A switch proxy comprising a controller, a translations database and a switching fabric are connected to a trunk group between a remote terminal and its controlling local switching system. The switch proxy monitors control signals to and from the switching system on the trunk. In the event of loss of control signals from the host switching system, the switch proxy intercepts requests for service, etc. from a calling telephone connected to the remote terminal and performs a look up in the translation database. If the call can be completed without the controlling switching system the call is looped back to the remote terminal. The translation database is maintained by a switch proxy management system that receives change orders from the local exchange carrier. The switch proxy management system forwards relevant changes to the switch proxy's translation database in the field.

This invention relates to access systems as used in wireline telephony, and, more specifically, to a switch proxy for use in conjunction with an access system remote terminal to route telephone calls when communications between a remote terminal of an access system and its controlling switching system is lost.
Wireline telephone service providers use access systems (such as, but not limited to, subscriber loop carriers and digital loop carriers) to serve telephone subscribers that are not economically or practically served directly from the nearest local switching system. An access system consists of a remote terminal that is connected to a local switching system by one or more digital trunk groups. These trunk groups contain a multiplicity of digital channels for carrying the voice traffic and separate digital channels for control information between the switching system and the remote terminal. The local switching system controls the remote terminal as if it were an extension of the switching system. In the usual case, a remote terminal provides digital connectivity between the remote telephone subscribers and the host switching system and does not participate in the routing of calls. In this manner, service providers are afforded more options in providing telephone service to subscribers; in particular, these access systems provide a much more economical approach to serve a small remote community of subscribers than the use of expensive local switching systems or proprietary remote switching modules.
The simplicity of aggregating all of the call control functionality in the host switching system creates a problem in the art. That is, when the host switching system is unable to communicate with the remote terminal, either through failure of components of the digital trunks or of the switching system itself, subscribers served by the remote terminal no longer have any telephone service. Even though the connectivity with the greater network is lost and the remote terminal may be otherwise fully functional, the subscribers terminated on this remote system still cannot communicate with one another. The severity of this problem may be confounded by the fact that these subscribers are frequently served by this technology precisely because they are remote; these remote settings necessitate the use of local emergency responders and limit other communications options (e.g, cellular telephony). Therefore, the ability to continue to locally switch calls between subscribers served by remote systems that have lost communications with a host switching system is an important public safety consideration.
While manufacturers of access systems are currently considering the incorporation of so-called "emergency stand alone" service into their next generation of product, this does nothing to address the provision of this capability to the vast majority of access systems which are currently in use and are otherwise fit for service. Other suggestions in the art pertain to installation of a "miniature" switching system in the proximity of the remote terminal to serve as a local host. This approach is not only expensive but impractical on several counts:                i) it changes the basic architecture of the exchange network,        ii) it increases the number of switches to administer and maintain,        iii) it actually increases the probability of a service outage by putting another switching system into the chain, and        iv) these remote terminals are frequently installed in field cabinets where it may be impossible to install an additional complex system.Thus there currently does not exist an economical or practical scheme for providing emergency stand alone service to subscribers served by the installed base of access systems.

Switch proxy for providing emergency stand alone service in remote access systems


The invention generally relates to golf clubs with adjustable mass properties. In certain aspects, the invention provides methods and mechanisms for adjusting a club head center of gravity and/or moment of inertia by way of an adjustable weight assembly positionable along the sole of the club head body. When in a first position, the weight assembly provides a lower center of gravity so as to increase launch angle and reduce spin rate, resulting in greater overall distance of ball flight. When in a second position, the weight assembly provides a greater mass moment of inertia, which effectively enlarges the sweet spot and produces a more forgiving club for off-center hits.

Golfers at all skill levels seek to improve their performance, lower their golf scores, and reach that next performance "level." Manufacturers of all types of golf equipment attempt to respond to these demands by changing the golf equipment. The performance of a golf club can vary based on several factors, including weight distribution about the head, which generally affects the location of the center of gravity of the golf club head, as well as the mass moment of inertia.
Club designers and manufacturers often look for new ways to redistribute weight associated with a golf club and/or golf club head. For instance, club designers are often looking to distribute weight to provide more forgiveness in a club head, improved accuracy, better spin control, or to provide a particular golf ball trajectory and the like. Various approaches have been implemented for positioning discretionary mass about a golf club head.
To achieve significant localized mass, weights formed of high-density materials have been attached to the sole, skirt, and other parts of a club head. With these types of weights, the method of installation is critical because the club head endures significant loads at impact with a golf ball, which can dislodge the weight. Thus, in some examples, these weights may be permanently attached to the club head and are limited in total mass, which, of course, permanently fixes the club head's center of gravity. In other instances, individual weights are secured to the club head by way of fasteners (e.g., screws, bolts, etc.). For example, U.S. Pub. 2013/0303304 to Sato shows a golf club head having a number of threaded ports in the sole into which weighted elements may be screwed. U.S. Pub. 2013/0165255 to Bezilla et al. shows a golf club head having a weight mounting portion defined on a perimeter of the sole to which a weight member is secured via a fastener.
Although current designs allow a golfer to manipulate the mass characteristics of a golf club, there are numerous drawbacks. For example, rearrangement of one or more weights on a club head may be a time consuming process, as a golfer must fully unscrew and remove a weight in order to reposition the weight to a desired location. Furthermore, once fully removed from the club head during repositioning, weights may be lost or misplaced. Additionally, a golfer may not fully appreciate or understand various weight combinations and/or placement and their effects on performance characteristics of the club head, thus leading to unexpected performance of the club (e.g., more/less than desired spin, higher/lower than desired trajectory, more/less than desired distance, etc.) and possible frustration during play.

Golf club with adjustable weight assembly


The method of mooring buoyant equipment at the surface of a body of water in a controlled position using a single line by connecting a first line from the buoyant equipment to a first diameter drum on a subsea mooring tower, connecting the first diameter drum to a second diameter drum, connecting a second line from the second diameter drum to a weight, such that when the depth of the body of water changes the tension on the first line remains the same and the vertical distance travelled by the weight is less than the change in the depth of the body of water.

Conventional mooring of a vessel using a single line generally involves dropping an anchor and letting the vessel weathervane to the downstream position from the anchor point. The variability of the depth must be considered in the amount of anchor line which if deployed. Consider, for example, water level varies between 100 foot depth and 400 foot depth and the anchor is set tightly when the water is at a depth of 100 feet. When the water depth moves towards 400 feet, the anchor line will either hold the vessel down until it sinks, the anchor line will be broken, or the anchor will be pulled out of the floor below the body of water. All three options are potentially bad.
Such a variability of depth occurs in situations such as sanitation ponds where the water level varies substantially over the seasons. In sanitation ponds, it is useful to moor multiple vessels on the surface of the water in specific locations for a variety of tasks. One of these tasks would be to support solar cells and pumps. These pumps can spray the sanitation water into the air for aeration and to promote the improvement of its quality. Other applications would be to support wind energy generation equipment and water quality measurement instrumentation.
The greatest benefit can be realized from equipment such as this by having the maximum number of units in the water with the tightest possible spacing. This means that the watch circle or area of movement of each unit should be as small as practical. Dense spacing and large watch circles would mean that they would tangle with one another and interfere with the operations.


In the case of shadow masks which are pretensioned vertically and horizontally and the horizontal pretension of which is produced by stretching in the vertical direction, an expensive mask material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion can only be replaced by a less expensive mask material, such as iron, if the tension forces which can be produced for pretensioning the mask in the horizontal direction are markedly higher than the hitherto produced forces. For this purpose, the outer boundaries of the shadow-mask sides which are not connected to the mask frame are implemented such that they have a curved shape and a higher strength. In this way, it is possible to produce in a direction perpendicular to the stretching direction tension forces which are higher than the hitherto produced forces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a colour television set or a colour monitor and in particular a colour picture tube with a tension mask which is pretensioned in the vertical and in the horizontal direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Colour television sets and (computer) monitors serve to convert electrical signals into colour pictures. Colour television sets and monitors have nowadays an interface for various video signal formats (such as e.g. composite colour picture signals, analog or digital component signals). These signals are converted into analog RGB signals for controlling a colour picture tube in a television set or in a monitor. The respective video signals fed to a television set or a monitor are converted in such way that each individual pixel of a reproduction screen can have associated therewith specific brightness and colour values. For reproducing a picture contained in a video signal, three electron beams are produced in a colour picture tube contained in a colour television set or a monitor. Each of these electron beams corresponds to one of the three primary colours of the additive colour mixture: red, green, blue. Depending on the reproduction position, the pixel information, i.e. the brightness and colour information, of the video signal is associated with a respective pixel on a luminescent screen of the colour picture tube.
By means of pixelwise superposition of three colour separation pictures, an additive colour mixture is obtained in the case of a colour picture tube. The luminescent screen of a colour picture tube contains approx. 400,000 colour triads, i.e. phosphor dots which are arranged in groups of three, each group comprising a red-light, a green-light and a blue-light phosphor dot. The diameter of such a phosphor dot is approx. 0.3 mm.
When a video signal is being reproduced, each of these dots is accessed by one of the three electron beams and caused to emit light. The electron beams are generated by an electron beam generation system in the neck of a colour picture tube. In FIG. 4, such a colour picture tube is shown in a cross-sectional view. A colour picture tube essentially consists of a glass element 15. On the inner side of the front screen 16 of the colour picture tube, a phosphor layer 17 comprising the phosphor dots is arranged. The electron beams for accessing the phosphor dots are produced by an electron gun 18 in the neck of the colour picture tube. The electric signals for controlling the electron gun are supplied to said electron gun from outside via contact pins 20. By means of a deflection unit which is not shown and which is arranged on the outer side of the colour picture tube, the electron beams are deflected in such a way that all the pixels of the luminescent screen are accessed successively. At a distance of approx. 15 mm from the luminescent screen 17, a shadow mask with a mask frame 19 is provided in the interior of the colour picture tube. In said shadow mask a separate aperture is associated with each colour triad on the luminescent screen. These apertures or holes have a diameter of approx. 0.25 mm and are etched into the shadow mask/hole mask at regular intervals. The three electron beams meet in the respective aperture accessed by the joint beam deflection and fall on the phosphor dots of the luminescent screen 17 located behind said aperture. In the course of this process, a major part of the electrons generated by the electron beam generation system land on the shadow mask. This causes warming and a corresponding thermal expansion of the shadow mask. As a result, the apertures in the shadow mask will change their position relative to the phosphor dots associated therewith. The colour purity of the pixels reproduced deteriorates due to this change of position. Such a deterioration becomes apparent especially with regard to the apertures located at the periphery of the mask.
Shadow masks are implemented not only in the form of aperture masks, but they are also used in the form of strip masks. In the case of these strip masks, the luminescent screen 17 of a colour picture tube is not provided with individual phosphor dots but with phosphor strips extending in the direction of the strips of the shadow mask. Accordingly, the shadow mask is provided with strip-shaped apertures for the individual electron beams, the respective strip-shaped apertures being associated with the strips on the luminescent screen. Such a strip mask often consists of xe2x80x9cwiresxe2x80x9d that extend in parallel.
As can be seen in FIG. 4, the shadow mask is held by a mask frame 19 so as to impart mechanical stability to the mask and so as to make it easily handleable. Also the mask frame of modern colour picture tubes consists of a thin metal sheet.
In view of the small thermal expansion, shadow masks are nowadays also produced from iron-nickel alloys having a very small coefficient of thermal expansion. Since such iron-nickel alloys are many times more expensive than iron, mask frames are, however, produced from iron. The connection of shadow masks and mask frames consisting of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion is problematic. When such mask/frame combinations become warm, deformations of the shadow mask may occur. This has the effect that the positions of the holes in the shadow mask change relative to the positions of the associated phosphor dots or phosphor strips.
The most widely used shadow masks are shaped, self-supporting shadow masks. Such a shadow mask is shown in FIG. 1. The shadow mask arranged behind the luminescent screen 1 comprises hole- or strip-shaped apertures 3 corresponding to the arrangement of the luminescent colours on the luminescent screen. The mask is secured to a frame 2. The contour of such a mask can be varied in the vertical as well as in the horizontal direction. The holding frame for the mask need not absorb any major forces in this case. The material of the frame can therefore be chosen substantially from the economical point of view.
Another type of colour picture tubes is pretensioned in the vertical direction. The major use of such shadow masks, so-called tension masks, is essentially in Trinitron tubes. These shadow masks are fixedly connected to the mask frame on the upper and lower boundaries thereof. The pretension of the shadow mask is necessary so as to guarantee that the distance between the luminescent screen and the shadow mask remains constant in the direction of the longitudinal axis 21 of the colour picture tube. Due to the pretension, the vertically oriented xe2x80x9cwiresxe2x80x9d are held under tension. This imparts mechanical strength to the strip mask. The pretension necessitates high tension forces which may assume values of several kN. Hence, the mask frame must be very solidly built. Upon selecting the material, it is especially necessary to take into account the high process temperatures used in the production process of a colour picture tube. Such masks have, however, the advantage that they are highly transparent and that the mask contour has a high thermal stability. They are, however, disadvantageous insofar as they always have only a cylindrical curvature of the mask. In addition, the tight mask wires tend to react to mechanical vibrations with strong oscillations.
Such a tension mask with tension in the vertical direction is shown in FIG. 2. Also this mask is provided with a luminescent screen 1 and a mask frame 2. The wires 5 of the mask are pretensioned in the vertical direction. This pretension is indicated by the arrows 7, 8 in FIG. 2. In order to avoid oscillations of the wires and in order to keep the distances between the wires constant, so-called damping wires 6 are placed on top of the tight mask wires 5 such that they extend transversely thereto. These damping wires are provided for suppressing mechanical oscillations of the mask wires 5 and for keeping the distances between the individual wires constant. A disadvantage of these damping wires 6 is that they are imaged on the screen of the colour picture tube where they can be seen as permanently existing horizontal dark lines in the picture.
In the case of such vertically pretensioned masks, the mechanical stability can also be improved by arranging small crosspieces between the wires. These crosspieces prevent the individual mask wire from oscillating separately. By a uniform arrangement of such crosspieces, the distances between the wires are kept constant and a homogeneous, non-disturbing structure, which is also known from shaped shadow masks, is created on the screen.
The use of such crosspieces is, however, disadvantageous with regard to the mask wires insofar as the wires are coupled in the horizontal direction, and this has the effect that, in the case of thermal heating, the shadow mask will also expand in the horizontal direction. This kind of expansion will, in turn, cause a displacement of the points where the electron beams land on the luminescent screen. This displacement causes a deterioration of the image reproduction quality. To keep this effect small, Invar or other iron-nickel alloys having a small coefficient of thermal expansion are preferably used as a material for the shadow mask and the mask frame. This, however, will markedly increase the production costs of such a colour picture tube.
In order to avoid a deterioration of the image quality caused by a thermal expansion in the horizontal direction, one possibility isxe2x80x94as describedxe2x80x94the use of special alloys as a mask material. Alternatively, it is, however, also possible to additionally apply a pretension to the mask in the horizontal direction. This will prevent the mask from curving in the longitudinal direction of the colour picture tube when the mask warms. FIG. 3 shows such a mask with a mask frame 2. The arrows 7-10 indicate that the mask is pretensioned both in the vertical and in the horizontal direction. In this way, it is also possible to compensate the consequences of a thermal expansion of the crosspieces between the holes 3 in the horizontal direction.
For producing such a horizontal pretension, the shadow mask is, in the most simple case, additionally also fixed to the mask frame on the sides. Alternatively, it is, however, also possible to produce a horizontal pretension without connecting the shadow mask to the lateral elements of the mask frame. For this purpose, the shadow mask is horizontally extended by a narrow, non-perforated portion. By stretching the shadow mask in the vertical direction, these non-perforated portions are extended in the direction of stretching. Simultaneously, a constriction occurs in the middle of these portions, i.e. these portions become narrower due to stretching, the narrowest point being in the middle. This has the effect that the perforated inner area of the shadow mask, which is located between the two non-perforated boundary portions, is drawn outwards. Hence, an additional horizontal pretension is produced simultaneously with the vertical pretension. This method is generally referred to as semi-stretch-tension technique, in short SST technique.
The principle underlying this technique is explained on the basis of FIG. 5. For this purpose, only part of the whole shadow mask is shown, the part of the shadow mask represented in FIG. 5 being only one half of said mask with one of the non-perforated, additional lateral areas. The shadow mask 25 has a perforated portion 26 and additional portions 27 having no holes provided therein. For producing the pretension in the vertical direction, the mask is vertically stretched before it is fixed to the mask frame. This has the effect that the shadow mask 25 will have applied thereto a permanent pretension in the vertical direction when it has been fixed to the mask frame. This pretension prevents the mask from curving in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the colour picture tube during operation due to thermal expansions in the vertical direction. In FIG. 5 it is shown how the shape of the non-perforated boundary portion 27 of the shadow mask changes during such stretching. The shape of the shadow mask prior to stretching is shown by the solid lines, the shape after stretching is represented by the broken line 30. During the stretching, the width of the boundary portion 27 is reduced, the maximum reduction of width being caused in the middle between the upper and the lower edge. The maximum reduction of width of the boundary portion 27 occurring in the course of this process is referred to as reduction of area/constriction C. Due to the fact that the boundary line 28 between the perforated portion and the non-perforated portion 27 is displaced by the reduction of area in the direction of the outer boundary 29 of the shadow mask 25, also the inner area 26 of the mask is drawn outwards. This has the effect that the perforated portion 26 is stretched in the horizontal direction, whereby a pretension is simultaneously produced in said horizontal direction.
In other words, stretching of the mask in the vertical direction will additionally cause an outwardly directed tension force in the horizontal direction. The magnitude of this tension force depends on the degree of the constriction C. The broader the portion 27 prior to vertical stretching, the larger the constriction C and therefore the horizontal tension force that can be produced. The width of the additional, non-perforated portions 27 can, however, be increased only to a very limited extent, without increasing the screen area in the horizontal direction by disturbing areas which cannot be used as a reproduction surface. Accordingly, the horizontal tension forces that can be produced are only very small.
By means of the horizontal tension forces that can nowadays be produced in this way, only the thermal expansions of mask materials having a particularly low coefficient of thermal expansion can be compensated for. Since these mask materials, such as Invar, are particularly expensive, it is desirable to replace such expensive mask materials by less expensive ones.
It is the object of the present invention to further develop known colour television sets and colour monitors and, in particular, colour picture tubes in such a way that the shadow masks of the colour picture tubes can also be produced from a less expensive mask material.
This object is achieved by the features of claim 1 for a colour picture tube, by the features of claim 8 for a colour television set and by the features of claim 9 for a colour monitor.
According to the present invention, an expensive mask material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion can be replaced by a less expensive mask material, such as iron, when the tension forces which can be produced in the horizontal direction are markedly higher than the hitherto produced forces, since this will offer the possibility of compensating also the much larger thermal expansions of the less expensive materials during operation. For this purpose, the shadow-mask sides which are not connected to the mask frame are implemented such that they have a curved shape, the curved outer boundary having a higher length than the inner area of the shadow mask. For producing an outwardly directed tension force which acts on the inner area of the shadow mask, the lateral boundaries must have an inwardly curved shape. When the mask is vertically stretched, the curved shape will be stretched as well, i.e. its curvature will decrease. This has the effect that all the points on the outer, reinforced boundary will move outwards and, consequently, also the inner area of the mask will move outwards in a corresponding manner. Also in the stretched condition of the shadow mask, the lateral outer boundaries maintain a curved shape, the curvature being, however, much smaller. The magnitude of the constriction in the middle of the shadow mask between the upper and the lower edge results from the curved shape (curvature) of the reinforced boundary before and after the stretching of the shadow mask. After the stretching, the outer, reinforced boundary of the shadow mask may assume an almost straight shape. In this way, a constriction can be achieved which will increase in proportion to the magnitude of the differences existing between the curved shapes before and after the vertical stretching of the shadow mask. Since the constriction that can be achieved in this way exceed those that can be produced in the case of conventional shadow masks, also the horizontal tension forces which can be produced in this way will be markedly stronger.
The shadow-mask expansion which can be compensated by means of these higher tension forces exceeds the horizontal expansion of the shadow mask which could normally be compensated up to now. This has the special advantage that the materials used for the shadow mask can also be materials which do not have a particularly low coefficient of thermal expansion, since, by means of the particularly high horizontal pretension according to the present invention, it is still possible to prevent the shadow mask from curving in the longitudinal direction of the picture tube. Hence, also less expensive materials, such as iron, can be used as a mask material without any deterioration of image quality in comparison with conventional masks. The production costs of colour picture tubes and consequently also of monitors and television sets can therefore be reduced whereas the quality will remain the same.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the shadow mask has a larger material cross-section at the curved sides thereof than in the inner area of the mask so as to reinforce said curved sides. In this way, the strength of the mask can be increased in a particularly simple manner.
When a shadow mask is being produced, the mask is normally subjected to an etching process for producing the apertures. During this etching process, the material cross-section of the whole mask is reduced. An increased material cross-section at the curved boundary areas to be reinforced can be produced in a particularly simple manner by leaving these boundary areas largely unetched during this process. This as the effect that, after the etching process, these portions will have a larger material cross-section than the perforated mask area.
An increase of the strength of the curved boundary areas can also be achieved by providing the shadow mask with a modified composition of materials in these areas. By modifying the composition of materials in the boundary areas, a higher strength can be achieved in said boundary areas. The increase in the cross-section of the mask can, in this way, be smaller or can be dispensed with completely in boundary areas.
The higher strength and the larger material cross-section, respectively, can also be achieved by providing an additional element in the boundary areas to be reinforced. This course of action is advantageous insofar as the masks can first be produced in the usual way and can then be combined with additional, separately produced elements in a final step. In this way, the present invention can easily be integrated into the usual sequence of production steps of a colour picture tube. When this additional element is produced from a material with increased strength, the material cross-section of this additional element can be particularly small.
It will be particularly advantageous when the shadow mask can be produced from iron.

Matsushita Display Devices (Germany), GmbH


Inert, thermally stable high-boiling solvents which have a defined boiling point or which boil over a narrow range are used as heat exchange media during thermal cracking of carbamic acid esters (urethane cracking).

This invention relates to a process for the thermal cracking of carbamic acid esters (urethane cracking) in which inert thermally stable high-boiling solvents having a defined boiling point or a narrow boiling range are used as heat exchange media.
A distinction can be made between the cracking of carbamic acid esters to form isocyanates in the gaseous and liquid phases and cracking in a fluidized bed. Cracking in the gas phase is described, for example, in EP-A-28,724; EP-A 100,047; EP-A 126,299; EP-A 126,300; EP-A 143,120; EP-A 261,604; EP-A 449,110; U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,941; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,739.
Cracking in the gas phase is a high-temperature process and is generally conducted at temperatures >300.degree. C. in a vacuum of <25 mbar. The cost of the gas phase cracking process technology, the thermal loading of the starting materials and products, the requisite prior evaporation of the carbamic acid ester, and the catalytic effects of metal surfaces which are still not completely understood make gas phase cracking less advantageous than cracking in the liquid phase. In particular, there is a risk of blockage in the evaporator region due to the formation of deposits because the problem of transferring out higher molecular weight secondary products has not been solved.
Cracking in a fluidized bed is described in EP-A 78,005, for example. Processes such as these have high energy requirements and appear to be difficult to implement on an industrial scale. Use of such fluidized beds on an industrial scale cannot therefore be foreseen due to this interim state of development.
Compared to gas phase cracking, cracking in the liquid phase may be carried out at lower reaction temperatures (i.e., temperatures <300.degree. C.). However, rapid separation of the reaction products is necessary to prevent the back-reaction of the isocyanate and the hydroxyl component to form carbamic acid esters and to reduce or prevent the formation of resin-like by-products which can form deposits in the apparatus used. The formation of higher molecular weight secondary products can be reduced by dilution with an inert solvent. The solvent also transfers these by-product components from the apparatus.
Many of the known processes can be distinguished by the type of reactor employed. A stirred reactor is used in the process disclosed in EP-A 355,443. A thin-film or tubular reactor is used in the processes described in EP-A-61,013, EP-A 92,738, and EP-A 396,977. A reactor with a fitted column is used in the processes taught in EP 323,514 and EP-A 524,554. A combined cracking and rectification column is used in the process disclosed in EP-A 568,782. Reaction columns are used in the process described in EP-A 542,106.
Another distinguishing feature of the known cracking processes is the presence or absence of a solvent during the cracking reaction.
Solvent-free cracking is described in EP-A 355,443, EP-A 568,782, EP-A 966,925 and EP-A 524,554. One disadvantage of such processes is that cracking proceeds in the column bottom, i.e. in the evaporator. In this heated region there is the risk of by-product formation due to the severe temperature gradients. In order to remove these by-products, high proportions (15 to 25% by weight) of the reactor charge have to be transferred out. Otherwise, caked deposits can occur which can result in a blockage of the reactor.
The problem of caked deposits is curbed by the addition of solvent (EP-A 61,103, EP-A 92,738, EP-A 323,514, and EP-A 542,106). The best yields are obtained when cracking is conducted in the stripping part of a combined cracking and rectification column. In this type of apparatus, the cracking reaction is prevented from proceeding in the evaporator region with the aid of a suitable high-boiling solvent. This solvent transfers the heat energy from the evaporator into the reaction zone by evaporation and condensation.
Cracking of a carbamic acid ester can be conducted in a cracking and rectification column so that no carbamic acid ester comes into contact with the heated surfaces of the evaporator. The apparatus can be operated in this manner for long periods. In contrast to the columns described in DE-A 4,231,417 and in EP-A 0,524,554, only a slight outward transfer of the column bottom content is necessary because no carbamic acid ester, cracking product or by-products can be detected analytically at the bottom of the column.
This process enables complete cracking (free from by-products) of the carbamic acid ester to be achieved in the distillation part of the column. Consequently, losses in yield are prevented and subsequent work-up is considerably simplified. Secondary reactions and caked deposits in the column bottom are prevented because reacting products do not reach the column bottom at all. Service lifetime of the apparatus is definitely prolonged.
The carbamic acid esters to be used in the process according to the invention are compounds corresponding to the general formula R.sup.1 (NHCOOR.sup.2).sub.n, in which
R.sup.1 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from about 4 to 12 carbon atoms and, optionally, bearing inert substituents; a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from about 6 to 15 carbon atoms and, optionally, bearing inert substituents; an araliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from about 7 to 10 carbon atoms and, optionally, bearing inert substituents, or an aromatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from about 6 to 15 carbon atoms and, optionally, inert substituents; PA0 R.sup.2 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing from about 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing from about 5 to 15 carbon atoms or an aromatic hydrocarbon radical containing from about 6 to 15 carbon atoms and PA0 n is an integer of from 2 to 5. PA0 R.sup.1 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from 4 to 12 and, more preferably, from 5 to 10 carbon atoms; a cycloaliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing from 6 to 15 carbon atoms; a xylylene radical or an aromatic hydrocarbon radical containing a total of from 6 to 15 carbon atoms and, optionally, bearing methyl substituents and/or methylene bridges; PA0 R.sup.2 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing from 1 to 6 and, more particularly, from 1 to 4 carbon atoms; a cyclohexyl radical; or a phenyl radical; and PA0 n is an integer of from 2 to 4. PA0 R.sup.1 is the hydrocarbon radical linking the isocyanate groups of 1,6-diisocyanatohexane, 1-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanatomethyl cyclo-hexane, 2,4-diisocyanatotoluene, 2,6-diisocyanatotoluene, 2,2'-, 2,4'- or 4-4'-diisocyanatodiphenyl methane, 2,4'- or 4,4'-diisocyanatodicyclohexyl methane or 1,5-diisocyanatonaphthalene and PA0 R.sup.2 is a C.sub.1-4 alkyl radical. PA0 1-(butoxycarbonylamino)-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-(butoxycarbonylaminomethyl)-cyclo hexane, PA0 1-(methoxycarbonylamino)-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-(methoxycabonylaminomethyl)-cycl ohexane, PA0 1-methyl-2,4-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-benzene, PA0 1-methyl-2,6-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-benzene, PA0 1-methyl-2,4-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-benzene, PA0 1-methyl-2,6-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-benzene, PA0 1,10-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-decane, PA0 1,12-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-dodecane, PA0 1,12-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-dodecane, PA0 1,12-bis-(phenoxycarbonylamino)-dodecane, PA0 1,3-bis-(ethoxycarbonylaminomethyl)-benzene, PA0 1,3-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-benzene, PA0 1,3-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-methyl)!-benzene, PA0 1,3,6-tris-(methoxycarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,3,6-tris-(phenoxycarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,4-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-butane, PA0 1,4-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-cyclohexane, PA0 1,5-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-naphthalene, PA0 1,6-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,6-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,6-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,5-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-pentane, PA0 1,6-bis-(methoxymethylcarbonylamino)-hexane, PA0 1,8-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-octane, PA0 1,8-bis-(phenoxycarbonylamino)-4-(phenoxycarbonylaminomethyl)-octane, PA0 2,2'-bis-(4-propoxycarbonylaminophenyl)-propane, PA0 2,4'-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-diphenyl methane, PA0 2,4-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-cyclohexane, PA0 4,4'-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-dicyclohexane methane, PA0 2,4'-bis-(ethoxycarbonylamino)-diphenyl methane, PA0 4,4'-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-2,2'-dicyclohexyl propane, PA0 4,4'-bis-(methoxycarbonylamino)-biphenyl, PA0 4,4'-bis-(butoxycarbonylamino)-2,2'-dicyclohexyl propane, PA0 4,4'-bis-(phenoxycarbonylamino)-dicyclohexyl methane and PA0 4,4'-bis-(phenoxycarbonylamino)-diphenyl methane. PA0 a) under the conditions of cracking, they substantially dissolve both the carbamic acid esters used as starting materials and the secondary products of the isocyanates which are formed as by-products of the reaction; PA0 b) they are substantially thermally stable under the conditions of cracking; PA0 c) they are substantially chemically inert to the carbamic acid esters used and to the isocyanates formed; PA0 d) they are substantially distillable under the conditions of cracking; PA0 e) they can be substantially separated by distillation from the reaction by-products; and PA0 f) they can be recycled.
The carbamic acid esters preferably used in the process according to the invention are those corresponding to the above formula in which
Particularly preferred carbamic acid esters for the process according to the invention are those corresponding to the general formula EQU R.sup.1 (NHCOOR.sup.2).sub.2
in which
Examples of suitable carbamic acid esters are
The "butoxy groups" mentioned are iso- and n-butoxy groups.
Solvents which are suitable for conducting cracking in columns of this type may be liquid or solid. Examples of such solvents are given in EP-A 542,106. The boiling points of suitable solvents under the conditions of pressure in the bottom of the column are at least 10.degree. C., preferably at least 40.degree. C., above the boiling points of the isocyanates and alcohols which form the basis of the carbamic acid esters that are to be cracked. These solvents satisfy the following requirements:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,278; EP-A 323,514; EP-A 61,013; and EP 92,738 disclose specific examples of high-boiling substances which satisfy these requirements. These disclosed solvents can be used in the practice of the present invention after they have been purified. Examples of other suitable solvents include the various isomeric benzyl toluenes, terphenyls, phenoxybiphenyls, phthalic acid di(ar)alkyl esters and o-phosphoric acid tri(ar)alkyl esters with 1 to 10 carbon atoms in the (ar)alkyl esters in each case, and mixtures of compounds of this type.
Technical dibenzyl toluene, benzyl-n-butyl phthalate, technical terphenyl and partially hydrogenated terphenyls, phenoxybiphenyls and isomeric mixtures thereof are particularly suitable for use in cracking and rectification columns. However, commercially available high-boiling solvents or heat transfer media do not exhibit a defined boiling point but exhibit a boiling range. This results in the separation by distillation of the solvent mixture in the cracking column and in a broad temperature profile. In the extreme case, low-boiling constituents are distilled off with the isocyanate or alcohol cracking products and the higher-boiling products become concentrated in the bottom of the column.

Heat exchange media for the thermal cracking of carbamic acid esters


A water filter system having a housing for a plurality of serial-flow connected filter cartridges with distinct filtering characteristic related to the direction of flow of water being filtered. Each filter cartridge has a membrane wrapped activated carbon filter body. One of the filter bodies includes a heavy metal bacteriostat. The cartridges are each releasably retained in a manifold by keyed connectors including rotatable locking rings. Each cartridge having a distinct filtering characteristic includes a keying structure to ensure that the cartridge can only be connected to the manifold for placement in proper serial-flow relationship in the system. The filter system includes a spent filter cartridge indicator. The filter system is particularly suited for countertop placement and connection to a faucet.

As the quality of water from public water systems, particularly water from small public water systems, and private wells has become subject to contamination, the acceptability of tap water available to many has come to be questioned. Furthermore, whether the source of the water is from a well fed from an aquifer instead of from a river or reservoir the tap water may be characterized by problems associated with leaching of lead from plumbing, organic chemicals coming from industrial or agricultural runoff as well as some organic pollutants which ironically are by-products of water chlorination systems.
In addition, since public water systems are subject to breakdowns at treatment plants, microorganisms, and particularly pathogens may still be present in the tap water particularly when the source of water is surface water which has been contaminated by parasites such as cryptosporidium. It is generally recognized that few systems, be they public or private, perform the expensive filtering needed to remove such parasites. It is not uncommon for unsafe microorganisms levels to prompt a "boil order" so as to ensure that water is potable, particularly for those persons having compromised immunity.


A conveying screw for a cutting and separating device, including a screw shaft having at least one helical screw flight integrally moulded thereon, which, in an installed position, has a front flank for transporting a foodstuff by pushing, a rear flank arranged on the opposite side, and, at its distal end between the front flank and the rear flank, a cylindrical portion, which is formed in the transition region to the front flank of the screw flight with a sharpened cutting edge, the sharpened cutting edge having a positive rake angle (γ) arranged between the front flank and a processing plane oriented at right angles to the screw shaft. The cutting performance of the cutting and separating device are significantly improved as the sharpened cutting edge is formed from a groove made on a distal end of the front flank, the outer contour of which groove cuts into the cylindrical portion.

The conveying screw contained in the cutting and separating devices are often used in the food industry, in particular for the shredding and further processing of meat. In the food industry, lean meat muscle groups with a low proportion of collagenous tissue are of particular interest when processing meat, for example into sausage products. However, the meat to be processed is usually also interspersed with fatty tissue, collagenous tissue and tendons, which should be sorted out as completely as possible during the comminution and removed from the processing cycle.
Cutting and separating devices according to DE 10 2017 003 407 B3, for example, are used to remove these unwanted components. The cutting and separating devices have a shredding drum with a pressure housing in which the conveying screw is rotatably mounted. The pressure housing has a plurality of radially aligned cutting openings. Food to be processed is fed into the pressure housing via an inlet opening, in which softer parts of the food to be processed escape into the cutting openings due to the pressure transmitted to the food by the conveying screw, are cut off as food studs and are pressed out of the pressure cylinder through the cutting openings. This is the food ingredient desired for further processing. Stringy material and unusable solids do not take part in the shredding process and leave the pressure housing through an outlet opening at the end, However, it has been shown that with increasing operating time, material with great strength such as collagen, for example, adheres to the inner wall and covers the cutting openings, so that these are no longer available for the comminution work and the cutting performance of the cutting and separating device decreases,
U.S. Pat. No. 32,060 E discloses a cutting device with a conveying screw mounted therein. On an inflow-side section, the conveying screw is designed on its front flank with a concavely shaped screw flight, as a result of which an outer end of the screw flight protrudes in the conveying direction. The protruding outer end of the screw flight serves to push fragments of bony material towards the axis of the conveying screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,197 also describes a cutting device with a conveying screw arranged therein. The conveying screw can also be manufactured as a cast moulding, for which the mold has a taper at the radial end portion of the conveying screw so that no special machining of the blades is required to obtain the taper in the assembled machine.
The underlying object of the invention was to improve a conveying screw in such a way that the cutting performance of the cutting and separating device is significantly improved.
The object is achieved according to the invention with the features of a conveying screw, comprising a screw shaft having at least one helical screw flight integrally moulded thereon, which, in an installed position, has a front flank for transporting a foodstuff by pushing, a rear flank arranged on the opposite side, and, at its distal end between the front flank and the rear flank, a cylindrical portion, which is formed in the transition region to the front flank of the screw flight with a sharpened cutting edge, the sharpened cutting edge having a positive rake angle (γ) arranged between the front flank and a processing plane oriented at right angles to the screw shaft, wherein the sharpened cutting edge is formed from a groove made on a distal end of the front flank, the outer contour of which groove cuts into the cylindrical portion. The positive rake angle engages behind and removes particularly effectively adhesions of a food to be processed, which get into the effective range of the conveying screw, from the inner wall of the shredding drum of a cutting device. The rake angle is preferably between 10° and 50°, particularly preferably 20° and 40°, very particularly preferably between 25° and 35°.
The sharpened cutting edge is formed from a groove made at a distal end of the front flank, the outer contour of which intersects the cylindrical portion. In this embodiment, the outer contour of the groove forms the relevant section of the front flank of the screw flight. In this case, the rake angle is arranged between the outer contour of the groove and the processing plane. The wedge angle then extends between the outer contour of the groove and the cylindrical portion of the screw flight. An inner contour of the groove merges into the front flank of the screw flight in the direction of the screw shaft. In the radial direction, the width of the groove occupies only a partial section of the front flank or of the radius of the screw flight.
Advantageously, a wedge angle of 40° to 80°, particularly preferably 50° to 70°, very particularly preferably 55° to 65°, is formed between the front flank and the cylindrical portion.
A radius or a bevel is expediently arranged between the cylindrical portion and the rear flank. Such a reduction in material reduces the temperature rise in the food to be processed and thereby lowers the bacterial load.
The invention is also implemented in a cutting and separating device with the conveying screw according to the invention, wherein the conveying screw is rotatably mounted in a pressure housing of a shredding drum, which is formed with an inlet opening at a first end portion and with an outlet opening at a second end portion, wherein a plurality of cutting openings are arranged in a pressure housing portion of the pressure housing and pass right through the pressure housing portion from an inner wall to an outer wall.
The sharpened cutting edge is preferably formed on a section of the conveying screw which sweeps over the cutting openings. The food to be processed is only chopped up in this area, with the risk of the cutting openings being covered. A feeding section of the conveying screw, which can be arranged upstream between the pressure housing portion with the cutting openings made therein and the inlet opening of the pressure housing, does not require a sharpened cutting edge. As a result, the production costs of the conveying screw can be reduced considerably, since the sharpened cutting edge only has to be shaped in sections on the conveying screw.
The cylindrical portion of the screw flight can have a width which is at least the diameter of the cutting openings on the inner wall. With this dimensioning and the operational loads to be expected, the screw flight has sufficient strength without reversible deformation. In addition, the cutting performance and quality are favorably influenced, since the piece of meat held in the cutting opening is completely detached from the foodstuff to be processed in the pressure housing portion.
It has turned out to be particularly advantageous if the cutting openings are oriented with hole axes which are inclined at an angle in relation to the inner wall. The cutting openings emerge on the inner wall of the pressure housing and, when the cutting and separating device is in operation, perform the majority of the cutting work on the food to be processed. The inclined hole axes of the cutting openings result in a particularly sharp, cutting opening edge with a wedge angle of less than 90° in the transition area between cutting opening and inner wall. On the other hand, on the opposite side of the cutting opening edge, the cutting opening has a drawing-in opening edge with an obtuse angle greater than 90°, into which the foodstuff to be processed migrates particularly favorably. The inclined hole axes of the cutting openings make it particularly easy to produce the sharp, cutting opening edge and the blunt, drawing-in opening edge.
Advantageously, the angle of the inclined hole axis includes a first angle, which is arranged on the side of the cutting opening facing away from the inlet opening of the pressure housing between the hole axis and the inner wall. At the first angle, the axis of the hole is inclined towards the inlet opening of the pressure housing. In the axial direction of the pressure housing, its radius is expediently aligned with the axis of the hole. Each cutting opening can therefore have, with the inner wall of the pressure housing portion, a cutting opening edge facing the outlet opening and a drawing-in opening edge facing the inlet opening.
Since the food to be processed is advanced from the inlet opening essentially axially through the pressure housing in the direction of the outlet opening, the cutting edge of the cutting opening is formed on the side facing away from the inlet opening of the pressure housing and thus opposes the main direction of movement of the food to be processed. This results in a clean separating cut without significant crushing of the food to be processed.
The first angle is preferably between 60° and 88°, particularly preferably 65° to 85°, very particularly preferably 70 to 80°. The smaller the first angle, the sharper is the cutting opening edge formed from it, which results in a particularly high cutting performance with high quality of the food component desired for further processing.
With a smaller first angle, however, the wear-related service life of the shredding drum also decreases.
The hole axes are sensibly aligned in such a way that the cutting opening edge between the inner wall and the hole axis is formed at the first angle. The wedge angle of the cutting opening edge corresponds to the first angle of the associated hole axis.
The angle may comprise a second angle which is located in the circumferential direction of the pressure housing portion between the hole axis and the radius of the pressure housing portion. As a result, the hole axes are additionally inclined in the circumferential direction of the pressure housing portion. As a result, the cutting edge of the cutting opening moves further in the transverse direction from the side of the cutting opening directed towards the outlet opening of the pressure housing and, in the case of a rotating conveying screw, is essentially perpendicular to the foodstuff that is also rotating at least partially.
The second angle is advantageously between 2° and 30°, particularly preferably 5° to 25°, very particularly preferably 10 to 20°. The second angle thus corresponds to the absolute value of the difference between 90° and the first angle.
The second angle is expediently aligned counter to a direction of rotation of the conveying screw. As a result, the cutting opening edge of the cutting opening is shifted laterally from the position originally facing the outlet opening and protrudes in the direction of the approaching front flank of the screw flight as well as the foodstuff to be processed in front of it. In this embodiment too, the drawing-in opening edge is opposite the cutting opening edge and is first swept over by the front flank of the screw flight. Due to this alignment of the hole axis, the cutting opening is particularly well filled and the food piece already located in the cutting opening is separated particularly cleanly.
In the axial direction and/or in the circumferential direction, opening edges of adjacent cutting openings can be aligned with one another in an overlapping manner. This avoids the formation of webs and part of the food to be processed being conveyed through the pressure housing portion without contact with a cutting opening. Advantageously, cutting openings arranged one behind the other in the axial direction are aligned offset to one another in the circumferential direction with an offset angle of 3° to 9°, particularly preferably 4° to 8°, very particularly preferably 5° to 7°.

Conveying screw for a cutting and separating device


An engineering model is described for a home gateway and interface system and method for providing quality of service to a home LAN device on a home network that is not QoS capable. The gateway comprises a modem (e.g., cable, DSL modem) and a portal service proxy interface. The modem is connected between the home network and a WAN cable network, and is operable to bridge traffic between the home LAN of the home network and the WAN cable network. The portal service interface is connected to the modem and is utilized as a proxy for QoS reservations and data communications between the home LAN devices on the home network. The portal interface acts on behalf of a client to make requests of the non-QoS capable home LAN devices and communicate these QoS needs to the QoS capable devices. The portal service interface is operable to manually input and obtain a set of QoS requirements of a client or user, for example, using a protocol such as the HTTP or Telnet protocol on a web browser. The QoS requirements are then utilized in the gateway and communicated to the home LANs thru the modem for selectively transmitting or receiving the data between the devices, based on the QoS needs of each home LAN device obtained from the client.

Recently, a team for the CableHome Initiative has been working to adopt a CableHome (CH) specification. This effort is being developed by industry leaders at the direction of the Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs) for the benefit of the consumer and these industries. The CableHome initiative and specification provides a universal home network for data communications (traffic) between consumer electronic devices in and around the home and to a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet supplied by a cable provider. A CH compliant device on this home network will make its Quality of Service (QoS) needs known to the Subnet Bandwidth Manager (SBM) and any other SBMs in the path between itself and a peer device on the home network. These QoS needs are obtained and reserved for the CH compliant device using a level 3 protocol, such as the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). The device will then follow the directives of the SBM for use of the reserved bandwidth at layer 2.
One of the problems for the QoS team to solve, is how non-CH compliant devices may be accommodated in this CH environment. Non-CH compliant devices will not follow the directives of the SBM, which acts as an arbiter for the fair distribution of bandwidth in a particular Local Area Network (LAN) segment of the home network. These non-CH compliant devices will often transmit without regard to other devices, causing data packet collisions and general degradation of the overall quality of the system. Conversely, during reception, these devices are handicapped to make any type of request, and are therefore subject to the use and abuse of those devices that can request bandwidth in an organized manner. In this regard, these non-CH compliant devices may also be considered non-QoS capable devices.
Thus, the non-CH compliant devices may be incapable of making known to the other devices in the network its QoS needs and to follow the lead of the SBM in the LAN it is connected to. Therefore, if the non-CH device has a passive role in the exchange of information, it may not be able to get the bandwidth needed from the network. Further, if the non-CH device takes an active transmitter role, the CH system may be adversely affected by the non-CH device.
Although the CH compliant home LAN devices are smarter to implement a protocol for communicating the QoS needs of the device, there is also a cost for the development of the application to add this capability to present non-CH compliant home LAN devices. Thus, it is also desirable to utilize current non-CH compliant devices in a CH compliant home network.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system to provide QoS capability to non-CH devices and other such non-QoS capable home LAN devices in a home network, without the additional development costs or added component costs for converting a non-CH device to a CH compliant device.

System using portal service interface to request and determine QOS requirements on non-QOS capable device on a home network


Devices and methods to use base stations to communicate with user equipment (UE) terminals in an indoor setting are disclosed. For example, user equipments such as mobile telephone devices may be used in a building with multiple floors. The building may be supplied with antenna elements organized into antenna groups with each group serving an area of the building—a floor for example. The base station, utilizing the antenna groups, communicates with the UE terminals via one or more radio resources. The base station manages radio resources to communicate with multiple UE terminals. The base station selectively activates and deactivates the antenna groups to reduce multiple access interference and to efficiently utilize the radio resources.

UE terminals, such as cellular phones, can operate both indoors and outdoors. When the UE terminals are outdoors, the base station uses beam forming functions through smart antennas to enhance communication performance and reliability with the UE terminals. For example, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) may be increased by using smart antennas.
FIG. 10 illustrates a conventional system 1000 that is used outdoors. The system 1000 includes a base station 1010 with antennas 1015 producing multiple beam lobes 1020. Beam forming circuitry 1012 coupled to the antennas 1015 controls the formation of the beam lobes 1020. Each beam lobe 1020 represents a wireless communication channel—a radio resource—used by the base station 1010 to communicate with a UE terminal. The radio resource may be either a common channel or a dedicated channel. When the base station broadcasts a same message to multiple UE terminals simultaneously, the common channel is used. But in most instances, the base station communicates with the UE terminals individually through dedicated channels.
In FIG. 10, four separate beam lobes 1020 are shown, each of which can represent individual dedicated channel, i.e. each beam lobe is a separate radio resource to communicate individually with four separate UE terminals. Each radio resource is separately identifiable based for example on a time slot (for TDMA systems), frequency (for FDMA systems), or spreading code (for CDMA systems).
Each beam lobe 1020 has a preferred direction, and any UE terminal within the range of the beam lobes 1020 may communicate with the base station 1010. The directional nature of the beam lobes 1020 enhances the quality of communication between the base station and the UE terminals by increasing the communication range of the base station, as compared to a similarly powered omni-directional signal. Also, the signal quality is enhanced by reducing the interference of the signals since the amount of overlap between the beam lobes is minimized.
Each beam lobe's directionality is achieved by controlling the amount of transmission power to each antenna 1015 for the radio resource associated with the beam lobe. For a particular radio resource corresponding to a particular beam lobe 1020, the amount of power of the wireless signal emanating from each antenna 1015 for that particular resource is also controlled by the beam forming circuitry 1012.
The beam forming circuitry 1012 sets a transmission weight factor (or simply weight factor) for each antenna for the particular radio resource. The weight factor can range anywhere between 0 and 1 representing between no power to full power being emanated from the antenna for the particular resource. The number of weight factors can be finite. For example, if the number of weight factors is nine, the weight factors may take on individual values 0.0, 0.125, 0.250, 0.375, 0.5, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875, and 1.0. The direction of each beam lobe 1020 can be controlled with finer detail as the granularity—i.e. the number—of the weight factor values between 0 and 1 increases.
For conventional systems, the number of weight factors is large. For a typical coverage of a communication sector of the base station ranging from −60 degrees to +60 degrees with a 1 degree accuracy, a total of 121 sets of weight factors are needed, where each set corresponds to a certain beam pointing direction within the −60 degrees to +60 degrees angular interval. The size of each set is determined by the number of antenna elements—where eight antenna elements is a typical number—and each individual weight factor can be any number between 0 and 1, with e.g. a four-decimal digit representation such as 0.1479. In the typical case, a total of 8×121 four-digit weight factors would be required. In this way, multiple beam lobes 1020, each representing a different radio resource, are produced simultaneously as seen in FIG. 10.
The system 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10 works well outdoors. Although the same system can be used to communicate with UE terminals located inside a building, it does not work as well indoors. Within the building, the UE terminals will all generally be in a same direction from the base station since they are all located close to each other. When dedicated channels, i.e., separate radio resources, are used for communication between the base station and each of the UE terminals located in the building, the beam lobes corresponding to the radio resources will also be formed in the same general direction. This increases the likelihood of interference. Also, no radio resource can be simultaneously reused by the base station to communicate with another UE terminal. Still further, signal bouncing and multiple access interference (MAI) is a bigger issue indoors due to the presence of physical features such as walls, floors and ceilings. MAI is caused by multiple user equipments using the same frequency allocation at the same time.
There are dedicated indoor solutions available. One indoor solution consists of placing small (also known as micro or pico) base stations in many places in a building. There are both upgrade and operational drawbacks to this solution. For upgrades, the main drawbacks includes complexity and the significant time needed to perform upgrades to hardware and software since each installation site must be visited. During operation, unnecessary interference is generated within the building since no centralized radio resource allocation can be provided. As a result, spectral efficiency of the communication network is severely compromised. Furthermore, handover procedure between adjacent base stations is difficult or non-existent.
Another indoor solution is to install a long RF feeder cable in the building connected to a base station located in the building and to connect several antennas to this RF feeder cable via a RF combining device placed at separate locations in the building. With this solution, it is not possible to use a specific antenna for transmission/reception. Instead, all antennas radiate power and hence generate unnecessary interference at the locations where a UE terminal may not be located.
These and other indoor solutions are dedicated to indoors and are separate from the existing outdoor based systems. Dedicated indoor solutions are expensive since they require separate equipments and increase complexity since they must be interfaced with the existing outdoor systems. Increased complexity is usually accompanied by decreased reliability.

System and method for indoor coverage of user equipment terminals


A method and apparatus for testing mathematical programs where code coverage is exceedingly difficult to hit with random data test vectors (probability <2−64) is provided. To enable testing of the mathematical program, instructions in the mathematical program are trapped. Errors are injected through the use of any status/control flag where an error can be created and be rectified later by a reversible operation so that the result of the mathematical operation is not modified by the injected error.

Public key cryptography is typically used for secure communications over the Internet, for example, to distribute secret keys used in cryptographic algorithms. Public key cryptography is also used in digital signatures to authenticate the origin of data and protect the integrity of that data. Commonly used public key algorithms include Rivert, Shamir, Aldeman (RSA) and Diffie-Hellman key exchange (DH). The public key algorithm may be used to authenticate keys for encryption algorithms such as the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
RSA and DH provide security based on the use of number theory. RSA is based on factoring the product of two large prime numbers. DH is based on a discrete logarithm for finite groups. Typically, public key systems use 1024-bit parameters for RSA and DH.
Typically, a processor includes a Public Key Encryption (PKE) unit that performs cryptographic computations with very high performance. The PKE unit accelerates large modular exponentiation problems and is optimized to work with operands in the range of 512 to 4096 bits.
In protocols such as RSA or DH the main operation is a large modular exponentiation with operands in the range of 512 to 4096 bits (or higher for ultra-secure applications). The exponentiation algorithms perform repeated modular squaring or multiplication operations, which consist of multiplication followed by reduction steps. The reductions may be performed by a variety of techniques such as Montgomery reduction or Barrett's reduction.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments of the claimed subject matter, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Method and apparatus for testing mathematical algorithms


The method operates with successive, continuously repeated measuring cycles. In a first cycle section, a measuring capacitor is charged up to a first threshold value by the current flowing in a light receiver of a first optical measuring section. In a subsequent, second cycle section the measuring capacitor is discharged to a second threshold value by the current flowing in a light receiver of a second optical measuring section. The light transmitters of the optical measuring sections are regulated over several measuring cycles to predetermined rated values for the charging time and the discharging time. A wetting of the pane is concluded from the momentary deviations between the rated values and the actually measured values of the charging times and discharging times. The available modulation range is adapted dynamically to the prevailing conditions by the systematic control of the intensity of the light transmitters in the two optical measuring sections. In addition, the upper limit of the modulation range is extended to higher values of the ambient light.

The invention relates to a method and a sensor for detecting occurrences of wetting on a pane, particularly a rain sensor for vehicles.
Rain sensors have optical measuring sections which contain a light transmitter and a light receiver. Light transmitters and light receivers are coupled to the inner side of the pane so that light emitted from the light transmitter is reflected onto the light receiver by total reflection on the outer surface of the pane. However, the light receiver is also exposed to the ambient light. In order to reduce the influence of the ambient light, two identical optical measuring sections can be used which are arranged adjacent to each other, with the differential signal of the light receivers then being evaluated. However, the modulation capability is limited by outside light and the asymmetry of the optical and electronic components.

Method and sensor for detecting occurrences of wetting on a pane

TRW Automotive Electronics & Components GmbH


The present invention provides a mode field conversion fiber component formed by fusion-connecting connection end surfaces of two optical components having different mode fields. The mode fields of the two optical components are conformed to each other at the connection end surfaces, and are continuously varied near the connection end surfaces. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a mode field conversion fiber component, having the steps of butting connection end surfaces of two optical fibers having different mode fields, fusion-connecting the connection end surfaces of the two optical fibers, and heating a fusion-connecting portion of the connection end surfaces, diffusing core dopant, and conforming the mode fields of the two optical fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mode field conversion fiber component for use in optical communication and an optical sensor system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In most cases, their mode fields of optical waveguide devices and fibers do not coincide with each another. Here and also in the following, an optical device based on a planar waveguide structure is meant by the words "optical waveguide device". When an optical waveguide device is connected to a standard optical fiber used for optical communication, conventionally, a connection loss due to mode field mismatch has to be taken into consideration, or a light control member such as a lens has to be interposed between the optical waveguide device and the optical fiber to adjust the shape and/or size of their mode fields at their connection point.


In the front frame (1) for a vehicle body formed with a bendable portion (1a) midway thereof, the bending deformation due to a bending moment M1 generated at the bendable portion (1a) of the front frame (1) in case of a vehicle collision is suppressed to improve the effect of absorbing collision energy. A pair of front and rear bead portions (5) arranged in a V shape are formed on the side surface of the bendable portion (1a) of the front frame (1) in such a way that the space between the two opposing bead portions (5) increases gradually from the upper compression side to the lower tension side. Therefore, in case of a vehicle frontal collision, it is possible to generate an additional moment M which can cancel out the bending moment M1 generated at the bendable portion (1a) due to the shape factor of the front frame, so that the deformation mode of the front frame (1) can be changed from the bending mode to a nearly buckling mode. As a result, it is possible to improve the effect of absorbing collision energy in case of a vehicle collision.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame structure used for a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, the front frame structure of a vehicle body is composed of right and left front frames and a lower radiator frame. Here, each of the right and left front frames is formed into a box-shaped cross section so as to extend in the longitudinal (front to rear) direction of the vehicle along the inner side of each of right and left front wheel aprons both constructing side walls of an engine compartment. On the other hand, the lower radiator frame is used to join the front ends of the right and left front frames. Further, the rear ends of the right and left front frames are usually butt-joined to a toe board for partitioning the engine compartment from a vehicle compartment.
In the conventional vehicle front frame structure as described above, in case of vehicle collision, it is necessary to effectively absorb shock energy by allowing the two front frames to be deformed in buckling mode. For this purpose, conventionally, in order to allow the front frames to be deformed in buckling mode in case of vehicle collision, a measure has been adopted to form a plurality of bead portions extending in the vertical direction on at least one side surface of the box-shaped front frame, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 3-94137 or in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 3-16580, for instance.
Here, it is basically ideal to form each of the two front frames as a straight part extending in the front to rear direction, in the practical vehicle design. However, the shape of the front frames is severely restricted due to various parts to be arranged in the engine compartment, so that the front frames 1 are inevitably formed with a bent portion 1a roughly midway portion thereof, as shown in FIG. 4. Further, in FIG. 4, each front frame 1 is fixed between a front wheel apron 2 and a toe board 3, and the front frame 1 is further formed with a plurality of vertical bead portions 4.
In the conventional front frame structure as described above, having a plurality of bead portions 4 extending in the vertical direction and formed on the side surface of the front frame with the bent portion 1a formed roughly midway thereof, in case a collision load F is applied to the front end of the front frame 1 and thereby a bending moment M1 is generated at the bent portion 1a, the vertical bead portions 4 cannot effectively suppress the bending deformation at the bent portion 1a, depending on the way of arrangement of the bead portions, with the result that there exists a problem in that collision energy cannot be absorbed effectively. In other words, in the conventional front frames, there exists a problem in that it is difficult to determine how the vertical bead portions 4 are arranged.


Disclosed is a laundry treating apparatus including a cabinet having a front face with a drawer hole defined therein, and a rear cover for forming a rear face of the cabinet, a drawer including a drawer body, a drawer cover for forming a top face of the drawer body, and a cover through-hole defined to penetrate the drawer cover, a tub including a tub body disposed inside the drawer, a tub cover for forming a top face of the tub body, and an inlet defined to penetrate the tub cover, a drum rotatably disposed in the tub, a gasket fixed to the tub cover, a door for closing the inlet by pressing the gasket, a first guide and a second guide, a third guide for providing the path for the door to reciprocate between the first point and the second point, and a door lock.

A laundry treating apparatus is a concept including a washing machine for washing laundry (an object to be washed), a dryer for drying the laundry (an object to be dried), and a complex apparatus that performs both the washing and the drying of the laundry. Among conventional laundry treating apparatuses, there is a drawer-type laundry treating apparatus that is located beneath another apparatus (the washing machine, the dryer, or the complex apparatus) and performs the washing of the laundry.
The drawer-type laundry treating apparatus is constructed to include a cabinet, a drawer extending from the cabinet, a tub that is disposed in the drawer and stores water therein, a drum that is rotatably disposed inside the tub and stores laundry therein, a water supply pipe that supplies the water to the tub, and a drain pipe that drains the water inside the tub.
The drawer-type laundry treating apparatus described above has a risk that the water supply pipe or the drain pipe is twisted inside the cabinet when the drawer is extended from the cabinet or retracted into the cabinet. To solve such problem, among the conventional laundry treating apparatuses, there was one equipped with a support that supports the water supply pipe and the drain pipe inside the cabinet (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2015-0138017).
The support disposed in the conventional drawer-type laundry treating apparatus is constructed to include a first support bar rotatably fixed to the cabinet, and a second support bar having one end rotatably fixed to the drawer and the other end connected to the first support.
Because the conventional support maintains a state in which the first support bar and the second support bar are connected to each other via a connection shaft, the support part becomes to serve as means for transmitting vibration of the drawer (vibration resulted from rotation of the drum, vibration resulted from movement of the drawer, and the like) to the cabinet. In addition, when the vibration of the drawer is transmitted to the connection shaft, durability of the connection shaft may be lowered.
In one example, among the conventional drawer-type laundry treating apparatuses, there were an apparatus having means for supplying detergent to the tub (Korean Patent No. 10-1932471), an apparatus having means for minimizing the water remaining in the tub through a tub exhaust pipe that communicates an interior of the tub with the outside (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2020-0069732), and an apparatus having a pump exhaust pipe that reduces noise of a pump that drains the water stored in the tub. However, in the conventional drawer-type laundry treating apparatus, the means for supplying the water to the tub, the tub exhaust pipe, and the pump exhaust pipe were not able to be designed as an integrated structure, but were only constituted as independent apparatuses.


A reticle has a phase-shifting pattern region, a normal pattern (chrome pattern) region, and a shielding region. The phase-shifting pattern region has first and second apertures and mask portions located therebetween. The first apertures transmit light opposite in phase to light transmitted by the second apertures. The normal pattern region has apertures and mask portions. The semiconductor chip regions of a resist film formed on a wafer are exposed stepwise through the phase-shifting pattern region. Subsequently, the portions of the semiconductor chip regions exposed through the phase-shifting pattern region are exposed through the normal pattern region.

The present invention relates to a reticle for forming a miniaturized pattern in a lithographic step during the process of manufacturing of a semiconductor integrated circuit and to a method of forming the pattern.
In recent years, design rules for semiconductor integrated circuits have been reduced continually to reach a point where semiconductor integrated circuits with 0.25 .mu.m minimum features are appearing on the market. With the increasing miniaturization of pattern geometry, a G-line used conventionally as exposing light in the lithographic step has been replaced in succession by an I-line and by a KrF excimer laser or an ArF excimer laser.
While the development of an aligner using the ArF excimer laser for lithography has been delayed by the problem of laser absorption by a material composing the lens or the like, various ultra-high resolving technologies using the KrF excimer laser have been studied for practical application. Among these, the technology using an alternating phase-shifting mask promises the highest resolution. The alternating phase-shifting mask has a first aperture for transmitting regular-phase light and a second aperture for transmitting reversed-phase light, which are formed adjacent to each other with a mask portion interposed therebetween. Since the intensity of regular-phase light and the intensity of reversed-phase light cancel each other out at the mask portion, a contrast ratio is achieved between the first aperture or second aperture and the mask portion. The alternating phase-shifting mask is therefore used in combination with a negative resist to form an island pattern (isolated pattern) such as a wiring pattern.
However, the negative resist presents the intrinsic problem that a resist pattern formed thereof has inwardly tapered edge profiles (the size of a portion under measurement is different from the size of a portion directly involved in etching in the resist pattern having inwardly tapered edge profiles). When used in combination with a phase-shifting mask, the negative resist also presents the problem associated with pattern placement that the first aperture for transmitting regular-phase light and the second aperture for transmitting reversed-phase light should be formed adjacent to each other.
By contrast, a positive resist is commonly used in a lithographic step of the contemporary semiconductor process since a resist pattern formed of the positive resist has vertical or outwardly tapered edge profiles and therefore is free of the problem that the size of the portion under measurement is different from the size of the portion directly involved in etching.
Accordingly, if the alternating phase-shifting mask and the positive resist are used in combination to form a resist pattern, the problem resulting from the inwardly tapered edge profiles does not occur any more and a positive resist in common use can be used advantageously without any modification, so that excellently high resolution is achieved.
However, the combination of the alternating phase-shifting mask with the positive resist presents the problem that the light transmission portion is formed in an island pattern, which results in an indiscrete, bridged resist pattern. Hence, a miniaturized island pattern cannot be formed by using the alternating phase-shifting mask and the positive resist in combination.
Under such circumstances, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication HEI 8-51068 has disclosed a method of forming a miniaturized island pattern by using two reticles consisting of an alternating phase-shifting mask and a normal chrome reticle. The conventional pattern formation method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication HEI 8-51068 will be described with reference to FIG. 9, FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), and FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b).
FIG. 9 is a flow chart in accordance with the conventional pattern formation method. First, a wafer is coated with a positive resist forming a resist film.
Next, an aligner is loaded with a phase-shifting mask 101 having first and second apertures 101a and 101b and mask portions 101c as shown in FIG. 10(a), which is then subjected to a first reticle alignment. The first apertures 101a transmit light opposite in phase to light transmitted by the second apertures 101b. Namely, the light transmitted by the first apertures 101a and the light transmitted by the second apertures 101b have a 180.degree. phase difference therebetween. Subsequently, a first wafer alignment is performed with respect to the wafer, which is then subjected to a first exposure. As a result, a miniaturized pattern in closed-loop configuration corresponding to the configuration of the mask portions 101c located between the first and second apertures 101a and 101b and having a line width less than the wavelength of exposing light is transferred onto the wafer.
Next, an aligner is loaded with a chrome reticle 102 having an aperture 102a and a mask portion 102b as shown in FIG. 10(b), which is then subjected to a second reticle alignment. Subsequently, a second wafer alignment is performed with respect to the wafer, which is then subjected to a second exposure.
The sequence of reticle alignments may be changed in order by successively performing the first alignment with respect to the chrome reticle 102 having the aperture pattern shown in FIG. 10(b) and the second alignment with respect to the phase-shifting mask 101 having the aperture pattern shown in FIG. 10(a).
As a result, regions where the mask portions 10c of the phase-shifting mask 101 and the mask portion 102b of the chrome reticle 102 overlap (hatched regions in FIG. 11(a)) constitute positive pattern regions 103, so that an island resist pattern 105 composed of the resist film as shown in FIG. 11(b) is formed on the wafer 104.
In accordance with the conventional pattern formation method, however, the total of two reticle alignments should be performed with respect to two reticles consisting of the phase-shifting mask 101 and the chrome reticle 102, while two wafer alignments should be performed accordingly with respect to the single wafer 104.
Since each of reticle loading, reticle alignment, wafer loading, and wafer alignment should be performed twice, considerable time and labor is required. In short, it is necessary to achieve throughput approximately double the throughput achieved by the normal pattern formation method.
In addition, the problem of reproducibility of pattern alignment occurs in performing the two reticle alignments and the two wafer alignments. Rotation reproducibility is particularly low in the reticle alignment so that the accuracy with which a pattern formed by the first exposure and a pattern formed by the second exposure are aligned relative to each other is reduced significantly. In the case where the pattern has an intricate configuration or undulations, allowance should be made for the reduction in alignment accuracy in setting layout rules so that the area occupied by chips formed on the wafer is increased disadvantageously.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A computer system including a database having a database table for storing records including first columns for storing data values, and at least one second column for storing keys identifying records stored in the database. The computer system also including a set of index tables with each having assigned thereto an index table identifier, an arrangement for receiving a query an arrangement for storing a predefined ordered sequence of index table identifiers, and an arrangement for processing the query by checking each one of the index tables for being relevant for the execution of the query, storing the index table identifier for each relevant index table in a query execution table, sorting the query execution table in accordance with the predefined ordered sequence, and executing the query using the index tables identified in the query execution table in the order given by the sorting of the query execution table.

A database typically consists of one or more database tables for storing data values. Records that are stored in the database can be accessed using a key. In order to increase the speed of reading a desired record from a database table the use of index tables is as such known. An index table relates data values of at least one data field of the database table to keys of records that contain a given data value for that data field. For execution of a query specifying a certain data value or range of data values for one of the data fields the respective index table is thus used in order to look up the keys of records that correspond to the specified search criterion. Once the access keys have been obtained from the index table the respective records can be read instantaneously from the database.

Computer system for optimizing the processing of a query


A check valve includes a tubular valve seat frame, a valve seat that is fixedly secured to the inside of the valve seat frame and has a communication hole through which a working fluid flows, and a valve body that is on the working fluid outflow side of the valve seat for opening and closing the valve seat. The valve seat frame, the valve seat, and the valve body are put into one unit so that the check valve has a simple structure and a good assembly property, and can be manufactured at low cost. The check valve is included, whereby a small, durable, and high-performance pump can be provided.

Hitherto, a pump for allowing a working fluid to flow has included a check valve as a resistance element in a fluid flow pass. Particularly, there are check valves adopted for a small motor for changing the volume of a pump chamber by a piston or a diaphragm for allowing a working fluid to flow.
As the first related art, a structure of a check valve made up of a pump suction and discharge unit having a suction port and a discharge port of working fluid, a pump valve seat unit having a suction side check valve and a discharge side check valve, and a pump actuator unit with the pump valve seat unit fixed via an O ring as a sealant between the pump suction and discharge unit and the pump actuator unit and a pump including the check valve is known as a structure for controlling working fluid when the working fluid is sucked into a pump chamber, and discharging the working fluid into the outside of the pump chamber (JP-A-10-220357).
As the second related art, a check valve including a valve seat, a ball on the suction side of a working fluid for opening and closing the valve seat, a stopper with an opening for limiting the movement amount of the ball, and a joint member for assembling the valve seat and the stopper into one piece is known as a check valve in a fluid flow pass for sucking the working fluid into a pump chamber and allowing the working fluid to circulate only in one direction in discharging the working fluid into the outside of the pump chamber. Further, the check valve is pressed against and fixed to a pump case by a press member. A pump including a pair of the check valves on the suction side and the discharge side of the working fluid is also known (JP-A-2000-2350).
Further, as the third related art, a check valve made up of a valve seat formed in a pump housing, a ball for opening and closing the valve seat, a ball stopper for limiting the movement amount of the ball, and a coil spring for pressing the ball against the valve seat and a pump including the check valve are known (JP-A-2001-173816).
However, in the invention described in JP-A-10-220357, when the pump valve seat unit includes the suction side check valve and the discharge side check valve, the size in the plane direction increases. Since the pump valve seat unit is sandwiched between the pump suction and discharge unit, and the pump actuator unit via the O ring and is fixed, the pump performance may become unstable because the pump chamber space area is not constant.
Further, the sealing property of the O ring can degrade with the use of the O ring for a long term. Also, it is inconvenient to replace the O ring at regular time intervals and the inconvenient to consider the chemical resistance depending on the type of working fluid and change the material of the O ring.
The pump valve seat unit is molded of a synthetic resin and the suction side check valve has a structure wherein a separation section of a suction section and a discharge section of fluid floats above the pump chamber. Thus, when the actuator is driven, the pump valve seat unit becomes deformed and a predetermined pressure in the pump chamber cannot be provided. The valve seat also wears as working fluid flows and a flaw can easily occur because of cavitation, etc., which causes insufficient durability.
In the invention described in JP-A-2000-2350, the ball is included in the space provided between the valve seat and the stopper, and moves in the space, to thereby open and close the valve seat. However, the gap between the ball guide wall of the stopper and the ball is small, and movement of the ball is hindered because of contact resistance. Since there is rapid change in the opening width on the seating face of a working fluid outflow section of the valve seat, a vortex may occur which inhibits the smooth flow of the working fluid.
Since the ball is molded of cemented carbide or ceramics, and the weight per unit volume is larger than that of a general working fluid, the ball is hard to move when opening and closing the valve seat. Thus, the check valve is unsuitable for a small pump for making the working fluid flow out at a high frequency using a diaphragm, for example.
Further, in the invention described in JP-A-2001-173816, the check valve has a structure wherein the ball is pressed against the valve seat side by a coil spring at all times and the valve seat is opened with the pressure of the working fluid, and is closed by the elastic force of the coil spring. Thus, the inflow pressure into a fluid inflow path requires a considerable size for the elastic force of the coil spring and the weight of the ball, and it is difficult to adopt the check valve as a small check valve for opening and closing the valve seat based on the inertance value difference between the inlet flow pass and the outlet flow pass of working fluid, for example.
In such a pump, a coil spring is included in the flow pass of the working fluid in the check valve and thus the flow of the working fluid is inhibited by the coil spring. Further, the fluid flow pass is curved rapidly from the check valve and thus the flow resistance of the working fluid increases.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a check valve which has a simple structure and a good assembly property that can be provided at low cost. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a small, durabile, and high-performance pump including the check valve.

Check valve and pump including check valve


A golf club head comprising two components, wherein the first component comprise a ball striking surface, a striking face return, and a sole extension with a rear mass. And wherein the second component comprises a lower density material, comprising part of the crown and part of the sole. The first component comprises a majority of the mass of the golf club head, having a rear mass comprising 20% to 35% of the mass of the golf club head.

In general, the club head mass is the total amount of structural mass and the amount of discretionary mass. In an ideal club design, having a constant total swing weight, structural mass would be minimized (without sacrificing resiliency) to provide a designer with sufficient discretionary mass for optional placement to customize and maximize club performance. Structural mass generally refers to the mass of the materials required to provide the club head with the structural resilience to withstand repeated impacts. Structural mass is highly design-dependent, and provides a designer with a relatively low amount of control over specific mass distribution. Conversely, discretionary mass is any additional mass (beyond the minimum structural requirements) that may be added to the club head design solely to customize the performance and/or forgiveness of the club. There is a need in the art for alternative designs to all metal golf club heads to provide a means for maximizing discretionary weight to maximize club head moment of inertia (MOI) and lower/back center of gravity (CG), and provide options for golf ball flight manipulation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.