A method for the continuous production of panel elements for the production of composite shuttering elements, of which each panel element has a shuttering panel of predetermined geometry with predetermined length. The shuttering panel is provided with fastening devices and reinforcement elements. According to the method a plurality of standard panels are lined-up abutting along their longitudinal edges against each other and being joined and glued together with the application of a pressing force. A panel band is created from the glued-together standard panels. Individual longitudinal portions are successively separated from the panel band, resulting in individual panels. The individual panels are successively cut to form the respectively individually predetermined geometries of the respective shuttering panel and are then successively provided with the fastening devices and then with the reinforcement elements.

With help of such composite shuttering elements wall and ceiling structures can be erected in coated-concrete-massive-construction-technique, in which the shuttering elements in prefabricated shape, preferably of cement-bound flat hardboards, remain as a so called lost shuttering in the structure work. Such a construction method in composite shuttering technique does not only meet every creative or technical requirement with high flexibility, but also achieves high ecological and economical standards.
The composite shuttering wall element is composed of two panel elements with, for example 24 mm thick shuttering panels in form of cement-bound flat hardboards, which are industrially joined at the production facility to hollow, two-shelled wall elements. For stabilizing the form and for holding the shuttering pressure fastening devices are preferably used which are screwed from the inside, in form of steel profiles as so called "wall couplers". The wall elements are erected dimensionally accurate on the building site and are poured in with flowing concrete or self-consolidating concrete (SSC). The surface forming cement-bound flat hardboards are on their part to be provided with flawless a surface. As coupling elements preferably steel spacers are used which are screwed to the shuttering panels by zinc coated countersunk screws. They connect the panel elements from the inside without penetration of the outer surface of the shuttering panels. All wall elements are readily prefabricated produced and their shuttering panels are provided with all necessary apertures and with the necessary transport anchors as well as with the necessary reinforcement (mats, cages, etc.) that correspond to the static calculation.
Conventionally, the usual product dimensions for most of the wall elements to be produced require that those have to be assembled longitudinally from sub-elements. The maximum length of the sub-elements complies with the maximum length of the raw material—the cement-bound flat hardboards. The production process of such composite shuttering elements according to the prior art is, for example, carried out as described consecutively:
Cutting the cement-bound flat hardboards to the predetermined size of sub-shuttering-panels on a panel saw, as far as the predetermined size of the sub-shuttering-panel to be produced differs from the dimensions of the raw material. Manual screwing of coupling ledges, which serve for the fastening of the wall coupling elements, onto the sub-shuttering-panels of the first shuttering panel at predefined positions.
Manual screwing of the wall coupling elements on the sub-shuttering-panels of the second shuttering panel at predefined positions. The wall coupling elements serve for mutual coupling of the two shuttering panels of the sub-elements in a subsequent processing step.
Manual attaching of coupling ledges for the coupling of multiple sub-panel-elements to a total panel-element.
Manual boring of apertures for electrical installation work.
Manual installing of the required mat reinforcement for the total panel-element, inclusive of the required overlap reinforcement for the statically effective coupling of the reinforcement of the sub-panel-elements.
Manual installing of the electrical installation like electrical sockets and ductworks.
Manual installing of lifting anchors for the lifting of the assembled total panel-elements by crane for the following processing steps in the factory and on the building site.
Assembling the first and the second sub-shuttering-panel of the sub-panel-elements on a manually operated joining station (pressing).
Manual assembling the sub-panel-elements to produce the finished composite shuttering wall element.
Manual completion of the wall element by installation of intrados panels at window and door cavities.

Method for the continuous production of composite formwork panel elements


The present invention relates to novel immunogenic polypeptides, and fragments thereof, and vaccines for the prevention and treatment of pneumococcal infection, especially by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The invention also relates to antibodies against the disclosed polypeptides, as well as vaccines containing said polypeptides and methods of disease prevention.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram positive bacterium which is a major causative agent in invasive infections in animals and humans, such as sepsis, meningitis, otitis media and lobar pneumonia (Tuomanen, et al. NEJM 322:1280–1284 (1995)). As part of the infective process, pneumococci readily bind to non-inflamed human epithelial cells of the upper and lower respiratory tract by binding to eukaryotic carbohydrates in a lectin-like manner (Cundell et al., Micro. Path. 17:361–374 (1994)). Conversion to invasive pneumococcal infections for bound bacteria may involve the local generation of inflammatory factors which may activate the epithelial cells to change the number and type of receptors on their surface (Cundell, et al., Nature, 377:435–438 (1995)). Apparently, one such receptor, platelet activating factor (PAF) is engaged by the pneumococcal bacteria and within a very short period of time (minutes) from the appearance of PAF, pneumococci exhibit strongly enhanced adherence and invasion of tissue. Certain soluble receptor analogs have been shown to prevent the progression of pneumococcal infections (Idanpaan-Heikkila et al., J. Inf. Dis., 176:704–712 (1997)). A number of various other proteins have been suggested as being involved in the pathogenicity of S. pneumoniae but only some have been confirmed as virulence factors. Despite the fact that there are capsule conjugates currently in trial, there still remains a need for identifying additional polypeptides having epitopes in common from various strains of S. pneumoniae in order to utilize such polypeptides as vaccines to provide protection against a wide variety of S. pneumoniae serotypes.

Streptococcus pneumoniae proteins and vaccines


A process for forming a tire component, the process comprising the steps of introducing a vulcanizable polymer, a curative, a first carbon black characterized by an iodine adsorption number, per ASTM D1510, that is greater than 60 g/kg, and a second carbon black characterized by an iodine adsorption number, per ASTM D1510, that is less than 60 g/kg to form a vulcanizable composition, fabricating a tire component from the vulcanizable composition, and curing the tire component.

Hysteresis loss, particularly at operating temperatures such as 50° C., is often attributed to rolling resistance. As a result, rolling resistance can be decreased by decreasing hysteresis loss (i.e., tan δ) at operating temperatures.
Functional polymers have successfully been employed to reduce rolling resistance. It is believed that certain functional groups, when attached to polymer chain ends, can serve to reduce free ends and/or reduce filler agglomeration, which are believed to be sources of hysteresis loss.
While functionalized polymers can be used to reduce hysteresis loss, there is also a desire to increase dynamic storage modulus, which often correlates to vulcanizate stiffness. While vulcanizate stiffness can be increased by employing larger amounts of filler materials, the increase in dynamic storage modulus often coincides with a large increase in hysteresis loss.
There is therefore a desire to increase dynamic storage modulus while minimizing the corresponding increase in hysteresis loss. In other words, it would be advantageous to increase dynamic storage modulus without observing any (or even a proportional) increase in hysteresis loss.

Tread compositions with improved dynamic storage modulus


A binary shifter which utilizes shifter control logic to shift a 64-bit binary word by shift amounts up to 63 bit positions using a pre-multiplexer and shifter array configuration capable of shifting up to 32 bit positions. The shifter control logic executes two cycles of shifting operations to achieve shift amounts greater than 32 bits. An improved shifter pre-multiplexer and array for shifting 64-bit binary words by up to 32 bit positions in one cycle is disclosed. The improved shifter pre-multiplexer and array uses 9:1 pre-multiplexer cells with tristate outputs to place input data on selected discrete sections of horizontal data lines allowing for a reduced number of cells and control lines.

Shift operations are common in computer arithmetic logic units (ALUs). Different types of shifts are possible as, for example, an arithmetic shift which is used to multiply or divide a binary value by a factor which is a power of two while preserving the arithmetic sign of the value. Other types of shifts are logical shifts which serve to move bit patterns of the binary value or word to the left or right within the word so that, for example, a series of bits can be repositioned from the lower half of the word to the upper half of the word.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a typical shifter will have an input 10 for loading a binary word into the shifter and an output 20 for outputing a shifted binary word to external hardware. The loading of the input binary word is performed in parallel so that, in the example of a 64 bit shifter, all 64 bits of the input binary word will be loaded into the shifter at once. Similarly, the output of the shifter usually matches in number the number of input lines (one line per bit) in the input binary word. Thus, a 64 bit shifter will also have 64 bits of parallel output.
A shifter also includes control signals 30 for performing the loading of the input binary word and performing the shifting of the binary word by a specified number of bits, either right or left. Also, new data such as a bit value to take the place of a bit value being shifted away from either the left or right edges of the computer word within the shifter can be specified. The shifter output will typically reflect the current state of the computer word being shifted.
In order for a microprocessor shifter to be fully functional, every shifter output bit needs access to every shifter input bit and the sign or zero bit. The sign bit is the leftmost bit in arithmetic shift instructions while the zero bit is the input value used for logical shift operations to fill a leftmost or rightmost bit position in a word being shifted.
The most straightforward method of shifting binary values is with a single large array arrangement of transistor "cells." For example, FIG. 1B depicts a typical array of NMOS pass gates 100 for a simple 4-bit shifter capable of shifting up to 3 bit positions. The wires and transistors are drawn as they would be drawn in the physical shifter layout. Data flows through the shifter from top to bottom. Inputs 102 correspond to the four bits in the input word and are designated IN(O), IN(1), IN(2) and IN(3). Inputs 102 enter the "top" of the shifter and are generated by external circuitry (not shown). Outputs 104 are designated OUT(0), OUT(1), OUT(2) and OUT(3). Outputs 104 flow out the bottom of the shifter. For simplicity, the required control lines are not shown in FIG. 1B.
In order for each output bit to have access to each input bit, each vertical input line 106, 108, 110 and 112, must extend horizontally across the entire width of the shifter as shown by horizontal data lines 114, 116, 118 and 120. For an N-bit shifter, N horizontal input data lines would be required. In order to shift by any shift amount ("SA") up to 3, a pass-gate from each horizontal data line to each vertical output line is required. Sixteen pass gates such as pass gate 122 are shown connecting horizontal data lines 114, 116, 118 and 120 with vertical output lines 105, 107, 109 and 111, respectively. Note that since the control lines are not shown, there is no connection to the gate of pass gate 122. And, in order for each output to have access to the sign-or-zero bit on line 124, we need a vertical sign-or-zero line per bit as shown by vertical sign-or-zero lines 126, 128, 130 and 132, and a pass gate, such as pass gate 134, from the vertical sign-or-zero ("SOZ") lines to their corresponding output line. In order to minimize the number of different control signals that need to be generated, there is a SOZ passgate (from the vertical SOZ line to the corresponding output line) for each data passgate (from the horizontal data line to the vertical output line). In this way, the multiple passgates which connect each vertical SOZ line to the corresponding output line perform an OR function, and the same control signals can be used for both the data passgates and the SOZ passgates.
The physical structure depicted in FIG. 1B is undesirable because of the large number of transistors (N.times.N.times.2 for an N-wide shifter) and control lines required. Thus, most shifter structures implement some kind of pre-muxing.
The typical 64 bit shifter described here uses a multiplexer to shift the input data by the shift amount modulo 4 (hereinafter "(SA MOD 4)"). Then this pre-shifted data is input to the shifter array. The shifter array shifts the pre-shifted data by (SA DIV 4).times.4 bits, where the "DIV" operation is the integer result (i.e., less the remainder) of dividing the first operand ("SA", in this case) by the second operand ("4", in this case). The total shift is then ((SA MOD 4)+(SA DIV 4).times.4 bits. For example, for SA=50, the pre-mux would shift the input data by (50 MOD 4)=2. Then the shifter array would shift the pre-shifted data by (50 DIV 4).times.4=12.times.4=48 bits, for a total shift of 50 bits. The advantage of pre-muxing is that it greatly simplifies the required array structure. In this array structure, the output line of each bit, bit need only access: 1) the pre-shifted data for every 4th bit slice, and 2) the sign-or-zero bit.
FIG. 2 shows pre-multiplexing (or "pmux") cell 140. Pmux 140 is a 7:1 mux which is drawn as it would be oriented in the physical shifter layout. Inputs of pmux 140 include the input bit for a particular bit slice, IN(n), and the input bits for the 3 bit slices to each side. Pmux output 142 is the vertical input data line of the shifter array.
FIG. 3 shows basic cell 150 of a shifter array used with pre-multiplexing cells such as pmux 140 of FIG. 2. Basic cell 150 is drawn in the orientation it would appear in a physical silicon chip embodiment. Basic cell 150 is 4 bits wide and tall. Four horizontal lines 152, 154, 156 and 158 are 4 input data lines ("D-lines"). Four vertical lines 160, 162, 164 and 166 are 4 output data lines ("On-lines"). Four vertical sign-or-zero ("SOZ" ) lines 168, 170, 172 and 174 are also shown. Select data ("SD") line 176 controls the selection of input data (from the D-lines) onto the corresponding O-lines. Select sign-or-zero ("SS") line 178 controls the selection of the SOZ data onto the corresponding O-lines. The 64-bit shifter array is a 16.times.16 array of the basic cell 150 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 4 shows a 4-bit slice 200 of the 64-bit shifter pre-multiplexer and shifter array. The 4 bit slice consists of 4 horizontal pmux cells 202, 204, 206 and 208 and 16 1. vertical basic cells 210. The 64-bit shifter consists of 16 of these 4-bit slices 200.
FIG. 5 shows a diagram of the entire 64-bit shifter array and how the D-lines start out vertical and then become horizontal. Sample instances of 4-bit nibbles of vertical D-lines are shown at 222 and 224. In actuality there are sixteen nibbles of vertical D-lines, one for each nibble column such as nibble column at 230. Sample instances of the basic cells are shown at 226 and 228. For clarity, the transistors in the basic cells are not shown.. In actuality there are 16.times.16 basic cells in the array. The 4 diagonal dots in basic cell 226 and basic cell 228 represent the "vias" where the vertical D-lines meet the horizontal D-lines. Even if the input data to the array is pre-multiplexed, each output bit of the array must still have access to every 4th input bit. Thus, 64 continuous horizontal input data lines are required. Note that because of the pre-multiplexing, this array structure requires only (256.times.4).times.2=2048 transistors to implement; this is 1/4 of the 64.times.64.times.2=8096 transistors which an array with no pre-muxing would require.
FIG. 6 shows a diagram of the required control lines for the entire shifter array. 31 control signals are necessary to implement the full functionality of the 64-bit typical shifter. Each diagonal line actually represents a pair of lines. The first signal in the pair connects to the SD line of a basic cell; the second signal in the pair connects to the SS line of a basic cell.
The control signals depicted in FIG. 7 are defined as shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ L15 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 15 L14 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 14 L13 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 13 L12 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 12 L11 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 11 L10 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 10 L9 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 9 L8 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 8 L7 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 7 L6 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 6 L5 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 5 L4 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 4 L3 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 3 L2 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 2 L1 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 1 L0 = "1" if Shift Left and (SA DIV 4) = 0 or Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 0 R15 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 15 R14 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 14 R13 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 13 R12 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 12 R11 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 11 R10 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 10 R9 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 9 R8 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 8 R7 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 7 R6 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 6 R5 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 5 R4 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 4 R3 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 3 R2 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 2 R1 = "1" if Shift Right and (SA DIV 4) = 1 ______________________________________


A liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and liquid crystal interposed between the first and second substrates. The first substrate includes an active element, a first insulating film formed on the active element, a plurality of first electrodes disposed on the first insulating film, a second insulating film disposed on the first electrodes, and a pixel electrode disposed on the second insulating film. The pixel electrode is electrically coupled to the active element via a portion defining a contact hole formed in a portion defining a clearance between the plurality of first electrodes.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, particularly to an in-plane switching (hereinafter referred to as "IPS"), semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Semi-transmissive liquid crystal display devices that have a transmission section and a reflection section in a subpixel have been used as displays for portable devices.
These semi-transmissive liquid crystal display devices employ the vertical electric field method in which liquid crystal interposed between a pair of substrates is driven by applying an electric field in a direction perpendicular to the planes of the pair of substrates. Those display devices have a step between the transmission and reflection sections so as to match the properties of the transmission section and those of the reflection section with each other, as well as have a phase difference plate between a polarizing plate and a liquid crystal layer.
As liquid crystal display devices, IPS liquid crystal display devices have been known. These IPS liquid crystal display devices have pixel electrodes PIX and counter electrodes CT formed on the same substrate, and apply an electric field between each pixel electrode PIX and counter electrode CT to rotate the liquid crystal in the substrate plane in order to control the contrast. Thus, IPS liquid crystal display devices have a characteristic that tints of displayed images are not inverted when seen obliquely. To utilize this characteristic, it has been proposed to construct a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device using an IPS liquid crystal display device, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-344837.
However, as also described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-344837, when a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device is constructed using an IPS liquid crystal display device, for example, there has been a problem that the transmission section is placed in normally white mode and the reflection section is placed in normally black mode, whereby the contrast are inverted between the transmission and reflection sections.
In order to address the abovementioned problem, the applicants have already filed a patent application for a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device having a new pixel structure (see Japanese Application No. 2005-322049).
Each pixel of this semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device applied for patent is structured so that the transmission and reflection sections share a pixel electrode while each having an independent counter electrode. Thus, applying different reference voltages (counter voltage and common voltage) to the independent counter electrodes prevents inversion of the contrast between the transmission and reflection sections.
In this semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device applied for patent, the transmission section has a normally black characteristic (the section is displayed in black when no voltage is applied), and the reflection section has a normally white characteristic (the section is displayed in white when no voltage is applied).
On another hand, in an IPS liquid crystal display device, a pixel electrode PIX is disposed on the side adjacent to liquid crystal, of one of a pair of substrates. In this case, a hole is made in a counter electrode CT to form a contact hole so that a drive voltage is applied to the pixel electrode PIX via the contact hole (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-328385).
However, in the liquid crystal display device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-322049, when a hole is made to form a contact hole in order to apply a drive voltage to the pixel electrode PIX disposed on the side adjacent to the liquid crystal of the one substrate, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-328385, non-display sections are increased, thereby reducing the transmissivity.
In other words, when a contact hole for applying a drive voltage to the pixel electrode PIX is formed according to a related-art layout in the semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device applied for patent, non-display sections are increased, resulting in a reduction in transmissivity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Liquid crystal display device with the pixel electrode being electrically coupled to the active element via a portion defining a clearance between the counter electrodes


The invention is a pop-up target system wherein a three-dimensional target is raised by a knee-like action. The target may take the form of a head and torso manufactured in two parts, a front half and a back half, which are hinged at the top of the head portion and may incorporate a thick, relatively massive material which will absorb incoming bullets. The bases of the torso halves are each mounted through hinges to two separate four-wheeled platforms or trucks which are constrained by tracks or guide cables to move linearly to move the bases of the torso halves together in an upright position or apart in a flat horizontal position. The linear relative position of the torso halves is controlled by linear moving means attached to the wheeled platforms or trucks such that at the maximum separation between the torso halves, the two halves of the target lays inclined on a brace so as to be out of horizontal alignment, preferably 5 to 10 degrees out of alignment. The slight inclination with the hinge at the head portion of the target elevated above the base assures that any lateral force will fold the two halves at the hinge rather than directing the force across two aligned members attached with a hinge.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved target handling system and, more specifically, to a target system that uses a knee-like action to raise a pop-up style target that consists of a head and torso.
2. Related Art
Currently available pop-up target systems typically handle only lightweight plastic silhouettes. Thus, these targets are unable to absorb bullets. The bullets thus splatter lead upon impact, or pass through the target and are trapped by an earthen berm behind the target. Because the bullets are often made from lead, the lead in the bullets is simply disbursed into the surrounding environment. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide targets which are made from material which trap bullets and produce less scattering of metal from bullets.
In addition, because these silhouette targets are two-dimensional (flat), such targets can only be used with a single shooter firing from a specific firing position because the shooter must view the target face-on. In other words, an oblique angle between the target and the shooter does not provide the shooter with a realistic target at which to shoot. In addition, multiple shooters in two positions may not both fire obliquely at the same target, although the use of a cross-fire allows shooters to learn to support each other in combat situations. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide the shooter with a target which allows a realistic target at an oblique angle.
The fact that conventional targets are constructed from plastic creates a problem with respect to fire. Tracer ammunition used in training starts grass fires and the plastic targets typically burn or melt and jam the lifting mechanism. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a target which is not made from plastic.
Two-dimensional silhouette targets also do not produce realistic shadows when illumination comes from the side of a target. When a shooter is looking down at a target, the movement of a shadow in the ground can be an important part of acquiring a target. Thus, the lack of realistic shadows in a two-dimensional target prevents the shooter from being trained to acquire targets by shadows cast by an enemy emerging from concealment. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide the shooter with a three-dimensional target which produces a shadow movement which is comparable to the shadow movement from an opponent moving out of concealment.
Because currently available pop-up target systems typically handle only lightweight plastic silhouettes, most target lifting systems are designed around a rotating arms that cannot lift heavy loads. Because the targets are of moderate weight, motion-sensing devices used in conjunction with the target are prone to error. Specifically, bullets may not be fully absorbed by the target; target motion from wind provides erroneous results; and target motion from spalls or ricochets may provide erroneous results. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a different lifting system to lift heavier targets. This would result in the ability to use more effective instrumentation to determine when hits occur. In addition, a heavier target has improved bullet-stopping ability such that solid hits will transmit more energy to the target and will register more easily on motion-sensing devices. In addition, target motion of a heavier target from wind or from impacts from spalls or ricochets will be different from motions produced by clean hits, thereby assisting in the determination of when hits occur.
Lightweight silhouette targets generally do not have sound or light sources mounted on the target for enhanced realism. One reason why these targets are not so equipped is that the weight of the sound or light sources materially affects the target lifting mechanism. As a result, light or sound equipment is added by using equipment mounted in the pit holding the target mechanism. Specifically, the effect of muzzle flash is produced by using a strobe light directed to illuminate the front of the target and noise is produced by a separate sound-generating device placed near the target. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a target lifting mechanism of such construction to allow mounting of sound or light equipment on a target for enhanced realism without materially affecting the target lift performance.
Thermal gun sights may be used in training with silhouette targets of the prior art. To use the thermal sights, the target itself must be heated. Presently, the target is heated by attaching flexible electrical heater units to the front of the silhouette. However, the heater can be rendered inoperative by incoming fire that breaks the heater resistance wires in the units. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a more massive target which may be heated when in a non-visible position.
Many target lifting systems generally have the lifting unit at the base of the lifting arm. Accordingly, the target does not cover or protect the lifting mechanism from exposure to gunfire. There is a need in the art to provide a target where the target lifting mechanism is more effectively protected from exposure to gunfire.

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


An apparatus for measuring the rotation angle of an object includes a floating rotary support for the object. The rotary support is mounted on a frame so as to allow free lateral movement in X and Y coordinate directions. A cooperating two-point cursor and digitizer tablet are provided to identify X and Y coordinates for the object in a second, relatively rotated position. Specifically, either the cursor or the digitizer tablet is mounted to the rotary support while the other is held stationary on the frame. Additionally, a processor is provided for calculating the rotation angle of the object based upon the X and Y coordinates determined for the rotated position. A method for measuring the rotation angle is also disclosed and claimed.

In order to determine proper installation and operation of an object, it is often necessary to confirm that the rotation angle of the object falls within or meets certain specifications. For example, the steering geometry and, particularly, the rotation angle of the wheels as they are rotated by the steering linkage is an important consideration to the proper operation of a motor vehicle. Accordingly, it is necessary to accurately assess the rotation angle of the wheels when cut to the left or right.
While many devices have been built in the past for this purpose, none are able to effectively compensate for the "floating axis" about which each wheel rotates. More specifically, because of the caster of the wheel, the rotation axis shifts when the wheel is turned by operation of the steering wheel. This shift in the rotation axis, if not effectively compensated for, will adversely effect the accuracy of any measurement of true rotation angle.

Apparatus and method for measuring rotation angle


The present disclosure discloses recombinant Escherichia coli and application thereof in screening erythritol-producing strains, and belongs to the technical field of microorganisms. The recombinant Escherichia coli used in a method for screening an erythritol-producing strain disclosed by the present disclosure can well perform positive correlation induction on erythritol with different concentrations, so that the method for screening the erythritol-producing strain has the advantage of high sensitivity. High-concentration glucose is usually adopted as a fermentation substrate when erythritol is produced in a fermentation mode in the industry, but the method for screening the erythritol-producing strain disclosed by the present disclosure can overcome the interference of the high-concentration glucose, and under the interference of the high-concentration glucose, the recombinant Escherichia coli used in the method for screening the erythritol-producing strain can still well perform positive correlation induction on erythritol with different concentrations, and the correlation is higher than that without the interference of the glucose. Therefore, the method for screening the erythritol-producing strain has the advantage of strong anti-interference capability.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol with the smallest relative molecular mass found in nature, which not only has all excellent functions of sugar alcohol products, such as caries prevention and suitability for diabetic patients, but also uniquely has the characteristics of extremely low calorie (≤1.66 kJ-g) and extremely high tolerance dose (without side effects). The erythritol has good food processing adaptability and physiological health-care function, and is widely used in the fields of food, medicine, cosmetics, chemical industry and the like as a novel functional health-care food raw material at present.
Bacterial species for producing the erythritol include fungi, bacteria and the like, and many of the bacterial species produce polyols such as xylitol, ethanol and glycerol in addition to the erythritol. At present, erythritol-producing strains for commercial use are mainly Aureobasidium sp. variant strains in Japan and Candida magnoliae in South Korea. In view of the important application value and huge market demand of the erythritol, it is still the foundation of all research and development work to seek erythritol-producing strains with excellent fermentation performance.
An existing method for screening erythritol-producing strains mainly includes the steps of firstly culturing strains to be screened, and then determining the content of erythritol in fermentation liquor by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The method needs complex sample processing, is long in detection period, is not suitable for rapid detection of erythritol fermentation liquor, and is difficult to realize high-throughput screening of the erythritol-producing strains. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find a more efficient method for screening the erythritol-producing strains so as to overcome the defects of the existing screening method.


Disclosed is a system for performing online data queries. The system for performing online data queries in a distributed computer system with a plurality of server nodes each fully redundant and capable of processing a user query request. Each server node includes a data query cache and other caches that may be used in performing data queries. The data query, as well as request allocation, is performed in accordance with an adaptive partitioning technique with a bias towards an initial partitioning scheme. Generic objects are created and used to represent business listings upon which the user may perform queries. Various data processing and integration techniques are included which enhance data queries. An update technique is used for synchronizing data updates as needed in updating the plurality of server nodes. A multi-media data transfer technique is used to transfer non-text or multi-media data between various components of the online query tool. Optimizations for searching, such as the common term optimization, are included for those commonly performed data queries. Also disclosed is a system for targeting advertisements that are displayed to a user of the system.

This application generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically to an architecture for an on-line query tool which executes in a computer system.
Software tools which execute in a computer system are used to perform various operations, such as performing queries or searches upon databases. These software tools may be accessible through a network to a number of users. For example, an on-line query tool may be available through a network, such as the Internet, in which users remotely access the tool from various remote sites. One operation which may be performed by software tools executing in a computer system is to perform searches or queries upon an existing database. Generally, the tools which perform data queries require an efficient technique to provide a resultant data query set within a short response time.
Depending on the type of data to be queried and the size of the data domain being searched, the query tools should generally be able to incorporate data changes and modifications easily and readily. If there are a large number of modifications to a large amount of data, a technique for maintaining the data may be required to perform data maintenance in accordance with this number of modifications. Additionally, the data updates may include a variety of data types and information. For example, data updates may include modifications to multi-media data types, including audio and video files as well as machine-executable programs and text information. This text information, as well as the multi-media information, may be displayed in a variety of combinations in a variety of arrangements which may also change. The data arrangements and display formats, as well as the data content, which are presented to a user in response to a query or request may also change.
Thus, there is required an efficient and flexible technique and architecture for providing search query results in an efficient manner by reducing the amount of time required to respond to a user query. Additionally, a system and method must be flexible enough to be able to integrate a large number of updates for a wide variety of data which may be used in many different computer systems.
In accordance with principles of the invention is an apparatus for performing a data query. The apparatus includes a computer system having one or more server nodes and a database including the data used for performing the data query. A hardware router forwards a request including the data query to one of the server nodes. A backoffice component provides data included in the database. Each of the server nodes includes: a request router for determining if a request including a data query should be performed by each server node, or if the request should be routed elsewhere for processing; partitioning data used by the request router to determine where the request should be processed, the partitioning data associating each of the server nodes with a particular portion of a query domain upon which each server node primarily performs data queries; and a query cache including data associated with the particular portion of a query domain upon which each server node primarily performs data queries.
Thus, there is provided an efficient and flexible technique and architecture for providing search query results in an efficient manner by reducing the amount of time required to respond to a user query. Additionally, the apparatus is flexible enough to be able to integrate a large number of updates for a wide variety of data which may be used in many different computer systems.

Method and system for performing online data queries in a distributed computer system


Optical methods, devices, and systems for non-invasively detecting transient surface displacements in a neuron are disclosed. Methods, devices, and systems provided may employ a phase-sensitive optical low coherence reflectometer. In addition, surface displacements due to action potential propagation in neural tissues may be detected in some embodiments using back-reflected light. According to some embodiments, exogenous chemicals or reflection coatings are not required. Transient neural surface displacement of less than 1 nm in amplitude and 1 ms in duration may be detected and may be generally coincident with action potential arrival to the optical measurement site. The systems and methods may be used for noninvasive detection of various neuropathies such as retinal neuropathies. They may also be useful in detecting the effects of various pharmacological agents.

Optical assessment of neural activity typically requires an invasive detection system. For example, axons may be coated with nanometer-diameter gold particles to assess neural activity by measuring rapid changes in axon diameter using a laser interferometer. Differences in reflected or back-reflected light from these particles may then be detected by the interferometer. Rapid mechanical changes may also be assessed using a piezoceramic bender attached to the axon and a stylus. Similarly, an optical lever may be configured such that one edge rests on an axon and an opposing edge rests on a fixed point (e.g., a knife edge). Swelling or shrinkage of the axon may be assessed by detecting changes in reflection of incident light. In addition, slow changes (on the order of a few seconds to a few minutes) in neural activity may be detected using optical coherence tomography, but this technique is insensitive to rapid changes (on the order of milliseconds) and small changes (on the order of nanometers).
Due, at least in part, to their invasiveness, the above-described techniques are typically not useful in a clinical setting.

Measurement of neural functionality using phase sensitive optical reflectometry


A handy computer accessory provides a mouse pad, which is cut out to provide an opening, and a paper pad in the opening. The paper pad consists of a stack of repositionable pressure sensitive adhesive sheets. When needed, the paper pad is visually and manually accessible to a computer operator. Graphics on the mouse pad and paper pad are functional and/or aesthetic. A used paper pad may be replaced easily by removing any residual backing and pressing a replacement paper pad into the opening in the mouse pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mouse pads and paper pads, and, more particularly, to mouse pads of the type that provide a surface for frictional contact with a computer mouse, and paper pads that are composed of a stack of repositionable sheets for the reception of hand-written notes or other visual matter.
2. The Prior Art
Mouse pads, per se, are well known computer accessories that provide a surface for frictional contact with a hand-operated computer mouse for interaction with the graphical user interface (GUI) of the computer. Many computer applications enable the entry of keyboard-driven electronic notes for such purposes as reminders, notices, remarks, references, etc. Such electronic notes sometimes either are not permitted or are too unwieldy for use in connection with the particular computer application being run. Small paper pads of pressure sensitive sheets are widely available for use in a myriad of situations in which handwritten notes are convenient to create and to affix at desired locations either permanently or temporarily. Oftentimes, attention is so focused when using a computer, that there may be inherent frustration when shifting attention between: the locations of small objects such as mouse pads and paper pads on the physical desktop (on which the computer rests); and the locations of small icons on the virtual desktop (of the computer screen). Facilitation is to be desired.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a handy computer accessory in which a mouse pad and a paper pad are structurally integrated and operationally coordinated. The mouse pad is a planar unit, which generally includes a lower elastomeric foam base and an upper fibrous face, and which is cut out within its planar periphery to provide a receptacle in the form of an opening that has a profile of predetermined size and shape. The paper pad is a planar unit, which generally includes a stack of repositionable pressure sensitive sheets, and which has a profile of substantially the same predetermined size and shape as the opening in the mouse pad has. The paper pad is press fitted into the opening in which it is retained snugly. The paper pad and the opening thus are geometrically congruent. In one embodiment, the mouse pad and the paper pad have registered graphics that provide matching indicia or a seamless background design.

Computer accessory having assemblage of mouse pad and paper pad


Systems and methods which can shift video to the edge of the display screen. The user can electrically and mechanically roll up or down the projection screen to fit the opposite edge. Further, the electrically shifted position can be memorized in memory, which will be easily recalled during future use. Also, to avoid displaying visible noise near the top edge of the video, the video may be shifted to avoid such noise being visible. The shifted position may be stored in memory to be recalled for future use.

Traditional methods of displaying video in an aspect ratio different than the aspect ratio of the display medium require projecting the image in the middle of the screen and resizing the video. FIG. 1 illustrates a video 104 projected onto a display screen 102 according to the traditional method. As seen in FIG. 1a, since the aspect ratio of video 104 differs from that of display screen 102, video 104 does not fit display screen in proper proportion. As a result, bars 106 or 108, which are the color of display screen 102, appear at the top and the bottom of video 104. Usually, bars 106 and 108 differ in color from video 104 and, thus, may distract a user viewing video 104.
In order for video 104 to fit display screen 102 in better proportion, the user may scale the width of video 104 to the maximum horizontal width of the display device to fit display screen 102. Then, the display device or the user scales the height of video 104 proportionally according to the aspect ratio of video 104. FIG. 1b illustrates scaling or "stretching" video image 104 to fit display screen 102. However, once the user scales video 104 to fit display screen 102, scaling errors may be introduced into video 104. Thus, the quality of video 104 would be reduced and the viewing experience for the user would be degraded.
Furthermore, FIG. 1c illustrates noise 110 which often appears near the top edges of a video 104. Traditional methods use an overscan technique to slightly zoom in video 104 a few percent to avoid such noises being visible to a viewer. Once the user scales video 104 as in FIG. 1b, however, noise 110 may become visible to the user.

Methods and systems for displaying video in multiple aspect ratios


A demountable indoor/outdoor arena seating system includes a plurality of seat groups in seating modules. The seat group modules are supported by a plurality of floor board deck members of joined planks, wherein the deck members have attachment extensions attachable to the seat group modules. The deck members are supported by inner struts insertable in outer hollow struts. The inner struts are grooved to accommodate the heads of shortened locking bolts having spring loaded cam rings to lock the bolts in place.

The present invention relates to stable yet easily demountable modular seating systems.
Temporary, demountable seating systems for indoor and, outdoor arenas are known. For example, classic bleacher seating systems include continuous horizontal seating boards, which are arranged in a sloped orientation, with the seating boards farther away, being incrementally higher than the next lower level seating boards. Upright stud framing holds the seating boards, interspersed with parallel, incrementally positioned floorboards. To prevent falling at the edges of the bleacher seating, handrail banisters are provided.
The drawbacks for bleacher seating include the fact that flat seats without backrests are generally uncomfortable, especially for events of several hours or more. In addition, the floorboards may shake, creating uncomfortable vibrations for adjacent seated customers, with undesirable noise.
Furthermore, the side rail banisters are sometimes chain link or a horizontal configuration of rails that are climbable and loose, and they must be of a sturdy construction to provide sufficient lateral support to prevent falling.
Attempts have been made to provide temporary indoor seating systems with groups of seats, typically three, with backs rests, that are joined to a framework. However, the attachments for such systems are inconvenient to remove and reinstall. In addition, these indoor seating systems are not made for outdoor use.
Moreover, in existing seating systems, in order to prevent lateral deflection, the tubular cylindrical posts supporting rails need complicated fasteners, and cannot be simply dropped in place and secured. Also, to provide this support in a vertical picket for the rail, other attempts are made of steel construction.
In addition, tubular, cylindrical handrails can be easy to lose hold of, especially when wet from exposure to recent rain or morning dew.
Furthermore, the deck panels in existing seating systems need external strut supports.
In addition, existing seating systems often require motorized lift access to be erected, which is especially difficult to provide in remote outdoor amphitheater grandstand arenas or in inner city indoor theater spaces requiring the erection of seats from scratch.
Assembly of the seating components is also difficult in outdoor conditions, where dirt can get into apertures in cam-operable locking bolts and their respective slot receptacles, preventing the automatic locking by gravity pull against locking rotating rings. These prior art locking bolts do not have any internal force mechanisms to assist gravity in deflecting the rotating rings of the locking bolts.
Furthermore, often the vertical posts of a seating frame are square in cross section, with too small a transverse, horizontal clearance to fit a full prior art locking bolt therethrough. Previous rails are steel.
Another problem with outdoor seating systems is the fact that jacks must be used to adjust the deploying of structural frame supports on irregular outdoor terrain. Since the jacks have vertically extending members engage with other vertically extending posts, there is a need to provide simple fasteners which can securely lock the posts to the jack supports, and offer bracing locations when the jacks are extended.
Another problem with existing outdoor seating systems is that the modular groups of seats with backrests need to be firmly attached to the supporting framework, yet they must also be quickly disassembled, two tasks which are difficult to achieve together.
Finally, outdoor decks to walk on can be noisy if the joints are loose, or can be uncomfortable if they are walked on, and unless they are continuous, users can trip on joining seamed surfaces. It is not a flexible system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an easily demountable arena seating system in a modular design to facilitate numerous reconfigurations.
It is another object to provide a sturdy framework for modular arena seating that minimizes noise and vibrations.
It is yet another object to provide a modular arena seating system, which is quickly assembled and disassembled and which contains seats with backs.
It is a further object to provide safety railings for arena seating which are easy to install, are not climbable and which are light weight for ease of assembly, such as being made of aluminum.
It is yet another object to provide locking bolts for modular seating systems, which are spring-loaded to facilitate locking and unlocking of the bolts and to maintain vandal proof integrity.
It is also an object to provide fasteners for assembling seating arena framework structures wherein the fasteners can be utilized in areas of small clearances without using the entire pin assembly.
It is yet another object of the present invention to improve over the disadvantages of the prior art arena seating systems.
In keeping with these objects and others which may become apparent, the present invention includes a sturdy modular arena seating system with comfortable flip-up backrest seats, which can be easily assembled and disassembled and reconfigured.
The floor board decks of the framework of the arena seating system of the present invention are constructed to minimize noise and vibrations when walked upon. For example, the deck includes hollow metal planks, such as aluminum planks, which have fitted edge extrusions that are attached thereto to lock in place. When locked together, the assembled adjacent planks form a continuous walking surface with minimal deflection when the weight of a person walks thereon. As a result, the floor board decks are quiet and do not vibrate excessively of flex, thus preventing uncomfortable vibrations to the occupants of nearby seats.
The floor board decks are attached to a structural framework of struts, and the framework holds modular groups of chairs with backrests in a tight position, thus reducing any discomfort to the occupants of the seats and becoming modular in design. Each section of chairs has upper and lower bottom attachment flanges which are aligned with grooves in the respective protruding extrusions of the adjacent floor board decks.
For example, an upper flange on the rear of the seat module is inserted in a groove of a front attachment extrusion of the upper floor deck adjacent to the bottom of the seat cushion area. In addition, a lower flange also on the rear of the seat module is inserted in a groove of the rear attachment extrusion of the next lower floor deck adjacent to the bottom of the seating module. This next lower floor deck is the deck for the feet of the arena patron sitting in the chair of the seating module.
These modular seating groups of chairs are kept in place by spring loaded fasteners for temporary seating systems, or for permanent seating groups of chairs, by more permanent vandal resistant fasteners, such as button cap screws, which are threaded through a tapped fixing plate and a threaded barrel.
The upper post struts of the supporting framework are insertable in further lower hollow post struts, and are secured in place by unique fasteners, including spring loaded locking bolts. To accommodate the insertion and fastening of an upper strut post within another lower strut post, the upper inner strut posts have longitudinally extended grooves to accommodate fastener heads connecting the upper and lower strut posts.
Furthermore, for safe guardrails, upright pickets are provided in special polygonal cross sectional sections of aluminum to maintain light weight design, such as hexagons having one longitudinally extending axis longer than a transverse axis. Such a guardrail picket configuration minimizes lateral deflection, especially from a person leaning against the guardrail. The polygonal cross section also prevents loosening by rotation associated with prior art cylindrical handrail posts set in hollow cylindrical fittings. Moreover, the horizontal handrails of the banister have ergonomically designed configurations in cross section, such as with linearly extending grooves and elevations, which provide undulating surface texturing, which are easier to hold onto than tubular cylindrical handrails.

Demountable indoor/outdoor seating system components


A determination is made regarding whether a firewall will block a network packet. The network packet indicates a set of one or more characteristics. A test packet is generated that indicates the set of characteristics. The test packet is sent to the firewall without using a network. A test result is received from the firewall. The test result is stored.

1. Technical Field
The subject matter described herein generally relates to the field of firewalls and, in particular, to determining (without using a network) whether a firewall will block a particular network packet.
2. Background Information
A firewall receives network packets and processes them according to a set of rules. In particular, a firewall determines whether to block a received network packet or allow the received network packet to pass through the firewall. A stateful firewall maintains a connection state table that indicates the state of network connections (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) streams or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) communication) traveling across the firewall. A stateful firewall processes a network packet based on rules and based on the connection state table. For example, if the connection state table includes an entry for a particular active network session, then a network packet associated with that session is automatically allowed to pass through the firewall.
A stateful firewall's rules can change over time, such that a network packet allowed through the firewall based on the old rules should now be blocked based on the new rules. However, if that network packet is associated with an active session represented by an entry in the connection state table, then that packet will be allowed through the firewall even though it violates the new rules. So, after a rule change, there are two options: One option is to drop all network connections (e.g., by clearing the connection state table). This first option is secure but can significantly disrupt executing applications. Another option is to continue allowing active network connections that were allowed under the old rules. This second option is a breach of the new rules, but executing applications are not affected.

Determining, without using a network, whether a firewall will block a particular network packet


This invention is a bi-directional hydraulic actuator comprising a piston assembly positioned within a housing. The piston assembly is configured to move linearly within the housing. A gland is operatively connected to the piston assembly. The gland is configured as a rigid longitudinally annular member with a first end, a second end, a sidewall and is open on the first end and substantially closed on the second end which forms an inside and an outside of the annular member. The gland is further configured with a lip extending from around the outside of the first end of the gland. A pressurizing fluid exerts pressure on the inside of the gland to move the piston assembly a first direction, then, a fluid exerts pressure on the outside of the gland and the lip of the gland to move the piston assembly opposite the first direction.

This invention relates to hydraulic actuators. Specifically, this invention relates to a bi-directional hydraulic actuator.
Hydraulic actuators are commonly used on equipment today. Hydraulic actuators work because a force or pressure in a closed fluid system that is applied to one point is transferred to another point in the same closed system. This is typically accomplished by using an incompressible or nearly incompressible fluid. The force that is applied at one point in the system can be multiplied at another point in the system to create a very powerful force which can be used for moving mechanical devices.
One such bi-directional hydraulic actuator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,055. In this patent the two pressure chambers receive a pressurizing fluid in either of the pressure chambers which causes the rack to move in the direction away from the pressure of the pressurizing fluid. As the rack moves, the teeth engage the teeth of a pinion gear. Thus, the linear movement of the rack creates a rotational movement of a pinion which rotates around a point in the center of the pinion.
One problem with this type of hydraulic actuator is that in order to have bi-directional motion of the rack, the pistons must be located at opposite ends of one another and thus creating a relatively long actuator assembly. Therefore, it is desirable to have a hydraulic actuator which creates bi-directional motion by having a shorter rack assembly for the same relative amount of rotational movement.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improved hydraulic actuator.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an actuator which is enclosed within a housing and thus increases the life of the actuator.
A further objective of the present invention is to create an actuator which uses rack and pinion gearing to create rotational movement on one or more mechanical arms.
A still further objective of the present invention is to create a hydraulic actuator in which greater force can be created in one direction than is created using the actuator in the opposite direction.
Yet another objective of the present invention is the provision of a hydraulic actuator which is economical to manufacture, durable in use, and efficient in operation.
A still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved method of creating bi directional linear motion in a hydraulic actuator using a shorter piston assembly within an enclosed housing.
One or more of these or other objects of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims that follow.


Systems and methods provide a single E.164 number for voice and data call redirection and telephony services such as caller identification, regardless of in which type of network a dual mode mobile device operates. When the dual mode device registers and is active in a GSM network, temporary routing and status updates are triggered and resultant information is maintained in both networks. A mobile terminated call is routed through an enterprise WLAN with call control within the enterprise being handled by SIP or H.323 signaling, and the call is redirected to the mobile device in the GSM network, where call control is assumed by the SS7 network. Services are provided using the protocols native to the active network, and the single E.164 is used consistently along with or lieu of the temporary routing information for subscriber identity specific functions, such as caller identification and voice mail.

Convergence of wireless local area networks (WLANs) and third-generation wireless wide area networks will enable mobile devices to roam between a packet-switched network and a circuit-switched network, such as for example, between an 802.11 Wi-Fi network and a public wireless voice/data telecommunications network. This flexibility has inherent advantages, for example, enabling wireless providers to bundle in calls across WLAN spectrum to close gaps in wireless coverage, using the relatively higher bandwidth of the WLAN for data transfers and the relatively lower bandwidth of a wireless air interface such as GSM for voice traffic, extending mobile coverage inside buildings or whenever a user with in range of a WLAN, and providing user access to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to save money or wireless plan minutes. In sum, this notion of wireless convergence promises the ability for an end user to secure an optimal connection to a communications network regardless of the end user's location. Potential applications include domestic services that allow a single access point in a home to serve several handsets that are also used outside the home, and enterprise services that target office environments having a WLAN that serves potentially many access points as well as telephones routed through the office PBX.
To benefit from the advantages of wireless convergence, a mobile device such as a telephone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) must be capable of dual mode or dual network operation. Incoming calls are redirected to dual mode devices regardless of in which network the device is operating, and the dual mode devices then have the ability to handoff between a WLAN and a wireless network as needed. Roaming protocols are required to facilitate handing off between the circuit-switched wireless domain and the packet-switched domain of the WLAN.
Existing and proposed call redirection and handoff solutions disadvantageously must anchor an enterprise-hosted call in the enterprise at all times. For example, the 802.11a based Motorola SCCAN solution provides a proxy engine that controls handoff using two directory numbers and a simple call forwarding protocol that relies on the mobile device and a GSM radio link. Such solutions maintain a first directory number that routes to a wireline network and a second published mobile directory number that is also routable. Expending two directory numbers has the added drawback of complicating or thwarting the provision of a single caller identifier to Caller ID systems. If a call originates from a dual mode device operating in an enterprise network, the first directory number is revealed; if the call originates operating in the wireless network, the second directory number is revealed.

Voice call redirection for enterprise hosted dual mode service


A color image forming apparatus irradiates a photosensitive drum with exposure light beams to form a plurality of latent images, develops the latent images into visible images, overlies the visible image to form a color image, and transfers the color image to recording paper. In this apparatus, a light reflection surface is formed on the photosensitive drum. Reflected light beams of laser beams from this light reflection surface are detected by a photodetector. The relative positions of the plurality of latent images formed by the laser beams are corrected in accordance with the detection signal from the photodetector. The image registration error of the color image can be accurately corrected without wasting toner or requiring an accurate toner mark detector, and a high-quality color image can be formed at a high speed with a simple arrangement.

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to a color image forming apparatus for forming a plurality of single-color images on a latent image carrier and sequentially registering the images to form a color image.
An electrophotographic color image forming apparatus which forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, forms a visible image from the latent image using toners, and transfers the image to recording paper, uses various schemes. For example, the following schemes are used. (1) A process of forming, on a photosensitive drum, a toner image of one of three primary colors (yellow, magenta, and cyan) for forming a color image, and transferring the toner image to recording paper is repeated three times in correspondence with the colors (or four times, including black, as needed). (2) Image forming units for forming single-color toner images are arranged in the recording paper convey direction in correspondence with the three primary colors and black. Single-color images are sequentially registered on recording paper to form a color image. (3) Image forming units are arranged in the photosensitive drum moving direction in correspondence with the primary colors. Single-color images are sequentially registered on the surface of the photosensitive drum to form a color image and transferred to recording paper at once. Scheme (3) includes dry electrophotography using dry toners and wet electrophotography using liquid developers containing fine toners.
In the above-described schemes, to form a satisfactory color image, single-color images must be accurately registered. If this registration accuracy is not sufficiently high, the image quality degrades: image blur or a shortage of sharpness or color reproducibility occurs. A registration accuracy at which the registration error is not visually recognized and a high image quality is obtained is generally 0.1 mm or less.
Conventionally, various proposals have been made in order to improve the registration accuracy. For example, in a color image forming apparatus with a tandem arrangement, marks for detecting the registration errors of single-color images are formed on the recording paper conveyor belt, and the image formation position is corrected on the basis of detected registration error data.
In this technique, however, toner consumption increases because of formation of registration error detection marks, a cleaning unit for removing unnecessary marks that remain after detection and are not associated with the output image must be added, the photosensitive material degrades due to mechanical stress in cleaning, the recording time is prolonged by the loss time for registration error detection, and cost increases because of the necessity of a detector for accurately detecting the marks. Additionally, running cost increases, including the cost of photosensitive material and toner.
Assume that a detector for accurately detecting a registration error detection mark formed from a toner pixel with a dot size associated with the recording resolution is realized to detect the registration errors of the single-color images. When the allowable registration error amount is about 0.1 mm, the detection accuracy of the detector itself must be increased to 0.02 mm or less in consideration of the accuracy allotment by analysis of registration error generating factors and analysis of errors in constituent elements of the image forming apparatus. In addition, since the image forming process for forming marks or constituent element driving accuracy varies, the detection accuracy must be increased by detecting a plurality of marks and statistically processing them. This increases not only load on hardware including the detector but also load on software for the detection sequence.
There is a technique of accurately registering images by multiple-exposure in which one of a plurality of exposure laser beams is used as a reference, and the remaining beams are synchronized with the reference beam. In this technique, however, measures against an image registration error generated by a shift in beam image formation position due to a thermal deformation of an optical system element according to a change in ambient temperature or an image position shift due to a shift in the relative positions of each laser beam and the photosensitive drum in exchanging the photosensitive drum are not particularly considered.
When the photosensitive drum driving speed has a slight error, an image registration error occurs due to this speed error. In addition, since a mechanism for attaching, at a sufficiently high accuracy, a photosensitive material which is expendables and must be exchanged several ten times during the service life of the apparatus is required, the apparatus arrangement becomes complex. Furthermore, the photosensitive material driving speed need also be accurately set. Hence, a drive transmission mechanism with high mechanical accuracy and photosensitive driving by accurate speed control are necessary, resulting in an increase in cost of the apparatus.
There is a technique of decreasing the positional shift between color toner images to increase the registration accuracy, in which support members are provided around the photosensitive drum to increase the positioning accuracy of the image exposure devices. However, along with the recent requirement for a high-speed high-resolution color image forming apparatus, strong demand has arisen for improvement of the registration accuracy of color toner images. No sufficient registration accuracy is obtained only with the positioning accuracy of units.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a color image forming apparatus capable of accurately correcting a registration error in color images and forming a high-quality color image at a high speed.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color image forming apparatus comprising: a latent image carrier; an image exposure mechanism configured to scan a surface of the latent image carrier with exposure light beams in accordance with image information of different colors to form a plurality of latent images; a development mechanism configured to develop the plurality of latent images formed by the image exposure mechanism into visible images to form a color image on the latent image carrier; at least one reflector provided on the latent image carrier; at least one detector for detecting reflected light beams of the exposure light beams from the at least one reflector and outputting a detection signal; and a correction mechanism configured to control relative positions of the plurality of latent images to be formed by the image exposure mechanism, on the basis of the detection signal from the at least one detector.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color image forming apparatus comprising: a latent image carrier; an image exposure mechanism configured to scan a surface of the latent image carrier with exposure light beams in accordance with image information of different colors to form a plurality of latent images; a development mechanism configured to develop the plurality of latent images formed by the image exposure mechanism into visible images to form a color image on the latent image carrier; a reflector provided on the latent image carrier, the reflector having a plurality of reflection members; a detector for detecting reflected light beams of the exposure light beams from at least one of the plurality of reflection members and outputting a detection signal; and a correction mechanism configured to control relative positions of the plurality of latent images to be formed by the image exposure mechanism, on the basis of the detection signal from the detector.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color image forming apparatus comprising: a latent image carrier; a plurality of image exposure units for forming, on a surface of the latent image carrier, latent images of exposure light beams in accordance with image information of different colors by exposure; a plurality of development units for developing the latent images formed by the plurality of image exposure units into visible images to form a color image on the latent image carrier; a detection pattern formation mechanism configured to form, on the latent image carrier using at least one of the plurality of image exposure units, a plurality of detection patterns used to detect at least one of a relative difference and a tilt angle of each of the visible image formation positions of the plurality of development units; a detector for detecting the-plurality of detection patterns; and a correction mechanism configured to obtain at least one of the relative difference and the tilt angle on the basis of a detection result from the detector and control relative positions of the latent images to be formed by the plurality of image exposure units, on the basis of the obtained relative difference or tilt angle.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

Color image forming apparatus for forming a plurality of single-color images on a latent image carrier


A safety valve includes: a valve element; a valve seat that has a gas release hole from which a gas is released and a protrusion that protrudes towards the valve element; and a meltable body that is made of a material capable of being melt at an abnormal high temperature. At a temperature other than the abnormal high temperature, the meltable body limits displacement of the valve element to thereby prevent inflow of the gas towards the gas release hole. At the abnormal high temperature, the meltable body is melt, thereby the valve element is displaced and the gas is released from the gas release hole.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a technique of a safety valve and, in particular, to a safety valve that has a meltable body capable of being melt at a predetermined abnormal high temperature.
Description of Related Art
A meltable type safety valve is known as a safety device for preventing a pressure inside a pressure container from excessively rising when a temperature inside the container becomes an abnormal high temperature. The meltable type safety valve has a meltable body capable of being melt at an abnormal high temperature. At a normal temperature, displacement of a valve element is limited by means of the meltable body. At an abnormal high temperature, the meltable body is melt to release the limit of the valve element and displace the valve element, so that a flow path leading to the outside is opened and the pressure inside the container is reduced. A meltable type safety valve that has a meltable plug for use in the safety valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-132475 (JP 2012-132475 A), for example, exists as a meltable type safety valve having such a structure.
The meltable type safety valve disclosed in JP 2012-132475 A has a substantially cylindrical meltable body. In the meltable type safety valve, the fusibility of the meltable body is maintained and the strength of the meltable body is increased by means of a structure in which the strength of a part around an axis (a central part) of the meltable body is reduced and the strength of the circumference of the central part is increased. Moreover, in the meltable type safety valve in JP 2012-132475 A, damages of the meltable body in usual use (except in the case of an abnormal high temperature) are inhibited and wrong actions of the meltable type safety valve are prevented by increasing the strength of the meltable body.
In the meltable type safety valve disclosed in JP 2012-132475 A, a pressure inside the pressure container acts on the meltable body via the valve element, and damages of the meltable body caused by a creeping phenomenon are still worried about. In such a structure, in order to form a meltable type safety valve that can deal with a further high temperature and high pressure, the strength of the meltable body is required to be further increased. However, the strength of the meltable body itself is usually low, thereby it is hard to deal with the further high temperature and high pressure in the meltable type safety valve.


A process for producing a thermal transfer recording medium having a near end mark, which comprises: applying a near end mark ink onto the uppermost het-meltable layer of a thermal transfer recording medium and drying the resultant to form a near end mark,. the near end mark ink being a white ink comprising a white pigment, a resin, a wax and a solvent, the white pigment comprising 40 to 60% by weight of the total amount of solid matters of the ink, the resin comprising at least one resin selected from the group consisting of terpene.phenol copolymer resin, phenol resin and polyethylene glycol resin, the wax comprising a particulate wax having an ester group and a melting point of not lower than 75.degree. C., the solvent being capable of dissolving the resin and incapable of dissolving the particulate wax.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a thermal transfer recording medium having a near end mark. More particularly, it relates to a process for producing a thermal transfer recording medium which is characterized by the process of forming the near end mark.
Conventional thermal transfer recording media each have a near end mark (sometimes, simply called "end mark") disposed at the end portion thereof. The near end mark is detected with a sensor to stop running of the thermal transfer recording medium in a thermal printer, thereby preventing a so-called blind striking wherein printing is conducted in a portion of the recording medium where the ink layer is absent. There is a demand for some timelag between the time at which the near end mark is detected with a sensor and the time at which the recording medium is actually stopped due to mechanisms of the printer or the like. Therefore, a near end mark is provided on the heat-meltable ink layer of the end portion of the recording medium, and, hence, printing is made possible even when the portion of the recording medium where the near end mark is present passes at the printing part of the printer.
Heretofore, it was known to form such a near end mark by applying onto the heat-meltable ink layer a white ink comprising a white pigment, a resin, a wax and a solvent, followed by drying (see JP, A, 60-76389, JP, A, 2-229072).
However, the use of a thermal transfer recording medium wherein the near end mark is formed with use of the white ink involves problems that the transferability of the heat-meltable ink layer is poor when thermal printing is conducted at the portion of the recording medium where the near end mark is present, and the white ink itself is poor in stability, resulting in a coating with poor surface quality.
In view of the aforesaid problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for producing a thermal transfer recording medium wherein a near end mark ink having good stability is used to form a near end mark with good surface quality and which provides a thermal transfer recording medium exerting good transferability even when printing is conducted at the portion where the near end mark is formed.
This and other object of the present invention become apparent from the description hereinafter.

Process for producing thermal transfer recording medium having near end mark


There is disclosed herein an accumulator for an air conditioning system. The accumulator includes a sump for collecting oil to be provided to the air conditioning compressor. There is also disclosed an outlet tube in the accumulator, the tube having a flange opening and a necked-down portion a predetermined distance from the flange opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an accumulator for an air conditioning system . More particularly, the present invention relates to an accumulator which increases refrigerant flow velocity and improves oil supply to the compressor.
2. Disclosure Information
An air conditioning system conventionally includes a compressor, a condenser, a refrigerant control device, an evaporator and an accumulator arranged as a refrigerant circuit. The compressor compresses the refrigerant for delivery to the condenser, where the state of the refrigerant changes from gaseous to liquid. The liquid refrigerant then passes through the refrigerant control device to the evaporator, where an air blower circulates air over the evaporator to provide cooled air to the vehicle passenger compartment. The resulting heat transfer from passing the ambient air over the evaporator causes the refrigerant to mostly change state from a liquid to a gas, although some liquid does remain.
Liquid and gaseous refrigerant then pass from the evaporator to the accumulator. The accumulator separates the liquid refrigerant from the gaseous refrigerant, allowing only gaseous refrigerant to return to the compressor. The residual liquid refrigerant eventually turns to a gaseous state and is then returned to the compressor. The accumulator also recovers lubricating oil contained in the refrigerant and returns a metered amount of the oil to the inlet side of the compressor.
The accumulator normally comprises an upright cylindrical housing with an inlet opening formed therein and an outlet tube having its mouth in the upper interior region of the accumulator. Refrigerant from the evaporator is introduced into the accumulator through the inlet opening, which may be in the top or in the side of the accumulator housing. The liquid refrigerant settles to the bottom of the accumulator. Gaseous refrigerant rises to the top of the accumulator, where suction by the compressor draws the gaseous refrigerant through the outlet tube. Typically, the outlet tube is a J-shaped tube having an oil inlet at the bottom or curved part of the J-shaped tube. The gaseous refrigerant enters the top opening of the tube and travels along its complete length before exiting the accumulator. Manufacturing a J-shaped tube is labor intensive and complex.
During a low charge/low oil system condition in the refrigerant circuit, the compressor can be damaged if the volume of oil returned to the compressor is too low. Oil is used to lubricate the moving members within the compressor. Typically, the outlet tube of the accumulator includes the metering or oil return orifice located at the bottom of the outlet tube adjacent the bottom of the accumulator housing for drawing oil pooled along the bottom of the accumulator into the tube which passes the oil to the compressor. Flow of the refrigerant through the outlet tube draws the oil from the oil return orifice and carries it to the compressor. Higher flow velocities increase the drawing of the oil into the outlet tube.
Therefore it would be advantageous to provide an accumulator which provides increased flow velocity of refrigerant through the outlet tube to increase the amount of oil returned to the compressor.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an accumulator which is cheaper and easier to manufacture and which increases the flow velocity of the refrigerant leaving the accumulator.

Accumulator for an air conditioning system