A bearing assembly for use in a deepwell submersible pump, the pump and a method of pumping a geothermal fluid. The bearing assembly is constructed to include a lubricant conveying mechanism, a bearing sleeve and a multilayer bushing. The lubricant is forced between the bushing and a bearing sleeve by the lubricant conveying mechanism that cooperates with the rotation of a shaft used to connect a power-providing motor with one or more pump impellers. In this way, there exists a substantially continuous lubricant environment between the sleeve and bushing to act in a hydrodynamic fashion.

The present invention relates generally to bearings for use in deep well submersible pump systems, and more particularly to such bearings used to transmit radial loads and that are exposed to high temperature fluids being pumped by submersible pump systems.
Deep-well submersible (DWS) pumping systems (also referred to as electric submersible pumps (ESP)) are especially useful in extracting valuable resources such as oil, gas and water from deep well geological formations. In one particular operation, a DWS pump unit can be used to retrieve geothermal resources, such as hot water, from significant subterranean depths. In a conventional configuration, a generally centrifugal pump section and a motor section that powers the pump section are axially aligned with one another and oriented vertically in the well. More particularly, the motor section is situated at the lower end of the unit, and drives one or more pump section stages mounted above.
Because DWS pumping systems are relatively inaccessible (often completely submerged at distances between about 400 and 700 meters beneath the earth's surface), they must be able to run for extended periods without requiring maintenance. Such extended operating times are especially hard on the bearings that must absorb radial and axial forces of the rotor that is used to transmit power from the motor section to the impellers of the pump section. Radial bearings are one form of bearings employed in DWS systems, and are often spaced along the length of the rotor, particularly in a region where two axially adjacent rotor sections (such as between adjacent pump bowls in a serial multi-bowl assembly) are joined. These bearings are generally configured as sleeve-like sliding surfaces that are hydro dynamically lubricated between the surfaces by a contacting liquid. In one form, radial bearings in the pump section are situated in bowls that are lubricated by the fluid being pumped, while radial bearings in the motor section are lubricated by a coolant used to fill portions of the motor housing. For motors used in geothermal applications, the motor section lubricant is typically oil.
Conventional radial bearings for submersible DWS systems are not configured to withstand the high operating temperatures and pressures associated with the DWS environment, and as such have been prone to early failure. For example, in situations involving geothermal wells, the water being extracted from the earth may be 120 to 160 degrees Celsius or more, making the job of an on-board coolant (whether it be oil-based or water-based) all the more difficult. In addition, any impurities in the water that come in contact with the bearing surfaces of the pump section could leave deposits that may contribute to premature bearing wear or other operability problems. The problem is also particularly acute in the motor section, where radial bearing are generally not configured to guide or otherwise introduce sufficient motor cooling fluid into the bearing contact surface to promote adequate lubrication, especially at the elevated temperatures experienced inside the DWS motor section. That the hydrodynamic properties of the bearing need to be maintained not only in high temperature environments where the lubricating liquid has low viscosity, but also during start-up and shut-down phases of motor operation when the lubricating liquid generally is highly viscous (or not even present) exacerbates the design challenges. As such, there exists a desire for a bearing suitable for operation in deep well environments.

Radial bearings for deep well submersible pumps


A method for producing a laminated ceramic composite article with improved transverse and interlaminer shear strength. The method includes the steps of forming a laminated preform by interlaminating toughened green ceramic matrix layers which include a randomly oriented toughening phase with green layers of aligned fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix material and thereafter forming the ceramic composite article from the laminated preform.

The present invention relates to ceramic matrix composite products known in the art as hybrid composites, comprising combinations of long reinforcing fibers and short reinforcing whiskers, chopped fibers, or particulates. More particularly, the invention relates to hybrid ceramic matrix composites of laminar structure.
It is known to vary the fiber content and/or the arrangement of the fibers in both ceramic and in plastic or polymer based fiber-reinforced composites. In the case of fiber-reinforced plastics, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,438 to Bishop discloses a composite structure wherein layers of woven fibers are alternated with layers of parallel-oriented fibers in order to improve composite strength. The patent teaches that, in polymer systems of this type, the points of fiber intersection in woven layers in the composites were identified as points of weakness, and the inclusion of directed fiber layers was found to provide composites with better residual strength after impact.
Design considerations for ceramic matrix composite materials are significantly different than for fiber-reinforced polymer systems. In ceramic composites, the matrix is a brittle material and the reinforcing fibers generally have higher elastic moduli and higher failure strain than the matrix. The art has recognized that one way to improve the off-axis (i.e., transverse) properties of these composites is to improve the strength and/or toughness of the matrix material.
It is known to incorporate inorganic whiskers or chopped fibers in ceramic matrix materials utilized for the fabrication of ceramic matrix composites in order to increase the microcrack yield point of the matrix. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,987 describes glass-ceramic matrix composites comprising a combination of reinforcing fibers and whiskers, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,515 discloses a similar hybrid fiber/whisker reinforcement combination for glasses.
Depending upon the ceramic matrix system and combination of fibers employed, these additions have been found to significantly improve the transverse strength of the composite, which is the strength of the material in directions of flexure transverse to the predominant direction of the fiber reinforcement in the material. In addition, improvements in the interlaminar shear strength of these composites, which is the stress at which delamination of adjoining fiber-reinforced layers in the composite have been observed.
There are, however, disadvantages in adding whiskers and/or short fibers to these composite systems to improve matrix performance. For example, the introduction of whiskers into the matrix produces a small but definite reduction in the ultimate strong-axis failure strain exhibited by the resulting hybrid composites. This effect is presently attributed primarily to fiber weakening caused by surface damage to the fibers inflicted by the added whiskers.
Another disadvantage associated with whisker additions to fiber composites appears to be a reduced resistance to high temperature oxidation damage shown by the fibers. The effect in this case is attributed to damage caused by the added whiskers to protective coatings or other protective layers present on the fiber surfaces.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide novel structures for hybrid ceramic matrix composites wherein high interlaminar shear strength and high transverse strength may be achieved without compromising the ultimate failure strain of the composites.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for improving the off-axis properties of fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite materials without adversely affecting the strength properties of reinforcing fibers disposed therein.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description thereof.

Method of making laminated hybrid ceramic matrix composites


An image reading device is provided that includes a linear image sensor (such as a CCD), a contrast detecting system, and a focus condition judging system. The focus condition judging system is arranged to detect when the image reading device is in an in-focus condition based on output of the image sensor. Further, a driving mechanism is provided that moves an imaging lens or the image sensor, while the contrast detecting system monitors contrast data calculated from the output of the image sensor. An in-focus condition may be detected when the contrast data substantially reaches a maximum value. The maximum value may be a first maximum value detected during the movement controlled by the driving mechanism or may be a maximum value over a predetermined range of the controlled movement.

The present invention relates to an image reading device having an automatic focusing function.
In a camera-type image reading device, since the distance between the image reading device and an object varies, data related to the distance should be obtained in order to focus on the object.
In the field of photography in which a camera uses a film, an active and passive distance measuring method are well known. In the active method, an infrared light is emitted from the camera to the object, and by detecting the reflected infrared light, the distance is measured. In the passive method, by detecting a phase difference of an object image, or detecting a distribution of contrast information of the object, the distance or defocus amount is detected. In such a camera, an automatic focusing mechanism is provided, which moves a focusing lens in accordance with the detected object distance or the defocus amount so that an in-focus image is formed on a film plane.
Specifically, when the phase difference of the object image is detected, a pair of separator lenses are provided to form a pair of images to be compared with each other. When the contrast distribution is detected, a half mirror is used to split the light from the object, and the contrast distribution on planes which have different optical distances from a focusing lens.
In the image reading device using an image sensor, such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) to capture an object image, since the optical image is converted into a digital data which can be processed by a microprocessor or the like easily, it is preferable that the focus condition is detected with use of the image sensor. However, the conventional methods mentioned above cannot be applied to the image capturing system, and therefore, in order to employ the conventional focusing system, an extra optical system should be introduced in the image reading device.


A method for updating a column store database and includes establishing a row store database, wherein each row comprises a plurality of attributes. The method includes establishing a column store database including attribute vectors corresponding to at least one attribute in the row store, wherein each attribute vector includes data used to satisfy at least one of previously received analytic queries. The method includes collecting a SQL change statements beginning from a synchronization point indicating when the row store database and the column store database are synchronized, and continuing until an analytic query is received. The method includes sending the plurality of SQL change statements to the column store database upon receipt of the analytic query for updating the column store database for purposes of satisfying the query, wherein the analytic query is directed to a queried range of primary key attributes in the plurality of attributes.

Based on the storage format of data records, a relational database system can have either row store or column store to save data records. In a row store database, data records are arranged in row format. A row store usually delivers good performance for online transaction processing (OLTP) transactions which often contain INSERT/DELETE/UPDATE operations. For instance, information can be changed for an entire row that involves one disk I/O operation. On the other hand, in a column store database, data records are arranged in column format. A column store delivers good performance for online analytical processing (OLAP) queries, as it need only read those columns necessary to process a query which also significantly reduces disk I/O operations.
Since row store and column store are good for different types of queries, it has been proposed to contain both row store and column store, i.e. hybrid row/column store, in a database system to handle a mixed workload. The goal is to achieve good OLTP performance and output real time (or almost real time) analytic results on a single database system. The common way to build a column store database from a row store database is to extract data records from row store, transform them, and load the data into attribute vectors for respective columns. That is, the column store is built statically before any analytic queries are received or executed. For example, an ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) process is executed during off-peak periods where the database is unavailable for online access in order to transfer the data to the column store database.
However, the typical approach to build a column store database is problematic as it necessarily overbuilds the database to include data that is irrelevant for any subsequent query or queries. In particular, it is often difficult to foresee which queries will be run on the database, and to which data those queries are directed. As such, the column store most likely will be over-built in order to accommodate all potential queries (e.g., building an attribute vector or column for every attribute in the row store database).
In addition, with increasing demand for constant access to database records by customers and companies located around the world, there is probably no good time window long enough to perform an ETL process to transfer data from row store into column store. That is, there are no longer any off-peak periods and not enough time to build a column store database without severely affecting the accessibility of the database system.
Furthermore, traditional hybrid row/column store database systems cannot provide real-time analytics. That is, analytic queries cannot be executed in real time, since the queries must wait for ETL operations to be completed during their scheduled times before query execution.
As such, existing hybrid row/column store database systems still rely on a predictive approach for guessing which attributes will be accessed during execution of queries, and tend to overbuild its column store databases before any query is received or executed. In addition, to facilitate speed of access, these traditional column store databases are built in main memory, such as random access memory (RAM), but will suffer a huge performance penalty during a system crash when the entire column store database is erased. As a result, the system remains down during a system recovery process, wherein the entire column store database is rebuilt.
It would be advantageous to build a column store database from a row store database that is not overbuilt for the queries requiring access to data, and that provides real-time query analytic execution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Statement based migration for adaptively building and updating a column store database from a row store database based on query demands using disparate database systems


An electrochemical energy accumulator (100) and a method for balancing a multiplicity of sections (S1, S2, S3) of electrochemical accumulator modules (10) connected in parallel with one another by means of at least one UniBB module are proposed. In this context, the following steps are carried out: detecting (S100) a first state of charge (I) of a first accumulator module (M1), detecting (S200) a second state of charge (II) of a second accumulator module (M2), wherein the second accumulator module (M2) is a UniBB module, and operating (S300) the second accumulator module (M2) as a power source in order to adapt the first stage of charge (I) and the second state of charge (II) to one another.

The present invention relates to an electrochemical energy store and to a method for balancing a multiplicity of strings of electrochemical storage modules of an electrochemical energy store connected in parallel with one another. Electrochemical energy stores consist of individual structural units ("modules") in order to be able to provide the high currents which are required for some applications and which can no longer be provided by a single module. For said application it is necessary to connect modules in parallel. This is in turn not readily possible with standard modules since compensation currents that can lead to undesired operating states can flow between the modules. The modules of present rechargeable battery cells typically contain fluids based on lithium chemistry. These cells are sensitive both to overcharging and to deep discharge. An overcharging above approximately 4.2 V per cell or module results in exothermic processes that can lead to the destruction of the cell. A deep discharge below approximately 2.5 V per cell or module leads to permanent degradation of the energy storage and current carrying capacity of the cell. If cells are connected in series, then they are charged and discharged only jointly. In other words, the charge changes of each cell of the string are identical. Differences in the cell constitution then have the effect that the state of charge (SOC) of the cells is no longer identical with increasing use. This may have the effect that during charging individual cells may be overcharged, while other cells are not yet fully charged. The latter alternative entails the risk that during discharging individual cells may be subjected to deep discharge, even though other cells are not yet fully discharged. For this reason, the state of the rechargeable battery cells is monitored permanently and charging or discharging is possibly prevented. A process of charge equalization—also referred to as "balancing"—between the cells of a rechargeable battery pack ("electrochemical energy store") pursues the aim of all the cells having the same SOC. The balancing of the cells within a module is ensured by an integrated measuring and balancing circuit designed for this purpose.
Moreover, the prior art discloses so-called UniBB (universal buck-boost) modules comprising an electrochemical energy store (e.g. lithium ion based or lithium polymer based) and an electrical circuit by means of which they can realize different terminal characteristics. By way of example, a UniBB module can be used both as voltage source and as current source. The electrical circuit within the UniBB module could also be referred to as "coupling unit" which contains an inductance. The construction and the functioning of a UniBB module is known for example from the prior art.
CN 102496970 discloses a balancing system for an electrochemical energy store of an electrically operated means of locomotion. The electrochemical energy store contains two storage strings connected in parallel with one another. Each of the storage strings contains individual storage cells. Via a resistance and a capacitance, an SOC value of the storage strings is determined and energy of individual cells is shifted to other cells having a lower SOC.
US 2011/025258 discloses an interconnected system of electrochemical storage cells in which balancing is carried out whilst avoiding overcharging or deep discharge of the cells. The document discloses a control unit that monitors the SOC of the cells and groups the cells into dischargeable and chargeable cells on the basis of their SOC. Depending on their group association the cells are charged either individually or jointly.
US 2009/208824 discloses an interconnected system of electrochemical storage cells which are connected in parallel with one another. The cells have a respective controller, which can be configured as a buck-boost controller. If it is recognized that the cells have different states of charge, the energy drawn from the individual cells is varied. This prevents different cells from having different states of charge for a long period of time.
It is an object of the present invention to improve balancing of electrochemical stores connected in parallel.

Electrochemical energy accumulator and balancing method


A chuck apparatus grips a workpiece by a gripping section having a pair of chuck members. The chuck apparatus is equipped with a cover member and pressing members. The cover member includes insertion holes through which fingers of the chuck members are inserted, and seal members that surround the insertion holes and abut against the fingers. The cover member is attached to a body so as to cover base portions of the chuck members, and is elastically deformable so as to follow displacement of the chuck members. The pressing members press the seal members against the fingers.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chuck apparatus that grips a workpiece by a gripping section that can be opened and closed.
Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been known a chuck apparatus, for example, which is mounted on a distal end of a shaft or the like of a machine tool. In such a chuck apparatus, opening and closing operations of a gripping section constituted from a pair of chuck members are carried out under the supply of a pressure fluid or an electrical signal, whereby a workpiece, such as various parts or the like, is gripped (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-173692). In this type of chuck apparatus, the chuck members are disposed movably with respect to a body of the chuck apparatus.


A hold down device and method for connecting two building elements of a building comprises an elongate member, typically in the form of a rod or a cable, that is connected between the two building structures. A tension compensator, which includes a housing, is mounted to the elongate member to compensate for wood shrinkage of the building. One end of the elongate member penetrates the housing and is releasably connected to the housing by means of a gripping assembly which permits only one way movement of the elongate member into but not out of the housing to resist tensile forces between the two points of the building but allow the elongate member length to be adjusted as the distance between the two points decreases due to wood shrinkage. An urging mechanism urges the end of the elongate member further into the housing if the tension on the elongate member falls below a predetermined level. The urging mechanism, in some embodiments, has to be put under compression. One method involves the use of a hydraulic ram to achieve this.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to building construction apparatus and methods. In particular, this invention relates to apparatus for securing parts of a building to one another or to the ground for providing stability to the building against environmental conditions such as earthquakes, hurricanes and other forces seeking to lift, separate, or topple the building.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common type of building structure comprises structural framing members to which shear diaphragms such as plywood sheets are secured to provide the frame with shear stability. Typically the framing members include upper and a lower horizontally extending members, sometimes referred to as the top plate(s) and the sill plate, respectively. These are separated from each other by vertically extending ribs, also known as studs. The horizontal and vertical members are typically nailed or screwed together to define a wall, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Adjacent walls are usually connected to each other with the aid of a second upper member secured to the first upper member in a staggered relationship to overlap the first at the joinder of the walls. This is often replicated through the various floor levels to the roof. The lower members, on the other hand, are secured to the floor of the building structure. The roof joists are, in turn, nailed or screwed to the second upper member.
Ground movement or high winds exert forces on the building that tend to lift the upper horizontal members relative to the ground or cause the vertical and horizontal members to rotate relative to each other. To reduce the effects of earthquakes, ground movement, and high winds such as hurricanes, structural members have been developed to provide down force stabilization. Hold-down mechanisms are designed to resist separation forces and provide uplift stabilization.
As mentioned above, a common stabilization technique is the nailing of plywood sheets to the structural framing members. The sheets are connected to adjacent sheets and the foundation by means of the structural framing members to which they are nailed. They thus form a unified structure that resists uplift and overturning forces. In order to further enhance the structural integrity of the structure, the sheets are secured to each other and to the foundation by means of hold-downs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,672 describes hold-downs in the form of brackets that are secured to framing members using bolts. The brackets are attached to the vertical framing members by means of bolts extending horizontally or to horizontal framing members by means of vertically extending bolts. The brackets are, in turn, connected to each other or the foundation. For example, in the case of vertically extending members, the brackets comprise L-shaped brackets in which one leg of the bracket extends outwardly from the framing member. The outwardly extending legs of adjacent pairs of brackets are connected to each other by means of threaded rods thus interconnecting the floors of the building. In this manner the brackets are connected to each thereby, in turn, connecting the framing members. The brackets are also connected to the foundation by means of threaded rods embedded in the foundation. A disadvantage of the above approach is the failure to accommodate wood shrinkage which causes the tension in the threaded rods to be lost, permitting a certain amount of play and possibly resulting in impact loads and shear wall nail failures that increase the risk of failure. Furthermore, a connection is required wherever a cross members is encountered. Thus a large number of parts is required. Also, a large number of holes have to be drilled and the brackets carefully aligned resulting in a time consuming and costly procedure. Due to the shape of the brackets, eccentric forces are exerted on the brackets, which are exacerbated by the small contact area of the bolts resulting in large pressure on the connections.
Earthquakes also create moving point forces which are directed upward and sideways through the foundation to the framing members and cause the shear diaphragms to rotate and buckle. To reduce rotational and point loading the movement of the upper corners of the shear diaphragms relative to their foundation has to be contained. A number of devices have been developed to achieve this. One solution proposed is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,314 to Boilen in which tie rods extend from the foundation up through the various levels of the building and is secured at each level to an anchor by means of a nut and spread plate. The use of a rod extending upward from the foundation allows uplift forces to be transmitted directly to the foundation. However this system has severe limitation in that it fails to take account of wood shrinkage. As framing members shrink the initial snug connection between the tie rods and the anchors is lost. The framing members are thus no longer snugly restrained and expose the system to impact forces. Nails holding the framing members together are thus more likely to be pulled out, thereby further comprising the structural integrity of the building.
This limitation was partially addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,011,312 to Engman in which a connecting device is described that includes springs for taking account of dimensional changes of the structural elements. This device is, however, limited in its ability to hold the structural elements together. Specifically, the strength of the system is limited by the compressive force of the springs.
The present applicant addressed this issue in this earlier patent application, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,561, by developing a hold-down device comprising a cable that is anchored at one end and is releasably clamped at the other end. A spring acts on the cable to take account of shrinkage by automatically moving the cable relative to the releasable clamp as the structural members shrink. A drawback of the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,561, however, is the cost of providing appropriate springs having the desired length and compressive force characteristics. This requires a large number of different springs to be made to accommodate the various applications.


There is provided an information processing apparatus including a part generation unit configured to generate a part that is suitable for a predetermined application and that includes at least a portion of any photo and is displayed on a display screen at a time of execution of the application, and an application control unit configured to control the execution of the application and at least display the part on the display screen during the execution of the application.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, a part generating and using method, and a program.
Communication using photos has generally been performed in various applications executed in information processing apparatuses such as personal computers (PCs), smartphones, and tablet PCs. For example, diverse communication not restricted to only text information is realized between users by transmitting and receiving messages to which photos are appended in mail software (mailers) or by exchanging photos together with messages in instant messengers.
In use of such photos, diverse photos are also preferably prepared to improve the degree of freedom for users to select photos. Technologies regarding photography of photos have been suggested so that users can perform photography with a higher degree of freedom. For example, JP 2003-280083A discloses a technology capable of providing photos in which backgrounds desired by users are used by superimposing a plurality of curtains and forming the backgrounds of the users at the time of photography of the photos.

Information processing apparatus, and part generating and using method


Methods and systems described in this disclosure allow customers to quickly be authenticated. In some embodiments, a device and a user verifier are associated with a user profile. When a call is received from the device, the user may be requested to input the user verifier. After verifying that the device is unique to the user and that the user verifier matches the user verifier associated with the user profile, the user may be authenticated to the call or activity.

Customers call into an organization for various reasons such as to inquire about a bill, receive a status update, receive the latest information relating to a service the organization provides, or obtain information about an account the customer holds with the organization. For example, customers may call to request a status of a financial account or insurance claim. Before any information is provided, the caller may be asked to provide authenticating information, generally in the form of personally identifying information.
The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Moreover, while embodiments of the present disclosure are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the disclosure is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

Methods and systems for authenticating a user on a call

UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION (USAA)


There is provided a culinary whisk comprising a body including a handle portion and a utility portion connected to the handle portion. The utility portion has a number of loops formed from a plurality of wires, wherein at least one of the wires is provided with a first portion having a non-circular cross section.

There are a variety of culinary whisks. Conventional whisks typically have a utility portion made of a number of wire loops. For example, the utility portion may have six wire loops. When a large container of foodstuff (e.g. egg, batter) is to be mixed, a larger whisk is usually used. One disadvantage of using a conventional whisk is that it takes considerable time to mix the foodstuff thoroughly. This creates difficulties to those who are in a hurry in preparing food or have weaker hands and cannot perform the mixing exercise for a prolong period of time.
One way to address such problem would be to increase the number of the wire loops to, for example, eight or nine with a view to increase the efficiency of a whisking exercise. However, increasing the number of wires still might not increase the efficiency significantly and it would create other technical problems during manufacturing or problems during cleaning after use.
The present invention seeks to address the above problems or at least to provide an alternative to the public.

Maxpat Trading and Marketing (Far East) Limited


A vapor generating device including a housing having an open top and closed bottom with a cleaning solvent therein. The housing is provided with first heat means in the bottom thereof to boil the solvent and cooling means in the top thereof to condense the solvent and prevent the solvent from escaping from the housing. A second heat means is provided in the bottom of the housing operable whenever a change in energy requirement within the housing is necessary. The vapor generating device is particularly useful as a cleaning device.

This invention relates to a vapor generating and recovering apparatus for vaporizing a liquid and condensing a vapor and more particularly relates to an improved apparatus for vaporizing a liquid and condensing a vapor wherein the heat requirement within the apparatus is subjected to instantaneous and substantial changes.
In the present state of the art, vapor generating and recovering devices for vaporizing and condensing a liquid are utilized in many different areas. For example, in the cleaning of objects such as metallic tools, plastic parts, and the like, hot or boiling solvents have been utilized to remove undesirable soluble and particulate matter from these tools, parts, and the like by immersing the soiled object into hot or boiling solvent. In bringing the solvent to a boiling temperature, a solvent vapor zone is created above the boiling solvent solution in the tank or chamber in which the objects may be placed for cleaning. The vaporized solvent is then subject to cooling or condensing means and is recovered. However, when baskets or parts are immersed into the boiling solvent the heat requirements undergo a radical change as it is necessary to provide more heat to the solvent to maintain the solvent in a boiling or vaporizing condition and maintain vapor level and constant distillation. Furthermore, when these objects are removed from the solution less heat requirements are needed. Vapors then escape the condensing zone of the apparatus through the open top as the vaporization of the liquid solvent increases substantially and the condensing means is generally insufficient to keep up with the dramatic change in the decreased heat requirements of the apparatus.


Automotive controller lookup table reference values are reduced as necessary so as to be stored in standard controller memory device locations by reducing, through a minimum number of standard reduction values, the magnitude of any reference value requiring more than one standard location for storage and by recording the number of standard reduction values applied to each reference value so that, upon retrieving any one reference value, the proper magnitude adjustment may be expediently made thereto to restore the reference value magnitude to its original value.

Rather than carry out complex or time consuming calculations in automotive control, diagnostic, or maintenance routines, it is known that certain functional relationships may be pre-calculated and stored in automotive controller non-volatile memory in the form of look-up tables. Rather than apply look-up values, such as sensed parameter values, to a series of calculations representing potentially complex functions, the values may be used as pointers or index values into pre-calculated look-up tables to retrieve a corresponding indexed table value. Such tables typically store a point to point relationship between the look-up (index) values and the reference values. Such models may require only a few stored table values in the rare case when the relationship is highly linear or when model accuracy is not critical. More commonly however, a single look-up table can require hundreds of stored table values, such as when the model is highly non-linear and when model accuracy is critical, or when the range of lookup (index) values is broad. To reference values from such lookup tables, standard lookup routines have been developed to rapidly identify a reference value in the table corresponding to a provided lookup value. The speed and accuracy of the techniques help make look-up tables an attractive alternative to complex, time consuming mathematical functions. Look-up tables have become so attractive in automotive control, diagnostics and maintenance systems that a substantial portion of automotive controller memory is commonly devoted to storage of such tables. Unfortunately, controller memory is not a free resource. Indeed, conventional controllers often prefer internal memory to expanded memory, to maximize data security and to minimize system cost and size. Internal memory is a severely limited resource of typical controllers. Any memory allocation approach which reduces memory requirements would therefore be desirable. Such allocation should not significantly impact controller operation. That is, such allocation should not reduce automotive control, diagnostics, or maintenance accuracy, or significantly increase the time required to carry out controller operations.


A method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab comprising the steps of: providing a frame-mounted truck cab having a frame-mounted sleeper cab secured to the rearward end thereof; cutting through the boot which interconnects the sleeper cab to the truck cab; removing the sleeper cab from the truck cab to create first and second openings at the rearward end of the truck cab; providing a roof panel which is designed to close the first opening; providing a back panel which is designed to close the second opening created by the removal of the sleeper cab from the truck cab; and securing the back panel and the roof panel to the truck cab to close the first and second openings whereby the truck cab has the appearance of a day cab.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab. More particularly, the invention relates to a method whereby a Kenworth Aero-Sleeper truck cab having a sleeper cab integrally formed therewith may be converted to a day cab by removing the sleeper cab from the truck cab and replacing the same with a roof panel and a back panel so that the modified truck cab is a day cab rather than a raised roof sleeper cab. More particularly, the method relates to converting Kenworth Aero-Sleeper Model Nos. T600, T800 and W900 to day cabs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of the trucks which haul freight across the nation include a sleeper cab integrally formed with the truck or operator""s cab so that the driver may, at appropriate times, sleep in the sleeper cab. The truck cabs which include sleeper cabs or compartments are quite large and do serve a very useful purpose while the truck is being used for long hauls. However, the trucks having the truck sleeper cabs are normally removed from long haul service after two or three years due to the expiration of leases, large accumulated mileage, etc. When the trucks having sleeper cabs are removed from long haul service, and are being sold as a used truck, an operator is hesitant to purchase the same for further long haul use due to the normally high mileage thereon. Further, if the trucks having sleeper cabs are to be used for local routes, those trucks, due to the large cab size thereof, are not well-suited for local use.
Used trucks of the type which are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cday cabs,xe2x80x9d that is, a truck cab without a sleeper compartment, normally have a much larger resale value than truck sleeper cabs because there is a shortage of day cabs.
In applicant""s earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,612, a method is described for converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab. In applicant""s co-pending application, a method is described for converting a truck raised roof sleeper cab to a mid-roof cab. Although both of the above methods represent an advance in the art, it is believed that the instant method represents an improvement thereover primarily for the reason that the instant method is directed to a method of converting the Kenworth Aero-Sleeper Model Nos. T600, T800 and W900 cabs to day cabs.
The method of converting a truck sleeper cab such as Kenworth Aero-Sleeper Model Nos. T600, T800 and W900 to a day cab is described which comprises the steps of: (1) providing a frame-mounted truck cab having rearward and forward ends and including a roof, opposite rear side edges and a floor, the truck cap having a frame-mounted sleeper cab secured thereto which includes an upper forward portion which is complementary in shape to the rearward end of the roof and opposite forward side edges which are complementary in shape to the opposite rear sides edges of the truck cab with the sleeper cab also including a floor which cooperates with the floor of the truck cab and wherein a resilient boot member interconnects the upper forward portion of the sleeper cab to the roof of the truck cab and interconnects the opposite forward side edges of the sleeper cab to the opposite rear side edges of the truck cab; (2) cutting through the boot member so that the boot member does not interconnect the sleeper cab with the truck cab; (3) disconnecting the sleeper cab from the truck frame; (4) removing the sleeper cab from the truck frame and the truck cab thereby creating a first opening in the upper rearward portion of the roof of the truck cab and creating a second opening in the rearward end of the truck cab; (5) providing a roof panel which is designed to close the first opening in the roof of the truck cab; (6) securing the roof panel to the roof of the truck cab to close the first opening; (7) providing a back panel which is designed to close the second opening in the rearward end of the truck cab; (8) securing the back panel to the roof panel and to the opposite rear side edges of the truck cab to close the second opening in the rearward end of the truck cab; and (9) whereby the truck cab has the appearance of a day cab.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab wherein the resultant day cab closely resembles conventional day cabs.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab wherein fiberglass back and roof panels are used to close the openings created in the back and roof of the cab created by the removal of the sleeper cab.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a used truck sleeper cab such as Kenworth Aero-Sleeper Model Nos. T600, T800 and W900 to a day cab which enhances the value of the used truck.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab so that the resultant cab is more suited for local use.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a day cab which involves the use of back and roof panels comprised of reinforced fiberglass material with the back and roof panels having interior trim associated therewith.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab which is readily accomplished.
These and other objects will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Method of converting a truck sleeper cab to a day cab


A fish hooking device includes a fishing rod holder pivotably mounted such that the fishing rod holder is pivotable about a first pivot axis and pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially parallel to the first pivot axis. The fishing rod holder has a cocked position and a released position. The fishing rod holder pivots about the first pivot axis when moving between the cocked position and the released position. A trigger device is connected to the fishing rod holder. The trigger device is configured to hold the fishing rod holder in the cocked position. The fishing rod holder triggers the trigger device when pivoting about the second pivot axis. The trigger device allows the fishing rod holder to move from the cocked position into the released position when being triggered.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fish hooking device which is triggered in response to a fishing line being pulled.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,269 discloses a fish hooking device for automatically setting the hook in a fish after the fish takes the bait. The fish hooking device includes a base, a receiving tube for receiving a fishing rod, an adjustable spring mount, and a trigger mount. A spring is connected between the receiving tube and the adjustable spring mount. The trigger mount is configured to connect the receiving tube so as to hold the receiving tube in a xe2x80x9ccockedxe2x80x9d position against the tension of the spring. When a fish takes the bait with a force sufficient to move the fishing rod and the receiving tube forward against the spring, the trigger mount will disengage. When the trigger mount is disengaged, the spring tension acts on the receiving tube in a backward direction so as to cause the fishing rod to be pulled backward against the pull of the fish, thereby setting the hook in the fish.
A disadvantage of the fish hooking device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,269 is that the spring connected between the receiving tube and the adjustable spring mount must have a rather small spring constant because the fish must be able to trigger the fish hooking device by pulling against the spring force. The small spring constant of the spring means that the force that pulls the fishing rod in the backward direction is rather small and may be even be too small to set the hook in the fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,332 discloses a fish hooking device with a fishing rod holder that is hinged mounted on a top side of a base support member. A trigger mechanism is provided to release the cocked fishing rod holder so that the fishing rod holder may swing upwardly in order to hook the fish. The coil spring may be adjusted to control the force acting to rotate the fishing rod upwardly and to control the force required to release the trigger.
The fish hooking device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,332 has the disadvantage that the coil spring must have a small spring constant because the fish triggers the fish hooking device by pulling against the force of the coil spring. The small spring constant results in a small pulling force for pulling the fishing rod upwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,178 discloses fish hooking device which supports a fishing rod and is triggered in response to a fish jerking on the fishing line. The fish hooking device includes a support member which pivotally carries on its end portion a second member which supports a rod holder. A spring biases the second member in a predetermined pivotal direction for setting the hook in the fish""s mouth. A trigger which is mounted on the support member maintains the second member in a predetermined pivotal position by counteracting the forces applied to the second member by the spring. The trigger releases the second member responsive to a fish jerking on the fishing rod such that the tension spring assembly thereby sets the hook in the fish""s mouth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,178 also has the disadvantage, that the force required to trigger the fish hooking device and the force for setting the hook is substantially equal because these forces are generated by the same spring.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,964,868 discloses a fish hooking device which is triggered in response to a tug or pull on the fishing line. The fishing line is looped around a pivotable latch element. In response to a pull on the fishing line, the latch element pivots and triggers the fish hooking device such that the fish hooking device moves from a cocked position to a released position. A disadvantage of this fish hooking device is that the fishing line has to be looped around the latch element and around a further element prior to being ready for operation. Further fish hooking devices that operate by looping the fishing line around triggering elements of the fish hooking device are for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,804,277, 5,245,778, 2,744,351, 5,076,001, 2,918,746, and 4,730,408. The operation of such fish hooking devices is generally complicated and the fishing line or the fishing rod may be damaged when these fish hooking devices are triggered because the fishing line does not run in its usual path along the fishing rod. In particular, a monofilament fishing line attached to the trigger mechanism may be damaged as a result of the triggering operation. A further disadvantage of these fishing-line triggered devices is that the looping of the fishing line results in a slack in the fishing line immediately after the triggering. This slack in the fishing line may have the result that the fishing line gets tangled upon triggering the fish hooking device.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a fish hooking device which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known fish hooking devices of this general type and which can provide a sufficient force for pulling in the fishing rod and which provides a reliable and simple operation.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a fish hooking device, including:
a fishing rod holder pivotably mounted such that the fishing rod holder is pivotable about a first pivot axis and pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially parallel to the first pivot axis;
the fishing rod holder having a cocked position and a released position, the fishing rod holder pivoting about the first pivot axis when moving between the cocked position and the released position;
a trigger device connected to the fishing rod holder, the trigger device being configured to hold the fishing rod holder in the cocked position;
the fishing rod holder triggering the trigger device when pivoting about the second pivot axis, the trigger device allowing the fishing rod holder to move from the cocked position into the released position when being triggered; and
an elastic element connected to the fishing rod holder, the elastic element moving the fishing rod holder from the cocked position to the released position, when the trigger device is triggered.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the elastic element exerts a first force on the fishing rod holder when the fishing rod holder is in the cocked position; and the fishing rod holder pivots about the second pivot axis when a second force, which is smaller than the first force, is exerted on the fishing rod holder. The force for pulling in the fishing rod can advantageously be set to be much greater than the force required for triggering the fish hooking device.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, a first end of a hinged plate is hinged connected to a base plate at the first pivot axis; and the fishing rod holder is pivotably mounted to the hinged plate at the second pivot axis.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the trigger device includes a first hook attached to the base plate and a second hook attached to the hinged plate; the first hook and the second hook engage one another when the fishing rod holder is in the cocked position; and the first hook and the second hook are disengaged from one another when the trigger device is triggered.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the trigger device includes a cable having a first cable end attached to the hinged plate and a second cable end attached to the second hook; and at least one cable guide is disposed on the fishing rod holder, the cable is guided by the at least one cable guide.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the at least one cable guide is at least one pulley and/or at least one eyelet.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the fishing rod holder is a tubular device.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the elastic element is a coil spring.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention,
a first support (hinged plate) is provided and the fishing rod holder is pivotably mounted on the first support;
a second support (base plate) is provided;
a hinge configuration connects the first support to the second support such that the first support is pivotable with respect to the second support; and
the hinge configuration includes the elastic element such that the hinge configuration exerts a force on the first support and on the second support for moving the fishing rod holder from the cocked position to the released position.
With the objects of the invention in view there is also provided, a fish hooking device, including:
a fishing rod holder pivotably mounted such that the fishing rod holder is pivotable about a first pivot axis and pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially parallel to the first pivot axis;
the fishing rod holder having a cocked position and a released position, the fishing rod holder pivoting about the first pivot axis when moving between the cocked position and the released position;
means for triggering connected to the fishing rod holder, the means for triggering being configured to hold the fishing rod holder in the cocked position;
the fishing rod holder triggering the means for triggering when pivoting about the second pivot axis, the means for triggering allowing the fishing rod holder to move from the cocked position into the released position when being triggered; and
an elastic element connected to the fishing rod holder, the elastic element forcing the fishing rod holder from the cocked position to the released position, when the means for triggering is triggered.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a fish hooking device, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.


Disclosed herein are several embodiments of a negative pressure appliance and methods of using the same in the treatment of wounds. Some embodiments are directed towards wound dressings comprising a liquid and gas permeable transmission layer, an absorbent layer for absorbing wound exudate, the absorbent layer overlying the transmission layer, a gas impermeable cover layer overlying the absorbent layer and comprising a first orifice, wherein the cover layer is moisture vapor permeable. Some embodiments are directed to improved fluidic connectors or suction adapters for connecting to a wound site, for example using softer, kink-free conformable suction adapters.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the treatment of wounds using negative pressure wound therapy, and more specifically to an improved apparatus and method thereof.
Description of the Related Art
The treatment of open or chronic wounds that are too large to spontaneously close or otherwise fail to heal by means of applying negative pressure to the site of the wound is well known in the art. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems currently known in the art commonly involve placing a cover that is impermeable or semi-permeable to fluids over the wound, using various means to seal the cover to the tissue of the patient surrounding the wound, and connecting a source of negative pressure (such as a vacuum pump) to the cover in a manner so that negative pressure is created and maintained under the cover. It is believed that such negative pressures promote wound healing by facilitating the formation of granulation tissue at the wound site and assisting the body's normal inflammatory process while simultaneously removing excess fluid, which may contain adverse cytokines bacteria. However, further improvements in NPWT are needed to fully realize the benefits of treatment.
Many different types of wound dressings are known for aiding in NPWT systems. These different types of wound dressings include many different types of materials and layers, for example, gauze, pads, foam pads or multi-layer wound dressings. The wound dressing may be sealed to a suction port providing connection to a length of tubing, which may be used to pump fluid out of the dressing and also to transmit negative pressure from a pump to the wound dressing. Wound exudate and other potentially harmful material is extracted from the wound region and must be stored for later disposal. A problem associated with many known techniques is that a separate canister must be provided for storage of such exudate. Provision of such canisters is costly and bulky and prone to failure.
It has been suggested as a solution to this problem that a liquid impermeable moisture vapor permeable cover layer can be utilized as an uppermost cover layer for the wound dressing. The air impermeable nature of the cover layer provides a sealing layer over the wound site so that negative pressure can be established below the dressing in the region of the wound. The moisture vapor permeability of this covering layer is selected so that liquid can constantly evaporate away from the top of the dressing. This means that as therapy is continued the dressing does not have to take up and hold all liquid exuding from the wound. Rather, some liquid is constantly escaping in the form of moisture vapor from the upper environs of the dressing.
Whilst such dressings work well in practice, the continuous evaporation of moisture vapor from the dressing can lead to the problem of crust formation in the dressing. That is to say, because of the continuous drawing of liquid away from the wound site solid particulate matter is more prone to formation and accumulation in the dressing. Under certain circumstances the build-up of such solid material can lead to blockages forming in the wound dressing in the flowpath between the wound and the source of negative pressure. This can potentially cause problems in that therapy may need to be halted to change a dressing if the blockages reach a critical level.
Further, the stiffness of the suction port in such close proximity to the wound site can adversely affect the healing process. Patient movement or pressure onto the wound dressing may bring the healing wound into contact with the inflexible suction port of the dressing. Such force can cause disturbance of a wound bed which can damage a wound site. This can potentially cause delays in healing of the wound site and discomfort for the patient.
It will also be appreciated that the tubing connected to the suction port is prone to obstruction. The tubing may become obstructed by movement of the patient, which may cause the tube to bend and form a kink or may place pressure onto the tubing, substantially or fully blocking the flow of fluid through the tubing. This can reduce or eliminate the negative pressure being transmitted to the wound site, and in embodiments employing a separate canister for fluid collection it can also result in accumulation of excess wound exudate at the wound site.

Apparatuses and methods for negative pressure wound therapy


An articulated joint for an articulated vehicle. Upper and lower pivotal connections, each employing a ball and socket, allow pivoting of two vehicle sections about a vertical axis. The ball of the lower joint is attached to one section while the socket is attached to the other section of the vehicle. The socket and ball of the upper joint are attached to a support member free to move along a shaft in a transverse direction between two stops. The ball of the upper joint is free to move along a vertical shaft joined to the other section of the vehicle. The transverse shaft provides a bearing surface to transmit loads between the two vehicle sections. Seals along the support member prevent entrainment of dirt along the shaft and bearing. The stops are part of the structure attaching the transverse shaft to the vehicle.

Vehicles of the type known as "articulated vehicles" or "articulated frame structures" currently enjoy wide-spread acceptance by the construction industry. Typically such vehicles are made in two sections, a front or forward unit and a rear or back unit. These two sections are joined by an articulated joint. Typical examples are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,619; 3,912,300 and 4,154,456.
Articulated vehicles employing an articulated joint which accommodates relative pivotal movement between the two sections of the vehicle both with respect to a vertical axis and with respect to a horizontal axis have heretofore been highly complicated in design and therefore expensive to manufacture. Very often, complicated bearing structures were used which required frequent maintenance and which were subject to wear or breakage. Space was restricted and surrounding equipment could not interfere with the operation of the joint.
Specifically, the pivotal axis of the joint is relatively inaccessible and not readily visible. The joint is therefore frequently ignored from the standpoint of maintenance. This is even true though the joint is subject to substantial wear due to dirt and other contaminants entering therein.
Furthermore, since most of the control functions are of necessity located on the frame section with the material handling unit thereon, provision must be made for interconnecting these controls with the power plant. The power plant is usually located in the rear section to counterbalance the material handling unit. Power transfer is normally accomplished through hydraulic plumbing and electrical wiring. With a center articulated joint, it often becomes difficult to find adequate space for passing these connections between the two frame sections.
One highly successful and typical articulated vehicle of the type just described is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,456 by Jensen et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. One of the sections has an elongated guide channel that extends generally transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof with a support member movable along the guide channel. A first universal joint connection is provided between the support member and the other frame section while a second universal connection is provided directly between the two frame sections at a location spaced from the guide channel. Thus, the second universal connection not only provides a connection between the two frame sections that will accommodate pivotal movement about the vertical axis, but also defines a general, horizontal longitudinal pivot axis between the two frame sections.
More specifically, a channel member cooperates with the guide channel to maintain a U-shaped support member on the guide channel and also to define extreme limits of movement of the support member along the guide channel. Spacers are positioned between the guide channel and the channel member at opposite ends with bolts used to interconnect the two channels. The spacers not only maintain the predetermined clearance between the two channels, but also define extreme limits of movement along the guide channel. Wear plates are secured to opposite surfaces of the base portion of the U-shaped support bracket. These wear plates are ideally kept in continuous engagement with the adjacent surfaces of the two channels.


A bracket for supporting a laboratory mirror and shelf is disclosed. The bracket is preferably an extrusion of aluminum or other rigid material and includes a pair of horizontally disposed guides or arms forming a channel for the receipt of a planar shelf. Additionally, a vertically disposed stop is provided for retaining a mirror in a vertical orientation against a supporting shoulder. In use, the bracket allows for the convenient installation of a shelf beneath a mirror such as would be found in a bathroom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wall mount shelf support bracket and a method of installing the same, and, more particularly, to a surface mount bracket for providing vertical support for a wall mount vanity mirror as well as horizontal support for a shelf.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cantilevered wall shelf brackets for supporting shelf panels have been known for many years. Wall shelves supported by cantilevered brackets are a fitting substitute for more expensive and space consuming shelving units. Earlier versions of cantilevered supports typically include a peg board arrangement or vertical wall standard and a plurality of cooperatively engageable brackets for fully supporting the shelf. There is an obvious utilitarian value associated with cantilevered shelf brackets, but the shelving brackets are not aesthetically appealing and therefore are often a poor substitute for use in the living areas of a home.
Attempts have been made in improving the appearance of cantilevered shelving brackets. The ornamental wall shelves most commonly used today employ screws for attaching the bracket to the wall. The screws are generally concealed by the shelves or a removably attachable facing. Although fasteners are concealed in some way or another, the overall appearance of the bracket generally remains quite unappealing.
What is needed is a wall shelf system which provides a shelf bracket for use in permanently and securely supporting a shelf. The wall shelf bracket should be simple in design and amenable to fabrication by simple die extrusion process. Moreover, the wall shelf bracket should be capable of receiving a shelf and frictionally engaging the same through a wedging action. This wedging action is accomplished through the cooperative engagement between the shelf panel and the shelf bracket. A shelf panel having a thickness of close tolerance to the support bracket is placed under a slightly deforming wedging stress during intersection with the supporting bracket, for secure retention of the shelf panel. The supporting bracket should be aesthetically appealing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,887, issued Sep. 8, 1987 to Walter L. Bessinger, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,338, issued Apr. 10, 1990 to David C. Guth, each show surface mountable shelf supports for frictionally receiving a shelf.
In addition to supporting a shelf, applicant's instant invention is configured to support a mirror and to enable the silver backing on the bottom edge to be sealed. The support bracket according to applicant's instant invention is ideal for use in bathrooms, and for supporting both a shelf and a mirror. Condensation created in a bathroom forms on the bathroom mirror and frequently drains from the surface of the mirror and collects along the bottom edge thereof. Over a period of time, this can cause the silver along the bottom edge to deteriorate. Setting the bottom edge of the mirror in a sealant may inhibit the deterioration of the silver. Spray sealants are available; however, immersing the bottom edge in a sealant may be more effective.
It is well known to provide a means to support both a mirror and a shelf. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 993,753, issued May 30, 1911 to Charles J. Casper, and U.S. Pat. Des. No. 167,517, issued Aug. 19, 1952 to John E. Kopko, and U.S. Pat. No. 268,238, issued Mar. 15, 1983 to Anthony J. Brescia et al., all disclose mirror and shelf units. Further, similar to the mirror and shelf supports, U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,341, issued Jan. 16, 1968 to Frederick R. Glassman, discloses a blackboard having an integral shelf. Yet another patent which is deemed of interest in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,226, issued Sep. 20, 1977 to Louis A. Harvey, disclosing a bracket for supporting both a vertical and horizontal panel. However, none of these patents describes a means for supporting and sealing the bottom edge of the mirror to protect the silver backing of the mirror against deterioration. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


A method of performing high-speed positioning of a light beam onto a desired track of a recording medium, such as an optical card, which has an ID portion formed on only one end portion of each of a plurality of parallel tracks. As seen in FIG. 1B, the ID portion 14 is formed by sequentially arranging an ID mark 21 representing the start of the ID portion 14 in a forward read operation, a PLL pull-in region 22 as a data separator in a forward read operation, a sync signal 23 representing the start of track information in a forward read operation, track (address) information 24, a sync signal 25 representing the start of track information in a reverse read operation, a PLL pull-in region 26 as a data separator in a reverse read operation, and an ID mark 27 representing the start of the ID portion 14 in a reverse read operation. The data information recorded on the data portion 15 is to be read either in the forward direction or in the reverse direction. When the light beam is located on the other end portion of each track, the light beam is relatively moved in a direction to cross the tracks. Subsequently, the ID portion is read while the light beam is moved along the tracks toward one end portion, thereby accessing the desired track.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information recording/reproducing method and, more particularly, to an information recording/reproducing method capable of accessing a desired track on a recording medium such as an optical card at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, information recording/reproducing systems using various types of recording media have been developed. They have been used in a variety of fields.
In such information recording/reproducing systems, optical cards start to attract a great deal of attention. This is because an optical card has a storage capacity several thousands to ten thousands times larger than that of a magnetic card. Similar to an optical disk, such an optical card is not generally rewritable. An optical card, however, has a large storage capacity of 1 to 2 Mbytes. For this reason, a wide variety of applications of optical cards, e.g., banknotes, portable road maps, and pre-paid cards used for shopping, have been proposed.
Such conventional optical cards are disclosed in, e.g., Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 63-37876. In one type of optical card, an ID portion on which the address information of each track is recorded is formed on only one end portion of a corresponding one of a plurality of parallel tracks (to be referred to as a single-side ID optical card hereinafter). In another type of optical card, ID portions are formed on the two ends of each of tracks (to be referred to as a double-side ID optical card hereinafter).
In an optical card of this type, recording/reproducing of data and reading of ID portions, sector marks, and the like are performed by relatively moving the optical card in an optical beam from a recording/reproducing optical head in a direction parallel to the tracks on the optical card. A target track is accessed by performing a combination of coarse-accessing and track-jumping operations in accordance with commands from a controller. In a coarse-accessing operation, coarse positioning is performed by moving the overall optical head having an objective lens by means of a linear moving mechanism in a direction perpendicular to each track on the optical card, and simultaneously detecting the position of the moving optical head by means of a position detecting section. In a track-jumping operation, the object lens is moved every track pitch by means of a tracking drive means.
In a conventional system, therefore, when a single-side ID optical card 1 shown in FIG. 6 is used, a target track is accessed in accordance with a flow chart shown in FIG. 7. Note that in the optical card 1 shown in FIG. 6, ID portions 4 on which the address information of the respective track are recorded are formed, in correspondence with the tracks, on only one end portion of an optical recording portion 3 having a plurality of parallel tracks 2, and a data portion 5 is formed between the ID portion 4 and the other end portion of the optical recording portion 3. The ID portion 4 can be properly read by reading the optical card 1 from a right end portion to the left.
A conventional accessing method with respect to the single-side ID optical card 1 will be described below with reference to a view showing the locus of a light beam directed onto the optical card in FIGS. 6 and a flow chart in FIG. 7.
Referring to FIG. 6, assume that the optical card 1 is stopped, a recording/reproducing light beam is directed to an end position S1 on a side opposite to the ID portion 4, and the address of a corresponding track has already been read. A controller moves the optical card 1 in a direction parallel to the track to direct the light beam to an end position S2 on the opposite side to the end position S1 (step S11). The controller calculates a difference D between the address of a target track and that of the current track (step S12), and checks whether an absolute value .vertline.D.vertline. of the difference D is smaller than a predetermined value (step S13). If .vertline.D.vertline.<a, the target track can be accessed in a shorter period of time by repeating a track-jumping operation than by performing a coarse-accessing operation of moving the overall optical head. In this case, therefore, the controller does not perform a coarse-accessing operation but performs a track-jumping operation by an amount corresponding to the track difference D (step S14). Note that the predetermined value a is normally set to be about 4 to 10. If .vertline.D.vertline.>a, the controller moves the overall optical head by a distance corresponding to the track difference D to perform a coarse-accessing operation (step S15). Reference symbol S3 in FIG. 6 denotes the directed position of the light beam after the movement described above.
Subsequently, the controller moves the optical card 1 in the track direction (step S16), and simultaneously reads the address, of the corresponding track, recorded on the ID portion 4 to detect the address of the track after the movement (step S17). At the same time, the controller checks whether the detected address corresponds to the target track (step S18). In this case, if the access is made by a track-jumping operation, the detected address coincides with that of the target track in most cases. However, if the access is made by coarse-accessing operation, the detected address does not often coincide with that of the target track. If they do not coincide with each other, the controller immediately stops the movement of the optical card 1 (step S19), and directs the light beam to a position S4. Thereafter, the controller calculates the difference D between the address of the current track and that of the target track in the same manner as described above (step S20) to perform access control again. In this case, since the position S4 to which the light beam is directed is located relatively near the target track regardless of whether the first accessing operation is performed by track jumping or coarse accessing, .vertline.D.vertline.>a. For this reason, the controller performs track-jumping operation by an amount corresponding to the difference D (step S21), thus directing the light beam to a position S5. Subsequently, the controller moves the optical card 1 in the opposite direction to direct the light beam to an end position S6 on the side of the ID portion 4 of the optical card 1 (step S22). Lastly, the controller drives the optical card 1 from the position S6 (step S23), and reads the address of the corresponding track in the ID portion 4 again (step S17). If the read address coincides with the address of the target track (step S18), the controller performs a read or write operation with respect to the data portion 5.
In contrast to this, when a double-side ID optical card is used, ID portions are arranged on the two end portions of each track. Therefore, the controller immediately performs a coarse-accessing operation or a track-jumping operation to start accessing to a target track, while omitting step S11 in the above-described accessing operation of the single-side ID optical card, regardless of whether the light beam is directed to one end or the other end.
As is apparent from the above description, in the conventional access method for a single-side ID optical card, if a light beam is located at an end portion on the opposite side of the ID portion, the optical card is moved to position the light beam to an end portion near the ID portion in the first place. Since such movement requires an extra time, the access time is inevitably prolonged.
An information recording/reproducing system using such a single-side ID recording medium (optical card), therefore, cannot access to a desired track at high speed. This interferes with a high-speed read/write operation.

Information recording/reproducing method capable of fast-accessing


A semiconductor memory device with a redundancy circuit comprising fuses for selectively blocking the supply of the power voltage to the bit line pair, in order to minimize the power consumption originated from the contacting of the bit line to ground caused by a processing failure on the bit lines in stand-by state even though a column replacement is performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device with a redundancy circuit.
2. Background Art
The shrinkage of unit cells has accelerated with the high density of semiconductor memory devices, thus cutting down on the yield rate for good chips. Therefore, recent semiconductor memory devices usually employ a redundancy circuit with a spare cell for replacing a defective cell. The semiconductor memory device with the redundancy circuit has a normal decoder connected to a normal word line-and a redundant decoder connected to a redundant word line. The normal decoder receives the shaped row address and the redundant decoder senses the state of the memory cell to provide a sense signal indicative of the normal mode or redundancy mode, thereby selecting the normal word line or the redundant word line. An output of the column decoder selectively turns off or on a column select transistor, transmitting the information from a given cell that is driven and selected by the word lines to an input/output gate connected to the cell.
The conventional redundancy circuit of FIG. 1 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,851, which was granted to Osama Kurakami.
In normal mode operation, the row decoder selects a word line, and the column decoder 19 selects the given bit line pair, accessing the information in the memory cell. The column select transistor is turned on to transfer data from the memory cell of the main memory array to the input/output gate. On the other hand, in redundancy mode operation, an output Yi of the column decoder 19 asserts a logical "high," turning off the column select transistors NP1, NP2, NP3 and NP4. Accordingly, the information of the column with the defective memory cell is not delivered to the input/output gate connected to the column select transistors. That is, access of the column with the defective memory cell is suppressed. Thereafter, the normal cell of the redundancy memory array replaces the defective cell of the main memory array. The information in the accessed normal cell is transferred to the input/output gate performing the data reading and writing operation. If a defective cell of a static random access memory (SRAM) connected to the word line is found, the replacement operation of the redundancy circuit is started.
However, when the defect is detected at point A, B or C, even though the defective memory cell in the main memory array is replaced with the good memory cell in the redundancy memory array, the power consumption caused by the defect at A, B or C is effectively not prevented. Accordingly, programming lines, such as fuses 11 and 12, are disposed at the respective row of the main memory array so that the power voltage V cc is selectively supplied to the memory cell, wherein the redundant memory array is the same structure as shown in FIG. 1. In normal mode, the ground voltage GND or power voltage Vcc is supplied through fuse 11 or 12 of the main memory array, and the fuse of the redundancy memory array is selectively cut according to the respective case. In redundant mode, the voltage supply to the main memory array is blocked by cutting fuse 11 or 12 of the main memory cell array so as to prevent the power consumption caused by the defective cell of the main memory array.
On the other hand, in the case of column replacement, transistors N1 and N2, connected to the bit lines, are turned on by a logical "low" voltage (ground) upon enabling of the chip, and PMOS transistors N3 and N4 (for suppressing the leakage current of the bit lines) are turned on, raising the bit lines to Vcc level. Here, if a current path, which is caused by a defect of the bit line pair during processing, is formed between the bit line and ground voltage, even though the column replacement is carried out, a leakage current through the precharging transistors and clamping transistors is generated from the voltage level to ground level.

Semiconductor memory device with redundancy structure suppressing power consumption


The stove is of the cylindrical firechamber-type having a side loading door for loading wood or other combustible material such as coke or coal into the chamber. The front of the stove chamber may be opened to enable viewing of the wood burning in the stove by means of an arcuate sliding door that is operable to substantially totally close the chamber or open a section of the front thereof for viewing purposes. The sliding door is covered by a shield (window) construction including a tempered glass face. The stove is provided with an open base for supporting the chamber and a shroud covering the top and back of the chamber and preferably having blower means associated therewith. The drafting of the chamber is provided by a side door draft and a top draft extending longitudinally of the chamber.

The present invention relates in general to woodburning heaters or stoves which are primarily adapted for the burning of wood but may also be used for the burning of other combustible material such as coal or coke. This invention pertains, more particularly, to a stove construction of the cylindrical firechamber type which has the dual purpose use of a heating stove and a form of fireplace enabling a viewing of the woodburning process.
Typical prior art patents that relate to the general field of the present invention include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,757,766 and 3,986,488; and French Pat. Nos. 513,859 and 1,246,864. Some of the disadvantages associated with these prior art constructions are the complexity of the design, the ineffective operability of the stove, the inefficiency of the design, and the lack of a proper drafting system.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved stove construction preferably for burning wood but also provided with a front window through which the fire in the firechamber may be viewed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved cylindrical firechamber type stove providing in association with a tempered glass window at the front of the stove, an arcuate sliding door that may be opened for viewing purposes of the burning fire.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved drafting system so as to enhance combustion and provide substantially complete burning of the combustible material.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a woodburning stove having an improved top shroud construction for directing heated air and also functioning as a table top upon which items can be heated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved woodburning stove that preferably has a lining of fire brick to retain heat and prevent damage to the stove caused by hot coals.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved stove construction having a shroud associated therewith with blower means in turn with the shroud for accelerating the heat recycling process so that the blown air is essentially cycled about a major circumference of the stove.


Disclosed is an improved device and method for detecting fiber breakouts and fiber restarts in processes or systems for making fibers from a molten thermoplastic material. In these processes the running fibers induce ambient air into the array of hot fibers close to the nozzles where the fibers are formed, but this air flow essentially ceases when the fiber breaks out. A thermocouple junction located in the path of this airflow will sense temperature changes caused by fiber breakouts and fiber starts. The present invention simplifies and increases the accuracy of prior art sensor systems by eliminating hardware holding this thermocouple and instead uses one or more small holes in a bushing frame plus the refractory used to hold the fiberizing bushing in the frame to hold the thermocouple in the appropriate place.

Making fibers from molten material by extruding the melt through a plurality of nozzles (tips) or holes in a metal bushing is well known as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,740,224 and 5,244,483 for making glass fibers, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In these and other similar fiber making processes, the fibers frequently break for various known and unknown reasons causing breakouts of large portions of the bushing or the entire bushing. The breakouts usually start with a single fiber breaking out while the remaining hundreds to thousands of fibers from a single bushing continue to run. In a few seconds to minutes after the first fiber breaks, the bead down of that fiber will cause other fibers to break and soon many or all of the fibers will be broken out. In the event that the bushing is designed to avoid bead down during running, there is still a need to know when a certain number of fibers have broken out so that the bushing can be restarted to get all of the tips running fibers again. For evaluation and optimizing purposes it is desirable to have a record of the number and time, duration, etc. of breakouts for each bushing position.
To meet these needs, breakout detection systems have been developed. The breakout detection system (BODS) usually consists of a thermocouple mounted onto the frame of each fiberizing bushing such that the junction end of the thermocouple projects below the bushing frame and into the location where room air is pulled into the bushing tip area and fiber array by the induction created by the rapidly moving array of fibers as they are pulled downward and away from the bushing. As each fiber breaks out, less air is drawn past the thermocouple junction. After several fibers have broken out, there is enough of a temperature gain at the thermocouple junction to exceed normal temperature variation and a break is sensed and recorded.
While this system has worked very satisfactorily, the stainless thermocouple mount and Inconel protection tube required are expensive, hinder air flow, and are obstacles to bushing maintenance. Finally, the accuracy of the system can be modified by accidentally, or intentionally, moving the mount or the protection tube.

Method and apparatus for detecting fiber breaks


A method and apparatus used with a printed circuit board (PCB) defect detection system generates a reference database image of the PCB having tolerances for each individual PCB feature, The invention is characterized by a tolerance database of at least three states in which each color is weighted and adjacent pixels are grouped into arrays or "bins". An error signal is generated when the sum of the pixel weights in a bin exceeds a preselected threshold.

Printed circuit boards are today manufactured by a process which is almost completely automated. The circuits for a particular printed circuit board are generated using a computer aided design (CAD) machine which will not only generate a schematic of the printed circuit board but also will provide the board layout for all of the devices thereon. The printed circuit board layout information is provided to a device such as a laser plotter which exposes the artwork needed to fabricate the printed circuit board. The artwork comprises a series of transparent and opaque areas as features corresponding to the PCB devices.
However, defects may be present in the printed circuit board or the PCB artwork which would render the printed circuit board useless. These defects can have a variety of causes, including shrinkage in the artwork or failures in the fabrication process. Many known systems for defect detection in printed circuit boards have often simply compared a given printed circuit board against a reference, defect free printed circuit board (i.e. golden board) to detect errors created during the fabrication process. A Golden Board System does not detect errors in subsequent boards that were also in the golden board.
Moreover, some of the known optical PCB inspection systems are configured to examine inspection marks which are placed on the artwork away from the features. The dimensions and locations of the registration marks on the printed circuit board are compared against a reference to determine the extent of shrinkage. Should the shrinkage exceed a certain value, the board is considered by these systems to be defective.
In order to create an image of the PCB features, the CAD data must be translated into raster format and provided to a laser direct imager (LDI) such as the LDI 9720 or 9725 marketed by the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company, the assignee of the present invention. The comparison of devices on the printed circuit board and features on the reference image is performed by a device such as the model 1850 defect detection system, also marketed by the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company.
A technique for generating a three state transitional data base (TDB) is disclosed and claimed in the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,762 entitled "A Method and Apparatus for Providing a Three State Database for use with Automatic Optical Inspection Systems" and is incorporated herein by reference. That technique is characterized by an algorithm which creates from a two state database a three state (black, white, gray) TDB with each feature having a single, uniform tolerance.
Another method and apparatus used with printed circuit board (PCB) defect detection is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,128 and is incorporated herein by reference. The '128 system generates a reference database image of the PCB having tolerances for each individual PCB feature and is characterized by a transitional data base having three states, black, white and gray corresponding to areas where the PCB features respectively must appear, must not appear and may or may not appear.
These systems are limited in the fact that certain defects will not be found. For example, if adjacent features are separated by a distance less than the sum of the corresponding feature tolerances, a short therebetween will not be detected by known three state transition database systems since the short is coextensive with the feature tolerances.
It would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus for creating a database from the original raster CAD data for use in defect detection of printed circuit boards which would provide the capability of generating a weighted transition database allowing for more precise detection of defects. The present invention is directed towards such a method and apparatus.

Automatic optical inspection system having a weighted transition database