A digital engine analyzer has an oscilloscope display and is controlled by microprocessors operating under menu-driven stored program control. The analyzer receives analog input signals from an engine being analyzed and calculates and display spark plug burn time information derived from a single analog input signal, the data being displayed in both numerical and bar graph form. The measured burn time is the time that the ignition voltage signal is above a predetermined threshold level which is greater than the amplitude of the ringing portion of the ignition voltage signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for electronically diagnosing and analyzing the performance of internal combustion engines. The invention relates particularly to digital engine analyzers of the type which
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is an improvement of the digital engine analyzer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,378. One of the waveforms commonly analyzed in engine analyzers of that type is the secondary ignition pattern, which has a distinctive shape. The pattern includes a high-amplitude spike of very short rise and fall times at the beginning of the cylinder power stroke, caused by the buildup of voltage across the spark plug just prior to its firing; a plateau region of medium amplitude, which is the "burn time" when the spark plug is actually firing; and an oscillatory or "ringing" portion after termination of the spark plug firing. It will be appreciated that the power stroke is the movement of the piston away from the spark plug in response to combustion of the fuel, thereby delivering power to the crankshaft.
Heretofore the spark plug burn time has rarely been used as a diagnostic aid. However, useful diagnostic information can be gained by determining the spark plug burn time, and particularly by comparing the spark plug burn times of the several cylinders. For example, short burn times may be indicative of fouled plugs and/or high resistance in the secondary of the ignition. Comparisons of burn times can determine if one or more cylinders may have faulty spark plugs and/or high resistance in the ignition components.
It is known to measure the spark plug burn time, one system for doing so being disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,383. But such prior art systems simply display numerical data for the spark plug burn times, which makes it difficult to readily compare the burn times of the several cylinders. Furthermore, such systems require the use of input signals from both the primary and the secondary of the ignition coil in order to derive the burn time information.
One of the principal diagnostic techniques utilized in prior engine analyzers is the display in kilovolts of the peak voltage across the spark plug for each cylinder firing. In the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,378, this information is displayed in a number of ways, viz., a display of the secondary waveform itself, a bar graph of the peak values for the several cylinders, and the display of numerical minimum and maximum values for each cylinder. But none of these techniques permits the analysis of the peak voltage performance of a single cylinder over time, independently of the other cylinders.
Another diagnostic technique used in prior engine analyzers is cylinder shorting, i.e., shorting out the ignition voltage to a selected cylinder. The purpose of cylinder shorting is to determine the contribution of each individual cylinder to the overall power output of the engine by successively shorting, or preventing operation of, selected cylinders and noting the effect on the speed of the engine. If the cylinder were contributing no power, then the shorting of that cylinder would not decrease the engine speed. If, on the other hand, the individual cylinder being shorted were a normal contributor to the overall power, then the speed of the engine would drop in response to the shorting. If each individual cylinder contributed the same amount to the overall power, then the shorting of each cylinder would result in substantially the same speed drop.
In modern computer-controlled engines with catalytic converters it is difficult and potentially harmful to short out cylinders. Indeed, engine manufacturers specifically warn against the use of this technique. Accordingly, at least one prior system has obtained an indication of the cylinder-by-cylinder power contribution or power "balance" without shorting the cylinders, by means of measuring the variations in firing times between the cylinders. The system provides a bar graph of the variations in firing times between the cylinders. But this display shows the time variation for each firing and, therefore, can experience considerable flutter over several engine cycles, making it difficult to read.
In a digital engine analyzer, the analog engine signals are converted into digital information by sampling the analog waveform at a predetermined rate and generating digital representations of the sample values. That digital information is stored and then displayed on the oscilloscope screen. The oscilloscope is a cathode-ray tube, and the display thereon consists of a multiplicity of dots arranged in horizontal rows with a predetermined number of dots in each row, this number representing the maximum number of samples which can be simultaneously displayed across the screen, which places an upper limit on the resolution of the waveform display. This is not a problem if the amplitude of the analog waveform is relatively constant over time or the rate of change thereof is not great. However, during those portions of the waveform containing very rapid rise and fall times, such as during the spike portion at the beginning of the cylinder ignition waveform pattern, it is difficult or impossible to faithfully represent the actual waveform on a digital oscilloscope wherein an entire cylinder period is to be displayed.
This problem can be solved by increasing the sampling rate, but if all the samples are displayed this would prevent an entire cylinder period from being displayed on the screen. In the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,378, the spike portion of the cylinder ignition waveform is displayed by capturing the analog peak value and digitizing it and then later inserting that value in the displayed waveform. But the insertion doesn't occur until the following engine cycle at the earliest, and a new peak is captured only once every several engine cycles, depending on engine speed, so that the displayed waveform is not a true "live" waveform. Furthermore, the peak value might get inserted at the wrong point, resulting in distortion of the waveform.
Most modern automobile engines have on-board computers which control and/or monitor a number of different engine parameters and which produce a serial data stream indicating the status of monitored parameters. This data stream may be accessed through the Assembly Line Data Link (ALDL) connector on the engine. Hand-held diagnostic instruments, known as scanners, are adapted to plug into the ALDL connector and access the serial data stream and interpret and display the information. But such scanners have very limited displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,127 discloses the concept of interfacing such a scanner with an engine analyzer so that all of the parameter data available to the scanner can be simultaneously displayed on the cathode-ray tube of the analyzer, but the patent does not disclose any means for accomplishing this result. Furthermore, the scanner must be utilized close to the engine, while the engine analyzer may be remotely located and, therefore, it may be difficult for the operator to read the engine analyzer display while at the same time operating the scanner controls.


The present invention relates to a method for utilizing a mobile station for the transmission of authorization information requiring verification in a telecommunication network comprising the mobile station. In the method, the information to be verified is transmitted to the mobile station, the authorization information transmitted is presented on the display of the mobile station, the authorization information presented is read from the display of the mobile station, and the authenticity of the authorization information thus read is verified. According to the invention, the authorization information is sent in a form comprising information to be presented in a graphic form, and the authorization information is presented on the display of the mobile station using a user-independent function of the mobile station in question for the presentation of graphic information.

The use of mobile stations as a means of sending and receiving information in the form of text and graphics is constantly increasing. Textual information can be transmitted using e.g. the short message service (SMS). Certain mobile station models are also capable of receiving various logos, icons or messages containing images.
The use of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is gaining ground in solutions requiring a link between portable terminals, such as mobile stations, and Internet applications, e.g. electronic mail, WWW (World Wide Web), news groups. Using the Wireless Application Protocol, it is possible to transmit visual information as well. The Wireless Application Protocol provides an architecture which adapts mobile telephones, browsers used in mobile telephones and the WWW into a functional entity. The HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) used in the WWW is converted into WML (Wireless Mark-up Language), which is a version developed for a wireless environment, when information is to be transmitted to mobile stations. At present, the description language of the WAP standard is the WML language, but the language may also be understood to be any other description language consistent with the future WAP standard. The Wireless Application Protocol consists of the following five layers: Wireless Application Environment (WAE), Wireless Session Layer (WSL), Wireless Transaction Layer (WTP), Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) and Wireless Datagram Layer (WDP). 'Wireless application environment' refers e.g. to a WTA (Wireless Telephone Application) or to some other appropriate environment. As the lowest layer there is additionally a system-dependent layer which determines the method of conveying information within the system in question. The specifications relating to the Wireless Application Protocol are available at the WWW address www.wapforum.org.
To expand the sphere of application of present-day mobile stations so as to allow even the transmission of information requiring verification, such as various types of admission tickets or cash vouchers or equivalent, many kinds of solutions have been proposed. According to one method, the solution is to transmit the information into a mobile station by utilizing the short message function. Instead of visual verification, the verification can also be accomplished by utilizing e.g. the infrared link of the mobile station or a separate ticket printer, by means of which the user himself prints out the actual ticket to be used, observing instructions received via the Internet or in connection with an order placed via the mobile station.
A problem with a verification procedure implemented using the short message function is that the user is required to perform certain actions to present the information to be verified in connection with the verification procedure. A further problem is that, if only visual verification of the information is desired, it is not possible to add to a normal text message any property or check element of a visual nature. Such visual components include e.g. various images or patterns.
A problem with the use of an infrared link or a ticket printer is that, in order to be able to use a ticket already ordered and possibly paid for, the user has to perform complicated and time-consuming additional operations with his mobile station.
In addition, in both of the two alternative solutions described above, the user has to transfer the ticket information by some means from the mobile station to an external device in order to obtain from the device an actual ticket showing e.g. a seat number or other essential information. A separate device as described above is necessary because otherwise the text message or business card containing the ticket can be easily forged and/or copied for several people.

Transmission of authorization information


The present invention is a thermogravimetric instrument having a ceramic sample support and a ceramic balance beam. The ceramic platform is rigidly attached to the hot end of the ceramic balance beam. An inert metal liner is press fitted into the ceramic sample platform. In a preferred embodiment, a thermocouple is directly attached to the inert metal liner. The thermocouple wires are routed through the length of the ceramic balance beam and are attached to the cold end of the ceramic balance beam with adhesive. The inert metal liner could be fabricated from platinum or from platinum alloys.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to thermogravimetric techniques for determining the composition, phase, structure or other properties of a sample of material.
Thermogravimetric Analysis ("TGA") techniques generally comprise measuring the weight change of a material as a function of temperature, or as a function of time at a controlled temperature. The sample temperature is strictly controlled throughout the analysis. The classic TGA method comprises heating the sample at a constant heating rate, e.g., at 10.degree. C. to 50.degree. C. per minute, while the weight change or the percent of weight change of the sample is recorded versus temperature. Whenever the sample undergoes a chemical or physical transformation that affects the weight of the sample, the change in weight may be interpreted to analyze the composition, structure, or thermal stability of the sample.
There are two general types of TGA instruments: vertical TGA instruments and horizontal TGA instruments. Vertical TGA instruments support the sample/reference holders vertically. Horizontal TGA systems support the sample/reference holders at the end of a horizontal beam. The present invention applies to horizontal TGA instruments.
TGA instruments can utilize either direct or indirect temperature measurement. Direct temperature measurement designs have the temperature sensor in physical contact with either the sample or the sample holder. The sensor is in physical contact with the sample or the sample holder when there exists a low thermal resistance path between the sensor and the sample or the sample holder. Indirect temperature measurement designs have the temperature measuring sensor separated from the sample and the sample holder by the atmosphere which surrounds the sample. Each type of temperature measurement has advantages. The main advantage of indirect temperature measurement lies in the reduced complexity of the balance beam and temperature measuring apparatus. The main advantage of direct temperature measurement lies in the increased accuracy of the temperature measurement because thermal gradients between the sample and the sensor are significantly reduced.
Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis ("DTGA") instruments measure the weight change of a sample of the material with reference to the weight change of a reference material, as a function of the temperature of the sample, or as a function of time at a controlled temperature. DTGA instruments compensate for the effects of heating rate and ambient conditions that could cause changes in the measured weight of the sample and reference. The DTGA technique can increase the sensitivity of the measurement of the change in sample weight by removing large offsets in the value of the sample weight whenever the precision of the measuring apparatus is limited.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry ("DSC") is a thermal analysis technique which measures the temperatures and heat flow associated with transitions in materials as a function of time and temperature. These measurements provide quantitative and qualitative information about the sample transitions that involve endothermic or exothermic processes, or changes in heat capacity.
Differential Thermal Analysis ("DTA"), like DSC, measures the temperatures and heat flow associated with transitions in materials as a function of time and temperature. However, unlike DSC, DTA results are semi-quantitative. DTA is generally carried out at higher temperatures than DSC.
Simultaneous TGA/DTA and simultaneous TGA/DSC, measure weight change and differential temperature changes simultaneously in a sample and a reference, as a function of temperature, or as a function of time at a controlled temperature. Simultaneous measurement of these two physical properties improves productivity of the measurement and simplifies interpretation of the results. The complementary information obtained from the simultaneous measurement allows differentiation between events which have no associated weight change (e.g. melting and crystallization), and those which involve a weight change (e.g. degradation and evaporation).
The simultaneous measurement of weight changes and differential temperature changes on the same sample also assures identical experimental conditions and data sampling for both measurements, thereby eliminating those sources of uncertainty.
Differential temperature measurements generally require the use of a direct temperature measurement design because the differential temperatures being measured are typically not greater than the thermal gradients which occur with indirect temperature measurements.
Conventional horizontal simultaneous TGA/DTA, and simultaneous TGA/DSC instruments are generally constructed with either one or two support beams. The beam(s) extend from the balance pivot point, which is located outside the TGA furnace, to the sample support point, which is located inside the furnace. Single-beam simultaneous designs have two support positions at the end of the beam. The temperature at each support position can be measured independently. The temperature measurements can be combined for DTA or DSC measurements.
Two-beam designs provide for differential temperature and weight measurements. The sample beam provides the sample temperature and weight measurements and the reference beam provides the reference temperature and weight measurements for DTA/DTGA or DSC/DTGA analysis.
Alternate designs for horizontal simultaneous DTA/TGA and DSC/TGA instruments utilize multiple beams, some of which are attached to balance mechanisms and some of which are fixed to rigid mounts outside the furnace. For example, a three beam design uses two rigid mount beams, each with a sample platform, to measure the differential temperature of a sample and a reference. The third beam simultaneously measures the weight change of another sample of the same material. Many different design configurations are possible, including designs with and without temperature measurement at the end of the beam, and with and without balance mechanisms attached to the beams.
The accuracy of weight change measurements in conventional horizontal TGA instruments is reduced by the problem of beam growth. The term "beam growth" refers to the dimensional change of the balance beam due to thermal expansion of the beam as the sample and beam are heated in the TGA furnace. If the dimensional change in the TGA beam moves the sample further away from the pivot point of the horizontal balance, then an apparent increase in sample weight will be recorded. Conversely, any movement of the sample toward the pivot point, typically caused by cooling of the beam, will result in an apparent decrease in sample weight. Normally a correction is applied to the TGA weight change measurement to compensate for beam growth. In conventional horizontal TGA designs the correction is often complex and inaccurate due to the simultaneous thermal expansion of two or more dissimilar materials in the balance beam/support assembly. The accuracy of the correction is further reduced when the sample support materials are not rigidly fixed with respect to each other, and with respect to the balance pivot point.
The accuracy of the weight change measurement in conventional horizontal design TGA instruments is also affected by the accuracy and reproducibility of the sample placement. The sample is usually placed in a removable holder which is then placed on, or suspended from, a sample support at the end of the TGA balance beam. Any variation in the distance between the balance pivot point and the sample will cause an error in the weight measurement. In indirect temperature measurement designs the sample holder is typically suspended by a bail wire from the support. In direct temperature measurement designs the sample holder typically sits on a temperature measurement platform or bead. Any movement in the platform or bead due to mishandling, heat annealing, or thermal expansion will adversely affect the accuracy of the temperature measurement.
Conventional horizontal simultaneous TGA/DTA instruments are constructed with a platinum liner that acts as a sample support platform. This liner is welded to a thermocouple bead. The thermocouple wires are routed through the interior of a hollow balance beam to exit at the cold end of the beam, near the balance pivot. This construction has two principal disadvantages. First, the sample holder is held in position only by the thermocouple wires. This is not a very secure construction, and after several runs to high temperatures the thermocouple wires become soft and malleable, allowing the sample holder to move. Furthermore, the act of loading a sample holder can move the thermocouple wires, and therefore, the sample holder. Any movement of the sample holder adversely affects the sample weight measurement, because it results in a change in the distance between the pivot point of the balance and the sample. Second, the platinum liner itself tends to become soft and to lose its shape after several runs. This also adversely affects the consistency and reproducibility of the temperature measurement.


Provided are systems, methods and techniques by which a wind-powered energy generating platform, secured to an anchor, can pull (or winch) itself beneath the surface of the water and thereby avoid most of the significant effects of storms and waves. In more particularized aspects, a variable-buoyancy anchor is utilized, thereby facilitating the construction and transportation of the entire assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to wind-driven power generation (e.g., electrical power generation) in a water-based environment, and is particularly applicable to the placement of windmills on oceans and other deep bodies of water. The term "windmill" is used herein to mean any apparatus that converts wind energy to useful mechanical energy (typically, rotational mechanical energy).
2. Description of the Related Art
A fairly significant amount of effort has been directed toward generating usable energy from wind power. The advantages of wind power over competing potential energy sources are clear, i.e., wind power is a clean and renewable energy source. However, the costs of wind-powered energy generation often are significantly higher than the costs of alternative energy sources.
The most common conventional implementation of a wind-powered energy generation plant is a windmill farm, which involves the construction of a cluster of windmills on a fairly large area of land. An example is the windmill farm just outside of Palm Springs, Calif. Typically, a land-based windmill, such as is used in a windmill farm, has a plurality of elongated radially extending blades (or vanes) attached to a central rotor. Wind causes the vanes to rotate, turning the rotor, and this rotational energy is conveyed to an electrical generator, which in turn converts such kinetic rotational energy into electrical power.
This type of windmill is a horizontal-axis windmill, because the blades rotate about a horizontal axis. Less common are vertical-axis windmills in which the blades rotate about a vertical axis.
In order to be cost-effective, a windmill farm generally requires a large area of land in a location where strong (and preferably consistent) winds are present. However, very few such locations are available, particularly near the locations where power is needed most (e.g., in large cities or near certain manufacturing facilities). Moreover, where such potential windmill farm sites are available, it may be difficult or costly to obtain the necessary use permits that would enable one to construct a windmill farm.
In response to these difficulties, a number of proposals have been made to implement ocean-based (or other water-based) windmill facilities. Unlike land-based implementations, a water-based windmill often is of the vertical-axis turbine type. Beyond specified distances from the shore, an ocean-based wind-powered energy-generating facility generally will not require government permits. In addition, the large, unobstructed ocean areas provide an ideal environment for strong and consistent winds. However, these same conditions also give rise to more severe storms than generally are encountered on land. Such weather conditions and the potential for large and severe wave conditions make it difficult to construct a power generation facility that can avoid significant damage or destruction and thereby operate over the long term.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and system for locating control channels, particularly digital control channels, are described. By grouping the channels which are candidates for carrying supervisory messages in blocks indicative of their relative likelihood for being used as control channels, a mobile station can begin its search for a control channel with channels which are most likely to actually be control channels. Placing location information on other channels allows the mobile station to be redirected to a control channel when it reads one of these other channels. Similarly, by placing information describing the location of a control channel in a message associated with handoff, a mobile station avoids the necessity of having to relocate a new control channel associated with the base station to which the mobile has been handed off.

The present invention relates generally to radiocommunication systems having control channels and, more particularly, to the location of digital control channels in such systems.
Radiocommunication systems have traditionally been analog in nature. The rapid growth of radiocommunication systems, however, has compelled system designers to search for ways in which system capacity can be increased without reducing communication quality beyond consumer tolerance thresholds. One way in which increased capacity can be provided is by changing from analog to digital communication techniques. In North America, this change was implemented by transitioning from the analog AMPS system to a digital system (D-AMPS) which is now standardized as IS-54B.
Since a large consumer base having equipment that operated only in the analog domain existed prior to the introduction of digital techniques, a dual-mode (analog and digital) standard was adopted in IS-54B so that analog compatibility was provided in tandem with digital communication capability. For example, the IS-54B standard provides for both analog and digital traffic channels, wherein the system operator can replace analog traffic channels with digital traffic channels, and vice-versa, in a dynamic manner to accommodate fluctuating traffic patterns among analog and digital users.
In addition to traffic channels, radiocommunication systems also provide control channels which are used to carry call setup data messages between base stations and mobile stations. According to IS-54B, for example, there are 21 dedicated analog control channels which are assigned to fixed frequencies for each of the A and B carriers. These analog control channels are termed xe2x80x9cdedicatedxe2x80x9d since they are always found at the same frequency and, therefore, can be readily located by the mobile stations which need to monitor the data which is transmitted thereon.
For example, when in the idle state (i.e., turned on but not in use), a mobile station in an IS-54B system tunes to and then continuously monitors the strongest control channel at its known frequency (generally, the control channel of the cell in which the mobile station is located at that moment) and may receive or initiate a telephone call through the corresponding base station. When moving between cells while in the idle state, the mobile station will eventually xe2x80x9closexe2x80x9d radio connection on the control channel of the xe2x80x9coldxe2x80x9d cell and tune to the control channel of the xe2x80x9cnewxe2x80x9d cell. The initial tuning to, and the change of, control channel are both accomplished automatically by scanning all the control channels at their known frequencies in operation in the cellular system to find the xe2x80x9cbestxe2x80x9d control channel. When a control channel with good reception quality is found, the mobile station remains tuned to this channel until the quality deteriorates again. In this manner, all mobile stations are nearly always xe2x80x9cin touchxe2x80x9d with the system.
As such hybrid systems mature, it is anticipated that the number of analog users will diminish and the number of digital users will increase. Eventually all of the analog traffic channels will probably be replaced by digital traffic channels. When that occurs, less expensive digital-only mobile units can replace the current dual-mode units. However, such digital-only mobile units would be unable to scan the analog control channels currently provided in the IS-54B system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide digital control channels to radiocommunication systems which support digital technology, such as that described by IS-54B. In addition to compatibility issues, digital control channels are also desirable for other reasons described in the above-identified application, for example an enhanced sleep mode for mobile units which results in longer battery life. Whereas IS-54B provides dedicated control channels, more flexibility is desirable in assigning the number of control channels and the frequencies for these control channels to optimize system capacity and to support hierarchical cell structures, i.e., microcells, picocells, etc. If, however, the digital control channels are not located on known frequencies, the question arises as to how the remote units will be able to locate these control channels for monitoring.
One conventional radiocommunication system used in Europe, known as the GSM, is already an all-digital system. In this system, the mobile unit simply scans through all of the available channels until it identifies a digital control channel. This location technique, however, is too slow for systems having a large number of channels. Moreover, the problem of locating a digital control channel after call termination is exacerbated by handoffs of mobile units that move from cell to cell, since a mobile unit cannot then even use its knowledge of the location of the control channel which it had been monitoring prior to the call.
These and other drawbacks and limitations of conventional systems and methods are overcome according to the present invention wherein digital control channel location is expedited by, for example, prescribing a search pattern based on a relative likelihood of finding a digital control channel on a particular channel or group of channels and providing digital control channel location information on other channels.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, channels are grouped into probability blocks which are ranked in accordance with the relative likelihood of finding the digital control channel in each block. A mobile unit can then look for a digital control channel within a highest ranked probability block, followed by a second highest ranked probability block and so on, until a digital control channel is located.
According to other exemplary embodiments of the present invention, information can be provided on other channels, such as traffic channels or analog control channels, which points the mobile station to a particular channel on which a digital control channel can be found or a group of channels within which a digital control channel can be found. In this way, the location process is expedited when compared with sequential channel searching.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a mobile unit can receive information about digital control channel location during call termination. In this way, the mobile unit need not repeat the process of trying to determine where a digital control channel is located immediately after call termination, which is particularly useful in situations where the mobile moved to a new cell during the call.

Method and apparatus for distinguishing between a digital control channel and a digital traffic channel in a radiocommunication system


A request to obtain data items associated with an entity is received from a client device. One or more computing devices determine whether access to the data items is restricted by an access control policy and whether the client device complies with the access control policy. In response to determining that the client device complies with the access control policy, at least a portion of the data items that the access control policy permits the client device to access are identified. An integration of the at least a portion of the data items with additional data items is initiated.

Data access sharing provides configurable permissions to share items between data sets associated with the same entity. In some situations, a single entity, such as a work team or an individual user, may want to share event items between the data sets of different calendars. For example, a user may have a personal calendar with private appointments, birthdays, vacation details, etc. as well as a work calendar with meetings, office holidays, and deadlines. Conventional approaches generally require the user to manually copy items from one calendar to the other or use a synchronization application that simply duplicates all items from one calendar to the other. This creates security and privacy problems, as the user may not wish for a personal appointment, such as a doctor's visit, to be visible on their work calendars. Similarly, a business may not want details of their employees confidential meetings visible on a personal calendar that may then be shared with non-employees of the business.


A riding mower includes a mower body frame extending in front-and-rear directions between a pair of left and right rear wheels, a horizontal installation surface defined in an area near the rear wheels, an engine arranged on the installation surface, rearward of axle(s) of the rear wheels, an operator's seat arranged forward of the engine, and a fuel tank. The fuel tank includes a front tank portion extending in the front-and-rear directions below the operator's seat, and a rear tank portion connected with the front tank portion, extending in mower body front-and-rear directions on one side of the engine in mower body transverse directions, and extending higher than the front tank portion.

JP05-246256A discloses a riding mower provided with an engine mounted to a rear part of a mower body, an operator's seat arranged at a location immediately front of the engine, a battery arranged in a space below the operator's seat, and a fuel tank. In this riding mower, since the heavy battery and fuel tank are arranged below the operator's seat, a rearward shift of the center of gravity due to the engine mounted in the rear part is resolved and, thereby improving the weight balance of the entire mower body. However, since the space below the operator's seat is limited, a large-capacity fuel tank cannot be arranged. If the large-capacity fuel tank is arranged forcibly, it may cause another problem that the operator's seat is located high.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,799 discloses a riding mower in which an engine, a fuel tank, and an air cleaner are arranged in a horizontal plane behind an operator's seat. In this case, the fuel tank is located lateral to the engine, and the air cleaner is located behind the fuel tank. Since the fuel tank, the operator's seat, the engine, and the air cleaner are arranged without overlapping with each other when seen from above of the riding mower, it becomes possible to suppress the height of the riding mower. However, the capacity of the fuel tank becomes smaller, resulting in more frequent refueling.


A distinct cultivar of Anthurium plant named xe2x80x98VR 098xe2x80x99, characterized by its upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant habit; freely clumping growth habit; durable dark green leaves; dark pink-colored spathes with grayed red-colored spadices that are positioned above and beyond the foliage on strong and erect scapes; freely flowering habit; and good inflorescence longevity.

Botanical classification: Anthurium andreanum.
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98VR 098xe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Anthurium plant, botanically known as Anthurium andreanum, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98VR 098xe2x80x99.
The new Anthurium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Schipluiden, The Netherlands. The objective of the program is to create and develop new freely clumping and freely flowering Anthurium cultivars with strong roots, dark green leaves, attractive spathe color, and good inflorescence longevity.
The new Anthurium originated from a cross by the Inventor on or about Sep. 28, 1995 of the Inventor""s proprietary Anthurium andreanum selection code number 90-41 as the female, or seed, parent with the Inventor""s proprietary Anthurium andreanum selection code number 90-28 as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar VR 098 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Schipluiden, The Netherlands in 1998.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by meristem culture in a laboratory in Belgium has shown that the unique features of this new Anthurium plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
The new Anthurium has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of the cultivar VR 098. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98VR 098xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely clumping growth habit.
3. Durable dark green leaves.
4. Dark pink-colored spathes with grayed red-colored spadices that are positioned above and beyond the foliage on strong and erect scapes.
5. Freely flowering habit.
6. Good inflorescence longevity.
Plants of the new Anthurium can be compared to plants of the female parent, the selection 90-41. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the selection 90-41 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium had a stronger growth habit than plants of the selection 90-41.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium had larger and more durable leaves than plants of the selection 90-41.
3. Spathe color of plants of the new Anthuriums was darker pink than spathe color of plants of the selection 90-41.
Plants of the new Anthurium can be compared to plants of the male parent, the selection 90-28. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the selection 90-28 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium were bushier than plants of the selection 90-28.
2. Leaves of plants of the new Anthurium were lighter green in color than leaves of plants of the selection 90-28.
3. Spathe color of plants of the new Anthuriums was lighter pink than spathe color of plants of the selection 90-28.
Plants of the new Anthurium can be compared to plants of the cultivar Anouk, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/968,320, filed concurrently with this application. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the cultivar Anouk in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium were not as compact as plants of the cultivar Anouk.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium had larger leaves than plants of the cultivar Anouk.
3. Plants of the new Anthurium had larger spathes than plants of the cultivar Anouk.
Plants of the new Anthurium can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Rapido, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the cultivar Rapido in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium had larger and more durable leaves than plants of the cultivar Rapido.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium had narrower and smaller spathes than plants of the cultivar Rapido.
3. Spathe color of plants of the new Anthurium were lighter pink than spathe color of plants of the cultivar Rapido.


Apparatuses, systems, and methods to perform continuous read operations are described. A system configured to perform such continuous read operations enables improved access to and processing of data for performance of associated functions. For instance, one apparatus described herein includes a memory device having an array that includes a plurality of pages of memory cells. The memory device includes a page buffer coupled to the array and a continuous read buffer. The continuous read buffer includes a first cache to receive a first segment of data values and a second cache to receive a second segment of the data values from the page buffer. The memory device is configured to perform a continuous read operation on the first and second segments of data from the first cache and the second cache of the continuous read buffer.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its data and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, read only memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and resistance variable memory such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistive random access memory (RRAN4), and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), among others.
Memory devices can be combined together to form a storage volume of a memory system, such as a solid state drive (SSD). An SSD can include non-volatile memory (e.g., NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory), and/or can include volatile memory (e.g., DRAM and SRAM), among various other types of non-volatile and volatile memory.
An SSD can be used to replace hard disk drives as the main storage volume for a computer, as an SSD may have advantages over hard drives in terms of performance, size, weight, ruggedness, operating temperature range, and power consumption. For example, SSDs can have superior performance when compared to magnetic disk drives due to their lack of moving parts, which may avoid seek time, latency, and other electro-mechanical delays associated with magnetic disk drives.

Apparatuses and methods to perform continuous read operations


A table saw such as a chop saw, a miter saw, compound miter saw or a sliding compound miter saw that is provided with a laser arbor alignment system. An opaque shield or transparent shield having an opaque mask blocks the laser beam from being projected into a range of normal operator eye positions. One or more openings in the shield or opaque mask provide a sight line on a workpiece initially. As the saw is moved into engagement with the workpiece, the shield is pivoted away from the workpiece and a solid laser line is projected on the workpiece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a miter saw having a laser, or other light source, alignment system that uses a beam of light for positioning a saw blade.
2. Background Art
Miter saws are used to cut wood and other materials at precise angles. For example, miter saws are used to cut crown moldings, cove moldings, and other trim pieces and structural members at precise angles. Miter saws generally have a circular blade that is rotated at a high rate of speed to cut workpieces. The blade is guarded by a retractable blade guard that covers the saw blade but is retracted as the blade is brought into contact with a workpiece. The workpiece is generally retained on a supporting table that is adjustable and, in conjunction with a fence, is used to position the workpiece for cutting by the saw blade.
Before cutting, workpieces are generally marked according to precise measurements to assure accuracy. A common problem with miter saws is that it takes a great deal of skill to consistently align the workpiece with the saw blade so that the saw blade cuts at the desired location and at the desired angle. With prior miter saws, it has not been possible to know if the saw alignment is proper until the saw begins to cut the material. If the workpiece is not set up at the correct location with the correct angular orientation, the workpiece may be ruined if it is not properly aligned when the saw blade contacts the workpiece.
A laser arbor for a rotary saw has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,727 to Kelly. The Kelly patent discloses the use of a semiconductor laser arbor for a rotary saw that is actuated by a centrifugal switch and directs a line of laser light on a workpiece. The Kelly patent does not disclose any shielding to prevent the laser from being directed into an operators eyes. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,757 to Caluori et al. discloses a similar semiconductor laser light beam alignment device for a rotary saw having a focusing lens that causes the light beam to be directed to the blade cut line. The Caluori patent likewise fails to disclose any shielding that prevents the laser from shining into an operator's eyes. Both patents also fail to disclose an effective approach to preclude inadvertent operation of the laser when the arbor is disassembled. Furthermore, both patents fail to disclose a system for precisely aligning the laser with the point at which the blade cuts into the workpiece.
An example of a blade guard for a power saw is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,343 to O'Banion. The O'Banion patent discloses a louvered blade guard that an operator can see through while cutting a workpiece. The blade guard has tapered louvers that provide a line-of-sight through a portion of the guard while impeding ejection of cutting debris through the louvers. The O'Banion patent does not disclose or suggest a laser arbor for a rotary saw or any reason to combine the louvered blade guard disclosed with a laser alignment device.
These problems are addressed by the saw having a laser alignment system that includes a laser arbor that rotates with the saw blade on the spindle.

Miter saw having a light beam alignment system


The instant invention describes a novel reaction that includes spontaneous racemization of an azalactone via enol tautomerization. This racemization results in improved yield and ee over other reactions previously described.

The asymmetric synthesis of γ-fluoroleucine-α-amino acids is a proven technology for the production of potential pharmaceutical compounds that have a wide array of biological uses, including enzyme inhibitors, receptor antagonists and lipophilicity enhancing agents. The use of enzyme mediated dynamic kinetic resolution ring opening of azalactones has been demonstrated as an effective way of introducing stereochemistry in γ-fluoroleucine ethyl ester compounds.
The instant invention describes a novel reaction that includes spontaneous racemization of an azalactone via enol tautomerization. This racemization results in improved yield and ee over other reactions previously described. Additionally, the instant invention is suitable for large scale production. Previously known processes were not economically feasible for large scale production, specifically because of the large amount of enzyme required to run the reactions
The fed batch reactor makes the enzymatic production of fluoroleucine ethyl ester economically feasible for large scale production. An increased temperature over previously known processes, along with a substrate charging strategy, reduces the enzyme to substrate ratio to 1:4. The ester yield is also increased about 5% over previously known processes.
The plug flow column reactor solves the problem of enzyme deactivation by extending enzyme life about 20 fold versus previously known processes. Enzyme deactivation, due to shear in batch systems, is reduced from about 10% per hour to 0.5% per hour. The column process uses a 1:20 ratio of enzyme to substrate and provides for ester product with 90% yield and 86% ee, which is a greater than 20 fold improvement over previously known processes. Also, the column process shows a large cost reduction in the amount of enzyme that is needed.

Process for making fluoroleucine ethyl esters


A fluoropolymer resin coated member in which the fluoropolymer resin layer has been improved in wear resistance and peeling resistance. When the coated member is used to form a mold for polyester container molding, part of a polyester resin or an oligomer ingredient or additive contained in the polyester resin is prevented from depositing on the mold surface. And a polyester container with excellent luster and transparency can be manufactured. The fluoropolymer resin coated member (1) comprise a foundation (10) and a fluoropolymer resin layer (20) formed thereon, the foundation (10) having a surface roughness of 2 to 10 degree in Root-mean-square slope of profile, the amount of the fluoropolymer resin of the fluoropolymer resin layer (20) being 0.5-8.5 g/m2, and the surface roughness of the fluoropolymer resin layer being 5 degree or less in Root-mean-square slope of profile Δq2. The metal mold for forming polyester resin container can be reproduced in such a manner that amorphous fluoropolymer resin layer 20 applied on the hard surface of foundation 10 of the metal mold for forming polyester resin container is removed by abrasive to obtain mirror finish, then a new amorphous fluoropolymer resin layer 20 is applied on the surface of foundation 10.

A container made of polyester resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) resin is typically a bottle, a cup or a tray, and has excellent transparency, impact resistance, gas impermeability and so on. It is produced and used in a lot of kinds and shapes, thus the production of it is one of the most important in industrial field. For example, a bottle included in polyester resin containers is produced as follows; heating a preform prepared by injection molding to a temperature range of 100 to 130° C. which is higher than the glass transition temperature (Tg); and biaxial stretch blow molding the preform in a metal mold for forming shortly thereafter.
Also, a heat resistant polyester resin bottle used for hot packing is provided with heat resistance by heating a metal mold for forming to a crystallizing temperature range of polyester resin, that is 100 to 180° C., in order to heat set the bottle in a high temperature range after the biaxial stretch blow molding.
On the other hand, cup or tray included in polyester resin container is made of a polyester sheet by vacuum forming or pressure forming in a female mold (metal mold for forming) having a same shape as the container, drawing by the female mold and a plug, or made of a preform by biaxial stretch blow molding by using a plug and a female mold in the same manner as the production of above-mentioned bottle.
Also, a heat resistant cup or tray used for hot packing is provided with heat resistance by heating a female mold and a plug to a crystallizing temperature range of polyester resin for forming as with the case of the bottle.
Since a metal mold for forming such polyester resin containers needs to have releasability with respect to polyester resin during forming as well as smoothness of inner surface of the metal mold for the purpose of providing the product with surface luster and transparency, a mold made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy, the surface thereof being mirror finished after the inner surface thereof being machined has been used as a metal mold for forming.
Also, in the case of forming a heat resistant polyester resin container, there has been a problem that a part of polyester resin on the surface of container, oligomer ingredient in the polyester resin or additive adheres and builds up on the surface of metal mold, and then the configuration of the buildup transfers onto the surface of the polyester resin container after forming, which adhersely effects luster and transparency of the container, so the metal mold has to be cleaned in a short period of time.
The adhered oligomer diffuses to the surface of container and concentrates thereon during forming even if oligomer amount in the resin is small enough, and it moves on the mold surface to produce a crystalline buildup, which is known as a peculiar phenomenon in polyester resin container.
In addition, as the aforementioned mirror finished metal mold for forming tends to have poor releasability, the surface of metal mold for forming is roughened, which possibly produces a container with a roughened surface.
In particular, in case of forming a heat resistant polyester resin container, the metal mold is heated to a temperature range of 100 to 180° C. to heat set the container for the purpose of providing heat resistance. Therefore, following problems are caused; viscosity of the polyester resin increases, releasing force from the metal mold surface increases, and containers tend to be distorted when they are released from the metal mold.
The aforementioned critical problems in this industrial field should be solved for the reason that they deteriorate the production efficiency and the product quality in the high velocity mass production of polyester resin container in the present time.
Meanwhile, patent document 1 and 2 propose a metal mold for forming plastic of which surface is coated with fluoropolymer resin to form a releasing membrane. Patent document 3 proposes adhering a foundation membrane on a metal mold for forming and a releasing membrane consisting of an amorphous fluoropolymer resin coating on the foundation membrane, and removing and then reproducing the releasing membrane by cleaning and dissolving off the amorphous fluoropolymer resin coating in an inert fluoropolymer liquid, followed by coating an amorphous fluoropolymer resin dissolved in an inert fluoropolymer liquid on the releasing membrane, then drying and heating.
Applicant of the present invention also proposes a metal mold for polyester resin container of which surface is coated with a fluoropolymer resin to solve the aforementioned problems during forming polyester resin container in patent document 4 and 5.    PATENT DOCUMENT 1: Publication No. Hei4-353406    PATENT DOCUMENT 2: Publication No. Hei4-353407    PATENT DOCUMENT 3: Publication No. Hei5-245848    PATENT DOCUMENT 4: Publication No. 2002-18858    PATENT DOCUMENT 5: Publication No. 2003-393189

Fluropolymer resin coated member, a metal mold for forming polyester resin container made thereof and reproducing method of said metal mold


A handle assembly for an appliance door includes a handle frame mounted over a handle aperture defined in the appliance door. The handle frame defines a pocket recess for receiving a pocket handle, which is spaced apart from the handle frame to define an illumination gap for receiving a status indicator, such as a light pipe which may transmit light without directing that light into the pocket recess. The light pipe is illuminated by a lighting assembly including a light board having a plurality of light sources mounted thereon and positioned at a rear of the light pipe, wherein at least two of the light sources illuminate in different colors.

Appliances frequently include doors for closing, insulating, concealing, or otherwise providing selective access to cavities or chambers of the appliance. These doors typically include an inner door and an outer door that are separated by an air gap which may be filled with fiberglass or insulating foam, e.g., for thermal insulation, sound dampening, etc. In order to provide a user with information regarding the appliance operation, e.g., such as a status of an operating cycle or an indication that a cycle is complete, status indicators are often positioned on the outer door of the appliance such that they are visible to a user of the appliance.
Conventional appliance doors include handle assemblies mounted to an outer surface of the appliance door to permit a user to open and close the appliance door. In addition, appliance doors commonly include status indicators, such as light sources that direct or transmit light directly into a pocket recess of the handle assemblies. Alternatively, such status indicators may be LEDs mounted at a location on a front panel of the appliance door remotely from handle assembly. Notably, positioning light sources remotely from handle assembly requires additional manufacturing, e.g. to drill additional holes, additional wiring, and more complex handle assembly.
Accordingly, an appliance having features for simplified assembly and improved illumination of status indicators would be useful. More specifically, a handle assembly including integrated lighting assemblies and status indicators which enable versatile illumination of a front of the handle would be particularly beneficial.

Status indicator and lighting assembly for an appliance door


An improved penile tube and removal guide for use in a vacuum therapy system for achieving and maintaining an erection. The penile tube has an open, tapered end into which the penis is inserted and a stop ring positioned along the penile tube toward the tapered end. The removal guide has a stepped inner surface having a larger diameter portion and a smaller diameter portion which are concentrically located along the axis of the removal guide. The removal guide is mounted circumferentially on the penile tube and freely slides along the longitudinal axis of penile tube away from the tapered end of the penile tube until an inner flange of the smaller diameter portion engages the stop ring. The penile tube, stop ring, and stepped removal guide facilitate the placement of a configuration ring upon a penis while maintaining a vacuum in the penile tube. A mounting cone having a conical portion facilitates sliding the constriction ring onto the transfer sleeve of the penile tube. The mounting cone has a cylindrical end located opposite the conical portion and having an inner surface which contains a recess configured to fit over tapered end of penile tube.

Medical literature reveals that males at all ages sometimes inexplicably lose the capability of obtaining an erection for a variety of reasons and even without apparent reasons. In some cases there are psychological causes and in other cases physiological causes underlying the inability to obtain or maintain an erection. Regardless of the cause of impotency, however, in most cases the male maintains the desire and urge to indulge in intercourse.
Development of a penile erection is, of course, dependent on a complex interaction of psychological and physiological factors which are not clearly understood, however, the anatomical phenomena associated with successful erection are well known. The penis is composed of recital tissue arranged in three longitudinal columns bonded by fibrous tissue. Erectile tissue has a sponge-like structure containing cavernous spaces for being occupied by blood. These spaces are fed by arterioles and capillaries and are drained by small flow restricting veins. Muscle fibers traverse the walls of the spaces and surround their discharge veins. When the penis is induced to erect, arterioles feeding the spaces dilate, the muscle fibers around the spaces relax, and the muscle controlling the venous outlets contract to restrict blood discharge from the caverns. The cavernous spaces in the erectile tissue expand as blood is pumped through them at high pressure and the penis becomes hard and erect. Thus, the natural erection process is basically a matter of capturing and holding pressurized blood in the cavernous tissues of the penis.
Surgically implantable devices have been developed for enabling a male subject to simulate a natural penile erection. Typically, one or more longitudinally extending expandable sacs are implanted in the penis and connected through a fluid system having check valves to a fluid filled bulb that can be massaged externally for pumping the fluid into the sac to thereby simulate the natural process. Some implants cause permanent erections. Implantation of some of the artificial devices result in permanent destruction of the nerve and blood vessel passages such that a natural erection can never again be obtained. All the implant techniques require the subject to spend some time in a hospital. The hospital and surgical expense is known to be substantial.
In the prior art there are devices which can be applied externally of the penis for maintaining an erection. The device is called a pubis ring. It is intended for use primarily by those males who, when excited, can develop an erection but cannot maintain it for a long enough time to satisfy themselves and their mate during intercourse. The pubis ring is designed to keep the blood in the penis once it has been pressurized by natural reaction to sexual stimuli. It cannot help in cases where there is a minimal erection or none at all. The pubis ring comprises a loop whose opposite ends enter the opposite ends of a flexible sleeve. The two ends emerge together out of a radial hole in the sleeve. The loop is slipped back to the root of the penis at a time when the subject perceives as a result of prior experience that his erection is likely to be at its maximum even though he may remember that there were times in the past when it could become larger and more rigid. When a maximum erection is perceived, the cords of the loop are snubbed to trap the pressurized blood in the penis. The erection can then be maintained for its intended purpose. Disadvantages of the pubic ring are that it requires some dexterity to secure and focusing attention on the securing problem can be distracting enough to cause the tentative erection to disappear prior to usage.
Other elastic rings for maintaining an erection are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,980 and 4,628,915, issued to Chaney. Briefly stated, the basic form of the erection assisting device disclosed in these patents comprises a constriction ring having an elastic ring centered between two elastic loops which are attached to the periphery of the ring on its opposite sides or at the first and third quadrants of the ring. The loops are used to stretch the ring radially outwardly to enlarge its opening sufficiently for it to fit over the root of the penis where it is released and contracts to pinch off the blood vessels leading to and from the penis. The user must then massage blood forwardly into the penis by strokes applied with the hand and fingers beginning substantially rearwardly of the scrotum to thereby develop local blood pressure sufficient to overcome the sealing force of the ring and pressurize the caverns in the penis which results in an erection. Use of the elastic rings disclosed by Chaney requires dexterity on the part of the user to stretch the central ring quadrilaterally so it clears the outside of the penis as it is being applied. Thus, to facilitate the positioning of the elastic rings on the penis, Chaney also discloses a cone and cylindrical carrier sleeve mounting apparatus.
The patents to Chaney report that the elastic constriction ring and mounting devices not only help a male to maintain but also facilitate manually achieving an erection after the device has been deposited on the penis. This is accomplished by the male user pressing his hand in the groin or crotch area and massaging blood forwardly into the penis against the elastic pressure created by the elastic ring. When a massage stroke is terminated, the elastic ring acts to prevent outflow. After several massage strokes, enough blood will be manually forced into the penis and enough pressure will be developed to produce a lasting erection.
In an attempt to further automate the erection process, a vacuum therapy system has also been described which enhances the ability of a user to achieve an erection by applying a vacuum to the penis prior to placement of the constriction ring. Such a system is available as the VTU-1.TM. System available from Encore, Inc. Louisville, Ky. and is shown in FIGS. 1-8. FIGS. 14 show the separable components of a conventional vacuum therapy system for assisting in the attainment and maintenance of an erection. FIG. 1 shows a penile tube 1 which is typically a transparent plastic tube and has a guide post 4. A removal guide 2 is mounted circumferentially on the penile tube 1 and located to define a transfer sleeve 3 portion at one end of the penile tube 1. Shown in FIG. 2 is a constriction ring 9 having an elastic, preferably latex, center ring 10 which has a circular cross-section and has two finger-gripping loops 11 and 12 molded integrally with the central ring. FIG. 3 shows a mounting cone 15 which has conical portion 16 to facilitate sliding constriction ring 9 onto the transfer sleeve 3 of penile tube 1. Mounting cone 15 has a cylindrical end 17 located opposite conical portion 16. A vacuum pump 20 is shown in FIG. 4 and has handle 21, thumb grip 22, release valve 23, and seal 24.
FIG. 5 shows the components of FIGS. 1-4 after assembly which is accomplished by inserting the cylindrical end 17 of mounting cone 15 into the end of penile tube 1 having the transfer sleeve 3 and inserting the seal 24 of the vacuum pump 20 into the opposite end of the penile tube 1. FIG. 6 shows a constriction ring 9 in the process of being mounted onto transfer sleeve 3 of penile tube 1. This is accomplished by holding and pulling on loops 11 and 12 of constriction ring 9 to enlarge center ring 10 so that the constriction ring 9 may be slid over the conical portion 16 of mounting cone 15 and onto transfer sleeve 3. Upon removal of the mounting cone 15, the constriction ring 9 is mounted and ready for insertion upon a penis as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
Shown in FIG. 7 is a user having a flaccid penis inserted into the penile tube 1. A constriction ring 9 is mounted on transfer sleeve 3, as described above with respect to FIG. 6. The end of the penile tube 1 which contacts the body at the base of the penis is typically lubricated before inserting the penis in order to assist in sealing penile tube 1 against the user's body so that a vacuum may be drawn. By applying slight pressure to the penile tube 1 toward the body of the user and pumping handle 21 of vacuum pump 20, as shown, a vacuum is drawn in penile tube 1 to cause the penis to become engorged with blood, thus achieving an erection. The thumb grip 22 may be used to steady the vacuum system during pumping handle 21.
As soon as the desired erection has been achieved, the constriction ring 9 is then placed at the base of the penis to maintain the state of engorgement with blood. As shown in FIG. 8, this is accomplished while holding penile tube 1 tightly against the body of the user by rotating removal guide 2 in the direction of arrow A to force removal guide 2 to ride against guide post 4 and move removal guide 2 toward the user in the direction of arrow B. The movement of removal guide 2 toward the user in this manner forces constriction ring 9 to move off of the transfer sleeve 3 in the direction of arrow B and onto the base of the penis. Upon placing the constriction ring 9 on the penis, center ring 10 contracts onto the base or root of the erect penis to prevent outflow of venous blood drawn by the vacuum created within the penile tube 1.
The final step to permit the user to engage in sexual intercourse, is the removal the vacuum system from the body of the user. Although during the transfer of the constriction ring much of the vacuum within the penile tube 1 is lost, any vacuum remaining must be released. This is accomplished by depressing release valve 23 of vacuum pump 20 to permit the vacuum pump 20 and penile tube 1 to be removed from the body of the user.
This conventional vacuum therapy system, which is described above with respect to FIGS. 1-8, is difficult to use and has attendant deficiencies with respect to achieving and maintaining a satisfactory vacuum while placing a constriction ring on the penis. As a result, the conventional vacuum system requires dexterity on the part of the user and even with such dexterity, the resultant erection may not be maximized given that a satisfactory vacuum may not be achieved or maintained. Furthermore, because the conventional vacuum system requires additional attention on the part of the user, focusing attention to the use of the vacuum system may be distracting enough to cause the benefit of any natural ability to obtain an erection on the part of the user to be lost.
The present invention overcomes the limitations, difficulties, and shortcomings of these prior art devices by providing a conditioning apparatus which can be easily used to achieve and maintain an erection by sequentially applying a vacuum and placing a constriction ring to a penis while limiting vacuum loss prior to placement of the constriction ring.

Penile tube and constrictor ring removal guide system and method of use

G122 Main Street Apartments, 1158 W. Main St.


This document describes techniques (300, 600, 700) and apparatuses (106, 800) for distributing metadata to peer devices. These techniques (300, 600, 700) and apparatuses (106, 800) enable a receiver device (106) store or create metadata associated with content streamed from one or more peer devices. The receiver device can distribute this metadata to other peer devices thereby enabling identification or procurement of the content at the other peer devices.

This background description is provided for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, material described in this section is neither expressly nor impliedly admitted to be prior art to the present disclosure or the appended claims.
Computing devices are often connected to a dedicated audio device to present content to multiple listeners or to increase an area over which the content is presented. Dedicated audio devices typically present the content of a source computing device in an analog format, which is broadcast aurally to the multiple listeners. While this is effective to present the content to the multiple listeners, the analog format often lacks other information describing the content. In cases where a listener wishes to determine the information describing the content (e.g., artist or song name), the listener may be prevented from doing so without direct access to the source computing device. Even when the source computing device is accessible, manually exporting the information associated with the content may be inconvenient or time consuming.


Apparatus for assessing threat to at least one computer network in which a plurality of systems (301, 302, 303, 304, 305, . . . 30n) operate is configured to determine predicted threat activity (13), to determine expected downtime of each system in dependence upon said predicted threat activity, to determine loss (12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, 12E, . . . , 12m) for each of a plurality of operational processes (31A, 31B, 31C, 31D, 31E, . . . 31m) dependent on the downtimes of the systems, to add losses for the plurality of processes so as to obtain a combined loss (12SUM) arising from the threat activity.

Large organizations, such as international banks and other financial institutions, rely heavily on their computer systems to carry out their business operations. Increasingly, organizations are connecting their networks to public networks, such as the Internet, to allow them to communicate with their customers and other organizations. However, in doing so, they open up their networks to a wider range and greater number of electronic threats, such as computer viruses, Trojan horses, computer worms, hacking and denial-of-service attacks.
To respond to these forms of threat, organizations can implement procedures, tools and countermeasures for providing network security. For example, they can install intrusion detection and prevention systems to protect their network. However, even if these security systems are properly managed and well maintained, their network may still be vulnerable to threat. Furthermore, their network may also be vulnerable to other, non-electronic forms of threat, such as fire, flood or terrorism.
The present invention seeks to provide apparatus for and a method of assessing threat to a computer network or computer networks.

Assessing threat to at least one computer network


The present invention provides foods containing soluble high amylose starch selected from: (i) spray-dried, non-granular starch, characterized in that the starch is substantially non-crystalline, substantially nonretrograded, and fully predispersed; (ii) spray-dried, uniformly gelatinized starch in the form of granular indented spheres, with at least a majority of the granules being whole and unbroken, the starch granules being in the form of loosely-bound agglomerates or individual granules; (iii) enzymatically debranched gelatinized starch, comprising at least 40% amylose; and (iv) mixtures thereof.. The foods prepared with soluble high amylose starch are characterized by one or more of the following beneficial properties: stronger gels, improved appearance, improved adhesion, air-, oil- and/or water-impermeable surfaces; and improved textures. These foods are easier to prepare when they contain the soluble high amylose starches herein, since these starches, in contrast to high amylose starches used in the same foods under normal preparation temperatures, can be completely and thoroughly dispersed in the food formulation using hot or cold water, without chemical modification of the starch.

This invention relates to foods which have been formulated to contain soluble high amylose starch. The starch is selected from: a spray-dried, non-granular, high amylose starch, characterized in that the starch is substantially non-crystalline, substantially non-retrograded, and fully predispersed; a spray-dried, uniformly gelatinized, high amylose starch in the form of granular indented spheres, with at least a majority of the granules being whole and unbroken, these starch granules being in the form of loosely-bound agglomerates or individual granules; and an enzymatically debranched, gelatinized starch, comprising at least 40% amylose. These starches are soluble in hot or cold water and cooking is not required to formulate foods containing these starches.
As used herein, "soluble" means that the high amylose starches in powdered form may be readily hydrated and dispersed in hot or cold water or other aqueous medium to provide a starch solution in the form of a complex colloidal dispersion, rather than a true molecular solution.
Native high amylose starches are corn starches from hybrid varieties of corn which contain at least about 40% amylose. In contrast, ordinary corn starch typically contains about 28% amylose. As used herein, "high amylose starch" includes the starch from hybrid strains of corn, as well as other starches which contain added isolated amylose, or which have been enzymatically debranched to yield a starch comprising at least about 40% amylose. This debranched starch may comprise both native long chain amylose and short chain amylose generated by debranching amylopectin molecules.
Because amylose, a linear polymer, readily aligns or associates through hydrogen bonding, starches containing large amounts of amylose will form more rigid gels and stronger, tougher films, and will provide surfaces having reduced air, water and oil absorption and migration in food applications, relative to ordinary starches which typically contain much less than 40% amylose. Other advantages include improved binding properties where the starch primarily functions as an adhesive and the related property of improved cling or adhesion between dissimilar food substrates. The unique binding, structural and textural characteristics of the high amylose starches make them useful as protein replacers, especially caseinate replacers, in foods.
A process for improving deep fried potato products, including potato chips, french fried potatoes, and specialty potatoes, wherein the potatoes are coated with an aqueous dispersion of a high amylose starch prior to frying, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,531, reissued Dec. 12, 1972, to Murray, et al. The potato products are characterized by a high degree of crispness which is retained for long periods, superior strength and rigidity, resistance to breakage without undesirable toughness, reduced absorption of oil during frying, reduced variation in the amount of oil absorption, little color variation, and excellent flavor and storage characteristics.
An improved batter mix for preparing coated prefried, microwavable-foods, wherein the batter contains, on a batter mix solids basic, about 50-80% of a high amylose flour containing at least 50% amylose, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,597, issued Jun. 17, 1986, to Lenchin, et al. The batter containing the high amylose flour provides a crisp and appealing outer coating in foods formulated for use in the microwave oven. The high amylose flour batter also provides good adhesion and cohesion to the food and acceptable color.
A batter for Use on frozen, prefried, convenience foods, wherein the batter comprises, on a batter dry mix basis, about 50 to 80% of a high amylose flour containing at least 50% amylose, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,607, issued Jul. 16, 1985, to Lenchin, et al. The batter provides improved crispness in the food coating after conventional cooking.
Improved pet foods, of the semi-moist variety, wherein starches, including modified high amylose corn starch, are employed as dough modifiers, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,556, issued Feb. 17, 1981, to Burkwall, Jr., et al. The starch advantageously replaces, in part, caseinates as a binder in the pet food.
A formulated french fried potato product produced from dehydrated potato granules or flakes with a binder, comprising a high amylose starch and a cold water dispersible starch or gum, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,210, issued Oct. 19, 1976, to Cremer. The high amylose starch component, preferably containing at least about 35% amylose, functions by retrograding to form a film or oil barrier on the french fried dough so that the dough does not absorb large quanties of frying oil. The high amylose starch also adds strength to the french fried product during and after frying. Useful high amylose starches include granular or ungelatinized high amylose starch containing at least 55% amylose, and, optionally, ester and ether derivatives of the starches; and amylose obtained by fractionating starch and derivatives thereof.
Certain high amylose starches and starch blends have been successfully employed as caseinate replacers in imitation cheeses. The starches useful as caseinate replacers differ from starches and flours which have been used in various cheese products as thickeners, binders, and the like. Unlike the thickeners and binders, the caseinate replacement starches provide the texture, thermoreversibility (melt) and emulsification characteristics of caseinates in imitation cheeses. A starch characterized by thermoreversibility forms a gel when a cooked aqueous starch dispersion is cooled, which gel melts upon reheating and sets again upon cooling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,265, issued Aug. 26, 1986, to Zwiercan, et al., discloses an imitation cheese, wherein 25 to 50% of the caseinate as replaced by pregelatinized modified high amylose starches, preferably converted and derivatized. The starch has an amylose content of at least 40% and is preferably selected from the group consisting of derivatized starch, converted starch, converted and derivatized starch and crosslinked starch. The high amylose starch may be mixed with up to 80%, by weight, of a low amylose starch (leas than 40% amylose). U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,475, issued Sep. 22, 1987, to Zwiercan, et al., discloses an imitation cheese wherein up to 100% of the caseinate is replaced by a pregelatinized, converted and derivatized high amylose starch.
The formulation of foods with the high amylose starches known in the art disadvantageously requires much higher cooking temperatures than the temperatures required for cooking other starches. Due to the highly bonded linear structure of high amylose starches, full and effective gelatinization of high amylose starches typically requires cooking temperatures of about 154.degree.-171.degree. C., when the starch contains about 70% amylose. Thus, to obtain high amylose starches, or foods containing such starches, which are soluble in hot or cold water, super atmospheric cooking temperatures are usually required. Furthermore, traditional methods of starch pregelatinization typically produce high amylose starches that are retrograded, or have crystalline portions or are otherwise incapable of full dispersion, or are degraded such that their functional benefits are substantially reduced.
For example, a method for preparing drum-dried, non-granular, pregelatinized isolated potato amylose is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,890, issued Apr. 23, 1963, to A. Sarko, et al. The starch slurry is heated to a temperature from just above boiling to 191.degree. C. (375.degree. F.) and a pressure of about 5 to 140 psi for 1 to 60 minutes. It is then drum-dried at 110.degree.-200.degree. C. (230.degree.-392.degree. F.) for 40-75 seconds and the resulting sheet is pulverized to a dry, porous, white fluffy powder. Sarkols assignee subsequently disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,591, issued Jun. 2, 1970, to Feldman, et al., that the product of Sarko's drum-drying method slowly retrogrades upon storage and is unsuited for use in packaged foods. The Feldman patent teaches a different method for preparing cold water soluble high amylose starch which disadvantageously requires the high amylose starch to be solubilized at 140.degree.-170.degree. C. and mixed with an aqueous suspension of gelatinized starch before drying.
In the alternative, high amylose starches have been modified by derivatization and conversion to enhance their gelatinization and dispersibility characteristics. The use of these "modified starches" is undesirable in food products that are advertised as "natural" products. Gel strength and water resistance qualities of the modified high amylose starches also are reduced in proportion to the amount of modification.
Accordingly, there is need for foods containing soluble high amylose starch which can be formulated without cooking or without using a chemically modified starch, and can be prepared by dispersing the soluble high amylose starch in hot or cold water, before, during, or after food formulation.

Method of making foods containing soluble high amylose starch

National Starch and Chemical Investment Holding Corporation


The present technology relates to novel cannabinergic nitrate esters and related analogs, process of preparation, pharmaceutical compositions and their methods of use as medicaments, pharmacological tools and/or biomarkers. The novel cannabinergic nitrate ester compounds provide medicaments useful in treating a variety of diseases and medical disorders.

Human recreational use of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa ("marijuana") and anecdotal attempts to exploit it for potential therapeutic benefit have been documented throughout millennia. Some of marijuana's popularity as a recreational substance and medicament reflects its ability to alter sensory perception and relieve anxiety. Other medicinal effects of marijuana unrelated to its psychoactive properties, such as pain relief, have also been recorded in ancient texts. Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol are the two major phytocannabinoids that were identified along with approximately 60 other phytocannabinoids present in Cannabis. Δ9-THC, cannabidiol, and some other phytocannabinoids are bioactive with, for example, intriguing anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsive, and anti-emetic effects of potential therapeutic value. However, Δ9-THC is regarded as the sole psychotropic cannabinoid in Cannabis. Given Δ9-THC's psychotropic effects, many biological investigations employed brain and brain plasma membranes as study-objects. Consensus data describing several key characteristics of cannabinoid action emerged: Δ9-THC, its synthetic analogs and related compounds elicit biological effects in a stereo- and structurally selective manner; their binding to brain plasma membranes is avid, saturable, stereospecific, concordant with in vitro and in vivo bioresponses (e.g., adenylyl cyclase inhibition, analgesia), and nonrandom in select brain regions.
These characteristics strongly implied that cannabinoid pharmacology is receptor-mediated, spurring the search for discrete mammalian cannabinoid receptors whose activation by Δ9-THC would elicit psychotropic effects. The search led to the discovery and cloning of two G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for cannabinoids (CB), designated CB1 and CB2, which in humans share 44% sequence homology. The CB1 receptor subtype is localized primarily in the central nervous system (CNS), reflecting its prevalence as the most abundant GPCR in brain. CB1 receptors are distributed among the cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and basal ganglia, brain regions that control motor, cognitive, emotional, and sensory functions. Hence, central CB1 receptor activation mediates most cannabinoid psychotropic and behavioral effects. The CB1 receptor is also present in high density in the brainstem, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland, loci influencing pain perception; hormonal activity; thermoregulation; and cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory physiology. CB1 receptors at peripheral sites (e.g., adipocytes, liver, uterus) help regulate such basic physiological processes as energy balance and reproduction. Although detectable at exceedingly low levels in brain, CB2 receptors are expressed mainly by immune and hematopoietic cells, osteoclasts, and osteoblasts and mediate immune responses, inflammation, inflammatory and neuropathic pain, and bone remodeling. Largely because of this psychoactivity as well as its prevalence and early availability in synthetic form as a research tool, Δ9-THC attained the status of prototypic cannabinoid and became the focus of many pharmacological and mechanistic studies.
Much of this research in vivo was aimed at elucidating the effects of Δ9-THC in experimental animals as well as human subjects with the aid of newly-synthesized Δ9-THC analogs and related compounds such as nabilone, Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-OH-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol (ex., GWP42003), cannabinol, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (ex., GWP42004), CP-47,497, dexanabinol, Ajulemic acid, HU-210, 8-β-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol, 8-α-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol, SAB-378, nabitan, menabitan, A-40174, Org 28611, nonabine, BAY38-7271, GRC10693, S-777469, AZD1940, GW-842,166X, GW-405,833, levonantradol, dimethylheptylpyran and the AM1703 analog PRS-211,375 (Cannabinor). Some of these compounds were radiolabeled and used as molecular probes as well. Virtually all cannabinoid-related medications granted regulatory approvals thus far are directly related to Cannabis, most of which act as agonists at the CB1 and CB2 receptors.
It has been suggested that tetrahydrocannabivarin acts as a CB1 neutral antagonist while Δ9-THC is known to act as a CB1 partial agonist. Δ9-THC (dronabinol, Marinol®) and its synthetic analog, the CB1/CB2 agonist, nabilone (Cesamee) are licensed as anti-nausea and anti-emetic medications for chemotherapy patients. Nabilone is also approved as an appetite stimulant to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related cachexia. Sativex®, a standardized Cannabis extract containing an approximately equal mixture of the two phytocannabinoids (Δ9-THC and cannabidiol) formulated as a sublingual spray, was first licensed for alleviation of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis patients and subsequently approved for cancer pain relief. The low reported frequency of abuse and neurocongnitive side-effects of Cannabis extracts/Δ9-THC derivatives has invited their continued clinical evaluation. Aside from nabilone, other synthetic cannabinoid-receptor activators such as CP55,940 have been studied clinically for alleviation of emesis; motor-related symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome, or Parkinson's disease; intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients; neuropathic pain; or post-trauma brain damage.

Cannabinergic nitrate esters and related analogs


The present invention provides a computer, comprising: a processor for processing data; a system bus connected to the processor; a management unit connected to the system bus; and an external storage connected to the system bus through the management unit, wherein the external storage comprises: a buffer for buffering data; and storage areas connected to the buffer for storing data, and wherein the management unit is adapted to: receive an instruction sent by the processor from the system bus, said instruction corresponding to operations; read data information from the storage areas to the buffer; and execute at least one of the operations on the data information. Furthermore, the present invention provides an external storage and a method for processing data information in an external storage. According to the present invention, it is possible to scan the external storage with a large capacity in a short time.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the computer architecture, specifically, relates to a computer, an external storage and a method for processing data information in an external storage.
2. Description of Prior Art
Since the von Neumann architecture of modern computers was proposed by Doctor von Neumann, such kind of computer architecture has not been substantially changed, though the manufacture technology of Integrated Circuits has been dramatically improved.
FIG. 1 shows a computer architecture according to the prior art, comprising an operator 10, a controller 20, an internal storage 30, an input device 40, an output device 50, and an external storage 60, as well as an address bus 72, a control bus 74 and a data bus 76.
The internal storage 30 is generally implemented as RAM (Random Access Memory). Furthermore, as the manufacture technology of ICs improves, various RAMs are available for memories, such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) and the like.
The external storage 60 is generally implemented as HD (Hard Drive). In order to satisfy some specific requirements, the external storage 60 may also comprise an electronic disk made of chips such as EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or an optical disk.
Generally, the operator 10 and the controller 20 are integrated in a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The address bus 72, the control bus 74 and the data bus 76 together constitute computer buses, generally located on a computer main board.
The CPU, the internal storage 30, the external storage 60 and the computer buses together constitute the host computer.
The input device 40 comprises devices such as keyboard, mouse, scanner and the like. The output device 50 comprises devices such as displayer, printer, speaker and the like. The input device 40 and the output device 50 together are called as peripheral devices. They are connected to the computer buses via IO (Input Output) interfaces. Common IO interfaces comprise serial ports, parallel ports, USB (Universal Serial Bus) interfaces and the like.
In the above described computer architecture, the external storage 60 usually is a storage medium which has a large capacity and a low cost, and will permanently store data, but has a slow accessing speed, such as a magnetic medium; and the internal storage 30 usually is a storage medium which has a high accessing speed but a small capacity and an expensive cost, and will lose data when being powered off, such as a RAM chip. Therefore, the external storage 60 is often used as a storage medium, while the internal storage 30 is used as a work space. When the CPU executes a specific computer program, first it reads the data and program from the storage medium, the external storage 60, to the work space, the internal storage 30, and then carries out operating in the work space.
However, when it is necessary to execute a scan task with respect to specific data in the external storage 60 with a large capacity, the scan task will take a long time due to the large capacity and the slow accessing speed of the external storage 60.
For example, current anti-virus software installed on many business computers periodically scan viruses every week. Because each time it is necessary to perform scanning/searching in the whole disk, and processes are possible only after the contents in the HD are read to the internal storage via the computer buses, it is very time consuming. Likewise, when searching for a file with specific content, it is needed to read the contents of all files in the whole disk to the internal storage one by one, and then carry out searching, so it is time consuming, too.

Computer, external storage and method for processing data information in external storage


An Educational Board Game for simulating the school system and educating players on a variety of subjects through interactive play. The inventive device includes a game board including a perimetrical movement track and a diagonal movement track interconnecting a central starting and finishing area of the game board with the perimetrical movement track wherein the perimetrical movement track and the diagonal movement track are each divided into a plurality of individual spaces. A plurality of playing pieces are provided for movement among the plurality of individual spaces of the game board and a plurality of query cards each having printed thereon a plurality of questions and a plurality of answers for each of a number of subject matter categories are provided for determining acquisition of a quantity of game money. A plurality of opportunity cards and a plurality of risks cards each having printed thereon favorable announcements and mandates and unfavorable announcements and mandates, respectively, are provided for introducing instructions to be followed during the course of the game.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to board games and more particularly pertains to a new Educational Board Game for simulating the school system and educating players on a variety of subjects through interactive play.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of board games is known in the prior art. More specifically, board games heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art board games include U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,391; U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,150; U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,227; U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,842; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,808.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new Educational Board Game. The inventive device includes a game board including a perimetrical movement track and a diagonal movement track interconnecting a central starting and finishing area of the game board with the perimetrical movement track wherein the perimetrical movement track and the diagonal movement track are each divided into a plurality of individual spaces. A plurality of playing pieces are provided for movement among the plurality of individual spaces of the game board and a plurality of query cards each having printed thereon a plurality of questions and a plurality of answers for each of a number of subject matter categories are provided for determining acquisition of a quantity of game money. A plurality of opportunity cards and a plurality of risks cards each having printed thereon favorable announcements and mandates and unfavorable announcements and mandates, respectively, are provided for introducing instructions to be followed during the course of the game.
In these respects, the Educational Board Game according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of simulating the school system and educating players on a variety of subjects through interactive play.

Educational board game and method of play