A process for devulcanizing EPDM rubber comprising the step of introducing sulfur-cured EPDM to an extruder, introducing from about 0.5 to about 20 wt % scavenging agent, based upon the total weight of the EPDM and scavenging agent, and mixing and masticating the EPDM at a temperature sufficient to at least partially devulcanize the sulfur-cured EPDM.

Rubber membranes are used in a variety of applications. For example, it is common in the art to employ rubber sheet material to cover rooftops, especially flat or low-sloped roofs. One type of technologically useful membrane is prepared from olefinic rubber such as EPDM rubber, which is a terpolymer of ethylene, propylene and a diene monomer. A curative is employed to crosslink the EPDM terpolymer and thereby create a durable protective membrane. Sulfur curatives are often used to cure or crosslink the rubber. Advantageously, EPDM has a fully saturated backbone, which provides resistance to ozone and oxidation.
These protective membranes must be able to withstand severe environmental conditions without the membrane failing. Depending on the geographic location, the EPDM terpolymer membranes must be able to withstand temperatures that can reach up to as high as about 90° C. for prolonged periods of time. Further, these membranes must be able to withstand long exposure to UV light and ozone without undergoing chemical degradation. Further, these membranes must withstand mechanical stresses that are experienced, as least in part, from wind uplift forces. As is known in the art, useful EPDM membranes must meet the performance standards set forth in ASTM D 4637-03 and D1418-85.
While technologically useful, these membranes have a limited life. In many situations, the service life does not exceed thirty years. Replacement of roofing membrane may include placement of new membrane over the existing membrane, or removal of the existing membrane followed by installation of the new membrane. The latter is often desirable or required.
Removal of an existing membrane creates a disposal issue. Thousands, if not millions, of square feet of EPDM-based membranes are used to cover roofs, and therefore disposal of existing membranes is not trivial. Solutions to the problem that have been proposed include recycling of the scrap EPDM for use in other applications such as fuel or as filler in new rubber products.
Entities in many industries seek to recycle EPDM rubber in order to reduce waste and increase profits by putting scrap rubber to beneficial use. In mechanical processes, EPDM rubber is recycled simply by physically cutting and grinding the same into small pieces that can be incorporated into new rubber products, essentially as filler. The particle size of the ground rubber may vary depending on the grinding methods employed. Large particles of ground rubber, which are typically used as fuel, are obtained with regular shredders or grinders, while fine rubber particles are obtained by cryogenic grinding and used as fine fillers in rubber and plastic products. Mechanically recycled rubbers are typically employed in applications where the mechanical and physical properties of the end product are not too demanding. Few waste rubber products can be mechanically recycled for use in their original applications. For example, while others have mechanically recycled scrap EPDM roofing membranes, this recycled rubber is not used in new roofing membranes because the small pieces of recycled rubber are still vulcanized and thus not able to successfully interact with the remainder of the rubber matrix of the new roofing membrane.
In order to process the ground rubber particles and form them into useful products, they are typically mixed with virgin polymers. Although ground rubber may be incorporated into virgin rubber in this manner, the ground rubber remains phase separated from the virgin material and therefore may not become incorporated into the rubber matrix upon curing of the virgin rubber.
In light of this, efforts have been made to devulcanize rubber products, including EPDM. Chemical devulcanization is an example that is particularly distinguishable from the non-devulcanizing mechanical cutting and grinding method previously stated above. U.S. Pat. No. 6,956,065 teaches the use of amines as devulcanizing agents to devulcanize EPDM rubber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,632 also discloses a chemical devulcanization process.
Yet another devulcanization method involves a thermo-mechanical devulcanization process. In these processes, traditional rubber processing instruments, such as open mills and twin screw extruders, subject scrap rubber to shear and heat to achieve a partial devulcanization. U.S. Pat. No. 7,342,052 discloses a thermo-mechanical method of devulcanizing scrap rubber including heating the scrap rubber, agitating the scrap rubber in a thermo-kinetic mixer, and adding an oil to the scrap rubber as it is agitated. The thermo-kinetic mixer contemplated by the patent is a double boiler vessel including a mixing chamber having a rotor to apply shear stresses to the scrap rubber.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,461,192 and 6,632,918 each disclose a thermo-mechanical method of devulcanizing scrap rubber including heating the scrap rubber to a temperature within a desired range and applying shear stresses to the heated scrap rubber while subjecting the rubber to increased pressures. U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,192 contemplates use of a Banbury mixer to apply the shear stresses to the scrap rubber, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,918 contemplates using a twin-screw extruder to apply the shear stresses to the scrap rubber.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An endoscopic bioptome includes a jaw assembly, a tubular member, and a control wire extending through the tubular member, where the distal end of the control wire and tubular member are both coupled to the jaw assembly, and the jaw assembly includes a pair of opposed end effectors having resilient arms and a pair of opposed resilient anchors oriented orthogonal of the end effectors. Preferably the end effectors and the anchors are formed from a super-elastic metal. The anchors are blunt-tipped and also include angled portions which urge the anchors away from each other. The end effectors include resilient arms having proximal angled portions and distal portions which terminate with end effector jaw cups. The proximal angled portions urge the jaw cups away from each other. The jaw cups each have a sharp cutting rim. Another embodiment of the jaw assembly include jaw cups having radially arranged teeth. The proximal portion of each arm and anchor is coupled to a threaded base member which is thread into the coil. The distal end of the wire is coupled to a sleeve. The proximal ends of the coil and wire are coupled to a manual actuation means for axially displacing one of the coil and wire relative to the other. Axial movement of the wire relative to the coil moves the sleeve over the arms of the end effectors and also over the anchors, thereby forcing the jaw cups together in a biting action and moving the anchors radially inward.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to endoscopic surgical instruments. More particularly, this invention relates to jaw assemblies for endoscopic biopsy forceps instruments.
2. State of the Art
Endoscopic biopsy procedures are typically performed with an endoscope and an endoscopic biopsy forceps device (bioptome). The endoscope is a long flexible tube carrying fiber optics and having a narrow lumen through which the bioptome is inserted. The bioptome typically includes a long flexible coil having a pair of opposed jaws at the distal end and manual actuation means at the proximal end. Manipulation of the actuation means opens and closes the jaws. During a biopsy tissue sampling operation, the surgeon guides the endoscope to the biopsy site while viewing the biopsy site through the fiber optics of the endoscope. The bioptome is inserted through the narrow lumen of the endoscope until the opposed jaws arrive at the biopsy site, which is typically a relatively large body cavity, e.g., the stomach or large intestine. While viewing the biopsy site through the fiber optics of the endoscope, the surgeon directs endoscope toward the sample tissue site, moves the jaws head on to the tissue site, and positions the jaws around the sample tissue. The surgeon manipulates the actuation means so that the jaws close around the tissue and a sample of the tissue is then cut and/or torn away from the biopsy site while it is trapped between the jaws of the bioptome. Keeping the jaws closed, the surgeon withdraws the bioptome from the endoscope and then opens the jaws to collect the biopsy tissue sample.
Not all biopsy sites are large enough to enable the surgeon to adequately direct the endoscope and the jaws in a desired manner to a sample site. For example, the esophagus is relatively narrow, and it is difficult to turn and orient the endoscope within the esophagus to thereby aim a jaw assembly exiting a lumen of the endoscope toward the desired sample site; the sample site being typically located lateral of the distal end of the endoscope. Thus, in esophageal applications, it is common for the jaws to exit the endoscope and continue through the esophagus and fail to properly engage the wall of the esophagus for biopsy sampling.
In addition, an esophageal biopsy tissue sampling procedure often requires the taking of several tissue samples either from the same or from different biopsy sites. Unfortunately, most bioptomes are limited to taking a single tissue sample, after which the device must be withdrawn from the endoscope and the tissue collected before the device can be used again to take a second tissue sample. The single-sample limitation of most bioptomes is due to the limited space between the biopsy forceps jaws.
Several attempts have been made to provide an instrument which will allow the taking of several tissue samples before the instrument must be withdrawn and the samples collected. Problems in providing such an instrument include the extremely small size required by the narrow lumen of the endoscope and the fact that the instrument must be flexible in order to be inserted through the lumen of the endoscope. Thus, several known multiple sample biopsy instruments are precluded from use with an endoscope because of their size and rigidity. These include the "punch and suction type" instruments disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,033 to Halpern et al. and No. 4,522,206 to Whipple et al.
Related efforts have been made to provide a multiple sampling ability to an instrument which must traverse the narrow lumen of an endoscope. These efforts have concentrated on providing a cylindrical storage space at the distal end of the instrument wherein several tissue samples can be accumulated before the instrument is withdrawn from the endoscope. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,753 to Lifton, for example, discloses a rigid cylindrical member attached to the distal end of a first flexible tube and having a lateral opening. A second flexible tube is coupled to a knife blade for moving the knife blade relative to the lateral opening in the cylindrical member. A tissue sample is taken by bringing the lateral opening of the cylindrical member upon the biopsy site, applying vacuum with the syringe to draw tissue into the lateral opening, and pushing the second flexible tube forward to move the knife blade across the lateral opening. A tissue sample is thereby cut and trapped inside the cylindrical knife within the cylindrical member. However, the device of the Lifton patent suffers from several serious drawbacks. First, the Lifton device is designed to sample laterally of the device by using a syringe to help draw the tissue into the lateral opening, yet the nature of esophageal tissue does not lend itself to being drawn by suction, as the tissue is fairly tough. Second, the Lifton patent requires substantial effort on the part of the surgeon and an assistant and much of this effort is involved in pushing tubes, an action which is counter-intuitive to classical biopsy sampling. The preferred mode of operation of virtually all endoscopic tools is that a gripping action at the distal end of the instrument is effected by a similar action at the proximal end of the instrument. Classical biopsy forceps jaws are closed by squeezing a manual actuation member in a syringe-like manner.
A more convenient endoscopic multiple sample biopsy device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,255 to Rydell. Rydell provides a flexible endoscopic instrument with a knife-sharp cutting cylindrical sleeve at its distal end. A coaxial anvil is coupled to a pull wire and is actuated in the same manner as conventional biopsy forceps. Ostensibly, when the anvil is drawn into the cylinder, tissue located between the anvil and the cylinder is cut and pushed into a storage space within the cylinder. Several samples may be taken and held in the storage space before the device is withdrawn from the endoscope. While the device of Rydell is purportedly effective in providing a multiple sample tool, it is limited to the lateral cutting of relatively loose tissue, unlike the tough tissue found in the esophagus.
Generally, tough tissue like that found in the esophagus is more effectively sampled with a forceps having jaws, as disclosed in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,432 to Slater et al. Slater et al. discloses an endoscopic multiple sample biopsy forceps having a jaw assembly which includes a pair of opposed toothed jaw cups each of which is coupled by a resilient arm to a threaded base member. The threaded base member of the jaw assembly is mounted inside a cylindrical sleeve and axial movement of one of the jaw assembly and cylindrical sleeve relative to the other draws the arms of the jaws into the cylindrical sleeve or moves the cylindrical sleeve over the arms of the jaws to bring the jaw cups together in a biting action. The arms of the jaws effectively form a storage chamber which extends proximally from the lower jaw cup and prevents accumulated biopsy samples from being squeezed laterally out from between the jaws during repeated opening and closing of the jaws and the lower jaw cup enhances movement of the biopsy samples into the storage chamber.
Co-owned U.S. Ser. No. 08/440,327 to Palmer et al. improves on this concept by providing super-elastic jaw arms and jaw cups to the jaws assembly. Super-elastic jaw arms are extremely flexible and repeatedly return to desired positions without fracturing or deforming. In addition, super-elastic jaw arms do not significantly plastically deform, even after repeatedly being opened and forced closed. This instrument excels at taking samples of tissue located in front of the jaw assembly.
However, as discussed above, the narrow space of the esophagus hinders the distal portion of the endoscope from adequately aligning the biopsy instrument in a head-on direction.

Esophageal biopsy jaw assembly and endoscopic instrument incorporating the same


An imaging lens barrel includes: a barrel body; a rotating body; a magnetic sensor device; a phase difference calculation section; a correction table memory; a phase difference correction section configured to, when a relative position between the rotating body and the magnetic sensor device according to a posture of the imaging lens barrel is different from that of when a correction table is created, correct a phase difference calculated by the phase difference calculation section according to the relative position and to correct the phase difference calculated by the phase difference calculation section, using a correction value corresponding to the corrected phase difference, and to, when the relative position is not different from that of when the correction table is created, correct the calculated phase difference, using a correction value corresponding to the phase difference calculated by the phase difference calculation section; and an absolute position calculation section.

1. Field of the Invention
The claimed invention relates to an imaging lens barrel and a method for controlling an operation of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With an increase in the screen size and resolution of a television apparatus, there is an increasing demand for improving the quality of images displayed on a display screen. In order to meet the demand for improving the quality of images, it is necessary to accurately detect the position of an imaging lens provided in movie and broadcasting imaging lens barrels.
For example, JP2011-27999A discloses an endoscopic device which uses an electrostatic encoder as lens position detection means and can determine the position of a lens with high accuracy. For example, JP2012-83313A discloses a position detection device which accurately detects a distance in a wide range with a simple structure and immediately detects an absolute position.

Imaging lens barrel and method for controlling operation of the same


This disclosure relates to a storage device comprising non-volatile storage and a controller. The non-volatile storage may comprise a firmware image, a known data pattern (KDP) in plaintext, and an encrypted KDP. The controller may be coupled to the non-volatile storage, and may be configured to update the firmware image of the non-volatile storage. For this update, the controller may first receive a symmetric key from a host by way of a public key encryption process. Next, the controller may decrypt the encrypted KDP using the symmetric key. If the decrypted KDP matches the KDP in plaintext, the symmetric key may be validated and the firmware image update may be downloaded. The firmware image update may then replace the firmware image in non-volatile storage.

Devices such as storage device bridges, hard disk drives, and solid-state drives are vulnerable to malicious firmware logic tampering. A storage device bridge is a digital storage system attached to either a server or workstation without an intervening storage network or to a host/server/workstation by way of a network. A direct-attached storage device may comprise a data storage device (for example enclosures holding a number of hard disk drives, solid state drives, or combination thereof) connected directly to a computer through a host bus adapter (HBA), without a network device (such as a hub, switch, or router) therebetween. Protocols used by direct-attached storage devices include Advanced Technology (AT) Attachment (ATA), Serial AT Attachment (SATA), External Serial AT Attachment (eSATA), Small Computer system Interface (SCSI), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and Firewire (IEEE 1394).
Conventional techniques utilized to prevent firmware logic tampering include the use of digital signatures for firmware images, the use of encryption and decryption keys, and firmware validation processes executed during power-on-reset and firmware downloading. There is, however, a need for improvements over those conventional approaches to protect firmware from tampering, and for recovering from situations involving tampered/corrupted firmware.

Validating firmware for data storage devices


A fuel cell is provided which can enhance the CO resistance to thereby improve the voltage characteristics thereof. A fuel cell includes an electrolyte layer, a first electrode provided on one surface of the electrolyte layer, and a second electrode provided on the other surface of the electrolyte layer. In this fuel cell, a reaction fluid to be supplied to the first electrode contains carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide is generated from a reaction fluid having been supplied to the first electrode. The first electrode of the fuel cell includes a first catalyst material (Pt) having a function of extracting an electron from the reaction fluid, a second catalyst material (WAu) having a function of reducing the activation energy for conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, and an oxygen-supplying material (Ru) supplying oxygen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell, and in particular, to a fuel cell having high CO resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In this age, the new technologies that have evolved, such as IT and biotechnology, have had a global impact. Even in such circumstances, however, the energy industry remains one of the largest basic industries. In recent years, as environmental awareness including prevention of global warming has grown, expectations regarding the introduction of a so-called new energy have increased. This new energy has advantages in terms of reduction in power transmission losses and security of power supply, in addition to environmental friendliness, given that the energy can be produced in dispersed sites close to the electrical power consumers. Furthermore, as a secondary effect, it is expected that new related industries will be created through the development of this new energy. Efforts to develop this new energy began in earnest, triggered by the oil crisis of approximately 30 years ago. At present, the following types of new energy are still at the development stage, but are moving toward practical use: reproducible energy produced by solar photovoltaic power generation or the like, recycled energy produced by waste power generation or the like, high efficiency energy produced by a fuel cell or the like, and energy in new fields, as typified by clean energy vehicles.
Among these examples, the energy produced by a fuel cell is one of the types receiving the most attention from industry. A fuel cell generates electricity and heat simultaneously through chemical reaction of oxygen in an atmosphere with hydrogen, produced through the reaction of water vapor with natural gas, methanol, or the like. A fuel cell produces only water as a by-product of power generation. In addition to this, high efficiency is obtained even in a low power output range, and the electrical power generation is not affected by weather, and therefore, is stable. In particular, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell has received significant attention as one of the next-generation standard power sources for applications such as use in vehicles, mobile use, and stationary use such as in housing. The following technologies have been developed for commercialization based on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell: a technology employing a small size catalyst of nanometer order, in order to improve power generation performance (see Published Japanese translation of PCT international application No. 2005-515063); and a technology in which gold nanoparticles are added to a catalyst in order to improve CO (carbon monoxide) resistance (see Koji Matsuoka, Kohei Miyazaki, Yasutoshi Iriyama, Takeshi Abe, and Zempachi Ogumi, "Methanol Oxidization Characteristics of Pt-Ru Catalyst Supported on Gold Ultra-fine Particles", Proceedings of the 45th cell forum, the Committee of Battery Technology, the Electrochemical Society of Japan, (11/27 Heisei 16), pp. 620-621, and Kohei Miyazaki, Koji Matsuoka, Yasutoshi Iriyama, Takeshi Abe, and Zempachi Ogumi, "Electro-oxidation of Methanol on Gold Nanoparticles Supported on Pt/MoOx/C", Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 152(9) A1870-A1873 (2005).
In the case where hydrogen is produced through the reaction of natural gas or methanol with water vapor as mentioned above, ideally, 80% of hydrogen (H2) and 20% of carbon dioxide (CO2) are supplied to a fuel cell through the reaction represented by the chemical equations (1) and (2). However, since carbon monoxide (CO) generated during the processes represented by the chemical equations (1) and (2) cannot be fully eliminated, CO in an amount of several ppm to several tens of ppm enters the anode of the fuel cell.CH4+H2O→3H2+CO  (1)CO+H2O→CO2+H2  (2)
Furthermore, in the case where an aqueous solution containing methanol (organic fuel) is supplied to a fuel cell, the reaction represented by the chemical equation (3) occurs on the anode side. However, CO which is not converted into carbon dioxide during the reaction process remains at the anode.CH3OH+H2O→6H++6e−+CO2  (3)
Hence, in a catalyst layer for the anode of a fuel cell which generates electrical power by means of organic fuel or reformed gas obtained through reforming reaction (transformation reaction), a catalyst such as platinum (Pt) which has a function of converting H2 to protons (H+) has usually been employed. In addition to platinum, a PtRu catalyst has also been employed to which ruthenium (Ru) is added in order to prevent the reduction of catalytic activity caused by CO poisoning of Pt. Materials such as ruthenium (Ru) have properties that promote the conversion of the CO that sticks to Pt to CO2. Furthermore, a technology has been reported which improves CO resistance by mixing a catalyst composed of Pt and Ru or Pt and molybdenum (Mo) with gold nanoparticles. However, this technology is still in the research stage. Although fuel cells appear on the verge of becoming genuinely widespread, it has been found that, at present, the CO resistance at the anode is not sufficient.


A detachable hitch mounting motorcycle transport caddy defining a powered elevated lift integrated with the towing vehicle electrical system, a wheel support frame, extending tie bars and an integrated electrical wiring system for connection to the motorcycle to apply transport signaling to the motorcycle from the tow vehicle, the wheel support frame lowered to the ground to load the motorcycle without requiring and ramp or lifting and raised into a transport position, placing the motorcycle rear wheel as the road contact wheel as the motorcycle is towed in a neutral position.

1. Field of Invention
A detachable hitch mounting motorcycle transport caddy defining a powered elevated lift integrated with the towing vehicle electrical system, a wheel support frame, extending tie bars and an integrated electrical wiring system for connection to the motorcycle to apply transport signaling to the motorcycle from the tow vehicle, the wheel support frame lowered to the ground to load the motorcycle without requiring and ramp or lifting and raised into a transport position, placing the motorcycle rear wheel as the road contact wheel as the motorcycle is towed in a neutral position.
2. Description of Prior Art
A preliminary review of prior art patents was conducted by the applicant which reveal prior art patents in a similar field or having similar use. However, the prior art inventions do not disclose the same or similar elements as the present box hitch mounting motorcycle caddy, nor do they present the material components in a manner contemplated or anticipated in the prior art.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,602,437 to Morris, a motorcycle caddy discloses a box hitch connection, a lift (manual), a wheel cradle and a collapsible frame. However, unlike Morris, the present invention includes an electrical connection and motorcycle electrical system integrated into the tow vehicle which activate the signal and running lights of the towed motorcycle. Several other prior art patents contain a similar type configuration as does Morris, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,537,234 to McClellan, U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0062657 to Davis, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,197 to Howes. Fixed height motorcycle transport devices mounting to a box hitch are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,075,012 to Perez, U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,012 to Mortimer U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,226 to Transchel and U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,983 to Jones.
A box hitch connection disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,585,072 to Momaly defines a lift and the wheel cradle, but it also includes a frame support extending from the wheel cradle which attaches to the bottom of the motorcycle frame. This prohibits movement of the motorcycle steering system, with the device pivoting laterally from the box hitch. A box hitch connection, a lift a wheel cradle and lateral tie arms that can be disconnected is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,813 to Cataldo.


The present invention provides a modular power supply to be used in a personal computer or other similar device. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a base assembly, a power supply housing, a power supply, and a fan assembly. The base assembly provides a foundation for the modular power supply and includes a terminal board attached thereto and a system common quick-disconnect embedded therein which serves as a central junction for the distribution of power to the various electrical components. The power supply housing provides a protective structure for the power supply contained therein. The fan assembly provides cooling for the power supply and is mounted on the outside of the power supply housing. The power supply is electrically connected to the system common quick disconnect which in turn feeds the terminal board attached to the base assembly, the fan assembly, and any other components located within the base assembly. The terminal board provides access to power for peripheral components such as logic cards, I/O boards, and the like. The use of multiple quick-disconnect electrical connectors allows components such as the power supply and fans to be replaced without detaching the components which are normally "hard wired" to the power supply.

A recurring problem in the continued use of personal computers and other like devices is the time involved and difficulty in replacing a failed component. For example, if a power supply fails ands needs to be replaced, the user or technician must disconnect all the components wired to the power supply before removal of the failed unit. Disconnecting the a myriad of components and then reconnecting them after replacement of the failed unit is an inefficient use of technician time and owner finances at best.
The forgoing discussion suggests not only the desirability of a power supply which contains components which are easily replaced, but also suggests the various applications for which such a device may be used. Accordingly, the present invention provides a solution to the problems mentioned above.


In a universal joint arrangement between an apparatus holder and an apparatus support console including a receiver element mounted to the console, a ball joint element projecting from the holder, a ball element for engaging the ball joint element and the receiver element and a clamping mechanism comprising a bolt and a nut, the bolt extends through the ball joint element and the receiver element and the nut or the bolt head is retained in an operating wheel which is disposed adjacent the receiver element so as to be rotatable by the fingers of a user for adjusting the clamping force engaging the ball joint element between the receiver element and the ball element.

The invention relates to a universal joint arrangement for the interconnection of an apparatus holder or an apparatus holder mounting plate or a similar device and a support arm or a support console.
Mobile apparatus such as minicomputers, so-called PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) navigation apparatus, mobile telephones and similar apparatus are used in motor vehicles, on desks or at other locations in connection with apparatus carriers which include a console or a support arm, to which an apparatus holder or a mounting plate for supporting an apparatus holder is connected by way of a joint structure so that the respective apparatus can be adjusted to a position which is convenient for the observation of the visual display of the apparatus and for the operation of the apparatus.
Universal joints for that purpose are known in the form of two adjacent hinge joints oriented so as to be pivotable in rectangularly displaced planes and also in the form of ball joints with spherical segment-shaped joint parts. In order to hold a particular apparatus stable in a selected position, it is of course necessary that the joint mechanism can be locked or that it is pretensioned so as to provide for sufficient friction between the joint parts to hold the joint parts in a particular selected position. In known ball joint mechanisms, the required clamping tension is generated in that a screw is screwed from the mounting plate that is from the side of the apparatus into the seating area of the joint mechanism and tightened to the degree needed to engage the joint parts. However, since the joint parts all consist essentially of plastic material which has a heat expansion coefficient different from the engagement means substantial problems have been encountered particularly in connection with the use of such joints in motor vehicles because of the high temperature changes for example as a result of the heating of vehicles parked in the summertime in the sun. Then, it has been found that the clamping tension becomes so relaxed that the apparatus holder will no longer maintain the adjusted position. This can be not only very annoying because it makes the use of the apparatus difficult but also because the necessary tensioning can be performed only with the use of a fitting screw driver and this process is often possible only by the removal of the apparatus holder or even additionally the mounting plate. Furthermore, upon cool-down, the joint may be so tight that it can no longer be adjusted.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an arrangement by which the problem described above can be controlled easily and without complicated design features.

Universal joint arrangement between an apparatus holder and a support arm or a console


A water supply device for dental apparatuses which is provided with an arrangement to prevent backflow of contaminated water from any one of the dental apparatuses into the fresh water supply is characterized by providing a separate container for receiving water from the water system and a pump for pumping water from the container through lines to each of the discharge locations for the dental apparatus. In one embodiment, the pump is driven by an electrical motor and in another embodiment the pump is formed by two air-actuated piston pumps that work asynchronously. The arrangement can include a second container for disinfectant, which is discharged into the first container as fluid is added to the first container.

The present invention is directed to a water supply arrangement for a dental work station that contains a plurality of equipment having withdrawal locations to which water is supplied from a drinking water main, wherein at least one of the withdrawal locations cannot be arranged at a safe distance with reference to a drain allocated to the withdrawal location, as required according to technical rules for protecting drinking water.
The technical rules for drinking water supply installation prescribes specific safety measures in the water supply installation for protecting the drinking water. Among the things to be avoided is a backflow of any water, which is contaminated at a withdrawal location, into the public drinking water network and, thus, is subsequently supplied to another user as drinking water. The reasons and prescribed safety measures for preventing backflow are defined in detail in DIN 1988, Part 4, which is dated December 1988.
A dental work station containing equipment wherein the safe distance between a withdrawal location and a drain required in the above-mentioned DIN Standards can be observed, for example, in the rotary rinsing of the expectoration means or at the intake for a filling means for an oral rinsing glass. In other equipment, such as drills or spray handpieces, this safe distance cannot be observed, since a fixed allocation between a withdrawal location and the exit location of the water and a drain is not established.

Water supply device for dental work stations


An oil-in-water aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion suitable as an adjuvant, in particular, in a toiletry preparation such as a hair-care treatment preparation is disclosed by using a unique emulsification system including a quaternary ammonium chloride as a cationic surface active agent, in order to provide a solution for the problem of a dilemma between the use of a C.sub.16 or lower-alkyl quaternary ammonium salt having high emulsification power but exhibiting irritativeness to the human body and the use of a higher-alkyl quaternary ammonium salt having lower emulsification power but exhibiting no irritativeness. The emulsion composition comprises: (A) a high-polymeric organopolysiloxane mixed with and diluted by an organopolysiloxane of a lower viscosity; (B) a quaternary ammonium chloride having 1 or 2 stearyl or behenyl groups; (C) a polyoxyalkylene-modified organopolysiloxane or a polyhydric alcohol as an activity-promoting agent for the component (B); and (D) water each in a specified weight proportion. The emulsion can be prepared by first forming a water-in-oil emulsion from the respective ingredients though with a reduced amount of water, then effecting phase inversion of the emulsion by continued agitation from the water-in-oil emulsion to an oil-in-water emulsion; and diluting the emulsion with an additional amount of water.

The present invention relates to an aqueous emulsion of a high-polymeric organopolysiloxane of the oil-in-water type having excellent stability of emulsion or, more particularly, to an oil-in-water aqueous emulsion of an organopolysiloxane suitable for use as an adjuvant in various kinds of toiletry and cosmetic preparations and for use in other applications.
It is a well established technology that an aqueous emulsion of an organopolysiloxane is used as an additive ingredient in a wide variety of compositions including toiletry and cosmetic preparations, polishing agents, mold-release agents, fabric-finishing agents and others. In particular, hair-care treatment toiletry preparations are, in many cases, formulated with such an organopolysiloxane emulsion as an adjuvant of which the organopolysiloxane contained in the aqueous emulsion should have an average degree of polymerization or viscosity as high as possible because the adherence of the organopolysiloxane to the surface of the hair treated with the hair-care treatment preparation can be improved as the average degree of polymerization of the organopolysiloxane is increased as compared with an organopolysiloxane of a low degree of polymerization or low viscosity.
For example, Japanese Patent Kokai 4-36226 and 4-224309 propose a formulation of a shampoo composition with admixture of an aqueous emulsion of a high-polymeric organopolysiloxane. According to the disclosures therein, the foamability of the shampoo composition is never or little affected when the organopolysiloxane droplets as the dispersed phase in the aqueous emulsion added thereto have a particle diameter not exceeding 2 .mu.m. Further, Japanese Patent Kokai 63-130521, 5-13994 and 5-163122 teach a method in which an organopolysiloxane is used as an adjuvant of various base compositions in the form of a so-called microemulsion.
Though excellent in the stability of the aqueous emulsion and high foamability of the toiletry preparations, the above mentioned current toward the use of an aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion having a small particle diameter of the organopolysiloxane droplets dispersed therein has a problem that, when the toiletry preparation is a hair-care treatment preparation, adherence of the organopolysiloxane to the surface of the hair treated therewith is not good enough so that the advantageous effects desired for the hair treatment is readily lost by rinse. As is taught in Japanese Patent Kokai 7-188557, this problem can be solved by the use of an aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion of which the organopolysiloxane droplets have a relatively large particle diameter in the range from 3 to 100 .mu.m. Though suitable as an adjuvant in shampoo compositions, the aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion disclosed there, however, has a problem that, when the emulsion is admixed with a hair-care treatment preparation, such as rinses, hair conditioners and treatments, which are sometimes formulated with a cationic surface active agent while the emulsion disclosed there is prepared by using an anionic surface active agent as the emulsifying agent, the incompatibility of the different surface active agents results in phase separation or precipitation of the ingredients so that a hair-care treatment preparation having excellent stability cannot be obtained.
With an object to solve the above mentioned problem of instability of emulsions, a proposal has been made by the inventors for the use of a cationic surface active agent as an emulsifying agent in the preparation of an aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion. According to this proposal, the cationic surface active agent is a salt having a quaternary ammonium group in the molecule. While it is known that the stability of the aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion prepared by using a quaternary ammonium salt as the cationic emulsifying agent can be high when the alkyl group or groups forming the quaternary ammonium group have a small number of carbon atoms to give an increased surface activity, such a lower alkyl-containing quaternary ammonium salt has an antimicrobial activity on the other side, which means that the compound is strongly irritative against human skins, mucous membranes and eyes not to be suitable as an ingredient in a toiletry preparation. This disadvantage of irritativeness against human body can at least partly be overcome by the use of a quaternary ammonium salt having at least one long-chain alkyl group with 18 or more carbon atoms. Although the adverse effect on the foamability caused by the use of a long-chain alkyl-containing quaternary ammonium salt is not so detrimental if the long-chain alkyl group has 16 carbon atoms or less, the organopolysiloxane droplets in the aqueous emulsion cannot have a particle diameter fine enough to greatly decrease the stability of the emulsion when the long-chain alkyl group in the quaternary ammonium salt has 18 carbon atoms or more.

Oil-in-water aqueous organopolysiloxane emulsion and method for the preparation thereof


A method and pellet mill apparatus for the continuous preparation of improved animal feed pellets cooks a grain mash with steam under superatmospheric pressure which extends through a conditioning chamber within the mill and to an extrusion die to increase conditioning and gelatinization of the mash.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the continuous preparation of animal feed pellets and, more particularly, to a method employing a unique pressure cooking process. Various cereal grains, preferably in milled form, plant and animal proteins, roughage products, liquids, and other miscellaneous ingredients have been mixed together and conditioned to form a mash. Most pellet producing processes include a hopper or holding bin containing the mash, a conditioner in which moisture and heat are applied to the mash, and a pellet producing means such as a roller and die apparatus into which the mash is fed from the conditioner. Means such as paddle conveyors, screw feeders, chutes and the like are employed to move the material from the hopper, through the conditioner and into the die area.
A pellet mill installation is generally in an environment with an uncontrolled temperature such that when the mash issues from the conditioning chamber into an atmospheric pressure downspout, the mash approaches ambient temperature which can vary the characteristics of the pellets. Means for supplying and controlling heat, moisture and pressure in the conditioning chamber are also included in most systems. The moisture content may be controlled by adjusting the amount of steam, water, dry heat or some other suitable moisture controlling ingredient. The moisture content of the mash may be automatically set within a prescribed range, and the feed rate of the mash may be automatically controlled in response to the moisture content as taught by Volk U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,736.
Because of the different ingredients and various formulas of animal food, different rates of mash introduction and different amounts of moisture addition are required. Further, when the pelleting mash is conditioned with steam under atmospheric pressure, the different formulations require different temperatures and moisture content for proper conditioning. This results in temperatures of the mash exiting the conditioner varying from 70.degree. F. to 212.degree. F. and an added moisture variation from 0% to 8%.
In the prior art, the die or pellet producing means is operated by motors which may be anywhere from 25 to over 600 horsepower. Extruding the mash through the die is a complex rheological process of deformation and flow conditioned upon stress, strain and time. The load on the die and, thus, the efficiency of the system and the quality of the pellets produced is primarily dependent on two factors: (1) the rate at which the grain mash is fed to the die area; generally, the faster the feed rate, the greater the load, and (2) the composition of the mash, its moisture and temperature content, and the degree of its gelatinization and deaeration.
Improving the starch gelatinization of the mash results in decreased horsepower requirements and other advantages including better pellet quality and increased feed efficiency. However, the conventional pelleting systems, such as that taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,452, are limited in terms of high-intensity conditioning and hence starch gelatinization. As described in E. Heidenreich, Operation Strategies for Expansion Cooking, 2(5) Feed Mix 32 (1994), the addition of steam of more than 3% in conventional systems causes problems for the pellet pressing process, and results in an increase in temperature of only approximately 50.degree. C. which is too short-lived to create the desired conditioning effects. Further, in conventional devices, high fat content acts as a barrier to moisture thereby obstructing its diffusion into the mash and resulting in poor pellet quality.
Consequently, as described by Heidenreich, supra, the limited intensity level of conventional pelleting in terms of moisture, temperature and pressure results in problems such as insufficient hygienization (especially for the decontamination of salmonella), inadequate breakdown of antinutritive substances, fines, poor bioavailability of proteins and other nutrients, and a difficulty in manufacturing pellets containing high fat levels.
Due to these shortcomings, expanders, such as those manufactured by Sprout-Matador Co., Inc. of Muncy, Pa. and Amandus Kaul of Hamburg, Germany, have been developed which mechanically stress the mash by shearing and thermally stress the mash by friction and dissipation of the mechanical energy. Use of an expander results in enhanced nutritional value of the feed, hydrolysis of the starch, gelatinization, degradation of antinutritional factors, hygienization, and an overall decrease in bulk density. The net result is increased nutritional and sensoric properties of the feed. Further, the hygienic quality of the feed can be raised to the level of foodstuffs with expanders.
Expanders are incorporated into conventional pelleting machines, typically affixed between the distal end of the conditioning chamber and the die and roller apparatus. The length of a typical expander varies from about 5155 mm to about 8790 mm. The mash entering the expander from the conditioning chamber has a temperature of about 70-80.degree. C. and a moisture content of about 16-18% and exits the expander at temperatures between about 90.degree. C. and 135.degree. C. Generally, the maximum temperature to which the mash is exposed is about 140.degree. C. as a result of the expander's physical and mechanical construction. However, the active temperature range for most popular types of raw materials is lower. The temperature selected depends on the raw material selected and the desired influence. Too high a temperature can break down valuable amino acids, vitamins, pharmaceutical additives or other components.
At high temperatures, neutral fats or free fatty acids are not damaged. Expansion has a positive effect on the fat quality during storage of the feed because the lipases and lipoxydases that oxidize fats are thermally inactivated. Further, the fat is more bioavailable and accessible for digestive enzymes. According to M. Peisker, Influence of Expansion of Feed Components, 2(3) Feed Mix 26 (1994), this improvement in fat digestibility is probably the main reason for an increase in available calories, which can be between 2% and 4% depending on the composition selected.
As discussed in Peisker, supra, the modification of starch during expansion has been examined extensively. Physical changes, or gelatinization, consist of a transfer from a crystalline state to the amorphous state. The expander's shearing force essentially ruptures the starch molecules and tends to cause the feed particles to aggregate into clumps. Gelatinization dramatically improves bioavailability and is generally essential for most animals. For example, gelatinized starch is a more accessible substrate for lactic fermentation in the piglet stomach. Gelatinized starch also enhances pellet quality because of its ability to adhere together and integrate liquids, such as oils, into its pasty structure.
Proteins are temperature sensitive molecules which will, under high temperatures, coagulate or denature. This can be advantageous if the mash, prior to expansion, contains proteins such as enzyme inhibitors, as is possible in the case of peas or insufficiently toasted soybeans. Protein digestibility has been significantly enhanced by use of expanders. Expansion also results in faster glucose influx in the gut after feed consumption. Further, according to Peisker, supra, subjecting the mash to a drastic pressure drop when it leaves the expander results in rupture of cell walls of microorganisms and the grain.
Throughput ranges from between about 1.5 and 30 tons per hour, requiring a total driving power of between 75 and 315 kW per hour. Once the mash exits the expander it is cooled at atmospheric pressure prior to entering the die area where it is extruded into pellets.
As mentioned, the expander is an add-on apparatus that conditions the mash by hydrothermal, pressure and mechanical means. As such, additional costs for the expander, for electrical and hydrothermal energy, and for maintenance are required. The present invention relates to achieving better or similar results in final pellet characteristics as those subjected to the expansion process. The present invention subjects the mash to steam under pressure from the time the mash enters the conditioning chamber until it exits the die as pellets. Applicant is aware of an attempt by Central Soya Co., Inc. of Fort Wayne, Ind. in the late 1970's to make a machine employing pressure all the way through the die area. However, this attempt was unsuccessful and the project and prototype were abandoned after short use.

Apparatus for preparing animal food pellets


A wear insert is provided for an air seeder metering system directing rising air away from product as it is metered from a product tank by the associated metering system. The wear insert has a lip which extends into the outlet of the metering system in order to divert air away from the path of metered product to prevent the product from bunching and to promote a continuous flow of product from the metering system.

Air seeders and other seeding devices are commonly towed by tractors to apply seed or fertilizer, or both simultaneously, to a field. As an example, an air seeder may be towed in combination with a tilling implement, one behind the other, to place the seed and fertilizer under the surface of the soil. An air seeder has as its central component a wheeled seed cart which comprises one or more frame-mounted product tanks for holding product, generally seed or fertilizer or both. Air seeders also generally comprise a metering system for dispensing product from the tanks and a pneumatic distribution system for delivering the product from tank to soil.
It is known to provide an air seeder with volumetric meters which measure a fixed volume of seed per unit of linear distance. These volumetric meters typically comprise either augers or fluted cylinders (meter rollers) which rotate through a product reservoir to measure granular product, as illustrated in U.S. Pat Nos. 3,489,321 and 3,763,797. The meters rotate to feed product into a pneumatic distribution system. The pneumatic distribution system of an air seeder generally utilizes a centrifugal fan to provide at least one airstream which flows through the pneumatic distribution system to seed boots where product is deposited in the soil. Product is first introduced to the air stream by the metering system at a primary distribution manifold located below the metering system. Product is carried by the air stream through distribution lines to a series of secondary distribution manifolds ("headers"), which in turn distribute product through distribution lines to seed boots mounted behind ground openers on the tilling implement so that the product may be evenly delivered to the span of ground (the "tillage") acted upon by the tilling implement.
Operators of conventional seeding equipment often lose product to the tillage while the metering system is not operating, due to forces acting upon the product above the meter, including gravity and a lower pressure air stream running below the meter. The large central product tanks of an air seeder may lose substantial amount of product. One method of preventing lost product includes the use of a device to shut off flow of product between a product tank and a meter. For example, U.S. Pat No. 4,834,004 discloses slides which may be used to shut off product to a metering system. However, some amount of product may still be lost after the meter is shut off and before the shut-off device is actuated. In addition, operators must remember to actuate the shut-off device each time a meter is stopped.
In addition, if the product tank above the meter is not pressurized properly, the pressure in the product tank may be lower than the pressure of the air flowing through the pneumatic distribution system below the meter. In such a case, product may attempt to flow from the pneumatic distribution system through the meter and into the product tank, even while the meter is running. Even momentary occurrences of this condition can prevent product from flowing smoothly into the pneumatic distribution system and instead causes the product to bunch and pulse as it leaves the meter.
Therefore, it is desirable to devise a metering system having a mechanism to prevent air from the pneumatic distribution system from substantially affecting metering of product while the air flows through the metering system in reverse. It is also desirable to devise such a mechanism which may be replaced with relative ease.


A router configured to communicate data with a destination router over an IP path that includes an IP link that uses a first optical path. The router configured to proactively maintain the performance of the communication of data. The router configured to receive a signal to move the communication off of the first optical path, before performance of the first optical path has failed. The router configured to establish a second optical path to the destination router an associate the IP link with the second optical path and move the communication of data with the destination router to the second optical path. The router may optionally be configured to tear down the first optical path. The trigger received by the router may be an indication of a performance degradation of the first optical path or an indication of a router interface used by the IP link being switched into maintenance mode.

The architecture of large Internet Protocol (IP) networks is based on routers that connect to a Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) or Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) system directly via transponders. In such systems, the DWDM layer provides low cost transport, but does not provide protection against signal failures. The routers provide all such protection via mechanisms such as Internal Gateway Protocol convergence or Multiprotocol Label Switching Fast Re-Route. These protection mechanisms can be initiated proactively when a link on a path in the network degrades. But, such protection is at the router level, i.e. at the IP layer, and that the IP layer needs extra capacity to be available necessary for such protection mechanisms, resulting in a higher overall cost of the network.
Another signal failure protection mechanism is multi-layer restoration. Multi-layer restoration, enables restoring full capacity of the IP layer, by switching the path of the affected IP links in the DWDM layer. If the IP layer is not involved in coordinating the restoration process, and it happens spontaneously by the optical layer, the mechanism is called optical restoration.


A door trim floor gap cover system includes a trim piece operable to cover a gap between a bottom edge of door trim and a walking surface of a flooring material under the door trim (i.e., casing, jamb, and optional door stop). The trim piece may be one piece that bends about the door trim. The trim piece may be a resilient material that deforms while being positioned and is biased toward its original shape to hold onto the door casing. The trim piece may be more than one piece wherein a first portion is positioned on the casing and jamb and the second portion is then interlocked with the first portion to complete the trim piece, covering the floor gap. A pair of hooks extend behind the casing to engage a distal face of the casing, retaining the system against the door trim (casing and jamb).

The present invention relates generally to interior trim work in buildings. More particularly, this invention pertains to trimming door casings, jambs and stops.
Various flooring materials have different thicknesses. For example, hardwood flooring has a thickness of about ¾″, vinyl flooring has a thickness of about ⅛″, laminate flooring has a thickness of about ½″, and tile has an overall thickness of about ½″ (i.e., raises the walking surface approximately ½″ above the top of the subfloor). When trimming hardwood, vinyl, laminate, or tile along a wall, a baseboard is laid along the wall above the walking surface of the flooring material (approximately 1″ above the subfloor), and quarter round is put down to close the gap between the bottom of the baseboard and the walking surface of the flooring material.
Carpet has an actual thickness of about ⅜″, but can fill gaps up to 1″ under baseboards and other trim work. Carpet is typically not trimmed with quarter round because the carpet covers the bottom edge of the baseboard and door trim (i.e., door casing, jamb, and/or door stop) along the edges of the room. One popular renovation is to change common areas of residential dwellings from carpet to hardwood or tile. In areas with baseboard, the addition of quarter round covers the gap between the bottom edge of the baseboard and the walking surface of the new flooring material. However, around door trim (i.e., door casing, jamb, and/or stop), a gap of about ¼″ to ½″ exists between the bottom of the door trim the walking surface (i.e., top) of the new flooring material. Caulk cannot be used to fill a gap this large, and replacing the door casing with one that extends from the top of the door opening to the walking surface of the flooring material involves removing all of the current door trim (i.e., casing, jamb, and stop if any) and hanging a new door with trim. Installing a new door and trim to achieve an extension of the door trim down to the walking surface of the flooring material is cost prohibitive. This same situation arises when there is a change order regarding the flooring material during construction or a door casing is simply cut too short during installation. Further, the situation is compounded when the gap may be uneven because the flooring material changes at the doorway. That is, new hardwood replacing carpet that previously met hardwood in the doorway typically has a wider gap than on the side of the doorway with the preexisting hardwood because the door trim was cut to fit hardwood on one side and carpet on the other when the doorway and flooring were originally installed.


Determining a speed and a range of an object by generating at least a first, second, and third interval-specific tone phase signals associated with at least three successive time intervals, wherein at least two of the generated and transmitted tones are different frequencies; determining at least a first, second and third interval-specific average phase value from the respective interval-specific tone phase signals; and then determining a range estimate of the object and determining a speed estimate of the object using at least two phase differences between the at least first, second and third interval-specific average phase values.

Real time scanning surveillance radar systems can be used in many commercial applications, such as automotive radar and human feature extraction. Typical scanning radars often operate under the constraint of only a limited number of pulses, thus real time estimation and detection of radar targets are quite difficult due to short dwell time (i.e., the time that an antenna beam spends on a target). Moreover, as modern radar systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, systems with low hardware complexity and low cost while still achieving comparable high range and speed accuracy and high resolution are in strong demand.
For modern radars, frequency or phase modulation is normally needed to achieve desired radar performance. For example, the Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technique is widely used due to its good range and velocity resolution. However its resolution is inversely proportional to the signal bandwidth and it requires a long sampling window, hence a long dwell time, to complete a range measurement.
Furthermore, FMCW radars usually use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to estimate Doppler frequencies, which results in high hardware complexity and high power consumption. The Multi Frequency Continuous Wave (MFCW) is another modulation scheme that continuously transmits multiple frequency tones in parallel with each other. The phases of the returned signals are compared to obtain a range estimate. This technique allows a really short dwell time and a very small signal bandwidth. However, one transceiver is needed for each frequency tone, making the MFCW radar very costly in implementation and not suitable for large-scale phased array integration. Prior work on radar modulation schemes such as the above-mentioned FMCW and MFCW still face the challenges of balancing trade-offs of excellent radar performance against high hardware complexity and cost.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved radar modulation formats and signal processing.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Successive-MFCW modulation for ultra-fast narrowband radar


A scattered radiation collimator is disclosed for radiological radiation. In at least one embodiment, the scattered radiation collimator includes a multiplicity of absorber elements connected one behind the other in a collimation direction and at least two plate-like holding elements which are arranged substantially parallel with respect to one another and have absorber element holders for holding the absorber elements. In order to avoid erroneous positioning when transverse forces are acting, it is proposed in at least one embodiment, to connect the holding elements to each other by cross beams running along the end face of the absorber elements.

It is well-known that scattered radiation impairs the image quality, particularly in the case of imaging tomography equipment such as, for example, X-ray computed tomography devices. It is for this reason that such tomography devices generally comprise radiation detectors which have so-called scattered radiation collimators arranged upstream of them in order to reduce the scattered radiation.
Known scattered radiation collimators comprise, for example, absorber elements which are arranged next to one another in a collimation direction and are aligned in one direction with respect to their longitudinal extent, with absorber surfaces of the absorber elements running substantially perpendicular to the respective collimation direction. This makes it possible to suppress scattered radiation occurring in the collimation direction, which scattered radiation is caused, for example, by the radiation being scattered on an object to be examined.
For example, DE 103 61 510 A1 discloses a collimator for a computed tomography scanner, which has a collimator lower part and a collimator upper part as holders for collimator plates. The collimator lower part comprises groove-like recesses on the end face for collimator plates in addition to lug receptacles on the bottom side. The collimator upper part is screwed to the collimator lower part in order to form the collimator.
US 2006/0233298 A1 describes a collimator with an upper and a lower annular-segment-like holding element. The holding elements have grooves for collimator sheets. The annular-segment-like holding elements are connected to each other by means of side parts.
The absorber elements of known scattered radiation collimators are generally comparatively thin and delicate. As a result of this, the absorber elements as such have low mechanical stability and are therefore not very dimensionally stable. Particularly in the case of acting forces, such as, for example, centrifugal forces acting on the absorber elements and transverse forces acting across the connection axis X-ray tube/X-ray detector during the operation of an X-ray computed tomography device, and other mechanical effects, the absorber elements can be deformed to such an extent that artifacts occur as a result of this. By way of example, this can be the case if the—or individual—absorber elements are deformed or displaced to the extent that detector elements of the radiation detector are shadowed.
In order to avoid deformations and temporary displacements or erroneous positioning, it is common practice, for example, to adhesively bond the absorber elements using suitably designed holding lugs which extend into the intermediate spaces between the absorber elements. Aside from the comparatively high production complexity, this additionally poses the problem of irreversible erroneous positioning of the absorber elements possibly being caused by adhesive bond contraction during the curing of an adhesive bond used for the adhesive bonding.
DE 10 2005 028 411 A1 describes a collimator for a beam detector which has a number of collimator sheets arranged next to one another and between which respectively at least one support element is arranged for stiffening the collimator, which support element is composed of an X-ray transparent material and supports the collimator sheets from the side.

Scattered radiation collimator, radiation detector and radiation detection device


A unitized security seal having a shackle, an engagement housing with a passage for receiving the shackle, and at least two locking members spaced along the shackle with undercut openings to the outer surface of the locking members, at least one pin being located within the housing passage and oriented to engage the undercuts as the shackle is advanced through the passage to provide non-removable engagement of the shackle in the housing, and at lease one undercut including a frangible member positioned between its entry and its exit for engaging an engagement housing pin to resist removal of the shackle from the engagement housing until a sufficient force is applied to shear away the frangible member.

There is a substantial need for security seals that may be manufactured efficiently and economically, and that are easy to use. Many seals are currently available including seals formed of molded plastic in which a hollow body is formed as a single unit with internal flexible fingers for engaging a shackle.
Unfortunately, in order to efficiently mold plastic security seals of this type, the conventional wisdom is that the housing must be open at both ends to enable molding in a single step without the use of collapsible core molding tool members. However, an open housing typically makes it easy to pass a pick or other tool into the housing to disengage the locking fingers that retain the shackle, thereby circumventing the security function of the device.
Various approaches to overcome the shortcomings of molded plastic security seals have been suggested over the years. None are without drawbacks. An early approach suggested in the prior art is illustrated in FIG. 1A. In this design, a closed locking housing 2 is formed with resilient locking members 3 that engage a pin 4. This design is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to manufacture and requires a complex collapsible core molding system which, if implemented on the very small scale typical of many conventional security seals, would be expected to be difficult to operate, to be liable to produce many mis-molded products, and to be subject to substantial manufacturing downtime.
Another example of a prior art design, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, includes an enclosed housing 7 with a separate locking member 6 mounted in the enclosed housing to block the bore of the locking member. Enclosed housing 7 includes an optional metallic cylinder 5 press-fitted into the housing to make it difficult to cut away the rear end of the housing to gain access to the interior of the housing to release the seal. Unfortunately, this design is complicated and expensive to manufacture and assemble. Also, its security function can be compromised by prying member 6 away from housing 5 and receptacle 7 and releasing the shackle, and re-assembling later without any indication that the seal was disturbed.
Yet another prior art approach is illustrated in FIG. 1C. The security seal shown in this figure includes an open bore locking member 8 with one end of the bore closed off by a separate cover 9. Again, this approach is complex, expensive to make and assemble, and can be compromised and re-assembled.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a security seal with a design that can be molded as a unitized device without the use of complex collapsible core mold elements.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a security seal that is economical to make and easy to operate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a security seal in which the security function is particularly difficult to circumvent.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a security seal that achieves an engagement that cannot be compromised without either destroying the device or providing an indication that it has been compromised.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a security seal with a locking mechanism having one or more frangible members that will shear away or break if the locking mechanism is breached to help prevent fraudulent reuse of the security seal.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a security seal with access-limiting members to thwart tampering.
These and other objects and advantages may be achieved in accordance with the present invention as described below.


A display system comprises a display apparatus such as an electronic notice board, TV set or computer monitor. Radio messages are received by a point-to-point receiving apparatus, such as a wide area digital pager, adjustably mounted relative to the display apparatus. The receiving apparatus generates non-electrical signals which are transmitted to the display apparatus, the display apparatus displaying said signals. The receiving apparatus is adjusted to minimize the error rate in the signal received by said apparatus.

In applications such as electronic notice boards, it is frequently required to update the information displayed. The updating can be done by transmissions through landlines from a central station, which has the disadvantage that the electronic notice board cannot be readily moved around. Alternatively, the user equipment may incorporate a dedicated radio receiver which is hard wired into the electronic notice board and any updating is done by way of a radio transmission. Such an equipment is disclosed in British Patent Specification GB 2 247 332 A. Building a radio receiver into the electronic notice board or other end user equipment has a number of drawbacks, in that 1) the positioning of the equipment has to be a compromise between viewability and the best possible reception of radio signals, and 2) any equipment containing a radio receiver has to be submitted for type approval by the Radio Regulatory Authorities. Individual type approval is necessary because, amongst other things, an electrically conductive link between the radio receiver and the end user equipment may affect the radio frequency (r.f.) properties of the radio receiver. The consequence of this is that a manufacturer of equipment will be reluctant to have too many models because of the time and cost of obtaining type approval.


A design support device includes: a memory; and a processor configured to execute a process, the process including: receiving a precedence restriction, a work time and advisability of a robot work, with respect to a product; calculating, as a first index, a continuous work number in a case where each work which a robot cannot perform is changed to a work which the robot can perform, on a basis of the precedence restriction and the advisability of the robot work; calculating, as a second index, an arrangement freedom in the case on a basis of the precedence restriction, the work time and the advisability of the robot work; associating information according to the first index and the second index with an object work of the first index and the second index; and presenting the information and the object work.

It is demanded that a robot is used in an assembling process of a product including a plurality of assembling works. A robot does not perform all assembling works. It is therefore preferable to consider assembling works performed by a robot, in a product design. For example, there is disclosed a technology for determining whether a structure of a product is easy to make, in order to improve productivity of a product (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-114003).

Support device, design support method and computer-readable non-transitory medium


A surveying system comprising a rover having an illuminating lamp for emitting an illumination light, a second azimuth indicator for detecting an azimuth angle of an optical axis of the illumination light, a surveying instrument comprises a surveying instrument main body and a rotary driving unit capable of rotating the surveying instrument main body in at least a left-and-right direction, wherein the surveying instrument main body comprises a first azimuth indicator for detecting an azimuth angle of a reference optical axis, and as arithmetic control module, and wherein the arithmetic control module is configured to calculate the azimuth angle of the reference optical axis which is in parallel or approximately parallel with the optical axis of the illumination light based on the azimuth angle of the optical axis of the illumination light received from the rover and the azimuth angle of the reference optical axis.

The present invention relates to a surveying system which sights a target and performs a distance measurement and an angle measurement.
In general, as a surveying system performing surveys, a surveying system using a surveying instrument such as a total station or the like is known. The surveying system is made of a surveying instrument installed at a known position (known coordinates) and a target instrument installed at a measuring point. The target instrument comprises a reflection part made of a retro-reflector as a target, or a corner cube. The surveying instrument sights the target and performs a distance measurement and an angle measurement regarding the target.
Recently, a data collector is added to the target instrument (hereinafter, the target instrument having the data collector will be referred to as a rover), and the rover and the surveying instrument are configured to be able to wirelessly communicate with each other. The surveying instrument can be controlled by the rover, and a data transmission and reception between the rover and the surveying instrument can be performed.
However, in order that the surveying instrument sights the target, the surveying instrument is turned by 360° while emitting a detection light, a reflected light from the target is detected, and a direction of the surveying instrument is determined. Therefore, since a direction of the rover with respect to the surveying instrument is not estimated in advance and the reflected light from the target is not detected, a turning velocity of the surveying instrument cannot be increased, and it takes a long time to detect the corner cube. Further, in a case where a plurality of rovers is used, it is difficult to identify a predetermined rover.


In some embodiments, the systems, devices, and methods described herein are configured to produce a desired curvature of a customized spinal rod to support a vertebral column of a patient by analyzing a preoperative x-ray image of the vertebral column of the patient, determining a morphotype to which the vertebral column corresponds to, simulating a correction to be applied to the vertebral column, deducing a curved segment representing the desired curvature of the customized spinal rod based on the analyzed preoperative x-ray image of the vertebral column of the patient, and transmitting data related to the desired curvature of the customized spinal to a production system configured to physically produce the desired curvature of the customized spinal rod.

It is known to analyze a patient's vertebral column in reference to so-called "pelvic" parameters and different morphotypes of a vertebral column, documented in the scientific literature. The appended FIG. 1 very diagrammatically shows the base of the vertebral column, i.e., part of the lumbar vertebrae L and the sacrum S, as well as the femoral heads TF; the aforementioned pelvic criteria are:                the SS (sacral slope) criterion, which is the incline angle of the plate of S1 (first vertebra of the sacrum), relative to the horizontal;        the PV (pelvic version) criterion, which is the angle formed by the straight segment connecting the center of the femoral heads TF and the center of the plate of S1 with the vertical;        the P1 (pelvic incidence) criterion, which is the angle formed by the straight segment connecting the center of the femoral heads TF and the center of the plate of S1 with the perpendicular to the plate of S1.
FIGS. 2A to 2D respectively show:                a so-called "type 1" morphotype, in which the apex (i.e., the forwardmost point of the vertebral column) is situated at the median plane of L5 (fifth lumbar vertebra), and the SS criterion corresponds to an angle smaller than 35°;        a so-called "type 2" morphotype, in which the apex is situated at the base of L4 (fourth lumbar vertebra), and the SS criterion corresponds to an angle smaller than 35°;        a so-called "type 3" morphotype, in which the apex is situated at the median plane of L4, and the SS criterion corresponds to an angle comprised between 35° and 45°;        a so-called "type 4" morphotype, in which the apex is situated at the base of L3 (third lumbar vertebra), and the SS criterion corresponds to an angle larger than 45°.
It is accepted that an individual will adopt a natural vertebral column posture, called "economic", avoiding pain and other pathologies, if his pelvic parameters in particular are in agreement with his back morphotype. If this is not the case, surgical treatment may be considered in order to reestablish proper posture of the vertebral column, in which that agreement exists.
It is well known to perform this type of recovery using rigid vertebral rods, in particular made of metal, fastened to the vertebrae using anchor members such as pedicle screws or laminar hooks, which rods must be curved suitably based on the correction to be done. The publication of patent application No. WO 98/55038 illustrates material of this type.
It has been shown that imparting the appropriate curvature to a straight rod may be very difficult for a surgeon, the curvature being more or less pronounced in any given location of the rod. Currently, such a curvature is done at the surgeon's discretion and calls greatly on the latter's experience and dexterity. The trial and error necessary to obtain an appropriate curvature have the significant drawback of extending the operation time, which is not desirable for the patient, and the risk of implanting a rod with a non-ideal curvature cannot be ruled out.

Methods, systems, and devices for designing and manufacturing a spinal rod


In a method of manufacturing a magnetic disk including at least a magnetic recording layer on a substrate 1 and used for vertical magnetic recording, in a step of forming, on the substrate 1, the magnetic recording layer composed of a ferromagnetic layer 5 having a granular structure and an exchange energy control layer 7 constituted by a laminated layer formed on the ferromagnetic layer 5, at least the exchange energy control layer 7 is formed through sputtering in an atmosphere of a rare gas having a greater mass than an argon gas. The rare gas having a greater mass than the argon gas is a krypton (Kr) gas, for example. The exchange energy control layer 7 is a laminated layer composed of a first layer containing Co or a Co-alloy and a second layer containing palladium (Pd) or platinum (Pt), for example.

With a recent increase in a capacity of an information processing, various information recording techniques have been developed. In particular, a surface recording density of a hard disk drive (HDD) using a magnetic recording technique has been continuously increased at an annual rate of approximately 100%. Recently, there has been demanded an information recording capacity exceeding 60 Gbytes per 2.5-inch diameter magnetic disk to be used for the HDD. In order to meet the requirements, it has been demanded to implement an information recording density exceeding 100 Gbits per square inch.
In order to achieve a high recording density in the magnetic disk to be used for the HDD, it has been required to microfabricate a magnetic crystal grain constituting a magnetic recording layer for recording an information signal and to reduce a thickness of the layer.
In case of a magnetic disk using an in-plane magnetic recording system (which is also referred to as a longitudinal magnetic recording system or a horizontal magnetic recording system) which has been conventionally commercialized, however, the microfabrication of the magnetic crystal grain has been developed. As a result, a thermal stability of a recording signal is deteriorated by a superparamagnetic phenomenon so that a thermal fluctuating phenomenon is generated, that is, the recording signal is eliminated, causing an inhibition of an increase in a recording density of the magnetic disk.
In order to eliminate the factors of the inhibition, a magnetic disk for a vertical magnetic recording system has been proposed in recent years.
In case of the vertical magnetic recording system, an easy axis of a magnetic recording layer is regulated to be oriented in a perpendicular direction to a substrate surface, which is different from the in-plane magnetic recording system.
Since the vertical magnetic recording system can suppress the thermal fluctuating phenomenon more greatly than the in-plane recording system, it is suitable for an increase in a recording density.
In the vertical magnetic recording disk, a so-called two-layer type vertical magnetic recording disk including, on a substrate, a soft magnetic ground layer formed of a soft magnetic material and a vertical magnetic recording layer formed of a hard magnetic material is preferable.
In the two-layer type vertical magnetic recording disk, it is possible to form a suitable magnetic circuit among the magnetic head, the vertical magnetic recording layer and the soft magnetic ground layer in magnetic recording, and the soft magnetic ground layer serves to help the magnetic recording onto the vertical magnetic recording layer.
As the two-layer type vertical magnetic recording disk, for example, there has been known a vertical magnetic recording medium described in JP-A-2002-74648 (Patent Document 1).
Moreover, JP-A-2002-92865 (Patent Document 2) has disclosed a technique related to a vertical magnetic recording medium in which a ground layer, a Co based vertical magnetic recording layer and a protecting layer are formed on a substrate in this order. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,670 Specification (Patent Document 3) has disclosed a vertical magnetic recording medium having a structure in which an artificial lattice film continuous layer (a switched connection layer) that is subjected to a switching connection to a particulate recording layer is bonded.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2002-74648    Patent Document 2: JP-A-2002-92865    Patent document 3: U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,670

Vertical magnetic recording disk manufacturing method and vertical magnetic recording disk


A product-sum operation circuit includes a sorting block (4) which outputs a plurality of operand values x1, x2, . . . xi in descending or ascending order of magnitude, and an operation unit (1) which multiplies each operand value xi output from the sorting block (4) by a corresponding operand value Wi and calculates the accumulated sum of multiplication results.

Computers are making leap developments and are used in various scenes in the society these days. However, these computers called Neumann types are very weak in processing (e.g., real-time human face recognition) easy for a human because of their characteristics in processing schemes themselves.
To cope with such processing, research has been done on neural networks as operation processing models which mimic the information processing scheme of the brain.
As a model of neurons which form a neural network, generally, output values from a plurality of units (neurons) are weighted by a synaptic weight, and the products are input to a unit corresponding to a neuron. The sum of input values is further nonlinearly converted and output. That is, in a general neural network, desired processing is realized by product-sum operation and nonlinear conversion in each unit and between units.
As neural network architectures using the neuron model, associative memories which connect units that execute the product-sum operation to each other or pattern recognition models which hierarchically connect units that execute the product-sum operation have been proposed conventionally.
To put a neural network into practical use and form it as an integrated circuit, the product-sum operation must be executed more efficiently. Especially, the efficiency is necessary in the execution speed of operation and power consumption.
Various proposals have been made in association with the neuron models and neural network architectures which execute the product-sum operation. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-210651 discloses a method of executing a product-sum operation to form a hierarchical neurocomputer.

Product-sum operation circuit and method


N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids or salts thereof are prepared by condensing an acidic amino acid or a salt thereof and a C.sub.8 -C.sub.22 long-chain fatty acid chloride in an aqueous solvent with stirring at a stirring power of not less than 0.2 kW/m.sup.3 while keeping the pH in the range of 10-13.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids and in particular to a process for producing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids by reacting an acidic amino acid, glutamic acid or aspartic acid, or its salt with a long-chain fatty acid chloride.
2. Description of the Background
It is known that inorganic salts such as sodium, potassium salts, and the like, as well as organic salts such as triethanolamine salt, and the like, of N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids such as N-long-chain acyl glutamic acid or aspartic acid have surface activating action, sterilizing action, and the like, and are thus useful for various purposes such as detergents, dispersants (i.e., dispersing agents), emulsifying agents, anti-fungus agents (i.e., antibacterial agents) and the like.
A method of condensing glutamic acid with a long-chain fatty acid chloride in an aqueous solvent in the presence of an alkali is known as a method of synthesizing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids such as N-long-chain acyl glutamic acid (e.g., see Reference Example at the beginning of column 7 of Japanese Published Patent Application Kokai No. 35058/1973). However, this prior art method has the problem that the yield of the desired N-long-chain acyl glutamic acid is low relative to the long-chain fatty acid chloride.
An improvement in the method is capable of producing the desired N-long-chain acyl acidic acid efficiently with improvement in the reaction rate and reaction yield, and the reaction is completed in high yields in a short time. In this method a tertiary amine or quaternary ammonium salt is used as the catalyst (Japanese Published Patent Application Kokai No. 35058/1973 supra). However, in this method, a catalyst should be used and additional problems are encountered such as the requirement for more facilities and additional process steps.
In an alternative method for increasing yield, the reaction is conducted in a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran or the like, but the use of these and other such organic solvents presents problems which include the requirement of additional facilities, the influence of such solvents on the working environment and, particularly safety considerations which include meeting fire code regulations and the consequent necessity of investing in facilities to meet fire code regulations.
Therefore, in view of the necessity for improving the working environment which employs organic solvents, thereby demanding vigilence in the safe handling of the solvents and the necessity of providing facilities to prevent the adverse impact of the organic solvents on the environment, a need has continued to exist for a method of producing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids in an aqueous solvent system without the use of any organic solvents.

Process for producing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acids or salts thereof


The present invention relates to a sheet for forming a hard coating and a method of formation. The present invention can provide a transfer material or a surface protection sheet having a high index of refraction and superior physical properties, such as hardness, friction resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, transparency, luster, and the like, for forming a hard coating on the surface of various molded products, including resin molded products or wood products, and a method for forming a hard coating from such transfer material or surface protection sheets.

Various methods are used to form a hard coating (also referred to as a protective layer) having excellent abrasion resistance and chemical resistance on various molded products, such as resin products or wooden products. For example, a sheet on which a coating layer is formed of a photo-curable resin composition on a release layer of a base having release properties (such sheets are referred to as a "transfer material") may be used. In this case, the coating layer is attached to the surface of a molded product, and the base is separated, thereby forming a hard coating. Another method of forming a hard coating uses a sheet in which a coating layer is formed on one side of a base having no release properties and an adhesive layer is formed on the opposite side of the base as needed (such a sheet is referred to as a "surface protective sheet"). In this method, the base of the surface protective sheet is attached to the surface of a molded product to form a hard coating.
The transfer material or surface protective sheet may include a decorative layer, such as a patterned layer or deposition layer, in a proper position as necessary. The transfer material mostly includes a patterned layer or deposition layer formed between the base and the coating layer, and the surface protective sheet generally includes a patterned layer or deposition layer formed on an opposite side of the base to the coating layer.
When forming a hard coating using a transfer material or a surface protective sheet, a pre-curing process is carried out, in which light is irradiated prior to application of the transfer material or surface protective sheet to a molded product to photo-cure a coating layer. However, in this case, a cured hard coating can be separated from a curved potion or cracks can occur on the hard coating upon application of the transfer material or surface protective sheet to the molded product.
Thus, in application to a molded product, an un-cured coating layer is bonded to the surface of the molded product and then cured, which is referred to as a post-curing (or after-curing) method. However, the post-curing process has the following problems.
A transfer material or surface protective sheet is generally prepared using a machine, such as a gravure rotary printing machine. However, when the post-curing process is used to form, for example, a patterned layer, a deposition layer, or an adhesive layer on a coating layer in formation of a transfer material or to roll a sheet in formation of a surface protective sheet, components of an uncured coating layer may be transferred to a guide roll or components used for forming the patterned layer, or adhesive layer may be transferred to the coating layer. Further, components of the coating layer may be transferred back to the guide roll for forming the patterned layer or adhesive layer (a so-called back trapping phenomenon).
Accordingly, when the post-curing process is used, special equipment or an additional process including a drying process is involved in forming a coating layer in order to remove fluidity or tack of the coating layer before photo-curing. However, in this case, the coating layer, the patterned layer, or the adhesive layer may not be formed at the same time and substantial costs for designing separate equipment are needed, thereby reducing productivity of a transfer material or surface protective sheet and considerably increasing manufacturing costs.