Trace amount levels of non-volatile mercury in crude oil are reduced by contacting the crude oil with a water stream containing at least a monatomic water-soluble sulfur species such as sulfides and hydrosulfides. The non-volatile mercury is extracted into the water phase forming a mercury rich wastewater, yielding a treated crude oil having at less than 50% of the original non-volatile mercury level. The wastewater can disposed or recycled by injection into a reservoir. In one embodiment, the water stream consists essentially of produced water.

Mercury can be present in trace amounts in all types of hydrocarbon streams such as crude oils. The amount can range from below the analytical detection limit to several thousand ppbw (parts per billion by weight) depending on the source.
Methods have been disclosed to remove mercury from liquid hydrocarbon feed, specifically volatile mercury. It has been reported that mercury in crude is primarily in the form of volatile species, e.g., 90% Hg0 and only 10% DMHg. See Wilhelm et al. Energy & Fuels 2006, 20, 180-186 (See Table 5 on page 184) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ef0501391. In contrast, Tao et al. J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 1998, 13, 1085-1093 http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/1998/ja/a803369b show in Table 8 that dialkylmercury species out-proportion elemental Hg in condensates and natural gas liquids.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,818 discloses a method of removing mercury from liquid hydrocarbons (natural gas condensate) by contact with a dilute aqueous solution of alkali metal sulfide salt, for reaction of the sulfur component with the mercury, where the mercury sulfur compounds precipitate and settle for subsequent recovery as a solid waste. U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,543 discloses a method for removing elemental mercury with a sulfur compound where mercury is removed as a solid. U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,372 discloses the removal of mercury from a hydrocarbon feed upon contact with an oil soluble or oil miscible sulfur compound U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,896 discloses using polysulfide based absorbents to remove elemental mercury (Hg0) from gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon streams.
There are also a number of commercially available processes and products for the removal of (volatile) elemental mercury Hg0 from hydrocarbon streams including but not limited to ICI Synetix' Merespec™ fixed bed absorbents, UOP's HgSIV™ regenerative mercury removal adsorbents, and Johnson Matthey's Puraspec™ and Puracare™ granulated absorbents for the removal of mercury from naphtha and/or gaseous hydrocarbon streams. Adsorption technology does not work well for crude oils and condensates with low levels of mercury, and with primarily non-volatile mercury.
Production of oil and gas is usually accompanied by the production of water. This produced water in some cases is reinjected into the subsurface for disposal, to maintain pressure in the reservoir, or to achieve other beneficial effects. The produced water may consist of formation water (water present naturally in the reservoir), or water previously injected into the formation. As exploited reservoirs mature, the quantity of water produced increases. Produced water is the largest single fluid stream in exploration and production operations.
There is a need for methods for the removal of non-volatile mercury from liquid hydrocarbon streams, and particularly methods wherein produced water can be used/recycled.

Process, method, and system for removing mercury from fluids


In an audio paging apparatus and method for a cordless paging receiver for performing an alarm function in an audio signal during a cordless paging operation, the apparatus includes a receiver for receiving cordless paging information and converting the same into digital data, a memory for storing a self-address of the cordless paging receiver, a decoder for receiving and decoding the digital data, converting the same into the original data and outputting message data of cordless paging information if the same address as the self-address is input, a microcontroller for receiving data of the memory, processing data of the decoder and outputting an audio control signal, an alarm control signal and a display control signal in accordance with an output mode, an alarm unit for generating an alarm signal in accordance with the alarm control signal, a display unit for displaying a message of a paging party and state information of the cordless paging receiver in accordance with the display control signal, an audio processor having a memory for converting the message of cordless paging information into an audio signal in accordance with the audio control signal, and a speaker for audio-paging the audio signal by the control of the microcontroller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to cordless paging receivers, and more particularly, to audio paging apparatus and processes enabling cordless paging receivers to control generation of alarm functions broadcasting audio signals during cordless paging operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a cordless paging receiver receives and analyses cordless paging information of a specific type and then if received paging information is determined to contain information related to receiver itself, initiates an alarm function.
In the hypothetical typical cordless paging receiver, when cordless paging information is received, the output mode is expressed in the form of either a tone alarm, melody alarm or oscillation alarm (e.g., a sound-free vibration alarm). The receiving party must then manually depress the operational key of the cordless paging receiver, visually check the message displayed by the pager in response to the cordless paging information, and then trigger application of an interrupt signal to the microcontroller within the pager. With this type of pager, the receiving party is required to visually check the message displayed on the display unit, a requirement that is not always convenient, particularly if the owner of the pager is otherwise engaged or if the display unit is not already within the line of sight of the owner.
Early efforts to facilitate communications with the user of a pager included multiple alert pagers such as the Radio Paging Receiver Having Pre-recorded Voice Messages Which Are Selectived By Address Codes And Read Out Responsive To A Suffix Code of Masaru Masaki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,780, and the Combined Tone Only And Tone Voice Multiple Alert Pager of C. J. Ganucheau, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,668. Masaki '780 responds to reception of successive radio signals by generating a first decoded signal indicating the nature of a page, and producing a second decoded signal when a second predetermined code signal is decoded within a predetermined time after the first predetermined code signal is decoded, and selects one several digitized vocal comments stored in memory, in response to the reception of the first and second decoded signals. An alert tone is then followed by the designated one of the vocal comments retrieved from memory. The pager of Ganucheau '668 searches for predetermined signal codes within signals received that may, or may not be followed by audio frequency information, and selectively provides various audible alerts in response, depending upon the operational mode of the pager. These modes include tone only and tone and voice alarms. The Digitized Stored Voice Paging Receiver of P. T. Bennett, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,569, endeavored to receive analog information including a voice message, to digitize and store the voice message, and at the request of the user, to produce a replica of the analog signal as a voice message by reading the digitized message from memory and reconverting it into an analog signal.
Later, the Paging System Using LPC Speech Encoding With An Adaptive Bit Rate of Walter, L. Davis, et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,701,943 and 4,811,376, purported to combine linear predictive coding encoded voice signals with paging signalling information in an effort to generate a composite paging signal.
More recent efforts such as the Method And Apparatus For Combining Submessages Of A Message To Form The Complete Message of Cannon, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,090, seeks to generate a lengthy message by comparing header information corresponding to a submessage with header information of previously stored submessages, and combining submessages on the basis of their header information, while the System For Reduced Congestion Of Radio Paging Channel of Yukinori Sakakura uses a radio base station with first reception announcement to request a calling number and a called number, and after converting the calling number into speech, a second, or call-back, announcement to the called party when the called party responds to the call.
Generally, I have found that these efforts lack an element of simplicity in their techniques for communicating with the called user of a pager.

Audio paging apparatus and method for cordless paging receiver


The invention concerns a data transmission device comprising a turbo coder (22) comprising an interleaver operating on two interleaving blocks and means (26) for producing symbols from said codes (D, Y1, Y2) supplied by the turbo coder The device comprises means (28) for inserting a synchronising sequence into said symbols at a site having a predetermined relationship position relative to the symbols produced with the codes associated with a common interleaving block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transmission of data, and in particular to the transmission of digital data coded by means of a turbocoder.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A turbocoder includes two (or more than two) simple convolutional type coding circuits and one or several inter-leavers operating on large data blocks (typically, from 100 to 16,000 bits).
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional four-state convolutional type coder. Coder 1 receives, at each pulse of a clock, not shown, a bit D. Bit D belongs to a bit sequence corresponding to data to be transmitted, digitized and arranged in series.
Data bit D is directly provided at the output of coder 1 by a first branch 11. Bit D is provided to a coding circuit C by a second branch 12. Circuit C outputs a so-called redundancy bit Y.
Circuit C includes four D-type flip-flops Bi (B0, B1, B2, B3) connected in series and five adders 2i (20, 21, 22, 23, and 24). Adders 2i are adders modulo 2. At each clock pulse, the state ("0" or "1") at the input of a flip-flop Bi is transferred to its output. Adders 2i are coupled to elements of coder 1 (input, flip-flops Bi, other adders, output) so that redundancy bit Y represents a linear combination of four successive data bits.

Turbocoder with facilitated synchronization


A telecommunication system serves individual programmed instruments by wireless operation, voice dialing and, prepaid operation. The central equipment involves a multiple port wireless platform along with computing capability for interfacing a multitude of mobile station instruments simultaneously for interactive audio communication. Depending on programmed operation, the central equipment may receive vocal instruction data from individual instruments, to bridge connections to other telephone terminals, incur financial transactions, as by credit card number, or to provide a geographic information service. Specific information on physical locations is addressed and fetched on the basis area and target location characteristics.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile telecommunication and more specifically to wireless telephone systems including central station equipment and telephone instruments that can be programmed for specific use as well as to selectively address various forms of information, all while roaming through geographic areas and being compact, inexpensive and simple.
(2) Background and Description
In recent years, considerable progress has been made in the field of wireless or mobile telephone instruments and systems. In that regard, wireless telephone instruments, sometimes called "mobile stations" (MS) have come into widespread use, accommodated, for example, by geographically defined cells. Although the improved instruments and systems are quite effective, and have considerably enhanced telephonic communication, needs for improvement continue to exist.
Typically in wireless systems, individual telephone instruments communicate at an initial level with central equipment, sometimes called "base stations" (BS). Operating with other components as a composite system, the geographically-separate base stations enable mobile telephone instruments to roam through different geographic areas or cells, even during the coarse of a call Thus, from various locations, mobile instruments may be able to access virtually any telephone terminal throughout an entire dial-up telephone network, sometimes called the "public switched telephone network" (PSTN) and in the course of a call, roam freely from one call to another.
Traditionally, a composite mobile telecommunications system includes some form of a switching system, sometimes including a unit called a "mobile switching center" (MSC). The MSC may be provided, along with other structure between a base station (BS) and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Accordingly, conventional mobile management is accomplished using various well known techniques and structures. However, note that radical system changes are in progress to expand and improve the systems.
A need exists to better accommodate the desires of wireless telephone users. Specifically, the present developments are based, to some extent, on recognizing the use patterns and characteristics of mobile telephone instruments. Accordingly, it has been recognized that certain mobile services are particularly appropriate for wireless instruments. That is, needs frequently arise to accommodate situations attendant the individual use and the mobility of wireless instruments. For example, the present invention recognizes possibilities for misuse, cost, size, and that individually programmed operations providing selective features and ready access to geographically related and other information is helpful to the users of wireless instruments, especially for keyless, or spoken-word actuated instruments.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wireless telephone system with programming and information service


A computing system may use redundant communication pathways for communicating surgical imaging feed(s). The computing system may obtain multiple surgical video streams via multiple pathways. The multiple surgical video streams may include copies of the same video. The surgical video streams may be obtained, for example, from the same intra-body imaging feed, such as intra-body visual light feed. For example, a first video stream may be obtained via a communication pathway, and a second video stream may be obtained via another communication pathway. The computing system may display or send a surgical video stream for display. The computing system may whether the video stream being displayed has encountered any issues. Upon detecting an issue with the video stream being displayed, the computing system may display or send another obtained surgical video stream for display.

Surgical procedures are typically performed in surgical operating theaters or rooms in a healthcare facility such as, for example, a hospital. Various surgical devices and systems are utilized in performance of a surgical procedure. In the digital and in formation age, medical systems and facilities are often slower to implement systems or procedures utilizing newer and improved technologies due to patient safety and a general desire for maintaining traditional practices. It is desirable to improve the delivery and processing of surgical video feeds, such as an intraoperative video feed captured by a laparoscopic scope.

Redundant communication channels and processing of imaging feeds


A game die has a plurality of faces arrayed about a central vertical axis, each face displaying numerical or other indicia. These faces are tapered at an angle relative to said vertical axis, allowing the die to be thrown or spun and causing the die to roll about a central point once it ceases sliding across a surface. The die also defines an internal cavity for receiving a portion of a second die, thereby allowing stacking of the dice.

The present invention relates to game dice, and, more particularly, to a tapered game die that travels in a circle once sliding of the die has ceased, thereby preventing the die from rolling off of the surface onto which it is thrown.
There have been a wide array of dice that have been developed and used as random number generators in conjunction with games and other amusements. The most common of such game dice are the small cubes marked on each face with from one to six spots. However, many other geometric shapes and configurations have been used as game dice. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,226, issued to Palmer, describes a ten-sided die, specifically comprised of two, identical five-sided pyramids. Such a geometrical arrangement reduces the likelihood of side-to-side tumbling of the dice, thereby ensuring true random generation of numbers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,874, issued to Freitas, describes a set of six dice, each die being a dodecahedron (or ten-sided solid) with numbers printed on either eight or nine of its surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 1,419,056, issued to Kaufmann, describes a die that is preferably a fourteen-sided polyhedron. The die has essentially a first and second portion, each portion having six quadrilateral sides that terminate to form a hexagonal end. The two portions are joined at their respective bases.
Each of these dice, however, often roll and tumble in a line, in a manner very similar to conventional six-sided dice. Such rolling action creates a likelihood that the dice may roll off of the table or surface onto which they are thrown.
It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide a game die that rolls in a circle once it ceases to slide across a table or similar surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide game dice that may be stacked atop one another, thereby allowing for simple storage of the dice.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide game dice that can be tossed conventionally or can be spun like a top for increasing the enjoyment of throwing the dice.


Embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods for fabricating microscale-to-nanoscale interfaces. In numerous embodiments of the present invention, hybrid microscale/nanoscale crossbar multiplexers/demultiplexers provide for selection and control of individual nanowires through a set of microscale signal lines. In order to overcome the difficulty of aligning nanowires with submicroscale and microscale signal lines, at least a portion of the interconnections between nanowires and sub-microscale or microscale signal lines are randomly generated by one of various connection-fabrication methods. Addresses for individual nanowires, or groups of nanowires, can be discovered by testing the microscale-to-nanoscale interfaces.

Tremendous progress has been made, during the past 50 years, in continuously decreasing the size of electronic circuits and increasing the density of electronic components within integrated circuits to produce a plethora of high density, high speed, and low cost integrated circuits used in computers, automobiles, personal digital assistants, cell phones, and thousands of other consumer products, machine tools, scientific instruments, communications devices, and other important products. However, it is currently becoming increasingly difficult to continue to decrease the size of transistors, diodes, signal lines, and other components of integrated circuits produced by photolithography-based methods. Not only must new, expensive fabrication facilities for conducting photolithographic methods using shorter-wave-length radiation be constructed, but basic physical limitations in traditional circuit-manufacturing methods and materials are leading to slower development and slower exploitation of next-generation, denser circuitry.
Recently, an alternative to traditional, photolithography-based integrated-circuit design and fabrication has emerged. It is now possible to create nanoscale, molecular-electronic circuits using nanowires and nanowire junctions with controllable electronic properties to produce nanowire-crossbar circuits that can be configured to implement a large variety of logic components and circuits based on logic components. However, nanoscale circuitry needs to be integrated with sub-microscale and microscale circuitry in order to produce useful devices and products that incorporate nanoscale circuitry. Nanowire crossbars can be fabricated by allowing nanowires to self-assemble into layers of parallel nanowires, circumventing the need to painstakingly and precisely position nanowires within nanoscale circuits. Interfacing nanowires to sub-microscale and microscale circuits remains, however, a challenging problem. Individual nanowires need to be aligned with sub-microscale-components and component patterns in order for signals to be input to, and received from, high density nanoscale circuits. Similar alignment problems are also encountered in purely nanoscale devices, including various types of nanowire crossbars. Designers, manufacturers, and users of integrated circuits and electronic devices have recognized the need for cost-effective and reliable methods for interfacing sub-microscale and microscale electronic circuits to nanoscale circuitry and for producing nanowire crossbars, hybrid microscale/nanoscale crossbars, and other devices that include groups of parallel nanowires.

Electronic devices fabricated by use of random connections

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Examples for distributed and secure storage of a data block amongst a network of nodes are presented. An example embodiment may involve logically partitioning the network of nodes into non-overlapping zones, each zone containing a subset of the nodes and generating a private key for use within a particular zone. The embodiment may further involve encrypting the data block with the private key, partitioning the data block as encrypted into sub-blocks, and distributing the sub-blocks amongst a subset of the nodes that is within the particular zone. The embodiment may also involve using a secret sharing process to divide the private key into a number of shares equivalent to a number of nodes in the particular subset of the nodes and distributing the shares of the private key amongst the particular subset of the nodes, such that each node therein receives exactly one of the shares of the private key.

A blockchain system is a secure data structure for storing data in the form of a distributed ledger supported and maintained by a network of nodes. In particular, a conventional blockchain stores entire copies of the ledger in the form a hash chain at the nodes. By distributing a copy of the ledger among nodes in the blockchain network, the stored data cannot be altered unless a majority of the copies are corrupted. This configuration, however, causes the nodes storing copies of the ledger to incur high storage costs that increases as more transactions are added. Further, some blockchain systems enforce additional constraints on hash values to enhance data integrity, such as difficulty targets used in the Bitcoin blockchain. These additional constraints can further contribute to the amount of energy required to create and maintain the blockchain.
One technique often used to reduce storage costs associated with conventional blockchain architecture involves removing older transactions from the distributed ledger. Eliminating older transactions, however, does not make a conventional blockchain more scalable to handle higher rates of transactions.

Dynamic distributed storage for scaling blockchain

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


An electric device provided includes a bottom case having an air outlet and an air inlet, a top cover combined with the bottom case, a fin set, a heat sink having a cold-end portion and a hot-end portion being opposite to each other, and a fan element. An accommodation space is defined between the bottom case and the top cover. The fin set is disposed in the accommodation space. The heat sink is disposed in the accommodation space, and the cold-end portion is adjacent to the air inlet, and the hot-end portion thereof is attached on a projection zone from the fin set to the top cover. The fan element draws airflows into the bottom case from the air in let for cooling the fin set and the hot-end portion.

1. Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an electric device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an electric device having a heatsink therein.
2. Description of Related Art
A general way of cooling down high-frequency components (e.g., central processor and graphics chips etc.) in a notebook computer is to thermally contact the high-frequency components with a heat radiation fin set, so that heat energy generated from the high-frequency components can be thermally transferred to the heat radiation fin set. Next, a fan is provided to supply cold air to the heat radiation fin set for dissipating the heat energy from the heat radiation fin set. The cold air carries the heat energy to form hot air, which can be sent outwards from ventilation holes of a bottom case (e.g., a "D" piece as called in related industries) of the notebook computer.
However, because of the hot air having elevated temperature, the ventilation holes of the bottom case of the notebook computer might be increasingly heated. After heat energy of the ventilation holes is thermally conducted upwards to a top cover (e.g., a "C" piece as called in related industries) of the notebook computer, a certain area of the top cover right above the heat radiation fin set might be overly heated.

Inventec (Pudong) Technology Corporation


Systems and methods are provided for ensuring that printed output for a print job matches the expected output for a print job. The system comprises a control unit and a comparison unit. The control unit receives a print job and modifies the print job by adding a tag to each logical page of the print job, and to transmit the modified print job to a printer. The control unit further generates target images for the logical pages of the print job. The comparison unit receives printed pages of the job from the printer. For each printed page of the job, the comparison unit identifies a tag on the printed page, identifies a target image corresponding with the tag on the printed page, and compares an image of the printed page to the target image to detect discrepancies between the printed page and the target image.

In the field of printing systems, printers may unexpectedly generate small stray marks (or even missing marks) when printing incoming jobs. Depending upon the size of these marks, as well as the nature of the print job, the stray marks may or may not be acceptable to a customer. For example, a small stray mark in one of several thousand copies of a newspaper may be inconsequential, while a small stray mark on a dense technical manual may change the appearance and overall interpretation of an important piece of code or formula. Unfortunately, stray marks can be extremely small (e.g., 1/75th of an inch), which makes manually reviewing a printed job for errors an extremely tedious process. Furthermore, a manual review of the printed pages of an incoming job is unlikely to catch every error. Thus, important print jobs for a customer that are manually reviewed may still be subject to an undesirable level of error when they are delivered.
To address these problems, print shops may include print verification systems. Print verification systems are printing systems that automatically review the output of printers to ensure that they are consistent with quality standards. For example, print verification systems may be used to ensure that no stray marks (or missing marks) appear on printed pages of an incoming job, to ensure that colors printed for a job match their expected hues and saturations, and/or to perform other operations. Print verification systems are particularly useful in ensuring that printed pages meet rigorous quality standards expected for mission critical print jobs.
Currently, print verification systems utilize a printer that receives a print job from a print server. The logical pages of the job are rasterized at the printer in order to generate bitmap versions of each incoming logical page. The rasterized logical pages are then printed at the printer. Furthermore, each rasterized logical page is sent from the printer to a comparison unit, which uses the rasterized logical pages as target images that show an expected printing output. The comparison unit images each printed page and compares it to a corresponding target image from the printer. If there is an error in printing, the comparison unit may then report this result. An example of an existing print verification system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,864,349 which is herein incorporated by reference.

Quality checks for printed pages using target images that are generated external to a printer


A refractometric apparatus and method for monitoring the percentage of water in hydraulic fluids employ a temperature sensitive device allowing a user to obtain accurate and correct readings of various measured properties on the reticle of the apparatus. In particular, the temperature sensitive member comprises a prism-wedge-mirror combination in conjunction with a bimetallic strip. The combination ensures the proper angular displacement of a light beam inside the refractometric apparatus and, therefore, the correct readings on the reticle.

Monitoring the water content in hydraulic brake fluids is known to be of crucial importance in maintaining efficient and effective braking function. During the braking, especially the sustained braking, friction-generated heat can cause a brake fluid to boil and form vapor bubbles that can cause a complete loss of the braking function. Since most of the commercially used brake fluids are highly hygroscopic, the water content in such a fluid can increase due to water absorption from the surrounding environment. If the water content in a brake fluid increases to 2%, the boiling point of the fluid decreases significantly, thus, decreasing the efficiency of the brakes and overall safety of the operating device.
Another area of concern related to the high water content in brake fluids is the increase of the fluid's corrosive activity that can cause corrosion of the braking system components that come in contact with the brake fluid. Antilock braking systems (ABS) that are presently installed on many motor vehicles are especially susceptible to corrosion. Having water in a brake fluid during the period of about 2 years irreparably damages an ABS unit. A replacement for an ABS unit presently costs about $1,800.
Two methods of measuring water content in a brake fluid are employed in the products currently available on the market. The Karl Fisher titration method is used in a complicated device that costs around $7,000. Another type of a device that uses the method of measuring the boiling point of a brake fluid costs about $1,000. It is obvious that the majority of service stations will not be able to afford and use expensive measuring devices. Yet another method of determining water content in brake fluids by measuring conductivity of a fluid has proven to be inaccurate. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have a quick, easy and inexpensive method and device for determining water content in a brake fluid. Such method and device would allow service technicians to measure water contents in brake fluids and recommend brake fluid changes before either safety or corrosion concerns arise.
Refractometers have long been used as field instruments for a variety of applications. They have been useful in determining sugar content in grape juices, water content in honey, the concentration of water soluble metalworking lubricants and protein levels in blood serum. American Society of Testing and Materials Standard Practice D 3321 details use of a refractometer for determining the freeze point of engine coolants with far greater accuracy than traditional hydrometer methods. Refractometers require a very small sample size. Refractive index measurements are quick and can be performed with simple, relatively inexpensive instruments. Therefore, refractometry can be used to determine a percentage of water in fluids by measuring the critical angle of total reflection in a particular fluid while providing for temperature compensation that becomes necessary due to the temperature dependence of the refractive indices. Since the refractive index n of a fluid changes as the water content increases, fluids with different water contents will have different refractive indices, and, therefore, different critical angles of total reflection. Due to the phenomenon of total reflection there will be a boundary between the dark and light portions of a scale in the observation area. The location of the boundary on the scale that is calibrated in water content units will indicate the percentage of water in a tested sample of a fluid.
Refractometers that use the critical angle of total reflection to determine percentages of water in such substances as antifreeze coolants have been known in the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,211 to Thompson et al. (assigned to Leica, Inc.) discloses a refractometer subassembly method and apparatus comprising critical angle prism 214 and compensating wedge 232 disposed within housing 210, as shown in FIG. 5 of that patent. Wedge 232 is attached to one end of temperature responsive member 234.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,321 "Handy Refractometer" to Okuda et al. discloses a handheld refractometer, as particularly illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5 of that patent. The patent discloses mirror 12, one end of which is secured to holding member 14 for prism 3 by plate spring 13. The other end of mirror 12 is urged against thermally expansible member 15 by the force of spring 13. As temperature changes, the thermally expansible member expands or contracts, thereby rotating the mirror 12. In the Okuda patent rotation of mirror 12 about the pivot P keeps beam 53 parallel to original beam 52 in order to compensate for a temperature change.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,147 "Refractometer" to Dobes et al. discloses a refractometer that utilizes light refracting wedge 40, mirror 18, mirror surface areas 32 and 44, and prism 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of that patent. According to the Dobes patent, mirror 18 reflects beam 54 and directs it to prism 22. At the lower side of prism 22 the beam splits into reference light beam 56 and measuring light beam 58. Reference light beam 56 is then reflected by mirror surface 32 of prismatic body 42 and by partial mirror surface area 44 of light refracting wedge 40. Measuring light beam 58 gets refracted at active surface area 34, and passes through light refracting glass wedge 40 to be reflected by a mirror surface at the lower side 60 of wedge 40. Temperature compensation in that patent is achieved by directing both reference and measuring beams through the same prism, thus, exposing the two beams to the same temperature differences. For the Dobes invention to operate prism 22 has to be partially coated with a reflective coating.
Due to the nature of certain chemicals contained in brake fluids, there are two problems that are specific to brake fluids and that render the known refractometers completely inapplicable to measuring refractive properties of such fluids.
First, the range of the refractive index n in a brake fluid spans from about 1.4447 at 0% of water to about 1.4394 at 7% of water. This range is much narrower than that of a coolant (spanning from about 1.33 to about 1.38 over the same range of the percentages of water). Thus, a much more sensitive device reflecting a different refractive index range is necessary to design a brake fluid refractometer. The increased sensitivity requirement can be satisfied by achieving more accurate temperature compensation. The known method of temperature compensation employed in a refractometer for coolants uses a bimetallic strip attached to a temperature compensating prism (called "a wedge" in the following description of the present invention) and to the prism on which a sample fluid is deposited. The material of the compensating prism is such that its temperature coefficient (dn/dT) is negative if the temperature coefficient of the sample fluid is positive, and vice versa. The bimetallic strip deflects from its initial position when temperature changes, changing the angle of the attached compensating prism and, thus, providing for the correct temperature compensation in measuring the refractive index of a sample fluid.
The concept of using two materials with opposite temperature coefficients and a bimetallic strip has been known and used in the industry. It is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,060 to Holleran and U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,795 to Goldberg which are incorporated herein by reference.
Such a design for temperature compensation proved to be unworkable in the case of measuring water contents in brake fluids. The temperature coefficient of a brake fluid is approximately 3 times smaller than the temperature coefficient of a coolant (-38.times.(10).sup.-5 /.degree. C. for a brake fluid, -12.times.(10).sup.-5 /.degree. C. for a coolant). Therefore, a much more sensitive temperature compensation device is needed to measure water content in a brake fluid over a temperature range typical for a regular service station. Because of the increased sensitivity requirements a bimetallic strip used in the refractometer for coolants can not provide the necessary angular compensation. Therefore, a new temperature compensation device is needed for a brake fluid refractometer.
A second problem arises from the fact that in a brake fluid the refractive index changes negatively with the increase of the water content, whereas, for example, in a coolant the refractive index increases with the increase of glycol. Thus, there exists a need of inverting the image on the reading scale so that the bottom of the scale will correspond to 0% of water and the top of the scale will correspond to 7% of water in a brake fluid. Such inversion is highly desirable because the bottom-to-top calibration is familiar to the customers and has been used in already existing coolant refractometers.
It is also greatly desirable to have a refractometric apparatus that would allow a user to determine not only the percentage of water in a particular hydraulic fluid, but also the boiling point of such a fluid. Such an apparatus would be especially useful, for example, in servicing race cars, because for servicing such cars properly it is the boiling point that needs be determined in order to prevent the loss of the braking function.


A cooling structure of a cylinder block includes a water jacket portion which is provided so as to surround an entire outer periphery of the bore wall; a water jacket spacer which is inserted in the water jacket portion; and a gasket which is provided in an upper portion of the cylinder block, and which includes a hole leading to the water jacket portion. The water jacket portion is supplied with coolant. A distance between a center of the hole and an outer periphery of the cylinder block is shorter than a distance between a center of the water jacket spacer in a thickness direction and the outer periphery of the cylinder block. In the cooling structure, the cylinder block can be uniformly cooled.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cooling structure of a cylinder block, and more particularly to a cooling structure of a cylinder block which makes it possible to uniformly cool a bore wall of the cylinder block.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional cooling structure of a cylinder block is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-30989.
The Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-30989 discloses a technology in which the temperature of a bore wall is made uniform by providing a water jacket spacer inside a water jacket of a cylinder block of an internal combustion engine. However, the bore wall is overcooled in the vicinity of a coolant hole of a head gasket, and in the vicinity of portions connected to bypass pipes (e.g., an oil cooler, an automatic transmission fluid cooler, and a turbo cooler). This is because a flow speed of coolant in an inner wall of the water jacket becomes high in the vicinity of the coolant hole and in the vicinity of the portions connected to the pipes through which the coolant flows in and flows out of the cylinder block.
Accordingly, in the conventional cooling structure of a cylinder block, it is difficult to uniformly cool the bore wall.


A gas laser apparatus in which a gas medium in a case and a lubricant for bearings supporting a blower for circulating the gas medium are isolated from each other, so that the lubricant can be prevented from mixing into the gas medium while no substantially large resistance is applied to the blower drive. To isolate the gas medium and the lubricant, magnetic fluid shaft seals (10, 11) are used for sealing between the lubricant for the bearings (6) for supporting rotation shafts (3a, 3b) of the blower (3) and the gas medium in the case (1).

FIG. 4 shows a cross section of a conventional gas laser apparatus, and FIG. 5 shows a cross section taken along the line H--H of FIG. 4. A case 51 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is closed with a cap 52. The case 51 and the cap 52 are each formed of an insulating material. A gas medium is enclosed in a chamber defined by the case 51 and the cap 52. A certain voltage is applied between a cathode 58 and an anode 59 to cause electric discharge therebetween and to thereby generate laser light. The generated laser light is emitted out of the case 51 through a window 60 formed in the case 51, as indicated by arrow K.
A blower 53 serves to circulate the gas medium in the case 51 as indicated by arrows D and E. A heat exchanger 61 constituted of a plurality of pipes serves to cool the gas heated by the discharge. The blower 53 has shafts 53a and 53b for its rotation. The shafts 53a and 53b are supported on bearings 56 and 57 which are in turn supported on bearing boxes 54 and 55. Grease or oil which does not easily evaporate is used as a lubricant for lubricating the bearings 56 and 57.
There is a problem to be solved in this conventional apparatus. That is, the lubricant such as grease or oil is not only evaporated but is also released from the bearings as small particles having a size of several microns to be diffused in the gas medium in the case 51. The lubricant diffused in the case 51 is decomposed by electric discharge into materials which are impurities in the gas medium, so that the life of the gas medium is shortened. In particular, in the case of an excimer laser apparatus using halogen gas having high reactivity, such impurities react with the halogen gas to produce halides which badly influence the performance of the apparatus in such a manner as to impede laser oscillation and to reduce the life of the gas medium.


A process of treating infection by a pathogenic microorganism in a subject in need of such treatment including the step of administering to the subject an effective antimicrobial amount of diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides is provided. Pharmaceutical compositions containing diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides as an active antimicrobial agent are also provided.

It has been previously reported (Kabara, The Pharmacological Effects of Lipids, ed. 1987, and Nutritional Biochemistry, Vol. 6, July, 1995) that certain lipids have antimicrobial (anti-bacterial and anti-viral) effects. Those lipids reported to have anti-microbial activity are highly lipophilic, have HLB values of 2 to 4 and likely act by affecting the infectious organism's lipid envelope or membrane leading to changes in the organism's permeability resulting in loss of infectivity.
The high lipophilicity of those lipids, however, makes it difficult to carry out prophylactic and therapeutic studies because the lipids are insoluble in aqueous solutions. The solubility problems can be overcome to some extent through the use of non-aqueous solvents such as ethanol or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) (Isaacs, Litov, and Thormar, Nutritional Biochemistry, 1995). Such solvents, in many instances, are inappropriate for use in humans or animals. By way of example, ethanol and DMSO are contraindicated for use in infants.
Still another problem associated with the use of existing antimicrobial lipids is that the antimicrobial action is inhibited or greatly reduced in the presence of proteins (Kabara, The Pharmacological Effects of Lipids, ed. 1987; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,775, Fatty Acids and Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents, 1977). Thus, such lipids cannot be administered together with proteins such as are present in enteral nutritional formulations. There continues to be a need in the art therefore for antimicrobial lipids that are soluble in aqueous formulations and those that are not adversely affected by intact protein.

Water-miscible esters of mono- and diglycerides having antimicrobial activity and their use in inhibiting infection


A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting layer, an elastic layer and a first carrier layer configured to carry the light-emitting layer. The first carrier layer has a through groove in which a light-emitting region of the light-emitting layer is located. The light-emitting device further includes a first carrier support layer stacked with the light-emitting layer, and the through groove of the first carrier layer is sealed by the first carrier support layer.

During a flexible bending process of a smart wearable product, a display light-emitting screen in the smart wearable product is easily separated from a peripheral shell, which causes deformation and warp of the peripheral shell, thereby seriously affecting an aesthetic appearance of the product, and even directly affecting a water-proof function of the smart wearable product.


The invention relates to a measuring method and a receiver. An array antenna is used for measuring the spatial colour of received interference. Using the spatial colour measurement result, an interference detector (217) controls a method to be used for combining the signals received by the different antenna elements (200–202). Monitoring devices (219) are used, in turn, for monitoring the spatial colour of the interference and for taking into account the result of the colour measurement for enhancing the operation of a radio system.

Interference caused by other users or systems and noise sum into a signal on the radio path. Radio systems therefore employ different diversity methods to increase the coverage area and/or capacity of the system. One of them is spatial diversity, which is obtained using an array antenna comprising a plural number of antenna elements that are physically separate from each other. The received signals are combined in diversity receivers that employ maximal-ratio combining, for example.
Current receivers are based on statistical signal models the accuracy of which cannot be relied on in all situations. The impact of noise and interference can be reduced in the Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) method, for example. However, this method supposes that the interference and noise in each antenna element are independent of other antenna elements, i.e. they are white. In actual cellular radio networks this is not always true; for example, the interference that high-power signals, a few at the most, cause upon reception may affect all the antenna elements, i.e. the interference in the antenna elements is coloured.
Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) is a method that does not contain assumptions about whether interference and noise correlate with antenna elements. A disadvantage of the IRC method is that it occupies more baseband processing capacity than the MRC method, because there are more parameters to be estimated although the sample group available is the same. When used extensively, baseband processing may reduce the ability of the base station to serve the subscriber terminals and, thereby, it may impair cell capacity. Due to errors that may take place in parameter estimation if the number of parameters to be estimated is large, the use of complex interference elimination methods may even degrade the capacity of the receiver.


The present invention is an electromagnetic controller assembly for use in ion implantation apparatus, and provides a structural construct and methodology which can be employed for three recognizably separate and distinct functions: (i) To adjust the trajectory of charged particles carried within any type of traveling ion beam which is targeted at a plane of implantation or a work surface for the placement of charged ions into a prepared workpiece (such as a silicon wafer or flat glass panel); (ii) concurrently, to alter and change the degree of parallelism of the ions in the traveling beam; and (iii) concurrently, to control the uniformity of the current density along the transverse direction of traveling ion beams, regardless of whether the beams are high-aspect, continuous ribbon ion beams or alternatively are scanned ribbon ion beams.

Ion implantation is a ballistic process used to introduce charged particle species (such as atoms or molecules, generally referred to as dopants) into a pre-chosen targeted workpiece substrate in order to make purposefully prepared articles having certain useful properties. In particular today, ion implantation is a manufacturing process used in the making of modern integrated circuits.
In most types of implantation systems, provision is made to move the workpiece to be implanted through the ion beam at a controlled velocity effective to achieve the correct dose of ions. In certain applications (particularly those using 300 mm wafers or larger sized substrates such as flat panel displays as the targeted workpiece for ion implantation), it is advantageous to generate ion beams in the form of ribbon-shaped beams having high aspect ratios, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the beam is much larger in one dimension than the other.
These high aspect ratio beams may be made either by scanning a smaller beam in one dimension at high frequency, or by forming a continuous ribbon-shaped beam. Once formed, such beams are commonly used in ion implanter apparatus and implantation systems where an individual workpiece (such as a silicon wafer or a flat panel display) is moved in a single dimension through the traveling ion beam. Typically, the larger dimension of the ion beam's cross section is greater than one dimension of the targeted workpiece undergoing ion implantation. Consequently, if the current density profile of the ion beam is sufficiently uniform, then as a result of one or more passes of the workpiece through the high aspect ratio ion beam, a uniform dose of ions can be implanted into the workpiece.
In such ion implantation applications, not only is it desirable that the ion beam profile be uniform, but it is also beneficial that the traveling beam have its ions moving in trajectories which are parallel to each other, and are under precise trajectory control—so as to present a uniform current density profile that is appropriate for the implantation of a uniform dose of ions at a constant and controlled incident angle into the targeted workpiece, (a semiconductor wafer or a flat glass panel). It is also very advantageous that the traveling ion beam be substantially free of undesirable charged species that may be concomitantly present within the ion source feed material and/or in the materials forming the ion source itself.

Open-ended electromagnetic corrector assembly and method for deflecting, focusing, and controlling the uniformity of a traveling ion beam


The combustion chamber of a once-through steam generator is formed with walls of vertical tubes through which a flow medium flows from the bottom upwards. The tubes have a surface structure on their inner wall surfaces. Particularly favorable mass flow density m is established in the tubes at the load at which critical pressure prevails in the tubes according to the formula: ##EQU1## wherein q.sub.i is a heat flow density on an inner tube wall surface, T.sub.max is a maximum permissible material temperature of the tubes, T.sub.crit is a temperature of the flow medium at the critical pressure, .DELTA.T.sub.W is a temperature difference between the outer and inner wall surfaces of the tubes, and C is a constant.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a once-through steam generator with a combustion chamber surrounded by a containment wall composed of tubes connected to one another in a gastight manner, a flow medium being capable of flowing from the bottom upward through the vertically extending tubes which have a surface structure on their inside. It relates, further, to a method for configuring a once-through steam generator of this type.
A steam generator of this type is known from the paper "Verdampferkonzepte fur Benson-Dampferzeuger" [Evaporator Concepts for Benson Steam Generators] by J. Franke, W. Kohler and E. Wittchow, published in VGB Kraftwerkstechnik 73 (1993), No. 4, pages 352-360. In a once-through steam generator of this type, in contrast to a natural circulation or forced circulation steam generator with only partial evaporation of the water/steam mixture, the heating of evaporator tubes forming the combustion chamber leads to the complete evaporation of the flow medium in the evaporator tubes in a single pass. Whereas, in the natural circulation steam generator, the evaporator tubes extend substantially, the evaporator tubes of the once-through steam generator may be both vertically and spirally, hence at an incline.
A once-through steam generator, the combustion chamber walls of which are composed of vertically arranged evaporator tubes, can be produced more cost-effectively than a once-through steam generator having spiral tubing. Furthermore, once-through steam generators with vertical tubing have lower water-side/steam-side pressure losses than those with evaporator tubes which are inclined or that ascend spirally. Furthermore, in contrast to a natural circulation steam generator, a once-through steam generator is not subject to any pressure limitation, so that fresh steam pressures well above the critical pressure of water (p.sub.crit =221 bar), where there is only a slight density difference between the liquid-like and steam-like medium. High fresh-steam pressures are necessary in order to achieve high thermal efficiencies and consequently low CO.sub.2 emissions.
A particular problem, in this case, is the structural design of the combustion-chamber or containing wall of the once-through steam generator with regard to the operating temperatures of the tube-wall or the materials. In the subcritical pressure range up to about 200 bar, the temperature of the combustion-chamber wall is determined essentially by the value of the water saturation temperature, when wetting of the heating surface in the evaporation zone can be ensured. This is achieved, for example, by the use of internally ribbed tubes. Tubes of this type and their use in steam generators are known, for example, from European patent application 0 503 116. These so-called ribbed tubes, i.e., tubes with a ribbed inner wall surface, have particularly good heat transfer from the inner wall to the flow medium.
In the pressure range of about 200 to 221 bar, the heat transfer from the inner wall of the tube to the flow medium decreases sharply, so that the flow velocity--the mass flow density is usually used as a measure of this--has to be increased correspondingly, in order to ensure that the tubes are cooled sufficiently. Consequently, in the evaporator tubes of once-through steam generators operated at pressures of approximately 200 bar and above, the mass flow density and therefore the pressure loss due to friction must be higher than in once-through steam generators operated at pressures of below 200 bar. Particularly in the case of small inner diameters of the tubes, the higher pressure loss due to friction cancels out the advantageous property of vertical tubing but, when there is multiple heating of individual tubes, their through put also rises. However, since high steam pressures of more than 200 bar are required in order to achieve high thermal efficiencies and therefore low CO.sub.2 emissions, it is necessary, in this pressure range too, to ensure good heat transfer. Consequently, once-through steam generators with a vertically tubed combustion-chamber wall are conventionally operated with relatively high mass flow densities in the tubes, so as to ensure, in the unfavorable pressure range of about 200 to 221 bar, that there is always a sufficiently degree of heat transfer from the tube wall to the flow medium, that is to say to the water/steam mixture. In this context, the publication "Thermal Engineering" I. E. Semenovker, Vol. 41, No. 8, 1994, pp. 655-661, specifies a mass flow density at 100% load of about 2000 kg/m.sup.2 s consistently both for gas-fired and for coal-fired steam generators.

Once-through steam generator and a method of configuring a once-through steam generator


A one-way clutch including a first radially disposed plate having at least one tab extending radially outward, and having a receiving feature or an axial protrusion; a second radially disposed plate including the other of the receiving feature or the axial protrusion; and a spacing element with at least one segment circumferentially interleaved with the at least one tab. One of the spacing element or the second plate is arranged for connection to a torque transmitting element in an automotive device, the at least one segment forms a mechanical path between first and second axial ends of the clutch, and the receiving feature and protrusion are lockingly engageable for relative rotation of the first and second plates in a first direction.

In previous designs of axially-acting one-way clutches in automotive devices, axially-directed thrust force generated by the torque transmitting element to which the clutch was connected was carried through side plates. Unfortunately, in some clutches, the magnitude of the force is too large to make this design practical due to excessive stress on the axially-stacked components. One solution to this problem is to increase the thickness of the side plates. Unfortunately, this undesirably increases the size, weight, inertia, and cost of the clutch. Another solution is to modify the diameter of the components. For example, the diameter of the bearings or other rotational interface elements transmitting the load can be increased to bypass the axially-stacked components. Unfortunately, this increases the cost of the bearings and may not be possible due to constraints associated with other elements around the clutch. Also, the diameter of the axially-stacked components can be reduced to avoid the load path. Unfortunately, reducing the diameter reduces the torque capacity of the components.
Therefore, there has been a longfelt need for an axially-acting one-way clutch design which maximizes the diameters of axially-stacked components while preventing thrust loads from impinging upon the components.

Axial one way clutch with an axial spacer


A protective garment system fabricated from ballistic textiles having a V50 on 2 grain RCC of at least 300 fps as measured by Mil-Spec 662F provides good ballistic and fragmentary protection, and can be worn in lieu of conventional clothing without discomfort to the wearer. Embodiments overcome prior art ballistic fabric limitations by incorporating novel construction, such as plaiting and/or twill or satin weaving, as well as novel yarn selection, to enable comfortable skin contact, and by applying coatings to improve abrasion resistance, UV resistance, and color acceptance. Embodiments incorporate layers of ballistic fabric in critical areas, either by overlapping protective clothing articles, and/or by incorporating multiple layers of protective fabric into an individual protective garment. Embodiments provide good moisture transport for long term comfort. In certain embodiments, substantially all of the garment's mass is protective, including pockets, lapels, load carriage, and any other “folded” features.

The variety and types of threats encountered by soldiers in combat, as well as by law enforcement officers and others, continues to expand. Also, it can be difficult to be certain when circumstances are "safe," and when combat may be imminent.
Soldiers have long worn protective armor to offset many kinds of ballistic and fragmentary threats. Such armor typically is worn over the user's clothing as one or more add-on pieces supported by a separate non-protective textile carrier, with protective elements often being inserted into a non-protective textile slip cover of the textile carrier. Typically, such body armor includes thick, rigid panels, and is too bulky, heavy, and inflexible to be worn at all times. Moisture transport can also be quite low for such armor, making the armor uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. And the added heat retention due to wearing the body armor on top of conventional clothing can result in significant heat stress for the user. As a result, conventional body armor is not always worn when it is needed.
Protective textiles can be produced by including protective fibers in a fabric, where the protective fibers have an average tenacity of at least 12 gpd. However, such protective textiles have not previously been used to fabricate garments that offer protection from ballistic and fragmentary threats. This is due to several garment-incompatible qualities that have been generally associated with protective fabrics, such as poor hand, poor acceptance of coloring, low abrasion resistance, and poor UV resistance. Instead, protective fabrics have generally been relegated to armor configurations that are worn over conventional clothing, and typically include a non-ballistic covering layer of conventional fabric to prevent UV and abrasion damage to the protective fabric, and to provide a desired visual color or pattern.
What is needed, therefore, is a body armor solution that provides good ballistic and fragmentary protection while maintaining good moisture transport, without subjecting the user to added weight, bulk, or heat stress, thereby allowing the body armor to be comfortably worn at nearly all times and under nearly all circumstances.


A double valve is constructed from first and second unitary valve assemblies each having a respective inlet port, a respective outlet port, a respective exhaust port, a respective first cross-mirror port, and a respective second cross-mirror port. A first plate is coupled to the first and second unitary valve assemblies and includes respective passages to provide a common inlet port coupled to the respective inlet ports of the first and second unitary valve assemblies and a common outlet port coupled to the respective outlet ports of the first and second unitary valve assemblies. A second plate coupled to the first and second unitary valve assemblies includes respective passages to provide a first cross-connection between the first cross-mirror port of the first unitary valve body and the second cross-mirror port of the second unitary valve body, a second cross-connection between the second cross-mirror port of the first unitary valve body and the first cross-mirror port of the second unitary valve body, and a common exhaust port coupled to the respective exhaust ports of the first and second unitary valve assemblies.

The present invention relates in general to control valves, and, more specifically, to a double valve constructed from a pair a single-valve assemblies.
Pneumatically-powered machine tools of various types operate through a valving system which interacts with a pneumatically-controlled clutch and/or brake assembly. For safety reasons, the control valves that are used to operate these machine tools require the operator to activate two separate control switches substantially simultaneously to ensure that an operator's hands are away from the moving components of the machine tool when an operating cycle is initiated. Typically, an electronic circuit responsive to the two control switches generates a pilot control signal applied to the pilot valves for switching the main fluid circuit of the valve to control delivery of compressed air (or other fluid) to the machine tool to perform its operating cycle.
Double valves operating in parallel in one valve body have been developed to ensure that a repeat or overrun of a machine tool operating cycle cannot be caused by malfunction of a single valve unit (e.g., a valve becoming stuck in an actuated position). Thus, if one valve unit fails to deactuate at the proper time, the double valve assumes a configuration that diverts the source of compressed air from the machine tool. A double valve is shown, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,049 to Bento et al, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
In a typical double valve, two movable valve units are mounted within respective bores within a single valve body or block. Each movable valve unit has a respective exhaust poppet between the outlet port and the exhaust port of the double valve and a respective inlet poppet between the outlet port and the inlet port of the double valve. Pilot valves are moved to an actuated position in response to an electrical control signal from a respective operator-controlled switch, which typically causes the exhaust poppets to close and the inlet poppets to open. Any time that 1) a valve unit fails to deactuate properly, 2) a valve unit fails to actuate properly, or 3) the pilot valves are actuated or deactuated non-simultaneously, then at least one valve unit becomes locked in a faulted position where its exhaust poppet cannot be closed (thereby preventing the outlet from becoming pressurized).
In addition to providing protection against the repeat or overrun of the machine tool, it is desirable to monitor the double valve for a faulted valve unit and to prevent a new operating cycle of the machine tool from being initiated. Thus, prior art systems have caused the double valve to assume a lock-out configuration when a single valve unit is in a faulted condition so that the double valve cannot again be actuated until it has been intentionally reset to clear the faulted condition.
The structure of an integrated double valve is relatively more complicated than that of a single poppet type valve. Consequently, the material costs and manufacturing costs of a double valve are higher. It would be desirable to achieve the safety functionality of a double valve (e.g., a locked out fault position and a monitoring capability) while avoiding the corresponding higher costs.

Double valve constructed from unitary single valves


A flexible loop thermosyphon is provided having a flexible, hermetic, outer tube and a flexible, non-hermetic, inner tube, positioned concentrically within the outer tube, forming an annulus between the outer tube and inner tube. The annulus acts as a vapor conduit transferring vapor to the loop thermosyphon condenser while the inner tube acts as a condensate conduit returning liquid to the loop thermosyphon evaporator.

In many electronic systems, the efficient cooling of electronic components has become a significant problem. With the advent of large-scale integrated circuit (IC) modules containing many thousands of circuit elements, it has become possible to pack great numbers of electronic components together within a very small volume. As is well known, these integrated circuit modules generate significant amounts of heat during the course of their normal operation. Since most solid state devices are sensitive to excessive temperatures, a solution to the problem of the generation of heat by large scale IC's in close proximity to one another has become of increasing concern to industry.
A typical prior art approach to cooling electronic components is to direct a stream of cooling air across the modules and/or circuit cards carrying such devices. However, the increasing power density of electronic systems is reaching the point where it is no longer possible to adequately cool heat generating electronic components by forcing air over them. Power densities are anticipated to reach the point where it is physically impossible to force sufficient ambient temperature air through a cabinet to adequately cool the electronics inside. Several other disadvantages to this approach have also been identified, including: high pressure drop; uniformity of component form factors; placing the components containing the integrated circuits further apart on the circuit cards; increasing the distance between circuit cards; and increasing the volume and velocity of cooling air directed over the components. This required increase in volume and velocity of cooling air requires special considerations in the design of the housings containing the circuit cards and in the mechanical systems for delivering the cooling air. Also, the air quality (moisture content, contamination, etc.) must be tightly controlled to inhibit corrosion, loss of cooling effectiveness, etc. Thus, cooling of components by this means necessitates a number of compromises to the overall system that prevent its use in many systems.
The foregoing thermal management problems have brought about the evolution of other techniques for cooling card-mounted electronic components. For example, one technique includes the use of solid metal thermal mounting cards or plates which conduct the heat dissipated by electronic components to a heat sink (cold plate) disposed at the edge of each circuit card. Such an approach, however, results in a large thermal resistance from the component mounting surface to the heat sink, which causes high component temperatures.
Other known techniques for cooling electronic systems include loop thermosyphons and heat pipes. Loop thermosyphons are devices that use gravity to maintain two-phase fluid circulation during operation. Each loop thermosyphon has an evaporator, where vaporization occurs when it is heated, a vapor conduit through which the vapor flows to a condenser where it is cooled and condenses, and a liquid return conduit to return the liquid to the evaporator. Sometimes a capillary structure is used in the evaporator to reduce its thermal resistance.
A problem is often associated with prior art loop thermosyphons in that leakage occurs at the liquid return line interface with the condenser. This ocurance often results in the need for hermetic sealing at that interface that greatly increases the cost of the device, and often limits the flexibility of the conduits.


A brush assembly may include a support member, a conductive arm having a first end portion and a second end portion, where the first end portion is coupled to the support member, a brush coupled to the second end portion of the conductive arm, and a biasing member configured to apply a force to the conductive arm.

Electric motors are used in various applications, as well as in a number of work related areas. One area where motors are utilized is in the power tool industry. In order to improve the power tool output, it is important to have a brush assembly which is capable of transmitting electricity to a commutator.
The effectiveness of the brush and the wear on the brush is decreased when the brush is subjected to arcing. Arcing may occur when the brush has a tendency to bounce or move away from the commutator such as when the brush hits irregularities or rough spots during operation.

Brush assembly including biasing member for applying force


To form an arc tube body including a main tube portion to be a discharge space and thin tube portions for accommodating electrodes, a core (6) is disposed in a hollow space formed by a pair of arc tube body formation molds (7) and (8) and thereafter, a slurry (12) is injected into a space between the molds (7), (8) and the core (6). In the core (6), portions for forming the internal shape of the thin tube portions of the arc tube body are provided with a shaft (3).

Metal halide lamps have been known as metal vapor discharge lamps to which reasonable mercury lamp ballasts are applicable. In general, a quartz arc tube body mainly is used in the metal vapor discharge lamps. However, in recent years, a ceramic arc tube body also is used to increase the heat resistance of the metal vapor discharge lamps.
FIGS. 33A and 33B are cross-sectional views, each showing one example of a conventional arc tube body formed of a ceramic material. FIG. 33A shows a conventional arc tube body including a cylindrical main tube portion 101, thin tube portions 102a and 102b for accommodating a pair of main electrodes, and ring-shaped members 103 for fixing the thin tube portions 102a and 102b to the main tube portion 101 (see JP 11(1999)-162416 A). On the other hand, FIG. 33B shows a conventional arc tube body including a thin tube portion 102c for accommodating an auxiliary electrode in addition to the same components as those in the arc tube body shown in FIG. 33A (see JP 10(1998)-106491 A).
In the arc tube body shown in FIG. 33A, the main tube portion 101 is formed by rubber pressing. On the other hand, in the arc tube body shown in FIG. 33B, the main tube portion 101 is formed by performing extrusion molding and then blow molding. In the arc tube body shown in FIGS. 33A and 33B, the thin tube portions 102a, 102b, and 102c are formed by extrusion molding, and the ring-shaped members 103 are formed by die pressing. The components formed independently as described above are connected with each other and then subjected to firing to complete an arc tube body.
However, the arc tube body shown in FIGS. 33A and 33B has the problems as follows. In the arc tube body shown in FIGS. 33A and 33B, the components are formed independently as described above. Therefore, when the arc tube body is used as an arc tube body of a metal vapor discharge tube, internal stress generated due to an increase in the internal pressure at the time of electric discharge is concentrated at the connecting portions between the respective components. In particular, regions 104, which are within the connecting portions between the main tube portion 101 and the ring-shaped members 103 and in the vicinity of the inner walls of the main tube portion 101, have low mechanical strength. Thus, cracks may be generated in the reigns 104 due to the internal stress.
In addition, in the case where components used for manufacturing an arc tube body are formed independently as described above, the process for connecting the components is required, which increases the cost for manufacturing the arc tube body.
As a solution to the above-mentioned problems, a slip casting method is proposed in which an arc tube body is formed integrally (see JP 11(1999)-204086 A). FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view of an arc tube body formed by the conventional slip casting method. In FIG. 34, reference numeral 100a denotes thin tube portions for accommodating electrodes, and reference numeral 100b denotes a main tube portion to serve as a discharge space.
FIGS. 35 to 38 are cross-sectional views, each illustrating one process of the conventional slip casting method. It is to be noted that the processes illustrated from FIG. 35 through FIG. 38 are a series of processes. Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an arc tube body according to the conventional slip casting method will be described with reference to FIGS. 35 to 38.
First, as shown in FIG. 35, a slurry 111 containing ceramic powder, a binder, and water as main components is injected to fill a hollow space inside a plaster mold 110. The hollow space inside the plaster mold 110 is formed so as to correspond to the external shape of an arc tube body to be manufactured.
Next, as shown in FIG. 36, only water from among the above-mentioned three main components contained in the slurry 111 is absorbed in the plaster mold 110, and a mixture 112 of the ceramic powder and the binder are allowed to adhere to the inner surface of the plaster mold 110 until it forms a sufficient thickness to provide a molded article with a desired thickness.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 37, excess slurry present in the hollow space is drained and the mixture 112 adhered to the inner surface of the plaster mold 110 is dried. Thereafter, a molded article 113 is taken out of the plaster mold 110. The molded article 113 is then subjected to an after processing such as firing. Thus, an arc tube body as shown in FIG. 34 can be obtained.
However, the slip casting method illustrated by FIGS. 35 to 38 has the following problem. When forming a small arc tube body of a low wattage, e.g., 70 W or less, thin tube portions 100a (see FIG. 34) are formed to be very thin. Thus, the thin tube portions 100a may be broken when being taken out from the plaster mold 110 or during transport.
Further, in the slip casting method illustrated by FIGS. 35 to 38, the arc tube body is formed by having water absorbed in the plaster mold 110, thereby adhering the mixture of the ceramic powder and the binder to the surface of the plaster mold 110. Therefore, from a macroscopic viewpoint, it can be said that this method can produce an arc tube body with a uniform thickness only. On this account, it is difficult to make only the thickness of tapered portions at the boundaries between the respective thin tube portions 100 and the main tube portion 100b greater than the thickness of other portions, for example.
Even in the case where an arc tube body is formed by the above-mentioned slip casting method, the thickness of the arc tube body can be changed partially by mechanically processing the molded article, for example. However, such mechanical processing increases the cost for manufacturing the arc tube body.
Further, a luminescent lamp provided with an arc tube body manufactured according to the slip casting method illustrated by FIGS. 35 to 38 may fail to light up. The reason for this is considered that calcium contained in the plaster mold 110 as a main component may adhere to the surface of the hollow molded article 113, which is to be processed into an arc tube body.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a method for manufacturing an arc tube body, capable of forming an arc tube body integrally and of reducing the chances that thin tube portions of the arc tube body might be broken, and a core used in the method.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A cymbal array for underwater vehicle applications includes piezoelectric discs disposed in a line, a first flex circuit comprising first annular members each affixed to a first side of one of the discs, a first series of cymbal caps each mounted on one of the first annular members, a second flex circuit comprising second annular members each fixed to a second side of one of the discs, and a second series of cymbal caps each mounted on one of the second annular members. The flex circuits each comprise an electrically conductive layer disposed between two electrically insulative layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices producing time varying acoustic pressures, and is directed more particularly to a flexible array of such devices adapted to conform to curved surfaces of underwater vehicles and thereby adapted to be mounted on such curved surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flextensional transducers have been used as underwater transducers. Such devices have generally consisted of an active drive element and a shell structure, wherein the motion of the drive element produces a larger motion of the shell structure. Radiating surfaces of the shell structures typically are small compared to the generated acoustic wavelength, making the shell structures suitable for low frequency sonar applications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,657, there is shown and described an underwater transducer which includes a piezoelectric or electrostrictive ceramic disc with conductive electrodes bonded to its major surfaces. A pair of metal end caps include rims that are bonded to the conductive electrodes, respectively. Each end cap comprises a solid metal disc having a cavity formed in one major surface thereof.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,077, a similar device employs sheet metal caps joined to opposed planar surfaces of the ceramic substrate. When the sheet metal caps are subjected to displacement by pressure, a resulting charge in voltage across the ceramic substrate is sensed. Because of the shape of the sheet metal caps, the transducer is referred to as a "cymbal" transducer. The '077 device has been employed as a hydrostatic sensor for underwater vehicles.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,798,122, there is shown a compound electro-acoustic transducer for producing acoustic signals having a plurality of elements. Each element has a piezoelectric disk with electrically conductive plates fixed on the top and bottom sides of the piezoelectric disk. A stud is joined to an outer face of each plate. Conductors can be joined to each stud. The elements can be assembled on a resilient structure to form an array. Elements can be used in the array or individually accessed.
Many unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) are provided with rounded hull surfaces. Because of the rigid nature of the hull surfaces and the rigidity of the arrays, the arrays do not readily conform to such surfaces.
There is thus a need for cymbal arrays which are sufficiently flexible to be mounted onto the curved hulls of underwater vehicles. It is further required that such arrays be sufficiently flexible to be conformed to surfaces exhibiting complex curves, such as bow or nose cone surfaces, which curve around the axis of the UUV and also curve from the outer portion of the hull to the axis of the hull at the center of the nose cone.

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


A stackable wire core assembly for a bedding foundation which may be nestably stacked with numerous other such assemblies for transportation, thereby avoiding the need to compress and tie the assembly for shipping. The wire core assembly includes corrugated formed support wires having inverted U-shaped channels formed at the bottom of the corrugated formed support wires adapted to be wrapped over and secured to slats of a wooden base frame.

Bedding foundations or so-called box spring assemblies generally comprise spaced border wires between which are disposed coil or bent wire spring modules. As thus manufactured, these box spring assemblies are bulky for shipping to a manufacturer where padding and covering are applied thereto. In order to reduce shipping space requirements, it is customary to compress the assemblies to reduce their individual thicknesses and, when compressed, to tie them in their compressed state. This involves providing presses and ties which are expensive, and the extra operations of pressing and tying the assemblies. At the delivery end, the manufacturer must cut and discard the ties before applying the covering. These additional material and handling costs increase the end cost of box spring assemblies.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064, there is disclosed a nestably stackable bedding foundation assembly which overcomes the manufacturing and shipping problems characteristic of the more traditional coil or modular spring bedding foundations. The bedding foundation assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 comprises a rectangular border wire and transversely spaced, parallel and longitudinally extending support wires parallel to the border wire sides and having ends connected to the border wire. These support wires are generally corrugatedly formed along their lengths, having peaks and valleys with the peaks being generally co-planar with the plane defined by the border wire and the valleys being displaced beneath and intermediate of the peaks. Longitudinally spaced, parallel and transversely extending upper connector wires, parallel to the border wire ends, are connected along their lengths to the peaks of the support wires. Longitudinally spaced, parallel and transversely extending lower connector wires, parallel to the border wire ends, are connected to the valleys of the support wires. The longitudinal voids between the peaks of the support wires are of a greater dimension than the valleys of the support wires. This configuration enables one nestably stackable bedding foundation assembly to be nestedly stacked atop a second assembly since the support wire valleys of the first assembly may enter into the voids between the peaks of the support wires of the second assembly. Such a nestedly stacked arrangement results in a total height dimension which is less than the sum of the individual assembly height dimensions.
The primary advantage of the bedding foundation assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 is that it enables relatively inexpensive bedding foundation wire cores to be tightly compacted and shipped in a minimum of space to an assembly destination, thereby reducing the ultimate cost of the core to the assembler. The bedding foundation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 also has the advantage that it may be rapidly loaded by a manufacturer for transportation to the destination of assembly without the need for compressing and tying the assemblies.


A bottle rocket launcher comprises a long hollow tube barrel having an tube-axial sealing valve that has a rotary cylindrical or spherical valve member where the valve is attached at the breech end of the launcher barrel. The rocket launcher can be angled up to a near vertical position with support legs. In use, a bottle rocket can be partially inserted into the valve passageway that is held open. The flammable rocket fuse is lit and the bottle rocket is dynamically inserted by hand contact with the rocket stick into the barrel inside chamber body to a position that is beyond the valve member. The valve is rotated into a valve-closed position while the rocket fuse is burning. When the bottle rocket powder is ignited by the burning fuse, the burning exhaust gases thrusts the bottle rocket along the inside of the barrel tube and propels it into the sky in the direction that the launcher barrel is pointed. The rocket exhaust gasses are all restricted to the valve sealed interior confirms of the launch barrel, which protects the operator from the gases or from a premature explosion of the rocket. The launch tube may be independently supported on the surface of the ground or the launch tube may be used as a hand-held device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the launching of fireworks in the form of bottle rockets and to devices that assist in the launching of the rockets.
2. Background of the Invention
Fireworks bottle rockets are pyrotechnic devices that have a quantity of flammable powder enclosed in an elongated paper tube that is attached at the head end of a long, thin stick. The tube axial body is aligned parallel to the stick to provide a rocket lifting thrust that is directed parallel to the stick when powder inside the tube is ignited. A flammable thin and flexible fuse that extends out from the base end of the powder tube is used to ignite the powder inside the tube. The bottle rocket stick is typically supported within a beverage bottle that has a tapered shape where the bottle has a small bottle top opening on one end and a larger flat bottom continuous surface on the opposing end. Use of these stick-mounted flammable powder fireworks tubes, which act as rockets, along with bottles that are used as holding and pointing devices originates the name "bottle rockets". When used as a launcher, the bottle is positioned upright with its flat bottom surface lying flat on the ground and the bottle in a near vertical orientation. A bottle rocket stick base is inserted into the bottle small top mouth opening where the base of the stick contacts the bottle bottom flat surface. Here, the bottle freely confines the stick portion of the bottle rocket, as the stick diameter is very small compared to the bottle-top opening. As the bottle rocket is loosely contained in the upright bottle, the bottle rocket stick axis assumes a near vertical alignment direction. However, the diameter of the base area of the bottle is very large compared to the diameter of the stick, which allows the base of the stick to be randomly positioned on one side or another of the bottle. This random position of the stick base results in a wide variation in the vertical orientation of the bottle rocket stick where the initial incline angle can be inadvertently changed during the launch procedure. It is usually assumed that the bottle rocket flight trajectory will initially start in the direction of the bottle axis as the bottle contains and supports the bottle rocket stick. Because the stick can freely move around within the bottle, the launch angle can also change from that which is intended. It is not possible to have a consistent aimed trajectory of bottle rockets when using a open moth bottle as a launch device. The rocket stick is sufficiently long that when it is inserted into the bottle top opening, the base end of the stick contacts the bottom surface of the bottle and the tubular fireworks rocket portion of the bottle rocket extends upward some distance away from the top surface of the bottle. Here, both the full length of the rocket powder tube and the fuse extend somewhat above the top end of the bottle to allow the fuse to be easily accessed for flame lighting. Upon lighting the end of the flexible fuse, a wall of burning fire travels along the length of the fuse until the fire ignites the leading edge of the flammable powder matrix located in the fuse-end of the powder tube. When the fuse is first lighted, the fuse fire-line slowly progresses up the length of the fuse, which provides a time delay between the time that the fuse is first lit, and the time when the tube-contained powder starts to burn. This time delay allows the operator to light a fuse and then to move away from the bottle rocket for safety reasons before the rocket tube powder burn is initiated. The powder located in the stick base portion of the paper tube is lit first and the gases that are generated by the burning powder are directed out the rear portion of the tube along the axis of the stick. This burning gas provides a propelling force that is also directed along the axial length of the stick. The exhaust gas force accelerates the bottle rocket unit out of the loose-confines of the bottle in a direction that is initially along the axis of the rocket stick as it was held in position by the bottle. Powder burns progressively within the paper tube and continuously thrusts the rocket to a greater speed and a higher elevation. A rocket usually assumes a curved trajectory due to gravity forces acting on the rocket body during flight. The rocket can provide a continuous fireworks display of burning particles and a powder-burn sound as it travels up into the air. At the end of the powder-burning event which occurs at or close to the apex of the rocket flight, a pyrotechnic explosion typically occurs when a cached quantity of powder, located in the forward or head end of the tube, is ignited.
There are a number of trajectory guidance and safety issues when this traditional bottle holding system is used to ignite and release an activated bottle rocket into the atmosphere. First, it is desirable for the operator to have a method to control the rocket flight trajectory by hand during launch rather than using the passive bottle orientation guidance system. Second, there are a number of safety issues related to different events that always occur or occasionally occur during the launch procedure. In the instance where the fuse is defective and a slow fuse burn rate the main firing of the rocket thrust powder occurs some longer time after the expected delay has passed. Prior to the actual delayed tube-powder firing event, the unaware operator can mistakenly re-approach or even handle the bottle rocket, at which time it can fully ignite or explode. In another instance, if the glass bottle has been structurally weakened or it is fragile in its original state compared to the rocket explosive power, a defective rocket may explode prior to leaving the confines of the glass, which could fracture the glass. If an operator is directly adjacent to the glass bottle when the glass fracture occurs, flying glass fragments could harm the operator or other observers. Some bottle rockets are quite powerful but they are limited in use because they are also more expensive than more common varieties. These powerful bottle rockets are much more dangerous than the common variety types. In addition, positioning a bottle on an uneven or a non-stable ground surface can result in the bottle tipping over during the launch event which can direct the rocket to be propelled in unwanted directions. At other times, a bottle is not used to support a bottle rocket. Instead, the bottle rocket stick is inserted into sand or is held by rocks. Upon ignition, the sand or rocks may firmly grasp the stick and restrain it against the propelling force of the rocket, which prevents the rocket from rising into the air and traveling to areas that are remote from the operator and observers before the final pyrotechnic explosion. In this case the flare of the burning rocket is directed against the ground and the final rocket explosion event occurs also at the immediate ground level. Undesirable launch events can have a damaging effect on adjacent ground materials, operators or observers. There is not a practical safe method for an operator to hold a beverage bottle launch device by hand to direct the flight of the bottle rocket. If a bottle is held by hand during launch, the exhaust plume from the rocket can easily impact the hand or eyes of the operator. Bottle rockets should not be used by children as they are not sophisticated in knowing the techniques required for safe and interesting launching of bottle rockets. A simple but intuitive launcher device that is strong and safe and which has attributes that trigger awareness of important and desirable launch techniques can make it easier to consistently have enjoyable but safe and successful launches. Protection of both the operator and observers from exhaust flames or explosions during launch is very important.
A number of rocket or propellant launch devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 29,118 (Woodward), U.S. Pat. No. 1,003,082 (Ziegenfuss), U.S. Pat. No. 1,776,354 (Edmands), U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,826 (Kulp et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,442 (Holmes), U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,386 (Elsey), U.S. Pat. No. 2,923,240 (Blewer), U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,297 (Bednar et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,033 (Wood), U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,764 (Allport), U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,006 (Bestow et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,258 (Powers), U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,249 (Fog arty et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,611 (Oldham et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,768 (Robinson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,015 (Lowery), U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,741 (Craven et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,646 (Tamg), U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,025 (Phillips et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,453 (Johnson), U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,598 (Johnson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,980 (Lee et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,500 (Mancini), U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,717 (Johnson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,750 (Johnson), U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,940 (Ensmenger), U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,706 (Carson), U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,629 (Jones), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,623 (Kownacki et al.).