "consists of" are intended as a transition meaning the exclusion of all but the recited elements with the exception of only minor traces of impurities.

Low toxicity Fischer-Tropsch derived fuel and process for making same